Horror Highlights: ELVIRA THE WRATH OF CON, 13 MINUTES OF HORROR, Phil Tippett’s MAD GOD

ELVIRA THE WRATH OF CON: "As the summer heats up, Elvira, the legendary Mistress of the Dark is busting out with a brand-new comic book tale for her fiendish fans! THE WRATH OF CON is available right now only on Kickstarter!

Elvira chimed in, "If you're like me, and I know you are exactly like me (wink), you're missing the wonderfully wacky world of San Diego Comic Con this summer. I mean where else can you go dressed like this and feel normal. So since conventions are still DOA, I'm bringing the show to you, my sweeet darlings!"

She has just the treat for everyone! Haven't you always wanted to go to Comic Con with Elvira? Well, with her "Diabolical Double D" creative partners of writer David Avallone (Bettie Page, Drawing Blood) and artist Dave Acosta (Dragon), she's whipped up a fun-filled original story to get everyone through this summer sans San Diego!

In her new story, Elvira is the Guest of Horror at the "San Diego Popculturama" convention. The only problem is, an army of angry maniacs want her head on a platter! In a tale featuring cosplay, celebrity, back issue hunting, and... ritual cult murder - THE WRATH OF CON is not to be missed!

"I've been a regular at San Diego Comic Con since 1989... (I was, um, five years old, let's say...) and it's always a big part of my summer," said writer David Avallone. "Missing it two years in a row has been a bummer, and this comic felt like a great way to honor the wonderful experience we're all missing, and poke a little affectionate fun at it as well. San Diego aside, I hope this story will be a delight for anyone who's ever gone to any convention... even for anyone who's ever been a devoted fan of anything. Fans make everything we do possible, and I get to wake up every morning and do this dream job -- writing comic books -- purely from their support and generosity. So this one is for them."

Artist Dave Acosta added, "We’ve all missed Comic Cons, but now you can get a taste of the madness with none other than ELVIRA as your escort! I’m so happy to team up with David, Walter, Taylor, and of course Cassandra, once again, in a direct sequel to last year’s OMEGA MA’AM. Drawing that project was a dream come true for me, and now, we will deliver the mother of all sequels with WRATH OF CON! "

The stuffed-full 48 page comic book is presented in a premium format, showcasing the contributions of Elvira, Avallone, Acosta, colorist Walter Pereyra, and letterer Taylor Esposito. Dynamite and the Mistress of the Dark are offering this limited edition release directly to fans on Kickstarter, for an unbeatable price!

Options and extras are abound on the Kickstarter campaign. The book is available with multiple cover variations, from a logo-free "virgin" edition, black & white, a photo of Elvira, or even ultra-rare metal, holo-foil, and even lava foil chase variants! Collectors can get the book signed by Elvira, and or "graded" by CGC Comics to preserve its condition and value. Add-on goodies include a high quality lithograph print, trading cards, collectible coins, and the spooky spectral board!"

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13 MINUTES OF HORROR: "Nyx Horror LLC launches its inaugural film festival, 13 Minutes of Horror, on horror streaming giant Shudder.

Nyx Horror Collective is a community of diverse women creators who develop, celebrate, and elevate original, women-led horror content for film, TV, and new media. 

What began as a simple 60-second film challenge in January 2021 blossomed quickly into the little festival that could. Garnering top notch judges from the horror genre and securing Shudder as its official streaming platform, Nyx Horror is proving itself to be a creative force of nature. 

One of the missions at Nyx Horror and with 13 Minutes is to give women horror filmmakers of all identities and backgrounds greater exposure and more opportunities through strategic partnerships with established industry professionals. With that in mind, the Festival has garnered support from production companies and film incubators that include Blood Oath (Starry Eyes, Satanic Panic) and Squid Farm Productions (Shudder Original Shook), as well as from development executives at Blumhouse [Get Out, The Invisible Man (2020)]. 

“I cannot wait for audiences to see the creativity and talent. These filmmakers packed so much story and scares into one minute,” said Lisa Kröger, Festival Co-Producer.

“Our drive to keep generating incredible opportunities for this festival really speaks to our tenacity and passion, as individuals and as a team, to dispel the myth of ‘no women, LGBTQIA+ or people of color working in the genre.’ We’re right here; you can’t say you don’t know any. Not anymore.” – Mo Moshaty, Festival Co-Producer

“The messages that Nyx has received from women and non-binary filmmakers since launching 13 Minutes have been overwhelming in the most amazing way. This is why we do what we do—to share in the joy of so many talented creators is beyond rewarding.” – Kelly Krause, Festival Co-Producer

“We wanted to give these wonderful up-and-coming writers and directors the opportunity to have their work seen. The fact that Shudder is hosting us on their platform is a testament to their growing support of BIPOC and women-driven work and we’re eager for the world to see more of this kind of content.” - Melody Cooper, Festival Co-Producer

Nyx Horror Collective’s 13 Minutes of Horror Film Festival will air for 32 days on Shudder from August 13 – September 13, 2021."

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Watch the Teaser Trailer for Phil Tippett's MAD GOD: "Phil Tippett had the idea for MAD GOD during a lull in his schedule after Robocop 2. After sketching and designing a few creatures and sets, he and his stage and stop motion team at Tippett Studio shot the first few scenes of MAD GOD, including the shot of the Beast strapped to a table and a tracking shot of the Shit Men walking through a dessicated subterranean city.

When he received the call to supervise the dinosaurs for Jurassic Park, Phil suspended work on the project. Jurassic Park proved to be a watershed moment in the evolution of visual effects. With a shfit from handmade visual effects, the likes of which Tippett was best known for, to computer generated graphics and imagery (CGI), Phil saw the writing on the wall and thought the kind of work he was doing with MAD GOD had gone extinct overnight.

Some 20 years later, while cleaning out the back storage areas of Tippett Studio's Berkeley stages, several of his key artists and supervisors stumbled across original puppets and sets from those early shots. Revisiting the original footage and models, this new generation of artists, trained primarily on computers, longed to learn from Phil and assist as he revived his long-since abandoned film. Together with a volunteer crew, Phil taught a new generation of artists and craftspeople as they brought his labor of love to life.

In 2020, while the world sheltered through a global pandemic, Phil continued, alone, and completed the final scenes of what is now a complete, feature length experimental mostly-animated adult-oriented cinematic masterpiece. MAD GOD invites its viewers not so much as to watch a story unfold as to be transported from their world to another world entirely - one of monsters and war pigs - where traditional narrative structures are mere suggestions, and the world we live in can be viewed as if through the lens of Hieronymous Bosch crossed with Buster Keaton."

Phil Tippett’s MAD GOD will premiere at the Locarno Film Festival on August 5