A Terror Time Out featuring 'The Burning'

The cult classic that set the standard for slashers to come.
4 out of 5 stars

The Satanic Temple's Salem Art Gallery, with Blood-Painting Surrealist VINCENT CASTIGLIA

The Satanic Temple's Salem Art Gallery, with Blood-Painting Surrealist VINCENT CASTIGLIA, Present:

"Sanguine Spring"

Selected Paintings and Sculpture by VINCENT CASTIGLIA

Opens February 18th, 8-11pm | 64 Bridge St., Salem, MA

www.salemartgallery.com

Salem Art Gallery - the headquarters and cultural center of The Satanic Temple, Salem, MA (64 Bridge St.) - is pleased to present "Sanguine Spring", a selection of large-scale paintings, limited editions and sculpture by world renowned artist VINCENT CASTIGLIA. The exhibition is inspired by the idea that Romans viewed February as a time of purification and honoring one's ancestors. Ritualized bloodletting, purging, and celebrations of opulent excess often accompanied observances such as Lupercalia, Parentalia and Feralia in February to expel the vestiges of winter. Castiglia's art, created with human blood, embodies personal, emotional, and creative purification and purging oneself into one's art.

Salem Art Gallery will host the "Sanguine Spring" exhibition opening this Saturday, February 18, 2017 from 8-11pm. For more information, please visit https://salemartgallery.com.

Lucien Greaves, co-founder and spokesperson for The Satanic Temple states:

"As a long-time fan of Mr. Castiglia's art, I'm honored that The Satanic Temple's Salem Art Gallery will now host a selection of his original works - which deftly blend horror and wonder, disfigurement and beauty - for a limited exhibition. The scale, detail and living quality of his works must be experienced to be understood, and I feel that The Satanic Temple is the perfect environment for this uniquely unrepentant visceral aesthetic event."

The Satanic Temple facilitates the communication and mobilization of politically aware Satanists, secularists, and advocates for individual liberty. While Castiglia's appreciation for the occult is evident in his art, he does not identify as a Satanist, or with any other one School of esoteric or religious thought, but rather understands the aims of the Temple as a progressive ideology with a positive message and intent aimed at healing particular social ills.

About VINCENT CASTIGLIA:

Award-winning surrealist VINCENT CASTIGLIA has garnered mainstream attention throughout the last decade with his shocking, meticulously-detailed art painted in human blood. Castiglia has been featured by the likes of The National Geographic Channel (NatGeo), Fox News, CNBC, BBC, New York 1 News, The Discovery Channel, New York Post, The Huffington Post, International Business Times and countless other reputable television channels and publications - most recently as the subject of a six-minute Fox News "Good Day New York" interview which featured a visit to his studio. In addition, Castiglia has created cover art for well-known albums and films, painted pieces for entertainment legends such as Gregg Allman and Margaret Cho, and was even the first American artist to receive a solo exhibition invitation from Oscar Award-winning artistH.R. Giger in the history of the H. R. Giger Museum Gallery. Earlier last year, Castiglia also made headlines after hand-painting Slayer/Exodus guitarist Gary Holt's signature ESP guitarwith the Holt's own blood. The guitar made its debut at the January 2016 NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA.

In the privacy of his studio, Castiglia practices a kind of modern-day phlebotomy, siphoning the life force which contains his own psychic energy, while giving it an outlet and form. In doing so, he dissolves the barrier between artist and art in a most literal and immediate sense. Castiglia's figures, their musculature and skin, are painted with what could be thought of as "liquid flesh". Its tendency to quicken the subjects is likely inapproachable by any other medium---as it is actual tissue with which it is being rendered. In this way, the subject's realism is not merely an optical illusion due to its level of detail, but rather is an actual transference of flesh and blood to each work.

As briefly mentioned above, Castiglia's impressive work can be witnessed in mediums throughout the entertainment world. MTV New Media's Horror-Slasher Film, Savage County, featured his art as its official movie poster, depicting the three murderers in the film. Prior to the film, Castiglia painted album art for heavy metal band Triptykon's 2010 debut release, Eparistera Daimones.Triptykon is founded by former Hellhammer / Celtic Frostsinger and guitarist Tom Gabriel Fischer. Castiglia also painted the DVD cover for Fangoria Presents film, Corpsing.

  

Castiglia's work hangs in many distinguished collections, and his paintings have been exhibited at museums and galleries in the US, and internationally - including CoproGallery, (Santa Monica, California), Last Rites Gallery (New York) The Museum of Sex (New York), The Museum Of Porn In Art, (Switzerland), The HR Giger Museum Gallery, (Switzerland), , The Mall Gallery (London, England) Canvas Los Angeles (Los Angeles California), Fuse Gallery (New York), Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center (Ft. Myers, Florida), Art @ Large Gallery (New York) Gallery Lombardi (Austin Texas), L'imagerie Gallery (Hollywood, California), Museo De La Cuidad De Mexico, (Mexico), C-Pop Gallery (Detroit, Michigan), Shooting Gallery (San Francisco, CA), Seed Gallery (Newark, New Jersey), The 7th Annual Dirty Show (Detroit, Michigan),  as well as The Congregation Gallery(Hollywood, California). As also mentioned above, Castiglia was the first American artist to receive a solo exhibition invitation from Oscar Award-winning artistH.R. Giger in the history of the H. R. Giger Museum Gallery.

"With such precise technique, his depiction of human musculature is nothing short of outstanding."  

- Paul Booth / World-renowned Tattooist, Artist, Gallery Owner, Fanatical Nihilist

"If the body is the temple, then the heart is the altar and the blood is the sacred flame that enlightens the shrine. Vincent is painting with holy light." - Martin Eric Ain / Musician, Celtic Frost

"The ominous truth that his art confronts, along with the exquisiteness in which it is portrayed, provides a timeless revelation into human existence." - Joe Sopkowics, Forensic Photographer

For more information on VINCENT CASTIGLIA, please visit http://www.vincentcastigliaart.com/.  

Top 5 Cult Leaders in Horror Films You Probably Haven't Seen Yet #5

#5 Blanca Guerra as Concha in 'Santa Sangre' (1989)


Alejandro Jodorowsky's Mexican avant-garde horror film is basically 'Psycho' goes to the circus. But Blanca Guerra embraces her role as the  leader of a religious cult that considers, as its patron saint, a little girl who was raped and had her arms cut off by two brothers. Proof that a religion can be built around just about anything. The film continues into main character Fenix's madness as Blanca leads her son down the path.

Zombie Cats From Mars Invades Blu-Ray and DVD from Back Aisle Video

Back Aisle Video, a new distribution company specializing in indie B-Movie horror, exploitation, and sleaze films is proud to announce their first title, Zombie Cats From Mars!

Synopsis:
The story centers on Billy, an effeminate fan of vintage science fiction action thrillers. His only friend is Cameron, a nerdy film buff who tries to boost his confidence whenever he can. After seeing a UFO land, Billy retreats into his head, imagining that aliens are taking over the town. Cameron is skeptical, as is the rest of the town. Meanwhile, people are starting to die. First, the reclusive cat lady, Percis, is discovered mutilated by Lester, the church going husband of Carolyn, Percis's depressed caretaker. Random deaths soon follow, first a jogger, and then a janitor at the Carbonics Warehouse. A pair of news reporters share this information with the public while the Detective and his Chief try to solve the killings. Meanwhile, the killings continue. Billy, wrapped up in a world of fiction, discovers a story in which Martian Cats land on Earth and inflict horror upon the town. Confident that the killings are the result of the UFO delivering alien cats, he sets off on his own ...

The film is directed by Montetré and written by Ryan Cloutier. Cast includes: Bransen Sands Koehler, Benni Harper, Janae' Werner.

The Blu-Ray and DVD will be available on Valentine's Day exclusively at www.backaislevideo.com and will head to Amazon, with a wide VOD release in the Spring.

THE MONSTER CHARITY PROJECT 2017

via gingernutsofhorror.com

Frankenstein's Monster as you have never seen him before, completely customised in unique designs by some of the UK's top artists from the prop-making and movie Special FX make-up industries.
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25 of the UK's top prop-making, sculpting and SPFX make-up artists have been brought together to take part in a unique charity project. Each artist has been given a bespoke Frankenstein-inspired monster bust, created and supplied by SVFX University of Bolton Special & Visual Effects team, with the simple instruction: Customise him into any design you like.

Once customised, the artists then donate the finished bust back to the Monster Charity Project organisers who will auction them off via an online auction site. 100% of the proceeds raised from the auction will be donated to Make-A-Wish UK. All the artists and the back room project crew donate their time and skills totally free of charge.

Last year the same project team raised a staggering £28,000 for Make-A-Wish at Star Wars Celebration London with a similar project featuring an iconic Star Wars Helmet. 30 artists took part creating such custom designs as Deadpool, Judge Dredd , Batman and a Studio Ghibli inspired design.

The busts will be going on a UK tour during 2017 taking in such conventions as Horror Con UK,  finishing the year at Creaturegeddon where many of the featured artists can be seen sharing their work and also available for a chat. The Monster Charity Project is also in talks to have the display featured at the very popular Grimmfest event in Manchester.

People will be able to start viewing the completed busts from May 2017 via various social media outlets and the above mentioned conventions, the project busts then go to auction on October 31st 2017, ending November 5th 2017
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For Further information and updates you can follow the project and all its progress at:
 https://www.facebook.com/The-Monster-Charity-Project-2017-1154419357915280/
Twitter -  https://twitter.com/monsterproj
https://instagram.com/monstercharityproject

my thoughts on.... David Gordon Green and Danny McBride's 'Halloween'

Ever since Michael Myers first stalked the babysitter in 1978's horror defining classic, 'Halloween', we've longed for a return to form and a decent follow up in that original franchise. 'Halloween 2' is about the closest they ever came to a proper follow up to the original, with sequel after sequel continuing to further take the story away from it's roots. To make Michael less and less frightening and more about how messed up his mask can get. However, I'm going to leave Rob Zombie's take on the series, out of this conversation. To me, they are 2 films unto themselves. Neither carrying on the story that started so many years ago, but rather to tell the story from another perspective. Granted, I'm a huge fan of Rob's work and feel that those 2 films are great examples of how to take something and make it your own. Love them or hate them, they are what Rob wanted them to be. A boogeyman built for a new generation.

With John Carpenter's masterwork slowly losing it's credibility over the years, fans have clamored for someone new to take the helm and bring us all back to basics. A streamlined piece of horror cinema that relies as much on music and mood, as it does murder and mayhem. There have been many rumors and whispers amongst horror fans for years. There have been fan films and comics and merchandising galore. There is no doubt that Michael has just as much power over the public now, as he did back in the late 70's and early 80's. People love him. In the past year or so, there were talks of John Carpenter traveling back to Haddonfield for role as producer in a new 'Halloween' installment. The buzz around this was insane. Fans were ready for him to resurrect the monster he created and to bring him back to form. Over time though, things kind of quieted, until this week. The new word on the street is something a bit unexpected. It was just announced on February 10th, that David Gordon Green (Stronger, Our Brand Is Crisis, Joe, Pineapple Express) and Danny McBride (Alien: Covenant, Eastbound & Down, Vice Principals) were in talks to bring 'Halloween' back, but they're not alone.

Now, unless you've been under a rock for the past decade, this is kind of an unusual pairing of ideas. Taking a couple of guys who don't have any real experience in the genre and handing them the keys to the kingdom. But wait, is that a bad thing? Another unlikely horror hero came out of the woodwork a while back and has been breathing life into the genre. None other than Elijah Wood. Yes, THAT Elijah Wood. It turns out, that the man is a horror fiend and ever since dipping his toe in the pond, he's been creating some pretty amazing stuff. For example, 2013's remake of 'Maniac' or 2014's 'Cooties', just to name a couple. He's also created his own production company and has been championing scary movies left and right. If this doesn't give you a little bit of hope, that two other non-fright films kind of guys, might be able to create something good.... I don't know what will. It's been proven time and time again that some of the most unsuspecting people will surprise you with how truly terrifying they can be. Maybe it's time we got a fresh set of hands on this franchise?

Danny McBride, when talking about what their 'Halloween' would be, had this to say: “You know, it’s not a remake. It’s actually, it’s gonna continue the story of Michael Myers in a really grounded way. And for our mythology, we’re focusing mainly in the first two movies and what that sets up and then where the story can go from there. Green and I are definitely going to [do] a straight-up horror. Halloween has always been one of my favorite movies of all time. There’s a simplicity and an efficiency to that first one that I think allows the movies just to be scary as hell. And so Green and I, our approach is to get back to that.” He continued on to say, “David and I are thrilled to step outside of our comedic collaborations and dive into a dark and vicious horror. Nobody will be laughing.” Right there, I get a little bit of goosebumps thinking about the prospects. Granted, 'Texas Chainsaw 3D' was the wrong way to continue a story from a fixed point in time, but if it's done right, it could be pretty amazing. Malek Akkad was even quoted, talking about the project: “It’s been a long journey with many starts and stops, but I can honestly say that I’ve never been more excited than by the team that we have assembled for the new ‘Halloween’. I truly feel this film will thrill fans, old and new, as well as being a high point in this legendary franchise.” I'm ready to see what this team might come up with. With John Carpenter still in the executive producers chair and possibly even heading up the music, and Malek Akkad behind it all, then I say let's give someone else a chance to play in this iconic sandbox. I'm ready for Michael to get back to his roots. What say you, Creeps?

Random Review: SiREN (2016)

SiREN is the spin-off and feature-length adaptation of a segment from the 2012 anthology horror film V/H/S, titled "Amateur Night". It was released on December 2 in theatres and on December 6th on DVD.

The synopsis is much like the original short, taking place one week before Jonah's wedding day, he and his groomsmen hit the town for a wild night of club hopping and debauchery. The night soon takes a twisted turn for the worse when the group is invited to a seedy underground club. After Jonah frees a seemingly imprisoned dancer, he realizes that the woman he released is actually a terrifying, legendary creature that will stop at nothing to claim her prey.

SiREN is definitely an expansion on the creepy short that dominated the V/H/S anthology with similar story line and uses of camera. Thankfully it was not a found footage film veiwed through camera glasses although it they did use some of the same camera effects including POV flight and falling scenes. The story expounds on the short establishing Lilith as the ancient Succubi who fixates on a mate and won't stop until she gets him. Its a decent homage to 80's films of the same calibur and is original enough to make it a worthy addition to the monster mythos. Check it out, if you dare.