Horror Movie Comments, Reviews and Outburst featuring Trailer of the Day highlighting Horror Trailers from the 60's, 70's, the Classics, and the latest entries. Long live Frankenstein, Dracula and the Wolfman!
Ah, Linda Blair -- too bad she didn't make more serious horror films.
Directed by Tom DeSimone and written by Randy Feldman. Starring Linda Blair, Vincent Van Patten, Peter Barton, Kevin Brophy, Jenny Neumann, Suki Goodwin and Jimmy Sturtevant.
From the creators of Alien - hah - the tag lines for this trailer try very hard to convince you it is much better than it actually is.
Directed by Gary Sherman and written by Jeff Millar and Dan O'Bannon. Starring James Farentino, Melody Anderson, Jack Albertson, Dennis Redfield, Nancy Locke, Lisa Blount and Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street).
1981 Continues with the second in the Friday the 13th franchise. This is still pre-hockey-mask-Jason. While Jason does return in this release, he's wearing a potato-sack hoodie - heh. It struggles conjure up some fear, but it nowhere near as iconic as the forthcoming hockey mask will become.
The poster and the trailer both indicate the marketing on the sequel was perhaps a bit rushed and/or perhaps they didn't know what to do with it ... just yet. The poster is simply the logo and a tag line: "The body count continues..." and the trailer is mostly about the previous film.
The film itself lives up to expectation and continues the mythology (or even establishes it -- a bit) successfully. Still more about the killings than the killer. Jason Voorhees in the first film is suspected as the killer (as we know he wasn't); while, here, he is established definitively as the killer.
Fridays at the Rant are for new, upcoming horror films. This Friday spotlights the annual Halloween tradition of Saw. This years brings us the 5th installment. Just like Friday the 13th twenty years ago, the Saw franchise revisits its themes and terrifies the audience.
Saw V is written by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, the writing team behind Feast, and directed by David Hackl, the production designer and assistant director of Saw III and IV. The movie stars Julie Benz ,Tobin Bell, Scott Patterson, Costas Mandylor, Mark Rolston, Betsy Russell, Samantha Lemole, Meagan Good, Laura Gordon, Greg Bryk and Carlo Rota.
This week has been B U S Y, so I missed many an entry to the Rant. Since we were covering the movies of 1981, let's take a look at the entire Evil Dead feature.
Fridays at the Rant are for new, upcoming horror flicks: this weeks is a November Taiwan release. Invitation Only is Taiwan's first slasher horror film. Check out the trailer to see if the rest of the world gets how to make an American standard.
Written and Directed by Sam Raimi and starring Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker, Theresa Tilly, Evil Dead is a highly successful and influencial low-budget horror film described by IMDB as "Five friends are spending the weekend in a remote cabin in the woods. Whilst investigating the cellar they discover a tape and a decaying old book full of strange incantations. The tape is played and it unleashes powerful evil force from the forrest, determined to destory every last one of them."
Evil Dead is a different kind of horror film, completely a genre in and of itself. Really, there is nothing like Evil Dead (and its sequels: Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness) and it is due to the combination of Sam Raimi's kinetic direction and Bruce Campbell's unique comic flair. And then there's the effects.
In the age where special effect were gain glory for how impressive, imaginative and realistic they could be, Evil Dead's effects are cheesy, amatuerish and low-grade ... and delightfully so. It's part of it's charm and appeal really. The whole thing is so over the top, the state of the effects only enhance the overall effect. It's remarkable and pure spectacle.
Luckily the trailer is allowed to show off what makes this movie so special without giving it all away ... which may be hard to believe. The sequel, Evil Dead 2, would allow Bruce Campbell to shine and steal the spotlight from the effects; and, Army of the Dead would balance the effects and the star to perfection.
Italian horror is known for its gore and by 1981 had cemented that reputation. Not many directors can best the over-the-top graphics that director Lucio Fulci spewed out onto the screen. For the most part, his films spotlight the gore with the script servicing that intention.
The Beyond, A.K.A The Seven Doors of Death, is prime example of Lucio Fulci talents and is a fan favorite, along with films like Zombie and The Gates of Hell. Prepare yourself for some of the most gruesome visuals ever presented ... and some of the most confusing, convoluted plotting you'll ever follow.
Directed by Lucio Fulci and written by Dardano Sacchetti. The Beyond stars Catriona MacColl, David Warbeck, Cinzia Monreale, Antoine Saint-John, Veronica Lazar, Anthony Flees.
Podcast host of Horror News Radio, the official podcast of HorrorNews.Net. Film critic and reviewer at HorrorNews.Net and host of Dracula on TVTalk. Also podcast host of Hannibal Fan Podcast, American Horror Story Fan podcast and The Strain Fan Podcast. And catch me on Monster Movie Podcast.
Hell Night (1981)
