Classic-Horror.com | Reviewing the History of Horror Movies

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!

The Terrorphile: 50 Years of the Psycho Shower Scene

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Tue, 2010-06-15 19:11

On June 16, 1960, a film premiered in New York City that would change the face of the horror film -- nay, film in general -- forever. Psycho's effect on filmmaking is incalculable, even if you only track the influences of its most famous sequence, the shower murder. Over the past half-century, various movies and television shows have parodied, pastiched, paid homage, remade and ripped-off Alfred Hitchcock's "clean kill." I've spent the last two months piecing some of these clips together into a meta-homage. May I present to you, the Psycho shower sequence, rebuilt almost entirely from other films.

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Review: The Crawling Eye (1958)

Submitted by Rich Dishman on Sun, 2010-06-13 21:53

The Trollenberg Terror is the title of a 1958 British-produced feature based on the six part mini series of the same name that aired in 1956/57 on English television. In what amounts to a pre-emptive spoiler, the title of the US release was changed to The Crawling Eye. (More on this unfortunate choice later). While this is not a perfect film, it possesses virtues that make it eminently watchable and elevate it above many of the other Mystery Science Theater-bound genre films of the 1950s.(read more...)

Cold Reads: Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

Submitted by Jose Cruz on Sat, 2010-06-12 09:44

In 1872, a writer named Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu published a tale that in many ways paved the road for Dracula, Lestat, and hundreds of other bloodsuckers to come. This was the tale of Carmilla, an undead seductress who typified the bond between vampirism and sensuality and whose dark influence on the genre can still be felt to this very day.(read more...)

The Fruit Cellar: They Always Come Back...

Submitted by Missy Yearian on Wed, 2010-06-09 03:08

I'll begin today's discussion with what I consider a statement of fact: Dracula is boring. That may be the most unpopular statement I will ever write, but I wholeheartedly believe it. How lucky are we, then, that twenty-five years before this abomination was published we were all blessed with another Irish vampire tale? Yes indeedy, I am talking about Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla. This sweetly concise and beautiful novella (or short story, as some prefer to call it) was published in 1872 and spawned an entire subgenre of horror: the lesbian vampire tale.(read more...)

Cold Reads: The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

Submitted by Jose Cruz on Mon, 2010-06-07 11:45

Even before seeing Robert Downey Jr.'s awesome performance in Guy Ritchie's film Sherlock Holmes, I had been a fan of the genius detective for some time. For some reason I was always intrigued by Holmes, something about this figure of reasoning and bravery resonating within me. I still consider him to be one of my literary heroes, right alongside Batman. The Hound of the Baskervilles helped bring back some wonderful memories and reinstate my assertion that Holmes is one of the greatest characters in the history of literature.(read more...)

Review: The Psychic (1977)

Submitted by Lindsey Churosh on Mon, 2010-06-07 10:35

Lucio Fulci is one of the names most synonymous with Italian Horror. Many regard Fulci, alongside Herschell Gordon Lewis, as one of the genre's legendary "godfathers of gore"; he was behind the creation of such grotesque masterpieces as City of the Living Dead and the infamous Zombi 2. However, there is a different side of Fulci that many of his gorehound fans are not aware of; he also managed to establish himself as a master of suspense.(read more...)

Phoenix Comicon 2010 in Pictures

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Wed, 2010-06-02 09:38

While we put the finishing touches on our Phoenix Comicon 2010 coverage, we've gathered some of our favorite shots from this past weekend and put together a little image gallery for you.

View the Phoenix Comicon 2010 Gallery

Review: Sleepless (2001)

Submitted by Kevin Nickelson on Sun, 2010-05-30 20:19

The serial killer formula is ripe horror fare for film studios looking to grab big money from easy-to-please gorehounds. In fact, the low expectations from slasher film fans provide a perfect excuse for studios to focus less on quality and more on marketing. All a director needs is a flashy look, a decent soundtrack, a lot of blood, and a script that merely serves to connect the gore set-pieces. The problem with Sleepless is that it's directed by a master of suspense films, Dario Argento, and yet still fits the form.(read more...)

Dennis Hopper: Movie Maniac

Submitted by Tom Fallows on Sun, 2010-05-30 18:09

For a man who appeared in so few horror pictures, there was always something frightening about Dennis Hopper. As an artist and a man, he seemed to pursue madness. For half his life he lived on a diet of booze and amphetamines, pushing his body to the brink of destruction and inviting stories of a man out of control. There are tales of him pulling knives on co-stars, threats of violence and of him drinking his way into character. Charles Manson saw him as a kindred spirit and begged Hopper to play him onscreen. Look into his eyes on any film following Easy Rider (1968) and they show a man who has stared into the abyss.
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Cold Reads: War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

Submitted by Jose Cruz on Fri, 2010-05-28 22:00

As this first month of reviews comes to a close, some readers may find themselves scratching their skulls at this last selection of the horror genre's type five essentials. Certainly, I must be mistaken in including a novel that is solidly in the field of science fiction. "My God man, have you gone mad?!" I hear you screaming at your computer screen. Actually, I am indeed quite insane. However, I believe the true lunacy would be to dismiss H. G. Wells's tale of a terrifying alien invasion as a simple romp into the world of the scientifically fantastic. Wells imbues his story with a palpable fear that will have the readers shivering with genuine fright at the thought of mankind meeting its end at the cold hands of an alien invader.(read more...)