Category: Horror

“Creature from the Black Lagoon” Reboot Designs by Miles Teves!

Posted on by

There have been several attempts to revive The Creature from the Black Lagoon.  (And I wish someone would get it done!)  John Carpenter was involved with a reboot for a while, but that project never crossed the finish line.

What we see here today is concept art created by Miles Teves.  Teves has worked in film/television as a concept artist, illustrator, and makeup FX sculptor since 1984.  The illustrations here were created for a possible Creature from the Black Lagoon reboot around 1997.  At that time Carpenter had moved on and Ivan Reitman was leading the charge.  Sadly, Reitman’s movie never made it to filming.

It’s interesting to note the changes Teves made from the original CFTBL design.  Note the tail and a more lizard-like appearance.

Source: Body Snatchers.

“Silent Zone” (2025) starring Matt Devere and Luca Papp / Z-View

Posted on by

Silent Zone (2025)

Director:  Peter Deak

Screenplay: Viktor Csák, Krisztián Illés

Stars: Matt Devere, Luca Papp, Nikolett Barabas, Declan Hannigan, Katia Bokor and Robert Jackson.

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

In a world ravaged by zombies, Cassius and Abigail, the teenage girl he saved as a baby, struggle to survive.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

I knew going in this would be a drive-in movie, but it wasn’t bad.

Silent Zone (2025) rates 3 of 5 stars.

“Werewolves” (2024) starring Frank Grillo / Z-View

Posted on by

Werewolves (2024)

Director:  Steven C. Miller

Screenplay: Matthew Kennedy

Stars: Frank Grillo, Katrina Law, Ilfenesh Hadera, Sam Daly, Ian Whyte, Dane DiLiegro and Lou Diamond Phillips.

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

A year ago, during a supermoon, anyone exposed to moonlight changed into a werewolf.  Millions were killed.  Now, as another supermoon approaches, people are preparing for the worst.

Wes Marshall, ex-military, fortified his sister-in-law Lucy’s house. Lucy lives there with her young daughter Emma.  Wes then heads across town to join a team of scientists who have prepared an antidote they call Moonscreen.  If it works, it will stop the werewolf supermoon transformation.

When the experiment goes sideways, Wes will be forced to fight his way back across town to save Lucy and Emma.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

I knew going in this would be a shlocky drive-in movie.  Still, I expected it to be better.

Werewolves (2024) rates 2 of 5 stars.

“Angel Heart” (1987) written & directed by Alan Parker; starring Mickey Rourke, Robert DeNiro & Lisa Bonet / Z-View

Posted on by

Angel Heart (1987)

Director:  Alan Parker

Screenplay: Alan Parker; based on FALLING ANGEL by William Hjortsberg

Stars: Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, Lisa Bonet, Charlotte Rampling, Dann Florek, Kathleen Wilhoite and Pruitt Taylor Vince.

Tagline: Harry Angel has been hired to search for the truth… Pray he doesn’t find it.

The Plot…

1955.  Louis Cypher wants money owed to him.  Before the War, Cypher entered into a contract with a singer who went by the stage name Johnny Favorite.  Favorite became a very popular crooner… then World War II hit and Favorite’s star waned.  But for a time, Johnny Favorite was the flavor of the day.  Favorite never paid Cypher his due.  And you don’t run out on Louis Cypher.

So Cypher hires New York Private Eye Harry Angel.  He’s to track down Johnny Favorite and report back to Cypher.  What sounds like an easy assignment becomes anything but.  Angel will find the trail leads to New Orleans and black magic, voodoo and more than one murder.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Unless you were around at the time of the film’s release it’s hard to imagine the controversy the casting of Lisa Bonet caused.  At that time she was one of the stars of The Cosby Show.  The show was a network juggernaut.  Bill Cosby (despite what came out about him later) always promoted comedy for the entire family. Bonet’s role in Angel Heart, was very sexual with a prolonged nude sex scene. Plus it was her first feature film role.  She more than held her own.

Angel Heart is an under-rated horror film.

Angel Heart (1987) rates 4 of 5 stars.

LAST HUNT: BOOK THREE IN THE HUNTER TRILOGY by James Byron Huggins!

Posted on by

HUNTER by James Byron Huggins is one of my all-time favorite novels.  The sequel, HUNTER’S MOON was just as great.  Now the third tale in the trilogy is about to be released.  It’s titled LAST HUNT.  Here’s the lowdown…

International bestselling author James Byron Huggins delivers LAST HUNT, the third and final book in the Hunter Saga.

Nathaniel Hunter has faced nightmares most men can’t imagine. In Alaska’s frozen wilderness he confronted a primordial killer. On England’s haunted moors he fought a beast born of legend. Each time he walked away scarred but unbroken. Now the battle comes to his own doorstep.

Scipio Dante, the brilliant, ruthless mind behind the experiments that created those monsters, has perfected a serum that transforms men into savage, unstoppable predators. Backed by limitless wealth and a private army, he will stop at nothing to rid the world of its greatest threat: the hunter who has foiled him twice before.

From his remote mountain cabin, Hunter must prepare for the ultimate confrontation. The wilderness he calls home bristles with danger; the predators he respects may soon turn against him. To survive, he’ll need every weapon at his disposal, every ally he can trust, and every ounce of his primal fury.

The world’s last true hunter is about to face his final, most terrifying prey.

LAST HUNT drops November 3rd.  Get your order in now.  I did.

LAST HUNT Paperback

LAST HUNT Hardback

LAST HUNT Kindle

“The Elixir” (2025) / Z-View

Posted on by

The Elixir (2025)

Director:  Kimo Stamboel

Screenplay: Kimo Stamboel, Agasyah Karim, Khalid Kashogi

Stars: Mikha Tambayong, Eva Celia, Donny Damara, Marthino Lio

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

An extended family has come together to join others in a remote Indonesian village.  The family has come to take part in a celebration.  Prior to the party, family arguments ensue.  The patriarch and head of the family business has had company scientists working on an anti-aging potion.  He hopes that this new serum will save his company.  Perhaps if the business thrives again, the family will get along better.

When he takes the potion, it turns him into a zombie.

Let the madness begin.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

The movie begins with a bang.  Then it quickly backs up five hours to show us what caused the excitement.  Instead of an action-packed zombie flick that takes off, we get a family drama.  I had zero interest in any of the characters.  So when the zombie action starts up again after 30 minutes or so, I didn’t care who lived or died.

At 42 minutes I tapped out.  Your mileage, as always, may vary.

The Elixir (2025) rates 1 of 5 stars.

“No Way Up” (2024) / Z-View

Posted on by

No Way Up (2024)

Director:  Claudio Fäh

Screenplay: Andy Mason

Stars: Colm Meaney, Will Attenborough, Phyllis Logan, James Carroll Jordan and Manuel Pacific.

Tagline: The plane crash was just the beginning.

The Plot…

A plane crashes into the ocean killing most of the passengers.  As the plane settles on an undersea ledge an air pocket forms in the back of the split fuselage.  Ava (the daughter of a rich man), Brandon (Ava’s bodyguard), Jed (Ava’s boyfriend), Kyle (Jed’s buddy), Rosa (a child) traveling with her grandparents and Danilo (a flight attendant) make their way to the slowly shrinking area of air.

If the air pocket lasts long enough the survivors hope a rescue team will get to them.  But as the air pocket slowly shrinks, the plane begins to move towards the edge of the ledge… and sharks find their way into the wreckage.

It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

No Way Up (2024) is what would be a classic drive-in movie, if we still had drive-ins.  Low budget. A “B” star in the lead (who dies early on).  A monster (the sharks).  Young people in danger.  Enough in the group that you’re not sure who will live.

No Way Up (2024) rates 2 of 5 stars.

“Troll 2” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

Posted on by

Here we have the poster and trailer for Troll 2.

Despite it being on the surface a silly concept, Troll was a fun movie.  So ignore the somewhat goofy looking poster for Troll 2 and check out the trailer.  Then get in the mood for a fun drive-in movie when Troll 2 premieres on December 1st.

A new troll has awakened!

Join Nora, Andreas, and Captain Kris as they embark on their most dangerous adventure yet. With the clock ticking and chaos spreading, they’ll need new allies and ancient secrets to stop the rampage. Can they save Norway before it’s too late?

Watch Troll 2, Dec 1 on Netflix.

“Alien: Earth” Season 1 (2025) created by Noah Hawley / Z-View

Posted on by

“Alien: Earth” Season 1 (2025)

Created by: Noah Hawley; Based on Alien by Dan O’Bannon, Ronald Shusett

Teleplay by:

  • (eps. 1-2; 5) Noah Hawley
  • (ep. 3) Noah Hawley and Bob DeLaurentis
  • (ep. 4) Noah Hawley and Bobak Esfarjani
  • (ep. 6) Noah Hawley and Lisa Long
  • (ep. 7) Noah Hawley and Maria Melnik
  • (ep. 8) Noah Hawley & Migizi Pensoneau

Directed by:

  • Noah Hawley (eps. 1; 5)
  • Dana Gonzales  (eps. 2-3; 7-8)
  • Ugla Hauksdóttir (eps. 4; 6)

Stars: Sydney Chandler, Alex Lawther, Essie Davis, Samuel Blenkin, Babou Ceesay, Adarsh Gourav, Erana James, Lily Newmark, Jonathan Ajayi, David Rysdahl, Diêm Camille, Moe Bar-El, Adrian Edmondson and Timothy Olyphant.

Tagline: Fear takes new forms.

The Plot…

The year is 2120.  Five companies control the planet and colonized outposts in the solar system.  The USCSS Maginot, a spacecraft owned by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation is returning from a successful mission in space to retrieve alien life forms.  When the ship crash lands into a city owned by the Prodigy Corportation, the race is on to secure the alien specimens.

Prodigy is owned by Boy Kavalier.  The world’s youngest trillionaire and a genius to boot.  Kavalier created the world’s first first human-synthetic hybrids by placing the minds of terminally ill children in adult synthetic bodies.  These hybrids were mentored by a synth named Kirsh.  Wendy, one of the hybrids, was given AI intelligence making her even smarter than Boy Kavalier.

The Weyland-Yutani Corporation sends notice that they want the “cargo” of their crashed ship. Boy Kavalier responds that any incursion into Prodigy territory will be seen as an act of war.  Kavalier then sends Kirsh, Wendy and the four other hybrids on a mission to the crash site to retrieve the alien specimens.

At the same time a city rescue team arrives at the crash site.  They are unaware what the craft was carrying or that a Xenomorph has escaped.  Worse still, there are other creatures on the ship equally as dangerous.  As tensions mount, lives are lost and it becomes clear that the shipwreck wasn’t accidental.

It could be “we were safer in space”.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Alien: Earth has a lot going on.  There’s several different dangerous alien life forms, synthetic beings, human-syn hybrids, a boy genius with plans of his own, corporate intrigue, betryals and more.  On one hand, I’m not sure eight episodes was enough to get into everything. I wanted more with the escaped alien specimens.  Also, I wasn’t sold on the “relationship” between Wendy and the Xenomorph.

That’s not to say that I didn’t like Alien: Earth.  I did.  But not as much as I had hoped.  Still, I hope we get a season two.

“Alien: Earth” Season 1 (2025) earns 3 of 5 stars.

“The Invisible Man” by Ryan Kelly!

Posted on by

The Invisible Man by Ryan Kelly!

When I was a kid I loved horror movies.  I still do.  But when it came to The Invisible Man, I just didn’t care for it.  Re-visiting the film as a young adult (and now an older one) I’ve come to love the movie.

I can honestly say, I’ve loved Ryan Kelly’s riff on The Invisible Man from the first time I saw it.  ; )