The horror genre has lived on largely thanks to innovation. Whenever something started to get stale, new directors stepped in to offer something different.
Director Wes Craven (Aug. 2, 1939-Aug. 30, 2015) was one of them. This aspect was most notable in 1984, when his picture “A Nightmare on Elm Street” came out and threw in a new twist on the newly formed slasher sub-genre.
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The concept of zombies existed long before 1968.
The first known film related to zombies was actually released in 1932, which was “White Zombie.” However, the zombies at that time were more related to magic and voodoo and it wasn’t until the late 60s that the modern zombie movie was created.
It was all thanks to George A. Romero (Feb. 4, 1940-July 16, 2017) who came along and thrust the genre in a whole new direction with the film “Night of the Living Dead.” Romero’s indie film, which introduced the concept of a plague that turns people into flesh eating zombies, didn’t just create a new idea for filmmakers to use, though.
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When the subject of Jack Nicholson’s performance in “The Shining,” many think of the iconic scene of his character saying “Here’s Johnny.”
While it’s an iconic moment, though, it’s just a single part in one of the most thrilling pieces of acting to put to screen.
Similar to how I gave credit to Alfred Hitchcock when I did the write-up on Anthony Perkins’ performance in “Psycho,” I also have to give recognition to Director Stanley Kubrick.
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Of all the horror/thriller performances I’m looking at this October, Anthony Perkins’ in “Psycho” is arguably the best.
Credit for the 1960 masterpiece also has to obviously go to the brilliant direction of Alfred Hitchcock as well as Janet Leigh who played Marion. However, it’s undeniable that Perkins’ acting was an integral part of making this a film for the ages.
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Just a warning to start, this post will have spoilers.
Like “The Exorcist,” “Carrie” was a 1970s horror flick that managed to snag some attention from the Oscars, something that’s become rare in today’s award season.
In this case, both lead actresses Piper Laurie and Sissy Spacek were nominated for their performances in the 1976 adaptation of the Stephen King novel. Looking back at the picture, there’s no doubt that both women deserved the nominations.
Hello movie fans and welcome to the first installment of Halloween Horror Fest, a month long special on Matthew Liedke on Film all about the genre that’s around to create chills and thrills.
For this year’s HHF, I’ll be looking back at horror movie performances and celebrating the best of the best. This will go over what makes them good, memorable and in some cases downright award worthy.
Continue reading “Halloween Horror Fest 2016: Honoring Lugosi and Lee”
To say that Director Uwe Boll has had a rocky career would be an understatement. Boll has helmed multiple films, many of which based off video games, and they have been critically panned, often times heavily.
My most memorable experience with Boll’s work was 2005’s “Alone in the Dark” which I watched in the theater, and like his other films, this one was a mess.
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To those who’ve followed my work, it’s no secret that I love “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” I find it to be one of the best horror films ever made thanks to its style, detail, setting and more. I also admire its sequel for being a legitimate attempt at a horror-comedy which focused more on humor than downright scares.
Following the original two, though, the series took a complete nose dive with two more films that may or may not have been sequels to the original. Now, with all fairness, there was a reboot in 2003, and for all its faults, I think the 03 film comes close to at least trying to recapture the original film. I don’t consider it a horror classic and still think it pales in comparison to the original, but it’s an OK horror picture.
Continue reading “Halloween Horror Fest 2015: The mess that was the ‘Texas Chainsaw’ franchise”
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