Syfy Offers Marathons of Chilling Original Movies, 'Being Human' and 'The Twilight Zone'

Syfy is offering up some holiday cheer with three marathons at the end of December. Beginning on Wednesday, December 25, chill out with a Christmas movie festival including, “Snowmageddon,” “Ice Quake,” “Snow Beast” and “Yeti,” will air starting at 9 a.m. ET/PT.

To get you ready for its fourth season debut on Monday, January 13 at 9 p.m., watch the “Being Human” Season Three marathon. Watch the complete third season on Monday, December 30 from 8 a.m. to 3 a.m.

The annual New Year’s Eve marathon of “The Twilight Zone” will begin on Tuesday, December 31 at 8 a.m. and conclude on New Year’s Day at 4:30 a.m. Also, fans can win fun “Twilight Zone” prizes by testing their knowledge of “Twilight Zone” trivia through the social media challenge at Facebook.com/Syfy and @Syfy on Twitter.

-Larissa Mrykalo

Enter a dimension of ...Independence: 'Twilight Zone' marathon hits Syfy July 4

Americans celebrates the Fourth of July several ways: cook-outs, fireworks, parades. But some of us look forward to the day our great country achieved its independence because Syfy runs its second marathon of the science fiction classic, The Twilight Zone.

Also held on New Year’s Eve and Day, the marathon runs from 8 a.m. on July 4 through 6 a.m. on July 5 with the “fan favorite episodes” running during prime time.

Rod Serling and his fantastic imagination brought us this iconic series that ran on CBS from 1959-64. It cleverly tackled some of its day’s terrifying issues such as the threat of nuclear war and even alien invasion.

The show was reincarnated with a film in 1983 and through a revival in 1985-87, but most will argue that the original episodes, which features some huge stars (Robert Redford, William Shatner, Burt Reynolds), are the no doubt the best.

Will you be partaking in the paranormal festivities? We’d love to know what are your favorite episodes.

-Larissa Mrykalo

FEARnet announces holiday 'Holliston,' 'Tales From The Crypt'

FEARnet isn’t just a channel to indulge in at Halloween, they also like to get into the spirit of Yule! They’ve announced their HoHoHo-rifically awesome holiday line-up and promise a sack full of screams.

Among the highlights are a Holliston marathon and Christmas special, Christmas Eve "Killer Kringle" marathon and a New Year's Eve Tales from the Crypt marathon.

First up is a marathon of the horror-nerd sitcom Holliston,beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET. Starring director Adam Green and Joe Lynch, the show revolves around the aspiring genre filmmakers as they deal with romance and run-ins with horror legends Kane Hodder, Tony Todd and John Landis - not to mention GWAR's Oderus Urungus and Dee Snider. Then, at 8 p.m., is the Holliston Christmas Special.

Says a FEARnet press release, "the most wonderful time of the year quickly turns into 'Black Christmas,' when a blizzard strikes the town of Holliston, trapping Adam, Joe, Corri and Laura inside with no power. Of course, being a horror sitcom, it makes sense that a "crazed serial killer" is loose in the area, which interrupts the gangs reminiscing about their time together. Derek Mears (Friday the 13th, Community) guests.

Then, the Christmas Eve "Killer Kringle" marathon begins at noon ET with the promise that "Santa Claus is comin’ to town… and he’s out for blood in a four-film frightfest "dedicated to the not-so-nice side of Old St. Nick." The programming block includes The Traveler, starring Val Kilmer, about a stranger with a secret. Then there's Santa's Slay, about Santa (aka the Son of Satan) whose deal with an angel to play nice for a 1,000 years is up. Up next is Saint, a Dutch flick about a really pissed off Santa. Finally the Spanish movie A Christmas Tale involves a captured woman in a Santa suit who decides to seek revenge against her captors.

And on New Year's Eve, if you're not into The Twilight Zone marathon on Syfy, check out the Tales from the Crypt one. Beginning at 4 p.m. ET, the marathon is hosted by The CryptKeeper, with his first new appearances in 15 years. The 24 episodes include many great classic Crypt eps, including "Dead Wait" ( 8:30 p.m. ET) and "Yellow," (2:30 a.m. ET) but none more appropriate than "And All Through The House," about a "murderous woman terrorized by a maniacal Santa Claus" (6:30 p.m. ET).

Written Off: Screenwriter Pen Densham dishes on Oscar

Editor's Note: We're lucky to have a special contribution from Pen Densham, an award-winning screenwriter, producer, director and Hollywood insider who has been involved with many films we've all seen and loved. Specifically, Pen has also been connected to Paranormal Pop Culture such as The Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone and more. 

He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California's prestigious School of Cinematic Arts where he handed out chapters of his new book Riding the Alligator as he wrote it. 

The Oscars are coming! While the usual pundits are busy sharpening their predictions and betting on the biggies -- the Best Actor, Best Director, Best Picture -- I would like to say a word for the oft forgotten Writing nominations. 

Scripts are the seeds of thought that movies grow from. Not many films get made without them (not ones you’d like to rest your eyeballs on, anyway).

Writers are like ancient monks, spending their lives hunkered in lonely cells illuminating movies with their imaginations. They seldom get the attention they deserve and yet they take enormous risks with their time and effort.

Maybe, as few as one screenplay in a hundred gets made. Hollywood often undervalues the writer, treating them more like a handyman or a plumber, bringing them in to fix a loose end in a story, like it was a leak. They like giving them explicit instructions and then they fire the poor scribe when the story doesn’t hold water.

Believe me, I am not complaining. I chose to be in this business with all its idiosyncrasies both good and bad. Where else could a guy who left school at 15 write a script with his partner about Robin Hood and get paid a million dollars?  But, for every winner like our Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, I have a shelf of unmade scripts that I’ve invested years into and equally believe in.

As a member of the Academy, I am sworn to secrecy about my Oscar votes.

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.”