The Sam Raimi-produced gladiator-drama “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” premiered last night on the Starz network. Directed by Rick Jacobson (Bitch Slap), the episode, entitled “The Red Serpent,” delivered exactly what Starz’s marketing campaign had promised: bloody battles and breathtaking bods.

Though not of the caliber of HBO’s epic “Rome,” “Spartacus” appears to be unapologetic sexy, violent fun—a guilty pleasure for sure. (Update: Lucy Lawless does her first nude role in the second episode of the series. Click here to see and read about it).

(UPDATE: To see Lucy Lawless bathe with slave girls in episode 6, go here)

(UPDATE: VIVA BIANCA GOES NUDE AS A CALL-GIRL IN ‘X’)

“The Red Serpent” introduces viewers to Spartacus (Andy Whitfield), a Thracian soldier who volunteers to serve the Roman Auxiliary in a battle against a common enemy of Thrace and Rome. After a successful blood-soaked showdown, Spartacus is ready to return to his ridiculously hot wife Sura (Erin Cummings).

Unfortunately, the Romans wish to keep Spartacus under their command. Sparty defies Commander Legatus Claudius Glaber (Craig Parker) and soon finds himself in the gladiator arena taking on four brutes in a vicious fight to the finish.

Those of you with penises will be happy to know that last night’s episode included a stroke-worthy full frontal nude scene from Viva Bianca, who plays Glaber’s wife Iliythia, and a generous helping of bare T&A from Cummings. There is also plenty of background actress boobage to be enjoyed as well.

“Spartacus: Blood and Sand” also stars Lucy Lawless, in her first-ever nude scenes, Lesley-Ann Brandt, John Hannah, Peter Mensah, Manu Bennett, Jai Courtney, Nick E. Tarabay, and Antonio Te Maioho.

Starz will run encore presentations of the premiere all weekend long. The network is also showing the episode for free on their website … so what are you still doing here?

Rob Zombie has released a video for the soon-to-be stripper anthem “Sick Bubblegum,” the first single from his upcoming CD Hellbilly Deluxe 2. The song is classic Zombie—infectious groove, psychedelic lyrics, and just fun.

The video features a no-frills performance from the band and some sexy lip-smacking gum chewing from Rob’s better-half, Sheri Moon Zombie.

Rock out with your cocks out (courtesy of NoiseCreep):

Hellbilly Deluxe 2 marks Zombie’s debut for new label Roadrunner Records and his first release since 2006’s Educated Horses. Zombie will headline the Rockstar Mayhem Festival this summer in support of the disc.

Hellbilly Deluxe 2 arrives in stores on Feb. 2. For a track list, click here.

ABC’s new promo spot for the upcoming sixth and final season of “Lost” features a new frame of footage showcasing Claire with a shotgun (seen above). The image pops up around the 15 second mark along with the phrases “Everything changes” and “Plant a good seed and you will joyfully gather fruit.”

Take a look:

Admittedly, I can’t see shit despite the fact that I’ve watched the promo 40 times now. But, others say they see it so I’ll keep trying.

“Lost’s” final season begins on Feb. 2. For a recap of seasons 1-thru-5, click here. To see more “Lost” news, click here, here and here.

Fans of the Saw mythos, prepare to have your minds blown.

A new after-creds ending has been added to the Unrated Director’s Cut of Saw 6, arriving on DVD and Blu-ray on Jan. 29. The scene finds junkie-turned Jigsaw apprentice Amanda Young warning captive Corbett (test subject Jeff’s tween daughter in Saw 3) about the man who will eventually show up to save her.

Take a look:

If you recall, Corbett (Niamh Wilson) is seen being rescued by Det. Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) in Saw 5. Will she heed Amanda’s (Shawnee Smith) words? What role will she play in Saw 7? This is good stuff. Let’s just hope David Hackl doesn’t fuck up what Kevin Greutert started when he takes over directing duties.

To read a review of Saw 6, click here.

Saw 7 in 3-D will be in theaters on Oct. 22.

Camera Obscura is the creepy new 17-episode web-series from demented indie-horror award-winner Drew Daywalt and MWG Entertainment. The project is intended to appeal to women, but promises plenty of amazing creature F/X, courtesy of Jeff Farley, to make the hairs on any guy’s testes stand.

Check it out:

In an interview with the folks at Fearnet, Daywalt describes the premise:

It’s about a young woman who is cleaning out her grandfather’s office after he passes away. She finds a book, and in the book are these weird photographs. She had a very unhealthy relationship with her grandfather, he raised her, but he was a crime scene photographer for the LAPD and he drank a lot so he was never around, so there’s a lot of resentment in her cleaning up after he’s deceased.

And when she [finds] this book, it’s nothing like him; it’s nothing like what he did in his life. It’s strange art photography. It’s dark, weird, photographs and they’re actually upsetting [to her]. She throws the book in the fireplace and she burns it because it’s just too upsetting and weird.

Then she finds his camera and she can’t get it to work. She [learns] this camera was a magic camera that was able to capture demons, and in photographing them with this camera, imprisoning them in this book, which she then realized she burned. Los Angeles is [now] hit with a rash of strange, ritualistic crime homicides, and she realizes quickly that she burned the book and she released them. She comes to know that each of these demons – six of them – had a crime profile like a serial killer would.

Camera Obscura stars Reagan Dale Neis, Jack Klugman (I thought he was dead!), Timm Sharp, Donnie Jeffcoat, Fiona Goodwin, Edin Gali, Paul Hungerford, Azure Parsons, and Charlotte Bjornbak.

To freak yourself out further, take a look at Daywalt’s Bedfellows short here.

Rob Zombie has been announced as the headlining act on this summer’s Rockstar Mayhem Festival, kicking off on July 10 in San Bernardino, California. Sharing the main stage with Zombie are Korn, Lamb of God, and Five Finger Death Punch. Second and third stages will host Hatebreed, Shadows Fall, Three Inches of Blood, Atreyu, In This Moment, Norma Jean, Chimaira, and Winds of Plague.

Zombie will be promoting Hellbilly Deluxe 2, the followup to his 1998 triple-platinum beast Hellbilly Deluxe. The long-awaited disc (the first under new label Roadrunner Records) will be in stores on Feb. 2. To learn more about it and to see a song list, click here.

The Mayhem Festival will also include performances from motocross outfit Metal Mulisha, comedian “Big Jay” Oakerson, and raunch-and-roll variety act Beacher’s Madhouse. For ticket and tour date info, visit Rockstar’s MayhemFest site.

Director Oren Peli and his producing partner Jason Blum continue to play nice with the Saw folks. First, there was news that the upcoming Peli/Blum-produced sequel to Paranormal Activity, the film they shot for $15,000 in 2006, would be directed by Kevin Greutert, director of Saw 6—the film Activity faced off against last Halloween in a highly-publicized battle of box office. Now, word has it that the duo will produce Saw co-creator James Wan’s next directorial effort The Further.

The Further revolves around a family that discovers that the body of their comatose son is hosting evil spirits.

Wan has directed the killer marionette frightener Dead Silence, the revenge-thriller Death Sentence, and, of course, Saw. He is also set to helm Castlevania, an adaptation of the Konami video game.

Director Terry Gilliam sure didn’t pull any punches when discussing his thoughts on James Cameron’s sci-fi epic Avatar with the A.V. Club.

The man behind such epic, often nightmarish, fantasies as Time Bandits, Brazil, and Twelve Monkeys told the entertainment news site that while he appreciated Cameron’s technical wizardry, the film itself had sucked donkey balls … or something like that.

Gilliam said:

Technically, it’s extraordinary work. And that’s where it sort of ends. We’ve seen the story before. We’ve seen so much of what’s been done there before, but I think he’s obviously moved the technology way ahead, to a point that who’s going to get the benefit from it is the real question. I think his system that he’s developed is obviously extraordinary, but you need these vast sums of money to create something like that.

The thing that always amazes me about Cameron is how he uses the camera. I’ve always been amazed by that, ever since I first saw his films. And he continues to do it. It’s a dynamic that’s quite extraordinary, but as far as the ideas and everything else, nothing surprised me.

What he’s done is so difficult. And that deserves praise for something. I don’t know if it’s necessary, is my problem. I occasionally would pull the glasses off and say, “Did the depth mean that much to me?” And it didn’t. But it’s very lush work.

It’s a good thing Cameron doesn’t have human feelings, otherwise such criticism would surely sting. Gilliam’s latest film is The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus which, ironically, also sucks donkey balls.

Leaked (and sadly low-quality) photos from the set of director Mitch Glazer’s Passion Play show a topless Megan Fox in a glass enclosure with some fat bastard (OK, I’m jealous).

Fox, who plays an angel held captive as a circus sideshow in the film, has been pretty vocal about not doing nude scenes, so it’s likely we won’t see any full-boobage when the flick comes out.

Take a peek at the topless on-the-set photos, along with some behind-the-scenes shots, in the following gallery:

[Show as slideshow]

Spanish director Rodrigo Cortes is premiering his highly buzzed-about thriller Buried at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The film, shot in Barcelona for $3 million, stars Ryan Reynolds as an American citizen who is abducted while working in Iraq and buried alive in a coffin with nothing more than a lighter, a knife, and a mobile phone, which he must use to make the following video:

Looks like Blair Witch meets the Taliban. I dig it.

Buried’s action takes place in a 3′-X-6′ coffin and features Reynolds as the only actor onscreen (hmm, so that’s why Mrs. Muertos wants to see this).

During an interview on Australian TV last year, Reynolds said:

It’s the only movie I’ve ever heard of with only one person in it. So it’s just me, I’m the only person in the whole movie so, I don’t know, we’ll see. It’s either going to be, you know, the greatest, most experimental cool movie ever made or god knows what.

The synopsis reads:

Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) is a U.S. citizen working as a contract driver in Iraq. After a swift and sudden attack on his convoy, he awakens to find himself buried alive inside a coffin with nothing more than a lighter, a cell phone, and little memory of how he ended up there. Faced with limited oxygen and unlimited panic, Paul finds himself in a tension-filled race against time to escape this claustrophobic deathtrap before it’s too late.

Cortes, a self-described Hitchcock fanatic, has garnered international acclaim for his stylish and outside-the-box filmmaking, winning awards for his 2001 short 15 Dias—which starred 100 actors in 200 locations—and 2007’s Concursante. Cortes’ next project is the paranormal thriller Red Lights.