ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JULY 27, 2000 Director-producer Robert Zemeckis has reached the highest highs and plumbed the lowest lows during his career in Hollywood. As a director, he’s hit the mark with the critically acclaimed Contact and Oscar-winning Forrest Gump, yet his producer credits include such lowly horror fare as House on … Continue reading Horror review: What Lies Beneath
Horror review: Pitch Black
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, FEB. 4, 2000 At one point in writer-director David Twohy’s gory sci-fi/horror flick Pitch Black, futuristic lawman Johns (Cole Hauser) states: “My life is a steaming, meaningless pile of shit.” Now, I probably wouldn’t even have remembered that prime example of Twohy’s screenwriting prowess if it hadn’t been so … Continue reading Horror review: Pitch Black
Horror review: House on Haunted Hill
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, NOV. 4, 1999 As if this year’s bogus remake of The Haunting wasn’t discouraging enough for horror fans, now Hollywood has unleashed another sorry remake of a haunted-house flick, this time seeking inspiration from the silly but fun Vincent Price vehicle House on Haunted Hill. The new version has … Continue reading Horror review: House on Haunted Hill
Mike Bloomfield’s fearless fretwork shines on new box set
By Steve Newton When you're talking about amazing guitarists who've passed away before achieving the widespread acclaim they deserve, Mike Bloomfield's right up there. But a four-disc boxed set released today on Sony's Legacy Recordings imprint should help get the word out on the mindblowing blues player. Here's the promotional bumph: Produced and curated by Al Kooper (who … Continue reading Mike Bloomfield’s fearless fretwork shines on new box set
Scream Factory to release Sam Raimi’s Darkman on collector’s edition Blu-ray
By Steve Newton I remember Darkman, partly because it was one of the first movies I ever got paid to review, way back in the fall of 1990. I also remember Darkman because it was one hell of an entertaining horror-thriller, which is what I'd come to expect from director Sam Raimi, the guy behind Evil Dead. The good … Continue reading Scream Factory to release Sam Raimi’s Darkman on collector’s edition Blu-ray
Ear of Newt’s Top 30 Rock Albums of 1975
Ah, 1975. The year I graduated high school. Talk about dazed and confused. Albums listed alphabetically by title, including three choice tracks from each one to help you remember how wicked they really were. Against the Grain: Rory Gallagher ("Bought and Sold", "Out on the Western Plain", "Lost at Sea") America's Choice: Hot Tuna ("Sleep … Continue reading Ear of Newt’s Top 30 Rock Albums of 1975
Horror review: The Haunting
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JULY 29, 1999 I remember seeing the original Haunting when I was a kid, and it scared the stuffing out of me, mostly because of what director Robert Wise didn’t show in his 1963 haunted-house study. The scene I recall most vividly is that of a terrified Julie Harris … Continue reading Horror review: The Haunting
Horror review: Lake Placid
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JULY 22, 1999 As the Vancouver correspondent for Fangoria, the world’s best-known horror magazine, I usually have access to the sets of whatever scary flicks are being filmed around town. Most horror filmmakers jump at the chance to have their work previewed in the blood-red pages of that esteemed … Continue reading Horror review: Lake Placid
Horror review: The Thirteenth Floor
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JUNE 3, 1999 Craig Bierko must have seen a few too many Mel Gibson movies, because with every squint and facial tic, the star of The Thirteenth Floor seems to shout “I’m the next Mel!” Fortunately for the makers of this adaptation of Daniel Galouye’s sci-fi novel Simulacron-3, Bierko’s … Continue reading Horror review: The Thirteenth Floor
Horror review: Idle Hands
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MAY 6, 1999 The teen-horror genre hits a new low with this inane chunk o’ junk from Rodman Flender, the illustrious director of Leprechaun 2. Actually, Flender is not the real culprit here; it’s the numbingly bad screenwriting team of Terri Hughes and Ron Milbauer. Idle Hands is their … Continue reading Horror review: Idle Hands
Horror review: The Rage–Carrie 2
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MARCH 18, 1999 Carrie was one of my favourite horror flicks of the ’70s. I was just out of Grade 12 when that high-school tale of telekinetic vengeance came to my hometown, so I could relate somewhat to the actions and motivations of its teenage characters. And director Brian … Continue reading Horror review: The Rage–Carrie 2
Horror review: Virus
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JAN. 21, 1999 By Steve Newton There’s a scene near the beginning of Virus in which oceangoing-tug engineer Steve Baker (William Baldwin) and his supposedly hip Cuban sidekick, Squeaky (Julio Oscar Mechoso), have just boarded an evidently abandoned Russian research ship. The salvage tug they’ve transferred from has just … Continue reading Horror review: Virus
The sick and twisted Bride of Chucky brings loads of laughs to the Child’s Play franchise
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON OCT. 29, 1998 By Steve Newton While still a student at UCLA Film School, screenwriter Don Mancini wrote the original Child’s Play script as a reaction both to child-oriented advertising and to the Cabbage Patch Kids craze of the mid-’80s. His tale of a psycho killer’s soul transferred into the body of … Continue reading The sick and twisted Bride of Chucky brings loads of laughs to the Child’s Play franchise