| HOME | REVIEWS: | MOVIES | STORY | COMICS | MUSIC |
|
|
| FEO NEWS FOR SUMMER 2026: - JULY - The detritus of old Horror/Thriller history can be found here. These are archived news items, many of them linked outside of this website. |
INVASION OF THE ASTRO-MONSTER is 55
By the mid-1960s Alfred Hitchcock (PSYCHO, THE BIRDS) garnered respect and box office clout in the U.S.A. and the world. People couldn't get enough of him. Sure there were the 1950 - 1960 monster movies, but overwhelmingly most were uninspired, unimaginative, and their box office was only profitable if the movie budget was a single house mortgage. That's not the way it was world-wide, though. By the mid-1960s in Japan, Akira Kurosawa was garnering critical respect but his movies couldn't escape from "Art House" cinema in North America. Unless you've got a rock solid grip on the weekend midnight movies (THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW), there's no money to be made at an Art house cinema. Director Ishirô Honda (GOJIRA) may have started out with the best Kurosawa respect and emulation, but by the 1960s it was clear that a more bonkers, Roger Corman ethos was going to win the box office. You can't maintain human pathos with all of its subtlety and nuance, when your screen is filled with 10 story mega-monsters beating the crap out of each other, Pro-Wrestling style. So the monsters got crazier (MOTHRA VS. GODZILLA, GODZILLA VS THE SMOG MONSTER) and their raison d'être was forced to keep up. By 1965 Godzilla reached the point where a more powerful monster had to come along to kick his butt, and so Japan got MONSTER ZERO aka INVASION OF THE ASTRO-MONSTER, and thus King Ghidorah was born! America had to wait another 5 years before it came ashore. And - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Writer John Paul Allen (GIFTED TRUST w/Alan M. Clark, MONKEY LOVE, PRETZEL LOGIC: TALES OF LOVE AND HORROR) is 72.
37 Years Of FRIDAY THE 13th: Part VIII - JASON TAKES MANHATTAN
Plus - DEEP BLUE SEA is 26
Have you ever had this experience? You're over at a friend's house and a movie is about to come on. Your friend asks if you've ever seen it before and you say no. But a few minutes into the film things start to look familiar and you realize, "Hey, I have seen this piece of crap! I just forgot." If you just love DEEP BLUE SEA, you probably won't love our review. Finale - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAY TO -
Actor Bruce Abbott (RE-ANIMATOR, INTERZONE, BAD DREAMS, BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR, THE DEMOLITIONIST, BLACK SCORPION, THE PROPHECY II, THE NET [TV], TRANCE) is 71.
YOU DUG IT
5. MINIONS AND MONSTERS steps down from last weekend's #4 with a mild 29% drop in ticket sales against a 124 screen cut in its 4th weekend. That said in only its 3rd weekend it's made over 4 times its Production budget so it looks like the Minions are here to stay awhile. 7. EVIL DEAD BURN stumbled two places in its 3rd weekend stepped down from last weekend's #5 but slowed its descent from last weekend with a box office drop of 45% against a 619 screen cut! On the other hand its made over 3 times its Production budget. 10. OBSESSION In its 11th weekend, steps down from last weekend's #8, having matched or made more than its Production budget for every single weekend its been in theaters. Having made over 445 times its budget, OBSESSION currently sits at No. 4 of the Top Ten most profitable movies in cinema history, right below Writer and Director Curry Barker, having already established himself with the YouTube hit Horror, MILK AND SERIAL, is now on top of the world. 12. DISCLOSURE DAY after last weekend's horrendous free fall, steps down from last weekend's #10, with a huge 52% loss in box office against a 377 screen cut in its 7th weekend. The fact that it barely squeeked by with just over 2X its Production budget saves this from the You Buried It category. Audiences didn't bury this movie, they just left it for dead. 15. BACKROOMS finally exits the Top Ten in its 9th weekend, having made over 39 times its Production budget. This is A24's most profitable movie yet and the second heaviest hitter of 2026. And - THE AMITYVILLE HORROR is 47
How in the world can your hit movie be the swan song of your giant studio? When you promote a hoax as the truth. The INSIDEOUS movies can get away with that today because we have an ever-expanding pool of Social Media made morons who make people rich and famous for such entertaining Tik-Tok things like "Lick! Lick! Yum! Yum! I like air!" Back in 1979, however, people didn't reward successful folks who looked at them with contempt and made fools of them by defrauding them out of their money - Erich Von Däniken and televangelists somehow excepted (the Warrens also involved themselves with the house in 1976 because of course they would). "Based On A True Story" is pretty much everything THE AMITYVILLE HORROR had going for it. Plus - Tim Burton's PLANET OF THE APES is 25
20th Century Fox Studio Suit: "Hey, I've got an idea! Let's remake our PLANET OF THE APES franchise!" Studio Head: "Ah... I've always wanted that to happen under my watch." Suit: "I've heard! We'll have it be a SciFi Action movie! Heavy on the action!" Head: "Great, great." Suit: "And we'll have Tim Burton direct it!" Head: "Wait. What? Tim's no action director. He's all dark and goth and comedy Horror and such." Suit: "It will be good for him to get out of that rut! We'll force him to cut corners to get the movie out by an impossibly short production to release date window! This new paradigm will be watershed and revolutionary by making him think outside the box! Out of his comfort zone!" Head: "Sounds like it will fail." Suit: "Meh! If it does we'll blame him. The loss won't come out of our pockets." Head: "Hmm. You talked me into it!" I don't know for a fact that this happened, but watching Tim Burton's PLANET OF THE APES 2001, it sure feels like it. Also - THE HOST is 19
I wasn't going to watch this movie. By which I mean I was going to watch it, but later. I put it in the disc player intending to get past the previews, get the movie queued up and pause it there while I did some other stuff. You can see where this is going, right? Kelly Parks review of Joon-ho Bong's THE HOST. Finale - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO - SUNDAY -
Actor Kate Beckinsale (ROYAL DECEIT, UNCOVERED, HAUNTED, BROKEDOWN PALACE, UNDERWORLD, VAN HELSING, UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION, VACANCY, UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS, WHITEOUT, UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING, TOTAL RECALL [2012], STONEHEARST ASYLUM, ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING, UNDERWORLD: BLOOD WARS, THE DISAPPOINTMENTS ROOM, THE WIDOW [TV], JOLT, GUILTY PARTY [TV]) is 53. SATURDAY -
Actor David Denman (ANGEL [TV], BIG FISH, WHEN A STRANGER CALLS [2006], THE NINES, TAKE, SHUTTER, FANBOYS, AFTER EARTH, THE GIFT [2015], OUTCAST [TV], BRIGHTBURN, GREENLAND, MARE OF EASTTOWN, ERIC [TV]) is 51.
GODZILLA VS. HEDORAH Turns 55
It starts with the familiar Toho logo serenely glowing in sunny technicolor. But something is amiss, the proud orchestra intro sounds like a bunch of drunks still reeling from a night of Bob Dylan's "Everybody Must Get Stoned" parties. This is how Toho Pictures chose to seriously address industrial pollution through their most popular, yet suffering heavy diminishing returns, franchise in GODZILLA VS. HEDORAH aka GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER. And - DISTURBING BEHAVIOR Turns 28
A Science Fiction movie disguised as a Horror movie disguised as a High School movie and it all works? Yes please! Amazing how, 28 years later, people are still discovering this movie and wondering how they never heard of it before. If you haven't seen it, this is why you'll want to watch, DISTURBING BEHAVIOR. Plus - ORPHAN Turns 17
You haven't seen this? First remember that it's based on a real life criminal. Then understand that despite that being true, if this was pure fiction, ORPHAN would still remain with you for a long time. Also - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
We say a Final Farewell to
THE HAUNTING is 27
Bram Stoker award winning horror author and comic book writer, Mike Oliveri, has a specific view of Jan De Bont's movie. You may disagree with Mike, but the fact remains that though this production was put together by Stephen Spielberg and Samuel Z. Arkoff, both took their names off of 1999's THE HAUNTING. And - SALT is 16
The Mandela Effect may be a psychological effect but its not a paranormal foggy, quantum fuzzy reality bender (though I made a short film, LAST CALL, and wrote a story exactly like that). You see, there are some people like me with a quixotic sense of humor: Rare perhaps but by no means unique. For example: Driving along in my car I may see a sign or business or in this case, a billboard advertising a new movie. "Angelina Jolie is SALT." "Oh look," I'd joke while sitting in traffic. "Angelina Jolie is SALTY!" In the English language, Salt is Sodium Chloride. It is a name for a thing. Salty on the other hand, describes having put too much salt on an edible or, in the case of the title beneath a person's face, means someone with a generally caustic attitude and sense of humor. So in English, just that extra sometime-vowel changes the idea of what the movie is about. Capiche? So when my group of friends went to the theater and we'd pass the poster I'd say, "Hey! Does anyone want to see Angelina Jolie in SALTY?" It's nothing against Angelina, it's just me being a goof, keeping the mood light, my silly (some might say idiot) way of enjoying life. 2010, however, was a long time ago. In 2020 when many were holed up in their homes, waiting for the all clear to re-enter a COVID-19 world, a couple of those friends commented on how they were looking to stream that movie we never saw. As long as we're trapped in the house, might as well stream it now. Except, when they finally found the 2010 movie starring Angelina Jolie, it was called SALT. They SWORE that back in 2010, they saw posters, billboards, watched trailers and the movie was called SALTY. OMG! They agreed. Its the Mandela effect! That time was stressful enough so I kept my mouth shut. Ahem... Now is my confession after 15 years. As a gag, having no idea that my friends didn't get it (not for the first time. This is my running gag my whole life practically since I could speak), I called this movie SALTY: though always I knew, and it is, SALT. Finale - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Actor Charisma Carpenter (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER [TV], ANGEL [TV], CHARMED [TV], VERONICA MARS [TV], VOODOO MOON, THE EXPENDABLES [all], CRASH SITE, HAUNTED HIGH, THE LYING GAME [TV], BOUND, GIRL IN WOODS, MAIL ORDER MONSTER) is 57.
THE ISLAND Turns 21
Most of our movie reviews here at Feo Amante's Horror Thriller, have the original movie trailer. Trailers are fun! They're a look into the past to see how filmmakers got an audience excited to see their movie. But as with everything in existence, not all movie trailers are good. The worst movie trailers are those that make you feel that you've been given a complete synopsis of the movie. What's the point in seeing it? They just flashed you a 3 minute Spoiler Cliff Notes version of it! That was the kind of trailer that Warner Bros. made (far from the first time WB did it) for this movie and that's probably what kept audiences away from THE ISLAND. And - On The Same Day and Year (with about half the screens) THE DEVIL'S REJECTS
The sequel to Rob Zombie's HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES. Was the sequel better or at least as good as the original? This is what I thought of Rob Zombie's THE DEVIL'S REJECTS. Plus - CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER Turns 15
1998's BLADE (New Line Cinema) was a smash hit. 2000's X-MEN (20th Century Fox) was a smash hit. 2002's SPIDER-MAN (Columbia Pictures/Sony) was a smash hit. 2002 was the same year that BLADE II came out and it was a bigger hit than the first BLADE. Suddenly Marvel had something they never had in their entire history: Two hit Marvel movies in the same year! The cinema age of Marvel was born and it needed to be nurtured. The guiding light of Marvel Comics, Stan Lee, had a vision of a massive motion picture undertaking that would revolutionize cinema. It would bring all of his heroes under one tent, sharing the same universe. Except that he was out of his most popular heroes. They were all locked into contracts with various studios who saw no need to cooperate with each other on a risky venture that had more to lose than it had to gain. And what Stan did have? The Avengers were no X-Men. They were a poor selling group that was doing little (IRON MAN) to nothing (CAPTAIN AMERICA, THOR) in comics and nobody wanted them. Yet it was all Stan had left to work with so this is what he refashioned into... Continued at CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER Turns 12 Also - NOPE Turns 4
So you're a big fan of someone, right? You and your spouse, friends, have favorite quotes from their show, show ends, fond memories remain, and that someone goes on to other things. One of them, Jordan Peele, makes the movie GET OUT, and it rocks you! He makes another movie called US, and it wows you. Then he makes NOPE and it... Finale - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Actor A.J. Cook (LASERHAWK, THE VIRGIN SUICIDES, THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE, WISHMASTER 3, RIPPER, THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR, FINAL DESTINATION 2, TRU CALLING [TV], BLOODSUCKERS, VANISHED, NIGHT SKIES, MOTHER'S DAY, WER) is 48.
MONSTER HOUSE Turns 19
It's a House! It's a Monster! It was wrote and produced by Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab (RICK AND MORTY)! If we just follow the template of white kids solving a neighborhood mystery why, we'll have a winner! Right? We were there, in the theater in 2006 when we saw MONSTER HOUSE. Plus - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Actor David Dastmalchian (THE DARK KNIGHT, HORSEMEN [2009], SUSHI GIRL, THE EMPLOYER, PRISONERS [2013], UNDER THE PYRAMID, THE BELKO EXPERIMENT, TWIN PEAKS [TV - 2017], ANT-MAN [all], BLADE RUNNER 2049, RELAXER, THE DOMESTICS, BIRD BOX, TEACHER, REPRISAL, FROM NOW [TV], BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN [TV], DUNE, THE SUICIDE SQUAD, LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL, BOSTON STRANGLER, THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER, MURDERBOT [TV], ROSARIO, THE LIFE OF CHUCK, AFRAID, ROSARIO, MURDERBOT [TV], DUST BUNNY, THE BOULET BROTHERS HOLIDAY OF HORRORS, SENDER, THE CURE) is 47. Today's birthday boy has, among his 180+ credits, always worked as an actor without specifically adhering to any genre. That said, he remains the most recognizable by fans for his Horror Thriller work. Happy Birthday to And let's be clear here. It's 2026 and audiences are still talking about the high bar that TERMINATOR 2 set with its fantastic yet believable Computer Graphics Images (CGI) that hold up 35 Years Later. John Nelson is the Computer Graphics Animator (at ILM at the time) who did that. Actor Juno Temple (ATONEMENT, CRACKS, GLORIOUS 39, KABOOM, KILLER JOE, JACK AND DIANE, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, THE BRASS TEAPOT, MAGIC MAGIC, HORNS, MALEFICENT [all], SIN CITY: A DAME TO DIE FOR, UNSANE, MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL, VENOM: THE LAST DANCE, "GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON'T DIE") is 34.
YOU DUG IT
4. MINIONS AND MONSTERS stumbled two places from last weekend's #2 with a mild 36% drop in ticket sales against a 734 screen cut in its 3rd weekend. That said in only its 3rd weekend it's made over 4 times its Production budget so it looks like the Minions are here to stay awhile. 5. EVIL DEAD BURN in its 2nd weekend stepped down from last weekend's debut at #4 but lost a whopping 65% in ticket sales in just one week! That's against no screen cuts. Good thing its already made nearly 3 times its Production budget. 8. OBSESSION Steps down from last weekend's #7 with a mere 38% loss in ticket sales against a 545 screen cut. Now in its 10th Unbelievable week on the Top Ten, this movie has brought in over 442 times its Production budget, making it the most successful movie of the 21st Century! 10. DISCLOSURE DAY after last weekend's horrendous free fall, steps down from last weekend's #9, but with a huge 60% loss in box office against a 565 screen cut in its 6th weekend. 11. BACKROOMS finally exits the Top Ten in its 8th weekend, having made over 38 times its Production budget. This may be A24's most profitable movie yet. You Buried Nothing Figures calibrated from reporting by Box Office Mojo and The Numbers. Should there be differences between the two, I err on the side of caution and post the most positive numbers. And - DRACULA Turns 47
When you hear the name, you know the story. With that in mind, I'll assume that you guys are already up to speed regarding plot content, and will skip forward to what makes this DRACULA unique. Plus - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Actor Josh Holloway (COLD HEART, SABERTOOTH, WHISPER, LOST [TV], MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL, PARANOIA, INTELLIGENCE [TV], COLONY [TV]) is 56. SUNDAY -
Actor, Writer, Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa (FUJUSHU THE REVENGE KIENAI KIZUATO, GAKKÔ NO KAIDAN F, THE CURE, EYES OF THE SPIDER, GAKKÔ NO KAIDAN G, SEANCE, PULSE, GORE FROM OUTER SPACE, DOPPLEGANGER, KAZUO UMEZU'S HORROR THEATER: BUG'S HOUSE, LOFT, REINCARNATION, SAKEBI, SWEET HOME, THE GUARD FROM THE UNDERGROUND, DOOR 3, PENANCE [TV], OKARATU, REAL, CREEPY, SEVENTH CODE, DAGUERROTYPE, BEFORE WE VANISH, YOCHO: SANPO SURU SHINRYAKUSHA [TV], FOREBODING) is 61. DAY OF THE DEAD is 40
DAWN OF THE DEAD did an excellent job of blending humor with horror but DAY OF THE DEAD returned to its NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD roots, creating (as Sam Raimi might say) the ultimate in grueling horror. Peter Jackson's THE FRIGHTENERS Is 29!
My Pop was diagnosed with Parknson's the same year as Michael J. Fox, 1991. My Pop was much older, old enough to be Fox's father (Michael and I were born in the same year). Michael has now lived and fought with Parknson's for 35 years. He was fours years deep into it when he made this movie in 1995, Peter Jackson's THE FRIGHTENERS. THE BREED is 26
This is one of those kind of movies I enjoy while admitting it may not be for everyone (when I first saw it, I thought everyone would love it, but history has since proved otherwise. Oh well). Granted it could have been better, but it's not bad and is, in fact, Director Michael Oblowitz best reviewed movie ever. The screenplay is by Christos N. Gage and Ruth Fletcher (who would go on to marry Christos and become Ruth Fletcher Gage). A year later, Christos would go on to become a reviewer here at Feo Amante's Horror Thriller. This is my original review of THE BREED. SATURDAY - 46 Years of PROM NIGHT
For fans who were mere children when they first saw Jamie Lee Curtis movies on cable TV, it can be a bit of a shock to realize a movie like PROM NIGHT is 46, which makes Jamie considerably older. Now Fay Wray (DOCTOR X, KING KONG, MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM) was our first Scream Queen. Arguably no other actor was interested in stepping up to the plate until Jamie Lee Curtis in HALLOWEEN (1978). But a single movie doth not a Scream Queen make. Jamie made three more by 1980, cementing her place as Scream Queen in movies like PROM NIGHT. 39 Years of ALIENS
The overwhelming majority of ALIEN fans agree. There are only two good ALIEN movies. Dan O'Bannon, Ronald Shusett, H.R. Giger, Ron Cobb, and Ridley Scott's ALIEN, and this one from James Cameron, Gayle Anne Hurd, and Stan Winston: ALIENS. 35 Years of ARACHNOPHOBIA
By the late 1980s, Producer Frank Marshall (RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, POLTERGEIST, GREMLINS, WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT) was known as a successful, but difficult producer to please. He'd come to the set in the early morning, while the crew was setting up, and tell the director that they didn't have the budget for the Big "X", of the day's shoot. So figure out a way to get all the shots done without it. Frank developed a frustrating style, saying, "My job is to put you inside a box every day. It's your job to get out of it." Directors began to murmur, "What does Frank know about directing, anyway?" Then Frank directed the wildly successful ARACHNOPHOBIA. Then he followed that up with two more successes. Point proved, he went back to being a successful Producer (THE SIXTH SENSE, SIGNS, JURASSIC WORLD). So here we are, 35 years later and still going strong. Who knew that Frank's goofy, off-the-cuff Creepy Crawly ARACHNOPHOBIA would have such long legs? A Quarter Century of JURASSIC PARK III
CEO: "Why haven't we made another JURASSIC PARK sequel?" Board Member (BM): "Michael Crichton finished his best-selling series in two novels." CEO: "BAH! Novels! What do best-selling Novelists know? We own the rights to the movies, ergo, we can -" BM: "Ergo?" CEO: "Ah! Right. You're the investor from the Hamptons. Well, in Californian that means, 'Y'know?'" BM: "Oh." CEO: "Ergo, we can make as many as we want and, ergo, they'll all be great or better than the original." BM: "You can? Any historical evidence that you ever have?" CEO: "BAH! History! What do Historians know?" BM: "Be serious, we're talking money, now." CEO: "Ah! Yes. Well... uh... y'ergo?" Watching this movie, that may have started the pitch for JURASSIC PARK III. 17 Years of THE DARK KNIGHT
There's a good reason why BATMAN BEGINS and this movie are the two best Batman movies ever. It has nothing to do with the date of release and certainly nothing to do with the death of The Joker actor, Heath Ledger. His death prior to the movie's release makes this franchise tragic and bittersweet in memory, but adds nothing positive to why this movie is so great. This is why THE DARK KNIGHT excels. 15 Years of INCEPTION
Love it or hate it, what makes Christopher Nolan's INCEPTION so compelling?
ROBOCOP is 39 today
This movie is one of the reasons why Science Fiction Horror movies of the 1980s are so revered. This was Director Paul Verhoven's high point and he never reached the bar he set again. This is why, after nearly four decades, ROBOCOP remains one of the best Science Fiction Horror Thrillers ever made. And - EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS is 24
From the people who brought you the execrable box office bomb, GODZILLA (1998), comes another Big Horror movie filled with giant critters. Not Godzilla big but pretty damn big. What's more, miracle of miracles, the damn thing ain't bad! This was the essence of the marketing campaign for Producers Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich's EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS. We went in with lowered expectations and got our spirits lifted by the fun! Plus - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Actor Heather Langenkamp (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3, SHOCKER, NEW NIGHTMARE, THE BUTTERFLY ROOM, STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, HOME, TRUTH OR DARE, HELLRAISER: JUDGEMENT, PORTAL, THE MIDNIGHT CLUB [TV], THE LIFE OF CHUCK, LITTLE BITES, ) is 61.
THE FLY is 67
Imagine being author James Clavell. You's a former World War II POW. During your time in one of the worst Japanese prisons, and after the war, you immerse yourself in Asian history. You write one best selling historical novel after the next, brimming with fascinating historical accuracy and human drama so realistic it nearly sweats. Hollywood comes calling, offering you more money for a 90 page script than your publisher has paid you for writing whole novels that sell in the millions. So Hollywood looks at your remarkable output and your new fanbase and what do they offer you? Small Studio Suit: "Hey James, write us a script about a man who turns into a fly!" J.C.: "You mean like a modern Franz Kafka allegory?" Small Studio Suit: "A what? Look, I read a story in Playboy magazine and I wanna make a movie out of it. Now do you want a paycheck or not?" That may or may not be how THE FLY came into existence. And - AMITYVILLE 1992 is 34
On the plus side, this movie is directed by Tony Randel (HELLBOUND: HELLRAISER II, THE DOUBLE BORN), meaning he carries over his apparent Lovecraft / Barker inspiration. Pair Tony up with good writers and good producers and he'll spin gold. If you don't, well, you get AMITYVILLE 1992. Plus - I, ROBOT is 22
It's over 2 decades later and the future is nearly here. Well, another 10 years anyway. Released on this day in the USA, it would take nearly three weeks to reach UK shores. Don't call it Isaac Asimov's I, ROBOT, though. Asimov's collection of short stories has about as much to do with this movie as THE LAWNMOWER MAN had to do with Stephen King's short story. However, in 2004 this movie was a turning point for Will Smith. One he began (and may have left behind) with 1997's MEN IN BLACK, where he would act and interact with creatures, in this case "robots", that weren't there. And it wouldn't be one or two, there'd be mobs of cgi, hundreds of characters, months away from completion, and Will had to act, not against some mere background that wasn't there, but an entire cast that wasn't there, and all of them interacting, even fighting with him. This is how I, ROBOT turned out. Also - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
IT CONQUERED THE WORLD Turns 70
As a fan of Horror movies, whether in Science Fiction or Supernatural form, I've watched a lot of sloppy, goofy, absurd movies - often made by major studios. So read about the sublimely stupid fun Produced and Directed by Roger Corman (DEATH RACE 2000) and starring a young Lee Van Cleef (ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK) when they worked on American International Pictures, IT CONQUERED THE WORLD. And - SHOCKWAVES is 49
Peter Cushing was in two feature films in 1977 and felt that the Horror movie, ALMOST HUMAN, and not the SciFi space opera, Star Wars, was the one that was going to kill it at the box office! In the U.S.A the name was changed to SHOCKWAVES. Plus - HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE is 16
What a predicament! Here you are, one of the most powerful wizards on earth, facing off against hidden wizards nearly as powerful as you, who likely have acolytes skulking among those you feel are allies. You're in the middle of Conspiracies, treason, and must defend the very existence of humanity. Everything hangs in the balance and there's only one person you know who is capable of defeating this hideous, spoiled brat of an enemy that, never-the-less is imbued with a power nearly as great as his weaknesses. And that one person who is able to defeat that evil? Is a child: An innocent child who doesn't deserve to be thrust into such danger, to have such an unbearable weight of responsibility on his young shoulders, yet he is the only one capable of handling the horror! On top of that, a new and unknown player, with allegiances that are also unknown, has entered the field. Who in the hell is the HALF-BLOOD PRINCE? Finale - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
27 Years of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT
Never in my life, before or since, has there been anything like the original successful marketing strategy of this movie. A handful of rank amateurs, fresh out of junior college, bested the best marketers of 1999 that George Lucas's Star Wars PHANTOM MENACE and Steven Spielberg's THE HAUNTING, with their cache of monied experts, could buy, and beat them all! As with any success story, the weedy people eventually came crawling out from beneath their rocks to dismiss and disrespect this picture. By the time this movie went into wide release, I personally sat in the audience on said opening weekend. There I couldn't help but notice the row of people in front of me who kept bowing their heads to look at the floor whenever a scary moment came up. After the movie was over, these same imbeciles all loudly proclaimed to each other that the movie "Wasn't scary!" Yeah, sure. My only problem with it was the slight nausea I felt from too much shaky cam. And Hollywood? Hollywood despised the success of this movie. And yet, merely 7 years later, a nobody named Oren Peli mimicked the strategy of this Found Footage movie for his own microscopic indie starring nobodies and hit success with their formula, making PARANORMAL ACTIVITY a huge smash hit. As for all you folks who've never seen it asking, "Yeah, but what about the movie itself?" Step inside to find out why you want to see THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. Plus - 26 Years of X-MEN
X-MEN was released this day (or May 15 if you were in the U.K. that year) in 2000. What BLADE proved - that even the minor Marvel Superheroes could have box office clout in the right hands - X-MEN solidified. With a surprisingly outstanding story shared by first and only time screen writer, Executive Producer Tom DeSanto (APT PUPIL), second feature film script by Director Bryan Singer (APT PUPIL), and first script by David Hayter (THE SCORPION KING, THE WATCHMEN), direction by Bryan Singer, and two old A-List fogies at the top of their game, Patrick Stewart (EXCALIBER, STAR TREK FIRST CONTACT) Leader of the Good Mutants, and Ian McKellan (APT PUPIL, THE LORD OF THE RINGS [all], THE HOBBIT), leader of the No Good Mutants, 2000's X-MEN was nearly a guaranteed winner. Also - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Actor Jackie Earle Haley (DAMNATION ALLEY, GRAVEDALE HIGH [TV], DOLLMAN, MANIAC COP III, NEMESIS, ALL THE KING'S MEN, WATCHMEN, SHUTTER ISLAND, A NIGHTMARE ON ELMSTREET [2010], DARK SHADOWS [2012], PARKLAND, ROBOCOP [2014], THE EVIL WITHIN [VG], PREACHER [TV], THE DARK TOWER, ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL, DEATH OF A TELEMARKETER, DEVIL'S PEAK, HYPNOTIC, YOUR HOST) is 64.
YOU DUG IT
2. MINIONS AND MONSTERS steps down to #2 this week with a 43% drop in box office against a single added screen. Hey! Where did that come from? And did I mention that it made over 3 times its budget back in a single week? Yeah. It made over 3 times its Production budget back in a single week and its only at #2. 4. EVIL DEAD BURN debuts on 3,004 screens against a top 3 of family Heavy Hitters. Whew! Not the best time of the year to release this movie, but now that its out its made a healthy return. 7. OBSESSION So far this movie has enjoyed 9 weeks of Summer on the Top Ten and has made over 3 times its budget - Every Single Week! Strolling down from last weekend's #5 and having made over 428 times its budget, this movie is the one every person who turned down the opportunity to invest in, is beating their heads over. 9. DISCLOSURE DAY went into free fall this week, dropping from last weekend's #5 and falling past many older movies still on the Top Ten (like OBSESSION) with a 42% loss in ticket sales against a 498 screen cut. Speaking of investment opportunities you might be beating your head over. After 5 weeks on the Top Ten, it finally squeeked into the break even point on its Production Budget. 10. BACKROOMS dropped from last weekend's #7 with a 54% drop in box office against a 817 screen cut. Still, it made well over 36 times its Production Budget, which is way more than can be said for most of the movies released so far this year. 13. SCARY MOVIE [2026] falls off the Top Ten having made a nice 7.6 times its Production Budget during its 6 weeks at the top. YOU BURIED IT 15. MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE went into freefall off the Top Ten, ending its time there and making less than a quarter of its $170+ million Production budget back after 6 weeks on the Top Ten. Whew! Figures calibrated from reporting by Box Office Mojo and The Numbers. Should there be differences between the two, I err on the side of caution and post the most positive numbers. And - THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU is 49
Up until 1977, this movie was remade many times in big budget feature film land across the world. The subject matter was that popular then and remains ahead of its time even today - such was the talent of author H.G. Wells. This tale is such a cash cow that they tried it again in 1996 and it went off the rails into disaster thanks in large part to an arrogant lead actor who hated Hollywood, hated big studios, hated directors who were born after his career started, but loved the money he was paid. That actor being Oscar winning actor, Marlon Brando. In the hands of a lesser director, Brando was a ham bone scene chewer, difficult to reign in. If you were a good to great director but Marlon wanted to butt heads with you (and it may have nothing to do with the Director. Brando may have wanted trouble for the Producer, or the studio, or Cthulhu knows what), he'd scorch the set if that's what it took: there was no appeasing him. But in 1977 Moreau was played by Oscar winning actor, Burt Lancaster. Burt was also quite the hammy scene chewer but the difference was, he wanted to give the best performance of his life, each and every time. He had to be better in every new movie than he was in the movie before. Burt brought a powerful dynamism to each role even when the moment required subdued, nuanced subtlety. More than directing, a director had to be an orchestra conductor to bring out Burt's best. Bringing out Burt's best was exactly what Director Don Taylor (ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES, DAMIEN: OMEN II) did when he made THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU. Plus - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Actor Harrison Ford (THE CONVERSATION, THE POSSESSED, APOCALYPSE NOW, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK [all], BLADE RUNNER [all], WITNESS, FRANTIC, PRESUMED INNOCENT, PATRIOT GAMES, THE FUGITIVE, CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER, WHAT LIES BENEATH, COWBOYS & ALIENS, ENDER'S GAME, PARANOIA, INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY, CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD) is 84. SUNDAY -
Actor Claudia Katz Minnick (SPIDER-MAN [all the Raimi], WAY OF THE VAMPIRE, THE BLACK DAHLIA, ALIEN ABDUCTION, FLIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, OUIJA) is 55. VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA Turns 65
There were two popular Science... no wait. Make that three. There were three popular Science Fiction TV shows in syndication when I was a kid. They were heavy on the Thriller, frequently introduced Horror, and every plot involved a Mystery. Should be right up my dimly-lit alley, right? But no. Adults were watching Irwin Allen's THE TIME TUNNEL, LOST IN SPACE, and this one. They were all by Irwin Allen and I was huge into science and living in Florida within eyesight of Cape Canaveral, NASA. I could not understand what people saw in these shows and their utter lack of vision. THE TWILIGHT ZONE? Sure! THE OUTER LIMITS? Gimmie more! STAR TREK? Naturally. And onward into Larry Cohen's THE INVADERS, as well as DOCTOR WHO. Yet to my 5 year old and onward mind, Irwin Allen anything was trite, silly-ass nonsense. Wait. Did I say Three? Make that So obviously I wasn't the one to write a review about something as flat and flavorless as Irwin Allen's VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA movie. Instead I left that to someone who appreciates the flick, like Kelly Parks. 23 Years of REIGN OF FIRE
You know where fiction gets weird for me? When the story wasn't supposed to be in any way real. Where it wasn't meant to be possible, it was sold as SciFi, Science Fantasy. And yet, as time passes, the implausible becomes more plausible with every new discovery until the gulf between reality and fiction becomes a mere curtain. Scientists used to say that flying dragons could not exist. No flying creature could exist that was as big as an elephant. Impossible! It has to be magic! Then we made a few new discoveries that added to the fossil record and changed minds Pretty Damn Quick. That doesn't necessarily make 2002's REIGN OF FIRE a better movie, but it does make it a little more realistic. CRAWL is 7
Aja! After a career of being the Regent of Remakes, Director Alexandre Aja (THE HILLS HAVE EYES [2006], MIRRORS [2008], PIRANHA 3D [2010]) got together with the Raimi Brothers (THE EVIL DEAD, SPIDER-MAN, DRAG ME TO HELL) to make a kinda sorta original movie involving Florida, Gulf Storms, and them dang ol' deadly Gators! It didn't need to be great. When it comes to producing, just good enough is always good enough for the Raimi Brothers and sometimes they do something great anyway! So where does CRAWL fall? SATURDAY -
Actor, Writer, Director Tom Holland (THE INITIATION OF SARAH, THE BEAST WITHIN, THE CLASS OF 1984, PSYCHO II, CLOAK & DAGGER, SCREAM FOR HELP, FRIGHT NIGHT [1985], CHILD'S PLAY [1988], THE TEMP, THE LANGOLIERS [TV], THINNER, Masters of Horror: WE ALL SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM, HATCHET II, TWISTED TALES [TV], TOM HOLLAND'S TWISTED TALES, DIGGING UP THE MARROW, ROCK PAPER SCISSORS, A PLACE AMONG THE DEAD, THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN is 23
Sean Connery had a long history of fighting with his directors and producers. Fans love him, he draws an audience, he's usually a pain in the ass to work with - although some like Terry Gilliam have had their successes. But for every one Terry Gilliam there are many Stephen Norringtons who know that if Sean gets it into his head that he doesn't like you, he will burn your career to the ground. This often meant that Sean would burn the production in cost overruns as well, as happened in THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN. HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX Turns 19
If you were 16 when you saw this in theaters, you're 34! Only people half your age are truly aware of the world around them, not you, ya muggle! If you were 16 when the book came out you're 38! My reviewer, Shirley Muramoto, was a child when the Harry Potter books began in 1997. She was an adult when the Order of the Phoenix book came out in 2003. Now it's 28 years after the novel, 18 years after the movie, and she's old! OLD! This is what Shirley thought on opening day in 2007 ago when she first saw HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX. HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY is 18
It was the sequel that destroyed a franchise, despite featuring a wildly popular character. Guillermo Del Toro wanted more creative control over the comic book form of Hellboy, but creator and Cartoonist, Mike Mignola pulled the plug on that light. Eventually another sequel was made, but no. The magic and the promise of the first one was gone. I'm talking as a person who enjoyed the second one. Yet the rewatch value kills it to the point where I stopped after three repeats. It rapidly ages before your eyes, crumbling into incoherence. 2008 was some time ago. This is how HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY, brought it all crashing down and how.
ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK is 45
Back in the early 2000s I showed my newly minted "adult old" little brother this movie. DVDs were relatively new, new titles were coming out all the time, a sizeable portion of my paycheck was going to Anchor Bay and a few others that were giving movies like THE EVIL DEAD their due. This week I was all about Horror Thriller action movies, nearly all Science Fiction. At one point in the movie my kid brother excitedly blurted out, "Why aren't they making movies like this any more?" After the movie I told him the story of the two saviors of 1980s Science Fiction Action Horror Thriller movies: Their initials are J.C. One J.C. started Indie and operated as a demanding perfectionist as well as an Independent Director. Audiences loved him and he was wildly successful, but made few movies. The other J.C. successfully started off Indie, even going so far as to hire the first J.C. for SFX on this movie, but then went to work for Demanding Big studio suits who wouldn't know their ass from a hole in the ground if you showed them a map and gave them crayons to color it in. Audiences loved this J.C. too, but the suits had no idea how to sell his movies and when, so his movies flopped at the box office, yet were over the moon in home video. When that happens once, it's a human error. When that happens nearly every time, the people in charge of marketing, advertising, and release are a Confederacy of DUNCES. Except there was one tiny boutique studio: AVCO Embassy Pictures. They knew exactly when and how to present a John Carpenter film. This then, is what reviewer Kelly Parks saw when, as a kid, he sat in the theater and watched John Carpenter's ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK. And - MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME is 41
MAD MAX was released in the U.S.A. through Good Ol' American International Pictures in 1979. AIP spent a small fortune dubbing the Aussie accents of the nobody actors so the characters sounded American. The lip sync-dubbing was atrocious, looked and sounded so bad, but it made a ton of money in the Good Ol' U.S.A.! Then AIP promptly went bankrupt. Warner Bros. stepped up and offered George Miller the chance at a sequel and we got 1981's THE ROAD WARRIOR. Once again, (except for the now known Mel Gibson) it featured a lot of nobody actors. Their Aussie accents weren't dubbed and the sequel was better than the original, making way more at the box office. WB was astounded. A sequel that's better than the original? Box office smash AND critical acclaim? What's wrong with you damn Aussies? So Warner offered George Miller another sequel - BUT - this time his main villain had to be someone who never acted before: Not in movies or stage theater! Nowhere! But we gotta make it look like we're trying so... How about singer Tina Turner? Her star was ascending and while she'd been in two movies, they were Rock Opera musicals and it was only her being her, a singer. Perfect! This third movie is sure to bomb like a proper Hollywood sequel! Then they saw the final edit. What the hell? Tina Turner can actually act?!? And she's great in the role? This is the story of how George Miller did the impossible: He was the first to make two Hollywood franchise sequels back to back into sure-fire hits. All three classics, all of them hits and nobody knew it was going to happen for sure until 1985's MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME. Plus - Pi is 28
A hyperactive tour de force of math, science, paranoia, blinding agony, and obsession, this movie remains unique in cinema history, which is no small feat! Even if you're quick and canny enough to catch a few of the mathmatical errors that are thrown out at mach 1, by the end of the movie you can't be sure if they were overlooked genuine errors or meant to be part of Max's descent into guilt and madness. This is what I had to say about Darren Aronofsky's brutal first feature film, Pi. Also - 26 Years of HEAVY METAL 2000
Some of the greatest Science Fiction Horror Thriller movies found their influence off of the on again, off again, Heavy Metal magazine (TREMORS, PREDATOR, IMMORTEL), but the only two movies that were an actual product of the magazine, well, they had little theatrical success and no cinematic influence at all. It took nearly 20 years for a HEAVY METAL movie sequel and HEAVY METAL F.A.K.K.2 aka HEAVY METAL 2000 was the sad result that killed the cinema franchise for the next three decades, and buried the magazine forever. Finale - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
TRON Turns 44
Computer genius Steven M. Lisberger spent the 1970s on the ground floor of creating computer graphics for computers. He designed software and hardware and his business sold advertising using his amazing images and animation that no one had and no one knew how to make. Through it all, a story began forming in his head about how electronic life would or could live in such an environment. The more he thought about it, the more excited he got. But would a studio buy TRON? And - PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL is 23
R! Sure this be a sweeping, sprawling saga that straggles and weaves drunkenly from beginning to end. And yet, like the ride O' which its named, it be pure fun! This is how I was enthralled by PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL. Plus - PREDATORS Turns 16
This was the one that Writer, Director, and Producer Robert Rodriguez wanted to make for years. Robert was at the top of his game and his fans wanted to see it happen. Then stumbles started happening. He was going to write and produce it, but not direct it. Then he wasn't going to write or direct it, just produce it. Then he was going to be one of three producers. As these new announcements fell into place, audience anticipation fell accordingly and PREDATORS arrived DOA. Finale - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Writer Dean Koontz (Books: DEMON SEED, WATCHERS, PHANTOMS, INTENSITY, THE TAKING, CHASE, THE SILENT CORNER, DEVOTED, ELSEWHERE, THE OTHER EMILY, and more. Movies: DEMON SEED, WATCHERS, PHANTOMS, INTENSITY, TICKTOCK, THE FACE, VELOCITY, THE TAKING, ODD THOMAS) is 79 years old. You see that? YOU SEE THAT? Nearly every damn day of the year there is some how, some way, some kind of John Carpenter reference movie!
60 Years Ago Today, U.S.A saw the Toho release of FRANKENSTEIN VS. BARAGON
When it comes to Bonker-Ass-Cinema, Japan is second to none. Even the grand and legendary Toho Pictures, nearly since its inception, built its reputation on being gonzo. I began as a Big Horror fan. Human-sized monsters from Vampires to Werewovles weren't good enough for me. Not when I was a little kid and all adults were giants capable of being Scary Monsters and Super Creeps. When you're a shrimpy kid, and I was the runt of the class until my 14th or 15th year growth spurt, monsters that are taller than the tallest skyscraper level the playing field like they level a city when all humans are comparitively the size of ants. And my giant adult Pop? He took me to see THE EXORCIST and THE OMEN at an arthouse theater when I was around 12, because he thought it would scare me into shape. But how was I supposed to be scared of a bitchy brat who stays in bed and a spoiled priviliged shit? You wanna scare a 12 year old? Have that asshole rampage through a freaking city! You expect me to be scared by a demon with a tummy-ache who is confined to her bedroom, in her pyjamas, until she can learn to behave? Granted I was 12, adults may have viewed it with a different perspective, but still! So! Are you already Koo-koo for Kaiju or are you an newbie Big Horror fan? Read my Big Horror spoiler free review of Director Ishiro Honda's FRANKENSTEIN VS. BARAGON, aka in the U.S.A. as Frankenstein Conquers The World. And - PHANTASM II is 38
It was 1988, 10 years after the first PHANTASM, and before the Age of Internet, Don Coscarelli's sequel came flying at us Horror fans from out of nowhere. The trailer showed that a new actor replaced A. Michael Baldwin, as Mike. Well who was James LeGros? Wait a minute. Isn't that the guy who played the young nameless cowboy in last year's NEAR DARK? He beat out A. Michael Baldwin for the role in the sequel? LeGros did more than that. He beat out another actor who would cement his A-List status only 6 years later with his star turn in INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE! Here is the mix, mess, and awesome of an Indie flick that went from Horror to Horror Action movie, PHANTASM II. Plus - DARK WATER is Old Enough to Buy A Beer
2005 was 21 years ago! How well did the Hollywoodized Jennifer Connolly version hold up against the original 2002 Japanese version? This is how Douglas Lobo out of Brazil saw the U.S.A. version of DARK WATER. Also - THE DESCENT is Old Enough to Buy a Mai Tai
Director Neil Marshall came hot off of the surprise hit of his first feature film, DOG SOLDIERS: A Horror action movie and we went nuts! Three years later, up against the American remake of DARK WATER, Lionsgate released his second hit, THE DESCENT. Finale - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Actor Kevin Bacon (FRIDAY THE 13th, THE DEMON MURDER CASE, CRIMINAL LAW, TREMORS, FLATLINERS, MURDER IN THE FIRST, SLEEPERS, WILD THINGS, STIR OF ECHOES, HOLLOW MAN, TRAPPED, MYSTIC RIVER, WHERE THE TRUTH LIES, THE AIR THAT I BREATHE, DEATH SENTENCE, SUPER, X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, THE FOLLOWING [TV], R.I.P.D., THE FOLLOWING, THE DARKNESS [2018], TREMORS [2018], YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT, SPACE ODDITY, THEY/THEM, ONE WAY, THE TOXIC AVENGER [2023], LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND, MAXXXINE, THE BONDSMAN [TV]) is 68.
SPECIES Turns 31
Remember when you were 20 and saw this in the theater on opening week? Well now it's 31 years later and you're old! OLD! And yet the Trailer was compelling! The poster was intriguing! For Science Fiction Horror movie fans, creature design by the late artist who created the ALIEN, Hans Rudi Giger, was an irresistable draw! Hell! Even as bad as POLTERGIEST II was, Giger's few seconds of Kane's vomit rebirth was and remains the most memorable thing in the picture! Besides actor Julien Beck himself, that is! Yes, this movie had Oscar winning actor, Ben Kingsley! It had the late Michael Madsen straight out of Quentin Tarantino's RESERVOIR DOGS! And it had a femme fatale in n00b actor, Natasha Henstridge as the human appearing alien Sil. At last on opening day, we excitedly sat there in the dark of the theater like so many hushed crickets, as the movie SPECIES was... Plus - 26 Years of SCARY MOVIE
By 2000, Wes Craven brought Horror back big with his SCREAM franchise and everything from FINAL DESTINATION to THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT hit the screens like a tsunami! The minds behind In Living Color were there to rip on it. I was there in the theater to see the Wayan Brothers cut loose on SCARY MOVIE. Also - PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST Turners Twenty
The first PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN movie took the Disney ride and turned it into an extension of Disney's Haunted Mansion. The Pirates were the undead: A revenant somewhere between a zombie and a ghost. But in this sequel with Director Gore Verbinski still at the helm, we don't have a haunted movie, we have a monster movie! R! And all the varmints are twisted sea creatures straight out o' the Hell of a Lovecraft fever dream! This be the hook of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST. Finale - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO - Actor Billy Campbell (THE ROCKETEER, Bram Stoker's DRACULA, OUT THERE, THE COLD EQUATIONS, MENNO'S MIND, MAX Q, THE 4400 [TV], SHARK [TV], METEOR [TV], THE DISAPPEARED, LIZZIE BORDEN TOOK AN AXE, THE SCRIBBLER, THE KILLING, HELIX [TV], MODUS [TV], CARDINAL [TV], THE ROCKETEER [TV], TROLL [2022], SOMETHING UNDONE, TRUST, I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER [2025], WE COME IN PEACE [TV]) is 67.
Followed later that same month by this downer (in regards to CONSTANTINE 2, not the whole interview) from James Gunn -
Actor Dylan Sprayberry (SHUFFLE, TEEN WOLF [TV], THE ROW, LIGHT AS A FEATHER [TV], BABY BLUE, TEEN WOLF: THE MOVIE, SICK,
MALIBU HORROR STORY, CHAPTER 51) is 28.
YOU DUG IT
1. MINIONS AND MONSTERS Baby Cthulhu makes its 4,243 screen debut in the DESPICABLE ME franchise and, in a snap, H.P. Lovecraft is back to the fore in American cinema. This movie comes out of the gate with a world box office that doubles its Production budget, which means everything beyond this is technically profit (not counting the unknown advertising/marketing budget which can be up to the equal of the production budget). 5. DISCLOSURE After last weekend's massive drop, Steven Spielberg's return to directing holds onto 5th place for the second weekend in a row with a mild 30% drop in ticket sales against a 655 screen cut. Now in its 4th weekend, this movie has yet to earn back its Production Budget break even point. 6. OBSESSION The winner of 2026 so far earned 2.5 times its Production Budget in its 8th weekend! Boutique distributors, Focus Features, must be going cross-eyed with delight by this time as this is the only movie in their history that earned 404 times its budget - ever! Let alone remained in the top ten while doing it. This ovie had a 46% drop in ticket sales this week against a 325 screen cut and the heaviest competition that all of the major studios combined could throw at it. 7. BACKROOMS is not doing too shabby itself, as this movie has earned over 35 times its budget and would be the profit winner of 2026 if it wasn't for OBSESSION. The heads at this other boutique distributor, A24, combined with Focus Features, have so far mopped the floor with the nervous sweat of big studio failures so far this summer. It suffered a mild 25% box office drop in its 6th weekend against a 317 screen cut. 9. SCARY MOVIE drops to #9 in its 5th weekend with a 62% loss in ticket sales against a 846 screen cut. Still, its made 7 times its Production budget in the world box office market, so it just might launch the rebirth of the franchise. YOU BURIED IT 11. MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE struggled throughout its 4 weekends to find an audience for its live action version of a cartoon (the first live action HE-MAN also flopped), but finally leaves the top ten in its 5th weekend, having earned less than half of its $170 million Production Budget. And you know? $170 million dollars would have funded up to three seasons of a high production quality, low risk, animated He-Man. Three seasons would have left plenty of room for the show runner and writers to find their footing with a story arc that works for their audience, while being profitable on commercial streaming like Tubi or ad supported Amazon Prime: as examples. 3 years of reinvigorating sales of the vast ancilliaries tied to this IP for the, not unlikely price of, what was probably the advertising and marketing budget on this movie: Let alone its Production budget. Just saying. Figures calibrated from reporting by Box Office Mojo and The Numbers. Should there be differences between the two, I err on the side of caution and post the most positive numbers. And - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO - SUNDAY -
Actor Pruitt Taylor (ANGEL HEART, FEAR [1990], JACOB'S LADDER [1990], SWEET POISON, CHINA MOON, NATURAL BORN KILLERS, NIGHT SINS, THE END OF VIOLENCE, THE CELL, IDENTITY, TOUCHING EVIL [TV], CONSTANTINE, WHEN A MAN FALLS, CAPTIVITY, THE ECHO, DON MCKAY, MYSTERIOUS ISLAND [2010], DRIVE ANGRY, CREATURE [2011], ON THE INSIDE, BRAKE, DARK TOURIST, BROKEN BLOOD, TRUE BLOOD [TV], 13 SINS, THE MENTALIST [TV], THE DEVIL'S CANDY, HEROES REBORN [TV], AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D., BIRD BOX, SCRIPTS GONE WILD ZOMBIE NIGHTMARE, LADY IN THE LAKE [TV]) is 66. PANIC IN THE YEAR ZERO is 64
Another day another Roger Corman movie: the guy made hundreds. As actor Ray Milland, a renown prankster and cut-up in Hollywood, aged and his film career gave way to a television career and even that was descending over the curve, he tried his hand at directing movies and TV shows. He gave it a good shot for over ten years, only to find he still remained in demand as an actor. He never fell from grace, he only dropped from leading man status then levelled off. Still, Ray already moved toward Science Fiction and Horror movies, as he craved a legacy of originality in his work, and those genres were the only thing he saw that delivered that creativity. And boy did he throw himself into some doozies (THE MAN WITH THE X-RAY EYES, THE AMAZING TWO-HEADED TRANSPLANT, FROGS)! That's what put him in the driver's seat as both Director and star actor in PANIC IN THE YEAR ZERO, one of two Horror movies he made with Roger Corman in 1962. SATURDAY - 250 YEARS of the U.S.A.! Actor Jason Liles (TO NEVER BE, DEATH NOTE [TV - 2017], RAMPAGE, THE CLINIC, GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS, STEREOSCOPE [TV], AFTERMATH, HELLRAISER [Hulu], STEREOSCOPE) is 39. TALES OF TERROR is 64
It was 2024 and Writer, Producer, and Director, Roger Corman turned 98 in April of that year then died in May. Few people live long enough to outlive their copyrights and see their movies go to Public Domain, but Roger did. Roger Corman's life story melds with influential Horror Writers like Richard Matheson (THE TWILIGHT ZONE [1959 - 1964 TV], THE LAST MAN ON EARTH, THE OMEGA MAN, THE NIGHT STALKER, THE NIGHT STRANGLER, STIR OF ECHOES, I AM LEGEND) and evergreen Horror movie icons like Vincent Price. What's more, because of his near complete Poe cycle, his cinema story is part of the posthumous works that are the legacy of Edgar Allen. However, the main of Edgar's stories are little more than bite-sized. How to wring and bring an entire feature film out of Poe's short stories and poems? Matheson and Corman chose a collection of stories to create TALES OF TERROR.
TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY Turns 34
This is the movie that cemented Director James Cameron into place as a guy who could make sequels as great as or better than the original. It had all been a crap shoot before and one that usually lost the bet. James Cameron understood the secret formula. Like James Bond movies, audiences wanted their familiar set of characters but in new stories with additional new characters. Cameron also understood how to get there: Love. Every single one of his stories is a Love Story at its heart. Not necessarily a Romantic Love story, but one all the same. Someone loves someone else in the story so much that when they are put into a position where they must make the ultimate sacrifice for them, they'll do it. It's the plot key turning point to every James Cameron movie he ever controlled (and Cameron is a control freak throughout production), and it began with this franchise. This is how Cameron wowed theater audiences with TERMINATOR 2. And - MEN IN BLACK II Turns 26
Unfortunately not all directors know how to do sequels. Like the mistakes Director Barry Sonnenfeld made with his sequel, ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES, his sequel to MEN IN BLACK suffered from the rehashing of the same jokes that worked so well the first time. This is how a franchise that started off great, stumbled and never recovered from the bad decisions made in MEN IN BLACK II. Plus - TRANSFORMERS is 19
Yeah, this was slated to open on July 4, poster announced that it would hit U.S. theaters on July 4, but gosh darnit! Anticipation for this movie was so high that we all got an early view with late night showings on July 3 of Michael Bay's TRANSFORMERS. Finale - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA Turns 40
Of all of the movies that got sequels though they didn't need one, there is BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA that never got one. But it could have been awesome! And - PSYCHO III is 40
Released on the same weekend as John Carpenter's BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, only one could win the weekend, but both could lose it. That's exactly what happened, but did Anthony Plus - MEN IN BLACK is 29
Director Barry Sonnenfeld, hot off the success of the Supernatural Horror comedy franchise, THE ADDAMS FAMILY, shot for a Science Fiction Horror comedy franchise with this movie. And, well, you know how popular it became, but did you know this about MEN IN BLACK? Finale - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
1/2 of Your Life in 2026 is Gone Forever Meanwhile - UNDEAD is 23 Today In The USA!
What in the Undead is UNDEAD? It's the Spierig Bros. first feature film! And if you've never seen it, this is why you should! UNDEAD. And - FIDO is 20
How can you have a one joke Comedy that sustains the laughs throughout the movie, AND is emotionally deep, AND is a Cannibal Zombie movie? In 2006 Director and Co-Writer, Andrew Currie showed us how to do it with FIDO. Finale - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Actor Pamela Anderson (SNAPDRAGON, NAKED SOULS, BARB WIRE, SCARY MOVIE 3, STRIPPERELLA [TV], THE PEOPLE GARDEN, THE INSTITUTE,
|
| FEO'S BRAGGADOCIO | ||||||||
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 |
NEWS? SUBMISSIONS? |
|
FAIR USE - CONTACT - |
