Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds broke into the weekend box office with Safe House at #1 with $27.542 million while Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams wowed in The Vow at #2 with $26.64 million for President’s Day weekend.  Fellow box office veteran Journey 2: The Mysterious Island joined the flip-flopping #1 and #2 (see 02.10-12.2012: Weekend Box Office – The $) in the same #3 spot from the previous week with $25.934 million, only an amazing 5.1% decrease.  The family adventure sequel added 30 theaters to 3,500 theaters and bested Journey to the Center of the Earth by more than $15.5 million in its second weekend.  Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, #5 spy vs. spy romantic comedy This Means War ($20.006 million) and #8 Studio Ghibli-anime The Secret World of Arrietty ($8.684 million) all debuted the holiday weekend.

Johnny Blaze, aka Ghost Rider, was extinguished as Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance premiered to less than half of the original.  The opening four-day weekend for 2007′s #1 Ghost Rider was $45.388 million in comparison to the $25.47 million of its #4 sequel five years later.  The $57 million movie attracted 61% males and 48% under the age of 25.

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace used the 3D force but still fell to #6 from #4 from last week with the highest negative % change of the top ten.  The re-release received a -55.8% change with $9.92 million, adding to the lifetime domestic gross of $466.882 million.

Chronicle and The Woman in Black continued to follow one another down the box office at #7 and #9, respectively.  The sci-fi superpowers of the Chronicle trio are keeping audiences interested as the $12 million movie grossed $9.164 million to its $52.643 million domestic gross.  Meanwhile, The Woman in Black is frightening fewer and fewer.  The Harry Potter in horror has grossed $46.404 million in three weekends, $7.794 million of it this President’s Day weekend.

Feed me at sharon@horrorhaven.com

Dark Horse Presents #9  Written by Paul Pope, Neal Adams, Brian Wood, Mike Mignola, M. J. Butler, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Steve Horton, Andrew Vachss and Tony Puryear.  Art by Paul Pope, Neal Adams, Michael Dialynas, Kristian Donaldson, Joe Querio, Mark Wheatley, Thomas Yeates, Steve Lieber, Geof Darrow and Tony Puryear.  Covers by Mike Mignola and Thomas Yeates.  Published by Dark Horse Comics.

The last issue of Dark Horse Presents started off with a bang with the Mignola property of Hellboy, so why not go two for two and do the same with issue #9.  Instead of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense (B.P.R.D.), it’s a Lobster Johnson tale leading off.  The issue also boasts the continuation of the The Massive, a steampunk sea shanty in Amala’s Blade and Alabaster: Wolves, about an albino demon killer.  DHP is quickly becoming a showcase for very interesting stories at Dark Horse, or possibly just a home for stories that otherwise would not have a book.

Writer Mike Mignola and artist Joe Querio‘s 1930s opening vignette, “Tony Masso’s Finest Hour,” is a cautionary tale that will have you saying “be careful what you wish for.”  Lobster Johnson is hot on the heels of a mob boss but things can’t help but go all supernatural.  Of course, that supernatural force comes at a great price to this mob boss.  Next up is a sneak peek at another character from Brian Wood and Kristian Donaldson‘s ecological disaster story, The Massive.  Titled “The Bay of Bengal,” it tells the story of Mag, a young boy from a small fishing village, and the struggles to fish in polluted waters.  It all takes an interesting turn, hinting at a possible supernatural or spiritual element.

The two big standouts in #9 are Amala’s Blade: Skull & Crossbows and Alabaster: Wolves.  Amala is a pirate/thief of sorts who finds herself between a rock and a hard place, which is more like a wet place as she will be walking the plank.  Amala’s Blade is written & lettered by Steve Horton with art & colors by Michael Dialynas.  The last story of the issue, Alabaster: Wolves, by writer Caitlín R. Kiernan, artist & letterer Steve Lieber and über-talented colorist Rachelle Rosenberg is set in a post-disaster apocalypse of demonic nature.  The main character is a young albino girl who is on a quest to rid the world of demons.  Guided by a mysterious force, she comes face to face with a monster in a small town but the encounter doesn’t end in a fight but rather something a tad more interesting.

Feedback is always welcomed at shaun@horrorhaven.com and sharon@horrorhaven.com.  Be sure to friend us on facebook, follow us on twitter @FrightChannel, and subscribe to our RSS feed so you never miss any news and reviews.

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Eric Brooks, aka Blade, got an anime facelift thanks to Marvel Anime on G4.  The animated series Blade would have flown completely under The Fright Channel radar if it wasn’t for our return to Attack of the Show and its commercial breaks as the show’s ads persuaded us to watch.  Our first surprise came at the end in the credits where Warren Ellis was listed as a writer for the series.  Of course, we promptly sat up and took notice though it’s unclear if he wrote the English translation but his name alone is enough to make it worth viewing.  The show is produced in conjuction with Marvel Comics Entertainment and Studio Madhouse, whom you may know from such little animes as Death Note, Vampire Hunter D: Blood Lust and Ninja Scroll.

In this particular episode, Blade traveled to a remote island in the Philippines to track down his archnemesis Deacon Frost, who continues his quest to develop the ultimate Vampire.  Frost hopes to overthrow the pureblood vampire high council using Blade’s blood, and ultimately rule the world of humans and vampires alike.  Blade, the ever present party crasher, stops the operation but fails to kill Frost.  Instead, he is pulled into helping the indigenous people of the island, where an ancient evil has awoken.  This evil comes in the form of a horrible and terrifying monster that resembles that of a Nukekubi, a Japanese vampire-like creature.

The story revels in the anime genre rather than getting bogged down with the troupes that can be cumbersome to non-anime fans.  Take for example when Blade is delivering the final blow to the Nukekubi-like creature.  With most anime, he would have yelled the name of the specific finishing move but instead he utters the line in a cool, almost pillow talk manner.  Also, in this story Frost has more power than in previous incarnations of the character; a fight between Blade and Frost turns out completely different than previous fights between the two as Blade is overpowered.  What viewers can expect, if Ellis is indeed writing the English translation, is amazing high concepts, bizarre monsters and massive amounts of insane violence.

The character design combines both Japanese anime and American animation, lending itself to both anime and non-anime fans.  Blade’s design follows that of the movies and TV series, minus the horrible Wesley Snipes flat top.  The action is extremely fast with the standard fare holds on the killing blows and frizzle-fried vampire deaths.

Blade is voiced by Lost alum Harold Perrineau, also known for his roles in TV’s Oz, 28 Weeks Later and The Matrix sequels.  Perrineau turns in a cool as ice performance as Blade, easily making the transition from live acting to voice acting with no trouble.  The other standout is J. B. Blanc, a season veteran of voice acting who has worked on all Marvel Anime productions as well as Naruto and Ghost in the Shell to name a few.  Blanc’s voice gives off a tired feel that captures his disdain for the purebred vampire politics and their subsequent rule.

Set your DVRs to record more than just Attack of the Show and sit around for the latest incarnation of the Daywalker.

Feedback is always welcomed at shaun@horrorhaven.com and sharon@horrorhaven.com

This past TV season has been surprisingly good considering the shows that got tanked or simply ended last spring. With the fate of the fun Terra Nova still hanging in the balance, and no Doctor Who for quite some time, we are itching for something new and unique to catch our fancy. Well, look no further! Three shows have popped up as mid-season replacements that are both unique and engaging:

ALCATRAZ (Fox, Mondays)

Sam Neil stars as Emerson Hauser, a mysterious government agent sort, who has been quitely monitoring the goings on at former prison-now-turned tourist attraction, Alcatraz. Apparently, when the prison closed down in 1963, the prisoners weren’t actually transferred away. Turns out everyone, including the guards and staff, just suddenly disappeared. Two guards going to the island in 1963 discover this. One of them is a younger Hauser, who was a rookie at the time. Cut to the present, and one by one, the inmates are returning to wreak havoc or simply pick up where they left off. Hauser, aided by Detective Rebecca Madsen (played well by the beautiful Sarah Jones who has been around the dial since 2004), and author/Alcatraz expert, Dr. Diego Soto (portrayed by the ever groovy Jorge Garcia), must unlock the mystery of why they disappeared, and why they are suddenly returning! Although it does seem that Hauser may actually know the how’s and why’s, but he’s not telling any time soon.

To me, it seems that J.J. Abrahms has grown as a storyteller. There’s the complicated, mysterious plot style of Lost, and the creepy intrigue of Fringe mixed together here, but it works on many levels. Madsen is very much the Olivia Dunham (Fringe) of this show, but she’s more confident and has a LOT less baggage. Soto is played perfectly vulnerable by Garcia who is squeamish, and doesn’t feel he fits in. Madsen is just so nice to him and up front about how she needs his expertise, that he can’t help being sucked into these dangerous situations even though they terrify the ever loving crap out of him!

All in all, Alcatraz has a great cast with great chemistry, an intriguing mystery that could sustain us for at least three seasons, and the excitement and fear of Fringe/Lost that we’ve been missing since Lost ended.

TOUCH (Fox)

Kiefer Sutherland is back!!! Those who missed him as Jack Bauer are going to be a tad let down at first, because even though he’s got the same emotional and actiony level as Bauer, his new character, Martin Bohm, is no Jack Bauer. Bohm is a widower trying to raise his 11 year-old autistic son. It’s very difficult because the son, David, does not want to be touched and will flip out if this happens, and doesn’t speak. David has a penchant for running off and writing numbers in notebooks. Jack is bitterly frustrated, and being a former reporter who now can barely keep a job down, this doesn’t make his life any easier. Social services, in the form of the hot Clea Hopkins (Gugu Mbatha-Raw, formerly of the short-lived Undercovers), warns Martin that after an evaluation, David may be taken away from him since Martin can’t control the child. After meeting a man named Arthur Teller (Danny Glover who holds important plot information without which the show wouldn’t be able to move forward), Martin realizes that David may be able to tell the future through numbers, and quite possibly can literally “see” the fundamental interconnectedness of everybody.

While Touch somehow manages to make numbers an exciting roller coaster ride a la 24, the fact that Bohm is not the vicious fighter that Jack Bauer was is somehow depressing. However, Bohm will stop at nothing to protect his son, and so hopefully soon we’ll get to see Kiefer beat the living crap out of someone. The show is very, well, “touching” (no pun intended), and at the end of the pilot you’re wiping the tears from your eyes. All the characters have room to grow, and the mystery of David’s abilities give it a unique flavor from other shows on the air. Definitely NOT 24, but definitely good and worth watching nonetheless!!

THE RIVER (ABC, Tuesdays)

If Steven Moffat’s brain were a blender, and you tossed into it Lost, Blair Witch, Diary of the Dead, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and Marlin Perkins’ Wild Kingdom, and then generously added heaping helpings of the dark place that Moffat goes to write his scariest Doctor Who stories, the result would be The River. Sadly, Moffat is NOT a producer on this show, but the second episode will have you praying for the Doctor to come and save the characters.

It’s a “found footage” story that probably cannot sustain several seasons, but if done right will be just as memorable as Lost. In fact, there will be many comparisons to Lost even though they end pretty much after the first few minutes of the pilot (you can’t argue that flashbacks make it a Lost rip-off because Forever Knight started the flashback trend a half-season before Buffy and Highlander!). Bruce Greenwood, looking not at all like he did on Nowhere Man (is he ill, or did he just not age well?), plays Emmett Cole, a Marlin Perkins type who’s had a nature show on the air for 22 years. Over these years, the audience (in the reality of ‘The River’) has also come to know his wife and son. In the present, Cole has disappeared in the Amazon, and is declared dead. His son, Lincoln, starts off as a mamby pamby liberal-type who accepts that Emmett is dead. Emmet’s wife Tess, (who played Teri Bauer on 24) does not accept this and has even found that Emmett’s emergency signal has been activated somewhere in the Amazon. She convinces Lincoln to go with her to find him, as part of a rescue mission/new TV documentary. Along for the ride is Emmett’s producer, Clark Quietly, private security dude Captain Kurt Brynildson, Emmett’s chief cameraman’s daughter Lena, his former ship mechanic Emilio (and his daughter Jahel), and a couple of cameramen (think Red Shirts from Star Trek).

Clark is Emmett’s friend and wants to find him as well as make a hit TV series from the search. The character of Emilio is VERY reminiscent of Nestor Paiva’s character from Creature from the Black Lagoon. He’s sort of the Scotty of the show because once they find Emmet’s boat, the Magus, he says he can repair the ship in a day or so and is told they have less that 2 hours before high tide washes them away. Lincoln grew up with his father traipsing around the world, not always being there for Linc’s important life events as he grew up, but through the first episode he starts to grow as a character and seems to even grow a set of kahonays. Tess and Emmett have some deep-seated marital problems lurching in the background. And Kurt seems to have something mysterious up his sleeve.

The show is both engaging and terrifying at the same time. Emmett seems to have found a source of some sort of “magic”, as evidenced on his videotapes that the rescue party finds. This “magic” is portrayed very believably here. The “found footage” style, as I mentioned before, has an air of Blair Witch, but with the hand-held skill of Romero’s Diary of the Dead. What that means is that the director knows when to put the camera down so we don’t get nauseous while watching the show. The back and forth from the past to the present works well to fill in the story details, and the mystery is intriguing enough to have us salivating for more. I highly recommend The River as there are only a handful of episodes for this season.

 So there you have it. THREE shows off to great starts this mid-season. Which ones did you like or dislike?

This movie is based loosely on a 1928 novel and play by Frank King. And I say loosely because most of it is thrown out, and goes for more of a horror feel instead of a mystery approach as the novel took.  In the novel, The Ghoul stands revealed as very much alive.  You almost think the Scooby Gang should unmask him.  ”And he would have gotten away with it, if it wasn’t for those meddling kids!”

Not so in the movie.  Boris Karloff plays Professor Morlant.  He has purchased an Egyptian jewel called The Eternal Light.  If he is buried with it, in his tomb that he built into the English countryside, the Egyptian god Anubis will appear and grant him eternal life.  Morlant is already dying, and hopes this is the cure he’s looking for.  Add to the cast:  jewel thieves, a Vicar, and fighting cousins and you have a great film. It’s fun to see the jewel go from person to person, as we wonder who will end up with it. There’s also the fact that Boris Karloff rises from the grave, to hunt those that have stolen the jewel he was supposed to be buried with.

This is a fine early British horror film, even displaying the certificate at the beginning stating this film was suitable for adult audiences.  Karloff is such a great actor.  I have really grown to appreciate his performances and always look forward to what film we’re going to see from him next. When he returns from the grave, moving the door to his crypt out of the way, he truly seems like the dead reanimated.  He channels some of his Frankenstein Monster, Mummy, and manservant Morgan from “The Old Dark House”. He’s a tragic figure, and I felt somewhat bad for him toward the end.

The rest of the cast was enjoyable.  Some staples of the Universal horror movies, Cedric Hardwicke and Ernest Thesiger provided fine performances.  Thesiger played the butler in the film, and I had a lot of fun watching him perform.  He’s such a creepy man!  Dorothy Hyson played the female lead, and I want to see more of her credits, including some more from the horror genre.  Kathleen Harrison offered some fine comic relief as Dorothy Hyson’s maid(?) Not really a maid, but more of a servant character.  She has a couple of really great comedic moments in the film.

The house where all the characters convene is not unlike many of the houses from this time period in cinema. You have big windows, flash lightning from them; a creepy staircase in the middle of it all; cobwebs and shadows. Just the kind of place I’d love to live in.

This was a lost Karloff film for many years, and has only been back in the public for viewing since 1969. A bad subtitled version was found in Czechoslovakia and it was thought to be the only copy left. The actual negative was found in the 80s at Shepperton Studios in a vault that had been blocked for years. Finally, it has been enjoyed by all since 2003. Definitely one that you should check out.

And since we are talking about Ghouls, I thought The Groovie Ghoulies would make a fine addition to the Memories section.  An awesome cartoon from Filmation which appeared on television in the early 70s.  It appeared in syndication in the later 70s, when I became a fan.  They were hip versions of the great monsters.  You can even catch episodes of them from time to time.  I found this really cool coloring book online, featuring all the main characters.  I can only imagine what great pictures lie within. Anyone out there still have a copy of this?  Speaking of the Groovie Ghoulies, you can catch episdoes of them right here on the Fright Channel from time to time, along with some new programming coming soon! Please check it out!

That’s all for this time, my Ghoulies!  There’s plenty more to come, and I look forward to sharing another classic with you soon. Check out The Fright Channel for great horror the way it used to be.  And become a friend on Facebook at Ed D’s MonstersandMemories.  Until then, keep watching the skies

Audiences said “I Do” to Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum in the based-on-a-true-story The Vow as they celebrated the perfect Valentine’s Day movie with heartbreaking romance.  The Michael Sucsy (TV’s Grey Gardens) film was the #1 of four premieres, grossing $41.202 million to its $30 million production budget.

Good Ryan Reynolds versus evil Denzel Washington in director Daniel Espinosa’s first US feature, #2 Safe House, also broke the $40 million mark at $40.172 million.  2008′s Journey to the Center of the Earth with Brendan Fraser was surpassed by Dwayne Johnson and sort-of sequel #3 Journey 2: The Mysterious Island with $27.335 million, which also stars Josh Hutcherson returning as Sean Anderson.  Last but not least of the four was Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace in 3D.

George Lucas’ umpteenth (ok, eight) re-release of a Star Wars episode was a first in 3D.  Episode I – The Phantom Menace, which was originally released in May 1999 and remained #1 for three consecutive weekends, grossed $22.469 million in its 3D form at 2,655 theaters.  The overall current domestic gross for the first (or fourth, depending on your viewpoint) film of the franchise is $453.558 million and $513.7 million in foreign gross.

Last weekend’s surprise #1, Chronicle, dropped four spots to #5.  The found footage and found super powers movie grossed $12.092 million, equivalent to its budget.  It was a 45% decrease.  Meanwhile, Chronicle‘s fellow debut film of the previous weekend, The Woman in Black, grossed $10.102 million, a 51.6% decrease.  The two movies each added one theater to its 2,000+ screening theaters.

Underworld: Awakening in its fourth weekend in the top ten, was edged out to #10 after spending three weeks in the top five.  The $2.48 million grossing movie has earned more overseas with $71.1 million in comparison to $58.914 million domestically.

Feed me at sharon@horrorhaven.com

Rex, Zombie Killer #1  Written by Rob Anderson, Art & Cover by DaFu Yu, Colors by Kevin Volo, Letters, Logo & Design by E.T. Dollman and Edited by Paul Allor.  Pin-up Art by Mike Gallagher, Pin-up Colors by Kevin Volo, Pin-up Pencils by Stu Roddy and Pin-up Inks by Steve Bird.  Published by Big Dog Ink.

Just when you thought the zombie genre was shot in the head and dead again, a book is rising to keep the genre stumbling on.  Rex, Zombie Killer is giving its readers a dog’s eye view of the genre, literally.  Rex, the scientifically-enhanced golden retriever, traverses the zombie-infested US of A.  The oft overlooked and forgotten animal perspective of the world of zombie fiction makes for fresh storytelling and offers a unique look at the genre. 

Rex is leading a ragtag pack of animals on a quest to find a government safe house in Nevada, which includes Kenji, the sign language-trained gorilla, Snowball, the once overly pampered fluffy white cat, Buttercup, the innocent and lovable corgi and Brutus, the mistreated pit bull.  On their journey, they find themselves crossing paths with a threat far worse than zombies…humans.  Brutus is abducted, only to be used for the voyeuristic entertainment pleasures of the group of humans.  It’s up to Rex to devise a plan to spring their furry friend and continue on to Nevada.  This is as most first issues should be, a table setter for the series/mini-series.  Readers are filled in on the backstory by both flashbacks to Rex and Buttercup’s lives, and dialogue hinting at Kenji and Brutus’s lives pre-zombie.

Anderson weaves a charming yet horrific tale, allowing the reader to see the new zombified world through the eyes of the animals.  The dynamics of the animal group is not all that different than that of a group of human survivors; Snowball is the rich person, who wants to do little to help unless it is more beneficial to her than the rest of her fellow travelers.  Rex personifies the leader faced with hard decisions like his initial feeling of leaving Brutus behind until Kenji forces the rescue attempt.  Buttercup represents the childlike view of the world while Kenji represents the survivor’s guilt/mistrust in leadership (Rex).  One difference between human and animals characters is that the animals’ outlook of the world is naïve, simpler.  Naïve and simple is no slight against them but rather an indication of their much less complex look at the world.  This view is driven home by Kenji, who does not understand why the humans would capture dogs and use them for entertainment purposes.  An interesting aspect to Kenji’s role in the group is his ability to open cans of food for the animals and to pick things up, an important task the other animals can’t perform.

First off, Yu does a fantastic job at showing the world through the eyes of the animals as seen in Rex’s flashback.  All of the panels in said flashback are from a dog’s eye view as he sees his world collapse around him.  Yu also balances the horrific nature while keeping a cartoonist sensibility.  There is one downside to this book and it is the rendering of the dogs.  It’s not uncommon to hear artists discuss the difficulty of drawing animals in comic books with the toughest part being the faces, especially the eyes.  The dogs constantly have a scowl on their faces, mostly with Rex and Brutus, which could be on purpose but comes up short for the story.  Buttercup is a corgi and it plays into his personality but it’s hard to distinguish what breed Buttercup is until he mentions it.  There are strengths to Yu’s art in regards to the dogs, capturing their stances and movements perfectly.

Go to Bigdogink.com or Pandadogpress.com to plunk down your hard earned ducats for this 56-page opener of a fun (mini)series, available in April.  When next time you watch Shaun of the Dead or Night of the Living Dead, remember that animals will probably outlive you and everyone else so you might want to follow their lead if you want to live.

*

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 #6 Written by Andrew Chambliss, Art by Georges Jeanty, Colors by Michelle Madsen, Inked by Karl Story, Covers by Phil Noto & Georges Jeanty and Published by Dark Horse Comics

Since the inception of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer has encountered many a threats with much success, and a few bumps and bruises. Be it vampires, demons or a Hellmouth, there has been very little this blonde killer of vampires has yet to face but in issue 6, she confronts her toughest threat yet, real life.

Buffy and all of the characters of the Whedonverse are no strangers to real life problems. In every season of Buffy, the real world has bled onto the pages of the scripts and more recently, the comics. An example of this is in one of the best episodes of the TV series when Buffy dealt with the death of her mother, Joyce Summers. Buffy’s mom did not die at the hands of a vampire or demon but of an aneurysm, a natural, not supernatural, killer that kills about 15,000 people each year in the US. Even having had experience with previous predicaments, it still does not make the decision Buffy is about to make any easier in this issue. This choice is something many people face in the real world but given Buffy’s line of work and life, it is far harder for her to make. The creative team of Chambliss, Jeanty and Madsen turn in a fantastically written and rendered book with issue 6. The two covers will have you making a (simpler) choice of your own, Jeanty’s, Noto’s, or both.

What makes Buffy work so well is its ability to blend horror and real world problems so effortlessly. Don’t make the wrong choice, buy this book or it will haunt you for life.

Feedback is always welcomed at shaun@horrorhaven.com and sharon@horrorhaven.com

The first weekend of February at the box office chronicled a close one, $1,130,026 to be exact, between Chronicle and The Woman in Black.  The two premieres fought off The Grey, Big Miracle and Underworld: Awakening to win the weekend’s #1 and #2 spots, and boosted the weekend box office of Super Bowl XLVI 31% over Super Bowl XLV with the help of the rest of the top 12.  Meanwhile, Liam Neeson’s #3 The Grey, and Drew Barrymore and John Krasinki’s #4 Big Miracle shared the state of Alaska with scares and smiles to gross $9.3 million and $7.76 million, respectively.

Actors Dane DeHaan (TV’s True Blood), Alex Russell (Almost Kings) and Michael B. Jordan (TV’s Friday Night Lights) of writer-director Josh Trank’s (TV’s The Kill Point) first feature Chronicle used superpowers to succeed to #1.  The found footage-style sci-fi film with a dark side grossed $22.004 million at 2,907 theaters against its $12 million production budget.  It also grossed $12.8 million at the international box office.  Chronicle‘s audience was much like its characters with 55% male and 61% under the age of 25.

The third reimagining and first feature of Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black frightened filmgoers, (59%) female and (57%) under the age of 25.  Daniel Radcliffe’s first post-Harry Potter film grossed $20.874 million domestically at 2,855 theaters and has yet to be released overseas except for in Argentina.  James Watkins’ horror-thriller is the highest grossing opening for CBS Films, who has only distributed five other films including The Back-Up Plan and Beastly.

Underworld: Awakening, the only francise film at the box office, continues its fight though it fell three spots to #5.  The sequel grossed $5.5 million, a 55.5% decrease from the last weekend, adding to its domestic gross of $54.233 million.  The unadjusted total worldwide gross of $108.133 million is close to $3 million from overpowering 2006′s Underworld: Evolution.

Feed me at sharon@horrorhaven.com

THEATER PREMIERE

The Woman in Black (PG-13 / 94 mins / In 2D) Starring Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter series), Ciarán Hinds (2012′s Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance), Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs) and Liz White (Wild Bill).  Written by Jane Goldman (Kick-Ass).  Directed by James Watkins (Eden Lake).

The horror-thriller film, The Woman in Black, is horror-thriller novel, The Woman in Black.  The movie, based on writer Susan Hill’s 1983 book of the same name, is not the first adaptation.  It was also written into a 1987 stage play and a 1989 TV movie.  The Woman in Black play is not only celebrating 24+ years on the stage but its standing as the second longest running play in London’s West End.

Synopsis:  Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe), a widowed lawyer whose grief has put his career in jeopardy, is sent to a remote village to sort out the affairs of a recently deceased eccentric.  But upon his arrival, it soon becomes clear that everyone in the town is keeping a deadly secret.  Although the townspeople try to keep Kipps from learning their tragic history, he soon discovers that the house belonging to his client is haunted by the ghost of a woman who is determined to find someone and something she lost… and no one, not even the children, are safe from her vengeance.  courtesy of CBS Films

Website:  http://www.womaninblack.com/#/trailer

facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/TheWomanInBlackMovie

Twitter:  @WomanNBlack

YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/cbsfilms

WEEKEND TV SCHEDULE

FRIDAY 2.3:

Fringe (S4.E11 – “Making Angels”) at 9/8c on FOX – Our Astrid (Jasika Nicole) gets an unexpected visit from her Alternate.  While Peter (Joshua Jackson) and Olivia (Anna Torv) track a killer using a toxin that has yet to be invented.  Both universes collide in a case that pushes the boundaries of what is possible.

Grimm (S1.E10 – “Organ Grinder”) at 9/8c on NBC – While Nick (David Giuntoli) and Hank (Russell Hornsby) investigate the murder of a teenager, the stakes are raised when two vagrant teens go missing.

Supernatural (S7.E13 – “The Slice Girls”) at 9/8c on The CW – Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) investigate a case where the victims’ hands and feet have been severed and each have been branded with a strange symbol.  While Sam does some research at a local university, Dean heads to one of his favorite places to investigate – the town bar.  Dean strikes up a conversation with a local named Lydia (guest star Sara Canning [The Vampire Diaries]), and the two go back to her place.  Sam discovers the symbol on the bodies is a sign of Amazon warriors.

Feed me at sharon@horrorhaven.com