Cinefantastique's Los Angeles Correspondent from 1987 to 1993 and West Coast Editor from 1993 to 1999. Currently the webmaster of Cinefantastique Online, I also run a website called Hollywood Gothique that covers Halloween Horror and Sci-Fi Cinema Events in the Los Angeles area. 
THE DEVIL’S BRIDE (1968, known as The Devil Rides Out in its native England) is one of the last fine examples of the classic Hammer Horror style. Before closing up shop in the mid-1979s, the studio’s subsequent output would include some good, and even a few great, films, but the familiar motifs had been mostly [...]
Lon Chaney, Jr.’s Wolf Man may be cinema’s most famous lycanthrope, but there can be little doubt that this 1960 film from Hammer Productions is the best werewolf movie ever made. It features all of the studio’s classic virtues: beautiful sets, effective music, colorful photography, solid scripting, memorable performances, and a muscular directorial approach that [...]
NOTE: This trailer is widescreen, so you will have to click through to see it in its proper aspect ratio. My Space posted the trailer for the new FRIDAY THE 13TH. Amusingly, they flag it with the description “Returning to the story that started it all,” even though the the remake is heavily influenced by the [...]
The third of three slasher icons currently haunting Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood, Leatherface appears on the back lot “Terror Tram” tour, and he has his own maze, nestled next to The Mummy’s Revenge Ride. Check it out in this video, shot on opening night.
The real curse is upon the unfortunate audience.
What can you say about a horror film when its spookiest cast member plays the innocent victim? You can say that it’s only one of many obvious missteps in this misbegotten attempt by writer Kevin Williamson and director Wes Craven to apply their patented SCREAM-style approach to the familiar [...]
{EDITOR’S NOTE: This brief “opinion piece” was written as a joke, prior to the release of Tim Burton’s CORPSE BRIDE. To my surprise, a few commentators took it seriously. I’m not sure what that means.]
Tim Burton’s new film version of Roald Dahl’s CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY begins with a wonderful computer-generated sequence of mechanical [...]
Tim Burton’s second stop-motion feature film bears some obvious similarities to THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, but it has almost as much in common with BEETLEJUICE (not to mention touches of EDWARD SCISSORHANDS and the excellent short subject VINCENT). Not only does the story involve a “newly-dead” couple in a bizarre afterlife, populated by characters whose [...]
{EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was original written in June of 2006, in response to the DVD release of the film.]
The cult flm CEMETERY MAN came out on DVD this week, so I thought I’d post my review of the film here.
This was written back when the film came out in 1994; it’s been slightly expanded, [...]
This over-rated film (shot in Italy under the title Dellamorte Dellamore) has developed an undeserved cult reputation, based on a handful of good elements: atmospheric sets, grotesque makeup, and a blasé attitude toward the outrageous events it portrays. Unfortunately, there is no plot, so all you need to see is the trailer or, at most, [...]
This is Hammer Films’ first sequel to their 1958 classic, HORROR OF DRACULA. Made at the height of the studio’s success, the film features the familiar elements (beautiful color cinematography, lavish sets, solid writing, strong performances), making this a worthy heir to its predecessor. However, it is perhaps most notable for the obvious absence of [...]