Horror Movies

I saw King Lear this past weekend with my wife and daughter. It was a very profound experience seeing it acted. (My first time seeing the play I taught so many times!) The venue is a spectacular one to see drama at – Boscobel / Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival It’s outdoors and the sun sets during the performance; the whole scene is breathtaking no matter what the actors do. People arrive early and picnic. The evening was comfortable, balmy, relaxing. But, on to the play, which is not those things! The eye gouging was cringe worthy; nothing elaborate (and since it's nearly in the round they can't do much w/o the audience seeing) but good use of squibs. The death scene had me sobbing. In between there were definitely lines that don’t bear up on the stage – “Reason not the need!” came across as petulant, childish. I have no idea why Goneril was trying to placate or do something to him while he was going off on his “blast her organs of increase” rant (it made her look oddly sympathetic, which was weird and uncomfortable). “Blow winds, crack your cheeks” seemed sort of silly (as did most of the “mad Lear” lines). OTOH, Gloucesterdidn’t seem nearly as ridiculous as I’ve always read him as, and I think the way the parallel plots illuminate one another was more clear to me on stage than it is in print (where it appears more redundant). The scene between Lear and blinded Gloucester, with all Lear’s wisecracking about sight (which in print seems rather mean spirited) was the most tender, emotional scene prior to carrying dead Cordelia on stage. “Let’s away to prison” on the other hand, seemed rushed and fake (as they did it with Edmund standing right next to them and kind of rushing them along, which is not at all how I’d imagine it). So, in short - Harold Bloom is partly right (he's always partly right!) that you can't really act it on stage: the speeches are too complex and literary to hold up. But at the same time, it brings things out you haven't noticed, and affects you in a more visceral, immediate way. With tickets at only about $40 it is the best entertainment money you'll spend this year.

Despite my slow start this month, I'm pretty sure I can get more reviews in than I did last year at this time. Hopefully I can get this review in fairly quick and then find something to review at my other blog for Top Horror Movies Club. Even though I just did one there a couple of days ago, I try to get one in a week. I don't always get around to it though, which I think is pretty obvious at times. Even though I have some more DVDs waiting to be watched from Netflix, I wanted to get Hood Of Horror (2006) out of the way since it was moving up my DVD queue.Hood Of Horror is an anthology movie. It is framed a cartoon where it explains how Snoop Dogg comes about collecting souls to take to hell. He also acts as a host to each story, as he talks directly to the camera. The first story is about Posie (Daniella Alonso), a girl who has a knack for art with spray cans. She lives in a troubled area where a lot of her work gets spray painted over by trouble makers. After somewhat standing up to some of them, she goes on the run after they chase after her. She runs into a derelict (Danny Trejo) who ends up giving her a tattoo on her hand and arm. She soon discovers that when she puts a big x over someones name, they end up being killed in some weird way. The second story follows Tex Jr. (Anson Mount) and his girlfriend/wife Tiffany (Brande Roderick). After his father died, Tex is set to inherit all the money, but his father has it in his will that Tex is too much of a spoiled brat in order to get the money. Tex has to spend time with his father Vietnam platoon in order to learn honor. These guys all live together in a building paid for by Tex's dad and all are retired. With the money they get from retirement and such, they do manage to get by. That is until Tex and Tiffany show up with their own plans with their money and home. The guys put up with Tex until he does something that goes too far. The third story is about Sod (Pooch Hall), a rapper who has hit it big. As he gets ready for a concert, he hangs with his people, while treating everyone else with disrespect. When confronted by the building manager (Lin Shaye), Sod is forced to confront the bad deeds he did in order to make it big.Unlike other anthology films where they bring in different writers and directors for each segment, Hood Of Horror has different writers but Stacy Title is the only director. I never much of a problem with the film was directed, but I didn't care much for the stories. The first one telling us how Snoop Dogg's character became a collector of souls was somewhat interesting, but was a bit too long considering that it doesn't play into any of the other stories. Also, his appearance at the end of each story can feel forced. The second story, which is the first that isn't a cartoon, with Posie was almost like the first story. Posie is given a little back story that explains how her parents died. It is obvious that this event still drives her, but it doesn't explain why she gets into it with gang members and eventually decides to snuff them out with her new power. It was just an okay story at best. The middle story was my favorite of the bunch. While not a great story, I found it to funny at least with some nice gore to it. My only problem with it was that Ernie Hudson was given the majority of the lines and the rest of his group just stood around. The last story was the shortest, besides the intro cartoon, and maybe the most serious. It was also my least favorite. I think it was just because it could have done so much more than it did with more time.One thing good about Hood Of Horror is that it could get gory at times. The most creative of the deaths is perhaps a beer bottle through the head after the person falls on it. I also liked an exploding belly. Even though I thought that the effects came off a bit silly, I can't really explain why I felt that way about that them though, I couldn't really complain about them looking bad. A lot of reviews complain abou

Well then. So much for that October 4th release date that we were all looking forward to. The Frank Miller/Robert Rodriguez-directed Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is now set for an August 22nd, 2014 release. Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill For stars the returning Mickey Rourke as Marv, Jessica Alba as Nancy, Bruce Willis as Hartigan, Rosario Dawson as Gail, and Jaime King as Goldie/Wendy and newcomers Josh Brolin as Dwight, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Johnny, Dennis Haysbert as Manute (replacing the late Michael Clarke Duncan), Stacy Keach as mob boss Wallenquist, Jamie Chung as Miho, Chris Meloni, Crystal McCahill, Jeremy Piven, Eva Green, Ray Liotta, Julia Garner, and Juno Temple. The film will be released by Dimension Films in the US and Canada on August 22nd, 2014. VISIT THE EVILSHOP @ AMAZON! Got news? Click here to submit it! Find others dripping with sin in the comments section below!

Finally there's something positive to report regarding the sequel to Prometheus! Variety is reporting that Fox and Ridley Scott are getting closer to returning to space as Jack Paglen (Transcendence) is in talks to write the follow-up to last year’s sci-fi blockbuster, Prometheus! Scott will produce again through his Scott Free banner though it’s unknown at this time if he will direct. Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender are also expected to return. In the original film archeologist couple Elizabeth Shaw (Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) discover a star map that they interpret as an invitation from humanity's forerunners, the “Engineers.” Determined to find out more about them, the couple board the scientific vessel Prometheus, created and funded by Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce), CEO of Weyland Corporation. Lead by mission director Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron) and monitored by Weyland’s android David (Michael Fassbender), the team of explorers find a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth and embark on a thrilling journey to the darkest corners of the universe, where they fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race. VISIT THE EVILSHOP @ AMAZON! Got news? Click here to submit it! Beat off Xenomorphs in the comments section below!

Insects. They're nature's monsters, and speaking personally, I hate them. A single spider bite can kill a human. Someone 8,000 times its size. Me? I don't like those odds, but I do like this latest clip from The Haunting of Helena. Synopsis A tale of a mysterious woman, a little girl, and her single mother, THE HAUNTING OF HELENA presents a new twist on the legend of the Tooth Fairy. After a divorce, Sophia moves to the south of Italy with her daughter, Helena. Their new home, an apartment within an austere building of the Fascist age, is a chance for them to start a new life. But inside an old storage room hides a mysterious closet and a buried secret. After the loss of Helena’s first baby tooth, a chilling obsession begins and an apparition haunts her sleep. Dreams become nightmares. Nightmares become reality. When Helena collects her classmate’s fallen teeth with an urgent hunger, it is clear that there is far more to their new home than can be seen. Sophia finds herself in a terrifying fight to save her child while maintaining her sanity. THE HAUNTING OF HELENA will keep you at the edge of your seat as it slides in agony along the sharp blade of psychological terror. THE HAUNTING OF HELENA will be released in select theaters on June 21, 2013. It will be available on Cable VOD in partnership with Tribeca Films and for digital streaming on June 18, 2013. VISIT THE EVILSHOP @ AMAZON! Got news? Click here to submit it! Haunt others in the comments section below.

A new round of paparazzi pix from the now filming Godzilla have made their way online via Just Jared, and they feature an extremely good look at stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Bryan Cranston plowing through the muck. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Richard T. Jones, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston, David Strathairn, Patrick Sabongui, Yuki Morita, Brian Markinson, Juliette Binoche, Akira Takarada, Victor Rasuk, C.J. Adams, and Ken Watanabe star. Gareth Edwards is directing the film from a screenplay by Max Borenstein, Frank Darabont, and Dave Callaham. Legendary’s Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni are producing with Mary Parent and Brian Rogers. Alex Garcia and Patricia Whitcher are serving as executive producers alongside Yoshimitsu Banno and Kenji Okuhira. A presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, Godzilla will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, except in Japan, where it will be distributed by Toho Co., Ltd. Legendary Pictures is a division of Legendary Entertainment. Slated to open on May 16, 2014, the film is expected to be presented in 3D. VISIT THE EVILSHOP @ AMAZON! Got news? Click here to submit it! Stomp around in the comments section below!

A new flick is headed our way that's looking to explore both the depths of our fears as well as the depths of our planet. Looking for some more claustrophobic chills? Then check out these stills, poster, and trailer for Abandoned Mine. The film, written and directed by Jeff Chamberlain, stars Alexa Vega, Reiley McClendon, Saige Thompson, Charan Prabhakar, Adam Hendershott, and Valerie C. Walker. Look for it on August 15th from Gravitas Ventures. Synopsis In Abandoned Mine, five small-town school friends celebrate Halloween with an overnight adventure into the legendary “haunted” Jarvis Mine. Local legend tells of the angry spirits that have occupied the mine since a family was murdered for still mysterious reasons exactly 100 years ago. But that doesn’t stop these young adrenaline junkies from exploring the unknown – and bringing mini-cameras to capture their every move. Yet once deep into the mine their best-laid Halloween plans go awry, leaving the adventurers trapped without escape. Are their misfortunes purely accidental or is the legend true and something more lurks in the darkness? Nothing is what it truly seems as the past and present collide in this psychological thriller. VISIT THE EVILSHOP @ AMAZON! Got news? Click here to submit it! Find cute creatures in the comments section below!

We've had Gremlins, Ghoulies, Critters, Little Monsters, and even Spookies (though we're still not entirely sure just what the hell that one was about) and now we have Cute Little Buggers heading our way! In 3D of course! The Hollywood News reports that Tony Jopia (Deadtime, Crying Wolf) is readying the ’80s inspired grisly British comic-horror flick Cute Little Buggers 3D starring Caroline Monroe, Joe Egan, Kristofer Dayne, Gary Martin, John R. Walker, Dani Thompson, Jess Jantschek, Samar Sarila, Jo Price, Sarah Bennett and Leslie Grantham. The flick, described as Gremlins meets Hot Fuzz set in the English countryside, is set for release in June 2014. Synopsis When hostile aliens crash land on local farmland the villagers at the summer ball get suspicious when young women start going missing. The villagers soon band together around our hero Melchoir (Kristofer Dayne) to fend off the invaders and bring back peace to the sleepy English countryside! VISIT THE EVILSHOP @ AMAZON! Got news? Click here to submit it! Find cute creatures in the comments section below!

Remember that two-minute long clip for Europa Report which premiered over the weekend? Well it's grown a bit longer. It's now five-minutes long and as always we have it for you right here. Dig it! Penned by Philip Gelatt and directed by Sebastian Cordero, Europa Report stars District 9's Sharlto Copley alongside Michael Nyqvist, Christian Camargo, Embeth Davidtz, Dan Fogler, Anamaria Marinca, Isiah Whitlock, Jr., Karolina Wydra, and Daniel Wu. Synopsis: A unique blend of documentary, alternative history, and science fiction thriller, EUROPA REPORT follows a contemporary mission to Jupiter's moon Europa to investigate the possible existence of alien life within our solar system. When unmanned probes suggest that a hidden ocean could exist underneath Europa's icy surface and may contain single-celled life, Europa Ventures, a privately funded space exploration company, sends six of the best astronauts from around the world to confirm the data and explore the revolutionary discoveries that may lie in the Europan ocean. After a near-catastrophic technical failure that leads to loss of communication with Earth and the tragic death of a crew member, the surviving astronauts must overcome the psychological and physical toll of deep space travel and survive a discovery on Europa more profound than they had ever imagined. Related Story: Several Spacey New Stills from Europa Report For more info visit the Magnet Releasing website and "like" Europa Report on Facebook. VISIT THE EVILSHOP @ AMAZON! Got news? Click here to submit it! Find intelligent life in the comments section below!

Grindhouse Releasing's Blu-ray of this latest sliver of Seventies lunacy, An American Hippie in Israel, has been dated and if we were you, we'd get to pre-ordering it immediately, if only because of how friggin' strange it is. From the Press Release Grindhouse Releasing has set a September 10 street date for its deluxe Blu-ray/DVD release of Amos Sefer’s far-out cult classic AN AMERICAN HIPPIE IN ISRAEL. The limited edition 3-disc set is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com. “We are very proud and excited to present AN AMERICAN HIPPIE IN ISRAEL for the first time to U.S. audiences,” says Grindhouse Releasing co-founder Bob Murawski. “It’s an amazing film and we’ve spent years making this Blu-ray the ultimate edition of a cult classic. From the film restoration to the massive wealth of bonus features we gathered from around the globe, AN AMERICAN HIPPIE IN ISRAEL may be our best release to date!” Originally filmed in 1972, AN AMERICAN HIPPIE IN ISRAEL stars Asher Tzarfati as a dope-smoking Vietnam vet wandering through an insane desert landscape of “machine-gun wielding mimes, robots, bloodthirsty sharks, free-loving debauchery and poignant anti-war monologues”. Lost for many years, AN AMERICAN HIPPIE IN ISRAEL has become a midnight movie sensation in Tel Aviv, where it has been screening to packed crowds. Grindhouse Releasing plans to celebrate the Blu-ray/DVD release with a series of U.S. theatrical screenings planned for the fall. The Blu-ray/DVD set is limited to 2,000 individually numbered copies. Special Features Deluxe Dual Layer Blu-ray Edition + DVD Combo + Bonus DVD Spectacular New Hi-Definition Digital Restoration Of The Original U.S. Theatrical Version PLUS - THE HITCHHIKER, The Uncensored Director's Cut Six Controversial Scenes Deleted From The Original Release In-depth Interviews With Stars Asher Tzarfati And Shmuel Wolf Asher Tzarfati - An Israeli Actor In Israel - Bonus Featurette Interview With Production Manager Moshe Berman Interview With Singer/Co-Star Susan Devore Channel 10 Tel Avi News Segment A Cult Is Born - Featurette On Revival In Tel Aviv 16mm Screen Tests Be Careful Children - Amos Sefer 16mm Short Film Bonus 5.1 Audio Track - The Beverly Cinema Experience Liner Notes By Acclaimed Horror Novelist John Skipp Still Galleries, Trailer, Filmographies Optional Hebrew Sub-Titles Grindhouse Releasing Prevues Of Coming Attractions AND OTHER SURPRISES! VISIT THE EVILSHOP @ AMAZON! Got news? Click here to submit it! Start grinding in the comments section below!