Month: October 2018

From ’70s possession movies inspired by The Exorcist to the wave of found footage films sparked by The Blair Witch Project, horror has long been marked by the popularity of sub-genres that follow a big box office hit. As the 1980s dawned, the huge success of John Carpenter’s Halloween and Sean S. Cunningham’s Friday the 13th led to dozens of interchangeable slasher movies, before the craze died out by the middle of the decade. This was the era of the horror franchise, with the commercial power of the Friday the 13th, Halloween, and in particular the Nightmare on Elm Street series cementing the idea that there was no limit to the number of sequels that audiences would turn up for.

The ’80s were also marked by the rise of the comedy horror. Gone were the serious, gritty movies of the ’70s–mainstream American horror of this era was frequently played for laughs, with some classics (Re-Animator, Evil Dead 2), but many more movies that were neither funny nor scary. There is no better illustration than the change in the decade’s biggest horror icon–Freddy Krueger–who, over a few years, was transformed from a terrifying, loathsome child killer in the original Nightmare on Elm Street to the wisecracking cartoon villain of the later Elm Street movies.

But while Freddy and Jason might be the first things we think of when it comes to ’80s horror, they’re far from the whole story. Some the genre’s great directors continued to put out impressive work, with the likes of David Cronenberg, Wes Craven, and John Carpenter delivering some of their best movies. The rise of VHS also meant that there was an incredible amount of horror available to watch easily, allowing some fascinating movies to find an audience that they otherwise might not have. There are many terrific ’80s horror movies that tried to do something different, some within the popular subgenres of the era, some from way outside. So here’s 14 underrated ’80s horror movies well worth rediscovery.

Fences–merchants, not boundary markers–in Red Dead Redemption 2 are the only businesses that will buy goods you’ve found while looting strangers and rifling through private property, and by gum, they sure are hard to find. Considering the size of RDR2’s map, and that there are only four fences in all the land, odds are you may be wondering where they’re hiding. We’ve got a handy reference guide to help locate the black-market traders that peddle in illicit goods.

Fair warning: you have to first complete Chapter 2’s ‘The Spines of America’ mission before you can use any fence, and you won’t be able to access either of the specialized fences–for horses or wagons–until you reach certain progress milestones in the game’s main story.

Let’s start off with the first location you’re likely to find: Emerald Ranch

Fence #1: Emerald Ranch (Unlocks after Chapter 2, Pouring Fourth Oil)

The first fence location you might stumble across during the natural trajectory of the story’s early mission is located on the south-west edge of Emerald Ranch, on the backside of a massive barn. In additional to its usual services, this is also the only fence that will pay you for turning in stolen stagecoaches and carriages. The same time that you unlock the standard fence at Emerald Ranch, you will also unlock the ability to trade in stolen carriages; simply ride them up to the barn doors to engage the wagon fence.

Fence #2: Van Horn Trading Post
On the far-east edge of New Hanover (practically due east of Emerald Ranch) lies Van Horn Trading Post. The fence at this location is tucked away within the rear of building along the docks.

Fence #3: Rhodes
Due south of Emerald Ranch lies Rhodes, a small town with a small trailer park to the north. There you will find a bright red trailer, and on the backside you’ll find a counter and a window where the local fence awaits your business.

Fence #4: Saint Denis
The far-off bustling streets of Saint Denis are where you’ll find the most well-hidden fence of them all. Tucked under the busy market square, it’s easy to spot if you keep an eye out for the brick archways, or the green building with bright green shudders. This is also the only fence that will purchase gold bars, valued at a whopping $500 a piece.

Horse Fence, North Of Rhodes (Unlocks after Chapter 3, Horse Flesh For Dinner)
After completing the gruesomely titled mission mentioned above, you can speak to a pair of strangers northwest of Rhodes, along the waterside, to turn in stolen horses.

EA may be planning to add two more major Clone Wars characters to Star Wars Battlefront 2. Nothing has been confirmed, but it appears as if both Ahsoka Tano and Padme Amidala will be added to the game in 2019.

General Grievous, who was added to Battlefront 2 as a playable hero on October 30, mentions both Ahsoka and Padme in certain lines of dialogue, implying that DICE is planning to have the Separatist leader interact with the two heroines in the future. EA has already confirmed that DICE has more content planned for Battlefront 2 beyond the post-launch DLC roadmap–scheduled to end in December 2018. During the company’s quarterly earnings call, EA CEO Andrew Wilson stated that Battlefront 2 would continue to get more content throughout the “next year.”

In an earlier blog post, EA revealed the process by which new Star Wars Battlefront 2 Hero characters are created. The most steadfast rule was that every “hero must counter a villain, and vice versa.” This is why General Grievous and Count Dooku are being added to the game, as the two villains share a natural rivalry with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker–two other new Hero characters. So if Ahsoka and Padme are implemented into Battlefront 2, then that means two corresponding villains are being planned for the game as well.

Matthew Wood, James Arnold Taylor, Corey Burton, and Matt Lanter–all Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series voice actors–have returned to voice General Grievous, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Count Dooku, and Anakin Skywalker respectfully in Battlefront 2. As both Ahsoka and Padme are major characters in the same show, it stands to reason that EA would also recruit Ashley Eckstein and Catherine Taber to voice them in-game.

Star Wars Battlefront 2 is available on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

Fortnite‘s Halloween-themed Fortnitemares event is scheduled to end on November 4, giving you only a few more days to complete its challenges and unlock the new Dark Engine Glider if you still haven’t done so. That isn’t the only incentive to play the game this Sunday, however; it appears a once-in-a-lifetime event is slated to unfold on that day.

On the official Fortnite Twitter account, developer Epic Games teased that a “one-time event” will take place in the game on Sunday, November 4, at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET / 6 PM GMT–the same time that the Fortnitemares event is scheduled to conclude. The developer didn’t provide any further clues as to what the event will entail, but if you want to witness it, you’ll need to log into the game and be in a match at that time in order to see it.

One-time events of this nature aren’t an unusual occurrence in Fortnite; in the leadup to Season 5, for example, players got to witness a rocket launch, which would ultimately result in a giant rift forming in the sky above the island. More recently, a lightning storm struck Fortnite’s desert earlier this summer, leaving the mysterious purple cube in its wake.

We don’t yet know what to expect from Sunday’s one-time event, but it will presumably have to do with the aforementioned purple cube, which has been a recurring source of mystery since it first appeared in the game. At the start of Season 6, it lifted a chunk of land into the sky to create a floating island, and it has since been moving around the map, leaving behind strange craters.

Fortnite’s 6.21 update was originally scheduled to roll out on October 31, but Epic delayed it to November 1 due to a “last minute issue.” In the meantime, you can find tips for completing the Fortnitemares challenges in our roundup. You can also check out our Fortnite Season 6 challenges guide for help on completing all of the new challenges Epic has released this season to date.

As part of Fortnite‘s 6.20 update last week, developer Epic Games introduced the ability to re-deploy your glider in all game modes, just as you could in the Soaring 50s LTM. According to the studio, this wasn’t intended to be a permanent addition to the game, but rather as a test, and it looks like Epic was pleased with the results.

Epic has posted an update about the glider re-deploy mechanic on Fortnite’s official website, confirming that the feature will remain in place for the time being. “We’ve finished our first week of Glider Re-deploy being available in all modes,” the studio wrote. “During this time we’ve been collecting internal data and monitoring constructive feedback from all of you. We understand that not all players agree with this change, but we would like to continue with this functionality in the game based on the positive results we’ve been seeing.”

In the same post, Epic also revealed it plans to make some quality-of-life changes to the glider re-deploy mechanic with future updates. The first of these, slated to rollout with the recently delayed 6.21 patch, will focus on “prioritizing Glider audio over weapon audio within certain ranges.” Additional improvements are also on the cards, although Epic hasn’t revealed what those will be yet.

The glider re-deploy mechanic was first featured in the Soaring 50s limited-time mode, which placed a much greater emphasis on being airborne than standard Battle Royale matches. It allows players to open their glider again and soar back to the ground if they’re at least three stories in the air.

Fortnite’s 6.21 update is now scheduled to arrive on November 1. Epic originally planned to roll it out to all platforms on October 31, but it had to be postponed due to a “last minute issue.” Meanwhile, the Halloween-themed Fortnitemares event is scheduled to end on Sunday, November 4, and Epic teases that some kind of “one-time event” is set to occur on that same day.