There I was, a still-young monster kid in the process of graduating from Famous Monsters of Filmland to Fangoria, from Universal and Hammer to Michael Myers and Jason. In the pages of Fangoria, I read this about an upcoming movie: Fade to Black: Irwin Yablans, the man who made film history when he asked John…

On the news last week, I saw a clip of a young man in Florida for spring break during the current COVID-19 crisis. In a sunburned, what looked to me like drunken state, this kid said he didn’t care if he got Coronavirus; it wasn’t going to stop him from partying. Well, I’ve got a…

Known by several names, including Deliria and Bloody Bird, I watched StageFright: Aquarius (1987) on a terrific DVD edition from Blue Underground. The movie is significant for several reasons, all of which participants in the various bonus features, as well as authors of books I used to research, tend to agree. First, it was the…

When I recently watched The Keep (1983), the biggest shock I felt was when Ian McKellan first appeared. “Oh, my gosh!” I thought. “He looks the same as he does now! How old is he?” I soon learned that he was wearing old-age makeup and when an evil force later touches him with a red,…

For a movie that reeks of the 1980s, New Year’s Evil (1980) doesn’t feel very authentic. Punk rock fans of disc jockey, Diane Sullivan (Roz Kelly), flood into a New Year’s Eve party that’s airing live over the airwaves, an act that in and of itself seems more commercial than I perceive punk rockers would…

While it’s hard to imagine Christmas Evil (aka You Better Watch Out) being made without the success of Halloween (1978), it was supposedly written before Halloween was released. At some point in the 1970s, director Lewis Jackson smoked a little weed and had a vision of Santa Claus holding a knife. This became the basis…

Written by Elisa Briganti Directed by Lucio Fulci Starring Tisa Farrow, Ian McCulloch, Richard Johnson, Al Cliver, Auretta Gay, Stefania D’Amario Released August 25, 1979 (Italy) RT 91 min. Home Video Blue Underground (Blu-ray) Classic Horrors rating = 6 (out of 10)At Panic Fest Saturday night, my podcasting partner (Richard Chamberlain) and I had the thrill of…