First there’s the greedy, polluting corporation that has the town under its thumb, then there’s the uncanny threat lurking below the earth. In between, but no less urgent, threats include the unclean air, black lung disease, and a local drug crisis.

Those here for monster mayhem will have to wait a good while, due to the movie’s chief interest in its tragic human characters. Namely June Schreiner’s role as KC, a young mother whose property is soon the victim of an eminent domain eviction. And as if life isn’t bad enough for KC and her kin, her partner, the equally troubled Jesse (David Garelik), has gone missing.

While it’s a stretch to call this movie’s creature “unique”, the design is still somewhat satisfying. Killer Croc-esque, constantly drooling and lots of teeth? Yes, on all accounts. Byers also isn’t shy about showing that freak of nature. The only problem is, you can’t see it, save for a very few highly visible money shots. As for the monster effects, an uneven mix of practical and digital, they have a shining moment or two. It’s just unfortunate that this movie resorts to hiding practically everything under a veil of darkness.

Putting aside any gripes about the lighting and monster, Byers does have the occasional flair for visuals. Early on, it’s nightmares that show his artistic aptitude; later it’s the whole third act. The movie’s most provoking sequences are in the coal mine, which, naturally, becomes the site of the final battle. On top of the minor hellscape we see down there is some rather grotesque imagery.

You may feel like a pain voyeur as you watch Dark Hollow. There’s so much sadness and hurt on the screen that it’s easy to feel sympathy. At the same time, getting invested in these characters could prove challenging, due to their glaring underdevelopment. A couple is bordering on caricatures, albeit unfunny ones. Luckily, the movie rests on Schreiner’s shoulders, and she’s a bright spot in this bleak and cursory story.

On paper, Dark Hollow has a lot going for it: a Southern Gothic backdrop, a heroic “final girl” sort of character, and most of all, a horrifying monster. Yet in the end, this movie is only a partial success. The individual elements simply don’t come together as well as they could have.

Monsters as metaphors for real life are hardly a new concept, and Dark Hollow has a high possibility of getting lost during a small surge. This year alone has had a couple of other instances, particularly on the indie side. Regrettably, though, this movie doesn’t quite stand out, story or creature-wise, and overall it’s just a little too lackluster.

Brainstorm Media releases Dark Hollow in select theaters and On Demand on September 4.

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From elevators to pools, horror comes up with a lot of strange and isolated settings. The following ten movies, though, are just a small sample of what the genre has to offer whenever characters find themselves getting stuck in one place.

The Telephone Box (1972)

In 1972, there were at least three movies about trapped people, and all three came from television. On top of two American TV-movies, The Screaming Woman and The Longest Night, there was the Spanish featurette called La Cabina (or The Telephone Box). Antonio Mercero offered a sort-of prototype for future cinematic endeavors, albeit one that doesn’t initially present itself as horror. Yet soon enough, the victim in this wordless tragicomedy, a man (José Luis López Vázquez) who merely entered the story’s flashy and seemingly ordinary namesake, experiences sheer terror.

Frozen (2010)

In Adam Green‘s chilling horror movie, three friends (Shawn Ashmore, Kevin Zegers, Emma Bell) are stranded in a chairlift. Luck isn’t on their side, though, as the ski resort they’re at is now shut down due to inclement weather. This leaves the trio hanging in mid-air, vulnerable to the elements and to each other. Frozen is psychological horror for the most part, but eventually, the physical threats make themselves known.

Devil (2010)

Intended as the first of three standalone movies produced by M. Night Shyamalan, John Erick Dowdle‘s Devil wound up as the only entry in The Night Chronicles. The characters spend a brief amount of time outside of the bottle before they’re then sentenced to that most dreadful elevator. Once they’re inside, the story transforms into a suffocating journey of mistrust and evil.

247°F (2011)

Slipping into the sauna after a long and hard day is some people’s idea of heaven. For the characters in Levan Bakhia and Beqa Jguburia‘s movie 247°F, it’s their hell. Scout Taylor-Compton, Christina Ulloa and Travis Van Winkle played the unlucky sauna-goers who have no apparent way of escaping their steamy deathtrap. Soon enough, it’s apparent no one’s coming to save them.

ATM (2012)

In addition to three coworkers becoming trapped inside a freestanding ATM booth, David Brooks‘ movie includes a mysterious killer. One who waits outside and hurts any helpful bystander. You will have to gloss over the fact that the characters (Brian Geraghty, Alice Eve, Josh Peck) parked their car out of reach in order to make the story work. Nonetheless, ATM is a tense watch.

12 Feet Deep (2017)

This isn’t the only pool-set movie here, but Matt Eskandari’s 12 Feet Deep is the more plausible of the two. In this story, Alexandra Park and Nora-Jane Noone play not-so-agreeable sisters who end up beneath a fiberglass pool cover. The center they were swimming at is also closed for the upcoming holiday and, of course, there are no staff members available to free them. Making matters worse, one of these siblings is diabetic.

The Pool (2018)

In this high-concept creature-feature, Ping Lumpraploeng throws a couple (Theeradej Wongpuapan, Ratnamon Ratchiratham), their dog, and a random crocodile into a drained swimming pool. What then follows is a story that is both grueling and ridiculous. Indeed, The Pool would be far less watchable without its determined and unafraid execution. Sadly, none of that same gusto was carried over to the Indian remake.

4×4 (2019)

Unlike 2006’s Penny Dreadful, which is also about someone trapped inside of a car, the thief in Mariano Cohn‘s 4×4 cannot physically leave his vehicular prison. There’s no discernible way for him to get out, seeing as how the SUV has been made to prevent escape. The owner is also rather inclined to let the protagonist (Peter Lanzani) die. This twisted movie has been remade twice so far; first in 2022 as Dongalunnaru Jaagratha, and then more recently in 2025 as Locked.

Fall (2022)

A fear of heights isn’t at all necessary to enjoy Fall, but you might also develop one after watching. The two characters (Grace Caroline Currey, Virginia Gardner) in Scott Mann‘s movie do what most people wouldn’t do, and that’s climbing a decommissioned, 2000-foot tall TV tower. Your sympathy for these unnecessary risk-taking climbers is challenged all throughout, but ultimately, you’re scared for them. The extreme scaling doesn’t end there, either; a sequel called Fall 2: Deadpoint involves an even higher stunt in the sky that, naturally, leads to danger.

#Manhole (2023)

Things are not what they seem in Kazuyoshi Kumakiri‘s #Manhole. What starts off as a tale of unfortunate circumstances quickly spirals into something more menacing. The protagonist (Yūto Nakajima) is set to get married when he drunkenly falls into an open manhole. He then tries to use social media to help make his escape, but someone above ground isn’t about to let that happen.

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Dead Media offers a winking poke at ourselves. “Ourselves” being those of us who live and breathe movies, of course. In the first act, Sammi-Jack Martincak’s character, Maggie, is faced with a universal dilemma for all cineastes; she and her two friends, Brenda (Jessica Fenton) and Daniel (Antonio Teodoro), can’t agree on a movie to watch.

They go through that eerily familiar routine of scrolling through titles on a streaming service, and wasting time that could’ve been used to actually watch something. It’s only once Maggie picks a certain older horror movie, one that her uncle gushes about, does the evening finally begin.

The trio has barely dug into the movie—the fictional “Night of the Lurchers”—when Maggie’s aforementioned uncle crashes the party. Heppy (Sam Landman) got word of his niece streaming this in-story cult classic, and true to his Gen X nature, he then heads over with the DVD copy in hand. Some friction between Brenda and Heppy is soon established amidst the viewing party fun; she wants Maggie to be well-rested for an important interview that next morning, whereas Heppy insists that they stay up and watch the DVD extras. That tension only continues as all hell breaks loose.

Dead Media was off to a mildly amusing start, but its initial plot eventually gets overshadowed by something much bigger and more lore-heavy. On top of the zombie-like Lurchers now inside Maggie’s house, there are those other characters summoned from the diegetic movie. The most prominent of them is the director (Anna Sundberg), who herself popped out of the supplemental material. She indeed raises the story’s stakes from low to medium, but you can also feel Dead Media slowing down as it tries to fit in, and explain, the director character’s origins and motivations.

What could have easily been a repeat of Demons or The Video Dead turns into something more singular, as well as unduly convoluted. It also struggles to balance its own tones; that early sense of humor was in already distress before it was dropped in favor of a somber energy. In addition, not keeping the runtime to ninety minutes or less is a missed opportunity, seeing as how the characters were complaining about modern movies being too long.

Dead Media is high-concept filmmaking done on a very low budget; its actors are never lacking in spirit, either. Ultimately, though, this came across as two or three different movies crammed into one. That feeling of disarray is hard to miss, yet so is the filmmaker’s sincerity.

Whenever the story becomes unfocused, or a little too bogged down by its own rules, Scrimshaw’s love for his movie is easily understood. That clear affection goes a long way in this scrappy love letter to 480p media.

Dead Media is currently screening on a theatrical tour via Antenna Releasing.

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Horror’s on-and-off relationship with urban legends dates back to the ‘70s, give or take. That particular decade was an age of substantial cultural changes, and one method of acknowledging the world was different was telling these friend-of-a-friend stories. It was only understandable that the more dreadful myths would then make their way to the screen; “The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs”, for example, was the starter material for Black Christmas and When a Stranger Calls.

Fast forward to the ‘90s, and we had another discernible uptick in urban legend movies. Horror remained the favorite destination, if you wanted to get these stories made and seen; the proof being Campfire Tales, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Last Broadcast, and of course, Urban Legend. However, there was the occasional switch to other genres.

Twin films are not an uncommon occurrence in the industry, and they happen for a number of reasons. Even still, having two movies about the same campus legend was as freaky as it was refreshing. While their peers were more keen on turning the grislier myths into slashers, The Curve and Dead Man on Campus acted on their shared influence with humor.

The “Pass by Catastrophe” (or “The Suicide Rule”) legend first began to pop up in—where else?—the ‘70s. Although there have been plenty of variations since then, the original outcome endures; because of an obscure college policy, students are granted an automatic passing grade after enduring some kind of hardship. The version used for both The Curve and Dead Man on Campus, and the one I grew up hearing, has a roommate’s suicide being the deciding factor in that instant 4.0. These two movies, however, take the myth even further by having the students take the initiative, rather than waiting for fate to get involved.

The Curve and Dead Man on Campus were each shot in ‘97, but the former was the first to premiere. Before its title was changed from Dead Man’s Curve, Dan Rosen’s directorial debut was screened at Sundance. Initial reviews were more lukewarm than expected, but that wasn’t because of the cast. Coming hot off of Scream, Matthew Lillard was a certified scene-stealer here. That one-half of the original Ghostface duo proved he could work alone, even though he technically was partnered up in this wicked college thriller. Nonetheless, upstaging everyone came easy to him, and he did it with a deranged gleam in his eye.

Michael Vartan and Keri Russell, prior to their own breakout roles in the then-near future, were also mixed up in this messy murder plot to score passing grades. Vartan is Lillard’s more subdued accomplice who is still willing to kill for a spot at Harvard Business School, and Russell is his not-so-innocent girlfriend. As for the victim, who’s played by Randall Batinkoff, he was no slouch when it came to demanding your attention; that increasing misogyny is enough to make you side with his killers. 

If The Curve lacks anything, it’s a stronger saboteur for the young criminals (other than themselves). The two detectives (Anthony Griffith, Bo Dietl) on the case do have some clue as to what’s really going on among these dangerous collegiates, yet this duo is so unremarkable, they may as well have been left on the cutting room floor. Or at the very least, their parts should have been transformed into more screentime for Dana Delany’s underused character.

Accusations of mean-spiritedness have been thrown around in regard to The Curve, but surely, isn’t that the whole point? Entitled, desperate, and unfeeling college kids off one of their own just to get ahead—that concept alone is worthy of an “A”. The twisted conclusion is also the stuff of classic YA suspense; my own rewatch ended with the same sort of amusement I got from reading the works of R. L. Stine and Christopher Pike. It’s so overworked that it’s almost brilliant.

Had it not been for Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, Disturbing Behavior and Blade, the summer of ‘98 would have been a dry season for horror. And even though the plot of Alan Cohn’s Dead Man on Campus comes across as horror, I assure you, it is most definitely a college comedy. Granted, it’s darker than most—college freshmen are typically looking for fun, not at-risk students.

The Curve saw its cast committing murder, whereas Tom Everett Scott and Mark-Paul Gosselaar’s characters in Dead Man on Campus never draw blood. Hoping to score a suicidal roomie, so as to secure perfect grades that semester, is bleak stuff. Even so, the scenario here is one more akin to instant wish fulfillment. The two main characters ask for what seems like the impossible, then they eventually receive it.

Enter Dead Man on Campus with certain expectations, and it just might satisfy your craving for black comedy. Mind you, it’s neither pitch black, nor does it go as far as its setup suggests. For a more grim college comedy, I point you toward Douglas Curtis’ The Hazing (a.k.a. The Curious Case of the Campus Corpse) and Doug Liman’s Getting In. Those two movies, which aren’t without their own tone issues, are even bigger oddballs than this one.

These movies are of that “you had to be there” category of ‘90s cinema. It’s hard to think that either of them would be produced today, at least not without advisory warnings. Of the two, though, The Curve is the least likely to shock, on account of it being a thriller. Death comes with the territory. With Dead Man on Campus, its era-specific approach to mental health is perhaps too indelicate for modern, more enlightened audiences. Proceed with caution if you think the pitches sound iffy.

I can’t speak for everyone, but laughing about my own dark times is how I cope with them. It’s likely why I enjoy the urban legends that give shape to our innermost fears, and make life feel more manageable (logic be damned). Absurd as they are, they can also be weirdly comforting. It only makes sense that the movies they inspire have a similar effect.

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Caving, or spelunking, is not a universal hobby. So for those who do have the urge to crawl around inside of caves, they go about it seriously. Hence, that team of experts found in director Bruce Hunt’s movie. As opposed to those who mistakenly wandered into their subterranean nightmare, these characters chose to explore the vast cave system beneath an old abbey that dates back to the thirteenth century. Up until some Cold War-era looters stepped foot inside—and then never left—it stood mostly intact.

There is a long history of churches building themselves inside of natural caves and other rock formations. Security was one reason for this practice, but as The Cave brings up, sometimes these places were built “as a display of God’s protective power”. Caves were seen as hellmouths in desperate need of plugging up. Putting down a place of worship was then the best way to stave off any potential scourges from the underworld.

That unique method for keeping evil at bay turns out to be true in The Cave, seeing as how the movie’s spelunkers encounter a colony of monsters down there in the dark. These are anything but mere creatures that exist only to feed; on top of devouring the intruders, they use them to increase their numbers. Before anyone cringes at the prospect of interspecies breeding, the expansion I speak of here is more along the lines of zombism. One scratch from these cave-dwelling abominations (who were portrayed by Brian Steele), and you’re bound to become a lifetime member of their club.

It would be remiss of me not to bring up The Descent. It and The Cave are a glowing example of “twin films”; their plots are eerily similar, and Neil Marshall’s movie premiered in the U.S. two weeks before The Cave did. So although their on-paper parallels were enough to make audiences feel some déjà vu back then, their executions are quite different. And just because The Descent is the standard by which all below-ground horror is now measured, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for others. Especially one as well made as The Cave.

The Descent pulled the rug out beneath audiences by having its monsters (a.k.a. the Crawlers) come out of nowhere. Whereas in this movie, the creatures are known from the start. Those aforementioned looters gave us a preview of these nocturnal demons before the present-day cast got up close and personal with them. What happened to the plunderers after their falling into the cavern, and before they mutated, would have made for a viable prequel. Nonetheless, the one movie we did get is a treat for those of us who don’t always want their monsters to be mysterious.

The Cave is largely driven by its plot, as opposed to the characters. That’s not to say there isn’t a little something brimming beneath the surface; the main character of this group, Eddie Cibrian’s Tyler, has a thorny relationship with his brother Jack (Cole Hauser). A certain level of distrust fuels that rift between siblings and business partners. Meanwhile, their peers, namely the other athletic members of this expedition, can’t ever seem to ditch their competitive streaks, even as danger approaches. 

What happens when you put a bunch of stubborn thrill-seekers in a bad situation? According to The Cave, nothing good. Save for Tyler, as well as scientists Kathryn and Alex (Lena Heady and Daniel Dae Kim), erring on the side of caution is really no one’s strong suit. Luckily, that recklessness keeps the action high and the boredom low. The movie being PG-13 does prevent any major blood loss on screen, but that rating also doesn’t rule out violence. The monster-on-human carnage is plentiful, if not noticeably inhibited. You just have to use your imagination a bit more whenever a creature claims its victim.

It’s only fitting that there would be an emphasis on setting; the titular location is easily the real star of this movie. Out of all the things that get criticized, that mazelike cavern shouldn’t be one of them. The Dante’s Inferno-esque environment, which was designed by Pier Luigi Basile, gives the movie some teeth, as well as a sense of wonder. Yes, all its studio-built constructions are enhanced by digital effects, but the care and work are also undeniable. Your admiration for the production values and visuals during key scenes, such as Piper Perabo’s rock-climbing clash with a suddenly triphibian monster, is understandable.

Even if The Descent had never existed, critics very likely would have still hated The Cave. The low innovation, in terms of story and characters, was more offensive than its resemblance to a then-recent release. In my own biased defense of the movie, though, it’s overly, not to mention bitterly, hated. 

Admittedly, the quality of the script doesn’t match the movie’s craftsmanship. Not in the slightest. Yet if all you crave is a well-produced, stylized creature-feature that boasts an easy-on-the-eyes cast and some underrated monsters, then you’re in luck. Once you realize what you’re in for, The Cave is a hell of a lot more enjoyable. 

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Bennett began, and still works, in television. His wheelhouse of animal documentaries served The Dinosaur Project well. For starters, there’s a visual admiration for nature that even the pressing POV format can’t undo. Bennett, plus cinematographer Tom Pridham, put a welcome coat of gloss on those scenic parts. Another thing to consider is the fact that some of the characters are professional cameramen. That means the found-footage genre’s necessary evil of shaky cam is, at least in a comparative context, kept to a minimum.

The South Africa-shot The Dinosaur Project seems pretty groundbreaking for found footage, but at its core, this, too, is another movie about people dying in the unforgiving outdoors. Of course, this more singular instance saw an official expedition taking a turn somewhere in the Congo, as opposed to everyday folks getting lost in the deep, dark woods of Anywhere, America. Nevertheless, the ingredients are indeed different here, but the recipe is roughly the same.

As things tend to go in these kinds of movies, one’s profound curiosity soon turns into deep regret. Yet in The Dinosaur Project, there is more than just pure speculation that spurs a voyage to the Congolese forests; the British Cryptozoological Society is responding to worldwide news of a not-so-hidden cryptid. It’s found footage within found footage.

Who better to lead that journey of a lifetime than renowned adventurer Jonathan Marchant (Richard Dillane)? He’s this universe’s Josh Gates, albeit way less cheery and not drunk on his own wanderlust. But to keep Marchant from becoming a basic man of action, the movie gives him something of a foil; his teenage son, Luke (Matthew Kane), demonstrates more attention-seeking behavior by crashing the trip and causing trouble at every turn.

Luke’s youthful presence, along with the potential for father-son drama playing out in between dino chases, smells of a family movie being passed off as a toothless creature-feature. Yet as the Jurassic Park franchise has proven time and time again, there’s no need to sacrifice thrills or carnage just because there are young characters among the cast. If anything, including kids fuels the dread. The story is also wise not to draw focus away from the main attraction. You came for dinosaurs, and that’s essentially all you get here. I mean it as a compliment when I say the human characters take a back seat to their larger-than-life co-stars.

Regardless of their extinction status, surviving dinosaurs are often more plausible than the most common subjects in horror found footage, which includes a variety of paranormal entities and mystifying monsters. In the same breath, that’s where this movie runs into an issue—are living dinos that much more scary than the unknown?

It goes without saying that Jurassic Park put dinosaurs on everyone’s radar well before Bennett and co-writer Jay Basu ever conceived this story of prehistoric peril in the present day. So there is a bit of desensitization that comes with this, and really any newer genre movie about dinos. The oohing and awing toward these animals is not quite as loud as before. Our habituation, though, is put on pause once we’re forced to identify with the characters on screen and see everything through their eyes.

First-person narratives in found footage sometimes have a way of making the unreal feel real, even when the artifice is recognized. However, The Dinosaur Project is never able to execute that same sort of feat; for obvious reasons, nothing depicted here comes across as credible. Surely no one will walk away from this movie and think dinosaurs are alive again. That said, you may still be impressed by those methods used to manifest their cinematic return.

Jellyfish Pictures were the digital wizards behind this movie’s creature visuals. The London-based company, which has since merged with another production studio to become JFX, had a hand in a variety of other non-dino media, including Black Mirror and the Fear Street trilogy. Most beneficial here, though, was Planet Dinosaur (2011). That BBC docuseries was like a good dry run for The Dinosaur Project, although Jellyfish had clearly stepped up their game for the movie. Undoubtedly, now having humans in the same scenes as the CG dinos required more care and effort on the artists’ part.

A smaller budget than what Steven Spielberg was working with means this movie shows a lot fewer dinosaurs. Don’t go in expecting to see a Tyrannosaurus like the one found on some of the posters; that iconic theropod is nowhere to be found. In the T-Rex’s place, however, are other familiar species, such as Pteranodon, Elasmosaurus and Liopleurodon. Those last two are notable for their shared set-piece—the best one—as well as for their mere inclusion in the movie. After all, giant marine reptiles wouldn’t appear in the Jurassic films until a few years after The Dinosaur Project was first released.

This was one of several well-funded, high-concept movies from the 2010s era of found footage. While The Dinosaur Project has little in the way of complex characters and storytelling, it remains unique among its peers. Anyone who enjoys atypical POV offerings, prehistoric fauna, or simply both, is urged to hunt this movie down. It may just end up surprising you.

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In addition to the TV series was an ancillary line of YA novels. Think Goosebumps, except here the show preceded the books. While most of the entries were original, there was the occasional novelization. Naturally, the intended audience is also young; however, these stories remain worthwhile reads, even if you’re well past the target age.

Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, here are ten Are You Afraid of the Dark? stories that can only be found in the books.

The Tale of the Shimmering Shell

In The Tale of the Shimmering Shell, written by David Cody Weiss and Bobby JG Weiss, Glynis is spending her summer at a beach house with her father, her stepmother, and her stepbrother. Early on, though, it’s made clear that Glynis is unhappy with this new family arrangement. So much so that she accidentally made everyone disappear; the strange shell she found granted her wish.

And little does Glynis know that same shell housed an evil entity: Typhon from Ancient Greek mythology. It’s only once Glynis works with her stepbrother, as well as the neighborly mermaid in charge of keeping Typhon imprisoned, that the old threat finally stays a thing of the past.

Midnight Society member Sam (played by Joanna Garcia in the series) served up this offering about wishes. Although, the wish part here is so small in the grand scheme of things. The Tale of the Shimmering Shell, like the majority of these books, ultimately has big ideas that would have never been feasible in the original TV show. This is a fantastical story that can only be told with the kind of production and effects that the classic Are You Afraid of the Dark? couldn’t provide.

The Tale of the Souvenir Shop

Betty Ann (Raine Pare-Coull) dropped this exciting slice of underworld horror. In Alice Eve Cohen‘s The Tale of the Souvenir Shop, Julianna, her parents, and her younger sister, Emily, stop at the worst tourist trap imaginable: the Self-Guided Volcanic Cave Tours. But while the parents get themselves lost for most of this tale, the daughters end up being sealed inside a giant snow globe, then sent to the story’s equivalent of Hell.

The culprit behind the snow-globing is the owner of the caves’ souvenir shop, although he’s been working under duress for the last ten-plus years. A bad deal with a subterranean society of modern yet cruel cyclopes, and the fact that he’s working to save his granddaughter, is why he involved Julianna and Emily. When the cyclopes refuse to make good on their end of the deal, though, it’s up to the two main characters, plus the granddaughter, to save themselves.

This adventurous tale boasts another high concept that would have required a lot of special effects. The last act alone has the three main characters escaping their one-eyed captors via a toy car!

The Tale of the Mogul Monster

In The Tale of the Mogul Monster (also written by the Weisses), snowboarder Dee was dealt a bad hand; he’s rich now only because his parents died. So even though he’ll never have to worry about student loans, having friends who actually like him, and not just his money, proves difficult. This issue plays out as Dee and two of his hangers-on get lost outdoors.

An off-course excursion at a snow resort leads to avalanches and injuries. Making matters worse, the main character then suspects he’s being followed by the Bigfoot-like monster said to live around these parts.

With one friend badly hurt, and another acting like a selfish coward, Dee’s odds of surviving the harsh and cold wilderness seem low. However, the pro shredder who went missing out here—turns out he rejected his fame and chose to live among these civilized Bigfeet—comes to his rescue.

One overlooked aspect of Are You Afraid of the Dark? is the characters. Yes, their designs are more simple than complex, but the writers were still decent about fleshing out these young protagonists in peril. The books do more of the same, albeit to a greater extent. They can afford to look beneath the surface a little longer.

The Tale of the Curious Cat

The Tale of the Curious Cat (written by Diana G. Gallagher) is a story from Betty Ann, and out of everything here, it feels the most like an episode of the show. A teen named Natalie is always giving in to her nagging curiosity and then not owning up to the consequences. Usually, though, her worst trait causes minimal damage. That is until she meets Wanda, a strange and rather vengeful merchant at the town fair.

Despite the “do not touch” sign put in plain sight, Natalie messed with Wanda’s enticing cat statuette. Except, it wasn’t the object that came to harm; Wanda’s real cat, Shadow, got scared by the girl and ran out in front of a moving car. This freak occurrence led to Shadow’s death, as well as the unrelenting curse placed upon Natalie, her young sister, and any others caught in the protagonist’s orbit.

This tale, like plenty of others in Are You Afraid of the Dark?, features a very harsh lesson that only the supernatural could deliver. From her sister withering to nonexistence to her friends nearly dying, Natalie gets an unmistakable message about her thoughtless behavior.

The Tale of the Restless House

John Peel a.k.a. “Nicholas Adams” provided the inspiration for 2024’s Tarot. He also wrote books for Doctor Who, Carmen Sandiego, Eerie, Indiana, and various Star Trek franchises. In his second-ever Are You Afraid of the Dark? contribution, Peel tossed a group of unsuspecting kids into a temporal anomaly.

In another Sam-narrated story, a prank on an unpopular classmate goes terribly wrong. Kendra and her pals tricked Adam into going into the creepiest place in the neighborhood: the old Hawkins House. In due time, they embark on a trip that defies all logic. The characters are trapped inside this living house, which punishes them whenever they try to leave, or rewards them whenever they accept their fate. In their travels across time, they encounter saber-toothed cats, dinosaurs, and trigger-happy Revolutionary War soldiers.

The supposed scaredy-cat of the group isn’t the nerdy Adam, but rather his would-be pranksters. All except Kendra, who realizes her friends are losers and Adam is actually pretty cool. Finally, once they all understand the house is alive and is simply trying to make friends in its own weird way, the group finds a way back to their time. Oddly enough, Adam and Kendra step foot back inside, even though they’re free, and befriend the not-so-malevolent Hawkins House. That way, there should be no more incidents like this one.

The Tale of the Stalking Shadow

The Tale of Stalking Shadow unearthed the tragic history of one town. In this other Sam story, Vailmonton owes a lifetime of gratitude to Mrs. Vailmon, hence the residents always going out of their way to help her. If not for that old woman’s philanthropy, the town wouldn’t have survived its hardships.

An old caregiving program for Mrs. Vailmon was recently reinstated, and Hadley jumped at the opportunity to sign up. Mind you, her motives aren’t entirely altruistic; she wants comfort and answers that only this old woman can provide. But as she digs into the town’s origins, Hadley reveals a disturbing truth. There’s also the monstrous shadow creature that has manifested from Mrs. Vailmon’s years’ worth of guilt.

While the Weisses’ morality tale doesn’t absolve Vailmon of her wrongdoing, they do grant her some leniency in the end. Most of which comes from Hadley, a girl who contemplated all sides of the story.

The Tale of the Ghost Riders

John Vornholt didn’t write the scariest story, but at the same time, The Tale of the Ghost Riders centers on grief and anger. Both of those feelings are frightful and confusing for any young person. Here, one boy is given a second chance after nearly losing his soul.

According to narrator Gary (Ross Hull), Josh has a lot to be mad about. His older brother and his father are dead, and his family farm now belongs to the town baron, Henry Akers. Josh, along with his friend Carlos, then uses the local legend of the Ghost Riders to scare Akers. The only problem is, the Ghost Riders are real—and they’re prepared to add Josh to their herd, so long as he continues to act out and go down the same road as his late brother.

The stereotype of Native Americans as mystical beings is in use here, yet the story’s key message is still worth some consideration.

The Tale of the Virtual Nightmare

This spin on the body snatcher idea, courtesy of Ted Pedersen, has a computer geek learning the importance of screen time management. In The Tale of the Virtual Nightmare, Gary warned of what might happen if someone became too reliant on technology.

Sam (no, not that Sam) loves computer games, and his latest obsession almost culminates in a total invasion. It all began with Sam acting differently; he’s cleaned up, more social, and generally not the Sam who Cady had come to know and care about. Yet once Cady looks into her bestie’s bizarre behavior, she discovers the source of that sudden switch.

Cady learns that Sam has been replaced with a cyber version of himself, and this impostor plans on doing the same process to everyone else at school. It’s only once Cady enters the computer world and joins forces with the real Sam that the villains return to the virtual realm, at least for the time being.

The Tale of the Deadly Diary

Brad and Barbara Strickland thought up a story that would have also been prime material for a screen adaptation. In Betty Ann’s The Tale of the Deadly Diary, Beth is, like many kids her age, fed up with her little sister. Not only does Beth despise Karen’s constant snooping, but she blames her for their parents’ divorce. After Karen leaks the embarrassing details of her big sis’ diary to the whole school, albeit inadvertently, Beth tears up what she once considered her best friend.

Soon enough, Beth wanders into that mysterious shop run by a recurring character from Are You Afraid of the Dark?: Dr. Vink “with a vuh-vuh-vuh“! He gives Beth a brand-new personalized diary that makes its entries come true. Unfortunately for everyone, a made-up story intended to scare the prying Karen becomes too real; Beth wills horrible goblins into existence.

The Tale of the Deadly Diary neither goes as far with the manifesting diary concept as it could have, nor does it quite resolve the tension between the siblings, but it does boast a notably sinister appearance from fan-favorite villain Dr. Vink.

The Tale of the Sinister Statues

In that first novel, The Tale of the Sinister Statues, Gary kicked things off with a story that may as well have come from the TV series. Here we have Brianne and Dustin, siblings who don’t get along, on account of their very different attitudes. While Brianne likes to joke around with her friend, Tim, Dustin is more uptight. He has to be with a sister like his.

At the museum, Tim’s immaturity gets him in trouble—this time with the ominous curator named Dr. Stone. To avoid any legal action, Stone has Tim stay behind to work off his punishment. That was the last time he was also seen. Pretty soon, Brianne and Dustin uncover what Stone has been doing at the museum; he’s using people’s energy to make inanimate things, like statues of a gargoyle and Anubis, come to life. Luckily, Anubis is a judge of what’s right and wrong, and he turns on Dr. Stone. The Egyptian god then sets everything straight, including returning Tim to his normal form.

What it lacks in potential body horror, The Tale of the Sinister Statues makes up for in weird science. The final product indeed becomes less and less scary, due to its overexplained story, but it’s also never dull. It’s a good way to begin one’s journey into the Are You Afraid of the Dark? books.

The post 10 ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark?’ Stories That Exist Only In The Classic Book Series appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

All that changed, albeit briefly, back in 1999. That was when one movie saw the potential for Komodos as monsters. Unfortunately, this effort went unseen by most, and apart from two unrelated movies directed by Jim Wynorski, these dragons have all but vanished from the screen.

For most of the world, the abovementioned Komodo went straight to video; in the mid-2000s, Sci Fi Channel/SYFY also aired it alongside their made-in-house movies. Back then, though, video store patrons’ hesitation toward renting Komodo was understandable. The cheapish, vague cover we got in the States not only concealed the beast within, but it also didn’t convey the movie’s actual quality.

Having said that, those who took a chance on Komodo were in for a surprise. They may even agree that it’s a bit of an underrated creature feature.

While Komodo was primarily shot in the wilds of Queensland’s Gold Coast, the movie is set in the Crystal Coast. Neither location, though, is a natural habitat for these dragons. No, the Varanus komodoensis is native to a number of Indonesian islands, including its namesake, Komodo. Before accusing screenwriters Hans Bauer and Craig Mitchell of relocating these animals to America, just to suit their story—lest anyone forget how Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid decided anacondas suddenly live in Borneo—there’s a good reason why these voracious lizards have now taken up residence in North Carolina. Their unfortunate misplacement reflects the sad reality of wildlife smuggling.

Returning to the scene of the crime, especially for cathartic reasons, is an evergreen setup in horror. In Komodo, a mildly arrogant therapist named Dr. Victoria Juno (Jill Hennessy) thinks she can fix a boy named Patrick (Kevin Zegers). Her work is cut out for her because this tight-lipped, traumatized teen saw his family be devoured by mysterious creatures, and ever since then, he blames himself for their deaths. Patrick’s aunt (Nina Landis) is vocally opposed to Juno’s confrontational form of therapy, but nonetheless, she accompanies the doctor and her nephew to that accursed summer home where dragons dwell.

Patrick’s visit to the island where he spent his vacations, and where he last saw his parents alive, is barely peaceful before the monsters reveal themselves in gruesome fashion. The cast pruning seen in other horror movies is comparatively spaced out, whereas in Komodo, those insatiable lizards are itching to kill. Here the early victims are more of those closest to Patrick. First it’s his aunt, whose agonizing demise is among a few that challenge this movie’s PG-13 rating, then eventually the kind boat captain (Michael Edward-Steven) who ferried Patrick to and from the island every summer. So, indeed, the body count reaches a decent size before the second act can even begin.

In exchange for those somewhat premature deaths, the story introduces more human fodder. These new characters are nothing substantial, but they do prevent this from becoming a two-hander. Creature features typically need more prey—not less. On top of that, ex-biologist Oates (Billy Burke), who got roped into exterminating the Komodos with his more relaxed partner (Paul Gleeson), is the movie’s additional villain; the entity responsible for all the needless carnage in this movie is a greedy businessman (Simon Westaway).

Komodo boasts non-indigenous animals as the main antagonists, yet that doesn’t stop it from expressing ecological concern. That messaging, however, is more undercooked than anything found in the classic cycle of these kinds of movies. The Komodos having to locate new food sources because of a local oil company’s operations is neither original nor belabored. Needless to say, the company covering up the dragons’ presence resembles the mayor’s actions in Jaws.

Special effects guy Michael Lantieri had a pretty stacked résumé well before he signed on to direct his first, and so far only, feature film. On top of the first two Jurassic Park flicks, he had previously worked on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Hook, Death Becomes Her, Dracula, Congo, and Mars Attacks!. So if anyone was to helm an effects-driven movie like Komodo, perhaps there was no one more capable, or enthusiastic, than Lantieri.

The premise of Komodo is rather simple, and the execution is even simpler. For what it lacks in storytelling and character work, it makes up for in action and effects. Mind you, Lantieri never delivered anything here along the lines of Spielberg’s T-Rex/Jeep scene; the closest is Burke going full dark and seemingly setting himself ablaze to kill off a dragon. Seeing as how Lantieri’s main goal was to insert higher-grade effects into a relatively smaller, cheaper movie, Komodo is something of a success.

It’s worth noting that the budget here was said to be $15 million. That’s a sizable chunk of change for what’s labeled an indie horror movie, yet for the most part, that money went to good use. Even through today’s lens, the effects hold up better than expected. Just go watch Deep Blue Sea, also from ‘99, and see how hit-or-miss that era’s CGI could be—and that movie cost way more to make than Komodo did. Sure, shooting nearly everything at night, and in the rain, helped hide the imperfections, but that method doesn’t account for the entire production. 

On the special effects front, Phil Tippett, John Cox and Don Elliot all filled in for Lantieri, and their combined work is easily the highlight of Komodo. The digital dragons do outnumber the tangible ones, and you’re bound to notice the obvious head prop that routinely creeps into frame. Overall, that craftsmanship is certainly flawed, but it’s never so much so that you’re pulled out of the movie.

Komodo’s general intensity and gloominess would be a lot less bearable without its big bag of tricks. Those, of course, being the visual feats that distract from the slight script and the cursory characters. To its credit, though, Komodo does make the most of its concept.

Until modern nature horror branches out and looks elsewhere in the animal kingdom for inspiration, this remains the best movie about these living dragons.

The post ‘Komodo’ Turned Nature’s Largest Lizards Into A Surprisingly Effective Creature Feature appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Based on its blurb—“Nine teenagers enter an abandoned cemetery […] Before the night is over, most of them will die“—it was pretty clear what Joyride was emulating, not to mention cashing in on. Keep in mind, though, not a lot of publishers back then were as quick to follow the lead (not counting novelizations of slasher movies, of course). So, at the very least, this was a unique literary venture for its time.

Even better, it rivals some of the best one-and-done slasher movies from that same time period.

Joyride was originally released under Ronald Francis Patrick’s nom de plume of Stephen Crye. Before the author introduced the world to that bloodthirsty, cemetery-lurking killer named Cleats, Patrick wrote about another disturbed individual who worked around corpses. Patrick’s previous novel, Beyond the Threshold (1978), centered on the macabre proceedings, as well as sexual fluidity, of a mortician. Indeed, this is a sleazy and repugnant story, but at the same time, the way Patrick considered queer sexuality is still worth reading. Of particular interest is the novel’s sympathetic portrayal of its gay side character:

“Cleats stood back and watched without expression as the multiple wounds in her throat began to spurt in giant pulsating arcs…”

Meanwhile, Joyride has a less complex narrative. It also trades complicated characters for more cursory ones; in lieu of some interesting roles, there’s now a whole cast of paper-thin players who practically walked in off the sets of the most straightforward ‘80s slasher movies. All the requisite archetypes are in attendance here: the jock, the brain, the mean girl, the virgin, the loose girl, the loser, and the younger sibling (really a cousin) who tagged along on the wrong night.

Patrick did his homework with Joyride; the novel never feels like it was written by someone who had never seen a slasher, much less hated them. If he did object, that sentiment didn’t come across in the writing. There is, though, that proclivity to explain the killer, as opposed to keeping him or her an enigma. Some movies do the bare minimum for backstories, such as only sharing a campfire tale in the beginning. This book, on the other hand, goes that extra mile by devoting half of itself to the antagonist’s origins.

Upon first read, it seems as if Joyride lacks a compelling villain. After all, Cleats—whose nickname comes from his choice of footwear—is yet another slasher killer born from abuse, hardship, and humiliation. By now that kind of origin story has been exhausted in the genre. However, all those extensive flashbacks to Cleats’ past make this novel somewhat different from the average ‘80s slasher.

Immediately setting Joyride apart from the likes of Halloween and Friday the 13th is its opening scene. Teens caught in mid-coitus are a popular choice for first victims, whereas this novel opted for a less probable target. Wandering into the story’s dreaded destination, ahead of the human targets, is a plump dachshund who, unfortunately, doesn’t stand a chance against Cleats. One’s own tolerance for animal cruelty in fiction will be tested here, as the novel doesn’t relent when it comes to describing that poor pup’s demise. This early display of Cleats’ ferocity is possibly too much for the average slasher fan; even the human deaths aren’t as meticulously told. So, skipping the prologue would be understandable if someone wants to be spared the gory details.

Joyride forgoes further appetizers and serves up the main course with readiness. Several unsuspecting high schoolers soon roll up to the deadest part of town, searching for fun in the least likely of places. Their choice of hangout spot makes zero sense, but Cleats is like any other territorial murderer; he can’t kill if they don’t come. In this case, they come of their own accord—two cars worth of hormonal, adolescent quarries enter the beast’s lair without even an old-timer around to warn them. With the gate now suddenly closed, leaving proves difficult.

Patrick dishes out the death almost instantly, before then tapering off until the third act. In a bit of a twist, though, Joyride subverts expectations by disposing of the ostensible final girl ahead of everyone else; a goody-goody gets the first taste of Cleats’ fury after she hightails it for the cemetery’s entrance/exit. From there it’s anyone’s guess as to who’s next on the kill list—is it the amorous couple who disappeared for a quickie, or is it that slovenly glutton who goes by the nickname of “Twinkie”? Surely Patrick wouldn’t allow any harm to befall the youngest of the bunch.

“Priscilla’s jaws flapped uncontrollably but emitted no sound as she watched her boyfriend’s skin sizzle and pop like frying bacon.”

Reading horror, versus watching horror, forces one to sit with certain imagery and thoughts. This is very true of Cleats’ murders. Patrick, like other authors, is enthusiastic about the ways in which these characters perish. What would have been over in mere seconds on screen is now prolonged on paper. “Agonizing” is a good way of summing up the kills here. As one would expect from a tawdry ‘80s horror paperback, the sexual parts range from titillating to plain uncomfortable.

While there isn’t a lot of substantial food for thought in Joyride, it does offer the theory that monsters aren’t born—they’re made. Robert, before he became known as Cleats, was once a teenager who grew up around death. And having been raised in the mortuary business, Robert would have naturally developed a different outlook on life. He knew of the inevitability of death, the fleetingness of everything, better than anyone his age. So when Robert was adamant about giving his classmate a love letter, because he was afraid of never seeing her again after graduation, it stood to reason that his fear was based on firsthand knowledge that people can’t wait around for life to happen. In his point of view, lives often ended without warning and without closure. 

“His trembling fingers slid across the wet pulp of shredded flesh that dangled from his exposed jaw…”

Cleats’ backstory is nothing unprecedented. Boy wants girl, girl doesn’t want him. Boy is bullied, bullies take things too far. Internal loathing is then manifested as a horrific disfigurement. It’s a formula still in use today. In Joyride, though, that process of going from outcast teen to madman is laid out more hurriedly. The inclusion of Robert’s specific home life, which includes his being a caregiver to a cruel, disabled father, does at least add more grounds for his dramatic transformation. However, this isn’t the sort of novel where everything will, or has to, make sense all the time. Most likely, readers are going to be more invested in Cleats’ story rather than Robert’s.

The abrupt jumps to the past are perhaps unnecessary, and they can make it hard to stay focused on the current events. Then again, Joyride has barely a plot to begin with. Its strong suits are really those scenes of violence and luridness, all of which are written with gusto.

Most slasher fiends will prefer to watch, not read, stories of stalking killers, dead teenagers and growing body counts. Yet if they ever want to switch things up, especially with a novel that feels and acts like a classic slasher, then Joyride is absolutely a trip worth taking.

Fathom Press resurrects Joyride on August 20, featuring a new introduction by Will Errickson.

The post Forgotten ’80s Slasher Novel ‘Joyride’ Is Finally Back In Print This Month appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Horror assures us that trouble is underway once the characters set foot into nature. With the great outdoors being a popular backdrop in the genre, there is no shortage of camp horror.

Now, if you want to go off the well-beaten path and look beyond the likes of Friday the 13th and Sleepaway Camp, then you’re heading in the right direction.

These ten less-seen movies not only capture the spirit of camping, they also show the potential dangers.

Rituals (1977)

In this punishing account of camping gone horribly, horribly wrong, we head to Northern Ontario, Canada. Peter Carter‘s Rituals follows the unlucky doctors-turned-outdoorsmen who, over the course of this tragic story, are targeted by both an unseen madman and the harsh, rural landscape. Overall, Rituals doesn’t take its story lightly—and nor should you.

Body Count (1986)

From that sea of Friday the 13th emulators is this one Italian import. Although Body Count is almost egregiously low on originality, it’s rather high in aesthetic appeal. Cannibal Holocaust director Ruggero Deodato, along with cinematographer Emilio Loffredo, draws on the autumnal backdrop of this Italo slasher. The giallo-esque score is also another highlight in this attractive yet ultimately uninspired movie.

The Deadly Camp (1999)

While Bowie Lau‘s spin on the camping slasher movie is hardly any different from what’s plentifully available in the West, it’s also one of the few campout horrors from the late ’90s. By then, the genre had largely relocated to cities and suburbs, before then returning to nature, so to speak. The Deadly Camp premiered during a hot trend, specifically that fresh crop of post-Scream, postmodern slashers, and delivered something retro and straightforward. The end result is more along the lines of classic hixsploitation, albeit with some bandaged maniac running around with a chainsaw. As for its sense of humor, don’t go in expecting anything meta; you’re instead treated to that regional style of comedy that was so prevalent in Hong Kong horror.

Wilderness (2006)

In the 2000s, British cinema saw itself opening up to more kinds of horror stories. The genre wasn’t just haunted Victorian houses and wailing ghosts anymore. Among this new wave of Brit horror were the more extreme tales of survival, such as M. J. Bassett‘s Wilderness. Here, adolescent delinquents are thrown on the chopping block after they’re brought to an uninhabited island for team-building and disciplining. Yet it’s not their proctors who are doling out the grisly punishments. No, it’s that masked archer who’s picking them off, one by one, and using a pack of bloodthirsty dogs whenever one of his arrows misses its target. So, Lord of the Flies this movie ain’t, but it definitely offers coming-of-rage thrills.

The Barrens (2012)

A family campout can feel like a horror movie all on its own. But what if the trip occurred somewhere as eerie as the Pine Barrens? The titular location for this slow-burner is supposedly home to one of America’s most iconic cryptids: the Jersey Devil. Darren Lynn Bousman is sure to include New Jersey’s most infamous resident. You may come to loathe the human characters, but rest assured, your waiting for the Devil to show up will not be in vain.

Evidence (2012)

Given the popularity of found footage back then, it’s really no surprise that movies like Howie Askins‘ Evidence became so overlooked. However, this is a bona fide hidden gem that more found-footage fans should see, if they haven’t already. Here we have what looks like a very standard Bigfoot story; some unsuspecting campers spot a strange creature out in the forest. Soon enough, those same characters are thrown into a hellish situation that has to be seen to be believed. After watching, you might agree that “Endurance” would have been a better title for this movie.

Cub (2014)

As the Belgian movie Cub shows, camping isn’t always about having fun and relaxing. Sometimes it’s for learning, bonding, and confidence-building. In Jonas Govaerts‘ debut, some cub scouts and their guardians set up base in werewolf territory. Or so that’s what the boys have been told. According to their scout masters, a legendary wolf-boy named “Kai” is said to live around these parts. Well, they’re not exactly wrong. Cub may look like kiddie horror, on account of its young cast, but don’t let their ages fool you—there’s a lot of death in these woods.

The Pool (2014)

This horror story from the Netherlands doesn’t immediately disclose its threat. No, in Chris W. Mitchell‘s movie, you have to wait a short while before finding out what’s really after these two city families. Who, by the way, were asking for trouble. They incurred the wrath of someone, or something, after camping in a spot that was clearly marked off-limits. Their behaviors don’t make their trespassing any less offensive. Keep in mind, The Pool is not remotely trying to be scary, but it is intriguing and, quite often, darkly humorous.

Cruel Summer (2016)

Craig Newman and Second Sight Films producer Phillip Escott‘s ripped-from-the-headlines movie, one about an autistic teen who goes camping, lives up to its name and then some. This dark and disturbing dramatization makes fellow “hoodie horror” Eden Lake feel almost tame by comparison. Most likely you’ll not want to revisit this story too soon after watching, but that just speaks to its efficacy. It’s astonishing how unwaveringly evil this story becomes.

Marshmallow (2025)

Daniel DelPurgatorio treated us to Marshmallow, an atypical horror movie about summer camp. It’s a bit hard to discuss this unique story without getting into specifics, and also totally spoiling you. So, for the best viewing experience possible, avoid reading too much about Marshmallow. Just know it features a grieving boy, a mysterious summer camp, and an ending that is truly unexpected.

The post 10 Camp Horror Movies You Might Not Have Seen appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

However, the scarceness of The Kiss, while a bit annoying, makes it like catnip for ‘80s horror completists everywhere. Hopefully, a lot of them will walk away satisfied after watching this hidden gem.

Even though The Kiss was intended as the first of several horror collaborations between Astral Pictures and TriStar, as well as the first feature produced by Densham, Richard B. Lewis and John Watson’s Trilogy Entertainment Group, it ended up being the only one produced from that former union. Once the movie was released, TriStar’s distribution jitters—they opted for a regional rollout—did the $6-million flick no favors. TriStar’s cold feet toward horror releases have been well noted, but The Kiss still did a tad better than Night of the Creeps (1986), another genre outing that flopped due to its regional opening.

Shot in Montreal, but set in Albany, New York, The Kiss—which was still called The Host just a few months before its October premiere—concerns an average middle-class family and their forthcoming situation. The uncanny problem in store for them was, in fact, set in motion some years earlier. As that hot and dusty flashback to the Belgian Congo shows, a familial curse was set upon the two Dunbar sisters well before Meredith Salenger’s teenage character was born.

The Kiss, which was based on a story by co-writer Stephen Volk (Ghostwatch) and penned by both Volk and Tom Ropelewski, has the outward appearance of The Stepfather (1987). This movie, though, is anything but a gender-flipped retread of that classic domestic disturber. For starters, The Kiss is far less grounded in reality—that much is clear from its unsettling opening scene. There, a trusting girl (Priscilla Mouzakiotis) is the victim of her own deceptive aunt (Céline Lomez); the movie’s titular act, and the story’s first shock, becomes the means of transferring an ancient evil from one host to another.

In the present day, Salenger’s role of Amy Halloran, a religious schoolgirl, is dealt a harsh blow in life once her mother, Hilary Halloran née Dunbar (Pamela Collyer), suddenly dies in a freak accident. But rather than a complete stranger sweeping the Halloran widower (Nicholas Kilbertus) off his feet some months later, Joanna Pacula’s character is that chosen temptress. Here, Pacula plays the grown-up version of the afflicted girl last seen in the movie’s opener. Since Amy’s mother is insistent about there being no reunion between estranged sisters, and she even contemplates buying a gun shortly before her tragic demise, it’s presumable that Aunt Felice poses a threat to her family.

The Kiss isn’t a movie ever too concerned about its own predictability. The audience is indeed often one step ahead of the story here, but also keep in mind how every one of those steps is loud. Take, for instance, the death of Amy’s mother; the Halloran matriarch goes out in garish, gruesome fashion, as a supernaturally commandeered truck sends Collyer’s character through a store window first, then leaves her one leg short. The directorial enthusiasm truly comes out in horrific moments such as these.

The Kiss is always sure to revel in its characters’ ills and misfortunes. So if the plot doesn’t impress, then its lurid parts should. Amy’s mother’s exit scene was proof of an eager, first-time horror director proving his worth. Then, bestie Heather (Sabrina Boudot) survives to tell the tale of a bizarre escalator mishap that, despite showing relatively less gore, spikes viewers’ empathy meter. The wilder bits of this movie, however, commence with that inevitable hookup between Felice and Amy’s bewitched father; their kitchen coitus is paralleled by Amy’s feverish classroom terror. The outcome there is a disquieting cross-cut of sex magic and a young woman’s menstrual onset plus hallucinations.

From foam appliances to bladders, that parade of special effects in The Kiss casts its own spell on the audience. Felice’s familiar, a visibly malevolent cat, was realized here with several models, some more articulate than others. Admittedly, the demon cat’s not as convincing as most of the effects here, but accepting that artifice, as opposed to fighting it, will make the whole experience way more enjoyable. As for the makeup used to manifest Felice’s inner villainy, it is more minimal and subtle than one might like; yet the work done to turn Pacula into an antithesis of herself is nonetheless compelling.

The otherworldly perils and dreadful goings-on wouldn’t work half as well as they do in The Kiss without the story’s contrast effect. Finding frights in picturesque, extremely ordinary settings was something that took off in the ‘80s, thanks to that sweeping shift to locales like the suburbs. And Amy’s home, a replica of a real Montreal suburban house, is the ideal battleground for any proper good-versus-evil story. It’s also prime real estate for this movie’s satanic panic-inspired horrors.

Because of their ostensibly similar plots, The Kiss has been compared to The Exorcist (1973). Except in Densham’s movie, the sinister, non-Christian entity targeting a teen girl lies within something less apparent and, perhaps, more devastating upon its exposure. To an outsider, Pacula’s Aunt Felice is too beautiful and unobjectionable to ever suspect of being a monster. More suspicious is how quickly she rips into the fabric of the Halloran home. Felice’s mere presence upsets the “texture of family life,” according to the director.

Taking out Amy’s mother and best friend, and distracting her father, would suggest The Kiss is playing by a different set of rules. It is initially leaving its adolescent target unsupported in a rather grim scenario. In contrast, though, this story offers up a surrogate parent who does her best to fill in the holes of Amy’s eroding home life. Mimi Kuzyk does good work as that family friend and doctor, Brenda, who guides the lost child without also steering her in any one direction; she is naturally skeptical of Amy’s accusations until it’s almost too late to do anything about them. So although The Kiss does an admirable job of undoing the main character’s support system, it never leaves her without a lifeline. This dark movie, in spite of everything that’s transpired, doesn’t deprive itself of light and hope.

The Kiss is a potent mélange of familiar ideas. If not for the director’s surprise flair for horror, though, the movie would have been less effective. What a shame that Pen Densham didn’t continue with the genre. As for Joanna Pacula, she is, too, owed credit as the wicked vixen opposite Meredith Salenger’s pitiable Amy; she never fails to be unsettling in her role. Pacula makes Aunt Felice a sexy yet intimidating character.

For horror that steadily doles out madness and menace, while also delivering a flashy and ghastly conclusion, The Kiss is certain to please. Yes, it’s cheesy all the way, but most favorably, everyone involved plays everything straight. That kind of commitment goes a long way with this movie.

The post Forgotten ’80s Satanic Panic Horror Gem ‘The Kiss’ Is Worth Rediscovering appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Grim and earnest stories were still very much a part of the ’80s horror landscape, yet Vamp is something of a comedy. One difference between it and, say, Saturday the 14th, though, is the former avoids using schtick. Wenk’s movie proves that horror comedies also don’t have to subtract thrills from their recipes. Of course, it takes a minute before reaching that point; college antics and culture shocks preface this one macabre misadventure.

Vamp‘s initial setup is apt for a typical college-set, sex-driven comedy; to bribe their way into a fraternity house, two pledges (Chris Makepeace, Robert Rusler) go looking for some adult entertainment. Without wasting time on any further exposition, the characters embark on an all-in-one-night trip that quickly detours into terror.

To procure their elusive MacGuffin—a stripper willing to gyrate for some frat boys—Keith (Makepeace) and AJ (Rusler), plus a third wheel named Duncan (Gedee Watanabe), trade the safety of their remote college campus for the seediness of some unnamed city. The setting is recognizably L.A. by day, but as soon as night falls, downtown, along with the characters, slips into a kind of surreal universe. Director of photography Elliot Davis gave this early entry on his prolific résumé an unusual yet distinctive look; that Mario Bava-esque, magenta-green lighting is omnipresent, so much so that it’s almost its own character. 

The faint comparisons to Martin Scorsese’s After Hours are merited, although not just because of Vamp’s distinguishing nighttime aesthetic. Save for the primary characters, the supporting roles in Wenk’s movie are also quite colorful and transactional in their behavior. The difference here, though, is the additional urge to ruin Keith and his friends at every turn. Some of that harm is humorous and tolerable enough, whereas the moment Vamp dishes out its first fatality, it’s abundantly clear how this movie qualifies as horror.

Vamp falls into that category of horror movie that reveals its genre with a scream rather than a series of whispers. The opening scene can function as a hint of what lies ahead—things are not at all what they appear to be—but otherwise, Wenk is more than happy to hold off on the horror. When that time does come, though, it catches the viewer off guard. In addition to the pure shock value is that sudden decision to upend the movie’s foremost feature. Or so it would seem.

If afraid of major spoilage, those new to Vamp would be wise to stop reading here. There’s just no skirting around the fact that the central fellowship in this buddy movie hits a serious snag when AJ is killed. That development causes the story to become more of a “long, bad night” journey for Keith and his romantic interest. So while Wenk scores points for subverting expectations, there is also a touch of sadness in his decision. Because if Vamp does anything well, it’s making the characters likable.

Something that comes easily to Vamp—and other teen horror movies from this same era—is its ability to invent young characters worth caring about, or at the very least, are interesting and not so immediately off-putting. More impressive is how Wenk did all this without actually fleshing out those characters. Still and all, Keith and his kind are a grade above cookie-cutter, and in some cases, aren’t completely devoid of growth.

Vamp appeals with an assorted cast of characters. No two are the same, nor are they operating on the same wavelength. The cinematically extroverted AJ, whose actor conveyed charm and vulnerability in near equal amounts, comes alive when he’s at his most undead. Makepeace then makes the chronically cautious Keith a sympathetic fellow, even as he’s more and more affected by the night’s bizarre events. Meanwhile, Duncan is indeed the designated loser of the whole bunch, but Watanabe still manages to humanize him. As a bonus, the role didn’t require him to pull a Long Duk Dong.

As for Dedee Pfeiffer, she is plain adorable as the mysterious After Dark server nicknamed “Amaretto”. She spends all night fixing her dress strap while at the same time trying to get Keith to remember how he knows her. As their offbeat romance grows, it becomes another highlight of this movie. Whether or not Pfeiffer’s character is really a vampire also creates some welcome tension in the story.

Like a lot of its contemporaries, Vamp went on to become a bit of a cult classic. That current status is determined by several factors, but without a doubt, the casting of Grace Jones is the most considerable. The image of her writhing on that unique-looking chair, a Keith Haring original, springs to mind whenever this movie is brought up.

Prior to that first display of unequivocal horror, local vampire queen Katrina (Jones) took to the stage and delivered a strip show like no other. One would expect nothing less from that renowned model and performance artist. By now reports of Jones’ tardiness on set are no secret, yet it’s also hard to deny her commitment to the part of Katrina. It was, in fact, Jones who took charge of her character’s appearance—on top of Haring painting her body and that now-iconic chair, she had Andy Warhol handle her costuming. And not too many actors could seize a room’s attention without saying a single line of dialogue.

In 2022, Vamp received a retrospective novelization from Encyclopocalypse. This literary union of preexisting source material—Wenk’s original screenplay—and new ideas from author Christian Francis amounts to a more comprehensive visit to the After Dark Club. The basic story there is no different than what’s shown on screen; however, Francis gets creative with the characters’ origins and designs, and he enhances a number of key scenes.

The novelization expands on the urban and social decay of the main setting, and supplies a background for the After Dark Club. Sandy Baron’s character, Katrina’s emcee and familiar, is given ample motivation for sticking around; up until the fiery end, he is loyal to his friend and former business partner “Squeak”, who looks like he was “fed through a combine harvester, and left as nothing more than a heap of mangled remains”. Then there is Billy Drago’s character Snow, the leader of a street gang called The Dragons. His reason for menacing Keith and AJ is more altruistic than in the movie; he and his peers act tough to scare off any potential food for the vampires. 

If not for all the backstories, Francis’ Vamp would be a hell of a lot shorter. Instead, this tie-in read dives into how AJ met Keith—the orphaned Anthony Joseph hailed from a broken home back in Brooklyn—and how their friendship flourished over the years. Keith’s archership is no longer just an assumed part of his entire being; it’s a confidence-building extracurricular for a boy who got picked on before coming into the protection of the new kid in town. These supplemental, in-depth looks at the protagonists, plus their close connection, are maybe unnecessary. The movie already did a fair and concise job of addressing their platonic intimacy without the need for flashbacks and insights, specifically in that scene where AJ lays it all out as he sacrifices himself.

Where the novelization gets off course is its approach to the minor characters. Intermittently backstorying the likes of Katrina’s indentured servants, Seko (Leila Hee Olsen) and Vlad (Brad Logan), ends up disturbing the flow of the writing. Was it absolutely essential that readers know Vlad was the Grand Duke of the House of Romanov, or how Snow’s accomplice Maven (Paunita Nichols) became so dentally challenged? No, not really. However, one’s mileage with these random biographies may vary.

The novelization is a more substantial experience, but for a movie like Vamp, less is more. And as plentiful as they are, it never simply coasts on its campy charms, either. The character work sits comfortably in that realm between cursory and meticulous, the script is sharper than first realized, and Greg Cannom’s vampire makeup is straightforward yet effective. Most of all, the movie didn’t squander its out-of-the-box concept. Richard Wenk made his vision of a “comic nightmare in which just about anything that can go wrong does” come true, and it is very enjoyable.

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This animated continuation is, warts and all, a notable example of turning a hit movie into a hit series. And although the new target demographic skewed a little younger, even kids-at-heart could partake in the further adventures of Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, Winston Zeddemore and Egon Spengler.

For a good part of its run, the show required fans to wait at least a week for more Ghostbustin’. That’s torture for a kiddo. Luckily, though, the entire series, or at least most of it, is now available for streaming.

So, as you revisit The Real Ghostbusters on Tubi—for now it’s just the first five seasons there—use this guide to help prioritize some must-see episodes.

The Boogieman Cometh

Season One’s “The Boogieman Cometh” is a classic episode featuring one of the show’s more iconic villains. It’s hard to forget the unique character design used for the Boogieman (whose creepy voice was provided by Ray and Slimer’s actor, Frank Welker). In this story, Egon is reunited with that bump-in-the-night entity who haunted his own childhood, all while trying to keep him away from his latest targets: the brother and sister claiming to have the Boogieman in their closet. Although the Ghostbusters do save the day here, the Boogieman eventually returns (“The Bogeyman Is Back“). That same episode also features the love-’em-or-hate-’em Junior Ghostbusters.

Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream

You could say the namesake of “Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream” had good intentions for putting mankind to sleep for the next few centuries—he wanted to end war and keep everyone dreaming. Sounds nice until you remember that whole free will business. But when it seems like the Ghostbusters have lost to their latest foe, the last one standing, Winston, gains a sudden ally. Janine’s dream of becoming a Ghostbuster is manifested, and she helps put this rogue spirit to bed.

When Halloween Was Forever

Before the show’s execs capitalized on Slimer’s popularity by making him the focus of later episodes, early stories like “When Halloween Was Forever” better utilized that gooey ghost. Here, the spirit of Halloween itself, Samhain, hopes to make the holiday a permanent thing by stopping time. And who does the embodiment of All Hallows’ Eve use in his nefarious plot? Slimer, of course. Thankfully, the lil’ green bud knows where he really belongs, and Samhain is banished (at least until Season 3’s “Halloween II 1/2“).

Night Game

Because Season Two was rather long, in comparison to other seasons, it accumulated quite a few solid episodes. One of the most beloved, though, is that ultimate good-versus-evil story, “Night Game“. Winston gets to shine here as he participates in a battle that was 500 years in the making. Except this time, the fighting is done on the baseball field. The other-dimensional settings in The Real Ghostbusters are always great, but the one here is particularly memorable.

Drool, the Dog-Faced Goblin

Not all ghosts and whatnot were bad in The Real Ghostbusters. As “Drool, the Dog-Faced Goblin” showed, some were actually benevolent. Sadly, it took a lot of convincing, and one very heroic act, for Peter and the others to see past this goblin’s grotesque appearance. The heroes find more than one shapeshifter at a sideshow carnival in the Poconos; a sinister Class-4er called the Metamorph does a swell job of menacing the Ghostbusters before they finally realize Drool’s not their culprit. The good guys indeed win here, but that victory is a bittersweet one.

The Collect Call of Cathulhu

While “The Collect Call of Cathulhu” does misspell “Cthulhu” in the title (probably to avoid legal issues), it is clearly the Old One in this Lovecraft-inspired episode. The story kicks off with the Necronomicon being stolen by the deity’s modern-day cult, who then raise their ancient god at Coney Island. From there, the Ghostbusters’ typical methods don’t work on the big guy, so they seek advice from an old issue of Weird Tales (or “Wierd Tales”, as it’s spelled on screen). That build-up to the finale comes with a decent amount of dread before the Ghostbusters, as well as a scholar named Alice, face off with one of the show’s most powerful entities.

Knock, Knock

A number of Real Ghostbusters episodes could be reworked into big-screen features, but perhaps “Knock, Knock” is the most hopeful. It helps that this story feels in step with the first two movies. Here, some ignorant construction workers accidentally uncover and open an ancient door in the subway. What’s behind said door is none other than those unspeakable evils that only the Ghostbusters can quell. A good deal of the imagery here is prime for adaptation.

The Grundel

One of the darker episodes, which was written by the prominent J. Michael Straczynski, is “The Grundel“. Here, a boy is being influenced by the titular entity, a type of ghost who ultimately turns his targets into new Grundels. The episode does have something of an after-school special quality to it, but that doesn’t take away from the eerier moments. For more Grundel lore, be sure to check out the episode “Grundelesque” from the sequel series, Extreme Ghostbusters.

Standing Room Only

It’s no secret that The Real Ghostbusters experienced multiple changes after the second season. Out of all of them, though, retooling the show so that Slimer would get more of the spotlight is maybe the most egregious. Thankfully, Season Four (the first to be called Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters) didn’t completely obey that new directive; episodes like “Standing Room Only” felt more like the old days. The focus here was on the well-being of the city and its people, rather than on the series’ green mascot (or the Junior Ghostbusters). In the episode, Peter’s new ghost attractor isn’t to blame for the ensuing chaos; the ghost-eating Mee-Krah is what’s really imperiling everyone. And the Ghostbusters must dish out everything they have to avoid a doomsday situation.

The Halloween Door

While many fans will skip the later seasons in their rewatches, episodes like “The Halloween Door” are still worth checking out. This colorful helping of Halloween pandemonium premiered on primetime, so the animation is better than usual. And save for a random musical moment, it’s an enjoyable event. Here, a group of anti-Halloweeners tries to cancel the holiday, but they only end up making things worse by unleashing a baddie named Boogaloo.

The first five seasons of The Real Ghostbusters are available on Tubi, starting on July 15.

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Ginger Snaps first emerged some years after what many deem to be the peak of Canadian horror: the 1970s and ‘80s. Or as cinephiles like to call it, the “tax shelter era”. Yet unlike a lot of the movies produced back then (and even now), this cult classic isn’t vague about its story’s location. Rather than passing off the Great White North as the U.S., Ginger Snaps was squarely set in Canada. The fictional suburb of Bailey Downs is indeed an amalgam of multiple places, but nonetheless, it is 100% Canadian.

In an editorial titled “What Canadian Horror Tells Us about Our Deepest Fears”, journalist Harrison Mooney related deep-seated Canadian anxieties to Canadian horror cinema. Although Ginger Snaps wasn’t one of the mentioned titles, Mooney’s notion that Canadian horrors feed on homegrown fears is still applicable. Ginger Snaps is a movie that very much deals with “the loss of control” and “the violent outsider”, as well as the Canadian land itself. That last point—“colonialism has traumatized even the settlers”—is most apparent in the prequel, Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning; however, it can also pertain to the trilogy’s other entries.

Before reaching that period prequel, and after first getting to know the two Fitzgerald sisters, the Ginger Snaps trilogy touches down in an urban locale (really Edmonton). Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed vaguely picks up where the original movie left off, with Brigitte (Emily Perkins) going things alone after losing Ginger (Katharine Isabelle). The cozy-turned-creepy atmosphere of Bailey Downs has also been swapped out with a comprehensively bleaker one as Brigitte endures more than just another harsh Canadian winter.

As with any other sequel intent on not repeating things, Ginger Snaps 2 chronicles a different struggle for its main character. The affliction remains the same as before, but the fight to stave it off is unique to Brigitte Fitzgerald. The movie fully understands that no two werewolves should ever be the same. And ensuring that distinct transformation was a newcomer named Megan Martin. What the screenwriter lacked in sheer experience, she made up for in wild ideas.

After passing the directorial reins to Brett Sullivan, the first movie’s editor, Fawcett stayed on as a producer. Walton’s characters were left in capable hands with Martin, who more than delivered on that potential for familial grief entwined with detachment issues. Naturally, one might worry that Ginger’s demise dampens the possibility of a good story; she is the namesake, after all. On the contrary, Sullivan and Martin found a clever, if not familiar, way to keep Ginger around, all without sacrificing character development for the sequel’s actual protagonist.

While Ginger Snaps is one of many movies that enthusiastically dispels the myth of safety in the suburbs, Ginger Snaps 2 leans into the idea of cities being crime-ridden and dangerous. Of course, the threat lurking around every corner here is not that forward, but an otherwise harmless librarian (Brendan Fletcher) who was hoping to score Brigitte’s number. No, it’s that mysterious werewolf who has taken a liking to the main character—and then continues to stalk her throughout the story. 

As if the literal beast on her tail wasn’t an ample enough reminder of her own looming fate, Brigitte is also being viciously haunted by her past. That come-and-go-as-she-pleases specter of Ginger, a manifestation born from grief, unresolved trauma, and monkshood abuse, fluctuates between comforting and cruel. She can either soothe little sis during her syringe sessions, or she can sardonically read her as no one else can. 

While it is certainly Isabelle playing the ghost, that depiction is less Ginger and really more Brigitte. This damning evidence of the Fitzgerald girls’ codependency problem—not even death can put an immediate stop to it—shows how Brigitte can only be honest with herself by filtering her thoughts through a likeness of Ginger. Ultimately, though, there is a breakthrough moment for Brigitte; it’s one where she can stop living in her sister’s shadow and, at least for a few minutes, relinquish her overwhelming survivor’s guilt.

Werewolf stories are often psychological by nature. Scarcely ever do humans seem to willingly give in to that bone-breaking transformation—that complete lack of self-control. This internal conflict has been there since the beginning of the genre, and movies like Ginger Snaps 2 run away with the concept. So while setting the sequel inside a rehab center feels a little on the nose, that location offers a potent playground for the characters. It’s also one most befitting of gritty, post-Y2K horror.

With its emphasis on psychology, the sequel is constantly studying its characters and how they tick. Brigitte obviously gets the most extensive analysis; on top of Ginger’s intermittent commentary, the Happier Times staff gives its latest in-patient a clinical, and sometimes amusing, evaluation. In addition to Brigitte’s review are these less spoken assessments of the supporting characters. These particular deuteragonists, such as that deceptively clean-cut orderly (Eric Johnson) who trades drugs for sex, are key components in the movie’s overall sense of weirdness.

Of all those offbeat side characters who make Ginger Snaps 2 an unusual, not to mention worthwhile, viewing, Tatiana Maslany’s Ghost is the most influential. Almost always doing or saying something that provokes unease, Ghost is fascinating enough to warrant her own movie. It would be hard to convince anyone this petite, blonde, and twisted teen is lovable, yet that growing instability of hers becomes a surprising source of entertainment in the sequel. So, yes, this movie absolutely found someone more frightening than a werewolf, and her name is Ghost.

Without getting caught up in any arguments about which of the first two movies is better, Ginger Snaps 2 is an impressive follow-up. Fully doing its own thing and not trying to catch lightning in a bottle twice, the second movie is tailor-made for cinephiles who crave bold and very strange sequels.

The post ‘Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed’ is the Rare Horror Sequel That Refused to Repeat Itself appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Strung is already off to a tropey start when the protagonist, a bereft violinist named Laila (Chloe Bailey), is vividly hallucinating during one of her recitals. Who does she see in that ghastly vision on stage? The sister whose death she blames herself for, of course. That’s when Laila wakes up from what’s actually a hallucination within a dream.

After a one-night stand with a handsome rando, another too-good-to-be-true opportunity soon falls into Laila’s lap. Because she’s broke, couch-surfing and forced to practice the violin inside her best friend’s closet, she jumps on it without much forethought. That opportunity is indeed suspicious, though; a wealthy grandmother (Lynn Whitfield) hires the main character to be her granddaughter’s live-in music teacher. The pay and accommodations are definitely good, but what about the client? Or clients, as it turns out.

First, there’s pianist-in-training Zuri (Romy Woods), the walking definition of “precocious child in a horror movie”. She hides behind the bizarre mask once belonging to her late father, and her preferred form of communication is sharing obscure facts. Eventually, though, Zuri is the least of Laila’s problems; it’s her neglectful, demanding, and temperamental mother (Anna Diop) who proves to be the greatest obstacle at each turn. Diop just about snatches every scene with her zealous performance as the expectant Imani. Yet as amusing as that moody matriarch can be, her behavior brings up a good question: Is this cartoonishly devious character the legit villain here, or is she simply a red herring?

The kid’s creepy mask, along with Blumhouse’s involvement, might suggest a different kind of horror movie is at work here. Strung, however, is more like a smutty modernization of classic domestic thrillers that feature big houses, imperiled women, and heaps of paranoia. Keep in mind, this is not a bait-and-switch situation; Alan B. McElroy’s screenplay never leads the viewer down a different path, only to then send them another way.

Strung feels stitched together from other (and better) movies, and your sussing out the suspects is never a hard task. But on the plus side, this movie is often bright and even a little colorful; it’s not too riddled with scenes of flat darkness or washed-out palettes. The music is also another area of interest; certain choices corroborate that comparison to old Hollywood thrillers.

So while Strung does string out a number of overplayed twists—with some being less foreseeable than others—it’s a bit comforting to see how some ideas never cease to be used, no matter how familiar they’ve become. The cast’s eagerness also compensates for the general been-there-done-that quality. So often, their commitment to the story is integral to the movie’s best hand-over-mouth moments (and there are quite a few).

Joe Bob Briggs once said the best source of exploitation movies today is the Lifetime network. If you agree, as well as love Tubi’s own efforts in similar filmmaking, then Strung is made for you. This movie taps that same vein of suspense schlock, all while adding a few flourishes of its own.

Strung streams on Peacock starting on June 26.

The post ‘Strung’ Review: Blumhouse Thriller Plays a Familiar But Fun Tune appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Camp finds itself in harmony, not contention, with its dreamlike parts. Even when a scene comes across as straightforward, there is still something rather surreal in its presentation. Take, for instance, that game of truth or dare that prefaces the story’s inciting incident. Zola Grimmer’s character is pressed to dish out a juicier truth that, ultimately, goes on to make her audience feel both engaged and uncomfortable. The whole quality of this moment is similar to that of our most mortifying dreams.

As the title indicates, the movie takes place at a summer camp. This, of course, is only after Grimmer’s character, Emily, has been directly involved with another person’s death. This time, it’s the loss of a loved one, as opposed to a stranger, that sends the protagonist into a deep and guilt-ridden depression. Emily’s father (Michael Tan) then helps turn things around by signing Emily up to be a camp counselor. That’s when the movie enters more familiar territory, in terms of genre, but astonishingly, Fast doesn’t ever settle into the same-old routine that we now associate with these sorts of camping trips.

Grief and trauma are always on display here. From Emily becoming something of a death magnet in her life, to the other camp counselors working through their own private issues, this movie doesn’t ever avoid personal tragedy and suffering. However, these components of the story are handled with a kind of care that doesn’t come up often enough in modern horror. Rather than sensationalizing or exploiting Emily’s pain, there is an aware attempt at helping her. And not just using the cinematic tactics that would force the character to confront her fears, either.

Camp has the setup for a more traditional-acting horror movie. A bunch of young women ominously head off into the woods, unaware of all the potential terrors that could be waiting for them. Even the trailer implies a sinister movie. In contrast, though, Fast goes the opposite way of addressing Emily’s problems. Most importantly, this new direction is without the act of creating more trauma for the main character.

What sounds unfeasible, especially for a movie marked down as horror, is actually quite the refreshing approach to a very common concept nowadays. Yes, simple revenge has its perks and fans, as does the paring down of casts until only one person is left standing. But opting for restoration, as opposed to destruction, in dark scenarios is surely also worth exploring.

Deeply felt, textured, and always self-questioning, Camp is an extraordinary movie that goes to some unexpected places. The gorgeous presentation alone is one rife with beautiful nature and spotted with haunting, otherworldly imagery. Performance-wise, Grimmer makes a tremendous debut here; she and co-star Alice Wordsworth have this growingly incandescent chemistry that lights up all the right parts of the story. Overall, Camp is a pleasant surprise that is light on conventional horror but never low on compassion for its characters.

Camp plays in select theaters on June 26.

The post ‘Camp’ Review: A Cathartic and Dreamy Tale of Witchcraft appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

It doesn’t take long for Troll Hunter (or Trolljegeren) to dump the Blair Witch Project-esque setup and aim for something a lot fresher. The trajectory of the story is augmented by Otto Jespersen’s character Hans, the titular Troll Hunter. The second he comes barreling out of the deep, dark woods and shouts “troll” at the camera, this movie takes a turn into what feels like uncharted territory. Not only subject-wise, but also conceptually.

For fantastical and made-up subject matter in cinema, found footage is a fast way to add a guise of believability. After all, what we accept to be the most crucial aspect of documentaries—the truth—rubs off on pseudo-documentaries, despite our understanding of the pretense involved. That is what Øvredal delivered with Troll Hunter: a movie so convincing that some viewers wondered if trolls really do exist. So, had this been straightforwardly made, it likely wouldn’t have been as effective. Conventional narratives would be more inclined to treat something like trolls as flat out unreal, and never try to convince the audience to think otherwise.

The viewers, like the characters trailing Hans, are quickly thrown into the deeper end of that extraordinary story. They have to process all this new information while staying on the go. So, although there is no significant amount of meandering, narratively or physically, there is still a good amount of atmosphere, not to mention tension building. It’s never anything frightful, but then again, Troll Hunter isn’t your standard offering of horror; it’s more on the low end of the dark fantasy spectrum. We aren’t ever spirited away to a faraway world—we stay in rather familiar surroundings, as well as dip into those less so. The outcome is a movie where you’re constantly more in awe than in terror.

As fantasy fiction might do, Troll Hunter prefers not to deal with incredulity. There is no time to waste on doubt, as interviewer Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud), soundperson Johanna (Johanna Mørck), and cameraman Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen) all follow Hans around, recording whatever this character is willing to reveal about his bizarre job. Of course, the Troll Hunter himself is not an open book; in that respect, the diegetic documentary fails to fully capture and unpack the more interesting of its two subjects. Yes, all those giant, monstrous trolls are indeed incredible, but understandably, your mind wanders to their pursuer. What kind of person signs up for this gig and then chooses to stick with it for so long?

Reviews have called out Troll Hunter for its lack of character development. In regard to Thomas and his fellow documentarians, that criticism is valid, but bear in mind, they aren’t the focus of the story, either. Meanwhile, Hans is a well-crafted character. At least better than first realized. Before he was introduced, Hans had already grown tired of the troll grind. Fed up with that low compensation for his services, resentful of the bureaucracy, and wanting to expose his employer on a large scale, Hans’ discontent is glaring.

Then there are those finer details about the Troll Hunter, such as that indifference to both the natural splendor of his everyday surroundings and the affections of an obviously smitten colleague, that also suggest some level of despondency. So it is fair to say this movie doesn’t feature any sizable growth for its characters; however, the namesake isn’t underwritten. No doubt, putting a real-life character like Otto Jespersen in that role is partly why Hans is so fascinating—maybe even relatable.

There is always a small risk whenever using the term “mockumentary” to describe a found-footage movie, as the word could imply humor where there is none. In the case of Troll Hunter, the term’s usage is appropriate. Some folks have claimed the English-dubbed version has the more comedic tone, however, the Norwegian cut isn’t exactly humorless. Apart from the trolls’ absurd appearances, this is a movie where the characters nearly choke on the monsters’ farts, and Christians are like walking targets. Hans’ complete apathy towards everything is another cause of laughter. Overall, the comedy is intentionally dry and inconsistent. Unfunny, though? Absolutely not.

In a movie where endemic creatures are maltreated, as well as disavowed from living freely and peacefully, it’s hard not to notice the ecological message buried beneath the story. In addition to that is the unmistakable political satire. There is this whole business about intrusive and unsightly power lines—like trolls, they’re big blemishes on the land—that leads to what is perhaps the movie’s funniest moment. The scene in question is that one where certain electric lines, the ones secretly being used to keep the trolls at bay, go in a loop and don’t actually send power to any residents. Yet the monitors of said lines don’t find this at all weird. So it stands to reason that Øvredal was having a go at those who accept the government’s doings without question.

Looking past the fact that trolls aren’t actually real, this movie is an enlightening source of information. And not just for international audiences; Norwegians, too, get schooled about their homeland’s own mythology. It’s also evident from everything on screen that Øvredal and his crew were enthusiastic about the topic. The creature designs are the most indicative of that zeal; those imaginative yet myth-accurate manifestations are equally amusing and grotesque. One second you’re laughing at their phallic noses, the next you’re white-knuckling during a hairy sequence. Most surprisingly is how well the trolls’ visual effects hold up after fifteen years. It’s not all spotless, but on the whole, they remain impressive.

Vouching for a mockumentary about trolls isn’t easy, but those who do come around and give it a shot will more than likely be grateful for the recommendation. For Troll Hunter is a real find in that vast and varied genre we call “found footage“.

The post André Øvredal’s ‘Troll Hunter’ Remains One of the Best Found Footage Movies appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

So while it might seem like Tales from the Crypt covered plenty of EC Comics’ works, a lot still remains unadapted.

These ten great stories would have made fine additions to the series.

“Bats in My Belfry!” (Tales from the Crypt)

When an actor named Harry began to lose his hearing, a friend put him in contact with a special “doctor”. After receiving the gift of super-hearing—a taxidermist implanted a bat’s auditory system inside of Harry—the protagonist learned about his wife’s affair. On top of that, she and her paramour were planning to kill Harry. Of course, they didn’t realize Harry had transformed into a humanoid vampire bat.

Something Tales from the Crypt didn’t do enough of, on account of whatever reason (budget and time restraints seem most likely), was stories about monsters. But Crypt once had the best contacts in the business, so you can bet that were-bat would have been in good hands.

“The Beast of the Full Moon!” (The Vault of Horror)

Tom and his girlfriend, June, were fearful of the werewolf who’d been on a recent murder spree in their area. Tom already suspected his brother Andrew, who may have been infected after a trip to Corocoa. And when Tom had an encounter with the werewolf, he stabbed the creature’s right paw before it could flee. Later, Tom’s suspicions were all but confirmed when he saw Andrew’s bandaged right hand.

So, Tom laid a trap for the monster—a pit—, and he waited nearby with a gun full of silver bullets. One thing led to another, and Tom ended up in the pit with the werewolf. Luckily, someone above shot and killed the beast. That’s when Tom saw Andrew above ground and June in the pit, the latter dead from her gunshot wound.

While Tales from the Crypt did have lycan episodes, like “Werewolf Concerto” and “The Secret”, there was still room for one more. With the comic having such a small cast, though, it may have been too easy to figure out the culprit. But surely someone on staff could have punched up the original story for television.

“Pipe Down!” (The Haunt of Fear)

Lila hated her older husband, Andrew. After beginning an affair with a handyman named Howard, Lila plotted Andrew’s death. She and Howard got away with Andrew’s murder, but now they couldn’t marry for a year; otherwise, it would look suspicious. In the meantime, Lila purchased a pet monkey that was born on the same day that Andrew died.

When Howard found what looked like evidence of Lila having another lover—he spotted a lit cigar and two half-empty glasses—Howard flew into a rage and murdered his girlfriend. That’s when the cops arrived, saying a phone operator reported the disturbance. However, all she heard on the other end of the phone was an animal’s shriek. Once Howard was arrested, Lila’s monkey went back into the house, picked up a book, and smoked a pipe. Just like Andrew used to do.

This story would have fit in with the wackier episodes of Tales from the Crypt. There are quite a few of those—especially later on as the series moved away from the more macabre material. “Pipe Down!” also spices up the typical adultery-and-murder plots that were so common in EC’s output.

“Swamped” (The Haunt of Fear)

Deep in the Okefenokee Swamp, a cannibalistic hermit fed on those who traveled near his shack built over the water. He fed on visiting hunters and then disposed of their remains beneath his home. Anyone who revolted or came after him only ended up in the quicksand. Finally, though, the hermit suffered the same fate as his victims; he, too, slipped into the muddy graveyard below his crumbling shack. Yet now waiting for him were the hungry souls desperate to get back at their killer.

It’s unclear who the writer was behind “Swamped”, but their work here is intense. The insight and colorful descriptions are unexpected for that mere tale of the cannibal who got his just desserts. That kind of writing, along with Reed Crandall‘s artwork, makes this one of the most engaging stories from EC’s horror run.

“The October Game” (Shock SuspenStories)

Mitch, a deeply resentful and growingly mad father and husband, hosted his young daughter’s Halloween party. Kids and other parents soon all piled into the basement. The night of fun then ended with one last parlor game: Mitch passed around the body parts of a witch (an arm, her heart, and so on). One of the young guests assumed these were really things like chicken innards.

Mitch’s wife, Louise, looked for her daughter among the crowd, wondering if Marion was scared. That’s when Louise realized the girl wasn’t there—or alive. She begged everyone not to turn on the lights in the basement, out of fear of them seeing what Mitch had done to her poor daughter. Unfortunately for Louise, her plea was in vain.

Tales from the Crypt usually refrained from child-endangered stories, and it much rather focused on adult characters. But the show also lacked Halloween entries, apart from Season Six’s “Only Skin Deep“. Perhaps the need for Halloween, as a validation of any eerie goings-on, was unnecessary.

This Ray Bradbury adaptation (originally a short found in Weird Tales) is well deserving of a read. It’s a glowing example of suspense storytelling. The comic also never shows a lick of violence, yet it feels incredibly violent.

“Strictly from Hunger” (The Vault of Horror)

A posse of men stood before a cave, awaiting something horrible inside. One of the men, Doc, explained the uncanny and dangerous creature; he’d seen it before. Doc told everyone about how his patient, Pete, was diagnosed with a malignant, cancerous lump on his arm. There was nothing Doc could do to help him. Pete then sought assistance from an old witch in the mountain. Using magic, she made sure Pete would never die, although his cancer remained intact and unhealed.

Over time, the cancer cells in Pete’s body consumed all his healthy cells. To keep living, Pete turned into a giant blob that ate others’ healthy cells. Back in the present story, the posse fought the emerging creature until it retreated into the cave. The characters all finally blocked the entrance to prevent Pete from ever escaping again.

Obviously, Tales from the Crypt didn’t have the budget to support a story like this one, but imagine if it did. A body horror episode of this degree could have been fantastic, not to mention outright disgusting.

“Marriage Vow” (The Haunt of Fear)

Martin and Eva’s marriage was no longer a happy one. Eva, who’d become controlling and slovenly a few years after their wedding, refused to let Martin out of her sight. “Till death do us part,” she would always say. Eventually, Martin killed Eva; he loosened the wrought iron bars on the balcony where Eva liked to spend time, and she fell to her death. However, Eva didn’t stay dead, as she came back as a zombie intent on honoring the “till death” part of their vows.

EC did more than its fair share of stories like “Marriage Vow”, as did Tales from the Crypt. Spousal murder was pretty common. This comic, though, delivers a strong implication as the zombified wife tells her husband to “come to bed”. That line makes a reader’s imagination run wild.

“Dog Food” (Crime SuspenStories)

A prisoner named Tom swore revenge on the warden, Lester, after a fellow prisoner was tortured and killed under his command. However, to get past Lester’s voracious guard dogs, so that he could enter his house and kill him, Tom started saving meat from his meals. The other prisoners also contributed to his collection.

Tom set off on his journey to Lester’s dog-guarded house, but he ran out of meat before reaching his destination. So, Tom did the next best thing and fed parts of his own body to the dogs.

Once again, Reed Crandall elevated a gruesome, vengeful story with his realistic style. It’s so lurid. At any rate, it was just too graphic for Tales from the Crypt to adapt—and that’s really saying something here.

“Master Race” (Impact)

Carl Reissman was on a subway, remembering his “bloody war years” in Germany. Even after a decade had passed, he remained paranoid. And as he spotted a certain other passenger coming his way, a man in all black, Carl became afraid and started running. His mind flashed back to the events of the Holocaust during this “chase”.

Finally, before Carl fell on the tracks and in the path of an oncoming train, he revealed he wasn’t a prisoner in a concentration camp; he commanded one. The stranger in black said to those onlookers, asking what happened; he didn’t even know the victim. This Carl had simply run from him on the platform.

While Tales from the Crypt did occasionally go beyond what was available in their more horror-centric source material—the war-themed Two-Fisted Tales, for instance—it didn’t ever go near Impact. This short-lived series is considered toned down for EC. Even still, that didn’t make “Master Race” any less shocking. It’s a potent entry that wouldn’t have fit in with the Tales from the Crypt show we now know, but nonetheless, it’s a thought-provoking piece of storytelling.

“Forty Whacks!” (Crime SuspenStories)

A twenty-two-year-old woman named Fanny was frustrated by her parents; they flipped out when she put on makeup. However, when the daughter discovered a mysterious hatchet in her attic, she became possessed by a strange power and did the unthinkable. One after the other, Fanny used that hatchet to kill her parents.

The detective assigned to Fanny’s case was interrupted by his wife and son. The former had an out-there theory: the hatchet belonged to the infamous Lizzie Borden, and it was now capable of causing children to kill their own parents. The detective didn’t buy his wife’s idea, but that was until his entranced son picked up the murder weapon and took a swing at his pop.

Here, EC dipped into historical crime for a ghoulish story that sounds like something out of Friday the 13th: The Series. Maybe it’s a bit in bad taste, but that has never stopped Tales from the Crypt—which is why we love it.

The post 10 Great EC Comics Stories Not Adapted for ‘Tales from the Crypt’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Now, I would be remiss to not bring up how very off that last season felt, in comparison to past ones. If not for the Crypt Keeper’s bookends, it was like a different show at that point. Essentially, it was when you assessed how much had changed. Producer Gilbert Adler was responsible for those divisive renovations; his moving production to England was an attempt to give Crypt “a shot in the arm”. What he instead did was create obstacles for both himself and the series. Some could be overcome, whereas others were less yielding.

Fans decry Season Seven, but in all fairness, Season Six wasn’t all roses, either. And like Six, Seven does have a few bright spots. The move to merry England couldn’t completely undo what we love about the series. Yes, there was a decline in gore; the dial had especially been turned down on those big, bloody conclusions we all love. It must be said, though, that the final season was hardly the only one to be gruesome-lite. Plenty of past episodes also did without copious amounts of the red stuff. 

At the time, traveling abroad may not have been seen as a bad thing. The new season was off to a strong start, based on favorable reactions to the premiere. The Natasha Richardson-starring opener, “Fatal Caper” (Bob Hoskins, Colman deKay, A. L. Katz, Gilbert Adler), is as ridiculous as it is clever. However, it would soon become apparent that not everything to come in Season Seven was up to the same standards as that first episode. It was going to be a bumpy ride, to say the least.

Most will agree that the seventh season wasn’t a complete bust. The blood-soaked “Horror in the Night” (Russell Mulcahy, John Harrison) is atmospheric and trippy; there, a jewel thief (James Wilby) experiences a nightmarish evening while hiding out in a haunted hotel. Then there is what many consider to be the season’s standout, and perhaps even the last great episode of the series. In the gritty “Confession” (Peter Hewitt, Scott Nimerfro), a detective (Ciarán Hinds) suspects a screenwriter (Eddie Izzard) is behind a string of murders. Although it is a strange way to end things, “The Third Pig” (Bill Kopp, Pat Ventura) also has its admirers; this animated entry is a demented new spin on the classic fairytale “The Three Little Pigs“, as opposed to anything out of EC Comics‘ vault.

Another fine episode is “A Slight Case of Murder”, which I find a bit lighthearted for Tales from the Crypt. In spite of all the killing, of course. It also makes good use of the scenery change; an upside of the show’s relocation is the real estate. A Tudor-style home sits at the heart of this amusing episode, written and directed by Brian Helgeland (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, 976-EVIL). Cozy mystery lovers should be quite smitten with the story’s choice of venue.

A common complaint about Season Seven is its lack of star power. Gone were the days when anyone who was anyone in Hollywood stopped by and played a role. That said, it wasn’t as if the series was now just hiring nobodies off the street; the problem was that many American viewers weren’t as familiar with the new casts. “A Slight Case of Murder” was such a case, given how Francesca Annis, Elizabeth Spriggs, and Christopher Cazenove weren’t exactly household names in the States. Naturally, the English would have an easier time recognizing the leads of this and other Season Seven episodes.

“A Slight Case of Murder” is an example of a crabby author getting what’s coming to them. Generally speaking, the horror genre has never cared much for depictions of kind writers. And here, Annis plays that rather irritable novelist whose next bestseller is at risk of being published posthumously. After brilliantly insulting her neighbor, an aspiring author named Mrs. Trask (Spriggs), Sharon Bannister detects a prowler. She then takes no comfort knowing the intruder is just her ex (Cazenove). He’s not here to reminisce about old times.

The episode, while amusing, feels like it belongs in another anthology. The one I’m thinking of, on account of the British actors and the story being centered around jealousy, is Tales of the Unexpected. That series, by the way, also eventually went overseas; some later episodes cast Americans and were set in the U.S. So, yes, “A Slight Case of Murder” isn’t a thing like classic Crypt, but it is awfully charming.

By now, no one should be shocked to learn that an episode of Tales from the Crypt is different from its basis. In fact, the “A Slight Case of Murder!” found in EC’s The Vault of Horror bears no resemblance to Helgeland’s adaptation. An old doctor returns to his hometown to solve a bunch of murders—the victims were all women. At each crime, there was no sign of a break-in, seeing as how the women’s doors and windows were locked from the inside. The sheriff says the only other way in, in one case, was a hot-air vent. He concludes no human could have fit through that, but the doctor suggests the culprit is “not an ordinary human”.

The doctor meets with the sheriff at an old house formerly known as the Bates Mansion. Yet before revealing the killer’s identity, the doctor tells a story about a local widow named Amelia Bates. After her newborn turned out to be—and I’m merely quoting writers Bill Gaines and Al Feldstein—a “misshapen monster”, Amelia asked the doctor to tell everyone her child was a stillborn. She kept that underdeveloped, slithering boy a secret from everyone; only the doctor knew.

Years later, that same child went on to murder a series of women. All of whom rejected his love. And who, pray tell, did that baby become? The town’s sheriff, that’s who! The last frame of the comic, one showing the sheriff’s hidden mechanical body, is so startling that it’s actually disappointing that Tales from the Crypt didn’t properly adapt this story. It would have fit in so well with the older seasons.

As they say in the biz, the show must go on—and Tales from the Crypt did just that, even when the quality had noticeably dropped. But like I always tell myself during the lesser episodes, any Crypt is still better than no Crypt.

Along with Seasons One through Six, Season Seven of Tales from the Crypt can be streamed on Shudder, starting on June 12.

The post Tales from ‘Tales from the Crypt’: Exhuming The Final Season’s “A Slight Case of Murder” Episode appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

A few months after the Wayans’ comedy first hit theaters, Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th landed on the USA Network, as part of the channel’s “Shriek Week” programming. That straight-to-cable (then home video) destination is possibly why many people still don’t know about this one. Or they simply chose to forget. Whatever the reason, only one of these two horror parodies came out on top—and it’s certainly not the movie where Coolio channeled Prince, and Tom Arnold saved the day.

Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th previously went by the name of I Know What You Screamed Last Semester. That Trimark acquisition then settled on a wordier title, just so it could avoid the litigious wrath of Miramax Films. Folks may or may not remember that Columbia Pictures was sued over the “implied connection” between I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) and Scream. So, yeah, there was no way that this competing Scream parody wasn’t going to be kept on a tight rein.

A Heavy Reliance on Late ’90s TV References

Naturally, there would be similarities between Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th and Scary Movie—their scripts are built on the backs of the same two movies. It goes without saying that the other big slasher of the 1990s, I Know What You Did Last Summer, was as much of a target as Scream. However,the film pads itself with more TV references than Scary Movie did.

Half the cast coming off of (and in some cases, returning to) a WB show could be a reason why. Dawson’s Creek is particularly zeroed in on, based on how there’s a central character named “Dawson Deery“, and how the teen drama’s teacher-student affair plotline is satirized to the nth degree. As if there weren’t enough nods to television, Baywatch, VH1’s Pop Up Video, and even those cheesy Mentos commercials all serve as joke prompts.

Shriek director John Blanchard and writers Sue Bailey and Joe Nelms all hailed from television, so it’s understandable that they would stick close to home. The movie’s humor in general makes more sense, in light of learning that Blanchard worked on SCTV, Kids in the Hall, and MADtv. The writers, on the other hand, were each fairly green, with Bailey being the most experienced of the two; she wrote and produced the game show BattleBots. Nevertheless, they, plus Blanchard, churned out a passable, joke-a-minute movie. The whole thing is staggeringly of its time, but no one here was aiming for longevity.

Having seen enough of these kinds of movies, we know to expect jokes of the low-hanging fruit variety. That’s the parody’s whole prime directive. From the characters having names like “Screw Frombehind” and “Doughy Primesuspect”, to stereotyping that feels taboo nowadays, this is a movie from a different era of comedy. Its coarse, corny, and unapologetic sense of humor won’t sit well with everyone in these more enlightened times. In which case, Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th can be treated as a time capsule.

Does Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th Humor Still Hold Up Today?

Although Shriek doesn’t live up to its own claims of being so funny that you’ll die of laughter, its bawdier parts could still lead to some nervous laughter. For instance, after this movie’s parallel to Drew Barrymore’s Scream character is done in—not by the killer but by a bug zapper—the movie throws a newspaper next to the victim’s fresh corpse. The headline? “Popular slut killed! Football team mourns”.

We then move on to the wacky and inappropriate goings-on at Bulimia Falls High School, home of the Hurlers. At this nexus of constant absurdity, indecency, and surrealism, students are seen fornicating on the lawn, cheerleading squad applicants are advised to be comfortable with partial nudity, and terrorists openly prepare for an anthrax attack. It can be a tad jarring to watch, especially if you didn’t grow up witnessing this style of comedy firsthand. Hell, even if you did, you may still have a “what the hell were they thinking?” reaction.

It’s not just the aggressively edgy humor here that can make you chuckle—the slapstick, the sight gags, and the ribaldry all have a decent chance of landing. The movie’s own villain, whose hockey mask was instantly transformed into a crudely Ghostface-esque one after coming in contact with an open flame, commits more cheap laughs than kills. His and his victims’ chase sequences, most of which are cartoonish in nature, left this writer grinning. The Scooby-Doo fan in me also totally ate up that clever unmasking joke.

Final Thoughts on This Forgotten Horror Parody

Now, the jury is still out on whether these comedies are to blame for the death of the first slasher revival. There is more to consider than some parodies. At the very least, the likes of Scary Movie didn’t exactly encourage big studios to put their money on a trend that was being derided to death (and not as profitable as the spoofs). These sorts of movies also felt unnecessary at the time, given how their principal inspiration is already a deconstruction of the genre. But like anything else that quickly becomes popular, mockery is unavoidable.

Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th is indeed a movie nobody asked for, much less needed. As a sample of pre-millennium humor and cultural attitudes, it’s not always precise. But as I’ve laid out, your mileage may vary. Horror parodies typically don’t have the best track record, so managing one’s own expectations here is recommended.

Upon rewatching, I for one laughed a bit more than I did back then. Only this time, I responded to the jokes that my younger self didn’t notice or find all that amusing. So it just goes to show that the movies don’t change—we do.

The post Not Another ‘Scary Movie’: Revisiting Forgotten Parody ‘Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Sandwiched between “Let the Punishment Fit the Crime” (Russell Mulcahy, Ron Finley) and “Whirlpool” (Mick Garris, A. L. Katz & Gilbert Adler) is the most severe episode of the bunch. Maybe the entire series? William Malone and Dick Beebe’s “Only Skin Deep” traded the show’s typical sense of fun for startling amounts of bleakness and kink.

“Only Skin Deep” is, apart from the Crypt Keeper’s intro and outro, noticeably unfunny. There are no considerable attempts at making the viewer laugh. Come to think of it, if those bookends had been replaced, and there was more of a sci-fi element in the story, HBO could have easily squeezed this tale into that successor anthology, Perversions of Science (1997). In Crypt, though, “Only Skin Deep” is much too grim for an audience that had become accustomed to campiness and levity.

What makes “Only Skin Deep” feel dark, among other things, is its protagonist. Showing up to a Halloween party where he’s not welcome, and where his former girlfriend (Diane DiLasco) is attending, Carl Schlag (Peter Onorati) first comes across as your standard bitter ex. You soon realize it’s much worse than that, once Carl threatens Linda (“You know, silly me, thinking I gave you what you deserved. If I’d have done that, I’d have killed you”). Now, I haven’t forgotten that Tales from the Crypt was teeming with vile men who did women harm. Yet Carl’s brand of misogynistic menace hits differently—it borders on being too realistic for this kind of series.

Despite donning a party mask for much of the episode, Carl can’t ever mask his true nature. The invitation did say “come as you are”, after all. That inability to change and be better, however, is why Carl ends up in such a karmic predicament. His outburst of anger at the party attracts the attention of one loner partygoer named Molly (Sherrie Rose, who was also in Season Four’s “On a Deadman’s Chest”). Her bone-white, featureless “mask” and body-bag costume don’t initially register as too strange, especially on a night like this. But at a party chock-full of colorful, cartoonish, and lighthearted ensembles, it does look out of place.

Darkness attracts darkness as Carl ditches the party and accompanies the mysterious Molly to her place. Which, by the way, should have been an immediate red flag. But perhaps she’s so hot, he doesn’t seem to mind the serial killer aesthetic. Resembling a warehouse that has been converted into living spaces, but never then decorated to remove the cold, industrial look, Molly’s home (or lair) is as gloomy as this whole episode feels. It’s like the set of a grungy music video, albeit a tad cleaner. The environments in a typical Crypt episode tend to be small, overfilled, and broken-in. Warm, regardless of any weird goings-on. All that empty space in Molly’s hovel, on the other hand, elicits a creepy feeling that Carl was unwise to ignore.

Tales from the Crypt featured more sex than it didn’t, but hands down, “Only Skin Deep” boasts the steamiest scene in the show’s history. Pushing it over the line, in addition to Onorati showing bare buns and the camera never turning down one of his pelvic thrusts, is the twisted dirty talk. Carl stays in the moment, whereas Molly unleashes charged lines like “the hurt, the anger, give it to me” and “take it out on my flesh like you want to”. It’s all quite kinky, as well as tied into the story’s theme of pain.

How else “Only Skin Deep” differs from other episodes is its twists. Or rather, its lack thereof. Nothing comes as a great surprise here, particularly because the deuteragonist’s ulterior motives are so obvious. By no means is Molly a wolf in sheep’s clothing; her face is a fright mask, she practically reeks of death, and she lives in what can best be described as a serial killer’s hideout. That last-act revelation of Molly’s mask really being her face is also nothing shocking. Cleverness is certainly not this episode’s strength.

While “Only Skin Deep” isn’t the most universally loved episode of Tales from the Crypt, it’s an interesting preview of William Malone’s future as a director. Most notably, he went on to helm House on Haunted Hill (1999) and FeardotCom (2002), the former of which was co-written by Dick Beebe, this episode’s writer. Dark Castle Entertainment, that genre house founded by Crypt producers Joel Silver, Robert Zemeckis, and Gilbert Adler, was instrumental in bringing out Malone’s gruesome, over-the-top vision in House on Haunted Hill. However, FeardotCom and Malone’s Masters of Horror episode, “Fair-Haired Child”, are the most stylistically compatible with “Only Skin Deep”.

As one might guess, this episode is nothing like its source material. The “…Only Skin Deep!” found in the pages of EC Comics is set during Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and save for its last couple of pages, is pretty sweet in nature. There, a man named Herbert is enamored with a woman he met five years prior to the present-day story. Every year, he has come down to Mardi Gras to see Suzanne, who’s always dressed as a hag-faced witch. Well, this time, Herbert plans on popping the question and marrying someone who is, for the most part, a total stranger. Suzanne accepts his proposal, but with one condition: they stay in costume until they’re officially hitched. You can probably see where this is going…

Once they are married, Suzanne remains incognito, even when she and Herbert have consummated their vows. A semi-predictive nightmare then rattles Herbert; he dreamt that Suzanne’s real face was as wizened as her mask. Finally, in his haste to find out the truth, Herbert winds up killing his new wife. Faceless and well on her way to bleeding out, the dying Suzanne manages to say she never wore a mask.

For more traditional EC-style ghastliness, your best bet is reading the comic. It’s wickedly sad. For something less conventional, as far as Tales from the Crypt goes, the role-reversing adaptation is worth watching. It’s not the best this show had to offer, although Malone’s visual style, plus the sexual abandon, does set the episode apart. If nothing else, “Only Skin Deep” leaves an impression that, even years later, shows no signs of fading.

Season Six of Tales from the Crypt can be streamed on Shudder, starting on June 5.

Tales from Tales from the Crypt celebrates the show’s Shudder premiere by singling out one episode from each season. So don’t even think about changing that dial, boys and ghouls. More spot-“frights” are to come.

The post Tales from ‘Tales from the Crypt’: Exhuming Season Six’s “Only Skin Deep” Episode appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

By the 1990s, Curry had made a considerable transition to voice acting. His chops could be heard in a number of children’s shows, including The Pirates of Dark Water, Darkwing Duck, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad, and The Wild Thornberrys. Of course, Curry didn’t completely stay off camera back then; one particular live-action role of his still stays with me and, undoubtedly, plenty of others who grew up on Tales from the Crypt (1989–1996).

Having first seen Season Five’s “Death of Some Salesmen” at a pretty young age, I didn’t invest a lot of thought into who played the characters in these macabre stories I loved. So I most certainly didn’t stop to notice that all three members of the Brackett family were played by Tim Curry. My awareness of this awesome triple play came later in life, but I also wasn’t surprised. By then, I had become much more aware of Curry’s skills as an actor.

Like other episodes of Tales from the Crypt, “Death of Some Salesmen” doesn’t exactly match up with its source material. The destinations are the same in either story; the door-to-door protagonist meets an untimely end during his travels. In EC Comics’ version, though, you may actually feel some sympathy for the main character. Here we find a man who was just looking for help, as opposed to his next sucker.

In a story written by Al Feldstein and drawn by Jack Kamen, “Death of Some Salesmen!”—EC loved its exclamation points!—began with Stuart Thatcher getting caught in a heavy downpour. His recent failed attempts at selling some mysterious item have led him to give up and go home. It’s only once Stuart’s car stalls that he goes knocking on the wrong door in the middle of the night. At a house on a hill, Stuart is taken in by a woman who bears a resemblance to the Crypt-Keeper, the hosting GhouLunatic of A Crypt of Terror (which was later retitled Tales from the Crypt). This Henrietta and her husband, Eban, don’t waste any time before they let their guest feel threatened.

Had it not been for Stuart mentioning his line of work, perhaps he would have lived longer. Mr. Thatcher wasn’t even there to pull a fast one on this gruesome couple, much less sell whatever he was selling. All he simply wanted was to use their phone (and understandably, they didn’t have one). Nonetheless, Henrietta and Eban have been burned in the past, so their mouths start foaming at the mere mention of “traveling salesman”.

Stuart, like Ed Begley Jr.’s character in the TV adaptation, learns what’s up early on. And that’s only because Henrietta and Eban give their unwelcome guest a ghastly tour of all their new appliances, as well as the salesmen who provided them. Mind you, not every one of those peddlers ripped them off, but alas, even the decent ones didn’t go unpunished. Henrietta and Eban killed them just the same as the dishonest salesmen. The couple also stored their victims’ bodies inside of said appliances (e.g., one corpse is found inside a freezer). More or less, this is what happened in the Crypt episode before Begley’s character is knocked unconscious by “Pa” Brackett.

Shifting into the adaptation, which was directed by Gilbert Adler and co-written by Adler and A. L. Katz, that salesman truly got what was coming to him. After all, he was selling fake cemetery plots to the grief-stricken. And after swindling Yvonne De Carlo’s poor character in a scene that really sold how unscrupulous this Judd Campbell guy is, there was no turning back. Thankfully, the episode also doesn’t disappoint by not delivering the most logical outcome for Begley’s role: to make him dig his own grave.

Now, the comic showed Stuart getting what wasn’t owed to him; Henrietta and Eban were just taking out their grievances on whoever was available. That same story also ended more straightforwardly, seeing as how the couple didn’t bother to trick Stuart. No, they made their plan clear from the beginning. And after Eban retrieved that enigmatic piece of merchandise from Mr. Thatcher’s car—a handy-dandy meat slicer—these potential customers tested the product in the only way they saw fit.

Meanwhile, in Tales from the Crypt’s version, there was some attempt at deceiving the deceiver. The logic of that scheme isn’t especially brilliant, or even sound, but Curry’s presence more than makes up for the so-so writing. He disappeared into all three of his roles here—and not because of the heavy makeup and prosthetics. No, Curry got absolutely lost in his characters, and the outcome is as brilliant as it is repulsive.

Tales from the Crypt was never too apologetic about itself; that’s something its fans can attest to, as well as appreciate. And although “Death of Some Salesmen” does become an endurance test at times—it seemed almost hellbent on making the audience gag and squirm—that depravity, along with Curry’s total extraness, is its selling point. Above all, this episode is a shining example of bad taste done very well.

Season Five of Tales from the Crypt can be streamed on Shudder, starting on May 29.

Tales from Tales from the Crypt celebrates the show’s Shudder premiere by singling out one episode from each season. So don’t even think about changing that dial, boys and ghouls. More spot-“frights” are to come.

The post Tales from ‘Tales from the Crypt’: Exhuming Season Five’s “Death of Some Salesmen” Episode appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

So, is this puppet-themed story the most ghastly thing to come out of Tales from the Crypt? Hardly. “Strung Along”, however, understood how to use its time well, how not to drag out the violence, and how to shock the audience. Funny enough, though, this is an episode that, in spite of its haunting ending, feels tamer than the source material. The comic counterpart for “Strung Along” goes out on a note that is perhaps too disturbing, even for Tales from the Crypt.

Before going any further, take a look behind the scenes of “Strung Along”. This late Season Four episode might not have the directing pedigree of others in the series—this season alone had episodes directed by William Friedkin and John Frankenheimer—but it was helmed by the Crypt Keeper’s maker and handler. Special effects wizard Kevin Yagher, who was requested to create the show’s iconic host, was also responsible for getting John Kassir cast. After gaining experience in the director’s chair, beginning with Season Two’s “Lower Berth”, Yagher came back for an episode that felt right up his alley.

There seemed to be no one better to direct “Strung Along” than the person who brought Chucky into the world. Yagher was built for a story about killer puppets. Or so, that’s what this episode appears to be about (spoiler: it is). Initially, a murderer on strings looms over that plot of a faded puppeteer and his shady wife, until it’s time for the inevitable reveal. The show’s own “no batteries” scene, you could say. Smartly, though, Yagher and co-writer Yale Udoff (Bad Timing) didn’t allow their collaboration to be so routine. What you think will happen, most definitely does happen—just now in a different way.

This episode is partly in the vein of classic psychological thrillers—the kind where, bit by bit, someone is driven to madness by someone close to him or her. And here, the victim of such malice is a retired puppeteer (or marionettist) named Joseph Renfield (Donald O’Connor). Once a successful entertainer, Joseph is now deeply unhappy. A bad heart has ended his career, as well as caused problems in his marriage. With all this free time on his hands, Joseph’s mind also wanders. He’s become suspicious about his wife, Ellen (Patricia Charbonneau), as she spends every Tuesday night at her acting class.

It doesn’t take a detective to figure out what’s going on here, especially after Ellen supplies the assistant needed for Joseph’s sudden comeback; someone in her acting class, a guy named “David” (Zach Galligan), is quickly brought in to help organize the new show. That handsome stranger is actually more into mechanical, or remote-controlled, puppets, but he’s a fast learner. David is also the only person who looks to be supporting Joseph and his new project. Ellen lays it on pretty thick with her disruptions and open hostility, whereas Galligan’s role is a little less obvious. So much so that you’re almost disappointed once the ruse is over and the villains show their hand. Joseph is so pathetic that you wish David’s friendship had been genuine.

As for the “Strung Along!” found in EC Comics’ The Vault of Horror, there is no David character, or even any kind of convoluted plan to murder Joseph’s parallel. That even more depressed marionettist, Tony Zargano, feels the full anger of his money-grubbing wife, Nora, before she simply leaves him. Fed up with her husband’s blue period and no longer living the life of luxury, Nora gives up her long con, says words that could cut steel, and then storms out. It’s really more heartbreaking than horrifying.

If not for its last two pages, the comic version of “Strung Along!” wouldn’t qualify as horror. Most of the story just shows Tony stuck in his bed, reminiscing about the past, and trying to figure out why things went so wrong in life. It’s that familiar sort of tragedy that’s been long associated with brilliant artists. Yet as a change of pace, it’s the comic, and not the Crypt adaptation, that draws a fuller picture of the character. Tony’s fragile heart keeps him immobile but also reflective.

The comic’s shift into horror occurs as soon as Nora has a supposed change of heart. The story’s remainder is largely saturated in blues and blacks, and apart from the last two panels, Nora’s face is never shown to the audience. She never speaks a word, either. Regardless, a reconciliation commences, and Nora makes Tony’s last night on Earth “complete”. The next morning, the cops show up to find both Tony and Nora dead; it’s safe to assume he had a heart attack. Nora, on the other hand, died before her reunion with Tony. Those marionettes, in their own twisted way, wanted to make sure that their friend would have one last night of happiness.

So, as you can see, Tales from the Crypt opted for a necrophilia-free ending. After serving up a plot twist that feels like it came out of an old Jimmy Sangster script, “Strung Along” delivers the comeuppance portion of the story. It just couldn’t end with Ellen and David/Rick scaring poor Joseph into another heart attack. No, the episode needed to make good on its promise of a killer Koko the Clown. However, instead of a drawn-out chase sequence, the episode spits out a conclusion that is both fulfilling and eerie. You’re left with a rather creepy last image.

While the comic ends up being more depraved, Tales from the Crypt’s “Strung Along” is more of a complete story. The latter also doesn’t skimp on the grisliness. Either way, you’ll be sure to get your fill of puppet horror.

Season Four of Tales from the Crypt can be streamed on Shudder, starting on May 22.

Tales from Tales from the Crypt celebrates the show’s Shudder premiere by singling out one episode from each season. So don’t even think about changing that dial, boys and ghouls. More spot-“frights” are to come.

The post Tales from ‘Tales from the Crypt’: Exhuming Season Four’s “Strung Along” Episode appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Because I did say “rarely”, there is one specific episode that, perhaps for others as well, leaves me a little panicked. It fueled a phobia I didn’t even know I had until I saw it play out on screen. Now, that dread remains intact as I rewatch Season Three’s “Abra Cadaver”. Dying is one thing, but to witness your own autopsy? Maybe feel all the sensations that come with said event? Yeah, I will probably never have to go through the same ordeal that Tony Goldwyn’s character endured, yet Crypt made sure that I would always fear the slim possibility.

Season Three was off to a strong start; the opening two episodes, “Loved to Death” (Tom Mankiewicz, Joe Minion) and “Carrion Death” (Steven E. de Souza), each left a lasting mark. Even today, it’s hard to forget either Mariel Hemingway’s lovesick performance or the stalking vulture that finally got to feast on Kyle MacLachlan. While the Michael J. Fox-directed episode, the tongue-in-cheek “The Trap” (written by Scott Alexander), wasn’t at all frightening, it was at least amusing. 

Then came “Abra Cadaver”, that memorable collaboration between Stephen Hopkins and Jim Birge. It was unlike any of the previous three episodes, seeing as how this one employed a heavy gimmick. That, of course, being the first-person perspective used throughout most of the story. Shooting from a corpse’s POV not only made “Abra Cadaver” stand out, it also put the audience in the protagonist’s shoes. That way, it’s almost as if you’re going through the same nightmare as Doctor Carl Fairbanks.

It wasn’t unheard of for Tales from the Crypt to use first-time or inexperienced writers, although in Jim Birge’s case, this looks to be his only known writing credit. Meanwhile, director Stephen Hopkins had come off directing two sequels, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989) and Predator 2 (1990), after debuting with an underseen (but worth seeing) Australian slasher called Dangerous Game (1988). In the years after his Crypt debut—Hopkins would return for episodes “Beauty Rest” and “Staired in Horror”—he directed Judgment Night (1993), The Ghost and the Darkness (1996) and Lost in Space (1998).

This episode’s EC Comics basis can be found in the Tales from the Crypt story called “Dead Right!”. Keep in mind, there was another comic of the same name found in EC’s Shock SuspenStories; Demi Moore, who was in Ghost (1990) with Goldwyn, starred in its TV adaptation. But naturally, they couldn’t have two episodes called “Dead Right”, so Crypt gave this a new (and punnier) title. Either way, the two plots remain about the same. 

In EC’s version, long-time friends and bachelors Joseph Fairbanks and Carl Winston are having their weekly dinner together when Joseph suddenly poisons his pal’s drink. This was after Joseph was going on again about his seemingly preposterous theory: can the senses remain active even in the event of death? From there, it appears as if the recently bankrupt Joseph is causing Carl’s untimely death so that he can then inherit his fortune. Being a physician too, Joseph could put “died of natural causes” on Carl’s death certificate without raising any suspicions. 

“Dead Right!” enters more familiar territory as Joseph, along with accomplice Ben Norton, goes through the motions of autopsying Carl’s body while Carl is still conscious but paralyzed. The two then bring the victim to his own funeral before taking him to his final resting place. Once at the graveyard, Joseph reveals it was all a gag to prove his outlandish theory. Unlike in “Abra Cadaver”, though, Carl never wakes up long enough to know Joseph was pranking him; he died of a heart attack sometime ago. You’re left wondering if Joseph confessed to his crime, or if, because Carl was already pronounced dead and halfway buried, he simply kept quiet.

Tales from the Crypt obviously reworked the comic quite a bit. In “Abra Cadaver”, the two main characters, Carl and Martin Fairbanks, are biological brothers, not lifetime friends who seem like brothers. They’re also younger than their older EC parallels. In the black-and-white flashback set some years in the past, you see where Carl (Goldwyn) and Martin (Beau Bridges) first began their sibling issues. What started out as a brotherly rivalry between two surgeons-in-training eventually turned into a rather sad, lifelong scenario where Carl awaits whatever revenge Martin has supposedly cooked up for him.

That prank from the prologue, which was essentially Carl scaring Martin into a heart attack, has since haunted Goldwyn’s character. No amount of apologies, be it verbal, monetary, or whatever else Carl throws at him, can make the now partly disabled Martin forgive his brother. Instead, Martin is more concerned with death and voodoo. Oh, and exacting his vengeance after all this time. What vengeance it is!—Martin’s payback makes Carl’s zombies-in-the-morgue joke look like total child’s play.

What felt like days to Goldwyn’s tortured character was roughly ten minutes for the audience. You’re there with him every step of that awful journey, imagining all the pricks, prods, and cuts inflicted upon his defenseless body. For an episode that is relatively light on the red stuff, it feels violent. Kind of like how The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) is remembered as gory, when in truth, it’s pretty tame in that regard. It just goes to show that the suggestion of harm can be as great, if not more effective, than seeing the knife actually pierce the skin.

Circling back to my irrational fear, a kind of variation of taphophobia, I realized “Abra Cadaver” isn’t the first media to prey on this arcane anxiety of mine. After seeing it unfold in Crypt, I found similar depictions in Buried Alive (1990), Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King (“Autopsy Room Four”), and Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction (the Robert E. Lee-inspired segment “The Burial”). Surely the list goes on, as does my unease towards the idea of a fate I deem worse than death.

“Abra Cadaver” is high-concept Tales from the Crypt at its best. Darkly funny, thoroughly suspenseful, and damn merciless, this episode was the show dipping into almost purely psychological horror.

It wouldn’t be the last time, either.

Season Three of Tales from the Crypt can be streamed on Shudder, starting on May 15.

Tales from Tales from the Crypt celebrates the show’s Shudder premiere by singling out one episode from each season. So don’t even think about changing that dial, boys and ghouls. More spot-“frights” are to come.

The post Tales from ‘Tales from the Crypt’: Exhuming Season Three’s “Abra Cadaver” Episode appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Yet, even in a show well known for its brutal comeuppances, there are those times where sympathy for the dirtbag isn’t totally out of the question. One example resides in Season Two’s “Television Terror”. The unfortunate protagonist in this humdinger of a haunted house story isn’t an upstanding guy; there’s no denying that. However, you also wouldn’t be wrong to feel a tad sorry for the opportunist who got more than he bargained for—way more, to put it mildly. At the very least, you’re happy to not be in Horton Rivers’ shoes as he achieves the highest ratings ever in his now short-lived TV career.

While some actors wouldn’t have been caught dead doing Tales from the Crypt, others were more than pleased to play a part. Even big names, such as Demi Moore (“Dead Right”) and Kirk Douglas (“Yellow”), didn’t agree with the consensus that doing a cable show would be beneath them. For its actors, Crypt was a safe place—an outlet, if you will. Where else could they do these weird and gruesome roles?

Whoopi Goldberg, for instance, was particularly enthused with her casting in the Tobe Hooper-directed episode, “Dead Wait”. Her only condition, though? To be “repulsive,” recalled producer Alexander B. Collett. According to Tales from the Crypt: The Official Archives, the Ghost star said she “had been playing a lot of squeaky clean nice people and [it was] getting to be a drag.”

The closest Crypt ever came to blatant stunt casting was Morton Downey, Jr. That loathed talk-show jerk rose to shame in the 1980s, and his notoriety, plus his over-the-line opinions and shock tactics, made him the ideal candidate for “Television Terror”. Sure, Morton’s range as an actor was limited; he knew he was just playing an exaggerated version of himself. Nevertheless, you can bet some viewers had a hard time resisting the possibility of Mort the Mouth getting flayed by a bunch of bloodthirsty ghosts.

“Television Terror” director Charlie Picerni began in Hollywood as a TV stuntman, as well as an actor on occasion. Then, after his long tenure on Starsky and Hutch, Picerni got the directing bug. He cut his teeth on action shows throughout the ‘80s, including Vega$, T. J. Hooker, and Stingray, before stepping outside of his comfort zone with Crypt. Experience varied from director to director, but in this show, Picerni was seemingly at a bigger disadvantage. On top of being relatively new to directing, he had no discernible background in horror. Having said that, some greenness didn’t stop Picerni from making what is now considered one of the most popular episodes of Crypt.

As far as Crypt episodes go, “Television Terror” is straightforward. Perhaps more than some fans might like. Admittedly, writers Randall Jahnson (“King of the Road“) and G. J. Pruss didn’t bother with any twists or turns in their script; they most certainly didn’t hide what lay ahead for Downey’s character. The story did all but shout the ending at you. I am referring, of course, to those not-so-subtle winks at the audience, including Dorothy Parke’s character planting the most low-hanging setup halfway through the episode: “The ratings are gonna be out the goddamn window, if you don’t do something to spice it up.” However, as undemanding as this story very much is, it’s also never short on fun.

The real-life property chosen for the dreaded domicile in which Horton hears a boo is none other than the famous Higgins/Verbeck/Hirsch Mansion located in Los Angeles. This grand, Queen Anne-style home can be spotted in a good chunk of horror films (to name some, Ben, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, Witchboard, and Waxwork) and at least two erotic thrillers. Elsewhere on TV, the dwelling popped up in Darkroom, Freddy’s Nightmares, and Beverly Hills, 90210. So, yes, this is a house with an interesting history both on and off screen.

As for the mansion’s Crypt makeover, it’s nothing extreme; don’t go into the episode expecting anything along the lines of a modern-day Halloween haunt. That said, the understated approach was the right way to go. You know what’s coming to Horton well ahead of schedule—there’s no need to make that fate obvious to him, too. ”Television Terror” is unsubtle in just about every other area, but the atmosphere and setting? No notes.

The source material for “Television Terror”, a story from EC Comics’ The Haunt of Fear, is rather different from what eventually manifested in Tales from the Crypt. For starters, that ominous, on-air tour through the Creedmoor Mansion is a great deal more restrained than the one in Ritter House. In lieu of that art-imitates-life rendering of Downey, we have the blander Al Hunt, the host of TV’s ‘Hunting with Hunt’. This amateur ghost chaser is nowhere as obnoxious as his on-screen counterpart, and his demise is the opposite of grisly. In fact, the money shot—Hunt is last seen hanging from the ceiling of the room at the top of the stairs—is largely obstructed by a door frame. What little you do see of Hunt’s death, though, is quietly horrifying. Like something out of Ghostwatch (or is that the other way around?). Also worth mentioning is the striking artwork from EC artist and writer Harvey Kurtzman; take note of his fierce hatching and cross-hatching, as well as his use of rich shadows.

The episode “Television Terror” yields no surprises, but does the sheer predictability do it any harm? Not really, especially if you crave jump-scares—some of the show’s best and most intense are right here. While his part doesn’t undo every repellent thing he said or did in his lifetime, Downey was a good sport. His performance, even a self-parodying one, is nothing to scoff at, either. Downey’s reactions are so visceral that you actually begin to fear for his character.

Truth be told, if some random stranger on the street were to bring up Tales from the Crypt with me, asking for recommendations, my mind would go straight to “Television Terror“. It’s S-tier, plain and simple.

Season Two of Tales from the Crypt can be streamed on Shudder, starting on May 8.

Tales from Tales from the Crypt celebrates the show’s Shudder premiere by singling out one episode from each season. So don’t even think about changing that dial, boys and ghouls. More spot-“frights” are to come.

The post Tales from ‘Tales from the Crypt’: Exhuming Season Two’s “Television Terror” Episode appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

This closer may not be included in every fan’s top ten, but most assuredly, “Collection Completed” is a must-see episode.

Before getting into “Collection Completed”, let’s go over what all came before it. The series opener, “The Man Who was Death” (directed by Walter Hill, co-written by Hill & Robert Reneau), is a model example of poetic justice à la Crypt. It’s the one where William Sadler played the executioner-turned-vigilante who eventually ended up in the same electric chair he once oversaw. Brutal.

Following that was the aforesaid G.O.A.T. episode, “And All Through the House”; Robert Zemeckis and Fred Dekker’s collaboration continues to be a go-to whenever the hankering for holiday horror develops. Also: “Dig That Cat… He’s Real Gone” (Richard Donner, Terry Black) is worth watching for the ending; the Lea Thompson-starring “Only Sin Deep” (Howard Deutch, Fred Dekker) is like a prototype for The Substance; and “Lover Come Hack to Me” (Tom Holland, Michael McDowell) tends to be ranked lower than others, yet it is gruesome, heady, and elevated by Amanda Plummer‘s presence.

After everything shown so far in Season One, which included a killer Santa Claus, a gold-digger’s Faustian deal, and a daredevil imbued with a cat’s remaining lives (not nine, though!), “Collection Completed” would seem a bit lightweight in comparison. An elderly couple butts heads over the wife’s many animal companions? Well, not exactly. My logline undersells a pretty twisted episode that, for obvious reasons, has stayed with me and plenty of others over the years. While you are never at all surprised by where this story goes, that ending is deeply satisfying. The sort of parting imagery seen here is why we always keep coming back to the Crypt.

Based on a story found in EC Comics’ The Vault of Horror, and one told by the Old Witch character, “Collection Completed” roughly followed its source material. This isn’t one Crypt adaptation that took a lot of creative license, as often happened in the show. Even then, there are notable differences between the two takes. For starters, that original Jonas—who was called Jonah in the comic—isn’t forced to retire from his job of forty-something years. If he was, it had no bearing on the plot. Meanwhile, M. Emmet Walsh’s version of the character is extra crusty; the episode provides more motivation for this retiree’s chronic irritability. You’re never on board with Jonas stuffing his wife’s furry and feathered friends, of course, but you can see why he takes issue with them.

Another apparent change between the comic and the adaptation is the general tone. EC was known to instill its tales with an almost-trademark sense of dark humor, maybe in an effort to soften the dreadfulness. In many cases, it actually had the opposite effect. Yet, the original “Collection Completed” is not haha funny. Right from the beginning, Jonah Tillman is plain nasty to Anita, as well as her various pets (which are way fewer than in the TV show). We also only ever see Anita living in a constant state of fear, seeing as how Jonah made his sick intentions known early on. He spends much of the comic terrorizing Anita, who awaits whatever harm he has in store for her critters.

In contrast, Audra Lindley’s portrayal of Anita experiences a range of emotions, as opposed to gobs of unease, then pure anger. The character is not simply someone waiting to reach her breaking point. For a short while, you get to see this woman experience joy, all before Jonas takes it away. Lindley’s Anita also has that chance to grow into her retaliatory, final form. By that I mean, she herself goes through a slow and delicate process somewhat like that of Jonas’ “pet projects“.

In time, Anita is stripped down to her rawest parts, then put back together again. Similar to Jonas’ dubious first attempts at taxidermy, Anita doesn’t quite resemble her old self after everything is finished. Thankfully, it’s more of a glitch than a permanent transmutation; Jonas’ better half resumes her previous nature once the disruption in her life has been dealt with, not to mention given a taste of his own medicine.

Pet Sematary was released into theaters just two months before Tales from the Crypt premiered on television. So Mary Lambert’s inclinations as a horror director weren’t too formed yet. Based on her breakthrough film, though, Lambert was capable of blackly comical horror. That ability of hers, which was fine-tuned in the underrated Pet Sematary Two, translated perfectly to Crypt. However, Lambert didn’t act alone when taking the unserious approach to EC’s “Collection Completed”; her accomplices were screenwriters Battle Davis, Randolph Davis, and A. Whitney Brown. Battle was primarily an editor (Elvira: Mistress of the Dark), Randolph debuted here before hanging up his pen a few years later, and Brown had been writing for Saturday Night Live since 1985. Those three, along with Lambert, ended up being so efficient at preying on human nature and making the outcome scarily funny.

“Collection Completed” would seem more at home in an anthology series like Tales from the Darkside. This assessment comes from the fact that the story is limited to one setting, and apart from Martin Garner as friend and neighbor Roy, the episode is essentially a two-hander. Mind you, it’s not as thrifty-looking as a typical Darkside entry, but like many of the actors in that show, M. Emmet Walsh and Audra Lindley give big performances in such small surroundings. Walsh was in top form as a villain with no self-awareness, and Lindley deftly captured and communicated the unmistakable sadness of her maternal-yet-childless character. The word “impressive” just doesn’t begin to describe the leads in this episode.

These days, we use the term “Tales from the Crypt energy” to describe a particular kind of story—the ones loaded with macabre excess, dark humor, and, time and again, huge comeuppances. Naturally, “TFTCE” would hail from the show that originated it, and maybe no season had the highest concentration than the very first one. After all, there were only six episodes in that introductory collection. But nevertheless, that initial run sets up the series so well. Morbid, funny, and stylish—it’s really no shocker that Tales from the Crypt went on to become one of the most beloved anthologies around.

Season One of Tales from the Crypt can be streamed on Shudder, starting on May 1.

Tales from Tales from the Crypt celebrates the show’s Shudder premiere by singling out one episode from each season. So don’t even think about changing that dial, boys and ghouls. More spot-“frights” are to come.

The post Tales from ‘Tales from the Crypt’: Exhuming Season One’s “Collection Completed” Episode appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

These particular creatures look as if they’ve come from another world. Nevertheless, the incredible squid is here, has been since prehistoric times, and they come in all shapes and sizes. In that last regard, they can range from tiny to massive, with the larger specimens becoming the stuff of legends. Ever heard of the Kraken? Well, this is one case where the myth turned out to be real.

Although it’s more elusive than fictional, giant squids still remain as something of a mystery these days. Born out of that mystique is the inclination to make them scary. The giant squid, or Architeuthis dux if you’re nerdy, doesn’t need a lot of help in that one area. On top of their sheer enormity, they have ten “arms” that include two long tentacles, plus a tongue coated in teeth. It’s the stuff of nightmares. Nevertheless, Peter Benchley tried to do for these animals what he did for the great white; he plucked one rather ornery specimen from the depths and made it mankind’s problem.

When writing 1991’s Beast, author Peter Benchley returned to the subject that made him famous. That, of course, was the vast sea. Benchley also didn’t stray far from the formula of nearly all aquatic monster horror made since Steven Spielberg’s Jaws was first unleashed. An aggressive, or misplaced, sea animal lays waste to anyone foolish enough to take a dip. Yet prior to getting back on the shark boat, as he did in 1994’s White Shark—later retitled Creature for the TV tie-in—Benchley delivered this squid tale that, to this day, may be the only one of its kind. That is, a story where the man-eating squid is the star, as opposed to the guest star.

Unlike Jaws, Benchley wasn’t involved in the screenplay for Beast. Or The Beast, as it became known. The script was courtesy of one fairly new writer on the block, J.B. White, whose sole credit up to that point was a sinister grandpa TV-movie starring Andy Griffith. So, yes, The Beast was a big deal for White, along with director Jeff Bleckner. Additionally, NBC was banking on this sweeps stunt to pull in the numbers during late April (and ahead of “Monster May“). According to the Nielsens, this two-night event did quite well. Swimmingly, you might even say.

Growing up with SYFY made it seem like monster TV movies weren’t all that unusual. However, for one to show up on 1990s American primetime and on one of the major three networks was a bit of an anomaly. NBC neither hid the fact that they were airing a creature feature, nor did they hold back on the marketing; the rollout included a huge building spread in Los Angeles, plus a website devoted to the TV event. Through the latter, you learned the process to make the monstrous main attraction, courtesy of Mixon & Ellis FX, as well as trivia about real giant squids.

The rights to Benchley’s Beast were optioned some years before it was made and aired. Nevertheless, Jurassic Park must have had a say in the squid production’s go-ahead. The Beast splashed its way onto television in the spring of ‘96, shortly before monsters started trampling all over the big screen. Keep in mind, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, The Relic, Anaconda, Deep Rising, and the first Godzilla remake all came out after The Beast. Before then, you were more likely to see this type of movie being sent straight to video, even in the wake of Spielberg’s successful dino epic.

Taking the TV route for a monster movie would seem like a total downgrade, especially in the production department. In many cases, this is often true. Yet with a reported $12 million to spend—how much of that number was just for the squid is unclear—the namesake of The Beast looks decent. Good, if we’re being generous. Once you remember the timestamp, the overgrown mollusk is, on occasion, a little impressive. It’s not the stuff of blockbusters, but one can definitely spot where the money went (and didn’t go).

On the surface, the novel and miniseries (or movie) aren’t radically different from one another. In either version, a coastal area is targeted by the tentacled threat, and then desperate measures are taken to expel it. That leap from Bermuda to Washington, specifically an unsubtly named resort community called Graves Point, has no major bearing on the overall story. Either fictional setting is overfished, full of struggling residents, and a factor in the squid’s new diet. What largely changed from the book, apart from the creature being upsized and its having a partner-in-crime/offspring, was really the characters. Oh, and there is also the novel’s use of deus ex machina—at the last second, the squid is defeated by a sperm whale, not the humans.

Changes made to the cast run from small to significant, but for the most part, they are inoffensive. A few are even beneficial. The protagonist going from married to widowed allows for him, Whip Dalton (played on screen by William Petersen), to be freed up for a budding romance with Lieutenant Kathryn Marcus (Karen Sillas). Who, by the way, is an amalgam of two characters from the book. While it was reduced in the condensed version of the miniseries, Kathryn’s personal battle against sexism in the navy is one example of how the TV adaptation improved on the source material. By comparison, the women were neglected, or simply forgotten, by the book’s end. Whip’s daughter Dana, for instance, passed through without making as much as a ripple in the novel’s story, whereas Missy Crider’s Dana has an entire character arc.

It could just be the nostalgia talking here, but The Beast actually holds up as a pretty entertaining dose of sea horror. Does it look and feel like a ‘90s TV movie? Yes, and that’s because it is one. Yet for a killer squid story hailing from the small screen, this one turned out better than anticipated. Now, if someone out there wants to remake Peter Benchley’s novel, with more money and bigger names involved, then I am certainly not opposed. There’s even a bigger squid lurking out there in the briny deep—the colossal squid—that would make for a great villain.

The Beast is still available on DVD.

The post ‘The Beast’ at 30: Revisiting Peter Benchley’s Other Aquatic Horror Story appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

So while there are way more movies about snuff films than first realized, not every one of them can be featured here. Even still, just these ten make for a good starter pack. They’re all worth watching, not to mention relevant, after seeing the new Faces of Death.

Peeping Tom (1960)

Michael Powell‘s Peeping Tom is a beautiful-looking film about something very, very ugly. And after being eclipsed by Alfred Hitchcock’s more successful Psycho, also released in 1960, this movie has since found more fans. Here, Carl Boehm‘s character sorts through childhood trauma by murdering women and filming their deaths with his camera. Made before the term “snuff film” even entered public vocabulary, Peeping Tom is a stunning work of art that was ahead of its time.

Effects (1979)

Dusty Nelson‘s Effects features a small Day of the Dead reunion. Joseph Pilato, John Harrison, and Tom Savini all star in this story of a horror director making sudden changes to his script and production. No longer is death just an idea being faked on screen. More artsy than not, Effects eventually gets a bit lost in the plot (or lack thereof), but in the end, everything comes together for a pretty strong finish.

Videodrome (1983)

The king of body horror, David Cronenberg, tackled snuff films in his own unique way. The iconic Videodrome saw James Woods becoming fascinated with the movie’s namesake: a mysterious TV show full of torture and murder. From there, the story transforms into a rabbit-hole search for answers about the broadcast’s origins, as well as the whereabouts of Deborah Harry‘s missing character.

Special Effects (1984)

As said earlier, the late ’70s and early ’80s were when snuff films became more known, or at least the idea of them had become so. They were also intriguing to filmmakers. The always-thoughtful Larry Cohen added his two cents to the convo with Special Effects, a movie that’s situated more on the psychological side of the horror genre. Cohen’s self-reflexive story follows the director (Eric Bogosian) who first kills a woman, then casts a look-a-like (Zoë Lund) in his own film about said murder.

Evil Dead Trap (1988)

Acting like some kind of meeting between slashers, gialli, and pink films, Evil Dead Trap is a provocative piece of Japanese horror. Toshiharu Ikeda‘s cult movie begins with the investigation of a mysterious snuff film, one sent to a TV show host (Miyuki Ono), before then switching to a killer (and sleazy) game of chase. Inside one very grungy, abandoned building, the characters all suffer at the hands of a bizarre killer whose identity reveal must be seen to be believed.

Benny’s Video (1992)

Movies such as 8mm, Red Rooms, and Benny’s Video ride the fine line between horror and thriller. The latter is especially an oddball here, seeing as how that movie doesn’t go for traditional scares. Instead, the Funny Games director unleashed a disquieting story about a young cameraphile (Arno Frisch) and the murder he puts on video. You may never jump out of your seat or cover your eyes, but Michael Haneke‘s movie is sure to sicken you.

Mute Witness (1995)

Marina Zudina‘s character in Mute Witness, a makeup artist with mutism, catches a snuff film in progress. In Anthony Waller‘s debut, the protagonist is trapped on set after hours when she spies a porn shoot in progress. Things go terribly wrong, and a woman dies, but of course, no one believes the accuser until it’s too late. Mute Witness is a twisted and suspenseful hidden gem from the ’90s that more folks should seek out.

Thesis (1996)

A university student’s shocking discovery is at the heart of Alejandro Amenábar‘s debut. Ana Torrent plays the poor soul whose thesis about audiovisual violence takes a turn once she comes upon what looks to be real footage of a murder. And not just any murder, either—the protagonist recognizes the victim as a fellow student who went missing. Thesis is not an easy watch, but it is rewarding for fans of movies about subversive subjects.

August Underground (2001)

Headaches and revulsion are to be expected while viewing this lo-fi obscurity about killers with a camera. Not comparable to anything else here, Fred Vogel‘s August Underground is designed to repulse, even if your upset stems more from the camerawork and video style than the actual content itself. That said, this movie is an endurance test that most folks will fail. But for those who do make it all the way through, and still want more, two sequels are waiting in the wings.

The Den (2013)

In something of a spiritual companion to Thesis, Zachary Donohue‘s The Den also places an unaware student (Melanie Papalia) on the receiving end of menace after she discovers incriminating footage. This time, though, the murder is happening online. The Den also taps into the dark web, albeit exaggeratedly, for its thrill-a-minute story that requires the audience to suspend their disbelief. Otherwise, it’s an enjoyable splatter film that showcases how snuff has evolved with technology.

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When she goes searching for more answers, she only attracts the attention of a certain black-gloved, pink-masked killer who doesn’t appreciate her prying.

Like Open Water and Inland Empire, City Wide Fever was shot using a Sony DSR-PD150. It’s a quirky choice, but the grungy, SOV-esque route also leads to a more apt and effective atmosphere for the increasingly delirious story. Other filmmakers today would use the 4:3 ratio and then call it a day, yet Heaps went that extra mile with the retro technical aspects. His efforts elevate an otherwise well-trodden concept.

It’s only a matter of time before you, too, are falling down the rabbit hole with the main character. That journey is ultimately one fraught with severity and frenzy, but in the meantime, Heaps keeps things somewhat light and even a bit fun. Keep in mind, a sense of foreboding is glued to just about everything and everyone on screen, regardless of any levity involved. Onur Tukel’s naturally humorous presence alone, or a couple of well-placed jokes, can’t erase the sinister quality of this story.

Where City Wide Fever doesn’t quite excel is, surprisingly, its horror parts. Heaps has a good grasp on stage-setting and tension-building, but whenever it comes time for the killer to act on his or her impulses, the following sequences are brief and underwhelming. With this being a movie about the giallo genre, you would be right to want more of the red stuff to go with that pink-purple aesthetic. Alas, that’s not the case here, as the movie’s real strength is, apart from its overall presentation, a heady and intriguing story. Gore buffs will have to look to the classics for more over-the-top and sanguinary set-pieces.

Knowing full well how giallo movies don’t always possess the most sound logic, or they are simply weird, City Wide Fever throws in these certain elements that may lead to confusion. Such as, why are two different actors playing the same character? Nancy Kimball suddenly portraying Sam in a few scenes is quite odd, but perhaps Heaps is really referencing a specific Luis Buñuel movie with that decision.

Then there are moments where the story almost convinces you that Barresi was indeed real, thanks to some well-done reality-bending. On top of the home movie-like approach, actors portray themselves, albeit fictitiously. Seeing the likes of Larry Fessenden and Rutanya Alda here, feeding into the myth of Barresi, might have you wondering if Heaps really did dig up a bona fide yet long-lost filmmaker and then fabricated a mystery about him.

To Heaps’ credit, this isn’t just a case of throwback filmmaking that’s been achieved with contemporary technology; the director used era-authentic equipment to help create this striking and nostalgic piece of modern horror. The end result is a movie that, despite all appearances, doesn’t entirely escape convention, but it’s also teeming with enough verve and style to make it feel fresh.

City Wide Fever screens in Alamo Drafthouse venues on April 15th. It’s also now available from Vinegar Syndrome.

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After watching the new movie The Yeti, in AMC theaters on April 4 & 8 before heading to Digital on April 10, you may be inclined to see more fictional depictions of these iconic beasts. Out of all of them, the following ten examples, which either hail from cinema or the small screen, can be considered some of the best.

Keep in mind, this curation, much like storytellers, takes a little creative license with the definition of a Yeti.

The World of Yamizukan

Overshadowed by the similar horror anthology anime series called Yamishibai, The World of Yamizukan also deals in short, macabre stories. At roughly four minutes each, the episodes here are over before you know it. Out of all the thirteen episodes produced, “Fairy in the Snow” is a memorable, not to mention mean, entry. In this tale, a boy befriends what looks to be a living snowman, only to then realize his new pal is actually a monster in disguise. Drawn in the style of retro children’s illustrations, this pulpy quickie leaves a mark, in spite of its brevity.

Lost Tapes

Lost Tapes was a mockumentary and found-footage series that primarily covered monsters, cryptids, and supernatural creatures. Using the docuseries format, supposed experts offered their two cents in between the horror movie-like dramatizations. This one relevant episode, “Yeti”, followed the steps of other episodes, which were, namely, the limited exposure of the otherworldly subject in question. Only glimpses of its form or visage were available, but for the more hooked viewers, that was enough to keep them coming back for more.

Half Human

After making waves with Godzilla (1954), Toho soon followed up with its second-ever kaijū movie: Half Human. But as of today, you cannot find this movie in its original form. Controversy has since kept it locked away, and from the looks of things, it may never be released to the public. Regarding the Abominable Snowman featured in Half Human, it’s a respectable-looking effort that, subconsciously or not, influenced the appearance of Toho’s King Kong.

Goosebumps

As you will see in this list, the Yeti/Abominable Snowman often travels outside of its natural habitat. Author R. L. Stine saw to it that the shaggy snow beast was part of his renowned series of children’s books, Goosebumps; a variation of the creature crops up in the entry called The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena. In the 2015 movie based on the IP, a digital manifestation of that character adds to the general chaos.

Monsters

The successor to Tales from the Darkside was indeed another anthology show: Monsters. For three seasons, this overlooked series never strayed far from its theme. Every episode delivers a monster of some kind, although the showrunners’ interpretations weren’t always as horrific as the things found in Debra Hill‘s “Far Below”. This story ultimately reveals the existence of subterranean creatures that resemble Yetis.

Jonny Quest

Someone who has never watched Jonny Quest before may be surprised to learn that the namesake investigated the Yeti. Weird things, like cryptids, actually came up more than expected in this classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon. In “Monster in the Monastery”, the Quest crew suspects their hairy enemy is really pulling a Scooby-Doo on them. The end of the episode, however, reveals there’s truth to the Yeti myth. Well, at least there is in the world of Jonny Quest.

50 States of Fright

The monstrous guest in 50 States of Fright‘s Oregon-set episode, “Scared Stiff”, is essentially a Bigfoot, but hey, you can still lump it in with all the other vague, Yeti-like creatures of horror. That snowy setting also screams “Abominable Snowman”. Here, a taxidermist’s latest project attracts the attention of one very unhappy cryptid.

The Real Ghostbusters

Liberties must be taken when hunting for Yetis and Abominable Snowmen in media. At a glance, Hob Anagarak (or The Hob) hasn’t a thing to do with the aforementioned creatures. This ancient demon, who first appeared in the The Real Ghostbusters episode “Cold Cash and Hot Water”, is both red-brown in color and rooted in fire. Yet, when the same character was reused for the opening credits of Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters, The Hob’s fur was now colored white. The model sheet also referred to him as “Abominable Snowman”.

Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back

After the huge interest in all things cryptids in the 1970s, it’s no wonder that the 1980 Star Wars movie, The Empire Strikes Back, would feature Yeti-like monsters called Wampas. What may come as a bit of a shock is how scary this thing is; Mark Hamill‘s character awoke to the beast chowing down on another source of flesh before it came after him (and lost an arm for its effort).

Abominable

What is believed to be a killer Bigfoot in the 2006 indie monster movie, Abominable, could be a case of misidentification. Yetis and Abominable Snowmen don’t have to be white in color, according to lore; they can just as easily be brown or reddish-brown. Creative storytelling also suggests their habitat isn’t limited to Asia. This movie’s specimen (or specimens, as the story later reveals) doesn’t look like any other Bigfoot in cinema, either. Its face is eerily humanlike.

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Then, there are those who ruin the fun by taking things too far. They can certainly be a nuisance in real life, but they are nothing compared to the jokers in this set of anthology episodes.

From class clowns to prank callers, and from callous teens to sadistic tricksters, these stories will make you reconsider your next April Fools’ joke…

The Hitchhiker (1983): Joker

Not to be confused with the movie The Hitcher, this 1983 anthology follows the series’ namesake, an anonymous, denim-clad nomad who provides an assortment of gripping tales. “Joker” concerns a woman (Kelly Lynch) who is being stalked by an unhinged prankster. She suspects her co-worker is behind everything, but the culprit is really someone from her past.

While the story seems straightforward enough, there’s more going on here than either the victim or stalker are letting on.

Tales of the Unexpected (1979): Where’s Your Sense of Humor?

Created by author Roald Dahl, Tales of the Unexpected frequently dabbled in every genre. This entry from screenwriter Peter Ransley shows a woman fed up with her best friend’s husband. The problem is, he loves playing practical jokes that the protagonist hardly finds amusing. She scolds him, then warns that one day one of his pranks will go “wrong.”

Although that sounds like a threat, this is more a case of just desserts.

Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1990): The Tale of the Crimson Clown

A pair of bickering brothers are at the heart of this classic Are You Afraid of the Dark? episode. Mike is the older of the two, and he is frustrated by how his younger sibling Sam gets away with his bratty behavior. To teach Sam a lesson, Mike jokes that the Crimson Clown will punish him.

This is a considerably edifying episode in a series where the kiddos don’t always survive their ordeals. Here, unconscious guilt manifests in the most peculiar way.

Night Visions (2001): Dead Air

If you were watching FOX in the summer of ’01, you might remember this short-run anthology hosted by musician Henry Rollins. In “Dear Air,” Lou Diamond Phillips plays a late-night shock jock known for his loathsome on-air personality. When he asks his listeners to phone in their creepy stories, one fan gets especially creative with her contribution.

Paranoia soaks this solitary suspenser from the writer of Ghoulies. Also: creepiest use of Petula Clark’s “Downtown” ever?

R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour (2010): Séance

Lasting four seasons, The Haunting Hour is named after the eponymous collection of shorts by famed children’s author R.L. Stine. Earlier stories were largely based on entries from his other omnibus, Nightmare Hour, though. “Séance” is an original episode that shows just how double-edged pranks can be.

With help from her friends, a teenager attempts to summon a murderer’s ghost as part of her plan to scare her younger sister.

The Haunting Hour is known among fans for its unhappy endings and “Séance” is no exception.

The Twilight Zone (2002): How Much Do You Love Your Kid?

People don’t think too fondly of the aughts reboot of Rod Serling’s classic series, but, at the very least, it was full of bold moments. “How Much Do You Love Your Kid?” capitalizes on the decade’s reality television boom. In this episode, a debt-ridden family is given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when their young son is abducted. A reality game show intervenes and offers Bonnie Somerville’s character money if she can find her kid. That jackpot grows even larger when she goes after the kidnapper.

The episode goes to extremes to satirize a divisive TV trend. Even so, Somerville’s vocal performance and the detestable ending make “How Much Do You Love Your Kid?” a hard one to forget.

Room 104 (2017): Prank Call

The Duplass brothers dabble with all genres in Room 104, an anthology where every story is contained to the same motel room at different points in time. In “Prank Call,” a troubled teenager randomly dials strangers to distract herself from her problems. Yet, one of her victims is not about to let her hang up without finishing what she started.

This provocative thriller of an episode ends on an explosive note before begging audiences to contemplate the power we have over others.

Lost Tapes (2008): Hellhound

Cryptids and other monsters are the subject matter in this obscure, found-footage style anthology. In the episode “Hellhound,” a group of teenage witches invites a new member into the coven. Their leader first wants to play a prank on her during the cemetery-set ritual, but the sudden appearance of a black dog signals doom for anyone who looked at it three times.

Like all other episodes in this horror mockumentary, “Hellhound” is pieced together with ‘factual’ interviews and trivia about supernatural canines.

Night Gallery (1970): Big Surprise

Night Gallery was Rod Serling’s follow-up to The Twilight Zone. It was comparatively more subtle and low on thought experimentation. Still, there were some terrifying episodes, including one where John Carradine plays an unnerving old man. In this short episode based on a Richard Matheson story, the elderly character invites three young school boys to dig up a “big surprise” in a nearby field. What appears to be a joke ends up being far from funny for the boys or viewers at home.

It should be noted that there are two versions of this episode. The first was ten-minutes long, but the syndicated version is double that. Looping scenes creates a whole new theory that explains the daunting, if not vague, conclusion of the original.

Goosebumps (1995): You Can’t Scare Me

Jealousy drives two boys to prank a classmate, a girl they deem to be “Little Miss Perfect.” Each and every time they try to knock her down a peg, she effortlessly outwits them and exposes their immaturity. Things change when the boys use the town’s local myth — the swamp is home to a Mud Monster — in their latest scare tactic.

While Goosebumps lacks timeless frights, “You Can’t Scare Me” is a genuinely amusing episode with quality special effects for the time and budget.

The Ray Bradbury Theater (1988): The Dwarf

The works of renowned author Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451) were brought to life in this tailor-made anthology.

“The Dwarf” has the owner of a mirror maze playing a cruel joke on one of his regulars. A little person visits the attraction every night to escape the image he otherwise sees every day. The maze’s owner toys with the customer, but only receives his own self-reflecting comeuppance later.

Ghost Stories (1997): The New Nanny

Rip Torn narrates this spectral series that first aired on The Family Channel (later ABC Family, now Freeform). As the title suggests, every episode involves a ghost.

“The New Nanny” has a couple hiring Danielle to care for their precocious son Eric. During the whole night, though, Danielle never meets her charge as they only speak by telephone. To make matters worse, Eric continues to play pranks on Danielle. The real question here is, how is he doing all of this if he never leaves his room?

What is essentially a one-woman show, “The New Nanny” puts a clever spin on the imperiled babysitter tale.

Into the Dark (2018): I’m Just F*cking with You

Hayes MacArthur and Keir O’Donnell’s characters butt heads in Adam Mason’s “I’m Just F*cking with You.” This bizarre April Fools’ Day-themed episode of Into the Dark has a seemingly mild-mannered man, who really leads a double life as an online troll, fending off the impish owner of the motel he’s staying at.

The tension between them gradually escalates before erupting into an all-out fight to see who has the literal last laugh.

Bloodride (2020): The Elephant in the Room

In “The Elephant in the Room” from Norwegian anthology Bloodride, an office costume party gets way out of hand when two new employees play water-cooler detectives. Recently, there was a case of office bullying that ended in tragedy, but the evidence doesn’t line up.

This episode is a great example of what happens when you interfere without knowing the facts beforehand.

Beyond Belief — Fact or Fiction (1997): Grave Sitting

“Grave Sitting” is the result of thinking someone’s playing a joke on you. In this interactive anthology that tests your powers of deduction, host Jonathan Frakes leads us into an eerie adaptation of a popular urban legend. Two teens challenge their friend to sit on a murderer’s grave one night. She accepts, but as the evening continues, she suspects the spirit of the killer is with her.

The power of suggestion proves to be more deadly than fact in “Grave Sitting.”

Creeped Out (2017): Kindlesticks

Babysitting isn’t easy, but Esme has found a surefire way to keep her kids in line in “Kindlesticks.” In this British anthology geared towards the youth, children are besieged by forces beyond their control or understanding. Esme quells her clients’ rowdy behavior by threatening them with a monster called Kindlesticks.

This plan always works until she meets her match in the form of a boy named Ash.

Tales from the Crypt (1989): Abra Cadaver

Tony Goldwyn and Beau Bridges play a pair of brothers and doctors in “Abra Cadaver.” Stephen Hopkins (A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child) shows the lengths we go to for laughs and revenge. In the episode, Carl’s poor judgment changes his brother Martin’s life forever, but don’t think the fun stops there. In fact, Martin’s just getting started.

As absurd as the story in “Abra Cadaver” is, it’s played straight for the most part. This suspenseful need for retribution ends in the most brutal way possible.

Masters of Horror (2005): We All Scream for Ice Cream

Tom Holland (Fright Night) shows the consequences of a childhood prank gone terribly wrong in the “Masters of Horror” episode “We All Scream for Ice Cream.”

After living with the guilt of what they did all those years ago, the kids, who are now adults with their own children, are stalked by a supernatural entity.

There’s nothing novel about this episode, but Holland makes good use of classic tropes while taking advantage of Showtime’s openness to gooey gore.

Tales from the Darkside (1983): Trick or Treat

Before George A. Romero’s Tales from the Darkside was picked up for its first season, he crafted a stellar pilot. In “Trick or Treat,” a rural area’s farmers are financially exploited by a wealthy, old man. Every Halloween, the curmudgeon gives his debtors a chance to clear their credit: if their kids can make it all the way through his haunted house, their parents’ IOUs are destroyed.

This Halloween, however, will not be like others as the old man is about to get a taste of his own medicine.

The actual series was frequently limited by its sparing budget. In contrast, Bob Balaban’s “Trick or Treat” was an imaginative-looking episode rich in macabre wonder.

Inside No. 9 (2014): Cold Comfort

A crisis hotline is the setting in this deeply disturbed episode. At the call center, a new operator named Andy speaks to Chloe, an at-risk teenager. The incident goes south and Andy is left hanging, pondering the fate of Chloe.

Showrunners Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith made their directorial debuts here. Their first outing is as distinguished as it is dark. The pair experiments by shooting the events of booth nine at Comfort Support Line through a fixed lens. This includes a final shot that will catch everyone off-guard.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on March 31, 2020.

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Simply coexisting with others in apartments, co-ops, condos, hotels, and other similar high-rises can lead to tension or conflicts, but external harms are also to blame for the terror found throughout these locations. Once the threat is made, getting out can prove difficult.

Still hankering for more high-rise horror after watching They Will Kill You? Then be sure to add these ten movies to your watchlist.

Somebody’s Watching Me! (1978)

A month after John Carpenter scared moviegoers with Halloween, his made-for-TV thriller, Somebody’s Watching Me!, first aired. This cat-and-mouse story shares some surface-level similarities with Michael Myers’ first outing, although there’s something more realistically terrifying about the scenario and the antagonist in Carpenter’s telefilm. Here, Lauren Hutton and Adrienne Barbeau suspect a man in the apartment building across the way is a stalker and a murderer. Unfortunately for them, they’re right. For a similar setup, but also a movie not restricted by the rules of television, also check out Eyes of a Stranger (1981).

Demons 2 (1986)

Trading the big movie theater for an unassuming apartment building, Lamberto Bava‘s Demons 2 allows for a different sort of confined atmosphere. The characters here all come upon the otherworldly forces in their own time and space before then taking to the hallways and other shared areas for their survival. Overall, it doesn’t quite outperform Bava’s original, but the one official sequel has its own charms.

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

It took some years to see it happen, but more folks have come around to Joe Dante‘s Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Some might even prefer it. This zanier sequel, of course, moves that story of Mogwai and mayhem to the Big Apple after beginning in a small Pennsylvania town. A skyscraper becomes the main venue for the ensuing chaos born from Gizmo’s offspring coming in contact with a gene-altering serum.

Candyman (1992)

Urban horror does not get much better than Candyman, Bernard Rose‘s adaptation of Clive Barker‘s story “The Forbidden”. A colossal housing development in Chicago is haunted by a boogeyman of sorts, one who is played to perfection by the great Tony Todd. On the other end of that bloody hook is Virginia Madsen, that scholar whose prying lands her, and others, in the maw of a ruthless entity.

The Shaft (2001)

Dick Maas‘ vision for a killer elevator first came to fruition in The Lift (1983), but it was only when he remade his own movie that the story could reach its full visual potential. Now armed with a higher budget, the Dutch filmmaker’s English redo, one which stars Naomi Watts, is a spectacle that has to be seen to be believed.

REC (2007)

POV horror reached great heights in Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza‘s [REC]. This Spanish stab at the found-footage format is a masterclass in sustaining tension and building atmosphere, balancing light and darkness on screen, and executing scares in an effective way. The singular movie, one about a reporter trapped inside a quarantined apartment building, comes at you pretty fast before slinking back into its shadowy corner.

Devil (2010)

What could have been the start of a trio of stand-alone horror movies, ones produced by M. Night Shyamalan, wound up being a one-and-done kind of venture. Nevertheless, John Erick Dowdle‘s Devil is a way more fun time than one would expect, based on the fact that the story is largely contained to an elevator.

Dream Home (2010)

Pang Ho-cheung‘s Dream Home brings new meaning to the phrase “killer listing”. Josie Ho goes on the offensive after losing out on not only her dream apartment, but also her dreams in general. As gory and wince-inducing as this satirical slasher is, it also has an affecting quality to its story.

Attack the Block (2011)

A superb script elevates a relatively simple, not to mention familiar, concept in Joe Cornish‘s Attack the Block. Fully fleshed-out characters and expert pacing to go with the pulpy plot, this movie is a tough one to beat. The setting is put to such good use in this tale of young, underclass saviors going up against alien invaders. Since then, there have been some similar stories put on screen, including Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015) and Infested (2023).

Tower Block (2012)

While James Nunn and Ronnie Thompson‘s Tower Block might have the smell of a mere thriller, its execution is rife with enough jolts and suspense to include it with these horror offerings. Here, the remaining residents in a soon-to-be closed block are stuck on the top floor, and they’re gradually being picked off by a mysterious sniper. The reason for their targeting is never hard to figure out, but the fun here is the mayhem and carnage, not the mystery.

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Now, the following ten horror movies feature a variety of sibling situations. A few are agreeable, whereas in other instances, being related only leads to more trouble.

Night of the Comet (1984)

If there is any silver lining to the cataclysmic event in Thom Eberhardt‘s Night of the Comet, it’s the two main characters finally becoming closer. Here, Catherine Mary Stewart and Kelli Maroney play sisters who have outlived just about everyone else in the world, forcing them to now look out for each other. “Feel-good” isn’t usually the first word to describe apocalyptic movies, but its use here is appropriate.

The Possession of Joel Delaney (1972)

For a very complicated relationship between brother and sister, Waris Hussein‘s The Possession of Joel Delaney is an easy choice (but not an easy watch). Shirley MacLaine‘s character tries to save her less put-together brother (Perry King) from what looks to be a case of sinister possession. The outcome, however, is far, far from that of your typical exorcism movie.

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)

The fourth Friday the 13th movie, The Final Chapter, introduced recurring character Tommy Jarvis. And although Tommy (Corey Feldman) would eventually go it alone, his relationship with his older sister Trish (Kimberly Beck) is a highlight in that not-so-final Friday. They go to great lengths to protect one another from the infamous Jason Voorhees. Tommy would later return in the fifth and sixth movies, but Trish’s whereabouts were unknown until Friday the 13th: The Game filled in the gaps.

Silver Bullet (1985)

While not everyone considers Dan Attias‘ Silver Bullet to be the greatest werewolf movie in existence, it is certainly one of the better ones. And Stephen King, who adapted his own novella here, is largely why that’s the case. His writing for the young brother and sister (Corey Haim and Megan Follows) at the core of the story, plus their uncle (Gary Busey), elevates an otherwise straightforward werewolf tale.

Pin (1988)

The brother and sister (David Hewlett, Cynthia Preston) in Sandor Stern‘s ’80s hidden gem, Pin, have a weird relationship, to say the least. Believe it or not, though, this adaptation of Andrew Neiderman’s novel of the same name actually tones down the siblings’ bizarre relationship. Nonetheless, what the movie does include is still a bit uncomfortable at times. Two very traumatized young adults get by in life by seeking solace from their dead father’s (Terry O’Quinn) medical dummy, only to then grow apart as one of them learns to be more independent.

Jack Be Nimble (1993)

Siblings separated at a young age, then finding each other later, isn’t unique to cinema; it happens all the time in real life. Yet in Garth Maxwell‘s gothic horror movie, Jack Be Nimble, staying apart might have been for the best for Alexis Arquette and Sarah Smuts-Kennedy‘s characters. The nature-versus-nurture theory is put to the test here as the two protagonists’ different upbringings play a huge part in how they now cope with trauma.

Ginger Snaps (2000)

The namesake of Ginger Snaps is fortunate in at least one way. In John Fawcett‘s classic coming-of-age horror movie, Katharine Isabelle‘s afflicted character has the most loyal sister anyone could ever wish for. Emily Perkins‘ Brigitte does everything in her power to help Ginger deal with her lycanthropy. And as the sequel and prequel both show, neither death nor time can keep them apart.

A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)

A Tale of Two Sisters takes family tragedy to the next level. In Kim Jee-woon‘s adaptation of an old folktale, Im Soo-jung‘s character returns home after a stay in a psychiatric hospital. And when she’s not protecting her sister (Moon Geun-young) from their wicked stepmother (Yum Jung-ah), she’s catching glimpses of an eerie entity in the house. Things, of course, are not what they seem in this popular South Korean horror movie.

Oculus (2013)

The family reunion in Mike Flanagan‘s Oculus is not a happy one, considering how Karen Gillan and Brenton Thwaites are trying to prove the brother was wrongfully accused of murder. And the only way to exonerate him is to, somehow, prove a supernatural mirror was responsible for the crimes. The movie also offers younger versions of the main characters by featuring a dual-narrative format. In either timeline, the powerful bond between these siblings is unmistakable.

Things Will Be Different (2024)

In Michael Felker‘s debut feature, Things Will Be Different, an estranged brother (Adam David Thompson) and his sister (Riley Dandy) commit a robbery, then hide out at a farmhouse in another timeline. Their situation only gets stranger as someone attempts to kill the siblings. Teeming with suspense and strong performances, this lo-fi sci-fi horror movie is not one to be missed.

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These films started with the hypothetical mutations of surviving prehistoric creatures before later leaning into more far-out ideas, such as aliens and otherworldly civilizations.

Amazingly enough, though, robots didn’t enter the picture until near the end of that first era. Once Mechagodzilla did make its explosive debut, the King of Monsters gained an enemy for life.

Next to Ishirō Honda, Jun Fukuda helmed the most Godzilla films from the Shōwa cycle (1954–1975). His five directorial contributions are also met with the most mixed reactions. After all, this was the man behind Son of Godzilla (1967), Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972), and Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973). Those especially divisive entries were taken as signs of the franchise’s decline. Nonetheless, Toho pushed on and even showed some signs of life in its last two films before Godzilla’s (first) major hiatus. And by no coincidence, both featured Mechagodzilla.

Fukuda’s final outing in the series, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974), can be seen as a redeeming moment for both him and the late-Shōwa phase. That’s not to say his former efforts don’t have their fans, and a few of them are too maligned, but overall, they’re still not as revered as anything from Honda’s output. Nevertheless, Fukuda managed to stay on the same wavelength as his prior films while also delivering something fresh and exciting. 

From the opening, it’s clear that Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla is about to get a bit unusual. Fan-favorite Anguirus is spotted in some desolate terrain before he then unleashes a string of guttural bellows. From the looks and sounds of things, that haunting yell summons the Big G from a nearby volcano. Fittingly, though, Godzilla’s own signature roar is only heard, not seen, amid the volcanic explosion. This plays into the film’s notion that things are not at all what they seem.

Fukuda’s apparent fondness for gangsters, espionage, and conspiracies found its way into his Godzilla work, in particular this film. Mechagodzilla was, in fact, the first instance where Fukuda co-wrote the screenplay. As a result, the looming threat of giant monsters is supplemented by a cat-and-mouse subplot. In lieu of anything grounded, aliens are once more the masterminds behind the kaijū chaos and the human characters’ constant pursuit.

Fukuda does, however, channel Planet of the Apes when distinguishing these extraterrestrials from others seen so far in the Godzilla lineage. The inclination to give the antagonists simian attributes seemed only appropriate, given Apes’ popularity at the time. There was even a Japanese adaptation, Saru no Gundan, airing on TV the same year that Mechagodzilla came out.

The superhero-like direction of the ‘70s Godzilla films, not to mention Fukuda’s previous installments, remained in full effect here. The ongoing competition with tokusatsu television, such as Kamen Rider and Ultraman, had influenced Toho to turn Godzilla into their own world-saving, child-friendly champion. When met on those terms, the heroic battles are more tolerable, if not immensely entertaining. Luckily, Fukuda was able to step a little off the well-beaten path, as well as drop some stylistic flourishes, before returning the reins to Honda.

That somewhat formulaic story is bailed out by Fukuda’s direction. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla is full of verve where it counts and never feels as phoned in as the two films before it. The monster set-pieces are lively and effective. The director’s penchant for bloodletting stays the same, too, although that gruesome encounter between Godzilla’s imposter and Anguirus is perhaps too dark, even when trying to convince the audience that Mechagodzilla is indeed very bad. As for the climactic battle between the two titular titans, along with newcomer King Caesar, Fukuda’s affection for Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns is apparent.

With mysticism and magic, each legitimized elements in the Godzilla films, beginning with King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) and continuing in Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964), the inclusion of King Caesar comes as no shock to any ardent viewer. Interestingly, though, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla digs into existing Okinawan mythology rather than creating lore out of thin air. Regardless of its origins, that shaggy guardian monster is, more or less, a substitute for Mothra; the Azumi family also fills in for the Twin Fairies.

There is even an earwormy folk song used to beckon the beast. That said, King Caesar is still a worthy, if not odd, addition to Toho’s creature gallery.

As for Mechagodzilla, those first two appearances are the robot at its most villainous. Giving Godzilla a dark twin, a vision of a possible timeline where Earth’s greatest protector went the other way, is as amusing as it is clever. Sure, Mechagodzilla is likely just an idea inspired by Mechani-Kong from King Kong Escapes (1967), yet that metallic ape has nothing on its spiritual successor. As Anguirus’ glossectomy showed, Fukuda was intent on making the heroes suffer and work for their victory.

The concluding battle is an all-timer—it’s a glut of lasers, sparks, and other eye-catching effects. And unlike the future Japanese films, these monsters weren’t afraid to brawl. Full-contact fights would be all but phased out down the line, whereas the original Mechagodzilla reaped the benefits of claw-to-claw tussles.

Where the Shōwa films ultimately landed after their shaky flight path, and after Godzilla (1954), is almost hard to believe. Yet at the same time, they provide some of the most lasting memories this franchise has to offer. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla leans into its own excess with no apologies, and the film is all the better for it. Admittedly, Godzilla turning into a giant magnet is guffaw-worthy, but the craft put into that moment, like most technical aspects here, is impressive.

While not everyone considers Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla to be the best film from the classic period, it still does have a lot going for it. The only real disappointment is how the series eventually (and temporarily) closed up shop just when it felt like it was getting back on track.

The post ‘Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla’ Introduced One of the Franchise’s Greatest Villains appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Now, there are some action movies that infuse more slasher elements than others. Classics like The Terminator and Predator are unmistakably modeled after slashers, but they’re not the only ones. Others take on the traits of slashers more than their peers, ultimately creating a more unique viewing experience.

The following ten lesser seen movies give action and slasher fans the best of both worlds.

Silent Rage (1982)

The first of two Chuck Norris vehicles here is is the fan-favorite Silent Rage. In Michael Miller‘s actioner, a captured killer (Brian Libby) is revived using an experimental serum. He comes back to life, but now he possesses superhuman strength. The homicidal escapee is then tracked down by Norris’ character, the local sheriff. This sci-fi/action hybrid could use more action, yet the horror equivalences are plentiful.

Silent Rage is available on Blu-ray from Sony Pictures Entertainment.

10 to Midnight (1983)

The police or other law-enforcement agents are routinely the protagonist in action movies. And no other actor quite fills the part of “tough cop” better than Charles Bronson. The Death Wish actor may be a man of the shield this time around in J. Lee Thompson‘s 10 to Midnight, but this copper acts more like a vigilante when the story’s villain comes after his daughter (Lisa Eilbacher). Bronson plays a detective who will do whatever it takes to put away a killer (Gene Davis), even if that means breaking the law. The audience is, of course, on Bronson’s side because, one, the judicial system is a mess, and two, Davis’ character is as guilty as he is naked whenever he murders one of his victims. The conclusion is where the movie gets incredibly slashery; the antagonist brutally picks off random women until he can get to the one he really craves. 10 to Midnight is a cult classic with great characters and performances, as well as one of the most memorable killers in either action or slasher movies.

10 to Midnight is available on Blu-ray from Shout! Factory.

The Zero Boys (1986)

It’s arguable that Nico Mastorakis‘ The Zero Boys is already a horror movie, but unlike other slashers coming out during the ’80s, it was more action oriented than scary. A young paintball team’s victory celebration out in the woods is spoiled when the crew is targeted by unseen enemies. As the heroes trek through the dark and eerie woods, they use their paintball skills to help them survive their bizarre ordeal. There’s a noticeable clashing of tones in The Zero Boys, and while it can never quite figure itself out, there is no denying the entertainment value of this movie.

The Zero Boys is available on Blu-ray from Arrow Video.

Hero and the Terror (1988)

The other Chuck Norris movie here is William Tannen‘s Hero and the Terror, which is similar to Silent Rage. Here Norris, again playing a cop, comes up against a seemingly unstoppable opponent. Based on Michael Blodgett’s novel of the same name, this movie is more character-driven than the previous Norris joint. The main character is haunted by the eponymous killer’s last crime spree, and he’s on even higher alert now that his girlfriend is pregnant and random women have gone missing. Once The Terror resumes business, Norris finds closure and makes the world a bit safer.

Hero and the Terror is available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.

Bloodmoon (1997)

Real-life martial artist Gary Daniels made the jump to film in the late ’80s, and he became a familiar face in the ’90s for his multiple direct-to-video action movies. One of his better projects was Bloodmoon, which shouldn’t be confused with the Australian slasher of the same name. Here Daniels isn’t a cop but rather an expert on serial killers who also just happens to be an expert fighter. The mindhunter is the only one who can now stop the masked murderer targeting sports champions. This high-octane and well-choreographed movie excels in the action department due to its talented director, Siu-Hung Leung.

Bloodmoon is available on DVD from Fox Lorber and Genius Products.

Banshee (2006)

No doubt Banshee was inspired by the success of the Fast & Furious franchise and other car-related action movies. To make this story a bit more unique, Taryn Manning‘s character is pitted against a serial killer. Manning is a crafty car theft who boosts the wrong wheels one night; her mistake puts everyone she knows at risk when the owner seeks bloody revenge. Helping Manning’s scrappy character is a bumbling himbo cop played by Michael Lombardi. Manning performs her own stunts and sings on the soundtrack in this made-for-TV actioner from Kari Skogland (Marvel’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier).

Banshee is available on DVD from Image Entertainment.

Slice (2009)

A mysterious killer is roaming the streets of Thailand in Kongkiat “Khom” Khomsiri‘s movie Slice. The cops are totally clueless as more and more body parts are discovered in random places. Only one cop (Arak Amornsupasiri) is destined to find the culprit, but the journey getting there won’t be easy. Slice is a stylish, shocking and gory crime story. The slasher element is broken up and scattered about, but the third act is where it comes out in full force.

Tower Block (2012)

Residents in a low-income apartment building are picked off, one by one, by a ruthless and unknown sharpshooter in Tower Block. This thriller is drained of color to match its dreary demeanor, and the characters are unpleasant and thinly written. Yet, it’s never a dull watch. Admittedly James Nunn and Ronnie Thompson‘s movie sticks out from other selections here; there is no apparent procedural element, specifically a detective hot on the killer’s trail. The action instead comes from these neighbors and acquaintances physically trying — and failing — to escape a hopeless situation.

Tower Block is available on Blu-ray from Shout! Factory.

Cold Hell (2017)

The German-Austrian nailbiter Cold Hell is more a modern giallo than a slasher, seeing as choice artistic moments are likened to something out of Dario Argento’s oeuvre. Stefan Ruzowitzky delivers a complete thrill-ride where the Hitchcockian setup is ultimately turned into a vicious cat-and-mouse game that shows off Violetta Schurawlow‘s talent. This frantic movie’s lead’s character, a Turkish taxi driver staying in Vienna, is in the wrong place at the wrong time; she witnesses a murder as well as catches the full attention of the perpetrator.

Black Site (2022)

In Sophia Banks‘ feature-length debut, a dangerous inmate (Jason Clarke) escapes his confines in a top-secret prison. The guards, including Michelle Monaghan‘s character, track the escapee down, but not without casualties. Clarke’s character, who is known as Hatchet, begins to systematically kill his captors. While this thriller is weighed down by anemic writing and characters, it’s saved by the surprising slasher factor as well as the action sequences.

Black Site is on Blu-ray/DVD from Vertical Entertainment.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on April 7, 2023.

The post ‘Silent Rage’ and 10 Action-Slasher Horror Movies You Maybe Haven’t Seen appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

This new clash between military brawn and extraterrestrial precision gets points for simply going bigger with its alien antagonist, but nearly everything else in this movie is underwhelming.

Throwing characters straight into a hairy situation without blatantly setting up their personal journey is becoming a rare sight these days. War Machine definitely doesn’t avoid the ever-present trend of stacking traumas, seeing as how Alan Ritchson’s character here, who later goes by the designation of “81”, is acting on—you guessed it—unresolved trauma. Scoot past the harsh outset, and 81 is now found working out his feelings at a special ops boot camp.

Perhaps more interesting would have been starting the movie right then and there, and figuring out why this hulking soldier is so guarded and antisocial. Instead, we know right from the beginning why 81 is emotionally constipated and why he’s humiliating his fellow recruits in the obstacles. This foreknowledge only makes the story beats, not to mention the outcome, all the more predictable.

Now, if you signed up for something with more energy, then you might leave a bit disappointed. The movie is too realistically designed to ever really cut loose. That said, once you’re past the perfunctory first act, War Machine enters the more potentially satisfying arc of its invasion story. 81 and his less-competent comrades are eventually caught off guard by a colossal murder tank from outer space, one that’s been sent to wipe out humanity in and around these parts. That ensuing manslaughter occurs in spurts because Hughes, as both the director and co-writer, at least has the good decency to not bore us with a monotonous row of set-pieces. There are these cool-down scenes that help to balance everything out and make the few action-heavy sequences here a little worthwhile.

Ultimately, staying true to that grounded approach takes the steam out of the battles. Or rather, the direction. The encounters feel more flat than you want them to be, and treating the opponent as a mechanized entity essentially saps those fights of their energy. The sheer size of this invader is daunting, but after a while, that enormity isn’t enough to make up for its absence of character. Indeed, it’s just a machine we have here, and not a very interesting one at that.

Had it not been for the coda, the rest of the movie is almost forgivable. Memorable? Not in the least, but nothing egregiously bad. Just middle-of-the-road stuff, as far as expensive, modern B-movies go. Once again, though, it’s like War Machine needed to spoon-feed and not allow us to infer things. Tacking on a second ending, when the first one was fine, reeks of padding and babying. Maybe it felt necessary for those who weren’t paying attention.

War Machine doesn’t have to be the next Predator, but surely it could have been more entertaining. In this current form, it’s bordering on lifeless and takes itself too seriously. So much so that even the vulnerable moments don’t hit as well as they should. Adding insult to injury, the movie is also a dull vehicle for Ritchson. Putting him in a role that strips him of his natural charm and makes him interchangeable with any basic soldier-type actor is a weird choice.

The Ritchson we saw in the opening scene—now that would have been a great human foe for the alien. Instead, though, we’re left with that figurative rendering of the movie’s title. A parallel that another character is sure to point out, in case we didn’t already deduce that bit ourselves.

War Machine streams on Netflix starting on March 6.

The post ‘War Machine’ Review – Netflix’s New Alien Invasion Movie Shows Little Signs of Life appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Scream: The TV Series wasn’t the first of its kind; the slasher-whodunit format was previously used to great effect in Harper’s Island (2009). As it so happens, Jill E. Blotevogel worked on both series as a producer. These two similar shows each racked up impressive body counts; however, Blotevogel didn’t want to replicate Harper’s Island’s marketing ploy. “You knew, in every episode, that someone was going to die. […] That’s an exciting promise, but in a way, you’re waiting to find out who’s going to die in the next episode,” she said.

Whereas in Scream, one of its strengths was the unpredictability of victimhood. “We want to keep people off-balance, so that they don’t know necessarily when, if or how someone might die,” Blotevogel added.

The New Faces of Scream: The TV Series

Folks new to Scream may hate to be spoiled here, but MTV wasn’t exactly tight-lipped about Bella Thorne’s lack of longevity in the show. They went so far as to announce her character was the opening victim before the first episode even aired. And although Nina Patterson’s death doesn’t have remotely the same punch as that of Drew Barrymore’s character in the original movie, the series still wanted its own Casey Becker moment. That feeling of shock from witnessing the biggest name in the cast getting menaced and gutted in under ten minutes.

Older viewers would have little to no familiarity with Thorne’s work prior to Scream, yet the then-current MTV crowd probably knew her from Shake It Up. For them, it had to have been surreal to watch a former Disney Channel starlet get Ghostfaced. Meanwhile, Willa Fitzgerald, who played protagonist Emma Duvall, became more recognized after the show ended. From Reacher to The Fall of the House of Usher to Strange Darling, Fitzgerald’s star only rose after tangling with Ghostface.

Speaking of Ghostface, it’s best to get the mask business out of the way. That one small but huge change from the movies has haunted this show from the get-go. Even though there is a ghostly white mask strapped to the killer’s mug, it’s definitely not the one everyone associates with Ghostface. It’s been said that the show couldn’t initially secure the rights to the iconic “Father Death” costume (designed by Fun World), hence the creation of this new one.

Perhaps more than anything else in the series, that switcheroo is the biggest deterrent for new viewers. Borrowing the title leads to the understandable expectation that the classic Ghostface would be included. Aesthetically speaking, at least. On the other hand, going with a new mask denotes, as well as emphasizes, the separation of continuities.

In some fairness, the series’ mask is effective in its own right. This design, having more of a human quality to its facial features, adds a certain bit of creepiness that the traditional Ghostface veneer lacked. It’s like staring into a blurry, warped mirror, trying to make sense of the reflection. Plus, anyone who saw this thing staring back at them in the dark would naturally be just as frightened, if not more so.

That ample opportunity to remake the 1996 movie is never actually taken in the series. There are bits and pieces that are inspired, but otherwise, the movie events don’t factor into the show. Regardless, the two properties have the same setup: a suburb is rocked by the killing of a local girl. Yet once the shock of Nina’s brutal murder has subsided, and other folks start to die, it’s clear that the Lakewood cast is on their own in their survival, apart from resident horror geek Noah Foster (John Karna). His readily available knowledge of the genre, as deep cutting as it can be, is about as helpful as it is now in the newer Scream movies. Knowing the ins and outs of tropes and trends ultimately can’t stop a madman.

Where the series mirrors the movies most is the killer (or killers, to be more exact). Motivations vary throughout the whole franchise, but the show took cues from its big-screen counterparts when explaining the whys of this Ghostface. There is that red herring of sorts, namely the local lore of Brandon James, that obscures the investigation. In true Scream fashion, though, no detail is irrelevant or goes unused. Everything traces back to the beginning, particularly the Brandon James underplot. Unfortunately, this storyline, along with the original cast, was abandoned after Season Two.

Season Three Resurrects the Series with a Reboot

Despite having a strong second season, plus an amusing Halloween special, Scream slipped into production limbo. The show had been renewed for a third installment in 2016, but matters behind the scenes prevented anything from surfacing until 2019. By then, those in charge were gone; producers Blotevogel and Jaime Paglia were already replaced by Michael Gans and Richard Register in Season Two.

In addition, the Harvey Weinstein scandal played a part in the delay, seeing as how Weinstein was a former executive producer. Yet after the legalities and whatnot were all sorted, the third and final season premiered. Rather than sticking to a weekly schedule, those remaining six episodes were spread out over three consecutive days. The show had also made the lateral move from MTV to VH1. So, needless to say, there were a lot of changes made, including a whole new cast of would-be victims.

With new producers at the helm, including Queen Latifah, the last season was a complete reboot. To underline that reset, the backdrop went from the insidious suburbs to the gritty inner city. Keke Palmer was among that roster of fresh young fodder (a.k.a. the Deadfast Club), and the new killer had not a thing to do with the one(s) in prior seasons. On that note, the Ghostface mask was looking like its old self again, and the series had managed to recruit Roger L. Jackson. These positives, of course, could not withstand the tide of negative reviews for Scream: Resurrection. Not long after that, this attempt at turning the show into a seasonal anthology was over.

At one point in the premiere of Scream, the character of Noah proclaims: “You can’t do a slasher movie as a TV series.” He then goes on to say how “slasher movies burn bright and fast” and how “TV needs to stretch things out.” Immediately these statements came across as the show being down on itself before it had really begun. In hindsight, though, this was more of a challenge—not only to itself, but to everyone watching.

Was this a successful attempt at bringing the slasher subgenre to the small screen? Yes and no. There are stumbles along the way that the show can’t always recover from; the uneven pacing and excess of teen drama both come to mind. On the other end, when it’s focused on gruesome thrills and plot twists, the series is pretty damn entertaining. Had things gone differently for subsequent seasons, the fans would have finally gotten that meta story.

Under a different title, this show might have been granted more clemency. The turnout would have likely also been smaller, had that been the case. Even so, when met on its own terms, and accepting what it is rather than what it isn’t, this Scream is a solid stab at serializing the slasher movie.

The post Ghostface Experimented with Small Screen Terror in ‘Scream: The TV Series’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

And wow, that list of what’s coming is seriously impressive, not to mention free.

Now, the big question on everyone’s mind is, will everything announced be available on March 1? Well, the simple answer is no, seeing as how these new additions will be coming in waves. Don’t fret, though, because that spacing gives you plenty of time to catch up without being overwhelmed, as well as allows us to curate some notable recommendations.

So, be sure to keep an eye out for these ten animated series coming to Tubi.

The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo

Mystery Inc. has gone through a number of changes throughout the years, especially with the cast. While Scoobs and Shaggy are always included, Fred, Daphne, and Velma were less guaranteed to show up in a new show. This was the case with The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo (1985), a delightful approach to the format and characters. Sure, Fred and Velma sat this one out, but Daphne is along for the ride as Scooby and Shaggy, along with Vincent Van Ghoul (voiced by Vincent Price), hunt down some bona fide ghosts. Oh, and the contentious Scrappy-Doo is here, too, before he was essentially booted from the entire Scooby-Doo universe. Even in the belated follow-up movie, Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost (2019), Scrappy is retconned out of the TV storyline.

Beetlejuice

People of a certain age can surely remember this animated reimagining of Tim Burton’s 1988 cult movie. Here in this version of Beetlejuice (1989–1991), Beetlejuice and Lydia are now good pals who routinely get themselves into misadventures down in the Neitherworld. The cartoon doesn’t get anywhere as dark as the movies did, but as compensation, the series is energetic and well-acted.

A Pup Named Scooby-Doo

When it felt like the Scooby-Doo franchise was on its last legs and just unable to capture the energy of its heyday, the Scooby Gang got a drastic makeover. As was the trend at the time, the characters were turned into kids; Scooby, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne and Velma were now preteens who solved weird cases in between classes. What also helped make A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (1988–1991) stand out from the original cartoon is the presence of the supernatural. There were definitely humans getting unmasked here, but don’t be surprised to see a legit ghost or two.

Tiny Toon Adventures

Before anyone asks why Tiny Toon Adventures (1990–1992, 1994–1995) is being brought up here, they should consider everything this show had to offer during its brief but memorable run. On top of all the wonderful satire within, the writers behind Tiny Toon Adventures, including Paul Dini, clearly enjoyed a variety of genres. Horror-inspired episodes such as “The Horror of Slumber Party Mountain” and segments like “Duck in the Dark” and “Boo Ha Ha” are all proof of this. Then there is the glorious “Night Ghoulery” special that parodies Rod Serling’s anthology show, Night Gallery. So, if you somehow don’t want to watch the whole series, then at least check out those aforesaid stories. Maybe they’ll change your mind about that binge-watch.

The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest

The original Jonny Quest was the result of Hanna-Barbera delving into more action-oriented fare back in the ’60s. Then in the ’90s, the show was revamped for a then-modern audience (complete with the least timeless CG animation). More or less, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest (1996–1997) still followed three bold kids who solved mysteries across the globe, but this update proved to be a headache behind the scenes. The second and final season saw big changes, making it something of a soft reboot. Overall, this new cartoon occasionally delved into the paranormal and eerie, with ghosts and cryptids as some of the more out-there cases that Jonny and his fellow adventurers investigated.