Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), 10/10.

"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary over many a quaint and curious volume of blogs, while I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there comes a tapping, as of some one gently rapping, rapping on my bloghouse door: 'Shamus, it's October! Everybody is writing about horror movies, Shamus! You can't be a movie blogger and not write about horror movies!'"

Like Dennis Cozzalio, for example, who's seriously getting into that Halloween spirit.

At Cinedelica, Kimberly Lindbergs has ten questions for Tim Lucas, whose Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark would surely be the treat of the season. One of those questions: "Do you have a favorite Mario Bava film or a few favorites that you could share with our readers?" His answer: "Kill, Baby... Kill! is my favorite. It's the most dizzying, disorienting, metaphysical horror film of them all, made with more ingenuity than means, and I also love that it's a classic hidden behind the worst title in the history of horror movies."

At his own blog, Tim Lucas matches imagery from Persona to The Exorcist.

Rob Humanick on 28 Weeks Later: "Upon its initial release, many (myself included) saw the film primarily as an allegory on the War on Terror and the US government's inability to maneuver the rocky terrain it created for itself. Such a reading remains both potent and rich in parts, but more timeless and penetrating are the film's ruthless morality plays; what remains to define love when even giving your life amounts to an act of futility?" Also, Revolt of Zombies.

Phil Morehart introduces the latest clip at Facets Features: "The recent war of words between Roger Ebert and Clive Barker (visit Roger's website for the low-down) sparked reminiscences of Barker's creative breakthrough, the 1987 feature, Hellraiser, about a young woman who mistakenly solves an odd puzzle box and unleashes otherworldly beings - the Cenobites, led by the iconic Pinhead - expert in the extremes of pleasure and pain.... Unfortunately, the years have not been kind to Hellraiser." Plus, a cartoon from 1949.

Victoria Large at Not Coming to a Theater Near You on Wolf: "Who could have foreseen [Jack] Nicholson taking up the mantle of one of the famous monsters of filmland without chewing the scenery?" Also, Adam Balz: "The final ten minutes of David Hemmings's The Survivor are absolutely astounding—a testament to the power of cinematography, the delicate art of dialogue, the rare genius of twist endings. They're also a complete mess."

At Cinematical, Jeffrey M Anderson revisits The Fly, "[David] Cronenberg's most seamless exploration of the changing of the human body via the introduction of outside elements, a theme he has very recently attempted to expand and deepen with Spider (2002) and his gangster films A History of Violence (2005) and the new Eastern Promises."

"Dracula conflates two different types of horror, evident in the contrast between the generally naturalistic directing, acting and scripting, and the performances by Bela Lugosi and Dwight Frye (as Dracula and his assistant Renfield), which provide a camp rupture of this naturalism," writes Billy Stevenson.

"I continue to seek out films mentioned in Cathal Tohill and Pete Tombs' Immoral Tales: European Sex & Horror Movies 1956 - 1984," writes Peter Nellhaus. "What makes Mill of the Stone Women striking to watch is the atmospheric color photography."

Adam Ross lists his "31 Flicks That Give You the Willies."

Posted by dwhudson at October 10, 2007 2:46 PM