Afterlife with Archie #1

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

Spawned from a mock variant cover last year, “Afterlife with Archie” is another of the many unique attempts by Archie Comics to re-claim their relevance. After wisely acknowledging that there are such things as gay people in their universe, Archie is now embracing the horror genre. Thankfully, this crossover isn’t disastrous like their crossover with The Punisher. This is more demented with a hint of genius like “Marvel Zombies.” I don’t know how long this series can go before it gets boring, but so far I’m loving the dark nature of the Archie Universe.

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Phantom of the Megaplex (2000)

Posted on October 12, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

I think one of the reasons why the DCOM “Phantom of the Megaplex” has now gone on to basic obscurity is that it’s one of the weirder movies the Disney Channel ever produced. It’s not just an ode to the love of movies, but it’s a call back to “The Phantom of the Opera.” Not only does the film draw heavily from the original story, sans the violence and murder, but it actually influences its audience to check out the Lon Chaney masterpiece. “Phantom of the Megaplex” is a busy and often messy horror fantasy, but one that works, mainly because the writers of the film clearly love movies as much as we do.

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Deadtime Stories

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

I wish I had a nanny like Jennifer Stone when I was a kid. Not just because she’s hot, but also because she’s prone to delivering some scary stories for her charges before bed time. “Deadtime Stories” is the latest efforts by Nick (formerly Nickelodeon) to offer fans a horror show. While it’s no competitor for “Are you Afraid of the Dark?” the newest anthology does a good job of delivering “Goosebumps” level scares, and interesting stories. Sticking to the small budget, gone are the narrators of the undead or demonic variety and now most of the stories are told by Stone’s character, a devilish and somewhat enigmatic babysitter.

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Carrie (1976)

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

Upon first glance, you’d think Brian DePalma directing a Stephen King Adaptation would be something disastrous. DePalma has spent most of his early career emulating Hitchcock, and delivering cerebral gems like “Sisters.” It’s a treat though that he ends up becoming one of the most crucial elements of “Carrie” and its adaptation. Because what the director can’t convey through special effects, he conveys through some amazing camera work and editing that still wows me to this day. “Carrie” is easily one of the best horror films, and revenge films ever made. It’s a brilliantly cast and deeply tragic story of a girl whose powers became the judgment day for many cruel individuals who preyed on the innocent.

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Carrie (2002)

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

Back in the early aughts, remake fever was hitting pop culture like a mad rush, and even major television networks were getting in on remaking classic horror films. From “Helter Skelter,” to “Salem’s Lot,” no classic horror movie was off limits. 2002’s “Carrie” doesn’t just remake the Briand DePalma movie for a contemporary audience, but attempts to spin the entire story in to a potential television series for NBC. I’m not too sure what direction they would have taken Carrie in her own series. Perhaps she’d be an anti-hero, or someone who helped other troubled supernatural beings while traveling on the road with Sue Snell. Who knows?

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Blade (1998)

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

Though the media often cites Bryan Singer for starting the comic book movie boom of the twenty first century with his adaptation of “X-Men,” most comic book fans argue that “Blade” really started it all. “Blade” was a scaled down production based on a popular comic book character and managed to present an epic story with a minimal budget. It’s ironic that the character that would restart the comic book movie boom was a kitschy seventies horror character known primarily for being one of the few minority superheroes in the Marvel Universe. The adaptation of the Marv Wolfman character manages to get the character just right.

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Interview with the Vampire (1994)

Posted on October 3, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

Author Anne Rice has been accused of feminizing the vampire creature for a very long time. While Bram Stoker was one of the first authors to take a fear creature of its period and turn it in to an individual with feeling and romantic urges, Anne Rice gets the brunt of the blame for taking a horrifying creature and transforming it in to a romance novel element. I can safely say I’ve never read a single Rice novel, but I am always surprised when I find that “Interview with the Vampire” is an entertaining film. It’s probably the most erotic mainstream film of all time. It’s a glorified Jean Rollin vampire film that places sexual emphasis on blood sucking and vampirism that Jess Franco or Jean Rollin would have offered fans in the early seventies.

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