'True Blood' recap: 'Fresh Blood'

At-home critic (and Rental Reviewer) Denise Purvis reviews HBO's vampire soap True Blood each week.

True Blood, S3, ep. 11: 'Fresh Blood'

“Fresh Blood” opens up at Fangtasia where Bill comes in to confront Eric, but encounters a surly Pam instead. Pam says to Bill, “This isn’t just about your relationship, you infatuated tween.”

I laughed for a good 45 seconds about that and I’ll tell you why in a bit. Then Pam pulls some Colloidal silver out of her pocket and sprays Bill in the face with that. Yikes. Bill doesn’t look so good.  Amidst the rumble between Bill and Pam…

In an interesting turn of events, Yvetta comes down to the sex-slave/torture dungeon to save Sookie! 

Mobs rule: Monster movie mobs and the politics of rage

It comes down to torches and pitchforks. In classic monster movies, when the villagers determine where the monster is currently residing, they set forth in a group organized solely by righteous anger. They then proceed to have fun storming the castle.

As is determined somewhere in the angry mob charter, villagers are required to take up torches and pitchforks for the nightly rampage. Oh sure, some nonconformists prefer shotguns, axes or even rakes, but the classics persist. The best examples of a torch-and-pitchfork wielding crowd has to be the 1931 film Frankenstein, but the beloved trope has shown up in a variety of great pop culture, including The Phantom of the Opera, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Far Side, and The Simpsons.

Now, I love me some angry mobs in entertainment; it’s fun to watch the fear-driven peasants juiced up on paranoia take to the streets for a little old fashion shouting and rioting – especially when they take to singing as in “The Mob Song” from the 1991 animated movie Beauty and the Beast or Jesus Christ Superstar. Plus, I frequently join in the angry mob national past times of football and baseball fandom, and even have an angry mob playset surrounding a Freddy Krueger action figure. So yeah, mobs rule.

Yet I’m less than enthused to see the current angry mobs convening in New York City over the proposed Muslim community center a few blocks away from Ground Zero. For that matter, I’m not a fan of rampaging villagers who rise up over healthcare, immigration, gay rights, elections or any cause. While it is a good thing the torches and pitchforks have been replaced by poster boards and megaphones - which just barely prevents the likelihood of violence – these protesters are simply vociferous medieval peasants. They are the “mobile vulgus,” the Latin root for mob meaning “the fickle crowd.”

Top movies about possession

The Last Exorcism premieres today and the reviews for it are pretty favorable, especially considering it's a docu-style horror produced by Eli Roth. The Rotten Tomatoes tally is a decent - and hilarious - 69 percent, so this might just be a demon flick with lasting power.

To tap into the movie's release, the Associated Press has put together a list of the top movies about possession. The list is fun, and includes classics The Shining, The Exorcist, Ghost Busters, All of Me and Heaven Can Wait.

However, this isn't groundbreaking and omits more recent entries like Evil Dead 2, The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Paranormal Activity.

Here's what they have to say, and then let us know what else they missed:

The Night Shift: Sounds of the Night

The Night Shift is the production diary of Fighting Owl Film's new independent supernatural-adventure-comedy of the same name currently in "post" in Mobile, AL. Over the course of the next several weeks and months, you'll get an insider's peek at what it's like for filmmakers to craft a new entry of paranormal pop culture from Erin Lilley, a producer and actress on the film.

The sound of the Night Shift

A shark attack. A knife-wielding madman stalking his showering prey. A small boy and his alien buddy taking a moonlit bicycle ride. These three seemingly disparate events all have one thing in common: distinct, evocative film scores.

Can you think of Jaws, Psycho, or E.T. without mentally hearing snippets of the soundtrack? I know I sure can't. I also know I can't hear three notes of John Carpenter's score to Halloween without thinking about Michael Myer's Shatner Mask, or the beginning phrases of John William's Jurassic Park score without getting it stuck in my head; it's not Christmas until I hear his gorgeous Home Alone soundtrack.

And yeah, I'll admit it, at my Senior Prom, my heart did go on.

Even as I type this, Thomas is whistling the theme from Indiana Jones. Movie music doesn't just score the film. In many cases, this is the music that scores our lives.

Music says what dialogue can not. I mean, which is more exciting: A guy running upstairs, huffing and puffing, "I think I can," or a guy running upstairs, face filled with determination with Rocky's theme playing in the background? The story is the heart of the movie, but the music is the soul, helping the audience connect with the film's characters on a deeper level.

'Escalation': M. Night Shyamalan spoofs his 'Devil'

The M. Night Shyamalan-produced demon-in-a-lift flick Devil (the first of the "M. Night Chronicles") reaches screens on Sept. 17, but the obvious spoof has already hit and it's masterminded by Shyamalan himself.

Showing now over on MTV, Escalation shows us "what happens when the stairs stop moving … and evil comes alive." The faux-escalator thriller stars M. Night, MTV's Josh Horowitz and my personal favorite performer, Penthouse Pet Ryan Keely.

"I was humbled, honored and excited to work with Josh Horowitz and M. Night Shyamalan," says Keely. "I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in one afternoon. Making the spoof was an unforgettable experience."

Formerly crypto: Monster myths that were real

We just got a tip from reader "Tippy Tipperson" pointing us in the direction of Elizabeth Brady's excellent post over at PawNation.

Brady uses cryptids like Nessie and the yeti as a launching pad to discuss other animals that were considered mythical monsters at one point in time. The list with accompanying photos is only five strong right now, and I hope she continues to add to it, but it's a fun, educational read.

Sadly, the post doesn't allow for embedding here and I don't want to tick off copyright gods, but go check it out nonetheless. And thanks for the tip, Tippy - if that is your real name, which I have absolutely no doubts about.

High-def horror: New paranormal Blu-ray on the way

After get a PS3 a couple years back, it was only natural I'd start to experiment with Blu-ray. Despite a healthy collection of DVDs, with no intention of replacing them all with BD, I did fall in love with the superior images on my HDTV.

But until recently, unless you're a member of the press who gets review copies, it was pricey to buy Blu. Thankfully, the price points seem to finally be dropping, and the BD + DVD combo packs are becoming more widespread.

Which leads me to this pack of Blu-ray and BD + DVD paranormal-themed movies hitting streets on Sept. 14. Not all of the movies listed below are great, but they'll look great. Pick up a few of them, and you can even have yourself an inexpensive happy high-def Halloween.

Blu-ray


The Order

Mirrors

Shutter

Young Frankenstein

X-Files: I Want to Believe

X-Files: Fight the Future

Day Watch

Night Watch

The Happening

28 Weeks Later

28 Days Later

The Omen (2006)

The Omen (1976)

Blu-ray + DVD Combo


The Amityville Horror
The Return of the Living Dead
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Carrie
Child’s Play

Syfy orders more 'Paranormal Files' for quick return

It would appear Syfy is quite happy with the most recent addition to its paranormal programming, Fact or Faked. Although the season ended last Thursday, the network has ordered six additional episodes and are rushing filming (beginning this week, Aug. 27) for a series return as early as Nov. 4.

Produced by BASE Productions, the show made an impressive debut with the best performance for a Thursday original series on Syfy since 2006, according to a press release. Moreover, the network boasts that the show's site earned 1.1 million page views at Syfy.com, 184,000 unique visits and 733,000 video streams during its first season; the channel's best first season ever for any reality series in video streams.

Without a doubt, at every event PPC attends, we hear people overwhelmingly call for something new in the reality-TV paranormal genre. Does the show's formula of investigating online and submitted footage of activity fit the bill or not?

Halloween night: Zombies vs. ghosts?

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that AMC's zombie survival series The Walking Dead will premiere Halloween night. The 90-minute Frank Darabont-directed premiere is perhaps the most talked about upcoming paranormal project, and the simply awesome trailer embedded below was a huge hit at Comic Con.

I am an unabashed fan of Robert Kirkman's Walking Dead comic, and as a zombie fan, I'm salivating over the series (poor choice of words?). Yet the Halloween premiere got me thinking: Will there be a live Ghost Hunters Halloween event this year and if so, what will be my paranormal pop culture choice?

After Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson sat it out last year to spend time with their families, Syfy delivered a Ghost Hunters Academy/Live Event-lite Halloween special. Something tells me the network will go for that again since the Oct. 31 GH episodes are ratings gold.

So what will you tune in for, ghosts or zombies? The haunting dead or The Walking Dead?

'Ghost Hunters' premiere sneak peek

Chip Coffey and Amy Bruni investigating the Otesaga
Hotel, January 2010. Photo by Aaron Sagers

Alright TAPS-heads and para-philes, Christmas has come a day early with this sneak peek of Wednesday night's premiere episode of Syfy's Ghost Hunters. There appears to be a lot of good locations popping up this season (technically the second half of the sixth season).

The first episode takes place at the Otesaga Hotel in Cooperstown, NY. I was lucky enough to join TAPS at the hotel last January before the team filmed, and let me tell you, it was fun watching them investigate a fresh location not famous for ghost stories. I think this will be a good one.

Also, as an added bonus, I've included a photo of Amy Bruni and Chip Coffey during our time in a supposedly very active room of the hotel, that may or may not be haunted by a child ghost.

Ghost Hunters airs Wednesdays, 9 p.m., ET.

'True Blood' recap: 'I Smell a Rat'

At-home critic (and Rental Reviewer) Denise Purvis reviews HBO's vampire soap True Blood each week.

True Blood, S3, ep. 10: 'I Smell a Rat'

Disclaimer: I have to admit that on this episode I was a little preoccupied with some other things & perhaps a little tipsy off of some old refrigerator wine, so this may not be the most insightful of my reviews. That having been said…

“I Smell a Rat” opens up with Sookie flabbergasted she’s a fairy. Is there anyone in Bon Temps that isn’t some sort of supernatural being?

So, Sookie is a fairy. I gathered that after the whole Claudine lesbian frolic pond scene two episodes ago. Well, Claudine is a little afraid for Sookie because it is believed the fae were wiped out by vampires. At least they’re not completely extinct. They have those weird dream fairies, Sookie, the bell boy from Season 2 and Hadley’s son, at least.

It seems good dog Sam has got some skeletons in the closet. Back in 2003, he got swindled by some ho’ and her man, which caused him to shoot and kill both of them. No love lost, I guess. Is Sam switching into badass mode because he’s chugging Jack and pouring it over his wounds? Give in to the Dark Side, Sam.

Everything but the fangs: 'True Blood' trio bares all on 'Rolling Stone' cover

In the Sept. 2 issue of Rolling Stone, on stands Weds, True Blood stars Anna Paquin, Alexander Skarsgard and Stephen Moyer appear nude on the cover, entangled and drenched with blood (or is that chocolate syrup?).

The accompanying article, titled "The Joy of Vampire Sex," includes choice quotes from creator Alan Ball:

To me, vampires are sex ... I don't get a vampire story about abstinence. I'm 53. I don't care about high school students. I find them irritating and uninformed.

And "Vampire Bill" Moyer:

If we go from a base level, vampires create a hole in the neck where there wasn't one before. It's a de-virginization — breaking the hymen, creating blood and then drinking the virginal blood. And there's something sharp, the fang, which is probing and penetrating and moving into it. So that's pretty sexy. I think that makes vampires attractive ... Plus, Robert Pattinson is just hot, right?

OK TB fans, eat it up...

Syfy sneak peeks of 'Ghost Hunters International,' 'Paranormal Files'

Syfy set us up with sneak previews this week's new episodes of Ghost Hunters International and Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files. First up is from the GHI episode entitled "Pirates of the Caribbean." Here, "the team is ready to set sail and explore the Caribbean waters for ghosts." "Pirates of the Caribbean" airs tomorrow, Aug. 18, at 9 p.m., ET.



The next clip is from the summer season finale of Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files entitled "The Caretaker."  In this episode, "the team faces its most mysterious cases yet." "The Caretaker" airs Thursday, Aug. 19, at 10 p.m., ET.

'Tara Normal' gets graphic: Tunes for toons

Each week artist Howie Noel, creator of online comic heroine and savvy paranormal pop-culture investigator Tara Normal, checks in with a "making-of" blog entry about his upcoming graphic novel, Tara Normal and the Case of the Boyfriend Robbers From Outer Space. Howie uses this space to give a first look at artwork and to update readers on the pain and suffering of writing a full-length comic book. When not blogging, Howie also contributes a special edition of the Tara Normal strip to TAPS Paramagazine and spends way too much time on Twitter @hcnoel.

'Tara Normal' graphic novel:  Tunes for toons



As with a lot of people, I find music helps me get through my day. Music certainly helps motivate me when working on art and writing; any extra help in keeping me energized when working late into the night coloring or drawing is appreciated.

One of the songs I've added to my Tara Normal playlist in iTunes is AFI's "It Was Mine." The paranoia described in the song fits with a lot of the conspiracy angles in the book, and it emotionally fits the tone of the action scenes.

Give it a listen and next week I'll have another look at the art process focusing on digital coloring!

'True Blood' recap: 'Everything is Broken'

At-home critic (and Rental Reviewer) Denise Purvis reviews HBO's vampire soap True Blood each week.

True Blood, S3, ep. 9: 'Everything is Broken'

Maybe not so much that “Everything is Broken” as much as they are everything is getting killed.

The episode opens up with Eric and Pam attempting to flee Fangtasia and find a human to live with. Well, Sookie isn’t an option since her house (still ragged from Maryanne’s visit) is a hotbed of activity. They inquire about staying with Ginger and she thinks it’s because of the American Vampire League checking up on the whole V thing. So, now it seems that Pam and Eric have to deal with the AVL on top of the whole Russell situation. Well, damn, you’d think things would get easier around there, but the problems just keep mounting up. As you remember from the last episode, Eric staked Talbot near the end of the show sending Russell back to Louisiana.

Speaking of Russell and Louisiana, we cut to the king crawling on the floor and grasping at Talbot’s guts. Again, WHERE do the clothes go? Do they disintegrate upon staking? What about the bones?  Is it just me or did Russell notice the crown was missing? Is that because of the fact he is one with his décor or because he knows something bigger is up?

Fort Mifflin Liveblog Investigation with 'Ghost Hunters'

Join me, Aaron Sagers, as I investigate live with Kris Williams, Dustin Pari, Dave Tango and Steve Gonsalves at Fort Mifflin in Philadelphia, beginning tonight at 10 p.m., ET, right in this space.



The TAPS paranormal investigative team was formed in 1990 and have employed gadgets and a scientific method to explore, debunk and validate claims of activity ever since. The show, which airs Wednesday nights at 9 p.m., debuted in 2004 and typically attracts close to three million viewers each week. It's also spawned a spinoff, Ghost Hunters International and Ghost Hunters Academy.

The group first investigated the "Fort That Saved America" for a 2008 episode, and Ghost Hunters Academy returned in 2009 for the inaugural episode.