The Darkroom

"You're in a house. Maybe your own...maybe one you've never seen before. You feel it. Something evil. You run, but there's no escape...nowhere to turn. You feel something beckoning you...drawing you into the terror that awaits you in the Darkroom!"

One of the best horror anthology TV shows, is also one of the least seen.  The series aired on ABC for one short season,  The series had quite a few creepy and disturbing episodes.  Four episodes were deemed to disturbing for TV and were used in the movie "Nightmares".

James Coburn was the host who introduced each story while in the titular Darkroom.  The series had episodes directed by Paul Lynch (Prom Night), Rick Rosenthal (Halloween II) and Jeffery Bloom (Flowers in the Attic).  

It also boasted episodes written by Robert Bloch (Psycho) William F,Nolan (Burnt Offerings) and Robert McCammon.

I'm hoping that this will be released on DVD/Blu-Ray eventually.

The horrors of Tampa Bay

I went to the Tampa Bay Comic con last weekend.  Here are some of the best cosplays I saw and a full sized Crite!

Holliston Season 3

Good news!!

Creature from the Black Lagoon

I loved the LED stars

Thursday night I got to attend a showing of The Creature from the Black Lagoon.  There was a small theater in Winter Garden that held a screening.

This was the first time that I actually got to see one of the Universal monster films with an audience.

It was good crowd and the people seemed to really enjoy it.  It was great to see that people can still appreciate the classics.   

Horror Board Games

A while back a good friend of mine gave me a Friday the 13th/Nightmare on Elm Street trivia game.  Since it's something that I hadn't seen before I thought I would share some photos of it.

Front of box 

More photos inside!

R.I.P. Christopher Lee

I doubt we'll ever see an actor of his caliber again. 

The Horrors of William Shatner

Many of the Star Trek cast have appeared in horror movies, but none of them have been in more than William Shatner.

That's what you get for flying coah

Shatner’s first foray into horror was in a Twilight Zone episode.  “Nightmare at 20,000 feet”  has become a classic and was even remade in the 1983 Twilight Zone movie.  

His next horror role was not nearly as sucessful.  Incubus released in 1966 was doomed mostly because it was subtitled in English and spoken entirely in Esperanto.   Add in the fact it wasn’t a particularly good movie and it vanished quickly.  

1975’s The Devil’s Rain also starred John Travolta, Tom Skerritt and Ernest Borgnine as the devil.  The biggest marketing gimmick for the film was that Anton LaVey was a technical advisor.  LaVey was the high priest of the Church of Satan at the time.  The film was a staple on late night TV for years and  really deserves a good Blu-Ray release.  

Kingdom of the Spiders is another Creature Feature classic.  Filmed way before CGI the cast had to deal with thousands of real tarantulas.  This is a movie that can really creep out arachnophobes. 

 

Despite all of his horror film roles there was one thing in 1978 that cemented his place in horror history.  Tommy Lee Wallace used a cheap Captain Kirk mask and altered it into the now classic Myers mask.

Late Phases

There hasn't been a really good werewolf movie in a long time.  Thanks to Late Phases we have another classic.

The strength of the film comes from two areas.  One is the script by Eric Stolze.  Stolze takes a different direction than many werewolf movies. He keeps the action focused on one character, and you really get into his head this way.  The other is the performance of Nick Damici.  Damici really does a great job as Ambrose.  

It's also great to see a film that relies on practical effects instead of CG.  Be on the lookout for some cameos from famous faces of yesterday. 

This is on Netflix right now, but do yourself a favor and buy it. 

Underrated Horror

From time to time horror movies come along and they don't get the respect they deserve.  Sometimes this get remedied years later, but a few always take longer.  Here are two that I think deserve a second look from the horror community.

House of Wax.  Released in 2005 and although it shares a title with the 1953 Vincent Price film, that's all they have in common.  The biggest reason this movie got a bad rap was one of its stars.  Paris Hilton, while widely hated at the time, did a good job in the movie.  The films plot was actually more reminiscent of another underrated film Tourist Trap. While the movie doesn't really break any new ground, it's a well made and an effective horror film. 

 Dead Silence Under studio pressure to produce another horror film after SAW, James Wan and Leigh Whannell delivered this film.  This movie has several very creepy scenes. 

"Soon you'll be in more successful things"

Let's be honest, it's hard not to make a ventriloquist dummy creepy.  Not everything in it makes 100% sense, but it still works.  The ending is definitely a memorable one!

So take a second look at these and have an open mind when you do.  I think you'll be surprised.  

The horrors of Mega-Con

I went to Mega-Con in Orlando this weekend.  Here are some of the horror related Cosplays I saw and a couple of shots of Norman Reedus.

It Follows

At least it was a roomy backseat. 

I saw this last night and I really enjoyed it. I wouldn't say it was the scariest movie I've ever seen, but it was the most original concept.

It was shot beautifully, very reminiscent of "Halloween". There were lots of wide shots and it made you start scanning the background for things. 

The set design felt very real too, the houses actually looked lived in.  Many movies have perfect looking homes and it never quite feels real.  These are houses that have dirty walls, mismatched furniture and cluttered rooms. 

 My biggest complaint is that they never really got into the history of the creature. I wanted to know why it was doing what it does.

I've had worse dates honestly.

 The actors feel as real as the surroundings. These aren't the typical pretty teens who look like they came from a modelling shoot. Maika Monroe, who was amazing in "The Guest" continues to shine here. 

Writer/director David Robert Mitchell has earned a place in horror history with this one. 

The Taking of Deborah Logan

I wasn't keen on the idea of another found footage film, but I'm glad I took a chance on this one.

Written by Gavin Heffernan and Adam Robitel and directed by Robitel as well.  The pair did a great job with the story and Robitel creates some truly creepy imagery.

What distinguishes this from other found footage films is the story.  It's more than just people in the dark shouting.  The characters all have developed stories and don't behave in typical horror movie fashion.

Jill Larson does an amazing job in the titular role.  He transformation is amazing and terrifying.


This is a very impressive debut from Adam Robietl and I hope he does more in the horror genre. 

Digging up the Marrow

In the past you could be surprised by a movie, hard to believe I know.  There are whole websites devoted to nothing but movie spoilers now.  Even if you don't look at those sites the information filters down to you through Facebook or other social media sites. 

I went into "Digging Up The Marrow" knowing as little as possible.  Writer/director Adam Green has kept most of the details about the movie secret, and that's a good thing.  I could have dug around on the net and found out more, but I chose not to. It was the right choice.

The absolute best way to see this movie is to go in blind.  Just start watching and slowly get dragged into the world. 

I'm not going to give any more details here, just watch it. 

Ray Wise really knocks it out of the park in this movie.  He's always an actor you can count on to deliver a great performance, and he's at he top of his game here. 

I only have one real complaint about the movie.  The weird jazzy soundtrack at the beginning seemed out of place. 

A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge

 I went to a convention this weekend and they had a very interesting panel.  They got the cast of "A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge" together and let them reflect on the movie.  It was very cool to see the whole cast and hear their stories about the film. 

The whole cast, the venue was pretty small too.  Easy to get seats. 

Clu Gulager and Robert Englund

Director Jack Sholder, who also directed "The Hidden"

Robert Englund

Poltergeist Remake

It actually looks pretty good.

The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014)

This is how you do a remake.

This is one of the best examples I've ever seen of how to remake a movie. Inside of doing a standard remake, this movie took a different route.  It acknowledges the events of the first movie and even that there was a movie made about the events. It builds on the events of the original and makes its own mythology. 

The movie has an interesting style where it cuts in shots from the original film, and it's very different from the standard slasher fare. The actors all look age appropriate too. One of my biggest pet peeves about horror movies is when they have a 35 year old playing a teenager. 

Congratulations to diretor Alfonso Gomez-Rejon and writers Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, & Earl E. Smith for delivering a great horror film. 

The Lazarus Effect

This reminds me of "Flatliners". 

Obscure Joke

This is one of the best things I've ever found on the internet.

It's perfect. 

Digging up the Marrow

This looks good.  I know that Adam Green will be touring with the movie and I hope to catch one of the shows. 

Waxwork/Waxwork II: Lost in Time

I decided to revisit these after I came across a DVD double feature with them at Movie Gallery.  It's been years since I had seen either.  The first time I watched part one it was actually on Beta-Max, because that was the only way the unrated version was available. 

Both films are written/directed by Anthony Hickox

I always thought this movie could have worked much better as anthology film. The stories that occur inside each of the Waxwork exhibits could have been expanded slightly and made a more interesting film.

Vampire supper

The film as it is suffers from a script that doesn't let the characters develop much before they are killed off. The worst character is Sarah who is said to be a prudish virgin, suddenly develops a love for BDSM when she gets one look at the Marquis De Sade display. Another thing I found annoying is that the characters are said to be in college, yet their "college" has lockers in the hallway. I've never been to a college that did that. 

 

From never been kissed to whipped for pleasure.

The make-up effects are good, but some of the visuals at the end are laughable even by 1988 standards. The ending sets up the sequel that would follow four years later.

The sequel dropped the horror and played up the comedy angle.  It really tried hard to be like "The Evil Dead II", but it went way to far with the slapstick.  It did have a great cast though with Bruce Campbell, Marinia Sirtis, Michael Des Barres, and David Carradine. 

It's just a flesh wound.

The movies are worth seeing for a few scenes, but overall they are not that memorable.