The first season of Shudder's docu-series wraps up with two tragedy laden films, The Crow and Twilight Zone: The Movie -- a one-two punch that proves surprisingly emotional. The Crow claimed the life of Brandon Lee, prompting rumours of a family curse against the males in the Lee family. Brandon's dad is, of course, the great Bruce Lee, who died young himself. Veteran actor Vic Morrow died on the set of Twilight Zone: The Movie, along with two young children Morrow shared a scene with. Filmmaker Jay Cheel explores how death prompts people to look for reasons behind it, which is where rumours of a curse were born. However, he reveals through interviews with filmmakers, special-effects artists, and stunt people that Lee and Murrow died from tragic accidents prompted by negligence and ego. Sad, but true. The episodes work best when they focus on the impact Lee's passing had on his friends and colleagues, and when Cheel explores how accidents like the one that killed ...

So I have a very long list of movies I should have seen by now. The Crow (1994) was on there, and I definitely now see why it's recommended. This is an "edgy" and fun action flick that's pure 90s. It's dripping with moody atmosphere, and has that fun, juvenile edge that makes it the perfect goth-teen movie. This, of course, is helped by the pretty sweet soundtrack. It's also bordering on cheesy, but never quite gets there. This is probably from its comic-book roots, with many characters having catchphrases, strange quirks, etc. Now, there's no way to watch this without knowing about Brandon Lee's death during filming. However, the film is actually a fairly respectful tribute to him. While you can tell where they had to use doubles for him, the movie doesn't feel incomplete. To sum it up, this is a fun rewind to the 90s that pairs well with drinks and weed. Watch it again, as it's a Good.

There's a new track by the band Ice Nice Kills called A Grave Mistake, which is based on the 1994 Alex Proyas movie The Crow. It's a great track, which captures the sadness and savagery of the film, and the James O'Barr comic that inspired it. If you haven't heard it, seek it out! I've listened to the song dozens of times in the two weeks, and was compelled to go back and watch the movie again, having not seen it in probably 15 years. I was a bit hesitant going in. Would it's dark beauty remain? How about the emotional impact, which isn't just brought on by the sad nature of the story, but by the resonance of star Brandon Lee's tragic on-set death?

We first pimped Michael S. Ojeda's Avenged here in the The Basement a couple of years ago, and were pretty pumped to see the flick then. Surprise! A screener for the rape and revenge (ish) flick turned up in our email this week, so yours truly decided to give it a watch. How does it rate? Stick with me! Avenged stars Amanda Adrienne as a young deaf woman who rises from the grave to avenge the violent sexual assault committed against her.

The night before Halloween can be just as dark and mischievous as All Hallows Eve, only with a less supernatural slant. It's not known as Devil's Night or Mischief Night for nothin'. Pranks, vandalism, you name it. It goes down on Mischief Night. For reasons unknown, horror filmmakers haven't taken advantage of the lesser-known holiday . . . until now. Thank you, director Richard Schenkman! And Specticast, Ruthless Pictures and GMI Films, who are ready to release his slasher flick on the night in question -- Oct. 30. This is a one-night only screening and we've no word on where Mischief Night will play. Too bad too, as this would be something us Basementites would check out. But you know we'll catch it when we can. The trailer does hold promise. Mischief Night tells the story of a terrifying home invasion on the evening before Halloween. Emily Walton, a young woman suffering from psychosomatic blindness ever since the car accident that took her mothe...

It's bad enough Hollywood is remaking The Crow, but the fact Focus Features has been sniffing out the wrong stars for lead makes it even worse. First Mark Wahlberg was tapped to play Eric Draven, the murdered rock singer who returns from the grave to avenge his wife's murder. We in The Basement breathed a sigh of relief when Wahlberg dropped out of the project, but now word has it A-Team and Hangover star Bradley Cooper is locked for the role and I feel my stomach acid boil over once again. It's not that Cooper and Wahlberg are bad actors. I don't mind either of them depending on the role. But neither is Crow material. In fact none of the stars who played Draven after the late, great Brandon Lee nailed the part like he did. It takes more than long hair and face paint to make the character work. Lee had a charisma and presence none of the other actors share. And he wasn't a pretty boy like Cooper or Wahlberg. Truth be told, nothing about this project feels righ...

Thank F-ing God! The boys at JoBlo.com and Cinematical report that Mark Wahlberg has decided not to step into Brandon Lee's shoes for a Crow reboot, remake, whatever. And we applaud that. In Wahlberg's own words: "We never committed to making the movie. They talked to me about it and there was a director attached who I was a fan of, and he's no longer doing it. We just thought about it – 'is there something cool to be done there?' But we're not committed to making the movie." The director he mentions is Stephen Norrington, who had this to say about Wahlberg's involvement with the project after he left: "I think Wahlberg could be cool if they take a gritty blue-collar approach. He's a truthful actor. I think he could really ground the supernatural stuff." Shawn and I voiced our displeasure at Wahlberg's potential casting here . Now if they can just deep six the project altogether we would truly be happy.

It could be time to break out the goth makeup, Mark Wahlberg may be taking over from the late Brandon Lee in the new version of The Crow. Word across the Interweb says an official offer hasn't been made yet, but the Oscar winner is apparently in talks with Relativity Media to star in the upcoming remake/reboot of Alex Proyas’ 1994 comic book-based movie. That film is notorious as Lee was tragically killed on the set when a prop gun misfired. The news is slightly surprising because Wahlberg is considered an A-list star and the series, which degenerated into straight-to-video fair by the time it was done, hasn't lent itself to such talent. Then again, his recent efforts, including the incredibly shitty Max Payne and The Happening, might mean his star has fallen. Personally, Wahlberg seems a terrible choice. Then again, it's hard to top the work the late Lee did. He owned the role and producers should have left well enough alone after the first one.