The Earth Dies Screaming (1965)

MAY 31, 2008GENRE: POST-APOCALYPTIC, ZOMBIESOURCE: DVD (ONLINE RENTAL)George Romero has frequently listed Carnival of Souls as a source of inspiration for Night Of The Living Dead, but I don't think The Earth Dies Screaming has ever been name-checked. Which is surprising, because it is even more similar than Carnival, in my opinion. Both feature a group of folks holed up in a single location (a hotel), our hero is hated by another, balder survivor, and everyone's dead EXCEPT our heroes, not the other way around.It's a pretty good movie to boot, despite an abrupt ending. The movie is only 6

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Post-Apocalyptic, Zombie,

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Séance (2006)

MAY 30, 2008GENRE: GHOSTSOURCE: DVD (STORE RENTAL)I hope the Blockbuster clerk was, like all Blockbuster clerks, completely oblivious to what I was renting/buying (or what anyone else in the store was doing, for that matter) the other night when I rented Séance, because I was also buying Highlander 5, and both films star Adrian Paul. I would hate for the sod to think I was some sort of Adrian Paul junkie, for as far as I know, there is no such thing and thus I would be the first. I’d also hate to think anyone actually realized that I was buying Highlander 5, for the love of Christ (excuses:

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Ghost,

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Ghost Of Frankenstein (1942)

MAY 29, 2008GENRE: MAD SCIENTIST, MONSTERSOURCE: DVD (OWN COLLECTION)I wish I was a torch salesman back in the times of Frankenstein and his never ending number of fellow mad scientist family members. I would have made a mint, since it seems every resident of the town lights one up the instant pretty much anything happens. Ghost Of Frankenstein (who, like Bride, only has about 2 minutes of screen time) offers no less than TWO angry mob scenes, complete with numerous torches that someone sold for a great premium and proceeded to eat well for the next month.This one offers a lot of stuff we h

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Classic, Mad Scientist, Monster,

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Black Dragons (1942)

MAY 28, 2008GENRE: REVENGE, THRILLERSOURCE: DVD (BUDGET PACK 2!!!)Honestly, I can’t take another one of these movies. I can’t even tell them apart anymore. Even though Black Dragons has a spy plot (with lots of racist overtones – I wasn’t aware major newspapers referred to our enemies simply as “Japs”), it’s essentially yet another movie that takes place in a large house, features a butler, a horror icon (Lugosi here), a wise talking cop, and a dame who is there to see someone with ties to her uncle (or her uncle himself in some of them). Murders are largely off-screen, bodies disappear, pe

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Horror Classics, Revenge, Thriller,

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Sex And The City: The Movie (2008)

MAY 28, 2008GENRE: PSYCHOLOGICAL, SUPERNATURAL, VAMPIRE, WEREWOLFSOURCE: THEATRICAL (PRESS SCREENING)While I love gore and insane prosthetic effects as much as the next guy, it’s nice to see a horror film that eschews all of that stuff in favor for more subtle horrors; a sort of ‘alternate’ horror film, much like Martin or something of that nature. Sex And The City: The Movie fits that mold; despite the R rating, there is actually only suggested violence in the film, along with a few morbid visuals.Based on the TV show, the film is about three female best friends, each of them a different ty

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Psychological, Supernatural, Vampire, Werewolf,

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The Strangers (2008)

MAY 27, 2008GENRE: SURVIVALSOURCE: THEATRICAL (PRESS SCREENING)Even though I knew The Strangers was very similar to Them (Ils), I still watched the latter knowing I was going to see the former in a few days. So knowing that, I think it’s even MORE surprising that I didn’t just like The Strangers, but liked it more than Them. Granted, some of the structuring was a bit less exciting than it might have been, but the differences were all for the better. For starters, they don’t leave the house. Them really lost a lot of its tension when they went out into the open and into the sewers. I am af

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Survival,

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Julie Luongo's "The Hard Way"

Julie Luongo has worked as a university instructor, freelance writer, researcher, editor, reporter, and business consultant. She’s written about theater, fishing, and entertainment.Her new book is The Hard Way.Here she develops some ideas about the cast and director should her novel be adapted for the big screen:When I imagine The Hard Way based on the novel by Julie Luongo coming to a theater near you, I generally think of it as a rich romantic comedy with a who’s-who ensemble cast and a top director. And I’m no literary snob. I have no problems at all with the Hollywood elite.But The Hard W

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[Rec] (2007)

MAY 26, 2008GENRE: MOCKUMENTARY, ZOMBIESOURCE: DVD (SCREENER)Last night I was playing Halo with some fellow horror movie guys, and one of them asked me if I had seen [Rec]. I hadn’t, so it was a bit odd when I went over a different friend’s house today and he put it on for a post barbecue movie. I only wish the first friend had asked me if I had ever won the lottery, or nailed Rachel Nichols. Could have truly been a Memorial Day.Anyway, he had thrown me off a bit by saying that it’s a movie in which the last 5 minutes are the best part. Therefore, I was assuming that it was a slow burn, t

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Mockumentary, Zombie,

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Poltergeist III (1988)

MAY 26, 2008GENRE: HAUNTED HOUSE, SUPERNATURALSOURCE: DVD (OWN COLLECTION)Do you like hearing the name "Carol Anne"? I hope so if you plan to watch Poltergeist III, because it is said some 118 times in the 95 minute film. Some scenes, such as the one where she is trapped in a puddle, play out with a character saying absolutely nothing but "Carol Anne!" over and over. It's almost incredible to think that no one said "Hey, maybe Lara Flynn Boyle can shut the fuck up for 5 seconds instead of saying the same name over and over."It's a shame that the movie is overall not very good, because the f

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Haunted House, Supernatural,

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Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead (2008)

MAY 25, 2008GENRE: BREAKDOWN, SURVIVALSOURCE: DVD (SCREENER)I got to watch an advance copy of Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead because FOX was looking for quotes. I offered (truthfully) that it was “Better Than The Original!” but Mr Disgusting said he didn’t want that on there, because it implies that the movie was really great (and Horror Movie A Day is not a big enough site to get quoted, so it would be attributed to Bloody). It’s not GOOD by any stretch of the imagination, but the first one sucks, and this is marginally better, so it’s still true. This one at least doesn’t bother with the ‘funny’

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Breakdown, Survival,

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Botched (2007)

MAY 24, 2008GENRE: COMEDIC, SLASHERSOURCE: DVD (STORE RENTAL)There's a reason why so few horror-comedies work - a lot of people just simply can't write funny stuff. Actually scaring an audience is something so rare for a horror film, it's hardly an issue anymore. So when a movie like Botched attempts to wring laughs out of the umpteenth "Robbers and hostages unite to fight a common enemy" horror movie, and pretty much fail miserably, the result is a film that really isn't worth much of anything, though I should point out it does have its fans (such as HMAD reader Damian, who recommended it

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Comedic, Slasher,

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Sick Nurses (2007)

MAY 23, 2008GENRE: ASIAN, GHOST, POSSESSIONSOURCE: DVD (OWN COLLECTION)If there’s one thing you don’t often see in Asian horror films, it’s the characters goofing off with one another. Everyone’s ususally so dour and serious, so it was almost strange to see a few of the titular Sick Nurses (aka Suay Laak Sai) do things like, well, smile. They tease one another, make faces, etc... just like regular girls! Of course, it’s not long before they are all crying and being terrorized by long black hair (it IS an Asian horror film, after all), but while it lasted, it was definitely appreciated.One

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Asian, Ghost, Possession,

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Frontière(s)

MAY 22, 2008GENRE: FRENCH, SURVIVALSOURCE: DVD (ONLINE RENTAL)It figures that one of the few good movies that After Dark has acquired over the past few years would get the most limited release. Frontière(s) was released on approximately 8 screens for about as many minutes just two weeks ago, sans any sort of advertising or press. Granted, it was due to hit DVD 4 days later, but still, it would have been nice to see the film in the theater. And since it has an NC-17 rating (which is a nice surprise; I am so used to movies simply being 'unrated' it's almost charming to see the rating again),

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French, Survival,

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Non Canon Review: Psycho (1960)

MAY 21, 2008GENRE: CLASSIC, PSYCHOLOGICAL, SERIAL KILLERSOURCE: THEATRICAL (REVIVAL SCREENING)When I saw that my beloved New Beverly would be screening Pyscho, I knew what I had to do: go see it. But before that, I had to get the night off of work, because there was no way in hell I would miss it. See, I had serious atoning to do, because not only had I never seen the film in the theater, I had seen the goddamn remake TWICE in such a matter. The first time is one thing - I was curious. But why in the name of Christ would I subject myself to that monstrosity a second time?*Psycho is also o

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Based On Novel, Classic, Non Canon, Psychological, Serial Killer,

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Son Of Dracula (1943)

MAY 21, 2008GENRE: VAMPIRESOURCE: DVD (OWN COLLECTION)I learned something today that changed my entire outlook on ridiculous plot twists. For years, I thought “Alucard” was something invented by the creators of Castlevania III, only to discover that Son Of Dracula had come up with this ‘genius’ concept some 45 years previous. Credit where credit is due! It’s not quite as idiotic as “Nilbog”, but it’s not as clever as “Dr. Acula”, either. It would be one thing if this was implemented and quickly understood, but no – they actually try to make it some sort of mystery. The first time it is sh

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Vampire,

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Julie Klam's "Please Excuse My Daughter"

Julie Klam graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and was an intern at Late Night with David Letterman. She went on to write for such publications as O, the Oprah Magazine, Rolling Stone, Harper’s Bazaar, and Glamour. She was also nominated for an Emmy as a writer for VH1’s Pop-Up Video.Her new book is the memoir, Please Excuse My Daughter.Here Klam develops some ideas about the cast and director should her memoir be adapted for the big screen:As a former NYU film student, I’m pathetically proficient at imagining my life as a movie. When I stand on the prescripti

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