I’m not saying that Pixelord’s “Rescue Cyber Party” is something you should watch while on drugs. I am saying that it looks like the personification of drugs.

[Vimeo]

Contact the author at katharine@io9.com.

Even eruptions from the usually-gentle Hawaiian volcanoes can pack a hidden punch. The hot, molten splatter of lava from a bubbling explosion at Halemaʻumaʻu Crater sloshed onto the webcam, melting wire insulation. But the webcam is hearty, and kept operating without interruption.

Top image: Lava splatter on the Halemaʻumaʻu webcam on Kīlauea on April 28, 2015. Credit: USGS

Contact the author at mika.mckinnon@io9.com or follow her at @MikaMcKinnon.

In the mid-Eighties, Steven Spielberg created and produced an anthology show called Amazing Stories. Each week, a new tale dealing with the supernatural or fantastic was told, totally unrelated to the previous week. Now, it’s coming back with the help of Bryan Fuller.

Entertainment Weekly broke the news of the return of Amazing Stories, which is being developed by at NBC. Fuller - who recently finished the series Hannibal but is also known for his work on Star Trek Voyager and Heroes, and for creating Wonderfalls, Dead Like Me and Pushing Daisies - will executive produce and write the pilot. Spielberg won’t be involved this time around.

Amazing Stories only ran for two seasons but, in that time, the show won five Emmys and the imaginations of a generation of kids. It’s one of those simple, universal ideas that can easily exist on its own and not tarnish the original’s small, but powerful, legacy.

[Entertainment Weekly]

Contact the author at germain@io9.com.

A bold statement. But a true one. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter is the best Friday the 13th film, and I say that as a diehard fan of Betsy “Mrs. Voorhees” Palmer. Here are all the reasons why part four is number one.

http://www.amazon.com/Friday-13th-Ch...

It Acknowledges What Came Before ... Then Moves Forward

In an extended flashback that incorporates footage from the first three films, we’re brought up to speed on the series so far. We hear the legend of Jason Voorhees, and we see the carnage that’s been wrought upon “Camp Blood.” Then there’s a brief sequence that picks up exactly where part three ends (except not in 3D), in which the body of Jason is taken to the nearest morgue. Naturally, he re-animates and takes out the horny morgue attendant and a nurse, and probably more. But after that re-introduction to the character and his urge to kill so powerful he’ll apparently come back from the dead to keep doing it, we immediately dive into part four’s story proper.

It Takes the Formula in a New(-ish) Direction

Once the plot really begins, we’re no longer at summer camp. We’re still in the backwoods, but the context has changed. This time, we’re with the Jarvis family—college-aged Trish, tweenager Tommy, and their newly-single mother—and the group of Trish-aged kids who rent the house next door. The kids are of the Camp Crystal Lake counselor variety (obsessed with sex, like to party, etc.), but the relationships between them actually feel genuine. There’s also a mysterious hiker, Rob, who claims to be “hunting for bears,” but is instead “hunting for Jason,” the maniac who killed his sister. He’s the only character who knows Jason is alive and has escaped the morgue, and is inevitably headed back to the woods to do more damage.

It Has a Killer Cast

Corey Feldman (pre-Goonies, Stand By Me, and The Lost Boys) plays Tommy Jarvis, who is basically the little-kid embodiment of the film’s special effects make-up guru, Tom Savini. Has there ever been a sixth-grader so brave against a ruthless serial killer ... and so well-equipped to mind-fuck said killer, with his amazing collection of handmade monster masks? The answer is no.

Also, Crispin Glover plays one of the horny kids who moves in next door to the Jarvis family. He is a huge nerd and nervous about girls (see his dance of seduction, below), but he ends up having stupendous bedroom success with one half of a pair of preppy twins who join the group. That is, before he dies in an absolutely violent and horribly gory manner, as nearly everyone else does. (Thanks for that, Tom Savini!)

It’s Actually Scary

While every kill (and even some false alarms) are announced well in advance by the Friday the 13th signature sound effect, there’s more suspense in this series entry than most. You always know when Jason is going to strike (ki-ki-ki-ah-ah-ah!), but at least he gets some creativity-staged kills this time around. One particularly artful touch: as the kids watch vintage stag films they’ve inexplicably found in their vacation home, a girl is killed outside—a brutal act only witnessed as a shadow during a lightning strike, much like a projector beam.

It Has an Awesomely Misleading Title

It will never not be funny that Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter was followed by EIGHT more films, including another sequel nearly 10 years later that optimistically-yet-falsely dropped the word “final” into its title, too: Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday. (It probably goes without saying, but ... it wasn’t.) However, all things considered, that final-shot freeze-frame on Tommy Jarvis, still decked out in Jason drag but with newly crazy eyes, suggests the filmmakers behind part four knew this story was far from over.

Here’s the trailer, which would have you believe that “Jason’s reign of terror is over:”

Arizona State University, the folks who brought you the Hieroglyph anthology of optimistic science fiction, is now hosting a writing contest for stories about the Earth after climate change. And Kim Stanley Robinson is judging the contest!

In addition to a $1000 prize for the grand prize winner, the Hieroglyph climate-fiction story contest has a few other inducements. Three more finalists will receive book bundles signed by Paolo Bacigalupi. Plus “a collection of the best submissions will be published in a forthcoming online anthology, and considered for publication in the journal Issues in Science and Technology.”

[Full disclosure: The Hieroglyph anthology included stories by Annalee Newitz and myself.]

The deadline is Jan. 16, and here are the rules:

Your story should, in some way, envision the future of Earth and humanity as impacted by climate change.

Your story should reflect – directly or indirectly – current scientific knowledge about future climate change, without prejudice to your artistic freedom to exaggerate and invent fictional worlds.

You story could illuminate and invite reflections on a climate-related challenge that individuals, communities, organizations or societies face today (e.g., daily decisions and behaviors, policy-making and politics, strategy and planning, moral responsibility to the future, investment in R&D or technologies, health, etc. …).

More details at the link. [ASU]

Charlie Jane Anders is the author of All The Birds in the Sky, coming in January from Tor Books. Follow her on Twitter, and email her.

Here are the best of today’s deals. Get every great deal every day on Kinja Deals, follow us on Facebook and Twitter to never miss a deal, join us on Kinja Gear to read about great products, and on Kinja Co-Op to help us find the best.

If you’re itching to upgrade your home theater to 4K, we’ve found great deals on three different sets in three different sizes today.

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Lifehacker readers love Merkur safety razors, and you can get your very own for a great low price today on Amazon.

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It might seem intimidating at first, but safety razors can get you a closer shave at a fraction of the cost of cartridge-based systems, and you can even try different types of blades to find one that suits your face. We’re not sure how long Amazon’s going to be shaving the price of the Merkur though, so grab yours on sale while you still can. [Merkur Long Handled Safety Razor, $23]

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We see lots of deals on magnetic vent smartphone mounts for your car, but if you don’t want to block any airflow, this one fits into your probably-defunct CD slot instead. [Cell phone holder CD Magnet holder, $10 with code GYWJ2APC]

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I couldn’t not highlight this one. [Rasta Imposta Lightweight Banana Costume, $6 with code HAL30WEEN]

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That same HAL30WEEN promo code will take 30% off thousands of other costumes from Amazon as well, if you still haven’t picked one out.

Today only, Amazon’s taking up to 50% off select Reebok and Inov-8 training shoes for men and women, in a variety of styles. [Up to 50% Off Reebok & Inov-8 Training Shoes]

Halloween is just around the corner, and Amazon’s celebrating with huge discounts on 50 “spooky” Kindle ebooks. Prices range from just $1-$3, so stock up! [50 spooky reads are up to 80% off on Kindle]

Uniqlo is celebrating the launch of their new Chicago storefront with with solid discounts on many of their most popular items, plus free shipping on all orders, no minimum purchase required. If you don’t live Chicago, or any of the handful of US cities lucky enough to have a Uniqlo, this is the next best thing. [Uniqlo Free Shipping Weekend]

If your phone supports Qi wireless charging, today’s your lucky day. Anker’s basic charging pad is down to just $12, which is a fantastic deal for most phones. [Anker Wireless Charger PowerPort Qi Wireless Charging Pad, $12]

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If you happen to own a Galaxy Note 5 or Galaxy 6 Edge+, you can take advantage of 10W wireless fast charging for the very first time, as long as you have a compatible charging pad like this one. [CHOE Fast Wireless Charger Charging Pad with Smart Lightning Sensor, $28 with code Y2QSALGB]

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To get the added speed though, you’ll need to plug the pad into a Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 adapter. If you need a spare, here’s one for $8. [Anker PowerPort+ Quick Charge 2.0 Wall Charger, $8 with code KCIUY5V8]

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This HooToo gadget is actually three devices in one:

• Travel Router: Turn any ethernet jack you find into a Wi-Fi hotspot, which can still come in handy at certain hotels and conventions.
• 10,400mAh USB Battery Pack: Keep your phone and tablet charged during a long day away from any power outlets.
• File Hub: Transfer files and wirelessly stream content from an USB hard drive, or flash drive to all of your devices. Imagine loading a cheap flash drive up with movies for a long trip, instead of, say, buying an expensive iPad with more local storage.

All of those are ideal use cases for travelers, and since it’s an all-in-one solution, it’ll save space in your bag. [HooToo Wireless Travel Router / 10400mAh External Battery Pack, $40 with code D4EG538B]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RVIGY1I

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Commerce Content is independent of Editorial and Advertising, and if you buy something through our posts, we may get a small share of the sale. Click here to learn more. We want your feedback.Send deal submissions to Deals@Gawker and all other inquiries to Shane@Gawker

Send deal submissions to Deals@Gawker and all other inquiries to Shane@Gawker

If you’ve ever perused book reviews on Amazon.com, you’ve probably come across a name on just about every novel out there: Harriet Klausner. By the time she passed away on October 15th, she amassed an incredible 31,014 reviews.

A self-described speed reader, Klausner was a former librarian who tore through four to six books a day. In 2006, Time Magazine listed her as a person of the year who had a significant impact on the information age.

Klausner’s reviews weren’t in any particular depth, but she perfected the art of quickly encapsulating the plot the books that she sped through with a brief recommendation. Her formula seemed to work: she was ranked the #1 reviewer for the site until the reviewing metrics changed, although she retained her #1 spot as a hall of fame member. Her reviews alternatively amused and angered readers and authors who at times questioned whether or not she actually existed.

Despite her incredible output, it was clear that she was a person who loved books: her last review was published on October 12th, just days before she passed away.

Image Credit: MaskaRad / Shuttershock

[Thomas L. Scroggs Funeral Home]

Canadians rejoice: in 2016, the next installment of the Star Wars saga will be available to stream on Netflix. According to Variety, The Force Awakens will hit Netflix in Canada “approximately eight months after the movie leaves theaters.”

Why Canada? Apparently it comes down to prior agreements. Disney has existing agreements with Starz, although it appears that Disney’s 2016 films will be fair game for the streaming service.

Buried in the report was news that Disney and Netflix were talking about the possibility of bringing past Star Wars installments to viewers. The animated television show The Clone Wars can already be found streaming on Netflix.

[Variety]

Yesterday, NASA’s Suomi NPP satellite passed over Hurricane Patricia, the most powerful tropical cyclone ever measured, and captured this stunning image in infrared.

Hurricane Patricia made landfall on the Pacific coast of Mexico last night, and was downgraded to a tropical storm earlier this morning. The storm is remarkable not only in terms of how powerful it became — yesterday morning, a group of courageous men and women flew into the damn thing and measured wind speeds of 200 MPH and a minimum central pressure of 880 millibars — but how quickly it grew. On October 22, Patricia was a Category one hurricane. By 8 a.m. EDT on October 23, 2015, it had been upgraded to a Category 5 and flagged as the strongest eastern north Pacific hurricane on record.

The storm is expected to dissipate over the rugged terrain of central Mexico this afternoon, but we’ll be keeping a close eye on it. Learn more about this historic weather event over at The Vane.

[NASA]

This is neat: Johnny Depp is in discussions to join Edgar Wright’s adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s children’s book Fortunately, The Milk.

Written by Gaiman and illustrated by Skottie Young, the short book follows a brother and sister as they discover that their house is missing milk. When their father goes out and returns, his story gets wilder and wilder, involving aliens, pirates, ponies, wumpires, dinosaurs, time travel, adventure and more.

Bret Mackenzie of Flight of the Concords is penning the script, and Wright is in negotiations to direct. The film will reportedly be a mix of live-action and animation.

The combination of Neil Gaiman, Edgar Wright and Johnny Depp is an exciting one: it’ll certainly be a whimsical and entertaining affair.

[Variety, h/t SF Signal]

In 1900, a ship arrived at the island of Eileen Mor off the coast of Scotland. There, they were to deliver supplies to a lighthouse crew, only to discover that the three men had mysteriously vanished. Mentalfloss looks back on the 115 year old mystery.

Good news, everyone! BBC One has announced the title and airdate for the Victorian Sherlock special! Sherlock: The Abominable Bride will air on January 1st, 2016.

Also announced was that the show’s fourth series is currently being written, with production to be slated in spring 206.

PBS’s Masterpiece Theater also dropped a trailer with the title and air date:

[BBC One]

Weird Al made a splash with his latest album Mandatory Fun last year, and he’s been on the road ever since. He’s just released his latest music video that compiles all of his wacky concert intros.

Yankovic’s concerts are hilarious multimedia affairs, complete with music videos, costume changes and more, and for this latest tour, he’s been starting off with a video for Tacky. Little do the audiences know that the video’s live, and he’s walking into the theater from the street.

This new video joins together footage from the various concerts that he’s held this year, and collectively, it’s a hoot.

Weird Al is touring for the rest of the year in Australia and New Zealand, but he’ll undoubtably be on the road again for 2016 in the US. Attendance is mandatory.

If there’s any reason to love drones, it’s the fantastic footage of the world that’s being filmed by amateur and professionals alike. Case in point: Hamersley, a stunning short film by Dan Proud.

The video was taken from drone footage around the Hamersley range and Karijini National park in Australia. The footage here is stunning: epic visas and geology of ridges swooping past. It’s beautiful imagery of the region, and it’s worth watching over and over again to take in every second.

[Vimeo]

Symphony of Science is back! The project, helmed by John D. Boswell (aka Melodysheep) had been putting together some fantastic music videos featuring autotuned scientists. Now, he’s collaborated with the Planetary Society for the latest video, Beyond the Horizon.

The video puts together Bill Nye, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Emily Lakdawalla and Carl Sagan to sing about how the next discoveries are out there, and how humanity and scientific exploration can help change minds and make the world a better place.

If you’ve never heard this project before, check out the rest of the videos over at Symphony of Science.

Store-bought costumes are always a bit ... lacking. When TJ Maggio came across Jakk Pacific’s 48 inch First Order Stormtrooper, he saw the potential for a really spectacular halloween costume for his son.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...

The $99 toy is enormous, and with a little work, it can be made into a fully functional Stormtrooper costume for a kid that’s around the 48 inch mark.

Watching the video, it looks like it’s a pretty simple process: cut off the arms and the legs. The toy itself is made from injection-molded plastic and is hollow, so all that really needs to be done is to remove the extra plastic between each armored part and on the inside.

To attach each part so that it didn’t fall off, he used industrial velcro:

I used industrial velcro, cut to size and lengths to make it happen. In this case the shoulder/bicep is hanging from “garter” velcro attached underside of the chest and back plate shoulder.

The end result? One helluva costume and one very happy kid.

[Replica Props Forum]

Being a horror fan can be a grueling experience. As one of the cheapest, and more regularly profitable types of films out there, horror movies are produced en masse. But, instead of swimming, Scrooge McDuck style, in a sea of horror glee, fans of the genre often find themselves, instead, sifting through piles of cheaply produced, poorly written garbage in hopes of finding something, anything, worthwhile. And after being burned by too many sub-par Full Moon productions or shoddy pantomimes of newer successes, most of you (like myself) have instead opted to watch the true gems of the genre over and over again.

By now you could draw out a map of Haddonfield, Illinois complete with the best places to hide from unstoppable, yet remarkably slow, masked serial killers. You could recite the award winning Sawyer family chili recipe, complete with those rather troublesome hard-shell pepper corns, by heart. And you know that reciting lines from The Day the Earth stood still in the middle of the forest will likely cause comically deadly spirits to rise up and swallow your soul after physically and psychologically torturing you and your loved ones.

While as cherished as these horror classics are, rewatching them you can’t help but yearn for the experience of seeing them for the first time. Reliving the rapt attention, the horrific revelations, and the rising tension as you fall under the spell of a brand new story. And while the list below is unlikely to present you with anything that will reach the glory of Romero’s Dead series or memorable faces of Freddy or Jason, it is full of lesser known movies that will surprise and delight fans of the genre who’ve seen just about everything else and simply want something new.

That is not to say there aren’t a lot of really good new horror movies out there right now destined to be classics. If you haven’t seen It Follows for instance, you are a damn fool who needs to get their priorities in order. In the meantime, however, here are several movies you may have missed. All of them are ready and waiting on Netflix, just in time for the holiday season.

Stakeland

Taking a premise that could have gone the way of Blade or John Carpenter’s Vampires, Stakeland delivers something that is closer to Cormac McCarthy’s The Road…with vampires. Set in a world where vampires have pushed humanity to the brink of extinction Stakeland offers us a quiet, contemplative, almost episodic journey in to a post-apocalyptic wasteland. While the languid pacing of the movie works within the narrative, it does border on tedium at times and could benefit from some tighter editing. This isn’t helped by the use of some well-worn post-apocalyptic genre tropes. But that is by and large the biggest complaint that can be lobbed at the movie. It doesn’t bowl you over with spoon fed expositional dialogue, instead opting for subtle world building - such as the use of poached vampire teeth as a form of rare currency. Nor is it wrought with overly campy effects or characters.

The writing/directing/ and acting team of Nick Demici and Jim Mickle work very efficiently with their limited resources to provide an interesting and creative story. And if you are not familiar with the works of these guys, get familiar. They are putting out some of the best indie horror stuff out there at the moment. IF you don’t believe me, check out Stakeland and tell me I’m wrong.

Late Phases

Late Phases could almost be a double bill with Stakeland, not only for the shared leading roles of Nick Demici but for effective use of moderate budgets. Whereas Stakeland is a sprawling road movie, Late Phases is very self-contained intiamte character piece. The movie gets high marks for taking a premise that should be utterly, ridiculously, stupid and yet churns out a great take on the werewolf mythology.

Nick Demici (here channeling classic tough guys like Charles Bronson and Clint Eastwood with surprising deft) plays the gruff Ambrose McKinley; a blind war veteran who does not suffer fools lightly. After a life of strained familial relationships Ambrose’s son (played by the often welcome Ethan Embry) somewhat unceremoniously places his father in a retirement community. On his first night there Ambrose’s neighbor is ripped apart by a werewolf. Instead of idly waiting around for the creature to make a meal of him during the next full moon, Ambrose spends the next month preparing. What follows is equal part character study of a man coming to terms with the choices he’s made and a solid werewolf mystery.

It would be silly to expect that a movie about a blind man fighting werewolves to not stretch our suspension of disbelief to the breaking point, but Late Phases isn’t egregious about it. This is largely due to the superb performance by Demici and great supporting characters who never outstay their welcome, and always add to the overall story. There are no real surprise in the movie beyond the quality of the film itself. The revelation of the werewolf and the culminating events are pretty predictable. And with a concept that is laughably bad, the movie should not have worked at all. But it does, exceedingly so, and it is well worth your time.

Mr. Jones

Admittedly I have soft spot for PG-13 horror movies. A movie that attempts to tell something horrific without relying on gore and other similar, easier, routes is admirable. The other side of that though is that a PG-13 horror movie must up its game in almost every other respect in order to achieve its goal. And there are some that really and truly succeed, Skeleton Key, Insidious, Drag Me to Hell, The Others, and The Ring - just to name a few. Mr. Jones almost falls into that category.

Let me be clear, this movie has a lot of short comings. A lot. Plot lines that go nowhere, shoehorned narrative events to drive the story, weak dialogue, bad acting, and extremely poor use of the found footage style; are chief among its issues but by no means the only ones. Given its plethora of rather serious faults it is surprising then that this movie would be recommended at all. Right? Well, Mr. Jones has one thing going for it which ends up counting for a lot. It has an especially original plot, one I won’t spoil for you here. And at a rather breezy 84 minutes it manages to pack it all in with some wonderful visuals and concepts. Calling it a good movie, would be a stretch, but it is an imaginative one. And so if you are a little tired of zombies, vampires, and demonic possession, give Mr. Jones a try.

Creep

Easily my favorite recommendation on this list, Creep lives up to its title in spades. Written, Directed, and starring Patrick Brice, Creep is a ‘can’t miss’ for fans of the found footage style and is a solid enough entry to stand against even the staunchest of the sub-genre’s detractors. Creator Patrick Brice plays Aaron, a man who accepts a one day job as a videographer for Josef, a terminally ill man who wishes to leave a video diary to his unborn son. Played by the always affable Mark Duplass (The League, Safety Not Guaranteed) Josef initially comes across as a genial but socially awkward man, whose genuinely cringe inducing goofball antics start to have more and more unsettling undertones. The script is clever and engrossing, but is pushed to the next level by its relatively plausible plot and fairly realistic depiction of mental illness. Behind the camera, Brice uses his understanding of the found footage subgenre to play with the audiences expectations to great effect. The subtly in tonal shift in this movie is, in itself, fantastic. The less said about this film, the better. It is something best seen for yourself.

The Shrine

I watched this one on the recommendation of a friend whose taste I normally trust and hold in high regard. And admittedly, about a third of the way in, I switched it off to watch something else. The dialogue was poor and the acting wasn’t much better, and while the mystery at the heart of it was interesting – it just wasn’t enough. I spent a month or so wondering if my friend had lost his touch, or if he was just off his game this one time? Finally, I decided to put a little faith in my friend and finish watching. I was glad that I did. Around the midway point the movie finds its footing; providing a tale that is fairly original, solid production values, and a satisfying conclusion.

The story revolves around Carmen, a self-absorbed journalist who amidst arguing with her photographer boyfriend Marcus, is slipping into professional limbo of mediocrity. Desperate for one more chance at the limelight Carmen eschews her editor’s assignment of bees disappearing at a local farm for a juicer story of tourists disappearing in rural Poland. She convinces her boyfriend to come along on the assignment as well as her naïve intern Sara. The set up and the mystery are indeed engaging, but the characters, Carmen in particular, are irritating and the unfolding narrative is so clichéd it is at times grating. However, once the mystery is fully exposed and we learn the fate of the tourists, the movie moves on with a brisk pace that provides a few scares and some genuine creativity. For a story that would have arguably done better in a shorter anthology series rather than a feature length film, The Shrine has a fair amount to offer to less discerning horror fans.

The Taking of Deborah Logan

The Taking of Deborah Logan is rather standard fare; a found footage movie about a group documentary filmmakers following an elderly lady in the later stages of Alzheimer’s and her daughter/care taker who is struggling to cope with the emotional, physical, and financial stress of it all. Soon, it becomes evident that something more supernatural than dementia might be the cause of the titular characters increasingly erratic, and at times dangerous, behavior.

It is this Alzheimer’s twist on the well-worn sub genres of found footage and demonic possession that helps earn its place on the list but it is the acting that secures it. Soap star Jill Larson turns out a considerably nuanced and convincing performance as the aging mother. And equally noteworthy is Anne Ramesy as the alcoholic and perpetually troubled daughter.

However, the movies inability to sustain any sort of worth wile story telling in the third act keeps it from being actually memorable. To be honest, it’s all a bit of a mess in the end. But, it is still better than most of the other horror movies steaming on the net right now.

The Sacrament

This movie is pure tension…if you’re unfamiliar with the tragedy of Jonestown that is. Filmmaker Ti West delivers a fictional account of the infamous events that occurred at the behest of cult leader Jim Jones back in 1978. While it stays true to the narrative beats of the real events, West’s decision to completely fictionalize the story allows the movie to really breathe. The result is that The Sacrament is able to accurately retell the atmosphere of fear and violence that Jones inflicted upon his followers without worrying about strict adherence to facts. This approach creates something that feels more respectful and honest than your standard biopic and yet still provides a cracking good thriller.

West, who made his name with slow burn horror films like House of the Devil which harken back to the styles of the 70’s and 80’s in both narrative and aesthetics, made an interesting choice to go with the found footage style here. But it pays off. When done right found footage provides a level of intimacy with the protagonist that is otherwise absent from most horror films. We are forced to take the journey with them and are provided with no refuge from the terror they face. It is subtly and nuances in these films that creates the feeling of authenticity not just a first person perspective and shaky camera work. And that is just what we get in The Sacrament.

Reporters/photographers Patrick, Sam, and Jake are invited by Patrick’s sister to visit the community of Eden Parish. Greeted by armed guards the group quickly realize that all is not as promised in the community. The mounting unease becomes palpable through the interviews with the denizens of this self-proclaimed paradise. And the fear and urgency the protagonists undergo is both legitimate and shared by the audience. Their desperation to expose the cult for what it is allows for believable use of first person perspective. The performances feel genuine and are utter captivating. The only real flaw in the film is that knowing the story of the Jonestown Massacre removes nearly every surprise the movie has to offer. If you are unfamiliar, this movie serves as a great jumping off point to one of America’s biggest tragedies as well as a genuinely scary movie.

Pontypool

I am a sucker for a bottle episode in fiction. I love them; truly and dearly. For those of you who are unaware, a bottle episode is a story that is typically used in episodic television series. Where instead of having our intrepid heroes going to different locations and set pieces, they are trapped in single setting for the duration of the episode (outside of the establishing few minutes and maybe the last scene or two)

The single setting story is extremely common place on stage and thus has made its way into cinema since the mediums inception. Movies like Reservoir Dogs, 12 Angry Men or Man of Earth are among my favorite examples. These single setting stories are typically indicative of a character driven narratives where clever dialogue is the law of the land. And Pontypool is a movie that, while not as good as those I mentioned, fits comfortably in that description. It is the story of a zombie-like outbreak told strictly from inside the confines of a radio station.

Character actor Stephen McHattie (Watchmen, A History of Violence) plays an aging radio shock jock, Grant Mazzy, whose antics, and less than professional behavior has him starting over in small job in Nowheresville, Ontario aka Pontypool. In the midst of a snowstorm, Mazzy and a sparse group of coworkers struggle to keep off each other’s nerves. But big ego’s and hurt feelings become the least of their worries when frantic calls and reports of city wide violence begin to flood into the station. Virtually nothing of the outbreak is seen in Pontypool and the terror is derived from the well-established and intertwining character archs and ever developing calls to the radio station. This puts a great deal of onus on the actors to sell the reality of the situation, and they all, more or less rise, to the occasion.

A less than stellar third act and some cheesy dialogue stops this movie from being great, but that doesn’t mean you should pass it up. By all accounts Pontypool is a lot of fun and a very clever entry into the over saturated zombie market.

Mercy

As I frist started to watch Mercy I became concerned that the true horror of what I was about to watch lay only in its’ opening credits. It turned out that this was an adaptation of Stephen King’s short story “Gramma”. Now, I am one of King’s “constant readers”, and am happy to watch or read anything associated with his work, but why wasn’t his name on the title? Or mentioned in the description? Sai King’s name is a definite draw, almost every adaptation or merchandising has his name plastered on the title – Stephen King’s It, Stephen King’s The Stand, Stephen King’s commode scrubber – the man is basically a walking, talking product - with good reason – he is a brilliant writer. So why wasn’t this called Stephen King’s Mercy? Is this going to be a situation like The Lawnmower Man where the film bears little to no relation to King’s work? Did he refuse to let them use his name on the title? You know things are bad if Stephen King won’t even give you a pity endorsement. I once saw him give a blurb on that back of a furniture store flyer. “Informative. Riveting. I couldn’t put it down. – Stephen King” He’s actually that nice. So not hearing much about this was concerning.

Then seeing McG’s name up on the screen as a producer made my heart sink a little lower. I mean he seems really nice, but his best work is Terminator Salvation. And that’s hardly a commendation.

Thankfully, as the move started to roll on some of my fears were put aside (though its merits as an adaptation are likely questionable [I have only the vuagest of memories of story istelf other than being a little disturbed by it]). To its utmost credit the film boasts a fairly solid cast. Walking Dead’s ‘Coarl’ (Chandler Riggs) stars as our story’s protagonist George and Shirely Knight as the titular Mercy, his beloved Grandma. However, when Mercy rapidly slips into dementia, George’s family takes her in and they are forced to cope with her petty and occasionally violent outbursts. George begins to learn that his sweet grandmother is not what she seemed and that these outbursts stared long before the disease and may have supernatural overtones. Through it all, George begins to question who is grandmother really is, though he never really questions his love for her. Which is the actual heart of the tale. But that heart gets lost a bit along the way.

Coming from a short story it’s obvious there is going to be some padding to make a feature length film. And most of these additions come in the form of a great cast of townsfolk and relatives, all played by relatively well-known names and faces. This is also the films largest downfall. The movie introduces a lot of sub plots and backstories as George learns more about his grandmother from those who knew her best, but they are clunky and often poorly developed. Similarly, the hallmarks of King’s writing are present, as are the Lovecraftian elements he used in the source material. But they are all misplaced or poorly developed making them ultimately ineffective. And yet, inexplicably, all these elements become central to the events in the final act. It isn’t that the last act is bad, it’s actually quite well done with some great sequences of magic and mayhem. However, the sudden importance of the sub plots are extremely jarring and thus feel rushed.

High production values and solid acting are what really save this movie and on those values alone it can be worth a watch if you’re not expecting a lot. And it’s not that Mercy is a bad film, though it’s not without its problems. It just that with a little more work Mercy could have been a really great horror flick, making for a frustrating movie going experience. So if you are in the mood for rural witchcraft, old gods, and well framed cinematic gore, Mercy may be right up your alley.

The Canal

There are two things I typically don’t like in horror movies...1. Families with small children. Being a father I am already terrified enough of something happening to my children, I don’t really need to be reminded of that fear. 2. Unreliable narrators. In other genres the unreliable narrator is actually one of my favorite techniques. However, in horror movies it either results in the “it’s all a dream” scenario – where there is no actual arch or point to the narrative and I am left with a hollow tale. Or, the depiction of mental illness is so grossly inaccurate and over the top that the result is, as the Bard said “… a tale. Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” The Canal features both aspects quite prominently, but to great effect.

Rupert Evans (Hellboy, The Man in the High Castle) plays David, a film archivist whose domestic life is starting to fall apart. And after learning about a series of grisly murders that have taken place in his home, his sanity begins to crumble as well. David’s life soon spirals out of control as he is convinced that a demonic force is hunting him and his family.

The film constantly volleys back and forth between the cause of David’s woes being mental demons and literal one. Every time David, and consequently the audience, is convinced it’s one writer and director Ivan Kavanagh gives us a reason to consider the other. The mood is somber, the events depressing, and the creatures that haunt David and his family are both wonderfully imagined and unnervingly grotesque. The Canal is by no means thrilling and offers up few scares. Its horror is derived from a bleak, unrelenting, sense of torture and madness that is captured on film beautify. While, by no means a classic, The Canal is a worthy effort in the genre and surly not for the faint of heart.

From the Dark

From the Dark is sure to please both the casual and more discerning horror fans. Set in the Irish country side From the Dark takes old horror tropes and gives them a light polishing; giving the audience something that feels both familiar and exciting. On their way to a country get away for the weekend, young lovers Mark and Sarah take a wrong turn and end up stuck on muddy country road. With no phone service and miles from anywhere Mark sets off to find a house. What Mark finds is an old sod famer who has unwittingly let loose a creature of relentless menace. Both Mark and Sarah are soon forced to fight for their lives

The chemistry between Stephen Cromwell (Mark) and Niam Algar (Sarah) rings true as the couple tease and bicker with one another before the whole situation goes south. There is just enough character development to engage us in the characters without causing the pacing to suffer. Which is one of the strong points of the film. At a nice 90 minutes the movie never falters from its momentum. Dialogue in general is kept to a minimum and with a premise and a monster that are relatively simple, it only serves the tale. The viewer is instead allowed to engage the film from a more visceral perspective and thus relating to the characters situation more.

Director Conor McMahon wisely leaves the creature by and large unseen. Instead we only catch blurry or shadowed figures in the background and the occasional fleeting glance. Gore is satisfyingly present here but not the focus. While we are occasional bombarded with moments of sheer brutality, but it is the ever present monster in the shadows and a pervasive sense of urgency that drives this thrilling creature feature. And though From the Dark offers little in terms of actual surprise and provides only minor twists on well-trodden territory, it is a lot of fun.

Recently, The Folio Society has been putting together some beautiful science fiction and fantasy books: Dune and The Man in the High Castle each came out earlier this year. Now, Ursula K. Le Guin’s fantasy A Wizard of Earthsea will be getting its own special treatment, and will correct a long-standing issue that Le Guin has had with her book covers.

Introduced by novelist David Mitchell, this edition will feature illustrations from David Lupton, who worked closely with Le Guin to illustrate her fantasy world.

http://io9.com/margaret-atwoo...

In doing so, Le Guin was able to correct a problem that she’s had with earlier editions: inevitably, the Ged featured on the cover was drawn as Caucasian, whereas she deliberately wrote him in as having a very different ethnicity - a problem that was carried over into the ill-fated SciFi television miniseries.

Le Guin was pleased with the end result:

“The racial bias shown in most of the books’ jacket covers after the first one has been most happily put to rest, I hope forever, by David Lupton’s illustrations to this edition. I was able to tell Mr Lupton what I thought my people and dragons looked like, and he had both the good will to heed what I said, and the wonderful power to turn my words into vivid images. Collaboration between artists in different media is a difficult, chancy matter, but it can work a happy Magic.”

Here’s a selection of the stunning artwork used in the book, provided by The Folio Society:

A Wizard of Earthsea is now available from The Folio Society.

Image credits: David Lupton.

While this may look like a snapshot from an alternate futuristic-history of transparent overlays on mechanical globes, it’s a real moment from our past. This is John Glenn cramming in off-world navigation training just weeks before blasting off from Earth.

In February 1962, John Glenn squeezed in a bit more time with this globe-within-a-globe, a celestial training device illustrating the key coordinates for off-world navigation. It’s also aesthetically excellent, reminiscent of the glass displays and transparently layered information so popular in modern fiction.

To identify points in space, astronauts use an angular coordinate system centred on our home planet. The main components are declination, the space-analogue to latitude, and right ascension, a form of astro-longitude. Declination is degrees north or south of the celestial equator, the projection of our Earthly equator into space. Right ascension is roughly equivalent to longitude, but with a few slightly bizarre twists. Instead of degrees east or west, right ascension is typically measured in hours, minutes, and seconds (where an hour is 15° of apparent sky motion as the Earth rotates). The zero-point of the vernal equinox is only slightly more sensible than longitude’s arbitrary Prime Meridian: it’s the intersection of the ecliptic and celestial equator at the moment of the spring equinox.

One of the original Mercury Seven NASA astronauts, Glenn launched from Cape Canaveral on February 20, 1962. He became the first American astronaut to orbit the planet in his Mercury capsule, Friendship 7. The yaw attitude jet clogged after his first orbit, forcing Glenn to switch from automatic control to a manual electrical fly-by-wire system for the rest of the mission. After three orbits in 4 hours and 56 minutes, Glenn’s capsule splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda.

[NASA]

Contact the author at mika.mckinnon@io9.com or follow her at @MikaMcKinnon.

It’s always the most embarrassing part of a fallen regime. All those statues, no longer relevant. Usually they come down, hence the severed head of Vladimir Lenin recently unearthed in Berlin. But what to do with all those Lenins still standing? Turn them into the likeness of a more benevolent leader, of course.

That’s what happened in Odessa, Ukraine, where local artist Alexander Milov managed to turn a statue of the Soviet leader into a post-surgery Anakin Skywalker. The country is in the midst of a decommunization program which requires all symbols of the toppled political party to be removed. But instead of knocking this one down, Milov (a sculptor who also had a piece at Burning Man) encased Lenin in an alloy which is glued to the old statue. Oh, and he added free wifi, which is exactly the kind of tech upgrade Lord Vader would have demanded.

Who was further on the Dark Side spectrum, Lenin or Vader? I’d say Lenin—although Vader had his moments, the Sith Lord eventually redeemed himself. Although there are plenty of Imperial apologists who refuse to believe the Empire was indeed evil:

[Dumskaya via Hyperallergic]

Top image @niponerd