6/30/09: I feel it imperative to salute the three famous folk who left us last week. True, Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson weren't exactly known for their horror movies, but I've found three appropriately-themed films. R.I.P. all!
New Reviews:
MICHAEL JACKSON'S THRILLER: The most successful music video of all time, a mini-movie directed by John Landis and starring you-know-who.
EXTREMITIES: Probably the best acting job ever by the late Farrah Fawcett, even though the film overall doesn't do her efforts justice.
DEMENTIA: Also known as DAUGHTER OF HORROR, a fifties-era surreal fest with narration (in the DAUGHTER OF HORROR version) by Ed McMahon!
SURVEILLANCE: The latest film by Jennifer Lynch, daughter of David and director of the pukeable BOXING HELENA.
BOXING HELENA: For completists' sake, a review of Jennifer Lynch's terrible, awful, horrible, no-good first film.
DRAG ME TO HELL: Sam Raimi's latest film, a welcome to return to his horror roots.
POLTERGEIST: The famous eighties-era Steven Spielberg/Tobe Hooper horror fest that's as well known for what allegedly went down behind the scenes as for what happens onscreen.
THE MAKING OF DUNE By ED NAHA: It's always fun to read making-of accounts of failed films, and this book about the making of David Lynch's calamitous DUNE is just such an account!
THE HOURGLASS SANATORIUM: The most ambitious film by THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT'S late Wojciech Has, and one of the screen's great mindbenders!
THE SAVAGE WOMEN By MIKE CURTIS: An outrageous pulp relic from the seventies, when exploitation really meant something!
THE HELLSTROM CHRONICLE: An insect documentary that plays like an apocalyptic thriller, and manages to locate the best worlds of both.
New Commentary:
NATURAL BORN KILLERS AT 15: Looking back on the most controversial film of the 1990s on its 15 year anniversary.
Selected Past Reviews:
INLAND EMPIRE: The latest film by Jennifer Lynch's father (and the director of DUNE), proving that in this family the severed ear doesn't fall far from the plastic-wrapped corpse!
I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE: A rape-revenge fest that makes for an interesting companion-piece to EXTREMITIES--and a better film!
EVIL DEAD 2: One of Sam Raimi's signature films, a stylish comedic horrorfest that heavily resembles DRAG ME TO HELL.
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: Still the absolute best film by POLTERGEIST'S Tobe Hooper.
INLAND EMPIRE: Unlike DUNE, this is a David Lynch project that actually works.
THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT: The best known film by THE HOURGLASS SANATORIUM'S Wojciech Has, an absolute must see for cult movie buffs.
KILLER INSTINCT By JANE HAMSHER: About the making of NATURAL BORN KILLERS.
Selected Past Commentary:
HOWARD THE DUCK: THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER MADE?: Another look back at a controversial film, this one a mite different from NATURAL BORN KILLERS!
