Iconic Demon in Unabashed Supernatural Horror Makes Good 1950's Movies So...this guy, Hal Chester, messed up the screenplay quite a bit. It was so good, the screenplay, that it couldn't be completely destroyed, only half destroyed. It's still considered a good movie. I think the job Jacques Tourneur did with what Hal Chester gave him was awfully good. Hal Chester, as far as I'm concerned, if he walked up my driveway right now, I'd shoot him dead.-- Charles Bennett (screenplay, Night of the Demon , quoted in Backstory 1: Interviews with Screenwriter's of Hollywood's Golden Age ) It's funny how the same mainstream script-to-screen ...
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It's not that actors no longer give good performances in horror films (they still do), and it's not as if direction, editing, and special effects weren't important in the classic horror film era. But in most modern horrors, concept is more important than cast. Horror has become a director's genre more than an actor's genre. During the classic era, the genre's biggest stars were Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Vincent Price and Peter Cushing. In the years since, its brightest luminaries have been Mario Bava, George Romero, Wes Craven and M. Night Shyamalan-- Mark Clark in Smirk Sneer and Scream Mark Clark Talks About Great ...
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The sun illuminates gravestones in a cemetery near Bath on October 9 2008 in Somerset, England. English Heritage claims the UK has the world's best graveyard heritage, but warns that as gravestones deteriorate through weathering and vandalism so does social history. While English Heritage hopes renewed public interest in genealogy will improve conservation efforts in cemeteries, a conference starting today will discuss how best to tackle what is described as a crisis in the maintenance of graveyards. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images Europe) Everyone has their own idea of what's scary. Some people like gore, others like classic horror and then there are ...
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While the 1940s had Universal's iconic Monsters and RKO's Val Lewton and Jacque Tourneur, the 1950s had William Castle's spook show entertainment. For the price of your ticket you were guaranteed to receive thrills and chills not only on the theater screen, but in the aisles as well. Realizing his B-movies--usually written for a younger audience--needed a little something extra to generate buzz, Castle ramped up the marketing hype by using lurid trailers, tawdry poster art, and clever--even if silly--gimmicks to hawk his films. Like that wonderful prize you can't wait to get to in a Cracker Jack Box, Castle's gimmicks were always simple ...
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BIG BEN CHAPMAN Remembering the Beloved Gill Man Actor By Scott Essman Undying Universal Monsters Yes, there was Ricou Browning for the underwater scenes and suit performers on land who followed, notably Tom Hennesy and Don Magowan, but for millions of “creature feature” fans, Benjamin F. Chapman, Jr. was the “reel” Gill Man from the original 1954 classic, CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON . On February 21, he sadly passed away in Hawaii at the age of 79. Certainly, the Bay Area native had the advantage of being a player on the Universal lot in the early 1950s and his 6’5” size and relative ...
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A couple of years ago, I formed a film company with my friend, Chris Valluzzo, and our first documentary, 2007's HOKIE NATION, a film about Virginia Tech's incredible football fans, has done very well and is now in a second pressing. The success of that film has given us the resources to pursue other projects that reflect our personal interests, including VIRGINIA CREEPERS. As a kid, I lived in the Tidewater area of Virginia and became hooked by Dr. Madblood on WAVY TV 10, but I was also able to pick up a fuzzy signal from Channel 8 in Richmond and get Bowman Body ...
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It's been an exciting and record turnout for both fans and nominees this year. The votes are in, counted, and the winners for the 6th Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards are: BEST FILM ROB ZOMBIE'S HALLOWEEN (553 votes) BEST TV PRESENTATION DOCTOR WHO: 'Blink' (293 votes) BEST CLASSIC DVD NOSFERATU: THE ULTIMATE EDITION (340 votes) BEST CLASSIC HORROR COLLECTION UNIVERSAL HORROR CLASSIC MOVIE ARCHIVE (285 votes) BEST RESTORATION NOSFERATU: THE ULTIMATE EDITION (413 votes) BEST DVD EXTRA HALLOWEEN: THE HAPPY HAUNTING OF AMERICA bonus disc (424 votes) BEST DVD COMMENTARY Malcolm McDowell, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (525 votes) BEST INDEPENDENT FILM VAMPIRA THE ...
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