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Steven Spielberg breathed a sigh of relief when Roma, despite a reported $50 million marketing push on behalf of Netflix, failed to win Best Picture over Green Book, which was produced by the filmmaker’s Amblin Entertainment. Now, as we reported last week, Spielberg is working to save himself future stress by lobbying…

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He-Man, Karg, Skeletor, and "Hyper Skeletor" available.

This month we celebrate 1980’s horror with the launch of a pre-order campaign on Indiegogo Indemand for In Search Of Darkness, which aims to be the definitive documentary on ’80s horror. Ahead of Bloody Disgusting’s world trailer premiere tomorrow, we’re excited to share this ultimate 80’s horror mashup that honors the best in film from a decade soaked in practical effects and original ideas.

Arriving this summer, the documentary features Larry Cohen, Stuart Gordon, Joe Dante, Lloyd Kaufman, Sean S. Cunningham, Heather Langenkamp, Barbara Crampton and many others, with even more announcements forthcoming.

“The 1980’s exploded onto our screens in a veritable feast of blood, sweat, and chills. Madmen, killers, and evil spirits mingled with aliens, demons and cursed dolls; horrific images burnt directly onto our retinas and etched permanently into our brains.”

“For the first time in Horror history, In Search of Darkness will bring together 80’s icons, modern horror greats, popular YouTubers and Social Media Influencers to create the most complete retrospective documentary of the genre ever made. Together, they will bring their unique perspectives as we take a nostalgic journey back to revisit the unforgettable heroes, monsters, and movies that thrilled and chilled us.”

Follow the project through the official website and via Twitter, @80sHorrorDoc.

Announced last, the Jordan Rubin-directed series “Critters: A New Binge” will be taking a bite out of Shudder on March 21st, which will mark the official return of the Krites for the first time since 1992’s Critters 4. But as we told you earlier this year, a brand new Critters *movie* is also in the works at Syfy, and it looks like filming just recently wrapped!

Adam Friedlander and Armand Leo, the producers of Syfy’s Tremors sequels, produced the new movie, which looks to have been directed by Bobby Miller (The Cleanse).

The Facebook fan group Critters Rehatched got the scoop on this one over the weekend, when behind the scenes photos were shared (and then deleted) by a member of the crew.

There’s also a rumor that Dee Wallace, star of the original Critters, *could* be returning for the film, which seems to derive from her recently being in South Africa for a shoot.

We’ll update you as we learn more on this one.

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany will retire after his contract expires in June 2020, he said in a statement.

Five of the past six national champs had first-year starters, and jobs are up for grabs at places such as Auburn, Michigan State and Oklahoma State.

PlayStation 4 owners have reported mixed results in their attempts to get refunds on digital copies of the game.

Anthem’s launch hasn’t been a smooth one, and despite the day one patch 1.03 purporting to have fixed the issue of the game crashing, it appears to still be an issue for some players, who are reporting that the game is shutting down consoles when it crashes – both Xbox One and PS4.

One such thread on the subject of PS4 console crashes has seen players pipe up, claiming that they’ve managed to get refunds on their digital copies of the game from Sony.

“Sony is aware of the issue and is offering a complete refund on Anthem no questions asked. Took me 5 minutes,” said redditor u/SoundAndFury87.

A second commentor said that they contacted Sony via its support chat and explained that “The game is broken on PS4,” saying they didn’t want to risk the game bricking their console, and that it’s ultimately a defective product.

“And they helped right away, no problem at all. Just provided some account info after that, that they needed, and then it was refunded,” they added.

Others have attempted to get a refund from Sony without any success.

“I tried with Sony Support (chat) and was refused a refund. So, this doesn’t seem to be working for most of us,” said u/ka13b.

Another user said that Sony support just advised them to stop playing the game.

The situation is reminiscent of the No Man’s Sky debacle, which saw an unprecedented amount of refund requests on both Steam and PS4.

There’s a thread on the EA forum on the topic, bu so far, there doesn’t appear to be a pertinent update from EA or Bioware.

The post Anthem: Sony is reportedly refunding PS4 players due to the game crashing consoles appeared first on VG247.

The Horns reportedly landed the top graduate transfer offensive guard on the market in what would represent a huge coup for Herb Hand.

For the second straight year, the Texas Longhorns added one of the top graduate transfer offensive linemen around college football, as former Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets offensive guard Parker Braun committed to head coach Tom Herman and offensive line coach Herb Hand on Sunday after a weekend official visit, according to Jason Suchomel of Orangebloods:

Horns247 confirmed the news shortly thereafter, as did Inside Texas.

As Suchomel mentioned, Braun was a two-time All-ACC selection during his three years at Georgia Tech and immediately became a coveted prospect nationally when he announced his intentions to leave Atlanta in late January.

On track to graduate in May, Braun is a literature, media, and communication major who is a two-time member of the ACC academic honor roll. He has one year of eligibility remaining.

Braun grew up in the state of Florida, where his father is currently the athletic director and assistant head coach at Suwanee High School in Live Oak. His younger brother, Joshua, is a consensus four-star offensive tackle in the 2020 class who plays for his father at Suwanee. However, the elder Braun also spent a year as the offensive line coach at Hallsville, where Parker played his senior season.

So the family has some ties to both states, but the ties to Florida are much stronger, which helps explain why Braun took a visit to Gainesville and why the Gators were considered a top contender. Braun had also intended to visit Auburn and was trying to set up a visit to Ohio State.

With two open guard spots, however, Texas was able to offer a path to playing time, as well as the high-level coaching of Hand. The program’s success last season and overall positive trajectory could combine with the success of Calvin Anderson as a fellow graduate transfer offensive lineman to provide an appealing situation for Braun.

As arguably the best graduate transfer offensive guard on the market — and perhaps the best offensive lineman overall — Braun could immediately elevate guard play for the Horns over what Hand was able to get last season from Patrick Vahe, Elijah Rodriguez, and, in a much smaller capacity, Derek Kerstetter.

In fact, the AJC called him one of the team’s best players and one of the best linemen in the Paul Johnson era.

Known for his motor, agility, and power, Braun doesn’t have a lot of experience in pass protection after playing in Johnson’s Flexbone offense, so that’s a potential concern. However, at 6’3 and 280 pounds, Braun has the feet and athleticism to adjust to pass protecting more often, as well as the technique that one would expect from a player coached by his father and from a family of offensive linemen, including his older brother, Trey, who also played at Georgia Tech.

In addition to technique, Braun’s motor and quickness jump out on film — he’s always hustling trying to make an extra block and gets there in a hurry since he’s so lean. As a pulling guard, he can get to the second level quickly, which could make him an asset in the running back and wide receiver screen game.

Braun has discussed the need to add strength and weight to his frame to compete in a different offense and is considering a redshirt season, but the guess here is that Braun will be able to earn a starting job with the Longhorns this season after arriving on campus during the summer.

We told you last year that Misfits, Samhain, and Danzig frontman Glenn Danzig would be writing, directing and scoring a feature film anthology based on his Verotika comic characters for Cleopatra Entertainment.

Now, the singer-turned-filmmaker shared the first ever photos from his directorial debut, which is based on his long-running brand of mature horror comic books featuring mostly deadly femme fatales.

The cast of Verotika includes Ashley Wisdom as “Dajette” in a segment called “The Albino Spider of Dajette”; Rachel Alig in “Change of Face”; Alice Haig as the title character “Drukija” in “Drukija Contessa of Blood”; Kayden Kross as the title character in “Morella”; Scotch Hopkins as the “Albino Spider of Dajette”; Sean Kanan as “Sgt. Anders” in “Change of Face”; and Natalia Borowsky as “Sheska” in “Drukija Contessa of Blood”.

In print since 1994, the Verotik title Grub Girl was already developed into a pornographic movie in 2006, starring Brittney Skye and Eva Angelina.

Gearbox Software has promised “surprises” among other things during a panel at PAX East 2019 and we’re hoping it’s something about Borderlands 3.

PAX East 2019 takes place later this month, and Gearbox Software will host a panel featuring “the latest news and updates,” and a few surprises.

The panel will take place on March 28 from 2-3pm, and this is what description reads:

This is your opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at Gearbox Software and Gearbox Publishing, along with the latest news and updates from the makers of Borderlands, Battleborn, Brothers in Arms, and more! We will have never-before-seen reveals, exclusives, and surprises, so don’t miss out.

We’re super curious over the “never-before-seen reveals, exclusives, and surprises,” line in the description. Does this mean Gearbox is finally ready to tell us about the next Borderlands game? We sure hope so, because it’s been teased enough to make a southern debutante’s hair jealous. Yes, they have big hair.

In 2017, studio boss Randy Pitchford said around 90% of staffers were working on the next Borderlands. That same year, during Epic’s Unreal presentation at GDC, he showed off what could be images from the upcoming game. IGN captured the tech demo, which you can watch below.

So, it’s quite possible we’ll hear something about Borderlands 3. Plus, Take-Two has mentioned more than once 2K’s “highly anticipated title” from one of its major franchises was in the works. It is on track for a fiscal year 2020 release, which means it will land sometime before March 31, 2020.

As Gematsu notes, the panel could also provide news on the Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition for modern consoles and PC. The game popped up on two different ratings boards: once last year, and once earlier this year.

Guess we’ll just have to wait for the Gearbox panel to find out. But, please be Borderlands 3. Thanks.

PAX East 2019 takes place in Boston and runs March 28-31.

The post Gearbox Software teasing possible Borderlands 3 reveal at PAX East 2019 appeared first on VG247.

Starting March 12, you’ll be able to distill your own spirits in Fallout 76.

Appalachia wouldn’t be Appalachia without moonshine, and you’ll soon be able to make it yourself in Fallout 76. And without the Sheriff coming around to smash your still.

As part of the Wild Appalachia update, a brewing and distilling crafting system will become available starting with the quest Wasted on Nukashine.

The quest starts at Vault-Tec University and you’ll eventually make your way to a speakeasy. Here you will meet up with an alcoholic robot named Biv who will teach you to craft Nukashine using the Brewing Station.

The Brewing Station is basically a workbench you’ll use to make spirits. This workbench can be placed in your C.A.M.P. to create a variety of adult beverages such as beer, cocktails, spirits, and wine. Like the real thing, each will provide a temporary buff as well as a drawback. And yes, hangovers are a possibility.

You’ll find some drinks will need additional time to ferment before consumption. The longer you ferment, the stronger the drink.

During the Wasted on Nukashine quest you will also learn how to craft the Fermenter. Having one at your C.A.M.P. will help speed up the fermentation process.

To give you an idea of what you’ll be brewing, Bethesda provided the following information on each type and a few brands.

Fallout 76 Brewing and Distilling – beverages

Wine and Spirits

Wines and Spirits require fermentation time to take advantage of their full effects as a fresh beverage. Let them age long enough, and they will change from fresh to vintage, and gain additional, more powerful effects.

• Firecracker Whiskey 
  • Fresh Effect: Your melee attacks will result in self-immolation, damaging both you and your attackers.
  • Vintage Effect: In addition to its fresh effects, Firecracker Whiskey will set enemies on fire from your ballistic and melee attacks.

Beer

Beer requires fermentation, and is best served fresh; therefore, beer will not have a vintage state.

• Hoppy Hunter
  • Fresh Effects: Increased scope stability and damage versus animals, but reduced VATS accuracy.

Cocktails

Mixed drinks do not require fermentation and their effects do not change.

• Tick Blood Tequila Sunrise 
  • Effects: Your successful melee attacks have a chance to inflict you with a disease but may also refill your hunger meter.

Firecracker Whiskey, Hoppy Hunter, and Tick Blood Tequilla Sunrise are just three of the recipes you’ll learn. To learn more, go speak with Biv, and each day he will give you one of two new repeatable daily quests at random.

The first will teach you new recipes every time you complete it, and the second will let you experiment with the effects of various drinks.  More recipes and options will be added in  the future.

Fallout 76 ‘s Wild Appalachia update kicks off March 12, is the first of three seasons planned for 2019.

The post Fallout 76 players will learn how to brew and distill from a tipsy robot named Biv appeared first on VG247.

A little while ago, on Jack Black’s surprisingly gaming-less gaming channel, Jables set up a poll asking subscribers if they preferred videos featuring the recently released Red Dead Redemption 2 or the underrated heavy metal classic Brütal Legend. The cowboy epic obviously won by a landslide, but while I can’t fault anyone for enjoying Rockstar’s take on a virtual Westworld, I felt that Brütal Legend deserved some more love in 2019, the game’s 10th anniversary.

Even back in 2009, Brütal Legend was that one weird Tim Schafer project that everyone was intrigued by, but very few people actually bothered to play. Boasting a star-studded cast (with Jack Black front and center as the demon-slaying roadie protagonist Eddie) and a heavy metal-inspired fantasy land, not to mention a soundtrack that rivaled the likes of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, this game was a wet dream for head-bangers everywhere. Nevertheless, Schafer’s peculiar sense of humor and a never-before-seen mash-up of gameplay mechanics seemed too bizarre for general audiences, and it didn’t take long for the game to drift into obscurity.

That’s a damned shame because, despite a few quirks and an oddly structured learning curve, I believe Brütal Legend is one of the best and most unique games of the seventh console generation.

From the surprisingly effective FMV-based main menu, Jack Black introduces us to Schafer’s vision of a world clearly inspired by the best of heavy metal album covers. From horrific hell-scapes to fantasy lands that wouldn’t look out of place in a Frank Frazetta painting, the world-building here is fantastic, and every area is packed to the brim with creative designs and subtle references to everything from Lovecraft to Tolkien. This is all accompanied by a legendary track-list that dials the action up to eleven.

While I admit that I’ve had more than my fair share of fun just wandering around and admiring the scenery, the story here is actually quite entertaining as well, with our protagonist Eddie being transported to this mysterious land created by Ormagöden, after suffering a freak accident on-stage in our world. Thrust into the middle of a violent revolution, Eddie must rally an army of familiar allies (featuring everyone from the late great Lemmy Kilmister to Ozzy Osbourne and Lita Ford) in order to combat the minions of the demonic Emperor Doviculus, voiced to deliciously evil perfection by the one and only Tim Curry.

As Eddie embarks on his quest, always careful not to steal the limelight from the true heroes of rock (after all, roadies are only meant to make other people look good), he’ll slowly organize the greatest tour this fantasy land has ever seen/heard, harnessing the mystical powers of rock along the way. While the setup here is decidedly silly, with tongue-in-cheek dialogue and exaggerated characters, this is still an earnest love-letter to everything heavy metal, where even the most basic enemy types have varied designs and personalities inspired by the music they represent, and where there’s an in-universe justification for nearly every single gameplay mechanic.

Of course, it’s these mechanics that ultimately scared off some players, as the game’s intro and EA’s marketing would have you believe that you’re in store for an open world hack and slash epic. While you never really stop getting up close and personal with enemy forces through the use of appropriately brutal combos and solos, there is something of a bait and switch at work here. After a certain point, the game starts to reveal itself as a kind of pseudo-RTS, with Eddie commanding his troops from afar in literal stage battles.

Personally, I found this shift in gameplay to be as entertaining as it was hilarious, with Eddie being forced to back up the revolution with inspirational guitar solos like a heavy metal bard, but I understand why this might piss some players off. Console limitations of the time prevented these battles from taking on a truly epic scale, and the controls are more than a little finicky. Even so, these battles work like a primitive version of a modern MOBA, and though the execution is rather clunky, Brütal Legend was still ahead of its time with this fun, albeit slightly confusing, genre mashup.

Sadly, the experience is often marred down by glitches and frustratingly vague tutorials, but once you finally get a handle on things, these battles are actually lots of fun. The online component is great as well, once you settle on what faction works best for you (I’m particularly fond of the Drowning Doom, which features hilarious goth-inspired undead units that look like they just attended a Birthday Massacre concert).

Of course, this is still Bloody Disgusting, and there’s a reason why I’m preaching about this decade-old game to horror enthusiasts. After all, horror and heavy metal have been close friends since the early 70s, much to the chagrin of conservative parents everywhere. Brütal Legend is no exception, as it features some kickass monster designs that wouldn’t look out of place in a Clive Barker story. From leather-clad demons to Lovecraftian abominations, the game’s creatures range from amusing to genuinely intimidating and unsettling, with environments that are just as creative and intricately detailed.

The gore is also on-point, often used for comedic effect as Eddie and his road crew quite literally plow their way through snowy wastelands, haunted cemeteries and much more. In this regard, it can be said that the game lives up to its name, though there is an amusing option early on to censor much of the violence and profanity.

With the revival of other Tim Schafer properties like Psychonauts and Full Throttle, not to mention the continued evolution of MOBA titles and RTS games, now is the perfect time for Brütal Legend 2. Tim has previously expressed interest in a sequel, and Jack Black is obviously still fond of the game, so who knows? Despite all its quirks, Brütal Legend still has an absurdly high approval rating on Steam 10 years later, and while it may not have been the most popular game of its generation, nearly everyone that played it to the end loved it.

Only time will tell if we will ever return to the land of Ormagöden, but for now, the original game is still available for those who wish to fight for the honor of Bladehenge, for the freedom of its people and for the glory of its metal!

Anker’s Nebula Capsule raised the bar for portable projectors, and now, they’ve taken the guts of that soda can, and put it into a much less expensive home projector.

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Somewhere, over the last few years, Weezer became the kid on the playground who deliberately tried to make themselves too weird to bully. After years of having every new song compared unfavorably to their earlier output, trying to please an increasingly un-pleaseable fanbase and critical corps, Rivers Cuomo and…

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There’s a cute moment in the trailer for Hail Satan? when someone shouts “you’re going to Hell!” at a member of the Satanic Temple, and he responds, “I believe it and I’m very excited about it.” That basically sums up what most viewers know about the group, but the new documentary from Penny Lane (Our Nixon) is…

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Independent:

Officials from Para state’s health, sanitation and environment department said they only found the 11m-long whale after following the birds of prey which were scavenging on its huge carcass.

The remains were deposited in such a remote part of the mangrove swamp in the Amazonian delta that it took two trips for the wildlife experts to reach the site.

Do you think Rivers even knows if he is joking anymore? Must have been around the time he wore a cowboy hat on the cover of his record or maybe when he let Dwight Schrute name his new album? I don’t know, but he is so steeped in irony that he probably thinks this paragraph is a compliment. The Teal ...

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With apologies to those in our audience who are eternally ride or die for Weezer, we regret to inform you that Rivers Cuomo and company’s insatiable need for attention-generating covers of beloved older tunes has now reached the auto-cannibalization phase. Giving a performance that is, by our estimation, 80 percent…

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Every few months, I stumble across an account from someone who claims to have failed a drug test due to a poppy seed bagel, muffin, or bread. On one hand, that sounds like an awful experience. On the other hand, could a tablespoon of teeny seeds really be the culprit? A cursory online search yielded a Cerberus of…

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It's a good time to be a Dune fan. Not only is the classic sci-fi novel getting a movie remake in 2020 courtesy of Blade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve, but it looks like there's a series of new games on the way, too.

Source: TechRadar

Overwatch fans only have a handful of options for healers, but they're about to get one more. Blizzard has revealed that the game's next hero is Baptiste, a Haitian combat medic who grew up an orphan during the Omnic Wars and learned hard lessons about helping others and choosing sides. There are precious few details in the preview, but an earlier teaser letter hinted that Baptiste's hallmark is an "adaptability to new situations." He may be closer to Ana (who can play an offensive role in a pinch) than more support-oriented heroes like Mercy and Zenyatta.

Source: PlayOverwatch (YouTube), Blizzard

Bethesda has released two content roadmaps for Fallout 76.

Fallout 76 players now have a better idea of what’s coming to the game in 2019, starting with the Wild Appalachia update that kicks off March 12.

Bethesda announced today some of the free content coming to the game in the form of three seasons. Wild Appalachia is the first, and as mentioned above it starts on March 12.

Wild Appalachia is a series of new quests, features, events, and crafting systems which will appear over several weeks.

This includes the new Survival mode, player Vending, the Fasnacht Parade, Legendary player abilities, and more.

Fallout 76 – Wild Appalachia

Story: A mythical beast, a lost generation of scouts, and the strongest brew this side of the wasteland. Welcome to Wild Appalachia.

• New Features: Brewing and Distilling – Go on a new quest to discover the secrets of the forbidden brew Nukashine and bring the party back to your C.A.M.P with new brewing and distilling systems and recipes starting March 12.
• New Seasonal Event: Fasnacht Parade – Come March 19, chase away Old Man Winter and quicken the coming of spring with the ancient festival of Fasnacht! Join the celebration and complete this new limited-time event to earn unique rewards in the form of festive Fasnacht Masks.
• New Game Mode: Survival – This all-new game mode kicking off March 26 brings a higher-stakes PvP experience with fewer restrictions, increased rewards, and new challenges plus all the original content of Adventure Mode.
• New Quests: Shear Terror! – Uncover the ‘encryptid’ secrets of Appalachia starting April 9 in a new series of quests and encounters to separate monsters from myths.
• New Features: C.A.M.P. Decorating, Player Vending, Functional Camera – Use items from your stash to decorate your C.A.M.P. Build vending machines and flag items for sale. Simply set your prices and walk away to continue your adventures in Appalachia, being sure to capture all your favorite memories using the new functional camera. The vending machines do all the work, you just need to count the caps. Player vending goes live April 9, and the camera on April 16.
• New Quests: Ever Upwards – Journey to the deepest reaches of the woods with new stories for the legendary Pioneer Scouts. Earn merit badges, climb the ranks, and earn a customizable backpack for increased utility starting May 7.
• New Features: Legendary Vendor (May 23) and Scrapping – Locate the mysterious Purveyor to exchange and scrap your unwanted legendary items for new legendary gear. For every star rating on a legendary item you scrap, increase your chances to get the legendary weapon or armor of your dreams.

Come summer, the second season will kick off. Called Nuclear Winter, which will feature “an entirely new way to play,” as it shakes up the rules of the wasteland. This includes the new mode, high-level Vault Raids in Vaults 94 and 96, and an all-new prestige system allowing those above level 50 to become Legendary.

In the fall, Wastelanders will go live and geature a “tale with true choice and consequences.” Bethesda said this will be the “biggest and most ambitious update for 76,” complete with a new main questline, new factions, new events, new features and “more surprises.”

Bethesda said in the announcement game and server stability has increased over 300% since launch, and the average user playtime in Fallout 76 comes to around four hours per day.

It also thanked players for “sticking with” the team as it  figures outs “this online experience out together.”

“We know the game had a difficult launch, and we’ve made mistakes along the way,” reads the note to players. “We share in your frustrations when we do. We’ll probably make a few more, and when we do, we will work to correct them as quickly as possible.

“Know that we’re fully dedicated to making this game the best it can be – and even more so, a platform for endless Fallout adventures for years to come.”

More details on Wild Appalachia and other upcoming content are expected closer to the launch of each season.

The post Fallout 76 roadmap outlines upcoming seasons, Wild Appalachia release date appeared first on VG247.

congenitaldisease:

A close up of a surinam toad giving birth. The babies are born out of tiny holes in her back.

For slasher enthusiasts, the Slumber Party Massacre trilogy is an aptly titled series that delivers exactly what it suggests; a massacre that occurs during a slumber party. The cover art also sums it all up in a single image of scantily pajama-clad women cowering from a drill-wielding maniac. Yet, all three films were written and directed by women, earning the trilogy a reputation for being a feminist take on the slasher. That’s not entirely true, but that its cast and crew were stacked with women does make the trilogy noteworthy.

The Slumber Party Massacre films were produced by the legendary Roger Corman, the pioneer and king of independent filmmaking (mostly genre) under the model of “fast, cheap and profitable.” Corman didn’t see gender; he hired whoever he felt was suited for the job. He also gave his directors creative freedom on their projects, so long as it contained enough violence and nudity to cut a decent trailer to entice viewers. In the context of the Slumber Party Massacre trilogy, this resulted in a collision of subversion and pure 80s slasher fun.

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The Slumber Party Massacre

Amy Holden Jones had been editing films for Roger Corman’s production company and wanted to try her hand at directing. So, she shot the opening scenes from the script over a weekend, spending only $1,000, to show Corman her work. He was impressed and asked her to direct the full film, an opportunity that meant Jones passed up a job editing E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. As for the script, it was penned by feminist author Rita Mae Brown, who intended the film to be a lampoon of the slasher genre. It was rewritten by others to take a more straightforward and familiar approach.

The plot set up is simple; teen Trish decides to host a slumber party for her fellow basketball team members while her parents are away. It’s all fun and games until an escaped murderer crashes the party with power tools. Though it doesn’t show its killer until much later, the early reveal that there’s an escaped killer on the loose takes away any mystery, leaving ample time instead to get to know these teen girls.

Despite plenty of nudity to appease Corman’s rules for genre filmmaking, and a straightforward kill by numbers slasher formula, some of Brown’s feminist angle still shines through. Namely in its gender swapping. The first kill of the film is that of a phone repair woman, introduced up on a ladder working away on the lines. The killer offs her and steals her van (hence his new collection of power tools). The love interests to the female protagonists exist as fodder for the killer, and their dialogue is solely fretting over their relationships. The slumber party ladies, though, talk basketball, call up their coach for stats on the previous night’s game, and gossip over pizza and marijuana. The true hero, Valerie, spends most of the film next door watching horror movies and bickering with younger sister Courtney. The coach, also female, also comes to save the day in the final act (she fails).

Gender swapping aside, one of the biggest subversions this film takes is that these characters band together once they realize they have a killer on their hands. Granted, their plans to survive and thwart their attacker aren’t very successful, but it’s rare in slashers to see its characters attempting safety in numbers.

In other words, despite the generic title, this is a slasher is anything but. Fun gory kills, really goofy “red herrings” (hello, weird neighbor who uses a kitchen cleaver to kill snails at night), and even an early appearance by scream queen Brinke Stevens as an early victim. It takes its time to introduce these characters, too, even in a fast-paced slasher.

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Slumber Party Massacre II

If ever there was a perfect film to play in a double feature alongside Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II, this would be it. They even share the same release date, so, now it’s mandatory that someone set this double feature up. Writer/director Deborah Brock wasn’t interested in following the same footsteps of The Slumber Party Massacre, and this sequel gets weird.

Set years after the first film, now teen Courtney is a senior in high school and plays in a band with her three close friends. She also happens to suffer night terrors about the drill-wielding maniac from the first film, only this time he’s a young greaser with a massive drill bit guitar. And he likes to sing. When Courtney goes away for the weekend with her friends, and their boyfriends, the nightmares become reality.

So, between Courtney’s band and her musically inclined killer, Slumber Party Massacre II steps away from the standard slasher and into schlocky musical horror. Freddy Krueger mania was in full swing at this point, and The Driller Killer draws overt influence from the dream stalking wisecracking boogeyman. First, he taunts Courtney in her dreams, then her dreams turn her waking life into surreal horror, and finally, The Driller Killer escapes from her dreams into her reality to slaughter everyone in his path – all while dancing and singing in his fringe jacket.

This sequel doesn’t bring anything insightful to the realm of slashers, it’s far more interested in B-movie fun and special effects. That’s not a bad thing, by any means. The best moment of the film is the gag-inducing vision Courtney has of her friend Sally’s massive zit growing to grotesque, monstrous size until it bursts and splatters her with fluid. Yeah. That’s the type of madness Slumber Party Massacre II delivers.

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Slumber Party Massacre III

The third entry in the trilogy goes back to the blueprint of the original, following a new, entirely unrelated group of girls getting picked off by a drill-wielding killer during a sleepover post volleyball game. Written by producer Catherine Cyran, Slumber Party Massacre III wasn’t initially intended to be a sequel to this series at all. Directed by Sally Mattison, this sequel was originally titled Stab in the Dark, but was repurposed for an easier sell with a recognizable title.

This is likely why it’s the only film in the trilogy to not reveal the identity of the killer until the end, and give the killer an actual motive outside of just being a homicidal maniac. Granted, just what that motive is remains a bit murky. A point is made to connect the killer to a character who died prior to the events of the narrative, but doesn’t really much explain how that character is connected to anyone in the main cast. They’re just mentally unstable, ok? Slumber Party Massacre III also tries really hard to throw in a few red herrings, albeit red herrings that are so over the top they’re easy to scratch off the suspect list.

The killer gets a little more creative with his weaponry, too, lending to humorous kills like the plug-in vibrator electrocution via shower, mounted swordfish “sword”, chainsaw, and above all, the drill. It matches the body count of the first film, but with a little more gore and nudity. Or maybe a lot more.

In terms of subversion and originality, Slumber Party Massacre III closes out the trilogy as the weakest entry. But for slasher fanatics, it still brings entertaining fun. The Slumber Party Massacre trilogy is an odd trio of slashers that follow the Corman style of genre filmmaking but with the freedom of making it their own for the women who wrote and directed each film. Because of that, it’s a slasher series that doesn’t feature the same killer twice, and each brings a very different flavor to the mix. Well. Except for slumber parties and drill induced massacres.

Having failed to somehow learn the lessons of NBC’s landmark primetime drama Emerald City—the show that dared to ask  “What if The Wizard Of Oz was nasty?”—Legendary TV announced tonight its own intent to bring L. Frank Baum’s world of whimsical wonders to the small screen. Per Variety, the new series is being…

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Of all the portraits and statues of Abraham Lincoln that have been made, none have fully captured his inner essence. Too concerned with portraying America’s 16th President as determined and wise, most artists forget that one of Lincoln’s most important features was his hot fuckin’ bod.

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After almost 13 years in the job, Nintendo of America COO and president Reggie Fils-Aimé is stepping down. He's set to retire in April, with sales and marketing SVP Doug Bowser (yep, that's actually his name) taking over.

Source: Nintendo (Press Release)