In light of several recent suicides by gay teens, prompted by horrible bullying at school, “Savage Love” columnist Dan Savage and his husband have created a video campaign to assure gay youth that it does, indeed, get better. Below the jump, you can see my video contribution to the campaign.

In Part One of this blog, we left off with actor Vincent Kovar being asked to strip down to his underwear…again. In this second portion of my interview with the CREATURE FROM THE PINK LAGOON star, we talk about his experiences on the CREATURES set, including the importance of cinnamon gum when kissing a straight guy.

Last year, in support of independent filmmaking, I set up a special showcase of short horror films at the FANGORIA Weekend of Horrors convention in Los Angeles. When I noticed they gave me a screening room that seemed miles away from the main convention area, I started to panic: “How is anyone going to find out about my show of indie shorts?” I despaired. One filmmaker whose movie was to be part of the screening noticed my anxiety and said, “I’ll help you out here,” and the next thing I knew, he cried out in a loud, powerful voice, “My name is Robert Filion and I am a filmmaker!”

After interviewing Chris Diani, the writer/director of CREATURES FROM THE PINK LAGOON (get the links here), I knew I needed to speak to one of the film’s cast as well. So I set all journalistic ethics aside and picked the cutest guy from the ensemble, Vincent Kovar. (Cue angry e-mails from the rest of the actors…)

With vampires currently enjoying their all-media heyday, it remains a challenge for writers and filmmakers to put a new and different spin on the bloodsucker story. Acclaimed Canadian writer Douglas Smith delivered just that, coming up with a unique twist in his short story “By Her Hand, She Draws You Down.” When producer/writer/director Anthony G. Sumner and producer Alan Rowe Kelly read the tale, they contacted Smith and got his blessing to turn the disquieting story into a short film, and BY HER HAND, SHE DRAWS YOU DOWN is now hitting the festival circuit—and worth seeking out.

Recently, a blog went up on FANGORIA taking a handful of legendary horror directors to task for essentially riding the waves of their legacy and failing to continuously and contemporarily put out excellent work. No doubt, it’s an interesting theory worth debating and investigating. However in my eyes, its author made one fatal mistake (and no, it wasn’t that confrontational opening line—although that was slightly devoid of taste). Nick sought to claim that Wes Craven neither is, nor ever was, great. I’m under the belief that no matter how you feel about many of his films, that’s simply a falsehood. So with two weeks until the filmmaker’s latest, MY SOUL TO TAKE, hits theaters, I’ve decided to look at one of his movies a week (excluding the landmarks like LAST HOUSE, NIGHTMARE and SCREAM) to showcase that even during misfires and his lesser praised works, Craven displays talent, chops and incredible imagination. Read on for week five (check out lat week's entry here)—my look at 1994’s return to Elm St, WES CRAVEN’S NEW NIGHTMARE.

In Part One of my look at the coming season’s fright flicks, Pervula in the comments section wisely pointed out that there were actually four genre films opening on October 1, not three. CHAIN LETTER, previously slated for Oct. 8, will now go head-to-head (at least in LA and maybe a few other major cities) with the previously announced HATCHET II, LET ME IN and CASE 39. The smart money’s on LET ME IN emerging as the box-office winner; the remake of the Swedish classic LET THE RIGHT ONE IN won raves after its Toronto Film Festival premiere, with many pundits predicting that the film’s young stars (Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloë Grace Moretz) may even nab Oscar nominations.