For those of you lucky enough to be attending Comic-Con 2010 in San Diego next week, here’s what you can expect from The Walking Dead panel on July 23rd.

The stars and producers of AMC’s highly-anticipated series THE WALKING DEAD, based on the comic book written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics, will descend on Comic-Con 2010 for a panel event and exclusive sneak preview of the original drama. THE WALKING DEAD panel, scheduled for Friday, July 23, at 11:30 AM in Room 6BCF, will feature series stars Andrew Lincoln (LOVE ACTUALLY), Jon Bernthal (THE PACIFIC), Sarah Wayne Callies (PRISON BREAK), Laurie Holden (THE MIST), and Emma Bell (FROZEN). Joining the cast are writer, director, executive producer and three-time Academy Award nominee Frank Darabont (THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, THE GREEN MILE); executive producers Kirkman and Gale Anne Hurd (THE TERMINATOR, ALIENS, ARMAGEDDON); make-up artist Greg Nicotero (George Romero’s LAND OF THE DEAD, THE MIST); and Joel Stillerman, AMC’s SVP of original programming, production and digital content.

During the hour-long event, moderator Eric Moro of IGN.com will lead panelists in a discussion about their experience shooting the series in Atlanta and the process of bringing Kirkman’s comic book to life on the small screen, among other topics, followed by an exclusive first look at THE WALKING DEAD and a Q&A session with attendees.

THE WALKING DEAD panel will be complemented by a number of on-the-ground activities taking place throughout Comic-Con:

Attendees will have an opportunity to get “zombified” by visiting THE WALKING DEAD booth and putting themselves into a zombie scene from the series via a touch screen; AMC will email the photo to them.

AMC will distribute limited edition “The Walking Dead” series posters from internationally recognized movie poster artist Drew Struzan (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Blade Runner, Hellboy and more).

An autograph session will take place with Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies, Frank Darabont, Robert Kirkman, Greg Nicotero and Gale Anne Hurd in the Image Comic Books booth.

AMC will distribute limited edition THE WALKING DEAD series buttons.

AMC will have THE WALKING DEAD walkers around the convention center and booth.

THE WALKING DEAD booth will be a semi-recreation of a scene from the pilot episode.

Don’t forget to pick us up some swag too!

If you’re in Seattle this weekend and want to take part in what will be a record breaking zombie walk, then you best read on…

Hey Seattle Zombies!

ARE YOU READY TO SHOW THE WORLD THAT SEATTLE IS THE ZOMBIE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD?

WE ARE VERY EXCITED TO BE BRINGING YOU THE BIGGEST ZOMBIE EVENT IN THE WORLD RIGHT TO YOUR CITY OF SEATTLE!

We are in full swing with just 2 1/2 seeks away from returning the record to Seattle, but we need your help NOW! It takes our team over hours to compile and register all you zombies before the event on the day to meet the Guinness World Record requirements. We want to be able to announce the record on the night of the event!

WE DON’T WANT TO JUST BEAT THE RECORD, WE WANT TO HOLD IT FOR YEARS TO COME! WE NEED YOUR HELP AND YOUR SUPPORT!

We need your help so that we can submit the names much earlier this year and make the lines at Red, White, and Dead much easier this July 3rd! Help support a great event and have fun this summer.

It’s just $3 online and $5 at the door on the day to support a local event that will be the biggest Zombie event on the planet! Everyone who pre-registers gets their name on the website!

Here’s what you get for just $3

- Zombie Movie – Dawn of the Dead
- Zombie Concert – Performance by Astro -Creep
- Free Photo Booth – presented by Night Zero
- Free Zombie Video Game Lounge – Presented by XBOX 360 & Dead Rising 2
- Thriller Dance – Presented by the Seattle Thrillers
- Costume Contest – Presented by the Stranger
- ZomBcon 2010 Announcements – Special Guest Announced

XBOX 360 GIVEAWAY
We are giving two XBOX 360 consoles this year for those who register, along with tons of other cool prizes!

The current zombie walk world record is 4,026 and currently held by the Big Chill Music Festival in the England, which edged out Seattle’s 3,894 last August.

Not one to let such a narrow margin defeat them Red, White, and Dead want to see 10,000 zombies smash the record and keep it for quite some time.

You can register for this world record zombie walk attempt online at http://redwhiteanddeadzombie.eventbrite.com/ or find out more about ZomBcon on the official site.

It seems festival season is upon us, especially here in the UK.

Zombiefest 2010 is from the 13th to 15th of August and will feature zombie films, games, ‘Lead vs Dead’ (a Wild West based live-action game) running on the Saturday along with zombie shooting, zombie archery and zombie prizes.

Zombiefest is held at a campsite not far from Milton Keynes and involves getting together with other zombie fans and culminates in seeing if participants would survive the zombie apocalypse. Last year, no-one survived… will it be any different this time?

The guys behind it are also currently working on confirmation of a UK first, so that if you go, you are likely to be the first people in the country to be doing something “pretty bloody impressive”. More details will follow as soon as we have them.

For more information check out the Terror4fun website and head to the Zombiefest 2010 page to download a form.

Participants need to be signed up by July 4th.

How To Survive A Zombie Apocalypse : RELOADED
Who says sequels are a bad thing?
OR
Brain Destruction Guaranteed.
OR
Another Generic Tagline.

This year geek theatre is making its return to the Edinburgh Fringe after a total sell out of 2009, subsequent sell outs of Leicester Comedy Festival & Brighton Fringe and 13 rather excellent reviews from the likes of SFX, Fortean Times, The Argus and Threeweeks (including 4 stars from Broadwaybaby, Zombie Command [ZC - that's us!], Venue magazine, Liverpool Echo & The British Theatre Guide) and this year they’re not just teaching you how to survive…… they’re seeing if you can.

As well as going for gold a second time with this sequel to last years cult hit, after their Fringe debut last year, the show has also spawned a tie-in book that is being launched nationally by Allison & Busby on 1st August

Dr Dale’s Zombie Dictionary
The A-Z Guide to Staying Alive

And a weekly podcast series that has reached a highest charting position of 13 in the iTunes comedy charts.

With over 15,000 fans and group members on Facebook Worldwide and world domination obviously not that far from their reach – why not come down and check out what all the buzz is about – at the very least you’ll learn how to stay alive when the undead rise.

‘How To Survive A Zombie Apocalypse : RELOADED – Not just another sequel cobbled togther to cash in on the original’ (hmmm – maybe that tagline needs some work) can be seen at

Zoo Southside 6th – 29th August (not 17th & 24th)
7.45pm
£8 / £6

For more info or other dates check out the official site.

This Halloween sees Seattle’s biggest, newest and best zombie convention – ZomBcon.

ZomBcon (not to be confused with ZomBacon) will be held across various locations, including the Seattle Center and Seattle International Film Festival, over the 29th – 31st of October and is attempting to bring together every element of zombie fandom.

ZomBcon arose from last year’s Red, White, and Dead Zombie Walk which saw over 6,000 people dressed as zombies take to the streets of Seattle. This year they’ll attempt a Guinness world record zombie walk, have work on display from over 60 zombie themed exhibitors, hold a zombie ball as well as host special SIFF screenings of zombie films!

It’s the ultimate zombie convention!

Those of you who are in the biz or have something to sell and are looking to book space early can save 30% of exhibition space by using the code EB30 before June 15th.

For those wishing to book tickets or just find out more, head on over to the ZomBcon site.

The guys will be stopping off at Leicester, Bedworth, Pendle, Bath, Oxford, Brighton, Liverpool and Chorley in the first half of the year – check the site for more info on the dates.

We gave it 4 zombies out of 5 and recommend you go see it (multiple times to get the full experience/teachings) if you get the chance.

Click the poster below to embiggen.

Tickets for 12 hours (6 features) of Gore and More: Only £20

No Brainer Individual Tickets: £5.80 or £4.80 (conc)

Attempt to Kill the Most Zombies and Win a Nintendo Wii: FREE

1) Reserve your tickets NOW!!!

***Phone the Phoenix Square Box Office on 0116 242 2800 Monday to Friday from 10am to 4pm to reserve your tickets. (Tickets cannot be booked online yet). You will be able to book over the phone from 10am to 9pm from November 16th.

2) The Films of Day of the Undead…

Dawn of the Dead (Original) in Hi-Def, Pontypool, Dead Snow, La Horde and Zombieland. There are also two awesome zombie shorts: It Came From The West (Tor Fruergaard, Denmark, 2007, 17mins) and Le Quellone (Canada, 2008, 12mins). Plus a sneak preview of Zombie Undead!

Terror4fun is the UKs largest zombie organisation. Zombie Ed and the other members have been organising zombie events for over 5 years, and they have featured in a Channel 4 Documentary and BBC Documentary, articles in many genre magazines, SFX & Bizarre Magazine. Terror4fun also publishes ‘The Zombie Times’ Ezine which goes out regularly to over 8,000 UK zombie fans. The Terror4fun website (www.terror4fun.com) regularly gets over 30,000 unique visitors a month hunting down zombie film reviews, make up advice or details of worldwide zombie events. This year Terror4fun is holding it’s third zombie festival, The Day of the Undead, at the Phoenix Square, hoping for another record breaking event.

Confirmed Guest Stars:

Jasper Bark, author of the amazing ‘Way of the Barefoot Zombie’ from Abaddon Books, will be signing copies of his novel, chatting and should, if they are not biting too much, be bringing along his Zom-bunny birls…

Nick S. Thomas and Michael G. Thomas, authors of the indispensable ‘ZOMPOC – How to survive the Zombie Apocalypse’ released on October 31st, 2009, they will be signing, chatting, drinking and mingling, so have your zombie survival questions to hand…

FEATURES of The Day of the Undead 2009:

• BEST DRESSED ZOMBIE COMPETITION: Dress as a zombie and win one of a whole pile of prizes…
• MAKE UP ARTISTS: Come along, make a small donation to charity and be made up by one of our make up artists as a bloody horrific zombie…
• ZOMBIE-CADE: Slay the most digital undead and win a massive prize… All this on a cinema screen…
• ALL DAY BAR: Need I say more. Booze and food and gore all under the one roof… Sweet…
• CARICATURIST: A professional caricaturist and self confessed zombie-phile will be on hand to immortalise you for all eternity in the medium of zombie art…
• FAB PRESS Trade Stall: Once again there will be FAB Press, so come on down to get your bloody hands on rare films, books and T-shirts…
• LUCKY BAGS: First 250 people through the door will get a lucky bag with lots of zombie bits and pieces in, some will contain DVDS and signed books, prizes to be won all day long….

After attending the funeral of one of their police colleagues, corrupt coppers seek out retribution on crime lord Adewale (Eriq Ebouaney) in an illegal operation in just outside of whatever French town it was.

After sneaking into the criminal’s hideout in an abandoned apartment block it all turns sour for the cops, getting captured and tortured by the gangsters before something a little bit unusual happens. Soon after one of the captives is killed, he returns to life as a ridiculously powerful zombie. After kicking their felonious asses for a bit the zombie is eventually put down and they look outside to see all hell has broken loose, with fires and zombies surrounding the complex.

With both the cops and the cons now men down and la titular hordes descending upon their tower block, good guys and bad guys have to put aside their differences to make it out of the building alive. Along the way they pick up survivors, have to deal with in-fighting and use some ridiculously awesome methods of putting down the zeds.

While Frightfest had a number of sub-titled films this one was a bit annoying, as the text was right along the bottom of the screen (indeed the descenders of the bottom line were mostly off the screen) and the stage blocked the people sitting near the front’s view; I would have rather sacrificed a couple of inches at the top to make it easier to read. The other thing of note about the subtitles is that the translations were sometimes pretty bad, nothing that stopped me understanding what was going on but it was unnatural enough that I have to point it out.

La Horde is a fairly derivative zombie movie filled with what are ultimately mediocre action scenes; don’t let the Frank West (Dead Rising) atop a car style zombie clamouring in the trailer tell you it’s amazing. The fight scenes are simply sped up footage, though used to great effect in the fight between the ladies, and the music goes all out to try and convince you that something exciting is happening when, really, it isn’t.

The zombies at least are slightly unique, in so much that a shot to the head doesn’t stop them and filling them with lead is the only sure fire way to end their un-life. This La Horde does with aplomb, with the characters getting access to some ridiculous weaponry throughout the course of their escape. Some of the more ‘heroic’ deeds that the characters pull off are completely unrealistic, but I guess that’s like complaining that the animals talk during a Disney film; it’s just a small step to extend ones state of disbelief and as the whole thing is balls-out action anyway, it’s not a problem.

The origin of the zombies is never explained nor how they became so many and widespread in such a short space of time, and especially why there’s so many of them swarming the deserted tower block so far out of town. Brief glimpses of more complete carnage are revealed from atop the building with much of the town set alight, but whether this is a local phenomenon or more global is never elaborated upon.

There’s a lot to like in La Horde, the old guy is humerous, the action fun to watch, the characters remain true throughout and, although the ending left many people cold, it was a satisfactory ending to their small piece of the tale. La Horde isn’t going to change the zombie landscape but it certainly isn’t bad.

On the first day all the weekend pass holders received a goody bag, packed full of DVDs, flyers and t-shirts. I think everybody got the same stuff but in case anybody got something different and a swag brag, here’s what I got.

1. Frightfest Program
2. Random flyers for various things. Use code SCREAM at Play.com’s checkout for an extra £1 off :)
3. Triangle poster
4. Vinyan T-Shirt
5. Saw VI blood filled mousemat
6. Infestation T-Shirt
7. Dawn of the Dead bag
8. I think this is just a trailer DVD but may have a couple of films on it like Tokyo Gore Police!
9. Lesbian Vampire Killers bottle opener (random)
10. 20th Century Boy DVD
11. Children of the Corn boxset (easily the best thing here)
12. Bind. Torture. Kill. DVD.

There was also some other random stuff, a Mum & Dad badge, a Star Trek poster (?) and I managed to collect a Children of Men T-Shirt along the way too. I’ve never seen Children of the Corn, though often thought I should, so the 3 disc box set was a welcome bonus for me.

Onto the movies. 26 films in 5 days is a lot of movies to see, some good, some bad, most somewhere in between. I was a bit desensitized to it all by the end and the festival atmosphere probably made some bad movies seem better. I hadn’t read much about most of these movies before going in, so my opinions are almost purely based on that first viewing.

Top 5 Frightfest Movies

1. Best Worst Movie
2. Millenium
3. The Horseman
4. Heartless
5. An American Werewolf in London

It’s pretty telling that the top 3 films aren’t horror films at all and the 5th is almost 30 years old! Heartless I think is something that will bear repeat viewings and have my appreciation for it grow.

Honorable Mentions
Triangle, The Hills Run Red, La Horde, Colin, Salvage, Fragment, Pontypool, Night of the Demons. All of these films are a 7-8 out of 10 but just missed a certain spark or polish that would push them into the top.

Worst Frightfest Movies

1. It’s Alive
2. Giallo

Only picking 2 as everything else was head and shoulders above them (yes, even Zombie Women of Satan and Smash Cut).

Most Mediocre Movies

1. Hierro
2. Infestation
3. The Descent: Part 2
4. I Sell The Dead
5. Macabre

Black may have made this less than illustrious company but I fell asleep for half of it. All of these films do something right, just with no flare. Ho hum.

Best Zombie Movies

1. La Horde
2. Pontypool
3. Colin
4. Dead Snow
5. Zombie Women of Satan

Technically the only 5 zombie movies and the top 4 were all on a very similar level, with good (and some great bits) let down by some weaker bits. Zombie Women of Satan though was absolute trash but great fun on a Monday morning.

I met a lot of great people at Frightfest, found a lot of new Twitterers and missed out on a lot of sleep! I met John Landis, Justin Lee Collins and saw Melissa George and Derren Brown. I spoke with directors, actors, normal people and some not so normal people. I broke my film festival cherry and ate my body weight in pik’n'mix. Roll on next year so I can do it again! See you there!

First film of the day is ZOMBIE WOMEN OF SATAN starring @marysiak. Expecting this to be cheap but wasn’t quite expecting what it was. The return of Emma, who hadn’t returned since the showing of TRIANGLE, meant my bag no longer had a seat :(

ZOMBIE WOMEN OF SATAN -

The movie tells the tale of rock singer Skye Brannigan’s quest to find her missing sister who has been abducted by a strange cult. Skye is helped / hindered by bizarre freakshow burlesque troupe Flesharama who get caught up in her quest, as they are attacked left, right and centre by a vicious gang of marauding sexy zombie women and the crazy Zander family who created them!

Initial Thoughts – By far the trashiest film at the festival but a lot of good fun. Made in 6 months from conception to release here and was done by putting people together that had never met before. To be fair it is a bit rubbish and could have done with a bit longer gauging it’s jokes and story but I didn’t mind it first thing Monday morning.

I had a long stretch of time between movies so made my way to HMV to pick up DEAD SNOW and then put a Twitter bounty on my head for 28 Days and 28 Weeks later boxset for the first person to find me. Unfortunately I then spent the day hiding outside in Leicester Square leaving the occasional rubbish clue as to where I was and the prize actually went unclaimed. Nobody loves me :(

Next up was IT’S ALIVE which was so bad that I’m not even giving it a full synopsis.

IT’S ALIVE –

After attempting to abort baby using drugs bought online ridiculous puppet baby goes on murderous rampage.

Initial Thoughts – Worst film of Frightfest. Pointless remake, hated every second of it. The usher did warn me before I went in and it turns out he was right.

I stayed in the Discovery Screen and was joined by David, who was seeing his first film in it, for FRAGMENT.

FRAGMENT –

When Lloyd, a photographer slowly dying of a brain tumor, realises the growth killing him is breathing life into the recently dead, he uses his camera lens as the conduit to reanimation. After discovering a disturbing snuff film of a beautiful naked woman being tortured and murdered, he is compelled to bring her back to life. Enchanted by her grace and charm he resurrects her night after night and gradually falls in love. However, each night Lloyd also unwittingly resurrects her killer.

Initial Thoughts – Really good ghost story. Not quite scary but by Day 5 the ennui had set in, so that could have something to do with it. Certainly worth a watch.

To end Day 5 there’s two world premieres HEATRLESS and THE DESCENT: PART 2. Was quite looking forward to HEARTLESS but couldn’t really remember what happened in the original Descent. These premieres certainly brought out the ladies, with the cinema becoming packed with women in dresses!

As it turns out the soundtrack was also written by director Philip Pullman and performed by the star of HEARTLESS, Jim Sturgess. The main stage was set up with guitars and keyboard and Jim Sturgess performed a couple of the songs from the movie, which were actually quite good.

HEARTLESS –

Jamie Morgan’s life has always been blighted by the large, heart-shaped birthmark on his face. He lives in an urban world dominated by a terrifying gang culture, whose random violence has convinced Jamie that the world is meaningless and ugly. Then Jamie meets someone who tells him the truth; the violence is not random, it’s far from chaotic, there is a reason for everything. Once Jamie accepts this the world reveals itself as a thing of great beauty… and that’s when his real nightmare start.

Initial Thoughts – Really good modern fantasy horror but does come across as slightly sub-Gaiman in it’s telling with some ideas not fully formed or explained. I saw the ‘twist’ coming miles off but as it wasn’t really the point of the movie it wasn’t necessary for a payoff. Warrants a repeat viewing and could become a favourite along the lines of Stardust.

Still ridiculously packed in the foyer but made it back to my seat for THE DESCENT 2, which I wasn’t so bothered about but figured I’d make it to the end. It was horribly warm and I’d gone through 2 bottles of water already.

THE DESCENT: PART 2 -

Shauna Macdonald returns as Sarah, continuing the story of the first entry in which a group of young women disappear during a caving trip in the Appalachian Mountains.
Emerging from the cave system alone, distraught and covered in the blood of her missing companions, Sarah is incoherent and half-wild with fear. Skeptical about her account of events and convinced Sarah’s psychosis hides far darker secrets, Sheriff Vaines (Gavan O’Herlihy) doesn’t waste time. Along with his partner Rios (Krysten Cummings), and their cave rescue team Dan (Douglas Hodge), Greg (Joshua Dallas), and Cath (Anna Skellern), Vaines forces Sarah back into the caves to help the rescuers find her friends.

Initial Thoughts – More of the same but ups the action and the blood. If you liked the first you should quite like the second, even if you didn’t think they should make a sequel. To be fair the amnesia plot device is a bit of lazy writing and if you have to rely on it you probably shouldn’t be doing it but as I didn’t care so much for the first I didn’t mind.

And it was over! I said my goodbyes and skipped the trip to The Phoenix Bar as I was in desperate need of a shower and some sleep. Oh and as for the sigle greatest thing in the world, well, maybe that was an exaggeration but it was certainly the best thing of the weekend.

With 2 screens this was absolutely invaluable in planning my weekend, as simply knowing the start times isnt good enough. If I could remember the name of the girl that gave it to me they’d get a huge thank you. If anybody is going next year I heartily recommend you make one yourself.