Seriously. They re-recorded the dialogue.

A one-two punch of madness from Chris Cunningham and Aphex Twin: “Come to Daddy” and “Rubber Johnny.”

“Once something hooks my interest, I tend to look for reasons to keep enjoying it, and to downplay reasons to give it up….I am very much on the lookout for things that enrich my mental landscape, and in particular for ones that hook and stir my emotions in satisfying ways. The renewing of my feelings after the year’s shocks is a big priority to me – much higher than the exercise of punching holes in things just to demonstrate that I can. It’s not exactly kindness toward the work, but it’s something like that.”

–Bruce Baugh, in a post on approaches to fandom and criticism with which I identify so strongly that I’m hesitant to do anything other than say “please go and read it”

Today’s scary clip: “Monster Hospital” by Metric. Directed by Micah Meisner, the video pays homage to some too-often overlooked sources of really striking horror imagery–that brief dream sequence at the beginning of the original Dawn of the Dead and the coming of Zuul in Ghostbusters (which works as well as both horror and science fiction as it does as a comedy and a New York City movie).

“You’re not addressing my argument, Peter. Can you refute my point with one hundred percent certainty? Because if not, then you’re wrong, and I’m right, and I win!”

–Iron Man, “Wherein I Show Why I Shouldn’t Be Allowed To Use Photoshop” (Civil War #5 parody), by Christopher Bird

Today’s scary video: “Believe” by the Chemical Brothers, directed by Dom and Nick. Imagine the video for “Owner of a Lonely Heart” crossed with a version of “Jurassic Park” that replaced the dinosaurs with industrial machinery and you’re pretty much there.

Feeling underserviced in terms of your Sean T. Collins bloviation needs? Fear not!

This week at Wizard’s Thursday Morning Quarterback comics review roundtable, I’ve got some things to say about this week’s issues of Justice Society of America, 52, Spider-Man: Reign, Detective Comics, Doctor Strange: The Oath, The Exterminators, Invincible, Ultimate Vision, and The Walking Dead.

And at The Horror Blog’s Horror Roundtable, I describe my least favorite horror experience of 2006. Sadly, it involves Udo Kier.

Over at Cryptomundo, Loren Coleman has posted a pretty freaking incredible-looking image-stabilization animated gif of the famous Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot footage–you know, the one where the big ape turns and looks at the camera as it walks through the woods. Created by M.K. Davis, the gif arranges each frame of the film so that the creature (or special-effects guy in a suit, if John Landis is to be believed) stays oriented in the same vertical and horizontal plane and can actually be seen to walk across the woods as he walks across your screen. (I’d host it here, but the damn thing would bust my template wide open.) Just click already!

The other day I realized that horror cognoscenti will invariably inveigh against whatever is the dominant mode of horror at the time: slasher flicks, self-reflexive WB Stars in Peril movies, Sixth Sense-style creepy-kid or I-see-dead-people pictures, J-horror remakes/knockoffs, meat movies, whatever. I’m not sure if this means we’re too quick to turn on whatever’s popular or if whatever’s popular is too quick to turn crappy. Probably a bit of both.

Well, I might as well make a full-fledged continuing series out of this, huh?

The first thing I thought of when I saw yesterday’s bloody good CSS clip was Kings of Leon’s similar video for their song “Four Kicks.” I’ve blogged about the video before: “The video’s innovation is to freeze the action whenever the lead singer is singing, allowing the viewer to see brightly lit close-ups on a woman’s face just before it’s about to be pounded with the butt of a fire extinguisher, or an exploded lamp the second after it’s been smashed over a man’s head.” How’s that for the hard sell?

This is becoming a regular thing, isn’t it? That’s a wonderful turn of events if you ask me. Anyway, here’s a really rather shockingly gory video for CSS’s “Alala,” directed by Cat Solen. Funky and frightening.

This week’s Horror Roundtable over at The Horror Blog asked its respondents to name their favorite horror experience of 2006, and fully 50% (including me) named seeing Neil Marshall’s The Descent. Over at my day job, the film was also our selection for Movie of the Year–a controversial choice if our message board filled with people who haven’t seen the movie is to be believed.

Because the show must go on.

This week’s Thursday Morning Quarterback comics review roundtable sees me sound off on The Immortal Iron Fist, Captain America, 52, American Virgin, Ultimate Power, What If? Featuring Wolverine: Enemy of the State, and X-Men. If I’d been more on the ball, Acme Novelty Library #17 could have gotten in there. Blame me, Chris Ware.

And from the sublime to the ridiculous: Check out “Bad Guys Wear Pink,” an original art piece I edited featuring comicdom’s nastiest pink-hued villains. If you’ve ever wanted to see Parasite eat Barbie dolls or wondered how Sinestro feels about the recording artist behind “Get This Party Started,” now’s your chance…

Sasquatch, Hedorah, Frankenstein–shades of all these famous monsters can be found in this pretty enthralling clip for Menomena’s “Cough Coughing,” directed by Jonnie Ross. Just when you think you know where this little creature-feature music video is going, it goes someplace else.

A hi-res version can be found here.

Now here’s a great horror video. It’s for the song “Sheena Is a Parasite” by UK outfit the Horrors (love the name, love the look, pretty sweet song too), and it’s directed by Chris Cunningham, whom horror fans will likely remember for his insanely harrowing clip for Aphex Twin’s “Come to Daddy,” or a longer collaboration with Aphex called “Rubber Johnny.” I’ve been putting off watching this thing for a month or so. Boy, do I regret it.

Damn.

I have no dog in this race, but Jason Adams wrote the following in his latest post in praise of Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain, and it’s a doozy:

Yes, Weisz’ character is written in the well-worn shorthand of The Perfect Gal, with big loving doe-eyes and a wicked laugh, who once ran ahead in a sexy dress and who now needs to be rescued.

“Who once ran ahead in a sexy dress”–pow.

Hi, I’m Sean Collins. Have we met?

Stacie Ponder on Candyman

My swell co-worker Rick Marshall’s five favorite scary movies

Mersidotes’s five favorite scary movies (the inspiration for Rick’s list)

Jason Adams whups on Yahoo! UK’s top ten horror movie list

Rich Juziak on Saw III, Chaos and “torture porn” horror films

An underwater photo from Loch Ness that diddled my sea-monster skittle

Idaho State University’s Professor Jeffrey Meldrum, Sasquatchologist and faculty pariah

Eve Tushnet wants you to read Love & Rockets

Eve Tushnet still wants you to read Love & Rockets

The University of Arizona Marching Band plays Radiohead so well that it literally made me cry

I’ve been drinking the Smuttynose Brewing Company’s Pumpkin Ale a lot lately

Nostromo Design makes some great horror t-shirts

The Symphony of Exploding Heads

I have now ordered Season One of Battlestar Galactica on DVD for the third time. The first time, a month went by before the seller informed me they were out of stock and refunded my money. The second time, I received some weird bare-bones version with different packaging and next to no extras. Let’s hope the third time’s the charm. So say we all.

I’ve returned to my seat at Horror Blog Steven’s Horror Roundtable this week, talking about a movie that scared the crap out of me as a kid. Here’s a clue:

Still kinda scares me now, actually.

Feast your eyes, glut your soul on the final Lost TVQB roundtable until, like, Valentine’s Day or something. I’ll miss you, fish biscuits.

Meanwhile, watch me jabber on about Dr. Strange: The Oath, Batman, Stormwatch: Post Human Division, 52, Gen 13, Punisher MAX, Superman, Tales of the Unexpected, and Ultimate X-Men in this week’s Thursday Morning Quarterback comic-book roundtable.