Indie DVD outfit, Severin Films, has taken on the rights to James Nguyen’s Birdemic: Shock and Terror and while the trailer is absolutely ridiculous, the screeching noise at the end of it is music to my ears.
Nguyen shot the film over the course of four years and describes it as a “romantic thriller” in the midst of a homicidal bird invasion in Northern California. Apparently Tippi Hedren, lead actress in Hitchcock’s The Birds, has a cameo in the film.
After Nguyen got rejected for an official screening slot at Sundance, he took matters into his own hands and spent eight days …read more

My familiarity with the nunsploitation genre has mainly been with the Italian and Spanish films. This makes sense to me because of the influence Catholicism has had on the population. However, upon viewing Norifumi Suzuki’s School of the Holy Beast, it seems that I have some uncharted territory to explore in Japan.
Nunsploitation had its peak in the 70’s and explored the conflicted lives of sexy nuns, who were either tormented by their vows of celibacy or happy to rebel against it–naked. While directors like Joe D’Amato and Jess Franco were taking their audiences inside the repressive exploits of young women …read more

First time feature director Paolo Fazzini is contributing to what seems like a small resurgence in Italian horror. I have many theories about why the Italians have generally avoided or failed at the horror genre since the 70’s & 80’s, some of which were explored in Fazzini’s interesting documentary, Hanging Shadows. The film details a historical overview of Italian horror from genre masters like Dario Argento, Sergio Stivaletti, Ruggero Deodato and Lamberto Bava.
Fazzini’s new film, Mad in Italy, is a psychological horror based on the true events about one girl’s ordeal to stay alive at the hands of a young …read more

Warren Publishing, a group known for creating some amazing horror anthologies, has become the subject of a “cinematic tribute” at the Los Angeles event, Monsterpalooza. Warren’s magazine, Creepy, will be a highlight of the convention, which runs from April 9 – 11 in Burbank, California. There’s not much info posted on this yet but you can visit the Monsterpalooza website for more details. Do you like the poster featuring the anthology’s host, Uncle Creepy? Check out the guest list for this year’s event below. There’s a truck load of killer horror people for every type of fan. I’d love to …read more

In March, Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle will begin filming 127 Hours, his adaptation of the true-life story of Aron Ralston (played by James Franco). The film details the hiker’s grueling five-day ordeal while being pinned under a boulder. Anyone forced to amputate their own arm with a dull knife deserves his own movie.
In the meantime, Boyle has his sights set on a stage production of Frankenstein. Screenwriter Nick Pear (Persuasion) has teamed up with Boyle to bring the adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic tale to audiences next winter at the National Theater in London. The play will be filmed …read more

Recent films like Paranormal Activity and The House of the Devil owe a debt of gratitude to Herk Harvey’s cult classic, Carnival of Souls. The film was made for a mere $33,000 and relies on dramatic black-and-white photography and a dreamy atmosphere to conjure the horror beneath the everyday. A young organist’s life is transformed after a car crash and she becomes haunted by a ghostly figure.
From the start of the film (there are no opening credits) we are jolted into Mary Henry’s (Candace Hilligoss) world. A drag race sends Mary’s car plummeting into a river, but she mysteriously survives …read more

Analog assassins Code Red are in the early stages of prepping a new special edition of the 80’s slasher flick, Madman. Anchor Bay released a DVD in 2001 but this new and improved edition promises some new interviews with the cast as well as a featurette visiting the original locations with one of the coolest names in slasherdom, Madman Marz (Paul Ehlers).
Madman has a Friday the 13th vibe and tells the story of a backwoodsman, Madman Marz. He’s a serial killer who can be summoned by calling his name ‘above a whisper.’ There’s even the prerequisite summer camp as the …read more

Allow me to take you on a little genre detour. A recent talk with a friend of mine reminded me about a gem of a film. There’s sorcery, black magic and witches but Lotte Reiniger’s The Adventures of Prince Achmed is more fantasy based than horror. Still I feel compelled to share with you a few videos of this beautiful 1926 Germanic tale of an Arabian Prince as told through shadow puppet animation. The oldest surviving animated feature film to be exact.
The magical beings brought to life by Reiniger were constructed through her own invention which involved manipulated cutouts made …read more

That title should really read, ‘MTV is Bored and Wants to Rape One of My Favorite Films.’ Or, would you settle for ‘Does MTV Really Play Music Anymore?’ I think they all apply.
MTV is currently scheming ways to turn George A. Romero’s classic zombie flick, Dawn of the Dead, into a TV series. There are no other details at this time but isn’t this enough to make you want to Hulk smash everything in sight? MTV has stated that they’re interested in producing more things horror but are they doing it well? I didn’t see My Psycho Sweet 16 but …read more

Universal’s prequel to John Carpenter’s classic, The Thing, is set to start filing this March in Toronto. Universal Pictures and Strike Entertainment will be working with director Matthijs van Heijningen to direct the film from a screenplay by Ronald D. Moore and Eric Heisserer (Platinum Dunes’ A Nightmare on Elm Street). Is anyone else crying yet?
From Heisserer’s blog:
“Matthijs and I are hard at work with the very smart team at Strike on the prequel. We are all so much in love with Carpenter’s film, so protective of it, we’re doing all we can to avoid stepping on its toes. I …read more