Strip Nude For Your Killer (1975)

 

I had to produce a video in defense of one of my favorite giallo films (...with one of the hardest titles to speak about in public...) STRIP NUDE FOR YOUR KILLER  ( Nude per l'assassino ) from 1975. A wild ride I really enjoy PACKED with giallo goodness and J&B!  And....the lovely giallo Queen Edwige Fenech.

My Summer As A Goth

While not a horror film, My Summer As A Goth was a fun watch that reflects a specific time in my life where I was goth to the core on the inside and playing "normal" on the outside. I listened to the music and played around in the scene and loved it, but eventually slipped away from it even though I still have the music side in rotation from time to time. 

So...My Summer As A Goth tells a sweet story of a fish out of water type,  coming-of-age tale where a 16 year old girl named Joey is forced to spend the summer with her grandparents when her mother goes on a book tour. While there, she meets the goth boy-next-door Victor who remakes her into a goth girl with the help of his friends. Joey is finally feeling at home in the new skin, but is Victor all he's cut up to be? 

Yes...if this sounds like a romance tale for the younger crowd, you're not mistaken. However, it's solid filmmaking with good acting and a sweet story that I really enjoyed. Especially now in these stressful times. I was hooked into the story from the get go and once things really got rolling I was concerned for Joey and what she was going through. As a father of three girls, the story hit a lot of high notes for me. 

Writer Director Tara Johnson-Medinger did a grand job on both the script and the directing here and I'm looking forward to seeing where she heads in the future. 

If you are looking for something a little lighter than THE HORROR SHOW's usual horrific fair and you like a good romance tale or have teens in the home that are looking for a little romance sans sex and gore, give My Summer As A Goth a go. It's sweet, lighthearted, and fun! 

GIALLOctober 2020: Eye in the Labyrinth (1972)

 Looking at a little giallo nugget that seems to be well loved in the Giallo Community.

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HORROR SHOW Halloween Spotify Playlists!

 Don't forget or HORROR SHOW HALLOWEEN PLAYLISTS! 

HOURS of Spotify music to help you get into the Halloween mood! We have two lists - one for the kiddies and one for adults with more frights and music with more explicit lyrics. 

Best if played on shuffle! 

Kids - https://spoti.fi/2IrdAfX

Or listen right here!

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Adults - https://spoti.fi/2SOGUyM

Or listen right here! 

Horror Show: Blaxploitation Video

A small overview of a few of my favorite horror Blaxploitation films of the 70s. This episode is packed with silliness and swearing! Times below.

Visit the Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TheHorrorSho/ Blog: https://horrorsho.blogspot.com/ 3:50 - Blacula 9:29 - Sugar Hill 14:19 - Ganja & Hess 19:56 - Abby 25:25 - Horror Noire

music: DARK STEP by Silent Partner - YouTube Audio Library

 

HOST (2020)

So good

NOTE: This is a spoiler free review. Do yourself a favor and view this film WITHOUT WATCHING THE TRAILER FIRST! You will be glad you did. A two minute trailer for a 56 minute film can give a lot away! 

Last Monday I heard about this new "computer screen" horror film called HOST. I saw the screenshot and tried not to roll my eyes. 

"Ok...another UNFRIENDED thing. Cool...I liked that one." 

Then I saw what people were saying about it and took a bit more notice. During the course of the day, reviews kept popping up all over the internet raving about the film. Now, this wasn't studio hyperbole, this was coming from horror folks I knew and respected. I zoomed :::grin::: over to Shudder to view it....but found that I was a few days early and had to wait. 

Last night...the waiting was over. 

I started watching the film on my television and stopped a few minutes in after seeing the format. 

"No...no, this needs to be seen on my computer." 

I raced to my iMac and started the film up again and I was glad that I did! It's PERFECT for late night viewing in the dark via computer. Especially in this era of covid ZOOM meetings and the Cult of Quarantine.

Host tells the tale of six people having an online seance through....ZOOM, the online meeting app. (If you are like me, you are very...VERY familiar with ZOOM right now) With their medium Seylan at the helm, they dive into the mysterious astral plane. :::::DRINK:::::  ;)

My spoiler free mini-video review can be seen here....    It's silly, but I was inspired. 

I'm not sure how they did it, to tell you the truth. I mean, the general "horror over online meeting" concept has been done for sure. The aforementioned UNFRIENDED did a really good job of bringing the paranormal and computer tech worlds together and was very entertaining. But HOST brings something new into the mix - several new things, really. 

Thanks do the wonders of SHUDDER, they didn't have to try and pad out the story to meet the requirements of a theater run film. This allowed them to keep the film down to a wondrous 56 minutes or so. They packed that time with tons of great content and a strong story.

They used small ZOOM meeting knowns to their advantage all over the place which added a lot to the production. People waiting to get into the space, putting themselves on mute, messages popping up saying the meeting was going to end soon, and microphones being turned up to max so people could hear things better all had me grinning from ear to ear. There are more things in this particular bucket that I will let viewers discover for themselves. 

Making use of the new, virtual environment created with the use of six or seven separate locations joined together via cameras and microphones added tension in very interesting ways - again, spoiler free. 

I'd love to see another film on the making of this film, to be honest. Gemma Hurley, Rob Savage, and Jed Shepherd wrote a stellar script and Savage's direction was amazing. Picture staring at a large painting of a town, then zooming into a few of the town's locations and back out again as you stared at it. That's what HOST managed to feel like. You see all six folks, then from time to time you explore one of their apartments or homes. It was incredibly dynamic and engaging. It really brings a lot of NEW to a sub-genre that I thought was tapped out. 

But...more than anything else mentioned here...the acting. 

Haley Bishop, Jemma Moore, Emma Louise Webb, Radina Drandova, Caroline Ward, Seylan Baxter, and Edward Linard sold the film 100%. Subtle, nuanced, and BELIEVABLE performances all around brought a much needed feeling that these were all real people. They seemed like they all knew each other and that they had a history with each other. Subtle changes in the way they interacted felt very real to the point where I actually forgot that they were actors for a moment. So, when the shite hit the fan and things started to go south, I was concerned for their well being. 

AND....they didn't look like they were "acting scared", they looked like they were truly freaked out. 

I'm going to stop there before I say too much. 

HOST brings a ton of fun to the table and is WELL worth a viddy. I'll be watching it again this weekend...on my computer....in the dark....

After you watch you can check out the interview with Rob Savage here:
https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/movies-tv/behind-the-scenes-of-host-a-british-horror-film-shot-on-zoom

MAGGIE MAY - Etheria Film Festival on Shudder

Reviewing the amazing MAGGIE MAY from Director Mia Kate Russell starring Katrina Mathers and Lulu McClatchy!

The short film is part of the Etheria Film Festival and is currently up on SHUDDER.

TRUE GHOST STORY: Boo Ghost

I can't remember if I wrote about this already. Going to assume I have not. :)

I used to work at an ad agency and I had a baby on the way and a toddler home with my wife, so I was making an effort to leave for work early and head home early.

I was standing in front of the Starbucks on 19th Ave and Geary in San Francisco waiting for them to open. The street was totally empty - a fog/drizzle combo making things cozy.

Then I got that feeling you get when someone rushes up behind you - a sort of energy jolt, and a female voice whispered, "BOO!" inches behind my head. I ducked and spun around. My back was facing the street and nothing was there. No car, person running....anything.

I remember smiling as I stood there looking around - shaking slightly from the jolt. I checked all around me, but there was nothing. I chuckled to myself and whispered, "Boo? Really?" out loud. I thought it was hilarious that I waited over 35 years to see something paranormal and the ghost that I get is a joker who thought BOO would be the thing to freak me out with! If you know me, you'd know that it was completely perfect for my strange sense of humor. 😁 I'll never forget it.

I was standing right by the mailboxes in front of the Wells Fargo ATM. You can see all the way up and down Geary and 19th. No one was there.

Some fantastic Daniel Björk horror book covers

I love these with my whole heart! hehehehe.  Fantastic work by Daniel Björk

DAWN OF THE DEAD zombie celebration movie list

DAWN OF THE DEAD was released April 20th, 1979 and it changed horror cinema forever. George Romero hit it out of the park yet again, creating a socially relevant horror epic that people still hold near and dear. I know that it was in constant rotation in my teen years as my friends and I rented and re-rented the movie to watch during weekend late night horror movie marathons.

As I became older, I saw how significant the film was for horror and the zombie genre. From the story points to the makeup effects, DAWN was a groundbreaking horror film that people will never forget.

But, are we done with zombie films now? Is the current zombie cycle over? These things are cyclical, moving from zombies to vampires to aliens, usually. (Sadly, werewolves seems to miss the horror cycle rotation...not sure why...). 

I still love a good zombie film. I have several that I think are well worth a viddy. Check out my list and let me know what you think!




Dawn of the Dead remake
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j69OPw9nFHw
I thought I was going to HATE this remake, but...nope....I friggin loved it. I was turned around by the opening scene and was giddy with joy all the way through. I know some people still shun this film, but....aside from a few trope issues of the 2000s, the film is a super solid horror vehicle that took the brilliance of Romero's DAWN and made some interesting changes to make it work for modern audiences.



Night Eats the World
https://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-night-eats-world.html
I thought this was a super solid film showing one man's struggle to stay afloat by himself during a zombie outbreak.





WILD ZERO!!!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ_D9OjDoQ0
ROCK AND ROLL ZOMBIE MADNESS FROM JAPAN THAT NEEDS TO BE IN ALL CAPS WITH LOTS OF EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!!!!!!!!   SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!



Night of the Hunted
https://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2018/09/the-night-of-hunted.html
An arthouse alternate zombie style film from the wondrous Jean Rollin. Beautiful and haunting, but not a traditional zombie film. Be warned. :::grin:::



Dead Set
https://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2012/08/dead-set.html
One of my all time favorite zombie epics of all time. TV studio employees and actors deal with a zombie outbreak. A brilliant 5 episode series.




Dawning of the Dead
https://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2017/11/dawning-of-dead-2017.html
A fun, lower budget UK zombie offering that was highly entertaining.



Burial Ground
https://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2017/05/burial-ground-1981.html
Classic Italian 1981 horror film that must be seen if you love 80s horror. It's bonkers.



Mutants
https://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2013/12/mutants.html
Stylish French zombie film that straddles sci fi and horror. Again, not traditional zombies, but so good.




Train to Busan
https://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2016/09/train-to-busan-i-love-you.html
I think we've all heard of this film by now. TRAIN TO BUSAN is one of the best zombie films to be released in the past 20 years. While it may be hard for some to "get" some of the Asian cinema elements of high drama, it's a ride that not only shocking, but also heartfelt.



Shaun of the Dead (D'uh)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIfcaZ4pC-4
Yeah...it's great. :::grin:::   No need to talk about it more.




Wyrmwood
https://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2015/08/wyrmwood-road-of-dead.html
Aussie zombie goodness. MAD MAX meets an early Peter Jackson film.



Nightmare City
https://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2014/10/nightmare-city.html
More Italian horror goodness from the 80s. Zombies....with weapons!



The REC Series of films
REC3 - https://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2013/03/rec3.html
A fantastic series of zombie films with a twist. [REC] 1 and 2 are fantastic and, while the series tends to take a dip after that, they are still highly entertaining films.


Undead
https://youtu.be/Ok8J-xyS4H0
Another cool Aussie zombie offering that has a lot of fun with the genre. Strange comedy elements abound as well.



Sugar Hill
https://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2012/11/sugar-hill.html
A classic "blacksploitation" zombie film that is a must see. For the longest time, I thought it was just a black crime film from the 70s, but it's actually a super cool, voodoo zombie extravaganza!



STACY: Attack of the Schoolgirl Zombies
https://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2012/11/stacy-attack-of-schoolgirl-zombies.html
Bizarre j-horror zombie goodness with wild visuals, a crazy story, and a TON of blood and gore!




Doghouse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8rsPuFN8wg
Silly and fun UK zombie romp that explores the "battle of the sexes" with a zombie twist. A goofy zombie comedy and is highly entertaining.



One Cut of the Dead
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wBImbHqhFk
Went into this cold and wasn't disappointed. I don't want to say much about this for fear of ruining it, but it had an amazing story and some wild shots.



The Dead
https://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2012/02/dead.html
Bringing the slow moving zombie back to the screen, THE DEAD takes place in Africa and has some grand scenes of high tension as a man makes his way through the treacherous African landscape made even more dangerous due to a zombie outbreak.




The Horde
https://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2011/01/horde.html
High energy zombie madness from France. High on blood and tense action without letting much story get in the way of the thrills. ; )


Cemetery Man
https://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2010/09/cemetery-man.html
Stylish 90s film with zombie elements. In this non-traditional zombie film, Francesco Dellamorte takes his job at the cemetery very seriously...because he needs to re-kill the people who are buried there a little while after they are put in the ground. Beautifully shot with a comic inspired esthetic, Cemetery Man is a super cool and strange horror classic.





Hope this gives you something to do while you Shelter In Place! :)