This featurette is a behind the scenes look at how Universal is trying to go back to their great horror films from the past to bring revive The Wolfman. While it looks like they have some darn good actors and some great special effects, I’m still not sure modern audiences can still be scared by these classic creatures. We’ll have to wait and see in 2010 to see if Universal can pull this off…
This is no ordinary cute Cthulhu! This release of My Little Cthulhu actually glows in the dark. This limited edition 8-inch vinyl figure designed by John Kovalic won’t be out until March of 2010, but you can pre-order now. Can’t wait for your cutie? The original My Little Cthulhu Dark Edition Vinyl Statue is available now: Read more…
In the 70s Aurora had an amazing line of horror themed model kits which I haven’t looked at since the Carter administration. Well the vintage Aurora kits are back! And man I forgot how silly they were: When you’re a kid everything seems so much more serious — but after looking at this cover art for the Monster Scenes Dr. Deadly Model Kit I couldn’t stop laughing. Yeah you’ve got the poorly attired doctor doing something, well what is he doing? Well it must be evil, but the best part is the added touch of his little pet to the right. That bunny looks completely silly, it reminds me of the Monty Python killer rabbit sketch: Read more…
Kazuo Umezu (楳図 かずお) is the the godfather of the Japanese horror manga genre. A new film has been released in Japan which profiles the author/artist who got his start in 1962 and is still active. Umezu is best known for such works as The Drifting Classroom, Makoto-chan and Reptilia. The Drifting Classroom was turned into a live action film in 1987. Here are some samples of his wonderfully gothic work: Read more…
I just came across the YouTube video below which mentions casting reality TV star Kim Kardashian as Frankenstein in a cult horror film which hasn’t started shooting yet. Now normally I’d dismiss this as a hoax, but the video is by Glenn Andreiev who actually has a decent body of professional work out there. Although frankly I can see more easily see Kardashian as a vampire, but not so much a Frankenstein: Read more…
On this day in 1960 the British film The Brides of Dracula made it’s American debut. The film was produced by the beloved Hammer Film Productions which did some amazing horror and science fiction work in the 50s with films like The Quatermass Xperiment and The Curse of Frankenstein. Although by 1959 they started to revert to sequels and by 1974 had produced a total of 9 Dracula flicks. Of course in this case the Dracula title is slightly dishonest as the lead vampire Baron Meinster (played by handsome David Peel) was in fact just a mere disciple of Count Dracula as seen in this trailer: Read more…
What do you get when you mix up Dracula, a cloned version of the comedy team of Martin & Lewis and a guy in a gorilla suit? Well on this day in 1952 you got the opening of the cult classic comedy film Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla. Frankly poor Bella was always an afterthought, in fact he only spends a few minutes on the screen although it’s his name that has kept the flame going for lovers of camp films all these years later. The film was made at the height of fame of the comedy act of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis — in fact the duo sued to stop the film but failed. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 23, 2009 in Comix, Horror
Beasts of Burden got started as a collaboration between Evan Dorkin (Milk & Cheese) and Jill Thompson (Scary Godmother) for the anthologies The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings, Witchcraft, the Dead, and Monsters. The result? They won the Eisner Awards for Best Short Story and Best Painter categories. So I’m pleased to see that Dark Horse is working to publish an mini-series based on this initial appearance which is due to debut on September 16, 2009. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 22, 2009 in Comix, Horror
As a magazine publisher Warren Publishing was born out as a result of the infamous comic book code of the 50s which made the genre a bit too family friendly: Along with sister publications like Eerie and Vampirella, Creepy magazine kept alive the tradition of horror comics from 1964 until 1983. Next year on January 27th, 2010 Dark Horse will be publishing a set of trading cards based upon covers of the magazine. Read more…
On this day in 1932 the horror film Doctor X opened: Directed by Michael Curtiz and featuring King Kong’s girlfriend Fay Wray this film is interesting because it was one of the last Hollywood films shot before the infamous Production Code and as such it features all sorts of mature themes like murder, rape and cannibalism that wouldn’t find here way back into filmmaking for decades to come. Another thing that makes this film interesting for the 30s is that it was shot in Technicolor — so it’s a rare color film from that era: Read more…
Update: My apologies! I was looking at the 1:30 mark and they seemed to be UFO hunting (i.e. “We’re investigating a meteor!”) by well informedsources tell me that there were no aliens in the comic book that the film is based upon. Read more…
This is where science fiction ends and fact begins! On this day in 1962 the post-apocalyptic film Panic in Year Zero opened. The film was directed by Ray Milland and also stars him in the lead role of Harry Baldwin, a man who takes his family out on a simple fishing trip only to find out that that loud noise that they heard was the destruction of Los Angles by a nuclear attack. But it turns out that radiation sickness, looters and killers are the real issues of the day — what’s makes you civilized is the ability for a man to get a decent shave: Read more…
