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 Julia Merriam

Frank Darabont (The Mist) interview

Submitted by Julia Merriam on Wed, 2008-07-30 23:02

In November of 2007, Dimension Films released The Mist, a film adaptation of Stephen King’s novella of the same title written and directed by Academy Award nominated director, Frank Darabont. With a limited budget, a darker ending, and a talented cast, The Mist is a moody, thoughtful modern horror film without an annoying Pollyanna ending.

The film stars Thomas Jane as David Drayton, a commercial artist living in a small town with his wife and son, Billy. After a violent thunderstorm, Thomas and Billy, head to the local supermarket to pick up supplies when an unnatural mist begins to roll into town, preceeded by a frightened neighbor telling stories of dangerous creatures in the Mist. What follows is a story of terror and paranoia, as a group of people, trapped in the supermarket, attempt to survive both the otherworldly creatures lurking in the Mist and the threat of panicked people lurking in their midst.
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Robert Aragon (The Comic-Con Experience 2008 #4)

Detail from Robert Aragon's Dracula print

Submitted by Julia Merriam on Wed, 2008-07-30 22:26

One of the many constants on the Exhibition Floor is Artists' Alley, a section dedicated to independent artists. Offerings in this section are mostly comic-book related, but can range from the beautiful to the bizarre. It is in this section of the exhibit floor where we find our Comic-Con Experience 2008 #4, artist Robert Aragon.

While many artists in Artists' Alley have horror-themed offerings, Aragon's pieces are one-of-a-kind tributes to classic horror films, with a particular emphasis on Universal and Hammer. Aragon licenses the likeness of many of his subjects from the actor's estates, including those of Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney, and his art accurately and artistically captures the spirit and images of the old films. You'll find no grotesque, trendily warped images of Dracula or the Mummy here, no modern gothic influences. After all, Boris Karloff's Frankenstein's Monster needs no embellishment.(read more...)

Sideshow Collectibles (The Comic-Con Experience 2008 #3)

Submitted by Julia Merriam on Wed, 2008-07-30 21:38

Everybody loves toys. Everybody - including Comic-Con. There are entire parts of the Exhibition Floor devoted to toys – action figures, statuettes, plushies, etc. At Comic-Con, toys are everywhere. And, because toys are everywhere, The Comic-Con Experience 2008, Feature #3 is Sideshow Collectibles.

While Sideshow originally got its start making chintzy little toys and figures of pop culture notables, the company has grown and now specializes in high-quality, screen-accurate replicas of well-known genre characters. These figures, statuettes and life-size replicas do not come cheap, ranging in price from $35 for some of the more common, smaller items to thousands of dollars for their more elaborate display pieces.
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Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (The Comic-Con Experience 2008 #2)

Submitted by Julia Merriam on Wed, 2008-07-30 02:22

There is nothing more awesome than superheroes, supervillains and superstars singing and dancing their hearts out. So, with that in mind, the second installment of The Comic-Con Experience 2008 is Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. A web-based production directed and co-written by Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon, starring Neil Patrick Harris (forthwith known as NPH), Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day, Dr. Horrible is something that, superficially, has nothing to do with horror. But, for our purposes, we’ll pretend it does. Because I say so.
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The Comic-Con Experience 2008

Submitted by Julia Merriam on Wed, 2008-07-30 02:20

Since that first convention in 1970, with just 300 people in attendance, San Diego Comic-Con has been devoted to the celebration of the popular arts. While the heart of Comic-Con may be comic books and graphic novels, over the years the event has developed into something of a geek haven, with little bit of everything, appealing to fans across genres. It is this culture of diversity, this unabashed love of popular art – including horror – that now draws over 100,000 people to the San Diego Convention Center, including the staff of Classic-Horror.com
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Cthuliana Corner (The Comic-Con Experience 2008 #1)

Submitted by Julia Merriam on Wed, 2008-07-30 02:17

There is nothing, and I mean nothing, that compares to the terrifying awesomeness of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Oh, sure, there are people who say that he was bland, repetitive, or even cliché – and to them I say, “Bugger off.” Fact of the matter is, I like me some tentacles. Which is why The Comic-Con Experience, Feature #1 is the Cthuliana booth, run by The Source Comics and Games.

Cthuliana Corner in just part of its glory

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Review: The Mummy (1959)

Submitted by Julia Merriam on Wed, 2008-07-02 01:01

When you get right down to it, most mummy movies are more or less the same. Guy becomes mummy, mummy is awakened, mummy discovers reincarnated princess that he loved back in good ol' Egypt and mummy deals with unrequited love and undead emo. So, when it comes to mummy movies, it generally not the story that makes it a good one. Instead, they have to rely on actors, themes, sets and cinematography. Luckily, The Mummy (1959) has all of this in spades, making Hammer's renowned contribution to the genre not only a good mummy movie, but a damned good film overall.(read more...)

Review: I Am Legend (2007)

Submitted by Julia Merriam on Tue, 2008-04-01 12:36

Generally, I’m the first to say that movie adaptations of literary works need to be considered as separate entities from the progenerating material. Expecting unwavering faithfulness to the original work is not only an unreasonable request, it often results in poorly shot, painfully boring films (take the first Harry Potter film, for instance). However, while I will tolerate a lot of concessions in the name of good filmmaking, I expect a movie adaptation to stay true to the spirit of the original, enough so that I can at least recognize the vestiges of the original plot amidst the new additions and modifications. Francis Lawrence's I Am Legend, however, hasn’t been adapted from Richard Mathesons’s novella, so much as it’s sent the novella to its room and thrown an unsupervised party in its absence.(read more...)

Review: Videodrome (1983)

Submitted by Julia Merriam on Thu, 2008-03-20 01:29

In 1983, David Cronenberg did something few directors ever really accomplish: he released a masterpiece. Videodrome, which is both written and directed by Cronenberg, is one of his best horror films, a fusion of many, if not all, the themes Cronenberg had explored previously, and would continue to explore in his later films. In this respect, Videodrome is more than an author's masterpiece, a sublime example of “auteur theory” in film. It is a social commentary about the direction of humanity's future, a dazzling and terrifying journey to a frighteningly familiar dystopic society and a freakish glimpse of what it means to be betrayed by our own bodies and consciousness. Videodrome is, put simply, David Cronenberg's vision of the not-to-distant future on film.(read more...)

Review: The Haunted Palace (1963)

Submitted by Julia Merriam on Tue, 2008-02-12 01:34

Roger Corman, despite his myriad of other films, will always be remembered for the Poe Cycle of the 1960s. Spooky stories, opulent sets, and Vincent Price's languid mannerisms – the Gothic beauty of Edgar Allan Poe, all shot in 2.35:1 with a generous use of deep focus. However, like any good family, even the Poe Cycle has its black sheep. The Haunted Palace, despite bearing the name of Poe poem, stands apart from the rest of the Cycle in themes, mood and atmosphere. That's because no one does horror quite like Howard Phillips Lovecraft.(read more...)