THE SEVEN DOORS OF DEATH NEEDS A COMIC BOOK CONTINUATION

I want to finish Lucio Fulci's Seven Doors of Death story. Unfamiliar? They include three of his films City of the Living Dead, The Beyond, and House by the Cemetery. That leaves four doors unopened and a storytelling void that needs to be filled. I envision a graphic novel or at least a comic book series. Black and white and gory like my favorite underground comics of the 80s (have you read Dead World or Faust; Love of the Damned or Gore Shriek?) I have a plot that would take the reader through the discovery of the four doors with a single story line, told in four parts, and would reach back to the first three films as a launch point. I see this as an opportunity for multiple writers and artists who love these films to pay a loving tribute to a director who made some of the goriest and stylish films to come out of Italy. The question of rights is huge, of course, and then where does the money come from? I'm going to start working on all that after the first of the new year, right now I'm trying to wind up my newest book. Any writers and artists that are interested in this project should get in touch. I think this could kick a ton of ass!

 

ONE WEEK TILL HALLOWEEN...WHAT ARE YOU WATCHING???

I can watch horror all year, as I'm sure many of you can, but there's just something special about watching really good horror flicks around Halloween (duh, yea I know).  Let me throw out a few suggestions to go with your Jasons and Michaels and Freddys.
1) PHANTASM...If you haven't seen this film, perhaps you've seen director Don Coscarelli's other movies Bubba Ho Tep or John Dies At The End. (No? You need to fix that ASAP!) Phantasm is about two brothers, Mike and Jody, and their friend Reggie who wind up having to go up against an under taker called the Tall Man who steals the dead he's supposed to be burying and turns them into shrunken minions. He also is armed with flying silver spheres that will give you quite the...headache. Bloody, weird, creepy. One of my favorites.

2) THE BEYOND...Guess what? You've inherited an old hotel in Louisiana! But...It sets on a doorway to hell. Sorry. The Beyond is a brutal and creepy tour de force from Lucio Fulci, director of Zombie, Cat In The Brain, and City of The Living Dead to name a few. The Beyond is his masterpiece. Beautifully shot, nightmarish in it's logic. This film is fantastic. And there's zombies. Fulci does really good zombies.

3) THE BROOD...If you've been reading this blog for any length of time you already know that David Cronenberg is one of my biggest heroes. His cult hit Scanners, remake of The Fly and 'adaptation' of William Burrough's Naked Lunch are unimpeachable master classes in film making. But of all his movies the only one that really freaked me out was The Brood. Kids in horror movies are creepy, kids in The Brood will make your blood run cold. While a psychologist runs a woman through an experimental therapy, bizarre and brutal murders are occurring, committed by mutant children. Frightening and disturbing.

4) BASKET CASE...A young man and his deformed siamese brother go looking for revenge against the doctors who separated them. This one has as much heart as it does scares. Set in the sleazy New York City of the early 80's, Basket Case, from Frank Henenlotter, is an offbeat and wild flick. I caught it late night on tv when I was a kid and damn if it didn't get under my skin!

5) PRINCE OF DARKNESS...One of my favorite John Carpenter films! Creepy and hopeless and a bit more cerebral than most of his other films. Prince of Darkness is a claustrophobic supernatural horror tale set in an abandoned church which may hold the end of the world. Throw in some cryptic warnings from the future through dreams and Alice Cooper as a zombified bum and you've got a kick ass flick. Not to mention the great Donald Pleasence!

Pleasant nightmares, fiends!