HCD!

Enter the Chamber

Hello all! Just popping into let you know the movie I worked on during the pandemic is now out on Tubi. Click the pic to check it out!

I'm super proud of Mikey and everyone who put their time and effort into this little project. My beloved car (my version of Raimi's “Classic” Olds) even makes an appearance. This was shot over three years ago and it's still kicking, just clocked over 300,000k in fact. It is proving to be as resilient as ol' Nash Carruthers himself. Anyhoo, for those in the Great White North, have a great Thanksgiving.

13 for 2024!

Hello all. Hope your hangovers have subsided. Rather than do a 2024 Preview, I'm attempting something new for this year. Shit, maybe I've done this before and forgotten, I'm too lazy to look.

I'm going to list 13 movies that I plan to see this year, and then 12 months from now, I'll check back in and see where I'm at and perhaps offer a few thoughts. Hell, play along if you like.

The first three titles are highly anticipated titles from well regarded soldiers of the genre.

Pearl was my fave film of 2022 so Maxxxine has been at the top of my wish list ever since the teaser played at Midnight Madness to an MCU level ovation. Robert David Mitchell held off for a decade to hit us with a sequel we likely didn't need, but always (at least me) hoped would come. With Maika Monroe (and hopefully Disasterpiece) in tow, there's no reason to think They Follow won't be worth the wait. Robert Eggers is a titan when it comes to dark period pieces and Nosferatu is smack bang in the center of his wheelhouse.

The next three are films I missed when they were touring the festival circuit, but am eagerly awaiting their release on streaming or Blu-ray.

Ir should be no surprise to anyone that I am chomping at the bit to see Robert Morgan's debut feature, Stopmotion. Much like his short Invocation, I believe this also mixes stop-motion and live action. Sign me up. I'm also chuffed to see Late Night With the Devil. I'm definitely getting Ghostwatch vibes from this latest effort from the Cairnes Brothers. Lastly, The Man in the White Van just sounds like a cool, ripped-from-the-headlines horror movie. I have no idea of its status, the Web seems to suggest it came out around Halloween, but I have no record of its playing anywhere, except for a handful of canned reviews.

The next three I reserved for old eighties movies that, for whatever reason, I have just never got around to watching.

The Dead Pit is one I remember because of the flashing green eyes on its coverbox. I've been trying to watch it with my buddy Schwartz, but rug paternal duties and a pandemic have been putting it off for the better part of a decade. I believe the time has now come to cross it off the list. Xtro was just another Alien knock-off I passed over, but recently I saw in one of those In Search of Darkness docs on Shudder, just how many bonkers effects there were so now I'm onboard. Flowers In The Attic is one I constantly hear about how fucked up it is - or at least when they saw it way too young - and I'm all about that. Plus, Kristy Swanson.

The next three are just ones I've put on my list in the last couple of years.

During one of my friend's 24 hour Horror Marathons on Twitch, I saw a weird faux-doc called The Nobodies that was oddly engaging despite its micro budget. It was some time later that another pal told me that Jay Burleson had since made not one, but two equally genre-bending slashers called The Third Saturday in October Part 5 & 1 (yes, in that order). That's just too good to pass up.  Then, there is Dawn of the Mummy, which I saw during Nathan Boone's Trailer Trash events. It looks like weird Lenzi/de Ossorio hybrid madness from Egyptian filmmaker Frank Agrama.

Then, last but certainly not least;

My good friend Chris Nash has been slaving away in the forests of Northern Ontario for the last few years in order to bring you In A Violent Nature. I am thrilled that it will be unleashed at Sundance this month and I can't wait to get my eyeballs on it.

So, that's the 2024 Thirteen. Let's re-adjourn in December and discuss. 

2023 Wrap-up.

Greeting kiddies. We made it through another one. The Big C is finally on the run, or at least ignored for the time being while we deal with more pressing atrocities. Me, I've been trudging along, making regular visits to the Revue Cinema to soak in my gal pal Serena's terrific programming.

The trivia business is booming. At one point, Pat & I were doing it three times monthly at two different venues. We've now amassed a pretty decent roster of regulars as well as constant walk-ins. In the New Year, we're going to strive to make streaming the event a more common thing so those of you outside the Big Smoke can partake. On the Rue Morgue side of things, I have taken over the Short Cuts column from the exiting Bryan Christopher. With me already watching a thousand short films a year for various film festivals, it made sense for me to slide in there. My first go at it is in the Jan/Feb 2024 issue hitting stands (or your mailbox/inbox) imminently. I have another couple of things I'm cooking up for 2024, but maybe I'll leave them unsaid for now...

As for absorbed media, I think it was more quality over quantity this year. Don't get me wrong, there are many things I enjoyed in 2023, but I'm just going to leave you with the Top 5, because I'm lazy. See you in 2024!

A masterpiece, the gold standard of adaptation.

The rawest realization of waking from a nightmare I've ever seen.

This guys get what makes ED great & what it needs to be going forward.

Nostalgic, yet topical. And so, so intense.

Flanagan's Netflix swan song is up there with his best.

Happy October!

Good morning kiddies! I just wanted to pop in and say hello! I know this place of late has just seemed like a dumping ground for my trivia events, but holy hell has it been a busy time for me the last several months.

It seems really surreal to me that I had time to post about a movie almost every day in October last year. Now, between all the trivia events, film festival obligations and movie screenings, I barely even have enough time to shit. Good problem to have of course, but you know... I always feel a certain pull toward keeping THS alive.

I do intend to pick up VHS Fridays & The Movie Guide posts again, but just waiting for a lull, which I hope will arrive once the snow falls. Anyway, enjoy your spooky season! 

In My Element.

Photo courtesy Nathan Boone

I'm Baaack...

Well that was a sizable hiatus. Longer than I was expecting, but just what I needed. So, I must ask...

I'd been mulling over returning this October and even though I've got a shit-ton of things on the go, I decided to say fuck it and do it anyway. My plan is to use the next few days to catch you up on what I did this summer and then dive into a series I have dubbed “Alphabet Slop”. Essentially talk about a movie a day whilst making my way from A to Z. That's the goal anyway...

See you tomorrow!

Glad + Sad.

A banner weekend is upon me. Not only is The Quarry out, but it's also my niece's 25th birthday as well as the Spooky Flea Market, TSFF, the Sigur Ros show and my gal Valentina is fighting.

However, heard about Julee Cruise and that's a big bummer.

Rest in peace Ms. Cruise, hope you find the White Lodge.

The Doctor Is In.

Happy Halloween everyone! Here's my costume for this year.

Well, technically it was supposed to be last year's, for Nightbreed's 30th anniversary, but you know, the big H was cancelled last year. Hope you all have a fantastic night!

I'm Back... Sort of.

Hey all! It''s been a minute. Things got a bit hectic last month when I was hit with an unexpected eviction, but the dust has now settled and I've fortunately landed on my feet. Big B and I have successfully relocated and I'm about ninety-five per cent settled at the time of this writing.

I do have some upcoming archive posts planned, but beyond that the future of THS remains uncertain as the drive to wax nostalgic about old VHS movies just isn't what it was. TBH the same can be said about pretty much anything. You add February blues to Lockdown blues and the result ain't too peachy. If not for Zoom and YouTube, who knows where I'd be right now.

Anyhoo, enough with the doom & gloom. Stay safe, kiddies.

I Float Too!

My buddy Phil & I mucked around with VR Rec Room last night. After getting our asses handed to us at Paintball and Laser Tag, we checked out some other stuff. Here's me outside the It Mirror Maze attraction.

The Quest is definitely one of the best purchases I've made in quite some time.

Gifrific: ...Just uninspired

Reservoirdogs Tarantino GIF from Reservoirdogs GIFs

Go West Part II

Well, I'm off to Saskatoon for SFFF. Stay out of trouble while I'm gone.

The Doctor Is In!

Danny (Tony) says go see Doctor Sleep this weekend. It rules.

HNY 2019!

Happy New Year folks! No preview post, but just stopping in to say you can expect the same kind of frequency this year with the usual emphasis on short films and old VHS titles.

I am also expecting to do a lot of archiving this year, mainly old commercials and newscasts from circa 1986-1995. I have a couple of totes worth of that stuff that I'll be digitizing over the next few months. Some of it might make it on here, or maybe I'll just throw it over to Retrontario and see if  they want it.

I have aspirations of making my next short film this year, but early days yet. It will be something fairly simple and manageable so that even I won't be able to fuck it up. 

Anyhoo, as you were!

CUFF '18

Wow, what a fantastic trip that was! I was only gone three nights, but boy did I fill it up with some bangin' stuff, including sampling some Alberta beef, a side road trip to Banff with an old friend and the usual festival schmoozing.

The festival really took care of me, putting me up in a fancy hotel and filling my pockets with cinema food & drink tickets. The Globe Cinema is a great little movie house with a pair of sizable theatres one on top of each other. CUFF turned fifteen this year and you can tell there are lot of regulars and sponsors eager to be involved with the fest.

My screening went really well - anytime no one boos is a win - and there were a surprising number of questions during the Q&A. I never thought I would have to explain the difference between Canadians & Americans, always just assumed it was common knowledge, but there you go. 

CUFF programmer Brennan Tilley & I at Saturday's Q&A.

Both shorts programmes were really strong, but I'll elaborate on them in a later post. In addition to the special events at the fest like the Saturday Morning Cereal Party - that involved me chasing after Toucan Sam all morning - and the most recent iteration of the Found Footage Tour, I also took in some cool flicks including the half crime movie, half crime doc American Animals and a rewatch of Coralie Fargeat's Revenge. I recommend both. And Tigers Are Not Afraid. That movie is still aces.

The dark princes of VHS Nick Prueher & Joe Pickett. 

And there's also this random Teletubbies penis sculpture in town for some reason.

So yeah, I had a blast. I am so thankful to CUFF for inviting me and being such gracious hosts. You guys rock!

To The West!

I'm headed out west this weekend for the Calgary Underground Film Festival. 

I'll be representing my latest project The Good Samaritan which plays today as part of the A Turn For The Worse shorts programme. More to come!

Go West!

I have some great news. My latest short The Good Samaritan will be playing the 15th edition of the Calgary Underground Film Festival next month.

I was lucky enough to have The Monitor play there in 2015, but this time I'm going to fly out there to be part of the festivities. I'll get to partake in another one of Kier-La Janisse's Saturday Morning Cartoon Cereal parties, as well as some other great programming, including a probable re-watch of one of my 2017 faves Tigers Are Not Afraid.

I'll also get to sample Alberta beef right from the source! Excited!!!

DKTM 360

It's incredible to think that since January 2009 I have done three-hundred-and-sixty of these news post things. In the interest of symmetry, I think it's time to close the loop on them. While part of the regimen was about archiving cool stuff that was going on, as an actual news delivery device it's largely redundant as there are a million other places you can get your news.

The shutting down of DKTM is the first step in a Horror Section overhaul that I'll elaborate more on in 2018. Rest assured I'm not going anywhere, but the coming year is going to be a busy one, so I mean to take steps to streamline things around here.

Have a great NYE and I'll see you back here later in the week.

Black Tuesday.

Tonight's the night! My compadre Tal & I will be participating in the latest Black Museum debate, arguing that Sally Hardesty is the Greatest Final Girl.

It should be a bloody affair and when the dust settles I will attempt to give you a blow-by-blow as impartially as possible -- no promises.

Wish me luck and I'll see you back here at the end of the week.