"...The Dead Are Among Us!"

One of the high-water marks of ultra-violent Italian horror films, and arguably director Lucio Fulci's best film, "Zombie" is great stuff. Originally released as "Zombi 2" to cash in on George Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" being released as "Zombi", the film follows three intrepid investigators who end up stranded on the tropical island of Matul. There, they must survive a horrifying curse (disease?) that is turning the islanders into flesh-eating ghouls.

Mainly, "Zombie" is notorious among horror fans for a one-two punch of crazy set-pieces, those being the scene wherein a zombie fights a shark, and a later scene where a woman has her eye gouged out with a wooden splinter. Otherwise, the soundtrack is wonderful, with backing element sounding vaguely like a heart-beat, and some voodoo-esque drums, the zombies are disgusting, and there's not an opportunity for a gouging or a bludgeoning wasted.

The poster you see below concludes a trifecta of "Feature Creature" entries celebrating my favourite zombies of all time, Bub, the Tar Man, and the poster zombie from..."Zombie". I wanted to experiment with title placement and areas of heavy, bold colour mixed with areas of intricate line-work.

Hope you like it, and thanks again for looking. Feel free to message me with monster requests, and i'll see you guys next Friday.

Check out the trailer here!

"They're Back From The Grave and Ready To Party!"

I apologize for the lack of updates, i've been attending the "Toronto International Film Festival" for the last two weeks, and it's left me little time for quality painting. But i plan on getting back on schedule, and to signify that, here's a painting of a zombie.

"Return of the Living Dead" is one of the best horror films the 80's spat out, with a killer punk soundtrack and a wicked sense of humour. It concerns a couple of medical supply warehouse employees who unwittingly release a government toxin, leading to a graveyard full of brain-eating, indestructible zombies. The coolest monster in the whole movie is the "Tar-man", a zombie that's skin has melted upon contact with the air, after being sealed in a government tank for many years. He has a wonderfully jangly way of lurching about, like he could fall apart at any second.

I tried to style this painting as a companion to my "Day of the Dead" Bub painting, with a third eventually being made of the poster zombie from Lucio Fulci's "Zombie". I'll have a new piece for Friday, let me know what you think, and thanks for following.

Here's the trailer!

"The Tenant In Room 7 Is Very Small, Very Twisted And Very Mad!"

I saw Frank Henenlotter's "Basketcase" at a very young age, so a lot of it has stayed with me. It's a personal favourite, and there's something very comforting about it's grimy sets and low-budget special effects and puppets.

The story concerns a man named Duane Bradley, and his visit to New York City. He arrives with only one piece of luggage; a large wicker basket. It's eventually revealed that Duane carries around his deformed and angry formerly conjoined twin, Belial, hunting down the doctors that seperated them to exact bloody revenge! Of course, Duane meets a girl, Belial gets jealous of someone sharing his brotherly love, and it all goes to hell. It's great.

I tried to evoke some of that sleazy goodness with this poster. Hope you like it.

Here's the trailer!