Ghost Luster
Posted by Horror News on October 12, 2007Considering the care Warner Bros. gives box sets and special editions of classic movies in the catalog, one has to wonder why Poltergeist: 25th Anniversary Edition wasn't afforded a more lavish celebration.
The lack of enticing new extras, except for a new and less than informative documentary, might cause many who own the film on disc to pass it by. Too bad, because Poltergeist has been given a digital remastering and 5.1 Dolby Surround audio mix that puts the earlier DVD release to shame. Read more
Posted under Horror News
Jericho is a squad-based action/horror game based on an original concept and story by acclaimed horror writer and film maker Clive Barker. The most ancient of evils has broken through into our world and is threatening to spread its taint across the whole of the earth unless it's stopped. At ground zero lies the Middle Eastern city of Al-Khali, a modern city built atop the ancient ruins of a dozen previous conquerors. All attempts of contacting the citizens of the city have failed. With tensions already running high in the region, this is just the sort of thing that could trigger the apocalypse. In Clive Barker's Jericho, players assume the role of the leader of the Jericho Squad - a seven man Special Forces strike team that protects U.S. interests against paranormal threats. Each member of the squad is an expert in modern warfare as well as their own different para-psychological disciplines, including clairvoyance, alchemy, blood magic, exorcism, etc. Players must lead the Jericho Squad into the flaming ruins of the city, moving block by block towards the dimensional rift tearing away at its heart. Along the way, they encounter the horrific armies of hellish denizens that now rule the city and corrupt everything they touch. As players incrementally approach the source of evil, they will have to rely less and less on traditional weapons and instead focus on the combined psychic talents of the Jericho Squad. 
As an exercise in pure, unadulterated terror, 28 Weeks Later is a worthy follow-up to its acclaimed predecessor, 28 Days Later. In this ultraviolent sequel from Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (hired on the strength of his 2001 thriller Intacto), over six months have passed since the first film's apocalyptic vision of London overrun by infectious, plague-ridden zombies. Just when it seems the "rage virus" has been fully contained, and London is in the process of slowly recovering, an extremely unfortunate couple (Robert Carlyle, Catherine McCormack) is attacked by a small band of rampaging "ragers," and the cowardly husband escapes while his wife is attacked and presumably infected. Their surviving children (Imogen Poots, Mackintosh Muggleton) fall under the protection of a U.S. Army sharpshooter (Jeremy Renner), but nobody's safe for long as 28 Weeks Later goes into action-packed overdrive, with scene after blood-gushing scene of carnage and decimation. The film's visuals follow the look established in 28 Days Later, this time with bigger and better scenes of a nearly abandoned London on the brink of utter destruction. The military subplot gets a bold assist from Harold Perrineau (as a daring helicopter pilot) and Idris Elba (in a too-brief role as the military commander), and their firepower--not to mention the efficient lethality of helicopter blades--turns 28 Weeks Later into a nonstop bloodbath that's way too intense for younger viewers and guaranteed to leave hardcore horror fans gruesomely satisfied. That's all there is to it--this film is almost plotless and dialogue is minimal throughout--but as a truly terrifying vision of survival amidst chaos, 28 Weeks Later honors its origins and qualifies as a solid double-feature with Children of Men. Could there be another sequel? Thanks to the "chunnel," the answer in this case is definitely oui. --Jeff Shannon
