To celebrate the DVD release of Fear Itself, Famous Monsters is giving away The FOUR-DISC Collector’s Edition of Season 1, courtesy of Lionsgate, to FIVE lucky winners!
Fear Itself: Season 1 (2008)This horror/suspense anthology series sparkles with talent — including renowned directors John Landis, Darren Lynn Bousman and Ronny Yu, as well as gifted actors Eric Roberts, Brandon Routh, Shiri Appleby and Cynthia Watros. Plotlines include a devoted family man who finds himself in the body of a serial killer, a bride who receives a chilling note about her husband-to-be on their wedding day, and a cattle herder possessed by a monster.
To enter to win: Find the image of Fear Itself: Season 1 (pictured to the left of this text) hidden in one of our articles and email your answer to contest@famousmonsters.com.
This contest is open to all residents of the United States, and will close on December 12, 2009 at 11:59 pm PDT.
You can enter this contest once each day until the contest closes.
The winners will be chosen at random and notified via e-mail. Multiple entries in one calendar day by any entrant will result in disqualification. Famous Monsters of Filmland will not be responsible for lost or missing mail. Good luck!!
Fear Itself, the suspense/horror anthology series from the creators of Masters of Horrors that aired on NBC earlier this June, is now available to watch for free on FEARnet via their VOD service.
Each installment was directed by the biggest horror directors working in feature films today, including John Landis, Darren Lynn Bousman, and Ronny Yu. The episodes went on hiatus during the 2008 Summer Olympics with plans to return after, but no further episodes were aired. Now the plan is to air them online with episodes continuing to be added each week.
Currently, there are already three episodes online with behind the scenes clips as well.
The first is Eater, directed by Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator). This installment stars Samantha Moss (Mad Men) as a rookie cop who must spend her first night in the precinct watching over a serial killer, coined “The Eater”. When her fellow cops start acting bizarre, she quickly learns that no one is who they seem. See below for videos (new for FEARnet) that go behind the scenes with Gordon and discuss the creation of “The Eater” character.
The second is Spooked, directed by Brad Anderson (The Machinist). Eric Roberts plays an ex-cop who’s thrown off the force for brutality. Now he’s a private eye on a stakeout of a haunted house, where some restless spirits are set on revenge.
The third full episode available is Skin and Bones from director Larry Fessenden (The Last Winter, Wendigo). After being lost in the woods for days, a rancher returns home to his family. But somehow, he isn’t the same. And now, his family is in trouble.
NBC ordered thirteen episodes of the horror anthology series Fear Itself, but has aired only eight of the episodes. With the Olympics at an end and the new fall season beginning in two weeks, there seems little opportunity for the final five to air.
Ben Silverman, Co-Chairmen, NBC Entertainment told iF Magazine in late July, “No we’re not taking it off.” Still, the schedule is empty and the network’s website for the show has nothing to share about these final five. They last released any news about the series at the end of July. (more…)
Here are details on Fear Itself’s schedule for the last three weeks of July:
7/17/08 – “New Year’s Day”
Directed by Darren Bousman (Saw II, III & IV)
Written by Steve Niles (30 Days of Night)
A young woman (Briana Evigan, Step Up 2: The Streets) wakes up in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by horrifying zombies and struggles to survive the day. Niall Matter (Eureka), Cory Monteith (Kyle XY) and Zulay Henao (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) also star.
7/24/08 – “Skin and Bones”
Directed by Larry Fessenden (The Last Winter, Wendigo)
Written by Drew McWeeny & Scott Swan (Masters of Horror)
When a cattle herder (Doug Jones, Hellboy & Hellboy II: The Golden Army) returns home to his family after being lost in the woods for days, he just doesn’t seem the same. Soon, a terrible mortal struggle ensues against the terrifying monster possessing him
7/31/08 – “Something With Bite”
Directed by Ernest Dickerson (Heroes)
Written by Max Landis (Masters of Horror)
After a veterinarian (Wendell Pierce, The Wire) gets bitten by a large, strange animal brought into his clinic, he begins to see the world and his stale life differently. Paula Jai Parker (Side Order of Life, The Proud Family) also stars.
Venezuelan director (Curandero) is reportedly the final director for NBC’s horror anthology series Fear Itself. According to Fangoria, he will direct “The Circle” based on Lewis Shiner’s short story. Johnathon Schaech and Richard Chizmar (Masters of Horror) have turned the prose into a teleplay.
Director John Carpenter told Shocktilyoudrop that he withdrew from directing an episode of NBC’s Fear Itself out of loyalty to longtime friend Mick Garris.
“I read the script and liked it a lot, and the two writers [Drew McWeeny and Scott Swan] are good friends of mine, but [the Fear Itself producers] fired Mick Garris! And he was the only reason I wanted to do the TV show…so f**k ‘em!”
The reality is that Garris stepped down as the showrunner because of the Writer’s Strike, which reported on earlier this year.
We’re two episodes into NBC’s horror anthology series, Fear Itself, so now might be a good time to assess and see how well it’s working.
The biggest problem with producing a suspenseful network television series is the very nature of broadcast television (and applies to basic cable as well). You have to have breaks for commercials and therefore you’re structuring your story for the act breaks, knowing any sense of suspense is interrupted with bright, colorful and loud advertisements for product that can totally spoil the mood. (more…)
Bloody Disgusting is reporting that Chris Carnel, a stuntman, will portray the killer in My Bloody Valentine 3-D. Carnel has been seen doing stunts in Iron Man and The Devil’s Rejects.
Fear Itself debuted on Thursday night to small ratings, with a mere 5.2 million viewers tuning in . That it opened against another first run series, CBS’ Swingtown (which had 8.5 million viewers) , didn’t help. Nor did the lack of serious promotion from NBC despite the stellar line-up before and behind the camera. NBC, though, is reportedly pleased with the performance.
Transsiberian will be getting released for a limited run starting July 15. The movie, directed by Brad Anderson (Masters of Horror) and starring Sir Ben Kingsley, Woody Harrelson, and Emily Mortimer (Chaos Theory), is about what happens to a couple when they take an ill-fated ride on the legendary train.
The John Landis-directed installment of NBC’s Fear Itself has been scheduled to air June 26. “In Sickness and In Health” was written by Victor Salva, starring Maggie Lawson (Psych), James Roday (Psych), Christie Laing (The 4400), Sonja Bennet (Eureka), and Marshall Bell (Sex and Death 101). The synopsis says this is about a bride, learning on her wedding day, that her husband may be a serial killer.
NBC has launched its website (http://www.nbc.com/Fear_Itself/) for Fear Itself and released the following information about the first three episodes:
June 5: “The Sacrifice”, directed by Breck Eisner, scripted by Mick Garris from a story by Del Howison: Four criminals hole up in an old, snowy fort and encounter a beautiful and deadly trio of sirens. Stars Jeffrey Pierce, Jesse Plemons, Stephen Martines, Rachel Miner and Mircea Monroe.
June 12: “Spooked”, directed by Brad Anderson, scripted by Matt Venne. A private detective stakes out a haunted house and winds up facing personal demons from his past. Stars Eric Roberts, Jack Noseworthy, Cynthia Watros and Larry Gilliard Jr.
June 19: “Family Man”, directed by Ronny Yu, scripted by Daniel Knauf: A near-death experience leads a husband and father to switch bodies with a serial killer, and while imprisoned, he struggles to save his wife, son and daughter from becoming the murderer’s next victims. Stars Colin Ferguson, Clifton Collins Jr., Josie Davis, Gig Morton and Nicole Leduc.
NBC has released the air date order for their horror anthology, Fear Itself, launching June 5. Here are the directors and the episode titles:
Stuart Gordon, “Eater”
Brad Anderson, “Spooked”
Mary Haron, “Community”
Breck Eisner, “The Sacrifice”
John Landis, “In Sickness and in Health”
Ronny Yu, “Family Man”
Ernest Dickerson, “Something with Bite”
Darren Bousman, “New Year’s Day”
Larry Fessenden, “Skin & Bones”
John Dahl, “Chance”
Rupert Wainwright, “The Spirit Box”
No director, “Echoes”
As we near the June 5 debut of NBC’s thirteen installment series, Fear Itself, more information has been released. Two more directors have been announced: Rupert Wainwright (Stigmata) and John Dahl (Joy Ride). They join fellow helmers Larry Fessenden, John Landis, Stuart Gordon, Darren Bousman, Mary Harron, Ronny Yu and Breck Eisner.
Dahl’s doppelganger story, “Chance” will be from writer Lem Dobbs (Dark City). Wainwright’s chapter is “The Spirit Box” written by Joe Gangemi. The story is of two high school girls trying to contact a former classmate now in the spirit world.
Jonathan Schaech and Richard Chizmar, who already wrote the premiere installment, Stuart Gordon’s “Eater”, are also writing “The Circle”, based on Lewis Shiner’s short story.
The series is a bit of a gamble for NBC which hasn’t really had anything quite like this since Night Gallery and they’re concerned that the range of horror will be different enough each week that people may not stick around for all thirteen stories. Well, that is, other than us.
