Night of the Slasher Short Competes for OSCAR® Eligibility

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Night of the Slasher Short Competes for OSCAR® Eligibility

The horror short, NIGHT OF TH SLASHER, has been making some very big waves and catching the attention f some pretty big names during its festival run. NIGHT OF THE SLASHER is written and directed by Shant Hamassian and stars Lily Berlina, Scott Javore, Adam Lesar, David Swann, and Eve Constance. Check out the press release below for the plot crunch, the trailer, and for more information about this short:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Horror Short Film Night of the Slasher Competes For OSCAR® Eligibility

(Hollywood, CA) – November 2nd, 2015 – Multi award-winning short film, Night of the Slasher, written and directed by Shant Hamassian, competes for Best Narrative Short at two Oscar® qualifying festivals; the St. Louis International Film Festival in Missouri, USA and the Foyle Film Festival in Ireland. If it wins, it becomes eligible for an Oscar® nomination.

Henry Selick (Director of Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline) saw the film at the Telluride Horror Show and said, “I really loved ‘Night of the Slasher’! It’s smart, clever, and funny!”

Night of the Slasher is a ‘shot-in-one-take’ film about a teenage girl who must commit horror movie sins by drinking alcohol, doing drugs, and having sex in order to lure a masked killer and exact revenge.

“I wanted to write a slasher film where on the surface, it is a self-referential genre film, however there is a deeper meaning behind everything we see and how we are all connected to this genre as a culture. I chose to write this film on a deep and personal level because I personally had to deal with a traumatic moment in my life. Making this film was an exploration on how to cope with those painful memories and to tell a story on how to not let the past control our lives. In the end, a great slasher film reflects the killer as a state of mind.”, explains director Shant Hamassian.

After its successful world premiere at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in South Korea, this highly stylized short has been programmed at 91 film festivals including the prestigious Screamfest (Los Angeles) and Frightfest (London). The short has been nominated for 28 awards and has won 15 including Best Short,  Best Actress, and Best Cinematography.

Starring Lily Berlina (the Slasher girl), Scott Javore (the Bait), and Adam Lesar (the Killer), Night of the Slasher is written and directed by Shant Hamassian, produced by Adam Lesar, Eve Constance, and Shant Hamassian. Cinematography by Eli Tahan, Visual FX by Alessandro Schiassi & Michaelangelo Frisoni, and Music by Simon Michel.

Shant Hamassian (@ShantHamassian) grew up in the rolling hills of Calabasas, California and attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. He has directed several music videos, comedic sketches as well various shorts that have won awards and played internationally in the film festival circuit. Shant is currently working with NBA Champion and former Laker, Rick Fox on a web series titled, Herman the Monkey. Night of the Slasher is a “proof-of-concept” based on one of many feature screenplays he has written, including Neville which made the 2011 Bloodlist.

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For more info on NIGHT OF THE SLASHER, be sure to follow them on Twitter, like them on Facebook, and can keep up to date on the awards the film has won as well as its tour calendar by check out the official website. For now, check out the trailer:

Stay Bloody!!!

Filed under: Breaking News, Horror Short Films, Independent Horror Scene, New Posting, Upcoming Releases

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TV Recap: ASH VS. EVIL DEAD Episode1: ‘El Jefe’

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TV Recap: ASH VS. EVIL DEAD Episode1: ‘El Jefe’

A blow by blow recap of the critically acclaimed first episode of ASH VS. EVIL DEAD.

SHOCK already gave you an advance review of ASH VS. EVIL DEAD but here, our TV Queen Alyse Wax lays into a blow by bloody blow recap of the first episode, ‘El Jefe’. Buckle in…here there be spoilers…

It’s time to re-meet Ash Williams. It has been thirty years since EVIL DEAD II (actually, a little less; I figure he is splitting the difference between the first and second) and Ash hasn’t changed much. He still works as a stockboy at Value Mart (formerly S Mart), where he can’t be fired because of “seniority.” He lives in a trailer, is an egomaniacal flirt, and has a fake wooden hand on his stump.

Ash goes to the bar and picks up a woman of surprisingly appropriate age. They fuck in the bathroom, but halfway through, the woman turns into a Deadite and threatens that they are coming for him. Ash pulls away, terrified, but where there is a boner, there is a way, and he continues fucking her – albeit worriedly. 

Back at his trailer, Ash makes sure he still has the Necronomicon. He does, but notices some pot stuck in the pages. He flashes back to a drug-induced encounter he had with a blonde, where he read her some of the Necronomicon in order to impress her. Ash is planning on leaving town, but there are a few things he has to do first. He calls Books From Beyond, telling them he needs help translating a book. Next, he flirts his way into some free housekeeping from his elderly neighbor Vivian. Vivian briefly turns into a Deadite with another warning for Ash.

Next stop is Value Mart, where Ash needs to get his check. The manager won’t release it until the end of the day, so Ash stays to work the day. We meet Pablo, his co-worker and perhaps only friend, and Pablo’s neighbor, the sexy Kelly, who just started working there. A pass at flirting with her doesn’t work, so he goes back to work. In the store room, the lights go out and Ash thinks he hears something. Investigating, he discovers a Little Lori toy has come to life. The two fight hilariously, but Little Lori won’t give up and comes at him with a box cutter. Suddenly she goes splat and Pablo is there with a shovel.

Ash relents, and tells Pablo a really quick, one-minute recap of EVIL DEAD II and explains that he is leaving town. Pablo thinks Ashi s El Jefe, the man meant to contain all this, that he can’t outrun evil. Ash doesn’t buy it and leaves. Pablo tries to return to work, but notices Kelly is on an upsetting FaceTime call with her father. Her mother died six months ago, but now appears to be back, visiting her husband in the most menacing way. Pablo promises to take her to help her dad.

First, though, they need to make a stop – at Ash’s trailer. Kelly is not interested in getting help from this aging creep, but the evil races toward the trailer and a Deadite arm grabs Kelly through the window. Ash returns to form, throws an axe at her, and it cuts the Deadite’s hand off.  There is a momentary pause in the evil attack, but Ash knows it is coming. He rips off his work shirt, uses Kelly’s belt to strap a holster on his back, and steps on a button on the floor. A boomstick pops out of a secret hidden compartment. He grabs it and, without missing a beat, shoots a Deadite over his shoulder. He shoots another, and against all odds, Kelly is taken by Ash.

Kelly wants to go save her dad now, but Ash informs her this isn’t a charity; he has to see a man about a book so that lots of people don’t die. He slides open a secret compartment in the wall, and there, behind a sheet, we see the silhouette of the legendary chainsaw. Ash pulls back the curtain, and finds Deadite Vivian. “We found you, Ash,” she growls and the two start tearing it up. Ash goes for the chainsaw; Vivian throws it across the trailer, knocks out Ash, and stabs Pablo in the shoulder, pinning him to the wall. Next she turns on Kelly, but before she can infect her, Ash wakes and Pablo kicks the chainsaw to him. As we have all seen in the trailers, Ash flies through the air, connecting his stump with his chainsaw, and slices off Vivian’s head in a bloody display. “You were right. No more running,” Ash vows. Looking at the chainsaw, he says it is good to be back. Pablo asks how it feels. “Groovy.”

But ASH VS. EVIL DEAD isn’t just about Ash. We also meet Amanda Fisher and her partner, Carson, a pair of state police who answer a call of a woman screaming bloody murder at a remote house. When they arrive, the house is silent and dark. Inside, they find a dead woman, and a live woman sobbing beneath a sheet. This is the woman Ash got high with and read from the Necronomicon with. She quickly turns into a Deadite, turns her head around, and attacks the cops. Amanda makes it out alive, but Carson isn’t so lucky. Amanda is placed on leave while internal affairs investigate what they believe might be a homicide. Amanda is depressed by this. While having coffee at a diner, she hears a rustling noise and sees a little girl across the room with a Deadite face. She looks back, and sees the little girl is just a little girl. On cue, a mysterious woman in the next booth asks if she is ok. Amanda just thought she saw something. The woman, Ruby, assures her there is nothing wrong with her eyes. “Sometimes what you think you saw is what you saw.”

I really liked this first episode of ASH VS. EVIL DEAD. It has all the trademark humor and gore that one expects from an EVIL DEAD production, and stands on its own while still paying homage to the original (though it seems to ignore ARMY OF DARKNESS). I do wish there were more practical effects in the show. The Little Lori fight would have been perfect if it was done in Raimi’s stop-motion style, but at least the CG effects look better than Raimi’s abysmal OZ movie. 

My biggest concern is that the show will fall off after the first episode. From what I understand, Raimi only directed this episode. Will another director be able to bring Raimi’s sensibilities to the franchise?

(Editors note: the second episode ROCKS!)

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Exclusive: Gene Simmons Discusses New Horror Film Company Erebus Pictures

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Exclusive: Gene Simmons Discusses New Horror Film Company Erebus Pictures

Rock and Roll icon tells SHOCK more about his latest endeavor, Erebus Pictures.

Iconic bass player, rock and roll visionary, entrepreneur, pop culture provocateur and insatiable horror and fantasy film junkie Gene Simmons announced earlier this year that he was joining forces with WWE Studios to form Erebus Pictures, a new imprint designed produce a series of high quality, sophisticated horror films.

Simmons’ love of horror helped shaped the DNA of the legendary band KISS, the best-selling theatrical art/trash rock and roll juggernaut he co-founded with frontman Paul Stanley 40 years ago in NYC. Simmons’ ‘Demon’ character is an amalgam of Godzilla, Lon Chaney and a mythical Japanese boogeyman; a living monster who marauds across stages spitting blood and fire and sticking out his reptilian tongue. But oddly, when it comes to cinema, Simmons prefers subtlety to splatter and, although KISS pulls out all the stops when they play live, Erebus Pictures isn’t going to be focused on bloated spectacle to dazzle audiences.

“It’s never been proven that the more money you spend on a movie, the better it is or that it will make more money,” Simmons told us.

“Now, you can’t do GONE WITH THE WIND for 2 million, so the subject matter is limited, but I’ve contended M. Night Shyamalan’s SIGNS, which I thought was a very good film, without Mel Gibson, without the big star talent, without M. Night’s money…it’s a 2 million dollar movie. I don’t believe that these movies depend on stars because if it’s high concept, I sort of want to see it.”

The first film from the Erebus stable will be the eerie, atmospheric ‘A.I. gone evil’ future-shocker TEMPLE, penned by Matt Savelloni.

“It reminds me of DEMON SEED,” Simmons says, “and a few other movies where the computers are so advanced. WAR GAMES had that thing, it was kind of way advanced and building as a computer that’s beyond anything. And of course, things start to happen in the same way as they did in ALIENS, when they sent in a commando team to find out what the hell happened. That’s sort of what happens. And then they come in and it’s a combination of TEN LITTLE INDIANS, probably closer in tone to John Carpenter’s THE THING. Which I thought was a better film than Howard Hawk’s THE THING.”

There are several other Erebus Pictures titles in development, including THE DEVIL’S TRIANGLE, a film based on the very real, inexplicable mystery surrounding the vanishings in and around the Bermuda Triangle.

“It’s never been explained why statistically so many ships and so many planes have been lost there,” says Simmons.

“To this day the compasses go nuts when you go into that area. There’s something going on. They think there are large methane deposits underwater that release naturally and so people die and ships sink and whirlpools and all this kind of stuff. But there’s no explaining why planes up there get lost. There’s a famous one with three coast guard planes that lost their bearing I guess went on forever and some people think it’s a doorway to another dimension. We don’t really deal with any of that, just that stuff has happened and stuff is going to happen to our crew.”

For the full story on Erebus Pictures, pick up the latest copy of DELIRIUM Magazine, where Simmons reveals more about the new brand and its plans for the future.

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Review: Gothic Horror Classic GHOST STORY on Blu-ray

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Review: Gothic Horror Classic GHOST STORY on Blu-ray

Classic Gothic horror film GHOST STORY is worth rediscovering on Blu-ray.

Fans of author Peter Straub’s brilliant 1979 novel GHOST STORY were more than a little let down when director John Irvin’s feature film was released in 1981. The movie was and is a streamlining of Straub’s narrative and thematically dense source, with characters altered, motivations removed, ambiguities made more explicit and many details simplified to obscurity.

But a book is not a film, nor should it be, and GHOST STORY is, when removed from any literary expectations, a shimmering Gothic horror tale, one filled with dread, secrets, sexuality and passages of full blown horror. A childhood favorite of this writer, the film has finally arrived on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory with minimal fanfare, which is a shame because the picture (especially in this lovingly remastered HD presentation) deserves as much attention as possible, all the better to steer younger audiences toward what is certainly one of the most elegant horror films of the 1980’s.

GHOST STORY is chiefly notable for casting a cabal of genuine Hollywood legends in principal roles. Elderly icons John Houseman, Melvyn Douglas, Fred Astaire and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. star as old (really old!), wealthy and educated New England born and raised friends who have long enjoyed the exploits of their self-made gentleman’s club they affectionately dub “The Chowder Society”. Every so often, the men meet to sit, talk, catch-up, sip fine liquor and scare the devil out of each other, regaling the most perverse ghost stories they can muster. And yet, when the film introduces us to them, it’s clear they are themselves haunted by some sort of secret, one that dare not speak its name…

When Fairbanks Jr.’s son David (played with a lovely 70’s mustache by A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3 star Craig Wasson) inexplicably falls to his death from his penthouse apartment window, the men welcome David’s twin brother Don (also played by Wasson, sans ‘stache) into their folds, where he tells a ghost story of his own…

Some months prior, Don had met what he thought was the woman of his dreams, a beautiful secretary named Alma (the delicious Alice Krige from SLEEPWALKERS and SILENT HILL) whose insatiable sexuality causes Don to become addicted, woefully derailing his once solid professional life. But soon, Alma becomes strange, cold and distant. She locks into odd trances and her increasingly unstable behavior causes Don to break off the courtship, no matter how much his loins may suffer. Soon after, Don receives a call from his brother David who mentions that he has since taken up with Alma and, despite David’s warnings to steer clear, he aims to marry her. Soon after, David winds up dead.

After suffering a series of startling nightmares, the initially skeptical Chowder Society, not only begin to believe Don’s story but in turn share a story of their own. Seems in their youth, the men also met a sexually liberated young woman named Eva (also Krige) who became their collective obsession. One night, after heavy drinking resulted in a volatile confrontation, Don’s father hit Eva and she fell down, smashing her head and was believed by the group to be dead. Instead of contacting the authorities, the group aimed to dispose of the body via a watery grave. But when Eva suddenly wakes up, it’s too late to rescue her from her ultimate fate.

It becomes clear that Ama and Eva are indeed the same woman, a rage-wracked wraith from beyond the grave who has risen to take her just revenge on generation of the Chowder Society men and take it she does, resulting in some harrowing scenes of Rick Baker-designed ghoul-faced shock.

But graphic gore and mayhem isn’t what GHOST STORY trades in. It’s an elegant, decidedly adult drama about sins of the fathers and duality laced with generous amounts of horror and erotica. Indeed, the copious amounts of nudity both female and male (if you ever wanted to see Wasson’s semi-erect penis flailing about as he falls from the sky, now is your chance) certainly earned the film its R rating and a sex scene between Wasson and Krige, wherein furniture suffers and lamps are smashed, is an intense bit of phony filmic fornication. This frank sexuality is an essential component to the story as Alma/Eva’s celebration of sex is what initially seals her fate and then, in her phantasmagorical state, is used as a weapon to destroy. The fleshier, sensational sequences also brush up nicely against the austere, snowy New England landscapes (the film is immaculately shot by the great Jack Cardiff, the same DP who shot THE AFRICAN QUEEN and THE RED SHOES among many other classics) and the dry, sexless presence of The Chowder Society’s members themselves.

On the latter tip, GHOST STORY’s central draw, the quartet of elder statesmen is indeed a treat, something Krige herself recalls in detail during one of the many wonderful supplemental feature interviews on the disc’s back end. These are actors who helped invent American cinema and to see them back in action (Douglas sadly passed away before the film was released), clearly relishing their roles and even quietly trying to one up each other, amplifies GHOST STORY’s importance as an essential piece of film history. Wasson is fine too, channeling the same sort of everyman-turned-obsessive that he played in Brian De Palma’s BODY DOUBLE.

But really, GHOST STORY’s appeal as a major work of adult horror rests on the porcelain shoulders of the young Kirge, who was fresh from the set of CHARIOTS OF FIRE and is nothing short of electric here. Krige can be fragile, coy, terrifying, fearlessly uninhibited and skin-tighteningly malevolent, sometimes within the stretch of a single scene. It’s the same intelligent, dangerous energy she would bring to much of her future work, including her majestic stint as The Borg Queen in STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT and her fluid turn as Mary Shelly in the underrated HAUNTED SUMMER. As Alma/Eva, she’s nothing short of mesmerizing.

GHOST STORY mutes some of Straub’s story arcs and pushes Eva’s fellow shape-shifting ghouls into the peripheral of the tale, never really explaining the cult of fiends who hang around acting as her familiars. But those elements are explored in the book in depth and said tome is readily available for those who seek it out to enjoy. But GHOST STORY the film is a sterling work of sophisticated terror that hasn’t aged a day since its release and is ripe for rediscovery…

The post Review: Gothic Horror Classic GHOST STORY on Blu-ray appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

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Electro/Industrial Legends FRONT 242 Want You To Join Them on Tsū!

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Electro/Industrial Legends FRONT 242 Want You To Join Them on Tsū!

Lock the target! Bait the line! Spread the net! Catch the man! FRONT 242 on Tsū!

Legendary Belgian electro/Industrial band FRONT 242 have made waves into fan-interactive social networking and have started a page on the emerging social networking service “Tsū”. This makes the band the very first Belgian act to set up a presence on the brand new network which is taken the internet by storm. This writer hasn’t had much of a desire to visit or join Tsū, but Hell, I’d follow 242 anywhere…

FRONT 242 joins the ranks of several other high profile acts from other scenes and sub-genres that have opened shop on the network, which reportedly is a lot more artist friendly than Facebook thanks to an unlimited global reach. Word on the street is that the folks at good old Farcebook are knocking their knees in terror at Tsū’s surge in popularity and are blocking every link towards the social network claiming it is a security risk. Sounds a tad too ‘Tin Hat’ to us, but if 242 is involved, I’d be spooked too…

FRONT 242 want to invite SHOCK readers to join them on Tsū.

Go HERE to join the veteran band that helped propel and refine the very concept of the sound of ‘cyberpunk’.

For all other things 242 go to their official site.

And feel free to groove on the wild Anton Corbijn directed video for the 242 classic ‘Headhunter’ from the 1988 album ‘Front by Front’, below…

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TV Recap: THE WALKING DEAD Season 6, Episode 4, “Here’s Not Here”

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TV Recap: THE WALKING DEAD Season 6, Episode 4, “Here’s Not Here”

THE WALKING DEAD delivers a masterpiece of television with the 4th episode of this 6th season.

THE WALKING DEAD is firing on all cylinders this season, opening up its narrative, playing with timelines and space, pounding out suspenseful set pieces and offering a much broader, more epic canvas to paint its arcs on.

With that, this 4th episode dials back the dense story forged in the first three installments, with the horror of the Alexandria fallout and the death of a pivotal character (IS Glenn dead? Everyone wants to know!) pushed to the margins in favor of etching a somber, 90 minute spin-off film.

Indeed, this episode plays like a quasi-western-cum-samurai movie, with minimal carnage, maximum atmosphere and many wide, open spaces; a stand-alone 2-hander that is as existential as it is affecting, while still providing essential backstory for a major character and giving an actor the platform to deliver some career best work.

In this episode we follow Morgan (Lennie James, who is mesmerizing) and the origins of his stick of death and life of peace. The show opens with Morgan addressing the camera directly, an obvious substitute for another character who is left off-screen, to be revealed later. Morgan promises to reveal “every last bit” before the action smashes to the character having some kind of mental break in a blood smeared room, ranting at everyone and no one as flames lap at the walls.

This is the pre-credits set-up for what will be Morgan’s story, the bridge between his life in Atlanta first charted in Season One and his new existence as TWD’s resident zen warrior.

We see Morgan running through the woods, slaughtering ghouls with wild abandon. The KNB –sculpted corpses keep-a-coming and Morgan keeps killing (including one head pummeling shot that rivals that of Gaspar Noe’s IRREVERSIBLE), piling the double-dead onto an ever-burning pyre. In one horrifying shot, a not-quite-decimated zombie leaps from the fire to continue his cannibal quest before Morgan puts it down once and for all.

But it isn’t just the dead Morgan wants to destroy. It’s everything and everyone. Any living person that crosses his path is murdered with equal efficiency. Every stretch of wood Morgan wipes out, he uses a stick dipped in blood (in one revolting scene we see the makeshift quill inking up in a zombie’s stomach) to write the word ‘clear’ on trees. He simply eats, sleeps, camps, kills, erases and moves on…

When he finds a fortified cabin in the woods, a voice warns him to drop his rifle. The same voice also offers him falafel. Morgan, still in a state of singular, homicidal delirium ignores this request and continues his raid, that is until he’s clubbed into unconsciousness by the unseen owner of that voice.

The home belongs to Eastman, a man who lives a life of solitude and peace in the woods. He locks Morgan in a cage and hands him a copy of the book ‘The Art of Peace’ and prepares a vegetarian meal for him, while lecturing about how man was not meant to kill. He keeps a goat in his yard that he protects and cares for, defending when stray ghouls drift onto his property looking for a quick bite. At night he brings the goat inside to sleep and asks Morgan to be kind to his pet. Morgan responds by demanding Eastman kill him. Eastman shuts off the lights an goes to bed.

We learn that Eastman was, before the end of the world, a forensic psychiatrist employed by the state to assess prisoners and see if they were contenders for reform. He tells Morgan that he, like all of the murderers and criminals he encounters, is not bad, just suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder and he offers to help Morgan and train him in the ancient art of Aikido,  to find a higher, peaceful purpose.

Morgan retorts by telling Eastman that he will kill him once he escapes. That he will do this because he ‘clears’; it’s what he has to do. Eastman tells him to reject such notions and it is revealed that Morgan’s cell was never actually locked. Morgan attacks Eastman. They fight. Eastman overtakes Morgan twice and, eventually, Morgan breaks down in defeat.

Over the span of days, maybe weeks, the two men bond and slowly, Morgan reconnects with his humanity. When a troupe of ghouls come into the yard and go after the goat, Morgan kills them, and, following the guidance and morality of his newfound mentor, buries the zombies in a make-shift cemetery. Even the living dead deserve respect and dignity…

Eastman shares more of his anti-murder philosophies while also training Morgan in his stick-wielding ways. In one poignant moment, Eastman promised Morgan (who, as we know lost his wife and son) that he will one day hold a baby again, which in the season opener, he did after Rick offered him a cuddle with Judith. But after a botched attempt to kill a zombie infiltrator (that is actually the ghoulified version of a boy Morgan previously killed), Eastman is bit on the back and, very quickly, the dream unravels.

With Eastman on borrowed time, Morgan continues his duties farming and protecting the house. But then the damned goat wanders off and is eaten by a sickening ghoul. Eastman is devastated by  this and the end of his life and the world he so lovingly created and passes on some final wisdom to Morgan before the zombie disease takes him and Morgan opts to leave the home.

In the show’s final moments, we smash back to where we began. As it turns out, Morgan is in the now re-fortified Alexandria and is relating his tale to the member of The Wolves he confronted last round. The thug is Morgan’s prisoner and Morgan is now attempting to rehabilitate this man, like Eastman did to him. But the killer is having none of this and calmly, distressingly reveals that he must abide by his code and that if and when he escapes, he will kill Morgan and everyone else, babies too. It’s what he is wired to do…

Morgan leaves the prisoner in shackles and re-emerges to the street. He hears a sound, turns and rushes off camera towards it and…
And that’s it.

How remarkable that THE WALKING DEAD used an extended time-slot to devote to this character and deliver such a beautiful, haunting piece of work.

This season is a masterpiece of television.

And here’s a look at next week’s episode:

The post TV Recap: THE WALKING DEAD Season 6, Episode 4, “Here’s Not Here” appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

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What Scares Horror’s Biggest Stars?

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What Scares Horror’s Biggest Stars?

Happy Halloween!! October has come to an end and the best time of the year is finally here (although I’ve been celebrating Halloween since October first in my home). I came across this article from TheWrap.com about what horror films scare some of the genre’s biggest stars and knew I had to share this with you all. The article is written by Joe Otterson and can be found here. This is a great list of horror celebs and it is nice to know they all have great tastes in horror films!! Here is the original article, unedited and unaltered. Enjoy, and have a great Halloween!!!

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24 Scary Movies That Terrify Jason Voorhees Actor Kane Hodder, Other Horror Stars

TheWrap delves into the spookiest films that haunt some of the biggest stars the genre has ever seen

Halloween is Saturday, which means it is time to watch all of your favorite scary, gory, and all around creepy movies.

In honor of the ghoul-tastic holiday, TheWrap spoke with several legends of the horror genre to find out what movies will be keeping them up with the lights on this year.

Check out each horror star’s list and why they like each film below.

Kane Hodder (“Jason X,” “Jason Goes to Hell”)

-“The Exorcist” (1973) — “Best horror movie of all time! Untouched subject matter at the time. By the time you reached the theatre, you were already scared.”

-“The Shining” (1980)– “I would like to say one word: Nicholson!”

-“Poltergeist” (1982)– This started my interest in the paranormal world and inspired me to form the Hollywood Ghost Hunters.

-“Frankenstein” (1931)– “I patterned Jason in “Friday the 13th” (somewhat) after this character

-“The Birds” (1963– “The first movie that scared me as a kid.”

Bill Moseley (“Texas Chainsaw Masscare 2,” “House of 1000 Corpses,” “Devil’s Rejects)

-“Night of the Living Dead” (1968)– “The first of the ‘modern’ horror films I saw as a youth scared me as a story and captivated me as a brilliant vessel of scathing social commentary. George Romero really is the godfather of the modern horror movie. Casting an African American as Ben, the movie’s stalwart & resourceful hero, was a master stroke.”

-“Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974)– “Scared the crap out of me when i first saw it on the tail end of a double bill featuring Bruce Lee’s ‘Enter the Dragon’ at the old Paramount Theater in Boston’s Combat Zone back in the summer of ’76. The fear finally left me when I joined the Sawyer family as Choptop in the spring of 1986!”

–“Ghost of Frankenstein” (1942) — “Bela Lugosi steals the show as Igor, Dr. Frankenstein’s not-so-trustworthy assistant. Moody, wonderful sets, score & cinematography, but the non-Dracula Bela is the standout here!”

-“Carnival of Souls” (1962) — “A B&W indy gift from Herk Harvey by way of Lawrence, Kansas, and Salt Lake City, Carnival stars the oddly fetching Candace Hilligoss as a church organist who is stalked by a strange & frightening fellow with black rings around his eyes. Climax at SLC’s old Saltair Pavilion. Spooky, scary, cheesy- how would you like to be locked in a department store changing room and no one can hear you scream?!”

Michael Berryman (“The Hills Have Eyes,” “The Devil’s Rejects”)

-“The Hitcher” (1986)– “Captivating and very intense”

-“Silence of the Lambs” (1991)– “Disturbing and eerie.”

-“Dracula” (1992)– “Dreamscape, omnipresent, mystifying”

-“The Hill’s Have Eyes” (1977)–“Gritty, honest, in your face.”

-“The Exorcist” (1973)– “Got on my knees and prayed with a conscious effort!”

Allison Tolman, star of FX’s “Fargo” and Legendary’s Upcoming Horror Comedy “Krampus”

-“The Descent” (2005)– “Surprisingly feminist ass-kicking shit show.”

-“The Babadook” (2014)–“A perfect combo of psychological and literal horror and Essie Davis is the KWEEN.”

-“The Orphanage” ( (scary that melts into heartbreak is the best you guys).

Colin Geddes, TIFF Midnight Madness Programmer and Lead Curator of Horror Streaming Service Shudder

“An American Werewolf in London” (1981)– “Rick Baker’s Oscar award-winning transformation certainly is one of the main attractions of the film, but I am always struck by our hero’s loss of control and helplessness in the situation. Plus, the best double nightmare sequence featuring Nazi werewolves!”

R.A. Mihailoff (“Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III”)

-“Freaks” (1932)– “This is the inspiration for the TV show ‘American Horror Story.’”

-“Carnival of Souls” (1962)– “Very atmospheric and spooky.”

-“Theatre of Blood” (1973)– “How can you go wrong with camping horror revolving around Shakespeare?”

-“Night of the Living Dead” (1968)– “First modern classic horror film ever. Created a genre still thriving today.”

-“Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974)– “Another game changer in modern horror”

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As always, I’d love to hear what your favorite horror films are. Sign off below in the comments section.

Stay Bloody!!!

Filed under: Guest Contributor, Horror Lists, New Posting

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