The Horror Review

J.R. Bookwalter is one of the many talented filmmakers ever to bring Horror and Sci-fi films straight to video store shelves around the world. He is one of the pioneers behind keeping the low budget B-movie world alive today. Although you may or may not enjoy his films you have to respect the man, without his films the world of B-Movie horror might of died a long time ago. Many people don't know that he was discovered by Evil Dead and Spiderman Director Sam Raimi, who helped fund JR's first film "The Dead Next Door". After completing the film JR started to produce, write, direct and edit other films for Horror Director/Producer David DeCoteau. Soon after JR started his own Production/Distribution company Tempe Entertainment. Working with Charlie Band and Fullmoon Entertainment, JR and Tempe Entertainment have become one of the bigger and better Indie and B-movie Video and DVD Distributors. I am glad to have the opportunity to speak with him about his success in the Indie film business and his films, as well as rumors and what next for him and Tempe Entertainment. Horror Bob: Hello JR, are you ready for your interview? JR Bookwalter: sure am! Horror Bob: Ok cool, … [Read more...]

Horror Bob: Tell everyone what Zombiegeddon is about and where did writer Chris Watson come up with the idea? Andy Rausch: Well, Zombiegeddon is the strangest hybrid of genres I have ever seen, and trust me I've seen some weird shit. Zombiegeddon is basically "Bad Lieutenant meets Dawn of the Dead." That's a generic comparison, but it's the best I've seen yet. It's the story of two very bad cops who find themselves in the strange and unenviable position of having to save the world from being overtaken by zombies. The cops are played by two actors who are still kind of newcomers. They are Paul Darrigo, whom your readers may remember from Witchouse 3, and Ari Bavel, who has appeared previously in Catacombs and Todd Sheet's Zombie Bloodbath IV. As for where the story came from, who knows? Chris had already come up with the story when we met early last year. I found it to be so completely daring and unusual that I couldn't resist begging to help out on the project. Chris is one of those guys you have to watch. He's like Frank Nitti or somebody; he doesn't talk much, he's just taking it all in. When it comes to b-movies Chris is definitely a knowledgeable aficionado and … [Read more...]

Interview: Dan West and Rick Popko (Monsturd) Interview by: Horror Bob Interview Conducted on: 4/16/2003 via E-mail. Dan West and Rick Popko are the creators of a film called Monsturd, yeah that's right that movie about a shit monster, they made it. I had the pleasure of interviewing both of them via e-mail, to see just what made them go all out and take the chance of making a horror movie that contained a monster made of crap. Both these guys are great and funny as hell, their ideas are beyond funny and may even offend some people, but who cares who get's offended it's all in good clean (well maybe not so clean) fun. Visit their website at: 4321films.com Q: Where did you get the idea for "Monsturd"? A: We were watching Citizen Kane one day and we started thinking "You know what this film is lacking? A shit monster!". Or maybe it was "Jack Frost I'm thinking of. Actually we were spoofing a spoof. We saw "Jack Frost" and just thought, hey, no one's done a shit monster before (this was years before Dogma). We thought we might pull a "Blood Feast" and be the first of the inevitable shit monster genre, so Rick went to work on a draft and … [Read more...]

HB: First off Steve, awesome film, have to say it's by far the best horror film I've seen this year. I saw all the influence of such films like Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre. with all the films that I've seen this year coming out of Hollywood it's good to see someone that did not have their backing and with a limited budget, producing such great meaningful horror. SM: Thanks man, thanks. You know it's funny you mention that. with the film being low budget, We made this film on paper clips and rubber bands. And it's great to hear and read all the great reviews and for the film to be here, at this level it's just amazing. HB: Where did the idea for Malevolence come from, how did you develop the story? SM: The script from the film came from a hybrid of scripts. I wanted to write a horror script, but had a bank robbery script developed and it was kind of like a chocolate and peanut butter thing. You mix the two, and I kind of combined the two stories and it just grew from there. The story ended up getting layered with the whole child abuse element. I wanted to do a horror film that had more of a meaning than just kids doing drugs, having sex … [Read more...]

Wrestling with a Demon: An Interview with David DeFalco What type of guy has the gall not only to bark back at Mr. Movie himself, Roger Ebert, but then rebut the Pulitzer Prize winning critic’s responses? A big guy, a very big guy. David DeFalco takes a moment to speak to Egregious Gurnow of the Horror Review about body building, the director’s highly controversial film, Chaos, the Chicago critic’s feelings about the “the most brutal film ever made,” and what the director has in store for us next. Egregious Gurnow: Seeing pictures of you during the filming of The Back Lot Murders, you have bulked up quite a bit in the last few years, which becomes a paradox in that it is reputed that you left wrestling for film. However, you have an extended history and background in production and writing even prior to this time. So, which came first, the wrestling or the film? David DeFalco: My appearance from The Back Lot Murders to Chaos changed dramatically, almost like two different people. A lot of it was inspired by pro wrestling and certain wrestlers, like Dave Bastista. But, film definitely came first. Egregious Gurnow: Your scripts for Gangland and Point Doom were … [Read more...]

Jack R.: You have an incredible story of how you entered the world of horror. Do you want to elaborate on your beginnings while writing letters to the then head of New Line Cinema at the age of 14? Jeffrey R.: Well, I was always a huge horror fan. I started watching horror movies and reading Fangoria when I was 12 or 13. My buddies and I loved horror films. Especially because everyone else was freaked out by the blood and gore. We were like, “the bloodier, the better.” But when I was 14, the most important horror movie experience of my life happened. I saw the original Nightmare on Elm Street. I just fell in love with the movie. I didn’t know anything about writing scripts or how the movie industry worked, but I went home and over the next few weeks I typed a treatment for a prequel to the movie. I found out that Robert Shaye was the head of New Line Cinema, so I sent him the treatment. Weeks later, I got a standard rejection letter stating that New Line didn’t accept unsolicited material. So I was a little annoyed and we all know that kids don’t take no for an answer… so I sent it back with a surly letter, telling Mr. Shaye that I’d spent hours of my time and money watching his … [Read more...]

Susan Tran: Hi everyone, I just wanted to introduce you to Mick Garris, he's an executive producer and a director for the Masters of Horror series. It's going to be premiering this Friday, October 27th at 10:00 p.m. on Showtime. I'd like to turn this over to Mick so he can talk a little bit about the series and the directors involved [inaudible]. Mick Garris: Hello. I've never done one of these 15 people on a line at the same time before, I hope it doesn't get too unwieldy. And a lot of you I've spoken to before, we know each other from way back, and hello to the people I've never met before. I'm not going to make any kind of grand and glorious statement of any kind, just want to thank you guy, because, I mean, mostly you are fan sites who are into the genre and the fans are the people that this show is all about. And the fact that we're back for a second season is, largely you guys are to blame, so it's your fault. But this year, I think, is even more adventurous than last year. We've got Toby Hooper back with the damn thing from the Ambrose Bierce story, Richard Christian Matheson did the adaptation, and … [Read more...]

Ahhhh, Halloween is over and the seasons in Los Angeles are about to…what the hell am I talking about? Seasons don’t truly change here. This past Saturday, I had the pleasure of meeting with the ever beautiful and brilliantly talented star of the upcoming 8 Films to Die For select film, UNREST. Corri English asked me to meet her at an old and abandoned morgue at an undisclosed location in Los Angeles for a nice personal tour of the creepy corridors. Jack: Thanks for meeting me this morning at ummm…(looking around, I didn’t know how to describe this dark and morbid place). Corri: Sure… Jack: Are we allowed to be here? Corri simply smiles at me and proceeds into the dark corridor and I follow as any man would follow her. Jack: Unrest is a deeply unsettling psychological affair that resonates after you see it. Did you know what you were getting into when you first read the material and how did you get involved with this project? Corri: I was given the script and after reading it, I was intrigued...I would not normally gravitate towards a horror film but I loved the premise, I felt like it was a really intelligent script and I connected to the character of Alison … [Read more...]

Nacho Cerda carved a name for himself a few years ago with an absolutely terrifying film called Aftermath. It’s been quite some time since and the wait is well worth it. In his new film, The Abandoned, Nacho establishes the fact that he is not a one hit wonder. His film was part of the 8 Films to Die For and will be getting a national rollout in January. I recently had the opportunity of asking Nacho a few questions. Jack Reher: Nacho, my hats off to you for creating The Abandoned. It truly is a horrifyingly visceral film. There has been quite a gap between Aftermath and The Abandoned. What was the initial inspiration for this film? Nacho Cerda: Thanks a lot Jack. To make a long story short, The Abandoned came from an original script that Karim Hussain wrote back in 99 called The Bleeding Compass. We had met at Fantasia and became good friends, so he asked me for feedback on it. The doppelganger and the Russian elements were both very original and quite intriguing; it was a sort of Tarkosvsky approach to horror which really captured my interest. His story evoked such strong images that I couldn’t get them out my mind so I suggested him the possibility of taking … [Read more...]

JACK REHER: Dark Corners…quite the departure from the characters you played in Ghost World and American Beauty. Do you want to say anything about that transition? THORA BIRCH: It is. It’s different. It was a nice challenge for me, the first time I ever tackled a dual role. That was one of the things that attracted me most about the project that I’d be able to create these or hopefully create these two different people and have all the visual differences you can imagine and see the borderline psychological differences. JR: There is a little seen gem of a film from 2001 entitled THE HOLE…was this your first offering within this genre? TB: Yeah, you know I encountered material from all the kind of hot button ones and I just, I don’t know, I kind of view the both films I’ve been in are often put in that genre yet in a sense they’re not really part of that genre or considered a typical horror movie. The Hole was a really bad girl and it was obvious that it was coming from a person instead of some spooky entity like a ghost or a science fiction creation. In Dark Corners, it’s again some sort of psychological thriller in a sense that it’s more of a line twist … [Read more...]