For the last fourteen years, the horror genre has been watered-down into PG-13 cliched flicks and badly-written remakes. The over the top gory movies are a thing of the past, well at least in the theaters as a few decent horror films have found their way straight-to-DVD/Blu-ray over the years including the Wrong Turn franchise.

Remember Wrong Turn?

Wrong Turn was a backwoods horror film that was released to theaters in 2003. It was directed by Rob Schmidt and starred Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Eliza Dushku. The plot centered on a group of travelers stranded in the back roads of West Virginia, where they are being hunted by three inbred disfigured cannibal brothers. Despite receiving mixed reviews the film did alright at the box-office, taking in over $28 million on a $12 million budget.

The film was almost forgotten about by horror fans until the sequel Wrong Turn 2: Dead End went straight-to-DVD & Blu-ray in 2007. The sequel centered on a survival reality game show being filmed in a remote area of West Virginia where Three-Fingers and his inbred cannibal family live. Of course one by one the cast and crew are killed off in a gory fashion. Filmed on the small budget of $4, the sequel raked in $9 million dollars in rental and video sales. It also received positive reviews from both critics and horror fans.

Wrong Turn 2

Two years later, Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead was released to DVD and Blu-ray. This time Declan O'Brien came aboard to direct (along with the next two sequels as well), which was considered a bad move by horror fans as the film was horribly written and filmed. The plot involved a group of prisoners escaping a prison bus and takes a few hostages while escaping in the West Virginia woods, but Three-Fingers happens to be in the area, so you know what happens next.

Agents of the Apocalypse
by Dr. David Jeremiah
Publisher: Tyndale
Pub. Date: October 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-1414380490
Pages: 304
Buy Links: Amazon

Review:

For the last twenty-years, there has been a slew of  "apocalypse" or "end of times" fiction & non-fiction books being published. I have read a few of these books, including the Left Behind series. You don't have to be a believer to become interested in the book of Revelation, as I know a few non-believers that have read a few books on the "end of times."

Released last week to bookstores is Agents of the Apocalypse by Dr. David Jeremiah. It isn't his first book based on Revelation, but it is his first "end times" book that uses fictionalized stories "to drive the message of Revelation into the human heart." The author received assistance from Thomas Williams with the ten fictional stories - The Exile, The Martyrs, The 144,000, The Two Witnesses, The Dragon, The Beast from the Sea, The Beast from the Earth, The Victor, The King and The Judge. Each chapter is divided into two sections - the fictional story followed by "The Scripture Behind The Story."

With the use of fictional stories, the author is able to explain the main events that occurred in the Bible to believers and non-believers alike. This is also a great way to explain the meaning behind scriptures and tell the stories that contains the biblical prophecy.

Christmas is celebrated in a multitude of rich and cherished traditions. This illustrated timeline, brought to you by Balsam Hill Christmas Tree Company, captures the flow of some of the most popular Christmas traditions and figures throughout Christmas History. Click on the image to see the full-scale timeline.

With only 46 days until Black Friday, you have very little time to start your holiday gift list for your family and friends. You probably be a little busy with Halloween and Thanksgiving to pay attention to all the cool new gadgets being released, which is one of the reasons why I wanted to mention about the new action cameras called GoPro HERO4 that can be purchased at your nearest Best Buy store or online at www.bestbuy.com.

There are three different GoPro HERO4 cameras being released: HERO4, HERO4 Black and HERO4 Silver, all of which captures the same great footage that made GoPro one of the best-selling cameras in the world.


GroPro HERO4 facts:

• high‐quality 1080p30 and 720p60 video
• 5MP photos up to 5 fps
• 12x more powerful processor with 2x faster video frame rates

Under Wraps
Director: Gordon Crum
Voice-Cast: Brooke Shields, Dake Bell, Matthew Lillard
Studio: ARC Entertainment
Release Date: October 14, 2014
Retail: $20.99
ASIN: B00M1CFSHK
Running Time: 48 minutes
Rating: PG
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Every October marks the time the studios repackaged old releases for Halloween, so it was a bit of surprise to have a new animated film with a horror theme being released direct-to-DVD. ARC Entertainment will releasing Under Wraps on Tuesday October 14, 2014. There are no extras or special features on the disc.

No, this isn't the 1997 Disney Channel movie of the same name. Under Wraps is a 48-minute computer-animated movie from director Gordon Crum and featuring the voices of Brook Shields, Drake Bell, Kazumi Evans and Matthew Lillard. The film centers on Danny and his older sister Eleanor, whom are tagging along with their archeologist parents on an expedition. While Eleanor is completely bored, Danny is having a blast on their trip. While nobody is looking he sneaks inside a pharaoh's tomb and steals an amulet. After they return home, he accidentally breaks the amulet and releases and evil curse!

Danny and Eleanor don't exactly see eye to eye on anything, but they must put aside their differences and work together when the curse turns their parents into mummies!

Werewolf Risng
Director: BC Furtney
Starring: Bill Oberst Jr., Melissa Carnell, Matt Copko, Brian Berry, Danielle Lozeau
Studio: Image Entertainment
Release Date: October 14, 2014
Retail: $27.97
ASIN: B00LH98QZO
Running Time: 80 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Halloween is only a few weeks away, which means there will be countless horror films being aired on basic cable channels for the rest of the month, including a few werewolf movies. No, I'm not referring to the overrated Twilight Saga. I'm referring to An American Werewolf in London, The Howling franchise and the Underworld movies. This month also marks the release of several straight-to-DVD titles, including Image Entertainment's Werewolf Rising, which will arrive on DVD this Tuesday October 14, 2014.

Werewolf Rising centers on a newly recovering alcoholic, Emma (played by Melissa Carnell), who leaves the big city life behind her to take a much need R&R at her family's cabin in the Arkansas hills, but getting a goodnight sleep will be a lot harder than she thought with all the howling coming from the woods at night.

Ava & Lala
Director: Wang Yunfei
Voice Cast: Tom Arnold, JK Simmons, Mira Sorvino, George Takei
Studio: ARC Entertainment
Release Date: September 7, 2014
Running Time: 80 minutes
Rating: PG

Review:

Available to own on DVD & VUDU Digital Copy from ARC Entertainment is the computer-animated fantasy adventure Ava & Lala. The film is directed by Wang Yunfei and features the voice-talents of Tom Arnold, JK Simmons, Mira Sorvino and George Takei. There are no special features or extras on the DVD.

The film centers on a mischievous young martial arts student named Ava, whom befriends a tiger-like creature named Lala. Somehow, the two new friends can talk to each other.