Trailer: JUAN OF THE DEAD.

If you’ve ever read my ravings about the Congolese neo-noir Viva Riva!, you know how excited I can get when I see a national cinema stretch its wings for the first time.  Juan Of The Dead is Cuba’s first horror movie, which of course is something politically and historically significant.  It also looks like a [...]

Screening in NYC: ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 (1976).

Assault On Precinct 13 is screening this weekend as the IFC Center’s midnight movie.  It’s a stone-cold must-see if you’ve never had the pleasure, and a terrific choice to watch in the middle of the night, its most natural habitat. With respect to fans of Dark Star, Carpenter’s first major credit as director, Assault On Precinct [...]

Trailer: ZOMBIE ASS: TOILET OF THE DEAD (Japan, 2012).

This movie is from Japan.  It is named Zombie Ass: Toilet Of The Dead. 1. There was really never a chance I wouldn’t put this trailer on my website. 2. I’m a total idiot and that’s apparently not going to change.  Believe it or not my family is very proud of me. P.S. They don’t [...]

From The Archives: SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD (2009).

Two things you should probably know; 1) This piece was originally featured on CHUD.com, and 2) It was written very soon after the series finale of Lost aired, which will help you better understand the first joke…   So there’s this island, right?  Hey wait – where you going?  Come back!  Thanks.  Anyway, Survival Of [...]

The 2011 Cinematic Black-Guy Death Toll.

“Brothers don’t last long in situations like this.” — Duane Martin as “Joel”, Scream 2, 1997. In 1997, the illness was still beneath the surface enough for the joke to register. Fourteen years later, in 2011, is the joke still funny? We’re in the future. We have a multi-cultural president. Beyoncé and Jay-Z are basically [...]

From The Archives: ZOMBIELAND (2009).

Just rewatched Zombieland.  Well, I’m lying a little.  I bailed on the rewatch after the cameo.  It’s a strange thing, the cameo.  It’s problematic.  On several levels, I love it.  Obviously if a movie like this was going to drop a big name all up into itself, there’s just about no one I’d rather see.  [...]

31 FLAVORS OF HORROR #27: NIGHT OF THE COMET (1984).

After Night Of The Creeps, Night Of The Comet is the best “Night Of The” movie of the 1980s.  (There were many.)  These are the kind of movies you hope for, every time you venture off the mainstream path looking for something out of the ordinary.  These are the kind of movie there just plain [...]

31 FLAVORS OF HORROR #23: NIGHT OF THE CREEPS (1986).

Speaking of Attack The Block, here’s one of its spiritual ancestors.  Night Of The Creeps is one of those everything movies.  It’s a monster drink, a mix of everything kids and grown-ups alike love so much about genre movies.  This is a movie  that seems to answer that question: “If you got your chance to [...]

31 FLAVORS OF HORROR #18: RE-ANIMATOR (1985).

  Eventually, the Lovecraft thing had to be addressed in this column.  I just spent a lot of space on a movie which references The Necronomicon, a Lovecraft invention.  Horror luminaries such as John Carpenter, Joe Lansdale, Stephen King, Guillermo Del Toro, and Mike Mignola (all of whom I happen to admire tremendously) all name [...]

31 FLAVORS OF HORROR #16: ZOMBIE 2 (1979).

Admittedly, when my friends and I turn our debates to the more philosophical questions in life, it usually goes like this:  “Who do you think would win in a fight: A grizzly bear, or a great white shark?” We figure that the battle would take place in an enclosed space, in shallow waters, where there’d [...]