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!

Horror Comes to the 2010 Phoenix Comicon

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Wed, 2010-05-26 21:25

Phoenix Comicon is this weekend and I'll be in attendance on behalf of Classic-Horror. Like last year, I've been asked to participate in a couple of panels.

Thursday:

Not Another Remake! (Room 152, 8-9PM) -- Join Arizona's top Horror Film aficionados for a spirited discussion of the pros and cons of the Horror Film movement of remakes. Hot on the release of the "Nightmare on Elm Street" remake, the discourse is sure to be lively! Why so many remakes? Panelists: Danny Marianino, Nate Yapp, Jeff Dolniak, David Hayes

Saturday:(read more...)

Review: Halloween 5 (1989)

Submitted by Shaughn Ander on Sun, 2010-05-23 23:45

The Halloween franchise had delivered some pretty strong films with four entries under it's belt already, so a fifth chapter should be promising and a natural move. Sadly, the fact of the matter is that Halloween 5 is a major disappointment. While it isn't without some merit (emphasis on some), the entire film is a feature-length missed opportunity of epic proportions. Characters we loved in previous installments are now rendered impossible to connect with, lapses in series continuity are impossible to ignore and the story eventually commits the ultimate cinematic sin: instead of thrilling, it just becomes unbearably boring.(read more...)

Cold Reads: Dracula by Bram Stoker

Submitted by Jose Cruz on Fri, 2010-05-21 22:00

In a world that has become populated by hunky, teenaged bloodsuckers with a penchant for sparkling, this reviewer finds it very refreshing to go back to a time when vampires were of a charming nobility and still possessed an air of mystique and utter horror. Dracula is just the fix I need, providing an engaging adventure story set to the tone of the moody European Gothics. While it is not free from faults, this novel is a seminal piece of literature for serious fans of vampires, whether they be Edward Cullen or Max Schreck.(read more...)

As Sure as His Name's Boris Karloff, It's a "Thriller" on DVD

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Mon, 2010-05-17 10:31

While it's been swirling around the rumor mills for the past six months, a press release on Friday made it official: Image Entertainment will be releasing the complete series of Boris Karloff's seminal horror/mystery anthology Thriller on DVD on August 31, 2010. The show ran for 60 episodes over two seasons from 1960 to 1962. Boris Karloff hosted each episode and acted in a few of the stories as well. One episode, "Pigeons from Hell," made our list of great episodes of television horror. The full press release (courtesy of Tom Weaver posting at the Classic Horror Film Board) is below:(read more...)

Review: Cape Fear (1991)

Submitted by Eric Miller on Sun, 2010-05-16 21:27

What could be more terrifying than a madman who will stop at nothing to kill you? In Martin Scorsese's remake of the 1962 classic thriller Cape Fear, the answer seems to be a madman who has a point. Up until 1991 Scorsese had established a career as a magnificent film director whose films contain scenes of brutal violence combined with sadness, despair, and brooding pathos. The remake of Cape Fear was his first attempt at what could be called a horror film, and it does not disappoint. Scorsese, along with screenwriter Wesley Strick, take the basic structure of the 1961 film and flesh it out with seriously flawed characters that are nearly as dangerous to themselves as the madman Max Cady (Robert De Niro) is to them.(read more...)

Cold Reads: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde book

Submitted by Jose Cruz on Sat, 2010-05-15 13:26

Deep in the impenetrable mist, a beast cries out in the night, a cry that is longing for release and raging to quench a thirst that can only be satiated in the misery of others. This is the scene taking place both in the streets of London and in the tortured soul of Henry Jekyll in Robert Louis Stevenson's horror classic. Within a mere 87 pages, Stevenson takes us on a journey that we are likely never to forget, even after years of reading his beautiful words.(read more...)

Happy 80th Birthday, Jesus Franco

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Wed, 2010-05-12 10:22

Put up the banners and bring out the cake! Prolific and oft-misunderstood genre auteur Jesus Franco, the man behind The Awful Dr. Orlof, The Diabolical Dr. Z, Venus in Furs, and Vampyros Lesbos, becomes an octagenarian today. In his eighty years of life, he's directed nearly 200 films, often writing, acting, and composing the musical score as well. Sure, he's reviled as a hack in some circles, but a number of critics (including the inestimable Tim Lucas) have also sung his praises. You can count me among his fans, as well. His films are like free-form jazz, played by a distractable genius who hasn't discovered Ritalin yet -- and I mean that as praise. There are moments, sublime moments, in some of Franco's films that simply cannot be found with any other director. He's a treasure and I'm happy to hear that he's still going. Feliz cumpleaños, Jesus.

The Fruit Cellar: The Many-Gendered Faces of Leatherface

Leatherface in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Submitted by Missy Yearian on Wed, 2010-05-12 00:18

There is really nothing I like more on a chilly, rainy evening than sitting down with some of my best pals. Of course, as these pals usually consist of murderers and madmen, I like to keep them safely trapped on screen. They wield knives and axes and machetes and chainsaws from the safety of the little box that sits atop my chest of drawers. I sit on the bed directly across from them shivering-just a little-in my oh-so-jaded boots. There aren't a lot of films that can actually make me shiver in these old boots, but when I find one, I hold on for dear life. I make sure the experience of watching is sacred, and I don't mess around with those little brats who laugh through some Fulci-style ocular terror. (read more...)

Review: Eraserhead (1977)

Submitted by Jose Cruz on Sun, 2010-05-09 22:35

Eraserhead is a film of disturbing beauty and harsh reality. These two things may seem to cancel out, but in the talented hands of director/writer David Lynch, the film takes us on a twisted carousel trip through the human psyche and the troubled conditions of the soul. Too often cast aside as simply a "weird movie," Eraserhead is a true piece of visual art that deserves the appreciation of its audience that will ostensibly lead to a further appreciation of life itself. This admiration can be gained by a close analysis of the film's most constant themes and metaphors that show how the film's content is pertinent to events in our own lives.(read more...)

Cold Reads: Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Submitted by Jose Cruz on Fri, 2010-05-07 23:52

Out of all the novels up for examination this month, Frankenstein, penned by 19-year-old Mary Shelley, has been critiqued, studied, and anatomically dissected (no pun intended) by literary analysts big and small. Everything that could have possibly been discussed already has been... and then was discussed some more. Therefore, it is somewhat intimidating for a meager blogger such as myself to delve into the multiple complexities and interpretations that arise from this landmark in horror and the world of literature as a whole without repeating things that have already been said. But there is a thunderous rumbling in the sky that urges me forward and compels me to continue in my dark studies. So with the eagerness of the devoted student of midnight, I will compile together a creature that will hopefully be more appealing to the eye than Shelley's tragic monster.(read more...)