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: Innocent Blood (1992)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Sun, 2001-09-30 00:00

Innocent Blood could have easily been titled A French Vampire in America (and it was in foreign release), as it not only features that cultural displacement, but it is directed by the man who brought us An American Werewolf in London, the incomparable John Landis.

Usually, Landis handles comedies (and we could list the good ones off for hours...and try to forget about the bad ones). Even AWIL had a touch of melancholy humor to it. Innocent Blood, with a few exceptions, is straight horror flick, and a surprisingly enjoyable one at that.(read more...)

Review: Monkey Shines (1988)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Mon, 2001-09-03 00:00

All great masters must occasionally fall to the Studio Compromise. George A. Romero is no exception. Monkey Shines is his first studio picture that looks like a studio picture. Though well directed, well written, and well performed, there's something missing from it, a dark heart, that would make it leap out like so many other films in the director's filmography.(read more...)

Review: They Only Come Out at Night (2001)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Sun, 2001-09-02 00:00

Modern independent horror film is a weird thing. In order to create something marketable, you either have to have something really bloody and/or nudity-filled (something Full Moon or Troma would release) or you have to be 100% original and scary (The Blair Witch Project comes to mind immediately). Dave Lawler is something of a renegade filmmaker in that he refuses to create either. Instead, he appears to be making movies purely for his own twisted amusement.(read more...)

Review: The Others (2001)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Mon, 2001-08-13 01:00

Catharsis is a word I often use to describe why I love horror films. The fear and the tension build up, like an ocean wave, and then recede back from where they came, taking whatever else was laying on the beach of my mind, leaving me relaxed and calm... a blank slate of sand. With all the horror films I see, however, it becomes harder and harder to achieve this state.(read more...)

Review: Murders in the Zoo (1933)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Wed, 2001-08-08 00:00

Some days I wish I was old enough to say that I remember the days when melodrama and horror were almost interchangeable terms. I'd point out a few key examples: Secret of the Blue Room, The Vampire Bat, and this little number, Murders in the Zoo. Containing as much drama and suspense as it does horror, it remains one of the more effective unsupernatural terror films of the early 30s.(read more...)

Review: Prom Night (1980)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Wed, 2001-08-01 01:01

As a horror reviewer, it is often difficult to maintain an objective, passive eye, due to the inherently emotional nature of the genre. Prom Night made my job easy, by being just average enough to be unengaging and just decent enough as to not be a total bore.(read more...)

Review: Kwaidan (1964)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Wed, 2001-07-25 00:00

Unless you have a great independent video store, it's going to be difficult to find Japanese masterpiece Kwaidan for rental. Not to worry, though. It is available to buy from many Internet stores, and for a film this grand, purchase is almost necessary. As a film that transcends its cultural barrier to become a horror film for the international community, Kwaidan is a must-have component of a serious collector's cache
(read more...)

Review: A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Sat, 2001-06-30 00:00

...and at this point, the Nightmare series has officially gotten too old. Not to say that this is a bad movie, but it is definitely evident that the filmmakers have done as much as they can for the character of Freddy, and are fine with letting him become a joke.(read more...)

Review: A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Sun, 2001-06-24 00:00

Nightmare on Elm Street 3 starts off on the right foot and virtually ignores everything that happened in number 2. Then, you throw in that Wes Craven, the creator of the series, co-wrote the first draft... Well, that just makes me giddy.

It's funny to think that back when I started Classic Horror, I was dead set against ever allowing Freddy or Jason in. Well, they're both here, and I've found that I've grown attached to Freddy Krueger, in a sick sort of horror fanboy way. Here he stalks the last of the Elm Street kids, who are all in a mental institution for their "mass hysteria" problem. Each one of them is having nightmares involving a hideously burned man in a dirty brown hat, wearing a green and red sweater.(read more...)

Review: A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Wed, 2001-06-20 17:29

Battles often erupt when two schools of thought get together. One side says that sequels can and are often better than their predecessors. The opposition dismisses sequels out of hand, claiming that they all "suck." Despite the fact that I'm a card-carrying member of the former, I'm afraid that A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge only fuels the arguments of the latter.(read more...)