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 Nate Yapp

Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 1 (1997)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Thu, 2005-02-17 22:42

Flip to any review of a television series with a strong female lead, any critical paper on modern pop culture, or any list of the top 10 television series of the 1990s, and you'll find the curiously incongruous title "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" sitting there. One television show has dug its tendrils into the world and squeezed for all its worth - and done it all while airing on the "lesser" networks of the WB and UPN. It's really not hard to see why - well-defined characters spouting clever dialogue in a world rich with its own mythology from which endless plots can be spun when the characters aren't busy spinning them on their own.
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Review: Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection Volume 6 (2004)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Wed, 2004-12-15 12:48

Blessed be the insane minds of Best Brains, Inc., the creators of "Mystery Science Theater 3000." Taking a relatively simple concept - making fun of bad movies - and turning it into a mass distributed (well, cable-televised) artform, these Midwestern madpeople have raised a rallying cry against ridiculous editing, cardboard monsters, and the forces of 1950s Roger Corman cinema.(read more...)

Review: Dead & Buried (1981)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Mon, 2004-11-29 01:11

Some films develop cults around them and some films wash away in the tide of film history so quickly that they never have time to develop a proper following. Directed by Gary Sherman (Death Line) and written by Dan O'Bannon & Ronald Shusett (the duo who penned Alien), the low-budget chiller Dead & Buried probably should have been more popular than it was. However, now is as good a time as any to get acquainted with this minor masterpiece.
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Review: Pit and the Pendulum (1961)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Thu, 2004-11-25 01:00

There are occasions when separating oneself from a film review is nigh-on impossible. This is one of those times. After The Wolf Man, Roger Corman's Pit and the Pendulum was the second horror film I ever saw in its entirety - an experience that solidified not only my adoration for the genre, but also my lifelong love for all things Vincent Price. Watching it again caused a wave of nostalgia that overcame the movie's occasionally creaky dialogue and dusty first half. There are simply films that are so much better than their flaws -- indeed, better because of their flaws. This is one of them.(read more...)

Review: Re-Animator (1985)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Sat, 2004-10-30 00:00

Herbert West's reagent - a glowing green liquid in an unbreakable plastic vial. Instructions for use: inject directly into the brain of a recently deceased specimen. Intended result: re-animation of the specimen to full life. Possible side effects: erratic heartbeat, chronic internal pain, exploding eyeballs, homicidal psychosis, and fun fun fun.

Stuart Gordon's first feature film (after years as a director of experimental theater) is a brilliant tour-de-farce of gut-busting laughs and plain old gut-busting. The key is that the completely far-fetched story is told with such brazen confidence that you never question how a decapitated head can hold a conversation without lungs.(read more...)

Review: Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Sat, 2004-10-23 00:00

Horror comedies have always been a curious little subgenre. On one level it makes sense - truly great humor and truly great terror both rely heavily on timing and build-up to work. Beyond that, it's hard to imagine two entities more different. Most "horror comedies" end up being just one or the other - with elements of the opposing genre splashed in for texture.(read more...)

Review: The Evil Dead (1982)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Thu, 2004-09-16 01:25

It's 1982, and amongst the polished studio horror and the repetitive indie slashers, a tiny little film from an unknown director pops onto the scene. At first glance, it appears to be much of the same - it's populated with college students, a nubile woman with not enough clothing runs through the woods, and there's an intense-looking guy with an axe and a chainsaw.

Then again, the college students become the bad guys, the nubile woman was just raped by a tree, and the slightly insane fellow with the sharp instruments is the hero. The tiny little film is, of course, The Evil Dead, the unknown is Sam Raimi (Spider-man), and the experience is unlike anything anybody had seen before.(read more...)

Review: Creepshow (1982)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Tue, 2004-09-14 00:00

George A. Romero's comic book sensibilities have always boiled just under the surface of his work. Dawn of the Dead is as much a graphic novel made flesh as it is a zombie movie. Martin is a concept that would fit easily into an EC comic. Even Night of the Living Dead, with its shock ending, is a bit like a story from "Tales from the Crypt." So when Romero and Stephen King collided creatively for the first time, it came as little surprise that the effort would not be for a straight adaptation of one of King's novels. Instead, they recreated something straight out of their childhoods...(read more...)

Review: Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Sat, 2004-09-11 01:00

After months of rumors, whispers, impatient foot-stomping, and a major Hollywood remake, the Dawn of the Dead: Ultimate Edition DVD is finally out. And oh boy, is this worth the dough.

George A. Romero's sequel to Night of the Living Dead progresses the overarching story of its predecessor (the recently dead rise and try to eat the alive) by a few weeks. The zombie population has reached epidemic levels, and private homes are no longer safe to inhabit. Attempting to escape the chaos are four people in a helicopter. In a search for supplies, they find a massive indoor shopping center (a relatively new concept at the time of the film's production) and battle the undead inside for dominance. But the zombies aren't the only enemy they face...(read more...)

Review: Day of the Dead (1985)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Fri, 2004-08-13 00:00

By 1985, George A. Romero had basically nothing left to prove. His resumé was stuffed with the kind of classics that most directors couldn't come near, even with unlimited backing and unhindered creative control. He'd told some of the most frightening stories ever about zombies, about people, about vampires, and about the EC Comics he grew up with. Sitting on the top of his game, he crafted the screenplay for an epic zombie film the likes the world had never seen -- and probably never will.(read more...)