Category Archives: Horror Movies
It’s GENERATION X-ED Pub Day!
I’m not so thrilled about that god-awful sweater I’m wearing in that photo, but I couldn’t be more thrilled to announce that Generation X-ed, which contains my short story “Nothing to See Here,” is now available in dust jacket hardcover, paperback, Kindle, and audiobook!
Crammed with all sorts of throwback goodies and the original collection written completely by those of us who lived through them, this should definitely be on every GenXer’s shelf (and makes a great gift for that impossible-to-buy-for GenXer in your life because JARTS are hard to find)! Here’s a look at the stellar TOC!
In From the Cold – Adrian Ludens Read the rest of this entry
Three Good Flicks for Haunted House Junkies
It’s stating the obvious: haunted house movies—even not so good ones—are scary, because, on a metaphorical level, what they’re really about is what happens when someplace we deem safe isn’t really safe at all. The house is the stand-in for that secure thing—an actual home, a family structure, a romantic relationship, a job, our physical health—and the “haunting” is the stand-in for anything that threatens it: fire, foreclosure, death, infidelity, unfair treatment, terminal illness. In the end, why haunted house movies are effective—and popular—is because they prey on our fear of destabilization.
This is probably why so many of them have the same tropes—but if you’re a junkie like me, who’ll give any haunted house movie a fair shot until it proves otherwise—you’re used to that; in fact, you expect it.
That said, here’s a couple of recent ones on Netflix Read the rest of this entry
Ruminations on Romero’s THE AMUSEMENT PARK
I’m going to preface this by saying I’m not even close to knowing much about the late George Romero’s films, and in fact, I’m not even a fan of his work—mostly (I know, understand, and can appreciate its brilliance, and I think he was a genius. Zombies are just not my thing). He has, however, thanks to Night of the Living Dead, become synonymous with a specific brand of horror, so fan expectations are set.
I just watched George Romero’s gorgeously restored lost gem, 1975’s The Amusement Park, which has been available as a Shudder exclusive for a while now. In my opinion, this is one of the scariest films I’ve ever seen; if you enjoy the work my magazine, 34 Orchard, publishes, then you will definitely be into this—this is profound, visceral, disturbing, real-world, inevitable horror.
I will keep this all spoiler-free, Read the rest of this entry
VIRTUAL tickets for the HP Lovecraft FILM FESTIVAL on 10/8 (that’s Friday!) AVAILABLE NOW!
How AWESOME is this octopus skeleton? He’s my festival buddy this year!
Love horror short films? HP Lovecraft? A weekend of eating popcorn in your PJs? Looking for something special to spice up your Halloween season? Then you’ll want to get your tickets for the VIRTUAL EDITION of the HP Lovecraft Film Festival!
The festival starts at 7 pm Pacific Time (that’s 10pm if you’re Eastern, like me) on Friday, October 8, 2021. Tickets are $75 for the full weekend of programming, but you can also piece-meal it, too: $25/Friday, $40 each for Saturday and Sunday. More information and ticket purchase is here:
Peele’s film US gets released today!
A family is terrorized by strange beings in Jordan Peele’s latest film, US.
Jordan Peele’s latest psychological thriller, Us—about a family terrorized by strange beings—gets released today on Blu-Ray, DVD, and 4K. It is also available to rent on VOD. You can pick up the hard copy here on Amazon here, or rent the VOD on Amazon here.
Hear what we have to say about Jordan Peele’s film US on DARK DISCUSSIONS. Photo collage by Philip Perron.
Dark Discussions covered and reviewed this film shortly after it came out. After you see the film (if spoilers bother you, then definitely wait until you’ve seen it before listening to the episode), you can hear what we said about it on Stitcher, Itunes, and here: http://www.darkdiscussions.com/Pages/podcast_378.html
Personally, I loved Get Out, but I thought Us was even better. I’m hoping to see more films from Peele. I love his sensibility and layering, and I have to be honest—Us had moments that scared the crap out of me. If you’re looking for a disturbing thriller with depth, this should fill the bill. Enjoy!
DARK DISCUSSIONS: 2019 films so far…
I’ve been a bit remiss in keeping up with what we’ve covered on the Dark Discussions podcast, so here are the 2019 movies we’ve talked about so far and where you can listen.
Escape Room
This movie takes a look at the recently popular escape room trend and turns a few things Read the rest of this entry
…Oh no! Scary panties…
Halloween may be all about showing off your best costume…but that doesn’t mean the parts of you people don’t see shouldn’t scare up some fun, too!
I was surfing around on Hot Topic and came across this irresistible The Shining hipster panty set: https://www.hottopic.com/product/the-shining-hipster-panty-set/11428991.html Read the rest of this entry
The new HALLOWEEN isn’t terrible
I’m not a professional film critic and I don’t pretend to be, but I figured, since everyone is asking, I’d share a few of my thoughts on the new Halloween.
If you don’t like spoilers and plan to see this movie, you may not want to read further (or, if you want to wait for the Dark Discussions episode, we’re recording it tonight, so it’ll probably be released next week).
Overall, I came out of this movie feeling like Read the rest of this entry
DARK DISCUSSIONS enters the DEVIL’S GATE
The Dark Discussions crew enters the Newport Beach Film Festival official selection Devil’s Gate. This interesting piece starts off as one thing and seamlessly evolves into something else. You can watch the trailer for the movie here: https://youtu.be/4Hqs6XzYqog and you can listen to DD episode on Stitcher, Itunes, and here: http://www.darkdiscussions.com/Pages/podcast_345.html.
The banner for DARK DISCUSSIONS episode 345: DEVIL’S GATE. Collage by Philip Perron.
IT’S 35 TODAY! Eleven things to appreciate about Jaws 3-D
Jaws 3-D–a movie that most people will tell you is a flaming piece of crap–was the film I fell in love with when I was 12 that basically made me the aquarium volunteer I am today. It inspired me to want to be around fish, and it inspired me to dream big and live in Florida (well, I’m getting to that part, still). So…on July 22, 1983, the film was released in theaters. In celebration of its 35th anniversary, I’m re-running an article I wrote for Jennifer Allis Provost’s MARCH MOVIE MADNESS blog series last year. Enjoy!
♥
The main title sequence for TV and prior DVD releases. Notice it doesn’t say Jaws 3-D. It was changed for these subsequent releases because effective 3D couldn’t be shown in those formats at the time. The restored 3D version, which I own, contains the original title sequence.
1983’s Jaws 3-D—one in a brief spate of super-hyped early ’80s 3D films—is considered the joke of the franchise, even though it was #1 at the box office[1] and got its own prop exhibit at SeaWorld Orlando (then called Sea World of Florida)[2], where it was filmed. There are still, however, some neat things that make 3-D eligible for at least a one-time watch.
The underwater exhibit was cutting-edge technology at the time this movie was made—and this film made fantastic use of preying on people’s fears about what seemed claustrophobic and possibly even not entirely trustworthy.
At the time, underwater attractions were novel, dangerous things.
In 1964, the founders of SeaWorld San Diego (then called just Sea World) abandoned plans for an underwater restaurant because it “wasn’t feasible.”[3] In 1980, the Shark Encounter, an under-the-surface walk-through, was on Sea World of Florida’s maps; in October of 1983—four months after Jaws 3-D’s theatrical release–Epcot’s Living Seas, which featured the aquarium-facing Coral Reef Restaurant, broke ground. While this new technology “wowed,” it also terrified: what happens if you’re in that tunnel and something fails? 3-D not only illustrates this scenario, it illustrates the solution. So while it’s clear that 3-D’s submerged multiplex was inspired by and publicized the real park’s exhibit, it heralded a new age: today, so many major aquariums have time-tested underwater attractions we take them for granted. Read the rest of this entry
KRISTI PETERSEN SCHOONOVER 