The All Hallows’ Haunts 2016 Awards

With 2016 almost in the books and 2017 right around the corner, the team here at All Hallows’ Haunts thought it would be fun to look back at what we thought was the best of the best in 2016. So, without further ado, here are the All Hallows’ Haunts 2016 Awards.

Movie

Andy’s Pick- Hush

Lola’s Pick- Train to Busan

TV Show

Andy’s Pick-  The Exorcist

Lola’s Pick- Stranger Things

Creepy Album

Andy’s Pick- Metallica- Hardwired To Self-Destruct

Lola’s Pick – Birdeatsbaby- Tanta Furia

Book

Andy’s Pick- Maggie Goes To Hollywood & Maggie Reloaded by Kate Danley

Lola’s Pick- I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

Convention

Andy’s Pick- Midsummer Scream 

Lola’s Pick – Midsummer Scream

Unique Event

Andy’s Pick- Serial Killer Speed Dating

Lola’s Pick- Halloween Club’s 4th Annual Spookshow

Play

Andy’s Pick- Demonic Housewives

Lola’s Pick – Wicked Lit

Haunt

Andy’s Pick- Knott’s Scary Farm

Lola’s Pick – Knott’s Scary Farm

Haunt Show/Attraction

Andy’s Pick- Queen Mary’s Freak Show

Lola’s Pick- Micah Cover’s Haunted House Calls

Maze

Andy’s Pick- Shadowlands (Knott’s Scary Farm)

Lola’s Pick – Shadow Lands (Knott’s Scary Farm)

Scare Zone

Andy’s Pick- The Hollows (Knott’s Scary Farm) 

Lola’s Pick – Fiesta de los Muertos

Lola’s Creepy Christmas Countdown- Part 1

It’s that time of year again, folks. Yes, the time of year where shoppers lose their minds, families are forced to bond against their will, and everyone feels the acute sting of loneliness. All joking aside, Christmas is a blast! One of my favorite ways of celebrating is to pull out my favorite spooky Christmas films and TV episodes. I’ve always felt that these little pearls of holiday gore are rare and hard to come by. However, the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve realized that there’s actually quite the selection available. So today, I present part 1 of my top 10 creepy tales of Christmas, wrapped in human flesh and topped with a bow. Enjoy!

10. The Children

I’m going to be honest, I don’t like kids. I don’t like them at all. I didn’t even like kids when I was one. That’s why The Children has so much appeal for me. The Children follows a family on Christmas vacation that becomes the prey of their own rabid offspring. These little shits are vicious, and the result is a delightful bloodbath.

 

9. Wind Chill

I love a good stuck on the road film. Car travel lends itself well to horror. In Wind Chill, two young college students are forced to battle the elements, each other, and the supernatural. This film stars Emily Blunt before she exploded into Hollywood stardom. The Christmas aspect of the movie is relegated to the background, but the winter atmosphere is front and center. The supernatural mystery is compelling, but the real star of Wind Chill is the relationship between the two main characters.

8. Krampus

If I were to crown a king of holiday horror, it’d be Michael Dougherty. With Krampus, Dougherty takes the humor of Christmas Vacation and gives it a macabre makeover. Fans of horror, have been waiting a long time to see the legend of Krampus come to life on the big screen and Dougherty doesn’t disappoint. The creature design is spot on. From the toys, to the elves, to of course Krampus, it’s clear that there was a good deal of consideration put in to creating a world that could stand on its own. The humans that populate this realm manage to hold their own as well. My favorite performances come from David Koechner and Conchata Ferrell. If you’re looking for a horror film that completely embodies the spirit of the season, look no further.

7. Tales From the Crypt- And All Through the House

Before the HBO TV series, Tales From the Crypt was adapted into one hell of a movie. The 1972 film opens with “And All Through the House“, the tale of a woman who murders her husband and becomes the target of a homicidal Santa. This story was later used on the show, but I prefer the film version. The story itself is way wacky. The show takes the over the top script in the expected humorous direction, and the result is fun and strange. However it can’t compare to the solemn approach of the movie. The serious nature of the the film version, creates a startling surrealistic contrast between the story and the overall vibe. This is what makes and “All Through the House” so downright freaky. My advice, don’t pick Christmas to murder your spouse.

6. The X-Files – How the Ghosts Stole Christmas

As much as I love The X-Files, it’s easy to become annoyed with Mulder and Scully. They’re two characters that are flawed to the core, and that’s what makes them seem so human, so real. Still, there’s a lot of stuff I always wanted to rip them each a new asshole over. Well that’s exactly what happens in the season 6 episode “How the Ghosts Stole Christmas“. Over the course of the episode, Mulder and Scully become trapped on Christmas Eve inside a haunted house. There they meet two annoying ghosts played by Lily Tomlin and Ed Asner. These ghosts psychoanalyze the partners exposing their shortcomings and doubts. The episode features a fantastic set and some seriously witty dialogue. To this day, I still use the phrase “paramasturbatory”.

 

Stan Lee’s Comic Con – The Weirdest Panel Ever Review

Photo From Horror Kung Fu Theatre

Ok, so maybe I’m a little behind, but I did manage to attend one day of Stan Lee’s Comic Con, formerly known as Comikaze. For the most part any Comic Con related event is geared towards sci-fi/fantasy, and Stan Lee’s Comic Con is no exception. Still, I was surprised by how much the convention had to offer horror/Halloween fans.

One of the major highlights of my day was attending a panel on TV horror hosts. This is where things took a turn for the weird, way weird. I expected the panel to feature a variety of horror hosts talking about their programs and taking questions from a large clapping audience, you know basic convention stuff. I should’ve known to expect the unexpected.

When my friend and I entered the conference room, we noticed that the place was a graveyard. The room was occupied by maybe ten people, including us. The next thing we observed was that there was only one guy in a black nylon mask seated at the speaker’s table. As we sat down, we were immediately ambushed by a guy with a video camera. I guess this man was tasked with filming the panel, but his method was more than a little bizarre. He decided he needed to get right up next to my friend’s face to film a profile of him. He proceeded to call him a “ginger” and tell him to smile. This went on for the entire duration of the panel. As this was going on, we discovered that our masked friend was The Nightshadow, the host of a 90s TV horror program known as Horror Kung Fu Theatre. He used to be a wrestler for the N.W.O. and he once had Vampira on his show.

This is about the extent of what I learned about him and his program, because the guy didn’t seem particularly interested in promoting himself. He did allow the audience to ask questions, but he wasn’t too enthused. I asked him if he thought there was room for a show like his on TV today. He said that reality TV has taught him that people like watching weirdos, and he had a lot of weirdos on his show, so he thinks there is.

After the lightning speed Q & A, there was a raffle. He bashed Comic Con for not announcing that he was giving out $200. I thought he was joking until he pulled the cash out of his wallet and handed it over to the girl with the winning number. Since the room was so scarcely populated, basically everyone won a prize. I won a Knott’s Scary Farm shirt. A number of people received shirts from The Asylum, the makers of Sharknado. As each person came up to receive their prize, The Nightshadow would make comments like, “You’re cute, but you’re too skinny.” Some may have found it offensive, but I was highly amused.

This was the strangest panel I’ve ever attended, and I loved every minute of it! I always enjoy listening to people talk about their shows/movies/etc., but sometimes it sounds forced and robotic. The Nightshadow was 100% authentic. I may not have learned too much about him but my interest was peaked, so I’ll be seeking out more about Horror Kung Fu Theatre. I expect it to be every bit as weird as my Comic Con experience.

Have you heard of Horror Kung Fu Theatre? What’s the weirdest panel you’ve ever attended. Hit me up in the comments or on Facebook or Twitter. Also be sure to check out the official website for Stan Lee’s Comic Con.

http://www.stanleeslacomiccon.com/

Halloween Horror Nights 2016- Part 2

In the first article we did, I told you I was going to go back to HHN to try and experience the mazes I missed the first time around. Well I did it, and I’m sure glad I did. Here’s the breakdown of my night.

American Horror Story

This was the first maze I hit up. With early entry at 5 now, I was able to get right in and down to the lower lot in record speed. This maze was really enjoyable. If you’re a fan of the show, you’ll definitely want to check this one out. I have pretty mixed feelings about AHS, but I loved the first couple seasons and getting to see some of the iconic stuff like the “Gimp Suit Guy” and the Infantata is a feast for the eyes. All of the seasons up to the current one are incorporated and they manage to make them all flow together in a cohesive manner. I will say this maze seemed like it wasn’t as well lit as the others, but that may be because when I went in it was still daylight out and my eyes needed to adjust.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Blood Brothers

I liked this maze, but I didn’t love it. It was great to see a maze based on TCM 2, but I felt like many of the rooms were too similar. I’m a fan of Leatherface, and especially Chop Top, but other than them, this maze could’ve been related to almost any gory property. There are an excess of bloody body props that were probably leftovers from Saw or Hostel. The best part of this maze is getting to see Chop Top and Leatherface’s rooms. Other than that nothing really stands out.

The Exorcist

 The Exorcist is my 2nd favorite maze, right behind Halloween. I had heard a major amount of hate for this maze going in, so I was more than a little surprised by the quality. I think Universal made some changes to it, after receiving unfavorable reviews. What ever they did, it paid off. One of my favorite features from the maze is an animatronic  Regan that scales the stares in the infamous backbend pose from the film. Other highlights include projections on the walls of Pazuzu’s face and Regan spitting vomit at you as you walk by.

The Jabbawockeez

I was giddy going into this show. I’ve long been a fan of dance, and I’ve been meaning to see the Jabbawockeez perform for years. Unfortunately, I didn’t care much for this particular show. There is no denying that the Jabbawockeez are talented to the extreme. The dancing was great, but the overall direction of the show felt lacking. There was just too much cheese and too much focus on positive philosophy cliches. Right when they started talking about the colors of the rainbow and living your dreams I tuned out. My companion loved it, and I’m sure there are plenty of others that will enjoy it, but it jut wasn’t for me. Also, don’t go in expecting anything to be horror or Halloween related, because it’s not.

I’m glad I made it back to Universal for round 2. The new 5PM early entry makes all the difference in the world. The longest line I waited in was about 50 minutes. The shorter wait times made the overall experience so much better, and I felt like I a could appreciate the mazes more without worrying about making it through every attraction. It was probably the best time I’ve had at HHN in years.

Ash Vs Evil Dead: The Morgue

Just when you thought that you may have seen everything you could possibly see in the Evil Dead Universe, Ash vs Evil Dead proved you wrong. Episode 2 of the second season, saw our heroes begin their quest to retrieve the Necronomicon, with some zany, disgusting, and hilarious mishaps along the way.

The episode entitled “The Morgue” immediately left off right where the last episode began with Ash and company attempting to obtain the Necronomicon. Unfortunately, Ruby hid it in the body of a corpse that’s currently in the town’s morgue. Well, they make a plan: Ash and Kelly will go to the morgue, while Pablo stays behind to watch Ruby.

While Ash and Kelly leave, Pablo attempts to get answers from Ruby as to what’s been happening to him. Ruby turns the tides on him and interrogates him, discovering that he has been having premonitions since his encounter with the Necronomicon.

As for Ash and Kelly, they make it to the morgue. While Kelly acts as look out, Ash begins to brutally disect the many corpses looking for the book. Finally realizing it’s in the very last corpse, Ash attempts to retrieve the book. However, the body’s intestines refuse to let go. In one of the all time greatest scenes in Evil Dead History, Ash battles with this snake/worm like intestines monster that literally pulls Ash up in the, (and I apologize for the language), ass of the of the corpse. Then hilarity ensues as Ash battles the the monster while stuck up the corpse’s ass. Ultimately, Ash wins, gets the Necronomicon, and rejoins Kelly.

Back at the house, Ruby forces the truth out of Pablo in a vision and discovers that a demon known as Baal is coming. The interrogation is brief as they are interrupted by the deadite impersonation Ash’s Dad’s girlfriend. Ash and Kelly arrive just in time to see Ruby and Pablo defeat the deadite imposter. With the deadite dead and the Necronomicon retrieved, Ash and company celebrate. The party doesn’t last long. Ash’s car is stolen by some teenagers, with the Necronomicon in the trunk.

Overall, I had some mixed emotions with the episode. I totally agree that the slapstick humor was top notch. the scene with Ash being shoved up the corpse’s ass was hilarious, but it felt like the episode was mainly fluff, just to set up for the scene. With the show being only a half hour long, you need to make the most of time and I felt it was used to make one epic joke.

It begs the question, what’s next? Where does the show go next with its comedy? The morgue scene was a whole new level of slapstick, but how do you top it? My fear is it peaked too soon and we might be seeing the end of the series before it even gets there. I mean, we still learned a lot and the dialogue is still great. Still, the physical comedy has always been an important part of Evil Dead.  My hope is that I’m overreacting. The episode was still enjoyable, hilarious, but I do see cause to worry. Let’s hope this Sunday’s episode will put our doubts to rest.

Ash vs Evil Dead airs sundays on Starz. Check your local listings for times and channels.

(All photos from Starz.)

Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights 2016

With haunt season officially upon us, the team here at All Hallows’ Haunts kicked it off by visiting Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights. Now because we had different views and thoughts on the event, we decided to list each of our opinions on the event. Below you will see the opinions of AHH members Andy Shultz (@Andy1701) and Lola Tarantula (@Lolatarantula).

 

Scare Zone: The Purge Anarchy

Andy- Going into HHN I wasn’t too excited about The Purge Scare Zone. Universal has used The Purge as its main Scare Zone the last few years and it gets rather repetitive, so I was expecting to see the same thing as before. Though, I am rather happy to say that I really enjoyed it this year. Universal made the choice of having only one theme throughout all its Scare Zones, and I think it really worked. It would be interesting to see how it grows in upcoming years.

Lola- I didn’t enjoy this year’s Scare Zone theme very much. I will say that The Purge functions better as a haunt theme than a film, but still after several years of The Purge, I’m just over it. It’s the same stuff you’ve seen for the past several years, and nothing else. I will say that in the upper lot there is a part of a scare zone that’s basically a maze but without a wait. This part is actually kind of neat. There’s some weird art projects made from old doors, spray paint, and trash heaps. If you get a chance, walk through it. Other than that one exceptional part, I think this theme has overstayed its welcome.

 

Terror Tram: Presented By Eli Roth

Andy- The Terror Tram in the past has always been hit or miss with me. Still, I’m a fan of Eli Roth’s work and I was really looking forward to seeing how this evil clown infused Terror Tram would stack up. I left the Terror Tram very disappointed. I thought there were quite a few operational issues. I noticed in two main areas of the Terror Tram: 1) They chose to use shipping containers as tunnels, which caused the lines to back up and bottle neck as only a few could walk through at a time. 2) They crammed way too many people down there at one time, which made the usual 15 to 20 minute experience more like 40 minutes, but not in a good way. To make things worse, we had to wait almost 20 minutes at the end for a tram to pick us up.

Lola- As usual, the Terror Tram is the worst attraction at HHN. I had hoped that Eli Roth’s influence would be enough to transform the generally lackluster Terror Tram into something different. However, I think this year’s Terror Tram is among the worst I’ve ever seen. Like Andy said, the way the route was layed out caused major foot traffic, which made it take way longer than it ever has before. Not to mention, there’s nothing unique about the creepy clowns. By the time we got to the end of the trail I was one cranky spider.

 

Mazes

     Krampus

Andy- I really enjoyed this maze. I know most people don’t want to think about Christmas this time of the year, but with the added horror of Krampus, it was a lot of fun. Now, I haven’t seen the film yet, so I can’t really compare the film to the maze, but it was really cool walking through this house that’s being terrorized by a monster over the holidays. My favorite thing about the maze was the use of scents in each room. Some rooms smelled like ginger bread,  or vanilla, and even Christmas trees. Yet, it wouldn’t be HHN with out some of the burning disgusting smells as well. Overall, the maze is fun and now gives us a good excuse to extend Halloween all through Christmas.

Lola- I’m a fan of the Krampus film and the maze definitely captures the spirit of the movie. My favorite part of this maze, besides the smells, is seeing the toys in the attic come to life. Those who’ve seen the film will know what I’m talking about.

 

Freddy vs Jason

Andy- Going into the event, a lot of friends who attended the preview night said that this was the best maze of the event, so I went in with some high expectations. I’ll tell you, I wasn’t disappointed. Universal took their own approach with the story and brought these two juggernauts of horror together into one epic show down. I felt the maze was fantastic. The story was compelling; the maze itself was perfectly dressed with some amazing scenes to walk through. Most of all, it was the only maze of the night to get a few scares out of me, which is rather difficult to do. Most of all, it did both Freddy and Jason justice.

Lola- The Freddy Vs. Jason maze is pretty damn cool. While quite a bit of it is stuff fans have seen before, there were a few unique touches that helped elevate it to a new level. Unlike Andy, though, I didn’t necessarily feel that they hit all of their story beats. That is to say I didn’t feel the story they were trying to convey was mapped out quite as well as it could’ve been. Still, it’s worth the wait. I like that they have alternate endings, depending on the night you attend. Some nights Freddy wins, and some nights Jason comes out on top.

 

Halloween: Hell Comes To Haddonfield

Andy- Let me just start off by saying that this is by far my favorite maze of all time. The maze looked beautiful. The scares were great and it continued to tell the story of Michael Myers. Some of the rooms used the glow in the dark effects brilliantly. It really set a new standard for mazes. What blew me away were the giant pumpkin rooms we walked through. We were literally inside giant pumpkins! It was my favorite thing ever.

 

Lola- I have to agree with Andy, this maze is probably the best thing I’ve ever seen at HHN. I can’t add much more than that. My favorite part of the maze is the black out room with multiple glow in the dark pumpkin masks. Some are props and some are actors. The actors jump out at you as you walk past. This is what I think Horror Nights does best, it uses a movie a springboard, to create something entirely new, but still resembles the original film or films.

 

The Walking Dead

Andy- Now this maze obviously differs from Walking Dead mazes of the past as it is now year-round. Obviously, this maze had the most attention to detail as it is permanent, which definitely keeps you in awe. There were times when I thought I was really on the TV show, which was fantastic. The performers were top notch and on point. My only complaint is that I feel that the walk-through was way too short, especially for something that’s a year-round attraction.

Lola- I love The Walking Dead, and it was such a treat to be able to see the show come to life like this. I’ll agree with Andy, that the attraction felt a bit short, especially considering how much material TWD has to pick from. However, it’s still a near perfect depiction of what life is like amongst walkers. Those who’ve been through HHN’s previous Walking Dead mazes will probably recognize some props and ideas, but it’s been revamped enough that it still feels like a completely new experience. Consider this year-round haunt to be a love letter to walker fans, everywhere.

 

American Horror Story, The Exorcist, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre Mazes

Andy- Due to the extreme wait times for the mazes, we were unable to get into these mazes before the event was over for the night. Wait times were averaging three hours, and with the park being sold out, we couldn’t hit up all the mazes.

Lola- The fact that we weren’t able to see three mazes pissed me off. If you have to spend the kind of money HHN is asking for then I think you should be able to see all of the attractions. Now with that being said, I wrote to Horror Nights to tell them I was upset, and they were surprisingly reasonable. They offered me a comp ticket, so I plan to return and go through these mazes.

The Jabbawockeez

Andy- I’m not a huge dance fan and with the long wait times for the evening, we opted not to see The Jabbawockeez show.

Lola- Unlike Andy, I am a huge dance fan. I danced almost every style for several years, but the time constraints just didn’t allow enough time to check out the show.

 

 

Overall Thoughts

Andy- From an artistic, design and performance standpoint, and from what attractions we saw, this was easily one of the best HHNs in years. Each maze was enjoyable and they were fun. From operational standpoint, this one of the worst I’ve seen. Three hours is way too long to wait for a maze, let alone most of the mazes. Universal needs to either lower the number of people allowed in to HHN each night or add additional attractions. There were just too many people, which resulted in a less enjoyable evening. I understand Universal is trying to make money, but at some point, there is a huge loss in quality. It is also our understanding that in an attempt to correct this issue, Universal has started to do early entry earlier to reduce overall wait times. So hopefully, future HHNs will run a little better.

 

Lola- I’ve had a love/hate affair with HHN for years. With the exception of the Terror Tram, most of the mazes were high quality. Of course, I’ve yet to see three of them. The mazes seemed more creative this year than in the past. Still, 3 hour wait times can sure spoil anyone’s Halloween fun. The ticket prices and the wait times seem to go up every year. I must say, though it seems like Horror Nights is starting to take steps to correct some of this nonsense. I was impressed by their speedy response to my complaints. Also, I guess early entry has been moved up to 5PM. Hopefully, this helps make the HHN run in a more efficient manner.

 

 

Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights runs select nights throughout October and the first week of November. Visit www.halloweenhorrornights.com for event info and to buy tickets. We do recommend buying tickets ASAP as the event has sold out almost every night of the run so far. We also recommend getting their early and doing early entry as wait times are long.

 

Be sure to follow All Hallows’ Haunts here and on twitter-@HallowsHaunts, for more information of Halloween, Horror and Haunt events in Southern California.

Are You Ready For The Exorcist?

A few weeks ago, the world saw the return of The Exorcist with the new TV show based on the classic horror movie franchise. Now, those who are familiar with the franchise, know that historically, the sequels, spinoffs, and reboots of The Exorcist have not met much success. However, it looks like this time around, the series has found success… so far.

As of today, we are two episodes in and the story has become quite intriguing.Viewers have been introduced to the Rance family, who seem to be going through troubled times. Matriarch Angela (Geena Davis) is trying to hold her family together as her husband (Alan Ruck) seems to be suffering from a mental degenerative issue and her oldest daughter has become a recluse after a car accident. Angela finds comfort and support from her local church, headed by Father Tomas Ortega (Alfonso Herrera).

Now to add more intrigue to the story, Tomas has been experiencing odd dreams of another priest, Father Marcus Keane (Ben Daniels). In his dreams, Keane performs an exorcism on a small boy, that goes horribly wrong, resulting in a demon killing the boy. Tomas tries to ignore the dreams until Angela approaches him after witnessing strange things occurring in her home. When Tomas investigates, he witnesses the demon in action. It’s possessed Angela’s daughter. Now believing that these events are possibly connected, Tomas seeks help from Marcus to fight these demons. Reluctantly, Marcus joins the fight, but may have a few secrets and demons of his own to battle.

Only two episodes in, I’m already intrigued by the story and am finding myself more hooked than I thought I would be. While I’m not finding the show to be particularly terrifying, I am enjoying the story and the mystery. That makes the it worth watching.

I really appreciate the fact that the show hasn’t tried to rip off the original or ignore it completely. It has a few hidden Easter eggs from the original film. At the same time, it’s trying to pave its own path with its own story and characters. With that being said, I’m excited and nervous to see where it goes from here. There is a fine line between the show being amazing or another disaster, and it’s going to have to tip toe along that line for a while.

For those unfamiliar with original horror film classic, The Exorcist came out in 1973 and still to this day is considered one of the scariest movies ever made. As a fan of both the film and the William Peter Blatty novel, which the film is based, I agree it’s terrifying.

It’s enjoyable, a little creepy, and a mystery. It’s worth checking out, especially if you are a fan of the film.

The Exorcist airs Friday nights on Fox. Check your local listings for times and channels.

(All Photos from 20th Century Fox)

Get Your Boomstick! Ash Is Back!

Time to get your boomstick, your chainsaw, and your epic grooviness ready- Ash is back for Season 2 of the hit Starz show, Ash vs Evil Dead.

Last season saw our groovy hero (Bruce Campbell) return to clean up his mess… again. This time, with two companions who want to see the Deadites go back to Hell. At the end of the season one finale, Ash struck a deal with Ruby (Lucy Lawless), the author of the Necronomicon. The deal allows Ruby to reign, while Ash, Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo), and Pablo (Ray Santiago) get to live peacefully in Florida, partying it up and drinking. Then, on Sunday’s season two premiere episode “Home,” Ash’s happy little existence is interrupted again as Ruby has calls off her truce and sends her Deadites to kill him. In true Evil Dead fashion, Ash goes right back into battle and creates a blood bath of epic proportions.

Before Ash finishes off the last Deadite, she taunts him with an old familiar song, “Ashey Slashey.” It turns out the song was a joke started by the people of Ash’s hometown, after he was the only survivor of the cabin (The events of the Evil Dead Trilogy). Enraged, Ash packs up the crew and heads home to find and kill Ruby.

Obviously, Ash’s homecoming isn’t appreciated by the townsfolk, since trouble seems to follow him everywhere. Even his own father (Lee Majors) has issues with him. As the team explores the town, looking for signs of where Ruby is hiding, Pablo has a nightmarish vision. It’s revealed that Pablo has been suffering these visions since he was possessed last season by the Necronomicon. Luckily for our heroes, the vision also reveals the location of Ruby- an old abandoned plant.

Ash and company arrive at the plant, and go into battle against Ruby’s demon shadow children, who have grown quite strong. Eventually, Ash finds Ruby, and discovers that she broke the truce in order to bring Ash to help her. She’s lost control of her demon children and needs Ash’s help to defeat them and to retrieve the Necronomicon. Reluctantly, Ash agrees to a temporary truce. So, once again it’s Ash vs the Evil Dead!

The season premiere continued the success from where the first season left off. It also kept me invested, interested, and on the edge of my seat the entire time. By the end of the Deadite scene in the bar, with blood and body parts everywhere, I felt as if I were home.

Above all, I appreciated the show’s continued use of more practical effects over computer effects. It adds that classic campiness of great “B” horror movies and the Evil Dead franchise itself.

Let me just say how much I love the Evil Dead franchise. It’s just beautiful, and amazing, and gives me a warm feeling all over. From the writing, the direction, the effects, and the charm of Bruce Campbell, the movies and the show are a perfect combination. With that, I highly recommend Ash vs Evil Dead. It’s great, campy, scary, and fun. You won’t regret it.

Ash vs Evil Dead airs Sundays on Starz. Check you local listings for channels and times.

(All Photos from Starz.)

Dexter to return to Showtime?

The possibility of a Dexter revival has been kicked around since the disappointing series finale. However, it seems that finally the showrunners, the actors, and the fans are all on the same page. David Nevins the President of Showtime has stated that he would like to bring Dexter back, but would only do so if Michael C. Hall agreed to return to the show. After all, what would Dexter be without its titular character.

For his part, Hall has indicated that he would never play Dexter again. During the last couple seasons, he repeatedly expressed his disdain for the direction the show was taking. It’s only recently that Hall has changed his tune and said he’d consider reprising his role as America’s favorite serial killer. Unfortunately, Hall has been missing from both the big screen and the small screen for the past couple years. Despite his roles in Six Feet Under and Dexter, Hall hasn’t been booking major roles. Perhaps his career hasn’t taken off the way he hoped it would.

Nevins has also stated that he’d like Jennifer Carpenter to return. Those who stuck around through the entire 8th season, will understand why bringing Deb back will require some plot acrobatics on the part of the writers. No word yet from Carpenter on whether or not she’d be willing to play Deb again.

At this time there is no set date for the return of Dexter. According to the network when and if the show returns it’s likely to come back as a mini series rather than a full season. What do you guys think? Would you like to see Dexter and his dark passenger back in action or is it time to let this series die?