Our Halloween Picks and What's New In Horror This Week

It's the week before Halloween... well, really, it's just a few days before Halloween and it's your last chance to pick up some new horror and guess what? There's not really anything new to report... not that you would get it in time, but whatever. Either way, last week was good, but this week definitely leaves something to be desired. So, while you can pick up "Lake Placid 3", "The Bisbee Cannibal Club", "Lynch Mob" or "Eulogy for a Vampire" this week, I'm going to take the opportunity to suggest a few personal Halloween picks, just for you. Pick 'em up on Amazon by clicking on the title or just go rent them...

Let's start off with "Trick 'r Treat". It's an obvious choice and although it's probably not in the "classic" section or anything, it's definitely underrated and has been overlooked by everyone from audiences to the studio since it came out. Next up, personally, I think Kevin Tenney's "Night of the Demons" IS a classic and it does take place on Halloween - 10 teens end up at a party and awaken evil demonic forces. Next, let's not forget about the cult classic from Lucky Mckee, "May", where May tries to build a new friend out of parts from her other friends, which is awesome. It does have a large scene that takes place on Halloween... so it qualifies. "Ginger Snaps", the werewolf teen horror flick, is another little film that tends to get overlooked and it has a great scene that takes place on Halloween. You know, looking back, fans of "Twilight" that are looking for something a little more edgy and gory may like "Ginger Snaps". If you qualify, make sure you pick it up. Finally, I don't want to pick the original "Halloween", so I'll pick "Halloween 4 - The Return of Michael Myers"... I've got a soft spot for it, always liked it.

Now, I'll quickly go over the new releases of the week...

I'll admit, "Lake Placid 3" does have decent cover art, but considering that "Lake Placid 2", with John Schneider, was kinda shitty, I don't expect much here. A swarm of gigantic crocodiles terrorizes a secluded country lake...

"The Bisbee Cannibal Club" showed up on Amazon last week, but disappeared... now, it's back. And, like I said last week, I am pretty excited to check it out. I received a box of films from the distributor, Chemical Burn Entertainment and Reality Media, and this is the first to be released. I should be reporting back on a few of them soon.

"Lynch Mob" takes place in Lynchburg, Georgia and a century-old curse is condemning the citizens to a diet of human flesh. To quote the box art, "if you see one mafia, cannibal zombie horror film this year, make sure it's "Lynch Mob"."

It's definitely not going to be for everyone, as "Eulogy for a Vampire" is a gay horror, but if you're interested... it's about a young drifter that's found unconscious by a monastery, then seduces all the monks into joining his league of the undead.

Horror Kicks Ass at the Box Office

Honestly, I didn't see that coming. In fact, I don't think anyone did. "Paranormal Activity 2" delivered. Not only did it deliver, it won the weekend with ease. Further, it drew North of $40Million, which makes it the highest-grossing opening for a supernatural horror film... ever. "Hereafter" was the only other film to open this weekend and it didn't do quite as well. With all due respect to Clint Eastwood, Paranormal 2 will probably flicker out fairly quick and "Hereafter" will stick around for a while. Sure, they're both supernatural films, but they're completely different audiences. Parents are going to "Hereafter", their kids are going to "Paranormal 2". In any case, let's take a closer look at Paranormal 2...

When it was announced, I thought we were going to have another Blair Witch 2 on our hands, I really did. Now, why didn't we? I think there's a couple of things to look at, the first being the most obvious - "Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2" sucked. No question, it was just bad. Having said that, that doesn't necessarily mean it should open as poorly as it did. As we all know, bad movies can open well. What I think is the most intriguing thing is that "Blair Witch" abandoned it's 'found footage' look when it came to the sequel. They put a decent budget behind it, around $15Million, and went out and made a traditional film, based on the original. Juxtapose that with "Paranormal Activity 2", where they kept with the 'found footage' style, as the sequel revolves around a family that sets up security cameras because they think they're experiencing a bunch of break-ins, and they kept the budget low. Paranormal 2 only cost $3Million to make. Morale of the story? Even though you can do more, sometimes you should just stick with what works... or, in this case, what worked. The good news for us indie filmmakers is, this is a style that's now worked for various films and it's a look that you can easily emulate on a meagre budget. As long as 'found footage' films and horror mock-docs sell, micro-cinema filmmakers have something to hang their hat on.

Now, next week brings the opposite side of the spectrum, when "Saw 3D" comes out. The original "Saw" was a small film, but its now spawned a mind-blowing 7 installments. The last few have been a bit lack-lustre, but they're hoping to reboot the franchise with an all-out 3D version. Also interesting to note that Cary Elwes is back... I'm not sure in what capacity, though.

I'll look forward to seeing how it does. Until then, enjoy Halloween week! Always a good week for horror fans...

Interview with Dan Riesser, writer/director of the short film "Night of the Punks"

I don't know about you, but I discovered horror in the 80's, more specifically... the mid to late 80's. In 1986, I was in 6th grade - 12 or 13 years old. So, really, if I discovered horror any earlier, my parents may have had child services called on them. In any case, this is when I first discovered Freddy, Jason, Michael Myers, "Evil Dead", "Re-Animator", Troma films and "Return of the Living Dead". This was the heyday for me, when watching horror was both fun and scary at the same time. This is the era that made me a horror fan. This is the era that made me look for more films and go back and find old films that had been forgotten, as well as search for new obscure films that no one could find. 80's horror is why Dead Harvey exists today. Why do I mention this? Because I'm not alone... this era influenced lots of writers, filmmakers and fans, including Dan Riesser, writer/director of the short horror film, "Night of the Punks", a film that is obviously inspired by the likes of "Return of the Living Dead" and other 80's horror comedies.

I have to say, "Night of the Punks" was a breath of fresh air. So many filmmakers try to take themselves, or their films, too seriously and we really need to remember that we're not curing cancer here, we're just trying to entertain... and "Night of the Punks" definitely did that. It looked great, it was well acted and I never broke away from the film or wondered how much time was left, which I tend to wonder often. The film is an homage to 80's horror and it stayed very true to its roots. So much so, that it made me want to dig it out all those old films that I haven't seen in forever. It also made me remember some of the things that I forgot I loved about horror... namely tongue in cheek humor that most people don't get. The film was a joy to watch and I hope to see more from Riesser in the near future... until then, we'll have to settle for this interview.

So, Dan, tell us about “Night of the Punks”, what’s it all about?

NOTP is a horror-comedy short about a small town punk rock band that heads to their first out of town gig, only to discover the promoter has brought them there to be a ritual sacrifice for a pack of bloodthirsty demons from hell. It's a throwback to the fun horror flicks of the 1980's.

If you don’t mind us asking, what was the budget and how did you secure financing?

Budget was about 8k. I did a little bit of fundraising via Kickstarter.com (to cover my craft services budget and make sure my crew got fed well) but other than I paid for it myself.

The film looked great, what did you shoot on?

It was shot on the Canon Mark II 5D DSLR.

Talk about creating the look of the… punks. Obviously, zombie inspired. Is that what you were going for?

The look of the punks came from my makeup designer Dan Russo. I'm really lucky that he came on board, because the original makeup ideas were really tame compared to what he came up with. I always envisioned them with green boils, sharp teeth, pale complexion but beyond that Dan came up with rest. It's funny, because everyone is constantly calling the film a "zombie" movie and I have to correct them. But I suppose that's part of it... The characters aren't sure at first what they're facing, and I guess people's first thought is zombies. I personally think zombies are a bit played out nowadays.

Talk about the gore and the effects, all of which were practical effects, I believe. What was your favorite and how was it accomplished?

My writer and I wrote a bunch of gags that we had no clue how to pull off, but once again, we were lucky to have Dan Russo. The big lesson I'd give to other filmmakers is... if you don't know how to do something the right way, HIRE someone who does. My favorite effect is hands down the drumstick eye gouge. It was done using a prosthetic over the eyes with two tubes strung underneath it and an actor who was willing to work blind for a couple hours. The demon blood is just milk and green food coloring.

I’m going to assume that “Return of the Living Dead” was a big influence on this film. What other films influenced you?

ROTLD is a huge influence and the other one is Kevin Tenney's "Night of the Demons." Those two movies are quite possibly my two favorite horror films and they are both referenced pretty obviously throughout the movie. Other movies that inspired NOTP include Dead Alive, Evil Dead, Night of the Creeps.

Now, tell us a bit about yourself. How did you get in to indie horror and film?

I've always wanted to write and direct movies. I actually didn't gravitate towards horror specifically that much until I started getting serious about filmmaking. I honestly wasn't into it when I was little - I hope militant horror buffs don't hold that against me. Once I started really paying attention to how films are made and writing feature length scripts, I discovered how much I like horror. The majority of the scripts I've written are horror or have horror elements, but I don't think I'm 100% a horror guy. There are movies I'd like to make in every genre.

Film school: yes or no?

Not really. I was in a journalism/communications program in college. It was in Washington DC too, so it was very politics heavy. But my buddies and I managed to tweak the curriculum to allow us to make more creative projects. My only legitimate film school experience would be a semester abroad in Prague, where I shot a short on 16mm. I learned more in those 3 months than the rest of my time as an undergrad.

Talk about your goals behind making “Night of the Punks”. Is it for accolades, for a reel, for festivals?

A little bit of everything. I wasn't satisfied with my last attempt at a legitimate horror short, it still had a very "amateur film school" feel to it. I wanted to make something bigger, crazier, and something that looks like it has a budget. I hope that it showcases what I could do with some real money, and will lead to bigger work down the road. And yes, I hope it plays at lots of festivals (it's doing pretty well so far). My co-writer and I are currently writing the feature length version, so maybe someone will be interested in making it. It's all a learning experience too... I've got to get all my mistakes out of my system with short films before I make the jump to a feature.

Talk about the indie horror scene, where do you think it is now and where do you see it going?

There are always tons of movies I'm reading about online and getting excited to see, so I'm happy with horror right now. And there's a lot of people doing really awesome work on the cheap. I've been dying to see Gareth Edwards' "Monsters," which he made pretty much by himself for 15k. And you got guys like Ti West & Adam Green who are doing original, low budget, awesome work. I hope those guys get to keep doing what they're doing and I get to join their ranks soon.

Where can people check your film out?

It's got a bunch of festival screenings coming up in October. It was accepted to SCREAMFEST LA, which is a major genre festival. I'm really stoked for that one. It's also playing in Philadelphia, Washington DC, and a bunch more. All the screening details are on our website - nightofthepunks.com - I'm looking into distribution options and hopefully there will be some kind of DVD release. If not, it'll eventually make its way online.

What’s next?

My next project is going to be my first feature film. Not sure what it'll be yet, depends on money really. We're looking for investors for a couple different ideas and if I need to fund a super low budget 5k feature myself, I will. I hope to be shooting my first feature by next summer.

New Horror Out on DVD this Week

Here we are, smack dab in the middle of October - horror's wheelhouse. Usually, this means that there's a lot of good horror coming out on DVD and a lot of good horror hitting the theaters. As for this week on DVD, it's not bad. In fact, it's great for low-budget and micro-budget horror. There's certainly a lot of rereleases and I don't really want to mention them, as I like to concentrate on the new stuff... especially when a lot of the new stuff is micro and low-budget. So, as usual, you can check out all the trailers on our Youtube Page and you can click on the films title and go to its Amazon page, where you can read more and/or buy the film.

Let's just start off with "Predators", as I'm very interested in what other people thought of it. Me, I wasn't terribly impressed. The acting was great, that wasn't a problem. I was ready to write off "The Pianist", Adrien Brody, before the film started, but... I bought him as a tough guy. Really, I bought all of the actors. What I didn't buy, was the concept. I get it, I get it... you wanted to tie it to the original. You know what, though? You didn't have to ram it down our throats. There's other ways. Not only that, there's so much suspension of disbelief needed to get through the plot and concept, I just wasn't buying the whole idea. Maybe I'm being too hard on it, I don't know. What did you think of it?

Okay, NOW we're talking! Based on the best-selling manga by Shungiku Uchida, it's the follow up to "Tokyo Gore Police" and "Machine Girl" - "Vampire Girl vs.Frankenstein Girl". Don't let the goofy title fool you, this film ups the ante on all the demented Asian hardcore hyper-violence that you've seen over the last few years. Just watch the trailer. Personally, I LOVE these films and I really wonder if this stuff could cater to North American audiences? Obviously there's a market for it, but I wonder if it could ever go a bit more mainstream? Hmmm... I doubt it.

Not too sure about this one... mostly in that I'm not sure if the "Lost Tribe" that's new this week on DVD is the same as "The Lost Tribe" that I found on Amazon and IMDB. In any case, this film MAY be about a a group of friends that get stranded on an uncharted island where they encounter an ancient tribe of humanoid creatures... and it may be about something else.

Well, if you're looking for a double whammy on Adrien Brody, you might as well pick up "Giallo". If you don't care to get an Adrien Brody double shot, you may just want to pick it up because it's directed by Italian horror master Dario Argento. If you don't care about Argento or Brody, maybe you just like giallo films... if so, it looks like Argento pulls out all the stops. Takes place in Italy? Check. There's a crime involved? Check. Eroticism? Check. Gore? Check. At the end of the day, it's Argento.... pay your respects and go check it out!

I haven't seen "Colin", but I've heard about it and it's a massive achievement for micro-cinema. It's from the UK and it was shot for something like a few thousand dollars. Maybe even a few hundred dollars. It's a zombie film, but it's got a great twist... the hero, Colin, is bitten by a zombie and he dies and returns from the dead... and the film follows him as he wanders through suburbia during the throes of a cadaverous apocalypse. Low-budget, first person film shot through the eyes of a zombie. I love it.

"Horno" - it's not a porno, it's a horno. Life imitates art after several sex craze, flesh eating zombies crash a film shoot about a zombie outbreak that's spread through sodomy. Yeah, let's go through that again because it's sort of awesome. A guy decides to make a film about zombies that ass-rape people... which turns the receivers of the ass-raping in to zombies THEN real zombies attack the film set. Sold.

Just in time for Halloween, it's a Christmas horror. It's the third film in the "Bikini Bloodbath" series, featuring the likes of Debbie Rochon, Lloyd Kaufman, Rachel Robbins, Monique Dupree and many more, and it's called "Bikini Bloodbath Christmas". You like low-budget horror? You like T&A? You like a bit of gore? Of course you do... check it out, the other two were awesome.

"Deadlands 2: Trapped" is the sequel to 2006's "Deadlands: The Rising". They're self financed zombie films from Gary Ugarek and he's currently in pre-production on a third film in the series, called "Deadlands III: The New World".

"The Bisbee Cannibal Club" was on Amazon this morning, now I can't find it... I'm actually quite excited to check it out because I just got a box of films from Chemical Burn Entertainment and Reality Films, the distributor, and I haven't started watching them yet... as this is the first to be released, this will be the first one I watch. I'll report back and I may even have an interview for you guys on this!

"Jackass 3-D" versus "RED" at the Box Office

I've seen both prior "Jackass" films, the first one in the theater, and I've seen most of the episodes of the show. I'm a fan of the franchise, I'll admit it. Truth is, the whole concept behind "Jackass", which is, basically, just a bunch of guys filming themselves being, well... jackasses, has spawned a whole sub-genre. It's not the origin of reality TV, but I do think you can thank it for shows like "Wipeout" and "Half Pint Brawlers" (A Dead Harvey favorite). Not only that, how many other amateur jackasses are out there now? The jackass mentality is really one of the foundations of Youtube and accounts for most early viral videos. Is it stupid? Is it mindless? Does it not make any real sense? Yes, across the board. However, it's a viable form of entertainment and it makes money. "Jackass 3-D" made $50Million dollars over the weekend and won the weekend, beating out other newcomer, "Red"... which posted solid numbers at $22.5Million.

Now, let's look at "Red". "Red" stars Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren and Karl Urban. It had a budget North of $60Million and is based on a three-issue, limited comic book series of the same name created by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner. Everything is in place for it to work. Further, critics are saying that "Red" is good and it's getting generally positive reviews from the public. It's filled with recognizable names, it's got lots of action, it has a fairly tight script and the production value is through the roof. So, why did it gross half of what "Jackass 3-D" did?

Truth is, I don't know, but I've got a good idea. As screenwriters and filmmakers, we have to remember that we really don't know what the hell people are going to like. Also, we have to remember that this is the entertainment business. Just because something is written well and produced well, it's not necessarily going to be as entertaining as something that has no story or production value, but does have people beating the shit out of each other. Remember the famous words of Homer Simpson, "But "Football in the Groin" had a football in the groin". Lastly, remember your audience. Comparing the box office take of these two movies simply shows you the power of that key, young movie-going audience and they don't care about awards, nominations or even how well something is put together... they just want to be entertained for a good 90 minutes or so.

So, it really all goes back to something that I've been saying over and over again. If you're making something for you, great. Make what you want. However, if you're looking to be successful and reach people, think about your target audience and do your best to give them what they want.

As for the rest of the box office, "The Social Network" hung in at number 3, "Secretariat" was 4 and "Life as We Know It" came in 5th. The other notable film is "The Town", which is still hanging around in the top ten at 7th.

This Week In Horror DVD's

I know, I know, it's Thursday afternoon and I'm just talking about the horror out on DVD now. It's been a busy week and I'm doing my best... I'll try to get things back to normal next week. However, there may have to be a "new normal", as there's been a few changes in my life that are going to effect how I allot my time. All good, so no worries... Anyhow, let's look at the notable new releases this week.

I'm both a fan of Jake West and Danny Dyer. If you don't know who they are, you NEED to check out Jake West's "Evil Aliens". It's simply awesome. Do yourself a favor, if you haven't heard of it, get it immediately. Don't hesitate, just pick it up. It's the best thing since Peter Jackson's "Dead Alive". As for Danny Dyer, he may not be for everyone, but I think he's hilarious. Check him out in "Severance", "Pimp" or the British rip-off of "The Longest Yard", with the cast from "Snatch" and "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels", called "Mean Machine". In any case, the two of them got together for "Doghouse". If the above didn't convince you to check it out, maybe the premise of the film will... a group of men travel to a remote village to help one of their friends get over his divorce. Once there, they discover that the town is inhabited by ravenous women that have been infected with a toxin that turns them into man-hating cannibals.

If you saw the title "S&Man", how would you pronounce it? I just assumed it had to do with sex and it would be pronounced "Ess and Emm Man". Well, it's not. It's pronounced "Sandman". Yeah, look at it again. It makes sense. It's a documentary that came out a few years ago and it's about the underground subculture of horror films... but not your regular horror films. It deals with the voyeuristic nature of faux snuff films and the desensitizing of modern society. I haven't seen it, but my bet is it's heavy handed.

"Coffin Rock" is an Australian film that came out around a year ago in the land down under. IFC films picked it up and had an on-demand release in January, then another on-demand release in February. Now, it's out on DVD. It's in the vein of "Fatal Attraction" and "Cape Fear" as it's about a kid that sleeps with a married woman, who subsequently gets pregnant, and he turns from obsessive to psychotic.

"My Super Psycho Sweet 16" is the film that was produced by MTV and is based on the MTV show, "My Super Sweet Sixteen". The film aired on MTV, but was apparently cut down... and this DVD version is unrated, so it contains a bit more gore. What's funny about this film is that horror fans don't dig it that much. However, MTV audiences loved it. It was the #1 film in its time period and delivered the network's strongest ratings in that time period in over a year and a half. It was so popular that it spawned a sequel... which comes out a week from now on October 22nd.

"Brain Dead" is directed by Kevin S Tenney, who's done some classic films. He's directed "Witchboard", "Night of the Demons", "The Cellar" and various others... I don't know much about this film, but I'll take straight from the DVD cover. "An alien parasite hungry for human hosts... The infected rising from the dead, ravenous for brains... A group of desperate misfits battling for survival... someone has a really bad travel agent!"

Lastly, I really want to know more about "Meet Me Out in the Sticks". The cover art is really creepy and all it says is that the actors, director, writer and producer is someone named Creep Creepersin. It comes from Creepsville Entertainment and it's only 3 minutes long... when you order it, it's manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Obviously, I'm not going to pay the $10.99 for a 3 minute film, but does anyone know more about it?

The Weekend at the Box Office, Horror Gets Slaughtered Again

I'm going to split things up and make things a bit easier for both you, the reader, and me, the writer. Instead of talking about all the news from the box office AND the new releases on DVD every Monday, I'm just going to talk about the box office on Monday, then the DVD's on Tuesday. However, in this case, as I was away all weekend and got back late on Monday and had a lot to do on Tuesday, I'm going to talk about the box office today and the DVD's tomorrow.

So, "The Social Network" won the weekend again, beating out newcomers "Life As We Know It', "Secretariat" and Wes Craven's "My Soul to Take". I guess that the lesson out of "The Social Network", if you can take a lesson out if it, is that you can be successful if you can spin or unveil something about something that's very popular. Very successful. But, I think that goes without saying - filmmakers have been doing that for years. On top of that, though, with "The Social Network", you've got a top-notch director in David Fincher and a top-notch writer in Aaron Sorkin AND they put together a great marketing campaign around it... The other thing is, who's the primary users of Facebook? Well, it's the primary demographic of movie-goers, isn't it? Really, the film is a perfect storm. I'm not sure what you, as an indie horror filmmaker, can take away from that, but it's just interesting to note that all the pieces fit together really well for the film. I don't know, try to be topical, I guess.

Since we're talking about films that do fit together well, let's talk about films that didn't fit together well - what the hell happened with "My Soul To Take"? You'd think it would do alright... written and directed by Wes Craven, it's in 3D and it was the only horror that came out AND, it bombed. Pretty sad, as it's the first film that Wes has written and directed since 1994's "Wes Craven's New Nightmare". Did anyone see it? If so, was it as bad as people say? It didn't screen for critics, which generally means that the studio thinks it sucks. Also, the film was not originally intended to be in 3-D, it was one of those films that they converted... and I'm wondering if that trend is done. Who knows? I haven't seen it, so I don't want to pass judgement on why it failed until I do. However, I didn't see much marketing or advertising for the film, so that may be part of it's problem. Either way, poor Wes...

Alright, back tomorrow with news of the horror DVD front.

It's A Potpourri Of Horror News!!!

We've been rolling out a lot of interviews over the last few weeks and I even have a few more on file, which I'll get out in the coming weeks. However, when we do that, my inbox tends to get jammed with news, trailers and event listings... A side note - are any of you subscribers to the "my inbox must be empty at the end of the day" philosophy? I tried, but damn... can't do it. So, now I subscribe to the "my inbox is like a Netflix queue" way of life. It's always full, but I delete the ones that are junk or that I know I won't care about... everything else is just waiting to be read, when I get to it. The only issue is time sensitive stuff that's been in there for months. Whatever, I'll admit it... and let this be a lesson to you. I don't get to every email and I don't watch every film that's sent my way. It's not because I don't want to read every email or watch every film, it's just because a lot of shit gets lost in the mix. If you want me (or anyone - here's the lesson) to get back to you or read your shit or watch your film, bug me until I do. Squeaky wheel, people. Squeaky wheel. No matter what they say, it's true. There are no "maybes" - keep bugging people until it's a "yes" or a "no", but I digress... The whole point is I went through my inbox and found a few interesting things to pass on.

This, I wanted to post right away. Shriekfest just took place and they've announced their winners. Celebrating their 10th year, Shriekfest took place at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood and they screened 36 films and had 32 screenplay finalists and 12 original song finalists. Here's some of the winners: "Ashes" directed by Elias Matar took the Grand Jury prize for Best Horror Feature Film, "Transfer" directed by Damir Lukacevic took the Best Fantasy Feature Film award, "Serum 1831" directed by Anand Kanna took the Best Short Film prize and "Rise of the Appliances" directed by Rob Sprackling took the Best Super Short Film prize The winner of the Best Horror Feature Screenplay went to "Dead Crows" written by Chris Todd and the winner of the Best Short Screenplay goes to "Carbon Dating" written by Louis Rosenberg. You should go to their site and look at the complete list of all of the winners, as it's nice to know what kinds of films and screenplays are winning, right? Go to Shriekfest.com.

Okay, so a lot of people send me links to their blogs and sites and usually I gloss over them, but I really wanted to mention this one. This one not only gets into the obscure, but they put it all together in entertaining lists and reference horror films that I've forgotten about, characters that I barely remember and classic scenes that had slipped my mind. They sent me a link to the article "A Time to Kill: 11 Annoying Horror Movie Victims Who Deserved to Die", which you can get to by clicking HERE. However, click on the title and check out some of their other articles. I quite enjoyed "Class Reunion Massacre: 11 Boogeymen Who Should Kill Again". Anyhow, check it out and keep up the good work, guys!

Lastly, I'd like to embed the trailer for Bill Zebub's latest film, "Zombie Christ". Or is it one word? "Zombiechrist"? The plot revolves around modern Druids that raise the partially mummified remains of Jesus to do their bidding, making it perform unspeakable acts to usher in the new age. The film comes out October 25th and for more info, go to Zebub's site HERE.

Horror Gets Beat Up By Facebook and A Great Week for Horror On DVD

There's no easy way to put it, horror got pummelled by Facebook over the weekend. A tough pill to swallow. I mean, it wasn't even a contest. Horror brought a good game, but just couldn't even muster a blip on the radar. Actually, who's kidding who? I take that back, horror really didn't bring a good game. Both "Case 39" and "Let Me In" were virtually ignored over the weekend, but I'm not sure where to lay blame. "Let Me In" is based on the unbelievably awesome Swedish film, "Let The Right One In", which came out in 2008. Judging from the trailer, "Let Me In" borrowed heavily from the original, as a lot of the shots and scenes looked identical. That's not to say that's good or bad, but why is the original an award winning film and the remake didn't do shit? Maybe North American audiences aren't ready for a vampire film that has to do with kids? Maybe it was marketed poorly - I mean, they really hyped up that it was from "Cloverfield" director Matt Reeves and barely mentioned that it's based on an award winning horror film that rocked the world a few years back. The other horror film that came out was "Case 39", which even had a decent cast, including Renee Zellweger and Bradley Cooper. It also dealt with a creepy kid, as Renee Zellweger tries to save an abused kid from her parents, only to find out that the kid isn't so innocent. So, who knows? Maybe creepy kid horror is out... maybe it was never in? It does seem that all successful creepy kid horror films are underground films that breakout. "The Orphan" may be one of the most successful big budget creepy kid films in recent history, but she really wasn't a kid. Anyhow, it's a decent week for horror on DVD. As usual, you can check out all the trailers on our Youtube Page and you can click on the titles to be taken to their Amazon Page, where you can read more and/or buy the film.

Without question, the biggest release of the week is the remake of "A Nightmare on Elm Street", which comes out on both DVD and Blu-ray. Just a disclaimer - don't get me wrong, I love the classic 1985 original - I mean, who doesn't? I have Freddy posters, figures and a bust... all modelled after Robert Englund's version of Krueger. Having said that, this update isn't bad. In fact, it's pretty good. Jackie Earle Haley does a good Krueger and i think it's kinda cool to see an updated version. Really, it is. I'm starting to define my feelings on remakes a bit more, as I used to vehemently opposed to them. So, if it was a horror franchise that went ballistic on sequels, such as "Elm Street", "Friday the 13th", "Halloween" and "Hellraiser"... remakes can be good. It's like a reboot for the series. When they try to remake a stand-alone classic, no good. Like, "The Thing"... can't believe they're remaking that.

If you haven't heard of "Troll 2" or if have heard of it, but haven't seen it yet, get it and, hell... get it on Blu-ray. This week it's finally getting rereleased on both DVD and Blu-ray, something that a lot of people have been waiting for. Chances are, you've heard of the mayhem that surrounds this cult classic. Directed by Claudio Fragasso, under the pseudonym of Drake Floyd, and called "Troll 2" in an attempt to connect it to the 1986 film, "Troll", the film almost never saw the light of day. Why? Because it's terrible. It's so terrible that it's one of the best worst movies of all time... so, of course, there's a documentary, directed by Michael Stephenson, the child actor in the film, called "Best Worst Movie", which is all about the film and it's subsequent resurgence. Now, they're even talking about a sequel. What would it be called? "Troll II: Part II", of course. So, if you haven't seen the film that spawned the mayhem, do yourself a favor and check it out.

"Sisters", now available on Blu-ray, is based on Brian De Palma's classic film of the same name. It stars Cloe Sevigny as a reporter that witnesses a woman committing a bizarre murder, then decides to undertake her own investigation when the police fail to find any trace of the crime. Her investigation leads her to a mental asylum and the discovery of the woman's once-conjoined twin. To be honest, I've never seen the original, maybe I'll start there...

"The Farm" was actually quite tough to find any information on... only because there are so many films called "The Farm". That goes without mentioning three films called "Farm", then there's "Animal Farm", "The Last Farm", "The Lark Farm", "The Hill Farm" and various others. You know what? I know why... I have a few friends that live on farms and, without question, they are creepy places and a natural location for a horror film. This incarnation is an Irish film and it's about a shy guy that lives on a farm, when a young couple that's on the run from a vicious gang shows up. Farm boy falls for the young girl and you can take it from there... Maybe I'll do some research into farm horror. It could be an under served area of the market, now that I think about it...

"Yoga" is, unfortunately, a terrible title to do any sort of search on, as you'll get nothing but instructional videos. However, I really want to see it, as I think it's a great idea for a horror film and, as it's a Korean film, you know it's going to be messed up AND feature lots mangled bodies... and the themes revolve around vanity and striving for perfect beauty. God knows I love my Korean horror. I'm in on this one.

"Don't Look In The Cellar" looks awesome... it's a micro-cinema horror and it features friend of Dead Harvey, Randal Malone and is directed by Dennis Devine. Released by Fat Cat DVD, a subsidiary of Tempe Video, it's about a group of college kids that find an abandoned asylum on Halloween night... then, of course, you add a serial killer called Smiley and all hell breaks loose.

I've actually seen "Destined to be Ingested" and it's not bad. It is, obviously, a zombie film and it looks great, has some tongue in cheek humor, has some hot girls in it and a bit of gore. The only issue is the sound, which is all dubbed... and I'm not sure why they dubbed the whole film. In any case, you get over it pretty quick and it's really not about the dialogue, anyhow. Its worth seeing, for sure.