THIS NEWSLETTER WILL CONTAIN NO MENTION OF CHRISTMAS.

Bah! Who am I kidding?! We’re going Crimbo mad this month! Over on the Cult Labs forum a new Christmassy design is in action (complete with flying saucer!), there’s the daily Xmas-themed animated banners and of course the huge Christmas Giveaway in which we’re giving away a prize a day! So we can’t leave the poor weekly newsletter out of the festive loop.

COMING SOON!

Christmas is a time for giving, however giving doesn’t always come cheap! By the time the 25th of Decemeber finally arrives, you may end up finding your bank account is looking redder than a robin’s chest! But with these fantastic films coming out early next year, you’ll probably be persuaded to treat yourself…

• Frankenhooker (Arrow Video, Blu-Ray). “Wanna date?” Who could say no to such a beautiful creature constructed from the rotting bodies of several dead hookers? We’ve all been there! Yes, that’s right, Frank Henenlotter’s brilliant cult classic is heading its way to blu-ray at the start of next year, thanks to Arrow Video. For those unfamiliar with the film, Frankenhooker is a comical take on that old favourite Frankenstein and proves to be one of the most enjoyable versions alongside Re-Animator. The Blu-Ray comes complete with reversible artwork (which is yet to be revealed – keep your eyes on the Official Forum in the next few weeks!), exclusive booklet by Calum Waddell, and plenty of great featurettes and commentaries. This release is for all you cult-aficionardos out there! Visit the Specs Thread for more details. Frankenhooker is out on the 2nd of January and can be pre-ordered from Amazon here.

• The Troll Hunter (Momentum, DVD and Blu-Ray) – Out early next month is the highly anticipated release of The Troll Hunter! This is truly one of the best of the year and comes highly recommended! The critics and fans are going crazy over this film and there’s plenty of reasons for that. The incredible effects, the great plot and the humour all add up to one amazing film! There’s plenty of Cult Labs related stuff to sink your teeth into regarding The Troll Hunter. There’s the official forum where you can find out all you need about Momentum’s DVD/Blu-Ray release of the film. Then there’s the FanHub which is brimming and bubbling with loads of fun things from Troll Hunting Tips and loads more.  If you pre-order the film through Play, you’ll also recieve a pack of exclusive Troll Hunter Top Trump cards! Now that’s cool! The Troll Hunter is out of the 9th of January.

• Dellamorte Dellamore is Cemetery Man (Shameless Screen Entertainment, DVD) – Shameless are to release one of the greatest zombie films ever made a little later in the year. Dellamorte Dellamore, Cemetery Man, Of Love And Death, Dellamorte Dellamore is Cemetery Man…whatever you want to call it, there’s no denying this film’s brilliant status within the zombie genre. Staring Rupert Everett and Francois Hadji-Lazaro, this film from the warped mind of Michele Soavi (The Church) is a must have for all you zombie fans out there! Don’t miss it by pre-ordering it on Amazon and visiting the Official Foum for loads of great info. This film is to be released on the 27th of January.

CULT CHRISTMAS FILMS!

So, last week I suggested Silent Night Deadly Night and Santa Claus as two must-see Cult Christmas films. Well this week’s recommendations for your twisted festive viewings include…

• Black Christmas - If you haven’t seen this film yet and you call yourself a horror fan, you best fix that before anyone finds out! Black Christmas was one of the first ‘slasher’ films and remains just as creepy, frightening and honestly disturbing with each and every viewing. The deaths are horrid, the acting is brilliant, the direction is superb (from the makers of two of my favorite undead films, Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things and Deathdream) and it has John bloody Saxon in it! Ignore the remake, and stick to the original this Christmas, but whatever you do, DON’T ANSWER THE PHONE!

Don’t forget that this month Cult Labs are having a Christmas special Film Night! So be sure to join us for a double-bill of Black Christmas and Silent Night, Deadly Night. For more info, head to the thread.

BAH! HUMBUG!

Now for something for all those who despise Christmas. For all you scrooges, here is something nasty to make your skin crawl. ‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stiring, except for a plague of ravenous mice! Just watch this – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKoTgY5HM68 – its nasty stuff!

THE TWILIGHT ZONE

What’s been happening in The Twilight Zone mini-forum over on Cult Labs this week? Well, this week’s featured topic is all about famous faces of the show. There’s plenty of them to pick from! From Dennis Hopper (in He’s Alive)  to the reknowned director Ron Howard who appears in Walking Distance, to, most famously, William Shatner. Come and share your opinions of the many famous writers, directors and actors in this week’s featured Topic of the Week.  Why not visit the blog post I wrote a while ago detailing some of the greats to have stared in the show, 7 Reasons Why THE TWILIGHT ZONE Is So Awesome – #5, the Writers and #6 – The Stars.

This week, this Official Forum has gotten in the Christmas giving mood too! We’re giving away all four Twilight Zone box sets that are out already to three lucky winners! All you need to do is think of a Christmas gift that would make a brilliant episode! It’s that simple! Head over to the competition and enter before it’s too late! This competition ends on the 19th of Decemeber.

There’s also the announcement of the Twilight Zone Tuesday coming up on the 13th at 9pm. Come and join us for the viewing of one of the greatest Christmas tales ever told. Night of the Meek from Season Two is the episode of this date, so bring plenty of egg nog and be sure to join us! It’s bound to get even the hardest of Scrooges into the festive spirit.

Don’t forget, there’s not long left until the 5th Volume of the original The Twilight Zone is released on DVD and Blu-Ray. To have yours on pre-order, click here.

PRISONER: CELL BLOCK H

What about everyone’s favourite Prison-based Cult TV Show, Prisoner: Cell Block H? Well, this week there’s plenty of things to talk about! This week’s topic-of-the-week, goes Beyond Prisoner and asks what are some of the casts other great films/TV Shows? From Mad Max to Crocodile Dundee and Round The Twist to the TV show, Pizza which starred Bea Smith and The Freak Fergusan reprising their roles. Have you spotted a Prisoner in another show or film? Come and let us know over on the thread!

But perhaps the most exciting thing to happen on the forum is the incredible competition we’re running! One lucky person will be able to win ALL 10 Prisoner: Cell Block H boxsets that have been released (Volumes 1 – 10!!)! All you need to do is head to this Super Comp, come up with a fun Prisoner themed Xmas Carol and you’ll be entered into the competition. Three lucky runner ups will also win the chance to pick any Prisoner volume they’d like. It’s that easy! Talk about being generous. So, don’t hesitate! Head over to the Competition NOW! This will make an ideals present for someone you know (or yourself!). This ends on the 19th of Decemeber, so hurry!

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.

Well as you’ve seen, Cult labs are going giving mad! We’re giving away all 4 Twilight Zone boxsets, all TEN Prisoner: Cell Block H volumes AND on top of all of that, we’re also giving away a prize a day until Christmas in our ultimate Givaway. So, what are you waiting for?

- Win All 4 Twilight Zone volumes on either DVD or Blu-Ray!

- Win all Ten volumes of Prisoner: Cell Block H!

- Enter the daily competitions – don’t miss out! Once it’s over, it’s over!

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

DECK THE HALLS WITH BLOODY CADAVERS,
TRA LA LA LA LA, LA LA LA LA!

Yes, as if you didn’t know already, Christmas is speeding towards us like that unstoppable and overwhelming truck in Duel. It’ s a jolly time in which the colours red and green can be seen everywhere. Your bank account gets redder as your face flushes green with envy. Oh joy. Anyone placed a bet on whether it’ll be a white Christmas or not? Anyway, whilst Santa and his pointy-eared minions are hard at work turning children into materialistic consumerists, here’s the month’s first newsletter, packed with some great Cult DVD and Blu-Ray news.

COMING SOON!

• Out early next month is the highly anticipated DVD and Blu-Ray release of The Troll Hunter! As I’ve said for the past few weeks in the newsletter, this is truly one of the best of the year and is highly recommended! The critics and fans are going crazy over this film and there’s plenty of reasons for that. The incredible effects the great plot and the humour all add up to one heck of a film! There’s plenty of Cult Labs related stuff to sink your teeth into regarding The Troll Hunter. There’s the official forum where you can find out all you need about Momentum’s DVD/Blu-Ray release of the film. Then there’s the FanHub which is brimming and bubbling with loads of fun things from Troll Hunting Tips, an interview with Fangoria to a Mark Kemode video  review.  What’s more, if you pre-order the film through Play, you’ll also recieve a pack of exclusive Troll Hunter Top Trump cards! Now that’s cool! The Troll Hunter is out of the 9th of January.

• Also out (slightly later) in January is Shameless Screen Entertainment’s release of Dario Argento’s ‘missing’ Four Flies On  Grey Velvet. This release not only marks 40 years since it was made and it’s 20th anniversary since it was ‘found’ but it also marks the first time this film has EVER been available on Blu-Ray! Pretty impressive, eh? The film is a true gem and easily among Argento’s best work. Visit the Official Announcement thread for all the details of this release. Shameless’ release of Dario Argento’s Four Flies On Grey Velvet is due for release on DVD and Blu-Ray on the 30th January. Visit the Official mini-forum for more details and to share your opinion.

CULT CHRISTMAS FILMS!

To celebrate Christmas, over the next few Weekly Newsletters, I’ll be adding a new section detailing some of my favourite Cult Christmas movies, from well-known and well-loved festive films to those obscure and plain what-the-hell-is-this films. So kicking it off, here’s a couple of great Xmas Flicks…

• Silent Night, Deadly Night – this is without doubt one of my all time favourite Slasher films and Christmas movies. It’s just so much fun! What’s not to like here? A killer ‘Santa Claus’, Linnea Quigley doing what she does best (getting naked and killed), amazing deaths, plenty of gore, a creepily catchy theme song, evil nuns, and oh so much more.  If you’re after a Christmas film covered in the red stuff, then this is the perfect choice!

• If you’re after something a little more obscure for your holiday cult fix, may I suggest the frankly disturbing ‘kids’ film Santa Claus from 1959. With a generic title like that, you’d most likely expect a similarly generic film, right? WRONG! This European freak of a film has a few baubles missing from the Christmas Tree. The film centers around a suspicious Santa who, in his spaceship, is surrounded by various machines (including one with huge LIPS!) and seemingly uses child labour to create the toys. There’s robotic reindeer, super disturbing human dancing dolls and about every un-PC racial stereotype you can (and can’t) imagine. Oh and did I mention he fits a Devil? If you fancy scaring your children for life, then this is the film to do it with Good luck!

BAH! HUMBUG!

All this talk about harmony and joy and Santa and snow and happiness and urgh, it’s enough to drive a Scrooge crazy! Thankfully, over this month there’ll be a short section of a totally un-Christmassy and very grim, gross and just plain nasty info. So if you’re already sick of this festival chit-chat, then look no further. Bah! Humbug! Ever heard of a Teratoma? No? Well, it sounds like something straight out of a Cronenberg movie. The nicknamed ‘monster tumour’ is no ordinary tumour. Oh no. This tumour can grow hair, skin, nails, teeth and even parts of organs! Disgusting! However, whilst it may sound vomit-enducing, there’s been new evidence to suggest that perhaps this tumour may hold the secret to curing Cancer.

If you’re struggling for a topic of conversation over the Christmas dinner, why not mention the tumour that grows hair and teeth? It’ll go down a treat!

Bah, humbug!

THE TWILIGHT ZONE

Anyway, back to Cult Labs. This week in The Twilight Zone Official UK forum, Nosferatu@Cult Labs has created this week’s featured thread. It’s all about Feelgood episodes from The Twilight Zone and includes such classics as One For The Angels (Season One), The Fugitive (Season Three) and The Changing Of The Guard (Season Three). What do you think of Nos’ choices? Are you a fan of either of those episodes? Or perhaps you prefer the doom-and-gloom episodes more? Why not let us know what you think over on the Topic of the Week thread!

Don’t forget to make a note in your diary for the next Twilight Zone Tuesday! On the 13th of Decemeber at 9pm over on Twitter, we’ll be watching one of the greatest Christmas stories ever told; The Twilight Zone’s Night Of The Meek. Staring Art Carney (from Last Action Hero) and The Magnificent Seven‘s Val Avery, this remains a true Christmas Classic and is bound to get your festive juices running. Visit the thread and let us know if you can make it!

Don’t forget, there’s not long left until the 5th Volume of the original The Twilight Zone is released on DVD and Blu-Ray. To have yours on pre-order, click here.

PRISONER: CELL BLOCK H

Also, on the Prisoner forum, member Screwbaiter has shared with us some incredible fan artwork that really shows just how talented our members are. They are quite simply amazing! Come and visit his new thread of pictures and share your opinions.

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

This week, rahter than giving away a pre-selected DVD, we’re giving away ANY Arrow Video DVD or Blu-Ray of your choice to help complete your Arrow collection! Talk about spoiling you! All you have to do is come up with a film that would look hillariously ridiculous if Arrow released it, such as The Care Bears Movie. We’ve already recieved loads of fantastic entries, but if you think you can top it, go for it! This Weekly Competition ends 0n Sunday 4th December and can be entered here.

This huge Competition also marks the end of this years Weekly Competitions (most likely). Instead, we’re having a Competition Countdown to Christmas in which each and every day I’ll be giving away a great DVD or Blu-Ray to a lucky winner! So be sure to enter those.

Also, keep your eyes pealed for some Super Comps. If you fancy winning Twilight Zone Vol. 1-4, or Prisoner: Cell Block H – Vol.1 – 10 then be ready!

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