Simon Pegg, Nick Frost Creating Paranormal Investigator Show

Between zombies, friendly aliens, and alien apocalypse, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are no strangers to paranormal pop culture. And now the comedians are turning their focus to the world of paranormal investigators in a new horror-comedy show.

As reported by Variety (via io9), the stars of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Paul, and The World’s End are working on Truth Seekers, a show about an investigative team tackling a new mystery or haunting each week.

Said Pegg:

“It’ll start as a very parochial idea, a very small business venture for these people, but it will expand as the series goes on to be something far more global. It’s a language everyone understands, the mystery of the unknown. Shaun of the Dead was a very parochial story set in North London and somehow it managed to get this global reach because everyone understands the language of zombie movies.”

Truth Seekers likely won't star Pegg and Frost, but arrives as the next project from Stolen Picture, their new production company. The first? The similarly paranormal genre Slaughterhouse Rulez, a movie directed by Crispian Mills about a “subterranean demon” wreaking havoc in a British school.

We'll keep an eye out on this as it develops.

What trope of the paranormal investigative world do you want to see as fodder for a horror comedy show?

-Aaron Sagers

Valentine's Day Horror Fest Part 2: The Zombie Edition

BY NOWAL MASSARI

Last year we gave you a list of scary movies to enjoy with your sweetie. If you aren't the type of person that turns to mush over a box of gamble chocolates and some over-priced flowers, but don't want to watch something too scary, we've got a list of heart warming zombie movies to help you celebrate Valentine's day. 

Warm Bodies (2013)

The film is told from the prospective of lead zombie R (Nicholas Hoult), who narrates what it’s like to (un)live in a post-apocalyptic world. After making a meal out of the brains of beautiful Julie’s jerk boyfriend, R begins to take on the memories of her departed love. R’s humanity eventually seems to return as he spends more time with Julie. However, like any other love story, the duo face obstacles that could tear them apart, both figuratively and literally. 

This light hearted tale of love and life after death is definitely cute, surprisingly entertaining, and with a PG-13 rating, it has just the right amount of darkness to please the whole family! 

Disaster Response In The Movies: 'Shaun of the Dead,' 'I Am Legend'

BY DOROTHY LOWRY, RN, MSN
(Editor's Note: Dorothy Lowry thinks about disasters for a living, but is a pretty well-rounded person with a love of pop culture. I met her at Dragon Con a year ago and have since picked her brain about how the world might actually fare if face with a movie-sized extinction event. She finally agreed to start writing it all down, and this is the first in a hopefully ongoing series.)

I have a cool gig. I get paid to save the world. OK, more accurately, I get paid to save small chunks of the world at a time. I specialize in disaster mitigation, disaster response and emergency management. Not wussy disasters either. I do the big ones.

I have to tell you, honestly, movies with Batman, Spider-Man, (or any movie with Will Smith – Will Smith saves the planet a LOT) make the whole world-saving thing look a lot more glamorous, and frankly easier, than it actually is.

Let’s see, dos the Caped Crusader have to compete for grant money to save Gotham City? Does Spider-Man sit on an All-Hazards planning committee drinking crap coffee, watching boring PowerPoint slides? I think not. And sometimes our movie heroes just jack it up. "Mars Attacks"? Do not get me started. Yeah, OK, sometimes we jack it up in the real world, too.

Simon Pegg talks about heading to 'The World's End'

BY AARON SAGERS
(Originally published at MTV Geek)

Simon Pegg wants you to visit The World’s End several times. But he doesn’t care about the box office receipts.

“I want to be able to make another film so I want it to do well but I want people to see The World’s End lots and lots of times and still be getting stuff on a seventh or eighth watch.”

According to the actor, who has been on a summer-long tour of panels, Q&As, screenings and interviews to hype the film, which opens today, there are “tiny little things” that make the movie “meticulously structured” and hold up over repeat viewings.


“We live in an age where we can just stick films in over and over but we didn’t use to,” Pegg said in a recent interview. “We used to watch a film in the movies, then maybe it’d be on TV and then we could tape it and watch it; now we can own it and literally watch it again straight afterwards, pause it, zoom in on it, screen grab it.”

Top 11 Very Important Zombies (VIZs) On Film

BY AARON SAGERS, NOWAL MASSARI
(Originally published at MTV Geek)

In the new Brad Pitt movie World War Z the zombies attack like a swarm of angry, infected bees. They can function independently from the collective organism but are most frequently seen operating as a fast-moving horde in order to find new hosts and spread their virus. But while visually arresting within the film, zed-heads will be left asking: Where is the walking dead clown, little girl or mechanic?

A staple of the genre has been the spotlighted ghoul that has its moment to shine – and bite – as a Very Important Zombie. So even though WWZ movie zombies are different than what we normally see, there are individual zombies that leave a mark either because of their shocking reveal, memorable personality or just because of their novelty. This is a list sure to stir up debate, so let’s dig in to the best of movie VIZs:

11. Ed (Nick Frost)
“Shaun of the Dead”

Flatulent, video game loving man-child Ed is the absolute definition of what a sidekick should be. When Shaun wants to mourn the end of his relationship with (ex) girlfriend Liz, Ed takes him to the Winchester for a few pints and a laugh. Naturally, when the zombie horde overtakes London, they fight side-by-side, shovel-by-cricket bat until the very end.

Just like all good sidekicks, when the time comes, they become a hero and sacrifice themselves for their loved ones. Ed receives a fatal bite in the final showdown at the Winchester, despite Shaun’s attempts to save him. Even as he sits there bleeding to death, Ed makes sure that they share one last laugh by ripping a righteously foul fart.

But did we really expect Shaun to leave Ed in that basement? Well, yes; we all did. However, when you find your soul mate, you’ll do anything to keep them with you. Even if that means you have to chain them up in a garden shed and spray their decaying body with Febreeze to enjoy a few rounds of your favorite video game.

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'The World's End' trailer hits on Twitter

Thanks to an early morning tweet from Simon Pegg, we can now get a glimpse into the world’s most epic pub crawl. Five friends reassemble to finish what they couldn’t in their youth ... 12 pubs, 12 pints and a finish at the fabled "The World’s End" pub.

Of course, things have changed a bit in Newton Haven the chums can’t blame it on the alcohol. Events of galactic importance have occurred.

See for yourself in this just-released teaser trailer for The World's End, which reunites Pegg, Nick Frost and director Edgar Wright (of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz), which complete's the trio's "Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy" aka "The Blood and Ice Cream trilogy." Oh, and Martin Freeman -- who popped up in the other two movies -- takes a break from Bilbo/Watson duties to join the adventure. The World's End opens July 19.

Zombies vs. Vampires: Celebrity Undead Death Match

Within pop-culture, there are a lot of monsters, ghouls and maniacs out there that want to terrify us. Especially around Halloween, werewolves, demons, ghosts, mummies, maenads, fairies and half-dead men with hockey masks or razor claws make their presence known. But let’s face it, these beasts that go bump in the night lack a certain bite.

For the true masters of horror pop, one need look no further than the two reigning champs of chomps, vampires and zombies. More than any other, these creatures capture the imagination and inspire ferocious loyalty. Zombie lovers corpse-up, congregate in flash mobs and hijack constructions signs to read “Caution: Zombies Ahead.” Vamp fans wear molded ceramic fangs, make pilgrimages to New Orleans and Transylvania, and drink Tru Blood.

But really, which beast is best? The walking dead or undead? The brain eater or blood sucker? In order to settle the Zombie vs. Vampire debate, we’ve collected notable films of both genres from the last 25 years, and arranged them in different categories (emphasis on gore) to determine who each might triumph.

Although judgments on winners are completely subjective, I tried to channel George A. Romero and Bela Lugosi for guidance since they were incredibly influential in both genres. Lugosi starred as the count in the first official version of Dracula in 1931; he also gave the world the grandfather of the zombie movies, White Zombie, in 1932. Meanwhile, Romero remains the reigning genius of the zombie genre after directing 1968’s Night of the Living Dead. Romero also contributed heavily to vampires on screen with the underrated deconstruction Martin (1978).

Exploring the undead: University of Baltimore to offer English class on zombies

After much debate has ensued between you and your friends over the best Zombie Apocalypse plans, or defenses verse both shamblers and sprinters, you may now rest assured that the undead is a college course of academic study.

The Washington Post reports the new University of Baltimore course "Media Genres: Zombies" is a visceral exploration of viscera-eating undead fiends. Taught by Arnold Blumberg, author of Zombiemania, the course joins similar ones at Columbia College, Rice University and Georgia Tech. Blumberg's book discusses 85 definitive zombie movies, but the course only covers 16 that run the gamut from Early African zombies, Cold War zombies and "Millennial" viral zombies.

Blumberg tells the Post that, "Right now we're in a massive surge of zombie entertainment" which includes urban zombie satires (Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland), comics and dramatic adaptations (The Walking Dead) and metropolitan zombie walks.

The professor postulates that, "On the most basic level, zombies are probably one of the most potent horror icons, one of the closest to us in terms of identification factor, in terms of reflecting ourselves ... the zombie is, simply, us."

White man can't jump, can kill zombies.

And you thought Woody Harrelson just kept bar. Come October, he’s a certified zombie killer. The poster for Zombieland dropped today, and I’m loving it—a nice break from, oh, I don’t know, crazy ish like this, perhaps? Although I am a bit disturbed: I feel like one of my favorites images from childhood—you know, that old-school McWorld campaign—has mated with a fiery inferno to eek out the destruction of Earth as we know it. But since I’ve been jonesin’ for a campy zombie flick since Shaun of the Dead, I’m so on board.

It's a solid cast for the genre—Harrelson, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, Jessie Eisenberg, Billy Murray as a zomb (rubs hands together gleeeefully), not to mention the whispers around the 'Wood that Matthew McConaughey drops in. Initially iffy about Harrelson having enough crazy to pull off the role, I remembered this, and now fear not. Check out the trailer below.
—amy kates