Scarred Tuesdays double your pleasure with contributions by two exploitation greats with similar tastes.

Not many people can claim that they changed the face of cinema. Herschell Gordon Lewis, the undisputed Godfather of Gore, is one such person. Director of seminal gore flicks Blood Feast, 2,000 Maniacs, The Gore Gore Girls and countless others, as well as current projects like The Gore Gore Gore-Met, Lewis has spilled more blood in one scene than most modern horror filmmakers will see in a lifetime. All this may make what he finds frightening a bit of a surprise to some.

The nature of my involvement in the entertainment industry makes my attitude so unrelentingly analytical that fright doesn’t enter the mix, although occasional “startlement” might occur. For fright, I recall my initial reaction to the painting “Scream” by Edvard Munch. The primitive nature of this art has to be a major factor in evoking an emotional reaction.

Brandon Maggart pulled at the heartstrings while simoutaneously attempting to sever them as the greatest murderous Santa of all time in Christmas Evil. Maggart’s truly unhinged performance focuses as much on a true love for the holidays as it does taking out those on his naughty list, to great effect. With that in mind, what makes even Old St. Nick tremble in his coal black boots?

I was afraid of… the dark… then, of course, I read Bram Stoker’s Dracula…scared the crap out of me… of paintings:”The Scream” is unsettling…don’t want it around… but the winner is still… as a child, being left alone in the house in THE DARK.. But I found that a baseball bat by my bedside was an amazing comfort.

Sorry for the brief absence. Unfortunately, it’s most likely going to extend through the next week or two, with the exception of The Horror Roundtable which will be appearing on Fridays as usual. Enjoy your hot chocolate, everyone!

The Christmas Story clip courtesy of Film Junk.

I made my peace with the deluge of horror remakes long ago. In fact, I can’t even recall if I’ve ever been really upset by the idea of a shitty reimagining even when my two favourite horror movies, Night of the Living Dead and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, went through the wringer. Now the third film in my unholy trilogy of favourites is being remade, and while I’m still not upset, I am confused.

In a way, Black Christmas is a good choice for a remake. Black Christmas is the proto-slasher, directly influencing the sub-genre’s most famous outing, Halloween. Yet, because it was the first it is also completely unlike other slashers. It not only inspired them, but stands apart. Couple that with its relative obscurity and it would be entirely possible to scare new audiences with something familiar yet slightly different from what they would expect. As much as I hate making judgements based on a trailer, it’s evident that they’ve discarded many of the things that help make Black Christmas stand out and replaced them with lame slasher tropes.

What a waste.

Trailer found via Bloody Disgusting.

A few days ago My New Plaid Pants posted a link to an MP3 of Fiona Apple covering Sally’s Song from A Nightmare Before Christmas. Supposedly this is a 2-disc set was produced to coincide with the 3-D rerelease of the film, with the first disc being comprised of the original soundtrack and the second including five covers from various bands and assorted demos by Danny Elfman. Another track that’s popped up early is Marilyn Manson’s version of This Is Halloween, available at Deaf Indie Elephants.

Billy! What did you do to one of my favourite movies, Billy?!?

“Thanks” to Cinematical for directing me to this teaser.

John Waters has been tapped by Synapse Films to do a commentary track for their dvd release of Christmas Evil. In a way, I like fan commentaries even more than by those who worked on the film, from Eli Roth on Bloodsucking Freaks to Joe Bob Briggs on numerous dvds, especially Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter.

A friend of mine recently pointed me in the direction of fan commentaries provided over the internet, something we’ve decided to explore ourselves in the future. Some of the more notable ones include Suspiria and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.