I'm an only child. Growing up, I often wondered what it would be like to have siblings. Would we get along or would we hate each other? But my pining for a sister or brother never extended to a desire to be a twin... especially an identical twin. I'm probably a little too "I'm my own person!" for my own good; just meeting someone with my first name is enough to get me sizing up the "competition" (what, this weirdness shocks you?).

And twins, man! Horror movies have once again informed my world view, which is this: If you've got identical twins, then one -- if not both -- is bound to be evil. Don't believe me? And here's the scientific... well, err, the cinematic proof.

Basket Case
You can't blame Belial for being angry... he got the serious short end of the conjoined twin stick. His brother Duane may be socially inept, but otherwise he's an average young man. Belial, on the other hand, is dwarfed and monstrously deformed. But brothers are brothers, and these brothers are with each other to the end: Duane totes Belial around in a basket as the two seek vengeance on the doctors who separated them against their will. Basket Case features puppets, stop-motion animation and New York City in its seedy heyday, all courtesy of the twisted mind of writer/director Frank Henenlotter. A cult classic before it was even made!

Continue reading "Stacie Ponder - Double Your Trouble With Big Screen Evil Twins" »

Say what you will about the Resident Evil franchise, but it's hard to deny that Milla Jovovich has given the zombie genre a swift kick in the rotting backside... not to mention a welcome injection of hotness. The model-turned-actress first showed up, guns a-blazing, in Resident Evil (2002) and subsequent chapters of this video-game adaptation have been her bread and butter ever since. Her occasional appearances in other movies, in fact, are either variations on the theme (Ultraviolet) or horror flicks that place her on the other end of the hunter-hunted spectrum (The Perfect Getaway).

Two critically-reviled Resident Evil sequels later, the gorgeous zombie stomper has taken her guns out of retirement for the next iteration: Resident Evil 4: Afterlife, in 3D. A production that might normally have been a bit of a yawn is grabbing bloggers' attention, in part because -- stop the presses, friends -- Milla's joined Twitter!

Continue reading "Web Stalker - Milla's On-Set Tweets Are Bringing Buzz to Resident Evil 4" »

Richard Matheson's short story "Button, Button" is just the jumping off point for Richard Kelly's The Box, a convoluted moral thriller that gets off to a terrifically eerie start but collapses beneath the weight of its Big Ideas.

December 1976, Richmond, Virginia. The Lewises appear to be living the American dream: They're young and attractive; they have a lovely home and a bright, inquisitive teenaged son named Walter (Sam Oz Stone). Arthur (James Marsden) works at NASA's Langley Research Center, where he helped design the cameras used in the Viking Mars missions, Norma (Cameron Diaz), teaches literature at the exclusive Libby Hill Academy. They're liked and admired by their family, neighbors and colleagues.

Continue reading "The Box Review - The Creepiest Things Come in Small Packages" »

When I mention the trite phrase that horror movies are horribly sexist, I bet some female readers of this column shout an instant, fist-pumping "Preach on!" When I clarify that horror movies are horribly sexist against men, that's when those same ladies decide that this preacher actually spews misogynistic lies. The prevailing belief is that horror flicks are sexist and that the targets are women. But if you do the basic math, the sexism is against men.

Let's look at this from a scientific perspective, and by "scientific" I mean in light of the theories of that early legend of science, Charles Darwin. Maybe you've heard of him? He's the guy who coined that pesky phrase "survival of the fittest." If only the fittest survive, and most horror movies feature a "final girl," then what does that say about the genre's stance on men? Or let's go at this issue another way: Do you actually think horror movies portray females as weak? Tell that to Halloween's Laurie Strode. Tell that to Scream's Sidney Prescott.

Continue reading "Scott Sigler - Dumb Dudes Die While Leading Ladies Live... Ah, the Sexism of Horror" »

The last time I talked about making your own horror movies, I was a little Yoda-esque. You know what I mean -- all philosophy and "Do or do not, there is no try." Philosophizin' is all well and good, but eventually you've gotta stop thinking, get out there and make your dang movie. I've been through the no-budget fire, my friends, and I've learned a few things along the way. So this time around I'll be a little less Yoda and a little more Obi-Wan as I show you how to use the Force. It's time to get practical!

Formatting Your Script
Even if you're making a horror movie in your backyard that stars your mom as a mad scientist and your dad as a severed head, there's no reason for your script to come out of the printer looking all wonky... and trust me, if you write it in a basic word processing program, that's what's gonna happen. Show your actors you mean business by handing them a beautiful document, courtesy of a real screenwriting program! You don't need to spend gobs of money on Final Draft or Movie Magic Screenwriter to do it, either -- there's a free program called Celtx that formats your screenplay and a whole lot more. By the way, I totally want to see the movie starring your mom as a mad scientist and your dad as a severed head.

Continue reading "Stacie Ponder - Eight Do-or-Die Tips for Micro-Budget Horror Moguls" »

If horror history had a sitting king, it would be the indomitable Christopher Lee, whose visage graced so many movies produced by Hammer Films, the British studio that made lavish productions like Blood of Dracula and Horror of Frankenstein while operating on the shoestringiest of budgets. (The fact that Lee was recently knighted only lends additional gravitas.) And now, thanks to the recent news that the revered studio is getting back into the horror game -- so helpfully chronicled by AMC's own Scott Sigler -- Internet obsessives have been monitoring the studio's renaissance with a sense of guarded optimism. Guarded because, well, Hammer hasn't really done anything yet.

But this could be the week that everything changes! Thanks to the batch of photos the studio released for its first new feature, The Resident, both Hammer and Lee have been lighting up the blogosphere (and the world at large) in a major way...

Continue reading "Web Stalker - Sneak Peeks of The Resident Have Fans Hailing Hammer Horror's Return" »

Horror Hacker caught up with Robert Kirkman, the man behind The Walking Dead comics, at Baltimore's Comic Con and got the scoop on the origin of his zombie series and what made him say yes to an AMCtv adaptation.

Q: The Walking Dead is a stellar example of the zombie genre. Where are your influences?

A: My absolute favorite zombie movie is Day of the Dead. They're in the bunker, the zombies look the coolest out of any of the Romero movies and I really like the story, the misery that these people have to go through. Shaun of the Dead comes in a close second.

Q: What about Night of the Living Dead?

A: The Romero movies as a whole, I really adore. Day of the Dead has more action and gore in it, while I think Night of the Living Dead is probably the most sophisticated zombie movie. It's got excellent story, an amazing ending and it's really artfully put together. It's obviously been a huge influence. I like the Lucio Fulci Italian zombie movies... Holocaust movies inspired [The Walking Dead] a little bit, just to see people dealing with horrible things happening to them.

Continue reading "Q&A - The Walking Dead Scribe Robert Kirkman Discusses His Zombie Influences" »

When the TV series  Supernatural premiered in 2005, few could have guessed it would turn into the cult hit it is today. But five seasons in, the adventures of the supernatural-investigating Winchester brothers are still creeping out their ravenous fan base. So it makes sense that Supernatural would follow in the footsteps of fellow horror-action predecessors Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The X-Files and transport the demon-hunting tales to the world of comics. (Hey, if Ghost Whisperer can inspire a comic, then so can Supernatural.)

Coming on the heels of the popular Rising Son miniseries, DC/Wildstorm's latest Supernatural series, Beginning's End, delves farther into Sam's decision to leave his family for Stanford. But don't worry: There's still plenty of action as the Winchester boys finding themselves hunting monsters in the Big Apple. The story, written by show writers Andrew Dabb and Daniel Loflin, explores what makes the Winchesters such beloved loose cannons, and also appears to conform to the show's canon, something few TV comics bother doing.) Artist Diego Olmos will be familiar to fans of Rising Son, but Batman geeks might also want to take a look -- the rising comics star's recent Batman: Dragon's Knight one-shot was both a fun adventure story and a thrilling tour of Barcelona.

To see more great comic artwork, check out our Horror Comics photo gallery.

The well-known horror filmmaker admits that when it first came out, Night of the Living Dead was considered gory (those hungry zombies!), but compared to today's movies -- it doesn't seem to be at all. Romero also reveals that his Living Dead sequels were made to be more funny than scary, and when it comes to directing style, it's Orson Welles he strives to emulate.