Haunted Newsreel

Justice! Justice has come to us horror fans around the world!

The 80's cult sci-fi horror film, The Deadly Spawn, is going to see life on a new entertainment medium - Blu-Ray. According to Amazon.com, The Deadly Spawn will be released on Blu-Ray January 24^th, 2012, all thanks to Elite Entertainment. In The Deadly Spawn, two campers unleash an alien parasite from a meteorite, which then makes its way to the basement of an old house. The alien soon comes in conflict with four young teenagers, and one pre-teen boy, who are determined to stop it before it devours all of humanity.

The bonus features will include a commentary track, a still gallery, casting footage, a gag reel, a theatrical trailer and TV spot, an enhanced opening scene (hopefully no CGI), television review footage, and much more!(read more...)

Since its publication last July, Jason Zinoman's Shock Value has received more mainstream press - and largely favorable mainstream press - than most critical analyses of horror cinema in recent years. The attention is understandable, as this is a well-written account of a pivotal period in the genre (the late '60s to early '80s) that's also accessible to a general readership. It's not aimed purely at cinephiles and academics or the fanatical horror fandom. It also doesn't hurt that, in this age of information overload, the book is a quick read or that Zinoman writes regularly for The New York Times (mainly covering theater). Even in a time of a historically fractured mass media, the "Gray Lady" still has clout.(read more...)

I really have no excuse for this one. Sometimes I have stupid ideas and they won't leave me alone until I execute them. Please forgive me.

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Jimmy Sangster, whose scripts for The Curse of Frankenstein and Horror of Dracula helped seal the reputation of Hammer Studios as the home of British horror in the 1950s and 60s has passed away at the age of 83.

Born in Wales in 1927, Sangster started his movie career aged 16 as a clapper boy, working his way through various jobs, before ending up as assistant director on Hammer adaptations of BBC Radio serials.

Eventually landing the job of scripting the studio's adaption of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, he made one significant change to the source material, moving the emphasis in the story from the monster to the creator, consequently giving Peter Cushing his breakthrough starring role, and Hammer a hit movie, both in the UK and the US.(read more...)