by: JohnSoister
Posted on 04.12.10 in All Horror Films > Monster

Jaws is not only a great movie, it’s also one of those rare instances where the film adaptation is arguably better than the source material.  While Peter Benchley’s critically acclaimed 1974 novel may well have been the definitive work of his career, it suffered from a lackluster ending, was unnecessarily wordy, featured pseudo-documentary-style shark attacks, and paid too much attention to torrid, small town intrigue (Hooper and Mrs. Brody sittin’ in a …

by: JohnSoister
Posted on 02.17.10 in All Horror Films > Werewolf

If the commercial success of 2009’s Paranormal Activity taught us anything, it’s the Power of Suggestion.  Utilizing every penny of his meager $15,000 budget, writer/director Oren Peli effectively hammered home the point that “less is more” when he managed to tantalize viewers’ imaginations and terrify audiences using nothing but practical special effects and a little ingenuity.
Unfortunately for fans of The Wolfman, Universal Pictures misinterpreted the “less is more” concept to mean less …

by: JohnSoister
Posted on 02.01.10 in All Horror Films > Torture

“This time you really, really, really won’t believe how it ends…until next time.”
If only I had had been twisted enough to think of locking someone in a room with a bear-trap rigged to their head, I could be a part of the most lucrative horror franchise in history and be well on my way to penning the much anticipated “Jig Saw’s Uncle Ginsu’s Killer Cutlery, part 7 of 9, volume 4, episode …

by: JohnSoister
Posted on 01.19.10 in All Horror Films > Vampire

Let’s face it; like telephones and road maps, cinematic vampires have undergone some radical transformations since the days when Bela Lugosi winked at his audiences with, “I never drink… wine.”  While the decade following the Millennium has seen us grow totally comfortable with the technological wonder of iPhones and GPS navigation systems, most bloodsucker movies have actually regressed somewhat, having lost the well-established mojo that made them one of the most intriguing …

by: JohnSoister
Posted on 01.11.10 in All Horror Films > Zombie

“They’re coming to get you, Barbara!”
With that strangely memorable sound bite, screenwriter John A. Russo and director George A. Romero redefined a genre and permanently laid to rest the living, breathing, voodoo-empowered zombies depicted in the 1932 independent film, White Zombie.   Night of the Living Dead lurched into theaters on October 1st, 1968.   Almost 40 years and five sequels later, the creatures born of Russo and Romero’s collaboration continue to be the …