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!

Posts by Brandt Sponseller

Review: Alien: Resurrection (1997)

Submitted by Brandt Sponseller on Sun, 2000-11-05 01:00

Alien Resurrection doesn't have any profound subtexts like Alien³. Like Aliens, it's more "Hollywoodish" than Alien or Alien³, but it's not quite as bombastic, or as successful as Aliens. But, it's not that far removed from Aliens as a prime cut of Hollywood action cum sci-fi horror, and unlike Aliens, Alien Resurrection retains much of Alien's atmosphere, making Sigourney Weaver right in her claim that it plays a bit like a genetic splicing of the first two films, which is appropriate. (By the way, I recommend a scorecard to keep all the "Alien" titles straight.)(read more...)

Review: Severed Ties (1992)

Submitted by Brandt Sponseller on Sat, 2000-11-04 01:00

I want to say that Severed Ties is a bad film that's fun to watch, but the problem is that most of the time Severed Ties is just a bad film.(read more...)

Review: Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows (2000)

Submitted by Brandt Sponseller on Sun, 2000-10-29 15:19

I was in the initially small but increasingly vocal minority who didn't care much for the first Blair Witch film. Although at least some Blair Witch Project (BWP) advocates say otherwise, it's hard for me to believe that those who champion the film (the portion of them who weren't paid by Haxan and/or Artisan to say they enjoyed it) aren't doing so for mainly political reasons which amount to being not only anti what they consider teen-oriented horror (but which may just be a function of their aging), as if aiming for a teen audience is anything new in the genre, and anti-Hollywood and big budget films in general.(read more...)

Review: Alien3 (1992)

Submitted by Brandt Sponseller on Sun, 2000-10-29 00:00

Not quite as good overall as Aliens, the second film in the series, but still a cut above Alien, in my opinion. Alien³ has a different flavor than its predecessors, and despite claims made for them, this one actually has a subtext. Unfortunately it also has flaws that knock a couple points off its rating.(read more...)

Review: Dracula (1979)

Submitted by Brandt Sponseller on Wed, 2000-10-25 00:00

It's not easy to make a Dracula film. Ever since Tod Browning's 1931 version starring Bela Lugosi, at least, filmmakers wanting to create a version Bram Stoker's story--one of the defining tales of the horror genre--have had to deal with masterful precursors deeply ingrained in the public's consciousness. Even Browning had to compete with F. W.(read more...)

Review: Aliens (1986)

Submitted by Brandt Sponseller on Mon, 2000-10-23 00:00

I'm not in with the in crowd who thinks that, almost by definition, sequels are inferior to their precursors, partially because I didn't pick up my ideas about criticism from the Scream films. But I think it's worth commenting how much more I liked Aliens than their mother Alien. While I don't think the sequelitis syndrome has merit, I also don't routinely find sequels an improvement by more than a couple points. In this case I did, and only a few surface flaws-a touch of stereotype here, a bit of a hammy performance there (mainly Private Vasquez and the cigar-chomping Marine squadron leader)-disabled me from giving Aliens a perfect score, which I felt it should have earned.(read more...)

Review: Alien (1979)

Submitted by Brandt Sponseller on Fri, 2000-10-20 00:00

Here's another film, like The Exorcist, that I have to rate highly because of its historical status more than its value in isolation. In isolation, or, at least seen outside of its particular place in history - say, if it had come out a year or so, instead of 20, after precursors like It! The Terror from Beyond Space, so that It! appeared to be the groundbreaker and template instead, then I would give Alien a lower rating.(read more...)

Review: Bordello of Blood (1996)

Submitted by Brandt Sponseller on Tue, 2000-10-17 00:00

At turns both exemplifying what is to be cherished in late twentieth century horror films and what is to be hated, Bordello of Blood's positive side wins out more often than not, but the result is an excellent film that has one too many scenes that might make you cringe for all the wrong reasons.(read more...)

Review: Witchery (1988)

Submitted by Brandt Sponseller on Mon, 2000-10-16 00:00

It's understandable that Witchery didn't win any awards. Under a low-powered microscope, there are more than a handful of dialogue, logic and continuity problems, and there are some very bizarre performances (mainly Leslie Cummings, although personally, I enjoyed her ineffable weirdness). But as a whole, Witchery is not at all a bad film. It takes the right approach to the budget at its disposal, the premise is good and actually clever at times, it builds an effective if mild atmosphere and the special effects are respectable, even if half of the gore is only implied.(read more...)

Review: Lost Souls (2000)

Submitted by Brandt Sponseller on Mon, 2000-10-16 00:00

Lost Souls is yet another film about demonic possession, the arrival of Satan on Earth in human form and a grand battle (at least spiritually, not special effects-wise) between good and evil. How many films have we seen about that subject matter? 250?

The "problem" is that it doesn't matter how many films we've seen about that subject matter-this is a damned good work of art. Even if the script wasn't excellent, and it is, even if the direction wasn't impeccable, and it is, you'd have to go see this film just for the amazing, breathtaking cinematography of Mauro Fiore.(read more...)