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!

Review: Silent Hill (2006)

Submitted by Mikhail Skoptsov on Tue, 2007-11-13 01:57

Sharon Da Silva (Jodelle Ferland) is a troubled girl: she experiences recurring nightmares, during which she talks about a place called Silent Hill. Her foster mother Rose (Radha Mitchell) discovers that Silent Hill is the name of a ghost town in West Virginia, abandoned after a coal fire thirty years ago. Determined to learn what the town has to do with her daughter and to make the nightmares stop, Rose takes Sharon to Silent Hill, against the wishes of her husband Chris (Sean Bean). Through a set of circumstances, mother and daughter wind up in a car accident. When Rose awakens the next morning, she finds Sharon is missing, and immediately sets out to find her. But she discovers that something sinister is going on in fog-shrouded Silent Hill, as the town’s reality periodically burns away to reveal another world, where supernatural monstrous creatures, including man-eating roaches and a medieval executioner, break loose and attempt to kill anyone in their path.(read more...)

Review: Asylum (1972)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Thu, 2007-11-08 19:54

Between 1965 and 1980, Amicus Productions made nine horror anthology films, of which Roy Ward Baker directed three: Asylum, The Vault of Horror, and The Monster Club. Of Baker's treasuries of terror, Asylum is probably the best. With help from a solid screenplay by author Robert Bloch ("Psycho," the novel) and a top-notch cast (including Herbert Lom and Peter Cushing), Baker works a good mix of thrills, chills, and fun into the 88-minute runtime.(read more...)

Review: The Terminator (1984)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Wed, 2007-11-07 01:01

At first glance, James Cameron’s The Terminator would appear to be only tenuously connected with the horror genre. After all, it’s a sci-fi action-thriller, not to mention one that spawned two decidedly non-horror sequels. Sure, it has a ruthless killing machine methodically hunting down a single target without thought or concern for his own well-being, but… wait. Back up. That is a horror film plot. The time travel concept and the post-apocalyptic flash-forwards are all window-dressing that masks the fact that The Terminator is very much a slasher movie, just one with guns and explosives instead of hatchets and chainsaws.(read more...)

Blue Underground's Two-Disc "Living Dead at Manchester Morgue"

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Tue, 2007-11-06 12:04

On February 26th, 2008, Blue Underground will be releasing a two-disc special edition of Jorge Grau's The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue,a film they previously released as a single disc under the alternate title Let Sleeping Corpses Lie. The new release will include a fresh widescreen transfer, Dolby Digital 5.1 English soundtrack (as well as a Dolby Surround 2.0 track and the original mono), trailers, TV and radio spots, a gallery of publicity materials, and interviews with Grau, star Ray Lovelock, and effects guru Giannetto de Rossi. The Grau interview from the old Let Sleeping Corpses Lie release will also be included.

Also out that day from Blue Underground are four Italian giallo films previously released by Anchor Bay: The Bloodstained Shadow, Case of the Bloody Iris, Short Night of Glass Dolls, and Who Saw Her Die?

Marsden to Join "The Box"

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Fri, 2007-11-02 10:38

HollywoodReporter.com has news that James Marsden (X-Men, Superman Returns) is in final negotiations to join the cast of Richard Kelly's "The Box". Marsden would play the husband of Cameron Diaz's character. A mysterious man (Frank Langella) gives the couple a box that will give money every time a button is pressed, but at the cost of a stranger's life. The film, an adaptation of Richard Matheson's short story "Button, Button," is being produced by Media Rights Capital and Kelly's company Darko Entertainment.

"Diary of the Dead" After Valentine's Day

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Fri, 2007-11-02 10:27

I usually keep personal information out of these news stories, but in this case, I'm going to make an exception. Bloody-Disgusting announced that The Weinstein Company will be releasing George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead in theaters on February 15th, 2008. Why is this important to me, personally? That's my 25th birthday, and a very good present indeed. And it wasn't even on my Amazon wishlist!

Review: Believers (2007)

Submitted by Julia Merriam on Thu, 2007-11-01 01:16

It's easy to write about good movies. The reviews practically write themselves, as the praises flow onto the page as the film's intricacies start to unwind. Conversely, bad films are also easy to write about, as the film slowly shreds beneath a critical eye, the condemnation surging forth with wicked satisfaction. Competent, boring films, however, are a bitch to review. What do you say about something that lacks interest, and, further, how do you sound interesting while doing it? I'm really not too sure, but thanks to Daniel Myrick's new film, Believers, which was released to DVD on October 16th, I have to try and find out.(read more...)

Review: Shock (1977)

Submitted by Julia Merriam on Wed, 2007-10-31 01:46

By 1977, the nature of the horror film had already changed significantly. Instead of the Gothic mood pieces of previous decades, the genre had become more dynamic, seeking shocks rather than heady atmosphere. Italian horror auteur Mario Bava's final theatrical film reflects this change. Partially directed by his son, Lamberto Bava, who trained under such directors as Ruggero Deodato and Mario Lanfranchi, Shock is inconsistent, pairing the trademark style of the senior Bava with the new sensibilities of the junior. Jumbled and mildly disappointing, Shock still boasts some singularly breathtaking and unnerving moments, courtesy of both father and son.(read more...)

Classic-Horror Halloween Viewing Guide 2007

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Tue, 2007-10-30 17:02

Wondering what to watch on Halloween night? We have four lists for you, each one dedicated to a different "era" of horror. Each playlist is ordered chronologically, but you can (and should) mix things up to your preference. We tried limiting each list to eight hours worth of films, but we couldn't limit ourselves well enough, so instead we've provided the runtime (Rt) for each film in minutes so you can choose the best films for whatever time constraints you may or may not have.(read more...)

Review: Lisa and the Devil (1973)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Tue, 2007-10-30 01:46

The story of Mario Bava’s Lisa and the Devil is the stuff from which cinema legends are made: brilliant auteur is given carte blanche to make his masterpiece, but the end result can’t find a distributor. To recoup costs, the film’s producer pressures the director to add scenes of demonic possession to cash-in on a popular American film (in this case, The Exorcist). The result of this tampering is released under a different name and, despite being an inferior work, becomes the de facto version for many years. Eventually, the original film resurfaces, much to the joy of the director’s critical proponents.(read more...)