I am constantly looking for new monster movies to watch, hopefully enjoy and then add to my movie collection. Unfortunately, more often than not, these films end up being comparable to a Syfy Channel movie of the week (in other words, it sucks). Thankfully, every once in awhile one comes along that stands out. Such is the case with the 2012 release of GRABBERS.

I first read about this film in HorrorHound Magazine, and though it was getting good feedback, the premise certainly could’ve gone either way. Blood-sucking, tentacled aliens invade the coast of Ireland where the locals’ only hope of survival lies in their ability to get drunk! So how good could this film actually be? REALLY good!!!

This horror-comedy is actually an Irish production and definitely stands way above any Syfy Channel original film. Fishermen accidentally catch an alien cephalopod in their lobster pots. They eventually realize that this species feeds off of the blood of humans (of course) but that if they have a strong alcohol content in their blood, it can hurt, and even kill, the alien menace. Obviously the aliens are not that smart if this is their weakness and they arrive in Ireland.

This movie has great characters, with great chemistry. The two leads, Ciarán O’Shea and Lisa Nolan, bring the whole thing together. They are both police officers, with Lisa covering for a vacationing officer. Ciarán, played by Richard Coyle is an alcoholic trying to quit and Lisa, played by Ruth Bradley, has never had a drop of alcohol in her life. This makes for a good plot twist as Ciarán quits drinking to impress Lisa and Lisa must get wasted to save the town.

The characters are all very likeable and they all put on a great performance of being drunk. The aliens themselves, done with really good CGI, look amazing and some of the scenes are really impressive. The movie moves at a quick pace and there are some hilarious, laugh-out-loud moments. This is definitely a movie I highly recommend and you do not need to add alcohol to make it watchable. As of this writing this film is available on Video On Demand through Amazon, with a blu-ray release scheduled for later this year. Check it out! You will not be disappointed!

David Albaugh~

To quote Terror Dave Fuentes as we were watching, this movie “started out with a bang”. It opens on a couple having sex in a home isolated in a remote forest location. When the girl goes to get a drink in the kitchen we have our first ominous moment – the motion sensitive light comes on in the backyard. As in most horror movies (really, movies in general), there are no curtains on any window in the house, so we have a clear view of the outside. The camera pans over and we get our first glimpse of the iconic image of the movie – an anonymous murderer in a cute animal mask. Moments later, her lover enters the room and sees the movie title written in her blood on the window – “You’re Next”. Tiger Mask gets him as well.

You’re Next, directed by Adam Wingard (V/H/S, V/H/S 2), takes place entirely in this remote location. The protagonists – and I use that term loosely – are the Davison family. Paul (Rob Moran) and Aubrey Davison (Barbara Crampton) arrive to open the house they have bought with his severance package from his company. They are celebrating their wedding anniversary with their children.

The next family member we meet is Crispin (AJ Bowen) driving with his girlfriend Erin (Sharni Vinson). Their long conversation and lingering camera shots emphasize their importance. I have no doubt she is going to be our heroine.

Aubrey suffers from some mental issues – she seems emotionally fragile, and Paul just indulges her when she hears someone walking around on the upper floor. She wants to leave the house immediately; Paul relents and lets her go outside while he goes upstairs to check on the mysterious noise. After the usual looking behind closed doors he turns to find his son Crispin standing behind him. We know that Crispin didn’t make the noise because he already knows his mom is crying outside – so that noise must have been Tiger Mask.

The rest of the family arrives the next day and establishes the contentious relationship between the siblings and their significant others. At dinner time the action starts in earnest with the first attack by Tiger Mask and his compadres, Lamb Mask and Fox Mask.

The rest of the movie follows the typical horror movie playbook – escalating brutality in the killings, attempts at escape, and a great example of Chekov’s gun.

You’re Next originally debuted in 2011 at the Toronto International Film Festival, and inspired a bidding war won by Lionsgate for the North American, British, and Canadian distribution rights. I’m baffled by that, really, as this is at best a serviceable example of the modern horror film.

By the time we got to the dinner scene that directly precedes the murder spree (maybe 15 or 20 minutes in), Dave and I started snarking on the movie and the characters. We continued making jokes until the end. It’s pretty clear that we weren’t fully engaged in what was going on and didn’t care what happened to any of them – even the heroine.

It did have the typical “startle moments”, as I call them. Paul Davison opens a door, and then closes it –behind the door is his son. Yikes, I jump in my seat! Those aren’t really scary moments, as there is no lingering fear after that. Surprisingly there weren’t any truly fear moments for me. Home invasion stories work because they strike at a primal fear – but that didn’t really happen here. I think that’s because this film had several major flaws.

The characters were decidedly unlikable. I didn’t care about a single one of them.  My first crack to Dave was about one of the sons; I said, “I can’t wait until he’s killed.” Not a good sign! I’m not sure if that’s a writing problem or an acting problem (probably both). None of the cast is well known – the only person I recognized even slightly was Rob Moran, but that was merely in a “Hey, it’s that guy” kind of way. Perhaps better actors could have redeemed some of the material.

Another flaw was that no one reacted to these events in any way based on reality. Only Aubrey’s panic when she heard footsteps in the house felt real. After the dinner party attack, they took forever to even close the curtains to block the murderers’ view into the house. Throughout the night they wandered around the sprawling house alone or in pairs. Even when they realized one of the killers was already in the house it didn’t seem to faze them at all. Fans of the show Community will appreciate this – once they saw the evidence that a killer was in the house, all I could think was that they should all stand in the middle of a room, backs to each other, each holding a knife out for protection. You don’t put Mom to bed in a room far away from everyone else!

It might be asking a lot to want authenticity in a horror movie, but I think the whole genre revolves around caring, even in some small way, about the people who are getting slaughtered. Otherwise it’s just torture porn.

The movie redeems itself somewhat in the middle when we start to learn the killers’ motivations and they lose some of their anonymity. It doesn’t completely justify the flaws in the story and acting, but it actually got me more interested in seeing where it was going.

Would I recommend paying ten dollars to see this movie in the theater? Definitely not. Would I recommend renting it? Yes, I would. The full story starts to reveal itself in the middle of the film and elevates it slightly above the average.

Elizabeth Ocon~

I have a confession to make – I didn’t see the original Insidious in theaters when it came out. It was only when Terror Dave Fuentes asked me to review Insidious 2 that I rented it via Red Box. I watched it just two days before seeing Insidious 2 so it was very fresh in my memory – and I’m glad that it was!

I was curious as to how director James Wan (Insidious, The Conjuring, Saw) was going to continue the story of the beleaguered Lambert family. At the end of the original film, we saw Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson) possessed by the old woman in black. Where to start in that case? Flashback!

The film opens with an extended sequence about Josh Lambert as a boy in 1986, when his mother dealt with the situation that developed around his ability to astral project. We meet a new character, Carl (Steve Coulter), who is also a psychic and was the original person Lorraine Lambert contacted. Carl contacts Elise Rainier to help him as he was in over his head.

We cut back to the present, and the main body of the film starts the day after the murder of Elise (Lin Shaye). Renai Lambert (Rose Byrne) is being interviewed by a policeman who is investigating the death. He is understandably skeptical of her story of ghosts and astral projection – he seems convinced Josh is the culprit, but they are still dealing with forensic evidence, so Josh is not arrested.

No time is wasted by the spirits – new occurrences happen immediately in the house, and Renai knows something is still there. Josh’s responses are perfunctory, at best, and it is clear that there is something wrong with him.

In addition to the continuing adventures of Rose and the ghosts we get a second major story line featuring our returning tech geeks, Specs (Leigh Whannell, co-writer of the film) and Tucker (Angus Sampson). As happens to me in many movies, I have a hard time keeping track of names of third string characters. They may have been named in the original movie, but I have no memory of that, even though I just saw it two days ago. Specs and Tucker visit Elise’s house, although I’m not clear on their motivation to do so. They stumble upon the video tape made of the 1986 interview with Josh; they see something in the back of the video and end up calling Carl to help them. They want Carl to contact Elise. This trio plus Lorraine Lambert (Barbara Hershey) follow Elise’s clues to an abandoned hospital and house. Eventually the two story lines merge and we rush to an adrenaline-inducing finish to the movie.

Sequels, no matter what style or genre of movie, can be problematic. Horror movies in particular have issues because once they “show the monster” they lose a lot of the original atmosphere that causes the fear in the first place. Some movies – classics like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13^th – go down what I consider the ridiculous path. The bad guy becomes almost an anti-hero – often becoming an Oscar Wilde type throwing off quips and bon mots until you are rooting for him rather than the victims. Other films, like the Saw series, just try to go for more disgusting and elaborate killings.

James Wan did a great job with this sequel. The original universe from the first film left enough room for expansion of the concept of the “further” and what happens there. Although we still had the haunted house effects, like noises in other rooms, they expanded it by more direct confrontation with the ghosts. The addition of the second major story line added two classic horror movie settings – an abandoned, haunted hospital and an abandoned, haunted house. Specs and Tucker added “found footage” elements to their story line as they were filming the hospital and house with handheld video. The story also interconnected the past and present in a very cool way.

There were a couple of flaws in the movie. I think the music is too heavy-handed. I think the scary moments aren’t enhanced by the loud, screeching strings Wan seems so fond of. I’m not sure if I’m startled because of a ghost standing behind someone or the nails-on-a-chalkboard effect of the soundtrack. I find this intriguing as the very judicial use of minimal music in The Conjuring was very powerful and effective, so he does know how to restrain himself.

Another flaw was the lack of growth in the characters, Renai in particular. I know that I’m falling for the trope of the female victim realizing her own strength and beating the bad guy, but she’s still a sad sack in this movie. She is clearly the audience viewpoint character in the film, but she just reacts to what is around her without taking any initiative of her own. Early in the film she knows that something is wrong with Josh, but she does nothing.  In part it might be due to the essential rehashing of her part from the first film – the unexplainable sounds in other rooms, the baby monitor playing scary sounds and dialogue, and walking around the house with ghosts in the background. It is disappointing that she couldn’t have done something more with it, having just come away from the events in the first film.

If you’re curious as to why this is called Chapter 2, the movie ends with a nice tag that leads right into a Chapter 3.

Overall this was a great movie. I highly recommend that you see it – but cover your ears when that title card appears!

Elizabeth Ocon

It really amazes me these days how certain movies are able to be made and get distributed even though they’re horrible and yet certain films, that are really good and original, can’t get a distribution deal to save its life! This was the case with Trick r Treat from 2007, a phenomenal Halloween-themed movie that took a good two years to see the light of day. It happened again just recently with the film The Black Waters of Echo’s Pond; a movie made in 2009 that just got released this month…four years later!

I had no idea what to expect from this film, though the trailers certainly peaked my interest. When I finally heard it was coming out I immediately ordered a copy on Amazon and watched it the night of its official release. All I can say is that this movie is a really good time.

First off the cast, with the exception of the lead male (Arcadiy Golubovich), are all convincing in their roles and you connect to them on many levels. They are not the usual one-dimensional characters that these movies usually have. They are all likable in their own way but, at the same time, all have secrets. These secrets are revealed by playing a board game they accidentally find within the cabin they are staying at…a game with supernatural powers.

The story is fast paced and the special effects are top notch. The creators’ of the actual game should be commended as it’s very cool to watch being played and is definitely a game I would buy (if commercially available and not supernaturally charged).

It was nice to see both Elise and Electra Avellan, aka the Crazy Babysitter Twins, in a non-Robert Rodriguez role and they definitely shine here. Danielle Harris was much better here than in her HATCHET II and III appearances and it was also nice to see Robert Patrick in a fun and creepy role.

You certainly can’t go into a movie like this taking it too seriously and as long as you don’t, you will enjoy it. This film, along with Trick r Treat, are worthy of annual viewings every Halloween season!

David Albaugh

Shout! Factory has done it again with their latest blu-ray offering, the 1985 George Romero classic DAY OF THE DEAD. I have always been a fan of Romero’s Dead Trilogy, and to be honest, this is my favorite of the three and I was very excited to hear that it was finally getting its long-overdue blu-ray release. Of the three films this one, in my opinion, is the darkest and why it works so well.

Most of the film takes place underground in an abandoned missile silo where a group of military personnel and scientists have gathered together to try and figure out what is going on above. The characters are perfectly cast and this film is interesting to watch as the group breaks down and collapses; much like the world on the outside did. You really get a sense of how bad things are in this movie whereas, in the two previous films, there seems to be actual hope. This is evident right from the beginning when a visit is made to Florida in search of survivors. The streets are empty and it’s obvious it has been this way for quite some time. The only signs of life are animals such as alligators and tarantulas who have now moved into the once-populated areas.

The picture quality of this release is superb though I did notice two scenes in particular that seemed grainy. I checked these scenes out on the DVD release and it was the same way so I’m guessing it had more to do with the filming as opposed to the transfer. The movie still holds up very well and, after repeated viewings, I find myself liking it more and more each time.

I think one of the reasons this film stands out for me is that over the years, I have met most of the cast as well as George Romero. When this film was released it received very mixed reviews, especially among the Dead fans. This for the most part has changed and people seem to be finally seeing this film for what it really is; a great chapter in zombie film history. I should probably add that people may respect this movie more because of how bad DIARY OF THE DEAD and SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD were.

Me with George Romero 2011

Upon meeting the cast it’s obvious how much they appreciate the fans of the film and they do love meeting us and sharing their stories. I have been fortunate enough to meet Lori Cardille twice and both times she was very charming. Interestingly enough, the first autograph I had ever gotten of her was received the old fashioned way: I found out her address and wrote her a nice letter requesting one. When I conveyed this story to her in Massachusetts at the Rock & Shock convention she said that she was actually surprised that I got one as she does not make it a habit of sending autographs in the mail. She also added that she was glad she did because if I had conveyed this story about writing to her and didn’t receive the autograph, she would’ve felt like a jerk.

Lori Cardille 2012 

The second time I met her was at the HorrorHound Convention where there was not only a DAY OF THE DEAD reunion, but Lori’s father, Billy Cardille (Chilly Billy), was being inducted into the Horror Host Hall Of Fame; something neither Billy nor Lori knew anything. Though the Daves were not surprised by this, we did take the initiative to tell Lori about it and convince her to show up and receive the plaque. She readily agreed and, regardless of what your thoughts are on the Horror Host Hall Of Fame, her heart felt speech was the highlight of the event!

Lori Cardille with the gang from Freakhouse Flicks!

This blu-ray release also features commentary by Romero, Cardille, and Tom Savini who did the amazing effects. Savini states that this movie is his swansong and, upon seeing these effects, it’s no wonder. There’s also a great documentary filmed just for this release called “World’s End: The Legacy Of Day Of The Dead,” that features a lot of great behind the scenes moments as well as recent interviews with the cast and crew. It was also nice to see Tom Savini joking around and laughing (something you rarely see him do at convention appearances).

I cannot recommend this release enough. It is a must have addition to any horror movie collection!

David Albaugh

It has been mentioned many times on this site that John Carpenter’s THE FOG is a favorite movie of both Daves. Unfortunately, up until recently, good quality versions of this film have been non-existent. Even the blu-ray that was available as an import on Amazon for so long was just a blu-ray version of the MGM Special edition that came out many years ago (in other words, it was less than perfect). Once again Shout! Factory has gone to great lengths to provide us with a great release in its best form to date! These guys know what they are doing and know what the fans want!

This film just all around is a lot of fun. It has a great ensemble cast, creepy atmosphere and an awesome musical score by John Carpenter. It is a ghost revenge story at its best and is nothing short of a classic. The basic story goes like this: a clipper ship, the Elizabeth Dane, is lured to its destruction off the shore of Antonio Bay, not only for the gold on board but to prevent the lepers onboard from setting up a colony nearby. On the 100 year anniversary of this event, the ghosts of the ship’s crew return to kill six people as revenge against the six original co-conspirators of the sinking.

The new transfer for this release is very clear with sharp colors, making it hard to believe that this movie came out in 1980. More detail is evident in even the darkest of scenes and subtle sound effects are more apparent, adding to the overall creepiness of the film. All of the actors also do a great job in their respective parts.

I am usually not a fan of the extras on DVD and blu-ray releases but I must say, the new ones that have been included on the Shout! Factory discs are really worth checking out. On this release there is a cast interview from 1980 talking about the film as well as a recent one done with Jamie Lee Curtis, who actually says she doesn’t like the film!

One of my favorite parts of the extras on these discs have been the “Horror’s Hallowed Grounds” segments, which features Sean Clark (the writer of THE BLACK WATERS OF ECHO’S POND) visiting the original filming locations of the featured film. Sean has been a regular contributor to HorrorHound Magazine with his “Horror’s Hallowed Grounds” articles and now you can actually enjoy video footage of the very interesting and entertaining Clark as he visits these places, showing how they have changed over the years. Sean is one of us; a fan that loves and appreciates these films and it really shows how much he respects the genre in these features.

I was fortunate enough to meet the very beautiful Adrienne Barbeau, who plays DJ Stevie Wayne, awhile back. You never know what an actor is going to be like when you meet them but Adrienne was charming and a lot of fun to talk with. She didn’t rush you along after you paid for your autograph and genuinely enjoyed talking to the fans.

With Adrienne Barbeau in 2010

I found it interesting that in one of the extras on this disc, she mentions that John Carpenter was a huge fan of Howard Hawks, who always had strong female characters in his films. THE FOG also ends very much the same way that one of Hawks’ most famous films, THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD!, ends! At the end of THE FOG, Stevie Wayne broadcasts over the airwaves this warning, “To the ships at sea who can hear my voice: Look across the water into the darkness. Look for the fog.” This is very similar to the speech given at the end of THE THING by reporter Scotty who warns the world to “keep watching the skies.”

Tom Atkins is another fun person to meet as he is full of energy and loves to talk about his career (in a non-bragging way) and his fans. He has a great sense of humor and spent most of the time laughing when I met him. Atkins was a staple in 80′s genre films and our lives are better for it.

With the great Tom Atkins 2012

For me the release of this disc was the best news I had heard in a long time. In my opinion no film has deserved this kind of treatment as much as THE FOG does. Thankfully, Shout! Factory is continuing to impress with their classic 80′s horror movie releases. Go out and buy it today!

David Albaugh

I have always loved werewolf films, perhaps even more than vampire films. There is just something about a creature that completely transforms from human to beast and then tears its victims to pieces. The problem with werewolf films is that in my experience, they are either really good or they just suck. Here I present to you a variety of werewolf films to satisfy anyone’s shape-shifting needs.

To me there are two types of lycanthropic films; the werewolf and the wolf man. Werewolf films feature monsters that look nothing like their human counterparts whereas wolf men retain some of the characteristics of the human form and in most cases. still wear the clothes that were worn before the transformation. This blog is about werewolves.

What you will not find in this presentation are movies like Universal’s THE WOLF MAN (1941) and Hammer’s CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF (1961). I also will not be covering movies that feature werewolf appearances such as WAXWORK (1988), THE MONSTER SQUAD (1987) and TRICK ‘R TREAT (2008), even though all three films feature very cool looking werewolves. The 13 films presented below all feature stories that focus solely on werewolves and their mythology. They are presented alphabetically and not in any order of preference. This is also in no way a complete list of what is available out there; there are still plenty of good films available not covered here.

AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981)

1981 was a great year for werewolf films, showcasing two of the best ever made, THE HOWLING and this entry, AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON. This film is a classic for so many reasons and John Landis went over the top here with perhaps his greatest film ever. Though not as dark as THE HOWLING, this film boasts a tighter story with a lot of humor thrown in as well. The werewolf effects are great but personally I have never been a fan of the four-legged variety of lycanthropic beast. The movie is quick-paced and a lot of fun to watch. Considering it is over 30 years old it still holds up nicely after repeated viewings and hopefully a company like Shout! Factory will give it the blu-ray release that it deserves, much like they did for THE HOWLING! 

BAD MOON (1996)

This is definitely one of the more under-rated werewolf movies out there, with a recognizable cast and great special effects. The film opens with Ted (Michael Paré) and his girlfriend making love in a tent. They are then attacked by a werewolf. Marjorie is killed and Ted is bit before he is able to shoot the werewolf in the head with a shotgun, exploding it into little pieces. Ted then decides he must live his life in isolation, for the protection of his friends and family. He then decides to reach out to his sister Janet, played by Mariel Hemingway, and her son Brett. The family dog Thor is the first to feel uncomfortable around Ted, sensing the horror within. This really is a well-done film, though greatly overlooked. It has decent pacing, great performances by everyone and the werewolf looks really cool (though I am not sure how I feel about it having a tail). This film did raise an interesting question for me though. If you do in fact shoot a werewolf in the head with a shotgun and the head explodes, will it kill the werewolf? I would guess that it would and yet this option was never really explored in other films. Originally this film had an NC-17 rating until parts of the opening attack scene were cut out. I would love to see a company like Shout! Factory release this on blu-ray with that footage put back in.

THE COMPANY OF WOLVES (1984)

This film has so many great things going for it and yet I still do not know how to really categorize it. It has a very dream-like feel and you are definitely living in a fairy tale world filled with all kinds of folklore. The sets are phenomenal and the overall film is very atmospheric. I also love the use of real wolves, since they are such beautiful animals. I think what bothers me the most about this film is the special effects, even though they are practical effects and not CGI. The makeups, of the characters just getting ready to change, look great. It’s the actual transformation scenes that look very plastic to me and not organic at all. In the main transformation scene (every werewolf scene has them) the character literally tears his flesh off of his body exposing his muscles underneath, which then transform into a wolf. One of the focal points of any werewolf is its mouth of sharp teeth. During this transformation not only is it obvious that these teeth are plastic, but that they were molded as one piece since there is no gap whatsoever between them; they are just one solid row of teeth much like those cheap plastic vampire teeth you can buy at Halloween. Perhaps this was a way for the director to add to the fairy tale experience but to me, it detracted from the focal point of the film. Angela Lansbury is great in this film as the grandmother who tells her grand-daughter all kinds of sexually suggestive stories of men, wolves and women.

CURSED (2005)

Right from the get go this movie has a lot going for it: directed by Wes Craven, effects by Rick Baker and Greg Nicotero and off course, starring the very beautiful Christina Ricci. The movie starts out great as the first kill is actually to someone you think will be a major character throughout the film, as done in SCREAM with Drew Barrymore. In this case it is Shannon Elizabeth, who is not only violently pulled from her car but then she is literally torn in half. In an attempt to save Becky (Shannon Elizabeth), both Ellie (Christina Ricci) and her brother Jimmy (Jesse Eisenberg from ZOMBIELAND) get scratched by the beast and start to exhibit heightened senses and strength. It doesn’t take Jimmy long, after waking up on his front lawn naked, to figure out what is going on and that the head werewolf needs to be killed if he and his sister want to avoid becoming werewolves themselves. The werewolf effects are achieved through a combination of practical effects and CGI, thankfully limiting those actually done on the computer. Baker’s werewolf is magnificent here and one of the coolest ever seen on film. The attack in the parking garage is very tense with some great imagery. Unfortunately, when it comes time to see the actual full transformation from woman to beast it is done entirely in CGI and it looks horrible. Rick Baker should have been allowed to shine here with practical effects! Other than this flaw, this is definitely a great werewolf film!

DOG SOLDIERS (2002)

This is one of those films that kind of came out of nowhere with very little promotion, and yet it is one of the coolest werewolf movies in a long time. A squad of soldiers during some war games exercises against special forces come to find themselves in werewolf territory. When they find the special forces team torn to bits, it is a race against time to survive. They eventually find a house for cover and a zoologist who seems to know exactly what is going on. One of the nice things about this movie is that since it was not made here in the United States, it is actually pretty original and very well done. The werewolves themselves are a sight to behold and are really nicely rendered using practical effects. It is such a relief to see such a recent release having no CGI effects! The whole film is a cat-and-mouse game that gets very tense and exciting, never knowing what is going to happen next. I cannot recommend this film enough!

FULL ECLIPSE (1993)

This is a film with a bizarre premise but it actually works. Police officers, severely injured in the line of duty, some fatally, are injected with a serum that turn them into werewolves. With this power they form a pack and go after the bad guys, with very gory results. They never really go into how this serum works or where it came from but I guess with movies like this you really just need to suspend disbelief totally. The effects are old school (in other words, no CGI) and the werewolves look really cool and despite the offbeat story, it is a lot of fun. There are a lot of recognizable faces in this film too, which I believe is a direct to video HBO production. 

GINGER SNAPS (2000)

This is a great coming of age tale between two high-school aged sisters, only with werewolves. I had no expectations with this movie and found it to be surprisingly really well done. The story, the first of three, centers around sisters Ginger and Brigitte, who are social outcasts in school and are obsessed with death. Their obsession is even brought into school, with a slide show project featuring pictures they staged of each other showcasing various ways to die. At the same time that these two girls are being bullied in school, there has also been various animal mutilations in the area; are they from the girls or something more? I can’t imagine how awful it must be for a woman to get her period but in this case, when Ginger gets hers, her first, it attracts a werewolf  who bites her unleashing the curse. To complicate matters more, you can spread the curse, much like a venereal disease, by having unprotected sex. As Ginger slowly transforms into womanhood, and werewolf, she starts to change. Not only do you notice very subtle changes in her physical appearance but she also starts to become more aggressive, not only towards her classmates but her family as well. I am not a big fan of the look of the final werewolf but the way Ginger’s appearances change little by little is fun to watch. The changes are so subtle at times that you wonder if you actually saw something. There is no actual full transformation, made famous in movies like THE HOWLING, which it too bad because I would’ve liked to have seen that. Liberties are also taken with actual werewolf lore in that they can actually be killed by something as simple as getting hit by a car. All in all this is a really fun movie with strong performances by both Katharine Isabelle and Emily Perkins. Mimi Rogers is also great as Ginger and Brigitte’s mother, who will do pretty much anything to protect her girls.

GINGER SNAPS 2: UNLEASHED (2004)

This first sequel centers around Brigitte, who is now becoming a werewolf herself after injecting herself with Ginger’s blood in the original film to be more like her and to understand what she was going through. She tries to keep herself in check by injecting herself with an extract made from monkshood, aka wolf’s bane, and then cutting herself recording how quickly she heals. Ginger, killed in the last film, appears in Brigitte’s mind warning her of the change and the fact that there is a werewolf hunting her, seen attacking a librarian early on in the film. Brigitte’s slow transformation is more disturbing in this film and is very akin to someone with a drug addiction in rehab (and yes, most of this movie takes place in a rehabilitation facility). This is a tough film to watch at times, making it all the more realistic. Emily Perkins should be commended for her fine performance. The werewolf chasing Brigitte, shown in quick cuts, looks really good and is a huge improvement over the werewolves shown in the first film.

GINGER SNAPS BACK: THE BEGINNING (2004)

The 2nd sequel to the very popular film, GINGER SNAPS, takes place in the 19th century at Fort Bailey, home of the Northern Legion Trading Company. Once again werewolves are on the loose, connected to the Fitzgerald sisters, and they must do everything they can to survive. After Brigitte is injured in a bear trap, the sisters are taken to the Fort and allowed to stay. Apparently werewolf attacks are the norm at this fort, as the outside perimeter is loaded with huge, bloody scratches. At first it is thought that Brigitte had been bit by a werewolf with her injury, but the company doctor performs a test on her revealing her to be human. Who would’ve guessed that leeches can tell if you are a werewolf or not? Ginger is once again bitten and the story focuses on Ginger trying to break the curse, as well as the survival of the company men. This is a great period piece and was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. The werewolf effects once again are done with practical effects and they look great here.

THE HOWLING (1981)

This is the 2nd of 3 werewolf films released in 1981 and it is, in my opinion, the best of the best. Though many people will say AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON is their favorite werewolf film, this one will always go down as mine. First off, I prefer my werewolves to be vertical. Though the werewolf in AWIL looks really cool, there is just something about a werewolf standing on its hind legs that make it look so cool, and less dog-like. The effects in this film still look amazing, over 30 years later, and the werewolf design used her, in my opinion, is the best ever put on film. This movie is more serious than AWIL, and perhaps that is why I enjoy it more. There are strong performances throughout as well as some fun cameos to look out for. My only real complaint in this film is one short scene near the end, where multiple werewolves are shown full body. This was achieved through animation as opposed to practical effects and the effect is just too obvious. Aside from that, this film is amazing and is one that should appear on everyone’s top 10 werewolf movie list.

NEVER CRY WEREWOLF (2008)

If you can get past the fact that this is an almost scene-by-scene remake of the 1985 films FRIGHT NIGHT, then you will probably really enjoy this film! The similarities between the two films is so close, in fact, that the writer of this film, John Sheppard, could be accused of plagiarism! This time a werewolf moves next door to teen Loren, played by Nina Dobrev, probably better known for her work in the television series The Vampire Diaries. It is up to her to not only convince her friends that there actually is a werewolf but she must also save the day. Despite the fact that this is a made-for-tv movie, it is quite entertaining. The cast put in great performances and the werewolf effects are actually pretty good! Go into this movie with no expectations and you will really enjoy it! Kevin Sorbo is in the Peter Vincent role here as a big game hunter who has his own television show and big surprise, he has never hunted an animal in his life.

SILVER BULLET (1985)

This film, based on the Stephen King novella “Cycle Of The Werewolf,” is a fun entry in werewolf films. It features a great cast, including Corey Haim, who plays Marty, a boy in a wheelchair. After a series of grisly murders in town, Marty sneaks out one night to light fireworks and is attacked by a werewolf. Before getting away he is able to shoot the beast in its eye with one of his rockets. Now it is up to Marty to convince everyone that the murderer is actually a werewolf and that he knows who it is, based on the eye injury. This movie is quick paced and fun to watch. The only real drawback is the design of the werewolf itself. Though it is one that stands on two feet, or paws, the design of the face leaves a lot to be desired. In profile it looks ok but to see it straight on reminds me of the face of a baby bear. Not too menacing if you ask me. Don’t let this prevent you from watching it though. It is still a great film.

WOLFEN (1981)

This is the third werewolf film from 1981, and probably the weakest of the three. As a stand-alone this film is really good, but when compared to AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON and THE HOWLING, it just does not hold up. The attacks are grisly and the special effects are really good. The way the story plays out you never really know what the wolves are; are they werewolves. shape-shifting Indians or just actual wolves displaced from their natural habitat? I did like the use of real wolves here, showcasing how beautiful these animals really are. A lot of the film is also done through the eyes of the wolves, which is a neat technique. The setting of New York is also great as it showcases the darkest and dirtiest areas, places you wouldn’t be caught dead in, adding so much to the atmosphere of the film. Give this film a chance with little expectations and you will enjoy it!

So, the next time you are looking for something to do and there is a full moon outside, why not play it safe by staying inside and watching one or more of these great films. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

~David Albaugh

Here we are again with another entry in my “Alien Invasion Films of the 50′s” series, this time covering a classic from 1956 called EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS! This is an interesting film in that has a typical 50′s fun feel to it made all the better by the amazing special effects by animation master Ray Harryhausen! This is actually the first time Harryhausen animated something other than a living creature showing how creative and versatile he was.

This movie was influenced by a book written by Major Donald E. Keyhoe called “Flying Saucers From Outer Space.” A newly married scientist, Russel Marvin (Hugh Marlowe), and his wife Carol (Joan Taylor) are heading to work when a flying saucer appears right behind their car for a short period of time and then flies straight up out of sight. Unknown to both people the noise they hear from the saucer is actually a message meant for Marvin, that is inadvertently recorded at the wrong speed onto a tape recorder in the car. Marvin works for Project Skyhook, a space program in charge of sending research satellites into space. Many of the satellites have been destroyed and no one seems to know by.

Next we are introduced to General Hanley, played by Morris Ankrun, who is also the father of Carol. During a get-together the three discuss why 10 of the 11 rockets launching the satellites into space were destroyed and Marvin cites flying saucers as being a possibility, especially in lieu of his earlier encounter. Soon after the wreckage of rocket 11 is seen burning up in the atmosphere. During preparations to launch rocket #12, a flying saucer appears and lands at the facility. Three robotic creatures come out of the craft and are met with hostility from our military, killing one of the creatures. In retaliation the saucer destroys the rocket before it can be launched and to add good measure, kidnap General Hanley.

The Marvins end up being trapped underground and in playing back their tape recorder, with the batteries running out, realize that the sound recorded of the flying saucer from the previous day was actually a message to Dr. Marvin from the aliens wanting to set up a peaceful meeting. This is where the plot gets shaky. Though Marvin is forbidden by the military to contact the aliens, he does it anyway. Instead of trying to explain our error, he just accepts the aliens’ threats of world domination as the way it now has to be. Shouldn’t he at least try to reason with them? An ultimatum is given: we have two months to surrender, allowing the alien race to rule the planet.

Once back in Washington Dr. Marvin figures out a possible weapon that could help them defeat the aliens. It ends up working better than expected as a flying saucer shows up and they test it out, driving the craft away. This attack prompts the aliens to make an announcement, that if earth doesn’t surrender in eight days, then they are going to do something to the sun, causing severe weather patterns to develop. Of course we do nothing and the attack begins.

What follows is a series of incredible special effects sequences as the saucers attack and destroy landmarks throughout Washington while at the same time, we destroy the saucers with Dr. Marvin’s weapon. These sequences will go down in movie history as some of the best ever put to film and Ray Harryhausen really deserves a round of applause for his work on this film. Harryhausen always gave life to his creations and the saucers here are no different. Though we do actually get to see the invading aliens, it is the saucers themselves that are the star of the show. In fact, the saucer design is so perfect, Tim Burton emulated them in his 1996 film MARS ATTACKS!

I have been keeping my fingers crossed that this, and many other 50′s era science fiction films, will get the Blu-ray releases they so justly deserve. Currently this title is available on DVD and features a colorized version of this film but to be honest, black and white is the way to go here. The picture quality on this release is actually pretty good so it will definitely be a great addition to your movie collection!

~David Albaugh

Next up: INVASION OF THE SAUCER-MEN

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Let me start by saying that I really wanted to like this book. It had everything going for it; it covers one of my favorite subject matters and it is put out by one of the greatest publishing houses that releases horror and science fiction movie guides, McFarland & Company, Inc. All I can say is that this book was one big disappointment despite its potential.

The 1950′s saw countless numbers of good quality science fiction movies being released. Even those on a tighter budget were oftentimes very entertaining and fun to watch, both for their originality and goofiness. When I saw that this book was being released, covering one of the most prolific science fiction movie making years of the decade, I immediately pre-ordered it on Amazon. I was a little discouraged by its $37.95 price tag, especially since the book is a paperback and only runs 246 pages, but I have always thoroughly enjoyed the books in my library put out by McFarland. This was my first let down.

Why this book had potential is simple; it was covering some of my all time favorite films. Movies like ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS, THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, MONSTER FROM GREEN HELL , THE DEADLY MANTIS, THE MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD, I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF and INVASION OF THE SAUCER-MEN would all be covered. Movies that I can watch over and over again would have a book devoted directly to them. Of course, not once did I even think that this had already been done, in the vastly superior McFarland book “Keep Watching The Skies” by Bill Warren. Could this book offer anything new and exciting. That would be a no.

I think what bothered me the most is how political this book is. There has never been any doubt that movies reflect the signs of the times and this was never truer than during the 50′s . In fact many of the movies had nuclear bomb testing as the basis of their plots. We know this how? Because the start of many of these movies feature stock footage of atomic bomb tests warning of what could happen if we stay on our current path. The first 49 pages of this book deals, in great detail, with the politics of the time. Yes this introduction is necessary, but not to the degree that is was covered here; this is a monster movie book after all. This first section of the book is so off-putting at times with its one-sidedness that I found it very difficult to go back to this book to read at times.

Overall I found this book to be very negative and not fun to read at all. When you are covering some of the funnest movies ever made, the coverage should be fun as well, not some left-wing, narrow-minded view of the world. Craig shoves his political views down the readers’ throats and not being a political person myself, found this a huge turn-off. When he finally gets to movie coverage, there is no consistency there either. Some films are given pages of coverage and some, little at all. If you are determined to read this book, take it out of your local library. If you need to buy something on this subject, I would recommend spending twice as much money on Bill Warren’s vastly superior “Keep Watching The Skies.” This hardcover book is huge (1,004 pages) is everything and more that Craig’s book should-be.

~David Albaugh

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The 50′s saw such a variety of great science fiction films and the creation of so many memorable monsters. My favorite of all of the are the aliens from the 1957 film INVASION OF THE SAUCER-MEN, created by none other than low-budget special effects genius Paul Blaisdell. The fact that this is a low-budget film doesn’t affect the final product in any way and though it comes off as cheesy at times, this will always remain a classic.

Teen lovers Johnny Carter (Steven Terrell) and Joan Haydon (Gloria Castillo), making plans to elope, find themselves in a precarious situation; they must save the earth from the invasion of little green men who land their spaceship in the local woods near Lover’s Point, a favorite make-out place for the local teens. When the young couple leaves the Point, driving without headlights so as not to bother old man Larkin, who owns the property, they accidentally hit and kill one of the saucer-men. In a pretty gory scene for the time, the dead alien’s hand detaches itself from the body of the alien and pops the car’s tire using hypodermic-like needles that come out of the fingertips.

Since they now have a flat tire, they Johnny and Joan must go to Larkin’s farmhouse to call the police. While they are doing this, Joe Gruen (Frank Gorshin), who came to town that day with his drifter friend Artie Burns (Lyn Osborn), who saw the saucer-men’s spaceship land, finds the dead alien body under the car and immediately realizes that if he were to put this body on display, he and Artie could make a lot of money. While trying to figure out how to get the body back to the boarding house where he is staying at, he is attacked by more saucer-men who saw their companion get killed. Using their needle fingers, they inject Joe with alcohol, which when mixed with the alcohol he had been drinking, kills him. The smart aliens then replace the alien’s body with Joe’s, making it look like Johnny and Joan hit him with their car instead.

When the police arrive, Johnny and Joan are brought to the station under the suspicion of drinking and driving, since the air is full of the smell of alcohol thanks to the aliens. At the station, Johnny and Joan find out that Joe had a roommate, Artie. Since the police will not believe their story of little green men they feel that reaching out to Artie is their only chance. They escape the police station and meet with Artie, who agrees to go with them out to Johnny’s car so that they can prove their innocence.

When they arrive at Johnny’s car Artie gets the proof he needs by seeing the disembodied alien hand that is trapped in the car. When he tries to take a picture of it, the light of the flash causes the hand to disappear in a puff of smoke. The secret to defeat the aliens is now apparent: light kills them! Johnny rounds up all of his friends at Lover’s Point and they lure the aliens there. When they are in position everyone turns on their car headlights, shining them at the aliens, killing them instantly. The invasion is thwarted, through no help of anyone in authority.

The idea of teenagers saving the day is nothing new in these movies, especially since teenagers were the target audience when this film came out on a double bill with I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF. The police are shown as incompetent as not only do Johnny and Joan easily escape the police station, but they do so in the police chief’s car. Even the military is shown as being inept. In their attempt to get inside the alien space ship, they end up blowing it up. Of course their next stage of action is a complete cover-up, saying that a jet had crashed to local authorities.

This movie works as both a great science fiction film and a comedy. Though the saucer-men may seem comical in appearance, there really is something terrifying about their design. Paul Blaisdell, who created the saucer-men, also created some of the most iconic monsters from the 1950′s. His work can be seen in such films as IT CONQUERED THE WORLD!, IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE and THE SHE-CREATURE. His designs were always imaginative and you have to be impressed with what he created on such limited budgets.

Though they are called little green men in the film, and all color posters and lobby cards feature the saucer-men colorized green, the actual color of masks were brown, which in my opinion, make them look even more evil. For 1957, this film featured two scenes of gore that you normally wouldn’t see. When the disembodied hand is moving around, there are strands of tendon and exposed bone clearly shown. During one scene where a saucer-man attacks Larkin’s bull, its eye is gouged out by the bull’s horn, in oozing detail. This particular scene was actually cut from many television prints of this film.

Actual Saucer-Man mask and hand props, showing the actual brown coloration.

Paul Blaisdell (in saucer-man costume) and friend Bob Burns, clowning around.

The only time this film has been officially released on home video was in the 90′s on a nice VHS copy. As of this writing there has been no official DVD or Blu-ray release with none in the works. The reason for this is that Susan Hart, ex-wife of the late James Nicholson), owns the rights to this and many other AIP classic films. Not that I condone this but there are bootleg DVDs available, using the VHS release as the source. This film is such a cult classic that you would think that Hart would realize what a potential goldmine she has, should these films get official releases! Things started to look hopeful when Lionsgate started releasing a series of double feature DVDs under the “Samuel Z. Arkoff Collection: Cult Classics” moniker. These discs featured some great releases in a fun format. Alas, only four sets came out with no plans of more in the future.

In 1965, director Larry Buchanan remade INVASION OF THE SAUCER-MEN with THE EYE CREATURES. This is an almost scene-by-scene remake, only this time in color and with aliens, that do not even come close to Blaisdell’s saucer-men design. Everything about this movie falls flat, from the acting to the special effects. It is worth seeing just once though; to see how bad remakes can be (Buchanan also remade IT CONQUERED THE WORLD with ZONTAR, THE THING FROM VENUS). I guess remakes are nothing new. An interesting note that is THE EYE CREATURES had its name changed at the last minute adding ATTACK OF THE to the title. Unfortunately the person doing was not paying close attention so that in the final prints, the move title is ATTACK OF THE THE EYE CREATURES.

Paul Blaisdell and Bob Burns with Beulah, from IT CONQUERED THE WORLD.

Paul Blaisdell in the SHE-CREATURE costume.

INVASION OF THE SAUCER-MEN still holds up today as a fun film and a great representation of the alien invasion films of the 50′s. It must’ve been great to see this film at the drive-in playing alongside I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF (another film in desperate need of an official DVD release). Until the day comes when this movie sees an official release, we will have to be satisfied with our videocassettes that have been watched so many times that they are starting to fall apart and show wear. It’s too bad that we, as movie fans, have to support bootleggers when it comes to great films such as…INVASION OF THE SAUCER-MEN!

~David Albaugh

Next up: I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE

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If you’re a fan of movies, then you’ve probably perused a movie guide or two in search of inspiration. I’ve always been a fan of these books, especially if they revolve a specific film genre. This all started for me with John Stanley’s “Creature Feature Movie Guide” series and continues to this day. These guides aren’t perfect as they’re usually written by one person who has their own personal tastes. What this means is that the author may hate a movie you absolutely love and vice versa. Because they’re trying to cram so many movies into one guide, the films aren’t given as much of a personal touch with the reviews often ending up static. Not so with the subject of this review; a horror movie guide that takes things to a whole new level! I present to you., “HIDDEN HORROR: A Celebration of 101 Underrated  and Overlooked Fright Flicks.”

The concept of this book interested me immediately. A bunch of individual authors brought together to write one review of a lesser known film that had impacted them in some way. One very near and dear to them while likely not known to average movie goer. This is all done under the guidance of Aaron Christensen, who accomplished this once before with his book, “Dr. AC Presents HORROR 101: The A-List Of Horror Films and Monster Movies Volume 1.”

These books work on a level that all other guides fail. First off, we’re presented with films that, although possibly featured elsewhere, are now given a fresh perspective from one of its fans. Films that we may have seen in the past but had forgotten about. Or maybe those we’ve never seen but need to. Because we have 101 authors here, we also have 101 different viewpoints on these films that probably would’ve had totally different results had there been only one author throughout.

What makes “Hidden Horror” so much fun is that we don’t just get a review of the movie. but also a back story; the story of the author and what was experienced when seeing the film for the first time. These are stories I can definitely relate too since I experienced many of the same things, thereby making the book totally relatable.

When an author talks about his father taking him at a very young age to see the film he’s reviewing, I recalled my mom taking me to see THE AMITYVILLE HORROR during its original release in 1979, when I was 12 years old. Though this may not be one of the greatest horror films of all time, at that age I was highly impacted by it and it was truly the first horror movie I’d ever seen at the theater. To this day I still have memories of how this movie scared the hell out of me.

How many of us remember sneaking downstairs as kids to watch a late night horror movie on the only television set in the house, having to keep the volume down low so as to not wake anyone else up in the house up? This is how I saw the 1973 film THE CREEPING FLESH for the very first time. Who remembers getting the TV Guide every week and going through each listing and highlighting all the monster movies slated for that week? I know I do and I know I’m not alone, as many of this book’s authors did the very same thing! These people are just like us, the readers. They are monster kids through and through with a passion for the same things we like. These are the people we wish we’d had around as kids so that we could have share these experiences with them.

Another highlight of this book is the entry by Terror Dave Fuentes, discussing one of his all-time favorite films, DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW. Readers of this site should be familiar with Dave’s love of the 1981 television film but he best explains it in the book. If you’ve not seen the movie, you really should buy it and check it NOW! You can buy your own copy by clicking HERE! I’ve found myself reading this book with the Amazon site open next to me on my laptop, regularly adding to my cart as I get further and further into this amazing book!

Terror Dave Fuentes with the writer of DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW, J.D. Feigelson.

If you would like to order this book, you can do so by going HERE. You can also order Aaron Christensen’s other book, “HORROR 101,” by going HERE! Also, look for your chance to win a copy along with other great prizes in an upcoming Terror Dave contest!

Now what are you waiting for? Go buy this book!

~David Albaugh

I hope everyone’s been enjoying Terror Dave Albaugh’s retrospective on ’50s Science fiction films. I know he’s got a lot more in the works and has been doing a great job at highlighting those old classics many of us grew up watching via Creature Features or horror hosted shows. The hope is that the series will either inspire you to watch them again or, if you’re unfamiliar, discover these gems for the very first time.

Today I’d like to spotlight an old sci-fi film too but, unlike the previous entries, one that proves not everything in the fabulous ’50s was stellar. The other night I was scrolling through the latest offerings on Netflix stream when I came across a film I hadn’t seen since I was a kid. The movie is Beast with a Million Eyes but, after I re-watched it,  was ready to the curse the two I had!

This 1955 feature takes place in the California desert where we’re provided definitive proof that dysfunctional families really did exist “back in the day.” Barrel-chested Allan Kelley (played by the original Marlboro Man, Paul Birch) lives on a secluded farm with his teen daughter, Sandra (Dona Cole), and wretched wife Carol (played by Lorna Thayer). Carol hates virtually everyone and everything in her life and clearly lives by the mantra, “Dammit, if I’m miserable, then everyone else around me should be too!”

“My life sucks!”

This should not suggest, however, that her overall disdain for humanity isn’t occasionally justified. She’s pretty spot-on with regards to their mute ranch hand, Carl (Leonard Tarver), a.k.a. the biggest pervert in the desert! When he’s not alone in his room staring at half naked pin-ups, he’s ogling the teen daughter instead –  even going so far as to climb trees in an effort to get a better view of her taking a dip in the pond.

Never trust a man in flannel

And what does “Father of the Year,” Allan think of this disturbing behavior? Well he doesn’t seem to mind at all! In fact, his response to his daughter’s complaints can pretty much be summed up with, “Oh, quit fussing! What’s wrong with a middle-aged, chronic masturbator with no friends and bulging eyes stalking you!?”

Yes, there’s no question that this family is a fright-fest in and of themselves but things get even worse when a small spaceship carrying a malevolent alien lands nearby. It no sooner arrives before wreaking havoc on the locals with its high pitched sound waves and mastery over the local wildlife. The ship itself is laughable but its lone occupant provides even more chuckles via its melodramatic narration while boasting control over lesser life forms (thereby justifying the “million eyes” mentioned in the title).

Alien spaceship the size of a garbage can

Ironically, while the animals are all turning evil, Carol starts becoming nicer. Apparently all she needed was to get her frustrations out by axing the family dog to go from the Wicked Witch of the West in pearls to Mary Poppins in mere seconds!

Male dog loses to a female one

With unexplained animal attacks on the rise, Allan comes to the only logical explanation…there must be an alien in the dessert making them do it. He also figures out that the best way to stop it is for everyone to stick together (which for this family ain’t easy). So to sum up his theory – if everyone joins hands and stays together the bad guy won’t be able to harm them i.e. what could possibly be the  solution to virtually every movie thriller. Regardless, his kumbaya approach not only works it leads us to the dramatic ending that’s so trite it’s funny. It’s also where we finally get a glimpse of the Beast who, despite the misleading poster art, is basically a goblin suffering from “short alien” syndrome.  One look at this pint-size gremlin and you’ll totally understand why he hates the world so much.

Actual size!

While my Terror on Tequila podcasts may be on hiatus these days, this one would have been an ideal selection. Yes, it’s bad but certainly fun if you’re with the right crowd. The editing is terrible and this is never more evident than during the “animal attack” scenes which consist of an innocent animal walking or flying by before quick cuts to horrified victims are supposed to convince you of violence. I didn’t notice any disclaimer stating that “No animals were harmed during production” but I think it’s safe to say that none were lest they became bored to death.

The film is directed by David Kramarsky along with Roger Corman (uncredited). I love Corman films and, like many of them, I do realize that they’re often created on a shoestring budget, this one reportedly a scant $23,000 ( small by even his standards)! Fans of the TV show, Bewitched, will also get a kick out of seeing a pre-Darrin, Dick Sargent.

Though far from Corman’s finest hour, it’s still good for laughs and absolutely entertaining if you’re in the right (or wrong) frame of mind. It’s also available on DVD (a double feature along with another oldie but crappy, Phantom of 10,000 Leagues) courtesy of Midnight Movies should you want to own it….and who wouldn’t? Sometimes a little mindless entertainment is just what you need. Like Sandra says after the Beast starts mucking with her head, sometimes it hurts to think!

Dave Fuentes~

We weren’t sure what to expect upon receiving a screener copy of the 2013 film, Chastity Bites, directed by John V. Knowles. Not only had we never heard of it (something of a phenomena considering how much time we spend perusing horror magazines & websites these cold, winter days) but we also knew that lower budget, Independent films are hit or miss. Soon we BOTH agreed that this one was a definite hit! Not only did this modern tale bring back nostalgic memories of  ’80s teen flicks but managed to do so with genuine jumps and plenty of laughs!

Louise Griffiths stars as the statuesque beauty, Liz Bathos, who arrives at San Griento High School intent on recruiting hormone laden teens into joining her abstinence club a.k.a. the “Virginity Action Group” (and we dare you to not laugh every time they tout their acronym, VAG). Unfortunately, Bathos’ motives are much less about virginity as they are about vanity! It turns out that she’s none other than the infamous Countess Elizabeth Bathory; Hungary’s notorious serial murderess who believed the secret to everlasting youth was bathing in the blood of virgins. Apparently it worked and she’s been spending the last few hundred years traveling around in search of victims.

Ironically the gals most eager to sign up for VAG appear to be the least likely to have remained chaste. Indeed Kelly, Ashley, Britney and Noemi, whose main motivations for all this is to become reality TV stars) are every bit as unlikable as every other high school’s popular click. Trust me, you’ll have no problem with Ms Bathos’ trying to use them like Noxema! 

She also gets support from their equally shallow moms who not only fully support her views on abstinence but don’t mind partaking in her gruesome beauty treatments either.

Meet “The Real Housewives of San Griento”

This should not suggest, however, that the film lacks heart. The hero of the movie is a feminist blogger named Leah (played by Allison Scagliotti who reminded us a LOT of scream queen, Danielle Harris in glasses) who refuses to join the club. She desperately tries to get to the bottom of things while her best friend, Katharine (played by Francia Raisa), is drawn further and further into trouble. The allure of Bathos’ unorthodox beauty treatments, along with her sexual attraction to the vampiress, puts a stake into her friendship with Leah. It isn’t long before Leah discovers both Bathos’ true identity along with her sinister intentions.

While the story may not be the most original, Chastity Bites is absolutely endearing and stands apart from the rest. The dialogue is witty and the friendship between Leah and Katharine is both strong and believable. I think we can all relate to their plight as many of us have dealt with the angst of high school and “fitting in.” This film reminds us that there really was a time when selling your soul for a cure for acne wasn’t off base. It’s a lot like Mean Girls meets “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and not a bad mix at that.

For the most part, the special effects in this film are handled well and often old school.  My only real disappointment was at the end of the feature when some cheaper CGI effects made an unwelcome appearance. This, however, does nothing to diminish the overall enjoyment of the film and we highly recommend it.

If you’ve had it with remakes and big budget extravaganzas that never quite pay off, then give Chastity Bites a taste! To order your own copy through Amazon, just go HERE and enjoy! I know I did!

~The Terror Daves

Movie review books. Those film guides that present to you an assortment of movies reviewed by a complete stranger. How do you know which ones to buy and which ones to avoid like the plague? This is really a tough question to answer, especially since we all have our own personal tastes (as do the authors of these books). It seems that a new guide comes out on an almost weekly basis and all have mixed reviews. So again, how do you know which ones to buy? I guess it really depends on what you are looking for. I am not a big fan of the movie guide that features every genre of movie. The reason for this is because, like I said earlier, everyone has their own personal taste and it may not agree with your own. Some people may love dramas but hate horror, so that will reflect in the book. So what do you do, give a book a negative review because the author’s opinion doesn’t match yours? I have actually seen this happen! The key to enjoying a movie guide is to keep an open mind and realize that we do all have our own personal tastes and just because the author may not like a movie you love, it does not make the book bad. When I buy a movie guide I am looking to see what that author liked or disliked about my favorite movies and if he dislikes something, I am very interested in why he dislikes it. Thankfully we are also seeing an increase in genre-specific movie guides, especially when it comes to horror and science fiction, two of my favorite movie types. This review is on one of these books, “The Fright File: 150 Films To See Before Halloween.”

What attracted me to this book, and its author Dustin Putman, is how the book originated. First off, Dustin has his own website, seen HERE, where he reviews movies. I felt a connection to Dustin as the Daves do the very same thing right here. Dustin took it a step further though and collected 150 of his favorite horror films into one book. These movies all get positive reviews, for various reasons, and are all highly recommended by the author (and this author as well).

So Dustin immediately eliminates people getting mad at him for not liking one of their movies, a very clever ploy. He then gathers the best of the best in a nice, compact, 492 page book that is a lot of fun to read. This really is one of the best movie guides I have ever gotten and is one I was able to read cover-to-cover. I know that I personally have an assortment of movies that I pull out every October to watch to get me in the Halloween spirit and now, thanks to this book, I have added many more titles to that list. Dustin has been doing reviews for over 15 years and he really does know his stuff!

What makes this book a welcome addition to any book collection is that it is written by a fan of the genre and believe me when I say this helps a lot! Why read a book about horror movies authored by someone who hates the genre? I found some films in here, that upon initial release I was not a big fan of but thanks to Dustin’s insights, I will now be re-watching them. I cannot recommend this book enough and hopefully Dustin will release other books in the future! I would love to see his list of 150 favorite science fiction films!

To check out the official The Fright File website, please click HERE! To order your very own hard copy all you have to do is click HERE (or if you would prefer a copy for your Kindle, just click HERE)! You cannot beat the price and you cannot beat this book!

~David Albaugh

I have been reading about this film for some time now, both in Fangoria and HorrorHound magazines. For the most part the reviews have been favorable and I am always up for a new monster movie. This is not your typical monster on the loose film and to be honest, I wish it was. The movie I am talking about is BENEATH, directed by Larry Fessenden.

The story concerns six graduating high school seniors on a final get together celebration before they all go off in different directions. They are all friends and yet come from different backgrounds. You have Kitty, the group whore, the two jock brothers, Matt and Simon (who have both slept with Kitty), you have the film geek Zeke (who filmed Simon having sex with Kitty), you have friend Deb, the only somewhat likable character, and then there is Johnny (who, not surprisingly, slept with Kitty), who seems to know about the secret of the lake they are visiting.

The problem here is that all of these people, with the possible exception of Deb, are so annoying and unlikable that it makes the movie almost unwatchable. The more you get to know these people the less you like them and in the face of danger, in this case a monster fish, their true colors come out and you realize even more how selfish these characters are. I understand that this is the point of the movie though; I just think the director went too far. These people should have some redeeming qualities, to make you feel bad for them and the danger they are facing, but they don’t! Deb’s character is the only one that is somewhat likable and yet she dies before her character is even allowed to develop. BENEATH does not just refer to the monster beneath the surface of the water; it also refers to what is beneath a person’s exterior. The monster is actually doing the world a favor by getting rid of these people!

I also found it interesting at not only how quickly these characters turn on each other, but also at how inept they are at getting back to shore. Sure they lost both oars and the boat is slowly filling with water, but the shore is always in view and yet no matter how hard they try, they never seem to get any closer to their goal. These so-called friends are also so quick to sacrifice one another to the fish instead of making a genuine effort to get everyone to safety. One thing they like to do, after feeding Deb’s body to the fish, is to figure out which one of them has the least to offer the world. That person is then forced overboard to be sacrificed to the monster. The plan is that when the person voted off is getting eaten, the remaining people will use their hands to paddle closer to shore. The funny thing is, none of these people have anything of positive value to offer anyone. Then, as soon as the person that got voted off the boat is getting devoured, the remaining people in the boat just bicker with each other, getting nothing accomplished. In one scene, after Deb’s body is sacrificed, four of the friends paddle frantically to shore while Zeke just sits there filming the monster fish. I have never seen a group of people so deserving of each other in my life!

The only saving grace of this film are the creature effects. These are handled very nicely and are all done with full size animatronic puppets. Some of the scenes are very convincing and there were times I even asked myself, “How’d they do that?” I still don’t honestly know if I can recommend this film though! I understand the point the director was trying to get across, that the monsters within us are sometimes worse than the oversized beast trying to kill us but like I said before, these characters are so unlikable that the movie becomes unbearable at times. They probably should have toned back these characters a bit and perhaps had them redeem themselves at some point. At then end it is Kitty and Simon that survive and they just cannot be happy with this; Simon has to strangle Kitty before attempting to leave the lake. At least Simon does get his in the end.

This movie is not a SyFy Channel original movie which is why the effects are probably so good. I guess I would recommend watching this film once, take it for what it is, and then let it slowly fade from memory. Monster movies should be fun. When they are made having hidden meanings with a cast that no one likes, it takes away from the fun and that is what this movie lacks: fun!

~David Albaugh

There are so many movie guides out there today that it is really difficult at times to choose which ones we should buy. They range in quality from very good (like Bill Warren’s “Keep Watching The Skies“) to dreadful (like Rob Craig’s “It Came From 1957“) but at least one thing can be said, movies from the 1950′s are getting more coverage than ever. When it comes to movies, my favorites all came from the 1950′s. No other time period has been more prolific when it comes to monster and science fictions films. Though many of these films are now considered classics, there were many stinkers as well. At least most of these stinkers have their own charm and are still fun to watch even today. The book I am reviewing today, “You Won’t Believe Your Eyes: A  Front Row Look at the Sci-Fi/Horror Films of the 1950s“, by Mark Thomas McGee and R.J. Robertson, covers these movies in a way not really seen before, which is why I highly recommend it.

McGee and Robertson grew up in the 50′s so they were fortunate enough to have been able to experience many of these films as they should be, on the big screen. In some instances the authors share what it was like to see these films, as kids, for the first time and then describe what it was like, many years later as adults, to see them again.

The authors then take it one step further. Through interviews with the makers of these films, as well as with many of the actors and actresses, they are able to paint a picture of what it was like working on these films. Everything from how rushed to be made many of these films were to on set romances and feuds are covered. It is these stories, and the experiences of the authors themselves, that set this guide apart from most others.

This is not a huge book, clocking in at 267 pages, but it is chock full of fun and useful information. Basic plot lines are included and in most cases the authors point out if the movie is good or not (but then again, even the worst of what the 50′s had to offer is fun to watch). It is also full of great photos, some I had never seen before, adding to the overall enjoyment of this book. You can order your own copy online by going HERE. It retails for less than $20 and the Kindle edition is less than $10 so it is a bargain regardless of how you get it. This is a really nice book and a must have addition to your science fiction movie library!

~David Albaugh

Godzilla

Directed by: Gareth Edwards

Let me first get this out of the way: this movie kicks SERIOUS ASS. I can’t recommend it highly enough, so there are no excuses for not seeing this movie right now!

OK, now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, time to get down to reviewing this movie. Unlike the two TerrorDaves, I am not a serious and lifelong fan of Godzilla. I remember watching the old movies on Saturday afternoon TV. My siblings and I watched TV shows after school like “Ultraman” (that dude’s energy crystal would give out after like 1 minute of fighting…he needed a serious hardware upgrade!) Even then the special effects were laughable and it was easy to see that the monsters were just guys in rubber suits. Despite that, they were always great fun to watch.

Old School Godzilla…

Fast forward to 1998. After the revolutionary CGI effects of Jurassic Park and the explosion in special effects technology, it seemed a great idea to capitalize on many people’s fondness and nostalgia for Godzilla. This was when children’s TV shows, books, and comics were starting to get “reboots” and “reimaginings”…why not the most famous monster of all? Godzilla had evolved from the prototypical “shot across the bow” warning a world about the dangers of nuclear weapons into the lovable anti-hero beating up other guys in rubber suits. Godzilla, directed by Roland Emmerich, opened in May, 1998.

I did see the movie, and thought it was OK. It was basically Godzilla as a T. rex destroying New York City. I do know that serious Godzilla fans revile that movie, and I understand why. It took everything specific and meaningful about Godzilla and chucked it out the window to make your basic “monster destroys Manhattan” boilerplate story. It was not helped by casting Matthew Broderick as the hero.

Bueller? Bueller?

16 years later, could director Gareth Edwards and writers Max Borenstein and David Callaham do any better? Why, yes they can!

The movie opens with its credit sequence running over a montage of scenes of nuclear tests in the 1940s and 50s. I believe they are all real film clips of mushroom clouds, people putting on sunglasses to watch said mushroom clouds, shock waves rolling across deserts. It  starts including scenes of the U.S. military fighting a monster. You can only see a back full of spikey plates along the ocean’s surface.

The next setup happens when the story moves forward in time an unspecified number of years. Two people (who we later find out work for a corporation called Monarch) are flown into a mining complex in the Philippines that experienced a major collapse. One of the two is Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe), who becomes important later in the story. Deep in the bowels of the mine they find a huge skeleton and a strange pod that is lit from within. There is another pod nearby that appears to be empty. Many significant looks are given but we cut away before any discussion occurs.

Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe)…This is the Least Sad He Looks in the Entire Movie

Vivienne Graham (Sally Hawkins) Least Important Human in Movie & I Just Found Her Name on IMDB 1 Minute Ago

We finally meet the protagonists of the story, Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) and his wife Sandra (Juliet Binoche). They live in Janjira, Japan with their son Ford.  Both Joe and Sandra work at the local nuclear power plant – he is some kind of manager / supervisor and she is some kind of engineer / scientist who works with the equipment. The plant has been logging escalating tremors after the “earthquake” in the Philippines. After Joe sends Sandra down to inspect the plant, another major quake occurs. The plant experiences a major breech. Panic ensues amongst the plant workers and they all rush out of the plant. I don’t think I’m spoiling much to say that Sandra is trapped in the plant and Joe has to watch her die behind the blast doors. The situation escalates as the whole town starts to panic when they hear the plant’s warning klaxons sounding. Young Ford, who is about 12 years old, runs out of his school staring at the plant as the towers collapse.

Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston), Sandra (Juliet Binoche)…This Scene Packed an Emotional Punch

 The film now moves forward 15 years. Ford Brody (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is now a Navy Lieutenant in bomb disposal coming home to San Francisco after 14 months of overseas deployment. He is married to Elle (Elizabeth Olsen) and has a son, Sam (Carson Bolde) who is about 6 -8. He’s not even home one night before he gets a call from the US Consulate in Japan about his father trespassing in restricted territory and getting arrested. He flies to Japan to get his dad. It turns out Joe has been making it his personal mission to find out the truth about what really happened in Janjira. He has the usual “Wall of Weird” in his tiny apartment typical of all truth-seekers in movies – his walls covered in news clippings, scientific reports, and the like. He convinces Ford to join him in going back to their home in Janjira to retrieve some old disks that have data that proves the seismic happenings today are the same that happened 15 years ago.

They make it into Janjira, and after consulting a Geiger counter Joe realizes there is no radiation, so something is definitely strange! As can be expected they get caught and brought to the site of the old power plant.

There Ain’t No Stinkin’ Radiation…What Gives?

Lo and behold, the strange pod that we saw in the opening sequence is here and hooked up to the plant itself. Dr. Serizawa is in charge of this unknown project. He watches Joe’s interrogation and realizes that he is onto something; however, before he can intervene in any way something goes terribly wrong. The same vibrations that showed up 15 years ago reappear and the whole plant shakes. They try to destroy the pod, but it gives off an EMP pulse that destroys all the electronic equipment. It breaks free of the wires holding it down and a giant creature hatches! The hatchling starts raining down destruction on the plant and kills a bunch of people. It ends up flying away to points unknown.  The US government steps in the next day and all hell breaks loose as the Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism (MUTO) wreaks havoc across the Pacific. Admiral William Stenz (David Strathairn) leads the military offensive against the MUTO.

I’m Sure Those Wires Will Hold, It’s Not Like There’s a Giant Monster Gestating In There!

That’s a lot of setup for a story and not one mention of Godzilla! In direct opposition to last year’s Pacific Rim, this movie is very judicious in showing the monsters. You see enough of them to get you excited, but not so much you get bored and start wondering how much time they spent in CGI development.

This movie has been retrofitted into 3D; I saw it in 2D, and I see no point in wasting any extra money going to see it in 3D. There is just too much of the movie that is not giant monsters fighting. Much of it is showing humans talking about what’s happening, the aftermath of a MUTO attack, that sort of thing.

Oops, You Just Missed The MUTO

Dang It, Missed It Again

I’m Sure It’s Worth the Extra Bucks to See This Pivotal Scene in 3D

The humans are the weakest link in the movie. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is our young hero who helps bring down the bad monsters, but the faceless MUTO shows more expression then he does. I haven’t seen anything else he’s done, but in this movie he is absolutely wooden. Elizabeth Olsen as his wife is equally flat and expressionless most of the time.  I never really got invested in them nor did I care if they survived or not.

Ugh, Generic McBlandy and his Wife Elle (Elizabeth Olsen)

Luckily Bryan Cranston kicks the movie off with a great start. The moment he closes the blast door knowing he is condemning his wife to death is heartbreaking. When the now-adult Ford goes to Japan and helps his dad, Cranston acts head and shoulders above Taylor-Johnson. He is riding high after all the critical acclaim he’s received for “Breaking Bad”, so he adds some necessary gravitas and energy to the setup portion of the movie.

She Was Only in the Movie for Five Minutes, But She Made an Impact

Ken Watanabe has the unenviable position of exposition guy trying to educate the American military about “Gojira”. He maintains one expression on his face the whole time, a kind of moist, close-to-tears droopiness. Frankly the movie could be a love story between Dr. Serizawa and Godzilla the way he talks about the creature. Actually, that might be an interesting twist!

Gojira, I Love You! Please Don’t Leave Me!

One thing that was refreshing was that there were no evil corporations trying to exploit the MUTO, Godzilla, or the situation, and the military was neither bumbling fools (most of the time, anyway) nor “damn the death count let’s keep bombing stuff”. Those are both such overused, tiresome clichés I didn’t even realize they hadn’t occurred until near the end of the movie!

Don’t get me wrong, they do make some questionable decisions. It’s established in the scene where the MUTO hatches that it can emit EMP pulses that disrupt all electronic equipment. So what do they do again and again? Fly fancy, expensive fighter jets all up in the MUTO’s business! There is also an extended sequence where they are transporting some nuclear bombs via train to the coast and of course everything goes wrong. They end up flying the bombs via helicopter. Hello, why didn’t you do that in the first place?

OK, Who Approved this Plan?

The other friend who went to see the movie with TerrorDave Fuentes and I pointed out a few things that more seasoned Godzilla fans would see right away. There is the obligatory saving of a young boy in a ball cap when the MUTO hits the Hawaiian Islands, and he saw a reference to Mothra when Joe and Ford return to their old home in Janjira. I’m sure there are tons of little easter eggs like that for a true fan to suss out. I picked up on the ball cap kid myself, but missed the Mothra reference.

I did laugh at the scientific explanations they used through the movie. I think they could have just said “magic” or, like in Pacific Rim, say the MUTO and Godzilla came from another dimension or something. I snarked a bit about it during the movie, but in the end it didn’t matter. Despite the less-than-exciting  human stories, this was a very fun movie. In one of the battle scenes near the end, a man in the audience spontaneously yelled, “Godzilla! Yeah! Godzilla!” It was hilarious and very apropos. You just can’t help rooting for him.  His design is awesome and he has a wonderful expression on his face.

“Woof, Why Thank You My Dear!”

 Oops…wrong picture.

 “Growl, Why Thank You My Dear!”

It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a theater where anyone applauded, but three different times Godzilla received a round of applause from the audience. I’m sure there were plenty of hardcore Godzilla fans in the audience, but you didn’t need to be to enjoy this movie.

It’s fun, a bit silly, and totally kick-ass. Go see it. Now.

Who’s Calling Me Silly?

Godzilla! Yeah! Godzilla!

 Elizabeth Ocon~

It’s not often that a movie like EXTRATERRESTRIAL comes around where they do pretty much everything right, especially a horror movie. If more film makers believed in doing something original like this, as opposed to sequel or remake after sequel or remake, then the movie industry would probably be in much better shape (and yet this film only received a limited release in the United States).

The story concerns a couple, April and Kyle, spending one last weekend together at April’s parents’ cabin before it gets sold. April’s intention is to tell Kyle that she got a job in New York and that this would probably be their last weekend together. Kyle’s intention is to not only ask April to marry him but to invite three of their closest friends along to join in on the celebration.

While there, they experience the crash of a flying saucer and after killing one of the aliens, all hell breaks loose. Apparently there has been an ongoing agreement between the aliens and the United States government that stems back from the 1947 flying saucer crash in Roswell, New Mexico. The agreement basically states that the aliens have the free reign to abduct and do tests on as many humans and animals as they want in exchange for the rest of the world being able to live their own lives normally. By killing the alien, April unknowingly breaks the agreement.

This movie features so many nods to so many other great films such as CLOVERFIELD (2008), NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) and any of the “found footage” films that were so common years ago. There is even a little tribute to THE X-FILES at the very end. It was also nice to see small parts for Emily Perkins (from the amazing GINGER SNAPS trilogy of movies) and Michael Ironside (STARSHIP TROOPERS), who likes to grow pot and monitor local UFO activity.

Also along for the ride is Jesse Moss, playing Seth, who turns out to be almost as big of an asshole as his character of Chad was in 2010’s TUCKER AND DALE VS. EVIL. He does get his though in this film by not only getting his arm ripped off but also getting an anal probe, which ultimately kills him.

This movie is intense and genuinely scary at times and I strongly recommend watching it in the dark. It is very dark and does not have a happy ending. My only real disappointments are that I would’ve liked to have seen Michael Ironside’s character of Travis have a more extensive altercation with the aliens and I would’ve liked to have seen Sheriff Murphy’s storyline play out more than it did. It is suggested that Murphy’s girlfriend had been abducted years ago, never to be seen again. His death, in my opinion, happened too soon and perhaps he should’ve been reunited with her, even if only briefly, before meeting his grisly demise.

Director Colin Minihan should be commended here for creating an original horror movie that is actually scary and edge-of-your-seat at times. The aliens, though realized mostly in CGI, are done in such a way that they are believable and very creepy. The scenes on the flying saucer after April and Kyle are abducted are nightmare-inducing, comparable to the similar scene from the 1993 film FIRE IN THE SKY.

If you get a chance to see this masterpiece on the big screen, then I highly recommend it. As of now there is no scheduled DVD or blu-ray release though it can be found on demand in some areas. This is what film-making is all about! It pulls no punches and will truly make you wonder what truth is really out there!

~David Albaugh

On Saturday April 4^th, we arrived back in Chicago (after doing TWO zoos; Louisville and Indianapolis) and ate lasagna at my place before relaxing on this final night of our vacation. We hunkered down for the night and watched two movies together; the old sci-fi classic, It Came from Outer Space, and a new movie David had gotten on Blu-ray called Digging up the Marrow. Though we’d watched several movies during our trip on DVD, including Wolfcop (which was okay), Love in the Time of Monsters (which was also okay), What we do in the Shadows (which was really funny), Animal (which we liked),  Dark Haul (which was bad) and Muck (which was even WORSE) we inadvertently saved the best for last!

Digging up the Marrow is set up in the tradition of a reality film and stars Director Adam Green as himself. In the film, Green is approached by a man who calls himself William Dekker (Ray Wise) who claims that not only are monsters real but he knows where to find them. Figuring at the very least he’ll end up with a comedic movie, Green decides to humor the man and film his story.

According to Dekker, an entire nation of monsters lives just beneath our world; what he refers to as the “Marrow” and consists of deformed outcasts of society. After interviewing the eccentric old man (while doing his best not to crack up), Green sets up cameras in an area specified by Dekker as being one of several entryways into the Marrow. After a failed attempt and Green convinced he’s been doing nothing more than fan Dekker’s delusions, he soon discovers that there is more to this world than meets the eye and that some secrets are best left hidden.

Having met Green a few times at past horror conventions; I can attest that he has a unique relationship with his fans unlike that of most directors in the genre. He was the only one at those events who wouldn’t charge a cent for autographs and photos and genuinely enjoyed interacting with you. His understanding of his fan base shows why his films (like the first Hatchet) end up becoming cult favorites despite what the average critic says. Digging up the Marrow is no exception. He shares his love of monsters with us, WANTS them to be real just like we do, and approaches the subject with adoration as opposed to the usual fear. I have heard critics say that this is a problem and that the average film goer won’t enjoy it. All I can say is that I would later share this with four of my kids (ages ten to seventeen) and it ranks as the ONLY film I’ve ever presented to them that they’d request to see again the following weekend. I say, give the movie a chance and YOU be the judge!

Although I thoroughly enjoyed the film, I did feel that one of its strengths also served as a weakness. Ray Wise is a great actor and absolutely brilliant in his role here, however, he’s known to us horror fans and I feel the movie might have been more effective in terms of believability had Green cast an unknown.

David: I have been a fan of Adam Green since discovering his annual Halloween shorts on his ArieScope website. I have always appreciated his humor in his film making, where it is most evident in films like HATCHET. In my opinion, the best Adam Green films are those that he writes and directs (as opposed to those that he writes and produces as other directors seem to have problems conveying his humor in the final product). I really didn’t know what to expect with this film and was so happy that it was as good as it was. It was suspenseful and laugh-out-loud funny at times, the ingredients of a great horror film. Like Dave mentioned earlier, despite me being a fan of Ray Wise, he appearance here actually made the film slightly less believable. Overall though I totally enjoyed this film and it is one of those, much like the original HATCHET, that I will be able to watch over and over!

Dave: Thus ended or Spring 2015 Terror Daves Road Trip! I brought David back to the airport the next day (Easter Sunday). This trip had packed a wallop in terms of activity (both planned and unplanned) and I know we’ll both never forget it. And, in case you’re wondering, we’ve already laid the ground work for next year’s Spring trip which will have us venturing out West and seeing sights that are “out of this world” (that was a hint not hyperbole)!

David: This trip was interesting to me, as not only did we visit so many amazing zoos but we were also able to mix it up with so many other fun adventures. Every aspect of this journey was fun and Dave did a fantastic job planning it, making sure we were never too exhausted to do the next thing on the schedule. Things just could not have worked out any better, even with the one day of horrible weather that we had. The question on both of our lips at the end was how could we possibly top it! As Dave hinted above, we do have some ideas and it looks like our 2016 journey is shaping up to be one for the ages! Stay tuned!!!

Until Next Year…

The Terror Daves~

Terror from Beyond the Daves is pleased to welcome back, guest writer Brandon Engel…

Vampires have long been associated with passion, seduction, immortality — and fear. Every day, millions of couples flock to theme parks for the privilege of plunging into darkness, careening at top speed around blind corners, hearts pumping and blood racing as they cling to one another for dear life. Vampire movies demonstrate the lengths to which we will go for survival and love, and that either, without the other, has little value. If you’re among those who would rather explore the deepest recesses of the human heart together than exchange candy hearts, this list is for you.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula

From the famed and celebrated director Francis Ford Coppola, master of imagination and special effects, comes the classic 1992 film has an abundance of both. Viewers are lured into a world of seduction, deception, and emotional intensity by an all-star cast that includes Gary Oldman, Keanu Reeves, Anthony Hopkins and Winona Ryder. The desire to possess another man’s fiancé is the driving force that propels Dracula towards his ultimate destruction. Coppola’s technique of cross cutting between scenes before they seem to be completed contributes to the film’s overall sense of urgency created by the insatiability of desire.

Nosferatu the Vampyre

Also based on Bram Stoker’s novel, Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu the Vampyre is a cinematic masterpiece of natural beauty starring Klaus Kinski as Count Dracula and Bruno Ganz as devoted husband Jonathan Harker, whose wife the Count has plans to seduce. This film beautifully illustrates, and amplifies, the power of nature, as well as its complete indifference towards human suffering. In this film, even human nature is no exception to the rule, and madness is the ultimate consequence of being blinded by love to the existence of evil.

Martin

A film from the twisted mind of George A. Romero, starring John Ampas has become a cult classic for good reason. With the clever use of dark humor, it addresses the horrors of loneliness coupled with sexual desire. Through the character of Martin, the hormonally charged teenaged protagonist of the film, we are confronted with the true extent of the madness to which we can all potentially be driven by that deadly combination. Martin’s lethal weapons of choice in his battle against loneliness and potential romantic rejection or denial of his own humanity and a desire to transcend it.

Fright Night

This 1985 summer blockbuster from Tom Holland, starring Roddy McDowell and William Ragsdale, is a comedic combination of realism and the supernatural. In this film, one of the main characters is offered the choice between the horror of eviction and the horror of accepting payment to confront vampires that nobody else believes in anymore. This film points out that evil doesn’t cease to exist simply because people stop believing in it, but rather, flourishes undetected while hiding in plain sight. The special effects provided by Richard Edland of Ghostbusters fame are an added bonus. Naturally, the film was remade in 2011 and those wanting a double dose of fright can watch them back to back thanks to services like Netflix and DirecTV.

Interview With The Vampire

Neil Jordan’s 1994 film, is based on Anne Rice’s adaptation of her hugely popular novel for the big screen. Starring Tom Cruise as the vampire Lestat, it presents immortality itself as a horror, and those who are cursed with it as doomed to the eternal suffering of grief, loss, and unsatisfied desire. Claudia, a child vampire played by Kirsten Dunst in a breakout performance, experiences perpetual anguish at her inability to physically age and successfully complete her transformation into womanhood. Betrayal and revenge also take on a whole new dimension within the expanded framework of eternity.

Brandon Engel~