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!

Shiverin' 6: Creepy Kids, Part Two

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Continuing on from where we left off with our last installment of Classic-Horror.com's Shiverin' 6, we will now turn our attention to children who do their devilish deeds as a group. As each of these frightening features will attest, there's only one thing scarier than a creepy kid and that's a whole pack of menacing minors.(read more...)

Review: Ju-on: The Grudge (2003)

Ju-on: The Grudge poster

Perhaps our shiny new century's first significant horror trend was sparked by the cult success of a Japanese film entitled Ringu. Its decidedly non-conventional approach seemed to hit a new and different horror nerve. When the Americanized remake (2002's The Ring) became a colossal international hit a surge of interest in East Asian horror films ensued, allowing US audiences to sample their diverse and fascinating output. The subject of this review, Ju-on: The Grudge, presents a modern ghost story that dispenses almost completely with certain horror elements codified in the US while focusing on others with laser like intensity. This mixture creates a film that is a stylistic breath of fresh air that also happens to be one creepy experience. (read more...)

Jimmy Sangster (1927 - 2011)

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Jimmy Sangster, whose scripts for The Curse of Frankenstein and Horror of Dracula helped seal the reputation of Hammer Studios as the home of British horror in the 1950s and 60s has passed away at the age of 83.

Born in Wales in 1927, Sangster started his movie career aged 16 as a clapper boy, working his way through various jobs, before ending up as assistant director on Hammer adaptations of BBC Radio serials.

Eventually landing the job of scripting the studio's adaption of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, he made one significant change to the source material, moving the emphasis in the story from the monster to the creator, consequently giving Peter Cushing his breakthrough starring role, and Hammer a hit movie, both in the UK and the US.(read more...)

Review: The House That Dripped Blood (1971)

The House That Dripped Blood poster

From 1965 to 1973, Max J. Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky's Amicus studios unleashed a string of high quality anthology films that were inspired by the macabre morality tales found in the pages of E.C. Comics. It's a format in which the company would excel, as many of these features are now considered classics. One of the studios finest portmanteau efforts is director Peter Duffel's The House That Dripped Blood. The film is extraordinary from start to finish thanks to its exceptional writing, a star-studded cast, and a crew that enlivens what is, for the most part, a stage-bound production.

The story begins as a police inspector is called in to investigate the disappearance of Paul Henderson, an actor who had moved into a house with a history of strange occurrences. From there the film fractures into four tales which are related to the inspector by the homes real estate agent. They go as follows:(read more...)

Review: Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

Assault on Precinct 13 poster

Assault on Precinct 13 was John Carpenter's first foray into professional filmmaking, and although today it is arguably remembered largely as an urban siege thriller and an homage to the westerns of Howard Hawks, there is also a nod to a classic horror film, as well some weird and ambiguous elements that point to the direction Carpenter was to take with his future work. (read more...)

Review: Shock Waves (1977)

Shock Waves poster

The mere prospect of a Nazi zombie evokes dread filled imagery and an almost overwhelming sense of terror. With that being said, it's rather amazing that although this mini sub-genre has been around in one form or another since the 1940's, there are very few films within this particular niche that have the ability to frighten an audience. In fact, many consider most of these films (i.e. Zombie Lake, Oasis of the Zombies) to be of such poor quality that they are difficult to sit through, let alone admire. One exception to this generalization is director Ken Wiederhorn's Shock Waves, a film which manages to impress on various levels despite being straddled with a meager budget.

The premise of Shock Waves is quite basic -- a group of tourists find themselves shipwrecked on a remote island with a former SS officer (Peter Cushing) who hides a terrifying secret.(read more...)

Review: Island of Lost Souls (1932)

Island of Lost Souls

With the installation of the Motion Picture Production Code in February 1930, Hollywood, suffering from a damaged image through much of the silents era due to off-screen star scandals and production of some risque films, finally bowed to political pressure for increased censorship. Full enforcement of the code, however, would not happen until 1934, when the chief censoring body, the Hays Office, was finally given final editing authority over the studios. Until then, many juicy gems, like Paramount's 1932 horror classic Island of Lost Souls were able to sneak past editor's chopping block with all the delightfully overt and lurid elements intact. (read more...)

Shiverin' 6: Creepy Kids, Part One

It's Alive 1974 quad

Welcome to another terror-filled edition of Classic-Horror.com's Shiverin' 6. In this installment we will delve into one of the horror genre's most frightening sub-genres: the killer kid flick. Since this is a rather large category of films we've decided to dedicate two separate features to these pictures. Part One will focus on children who act as individual threats and part two will take a look at children acting out as a group. Possession films will be saved for future columns. (read more...)

Lance Henriksen

The Masters: Lance Henriksen

The Lance Henriksen Blogathon is this week (May 2-7) and we have a special entry -- a Masters bio for Henriksen written by Joseph Maddrey, the co-author of Not Bad for a Human, Henriksen's autobiography. Find out more about this awesome event at NotBadforaHuman.com

Lance Henriksen is a versatile character actor who's as adept at playing strong, nurturing, heroic characters as he is at playing ruthless psychopaths.  His secret is astute observation, empathy, and a willingness to surrender himself completely to every role he takes - whether it's in A-list drama or Z-grade schlock. 

Review: Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932)

Murders in the Rue Morgue 1932 poster

The central thread of Edgar Allan Poe's 1841 short story Murders in the Rue Morgue is one of mystery. Two bodies are found, so degraded that investigators can only imagine a killer with a "grotesquerie in horror absolutely alien from humanity". Poe's novel is cerebral, focusing on analytical observation and the calculating power of the mind. It laid the groundwork for Arthur Conan Doyle's great detective and moved police work into the 20th century. Robert Florey's film adaptation however, holds no such aspirations. Here acumen is replaced by something more visceral and focus shifts to themes of desire, rage and revenge. This is after all the cinema, and here emotion is king. (read more...)