Vintage Magazine: Famous Monsters of Filmland, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Pg. 14 - 30)

Continuing from where we left off with Famous Monsters, this section contains some stories and more cool film info. Later today I'll be sharing our latest podcast episode too, hopefully. Provided I can finish the editing in time!

Episode 42 - The Halloween Spook-Tacular, Part 4

You want a blockbuster special? Well kid, you got it. That's right, everyone's favorite Halloween movies at long last. No more Loomis. No more Jamie. All Michael, all the time! Can Corey and Maddy survive to the very end? Probably not, but they tried their best! In this episode we discuss H20 and Resurrection.

Check out this episode!

Drive-In Trailers: Slash and Trash

With the Halloween-crazy trend this month, I decided it might be time to tackle slasher movie trailers. What better way to pay tribute to the movie that started it all than to look at some of the many, many, many great and campy movies it inspired? Okay, I admit the Sledgehammer clip isn't a trailer, but it would be a crime against humanity NOT to share at least a small clip of the 'masterpiece' that it was.

Horror Flick of the Week: The Final Girls (2015)

I have a confession. I'm a movie snob. I've got a strict 'no insult/putdown' rule on this blog for movies, because no matter how bad the picture, a film always has a lot of work put into it, and there's going to be an audience for just about everything. Still, I am a movie snob. It's tough for me to put on a lot of new things, because I have this desperate fear I'll waste ten or more minutes of my life on a film I may hate. Even after hearing rave reviews about this one, listening to an interview with the director, and adoring the description...the poster had me convinced I just wouldn't like it...

This movie, my friends, is why I have to remind myself NOT to judge anything by its cover. I loved it. Every shot, every second, every line. As a not-so-subtle tribute to everything camp slasher (literal summer camp slasher), and a clear nod to the Friday the 13th series, it was perfect. Do yourself a favor this week, and if not now, then definitely on this Friday the 13th...watch some F13...and then pop in The Final Girls. You will love it.

On another note, best striptease scene ever. EVER. Yes, my friends, even Dusk Till Dawn.

Drive-in Trailers: Heavy Metal Horror

Warm up the projector, it's time yet again (and at long last) for some movie trailers! You thought I'd run out? Hah! This week, I'd like to feature a nice little niche subgenre, 'heavy metal horror'. 'Rocksploitation'. Or, 'Pardon Me, But Your Guitar is in My Neck.'

A lot of these films may be somewhat difficult to watch, but they've also all got something in common worth noting: awesome soundtracks. If any of you gets the chance to snatch up a copy of the Rocktober Blood album, do it! Unfortunately, the epitome of all 80s Metal Horror movies, Rock N Roll Nightmare, did not have a trailer available...so, in lieu of that, Thor's 'erotic final battle' sequence is here instead. Not a trailer, but--well, I mean, that's the only part anybody wants to watch anyway. Remember kids, stay in school, don't do drugs, don't worship Satan, and under no circumstances ever pick up a Twisted Sister album!

Horror Flick of the Week: Christmas Evil (1980)

Tis the season, isn't it? No, I'm not generically recommending this movie because it's horror and Christmas related. I actually finally got around to watching it because someone else couldn't stop talking about the damned thing. Honestly, I expected a slasher. That's all. A slasher with a guy in a Christmas suit...I didn't expect to actually care about the guy in a way, or to actually find a real moral behind most of the story. I certainly didn't mean to find out the true meaning of Christmas.

But...I did, I did, and I definitely did.

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If you've done Black Christmas (the original and the remake) to death, don't find Gremlins has enough bite to it anymore, and could very well strangle the next teeny-bopper with a Jack Skellington wrist bracelet, then maybe check out Christmas Evil this year.

In a way, Krampus almost tried to communicate a little of what I got from Christmas Evil, but they were too caught up in the flash, the spectacle, etc. This one had a great balance. I couldn't help but think as I watched it that 'yeah, if a guy really did decide to become Santa Clause, this is probably how he'd do it.'

Drive-in Trailers: Road Tripping

It's been ages since we've had a drive-in trailer entry, so here goes. Next week (Halloween),
I'll be road-tripping with a couple of friends to a convention in Galveston. In honor of said trip,
let's explore the horrific events that might occur, if we take a detour, pick up a hitch-hiker, or decide to make a pit stop...

Note: The Manos one is a fan-made trailer...but it's so perfect...I had to include it.

Horror Flick of the Week: Sleepaway Camp (1983)

Hey gang, looks like yet another year of Cryptkeeping madness for me. So I decided I'd start it off with tossing out a nice little classic slasher suggestion. If you haven't seen it and don't know how it ends, for the love of god DON'T look it up. You'll ruin the fun. Even if you do know, though, give the movie a watch anyway.

The acting is odd. It's a combination between decent actors on one side and god-awful Troma-level actors on the other. Somehow it comes together well enough to be an entertaining little romp best coupled with Friday the 13th. Now don't get me wrong...it's nowhere near as good as F13, so you might want to watch it first. You might also want to avoid sending any kids you might have now or some day off to summer camp too...

80s Horror Posters

Today I decided to share some pretty graphics, and what better decade for interesting horror posters and movie covers than the golden age of camp? The 80s!

Podcast, Episode 13 - Comedy Horror

I don't know if you guys have gathered yet, but there's one thing Julianne/Maddy/Chris all have in common. They like funny stuff. With that in mind, we all agreed horror comedies would be an awesome topic this episode. The movies we tackle this episode are three incredible classics: Young Frankenstein, Club Dread, and Tucker & Dale Vs Evil.

Finally, in the interest of independent films, we've also got a treat for the web-series fans out there. A trailer of a new show called 'Low Spirits', and it looks pretty awesome to me! (Hallow-holics are in no way associated with Low Spirits or the production of it, we just think it looks cool.)

Horror Kickstarter: Squib

As an aspiring filmmaker, I'm always on the lookout for awesome-looking Kickstarter projects related to horror. This week, I stumbled upon a small project with an intriguing plot: independent filmmakers trying to make a low budget slasher film end up 'cutting corners' to get their movie made. But let the director tell you about it.

As you know, the best bit about Kickstarter is that there are usually some pretty awesome gifts offered to anybody contributing to the project. Squib is no exception, and I encourage anybody who has a bit of extra cash and the desire to see independent filmmaking thrive to maybe swing by the kickstarter page for Squib and toss in a couple bucks.

Drive-in Trailers: Giallo-ous Much?

I have no jokes for this entry, gang, sorry. I just have a note which kind of helps clarify why I like Giallo movies and yet at the same time despise most of the splatter-trash that came out of the 70s. Giallo films tended to be a bit better in film quality, though there were plenty of god-awful attempts...there always are...but they also really made the female deaths pretty. I mean when women had to be nude onscreen, it was less vulgar and more...artistic with splashes of blood? As a heterosexual woman, this made the rampant female nudity a bit more pardonable in the genre. For me, at least. The point I'm trying to make here is that Giallo films are awesome. So here's a few trailers!

Warning: Some trailers, especially the foreign language ones, may have explicit material unsuitable for children.

Horror Flick of the Week: Frailty (2001)

When I hear people tell me that Matthew Mcconaughey has only recently started doing more noteworthy roles, not only do I want to slap them silly...but I have the extreme desire to list out great films he's been in that have reached the 10+ year mark. I don't usually go that far, because for some reason people start to zone out if you give them movie nerd lingo. But I really want to.

This one is a favorite of mine, and each week I've considered talking about it...then looked back and thought maybe I just couldn't do it justice. I mean, not only does it have Mr. Mcconaughey, but it's directed by Bill Paxton. Obviously if you've watched that trailer up there, you'll note he's in it too. It's got Powers Boothe too, who I believe is an incredibly strong character actor in his own right. So from the get-go you'll note it's got a pretty strong cast.

Before I start, I want to tell you right now not to even think about looking up the ending if you haven't seen this movie. You'll deprive yourself of an awesome experience if you do...so I'm warning you, do not look up the ending. If you do, the god's hand killer just might have to deal with you.

It begins with a detective who's pretty much focused on finding this serial killer called...you guessed it...the god's hand killer. Then out of the rain, a strange man shows up in the middle of the night. He not only knows who the killer is, but admits to being the killer's brother. Thus the story really gets under way, as he explains his experience as a child growing up with his brother.

Oh Bill, how do you do menacing and charming so well?

They were pretty normal kids in a small town with a good father who truly cared about them. But everything is pretty much destroyed when dad comes home one day to tell them he received a message from an angel that the apocalypse is coming, and he has to kill people who are "really demons." It really sounds just like an episode out of The Andy Griffith Show, if you think about it. Only instead of Don Knotts, the love-able supporting character is an axe and pair of old gloves. Also a pipe.

The younger brother, Adam, is all for it. But the older one, Fenton...something bugs him about this.

Obligatory Father-Son bonding moment.

I really can't reveal any more without ruining it for you...but really. It's just fantastic.

For a Gory Cause: Charlie Lives

Hey guys, I'm taking a break from the regular routine of comics and reviews today to let you know about something that's got me pretty excited. It's an awesome kickstarter projected for a concept that I could really get behind.

You've got your Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Your House of 1000 Corpses. Your general classic slasher flicks that are inspired by real events, but have very little to do with them...and then you've got Charlie Lives. But I'll let the page to the talking for itself.

Charlie Lives: The Family's Return

Drive-in Trailers: HO HO HO-...rror

As Christmas approaches, a strange chill seems to settle over the world. The carnage of Black Friday has passed, but an even greater danger waits. From his frozen lair, the beast awakens. Clawed and grinning, Kris Kringle must once more feed on the children of-…wait, that doesn’t happen? You mean he’s a completely genial symbol of a joyful holiday bringing families together to celebrate the birth of the Christian messiah, winter, and togetherness? Damn. Well, now I suppose this list of Christmas trailers is totally inappropriate…but I’ll list them anyway.

Horror Flick of the Week: Student Bodies

Don’t let the online ratings fool you! This movie is terrible. Wait, that’s exactly what the online reviews say…okay, let me rephrase this. Don’t let the online ratings ‘deter’ you, or the fact that almost every single cast member involved with this movie didn’t want to receive any credit whatsoever for it.

It’s cheesy, raunchy, stupid, funny, at times painful…and fantastic. Fantastic in that everyone pretty much knows what they’re in is stupid, and they’re all adults…but they aren’t above acting like children, or milking DUMB gags until they’re crying for mercy. Believe it or not, this was pretty unique for it’s time. Way ahead of Scary Movie, with considerably less drug jokes. It’s a direct parody of Slasher, which wasn’t a completely formed genre yet. Coming out of the age of Grindhouse ‘masterpieces’, this film was made at the perfect time.

Honestly, completely sober, I feel drunk when I watch this. So if you think about it, I saved a lot of money sitting through Student Bodies. You could too! Unless you prefer to appreciate films merely for the sake of art and brilliance, or you’re too highly evolved for juvenile humor and pre-marital sex.

The main premise is that a serial killer called ‘Breather’ kills teenagers who have sex, usually with unique methods…like vegetables…and horse-head bookends. Meanwhile, there’s a lot of teenagers having sex all over the place. Don’t forget the janitor, Malvert, who’s actually a lot more funny and terrifying than the Breather (which is saying something. The Breather is hilarious.) The secondary premise is that everyone’s an idiot. Like Airplane…with a serial killer.