I got there late. I only missed LAKE PLACID, and that's no great loss, I've seen it.

Bob had PLANET TERROR playing, and even though I missed the beginning I quickly got into it.. PT is a wonderfully directed, fast paced and tongue in cheek homage to 70s era Zombie flicks. I loved it-- it had all the classic cliches. The scratched film stock, aping film stock from the era, was sheer genius.


This was part of the GRINDHOUSE duet, a big movie composed of two small ones by Robert Rodriguez and Quenton Tarantino. As a single movie it flopped. Broken into two movies for DVD release, it has experienced some success.

Next one (and best one) was THE DESCENT. This is another movie by Neil Marshall, the gent who directed DOG SOLDIERS (which I love!), and it does not disappoint. You couldn't ask for a more different movie from Dog Soldiers-- in story, in performance, in characterization and especially in the creep factor.



I see a lot of horror movies. Obviously, if you read this blog regularly you arlready know horror is one of my favorite film genres. Very rarely do I get a genuine scare. Moments of feigned dread, perhaps, but not fear. The Descent touches on one of my own manias-- claustrophobia, and also delivers one incredibly manic, horrific tale with great protaganist and a surprisingly multi-faceted plot. Does the Descent mean the obvious (a group of athletic young women on a caving expedition that goes horribly wrong) or does it mean something more subtle than that-- one woman's descent into madness? The ending doesn't tell you one way or an other.

Last one on the DVD Player was the second half of GRINDHOUSE, DEATH PROOF. I rather like Tarantino usually, but this film did its very best to sink the Grindhouse project. For one thing, there's too much dialogue, and it's ALL Quentin Tarantino talking to himself. I don't know ANYone who talks quite the way QT does in real life. He writes some clever screenplays but they are starting to sound awfully reverential and larded with endlessly run on sentences delivered in a style that would have done justice to Pam Grier.

An old poster; the incomparable Kurt Russell took the main role as Stuntman Mike, replacing Rourke. In my book, there's no comparison... Russell was the better choice.

Speaking of reverential, every film by QT (except, perhaps, Jackie Brown) makes it into Death Proof in some form. The guy is on an Easter Egg binge-- the movie does share characters, lines, and movie references from QT's earlier movies. Personally, I hated the dialogue. It was overlong and maybe TOO derivative of earlier sources. To a woman, the actresses ALL seemed like they were Quentin Tarantino in drag, enacting Tarantino's fantasy image of what a tough 70s cinema chick ought to be. He badly needs a collaborator..

I hope he can return to form on his next project.

Back from the Grave?

Noticed in Reuters/Hollywood Reporter/Yahoo News:

Hammer Films has risen from the grave

By Stuart Kemp
Reuters - Friday, May 11 12:13 pm

LONDON (Hollywood Reporter) - The coffin lid for cult British horror label Hammer Film Prods. has been pried open once again, this time by a group of European investors.
(Advertisement)

The consortium -- which includes such industry players as Dutch reality-TV mogul John de Mol and Hollywood producers Guy East and Nigel Sinclair -- plans to resurrect the dormant label and put it back into production for the big and small screen alike.

No financial details of the deal, which includes Hammer's 295-title library, were given, but those close to the deal said it was in the millions of dollars.

The new management team is headed by former Liberty Global European executives Simon Oakes and Marc Schipper, with East and Sinclair of Los Angeles-based label Spitfire Pictures on board as non-executive directors.

Oakes said in an interview that the business plan will concentrate on making films under the Hammer banner rather than initially trying to resurrect some of the old titles.

Hammer, founded in 1949, is best known for its gothic horror productions in the 1950s and 1960s. The banner was responsible for the classic movie series of Dracula, Frankenstein and Quatermass, forever imprinting its "Hammer House of Horror" slogan here and abroad.

Oakes said East and Sinclair would give the company entree in Hollywood and "access to the best writers and talent" looking to make horror films.

Prior to the deal announced Thursday, Hammer had been in advanced negotiations to join forces with independent production firm Ealing Studios .

That deal fell apart because of concerns surrounding Hammer's valuation of its film library. The other problem facing any new owner is a rights horror story. Several high-profile titles such as those starring "Dracula" and "The Werewolf" are tied up by studios, including Warner Bros., Columbia and Universal, with remake rights and ownership of characters a legal minefield.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Attribution: Copyright 2007 Reuters Inc.

A rather nice freebie for Arkham Horror

A website called "Free Pie Coupon" has started hosting a rather innovative "Online Arkham Location deck" which can also be downloaded or played in a smaller size to fit on your screen.

Fun and informative, but not as helpful as I would have liked. You can't really do deck management with it, which would be useful. YOu would still have to check your hands on paper off screen. Still, nice effort and nice to look at!

Check out IFC's response to TMC's UNDERGROUND series..

Bubba Ho-Tep
Jan. 5 at midnight ET
Bruce Campbell plays Elvis, who, it turns out, is not dead but has been living out his embittered days in a Texas nursing home until he finds a new reason to live – fighting an evil mummy.

Coffin Joe: At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul
Jan. 12 at midnight ET
The first of the Coffin Joe films introduces the titlular top hat-sporting Brazilian horror icon, a sadistic undertaker obsessed with finding the "ideal" woman to bear his child.

Coffin Joe: This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse
Jan. 19 at midnight ET
Joe, with the help of crazed assitant Bruno, continues to search for a woman "immune" to terror, testing potential fiances by planting tarantulas on them.

Coffin Joe: Awakening of the Beast
Jan. 26 at midnight ET
Four drug addicts are chosen from out of a debaucherous group to take part in an LSD experiment – but are they under the influence of LSD or Coffin Joe?

Click on the banner ad to hyperlink there...

Now that's progressive theater!

EVIL DEAD: THE MUSICAL is now playing in NYC, at the slightly off broadway New World Stage, in New York City. This definitely looks to be a cult hit to me. I like the idea a lot, but found out way too late to make plans.

Evil Dead: The Musical, a ‘dis-arm-ingly’ riotous musical comedy based on Sam Raimi’s 80s cult-classic horror films, unearths the old familiar story: boy and his friends take a weekend getaway at abandoned cabin, boy expects to get lucky, boy unleashes ancient evil spirit, friends turn into Candarian Demons, boy fights until dawn to survive. As musical mayhem descends upon this sleepover in the woods, “camp” takes on a whole new meaning in uproarious numbers like “All the Men in my Life Keep Getting Killed by Candarian Demons,” “Look Who’s Evil Now” and “Do the Necronomicon.” Buzzing chainsaws and dancing demons add to the frenzy, slaying audiences with this tale of lust, love and dismemberment.

Important Notice
The first two rows of the orchestra are the “Splatter Zone." Patrons in the “Splatter Zone” should be prepared to have a bloody good time…and dress accordingly.

I like the sounds of that last sentence.. heh heh heh...


With a little luck, it might go on the road, who knows?


If you can make it, tickets are available by pressing the button.

Brother George!

At least it looks like him.

Way back in the day one of my favorite Public Access shows on earth issued forth from Lexington Kentucky. It was called Brains on Film, and it was great while it lasted. My own (failed) public access show, NICK RENO'S NEIGHBORHOOD, shamelessly tried to emulate their format. The Brains (Professor Tread, Brother George, and Jumpin' Joe) tried to get into the internet "thing" a while back and for a while, the BoF bulletin board was really jumping... sadly, Tread's schedule consigned it to oblivion from neglect.

So imagine my surprise and pleasure to see the Brains are back (sort of) and this time in front of a camera again. Brother George (I think... he's almost unrecognizable) is now doing reviews fro HyperReview.com, a "Brains on Film Production".



Reviews are short, irreverant, and very, very funny. I absolutely recommend this. Or should I say.. "if you like this sort of thing, you'll love this sort of thing.."

Meaning, reviews of horror and exploitation flicks.
We'll, you'll get it once you see it.

Not your Daddy's set-collecting game

Atlas Games has had its hits and misses with me. The company has some good (possibly great) concepts and has managed to have a couple of winners-- notably GLOOM (a card game the Adaams Family would have liked) and CTHULHU 500. Atlas is a company with a focus on humor that could be considered somewhat dark... as is evidenced by their games LUNCH MONEY and even ONCE UPON A TIME (a somewhat less than satisfactory storytelling game). The problem with "dark" humor is that the humor must be sustained throughout the game (and not just a sporadic "hey, he made a funny!") or failing that, the mechanics of the game have to hold up by being something totally new and original. For example, the cards in ILLUMINATI do not contain jokes that would make Shecky Green worry at night, but there's something so funny about situations like the Boy Sprouts controlling Big Oil which in turn controls the Secret Masters of Fandom that the concept stays silly (and fresh).

So it was with some trepidation that I tried LET'S KILL! by Atlas recently. The price was right and I was looking for a time-killer, so I figured what the heck.

I was pleasantly surprised. The subject is very nihilistic and it's fairly hypocritical that I would enjoy it so much, given my self-avowed leanings towards non-violence. There's such a cartoony exuberance about the game, I couldn't help it.

Where to start? Let's Kill is not for kids. The game is a game about killing. It treads the same tragicomic ground that has been covered by another favorite of mine, Suburban Slasher. You are cast in the role of a horror movie serial killer, collecting "scores" on victims. This doesn't seem like it's ground for comedy, but it's actually hugely funny. The crass, childish stick art underscores the basic inhumanity of the concept, yet is simultaneously very funny at the same time.

The game itself is not going to give anyone anyone any wrinkles. At the root of it, this is a simple set collection and scoring game not unlike a dozen other vaguely rummy like games published by CheapAss and other poverty row publishers. The game is (in this case) sustained almost entirely by the card art and writing. The original designers (Sancho Games.. this is a reprint) were quite clever in invoking some horrific horror themes whilst mitigating them with childish stick figure art and liberal doses of red ink representing.. well, you know.

I enjoyed Let's Kill. It made me laugh and is fairly clever and very funny in places. It has a very minimal utility for me as a game, as it is not something I can play with my kids-- so it's only going to be pulled out at conventions or at local game days for a while, until my children are at least age 13 or even older. The game is appropriately labeled as being for mature subjects, and I applaud Atlas for using caution. Like as not it will tumble Suburban Slasher from my Top Ten List of Humorous Games in time, as it handles the subject matter in a far superior fashion.

In case it's not obvious, I dig horror, exploitation and sleaze movies. I have been going to SF and horror fan film conventions since I was a wee sprout (well, teenaged, anyhow). Since the demise of the "creature feature" style show from virtually all networks, I have often wondered when a horror-only cable network would arise out of the ashes and return good old fashioned horror viewing to the airwaves, like the Sci-Fi Network did for science fiction. And why not? There's a network for everything these days-- food, travel, relgion, romance, why not horror?

I've noted the efforts of a dedicated group of individuals to get a HORROR network going in the States. They seem to have stuff out at every horror movie convention I go to. I hope these guys make it, I know I'd subscribe to this.



Right now the American site (more details on this below) seems to be focusing on DVD reviews and recruiting independent movie makers to run things on their network, when and if it gets stood up.

Here's their mission statement

Mission Statement
To create the first and only 24-hour cable and satellite network dedicated to the Horror genre and to become the branded television gateway for the underserved Horror fan base.

Creative Advisory Board
Several luminaries of the Horror genre have endorsed The Horror Channel and will be involved in creating original programming for the network.

It turns out there's ANOTHER Horror network out there, in the UK!

This horror channel is actually broadcasting, on some satellite networking which I confess I'm confused about. Apparently they are putting out a fairly innovative programme over the BSkyB "free to air" network, broadcasting from "Eurobird" whatever that is.

LINK TO UK HORROR CHANNEL

Their mission statement is similar...

As the UK 's first channel dedicated to horror, we aim to bring you films and original programmes from right across the genre. Our schedule boasts a heady mix of cult classics, B-movies, Horror-coms, modern box-office thrillers, home-produced specials, series, biographies and documentaries.

The U.K. broadcast schedule looks fairly ambitious. Many of these are home grown.

11.00am - FILM: Killer Bait
A husband and wife are accidentally passed $60,000. He wants to hand it in. She'll do anything to keep it. With Lizabeth Scott as the ultimate femme fatale. B&W.

1.05pm - FILM: Revolt of the Zombies
In WW1, a priest creates zombies to aid the war effort. But after the war, a jealous archaeologist uncovers the secret and uses it for his own wicked ends. B&W.

2.25pm - The Cutting Room - Ingrid Pitt
An exclusive, intimate interview with Ingrid Pitt talking about her life as a star of many horror films. Also an inside look at Hammer Glammer Films with Veronica France.

3.00pm - FILM: Killers from Space
An atomic scientist suspected of espionage claims to have been abducted by aliens who want to take over the world using giant insects. B&W.

5.00pm - FILM: The Gorilla
A rich man is threatened by a vicious serial killer known as The Gorilla and he hires the Ritz Bros to investigate. But did the butler (Bela Lugosi) do it? B&W.

7.00pm - FILM: The Ape
Boris Karloff is a mad scientist who needs human spinal fluid. Killing and skinning a gorilla provides him with the ultimate disguise to go on his mad, murderous spree. B&W.

8.25pm - The Cutting Room - Asylum Night
Behind-the-scenes interview with the creative team that brought you Asylum Night, a superb new comic vampire horror from Revolt Films.

9.00pm - FILM: Deadbolt
Psychological thriller about a beautiful med student whose new roommate falls madly in love with her. But there's a fine line between love and obsession...

11.00pm - FILM: Flowers in the Attic
Adaptation of Virginia Andrews' powerful book of incest, betrayal and murder. Four children, locked in the attic by their mother, are soon forgotten.

1.00am - FILM: Hellblock 13
In a dark and dreary death row cell, a deranged female serial killer seduces her executioner with a series of grisly tales. With Gunner Hansen and Debbie Rochon.

3.00am - FILM: The Dreaming
A young doctor becomes involved in a chain of supernatural events which provoke nightmarish premonitions and even darker realities

In any event, I'm impressed with both efforts and will probably have a greater chance of accessing the U.S. one once it materializes. Looks like horror has a future on cable... soon.