Extraordinary Tales (2015) – movie review

Extraordinary Tales (2015)

Directed by Raul Garcia

Stories by Edgar Allan Poe screenplay by Raul Garcia

Starring:
Christopher Lee
Bela Lugosi
Guillermo del Toro
Roger Corman

This is an animated collection of five Poe stories. For the most part modern animation styles take a back seat and the styles of more intrinsic art are brought to life for the tales. They each carry their own distinct visual flair applied to Poe’s source material. We have the squared-off and skewed shapes in The House of Usher, the stark black & white imagery and cutting lines for The Tell-Tale Heart (in artist, Alberto Breccia’s style), and the graphic novel/Creepy magazine style of The Masque of Red Death. Voice overs and narration are done by Christopher Lee, Bela Lugosi, Guillermo del Toro, Roger Corman and Julian Sands, amongst others, who each provide their unique expression to the benefit of the atmosphere. Lugosi is here courtesy of an old recording/reading remastered for the Tell Tale Heart segment. The wrap around concerns a crow in a graveyard talking to Death. The conversation between them leads us into the stories. Everything is backed by classic musical compositions by Sergio de la Puente with additional music from Javier López de Guereña. I’m surprised this has such a low rating, but with its gothic origins and gloomy mood, I guess that should be expected.  The stories are edited into shorter form than Poe’s original works but they work well with the animation. Also included are The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar and The Pit and the Pendulum to round out the best tales from the gothic master. For someone who grew up reading horror illustrated comics such as Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella, and Heavy Metal Magazine, this is a pleasant throwback to a similar storytelling and visual style. Revisit Poe’s most popular tales with animation worthy of artistic merit in this fine collection.

This gothic animated film heralding the work of Edgar Allan Poe provides gloomy, yet interesting entertainment.

I give it 3.9 cringe inducing, caterwauling, death wails out of 5 on the gothic haunting horror scale.

---

parlor of horror – horror movie reviews

Dinosaurs in Sci-fi and fantasy art – part IV

---

 

Bud Root

Bud Root created the ever popular comic series, Cavewoman, appealing to young man’s fantasies across the US. He began his own company Basement Comics after being turned down for work repeatedly by Marvel. Today he continues to run Basement Comics and has gained much fame for his Cavewoman series.

Cavewoman – Budd Root

Cavewoman

 

---

 

Richard Corben

Is a well known illustrator whose work appears in Eerie, Creepy, Vampirella, and Heavy Metal Magazines, as well as others. His comic creation DEN was adapted for the Heavy Metal movie. Richard also does his own writing and coloring giving his work a distinct feel. He’s won numerous awards through the years. All of the stories and covers he did with Creepy and Eerie have been re-released in one volume by Dark Horse Comics.

 

---

 

Dan Morton

Dan became known for his work on the Tomb Tales horror comics by Cryptic Entertainment in the 1990’s. He is currently working on the Space 1958, retro sci-fi comic.

 

---

 

Misc. Here’s some miscellaneous Dino art I’ve come across by different artists…scroll over the art to see names.

Cody

Brynn Methany

Rudolph Lonati

Jeff Slemons

unknown artist

 

---

 

One more post, then I’m going to take a break from the dinosaur fantasy art.

I’m going to restart the series with dinosaur illustrators and artists in the science and museums field.

 

Dinosaurs in Sci-fi and fantasy art – part III

Dinosaurs in Sci-fi and fantasy art – part III

Dinosaurs, prehistoric beasts, cavemen and cavewomen are the subjects for my new series of art posts. There will also be an occasional giant monster.

This post includes work from Joe Jusko, Jamie Chase, and Bernie Wrightson

————————————————–

Joe Jusko
Joe sold his first cover art piece to Heavy Metal Magazine at age 18. He went on to illustrate covers and inside work for most major comic book companies, including Marvel and DC. He’s also known for his Edgar Rice Burroughs, Conan the Barbarian, and Vampirella trading cards. you can check out his work at:  http://www.joejusko.com

–

 –

Jamie Chase
Jamie is an American Artist living in New Mexico known for his abstract work that has been featured in many galleries and exhibitions. He recently turned his creative talents to dinosaurs, illustrating graphic adaptations of The Land That Time Forgot and At The Earth’s Core by Dark Horse Books. The adaptations feature Jamie’s art and story adaptation by Bobby Nash. The books are unique in the aspect that the illustrations are presented in fine art style rather than comic book art style.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/161655746X/

–

–

Bernie Wrightson
Bernie (or early work seen as Berni) co-created The Swamp Thing, worked for DC, Marvel, National Lampoon and Warren. His work for Heavy Metal Magazine led to his character, Captain Sternn being animated for the Heavy Metal Movie. He illustrated the Comic Book adaptation for Stephen King’s Creepshow and illustrated King’s book, Cycle of the Werewolf. More of his work can be seen at: http://www.berniewrightson.com

–

 Naturally all of these artists do more than dinosaur and giant monster art. I hope you will seek out their work and check out their websites, books, publications, and prints.

———————————————-

Dinosaurs in Sci-fi and fantasy art – part II

Dinosaurs in Sci-fi and fantasy art – part II
–

Dinosaurs, prehistoric beasts, cavemen and cavewomen are the subjects for my new series of art posts. There will also be an occasional giant monster.

 –

This post includes work from Boris Vallejo, Bob Eggleton, and Frank Cho

 –

Boris Vallejo – If you have ever read any classic sci-fi, fantasy adventure, or horror magazine fiction, than you have most likely seen the name ‘Boris’ signed on the cover artwork. Boris was one of the most prolific genre artists who has had his work gracing the covers of publications such as, paperbacks of Robert E Howard, Edgar Rice Boroughs, Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella magazines, movie posters (including the first two National Lampoon Vacation posters), Album covers (Ozzy Osborne’s Ultimate Sin cover) and several calendars. He also has many books of his art, the early ones with his art exclusively and later ones with his wife, artist and model, Julie Bell. Here is some of his dinosaur and monster artworks.
–

 –

Bob Eggleton- Bob took home the Hugo Awards best artist award for 8 years and best book award in 2001. He has illustrated numerous Godzilla comics and magazines and was a consultant on the US Godzilla remake. He also illustrated game cards for Magic: The Gathering. He did covers for magazines such as Asimov’s Science Fiction, Amazing Stories (1980’s and 1990’s), and Analog Science Fiction. He also illustrated many science fiction and paperback books. Here’s some of his dinosaur and dragon work.
–

 –

Frank Cho – Is a comic book writer and illustrator known for his comic, Liberty Meadows, and illustrations for Shanna the She-devil, She-Hulk, and Jungle Girl. His work features precise line work and vivid color.
–

–
Dinosaurs in Sci-fi and fantasy art – part III … coming soon

Dinosaurs in Sci-fi and fantasy art – part I

Dinosaurs in Sci-fi and fantasy art – part I

Dinosaurs, prehistoric beasts, cavemen and cave women are the subjects for my new series of art posts. There will also be an occasional giant monster.

Frank Frazetta

Frank Frazetta is a legendary artist who painted art and illustrations for hundreds if not thousands of fantasy items; sci-fi and fantasy book covers, Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella magazine covers, Album covers and movie posters. His work brought to life the imagery of Robert E. Howard, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and more…Here is some of his prehistoric beast and dinosaur art.

J. Allen St. John

St. John was an illustrator and artist who did some wonderful artwork for the pulp magazines of the early 1900’s and work for pulp book cover art. He is one of the early pioneers of sci-fi fantasy art. His work has been featured on the covers of Amazing Stories, Weird Tales, Fantastic Adventures, Famous Fantastic Mysteries and more.

Jeff Jones

Jeff was a much sought after artist and illustrator in the 1960’s and 70’s painting cover art for Heavy Metal Magazine, National Lampoon and Dean Koontz novels among others. He has several books of his artwork collections to purchase for fans of his work.

More in Dinosaurs in Sci-fi and fantasy art – part II (coming soon)

Apartment 143 (2011) – Movie Review

Apartment 143

A paranormal investigation team sets its cameras up in the home of a single dad and his two children. In an interview with Alan (the Dad), he tells how the paranormal events started a few weeks after the passing of his wife. They moved from their house to this current LA apartment and within a few days the activities started again. It becomes clear early-on that the teenage daughter hates her father. The six-year-old son is a charming young man full of questions for the investigating team. Alan is struggling to raise his children while dealing with the paranormal events now taking place in their lives.

The activity begins with creepy atmosphere and subtle movements in the apartment. They soon escalate into violent outbursts as doors are slammed and items are moved. In one scene they hear the loud crashing of dishes in the kitchen, but when they run into the room, nothing is out of place. Through a series of interviews and investigations the team learns more about the family, hinting at several different possibilities for the situation. The lead investigator tells the dad that the teenage daughter is exhibiting signs of schizophrenia, and that is when the paranormal shit hits the fan.

There was some good acting and character development considering this was a documentary-style film. It is one of the better ones, providing creepy suspense, jump scares, paranormal action, and a tense build up to the climax. Not for everyone’s tastes but I liked it.
–

–

–

–

—————————————————————
Footnote:
Apartment 143 is distributed by Magnet, which has clearly become one of the premier distributors for quality, R-Rated, middle-budget, modern horror-films from around the world. They have brought us films such as: Monsters, I Saw the Devil, Troll Hunter, VHS & VHS-2, John Dies at the End, Absentia, The Shrine, etc… When I see the Magnet logo associated with a film, I will not hesitate to watch it.