“It’s Dark Now. I Can’t See.” Fourteen years after director Fred Walton’s When A Stranger Calls (1979) scared audiences into hysterics, a little-known sequel hit the airwaves as a made-for-TV movie. When A Stranger Calls Back (1993) is the follow up to the famous original from the golden era of American horror. The sequel brought […]
“Helen, we killed a man and ruined the lives of everyone he knew.” After Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven’s Scream (1996) made it cool and hip for young actors to star in slasher movies, Williamson teamed up with director Jim Gillespie to bring the world I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), a movie […]
“When you’re stoned, Charles Manson is a terrific guy.” – The Funhouse I dare you to come up with a better setting for a slasher horror movie than the inside of a funhouse after the carnival shuts down for the night. I double-dare you. Throw in direction by the man who brought the world The […]
“The Mountain don’t read.” You watched Halloween, Deliverance, and Friday the 13th. You probably think you know your 1970s and 1980s horror movies, don’t you? But have you ever seen Just Before Dawn (1980)? If you missed Just Before Dawn, you aren’t alone. Director Jeff Lieberman’s low budget masterpiece is a lost gem, a movie […]
“Go ahead. The dark ride’s waiting.” The post-Scream (1996) era was typified by watered-down, self-aware horror and torture movies. Then director Craig Singer brought Dark Ride 2006 to the screen, and horror was transported back to 1980 for 94 gory minutes. It is impossible not to draw comparisons between Dark Ride and Tobe Hooper’s Funhouse (1981). […]
My initial reaction to Adam Green’s slasher homage, Hatchet (2006), was confusion. The highly anticipated horror release was promoted as a return to 1980s horror, and I was not the only fan breathlessly waiting to see what Green would deliver. Hatchet is hardly straight horror. The comedy angle is hit very hard throughout, but don’t […]
“Throw away your cross. Face the master.” If you grew up between the late 1970s and early 1980s and loved horror, you saw the Salem’s Lot 1979 TV miniseries. And if you saw Salem’s Lot, you and your friends talked about it constantly and scared the bejeezus out of each other, convincing one another that Mr. […]
By 1999, self-awareness films inundated the slasher sub-genre, beginning with the clever SCREAM (Wes Craven, 1996), and continuing with several less inspirational knock offs post-1996. While such self-awareness provided a moment of fun for long time slasher movie fans, few movies have shown a willingness to return to the roots and spirit of the sub-genre. […]
Horror Novel Reviews weighed in on Storberry today, giving it 4 out of 5 stars! From the review – “There was something in the way he stood back, like a wolf in sheepskin who didn’t want the flock to notice the zipper.” Just a taste of why I enjoyed Dan Padavona’s, Storberry. The prose is […]
As much as I love to read, sometimes I don’t want to commit myself to 1,000 pages and 300,000 words. Sometimes it is nice to speed through a series of short stories or novellas. If you are in a similar mode currently, I recommend reading (or revisiting) Stephen King’s Different Seasons. I cannot say enough […]