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: Friday the 13th (2009)

Friday the 13th 2009 poster

Marcus Nispel's Friday the 13th (2009), a "reboot" of the popular slasher franchise of the same name, is a frustrating cypher of a film. A critical nonentity, it is neither especially commendable nor particularly condemnable. Few elements stand out as objects of worthy discussion and even those that do provide extremely meager returns. The filmmaking is professional but uninspired, resulting in a vaguely familiar smorgasbord of pastiches and rehashes, reconfigured just enough as to not raise any ire from those keen-eyed enough to recognize the inspirations. In short, it's a truly terrible movie, for it takes no risks and asks for no involvement from its audience. (read more...)

Cover Art and Details on Warner's "Karloff and Lugosi Horror Classics" DVD Set

Karloff & Lugosi Horror Classics

It appears that the Karloff/Lugosi box set that Warner Home Video promised back in March is a sure thing, as they have officially announced the release of Karloff & Lugosi Horror Classics on October 3rd, 2009. The set will contain four films -- The Walking Dead (Michael Curtiz, 1936), Frankenstein 1970 (Howard W. Koch, 1958 - presented in anamorphic widescreen),You'll Find Out (David Butler, 1940), and Zombies on Broadway (Gordon Douglas, 1945). Special features will include two commentary tracks: one on The Walking Dead with Gregory Mank (author of Hollywood Cauldron, an excellent book which devotes a full chapter to the film) and another featuring Tom Weaver and actress Charlotte Austin discussing Frankenstein 1970. Suggested retail price for Karloff & Lugosi Horror Classics is $26.98.

Universal is Remake-Happy: "Bride of Frankenstein" Up Next

Elsa Lanchester as The Bride

The Hollywood Reporter's Risky Business blog broke the inevitable news that Universal is developing a remake of James Whales's Bride of Frankenstein. In fact, it turns out that Universal's been kicking around the idea for at least five years, although never with any success. The new Bride would be co-produced with Imagine Entertainment. Neil Burger (The Illusionist, The Lucky Ones) is in talks to write and direct; he would likely partner with Dirk Wittenborn on the screenplay. (read more...)

Ten Years of Classic-Horror.com

Curse of Classic-Horror faux poster

Here we are, ten crazy years after a naïve sixteen-year-old started the website that would eventually become Classic-Horror.com. Back then, I just wanted a corner of the Internet to express my half-formed opinions on the genre that I loved. I had no idea that it would still be here ten years later or that it would take me all the places it has taken me. I have no interest in rehashing the past decade, though. I would like to say that I am deeply grateful to the friends, family, writers, and readers who have helped make Classic-Horror what it is today. (read more...)

David Carradine (1936 - 2009)

David Carradine

David Carradine, star of the 1970s television series Kung Fu as well as a number of horror films, has been found dead in Bangkok, Thailand of undisclosed causes, according to the Associated Press. He was 72 years old. David, the son of legendary character actor John Carradine, worked in a diverse range of projects throughout his forty-six years as an actor, including crime movies, horror films, sci-fi, and martial arts flicks. He had worked with directors such as Ingmar Bergman, Martin Scorcese, Larry Cohen, Paul Bartel, Walter Hill, John Badham, and Quentin Tarantino. He was also a follower of Eastern philosophy, going so far as to write a book, The Spirit of the Shaolin, in the early 1990s.(read more...)

FEARnet is Putting on the Biohazard Suits for "Infectious Films"

FEARnet Logo

FEARnet.com is looking to put all swine flu anxieties to the test on June 3rd, when they unleash a festival of free online streaming movies centered around the theme of terrifying viral infections. FEARnet's "Infectious Films" will include titles both new (Resident Evil: ApocalypseDance of the Dead) and old (Night of the CreepsC.H.U.D. II - Bud the Chud). Here's a sneak peek at the titles awaiting those brave enough to watch on June 3rd:

Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004, Web Premiere!)
 Starring Milla Jovovich and Oded Fehr.

(read more...)

Jane Randolph (1915 - 2009)

Jane Randolph

Jane Randolph, star of Cat PeopleCurse of the Cat People, and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, died on May 4, 2009 in Gstaad, Switzerland, of complications from a broken hip, according to The Hollywood Reporter. She was 93 years old. In the two Cat People films, she played Alice, the love interest and eventual wife of Kent Smith's Ollie Reed.(read more...)

Review: Gojira (1954)

Gojira 1954 poster

For his size, Godzilla certainly gets around, having attained a certain pop cultural ubiquity in the fifty-five years since his creation. He's been the star of several dozen Japanese films, an American remake, video games, comic books, cartoons, shoe commercials and even a series of novels for young adults. Godzilla references also pop up in sources ranging from the Friday the 13th series to The Simpsons. However, in his debut in Ishiro Honda's Gojira (1954), Godzilla is not a lovable icon, but a solemn and powerful force of devastation - a far cry from the image we have of him today. Ironically, it is in this film that Godzilla is at his most effective.(read more...)

Review: Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster (1964)

Ghidorah (Ghidrah) poster

When I was in the third grade, all I wanted for my ninth birthday was a copy of Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster. Why this film in particular held such fascination for me, I couldn't say for certain. I suspect that two factors spurred my desire: the majestic still of a rampaging Ghidorah (or Ghidrah as it's sometimes spelled) in William K. Everson's Classics of the Horror Film and an entry in Leonard Maltin's 1988 Movie Guide that informed interested readers that the flick featured four monsters, including the legendary Godzilla, for the price of one. What boy could pass that up? When I finally received my cherished VHS tape, I was not disappointed. It had monsters and they fought each other (and the human stuff was okay to pass the time between monster appearances). Watching Ghidorah today, I feel like I'm sitting with that kid right next to me, the seventeen years of distance reduced to the length of my couch.(read more...)

Godzilla and Friends Stomp San Francisco This August

Godzilla and the Monsters of Mass Destruction

Tokyo can breathe easy for once; this August, Godzilla and his fellow kaiju will invade the Bay Area for the Godzilla and the Monsters of Mass Destruction Japanese Monster Movie Festival. Running August 21 - 23 at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, this event will feature five double features of giant monster madness, for a total of ten movies. While the final lineup has yet to be announced, all movies will be projected from a 35mm print.(read more...)