Indie Horror Scene: Outtake Reel (2010)
Some filmmakers are really careful … almost too careful. Take OUTTAKE REEL directors Jeffry Chaffin and Scott Feinblatt (both who also star in the film, and Feinblatt is the writer). They’ve made a film that in this reviewers opinion is an out and out horror film, yet on IMDb.com it’s tagged as a thriller. What’s … Read more
My Top 5 Favorite Cinéma Vérité/Found Footage Genre Films
I think it’s safe to say that the Cinéma Vérité/Found Footage gimmick has become a solid sub-genre in the horror canon. It all began back in 1980 with Ruggero Deodato’s notorious CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, in which a team goes out searching for a missing documentary film crew who was making a film on some indigenous tribes … Read more
Book Review: Monster Island (2004 online; 2006 print)
By now you’ve probably figured out that I’m pretty hard on zombie novels. My main complaint is that either the author focuses too much on the zombies and fails to give the reader interesting, well-developed characters that you actually give a shit about or they focus too much on the human factor and forget they’re … Read more
Movie Review: Chain Letter (2010)
Director Deon Taylor began his directorial career in 2007 with the film DEAD TONE. In it a group of people partying it up in a cabin begin making crank phone calls and they “call the wrong person” prompting said person to stalk and kill everyone at the party. Taylor’s latest horror flick, CHAIN LETTER, doesn’t … Read more
After Dark Originals 2011: Scream of the Banshee (2011)
Well another Saturday night, another 6-pack of Guinness, another SyFy Original, and another night of low expectations. Luckily SCREAM OF THE BANSHEE, the third After Dark Original (ADO) made in conjunction with the SyFy channel which premiered ON the SyFy channel, proves to be a pretty fun flick. This one also has the distinction of … Read more
Early Book Review: Flesh Eaters (2011)
I don’t know how everyone’s year is going so far, but mine’s great!! I’m sticking to all my New Year’s resolutions: I’m seeing all major Hollywood genre releases in the theaters, I’ve lost 35 pounds so far (and still loosing), and I’m reading a ton of horror novels. Best of all with 2011 I’ve become … Read more
Upcoming Film News: Zombie Chronicles: Infected Special Edition Released; Hatchet 3 is Gonna Happen; Teaser Trailer for Bousman’s 11 11 11; World War Z May Not Be Coming to the Big Screen; & the Trailer for Thai Gorefest Ghost: The Cinderella
Last year (July of 2010 to be exact) I was fortunate to watch and review ZOMBIE CHRONICLES: THE INFECTED, written and directed by Marvin Suarez (who also edited, produced, and wore six other hats in making this film). The film took a really unique approach to filming the early stages of a zombie outbreak in … Read more
Movie Review: I Spit on Your Grave Uncut (2010)
When it comes to remakes I’m usually not surprised by the outcome. Most remakes completely miss the point and ignore those elements that made the original so appealing and unique. That’s why I was so shocked after watching the I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE remake. The cast and crew came together to make a disturbing, … Read more
Book Review: The Masks of our Fathers (2011)
Horror can come in many forms. There’s the external forms of serial-like killers after you, zombies wanting to eat you, and vampires wanting to suck you. And then there’s the internal kinds of horrors in which one’s mind becomes the source of one’s own horror. Barry Napier’s THE MASK OF OUR FATHERS definitely falls into … Read more
New Horror Release: Black Death (2010)
I must admit that even before seeing BLACK DEATH I was inclined to really like it, and its not because of director Christopher Smith (more on him in a second). I wanted to like this film because in high school I had an African-American buddy who used to call his penis “Black Death”. I still … Read more
