Our editor-in-chief Nate Yapp is proud to have contributed to the new book Hidden Horror: A Celebration of 101 Underrated and Overlooked Fright Flicks, edited by Aaron Christensen. Another contributors include Anthony Timpone, B.J. Colangelo, Dave Alexander, Classic-Horror.com's own Robert C. Ring and John W. Bowen. Pick up a copy today from Amazon.com!

Padraig Cotter

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Posts by Padraig Cotter

Twitchy Thumbs: Silent Hill (1999)

Silent Hill video game cover

The following is what would have been the first entry in an ongoing column about video games. However, since the site will no longer be updating after June 15th, only one entry was produced. We hope you enjoy!

Way back in 1999 when Silent Hill was released for the Playstation, videogaming was in the middle of a massive image shift. With the arrival and success of the Playstation in 1996 gaming was becoming mainstream and cool. It was no longer considered the past time of pasty kids with no friends or the hopelessly nerdy. Advances in technology enabled developers to add a cinematic sheen to their games for the first time and titles like Gran Turismo, Resident Evil and Metal Gear Solid were leading the pack in this new cinematic approach. Even Hollywood was getting in on this blossoming medium, with the likes of Bruce Willis lending his likeness and voice to generic shoot em up Apocalypse. And in the midst of all this came Silent Hill. Initially seen as a rival to flagship horror franchise Resident Evil, it went on to become a big success in its own right and the years since have seen numerous sequels, spin-offs, merchandising, films and even a remake. The series even has its own iconic bogeyman in the hulking shape of Pyramid Head. But it all started with the first game, a relentless, nerve shredding nightmare.

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Review: They Live (1988)

They Live poster

Chances are if you've heard of They Live, it is for one of two reasons. One, you've heard the line that launched a million t-shirts: "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum." Or two: You've seen the prolonged alleyway fight scene between Roddy Piper and Keith David on YouTube (or the fantastic South Park parody of it). But if you've never seen the film itself those two things might give you the impression that it's just another cheesy action flick from the eighties, but in keeping with the theme of the film, appearances can be deceiving. Lying underneath the surface of this sci-fi/action flick is a film howling in fury against mindless greed and corruption.(read more...)

Review: The Last Man on Earth (1964)

Last Man on Earth 1964 poster

The Last Man on Earth is the first cinematic adaptation of Richard Matheson's classic novel I Am Legend. With its unique premise and intelligent deconstruction of the vampire myth, Matheson's book brought something fresh and exciting to the horror genre (Stephen King, Steve Niles and George Romero, amongst many others, have cited it as a big inspiration on them). But how well does this film version compare to the novel that inspired it? The answer, unfortunately, is not very. (read more...)