Lord Raptor Plays Only For You

Darkstalkers is one of those games with character designs someone clearly insane must have dreamed up. In the past, you could get your fill their large breasted succubi or kitty women in statue and pvc figure form, but what of the rest of this unholy band of warriors? Pop Culture Shock Collectibles is looking to fill that void!













100 fans died the night of his final live performance, sucked dry of their blood but struck with a look of complete bliss; laying before the skeletal remains of their rock god. His thirst for power caught the eye of Emperor Ozomu, who resurrected the musician, commanding him to kill the Darkstalkers if he wished to gain even greater power. Lord Raptor agrees to this task, but he secretly works to take the Emperor's seat of power for himself.

Sideshow Collectibles is proud to bring you Lord Raptor, new from Pop Culture Shock. This is the ultimate Darkstalkers collectible. A 1:4 scale statue of Lord Raptor/Zabel in mixed media, featuring real fabric pants and real guitar strings! In very limited edition of only 175 pieces, the Sideshow Exclusive version also comes with an interchangeable black guitar. This collectible also comes with a signed certificate of authenticity by Jerry Macaluso.





Click this link to reserve your undead rocker today! Get the Pop Culture Shock Collectibles Darkstalkers Series Lord Raptor Mixed Media Statue at Sideshow Collectibles!!

Mondo Celebrates Shark Week with new ZOMBIE Poster!

Just like the super pervy guy on Scrubs always says...something wonderful is happening somewhere. Usually, when I get wind of an awesome new Mondo poster, it is after the thing is sold out and I'm singing "Hello" to the screen as I mourn my loss. Today, we get our shot at greatness...

Check out this insanely awesome poster print from the Alamo Drafthouse's collectible art boutique Mondo. It goes on sale NOW and will likely sell out fast! Follow @MondoNews on Twitter for "on sale" announcements.

"Zombie"
Artist - Jeff Proctor.
24"x36" screen print.
Hand numbered. Printed by D&L Screen Printing.
Edition of 190.

The poster is in celebration of the Alamo Drafthouse's own version of "Shark Week" -- consisting of the following incredible programming highlights.

"Floating" Rolling Roadshow (7/30) - "Jaws" on Lake Travis
Well, we're fearlessly returning to the depths with a full-scale white-knuckle no-babies FLOATING JAWS SCREENING where YOU can watch the most terrifying aquatic horror film in history while adrift on an inner tube (supplied by us) in beautiful, deep, dark Lake Travis. We hereby guarantee the most heart-stopping screening on Earth, with a few added surprises to make sure you're awake and alert. Plus, every ticket includes a bowl of shark gazpacho, just like mom used to make.

Documentary (8/2) - "The Shark Is Still Working"
A great documentary about JAWS featuring star-studded interviews and some behind-the-scenes info you’ve only had nightmares about.

Terror Tuesday (8/3) - "Zombie"
Lucio Fulci’s classic undead thriller that features the Ultimate Shark VS. Zombie Death Match. An unofficial sequel to George Romero’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, but with a shark!

Weird Wednesday (8/4) - "Mako - The Jaws of Death"
A special Weird Wednesday presentation of one of the great shark exploitation films. A man is given a necklace with the power to befriend sharks, and he uses it for revenge against the shark’s greatest enemies, fat men.

Master Pancake Theater (8/4) - "Deep Blue Sea"
LL Cool J don’t stand a chance against our hilarious film-mockers. Oh, you’ve got sharks that can cure Alzheimer’s, oh ok…

Quote-A-Long (8/5) - "Cabin Boy"
The greatest quote-along of all time, featuring Chris Elliott saying “These pipes are clean!”

Hecklevision (8/8) - "Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus"
A battle for the ages in the horrible, horrible movie. Text your taunts or get bit.

NOTE: Ya know what..forget it. It's sold out already. I think by the time they go on sale online, there are only 10 left..and you blink and they are gone. Sorry to frustrate you with super limited items you have to be lying in wait for to pounce on. It's lame.

Interview: Author Steve Hockensmith Talks Dawn of the Dreadfuls, Civilized Horror and Bible Upgrades

With more than one million copies in print, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was the surprise publishing phenomenon of 2009. A best seller on three continents, PPZ has been translated into 17 languages and optioned to become a film starring Natalie Portman.

In this terrifying and hilarious prequel, we witness the genesis of the zombie plague in early-nineteenth-century England. We watch Elizabeth Bennet evolve from a naïve young teenager into a savage slayer of the undead. We laugh as she begins her first clumsy training with nunchucks and katana swords and cry when her first blush with romance goes tragically awry. Written by acclaimed novelist (and Edgar Award nominee) Steve Hockensmith, PPZII invites Austen fans to step back into Regency England, Land of the Undead! Now, Idle Hands takes a few moments to get to know the man behind the madness...

Idle Hands: How do you come to the perfect balance of classic courtesy, sensibility and the undead?

Steve Hockensmith: One of the things I love about the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies concept is that there is no perfect balance. The very premise combines things that are inherently unbalanced. It’s an elephant and a mouse on a teeter-totter. The result: comedy!

IH: Do you believe it is more important to be graphic to shock a reader or build tension to genuinely scare them? ..Or is this a moot point if the objective is to strike a humorous yet bloody tone like a great B horror movie?

SH: I think both kinds of scare have their place and work best when used together. Remember that elephant and that mouse on the teeter-totter? Well, shock-scares and dread-shivers are more like an elephant and a rhinoceros. They complement each other. A book or movie that’s all in-your-face shocks gets to be pretty boring eventually, in my opinion, and something that’s all mood and atmosphere is frustrating if it doesn’t pay off in a visceral way. Zombie stories probably lend themselves more to the graphic shocks, but I hope Dawn of the Dreadfuls has a well-nourished rhino to balance out that elephant.

IH: Where do you find inspiration? What horror movies create scenes you've kept with you?

SH: The two scariest things I’ve ever seen in movies are so simple it utterly destroys them to describe them...but what the heck, let’s blow ‘em up. For me, the spookiest image in The Exorcist isn’t Linda Blair in a fright wig. It’s when Father Karras dreams about his dead mother. He sees her watching him from across a busy street, then she turns and slowly walks down into a subway station. I mean, does that sound scary at all? But the way it’s shot and edited, it perfectly captures (A) the helplessness you feel when you’re trapped in an unpleasant dream and (B) the mysterious and terrifying finality of death. It’s chilling in the deepest way possible. In Dawn of the Dreadfuls, I pay homage to both that and the twins in The Shining (the moment when the kid almost runs into them on his Big Wheel is my fave movie scare #2) with a minor, throwaway bit most readers won’t even catch. What’s much more noticeable -- by design -- are the homages to George Romero. Extra bonus Fun Fact: The grand finale zombie battle was inspired by the 1964 war movie Zulu!

IH: What parts of the Bible would be best served by a horror overhaul?

SH: My friend, some parts of the Bible need no horror overhaul at all, because they’re already pretty horrific. You’ve got human sacrifice, rape, fratricide, stoning, locusts, rivers of blood (way before The Shining), baby-killing angels, women turned into pillars of salt, the murder of 99.9% of mankind by an angry god, a prophet’s head on a plate and a dude nailed to a tree. Last House on the Left has nothing on the Good Book.

IH: Do you think Macbeth and Hamlet would team up to fight Aliens, Killer Robots or Monsters?

SH: Let’s just pause to Hollywoodize this for a moment. First off, we’d need some diversity. Sure, Macbeth’s Scottish and Hamlet’s a Dane, but their both white guys, and that just won’t fly in the current marketplace. So either we flip one of the characters -- I kind of like the idea of “Black Hamlet” -- or we pull in another character altogether. Since Hamlet’s a bit of a whiny wuss, let’s bring in a man of action, like Macbeth. So now we’ve got Macbeth and Othello, the Elizabethan Gibson and Glover. As for what they should fight, I say let the focus group make the call.

Thanks to Steve Hockensmith and Quirk Books! For more info on any Quirk Books, hit up http://irreference.com/. Dawn of the Dreadfuls is in stores NOW.

Zombieland Blu-ray Review

In our wide world of horror there has been no shortage of films about the terminally hungry undead. We've had tales of love and loss, comedies and those purporting to be, serious apocalyptic dramas, pseudo-political pieces and ... whatever it is the Day of the Dead movies are. There is no end in sight so as Hollywood churns out their dead, it becomes less about original ideas and more about execution. Zombieland is most definitely not re-inventing the wheel, but I can say with no hesitation that it’s the funniest zombie tale since Shaun of the Dead.

Zombieland is the story of the broken survivors of an undead Armageddon. It is also the tale of a life not yet lived until everyone else has died. Lucky for us, very little time is spent on these deep, dramatic themes and emo sentimentality. In its place we get pure, unadulterated zombie killing bliss wrapped up in what can only be described as a parody of your basic coming of age teen comedy. Ohio (Eisenberg) is the prerequisite teen, so named for his desired destination. It’s Ohio who introduces us to the remnants of this decimated civilization, kicking things off with valuable tips to surviving any zombie encounter. This proves an excellent way of showing glimpses of the world going to hell and includes one of the best title sequence montages since The Watchmen. I know I'm dishing out some seriously high praise, but it is well deserved.

Ohio makes a beeline for his parent’s home when he runs into the mighty, mighty Tallahassee (Harrelson), who excels in zombie decimation while he scours the earth for his favorite snack cake. Destruction is his business, and to borrow a phrase from the Basterd Pitt, business is a'boomin! Soon the odd couple are joined by two more travelers (one of them being a hotty for Ohio), and the rest of the tale is elementary. Zombies attack and meet a squishy end, Ohio and his hotty flirt with love, hilarity ensues. As they make their way across the US, Tallahasse teaches the band that the world they knew is gone so it’s best to work out those frustrations any way possible, whether that be on abandoned cars, supermarkets, and of course, the cranium of a charging zombie. Some may still be staunch believers that fast zombies suck, but who cares? It’s not like we are getting prolonged chase scenes. When the Z boys come running, heads explode. What more do you need?

Comedic timing is near perfection in Zombieland, backing up the obvious fun of human-on-zombie violence with many a moment of gut busting hilarity. Woody Harrelson proves he’s still got the chops to leave us in stitches if he’s given the opportunity to shine while Jesse Eisenberg will most likely be described as “like that kid from Juno and Year One ... only funny.” It’s boyish/geeky charm alongside the badass yet vulnerable killing machine who is just a bit dim. When the party is joined by home town bad girl Wichita and her sister Little Rock, we’ve got a dysfunctional family for the world’s end. You’ll love every second of it. It’s a joy to watch a film that seems to get everything right, has an audience howling with laughter to the point where you have to struggle to hear the lines that follow a gag, and STILL provides some extra gory eye candy for the horror fan who said, “You had me at Zombie.” The running undead look fantastic and are dispatched in a never-ending, ever-evolving innovative shopping list of carnage. You’ll applaud every crunch. Zombieland is a killer comedy with a vicious sense of humor.

When a movie is this much fun we want the Blu-ray release to be jam packed with extras. Zombieland does not skimp. First up is a commentary track with Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg, director Ruben Fleischer, writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernic! Pretty normal fare there. Next we have a picture in picture feature which shows you how key scenes were made in a little box while the scene plays around it, with the use of the original footage, computer generated models or story boards. Some of these moments also include the crew talking about the scene and the original audio track! Awesomely fun stuff. With the "In Search of Zombieland" and "Zombieland is your Land" featurettes, you'll get every ounce of "making of" goodness you desire with zombie makeup application, acting and theory, weapons firing, stuntmen taking flight and bloody zombie kiddies tearing it u. Visual Effects Progression Scenes show raw footage transformed into a bloody mess by Hollywood sorcerers. Deleted scenes can be skipped. This is one instance where you can instantly tell why they didn't make the final product. Just extra useless bits. Theatrical promo trailers RULE! No idea where these were used, but they feature Ohio and Tallahassee answering questions from people about things in the movie and zombie dos and don'ts. These are my favorite bits from the extras. You'll be happy to hear that most of these items are also available on the DVD version, so those without the Blu need not cry..for once!