ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, OCT. 20, 2005 In the past few years, Hollywood has been shamelessly pounding out remakes of famous horror flicks, with varying results. In the case of retreads like The Ring, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Dawn of the Dead, and House of Wax, at least the filmmakers had worthy sources to draw from. … Continue reading Horror review: The Fog
Horror review: Cry_Wolf
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, SEPT. 22, 2005 Cellphones bug the hell out of me. It's bad enough that your life is continually threatened by distracted drivers jabbering away on them. Now you've got teen-oriented slasher flicks with plots revolving around today's wireless technology. "Can you kill me now?" Cry_Wolf kicks off in traditional horror fashion, … Continue reading Horror review: Cry_Wolf
Horror review: The Exorcism of Emily Rose
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, SEPT. 15, 2005 All those shocking images in the TV trailer for The Exorcism of Emily Rose had me thinking: "Cool! Maybe someone's finally made a worthy demonic-possession flick to rival The Exorcist." Then I ran into veteran Georgia Straight movie guy Ian Caddell, and he pooped all over my party. "It's … Continue reading Horror review: The Exorcism of Emily Rose
Horror review: The Cave
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, SEPT. 1, 2005 James Cameron's Aliens sure was one kick-ass action-horror flick. It had assured direction, amazing special effects, terrifying monsters-and, of course, Bill Paxton's immortal line as the cocky but cowardly grunt Hudson: "Game over, man. Game over!" But Aliens came out nearly two decades ago, so it's a little … Continue reading Horror review: The Cave
Horror review: The Skeleton Key
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, AUG. 18, 2005 There hasn't been a decent Deep South occult flick since Alan Parker put Mickey Rourke's rumpled private dick through his satanic paces in 1987's noirish Angel Heart. Perhaps Hollywood hasn't tackled the voodoo angle that often because most folks just don't grasp all that gumbo mumbo jumbo. Voodoo … Continue reading Horror review: The Skeleton Key
Horror review: The Devil’s Rejects
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, JULY 21, 2005 With 2003's House of 1000 Corpses, former White Zombie main man Rob Zombie made a fitting transformation from over-the-top shock rocker to over-the-top shock filmmaker. The demented, evil-guy persona he nurtured on record and on-stage was child's play compared with the bloody horrors of his directorial debut, a … Continue reading Horror review: The Devil’s Rejects
Horror review: Dark Water
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, JULY 14, 2005 Dark Water is a remake of a Japanese horror film of the same name by Hideo Nakata, the same guy who directed Ringu, and there are similarities to that flick's Americanized version, The Ring. But instead of a cursed videotape that brings death to its viewers, Dark Water … Continue reading Horror review: Dark Water
Horror review: House of Wax
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, MAY 12, 2005 By Steve Newton I didn't have high hopes for House of Wax, an extremely loose adaptation of the 1953 Vincent Price horror classic. For starters, Paris Hilton is in it. Then there's the fact that it's a product of Dark Castle Entertainment, the company behind crappy "reimaginings" of … Continue reading Horror review: House of Wax
Horror review: The Amityville Horror
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, APRIL 21, 2005 Several times recently, while watching the tube at home, I've had to scramble for the remote and quickly flip the channel whenever the trailer for The Amityville Horror came on. I didn't want the kids going to bed with scary images in their imaginative little minds; neither did … Continue reading Horror review: The Amityville Horror
Horror review: Malevolence
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, MARCH 31, 2005Ya gotta like DIY horror filmmakers such as Stevan Mena, who not only wrote, cast, directed, produced, edited, acted in, and scored the horror flick Malevolence but even did the catering.You don't have to pretend to enjoy the result of their low-budget indie efforts, though.Although Malevolence displays some crisp … Continue reading Horror review: Malevolence
Horror review: Cursed
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, MARCH 10, 2005 The day after Cursed was released, high-profile movie critics Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper gave the werewolf flick a "thumbs sideways" rating on their TV show. They couldn't give it a regular thumbs-up or thumbs-down because Dimension Films had refused to allow them an advance viewing of Scream … Continue reading Horror review: Cursed
Horror review: Constantine
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, FEB. 24, 2005 The Vancouver-shot Catwoman may be up for a record-breaking seven Razzies at this weekend's 25th annual Golden Raspberry Awards-Hollywood's tribute to the very worst in movies-but there's already a buzz on about the major contenders for next year. One likely nominee is yet another locally lensed stinker, Alone … Continue reading Horror review: Constantine
The Newt’s top 10 albums of 2013
Gov't Mule Shout! Mule fans got a double dose of their favourite southern-flavoured blues/jam-rock outfit this time around, as all 11 tracks on Shout! were rerecorded on a second disc with a stellar cast of guest singers, including Ben Harper, Dr. John, Steve Winwood, Grace Potter, and West Van resident Elvis Costello. Black Sabbath 13 It was definitely a … Continue reading The Newt’s top 10 albums of 2013