Death Valley and the horrors of horror

There are many side effects to being deprived of actual human contact as well as many days of constant fever. One of those side efects is hating everything new you see or read.

So, after careful consideration I've decided not to post anything I' m not absolutely sure about. (And believe me I've seen a lot these past few days).

I've seen films that deserve a closer look -given my state of mind at the time- I've seen new series I didn't really like that much, but said to myself don't be too quick to judge, give it another episode or two. I've started reading books I wanted to close shut after 20 or 30 pages, but put them away till everything went back to normal again. . .

There is though, one single thing that I hated so much and with every painful breath I took that I had no choice but to write and warn people about.

Welcome to "Death Valley", a seemingly not so bad idea but given in such a poor, stupid, tasteless, non creative way, that it actually gives a bad name to the people responsible for such an insult to fans of horror everywhere.

I don't know where to begin, so I will talk about what awful thing comes first, second and so on to mind.

Let's see, dialogues; who wrote them? I really would like to meet the people MTV has in its payroll.

Characters; really? Cops looking for doughnuts in the middle of a zombie chase, or looking at porn during an attack? Is that supposed to be funny?

Actors, well I'd rather be silent on that one...

Well, I should have known that it would be a disaster the minute I realised MTV had its claws into it, nevertheless I gave it a shot (serves me right not to trust my instincts!).

Anyway, a word of caution to all of you out there, time is too precious to be wasting it but if for some reason you find yourself wanting to watch it, by all means watch away, just remember you had been warned!!!

PS: Any different opinions would be more than welcome.

American HORROR Story

It took me months to get my hands on it, but now that I have finally done so, I don't think I'll ever let go!

Once I got wind of American Horror Story I was mortified to sit and watch because I was up to here with all those second class series claiming to belong to the horror genre. So it obviously took me too long to decide to actually give it a go.

I wasn't expecting much; actually I wasn't expecting anything, so imagine my surprise when I found myself watching one episode after the other. It was daytime when I began and way past midnight when I switched off my DVD player!

Creepy, disturbing, violent, haunting, unexpected, you either love it or love to hate it, but either way there is no forgetting it!

It is a first for me, waiting impatiently for the next episode of any series. But don't take my word for it, seeing is believing so I will be waiting to hear from you, are you lovers or haters?

Divis Mortis and the Zombie Apocalypse

Divis Mortis: an interactive survival game is, quite surprisingly, an interactive survival game that gives players a slim chance at surviving the zombie apocalypse. What's more, this being a particularly well written piece of interactive fiction (a text adventure, if you prefer) it actually manages to feel realistic and tense. Divis Mortis is a game without a graphics and thus a game that doesn't favor guns. You will not be shooting zombies in the head. You will instead be frantically searching for makeshift weapons, food, water and a safe place to take a nap in a beautifully crafted and at times humorous world.

You can happily play Divis Mortis in your web-browser and -as nature intrended- for free via this link. Oh, and if you've never played such a game before, I strongly suggest you start by typing help. Enjoy! I know I did.

Choose your Living Dead

What you see above is not another version of classic zombie flick Night of the Living Dead. Oh no. It's a game. Yes, a game. A properly -though limited- interactive experience that let's you choose your own way through a re-cut version of the film. To start playing simply click play on the above clip and enjoy killing of your character in Editing the Dead.

And then, for those zombie lovers that simply cannot watch Romero's classic one more time, we have a rather different interactive movie: The Outbreak. Click and enjoy.

A Supernatural Comeback

Season 6 of the series and the drama goes on!

As anticipated Sam is back, or is he? Well something is back!

Eight episodes in the series and god is nowhere to be found. Rebellious angels roam the earth having given in to temptation and using every divine weapon imaginable. Demons are loose with no shepherd as well. Heaven and hell in turmoil and human kind stuck in the middle being collateral damage.

I'm liking the idea of angels with human pettiness acting like abandoned children trying to get the attention of the absent father, playing with their “toys” without caring about the consequences.

What I'm not liking is the resurrection of yet another member of the Winchester family! How many are there any way?

Just stop bringing people back from the dead!

Watch The Night Of The Living Dead

Night of the Living Dead the 1968 indie classic directed by George Romero is the independent black-and-white horror film that turned zombies into a cultural phenomenon. and managed to create a whole sub-genre in horror, while bravely sporting a black protagonist. Also and despite being a deeply political low-budget film, Night of the Living Dead was a major hit both with audiences and critics. Then again, if you are reading this very blog, you're probably aware of all that and we'll spare you the history lesson.

What you might have missed though is the fact that Night of the Living Dead is now in the public domain and you can either watch it for free below or even download it from this place. We're letting you know because a) we're nice like that, b) we love free stuff.

It's the Walking Dead Premier!

The Walking Dead, the TV version of it to be precise, premiered this very Halloween on TV, and though I really don't know whether it was a commercial success or not, I must admit this was way better than anything I expected. The first episode showcased the series' faithfulness to the -excellent- original material, its well casted actors, the rather amazing production values and some of the best zombies you've ever seen. It's the first time since Romero's early masterpieces that the undead have been depicted in such a beautiful, terrifying and sadly human way.

This also happens to be the first modern horror TV series that, despite targeting the mainstream, chooses a sedate character-centric pace and prefers to develop its setting instead of focusing on a barrage of action scenes. Oh, and it's far gorier than expected.

The plot, centering on a contemporary sheriff's deputy who wakes up in a hospital right after the zombie apocalypse destroyed everything he knew, is, well, truly interesting and will not be spoiled here. I will though let you know that things will very soon pick up and that the simple struggle for survival against zombies will very soon turn into a story about human passion, bravery and -mostly- the evil that men do.

The Making of The Walking Dead Documentary (in two parts)

The Walking Dead series will premier this very Halloween and to say that we here in the Chamber are excited is an understatement. Then again you should have guessed that. The following making of documentary should get you in the appropriate mood too. The show looks more than promising.

The Walking Dead TV Show

Our more faithful readers should remember the gory Walking Dead comic books, that rather excellent take on zombies and humanity's contemporary tendencies for self-destruction. Well, good news everyone! The Walking Dead TV series is just around the corner and seems to be more promising than a particularly promising thing. The first episode of the six episode series will premier this Halloween (Oct. 31) and will introduce viewers to a dark, gory, shockingly violent, (at times) touching, cruel, zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic world, and the rag-tag group of survivors that will be the seeries' protagonists.

At the helm of the how you will pleased to find director-writer-producer Frank Darabond (The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption), who is supported by a talented cast, that includes Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Jeffrey DeMunn, Steven Yeun and Emma Bell.

To find out more about the Walking Dead you could do much worse than visit its content-packed official site. Imdb also sports some useful info, though you'd better start by taking a look at this lovely trailer:

George Romero's Survival of the Dead

I am a huge fan of George Romero's work; really am. And I frankly believe that his zombie movies, the same movies that actually established the zombie sub-genre in horror, are some of the most interesting, unique, smart, innovative and politically intriguing horror movies ever created. The Night of the Living Dead was unique in featuring a black protagonist and anti-racist overtones back in 1968, the Dawn of the Dead was harsh in its critique of consumerist society, Day of the Dead openly mocked armies, the Land of the Dead was the only zombie-based class drama ever shot, and all of them were great films with proper characters, interesting plots and wise scares.

George Romero's 2009 zombie flick Survival of the Dead, on the other hand, is far less than spectacular. Actually, it's a right-out disappointment, that fails on so many levels, it actually managed to shock me. This is sub-standard, uninspired b-movie fare, and I simply didn't see it coming.

First of all, you see, gone are the political undertones and the original ideas in the already tired sub-genre, and in are most major zombie movie cliches. Then there's the inclusion of some dire attempts at slapstick humour, and an even more desperate attempt to test some cardboard, soap-opera inspired characters, which -surprise, surprise- miserably fail to create any sort of empathy. Oh, and in case you were wondering the plot sports gigantic holes and is roughly as interesting as watching school kids remake Romeo and Juliet. Adding the fact that the movie doesn't even try to scare anyone, well, I guess it would be safe to say this is something you'll most probably want to avoid.

It doesn't even get the atmosphere right! Seems like someone forgot to put the needed amount of zombies in it...

And, please, don't get me started on that curing the zombies subplot. Or the miserably and decidedly unfunny slapstick ending to some originally promising scenes. It simply makes me sad. George Romero deserves much better than that. 

You can find out more about Survival of the Dead at imdb and its official site. To grab a copy of the movie, you could try Amazon.

Supernatural ?

Still on the subject of TV series...

What can one say about the hit series Supernatural?

The first season unveiled a promising world of ghosts and unearthly creatures backed up by a starting point, which slowly made sense throughout the season introducing us to the drama of the Winchester family.

Second season and the all absent father makes his appearance, as the story of a cursed family is now fully on display (or so we thought).

Third season and the mythology changes as demons take over almost every episode, but still the story unravels with more focus on the the family itself and the importance of the little brother's destiny.

Fourth season and here is when it starts going south... People came back from hell, angels appear fighting with demons fighting with mortals fighting with each other whilst the viewer tries to make sense of a family story now made more complex .

And the plot thickens, people die, come back, die again and come back vigilant. This back and forth along with a lot more comic elements than in the previews seasons (not so comic if I may say) and a long hard search for God, makes for an even souther 5th season.

Series finale? But the boys save the world of course by stopping the Apocalypse without delivering the happy ending everyone was expecting, but with a hint of God's presence and help along the way. And while this season was announced to be the last of the series, there has been rumor of a 6th one since a small window was left open at the very last scene.

Would it be wise to feed viewer's expectations for yet another season? Hard to tell. One thing's for sure though, save for the last two seasons it was a force to be reckoned with.

PS: Just please leave God and the commuting to hell and back aside!

Quoth the Raven

The Walking Dead

When I originally grabbed my first issue of The Walking Dead, I really wasn't expecting much. Simply wanted to read something about zombies as a follow up to the highly atmospheric World War Z. It looked after all just like another dark and gritty, monthly, slightly banal, black and white comic with zombies in it.Then again, the quality of the art was pretty impressive, and despite an incredibly clichéd opening, the story felt promising, interesting and extremely subtly hinting at imaginative new ideas. Thing is, the first issue of The Walking Dead left me wanting for more and happily, after hundreds, possibly thousands of pages later, I must say I'm glad I decided to stick with the series.

The Walking Dead, you see, sports the Romero kind of zombie and, beside sporting some excellent, complicated and realistic characters, manages to come up with an intriguing critique of mankind's brutality, simultaneously with a celebration of its greatest moments. After all, in any good zombie story, the zombies are not the main, let alone the only, adversary, and all post-apocalyptic worlds can be a literary social testbed. The tons of gore and gripping, at times deeply disturbing, plot can thus be considered a lovely bonus to a dark vision of humanity.

I strongly suggest you have a look at the official The Walking Dead website. You can also grab copies of The Walking Dead via Amazon.

Worst Case Scenario

It's been ages since the spectacularly odd Nazi Zombies of Worst Case Scenario were promised to us and just over a year since the (deeply troubled and quite indie) project was officially put on hold. Being the rather informed optimist I am, well, I'm sure we can assume the film to be pretty much dead. It will probably never be made and its gore will never be seen in all its glory, though this simply can't stop the Chamber from linking to its still functioning official website and from providing you with two of the most impressive horror trailers ever created:

Dead Snow: the trailer to start things off