Not a week goes by that I don't ask our Editor-in-Creep if we can have a sheep here at the office. Unfortunately for my ovine aspirations, not a week goes by where I am not told that, no, we cannot have a sheep here at the office. It's a shame really; I like sheep, and there is enough fiber and fleece at Classic-Horror headquarters to prove it. So, it's no surprise that when I caught wind of a new film coming out of New Zealand featuring flocks upon flocks of man-eating Merino, I was deliciously delighted. The New Zealand Film Commission has funded some of my favorite films, and Black Sheep may just join their ranks. A campy bit of ecohorror crossed with comedy, Black Sheep boasts some fantastic gore-effects, interesting and occasionally witty characters, and, of course, one of the most unexpected, disturbing monsters to grace your television screen. Who knew something without any upper incisors could be this dangerous?(read more...)

Of the dozens of zombie films I have seen, from George A. Romero’s seminal Night of the Living Dead to Danny Boyle’s revisionist 28 Days Later, Zombi 3 is one of them. Far more notable for the stories behind its making than any quality it might possess, Zombi 3 isn’t exactly a waste of time if you approach it correctly. As a window into a particular period of Italian horror film production, it’s kind of fascinating, but as entertainment, it stinks like rotting flesh.(read more...)

Lucio Fulci’s The House by the Cemetery is difficult to evaluate. As the last installment in Fulci’s classic zombie quartet (preceded by Zombie, City of the Living Dead, and The Beyond), House reviews range from excellent to horrible.(read more...)

When done correctly, giallos have two components – a horror-thriller component and a mystery component. Lucio Fulci's Don't Torture a Duckling has neither. However, despite its failed attempts to muster the trappings of giallo, it is not bereft of intrigue. Rather than gory shocks and heart-stopping suspense, Don't Torture a Duckling is a brilliantly complex social commentary on the effects of mob mentality on a small town and the arrogance of modern thinking.

Children are being murdered in the small town of Accendura. As Italian police, as well as a few reporters, attempt to find the killer and stop these savage crimes, the town begins to fall into panic and paranoia. A number of suspects, mostly female, are paraded before us and yet, one by one, they are discredited and the kids keep dying. Finally, a small girl who doesn't speak may prove to be the key to mystery, but can our heroes get to her before the murderer?(read more...)