October a Monster Month on The Zone

Even without the Halloween premiere of Ash vs Evil Dead, October would be a “monster” month on The Zone.

As well as the debuts of the locally made AFK: The Webseries, Syfy commission Dark Matter and season two of Z Nation, there will be a Saturday night Godzilla season and a Halloween movie marathon of The Host, The Hole, Slither, Ash vs Evil Dead and Dead Snow.

AFK follows a group of gamers stuck in their avatars’ bodies and will screen 9.30 Wednesdays, from October 28, ahead of its free online distribution.

Dark Matter (9.30 Tuesdays from October 13) earned mixed reviews when it launched in the US three months ago.

Variety dubbed it “essentially the Calvin Klein ad version of Lost in Space” but thought it a cut above most Syfy fare: “Adapted from Dark Horse Comics, Dark Matter uses a tantalising mystery to achieve liftoff, then does a pretty nifty job of establishing its characters to bring the audience along for the ride.”

But The Hollywood Reporter thought it “as forgettable as its amnesiac characters”.

The Zone will open its Godzilla season on October 3 with the 1956 original, King of the Monsters, and follow it with Godzilla vs Mothra, Son of Godzilla and Destroy All Monsters.

Ash vs Evil Dead will premiere as part of the Halloween movie marathon on October 31, then air weekly 9.30 Sundays.

The Zone’s Friday Frights for October include David Cronenberg’s Videodrome, Spanish horrors The Dark Tower and The Falling, Giulio Paradisi’s The Visitor and The Haunting in Connecticut.