Just Read: The Walking Dead Volume 1: Days Gone Bye (2006)

This is where it all started

Long before everybody knew The Walking Dead as a very popular TV show and video game series it was a series of graphic novels written by Robert Kirkman and illustrated by Tony Moore. It tried to tell a different zombie story that was more focused on human drama than the actual zombies themselves.

Volume 1 is the story of a man who wakes up in a hospital all alone. He walks out to find the city overrun by zombies, and his family is nowhere to be found. So, he sets out in search of his family and along the way he runs into zombies and also meets some people who he may be able to befriend. If you've watched the first season of the TV show then you've probably seen most of what's here.

The book itself is fairly nice. It's the typical size of trade paperbacks, is black and white, the pages are glossy, and there are 144 pages. Although the black and white is alright, it's a shame they still haven't released these comics in colour as it would really add to the books, and the glossy pages don't really go well with the black and white. The story itself is interesting, while you don't really get to learn a lot about the characters they do begin to get fleshed out, there's a good mix of zombie action and human drama, and the ending is a great cliffhanger. The art is decent, but could use a little more shading and a bit more difference in the appearance of some of the characters.

Availability: Days Gone Bye is available as the single volume trade paperback that's pictured above as well as a hardcover that collects the first twelve issues and the huge The Walking Dead Conpendium Volume 1 paperback which collects the first 48 issues. As mentioned above none are in colour.

If you're interested in the humble beginnings of The Walking Dead or want an enjoyable zombie graphic novel then definitely check out Days Gone Bye, but if you're not a fan of the show or want something a little more humorous or focused on zombies you may want to look elsewhere. This follows very closely to the beginning of the show so if you want new stories you are better off skipping further ahead in the graphic novel series.

Coming Soon: Dead Island 2 for Xbox One, PS4 and PC

Dead Island 2 developer Yager (Spec Ops The Line) have released the first gameplay trailer for the game, and it looks very bloody, violent and amazing. Despite it being pre-alpha footage it is already looking like one of the first must buys for the current generations of consoles. While the original Dead Island was a lot of fun and a popular game it was also very glitchy and flawed, but there's faith in Yager that they will give us something that runs a lot smoother and has a somewhat interesting story. Check out the trailer.

Wishes Do Come True: Shout Factory Bringing Dolls to Blu-ray

DOLLS IS COMING TO BLU-RAY!!!!!

After wishing for Scream Factory to release Dolls (1987) on Blu-ray it seems wishes really do come true as it's coming out November 11th according to their official site. Details are slim at the moment but we do know it's only releasing on Blu-ray this time (no combo pack) and it's one disc. The cover also has new exclusive art which is far superior to the lame poster the movie originally had. No details on bonus features, but knowing Scream Factory we should expect some nice new bonuses along with a great audio and video transfer. Stay tuned for more.

Click here for more on the release.

Coming Soon: Zombeavers

gotta love that tagline

Just when you thought everything had been done in horror movies Zombeavers comes along. We've seen killer sharks, bears, snakes, alligators, monkeys and even sheep. Now add beavers to the list. It's going to play as a horror-comedy and feature some good 'ol practical effects for the beavers. It's currently playing at the Film4 Frightfest in the UK and hopefully will have a home release before too long. Check out the trailer below. What do you think??

Coming Soon: Sabrina the Teenage Witch Re-imagined

Sabrina's got a new look again!!

Following in the footsteps of the highly successful Afterlife with Archie Archie comics has revealed a similar re-imagining for Sabrina the Teenage Witch. This isn't the first time Sabrina has had a makeover as she's had a live action T.V. show, low budget cartoon and manga comic among others. The new series will start in September and tell a new darker origin of Riverdale's young witch. Written by Afterlife with Archie's Roberto Aguierre-Sacasa and illustrated by Robert Hack and Jack Morelli it looks promising and hopefully Archie Comics has another hit on their hands.

For more info visit the  Archie Comics Blog by clicking here

Coming Soon: Escape Dead Island for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC

According to gaming website Polygon, Deep Silver will be releasing another Dead Island game. No, not Dead Island 2 that's due in 2015, but a last gen $40 release of a third person mystery/survival game called Escape Dead Island.

It's being developed by Fatshark (Bionic Commando Rearmed 2), is single player only, and is due this fall. While the game looks pretty interesting it looks more like a downloadable title than a $40 one.

For more info visit Polygon's website by clicking here

Just Watched: Hatchet (2006)

Victory Crowley is intentionally cheesy and looks like an 80's killer 

Slashers took the world of horror movies by storm in the 1980's. At some points there were new ones coming out on a weekly basis, but by the end of the decade the sub-genre had died off almost entirely and was barely heard from for much of the next decade. In 2006 director Adam Green wanted to bring back the feeling those movies gave fans with his slasher Hatchet.

With cameos and parts going to Tony "Candyman" Todd, Kane "Jason" Hodder, and Robert "Freddy" Englund, heavy use of practical effects over computer effects and a villain who looked like an 80's type of killer, Hatchet seemed posed to take a spot alongside the best in the sub-genre. This movie tells the story of a group of people who go on a swamp tour that winds up ending badly. They end up in Victor Crowley's territory and he starts murdering them one by one, just like the classics.

This is one of the scenes that was actually funny

Despite all this and being promoted as "old school American horror" Hatchet fails miserably at reaching it's goals and although there are far worse horror films out there there are very few that are as disappointing as this one. The problem is that many elements that made the classic slashers great are absent: there's no atmosphere, tension, creepiness, scariness or memorable soundtrack. Basically what we have is a gore-comedy, it's got the practical effects and villain of an 80's slasher but nothing else. If it resembles anything from the 80's it's more like the slashers near the end of the decade that threw away the horror elements for comedy and over the top characters.

And while the comedy works well sometimes, more often than not it doesn't. Instead of making a horror movie with humour dispersed throughout they basically wrapped kills around a comedy. What we're left with are far too many moments where the movie comes to a complete stop just to try and make the audience laugh. This works fine when it's funny but really hurts the film when it's not. Some of the characters, especially the two dumb women, are really annoying unless you love blonde joke type of humour. If you like nudity there are several shots of their breasts but everybody else may find themselves skipping ahead to where something else more interesting happens.

The special effects themselves are decent. Their goal was to avoid using CGI and in that regard the film is admirable and mostly succeeds. The practical effects are generally well done although some scenes such as the blood splashing on the trees are a bit overdone, and not really in a good way. Also, the bodies seem to come apart really easily, but it is a slasher film so realism certainly isn't expected. The kills themselves are quite well done, especially the double kill early on, and are quite bloody and gory.

Unfortunately Hatchet also has arguably one of the worst endings of any slasher. It doesn't really end, it just cuts off in the middle of the scene where Hatchet II is supposed to pick right up from. Sequel or not it is an absolutely terrible way to end the film.

The movie leads are decent, can't say the same for the support

Availability: Hatchet is available on both DVD and Blu-ray as a stand alone R-rated version or unrated director's cut or as a "Slasher 4 pack" with No One Lives, A Horrible Way to Die and The Alphabet Killer. All contain a good amount of bonus features such as a commentary, making of, gag reel, trailer and more.

Despite failing to deliver on the "old school American horror" that was promised, Hatchet is still a fairly enjoyable slasher film worth checking out for slasher film fans. Just don't expect it to be as good as the classics, or even quite reach the levels of later films like Scream either.