Zombos Says: Fair After the promising opening moments of James McTiegue's The Raven are spent with anxious constables rushing to find slashed bodies in a locked room, and the entrance of Inspector Fields (Luke Evans), who approaches the conundrum like Auguste Dupin, John Cusack's Edgar Allan Poe chews the scenery with his superficial temper tantrums and clumsy …
Tag: Zombos’ Closet of Horrors
Mar 07 2018
The Art of Horror Movies: An Illustrated History
Zombos says: Very Good A natural follow up to his book, The Art of Horror, Stephen Jones once again provides eye-candy galore in The Art of Horror Movies. As an illustrated history, it is geared to the neophyte, although older horror fans will love the poster art as it claws at their nostalgia-clogged heart strings, …
Sep 05 2017
The House with Laughing Windows (1976) An Overlooked Giallo
Zombos Says: Very Good This review was written for the upcoming Unsung Horrors, an anthology of horror movies you should watch, written by the fiends at We Belong Dead magazine. The book should be available at the end of this month. The House with Laughing Windows (La casa dale finestre che ridono) is a …
Nov 08 2016
Movie Review: The Grapes of Death (1978) Les Raisins De La Mort
Zombos Says: Have a glass of wine instead. Seriously, have a glass or two of wine instead of seeing this movie. French directors (that would be Jean Rollin in this case) often have trouble handling the subtleties of horror and science fiction; namely that there are no subtleties. Instead of a clean and clear message …
Jul 06 2016
Movie Review: Tower of Evil (1972)
Zombos Says: Good Normally, Tower of Evil, also known as Beyond the Fog and Horror on Snape Island, a Shepperton Studios' budget-minder with process shots (you know them as phony background scenes), get-it-done scene lighting, and enough bare buttocks and breasts to raise an eyebrow's–if nothing else–worth of attention, wouldn't be worth a critical mention. …
Feb 02 2016
Book Review: The Art of Horror An Illustrated History
Zombos Says: Very Good A fine addition to your coffee table or coffin lid, The Art of Horror: An Illustrated History, edited by Stephen Jones, is a horror connoisseur’s choice of movie posters, comic books, paperback and dust jacket art, pulp magazine covers, and ancient and contemporary art that gleefully dwells on the morbid predilections …
Sep 08 2015
DVD Review: The Exorcist 40th Anniversary Blu-ray
Zombos Says: Excellent mix of movie versions and features in one set. Not having watched the extended director's cut or original theatrical version blu-ray editions previously released, this 40th anniversary set from Warners Home Video, adding two new special features on a third disc and a snippet from William Friedkin's book The Friedkin Connection, is a …
Apr 14 2015
Movie Review: The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
My article, The Creature from the Black Lagoon Still Holds Us Captive, first appeared in the British magazine We Belong Dead, issue number 13. I highly recommend you pick up a copy. WBD is the best fan written magazine available today covering classic horror. This issue in particular is a tribute to the Creature from …
Jan 05 2015
Movie Review: The Return of the Vampire (1944)
Zombos Says: Good Bela Lugosi's career didn't fare well after his initial fame with Dracula. Having apparently failed the makeup screen test for Frankenstein—though he wasn't overly found of playing the monster anyway—his reserved and aloof demeanor kept him from ingratiating himself with the Hollywood in-crowd. That, and the rapidly rising stardom of Boris Karloff …
Aug 21 2014
Movie Review: Mesa of Lost Women (1953)
Zombos Says: Poor (but hilarity abounds) Leering dwarf faces keep intercutting at inappropriate times, producing an effect not unlike the subliminals in Terror in the Haunted House. The spider women, with the notable exception of Tarantella, all dress like extras in She. Adding to the Woodian confusion, if you look quickly enough, you will see Mona …
Jun 04 2014
Movie Review: Neon Maniacs (1986) Trading Card Monsters
Zombos Says: Fair We were sitting in Zombos' study. Outside, the Long Island winter winds blew the gray barren tree limbs to and fro. Paul Hollstenwall was visiting and brought alongNeon Maniacs. The Hollstenwalls live at 0004 Gravestart Lane, a few minutes’ walk from the mansion. Not far enough, if you ask me. It’s always …
Feb 13 2014
Movie Review: Scarecrows (1988)
Zombos Says: Good Scarecrows is one of those horror movies that with better acting and better direction, and a more coherent script, would be quite compelling as a good example of a horror movie. As it is, it’s still creepy with effective makeup and gore effects, and does manage to maintain its mood of unknown …
Nov 20 2013
Movie Review: The Funhouse (1981)
Zombos Says: Very Good Director Tobe Hooper, who did the unsettling Dance of the Dead episode for Masters of Horror on Showtime, as well as the family classic, Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)—insane family, that is—presents a not so pretty picture of carnival life, and a somewhat pathetic, definitely homicidal, disfigured monster with a penchant for …
Sep 23 2013
Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak on a Plane (2007)
ZC Rating 2 of 7: Fair Marauding, mindless zombies, no first class, no in-flight movies, and no salted nuts. And it gets worse! New Line Home Entertainment lands Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak On A Plane straight to DVD, so fasten your seat belts because it's going to be a bumpy ride. At a …
Jun 17 2013
No Bones About It: The Boneyard (1991)
ZC Rating 2 of 7: Fair It was a late winter night for us in the cinematorium. Zimba stretched out on the Empire scroll sofa, already snoring away, while I prepared drinks for myself and Zombos. “Make mine a double-espresso with lots of foam,” said Zombos. He stretched out his long legs and slumped in …