MONSTER MONTH: Here Wolf, There Wolf, Werewolf
The short but prolific werewolf cycle of the early ’80s gave us classics The Howling and An American Werewolf in London. Coming in under the radar is the underappreciated 1985 gem, SILVER BULLET, a fast-paced and immensely enjoyable monster thriller…
The New Scream Doesn’t Cut Deep
Warning: This post contains spoilers! By Frank Pittarese I went into the new Scream with low expectations, but wanting so badly to love it. It wasn’t the most necessary of sequels, but knowing that the original cast was returning was…
MONSTER MONTH: Canadian Parasites and Virgins for Dracula
You’ll never see a more slender and fragile Dracula than you will in the 1974 cult classic, BLOOD FOR DRACULA. With an absence of the fresh blood of virgins he needs in order to survive, a sickly Count Dracula (a…
MONSTER MONTH: Is Frankenhooker a ’90s Masterpiece?
After getting good notices for directing several Andy Warhol productions, including ’70s underground classic, Heat, filmmaker Paul Morrissey transitioned into horror by taking on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. But 1973’s FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN is not your high school teacher’s idea of…
MONSTER MONTH: Giant Bugs and Horny Beasties
As the cold weather begins to dissipate and the flowers start to bloom, I’m digging up monster movies for the month of April. What I love about monster flicks is there’s a lot of them and with a wide variety…
REVIEWS: All-American Murder and The American Scream
ALL-AMERICAN MURDER (1991) d: Anson Williams. c: Christopher Walken, Charlie Schlatter, Joanna Cassidy, Josie Bissett, Richard Kind, Mitchell Anderson. The shocking, fiery murder of popular good girl, Tally (Bissett), ignites controversy in a small college town where all fingers point…
Why April Fool’s Day is a Cut Above the Rest
Warning: This post contains spoilers! By the mid-1980s, the so-called “golden age of the slasher” was essentially coming to an end. Jason Voorhees was dead and buried. Michael Myers had been replaced by a mask-making witch. And college dorms had…
Haunted House Month: FOUND FOOTAGE EDITION
One of the better post-Paranormal Activity found footage movies is 2011’s GRAVE ENCOUNTERS, an energetic riff on reality TV ghost-hunting shows that’s both funny and genuinely scary. The small crew of an up-and-coming paranormal investigation series goes to an abandoned…
HAUNTED HOUSE MONTH: Week 4
When it comes to slow burns, filmmaker Ti West knows what he’s doing. Following in the same low-key, suspense-building footsteps as his previous film, The House of the Devil, 2011’s THE INNKEEPERS features a young woman, Claire (Sara Paxton), who,…