The ZOM-B blog - covering the pop culture invasion of the living dead with info, news and reviews of zombie movies, TV shows, books, comics and games.
On sale this week - the latest (and last) issue of Vertigo's iZombie:
Final Issue! Will Gwen make the ultimate sacrifice before Xitalu consumes every soul on Earth? Will Gavin and Spot make up before it's too late? Will Ellie and Frankenteen find true love? Will Horatio get his original hair color back?
Could zombies live among us?
In order to answer this question, and campaign to "Put Zombies Back On TV", AMC unleashed the walking dead into the heart of the city.
The world needs the zombie apocalypse now more than ever, so come on guys, work this out and put zombies back on TV.
Finally, a chance to put all that zombie-killing know how to practical use as Google's annual programmer hackathon turned into an undead whack-a-thon...
"The problem: Zombies are popping out of a graveyard. The challenge: Smash as many as possible.
It might sound like any mindless carnival game, but the stakes on Friday were high. The best zombie-smasher could be in the running to win $10,000—and perhaps a job at Google Inc."
Read the Wall Street Journal's full story here.
On Thursday night, July 26th, The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films honored Robert Kirkman and The Walking Dead with Saturn Awards.
The Walking Dead took the award for Best Television Presentation and Robert Kirkman garned a special achievement nod with The Innovator Award.
Congratulations to Kirkman and the entire cast and crew of The Walking Dead. These awards have been well earned.
You can check out the full list of winners right here.
G4TV's Morgan Webb checks out Resident Evil 6
Currently out of print, Stuart Gordon's zombie classic Re-Animator returns to home video in the Fall with its first ever Blu-ray edition.
From the official press release:
"On September 4th, Image Entertainment resurrects one of the greatest horror films ever made with the Blu-ray™ debut of Stuart Gordon’s cult classic H.P. Lovecraft’s Re-Animator. Presented in a brand-new 1080p HD transfer approved by producer Brian Yuzna, the 1985 shocker was ranked #32 of 50 on EW’s “Top 50 Cult Films,” inspired two sequels as well as an award-winning stage musical!
Featuring high-resolution DTS-HD audio and packed with bonus features, the Re-Animator Blu-ray™ hits retail with an SRP of $17.97. Also available on DVD for an SRP of $9.98.
Adapted by Dennis Paoli, William J. Norris and Stuart Gordon from the H.P. Lovecraft short story, Re-Animator tells the strange tale of medical student Dan Cain (Bruce Abbot) and his girlfriend Megan Halsey (Barbara Crampton), both of them drawn to odd new student Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) who’s conducting secret experiments involving the re-animation of dead tissue. When one of the instructors, Dr. Carl Hill (David Gale), stumbles upon their activities, West murders him -- but is brought back to life, now thirsting for revenge as well as lusting after Megan. The final denouement features the re-animated Dr. Hill squaring off against Herbert and Dan in a battle royale within the school’s morgue, complete with resurrected “henchmen” and undoubtedly one of the greatest visual double entendres in all horror cinema!"
The special features on this Blu-ray edition will be:
Documentary: “Re-Animator Resurrectus”
Audio Commentary by Director Stuart Gordon
Audio Commentary by Producer Brian Yuzna and Actors Bruce Abbott, Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton and Robert Sampson
Interview with Director Stuart Gordon and Producer Brian Yuzna
Interview with Writer Dennis Paoli
Interview with Composer Richard Band
Music Discussion with Composer Richard Band
Interview with Fangoria Magazine editor Tony Timpone
Deleted and Extended Scenes
Theatrical trailer
TV Spots
Image Entertainment's Re-Animator Blu-ray will be available on September 4th and you can pre-order it now.
2-BIT BUB, the official iOS mobile game for ParaNorman is available is available now for free in the iTunes App Store:
"ParaNorman's 2-BIT BUB is an adorably odd action-puzzler starring mobile gaming's weirdest new hero. Bub is a ghost-dog in two bits, and it's up to you to slingshot his ectoplasmically conjoined body through 30 levels of stunning visuals pulled straight from the movie! Bub will need all his cunning—and a bunch of spectral floating orbs—to collect the zombie bones he's lost. But this is one ghost-dog who's ready to learn some new tricks!"
ParaNorman opens in theaters on August 17th.
Zombie Boom is on the way from SudoGame!
From their official press release:
New game Zombie Boom is coming soon
Hongkong, China - Zombie Boom is an action and puzzle game that based on chain reaction, especially the zombie's design is different from other zombie game, it's a bit of cute and strange. What's important is it won't make you feel nausea and fear. You need to choose when and where to throwing weapon. If you use incendiary bombs to hit a zombie, explosion caused flame effect for a period of time. In this short period of time, once other zombies touch the flame will also lead to "bomb ". The rest can be done in the same manner; you will glad to see interesting serial explosions. By the way, in order to makes game more lifelike, zombie blood maybe spatter to the screen in certain probability. Pass the stage or not is depends on your "deadly impact".
Don't worry about complex operation; Zombie Boom is first personal game. You just tap the screen to throwing weapons (if you have accumulated enough coins to buy props would be more brilliant). Whenever your pre-judge is right and tapping is timely, numerous zombies will turn into a pool of green blood. It stands to reason that some dilapidated walls will appear in game scene to make some trouble to players. So,"0" is a "normal" result.
Features:
* Chain reaction, serial explosions
* Different from other zombie game, a bit of cute and strange
* Zombie movement speed is different in every stage, from simple to difficult
* Each stage is a separate story and own requests, the player needs to respond to flexible barrier and complex terrain
* Refreshing stage is random; task sequence for each player will be different
* 8 categories of achievements push the envelope
Game props are free; you will get one gold coin if you blast a zombie (excluding the first one), more zombie blasting, more gold coins you gain. You can use these gold coin to buy game prop to help you to kill zombies. Blasting reaches a certain ratio, the player will get star. the player who want to collect achievements must try it.
The end of the world is coming, virus , homeless, zombie rampage. You determine the man's destiny!
When it came to building the ultimate zombie survival car, Hyundai knew one of the best people to turn to turn to for design inspiration was Robert Kirkman, the man whose imagination created the world of The Walking Dead.
Introducing the Elantra Coupe Zombie Survival Edition!
And they also knew that there was no better place to reveal their results than the San Diego Comic-Con!
How was this machine of mayhem created? Here's the making of...
Yahoo! Movies exclusive behind the scenes look at the stop-motion filmmaking on ParaNorman.
ParaNorman will be in theaters on August 17th.
Just released on DVD last week, Zombified is a 2011 production directed by Todd Jason Cook and starring Rebecca Torrellas, Mike Gebbie and Tayvis Dunnahoe.
"Tommy and Angel have a deadly secret that has tormented them for 13 years. Their fears become reality when a viral outbreak occurs at a local concert and fans become vicious zombies."
Positioned as the first slasher/zombie film combined, Zombiefied touts itself as "one of the most original, creepy and scary films with a unique story and premise. The film is non-stop action mixed with intense, on the edge of your seat moments in an eerie atmosphere. George Romero meets Friday the 13th."
Here's the official trailer:
Unfortunately, The Walking Dead has not received any nominations in the major categories of the 2012 Emmy Awards. While the Drama Series / Actor / Actress / Direction / Writing categories all have very strong contenders, it would have been great to see The Walking Dead get a nod as well.
The Walking Dead did pull in nominations in three technical catgories - Prosthetic Makeup, Sounding Editing and Special Visual Effects.
Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup For A Series, Miniseries, Movie Or A Special
American Horror Story • FX Networks
Boardwalk Empire • HBO
Game Of Thrones • HBO
Once Upon A Time • ABC
The Walking Dead • AMC
Outstanding Sound Editing For A Series
Boardwalk Empire • HBO
Breaking Bad • AMC
CSI: Miami • CBS
Game Of Thrones • HBO
The Walking Dead • AMC
Outstanding Special Visual Effects
Falling Skies • TNT
Game Of Thrones • HBO
Inside The Human Body • TLC
Once Upon A Time • ABC
Pan Am • ABC
The Walking Dead • AMC
Despite this limitation, AMC has nothing to complain it as both Mad Men and Breaking Bad did very well, scoring 17 and 13 nominations respectively.
And here's how the competition shaped up in the keys races in which The Walking Dead lost out:
Outstanding Drama Series
Boardwalk Empire • HBO
Breaking Bad • AMC
Downton Abbey • PBS
Game Of Thrones • HBO
Homeland • Showtime
Mad Men • AMC
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series
Damages • Glenn Close as Patty Hewes
Downton Abbey • Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary Crawley
The Good Wife • Julianna Margulies as Alicia Florrick
Harry's Law • Kathy Bates as Harriet Korn
Homeland • Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison
Mad Men • Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olson
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series
Boardwalk Empire • Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson
Breaking Bad • Bryan Cranston as Walter White
Dexter • Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan
Downton Abbey • Hugh Bonneville as Robert, Earl of Grantham
Homeland • Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody
Mad Men • Jon Hamm as Don Draper
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series
Breaking Bad • Anna Gunn as Skyler White
Downton Abbey • Maggie Smith as Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham
Downton Abbey • Joanne Froggatt as Anna
The Good Wife • Archie Panjabi as Kalinda Sharma
The Good Wife • Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart
Mad Men • Christina Hendricks as Joan Holloway Harris
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series
Breaking Bad • Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman
Breaking Bad • Giancarlo Esposito as Gustavo 'Gus' Fring
Downton Abbey • Brendan Coyle as John Bates
Downton Abbey • Jim Carter as Mr. Carson
Game Of Thrones • Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
Mad Men • Jared Harris as Lane Pryce
Outstanding Guest Actress In A Drama Series
The Good Wife • Martha Plimpton as Patti Nyholm
Grey's Anatomy • Loretta Devine as Adele Webber
Harry's Law • Jean Smart as D.A. Roseanna Remmick
Mad Men • Julia Ormond as Marie Calvet
Shameless • Joan Cusack as Sheila Jackson
Smash • Uma Thurman as Rebecca Duvall
Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series
Breaking Bad • AMC • Mark Margolis as Tio Salamanca
The Good Wife • Dylan Baker as Colin Sweeney
The Good Wife • Michael J. Fox as Louis Canning
Justified • Jeremy Davies as Dickie Bennett
Mad Men • Ben Feldman as Michael Ginsberg
Parenthood • Jason Ritter as Mark Cyr
Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series
Boardwalk Empire • Tim Van Patten
Breaking Bad • Vince Gilligan
Downton Abbey • Brian Percival
Homeland • Michael Cuesta
Mad Men • Phil Abraham
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
Downton Abbey • Julian Fellowes
Homeland • Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon, Gideon Raff
Mad Men • Semi Chellas, Matthew Weiner
Mad Men • Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton
Mad Men • Erin Levy, Matthew Weiner
Good luck to The Walking Dead and all the other contenders for Emmy Awards this season.
New in stores now from Dark Horse Comics - Fatima: The Blood Spinners #2 by Gilbert Hernandez
"Love and Rockets’ Gilbert Hernandez continues his scary and sexy romp through the zombie-infested future! With the irresistible drug “spin” turning more and more people into shambling brain-eaters, the beautiful Fatima finds herself one of the last agents standing against them. But with conspiracy theories running rampant, it’s impossible to tell if she’s on the right side or if her own organization is responsible for unleashing the plague!"
Robert Kirkman and Image Comics made history with the 100th issue of The Walking Dead as it became the best-selling single issue of a comic book in the 21st century, selling out its entire order on its first day of release.
From their official press release:
THE WALKING DEAD #100 IS THE BEST-SELLING COMIC OF THE CENTURY
Robert Kirkman’s Eisner Award-winning THE WALKING DEAD comic series for Image Comics/Skybound reached its milestone 100th issue and instantly sold out of its 383,612 initial orders on July 11th, the same day it was released, effectively becoming the best-selling comic book in initial orders for any publisher since 1997, when Image Comics/Top Cow’s The Darkness #11 was released. THE WALKING DEAD, created and written by Kirkman with art by Charlie Adlard, featuring 13 variant covers for the 100th issue — all sold out — has been the talk of San Diego Comic-Con with a series of events celebrating its release. Kirkman is a partner in Image Comics, the first person invited to join the comic book industry’s premier publisher of creator-owned comics since its inception twenty years ago.
“This is a remarkable achievement,” said Image Comics Publisher Eric Stephenson. “It’s extremely uncommon, if not flat-out rare, for a comic book to see a sustained increase in sales following its first issue, but The Walking Dead steadily climbed up and up since its launch in 2003, and we couldn’t be more proud of Robert, Charlie and the whole Walking Dead team.”
“The Walking Dead continues to greatly exceed all my expectations in all forms,” said Robert Kirkman. “I am especially excited for what this means for comics as an industry, that this is an independent comic hitting that number.” Kirkman continued, “The future of comics couldn’t be brighter as more and more readers are embracing new ideas in a big way.”
On Wednesday night, Hyundai, Future US, and Kirkman’s Skybound imprint at Image Comics unveiled the Kirkman-designed Zombie Survival Machine from a transformed Hyundai Elantra Coupe. On Thursday, Skybound and Ruckus Sports unveiled The Walking Dead Escape: San Diego, an obstacle course where anyone could live the experience of being a zombie apocalypse survivor and effects whiz Greg Nicotero and team transformed participants into one of the undead.
Kirkman will give away a Hyundai Elantra GT wrapped in Charlie Adlard’s iconic cover of THE WALKING DEAD’s 100th issue, which was on display Friday night at Petco Park during the private The Walking Dead 100th Issue VIP Black Carpet Event. The exclusive party featured a fully immersive recreation of a post-apocalyptic world infested with zombies.
The Skybound booth at Comic-Con, #2729, featured a slew of exclusive merchandise, including THE WALKING DEAD #100 Vannen Watch, THE WALKING DEAD Bloody Michonne Variant action figure and The Walking Dead Hardcover Compendium, which collects issues #1-48 of the iconic comic series.
THE WALKING DEAD topped the bestseller lists for graphic novels in 2011 and frequently topped the New York Times and Amazon’s bestseller lists, taking the top five spots on hardcover and paperback lists. Kirkman is also the executive producer and writer of the hit television show, AMC’s The Walking Dead, the highest-rated basic cable drama of all time in the U.S for season two. Friday’s AMC panel was one of the hottest events at Comic-Con. The show is also an international success in 120 countries, showing in 250 million households worldwide.
Posted by Intel for their "A Momentary Lapse" video contest:
"Not your ordinary zombie make-up tutorial video. This video is a time-lapse story of a gorgeous girl who gets zombified and comes to life, only to decay and die in front of our eyes. Watch as the nightmare unfolds. This video was created for Intel's "A Momentary Lapse" to celebrate the change over time."
Credits:
"Zombie Makeup Special Effects Time-Lapse"
Directed by: Anka Malatynska
Music by: Circle of Sound
On location at Spectral Motion Inc., a leader in the prosthetic makeup and creature effects industry
And you can enter Intel's "A Momentary Lapse" contest too:
Make your own 30-60 second original time-lapse or slow motion video and submit your entry for chances to win huge prizes! Submission Dates: June 22, 2012 - October 23, 2012 http://bit.ly/AMLIntel
To celebrate Comic-Con and their #13DaysofDead, AMC's The Walking Dead is giving one of their Twitter followers a chance to win one of three posters.
"Thanks for a great Comic-Con weekend! Our last 13 Days of Dead giveaway is up for grabs! Follow The Walking Dead on Twitter for your chance to win one of these 3 posters. https://twitter.com/walkingdead_amc"
So follow them on Twitter and retweet the contest post for your chance to win!
ThinkGeek's got another zombie-inspired limited edition Saturday-only t-shirt available today!
With a not so subtle nod to Zombieland, "Right after Cardio, just before Beware of Bathrooms, and still no Twinkies", it's... Rule #2: Double Tap
Fight the dead. Fear the living. And watch the brand new trailer for the upcoming season of The Walking Dead that just came straight out of Comic-Con.
The third season of The Walking Dead returns to AMC on October 14th.
The A.V. Club's Pop Pilgrims head back to the Night of the Living Dead's Evans City Cemetery near Pittsburgh, PA for a chat with NOTLD sound engineer (and investor) Gary Streiner.
Forbes profiles Byron Rempel, the 'Man Behind a Google+ Zombie Apocalypse':
"There has been a lot of talk the last year about Google+ being a ghost town. It’s not … it’s a Zombieland.
Thank Byron Rempel for that. The artist from Manitoba, Canada has racked up 30,000 followers by turning Google+ profile pictures into zombie portraits."