31 Days of Horror and Mayhem - ArcLight's Nights of Fright

It's the most wonderful time of the year, for horror fans atleast. This is the time of year that we don't have to be coy when it comes to being obscene, nasty and vulgar. We get to let our colors fly proud and get our chance to sit those friends down who have always been a bit too squeamish to watch our favorite flicks. I just love it.

Last year, October was a hectic time of the year for me so I didn't get a chance to celebrate like I normally would, so this year I wanna do some making up. We're talkin' reviews everyday, glimpses of my personal world of horror, some peeks at the horrific events going on in LA and maybe even a give away or two (wink-wink).

I know I missed yesterday, so today I'll be posting double duty and I want to start with one of my favorite events of the Samhain season: Arclight's Nights of Fright.

This is bloody awesome (all puns intended), for fans of horror in the Los Angeles and San Diego areas. Any horror fan knows that the best way to see your favorite classic horror flick is on the big screen. You finally get the opportunity to experience the terror first hand in the way it was originally meant to be, in a room full of people just as eager to be terrified as you are. Last year I indulged in The Exorcist and The Shining, and they were both just too amazing to properly put into words. You see and hear things that you never experienced while watching at home, and the atmosphere is so palpable that it's enough to send a shiver down your spine.

This year, ArcLight has a whole new roster of amazing films that will be showing throughout the month of October and I've taken the time to compile them all below for quick reference. Dig in, and if you're in the LA area, maybe I'll see you at one or two or seven of these below!

A Nightmare on Elm Street - October 2nd (Hollywood), October 12th and 15th (Sherman Oaks), October 20th and 23rd (La Jolla)

Beetlejuice - October 5th and 8th (La Jolla), October 26th and 29th (Beach Cities), October 30th and 31st (Hollywood)

Gremlins - October 5th and 8th (Sherman Oaks), October 12th and 15th (Beach Cities), October 17th and 18th (Hollywood)

The Shining - October 5th and 8th (Beach Cities), October 9th and 10th (Hollywood), October 14th (Pasadena), October 21st and 23rd (Sherman Oaks)

The Thing - October 5th and 8th (Pasadena), October 21st and 23rd (Beach Cities), October 24th and 25th (Hollywood), October 28th (La Jolla)

American Psycho - October 6th (Pasadena), October 22nd (Sherman Oaks)

The Bride of Frankenstein - October 6th and 9th (Beach Cities), October 26th and 30th (Sherman Oaks)

Carrie - October 6th and 9th (Sherman Oaks)

Psycho - October 6th and 9th (La Jolla), October 19th and 22nd (Pasadena), October 27th and 30th (Beach Cities)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - October 7th (La Jolla), October 12th and 15th (Pasadena)

Shaun of the Dead - October 7th (Beach Cities), October 8th and 9th (Hollywood)

Dracula - October 7th (Pasadena)

Little Shop of Horrors (Director's Cut) - October 7th (Sherman Oaks), October 19th (Beach Cities), October 22nd (La Jolla)

Fright Night - October 9th (Pasadena)

The Exorcist - October 12th and 16th (La Jolla), October 26th and 29th (Pasadena), October 30th and 31st (Hollywood)

Alien: Director's Cut - October 13th and 16th (Pasadena)

Rosemary's Baby - October 13th and 16th (La Jolla), October 27th and 29th (Sherman Oaks)

Silence of the Lambs - October 13th and 16th (Beach Cities), October 17th (Hollywood), October 27th (Pasadena)

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre - October 13th and 16th (Sherman Oaks), October 17th (Hollywood)

American Werewolf in London - October 14th (Beach Cities), October 15th and 16th (Hollywood)

From Dusk Til Dawn - October 14th (Pasadena), October 15th and 16th (Hollywood)

Creature from the Black Lagoon - October 14th (Sherman Oaks)

Corpse Bride - October 19th (Sherman Oaks)

Young Frankenstein - October 19th and 21st (La Jolla), October 22nd and 23rd (Hollywood)

Edward Scissorhands - October 20th and 23rd (Pasadena), October 28th (Beach Cities)

Fearless Vampire Killers - October 20th (Sherman Oaks)

Scream - October 20th and 22nd (Beach Cities), October 23rd and 24th (Hollywood), October 26th and 29th (La Jolla)

Ju-On: The Grudge - October 21st (Pasadena)

Last Man on Earth - October 22nd (Hollywood)

Let The Right One In - October 23rd (Hollywood)

Monster Squad - October 28th (Sherman Oaks)

Night of the Creeps (Director's Cut) - October 28th (Pasadena)

Poltergeist - October 27th and 30th (La Jolla), October 29th and 30th (Hollywood)

Videodrome - October 29th (Hollywood), October 30th (Pasadena)

Evil Dead - October 31st (Hollywood)

The Host - November 1st (Hollywood)

So there you have it! The selection this year seems to way surpass last years, I don't remember having such a tough time deciding as I do this year. So for you Angelenos, are you going to partake and if so, what's your poison? Sound off below!

- Rg Lovecraft

Trailer For Eli Roth's CLOWN Reaffirms Childhood Fears

A few years ago, Jon Watts released a faux-trailer for a horror movie called Clown. Horror fans gobbled it up, and much like Thankskilling, wanted to see it become a full length feature. Well, one of those fans happened to be none other than Eli Roth (Hostel, Cabin Fever, The Green Inferno) and he decided to get involved by producing the feature and bringing it to the masses. Dimension will be handling distribution, though there has yet to be a date attached.

Now, apparently this trailer has been making the rounds for 5 months and it has only just now been getting noticed. I'm starting to think that Dimension didn't want it seen though, as it was posted on Reddit last night and in that time it has been locked down on Vimeo. Luckily, Bloody Disgusting happened to find a link to the trailer in all of it's terrifying glory and I have to say, it looks pretty damn awesome.

Dig in here!

Creepshow (1982) - A Review

The most fun you’ll ever have…. BEING SCARED!

Anthology films are fun. While they are not necessarily my favorite, there are always exceptions to the rule, this being that very exception. Written by Stephen King and directed by George A. Romero, this film features a powerhouse of horror icons, including special effects by Tom Savini, King himself (in a one-man segment of the film), Adrienne Barbeau and music by John Harrison. 

Let’s dig on in, shall we?

Cool Find - THE EXORCIST Make Up/Camera Tests

My general love for horror extends beyond the on screen brutality and definitely ventures into the creative aspect of horror films as well. When I was younger, I loved watching every special feature, every documentary or short that I could find about what went on behind the camera. Some would say it's the equivalent of learning how the magician does his tricks, but it's endlessly fascinating to me and it really boosted my respect for the genre to see how they captured Jenning's death in The Omen or how they filmed the hitchhiker blowing her brains out in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake.

Thanks to Reddit, I found a make up and camera test for The Exorcist that I haven't seen it years. Even this short video alone is scary and unsettling, which goes to show how far the terror of this film has extended. Dig it below!

 

Twelve years after the release of Exorcist II: The Heretic was released, William Peter Blatty (the writer of the original novel The Exorcist) made his directorial debut with The Exorcist III. While he had originally planned to release it under a different title, the studio naturally had it's way and dubbed it the third entry in the fated Exorcist trilogy.

If you've read my thoughts on the second chapter, The Heretic, then please do not let that be any indication as to the validity of this film. This one is an exception, and I'm rather excited to share my thoughts about it. 

 

In 1973 the most terrifying film of all time descended upon the masses. A movie so disgusting and vile that people had heart attacks, fainted, passed out and vomited in the theater while watching. That film was The Exorcist, starring the sweet young Linda Blaire as Regan, a girl who is possessed by the demon Pazuzu after playing with a Ouija board. The Catholic Church commended it, saying that it's accurate portrayal of demonic possession could be used as a weapon in God's arsenal in the fight against evil. Now, The Exorcist is one of the most iconic horror films of all time and continues to terrify people the world over. 

In 1977, a sequel was commissioned to be directed by John Boorman, and written by William Goodhart. The sequel, however, was doomed from the start due to constant rewrites, the blatant rejection to return by William Friedkin and William Peter Blatty, as well as some cast members from the first film. Read on to see my thoughts on the sequel to scariest film of all time, The Exorcist II: The Heretic. 

“No tears, please. It’s a waste of good suffering…”

Now, I’ve been working on the Stephen King series post, I promise I have, but the more I work on it the more I realize I have to add on and it’s become quite the exercise in repetition. I’ll make good headway, edit, then add a bunch more, edit that, change things, edit that. Aaaand you get the idea. I will be getting it to you, I’m hoping this weekend, and once I have the first one done all others will come along quite easily.

But last night, I decided to take a break from Pet Sematary and put on something I haven’t watched in years. And I mean, yeeeears. One thing that I love about doing this blog is it affords me the opportunity to watch films I haven’t seen in years, some that I may not have even liked, and revisit old memories, old thoughts and ultimately share them all with you on here. As you all saw last night, my choice for the evening was Clive Barker’s Hellraiser. 

 

26 directors, 26 short films, 26 letters, 26 deaths, 1 film. The ABC’s of Death was different from the moment it was announced. While the horror genre has never been a stranger to the anthology format, something like this had never been done. Combining some of the greatest minds of horror and bringing them together in such a way was new and familiar, and very exciting all at the same time. Not only were 26 directors picked, but each was different from the last. From the toilet-centric absurdist humor of Noburo Iguchi to the visceral, violent tendencies of Srdjan Spasojevic, you see a little bit of everything, and in a film like this… that could either be a great thing or a bad idea completely.

READER REQUEST

NOTE: This post is backdated, and was posted several months ago in response to a request from a Tumblr reader. 

This blog is a few weeks old, so it’s exciting to have people start to take interest in it. I hope to get more of these, I will do as many as I can while still maintaining the post calendar I’ve created for the next couple months.

Now, onto the post, user chibitized made a request:

“I’d like to read your opinion on the Friday the 13th franchise. Which one is your favorite? Least favorite?”

This is one I wasn’t anticipating doing for a while. I was planning on sticking to current and modern film reviews, news and articles and keeping the classics for special occasions such as anniversaries and special edition releases, but I’m excited to dig my teeth into this one because I have a varied opinion on this franchise. 

As you may have seen me mention already, I’m not a huge fan of slasher flicks. There are some that I love but for the most part I lose interest with any franchise. After the 3^rd installment I normally become disenchanted, annoyed and just bored with it. The Friday the 13^th franchise is one of the three holy grails of slasher films. There are three names that come to people’s minds when they think of slasher films, or even horror films in general, and they are Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger and, of course, Jason Voorhees (more commonly known, simply as Jason). Out of the three, Jason is probably my least favorite but that does not mean that I do not find worth in the franchise as a whole. Here are my thoughts:

RANDOM FIND: 163 Horror Movies in 2 1/2 Minutes

I thought it was pretty fun trying to see if I knew all 163 horror movies. Some of them may not fall precisely within the category of horror but they all fit the vibe. Pretty rad song accompanies it too.