COMET TV Jan GIVEAWAY: The Craft Exclusive Swag Pack! Edgar Allan Poe Double Features! And More

We are the weirdos, mister.
Nancy, The Craft

January is here and with the start of any new year it’s the perfect time to come up with resolutions and things to accomplish in 2018. Or you can just cast a spell… That’s what the teen witches of The Craft did and look what happened to them! Oh… Wait a minute…

This month COMET TV has not just The Craft but amazing films like Labyrinth, Bubba Ho-Tep (Um… the awesomeness of Bruce Campbell?I say yes!) and more!

There are also Edgar Allan Poe double features all month with tantalizing and terrifying tales from one of the grand masters of horror. As The Raven says, “Nevermore!”

FILMS ON COMET IN JANUARY

The Craft (1996)
Teen movies might want you to believe that high school was all about keggers and beautiful cheerleaders, but we prefer The Craft’s version of events. Featuring a quartet of angsty teens who turn to witchcraft in the face of personal high school horrors, The Craft casts a spell that leaves you wishing you had an occult stor on your local main street.

Friday, January 12 at 8P/7C
Saturday, January 13 at 8P/7C
Sunday, January 21 at 6P/5C
Monday, January 22 at 8P/7C

Labyrinth (1986) 

January will mark the second anniversary of the day we lost pop culture legend David Bowie, so this month’s COMET is honoring his memory in the best way we coul think of .... by screening one of the most iconic roles of his career. Back in 1986, Bowie stole the show as the Goblin King in Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, from the music to the costumes, this was Bowie at his best.

Friday, January 19 at 8P/7C
Saturday, January 20 at 8P/7C
Saturday, January 27 at 5:30P/6:30C
Tuesday, January 30 at 6P/7C

Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) 

Could there be a better way to shake off the post-holiday blues than with the adventures of Elvis in all his hip shaking and breaking glory? Of course not, which is exactly why you should be tuning in to watch Bubba Ho-Tep on COMET this January.

Friday, January 26 at 8P/7C
Saturday, January 27 at 8P/7C
Sunday, January 28 at 2P/1C

EDGAR ALLAN POE DOUBLE FEATURES 

Need to warm up on the cold Winter Wednesdays? Look no further than COMET’s brand new 2-hour block of Edgar Allan Poe programming.
Airing Wednesday Nights at 6P/5C throughout January, check schedule at CometTV.com

The Raven (1963)
Wednesday, January 17 at 6P/5C
The Haunted Place (1963)
Wednesday, January 17 at 8P/7C
Masque of the Red Death (1964)
Wednesday, January 24 at 6P/5C
The Tomb of Ligeia (1965)
Wednesday, January 24 at 8P/7C
The Oblong Box (1969)
Wednesday, January 31 at 6P/5C
Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971)
Wednesday, January 31 at 8P/7C

JANUARY THEME WEEKS

Airing weekdays at 4P/3C throughout January, check schedule at CometTV.com
Killer Creature Movies (1/1 – 1/5)
Outer Space Movies (1/8 – 1/12)
Rubber-Suit Monster Movies (1/15 – 1/19)
Dystopian Movies (1/22 – 1/26)

And we want to give you the opportunity to have an awesome January of your own! The COMET TV January Prize Pack is perfect for casting a spell on the new year or just kicking back and watching COMET TV!

The Comet TV January Pack:

1 - Limited Edition The Craft COMET TV T-shirt: One of my favorite films of all time! This The Craft exclusive T-Shirt features all four witchy guardians of the watchtower on the front and a quote from the film on the back! Welcome to the Witching Hour!
1 - The Craft Exclusive COMET TV Clamshell Box: Talk about retro goodness! This The Craft exclusive clamshell box features exclusive throwback artwork and will immediately take you back to the days of waiting in line for new release movies at the video store!
1- The Craft "Witching Hour Cleansing” Kit: Earth, Wind, Water, Fire! This kit will bring a little sage, crystal and spell scroll into your life. Perfect for getting in touch with your inner earth goddess!
2 - Exclusive The Craft COMET TV Tarot Cards: While you may not be able to tell your future with these two cards, they are exclusive to this set and feature The Craft artwork. The best thing to celebrate the cult classic film arriving on COMET TV this month!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Comic Review: House of Montressor from Action Lab

THE HOUSE OF MONTRESSOR TPB
Writer(s): Enrica Jang, based on characters created by Edgar Allan Poe
Artist Name(s): Jason Strutz
Cover Artist(s): Jason Strutz
132 pgs. / Rated. T / FC $19.99 

Action Lab

Read Edgar Allan Poe’s gothic classic, THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO, and a new sequel, THE HOUSE OF MONTRESOR, collected together in this trade paperback!

Decades have passed since Lord Fortunato’s mysterious disappearance and Edana Fortunato is her family’s sole surviving heir. Before she inherits, Edana is summoned to the family estate to meet her guardian, the enigmatic Count Montresor. She embarks on the journey, unprepared for secrets still to be revealed, unaware that a killer has set the stage for one final act of revenge.

This collection opens with a comic adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe’s short story Cask of Amontilladoand House of Montressor issues 1-4 follow. House of Montressor serves as a sequel to Cask using the characters of Fortunato and Montressor as inspiration. Montressor invites Edana Fortunato, the granddaughter of ill-fated Fortunato, to his estate under the guise of dispensing her inheritance. She must remain in the estate for the full month leading to her 25th birthday before she can collect. However, Edana is in residence only a short time before she realizes she and her travelling companion Ingrid are in grave danger.

Jang’s story is compelling and dark. She uses the ideas of the original tale and spins a web of family betrayal, deceit, and madness. The story is in keeping with Poe’s tales of dark treachery. Strutz’s artwork is a fine compliment to Jang’s story. It’s dark and dismal creating a perfect mood for the unfolding tale. Overall, I found the story unfolds rather quickly and could’ve perhaps been more fully developed. The artwork was so dark and, at times, frantic, I had some difficulty following the flow of the story.

In the end, the story is bleak and unforgiving, much like the original. If you’re a Poe fan, I encourage you to check out this collection. It was a rather quick and entertaining read.

4 sheep

Bianca Greenwood

Comic Review: Edgar Allan Poe’s Spirits of the Dead HC

Edgar Allan Poe’s Spirits of the Dead HC
Richard Corben

Artist: Richard Corben

Cover Artist: Richard Corben
Genre: Horror
Publication Date:October 01, 2014

Dark Horse Comics

Format:FC, 216 pages

Price:$24.99

ISBN-10:1-61655-356-1

ISBN-13:978-1-61655-356-2
This is the complete collection of Edgar Allan Poe classics adapted by master horror comics artist and Eisner Hall of Fame inductee Richard Corben.Collects all DHP stories, The Conqueror Worm, The Fall of the House of Usher #1–#2, The Raven and the Red Death, Morella and the Murders in the Rue Morgue and more.

“Richard Corben’s art. Man, the guy just gets better and better. There is no plateau.”—Comics Bulletin

Thy soul shall find itself alone

’Mid dark thoughts of the gray tombstone—
Not one, of all the crowd, to pry
Into thine hour of secrecy.

The comic begins though, with an introduction by M. Thomas Inge, the Blackwell Professor of Humanities at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia. He talks about how without Poe and his fellow writers, there might not have been comics and graphic novels. For those early comic artists turned for inspiration, or outright piracy, to the popular short fiction of such authors as O. Henry, Stephen Crane, Ambrose Bierce, or Guy de Maupassant. Mr. Inge goes on to say that over three hundred adaptations of Poe’s stories and poems appeared in comic books and graphic novels from 1943 to the present. But only one spent most of his life adapting Poe’s works to comic form. That is Richard Corben. And Mr. Corben does justice to the works within this graphic novel. He uses a figure not unlike the Cryptkeeper Mag the Hag, to introduce each piece, and sometimes even taking part.

The opening piece is the poem, “Spirits of the Dead.” It begins with the poem itself, then we are lured into the comic adaption by Richard Corben. The story is about a man looking for his ladylove, finds her, and proceeds to tell her about his nightmare, where family members do not recognize him. Though I guessed right at the beginning how this tale would end, it still left a chill.

There are those that I enjoyed more than others. One is “The Masque of the Red Death,” where a king and noblemen and women discovering partying while the poor die from the Red Death, doesn't mean that they too will survive the plague. 

“The Fall of the House of Usher” is another great retelling of this macabre story. A man visits a friend, whose own madness about his sister brings down the house, literally. “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” shows us how Poe is the grandfather of the mystery tale, and Corben stays faithful to the storyline. I also enjoyed “The Conqueror Worm,” where in the end; the conqueror worm gets us all. And last but never least, “The Raven.” Here the bird is more than a spirit haunting a man, maybe even his own guilt over the death of a loved one, but turned into the instrument of his death.

Poe’s works are meant to be done in graphic form, and Richard Corben superbly proves it with this collection. The colors and the adaptation he has done of these marvelous tales bring to life, all the dark madness of Poe’s nightmares and visions. 

I give Edgar Allan Poe’s Spirits of the Dead five sheep.

Pamela Kinney

Sheep Movie Review: The Raven directed by James McTeigue

The Raven, directed by James McTeigue, stars John Cusack, Luke Evans, Brendan Gleeson and Alice Eve. While I left the movie entertained and enjoyed parts of the film, the major plot holes and tedious accents left me disillusioned overall.

Plot:

The macabre and lurid tales of Edgar Allan Poe are vividly brought to life - and death - in this stylish, gothic thriller starring John Cusack as the infamous author. When a madman begins committing horrific murders inspired by Poe's darkest works, a young Baltimore detective (Luke Evans) joins forces with Poe in a quest to get inside the killer's mind in order to stop him from making every one of Poe's brutal stories a blood chilling reality. A deadly game of cat and mouse ensues, which escalates when Poe's love (Alice Eve) becomes the next target.

From the beginning this film establishes itself as a work of fiction, with whimsical balls and over-the-top killings taking place in 19th century Boston. While the dark cinematography and impressive attire help build a believable baseline, there's definitely something essential missing: story! The killings are interesting and gruesome, but the dialog leading up to and directly after the slayings are unbearable to sit through at times. Poe as a character needed a little more development and a lot less manic ramblings in pubs. I adore John Cusack and I know he acted to the best of his ability on this one and possibly there's not much you can do with a script that goes nowhere.

Putting all the issues I had with plot and goofy dialog aside, let me say that I was thoroughly impressed with a few things in this film. First and foremost was Luke Evans, who just looked amazing on screen. The man's got some talent and proves that if given the chance there will be no issues with his ability to take on a leading role. Acting aside he's just gorgeous to look at, I could stare all day at the prime cut of beef! Second was actress Alice Eve, who some readers may know from the funny flick She's Out of My League. Alice doesn't play the typical airhead damsel in distress, no no this gal's got some chops on her and the beauty to back it up. I'm looking forward to seeing more of her in coming films as well.

Getting to the climatic ending I don't want to spoil anything but I will say that I was able to guess who the real killer was, which I always hate! Keep me guessing, people! The Raven reminded me a lot of movies like V for Vendetta and Sherlock Holmes but it is definitely nowhere near the same level of quality. Middle of the road movie for me, trust me folks I WANTED to get behind this one so much more then I did. Fans of the previously stated films might find this enjoyable, but even then that's a pretty big maybe.

Getting 2 and 1/2 'professor Plum in the kitchen with the meat cleaver' Sheep

KD