I’m not gonna mince words: this flick sucks. Jesus H. Christ, what a mess. There are a few scenes that aren’t bad, but the rest is an abrasive catastrophe.

The good news? If you sat through this turd at the drive-in, you got rewarded with Wes Craven’s THE HILLS HAVE EYES as a second feature! You know what they say: no pain, no gain!

#fearflashbacks #dontgointhewoods #wescraven #thehillshaveeyes #drivein #doublebill

With Alfred Hitchcock’s PSYCHO (1960) being a textbook example of how to make an effective horror film, it was inevitable that a sequel would never really get a fair shake.

Having just come off of the equally impressive Jamie Lee Curtis vehicle, ROAD GAMES (1981), Australian director Richard Franklin was the lucky/unlucky guy drafted for the job of somehow making Norman Bates relevant again after more than two decades. I thought he did a wonderful job given the lofty expectations. To boot, his cast puts in fine efforts all around, supporting the thread of very black humor that runs through Tom Holland’s screenplay.

And now we come to the poster. The first time I saw it is still etched into my brain. I had just come out of a shopping mall and the poster was there among a couple of others sporting unfortunate artwork that simply faded into the light of the bright afternoon sun. Not PSYCHO II. Look at all that black, red, and blue. It’s a wonderful use of color and shadow. Understandably, the image was used extensively in promos, helping the film ultimately gross around $35 million domestically.

The movie is somewhat forgotten these days in the wake of numerous subsequent sequels, along with the well-received BATES MOTEL television series, but there will always be a place in my heart for PSYCHO II’s kooky blend of offbeat terror and toasted-cheese sandwiches.

#onesheetwonders #psychoii #richardfranklin #alfredhitchcock #tomholland #jamieleecurtis #roadgames #batesmotel #normanbates

Picture it: Los Angeles – Spring, 1986. Me and my friend were rabid Jason Voorhees fans, and so the notion that there was a new horror film coming from “the makers of FRIDAY THE 13th” was enough to get our asses in the seats on opening weekend.

Well, I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed walking out from seeing APRIL FOOL’S DAY. For those who haven’t seen the film yet (get with it!), I won’t blow the surprise ending, but the whole thing just seemed too fucking unsure of itself for my taste. I saw it again a few years ago and didn’t think much better of it, but there’s something interesting about how director Fred Walton seemed to pull the rug out from under audiences and their expectations. The film wasn’t a true horror film…or a comedy, for that matter. It certainly wasn’t a dumb skin flick, but it wasn’t exactly a cerebral workout, either. This cinematic identity crisis more than likely was the reason it stalled a couple weeks into its release and was quickly shuffled out of multiplexes.

Forty years on, I’m still not sure what demographic Walton, Paramount, and executive producer Frank Mancuso, Jr. were aiming for, but it certainly is different, I’ll give it that.

#letsallgotothelobbytogetourselvessomemeat #aprilfoolsday #fredwalton #frankmancusojr #paramount

Time for another horror prop, courtesy of those crazy-ass folks at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP).

Today is one of the famous ‘stick figures’ used to scare the hell out of those kids in THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT! Much like the other low-fi frights used in the film, it’s an incredibly simple but truly effective device that helped the movie land in the Guinness Book of World Records as one of the most profitable films ever made (a dollar to box-office ratio of more than $10,000 made for every $1 spent).

#fearflashbacks #theblairwitchproject #guinnessbookofworldrecords #museumofpopculture #mopop #seattle #washington

Trivia time!

ALIENS was the first and only film I ever watched on Betamax. My friend down the street had a sweet Beta setup (I can’t believe I just typed that) with stereo speakers and a decent-sized television (25 inches!). I’m a jaded 50-something now, but it was much easier to impress me when I was in junior high.

This is a little something I saved from the movie’s original CBS/FOX video release in early 1987.

#fearflashbacks #aliens #betamax #cbsfox #homevideo

You gotta admit, it’s probably a blast riding a trikey down that corridor. Weeeeee!

#killermemes&comics #theshining #saw #dannytorrance #overlookhotel #billy #jigsaw

In a way, this is the first and possibly best adaptation of Stephen King’s “Pet Sematary”. 

From horror films to sex comedies – rich city kids were always finding themselves the antagonists of 1980s movies, and PUMPKINHEAD is no exception. 

After our salt-of-the-earth protagonist, Ed Harley, has his son accidentally killed by some preppy motocross jagoffs already on probation for pulling this same kind of shit a few months earlier, the grieving father begs a reclusive sorceress to avenge his boy’s death. This ends up being a deal with the devil as his revenge comes in the form of an eight-foot demon, Pumpkinhead, a local legend that turns out to be all too true. 

Four-time Oscar winner Stan Winston moves from special effects to directing, showing off enough visual pizzazz to enliven a routine tale of violent retribution. Here, he favors a high-contrast tableau of misty mountain fog, chattering cicadas, and twisted tree branches, while additionally demonstrating the good sense to keep his sneering goliath mostly in the shadows for the first half of the film. 

In retrospect, it’s tough to think the mix of gory vengeance, creature effects, and rising genre actor Lance Henriksen wasn’t enough to entice audiences. That is, until you know the movie’s troubled history. PUMPKINHEAD shuffled through multiple studios and titles (including the terrible early moniker, VENGEANCE: THE DEMON) for more than a year before landing at United Artists, who unceremoniously dropped it into a couple limited runs around the same time as other unsung genre offerings like THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM and HALLOWEEN 4: THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS. 

Its lack of box office impact undoubtedly stunted Winston’s directorial career, but the story has a happy ending. PUMPKINHEAD’s disappointing theatrical run allowed Winston to move on to some of his greatest career successes, overseeing effects for such mega-blockbusters as TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY (1991), INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE (1994), and AVATAR (2009).

It may have a slasher mentality at its core, and the story achieves a lowest-common-denominator kind of pathos, but there’s a perverse thrill watching a towering, bony monstrosity stomp the fuck out of these guilty city kids. Maybe that’s why PUMPKINHEAD has ultimately inspired multiple sequels, a video game, and even a comic series over the years. Reboot plans via Paramount floundered during the COVID-19 pandemic, but hopefully we’ll get an update in the coming months as to the franchise’s next step. For now, enjoy the original.

#unclean&unseen #pumpkinhead #lancehenriksen #stanwinston #oscarwinners #unitedartists #paramount #vengeancethedemon #petsematary #thelairofthewhiteworm #halloween4thereturnofmichaelmyers #terminator2judgmentday #interviewwiththevampire #avatar

Released six years ago this week in 2019, Jordan Peele’s US was a creative, though somewhat divisive, entry in the psychological horror sweepstakes. Bolstered by Peele’s newfound fame from his critically-acclaimed 2017 thriller, GET OUT, US was able to score more than a quarter billion dollars in worldwide box office receipts.

Today, we have an interesting piece of promo for the film. Taking a 180-degree turn from the widely-known and emotionally-charged theatrical poster, it’s a rather unassuming shot for what was intended as a horror film. US seemed to usher in Peele’s now standard use of mysterious marketing materials, which exploded with the release of his following picture, NOPE, in 2022.

#fearflashbacks #us #jordanpeele #getout #nope

What’s better than a new folk horror film? The very first Irish-language folk horror film, that’s what!

To help get over your post-St. Patrick’s Day blues (greens? hangover?…whatever!), the fab folks at Fangoria have let us know that Aislinn Clarke, director of CHILDER and THE DEVIL’S DOORWAY, will be releasing her latest feature via Shudder on April 25th. The new trailer gives off super creepy vibes that recall films like THE TAKING OF DEBORAH LOGAN, ENYS MEN, THE LODGE, and BARBARIAN to name a few.

The plot finds Shoo, a home health aide, caring for a elderly woman who seems to have some major mental health issues. As her client’s paranoia begins to rub off on her, Shoo falls into a terrifying downward spiral that forces her to face the demons of her past.

You can check out the original article, as well as the trailer, right here!

#horrorhappenings #frewaka #aislinnclarke #childer #thedevilsdoorway #folkhorror #thetakingofdeborahlogan #enysmen #thelodge #barbarian #ireland #irishlanguage

Ah, 1997. The sound of dial-up hurt our ears. Meredith Brooks was a bitch. And Tamagotchis gave new meaning to the term ‘passive-aggressive pet’.

I don’t need to relive ’97 in any way, shape, or form, but for those of you who can’t get enough of the Clinton years, here’s an advert for I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER from the very day it opened wide around the L.A. area–October 17, 1997.

#fearflashbacks #iknowwhatyoudidlastsummer #meredithbrooks #tamagotchis #billclinton