Monday, October 29, 2012

13 Days of Halloween: Matt Cunningham's Top 10 Picks of Horror Movie Scores




When Billy asked me to do a guest post I was extremely excited to ramble on about several things Halloweenie. I was going to tell the world about the history of Trick-or-Treating but then Wikipedia had that in spades - along with several other websites. I couldn't rehash the same old knowledge on this wonderful blog. It's much more deserving of that. Then I thought, what about a brief history of a few famous scary monsters? Unfortunately that became a research intensive monster itself. I found I wanted to tell way too much while hoping to keep your attention (if I haven't lost you already).

But then it dawned on me as I was listening to the movie score of Cabin in the Woods by David Julyan. Why not write about something I love with all my monsterly being! Movie scores. But not just any movie scores, my top 10 picks of horror movie scores that really fit into the frame work of Halloween and what I listen to every year around this time. Honestly, I listen to them all the time but this is for those of you that might want something spooky to listen to while carving pumpkins, or writing that short horror story you always meant to get to, or play in your haunted house or while you're driving to work in your Michael Myers costume.

So dim the lights and open your mind to a realm of frightening sounds...

DVD Review - 4 Movie Collection: Hollow Man/ Hollow Man 2/ Fortress 2/ The Harvest


4 Movie Collection: Hollow Man/ Hollow Man 2/ Fortress 2/ The Harvest
Directors: Paul Verhoeven; Claudio Fäh; Geoff Murphy; David Marconi
Starring: Elisabeth Shue, Kevin Bacon, Josh Brolin, Peter Facinelli, Laura Regan
Studio: Mill Creek Entertainment 
ASIN: B008XAT0OG
Release Date: October 9, 2012
Running Time: 394 minutes
Rated R

Review:

I've always been a fan of The Invisible Man film series that blended horror and science fiction together. Tower PR and Mill Creek Entertainment kindly sent me a complementary copy of the two discs movie collection, containing Hollow Man, Hollow Man 2, Fortress 2, and The Harvest, for me to review.

Hollow Man is an updated version of The Invisible Man that was released back in 2000. Kevin Bacon plays Sebastian Caine, a scientist, who has created a serum that can turn a gorilla invisible, but now he wants to experiment on himself despite the objections of his ex-girlfriend Dr. Linda McKay (played by Elizabeth Shue)and her boyfriend Dr. Matt Kensington (played by Josh Brolin). Within days, Sebastian starts to go mad with his new power of invisibility. At first he is just pranking his fellow colleagues, but then he starts killing them one by one.

I saw Hollow Man when if first came out and now again on DVD. It's not as bad as other reviewers have claimed it to be. Yes, the characters are not well developed, but horror movies never have much character depth. Even twelve years later, the special effects are pretty amazing.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Review: Zombie Diaries 2: World of the Dead





Three months after the worldwide zombie outbreak that wiped 99.9% of the population, a small group of British survivors are trying to survive. They have heard that there is a ship at sea that is taking the remaining survivors to safety. The group is lead by Maddox (played by Philip Brodie) whom has just taken in a few more survivors at the beachside compound, which includes the sole survivor of the first movie's film crew, Leanne, (played by Alix Wilton Regan who is replacing Victoria Summer). Before long the zombies invade the compound causing Maddox, Leanne, Jonesy, who is constantly filming with his camera, and a few others to runaway.

With no vehicles, they run on foot looking for any place for shelter. Eventually they come across some booby-traps and the remains of headless zombies in a wooded area. The carefully survey a cabin from a distance where a group of human bandits are watching another man sexually assault a female zombie. The deadly Goke (played by Russell Jones) comes out of the cabin and murders the man. That is when Leanne recognizes Goke and his henchman Manny as she had encountered them in the first movie.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

DVD Review - Howling IV: The Original Nightmare


Howling IV: The Original Nightmare
Director: John Hough
Starring: Romy Windsor, Michael T. Weiss, Antony Hamilton, Susanne Severeid, Lamya Derval
Studio: Echo Bridge Home Entertainment
ASIN: B00023BM4S
Release Date: June 15, 2004
Running Time: 94 Minutes
Rated R 

Unlike the previous films in the series, Howling IV: The Original Nightmare was released to direct-to-video (aka VHS) in 1988, originally released by Warner Bros., but Echo Bridge Home Entertainment now owns the rights to it.

I've only seen a handful of the Howling movies out of the eight movies that have been made so far, the last one, Howling Reborn, came out last year. I recall seeing this movie advertise on a local channel in the early 90s and of course my mom let me watch it probably just so I would stop pestering her about it. The movie had commercials, so naturally it would be edited for broadcast television. For the actually movie, I only remember bits and pieces of it until I finally bought the DVD a few months ago for only five dollars.

For anyone who has actually read Gary Brandner's The Howling novel, you'll know that the first movie barely went by it, but Howling IV: The Original Nightmare is the only movie that almost completely goes by the book except that the names have been changed and there is no rapist in it. The film was made for fewer than two-million dollars. It won the 1988 Golden Chainsaw award for Best Direct-to-Video Feature from Fangoria, but it received mostly negative reviews from fans due to the small amount of time the werewolves appeared.

13 Days of Halloween: Horror Fan Swag Giveaway!



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Giveaway Details:


*The Undead postcard
*Tales of Horror postcard
*Halloween (1978) decal
*Laurie Strode decal
*Halloween 4 decal
*Halloween 5 decal

Friday, October 26, 2012

Pumpkin Madness by Melissa Stagi-Zepeda




Pumpkin Madness 

by Melissa Stagi-Zepeda


Year after year,

the pumpkins lived in fear.

Slicing, maiming, wrenching their guts,

I never considered them while I made cuts.

Madagascar 3 Combo Giveaway! Ends 10/31