The Devil - scary or played out?

In the late 1960's through the end of the 1970's the dominating subject matter in most major-relase horror films seemed to center around subject matter related to the occult and demonic possession, but more specifically - The Devil. By the 1980's, there were still movies featuring the Devil as the main antagonist, but the predominate subject matter had switched to slasher flicks. It can not be denied though that, in the 1970's, Lucifer was king of the box office!

Major classics like "The Exorcist", "The Omen", and "Rosemary's Baby" capitalized on the subject matter and created a public hysteria that still resonates to this day, but it doesn't stop there. The act od devil worship and satanic cults was something that frightened every staunch American Christian and the subject became to the audiences of the 70's what the threat of nuclear war had become to the audiences of the 1950's. Movies like "The Amityville Horror", "The Dunwhich Horror", "Burnt Offerings", "The Omen II", "The Seventh Sign" and "Exorcist: The Heretic" all capitalized on this and the subject matter had the money rolling in for the major studios as petrified Christians flocked to the movie theaters to witness some of their greatest fears on the big screen.

Although the 1990's and even the new millenium have offered up some films for consideration like "End of Days", "The Devils Advocate", "The Ninth Gate", and "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" - none of those films generated even a tenth of the buzz that "The Exorcist" generated in 1974 when it had audience members puking in the lobbies, passing out in the aisles and left with a general sense of extreme fear and paranoia - swearing that they themselves were possessed! So, my question is - does the idea of the Devil even scare audiences like they did 30 years ago? IT certainly can be looked upon as a sign of the times - maybe people are just not as "Dumb" as they were 30 years ago and the idea of "The Devil", a red horned demon with a forked taila nd cloven hooves just seems a bit silly to them now and although the theoretical idea of Hell still scares the bejeezus out of most Christians, the old age symbolism of a red devil presiding over a firey pit of torture and despair may be a bit hokey and VERY unrealistic.

Midnight Movie Reviews - The Return of the Living Dead (1985)

Ahhh...now this is a great flick! I remember the first time I saw this. I was 13 and I was staying over at a friends house. We had just gone upstairs late one night to hunt for food and we turned on the TV in the kitchen and watched Return of the Living Dead which was airing on our local Fox affiliate, WDRB-41. It was creepy and funny all at the same time. In the end, we were freaked out at the knowledge that the movie was supposed to take place in our hometown of Louisville, KY. What ensued were several hours of ribs and playful jabs about zombies taking over the town and generally a great time.

Return of the Living Dead was a vehicle of writer/director Dan O'Bannon. This is O'bannon's feature directorial debut, having been known as a screenwriter before then. He was best known at the time for having penned the script to the blockbuster Sci-Fi classic "Alien"(1979) which had earned him a ton of cred in Hollywood circles. The script for ROTLD was based on a script written by James Russo in 1978. Producer Tom Fox purchased the script and gave it to O'Bannon who thought it was too serious and tried too hard to be a sequel to George A. Romero's "Night of the Living Dead"(1968) and O'bannon set forth to "dumb it down" and make it more of a dark comedy. What they were left with was a very creative spoof of Zombie movies that maintained the balance between horror and comedy perfectly.

The story is simple: two employees at a medical supply warehouse inadvertently unleash gas from a goverment container that had been delivered to the warehouse by mistake several years earlier. What follows is the gas regenerating the bodies of the dead cadavers int he supply warehouse which are chopped up and put into black plastic garbage bags. In a fit of paranoia, the employees and the owners drag the wriggling remains next door to the mortuary where the mortician disposes of the body parts in his crematorium. The pieces that are burned up produce a gas out of the chimney and mixes with the rain clouds above bringing the gas down in the form of an an acid-like rain that eventually gets to the cemetary (which is conveniently just across the street from the supply warehouse) and then all hell breaks loose - literally, as the dead begin to crawl out of their graves and attack anyone in close proximity of them - trying to satisfy their hunger for "brains" . ROTLD is credited with coupling the hunger for human brains with zombies as, before this film, most movie zombies just had cannabilistic tendencies, but never for a specific body part or organ.

ROTLD is a great movie and although severely dated by most of the fashion in the film as well as the lingo, still finds a way to be incredibly fun and entertaining as well as endearing itself to a whole new generation of horror fan. What this film lacks in plot development it more than makes up for in sheer hillarity and horrific goofiness - not to mention full-frontal nudity from b-movie scream queen Linnea Quigley.

4 1/2 out of 5 stars "You need to see this now"

Horrid Macabre Movie Reviews - Quarantine (2008)

Ahh, alas another installment of the shaky-hand cam horror series. Following films like "The Blair Witch Project" and "Cloverfield", we have Quarantine. Although I'm generally not a fan of the "home movie" format when it comes to trying to enstill "realism" into a movie, I found myself enjoying Quarantine quite a bit.

The story surrounds a reporter played by Louisville, KY native Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter, The Exorcism of Emily Rose) who has been assigned to film an expose on a local L.A. firehouse and it's crew. The movie starts out jovial and light-hearted as the reporter has fun with the fire-fighters and seems to be bored by the mundane lives the fire-fighters live outside of fighting fires. Suddenly, the call comes in and they are called out to a situation at a downtown L.A. apartment building. They enter the buildign to find out that a resident is seemingly trapped in her apartment and the crew move in to investigate. What they find is the resident inside her apartment, foaming at the mouth and obviously suffering from some form of psychosis. The policemen at the scene and the firefighters try to reason with the woman, but when she attacks and mortally wounds one of the officers, it becomes clear that something more serious is going on. Just as they try to escort the officer outside to seek medical treatment, they find the exit doors locked. Outside the doors are the CDC with orders to shoot and kill anyone who exits the building. What follows is a shocking roller-coaster ride as more and more people begin getting atacked by infected residents and in the end you are feeling the same anxiety and adrenaline rushes that our characters are feelign as they struggle to survive this nightmare.

Quarantine is a remake of the Spanish film "Rec". Quarantine isn't the best horror film out there, but what it does do is keep you on the edge of your seat for the entire runtime of 89 minutes.

3 out of 5 stars "check it out"

Midnight Movie Reviews! The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)

What do you get when you mix a cannabalistic family, a nymphet radio dj, a revenge-minded Texas Ranger, a chili cook-off, the red-river shootout (a.k.a the annual Texas-Oklahoma college football game), the backwoods Sawyer family, a chainsaw, and buckets of blood and gore? A helluva great time!

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is the sequel to the cult classic, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) directed by the great Tobe Hooper. Hooper reprises his seat in the directors chair for this sequel which borders more on "dark comedy" than "shock horror". The story begins with our favorite, chainsaw weilding maniac cleaving a couple of liquored up frat boys on their way to the festivities of the big OU/TU football game. The splatter-fest is aired and recorded live on a local late-night radio station as the victims had called into the show to heckle the host just before the grisly slaying, a petite country-girl called "stretch", played by Caroline Williams (don't worry, you've never heard of her). Stretch takes the tape of the murder to a Texas Ranger played by Dennis Hopper (who appears incredibly out of place and uncomfortable in this film), in town investigating the crime and who seems to think that the murder is related to the events of the original film some 12 years earlier and is out for revenge against the Sawyer's who have apparently been on the run the entire time. Leatherface and his even nuttier metal-plate headed brother, "chop top" catch wind of the fact that the slaying was captured live on radio and set out to "shush" our lovely little DJ permanently. She turns out to be more than they bargained for as she escapes.

What follows is a twisted story light on logic and heavy on comical gore and mayhem as Stretch ventures into the tunnel's below a closed amusement park where the cannabalistic Sawyer family live. The tunnels are lined with dried out corpeses and freshly mutilated bodies. Stretch uses her looks to charm the child-minded Leatherface and he helps hide her as she tries to survive the horror she had thrust herself into.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is just pure fun. It doesn't fit into any particular category of horror. It's not funny or light-hearted enough to be considered a dark comedy, and it's not gory enought o be considered a splatter-film and not serious or smart enough to be considered pure horror. What it does is harken back to the old days of curling up in the front seat of your car at the drive-in with a tub of popcron and a huge cola watching a goofy, unbelieveable horror flick with hillariously sick and twisted murders and situations wrapped around an absurdly illogical story.

In short, it's just a fun flick. By the way, keep an eye out for John Bloom in a cameo appearance in this film. If you don't know him by that name then you probably know him by the name of his alter-ego, our favorite late-night horror host - Joe Bob Briggs!

3 out of 5 stars - "Check it out!"

Midnight Movie Reviews! Motel Hell (1980)

"It takes all kinds of critters to make farmer Vincent's fritters!"

Has there ever been a movie more well suited for midnight showings by your favorite horror host? Motel Hell has just the right mix of horror, comedy and all out psychadelic weirdness. Not to mention a special cameo appearance by everyones favorite beer-swilling mailman and Pixar animation mainstay, John Ratzenberger.

The late, great Rory Calhoun stars as Vincent Smith, patriarch of the Farmer Vincent's meat company. he's a seemingly peaceful old farmer who sells meats and runs a dilapadaed motel called Motel Hello. The people of the county seem to love his meats and Farmer Vincent obliges them by selling them all they want. Only, Farmer Vincent doesn't divulge that his secret ingredient isn't anything of the bovine or pork persuasion. In the early morning hours, Farmer Vincent prowls the winding country back roads, looking for "sinners" that he can trap and turn into his next batch of "product". Along with his crazy sister Ida, played by Nancy Parsons, we are taken into a world of utter strangeness and all-out weirdness. Farmer Vincent eventually falls for one of his quarry, a beautiful hitchhiker named Terry played by Nina Axelrod. Contrary to Ida's jealousy, Vincent plans on wedding the much younger Terry. Over time Terry uncovers Farmer Vincents brutal secret and with the help of the local sheriff, helps put Farmer Vincent out of business permanently.

If you want a great classic horror movie where you can grab a bag of chips, sit back, and have a good laugh - you could do much, much worse.

4 out of 5 stars - "Don't pass this one up"

Off Topic, well...kinda - Kentucky Basketball

This is a horror blog, and nothing has been more horrific than Billy Gillispies tenure as the head coach of the University of Kentucky's mens basketball team. Billy has taken the winningest basketball program in the history of college basketball and has taken it to lows that it has not experinced in 30 years!

It's not just a question of coaching. No UK fan wants to see UK lose, thats a given. But the worst part of it all has been Billy's blatant disregard for protecting the image of the University and his incredible stubborness when it comes to how he runs his team. He simply refuses to put his players into a position to win - period. Billy would rather adhere to his stubborn pride than to bench a player who is not helping the team on the court, in favor of benching a player that could help just because they don't work as hard in practice. Thats absurd and is ridiculous. That may be the kind of shit that flies at Texas A&M or UTEP, but it doesn't fly in Lexington, KY. You can not recruit at a top level and refuse to play those top level players that come into your program just to make a point. Worst of all is his refusal to make in-game adjustments, or to switch off of his pressure man-to-man defense to help UK win a game. He doesn't even draw up plays to get his best player, Jodie Meeks, open for shots. He is content with letting Meeks run around in endless circles just hoping to lose his man for a split second to get a single shot off. After the season is over, Meeks ought to be conditoned enough for a 20K run with all fo the running he's done during the season. Hell, he ought to go out for the track team, because then he'd definitely win a national championship.

I have rarely seen Billy use a clipboard during timeouts, thats pretty sad. I guess he just spends timeouts yelling at his players and calling them "Fucking Pussies" and telling them they're not "tough enough". Yeah, now thats how you motivate a player! Here's a thought, why not try DRAWING UP A PLAY during timeouts?

There WILL be a mass exodus of players after the season is over if Billy remains the head coach. Lets hope that the Athletic administration does the right thing and moves Billy out the door because his off-the-court antics are getting tiresome, but his on-the-court antics are even worse.

Youtube screamers reviews! Tainted Milk

Today we're reviewing a video submitted by Youtube user 'ScreamerClauz'.

First off the animation is awesome! Especially when you consider this was made by some guy out there on his home PC. The story is disturbing to say the least, I'm not going to lie and is definitely NSFW but if you have the time, check it out. Again, be forewarned, this is a disturbing video but is put together quite well. Again, if shocking gore and even more shocking sunject matter is your thing, then check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GipAdNAzWjE

I'll keep the review short and sweet- a boy, his dog, an aborted fetus, brutal slayings, the Devil, a touch of beastiality, and a whole lot of disturbia.


My review: 3 out of 5 stars

Golden Age Terrors reviews - Frankenstein

I find it only fitting to start off our Golden Age reviews section with a review of the finest offering from the library of old Universal Monster movies - James Whales 1931 classic, Frankenstein.

Boris Karloff's brilliant turn as the tragic monster is both frighteningly stark as well as deeply saddening. Frankenstein was originally intended to be a follow-up tot he surprisingly popular Dracula starring Bela Lugosi. In fact, Lugosi was offered the part of the monster in which he turned down because of "too much makeup". Although Lugosi would have his own turn as the monster in "Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman".

The story of Dr. Victor Frankensteins attempts at playing God and "giving life" to lifeless matter is one of the most well known stories in literature and celluloid, and this film embodies it the best. Expertly directed, superbly acted, and an endearing classic whose images are unmistakable and will last far beyond the life of it's creators.

5 out of 5 stars - "See it...NOW!"

FEARNET and Chiller!

If your cable or satellite provider does not have either Chiller! or the on demand channel FearNet then contact them...QUICK! For fans of horror, both of these channels (one is a channel and the other is available as a free on-demand service only) are exactly what the doctor ordered. FearNet gives up a monthly offering of movies as well as short interviews with the stars and creators of some of your favorite horror films, both mainstream and indie. You are given a list of movies that varys and changes from month to month. The variety is always nice and some great movies are available (for instance, Friday the 13th, Friday the 13th part 2, The Prince of Darkness, and Monkey Shines are just some of the movies available for immediate viewing anytime this month). The best part about it is that it's absolutely free!

Chiller! isn't great on movies, but if your a fan of older horror-themed TV shows then your in for a treat! Great shows like "Freddy's Nightmares", "Tales From the Crypt", "Monsters", "Friday the 13th", "Night Gallery" and "Tales from the Darkside" are all shown regularly on Chiller!

Midnight Movie Reviews! Night of the Comet (1984)

Every week on "The Horrid Macabre" we will review a retro horror or Sci-Fi flick from the 70's through the 90's.

This weeks offering is the 1984 classicly-bad flick- NIGHT OF THE COMET

"Night of the Comet" is a fun film, although with a corny premise- I mean, what do you expect from a film originally titled "Teenage Mutant Horror Comet Zombies"? The movie stars Catherine Mary Stewart as Regina, a cheer-leading, mall-loving valley girl (who also happens to be a kick-ass gamer) who wakes up one morning after falling asleep at her job at the movie theater to find that everyone's been reduced to piles of red dust in the night by a passing comet. Regina soon discovers that others, including her younger sister, have survived and that most of them have become flesh-eating zombies! Regina and the few "normal" survivors hole up in a radio station and spend the majority of the movie coming to grips with their new reality and fighting to stay alive. It's "Valley Girl" meets "Maximum Overdrive" meets "Return of the Living Dead"! Worst of all, there are other survivors from a secret goverment installation that Regina and her new "crew" have to stop from taking over whats left of L.A.

This movie is standard 80's Sci-Fi fare. Although I would classify Night of the Comet to be above the usual fodder of the first half of the pastel decade.

3 out of 5 stars. "Check it out!"

Off Topic - Kentucky Basketball stinks!

Billy Gillispie is stinking up the joint and his replacement is necessary (and hopefully imminent) to the future success of the UK basketball program. Here's hoping that Mitch Barnhart (the UK AD) does the right thing and cancels Billy's memorandum of understanding and gets someone in here who can a.) coach, and b.) gives a damn about the UK history and tradition of excellence.

That is all.

Where have all the HORROR HOSTS gone?

I miss the days of the late night horror hosts. The bad actors in the even worse costumes on even worse sets ushering us through weekly offerings of some of the best-worst B-movies and Universal horror movies to ever come down the pike. Hosts like Dr. Madblood, Count Gore De Vol, Elvira, The Ghoul, and even Joe Bob Briggs are things of the past. Sure, Richie Koz is still tearing it up on the weekends in Chicago as the most recent reincarnation of Svengoolie, but what happened to the rest of them? For those of us who don't live in the greater Berwyn area, the options are pretty non-existent. I find it almost impossible to sit through a showing of "Forbidden Planet" , "Motel Hell", or "I was a Teenage Vampire" without the assistance of our newly dead hosts and hostesses to guide us through the movie between commercial breaks. Some weekend nights I yearn for the old days in front of a grainy 13 inch color tv with rabbit ears on top watching as the hosts of our local television affiliates and UHF stations delighted us with terrible jokes, awful skits, and generally a pretty great time . Things just seemed simpler back then.

Movie Review- My Bloody Valentine 3D

Although it's been several weeks since I saw this film, I find it fitting to start my blog off with a review of this film since it is the most recent new horror film that I have seen (I know, I know Friday the 13th is out).

I went into seeing this film with a bit of trepidation. On one hand, I was fearful that it would be just another of the recent offerings of horror movies - all gore and no fun. On the other hand, I was really looking forward to the 3D format and the reviews I had read before seeing the movie suggested that the format worked "better than expected" with this film. Man, was I not disappointed. What this movie lacked in substance and plot, it made up for in grisly, gory murders and seemingly hundreds of gallons of faux blood that I gobbled up with feverish delight as I watched character after character being finished off in increasingly more creative fashion that only Jason Voorhee's would admire. Although the movie was characteristicly lacking in what serious film critics would call "quality plot and character development" the film itself delivered just what it promised - a non-stop thrill and chill ride, and just like the old slasher films of old, the killer lives!

This film was alot of fun (the 3D format worked great), evenly paced, and just short enough to hold off a mid-movie bathroom visit. It was great fun!

3 1/2 out of 5 stars "Check it out!"

Good Evening....

I hope you will find time to check back to my blog from time to time where you will find essays and my thoughts in general on the world of horror and sci-fi film and fiction also you will find my thoughts and opinions on everything from politics to religion.

Thanks for looking and check back often.