Articles

It’s becoming more and more evident to me that our time on this planet is limited. It’s a strange thing, this 2012 rhetoric. I’m not one to easily buy into doomsday theories, but the last couple of months have been un-relentless with signs of the apocalypse. You need only look to the skies to see thousands of dead birds dropping …

Comedy and horror have been kissing cousins since the early days of cinema. Moments of humor have been the go-to safety valve that horror filmmakers have used consistently to relieve audience tension and to provide a break from the suspense and terror of the moment. Over time, the approach may have changed, but the general idea has remained remarkably consistent …

This edition of Unexplained Confidential is dedicated to Michele Gosciniak. Happy Birthday from Michael Joy and Horrornews.net ! It’s my favorite time of the year and it’s custom made for everything scary and spooky. Where did September go? I blinked my eyes and that month is history. I guess I’ll just have to put in some horrornews overtime this month. …

There are few names as synonymous with horror as author Stephen King. The man has created some of the most original, cerebral, bizarre, and creepy horror stories in history and its no surprise a good many of them have been adapted into films. But with so many to choose from, which of King’s beasties reigns supreme? Check it out. 10- …

Film makers have always used stand-ins for locations and props to save money, time. and labor. Some film makers, though, like to aim for authenticity above all, and this was especially true in the days before CGI, and also before cheaper, non-union states started to become the preferred choice for shoots. Of all the anecdotes I researched for this article, …

Scientific knowledge was never one of the requirements needed for a successful Hollywood scriptwriter. At least science fiction authors are usually aware of scientific flaws and try to disguise them with pseudo-science. For instance, they’ve long got around Einstein’s law regarding the impossibility of faster-than-light travel by taking a short-cut through ‘hyper-space’. My old friend H.G. Wells was well aware …

One of the most recognizable movie monsters in horror cinema is the Frankenstein Monster. Beginning with Frankenstein (1910) and, more famously, Frankenstein (1931) from Universal, Mary Shelley’s man-made monster has taken many forms. In 1957, Hammer Films jettisoned the creature into the Technicolor age with Curse of Frankenstein. Throughout the Sixties, Hammer Films would produce a variety of Monsters created …

Yes, you have voiced your opinion over and over about how remakes and sequels should shut the hell up and you could make the best horror movie ever if you only had the budget that was wasted on these current, needless continuations and resurrections, right? Well, you smug little asshole, every sequel or remake has been based upon impressions of …

For decades now, there has been speculation within the horror movie industry as to what makes a movie ‘disturbing’ and what makes a truly horrifying horror movie. From Cannibal Holocaust to Audition, it’s rather clear that there are a select few directors who know how to properly capture this, often with brutal results. With spoilers following, this is a list …

One of the most talked about films of 2016 has been the critically acclaimed M. Night Shyamalan’ spectacle ‘Split’, a horror/thriller crossover which tells the story of Kevin, a man with 23 personalities who abducts 3 teenage girls and holds them captive in a small room in what appears to be an apartment complex. Gradually throughout the film, we start …

Ok, you found your way here looking for some clarity on the whole demon possession thing. Well I’m hear to tell ya…… I don’t type haphazardly (and rather consider the details) . The subject has been analyzed and evaluated to qualify and disqualify common misconceptions. First let’s be clear…demon possession is exactly that. That doesn’t mean possession if you “ARE” …

War! What is it good for? An action-packed evening on the couch, that’s what! When I asked Horror News readers and Facebook friends to tell me their favourite war movies, the response was terrific. While I can’t deny the quality of films like Gone With The Wind (1939), Lawrence Of Arabia (1962), Battle Of Britain (1969), Kelly’s Heroes (1970), Tora! …

In most genres of cinema, the sequel is almost inherently worse than the original. However, horror is not like most genres. Sequels can sometimes match the quality of the original or surpass it. The reason could be related to a higher budget, more attention from studios, less attention from studios, or just the result of taking scares and creativity to …

My old friend Sigmund Freud claimed that most children fantasise about dolls coming to life, and psychologist Ernst Jentsch theorised that uncanny feelings arise when there is an intellectual uncertainty about whether an object is alive or not, and also when an object that one knows to be inanimate resembles a living being enough to generate confusion about its nature. …

For this chapter in Horrifying History we’re focusing on the groundbreaking, but sadly overlooked, 1931 film M and the devil’s brigade of real life monsters that inspired it.  Fritz Lang’s M is a remarkable accomplishment on multiple levels, and, like all those we’ve featured, it’s inspired by grisly real-life events. This time we’re traveling back to Germany’s post World War …