“Here Alone” Poster & Trailer
Here Alone just made my list of Movies to See.
Category: Horror
Rabid (1977)
Rabid (1977)
Director: David Cronenberg
Screenplay: David Cronenberg
Stars: Marilyn Chambers, Frank Moore and Joe Silver
The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a low-budget horror movie!”
Tagline: You can’t trust your mother…your best friend…your neighbor next door…
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
In an effort to save Rose [Chambers], the victim of a motorcycle crash, a doctor performs experimental plastic surgery. Rose recovers with a taste for blood and her victims become zombies.
If you can survive the micro budget, bad acting and silly story then you might enjoy Rabid.
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10 Facts About “Night of the Living Dead”
Matthew Jackson and Mental_Floss present 10 Facts About Night of the Living Dead. Here are three of my favorites…
2. GEORGE ROMERO WAS HEAVILY INSPIRED BY I AM LEGEND.
Armed with Russo’s flesh-eating concept, Romero went to work, pairing it with a story he’d been working on that “basically ripped off” Richard Matheson’s apocalyptic horror novel I Am Legend. Russo later recalled that Romero returned with “about 40 really excellent pages,” including the opening in the cemetery and the arrival at the farmhouse. Russo set to work on the rest, and Night of the Living Dead began to come to life.
8. JONES FOUGHT AGAINST AN ALTERNATE ENDING THAT WOULD HAVE SAVED BEN.
One of the film’s most famous elements is its grim ending, in which Ben, having survived the night, is shot by the sheriff’s zombie-hunting posse and thrown on the fire. At one point, a happier ending for the film was considered, but Jones fought it and won.
“I convinced George that the black community would rather see me dead than saved, after all that had gone on, in a corny and symbolically confusing way,” Jones said. “The heroes never die in American movies. The jolt of that, and the double jolt of the hero being black seemed like a double-barreled whammy.”
9. IT’S IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN BECAUSE OF A CREDITS ERROR.
Night of the Living Dead might be the most famous public domain movie of all time, but it was never intended to be. The Walter Reade Organization, which distributed the film, wanted to release it under the title Night of the Flesh Eaters, but lawyers representing the makers of 1964’s The Flesh Eaters threatened a lawsuit, so the title was changed to Night of the Living Dead. When the title changed, though, copyright notices were not added to the opening titles or to the end credits. Though the filmmakers have fought it in federal court, the film is still in the public domain.
Thinner (1996)
Thinner (1996)
Director: Tom Holland
Screenplay: Michael McDowell and Tom Holland
Stars: Robert John Burke, Lucinda Jenney, Bethany Joy Lenz, Howard Erskine, Joe Mantegna and Stephen King.
The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a movie adaptation of Stephen King’s Thinner.”
Tagline: Let The Curse Fit The Crime.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
When an obsese small town attorney accidentally runs over a gypsy woman, his friends (a judge and town cop) set things up to get him off without a charge. The gypsy leader then places a curse on the three men that will leave them dead after suffering horribly.
My problem with Thinner is that there is no one to root for. All of the leads are bad people. The lawyer, his wife, his friends — even the gypsies. Also about three quarters in the film changes into an action/revenge movie with lots of shooting and blowing up things… but since you don’t know or care about the characters…
An somewhat interesting misfire…
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The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
Director: Joe May
Screenplay: Lester Cole & Curt Siodmak (as Kurt Siodmak)
Stars: Cedric Hardwicke, Vincent Price, Nan Grey and Alan Napier.
The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make another Invisible Man picture!”
Tagline: More strange thrills… More eerie chills… More awesome suspense
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Sentenced to die for a murder he didn’t commit, Geoffrey Radcliffe (Price) escapes death row by taking the invisible man serum. Will Radcliffe be able to prove his innocence before invisibility drives him mad?
Although Vincent Price is the Invisible Man, you won’t see much of him in this starring role. ; )
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The Birds (1963) directed by Alfred Hitchcock; starring Rod Tayler, Jessica Tandy; Suzanne Pleshette and introducing Tippi Hedren / Z-View
The Birds (1963)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Screenplay: Evan Hunter from The Birds by Daphne Du Maurier
Stars: Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Suzanne Pleshette, Jessica Tandy, Charles McGraw, Ruth McDevitt, Lonny Chapman, Joe Mantell, Malcolm Atterbury, John McGovern, Karl Swenson, Richard Deacon, Elizabeth Wilson, Bill Quinn, Doreen Lang, Alfred Hitchcock and Veronica Cartwright.
Tagline: Suspense and shock beyond anything you have seen or imagined!
The Plot…
Something strange is happening in Bodega Bay.
Birds have randomly attacked individuals. At first it is thought to be a coincidence. Then a farmer is found dead, with his eyes pecked out and other wounds that appear to be caused by birds.
And now the birds are gathering…
Thoughts (Beware of spoilers)…
Another classic from the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. This is one of a few movies I was always allowed to stay up and watch even on a school night as a kid.
Most of the birds seen in the film are real. Hitchcock said that 3,200 birds were used during filming. They were combined with mechanical birds and special effects. Hitchcock used several effects houses including MGM, Disney and FOX.
Hitchcock wanted the film to close with out a “The End” title card to leave the audience with a sense of unresolved terror.
The Bodega Bay school house where scenes were filmed was reportedly haunted. When Hitchcock was told this he was thrilled to be filming there.
Hitchcock’s movie and Du Maurier’s story only share a bayside town setting and birds attacking humans. Du Maurier’s story takes place in Britain with a man protecting his wife and two children at their isolated cottage.
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Backtrack (2015)
Backtrack (2015)
Director: Michael Petroni
Screenplay: Michael Petroni
Stars: Adrien Brody, Jenni Baird and Bruce Spence
The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a ghost movie with Adrien Brody!”
Tagline: Nothing haunts like the past.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Psychologist Peter Bower (Brody) is having a terrible time dealing with the death of his daughter. He was teaching her to ride a bike when he became distracted and she was struck by a truck and killed. Bower begins to have dreams of the dead and even starts to see them while awake.
As Bower sorts out the meaning of his visions, he also tries to remember what distracted him and lead to the death of his daughter. Bower believes that they are linked. Following the clues, he returns to his boyhood home and a secret that ties it all together.
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Split (2017)
Split (2017)
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Screenplay: M. Night Shyamalan
Stars: James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Haley Lu Richardson and Betty Buckley
The Pitch: “Hey, M. Knight Shyamalan has a cool idea for a movie!”
Tagline: Kevin has 23 distinct personalities. The 24th is about to be unleashed.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Kevin Wendell has 23 different personalities. One of them kidnapped three girls and locked them in a remote location. All they know is that a new personality, ‘the beast’ is coming and they are considered sacred food.
M. Knight is back! The twist ending has received a lot of buzz and is a cool reveal more than a twist. With that said, I watched the movie thinking that one of the girls was actually one of Kevin’s personalities. I really believe that M. Knight wanted us to lean that way… but I was wrong. It’ll be interesting to see how M. Knight re-visits this story-line.
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Kyle Holtz’s Predator Print!
Kyle Holtz created this very cool Predator print that is available in a limited edition of 87.
Source: XombieDirge.
“The Thing from Another World” (1951) / Z-View
The Thing from Another World (1951)
Director: Christian Nyby, Howard Hawks (uncredited)
Screenplay: Charles Lederer based on the story Who Goes There by John W. Campbell Jr.
Stars: Kenneth Tobey, Margaret Sheridan, Robert Cornthwaite, Douglas Spencer, James Young, Dewey Martin, Robert Nichols, William Self, Eduard Franz and James Arness, Billy Curtis.
Tagline: What do you know about it? What does science know about it? What does ANYONE know about THE THING?
The Plot…
A small band of scientists and soldiers stationed in the Arctic discover a flying saucer buried in the polar ice. Not far from the ship they find an alien also frozen in the ice. When they bring the block of ice containing the creature back to their base camp, they have no idea the horror that is in store.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
There are more uncredited stuntmen (14) on this picture than credited actors (11).
Although the thing is on screen for less than three minutes, the film’s Make-up Artist (Lee Greenway) spent five months making eighteen sculptures of the monster before Howard Hawks was satisfied with one.
The Thing from Another World is a Classic!
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15 Facts About “Silence of the Lambs” That You Didn’t Know
Cory Mahoney and the Hollywood.com present 15 Facts About Silence of the Lambs That You Didn’t Know. Here are three of my favorites…
3. The moth cocoons Buffalo Bill placed in his victims throats were actually made from a combination of Tootsie Rolls and gummy bears, in case they were swallowed.
7. Silence of the Lambs the only horror movie ever to win Best Picture at the Oscars.
Only two others have even been nominated: The Exorcist and Jaws.
9. Jonathan Demme always had characters speak directly into the camera for conversations with Clarice, yet he always filmed Jodie Foster looking slightly off camera.
The idea was to make audiences directly experience her point-of-view to more easily empathize with her character. We think anyone who has watched those gripping last few moments of the film can confirm the success of this technique.
The Traveler (2010)
The Traveler (2010)
Director: Michael Oblowitz
Screenplay: Joseph C. Muscat
Stars: Val Kilmer, Dylan Neal and Paul McGillion
The Pitch: “Hey,let’s make a murder mystery with supernatural revenge overtones.”
Tagline: How do you catch a killer you’ve already caught?
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Late one evening a stranger walks into a deserted under-staffed police station and begins confessing to murders he hasn’t yet committed.
Interesting premise that falls way short in reality. The underlying premise is that an innocent man has been killed by the officers in the station and that the stranger is there to get revenge. What follows is a lot of stupid decisions made by characters that results in torture and gore. Then at the end there is a reveal that makes all that we’ve seen even worse. Bah!
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The Mummy’s Ghost (1944)
The Mummy’s Ghost (1944)
Director: Reginald LeBorg
Screenplay: Griffin Jay & Henry Sucher & Brenda Weisberg
Stars: John Carradine, Robert Lowery, Ramsay Ames and Lon Chaney, Jr.
The Pitch: “Hey, it’s time for another mummy movie!”
Tagline: NO CHAINS Can Hold It! NO TOMB Can Seal It!
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Like all mummy movies, a mummy is brought back to life and is attracted to a modern woman who may be the reincarnation of his past love. Terror ensues at a slow pace (mummies have a hard time walking all bandaged up and all). This mummy movie does have at least one surprise.
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“The Girl with All the Gifts” Poster and Trailer Are Here!
The Girl with All the Gifts is just coming on to my radar with the poster and trailer. Both look good. Hopefully the movie will be as well.
Re-Kill (2015)
Re-Kill (2015)
Director: Valeri Milev
Screenplay: Michael Hurst
Stars: Bruce Payne, Daniella Alonso, Roger Cross
The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a zombie movie!”
Tagline: We are the endangered species.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
It’s five years after the zombie apocalypse and life inside gated communities with security goes on. Watching Re-Kill is like watching a tv station that is all-zombie kills all the time. Maybe like watching Cops but the criminals are now zombies. There are commercials and public service ads insterspliced within the “Re-Kill” programming.
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Before killing Bogue, Chisholm reveals that Bogue and his men had raped and killed his mother and sisters years earlier. They had even hung Chisholm and left him for dead.
While this gives additional justification for Chisholm wanting to take on Bogue and his men, it makes him a little less heroic. Up to the point of the reveal, it appeared that Chisholm and the others recruited were going against impossible odds because it was the “right” thing to do… not because one of them wanted revenge.
