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Did You Know?: THE RUNNING MAN was a REAL gameshow!

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Written by Dr. Jose

Imagine a dystopian, totalitarian future full of fear, violence, and running. Lots of running.

No, I’m not talking about our current state of affairs (ha-ha *collar pull*). I’m talking about Stephen King’s hit sci-fi novel, The Running Man. Written in 1982 and set in 2025*, King’s vision of the future is a grim, if not prescient, one: the worldwide economy is completely wrecked, violence is at an all-time high, and the country exists in a culturally-censored police state**. For entertainment, people tune in to a new reality game show called The Running Man – a show where contestants travel all over the world to escape the assassins who were hired to kill them. If they survive 30 days, they win freedom and the grand prize of one billion dollars. Only thing is: no one has survived longer than a week.

In a prime example of life imitating art (or is it art imitating life?), a Berlin-based production company ExtraMile was so inspired by King’s story, they decided to make it a reality – and in August of 2000, they did just that.

The concept was the brainchild of triathlon athlete, Alexander Skora, and was broadcast over the then-burgeoning internet at “RealityRun.com”. Viewers followed along as Roger, a Dutch gym teacher, did his best to avoid getting spotted by his would-be captors. If Roger was able to go undetected for 24 days, he’d win the grand prize of $10,000. If he was caught before then, his captor would claim the reward. Here’s the wild part: anyone and everyone could be a potential capturer. Spectators observed Roger’s whereabouts via the RealityRun website, which gave out clues and hints as to his location, and they were encouraged to seek him out and take his potential winnings.

Coincidentally, much like the contestants in The Running Man, poor Roger only lasted a week out in the wild: a young German woman spotted him in a library, nabbed him, and won the grand prize of $10,000. Roger walked away without any money, but at least he was still alive.

The internet show proved to be somewhat of a hit. After a bit of rule-tweaking (mainly, lowering the survival span from 24 days to a mere week), subsequent “episodes” took place in the United States. The idea was to have all the winners from the cumulative episodes converge in a “Mega-RealityRun” winner-take-all grand finale, for the grand prize of $100,000. There was even talks of turning the web-based program into a TV show. Unfortunately, the contest was to take place on September 10th, 2001. Any plans for a reality show about people hunting a fugitive were scrapped in the wake of September 11th, 2001.

Strangely enough, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were trying to get their own identical reality show, The Runner, off the ground at the same time RealityRun was being eyed at for network TV.  After 15 years of laying dormant, the show finally premiered online in July 2016. A second season is in the works.

* The movie version, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, takes place in 2017 – which is just a liiiitttle too spooky for me.

** I don’t know what’s scarier: the fact that Stephen King predicted reality shows almost 20 years before they became a thing, or that he predicted our current social climate 35 years before it happened.

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Watch ‘The Burning’ At The Location Where It Was Filmed

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Fangoria is reporting that fans of the 1981 slasher The Burning will be able to have a screening of the film at the location where it was filmed. The movie is set at Camp Blackfoot which is actually the Stonehaven Nature Preserve in Ransomville, New York.

This ticketed event will take place on August 3. Guests will be able to take a tour of the grounds as well as enjoy some campfire snacks along with the screening of The Burning.

The Burning

The film came out in the early ’80s when teen slashers were being churned out in magnum force. Thanks to Sean S. Cunningham’s Friday the 13th, filmmakers wanted to get in on the low-budget, high-profit movie market and a casket load of these types of films were produced, some better than others.

The Burning is one of the good ones, mostly because of the special effects from Tom Savini who had just come off of his groundbreaking work on Dawn of the Dead and Friday the 13th. He declined to do the sequel because of its illogical premise and instead signed on to do this movie. Also, a young Jason Alexander who would later go on to play George in Seinfeld is a featured player.

Because of its practical gore, The Burning had to be heavily edited before it received an R-rating. The MPAA was under the thumb of protest groups and political bigwigs to censor violent films at the time because slashers were just so graphic and detailed in their gore.

Tickets are $50, and if you want a special t-shirt, that will cost you another $25, You can get all the information by visiting the On Set Cinema webpage.

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‘Longlegs’ Creepy “Part 2” Teaser Appears on Instagram

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Longlegs

Neon Films released an Insta-teaser for their horror film Longlegs today. Titled Dirty: Part 2, the clip only furthers the mystery of what we are in for when this movie is finally released on July 12.

The official logline is: FBI Agent Lee Harker is assigned to an unsolved serial killer case that takes unexpected turns, revealing evidence of the occult. Harker discovers a personal connection to the killer and must stop him before he strikes again.

Directed by former actor Oz Perkins who also gave us The Blackcoat’s Daughter and Gretel & Hansel, Longlegs is already creating buzz with its moody images and cryptic hints. The film is rated R for bloody violence, and disturbing images.

Longlegs stars Nicolas Cage, Maika Monroe, and Alicia Witt.

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Exclusive Sneak Peek: Eli Roth and Crypt TV’s VR Series ‘The Faceless Lady’ Episode Five

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Eli Roth (Cabin Fever) and Crypt TV are knocking it out of the park with their new VR show, The Faceless Lady. For those unaware, this is the first fully scripted VR horror show on the market.

Even for masters of horror like Eli Roth and Crypt TV, this is a monumental undertaking. However, if I trust anyone to change the way that we experience horror, it would be these two legends.

The Faceless Lady

Ripped from the pages of Irish folklore, The Faceless Lady tells the story of a tragic spirit cursed to wander the halls of her castle for all of eternity. However, when three young couples are invited to the castle for a series of games, their fates may soon change.

So far, the story has provided horror fans with a gripping game of life or death that doesn’t look as if it will slow down in episode five. Luckily, we have an exclusive clip that may be able to satiate your appetites until the new premiere.

Airing on 4/25 at 5pmPT/8pmET, episode five follows our final three contestants in this wicked game. As the stakes are raised ever higher, will Ella be able to fully awaken her connection with Lady Margaret?

The faceless lady

The newest episode can be found on Meta Quest TV. If you haven’t already, follow this link to subscribe to the series. Make sure to check out the new clip below.

Eli Roth Present’s THE FACELESS LADY S1E5 Clip: THE DUEL – YouTube

To view in the highest resolution, adjust the quality settings in the bottom right corner of the clip.

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