Entries from January 2012 ↓

Jan 30, Horror’s Toughest Chicks – 6 Badass Women in Horror

Insert Alternate Text HereThere’s a bit of irony in the fact that filmmakers push males as the hero so often in horror films, when the heroine represents the ultimate overcoming of obstacles; theoretically, the female has significantly greater odds combating her plight. Fortunately, directors and scribes have learned to appreciate and capitalize on the irony and beauty of a woman emerging as the toughest figure in a chaotic conundrum in which masculinity seems the safest bet.

Jan 30, DVD Release: ‘Episode 50’ Paranormal Experts Find The Dead

Episode 50Episode 50 follows paranormal experts as they try and find ghosts to prove their existence and along the way the find more than they bargained for.  The movie sounds a lot like Grave Encounters and that's not necessarily a bad thing.  It's not a surprise that so many of these types of horror movies are starting to show up.  Have you noticed how many paranormal shows are on TV lately and how popular they are?

Image Entertainment will release Episode 50 on DVD April 17, 2012..

Jan 30, Extra Long Teaser Clip for ABC’s The River

ABC's The RiverThe River will be premiering on ABC Tuesday, February 7, 2012  at 9pm.  The show comes from the imagination of Oren Peli from Paranormal Activity.  The River is directed by  (House of Wax, Orphan).  Today we have a brand new teaser clip for The River the latest horror television series.

“Pronto” Makes a Good Filler for Those Weeks Without “Justified”

I came to the “Justified” party a bit late, but it didn’t take long for me to get caught up in the cult of Raylan Givens. He’s a bad ass cowboy full of swagger, stuck in modern day Kentucky. Kicking ass, taking names and making the U.S. Marshall’s resemble what they used to be back [...]

Jan 30, Cape Fear (1991) Review: Teaching the True Nature of Loss

Cape Fear 1991 movie posterIt’s extremely rare that a cinematic remake surpasses the qualities of its predecessor. However, Martin Scorsese’s brutal retelling of John MacDonald’s grim tale “The Executioners”, named for film as, Cape Fear 1991 manages to intensify the impact of J. Lee Thompson’s initial 1962 approach to the story. On a general level, the film is just far more unforgiving and sadistic; in part due to Scorsese’s intense approach to film, and in part due to the fact that film limitations were significantly more liberal in 1991. Any way you slice it, Scorsese’s take is the edgier of the two, and in some areas that serves as a massive benefit, while in a few others it’s a bit detrimental.

Jan 29, Bubba Ho-Tep Review: Elvis and JFK to the Rescue!

Bubba Ho-Tep movie posterIf viewers were shocked by the incongruity of Coscarelli’s now cult classic franchise, Phantasm, Bubba Ho-Tep should see countless question marks manifest themselves above the heads of perplexed viewers. From the core concept to the quirky execution, this film defies all logic, betrays the senses, and even stirs the pot of inner conspiracy theorist that lives somewhere deep down inside all of us. But, despite the unique sensatory assault launched by this tricky tale, it’s ridiculously difficult to avoid falling in complete love with the film.

Jan 29, Dear Zombie Master: Consumption

Dear Zombie Master, Since zombies are flesh eaters how much can they consume given their organs are nonfunctioning and they cannot defecate? And what

Jan 29, Actress Trappedin Basement With Killer

There's a movie where some chick who is some big star gets kidnapped and trapped in a basement with this guy, but he ends up being the bad guy, planning

Jan 29, More Brains! A Return to the Living Dead Review

More Brains! A Return to the Living Dead movie posterOutside of George Romero’s classic Dead series, few zombie movies have been as influential as Dan O’Bannon’s horror-comedy The Return of the Living Dead from 1985. The film was a box-office success upon release thanks to successfully combining legitimate humor with scares, memorable characters, and unique zombies. As for its place in horror history, though, the movie would become invaluable in creating some of the most enduring modern zombie characteristics. Besides being the first movie to feature “fast” zombies, the movie also set the precedent for a key component of zombie mythos: it was the first movie where zombies craved brains. Not only that, it let zombies talk. It gave them a reason to want brains and taught them how to strategize and think of ways to better attack and get more victims. Now, over 25 years later, Thommy Hutson and Bill Philputt have gathered much of the surviving cast and crew to look back on this milestone movie.

Jan 29, Swamp Possesses Old Man and Son

What's the '60s or '70s film where a swamp possesses the old man who lives there? He doesn't answer his phone one day so his son and daughter in law go

Jan 29, Woman’s Head in Aquarium in ’70s Film with Christopher Plummer

I once saw a '70s film co-starring Christopher Plummer in which a woman is decapitated by having her throat slit on the broken glass of a home aquarium.

2012 Nicholl Fellowships Competition


Well, it's that time again. The Nicholl folks are now accepting entries. It feels like my 2011 elimination e-mail was just yesterday. Come on, Scream. Positive thoughts... My werewolf spec had a good run in other screenwriting contests but never cracked the Nicholl Quarterfinals. After three attempts, I won't be submitting it this year.

I've fallen a little behind schedule with my intended submission,  a monster-free supernatural thriller. I'm currently somewhere in the middle of the second draft. No major plotting issues, just trying to smooth out the execution. I'd like to have the heavy lifting completed before the early deadline, then a month of tweaking before actually submitting in sometime in April. Speaking of deadlines, a couple changes from previous years:

Early deadline is now March 15th, regular is May 1st.
Entry fees have gone up: $35 (early), $52 (regular)

The payout has gone up from $30k to $35k

Also, first round scripts will be now be read by two different readers. I like this change. You're not longer at the mercy of a sole reader who just doesn't get your obvious brilliance — I mean, Grandma LOVED it!

Good luck!

2012 Nicholl Fellowships Competition


Well, it's that time again. The Nicholl folks are now accepting entries. It feels like my 2011 elimination e-mail was just yesterday. Come on, Scream. Positive thoughts... My werewolf spec had a good run in other screenwriting contests but never cracked the Nicholl Quarterfinals. After three attempts, I won't be submitting it this year.

I've fallen a little behind schedule with my intended submission,  a monster-free supernatural thriller. I'm currently somewhere in the middle of the second draft. No major plotting issues, just trying to smooth out the execution. I'd like to have the heavy lifting completed before the early deadline, then a month of tweaking before actually submitting in sometime in April. Speaking of deadlines, a couple changes from previous years:

Early deadline is now March 15th, regular is May 1st.
Entry fees have gone up: $35 (early), $52 (regular)

The payout has gone up from $30k to $35k

Also, first round scripts will be now be read by two different readers. I like this change. You're not longer at the mercy of a sole reader who just doesn't get your obvious brilliance — I mean, Grandma LOVED it!

Good luck!

2012 Nicholl Fellowships Competition


Well, it's that time again. The Nicholl folks are now accepting entries. It feels like my 2011 elimination e-mail was just yesterday. Come on, Scream. Positive thoughts... My werewolf spec had a good run in other screenwriting contests but never cracked the Nicholl Quarterfinals. After three attempts, I won't be submitting it this year.

I've fallen a little behind schedule with my intended submission,  a monster-free supernatural thriller. I'm currently somewhere in the middle of the second draft. No major plotting issues, just trying to smooth out the execution. I'd like to have the heavy lifting completed before the early deadline, then a month of tweaking before actually submitting in sometime in April. Speaking of deadlines, a couple changes from previous years:

Early deadline is now March 15th, regular is May 1st.
Entry fees have gone up: $35 (early), $52 (regular)

The payout has gone up from $30k to $35k

Also, first round scripts will be now be read by two different readers. I like this change. You're not longer at the mercy of a sole reader who just doesn't get your obvious brilliance — I mean, Grandma LOVED it!

Good luck!

Jan 29, Big Tits Zombie Review: Five Japanese Strippers vs. The Undead

Big Tits Zombie movie posterBased on a popular Japanese manga, Big Tits Zombie (aka The Big Tits Dragon and Kyonyû doragon: Onsen zonbi vs sutorippâ 5) kind of defies description. Takao Nakano seems to be trying to play in the same filmmaking area as Yoshihiro Nishimura’s genre-bending output given Nakano’s introduction claiming it’s a cross between spaghetti-western, horror, historical drama(?), and kung fu. Thus, he creates the sort of film that can never be fully explained in a review; it has to be experienced. This is a movie that somehow manages to match its title in both awesomeness AND stupidity, a feat which, for better or worse, it should be commended. The “awesome” side comes from a few effectively weird and funny moments, as well as a performance that blows the entire rest of the cast away.