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2009 | 2008

11 articles from 2009

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The Foywonder's Ten Worst Horror Films of the Decade

23 December 2009 8:31 PM, PST | DreadCentral.com | See recent Dread Central news »

The first decade of the new millennium has come to an end, and that means it is now time for film sites all over the web to begin posting their various retrospectives and lists recalling the decade that was. I generally as a rule dislike such lists because they are always so subjective. Then I said screw it and took it upon myself to do one of my own naming the ten worst horror movies of the past decade. Besides, people love bitching on the Internet about lists like this, and who am I to deny readers yet another excuse to get into pointless flame wars over personal opinions.

Of course, this list is just my personal opinion which is not legally binding ... unless Proposition 304 passes. And we all pray that it will.

I set two rules when putting this list together: Only horror movies that received fairly wide theatrical »

- Foywonder

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Clip joint: feathers

17 December 2009 3:46 AM, PST | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »

Feeling down? Greatpoochini invites you to fluff yourself up and let your imagination take wing to find the best film clips featuring plumes of all kinds

"I'm as light as a feather! I'm as happy as an angel!" Whether inspired by these immortal words, especially when uttered by Alastair Sim's Ebeneezer Scrooge, or perhaps the fine white quills wielded by Scrooge's clerks in A Muppet Christmas Carol, this week we focus on feathers.

But before letting your imaginations take flight, some ground rules. There'll be extra marks for clips that do not feature live birds – especially as depicted in those sub-Attenborough wildlife documentaries, soundtracked by condescending narration, that seem to have been handed down from Hollywood generation to generation. However, in the spirit of Clip joint, some creative exceptions, and the occasional turkey, will of course be accepted.

1) Dumbo's grips his magic feather, spreads his ears, and we all see an elephant fly. »

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Abel Gance, Lon Chaney, Buster Keaton: San Francisco Silent Film Festival

10 December 2009 4:57 PM, PST | Alt Film Guide | See recent Alt Film Guide news »

Chang by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack (top); J’accuse! by Abel Gance (middle); Lon Chaney in Tod Browning’s West of Zanzibar (bottom) Abel Gance’s 1919 anti-war drama J’accuse! is the centerpiece of this winter’s edition of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, to be held on Saturday, Dec. 12, at the Castro Theater. The 162-minute, recently restored J’accuse!, which is having its Us big-screen premiere at the festival, focuses on a love triangle set in World War I Europe, a time when men were slaughtering one another for some great cause or other. (That depends on which side you were fighting.) Actual soldiers took part in the film, and in one scene the dead return to life [...] »

- Andre Soares

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[Movie Review] Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

23 October 2009 9:23 PM, PDT | JustPressPlay.net | See recent JustPressPlay news »

I was pretty surprised to learn after I saw the movie that Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant is an adaptation of three novels. Three! I was surprised, not because the movie is focused and concise (on the contrary, it’s actually all over the place and drags on and on) but because if I had to take a guess, I would wager that it’s based on only parts of a novel. So why is it that it feels like nothing happens?

The books in question are Cirque du Freak, The Vampire’s Assistant and Tunnels of Blood; the first three in the Saga of Darren Shan series of vampire novels written by Darren Shan about Darren Shan (oy), the boy who would become a half-vampire personal assistant to a vampire, involving him in centuries-old civil war between two bloodsucking factions. But that’s not until later, »

- Arya Ponto

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Hellbound Hearts (Book Review)

13 October 2009 1:48 PM, PDT | Fangoria | See recent Fangoria news »

It’s hard to believe that Clive Barker’s The Hellbound Heart was published more than 20 years ago. The novella first appeared in 1986’s Night Visions collection, and was reissued later on as a standalone book. If you haven’t read The Hellbound Heart or seen Hellraiser, the Barker-scripted-and-directed movie it inspired, then you probably shouldn’t be reading Pocket Books’ recently published Hellbound Hearts.

Edited by Paul Kane and Marie O’Regan, this anthology includes 21 tales inspired by Barker’s hellraising universe. So if you don’t know what a Cenobite is, have never heard of the Lemarchand Configuration and think Pinhead is one of the actors in Tod Browning’s Freaks, you should check out the source material and film before opening up this tome. However, if you’re familiar with and a fan of Barker’s work, then let’s open up this Box, I mean book, »

- no-reply@fangoria.com (Allan Dart)

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Martyn’s Top Ten Disturbing Films

17 September 2009 4:40 AM, PDT | FilmShaft.com | See recent FilmShaft.com news »

It is rarely highlighted what a strange habit and practice cinema-going is. Off we go to sit in a darkened room, usually with complete strangers, and watch something akin to a dream unfold before us. After all, Hollywood in particular, has been known as “The Dream Factory”. Why restrict it to Hollywood? Cinema = dreams. And as the subconscious plays havoc; dreams can turn into nightmares.

Audiences can laugh, cry and scream together. Each person maybe processing information in a variety of differing ways, yet, filmmakers employ a bag of tricks to invoke particular responses, at particular times.

Film experiences have a habit of becoming cherished, personal memories. It can achieve an ambiguous effect. Millions were astounded by Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, just as they were terrified by Jaws, seventeen years earlier. Alfred Hitchcock devised the infamous shower sequence in Psycho relying on suggestion, chocolate sauce, rapid editing and shrieking »

- Martyn Conterio

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Sight & Sound Picks 50 Great 'Wild Bunch' Directors

23 August 2009 4:03 PM, PDT | Cinematical | See recent Cinematical news »

Who says the cinema doesn't have punk rockers? Yes, even though marketing firms and agencies and producers and studios try to clamp down and streamline every aspect of filmmaking from the initial idea to the DVD release, some filmmakers manage to come in and make a lot of noise, push a lot of buttons and just generally make life unpredictable. These are the mavericks, the outsiders, the misfits, the crackpots and the weirdos, and the new issue of Sight and Sound magazine has paid tribute with an entire issue ("The Mad, the Bad and the Dangerous") devoted to them. The issue begins with an article by Mark Cousins, listing the top 50 "wild bunch" filmmakers whose voices ring the loudest. (You won't find Ang Lee on this list.)

They're not necessarily the "best" filmmakers, and even Cousins says: "Do the Wild Bunch Dionysians outstay their welcome? Absofuckinlutely. Too much Borowczyk or »

- Jeffrey M. Anderson

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Horrorwood Babbles On: Forrest J Ackerman - Alive and Well in Fandom!

12 July 2009 10:28 PM, PDT | DreadCentral.com | See recent Dread Central news »

Finally, we take a breath, clear the cobwebs of mourning and peek out from beneath the shadows to find out how the late Forrest J Ackerman continues to do us good. At genre conventions from coast to coast, fans and friends pay tribute to the grand old man who made us monsters!

Ken-tucky? Yep, they Ken!

Any horror fan, young or old, who’s in it for the scare-making arts, crafts and monster makers, Must experience Wonderfest. I flew over the cool greenery and picturesque graveyards of Louisville, Kentucky to attend the first Con I’ve been to without Uncle Forry by my side. While most travelers rushed to the baggage claim to pick up luggage and trot off to watch horses run some derby, I was there for the monsters!

In its 20th year, Wonderfest is a gathering place for modelers. Make that “Super-modelers.” Builders, sculptors, painters, collectors, you name it! »

- GoJoeMoe

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She Married A Midget

9 May 2009 11:53 PM, PDT | NYPost.com | See recent New York Post news »

Film Forum is freakin' out with a 10-film salute to Tod Browning (1880-1962), the carnival barker turned film maker with a taste for the macabre.

The flicks will unreel as Monday-night double features through June 8.

"Freaks" (1932), Browning's most notorious work, kicks off the series tomorrow.

Rarely shown and banned in Britain for 30 years, it is set in a circus sideshow featuring "nature's mistakes," played by real-life freaks: the co-joined Hilton sisters (no relation to you know who), Pinheads Pip and Zip, the Armless Wonder, Frances the Turtle Girl, »

- By V.A. MUSETTO

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Lots of horrific screenings around the U.S. and UK!

8 May 2009 1:54 PM, PDT | Fangoria | See recent Fangoria news »

Horror cinephiles, take notice: Fango has the news on a host of upcoming genre-film screenings, premieres and festivals, in both various United States and Britain, to keep you out of the sunlight this summer. The films range from silent classics to contemporary favorites and brand new indie fare.

• New York City’s Film Forum (209 West Houston Street) is presenting Tod Browning Monday Evenings starting next week. Every Monday from May 11-June 8 will see a different silent-movie double feature, spotlighting the work of pioneering horror director Browning and actor Lon Chaney, with select shows featuring live piano accompaniment. Better yet, each presentation boasts a two-for-one admission price.

May 11

Freaks (1932): 6 and 9 p.m.

The Unholy Three (1925): 7:35 p.m.

May 18

The Devil Doll (1936): 6:35 and 9:35 p.m.

Where East Is East (1929): 8:10 p.m.

May 25

The Unknown (1927): 7 and 9:40 p.m.

Fast Workers (1933): 8 p.m. »

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Weekly Bodycount - George A. Romero Sans Zombies

28 April 2009 9:29 PM, PDT | SoundOnSight | See recent SoundOnSight news »

There are certain directors whose represent absolutely pivotal moments in filmmaking. People like Griffith, Welles, Coppola and Scorcese have contributed to film in a way that has shaped the entire medium and changed the game. But there are also directors who represent pivotal moments of genre evolution: George Lucas and science fiction, John McTiernan and action pictures. Horror has a list of absolutely essential directors as long as your arm, as well. People like Tod Browning, James Whale, Roger Corman and George A. Romero. There are more to be sure, but in 1968, the rules of the game changed forever. Romero's apocalyptic Night of the Living Dead, though dismissed by many as a schlocky trash, marks the moment that the counter culture took over independent horror and steered it away from the cheap vaudeville antics of American Indepedent Pictures and into a gritty new era that was as vital and prolific »

- Bryan White

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2009 | 2008

11 articles from 2009

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