Stan Winston's work not only transcended genres, it also legitimized them, introducing the world to some of the most beloved (and most horrifying) movies of all time including Aliens and Terminator 2.

Winston, who passed away this weekend at 62, had battled multiple myeloma for seven years, but the makeup and special-effects artist was still working hard at work in the months leading up to his death. With Avatar and Terminator: Salvation forthcoming, audiences can expect to continue enjoying his new work in the next few years. In the meantime, the career that earned Winston four Oscars and many other nominations, as well as the undivided attention of most filmgoers, isn't likely to fade anytime soon. While movies like Batman Returns and Pumpkinhead seem like dubious movies to curl up with during a time of mourning, I'm sure Winston wouldn't have it any other way.

News, reviews, and snarky opinions are the backbone of the blogging world, and horror is no exception. What began two years ago as a traditional genre blog, The Horror Blog has slowly blossomed into an entertaining forum for expression thanks to the weekly Horror Roundtable, in which prominent bloggers assemble to answer questions like "Setting Zombies on Fire: Decent Strategy or Horrible Mistake?". Curated by Steven Wintle, each Roundtable topic is an opportunity to pick the brains of writers who really know their stuff.

"I sent out invitations to the first batch of participants just to get the ball rolling," says Wintle, "This group was comprised of practically every horror blogger I could think of. After that initial drive, I would occasionally extend an open invite on the blog, and we would get new recruits either that way or just by people inquiring about it." Wintle gives full credit to his panelists for the Roundtable's success to date, "It's like a dinner party, but everyone invited is a cannibal."

Continue reading "Site of the Week - Horror Blog's "Weekly Roundtable"" »

• Director Dan Myrick wants people to know he's not just a one-hit wonder and say, "OK, this guy can do more than just one movie, he can do more than just Blair Witch." 

• The older you get, the scarier birthdays become. To celebrate my decay: Cakes that are edible and age-appropriate.

• Dismembered Macy's mannequins are given new life in Florida. "It's a handmade zombie farm."

• Shocktilyoudrop.com has exclusive news about Breck Eisner's Creature From the Black Lagoon remake: The updated Gill Man will surface in the Forest of Mirrors.

• Eli Roth (Hostel) isn't ditching horror. "A headline that nasty is not only untrue, it makes it seem like I'm like spitting in the face of everyone who's ever supported me." Let's be clear: His PG-13 film will be scary, just in a different way.

• A cajun werewolf legend turned a struggling artist into a multi-millionaire. CBS would like you to Meet the Blue Dog.

Just this morning, I wrote how the Swedish vampire movie, Let the Right One In, is charming everyone's socks off at the Tribeca Film Fest -- as it has wherever it's screened (the trailer's scary even without English subtitles). While a limited US release would be ideal, it's practically a given that most Americans will encounter this film for the first time as a remake with a Hollywood cast. Bloody-Disgusting reported weeks ago that J.J. Abrams' team would be taking on that project; no matter how you feel about that, you're bound to be dismayed by B-D's fresh update: It's Hammer Films who has acquired Let the Right One In.

Hammer? Whose only recent credit is the web-serial Beyond the Rave, and whose production of actual feature films dwindled before I was even born? Unless this is part of Hammer's secret plan to re-invent itself as a happenin' new production company, or unless it plans to sell the rights for even more cash later, then we have to prepare for the worst. Relish the original Let the Right One In when it's released on DVD later this year, savor your memories of Hammer's heyday (this gallery of their foxy leading ladies will help), and rue the day the two ever crossed paths.

Stephen King considers his Dark Tower series to be his master work, and its roots run through almost every other piece of fiction he's written. While fan sites are plentiful, King's own authoritative new site has been launched as a codex encapsulating the entire Dark Tower mythos, with all the attendant artwork, audiobook excerpts, and plot interconnections that a new or long-time reader could hope for -- and when all else fails, there's even a glossary to light your way.

The original King subsite was in dire need of an overhaul on several fronts, says interactive producer Brian Stark. "The old site was dreadfully outdated in its technology and design. It's been five years since we created the last site and it showed," says Stark, pointing out that the site was incomplete as well. "As it was built before the series was even finished, there were missing elements everywhere. The new site resolved this by offering a comprehensive look at all seven books in the series." Additionally, Marvel's new Dark Tower series emphasized the need for a re-do: "The graphic novels are huge right now," Stark says, "Proper representation on Stephen's web site was a must."

All of this -- which took six or seven weeks to produce -- is really just the beginning, he adds.

Continue reading "Site of the Week - The Dark Tower" »

• Darren Lynn Bousman is worried about his new film Repo: The Genetic Opera. "I think right now, the problem with this movie is that people are thinking of it as meat and potatoes. It's not. It's sushi."  

• In case you missed it: Cookie Monster Searches Deep Within Himself and Asks: Is Me Really Monster?

•The role of slasher mom Pamela Voorhees has been cast. Nana Visitor (she usually does scifi) told ScreenGeeks she'll play the part in the Friday the 13th remake.

•Evil Dead: The Musical, based on Sam Raimi's films, didn't do well in New York but it's killing in South Korea.

• Thursday is Thriller, Thriller Night. The Tribeca Film Festival is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson's epic music video . It might be the best film John Landis ever made.

Perhaps the most fitting thing a horror website can do is die and then spring back to life. Such was the fate of Bloody Good Horror, which began as a small hand-coded HTML site back in 2001, says editor Eric Newell. "My life caught up with me and I wasn't able to keep up with the daily work (let alone bandwidth costs) so we shut our doors and took the site down," he says, "We had already accomplished more at that point than I thought we ever would, so I figured I would never really be talking about it again."

A writing gig at Horror Hound changed all of that; newly emboldened by the experience, Newell and his brother Mark (the site's web developer) assembled a cadre of other writers and shocked new life into the limbs of their discarded site, creating a place where news, reviews, and podcasts could coexist peacefully under one sleekly designed roof. That design is itself quite a departure from the aggressively obnoxious look that many horror sites still cling to. "That has been Mark's pet peeve from day one," says Newell. "The generally concise layout, combined with the white background (another oddity in the horror community) is what makes us unique. That, and of course when you go to the site there's a headless corpse grasping at you... that seems to get people's attention also."

Continue reading "Site of the Week - Bloody Good Horror!" »

• Watch out, warns Cinematical, that DVD version of the fantastic French slasher film Inside that you picked up at Blockbuster might be the wimpy "rated R" version -- with eight minutes of gory thrills snipped out.

• Lost Ray Harryhausen footage? No, it's a real bird that keeps itself fully plucked due to an unfortunate malady. Sort of cuddly in a leathery, scuttling way, don't you think?

• Rest in peace, Grampa. Texas Chainsaw Massacre II's Ken Evert passed away this month. Just 56 years old, Evert was a Vietnam veteran in addition to being a beloved character actor.

• Run, it's the Blob! Oh wait, it's just the city of Miami flooding its streets with millions of gallons of foam. (Video here.)

• Meagan Good has decided to become the next starlet to be sawed (Sawn? Seen?), joining the cast of Saw 5

1. Horror novelist and Monsterfest columnist Scott Sigler sings the praises of the unsung monster of the deep: The Crocodile.

2. Grady Hendrix contends that neither zombies, strippers, nor zombie strippers help bring Jenna Jameson's Zombie Strippers to life. On the plus side, the porn star's dilapidated breasts have never looked so real.

3. Monsterfest columnist Stacie Ponder outlines the rules of slasher flicks -- the first rule is you do not talk about slasher flicks -- while she selects the appropriate film for every month of the year.

4. Who loves horror? CNN's Video Editor Lee Hughey, who says Hellraiser's Pinhead doesn't have jack on Lou Dobbs.

5. Monsterfest unveils its Horror Power Ranking List, a highly scientific formula that this week contends The Ruins continues to pack the most Total Entertainment Value (TEV).

Continue reading "Best of Monsterfest - Week of Apr. 14" »

• Remember The Incredible Shrinking Man? It's being remade by director Brett Ratner and will star Eddie Murphy. This time out, it'll be a comedy with Murphy as a Las Vegas magician under a spell.

• The Larry Fessenden-produced The House of the Devil, in which a babysitter is trapped in a big, scary house, has finished its principal photography. There's no release date yet.

• Monster Zoo, a graphic novel optioned by Sam Raimi, is an homage to Spielberg's Amblin films like Gremlins, Goonies and Jurasssic Park. Writer Doug TenNapel says kids can enjoy the horror too.

Continue reading "Horror Surfer: Eddie Murphy's Shrinking Man; Sam Raimi Options Monster Zoo" »