Upon first glance at the cover, it’s pretty obvious “The Monster Club” didn’t just take a bunch of images and pasted them together (seriously, take a look at the cover! It’s like a poster! The horror gods shine on you Kerry Gammill). And “Festival of Fright” is not just a pastiche of trailers to sell DVDs. “Festival of Fright” is in the tradition of trailer compilations of the VHS era that not only help us relive some of the best and worst horror films ever made, but also show us that film can still be fun because it invokes nostalgia, amusement, and lets us marvel at how film has evolved and devolved over decades.
Tag Archives: Horror
Masters of Horror: Pro-Life
I love Ron Perlman. Whether as the bad ass demon ass kicker “Hellboy,” or in a long-winded turkey like “Desperation,” there are not many instances where he can lose with me. In “Pro-Life” his performance is powerful, and I utterly loved him as the anti-abortion terrorist doing anything to get his daughter back from the clinic. He’s the highlight, here. “Pro-Life” drops down on a reality where abortion clinics have armed guards and fences that keep out protestors. Apparently, this is the near future but nonetheless, the whole concept of Carpenter’s installment is to somewhat paint the pro/anti-abortion issue into a more horrific light.
Halloween Night (2006)
Asylum’s “Halloween Night” is a film cashing in on a popular horror flick in the same vein, and they won’t admit it. Heaven forbid we should notice the similarities. Pumpkin inter-spliced with knife in hand, and the words “Halloween” and “Night” plastered on the cover. As much as I revel in bashing Asylum for their blatant horrible rip-offs, they’ve become just like every other film company. They chose to unofficially remake big budget films and they’re no better in the fact that they basically remake “Halloween” before Rob Zombie, and say, in a press release, that this film is better than both “Halloween” and “Friday the 13th” combined. For shame. Now, let’s get to the meat of the situation, I’m roasting the big pig known as “Halloween Night.”
Dust Devil – The Final Cut (1992) (Limited Collector's Edition DVD)
Richard Stanley’s “Dust Devil” is “The Hitcher” with a supernatural twist. It’s a compelling story about a man who kills random drivers on the road, yet is also a monster impossible to kill. With the special edition of “Dust Devil” from Subversive Cinema, now on DVD, you don’t only get one DVD, you get five. You receive the final cut, the more extended work print, and three other film works from Richard Stanley that are very avant-garde. Like the “Cannibal Holocaust” boxed set, this is well worth the money because it gives film collectors something to really bite on with a wonderfully constructed library of goodies with extras, booklets, production diaries, and even a “Dust Devil” comic book.
Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes (2006)
“Ashes to Ashes” is no better than its predecessors. It’s a sloppy mélange of terrible acting, choppy editing, and a plot that’s better suited for “The Crow” franchise instead of “Pumpkinhead.” Granted, the original “Pumpkinhead” is great, but like “The Howling” the franchise begins and peaks at the first film and then goes downhill in terms of quality and overall engrossing story and lore very quickly. A local doctor who owns the corrupt town of any town, USA, is stealing people and taking parts from them for the black market.
Tales from the Crypt: The Complete Fifth Season (DVD)
Yar, “Tales from the Crypt” season five is now out on DVD, and boy what a set it is. Season Five is considerably hit or miss, as was the entire series, but there are also some genuine twists and turns with some rather fantastic episodes. Season five reaches around the home stretch, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to take from it. The humor is still as demented, and the crypt keeper is still a bastard. Gore flies, and the monsters are still rather horrifying with episodes that feature a possessive hypnotist keeping his assistant under his control, a controlling man trying to ship his wife in pieces in a trunk, a real estate salesman who comes across a family of freaks, and, my personal favorite episode of the season, “House of Horror.”
Masters of Horror: Family
So far, the second season seems to be attempting to make up for the mistakes the first season made, and the two directors with the worst episodes of the first season, end up creating better episodes this time around. Landis whose episode, “Deer Woman” was basically a lightweight horror effort, makes up for it with the excellent installment “Family.” Harold Thompson loves his family. He lives in his large house in the middle of a bright suburb, and he keeps his family closely guarded and drawn away from human eyes, and there’s a good reason for that.