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TV Review: Cursed Films kicks off season 2 with the dark myths behind The Wizard of Oz

Posted on April 11, 2022 by Ricardo Denis

The first season of Shudder’s Cursed Films turned the tables on what its own title seemed to suggest, that it was going to be about the supernatural elements at play in the making of certain horror films. Instead, it went for a more noble goal. It sought to debunk the myths and conspiracy theories that haunt certain movies afflicted by a history of tragedy, irresponsible filmmaking, and superstition. Season two of the docuseries is a continuation of this, and it decided to go for one of Hollywood’s (and cinema’s) most treasured films for its opening episode: The Wizard of Oz.

A cursory online search about the supposedly dark secrets contained within the original cuts of 1939’s The Wizard of Oz (dir. by Victor Fleming) will yield a hefty volume of grim hits that promise to reveal the “truth” behind deep backlot rumors concerning hanging munchkins and abusive Hollywood producers that took turns in abusing the movie’s star, Judy Garland, while on set.

Cursed Films 2 employs the same approach that made season one such a compelling watch. It goes for an aggressive deconstruction of the very idea of what a cursed film is and why reality, and not superstition, offers the best explanations for the mysteries that’ve latched on to it. Taken as a whole, season one ultimately suggests that films become cursed thanks to fans who want to explain production woes and accidents via the same lore that’s in the content of the movies in question.

Weird noises on the set of The Exorcist? It had to be the devil. It’s what the movie is about in the first place. You can’t really blame anything that happened during its production on a vampire, for instance. The movie is not about undead bloodsuckers. It’s about a possessed girl who, in one scene, claims to be the devil. The same goes for the other movies explored in the docuseries.

The Wizard of Oz, the show suggests, becomes a cursed film for its position in American film history and how it stands to represent the spirit of Hollywood, a place that is as classy and fantastic as it is ugly and corrupt. Add in the internet’s message board community culture, plus its conspiracy-heavy leanings, and you’ve got a cursed film.

The episode is well-scripted and researched, featuring interviews with surviving family members of the movie’s cast along with other commentators, such as Mythbusters’ own Adam Savage (brought in to discuss the case of the Tin Man’s original aluminum-based makeup and how it nearly killed the first actor that was cast to play him). Surprises are plentiful throughout, especially when it comes to the rumors that swirled around the actors who played the munchkins in the movie. This part of the episode is one of its strongest and is sure to give viewers something to talk about.

Perhaps one of the most effective components of the episode comes in the form of incident reenactments. They possess a haunting quality that strengthens the show’s idea on reality being dark enough on its own without requiring curses to explain away the strange happenings. They’re presented with a grainy filter that heightens the events they recreate while adding context and texture in the process. It’s a very successful approach and I hope the remaining episodes feature them as well.

The decision to open a new season of Cursed Films with a staple of classic American filmmaking is a daring one, and a resounding success at that. It can even be viewed as a statement on the controversial practice of declaring . Cursed Films goes to the land of Oz to say that no myth is safe, that they can be exposed as distorted truths for all to see. The upcoming episodes include Rosemary’s Baby, Stalker, Cannibal Holocaust, and Wes Craven’s The Serpent and The Rainbow (the one I’m looking forward to the most). You should expect them to scare you with what actually happened rather than with demonic forces that hold grudges against troubled Hollywood productions.

Fan Expo 2015 – Cover Search

Posted on September 5, 2015 by

It is important to remember that beneath all the memorabilia and all the vendors at a convention, that beneath it all, the mediums exists there. While fans of television and film flock to screenings of new movies or television episodes, comic fans are left either in artist alley or searching the back issue bins for a missing issue in a collection. Surprisingly though, there is even a bit of a move away from this specific source at comic conventions, as it becomes less and less profitable for comic book stores to set up shop in a booth when their margins are not so high. Not surprisingly therefore it can be a bit of a challenge to find comics at all.

At the previous comic book convention that I attended I got so exasperated in trying to find specific issues that I effectively gave up and tried to find a specific issue of a decades-old Kamandi comic. It should be noted though that Fan Expo is quite a bit larger than the Toronto Comic Con, even though they are run by the same people, and so more vendors were on hand at Fan Expo 2015 than at Toronto Comic Con 2015. With this in hand, I decided that I would search out three separate issues that I had been looking for. The reasons for buying the covers were somewhat shallow, I had already read the issues themselves, and I was just looking for issues whose covers had stood out for me. I thus decided on three issues, two from DC’s new 52, and one from Zenescope from a few years back. Batgirl #26 stands out to me as one of the most beautiful covers that I have seen in recent years, and Wonder Woman #36 was of interest to me to see if the value had gone up at all as the beginning point in the series for the creative team of Meredith and David Finch. Reaching a bit further back was the cover for Myths and Legends #1 from Zenescope, a J. Scott Campbell cover, that the company uses all the time in its own advertisements.

Here were my findings, booth by booth:

Booth #1

The first booth had two different setups. Some of the more sought after recent issues were displayed on a table. I found Wonder Woman #36 here right away, with several copies available – there were a lot, I didn’t bother to count – and all of them for $4. Strangely enough, after checking the nearby back issue bins, I found the exact same issue for $3.99, effectively the same price, unless I was buying hundreds of them. Still technically this ended up being the cheapest that I could find. For Batgirl there were several nearby in the same sequence, but no #26, and there were no Grimm Fairy Tales at all.

Booth #2

I had no luck here at all. They had the first issue of the new 52 run for Wonder Woman, but no recent Batgirl, and no Grimm Fairy Tales at all.

Booth #3

I had even less luck here. For both Wonder Woman and Batgirl there were only older back issues, and again no Grimm Fairy Tales of any kind.

Booth #4

This one was better. It had no Wonder Woman of the modern era, but it had three of Batgirl #26, all at $4, though none at all again for Grimm Fairy Tales.

Booth #5

A decent collection of Wonder Woman, though nothing new 52, and no Batgirl or Grimm Fairy Tales.

Booth #6

This booth had a few new 52 Wonder Woman issues, but no #36. It did have two #26 of Batgirl, going for the standard price of $4. This place also had the most interesting collection that I saw while browsing, the entire collection of Alien Worlds eight issues for about $40.

Booth #7

Something about saving the best for last? Well not quite. This booth had 3 of Wonder Woman #36, including the Lego variant ($4) and the blank variant ($7) as well as the regular for $4. No Batgirl again, but this booth had by far the best selection of Grimm Fairy Tales, though not one of Myths and Legends #1. I picked up another that caught my eye, a variant for Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Oz #5, though as this was the last booth, I gave up hope on finding the last issue and cover.

… but …

After a walk down artist alley I noticed the Zenescope booth for the first time, and there on a cover of a book about Zenescope art was the cover that I was looking for. I flipped through it, but wasn’t really interested in it, especially after the previously unseen booth babe laid a hard sell on me, trying to get me to pay $130 for it. I put it down and walked around the other side of the booth and found some single exclusives, in this case focused on J. Scott Campbell and Dawn McTeigue as they were nearby, and they admitted trying to push some of these as they were hoping people would buy them to get them. I finally found the cover as the alternte to Code Red #1 (Zenescope does re-use this

Review: Oz – Reign of the Witch Queen #4

Posted on August 28, 2015 by

For the most part Grimm Fairy Tales has stayed pretty close to the source material when it has come to interpreting classic works of literature. There are often times some switches, such as making Pan into the villain, making Mowgli into a girl or turning Wonderland into a world of nightmares, but they mostly still contain the same characteristics of the world that was created by the writers of the classical fiction. When it comes to Oz though, the script gets changed somewhat. As the story of Oz is somewhat limited to only Dorothy’s journey along the yellow brick road, it could be said that there is a lot more which could be explored, but also in so doing, a lot more which could take it away from the original story. Such has been the case with Grimm Fairy Tales’ take on Oz. It has been related to the Baum’s work, but has deviated from it somewhat, changing Dorothy from simple farmgirl to sorceress in waiting, and changing the majority of the other characters from whimsical companions to scheming agents of their own prosperity.

Such is the setting for the final series of the trilogy of Oz which has gone way off the script, while also going somewhat away from the whimsy of the setting. Both the Warlord and Dorothy’s forces have decided that they have the advantage and have attacked one another. Although seemingly outmatched Dorothy also seems oddly at ease with the mismatch as she thinks that she has her own advantage. This plays out through a few different locales between both Dorothy and the evil witch, although more of the action focuses on Dorothy and the Warlord.

While this might not really feel like Oz, it equally does not mean that it is very bad either. Going off the script is fine if the creative team has a grasp on where it is going, and although this is not really a natural progression of Baum’s story, it still makes enough sense from a story telling standpoint. The second series in for Grimm Fairy Tales’ Oz was a lot more off the mark than this series, and while the denizens of Oz have never looked like this or acted like this, it is still an interesting enough tale with a couple of twists to keep things interesting.

Story: Jeff and Kristin Massey Art: Antonio Bifulco
Story: 7.6 Art: 7.6 Overall: 7.6 Recommendation: Read

Review: Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Oz – Reign of the Witch Queen #2

Posted on June 4, 2015 by

The Grimm Fairy Tales universe is divided roughly into five lands. There is the unifying central land of Earth, the catch-all land of legend and fairy tale that is Myst, and then there are three lands built on the three classics from the literary nonsense genre – Wonderland, Neverland and Oz. In the rollout of this broad concept, Oz had been almost forgotten, having been the long time goal of Zenescope to introduce, but it was a project that was pushed further and further back as the focus for Grimm Fairy Tales stories rested elsewhere. Once it was introduced, it still seemed as though not enough time had been taken, as the convoluted stories were not helped by the equal lack of direction for the series. In comparison to the standout Wonderland and the passable Neverland, Oz seemed like the evident worst of the three.

The general format for most of the Zenescope Grimm Fairy Tales properties is to introduce them in a trilogy, and The Reign of the Witch Queen represents the third in the trilogy featuring Oz. The presentation of the characters was really nothing new and furthermore the writing and dialogue often left something to be desired as the characters were left somewhat directionless. The first issue of this third trilogy signaled what might be a change in this performance, as the characters were given more depth and a more approachable scenario to deal with. This second issue of the series continues that same approach as Dorothy and her allies must unite against the growing forces of the Zamora as she prepares a campaign of retribution.

While the first issue of this series laid the groundwork for a turnaround for this series, this second issue keeps that momentum going, as well as maintaining the same potential. At the same time the breakthrough is not really there. This is much more readable than most of what has come before in this trilogy, but equally it still feels as though it needs an extra push to get to be something closer to its two literary cousins and their adaptations into the Grimm Fairy Tales universe. At least this keeps the action moving at a decent pace and gives the reader something more solid to grasp onto. Whether the series manages to realize its potential remains to be seen, but it is going to be at least more entertaining than before for those that are willing to find out.

Story: Jeff and Kristin Massey Art: Antonio Bifulco
Story: 7.6 Art: 7.6 Overall: 7.6 Recommendation: Read

Review: Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Oz – Reign of the Witch Queen #1

Posted on April 30, 2015 by

Grimm Fairy Tales has somewhat of a hit-and-miss record when it comes to interpreting literature into its universe. While Wonderland is among the best offerings that the company has made in its entire run, Neverland was sometimes without direction, and Oz suffered from a lack of a singular focus for the entire series. Previous Oz series have been a bit hard to take, mixing in humorous moments with serious ones in a recipe that was bound to fail, all the same time not doing a whole lot to establish the characters as pertinent to the overall dynamic of the universe, nor even particularly special by itself, at least as compared to the psychedlic world of Wonderland.

With this third entry into the Oz trilogy, it would seem as though the ccorner might finally be turned for the use of Oz within Grimm Fairy Tales. At the end of the previous miniseries there were a number of revelations, none among them as important as establishing Zamora as the mother of Dorothy, and thus confirming Dorothy as a powerful wielder of magic herself. This first issue deals with a lot of the after effects of the previous series, as Dorothy returns to the Emerald City with the two traitors in tow, all the while returning to a hero’s welcome and perhaps an even greater invitation in addition to that. Zamora is still scheming behind the scenes, and her presence here helps remind why she could be put to use as an effective villain if the creative team behind this series allowed her to be.

It is not so much that the series manages to stand out in its own right, but rather that it is far better than what has come before in the Oz stories from Zenescope. That being said there are still some problems as this series aims to wrap up the stories, which will presumably also thrown Dorothy to the forefront of the Grimm Fairy Tales universe as a hero of equal worth to Sela Mathers or Calie Liddle. It might seem as though the bizarre road to doing so might finally have gotten serious with this issue, and this deserves a look for fans of the overall universe to at least see if they can get this series on track as it would seem to be here.

Story: Jeff and Kristin Massey Art: Antonio Bifulco
Story: 7.6 Art: 7.6 Overall: 7.6 Recommendation: Read

Zenescope’s New Releases: 10/9/13

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Brett

Wonderland Through the Looking Glass #1

Written by Pat Shand, Raven Gregory
Covers By Richard Ortiz, Ivan Nunes, Renato Rei

The series that every wonderland fan has been waiting for is here! Of all the evil and sinister beings who have occupied the terrifying realm of Wonderland none have instilled fear in all they meet as much as one particular hat wearing villain. The boy turned man who nearly ended the world as we know it is back. The most diabolical villain in the history of wonderland returns. The story of Johnny Liddle’s transformation into the sinister Mad Hatter will finally be told and his origin may very well drive you absolutely mad. From writers Raven Gregory (Wonderland trilogy) and Pat Shand (Unleashed) comes the follow up to the hit, Wonderland series DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE, where a world of horror awaits and it’s no farther away than a step… THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS.

Grimm Fairy Tales 2013 Halloween Special

Written by Pat Shand, Dan Wickline
Covers By Alfredo Reyes, Joi Washington, Joe Pekar

Over the years Sela has faced a host of foes. The Piper, Headless Horseman, Jack Frost and the Scarecrow have all menaced her at one time or another. But she’s never had to face them all at the same time…until now! In the midst of a Halloween designed for Sela, Red and Robyn to have some fun all hell breaks loose and they find themselves in a fight for their lives. This is one Halloween they’ll never forget…if they manage to survive it!

Screwed #5

Created by Tyler Kirkham, Written by Keith Thomas
Covers By Tyler Kirkham, David Miller, Oracle

This is the issue not to miss! A demon from the past appears to threaten Erin’s sanity. Anne attempts to reach out to the life she once knew but can she get past the monster she’s become? Meanwhile the main event that fans have been asking for since issue 1, Agent Simon and Suture face off and only one will walk away! As if that’s not enough, the stage is set for the explosive finale as the mysterious puppeteer who has been pulling the strings is finally revealed!

Oz #3

Written by Joe Brusha
Covers by Ken Lashley, Richard Ortiz, Anthony Spay, Ale Garza

Dorothy’s travels through the land of Oz in search of the Veridian Scepter bring her face to face with one danger after another. Luckily along with the danger with the she also finds new allies in the Lion, Tin Man and Scarecrow…but unknown to Dorothy and Glinda one of these new companions may not be the noble friend they pretend to be.

Grimm Fairy Tales Hunters #5

Written by Pat Shand
Covers by Paulo Siqueira, Abhishek Malsuni, Paolo Pantalena

The Being, Samira, Ravenous and an endless army of monsters…versus Sela and the four exiled monster hunters. Things don’t look good for our supernatural fighting quintet as they face off against the greatest threat earth has ever faced. Will our time lost Hunters find a way to defeat the impossible obstacle before them or will the Being escape the Shadow Lands and Unleashed his evil upon the world? The final issue of the events prior to the main Unleashed series are revealed! From writer Raven Gregory (The Theater, and Irresistible)
Unleashed tie-in!

Grimm Fairy Tales Volume 14

Written by Joe Bursha, Pat Shand, Troy Brownfield

Grimm Fairy Tales returns to the horrific retelling of fairy tales that made the series so popular! Jack Frost brings the cold chill of death and destruction to the frightened folks unfortunate enough to meet him.
While the world is reeling from the events of Unleashed, Sela and the newly resurrected Belinda have made it their mission to help people in need. This leads them to Kiera, a beautiful Highborn with a fiery secret who has been living among humans for centuries.

Collects Grimm Fairy Tales issues #82-84 and #86-87.

Grimm Fairy Tales Vampires and Werewolves

Written by Pat Shand, Mark L Miller

Zenescope’s UNLEASHED, The comic book event of the year, brings classic fairy tales monsters into the Myth realm of the Grimm Universe! Collect the Unleashed tie-in stories that feature Roman putting down the werewolf packs, and Liesel Van Helsing taking the fight to the vampires on their path to send these monsters back to the Shadowlands!

Collects Grimm Fairy Tales: Vampires #1-3 and Grimm Fairy Tales: Werewolves #1-3.

Zenescope New Releases: 8/21/13 and 8/28/13

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Brett

8/21 New Releases

Grimm Fairy Tales #88

Written by Pat Shand

The Dark Queen has risen from the dead, but something has gone wrong. What monstrosity has the Dark One released onto the world, and can it be controlled? As the Dark One and his horde contend with her, Sela learns something disturbing about Warren. What chilling secret has her new boyfriend been hiding? Find out in the series that started it all – Grimm Fairy Tales!

Oz #2

Written By Joe Brusha

Trapped in Oz and hunted by the armies of the fallen Wicked Witch of the East, Dorothy finds allies in Glinda, the good witch of Oz and the lion Thorne. Together they embark on a quest for the veridian scepter, an artifact that can both free Oz from the tyranny of the Wicked Witch, and also send Dorothy home. All that stands in their way is the Wicked Witch of the West and her army of deadly warriors, flying monkeys and demon dogs.

Grimm Fairy Tales Realm Knights #1

Written By Pat Shand

BRAND NEW SERIES!

This August, ROBYN HOOD and UNLEASHED writer Pat Shand kicks off the all-new team book that unites all the fan favorite characters from the Grimm Universe!

Sela. Robyn Hood. Red Riding Hood. Captain Hook. Neptune, god of the sea. Van Helsing. On their own, they are some of the most powerful beings in the Grimm Universe… but together, they are the REALM KNIGHTS. Brought together to stop an ancient evil from regaining his all-powerful weapons, can these conflicted warriors work out their own issues in time to save the world?

8/28 New Releases

Grimm Fairy Tales No Tomorrow #1

Written By Raven Gregory

In the not so far off future, the battle between the forces of good and evil for control of the nexus has finally come to an end… but this uneasy peace is not meant to last. A new horror is born into the Grimm Universe more terrifying than any before. A horror whose name is spoken in hushed and fearful whispers. A horror more beautiful than the breath we breathe but as deadly as our last and final gasp: Keres, the Goddess of the Death!

From fan-favorite writer Raven Gregory (Wonderland trilogy/Fly/Dream Eater saga) comes THE WORLD’S MOST TERRIFYING COMIC BOOK! In a world where Death has gone mad, there may be…NO TOMORROW!

Digital First Release

Suckers #0

Written by Pat Shand

Artwork by Ian McGinty

While on their nightly hunt, Chad and John, two buffoonish vampires happen upon the film set of the romantic thriller, MOONSHADE: THE ROMANTIC, REDEEMED VAMPIRE! Intent on reminding the masses that vampires are monsters and not romantic cliches, Chad and John begin turning the film shoot into a massacre — until the star himself, Moonshade, arrives on set. Little do they know, Moonshade may play a sparkly puppy dog… but in reality he’s a blood-guzzling, badass just playing a part. Chad and John have crossed the biggest bad guy in town, and these suckers don’t stand a chance!

Zenescope New Releases: 7/3/13

Posted on July 3, 2013 by Brett

Oz #1

Written By Joe Brusha
Pencils by Rolando, covers by J. Scott Campbell, Artgerm, Ebas, and Ale Garza

At long last the last realm of power in the Grimm Fairy Tales universe is revealed…and there’s never been an Oz quite like this. This modern take on the story reimagines the classic fairy tale in the classic Zenescope style. The Witches of OZ are searching for a lost weapon of power known as the Veridian Scepter. Their quest leads them to the most unlikeliest of places…the farmlands of Kansas and the home of the unlikeliest of heroes…Dorothy Gale. With incredible cover art by superstars J Scott Campbell, Artgerm, EBAS and Ale Garza! The epic Oz adventure starts here.

Screwed #2

Created by Tyler Kirkam,
Written by Keith Thomas
Covers By Tyler Kirkham, David Miller

The carnage continues as Anne’s search for her past leads her to the abandoned meat market where she was found. Slowly her memories begin to filter back to her as she finds information about Project Frankenstein. Meanwhile FBI Agent Erin Scott, Secret Agent Simon and the monstrous Suture are hot on her trail and only one of them has her best interest at heart. Also get a look at the secret Erin Scott is keeping from the world and discover what is the connection between Agent Simon and Suture?

Grimm Fairy Tales Werewolves #2

Written By Mark L Miller
Covers by Ken Lashley, Tyler Kirkham, Marat Mychaels

As a ferocious werewolf cleaves its way through the city, the time-lost monster hunter Roman must track it to his quarry… a young girl who has suffered a bite from the wolf. What he doesn’t know is that a secret government facility has taken Charlotte into custody, intent on finding out what makes her tick. Don’t miss the new landmark horror series from Zenescope and Mark L. Miller (Jungle Book)! UNLEASHED tie-in.

Zenescope Entertainment Announces Oz

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Brett

Zenescope Entertainment has announced plans to publish its newest Grimm Fairy Tales comic book spinoff entitled Oz. Fans of Zenescope’s comics have been looking forward to the company’s re-imagining of this classic story for quite a while as it’s been hinted at in numerous issues over the past two years. Oz will finally make its much-anticipated debut at the 2013 San Diego Comic Con and hit retailer shelves in late July.

Zenescope’s President and co-founder, Joe Brusha, will be handling the writing for the new Oz series. “

Brusha said:

We’re very excited to finally reveal the fourth realm of the Grimm Fairy Tales Universe. We’ve already introduced alternate versions of Neverland and Wonderland and have been planning Oz for such a long time and now we finally get to deliver something epic to our fans. I hope they enjoy reading it as much as we’ve enjoyed creating it.

This modern take on the Oz story retells the classic mythology with a fascinating blend of dark fantasy and action-packed adventure. It begins as the witches of Oz search for a lost weapon of power known as the Veridian Scepter. Their quest ultimately leads them to the unlikeliest of places – the farmlands of Kansas – and specifically to the home of a young woman named Dorothy Gale.

The first issue features interior artwork by newcomer Rolando Neto and covers by superstar artists J Scott Campbell, Artgerm, Eric Basaldua and Ale Garza and is available now for pre-order in Diamond’s May edition of Previews for a July 2013 release.

Check out more art below!

Zenescope Takes Us to Oz

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Brett

Zenescope today released to teasers for their new series Oz, which hits shelves this summer.