RIP Good Sir, You'll Be Missed!
How many worldwide renowned authors come to mind? I mean, there's King, Rice, Clancy, Grisham, Koontz, Leonard, Brown etc. The point is, not a whole lot of pop-pulp authors can be instantly discernible by last name. Well, sadly the list wanes, as famed author and film director Michael Crichton lost his bout with cancer on Tuesday (Nov. 4). He was only 66. The author, who rocked nom de plumes of John Lange and Jeffrey Hudson for his early work (which included novels The Andromeda Strain, The Venom Business and Zero Cool), is survived by his sole son Taylor.
Long live Frog Baby, as I not only check in to wish you all a twisted Halloween, but to school you all about an underrated British classic called Peeping Tom. So reviled and critically lambasted was Peeping Tom upon its release in 1960, that it actually tinctured acclaimed director Michael Powell's (The Thief of Baghdad, The Red Shoes) career for a number of years. In fact, by the time the film made it to the states, 15 butchered minutes of the original resulted in an unrecognizable swill mound (since been restored). So, why all the hatred? Well, the flick is about a shy voyeuristic pervert who moonlights as a photographer. As he stalks women, the sociopath finds sadistic solace in filming the facial expressions of his victims just before he brutally kills them. As you could imagine, the camera (within the camera) POV approach is a technique that would become a staple in '70s slasher fare such as Black Christmas and Halloween. And while this film has drawn comparisons to other scopophilic thrillers like Hitchcock's Rear Window, Powell's film is much more an intimate look at the actual madman, his motivations and character background as opposed to the mystery ride that Hitch takes us on in his film (although Psycho is another story).
After more than a 15 year hiatus, Sam Raimi makes a much welcomed return to the genre that put him on the map as an innovative, front-line filmmaker. After The Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness, Raimi achieved super-stardom as the visionary behind the mega-dollar-churning-franchise known as the Spiderman films. But now, after a torturous wait (perhaps his intention), Raimi is poised to release his latest foray into the world of the macabre - Drag Me to Hell (to be released May 29, 2009). The flick, written by Raimi and his brother Ivan, centers on a young woman who falls under a deadly supernatural curse that unleashes all kinds of ghoulish madness on those around her. Drag Me to Hell stars Justin Long, Alison Lohman, David Paymer, Jessica Lucas, Sage Stallone and Flor de Maria Chahua. Click HERE to get a glimpse at the first stills of the movie.
Damn, I've Seen Better Teeth on an Octogenarian Crackhead!
In a fit of what could be viewed as rival one-upsmanship, the American Movie Channel (AMC) has responded to TCM's 48 hours of classic horror by dedicating an entire week to the exhibition of all things horror. Not only that, but Rob Zombie has signed up to play host - introducing both prime time feature films each night, conducting cast and crew interviews and such as a way to revamp AMC's annual horror marathon previously called Monsterfest. Now called Fearfest, the madness of 175 hours of straight horror begins tonight (October 24th) at 10:00 PM on, and presumably will not end until midnight on Halloween. Click HERE for the full schedule, but watch out, there's far too many Jeepers Creepers repeats.
With a predictable and gimmicky Valentine's Day target release, a Saturday (February 14th, 2009), My Bloody Valentine 3-D looks more and more likely to hit theaters the same day as The Friday the 13th remake on, you guessed it, Friday February 13th. With two horror remakes vying to hit their tie-in marketability (released on days the movies feature as plot or title references), the horror genre of the new year should be pretty stout and competitive. Not a bad thing, I guess. Anyway, here's a new poster for My Bloody Valentine 3-D.
When it comes to video games where your main objective is battling hordes of zombies, the Resident Evil franchise dominates in that subgenre (and yeah, we know the enemies in more recent RE games are technically not "zombies"). But in the realm of Flash games, there happens to be quite a lot of undead-themed games. We're not going to lie, a lot of them a crap. Though there are a handful of these that are just too good for any zombie fanatic to pass up. Celebrate this Halloween with OMGHorror as we count down the 9 greatest zombie flash games ever created!
#9: Zombie Grinder
In this insanely-fast paced zombie obliterating sidescroller, you mow down the living dead with a shotgun as death metal blasts in the background. Quick reflexes are required to survive this intense ride that has become somewhat of a cult classic game on the internet.
Continuing our glob-trot, this month's edition of Foreign Fear Friday moves from South Korea to Chile - this time we celebrate the Halloween month with cult writer/director Alejandro Jodorowski. Born February 7, 1929 in Tocopilla, Chile - Jodorowski has only directed 6 feature films in the last 40 years (in addition to one short, and an imminent 2009 project), none of which any less polemical and thought provoking than his tripped out, surrealistic limerick of a debut Fando and Lis (1968) - a film that caused such a stir as to incite a full-blown riot, from which Jodorowski had to slyly worm his way out via limousine. That's the kind of raw exuberance Jodorowski's entire film career would enjoy.
In a great turn of Halloween appreciation, the good folks over at Turner Classic Movies (TCM) have slated a 48-hour ode to classic Hollywood horror. Commencing at 6:15 AM on October 30 and running through roughly 8-8:30 PM on Halloween night, the lengthy fright-fest will run a total of 18 consecutive horror films ranging from 1932 to 1964 - more than a 30 year chunk of classic, gothic horror that not only laid the ground work for what could be done in the confines of a studio system - but proved to be a time that would serve as a breeding ground for what types of horror stories could be mined for years to come (note at least two of the following titles are being remade for 2009). A simple roster of films is layed out below, but click Here for the full education.
OCTOBER 30th
Mad Love (1935)
Beast with Five Fingers (1946)
I walked with a zombie (1943)
Curse of the Demon (1957)
The Gorgon (1964)
Mr. Sardonicus (1961)
The Tomb of Ligeia (1964)
The Tingler (1959)
House of Usher (1960)
Human meat: bad for fighting-tooth decay.
Several photos from the set of the apocalyptic cannibal-infested film adaptation of the dark novel by Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men), The Road, have surfaced. The photos are posted on actor Jeremy Ambler's personal website who plays one of the cannibals in the film, and provide us with a peak at several other cannibals we'll see in the upcoming movie.
You can check out the rest of the photos here.
Read our first-look preview for The Road (2008) which stars Viggo Mortensen here.
In conjunction with Grindstone Entertainment Group, Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert's brainchild as the largest bastion of direct to video (DTV) film distribution, comes a newer company called Ghost House Productions - out of the convergence comes Ghost House Pictures, a niche market of DTV horror films from rising young international ingénues in the genre. Along with Mandate Pictures' president Nathan Kahane - Ghost House Underground is an even further avenue of independent filmmaking, boasting a roster of 8 new films they (Rami and co.) believe good enough to launch their new line. Ghost House plans to release 12-20 new films annually, with the partnership of Lionsgate and their $600 million/year home video revenue. But enough of all the studio jargon, let's see just what kind of films are in store (stores, rather). Get all 8 films in a pretty, glossy box set today (October 14th).
BROTHERHOOD OF BLOOD
Country: USA
Director: Michael Roesch and Peter Sheerer
Writer: Michael Roesch, Peter Sheerer
Cast: Sid Haig, Ken Foree, Jason Connery, Victoria Pratt, Rachel Grant
Plot: Exploitation movie legends Sid Haig and Ken Foree come together as vampire hunters who must creep into a large pocket of blood-sucking ghouls in order to liberate a friend and fellow slayer.
Current Rating (via imdb.com): 5.9/10 (702 votes)
