Table of contents for Issue 89 May 2009 in RUE MORGUE

Like any genre fan worth her total blood volume, I first became aware of Sam Raimi after I saw The Evil Dead. But unlike those lucky bastards who got to see it at the drive-in, I watched it on video (a newer market at the time) with a bunch of rowdy drunk friends in a pal’s basement. It was through a giddy, intoxicated haze that I first witnessed bumbling accidental hero Ashley J.Williams hack up his demonic girlfriend for the very first time. Many different colours of bodily fluids, an ominous porch swing, several conjured demons, possessed friends, dismembered limbs, a tree rape and one hideous, soul-swallowing, cellar-dwelling bitch later, we found ourselves wiping back tears as we laughed and screamed at the sloppy, slippy, ooey gooey, violating bliss that…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RY8xWHYCGU According to Tom Savini, this clip features footage from his personal Day of the Dead home videos, which were stolen when he lent the tapes out for inclusion in the bonus features on a DVD release. It features a zombie test makeup that he created in his basement on animatronics specialist Dave Kindlon, in all of its latex-y glory. annekarsten.com/stuffed-monster-gallery Much like how Dave Devries re-envisioned kids’ drawings as fine art renderings, Anne Karston has taken the artwork of fourth and fifth graders and translated it into three-dimensional plush toys. You can view the whole “Stuffed Monsters” gallery, complete with before and after images, on her blog. downloadhorror.com Got a hankering to watch a horror film on your computer or iPod? Well, downloadhorror.com might be worth a peek if…

1 RETURN OF THE LIVING RED WINE $65-75 We don’t know how it’ll go with liver and fava beans, but a bottle of Australian Return of the Living Red mixed grape wine (from different vintages) does come with lushly illustrated “crime files implying the existence of the living dead.” Let it flow at redheadswine.com. 2 DEXTER ACTION FIGURE $16.99 Barbie beware – our favourite serial killer is now available in action figure form! You can demonstrate Dexter’s struggle between his violent nature and his sense of morality by changing his arms and accessories. Knife? Blood slide? How fragile do you feel? Dark passengers dwell at entertainmentearth.com. 3 HORROR PENDANTS $20-$25 Feast your evil eyeballs on these magnificently monstrous handmade pendants featuring artwork from our own Ghoulish Gary Pullin and Justin…

MORE LIKE BARELY WATCHABLE BARELY LEGAL LESBIAN VAMPIRES Mill Creek The lesbian vampire flick is probably my all-time favourite subgenre – go figure. But for every classic (The Hunger, Daughters of Darkness, Vampyros Lesbos and nearly anything by Jean Rollin), there are delete bins filled with pieces of shit such as Barely Legal Lesbian Vampires. The plot: when Lilith is dumped by her girlfriend, she unwittingly hooks up with Carmilla, a lesbian vampire intent on turning her into her latest plaything. Now, her salvation is to be rescued by (I shit you not) Muffy the Vampire Slayer. Possibly shot on a cellphone, this film is so bad that at times the actors are actually holding their scripts and still have microphones attached to their clothing. I really am a glutton…

THE WHIP AND THE BODY (1963) THE WHIP AND THE BODY (1963) Starring Christopher Lee, Daliah Lavi and Ida Galli Directed by Mario Bava Written by Ernesto Gastaldi, Ugo Guerra and Luciano Martino CONSPIRACY OF TORTURE (1969) Starring Adrienne Larussa, Tomas Milian and Georges Wilson Directed by Lucio Fulci Written by Lucio Fulci and Roberto Gianviti Midnight Choir The first release from new imprint Midnight Choir features a double bill of 1960s-produced period pieces from two heavyweights of Italian horror. If you’re looking for the definitive version of Bava’s Eurotic horror opus, TheWhip and the Body, you can safely give this one a pass. Despite a stunning transfer, this barebones English language cut pales in comparison to the previous extras-laden VCI release. But don’t throw the baby out with the…

ARCH ENEMY THE SADIST (1963) Starring Arch Hall Jr., Richard Alden and Helen Hovey Written and directed by James Landis Raunchy Tonk The Sadist is the real deal, an authentic lost classic that deserves at least as much attention from horror and noir fans as Carnival of Souls or the original Cape Fear. Ignored in North America and outright banned in the UK, it’s an ultratense, nihilistic serial killer movie wrapped around a uniquely twisted performance. Looking at the film’s individual elements, it should have been just another forgettable flop, but these improbable players combined to catch lightning in a bottle. The Sadist was produced in 1963 by Arch Hall Sr., a B-actor who had turned to producing and financed a string of B-movies under the name Nicholas Merriwether. Most…

Calling all armchair detectives! The new high-concept horror novel Personal Effects: Dark Art invites you to become a part of the story by investigating a string of gory serial murders right alongside the book’s protagonist. In what is being dubbed by the publisher as a “trans media experience,” the novel’s plot incorporates actual websites, photographs, blogs, message boards and phone numbers that readers can use to more fully immerse themselves in the narrative. “The novel is [also] designed to stand alone,” says author J.C. Hutchins. “You can read it and hopefully enjoy it on its own terms, cover to cover, and call it a day. But aren’t you going to be just a little curious when you see a phone number or a website mentioned? Are you not going to…

Antonio Margheriti is one of the woefully overlooked directors of the golden age of Italian exploitation cinema. Much of this is due to the wide variety of genres he worked in, and that he never directed a film that has come to be regarded as a masterpiece. Of the roughly 60 movies he made, only a handful have been restored for DVD, which is a shame considering that the ones available prove he’s a craftsman who could deliver a solid film on a meagre budget. Margheriti, who adopted the anglicized pseudonym Anthony M. Dawson, began his career in 1960, making low-budget science fiction and peplum films before turning to gothic horror. Castle of Blood (a.k.a. Danza macabre, 1963 – available from Synapse) stars genre icon Barbara Steele and is widely…

HIGHEST RATING IS THREE GRAPHICS PLAYABILITY SHIVERS RESIDENT EVIL 5 PS3, Xbox 360 Capcom It’s been four years since Resident Evil fans have had a new infection to fight. This time around gamers are sent to a fictitious African country to investigate a parasitic outbreak that has mutated the local population into bloodthirsty maniacs called majini. Playing as Chris Redfield, a character from the very first RE game, you’re teamed up with a bioterrorism agent named Sheva, who in single-player mode is controlled by the game’s impressive AI system (she follows you to provide cover fire, ammunition and health boosts). Together you must fight through the decrepit streets of a bustling shantytown, run from a rabble of infected villagers deep within the tunnels of an…

I COULD NOT AGREE MORE with what was said in last month’s Note From Underground. You have expressed exactly the point I have been making to my friends for the last few years. I believe your editorial should be sent to every movie company in America with the heading, “This is why you’re killing horror!” I could not have been any more disappointed with the latest Friday redo, as I am not a thirteen-year-old with Attention Deficit Disorder (and thus not the target audience). The characters and dialogue were horrible for a Friday entry, and that’s saying something, plus the so-called “gritty” look and direction were infuriating. The fact that you called out the only financially successful horror film of the past few months for being utter crap is why…

The phrase “’til death do us part” takes on extra significance this April when Chicago’s WildClaw Theatre, which is staging a month-long run of playwright Scott T. Barsotti’s The Revenants, a “relationship drama – with zombies.” The Revenants takes place in a near-future world where a global pandemic of zombie violence has led married friends Gary (Ryan Patrick Dolan) and Karen (Jenny Strubin) to seek shelter in an abandoned basement with their infected spouses Molly (Laura Hooper) and Joe (Brian Amidei). Trapped with their chained-up (and hungry) significant others, the increasingly desperate Gary and Karen have to decide just how far they are willing to go for love. “This situation is evocative of many scenarios couples actually find themselves in,” explains Barsotti. “A spouse becomes sick or injured or is…

IN NOVEMBER 1979 THREE AMBITIOUS COLLEGE DROP-OUTS DROVE TO A CABIN IN THE TENNESSEE WOODS WITH A 16MM CAMERA AND A SMALL CAST AND CREW TO SHOOT A LOW-BUDGET HORROR MOVIE CALLED THE BOOK OF THE DEAD. The planned six-week shoot doubled to twelve and, by the end, writer/director Sam Raimi, lead actor Bruce Campbell and producer Rob Tapert were the only remaining members of the original production crew on set, flinging buckets of blood on each other and anyone else they could convince to come out for a night of shooting. When the film screened at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival as The Evil Dead, Stephen King proclaimed it “the most original horror film of the year.” The grassroots production quickly became one of the most beloved horror movies…

RAPE/REVENGE/REMAKE THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT Starring Garrett Dillahunt, Aaron Paul and Sara Paxton Directed by Dennis Illiadis Written by Adam Alleca, Carl Ellsworth and Wes Craven Rogue Pictures Both the original The Last House on the Left (1972) and this new remake concern middle-class parents resorting to savagery after their daughter and her friend are raped and brutalized by a group of unwashed psychos. But we knew that already, didn’t we? So let’s get this original vs. remake brawl underway. The original – Wes Craven’s debut feature – was a barely competent by-the-numbers rape/revenge deal that had much loftier aspirations but was fatally undermined by a mediocre cast, an abysmal script, ill-advised attempts at comic relief and an atrocious score. For all its shocking violence and soul-crushing cynicism,…

SLAUGHTER HIGH (1986) Starring Caroline Munro, Simon Scuddamore and Kelly Baker Written and directed by George Dugdale, Mark Ezra and Peter Litten It’s not a crime to be cheesy, but it should be a crime to be cheesy and boring – two words that aptly sum up Slaughter High. The high school highjinks kick off on April Fool’s Day, when a group of friends pulls a series of meanspirited pranks on class nerd Marty (Simon Scuddamore), one of which goes wrong, resulting in a chem lab explosion that leaves the boy disfigured. Fast-forward five years: someone has invited the gang back for a mock reunion at the old campus – now vacant and awaiting demolition. Instead of getting the hell out of there, they decide to break in and have…

DRIVE-INS, DELETE BINS AND OTHER SINS The meek shall inherit the dearth. Not a comforting philosophy, but sometimes it’s the only one that seems to make sense. Wait – I’m getting ahead of myself here. Okay, so all this recent Last House on the Left remakin’ (see review p.36) and reissuin’ (see The Gore-Met in RM#87) has gone and got me retrospectin’ on another film entirely. Granted, there are some striking similarities: my alternate choice is a low-budget early-’70s grindhouse skankfest involving a young girl being kidnapped, raped and brutalized in various fashions by a group of inept criminal scumbags; despite some comical moments and a suitably nasty comeuppance for the baddies, it’ll leave you despairing for the human condition and craving a shower. It’s a film loaded with enough…

DC TV LO-FI HORROR HOW-TO SPECTRAL SPECULATION THE TELEVISION HORRORS OF DAN CURTIS Jeff Thompson McFarland If you were a kid growing up during the 1970s, chances are you saw one or two (if not more) of Dan Curtis' made-for-television horror films. A master of the genre, the award-winning director, producer and writer (who passed away in 2006 at age 78) was the driving force behind some of the most inventive, nightmare-inducing shockers to ever grace the small screen. The man responsible for introducing a sympathetic 175-year-old vampire named Barnabas Collins to daytime audiences in the 1960s gothic soap opera Dark Shadows also gave us movies of the week about a former newspaper reporter named Carl Kolchak, who finds himself on the trail of a vampire in modern-day…

SOUNDTRACK TWISTED NERVE/THE BRIDE WORE BLACK Bernard Herrmann KRITZERLAND It’s ironic that one of Bernard Herrmann’smost critically derided themes – the addictive whistling tune from Twisted Nerve – became a minor sensation when it popped up in Kill Bill Vol. 1. Now, that original Twisted Nerve score is finally available on a crisp-sounding CD, albeit as a limited disc sporting the same brief contents that previously appeared on the A-side of a rare European LP. Even if one loathes that whistling “Main Title” (not to mention its bizarre pop arrangement), the main variations are exactly what Herrmann fans have come to expect: lilting harmonics, sombre strings and beautiful woodwinds that recall the composer’s gorgeous work on The Night Digger (1971). A more plaintive use of harmony, whimsy and orchestral dynamics…

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On Sunday, March 8 Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood was host to a loving farewell to a genre legend – literary agent, fiction writer, memorabilia collector and former Famous Monsters of Filmland editor Forrest J Ackerman, who passed away on December 4, 2008 at the age of 92. Filmmakers, writers, producers, actors and members of the public gathered for an afternoon dedicated to the man affectionately known as “Uncle Forry.” As per Ackerman’s wishes, there was no memorial service. Instead, a public tribute was organized by several of his closest friends, including filmmaker Tim Sullivan, writer/director/producer Kevin Burns, writer Dan Madigan and filmmaker/musician Joe Moe, who was also Ackerman’s caretaker. A Tribute to Forrest J Ackerman commenced in the afternoon as attendees on the guest list were ushered in early…

CASE NO. 89 Convicted murderer Clifton Bloomfield was on probation when he was cast as an extra in the Sony Pictures’ prison drama Felon. No one involved with the project had any knowledge of his criminal past. A month after shooting wrapped he killed an elderly couple during a home invasion. Writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights) is the son of horror host Ghoulardi (a.k.a. Ernie Anderson). Five coolers containing human heads were recently discovered under a ficus tree in the Mexican state of Jalisco. Additional death threats were written on the coolers’ lids. Police suspect the murders are gang-related. Jack Nicholson used real-life mass murderer Charles Manson as part of his inspiration for his portrayal of Jack Torrance in The Shining. King Henry III began…

SAM SAYS THAT THE EFFECTS ON DRAG ME TO HELL ARE PRIMARILY PRACTICAL. DID YOU SUGGEST HE GO THE TRADITIONAL ROUTE? Well, when we went through our initial meeting we split out what we felt we could do practically. I certainly didn’t disagree because I was excited about the idea of doing different puppet heads. With [gypsy woman] Mrs. Ganush, we probably did five or six puppets of her for different actions. I love that Sam wanted the movie to have that feel. I’m not going to use the word “old school” because to me that always gives the connotation that people don’t use puppets anymore. They still do. So Sam was basically like, “Okay, what are the best tools to pull off the shot? If I need to smash…

LATE BLOOMER Starring Masakiyo Sumida, Mari Torii and Naozo Horita Written and directed by Gô Shibata Bone House Asia Just when you thought Japanese genre cinema couldn’t get any crazier, one of the country’s filmmakers brings us a movie about a severely disabled serial killer. Late Bloomer is centred around Sumida (played by physically impaired actor Masakiyo Sumida), who is confined to a wheelchair and must rely on a portable computer to speak for him. With extremely limited use of his arms and legs he has a number of care workers attending to him, yet he still manages to spend a lot of time getting drunk, watching porn and taking in rock concerts. But when Sumida suspects that his caregiver Take (Naozo Horita) has plans for a girl who he…

AN ANGEL FOR SATAN (1966) Starring Barbara Steele, Claudio Gora and Anthony Steffen Directed by Camillo Mastrocinque Written by Giuseppe Mangione and Camillo Mastrocinque THE LONG HAIR OF DEATH (1964) Starring Barbara Steele, George Ardisson and Halina Zalewska Directed by Antonio Margheriti Written by Ernesto Gastaldi, Antonio Margheriti and Bruno Valeri Midnight Choir Back in the 1960s, Barbara Steele was the undisputed Queen of Italian Horror. With her large eyes, exotic looks and flowing dark hair, she made a lasting impression in such classics as Mario Bava’s Black Sunday and Roger Corman’s The Pit and the Pendulum. Now, with this double bill from Midnight Choir, Steele fans can rejoice once again with two of her more intriguing gothic entries. Set during the 19th century, An Angel for Satan features sculptor…

IN THIS ISSUE TALES OF ROCKY POINT PARK Jason Mayoh Undead Press CRIMINAL MACABRE: CELLBLOCK 666 #3 Steve Niles and Nick Stakal Dark Horse HOUSE OF MYSTERY VOLUME 1 Matthew Sturges and Bill Willingham and Luca Rossi Vertigo ANITA BLAKE, VAMPIRE HUNTER: THE FIRST DEATH TPB Laurell K. Hamilton, Jonathon Green and Wellington Alves Marvel ZOMBIE TALES #12 Various Boom! Studios SOLOMON KANE #5 Scott Allie and Mario Guevara Dark Horse For many horror writers, childhood experiences play a huge role in how and what they create. This is certainly the case with indie comic Tales of Rocky Point Park, written and drawn by Jason Mayoh. The series, now available in trade paperback, uses a reallife abandoned amusement park as a springboard for horror tales which regale readers with facts…

In a town built on the business of creating cinematic false realities, there is 2000 square-feet of raw, stark truth behind a gated, vine-covered facade: the aptly named Museum of Death. Located in a former recording studio on Hollywood Blvd. between the Vanguard nightclub and a medical clinic, it’s the creation of owners J.D. Healy and Cathee Shultz. Driven by a fascination with the scope of death in all of its guises, the pair developed the museum from its origins in the early ’90s as a mortuary-cum-art gallery in San Diego. (In the coming months the museum will return to its roots by opening an adjoining art gallery.) Their menagerie of the macabre is sourced from private collectors, donations and tenacious internet searches – they make it clear that everything…

From cramped night clubs to concert halls, Nash the Slash cuts a spectral figure, a mash-up of Universal’s bandaged, bespectacled Invisible Man, an evil circus ringmaster and a postapocalyptic pimp, performing in front of a projection screen and eerily lit from below. A huge silent film lover, his curious name is taken from a killer butler in the 1927 Laurel and Hardy film Do Detectives Think? Since 1975, he’s been a one-man band whose principal instruments are heavily processed electric mandolin and violin over densely layered keyboards, loops and drum machines. While much of his recorded output consists of dark, atmospheric electronica, he also has a serious classic rock fetish, and has played in the pop electronic group FM, toured with the likes of Gary Numan, Iggy Pop and The…