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: A Lizard in a Woman's Skin (1971)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Mon, 2007-10-15 01:38

After the success of Dario Argento’s brilliant giallo The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, the Italian film industry mobilized to produce a veritable bestiary of thrillers with animal-oriented titles, as if somehow that was the reason for Plumage’s box office numbers. One of the first imitators was Lucio Fulci’s A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin. Despite the similarity in titling, however, Fulci’s film is a distinct entity, with its very own illogical plot and inability to overcome its own inconsistencies.(read more...)

Jeffrey Combs Interview

Submitted by Julia Merriam on Sun, 2007-10-14 14:05

You probably know Jeffrey Combs best for his role as mad scientist Herbert West in Stuart Gordon's cult classic Re-Animator, but the actor has brought so many more great performances to the genre. In July, at San Diego Comic-Con International, he sat down with us to rap about his latest -- reprising the part of Dr. Vannacutt from 1999's House on Haunted Hill for a new, direct-to-video sequel Return to House on Haunted Hill, being released on October 16th, 2007.

Classic-Horror.com: Tell us a little bit about your character [in Return to House on Haunted Hill]. We saw him in the first film…

Jeffrey Combs: Vannacutt is back… Vannacutt is a scientist from the 20s. We do find out in this one that at one point, he wasn’t such a bad guy. Brilliant scientist, Nobel Prize winner, and then something went terribly dark.
(read more...)

Review: From Beyond the Grave (1973)

Submitted by Eric Miller on Sun, 2007-10-14 01:54

From Beyond the Grave is an Amicus horror anthology that is a surprisingly disturbing experience. It is the rookie outing of director Kevin Connor, who delivers a film that, while not flawless, is able to offer some solid chills. Boasting such genre veterans as David Warner, Donald Pleasence, and the legendary Peter Cushing, From Beyond the Grave is a superior anthology film that is in the best tradition of the subgenre.(read more...)

Review: The Hand (1981)

Submitted by Timothy J. Rush on Sun, 2007-10-14 01:44

It's not hard to have low expectations of an eighties horror film titled simply The Hand. Add in names like director Oliver Stone and actor Michael Caine, however, and one begins to expect a little more. When it comes to quality, The Hand is carried completely on the weight of Caine's shoulders. Lots of the tropes of the film are familiar to the horror fan, but the performance of this masterful actor helps breathe life into what could have been just another schlock film. We are not disappointed, nor left scoffing about the plot. We feel satisfied and satiated, having enjoyed ourselves thoroughly for the past hundred minutes.(read more...)

Review: Eyes of a Stranger (1981)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Sun, 2007-10-14 01:43

Ken Wiederhorn’s Eyes of a Stranger is a calculated rehashing of moments from better movies, strung together by the thinnest of plots. It’s such a waste of time that reading about it (and, to my chagrin, writing about it) is a fairly worthless pursuit. If you have the time on your hands and nothing better to do, then please continue through the review. Otherwise, everything you need to know is in that first sentence.(read more...)

Review: Someone's Watching Me! (1978)

Submitted by John Dubrawa on Sun, 2007-10-14 01:01

John Carpenter’s Someone’s Watching Me is the famed horror director’s personal homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s classic cat-and-mouse thriller Rear Window. Behind the camera, Carpenter’s personal touches are prominent and evident, and the musical score works to help serve the eerie tone. However, Carpenter’s film relies too much on the previous source material and the end result is a film that feels borrowed instead of new.(read more...)

Wes Craven

Submitted by Eric Miller on Sat, 2007-10-13 01:56

It’s rare for a director to create landmark films in three separate decades, but horror master Wes Craven can claim that distinction. From setting up the template for bare knuckled, visceral horror in 1972’s Last House on the Left, through creating one of the genre’s most remembered fiends in 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, and then re-inventing the slasher genre in 1996’s Scream, Craven continually strives to break new ground in screen horror.

The creative father of Freddy Krueger was born on August 2, 1939 in Cleveland, Ohio to devout Baptists Paul and Caroline Craven. After he grew up, he earned a Master’s degree in psychology and writing from Johns Hopkins University. He had a strong interest in filmmaking, however, and in 1972 he directed one of the most notorious films of the 1970s.

Review: Scream 2 (1997)

Submitted by Eric Miller on Fri, 2007-10-12 01:59

Scream 2 is one of those rare sequels that reunites almost everyone from the original, on both sides of the screen. Horror master Wes Craven is again coupled with screenwriter Kevin Williamson, while Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, and Jamie Kennedy all reprise their roles. The script in this film is as sharp as, if not sharper, than the first film, and Craven still has a great skill at building fright and suspense. While its predecessor thoroughly interrogates the clichés and tropes of modern slasher films, Scream 2 brings this same wit to the exploration of sequels. It also look, briefly, into the debate over film's influence on real life. While it tends towards a convoluted plot, Scream 2 is nevertheless a worthy successor to its groundbreaking original.(read more...)

Review: Vampire in Brooklyn (1995)

Submitted by Timothy J. Rush on Thu, 2007-10-11 01:56

I would be a genius if I could start off by telling you about the hidden bits of brilliance that lie within Wes Craven's Vampire in Brooklyn. Unfortunately, I don't believe in blatantly lying to the public. There really isn't anything good to say about this train wreck; the film fails on nearly every level. The horror is ineffective, the jokes are lame, and the performances are terrible. The movie, simply put, is a drawn-out, boring mess.(read more...)

Review: Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)

Submitted by Eric Miller on Wed, 2007-10-10 01:29

Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street is a landmark film in the history of screen horror. Blurring the lines between dreams and reality, and introducing one of the genre’s most unique and frightening screen monsters (Freddy Krueger), the Nightmare films are fearsome and has laid the groundwork for a very successful franchise. The sequels, unfortunately, demonstrate a pointed drop in quality when compared to the original, and with the 1991 release of Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, it seemed the monster was really gone for good. However, in 1994, New Line Cinema decided it was time to bring him back, and recruited series creator, Wes Craven, to make it happen.(read more...)