I recently caught the new PIRANHA 3D at a local theater (with only three other people in the audience!), and what impressed me the most, besides PIRANHA’s nude lesbian underwater ballet scene, was the plethora of trailers for upcoming horror movies debuting this fall: RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE, CASE 39, MY SOUL TO TAKE, LET ME IN, etc. In the lobby, the long walls of the multiplex were filled with one-sheet posters for more fright flicks: I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE, SAW 3D, BURIED… From now through the end of October, prepare to be scared. Besides over a dozen major theatrical feature movies rolling out, ’tis the season for: horror film festivals from coast to coast; classic repertory revivals (happy 50th, PSYCHO); endless monster movie marathons on cable; terror TV series returning (SUPERNATURAL, DEXTER, FRINGE) and beginning (THE WALKING DEAD. Nuff said); and DVD debuts (the FANGORIA FrightFest hits everywhere September 28) will join the competition for our Halloween attention. As I’ve said before, can you think of any better time to be a horror fan? But will this embarrassment of riches, specifically movie-wise, cancel each other out? Is there a big enough horror audience out there to support, for example, HATCHET II, CASE 39 and LET ME IN all opening on the same day?! Will the box office be so divided that no one emerges as true financial victor and all the rival pictures cancel each other out? This fall could really be a Halloween bloodbath in more ways than one.

Holy shit.

Those were the two words I uttered upon reaching the end credits of A SERBIAN FILM. Actually, that’s a lie. I looked at the screen stone-faced for several moments, barely able to comprehend what I just watched, like I just got cracked upside the head with a sledgehammer and my brains were still rolling around my head. Effective? Yes. Disturbing? Without a doubt. It’s climbed into the infinitesimally small category of movies that truly were hard for me to sit through, with one scene in particular nearly causing me to turn the movie off.

Many little girls fantasize about being an actress—the glamour and high life of the stage and screen. I was one of those little girls. The first movie that captured my heart was THE SOUND OF MUSIC, and as a result I wanted to be Julie Andrews. Just watching her wasn’t enough for me; I ran around my house singing all the songs, playing her part both before and after she fell in love with Captain Von Trapp. For me, the best part was when she was a nun: I put a towel on my head and paraded in and out of all the rooms of our home as if I too were the spirited Maria. So, who would have thought that all these years later, VINDICATION director Bart Mastronardi would make my dream come true and ask me to be an extra in his horror short THE TELL-TALE HEART?

Quite 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 four 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. Check out last week's right here and read on for week three—my look at 1988’s Haitian Voodoo-zombie flick THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW.

Quite 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 seven 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 (see last week's entry). Read on for week two: my examination of his made-for-television CHILLER.

For many hardcore and punk bands, summertime in America means it’s time for the Warped Tour. In turn, Warped Tour for many hardcore and punk bands means two months of setting up in sweaty stadium parking lots and some of the hottest days El Diablo can conjure up. This is the tour that began when I was in high school (mid-‘90s) as a collection of underground artists and extreme sports stars traveling the country to entertain the nation’s misunderstood youth.

Quite 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 not, 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 seven 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 one—my look at THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS.