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 Simon Powell

Review: The Tingler (1959)

Submitted by Simon Powell on Mon, 2009-10-26 13:12

The Tingler has all the necessary ingredients for a good William Castle movie: a goofy premise, a tone that is both camp and macabre, a great cast, and an outrageous marketing gimmick. It also has some unexpected deeper levels, contained within the symbolism of both the gimmick and the monster. The Tingler is also an important milestone in a career that led to Castle being recently dubbed "the godfather of interactive cinema."(read more...)

Review: Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965)

Submitted by Simon Powell on Wed, 2009-10-21 02:54

Dr. Terror's House of Horrors was the first in a series of anthology films from the Amicus studio, and the one that launched them for a time to the same dizzying heights, at least at the box office, as their arch rival Hammer. But it is a film that prove Hitchcock's maxim about a film needing three things: a good script, a good script and a good script, as the poor quality of the writing is the factor that stops this from becoming a masterpiece.

Six strangers share a train carriage on a journey out of London. To pass the time, one gets out a deck of tarot cards and starts to tell the fortunes of his fellow passengers; however, all the stories end with the same card - Death...(read more...)

Review: The Most Dangerous Game (1932)

Submitted by Simon Powell on Tue, 2009-10-06 01:04

In the 21^st century, when just about any kind of sex and violence can be downloaded at the click of a mouse, and torture-packed films such as Saw pull in plenty at the box-office, I often have a tendency to forget how brutal and kinky horror films have always been to some extent, even those made nearly 80 years ago. The Most Dangerous Game is a classic example, a tightly paced mix of cruelty, grisly horror, and deviant sexual desires.(read more...)

"The Exorcist" Set for Blu-Ray Appearance

Submitted by Simon Powell on Mon, 2009-07-06 14:23

The Exorcist: The Version You've Never Seen Before on Blu-Ray later this year. The disc will hit shops on September 8th, but there is no news yet on what special features it will have, what the artwork will look like, or whether the original version will also get a high-definition makeover.

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Le Cops vs Le Zombies - "La Horde" Trailer hits the net

Submitted by Simon Powell on Sat, 2009-07-04 23:51

With the endless stream of remakes and sequels doing the rounds, it's nice to be able to report on something original for a change, with the news that the first trailer for French zombie apocalypse film La Horde has gone online.

According to the website Quiet Earth, the plot sees four corrupt Paris cops going on a rampage in a mobster's hideout after one of their colleagues is killed. However, they and the criminals must fight for survival after hordes of flesh eating creatures invade the building.(read more...)

"Predator" Reboot - The Hunt for a Director Is Over

Submitted by Simon Powell on Fri, 2009-07-03 13:12

Ain't it Cool News are reporting that Vacancy director Nimrod Antal has been hired to helm Robert Rodriguez's Predator reboot. Predators will see a group of humans trying to make it back home after getting trapped on the creatures' home planet.

Rodriguez, who is producing, wrote the original script back in 1994 when he was hired to put together a second sequel. This time he's using his Troublemaker Studios in Texas, in order to take advantage of the state's tax breaks.

Predators is due to be released in July next year.

"American Werewolf" to Howl Again?

Submitted by Simon Powell on Tue, 2009-06-30 14:43

Reuters are reporting that remake kings Dimension Films have picked up the rights for a new version of An American Werewolf in London.

The original, written and directed by John Landis, starred David Naughton and Griffin Dunne as two American backpackers hiking in the Yorkshire moors. After the pair are attacked by a werewolf, Naughton ends up terrorizing London while Dunne becomes a reanimated corpse, looking for ways for Naughton to kill himself and stop the curse.

The producers are reportedly trying to keep the comedy elements of the original, while making the story relevant to contemporary audiences. No writer or director has yet been hired for the new version, although Landis will apparently serve as executive producer.(read more...)

Argento Cuts Ties with New Thriller "Giallo"?

Submitted by Simon Powell on Mon, 2009-06-29 11:06

Horror legend Dario Argento is reportedly distancing himself from his new thriller Giallo, with trade paper The Hollywood Reporter saying that he kept away from the recent premiere of his latest project at the Edinburgh Film Festival.

For the first time in his career, Argento is working as a hired director on a screenplay devised by others. American writers Jim Agnew and Sean Keller concocted Giallo as a tribute to the Italian director. In the film, which is set in Italy, Linda (Emmanuelle Seigner) fears her sister Celine (Elsa Pataky) may have been kidnapped. Inspector Enzo Avolfi (Adrien Brody) fears it's worse. The two team up to rescue Celine from a sadistic killer known only as Yellow.

Giallo, like Argento's previous film Mother of Tears, will be distributed in North America by the Weinstein Company, although no news yet on a release date.

Spielberg's "Oldboy" Remake Still on Course Despite Legal Wrangles

Submitted by Simon Powell on Sun, 2009-06-28 01:58

Another week, another remake story...

This time, Reuters are reporting that Steven Spielberg's plans to redo ultra-violent Korean revenge flick Oldboy with Will Smith in the lead role are still moving forward, despite a complex behind-the-scenes legal row between the publishers of the original manga and the producers of the original film.

Futabasha has filed a case against Show East in Seoul, alleging the Korean company never had the right to negotiate a remake. To futher complicate the story, Show East has shut down, its CEO, Kim Dong-Ju, has disappeared, and another firm involved in the production of the original, Big Egg, has also closed up shop.

DreamWorks, which snapped up the rights in November in the wake of its separation from Paramount, has so far not commented on the dispute.

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"The Birds" and "Rosemary's Baby" in NOT Being Remade Shocker!

Submitted by Simon Powell on Thu, 2009-06-18 00:52

There is some good news of sorts if you were despairing of ever again seeing anything original at the cinema. The HorrorSquad website is reporting that Michael Bay's production company Platinum Dunes has apparently dropped plans to remake Hitchcock's The Birds and Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby.

In an interview with Brad Fuller and Andrew Form, the duo behind the recent Friday the 13th and Texas Chainsaw remakes, as well as the upcoming new version of Nightmare on Elm Street, both appeared to suggest that the overwhelmingly negative response on the Internet was a factor

On The Birds remake, which had been slated for a 2011 release with Naomi Watts in the Tippi Hedren role, Fuller is quoted as saying "As you guys know, we lay ourselves out there and get annihilated out there online all day long, and that movie just opens us up to a whole different level of annihilation."(read more...)