"And you will face the sea of darkness, and all therein that may be explored. "

A couple weeks back, i painted an illustration for Lucio Fulci's "Zombie", an incredibly violent horror film that was Italy's answer to "Dawn of the Dead". While i love that film, my favourite film by the director, Lucio Fulci, is "The Beyond".

Part of the three films that make up Lucio Fulci's "Gates to Hell" trilogy*, "The Beyond" focuses on a woman who inherits a hotel built on one of the seven cursed gateways to hell. Pandemonium ensues, in the form of ghostly blind girls, flesh-eating spiders, acid baths, crucified painters and more horrible things happening to eyeballs than should ever be contained in one film.

This one, like a lot of Italian cinema of the time, is not really about plot, or even characters. It works hard to put together a compelling and unsettling mood through the use of incredibly gruesome set-pieces, and iconic imagery. The vision of hell that is showcased towards the end of the film, and the character of Emily with her stark white eyes are most notable in this department. The score is one of my favourites, though the same composers' score for "City of the Living Dead" might barely beat it in my books.

If you haven't watched many Lucio Fulci films, this is a great place to start.

Check out the trailer here!

* The other two films in the "Gates to Hell" trilogy being "City of the Living Dead", and "House by the Cemetery", another couple favourites.

"The fly with the head of a man...! And the man with the head of a fly!"

Scientist Andre Delambre runs into some unfortunate circumstances when his latest experiment, a matter transporter, accidentally fuses his atoms with that of a common housefly. Andre ends up with the head and left hand of a fly, with his corresponding limbs on the insect.

While his frantic wife desperately searches for the fly with her husband's head and hand, Andre battles his new insect instincts to murder, and presumably eat, his wife.

"The Fly" is a classic! It has a great performance by Vincent Price as Francois Delambre, and unsettling effects. Most notably the final scene of the fly with the human head screaming for help, as it's menaced by a spider.

Here's the trailer!

"...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!

"The only thing more terrifying than the last five minutes of this film are the first 90!"

The illustration this week is for the classic film, "Suspiria". Directed by Dario Argento in 1977, The film tells the story of Suzy Bannion, a new arrival at a German ballet academy that may be a secret coven of witches. The story is really an excuse to revel in nightmarish imagery, a pounding and shrieking score by the Italian band "Goblin", and a hallucinatory wash of colours. Truly, one of my top five horror films of all time. It is necessary viewing for anyone seriously interested in film.

I tried to reflect on the strange and vibrant colours and horrifying atmosphere of the film, while including some nods to my favourite moments. I hope you enjoy it, and thanks for checking out my work.

Check out the trailer here!

"It's A Headache From Hell!"

Today's Feature Creature is from the 1988 film, "Brain Damage", a strange and relatively unknown cult film about a guy named Brian living in New York who becomes host to a eel-like parasite named Aylmer. Aylmer needs human brains to live, so he injects Brian with a mysterious blue drug that induces euphoria. Brian becomes dependent on the drug, and is forced into helping Aylmer kill.

A sick and twisted metaphorical addiction story, "Brain Damage" is a greatly entertaining film. The acting and characterization are barely there, but it sports a fast pace, some wonderfully disgusting kills, and a wonderful villain in Aylmer. Singing, persuading and charming his way towards human brains, Aylmer is quite endearing. He's voiced by a famous tv horror host by the name of Zacherley, and he's the best part of the whole thing. Add some surreal drug trips, some gritty New York locales, and old-school stop motion effects, and you got a winner.

Check out the trailer here!

Listen to Aylmer's song!