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: Doctor X (1932)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Fri, 2006-10-20 00:00

Stumbling onto Doctor X used to be like stumbling onto a 5 dollar bill in the street -- a rare occurence, definitely worth it, but you kind of wished it was a 10. While available on VHS, it was hardly a prominently placed tape. More likely, however, you found it through its occasional showings on Turner Classic Movies, especially after VHS faded away and a DVD replacement failed to show. However, now with Warner Video's "Hollywood's Legends of Horror" box set, we finally get the opportunity to view this curiousity in its full digital splendor.(read more...)

Review: I Walked with a Zombie (1943)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Thu, 2006-10-19 00:00

Reportedly, I Walked With a Zombie was producer Val Lewton's favorite out of the nine low-budget horror films he produced for RKO Radio Pictures between 1942 and 1946. Disquieting, ethereal, and powered by shadow and suggestion, I Walked best displays the philosophy of terror that Lewton tried to imbue in all of his films. Perhaps it is this very fact that makes the film his least effective in terms of the horror genre, although it is a beautiful, admirable work in all other things.(read more...)

Review: Sleepaway Camp (1983)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Fri, 2006-10-06 00:00

Quirky, cheesy, less violent than its peers, and frequently kind of sweet, Sleepaway Camp is not your average 80s slasher film. There's no reason it should be -- it was made towards the end of the first slasher cycle (which ran from Halloween until Silent Night, Deadly Night) and that particular subgenre was stretching for new ideas. Sleepaway Camp takes on a concept that should have been a natural for Friday the 13th but never quite worked that way -- using the frustration of summer campers' early adolescence as the background for murder. Toss in a terrifying ending, and you have a minor cult classic.(read more...)

Review: Left in Darkness (2006)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Mon, 2006-10-02 00:00

Left in Darkness is a varicose mess playing with half-realized ideas that its makers do not seem to grasp at all. Unsurprisingly, it's produced by Stephen J. Cannell, who has created a small industry out of turgid, pseudo-intellectual horror films. So few films make me speechless in their awfulness, but this one wins that extremely dubious distinction.
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Apples and Blood Oranges: The Texas Chainsaw Article

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Sat, 2006-09-30 00:00

With the prequel Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning coming out on October 6th, 2006, I thought it was just about time to take a look at the original 1974 Texas Chainsaw Massacre and its 2003 remake (The Beginning is connected to the remake).

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake (henceforth referred to as TCM03) should come with a warning label on it. "Do not consume within 2 months of ingesting 1974 version." The problem is that if you look at TCM03 up against the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre (TCM74), the newer film will appear to be complete crap. The social commentary is gone, the story is juiced up with sex and drugs, and it misses the almost nihilistic "s**t happens, then you die" philosophy of Tobe Hooper's seminal classic.(read more...)

Review: Supernatural Season 1 (2005)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Wed, 2006-09-20 00:00

It's been a hard couple years for those of us who championed shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. While there have been shows of equal interest -- spyfest Alias, island genre-bender drama Lost, and high school noir Veronica Mars all come to mind -- there have been few interested in picking up the folkloric roots from which both shows sprang. Supernatural is probably the most successful to date, and it takes that seed of pure storytelling and runs with it in an altogether different direction.
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San Diego Comic-Con International 2006 Report

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Sun, 2006-07-30 00:00

Yes, the Haunted Newsreel is back for a one-shot look at the news and highlights of San Diego Comic-Con 2006. This week, we'll be looking at Skinwalkers, Grind House, The Reaping, Pan's Labyrinth, The Wicker Man, Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror, and, oh yes, Snakes on a Plane.

The Con:

The 2006 San Diego Comic-Con was held from July 20th to July 23rd at the San Diego Convention Center in sunny Southern California. Each year, tens of thousands attend, and 2006 was no exception. The Fire Marshal actually shut down onsite registration on Saturday because there were simply too many people in the building (online registration had been disabled the previous night).(read more...)

Review: The Garden (2006)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Fri, 2006-07-21 00:00

There are worst-case scenarios in filmmaking that one never considers. Either they're too preposterous (somebody builds a gigantic King Kong robot and ends up using Rick Baker in a monkey suit for the majority of the film) or they require a monetary investment that would hopefully prevent hiring deeply untalented craftsmen (I refer not to actors, directors, or writers -- poor examples of these are possible at any budget level). Take The Garden, for instance. While not the richest production (it's produced by Stephen J. Cannell, who's attempting to make a name for himself in the medium-low budget horror world), it certainly has enough money to shoot on film and with a responsible amount of CGI. The script is a good idea saddled with poor execution, and Don Michael Paul's direction doesn't even have the benefit of a good idea. The most apparent flaw in the film, however, is that the sound effects editor is crazy.(read more...)

Review: The Omen (1976)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Mon, 2006-06-26 00:00

It makes sense that the success of The Exorcist would spawn a rash of imitators and similarly themed films. Some were low-rent (Abby, Beyond the Door), most were low-quality. However, The Omen, distinguished by a deadly serious tone and a large studio budget, outpaced them all.(read more...)

Review: Cemetery Man (1994)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Mon, 2006-06-05 00:00

There is no good way to categorize Michele Soavi's Cemetery Man (known in its native Italy as Dellamorte Dellamore). Yes, it's a zombie movie, with plenty of decaying flesh and bloody bite wounds. It's also a dark satire in the vein of Brazil (also a difficult film to define, genre-wise). Toss in a twisted metaphysical romance and lightly garnish with American Psycho-thriller, and you might come close. Maybe.(read more...)