Where Horror Lives
Are we already halfway through June? Time flies by for horror fans when you’re coasting through another good year for the genre. In 2019, we’ve seen a horror movie defy the “January Jinx”. We’ve already gotten Jordan Peele’s follow-up to Get Out, and we still have It: Chapter Two and Midsommar to look forward to. […]
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What scares you? The best horror movies exploit our most basic fears. Home invasion movies, for example, undermine our sense of security in the place we should feel the safest. Killer bug movies understand that most people hate ‘creepy crawlies’. And sharks – they’re basically freight trains with teeth. But some people have strange fears. […]
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Happy Father’s Day! It’s time to wrap that tie or finish painting the clever “Dad Rocks” on a rock. Today, we celebrate all those hardworking fathers who threaten to ‘turn this car around right now’ and play catch with you in the backyard. For this edition of The Chopping Block, I take a look at […]
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Eli Roth is one of the more divisive filmmakers in the horror genre today. Though his filmography is relatively small, Roth has had his hand in numerous projects, including AMC’s recent Eli Roth’s History of Horror. In the early 2000’s, Roth emerged alongside filmmakers noted for pushing the envelope of onscreen violence including Rob Zombie […]
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Regardless of its critical reception, Friday the 13th is one of the most influential horror movies produced. While ‘Camp Blood’ didn’t create the slasher subgenre, it certainly crystallized the distinctly 80’s approach to horror. Sequels and remakes spanning three decades, cross-over media, a video game, and fan-made movies – few horror franchises can claim this […]
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Sequels are going to happen. And not just to good horror movies. Yes, there’s Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Halloween – good horror movies that produced successful franchises. But even mediocre, and sometimes, bad horror movies beget neverending repeats. Did the world really need follow-ups to Children of the Corn or […]
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Blumhouse Productions rules horror today. In the 1930’s and 1940’s, Universal Studios reigned with their monster lineup. But from mid-1950’s to the early 1970’s, Hammer Film Productions dominated the horror genre. The British studio made international stars of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. While Hammer Films rolled out dozens of Gothic horror titles, it was […]
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Legendary director and producer Roger Corman’s career spans several decades. From 1954 to the early 1970’s, Corman directed over 50 movies. Today, he’s still producing feature length films. His low-budget approach aesthetics played a significant role in the growth of the indie movie scene in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Like William Castle, Roger Corman cut […]
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With all the news trickling in about the upcoming sequel to The Devil’s Rejects, 3 From Hell, it’s a good time to re-visit Rob Zombie’s filmography. Admittedly, I have been a huge fan of Zombie’s music from his days with White Zombie. Both Astro-Creep 2000 and Hellbilly Deluxe remain among some of my favourite albums. Given his […]
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Happy First Day of Spring! The sun is shining a little longer. Birds are singing again in the morning. And the ground is starting to thaw. Soon nature will be alive and all around us. Maybe that’s not such a good thing. We haven’t treated nature very well. Horror scholars have long pointed out that […]
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