Disc Two: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SLASHER FILM (Documentary)

It's Friday, November 1st. Which means that the kid-friendly version of Halloween has come and gone. However, sexually-charged adults get to break out their flimsy Halloween outfits, risk pnuemonia, and drunkenly celebrate bad decisions over the weekend.

That's right, if you're over the age of 21 then Halloween ain't quite over yet. So let's keep the screams going, eh?

In honor of what is arguably the second leg of Halloween, I give you Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher FIlm. Featuring key players such as Rob Zombie, Debra Hill, Stan Winston, and Tom Savini, this full-length documentary goes out of it's way to re-trace the roots of the slasher film. If you think it goes back to the 1980s, you'd be wrong.

Clickity-Click...

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AMERICAN HORROR STORY: COVEN "Fearful Pranks Ensue" Review

Oftentimes when dealing with a show that's consistently a mixed-bag, the stars will align there'll be one stand out episode that will perfectly balance all the elements within it and serve as a shining example of what ought to be the show's regular standard. While I have enjoyed American Horror Story: Coven thus far, entirely because it's numerous fantastic elements overshadow its mediocre ones, I would be lying if said I believed the show had really embraced its potential. That is, until I saw Fearful Pranks Ensue.

For the first time all season, the Coven writers have crafted an episode that works on every level. Every character and every subplot are engaging and work marvelously. The draggy "zombie-Kyle" subplot that was a bore to sit through features very little here, and what is presented works much better than it had previously. Without the mediocrity to muddy the waters and weigh the show down, the truly phenomenal parts of Coven shine twice as bright; Jessica Lange gives her best performance of the season thus far in this episode, as biting and quick-witted as ever but with an added layer of emotional resonance that had been lacking prior. The world of witchcraft is beginning to fill itself out as well, for the first time we really get the sense that other, magically-related things are happening outside of the scope of this particular Coven. The horror elements also work as well (which shouldn't be quite the achievement it actually is given this shows purported subject matter), it's creepy, it's gory and it's moderately intense; everything I wanted this show to be.

The universe Ryan Murphy and Brad Fulchuk built for themselves in Coven is one that will only be properly utilized as long as it doesn't take itself too, too seriously. The first three episodes were weighed down by incessant preaching and heavy-handed "messages", as well as subplots which were too dramatically serious for a show this silly to handle in a satisfying manner. Pranks does away with most of these problems by focusing on the strengths this particular story lends itself to; bitchy, violent, sassy, creepy drama. The themes of marginalization and oppression are relegated to the position they should have been in from the start; subtext. The oppressive straight-faced performing is done away with entirely. In its place we're given Jessica Lange and Frances Conroy going at each other in a battle of wits and deception, we get voodoo zombies tearing people apart, we get a mute Denis O'Hare having a tea party with a corpse in a room full of creepy dolls, we get THIS LINE: "If she's dead she probably got wasted and tried to offer the Grim Reaper a handjob or something.", AND we get voodoo zombies that tear a bunch of racist murderers limb-from-limb! The entire thing is completely insane and every second of it is monstrously entertaining. Coven is slowly but surely learning how to have fun, and is finding the best, most satisfying version of itself in the process.

If this episode is a one-time anomaly, then I'm glad it happened. If it's a sign of the quality of the show to come, then color me excited. Very, very excited.

Grade: A

Other Thoughts

Every other line in this episode was a venomous and sassy insult and it was just the best thing. Also, it has Leslie Jordan as a wonderfully flamboyant member of The Council, I mean, how can you beat that?

The cold open flashback to the sixties was killer in every way possible. And voodoo zombies are even better than regular zombies!

On a less jovial note: kinda unclear on exactly what happened with Queenie there... Did Bastien rape her? Or did he just attack her? Was her proposition to him last episode just a diversion tactic or an act of lonely desperation? Even bigger question: do I actually expect the show to address any of the preceding questions? (The answer being "No, you idiot")

I will never get over that "Grim Reaper Handjob" line.

And I'm actually slightly depressed that Bastien is dead (? Kinda? Just decapitiated?). The literalized Minotaur was just too creepy and zany to feature significantly in only one episode. I'm hoping they find a way to bring him back.

Andrew Allen is a television (and occasionally film) writer for Action A Go Go. He is an aspiring screenwriter and director who is currently studying at the University of Miami. You can check him out on Tumblr @andrewballen and follow him on Twitter @A_B_Allen.

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AAGG Halloween Spectacular - Insidious, Insidious: Chapter 2

Insidious (2011), Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013)

Director: James Wan

Starring: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne and Lin Shaye

Horror films are something of a tricky business. As films which bank largely on unique reactions of their audience, it's sometimes hard to discern the difference between a bad horror film, and one that simply didn't affect you. For instance, last year's Sinister is a film that didn't frighten me all too much, but it shook other people I know to the core, meaning that is must have been, on some level, effective. Sinister was also fairly well plotted and very well acted (for a horror film at least), so while I walked away from it unshaken, I still enjoyed what I had seen. Which is all to say that my personal pick for this week of horror is a film that may not scare every viewer, but should really mess up a considerable minority.

That film being James Wan's Insidious. Or, more accurately, both of James Wan's Insidious films, which I consider to be one lengthy film split in two.. Insidious was the first film to every really, truly terrify me. And it remains, to this day, the film that has scared me the most out of all the movies that I've seen.

One longstanding principle of horror is the idea that it's more effective to live the most terrifying things to the imagination. Paranormal Activity uses this principle phenomenally. Not once in that entire series have you ever seen the seemingly omnipresent demon. But it's presence is felt. And the few hints we get as to what it's appearance is, animalistic feet, the facial appearance of an old man, are thoroughly unsettling. This founding concept behind this principle is the idea that whatever the human mind can imagine will be more terrifying than whatever creepy creation an art department can design for the screen.

I would argue that Insidious is an exception to that principle.

James Wan is the most gifted horror director I know of. In a genre that is filled to the brim with crummy, tactless jump scares and overly crass depictions of graphic violence, Wan has really given time and thought into how to most effectively maximize that art of the scare, what to show the audience and what not to. Wan eschews the traditional concepts of "scary imagery", such as graphically disfigured ghosts, bloody children, ect. in favor of more subtlety disturbing character designs. Instead of blood and gore, his creepy characters have a deeper nuance to their appearance, suggesting a more pervasive level of evil than graphic, bloody scarring ever could. Wan has figured out that the most disturbing images are the ones where you can't put your finger on why it's disturbing. It simply is. It's easy to point at a woman with her eyes sewn shut and her jaw hanging off and say precisely what's wrong with her, but it's much harder to figure out exactly what's so off about a shadowy old woman in a black wedding dress, holding a candle, who never moves and is always staring from deeply sunken eye sockets. Could it be the juxtaposition of extreme age vs. the youth associated with marriage? Could it be that you can't tell exactly where she's looking but you know she's looking at you? Could it be that the woman in question is actually played by an old man in drag? Is it all of the above? The inability to immediately pinpoint why it's unsettling only deepens the fear, creating an impression that will last much, much longer than anything you'd see in a typical horror film.

On top of that, Wan has also mastered the timing of how to present these images, he knows precisely how long to display so that the audience can see, but not so long that they can really process what they've seen. The result is an effective impression of the image rather than the image itself. A trick of the mind, if you will, one that imprints a visual concept and allows the brain to believe it's seen something possibly more terrifying than it actually had. It's a balancing act, one harder to manage than I think most people appreciate, but Wan nails it down like a pro.

Now, all of the praises I've given Mr. Wan thus far could also be applied to his recent, and more popular horror film, The Conjuring. So why elevate Insidious over that film when the other clearly made bigger waves? Well, I consider the Insidious films superior because they aren't just "horror" films, they evolve into something more. While The Conjuring was a deeply effective, traditional homage to classic haunted house movies, the Insidious dualogy is where he and screenwriter Leigh Whannell get to flex their creative muscles. Within these films they have created a unique universe that not only lends itself to horror, but also to science fiction and wide variety of thriller sub-genres. Over the course of the narrative of both films, the story organically evolved without the bothersome restraints of genre to keep it tethered to one train of thought. What starts off as a haunted house flick evolves into a supernatural sci-fi, and in the second film it evolves further into a domestic thriller. It's an experience that keeps the viewer on their toes, subverting the expectations of genre by simply not applying to any one genre. Right when you begin to track with where you think things are going, the entire game changes, and the story dives wholeheartedly into an entirely new arena.

Insidious and Insidious: Chapter 2 are an absolutely one-of-a-kind two film experience. The first film is a beautifully ambiguous and quirky horror film, while the second not only takes things to the next level, but also fills out and enhances the first film, serving as companion piece rather than an add-on (which is something I feel more sequels should aspire to be). Chapter 2 is cinematic proof that preplanning an entire multi-film saga is not the only way to produce a consistent and cohesive story. Sometimes mining deeper into what's already been established will result in a fulfilling sequel. These films are scary, funny, weird and fascinating, and there is no other horror film series I would advocate more.

ARNOLD METER: 5/5

Andrew Allen is a television (and occasionally film) writer for Action A Go Go. He is an aspiring screenwriter and director who is currently studying at the University of Miami. You can check him out on Tumblr @andrewballen and follow him on Twitter @A_B_Allen.

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THE WALKING DEAD 4x03 "Isolation" Review

Things go from bad to worse for the prison crew on The Walking Dead. But while things totally suck for them, the show's renewed quality stays strong, both in the realms of delivering much-needed character development and strong thematic consistency. Out of the three episodes we've seen thus far this season, Isolation is easily the slowest of the three. It's light on zombie-related violence (not a single human character even dies in this episode), but easily makes up for it by proving its competence (at times, even excellence) in the area that has been Walking Dead's weakest for the past two seasons: characters. Although the new group of Woodbury citizens has largely been zombie-fodder, Isolation gives us the time to get to know some of the newbies a little better. Larry Gilliard's Bob Stookey is settling into his role as the competent and well-intentioned non-badass (it's been quite awhile since we last met a person who isn't a stone-cold zombie killing machine), and we're given some time to get to know Tyreese and Sasha a little better too. Up until this point, Tyreese has simply been a sweet, level-headed guy whose primary function on the show was to be "good". Isolation changes our understanding of his character a great deal by cracking open his calm exterior and giving us a frightening look at some seriously deep-seated rage issues he's got lurking inside of him.

Rick is off on his own yet again (it seems his plot lines over the past few seasons have very little to do with human interaction), having now taken on the role of "Detective Rick" in order to solve the murders of Karen and David. The revelation in the episodes final few moments, that Carol is the killer, is a gut punch that makes a frightening amount of sense. Thus far, season four's main running theme has been the exploration of the long-term effects this zombie apocalypse has had on these survivors. And Carol's transformation from timid, abused housewife into a ruthlessly pragmatic survivor is by far the most powerful example of this. In last week's review I stated that the show was no longer about trying to "survive", it's about trying to live. But I think a better description would be that it's about the conflict between those who are trying to survive at all costs and those who are trying live with their humanity intact. Carol has fully embraced the former. She has rejected her sense of compassion in favor of an ends-justify-the-means policy. Keeping the majority of the people breathing is her goal, first and foremost, no matter the toll it takes on her soul. 

On the flip side, we have Hershel, who selflessly exposed himself to the virus for the sake of showing compassion to the sick and dying. The "good deeds get repaid in punishment" motif that has been recurring takes an interesting and powerful turn through Hershel's actions. Unlike Rick, Hershel embraces the punishment his kindness has brought upon him. To Hershel, showing compassion to other people is worth the price he pays for it. And his example is a source of unexpected hope in the overbearing grimness of his circumstance. In a world where the literal personification of death is your enemy, perhaps making one's primary goal the avoidance of death is not the way to really live. Hershel is at peace with himself, not by frantically grasping at life that's on the verge of disappearing at any given moment, but by coming to terms with his reality, and defying it's attempts to take his humanity away from him.

This change in outlook has infused The Walking Dead with the sense of hope I had been waiting for these past two episodes. Perhaps the ultimate salvation for these characters won't come in the form of a cure or a safe haven after all. Perhaps the greatest source of light in this dark and violent world is clinging to one's humanity, as opposed to one's life. What's the point of finding safety and security if you've sacrificed your compassion and kindness in the process? Scott Gimple's apparent fascination with this very conflict is the kind of thematic struggle that this show has needed all along. The Walking Dead has never really been about zombies. It's been about people trying to find peace with themselves in the midst of hell-on-earth. Now, finally, we can see that struggle play itself out loud and clear onscreen. And that's the way it should be.

Grade: A-

Other Thoughts

I'm honestly having a seriously hard time telling whether Lizzie is a sociopath or if the girl playing her is just an awful actress.

Bob's lack of walker-killing proficiency has me questioning his supposed story of surviving by himself prior to getting to the prison. If I had to guess, I'd say The Governor is somehow pulling the strings here.

That being said, I really like Bob. He's kind, and friendly. I like kind and friendly. It's refreshing to see when every other character is either a wreck or is constantly flaunting how much of a badass they are.

Speaking of which, Tyreese goes ham on a group of walkers in this episode. Unfortunately, there was an even bigger mass of the flesh eaters right nearby. I'm actually really hoping that the group eventually ends up running into this mega horde. The visual of that many walkers all at one time was a jaw-dropper.

In other news, Marilyn Manson made a profound fool of himself on Talking Dead by being an incoherent, mysognistic jag-off. His apparent love of hearing himself talk didn't help things much either. The moral of the story? Don't do drugs kids... Also, if you're going through an intense emo/goth phase, for the love of God grow out of it.

Andrew Allen is a television (and occasionally film) writer for Action A Go Go. He is an aspiring screenwriter and director who is currently studying at the University of Miami. You can check him out on Tumblr @andrewballen and follow him on Twitter @A_B_Allen.

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AMERICAN HORROR STORY: COVEN "The Replacements" Review

How exactly does one review an episode of television like this? It's something of a challenge to grade something which seemingly has no intention of adhering to the generally accepted criteria of storytelling by which one can assess its quality. The Replacements is not something I can strictly refer to as a "narrative". Although it has running themes and connecting sequences that bookend the episode, it plays more like an assembly of increasingly strange (and increasingly disturbing) set pieces that have little or no relation to each other, while they still all somehow connect to the overarching plot of the show. Never before in my life have I been subjected to an episode of TV that contained incestuous rape, animal-sacrificing fertility rituals, surprise masturbation, three murders and semi-bestiality all within its 42 minute runtime. But my goodness does AHS take the plunge and somehow manages to shove all of that and more into The Replacements, and it's as off putting (presumably intentionally) as it sounds.

The overarching theme of this episode happens to be sex (go figure), and how sex relates to a group of people who all have identity issues in most cases related to aging. Fiona's struggles with youthfulness (more specifically, the lack thereof), are expressed through her inability to attract men at this point in her life. Madison uses her young female form to try and attract the sights of the Coven's new, hot neighbor boy (who I'll get to momentarily). Cordelia's inability to reproduce leads her to attempt to enlist the aid of Marie Laveau and her ability to grant fertility. And finally, Queenie apparently has sexual fulfillment issues, leading her to attempt to initiate sex with a Minotaur she finds wandering around the backyard (in a scene I have not yet fully processed and am not sure I really want to). One way or another, every story this episode ties back to sex. And where sex and American Horror Story meet, things get weird. Like, really, really weird. 

In an unusual move for this show, however, none of the sex in this episode is particularly graphic or provocative. On the contrary, it's actually quite disturbing, which presents us with an unusual message for a Ryan Murphy show: in Coven, sex is the enemy. It is a desirable fruit that many desire (see Queenie, Madison and Fiona), but turns out to be a poisonous weapon used for harm (Zoe's murderous vagina, Madison getting raped, Kyle suffering molestation at the hands of his own mother). Aside from the scene last week between Cordelia and her husband, sex has been an uncomfortable, repulsive thing all season long. And it's a theme that shows no sign of dissipating, which makes me wonder how crucial it will be to Coven's endgame.  

Now, back to the neighbor boy I referenced before. As it turns out he's the son of Patti LuPone's character (I've been waiting for her to show up!) and, rather disappointingly, she's relegated to the Ryan Murphy staple role of "Bible-thumping nutter". And maybe it's my personal faith, or maybe it's just my distaste for stereotypes, but this particular character feels very tired and very thin. At this Murphy has basically run out of angry things to yell at the Christian conservative contingent (of whom I swear he has never actually met a single one). I mean really, when Fiona hisses "you're the biggest perverts of them all." What's that supposed to mean? Does she mean that they do some kinky stuff behind closed doors? Does she mean they're literally rapey perverts? Does she mean they use religion to repress their own sexual desire? Really, what is that even supposed to mean? It's the broadest, thinnest kind of attack one could make. And I found myself utterly confused rather than offended (not that I get offended at this point, I've developed a thick enough skin from watching TV and know what to expect when a "Christian" character walks onscreen). And I'm concerned that Murphy thinks a character simply walking around with "The Good Book", going to Bible study and saying "Jesus" on occasion (btw, who does that?) actually qualifies them as some sort of villain. The show certainly treats her as such, but comes up with no sufficient reason other than "because we don't like people who think like that" (a rhetoric which, apparently unbeknownst to Murphy, sharply goes against the themes of acceptance and diversity he so decidedly threads through all of his shows). The character is tired, she's a bore, she's thinly written, and I'm not really looking forward to seeing more of her around this show, which is a bummer as I was pretty excited to see some Patti LuPone on my TV. 

That unfortunate plot thread aside, in regards to it's apparent mission statement: "hammer home the overarching themes and be super weird about it", The Replacements is a smashing success. Say what you want about the characters having thin motivations (actually, that's mostly been me saying that), but it cannot be said that this episode of American Horror Story was ever boring. Which is all anybody ever wants out of this show, isn't it? To never, ever be the slightest bit boring? Welp, good Mr. Murphy, Mr. Fulchuk and the rest of the writing staff. Mission accomplished.   

Grade: B (I think? I dunno. Let's just say it was a "B" and call it a night)

Other thoughts

Again, WTF was that scene with Queenie and the Minotaur? How am I supposed to process watching Gabourey Sidibe touch herself in front of a dude with a cow's head?

Speaking of which, that is a kickin band name: "Queenie and the Minotaur"

Also, apparently getting voodoo resurrected with a bulls head on you gives you hooves and Minotaur hands? I'm so confused. Why didn't Laveau just take the stupid bull's head off and then resurrect him?

Sorry, I'm really stuck on this Minotaur business. It's just so weird.

A lot of people seemed surprised at how early Madison got killed off. Which makes sense considering Emma Roberts is playing her. But from a writing perspective? Killing off the bitchy movie-star early on makes the most sense.

Killer Quote: "This coven doesn't need a new Supreme, it needs a new rug."

Andrew Allen is a television (and occasionally film) writer for Action A Go Go. He is an aspiring screenwriter and director who is currently studying at the University of Miami. You can check him out on Tumblr @andrewballen and follow him on Twitter @A_B_Allen.

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Trailer Park: The New CARRIE Goes Viral

Brian De Palma's 1976 film adaptation of Carrie is an excellent horror film. It exposes the ugliness of teenage angst and naiveté, then spirals uncontrollably into an unsettling revenge fantasy where nobody comes out on top. Needless to say that any attempt to cash in on the original (The Rage: Carrie 2, anyone) is going to be met with instant skepticism by me. 

Despite the involvement of director Kimberly Pierce (Boys Don't Cry), and the fantastic casting choices of Julianne Moore and Chloe-Grace Moretz, the initial trailer just kinda piqued my interest in the upcoming remake. However, the viral marketing campaign has really gone out of it's way to give the film buzz. 

A few months ago, I mentioned on Twitter that there was a phone number floating around online that allowed you to "call" Carrie White and eavesdrop on the dramatic bible-thumping that goes on within her home. It seems that the marketing minds over at MGM and Screen Gems weren't done. In the following clip, unsuspecting yuppies are treated to a Kingsian freak out inside a local New York coffee shop.  Maybe I'm just a sucker for Candid Camera-styled practical jokes (Bad Grandpa, anyone?), but I might give this a chance based off of the movie's commitment to scaring the bejeezus out of its potential audience.

Carrie drops this Friday.

Troy-Jeffrey Allen writes about action/adventure for Action A Go Go. He is a comic book writer whose works include Bamn, The Magic Bullet, and the Harvey Award nominated District Comics. His work has been featured in the City Paper, The Baltimore Sun, Bethesda Magazine, The Examiner, and The Washington Post. 

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A Little "Walking Dead" History and Review

With the cultural phenomenon and ratings behemoth The Walking Dead making its return tomorrow evening, we at Action A Go Go figured we all might need a little history lesson before the season premiere. So if you're a WD newbie, this here is your chance to get a little background on the show before tomorrow night! 

I like to think of the history of The Walking dead as three different "eras", starting with:

The Darabont Era (2010)

The Walking Dead kicked off its run back in 2010 to much fanfare and massive critical acclaim. Hollywood veteran Frank Darabont served as show runner on the the first season, which was dark, grim and serious. In ways very reminiscent of Darabont's previous works, Walking Dead was more about the deterioration of the human psyche as a result of the hellish zombie Apocalypse than the flesh-eating monsters themselves. Ironically, however, the zombies featured more heavily in this first season than in the seasons that followed. Unfortunately, for all the excellence that Darabont brought to the table, he was booted from the show before production on the second season over budget concerns (his vision for the show was simply far too expensive for the executives at AMC to consider). Under Darabont's supervision, The Walking Dead had the potential to rival some of television's best shows as far as writing quality goes and the show has had a hard time recovering after his firing. It has had stellar moments, for sure, but it's very, very rarely managed to equal the first season's excellence.

Season One Grade: A-

The Mezzara Era (2011 - 2013)

For season two, Glen Mazzara, a writer on the first season, stepped up into the role as show runner. And while the first episode or two worked solidly, the rest of the season (the first half in particular) suffered from a distinct lack of direction and a struggle to balance Darabont's grim tone and Mazarra's more pulpy sensibilities. The zombie threat was also largely neutered in this season, as the walkers very rarely made an appearance, and when they did, never managed to achieve much of anything. While the final few episodes improved significantly, with the finale abandoning the farm setting and essentially rebooting the show's tone and direction, the second season is universally considered the weakest of the series. 

Season Two Grade: B-

Season three showed massive improvement by fixing the previous season's biggest problem: it was cripplingly boring. Right off the bat, season three jumps right into a high-velocity, high tension narrative where anybody could go at anytime. Within the first quarter of the season, two of the show's long-term leads were offed in one of the series' best episodes that was both shocking and entertaining in a new way. It still lacked the pointed gravitas of the first season, but it was rip-roaring entertainment and kept the viewers on edge from week to week. Unfortunately, after a stellar first half, the season sort of fell apart during its final eight episodes. Most of the plot lines that had been built up so excellently in the first half were either dropped or reached disappointing conclusions. Although mostly an anticlimax, the second half of season three still managed to deliver a stand alone episode that I consider to be the series best episode: "Clear" (an episode that I'll expound on in a little bit).

Season Three Grade: B+

The problem with Glen Mazzara's show-running, is that he lacked the foresight to create a really cohesive and satisfying season of television. He managed some really shocking moments of excellence here and there, but they never amounted to much of anything. I can't think of a single running plot line during seasons two or three that really lived up to their potential, despite often excellent beginnings. The result was television that was highly entertaining, but very messy, and very imbalanced. Due to the floundering latter half of the third season, as well as conflicts with executive producer (and writer of the original comic books) Robert Kirkman, Mazzara received the boot after season three and has been replaced for the upcoming season by series writer Scott M. Gimple.

The Gimple Era (present)

Although this is all speculation, I have high hopes for Scott Gimple's takeover as the series' showrunner. He has written some of the show's best hours; "Clear" and "Pretty Much Dead Already". These episodes in particular are the ones most consistently reminiscent of the series' first season. They are powerful, focused and interesting episodes that manage to recapture that same sense of sprawling, despairing grimness that made the first season so powerful. So I'm hoping that Mr. Gimple can really bring those elements back into play. Due to the loss of it's original visionary, The Walking Dead can never be the complete and fulfilling narrative (a la "Breaking Bad" or "Game of Thrones") that season one so perfectly set the stage for, but at the very least it can make a return to some of those themes and deliver some high-quality television. Who knows? Maybe Scott Gimple can take the excellent cast and crew he's been given and make something new out of it and surprise us all. The Walking Dead has all the pieces to be an entertaining show, why not a legitimately great one (even if it's not the same great one we initially thought it was going to be)?

Top Five Episodes:

5. "Guts", S1Ep2: Essentially a "part two" to the pilot episode, "Guts" is intense, exciting and, best of all, completely disgusting. It's in this episode that we get our first introduction to the series' ensemble who all manage to make a strong impression even in the middle of being attacked by a massive zombie horde in downtown Atlanta. It is one of the only two episodes written personally by Darabont and his masterful writing still makes this one a series stand-out.

4. "Beside the Dying Fire", S2Ep13: to cap of the lackluster second season, the writing staff basically threw up their hands saying "screw it!" and somehow churned out one of the most exciting episodes of the series, and probably the most action-packed episode to date. The zombies who had been so absent during most of the season make a big reappearance, decimating the farmland and offing a few side characters. It's messy, it's intense and it's actually pretty awesome, ending the season with the bang that it should've had from the get-go.

3. "Killer Within", S3Ep4: After a few solid episodes to open the season with, it seemed like things were settling back into the monotonous rut of season two. Things were going decently; no pesky zombies around, no real interpersonal drama to speak of. And then, almost as if to say "you think we're gonna make that same mistake twice?! Here's our collective middle finger", the writers surprised everybody by suddenly, and gruesomely offing two of the leads in the most stressful ways possible. "Killer Within" firmly reestablishes that in "The Walking Dead" nobody is safe from being horribly torn to shreds. It's a jaw-dropping hour of television (particularly surprising given how early in the season it was), and one that had people talking for quite sometime, deservedly so.

2. "Pilot", S1Ep1: "The Walking Dead" made a triumphant first impression with one of the greatest pilot episodes in recent memory (probably in television history). This first episode, written by Frank Darabont, is everything this show ever needed to be; it's scary, it's gross, it's intense and it's beautiful. It's one of the first television episodes to rightly earn the description of "cinematic", and while it's a shame that the series has rarely stacked up to this level of quality, this first episode is and will always be an achievement that The Walking Dead can wear proudly on it's chest.

1. "Clear", S3Ep12: This is the episode that gave me faith in Scott M. Gimple's ability to craft an engaging and powerful story in a limited period of time. It has focus and carries itself with purpose, serving as a spiritual sequel of sorts to the very first episode of the show. Coming totally out of left field, it's rare that a series one-off is this good. But "Clear" was a phenomenal surprise amidst a few lackluster episodes, and it's a fantastic reminder of the potential this show really has. If the fourth season can stylistically and thematically keep in tone with this episode, then The Walking Dead may yet see a return to excellence.

Honorable Mention. "Vatos", S1Ep4: In this episode we get to see the zombies deal some mass carnage for the very first time, and it does not disappoint. Equal parts scary and moving, "Vatos" let's the audience know just how lethal these things are and how much damage they can really do on a massive scale.

Andrew Allen is a television (and occasionally film) writer for Action A Go Go. He is an aspiring screenwriter and director who is currently studying at the University of Miami. You can check out him on Tumblr @andrewballen and follow him on Twitter @A_B_Allen.

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Disc Two: Deleted and Alternate Footage From 2013's EVIL DEAD Tells A Different Story

Even with my limited experience in audio and student filmmaking, I can tell you that editing...well, it's a bitch.

It's been said that a movie only really comes together during the editing process. There, the director and film editor work together, argue, work together, and argue some more in an effort to make a watchable experience. I've seen entire plot points removed through editing (Mallrats), good movies turned bad through editing (Daredevil...seriously), and good movies made better through editing (Blade Runner). It really is an impactful method that ultimately defines a film's quality.

In the following video, we see various cuts of the Evil Dead "remake." In several instances, you'll notice that certain scenes were reworked for promotional reasons and other scenes were cut for visceral ones. For a film like Evil Dead this is incredibly important because certain types of violence can't be shown in ads that aren't "red band." However, the editing choices in the film itself put emphasis on sheer terror, effectively turning this moviegoer from skeptical to invested within a matter of minutes.

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