Over two years ago a little film was produced to great acclaim at film festivals and screenings for those lucky enough to see the film. This film would then go on to sit on a studio shelf with no release date on the nearby horizon. The film in question is TRICK ‘R TREAT. Written & directed by Michael Dougherty the film is a Halloween anthology in the same vein as CREEPSHOW and as such Dougherty wanted to craft a graphic novel that depicted the film in all its gory detail and thus there is now this adaptation by Marc Andreyko with artwork supplied by Mike Huddleston (chapter 1), Grant Bond (chapter 2), Christopher Gugliotti (chapter 3), and Fiona Staples (chapter 4).
The graphic novel follows the film pretty faithfully considering how much has to be trimmed in order to accommodate the format and the four artists do a great job in giving each chapter a unique identity of their own. The who thing comes off as a nice little gift for the Halloween season.
For those of you not familiar with TRICK ‘R TREAT it is the story of several groups of people celebrating the traditions of Halloween and what happens when those traditions are not honored. To make sure that everything goes off as befitting those traditions is the enigmatic Sam, a small child-like person who wears a burlap sack over his head. He is the window through which all the stories are connected.
Although a brief and very fun read, this graphic novel doesn’t have the punch of the CREEPSHOW graphic novel which is partially due to the fact that all the stories interconnect in one way or another, so, each individual story cannot be viewed as such (even though a different artist focuses on each chapter). As a whole the project is not so bad and it may become another great addition to the CREEPSHOW, CREEPY, EERIE, or TALES FROM THE CRYPT mode.
CITY GARDEN - "The Old Woman & The Park"
On the set of the short film "A Gift"
Showing posts with label Tales From the Crypt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tales From the Crypt. Show all posts
Friday, February 5, 2010
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Book Review: TALES FROM THE CRYPT: THE OFFICIAL ARCHIVES By Digby Diehl
Author Digby Diehl’s book Tales From the Crypt: The Official Archives is one of the most comprehensive books on the history of EC Comics and their downfall to the creation of the cult HBO television show Tales From the Crypt, which ran for seven seasons. Diehl’s book starts by giving the reader a background of the EC publishers and how their comics opened the world and the industry to a different kind of comic from the Famous Funnies and Popular Comics titles of the ‘30s and ‘40s to when William “Bill” Gaines inherited the company and started producing what would eventually become the infamous Tales From The Crypt, Haunt of Fear, The Vault of Horror, and Weird Science titles (to name a few), in which Gaines and his company of dedicated artists produced some of the most strikingly original and grotesque comics and stories to ever be committed to page. With the popularity of these comics to pre-teens everywhere came the backlash of parents and religious groups all across America. The book traces this history and causes of what brought down the Gaines Empire and EC Comics eventually leading up to the creation of both the British feature films Tales From the Crypt (1972) and The Vault of Horror (1973) and eventually to the American television series Tales From the Crypt (1989-1996).
The book goes into great detail about the creation of the HBO produced television show and how close it honored the source material (all 93 episodes were based on a story from one of the EC comics titles). The book also gives a complete television guide to the series not to mention it highlights the inspiration for every episode. Diehl’s book not only is a library of information but he has extensive interviews with many of the artists involved with the original comics not to mention the people behind the television series giving the book everything a reader needs to know about history of EC Comics and the television series.
An added bonus to the book is the abundance of photos and artwork throughout not to mention that four complete stories from the comics are reprinted with the inclusion of a never before published story hidden away in the EC Vaults that never made it to the printed page. Diehl’s book is a book for any fan of the EC Comics world as well as those who just want to know a little bit of history about one of the greatest (and infamous) publishing companies in the business.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Novel Review: FOUL PLAY: THE ART & ARTISTS OF THE NOTORIOUS 1950s E.C. COMICS! By Grant Geissman
Anyone who knows their history in terms of the magazine and comic book industry will know about the infamous horror magazines of the 1950s era and E.C. comics who produced some of those titles which included TALES FROM THE CRYPT, THE HAUNT OF FEAR, CRIME SUSPENSE STORIES, and WEIRD TALES, to name a few. In FOUL PLAY: THE ART & ARTISTS OF THE NOTORIOUS 1950s E.C. COMICS! writer Grant Geissman examines the art and artists that help make E.C. Comics what it was.
Geissman does a wise thing by examining the history and eventual downfall of the company through the art & artists that came out of the companies short lived lifespan (although one of its publications still exist – MAD magazine). Each of the companies most prolific artists gets a chapter from Al Feldstein, Harvey Kurtzman, Johnny Craig, Graham Ingels, Wallace Wood, and Will Elder, to name a few. In addition to the background on each of the artists and their contributions to the company Geissman also includes a sample comic from each of them. There is even a never before published story at the end of the book to the delight of all fans everywhere. Geissman also includes several other goodies never before seen including company photos and a collection of E.C. Christmas Party Art.
This book is a great asset to any fan of the E.C. comics and it is a great introduction for those who just want to know more about the company and the events that led to its downfall. The book is thorough in its examination and leaves no stone unturned. There are also many quotes from the artists as they relay their experiences working with the company and their fellow artists. This is one of the best companion books for the company thus far released.
Geissman does a wise thing by examining the history and eventual downfall of the company through the art & artists that came out of the companies short lived lifespan (although one of its publications still exist – MAD magazine). Each of the companies most prolific artists gets a chapter from Al Feldstein, Harvey Kurtzman, Johnny Craig, Graham Ingels, Wallace Wood, and Will Elder, to name a few. In addition to the background on each of the artists and their contributions to the company Geissman also includes a sample comic from each of them. There is even a never before published story at the end of the book to the delight of all fans everywhere. Geissman also includes several other goodies never before seen including company photos and a collection of E.C. Christmas Party Art.
This book is a great asset to any fan of the E.C. comics and it is a great introduction for those who just want to know more about the company and the events that led to its downfall. The book is thorough in its examination and leaves no stone unturned. There are also many quotes from the artists as they relay their experiences working with the company and their fellow artists. This is one of the best companion books for the company thus far released.
Friday, August 15, 2008
George A. Romero's CREEPSHOW: THE WORK PRINT
Over the years there has been much talk about George A. Romero’s CREEPSHOW and what was cut out of the film to get it to its current 2 hour running time from the original 2 hour and 10 minutes director’s cut. I managed to get a hold of a “work print” copy of the film which restores the ten minutes of cut footage.
In the “work print” edition I have (which is in1.33: 1 full screen aspect ratio) it is a modest version of the film. The scenes that were cut seem to be simply be re-inserted in to the film by use of “dissolves.” This version would not be an actual spliced film version, but resembles a version that someone may have just downloaded the original television version to their computer and then put the cut scenes back then and used a dissolve to hide the splices. The cut scenes are of varying degrees of quality that never match up to the rest of the film and the audio mix for these new scenes is never correct so it feels sometimes as if the film is off cue sometimes.
All these complaints to the side (since this is an unofficial release version of the film) it is very interesting to see what footage was cut from the film. Most of the scenes that were cut from the release version of the film come from the very first segment of the film “Father’s Day.” There were many scenes explaining the father’s past and how he become a mogul that add more to why Aunt Bedelia killed her father which adds to her characters motivation and current state of mind. There are also small scenes cut from “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill” and “Something To Tide You Over” but these scenes don’t really add much to the film. There is nothing added for “They’re Creeping Up On You” and a small blink or you’ll miss it segment returned to “The Crate.”
None of the subsequent segments are enhanced by the added scenes and point of fact they just bog down the film, so, I’m glad they were left out of the film to begin with. CREEPSHOW was a one of the kind anthology masterpiece that defied audience expectations and reactions and went on to become one of the landmarks in the anthology genre. Only the sequences returned to “Father’s Day” had any real impact on the film but even that is inconsequential as the film works so well without them in terms of pacing.
There are plans to release a Special Edition Anniversary Edition of the film later this year which is rumored to be returning this cut footage back into the film but if you already have the previous DVD version of the film save your money (unless of course you are like me and you’ve just been curious for all these years).
In the “work print” edition I have (which is in1.33: 1 full screen aspect ratio) it is a modest version of the film. The scenes that were cut seem to be simply be re-inserted in to the film by use of “dissolves.” This version would not be an actual spliced film version, but resembles a version that someone may have just downloaded the original television version to their computer and then put the cut scenes back then and used a dissolve to hide the splices. The cut scenes are of varying degrees of quality that never match up to the rest of the film and the audio mix for these new scenes is never correct so it feels sometimes as if the film is off cue sometimes.
All these complaints to the side (since this is an unofficial release version of the film) it is very interesting to see what footage was cut from the film. Most of the scenes that were cut from the release version of the film come from the very first segment of the film “Father’s Day.” There were many scenes explaining the father’s past and how he become a mogul that add more to why Aunt Bedelia killed her father which adds to her characters motivation and current state of mind. There are also small scenes cut from “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill” and “Something To Tide You Over” but these scenes don’t really add much to the film. There is nothing added for “They’re Creeping Up On You” and a small blink or you’ll miss it segment returned to “The Crate.”
None of the subsequent segments are enhanced by the added scenes and point of fact they just bog down the film, so, I’m glad they were left out of the film to begin with. CREEPSHOW was a one of the kind anthology masterpiece that defied audience expectations and reactions and went on to become one of the landmarks in the anthology genre. Only the sequences returned to “Father’s Day” had any real impact on the film but even that is inconsequential as the film works so well without them in terms of pacing.
There are plans to release a Special Edition Anniversary Edition of the film later this year which is rumored to be returning this cut footage back into the film but if you already have the previous DVD version of the film save your money (unless of course you are like me and you’ve just been curious for all these years).
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