A&E and History have combined for some of the best educational as well as entertaining programs over the years. Many of those shows have taken close looks at the various civilizations and empires throughout world history. Most of these shows take a look at these civilizations from the inside outward. We're not talking the litany of facts and accomplishments that we've seen on hundreds of documentaries as well as our old high school textbooks. These programs look at the day-to-day life of these cultures and peoples. The accomplishments here are the ones that affected everyday life within these empires.

Written by Diane Tillis

Grimm Love is a thriller film based upon the true story of a cannibal and his willing meal. Graduate student Katie Armstrong (Keri Russell) is researching into cannibal Oliver Hartwin (Thomas Kretschmann) and his victim Simon Grombeck (Thomas Huber) as a part of her criminal psychology thesis. As she goes deeper into their tortured psyches, Katie begins to lose herself to her obsession to understand why. Grimm Love is a love story from hell. The men were attracted to each other as perfect opposites; Simon wanted to be eaten and Oliver was hungry. Their intense relationship would drive the two men carry out an unimaginable horror.

Sometimes when you have two reviewers in the family, you have to save your better half from a movie they simply don't understand. I found myself in that situation when my wife took on the daunting task of trying to review The Haunting from the Fright Fest collection. She couldn't put together the various religion themes into a compelling review, so I decided to help her out since she's done the same for me many times over. So did I understand the goings on? Well kinda.

Former pirate radio DJ Mike Raven plays Victor Clare (a case where the actor has a scarier name than the character he plays), reclusive artist who, one strongly suspects, has the unpleasant House-of-Wax-y propensity to pour molten metal on his models in order to bronze them. A group of characters with varying agendas gather at his Cornwall abode: his senile wife; his sexually ambivalent model; his weak, alcoholic son (Ronald Lacey, a long way from the menacing Nazi he would later play in Raiders of the Lost Ark) and impatient daughter-in-law; a neophyte art dealer and his girlfriend, Millie (Mary Maude). Victor becomes obsessed with Millie, determined make her his artistic muse. Meanwhile, the cast is being gruesomely bumped off one after the other.

Written by Diane Tillis

If you happen to be a loyal fan of B-horror films, like I am, then you are going to want to check out Dark House. For those who have never heard of the ‘B-horror film’ concept, here is a little education!

There are several differences between Hollywood horror films and B-horror films. Hollywood horror films are better known to larger audiences, have nice-sized budgets, and tend to be released around the Halloween season. B-horror films are usually straight to DVD or shown at select independent theaters, such as Grindhouse theaters.

Wow, someone took Dolan’s Cadillac, one of my favourite Stephen King short stories, and made it into a movie! Awesome! Cool, not a bad cast either. Christian Slater and Wes Bentley. Good actors. A little bit of edge to them. This might be alright. What’s that? It’s a straight to DVD release? Well that’s not promising. Hmm? It was made in Saskatchewan? By a Canadian sit-com director? Okay, now you’re just messing with me…

As it turns out, it’s all true. King’s sun-scorched tale of madness and revenge has indeed been brought to the screen, even if that screen is the one hooked up to your DVD player.

Troma Entertainment has harnessed a young group of Canuck filmmakers who go by the moniker ASTRON-6, and will be debuting their first feature film venture into the realm of bad taste. The film is called Father's Day and the trailer, which is filled to the brim with topless women and bloody, man-and-man rape, is already getting attention online. As well, it seems that Troma founder Lloyd Kaufman simply cannot stop talking about the film, based on the amount of clips available online (google Lloyd or Troma and soon find out).

The Ghost Whisperer has just released its 5th and final season on DVD. I had a chance to talk with Ian Sander, part of Sander/Moses Productions. Together with his wife Kim Moses, Ian help to guide the successful series from its conception through 106 episodes and 5 years. It was a wonderful chat. Bang it here to listen in on my conversation with Ian Moses

Check out Ian Sander and Kim Moses at Sander/Moses

Many of you might have noticed that our review of the comedy film Alien Autopsy brought with it a lively conversation in the comments. We heard from a couple of guys who have been dealing with the 1995 hoax since that time. Needless to say, they have some pretty strong opinions. Here at Upcomingdiscs, we welcome this kind of dialog. So, I invited Mark Center to talk about his feelings about all things Alien Autopsy. It was a great conversation. Now you can listen in. Bang it here to listen to my conversation with Mark Center

You can also follow Mark and his Mulder-like search for the truth at: Beyond Roswell

Written by Diane Tillis

October is my favorite month for several reasons. First, my birthday is only a month away…hint hint. Second, the cooler weather characteristic of fall finally reaches Florida, even if it only lasts a weekend. And finally, it is the month for horror films!! Finding a truly amazing (scream till I am white in the face, can’t sleep for fear of the boogie monster) horror film is something I love to do every October. I will collect some of the historic foreign horror films, throw in a little Hitchcock with a dash of Supernatural episodes, and put on my own horror festival.