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‘Channel Zero: Candle Cove’ is a Creepy Change of Pace for SyFy

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These days, when you think of SyFy’s original horror offerings, you might think of the campy, self-aware “Z Nation,” or the ultra-cheesy, ultra self-aware “Sharknado” film series. And hey, if that’s your thing, more power to you.

For those of us that love creepy, unsettling, slow-burn horror, SyFy’s latest original series is a breath of fresh air. The anthology series will feature a different story each season, similar to “American Horror Story.” Season 2 has already been greenlit with a whole other story.

The inspiration for the show is what’s known as a creepypasta — a play on “copypasta,” which is a play on “copypaste” — a scary story that started on the internet, and was shared on various forums such as Reddit and 4chan, something of a modern-day urban legend. The inspiration for Season 1 was “Candle Cove,” one of the creepier creepypastas out there. You can read the original story here, but beware: It reveals a major spoiler for the first episode of the series. Season two will revolve around another famous creepypasta: “No-End House.”

‘Why Are You Afraid to Come Home?’

The first season, which will have six episodes, follows Mike Painter, a famous child psychologist who returns to his hometown of Iron Hill, Ohio, after many years. As a child, Mike’s twin brother Eddie disappeared, along with four other children. The other kids were found dead in the woods, with their teeth missing — but Eddie was nowhere to be found. Mike’s family fell apart and he ended up in a foster home, never returning to Iron Hill until now.

To say that memories of Eddie and his disappearance still haunt Mike is an understatement. We see early on that he’s estranged from his wife and child after he recently suffered a mental breakdown. Furthermore, we learn that he’s been having nightmares in which a young Eddie calls him to ask when he’s coming home. Interlaced with his nightmares are references to “Candle Cove” — a creepy, low-budget puppet show that Mike and Eddie used to watch in the ’80s, which Mike believes is somehow related to the child murders.

Channel Zero: Candle Cove on SyFy

You Have to Go Inside

The Candle Cove scenes really help to add to the atmosphere. Whereas “Stranger Things” captured our nostalgia for the ’80s with a rocking soundtrack and a group of lovable kids playing Dungeons & Dragons and cruising around on their bikes, Candle Cove takes that nostalgia in a much darker direction.

The children’s show Mike remembers was an odd, unsettling pirate show featuring characters like Jawbone, a pirate skeleton who tells the main character that he’s going to skin her. It looks like a very rough, low-budget Sid and Marty Krofft ripoff, and like many children’s shows featuring puppets, it’s pretty unsettling when you watch it as an adult.

Candle Cove was only on a local TV station for a short time in 1988. During that time period, kids in Iron Hill started to disappear. After Eddie went missing and the bodies were found, the show stopped…until Mike returns to Iron Hill, and discovers it’s back on the air. Naturally, another child disappears shortly after mentioning the show to Mike, and his recent history makes him the prime suspect. To add to the creep factor, as Mike delves into the mystery, we really don’t know if he’s a reliable narrator at all.

Unlike some of the more in-your-face horror films and shows, “Channel Zero” is a slow burn that builds up the creep factor inch by inch. The more bits and pieces we see from Candle Cove, and the more we learn about the back story and its connections to the murders, the more unsettling it becomes. Creator Nick Antosca handles Kris Staub’s source material with great care, and does a fantastic job using the mythology as a foundation while building a compelling story upon it.

The first episode, titled “You Have to Go Inside,” is available on demand. New episodes air Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. on SyFy.

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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