Name an obscure horror movie you feel deserves wider recognition.

Curt - Groovy Age of Horror

That would be the early and little-seen Naschy flick LAS NOCHES DEL HOMBRE LOBO. A real standout among his werewolf movies–and I love all of them!

Stacie - Final Girl

It might be considered more “action” than “horror”, but my choice would be the ’80s flick NIGHTS OF RAGE, starring Cynthia Rothrock. For those who don’t know her, Cynthia Rothrock is sort of the female Chuck Norris, and she’s starred in such films as CHINA O’BRIEN, CHINA O’BRIEN 2, RAGE AND HONOR, and RAGE AND HONOR 2.

In NIGHTS OF RAGE, Cynthia plays a woman running a youth center in the ghetto, and all her students (including one played by Rae Dawn Chong!), of course, adore her. She teaches them how to be well-adjusted young citizens, and they teach her how to pop and lock. No, I’m not kidding.

Anyone who’s seen a Cynthia Rothrock movie knows that the plots are pretty much the same: something bad happens in Cynthia Rothrock’s life, such as the death of a loved one, and she seeks revenge using her awesome karate skills. NIGHTS OF RAGE is no different! Being set largely in the ghetto, and emerging during the height of ‘Just Say No!’ mania, the evil villain in NIGHTS OF RAGE is, as you may have guessed, a drug dealer. See, he’s selling the kids some new drug called “ice”, and it’s supposed to give a killer high. It does, but- and here¹s where the movie gets its horror vibe- “ice” also turns the kids into zombie-type creatures who kill kill kill! Cynthia’s kids aren’t USING the drugs, natch, but when poor Rae Dawn Chong ends up *SPOILER ALERT* dead at the hands of one of the “zombies”, Cynthia has to take matters into her own hands…and feet, as it were, by doling out some roundhouse kicks.

The zombies get dispatched, and then comes the final showdown in the dealer’s warehouse headquarters between Cynthia and the dealer himself, who’s named Chilly. At one point, Chilly totally has the upper hand, but then Cynthia’s Kids burst into the warehouse help her out. They don’t know karate, but they DO know breakdancing- some of them do that helicopter-spinning move, and they kick Chilly a whole bunch while Cynthia gathers her wits. Like any good movie with an action bent, the hero (or heroine, I guess) has a final line- Cynthia says to a dazed Chilly “It’s time to put YOU on ice!” and then there’s one final, slo-mo roundhouse kick to end Chilly’s reign of terror. Hooray!

I’ve looked for NIGHTS OF RAGE, but it’s not on DVD (that I know of) and the only time I’ve seen it for sale, it was one of those uber-pricy out of print VHS listings. A friend of mine who runs a video store in New York showed me this movie one night, and your question has reminded me about it. I need to give him a call and get a copy of this flick!

David Z. - Tomb It May Concern

I’ve long been obsessed with seeing this obscure Takashi Miike film. The reviewer once sent me a copy on DVDr, but it wouldn’t spin up. The joy of the digital age, nothing beats finding the holy grail and then it being in a format that won’t work on your equipment. I couldn’t find the author of this review (published in 2005 at Cinema Nocturna)… last I heard he was attending a seminar on Ninja Techniques being held someplace in Ohio. I hope that he is OK, and that someday I’ll find a copy of OCCULT KILLER KYOTO!

Read all about it here!

Dave - Rue Morgue’s The Abbatoir

Turkish Jaws (a.k.a. kÖpekbaliĞi)

A few years ago I was at a horror convention and I bought a bunch of Turkish remakes of American movies. None of the films had covers and they were all video dubs with no subtitles, so the guy gave me a great deal on the half dozen that he had left. I got the Turkish version of the Exorcist, Superman, E.T., Star Wars, Star Trek and a “bonus” one he threw in that he said he decided to stop selling because the quality was so poor.

Turns out that it was actually a remake of Jaws, called kÖpekbaliĞ, which, I assume translates to “shark,” as characters in the film yell it out every time they see what we’re supposed to believe is the Great White killer. The plot, which hardly resembles that of the original, has a mustachioed sort-of secret agent guy (who dresses like a jewel thief!) dispatched to a seaside town after the locals are attacked by the kÖpekbaliĞ. Mainly appearing as an obviously homemade wooden fin, it pulls unlucky swimmers under – about five seconds before their obviously plastic skeletons bob to the surface. And it all happens to that familiar low bass throb, stolen right off the Jaws soundtrack!

As our cool-as-kabob-sauce Agent Mustache woos a local girl (at the town disco!) and enlists a crusty fisherman to join the hunt, the local gangster – who also has his eyes on the girl – is trying to catch the shark himself so he can use it against his enemies. How he plans to do this is mystery, and he spends most of his time torturing rival gangsters on his yacht by prodding them with a harpoon and pouring what looks like grape juice in their eyes. In a jealous rage he kidnaps the girl to use for shark bait, but luckily Agent Mustache sneaks aboard and starts karate fighting the gangster’s henchmen, tossing them overboard where they quickly become floating skeletons.

By far, the best part of the movie is the ending, which rivals anything I’ve seen for sheer ridiculousness. Before Agent Mustache can save the girl, the gangster casts a spell which makes the “shark” appear on the boat. As you can from the video capture still I snagged (left), it’s just a dude in a really crappy shark costume. Nevertheless, a seemingly endless shark-and-gangster-on-hero fistfight breaks out, which ends with Agent Mustache stabbing both kÖpekbaliĞ and the gangster with the harpoon. The crusty fisherman rescues the hero and his gal, then the locals throw them a party at the disco.

Although the image quality is nearly unwatchable, kÖpekbaliĞ is still jaw-dropping. Or rather… Jaws-dropping. It’s also about as obscure as it gets.

Casey Criswell - Cinema Fromage

Ever since I saw Revenge of the Jackelope back in 86 I find myself looking over my shoulder frequently every time I go into the woods. That little shit could do a hell of a lot of damage at only two and a half foot tall. It’s made me look over my shoulder every time I go into the video store as well. As of this date, it still hasn’t received the DVD release it so richly deserved.

T. Van - Tolerated Vandalism

I first saw Pilgrims In Mass when I was in university. I remember a guy who lived in my residence kept telling me that if I liked horror movies I had to see this crazy Norweigan flick. He was a bit of a weirdo but he had a decent record collection so I managed to track down a VHS copy.

From the title I was expecting a quasi religious film about Thanksgiving in a Catholic Church. Boy was I wrong. Instead you are met with the story of two teenagers who go on a killing spree while dressed in full Black Metal regalia. The soundtrack is bleak and depressing and will probably make you want to kill yourself. The imagery on the screen isn’t much better. A lot of blood is shed [and I mean a lot]. You will see some boobs but you’ll never feel clean again. It’s mostly full of unknowns [although I’m sure they’re remotely famous in Norway] but if you keep your eyes open you may catch a rare glimpse of Øystein Aarseth and Varg Vikernes sitting together in the back of a grimy bar.

It hasn’t been released on DVD but I have found references to a rare Japanese Laserdisc that, supposedly, has the director’s commentary. I’d love to get my hands on this film but I’m sure I would hate it now. If you do manage to see this make sure that you have lots of absinthe on hand. You’re going to need it.

Sean T. Collins - Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat

Somewhere deep within the boxes in which I keep my VHS tapes (remember those) is a nine inch nails bootleg video anthology called The X-Files, and in there somewhere is a short, homemade-by-Trent-Reznor-and-crew, extremely unauthorized reenactment of the “get them off me!” scene from Reznor fave Clive Barker’s Hellbound: Hellraiser II. The snuff-film quality of the entire affair, which was intended as part of this really brutal Henry-inspired framing device for the videos off the broken EP, probably precludes an official release, but a fella can dream.

Louis - Damaged 2.0

When I was in Matamoros, I was in this record store and they had a stack of DVDs, they looked like bootlegs, and all the covers were bad, black and white Xerox copies. They were mostly South of the Border sex comedies and narco action films, but at the bottom of the pile, I saw something really creepy. The cover had no words, and the paper was black, except for a pentagram with a goat’s head in it. Completely intrigued, I paid roughly three dollars American for it. Written on the disk, in marker, was the title MATANZANA DE LOS INNOCENTS.

I didn’t get to watch it until I finally got home from vacation. It was the only time I have watched it–it literally scared the Hell out of. It felt like something I shouldn’t be watching. It’s obviously very low-buget, with almost no plot, it has no credits and is shot entirely on a handheld camcorder. Basically, the story is there’s this group of punk teenagers who have a Satanic cult and they kill animals in sacrifice. There’s one scene where they sacrifice a goat and for a second, it had me thinking it was real. There’s also a scene where they burn a church and film it off in the distance, laughing the whole time. The movie abruptly ends in an orgy in a barn, with around sixteen or so people fucking in pools of blood and animal guts, when a gunshot goes off outside. Some guy comes running into the barn, profusely bleeding screaming “Policia!”. There’s a few more gunshots and then nothing but static and snow.

Obviously a homage to SNUFF, by way of the Harmony Korine school of GUMMO (and, most impressively, utilizing almost every aspect of the Dogme 95 Manifesto to a T), MANTANZANA DE LOS INNOCENTS is the most shocking, horrific, terrifying film I have ever seen and I only wish I could find a legitimate release to learn more info about it. A true undiscovered classic.

As if my stack of shame wasn’t already large enough! This was probably my favourite Horror Roundtable yet, which makes the following announcement especially tough. As I mentioned last week, I’ve run out of ideas, so this will be the final Horror Roundtable. Thanks once again to everyone who contributed over the past forty weeks and please make sure you check out their respective blogs.

Hey, Boils and Ghouls. Sorry I haven’t been around the past week. There isn’t really a good reason for my absence. I’ve just been working on some stuff that doesn’t involve the computer, and I’ve fallen behind a bit. Thank you to everyone who wrote in assuming I was dead. I’m touched.

I couldn’t let the week close out without mentioning a cool little event happening in my own backyard this weekend. While Ottawa may be the independent horror film production of Canada, in all other regards it fails miserably. Ottawa has two repertory theatres, yet in my nearly five year exile here only a small handful of genre films have been shown. I’ve been to cities one-fifth the size that have more life in them.

Well, the cats over at Drunken Master Revue have decided to remedy the situation. This Saturday night at 11:30 pm they’ll be screening a 35mm print of Night of the Comet at the Mayfair on Bank St. for five bucks. Night of the Comet is one of my formative horror experiences, as the very first Fangoria magazine I ever bought ran a story on it, and the pictures within instilled in me a lifelong love for zombies.

So, if you’re in town I highly recommend checking it out. It’s all the mid-’80s, cheerleader with a machine gun mowing down zombie action you could hope for.

Name your favourite horror-related song.

Jeff O’Brien

Living Dead Girl by Rob Zombie - love the sample from Last House on the Left.

Don May, Jr. - Synapse

I’m partial to “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” from BAUHAUS…

Sean T. Collins - Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat

This is only horror-related in the most tangential of ways, but I find my favorite Tori Amos song, “Bells for Her” from 1994’s Under the Pink, absolutely terrifying. From the broken-down piano it’s played on to the ominous chorus of “can’t stop what’s coming / can’t stop what is on its way,” this chronicle of a good friend breaking down frightens the hell out of me.

Billy

Don’t Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult. What’s kind of funny is that the first time I ever heard this song was during the opening of the made for TV movie of Stephen King’s The Stand.

Gary Wintle

Totally the Monster Mash.

When I wake up in the morning on Halloween , if I don’t hear that song before lunch, I’m pissed.

Doug Nagy

My favorite horror-themed song would be Nightcrawler by Judas Priest, it is a bitchin’ tune. I love songs that paint a picture with words and this song has always done that for me. It is a 5 minute operatic horrror story, sung by macho men - this is the way all stories should be told.

Paul Corupe - Canuxploitation

Now you’re talkin’ my language! Since I pretty much picked a novelty track last Roundtable, even it was a movie theme, it should come as no surprise that I’m going to name another: Zacherle’s “Dinner With Drac.” Beginning with an undeniably groovy guitar and sax studio backing track, the song features clever monster limmericks delivered between insane cackles by the Cool Ghoul himself. Dick Clark even made Zacherle tone down the “gruesome” lyrics for his appearance on American Bandstand! It’s definitely one of the most listenable horror novelty songs ever recorded, and it most certainly paved the way for the beyond-overplayed “The Monster Mash” and its dozens of imitators.

I actually did a short article on my five favourite vintage Halloween tracks for Rue Morgue last October, anyone interested in my full list should check that out.

Kimberly - Cinebeats

“Bela Lugosi is Dead” by Bauhaus is easily my favorite. It’s suitably dark, but also fun and just an all around great song.

Mark - Exclamation Mark’s SciFi/Horror Review

My favorite horror-related song is called Moon Over Bourbon Street, by Sting. I know Sting seems like an unlikely performer as far as horror-related tunes go, but it really is a haunting song. I believe it was inspired by Ann Rice’s Interview with the Vampire.

Stacie - Final Girl

THRILLER by a margin of 10,000,000%. It’s just so good- and it’s got Vincent Price. How can anyone hope to match that? And the video! Man, THRILLER rocks my face like Mount Rushmore.

I also dig GODZILLA by Blue Oyster Cult and FRANKENSTEIN by Edgar Winter Group. There’s probably more I’m forgetting…did Freddy Krueger ever release a single? It seems like something he would have done in the 80s.

Red Hawk - Happy Horror

I’ve always been partial to the comedy side of things when it comes to music. Having said that, there’s usually four to six hours worth of stuff spread out over three weeks on Dr. Demento around Halloween that I could list here but, narrowing it down, I’d have to say my favorite horror-related song would have to be “Weird Al” Yankovic’s “Nature Trail to Hell”. The lyrics sound like they’re talking about an upcoming movie, while also describing the effects in said film, promising a “super secret ending”. Almost makes me wish that the song-based movies hadn’t ended with the Jeepers Creepers duo.

T. Van - Tolerated Vandalism

Horror music that wasn’t used in a movie? Hmm. This isn’t an easy question to answer. I generally don’t listen to horror themed music unless it’s from a movie. The first thing that popped into my head was Don’t Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult but that’s become a standard to be used in horror flicks [ex. Halloween, The Stand]. Then, I started thinking about that most ridiculous genre of music known as Black Metal. I don’t really understand the allure of Black Metal. I mean what’s the deal with Black Metal [that’s Gold Jerry, Gold!]. Are we supposed to be scared? Are we supposed to find it amusing? Give me something here.

My vote would have to go to Black Sabbath’s song Black Sabbath. When this was released in 1970 I’m sure there were a lot of people wondering what the fuck was going on with this weirdo band from Birmingham. With the song Black Sabbath, the band created an eerie and creepy vibe that was only eclipsed by the fact that Ozzy Osbourne is certifiably insane [who later went on to lament the obvious question on 1975’s Sabotage - Am I Going Insane?]. Ozzy’s voice whispers a tale about Satan that will make you never want to listen to this song in the dark. The music sounds like it was recorded by a demented old circus monkey. It’s the first track from the band’s debut record and it truly set the tone for the direction that metal was headed. It’s a great song and you’d be hard pressed to find anything more relevant to horror fans.

JA - My New Plaid Pants

“Psycho Killer” by the Talking Heads.

I do love it, but I’m really only mentioning it right now because it plays over the credits of Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, which I implore everyone, if you haven’t seen it yet, go right this second. Drive where ever you need to go! It’s wonderful. That is all.

Casey - Cinema Fromage

Can I go with an entire album? The entire Groovie Ghoulies album, Monster Club, is a fun little horror movie throw back. Fun little no frills punk songs covering the spectrum from King Kong Stomp, Running with Big Foot, The Beast With Five Hands, Blood Beach, etc. the entire album feels like one giant B-Movie. Fun stuff. If I have to pick one, then Running with Big Foot off this album is always fun and envokes embarrasing sing alongs at the stop light on my daily commute.

David Z. - Tomb It May Concern

I’m going to take my favorite horror related song to be GOBLET OF GORE done for the Andreas Schnaas film of the same name. If you score the limited DVD of the film you’ll get the movie (where the song appears), but also a rocking music video as well. The funniest part of this song is that it is a really basic metal track with a bunch of guys singing, including SCHNAAS himself!! I recommend the track to anyone that enjoys mangled English lyrics and directors singing. Heck, I’m going to see if I can find a copy to share with all of you…

It’s the weekend and you’ve just received a new batch of rocking tunes courtesy of The Horror Roundtable miscreants, so take off your pants and rock the fuck out. And while you’re rocking, make sure you check out the links above for all the news, reviews and opinions that I missed over the past couple weeks. Nothing says rock like surfing the ‘net!

One of the reasons I was unavailable last week was because I was too busy rocking out the Godzilla party hat, seen above. And just when you think that can’t be topped, along comes J. with a present in the form of a Scream and Scream Again t-shirt, modelled by yours truly.

I’m just grateful that I work somewhere that I can sport a t-shirt with a naked, decomposing breast on it. Thanks, J! There is no one I would rather watch My Bloody Valentine while simultaneously playing Scrabble with.

When Rue Morgue decided to conduct an interview with Uwe Boll, they were met with at least a few exclamations of disdain from long-time readers on their message board, people who would normally just skip parts they’re not interested in. I find that an interview with a filmmaker who may be considered “bad” can be almost as enlightening as those with “good” directors. In the case of Uwe Boll, at least part of the fascination is in answering that eternal question; how is it that he continues to get work? In a profile/interview with the good doctor, Guardian Unlimited peels away the layers of Uwe Boll to discover what lies underneath.

“There’s something impressive about the fact he has identified his strengths and, somehow, prospered. “In the end, I picked it this way,” he says, “If I was to sit in LA with an agent and he promoted me as a director to producers there - ‘This is Boll, the genius, from Germany’, and I had to look like a real arty guy, I would fail totally.”

It’s a concise yet detailed look at the man behind the magic, and well worth a look even if you’re not a Boll fanatic like me, if only to learn more about the enemy.

Sam Costello has posted another one of his splendid Split Lip stories, this one entitled School Supplies and illustrated by Brian McGleenon. It’s an ode to EC Comics, concerning two 19th-Century graverobbers and the gruesome revelation they discover under the cemetary grounds. The artwork has been getting consistently better at Split Lip the past few months, and while McGleenon stumbles in a few panels, others manage to evoke the spirit of “Ghastly” Graham Ingels, with just a dash of Stephen Gammell for good measure.

A man returns to his hometown to uncover the decades-old mystery that resulted in his wife’s murder. With puppets.

I think it’s admirable that after creating the Saw franchise and initiating the recent trend of gritty horror films James Wan and Leigh Whannell have decided to take a step in a different direction with their follow-up film, Dead Silence. Unfortunately, they haven’t started with a clean slate, bringing with them a load of baggage from Saw that muddies the proceedings.

Dead Silence is filled to the brim with characters discussing what’s going on without very much actually happening. Stories and folktales are evoked, added upon, then proven untrue, making for a very frustrating experience. The scenes where Wan most emulates silent films and the old Universal horror movies prove to be the most effective, particularly in their use of sound, but these elements are immediately undercut by machine gun editing and a techo-metal soundtrack so as not to lose it’s core audience. The whole thing is wishy-washy, never completely having faith in its own vision.

While the acting was touch and go, with Donnie Wahlberg standing out as the most sardonic cop this side of Tom Atkins, lead actor Ryan Kwanten gave the blandest performance I have seen in years and was one of the main reasons the film tanks. To be fair, his presence was in keeping with the pace of the rest of the movie, where seemingly important plot points were revealed with little to no emphasis placed upon them. Sure we learn why everything is happening to the characters, but the answers are delivered in such a matter-of-fact manner that not even the victims register shock.

A complicated storyline doesn’t necessarily equal a complex one. And it should be noted that despite all the CGI, elaborate sets and stattaco editing, the creepiest part of the movie was a simple tableau of an old lady with a ventriloquist’s dummy sitting on her lap. I just wish there had been more of an emphasis on that.

Name your favourite horror movie theme music.

Billy

Definately Friday the 13th. Although i’m sure there are “better” songs out there, I don’t think any is as memorable as this.

Jeff O’Brien

I’m going to stay away from the obvious choices and pick Richard Band for Re-Animator and From Beyond. John Carpenter’s early scores from Halloween and The Fog also.

Paul Corupe - Canuxploitation

Definitely the theme song from from the original Blob, “Beware of the Blob,” as written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Who woulda thought horror and bossa nova jazz could ever mix? “It creeps, and leaps, and glides and slides across the floor, and through, the door and all along the hall, a splotch, a blotch, be careful of the blob!” Perfectly captures the fun, goofy aestehtic of the film, plus it stands up as an excellent novelty track on its own.

Sean T. Collins - Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat

Oooh, good question! I’m surprised to discover that there’s quite a lot of horror movie theme music of which I’m awfully fond: Howard Shore’s subtly creepy theme for The Silence of the Lambs (a piece so nice he all but used it twice for the Ring’s theme in The Lord of the Rings); Christopher Young’s lush opening for Hellraiser ; Carter Burwell’s twinkling, swelling, churning theme for Barton Fink; Wendy Carlos’s absurdly ominous synths as we watch the Torrance Family drive through the mountains in The Shining; “Waltz No. 2″ from Shostakovich’s Jazz Suite as Nicole Kidman drops trou at the beginning of Eyes Wide Shut; Bernard Hermann’s work on everything from Psycho to Taxi Driver to (in a sense, at least) The Birds; Wayne Bell and Tobe Hooper’s proto-industrial clangings and hummings for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre; Johnny Cash’s “The Man Comes Around” during the stunning credit sequence for the Dawn of the Dead remake…and man, that’s without even really thinking about it!

Dave - Rue Morgue’s The Abbatoir

I don’t think I could ever choose a single favourite — there’s just too much good stuff out there. Lately I’ve been revisiting the Phantasm series, so I’m really enjoying the epic creepiness of that theme. Other long-running faves include the Phillip Glass/Kronos Quartet Dracula soundtrack, Halloween (of course!) and pretty much anything from the better-known Argento and Fulci films. If you were to include TV shows, it’s be a crime not to mention Twin Peaks. Oh, and if you’re looking for something with lyrics, I can’t get the hilarious and ridiculously catchy Poultrygeist theme by Calamari Safari out of my head: “You’ll be eaten alive by zombie chickens toniiiiight!”

Don May, Jr. - Synapse

I just love the haunting “Tubular Bells” from THE EXORCIST. Even though it wasn’t scored specifically for the film, I think it’s so perfect and unforgettable.

Nick - DVDTrash

Very easy this one, definitely Profondo Rosso by Goblin quickly followed by Suspiria and Frizzi’s classic score for The Beyond!

Curt - Groovy Age of Horror

That’s easy. The Goblin score for Argento’s DEEP RED. For me, that beat is just so perfectly suggestive of the giallo-esque repeated downward stab of a knife in a black-gloved fist.

Louis - Damaged 2.0

For years I have been in love with Goblin’s score for Argento’s PHENOMENA (or CREEPERS, if you will). I love the way that, within the same song, it will alternate from slow, dirge-ish new wave to a synth-heavy opera score within seconds. It’s easily their best, most cohesive work (yeah, yeah, calm down SUSPIRIA purists) and I try to always find time to play a track from it on my radio show.

(If I can pick a close second, let’s go with Angelo Badalamenti’s score for TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME. No explanation needed. I’m sure you know why.)

Jay C. - The Documentary Blog

This is easy…John Carpenter’s PRINCE OF DARKNESS! Probably the creepiest music i’d ever heard as a child. I remember Roger Ebert’s review of the film and the first thing he slammed was the music. What a cock sucker. But who’s laughing now Ebert!!!! BWAAHAHAHAH

Stacie - Final Girl

Man, another toughie! How can I give just one answer?

I’d have to say that all in all, Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN just can’t be beat…I know that’s probably the expected answer, but what can I say. I’ve heard it a zillion times, and it STILL gives me the shivers. There’s obviously the main theme that everyone knows, but I also love that slow piano refrain, that pounding ‘chase’ music, and that…err, sparkly noise thingy in there. Watch the movie with me and I’ll point it out. It’s neck and neck with PSYCHO and JAWS for most recognizable, I think- it’s pure genius. I love the music from most of Carpenter’s films, in fact, but HALLOWEEN takes the cake.

Speaking of PSYCHO, I dig Manfredini’s PSYCHO-esque theme for FRIDAY THE 13th. Like the movie, that music really gets under my skin.

Philip Glass did a fantastic job on CANDYMAN…it’s sort of gothic and sweeping and HALLOWEEN-ish all at once.

When I’m writing, I listen to moody, orchestral scores, such as Howard Shore’s SILENCE OF THE LAMBS or David Julyan’s THE DESCENT. I wish I could find a copy of Brad Fiedel’s score for JUST BEFORE DAWN- I’d certainly put it on par with those last two.

I love love love love LOVE the music from the SILENT HILL games, which yes, are games…but the music for the movie was pulled almost exclusively from the game soundtracks. Akira Yamaoka is amazing. There’s stunningly beautiful melodies and some extremely frightening discordant sound effects in there. Awesome.

Then you’ve got your theme songs…I mean, what can top Dorsey Burnette’s “Peaceful Verde Valley” from KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS? Nothing, that’s what. Although, Dokken’s “Dream Warriors” from NoES 3 is up there, as is the song from PROM NIGHT, which cleverly includes the movie title (“Prom Night! Everything is all right!”). And man…if I could track down “Aerobicide” from KILLER WORKOUT, I’d be a happy happy girl.

Kimberly - Cinebeats

I love lots of film scores so here’s a list of 5
favorites.

James Bernard - Plague of the Zombies
Great use of “voodoo” drums mixed with Bernard’s dramatic & creepy score.

Ennio Morricone - What Have You Done to Solange?
One of Morricone’s best and most experimental scores.

Piero Umiliani - Five Dolls for an August Moon
Classic groovy Umilliani and really fun to listen to. It might have the best theme ever.

Goblin - Suspiria
One of the creepiest and most disturbing scores ever recorded. It almost overshadows the movie at times.

Krzysztof Komeda - The Fearless Vampire Killers
Extremely creepy score for a rather campy, but really great vampire film.

Red Hawk - Happy Horror

My first thought here was the classic Godzilla March from the more recent Godzilla movies. However, it came to me that some might not consider Godzilla (at least, the most recent Godzilla movies) to be horror, so I thought a little more and decided on the Halloween theme. The music always seems to blend in with the action on-screen and works well overall.

Tim - Mondo Schlocko

It’s kinda dorky, but I always enjoyed the scores to most of Charles Band earlier films including, Puppetmaster.

T. Van - Tolerated Vandalism

Favourite horror movie theme music? Where do you even begin? I think there are a few obvious choices; Psycho and Suspiria come to mind. I loved Goblin’s work on the Dawn of the Dead soundtrack too. There really is only one choice for me though. John Carpenter created a little masterpiece in 1978 called Halloween. The theme to Halloween is instantly recognisable and chilling. It’s going to be interesting to see where Rob Zombie takes this theme in his “re-imagining” of Halloween when it hits theatres later this year. I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that a lot of people are not going to be too happy with Rob Zombie’s choice of music. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Joakim - Mexploitation

Anything by Goblin, generally, but my favourite is probably their main theme for Argento’s Profondo Rosso, which I actually use as a ringtone on my cell phone (it works very well as that, as does a lot of progressive rock, with its tendency to start slow and soft and build up over time).

Coil’s soundtrack for Hellraiser, which was not actually used in the movie, get a honorable mention, and is worth checking out, too few people know of it (or of Coil, for that matter).

David Z. - Tomb It May Concern

So many choices, so many sounds that evoke memories of not only films, but the place in life you see them. I’m going to say that the opening theme music to A Virgin Among The Living Dead is my all time favorite. The CD was released late last year (available here) and is a must have for fans of Bruno Nicolai and spoooooky music alike.

Thanks to the Roundtable crew for their impassioned responses. You may have noticed that this installment was a little late. I apologize to everyone expecting to find it here yesterday. This has been one crazy week, with events that, if they come to fruition, will have a major impact on both my life and The Horror Blog. I’ll let you cats know just as soon as I do.

Jeff O’Brien

High Tension - I won’t give it away for those lucky enough not to have seen it but what a ridiculous twist in the last act! It absolutely sank the movie for me and I wanted to frisbee it out the window. I later learned that it had been added in post and not originally scripted. Completely torpedoed the events that came before it!

Warren - 150 Days of Sodom

I could not watch the original Hitcher all the way through. I found it improbable that the kid could be considered a suspect for the killing of the whole police force. This situation was not handled more realistically in the new Hitcher.

I understand that movies have to take cops out of the equation so that the heroes can solve their own problems. Also, I understand movies love to set up scenarios where the hero is on the run from both “evil” and “good”, but the Hitcher script was too far fetched and I felt only a pre-teen would by into it.

I am singling the Hitcher out, but actually there are hundreds of tapes in my collection that are in their boxes on the shelf (or closet) stopped somewhere midway through the movie. I have the best of intentions, and I know storing a tape while not rewound is bad for the tape, but the reality is that these tapes will be in that position until they disintegrate or are tossed away after I die.

Sean T. Collins - Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat

I came pretty close to turning off Bloodsucking Freaks, which I watched when I was an intern at Troma back in ‘99. You’d think its unique combination of terrible production values, reprehensible subject matter, and a seeming enjoyment (if not full-fledged endorsement) of the sexual torture of women on the part of the filmmakers would be a more common phenomenon, but fortunately you’d be wrong. Lloyd Kaufman says it’s the one film in Troma’s library of schlock that he feels bad about distributing, and I don’t blame him.

Joakim - Mexploitation

It’s actually never happened to me, that I can remember at least. I always finish watching movies I start.

But one relatively recent one where I came close to turning it off while watching was Cabin Fever. I remember being excited about it, because I’d read an interview with Eli Roth on, I think, Salon.com, where he seemed to say a lot of reasonable and insightful things about horror movies.

But watching the thing, wow, it’s pretty awful. The script is almost non-existent, the acting ranges from below average to atrocious, and it’s no fun at all. There are one or two moments that have good, gory effects, but that’s not nearly enough to save a movie this crappy.

Eli Roth got at least a bit better with Hostel, which is at least average horror fare, but I’m still waiting to be impressed.

Don May, Jr. - Synapse

Just this weekend, I tried watching the new horror DVD release with Sarah Michelle Gellar entitled THE RETURN. It was so boring I fell asleep about halfway through, woke up when it was over and didn’t bother to rewatch what I missed before returning it to Blockbuster. Feh!

Dave - Rue Morgue’s The Abbatoir

As you can imagine, working at a horror magazine means we get a lot of movies tossed on our plate, and that means a lot of bad movies. So I think I’ll just stick to the most recent one I turned off halfway through: Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield. I watched it with some of my Rue Morgue co-workers, and at first we were amused by the ridiculous addition of Michael Berryman to play Ed Gein’s sidekick, then we rolled our eyes at sets that were obviously made for westerns, and then, just as the inane subplot about about the sheriff and his girlfriend bored us completely, there was a scene where one of the characters busted out a rousing rendition of Amazing Grace. That was the fucking deal breaker.

Doug Nagy

HOSTEL - Human torture scenes make me uncomfortable beyond belief. I am unable to watch them with any sort of enjoyment.

David Z. - Tomb It May Concern

The “honors” go to Gutpile for me. I love backyard backwood splatter flicks-I really do. But DAMN this thing was awful. It actually cured me of ever feeling cuirous regarding anything released by Sub Rosa on disc unless it is directed by Jess Franco or Eric Stanze. An idiot guy goes hunting and pops a passer by instead of an unarmed deer-so he buries the randomly walking in the woods guy. THEN a year passes and idiot guy brings his friends to the same place to hunt. Something hunts them. You can’t hear anything (except camera and crew noises which are clearer than any performance), and though the effects I saw were good enough, the fuzzy viddydupe look sucked so hard it caused my cinematic bowels to unload atop the film and turn it off. I very rarely do this, but you know…I have Bruno Mattei movies to rewatch and this thing was getting in the way.

Red Hawk - Happy Horror

I have a friend who didn’t watch all of “The Grudge” because she thought it was dumb, but as for me, I generally watch all my movies all the way through. However, the closest I’ve come to this was probably about 19 years or so ago, when my mom rented one of her favorite zombie movies, “One Dark Night”. Now, back at that age, zombies were the only monsters that gave me nightmares (I even had nightmares from seeing the ad for “Return of the Living Dead Part 2″, so when the final events of the movie were happening, I sat with my back to the screen, not wanting to see it. Of course, nowadays, zombies don’t phase me. About a month ago, we rented “One Dark Night” from Netflix, and ended up watching it three different times (regular, with commentary, and a Director’s Cut version).

JA - My New Plaid Pants

Does Ichi the Killer count as horror? It’s the only movie I can think of that I have yet to be able to make it through out of being horrified/disgusted, so I’ll say yes. In fact, I’ve tried twice and only made it about 20 minutes in each time before having to turn it off. And this comes from someone who considers Audition one of the best films of the past 10 years. That Miike; such a scamp!

Louis - Damaged 2.0

There are a bunch I wish I could have walked out of, most recently, the abysmal BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE. Usually, I try to finish what I start, no matter how bad. I feel like if I can’t finish a bad flick, I have in some way failed. The last film that I just could not sit through was LIVE FEED. There was a bit of controversy about it on my blog a few months ago when the director took me to task for not finishing it, but truth be told, I couldn’t keep my eyes open past the thirty minute mark. Don’t get me wrong–I love straight to video dreck with an absolute passion, but even I have my limits and, with it’s intense boringness and non-stop darlky lit-ness, those limits were broken. Congrats, LIVE FEED.

Bill Cunningham - DisContent

I get plenty of crap sent to me to represent the producers and try and get a distribution. For the most part I cannot get through the first five minutes of any of them. I will never get those five minute blocks of time back.

Curt - Groovy Age of Horror

I know this doesn’t exactly answer the question you asked, but there’s a whole subgenre I never even bother to start, let alone try to watch all the way through–all those ultra-nasty “realistic” horror flicks. I’ve explained why here. Short version: if their marketing is any indication, they have nothing to do with anything I love about horror. I remember seeing the trailer for OPEN WATER and thinking, “Why the fuck would anyone want to sit through 90 minutes of that?!?”

Tim - Mondo Schlocko

For me that flick would have to be PIGS. I don’t know why. Perhaps it was the dark and grainy copy I got or the pacing, but for some reason I can never get past the first fifteen minutes of it. I can somehow make it through the slowest film from the 40’s, yet PIGS seems to be a challenge for me.

T. Van - Tolerated Vandalism

If a movie sucks there is no doubt that I’ll turn it off. Same goes for books. I recently made the mistake of attempting to watch I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer on cable. I should have known better. The acting was wooden and the plot was ridiculous. I knew that there was no way I was going to make it through. I think I made it to the 20 minute mark before deciding to view something else. I ended up watching Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story [a relatively low budget mockumentary starring Rob Corddry from The Daily Show]. It wasn’t great but it seemed like a masterpiece after I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer.

I also attempted to view Brian DePalma’s The Black Dahlia [not a horror film] and couldn’t make it through it. Even if you’re a fan of DePalma avoid this piece of garbage.

Casey Criswell - Cinema Fromage

Arachnophobia. My fear of spiders has been comedic to many and this flick just cemented the fact. While I was a manly Senior in high school watching this on cable at a friends house I did manage to make it through the entire film. However, backed with the hearty laughs of said friend I had to watch the entire movie from his kitchen peaking around the corner into the living room. I’ve still never watched it a second time to this day some fifteen years later!

Kimberly - Cinebeats

The People Under the Stairs (1991). It’s the only horror film I’ve ever walked out on because I was so bored with it. It confirmed that I’m just not a Wes Craven fan. Obviously I’m in the minority since the director has a lot of fans and many people seem to enjoy this film, but I thought it was really tired, unfunny and just plain tedious to watch.

Thanks once again to all the cowards that contributed to this week’s Roundtable. I’ll be taking next week off, so make sure you get your horror fix at all the wondrous blogs linked to above. See you next Friday with the next installment of the Roundtable!

First there was news of Frank Henenlotter’s triumphant return to horror, now another batch of ’80s NYC trash peddlers are making a comeback. After discovering that there was a website devoted to a Street Trash sequel, Creature Corner rang up producer Roy Frumkes to find out if the rumour is true.

I’ve been going to conventions, and jeez, in Cleveland back in October at Cinema Wasteland, we had 2,000 people lined up with posters and things. So the fanbase is out there, and it’s huge. And they’re always excited if we mention anything about a possibility of another film. The only difference between Jimmy and my vision of it, I think, is that he sees it as being Street Trash 2 but I think 20 years is so long it should be Street Trash 3. Just leave out the middle one, and then if we go back and do another one we can do Street Trash 2: The Missing Viper Bottles.

So it appears both the director and producer are ready to bring this forward, with the possible inclusion of some original cast members even. How cool would a Bad Biology/Street Trash 2 double bill be?

With Evil Dead inching it’s way toward Broadway, The Fly being prepped for an opera and Young Frankenstein set to take over for The Producers this year, adaptations of genre favourites for the theatre are getting out of control. Even the Horror Roundtable got into the act. The Lancaster Online considers a few more examples of this trend that I haven’t touched on, and asks the staff what they believe would make a good Broadway musical.

“‘Cujo’ as a musical would be funny. But, like, there shouldn’t be a guy in a dog suit. They could use a slide projector to show fangs and claws, maybe across the windshield of the car the mother and son are trapped in. That would be much scarier than a guy in a dog suit.”

Is it wrong that I would pay a scalper good money to catch Cujo - The Musical? I still regret never getting the chance to attend Carrie.

Trash connoisseurs are well aware that foreign rip-offs of popular American films are not only highly treasured, they sometimes surpass the originals. My personal favourites are the barbarian knock-offs that littered Italian cinema in the wake of Conan’s success, but on the other end of the historical scale are the post-apocalyptic epics that were churned out in the early 80’s. David Z. of Tomb It May Concern takes a long, hard look at our doomed future as seen through the eyes of the Italians in his three-part Pastapocalypse series.

Written and directed by some of the best talents in Italy still working at the time, populated by a cast of classic faces and new stars and ruled by totally berserk scenarios… it was a great time in Italian exploitation cinema. One that is worthy of it’s own look, because these films are not simple science fiction, but so full of ACTION they became epics that capitalized on a popular scenario and spun off into something special and unique. The PastaPocalypse!

David’s obsessive enthusiam for these films is infectious. He covers everything from The Bronx Warriors through to The Bronx Executioners, with stops for Rats, Yor, and everything in-between, so put on your leather vest and let’s ride!

Posting will most likely be a little light over the next two weeks, but I hate to let a day go by without something, so here you go.

Before Paul Anderson got his sticky little fingers all over the franchise, George A. Romero was slated to make his zombie comeback in the form of the first Resident Evil film. Though he was eventually kicked off the project, a few years previous to that debacle Romero did manage to shoot one small Japanese commercial for the first sequel to the game.

Four years ago, a comics-oriented magazine by the name of Savant tried to organize International Read A Comic Book in Public Day. Since I live in Canada, and I tend to go outside as little as possible in March, I proposed an alternative, hence the Fifth Annual International Read A Comic Book Naked Day.

There has been some confusion as to the criteria for participating in International Read A Comic Book Naked Day. It’s actually very simple. You must read a comic while naked. Your choice of location, reading material and the company you choose to share this special day with are all up to you.

Sadly, there are still some people who are comic-deprived. Therefore, every year I present a small selection of online treasures to help those who either don’t read comics or who are looking for an alternative to what they normally read. Enjoy, and Happy International Read A Comic Book Naked Day!

Briefer’s Frankenstein. Dick Briefer’s creature is a hoot, and perfect for the Monster Kid in anyone.

Kirby Monster Comics. You can’t go wrong with the King, baby. Dozens of comics that walk like a man!

The Shadow meets The Batman. The weed of crime bears a cowardly, superstitious lot.

Shoot. The unpublished issue of Hellblazer that made Warren Ellis walk from the book.

The Monster of Dread End. John Stanley of Little Lulu fame crafts one of the creepiest comics ever printed. Scroll down for the full story.

For even more comics, check out my parallel post over at Flat Earth. Rock out with all your genitals out!

Name your favourite horror comic book.

Jeff O’Brien

“Hellhound” by Bruce Jones and Russ Heath in CREEPY magazine. You can read it here. I’ve never been moved by horror comics like I have in horror movies but in this one, the last panel caught me completly off guard - I was silent for a moment as I took it in.

Great twist ending, and logical too.

Bill Cunningham - DisContent

See now this is bad, because I’m one of the original Marvel junkies so MORBIUS, The LIVING VAMPIRE, TOMB of DRACULA, WEREWOLF by NIGHT, MAN-THING and all the rest really affected me deeply. The whole Marvel B&W magazine line was instrumental in my appreciation of things that go bump in the night. I can’t nail it down to one character, single issue, or series.

I realize now that they were trying to capitalize on the success of Warren’s CREEPY, EERIE , etc…but there was this wonderful melding of the superhero with the supernatural in those books that I still have to say “Make mine Marvel!”

(And for the record, I am equally smitten with Marvel’s Kung fu magazines. It was the 70’s, what can I say?)

Sean T. Collins - Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat

Hands down it’s Black Hole by Charles Burns. One of my favorite comics of any kind, this de-romanticizes adolescent sex, drugs, and rock and roll more effectively than any other work of narrative art I’ve ever come across, like Dazed and Confused directed by Shivers-era David Cronenberg. It’s a masterpiece–I don’t say that lightly at all–and I can’t recommend it to fans of horror film or literature highly enough.

There is a strong runner-up, though, and that’s the three-volume manga series Uzumaki by Junji Ito. Its episodic vignettes suggest an HBO miniseries from the mind of H.P. Lovecraft, and it features some of the most indelibly terrifying images comics have produced. As I said in Wizard Magazine’s 25 Scariest Moments in Comics, I challenge you to take a look at the snail-boy and be able to go about your business shortly thereafter.

Billy

I loved the Hellraiser comic books. They were all these little short stories involving the cenobites and there were some fantastic stories. One that sticks out in my mind was one that took place in the Vietnam war. There was a series of foxhole tunnels and this one guy in the platoon was particularly good at clearing them out. So he goes in all by himself, killing everything in there. But this tunnel is in the pattern of one of the puzzlebox sides, so as he finishes killing the last of the enemy he ends up in hell because he just did something “perfectly” and doing something perfectly opens a gateway to hell. And then they proceed to turn him into a cenobite, but not before the last final shot of him rushing them to attack, even though he knows there is no hope.

Don May, Jr. - Synapse

Well this one’s a tie for me…

I was a big fan of both HELLBLAZER and THE SANDMAN…

Doug Nagy

I enjoy the Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery comics from Gold Key. I bought a slew of them at the Toronto Comic Con a few years back and enjoy reading them from time to time.

Stacie - Final Girl

Wow, it’s really hard to choose just one! Overall, though, I’d have to say EC Comics in general have given me the most thrills over the years. The artwork is fantastic (I heart Jack Davis!), the stories are fun, gross, and sometimes even scary. I wish I’d been a kid when they first came around- they would’ve blown my mind.

Second place would have to be Tomb of Dracula, undoubtedly. I drool over Gene Colan’s artwork. ToD #69 was the first comic I ever got, and there’s a few pages inside (when some particularly ghoulish-looking vampires are trying to get at some little kids) that scared me absolutely shitless when I was young.

Any ‘70s horror books, from any company, are like crack for me- House of Mystery, The Witching Hour, Monster of Frankenstein, Werewolf By Night, Tales of the Zombie…the list goes on and on.

I could go on and on, even, all day long…great question!

David Z. - Tomb It May Concern

This question is impossible! Too many to list…so I’ll cheat a touch. For overall achievement I’m going to lump the original Man-Thing run once Gerber began writing it in Adventure Into Fear and up to the wacked out ending in Man-Thing #22 that featured Gerber himself as a reporter on Man-Thing’s adventures. The run is supplemented by the Monsters Unleashed B/W mag, including an excellent prose story by Gerber called Several Meaningless Deaths which is really one of my best arguments for prose n’ comics complimenting each other.
While Tomb Of Dracula is longer and total quality-I love the Man-Thing…and hey-can you say anything bad about people going to the shop and asking for Giant-Size Man-Thing?? No.

For more recent stuff everyone should be reading Tinnell/Livingston/Vokes’ Wicked West books. You can peep my review of WW2-Abomination here.

Damn Steven, this is impossible. I have stacks of old Charlton books I love, magazine boxes full of Creepy, Marvel mags (remember when Morbius could kick ass and Dracula could get it?) and great Eerie Publications like Witches Tales and Tales Of Voodoo. I adore horror comics-though mostly a bit older. Todays current trend of pencil squiggles buried in photoshop “coloring” make my head ache. I’m an old fart, I’d rather spend 5 bucks to get a random issue of Terror Tales than try something new, I admit it.

Alright, I’m not going any further, I’m compelled to go spend some time with DC’s Showcase volume of House Of Mystery now…

Red Hawk - Happy Horror

I’ve always liked the old DC Comics horror-themed House of Mystery and House of Secrets. I have one that has some really good stories, as well as one really sad one. My favorite in it has to be “The Loser”, which starts with a guy standing next to a coffin, talking to it, saying that he finally showed her that he could do something right. We’re treated to his past as he recounts it, where it shows how his wife dominated over him, even before they were married. Finally, after years of taking abuse from her, he decides to do away with her. He calls her to see something he was making in the basement, then rushes to push her down the stairs. We see a shadowy figure falling, and then cut back to the coffin, where the wife appears, laughing at him. He tells her not to laugh, and she tells him, “You’re pathetic. Don’t you remember? When you went to push me down the stairs, you missed!” and opens the coffin to show him laying inside.

Gary Wintle

I love all those old horror comics that were at mine and Steve’s grandparent’s cottage.

A lot of them were with these 3 witches (Witching Hour?). I can only remember the broad strokes of those stories, but I remember really loving them as a kid. I tried thinking of a specific story to talk about, but I don’t think any of them are fresh in my head enough to clearly recall. I enjoy those comics with three or more stories, with great twist ending. The covers of those books were always great too. Skeleton children, microverses hell bent on world domination, cat-god curses, that kinda thing. I don’t know why there aren’t more books out there like that anymore. They just make a kid’s imagination go nuts!

Curt - Groovy Age of Horror

Yow!!! That’s a tough one, but I guess I’d better come up with an answer. Just about everything in Marvel’s Bronze Age horror boom is worth its weight in gold, as far as I’m concerned. Tomb of Dracula is probably too obvious a choice, but that’s for a very good reason–it really is that great. Now I’m about to commit Groovy Age heresy and say I especially love the Epic four-parter that came much later, in the early ’90s. It’s so much darker than the original, which isn’t necessarily a good thing, but here it really works. What impresses me most about it is the wild new way Colan draws Dracula, really emphasizing everything uncanny, metamorphic, and supernatural about him. Is this my “final answer”? Hrmmm . . . I wouldn’t go that far, but it’ll have to do for now!

Kimerbly - Cinebeats

I worked at a comic shop in the 1990s and read lots of comic books back then, but after I left I stopped keeping up with new releases. Here’s some of my favorites all published before 2000.

Vampirella - I love the original old 1970s Vampirella stories published by Warren. They were really entertaining and the cover artists and illustrators were fantastic.

From Hell - I thought Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell’s From Hell was an impressive & interesting take on Jack the Ripper. The story was smart and really pushed the boundaries of graphic storytelling.

Hellblazer - Jamie Delano & Garth Ennis both had amazing runs on DC’s Hellblazer, which was my favorite Vertigo title during the 1990s. After Ennis left Hellblazer the series seemed to loose it’s momentum and I stopped reading, but the early issues contain some of the best comic book writing I’ve come across.

Deadworld - I also have to mention the old indy comic Deadworld illustrated by Vince Locke and published by Arrow & Caliber. As far as I know it was the first “zombie” comic and the early issues were really terrific. I think it’s getting published by Image now, but I don’t know anything about the new series. The original Deadworld was really gritty and a fun read.

Tim - Mondo Schlocko

Elvira’s House of Mystery. It was my first horror comic when I was growing up as a kid, and even after discovering other titles, it still remains my favorite.

This Roundtable was brought to you in conjunction with International Read A Comic Book Naked Day, which takes place tomorrow. If you are without comics to read while naked and were looking for decent recommendations so you could take part in the celebration make sure you take a look at the list above or pop by tomorrow for even more comic goodness.

Thanks to everyone for sharing their horror comic memories. Please make sure you check out the various sites of our contributors for more four-colour action-packed blogging mayhem. Excelsior!