‘TWAS THE NEWSLETTER BEFORE CHRISTMAS…

And all through the house, everybody wanted Cult Labs news, even the mouse! Since ’tis the season to be jolly and a time when wishes come true, hang up those stockings and leave out some cookies and milk, Santa Claus is coming to town with all the latest and greatest festive Cult Labs news. Ho ho ho and all that jazz.

COMING SOON!

So it’s Christmas day, you open up the pressies stuffed under your tinsel tree only to find out that this year ol’ St Nick has given you a horrid jumper two sizes too small, a huge box of deodrant to add to that yearly growing pile of smelly stuff (perhaps its a hint!) and a couple of films you own several times over  in your uneqivically unmodest DVD collection. Luckily, those gift giving elves have kept the reciepts, so it’s time to get some cash back and buy some stuff you actually want. Here’s just a few releases that should be added to that list!

• Frankenhooker (Arrow Video, Blu-Ray only) : Out on the first Monday of 2012 (the 2nd Jan), Arrow Video’s Frankenhooker is set free to cause complete havoc! One of Frank Henenlotter’s best (alongside Basket Case and Brain Damage), Frankenhooker is quite possibly one of the wackiest takes on Mary Shelley’s classic Frankenstein tale and is the perfect film for those post-Christmas blues. To see the creature made from several dead-exploded-drug-addicted-hookers be sure to pre-order the Blu-Ray! Don’t forget to check out the Official release forum – there’s plenty of great threads to really get into. From the Specs thread to the best of Frank Henenlotter poll and the thread that’s dedicated to crazy Frankenstein-based films including Frankenstein Meets The Space Monster, Young Frankenstein, Re-Animator and Frankenstein General Hospital!

• Four Flies On Grey Velvet (Shameless Screen Entertainment, DVD & Blu-Ray) – Or perhaps you’re looking for something a little more serious? A giallo perhaps by one of the greatest directors within and without his field? Yes, that’s right, the king of Italian horror, Mr. Dario Argento’s previously-thought-to-be-lost film Four Flies On Grey Velvet is heading its way to UK shops very soon for the first ever time on Blu-Ray! This week saw Cult Labs exclusively reveal the new artwork for this realease. What do you think of it? Let us know on the official forum! You can pre-order Four Flies On Grey Velvet here from Amazon. The release also comes with a whole host of special features, so be sure to visit the Specs thread for all the details. Four Flies On Grey Velvet is due for release on the 30th January.

CULT CHRISTMAS FILMS!

Time to delve deep down into the Christmas stocking and mention a festive film that’s slightly different. So far this month, we’ve mentioned Santa’s Slay, Santa Claus, Silent Night Deadly Night and Black Christmas, but what about that ‘family favourite’ Jack Frost. No, not the Jack Frost film with Michael Keaton as the jolly snowman, but rather the the film of the same title that tells the tale of a psycho killer who’s dead soul posses a snowman one Christmas and wrecks bloody havoc. It’s like Child’s Play but a lot colder! If you’re looking for a film to scare the kids with, then look no further than this fun low-budget horror and it’s sequel; the rather originally titled Jack Frost 2: Revenge Of The Mutant Killer Snowman.

THE TWILIGHT ZONE

This week in The Twilight Zone section of the Cult Labs forum there has been a whole host of activity. From the Topic Of The Week kicking everything off with a discussion of all the festive-themed episodes from the show, not including Night Of The Meek. It seems that quite a few episodes have that ol’ Christmas magic embedded witin them. Share your favourites over at the featured topic of the week.

This week also saw even more acitivity with the Chalie Brooker’s Black Miror thread  – a thread dedicated to a new Twilight Zone-esque television show. It looks pretty damn good! Visit the thread to share your thoughts and opinions.

A huge shout out must also go to Baseball Fury, PaulD and Bigandya who each won themselves all 4 Twilight Zone Blu-Ray volumes out so far by submiting some brilliant fake Christmassy episodes. Check their entries out over at the competition thread.

Don’t forget there’s really not long left until the fifth volume of the original Twilight Zone is released on DVD and Blu-Ray! Pre-order yours over on Amazon in time for its release!

PRISONER: CELL BLOCK H

Meanwhile in the Cell Block H of the forum, this week’s featured topic is all Christmassy! We’re talking all about episode 75! What’s episode 75? Why it’s only the best Christmas TV episode set in a prison of all time! Let us know what you think of this Christmas special? Are you moved by the Silent Night, Deadly Night song? Do you split your sides laughing at the prisoner’s immitations of the screws in their show? Do you find this episode to be so touching, that you even cry when you watch it as JAMIOUSE did? Let us know over on the topic of the week thread.

There’s also been plenty off talk this week about last week’s topic  of the week; Earliest Prisoner Memories. It’s a thread, rather self-explanatory, all about your first ever Prisoner memories – have you been a fan since it first started or are you a newbie? It seems like quite a few members associate the show with nostalgia and childhood memories. How about yourself?

This week also saw the end of the Prisoner Super competition. So a huge congratulations to Prisonerlou who won all 10 volumes of P:CBH out so far!

Don’t forget to pre-order Volume 11! It’s out on the 6th of Feb, and can be ordered from Amazon here.

That’s all for this week, be sure to enter the Daily Competitions over on the forum too!

There are so many ways you can get involved with all the cult film fun at Cult Labs:

o Join in the debate on the forums
o Sign up to the newsletter (if you haven’t already!)
.o Read the blog.
o Join us on Facebook
.o Follow us on Twitter.
o Check us out on MySpace.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Kyle

OH COME ALL YE FAITHFUL…

and take a look at all the incredible things packed into this newsletter! There’s plenty of things going on and this week’s newsletter will guide you right through them all, making your life just that little bit easier especially with the hecticness of the Christmas season. So, stuff your turkey, fill your stockings and hang your bauballs as I delve into the ins and outs of Cult Cinema and whats out soon.

BOO YAH!

COMING SOON!

So what twisted slices of cinema do you have to look forward to in the coming year? Well, besides the world ending and all that jazz, 2012 is looking to be one heck of a great year for film buffs. Here’s just a couple of great releases coming out at the start of next year…

• Frankenhooker (Arrow Video, Blu-Ray) – Death by lawnmower. Eyeball-brain-thing pet. Exploding hookers. Only one film would have the balls to feature all of these and more whilst actually pulling it off! Frank Henenlotter’s crazy invention, Frankenhooker comes to the UK in a nice and shiny blu-ray this coming January and it’s a must have for all you cult-cine-fans out there. Staring the hillariously witty James Lorinz (perhaps best known amongst cult enthusiasts as the doorman in Street Trash), this modern take on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is bound to tickle your funny bones with a lifeless limb of a cocaine addicted exploded whore.  It’s hillarious! Over on the forum this week, all 4 artwork panels have been revealed, so don’t forget to vote for your favourite when you get the chance. Frankenhooker is out on the 2nd of January and can be pre-ordered here to avoid the mad high-street January sale rushes.

Hmm, which breast is best?

• Four Flies On Grey Velvet (Shameless Screen Entertainment, DVD & Blu-Ray). Mention Dario Argento’s name to the general public and you’ll be answered with a dumbfounded expression complete with gaping drolling mouth and droppy eyes. However, mention Dario Argento’s name to a group of film buffs and especially those with an interest in cult cinema or Italian exploitation and you’ll see their faces light up as they jump to their knees, strech out their arms and bow up and down, chanting Argento’s name. Whilst he may be best known for Suspiria, Tenebrae and The Bird With The Crystal Plummage his previously-thought-to-be-lost film proves to be amongst the best of his work. And now (well, next year!) you can own it for the very first time on Blu-Ray all thanks to those lovely guys and gals at Shameless. Out on the 30th January, marking 40 years since its production and 20 years since it was lost, Four Flies On Grey Velvet is yours to own on either DVD or Blu-Ray, which ever you please. Pre-order yours here and visit the Official Forum for more details as they’re revealed. Also, why not visit Shameless’ official website? There’s loads of info about this and their other releases that are well worth your time checking out.

• Troll Hunter (Momentum Pictures, DVD & Blu-Ray) – Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. There’s not long until The Troll Hunter comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray! What do you mean you haven’t pre-ordered yet? This film is far too good to miss out! When a film is being described as one of the best of the year, you know it’s gotta be good and thankfully The Troll Hunter does anything but disappoint. Visit the Fan Hub for lots of cool articles including one in which Bloody Good Horror announces The Troll Hunter as the second scariest film of 2011! This film is out on the 9th of January.

CULT CHRISTMAS FILMS!

Here’s the part of the newsletter in which I share some of my favourite non-mainstream Christmas films. So far we’ve had the proto-slasher Black Christmas, the blood soaked Silent Night Deadly Night and the frankly disturbing ‘kiddies’ film Santa Claus. So here’s this week lesser-praised Christmas goodie.

Santa’s Slay! When a festive film stars a tough-as-nails super macho wrestling champion Bill Goldberg as Santa, you know somethings not quite right. But this is not your typical Father Christmas who fills the dreams of sleeping children with dancing sugar plums, oh no, this Santa is actually Satan released from a godly prison after a 1000 years and is free to cause havoc and kill as many people as he pleases. With a great animation segment, brilliant deaths, plenty of laughs and…a buffalo, this is one of the most fun Cult Christmas films out there. Well worth checking out this holiday!

BAH! HUMBUG!

Urgh! All this merry Christmas talk is enough to send a bitter old Scrooge into a coma. Luckily, here’s a section that’s just plain nasty to even out the happy go lucky feel of Xmas.  This week, the Bah! Humbug! section is all about ruining the smily faces of children around the world, by scaring them with the below GIF.

Mwahaha!

THE TWILIGHT ZONE

So what’s been happening in the fifth dimension of Cult Labs? Well besides several members being eaten well well mannered aliens, one turned into a dummy and another sent back into time, there’s of course the topic of the week! This week its all about Christmas (surprise, surprise) with Sarah’s brilliant new thread all about that touching festive Twilight Zone episode, Night Of The Meek. What do you think of this episode? Honestly, I luv it! It’s such a great story and is everything Christmas should be about wrapped up in a 30 minute long package. Brilliant stuff! Head to the Topic Of The Week and share your thoughts of this epsidoe (kudos to you too if you watched this with us this past Tuesday!)

This week there’s also been quite a bit of talk about Charlie Brooker’s new show, Black Mirror. As TwilightZoneTom says, ‘Charlie Brooker has written a three part anthology format TV show starting tomorrow on channel 4.’ It sounds brilliant and hopefully in keeping with the best of The Twilight Zone. What do you think? Looking forward to it? Let us know on the thread!

But whatever you do this week, be sure to enter the Twilight Zone Super Comp! We’re giving away all 4 volumes to three lucky winners! How do you enter? Well, simply head here and share with us an object (possibly magical) that would make an amazing Christmas themed Twilight Zone episode! It’s that simple! But hurry, this competition ends on Monday (the 19th)!

Don’t forget there’s really not long left until the fifth volume of the original Twilight Zone is released on DVD and Blu-Ray! Pre-order yours over on Amazon in time for its release!

PRISONER: CELL BLOCK H

What’s been happening in Wentworth over on the Official forum this week? Well, plenty as always! This week’s Topic-Of-The-Week is dedicated entirely to your earliest Prisoner memories! At this time of year, everyone gets at least a little nostalgia; Christmas memories, traditions, re-runs of your childhood favourites, etc. Soooo, this week’s discussion is dedicated to sharing your earliest Prisoner memories. When did you first get into it? Have you been with it from the very first episode? Or are you a newbie and have only recently become obsessed with the show since the DVD release? Let us know on the thread!

Also on the forum this week, there’s of course the frankly INCREDIBLE competition that’s running! One very lucky UK-Resident can win themselves ALL 10 volumes of Prisoner: Cell Block H that have been released so far! That’s 320 episodes of this phenomenal show! Unbelievable! All you have to do is get creative and make a Prisoner themed Christmas Carol or Song. We’ve got so many great entries already! So head to the competition to check these out and submit your own. This too ends on the 19th – this coming Monday! So don’t waste time and enter!

Don’t forget to pre-order Volume 11! It’s out on the 6th of Feb, and can be ordered from Amazon here.

WIN! WIN! WIN! BECAUSE WE’RE GENEROUS LIKE THAT.

Holy moly! This week we’re going Competition Crazy! I’ve been giving so many prizes away it’s starting to feel a little dodgy! Through out this month I’ll be giving away a prize a day in the Christmas Countdown Competitions. So far suich brilliant prizes have included the Fantastic Factory Presents... box set, Deadly Blessing, Danger Mouse box set, a Rec 2 mug, a Frozen quad poster, Cannibal Holocaust…the list just goes on and on! So be sure to visit the Cult Labs’ Chirstmas Giveaway mini-forum every day of Decemeber so you don’t miss out on anything!

But if that’s not enough (you ungrateful so and sos!) well take a look at the two Super Comps we’re running on the forum! You can win all 4 Twilight Zone boxsets or (and possibly and if you’re really good!) all 10 Volumes of Prisoner: Cell Block H! Freakin’ awesomeeee! To enter the Twilight Zone competition just head here, and here for the Prisoner one.

GOOD LUCK!

Anyways, that’s it for this week

There are so many ways you can get involved with all the cult film fun at Cult Labs:

o Join in the debate on the forumso Sign up to the newsletter (if you haven’t already!).o Read the blog.o Join us on Facebook.o Follow us on Twitter.o Check us out on MySpace.Kyle