Terror Video (Double Feature)

Two for the price of one! Here are the last two Terror Videos I posted. In the first, I take a look at the Criterion Collection edition of Night of the Living Dead, one of the finest horror films ever made. In second Terror Video, we take a quick peek at At Death's Door, a collection of 13 movies.

Saturday Night Drive-In Movie #6

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Welcome to the sixth installment of Saturday Night Drive-In. Your weekend b-horror flick: This week, I bring you Night of the Living Dead from 1968, the original and most iconic zombie flick. "A group of strangers gets stranded in a dilapidated farmhouse and must survive the night, and each other, after the dead begin to rise from their graves to eat the flesh of the living."

Make sure to watch my introduction and then enjoy the movie!

Saturday Night Drive-In Movie #5

House on Haunted Hill (1959)

Welcome to the fifth installment of Saturday Night Drive-In. Your weekend b-horror flick: This

week, I bring you The House on Haunted from 1959, starring Vincent Price. "An eccentric millionaire holds a "haunted house party" for five strangers, offering them each 10,000 dollars to stay the night. The catch? They have to survive until morning."

Make sure to watch my introduction and then enjoy the movie!

Terror Video (Happy Birthday to Me)

Happy Birthday to Me

In this week's Terror Video, we take a look at the new Mill Creek Entertainment release of Happy Birthday to Me (1981), part of their retro VHS line of 80s movie releases. 

Mini Macabre Review #15

Black Sunday (1960)

The Italian master of horror, Mario Bava, brings his best film forward with the gothic storytelling of Black Sunday. 

When a witch is burned at the stake, she promises to come back to take revenge on the family who killed her. Two centuries later, when two traveling doctors stumble on the witch's crypt, they unwittingly release her from her bonds. However, her strength isn't enough to come back yet. So, what better way to get strength than by sending out vampire servants she has created? Add in a cobweb-filled castle complete with secret passages and trap doors, and you have one fantastic horror flick.

Black Sunday is a phenomenal movie mixing witches, vampires, and satanism all into one gothic supernatural mix. Black Sunday is like a mixture of the gothic settings of Universal's Monster series and the gore and dark themes of Hammer's horror movies. 

Terror Video (The Mole People)

The Mole People

I'm happy to announce that I'm resurrecting my Terror Video series. These are short little videos where I'm either showing and reviewing a horror related product or simply discussing some element of the horror genre as a whole. 

This week I'm reviewing The Mole People Blu-ray from Scream Factory.

Buy your own copy at Scream Factory.

Mini Macabre Review #11

Crypt TV's Shelley: Season 1

When you're looking for short, bite-sized horror movies (to get your fix when you don't have time for a full-length film), there may be no better place to look than Crypt TV.

Shelley is one of their ongoing shows that is part of the larger Crypt Monster Universe. They recently started posting season 2 episodes, so I decided it was time to look back at season 1.

Shelley isn't anything new as far as story ideas go. It fits comfortably into the teen slasher genre. Some person was wronged, hurt, or killed in high school and returns during the class reunion for revenge. It is one of my favorite tropes of the genre, but Shelley manages to actually make the leap into the supernatural where many of the traditional slashers of the 80s and 90s didn't bother.

While a few of the blood splatters in the show do take on a CGI appearance once in a while, the overall production and special effects seem to be spot on for the genre. In each episode, we get one new revenge kill from the undead Shelley herself. The use of a bladed hockey stick is creative and fun.

Basically, if you enjoy traditional slashers, supernatural killers, or teen screams, you'll likely enjoy this offering. It may be one of Crypt TVs best productions yet, and the new season appears to offer plenty more lore and supernatural elements to keep people watching. 

Check out episode 1 below.

Mini Macabre Review #10

The Faculty

What if John Carpenter's THE THING paid a visit to a midwestern high school? If it did, you would get The Faculty.

Despite some relatively dated and goofy looking CGI work, The Faculty is one cult classic film that is definitely worth the watch. It is a bit in the vein of Scream but with 1950s style aliens instead of a killer. You have all the stereotypical high school tropes including the goth, jock, cheerleader, geek, etc. All are acted well be some big name actors from the time. In addition to the CGI, there are also some excellent practical creature feature effects for the alien queen. Overall, a fun and goofy sci-fi horror romp.

I'm a huge fan of "Teen Scream" horror and this movie is no exception. 

Mini Macabre Review #9

 Christmas Evil

Ho-Ho-Ho. How about one more mini holiday review before I begin my own vacation and celebration for the season? This will be my last update for the year, but I will be back in January for more horror reviews and releases of horror books. A truly magical Christmas horror flick. The first time I saw this film I was unimpressed. I was expecting something along the lines of Silent Night, Deadly Night. Now, revisiting it again with a fresh view and understanding of what I was getting into this year, I can say I truly adore this little movie. In my own opinion, it sums up all that is good about Christmas while not shying away from what makes the season so horrible for many families and individuals (like myself). It balances goodness, charity, community, togetherness, and belief with their harder counterparts of avarice, greed, family dysfunction, loneliness, bullying, and faithlessness. It is a psychological horror movie that takes a glance at serious mental illness (taken to the extreme) and the lack of support from those who may need it most. What happens to one man when he hopes for the best out of the Christmas season and is only dealt the absolute worst. He snaps and then ultimately has to try and make his own magic of the season--even if that means killing off a few unmentionables who were on the naughty list before joining in on the season of giving.

Mini Macabre Review #8

Christmas Presence

Finally, a halfway decent modern Christmas horror movie. It's your normal set up. A group of friends meet up at a secluded location (this time for Christmas) only to be hunted and killed off one by one by a malevolent unseen force. It's a bit like a tamer version of Evil Dead where you can never tell who is possessed or who isn't. The movie begins with a slow startup, but once the paranormal stuff hits, the movie turns out pretty tense and exciting. If there was one thing they got right it was the atmosphere, induced by suspense and an excellent musical score.

However, it isn't a perfect Christmas horror movie. In fact, Christmas hardly plays into it at all. This movie could be set at any time. You only remember it's Christmas when you see the tree in the background. Overall, good for a single watch this season if you enjoy hauntings, possessions, and a And Then There Were None sort of setup.

Mini Macabre Review #7

 Black Sabbath

They just don't make them like this anymore. Black Sabbath is an Italian anthology horror film that is truly chilling and frightening without all the gimmicky gore, sex, and special effects of the modern era of cinema. Having recently watched a few newer anthology flicks (and being completely disappointed in them) this film shows that no one has matched these types of films from the era. Split into three parts, Black Sabbath offers up three bite-sized horrors, each with its own merit and worth. The first story is your traditional set up where a woman is home alone and is receiving threatening phone calls from someone who is watching her every move. Seeing the old apartment in this one was a real treat. The second story is the gem of the collection, starring Boris Karloff as an Italian style vampire. This one feels like the great Hammer vampire flicks of the same era, all while making it even scarier somehow. The final story might be the most frightening. It features a house call nurse who steals a ring from one of her dead clients. As luck would have it, the ghost comes back for some very shocking revenge. Don't watch this one at night unless you want to see that ghost's horrific face floating over your bed while you try to go to sleep! After watching a few modern duds this past week, this was a real pleasure to watch.

Mini Macabre Review #5

All The Creatures Were Stirring

Have you ever seen a creative project that was trying too hard to be too many things at once? Well, All The Creatures Were Stirring is that type of movie. A touch of Saw, the paranormal, creature features, the Twilight Zone, slashers and even Charles Dicken's Christmas Carol come together to make this uneven and somewhat unsatisfying movie. I personally believe that if you are going to make an anthology style horror movie, such at this one, it is better to keep a consistent theme and tone throughout--rather than this smorgasbord of rather mediocre attempts at every sub-genre that exists. That isn't to say the movie didn't have its good moments. I thought the black and white Twilight Zone style episode was in excellent taste for a Christmas movie (especially since those old school anthology tv and radio shows always did Christmas episodes). However, much of the rest of the movie falls short. the acting is wooden much of the time, the writing a bit faulty, and many loose ends or left untied. Most of all, for a Christmas movie, it has very little holiday cheer to accompany the lack of scares. At least I can give it credit for not being discuting and disturbing just for the sake of it.

Mini Macabre Review #4

Better Watch Out (2016)

A disturbing and unhappy little Christmas movie without any of the chilling cheer of many other holiday horror classics. I haven't disliked a horror movie this much in a very long time. Rather than the combination of goofy fun slasherific kills and a touch of Christmas humor and holiday chills (like you might find in Black Christmas), this movie falls more in the camp of Wes Craven's despicable Last House on the Left . . . only with children involved. Need I say more? While there is no explicit sexual violence, the motives for the killer are misogynistic and come with rather unsettling sexual overtones--made all the more unsettling by his age. Halfway through, I had actually hoped this would turn into a sort of Tales from the Crypt sort of vibe where the killer gets their disgustingly satisfying just desserts in the end. But no, this holiday "home invasion" flick is something that just isn't worth watching again . . . or for the first time even.

Mini Macabre Review #2

Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II

What if Freddy Kruger was a girl? She would be Mary Lou. This is a seriously wonderful hidden 80s horror gem that should not be overlooked due to it's unnecessary re-titling as a Prom Night sequel. It is a stand alone film that has no connection, plot wise or thematically, to the original slasher classic (which of its own merit is a fantastic film). Hello Mary Lou is a much more supernatural affair about a ghost of a dead prom queen coming back to take vengeance, Carrie style, on the high school she once attended. As a result, you get a ton of awesomely crafted dream sequences with some trippy imagery akin to Nightmare on Elm Street. Not to mention the references to countless other horror movies and writers throughout the entire film. However, even without recognizing the connections to other horror flicks, this is one fun film on its own. This movie deserves a proper remaster and blu-ray release.

Mini Macabre Review #1

Pulse (Kairo) 

I love horror movies. They are my favorite hobby. My favorite pass time next to table top gaming.

Those of you who don't know, I used to be a horror publicist and journalist. I ran multiple horror blogs and magazines and wrote for others. In those, I always did movie reviews.

Now, being a full time horror/crime writer, I don't have as much time for writing lengthy reviews and I no longer run a dedicated horror blog. But I didn't want my love of horror movies to dissapear from my online presence.

Therefore,  I am starting this new post entry here on my own author blog called Mini Macabre Reviews. It'll be mini reviews of horror movies and other horror related things of 500 words or less each. And, since I recently signed up for Shudder, I'll have many movies to review.

So without further ado, here is the mini review of the Japanese movie Pulse:

Pulse is a good spooky movie about a techno-ghost apocalypse. However, the story can be a bit confusion, slow, and convoluted at times. However, this doesn't detract from the overall tense and foreboding atmosphere that this movie presents so well. The story isn't as complex as it seems after a first viewing. Things just aren't blatantly explained in a basic way (treating the audience as ignorant) such as in most western media. The ideas are interesting and disturbing and still ring true to today's technologically centered world. Not the best in Asian horror, but still a good film with a lot to offer if your willing to be patient.