ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 23, 1988 By Steve Newton Horror is big stuff nowadays. Why, just flick your TV on any night and chances are you'll come across War of the Worlds, Monsters, Tales from the Dark Side, or Freddy's Nightmares. Walk into most any video store and you just might find … Continue reading Clive Barker on making movies, writing books, and the state of horror in 1988
Tag: John Carpenter
Alice Cooper on horror, censorship, and battling the PMRC with Raise Your Fist and Yell
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 18, 1987 By Steve Newton I bought Alice Cooper's Killer album last month. That's right, I'm 30 years old, and I went out and laid down $8.99 for the record with "Dead Babies" on it. Now some people might think: "How immature. Doesn't the guy have any taste?" … Continue reading Alice Cooper on horror, censorship, and battling the PMRC with Raise Your Fist and Yell
The 5th Wave takes alien-attack flicks to a new low
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, JAN. 21, 2016 By Steve Newton Sci-fi action flicks about alien invasions are pretty hit-and-miss. For every kickass Edge of Tomorrow you’ll find a crappy Independence Day. And then there’s The 5th Wave, based on Rick Yancey's 2013 young-adult novel. It took three whole screenwriters to turn that book into a laughable pile of juvenile hokum. Chloë Grace Moretz stars as … Continue reading The 5th Wave takes alien-attack flicks to a new low
It Follows is the finest horror flick in years
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, MARCH 25, 2015 By Steve Newton Every once in a while a low-budget indie fright flick comes along that makes everything on the major studios’ horror plate look like a pile of steaming crap. It Follows is that film, right now. Maika Monroe is note-perfect as Jay, a pretty 19-year-old college student getting … Continue reading It Follows is the finest horror flick in years
35th anniversary Halloween Blu-ray brings classic horror back in HD
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, SEPT. 26, 2013 By Steve Newton The last Halloween movie to be released—Rob Zombie's Halloween 2 in 2009—was one nasty, gruesome bit of business. But unlike John Carpenter's 1978 original, it wasn't particularly scary. "Relentlessly disturbing though it is, the movie is not particularly frightening," opined one of the world's most esteemed and insightful horror-movie … Continue reading 35th anniversary Halloween Blu-ray brings classic horror back in HD
John Carpenter unmasks evil Republicans in They Live
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON NOV. 18, 1988 By Steve Newton With such harrowing films as The Thing, Halloween, and Escape From New York under his belt, John Carpenter has proven himself one of the world's top directors in the sci-fi/horror/thriller genres. So what's he doing making a lightweight piece of fluff like They Live? He's trying … Continue reading John Carpenter unmasks evil Republicans in They Live
Horror review: Frailty
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, APRIL 25, 2002 Hollywood marketing departments seem more desperate than ever to find sources for the hyperbolic reviewer quotes they splash across TV screens and newspaper ads. There’s no need to rely on established critical outlets like the New York Times and the Village Voice when they can magnify … Continue reading Horror review: Frailty
Horror review: Village of the Damned
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
Horror review: The Thing
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, OCT. 14, 2011 By Steve Newton John Carpenter’s The Thing—his 1982 Antarctic update of a 1951 B movie about an alien organism on a rampage at a remote Arctic outpost—was one of the best horror movies ever made. It was a seamless work of dread-inducing art that boasted a brooding score by … Continue reading Horror review: The Thing
Horror review: Halloween II
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, AUG. 27, 2009 Does anyone remember which horror icon came out on top in 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason? Me neither. But I do know that the Michael Myers you see slaughtering folks in Halloween II would make both Krueger and Voorhees his bitches in two seconds flat. The most impressive thing about HII—Rob Zombie’s follow-up … Continue reading Horror review: Halloween II
Rob Zombie goes for the jugular with Halloween II
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, AUG. 26, 2009 By Steve Newton Rob Zombie likes to fuck with people’s heads. That’s why in his sadistic 2005 shocker The Devil's Rejects, during the scene where two captive men are being driven to a remote location to be butchered by a psycho, the song playing on the van’s radio … Continue reading Rob Zombie goes for the jugular with Halloween II
Horror review: 30 Days of Night
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, OCT. 24, 2007 As 30 Days of Night unfolds, hunky sheriff Eben Oleson (Josh Hartnett) and his pretty wife, Stella (Melissa George), are on the outs. They're living in Barrow, the northernmost town in Alaska, and it's the day before the sun sets and doesn't reappear for a month. She's trying … Continue reading Horror review: 30 Days of Night
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