Posted by:
John Gholson
I can’t speak for how faithful this adaptation of Marquis De Sade’s Justine (aka Cruel Passion) is, but if it doesn’t stick directly to the text, I have to imagine it sticks to the author’s intent (the best it can, that is, without being pornographic). Under the direction of Chris Boger, and the lens of Coen Brothers stalwart Roger Deakins, Justine is an erotically-charged, bleak little number about a girl (Koo Stark, supposedly playing a pre-teen, though she’s obviously and thankfully in her 20′s) who clings desperately to her innocence while ricocheting from scene to scene where that chastity is put to the test in harrowing ways.
The film doesn’t skimp on the depravity, featuring rape, necrophilia, mother-son incest and more, but before you draw the conclusion that this is some despicable sleaze-fest, it really isn’t. Boger, perhaps limited by the censors, picks his battles, and when he does, he always chooses sexual frankness over outright titillation. Many things are discussed or implied without being directly shown. There’s not much nudity in here for an “erotic” film from the 1970′s, and Boger chooses to construct the entire film as little episodes of trouble for Justine, building up to its nihilistic, tough-as-nails conclusion.
Posted by:
Seth Hall
Monsters are real.
This we know, but even the most avid horror fanatics grow weary of the overeager and ultimately unscientific methods by which those graced with television presence attempt to prove the existence of said monsters. So, how could anyone possibly make this done to death idea any good? Simple. Turn everything backwards.
Hoax Hunters, written by Michael Moreci and Steve Seeley with art by JM Ringuet, made its Issue #0 debut months ago, but thanks to the Kickstarter project named “ReincarNATE”, Hoax Hunters will now be its own series. Moreci and Seeley will be returning as writers, but Axel Medellin will be taking over the art.
So what is this new comic about? Imagine if undiscovered species such as monsters did in fact exist. In this world where there are more believers than skeptics, how would the media react? In our world, we have reality and documentary shows trying to boost network ratings by attempting to prove the existence of such creatures. So if these such “cryptids” really did exist, then the natural reaction of these shows would be to disprove their existence!
Posted by:
Seth Hall
Dark, disturbing, claustrophobic, and suffocating, like a dead, decomposing albatross draped upon the shoulders of the subconscious.
Neil Marshall’s The Descent was more than just another film about creatures that go bump in the dark. The primal, brutal, disgusting nature of the creatures forced the civilized protagonists to bury their modern sensibilities in order to survive. The film was less about the descent into an uncharted cave filled with flesh-devouring monsters, and more about the descent into madness. And then Marshall goes on to ask us the question to which we do not want to know the answer. Is it ever possible to go back?
Posted by:
Seth Hall
Welcome, mortals, to The Weekly Offering. Here, we present our dark gifts in hopes that we please the Ancient Ones, that they might spare us. They are satisfied with our humble sacrifices of news, images, reviews, and commentary through the week, but on Fridays, they desire more. Their weekends, their unholy Sabbath, know no bounds. And so, to satisfy their bloodlust, as well as yours, we bring you these short, savory offerings.
Fatale Trade Coming Next Month from Image Comics
Guns, cults, murder, monsters, and one dangerous dame.
Horror meets noir in Fatale, the new comic series from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. With issue #5 released this week, the first story arc comes to a conclusion, and Image Comics is planning to release the first trade collection in June.
The story follows a beautiful and mysterious woman named Josephine as she is in turn followed by an unknown and brutally violent evil. Along the way, many men are drawn to her, and one by one they begin to meet their own grisly, psychologically tormenting fates.
Look for the trade, Death Chases Me, on June 27, along with issue #6 and a brand new story arc. If you haven’t picked up this bloodstone gem of a horror comic, now would be a good time to do so. The Ancient Ones do not look kindly on those who neglect such things.
Source: Image Comics
Posted by:
Damon Swindall
After starting in Washington D.C. nine years ago Horror Movie Night has expanded to include chapters in Austin, Dallas and Chicago. Horror’s Not Dead’s own Brian Kelley is the originator and programmer of this illustrious weekly Wednesday night tradition which features a “classic” horror film. Each week I will be reviewing/commenting on the past week’s selection so do your best to find the film, most of which have not made it past VHS, and follow along. Better yet, start your own chapter!
Two years ago, long before I started toiling away on these weekly columns, we watched a film called The Unnamable for Horror Movie Night. I tried to remember what it was about a couple weeks ago and, for the life of me, could not recall but the foggiest of possible plots. I knew it was a Lovecraft adaptation and involved college kids and shenanigans at an old, cursed house in the woods. But really, what late 80s horror film didn’t involve that combination? So I crept down into my extensive horror vault and retrieved a copy to re-watch. Immediately it all came flooding back to me. It was a great time to give this another viewing since it was time that HMN braved the sequel from 1993 with the lengthy title The Unnamable II: The Statement of Randolph Carter. This definitely improves upon some of its predecessor’s weaknesses, has fun, but still lacks something to propel it to greatness.
Posted by:
Jeremy Kirk
Sergio Diaz
There’s a hole deep in the darkest parts of South L.A. where dreams never met and talent never realized go to die. Black deaths. It’s like something out of Lovecraft. Remember the dumpster in Mulholland Drive? Yeah. Of course, no one dares look into this hole. Not for too long. That would be tatamount to diving into the bowels of Hell itself. And who’d do that, I mean really? By reaching into this dark realm, we can bring to light these visions of a past not created and explore what could have been had the stars aligned differently. Let’s call it a What If or a Who Should Have or a…Shadow Cast. That’s what the demons call it.
Anywho, our first character to be recast is Freddy Krueger, and I know what you’re saying. Why are we casting Freddy Krueger when A Nightmare on Elm Street was remade just two years ago? The simple answer is Hollywood doesn’t really care that this story was brought back for modern audiences only a short while back. There is sure to be another Nightmare on Elm Street film made, and chances are it’ll happen some time before the end of this decade.
Posted by:
Rod Paddock
“I kick ass for the lord!” says the kung-fu master priest in Peter Jackson’s crazy ass film Dead Alive. With dialogue like that what could go wrong? In the case of Dead Alive, nothing. This film is pure pleasure and I had an absolute riot.
I have a theory that horror and comedy share a lot of similarities. My wife stares at me strangely as I laugh when someone is impaled by a kitchen implement, run over by a piece of farming machinery, or blown up in a meaty explosion. These are elements that make watching horror films fun. Dead Alive possesses many of these “quality” moments. With a proper blend of horror, action and comedy Dead Alive is a tasty jambalaya of a horror film.
Dead Alive (formerly known as Braindead) tells the story of a search for the infamous Sumatran rat-monkey. The rat monkey, a legendary creature, thought to be the result of the breeding between tree monkeys and plague rats, inhabits Skull Island, where our adventure begins. The rat-monkey is eventually located and captured, at which time it proceeds to attack the leader of the expedition. After being attacked, the expedition leader receives a rather interesting treatment for the wound (you’ll have to see it to believe it). The rat-monkey is then taken to a zoo located in 1950s Wellington New Zealand.
Posted by:
John Gholson
Dark Shadows fans, worried that Tim Burton has turned your beloved TV show into something funny? Don’t worry. He hasn’t. Welcome to Collinsport, a sleepy Maine fishing town, home of the supernaturally troubled Collins family and their long lost vampiric relative from centuries ago, Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp). In his younger days, Barnabas made the mistake of fooling around with a jealous witch (Eva Green), and it cost him his humanity and the life of his one true love. He’s back now, and ready to take on the 1970′s fishing industry with gusto! Such is the plot of Dark Shadows, a hopeless mish-mash of weak comedy and even weaker melodrama, chained by the leg to its source material and tossed into a sea of gothic set dressing and meaningless, non-stop talking.
Barnabas Collins is presented on the written page (by screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith) as an insatiable cad, desired by nearly every woman he meets, and unable to control his own lustful urges. It feels appropriate of his soap opera character roots, where passionate sexual trysts are a near-daily activity. What Grahame-Smith may not have counted on is that Burton doesn’t have any interest (or possibly doesn’t even understand) sex at all. Through Depp and Burton’s interpretation, Barnabas is another cartoon character brought to life, influenced simultaneously by German expressionism and the Groovy Ghoulies. Many key scenes, in which Green’s Angelique is able to manipulate Barnabas’s carnal nature into situations that he immediately regrets, end up not making a lick of sense when deflated into an embarrassed rush of special effects and rimshot-ready dialogue.
Posted by:
Seth Hall
Saying that I enjoy art is like saying that a zombie occasionally indulges in cerebral gray matter.
Saying that I am fond of Lovecraft mythology would be like implying that Nosferatu was partial to AB positive.
So when I saw this collection of Lovecraftian monsters drawn in the style of Edward Gorey, the part of my brain that gets excited over new art and the part that was driven insane by unnameable evil long ago began to collide like the bow of a ship to the head of an ancient evil god.
These Post-It Monstres were created by John Kenn Mortensen, and you can check out his gallery right here.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Each of these seems to be composed of 521 screams, 387 cold chills, 63 cases of clinical insanity, 28 devoured souls, and 1 terrifying story.
Posted by:
John Gholson
First things first, I can almost guarantee you’ve never seen a film like Bill Gunn’s 1973 effort Ganja & Hess. Perhaps incorrectly labeled as “blaxploitation” because of the time period in which it was released, this vampire movie is about as far from something like Blacula as you can possibly get. Kino Lorber, along with the Museum of Modern Art, has restored the film from its abbreviated 78 minutes to the director’s 110-minute vision, and in doing so, has presented us with a soulful, difficult film that’s more of a loose collection of atmospheric sequences than a 1970′s shocker. The movie it reminded me of the most was Let’s Scare Jessica to Death, but even then, that film is more concerned with its narrative than Gunn’s avant garde take on horror.
Duane Jones, recognizable to horror fans everywhere as Ben from Night of the Living Dead, plays Hess Green, who we’re told is cursed with vampirism by being stabbed with a cursed dagger before the film begins. Hess treats his curse a little bit like one might treat a compulsive secret – with personal fulfillment and privacy. He meets Ganja (Marlene Clark), the widow of one of his victims, and she’s unusually tolerant of his vampirism (such is love). Soon, his private activity becomes a shared one.
Posted by:
Seth Hall
Like a chainsaw arm to a zombie skull, the ugly demon of civil lawsuits has once again cut its way into the news. And this time, I’m fairly certain I know whose side we’re all on.
A legal battle has erupted over the rights to a fourth Evil Dead film. When Sam Raimi and Renaissance Pictures registered the mark for a fourth installment of the cult classic series, they found a nasty surprise in the dark, dank basement of the U.S. Trademark Office. Awards Pictures is claiming that they have also been planning a new Evil Dead, and that they maintain the rights to make the film.
Posted by:
Brian Salisbury
What the hell is The Roving Eye, and what is it doing here? A fair question, if rudely phrased. Here at HND our passion for the genre tends to restrict us, often under penalty of death from The Old One, to only writing about horror. While this is an acceptable edict for any website model in our opinion, there are times when we wish we could bring you coverage of great genre films that don’t fall into the horror category. So we consulted the ancient tomes, engaged in dark meditation, and made many, many sacrifices to Cthulhu. Finally we were granted permission to introduce HND’s one-and-only non-horror column. Every week(ish), The Roving Eye will introduce you to a film you’ve probably never heard of that will feature either gangsters, aliens, sorcerers, samurais, martial arts, superheroes, or roaring muscle cars…or, fingers crossed, all of the above. Ladies and madmen, I give you The Roving Eye.
