September 2009

VIDEO NASTIES – Axe

Published on: 30th September, 2009

Thanks to the notoriety of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre during the mid-1970s, independent filmmakers rushed out their own low budget shockers in the hope of scoring similar success. Their distributors or producers, both known for going any length to find their target audience, would often re-title their movies in an effort to make them [...]

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BIOGRAPHY – George A. Romero

Published on: 29th September, 2009

George A. Romero has had a somewhat uneven career. Having first gained acclaim for his zombie masterpiece Night of the Living Dead in 1968, his output over the last four decades could best be described as hit-and-miss, with one classic followed by half a dozen disappointments. Yet there is there is no denying [...]

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VIDEO NASTIES – Tenebrae

Published on: 29th September, 2009

Tenebrae is a sexist novel. Why do you despise women so much?” Perhaps the most self-reflective moment from Dario Argento’s entire career. Having constantly been accused of misogyny due to the excessive violence his films have often levelled at their female victims, Tenebrae was a chance for the Italian filmmaker to finally [...]

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CULT – Barton Fink

Published on: 28th September, 2009

Many authors consider writer’s block the enemy of creativity. To feel uninspired is an artist’s greatest fear, often resulting in mediocre and contrived work. Some give up and call it a day, whilst others soldier on and try to complete their piece, regardless of how inferior to finished product us. But the [...]

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SLASHERS – Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives

Published on: 28th September, 2009

The sleazy direction that the Friday the 13th franchise had taken with A New Beginning had been of great concern to the executives at Paramount. Having brought the series to a satisfactory conclusion with The Final Chapter the previous year, the box office takings had been enough to convince the studio that Jason Voorhees [...]

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INTERVIEW – HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS discusses half a century of Filmmaking

Published on: 27th September, 2009

Often referred to by his loyal fan base as the ‘Godfather of Gore,’ Herschell Gordon Lewis was one of the most prolific and influential independent filmmakers of the 1960’s, responsible for such cult favourites as Blood Feast, Color Me Blood Red and The Wizard of Gore.
Herschell discusses half a century in the film industry and [...]

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CULT – Street Trash

Published on: 27th September, 2009

Street Trash: the ultimate melt movie! So many flicks during the mid-1980’s were simple carbon copies of countless other films that had been released in recent years. There were generic slasher clones, mindless zombie features and a neverending supply of sequels. Street Trash perverted the horror genre in more ways than one; [...]

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SLASHERS – Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

Published on: 25th September, 2009

It had been seven years since Michael Myers had made an appearance when the fourth Halloween 4 movie rolled into production. The original creators, John Carpenter and Debra Hill, had been eager to steer the series in a new direction and so Halloween 3, released in the fall of 1982, had jettisoned the Myers [...]

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BIOGRAPHY – Dario Argento

Published on: 24th September, 2009

Dario Argento was always destined for show business. His father, Salvatore Argento, had become a key figure in the industry throughout the 1950’s, being instrumental in the international success of many Italian films through his public relations role at Unitalia, a government-funded body that helped bring attention to the country’s movie industry. After [...]

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CULT – The Hills Have Eyes

Published on: 24th September, 2009

The surprise success of The Last House on the Left had been both a blessing and a curse for its filmmakers. Whilst its distributor, Hallmark, had reaped tremendous gain from its box office performance, both producer Sean S. Cunningham and director Wes Craven had been the target of controversy due to its extreme content. [...]

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