As a follow-up to the wonderful über-sequel BRIDE OFFRANKENSTEIN, the third film in Universal's popular horror series, SON OFFRANKENSTEIN, didn't have much of a chance at greatness. James Whale, architect of the first two seminal films, was gone, and Bo...
I'm getting over a virus, but fortunately after a few light weeks we've got a big list this week. Enjoy! In our Prize Closet this week we have a copy of FAST & THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT, courtesy of Universal. To be eligible to win one, send an email to p...
There's a sort of common law among film geeks, sets of rules you're supposed to know - secret knowledge of which film is the best or the worst, which episode of a show we all agree to sneer at, etc. There wouldn't be a point without the sneering. HORROR O...
The idea of a 2-CD set presenting music from some of the best horror film scores over the last century is a great idea, particularly using modern digital recording technology and faithful recreations of music lost to the ages. Unfortunately, what we have...
It’s not necessary that you imagine you’re watching HORROROF DRACULA in 1958 to enjoy it, but it can make you appreciate the movie’s power.For years, Hammer Studios’ horror movies have had a strange relationship with DVD, as second-string titles like the...
Most kids don`t know what they want to be when they grow up: not so Richard Laymon. `While I was still in elementary school, I had dreams of being a writer,` Laymon begins. `My first piece of fiction, I guess, was a report on a non-existent book I wrote f...
It seems that 100 titles is not enough to honor all the great films that have been made in the genres of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. At least, that’s the way some of our contributors felt, when they saw that several of their favorites had failed...
Curse ofFrankenstein comes to us finally on DVD as a companion feature in Warner Video’s recent release of the earliest and most important films to come from Hammer Studios, alongside Hammer’s THE MUMMY and the superb HORROROF DRACULA. CURSE OF FRANKENS...
Horror novelist Dean Koontz, honored filmmaker Martin Scorsese, rising star Marcus Nispel and television producer Tony Krantz are joining forces to create a weekly FRANKENSTEIN TV series. The USA Network has given the go-ahead for a two-hour pilot plus fo...
Universal Studios was the House ofHorror during the 1930s, but they weren�t the only studio to produce tales of terror. Following the success of DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN, MGM tried to get in on the action with a commitment to shock aimed at reprising ...
Anyone who thinks they are sitting on the script for the ultimate horror film spoof needs to watch this film about thirty times, then TEAR THEIR SCRIPT UP! After a bit of a drop-off at the box-office, Abbott & Costello regained their kings-of-comedy crown...
Regarded by many as the greatest horror film ever made, director James Whale’s sequel to FRANKENSTEIN (#16 on our list) was for many years a complete anomaly in the genre: a big-budget film from a major studio, helmed by their top director working at the ...
A full-blooded vampire film (you should pardon the expression), this sophomore capitalized on the success of Hammer’s previous CURSE OFFRANKENSTEIN, taking all the elements that worked there and improving upon them the second time out. Jimmy Sangster’s s...
The cinematic equivalent of a cerebral aneurysm, HORROROF THE BLOOD MONSTERS stands as both one of Al Adamson’s finest collage films and a fumigator for ridding the house of those pesky, quipping, intellectual types who won’t watch a film past the 10 sec...
Only a handful of directors are equally talented as composers, and one of them has turned out a compelling soundtrack for his new film THE OTHERS. We’ll look at that this time out, recap new scoring assignments and forthcoming soundtracks, and take a look...
Lately, I've heard a lot of complaints about the current direction of the horror genre. I never thought I'd see the day when scary movies were thought to be going too far, especially because horrific tales have been with us since the beginning of time. W...
Frankenstein by Jarrod Sarafin, News Editor (Thu 01-03-2008)
Release Date: TBAStudio: Universal PicturesDirector: Guillermo del ToroScreenwriter: Guillermo del ToroCast: TBA
Plot Summary: A remake of the horror classic tale within the visual world of director Guillermo del Toro.
During the busy year of 1972, filmmaker Jesus Franco made two Frankenstein movies, both of which were distributed under a half dozen titles. They are among the most bizarre films in the Franco filmography - and that's saying something! Many of his recent ...
Writing a history of science fiction, horror and fantasy film winners at the Academy Awards is much simpler than it should be. Quite simply, there just aren’t that many winners. Comedic actors like Bob Hope used to complain about being overlooked in favor...
One need only view the trailer to see why LADY FRANKENSTEIN jumps to the top of monster fans' "guilty pleasures" lists. Rarely are so many strange and eccentric elements contained in one picture. For starters, you've got Joseph Cotton who went from starri...
Writing a history of science fiction, horror and fantasy film winners at the Academy Awards is much simpler than it should be. Quite simply, there just aren’t that many winners. Comedic actors like Bob Hope used to complain about being overlooked in favor...
This 2003 CD release is a curious and enjoyable novelty, at least, and a treasure of unique and somewhat rare songs from classic horror films. The songs have been re-recorded by a large assortment of notable Hollywood, Broadway, and cabaret singi...
Sideshow has released images from their coming 12" line of figures based on the classic Universal horror film BRIDE OFFRANKENSTEIN.The figures are of the title character and the monster, as played by Elsa Lanchester and Boris Karloff, respectively. Both ...
Silva Screen Records presents History OfHorror, a newly recorded 2 CD set that features 28 spectacular works for chorus and symphony orchestra. Includes recordings of music from THE OMEN, THE SIXTH SENSE, BRIDE OFFRANKENSTEIN, GODZILLA, PEEPING TOM, YOU...
The book trilogy written by authors Dean Koontz & co-authors Kevin J. Anderson/Ed Gorman is a modern take on the classic horror icon, FRANKENSTEIN. According to Ryan Rotten over at Shock Til You Drop, the trilogy will be getting adapted into...
Something went wrong at the box office this past summer. Something went very, very wrong. The critics are aghast. Mainstream film journalists are in shock. These pundits of the cinema are afraid. As well they should be. For that least respected and most ...
Hammer Studios is notorious for being known as the studio that dripped blood. Their full color Gothic tales and scantily clad women were all the rage after Universal’s movie monsters ran their course. The studios flourished for a long time t...
In 1994 Paula Guran burst on the horror-writing scene with a newsletter for horror professionals called DarkEcho and quickly became one of the most important figures in the horror subculture. How did this midwestern suburban mom become one of the true ins...
The first of reinventions of classic movie monsters by Britain`s Hammer Films, this movie established a whole new style for horror--bold and colorful--that completely broke tradition with the cobwebby classics of Universal. The shock of the technicolor go...
There are many fool’s errands in the world. You know you can never truly succeed, and yet the temptation is too much to resist. For example: picking the Greatest Baseball Player of All Time, or the Most Talented Musician, or the Most Beautiful Woman in th...
Adam Goldberg (A BEAUTIFUL MIND, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN) is the second cast addition to USA Network's FRANKENSTEIN series. Goldberg will play the partner of Parker Posey's Seattle police investigator, with the duo uncovering the secret existance of Dr. Frank...
A labor of love can be a most painful child to deliver, mostly because it can be perceived as unwanted when you’re in the exhaustive process of delivering it alone—particularly when you have to pay for most of it yourself. Such was the case with filmmaker...
Tom Piccirilli is a survivor. An alumnus of the small press, his career has blossomed at a time when some of the genres and forms in which he writes—most notably horror and mystery, short fiction and poetry—are hardly thriving. Yet he has risen above the ...
Few writing teachers tell it like it is. Creative writing instruction is often veiled in thin metaphors designed primarily to discourage the Sunday writer from pursuing authorship seriously. Not so this very practical, very readable, very tell-it-like-it-...
Day three of ManiaFest started early with a Masters ofHorror Panel, featuring emerging talent and established filmmakers. The panel consisted of Wes Craven, Stuart Gordon, Tobe Hooper, Rob Zombie and Eli Roth with the moderator being Cinescape's Editor-i...
SteveVP: Hello. We`re chatting today with author Douglas Clegg. Clegg`s recent horror novel YOU COME WHEN I CALL YOU was reviewed on Fandom, as was his anthology of short horror stories THE NIGHTMARE CHRONICLES. To start the chat, I would like to ask Cleg...
The Prize Closet continues to dominate this territory. Well, dang it, we just love to give away fee DVDs! To win any of these prizes, you just have to send me an email to psycho@psychotronic.info and include a valid mailing address in the body. Once we ha...
An addendum to our list of Greatest Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Films: Among the finalists were several titles that failed to receive high votes across the board despite being highly regarded by almost all the voters. The reason was not any doubt ...
The weird tales of Howard Phillips Lovecraft are among the most potent horror stories of the last century. Told through a careful and precise narrative ambiance, H.P. Lovecraft's tales of the undying manifestations of monstrous, cosmic evil and arcane sor...
THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDATION
Richard’s Band’s 1986 score for Troll remains one of the best and most ambitious of his career. Released only on LP from Restless Records and quickly evaporated into oblivion, the score h...
Let's play a little Password shall we? Clues: Blech. Ugh. Egads. Oh No. Don't do it. The correct answer is: Things you say when watching a horror film. The problem is you often find yourself saying them for all the wrong reasons. Here are some "not so goo...
Released today by Italy’s Digitmovies specialty label are a pair of notable soundtracks from Italian horror films, including the first-ever release on disc of Bruno Nicolai’s 1973 score for Jess Franco’s provocative Una Vergine Tra I ...
Several years ago, cable channel American Movie Classics acquired the broadcast rights to Universal's library of classic monster films for Halloween. While this was a sad day for local TV horror hosts, who then had to rake through the lower dregs for horr...
From the desert communities of California`s heartland to the crumbling infrastructure of New York City, the settings of Douglas Clegg`s horror fiction reflect his own wanderlust. But no matter how far from his origins Clegg travels, he always comes back t...
Canadian horror writer Edo Van Belkom may well be one of the few of his ilk who has won and is currently nominated for a Bram Stoker award. For a writer who only started selling short stories and novels in the early 1990s, it`s a tribute to his talent tha...
Horror films are doing very well at the box office recently, but that's not big news. Horror films have always done well since they're selling a good scare rather than big stars or even special effects, they're relatively cheap to produce, and studios ca...
The appearance of a new professional magazine ofhorror fiction is, for fans, like a cold drink of water on a global-warming day. And if anyone is the person to drag the short horror fiction magazine kicking and screaming into the new millennium, it`s Pau...
Science fiction, fantasy, and horror were once considered cult genres of interest only to a select few, but that changed in 1977 with STAR WARS. The blockbuster mentality engendered by that film continued throughout the ‘80s and reached even larger propor...
We've got a huge list this week so let's get right to the Prize Closet. We have 2 copies of FAILURE TO LAUNCH for you, courtesy of Paramount. To enter, send one email containing your name and mailing address to psycho@psychotronic.info with the word "FAIL...
We found in our mailbox a screener for a new black & white horror feature from William Winckler (DOUBLE-D AVENGER) that is "thisclose" to landing a DVD distributor. FRANKENSTEIN VS. THE CREATURE FROM BLOOD COVE recalls the monster pictures of the 1950...
In Part One of our interview with the illustrious Christopher Lee, the actor shared his opinions about the press (specifically, the British Press), his humble beginnings as an actor, and an influential conversation with Boris Karloff, and discussed what i...
LAST YEAR’S BIG RECOMMENDATIONS
As with previous years, I have separated my assessment of the year’s best soundtrack releases into new scores (soundtrack CDs of scores for films released in 2006) and newly-released archival re...
Creative TalentWriter/Artist:Translated by:Adapted by:What They SayIs Tomie finally gone? Or does her wretched spirit live on in this macabre collection of spine-tingling tales. Enjoy Ito's mix of girls, gore, and social satire.The ReviewFalse advertisi...
It's Halloween. As much as I'd like to avoid the idea of a requisite Michael Myers Halloween piece, I can't shake the urge to write about John Carpenter's Halloween. It started when I looked up Halloween--the tradition, not the film--on Wikipedia ...
We’ve covered great minds in cinema up to this point of time, directors and actors which have played a major effect on the culture of movie conscious minds. Individuals whom have awed audiences everywhere. People whom utilized their imaginations ...
THIS WEEK'S RECOMMENDATION A new soundtrack record label named Nicabella had made its debut with John Frizzell's excellent score for STAY ALIVE, William Brent Ball's eerie thriller about a group of teens who stumble upon a new video game called Sta...
October draws nigh, COMICSCAPE faithful. Sure, it's a few days away. But, like a kid sneaking downstairs on Christmas morning, I celebrate my favorite holiday early. And, if the skeletons and jack-o-lanterns all over Target and Wal-Mart didn't already ...
Japanese anime and manga often bring to mind bouncy catgirls and saucer-eyed heroes on quests to save the world. For some people, it also brings to mind some of the most bone-chilling stories ever penned by human beings. If you're a fan ofhorror but you'...
Horror movies are all about transgression. (Well, maybe not all, but I’m trying to make a point here.) Mysteries and suspense-thrillers can aim for a more sophisticated, upscale tone, but horror has to shock, revolt, even disgust. It’s a reminder of the b...
William Malone has vivid childhood memories of viewing William Castle’s tongue-in-cheek horror opus, THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, so it seems appropriate that he should have been tapped to direct a remake. After all, we’ve entered an era when seemingly ever...
First, a little more COMICSCAPE housecleaning: because of the overwhelming number of e-mails I've been getting that either declare the column "BOR FRICK ING" (in one astute reader's words) or threaten to stop reading altogether, I'm going to try to make t...
Genre:Horror/Sequel.Studio:MGM.Production Company:Platinum Dunes.Project Phase:In Development.Who's In It:Unknown.Who's Making It:Daniel Farrands (Screenwriter).Premise:Twenty years after he and his family fled in terror from a haunted house, George Lutz ...
Despite the fact that Fandom covers science fiction, fantasy, and horror, I resisted the urge to title this article `The Best Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films of 1999.` The reason for the shorter, simpler title is that the films on this list tru...
Critical whipping boy Uwe Boll recently gave us yet another reason to dislike him: He's a bully. He recently made good his offer to let his critics get in the boxing ring with him. Boll selected four young men who have been extremely critical of his work ...
Chicago will play host to the 6th Horror Film Festival put on by Gatlin Pictures at the historic 3 Penny Cinema from October 28th to November 3rd. The Festival will include nearly fifty films that include actors from, "The X-Files", "Hellraiser", "The Peo...
"There are no Indian horror movies." I live in what has been documented as the most diverse neighborhood on the planet, and as I browsed through the many Indian, Pakistani, Russian, African and Filipino video stores lining its main thoroughfare during the...
It can be argued that the decade of the 1980’s was the most important ever for horror films. While the films may not have always been good, and many were downright terrible, the advent of home video soon taught filmmakers that they could turn a...
SPOILER ALERT, DON'T READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE WINNERS
Leaving behind the glitz and glamour of typical tinsel town award ceremonies, it was a screamtastic Saturday night at Spike TV’s third annual Scream Awards. Fans dr...
Currently nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Best Anthology, 999 is the anthology that promises to bring back horror fiction. Buzz began on the book long before its publication, and it reportedly earned a higher advance than just about any horror antho...
As summer winds to a close, the genre video marketplace is gearing up for one its busiest period: Halloween. While the myriad of dark holiday releases are a few weeks away, the final days of August have more than a few titles to drive you crazy. Or at ...
[NOTE: Part One of this column looked at soundtrack albums for films and TV shows from 1999. Part Two looks at compilations, anthologies, promotional recordings, and restorations of classic films scores.]PROMOSWhile primarily intended as promotional recor...
The American Film Institute has announced a concert to take place at the Hollywood Bowl on this September 23rd: The Big Picture: AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores. The AFI has sent a ballot listing 250 film scores to over 500 people in the film community to ...
Wow, this is one of those week’s when the column is just loaded. Onward!
SPOTLIGHT OF THE WEEK
This month is definitely John Wayne month, with several packages being released in honor of the 100th anniversary of his birth over the next few ...
Novelist Yvonne Navarro would look right at home in the cast of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. The slim blonde author practices martial arts and, given the right tools, could probably kick some serious vampire butt. But her main weapon is her computer, with wh...
Based on Actual Television ShowsBooga Booga Cinescapers! Well it looks like the greatest Holiday ever is about to arrive and you know I'm talking about All Saints Day. But until then we've got some serious television programming to watch. Thanks to TCM th...
REMEMBERING GIL MELLEComposer Gil Melle, an innovator in mixing electronic and orchestral music, died last Thursday of a heart attack at his home in Malibu, California. For nearly five decades, Melle had made a mark in the world of jazz as an outstanding ...
A partial list of things that don't scare Brad Anderson: Cute teenagers being chased by masked psychopaths. CGI ghosts. Soundtracks blasting this month's hottest rock band.When the writer-director-editor thinks ofhorror, his mind skips back two or three ...
What do you do? You’ve been handed a videotape by a friend who, for their sake, begs you to watch it. Only thing is, if you do, you will die exactly one week later unless you in turn pass it on for someone else to watch. It is this simple premise of RING,...
One of the big surprises of the growth of the DVD format has been high sales of European genre titles - especially horror. Ma perché? But why? Though a reasonably steady source of income for distributors, "foreign films" have always had a reputation with ...
Unsaid Music by Randall D. Larson (Thu 12-16-2004)
THIS WEEK'S RECOMMENDATIONSPrometheus Records of Belgium has released Don Davis' sublime and poetic score for Tom McLoughlin's psychological thriller, THE UNSAID (PCD 156). Davis, best known these days for his MATRIX scores, provided a warm orchestral sco...
NEW SOUNDTRACK RELEASESThe “official” soundtrack CD from Jan de Bont’s TOMB RAIDER: THE CRADLE OF LIFE is out from Hollywood Records (2061-62417-2) but don’t get too excited. It’s the typical rock song and remix collection, and most of the songs have noth...
VIDEO NEWS· In addition to the upcoming new STAR TREK TV series, Trekkers will soon get another treat with Paramount's release of STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE THE DIRECTOR'S EDITION on Nov. 6th. As the title sug...
Having already evaluated the best fantasy soundtracks of 1999 and assessed the best fantasy scores of the 1990, it’s time to cast an ear back over the last hundred years of fantasy, horror, and science fiction film music. Which scores were the trendsetter...
Apart from new soundtrack releases, archival restorations have played an important part in perpetuating a lot of film music (especially in the fantasy, science fiction, and horror genres) that would otherwise have been lost to the ages. These are my picks...
It’s starting to look as if contemporary Hollywood horror movie remakes owe ever-increasing royalty payments to Roger Corman and Barbara Steele. For some reason, when filmmakers refashion old movies, they borrow less from the official source than from the...
That's right, fans it's October! The season of spooky pranks, ghoulish doings, colorful costumes and tasty treats is upon us. Of course you know what I'm talking about: Canadian Thanksgiving is just around the corner! Everyone who claims to be Canadian c...
Hey, Happy All Saints Day/Day of the Dead! Hope everybody had a fabulous scary (but not TOO scary) Halloween. Speaking of scary stuff, I didn't list them in the column, but last week Triumph Marketing released a series of DVDs that I find truly frightenin...
According to some label reps I've talked to lately, some voice actors on the English dubbing crews for anime titles have their own fan following. This might seem a little odd at first, but in light of the fact that little supplemental material is included...
THIS WEEK'S RECOMMENDATIONS After a pair of thunderously powerful retrospective recordings of classic horror film music released in 1996, and an in-depth collection of jungle horror film music like THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON and THE ALLIGATOR PEOP...
THIS WEEK'S NOTEWORTHY NEW RELEASESTHE ANTICHRIST (a.k.a. THE TEMPTER) comes [IMG2R]to us from the good old days of rat ridden, derelict dwelling, sticky floored theaters which ran delightfully depraved Italian rip-offs of U.S. made hits in a desperate bi...
VIDEO NEWSEverybody has to start somewhere and Steven Spielberg first grabbed the attention of critics and audiences with the 1971 TV movie DUEL. On May 21st, Universal will bring the film to DVD in a special edition package featuring a Spielberg intervie...
When Clive Barker's SAINT SINNER debuted on the Sci-Fi Channel, it was accompanied by one of the most remarkable film scores to grace cable television in years. 30-year old composer Christopher Lennertz, recent veteran of 17 feature films - from the subli...
`What if...?` A ton of good horror stories boil down to this question. `What if...a vintage car were possessed?` asked Stephen King`s CHRISTINE. `What if...a man of science created a living creature?` asked Mary Shelly`s FRANKENSTEIN. `What if...that nice...
THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDATIONS
James Horner’s music for the new Mel Gibson film, Apocalypto, an adventure drama about the decline of the Mayan Empire, is compellingly environmental and atmospheric, avoiding the kind of large, bombastic...
The first time I noticed Jeff Pittarelli`s work was on a cover of the magazine IMAGI-MOVIES. Then, he started doing covers for CHILLER THEATRE, including a gorgeous ALIEN: RESURRECTION painting of Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and Call (Winona Ryder) against ...
For many a horror fan, Halloween is amateur night, when the whole world wants to party in the graveyard we live in. But the holiday has its distinct advantages, and pretty high on the list is the accessibility ofhorror movies on TV. In between parties an...
Universal pictures recently announced three upcoming titles that will soon be appearing on DVD with loads of extras, while looming on the horizon is a special edition release of one of the most important anime features ever made.THE MUMMY RETURNS release ...
Perhaps one of the most engaging actors in the history of film is the resplendent Christopher Lee. He has that uncanny ability to hold your attention with a mere glare of his eye, a guttural growl, of his voice or as we most recently saw in SLEEPY HOLLO...
Universal's Golden Age OfHorror will soon be coming our way when Universal Studios unleashes a host of DVD double-features sure to whet the cinematic appetite of any classic-era horror movie fan. Not wanting to miss out on the interest generated by their...
VIDEO NEWSWhile we're all waiting for Quentin Tarantino to finally start production on his too long awaited new film, KILL BILL, we will at least be able to console ourselves with the re-releases of his ground-breaking, trend setting previous efforts. Up ...
The classic horror films of the 30’s and 40’s have never been as popular as they are today. Baby Boomers who grew up watching the old Shock Theater packages in the 50’s and 60’s hold a tremendous fondness for the films that te...
Here's a great little program to curl up to on Halloween night, whether you're a tried and true fan ofhorror films or the most uniformed of neophytes. Originally produced by American Movie Classics in 1997, MONSTER MANIA is an hour-long crash-course in t...
Who should know horror better than a former literary agent? It`s no wonder that Dallas Mayr chose the name of a legendary Wild West outlaw, `Black Jack` Ketchum, as his pseudonym; he`s something of an outlaw himself in the horror field. Though he’s a darl...
PRIZE CLOSET: We have 5 copies of X-FILES MYTHOLOGY Volume 4: Super Soldiers courtesy of Fox for lucky readers that send an email containing their name and address to psycho@psychotronic.info with "X-FILES SUPER" in the subject line. We also have a couple...
VIDEO NEWS· SHREK has already claimed this year's top box office title. It's November 2nd DVD release may claim other records as well as DreamWorks launches the title, at sell-through prices, with their bigg...
How can I not mention horror movie action figures in my October toy column? I decided to list my Top 10 Horror figures in honor of All Hallow’s Eve. Everyone has their own opinion on what should be on the top 10. The following are my persona...
Fans of the whole Universal Frankenstein series of films will be excited to hear that Sideshow Toys are producing extremely limted edition 12" dolls of the Frankenstein monster as depicted by Lon Chaney, Jr. (GHOST OFFRANKENSTEIN), Bela Lugosi (FRANKENST...
Last night the motto of CINESCAPE magazine as "The crossroads of genre entertainment" and the work we do and celebrate coalesced for a few hours into something every fan of the movies and shows we all love can glory in. With the sponsorship of this magazi...
If it worked for The Sci-Fi Channel, why not for horror? That's what entrepreneurs Nick Psaltos and Kim Bangash are thinking of when they pitch their concept of The Horror Channel, a 24-hour cable specialty network that will broadcast the darker side of e...
In celebration of the release of LAND OF THE DEAD and for ZOMBIE-lovers who can't get enough, MONSTERS HD, a VOOM Channel available on the DISH Network, will unleash the walking dead with WEEKEND OF THE DEAD on Friday, June 24 and Saturday, June 25. The ...
It was a moment that could have come from the deleted scenes of The Exorcist: several priests (and one nun) chanting “Out, demons, out!” as they make the sign of the Crossand sprinkle holy water on a victim they claim is possessed by demons. B...
Members of the 'Incredible Hulk' panel at Comic-Con seemed dedicated to distancing themselves from the disappointing film, 'Hulk'. Louis Leterrier said, "The idea...is to make the 'Hulk' action adventure movie everyone wanted to see."
In addition to be...
In Part One of our interview with the unrivalled horror icon Christopher Lee, the actor recalled his early years in the horror genre and explained his abhorrence for the phrase `horror film.` In Part Two, we learned why he decided to get involved in Tim ...
To the publisher’s credit, Marvel continues to expand its genre repertoire beyond superheroes. Though the company endures a great deal ofoft-deserved criticism, it has understood an essential requirement for attracting new readers. If...
When Hellboy II: The Golden Army marches into theaters on July 11, it will have more in common with fairy tales and bedtime stories than with big, green, angry men or men in iron suits. Hellboy II packs a huge modern summer wallop while keeping a foot fir...
Twenty-seven years after its initial release, with a re-release just around the corner, it is difficult to convey just what a significant milestone THE EXORCIST is in the history ofHorror Cinema. Today, it is commonplace for top directors to work with ge...
With FANTASTIC VOYAGE (1966), Leonard Rosenman provided one of science fiction’s most remarkable scores. Comprised mostly of non-melodic motifs, the score blends various counterpoints of coloristic tones to create a striking sound design for the corporeal...
After the hustle and bustle following the smash debut of Abominable (2006) this past May in theaters and early April on the Sci Fi channel, I got a chance to speak with writer and director Ryan Schifrin from his southern California home.
This u...
This Week’s RecommendationBennett Salvay’s eerie and eclectic little score for JEEPERS CREEPERS, Victor Salva’s affectionately and dynamically delineated monster movie, has come out on new label called Free Inc (3416), available through Percepto Records (...
1998`s RETURN OF THE WOLF MAN (Berkley Boulevard, New York, October 1998, 339 pp., $6.99) by horror movie historian Jeff Rovin (VESPERS) saw the welcome return of the classic horror movie monsters of Universal Studios: the Wolf Man, the Frankenstein Monst...
Sony is attempting to keep the UMD format viable with a new marketing strategy lately. They've been bundling together the UMD and DVD editions of certain films at a special price. It's hard to figure their reasoning here, but I think they're assuming some...
A recent industry study reports that viewers who see a movie in a theater are somewhat likely to buy the same film on DVD when it's released. Well, duh. A lot of the people that go see movies like movies, so it should be no surprise that if they like a mo...
In the 1950s, film music was a far different game than it is now. The studio system was still in effect and film composers were, for the most part, contracted to one studio or another. Universal Studios was one of Hollywood's most productive movie facto...
Those that approach this entertaining little backyard feature would do well to approach from the rear. Those expecting a horror movie or erotic thriller may find themselves disappointed unless they pay more attention to the HOUSE OF IDIOTS part of the tit...
This month you can see the Colin Farrell meets the American aborigines movie THE NEW WORLD on DVD but you won't be able to smell him. Not so in Japan. Last year, showmen in Japan revived Mike Todd Jr.'s old Smell-O-Vision idea in two theaters when they r...
VIDEO NEWSMGM will make the small army of John Carpenter fans happy this summer when they finally bring J.C’s semi-classic ghost tale THE FOG to DVD. Jamie Lee Curtis, Adrienne Barbeau and Tom Atkins will be onboard with Rob Bottin’s waterlogged ghosts. T...
I'm still getting emails on the subject of Mexican movies arriving on US DVD without the benefit of subtitles that I wrote about back in April. US video labels like Ground-Zero and Brentwood have been picking up these Mexican features, often genre favorit...
VIDEO NEWSInstead of my usual rantings about upcoming releases and cheezy filmmakers, I'd like to offer a few pixels in tribute to the recent passing of Pauline Kael, probably the most influential person to ever review a film. In her columns for THE NEW Y...
Speaking of monsters, though Rise Above started an ambitious program of releasing the adventures of creature-battling wrestler/superhero El Santo on a flood of decent US discs last year, lately they’ve cut back to a trickle. Meanwhile, release of the US d...
Extraordinary character actor Carradine`s 200-plus films are definitively catalogued for the first time in Weaver`s exhaustively researched tome. It leads off with an introduction by director Jo Dante, recalling his experiences working with Carradine on T...
VIDEO NEWSProof, as if any was needed, that direct-to-video horror producers have no shame is the recent report (from CREATURE CORNER) of a sequel to the dreadful BLOODY MURDER. That film was an unexpected video hit, probably due to its cover art of a cha...
Not very long ago, 2000 AD represented all that was futuristic and fantastic within our common view of life. That far-off era was held for fantasies of high technology or tales of The End of All That We Know or, at the very least, showing humanity in its ...
Get this straight right away Marvel Comics' new series, NIGHTSIDE, is not a horror book. At least, that's what creator Robert Weinberg of CABLE fame says, and he should know. His definition of true horror should also strike a chord in these troubled time...
THIS WEEK'S RECOMMENDATIONS Kirk Jones' NANNY McPHEE is the latest enchanting children's-oriented fantasy, following in the tradition of such young-kids-left-with-foreboding-relatives storylines as MATHILDA, LEMONY SNICKETT'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENT...
This week brings an assortment of intriguing scores just released or near due – and the death of a horror film music icon. On the soundtrack front, from sci-fi comedies like EVOLUTION to England’s female version of Austin Powers, MODESTY BLAISE – and a sp...
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Blade 2
director Guillermo del Toro isn't your typical Hollywood director. Although the
vampire action sequel is his second American-made film, the di...
Masters ofHorror Season 2 is an incredible collection of some of the genre’s best directors, writers and actors. Anchor Bay has released this complete collection in a box fitting of the twisted minds inside. The thirteen episodes range from slapsti...
It seems that FEARnet, Columbia Pictures & Graphic Novelist Steve Niles are joining forces to bring all you horror fans something in connection with their upcoming release, 30 DAYS OF NIGHT. The vampire tale is based off of Niles creation and centers ...
This week I found in my mailbox a new issue of Alternative Cinema, the house organ of the EI Cinema label that covers independent low-budget filmmaking (highlighted by articles on their own releases). The issue reminds me that EI has been around for ten y...
There is something inherently endearing about stop-motion animation. Maybe it's because it makes characters move in ever-so-slightly humorous ways; maybe it's because most of us relate it to our early movie loves (O'Brien, Harryhausen, et al). There's som...
Halloween is fast approaching and this is the time of the year for all of us horror fans to watch the various marathons of decent horror classics that we know and love. Same goes for breaking out those horror DVDs that we have been saving all year long fo...
It’s not often that someone of the past will get to choose the director whom will remake one of his films. Yet, that’s exactly what happened this week. Famed horror director Wes Craven has the choice of whomever in terms of directing remakes o...
VARIETY announced today that fast-food giant Burger King has reached an agreement with Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising for an impressive promotional campaign built around the SIMPSONS. The campaign will begin with a Halloween-themed promot...
The next movie to be made under the PROJECT GREENLIGHT banner will truly be a terrifying project -- more specifically, it's a monster movie titled FEAST.Last evening the winners of the PROJECT GREENLIGHT 3 were announced, and for the first time in the com...
EA has announced a new sci-fi/horror game called DEAD SPACE, a new original intellectual property by their Redwood Shores Studio. The game will be a third person horror survival game set for the PS3 and Xbox360 in 2008.
Set in the cold blackness of...
NBC seems to be loving giving us genre fans a place to call home lately on television. After stacking 3 genre shows (Chuck, Heroes & Journeyman) on their new Monday lineup and greenlighting Bionic Woman for their Wednesday night viewers, they've now m...
Midwestern born actor/filmmaker Del Tenney was raised and educated in Los Angeles, so it's no surprise that he should someday make a teenage beach party movie. But in Connecticut? Yep, after completing college, Tenney moved to New York City and became a s...
In this sixth issue of the almost-yearly Doc Frankenstein, we learn the origin of God himself. After suffering capture and attempted exorcism by the very evil Catholic Church of the future – along with near-mutilation by angry werewolves &ndash...
Milla Jovovich seems to like Capcom's horror video games. First, the actress leads Sony Screen Gems' adaptation of Capcom's Resident Evil franchise. A year after the third film strikes theaters, she's now hopping aboard another of the developer's horror f...
Going in for the Kill This Halloween, TOKYOPOP Acquires Book Publishing Rights to...
GOTH: A Novel ofHorror
Novel And Manga To Be Unleashed Unto The World This Fall
Feature Film In Development At Fox Atomic
Book Expo America - Los Angeles, CA (May 2...
Based on Actual Television ShowsGreetings Cinescapers! It's been a long, lonely week without you. Hope you've been keeping busy. Bet you did lots of fun things. I didn't. That's right, not one interesting thing happened to me last week, unless breathing i...
This Week’s RecommendationSMarco Beltrami’s latest soundtrack, THE DANGEROUS LIVES OF ALTAR BOYS (Milan 731383599422), is a totally strange change of pace for a composer seemingly specializing in modern horror scores (the SCREAM films, MIMIC, THE FACULTY,...
Author Christopher Schildt's FRANKENSTEIN, THE LEGACY is a delightful little book that recreates/updates the Frankenstein story in an American context. It might be easy for the serious reader to be a little put off by the idea of a mass market paperback t...
Dark Delicacies and La-La Land Records present "Maestros ofHorror" a horror composers signing event with Christopher Young, John Harrison, Brian Tyler, Tyler Bates, Nathan Barr and Chris Lennertz. Taking place on Saturday, Feb 11th, 2:00pm at Dark Delica...
So what is the fascination with re-makes of the classic horror films...is it the fact that we, the audience, loved to be scared? Is the house in AMITYVILLE really haunted? Since the movie is based on what happened on November 13, 1974 where an entire fam...