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Horror Boom’s Ten Scariest Asian Horror Movies Ever Made! – #10: “Coming Soon” (2008)

10 May 2014

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So, a couple of years ago I made a list for the IMDB of what I consider the ten scariest Asian horror films ever made. By the way, do you know how hard that was at the time,  to only pick ten?  If you think it would be easy, you either 1. have not watched as many Asian horror films as the average horror fan, or 2. you are made out of steel with ice-water instead of blood running through your veins, and no movie you have ever seen in your life has ever scared you, even as a kid.

Since I posted this list, I’ve seen more Asian horror movies than I have leading up to the years posting the list. So, there’ll probably be an addendum of an extra five (or ten) posted after this series of ten separate posts is complete.  I’m going to have to just cut and paste the goddamned list because the only way to save it that the IMDB has is as a MS table-spreadsheet, which doesn’t translate well (even if it didn’t delete all my copious notes on the movies. You may want to check back, because sometimes I can only post when it’s 3AM, all the lights are off except my laptop, and I’m the only one awake in the house (even the cats are asleep), and when I was scanning the entire list tonight, I felt my heartbeat speed up just reading my descriptions and flashing back to the most nightmarish, blood-curdling scenes and moments.  If you’re a restless sleeper that needs to sloooowly power down in order to relax enough to fall asleep, do you REALLY want to recall the big reveal in the last five minutes of Parkpoom Wongpoom‘s Shutter (2004) vividly when you’re trying to mellow out?  My point is,  I don’t want to do an image search for, say, Spiral unless it’s light out, so there’ll be more added to these posts later (plus trailers).

#10 – Coming Soon (2008, Thailand)

Fuck everything and run!

Fuck everything and run!

 I replaced Cinderella with this title–unfortunately, I hadn’t stumbled across it yet at the time. I saw the trailer for Coming Soon (the English title of this little gem) and I ended up watching it online, at night, on my laptop. Funny coincidence, I didn’t sleep too well that night! I almost did something I’ve only done with two other titles on this list, which was to reflect that perhaps I should quit while I still have a chance of calming down and watch the rest of the movie in daylight. This plot was so tight, though, and filled with surprises (not just giant jumps–it was excellent storytelling and a script with a simple, yet brilliant, idea) that I was glued to it. Thai horror movies do NOT fuck around, and this is a perfect example. From the second the action starts (in this case, a movie-within-a-movie) to the last sudden GOTCHA! right when you thought the movie was about to fade to credits, the makers succeed in their goal–scaring the living shit out of you. Those lucky enough to see it on the big screen in Thailand must have had a very memorable movie-going experience –most of the movie is set in a multiplex movie theater.

And here’s that trailer…

Yo “Mama” (2013) DVD/Blu-ray Release Date is May 7th – PACKED With Bonus Features! We’ve Got The Details Here

5 May 2013

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The scariest goddamned movie we’ve seen so far this year, Mama, is coming out this upcoming May 7th,  and we’ll be watching it in the daytime instead of a dark theater with the sound cranked to the max – don’t want the neighbors hearing so much terrified screaming they call 911!  Oooo, and look at all these goodies…

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MATRIARCHAL SECRETS BD EXCLUSIVE: An in-depth exploration of the digital and practical effects employed to shape the film’s phantom presence.

DELETED SCENES with Commentary by Director/Co-Writer Andy Muschietti and Producer/Co-Writer Barbara Muschietti (more from us later on shots from the trailer not in the theatrical release).

ORIGINAL SHORT WITH INTRODUCTION BY GUILLERMO DEL TORO with Commentary by Director/Co-Writer Andy Muschietti and Producer/Co-Writer Barbara Muschietti

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THE BIRTH OF MAMA: MAMA began as a chilling short that announced a new voice in the horror genre. Exclusive interviews with Executive Producer Guillermo del Toro and the filmmakers track the bloodline of the feature and explore changes needed to make the transition to a film.

Will they include the original ending to the short (extended, alternate, and even scarier), or they one cut by about 20 seconds that was released as a promo (introduced by Del Toro) closer to the movies release? We hope they have both, because they cut out a BIG twist. Don’t worry, we’ll re-post the original, longer version either way. Any takers?

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You know, maybe coming in here with a broken flashlight wasn’t such a great idea… OOOOOOHHHH SHHHIIIIIIII– (kill)

FEATURE COMMENTARY with Director/Co-Writer Andy Muschietti and Producer/Co-Writer Barbara Muschietti

We can’t WAIT, and just hope they include Javier Botet in all the making-of footage (and a better copy of the now-viral, nightmarish, ‘Mama Motion/Movement Test” featuring Javier Botet – click here if you haven’t seen it yet) and the bonus “in-depth exploration of the digital and practical effects employed to shape the film’s phantom presence” the press release mentions. Surprise surprise, Netflix isn’t even bothering posting a release date, just “Unknown”. Oh, how helpful. This one, though, might actually be worth the extra features to cough up the $ to purchase the Blu-ray.

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Very Creepy “Mama” Movie FX Test Footage – Javier Botet as Mama Not Haunting Your Dreams Anymore? Watching This Should Do The Trick!

2 February 2013

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Ooookay, yeah, this is creepy as hell. Here’s the skinny on the early test footage from Mama.   Also, since we’re still digging up searching for a more recent interview to include in postings on actor/featured creature performer Javier Botet,  here’s a little more background to hold you till we get it all organized.

Seen the 2008 short film? Then this shot/pose should look familiar...

Seen the 2008 short film? Then this shot/pose should look familiar…

According to Slashfilm.com‘s , (in this piece about an on-set visit, back in October of 2012),  Mama was being created by blending on-set practical performance by Javier Botet,  and the digital effects of two companies: DDT and Mr. X. To prove they could pull it off, the filmmakers and DDT  shot a test in June 2011 to show the executives what they had in mind.

Here’s that test, which has popped up (or lunged out) online in a couple of places. We discovered it thanks to a piece by Jessica Wakeman of BlackBookMag.com (where she also was cool enough to mention Horror Boom and point readers our way to see a photo of Mama, the finished product, in full makeup; she meant this “Rumor Control” post here). It’s just shot in black and white, with no sound, and still scares the fuck out of everybody;  on the page with the You Tube video (which eerily has no description)  the top-rated post says  ….I immediately regret this decision.*

So, how was this waking nightmare created? From the same article on the set visit, ©Slashfilm.com’s :

On set, [director] Muschietti literally operates Botet like a marionette to really get him moving in weird ways. “Javier has a bunch of cables coming out of his body, so he’s pulled into directions that are not normal and he has to counter the wire pull. Then we remove the wires and what it looks like is like literally a marionette coming to life,” [Guillermo] Del Toro said. “It looks almost digital, but it’s all caught on camera. He moves really disjointed, because they are trying to trip him essentially. It’s really, really cool.”

Probably not very comfortable for him at the time, but it sure as hell worked. We also have been sort of concerned with Mr. Botet’s health, and have wondered for years if he just has a fast metabolism and then diets down, or what’s going on with his very slender, 6 foot-7 inch frame. He gives very few interviews, and we’re trying to get up the nerve to drop him an email (also, seriously doubt he’d be able take the time for an interview with Horror Boom when it could get much more exposure elsewhere, which we totally understand), but it’s not the sort of question you can just blurt out (even if our French wasn’t terrible). Apparently, Botet has Marfan syndrome, a connective tissue disorder which causes an elongation of the body and the fingers (personally, we were positive he wears finger extensions for his creature acting, and will have to get back to you after we re-watch the [REC]  behind-the-scenes make-up/effects DVD feature). He confirmed in an interview while doing some press for [REC 2]  that while he can get tired easily –especially if the prosthetics are heavy and he’s had to sit for a six-plus hour session in the make-up chair– he’s content, healthy, and loves his job. Plus, the actor is always a gentleman to the press and to his fans.

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Image owned by/copyright Javier Botet, 2010-present.
See? Don’t be scared at night that “Mama” is hiding under your bed or in lurking in your closet! It’s all a performance by this friendly actor! Heh-heh… heh… just a movie, just a movie, just a movie…

So, if we chicken out on contacting him (like I said, we have to work up to it), we’ll give out all the links we can, and definitely “re-blog” all the interviews we can locate.

Curious about Marfan syndrome? Here’s a good link with a ton of information. It does not sound comfortable.

Meanwhile, did you scroll down here because you were a little unsure if you wanted to watch that test footage? Here’s a (small) gallery, slide-slow style, of some screen-grabs from it, if you want to dip your toe in first…

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

More on Mr. Botet will show up, so watch this space! And yes, Mama  the movie was scary as hell. Uneven at times, yes. Also, there were two very memorable and distinct moments/jumps that were in nearly every trailer, that I wanted to know the story behind, totally missing from the movie which sort of personally threw me off when I realized the credits were rolling  Maybe a dangling plot thread or two, but you know what, I was way too busy screaming to notice at the time.  Also, it knocked Texas Chainsaw 3D  right out of the top box office sales, so I’m going to give any flaws a pass for now. A longer review of Mama is still to come– along with all the coverage on the Mama creature/makeup/FX we can get our claws hands on!

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*You Tube user comment by user “SuperZombieMoon”.

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Jessica Chastain Saves the Drama for “MAMA” – Check Out This Great Interview From Fangoria.com!

18 January 2013

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Even the mixed reviews for this horror film have been more or less blown away by Jessica Chastain‘s performance (second after the two little girls portraying her –or Mama’s– little girls). I love to read interviews with A-list actors who love horror movies, too.
“Yeah, I’m not really a horror fan,” doesn’t make horror fans exactly want to rush out and see something when a performer playing a significant role says it to the press. Not so the case with the talented, and beautiful, Ms. Chastain. Click the big red link and check it out on Fangoria.com below!

Jessica Chastain Saves the Drama for “MAMA”.

 

 

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Chilling New Extended “Mama” (2013) Clip Shows Her ‘Adopted’ Daughters Are Pretty Goddamn Scary, Too!

17 January 2013

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This is the longest clip we’ve seen so far, and we find out a couple key pieces of background info. First, check out the clip, and hey, don’t be scared to crank up the sound! Surely nothing in this clip will make you jump! It’s a great  idea to watch it alone in the dark when you can’t sleep!

 

 

So let’s see, now we’ve learned:

1. They’ve mainly survived on a diet of cherries (that pile practically the size of a grown man is, upon closer examination, a pile of cherry pits)

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2. They’ve been drawing creepy art back then, too (notice how they’re usually on all fours in the drawings, and standing on a roof in one)

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3. Mama somehow got, or created, a makeshift, bizarre doll of some sort for them

The aforementioned not-very-cuddly doll...

The aforementioned not-very-cuddly doll…

 

4. They don’t wear shoes

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5. They have a way of lurking in the out-of-focus background, crouching, to hide from visitors/outsiders (and to freak out the audience watching the movie–upper right corner)

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6. The younger daughter slips quietly–then NOT so quietly–around on all fours

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7. it looks like they’d really rather be left alone.  I’d yell and knock over some furniture by mistake too if I heard them making that scary-ass feral sound while racing towards me in a spider-ish gait.

Screen shot 2013-01-17 at 5.41.28 AM

Oh, and that abandoned cabin in the woods they live in has a couple pieces of cool mid-century-looking furniture…. not that I’d stick around for a closer look, or mess around with them in any way.

Next up: searching for the longest/best featurette we can find on Mama to share!

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“Mama” Rumor Control: Is This Really The Face Of Javier Botet In Make-Up As The Ghastly “Mama”? No! Wanna See The Real Thing? Read On!

16 January 2013

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4/15/13 UPDATE!

the Cool javier botet links TEASEd LATER IN THIS ARTICLE have been (mostly) inserted in this post, now that the pieces went up; check ’em out! Also, you can type ‘Botet’ into the horror boom search box in the upper right corner of the blog. Read on!

♥ Mrs. Horror Boom

 

Well, this is a type of piece I’ve never needed to write and publish before! Here’s the deal.

Today a vague ‘source’ sent Horror Boom an email containing a pretty frightening attachment. It was labelled as “The Face of MAMA, Javier Botet in full make-up”. This is the first email/contact we’ve gotten from this individual, and we were impressed. But we’ve seen Mama,  and Javier Botet in make-up as Mama; it’s a different look.

So we did some research, and the photo (seen below) claiming to be a close-up shot of Javier Botet as Mama IS Javier Botet, but NOT in the movie Mama. We suppose we sort of see how someone could see the image and think that. Here’s the alleged photo of Botet as Mama below, that we got at our horrorboom@gmail.com email:

This is the very talented Javier Botet in make-up, all right, but not as "Mama"

This is the very talented Javier Botet in make-up, all right, but not as “Mama”

I did a little research (even though I was 95% sure it wasn’t the Mama creature effects). The shot turned out to be from Javier Botet’s 2010 reel. Mama hadn’t officially even gone into pre-production at the time.  By the way, more Botet links are coming up –some really great stuff.

So, we’ll chalk it up as an honest mistake; I seriously doubt the sender was deliberately being a prick up to any mischief, or just wanted attention (since if that was the case, they at least would have given us a nickname/site to credit, which they didn’t). I think they just got all excited, sent first, asked questions later.  We’ve all done that. I sure as hell have. Also, I can’t blame them if they jumped the gun, as every horror fan I know (and some that aren’t even big horror fans) are really excited about Mama and have been all month. I’ve been excited since before Halloween. Hot damn!

Oh and, hey, this will dial your anticipation up a notch: the new issue of Fangoria has a cover story on Mama*, and when it came to effects, they did practical effects whenever they could. YES. There are several composite shots, but very little CGI except for two scenes/effects that were pointed out (and they mainly used composite shots – especially the unearthly, floaty hair that the FX people later said they wanted to resemble tentacles at the request of the director).  You don’t hire an actor best known for being a creature performer who is 6 foot 6 and can’t weigh more than 130 lbs, (if that), to play a creature in your horror movie and then replace the majority of him with digital effects and CGI. You hire this guy when you know what nightmares look like and you need the real thing. The effects team made up his face and body, and sometimes his face was replaced with a prosthetic mask… otherwise that is ALL HIM.

Now if you want to see what ‘Mama’ really looks like, here’s a frightening screen grab (a very quick flash from one TV spot, barely shown) that gives you a pretty good, up-close look at the horrifying title creature, after the

SPOILER!

ALERT!

DO NOT SCROLL DOWN IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THIS FREEZE FRAME THAT GIVES YOU A GOOD LOOK AT MAMA! I’ll even toss in this:

S
P
O
I
L
E
R
A
L
E
R
T!

Can’t say we didn’t warn you! THIS is what Javier Botet as  Mama looks like:

thisismotherfuckingmamaEEEEK.jpg

I can’t think of ANYONE stupid or foolhardy enough to get between THIS thing and her ‘kids’.  I saw that in my house, I’d be a time zone the fuck away within seconds!

And yep…that’s Mr. Botet in the above photo. The actor really is that … slender… (though he spends a long, long time in the make-up chair to look that horrifying), and why would any  effects supervisor in their right mind want to use CGI when you can hire an actor with his skill set?

And here’s his demo reel. Prepare to be dazzled (and terrified). More of Mr. Botet to come…

*I usually will say something out loud like, “new Fango? Oh fuck,  yeah!” when it shows in the mail, even if new neighbors are within hearing range of me. This time I almost ripped the plastic wrap off with my teeth …but I have nice sharp fingernails for that (you’ve seen my “gravatar” image)!

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Check Out American Horror Story Asylum Teasers For Episode 12, “Continuum’ (Five Things To Expect – Zap2it)

16 January 2013

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Ok, I wouldn’t call these major spoilers, they don’t give away any big shockers, but these are GREAT teasers for the penultimate episode of American Horror Story Asylum. My brain is still turning over these little mysteries the piece teases…

Screen shot 2013-01-16 at 7.09.44 AM

Find out (well, figure  out – this is five things to expect, they don’t just blurt shit out) what face returns to Briarcliff, and if that character, or a scary new one, have it in for Sister Jude. Also, who or what from Lana’s past haunts her in her appearance in 1969! Click below and start speculating…

‘American Horror Story: Asylum’ episode 12 spoilers: Five things to expect from ‘Continuum’ – Zap2it.

 

Oh! And you get to see Evan Peters in his underwear! Though he may also be wearing a little blood in one scene, too (we don’t know whose).

No way THIS is going to end well...

No way THIS is going to end well…

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Short Horror Film Of The Week – Bloody Cuts Presents “Dead Man’s Lake”. No More Camping For Us!

7 December 2012

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Yeah, we’ve been putting off watching “Dead Man’s Lake” because …well… honestly, we got sort of impatient waiting for it to snap out of “80s Slasher Film Mode”. At the time we were watching snappy horror shorts around five minutes (or less, sometimes) that scared the beejezus out of us almost right off the bat,  hey, not much happening here, probably some candy-ass teen-slasher genre tribute…. We admit it, we got spoiled, OK?

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We decided to give this one a chance, because of all the great press it’s been getting; plus it’s an indie, which means Bloody Cuts and the entire team went all out throwing themselves into it. Sure, it might be  little slow, with lots of stereotypical 80s Teen Camping Stalk/Slash footage, but that’s just the first few minutes. So just keep watching, because all of a sudden, HOAH!  All HELL breaks loose, rattling and rolling its way to a very clever ending reveal that was done so perfectly, I’d recommend it for that alone!  If you’re thinking shades of Cabin Fever  (which I was predicting 2/3 in while patting myself on the back for thinking I was super-cool because I knew where it was going), well …you would be wrong.

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…but surprise surprise, that fun weekend doesn’t go too fucking well!

Now I know why it’s so popular. BTW, you probably don’t want to eat (especially anything warm) while watching this, but Dead Man’s Lake REALLY  deserves a look! Not to mention, Dead Man’s Lake is very hard to second-guess.  It’s also just a teeny bit disturbing… something tells me I’m in for some real bad dreams tonight! Also, I wish I’d seen the above KICK-ASS poster art for the short before I watched …but you  should check it out before you watch! Oh, and here’s a link to the IMDB page for Dead Man’s Lake, if the writing on the poster art for the credits isn’t big enough print (I almost had to get out a magnifying glass). Save it for after you see it, though, just go in clean and check this short out fast! Especially since the first twenty seconds or so below consist of this:

…aaaaand you’re ON!    When you’re done, visit the kick-ass official website by clicking here  (Note: also spoiler-y, watch the short film first, but take a look, because it’s got all kinds of extras and other cool shit)!

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The Movie Guide Blog

I’ve been following the progress and development for “Dead Man’s Lake” through Bloody Cuts, which have been covering it amazingly. I’m now pleased to say that they have officially released the short “Dead Man’s Lake”.

When 3 campers visit a private lakeside hideaway for some summer fun, little do they know the horror that awaits them…

“Dead Man’s Lake”, an homage to the classic slasher flicks of the ’80s, is the sixth episode in the Bloody Cuts anthology, as well as being the directorial debut of series producer/creator Ben Franklin.

If you want to get the most of watching Dead Man’s Lake then turn out the lights and plug-in your earphones!! Enjoy…

Visit more at Bloody Cuts by following the provided link: www.bloodycuts.co.uk

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Spooky-Ass Second Theatrical Trailer For “Mama” (2013) With Extra Creepy New Footage Is Here – Scariest Trailer of The Month!

1 December 2012

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So you thought the first spooky-ass trailer for Mama (based on the actively frightening short film that you can watch here, but that I literally cannot watch after dark unless I have alcohol in my bloodstream, and even then I hesitate) was creepy? Well, in the second theatrical trailer , we get to see a little more of the… not sure exactly what to call it yet; creature? entity? monster? of the title. Well, one thing is for sure, the mysterious “Mama” that follows the two little feral girls to their new adoptive home is the stuff nightmares of made of. Watch the new trailer below. If you’ve seen the debut trailer more than once, you’ll know that new footage when you see it…

I’m still looking for a 30-second spot that they ran in front of some clip or trailer I was watching online, because I could swear there were one or two flashes in that one (including one of the creepy feral girls lashing out when a stranger discovers them in the woods, and another brief new flash of “Mama” that also freaked me out) that aren’t in this second theatrical trailer (nor the first one I posted and wrote about).  Here’s the official site, by the way, though so far, it only has the trailer.  Once I saw Javier Botet’s name on the IMDB cast list –he played the attic monster/Medieros Girl from [REC]–I knew we’d be in more some serious scares.

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Here’s that official description again: Annabel and Lucas are faced with the challenge of raising his young nieces that were left alone in the forest for 5 years…. but how alone were they?  EEK.

Something you do NOT want to find under your bed (or anywhere in the house)...

Something you do NOT want to find under your bed (or anywhere in the house)…

If you’ve seen the aforementioned short horror film (from the same director/writer), a couple images look similar – mainly the “stinger” at the end of the teaser. If you’re not brave enough to watch them both in a row right this moment, like if you’re feeling a little jumpy or were already having bad dreams, here’s the comparison (stills from the short are on the left, stills from the movie are on the right). Since it’s after dark as I compose this, I think I’ll hit the “mute” buttons to get those screen caps…

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Mama  opens on January 18, 2013!  Bring your screaming voice…

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‘American Horror Story Asylum’ Spoilers: Who Is Bloody Face? We’ll Find Out In Episode 5, ‘I Am Anne Frank Part 2’ [VIDEO] – IDT

14 November 2012

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NOTE: This piece is mainly speculation on Bloody Face’s identity, they don’t just blurt out who it is. They haven’t seen the episode either, but they DO have some interesting theories. I’ll post the results of the poll I put together asking everyone’s opinion on the “unmasking,”  but the consensus on it is the same character that this article is placing their bets on: Dr. Thredson. Check it out below – more to follow soon.

‘American Horror Story’ Season 2 Spoilers: Who Is Bloody Face? Find Out In Episode 5, ‘I Am Anne Frank — Part 2’ [VIDEO] – International Digital Times.

Speak of the devil…

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