Horror Guy

Pieces, 09/30/2009

I went away for a while to focus on my studies and now there are pieces lying all over the place! Let's sift thru 'em and see what we can find...

...I caught Rob Zombie's Halloween 2 a few weeks back. I wish I could say I really enjoyed it, but Sheri Moon's presence in the film really got in the way. It would have been way creepier and much more entertaining if every scene with her in it were excised from the film. Other than this one big flaw, it was actually an interesting take on the franchise. I'll be interested to see if there is any sort of director's cut when this one comes out on Blu-ray.

...on a related note, Patrick Lussier (director of the delightful My Bloody Valentine 3D) was set to helm the next flick in the Halloween franchise, Halloween 3-D, but it looks like the Weinstein company has shuttered production on this one. They seem to think that production was moving way faster than they were comfortable with. I really enjoyed Lussier's take on Valentine, so hopefully we'll get to see this one completed at some point.

...Brian Keene's newest novel, Urban Gothic, is fantastic! It's similar in theme to Castaways, his previous paperback offering, but takes place in an urban setting rather than an allegedly uninhabited island. If yer into gory, intense horror fiction, you'll probably really enjoy this one.

...Frank Darabont is bringing Robert Kirkman's apocalyptic zombie comic book series Walking Dead to the small screen! If the themes and storylines from the comic are maintained, this is going to be a hit. If you haven't checked out the book yet, what're you waitin' for?!!?! Kirkman is crafting an epic tale of a small band of survivors that learn over the course of the story that there are worse things in their lives to deal with than undead flesh-eaters. Walking Dead is set to air on the AMC network, but no news of an actual date yet.

...HorrorFest 2009 is set for October 18th. If you are in the Portland area and would like to attend, drop me a line and I'll see if I can wrangle you an invite.

...my favorite fright flick of 2009 so far -- Sam Raimi's Drag Me To Hell, hands down. This is some old school occult horror with lots of fun 'jump-scares' and just the right amount of gore. If you missed it during it's theatrical run you can grab it on disc on October 13th. Don't let this one pass you by!

...there has been quite a bit of criticism regarding the number of horror flick reboots coming out of Hollyweird in recent years, but I gotta say that a good flick is a good flick; just because it's a remake doesn't mean I'm going to immediately dismiss it out of hand. Here's hoping that Marcus Nispel's remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street is one of the better ones. The recently-released trailer certainly looks promising. Check it out!

Pieces, 11/29/2008

Ug. I've eaten twice my weight in holiday goodies, been back and forth to east Texas, am gearing up to turn 40 and faced other various real-life horrors; time to take a break and sort thru a big pile o' pieces...

...no, I have not seen Twilight, nor do I intend to. At least, not until I can rent it on disc. Thinly-veiled abstinance-only education disguised as teen horror fiction is just not my cuppa tea.

...so you've heard me rant an rave about the horrifically skilled writing of Brian Keene and thru Keene I've discovered a couple of his contemporaries like Geoff Cooper, Ray Garton and JF Gonzalez, but I gotta say that Edward Lee, my most recent 'discovery', is driving me nuts with City Infernal. His writing is like watching a really good street fight, where both guys are getting in some really good punches and things are moving really fast and the cops could show at any moment but you feel thrilled and exhilerated to be alive and able to witness such a breath-takingly painful spectacle! <whew!>
Can't wait to bite into the next book in this series, Infernal Angel.



...blood brother Vault of Horror recently ran a poll among the "Cyber-Horror Elite" to determine the top 50 horror flicks of all time. Check it out; yours truly was among those polled for this survey.

...one of my favorite flicks of this year, Midnight Meat Train, is about to hit Blu-Ray! I'll be snatchin' this one up on February 17th.


...looks like I'll be out a bit of cash that day, as Feast III: The Happy Finish also gets the DVD treatment.

...speakin' of Blu-Ray, I just got my rented disc copy of The Strangers and will finally get to sit down this weekend and watch this flick I've heard so much about. Of course, I'll let ya know what I think.

Pieces, 09/07/2008

The Day Job is now a thing of the past and the Horror Guy is taking some much needed time off from the rat race. Let's clean up pieces so I can get back to some rantin' on a regular basis...

...all this time off means I have time to set up my li'l personal space I like to call The Grimoire. It's coming along nicely and I'll soon have some shots up on my recently set-up flickr page.

...don't forget that HBO's new vampire drama True Blood debuts this evening. Set those DVRs!

...maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment in light of all the disastrous horror flick remakes going on these days, but I actually have high hopes for the upcoming remake/reimagining of the original Friday the 13th heading to theaters on February 13th, 2009.

...the HP Lovecraft Film Festival & Cthulhucon is comin' around again. If yer in the Portland area next month, the dates are October 3rd-5th.




...speakin' of film festivals, the Horror Guy's very own 8th Annual HorrorFest will be held on October 25th. Line-up and more info to come.

...Brian Keene's excellent zombie-themed short story The Ties That Bind is being adapted into a short film by the folks at Bamfer Productions. Check out the creepy lookin' trailer below.

Pieces, 07/13/2008

I take a little time off from bloggin' to settle into a new job and you just let the pieces pile up everywhere! Help me sort thru these things would ya....?

...holy fuckin' ass-crackers, I love Powell's Books here in beautiful Portland! Their selection of new & used horror stuff is outta this world. While strolling thru their aisles yesterday I scored a copy of a UK import that collects all of HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos stories in one huge volume. Appropriately titled Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of HP Lovecraft, this beauty is is gonna be perfect reading for this Horror Guy's upcoming week long vacation!

...gave George Romero's Diary of the Dead an initial viewing and it was pretty decent. Watching it again now durin' the morning treadmill run so I can write up a more detailed opinion of the flick a little later.

...NBC's Fear Itself has been solidly entertaining almost each and every week so far. There have been a couple of flops (I'm lookin' at you John Landis's In Sickness and In Health) but for the most part this is a definite 'must watch' TV show.

...just had to get up and shuffle my carcass into the living room to turn off Scary Movie 4 that Cridafer had left playing in there. Talk about an unbearable waste of everything it took to make that turd. Just can't top the original in this series, folks.

...there's a flood of really fantastic horror comics being published lately. Look for a Horror Guy spotlight on titles every horror fan should check out later this week.

...the new Brian Keene book is here! The new Brian Keene book is here! My copy of Earthworm Gods: Selected Scenes from the End of the World showed up yesterday and I'm already well into it. The man still ain't lost his touch. This shit is creepy, exciting, touching and terrifying. Already eagerly anticipated Ghost Walk next month.

Pieces, 06/12/2008

Ug. It's been way too long since I got to sit down and bang away on the keyboard about my favorite subject. Spent the past couple of weeks position-hopping at the Soul Crushing Day Job and have landed in a spot that is much more to my liking. Now that it's become simply The Day Job, I can get back to doin' fun stuff. Stuff like sortin' thru all the pieces that have accumulated around this joint...

...after devouring Dark Hollow, Brian Keene's tale of a sinister satyr preying on the women of a small town, I picked up my first Ray Garton story, Serpent Girl. Very, very impressed. The best description I can come up without giving away any of the story elements is 'horrifically touching'. If yer much of a reader, you'll probably like this one.

...checked out the unrated director's cut of AVP: Requiem on Blu-Ray last night. Ya know, for all the bashing that flick got on the 'net I really didn't think it was that bad. I mean, I was prepared for a complete, anger-inducing stinker but it had some really cool Alien impregnation sequences that really kind of entertained me. I've certainly seen worse fare lately.

...on the recommendation of Miss Elizabeth, I checked out the docu-flick American Movie and all I gots to say is this is a bittersweet, side-splitting must see for EVERY fan of horror. If you ain't seen it, track it down now my friend.

...rented the indie horror flick Shrooms and enjoyed it so much, I bought a copy to watch again. This story of vacationing 20-somethings in Ireland on a very twisted and lethal psychedelic trip is a chiche-ridden romp thru the land of 'is it real or is it part of the trip' but still manages to be very entertaining in a goofy fun sort of way. This gets a thumbs up from the horror guy.

...gonna get together with Miss Mary and E-Rock tomorrow night to check out M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening and see if he follows the same "what a twist!" formula or actually manages to reinvent his style. Of course, I'll let ya know what I think afterward.

Pieces, 05/14/2008

Spring has finally sprung here in the great Northwest and all the pieces are starting to thaw out...

...caught Vacancy the other night on the video on demand service. It actually wasn't too bad. A lot better than I expected, actually. Oh it had major plot holes and some silly scripting here and there but it also had some fairly decent suspense scenes and a lot of fun action. If ya find yerself stuck with nuthin' to do some evening and can catch it on cable, give it a whirl; you might be surprised how entertained you are.

...Robert Kirkman's zombie epic The Walking Dead has rocketed to the top of my must-read comic book list. It's up to issue 49 so far and the one thing that has remained true since the debut issue is that no one is safe! Check it out ya fiends; you won't be disappointed.


...started reading Brian Keene's Kill Whitey last night; so far it's an utter thrill-ride! Some of the best stuff I've read from Mr. Keene since The Rising.

...speakin' of the Keene-meister, the author's personal Web site has been revamped and now has a lively online forum going. The other message posters are fun and friendly and this horror guy has already had a few things to say on the message boards himself.

Pieces, 04/14/2008

A little bit of construction mess still scattered around and HorrorGuy.com is still a little buggy, but let's see what we can dig outta the pieces...

...if psychological horror is your bag, do yourself a big fat favor and check out Them (a.k.a. Ils). This little gem ratchets up the tension and then ratchets it some more! I kinda saw the ending coming but it still left me with my jaws hangin' open to actually learn...nah, nevermind; don't wanna spoil it. Just see it.

...my man-crush on Brian Keene continues. It's not enough that the man writes completely kick-ass horror and crime novels, but he also grew up in the same era as yours truly; the childhood pop culture references found peppered throughout much of his work all point to the things I grew up with, particularly when Keene showcases his knowledge of 1980's horror and comic book culture. It never fails to take this Horror Guy on skewed trips down memory lane. I'm currently chewing my way thru Terminal, one of his forays into 'more crime than horror' territory but the horror is definitely there. It's more visceral and 'gut-level' realistic, but oh is it ever there!

...I heard that sucky looking Prom Night remake was indeed pretty bad. I also hear it took number one at the box office. Fantastic. We can look forward to another raft of crap-tastic horror remakes to clog up the works.

...speaking of remakes, a Horror Guy favorite is currently undergoing a face-lift; Friday the 13th. Scheduled for release on Friday, Feb. 13, 2009 this one's got Jared Padalecki (Sam Winchester of the CW Network's Supernatural) and Derek Mears lined up in the cast. I don't know...I've been burned one too many times with this remake stuff. I'll take a 'wait and see' attitude but I don't have high hopes that this will be worth a damn.

...astute readers probably noticed the sponsored ads and links starting to show up around HorrorGuy.com. Fear not, dedicated fear fiend...the first purpose of my feeble rantings here and elsewhere is still and always will be to spread the gospel of horror, be it good or ill. That being said, we gots to pay the bills somehow! With any luck, someone out of my handful of readers will find something new and cool as there should always only be horror-related shit being shilled by the sponsors.

Zombie Friends & Other Pieces, 12/20/2007

Splitting my time between the wonderfully hair-raising horror that is the holiday season and trying to stay on top of things at the Day Job has dominated far too much of my personal blogging time. Let's catch up by sharing a few pieces...

...just stumbled across a great new social networking site for fans of all things fun and terrifying -- ZombieFriends.com. Check out the ZFriends profile of yours truly then sign up for a free membership and be my friend, why don'cha?

...Sir Ian over at ICED Media was kind enough to point out a feature currently running over at MAXIM.com. Yeah, I know...MAXIM is not really the kind of place one would expect to find anything horror-related, but check out their feature "10 Best Horror Movie Deaths" and see if you agree with their line-up. You actually get to see video clips of each death from the original movies.

...Sam Raimi is returning to horror!!! Army of Darkness and The Gift fans can look forward to Drag Me to Hell.

...Prom Night is one of the latest fright film classics to go under the remake knife. The movie poster looks pretty cool, I guess. It hits theaters this Spring but I've been burned by so many senseless remakes lately, I'm kinda hesitate to drop my hard earned cash on another re-hashed bomb. What do you think?

Pieces, 11/28/2007

Just got back from a holiday stay in East Texas and found all kinds of pieces laying around. Let's check 'em out, shall we?

...that Jason Voorhees 'guest appearance' on Supernatural that I was all excited about? Not gonna happen.

...just started reading David J. Skal's The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror and it is quite a fascinating read. It starts with the earliest horror flicks (before the phrase 'horror movie' was even coined) in America and from there proceeds to dissect how the industry was started and why people seem so attracted to the genre. For an in-depth look at the origins and current state of all things fun and terrifying, I cannot recommend this one enough.

...a Horror Guy 'scream out' to Brian over at Vault of Horror; glad you like my li'l site Brian! Welcome to the list of Horror Guy Blood Brothers!

...caught a showing of The Mist a few nights ago. I'm a big fan of the original Stephen King short story and knowing that Frank Darabont of Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile was at the helm led me to have all kinds of high expectations for this flick. Well....kinda let down. It was all right as monster movies go, but still kinda blah. I won't spoil it for ya but the 'bold ending' that I had been hearing about didn't really work for me. I'll likely pass on getting the DVD unless the studio releases some radical 'Director's Cut' or something significantly different than what is currently playing in the theaters. Speaking of Director's Cuts...

...December 18 brings us the DVD release of the unrated director's cut of Rob Zombie's Halloween. Anyone who read my previous review of this flick knows that I was underwhelmed by the theatrical release, but I think it may be more enjoyable as watch at home flick.

...if you were a fan of Freddy vs. Jason, you might want to check out the 'sequel' currently being co-published by Dynamite Comics and WildStorm Studios--Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash. Picking up where the original movie left off, this is said to be what we fright fans would have been treated to had the treatment made it to the big screen. Freddy and Jason are buttin' heads again, but this time gun-totin' Ash from the Evil Dead and Army of Darkness flicks is joinin' the fray! The guys over at MyComicShop.com might still have some copies of the first issue available.

Pieces, 10/28/2007

Thrillz a' poppin' in the realm of all things fun and terrifying. Let's examine the pieces...

...just sat thru the Blu-Ray edition of the uncut/unrated Hostel part 2 and I gotta say I actually enjoyed it better than the first one. This was more like the kind of over the top, almost tongue-in-cheek kind of torture porn I was hoping for from current horror wunderkind Eli Roth. There were even a couple of twists that I didn't see coming; always refreshing for this horror guy. Watching it in hi-def was almost unbearable during one masculinity-threatening scene, but Cridafer and I soldiered thru to the cheer-worthy end.

...Cridafer got me a handy dandy iPhone as an early birthday gift, which is going to make mobile blogging that much easier. Can't wait to try it out.

...remember those awesome pics I took in the catacombs beneath Paris? Someone has had the bright idea to use them as a setting for a new horror flick. Check out Catacombs on FEARnet.

...the first collection of Joe Hill short stories, 20th Century Ghosts, was just re-issued. The couple of stories I've read so far have been...I guess transcendent would be the only way I know how to describe them. Even if you are not a serious fan of the genre, I think you'd really enjoy Hill's touchingly creepy writing style.

...caught a showing of 30 Days of Night last weekend and the best I can say is...meh. It was ok I guess. Not the hair-raising adaptation of the graphic novel that I was hoping for but good enough to pass a couple of hours watching with some friends.

...the hosting service I use just added the ability to embed YouTube videos so I finally broke down and registered a channel. There's not really any content yet but if either of my readers want to bookmark it early, the location is www.youtube.com/horrorguywill If anyone comes across an appropriately creepy video you'd like to see posted here, just drop me a line.

...running a little late with the report, but Horror Guy's 7th Annual HorrorFest was a couple of weeks ago and there are several new pics to be posted in my gallery. Keep a bloodshot eye out for those and thanks to all the horror fans in attendance for making it another successful gathering!