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| FEO NEWS FOR WINTER 2024: - JANUARY - The detritus of old Horror/Thriller history can be found here. These are archived news items, many of them linked outside of this website. |
PHENOMEMA Turns 39
Master of Horror, Dario Argento brought on Donald Pleasence, an aging actor with a wide range who had a taste for Horror movies. He paired Donald with Jennifer Connelly, a young actor just starting out who would go on to play a wide range of roles, but always have a taste for Horror movies. The result is one of Argento's best movies, PHENOMENA aka CREEPERS. Mike Bracken, the Horror Geek, tells us why. And - FINAL DESTINATION 2 Turns 21
That perfect beginning. When a movie has a memorable, excellent opening, full of spectacle, thrills, frights, everything that just blows the audience out of their seats, well... when a movie starts with a showstopper, that effectively stops the show. So where are you going to go from there? In 2003, this is where FINAL DESTINATION 2 went. Plus - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
DEEP RISING Turns 26
Some movies are meant to be dumb fun, which covers nearly all of the Toho GOJIRA movies and all of the GAMERA movies. The monsters in this movie are nowhere near Kaiju size, but if you've never seen it, there's still a great time in DEEP RISING. Plus - THE UNINVITED Turns 15
Can an American Hollywood studio remake of a South Korean Horror movie (A TALE OF TWO SISTERS) actually be any good? It's only happened twice to my recollection. MIRRORS (remake from GEOUL SOKEURO) and this, THE UNINVITED. Also - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Actor Christian Bale (AMERICAN PSYCHO, REIGN OF FIRE, EQUILIBRIUM, THE MACHINIST, BATMAN BEGINS, THE PRESTIGE, BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT, TERMINATOR: SALVATION, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, OUT OF THE FURNACE, THE PALE BLUE EYE, THE BOY AND THE HERON) is 47.
CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED Turns 60
And are too damn old to still be calling themselves "Children", by cracky! Seriously, this sequel turned out as good as you'd expect of a sequel in the 1960s. And by that I mean, while it wasn't anywhere near as bad as CHILDREN OF THE CORN in the 1980s, CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED, rushed and under budget, was still... And - It Was 20 Years Ago Today IRAQ ATTACK: Susan Sarandon Edition Plus - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO - SUNDAY -
Writer / Director Frank Darabont (THE WOMAN IN THE ROOM, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3, THE BLOB [1988], THE FLY II, FRANKENSTIEN, THE GREEN MILE, THE MIST, THE WALKING DEAD [TV]) is 65. BODY SNATCHERS Turns 31
Since I saw 2007's INVASION, I've new respect for this sequel/prequel/other story of the same event. Whatever. It's not bad (it's not good, mind you), and nowhere near as great as the 1978 remake or the original, but here are the elements that make BODY SNATCHERS a decent (again, not good, mind you) movie. ALONE IN THE DARK Turns 20
Starring Christian Slater (INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE), Stephen Dorff (BLADE), and Tara Reid (URBAN LEGEND), this is the movie that put Director Uwe Bolls on the map! The M!F! Map, I tell you! You know the map I mean! THAT map!: ALONE IN THE DARK. Cool poster, anyway. SATURDAY -
Horror Host Joe Bob Briggs aka John Bloom (EVIL EVER AFTER, GHOSTS OF GOLDFIELD, HOGZILLA, RAPTURIOUS, JOE BOB'S HAUNTED DRIVE IN, CRYPTIDS) who is 71. 15 Years With the DARK DREAMERS
Read E.C. McMullen Jr.'s review of the 4 DVD Ultimate Disc Extras ever made. Bram Stoker award winning Stanley Wiaters, DARK DREAMERS. THE GREY Turns 12
For some actors who, after decades of building a career only to feel they are watching success slip away with age, find the temptation of "Once you've found your niche, exploit the hell out of it", becoming a viable option. Liam Neeson (EXCALIBER) became a prominent actor in the 1990s with a starring role in Sam Raimi's 1990 superhero film, DARKMAN. His performance convinced Steven Spielberg and Liam arrived with 1993's SCHINDLER'S LIST and an Academy Award Nom. Finally! After over a decade of being in the background. But it wasn't until 2008 and TAKEN that Liam realized what audiences wanted to see from him. Since then, he hasn't stopped playing Bryan Mills regardless of the name of the character he portrays. That's what you get with this movie: A Wild Varmint Horror movie starring Liam Neeson's Bryan Mills character playing John Ottoway. It's a gravel gargling Liam Neeson at his most Liam Neesonist! Screenwriter Ken King tells you about THE GREY.
KISS OF THE VAMPIRE Turns 61
Every Horror movie fan has seen it, this endless romanticism of the 1960s Hammer Studios. Why? Hammer pushed the violence and gore factor. The studio didn't want their monsters romantic and tragic, but wild and predatory. Continued at KISS OF THE VAMPIRE. And - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
THE RAVEN Turns 61
The both famous and infamous Roger Corman would occasionally create quality movies despite his pursuit of schlock for profit. In his autobiography, How I Made A Hundred Movies In Hollywood And Never Lost A Dime, Roger explains that he knew when he was making cheap schlock and when he was trying for something greater. He didn't always achieve greatness when he tried. In fact he usually failed. But he always knew how to sell it. Continued at THE RAVEN. And - THE GODSEND Turns 44
Can a movie told as a Supernatural tale actually be a legitimate Science Fiction flick? A solid, even hardcore Science Fiction flick? Reviewer Kelly Parks thought so as this is what he saw when he watched 1980's THE GODSEND. Plus - THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES Is 22
Just because a studio wants to make a scary Horror movie with A-List movie and TV actors doesn't mean they'll succeed. In fact it's so rare it's nearly guaranteed that they won't. Nearly Once in a great while a major studio has their THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES moment. Also - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
Actor GARY GRAHAM is Gone
I just got word that actor Gary Graham (ALIEN NATION [TV], STAR TREK [TV], THE CRUSADER, UNIVERSAL DEAD) passed away. Gary was a joker on set, quick with the adlib, Doing his part to keep everyone's spirits up, and always practicing, practicing, practicing the best approach to his script. Whenever he wasn't on-camera, he was preparing for the next shot. He never stopped. He died January 22, 2024 in Spokane, Washington. Gary was 73. More at Legacy.com And - KILLERS FROM SPACE Turns 70
If you know what I mean, and if you're thinking sex then you don't know what I mean. I'm talking the newly minted adults born in the 2000s who swear that Horror movies were better in the 1980s. Seriously? Because the 80s ones that keep coming up in these conversations are movies like CRITTERS, KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE, David Cronenberg's THE FLY, and John Carpenter's THE THING, which all in turn were upgrading the retro nostalgia of 1950s monster movies. And when they did they sure as hell weren't trying to update this old flick. It's not all beer and skittles. More like backseat and bullshit and the reason TV shows like Mystery Science Theater 3000 were born. Yeah, nostalgia is weird stuff and I can't figure out any appeal to KILLERS FROM SPACE other than the fun of mocking it. Plus - Dean Koontz's PHANTOMS Turns 26
Like EVENT HORIZON, this is one of those movies that came so tantalizingly close to great. Based of of the bestselling novel by Dean Koontz, and with a screenplay by Dean Koontz, and starring the 1990s Weinstein stable of young actors, this could have been great. If only it wasn't a Dimension Film. But it was and this is how Dean Koontz's PHANTOMS played in the theater. Also - THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT Turns 20
Imagine you can go back in time. But because you're a self-centered, narcissistic douchbag you come back to your present to discover that you screwed people's lives up with the changes you made: People that you actually like! So you go back to fix things with a Pardon, Me! Okay. Everything's cushy, right? No, you insufferable douchebag! You've made everything worse! In 2004 Ashton Kutcher took on the role of a time traveling pain in the ass who thinks he's the most important person on the planet - which he is because he can travel forward and backward through time. And Ashton did this in THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT. Also - UNDERWORLD III: RISE OF THE LYCANS Turns 15
Are you a Werewolf fan who is really Likin' them Lycans? Then have I got a Bone to Throw to You! My review of UNDERWORLD III: RISE OF THE LYCANS. Finale - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
THE COMEDY OF TERRORS Turns 60
Adults turned out in droves in 1964, but why? These actors were all has-beens and the scary movies those grown ups saw when they were children had the Horrors of a World War and a Korean "Conflict" between the who they were and who they are: grown-ups with their own kids. What Roger Corman understood that the studios didn't, is that these "has-beens" were still beloved by their legions of fans and there was a new generation to introduce to the old masters. A generation who would love them not for Horror, but for THE COMEDY OF TERRORS. And - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Actor Linda Blair (THE EXORCIST, EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC, SUMMER OF FEAR, HELL NIGHT, RED HEAT [1985], GROTESQUE, WITCHERY, MOVING TARGET, BAD BLOOD, BEDROOM EYES II, THE CHILLING, REPOSSESSED, DEAD SLEEP, FATAL BOND, SORCERESS [1995], MONSTER MAKERS, ALL IS NORMAL, LANDFILL) is 64. SUNDAY -
Actor John DeSantis (THE 13th WARRIOR, THE NEW ADDAMS FAMILY [TV], THIR13EN GHOSTS [2001], BLOODSUCKERS, Masters of Horror: INCIDENT ON AND OFF A MOUNTAIN ROAD, BLADE: THE SERIES [TV], THE HOLE [2009], STAN HELSING, 30 DAYS OF NIGHT: DARK DAYS, MUTANT WORLD, FALLING SKIES [TV], DEAD RISING 4 [VG], SUPERNATURAL [TV], VAN HELSING [TV], A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS [TV], CORRECTIVE MEASURES) is 47. AMERICAN PSYCHO Turns 24
When you say AMERICAN PSYCHO in 2024, everybody remembers Director Mary Harron's magnum opus and Christian Bale's breakout role. Few remember that it came from a New York Times bestselling novel. This is why, 24 years later, AMERICAN PSYCHO still dominates the room. SATURDAY -
Actor Tom Baker (THE CANTERBURY TALES [1972], THE VAULT OF HORROR, FRANKENSTEIN: THE TRUE STORY, THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD, THE MUTATIONS, THE CURSE OF KING TUT'S TOMB, DOCTOR WHO [TV], SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE HOUNDS OF BASKERVILLES [TV - 1982], BACKTIME, DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS, AGATHA CHRISTIE MARPLE: TOWARDS ZERO) is 88. THE TOMB OF LIGEIA Turns 60
At his prime actor Vincent Price was a handsome devil with a rich honeyed voice and a suave demeanor draped over a cad beneath. This was catnip to his overwhelmingly large female audience. But he never had a breakout hit like the major actors of his day and age range. For one thing, he presented the cool intellect of a tiger biding its time before the pounce. He wasn't the kind of actor that could carry a romantic movie, which is what all the A-List actors of his era had in their portfolio as their "break-out" movie. By the late 1950s, consigned to powerful character actor roles, a middle-aged and aging Vincent Price found his movie offers growing ever more Schlocky. So much so that he was approached by famed Schlockmiester Roger Corman. Roger made his name as a movie making machine who could turn a dime on the most ridiculous crap. Yet among all of his quantity, he occasionally created quality so stunning that the major studios and critics were left gasping. "How did that Corman make that picture?" Despite the occasional stumbles with each other, the two worked on eight Edgar Allen Poe movies together. Price the leading man in every one and Roger proving that he could make quality. It culminated in their last, most expensive and experimental: 1964's THE TOMB OF LIGEIA. THE PROPHECY II Turns 25
Like any sequel from Dimension Films, if you liked the first one you probably won't be *that* disappointed by the Direct to Video second one. At least THE PROPHECY II offers just as much Christopher Walken as the first. UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION is 18
Like any sequel released to theaters by Sony Pictures in the 2006 Dump Month of January, if you liked the first UNDERWORLD you may like the second, UNDERWORLD EVOLUTION, a little better.
THERE IS A MONSTER Hitting VOD on Jan. 30 Want to know more? Damn right you do! So hit their official website, thereisamonster.com And - E.C. McMullen Jr. Reviews the new 4K Restoration of Roger Corman's THE DEVIL'S PARTNER
Plus - TREMORS Turns 34
Do you remember when you were 17 and saw TREMORS in the theater for the first time? Well now yer over 50 and yer OLD! YER OLD! But you know what else? Your kids and possibly your grandkids still enjoy this damn movie! And you know why? You Know Why? This is why we still love TREMORS. Also - FROM DUSK TILL DAWN Turns 28
In 1996, Fans were already wild over the fact that this movie would feature the talents of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino together, but the unexpected showstopper wasn't the Balls-To-The-Wall Special Make-up Effects by Robert Kurtzman, but the appearance of Salma Hayek as Santanico Pandemonium: the Vampire Queen! This was my youthful reaction to 1996's FROM DUSK TILL DAWN. Finale - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
On Jan. 26 THE TRUNK premieres on Amazon Prime
And - EVE OF DESTRUCTION Turns 33
You want to talk about a movie that is ripe for remake? A movie with a solid concept, great possibilities, amazingly untouched by all of the episodes of the WESTWORLD TV series (itself an unfortunate chock-a-block of missed opportunities), yet suffused with poor execution due to a complete misunderstanding of what such a plot entails? What this movie got wrong in 1991, the animated GHOST IN THE SHELL got right in 1995 (and the live-action movie got wrong in 2017). Still, just as there's more than one tale in a Zombie apocalypse, so there is more than one tale of robots in our future. This is EVE OF DESTRUCTION. Plus - FROM DUSK TILL DAWN 3 Turns 24
I'm old enough to remember 1999 and my Art House theater friends moaning over the fact that their beloved Foreign Artsy Queen, Sonia Braga, had lowered herself to be in a cheap Direct-To-Video movie sequel like this one. While Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino retained Producer name and rights, they had little involvement in this. Yet here was my friend's Sonia Braga slumming through a movie where she didn't even get top billing. She's not even on the poster! The thing about being an Art House fan of foreign actors, is that you miss everything that person does that never makes it to your little cinema alcove in your tony little 'hood. Your favorite star in the sky, unknown to the hoi polloi and all the more cherished for her relative obscurity "Why, you've never heard of Sonia Braga? Harrumph! Peasant*!" is not who you think she is. Sonia started and stayed in low-budget sex comedies and dramas. A large body of her work could charitably be viewed as the equivalent of late night cable adult soft core porn aka "Skinamax". It was not unusual for posters to feature her front and center, legs spread or cupping her breast. Once in a while she wound up in a good or great movie like KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, The Milagro Beanfield War, and a few others, but she made her name in softcore skin flicks and in addition to her youth and beauty of the era, she could actually Act! In her country she regularly turned up in TV series. Sometimes she'd cross the pond to act in U.S.A. TV shows like an episode of TALES FROM THE CRYPT. None of which takes anything away from her training, experience, and talent as an actor, but she wasn't slumming in a low rent vampire flick. Sonia is a working actor: making another in a long string of movies in her career. Sonia fit right in with her other character actors in FROM DUSK TILL DAWN 3: THE HANGMAN'S DAUGHTER. *Or "Pissant" in Texas. Also - CLOVERFIELD Turns 16
For fans of Universal Pictures' FRANKENSTEIN franchise, they have their favored non-canon spin-off, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. Trekkies have their GALAXY QUEST and Romero's Children have SHAUN OF THE DEAD. But those are all comedies! In 2008, Drew Goddard and Matt Reeves decided to do a Kaiju movie with a light touch and a hardcore heart. They wanted you to laugh, and cry, and be chilled to the bone. Which wound up making their movie less of a GODZILLA tribute, with CLOVERFIELD coming dangerously close to being a... Wassmor - GLASS Turns 5
Why does M. Night Shyamalan's final movie in his protean Superhero franchise join the ranks of rare trilogies that finished their franchise on top? This is why GLASS completes M. Night's nearly 2 decade masterpiece. Finale - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
CUBE Turns 26
It's nearly startling to watch this movie today, realize that it's nearly three decades old, and not only is this Science Fiction Horror Thriller not obsolete, it's a future that is so close it might be happening right now. No other movie is anything like it, and its sequels and remake never lived up to it. Still as relevant as it was 26 years ago, this is the icy hot tension wire of Vincenzo Natali's CUBE. And - DIE YOU ZOMBIE BASTARDS! Turns 17
There's nothing I have to say about Caleb Emerson's 2005 magnum opus that I didn't say in my review of DIE YOU ZOMBIE BASTARDS! Plus - MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D Turns 15
It's a remake of a 1980s (1981 to be exact) Horror movie that did ... O-ka-ay-ee... So in 2009 they released a reboot that fixed all the gaps and crap that derailed the first one, right? Because after nearly 30 years, everyone had outlined exactly where the movie went wrong and what it could have done better and the folks remaking this paid attention to the audience they wanted to turn out for their movie, right? Right? Or maybe what they did was what we have with MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D. Finale - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Director/ Producer/ Composer John Carpenter (ATTACK
ON PRECINCT 13 [1976], HALLOWEEN, THE FOG, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, HALLOWEEN II, THE THING, CHRISTINE, BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, PRINCE OF DARKNESS, THEY LIVE, IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS, GHOSTS OF MARS, VAMPIRES, Masters of Horror: CIGARETTE BURNS, Masters of Horror: PRO-LIFE, THE WARD, HALLOWEEN [2018], HALLOWEEN KILLS, HALLOWEEN ENDS) is 75.
IN DREAMS Turns 25 Starring Annette Bening (MARS ATTACKS!), Aiden Quinn (FRANKENSTEIN [1994]), Stephen Rea (INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE), and Robert Downey Jr. (IRON MAN), this movie had the misfortune of getting a 1999 release when the competition was staggeringly high. By comparison to 1999's output, this is what we thought of Neil Jordans IN DREAMS. And - VIRUS Turns 25
Plus - THE ATTIC Turns 16
Also - THE BOOK OF ELI Turns 14
Yep. I watched it in the theaters and reviewed it. Here it is, THE BOOK OF ELI. Wassmor - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO - SUNDAY -
Actor Kevin Durand (DARK ANGEL [TV], TAKEN [TV], THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT, LOST [TV], TOUCHING EVIL, TOUCHING EVIL [TV], SCOOBY-DOO 2: MONSTERS UNLEASHED, THE ECHO, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, CONVICT, LEGION, I AM NUMBER FOUR, RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION, A DARK TRUTH, THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES, DARK WAS THE NIGHT, WINTER'S TALE, NOAH, THE CAPTIVE, THE STRAIN [TV], GARM WARS: THE LAST DRUID, SWAMP THING [TV], PRIMAL, DANGEROUS, LOCKE & KEY [TV], PANTHEON [TV]) is 50. SCANNERS Turns 42
When you're making a low budget movie, and you're Canadian, even your previous, critically acclaimed movies can't save you because the government has a stranglehold on what you can and cannot do and say and are more than happy to throw you in prison if you attempt to thwart their rule. It was with SCANNERS that David Cronenberg became acutely aware of this and made the move to Hollywood (and we know this because he said so - much to the surprise of Mick Garris, John Landis, and John Carpenter). Partly to protect his artistic vision but mainly to protect his liberty. Yes, the American studios may send him right back to the Motherland to shoot his movie, but by law he's protected by working on an American Production. And if there is one thing the Canadian bureaucracy will eagerly bend over and present to it's Money! No matter where that money comes from as long as it isn't out of their pocket. It's because of this that there's a deep line of demarcation between the brilliant concepts but awkward execution, or presentations of, SHIVERS, RABID, THE BROOD, SCANNERS, compared to the brilliant concept and execution of Cronenberg's very next movie, VIDEODROME, and the rest of his 1980s output. SCANNERS was David's last film under the yoke. SATURDAY -
Actor Orlando Bloom (THE LORD OF THE RINGS [all], PIRATES
OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL, DEAD MAN'S CHEST, AT WORLD'S END, THE GOOD DOCTOR, THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG, THE HOBBIT: THERE AND BACK AGAIN, CARNIVAL ROW [TV], NEEDLE IN A TIMESTACK) is 47. SON OF FRANKENSTEIN Turns 85
Thanks to a legal loophole, a loan that Carl Lamelle Jr. took out to finish his lavish musical Show Boat, wound up being called in and the studio taken out of the Lamelle family's hands forever - despite the fact that the movie was a critical and box office hit. Standard Capital's J. Cheever Cowdin, took over and rapidly drove the once proud Universal Studios straight off a cliff. So incompetent was Cowdin that even the other major studios were flabbergasted. Then popular comic, the late Groucho Marx, dubbed him "J. Cheever Loophole" and played the character in the MGM's 1939 Marx Bros. movie, At The Circus. Though Cowdin was a leader in aviation financing, his ambition to show any imagination or creativity in entertainment rapidly doomed Universal Pictures - all except for one movie. Prior to foreclosure, the Lamelle's had SON OF FRANKENSTEIN in development. The hiring of players and the money to fund it was, to some extent, already spent. Cowdin did his best to lowball the returning actors, particularly Bela Lugosi, and gave second billing to the star, Boris Karloff, in favor of then popular actor, Basil Rathbone. Cowdin's problem was that he was charmless and unlikeable and, where being a studio head was concerned, useless - except he didn't seem to know it and no amount of diminishing box office returns could convince him otherwise. It just had to be veryone's fault but his. After all, look how well he did in a field that had nothing to do with Show Business? So the people put to work on the movie, from veteran Director Rowland V. Lee (A NIGHT OF TERROR) to Karloff, Lugosi, Rathbone, and even Lionel Atwill - who all had their future careers to consider - decided to do things their way and ignore directives from the studio boss. The result is what is still, 85 years later, considered the best of the Universal Pictures Frankensteins: SON OF FRANKENSTEIN. DEEPSTAR SIX Turns 35
Have you ever watched January 1989's DEEPSTAR SIX? Well then you've also seen March 1989's LEVIATHAN. Have you never seen DEEPSTAR SIX but you've watched LEVIATHAN? Well, it's like this: you've still seen DEEPSTAR SIX. DEMON KNIGHT Turns 27 Hey wait! It's a popular cable TV show that has run its course! Do you really think you can get a hit movie out of a freshly cancelled TV show? In 1995 the TV show creators, Roger Zemekis (DEATH BECOMES HER), Walter Hill (ALIEN), Joel Silver (PREDATOR), and Richard Donner (THE OMEN) decided to take a chance and see how much life was left in the dead and hired Director Ernest R. Dickerson to helm his first Horror movie, Tales From The Crypt: DEMON KNIGHT. ONE HOUR PHOTO is 22
What happens when you have one of America's most beloved Comics and take away their humor? For Comic and Actor Robin Williams, something profoundly unnerving happened on the screen in Writer and Director, Mark Romanek's ONEHOUR PHOTO.
PRIMEVAL Turns 17
Imagine going to all of the trouble to make the best Killer Crocodile movie ever, only to see your movie get released in the Dump Month of January with little fanfare because there is a promising TV show in England that has such high hopes, it's already slated for a Mega-Budget U.S. television reshoot and their promotions and ads are everywhere! And the ads for the TV show, which has the same name as your movie, is about time travel - so has zero connection to your movie - YET many of the scenes involving people getting attacked by wild varmints look like your movie! Written by the team of John Brancato and Michael Ferris (THE GAME, TERMINATOR 3, SURROGATES) and by episodic television director Michael Katleman, this is why you may enjoy The Movie, PRIMEVAL far more than North American audiences cared for the TeeVee PRIMEVAL. Finale - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER Turns 51
Different producers, different actors and directors - but only one writer consistently knew how to bring the scary to broadcast television. So scary and expert at keeping people glued to their sets, that his films made the nearly unique move from TV to theatrical release. It had only happened once before: the previous time he wrote a scary TV movie. His name was Richard Matheson (THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, HOUSE OF USHER, THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM, THE TWILIGHT ZONE [TV], THE LAST MAN ON EARTH, DUEL, TRILOGY OF TERROR), one of the most influential writers you may have never heard of. His novel I AM LEGEND inspired George A. Romero to make NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, and he wrote KOLCHAK: THE NIGHTSTALKER. And - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
PUNCH In One Week
And - METROPOLIS Turns 96
It was today, possibly before your Grandparents were born and when your Great-grandparents were children, that a hardcore Science Fiction Horror movie, freely adapting Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN (Both the first Science Fiction novel and the first Horror novel) for the 20th century, was released on theater screens. But Mary's FRANKENSTEIN (itself inspired by the legends of a Golem, among others) wasn't this movie's foundation, but its launchpad. The result was a vision of the future by novelist and screenwriter, Thea von Harbou, that inspired vanguards of Liberty and Tyrants: Futurists and fascists. Some Dictators have praised it while others banned it. This silent picture continues to strongly echo throughout many stories and movies since its birth. From its direct influence on Star Wars to TRON to the book and movies of Dune: 1984 to THE MATRIX to EQUILIBRIUM, the list is exhaustive. This is the movie that, throughout its history, has seen those who tried to preserve it and those who thought they'd destroyed the original. Up to this day, many filmmakers yearn to do a modern reboot, but no one knows how. Being nearly 100 years old, its certainly not for glazed over eyes and gnat-sized attention spans of modern smartphone droolers, but it remains a high bar that has yet to be reached: METROPOLIS. Plus - THE RELIC Turns 27
The Hollywood echelon - boardroom suits that pass through their jobs faster than contestants on America's Got Talent - maintaines their delusion that they are the guard of "Real Science" when it comes to Science Fiction movies. The only reason they throw endless fantasy nonsense into their science fiction is because the rest of us - rubes - wouldn't get it. Yet the fact remains that, by overwhelming numbers, science fiction movies that stick to the science (FORBIDDEN PLANET, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, ALIEN, THE TERMINATOR, THE THING, TREMORS) become enduring hits and those that don't, crash and burn. If you want to look for exceptions to this history you don't have to look far. Star Wars. That's all and that doesn't count the daffy Phantom Menace trilogy and the sappy Mary Sue trilogy after that. Yet in 1997 two science fiction monster movies came out, born in faux science so laughably bad that today they are known for being amusing jokes of mockery than anything of value. MIMIC - a movie even its director, Guillermo del Toro mocks - and today's embarrassment, released in the "Dump Month" of January. Peter Hyams old but never classic, THE RELIC. Also - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
THE KINDRED Turns 37
Okay, here's the thing and I know a few of my Horror fam can relate. There's this Horror movie that... well it's not perfect. We can't even call it great. Yet there's just something about it. It's not great, not awful, not So Bad It's Good. It's what I call a flawed gem, like the charmingly addictive THE KINDRED. And - THE UNBORN Turns 15
David S. Goyer has penned some of my favorite dark fantasy and dark science fiction movies. But though he approaches horror, as a director and writer he's yet to cross the border into Horror. An attempt was made in 2009 with THE UNBORN. Plus - DØD SNØ Turns 15
Of the many places NAZI Zombies could turn up, we've had them rise from old battlefields (OUTPOST), lakes (ZOMBIE LAKE), and the ocean (SHOCKWAVES). Norwegians Tommy Wirkola and Stig Frode Henriksen felt it was time for the world to witness NAZI Zombies in: DEAD SNOW. Finale - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Actor Angela Bettis (BLESS THE CHILD, MAY, CARRIE [2002], TOOLBOX MURDERS, THE CIRCLE, Masters of Horror: SICK GIRL, THE WOODS, SCAR, WICKED LAKE, DRONES, THE WOMAN, TOM HOLLAND'S TWISTED TALES, DIG, 12 HOUR SHIFT, GHOSTS OF THE OZARKS) is 50.
WHITE NOISE 2 Turns 15
Director Patrick Lussier (DRACULA 2000, MY BLOODY VALENTINE - 2009), and newbie writer Matt Venne did something so rare its arguably unique: The made a sequel better than the original, and I mean Way better than the original. Unfortunately their producer, Shawn Williamson (SANCTIMONY, BLACKWOODS, HOUSE OF THE DEAD, ALONE IN THE DARK, SEVERED, BLOODRAYNE, THE WICKERMAN - 2006, SEED, APOLLO 18, lots of disposable Christmas TV roms for Hallmark, Lifetime, etc.), has made a career out of avoiding the effort of reaching for the lowest hanging fruit and just picks up what he can find on the ground, then hires folks to spruce it up in time for the annual Yard Sale (AFM). And boy does his IMDb page show it! Unfortunately for Patrick, as good a director as he is, he's spent his career waiting for paychecks from producer's like Shawn, despite the fact that he was fortunate enough to learn lessons by visionary indie rebels from Wes Craven to Guillermo Del Toro. Ptrick seems to follow the Jimmy Sangster "Do You Want It Good Or Do You Want It Tuesday?" method of career path and, so far, all of his boss's want it Tuesday. So all of Patrick's talent, experience, and hard work couldn't save WHITE NOISE 2 from going straight to video - because Shawn can't tell a good movie from crap - and again - his body of work reflects this in 8K IMAX crystal clarity. Too bad, because WHITE NOISE 2 is the theatrical release movie WHITE NOISE should have been. And - DAYBREAKERS Turns 14
Some movies appear to be stuck in the culture of their country of origin. The Spierig Bros. make hit after hit in their native Australia, and their movies do well in the U.K. including Canada. Yet after nearly 20 years and movies with big name actors, they still can't break through the American Market. Find out about the hardcore vampire movie you may have never seen, DAYBREAKERS. Plus - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Actor Michelle Forbes (KALIFORNIA, LOVE BITES, ESCAPE FROM L.A., 24 [TV], BATTLESTAR GALACTICA [TV], GLOBAL FREQUENCY, HALF-LIFE 2 [VG], BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: RAZOR, WAKING THE DEAD [TV], TRUE BLOOD [TV], THE KILLING [TV], THE HUNTERS, ORPHAN BLACK [TV], THE RETURNED [TV - 2015], THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY Part 2, POWERS [TV], GEMINI, WOLFENSTEIN II: THE NEW COLOSSUS [VG], BERLIN STATION, TREADSTONE [TV], BIG SKY [TV]) is 58. SUNDAY -
Actor Lauren Cohan (SUPERNATURAL [TV], DEATH RACE 2, YOUNG ALEXANDER THE GREAT, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES [TV], THE WALKING DEAD [TV], THE WALKING DEAD: DEAD CITY [TV]) is 42. WHITE NOISE Turns 19
Actor Michael Keaton's career is on an upswing, thanks in large part to his 2014 indie movie, BIRDMAN. But in 2005 it was a different story and it looked like Michael might sink forever thanks to a high profile studio movie called WHITE NOISE. 13 Years ago Today: Nicolas Cage's SEASON OF THE WITCH Every famous person has their followers and detractors, yet actors are often limited by how many roles they've had and this is particularly true for how many leading roles they've had. For fans of Nicolas Cage, however, there are an embarrassment of riches in over 100 of his works. Plus, SEASON OF THE WITCH has Christopher Lee! SATURDAY -
Actor Elizabeth Blackmore (EVIL DEAD, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES [TV], SUPERNATURAL [TV]) is 36. COMA Turns 46
How on earth can a movie nearly half a century old still be relevant? Because writers Robin Cook (Novel) and Michael Crichton (Screenplay and Director), never wrote their medical thrillers about modern technology, but about technology that we could have right now, but don't: usually due to ethics more than medical advances. This means their stories often revolve around an unethical villain. A villain whose real passion isn't in modern medical advances, or experiments that will lose a few lives now but save thousands in the future. No, their villains are often people who want to murder other people without being caught. In novel after novel, particularly with Cook, their villains are intelligent enough to have not only figured out how to get away with murder, but how to monetize it, build an infrastructure around it, and so spread the culpability around. Thomas Harris's Hannibal Lector, and his madness, forces him to operate alone, often in hiding, trusting no one and keeping secrets he dare not share. Lector has nothing on Cook villains, who are bold enough to buy off politicians to make "compassionate" laws, with the real intent behind them being that the volumes of regulations are knotted just enough to allow an evil person all of the bureaucratic loopholes needed to hide in plain site and even be respected for the false cover they've created. This is how the sinister technology behind Cook and Crichton's work stays relevant. We have the tech, but no one is brazen enough to be the first. Instead, we know its always there, waiting in the shadows, yet never (as far as we know) used. That's the powerful engine that drives COMA. HOSTEL is Old Enough to Vote
Imagine getting the opportunity to hang with Quentin Tarantino and one night, he wants to hear your pitches. So you tell him all of the ones you think he'd like and he's... whelmed. Well, you do have that one in your back pocket but, no, it's too crazy. No theater, no investor who wants to make their money back will help you get this movie made. But what the hell? It can't hurt to just tell Quentin about this idea you have for a movie called HOSTEL. M3GAN is in her Terrible Twos
With this 2022 release, Producer and co-writer James Wan finally figured out a way to bring his love of scary dolls (a fear he seems to share with Charles Band) into the modern age (instead of being merely supernatural) in a way that was fun and realistic enough to be bring the frights and chills. He brought in Gerard Johnstone, who made his mark in fun, scary Horror with his 2014 feature, HOUSEBOUND. This is how they did it with M3GAN.
NEON Trailer Drops... this? What is this?
And - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
Over Half a Century of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's BRAIN SALAD SURGERY
How can you blame me? I was just a child! The first time I ever saw Hans Rudi Giger's art was in an ancient record store. It was an album cover to a band I'd never heard of, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. The album was Brain Salad Surgery. By that H.R. Giger cover alone I knew I had to get it! I had to listen to it! But my parents took one look at that album cover and weren't just No, but an emphatic "Hell no!". My Catholic Pop never shook off the paranoia of watching THE OMEN (and never looked at me the same afterwards) just as he never shook his paranoia over surfing again after seeing JAWS (Pop was no one to go to for advice about anything at all, but he was the only Father I knew and it would be a regrettably long time before I realized his flaws). Anyway, in that nameless record store I swore then and there on my first grade teacher's life (Mrs. Foresmo) that one day, I would buy that album! I patiently bidded my time until adulthood and living on my own. Then I haunted used record stores. The original had a gateway fold out cover I'd discovered. None of that brand new single sleeve regular CENSORED cover with a *Great Music! Great Price* sticker on it for me! Not after all of these years! I found it. I made sure it was the original pressing. It was! I bought it, took it home, and put it on my record player. After so many years, was I disappointed in Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's BRAIN SALAD SURGERY? Plus - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
Buffalo Bondit, Gideon Media, and Cinedata Trailer Drop SciFi Thriller FIRST TIME CALLER
FIRST TIME CALLER debuts on North American VOD, cable, Amazon Prime, and Vudu this January 12. And - Lest We Forget: 2022 was the year of SOYLENT GREEN
It's the year 2022 and this movie became an Alternate History tale. As it turns out, Harry Harrison's novel, Make Room Make Room, may have only been early. Unfortunately it is still not obsolete. Read our review of SOYLENT GREEN. Plus - HAPPY NEW YEAR BIRTHDAYS TO -
Actor Tia Carrere (COVENANT, ZOMBIE NIGHTMARE, INTIMATE STRANGER, RISING SUN, TREACHEROUS, TRUE LIES, HOLLOW POINT, KULL THE CONQUEROR, TOP OF THE WORLD, DOG BOYS, SCAR CITY, THE NIGHT OF THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN, RELIC HUNTER [TV], TORN APART, SUPERNOVA, DARK HONEYMOON, IN PLAIN SIGHT [TV], SCOOBY DOO! MYSTERY INCORPORATED [TV], GUTSHOT STRAIGHT, THE GIRL [2016], LEGEND OF HALLOWAIIAN) is 56.
HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Actor Jonas Armstrong (GHOST SQUAD, BOOKS OF BLOOD, THE FIELD OF BLOOD, RAGE OF THE YETI, TWENTY8K, EDGE OF TOMORROW, LOOK THE OTHER WAY AND RUN, GHOST SEEKERS [TV], THE DROWNING [TV], HOLLINGTON DR. [TV]) is 43.
SUNDAY -
Writer/Editor Ellen Datlow (THE DARK, TWISTS OF THE TALE, POE: 19 NEW TALES INSPIRED BY EDGAR ALLEN POE, INFERNO, LOVECRAFT UNBOUND,
BEST HORROR OF THE YEAR 1, LETHAL KISSES, DARKNESS: TWO DECADES OF MODERN HORROR, TALES OF WONDER AND IMAGINATION, and way more) is 74. THE CRAWLING EYE aka THE TROLLENBERG TERROR Turns 65
How does a SciFi Horror movie from the 1950s, whose special effects were dismissed by critics of the day (who were into SciFi monster movies) as sub par, become so influential when so many better movies faded into obscurity? John Carpenter was inspired by this movie to make THE FOG, and became one of the Horrors the creature manifested to terrify Richie Tozier in Stephen King's novel, IT. This was spoofed in the first Comedy Central season (1989) of MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 and in the 1990s animated series FREAKAZOID (The Cloud episode). Read about the enduring appeal of 1958's THE CRAWLING EYE. HORROR 201: THE SILVER SCREAM Turns 8
In 2014 Joe Mynhardt asked me if I would contribute my meager experience to his filmmaker's guidebook, HORROR 201: THE SILVER SCREAM. Joe had plenty of Old Guard in there: Wes Craven, John Carpenter, George A. Romero, Tom Holland, and he was looking for possible vanguards. Though I was a latecomer in contributing and nearly bashful about giving my opinion in a book filled with the expertise of so many giants in the field, I just couldn't say no to such an exciting opportunity! It's 10 years later and the book remains in print. SATURDAY -
Actor Eliza Dushku (SOUL SURVIVORS, WRONG TURN, ANGEL [TV], BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER [TV], TRU CALLING [TV], THE ALPHABET KILLER, THE THACKER CASE, OPEN GRAVES, THE DOLL HOUSE [TV], TORCHWOOD [TV], LOCKED IN, HULK AND THE AGENTS OF S.M.A.S.H., THE SCRIBBLER, ELOISE) is 43.
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INTERVIEWS Matt Jarbo's interview with Feo Amante at The Zurvivalist. James Cheetham's Q&A with Feo Amante at Unconventional Interviews *. Megan Scudellari interviews Feo Amante and Kelly Parks (of THE SCIENCE MOMENT) in The Scientist Magazine. Check out our interview at The-Scientist.com. REFERENCES Researcher David Waldron, references my review of UNDERWORLD in the Spring 2005, Journal of Religion and Popular Culture entry, Role-Playing Games and the Christian Right: Community Formation in Response to a Moral Panic (downloadable pdf). E.C. McMullen Jr.
*Linked to archive.org |
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