MetaFilter posts tagged with horror and movies

From the Dark

Artw — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 19:51:20 -0800

The HP Lovecraft Literary Podcast talks to director Stuart Gordon about Herbert West - Reanimator (part 1, part 2). A prolific director, Gordon is responsible for some of the better adaptations of Lovecraft's work (and From Beyond). Currently he is directing Reanimator star Jeffrey Combs as Edgar Allan Poe in the one-man shoe Nevermore, which just finished a hugely successful run in LA and is now heading for Poe's hometown of Baltimore.

Famous Monsters of Filmland

brundlefly — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:22:24 -0800

Famous Monsters of Filmland, the legendary genre magazine edited by the late Forrest J Ackerman (previously), will be resurrected by comic publisher IDW.

More than 50 years of the big red blobby thing

filthy light thief — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:46:20 -0800

What's 51 years old and made of silicone with red food dye? The Blob, best known for it's work in The Blob, an independent film released in 1958, with Steve McQueen's second movie role (following Never Love a Stranger, which was released earlier that same year). The movie has been considered the definitive '50s film about a town that won't listen to the kids until it's too late (as noted in a review for the Criterion laserdisc release), with a super-catchy theme song (extended single version and b-side Saturday Night in Tiajuana) that was Burt Bacharach's third US hit song. (See more: theatrical trailer, full film on Veoh, full film as YouTube playlist) Times change, and so do monsters, and things got a bit wacky in the 1970s, with Beware! The Blob (aka Son of Blob; wiki, trailer, full film). The sequel played more to the slapstick comedy than the sci-fi/horror spectrum of things. Thirty years after the original, The Blob was remade in 1988 (wiki, trailer, full film), and is supposedly being re-created by Rob Zombie, though his statement about reviving The Blob without "the big red blobby thing" has people asking, then why remake The Blob? (previous blobby goodness) The Blob was not intended to be about Communism, according to the film's producer, Jack Harris, when he was interviewed at BlobFest VIII in 2007. BlobFest started as a fundraiser in 1999 to restore The Colonial Theater, a prominent feature of the original film. Since the first fundraiser, the event has become an annual celebration of All Things The Blob, including a scream competition, run-out re-enactment, Shorty Film Contest, and more. For gobs more on (classic version of) The Blob, see TheBlobSite.

Damn, there's too much static.

flatluigi — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:03:58 -0800

No Signal - A montage of cellphones in horror movies. _{(link via waxy, who has an archive of more montages like these here)}

eerie imaginings from the East

nickyskye — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 21:25:52 -0800

Asian Horror Movies.com. 100's of free, streaming video, full movies, which have English subtitles. Index of titles updated regularly. Japanese, Korean, Thai. Includes a wide variety of films from an eccentric fantasy like 100% Wool to a psychological thriller like Angel Dust. Viewer reviews are below the screen, so you can have a little idea of the film. Recommended: A Tale of Two Sisters l Inner Senses l The Host l Ju-on l Kwaidan l Save the Green Planet l Wild Zero l Audition l Cure l Dorm.

Carnival of Souls

Iridic — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 12:44:42 -0800

Harold "Herk" Harvey, a director of educational and industrial films for the Centron Corporation, was driving through Utah when he spotted the derelict Saltair Resort squatting on a mudded lakebed. The sight charged him with ideas, and when he returned home he recruited his Centron colleages and an unknown method actress to make a psychological horror movie. The atmospheric result, shot over three weeks at locations in Kansas and Utah, was 1962's Carnival of Souls. Partially annotated YouTube version. Archived Crit erion essays. Criterion Contraption essay. Some of Harvey's Centron shorts: "Speech: Using Your Voice" (1950) "Cheating" (1952) "Why Study Industrial Arts?" (1956) "Shake Hands With Danger" (1980)

Making A Bad Movie

Artw — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 18:26:25 -0800

It was the 80's. We were younger then, and anything seemed possible. So it all seemed part of Destiny when my very first screenplay was bought and produced; fame and fortune was surely just around the corner. HA! Fat chance.- The making of Forever Evil.

"I will rip the living flesh off your bones!"

brundlefly — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 13:51:20 -0800

"A group of teenagers, en route to attend a rock concert, lose their way when their car runs out of fuel in the dead of night. They find themselves in an unfamiliar rural backwater where they are confronted by flesh-eating zombies and a psychotic cannibalistic killer dressed in a sheet. It could be the plot to a thousand Hollywood horror films but while these teenagers may dress, talk and smoke dope like young Americans they are in fact young Pakistanis, and the film - Zibahkhana or Hell's Ground - is the first modern horror film to be filmed in Pakistan."

Horror Saturday

Mblue — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 14:42:38 -0800

Your teenage son loves terrible horror movies, like C.H.U.D. How do you mend his ways? Well, you start with Paranoiac, and move on to Ravenous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9,10,11,12. While he's still quaking, show him Takashi Miike's brutal Ôdishon ( even YouTube won't air those scenes.) Lighten the coming dark with Shaun of the Dead.

Did somebody say "lox?"

brundlefly — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 11:25:50 -0800

Night of the Living Jews: Exactly what it sounds like. The trailer is NSFW.

Top 50 Horror Movies.

Four-Eyed Girl — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 16:32:58 -0800

Top 50 Horror Movies This is one blogger's opinion of the Top 50 horror movies. There are some expected (Night of the Living Dead, The Exorcist) and some unexpected (Return of the Living Dead 3, Interview with the Vampire) choices for the top horror movies.

I suddenly have an intense desire to watch a Jimmy Stewart film. And take a shower.

jbickers — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 09:09:49 -0800

"It wasn't scary, it was just gratuitous, as if they thought, 'I know, let's have a rape,' and that made me quite angry." The question will be asked often in the coming weeks, as "Vacancy" and "Hostel 2" approach: Do modern horror films ("gorno," or gore pornography) go too far, particularly when it comes to women? Who said violent misogyny was entertaining? Is this just a retread of the exploitation wave of the 1970s/80s? (Most links NSFW, sensitive souls, people who detest violence)

The Super Swedish Angel

Astro Zombie — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 16:48:30 -0800

Had he not died in 1971, Tor Johnson would be 103 today. Who could forget his face? Or that it makes a great mask? Don't we often think back fondly on his remarkable filmography? He made a great partner for Bela Lugosi! Who could forget that he tended to break toilet seats when he sat on them, and so would often steal them?

Dark M&Ms, dark movies.

Faint of Butt — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 11:05:17 -0800

Identify the 50 "dark" movie titles hidden in this painting. A clever bit of viral marketing for M&Ms Dark Chocolate.

Hey, up yours with a twirling lawnmower!

onedarkride — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 08:12:15 -0800

Trying to forget the past? Not digging the bad sequels and schlock-horror spinoffs? The house that Freddy built's first commercial success is now back in theatres, but only for a limited time. Get your funny glove love on, order tickets, and see A Nightmare on Elm Street on the big screen once again.

Taste the Blood of 10-Year-Old Dracula!

Astro Zombie — Sun, 16 Apr 2006 14:09:58 -0800

What did kids do before the Internet? Well, some bought makeup magazines, grabbed their parents' Super-8 cameras, and made their own horror movies. Now that kids have the Internet? Well, more of the same (albeit with slightly less sophisticated monsters). (YouTube, Google Video).

His most notable eartly role was as a contestant in the "ugly man competition" (which he loses to Charles Laughton) in the RKO production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Astro Zombie — Sun, 05 Mar 2006 14:46:18 -0800

There was a time when his scowling, oversized visage, his battered black fedora, and his long black coat, were as familiar to horror fans as such characters as Frankenstein and Dracula. This character, who appeared in three films, was called "The Brute Man" or "The Creeper."

Only that terrifying face wasn't a mask or a creation of makeup. It was an actual face, a product of a condition called agromegaly. And The Creeper never planned to be an actor at all, he was simply decorated war veteran-turned-Tampa reporter who had shown up one day to cover a film. The movie's director noticed him and recommended he move to Hollywood and pursue a career as a character actor.

He was Rondo Hatton.

Lon Chaney's power to terrify

matteo — Sat, 18 Feb 2006 12:48:29 -0800

"He was someone who acted out our psyches ... He somehow got into the shadows inside our bodies; he was able to nail down some of our secret fears and put them on-screen... the history of Lon Chaney is the history of unrequited loves. He brings that part of you out into the open, because you fear that you are not loved, you fear that you never will be loved, you fear there is some part of you that's grotesque, that the world will turn away from."
A Valentine for Lon Chaney, the Man of a Thousand Faces. (BugMeNot for the first link; more inside)

Trapped in a hotel he never made...

keswick — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 21:27:01 -0800

Coming soon to a theater near you. If The Shining were made today. [via waxy]

Amityville Horror, revisited

KirkJobSluder — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 20:55:51 -0800

The house in Amityville with the fan-shaped windows making an inhuman face is the Godzilla of haunted house movies. The town and current owner of the house where the DeFeo family was murdered try to downplay (registration required) its signficance. The trademark windows in the original have been replaced to disguise its identity, and lawsuits force studios to use a house-double. Although latest remake claims the status of "true story," the case has been widely dismissed as a hoax and the 2005 film has even rased the ire of George Lutz for how he is portrayed as the haunted father-figure. Other people involved in the case including convicted murder DeFeo are unhappy with the new attention. Still, the story has its true believers and psychics who argue the debunkers have their own agenda. Then again, Texas Chainsaw Massacre was also claimed by the same production company to be "inspired by a true story."

The Horror Channel

Jeffy — Thu, 02 Oct 2003 15:41:30 -0800

The Horror Channel A 24-hour, all-horror, uncensored, digital cable channel plans to be launched for Halloween 2004, with programming to include classic and contemporary movies, specials, documentaries and original series’ each season. CEO and founder Nicholas A. Psaltos (former Director of Acquisitions and Program Administration at Bravo Television Networks) hopes the new genre network will capitalize on the success of other genre channels like Comedy Central and The Sci-Fi Channel. Psaltos has even put together a creative advisory board of genre legends and newcomers including John Carpenter, Roger Corman, Wes Craven, Guillermo del Toro, Tobe Hooper, Stuart Gordon, Lucky McKee, Eli Roth, George Romero and Rob Zombie. Starting a TV network is risky business and The Horror Channel is petitioning horror fans to help with programming by providing a survey on their consumer website. (Via Rue Morgue)

Katemonkey — Tue, 05 Nov 2002 05:19:43 -0800

As the remake of Ringu opens in Japan, a rash of remakes of Asian horror movies seems to be winding its way through Hollywood. Not only has Hideo Nakata's latest movie, Honogurai mizu no soko kara (Dark Water), been optioned, the inevitable remake of Ringu 2 will occur, and the Hong Kong The Sixth Sense-esque The Eye has also been picked up for the Hollywood process. While it's nothing new to remake classic Japanese movies, this latest wave brings a lot of new questions. Is it near-impossible for the US to create horror movies that aren't increasingly self-referential? How long is it before we get remakes of Audition, Battle Royale, and Suicide Club? And will we eventually end up with a horror movie in the style of Fa talai jone, a Thailand Western influenced by Hollywood Westerns which were influenced by Japanese Samurai movies?

GaelFC — Thu, 31 Oct 2002 08:41:05 -0800

100 scariest movie moments Retrocrush is listing their top 100 scariest movie moments, and so far, the quality is pretty high -- well-chosen scenes, and interesting writeups. And one exploding head. You've been warned. Happy Halloween!

serafinapekkala — Fri, 18 Oct 2002 08:16:33 -0800

Hello Kitty remakes "The Blair Witch Project." This is either the most clever or most inane Yahoo! Greeting I've ever seen...wait, is "inane Yahoo! Greeting" redundant? Happy pre-Halloween Friday...does anyone remember TBWP fondly these days, as the nights grow spooky? Going to see "The Ring" tonight?

toddshot — Wed, 31 Jul 2002 02:54:34 -0800

Don't watch this. Dreamworks is starting up the hype machine for their remake of the Japanese horror film Ringu (aka The Ring), and it looks like they're taking the A.I. route with it. The movie centers on a mysterious videotape that causes those who watch it to die seven days later. Websites are popping up all over the place that seem to connect to the 'mystery'. The first link up top goes to a flash teaser of the actual video from the film, but if you're brave, you can watch the whole thing at iFilm. I'm curious if this will indeed turn out to be an online game like the Evan Chan mystery from A.I., or just some better-than-average Web marketing for what looks to be a damn creepy movie.