Special-effects legend and pioneer Ray Harryhausen, died Tuesday at the age of 92. A lot of us horror-geeks are in mourning, but in the wake of this sad news, Sony Movie Channel has announced the airing of a Harryhausen documentary followed by a movie marathon featuring some of his greatest works.

from Sony Movie Channel

To pay tribute to the legendary Ray Harryhausen’s remarkable achievements, Sony Movie Channel has revised its schedule to include a special TV marathon on Saturday, May 11, highlighting the filmmaker’s career. Harryhausen, who died recently at the age of 92, is renowned for his special effects innovations and as the inventor of stop-motion animation.

On Saturday, May 11, Sony Movie Channel will be airing the definitive Ray Harryhausen documentary, RAY HARRYHAUSEN: SPECIAL EFFECTS TITAN, at 12:45 p.m. ET/9:45 a.m. PT. Following the documentary, Harryhausen fans will enjoy watching three SINBAD-focused films featuring Harryhausen’s special effects animation from Sony Pictures Entertainment’s library – THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD (airs at 2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT); THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD (airs at 4:10 p.m. ET/1:10 PM PT) and SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER (airs at 6:10 p.m. ET/3:10 p.m. PT).

Additionally, SMC is recognizing Harryhausen’s award-winning career online, presenting an interactive web experience that features Harryhausen’s signature creatures, as well as specially produced content honoring him and his impressive body of work. That web experience can be found here. Those who are SMC subscribers will be able to watch the documentary online through May 31 by accessing that same web page.

Last month Sony Movie Channel premiered the RAY HARRYHAUSEN: SPECIAL EFFECTS TITAN documentary on television for the first time in the U.S. The documentary, produced in 2011 by Frenetic Arts in Paris, marks the first time that the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation has provided unprecedented access to all aspects of his award-winning career, spanning his early days in Hollywood to his 90th birthday celebration.

RAY HARRYHAUSEN: SPECIAL EFFECTS TITAN was filmed over a 10-year period and features interviews and tributes from an illustrious list of acclaimed filmmakers who were inspired by his work. Directed by Gilles Penso, the documentary includes interviews with longtime admirers and Harryhausen fans that have been involved in some of the film industry’s biggest blockbuster hits.

With 16 movies to his credit, Harryhausen is known for pioneering numerous new techniques during his acclaimed filmmaking career. Not only was he a leader in armatured models and miniatures, but he also created a new type of stop-motion split-screen animation, known as “Dynamation.” His special effects budget for THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (1952) called for a more practical way of model interaction and, as such, Harryhausen developed a simple but effective method involving split-screens and a projector – hence, “Dynamation” was born.

In addition to innovating new filming practices, Harryhausen is credited with creating the physical looks and movements of dinosaurs, alien figures and creatures in motion pictures. Many producers and directors today still base their prehistoric creatures and beasts, as well as alien objects like flying saucers and visitors from other planets, on Harryhausen’s characters, models and drawings. His influence in genre filmmaking is still very prevalent today – over five decades later.

Sony Movie Channel is on Channel 563 on DIRECTV; Channel 386 on DISH and Channel 1791 on AT&T U-Verse.

Funny or Die helps celebrate the 30th anniversary of Huey Lewis and the News album Sports.

Spoofing the best scene in American Psycho where Christian Bale, as Patrick Bateman, explains the excellence of a Huey Lewis and the News album to a man he is about to ax-murder all while listening to Lewis’ song Hip to Be Square, Huey Lewis murders Weird Al Yankovic in the same fashion while talking about the movie American Psycho.

It should be noted, and if you’ve ever listened to the 40oz. Of Horror Podcast you have probably noticed, that James Dunn and I have been life long fans of Huey Lewis and the News. So beyond the American Psycho connection, this video had to be posted on our site.

The album for which Bateman has such reverence is 1983’s Sports, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year —  Funny or Die have put together this killer tribute in honor of the record and for Yankovic’s new single I Want a New Duck, a parody of Lewis’ I Want a New Drug.

Check out the video and let us know what you think!

I’m still not sure why AMC is making us wait in suspense to see how season 3 of The Walking Dead unfolds. Mid-season breaks suck!

At least AMC’s kind enough to whet our blood-thirsty whistles with this very tasty little sneak peek of The Walking Dead episode 309, “The Suicide King.”

And when does The Walking Dead, season 3 continue? Not until Feb. 10 at 9/8c. Bummer!

What do you think is going to go down? Let us know what you think!

Ghostbusters 3 is quickly becoming one of the most talked about sequels that may never even see the light of day, but fortunately for us, writer, creater, actor and chief ghostbusting cheerleader Dan Aykroyd is keeping it alive.

Aykroyd recently sat down with Esquire to weave a weird web of conversation like only Dan Aykroyd can do. Shifting from his strong love of the paranormal to his own brand of Crystal Head Vodka to the greenlighting of Ghostbusters 3, this must read interview is the most authoritative look yet into the future of the ‘busters franchise.

“I’m as deeply inside Ghostbusters 3 as anyone involved in the project,” Aykroyd tells Esquire, “that includes the executives at Sony, who have to go to sleep at night and have to decide to do it. Ivan Reitman, the director, who travels from Santa Barbara to L.A., and has for the last three years, working with writers to put it together. [The Officewriters] Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, who worked on one of the drafts.”

Aykroyd also talks about where Bill Murray stands on the project. We reported back in August that Murray was officially out, but things could change — and you never know when it comes to the actor who brought Dr. Peter Venkman to life.

“Had Billy chosen to do the Eisenberg/Stupnitsky script of two years ago, it would be out this summer, and it would be a massive hit,” said Aykroyd.

And if Murray wants to be involved?

“I originally had him as a ghost in the Stupnitsky/Eisenberg draft. Because he said, ‘If I do this, I want to be dead, and I want to be a ghost.’ So I said, well, we’ll build you in there.”

Aykroyd is definitely optimistic about the ‘guranteed’ success of a third Ghostbusters and even talks about future sequels. He says, “If they [Sony] make this movie, in its current shape, they would be looking at a pretty hefty, nine-figure return.”

Dan, I hope you’re right and I hope to see new life in a franchise I really love.

What do you think about the possibility of Ghostbusters 3?

Read the whole interview at Esquire.com

It’s no secret to 40oz. fans that one of the coolest things about Scream Factory’s recent They Live rerelease was its artwork, and when Chad and James got a chance to talk to Shout! Factory reps Jeff Nelson and Cliff MacMillan on a chilly patio at Horrorhound, the artwork subject served as their jumping-off point.

As it turns out, Nelson and MacMillan are just as crazy about iconic horror posters and VHS covers as the fans waiting impatiently for their DVDs to show up in the mail.

Scream Factory, the horror subsidiary of Shout! Factory, came into existence when the company decided to buy the rights to a whole list of scary movies from Universal. They didn’t think it made sense to release them separately as one-offs, dotting their roster among blood-and-gore-free films and TV shows. And on the marketing side, Nelson pointed out, grouping these movies together and giving the collection a name made it possible to streamline the product and present it to the long-established horror community.

When the time came to package Scream Factory titles, Nelson, MacMillan and their coworkers wanted something special. “I said to Jeff, ‘It’d be great if we did original covers,’” MacMillan recalled. As inspiration, they looked to the beloved and highly in-demand Mondo posters and the classic covers of Arrow Films. Then they found a smattering of artists who could satisfy their vision.

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“What really makes our covers come alive is we’ll get the new design, and we’ll tell them to do it in a retro, kind of VHS, old-school type,” Nelson said. “But we like to take the original title treatment that was on the original poster or the original VHS cover, and that goes up on top, with the original tagline at the bottom. And that sort of cements it.”

The resulting DVD becomes a must-have piece for horror fans — and if they’re lucky, Scream Factory will include a poster. “Even though they were movies we’d already seen, we were stoked to get them,” Chad agreed. “A big part of picking out a movie [at VHS rental stores] was the cover art. Half the time the cover art had nothing to do with the movie. When we started seeing the Scream Factory releases, were like, ‘This cover art is awesome.’ That’s something that’s just missing on titles these days, and it drives me nuts.”

While the rebooted artwork lands more mainstream titles like Halloween II in the necessity bin, the lesser-known films in the collection get elevated by association, Nelson pointed out. That way, Death Valley, Prison, The Island and other more obscure selections are introduced to new audiences.

For James and Chad, one of the most exciting perks of getting some face time with these rerelease heroes was finding out what’s on deck for 2013: John Carpenter’s The Fog, The Burning, The Howling, Lifeforce, Night of the Comet and Day of the Dead are all on the docket.

Check out the full interview in Episode #31.

Early on Monday morning, a Williston, New York couple began to argue over AMC’s, The Walking Dead. Around 2:30 a.m., the argument escalated, and the man shot his girlfriend with a .22 caliber rifle. He later tried to say the event was an accident, but eventually confessed.

Ok, it’s cool to be passionate about horror, people — who among us isn’t?

But this is extreme and super sad.

The couple, like many horror fans do, were fighting over whether a zombie apocalypse is be possible. The shooter, 26-year-old Jared Gurman, stated he believed a “military mishap” could cause zombies to be produced in today’s world and his girlfriend disagreed.

According to NBC New York, the shot hit the girlfriend’s back, causing damage to her spine, ribs, and a lung.

Our thoughts are with this poor girl. Maybe she’ll make a speedy recovery and try not to get revenge by nailing her (hopefully) ex-boyfriend’s junk to a board and digging out his eye with a spoon. *cough* Michonne.

Marking the significant expansion of its popular reality programming, today an announcement was made greenlighting three  new SyFy reality series: Ghost Mine, Stranded and Notorious Hauntings. This slate builds upon Syfy’s popular paranormal reality programming block led by Ghost Hunters, Paranormal Witness and Haunted Collector.

More reality series? NO WAY!

In making the announcement, Mark Stern, President, Original Content for Syfy and Co-head, Original Content for Universal Cable Productions, said: “Each of these series takes a known and successful formula and turns it on its head. Whether it is eclectic gold miners in the midst of paranormal activity, paranormal enthusiasts self-documenting the most haunted locations in America, or investigators researching and examining history’s most notorious criminals and legends in the world’s most haunted locations, these shows celebrate imagination while further strengthening Syfy’s successful reality brand.”

GHOST MINE – Premieres Wednesday, January 16 at 10PM

Forgotten in the remote woods of Oregon is one of the richest gold mines in the United States that was abandoned 80 years ago when a series of tragedies gave it an infamous reputation for being haunted. Now, a new owner has decided to take on the notorious legend and reopen the mine, assembling a colorful team of miners – both seasoned and new – to battle the elements in hopes of finding their fortune and teaming them with a pair of experienced paranormal investigators.

In each of the six hour-long episodes, this strong-willed and historically superstitious group of miners will face the day-to-day challenges of mining, aided by the paranormal investigators who unravel the mysteries surrounding the mine, including historic Masonic connections and a spirit who has been known to haunt the area for generations.

Ghost Mine is produced by 51 Minds, an Endemol company, with Mark Cronin (Rock of Love with Bret Michaels), David Caplan and Jay Bluemke (Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters Academy) serving as Executive Producers.

STRANDED – Premieres Wednesday, February 27 at 10PM

Ping Pong Productions (Destination Truth, Finding Bigfoot) joins forces with Josh Gates (star of Syfy’s travel-adventure series Destination Truth) and Jason Blum’s Blumhouse (Paranormal Activity, The River) to create Stranded, an all-new six-episode reality series that documents an unconventional – and terrifying – paranormal and psychological experiment. Each hour-long episode features the self-recorded footage of a diverse group of every-day paranormal enthusiasts – from newlyweds and a brother-in-law to a trio of roommates. Each team of three will be stranded at one of the most haunted locations in America and record the entire experience with hand-held cameras.

The footage from the subjects’ cameras will be supplemented by strategically-placed security cameras at each location, creating a suspenseful, completely unscripted first-hand account of each group’s stay. Over the course of the confinement, the subjects contend with increasingly pervasive feelings of fear and desolation, resulting in an experiment that represents a unique combination of psychology and the paranormal.

Stranded is executive-produced by Brad Kuhlman, Casey Brumels and Josh Gates (who also serves as showrunner) for Ping Pong Productions and Jason Blum for Blumhouse (the production company behind the Paranormal Activity feature film franchise and movies like Insidious and Sinister). Gerard Bocaccio who heads up Blumhouse TV will be a consultant on the project.

NOTORIOUS HAUNTINGS (Working Title) – Premieres Spring 2013

Produced by Pilgrim Studios – the company behind Syfy’s Ghost Hunters, the most successful paranormal franchise on cable – Notorious Hauntings features a group of researchers who investigate reports of extreme and dangerous supernatural activity across the globe. In each of the six self-contained episodes, viewers will follow the investigators as they not only research the otherworldly activity at each site, but also explore the gruesome history of the infamous and heinous individuals, their crimes and victims, to determine if they are the cause of the present-day haunting. Through the gathering of evidence and the uncovering of little-known history, Notorious Hauntings will explore some of the world’s most enduring mysteries, including the case of Jack the Ripper in London and the legendary Dracula in Romania and Slovakia.

Notorious Hauntings is produced by Pilgrim Studios with Craig Piligian and Mike Nichols serving as Executive Producers.

What do you guys think? Any of these sound good?