Halloween 2 – Alternate ending for the Rob Zombie sequel

An alternate ending featured on the upcoming January 12 DVD and Blu-Ray release of Halloween II.

What did you think of that? Better or worse than the ending used in the cinema release?

The White House is the Mos Eisley Cantina?

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama handed out candy at the White House this Halloween and looks as if the Star Wars posse was in the house.

Source: Yahoo

Happy Halloween – Have a good one

Well Halloween is almost over here in the UK and we’ve have had a pretty good one.

The kids loved it. My 3 year old daughter was a ghost, my son was a zombie, my Wife was a witch and I was a werewolf. We had some family over for chilli and duck apple. Lots of fun was had by all and the kids are now asleep.

You can see the pumpkins I carved for the night. I am chuffed with the Witch and Hellboy one. If you have any good pumpkins you made send me a pic and I’ll post it on the site.

Night of the Creeps, 1986 – Movie Review – 31 Days of Horror

Director: Fred Dekker
Starring: Jason Lively, Jill Whitlow, Steve Marshall, Allan Kayser, Tom Atkins

An excellent review by BA Harrison – all part of my 31 Days of Horror.

Send me your horror film reviews.

Many successful Hollywood names have used horror as a springboard to launch their careers, but for director Fred Dekker and his cast, the opposite seems to have happened: after Night of the Creeps, an affectionate homage to the schlock B-movie sci-fi/horrors of the 50s, Dekker had one other hit (with kiddie flick Monster Squad) before crashing and burning with Robocop 3; roles for stars Jason Lively, Jill Whitlow, Steve Marshall, and Allan Kayser dried up soon after (only grizzled tough guy Tom Atkins, who unsurprisingly plays a grizzled tough guy cop, has gone on to have a long film career, but then he is one of the coolest character actors in the biz).

The lack of success for nearly all involved is a real shame, because based on the strength of this fun flick, they all deserved to go onto much bigger and better things (I know I’d liked to have seen much more of Whitlow, who is a total babe).

Beginning with a nifty prologue, which sees an alien experiment crash land on Earth and unleash its cargo of parasitic creatures, and ending with an all-out zombie attack on a sorority house full of teens, Dekker’s script is a delightfully daft but endearing slice of intentionally cheesy B-movie fun. Lively and Marshall play college nerds Chris and J.C., who attempt to steal a dead body from a cryogenic research facility as part of a frat prank; the only problem is, the body they try to make off with is host to alien slugs that enter live humans and transform them into flesh-eating ghouls.

After best bud J.C. falls victim to the brain burrowing critters, Chris sets out to rid the planet of the alien pests, aided by beautiful student Cynthia (Whitlow) and cop-with-a-tragic-history Ray Cameron (Atkins).

Considering that this is his debut as director, Dekker shows great confidence and flair behind the camera, and gets solid performances from his cast, all of whom have just the right amount of tongue in their cheeks. Working from his own script (that clearly displays both his love and understanding of the genre), Dekker pays tribute to everything from 50s sci-fi, Romero’s ‘Dead’ movies, and teen comedies, and even has time to throw in an axe-wielding psycho and a cameo from genre great Dick Miller for good measure.

Occasionally, the lack of a big budget is evident, particularly when it comes to the effects, which vary wildly in quality, and the cheese is perhaps laid on a little too thick at times—naming characters after famous horror directors ain’t THAT clever, and Atkins’ catchphrase (‘thrill me’) quickly gets tiresome—but for the most part, it all works very well, and the result is a witty, memorable, inventive, and thoroughly enjoyable time-waster.

Previous 31 Days of Horror reviews: The Broken, The Burrowers, The Unborn, Don’t Look Know, Snoop Dogg’s Hood of Horror, Christine, Pontypool, Diary of the Dead, Doctor Terror’s House of Horror, Wrong Turn 3, Zoltan Hound of Dracula,  Home Movie, The Thing, Vamp, Audition, The Fury, Blood Feast, Paranormal Activity, Braindead, Halloween, Friday the 13th Part 2, Martin, Fright Night, Zombieland

Halloween – Cool poster for John Carpenter’s classic at the Alamo Drafthouse

I really want one of these as it is a really cool poster. I love the fact it shows the two masks.

If you haven’t already check out the review of Halloween that Michael Marshall Smith sent me.

Source: /Film

Anyone know any Amputees? This guy needs them for his Star Wars halloween costume

An add over on Craigslist is looking for a double amputee.
Need an amputee to complete my Halloween costume (Brooklyn)

Date: 2009-10-20, 3:53PM EDT
Reply to: comm-jvcgb-1430124462@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

So this might seem strange and really offensive to some but hopefully someone will reply. I have always loved the scene in Empire Strikes Back where Chewbacca has to carry around a half reconstructed C3PO in a backpack because he hasn’t reattached his lower body yet. For Halloween I would love to dress up like this. I am big enough and strong enough to both pull off the Chewbacca look and to carry around a lot of weight for the night. So basically I am looking for a double amputee (someone missing both legs – preferably at the hip) to accompany me as C3PO for the evening. We should meet ahead of time so that we can work out the backpack/harness system. There are a few parties that I want to hit and I think we will be the hit of any event we attend. Anyone up for this?

Wrong and offensive or sci-fi geek cool?

Source: Film Drunk

Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead, 2009 – Movie Review – 31 Days of Horror

Director: Declan O’Brien
Starring: Tom Frederic, Janet Montgomery, Tamer Hassan, Gil Kolirin, Tom McKay, Christian Contreras

Another excellent review by Darren of the excellent The Automaton website. Over half way through the 31 Days of Horror now.

Send me your horror film reviews.

With a name like Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead, you know good and well what’s to follow. You’re probably saying: “I didn’t even know there was a Wrong Turn 2!”

Consider a moment the point of such a film, however. Bad acting? Check. Nudity? Check. Blood and guts? Check. So what’s the harm?

Not every movie is supposed to be as movie and thought-provoking as Atonement, nor should it be, so allow me to extol the virtues of this terrible horror flick.

Wrong Turn is based on the seemingly popular notion that everyone in West Virginia inbreeds, and that inbreeding someone does three things:

1. It takes away your faculties of speech.
2. It mutates you in some Freddy Krueger kind of way.
3. It grants you super strength, an immunity to pain, and regenerative capabilities.

Oh, and you have no moral compunction with mass murder and cannibalism. That just about does it.

Now, into this entire state of nothing but trees and super mutants, throw in teenagers, criminals, and police officers who have someone missed on the news that all of West Virginia is crawling with super mutant cannibals.

Okay, so there’s blood and guts. Is it at least done well. In Wrong Turn, alas, there are several moments of crummy CGI blood, which looks as real as The Flying Nun. But most of the deaths are original and fun, and the acting in such scenes isn’t half bad. It’s pretty bad elsewhere, but in the violence, it works.

The fights are pretty well choreographed, which is an unexpected treat. I was also glad to see the gratuitous mutant sex scene absent in this sequel. (There’s really only one mutant to speak of, so that kinda narrows it down).

The other effects and sets range from good to ridiculous, with 1950s-style fake car scenes, where outside the window looks like a different world rather than the passing night. But the explosions, fires, and other effects make up for it.

So, if you’re in the mood for a good bad horror movie (and for those of you who like them, you know what I mean), check out Wrong Turn 3. However, if you didn’t like the first two, don’t bother. Or if you are expecting something genuinely scary or disturbing. This one hits straight at the chillaxing, gratuitous viewer in you.

Previous 31 Days of Horror reviews: Zoltan Hound of Dracula, Home Movie, The Thing, Vamp, Audition, The Fury, Blood Feast, Paranormal Activity, Braindead, Halloween, Friday the 13th Part 2, Martin, Fright Night, Zombieland

Zoltan: Hound of Dracula, 1978 – Movie Review – 31 Days of Horror

Director: Albert Band
Starring: Michael Pataki, Jan Shutan, Libby Chase, John Levin, Reggie Nalder, Cleo Harrington

This review by Slayerrr666 – all part of my 31 Days of Horror.

Send me your horror film reviews.

Unearthed in a tomb in Romania, Veidt Smith, (Reggie Nalder) a half-man/half-vampire servant to Count Dracula, and Zoltan, Dracula’s dog, are resurrected and find themselves the last remnants of the family. Discovering that the last remaining member is Michael Drake, (Michael Pataki) a surgeon living in California with his wife Marla, (Jan Shutan) and kids Linda, (Libby Chase) and Steve, (John Levin) they travel to America to find them. Uncovering their plans, the Romanian government sends Inspector Branco, (Jose Ferrer) to stop the pair but all three discover the family is out on a vacation in the woods. Catching up with them on their trip, Branco and Michael take on the vampiric family to avoid becoming the next victims in a long list of corpses left in their wake.

The Good News: Of course the real star of the show here would only be the titular Zoltan himself. Fitted out with glowing eyes and ludicrously over-sized fangs, the dog often looks amusingly nonplussed with what is meant to be going on around him. He is certainly one multi-talented dog, however, as he drags heavy looking coffins out of crypts, removes stakes with his teeth and provides several other highly impressive stunts that come off as very well done and give it a certain amount of menace. It’s no surprise that the best moments involve the dog. One minor plot point really makes it watchable and saves the film. During the initial dog/Dracula flashback, our title hound snacks on a random puppy. The poor pooch is found and, since his undead status is unclear, he gets buried. As the ground moves and the infant German Shepherd squeals it’s way through the background, we get the classic scene from the time-honored monster movie tradition of the creature crawling out of the dirt. Naturally, it’s a tiny little bundle of oatmeal-scented love, and it’s absolutely hilarious. It adds to the cheesiness of the movie, as does a later scene, after the carnage is completed and all seems right with the world. We are treated to a return of the vampire puppy, and his closing shot a full close-up of jagged teeth, eyes glow with demonic glee and a Hell-spawned snarl, is another certified scene-stealer. It’s aces and is quite cheesy. The house-siege scenes do have some quite tense moments, as the ethereal howling from the dogs in the background and their frantic assaults to get in anywhere they can in the house, come as close to horror as this film gets, and the several attacks do build up the tension quite nicely. There is one really excellent blood-letting scene, where a fisherman is savagely mauled by the dogs, and the bloody remains are given quite a nice look after-the-fact. But otherwise, this was just a giant cheese-fest.

The Bad News: This here is quite simple. It all depends on how much the plot points stack up in the cheese stakes. There’s quite simply too many to name, from the inherent stupidity of the soldiers early on who discover the corpses, to the reanimated corpses who spend the majority of the time simply staring at others, while the servant gazes at the dog who hypnotically stares at the other dogs in the area. The ludicrous situation that the film comes to, which has the dog army invade a small barricade set-up to stop them, to the events that proceeded them, are just plain cheesy, and there’s no getting around them. The amount of cheese that can be absorbed from a film will be about equal to how much you can find wrong with this one, as it’s the only factor that really seems off in this one, but it’s still a major one.

The Final Verdict: Full of cheese, this would fit right in with the 80s with it’s tone and style, and for the right kind of person, this can be a really pleasant guilty pleasure. It’s not that terrible, but it’s still immensely cheesy film that will not really appeal to those outside of that mind-frame, so take heed with this one.

Previous 31 Days of Horror reviews:  Home Movie, The Thing, Vamp, Audition, The Fury, Blood Feast, Paranormal Activity, Braindead, Halloween, Friday the 13th Part 2, Martin, Fright Night, Zombieland

John Carpenter’s The Ward – Amber Heard has an update

I recently posted a review of The Thing for my 31 Days of Horror. I mentioned there how much I loved that film and I am a big John Carpenter fan.

STYD spoke to Amber Heard (Zombieland, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, The Rum Diary) and they brought up the new John Carpenter film, The Ward.

“I think it’s awesome,” she enthused. “John is a legend and rightfully so. I love that I got to work with him.”

Heard co-stars alongside Danielle Panabaker and Jared Harris in what is Carpenter’s first feature film since Ghosts of Mars. “My character is arrested and thrown into an institution in the ’60s,” she explains of the supernatural thriller. “She meets all of these other characters and things start happening in the institution. You have to second-guess your main character, me, because she is in a mental institution. There are a lot of things that are coming in and out of the story and you don’t know what to think. It’s pretty intense. The film’s in post-production and it will hopefully honor the script, but it was fantastic and a thrilling story.”

Really excited about a new John Carpenter film. The Thing is genius, Halloween superb, Escape from New York is brilliant, They Live best fight scene ever, Starman, Big Trouble in Little China, Ghosts of Mars….moving on.

I just hope JC has got his mojo back and we get some of the greatness we used to love.

Vamp, 1986 – Movie Review – 31 Days of Horror

Director: Richard Wenk
Starring: Chris Makepeace, Sandy Baron, Robert Rusler, Dedee Pfeiffer, Gedde Watanabe, Grace Jones, Billy Drago, Brad Logan
Score: 7 / 10

I remember watching this years ago in the Alex Cox Moviedrome series.

This review by cupidandpsyce85 for my 31 Days of Horror.

Send me your horror film reviews.

Vamp was apparently written in a weekend, and it shows! This isn’t necessarily an insult to the film, because Richard Wenk’s feature-length debut has a goofy, throwaway charm that really pays off for the most part. This isn’t as good as Fright Night, The Lost Boys or Near Dark, but it’s a very likable blend of horror and comedy. The premise is unbeatable: two students hope to win over a campus by delivering them a stripper for the night, only to realise that their choice of dancer is more likely to want to be paid in blood rather than cash…. Chris Makepeace is a good enough lead, and he’s well matched by 80′s god Robert Rusler as his best mate. Gedde Watanabe may test the patience of some with his wildly over-the-top performance as the dude who comes along for the ride, but i found him quite amusing. The best performances are to be found at the After Dark Club, where Keith, AJ and Duncan visit to find their stripper. Dedee Pfieffer (yep, Michelle’s sister) is a treat as a waitress who may or may not be one of the undead, Sandy Baron is funny as the club’s compere, but best of all is Grace Jones as Katrina, the vamp of all vamps. She’s underused: in fact, she’s barely in the second half of the film at all, but she exudes serious presence, sheer animal sensuality and she does all of this without saying a word. Her striptease might terrify more than titillate, while her seduction of one of the main characters is a terrific scene, the best thing in the film. After the first half hour, the action picks up, with amusing consequences: confrontations with deadly lifts, street punks and vamped-out friends make for lots of fun. The last half hour more or less repeats the same formula, with fairly agreeable results, though the final confrontation could have been a lot scarier.

Wenk effectively captures the seedy atmosphere of a strip joint, populated with drunken misery-guts who can never be traced because they never boast the fact that they’re going to such a place. This is one of the film’s cleverer conceits, and one that means the vampires can drink all they want without fear of being traced. The music is appropriately tacky, synth-led bar room music, quite memorable in places too.

Visually, Vamp is pretty cool stuff. As soon as it gets dark, the film adopts a brilliant colourscheme of pink and green lighting, making for some atmospheric action. It doesn’t look realistic, but who cares? It looks great, and gives Vamp a identity all of its own. It also means that this film belongs to that category of 80′s films that you couldn’t imagine being made in any other decade, though the plot and even the vampiric make-up effects seem to have played an influential part in the making of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s cult bloodsucker favourite From Dusk Till Dawn.

Vamp isn’t a particularly great film as it does run out of steam towards the end, but it has loads of excellent moments, remains exceptionally likable and has enough cool effects, good jokes and fun scares to provide a fine hour and a half’s entertainment.

Previous 31 Days of Horror reviews: Audition, The Fury, Blood Feast, Paranormal Activity, Braindead, Halloween, Friday the 13th Part 2, Martin, Fright Night, Zombieland