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H.R. Giger’s Greatest Hits: A Legacy of Surreal Album Art

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In preparation for Alien Day, you can expect a surge of H.R. Giger’s surrealistic Xenomorph artwork to be celebrated along with the legacy of the 1979 film. But Giger had done more than just Ridley Scott’s film. He also worked very closely with another genre very close to my heart: Rock and roll.

While many of these fall into the category of more extreme heavy metal, you’d be surprised at the true span of the relationship between H.R. Giger and music. The artist would retain a very close working relationship with legendary guitarist and singer Tom G. Warrior, who would use Giger’s art in numerous projects of his, but not everything has been so dark and distorted. Progressive rock band Emerson, Lake, and Palmer would feature his artwork as well on an album that traded electric guitars for synthesizers.

metalinjection.net

Giger and Warrior.

While this is just a sample of what I personally find to be his best and most enduring artwork, a deeper search will reveal even more of his powerful and surrealistic art. Read on for my picks of his six best pieces of album art.

Carcass – Heartwork (1993)

Courtesy of Metal-Archives.com

“Heartwork” differs from most of the albums on this list due to the fact that it featured one of H.R. Giger’s sculptures as opposed to his paintings. There is a cold, ambiguous feeling to this specific piece. The juxtaposition between the peace sign and the open, spiked arms creates something that is highly unsettling yet unusually simple for the artist.

Steve Stevens – Atomic Playboys (1989)

Courtesy of Amazon.com

Definitely his most tame, I chose to include this one simply for the fact that I loved how it contained an electric guitar. This is highly unusual for Giger and is one of his least controversial paintings. While many would depict reproductive organs and explicit sex acts, the art for “Atomic Playboys” depicts a fretboard instead. A more mainstream approach without a doubt.

Danzig III: How The Gods Kill (1992)

Courtesy of Escapistmagazine.com

The influence of the Xenomorph is strong here. I find this to be one of Giger’s most appealing works – and that undoubtedly has to do with my love and appreciation for the music on what is my favorite album by Glenn Danzig. There seems to be a relationship between the woman’s mouth, the serpent, and the two creatures approaching from the side; one that feels unsettling and sexual being committed by four members of the same being. But isn’t that exactly what you’d expect from something from Giger?

Tryptykon – Eparistera Daimones (2010)

Courtesy of Tryptykon.com

The first album by the Tom G. Warrior-fronted Tryptykon features on of the artist’s most hellish depictions. Giger and Warrior, as stated above, would collaborate often. Though this is not the most popular of their partnerships – that can be found as the next one down on this list – it’s certainly one of his more extreme and aesthetically involved.

Celtic Frost – To Mega Therion (1985)

Courtesy of Discogs.com

And here, we have an immortal album cover by one of the most legendary heavy metal bands of all time: Celtic Frost. Offensive and sacrilegious, this is one of the most enduring album covers in all of heavy metal. Despite this, the phrase I most commonly attach to this piece of art is something very un-metal – a quote from one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time, A Christmas Story. “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!”

Emerson, Lake, and Palmer – Brain Salad Surgery (1973)

Courtesy of Amazon.com

Anyone who has ever turned on a classic rock radio station has encountered a song by this group. With swirling keyboards, frenetic drums, and some of the most phenomenal synthesizer playing of all time, “Brain Salad Surgery” is nothing short of a masterpiece. The dark and brooding album cover is synthetic and mechanical, inorganic and indifferent to the emotions integral to the human condition.

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Russell Crowe To Star in Another Exorcism Movie & It’s Not a Sequel

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Maybe it’s because The Exorcist just celebrated its 50th-anniversary last year, or maybe it’s because aging Academy Award-winning actors aren’t too proud to take on obscure roles, but Russell Crowe is visiting the Devil once again in yet another possession film. And it’s not related to his last one, The Pope’s Exorcist.

According to Collider, the film titled The Exorcism was originally going to be released under the name The Georgetown Project. Rights for its North American release were once in the hands of Miramax but then went to Vertical Entertainment. It will release on June 7 in theaters then head over to Shudder for subscribers.

Crowe will also star in this year’s upcoming Kraven the Hunter which is set to drop in theaters on August 30.

As for The Exorcism, Collider provides us with what it’s about:

“The film centers around actor Anthony Miller (Crowe), whose troubles come to the forefront as he shoots a supernatural horror movie. His estranged daughter (Ryan Simpkins) has to figure out whether he’s lapsing into his past addictions, or if something even more horrific is occurring. “

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New F-Bomb Laden ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Trailer: Bloody Buddy Movie

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Deadpool & Wolverine might be the buddy movie of the decade. The two heterodox superheroes are back in the latest trailer for the summer blockbuster, this time with more f-bombs than a gangster film.

‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Movie Trailer

This time the focus is on Wolverine played by Hugh Jackman. The adamantium-infused X-Man is having a bit of a pity party when Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) arrives on the scene who then tries to convince him to team up for selfish reasons. The result is a profanity-filled trailer with a Strange surprise at the end.

Deadpool & Wolverine is one of the most anticipated movies of the year. It comes out on July 26. Here is the latest trailer, and we suggest if you are at work and your space isn’t private, you might want to put in headphones.

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Original Blair Witch Cast Ask Lionsgate for Retroactive Residuals in Light of New Film

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The Blair Witch Project Cast

Jason Blum is planning to reboot The Blair Witch Project for the second time. That’s a fairly large task considering none of the reboots or sequels have managed to capture the magic of the 1999 film that brought found footage into the mainstream.

This idea has not been lost on the original Blair Witch cast, who has recently reached out to Lionsgate to ask for what they feel is fair compensation for their role in the pivotal film. Lionsgate gained access to The Blair Witch Project in 2003 when they purchased Artisan Entertainment.

Blair witch
The Blair Witch Project Cast

However, Artisan Entertainment was an independent studio before its purchase, meaning the actors were not part of SAG-AFTRA. As a result, the cast are not entitled to the same residuals from the project as actors in other major films. The cast doesn’t feel that the studio should be able to continue to profit off of their hard work and likenesses without fair compensation.

Their most recent request asks for “meaningful consultation on any future ‘Blair Witch’ reboot, sequel, prequel, toy, game, ride, escape room, etc., in which one could reasonably assume that Heather, Michael & Josh’s names and/or likenesses will be associated for promotional purposes in the public sphere.”

The blair witch project

At this time, Lionsgate has not offered any comment about this issue.

The full statement made by the cast can be found below.

OUR ASKS OF LIONSGATE (From Heather, Michael & Josh, stars of “The Blair Witch Project”):

1. Retroactive + future residual payments to Heather, Michael and Josh for acting services rendered in the original BWP, equivalent to the sum that would’ve been allotted through SAG-AFTRA, had we had proper union or legal representation when the film was made.

2. Meaningful consultation on any future Blair Witch reboot, sequel, prequel, toy, game, ride, escape room, etc…, in which one could reasonably assume that Heather, Michael & Josh’s names and/or likenesses will be associated for promotional purposes in the public sphere.

Note: Our film has now been rebooted twice, both times were a disappointment from a fan/box office/critical perspective. Neither of these films were made with significant creative input from the original team. As the insiders who created the Blair Witch and have been listening to what fans love & want for 25 years, we’re your single greatest, yet thus-far un-utilized secret-weapon!

3. “The Blair Witch Grant”: A 60k grant (the budget of our original movie), paid out yearly by Lionsgate, to an unknown/aspiring genre filmmaker to assist in making theirfirst feature film. This is a GRANT, not a development fund, hence Lionsgate will not own any of the underlying rights to the project.

A PUBLIC STATEMENT FROM THE DIRECTORS & PRODUCERS OF “THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT”:

As we near the 25th anniversary of The Blair Witch Project, our pride in the storyworld we created and the film we produced is reaffirmed by the recent announcement of a reboot by horror icons Jason Blum and James Wan.

While we, the original filmmakers, respect Lionsgate’s right to monetize the intellectual property as it sees fit, we must highlight the significant contributions of the original cast — Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Mike Williams. As the literal faces of what has become a franchise, their likenesses, voices, and real names are inseparably tied to The Blair Witch Project. Their unique contributions not only defined the film’s authenticity but continue to resonate with audiences around the world.

We celebrate our film’s legacy, and equally, we believe the actors deserve to be celebrated for their enduring association with the franchise.

Sincerely, Eduardo Sanchez, Dan Myrick, Gregg Hale, Robin Cowie, and Michael Monello

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