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11-17-09 SLIGHT
TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES
Okay, so even though we were busy most of the weekend hanging out with a bunch
of the Chicago Horror crowd, I had every intention of getting an update done
this last weekend. But life is funny that way. About the middle of
last week, our internet goes down. Apparently our wireless router goes
bad. So we go buy a new one and somehow think that we could just plug it
in, and off we go. Silly rabbit. In fact, I'm not sure why these new
computer things just don't have 3 simple words for their installation
instructions: "Call Tech Support". Maybe even prefaced with "You're
Too Stupid." So after spending several hours on the phone, they were able
to get it working....sort of. I did have the internet, but with a
connection about the speed of dial-up. Next day comes and I call tech
support again to find out why it's so slow. After another couple of hours,
turns out my brand new router is bad. So the next day we go out and find a
new one. We take it home and hook it up, thinking that, maybe...just
maybe, we could do this on our own. So we hook it up, install the
software, and.....nothing. At that point it was too late for me to want to
talk to another tech guy, so I put it off until tomorrow.
So I get home from work, with a big smile on my face knowing
that in a few short minutes, I'll be able to call tech support again, and hoping
that I'll actually be able to get online. As I come downstairs, my son,
with his laptop open, says "So I see you got the internet working."
"No", I quickly point out. "It's still not working."
"Well it's working fine for me", he says with a smug.
I make my way down to my office and fire up the computer.
And much to my amazement, it connects to the internet. And not only am I
connected, but also back to the speed that I should have had all along.
Now I was really in a quandary about this. Do I make the call to tech
support to ask why it's not working and to make sure that it's working the right
way? Screw that. I'll save that call for the next time it's not
working. But I am really curious as to how this thing just decided to
start to work properly again. The only answer I can come up with is that
this is the reason that I spend my time watching movies and writing about them,
instead of trying to keep up with this never ending learning process of
computers.
OFF TO HORRORHOUND IN
CINCINNATI
We will be heading out to Ohio (round on the end, HI in the
middle) this weekend for the HorrorHound Weekend. Really looking forward
to this show since they have a pretty damn good guest lineup, as well these
shows are always a good time. So we probably won't have an update this
Sunday, but we'll see if we can't sneak one in on Monday sometime.
If you're still on the fence about maybe coming out the show,
they have added a few more guests recently, including Corbin Bernsen. And
don't forget about the Night of the Creeps reunion, and Jenny Wright (Near
Dark and I, Madman) making her first convention appearance. For
all the details, head over to their official website by clicking
HERE.
 CORMAN OSCAR
PRESENTATION
On November 14th, Roger Corman was presented an Oscar.
At the beginning of his speech before giving Roger Corman this honorary Oscar,
Jonathan Demme puts it best when he simply says, "What took you so long?"
That pretty much sums it up. It's a shame that they couldn't have done
this during the normal Oscar ceremonies, but when it comes down to it, Corman is
about as far away from the Oscars and big studios that you can get. So I
guess it's only fitting that it would be done this way.
If you haven't seen the footage, you can watch it
HERE.
HORRORBLES' GALERIE DES
TERRORS OPENS
Last weekend we made a trip out to Berwyn to Horrorbles, the
Chicagoland hot spot for Horror. They had recently moved to a bigger
building and had been working on their basement. Now it's finished and
they have official opened it, calling it the Galerie Des Terrors. The
really great part about this is that Horrorbles is becoming something much more
than just a retail outlet. It's giving horror & sci-fi fans a place to
hang out, doing some shopping, and now even learn something.
They are holding classes for a variety of different subjects,
from model building, horror screening writing, gore and horror makeup lessons,
and much more. For all the details, head over to their website by clicking
HERE.
MYSTERY PHOTO
Before we head off to HorrorHound, while we were getting this small update done,
we figured we might throw out a new Mystery Photo for you to work on until our
next update. Our last photo was from the 1977 movie The Car.
I can vividly remember seeing the trailer for this on TV when I was 12 years
old, especially the shot I used for the photo, but never had the chance to see
it in the theater back then. But when I got to see it years later, I loved
it. And still do today.
We got quite a few people that knew that pic as well.
So congrats go out to Hoby Abernathy, Horne Cecil, Aaron Christensen, Dave
Friedman, Rick Hayden, Bruce Kowalski, and Will Wilson.
So let's give a look at our new photo and see what you can
come up with. This is another classic film from about that same era.
So consider that a clue. As always, just click
HERE to send us
your answer and good luck.
11-08-09 TURKEY DAY
APPROACHES!
Okay folks, now that the spooky time of year is over, and
before we get to the terrifying season known as Christmas, it's time to get
ready to celebrate when movies go bad. In only a few weeks, we'll be
spending the Friday after Thanksgiving not at the shopping malls where the real
horror is, but sitting in front of our TV watching some of the best of the worst
films around. We've been doing t his for the past 6 years, and it has
become a tradition now. Of course, we won't be offended if you decide to
have your own Turkey Day marathon. In fact, we encourage it. And we'd love
to hear some suggestions that you are going to watch, or think we should add to
our menu. Just drop us an email with your ideas.
 PONTYPOOL
HITS DVD
One of the few movies we seen this year that we felt was not
only scary, but also one of the most original takes on a very old genre, was
Bruce McDonald's Pontypool, starring Stephen McHattie. After hitting the
festival circuits throughout the year, it looks like it's finally going to get a
DVD release on January 26th, thanks to IFC Films and MPI Media Group.
We've probably hyped this movie up too much, but we really can't say enough
about it. So if you haven't seen it, at least rent it.
Although, I must say that I'm not impressed with this new DVD
box art. Actually looks pretty terrible and would not get me to rent it
from that box art alone. Looks like something from some low budget label
would put out. Come on, people. Let's be a little more creative,
shall we?
CINEMA WASTELAND REPORT
It's only taken a month, but we've finally got our report up
for last month's Cinema Wasteland report. Of course, other than the
photos, it's pretty much the same report as always.....simple the best show out
there. But head over to our Convention Reports to at least see the photos!
TERROR IN THE AISLES 3
UPDATE
The final lineup has been announced for Terror in the Aisles
3, taking place on December 5th, at Chicago's Portage Theater. Previously
announced was the screening of the uncut version of Night of the Creeps,
with Fred Dekker in attendance. But now they have also added The Blair
Witch Project, with co-director Eduardo Sanchez appearing, and the Midwest
premiere of Jaume Balagueró & Paco Plaza’s [REC]
2. If you haven't seen the first film, or have just seen the American
remake Quarantine, then you need to check out the original, then come to
see the sequel.
There will also be a Edgar Allan Poe reading by actress Wendy
Robie (from People Under the Stairs and Twin Peaks) to celebrate
Poe's Bicentennial birthday. They will also be screening the short film
Treevenge, a chilling tale about a Christmas gone wrong. As well as the
usual live music, vendor tables, vintage trailers, prizes, and auction for
Vital Bridges.
Tickets are only $12 for the whole show, which can be purchased through
Brownpapertickets.com
And don't forget about Horror Society's Zombie Outbreak
this Saturday at the Portage Theater. For more information on that show,
just click HERE.
MYSTERY
PHOTO
We knew that last photo was going to be a tough one, but wanted to see just how
many demented fans were out there. And doesn't seem like too many, since
the only correct answer we got from Hoby Abernathy & Will Wilson. But we know
Abernathy lives out in the boonies and Wilson never
leaves the house, even to go to the post office, so we can understand how they
knew this one. The photo was from Lamberto Bava's Dinner With A Vampire.
If you haven't seen it, I don't know if I would run out and get it. Unless
of course, you're a fan of the lesser quality of work that Bava did. Lets
just say we dont' feel it's one of Bava's better films. But none the less,
if you're a completist....
So on to our latest photo. This one comes from a great
childhood memory, so consider that a clue. Give it a look and see what you
can come up with. As always, just click
HERE to send us
your answer and good luck.
SOAPBOX
TIME - WHEN DID EXTRAS ON DVD's BECOME PATHETIC?
Has anybody else noticed what has become of "extras" lately
on DVDs? It looks like unless the movie comes as a 2-disc special edition,
extras mean nothing more than maybe a trailer. Of course, that's unless
you buy the Blu-Ray edition, but we won't get into that right now. We
rented the new Wolverine movie and while this isn't a horror movie, I still want
to complain. The only thing in the "extras" menu was a non-smoking PSA and
2 trailers for un-related movies. What the hell is up with that? I'm
assuming that there was a 2-disc release for this movie, but I didn't care
enough to look into it. But even if there was, having a couple of trailers
and a PSA is NOT AN EXTRA! It's called ADVERTISING!
Sorry....back to our regularly scheduled programming....
11-01-09
BACK TO NORMALITY
 Now that the Halloween season is officially over, we should
be getting back to normal here....somewhat. We spent pretty much the whole
day yesterday sitting in front of the TV, trying to get at least a few movies in
for the month. We'd been so busy with all the shows and events in October that we just
never had the time. So we got through 6, with a wide variety of films.
Titles like the new disc of Night of the Creeps, Hammer's Curse of the
Werewolf, the ultra bad but highly entertaining The Pit, the Italian
film The Spider's Labyrinth, and Joan Crawford's Berserk.
But we ended with The Exorcist. It's been years since I've watched
that all the way through, and always amazes me on just how effective that movie
is still today, 36 years after it was made. Why Ellen Burstyn didn't win
an Oscar is just a travesty. Her performance is one of the reasons why we
care for the characters so much. Got goose bumps several times during this
movie....again!
We still have a couple more shows coming up this month,
Horror Society's Zombie
Outbreak on the 14th, and then we're off to Cincinnati for the
HorrorHound Weekend
show. And speaking on HorrorHound, they have added quite a few names to
the show next month, such as Linnea Quigley, James Duvall, and a few others.
Head over to their website for the full lineup. They have also announced
some guests for their show next March, including Clive Barker. Start
making your plans now, people. It's sounding like it's going to be one
hell of a show.
Then on December 5th, at the
Portage Theater in
Chicago, they have just announced Terror in the Aisles 3, where they will be
screening the uncut print of Night of the Creeps, with director Fred
Dekker in attending. Also appearing is actress Wendy Robie (People
Under the Stairs, Twin Peaks). There will be a couple of other films
announced soon, so stay tuned for that.
We're looking forward to all of them. As always, if you are
attending either of them, please stop by and introduce yourself.
We hopefully will have our reports of some of the events that
we've been to this last month, such as the Cinema Wasteland show, the Music Box
Massacre 5, and the more recent Flashback. Along with some new movie
reviews and whatever else we come across that we feel the need to comment.
Like I said, back to normal.
 FRIGHT-RAGS
Being a die-hard horror fan, that usually means that I'm
usually wearing a black horror t-shirt. Go figure. Usually pick a
new one or two at each of the shows that we go to, and they really add up over
the years. One company that consistently puts out quality work and awesome
designs is Fright-Rags. They are always adding new original designs from
our favorite movies. If you haven't ever checked out their work, like the
design from Bram Stoker's Dracula to the right, now is
your chance. Just head over to their website, by clicking
HERE, and take a gander
at some of their stuff. I'm sure you'll find a couple that you are going
to have to add to your collection. Just make sure that if you do order
something, tell them we sent you there.
SOUNDTRACK REVIEW
We have a few soundtrack reviews with this update.
First off, we start with sort of like a "Best Of", called the Definitive Horror
Music Collection, which is a 4-disc set of tracks from horror films from the
20's to today. Then we also take a look and listen at the latest two
releases from La-La Land Records, Night of the
Creeps and Child's Play. Head over to
our Soundtrack Review section for more details.
MOVIE
POSTER SITE
Since we have our own movie poster gallery, you know that we
love that medium and still think it's an art form that needs much more
appreciation. But we received an email about another site that also has
tons of images from movie posters. Unfortunately they are not all horror,
but it does have it's share. And the site is a tad bit more well designed
then our gallery.
The site's name is Free Film Posters, which you can get to by
clicking HERE.
When you have a few minutes, check it out and see how the time flies as you look
at the many different movie posters they have there.
 HOUSE OF
THE DEVIL
We recently had the chance to see Ti West's new movie House
of the Devil. If we had not known this was a new film, we would have sworn
it was made in the 70's. It's a great little throw back to that style of
filmmaking. If you get the chance to see it at one of the limited
screenings, I strongly suggest you take advantage of it. And if you're in
the Chicago area, then you will have that chance when it opens up at the
Music
Box Theatre on November 13th. Not sure how long it will be playing, so
mark your calendar now and don't miss it.
For more information about the movie, head over to the
official site HERE.
DVD NEWS
We had mentioned this news bit some time ago, but now it
looks like got some updated info. John "Bud" Cardos' 1977 film Kingdom of
the Spiders, starring William Shatner, will be hitting the stores in January of
next year with a special edition DVD of the film, which had previously been
released in a no-thrills cheapie edition. Now the announcement stated that
this would be an uncut version of the film, which we didn't know there was a
version different that what was previously release. So we for one are
looking forward to see just what this footage actually is. But none the
less, the disc does come with some great extras. Such as an audio
commentary by director Cardos, producer Igor Kantor, spider-wrangler Jim
Brockett, and cinematographer John Morrill. This is all moderated by Scott
Spiegel and Lee Christian. There is also a new interview with William
Shatner, a featurette on the 8-legged stars of the movies and Jim Brockett who
handled them, some behind-the-scene footage, poster gallery and original
theatrical trailer.
We have always been a fan of this movie, so we are very
excited to see it get the special treatment. Make sure you do yourself a
favor and add it to your collection next January.
But before that comes out, Scorpion Releasing will put out
The Silent Scream, directed by Denny Harrs. The film stars Barbara Steele,
Cameron Mitchell, and Yvonne De Carlo. The film will have a new high
definition transfer from the original Inter-positive, a 5.1 surround mix, audio
commentary by writer/producers Ken and Jim Wheat, and star Rebecca Balding.
The disc will also have featurettes, a retrospective of the film, one on the
Wheat brothers, and that final audio interview with director Denny Harris', who
passed away back in 2007.
MYSTERY
PHOTO
Yes, we know it's been a while since our last Mystery Photo. But we're
back on track to give you a new ocular quiz each and every week. Our last
photo was from The Walking Dead, starring Boris Karloff, which has recently been
released on DVD. Congrats to our regulars who were able to identify the
correct movie. They were Hoby Abernathy, Aaron Christensen, Dave Friedman,
and David Schmidt.
For this week's photo, I'm going to the vaults for this one.
It's going to be a tough one. So think long and hard on this one. As
always, just click
HERE to send us
your answer and good luck.
10-18-09
STILL NO REST FOR THE WICKED
The month of October is a little more than half way over and
it has just been flying by. While it's been great to have this many cool
events going on, sometimes there's just not enough time to enjoy the Halloween
season ourselves. But since we only have the Flashback Weekend coming up
next week, we're hoping that we can make up for lost time these next couple of
weeks. We did sit down and watched Trick 'r Treat tonight, so that was a
nice break in the madness.
Thanks to everyone who attended the Music Box Massacre and
stopped by our table to chat. It was another long endurance test, but as
always we had a really fun time. And again, sometimes we really regret
being stuck behind our table instead of sitting there watching the movies with
the rest of the die hard fans. Who knows, maybe one of these days....
ZOMBIE
OUTBREAK
Now even though next weekend is the Flashback Weekend, and Halloween is the
following week, that doesn't mean that our season is over. Mark your
calendars for November 14th for Horror Society's Zombie Outbreak Film Festival.
They really have an amazing line up of a films this time, and we are really
looking forward to them. Here's the list of titles that are scheduled for
the festival:
Chemical 12-D - With director Mac
Eldridge
The Basement - With director Walter J. Walsh
Fleshbeast
Colin - This is the $70 zombie film that made such noise at Cannes Film
Festival.
Pathogen - This is the zombie movie made by 12-year old Emily Hagins
Zombie Girl the Movie - This is the documentary about Emily Hagins and her
quest to make a zombie movie, with director Justin Johnson attending
Tales from the Script Promo - With co-stars Ron Fitzgerald and Claire Ryan.
Sub Hub Trailer
The Return of the Living Dead
Other guests include Kitty Zombie, author Scott Kenmore, the
Undead Comic, and Sam the Zombie Hunter. There will also be zombie photo
ops, Return of the Living Dead Trivia, Giveaways, and a raffle of a H2 poster
signed by Rob Zombie and Sheri Moon Zombie.
So make sure you mark that date down and we'll hope to see
you there.
MYSTERY
PHOTO
Been a little while since our last photo, but still seemed to have stumped most
of you. The photo was taken from William Grefe's Stanley Grefe was
at the Cinema Wasteland earlier this month, so it was our little tribute to him.
That is a shot of Alex Rocco about to take a dive into a pool with a few snakes
swimming around. Hoby Abernathy and Mike Shields are ones that recognized
the film, so kudos to you.
So here's our new photo to test that gray matter. Let's
see what you can do. As always, just click
HERE to send us
your answer and good luck.
SOUNDTRACKS GALORE!
There seems to be more and more soundtracks of our favorite
older films getting a release on CD these days.
La-La Land Records,
one of the top producers of soundtracks, both new movies and older cult
classics, will be releasing 2 titles in a limited release on October 27th.
The titles are Tom Hollands Child's Play, with music by Joe Renzetti and
Fred Dekker's Night of the Creeps, with music by Barry De Vorzon.
If you are in the Burbank, California area, on October 28th
at Dark Delicacies, they
will be having a signing / release party for these two titles. Dekker and
De Vorzon will be there, along with Tom Holland. The CDs for Child's
Play will already be pre-signed by Renzetti. Both of these titles are
getting limited releases, so if you are remotely interested, I would place your
orders now before they become out-of-print, like so many of these soundtracks
do.
We also have just
recently picked up a limited edition score of Terry Plumeri's score for the 1988
film Scarecrows, and William Lava's fun and entertaining score for Al
Adamson's Dracula vs. Frankenstein. Once again, what a great time
to be a horror film fan with titles like these are getting releases. We're
hoping to have reviews up these scores up shortly.
And while on the subject of soundtracks, we have posted 2 new
reviews in our Soundtrack Reviews. The first one is for the upcoming film
Forget Me Not by composer Elia Cmiral. The second one isn't really a movie
soundtrack, but a musical soundscape for fans of the zombie genre. It's
called Zombie Influx. Check out our reviews for them
HERE.
10-6-09
NO REST FOR THE WICKED
Shortly before writing this, I was struggling with the
decision to either work on this update, or sit and watch a movie. It’s already
close to a week into October, and I haven’t watched a SINGLE MOVIE! But since I
haven’t had much sleep these last few days, I’m afraid that if I sat down in
front of the TV, I wouldn’t make it past the credits. So here we are instead.
Hopefully I won’t fall asleep at the computer….though I have come close a few
times….
DEATHSCRIBE 2009
Last night, I had the honor to be one of the judges for Deathscribe 2009:
WildClaw Theatre’s 2nd Annual
International Festival of Radio Horror Plays. We had missed their show last
year, mainly due to the fact that we were recovering from our trip to Cinema
Wasteland. This year’s festival was also the day following Cinema Wasteland
again, but we had planned on trying to make it out, especially since we were
asked to be on the judging panel.
I must say that even though I sort of knew what to expect, as
far as what and how they were doing it, I was blown away by the whole show.
From the sheer professionalism of the actors, the foley artists, the musicians,
and especially to the 5 writers who created these nightmarish tales, it was an
incredible night of ghastly fun.
The winning tale of the night was Remembrance, written
by Chris Hainsworth and directed by Nick Dimond. It’s a tale of a cure for
Alzheimer’s Disease that goes horribly wrong. It was a story that took the hope
of finding a solution to a traumatizing malady and makes it worse. Much
worse. As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for.
The other stories were Bags of Blood, written by
Daniel Caffrey and directed by Don Hall, The Most Beautiful Woman in the
World, written by Clint Sheffer and directed by Cecilie Keenan, The Dust
Gods of Dr. Gaul, written by Jude Mire and directed by Robert Breuler, and
The Skinny Man, written by Scott T. Barsotti and directed by Katie
McLean. Each tale did a wonderful job of creating images of horror in the
mind’s eye of the audience. Congratulations to all the entries, and thank you
for giving us these wonderful and horrible tales.
CINEMA
WASTELAND
We made it through our 16th Cinema Wasteland over
the last 10 years. It’s amazing that they have been going this long, and
continue to create the greatest movie and memorabilia show ever. That’s right
people….EVER! If you don’t agree, you simply haven’t been there. As I’ve said
many times before, there is no other show like it out there. We are working on
our official write up and have plenty of photos, but not sure when it will be
posted. Hopefully it won’t be too far away.
BOX COPY
CONTEST
While on the subject of Cinema Wasteland, while at the show
over the weekend, I was talking to a friend of mine who was at the recent Dark
Realms convention. He told me that he seen a movie poster for a new movie that
had a quote from me on the poster. But he couldn’t remember what the name of
the movie!?!? As far as we know, we have never been quoted on a poster or DVD
box. So we are dying to find out what movie this is.
So here’s the deal. If someone can find out what movie this
is and we can confirm it, you will have your choice of either an 8x10 lobby card
from the original My Bloody Valentine, autographed by director George
Mihalka OR a lobby card of Stanley signed by director William
Grefe. So if you can find out this mysterious title, just send us an email (by
clicking HERE)
and let us know and you can get one of these free gifts.
MASSACRE
THIS WEEKEND!!!
Hopefully everyone has already made their plans to make it out to the Music Box
Massacre 5 this weekend. Once again, they have an amazing line up this year
covering many different aspects of the genre. It starts at 12:00pm on Saturday
and runs until 12:00pm on Sunday. As usual, we will be set up in the lobby
continuing to preach our gospel. If you’re coming out, please be sure to stop
by and chat for a while. For all the info about the show, just click
HERE.
Here is the final line up:
The Hunchback of Notre Dame – 11:59am
Isle of the Dead – 2:15pm
Bucket of Blood – 3:45pm
The Black Cat (Master of Horror episode) – 5:00pm
The Brood – 6:15pm
Re-Animator – 8:30pm
From Beyond – 10:45pm
Pontypool – 12:30am
Dark Night of the Scarecrow – 2:05am
Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 – 4:20am
Blood Feast – 6:10am
Maximum Overdrive – 8:15am
Carrie – 10:15am
10-1-09 OFF TO THE WASTELAND....
Okay kiddies, one quick update before we head off to Ohio
(round on the end, HI in the middle) for the Cinema Wasteland Fall show.
For the last 10 years, we have been going this show and have NEVER had anything
but an amazing time. And I'm sure this one is not going to change that.
And since we won't be having an update this week, other than
maybe a small one on Monday, we want to leave you with a review of a new
Australian movie called The Horseman. Not to be confused with the
recent Dennis Quaid movie Horsemen. So head over to our
Reviews and check it out.
If you're going to be at Wasteland as well....please stop by
and chat for a few.....
9-27-09 THE MADNESS BEGINS
Not sure when our next update is going to be. We have
something lined up every weekend for the next 4 weeks. Between Cinema
Wasteland, Flashback Weekend, the Music Box Massacre, we are going to be pretty
busy. We are going to try and have something posted, as minor as it might
be. But if you are going to any of these events, please stop by our table to
say hello. We always love to meet the people on the other side of this
computer screen.
HORROR
SOCIETY’S ZOMBIE OUTBREAK
With all the conventions, festivals, and other ghoulish plans
we are making for the Halloween season, here’s one to remember when October is
nothing but a memory. Horror Society is planning their Zombie Outbreak Film
Festival. They had originally had Lloyd Kaufman scheduled to appear and show
Poutrygiest, but that has changed. But what they have lineup so far is a
pretty damn good substitute. The always entertaining Return of the Living
Dead will be playing at the festival. No matter how many times you watch
this movie, it never gets old.
But they have also added Zombie Girl: The Movie. This
is a documentary on Emily Hagins who is has been making a feature length zombie
movie called Pathogen. The big difference with this film is that Emily
is only 12 years old. This documentary chronicles the making of this film.
At Cannes earlier this year, a zombie movie called Collin
that made a lot of noise. Even more so since it was made for only $70. Now you
will have the chance to see what was causing all the attention.
They will also be playing Zombiemania, which is
another documentary on the zombie genre. From its roots in Haitian voodoo rites
to the cannibalistic monsters we know today, this film covers it.
The special guests so far are Justin Johnson, co-director of
Zombie Girl and Scott Kenmore, author of The Zen of the Zombie,
Z.E.O., and soon to be released The Art of Zombie Warfare. For
all the information, head over to
Horror Society.
There will be more guests and movies added, so stay tuned for updates.
NEW REVIEWS
In honor of the upcoming Cinema Wasteland next weekend and
their guest Arch Hall Jr., we have reviewed the 1958 film, The Sadist.
This was a complete surprised at how dark this film is. Check our review
HERE. We have also reviewed Douglas Pipes’ score for
Michael Dougherty’s Trick ‘r Treat. You can find it in our Soundtrack
Review section by clicking HERE.
 ZOMBIE-INFLUX
Any regular visitor’s to this site knows that we are big fans
of Nox Arcana and their work. They have teamed up with Jeff Hartz from
Buzz-Works, when he was inspired to create Zombie Influx, an audio tribute
classic zombie movies like Romero’s zombie films. Co-written by Joseph Vargo
and engineered by William Piotrowski, the CD combines music and audio cues like
broadcasts and news reports to put the listener in the middle of a zombie
outbreak! For more details, head over to Buzz-Works and order your CD today.
HORROR HISTORY
This week's entry into our little history of horror is a
Texas based filmmaker that would consider a Roger Corman film a huge
big-budgeted picture. In the 60's, this guy cranked out film after film,
with little money, but with a lot of drive. Head over to the classroom to
learn more about this amazingly talented Z-movie filmmaker.
MYSTERY PHOTO
Only got two correct answers for last week's photo. They were from Hoby
Abernathy and Dave Friedman. Nice job, guys. For the rest of you, it
was from Paul Naschy's 1975 film Exorcism (aka Exorcimo).
That tells me that there are more people that need to see more works from this
horror icon! Let's get busy out there people!
For our next photo, we come back to the USA. It's a
pretty memorable shot, so see what you can come up with. And if you need a
clue, we'll be seeing the director of this film at some point next month....As
always, just click
HERE to send us
your answer and good luck.
9-20-09 WILDCLAW's ZOMBIE BOWLING 2 SUCCESS
We attended the Zombie Bowling 2, a fundraiser put on by
Chicago's WildClaw Theatre. We had missed the first event like this they
did earlier this year, so we wanted to make sure made it out for this time.
It was a lot of fun and so great to see so many creative people out there, going
all out on their zombie costumes and designs. They had several makeup
artist there making up anyone who wanted to be 'zombie-fied'. So excellent
job goes to Nora O'Sullivan, Colleen Miller, Coye Vega, Kristen Wicks, Kirsten
Pheiffer, Colleen Jones, and WildClaw's own Aly Renee Greaves, all doing
incredible work. It really made the night to see zombies everywhere!
DON CALFA ANNOUNCED FOR
HORRORHOUND WEEKEND
Return of the Living Dead is one of our favorite
films, which stars the incomparable Don Calfa, as mortician Ernie Kaltenbrunner.
Calfa has worked in just about every genre there is, in both TV and film for the
last 40 years. He may not have huge roles, but you always remember seeing him
and his performance. That is the mark of a great actor.
So we were very excited to hear that he has been added to the
guest line up for the Cincinnati HorrorHound Weekend, November 20th-22nd.
They already had a great lineup, and this just made it even better. For all the
details, head over to the HorrorHound Weekend website, by clicking
HERE.
 TCM
2 at MBM 5
Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 has been added to the lineup
for the Music Box Massacre 5, starting at noon on Saturday, October 10th
and going for a full 24 hours of madness, movies, and plenty of fun! For all
the details, including how to purchase your tickets now before they sell out
(they always do!), just click
HERE.
The poster to the right is the latest artwork from the
incredible artist Putrid. He talent and work never ceases to amaze me.
SHU-IZMZ
RADIO
A good friend and fellow horror fanatic Bryan Schuessler (aka
Shu) has a radio program on Blog Talk Radio, each Monday night, now starting at
9pm (EST). He reviews movies, and basically talks about the horror genre.
There is a chat room when you go to log on, so you can chat with other
like-minded horror fans while listening to the show. It’s a lot of fun and Shu
does a pretty good job with lots of fun opinions and facts. You can find out
more information about the show, and even listen to the older shows, by simply
clicking HERE. And come Monday night, we hope to see you there.
POSTER
GALLERY UPDATE
We have added a few more posters to our Poster Gallery, in
quite few of the galleries. So if you have a few minutes to kill and want to
see some amazing and talented artwork, head over to our gallery, simply by
clicking HERE. Enjoy!
HORROR
HISTORY
We've added another famous face for this week's Horror
History. If you enjoy the sci-fi horror films of the 50's, then you might
recognize this actor. Head over to our Horror History page by clicking
HERE for this week's lesson.
MYSTERY
PHOTO
It seems that we posted another tough photo last week, and only got one correct
answer, from Hoby Abernathy. But thanks for all the ones that are sending
in their guess anyway. We appreciate the effort. The photo was from
the 1958 Japanese movie The H-Man, directed by Ishirô Honda who directed the
original Godzilla film, among many of the sequels. The film
featured some pretty cool melting effects, especially for that time period.
The film is obviously a statement about the lasting effects of radiation, which
has created some sort of new type of monster. Worth checking out.
So let's get on to our latest photo. This might be
another tough one, but we don't want to make it too easy for you, do we? I
think that would take all the fun out of it. As always, just click
HERE to send us
your answer and good luck.
 9-13-09 ROGER CORMAN
TO RECEIVE OSCAR
To use the term "it's about time" would be the
understatement of the century. Or at least for the past 50+ years.
Roger Corman will finally be getting an "honorary" Oscar on November 14th for
his work in the industry, along with cinematographer Gordon Willis and actress
Lauren Bacall.
Not to get off on a rant here, but it really sucks that these
awards will not be part of the new re-vamped Oscars that are in March.
Since upping the Best Movie category to 10 films, and probably shuffling most of
the technical awards an un-televised event, they'll need to spend more time
promoting the movies that those who star in them. You know, the true
creative people of the industry. We don't need to spend time
congratulating editors, cinematographers, costume or set designers anyway, but
the real people who make these films great....the actors!
Sorry people, but this sounds like the Oscars will be turning
more into 4-hour episode of E! Entertainment than it is for celebrating the
industry. Not looking forward to this at all. But none the less, it
is spectacular news that Corman will be getting this Oscar, no matter when it's
presented. All we can hope that the event is recorded and shows up on
YouTube.
MASSACRE V UPDATE
A few more films and guests have been announced for this
year's Music Box Massacre, taking place on October 10th. It's only about a
month away, so if you're even thinking about going, you better get your tickets
now before they sell out. You can order them through Brown Paper Tickets
by clicking
HERE. For more information about the event, just click
HERE.
 The new films and guests that have just been added are:
-
The Brood – Star Art Hingle appearing
-
Dark Night of the Scarecrow – Writer/creator
J.D. Feigelson in person
-
From Beyond – Another Stuart Gordon classic
Here are the rest of the films in the
line-up:
-
Re-Animator – director Stuart Gordon
appearing.
-
Hunchback of the Notre Dame (Lon Chaney Sr.)
-
Isle of the Dead (starring Boris Karloff, Val
Lewton produced)
-
Blood Feast – H.G. Lewis film that created the
gore film
-
Bucket of Blood – Roger Corman Classic starring
Dick Miller
-
Pontypool – One of the scariest films we’ve
seen this year
-
Maximum Overdrive – Stephen King’s one and only
directed films
-
Carrie – Brian DePalma’s version of King’s
first novels
Plus, other guests
include Greg Hollimon (star of Strangers with Candy) and Tim Kazurinski
(star of Shakes the Clown and Saturday Night Live). There will also be a
bi-centennial birthday tribute to Edgar Allan Poe with a reading of some of
Poe’s poems. As always, there are short films, vintage trailers, prizes,
dealer tables, live charity auctions for Vital Bridges and more. The
Halloween season is almost upon us. So make your plans now to spend 24
hours with a bunch of other like-minded die hard fans. We hope to see you
there.
 HAMMER
FILMS: A LIFE IN PICTURES BOOK REVIEW
We have posted our review on this great coffee table book on
Hammer Films. Read our thoughts in our
Reference Book Reviews or just jump straight to our Hammer Book section by
clicking HERE.
HORROR HISTORY
Yes, it’s back. We are back on track with a whole bunch of
names and faces that we will be adding to our Horror History page. Please take
a second to check out our latest addition, as well as checking our other entries
if you haven’t already. These are people that we feel have made some lasting
impact to the genre. You can either get there from our
Features section, or simply click
HERE to get there.
ZOMBIE BOWLING II
Don't forget that if you're in the Chicagoland area next
weekend and are looking for some undead excitement, the Wildclaw Theatre is
hosting their Zombie Bowling II: Dawn of the Dude, at the Timber Lanes Bowling
Alley, located at 1851 W. Irving Park, Chicago. It's only $20 to get in
and they provide the shoes and the bowling. You can come dressed as a
zombie, or for an extra $5 you can be zombified by Wildclaw's Aly Renee Greaves
and her undead makeup specialists. There will be plenty to do besides the
bowling, with Horror Queen Scream offs, Maniacal Laugh-Offs, horror trivia, and
much more. All the proceeds go to WildClaw Theatre for their future
events, including the 2009 Deathscribe, which takes place on October 5th at the
Music Box Theatre. For all the details, head over to WildClaw's website by
clicking HERE.
MYSTERY PHOTO
 This was a tough one folks, so don't feel back if you
missed it. The shot was from Dan Curtis' The Night Strangler, the
follow-up to his successful TV movie The Night Stalker. We didn't
think it's as good as the first movie, but is still entertaining. Great
cast including John Carradine and Wally Cox. Of course, the rarity of this
shot didn't stop Hoby Abernathy from coming through with the right answer.
Kudos, my friend.
So take a glance at our new photo and see what you can guess.
This might be another tough one, but give it a try. As always, just
click
HERE to send us
your answer and good luck.
 9-6-09 HAPPY 75th
BIRTHDAY PAUL NASCHY!
I’m hoping most everyone out there reading this knows who
Paul Naschy is? But if not, let’s just say that he’s an icon in the Spanish
horror genre. Writer, actor, director, and werewolf are just a few of the
things that he has done in his career that has spanned more than 40 years. A
true fan of the horror genre, Naschy has made an incredible impact over the
years, being one the first to really start making horror films in Spain, in a
time where they were severely frowned upon. If you’re not familiar with him,
then I strongly suggest you start to look into his work. More and more of his
films are being released on DVD here in the States, giving you plenty to chose
from. So take a few hours from your holiday weekend and spend it with one
an entertaining Naschy film!
So we wanted to take a moment to wish him a Happy Birthday,
and to thank him for all his work and dedication to the genre. Feliz Cumpleaños,
Senior Naschy!
 MUSIC BOX MASSACRE 5 –
STUART GORDON ATTENDING!
Legendary director of Re-Animator, From Beyond,
Stuck, and more, Stuart Gordon will be appearing at this year’s Music Box
Massacre 5, on Oct. 10th. They have added Re-Animator to the lineup
as well. We will be there, as always, set up in the lobby with some other great
dealers. So make sure you stop on by our table and chat for a few in between
these great films they have lined up for us this year. We’ll have our usual
array of horror books, posters, DVDs and whatever else we can come up with.
Hope to see you there.
By your advance tickets NOW before it sells out again!
Click
HERE to purchase your tickets. For more information about the event, just
click
HERE.
FACETS NIGHT “FRIGHT” SCHOOL CONTINUES
Facets Multimedia in Chicago continues there midnight
screenings in their Night School series. But in October, they are having an
all-horror program, with different movies each Friday and Saturday night. Each
screening starts at midnight and is only $5, or free to Facets members. This is
one time when we wished we lived in the city, since we would be at every one of
these screenings. This is a chance for horror fans, both old and new to check
out some classic films, also both old and new. Below is the schedule of films
and dates in October.
-
Friday the 2nd – The Mummy,
presented by Suzi Doll
-
Saturday the 3rd - Cat People,
presented by Stephen Reginald
-
Friday the 9th - The Curse of
Frankenstein, presented by Phil Morehart
-
Saturday the 10th - Zombie,
presented by Patrick Ogle
-
Friday the 16th - Rosemary's Baby,
presented by Cary Jones Elza
-
Saturday the 17th - The Hitcher,
presented by Amy Boyd
-
Friday the 23rd - Don't Look Now,
presented by Dan Mucha
-
Saturday the 24th - The Devil's Backbone,
presented by Michael Smith
-
Friday the 30th - [REC], presented
by Miguel Martinez
-
Saturday the 31st – Haxan, presented
with live score by Brian Elza and Bruce Neal
THE
TELEVISION HORRORS OF DAN CURTIS
Growing up in the 70’s, and watching a lot of TV, I became
aware of who Dan Curtis was pretty quick. From the Dark Shadows series
and movies, to all the made-for-TV movies, it was hard not to. With titles
like The Night Stalker, The Norliss Tapes, as well as his
adaptation of the classics like Frankenstein, Dracula, and many
more, his films were always memorable. But after reading this book , I was
amazed at how much I didn’t know about him. Head over to our
Biography Review section to read our review on
this new book from McFarland.
MYSTERY PHOTO
Think we stumped a few people with our last photo. Only got 2 emails with
the correct answers. This one was a little tougher, even though the bullet
hole effect was done by Tom Savini. The shot is from the 1981 film is
Eyes of a Stranger. I wasn't even aware this had gotten a DVD release
until I borrowed it from a friend. But congrats goes out to Dave Friedman
and Will Wilson for coming up with the correct title.
Here's our latest photo for you to test your horror
knowledge. It's another tough one, so good luck. As always, just click
HERE to send us
your answer and good luck.
9-01-09 A SLIGHT DELAY
We were just a little bit
too busy this weekend to get our update done and posted. So we are a
little late this time out. Plus the update wasn't as big as we'd hoped.
We got a few other projects that we're working on that is taking more time than
we were expecting. And with the Halloween season almost ready to start,
it's going to get even busier. But we'll see what we can do to stay
regular.
 ENGLUND
AT FLASHBACK
Robert Englund is making his return to
Flashback Weekend
this October in Chicago. He will be there promoting his new book,
Hollywood Monster: A Walk Down Elm Street with the Man of Your Dreams.
This is Englund's memoirs about his career in the horror genre, with stories
about the films he's worked on over the years. When we meet Mr. Englund,
we were amazed at his knowledge and his passion of cinema and theater.
So the man knows what he's talking about. So this will be another book
that we will be adding to our collection.
The Flashback Weekend takes place on October 23rd-25th, and
has other guests like Lance Henriksen, Tim Thomerson, Jeanette Goldstein, and
many more. Hope to see you there!
BOOK REVIEWS
We have added a few book reviews this time out. We have
quite a few more that we will be adding in the near future as well. As
everyone who comes to the Krypt on any regular basis knows our love and passion
for horror reference books. So we have posted reviews of Axelle Carolyn's
It Lives: Horror Movies in the New Millennium, Carlos Clarens Illustrated
History of the Horror Film, as well as opening up our Film Guide Review section
with Legacy of Blood and A Vault of Horror.
Head over to our Reference Book
Reviews section and check out our thoughts on some of these books.
There are some titles that are must haves, as well as a few titles to avoid.
SOUNDTRACK REVIEW
We also posted our review of Christopher Young's score for
Sam Raimi's Drag Me To Hell. Head over to our
Soundtrack Reviews section to check it out, along
with tons of other reviews.
MYSTERY PHOTO
We were tickled to see quite a people, including some new names, that sent in
the correct answer for last week's photo. The shot is from the infamous
Italian zombie movie Nights of Terror, also known as Burial Ground,
or Zombi 3: Nights of Terror, or countless other names. Burial
Ground was the name of it when it got a release here on video back in the
day. The shot that we posted was the scene where it showed just how smart
these zombie were. When a woman reaches out to close the 2nd story window,
one of the zombies throws a spike and nails her hand to the window. So as
she is trapped there, they slowly lift up a sickle and slowly cut her head off.
Of course, there is also the famous scene with the woman breast-feeding his
bizarre looking child. Classic stuff, all thanks to director Andrea
Bianchi.
So a big "job well done" goes out to the following scholars:
Hoby Abernathy, Dave Friedman, Anna McKibben, Bruce Kowalksi, Kristin Wicks, and
Will Wilson.
The new photo is now posted, so take a gander and see what
you can come up with. As always, just click
HERE to send us
your answer and good luck.
 MORE
GREAT NEWS FOR HAMMER FANS
Next year will be another great year for Hammer fans.
Sony will be releasing another box set with some never before released titles,
some never even seeing a video release here in the states. Icons of
Suspense will feature the following films: Stop Me Before I Kill Again
(directed by Val Guest), Cash on Demand (starring Peter Cushing and Andre
Morell), Maniac, The Snorkel, These are the Damned
(starring Oliver Reed), and Never Take Candy From a Stranger, which is a
powerful movie about a child molester that lives in a small community.
It's amazing that Hammer was able to make such a picture back in 1960.
Once again, this is a great time to be a movie fan, showing
the possibilities of what films can finally get a DVD release.
In other DVD news, the final specs with
all the extras for the new special edition of the 1987 film The Gate has
been released. The disc will be release on October 6th, and will feature
audio commentary by the director, Tibor Takacs, the writer, Michael Nankin, and
Randall William Cook, who handled the special effects/stop animation, who would
also go one to win an three Oscars for his work on the Lord of the Rings
trilogy. There is also a featurette on the creatures from the film called
From Hell, as well as a featurette on Takacs and Nankin, entitled The
Gatekeepers.
We've been a big fan of this when we first seen it.
It's a fun little horror movie that you can watch with the whole family.
Great stuff, and glad to see it getting the star treatment that it deserves.
UPDATE ARCHIVES
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2008 2009
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