July Horror Trivia Watchlist

To all those who came here from the event or the FB or Instagram page, welcome! I am Jay, one half of the horror trivia quizmasters and this is my humble blog. Here's a selected list of titles mentioned at the last event. Click on the titles to be redirected to their Imdb listing. Horror Trivia Night happens at Storm Crow Manor in Toronto. If you're in the area, come on down! Register here.

Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)

Dracula 1972 A.D. (1972)

Count Yorga, Vampire (1970)

Vampire (1979)

Dracula (1973)

Lifeforce (1985)

The Night Stalker (1972)

Blacula (1972)

Wolfen (1981)

Full Moon High (1981)

The Company of Wolves (1984)

Monster Squad (1987)

Fright Night Part 2 (1988)

Silver Bullet (1985)

My Mom's A Werewolf (1989)

Terror Train (1980)

Crimewave (1985)

Daybreakers (2009)

Possession (1981)

Predestination (2014)

Maniac (1980)

The Void (2016)

Chopping Mall (1986)

Cuckoo (2024)

House on Haunted Hill (1959)

Dec 30th Horror Trivia Screening Guide.

To all those who came here from the event or Storm Crow's FB page, welcome! I am Jay, one half of the horror trivia quizmasters and this is my humble blog. Here's a selected list of titles mentioned at the last event. Click on the titles to be redirected to their Imdb listing. Horror Trivia Night happens at Storm Crow Manor in Toronto. If you're in the area, come on down! Register here.

Infested (2023)

V/H/S Beyond (2024)

Ginger Snaps (2000)

Woman of the Hour (2023)

Creep (2014)

The Faculty (1998)

Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999)

Urban Legend (1998)

Subservience (2024)

Silent Night, Deadly Night 3 (1989)

Cuckoo (2024)

Deep Rising (1998)

Blood Feast (1963)

2000 Maniacs (1964)

Color Me Blood Red (1965)

The Wizard of Gore (1970)

Howl (2015)

Hell's Creatures (1968)

Wolfcop (2014)

The Wolf Man (1941)

The Company of Wolves (1984)

Dog Soldiers (2002)

13: Fear Is Real (2009)

A Ghost Story For Christmas (1971-present)

Jan 10th Horror Trivia Screening List

To all those who came here from the event or Storm Crow's FB page, welcome! I am Jay, one half of the horror trivia quizmasters and this is my humble blog. Kicking off 2024, here's the selected list of titles mentioned at the last event. Click on the titles to be redirected to their Imdb listing.

Horror Trivia Night happens at Storm Crow Manor in Toronto. If you're in the area, come on down! Register here. If you're not local, we do occasionally stream the event on @ruemorguemag Instagram.

Firestarter (1984)

Skinamarink (2022)

Seed of Chucky (2004)

The Amusement Park (1975)

Duel (1971)

Silver Bullet (1985)

The Company of Wolves (1984)

Dog Soldiers (2002)

Werewolves Within (2021)

Curse of the Werewolf (1961)

Ginger Snaps Back (2004)

Unfriended (2014)

The Rats Are Coming - The Werewolves Are Here! (1972)

Ice Cream Man (1995)

Sleepaway Camp (1983)

Christine (1983)

Children of the Corn (1984)

Slumber Party Massacre (1982)

Urban Legend (1998)

The Mutilator (1984)

Behind The Mask (2006)

A Wolf In Creep's Clothing.

This week's VHS was 1995's Project: Metalbeast. I'm nearing the bottom of the pile, as evidenced by this merchant copy complete with hole-punched barcode and intermittent burn-in's of “for screening purposes only”.

An unstable CIA agent (John Marzilli) who injected himself with werewolf blood is cryogenically frozen for 20 years and then thawed out for use in military experiments involving synthesized skin. It doesn't go well.

You know, I was in good shape at the start of this movie because I knew that Project: Metalbeast could not possibly as awful as the trailer that proceeded it for Paul Rodriguez's dramedy(?) A Million To Juan. Man, the shit they put out on tape in the nineties. The eighties I understand, but we should've had the hang of this by '95.

Anyhoops, Metalbeast starts off with musician Conrad Pope doing his best Elfman impression, giving us some overly dramatic music during the opening credits. Then, enter a pretty decent looking - or at least way better than I would have expected - werewolf. Until the aforementioned CIA agent with a haircut you could set your watch to, blows it away with silver bullets. After extracting its blood, he makes the completely rational decision to inject himself with it. goes haywire and is then put on ice by his boss, Barry Bostwick.

-“It shrinks?” -“Like a frightened turtle!”

More than some of this movie is a bore, which is why I actually nodded off in the middle. It's actually unusually quiet in the second act, while science people do science things. And complain several times about having to eat PB&J sandwiches. Hey, fuck you dude. I've literally eaten ten PB&J's a week for decades and still love 'em to death. Thankfully, the eventual screams and death snapped me back into consciousness.

As you might have guessed, the metal skin somehow gets on werewolf dude and viola - METALBEAST. And he looks pretty badass, even though every time he was onscreen I wanted to yell, “Fuck you Honey Badger” like in that Love, Death & Robots episode. What's funny is there's a shot of it walking down a hallway and I thought to myself, “hey that guy walks like Kane Hodder”.

Turns out it was actually Kane Fucking Hodder! Until he gets exploded with a silver rocket. Lastly, Kim Delaney was looking pretty hot in this and I'm glad she booked her role on NYPD Blue shortly after so no one was tempted to make a Metalbeast 2.

R is for The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here (1972)

This was one that's title was infamous and I just happened to have the Midnight Video VHS in my collection. It's been gathering dust since I acquired it many years ago at a Rue Morgue flea market. So now seemed an appropriate time to check it out.

Diana (Jackie Skarvellis) brings her new husband home to her family estate with the intent of putting an end to an ancient curse that has plagued them for generations.

WHAT EVEN IS THIS?! I was immediately confounded by what I was watching. It was kind of like a play because everyone was orating as if they were trying to reach the cheap seats... or more likely the production's one mic. It was like Coronation Street, but with curses and werewolves. Really. Shitty. Werewolves. 

I took a gamble on this one and I lost my puffy sleeved shirt. Everything about The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here! feels cobbled together. If I had done my research on the director Andy Milligan, I would have known this was his MO. This movie (the original version of it anyway) was shot back-to-back with three of his other pictures and the producer had to step in and add the rats in reshoots to pad out the running time. 

Yep, that about sums it up.

Yeah those rats Came alright! And then got immediately returned to the store. I'm told that the rat storyline was added to capitalize on the success of Willard. Though I could've guessed that when one of the characters literally named the rats Ben and Willard. Subtle, guys. Regardless, this movie needed more rats and less, well, whatever this was. A family of werewolves named the Moonies? Jesus wept. 

This would have been the perfect movie to snooze through, but my brain was fascinated by the proceedings. Every actor was giving it their all, from Hope Stansbury doing her best Spiderbaby impression to Milligan himself doing double duty as a rat merchant and gunsmith. No one eats up the clock quite like he does. This movie was inept, yet somehow methodical. 

The Rats are Coming... is unquantifiable trash, and yet still more engaging than Open House.

Dog Days.

This week's VHS is Clyde Anderson aka Claudio Fragasso's 1984 effort Monster Dog.

A pop star (Alice Cooper) returns to his hometown to shoot a music video only to find it has been overrun by wild dogs – and perhaps something else even more ferocious.

I'm sad to say that this is movie ain't so hot. I mean it was the man who gave us best worst movie Troll 2 after all, but Dog was nowhere close as amusing as that was. I am going to reserve full judgment on this though as I may have dozed off for a bit in the middle and, according to Imdb, the studio re-cut Fragasso's movie for the US release.

My main criticism remains that it needed more Monster Dog. I got the feeling that there were a lot of cool gags planned, but despite the reputable talents of Carlo De Marchis, it would appear there was a discrepancy between the shop and the set. I unfortunately had to wait until the end to see something half decent happen.

He's a guide dog by day.

I feel like this was such a weird project for Alice Cooper. Apparently, it was the first project he took after going sober and – like so many performers before him – probably thought that it would never be seen outside of Spain. He was painfully reserved in this movie and I couldn't tell whether it was his choice or lack of direction from Fragasso. If Cooper had chewed the scenery there would have at least been some Nic Cage-style satisfaction in it.

As with Night Train To Terror and Killer Party, Monster Dog opens with a catchy musical number. Not only was this the most entertaining part of the movie, but it was the only time that Cooper's actual voice was used, as the rest of the audio – in true Euro B-movie fashion – was dubbed. The filmmakers must have liked the song too because they played the whole thing over again at the end!

Sometimes I feel like Jack the Rii-iipper!

Monster Dog's only real positive was that it was well shot. I don't know if cinematographer José García Galisteo was channeling Dean Semler (namely Razorback, coincidentally also released in late 1984), but his use of light and fog was really striking, even on my muddy VHS. It gave me something to latch onto as I watched drawn out scenes of people wandering around in between shots of listless canines.

So yeah, not a winner. But hey, at least it has a cool cover, right?

Go To Bed!

The next VHS off my shelf is Jeff Delman’s 1986 anthology Deadtime Stories.

While babysitting, Uncle Mike (Michael Mesmer) tells his young nephew three stories to try and get him to sleep.

Deadtime Stories is a movie that has always been on my periphery – for the coverbox alone – but one I always reckoned I had seen at some point. When I was a kid I thought it was a George A. Romero joint, perhaps because of its passing resemblance to Creepshow. In my defense, with its hand-drawn opening credit sequence, it does feel eerily similar.

I have to admit this movie did start out a bit dull with the first segment involving a trio of witches and a young Scott Valentine, who would've been a year into his recurring stint on Family Ties by this point. I thought this movie looked a bit cheap until the effects by Ed French & Bryant Tausek rolled out. That's when I realized where most of the money likely went and I was back in. There's a great Hellraiser-style reanimation that was the first sequence in a bunch of solid practical effects pieces throughout the movie.

The money shot.

Next, there was a take on Red Riding Hood that involves a werewolf. The idea of a RRH being a horny teen is not new, but I did like the idea of the lycanthrope trying to knock himself out with pills. When his pharmacy order got mixed up with Red's Grandmothers', that's when chaos ensued.

It was the third and final story that Deadtime Stories pulls a complete one-eighty. This wacky rendition of Goldilocks & the Three Bears feels a lot like Crimewave-era Sam Raimi. I actually perused Imdb to see if there were any un-credited affiliations to the Renaissance boys (ala The Nutt House) because the tone was so similar. To give you an idea, the “Bears” are actually a maniacal crime family – which begins with “Mama”, played by Oscar Winner Melissa Leo, breaking “Papa” and “Baby” out of the loony bin – and “Goldi Lox” (Cathryn de Prume) is a murderous telekinetic. I got a kick out of the Rockabilly ditty “Looney Tune” featured – also written by Delman – here, as well.

Cathryn de Prume as Goldi Lox in Deadtime Stories.

I spent most of this segment with my jaw agape because it was so at odds with the rest of the picture. I can only justify it by thinking that perhaps Delman was trying to illustrate how at the end of his rope Uncle Mike might have been by that point in the evening. His tales did become increasingly more inappropriate for underage consumption.

Michael Mesmer (left) & Brian DePersia in Deadtime Stories

Imdb also told me that both Valentine & Leo were injured right before they went to camera - the former has a noticeable limp and the latter was wearing a cast under her wardrobe. That had to be a pre-production nightmare.

Deadtime Stories is not one of the more memorable anthologies from the eighties, but it's certainly worth watching for shits and gags.

2017 Preview.

We made it, guys! Here were are in 2017 with a new slate of horror films for which to look forward. Let's take a look.

Since it's January, we can first look to Park City and I see three possible winners in Damien Power's Killing Ground, Cary Murnion & Jonathan Milott's actioner Bushwick and the anthology XX.

The horror anthology has made a full-on comeback in recent years, so I'm hoping this female-centric affair keeps the momentum going. The pedigree is certainly there, as Karyn Kusama killed it with The Invitation last year and up-and-comers Roxanne Benjamin and Jovanka Vuckovic could really cement their reputations.

I am fully aware I may be the only one, but I'm super chuffed I get not only a new Resident Evil movie to start the year, but also an Underworld flick. I love these two ladies so much. I'll watch them dispatch monsters for as long they want to do it, God bless 'em.

#DontJudgeMe

It looks like last year's The Shallows performed well enough for this whole shark thing to keep going in 2017. Though the long-gestating Meg won't see the light of day until next year, there's a new found-footage shark tale called Cage Dive coming up. I'll be able to take the sensationalized affair of Meg, but the horrifying reality of this one, man? Honestly, I wimped out halfway through the trailer.

Some other A-list genre fare that looks decent are Gore Verbinski's Cure for Wellness and Colm Mcarthy's The Girl with All the Gifts. I saw a listing for Stefan Ruzowitzky's Patient Zero and was all like “yeah, this sure looks like a zer-- Natalie Dormer's in this??? Ok... I'll watch it (sigh)” More enticing I think, is Jordan Peele's take on horror with Get Out.

Then there's M. Night Shayamalan's Split. Fuck man, you never know what you're going to get with this guy. I enjoyed The Visit and thought it was a good bounce back from a series of misfires, but I don't know. This could be a solid thriller or a fucking trainwreck. I think it will depend on who M. Night thinks is the star here, him or James McAvoy.

Out of all the indies in this year's landscape, the most intriguing might be Monolith. The premise is delicious and of a new wave of horror that has sprung from our over-reliance on technology.

Looking through all the titles it was a veritable sea of remakes and sequels. I know this is par for the course these days, but holy... so many I don't give a shit about. I am reasonably receptive to It, or at least I have no desire to shut it out like Suspiria, F13, Flatliners et al.

These sequels though. I think the only one I'm actually upset about not being excited for is Alien: Covenant. I don't need more Prometheus. Every single Alien movie that gets made seems to get us further and further away from what made the first two remarkable. Anyway, I digress.

My parting words here would be to make sure you support Julia Ducournau's Raw and Greg McLean's The Belko Experiment when they hopefully hit theatres in 2017. These are the kinds of films that keep the genre fresh and exciting, not recycled tripe we've seen a million times before.

Trailer Tuesdays: Ithaca Retrospectives

Along with their premieres, Ithaca had several retrospectives this year that included 1981: The Year of the Wolf featuring Wolfen and An American Werewolf In London.

I, of course, adore the latter, so seeing it on the big screen was a huge treat. On the other hand, it had been so long since I'd seen Wolfen that it was almost like watching it for the first time. The two things that stuck out to me were how much of a time capsule it was of early eighties NYC, as well as how characters such as Albert Finney's Dewey Wilson are virtually extinct these days. If this movie was made now, Dewey would be thirty (at the most), erasing all of the character and grizzled experience that came with Finney's portrayal.

Moving on though was a programme called The Known Unknowns, which included the likes of Deliverance, The Long Weekend and most excitingly, Ken Russell's 1980 mind fuck Altered States.

This was another one that I only had a vague recollection from my childhood viewing. Man, that movie is a trip, and yet another example of something that would never be made today as is. It's wacko science fiction that is really more experienced than watched. I miss Ken Russell.

Most importantly for me was the 30th anniversary screening of James Cameron's Aliens. I was unfortunately elsewhere when it played, but I did pick up one of these beauties exclusive to the fest.

Art by Steve Ellis.

Tremendous programming from the Ithaca Team!

Trailer Tuesdays: Waxwork

In keeping with the time travel theme of yesterday's post, I thought a little Waxwork might be appropriate.

Watching that trailer, I was reminded of all the great practical effects and creatures in this movie. I think it - and its sequel Lost In Time - may be due a rewatch.

Trailer Tuesdays: The Howling

I've been catching up on back issues of Delirium magazine recently and I am currently enjoying their retrospective of The Howling, so...

Reading about this film, I realize how foggy I am on the series. I saw the first film as a kid, but I was more drawn to An American Werewolf In London, so I don't think I've ever revisited it. As for the rest of the series, I remember nothing, except Part IV with Michael mutherfuckin' T. Weiss.

I'm thinking I may have to marathon these at some point to see how much I actually remember. Stay tuned.

Trailer Tuesdays: Deadtime Stories.

Just cuz... Wow.

I know I've watched this movie, but can't remember thing one about it. This trailer certainly makes me want to revisit it.

Nine More Nightmares.

The Toronto After Dark Film Festival just revealed the remaining nine titles of their 2014 line-up, and boy, are there some doozies! In fact, including the ten already announced - which includes the likes of The Babadook, ABC's of Death 2 and Open Windows - this looks like the strongest slate in years. Take a look!

Click on posters for more info.

Toronto After Dark runs October 16th to 24th at the Scotiabank Theatre. For ticket info, click here.

Trailer Tuesdays: The Kid's Table

On the heels of my thoughts on the book Kid Power! I decided to post a collection of trailers for some of my favourite kid-centric horror films. Enjoy!

The Wolf At Your Door.

Saturday was a long day of films, the most anticipated for me being Adrián García Bogliano's, Late Phases.

After several residents of senior community are viciously mutilated, blind war veteran Ambrose McKinley (Nick Damici) takes it upon himself to find out the cause, and stop him – or it – for good.

Bogliano's newest is a slight departure from his previous film Here Comes The Devil. Sure, they are both narratively straightforward and feature strained family relationships, but while Devil focuses on youth, this one centeres on the other side of the spectrum. Ambrose (played with crusty zeal by Damici) has basically been cast off by the world, so when the opportunity arises to go some good, he accepts, even though he is in no shape to do so. Ambrose is, in fact, a man with nothing to lose.

What Late Phases also shared with Devil was great performances. In addition to Damici, who it was good to see have a significant role away from his compatriot Jim Mickle, there were also a handful of actors I don't get to see as much as I'd prefer, like Tom Noonan and Dana Ashbrook.

Nick Damici & Tom Noonan in Late Phases.

I was excited to see Bob Kurtzman's name in the opening credits, as that meant the effects were in good hands. I really liked the creature designs in Late Phases. Most of the time when you see a werewolf movie, they are some variation of what we've seen in go-to films like An American Werewolf In London. Here, I felt like Kurtzman really tried for something unique, while also adding touches that somewhat recalled creatures from his previous work. The featured (and lengthy) transformation scene, though it does cheat with some cutaways, was well executed.

Apart from that, Late Phases isn't too flashy and is of a pace you would expect about a blind old man doing mock detective work. The bloody climax was terrific though and worth the wait.

Bogliano is steadily making a name for himself with these solid genre pieces utilizing tried-and-true formulas (rape revenge, evil children, werewolves, etc) and I'll be sure to check out any of his future projects.

Trailer Tuesdays: Canadian Connection

Happy Canada Day everyone! Since this momentous occasion falls on a Tuesday this year, here are some trailers of some of my faves from the Great White North. Enjoy!

Trailers courtesy of Blue Underground Inc, HorrorTrailers666, horrornymphs, Jon Dieringer & AussieRoadshow. 

Trailer Tuesdays: Bad Moon

With a full moon approaching (on Friday the 13th no less!), it seems a werewolf movie trailer is required. Here's one for Bad Moon, a solid nineties horror flick from Eric Red.

It's funny that this trailer doesn't focus on the most appealing part of the movie, which is that the family dog is essentially the protagonist of the piece, if not certainly the hero. I've always thought of Bad Moon as a canine version of Cat's Eye, except without the anthology format, of course.

Furry Fun.

The closing night gala of this year's Toronto After Dark was the Spanish horror comedy Game of Werewolves.

Tomas (Gorka Oxtoa) seeks solace by returning to the village of his childhood, but soon finds himself on the run from the townsfolk who think his sacrifice will free them from a hundred-year-old gypsy curse.

Going in, I wasn't sure what to make of this movie with its jokey title, but it turned out to be a pretty decent movie. I guess I shouldn't be shocked, as I thinking back I don't think I've ever been disappointed by a Spanish genre film. These guys are a talented bunch and just make great movies.

Gorka Oxtoa (front) & Carlos Areces in Game of Werewolves.

All the ingredients for a successful horror comedy are here. The head trio of the piece Tomas, Calisto and Mario (Oxtoa, Carlos Areces & Secun de la Rosa, respectively) are all great with impeccable comedic timing, but the scene stealer is Tomas' Jack Russell terrier, Vito. It really is true that this breed make the best actors. Director Juan Martinez Moreno wears his eighties film influences on his sleeve, but it never feels like he is merely aping. The comedic beats are handled really well and the result is a lot of laugh-out-loud moments.

As you can imagine, the real highlight of the movie are the werewolves. The makeup effects are top notch, and frankly some of the best I have seen in quite some time. And to top it all off, we not only get quality, but also quantity. My hat goes off to Moreno for insisting on going practical with his creatures, it made the movie ten times what it could've been.

Director Juan Martinez Moreno.

So, the curtain comes down on another Toronto After Dark Film Festival. The crowds were good and all the filmmakers that came out seemed to have a really good time. I think TAD is building momentum in terms of recognition from filmmakers. While it may not have the most pull in the “buying and selling” side of things – though the Soskas' American Mary did ink a deal with Anchor Bay the evening of their premiere – I get the sense that genre directors really like to play here.

Anyway, I'll be back in the next few days with a Shorts rundown and a post on the official TAD awards, so stay tuned.