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On an ordinary summer day, everything went dark in the small English village of Midwich. Without warning, a strange electrical disruption swept through the picturesque countryside community, cutting power and knocking out all who lived within.

Upon awakening hours later, residents received an even stranger revelation—every woman of childbearing age was now mysteriously pregnant. Child psychologist Dr. Susannah Zellaby was called in to help the shocked parents, but soon even she found herself perplexed by what could cause such an event.

As the months passed, more curious developments emerged with the births of the babies. Gifted with an unusual connection and growing at an alarming rate, the children did not seem normal.

Something unusual was happening in Midwich, sending ripples through the village and stirring concern from officials who feared things may not be what they seemed. A mystery had descended on the townspeople, and they were about to...

The cinema of science fiction began to mature in the 1950s, concurrent with the arrival of the Cold War and the Atomic Age, as well as the growing sophistication of the literature. But it was during the 1960s that the genre really began to expand in different directions, still heavily influenced by the ideological paranoia and existential dread of the previous decade, but finding even more distinctive expressions of it.

At the same time, the 1960s was also the decade in which sci-fi movies truly started to become event films, not just B-movies and drive-in fodder, as evidenced by the likes of landmarks like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Planet of the Apes, both released in 1968. There were other successes as well, some of them on our list below, but a lot of remarkable sci-fi films of the era did not initially score with critics, audiences, or either. Yet nuclear terror,...

A number of great movies are leaving HBO Max at the end of March, so it’s time to prioritize these titles in your queue. Filmmaker James Gunn’s sequel/soft reboot “The Suicide Squad” will depart the streaming service on March 22 after first hitting HBO Max the same day it was released in theaters back in 2021. Similarly, “Space Jam: A New Legacy” was whisked away on March 1 after also getting a day-and-date release in 2021 (sorry/not sorry if you missed it).

You also only have until March 7 to stream “Just a Boy From Tupelo: Bringing Elvis to the Big Screen,” a short documentary on the making of the Oscar-nominated biopic “Elvis.”

Other noteworthy films leaving HBO Max this month include “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” “Contagion,” the extended version of “Dances with Wolves,” “Ghostbusters,” “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Love & Basketball” and “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.

There’s nothing quite like when HBO is airing one of its trademark watercooler-worthy dramas weekly. Thankfully, we’ll get to it experience exactly that and more on HBO Max in March 2023.

The big ticket item on HBO Max this March is undoubtedly Succession Season 4 on March 26. Part prestige drama and part screwball comedy, Succession is about as fun a watch as they come. Season 4 of the series about egregious wealth will find the Roy siblings reeling after trying and failing to take down their father, Logan (Brian Cox).

HBO Max’s other major TV option this month is another weekly release from HBO. Matthew Rhys returns as the titular lawyer in Perry Mason Season 2 on March 6. Season 1 of this period piece reboot flexed the classic TV character’s detective skills. From the look of the trailer, it seems as though this is the year Perry makes his name in the court room.

Warner Bros. will be celebrating their 100th anniversary all year long, and several massive Blu-ray collections are on the way. One of them happens to spotlight horror & sci-fi movies!

“100 Years of Warner Bros: Volume 4” is dedicated to “thrillers, sci-fi, and horror,” and the 25-film Blu-ray + Digital Collection will be released on April 4, 2023.

The special giftset features commemorative packaging, digital codes for all 25 films, collectible WB shield pins, and a 28-page booklet with posters, production notes, and more.

The 25 films featured in the “Volume 4” collection include…

King Kong The Maltese Falcon Children of the Damned 2001: A Space Odyssey A Clockwork Orange The Exorcist All the President’s Men The Shining Blade Runner: The Final Cut A Nightmare on Elm Street Full Metal Jacket Goodfellas Natural Born Killers The Shawshank Redemption Interview with the Vampire Seven The Matrix The Green Mile Inception The Conjuring Gravity Her Annabelle It Dune

You can pre-order...

Comedian Jonah Ray discusses his favorite year in cinema (1994) with Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Airport (1970)

Airport 1975 (1975)

Airport ’77 (1977)

Airplane! (1980)

Basket Case (1982)

Destroy All Neighbors (Tbd)

Satanic Hispanics (2022)

Christmas Bloody Christmas (2022)

Black Christmas (1974) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings

Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) – Alex Kirschenbaum’s franchise power rankings

Tales From The Crypt (1972)

Donnie Darko (2001)

Pooka! (2018)

Pooka Lives! (2020)

Harvey (1950) – Joe Dante’s trailer commentary

Ed Wood (1994)

Black Dynamite (2009)

Bride Of The Monster (1955) – Alex Kirschenbaum’s review

Glen Or Glenda (1953)

Plan 9 From Outer Space (1957)

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Frankenweenie (2012)

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Dumb And Dumber (1994)

Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery (1997)

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)

The Mask (1994)

Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994)

Scream (1996)

Evil Laugh (1986)

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Forrest Gump (1994)

Clerks (1994)

The Search For One-Eye Jimmy (1994)

Cabin Boy (1994)

Scary Movie 2 (2001)

Scary Movie 4...

In what can be called movie geek comfort food, Battle: Los Angeles and Krull have become cult favorites over the years. Why? You can watch either movie while doing other things keeping an extra eye on the screen, have devout fans who can recite the dialogue verbatim and will defend both movies to the end. Guilty pleasures, yes, cult status, definitely.

Even HBO Max has it listed as such.

The 2011 sci-fi and 1982 fantasy films have come to HBO Max and are available to stream now.

“Marines don’t quit.”

Battle: Los Angeles, starring Aaron Eckhart, and from director Jonathan Liebesman (Wrath Of The Titans), is the exciting story of a squad of U.S. Marines who become the last line of defense against a global invasion. It gets the military right than most war movies. Numerous Marine units assisted in filming and the movie contains some awesome scenes with Black Hawks,...

The return of fan-favorite shows, auteurs tackling new original series, new documentaries and more headline what’s new on HBO Max in April 2022.

Top of the list is the HBO Max original series “The Flight Attendant,” which returns for its second season on April 21. Then there’s the long-awaited return of Bill Hader’s “Barry” on April 24 on HBO and HBO Max, as well as Season 3 of “The Black Lady Sketch Show” on April 8.

In terms of new originals, “The Wire” and “The Deuce” creator David Simon is back with the new series “We Own This City” on April 25, which chronicles the rise and fall of the Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force. Michael Mann executive produces and directs the first episode of the neo-noir “Tokyo Vice,” which premieres on April 7. And Ben Foster stars as Holocaust survivor Harry Haft in the HBO Original Film “The Survivor,” which...

April is about to be a good month for returning HBO and HBO Max properties.

HBO Max’s list of releases for April 2022 features three hotly anticipated seasons of television. The Flight Attendant, which helped launch HBO Max as a viable spot for good dramedy in 2020, premieres its second season on April 21. That will be followed by another go-around for the sci-fi comedy Made for Love on April 28. Of course, the big ticket item this month is something that HBO Max inherited from its cable cousin. Barry season 3 will continue the story of hitman-turned-actor Barry Berkman (Bill Hader) on April 24.

The TV offerings run much deeper than just returning shows this month. April 7 sees the arrival of Tokyo Vice, a sprawling crime drama with some episodes directed by Michael Mann. The series stars Ansel Elgort as an American journalist embedding himself in Tokyo’s criminal underground in the late ’90s.

Children of the Damned

Blu ray

Warner Archive

1964/ 1.85:1/ 89 Minutes

Starring Ian Hendry, Alan Badel

Directed by Anton Leader

Wolf Rilla’s Village of the Damned was an alien invasion thriller that was genuinely invasive—all around the world women of child-bearing age are suddenly and mysteriously pregnant. No matter the circumstances, whether a virgin or a lonely widow, they wake from a deep sleep to find themselves in a family way. Who or what is responsible is never determined and the results are devastating—marriages shattered, young lives ruined, reputations damaged beyond repair. Strong stuff for 1960 and Rilla didn’t shy away from the moral, not to mention awkward, implications of the situation. The otherworldly offspring grow up to be intellectual powerhouses with a talent for telekinesis and mind control—they’re defeated, irony of ironies, by an equally intelligent adversary who destroys them by simply not thinking at all.

“At this very moment, they could be making all those men out there turn their guns on one another!”

Children Of The Damned (1964) will be available on Blu-ray October 26th from Warner Archive

Six gifted children are found to pose a threat to the world in this chilling horror story from the makers of Village of the Damned. The children, who all live in England but are from different parts of the world, are normal in all respects except that they are geniuses with acute psychic powers. They have more in common than their IQs, however: None of them have fathers, and no one seems to know where they came from. When a psychologist (Ian Hendry of TV’s The Avengers) attempts to find out more, he unlocks a mystery that could lead to the destruction of the universe.

B&w. 16×9 1.85:1 Widescreen.

Special Features: Commentary by Screenwriter John Briley...

Parents out there, if you think you’ve got it rough with your kids, this gallery should put your mind at ease, because the prepubescent miscreants in these films are on a mission to kill. So next time you blow your cool about a messy room or not doing chores, give this another read.

The Good Son (1993) • Macaulay Culkin went from family-friendly “Home Alone” into this R-rated psychological thriller playing a sociopathic, f-bomb-dropping 12-year-old with an unhealthy urge to kill. Spoiler alert: “good” is something this character is most definitely not.

The Ring (2002) • The visual of the raven-haired, water-logged, vengeful young ghost, Samara, slithering out of a television to claim another victim is iconic and enough to give you nightmares for weeks. Turns out that the legend that she cursed a videotape and whoever watches it dies seven days later isn’t folklore after all. The corpses she left behind proved that.

Devo’s Gerald Casale joins us for a discussion of the movies that made Devo!

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Truth About De-Evolution (1976)

Island Of Lost Souls (1932)

Akran (1969)

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Fail Safe (1964)

Valley Of The Dolls (1967)

Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls (1970)

The President’s Analyst (1967)

The Atomic Cafe (1982)

The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)

Village Of The Damned (1960)

Children Of The Damned (1964)

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1954)

Planet Of The Apes (1968)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

The Parallax View (1974)

Soylent Green (1973)

Sweet Smell Of Success (1957)

Rocky (1976)

A Face In The Crowd (1957)

Whisky Galore! (1949)

No Time For Sergeants (1958)

Network (1976)

JFK (1991)

Natural Born Killers (1994)

Lost Highway (1997)

Mulholland Drive (2001)

Expresso Bongo (1959)

Gremlins (1984)

I Was A Teenage Werewolf (1957)

Other Notable Items

Paul McCartney

Slash

Willie Nelson

Devo

Elliot Roberts

Lorne Michaels

Saturday Night Live TV series (1975- )

Michael O’Donoghue

The Muppets

Neil Young

Walter Williams

Mr. Bill

Richard Myers

George Kuchar

Mike Kuchar

John F.

I don’t know about you, but this writer is more than ready to start looking forward to the Halloween season. And one of the staples of my own ongoing cinematic celebration every year is checking out all the wonderful classic horror movies that Turner Classic Movies airs on their channel. And considering the mess that 2020 has been over the last several months, I thought this year it might be helpful to also include all the genre films that will be playing on TCM throughout the month of September, as it’s never too early to get ready for Halloween.

Check out all the great classic horror movies playing on the small screen over the next two months on TCM, and be sure to set those DVRs so you don’t miss any of the classic films that are sure to get you into the Halloween spirit this year.

Thursday,...

This Penny Dreadful: City of Angels review contains spoilers.

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels Episode 4

Magda takes a back seat in Penny Dreadful: City of Angels episode 4, “Josefina and The Holy Spirit,” while her vehicle careens across the track she laid. The episode opens with Santa Muerte (Lorenza Izzo), wearing her sadness as prominently as her white flowing lace, as she walks into town, unseen but by an innocent child. The little girl actually turns to look at the Saint of Death just as the audience is wondering whether or not the other townspeople can see her. Santa Muerte knows what we are thinking before we think it. That’s why she’s at the scene of every crime long before the criminals.

Tiago is also in close quarters with suspected criminals, at least close enough to get between them and the cops who are interrogating them. Captain Ned Vanderhoff...

“Kinder der Eisigen Dunkelheit!” If those words don’t give you a chill, you may be one of ‘The Damned.’ Joseph Losey’s fascinatingly morbid reflection on atomic terror was too much for England in 1961, wasn’t released in the U.S. for four full years, and then only after being shorn of nine minutes of footage. An ‘impossible’ Cold War scenario puts military authority on the same moral plane as delinquent street thugs. Losey transplants his subversive sensibility to England, and the result is one of the top political sci-fi tales of all time.

These are the Damned

Blu-ray

Explosive Media GmbH

1961 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 95 min. / Street Date June 13, 2019 /Sie Sind Verdammt / Available from Amazon.de

Starring: Macdonald Carey, Shirley Anne Field, Viveca Lindfors, Alexander Knox, Oliver Reed, Walter Gotell, James Villiers, Tom Kempinski, Kenneth Cope, Brian Oulton, Rachel Clay, Caroline Sheldon, Rebecca Dignam, Siobhan Taylor, Nicholas Clay.

Cinematography:...

Rhoda from The Bad Seed. Those albino creeps from Children of the Damned. Little Michael Myers from the opening scene of Halloween. Damien from The Omen. Henry from The Good Son. Those corn-shucking killers from Children of the Corn. Esther from Orphan. And on, and on. Killer kids are a mainstay in horror films, constantly being trotted out to give off innocent grins that […]

The post ‘The Prodigy’ Review: This Killer Kid Pic Goes to Some Dark Places, But Remains Far Too Predictable appeared first on /Film.

(Aotn) Turner Classic Movies is bringing the horror next month. Starting on October 1st the channel will be bringing back movies such as the original Cat People and Dracula. Fan’s of classic movies will surely not want to miss this.

If you have ever wanted to know where the band White Zombie got there name be sure to tune in on Halloween morning at 8:30 Am. The Universal Monster’s are sprinkled throughout this marathon and will hopefully delight old school horror fans.

Complete Schedule Below:

Sunday October 1, 2017

8:00 Pm Dracula (1931) 9:30 Pm Dracula’s Daughter (1936) 11:00 Pm Son Of Dracula (1943)

Monday October 2, 2017

12:30 Am Nosferatu (1922)

Tuesday October 3, 2017

8:00 Pm Frankenstein (1931) 9:30 Pm Bride Of Frankenstein (1935) 11:00 Pm The Mummy (1932)

Wednesday October 4, 2017

12:30 Am The Wolf Man (1941) 2:00 Am Island Of Lost Souls (1933) 3:30 Am The Black Cat (1934) 4:45 Am The Invisible Man (1933)

Sunday October 8, 2017

2:00 Am Night...

Chicago – On a hot and humid night – with dark ominous clouds enveloping the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater in Tinley Park, Ill. on June 15th, 2017 – the crowd gathered to see Iron Maiden, and spilled into their seats like a cold beer from the tap. The heavy metal-loving masses, with their torn jeans and ever-present mullets, got ready for the latest show in the band’s “The Book of Souls” World Tour by responding in Pavlovian fashion to UFO’s “Doctor Doctor” (Maiden’s intro song), as it boomed from the venue’s speakers.

The band’s frontman Bruce Dickinson initially appeared on stage, staring enchantingly into a steaming cauldron while summoning the spirits of all things Iron Maiden. The 58 year-old singer’s recent brush with cancer does not appear to be slowing him down. If anything, it has helped him appreciate his incredible fortune to be on stage with his fellow metal mavericks.

Sneak Peek footage, images and synopsis from "The Vampire Diaries" episode "Children Of The Damned", written by Sean Reycraft, Kevin Williamson, Julie Plec and directed by David Barrett, that aired January 21, 2010 on The CW:

"....in flashbacks, 'Stefan' and 'Damon' recall the long-ago actions taken by the town's people including their father, 'Giuseppe Salvatore' and 'Pearl' leading to the devastating events that caused the rift in their relationship.

"In the present, a date between 'Bonnie' and 'Ben' takes a frightening turn, while 'Elena' helps Stefan as he and Damon race to find the missing journal that belonged to Elena's ancestor.

"Stefan learns the reason behind 'Alaric' and his interest in both the journal and the town's history. Damon discovers that an old acquaintance has returned to town with an agenda he can understand..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Vampire Diaries: Children Of The Damned"...

Tired of stupid sword 'n' sandal costume pictures? Robert Rossen's all-star bio-epic of the charter founder of the Masons is a superior analysis of political ambition and the ruthless application of power. Yeah, he's wearing a blond wig, but Richard Burton captures the force of Alexander without camping up Asia Minor. Alexander the Great Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1956 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 136 min. / Ship Date March 15, 2016 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Richard Burton, Fredric March, Claire Bloom, Danielle Darrieux, Barry Jones, Harry Andrews, Stanley Baker, Niall MacGinnis, Peter Cushing. Cinematography Robert Krasker Art Direction Andrej Andrejew Film Editor Ralph Kemplen Original Music Mario Nascimbene Produced by Gordon Griffith, Robert Rossen Written and Directed by Robert Rossen

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Critical opinions aren't supposed to flip-flop with every screening of a film, but I have to admit that my appreciation of Robert Rossen's 1956 epic Alexander the Great...

Presenting murderous moppets on screen is always a dicey proposition. For every The Bad Seed or The Omen, there is always The Good Son or Mikey skulking about. It’s all about the fear – making a five or ten year old believably frightening is hard to do. As audience members, we put our faith in filmmakers to produce tension, conflict, and danger in a palpable (but not necessarily plausible) way, and when it’s tested we end up wading through Children of the Corn. But when our faith is rewarded, we find ourselves in the Village of the Damned (1960), a seminal killer kid chiller.

Based on the novel The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham, Village was produced by MGM’s British division and distributed there in July, with a December rollout in the States. The film was a great success, both with critics and audiences alike, luring them in with...

57 years ago today, Disney’s Sleeping Beauty premiered at the Fox Wilshire Theater in Los Angeles. It was the last film based on a fairy tale that the House of Mouse made for over 30 years, until 1989’s The Little Mermaid, since Sleeping Beauty underperformed at the box office, leading to massive layoffs at Disney. The successful release of 101 Dalmatians in 1961 ended up saving Disney Animation. Though Sleeping Beauty wasn’t a hit at its debut, the film’s become a beloved Disney classic, with Aurora in her pink dress (you win, Flora) prominent among the lineup of Disney princesses, and with Maleficent now an iconic animated villain. Maleficent got her own movie starring Angelina Jolie in 2014. Other notable January 29 happenings in pop culture history: • 1845: Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven was first published in the New York Evening Mirror. • 1942: BBC Radio first aired “Desert Island Discs.” Still on the air today,...

*Updated with new film and TV show listings.* Happy October, everyone! Our favorite month is finally upon us, which means everyone is getting into the Halloween spirit, especially when it comes to upcoming TV programming over the next 31 days. Trying to keep track of everything that’s playing throughout October can be a hellish affair, so once again Daily Dead is here to help make sure you know about everything Halloween-related hitting cable and network airwaves over the coming weeks.

* All Updated & Additional Listings Are In Bold (all times listed are Et/Pt)*

Thursday, October 1st

9:00am – Halloween Crazier (Travel Channel)

10:00am – Halloween Craziest (Travel Channel)

4:00pm – Firestarter (AMC)

6:00pm – The Last Exorcism (Syfy)

6:30pm – Pet Sematary (AMC)

8:00pm – My Babysitter’s a Vampire (Disney)

8:30pm – Stephen King’s Thinner (AMC)

10:00pm – Dominion Season 3 Finale (Syfy)

10:30 pm – Cujo (AMC)

Friday,...

Hellions

Written by Pascal Trottier

Directed by Bruce McDonald

Canada, 2015

Movies about gaggles of sinister children scurrying about getting up to all kinds of bloody mischief (or alternately, standing stock still, staring into the middle distance and looking creepy) are nothing particularly new to horror films. Movies like The Innocents, Children of the Corn, Children of the Damned and countless others have all found success in gleefully twisting the popular image of children as innocent and harmless and capitalizing on that subtle unease felt by so many people in the presence of the young. It’s an ever-growing horror sub-genre, and once which Bruce McDonald’s Hellions aims to stake a claim in.

Set on Halloween night in what we can only assume is a small Canadian town, our protagonist is Dora, a teenage girl who abruptly discovers that she’s several weeks pregnant. Alone in her house while her...

Game of Thrones has been setting ratings records for HBO this season, so it’s probably no surprise that the fantasy hit is once again settings records for illegal downloading too. According to piracy-monitoring blog TorrentFreak, the season 4 Thrones finale “The Children” had roughly 1.5 million downloads within just the first 12 hours after the finale aired on the premium cable network, with more than 250,000 users sharing the same file (a record-breaking “swarm” of users). The site estimates that total number of downloads will exceed 7.5 million in the days to come.

On HBO, the episode delivered 9.3 million viewers its first night, and...

Game of Thrones is about to get a visit from a real queen.

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh will tour the Belfast studios where the HBO series is filmed during their visit to Northern Ireland next week. The news was announced Wednesday by the British Monarchy’s official Twitter feed and confirmed by other sources.

Game Of Thrones has been estimated to be the biggest TV production in Europe. According to the Belfast Telegraph, its first four seasons are credited with bringing a direct economic benefit of $139 million dollars to Northern Ireland, and creating...

HBO’s Game of Thrones fourth season finale posted significant gains from last year’s closer — yet couldn’t top its own all-time high set earlier this season.

Sunday’s “The Children” episode had 7.1 million viewers was up 32 percent from season three’s finale. That’s just shy of the show’s 7.2 million record, which was repeatedly struck this season. HBO wasn’t expecting a new breakthrough given the high-flying NBA playoff Game 5 airing on broadcast last night. Counting two additional plays, Thrones struck 9.3 million viewers total for the night. Thrones also recorded the largest audience ever for an HBO...

Spoilers from Sunday’s Game of Thrones finale: It was the perfect Father’s Day episode of Game of Thrones: Tyrion kills Tywin, the unloved son executing his cold-hearted, calculating father as he sat on the most ignoble throne of all. It’s a move that will change Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) forever — and one that eliminates Tywin (Charles Dance), one of the show’s strongest characters.

We spoke with both actors about the finale scene very briefly last year. Dinklage said Tyrion went up to confront his father because he “can’t leave without some closure.”

“He doesn’t...

Caution: Spoilers for the Game of Thrones finale, And a book spoiler from George R.R. Martin’s saga:

For readers of George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire novels, the most shocking thing about Game of Thrones’ fourth season finale was what didn’t happen on the show: No Lady Stoneheart, the vengeful, zombified resurrection of Catelyn Stark who first appears in the epilogue of Martin’s third Song of Ice and Fire novel A Storm of Swords. Entertainment Weekly Radio talked to the epic finale’s director, Alex Graves — helmer of several pivotal Thrones episodes — who...

George R.R. Martin has done it again: There was another game-board shake-up in Westeros during Sunday’s Game of Thrones finale, as the country’s acting ruler Tywin Lannister took a crossbow bolt to the chest at the hands of his long tormented son Tyrion. The dark twist was compounded by Tyrion strangling his ex-lover Shae for her apparent betrayal — testifying against him at his trial and then sleeping with his father. After being falsely accused of murdering King Joffrey, fans have wondered nearly all season if Tyrion would escape execution. Now we know the answer: Yes, but not without...

Gwendoline Christie wants to reveal her big secret. We were sitting on a wooden bench on the Game of Thrones set in Croatia last September and talking about standard character details — Brienne’s relationship with Jaime, her new suit of armor, her run-in with Cersei. But there was something the passionate and high-spirited Christie was holding back. Something that she was incredibly excited about for this season, yet wasn’t supposed to mention because it was a huge finale spoiler that’s not in George R.R. Martin’s novels. Would I promise to keep it secret, keep it safe? Would...

Note: This contains spoilers from Sunday’s Game of Thrones finale And a spoiler about a storyline in George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire novels which could conceivably still be appear on the show

Sorry George R.R. Martin super-fans, but Catelyn Stark is still dead on Game of Thrones.

Fans were positive that Lady Stoneheart — the vengeful zombified resurrection of murdered Red Wedding casualty Catelyn Stark — would make an appearance in the season 4 closer “The Children” (that’s some cool fan art above, not from the show). In the books, she first appears in the epilogue of...

Game of Thrones arguably concluded season 4 with its strongest finale yet, which is what showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss promised last week. In fact, the duo are so proud of this hour, it’s the only episode this season that they are submitting for Emmy consideration in the writing category. Below, the showrunners talk about a few of the finale’s twists and turns, with more to come tomorrow.

Entertainment Weekly: Let’s talk The Hound fighting Brienne. What inspired that clash?

David Benioff: It felt right to us, these two pairings: The Hound and Arya; Brienne and Pod.

Mama's tiny terrors are the latest in a long line of murderous movie munchkins

They screwed up Macaulay Culkin and now they're coming for the rest of our young. Ever since the 2002 American remake of The Ring sparked a resurgence in the 'creepy kids' horror subgenre, Hollywood has been unrelenting in its hostility towards the apparently cherubic boys and girls who adorn its silver screen. This week, Us box office sensation Mama furthers the cause of universally available birth control with a duo of demonic youngsters that make Will Smith's progeny look positively cuddly. When the film's twin terrors aren't humming nursery rhymes in cold, emotionless tones or appearing suddenly from behind doorways with looks of quiet evil smeared across their faces, you'll find them drawing scratchy pictures of murder, mutilation and torture. Between them, the girl from The Others and Haley Joel Osment, Crayola's 'blood and gore' range...

By Jessica Marshall

Ahhh birth. The miracle of life. And one of Hollywood's favorite plot points.

Birth scenes in movies range from shouty and grunty to creepy and gooey and often leave viewers with the highly philosophical question: What is that baby really covered in?

You'll get birth scenes in spades when you catch "What To Expect When You're Expecting," the new star-studded rom-com opening today. Jennifer Lopez, Cameron Diaz, Elizabeth Banks, Chace Crawford, Chris Rock and Anna Kendrick are just a few of the celebs who bring to life the wacky rollercoaster ride that anticipating a brand new bundle of joy can be.

It's loosely based on the bestselling self-help book by Heidi Murkoff (there's probably a well-worn copy stashed somewhere in your parents' house), and focuses on five couples as they anticipate parenthood. There are lots of preggo bellies, raging hormones, slapstick humor and moments of sheer terror — err,...

Please note: this review is a trifle late, due to a combination of Steam updates and time distortion. It’s been hectic, trying to repair the timestream and update my copy of Stronghold 3 at the same time. Anyway.

There is seeing, there is believing, and there is doing. Oftentimes when you just see something, you cannot believe it; but when you do, you can’t believe it entirely because you’re not doing it. A lot of times, juggling those three elements can be difficult, because if you’re a creator, you don’t know what combination to put them in. You can see something but not be wanted to believe it; you can believe something but not be able to see it. It is very hard to communicate the ability to do something when you are in the confines of a film. That’s where video games play their part.

This is one of the weirdest things I’ve seen. A trailer full of stills? They did realize they were selling a motion picture, no? And jeez, the Little Prince looks like one of the Children of the Damned: Did they mean to do that? How come I’ve never seen this movie? I don’t even remember it. It must not have been on TV a hundred million times, like all the other kiddie and family movies from the 60s and 70s...

The most important part of marketing a film is its poster as that is what sells the concept and the package of the movie to the majority of it’s audience. It’s truly a tricky thing to boil down everything you want to say about a film into one precise image but it’s crucial as it could end up being the defining factor for what attracts an audience to the film or turn them away completely. Some are incredibly eerie, some totally insane and others down right atrocious, but no matter what they are there’s no denying that horror film posters are some of the most memorable out there.

So as part of our second 31 Days of Horror series, What Culture! have compiled the 10 most memorable horror posters in cinema history…

10. Drag Me To Hell (2009)

Why It’S So Memorable: Whatever your opinions on the film itself,...

We’ve all thought it, perhaps even fantasised about it…because let’s face it, teachers all seem like aliens when your a teenager! Released on Blu-ray for the first time, it’s time to relieve those teenage dreams with The Faculty. Read on for our review…

Herrington High, Ohio, a small-town high school. All of a sudden, the teachers start changing attitude. When Casey (Elijah Wood) and Delilah (Jordana Brewster) have to hide in a closet in the teacher’s lounge, they witness the strangulation of Nurse Harper by two of them. Shocked, they manage to flee. Only moments later, the nurse seems to be very alive, but also somehow changed, like all the teachers and most of the students. Only Casey, Delilah and four others seem to be suspicious. Proof of an alien infection is finally brought by the chemistry teacher, who also points out a way to kill the infected humans.

Actor best known as the private detective Frank Marker in the television series Public Eye

For 10 years, the actor Alfred Burke, who has died aged 92, starred as the downbeat private detective Frank Marker in the popular television series Public Eye (1965-75). The character was intended as a British rival to Raymond Chandler's American gumshoe Philip Marlowe. Tough, unattached and self-sufficient, Marker could take a beating in the service of his often wealthy clients without quitting. "Marker wasn't exciting, he wasn't rich," Burke said. "He could be defined in negatives."

An ABC TV press release introduced the character as a "thin, shabby, middle-aged man with a slightly grim sense of humour and an aura of cynical incorruptibility. His office is a dingy south London attic within sound of Clapham Junction. He can't afford a secretary, much less an assistant, and when he needs a car, he hires a runabout from the local garage.

It seems logical to follow up last weekend’s retro trailer for The Village of the Damned with a look back at the sequel... Those darn damned kids: they’ve learned to blend in and look like any ol’ ordinary Earth kids, all the better to zap our brains and stuff. Like most alien invaders, the kids don’t ever seem to get around to having a good reason to want to take over the planet... or to destroy it. Aren’t they stuck here too? Or are their Et mommies and daddies going to come get them someday? You know, I used to think I was gonna get rescued from Earth by my real parents from outer space. I’m still waiting. Children of the Damned is available on DVD in Region 1 from Amazon.com and from Amazon.ca, and in Region 2 from Amazon U.K.

James quakes at the sight of the mutant creature in Splice, and concludes that the world’s worst monsters are rarely the most obvious…

Despite all the head spinning, green vomit and profanity, Regan MacNeil of The Exorcist was a pretty sweet little girl. She may have been a deadly devil child rattling the bed and defiling crucifixes, but every kid goes through a ‘difficult' phase, right? It just so happens that Regan's involved satanic seizures and possession by Pazuzu.

Likewise, I bet the eponymous diabolical infant of Rosemary's Baby was a beautiful miracle of fresh life despite his mother's howls of horror.

Babies are amazing creatures that should be cherished and adored, even if they do have devil horns and bear the marks of Satan.

What I'm getting to is a couple of key issues that I feel need addressing. Firstly, nappy companies need to push for equality and...

Children of the Damned Written By: Kevin Williamson & Julie Plec Directed By: Marcos Siega Original Airdate: 4 February 2010 In This Episode... ...we cut between 1864 and 2010. In 2010, it is all about Jonathan Gilbert's journal.   Stefan confronts him and finds out that Aleric's wife was killed by Damon, but he is there for answers, not revenge.  His wife's body was never found.  Stefan works an uneasy bargain: he will protect Aleric from Damon if Stefan can take the journal.  The journal has been taken by Anna, but luckily Aleric made a photocopy.  In reading the journal, Stefan and Elena discover that Emily's grimoire is not...

Welcome to this week's edition of The Vampire Diaries Round Table!

From Alaric's back story to revelations about Anna, "Children of the Damned" was jam-packed with information and action.

As fans gather in our Vampire Diaries forum to discuss the episode, our staff has come together to pick apart various developments below. Reader feedback on these topics is always encouraged....

Grade Nina Dobrev's performance as Katherine.

M.L. House: A. In a recent interview, she said she based that portrayal on Ian Somerhalder's take on Damon - and you can totally tell. She was clearly having a great time playing someone so different than Elena.

Lj Gibbs: A Plus. She got to get it on with Damon and Stefan?!? It was clear she enjoyed taking on this sexy challenge, and I don't blame her.

The Barnacle: C. As in: I hope we get to "c" more of it!

Last night's Vampire Diaries added around 320,000 viewers from last week's performance, early viewing figures show. The 8pm screening of 'Children of the Damned', which featured flashbacks from Stefan and Damon's childhood, attracted 4.02m to The CW. Supernatural followed at 9pm, drawing 2.35m. Over on CBS, Surviving Survivor logged 8.29m at 8pm, 14.57m watched CSI during the 9pm hour, and the 10pm Mentalist drew 14.75m. Community and Parks and Recreation put in 5.22m and (more)...

We learned a lot more about Anna.

We met Damon and Stefan's father.

We discovered the original rift between the siblings.

Indeed, a whloe lot went down during this week's new episode of The Vampire Diaries, and we encourage readers to check out our review of "Children of the Damned."

As usual, the hour also featured a few singles. Review each one in our Vampire Diaries music section and get a sampling of the songs below:

Kate Earl - "When You're Ready" Surfer Blood - "Floating Vibes" Elefant - "Goodbye"...

(S01E13) "You know, I really like this whole menage a trois threesome thing. It's got a bit of a kink to it." - Damon to Stefan and Elena

Interesting episode of 'The Vampire Diaries,' with the flashbacks showing the relationship of the Gilberts and Salvatores back when women wore hoops and guys wore watch fobs. What's really fun is seeing Nina Dobrev play the wicked vampire chick from back in the day. Such a departure from her present day Elena, who's all about the common sense.

Continue reading Review: 'The Vampire Diaries' - 'Children of the Damned'

 

Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Vampire Diaries

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Where do we even begin this week?

In one of the most dense episode of the season, The Vampire Diaries viewers learned why Damon holds such a grudge against Stefan; discovered a great deal about a new character on the show; and even got to witness Stefan and Elena in bed.

It was a sexy, engrossing, suspenseful, educational hour of television. Catch up on "Children of the Damned" via our detailed recap and join us below for an in-depth review of the episode...

How great is Nina Dobrev as Katherine?!? The actress made us forget about Elena during the opening scene. Whether Dobrev has been consulting with Ian Somerhalder for tips on how to act evil is unclear, but this much is not: she relished taking on such a new, different role. It was also startling to see Damon as a hesitant, fearful vampire. It makes us realize how events...

One of the many things I love about The Vampire Diaries is the dense, rich backstory from 1864.  "Children of the Damned" was the second episode to provide flashbacks into the time the Salvatore brothers fell in love with the vampire Katherine, and it just added more mysteries and more mythology to the series.  At this point, The Vampire Diaries could spend an entire season in 1864 and I'd be happy.

The latest trip introduced the vampire Pearl and her daughter Annabel (aka present-day Anna), a duo working with Katherine in Mystic Falls.  Knowing that Pearl is one of the 26 other vampires in Katherine's Tomb opens the door to one major question: who are the other 25?...