The Weekend Box Office and The Week in Horror on DVD

Over the weekend, "Inception" became the fourth movie of the year to go three straight weeks at number one. The other three? "Avatar", "Alice in Wonderland" and "Shrek Forever After". Also, "Inception" has now become the seventh highest-grossing film of 2010... So, batten down the hatches, folks. We've got a hit on our hands here. Now, if you haven't seen it, I do recommend it. It's a mind-fuck movie and it's got lots of twists and turns and great effects, but most importantly, it's Christopher Nolan and he's proving that he's a top-tier filmmaker. Also, I love that he came from pure indie roots. His first film, "Following", which came out in 1998, took over a year to shoot because the whole cast and crew had other full-time jobs and they only shot on Saturdays. Sound familiar? His next film after "Following" was "Momento" ...and if you don't know that film, I'm not sure what to say, but go get it... and now. As for the rest of the box office, "Dinner for Schmucks" was a new release and it did well for a comedy, coming in second. "Salt" was third, "Despicable Me" was fourth and both weren't new releases. "Charlie St. Cloud" came in fifth and "Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore" came in sixth, both were new releases and would be considered disappointments... I assume. As for the week in horror on DVD, it's not bad. So, let's get to it. You can check out all the trailers on our Youtube Channel and you can click on the titles to be taken to the films page on Amazon, where you can read more and/or buy it.

"Hoboken Hollow", written and directed by Glen Stephens, has a great cast, including Jason Connery, C. Thomas Howell, Michael Madsen, Robert Carradine and the late Dennis Hopper. I can only assume that Hopper's passing has something to do with this release, as it originally came out in 2005 and it didn't really do much then. It's sort of a hillbilly horror with some roots in reality. It's about a ranch that picks up workers, usually vagrants and poor folks, and then, well, tortures the crap out of them. Apparently this stuff happened, at least there's lots of urban legends about it. So, that tends to make it just that much more creepy... also, price is right on this DVD, they're selling it for $6.99.

I like the concept behind "Open House" and I think there's a lot of room for other filmmakers to explore this little sub-genre. I'll explain... horror is about fears, right? Taking things that people are scared of in real life and then throwing it in their faces. Well, there's something scary about buying and selling a home. In fact, there's LOTS of scary things about it. From having strangers and random people coming through your house when you try to sell it all the way to not knowing what kind of house you're buying or what kind of neighborhood you're moving in to? Get it? Really, it's scary stuff and there's a lot to work with in this whole concept. Anyhow, "Open House" deals with a couple that's trying to sell their house, but finds out that one of the potential buyers never left the open house.

Robert Beaucage's "Spike" looks a little odd and may not be my cup of tea, but... it could be yours. It did win an award at Shriekfest 2009 - best fantasy feature film, so I may be the odd man out. Actually, I haven't seen it, so I may be jumping to conclusions, but anyhow... The film draws heavily on Grimm's fairytales and, in fact, calls itself a Gothic fairytale. From what I can tell, a group of people head into the woods where they encounter a beast... but the beast leaves a poem behind for one of the girls. That's right, we're talking a gothic "Beauty and The Beast" horror here. Anyhow, it could be interesting. In fact, I'm actually turning myself around here, maybe I'll check it out.

"Secrets of the Clown", from Ryan Badalamenti, is also a bit of a rerelease... I only say that because I remember it from a while ago and it came out in 2007. It won best feature film at the New York International Independent Film & Video Festival and it preys on everyones favorite fear, the fear of clowns. Price is right on this DVD, as well... again, $6.99.

I have to comment on the Asylum double-pack, Blu-ray release of, "Haunting of Winchester House / I Am Omega", because I love Asylum releases. "I Am Omega" takes the "Omega Man" idea, where the main character is the last human on earth, and gives it a bit of an action spin. It came out right around the time that "I Am Legend" came out... Martial Artist Mark Dacascos takes on the zombies and does some serious ass kicking. "Haunting of Winchester House" was brought out after the slew of haunted house films came out, notably "The Haunting in Connecticut", which I'm assuming this was based on.

A Suprise At The Box Office and Retro Week On DVD's This Week

I wasn't really surprised that "Inception" won the weekend at the box office again... The film is good, it's got great buzz and star power. It took in over $43Million over the weekend, bringing its domestic take to over $143Million. What DID surprise me was how well "Salt" did. Quite frankly, I believe that the days of stars carrying films are over and I think we're now in, what I would call, the concept era. Stars can still carry films, but the film better be well put together and/or have a great concept. "Inception" is a great concept from a great filmmaker AND it has star power. "Salt" has a massive star, but the concept is kinda tired. Female lead, a spy action-thriller... your traditional summer film. Does this still fly? I mean, really? Well, it opened strong, very strong. Over $36Million strong. Maybe there is still a bit of gas left in those stars' tanks. Who knows? Anyhow, this Friday is a bit lame... "Cats & Dogs: Revenge of Kitty Galore", "Charlie St. Cloud" and "Dinner for Schmucks". So, let's look at the new horror that's coming out on DVD this week. As usual, you can go to our Youtube Page to see the trailers and you can click on the titles and be taken to the films Amazon page, where you can read more and/or buy it.

It must be retro-week or something. I feel like almost every new release this week has some tie to my personal film-loving history. First up, the "legends of horror have returned". Now, that's not a quote from anybody. That's from the box art. I'd have a tough time referring to Pinhead, Six Shooter and Tunneler as legends, but they are back in Full Moon's "Puppet Master Axis Of Evil". This is the 9th film in the series and it's been a long while since the 8th. Charles Band, you wicked genius... damn, I love the Puppet Master series.

We've discussed "Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated" a few times, most notably when we interviewed the curator/producer of the film, Mike Schneider. You can find that interview by clicking here. It's released by friends of Dead Harvey, Wild Eye Releasing, and it's a great film. Any fan of the original should have this in their collection, for sure.

I didn't know that they still made films like "Death Kappa", but I'm damned glad they do. Did you ever check out the early Godzilla and Mothra type films out of Hong Kong when you were a kid? You know, where it was just dudes in costumes leveling a model city? I loved them... and apparently they're still making them because that's exactly what "Death Kappa" is. I've got two thoughts on this. One, as I said, I'm glad they're still making these. They're great fun. Two, I still think we're in need of more monster movies. We flirted with them around the time that "Cloverfield" and "The Host" came out, but that was it. I think monster movies could explode. Writers... it's a call out to you. We need to be writing monster movies.

"Pickman's Muse", which is based on H.P. Lovecraft's "Haunter of the Dark", was a horror festival darling. It won best adaptation at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Fest and best screenplay and best actor at the Chicago Horror Film Fest, plus it screened at tons of others.

The Wishmaster himself, Andrew Divoff, and Tom Savini star in "The Dead Matter", from director Edward Douglas and the producer of "From Dusk Till Dawn". With that title and those actors, I assumed that it would be a bit an entertaining, gore-comedy film, but the trailer looks quite serious. I haven't seen it, but I'll have to check it out.

Tim Thomerson, Mark Foree and Tiffany Shepis all show up in "Live Evil", a low-budget horror from co-writer and director, Jay Woelfel. There's two storylines taking place in the film, one follows a car full of vampire buddies road-tripping to Hollywood and the other follows a sword-wielding, vampire hunting priest (Thomerson) who's looking to care of some unfinished business. Expect a lot of blood, boobs and vampires. Sold!