Cover for Rigor Mortis #4

 

Issue #4 will be out in April. 

Pre-order now:

http://www.leekinginc.com/rigormortis/rm4.htm

Review: Feed, by Mira Grant

Feed

By Mira Grant

Review by DeadVida

Website: www.thefeedbook.com

I’ve been pondering this review for several days. Feed isn’t your typical zombie novel. In fact, the name is a clever nod to the content, which has less to do with flesh eating than one might think. No, this is a zombie novel of very little zombie action, not much gore, and a world that manages to cope with zombies.

Unlike most zombie novels, Feed takes place 25 years after the start of the infection. For the majority of the novel the zombies are largely secondary to the plot. It is the changes that the zombies have had on society, politics, and the media that are the focus. The universe and characters that author Mira Grant creates are so detailed and well-conceived that suspension of disbelief was a breeze. The meticulous research on virology, media, and technology pays off and is well used. Furthermore, the narrator is a woman whose power comes from simply being strong, smart and doing her job. No superhero antics, no silly lingerie scenes, no rape threats because the author didn’t know how to otherwise infuse drama, no random comments about her boobs, and no denying her gender. There aren’t pointless action sequences to keep the pubescent mind interested – yes, Jonathan Mayberry, I’m looking at you. There aren’t any goofy gimmicks that distract and detract from the slipshod writing – yeah, that’s a shot at you, Brian Keene. No, here you have actual character development and a writer that carefully crafts a solid back story alongside the current narrative.

Her post-infection Earth of 2039 was oddly realistic. In 2014, scientists developed cures for cancer and the common cold. Unfortunately when the two cures meet, the Kellis-Amberlee virus is created, which in turns causes people to get sick, die, and reanimate in order to spread the virus. The virus infects everyone; it is just a matter of if and when it goes active. Death is an automatic cause for viral amplification. Being bit, scratched, or bled on by an infected person will also cause someone to turn. Standard zombie stuff that remains effective in the right hands.

Set in 2039, the new world has changed beyond the obvious. There are zones of varying degrees of safety, Alaska has been abandoned to the dead, and mammals above 40 pounds are also carriers. As the outbreak in 2014 occurred, traditional news media “protected” people by denying what was happening. This caused the expected deaths, outrage, and backlash. Bloggers on the other hand got online and told the truth as they saw it and, in some cases, saved lives. By 2039, old media has been shoved aside and bloggers are the dominant media. Grant creates a comprehensive and well-realized description of this new structure.

The main protagonists are George (Georgia), a “newsie” blogger, Shaun, George’s brother and “Irwin” blogger, and Buffy, a “fictional” who writes poetry and provides their IT support. And yes, there are some well-utilized pop culture references in the book. The trip is selected to report on the campaign of a presidential hopeful. It seems like the opportunity of a lifetime for the young reporters.

There are elements of political thriller, but the world in which Feed is set makes this a zombie novel. The unfolding of the storyline and pacing offered a slow burn of tension that ultimately paid off. As I said, there is little in the way of zombie action, but when it does happen it is swift and merciless.

As I completed the last of the 600 pages I wanted more. I wasn’t ready to give the characters up yet. The good news is that this is the first book in a trilogy and book 2, Deadline, is set to release in June 2011. Highly recommended.

Review: Pat the Zombie

Pat the Zombie

Review by DeadVida

I am a fan of Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland, gallows humor, and ridiculousness. That said, I find the current wave of zombie humor books rather revolting. They are tired and sad, and for the most part appeal to the pabulum tastes of non-horror fans. Also, as Dread Sockett so eloquently put it in his magnum opus to Nazi zombies in the last issue, “usually when genres are at the point of spoofing they’ve exhausted other means of expression.” Personally, I just want to kill this crap and get back to the scary shit and heady sub-text that zombies can, in fact, offer.

When I saw that yet another zombified classic was coming out, in this case Pat the Zombie (a spoof on the children’s classic Pat the Bunny) I groaned inwardly. It just seemed like the jump the shark moment zombies have been building toward the last couple of years.

A couple of weeks ago an unsolicited review copy of Pat the Zombie landed in my mailbox. Again, I love zombies, funny stuff, and am familiar with the source material. I opened the box with as much impartiality as I am ever likely to muster. It is from 10 Speed Press and the packaging is spot-on. The press release promised me, that as a mother, who hates the “saccharine sweetness” of children’s books, that I would find this a “guilty pleasure.” Let me disclose right here that I have watched Chasing Amy and Simon Says (staring Crispin Glover!) with my pre-schooler. You would think I would be their target market, right?

Wrong. This would have been funny as a panel in Cracked. As an actual book/gift product it is just stupid. The whole joke is on the cover. From there just becomes someone laughing at his own joke, but with a really grating laugh, and then over-explaining the joke.

My fear is that this means we are just a short step from the dreaded sexy, yet misunderstood, teen zombie. Gag me with a femur bone.

RIGOR MORTIS REVIEW EXTRA: ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST (1980)

RIGOR MORTIS REVIEW EXTRA: ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST (1980)

By Dread Sockett

While researching and going through endless VOODOO ZOMBIE films for an upcoming article in Rigor Mortis #4, I came upon a delicious little gem, Zombie Holocaust. It was originally going to be included in the VZ piece except, well, there's no Voodoo in it. I was so smitten with Voodoo overload, I went so far as to write this damn thing as an entry and then realized I'd been so distracted by boobs, latex guts, and general crackassery that it didn’t even belong in the damned article.

So because we're all generous and stuff here at RM, and because there's oooh, only about a zillion other reviews of this half-baked film and ok, fine, because it was already written,  I thought I'd toss this in for tits...erm...SHITS & giggles.

Look at it as a freebie-preview of the upcoming article…even though it won't be in it…and, uhm, has nothing to do with the subject of said article. Hell, it's the thought that counts right? Just shut up and think of this as a bloody valentine from all of us at Rigor Mortis.

There’s a lot to love in this hot…messy…piece of work. Just don't hate me for recommending it because I'm telling you from the start, it's so bad it's good. Director Marino Girolami can’t be bothered with such trivial nonsense as narrative coherence and other technicalities in his film, but this is what makes ZH an entertaining romp. Not only that, but viewers will have déjà vu when locations and sets, as well as some of the actors, "reappear" straight from from Fulci's Zombi 2. It’s the Italian version of Hammer Films’ THE REPTILE/PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES film shoot that did the same thing by way of recycling not only the same sets, but actors as well, though with much classier and coherent narrative results.

We have something of a genre mix here. Not content with merely aping the Romero zombie model, the filmmakers pillage themselves and drop in a dose of the cannibal jungle exploitation scene, topped off nicely with lots of over-the-top gore. ZH’s strongest point is that it is clearly exploitation, nothing more or less. Hell, it doesn't even worry about aping the cannibal jungle genre that well. It just starts flinging familiar things at viewers and all they hafta do is open up and say ,"Aaah!". I sat recalling films like JUNGLE HOLOCAUST thinking damn, that was actually a good movie now that I've been exposed to (one of) the bowels of the cannibal film scene.

THE SORTA STORY: Body parts show up missing at a hospital. Not only that, patients are in their bed and fine one minute and the next suddenly missing internal organs, to the horror of the nurses. This little inconvenience gets the staff in a tizzy, naturally. This reaches its apex when one of the help gets caught ravenously chewing away at some poor sap's heart like he's trying to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. In an eyeball rolling scene that thankfully occurs at the beginning of the movie, said cannibal hospital staff gets caught but manages to escape out a window. The only problem is the window is, oooh, several stories up and as he hits bottom, his stand-in dummy's arm clearly pops off only to miraculously reappear in the real actor's next scene. This dear reader, tells you the madness that awaits you. And if you can get your groove on with that interesting editorial inclusion (or oversight) then ZH has yer name written all over it.

Diva-doctor Lori and Peter set off for the remote island Kito to follow the clue left behind from each body part theft: a mysterious symbol. They arrive with their expedition team and are immediately set upon by the cannibalistic natives who are so hungry for flesh that when they catch victims they don’t even bother to make sure they're dead, but immediately start ripping them apart and consuming them. The director bathes in the gloriousness of his native exploitation by not only featuring them running about spitting out a bunch of native "language" (read: gibberish), but he makes sure you know they're cannibals by giving us lots of lingering shots of them chewing away at various internal organs ripped from the kindasorta deceased. The film certainly delivers the gore in this respect and fans of excess will love it for this. The ridiculousness of the native portrayals not so much. But hey, if this was a PC film, there'd be no point in watching, right?

The natives continue to pick off the expedition team to the horror of the Asiatic "help," who thanks to the usual wonderful Italian post-dub rant on in a combo Pidgin English and Asian-something, I think. Nice. It's one of those scenes where you just know if filmmakers had Black natives, the dub would consist of variants of "ooga-booga". But not to worry, those of you who insist on subtext. One of the expedition party,  the lead in fact, who happens to be Black, is named... get ready for it... Mulatto. No, really. I had to replay that just to make sure I heard right and now, you won't hafta bother. We're helpful like that here at RM.

The zombies show up and this eventually leads the remaining crew to a mad scientist conducting experiments with brain transplanting out in the jungle…. in a shack. Our diva doc gets captured but I’ll let you discover for yourself the what-the-Hell wrap up to that segment. Though I will say, the meaning(ish) of that mysterious symbol is revealed and the filmmakers, not ones to miss an opportunity, show us in very revealing angles how the symbol relates to the now nude Diva doc. Think of the questionable POV swimming scenes in ZOMBIE LAKE and you'll get the idea.

The zombies are pretty interesting. I wouldn't say they're as awesome as the creator's seem to suggest. Nor do I think the Italians really revolutionized the Zed scene the way that angle gets pushed. But still, for a gore and zombie combo, it works. Even when the Zeds are seen running around trying to stab people. The high point though has to be when a zombie gets his head ground through with the blades of a motor boat engine, followed closely by the brain transplant-scalp scene earlier.

Even compared to contemporary standards, ZH holds up well with the gore thrown at viewers. Camera angles lovingly frame every bloody consumption for full impact. And when that silly thing called a “story” threatens to get boring, the film throws in not only boobies of our lounging, barely clad diva, but also works that native thing so viewers can argue about the PC-ness of their handling. The natives would almost be hilarious if their depiction didn’t give viewers an “Oh no they didn’t” response. I couldn’t help but think back to those Mondo Cane type exploitation films. If you want what amounts to a hot mess of a film, here’s your answer.  Just don't ever say you weren't warned.

Review: Roger Corman's Cult Classics

ROGER CORMAN TRIPLE FEATURE: ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS, NOT OF THIS EARTH, and WAR OF THE SATELLITES (DVD)

Review by Dread Sockett  

 

Release Date: 1/18/2011

Shoutfactory.com

Those of you eagerly awaiting the end of times, please rejoice. The release of these films on DVD surely must mean we've come to the end of all things. Why else would the rights holders wait this frakking long to put these damned things out?

I mean geez, we're already into a new video format so this is almost like putting stuff out on VHS. Of course, let me be first to admit, if they did put these out on VHS, well, ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS at least, I'd be hustling my silly butt down to the local thrift store to look for some old machine on which to play the stupid thing. Life is like that for the hardcore fanboy. Talk shit... collect shit while acting indignant and shit... talk more shit after getting shit... make popcorn... eat that shit... sit yer ass down and watch this shit... then write some crazy-assed shit.

It's a very simple life.

So here we have SHOUT FACTORY's awesome Oldschool release of not one but three hard-to-find films: ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS (1957), NOT OF THIS EARTH (1958) and WAR OF THE SATELLITES (1958). It's a crackass combo, but after crap bootlegs, this is like the SCI-FI boxsets that came out a few years ago. You just say thank the nerd gods and shut up. The main reason for many to pick this up is AOTCM followed closely by NOTE. I suppose the truly hardcore would put WOTS above these. If there is such a person I'd like to meet him/her though because s/he is an even bigger masochist than myself and bitches like us need to know our peers.

ATTACK: I almost had an aneurysm when I found out that not only does SHOUT present the film in Anamorphic widescreen, but there's even a fun commentary track to boot (and I'm not usually one who usually gives a damn about commentaries). I watched this fabulously awesome mess of a film twice in a row to soak in all aspects of its radioactive juices. The commentary features TOM WEAVER and the BRUNAS brothers (all authors of books that matter on old horror for those who can afford them suckers) and is full of probably more information than this film deserves.

Honestly, it's packed with so much insight you'd think they were discussing BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (read: they don't talk shit about the material but are quite aware that they aren't talking about a film like BOF at the same time. It’s a fine line to walk). This type of commentary was what I expected when I sat down to watch THE GIANT BEHEMOTH's DVD and was horrified at the disrespect that FX maestros PHIL TIPPETT and DENNIS MUREN displayed, but I digress. ATTACK's presentation was truly perfect in all regards. The print is beautiful. I'd waited for this for years and can now ditch that awful full-screen ALLIED bootleg I've had all this time. As a side note, I never bothered to check all these years since many of this film's contemporaries were full screen, but for some reason I had no idea this was widescreen – and I call myself a fan of AOTCM. I'd watched the bootleg, assuming that was how it always looked. This should tell you why I was (nearly-ish) as nuts about this coming out as say, when the Japanese language version of GOJIRA/GODZILLA was released stateside.

ATTACK concerns scientists who come to a Pacific atoll in search of some missing colleagues. The atoll and its inhabitants were affected by nearby atomic testing. The atmosphere of surrealism sells this pic, even with its obvious shortcomings. It's all clearly cheap, but the atmosphere pervades and viewers need to just settle into the movie's crackass logic and roll with it. From the minute their boat lands and Corman gives us a half-baked money shot (one of the telepathic mutant crabs has a partial reveal as it decapitates someone), you know this isn't quite like the rest of the 50's flicks. No, you're not going to be watching the likes of DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL or even THEM! but you are miles above the Syfy-esque equivalents of the day like SHE DEMONS and MONSTER FROM GREEN HELL. This is quality 50's schlock and believe me there is a difference for those of our younger Peeps who think all B/W films look alike.

So after the scientists get settled, they all start getting picked off one by one. It becomes apparent the mutant crab monsters (who really don't do all that much attacking) assimilate the minds of their victims. This in turn leads to some interesting telepathic exchanges where they communicate with the remaining scientists through everything but the kitchen sink (really, I'm not kidding). Eventually, the usual showdown happens and we get to see the monsters in all their glory. The crabs are big and who knows how they went from normal crabs to the giant Japanese monster look. They even have "faces" which reminds me of THE BLACK SCORPION monsters' close-ups.

NOT OF THIS EARTH was a pleasant surprise since I don't recall seeing this as a kid. I'd heard about it, but it's always been a pain to track down even as a bootleg. The pleasantness was compounded, after my usual cursory scan of the disc to see what I was getting into, which suggested a rather boring movie made up of some guy walking around in a dark suit and sunglasses with buggy white eyeballs. I couldn't have been more wrong and now am awaiting a chance to check out the commentary that's attached.

BEVERLY GARLAND stars here as nurse Nadine and for those who need the name-drop explained, she was truly one of the first ass-kicking women in Horror/Sci-fi. While her peeps were shoving their knuckles into their mouths and stuck making coffee, Bev was refining the art of being a bitch in heels. Okay, maybe a little knuckle shoving but it was done with some BETTE DAVIS bitchiness™. I LOVE BEVERLY GARLAND. Of course, it was odd that here she kinda worked my nerves for being kinda too independent when she clearly needed to STFU and listen to her cop boyfriend... but naaaaaaaaw. It was obvious though that in this role she was meant to be a little less spirited and more of a sensitive character compared to her other roles (like say her bitchy self in IT CONQUERED THE WORLD) so all is forgiven.

PAUL BIRCH stars as Paul Johnson, an alien agent who has come to earth in search for blood to help save his dying planet, Davana. Birch's alien speaks in this cold, stiff manner that at first is a little jarring, but is perfect for his alien. He really does sell the role of an alien being who's trying to fit into earth's society with all of the expected awkward deliveries and lacking emotion, not to mention a near total unawareness of stuff like parking laws and other customs like not killing people and tossing their remains into your furnace. Birch, for our apocalypse fans, also starred in CORMAN's DAY THE WORLD ENDED.

Johnson gets Nadine to become his personal nurse at his home so that she can give him blood transfusions. This keeps Johnson alive so that he can continue with his mission of sending specimens back to his superiors in Davana. Nadine meets Johnson's chauffeur Jeremy, who's a hustler who unknowingly gets charged with bringing back victims for Johnson. Mixed into this is Nadine's cop BF and her doc employer who's researching Johnson's blood condition while under his telepathic control. Throughout NOTE we get rabies injections, funky dimensional travel machines, mind control, lotsa deaths, and of a little bit of tolerable cheese to top it off.

NOTE could easily play with the likes of IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE and INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS.

WAR OF THE SATELLITES: For this reviewer, the less said about this little gem the better, though being featured with NOTE only underscores what a good film NOTES is and gives the uninitiated viewer of older Sci-Fi a good idea of what a bad 50's film looks like versus one that actually has some merits. In WOTS, the denizens of the galaxy don't like that us humans are starting to venture into space so they basically forbid us from space travel. Of course, what do we do? We travel into space first chance we get in our massive rocket ships outfitted with reclining lounge chairs which in turn doesn't make our body invading galaxy neighbors too happy (the travel, not lounge chairs). YAWN.

FEATURES: A pretty good Corman salute is included which contains some mostly enjoyable remembrances from those who went through the Corman school of film making. It does get a little smoochey-tedious after a bit, but good nonetheless. TRAILERS: I never thought trailers counted as a “feature” but whatever. The last time I got even remotely interested in trailers on a disc was when I think SIMITAR had a bunch of GODZILLA ones collected. Here, 25 CORMAN trailers surely will appeal to someone- Hell, I might even sit through them at some point. The commentaries are the features to zero in on though. I still haven't heard NOTE's but if AOTCM is an indication, it too will be an excellent listen.

FINIS: All in all, this is a kickass set of some sorely missing movies. SHOUT has kicked ass with their MST3K sets (despite being priced like some damned gold bricks... I'm still saving lunch money for my GYPSY figure before THAT goes outta print, mmmkay! Sheesh guys, GYPSY better vibrate and make me breakfast when all is done) (oops... nuther digresion). With this release, I am a bonofide fan of this company. This set was obviously put together by folks who knew what they had and gave a damn and it totally shows. This was like a CRITERION release of for us B-movie fans. Really. Usually I don't steer this far from Horror reviews, I mean this IS SCI-FI period, but this release just made me hafta do the fanboy dirty boogie babble.

Review: The Vegan Revolution... with Zombies

The Vegan Revolution... with Zombies

By David Agranoff

Review by DeadVida

Curiosity got the better of me and I ordered this novel. I mean, other than interviews with Linnea Quigley and Attack of the Vegan Zombies (which really had nothing to do with veganism), I seldom see the chocolate and peanut butter union of vegans and zombies. That said, my expectations were dubious-to-low, given that this was a new release from Deadrite Press – the same people who brought you The Haunted Vagina and Ass Goblins of Aushwitz (no, really, go look it up http://eraserheadpress.com/).

That said, this was the best satire involving vegans I have ever read and the zombie outbreak here was fresh and original. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a long-time abolitionist vegan (who loves horror and has a sense of humor) and while reading the book I had to wonder who else the audience was other than me and two friends. I quickly went out and bought both friends copies.

Author David Agranoff doesn’t let anyone off the hook and for that I love him. He blasts the welfare “reforms” that have lead to the idea of “happy meat”, as well as PETA, freegans, and the “dreaded ex-vegan.” He also takes on Portland’s hipster culture (and their fucked up obsession with bacon) and Juggalos. While it is obvious he is an abolitionist, he also has some fun mocking Gary Francione’s ardent followers. That was the point at which this went from rollicking fun zombie novel to one of my favorite reads this year. Hell, he even derides the zombie-obsessed.

The overall premise is that the creation of “Stress-Free Meat,” as pushed for by welfarists and people who think exploitation can be “humane,” has unexpected consequences and meat-eaters begin turning into zombies. Set in Portland, arguably the vegan mecca of the US, the only people unaffected are those who abstain from all animal products. The protagonist, Dani, is recently vegan so she suddenly sees animal exploitation with unmuted horror. She works at a publishing house that is cranking out classic mash-ups with zombies. She begins to notice changes in her co-workers and suddenly she, her boyfriend, and the rest of the vegans in Portland are fighting for their cruelty-free lives.

The end of the book was more serious and didactic than I would have expected, but still appreciated. At 160 pages this is a quick read and one I whole-heartedly recommend.

Paperback: 160 pages

Publisher: Deadite Press

Pub date: August 30, 2010

ISBN:  9781936383139

The RM Committee For Better Mental Health Via Dubious New Years Revolutions

So the Rigor Mortis Committee For Better Mental Health Via Dubious New Years Revolutions was convened. One of our first attempts at rational discourse was the cover of Rigor Mortis #4. Like most family gatherings, it resulted in the good china flying.

In the last few months we have already created three covers. After each issue we’ve heard from the lily livered that our covers are too scary. Well, boo-fucking-hoo.

But we decided to relax our grip on the beating hearts of our readers and created an Alien inspired cover. We also thought we would open up our content to more types of horror. Ho-hum. Booooring.

Let’s face it, Rigor Mortis is about safe, zombie apocalypse bloodletting. So we were back on the gore like white on rice. That tangent resulted in a The Walking Dead painting. Look at that nasty-assed ropey bloody drool. Yum. Our satisfaction only lasted a few weeks until the next idea hit…

And now, thanks to the wonders of ADD, we are all kinds of hawt about voodoo zombies. That’s right, grandpappy’s Z’s. We had Bojan paint one of the Sugar Hill zombies. Never easy top please, we are now toying with an I Walked with a Zombie-inspired cover.(Rough draft shown)

In the midst of all this the RM ink-bitch, Bojan, decided 2-D wasn’t enough for his artistic demons and picked up a dormant project. In the Pre-RM days, Bojan, Dread, and I toyed with the idea of releasing a licensed model of Vampirella based on the iconic image created by Frank Frazetta. We had planned to do some limited castings to sell and thereby raise cash to pay for the license and future art projects. This was planned as homage to Forrest J Ackerman, Frazetta, Trina Robbins and James Warren. The packaging was going to be based on Aurora's box art with a Bojan's take of the Frazetta piece on it painted off the finished sculpt. Sexy, no?

Then shit hit the fan (cancer, work, life, death, MSG) and in the midst of all that parts to the prototype went missing. A hand was lost…legs broke…so we ditched it and months later RM was born, suckling all of our anxious and creative energies. It also didn't help when we reconsidered it as an RM hiatus project that Ackerman and Frazetta passed away (in 2008 and 2010, respectively).

So during this latest cover brawl, I suggested to Bojan he finish the damned thing. He was having one of those pesky artist tantrums, where he was going around throwing away unfinished art projects. Sometimes the only way you can win a fight with an artist of his temperament is to out ADD/OCD him. It scares him. He-he.

He is now being kept busy repinning/dremeling/epoxying the hand and broken ankle. We still have no idea what the Hell we're doing with it when he's done, but still want to do something at some point.

So now that he is in artistic restraints for the moment, we still need to decide about the damned cover. Do we go for new gore? Voodoo? Something else we haven’t explored? We are curious to hear from our readers.

And at that, we begin 2011…