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| FEO NEWS FOR SPRING 2026: - APRIL - The detritus of old Horror/Thriller history can be found here. These are archived news items, many of them linked outside of this website. |
30 Years of Owl Goingback's CROTA
There are many writers who are literary heroes in their own culture or country, but whose writings don't connect to people in other lands, other cultures. Only a few writers have stories that survive the language translations and still pack the punch they possess. In 1996, author Owl Goingback's first Horror novel hit the shelves and would go on to be an International hit, eventually earning a Bram Stoker Award. After nearly 3 decades, CROTA remains in print. This is why. And - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
KILL BILL Vol. 2 is 22
On the one hand, it was a sequel, but in a more hopeful way, KILL BILL was really one movie cut in half, making it Quentin Tarantino's "Fifth movie". He was still relatively new! Would KILL BILL Vol. 2 deliver? Would it ever! No wait... would it ever? And - KICK-ASS is 16
Major studios with their major budgets, have to be concerned, for the sake of their investors, over releasing their movies to the many and myriad movie theaters. All of the movie houses nestled in snug communities across the U.S. and abroad, and all of those communities having at least one corrupt Mrs. Carmody who will need to defend his or herself with self-righteous indignation and Cut & Paste morality, to cover the barely hidden crawlies beneath their skin. These Oogie Boogie shriekers with nothing to lose (because they live nothing lives) can bring down a major investment over nothing. So its always surprising when a Blue Moon shines and a Major studio takes a risk with an over-the-top violent movie like this one. Of course, this millennium's fresh-faced major studio grew to its current status by releasing over-the-top violent movies to major theater chains in the first place. Which is why, if anyone was going to release a controversial movie like KICK-ASS, it would be Lionsgate. Plus - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Actor Noah Fleiss (PAST THE BLEACHERS, BAD DAY ON THE BLOCK, BRINGING RAIN, BRICK, MOTHER'S DAY MASSACRE, RED CANYON, DEAD SOULS [2012], PATIENT 001) is 42.
BRAIN DAMAGE Turns 37
Writer, Producer, Director Frank Hennenlotter, has made lots of Horror movies but considers himself an Exploitation filmmaker. Yet he's never worked so furiously hard to create a cult following behind his movies as many other Exploitation Horror movie makers. Not that the void he left stopped those cults from creating themselves, growing and keeping his movies profitable, one media iteration after the next. E.C. McMullen Jr. recalls the first time he saw Frank Hennenlotter's BRAIN DAMAGE. And - 21 Years Ago Director Andrew Douglas Brought us... Sometimes the remake is better. This was one of those times, but just barely. E.C. McMullen Jr. was there on the opening weekend of THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (2005). Plus - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Actor Alice Braga (SÓLO DIOS SABE, JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE NIGHT, O CHEIRO DU RALO, I AM LEGEND, BLINDNESS, REPO MEN, PREDATORS, THE RITE, ELYSIUM, THE SHACK, THE NEW MUTANTS, THE SUICIDE SQUAD [2021], HYPNOTIC, SHARE?, A MURDER AT THE END OF THE WORLD [TV], DARK MATTER [TV - 2024) is 43.
A Quarter Century of AMERICAN PSYCHO
Think about this: the people who were born when this movie came out, never had to leave a party early to "Return some tapes". Bram Stoker winning novelist and Comic book author Mike Oliveri saw it in the theater! Flashback to his first impression of AMERICAN PSYCHO! Plus - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Actor Abigail Breslin (SIGNS, KEANE, ZOMBIELAND [all], HAUNTER, THE CALL [2013], PERFECT SISTERS, MAGGIE, FINAL GIRL, FEAR INC., SCREAM QUEENS [TV], YAMASONG: MARCH OF THE HOLLOWS, SLAYERS) is 30.
YOU DUG IT
2. PROJECT HAIL MARY in its 4th weekend, held on to 2nd place from last weekend with a mere 22% loss in box office against a 90 screen cut. This weekend saw it more than double its Production Budget of $200 mill with well over $500 mill in box office world wide. This was the hit that actor Ryan Gosling needed. 7. FACES OF DEATH opened on a small number of screens, 1,600. That's about bare minimum for what could be considered a "Wide release". 8. EXIT 8, 2025's Japanese Horror hit, comes to North America via NEON with a tiny, limited release of only 495 screens. Its release was limited world wide and yet, it had a larger per screen average this week than any movie on the Top Ten from #3 on down. 11. READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME drops out of the Top Ten in its 4th weekend with a 53% drop in ticket sales against a 950 screen cut and a worldwide box office that may have squeeked the movie into profit over its $14 mil budget. 15. SCREAM 7, had The Numbers and Box Office Mojo bickering over whether it was ranked at 10 or 11 last week. As of today, The Numbers is still figuring things out, but Box Office Mojo marks it with a 50% drop in ticket sales against a 512 screen cut. Still, it grossed nearly 5 times its Production Budget so still more sequels can be expected. 18. UNDERTONE despite 4 weekends in the Top Ten, this movie has a mere North American box office just under $20 mill. Yet, its profitable because its Production budget was only $500K. Also, its total cume is only the North American box office, as it hasn't reached the world market yet. YOU BURIED IT 14. THEY WILL KILL YOU went into freefall from last weekend's #7 to this weekend's rank at 14, falling well below the Top Ten in only two weekends with another devastating loss in ticket sales, 74%, and a No Confidence cut of 1,465 screens. Its worldwide box office of nearly $18 million fell far below its Production budget of $20 million. 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 - George A. Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD is 47
In the year of our Star Wars, 1977, George A. Romero's 1968 Masterpiece, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD was blistering hot in Arthouse theaters and on college campuses across America. Hollywood wanted to hire Romero but no major or minor Hollywood studio wanted to touch his script - his sequel. It would have more blood, more gore, more violence, and what's more, it would have a damn black man as the hero! Throughout the 1960s to the present, Hollywood relegated black guys in Horror and Science Fiction to the roles of cowards, pimps, drug abusers, street gang criminals, and general mentally damaged jive talkers. Black gals were all hookers (THE HOWLING), screaming crackpots, and out of nowhere might break out at any moment into booty dance twerking (SHE-HULK: ATTORNEY AT LAW - TV [2022]). If the black gal had any measure of success above the black guys, it was only so she could be the best friend of the lead white gal (She-Hulk: ATTORNEY AT LAW - TV [2022], to check a diversity box on the caucasian sheet), and maybe give the white gal a few lessons on how to be "cool". If a black character in a Horror or SciFi movie was going to be in anyway heroic or even so much as equal to the white people around him or her, that character had to die before the end credits, leaving only white survivors. Hollywood studios of the era would grudgingly allow the black character to die a hero, but die they must. So with all of this going against George it took, as usual, an indie outsider to step in and make it happen. In this case, someone from across the ocean stood up for Romero and his second legendary hit, DAWN OF THE DEAD. Plus - FRIDAY THE 13th: THE FINAL CHAPTER is 42
40 years later and fans are still waving their canes around in the air and saying "Final Chapter! HA!" This is what screenwriter Ken "The Fan Behind the Mask" thinks of FRIDAY THE 13th Part IV: THE FINAL CHAPTER. Also - The CABIN IN THE WOODS Turns 13 Today
What a damn difference twelve years makes! Actor Chris Hemsworth went from a nobody in a Lionsgate movie to world famous somebody after he hooked up with Marvel. Producer Joss Whedon went from world famous somebody in a Lionsgate movie to a pariah in hiding after he hooked up with DC. And as for me? I was there in the theater on opening weekend! This is how it was watching Director Drew Goddard's THE CABIN IN THE WOODS. Finale - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Horror Writer Nate Kenyon (BLOODSTONE, THE REACH, THE BONE FACTORY, PRIME, DIABLO III: THE ORDER) is 54. SUNDAY -
Actor Nicholas Brendon (CHILDREN OF THE CORN III, PSYCHO BEACH PARTY, SURVIVAL ISLAND, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER [TV], FIRE SERPENT, UNHOLY [2007], BLOOD ON THE HIGHWAY, MY NEIGHBOR'S SECRET, THE PORTAL, COHERENCE, ATTACK OF THE MORNINSIDE MONSTER, INDIGO, REDWOOD, THE NANNY [2018], WANTON WANT, JUDGEMENT, DAWN, CHRISTMAS SLASHER) is 55. CAT'S EYE is 41
Well think about it! Presented by none other than Oscar winning Dino De Laurentiis (KING KONG [1976], FLASH GORDON, HALLOWEEN II, CONAN, FIRESTARTER, MANHUNTER, ARMY OF DARKNESS)! Whew! How could you NOT make a hit? Wait. Was Stephen King's CAT'S EYE a hit? 24 Years of the Late Bill Paxton's Masterpiece: FRAILTY
Award winning Comic book writer, Christos N. Gage, delves into why Actor and Director Bill Paxton's FRAILTY chills like no other! SATURDAY - 40 Years of CRITTERS
Long before the world-wide cultural watershed moment of 1990s 33K Internet and before the second onrush cultural watershed moment of worldwide distribution of wireless smartphones, stories and movies consistently used the vacuum of these two nonexistent technologies to propel their plot. People without knowledge needed to seek out a library or wait for one to open. People needed to find the latest edition of a newspaper or track down a company or public entity (again, a library) to research something. People in danger needed to get to a phone somewhere, anywhere, even if that place appeared dangerous. So back in 1986? Just what was it like to see the first theatrical showing of total n00b Writer and Director Stephen Herek's daeboo feature film, CRITTERS? THE TOXIC AVENGER is 40
There's only one force on earth that keeps the Japanese from outweirding the Good Ol' U.S. of A in cinema and that's the Troma Studios of Lloyd Kaufmann and Michael Herz. I was recruited into their madness when I saw THE TOXIC AVENGER! 29 Years of ANACONDA
Yep! That's right! Over a quarter century later this movie remains on everyone's radar because despite its low budget, for 1997 it had better cgi than JURASSIC PARK! Way back then, Reviewer Kelly Parks was there in the theater to see the original ANACONDA! HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES is 23
Two huge Horror fans in New York, Rob Zombie and Sean Yseult, met at a design school and started the White Zombie band in 1985. Rob wrote lyrics and created the direction. Sean wrote riffs, created the musical ethos (Noise Metal), and look of White Zombie. It took them years of living in poverty, scraping to get by, to finally reach success ten years later. In 1998 they broke up. That same year, Sean and Rob started their own bands. Sean's was an all girl band, FAMOUS MONSTERS. Rob was himself with HELLBILLY DELUXE and was soon being courted by Hollywood. Why? Rob was talking about Directing Horror movies. After Rob designed a Halloween theme for Universal Studios in 1999, they accepted his pitch for a movie idea he made up on the spot. However, in 2000, Rob knew shit about directing feature films and Universal eventually soured on his learning curve. Time passed and through all of the trials and tribulations, Universal released HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES on April 11, 2003, just one week before the Kansas City, Missouri World Horror Convention. THE DARK Turns 21
Imagine how this may have played out in 2003... Producer 1: "Hey! Check this out. Sean Bean, who plays Borimor in THE LORD OF THE RINGS, will be in a new big budget Hollywood movie called National Treasure." Producer 2: "Hell, everyone involved in those Rings movies are taking off right now." Producer 1: "But check out this slate! He's also contracted to be in the big budget Hollywood movies, THE ISLAND, FLIGHTPLAN, and SILENT HILL. All in development right now." Producer 2: "Yeah his star is rising all right. Hooray for Sean Bean. Good for him." Producer 1: "Ahem. Have you forgot? He's one of the actors we've contracted for our features! We can get him for our current movie right now!" Producer 2: "Wait! WHAT? We've got Sean Bean?" Producer 1: "Yeah!" Producer 2: "We've got Super Hot Hollywood SEAN BEAN for our THE DARK?!?" Producer 1: "YEAH!"
NEON releases to North America the 2025 Japanese Horror hit, EXIT 8
And - THE HOWLING Turns 45
In the 1970s, Writer Gary Brandner made a good living off of his Horror novels, but he was really onto something when he wrote THE HOWLING. Director Joe Dante has made some good movies, but he really wowed audiences with this movie, loosely based on Gary's novel and largely re-written by master scribe, John Sayles. Gary turned his novel into a popular series, Joe Dante moved on. Yet to this day, the Wow factor is mainly thanks to the practical effects by Rob Bottin and Rick Baker, the changeling scenes remain unmatched by other make-up artists or CGI anything. This is THE HOWLING. Plus - GOTHIC Turns 39
As over the top and hambone in all of the scene chewing rococo ways that Director Ken Russell (ALTERED STATES) was infamous for, GOTHIC is Russell unleashed. Also - SLEEPWALKERS Turns 34
While watching this movie in my foolish youth, I remember sitting in the theater with the distant hope that one of those damn cats would scratch my OWN eyes out before I had to watch another second of this drivel. Don't worry, my review of SLEEPWALKERS will be brief. Wassmor - SPECIES II is 28
To my knowledge, this movie is unique in the fact that all three of the big names were so repulsed by the finished product that they wanted nothing to do with it. Michael Madsen (who I'm certain has been in so much worse), and Natasha Henstridge disowned it (claiming, in fact, that they hate it). H.R. Giger, failing to get his name removed, asked that it at least be minimized so as not to promote the movie. No dice. SPECIES II, the last of the theater releases in this franchise, needed all the help it could get. Azwel - ABOMINABLE Turns 20
Legendary film composer, Lalo Schifrin had a son, Ryan, who grew up surrounded by the movie industry. One day Ryan had a story about a monstrous Abominable Snowman. He got help fleshing it out, wrote the script, and wanted to direct it himself. Of course, no matter how well-oiled the wheels are for you, if you get your big break - and you suck - you'll shrivel in the blinding bright glare of sneers and mockery that no bunch of yahoos from the Big Mitten would ever have to deal with, because nobody knows or gives a damn about who they are. So when it came time for Ryan's turn at bat... He hit a home run! Imagine how different his life would be today in 2024, as well as the lives of his investors, if they'd only have kept the faith in the audience (won two jury prizes at the 2006 Austin Fantastic Fest) and didn't toss Ryan's movie at the cable teevee, the second SciFi Channel waved a few bucks in their face? This is the Cinema Obscura of Ryan Schifrin's great freshman entry into Horror, ABOMINABLE. Sadly, that was 19 years ago and Ryan never directed another feature film again. Finale - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
TREMORS 2: AFTERSHOCKS is 30
This is still another tale of a major studio that had a fantastic movie franchise in its posession yet had absolutely no idea how to sell it. So they didn't bother. Contractually obligated to release TREMORS to theaters, Universal Pictures tossed the minimum number of "wide release" copies to the theater chains with virtually no advance promotion or advertising. I was unaware of it in the age Before Internet (B.I.) and only saw it because it was playing at a second run Dollar Theater and my group of friends couldn't agree on a movie, all were getting frustrated, I saw the poster of a movie I knew nothing about and chose TREMORS, which won by default. We were FLOORED! HOW did we not know about this movie? Then TREMORS made a fortune in Home Video. By how much? More than three times what it made in theaters. Universal was stunned by the video rental store reaction that word of mouth created. By 1993, Universal was having no success in launching the sequel and, in fact, was making a flurry of errors in the attempt of Development, Pre-Production, Production, and Post-Production. Which includes having the finished film sit on the shelf Two Years after completion. So what did TREMORS fans eventually get? A far less interesting and entertaining story than the original, but a significantly better sequel than Every Single Diminishing Returns Tremors sequel that came after. That's what Universal corporate board smushed in the faces of the audience: the ones who bought their Lambos and swimming pools. They called it TREMORS 2: AFTERSHOCKS. And - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Writer/ Director Fred Dekker (GODZILLA 1985, HOUSE, NIGHT OF THE CREEPS, HOUSE II, THE MONSTER SQUAD, TALES FROM THE CRYPT [TV], ROBOCOP 3, THE PREDATOR) is 66.
THE FORBIN PROJECT Turns 56
Yes, in 2025 we've finally entered the long predicted age of Artificial Intelligence (AI). What's more, the people who are inventing / creating the AI age are the same ones warning us that AI will destroy humanity. The ones who are seemingly the most eager to invent AI, and are most likely to put humanity beneath "digital life", possibly like Larry Page or Sam Altman, are the actual problem. The problem isn't that AI will rise up and destroy us, but that the people who fund and own it are the ones creating AI to rise up and destroy us. Presumably with the intent that they will be saved, through safeguards they've put into place. However, the best laid safeguards don't go quite as planned in the 1970 movie, COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT. And - David Cronenberg's RABID Turns 49
Before Producer Ivan Reitman made GHOSTBUSTERS, he was often the guiding light of Writer and Director, David Cronenberg. And before he did that, Ivan made pornography - but not using his real name. By 1971 he released his first straight picture, a sexy comedy starring Andrea Martin (CANNIBAL GIRLS, BLACK CHRISTMAS, EARTHWORM JIM [TV]), Eugene Levy (CANNIBAL GIRLS, HEAVY METAL), and Art Hindle (BLACK CHRISTMAS, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, THE BROOD, THE VOID). And because of this, Ivan had among his group of friends folks involved with Porn, Comedy, and Horror. Now connected to Chicago's Second City Comedy, Toronto, Canada's Second Comedy Troupe, and Second City TV series (SCTV), Ivan was well positioned for access to Lorne Michaels' Saturday Night Live (SNL), as Michaels hired many comics who began in Chicago and, later, Toronto. But in the new creeping garden of 1970s Canadian Horror, David Cronenberg was stirring. And boy, could Ivan bring a heady mix of actors to a project! So he got A-List porn actor, Marilyn Chambers, to be the lead in David Cronenberg's RABID. But that's not all... Plus - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Actor / Stuntman Kane Hodder (HOUSE, HOUSE II, FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII, FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VIII, DEEPSTAR SIX, ALLIGATOR II, JASON GOES TO HELL, PUMPKINHEAD II, PROJECT: METALBEAST, SCANNERCOP II, SE7EN, WISHMASTER, CHILDREN OF THE CORN V, WATCHERS REBORN, JASON X, DARKWOLF, THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, 2001 MANIACS, HATCHET [all], BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON, ROOM 6, FALLEN ANGELS, BORN, ED GEIN: THE BUTCHER OF PLAINFIELD, HACK!, DEAD NOON, B.T.K., MONSTERPIECE THEATER VOL. 1, OLD HABITS DIE HARD, FROZEN, AFFLICTED, MONSTERPIECE THEATER, CUT, EXIT 33, CHILLERAMA, ROBIN HOOD: GHOSTS OF SHERWOOD 3D, AMONG FRIENDS, EXIT TO HELL, LOVE IN THE TIME OF MONSTERS, SMOTHERED, ALICE D, FIELDS OF THE UNDEAD, MUCK, FURY: THE TALES OF RONAN PIERCE, OLD 37, CHARLIE'S FARM, CANNIBALS, SHED OF THE DEAD, KNIFECORP, ROOM 9, SEVERED ROAD, and way more) is 76.
KING KONG is 92
And still an active franchise! In fact, KING KONG is the world's oldest active film franchise to date! In addition to its tons of sequels, tons of spin-offs, many with their own sequels, KING KONG has been remade three freaking times! KING KONG (1976), KING KONG (2005), and KONG: SKULL ISLAND, were all remade from the original movie as source material: not an adaptation of a novel in the bunch! Holy Mackerel! How on earth can such a movie franchise endure? To know that, let's deep dive into what KING KONG started. Plus - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO - Actor Kyle Labine (DARKSTALKERS [TV], MR. RICE'S SECRET, SPOOKY HOUSE, HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION, I WAS A TEENAGE FAUST, FREDDY VS. JASON, OGRE, 388 ARLETTA AVENUE, SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK) is 43.
YOU DUG IT
2. PROJECT HAIL MARY stepped down from its 2nd week at first place, to its 3rd weekend with a 41% loss in ticket sales against no change in its 3,907 screen count. 7. THEY WILL KILL YOU went into freefall in its first week, dropping from last weekend's #3 with a huge 60% loss in ticket sales against a 500 screen cut. Despite a relatively small Production budget of $20 million, this movie has yet to break even at the world box office after two weekends. 8. READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME drops from last weekend's #6 with a 55% loss in box office against a 940 screen cut. 10. SCREAM 7 drops from last weekend's #7 with a major 64% loss in ticket sales against a 1,215 screen cut. According to The Numbers. 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 - Christian Nyby's THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD is 75
It was 1951. The Giant Monkey Movie studio, RKO Pictures, was nearly broke. Which gave Director Howard W. Hawks room to negotiate with them when he wanted to launch his own production company, Winchester (The "W" in Hawk's name), something the major studios didn't want to negotiate. Howard's budget was so low, only $40,000, that even today this movie would be considered low-budget at an inflation adjusted $462,000. So Howard went super cheap on everything and, probably because he was raised in the era of U.S. public schools teaching children to talk with the artificial "Trans-Atlantic" accent, he had the actors use that linguistic argot for his movie (unfortunately for the government, it didn't stick. Damn smart-ass teenage kids going off and making up their own slang and argot!). It wasn't just a gimmick for Howard, as it worked well for low sound quality audio, which Howard also likely had. And if you don't believe me, why, then you're stuffed full of wild blueberry muffins! Yet despite all of these roadblocks, Producer Hawks and Director Christian Nyby's movie outperformed the Big studio budget SciFi movies of that year, WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE and THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. Both this movie and John Carpenter's THE THING share the same Top 100 American Movies list, and this is how THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD got there. Plus - GRINDHOUSE: PLANET TERROR and DEATH PROOF are 18
By 2007, good friends Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino made enough box office winners that they wanted to make a double feature. A Retro-Throwback to the cheap and sleazy cinemas of their youth: the ones that inspired them to be filmmakers. Robert would make one (that starred QT) and Quentin would make the other, and both would be shown together and include lots of short films by their friends, presented as trailers. Nobody in Hollywood wanted to say no, but no one wanted to be the first to say yes. This was an over three hour movie they were talking about. In addition to the high budget, such a flick would also have fewer shows per day to make that return. Nobody could talk them out of it. QT and RR had their budget and would shoot the whole movie under their production companies. Finally a distribution deal was made with Dimension Films (subset of the long dead Miramax), and the rest his history: 17 years of history with GRINDHOUSE. Finale - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Actor Candace Cameron Bure (I SAW WHAT YOU DID, MONSTER MASH: THE MOVIE, SHARON'S SECRET, VISITORS OF THE NIGHT, NO ONE WOULD TELL, NIGHT SCREAM, AURORA TEAGARDEN MYSTERIES [all]) is 48. SUNDAY -
Producer Larry J. Franco (ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, THE THING [1982], CHRISTINE, STARMAN, BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, PRINCE OF DARKNESS, THEY LIVE, THE ROCKETEER, BATMAN RETURNS, MARS ATTACKS!, SLEEPY HOLLOW, JURASSIC PARK III, HULK, BATMAN BEGINS, DISCARNATE) is 77. EVIL DEAD is 13
Have you seen Sam Raimi's original THE EVIL DEAD? Have you seen Diablo Cody's version of Sam Raimi's THE EVIL DEAD? Did you like it? Well, I reviewed it! Yes, I reviewed EVIL DEAD! SATURDAY -
Actor A. Michael Baldwin (PHANTASM [all], VIRTUAL GIRL 2, BRUTAL, THE PICK-AXE MURDERS PART III, FLAY) is 62. PHONE BOOTH Turns 23
Writer, Producer, and Director Joel Schumaker was a mixed bag. He could crash and burn, boy could he ever: big time make no mistake. But he approached movie making as an artist and when the studios trusted their instincts for hiring him in the first place, and kept their meddling to a minimum, Joel at his best created classics like THE LOST BOYS, FALLING DOWN, THE CLIENT, A TIME TO KILL, 8MM, and this one, PHONE BOOTH. Also - John Everson's VIGILANTES OF LOVE is 22
Read why our reviewer, Jimmy Z, gave Everson's collection of VooDoo and Sex Magic all 5 Bookwyrms when he reviewed, VIGILANTES OF LOVE.
Imagine this Twofer your Grandparents had back on this date in 1968! Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY Turns 58
What happens when you choose to make a hardcore futuristic Science Fiction movie, as accurate as possible on the science? You get a movie that not only outlasts the built-in obsolescence of its title, but remains futuristic and relevant decades after its forecasted due date. What's more, as Stanley admitted in several promotional interviews at the time, he not only wanted this to be as true as possible to the science in the fiction, but terrifying as well. In many ways, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY is Kubrick's first Horror movie. AsWell - PLANET OF THE APES Turns 58
It's the world's longest running SciFi motion picture franchise from the studio that brought you the 2nd (Star Wars) and 3rd (ALIEN) longest running SciFi motion picture franchises. The movie bore little if any resemblance to the Pierre Boulett novel of the same name (which happens A. Lot. in Hollywood), but under the guidance of WWII hero, Rod Serling, it was suffused with modern day (late 20th Century) analogies and parables, among them being the threat of nuclear annihilation and racism. And that's when an odd thing happened on the set. Dressed in various ape costumes, the actors - themselves of different ethnicities - would eat their lunch with other actors who wore the same ape costumes as them. Actors dressed as Gorillas, Orangutans, and Chimpanzees quietly self-segregated to eat their meals with each other, regardless of the race or nationality of the person inside. This was only one of the odd things that happened in PLANET OF THE APES. And - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
Actor Sofia Boutella (MONSTERS: DARK CONTINENT, KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE, STAR TREK BEYOND, ATOMIC BLONDE, THE MUMMY [2017], FARENHEIT 451 [2018], CLIMAX, HOTEL ARTEMIS, SETTLERS, PRISONERS OF GHOSTLAND, SETTLERS [TV], ARGYLE, DREAMQUIL) is 44.
Mario Bava's LISA AND THE DEVIL Turns 54
This is a Horror movie by Mario Bava. But behind the camera, it is a sad tale of a friendship destroyed by a director who made a vanity project and his good friend who funded it, because he was convinced that he could sell any movie with his friend, Bava's name on it. Reality, as reality does, smashed their faith in each other and in so doing, the friendship based upon it. Once 1972's LISA AND THE DEVIL was partially re-shot and fully re-edited to become 1975's THE HOUSE OF EXORCISM, the once wonderful friendship was damaged beyond repair. This is a review of the movie and its real world outcome, LISA AND THE DEVIL. Plus - Dario Argento's INFERNO Turns 46
The Horror Geek himself, Mike Bracken, weighed in on what makes Dario Argento's masterpiece work. Mike's review of INFERNO. Also - Paul Schrader's CAT PEOPLE Turns 44
Was the remake doomed from the start? It had everything going for it. Great cast, great writer, bit of a newbie director, but Paul Schrader had his successes before. And even if it was his first Horror movie, so what? Lots of first time Horror movie directors hit a home run with their first Horror movie. But why was a Horror movie remake like this released during 1980s Comedy movie month for Spring Break? And rated R, keeping a sizeable chunk of those public school Spring Breakers out of it? Like the same year's THE THING, CAT PEOPLE crashed and burned in theaters, only to find the untapped audience that was always there, in home video. WassMor - HELLBOY Turns 22
Guillermo del Toro loves to bring the human element to his stories. His Monsters in particular are usually flawed, emotionally damaged, but worthy of grace. Comic book writer and artist, Mike Mignola excels at this throughout his comics, with characters every bit as puzzling and fascinating as anything by Tim Burton. So what happened with the fusion of these two talents that resulted in an Un-Mignola, Un-Del Toro movie HELLBOY? FurthrMor - CLASH OF THE TITANS is 16
It must have taken the greatest of care to create a remake to the 1981 original that was just as flawed in writing, direction, and acting, without being better or worse. Is that what my reviewer, Mark Worthen found with 2010's CLASH OF THE TITANS? Finale - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
Actor Lindy Booth (EERIE INDIANA [TV], TEENAGE SPACE VAMPIRES, THE SKULLS II, AMERICAN PSYCHO 2, ODYSSEY 5, WRONG TURN, DAWN OF THE DEAD [2004], CRY WOLF, DARK HONEYMOON, BEHIND THE WALL, BRAIN TRUST, KICK-ASS 2, THE LIBRARIANS) is 46 today.
A Quarter Of The Year Is Over... SIN CITY is Old Enough to Buy a drink at a strip club
Director Robert Rodriguez put so many roadblocks in front of himself it's amazing this movie got made at all. He cheesed off the Director's Guild by having three different directors all work on the same single movie story (anthology movies are different). True, Rodriguez didn't belong to the guild, but neither did the movie's original creator Frank Miller, who was also brought onboard as a director, and Robert's good friend, Quentin Tarantino. For the Directors Guild, that combination was a "And that's another thing!" Yet despite everything that could have gone wrong, this is how everything goes right with SIN CITY. And - DEAD MOON RISING is Old Enough to Vote!
At some point it seems that Writer, Producer, Cinematographer, Editor, Digital Compositor, and Director Mark E. Poole, living in the middle of nowhere Louisville, Kentucky (a town so awkward its native citizenry still furiously argue over how to pronounce Louisville!), decided he wanted to make a movie! - and not just any movie! Mark E. Poole: "Hey everybody! Let's put on a Zombie movie!" Proto-Extra: "Hey, can I be a zombie?" Mark E. Poole: "Why sure as shit you can!" Proto-SFX MUA: "Can I do the Special Effects?" Mark E. Poole: "Why sure as shit you can!" Proto-Crew: "Gosh! This will be the best zombie holocaust movie ever!" ...is probably how it started. Of course, the most difficult thing about this movie or any movie was, as always, getting paid enough for it to cover the cost of making it and making another movie. Many involved were able to use this movie (to greater and lesser success) as their launch pad to more movie work. Many, that is, except for the guy who put the whole furshlugginer thing together in the first place, Mark E. Poole. As near as I can figure, that pretty much is what launched 2008's DEAD MOON RISING. Plus - HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
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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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