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: Series 7: The Contenders (2001)

Submitted by Jake Watt on Tue, 2003-07-22 00:00

I was quite surprised by this low-budget offering from first-time writer/director Daniel Minahan. Emerging in 2001, this cold-hearted satire was well timed to coincide with the rise of reality television into the collective consciousness of living rooms worldwide.

The plot is simple. Six people are randomly chosen via a lottery to participate in the seventh series of a deadly television show, "The Contenders." Armed with a selection of weapons, they must eliminate their fellow contestants while being taped by a camera crew and broadcast to a nation hooked on reality TV. The winner receives big cash prizes!(read more...)

Review: Children of the Night (1991)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Sun, 2003-07-20 00:00

If nothing else, Fangoria Films' Children of the Night serves as a very strong rebuttal to the notion that diehard horror fans are always the very best sources for a good scary movie.It's certainly not the worst vampire movie ever made, but it gets a ribbon for participation. Ridiculous direction, a terrible script, and a passel of actors all vying to win the Shatner Award for Clinical Overacting are just the most basic of problems at hand here.
(read more...)

Review: I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957)

Submitted by Jason Jones on Thu, 2003-06-19 00:00

After finally sitting down and watching I Was A Teenage Werewolf, I can honestly say it's just about as crappy a movie as I think you'd expect it to be. It's poorly scripted, over acted, over simplified, largely boring and sometimes just plain trite. Even with those major league strikes against it, I still really enjoyed this drive-in classic and I'm not alone. If you mention this 1957 bargain basement cheesefest to a person of the right age, they smile.(read more...)

Review: Ted Bundy (2002)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Thu, 2003-05-08 00:00

Serial killer aficionados (and most horror fans) probably know the story of Ted Bundy, the most notorious mass murderers in the history of the American common man. The media's portrayed him as the boy next door, one who just happens to smash in the heads of pretty girls when the mood strikes him. Director Matthew Bright (Freeway) and co-screenwriter Stephen Johnston (Ed Gein) try to paint a less sensationalistic portrait, while still making a picture drowned in crimson and icky voyeuristic thrills.(read more...)

Review: Ed Gein (2000)

Submitted by Nate Yapp on Wed, 2003-05-07 00:00

Ed Gein is certainly a film with the right idea. One could take the life of a famous serial killer, and turn into nothing but a moribund slasher flick, doused in the crimson blood of so many mangled and uninteresting bodies. However, writer Steve Johnston (with a little nudging from star and executive producer Steve Railsback) instead choice to focus on Gein as a common man who is very, very sick.

It's just a shame it didn't work better.(read more...)

Review: House of 1000 Corpses (2003)

Submitted by Matt Mulcahey on Tue, 2003-05-06 00:00

With House of 1000 Corpses, rocker Rob Zombie set out to make his first film a balls-to-the-wall, insanely over-the-top splatter fest of depravity and, despite the best efforts of Universal, MGM and the Motion Picture Association of America, he did just that.

While you have to admire Zombie's persistence, unless you fall into the small but loyal following of the sadomasochistic horror subgenre, House of 1000 Corpses isn't very good.

Which certainly can't be blamed on Zombie the director, who proves adept at visceral carnage and stylish camerawork. However, Zombie the writer leaves much to be desired.(read more...)

Bruce Campbell Interview

Submitted by Jenn Dlugos on Tue, 2003-04-22 22:30

The undisputed god of the modern B movies, Bruce Campbell is most known for his work from the Evil Dead series. He’s constantly working on various projects in the industry from movies to video games. Classic-Horror got the opportunity to meet up with him for a discussion about all things evil and dead. (read more...)

Review: Eight Legged Freaks (2002)

Submitted by Jake Watt on Thu, 2003-04-17 00:00

I'm uncertain as to who Eight Legged Freaks is aimed at. It's billed as a horror/comedy but is unsuccessful at eliciting either horror or laughs from the viewer, namely me. I guess the best way to define it would be as a homage to camp classics like Them, Tarantula and Giant Spider Invasion. A less impressive way to define it would be as an inefficient version of Tremors. The worst definition would be Attack of The Killer Tomatoes with more budget and less laughs.(read more...)

Review: Flesh Feast (1970)

Submitted by Rob Wrigley on Thu, 2003-03-27 01:00

It's possible to make a good film involving mad scientists, South American revolutionaries, and Hitler. If one doubts that, then watch The Boys from Brazil. It may well to be possible to make a good film containing all the above, plus maggots. That question is left unresolved at the end of Flesh Feast (1970), a minuscule-budget shocker written and directed by Florida auteur Brad F. Grinter (Blood Freak), and starring former beauty Veronica Lake (Sullivan's Travels, The Blue Dahlia).(read more...)

Review: Cube (1997)

Submitted by Rob Wrigley on Sat, 2003-03-08 01:00

Cube, a 1997 film by Canadian writer/director Vincenzo Natale, was filmed on a single set, with a small cast, and a small budget. Part sci-fi horror, part experiment, part student film, it has all the markings of a silly, boring, and talky mess. That it avoids most of those pitfalls is a tribute to the crew and cast.

Seven strangers awake to find themselves in rooms of Cube: 14'x14' metal boxes with an exit in the center of each wall and ceiling. Some rooms are trapped with lethal sci-fi devices. None of the doors seem to lead anywhere but to other rooms. It's like something out of a computer RPG. They join together to try to find their way out, and slowly start to unravel the mystery of Cube.(read more...)