Posted on by Monica Valentinelli
I didn’t really know what to expect when I picked up The Fountain; I had read some other reviews of it before I went out and got it and was intrigued by Darren Aronosfky’s writing and film style. Going into it, I had thought it was a film about the fountain of youth, about a couple who were possessed with finding the mythic “fountain” to restore and heal Izzy (played by Rachel Weisz) from her terminal illness.
[...more]
Posted on by Matt-M-McElroy
One of the movies that I am really looking forward to checking out is Hellboy II: The Golden Army.
I’ve been following the press releases and trailers and rumors as I get the time. Guillermo del Toro and his team have not let me down yet. I’ve also re-watched Hellboy and Hellboy: Blood & Iron a couple of times just for fun.
[...more]
Posted on by Flames
Bioshock tells the tale of a fallen utopia, I’ll try not to give too much away but you play jack, a survivor of a plane wreck in the mid-atlantic (actually the North Atlantic near Greenland and Iceland where the main plane route is if the coordinates given for Rapture’s location are right) who discovers this rotting vision and plays a key role in breaking a stalemate between two opposing forces there.
Review by James ‘Grim’ Desborough
[...more]
Posted on by Matt-M-McElroy
The guys over at Rogue Games have made a couple of interesting announcements recently that are good news for fans of Sci-fi and Horror games. First up is the announcement that the sci-fi RPG Thousand Suns is available for pre-order at IPR. If you are curious about this game, take a look at the Design […]
[...more]
Posted on by alanajoli
Written by Patricia A. McKillip
Reviewed by Alana Abbott
Secrets weave upon secrets in McKillip’s tale of weaving witches who bind their neighboring fairies, keeping the otherworld at bay. When Sylvia’s grandfather dies and she becomes the heir to Lynn Hall, one of the places where this world and the other intersect, secrets she’s been trying to hide for years start coming to the surface. She never knew the identity of her father–her mother kept it secret until her death–but she knows that he wasn’t human.
[...more]
Posted on by Matt-M-McElroy
Dread is a violent horror game from Neoplastic Press about hunting demons and it is presented in a chaotic punk wave throughout the book. This review is of the revised and updated edition of the game. The revised edition cleans up some of the rules, expands the magic and adds a few new demons for the characters to deal with.
Posted on by Monica Valentinelli
Do you enjoy fright in your InBox every morning? Do you jump with glee when blood splatters all over your web page? Well, new to Flames this year will be reviews of the good, the bad, and the horrific in new media formats that we haven’t covered before. We couldn’t think of a better place […]
[...more]
Posted on by Matt-M-McElroy
The stunning news this morning is the Black Industries Announcement. Black Industries regret to announce that Dark Heresy: Disciples of the Dark Gods out in September will be the final product to be released from Black Industries. Needless to say, I’m a bit stunned by the news. Dark Heresy sold around 20K copies this past […]
[...more]
Posted on by Matt-M-McElroy
On Friday I mentioned in the Flash Fire Mini-Reviews how much I liked the Storytelling Adventure System from White Wolf Game Studio. These adventures offer up tips, tools and other dark treats for Storytellers of the World of Darkness games.
Criminal Intent is the latest addition to the SAS line-up. A Vampire: the Requiem adventure written by Eddy Webb, CI offers up some new interactive features and really shows the potential of the SAS product line.
[...more]
Posted on by Flames
Review by: Jason Thorson
Sometimes the most innovative ideas are so simple, it’s amazing they haven’t already been done. Such is the case with Cloverfield – a giant monster movie shot entirely from the perspective of a character’s camcorder. Produced by J.J. Abrams, written by Drew Goddard, and directed by Matt Reeves, all of whom are television vets having been responsible for episodes of Lost, Buffy, Angel, Alias, and others, Cloverfield is more than merely Godzilla meets The Blair Witch Project. It’s unique in that it attempts to give us fully developed characters to inhabit it’s high concept scenario and entirely besieged Manhattan setting.
[...more]
Posted on by Monica Valentinelli
Sometimes the best in horror comes from the most unlikely of places; some of you might remember Franklin W. Cain’s Lego® Cthulu. While building horror images with Legos® can be a lot of fun (my favorites are the Darth Maul Lego® Sculpture Kit and the Viking Fortress against Fafnir Dragon) Brick Films knows that Legos® […]
[...more]
Posted on by Matt-M-McElroy
The Saw movies have been pretty popular with horror fans for the last several years. Popular enough for a fourth movie to hit the shelves recently (and don’t forget the special edition of the first three movies that came out in October).
There are plenty of tie-products as well, including hats and t-shirts of course. I think my favorite though is the SAW Plush Doll from Sideshow Collectibles.
[...more]
Posted on by Matt-M-McElroy
Welcome to the first installment of the Flash Fire series of mini-reviews on the new Flames Rising website!
Every Friday (hopefully) we’re going to post a series of short reviews of new-to-me Horror & Dark Fantasy products. These will usually be one or two paragraph highlights of whatever caught our eye that particular week. Basically…stuff we think is cool and want to share. We will try to keep it a mix of stuff, but you never really know just what we will be up to in a given week.
This week we’ve got some Changeling, a few zombies, a conspiracy, Cthulhu and something unnatural…
[...more]
Posted on by Monica Valentinelli
When Wizards first announced it’s new Open Game License (OGL) for publishers, a flurry of forum activity like this thread on RPGnet covered concerns from fans, contributors and publishers. Wizard of the Coast’s new OGL license for 4th Edition Rules hardly resembles the previous, free-flowing version, and while you may (or may not) agree with the way that Wizards has handled this aspect of their business, I still feel that it’s important to point out that this change could affect freelancers workflow and payment schedules.
[...more]
Posted on by Matt-M-McElroy
Popping up on Newsarama and the DB Forums is a press release about a new novel to comics deal. Here’s a teaser: The Dabel Brothers are already well-known for their comic book and graphic novel adaptations of great paranormal thriller novels such as 2007’s bestselling Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter in Guilty Pleasures […]
[...more]
Posted on by Monica Valentinelli
Having read quite a few “compendiums” and “how-to” guides, some take a very emotionally-filled and visual approach, to tap into and encourage your belief in this form of divination. For me, I am attracted to a more pragmatic approach because I primarily use or research these tools for my writing. In my opinion, neither method is “bad” or “good” for, like all books, it depends upon what you want to get out of it.
[...more]
Posted on by Matt-M-McElroy
Derek C. F. Pegritz really enjoyed the new Cloverfield movie from J. J. Abrams. The movie has done really well in theaters and is getting some pretty good feedback on various forums. Instead of writing up a review, Derek gives us: Modern Monsters and Modern Humanity This is a great look at monster movies over […]
[...more]
Posted on by alanajoli
Half mystery, half teen drama, Vampire Academy introduces a dying world of tradition: the Moroi can do magic, but must be protected from the evil, undead Stirgoi by their Dhampir guardians. The Stirgoi feed on the blood of innocents, and if they can drink from a Moroi, so much the better. So when Rose suspects that Lissa is being hunted, the danger of losing her is very real.
[...more]
Posted on by Matt-M-McElroy
White Wolf has confirmed that Fall of the Camarilla and Scion: God have shipped. I’ve been looking forward to FotC for some time. Requiem for Rome is an incredible book. I was a big fan of the Dark Ages line for the previous World of Darkness and there are a ton of cool ideas on […]
[...more]
Posted on by Matt-M-McElroy
CNN (and other sources) are reporting: Actor Heath Ledger found dead. Lots of rumors have already popped up all over the web (many about his role as the Joker in the upcoming Batman film The Dark Knight). I don’t have any more information than what has been reported in the news so far. I’m not […]
[...more]