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This is the spot where I discuss, and offer my opinions on, different topics (both horror-related and not) each month. I decided to create this page because I find that I often come across things that either interest me, excite me or maybe just bug me. For example, I'll often read about movie projects that I have a strong interest in, or opinion on, for one reason or another. This page gives me a forum to discuss these things. Anyone who has feedback concerning what I have to say here, feel free to contact me. I'd also like to point out that the following is just my opinion, and everyone is free to agree or disagree with what I have to say. ENJOY!
Click the links below to view each column in a separate window, or scroll down to read column summaries and first paragraphs:
This month I take a break from the usual opinion column for... January/February 2005
This column features an interview with independent filmmaker and actor Bruce G. Hallenbeck.
SUBJECT: A Very Scary Productions Interview with independent filmmaker Bruce G. Hallenbeck
London After Midnightand Beyond
Bruce G. Hallenbeck is an independent filmmaker based in Upstate
New York's Capital Region. He is the writer and director of the
1989 vampire feature Vampyre, which was loosely based on Carl
Dreyer's 1932 Vampyr, and the documentary Fangs - a history of
vampires in the movies hosted by Hammer horror starlet Veronica
Carlson. Mr. Hallenbeck has also written screenplays for such
movies as The Witches Of Sappho Salon, and the Misty Mundae
films Dr. Jekyll And Mistress Hyde and Misty Mundae Mummy Raider for Seduction Cinema.* Read More...
SUBJECT: Movie Recommendation - "Very Bad Things" March 2005
- A bloody good little black comedy.
Very Bad Things is an entertaining, extremely violent little black comedy featuring a cast of name actors.
The movie works because it effectively portrays what would otherwise be tough-to-watch events with a
perverse humor that is quite addicting. The actors all do a good job, particularly Christian Slater, who delivers
a compelling performance reminiscent of his portrayal of teen psychopath Jason Dean in that other classic black comedy Heathers. Director Peter Berg's Very Bad Things is a wild, sometimes uncomfortable, but
often funny ride.
SUBJECT: Movie Recommendation - "Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut" April 2005
I was very excited when the cult film Donnie Darko was re-released (albeit briefly) to theaters in 2004.
This movie is unique because it has familiar elements from John Waters-style 80's teen comedies, while
also featuring elements that would never fit into that universe. Generally speaking it is a hard movie to categorize, however there is no doubt it has a style all its own. The new director's cut will hopefully shine
a light on the movie and introduce it to new audiences.
SUBJECT: Criticizing the Critics - A discussion on “Indie” Cinema, May 2005
Underground Cinema and "The Democratization of Filmmaking".
A recent local publication only half-jokingly suggested that "there’s no reason to care about indie cinema".
The writer of this article said that the availability of low-cost, high-quality digital video equipment is hardly
a good thing, and that capitalism is useful for filtering out mediocre material like that being produced by people now calling themselves filmmakers. I found this article offensive because I believe that true independents like myself put a lot of dedicated time and effort into their productions, and have much to offer. Indie movies such as The Blair Witch Project, and more importantly The Last Broadcast, are just two notable examples of that.
SUBJECT: Movie Review - "House of Wax" (2005) June 2005
- Better than one might expect.
While I wasn't expecting much from this redo of the classic 1953 Vincent Price chiller, I wound up being pleasantly surprised by it. Despite a rough first thirty minutes, the movie manages to come alive when we
reach the town made of wax and are introduced to creepy twin brothers. The new House of Wax also features some good gore effects and memorable death scenes, notably the much-publicized cinematic demise of Paris Hilton's character. Overall this film turned out to be a nice effort.
SUBJECT: New Projects, New Beginnings (2005) July 2005
Production begins on the independent feature "Shadow Tracker: Resurrection".
One of my first acting gigs was in the indie vampire movie Shadow Tracker: Vampire Hunter back in
the mid 1990's. Now I'm working on the production of the sequel (tentatively titled) Shadow Tracker: Resurrection, along with the original film's director Joe Bagnardi. This column talks about my experiences
to date on that production.
SUBJECT: Movie Recommendation - "George A. Romero’s Land Of The Dead"
After a long absence the zombie movie master returns with a solid new August 2005
entry in the series.
George Romero's new fourth installment in his epic zombie saga features elements from the preceding movies and also adds some distinct new touches. The story is a complex one supported by good performances, particularly Simon Baker and John Leguizamo. It's also a plus to have great talents
Dennis Hopper and Asia Argento appear in the movie. George A. Romero has indeed returned with
another masterpiece in the genre he created.
SUBJECT: Movie Review - "The Devil’s Rejects"
A look at the extreme, violent sequel to "House of 1000 Corpses" September 2005
In director Rob Zombie's follow-up to House of 1000 Corpses he puts together an eclectic cast of cult film
and television actors that is interesting to say the least. I liked this, and also the fact that the supernatural elements that didn't work well in the first film were eliminated here. However the movie displays a one-sidedness in favor of the ruthless killers that I didn't care for at all, as well as a predictability that worked against it. Overall this movie was better than its predecessor, but not one I enjoyed or could recommend.
SUBJECT: Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors 2005 Convention Highlights October 2005
The famous Fangoria convention returns triumphantly to the East Coast
at a new venue.
This column discusses highlights from the 2005 Fangoria Weekend of Horrors convention in New Jersey.
Big guests included John Landis and Mick Garris, who were there to talk about the Masters of Horror television series. There was also a video tribute to actress Emily Perkins from the Ginger Snaps movies.
Another exciting panel was presented by the talent behind FANGORIA TV, the proposed television network from the people who bring us the magazine. And finally, the discussion by executive producer James Wan and scripter Leigh Whannell about the upcoming sequel Saw II was interesting.
SUBJECT: Movie Review: "The Fog" (2005) November 2005
Remakes don't get much worse than this.
The new version of John Carpenter's cult classic The Fog is by far one of the worst remakes I’ve ever
seen. This movie replaces good character actors with attractive young television stars, resulting in
weak characterizations that hurt the film. And the usually reliable Selma Blair is just miscast in the role
of radio station owner Stevie Wayne. The movie also had a lack of suspense and an overall incoherence. One wonders what John Carpenter was thinking putting his name (as a producer) on this clunker.
SUBJECT: DVD Horrors Movie Review: “Day of the Dead 2: Contagium” December 2005
Day of the Dead 2: Contagium is not really related to any of the George Romero zombie movies, but is instead an independent horror production utilizing a familiar title. It is an often clunky film that focuses on infection and the slow process a group of people undergo in becoming zombies. Despite some well-executed action scenes at the beginning and end of the film, most of the picture consists of cliché-ridden melodrama that is not very involving. While the movie is certainly no gem, the filmmakers should at least be applauded for putting forth their own somewhat unique take on the zombie subgenre.
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DVD Horrors is a new Thoughts For The Month topic that will focus on horror films made for the DVD and home video markets, and horror films that have been successful primarily upon release to DVD and video. Therefore the majority of the movies I review under this topic heading will probably be low/no budget, non-Hollywood independent films, or foreign titles that don’t see theatrical release here in the USA. Prior to this month I have reviewed the following independent horror films: Slashers (in the November 2002 TFTM column) and Beyond Re-Animator (in the March 2004 TFTM column). I also reviewed the independent
short film comedy More Than Friends in the December 2004 TFTM column.
My first DVD Horrors review is the 2005 release Day of the Dead 2: Contagium*. This is a movie I was interested in seeing primarily because of the title. I figured it would be what one might call an “unofficial” sequel to the 1985 George Romero classic Day of the Dead. After watching the film it’s safe to say this was not intended as a sequel to that or any other movie. The filmmakers just used the title to attract zombie movie fans like myself. This film instead offers a somewhat unusual take on the zombie genre by focusing on a group of people who progress through a slow transformation into a different sort of zombie than the lumbering masses seen in Day of the Dead and the two films preceding it in Mr. Romero’s classic trilogy. In general
I believe the filmmakers were aiming to make the contagion, the fear of infection, and the infection process itself take center stage. Unfortunately this fresh angle is clumsily executed, making Day of the Dead 2:Contagium an amateurish production that is equal parts predictable, cliché-ridden, perplexing, and, more often than not, tedious to watch. Read More...
Last month I mentioned that the movie trailer for the remake of John Carpenter’s The Fog was one
of the more interesting trailers shown at the Fangoria 2005 East Coast Weekend of Horrors convention. Unfortunately it turns out that this was yet another case of the trailer being better than the film - in this case
a lot better. Simply put, The Fog remake is by far one of the worst remakes I’ve ever watched (and that’s saying a lot) and also one of the worst movies I’ve seen this year. Read More...
As a frequent attendee of the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors convention here on the east coast over the last ten years I’ve enjoyed close to a dozen shows and seen and met horror luminaries such as Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, Wes Craven, Kane Hodder, Danielle Harris, John D. Lemay, Betsy Palmer and Corey Feldman, just to name a small handful. The good folks at FANGORIA magazine have always put together fun and exciting conventions, and their most recent outing on September 24th & 25th at the Crowne Plaza Meadowlands in Secaucus, New Jersey was no exception. Below is a rundown of some of the highlights.
Caution: This review contains some plot details and spoilers.
In 2003 rocker Rob Zombie made his directorial film debut with the extreme shocker House of 1000 Corpses, which told the tale of the ruthless Firefly family and their deranged, murderous escapades. Now, two years later, he continues the story with the equally violent sequel The Devil’s Rejects.
The Devil’s Rejects picks up shortly after the events from House of 1000 Corpses and finds the Firefly family under siege in their own home by the Texas State Police. This intense standoff starts the film with a bang and introduces us to a ruthless sheriff (played with relish by William Forsythe) bent on not only capturing the Firefly clan, but also exacting bloody revenge on them. It turns out his brother was one of their victims (in the first film), and now he sees himself as doing God’s work in eliminating them. After Otis and Baby Firefly escape and join Captain Spaulding, the remainder of the film follows them as they leave a trail of bloody bodies in their wake while being pursued by the authorities. Along the way the trio takes refuge with Captain Spaulding's half-brother (Ken Foree), who offers them shelter for a while. Read More...
It’s been twenty years since the last installment in filmmaker George A. Romero’s zombie saga. His 1985 film Day of the Dead portrayed a world virtually wiped out by the zombie infestation. In that movie a small group of scientists and military personnel holed up in an underground bunker worked side by side in a tense and volatile relationship as they tried to understand and combat the zombie epidemic. Now in 2005 we are finally seeing the next evolution of the story, in the form of Land of the Dead. Here we learn that there are indeed many more humans left alive, and that they are basically divided into two groups. The remaining affluent and powerful people live in a walled and heavily fortified utopian city lead by a guy named Kaufman (Dennis Hopper), while the rest of the population lives in slum areas outside the city. Beyond the outer walls of this area is where the zombies reside, and where they are evolving. Land of the Dead also stars Simon Baker, John Leguizamo and Asia Argento. Read More...
As regular readers may have noticed, the first line in the title of this column is the same as the title of my July 2003 TFTM column. This is because two years later I’m fortunate enough to once again be involved in new projects. * In July 2003 I was beginning work directing the comedy Of Theatre & Bikinis, and now I’d like to
talk about my experiences to date working on the vampire feature Shadow Tracker: Resurrection.
I know I’ve mentioned in previous columns how I’m not generally a big fan of remakes of classic horror films, and how I’m hoping to get away from reviewing them, but it seems like there is just no end in sight to the trend. The latest title to hit the big screen in 2005 is House of Wax, a remake of the 1953 Vincent Price film. In this new version a group of teenagers driving to a football game decide to pull off the road and spend the night camping out in the middle of nowhere. Overnight they are rudely disturbed by an ominous truck with blinding headlights. The unseen driver stays long enough to unnerve everyone before disappearing into the forest. Soon after this the group finds out one of their cars needs a new belt before it will run again, so a couple of the teens get a ride to the nearest service station with a very redneck-type local man. They then arrive at a mostly abandoned town which has a very impressive wax museum at its center. Following this is when the carnage begins. The movie stars Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray, Brian Van Holt and Paris Hilton. Read More...
Recently a weekly newspaper in my area ran an article consisting of a series of “not quite indefensible” viewpoints on various topics ranging from the legitimacy of golf as a sport to the quality of the Lord Of The
Rings movies. I believe the article was the type of piece that was meant to get readers riled up or at least
get a reaction. While I wait patiently for the inevitable page of incensed response letters in an upcoming issue,
I’ll take this opportunity to share a few thoughts of my own on this newspaper column which suggested that "there’s no reason to care about indie cinema". Read More...
This month I’ve decided to once again take a look back at a film that many may have missed when it was first released. Like Very Bad Things (see my March 2005 TFTM column above), the 2001 movie Donnie Darko was a film which came and went very quickly at multiplexes across the country. However, after gaining a respectable cult following on home video, the movie was re-released briefly to theaters in late 2004 in a 20-minute longer version titled Donnie Darko: The Director’s Cut. Having become a big fan of the film after viewing it on the small screen, I was very excited to see a new, extended version in all its theatrical glory.
I recently sat down for a repeat viewing of the 1998 black comedy Very Bad Things -- a movie I originally saw
at my local multiplex at the time of its theatrical release. After that first viewing I remember walking out of the theater being a bit shocked at just how nasty and graphic the film was. While I wouldn't put it into the category of an extreme gore film, the movie does feature an abundance of violence and blood, wrapped up in the form of a hilarious satire. Featuring (surprisingly enough) a cast of name actors, this movie is wickedly entertaining from start to finish. Read More...
