INHABITED NEWS REVEALED, AND OTHER STUFF...
Current mood: sore
Category: Writing and Poetry

I have signed a contract with Triad Publishing Group for the release of my latest novel, Inhabited- joining other wonderful talents such as C.L. Freire and Andrea Dean Scoyoc (no relation!) as a member of the Triad family. This is a tremendously exciting prospect for me, as I had whole-heartedly hoped for a traditional release of Inhabited through a supportive publisher, as opposed to going the self-published route. If all goes according to plan, I would expect an early 2009 release for my latest novel. Needless to say, I will keep you posted as further details become available. In the meantime, though, please be sure to pay Triad Publishing Group a visit through their link in my "Top Friends" listing, as well as their Trei Literary affiliate. Exciting times are just around the corner!

As I wait for Inhabited to make its dark debut and prepare its marketing push, I am also working on a new short story ("In Hell Inside") for Nick Pacione's Tabloid Purposes 5 anthology. This is a dark tale of one young woman's descent into, quite literally, cyber-hell. Other anthology projects are in the works, as well, allowing me to focus again on some shorter writing pieces amidst the wonderful chaos of larger endeavors.

One of these larger endeavors was our recent relocation to our brand new house. We're still residing in the same town, but in a beautiful new subdivision. I never would have dreamed that so much work would be involved with moving into a freshly built house. How wrong I was, but it's well worth every little effort! Many, many thanks to T-Mag, J-Chap and Papa Lights for all their help with the landscaping!

I'm also coming off a bit of oral surgery yesterday and am in the midst of a somewhat uncomfortable recovery. One of my upper wisdom teeth (and the tooth in front of it) had somehow sheared off, leaving impacted roots within the bone. As my oral surgeon had advised, it was a tricky procedure because of the tooth itself being gone, the impaction, and the close proximity to my sinuses. My biggest fear going into the procedure was not the pain, however, but of being put under anesthesia (which I had never experienced before). Oddly enough, I must profess that the anesthesia experience was (dare I say?) somewhat fun. Within a minute of the surgeon and assistants' arrival in the room, my monitoring devices were connected, oxygen applied into my nose, and the sodium pentathol IV administered. Seconds after that, the surgeon advised that I would "start to feel funny pretty soon." No sooner had he finished saying that, the room "streaked" and contorted before my eyes before I plunged into total oblivion. Seemingly moments later, I heard a young woman calling my name from a million miles away, gently asking me about my family (presumably to help me re-establish a sense of lucidity) and telling me I did great during the procedure. Nearly two hours had elapsed since I went under, leaving me with a strange, drug-induced euphoria and an overwhelming sense of dizziness when prompted to get to my feet. All is good now, except for the typical aching and swelling associated with such a procedure. My sincere thanks to Dr. Dennis Block's office in Merrillville, IN for taking such good care of me, and for the wonderful pharmaceutical thrill ride!

To change subjects a bit, with my recovery I have been getting re-acquainted with my freshly relocated DVD collection. In spite of the already formidable size of my library, I was giving some thought to some classic movies (well, classics within my eyes, at least) that so far, to the best of my knowledge, have been denied the DVD treatment here in the US. This list would include:

PHANTASM 2 - Even director Don Coscarelli has no inkling as to when, or if, this chapter of the series (my personal favorite) will ever see a domestic DVD release. Odd, considering how readily available it is overseas through the Anchor Bay PHANTASM box set. Apparently, Universal has the rights tied up pretty tightly here on US soil. Goofy...

THE ADDICTION - Abel Ferrera's crazy and surreal take on the vampire genre, shot in beautiful black & white and starring one of my favorite actresses, the wonderful Lili Taylor.

(IT CAME) WITHOUT WARNING - An utterly insane, early 80s offering about a hostile alien's arrival on earth, and the bloodsucking little alien frisbees he tosses at his hapless prey. The producers of Predator likely took a cue or two from this one, borrowing the whole "alien hunter" concept, but Without Warning is pure grindhouse insanity. Oddly enough, though, it featured a rather stellar cast, including Martin Landau and Jack Palance.

GALAXY OF TERROR - Another one pretty readily available overseas, this is a Roger Corman-produced Alien ripoff which boasts a fiery imagination and bloodlust of its own. Another big cast in this one, including Ray Walston, Robert Englund and Erin (Happy Days) Moran, along with visual effects handled by pre-fame James Cameron. This is one of my all-time faves.

WARLORDS OF THE 21ST CENTURY (aka BATTLETRUCK) - Another Corman-produced film, this one is an Australian post-apocalypse film (ala Mad Max) about a small village being terrorized by a warlord who drives a heavily armored, heavily armed semi-rig. The villagers only hope is a lone motorcycle warrior who, reluctantly, comes to their aid. Beautifully made, exciting, and surprisingly involving, this one is a definite DVD oversight.

MESSAGE FROM SPACE - A Japanese Star Wars ripoff that I saw only once in my younger days, I have longed to reconnect with this little sci-fi oddity. It's one of those movies that may not hold up to the fond memories with a second viewing, but I do remember some really cool spaceships, space battles and wacky karate action.

Lastly, later on today in the "Creativity" section of my "Pics" area, I will be posting some shots taken of my latest sculpture project. Remember the Laserblast alien I had sculpted several months ago? Well, he's back, only this time he's a "mini-bust" with painstaking attention given to his face, neck and shoulder details. This time, rather than working from memory more than anything else, I have crafted the little guy using a pretty extensive collection of photographs as references. I think you'll find he is a far more accurate representation this time around.

As always, thanks for paying me a visit and I will talk again with you soon, hopefully with new details about Inhabited!

Take care and (as Ozzy would say) God bless you all!

Richard

Currently listening : The Best of Judas Priest: Living After Midnight By Judas Priest Release date: 1998-02-03

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SPEED RACER
Current mood: annoyed
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD...

Well, I've been waiting almost 40 years for this movie and, after seeing it last night (on IMAX), for the most part I would say it was worth the wait. Being such an obsessive fan of the original series, I knew full well it wasn't possibly going to live up to everything I could hope for, but the Wachowski Brothers have done an admirable job of bringing the cartoon to very, very colorful life in their movie.

The Mach 5 (and 4 and 6, for that matter) was beautifully realized, as was Racer X's Shooting Star. Speaking of Racer X, Matthew Fox absolutely nailed the role- even down to the moderately menacing inflections in his voice. Equally good were Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, John Goodman and Susan Sarandon. Whoever did the casting for the movie deserves mega-kudos.

The race sequences were amazing, the cars shimmying and leaping with a surreal CGI-generated grace, and the whole look of the film (particularly the Racer household) had the same cool retro, yet strangely futuristic, feel that the cartoon had.

"The Crucible" race is a wonderfully realized retelling of some of the cooler moments from the classic episode "The Most Dangerous Race, " particularly as the cars slalom across the icy cavern floor and the Mach 5's plummet down the side of the mountain. Another really nice touch is the pose Speed strikes in front of the Mach 5 after winning the race... Straight out of the cartoon.

The music in SPEED RACER is wonderfully evocative of the original show, incorporating several key themes (including, of course, the title theme).

My only issues with the film (and these are just my opinions) are solely based upon the creative liberties taken by the filmmakers with some of the more iconic elements of the show, such as:

Snake Oiler - One of the more sinister and memorable baddies from the show, reduced to bit of a moronic buffoon in the movie. His car was no comparison to the original purple&black 'Car Acrobatic Team' beast from the series, either, but I did like how they kept the oil discharge weapon intact in the movie.

The Mammoth Car - Reduced to a semi-truck in the movie, again occupied by Cruncher Block (and a bizarre band of goofball 'Roaring '20s'-styled henchmen).

Prince Kabala - Present, but not even mentioned by name. No resemblance whatsoever to the original series.

The GRX - "The Fastest Car On Earth" was no such thing here, and not really any more special than the other highly stylized cars on display in the movie. I longed for the original, "gold and pointy" version from the show.

Again, these are really not criticisms - just minor letdowns for me, personally, based upon my fond memories of the original.

Overall, though, SPEED RACER is a very, very good movie which, hopefully will create a brand new audience for this all-time classic!

ADDENDUM (Added 5/14/08):

The totals are in for its opening weekend and, I'm sad to say, SPEED RACER is tanking, finishing third to the incredible IRON MAN (still strong in its second week) and right behind the new Ashton Kutcher comedy, whose title actually escapes me at the moment.

I normally don't go to bat for a movie like I am about to do with SPEED RACER, but I genuinely feel that this movie has gotten an unfair shake from movie critics and their shallow, seemingly carbon-copied, reviews of the film. If I didn't know better, I might suspect some sort of weird, biased cinematic smear campaign was taking place. Could it be my lifelong love for the SPEED RACER franchise fueling these suspicions and my disappointment with the movie's reception? Perhaps... Perhaps not...

Listen to this short list of comments that seem to be the backbone of every single negative review of the movie:

"It's too colorful." 

"It made me want to puke from motion sickness."

"It's too cartoony."

Well, here's a wakeup call to the media en masse: SPEED RACER is based upon a colorful, fast-moving cartoon. Guess what? The movie is colorful, fast-moving and cartoony. Coincidence? I think not. Many classic movies that are now considered cinematic icons have exhibited a similar sense of abandon, such as The Wizard of Oz, or Willy Wonka, just to name a couple. So why has SPEED RACER incurred such a vengeful wrath from so many critics?

Not all of its failure can be blamed upon the critics, of course. Several genuinely bad movies, universally lambasted by critics, have gone on to become amazing box office successes. Here's another problem as I see it: A good portion of SPEED RACER's core audience is going to be young, imaginative kids- the same type of kids who embraced the original show back in the late 60s and early 70s. Another good portion will be middle-aged folks, like myself, who grew up with the show during their formitive years, loving every minute of it and hungry for the sense of nostalgia the movie creates. Even with these two factions, SPEED RACER appeals to a very specialized audience, leaving a substantial mass of moviegoing folks who just aren't interested, or wouldn't have the faintest clue of what to make of what's on the screen. And that's a shame because SPEED RACER, while far from perfect, is a truly unique, insanely imaginative movie experience that should be given a fair chance to succeed.

My suspicion is that once the film is released on DVD, it will find a wider and more appreciative audience. A cult audience, if you will. It's just a shame that something so original and so ahead of its time, like the original TV series, has to struggle to find a welcoming audience.

In closing, my wish is that if you are sitting on the fence about whether or not to see this movie, please do give it a chance. Don't let jaded critics who have been force fed a steady diet of dysfunctional human dramas or lame comedies steer you away from something you might find some real magic in. Get off that fence and take the plunge into the wildly imaginative world of SPEED RACER.

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INHABITED NEARING COMPLETION, AND OTHER GOODIES...
Current mood: nauseated
Category: Writing and Poetry

At long last, I am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with my new novel, Inhabited. After many stops and starts due to family emergencies and other substantially less significant obstacles, the book is expected to be completed by June 1, 2008. For those of you who have been asking about Inhabited over the past several months (it was due to be released last year!), I sincerely thank you for your patience and hope you will find that the end result was worth the wait.

For whatever reason, I am particularly pleased with this book. Maybe because it was such an intense labor of love to finally complete it? Who knows, but one thing I can say is that it is a very heartfelt work with complex, troubled characters who find strength through one another in the face of the greatest apocalypse mankind has ever known.

Below is the official synopsis for Inhabited which, hopefully, will whet your whistle for things to come:

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LEECH ON SALE (50% OFF)!!!
Current mood: amorous
Category: Writing and Poetry

Just a quick note to let everyone know that now through April 28th, PublishAmerica is having a 50% off sale on all their titles, including my first novel, Leech. That's right- for the next week, and the next week only, you can grab a copy for a paltry $9.98!

Visit the PublishAmerica site at www.publishamerica.com and simply enter Leech into the search function to snag your bargain.

Here is a quick synopsis of Leech to whet your bloody appetite:

By 2018, America has been ravaged by terrorism and biological warfare. One particular bio-weapon, dubbed the "Wrath of God," has virtually destroyed the nation — infecting its victims with wildly varying symptoms and creating horrifying genetic mutations. Those who survive the plague fight for life day to day, struggling to maintain a semblance of society. Rebecca Artemis has been infected by "the Wrath" in an astonishingly macabre way. Like a vampire, she feeds upon blood to maintain her own deteriorating blood cells. Consumed by guilt over the atrocities she commits, she feverishly seeks to regain her faith and humanity. Making matters worse, Rebecca's condition is exploited by the evil "Reverend," who forces her to commit unspeakable acts of violence for his own amusement. For Rebecca, death may be the only escape from the evil surrounding her, but how many others will perish in rivers of blood along her path to redemption?

ISBN: 1-4137-1489-7, 209 pages, 5.5 x 8.5

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WORDS, CONS AND FLICKS
Current mood: content

At long, long last... Finally some fun stuff to write about!

I’m desperately trying to get back into the swing of things where writing is concerned. Along with my good friend Urnguard, I have submitted a "flash fiction" piece (750 words or less) to an anthology project now in the formative stages. My story is entitled "Symbiosis" and, should it get accepted, I will let you know more about it here. If it does not get accepted, I have a backup piece ("Spirit Bottle") nearly ready to go. The flash fiction format is tricky with the extremely limited amount of space given to express yourself, but it is definitely a fun challenge and just the ticket to get the creative fires burning again.

Yesterday, I had the great pleasure of attending the HorrorHound Weekend convention in Indianapolis. Among the attendees there were Doug Bradley and Ashley Laurence from HELLRAISER, Danny Trejo from GRINDHOUSE, Giovanni Lombardo Radice from THE GATES OF HELL, Chris Sarandon from FRIGHT NIGHT, Reggie Bannister from PHANTASM and many, many others. Also on display was a huge collection of props and wardrobes from the HELLRAISER film series. Needless to say, a great time was had by all. Be sure to check my pics for some new photos from the event!

Movie Reviews:

DIARY OF THE DEAD - Wow, I never thought I’d get a chance to see this one on the big screen before its inevitable route towards a rapid DVD release but, as luck would have it, DIARY finally made its way to our local multiplex. I’m glad it did. George Romero’s latest zombie opus has a much more personal feel than LAND OF THE DEAD, more in line with the "in the trenches" feel of the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Going in the first person, eye of the beholder route (ala BLAIR WITCH or CLOVERFIELD), Romero has crafted a tight little film with just a few minor weaknesses inherent in this style of filmmaking. Still, a great movie that proves Romero is, and shall always be, the true zombie master! RATING: 3.5 slow-moving zombie skulls out of 4.

MAUSOLEUM - A minor sub-classic which I happened to catch at a drive-in back in 1983 as a double bill with Fulci’s full-blown classic THE GATES OF HELL, MAUSOLEUM tells the story of marital bliss interrupted by a slight case of demonic possession. The stellar cast includes the electrifying Marjoe Gortner (so utterly brilliant in STARCRASH) and the well-endowed Bobbie Bresee, whose thespian skills here obviously were not enough to launch much of a subsequent film career. She does, however, get to put a world of hurt on our beloved Marjoe in a steamy bathtub embrace, which ends very, very badly for the former evangelist (see pics below).

A bathroom tryst with tragic results...

Forget about Bobbie Bresee’s double Ds... Now she has triple 6s.

Sadly, MAUSOLEUM has never received a proper, official DVD release here in the States. I happened to luck into a decent VHS transfer DVD from one of the fine vendors at the HorrorHound con. While not a great film by any stretch of the imagination, it is still a lot of silly fun with some good, over the top makeup effects and gratuitous nudity (if you’re into that sort of thing). RATING: 2.5 day-glo demon boobies out of 4.

I hope everyone is having a splendid spring. I will talk with all of you again soon!

Richard

Currently listening : Zombi (Dawn of the Dead) By Goblin Release date: 04 March, 2003

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A QUICK MESSAGE TO ALL MY FRIENDS...
Current mood: apathetic
Category: Blogging

As many of you may or may not know, 2008 has gotten off to a bit of a shaky start for me. A couple of bullets have been dodged (in the figurative sense) with some family health issues. I'm both happy and grateful to say that things appear to be on the upswing.

To make a long story short, I know I have not been in contact with many of you as much as I would have liked to have been, but since things are calming down now I should be getting back into the swing of things shortly.

Many, many thanks to everyone who sent messages of support. You have know idea how much your love and concern means to me.

I'll be talking with everyone soon!

Richard

Currently listening : Annihilation of the Wicked By Nile Release date: 24 May, 2005

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"RED PLANET" REVISTED, AND OTHER MISCELLANY...
Current mood: productive
Category: Writing and Poetry

Let me start off by sending out a BIG "thank you" to Rev. Dr. Leigh Foster for featuring me on her "Pawz Cauze" podcast last night. I had a great time talking with her about horror, pets, animal activism, and Christianity. What a mixed bag it was, topic-wise, but also a lot of fun! I hope you had the opportunity to listen in but, if you didn't, I believe Leigh posts her podcasts at www.myspace.com/thepawzcauze at a later date.

This past week I had the pleasure of receiving a message from Feo Amante (www.feaoamante.com). Feo was doing some updates at his excellent website and he once again came across my short story, "Red Planet," which was featured there many years ago. He was kind enough to provide me with an updated link to the story, which is www.feoamante.com/Stories/Tales/Red_Planet/redplan.html . If you're ever in the mood for checking out some of my older stuff, please pay Feo a visit. Heck, pay him a visit regardless... The man does a lot for promoting new voices in horror fiction, and I have always been most grateful for the exposure he has given me.   

Inhabited Update - Excellent progress is being made on Inhabited and I would say it is definitely on track for completion in mid-late February, 2008. This is one of the most exciting projects I have ever worked on and I hope you'll be both enthralled and terrified once you have the opportunity to read it.

The Mist - Let me just say, succinctly, that The Mist gets my vote for movie of the year. As great and as cool as all of the creature effects are, what really won me over (and scared the daylights out of me) were the human interactions in the film. The ending is absolutely amazing and powerful, as well. It has to be seen to be believed. (Rating: 4 giant locust skulls out of 4)

Lastly, there has been no shortage of postings and reminiscences here at MySpace about the tragic passing of Quiet Riot frontman Kevin DuBrow, so here is my two cents worth...

Back in the eighties, I had the pleasure of seeing Quiet Riot perform at least twice. Even though Kevin did not have the greatest voice of all time (and he probably would have been the first to admit that), it was perfectly suited for style of this band. His energy and enthusiasm was infectious to say the least and Quiet Riot, no matter what you thought of their music, made a huge impact upon modern heavy metal. After all, this was the band that gave the world Randy Rhoads, and it's nearly impossible to argue that Metal Health was not one of the most influential metal albums of the last quarter century. QR's music epitomized the fun, no holds barred attitude of the eighties and still holds up well even in a darker, more cynical 21st century.

R.I.P., Kevin... You will be missed.

Currently listening : Metal Health By Quiet Riot Release date: 28 August, 2001

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LIVE INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD 12/1 ON THE PAWZ CAUZE SHOW
Current mood: excited
Category: Pets and Animals

On Saturday, 12/1/07 at 7pm ET (6pm Central), I will be a guest on Rev. Dr. Leigh Foster's "Pawz Cauze" show. On the show, I will be talking with Leigh about my lifelong love for animals (particularly cats) in addition to discussing my latest written works and horror in general. I will also be taking calls from listeners during the show, so get your questions ready. I look forward to speaking with you!

Please visit www.blogtalkradio.com/thepawzcauze to listen to the interview and/or to call in with questions.

By all means, please make a point of listening to The Pawz Cauze show every Saturday, and send a friend request to Leigh at www.myspace.com/thepawzcauze . She is a wonderful, kind lady doing great things to help our friends with fur who are victims of abuse or neglect.

To top it off, she is also a big-time horror fan, so please show her all the love and support you can!

Currently listening : Storm the Gates of Hell By Demon Hunter Release date: 06 November, 2007

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WRITING AGAIN, AT LONG LAST...
Current mood: creative
Category: Writing and Poetry

After spending literally months in a creative void I have once again put pen to paper (or, more exactly, fingers to laptop) and have started writing again. As I've said before, there is something about the fall/Halloween season that triggers the creative instinct in me and I couldn't be happier!

First on the creative agenda, and already completed, is a new short story, "Diana," that I wrote for our regional newspaper, The Post-Tribune. Whether or not it will be published remains to be seen, but they are looking for the top three ghost stories from area writers to be published within a special Halloween-themed section in an upcoming edition of the paper. "Diana" was an interesting challenge for me as there were some very specific rules for submitting these tales: A word count of 700 or less (most of my short stories clock in at around 3,000-5,000 words) and it had to specifically reference a location or landmark in the NW Indiana region. "Diana" came in at exactly 700 words (less than a page and a half of story!) and is my macabre take on the "Diana of the Dunes" ghost legend, well known in these parts. Wish me luck. I'll let you know if it ever sees (news)print!

Secondly, and far more importantly, I have resumed work on Inhabited again. After reading through the chapters I had completed earlier this year, it was like revisiting a dear old friend again. The creative wheels are definitely turning anew on this one and the trick is to now keep them turning... or racing! Inhabited, I believe, will be my darkest work yet and, at the same time, my most heartfelt. It deals with the unimaginable heartache over the loss of loved ones, teen suicide, struggles with faith and the inseparable bonds of family. All of this human drama is set within a nightmarish landscape of a small, coastal Florida town that an ancient, demonic civilization is hell-bent upon claiming. I'll keep you posted as work progresses on this novel!

Take care and very best wishes for a safe and Happy Halloween!

Richard

Currently listening : The Final Sign Of Evil By Sodom Release date: 09 October, 2007

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ANNIVERSARY, PUMPKIN CARVINGS, HALLOWEEN MOVIE TOP 10 AND MASSES OF OTHER MISCELLANY...
Current mood: happy

Before diving headfirst into this Halloween-themed blog I wanted to take just a quick moment to acknowledge my wonderful wife, with whom I will be celebrating our 20 year anniversary this coming Wednesday (October 10th). Anniversary cards and gifts are nice, but nothing really quite sums up how truly amazing it is sharing your life with such a beautiful person for two whole decades. I doubt she'll ever read this, as she will be the first to admit she is quite disinterested in the Internet as a whole, but I just wanted to scream out to the whole world (or at least to my few, wonderful blog subscribers) how very lucky I am to be loved by, and in love with, my incredible wife. Thank you so much for the last 20 years!

Now that the mushy stuff is out of the way, let's talk about... Halloween! Best time of the year, in my opinion. The changing weather with just a hint of an odor of burning leaves in the cool breezes, the trees with their fiery autumnal color displays (like a glorious last gasp of life before dying their seasonal death), the darkness that arrives sooner and sooner with each passing day like an intruding spectre... These are just some of the things that make the fall/Halloween season inherently spooky and special for me, and this year I am celebrating the season in a rather unusual and fun way.

Please take a moment to visit my new MySpace page, "The Evil Patch," at www.myspace.com/theevilpatch where you can see some of my unique pumpkin carvings. My love for horror movies, especially obscure ones, is the inspiration for most of my designs- many of which are my own creations. Stop by "The Patch" and let me know what you think, my friends!

Speaking of horror movies, 'tis the season for for scary movie rentals. Here is my Top Ten list of what I feel are essential movies for any Halloween viewing marathon. There are of course many, many more classics that could be listed, but these will be a good start:

1. ZOMBIE - Lucio Fulci's classic undead opus. As great as Romero's zombie flicks are, no movie has captured the utter horror of the undead as well as ZOMBIE.

2. TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE - The original is probably the most harrowing film ever made, but I'll venture to say that the remake is a great, harrowing film in its own right. One of the few remakes that actually succeeded, in my opinion. Take your pick between the original and the remake.

3. DAWN OF THE DEAD - Another one where you can take your pick between the original and the remake. Romero's flick is an obvious classic, but Zack Snyder's remake brought some fun new grue to the zombie dinner table.

4. HALLOWEEN - Let's play it safe here and stick with John Carpenter's original classic.

5. CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (aka THE GATES OF HELL) - Probably one of the scariest, creepiest films ever, with a pervasive stench of rot and atmosphere of dread. Another Lucio Fulci classic!

6. SHOCK WAVES - Probably the scariest, most atmospheric PG-rated rated film I have ever seen. Murderous, aquatic Nazi zombies are the order of the day here, with plenty of atmosphere and dread for a shoestring production.

7. THE ABANDONED - The newest kid on the block in the Halloween Top 10, and proof that great horror movies can still be made in this dark time of remakes and sequels. Scary and atmosphere aplenty, Nacho Cerda is one talented director.

8. PHANTASM - Still a classic after all these years, this is a nightmare captured on film. To this day, Don Coscarelli continues to prove himself to be a great, underrated director with all of his projects. And check out all of the PHANTASM sequels, too- each a unique continuation of the original nightmare!

9. THE HOWLING - The classic werewolf film, featuring the best transformation sequence ever. Scary, funny and action-packed!

10. RE-ANIMATOR - Who says horror can't be deviant, repulsive and funny! Stuart Gordon's classic holds up today as one of the all-time greats, and his subsequent H.P. Lovecraft adaptations FROM BEYOND and DAGON are most definitely worth a look, as well.

Speaking of scary movies, there is some new stuff at the theaters and the video shelves that is worth a peek, too:

RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION - The third, and reputedly last, entry in the RESIDENT EVIL series. Actually, I quite enjoyed this entire series, and EXTINCTION does not disappoint. There is some high quality zombie action here and the movie comes across as a bit of a hybrid of ROAD WARRIOR and Snyder's DAWN OF THE DEAD remake. I liked it and I'm not ashamed to admit it! (Rating: 3.5 zombie skulls out of 4)

FLIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD - This is one of those direct-to-video flicks that you would tend to overlook on the shelves at Wal-Mart. Cheesy title and box art, the stigma of being "direct-to-video..." You know the drill. But with this one I had read some surprisingly positive stuff over at dreadcentral.com and decided to take a chance on it. And holy cow! This is one of the most entertaining, bloody and insanely over-the-top zombie flicks I have seen in quite a while! It's too bad that New Line didn't take a chance on giving this one a theatrical release as it could have definitely found an appreciative cult audience. (Rating: 3.5 airborne zombie skulls out of 4)

HOT FUZZ - Okay, technically it's not a horror film (its more a parody of cop/buddy films such as BAD BOYS or RUSH HOUR) and I'm probably a little late with this review, but Edgar Wright's (SHAUN OF THE DEAD) latest feature has much of the same great British humor and (surprisingly) gory effects that SHAUN had. While not quite as majestic or funny as its predecessor, HOT FUZZ is still a must-rent/own. (Rating: 3.5 bloody British cop skulls out of 4)

And don't forget, 28 WEEKS LATER hits the video shelves Tuesday, 10/9. This is a must-have, and is without question one of the top films of 2007. Lastly, 30 DAYS OF NIGHT hits theaters in a vampiric assault on October 19th. I have high hopes for this one, and the advance word on it sounds good.

Until next time... Happy anniversary, Louise, and a happy and safe Halloween to all of my wonderful MySpace friends! We'll talk again soon!

Richard

Currently listening : With Oden on Our Side By Amon Amarth Release date: 03 October, 2006

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