ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON DEC. 9, 1988 By Steve Newton When novelist Dean R. Koontz was asked, after reading a screenplay based on his book Watchers, how he thought the film would turn out, he said, “I think they’ve done a good job with the [scary] throat-clutching parts, but the rest of it I’m not sure … Continue reading Dean R. Koontz won’t be happy with how Watchers turned out
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
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 31, 2003 By Steve Newton Although they started out in the early ’80s as indie artists on MoDaMu Records, local guitar-rockers 54•40 have been signed to major labels since 1986, first with Warner Bros. and then with Columbia/Sony. But with its 10th studio album, Goodbye Flatland, the band has let go … Continue reading 54•40 walks the walk with first indie release since the ’80s
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MAY 4, 1995 By Steve Newton It’s hard being a proud horror fan in 1995, when movies based on the works of genre kings Dean Koontz and Clive Barker turn out to be as lame as Hideaway and Candyman 2, respectively. Then you’ve got former terror titan Tobe (Poltergeist) … Continue reading Horror review: Village of the Damned
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, AUG. 31, 1995 By Steve Newton Clive Barker is the ultimate lord of self-delusion if he believes that Lord of Illusions—which he wrote, directed, and coproduced—is going to help the film career that took a nosedive five years ago with the nonsensical and inept Nightbreed. That flick, like Barker’s … Continue reading Horror review: Lord of Illusions
AC/DC Rock or Bust With the help of Langley’s Mike Fraser as engineer and mixer, the Australian hard-rock icons create a fitting follow-up to 2008’s hugely successful Black Ice album. Its first-ever album without stalwart rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young shows the band in fine, swaggering form. Pink Floyd The Endless River The prog-rock legends’ first album in … Continue reading The Newt’s top 10 albums of 2014: yep, AC/DC’s on there
By Steve Newton When Tom Savini’s remake of George Romero’s zombie classic The Night of the Living Dead came out in 1990 I did a phone interview with the gore-FX guru. That was cool. Blood and guts aren’t pretty. Neither is brain matter. But when it comes to the horror genre, those type of bodily components … Continue reading Splatter king Tom Savini brings “dead things” to life remaking Romero
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, FEB. 24, 2010 If you’ve never been particularly concerned about the safety of your drinking water, The Crazies might make you think again. It’s a rip-roaring, topnotch terror fest that’s sure to boost sales of Brita filters. Smalltown Iowa sheriff David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant) is cheerfully mingling with citizens at the local ballpark … Continue reading Horror review: The Crazies
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, SEPT. 5, 2007 By Steve Newton When the Straight calls up Tim Green of the Fucking Champs, the San Francisco–based guitarist is on vacation with his girlfriend, visiting his dad and stepmom in Maine. He says they’re not too far from Bangor, the fabled hometown of Stephen King, which kinda makes … Continue reading Major keys keep Champs’ instro-metal upbeat
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, JAN. 19, 2006 Is there a Canadian identity when it comes to horror films? Director Jennifer Adcock ponders that idea in Nightmare in Canada: Canadian Horror on Film, a provocative one-hour documentary that collects snippets of seminal Canadian fright flicks and intersperses them with commentary from a bevy of critics, authors, … Continue reading Horror review: Nightmare in Canada
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN FANGORIA MAGAZINE, AUGUST 1998 By Steve Newton The X-Files recently deserted Vancouver after five seasons of shooting here, but that doesn’t mean our town is throwing in the towel as far as scary shows go. It still has Millennium, of course, and the city has jumped headfirst into the teen-thriller fray with … Continue reading Checking out Katie Holmes’ Disturbing Behavior in Burnaby
By Steve Newton I still remember the major buzz I got when I saw my first full-colour, three-page spread in famed horror mag Fangoria back in ’88. It was for a Vancouver-shot movie called Watchers that I’d done a set-visit piece on, interviewing the director, stars, and FX artists–and later on, by phone, even author Dean Koontz … Continue reading Watching Dean Koontz’s beloved Watchers get trashed in Vancouver
By Steve Newton When I was covering the Vancouver horror scene as a correspondent for Fangoria back in the ’80s and ’90s, I would normally make an effort to see the projects I’d previewed when they were finally released in theatres or on the tube. But it wasn’t always fun. In fact it was often quite painful, … Continue reading Helen Shaver gives demonic birth on the Vancouver set of Poltergeist: The Legacy
