There are a number of ways my smart phone has become a sine qua non of my life. I can't recall what it was like to be unreachable anymore, simply because I was driving or otherwise not sitting by a landline. My smartphone responds to my voice when I need to know the answer to all the important questions of my existence -- like, "How do I get home from here?" and "What time does Wal-mart close tonight?" and "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" (If you've never asked that question, you really should!) Since sharing this technological miracle with my son, the phone has also begun to fill up with all kinds of driving games, aquarium simulations, and tap apps -- time-wasters, surely, a waste of the planet-sized computer brain inside the pocket-sized device.

The last thing Max wants in his life is excitement. The laid back cabbie enjoys his night shifts, telling himself it's only temporary as he saves up to start his own limo service, a dream he's been telling himself for the past twelve years. The last thing he expects is to be hired out as the driver for a high-profile hit man named Vincent.

Jamie Foxx is excellent as the easy-going Max whose Zen-like pattern is interrupted when a body lands on his windshield, courtesy of his current fare, Vincent (Tom Cruise). Suddenly what seemed like easy money from the generous rider who needed him to make several stops throughout the night has turned into a life-or-death mission, with Vincent calling all the shots -- literally.

An octogenarian Miss Fury? A fanboy Peter Cannon? A scalped Vampirella? A smart-ass possessed smiley button? All banded together with others to fight an insurmountable zombie apocalypse of galactic proportions that has already claimed Project: Superpowers?

Gawt dam, son! What more could you ask for in comic book entertainment?

THE GODFATHER: PART III was one of the earliest examples of when it's time to walk away from a franchise rather than sully it with lesser sequels. Rebranding and re-releasing it the film under a new name (albeit the original name submitted by Francis Ford Coppola) of THE GODFATHER, CODA: THE DEATH OF MICHAEL CORLEONE doesn't make the story any less soporific and plodding -- never mind that the title character, Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), does not die in the film (spoiler alert). 

Ellen Hollman (THE MATRIX 4) headlines this indie thriller that plays on the trope of "band of criminals does the wrong person wrong." During a wilderness trek with her husband, Dillion (Matt Passmore), a police officer recovering from a recent attack, Brenner (Hollman) stumbles upon a band of backwoods clan of gun runners. The gang is led by Mama (Geraldine Singer), who rules with an iron fist in a velvet glove. Her men are mostly brutes, and the women are kept in cells, only brought out for subservient tasks or mating.

Vikings is one of the most beloved series, without a doubt. But there was definitely a period that shifted the fan base to their core, prompting many to abandon it for good. Naturally, we have to say SPOILER WARNING for this article, as we will be discussing quite a lot about the history it follows, or the history it creates.

In the beginning, Vikings always seemed like a series actually following real-world history through the eyes of Ragnar Lothbrok. But soon enough we found out that was not the case. In fact, we immediately found out that things were being dramatized from the very first episode.

“…Thorolf, an early settler of the island, reappeared after his burial. Cattle that went near his tomb became mad and died. His haunting at home caused his wife’s death. His wanderings were stopped for a while by the removal of his body to a new location. But he returned and, finally, his new tomb was opened and his body burned and ashes scattered.” --From the Icelandic Eyrbyggia Saga,

Anime shows have always played a huge role in Japanese culture. They are unique in terms of depiction of reality, through allegory, which is especially attractive for viewers.

The culture of anime has significantly grown during the past years. A lot of people from European countries are actively watching anime. Some may think that anime is only for children, but they can have a very deep meaning that is often incomprehensible even for adults.

Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne is an anime that has gained in popularity, especially in Nordic countries. It is difficult to compare it with other anime in this particular genre, but Mnemosyne it has a rightful place and in this article, we will review it thoroughly.

I love the horror comics, particularly the anthologies where stories had to be told in a few pages and grip you from beginning to end. But there's an art to the telling of these tales. Storytellers around campfires know it. The EC (and DC) writers of your knew it. It involves a setup, a hook, and an unexpected twist. But tying that all together requires one important thread: irony. That's what makes a good horror short story, and it's unfortunately missing from the entire string of tales in this years GRIMM FAIRY TALES 2020 HOLIDAY SPECIAL.

The 44-page one-shot sports an appropriately eerie cover by Igor Vitorino and Ivan Nunes, although I would rank it last among the four alternate covers available for this issue, which also includes enticing fronts from Ron Leary Jr., Michael DiPascale and Sanju Nivangune, and Harvy Tolibao and Mohan Sivakami. The insides are actually decently illustrated as well, by Babisu Kourtis, Marcelo Basile, Dario Tallarico, and Rodrigo Xavier.

Just when you think everything that can be done with vampires has been done, along comes Mickey Reece with CLIMATE OF THE HUNTER. Granted, the trailer doesn't give away a whole lot of the plot, but the overall aesthetic and palpable uneasiness oozing out of this trailer is enough to make me want to spend an evening with this film -- preferably not alone. The visuals, costuming, character interactions and special effects make CLIMATE OF THE HUNTER look as though it were a collaboration pulling the best out of both Will Hinds (aka William Hammer of Hammer Films) and David Lynch (Eraserhead).

Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think in the comments.

Whether it’s severing limbs with a shovel or depicting shotgun blasts to the head, there’s something about an English accent that lends an air of sophistication to even the most intense displays of cinematic splatter. Indeed, that most revered of all British storytellers was renown for crafting gruesome set pieces, and like Shakespeare’s finest, 4Digital Media’s newest release, The Curse of Hobbes House, revels in the dramatic tension provided by supernatural underpinnings, treachery, murder and deliciously malicious mayhem.

Vampirella has gone through a number of iterations over the decades, but it seems that over at Dynamite Entertainment she's going through them at a rapid clip. You never know which Vampirella you're going to get when you pick up one of her titles. Unlike the Warren years, when Vampi's tales were an ongoing series of adventures with Pendragon, Pantha, and her other friends, every other Dynamite incarnation of Vampi tends to recreate her, whole cloth.

Such it is in this most recent adventure arc, VAMPIRELLA: THE DARK POWERS #1 by Dan Abnett and Paul Davidson, packaged and edited by Nate Cosby. Yes, I know, I seldom mention the editors when going over a book's credits, but trust me -- there's a method to my meanness... er... madness.

Before Marvel had a "cinematic universe" into which it could debut Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Wesley Snipes was staking out his claim as a Marvel hero -- literally -- as the half-human, half-vampire Blade. He would go on to portray the character three times before the MCU even took its first baby steps with IRON MAN.

Blade's origin is succintly told. His mother was attacked by a vampire while she was pregnant with him. While being treated for the attack at a hospital, her son was born, possessing the traits of vampirism -- but the ability to walk in the daylight like a human. Found as a teenager by Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), Blade was taught how to curb his preternatural thirst and seek out the ones who murdered his mother -- the many (many!) vampires living among us.

“…Strange appearances and uncommon sounds had been seen and heard by different members of the family at times, some year or two before I knew anything about it…Even the knocking on the door, and the outer walls of the house, had been going on for some time before I knew of it.”

So goes an account written in the memoirs of Richard Williams Bell, one of the seven children born to John Bell Sr., an affluent Adams, Tennessee farmer who, two centuries ago, played host to one of the most infamous and thoroughly examined hauntings in southern American history, that of a violent, wrathful entity referred to as The Bell Witch. From 1817 to 1821 the Bell family endured one otherworldly assault after another, beginning with mysterious poltergeist-like noises, scratchings from within walls, to hideous disembodied voices, physical attacks and unexplained illnesses, culminating in the appearance of a fearsome female specter that called itself simply, "Kate Batts, witch."

If there’s one thing in this last decade that nearly everyone’s taken part in, it’s the enjoyment of superhero-related content. It isn’t the first time the superhero trend has made its way into the mainstream in history, but this time it’s certainly had the biggest impact. It seems that these days no matter where we turn we see an iconic hero character proudly showing off their emblem, but for newbies that aren’t too familiar with the genre, knowing where to start can be a bit daunting. If you’re looking to ride along with the superhero trend, here are a few things to get you started.

Casino Games

Mike Grell. He's a verified legend. That's not hyperbole -- he's been officially inducted into the Hall of Legends, so he's entitled to use the honorific. He's given us iconic visions of superheroes like the Legion of Super-Heroes and Green Arrow, before becoming a trailblazer in the realm of creator-owned projects like Starslayer and Jon Sable, Freelance.

Grell's Jon Sable series is now being collected into hardcover omnibus editions, the first of which is funding on Kickstarter, and is well on it's way to becoming a fait accompli.

It was our honor to sit with Mike and talk about some of the highlights from his much-storied career, as well as focus the attention of our readers on this extremely cool project that is bound to become a sought-after classic.

Imagine a skin cream used by shamans in a remote jungle. It's derived from a rare flower, and it has miraculous healing properties for severe scarring. But there's a catch (of course there's a catch!) -- whatever you are in the inside, it brings to the outside at the stroke of midnight. If you are beautiful on the inside, you'll be beautiful on the outside.

But if you're a monster on the inside...

The cream is taken by force and, eventually, ends up in secret circles of Hollywood, coming to the attention of horror film producer Breen Nash (C. Thomas Howell). When Nash accidentally backs over his bad-boy leading man, Huckle Saxton (James Duval), he panics and hides the body. His primary fear is that the funding will be pulled from his newest film venture, BEAST MODE, and he tries to do a WEEKEND AT BERNIE'S with Huckle to put on a show for his primary backer, Pish Rudabaker (James Hong).

Science fiction has been one of the most fascinating and popular genres in popular culture. Movie franchises such as Star Wars, for example, have become billion-dollar series on the back of fantastical technologies and advanced developments which captured the imagination of millions of fans. In fact, sometimes we have seen those technological advancements featured in films come true in real life as well. One well-known example of this is seen in the Star Trek series, where creator Gene Rodenberry included flip phones, back in the day when mobile phones of any sort were a pipe dream. Lo and behold, flip phones were all the rage 20 years ago until the advent of the iPhone and touchscreen smartphones.

The Comicsgate comic book crowdfunding movement has produced a lot of material since its inception. (And, to be honest, has not produced in some infamous cases as well.)

However, one group of fans in the community has stepped outside the box to provide oddities for a laugh. Yellow plastic wristbands. Foam can coozies. Tchotchkes. But here's the kicker: these crowdfunding campaigns funded successfully, and were fulfilled rapidly. And the Indiegogo algorithm has sat up and took notice, because their projects show up high on the list of recommendations from the crowdfunding site when searching for Comicsgate-related items. In fact, as of this writing, their latest novelty venture is the very first item on Indiegogo's list.

Thomas Smith directs BACKWOODS, a low-budget horror with some surprisingly good effects and a decent attempt at a plot twist. In fact, the post-credits ending is a rather neat payoff -- you just have to endure the entire movie before that. It's akin to watching Simone Biles stick the landing after drunkenly bumping around on the parallel bars.

The first thing you have to get used to is the film's penchant for nonlinear storytelling. It jumps back and forth, from the moment we first meet Molly (Isabella Alberti) tied up in the trunk of a vehicle, making her escape. Almost instantly we go back to the football game where she was cheering, then back to escaping the trunk, then back to the aftergame party, then back to Molly lost in the woods. You get the idea. There is a place -- one place -- where the technique is actually useful, and i understand the Macguffin the film is trying to keep covered by doing this, but it's overdone.