AT SIX foot four inches tall and weighing in at 220lbs, most of it muscle, Supernatural star Jared Padalecki is a formidable presence both on and off screen.

But the man who battles all kinds of paranormal nasties with fists, knives, guns and even the power of his mind, on the cult TV show, reveals he is soft as a marshmallow inside when it comes to animals – and even cried at Marley & Me.

He was persuaded to watch the hit movie about a family and their disobedient dog by co-star Jensen Ackles, whom he noticed was looking suspiciously red-eyed after seeing it while the pair were flying back from Australia.

“I’ll admit it,” says Jared. “It totally got to me. I’d read the book and it was fantastic. If you haven’t seen it and you want to cry…”

Jared, who was in Birmingham recently to attend fan convention Asylum 3, dedicated to the show he stars in, is devoted to his dogs Harley, a mastiff, and Sadie, a German Shepherd. During holidays he even insists on driving them all the way from Vancouver, where the series is filmed, to his native Texas, after a friend warned him about the number of pets that die during flights. Even though he has been working solidly as an actor since he was a teenager, Jared enjoys stopping at the most run down motels en route.  Read the rest of this entry »

“Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things” is ostensibly about Dean and Sam happening across a zombie that needs to be hunted down. What it is actually about however, is the fact that Dean has issues and still doesn’t want to talk to Sam.
The title of the episode is a reference to the low-budget 1972 zombie movie of the same name, directed by Bob Clark. It is also the first title that made me laugh; I like when they are creative with the name of the episode. The zombie here is a deceased college student, Angela, who is brought back by her friend Neil. Apparently Neil had an unrequited crush and saw a chance to spend more time with her. The story itself is fairly standard and there is nothing particularly memorable about any of the characters, except perhaps wanting to question the sanity of Neil. Did he think he could have some sort of romantic relationship with zombie Angela? Ick.

While the girl-formerly-known-as-Angela needs to be dispatched, the purpose of this entire plot is to illuminate that Dean has issues, with a capital “I”. His reaction toward anyone he believes was part of going against nature to bring Angela back from the grave is full of anger, anger that is often misplaced as he lashes out at whoever is nearby. Not once, not twice, but three times he states that “what’s dead should stay dead.” As is Supernatural’s tendency, especially here in season two, there is no subtlety about making sure we understand that Dean is projecting his recent experiences onto this situation.   Read the rest of this entry »

Look, the formula works, and you remember what happens whenever someone tries to steer Friday the 13th in a completely different direction, right? Swap out Jason for some nutjob kid as the killer? Fail. Square off against a telekinetic Carrie type? Fail. Shove him on a boat bound for Manhattan? While he’s tooling around on the water, at least, fail. Have him leap from one meat-suit to the next after some schlub gobbles on a pan-seared black heart? Yeah, fail. Hell, having plowed through just about everything else to do with Jason, they launched the poor bastard into outer space…although I kinda liked that one, so I’m not gonna type “fail” there. The only fundamental change that’s ever worked for Friday the 13th is forking over the mantle of killer from mother to son, and as Platinum Dunes mashed the reset button on the franchise, that’s where they opted to keep it. Jason. Machete. Crystal Lake. A parade of soon-to-be-skewered twentysomethings. This isn’t a reimagining — it’s a K-Tel Greatest Hits of the first four Fridays crammed into a blood-drenched hour forty-five.   Read the rest of this entry »

Friday the 13th: The Day. Occurring once or twice in most years, a Friday falling on the 13th day of a month has long been regarded as bad luck. The superstition has been traced back separately to the 19th century, ancient Norse mythology, and the Knights Templar of the late Middle Ages.

Friday the 13th: The Movies. Credited alongside Halloween (1978) with popularizing the slasher subgenre of horror films, the original Friday the 13th was released in 1980 and followed by five sequels over the next six years. Three more sequels came and then 1993′s Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday seemed to put the franchise to rest, but only until New Line Cinema took over with 2002′s Jason X. That soon led to Freddy vs. Jason, a crossover with the universe of fellow New Line horror franchise Nightmare on Elm Street. The series’ title phrase, invoked in each installment’s plot, no doubt raised familiarity with the date’s connotations.   Read the rest of this entry »

AS THE FINALE of hit demon-hunting show Supernatural nears on ITV2 at the end of this month, fans are already wondering what they’ll do without their weekly dose of Winchester magic.

Happily, Warner Home Video has finally released details of the launch dates for the Season Four part two and Complete Season DVDs.

With a multi-region player and no patience whatsoever, you can get hold of the complete season from the USA on September 1 or, if you wait a little longer, the UK will have part two available from September 21 and the complete season from November 2.

If you can’t even make it that far without chewing your nails to the quick, The Coventry Telegraph has some exclusive behind-the-scenes info from stars Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles who spoke to us at the Asylum 3 Supernatural convention in Birmingham.  Read the rest of this entry »