Entries from August 2008 ↓

Dark Sky Films has announced an October 28th DVD release date for their Spanish horror film Shiver, which follows Santi, a bullied teen who suffers from a rare and violent allergy to sunlight. When his condition worsens, he and his mother are forced to move to a remote village in the mountains. His arrival marks the beginning of a series of brutal slayings. Something is alive deep in the shadowy forest. Can a frightened outcast find safety in the darkness or does the ultimate terror wait in the most unexpected place of all? Read on for the cover art.

Last week we told you the UK horror comedy Mum & Dad was the talk of the Frightfest UK Film Festival, this weekend it was announced that Revolver Entertainment has acquired U.K., Ireland and U.S. distribution for Steven Sheil's film. This is great news for fans looking to see the film who at least know someone plans on releasing it. You can check out stills, the poster, trailer na d long synopsis for the film by clicking the title above.

When an all-girl motorcycle gang called the Cycle Sluts arrive at the small, desert town of Zariah they are looking for a little R&R and some 'meat' and I don't think that last one has anything to do with a tray of mince and half a pound of sausage. Well. not the mince anyway. Unfortunately for the 'meat' seeking girls what they find instead is a whole load of trouble. A zombie menace is heading for town and things are not looking good in Zariah because the zombies want some meat too... [Excerpt only. Full review available on site]

"Tombkeeper" JL Comeau interviewed me on video at the bleary-eyed end of this year's HorrorFind Convention, and our conversation is now available on the fabulous Count Gore de Vol website. -- Mike Arn...

"Tombkeeper" JL Comeau interviewed me on video at the bleary-eyed end of this year's HorrorFind Convention, and our conversation is now available on the fabulous Count Gore de Vol website. -- Mike Arn...

"Tombkeeper" JL Comeau interviewed me on video at the bleary-eyed end of this year's HorrorFind Convention, and our conversation is now available on the fabulous Count Gore de Vol website. -- Mike Arn...

"Tombkeeper" JL Comeau interviewed me on video at the bleary-eyed end of this year's HorrorFind Convention, and our conversation is now available on the fabulous Count Gore de Vol website. -- Mike Arn...

We're still catching up on the old Horror Junk stuff that has been left out. This time around we go over a bunch of voicemail we've collected, and briefly go over what's been keeping us busy all these months.

If you head on over to BDTV, you can watch an exclusive video interview with Trent Haaga, writer of Deadgirl, which will have its World Premiere this September at the Midnight Madness section of the Toronto International Film Festival. A horror/thriller about two teenagers who make a shocking discovery that not only threatens their friendship but also their lives. In a forgotten room of an abandoned asylum, they find a beautiful woman tied to a bed, and soon come to realize she is anything but dead. Click here for all TIFF news.

One of my favorite actors of the '90s (K-PAX, why?!), Kevin Spacey (pictured inside), has joined the cast of Moon, which will be directed by David Bowie's son Duncan Jones, according to io9. He will be starring alongside Sam Rockwell, Kaya Scodelario, Benedict Wong, Matt Berry, Malcolm Stewart and Dominique McElligott. Astronaut Sam Bell has a quintessentially personal encounter while stranded on the moon for a three-year period. Read on for a longer synopsis.

DEXTER finally returns to Showtime Sunday, September 28th at 9PM et/pt and to promote the show, Showtime has created a series of faux covers for popular magazines (what if Dexter rocked the cover of Rolling Stone). Read on to take a look or check out the trailer by clicking here. In the show Michael C. Hall plays a like-able Miami police forensics expert that moonlights as a serial killer of criminals who he believes have escaped justice.

I don't think I'm supposed to like Humongous quite as much as I do.

The main arguments against this 1982 film, director Paul Lynch's follow-up to Prom Night, are that it's boring, derivative, and devoid of scares. I can see how those would be valid criticisms or how one might end up with that opinion of Humongous, and yet- that's not how I view the film at all. Does that make any sense? It's a bit like seeing Fabio and thinking "Yes, I understand how people might find him attractive, but I myself do not."

In related news, I wonder whether or not anyone's been able to convince Fabio that the delicious, cholesterol-free, buttery spread he so enjoys is not, in fact, butter.

Back on topic! Humongous. It opens in that most predictable way: with a rape. It's Labor Day Weekend in 1946 and a drunken reveler forces himself on a young woman whose family is hosting the party. Her trusty German Shepherds come to her rescue and attack the attacker; she finishes him off with a rock.

I was checking out some reviews of the film earlier, and virtually every one railed against Lynch for shooting the rape scene from the victim's POV. Apparently this technique makes viewers uneasy. Uncomfortable during a rape scene? Good. Why is that a problem?

36 years after that night, a small group of...err, teens, I guess, are leaving a house where I...uh, guess they were staying all summer and they're boating to...uh...well, it's all a little vague. Listen, picky, all you need to know is that this is a horror movie and all the major food groups are represented: the nice guy, the final girl, the slut, the nerd, and the jerk. The nice guy (Eric), the nerd (Carla), and the jerk (Nick) are siblings; the nice guy and the final girl (Sandy) are dating, as are the slut (Donna) and the jerk. Carla, meanwhile, is considerate enough to sport glasses in keeping with the film's title. I do so love a theme!

Whilst slowly navigating through heavy fog at night, our gang comes across Bert, whose motorboat has given up the ghost. They take him on board and when dogs begin to howl in the distance, he tells them the tale of The Weirdo Old Lady of Dog Island. It seems there's a mysterious woman who's secluded herself on an island and lives with a gazillion dogs. The locals don't know much about her- she only heads to the mainland twice a year for supplies, and no one dares set foot on the island for fear of her dogs.

Hmm...I wonder who she could be? Though we, the audience, know that The Weirdo Old Lady of Dog Island is the rape victim from 36 years back, the telling of the tale is spooky. It's creepy. What can I say? I get sucked in easily.

A few plot contrivances later and our gang's boat goes boom- man, the jerk is such a jerk- and everyone swims for...wait for it...the shores of Dog Island! It's all so very unpredictable...and as such, you probably know where all this is headed, right? The rape victim had a baby, the baby grew up to be humongous, Mr Humongous is deformed and hasn't been socialized, Mr Humongous kills teenagers for food- you know the drill.

As I said earlier, I'm not going to argue that Humongous isn't terribly derivative (one crucial scene apes Friday the 13th Part 2 like nobody's business); somehow, though, I find it effectively derivative. Lynch utilizes odd camera angles to disquiet the viewer and- for better or for worse- keeps Mr Humongous almost completely hidden throughout the film. This has the curious effect of making the film one about survival rather than one about killing. The focus is on the teens, who are trying to find a way off the island. While exploring the ol' Humongous Homestead, they come across photo albums, diaries, and dessicated corpses and they get their Scooby Gang on, piecing together the puzzle to figure out what they're up against. They even develop a grudging sympathy for the lurking monster, and so do we. The characters are, unfortunately (yet expectedly) drawn too thin to really care about, but it helps that the performances, while not spectacular, are rather understated for a slasher-style film. They're essentially stereotypes, but they're not broad caricatures.

The biggest shame about Humongous is that it's so damn dark...I mean really, really dark. So much so that you can't figure what's going on for...oh, I'd say at least 1/4 of the movie. It's definitely a problem, and some viewers may not have the patience to endure it. As for me, I plan to buy up all the Our Lady of Guadalupe candles in the Spanish food section at my local Ralph's, light 'em, and create a shrine with the hopes that this will bring about a DVD release of Humongous- a nice, cleaned-up-n-brightened version so I can see what I've been missing.

I like this movie. I honestly enjoy it, and not in an ironic way- although there are plenty of early '80s chunks of cheese (headbands, dancing, cassettes, and...uh, using one's bare boobs to keep someone warm) sprinkled throughout. I like the exploring of the run-down house, I like the stalking sequences, I like the atmosphere...I just like Humongous. Your results, however, may vary, as the 2.3/10 rating on imdb suggests.

Well, as the title says, that's about the crux of it, unfortunately I don't remember too much of the movie being that I was a teenager at the time of

After being removed from the web a few weeks ago, the first official clip from Lionsgate's REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA has returned and can be found inside. Read beyond the break to watch Paris Hilton sing "Mark It Up", one of the various tracks from Darren Lynn Bousman's horror musical. The film hits limited theaters on November 7th and will play the Toronto After Dark Film Festival in October.

Might as well be in a foreign language because the trailer is downright incomprehensible. I have no clue what this film is about -- Well I do, but that was after extensive googling. Was the movie trailer guy with the deep voice unavailable to say, “In a world where...”? Some serious exposition was needed.

Vin Diesel, part robot, has to protect some girl who can stop bullets with her mind, Michelle Yeoh does some kung-fu and Charlotte Rampling says something profound.... right? I can’t even get a handle on the cast. Seems thrown together. And who in their right mind is making “Blade Runner” comparisons?

Not too long ago, the director went public about his nasty squabble with Fox. Looks like a project that everyone just wants to go away. Really getting very little promotion and the late August release date is clearly a dump. A 60 million dollar dump.

I kinda wish it would do well enough to generate interest in another Riddick flick -- yes, deeply flawed, but pretty to watch. What happens to the new ruler of the Necromongers? Guess we’ll never know...