By Steve Newton Watched Rob Zombie's 3 from Hell on Shudder last night, and I gotta tell ya, it wasn't in the same league as his previous two studies of the murderous Firefly clan. With 2003’s House of 1000 Corpses, the former White Zombie main man made a fitting transformation from over-the-top shock rocker to … Continue reading 3 From Hell doesn’t match Rob Zombie’s previous studies of the psychotic Firefly clan
Category: scary movies
The Platform brings crazy-ass, whacked-out dystopian horror and mucho gore to Netflix
By Steve Newton My teenage son suggested we watch The Platform on Netflix last night, and man is that one crazy-ass, whacked-out dystopian horror flick. Gory as hell too, if you're into that kinda thing. Iván Massagué stars as Goreng, who wakes up in a grubby concrete cell with a copy of Don Quixote and a … Continue reading The Platform brings crazy-ass, whacked-out dystopian horror and mucho gore to Netflix
Crawl puts gators ahead of sharks on the waterborne terror chart
By Steve Newton When it comes to waterborne terrors with teeth, there have always been three on my scariest list. The first, thanks to the traumatizing opening scene of Jaws, is the great white shark. Coming in a close second is the piranha, 'cause I heard as a kid that if you fell in the Amazon … Continue reading Crawl puts gators ahead of sharks on the waterborne terror chart
10 wicked horror flicks streaming on Netflix Canada right now
By Steve Newton Hey horror freaks: there's only 116 chopping days until Halloween, so why not get in the mood with some of the finest scary movies available on Netflix at the moment. Here's 10 that I've reviewed in my role as the Georgia Straight newspaper's "horror guy" in Vancouver. A Quiet Place (2018) "...ultimately … Continue reading 10 wicked horror flicks streaming on Netflix Canada right now
Overlord is a gift to gorehounds
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, NOV. 8, 2018 By Steve Newton I’m not sure horror and war go together that well in movies. War is already horrifying enough, and goring it up just seems kinda pointless. But that didn’t stop the makers of Overlord—including hotshot producer J.J. Abrams—from trying their darnedest to find some … Continue reading Overlord is a gift to gorehounds
30 great horror flicks from the last 30 years
By Steve Newton I've been reviewing horror movies professionally since 1988. Here's 30 of my faves: Hereditary (2018) "The wrath of Satan seems pretty tame compared to the suffering that damaged family members can inflict on one another." A Quiet Place (2018) "...ultimately A Quiet Place emerges as an effective nightmare-maker for parents that is … Continue reading 30 great horror flicks from the last 30 years
Brutally unsettling Hereditary lives up to the hype
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM By Steve Newton Hereditary has been generating a lot of buzz lately as the scariest horror flick in years, and I gotta admit that it’s pretty damn frightening in spots. It’s also brutally unsettling throughout, so be warned. The movie opens with a shot of a typewritten obituary, and the fact that … Continue reading Brutally unsettling Hereditary lives up to the hype
A Quiet Place delivers horror with heart
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, APRIL 6, 2018 By Steve Newton In A Quiet Place, Lee Abbott—played by director, co-writer, and executive producer John Krasinski—has it rough. He lives in a post-apocalyptic world teeming with fierce alien monsters that hunt humans through sound. The slightest noise will have them racing towards you out of nowhere, and … Continue reading A Quiet Place delivers horror with heart
Unsane is as crazy good as iPhone-shot psycho-thrillers get
By Steve Newton There’s a lot to fear around the world at this particular moment in time, and we’re not just talking spiders and snakes. There’s the ongoing fear of your kids getting shot while they’re attending high school. There’s the newer fear of coming in contact with a deadly Russian nerve agent while you’re … Continue reading Unsane is as crazy good as iPhone-shot psycho-thrillers get
The Strangers: Prey at Night is routine masked-killer fare
By Steve Newton According to the on-screen message in its opening scene, The Strangers: Prey at Night was “based on true events”. It kinda makes you wonder if anyone was ever actually stalked by an axe-wielding psycho at a trailer-park swimming pool while Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” blasted over the outdoor PA. In this … Continue reading The Strangers: Prey at Night is routine masked-killer fare
The Shape of Water resurfaces as a ’50s monster-horror flick
By Steve Newton Long-suffering horror fans are finally getting their due. It's been 27 years since The Silence of the Lambs was chosen as Best Picture at the Oscars, but this Sunday both Get Out and The Shape of Water are in the running for the grand prize. What's that? You don't think The Shape of Water is a horror movie? But … Continue reading The Shape of Water resurfaces as a ’50s monster-horror flick
Silly Winchester proves a weak platform for Helen Mirren’s horror debut
By Steve Newton Three-and-a-half months ago Jigsaw, the eighth entry in the Saw torture-porn franchise, was released. Not too surprisingly it was a mostly mediocre affair, although it included one memorable scene near the end where a guy's head got sliced lengthwise into several pieces by a barrage of high-tech laser scalpels. Lasting moments are also rare in … Continue reading Silly Winchester proves a weak platform for Helen Mirren’s horror debut
Another WolfCop is way better than WolfCop, but still pretty awful
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, DEC. 1, 2017 By Steve Newton Apparently, quite a few people thought WolfCop--the 2014 horror-comedy about an alcoholic werewolf policeman battling ancient shapeshifters in smalltown Canada--was an okay movie. It holds a "Fresh" rating of 65% on Rotten Tomatoes, with some critics seeing it as an entertaining throwback to the cheap direct-to-video … Continue reading Another WolfCop is way better than WolfCop, but still pretty awful
Jigsaw’s killer twist takes torture porn up a notch
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, OCT. 27, 2017 By Steve Newton Back in October of 2010, after six straight years of hugely successful Saw films coming out on the Friday before Halloween, the seventh and "final" entry in the series, Saw 3D, was released. It made money--eventually raking in $136-million worldwide on a $17-million budget--but also garnered the worst … Continue reading Jigsaw’s killer twist takes torture porn up a notch
“Saw Six is the sixth Saw I’ve seen”: my original reviews of every Saw movie, 2004-2010
By Steve Newton As most in-the-know horror-movie freaks are no doubt aware, the latest entry in the Saw franchise, Jigsaw, opens this Friday (October 27). Not one to miss out on the latest Hollywood torture-porn epic, I'm going. As the designated horror reviewer for Vancouver weekly the Georgia Straight since the early '80s, it was … Continue reading “Saw Six is the sixth Saw I’ve seen”: my original reviews of every Saw movie, 2004-2010
The curse of the old-school horror freak means that Tim Curry is still the Pennywise of choice
By Steve Newton As the only journalist invited to interview Tim Curry on the set of It back in 1990--I was the Vancouver correspondent for fabled New York horror mag Fangoria at the time--I've felt a connection to the two-part TV miniseries. Not that I really liked it much. I thought the acting was pretty weak … Continue reading The curse of the old-school horror freak means that Tim Curry is still the Pennywise of choice
Houseguests from hell cause havoc for Jennifer Lawrence in insane Mother!
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, SEPT. 15, 2017 By Steve Newton When I saw the TV trailer for Darren Aronofsky's Mother! I thought it looked like a pretty decent horror flick--or maybe "psychological thriller", the label horror-phobic Hollywood marketing departments tend to prefer. But now that I've seen it, I don't know what the hell it is. In … Continue reading Houseguests from hell cause havoc for Jennifer Lawrence in insane Mother!
Hellraiser shows rising horror star Clive Barker should, like Stephen King, stick to writing
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 18, 1987 By Steve Newton Some guys just don't know when to leave well enough alone. Stephen King just wasn't satisfied with the work that other directors did with his stories. He had to write and direct last year's Maximum Overdrive. It was one bad movie, and not … Continue reading Hellraiser shows rising horror star Clive Barker should, like Stephen King, stick to writing
Hollywood wins the War for the Planet of the Apes
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, JULY 12, 2017 By Steve Newton I've harboured a peculiar fondness for the Planet of the Apes movies ever since I saw the 1968 original at Chilliwack's historic--and since demolished--Paramount Theatre at age 11. Even then I could tell that it was pretty dumb, but I had a thing about "gorillas"--even … Continue reading Hollywood wins the War for the Planet of the Apes
It Comes at Night oozes paranoia and dread
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, JUNE 7, 2017 By Steve Newton First you had the awesome Get Out blowing scary-movie fans away with its shockingly sly take on racism in America. And now you've got It Comes at Night and its gloomy commentary on the Trump-inspired fear of outsiders. Socially reflective horror is back bigly, baby! But while … Continue reading It Comes at Night oozes paranoia and dread
The Belko Experiment fails, though not for lack of dying
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, MAY 12, 2017 By Steve Newton The Belko Experiment looks great on paper if you're a devotee of scary movies. It's directed by Aussie Greg McLean, who blew horror fans away with his Outback-set psycho-killer debut Wolf Creek back in 2005. And it's written by James Gunn, who worked wonders helming the comically gory Slither in 2006 before hitting … Continue reading The Belko Experiment fails, though not for lack of dying
The Void has tons of gore and not much more
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, APRIL 5, 2017 By Steve Newton The Void is like a cosmic cross between the original Hellraiser, John Carpenter's The Thing, some freaky Lovecraft shit, and that skinless-human Body Worlds exhibition Science World had running a few years back. But I still didn't like it that much. The Sault Ste Marie-shot horror flick … Continue reading The Void has tons of gore and not much more
Nude Polish mermaids get what they deserve with The Lure
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, MARCH 15, 2017 By Steve Newton The last horror-musical I remember seeing was 2008's Repo! The Genetic Opera, in which director Darren Lynn Bousman of Saw II, III, and IV fame brought the worlds of nonconsensual organ transplants and operatic pseudo-metal together. In The Lure, Polish director Agnieszka Smoczynska guides the exploits … Continue reading Nude Polish mermaids get what they deserve with The Lure
Get Out sets the bar shockingly high for 21st century horror
By Steve Newton If you only see one horror movie this year, let it be Get Out. And if you only see one movie of any kind this year, same thing. It's about as entertaining as celluloid gets. The film opens with a young black man wandering an upscale suburban neighbourhood at night, talking on … Continue reading Get Out sets the bar shockingly high for 21st century horror
The Girl With All the Gifts takes a tender turn with zombies
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, FEB. 22, 2017 By Steve Newton If you’re not a fan of flesh-eater flicks by now, you surely won’t be after seeing The Girl With All the Gifts. Following one of those pesky zombie holocausts, a group of undead/human-hybrid kids is kept in a grungy military prison/school in rural England, where … Continue reading The Girl With All the Gifts takes a tender turn with zombies
Rings makes hairball-horror history
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, FEB. 3, 2017 By Steve Newton Rings is the first horror flick I've seen since Cheeto Mussolini and his treacherous gang of fear-mongering scuzzballs got access to the nuclear codes, so, relatively speaking, how fucking scary could it be? Not very. You may recall director Gore Verbinski's original The Ring of … Continue reading Rings makes hairball-horror history
Ear of Newt’s top 5 horror flicks of 2016 (and five more that sucked the biggie)
By Steve Newton Here's five horror flicks I really enjoyed in 2016: Don't Breathe "Alvarez–who also cowrote the script–guides the ensuing mayhem with a sure hand, ratcheting up the suspense and keeping the thrills coming long after other directors would have packed it in. Can’t wait to see what he comes up with for feature number … Continue reading Ear of Newt’s top 5 horror flicks of 2016 (and five more that sucked the biggie)