The New Jersey Horror Con must be having a booming year, because their guest roster for August 9-11 keeps growing bigger and faster than the Blob. Hosted at the the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in Edison, New Jersey, NJ Horror Con is ramping up, and as a returning attendee, I have no idea where they’re going to put everyone without filling most of the building.
Read MoreHow many struggling artists come to Los Angeles to try and make it big, only to wind up working in a coffee shop? Way too many to count. Elric Kane, podcast host extraordinaire, cracked the code, and is now premiering his first film at this year’s Fantasia Film Festival.
Read MoreWhile Marvel and DC continue to one-up each other in comics, film, and everywhere else, Image Comics is once again releasing fun, original alternative comics. Adding to the ranks of “Rat Queens,” “Saga,” and “Die” is their new series, “Standstill!”
Read MoreWith their third film in almost as many years, the Adams family is slowly becoming one of the most prolific indie horror collectives. After giving us witches (“Hellbender”) and Satanic pacts (“Where the Devil Roams”), John Adams, Toby Poser, as well as their daughter Zelda Adams and Lulu Adams are ready to enter the world of sci-fi body horror with the Shudder original, “Hell Hole!”
Read MoreAt this past April’s New Jersey Horror Con, I got the chance to sit down with Adam Marcus, director of “Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday” at his table. Fans of the “Friday the 13th” film series have a LOT of opinions about Marcus’s controversial ninth entry in the series, and he’s heard them all (for the record, it has the Macabre Daily stamp of approval).
Read MoreAfter hearing him talk for several hours for the past 10 years, what on earth could I possibly ask Adam Green that he hasn’t already shared on his podcast? He’s an open book on “The Movie Crypt,” his long-running podcast with fellow director Joe Lynch. Thankfully, we had a lot to unpack with “Hatchet: The Complete Collection,” the newly-released steelbook omnibus. Containing all four “Hatchet” films in 4K with all previous special features and two new hours of content, Dark Sky Films is pulling out all the stops for their first release for their Dark Sky Selects imprint, and Green was game to talk about it all.
Read MoreHorror shorts are plentiful, though somewhat overlooked outside of anthology segments. Sure, we love “Creepshow” and the “V/H/S” series, but how did those filmmakers get started? Sean Kenealy and Eric Silvera are a filmmaking duo, who started making the festival rounds with their action comedy “In Action” back in 2020 before being picked up by Gravitas Ventures . A few years later, after moving with the spouses, having kids and enduring a pandemic, the duo released “Two Knocks on a Door,” a short horror film about fatherhood.
Read MoreDrafthouse Films’ latest release is a coming-of-age teen film. With vampires, of course. “Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person” is a dark comedy about Sasha (Sara Montpetit), a vampire who can’t kill, and Paul (Félix-Antoine Bérnard), the suicidal teen she bonds with. Québécois Director Ariane Louis-Seize (along with co-writer Christine Doyon) has crafted a debut feature with heart and blood. Even though it’s not her first language, Louis-Seize was gracious enough to speak to us in English. She talked briefly with us about “graduating” from making short films, writing from various points-of-view, and eating clowns.
Read MoreWhat is the goth version of “twee?” There has to be a Hot Topic employee out there who can define it. Whatever the adjective, it applies to the latest release from Drafthouse Films, “Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person.” The debut feature from French Canadian film from director Ariane Louis-Seize is much better than I’ve made it sound so far. Louis-Seize (along with her co-writer Christine Doyon) may have just dropped the year’s sleeper comedy, which has already won awards at Venice and TIFF.
Read MoreAfter getting under our skin in “The Devil’s Rejects” and “Insidious,” Bill Moseley and Lin Shaye are teaming up in the new horror comedy “Scared to Death!” From writer/director Paul Boyd, the film is about a horror film crew who wind up channeling the dead in a haunted house (which, of course, Shaye and Moseley are no strangers to).
Read MoreThough it seems like it was just yesterday to many “elder millennials,” it’s been 20 years since the horror boom that brought us “Saw,” “Hostel,” and many other bleak, gore-soaked slaughter fests. How did these films reach the heights of mainstream popularity for a good 10 years? Author Ariel Powers-Schaub’s debut book “Millennial Nasties: Analyzing a Decade of Brutal Horror Film Violence,” answers that question. Powers-Schaub chronicles and analyzes the films of the time period, while showing how America popularized the brutality it exported on a global scale. She spoke with us about writing the book, her hopes for the genre, and how the moniker of “torture porn” doesn’t do enough to describe the films we’ve come to love.
Read MoreIt’s always nice when an interview turns into a 2-hour lunch, and it’s even better when it veers off course to nerd out about shared interests. This is where I found myself when sitting down with Bram Stoker-award winning author Robert P. Ottone. Based on Long Island, New York, Ottone has published several horror anthologies and novels, while balancing his day job as a teacher.
Read MoreIt’s not even out yet, but you’ve heard us talk about the upcoming horror western “A Town Called Purgatory.” Actor/Director Matt Servitto’s film is currently making the rounds on the festival circuit, and taking scalps left and right. It’s already won “Best Feature Film” at last month’s Creature Feature Weekend Film Festival in Gettysburg, PA!
Read MoreIt ain’t easy being creepy. “Uncle Creepy,” that is. Steve Barton holds that title along with producer, writer, as well as the co-founder and Editor-in-chief of Dread Central.” The dude’s been around and he knows where the bodies are buried. Coming soon from Encyclopocalypse Publications, Barton’s memoir “A Comedy of Tragedies” promises to dig some of them up for our reading pleasure.
Read MoreMy colleague at Macabre Daily, Matt Orozco, coined the term “nutmegger horror” to describe Connecticut-based horror films. While this sounds like a subset of Christmas horror, I’ll take his word for it, since he is a native of Connecticut, as are Erik and Carson Bloomquist, the minds behind the new slasher “Founders Day.” Written by the brothers and directed by Erik, the film takes place in a quaint New England town, where a killer in an ornate judge mask (“The Founder”) is picking people off days before a heated local election.
Read MoreHyperbole is a problem in the world of online film criticism. This isn’t a new observation, by any means. I’ll be the first to admit I overuse “bonkers” way too much when describing moments in movies that are seemingly pulled out of the abyss of the imagination. Believe me when I tell you that the ending of “Founders Day,” the new film from Erik Bloomquist (co-written and co-produced with his brother Carson Bloomquist), is so incredibly, off-the-wall bonkers, you have to admire them.
Read MoreThis weekend was another great edition of NJ Horror Con. The ever-expanding event returned to Edison, New Jersey with more guests, more vendors, and a VIP experience after the show closed on Friday night. We were more than happy to consume as much as possible this year and it did not disappoint!
Read MoreSaint Patrick’s Day is lousy with werewolves. If you went out in public on March 17th, chances are you’ve seen them. People who get so drunk that they enter a feral state and experience sudden bursts of rage that could harm innocent bystanders. But don’t worry. They’ll pass out and forget what they’ve done when they wake up. Does any of that sound familiar when seen through a horror lens? Larry Fessenden asks us to look through it with his latest film, “Blackout” from Glass Eye Pix and Dark Sky Films.
Read MoreThere just aren’t enough horror westerns. Sure there’s “The Burrowers” and “The Pale Door,” and “Bone Tomahawk” (sort of), but it’s an ambitious subgenre we could always use more of. Actor/Director Matt Servitto’s new film “A Town Called Purgatory” will scratch that itch and add some Native American horror to boot!
Read MoreLast month, Manhattan’s IFC Center hosted the premiere of Larry Fessenden’s new werewolf film, “Blackout” from Glass Eye Pix and Dark Sky Films. Fessenden is a New York mainstay, who has been churning out quality indie films for over 30 years. His latest is a story of a small-town painter named Charley (Alex Hurt), who grapples with the fact that he’s the one killing locals when the moon rises.
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