Rogues Hollow Productions News

Review of Dark Floors Movie

2008-11-19T16:20:00.001-08:00

Rock bands and movies don't have a very good track record, Just think back to the KISS movie from the late 70's. But The Finnish Rock band Lordi are a little different. The band members all dress as monsters and have pretty elaborate stage shows.

Director Pete Riski and Mr. Lordi himself came up with a story involving an autistic girl whose father, concerned for her health after a cat scan incident, wants to remove her from the hospital. However the 2 along with the security guard, a vagrant, doctor, and the obligatory whiny business man, all get stuck in the elevator. When the doors open they find themselves in an abandoned hospital. What follows is your typical by the numbers horror flick with each member of the group being picked off one by one as they traverse the floors in an attempt to exit the hospital.

Each floor of the hospital features a member of Lordi as the tormentor. Luckily none of them actually speak, they just scream and attack the group. The story does some cool things with time in the film and the director does a decent job of making things creepy. However the acting is pretty horrendous. The film is shot in English for some reason and whether the actors are unaccustomed to English or are just terrible is hard to know. It doesn't help that these are character you've seen in countless other horror films. The security guard that tries to rationalize the situation and be the hero. The caring father who only wants to get his kid out of the hospital. The concerned and hot female doctor, and of course the arrogant businessman who is only concerned with his own safety. You don't really care about any of them since they're all 2 dimensional empty characters.

Despite that the film does have atmosphere and decent visuals. The Lordi characters are pretty scary in their own right and do a pretty good job here of playing the stalkers. However the movie completly cops out with a really lame ending that explains nothing and pretty much feels like it was another of those "how do we end this thing" moments where the easist way out was chosen.

I suppose if your a fan of Lordi or cheesy by the numbers horror films then this is up your alley but you'll find nothing deeper than an average haunted house movie here.

3.5 out of 10

Dance of the Dead

2008-11-15T13:09:00.000-08:00

If you like those somewhat cheesy 80's horror movies like the Return of the Living Dead series then you might want to check out "Dance of the Dead". What a fun little throwback to those 80's horror flicks with modern day blood and gore. The basic premise is that the local nuclear power plant is contaminating the cemetary and causing the dead to return to life on the night of the senior prom. A group of Sci-fi nerds end up being the only ones who can take care of the problem with the help of an gun crazy football coach. Its funny, well written and bloody as hell! Go check out Dance of the Dead!

The Simpsons Teehouse of Horror

2008-11-13T13:09:00.001-08:00

I've been spending some time the last couple weeks trying to get caught up on TV I missed while I was in Arizona and yesterday I got to watch this years Simpsons Halloween episode which starts out well with an election parody but then falls apart and becomes the worst Halloween episode ever. There's only one segment in the show that really deals with Halloween while the other 2 parody a basic cable TV series and a Christmas segment parody of Transformers. I mean really, who's brilliant idea was it to have a Christmas story in the Halloween episode?

The Simpsons has long ago passed its prime and its simply sunk into the rut of making parodies of much better earlier episodes from 15 years ago. Remember when the Halloween episodes parodied horror and sci fi movies? The show has really lost its heart and ability to tell coherent well written stories. Here's to hoping that someday it might find its way back and stop trying to be "Family Guy".

Review of Jeff Martin and The Armada

2008-11-12T20:46:00.000-08:00

I feel I have to preface this article by saying that Americans most likely will have no clue as to who the Tea Party was or who Jeff Martin is so this is written more for my Canadian friends. Also I am by no means a professional album reviewer, I'm just offering up my 2 cents so take it for what its worth.

I was a fan of the Tea Party the moment I heard one of their songs some 13 years ago. The band had their angst filled moments with Transmission and then blossomed into a journey of self discovery with TripTych and the Interzone Mantras. Their core however was always their eastern fueled sound. The final Tea Party Album, the Seven Circles, was a step away from that sound in favor of more radio friendly fare. The band broke up shortly after that album (not surprisingly to me at least) and front man Jeff Martin headed to Ireland to do his inevitable soul cleansing record called, Exile and the Kingdom. I enjoyed that album but found it to be a record with very little direction or purpose. Some of the songs sounded like rejected Tea Party tracks from the Edges of Twilight era while others felt perhaps under produced or even unfinished. It was a record of love and farewells to a different era and while it was a decent outing it was a small and quiet record.

Now Jeff Martin has formed a new band with drummer Wayne Sheehy called The Armada and I’m happy to say "that’s more like it". The record definitely revisits the eastern influences that infused the Tea Party and yet it progresses the sound and content to new territory. While the songs on Exile and the Kingdom were personal and mostly acoustic, here the songs touch on a variety of controversial subjects with solid production.

The album kicks off with "Going Down Blues" a blues-rock song that makes references to the story of Robert Johnson and his deal with the devil to be the best bluesman. "Chinese Whispers" infuses the Far East sounds of China which is something Martin has not visited in the past and the result works well even though it flirts with sounding like a parody.

"A line in the Sand" is the environmental track of the album alerting us to the dangers of ignoring the pain of Mother Nature in modern times. I heard this track in an acoustic form a while back and wasn’t that crazy about it but here in its final version it's a pretty strong song. "Morocco" is my favorite track on this album. The song is a scathing critique of the treatment of women in the Middle East and the barbaric concept of honor killings. It beautifully infuses the sounds of rock with Middle Eastern sounds and instruments like only Jeff Martin can do.

The reprise of "Black Snake Blues", a track that also appeared on Exile and the Kingdom, really seems unnecessary here. While it was one of the best songs on Exile it really doesn't fit all that well in this record. However it is an improved and better produced version of the song. The Final songs on the track really go back to the days of the scary Tea Party songs from the Transmission era and give the album a strong end.

While I doubt the Jeff Martin will ever shake away the memories of the Tea Party, not that he should, I think this album shows that he is far from becoming insignificant. The Armada is a strong record and one that will easily pull in fans of what made the Tea Party so great to begin with. Martin is playing things safer this time out by revisiting the elements that made his past so successful and there's nothing wrong with that at all. He’s managed to bring new life to his sound and produced a solid rock album.

Thanks to Victoria at CreepedOut.ca!

2008-11-10T22:25:00.000-08:00

Today I received a really nice surprise in the mail! Victoria at Creepedout.ca was so happy with the work we did for her online store that she sent a gift package of holiday cookies and treats to my office. The image to the left is a snapshot of the package. The contents are very yummy I must say and my wife and I are enjoying them very much! Big thanks to Victoria and CreepedOut.ca for the lovely gift!

Back home

2008-11-06T14:35:00.000-08:00

After 2 very long months experiencing the haunted house business hands on I am glad to be back home here in Ohio and enjoying the fall weather. I learned a lot the last 2 months about the haunt business and I hope to be able to apply that to my own work and clients in the next year. I don't expect I'll be jumping into managing a haunt again next year but it was definitely a learning experience.

While I really disliked Arizona I did meet some great people and had a pretty good team working for me while I was out there. Now its time to get back to my regular life and get Rogues Hollow Ready for 2009!

Domo in Target for Halloween

2008-10-20T02:28:00.000-07:00

I recently went to Target and was a little surprised by their use of a Japanese cartoon character for their Halloween promotion. Domo-Kun has come to America! Domo is a blocky monster type character that has been appearing in stop motion pieces on NHK television in Japan for awhile. Now Target is using the character to promote Halloween at their stores which is pretty cool! I really find it interesting how Japanese culture seems to pop up in the most unlikely of places from time to time.

I had hoped I could do more little articles like this over Halloween but I'm in Arizona managing a haunted house and not surprisingly I have very little free time. Oh well maybe next year:)

Stolen Website artwork

2008-10-16T00:52:00.000-07:00

It seems like every year at Halloween I end up finding a site or 2 out there that has copied or taken artwork from my site or one of my clients. Its usually not a huge deal but this year I have an infringer that has taken the cake. http://www.die-site.com/ has not only stolen artwork but has taken whole site designs from several of my clients sites and turned them into cruddy stitched together mess that just amazes me. This loser has taken a tremendous amount of time to steal flash images, whole page designs and even "buy ticket" buttons and is passing them off as their own. The site http://www.die-site.com/ has stolen elements from my terrortest.com, atmosfearuk.com, thecarnagehauntedhouse.com, The Nest, HexintheHarvest.com and a few more too. I've never seen such a blatant rip off of my work!

UPDATE: 10-16-08
I contacted the company that ripped off all my work and they claim they hired someone else on the net to do the site and didn't know the art was stolen. They have since removed the artwork but I'll be keeping an eye on them to make sure it doesn't pop up again somewhere else.

Busy, Busy, Busy,

2008-09-21T14:39:00.000-07:00

If you've been having problems contacting me there is a good reason. I've taken on managing a haunted house in Arizona this year. It been a big undertaking but we're open now and I'm finally getting caught up on emails and some loose ends for clients. I'll be updating RoguesHollow.com in the coming weeks with all my 2008 work so far. If you've emailed me recently and are still waiting on a reply I will be doing my best to get back with you this week. Thanks for everyone's patience:)

So it begins...

2008-08-20T00:37:00.001-07:00

I always bemoan the fact that the Christmas decorations are usually right next Halloween section each October in all the major shopping chains. The foul stench of cinnamon and gingerbread slowly encroaching on the delicious scent of pumpkin and spice. The sound of jingling bells drowning out the cackles of a grotesque witch as October 31 gets nearer. Its something I've begrudgingly accepted since, well I really have no choice. Halloween only comes to store once a year and usually not till Mid to late September. So you can imagine my surprise to find Halloween staring back at me from the Yankee Candle store at my local mall.

Halloween seems to be showing up in small pockets all over the place already.. in August. Yankee Candle is kicking things off early with their great NEW Halloween Candles. I've always love Yankee Candles' Spiced Pumpkin scent and I try to get one every fall. I was pleased to see that Yankee has expanded on the Halloween concept with not only Spice pumpkin, renamed pumpkin patch, but also Candy Corn, Cider web, Boo-Nilla and Purr-Chouli. My favorite new scent is definetly the Candy Corn candle which smells a lot like vanilla and candy corn. Imagine really really fresh candy corn if you can. Not that I have ever had really fresh candy corn. In fact I'm pretty sure really fresh candy corn is probably like a black hole. We know it must exist but have never found it.

Of course Yankee has also brought out some great accesories for the canldes including spooky luminaries and candle holders. My wife really liked the Halloween cat candle holder and the pumpkin topper so thats what we ended up getting.

And Thus the Halloween season has begun already and my house smells of spiced pumpkin in August.

Midnight Syndicate CD Trailer

2008-08-01T12:57:00.000-07:00

I recently finished production on a cool little web trailer to promote Midnight Syndicate's new CD release called The Dead Matter: Cemetery Gates. I've been a fan of Midnight Syndicate since before I ever entered the haunt industry as a designer so it was really cool to work with them finally! Check it out at The Midnight Syndicate Official Website

The Dark Knight

2008-07-27T12:28:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks back I wrote about my concern for the quality of the X-Files movie that was released this weekend. My concerns were rather founded it seems since the critics and fans alike are calling it not only a bad movie but one of the worst of the summer. I read one fan say if this had been an episode of the X-Files Series that it would have been considered the worst episode of the run. That's saying something. Needless to say I decided to skip having my favorite TV show of all time slaughtered before my eyes and instead chose to catch the Dark Knight.

I could gush over the dark knight pretty easily. This movie is not only the best movie of the summer, It was for me, the best superhero movie ever! I was shocked at the level of storytelling in it and the overall message of it. Heath Ledger became the Joker and that's all I can say. I never thought during the film, "oh that's Heath Ledger". Being a fan of the comics when I was young I was just blown away that a film maker finally understood Batman's struggle and got it right.

The film is so much better than the first one that It almost doesn't feel like its part of that series. I would almost venture to say that it was a masterpiece of cinema and storytelling. I can't remember the last time I walked out of a theater and said "wow!" and meant it in an un-ironic way:)

Ok so even though I love this film here's the problems I found: Batman's raspy voice is skirting the edge of unintentionally funny. The whole trip to Hong Kong probably could have been cut for time but I did enjoy it none the less. The Sonar technology seemed just a touch over the top in its final use. I still find Maggie Gyllenhall as off-putting.

That said these problems don't hamper the film one Iota and its just a great, great movie. The message of hope, and "Doing good" are heady subjects in this film but they're rather timely and well handled. If you haven't seen this film yet go do it. I'm going again next week:)

Fear Itself on NBC

2008-07-20T14:04:00.000-07:00

The horror anthology has to be one of the trickiest things to get right. There have been countless attempts, some damn near perfect (Creepshow) some mediocre (Tales from the Crypt) and some just awful (Masters of Horror).

Mick Garris created Masters of Horror on Showtime a couple years back. The episodes were being written and directed by so called "Masters" of the genre such as John Carpenter, Stuart Gordon, John Landis etc. The episodes were mostly bad. So bad in fact that after watching the 4th episode of the first season I cancelled my Showtime Subscription. The second season didn't fare much better. The series seem to allow the directors and writers to experiment a little too much and it often seem to hurt the episode.

This Year Garris and his crew packed up and moved the show to NBC, changing the name to Fear Itself. The episodes of Fear itself so far have been a little improved in the move. I imagine the reasoning for this is simple: Fear Itself is going to have to fight to stay on the air. Therefore the episodes have to appeal to wider audiences, be scarier, and provide conclusions that don't piss off the viewer. For the most part it does seem to be working and the show has been more enjoyable with a few exceptions.

The most recent episode was the Zombie episode directed by Darren Lynn Bouseman (Saw 2, 3, 4, Repo!) and it was a fairly entertaining romp. The twist ending seemed unnecessary and very unbelievable. However for something that is fairly low budget they did a decent job of creating a Zombie apocalypse scenario.

It will be interesting to see if the series can keep up the momentum it does have and keep from becoming stale and boring. Either way its nice to have a decent summer horror series for once.

My Concerns about X-Files 2

2008-07-18T01:46:00.000-07:00

In 1993 when the X-Files first aired, I was a Freshman in High School and very ready to believe in the adventures of Mulder and Scully. I was hooked on the show before the opening credits even ran. It captivated my mind and kept me hungry for more week after week. I followed the show thereafter religiously and went to see the first movie back in 98' on opening day. Then the show started to become too convoluted with outrageous storylines and a ridiculous arc about Scully's baby. By season 8 I had pretty much given up on the show and missed the final season altogether.

Then last year the rumblings began about a new film that would reunite everyone's favorite FBI agents for another adventure. Enough time had passed and the bad taste of the last couple seasons of the X-Files was a distant memory and so my excitement for this new film was very high. I read up on all the news and leaked info, what little there was, and waited eagerly for the first trailer, which really told me nothing about the film. Now here we are only a week away from its premiere and I still have no idea what the movie is about. The marketing for this film is boring (just look at the poster above) and the TV spots and trailers aren't doing a whole lot to get me jazzed about this film. So I'm more than a little concerned. I know the Chris Carter is trying to keep the story under wraps but it feels like its gone beyond just secrecy on the plot and now I'm worried they're trying to keep the lid on a stinker of a film before it comes out. I really hope this is not the case.

Either way I know where I'll be next weekend. While I'm concerned about the quality of the film the chance to see Mulder and Scully together again is good enough for me for now. I just hope we get a solid outing that doesn't dissapoint.

First Video shoot for Commercial and Web

2008-07-13T00:29:00.001-07:00

Something I've been slowly gravitating towards is video & Film and last night I finally got my first stab at it. Unfortunately the weather wasn't interested in my plans and decided to rain on them. However we were able to get quite a bit shot but missed out on the final zombies walking through a cemetery shots that would have taken about 10-20 more minutes to get. Oh well. I guess for the first try it went pretty well. I learned some things that I'll do different next time but overall it went pretty well. The image you see to the left is a still taken during the shoot.

Thanks to Scary Boy Productions for Delivering to my door those fantastic tombstones you can see in the back ground, Thanks to Steve at Screamline for getting me a axe just when I needed it! and A Big thanks to my actors, My sister Melissa and her Boyfriend Brian and his Brother Kevin. Thanks a lot!

Next the editing and the trailer creation:) Stay tuned!

A Package from Splatter FX

2008-06-27T13:49:00.001-07:00

A while back I ordered my own "Nate" corpse costume by SplatterFX.net whom I shared booth space with at Transworld. So today I received my costume plus 2 clown masks that I'll be using in an upcoming video shoot I'm doing for a haunt.

The Nate Costume is amazing and I can't wait to get the chance to use it! The clown masks have that psychotic ghoul clown look and the quality is fantastic! Big thanks to Kyle at Splatter FX!

Viral Marketing Campaigns - TRU BLOOD

2008-06-18T13:59:00.000-07:00

I love viral marketing campaigns! Last year Nine Inch Nails did an amazing job promoting their album "Year_Zero" by using viral videos, emails, and websites set 15 years in the future. I've done viral campaigns for my own clients as well.

So today in the mail I recieved a vial of blood that says TRU BLOOD : Synthetic Blood (See photo). The label says: "Tru Blood is pure, a substitute for the real thing. It will forever alter the way we liove and interact with the human world. You are on eof the first to receive a sample and become a pioneer fo this eminent change. We invite you to become willing participants on this journey and tell other of our kind what you think of the product. IT HAS BEGUN"

The vial of blood itself says the blood is essentially sugar water. THere's a web address on the label as well http://chishio.jp/ which has several panels or photos on it written in some ancient "Rune-like" language that some are saying is sumarian.

I've done some research on Tru Blood and have discovered that this is a Japanese product designed to eliminate the need for vampires to feed on humans. Its all a campaign to promote Alan Ball's New HBO Series called "True Blood" about a world where Vampires have made their existence known after the introduction by a Japanese Company of Synthetic blood.

This is a great ad campaign so I can't wait to see what they do next for it!

Portfolio Updates - NEW SITES & MORE!

2008-06-11T20:29:00.000-07:00

I just added a bunch of new sites that have been completed recently. I'll have a few more to add next week and I have tons of new art to show off if I get the time to get it on the site next week. I'm really proud of our output right now so check out our new sites and let us know what you think! visit our portfolio now

Some more cool stuff is coming up including some new experiments in video.

Midwest Haunters Convention This weekend!

2008-06-11T20:24:00.000-07:00

AS you may have expected Rogues Hollow Productions will be at the Midwest Haunters Convention in Columbus Ohio, downtown at the convention center, This Saturday and Sunday. The show is free so even if your not a haunt owner or vendor you can still check out all the spooky goodness. Be sure to stop by an say hi:)

Since I'll be at the convention this weekend I may be a bit slow to respond to emails till next week.

Kudos from clients

2008-05-27T23:23:00.001-07:00

I don't normally like to brag about my work but some of my clients certainly do. I just got this great email from Chris Ainsworth of www.thornhillwoodshauntedhouse.com a website that I just finished for him last week. Here's what he had to say:

Hi Chris,

I just wanted to congratulate you for the outstanding work you did creating my web site.

Everyone that has visited it, is freaking out how amazing it is for a home haunt site, the haunt industry is extremely lucky to have such a talented artist as yourself.

I was very impress by all the extra details you added to my site, it showed that you took pride in your work and made what I invisioned come alive.

I would not hesitate to recommend your nightmarish creations to the Haunt Industry.

Regards,

Chris Ainsworth

Thornhill Woods Haunted House

You can check out Thornhill Woods here. As you can probably imagine I'm very busy with sites and art right now and I'm working feverishly to get a lot done. Thanks for everyones patients as we get through this busy time:) BTW: Lots of cool art and sites are coming online very soon!

2008 Transworld Wrap-up

2008-03-20T14:28:00.000-07:00

I'm back from Vegas and all I can say is its great to be back in the rather moist climes of Ohio after drying out in the desert the last few days. I mean literally my skin was screaming for some water! That said I did have a good time in Vegas but I think I'll be happy to see the show return to Chicago in 2009. There's so much going on at Transworld that it can be frustrating to deal with Vegas in addition to working at a trade show. Oh and did I mention the walking? You have to walk a mile to go anywhere in vegas. Every day I had to walk what felt like a mile to and from the show through ringing casinos and dank parking structures! But even with all that the show was fun and I did get to meet with friends and clients and show off our new Spooksperson product. Didn't get to see the new Spooksperson product at the show? Hang in there I'll be launching a new site, www.Spooksperson.com very soon to really show it off.

Big thanks to SplatterFX / Midnight Studios for sharing booth space with me this year. I'll be talking more about them in a future blog. I highly recommend you check out their product line of awesome masks at www.splatterfx.net. Their new Zombie suit is simply awesome and very reasonably priced. See the image below:

For more images from the show go to our gallery

See us at Transworld

2008-03-06T14:19:00.000-08:00

I'm happy to announce That Rogues Hollow Productions will be at Transworld in booth #90003! Be sure to stop by and say hello! We're sharing our booth with a new mask company and together we're offering a joint product that I think will be very exciting! This new product is going to be a great sales tool for haunted attractions. Its something you can use on your website as well as at your location and its going to be a must see! On top of that we'll be offering our 2008 website marketing packages and showing off some of our latest work. See you in Vegas!

Competition in the Industry

2008-02-11T15:56:00.000-08:00

Many times over the years I've been asked: what makes Rogues Hollow Stand out from its competitors. I always cringe a little when I hear this question. Its not because I'm afraid to defend the work I do but more about the nature of the question. A person that asks this question may be asking it with total sincerity expecting to hear some philosophy behind what we do. In those cases I like answering the question. On the other hand there are those that ask the question out of not ever having seen our work. Then there are those who are looking for a discount or a deal on the work. So I want to answer the question now and hopefully cover all the angles of the question. I'll eventually include this on the about page of the site as well.

What makes Rogues Hollow Productions different than our competitors? Our style and the way we do things. Our style has always been more cinematic and suggestive than most of our competitors. My personal philosophy when it comes to dark art is that the less you see the better, the more you suggest with the image makes it have more of an impact. Not everyone would agree with me and there are artists out there that take the "in your face" approach to haunted house artwork. There are others that do more cartoonish or pulp looking artwork. Its up to the attraction owner to decide who they think will do the best job at representing their haunt. Obviously the Rogues Hollow Website has a portfolio that provides many examples of the work we've done in the past. Our competitors also have portfolios if their work. If your making the decision on who to choose you should be looking at the artwork and basing it on what you feel your haunt should have as its image and not on anything else. There are those that expect the designer to give them a discount or do something to entice them to choose them as their designer and those people don't have the best interests of their haunt in mind if this is how their making their decision. You shouldn't be looking for the best deal when it comes the most important aspect of getting people to come to your attraction.

That said our packages are very reasonable considering all they include. We're really a one stop shop when it comes to design, websites, and marketing and its hard to beat all we do. In the future we'll only be offering more and at Transworld we'll be offering a new product in conjunction with another vendor that will further change for the better how you market your haunted house.

We do have a philosophy and its that we are never satisfied with what we do. We never stop innovating or creating new ways to do things. We are always trying to evolve and get better and that's not going to stop. We don't play politics or favorites and each of our clients is a unique individual that deserves our very unique style and ability. Are we perfect? Of course not we make mistakes just like everyone else but we will do our best to make it right if given the chance. That's why we're different and why we have so many clients that continue to come back to us year after year after year.

If you asked us about what sets us apart recently, please don't feel like I'm calling you out on it or anything. I've been asked this question at least a couple times in the last month and I'm sure I'll hear it many more times. I'm not really trying to answer it once and for all but I felt that it really needs to be addressed on this site. Thanks for reading!

So What's next? You'll have to wait and see when you come to Transworld in March!

Site Updates & News

2007-11-29T14:24:00.000-08:00

I just updated the portfolio with new images from the work we've done over the 2007 Halloween Season. Check it out by clicking here! Also you'll find some new stuff in the downloads section finally! I have added a couple high resolution images from Halloween and I hope to have some more soon!

Speaking of Halloween the gallery section of the site has been updated with loads of images from our Halloween celebration at home and Trick or Treat night which was a blast! I never tire of scaring little kids! Click here to check them out.

What else are we up to? Well I'm putting the finishing touches on the first movie poster by Rogues Hollow Productions. It's a little independent comedy film that will soon be doing the film festival circuit. Stay tuned for more on that.

On top of that we're gearing up for the tradeshow season which begins in March with Transworld 2008. Right now we're planning on being there and we may be bring some new stuff to the market. Things are still in the planning stages but its looking good! You'll just have to wait and see what it is!

More Updates Forthcoming

2007-10-06T15:07:00.000-07:00

I've been swamped lately so you'll have to forgive me for the lack of updates. I just added a slew of new sites we've been doing and I should be adding lots of spiffy new graphics by the end of October and even more sites!

It's been a very busy season here and I can't wait to show off all the cool stuff we've done;) Hang in there!