Infographic - Freddy vs Michael

Top 5 Weapons of Choice for Horror Slasher Villains

There have been so many items used, that you could be forgiven for thinking that an effective slasher could kill with any house-hold item. But the weapon is all part of the scary persona of the psycho killer, they need a unique handle, they don't do clumsy, they are professionals. A well used weapon can bring fear, and it doesn't need to be elaborate device of torture like a bear trap helmet in SAW.

Here are our top 5 Weapons of choice:

1. Jason Voorhess Machete - The Camp Crystal Lake Machete is basically a big knife, used for cutting down trees in the rainforest, Jason used this for some of his own flesh pruning. Iconic blood stains makes this collectable a great addition for any horror fan.

2. Freddy Kruegar Glove - Freddy has knifes for finger, his glove used to great affect in each of the Nightmar on Elm street films. Scraping his rusty claws down a blackboard, stings fear into his victims and they are great for riping holes in flesh!

3. Jason Kitchen Knife - A Kitchen Knife used as a weapon by a child, a child who was born evil and never returned from his killing ways. Michael Myers is the no nonsense slashed, with pure evil in his soul.

4. Leather-face Chainsaw - A cumbersome and messy tool, but wearing an apron keeps you dry from all that blood and gore. This weapon can be heard from metres away, no element of surprise needed.

5. Scythe - The iconic curved blade is great for decapitation, conjures up images of the Grim Reaper himself. The blade has featured prominently in many horror films, easy to hand at any American Ranch with unsuspecting victims.

Which is your favourite?

Zombie Apocalypse Class - Could you Survive?

Teachers often come up with innovative ways to engage learning, the example from the University of Michigan was a breath of fresh air. A choice of a test or setting up a zombie apocalypse, it was literally a 'No-Brainer'.

The Epidemiology class, which is the study of patterns, causes and effects of health and disease conditions amongst defined populations, had to run this test apocalypse to help them pass a class based around survival preparation. There was some great examples of zombie outfits on show, but the real test was to understand all the elements needed should this type of outbreak occur.
This may all sound like a bit of a fun jolly, but in the real world there is often disasters both health related and otherwise, which require you to prepare. Zombies have gotten a lot of press, in no small part to the huge increase in television and film media, meaning the backdrop for this test was both fun and engaging.

So if your a teacher or a student, why not think up something this engaging to do. There are many different aspects to survival preparation, often applicable across a myriad of different situations. Remember survival preparedness does not have to be dull or boring, it can be fun and engaging!

Top 4 Hottest Horror Cosplay

Cosplay is on the increase in US and UK with more people enjoying dressing up as their favourite TV and Movie characters. There is a huge growth in support groups helping you source and even design your own props and clothing for the perfect look. Anime dominates the cosplay world with the popularity in China and Japan meaning some great outfits are being mass produced at low prices.

Great ways to enjoy Cosplay outside of Halloween is to host your own themed party, enjoy a theme night out or perhaps attend a festival for your favourite niche. Horror cosplay can be great fun and provoke a great reaction from participants and those who may come across your costumed group. Everybody loves scary movies and so many characters are household names.

Here are the 4 of the Hottest Horror genre Cosplay outfit ideas:

1.Alice - Resident Evil
The Resident Evil franchise is huge, Alice has it all, she is hot, sexy, incredible with a gun or knife and has some cool costumes:

2. Carrie - Carrie
With the remake due to make big waves again this classic Cosplay will be popular this year. Easy to acheive with some red paint and an old prom dress.

3.Ash - Evil Dead
Why stick to gender stereotypes cosplay can be done well cross gender. Ash and his boom-stick will always be a head turner in any Horror setting.

4. Zombie - Any zombie film/TV show
Zombies are here to stay, so get your zombie costume ready. Officially the biggest boom in any Horror niche since the rise of popularit in vampires the zombie is no longer the stupid shuffling creature, reserved for B movies and silly TV show cartoons. Zombies are credible, they are bad ass and they are everywhere!

New Zombie TV Show - In the Flesh

The synopsis of this show is post zombie apocalypse set from the recovering zombie perspective. Interested good. Using the Romero style slow zombies this is a cross between 28 days later and True Blood. In the same way True Blood gave us an imagined world of vampires integrated into our society (until they got bored and invented fairies, changlings and other mythical creatures). My one bugbear is that zombies are undead, therefore should have no human emotions, memories or motor skills. I hope this series does indeed address these questions and I can expect that this is step 1 of the mainstream takeover of zombie culture.

The zombie franchise continues to go from strength to strength and we can be sure that zombies are going to continue to be the biggest horror genre taking the mantle from vampires now that awful twilight saga is over with. Can we expect a zombie love story, yes you can the make up is mild and the main effect is contact lenses, this would be to ensure any love story was perhaps more believable.

Mild make up for the show because this may not be as attractive!

Before you watch you may want to know that it is a BBC3 show, so not the BBC1 type show like Dr Who or Rome which were both epically put together for huge audiences globally and thus had a higher level of production value. BBC3 is the home to such reality delights as Sun, Sea, Sex and Suspicious Parents (parent follow their kids on their first holiday alone and spy on the binge drinking and casual sex before confronting them). BBC3 does occasionally have a decent show but expect low budgets, unknown teenage actors and lots of cheesy bits. If the actors prove to be good then the show has a chance.

Verdict after episode 1 is that the premise of the show is good, the zombie activity happen in first sequence with some brain munching and the actors aren't awful.

Zombie: Hen Party

Hen Party is the UK term for a Batchelorette Party. 

It's your last night of freedom before you get married and you have arranged a big night out with all your friends and family. You now need to think of a theme for the night, something a bit different and original.

Nurse, Maid or any other type of sexy outfits will attract hoardes of men like zombies clambering to take pictures on their smart phone and chat you up L plate or no L plate. If you are wanting to avoid this attention then why not have a Zombie Hen.

The beauty of a Zombie hen party is that getting ready is part of the fun. Drinks and dressing up is a great way to have a laugh. Applying make up, accessories and blood spatter to your outfit to get the real zombie effect. There is a way to achieve the look on any budget:

Cheap and Chearful

Dress up in your own clothes and simply buy some face paint or special effect make up. Apply some red blood spatter to your outfit and your good to go. Quick cheap but effective.

 Mid Range fun

You can buy some clever masks or simply some make up and accessorise it with some tools of the trade like a brain or off cut limb. The contact lenses are what makes this outfit really jump out.

All out Zombie 

Masks, outfits and latex scars this is not for the faint hearted. The full on zombie look is well worth the effort but ensure you have a qualified make up artist who can help you get the look just right.

Zombie Event - With Guns

We recently told you about the zombie survival event that was like a big game of tig. Well how would you fancy the zombie apocalypse with a gun? Here's your chance to get involved and find out what you would be like should the inevitable apocalypse happened and you were able to source a gun.

Zed Events provides you with a great scenario involving some great locations including a mall and a big abandoned hospital. These locations give you the immersive feel of a zombie apocalypse and will put your skills of survival to the test. Going in a group is advisable and ensure you have a certain level of fitness as you will need to run.

When the zombie apocalypse does arise it is useful to have practiced your skills in a non threatening environment, acting mostly on impulse it is especially important to ensure you have the basic survival skills neccessary to ensure you don't choke when the stakes are high. Zombies will most likely occur when you are busy doing something else so ensure you and your party know the drill. Of course being in a fun situation is a great way to prepare without the worry of having your brains eaten.

If you don't want to go to a external zombie event, why not host your own zombie party and assign everyone different roles. Get everyone to dress up in their outfits and practice your scenarios in a local wood or parkland. Or simply dress up for the fun of it, because a party is never a party without fancy dress!

Freddy vs Jason - Weird Promo

Horror movies have never had massive budgets for their advertising campaigns, hampered by placement issues due to the age rating. Instead they rely on their trailers to create an atmosphere that can scare within a short 1 minute clip. 

Freddy vs Jason could have been a great comic book style dark film but instead they went down the route of parody. Instead of getting the most scary aspects of their individual characters they instead made this slash fest more of a comedy feature and this began well before anyone ever saw the movie. An advertising stunt like a weigh in might have been great PR if you were promoting characters that could perhaps both talk. Getting the legend Michael Buffer to announce the two was an expensive task no doubt. 

Did it work? I personally don't think so and having seen the film I found it wholly disappointing.

Practice for the Zombie Apocalypse

Last week we gave you the details of where you can role play the Zombie apocalypse, this will have no doubt awakened your inner zombie preparedness geek and you want more to keep you in tip top shape for the undoubtedly inevitable zombie apocalypse?

Well we have now found a company that will provide you with a variety of targets to practice your head shots of just to decorate your garden with. Recent media coverage was outraged as they began to stock ex-girlfriend zombie targets complete with ripped top and bra showing which bleed when shot.

Whilst we don't advocate the use of guns for the zombie apocalypse due to their loud nature and constant need of ammo we do like to show you some of the awesome products that are out there.

We do have issue however with this particular ex girlfriend model, clearly aimed at rednecks with its rather dated hairstyle, then we realised you can apply any wig you like so that made us feel much better.

You may also want to check this video out showcasing their exploding bullets. I would imagine should you be stupid enough to use these you would be overcome with walkers within minutes but you know each to their own.

The Mortal Instruments - 2013 trailer

Having watched the trailer we were slightly disappointed. This story is a dark one, but with such gorgeous young actors is it really likely to be anything other than a less than scary version of twilight with demons?

Let us know your thoughts?

Evil Dead - Trailer Watch it Watch it now!

Bruce Campbell is a legend and the fact he is heavily involved in this is a good sign. They have been careful to reassure fans it is not a revisit of the old film but instead a new re imagining of a great idea. The Signs from the marketing literature and the trailer is that this is a scare fest. On the back of Zombie success in The Walking Dead it makes sense to make a horror version of what was a very comedic original.


Why do we love Bruce Campbell

Bruce Campbell is not only very good actor, but also an incredibly funny man. If you can ever get to a Q&A session with him do it, seriously it will be one of the funniest experience you have ever had. Here is an example at the recent Q&A session after showcasing the trailer for evil dead.