September 2009

  • Drag Me To Hell Review

    By roskopp on 9/30/09 2:44am
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    Drag Me To HellDrag Me To HellWe’ve been waiting a long time for Sam Raimi to return to the horror genre. There was The Gift back in 2000 but we’ll turn a blind eye to that and say he hasn’t done a real horror film since the anarchic horror comedy Army of Darkness, the third part of the Evil Dead series. It was 1981 when The Evil Dead first catapulted Raimi to success and his direction was unique, innovative and memorable. There are echoes of the Evil Dead in Drag Me To Hell and it is easily the best horror film I’ve seen in recent years.


    The action kicks off with a young boy being dragged to hell in front of his sister after stealing a necklace from a gypsy. A shadowy demon tears through their house and attacks the family before knocking the boy over a balcony and dragging him down into a fiery pit which tears open in the floor.

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  • "You Don't Know Me" Finalist in 7th Annual [iP] Short Film Contest

    By loreelouis on 9/28/09 8:43am
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    "YOU DON'T KNOW ME" FINALIST IN 7TH ANNUAL

    INDIEPRODUCER.NET SHORT FILM COMPETION New York, September 28, 2009 – Emerging writer/director Sean Melia's first short film "You Don't Know Me" is one of six finalists in the horror category of the 7th Annual [iP] Short Film Contest.   The winner will meet with Vertigo Entertainment's Sonny Mallhi (producer of The Strangers, The Lake House, The Roommate). 

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  • Kaw

    By akgoemans on 9/25/09 6:27am
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    Kaw posterKaw poster

    I'll pause for a moment as you think about the title. That's right, that is the name of the movie. Yes, Kaw is a horror movie. And no, it's not one of those old school 'it's so bad, it's cool to watch them now' sort of bonanza either. Oh no, this horribly bland movie was cooked up in 2007. And not only was it bland, it was incredibly sad; it was the pathetic sort of sad where you would laugh if not for the fact that everyone in the movie was trying really hard.



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  • Can You Find a Good Horror Film for a Pound?

    By roskopp on 9/24/09 9:07am
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    BerrymanBerrymanIn the run up to Halloween many stores run some kind of horror related special offer. The witches hats, rubber spiders and candy fill the shelves and people stock up on horror movies. On a recent visit to Poundland I was delighted to find a DVD display packed with horror films. Each one was, as the name would suggest, only £1 (which is about $1.60 right now). So is it possible to buy a decent horror film for a pound?

    I went for six movies in the end and to be brutally honest all of them were pretty terrible save one. Here’s what my £6 got me.

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  • I Sell the Dead Review

    By roskopp on 9/18/09 2:11am
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    I Sell the DeadI Sell the DeadThis 2008 release didn’t get much in the way of attention but it is actually a decent comedy horror. I Sell the Dead focuses on the career of a couple of resurrectionists, or bodysnatchers if you prefer. It kicks off with the decapitation of the elder partner and then his junior accomplice reveals what they’ve been up to via a series of flashbacks. It plays out like a series of disconnected scenes but the characterization is good, the cast is great and there are a few chuckles amidst the supernatural horror. The whole package is wrapped up in a cartoon style which gives it a comic book feel.

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  • Dementia 13

    By akgoemans on 9/17/09 9:59am
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    Come back, he does not really want a feather dusterCome back, he does not really want a feather duster

    This week I'm coming back to Roger Corman's contributions to the horror genre. Actually, this is not one of his active efforts; he may have produced it but the brains behind the whole endeavor was none other than Francis Ford Coppola. The movie in question is Dementia 13 and yes, it is the directorial debut of Mr. Coppola. So let's see how this 60s axe murdering bonanza fared.



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  • Addicted to Awful Horror Films

    By roskopp on 9/15/09 9:44am
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    When it comes to horror films I simply can’t say no. I will genuinely watch anything with the horror tag. Since the genre is drowning in low budget awfulness the likes of which you can barely imagine I end up watching some of the worst movies known to man. Sadly the majority of horror releases are bad. Most are generic clichéd efforts, some are just cheap or badly acted, and frighteningly large portions are offensively terrible. To give you an idea of what I’m talking about here’s a few examples of beyond the pale horror efforts I’ve subjected my long suffering wife to over the last couple of weeks.

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  • Surveillance: One Messed Up Movie

    By sarajean on 9/11/09 9:42pm
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    If you’re looking for a movie that will help you look at clean-cut actors in a new satanic light, believe the worst in all the people you meet and basically abandon all hope for humanity, Surveillance might do just the trick.

    When I had heard that the movie was about two FBI agents trying to solve a case involving a serial killer, I was pretty excited—that’s exactly my cup of tea. I’m always on the lookout for something akin to Silence of the Lambs and have yet to find something of just that caliber.

    The reviews for Surveillance dubbed it “disturbing,” “warped,” and a number of other could-be positive descriptions, and the movie took Best Actress and Best Director at the New York City Horror Film Festival; it also won best prize at the Festival de Cine de Sitges. So I thought, this has got to be one fantastic movie!

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  • Who Made the Best Devil on Film?

    By roskopp on 9/11/09 9:39am
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    The Christian religion has caused a lot of heartache over the years. There have been wars, moralising hypocrites and enforced education which was dubious at best. You can check out the Top Ten Reasons That God Doesn’t Exist for more on that topic but there is one thing that the Christian religion has gifted horror fans and that’s a fantastic baddie in the form of Satan.


    Many actors have played the devil over the years and he has crept into several horror films in some form or other. In this article we’ll take a look at the best portrayals of one of the oldest horror characters ever created. There are three Satan related films that we can get out of the way first.

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  • King of Zombies

    By akgoemans on 9/10/09 8:40am
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    They want a fruit salad? What next, vegan Vampires?They want a fruit salad? What next, vegan Vampires?

    I'm taking a short break from old vampire movies and am going to venture into zombie land. I figured it was a while since I've mentioned any flesh-gnawer from the good old days. This is why I found myself checking out the Internet Archive and browsing for zombie flicks. A few searches later, I settled for King of Zombies and started watching it. The result was … interesting.



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  • Fulci's Gore: A Cat in the Brain (Part Two)

    By cobwebsandstrange on 9/9/09 7:01pm
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    Subservient to the problem that the director finds himself enmeshed in, Fulci’s consistent inability within the film to function normally on a daily basis, eventually warrants the retainer of a psychiatrist. Perhaps not the best idea in the end.

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  • Fulci's Gore: A Cat in the Brain (Part One)

    By cobwebsandstrange on 9/9/09 6:56pm
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    Every time that Quentin Tarantino releases a movie, there seems to be an immediate renaissance in trashy film from various bygone eras. And with Inglourious Basterds slated for a late August debut in the States, its arrival seems to have reawakened an interest in genre schlock reaching back a few decades, despite this new film’s World War II focus. With Tarantino’s brief dash into the fray of reconstituted b-movie classics failing by the end of the ‘90s, other boutique distributors have had to take up the call subsequent to the demise of Rolling Thunder Pictures. There’s obviously still a market for it, the nerds just might not have enough money to indulge in pleasures like buy DVDs – or anything for that matter.

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  • Dead Men Walk

    By akgoemans on 9/3/09 10:28am
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    Wakey, wakey, Master!Wakey, wakey, Master!While I was tempted to try another Roger Corman movie, I figured it was time to take a break and check out some of the other public domain horror. And thus, I came across Dead Men Walk, a vampire movie from 1943. The movie was directed by Fred Myton and, as is typical of the good old days, it pits the science-mind hero against supernatural forces. No wait, nothing has changed since then, has it?

    Well, the plot is pretty basic, if you think about it. It follows the 'kill your evil twin and then suffer his undead wrath' pattern. Then again, this simplistic plot is still more in-depth, especially when you compare it to some of the modern remakes that have been haunting people. So, back to the movie. Here you find a good doctor, Lloyd Clayton, striving to live the good life. Except that it's not so easy: he has a evil, conniving twin brother, Elwyn, who dabbles in the dark arts. How bad can it be, you ask? Well, from the sounds of it, he has walked so far down the dusty path of undead loving that he might as well wear that 'I haz Necrophilia' shirt.


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