Horror remakes are always interesting and controversial: interesting, because it’s always good to see the old nightmares get new blood; controversial because the movies often trample over the established cannon for the sake of ‘modernizing’ and ‘revamping.’ Often when changes are made to the appearance of the central antagonist, they’re small and more subtle. Michael …
Category: Movies
Nov 07 2009
American Scary
American Scary ‘American Scary’ is the documentary from John E. Hudgens and Sandy Clark covering ‘the popular [horror] hosts of the golden age of television.’ Consider it the ‘Greatest Hits’ collection of television’s spooky set – Zacherley, Vampira, Ghoulardi, Marvin, Bob Wilkins. All of your favorites and some of the lesser-knowns come together for this …
Oct 29 2009
Attack of the Anime Adaptations
Animation is not always for children, and the two films I’m going to discuss are definite proof of this. The slice of insanity you just witnessed is from an anime called Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned, a Japanese adaptation of Marvel’s Tomb of Dracula comic book. In fact, it was produced as part of the …
Oct 13 2009
Full Moon Direct
Anyone who haunted the horror section of their local video store will no doubt be familiar with Full Moon and their low-budget (but often high fun) films. The following video was posted last year to celebrate the company’s 10th anniversary and includes clips from various movies by Full Moon and Full Moon’s predecessor, Empire Pictures. …
Oct 10 2009
The Truth Behind The Exorcist
Thanks to years of documentaries and TV specials, many people are at least vaguely aware that The Exorcist is was based on a true story. But, just as how The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is only loosely based on Ed Gein, the truth about The Exorcist is stranger (and far less exotic) than fiction. The …
Oct 08 2009
There’s always room for giallo
For those not in the know, “giallo” is a term that (for English-speaking horror fans) usually refers to an Italian genre of violent mysteries and thrillers. The word itself is translates as “yellow,” which refers to the yellow covers of the books that spawned the genre. You see, a company called Arnoldo Mondadori Editore published …
Oct 05 2009
Somewhere a man named Williams is screaming…
It’s rare to get an in-depth look at the making of a bad movie. You might occasionally find a honest director’s commentary on a bad movie’s DVD release, but you’ll have to search through the untold number of denials and blamefests that tend to appear in commentaries for such films. Even when one is found, …
Sep 24 2009
The Ghoulies are good enough
[This is where I’d put a publicity picture of W.A.S.P’s Blackie Lawless posing with one of the Ghoulies if I had the time to dig it up.] I realized something very interesting about the Ghoulies series while watching the tail end of Ghoulies II on cable: It’s the only horror franchise I can think …
Jun 12 2009
Is this the end of civilization as we know it?
MGM/Comcast’s “Impact” OnDemand channel is now offering the 1986 post-apocalyptic trash classic Robot Holocaust for free. Yes, as in the one that appeared on Mystery Science Theater 3000. Although the film’s print is very good and has all the footage that was cut from the MST3K version, those who remember Wizard Video’s claim that it …
Apr 30 2009
Cat in the Brain
It seems that Lucio Fulci has directed one gory horror movie too many, as hallucinations plague him at every turn. Being offered steak at a restaurant makes him flash back to a man feasting on human flesh and hacking up a corpse with a chainsaw, while seeing a cameraman filming him for a documentary makes …
Apr 13 2009
Lost and Found
Imagine my surprise when I found a reference to Lionsgate Entertainment releasing a “Lost Collection” tomorrow while reading the Wikipedia entry for Repossessed. Searching for “the lost collection” on Amazon yielded the following movies: My Best Friend’s a Vampire Repossessed Slaughter High For the sake of completeness, here are the non-horror titles in the collection: …
Mar 30 2009
Critters: Special Edition?
Back when the special editions of the original Star Wars trilogy came out, I saw a pay-per-view listing for Critters: Special Edition. Despite all my searching, I can’t find any information about the supposed special edition online. My best guess is that it was it was a widescreen version of the film using the alternate …
Mar 23 2009
Relics and Reptiles
I was surprised to discover that not only was the movie The Relic based on a novel, but that said novel also had a sequel! In fact, you can read a sample chapter from said sequel, Reliquary, here. Speaking of samples, you can also read samples from The Relic, an early draft of The Relic, …
Feb 18 2009
Duane L. Jones (1936-1988)
Although his name might not be as recognizable as Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, or Robert Englund, Duane Jones is one of the most important people in American horror cinema. Jones is best known for his role as “Ben,” a man who faces many difficulties while trying to lead (and save) a group of people trapped …
Feb 12 2009
Pieces
Get this: the movie I reviewed immediately after Winterbeast also has a connection to Massachusetts! This time, it’s a gory horror flick set in Boston called Pieces. The movie opens in 1942, with a mother catching her son diligently working on a puzzle depicting a naked woman. Furious with her son taking after her lecherous …
Jan 30 2010
Watching Necropolis
[The following occurred a few days ago, after the writer decided to search the “Impact” OnDemand folder for newly posted horror movies. WARNING: Minor Spoilers] AMM: Hhmm…Necropolis sounds interesting.
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