The Body Snatcher

JANUARY 31, 2008GENRE: SERIAL KILLERSOURCE: CABLE (TCM)My Val Lewton marathon (of sorts) continues... I hope anyone else who recorded this marathon literally recorded the entire thing (if they used DVR instead of old school programmed VHS) – the last 5 minutes of The Body Snatcher were cut off from the recording*. Luckily, as I recorded the next film that was on (Isle of the Dead, if memory serves), I only missed a few seconds. But now I’m guessing that Isle will have the same problem, and the end of THAT film will be on the beginning of the next one. The point is, I wish TCM and other cab

Read more »

Serial Killer,

{[['']]}

Freaky Farley

JANUARY 30, 2008GENRE: COMEDIC, HERO KILLER, INDEPENDENTSOURCE: DVD (OWN COLLECTION)Every now and then I watch a movie for Horror Movie A Day that, sadly, sort of defeats the purpose. An independent film with no formal release severely limits the number of readers who may have seen it, and thus have no way of talking about it afterwards. But I like to mix it up as well, hence why I decided to give Freaky Farley a look (one of the filmmakers contacted me directly asking if I’d like to do a review). So it sort of goes without saying that there’s a good chance I will spoil the movie – read at

Read more »

Comedic, Hero Killer, Independent,

{[['']]}

Sasquatch Mountain

JANUARY 29, 2008GENRE: MONSTERSOURCE: DVD (STORE RENTAL)Should I set up a new genre tag for Sci-Fi original movies? I mean, they’re all bad, but you gotta rate them on a totally different level. You can’t expect a movie like Sasquatch Mountain (called Devil on the Mountain on the film itself – whatever) to live up to all the great theatrically released Sasquatch movies, like... uh... you know, um.. the uh... guy there... with the fur and the things...OK, as far back as I can recall (last Thursday), there are no good Sasquatch movies, theatrically released or not, except for Abominable. And

Read more »

Monster,

{[['']]}

The Seventh Victim (1943)

JANUARY 28, 2008GENRE: CULTSOURCE: CABLE (TCM)I really gotta stop reading descriptions about movies before I watch them. Until there’s such a thing as a spoiler warning on a plot synopsis, I always run the risk of knowing more than I’d like about a film, due to differing opinions on the difference between “plot” and “revelation”. Such is the case with The Seventh Victim, which, as far as I am concerned, is about a girl looking for her missing sister. That’s it. But Time Warner or whoever wrote the damn synopsis felt compelled to reveal exactly who/what took her sister, something that isn’

Read more »

Cult,

{[['']]}

Rhonda Pollero's "Knock 'em Dead"

Rhonda Pollero is the author of more than thirty novels, including two humorous mysteries featuring Finley Anderson Tanner, Knock Off and (coming in February 2008) Knock 'em Dead.Here's how she would cast film adaptations of Knock Off and Knock 'em Dead:Okay, I’ll admit it, I ALWAYS have an actor in mind when I craft a character. Not because I’m thinking any of my books will make it to film or television, but because I’m a visual learner and use photographs of celebrities – and non-celebs – when I’m creating my character binder. FYI – soap opera sites are great for this because they have ph

Read more »

{[['']]}

Troll

JANUARY 27, 2008GENRE: MONSTER, WEIRDSOURCE: CABLE (FLIX)I would have loved to have seen the reaction of the person who had to read the script for Troll and then decide he/she would put his/her money into actually making the goddamn thing. How would a non-little kid or severely brain damaged adult react to reading “The little girl runs around the house yelling "Ratburgers!" and other nonsense, as the ex-mayor of Palm Springs explains that the kid’s noisemaking could impact his swinging lifestyle” (not a direct script quote)?I’ll tell you how I reacted. I muttered “maybe I should watch somet

Read more »

Monster, Weird,

{[['']]}

Shutter (2004)

JANUARY 26, 2008GENRE: ASIAN, GHOSTSOURCE: DVD (ONLINE RENTAL)Does the Asian world make any horror movies about vampires, werewolves, devil worshipping cults, killer dolls, etc? Other than Bloody Reunion and the occasional monster movie (The Host!), it seems every one of the Asian horror films I see -all of which are recommendations, including this one (by HMAD reader Secret Raconteur), and NOT based primarily on the fact that they seemingly all have American remakes - are about vengeful ghosts using some sort of ordinary device to haunt their victims. Shutter of course fits right in, what

Read more »

Asian, Ghost,

{[['']]}

Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde (1920)

JANUARY 25, 2008GENRE: CLASSIC, MONSTERSOURCE: DVD (BUDGET PACK 2!!!)I do believe that Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde is the first silent film for Horror Movie A Day. Hurrah! It’s a good thing I like endless, inappropriate orchestral music! What’s that? I don’t? Oh. Well it’s a good movie anyway.Once I got over the depressing realization that everyone in the film is dead, this one was pretty enjoyable. I have never read the book or seen any of the other 478459 versions of this particular film, so I didn’t really know what it was about other than a guy turning into a monster and back at will.

Read more »

Based On Novel, Classic, Horror Classics, Monster,

{[['']]}

Feed

JANUARY 24, 2008GENRE: SERIAL KILLER, WEIRDSOURCE: DVD (ONLINE RENTAL)For over a year now, my buddy Ryan (from Shocktillyoudrop.com) has been telling me to watch Feed, the long-awaited (by someone, I assume) return to filmmaking by Brett Leonard, who made a decent-sized name for himself in the 90s with The Lawnmower Man and Virtuosity, the film that is better than American Gangster in only one respect: having several scenes with both Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe instead of only one.I think. I dunno; I forget most of that movie. The point is: I wish they had more scenes together in Am

Read more »

Serial Killer, Weird,

{[['']]}

Attack Of The Giant Leeches

JANUARY 23, 2008GENRE: MONSTERSOURCE: DVD (BUDGET PACK 2!!!)Hot on the heels of The Giant Gila Monster comes Attack Of The Giant Leeches, another alleged monster movie which features a ratio of about 1 monster scene for every dozen or so involving middle aged guys standing around arguing with one another. This one even goes a step further, pluralizing leech when there’s only one in the film, so far as I can tell anyway. Oh, and Corman produced it.At 62 minutes you can’t say that the movie is too long (well, you can I guess, if you're a jerk), but the fact that it’s 62 minutes and almost 60 of

Read more »

Horror Classics, Monster,

{[['']]}

The Wizard Of Gore (1970)

JANUARY 22, 2008GENRE: EXPLOITATION, MAGICIANSOURCE: THEATRICAL (REVIVAL SCREENING)Last summer I went to see the remake of The Wizard Of Gore, and wasn’t exactly thrilled by it. I hated the main character, the sound design made me want to punch someone in the face, and it was just plain boring for the most part. I was assured the original was better in all respects, but I didn’t go out of my way to see it until tonight, when it played at my beloved New Beverly Cinema as part of their monthly “Grindhouse” festival. I should also note that for the first time ever, I won one of the raffle pri

Read more »

Exploitation, Magician,

{[['']]}

Chris Mooney's "The Secret Friend"

Chris Mooney is the critically acclaimed author of Deviant Ways, World Without End, and Remembering Sarah, which was nominated for the Barry Award and the Edgar Award for Best Novel. Last year he applied the Page 69 Test to his latest novel, The Missing.Here he suggests actors who might play the main characters in a film adaptation of The Secret Friend, the second novel in his Darby McCormick series:This is a tough one - and a subject that's under fierce debate in the Mooney household. For The Secret Friend, the next Darby book, there are two major characters - Darby McCormick and Malcolm Fl

Read more »

{[['']]}

Dark Water (2005)

JANUARY 21, 2008GENRE: GHOST, REMAKESOURCE: BLU-RAY (STORE RENTAL)Yes, careful readers of the “Source” listing will notice that I can now add Blu-Ray to my ever expanding (and expensive) home theater options, via the PS3 (which I’ve owned for four days now and have yet to play a game). I have had HD DVD for a year or so, but the increasing lack of studio support isn’t exactly promising, so now I have both just in case. And my inaugural Blu Ray viewing? No, not fucking Dark Water, Christ. Before I even actually bought the player I stopped by a used DVD store and picked up, naturally, the B

Read more »

Ghost, Remake,

{[['']]}

Hellraiser (1987)

JANUARY 20, 2008GENRE: SUPERNATURALSOURCE: DVD (OWN COLLECTION)Here we have another of those (thankfully) increasingly rare films that I HAVE actually seen before, but so long ago (and only once) that I couldn’t remember a damn thing about it. What’s funny is that both times I have seen Hellraiser it has been more out of an odd obligation than actual interest. The first time (I was like 13) I watched it only because I hadn’t seen it and Fangoria kept talking them up, and now I’m watching it because I have put it upon myself to watch a horror movie every single day of my life. And write abo

Read more »

Based On Novel, Hellraiser, Supernatural,

{[['']]}

The Killing Floor

JANUARY 19, 2008GENRE: REVENGE, SERIAL KILLERSOURCE: DVD (STORE RENTAL)I'm not sure what the point is of hiring a fairly well-known actor or actress and giving them nothing to do for the majority of a film, but it makes even LESS sense when you are trying to give your film a twist ending. Such is the case with The Killing Floor, a film which I will have to spoil in the rest of the review. So if you haven't seen it yet, be warned: I am giving away a twist that isn't really all that surprising to anyone who recognizes the cast.The actress in question here is Shiri Appleby. Maybe not a househ

Read more »

Revenge, Serial Killer,

{[['']]}

Cloverfield (2008)

JANUARY 18, 2008GENRE: MOCKUMENTARY, MONSTERSOURCE: THEATRICAL (REGULAR SCREENING)How’s this for weird: the main reason I watched Dragon Wars yesterday was because I knew that I would be seeing Cloverfield today, and thus I wanted to see both of the major US cities get destroyed (LA in Dragon, NY in Cloverfield) back to back. But 45 minutes or so into Cloverfield, I discovered another connection: character actor Chris Mulkey (who played the jerk FBI agent in Dragon) popped up as an army general or something to that effect. I like that guy.But sadly, despite J.J. Abrams’ involvement, Greg Gr

Read more »

Mockumentary, Monster,

{[['']]}

Dragon Wars

JANUARY 17, 2008GENRE: MONSTERSOURCE: DVD (STORE RENTAL)I really wanted to go see the bafflingly titled Dragon Wars: D-War in theaters, but I never got the chance. A big destructive monster movie will always play better in a theater than at home, but oh well. However, I will note that had I seen the film in theaters, I wouldn’t have rented it, and thus I would have gone longer without using my subwoofer, which I realized had been switched off (I got suspicious when an explosion went off in the movie and it sounded very flat). Once I turned it back on, I discovered that this movie has one o

Read more »

Monster,

{[['']]}