TV Review: Happy Town "In this Home on Ice"

Last year network TV gave horror fans the thrilling and entertaining Harper’s Island (which I was shamelessly hooked on and still highly recommend checking out) and ever since then I’ve been keen to see if other networks would jump on this trend to make their own chilling horror-themed mini-series. Well, the waiting is over because starting on Wednesday, April 28^th, 2010 ABC will air Happy Town, a deliciously eerie series that (allegedly) echoes the classic Twin Peaks and promises to slake horror fans’ thirst for a substantially spooky series.

I recently got a sneak peek at the first episode of the eagerly anticipated series, which I’ve been looking forward to since early promos surfaced, and as far as I can tell from the intriguing first episode we are definitely in for a thrilling rollercoaster ride through Happy Town!

The first episode begins with a vicious murder by a masked killer before introducing us to a colorful cast of locals. Among them is young Henley (Lauren German), who has just moved to picturesque Haplin, Minnesota with hopes of opening her own candle shop. She soon befriends the mysterious Merritt Grieves (Sam Neill), who has also moved to Haplin, Minnesota (aka “Happy Town”) to open his movie memorabilia store. The people are friendly, the scenery is beautiful and the air smells like fresh-baked bread (thanks to the local bread factory), but the town can’t hide its secrets and soon dark truths about its past, including mysterious disappearances perpetrated by someone called the “Magic Man”, are being revealed.

I was really sucked in by the first episode and there are some seriously strange things afoot in Happy Town that I want to find out about! I want to find out the backstory on the Haplins, the namesakes of the town, and what happened to their little girl who vanished at the hands of the Magic Man. And there is something very sinister going on with Henley…if that is even her real name. And why is the third floor of the boarding house strictly off limits? What exactly does the film “The Blue Door” stand for and why is Merritt Grieves so obsessed with it? And who is Chloe and why does Sheriff Griffin Conroy (M.C. Gainey) keep speaking her name in a trance? And what is up with the symbol of the question mark with a halo over it?

Sooooo many questions…which is why I must see more!

Seriously, I didn’t know quite what to expect when going into the first episode of Happy Town, and while I hoped for the best I also had to prepare for the worse. Luckily, it seems that writers Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec and Scott Rosenberg as well as directors Gary Fleder and Darnell Martin have (so far) done a fantastic job with Happy Town and I am salivating for the next episode!

Catch the very first episode on ABC at 10 PM (9 PM Central) on Wednesday, April 28^th, 2010!

For more info, check out abc.com/happytown!

SyFy's Alice miniseries (2009)

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass have always fascinated me and I’ve always wanted to take the tumble through the looking glass and down the rabbit hole to explore Wonderland. So when I heard an adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classics was being done by the SyFy Channel, I was excited…as well as a little nervous. We are all familiar with SyFy’s uneven record when it comes to their films, but trailers for Alice actually looked pretty interesting and promising. And you know what? After catching the miniseries on SyFy the past two nights I was left pleasantly surprised! Alice has a great vision and gives the Alice in Wonderland story a marvelous modern twist!

Writer/director Nick Willing has modernized Alice, making the titular character a woman who chases after her mysterious love interest, Jack, after he gives her a mysterious ring and is shortly thereafter kidnapped by the sinister White Rabbit organization. She ends up falling through the looking glass and ending up in the strange world of Wonderland. Here, The Queen of Hearts rules with an iron fist and is kidnapping humans so they might be drained of their emotions, which are then used as liquid currency among the populace. The Queen uses the humans’ bottled emotions to control her populace and make them complacent. As Alice tries to hunt down the man she loves and return home, she encounters many different personalities that try to help or hinder her quest. On her side are Hatter and The White Knight, as well as “The Resistance” that wish to stop the Queen. Against her are The Queen of Hearts, her minions called “Suites”, evil Doctors Dee and Dum and many others who seek the ring that Alice possesses. Can Alice find Jack and return to her own world or will she lose her head in the process?

This was a delightful adaptation of a classic! I especially enjoyed the clever placement of characters from the original book and how they were updated for this modern take. For example, The Caterpillar is actually an old man (wearing a green coat that closely resembles the original Caterpillar’s skin) who is a leader of The Resistance against the Queen. We even get the flamingos from the book, but this time they are mechanical flying machines that look like a flying Vespa. The infamous Jabberwocky even makes a memorable appearance in its full glory! I loved the modern take on all the characters and appreciated how Willing kept them in the story while still twisting their appearances and characters.

The world that Willing has created is absolutely stunning – from the Queen’s casino where humans are being drained of their emotions to The White Knight’s fallen kingdom and everything in between, Alice is a visual treat! Sure, the CGI is a bit hokey-pokey when Alice is falling towards Wonderland or when they are riding the motorized flamingos, but none of it really affected my overall enjoyment of the miniseries and overall, I think they did a pretty decent job with all the special effects. I thought the Jabberwocky was especially impressive!

The story has a lot more going for it than one would think, too. With corrupt corporations, a wicked Queen, refugees and humans being basically milked of their emotions, not to mention all of the emotional turmoil Alice goes through with her family history and her long-lost love betraying her, this is one story that has quite a bit going on. Yet, it never once feels convoluted or weighed down. On the contrary, all of these different aspects make it feel more cohesive and seamless. Willing did a fantastic job updating the story for modern audiences and adding many pertinent, modern-day issues to it. Plus, he also kept the original humor and absurdity that laced Carroll’s original work.

Of course, the acting assisted in getting me invested in the story. Caterina Scorsone was fantastic as a modern-day Alice, kicking butt and taking names. She also showed the perfect amount of vulnerability without ever losing her edge. Kathy Bates was perfectly cast as the hot-headed Queen of Hearts, Andrew Lee Potts was adorable as Hatter (and a bit more helpful and even-keeled than Carroll’s Mad Hatter), Matt Frewer was entertaining as the cavalier yet confused White Knight and all the other actors did equally amazing!

I had my hesitations about watching SyFy’s Alice, but Willing has created a delightful yet dangerous Wonderland that’s all grown up. I dare say it might even turn out to be better than the wildly overblown look Tim Burton is going for in his adaptation (I still love you, Burton!). So have your own tea party and try to catch a repeat of the miniseries when it plays again on SyFy or when it is released on DVD!

Check it out on Amazon!

Fear Itself: Season One (2009)

It seems like the horror community pretty much turned its collective back on 2008’s weekly episodic horror series, Fear Itself, originally broadcast on NBC. Even I only watched a few episodes before basically forgetting all about it. In fact, only eight episodes actually aired before the network pulled the plug on the show during the summer of 2008. Now, the series has been released on DVD with all of the 13 episodes (some even with director’s cuts) included.

Though this Mick Garris-created series might feel like just another Masters of Horror (which he also created) with a different horror director (some well-known, others not so well-known) directing each episode, I was actually quite surprised at the high quality of some of the episodes. I might even dare to say that this is better than or at least on par with the Masters of Horror series! The only real difference is that on network TV filmmakers couldn’t get away with as much blood and guts as they could on cable. This actually works in favor on Fear Itself, though, because it makes the scares all that much creepier and able to crawl under your skin more as opposed to a visceral, one-time shock of a gore scare.

The directors gracing Fear Itself with their talent include Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator, From Beyond), Mary Harron (American Psycho), John Landis (An American Werewolf in London), Darren Lynn Bousman (Repo! The Genetic Opera, Saw) and Larry Fessenden (The Last Winter, Wendigo). Some of my favorite episodes came from these well-known names, but a few lesser known names like Eduardo Rodriguez (Curandero) and John Dahl (Joy Ride) surprised me at their high quality episodes.

In fact, my favorite episode was probably Rodriguez’s “The Circle”. Set on Halloween night and opening with an eerie trick or treating scene, the episode quickly moves to a horror author and his friends holed up in a remote cabin…and two trick or treaters delivering a mysterious book where what’s written inside comes becomes horrifyingly real. This is one of the most stylish and suspenseful episodes of the series and really has some startling scenes. With the Halloween night setting exploited a bit more, this could easily turn into a frightening feature-length movie. Plus, it really makes me want to hunt down Rodriguez’s horror film Curandero.

My second favorite would have to be Darren Lynn Bousman’s twitchy end of the world episode “New Year’s Day”. This is an intense, suspenseful episode that throws you into the chaos of a mysterious catastrophe happening in the wee hours of New Year’s. The drama is heightened by jumping back and forth between the present and an earlier New Year’s Eve party our lead character attends. Though the spastic camera work and flighty editing is a bit much, overall the episode was very stylish and I loved the twist at the end!

In Larry Fessenden’s “Skin and Bones”, a rancher returns home to his family after being lost in the wilderness…but his miraculous homecoming is marred by the fact that he has become possessed by a wendigo. First of all, Doug Jones as the rancher was AMAZING! His gaunt, hollowed face was terrifying enough, but his mannerisms really sold the performance! This was a definitely creepy episode and kept my eyes glued to the screen for the entire running time!

I dug many of the other episodes, including Stuart Gordon’s “Eater”, Mary Harron’s “Community”, and Brad Anderson’s (Session 9) “Spooked”. A few of the episodes weren’t to my liking (Breck Eisner’s “The Sacrifice” was a bit too generic and “Something with Bite” by the relatively unknown Ernest R. Dickerson [Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight] felt kind of hokey), but overall Fear Itself delivers quite a frightfully fun collection of bite-sized horror!

Don’t let Fear Itself go overlooked any longer, seek it out for some surprising and satisfying scares!

Order it on Amazon!

Transylvania Television: Season One (2009)

Saturday morning cartoons were always my favorite. I’d get up super-duper early, get myself a big bowl of sugary cereal, plop myself in front of the TV to wait until the early morning agricultural reports were over to watch some toons…until my parents harassed me to get outside and play in the sunshine.

I grew up on puppet shows like Sesame Street, The Muppet Show and Fraggle Rock and always marveled at the colorful and wondrous characters that were on the shows. Heck, I even thought they were real until my parents explained that they were puppets made to come alive by people. Despite the fact that I learned the puppets weren’t real, they still contained a certain magic for me. I still remember my giddiness and joy I had as a child watching these puppet cartoon shows.

So, when I received my copy of Transylvania Television: Season One the kid inside me was desperately clawing to get out. To satiate my inner demon child, I got myself a big bowl of cereal and plopped down in front of the TV to enjoy Transylvania Television.

Transylvania Television is a puppet comedy show that is populated by a bevy of colorful characters that run a television show out of a gothic castle in Transylvania. The characters include a vampire, a bat, a yeti and a Frankestein monster, among others! Here is the official synopsis:

A dysfunctional family of misfit monsters tries desperately to run an obscure television station deep in Transylvania, with worldwide broadcast power and the ability to reanimate dead TV shows.

The Vampire Le Shoc is king of his castle, but struggles vainly to maintain order while taking delight in the suffering of his motley crew of minions. And he ain’t your run of the mill Count, either, he’s a LeStat-dressin’, nosferatu-lookin’, Richard-O’Brien-from-Rocky-Horror-talkin’ creep with some serious issues.

Furry J. Ackermonster, the station’s new intern, is a bright orange yeti, who having recently graduated from an American college, is struggling with student loans, laziness, and a burgeoning pottery collection. Enjoys beer, snowboarding, and hairy chicks.

The station’s majordomo is Batfink, a surf-lovin’, kustom kar creatin’ bat. Think beach blanket beatnik with wings. He manages to keep the station running via the power of the Frankenstein Device, the same contraption that gave life to the Frankenstein Monster. When used to boost the signal of the station, it gives old shows NEW LIFE – and turns them into far-out parodies in the process.

They are joined by Dwayne Frankenstein, a fella who’s wired just a little bit differently than the rest of us. The Frankenstein Monster has been done to death, but you’ve never seen him like this: a brain-damaged, working-class Brit soccer hooligan made from 13 different people. He may sound dense but he’s not naïve, and has been known for moments of brilliance in the midst of an otherwise stupefying existence.

Tune in to Transylvania Television: the Retro Monster Comedy Series that’s really not for kids, not necessarily safe for work, and known to promote skull decay.

Watching Transylvania Television I got that same giddy, unbridled feeling from watching cartoons as a kid…only this time the jokes were dirtier and the language fouler. That’s not to say Transylvania Television has its mind in the gutter…I was expecting something along the lines of Avenue Q, but thankfully for my inner child the “adult content” isn’t that bad. And I still laughed my ass off. Creators Gordon Smuder, Michael Heagle and Clarke Stone have truly created something very special with Transylvania Television!

The look of the series is also great…anyone who loves The Munsters, The Addams Family, Groovy Ghoulies and old late-night horror shows will appreciate the gothic atmosphere of the meticulously decorated sets. Plus, the monster characters fit right in and are a riot! We have the old school Vampire Le Shoc who refuses to use computers…until he gets addicted to the Internet, the dull-witted Dwayne Frankenstein who uses a vacuum for landscaping, the Vampire Le Shoc’s right-hand man, Batfink, Furry J. Ackermonster (love the tribute!), a college graduate just trying to keep his neck and not have Fast Eddie’s House of Ax called on him if he screws up, and Esmeralda, the 90-year-old gypsy with her own variety show called Babushka Buzz. The look of the puppets and the performances of the actors behind them were all amazing. I really think this series deserves a spot on Adult Swim or one of the big horror/sci-fi networks! I would much rather watch the brilliance of Transylvania Television than the crap that is usually on TV!

I loved all of the short episodes included in the disc, but I also wholeheartedly enjoyed the extras! In the “Vintage” section we have older puppet sketches from the creators, including “Chasing Army” where two couch potatoes philosophize on who would win in a fight, the Tasmanian Devil or Animal, a hilarious Star Trek sketch called “Puppet Trek” where Spock keeps prank calling Captain Kirk and more! There is also a section called “Oddities” that features promos for upcoming episodes, contests and so on, plus a hilarious sketch called “Hey Hitler” where little demons are tormenting Hitler in Hell…with bad jokes. These extras are almost as delightful as the episodes!

Transylvania Television is a retro puppet show that is a whole lotta fun and will really connect with both horror and comedy lovers. It’s the perfect gift for yourself or that special someone right now, especially since it is so close to Halloween! You can buy a copy on Transylvania Television’s site!

So what are you waiting for? Put on your pajamas, grab that big bowl of Sugar O’s, sit down right in front of your television set and pop in Transylvania Television! It may not be kid-friendly, but it is Fatally-Yours-approved!

Visit Transylvania Television’s Official Site!

Follow Transylvania TV on Twitter!

Become a Transylvania TV fan on Facebook!

The Midnight Massacre Theatre

Remember the good old days of sneaking downstairs at midnight to watch your local horror host introduce a viewing of some god-awful B-movie? The movies might not have been memorable, but you no doubt remember the horror host!! Those hosts are what made watching such bad movies fun; they were like your own personal buddies whom you could poke fun at the feature presentation with.

You don’t see horror host shows that much anymore, but the Sinister Minister, host of The Midnight Massacre Theatre, wants to change that! The Midnight Massacre Theatre is a horror host show just like the good old days…the Sinister Minister, along with his Altargirls, introduces the night’s B-movie and while it plays cracks jokes at the movie’s expense.

The Sinister Minister is a fun character who is a corpse paint wearing, long hair rockin’ metalhead crossed with a black-clad, pointy-toothed vampire. Don’t let his dark good looks fool you, though, he is quite the amusing horror heckler when it comes to watching bad B-movies!

I was treated (or tricked?) to an episode where the Sinister Minister and his minions watched Lady Frankenstein, a frightfully bad 1971 Italian horror movie that pits a woman “mad scientist” against her father’s monstrous creation. The comments made by the Sinister Minister made me chuckle quite a bit! The Minister is quite a kooky character and I enjoyed watching him much more than the film! In fact, I wish there had been more of him and less of Lady Frankenstein!

Rather than popping up around commercial breaks, this show actually cuts back and forth between the movie and the Sinister Minister making his snarky comments. Though a bit distracting, you soon become accustomed to these welcome interruptions! I really also enjoyed the PG-13 humor employed by the Minister. It’s not completely dirty, but it’s also not safe for kids! Take for one a joke made about a woman’s place being on her back; when the Altargirls take offense, the Minister changes it to a woman’s place being on her knees! Mwhahahahahahaha! Not the best joke, but kiddies 13 and up will no doubt get it, despite its tastelessness!

The show’s technical elements were also impressive. The set looked appealingly dark, dank and like any Minister’s “Chap-Hell” should look! The Sinister Minister also got to sit on a big, black throne and was surrounded by ominous looking candles that added to the menacing atmosphere. The camera work was also very professional and crisp. Both of these elements gave the show a sleek, slick look. Even the special FX used (fake flame and so forth) looked pretty good, especially for a low budget production.

The Midnight Massacre Theatre currently plays in six different states and if you are lucky enough to live in an area where the show is broadcast I wholeheartedly recommend checking out the Sinister Minister and his lovely Altargirls! You can also check out episodes on the website! I know when you do you’ll have a gruesomely good time!

Check out episodes and more at Midnight Massacre Theatre’s Official Site!

Dead Like Me: Life After Death (2009)

When cult TV show Dead Like Me was unceremoniously yanked off the air after only getting through two seasons, fans were understandably upset. Questions were left unanswered and it just felt as if the show was somehow unfinished. Five years later we get Dead Like Me: Life After Death, a direct-to-DVD movie that revisits our favorite characters from the show and will hopefully bring some closure to the series.

After a brief recap of the show (a young woman named Georgia [George for short] Lass dies an untimely death at the hands of a toilet seat from space and becomes a Grim Reaper. She must never see or communicate with her old family again or make any human connections, just do her job taking souls as a Reaper) that is told in weird comic book format (perhaps trying to cash in on Heroes’ popularity, though they are a little late for that), we fast forward five years to pick up with the Reaper’s beloved meeting spot, Der Waffle House, burning to the ground. George (Ellen Muth) is joined by fellow Reaper’s Roxy (Jasmine Guy), Mason (Callum Blue) and Daisy (Sarah Wynter replacing Laura Harris). Their “boss” Rube (played on the series by the great Mandy Patinkin) is missing and taking his place is the rich and debonair Cameron Kane (Henry Ian Cusick). Things start going astray as the Reapers begin neglecting their duties under Kane’s care and all of Death’s secrets threaten to come unraveled after George’s sister Reggie (Britt McKillip) discovers George is a Reaper.

I was really hoping this would be the “series finale” that the show ultimately deserved, but now I think I would have rather have the open-ended season 2 finale as the absolute end of the show instead of this afterthought of a film. The film really wasn’t that bad, but it just felt like another (rather ho-hum) episode of the original show. There wasn’t any real conflict going on and I felt the script was much weaker than the script from the show’s best episodes. Plus, one of the many charms of the show were the eccentric characters, but not very much time is spent on any of them. I know those familiar with the show will miss seeing Mason’s zany antics or Roxy’s bad ass attitude, which seem to be missing from this film.

Also missing are Mandy Patinkin as Rube and Laura Harris as Daisy. Their presence and the dynamic they brought to the show are sorely missed. Sarah Wynter is horrible as Daisy and those that are familiar with Harris’ stellar performance in the show will cringe at Wynter’s portrayal of her character. Also, Henry Ian Cusick is a poor excuse for Mandy Patinkin, no matter how charming or handsome he may be. Bottom line, the filmmakers should have done more to reunite the entire cast for this film, because those missing would have definitely made this a far more enjoyable film to sit through.

Most of all, though, I think the film’s tone was off. The show always focused on death, but I feel like the movie focuses far too much on life. George is constantly building relationships with humans (her sister, her “reaps,” her boss at Happy Time – yup Dolores Herbig [Christine Willes] returns!) and dealing with “life” issues (like her sister’s secret-boyfriend’s coma) instead of “death” issues.  Also, the show always featured some pretty cool deaths (George and her band of merry Reaper’s specialties include accidents, natural disasters, suicides, etc.) but the movie feels very much lacking in that department. With the exception of the first reap by George (a suicidal contraption that reminded me of both The Goonies and Saw), the deaths flat-out suck. I mean a guy choking on some candy and dying two seconds later? C’mon!!

The only real fun I had with the film was seeing the people from the original show again. It was fun to see Muth, Blue, Guy, McKillip, Willes, and even Cynthia Stevenson return as George and Reggie’s mom. There is some luster of the original series left in this film, but it is dull in comparison with the series. The film doesn’t really add much and fails to wrap up any loose ends. In fact, I think the film created more loose ends than it actually wrapped up!

If you are a fan of the original series, stick with the series finale. It might be slightly unsatisfying, but at least it’s better than this messy film that asks more questions than it answers. If you are a newbie to Dead Like Me, for the love of Grim Reapers don’t start with the film! Do yourself a favor and watch the wonderful series, but don’t rush out to watch this film.

Available from Amazon!

Kingdom Hospital - The Series (2004)

So, I was busy there for about a week watching the Kingdom Hospital series. I was completely spellbound by this series. It started off really slow and wasn't necessarily scary, but it was indeed spooky and consuming...I just couldn't stop watching.

It features the little girl from Silent Hill as a good spirit and my current favorite Kett Turton (who was a lovely goth in Gypsy 83) as an evil spirit. There is a battle between good and evil happening on the grounds of Kingdom Hospital, and it is up to a coma patient, a psychic and a doctor to stop the evil.

It's a bit difficult to explain an entire series, but if you like a spooky atmosphere, ghosts, mystery and dark humor...this is a good series. Stephen King adapted this from a Dutch miniseries called The Kingdom (I have yet to watch it). I recommend you check it out!

On Amazon!