Horror DVD Releases – Week of February 16th, 2010

Corey
February 15, 2010
Posted by
corey@evilontwolegs.com
(descriptions from Netflix & BestBuy)

Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever (2009)
It’s back: The flesh-eating virus that decimated a cabin full of coeds is on the loose again. This time around, a high school prom is ground zero for the epidemic in this horror sequel directed by Ti West. Thanks to a local stream being contaminated during the first outbreak, the bottled water being distributed at the high school dance is causing the unwitting students to break out in ghastly blisters and sores.

She’s Crushed (2009)
The morning after is acutely uncomfortable for Ray (Henrik Norlén), who engages in a one-night stand with innocent-looking Tara (Natalie Dickinson) and then tries to move on. Tara doesn’t see things his way, and she takes lethal measures to keep the passion alive. In this horror-thriller directed by Patrick Johnson, tortured soul becomes torturing avenger as Tara sets about obliterating from Ray’s life anyone who might compete for his attention.

Red Hook (2009)
Despite her better judgment, college freshman Jenny (Christina Brucato) reluctantly agrees to join her new friends in a New York City scavenger hunt. As the group receives mysterious text message clues, they’re sent to dark, dangerous corners of the city. Soon, they realize that this is no innocent game, and winning could mean the difference between life and death. Terrence Mann, Hollis Scarborough and Frankie Shaw co-star in this thriller.

Freeway Killer (2009)
This is the terrifying true story of William Bonin (Scott Leet), the notorious “Freeway Killer” who, from April 1979 to June 1980, was responsible for the murders of at least 16 young men along the streets and highways of Los Angeles. As disturbing as real life gets, this low-budget horror thriller brings a gritty, you-are-there quality to the ghastly proceedings while showing a flesh-and-blood monster and his accomplices in brutal action.

The Fiend (1971)
An emotionally disturbed cult member loses grip on his sanity and sets off on a killing spree.

Scream (1983)
Not to be confused with another Scream — that of a jubilant Wes Craven when he went to the bank in 1993 with the release of his popular horror film — this much weaker Scream was never heard at the box office. Like in many a similar film, a most thick-headed group of dullards go hiking for the weekend, this time in a remote Western ghost town. Once there, they end up joining the ghosts, one by one. As they sit waiting for the next victim to be bumped off, a horseback-riding stranger comes into town. He entertains them with a story of his seafaring days nearly a half-century earlier and then rides off — but not for long. Apparently that was the intermission.

Art of the Devil 3 (2008)
A black magician attempts to offset the toll that dark power has taken on his body by forcibly removing the power of a dark deity from the bodies of other humans who have absorbed it in this sequel to the hit Thai horror film Long Khong (aka Art of the Devil 2).

Hellhounds (2009)
Director Rick Schroder tries his hand at horror with this nightmarish shocker about an ancient Greek warrior attempting to rescue his wife’s soul from the underworld while fending off the hounds of hell. His bride Demetria (Amanda Brooks) poisoned on their wedding day by a jealous rival, crestfallen Kleitos (Scott Elrod) rallies the troops and storms the underworld, where Hades has already laid claim to Demetria’s soul. The deeper Kleitos and his warriors venture into the underworld, the greater the danger of falling victim to Hades’ snarling pack of vicious hellhounds, who are quickly closing in from all sides.

Phantom Racer (2009)
A demonic racecar driver returns from the dead to seek revenge against his former rival.

I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle (1989)
Bad taste slasher-movies never had it so good. In this horror/comedy movie, the film’s hero purchases an antique motorcycle. Somehow, the bike gets a taste for blood, and behaves in every respect just like a traditional vampire (shunning crucifixes, etc.). It also has a taste for human and animal flesh, and is given to dismembering its victims.

Breaking Nikki (2009)
When a call girl agrees to pose as a john’s ex-wife, she becomes caught-up in a sick revenge fantasy that quickly turns deadly.

Cabin Fever: Director’s Cut (2002)

Stuff I’ve Been Watching (Zombies and Demonic Real Estate Edition)

Corey
February 8, 2010
Posted by
corey@evilontwolegs.com

in my best horror films of 2009 post, i specifically mentioned three films that i had yet to see that might very well have made the list. well, this weekend i finally got to see all three of those films. my thoughts are below, including how the films might have ranked in my ‘best of’ 2009 list.



the house of the devil

the house of the devil is a beautifully shot film that, true to the 1980s films it so carefully emulates, is a slow-burn tension builder with an explosive third act. everything about this film, such as the opening/closing credits, the film stock “look” and the inclusion of dated fashion statements like acid-washed jeans and handmade friendship bracelets are carefully crafted to make this film seem like it was made in the mid 1980s. the film’s promotion has even gone so far as to even include a vhs copy of the film in certain dvd bundles. despite a slow and suspenseful build-up in the first hour of the film, the pay-off in the film’s finale is disappointingly unsatisfying. while i detest over-explanation, there is such a thing as being too vague and just stubbornly refusing to answer important plot questions. add in that the film’s final reveal is a bit confusing and contradictory, and you’re left with a decent little thriller that, while it wouldn’t have made my ‘best of’ list for 2009, is still worth a look. it’s also worth noting that it also serves as a nice cautionary tale to would-be minions of the dark lord: if you’re a virgin-sacrificing demon-worshiper, you really should take up boating or something and learn to tie a damn knot.

pontypool

after hearing so many good things about pontypool, i was really looking forward to it. difficult to find for rental, i broke down and ordered a copy from amazon to satisfy my zombie-lust for what brad mchargue called the best horror film of 2009 and entertainment weekly named the 19th best zombie film of all time. i really wanted to like this film, and as the first third of film played out, like it i did. but then something happened. as the horror ramped up in the plot, it became clear that we were never actually going to witness the horror… we were only going to hear about it. the film takes place almost entirely within a radio station which, if handled really well, would be fine. however, the events being described by witnesses and news reports sound so much more interesting than what happens in this film’s single location with its three ridiculously undeveloped and unsympathetic characters.

you may have heard that this is ‘a thinking person’s’ zombie film. and, in many ways, that is true. the central concept of the film is a zombie-like virus that spreads to people not through bites and bodily fluid, but through language. metaphorically rich, the film uses this idea to comment liberally on politics, the nature of communication and pop culture, and as a reason to pose various philosophical hum-dingers. what it doesn’t do, though, is insert all these “messages” into an engaging, believable story with tense situations and sympathetic characters. by the end of the film, the characters are really little more than mouth-pieces for whatever philosophical or political satire the filmmakers wanted to push forward. at one point in the film, a doctor climbs through an open window (in a building the other characters had allegedly locked down due to the rampaging hordes outside) and immediately begins spouting exposition into the radio station’s microphone. it’s like the writer said “well, we need someone smart to explain all this linguistic/pseudo-science mumbo-jumbo, so let’s just have a scientist crawl through a window and start spouting explanations with no rational motivation for doing so — i’m sure no one will notice.”

don’t get me wrong — there are some good, original ideas in pontypool. mixing complicated linguistic, psychological, philosophical and political concepts, i’ve seen the film described as “what you’d get if noam chomsky made a zombie movie” (if that was my description, i might mention richard dawkins as well). throwing all of that into a zombie scenario is a brilliant concept, but, at least for me, it takes more than just an interesting idea to make a film compelling. with no character development, no scares, no tension and unbelievable dialogue and character motivations, the “message” of the film seems to be the only thing that the filmmakers care about and that makes the whole film come across as intellectualized art-school masturbation. If you’re that focused on putting forward your political and philosophical ideas, then maybe it’d be better to make a documentary, write a linguistics journal article or call in to a political talk-radio show than frame it in a horror film. oh, and the ‘epilogue’ the film shows after the credits made me want to microwave the dvd. and then jump up-and-down on it. and then throw it out into the snowmegeddon that was crushing washington, dc at the time.

i tried really, really hard to like pontypool, but just couldn’t manage to do it. however, you should take that opinion with a grain of salt, seeing as i seem to be in the minority on this one and i’m the guy who thinks jennifer’s body is the best horror film of 2009.

zombieland

call me an uneducated simpleton, but after being disappointed by pontypool, i put in zombieland and said to myself, “yeah, this is more f’ing like it.” from the opening credits i knew i was going to love zombieland… and that proved true all the way through, up to and including the brief after-credits zinger. perfect casting (thankfully they recast emma stone in the role previously slated for mila kunis), super-charged zombies, and a surprising amount of heart for a film so filled with action and laughs, zombieland would have easily made my “best of 2009” list (likely right below drag me to hell). woody harrelson is hilarious as the bad-ass southern zombie slayer, and jesse eisenberg’s awkward, but oddly likable wuss complements him perfectly. my favorite part of the film, however, has to be the placement of the zombie “rules” within the zombieland world itself. what could have broken the fourth wall and pulled you out of the film turns out to be a primary source of the film’s humor and charm. highly recommended. want a sequel. now.

Horror DVD Releases – Week of February 9th, 2010

Corey
February 8, 2010
Posted by
corey@evilontwolegs.com
(descriptions from Netflix & BestBuy)

Dead Tone (2007)
A seemingly innocuous pastime involving fun-loving collegians and prank phone calls turns into a lethal cat-and-mouse game in this blood-drenched fright fest starring Rutger Hauer and Brian Hooks. While vacationing at a secluded mansion after finals, a group of university students dials random telephone numbers and tries to unnerve the person on the other end. But their fun is short-circuited when one of them unwittingly connects with a slasher.

The Stepfather (2009)
Mom’s (Sela Ward) new boyfriend, David (Dylan Walsh), isn’t quite right and Michael knows it. A series of mysterious events leads the teen to suspect that David might in fact be a dangerous serial killer known for preying on families. Now, all he needs to do is gather evidence before it’s too late. Nelson McCormick directs this spine-tingling remake of the 1987 thriller based on the real-life story of killer John Emil List.

Stephen Romano Presents: Shock Festival (2009)
Screenwriter and Shock Festival author Stephen Romano takes viewers on a sexy, sleazy ride though the wildest horror and exploitation flicks ever produced with this collection of vintage and original movie trailers. In addition to a feature-length exploitation trailer marathon, Romano and friends offer up an entire collection of “fake” movie trailers based on the fictional posters featured in his book. An additional horror film trailer collection is sure to terrify, and dozens of rare television spots take viewers right back to the time when grindhouse cinemas were the lifeblood of 42nd Street. Finally, fire up your MP3 player to experience over 300 digitally re-mastered radio spots from the 1970s and 80s, two of the hottest decades in horror film history.

The Brotherhood V: Alumni (2009)
The pretty alums of Sunnydale High receive invitiations for an unexpected reunion at their old alma mater, where the fallout from an unsolved murder on their prom night comes back to haunt them, and some unlucky grads soon join their dead classmate. Even amidst the bloodshed, these randy co-eds find time for some serious carnal activity in this gay-themed horror thriller from director David DeCoteau, who also helmed The Brotherhood I-IV.

Night of the Flesheaters (2008)
The cheating wife of a powerful crime boss and her handsome archeologist hitman lover battle an ancient evil in a cursed forest populated by demonic Native American zombies. With the vengeful kingpin in hot pursuit, the desperate couple finds their car destroyed by the Stone Man, an indestructible force with a hunger for human flesh. But surviving on foot won’t be easy, because in this forest every step you take could be your last.

Satan’s Wife (1977)
The Devil’s daughters find their fates conflicting in this satanic shocker from Italy. The Prince of Darkness seduces four gorgeous women, spreading his seed so that his scourge may take human form. When Almarisa discovers that she is literally the spawn of Satan, her intense self-loathing prompts her down the path of destruction. Daria, on the other hand, couldn’t be more delighted with her diabolical roots. Using her powers to toy with mankind, the mischievous hell spawn soon finds herself confronted by a dubious exorcist who may possess the power to banish her to the underworld forever.

Horror Community Highlights – February 5, 2010

Jon
February 5, 2010
Posted by
jon@evilontwolegs.com


email suggestions for next week’s community highlights to jon@evilontwolegs.com

Seven Horror Films That Need a Sequel or Reboot

Jon
February 1, 2010
Posted by
jon@evilontwolegs.com

Conventional wisdom dictates that if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing twice. Applying this to movies, it’s true that many sequels are awesome (Aliens, Friday the 13th Part 2). But did we really need that last Final Destination? Did Rob Zombie really need make a sequel to a remake of a classic film that had never lost its relevance or ability to attract new fans? And, following their new sequel every Halloween pattern, six years from now horror fans can expect to see Saw 12: The Son of Jigsaw Rides Again. Still, in an age when a lot of this recycled cinematic material seems silly and superfluous, here’s my list of films that I think actually NEED a sequel or reboot, even if it’s highly unlikely that any of them will ever be made.



1. Nightbreed (1990)
I love this film (and Clive Barker’s novel Cabal on which it’s based), but I think Nightbreed was a missed opportunity. This film really needs a sequel, because despite some problems with plot and pacing, it has so many intriguing characters with little or no development plus a rich mythology of which we are only given a small glimpse. I’m a fan of the Hellraiser series, but Nightbreed has far more material for a franchise, so a sequel should be a walk in the park. The film has a strong cult following, but it never got a fair shake because for some reason the studio billed it as a slasher film, and I’ve always heard that Barker wasn’t happy with the finished product. Nightbreed left the door wide open for a sequel that could focus on just how Boone will fulfill his destiny as Cabal, as well as how Ashberry will fulfill his role as the Breed’s new arch-villain or any other number of stories dealing with the mythology’s past.



2. Slither (2006)
We don’t need a Cloverfield sequel. There, I said it. THIS is the monster movie that needs a sequel. Slither is smart and fun, with likable characters and monsters that behave as a real monsters should. Slither is wonderfully devoid of annoying media hype, secret web pages, viral marketing, or a monster who makes peek-a-boo screen appearances. Slither was a gift to fans of old-fashioned, b-grade horror, and it left me wanting more. Where did that slithery, parasitic alien come from? Slither takes place in a small southern town, and I loved that, but what would happen if one of those parasites landed in a larger southern city, such as Memphis or Nashville? I know I’d watch a film that has cowboys, country singers, Elvis impersonators and zombies in it. Plus, Nathan Fillion really deserves more time on the big screen.



3. Ghosts of Mars (2001)
While obviously not John Carpenter’s best film, I don’t understand why so many people hate Ghosts of Mars. It has a terrific original soundtrack by Carpenter, Steve Vai, and the enigmatic guitar virtuoso Buckethead. Jason Statham does a competent job in it, as does Natasha Hinstridge, and I even liked Ice-Cube’s portrayal of Desolation Williams. And how could anyone not respect the tough and sassy Helena Braddock, played by the original Foxy Brown herself, Pam Grier. I think people were annoyed by the flashbacks and unconventional narrative style, but the story itself is a simple, straightforward allegory about the conflict between science and magic, good and evil, masculinity and femininity, love and war or whatever binary opposition you care to pick. Carpenter needs to redeem this film by giving it a sequel. The story warrants it, as the evil red horde of Martians that are still loose at the end of the film are, of course, going to make their way to mother Earth and, of course, it’ll be up to Ice-Cube to save the day yet again. But this time, he could enlist the help of always-bad-ass Eliza Dusku (who’s out of work now that Dollhouse has been axed) or maybe 50-Cent, which isn’t all that far-fetched since he’s started acting now. I will go on the record here and now as saying that I want to see that film.



4. The Tingler (1959)
Even though it often shows up on lists for the worst films of all time, I love the shameless, ham-fisted glory that is The Tingler. The film included such gimmicks as placing buzzers under the theater seats, a staff of fake nurses on standby in case of heart attacks, and color sequences added to the black and white film to highlight the shock of the blood-filled bathtub. All of this was designed to exploit the film’s premise that a mysterious creature called “the tingler” lives in each of us watching the film and is responsible for producing fear. None of those tricks would work today, if they ever did, but just imagine what an intrepid, creative director could do with the concept today: a 3d tingler set loose in the theater, complete with surround sound and movable seats. After the film is released, it could also make for a really kick-ass permanent attraction at Disney World.



5. They Live (1988)
Along with Escape from New York, They Live is another John Carpenter film that defined my young adulthood, so I have admittedly selfish reasons for wanting to see what a modern reboot of it might look like. I love the way Nada, the film’s hero (played by Rowdy Roddy Piper) is content to simply “kick ass and chew bubble gum.” He has no moody, complicated brooding, or inner demons to wrestle with—just those legions of alien scum. But, more than that, the film’s anti-corporate, anti-sloganeering, anti-commercial message is very much needed today. In our culture of incessant tweeting, text-messaging, viral networking, and product placement, we need another Nada to smack the slick veneer off it all and show us that there’s more to life if we look hard enough. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been doing really schmaltzy family-friendly movies lately, like The Gridiron Gang and The Tooth Fairy. I’d love to see him in the role of Nada, grabbing those alien scum by their white collars as he shouts “can you smell what the Nada is cooking?”



6. May (2002)
I love the simplicity of slasher film killers. They kill because they’re evil, or insane, or seek revenge, and that’s about it. But it’s refreshing when a director such as Lucky McKee takes this genre to new places. May is much more than a slasher or Frankenstein knock-off. It’s a well-crafted and skillfully unsettling character study of what it means to be a social misfit. Even though the film is terrific as is, I don’t think we’ve gotten to the bottom of May’s psychosis, or exhausted the film’s potential as an allegory of alienation. Just like we needed a sequel to Ginger Snaps to take its original metaphor about puberty and femininity into surprising new directions involving drugs and addiction, we need a sequel to May. It ends with that ambiguous final sequence in which her creation Amy seems to come to life. The insinuation is that it’s all in May’s head, and that’s she’s more isolated and in her head than ever before. But what would May be like if she finally found the companionship and acceptance she so desperately needs? What kind of person could give that her? Together, I bet they would be even creepier than the desperately lonely version of May.



7. Dagon (2001)
Hardcore fans of Lovecraft may quibble with the fact that the film Dagon is actually a version of the novella The Shadow over Insmouth, but it’s one of the more successful adaptations nonetheless. I’m not sure I like the way Ezra Godden plays his character Paul Marsh as a bumbling boob until the last quarter of the film, but Stuart Gordon’s portrayal of the town Imboca is incredible. It captures the combinations of the grotesque, the sublime, the surreal and the serene that makes Lovecraft’s fiction so creepy and compelling. The film had a modest budget and the special effects are mostly terrific, but I would love to see what Gordon could do with a more substantial budget in a reboot of Dagon. I’m talking about the kind of budget and ambition that Peter Jackson had with his Lord of the Rings trilogy. While far more esoteric and hidden, Lovecraft’s world of slithering, sickly gods and half-human mutants has just as much depth and richness as Tolkien’s Middle Earth; that’s more than enough to warrant a proper trilogy of its own.

Horror DVD Releases – Week of February 2nd, 2010

Corey
February 1, 2010
Posted by
corey@evilontwolegs.com
(descriptions from Netflix)

The House of the Devil (2009)
A cash-strapped college student named Samantha (Jocelin Donahue) takes a babysitting job during a full lunar eclipse and ends up fighting for her life. She soon discovers that her employers, Tom (Tom Noonan) and Mary (Mary Woronov) Ulman, are hiding a wicked, sick and twisted secret. Ti West (Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever) writes, directs and edits this terrifying film set in the early 1980s. Greta Gerwig and AJ Bowen co-star.

Zombieland (2009)
An easily spooked guy, Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), joins forces with wild man Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) to fight for survival in a world virtually taken over by freakish zombies. As they destroy scores of the undead, they meet up with two other survivors, Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) and Wichita (Emma Stone), and journey to a supposedly safe abandoned amusement park. Ruben Fleischer directs this horror romp.

She-Wolf of London: The Complete Series (1990)
While conducting research on a foggy English moor with fetching mythology professor Ian Matheson (Neil Dickson), beautiful American grad student Randi Wallace (Kate Hodge) is attacked by a werewolf — and becomes one herself. Now Randi and Ian try to reverse her curse. Meanwhile, they investigate all manner of unexplained incidents together — first in England, then in California where Ian hosts a talk show — in this supernatural series.

Triangle (2009)
Murder strikes the Bermuda Triangle in this gripping high-seas horror starring Melissa George, Liam Hemsworth and Rachael Carpani. Jess encounters the first of many bad omens when her car kills a seagull near the local harbor. Later that night, her yacht hits a storm, forcing her and her friends to board a mysterious deserted ship. The clock on the ship has stopped — and so has any sense of safety. Christopher Smith writes and directs.

Circle of Eight (2009)
Jessica (Austin Highsmith) has no idea what she’s getting into when she moves into an eighth-floor loft at the Dante, an historic building in downtown Los Angeles where the neighbors seem alternately friendly and frightening. Tension mounts as Jessica bears witness to a series of gruesome deaths that, apparently, no one else can see. Ryan Doom and DJ Qualls co-star in this horror serial that originally aired as a MySpace Web series.

New to Blu-ray

The Bloody-Disgusting Horror Blogger Awards

Corey
January 27, 2010
Posted by
corey@evilontwolegs.com

in response to total film’s rather bizarre horror blog awards nominee list (four out of five of which are not blogs at all), one of the nominees (bloody-disgusting) is running their own horror blogger awards.

the nominee list is comprised of 63 personal horror blogs, many of which you’ll undoubtedly be familiar with (including eo2l). however, there are a lot on the list that i haven’t seen before and, if you’re anything like me, you’re looking forward to going through the list thoroughly, familiarizing yourself with those sites that you haven’t run across before.

so stop lolly-gagging here and head over to the bloody-disgusting blog awards page and start going through that list. and be sure to cast a vote for your favorite of the blogs before the deadline of february 12th! no pressure to make your vote for this site… we’re just happy to have our name on a nominee list that includes so many of the blogs we visit and read daily.

if this is your first visit to evilontwolegs.com because you found us on the list of nominees, here are a few of our more popular past posts for you take a gander at.

Horror DVD Releases – Week of January 26th, 2010

Corey
January 25, 2010
Posted by
corey@evilontwolegs.com
(descriptions from Netflix and BestBuy)

Pontypool (2008)
Bruce McDonald, critically acclaimed director of The Tracey Fragments, teams with author Tony Burgess to adapt Burgess’ own novel about a small town in the grip of a mysterious frenzy. It may be Valentine’s Day, but for caustic radio personality Grant Mazzy (Stephen McHattie) that’s just another reason to be miserable. Mazzy used to be a certified radio superstar, but working in Pontypool is a far shot from working in the big city. Today, however, as Mazzy prepares for his regular routine of reading the weather, updating school closings, and pleading his case for a little on-air controversy to producer Sydney Bryer (Lisa Houle), the appearance of an unexpected figure signals the beginning of a disturbing phenomenon in the small town of Pontypool.

Madness (2009)
Four teens fight for their lives when they’re attacked by a group of crazed killers during a drive through the countryside. Cheerleaders Tara and Jenna were on their way to a competition when they crossed paths with Chad and Oliver, whose car had just broken down near a remote gas station. Sympathetic, the two girls offer the stranded strangers a lift. Little did the unsuspecting teens realize that they were about to become the prey in a sadistic game of death. After their car is run off the road, the four teens are locked away and systematically slaughtered. Realizing that their time is quickly running out, the remaining teens resolve to fight back against their captors, and do everything in their power to stay alive.

Saw VI (2009)
Special Agent Strahm is long gone, and Det. Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) is now the heir to John Jigsaw’s (Tobin Bell) terrifying legacy. FBI Agent Erickson (Mark Rolston) is now hot on his trail, but Hoffman is about to reveal Jigsaw’s grand plot. Kevin Greutert directs this next installment of the smash horror dynasty, while Betsy Russell, Peter Outerbridge, Tanedra Howard and Shawnee Smith co-star.

Bad Biology (2008)
In this outrageously twisted tale of sex and horror, highly excitable Jennifer (Charlee Danielson) and well-endowed Batz (Anthony Sneed) are strangers in search of sexual fulfillment. When they meet, the two discover that they’re an explosive match made for lustful perversion. Mutant babies and a deadly dismembered member haunt this sure-to-be cult classic from director Frank Henenlotter (Basket Case, Frankenhooker).

Alone in the Dark II (2008)
When a 100-year-old witch (Allison Lange) hatches a horrid plot to sacrifice a young girl with a mystical dagger, a team of witch hunters led by Edward Carnby (Rick Yune) set out to stop the killing and retrieve the terrible blade. But soon they discover that anyone who touches the knife falls under the power of the witch’s vengeful bloodlust. Michael Roesch and Peter Scheerer direct this horror film that co-stars Lance Henriksen.

New to Blu-ray

Horror Community Highlights – January 22, 2010

Jon
January 22, 2010
Posted by
jon@evilontwolegs.com
  • Skeletons in the Closet : Actors with roots in horror…
    Fascination with Fear
    I had completely forgotten that before he was Aragorn, Viggo Mortensen was “Tex” in Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III
  • Pizza, Pipes, and Pandorum
    Final Girl
    “Some people enjoy things that others do not! I know this is a hard concept for The Internet to grasp, but it’s true. Sometimes it leaves one scratching one’s head- ‘What kind of crack are these people smoking that they actually like that movie, and where can I get some?’”
  • Defining the Found Footage Genre
    In it for the Kills
    I’ll admit that I’m not the biggest fan of the ‘found footage’ genre in horror, but I do love Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry James, and this post makes a compelling argument that those writers have a few things in common with it.
  • Psycho Semi-Centennial: This Movie’s for the Birds
    The Vault of Horror
    This is an intelligent, witty analysis that’ll make you want to watch the great-granddaddy of slasher films all over again.
  • Pre-code Horror
    Golden Age Comic Book Stories
    I read this blog every day, but this week’s installment of horror comics is especially terrific.
  • The Paradise of Horror
    Top Ten Original Horror Songs
    I love music. I love horror films. I love top ten lists. ‘Nuff said.


email suggestions for next week’s community highlights to jon@evilontwolegs.com

Blog Awards!

Corey
January 19, 2010
Posted by
corey@evilontwolegs.com
JonJon
Jon
jon@evilontwolegs.com

January is not only the time for great retrospectives and “best of lists” from the online horror community, but also awards. Eo2L would like to thank Maryanne from The Spooky Brew for nominating us for a Kreativ Blogger Award, Johnny Sandman from The Paradise of Horror for the One Lovely Blog Award and Chris at Fascination With Fear for the Fantastically Frightening Award (created by Day of the Woman‘s BJ-C). However, with great awards come great responsibilities. Each of these awards suggest that you pass the award on to others (7 others for the Kreativ Blogger Award, 15 for the One Lovely Blog Award and an unspecified number for The Fantastically Frightening Award). The Fantastically Frightening Award also requests that you specify why you’re passing the award on to each blog. The Kreativ Blogger Award has a few more rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the Kreativ Blogger Award logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated

Items 1-3 have been taken care of, so here are some things you might not know about the folks behind Evil on Two Legs.

Corey


  • I fall asleep to a different DVD commentary track every night. I have a hard time sleeping without one playing.
  • My wife loves the Saw series but was terrified by The Grudge and refuses to watch any of Paranormal Activity.
  • At least at home, I watch all horror films with my two schnauzers, Mulder & Servo. It’s unclear if they enjoy the genre.
  • My favorite horror film is Halloween. The first horror film I ever saw was Halloween.
  • In high school I worked as a telemarketer. I hated doing it just as much as you hated me calling.
  • For years I insulted and bashed the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer based only on its name and film version. It is now my favorite show of all time.
  • In college I was fired from a video store for stealing a VHS of Father of the Bride 2. In addition to being angry because I was innocent, I was upset they thought my taste was that bad.

Jon


  • In college, I sold Neil Gaiman a bagel sandwich (it was an egg and cheese on onion).
  • I think yodeling is interesting.
  • I will watch any movie with the words “devil,” “thing,” or “beyond” in its title.
  • As much as I love them, I rarely watch films twice in their entirety. Some exceptions are: Alien, Dawn of the Dead, Psycho, Frankenstein (1931), City of Lost Children, and Blade Runner.
  • I think lolcats are a little bit horrifying.
  • The first film I ever saw (horror or otherwise) was The Beast Must Die. The first film I ever saw at a movie theater was Love at First Bite.
  • If I were granted three wishes, I would spend one of them bringing back the Joe Bob Briggs TV show “Monstervision.”




For the sake of brevity, we’ve decided to combine our nominations for all three awards into one short list. These are sites that we love that have not already received these awards (to the best of our knowledge) that we think deserve a special shout out. If you are on this list, feel free to pick your own award from the three (or, if you’re greedy… grab ’em all!). Given that all of these sites are horror related, I’d think you’d go for the Fantastically Frightening award… but if roses and teacups are more your thing, more power to you. Lastly, realize there are hundreds nay thousands of deserving sites out there, so please do not be offended if you’ve been overlooked by these viral award things. We try to keep our blog roll (see sidebar) updated with the active horror blogs that we enjoy, but even that is just a sampling of the quality sites out there. If you are a horror blogger that puts time, energy and passion into your site, then please consider yourself a recipient, from us, of these awards as well.



Final Girl
One of the most unique and consistently entertaining voices in the horror blogging community. If you’re not reading Final Girl, you’re not doing it right.

Kindertrauma
If it scared you as a kid, you’ll find it here. And you’ll love it.

Freddy in Space
With recent posts like “The Top 25 Kills of the Last 10 Years” and “Cool Shit on Ebay,” this blog feels a lot like it’s being written just for us. But it’s probably ok if you like it too.

Frankensteinia
All Frankenstein, all the time.

Vegan Voorhees
Perhaps the only person we can definitively say watches more slashers than either of us. This site is a little slice of slasher film heaven.

No Room in Hell
Slickly designed and smartly written, No Room in Hell is another horror blog written by two friends.

The Horror Section
In addition to its nostalgia-laden content, just the design of this site will instantly transport you back to when you were just discovering horror films and each oversized VHS box in the video store held a mystique that’s difficult to find in the DVD and internet age.



Update: Somehow it escaped our notice that No Room In Hell bestowed upon us the esteemed Zombie Chicken Award. Can you feel the love? Well, hopefully we can pass some of that love on… The blogs we nominated above should feel free to include the Zombie Chicken Award among their possible award options as well. Here’s the description:

The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken – excellence, grace and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their inspiring words.