Giallo?

In his interview, Jeffrey of nessuntimore.blogspot.com mentioned that he considers Suspiria a giallo. Richard and I have discussed this many times and I don't fight hard either way. Want to include it as a giallo? I can see that. Absolutely not a giallo? Okay, fine by me. I'm easy to please. (Inferno has some gialloish moments. What about that?) Suspiria is a giallo. What say you? Yea or nay?

Um, spoiler alert.

Am I Crazy?

In response to a comment left by Simon of Creatures of Darkness and Light (link on the side of the page) on Insidious 2 I said that James Wan had made the best horror films by a contemporary director being rivaled only by Ti West (and Rob Zombie.) This is obviously just my opinion. Am I crazy?

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone has a delightfully spooky and safe Halloween! Go watch something good. (I suggest um...Halloween!)

Update: So I published this yesterday and it got shoved down in the feed. Blogger (company) being stupid? Blogger (me) being stupid? Take your pick. I hope everyone had a great day. 

Alfred Hitchcock Presents Ghost Stories for Young People

Hey Gang! Richard has very kindly written a guest post! About Hitchcock!

Sometime in the 1980s, everyone went Alfred Hitchcock crazy. Between films like Psycho and The Birds being on TV constantly, Psycho II making its television premiere, Psycho III in theaters, "Alfred Hitchock Presents" in syndication, AND "The New Afred Hitchcock Presents" on TV as well, you couldn't let out a secret fart without the ghost old Hitch catching a whiff of it. I too was swept up in all this madness. I remember very vividly watching Psycho and Psycho II on TV one night and being completely freaked out. I started dragging a chair into the bathroom whenever I had to shower. I would jam the back of the chair under doorknob to slow Mrs. Bates down a little.

My parents couldn't help but notice that I was into the "Master of Suspense" so they got me his record titled: "Alfred Hitchcock Presents Ghost Stories for Young People" either for my birthday or Christmas, I can't remember which. Where they had obtained a copy, I have no idea. All I know is that this album brought me so much joyful dread that very night. Side A scared me so badly that I didn't dare flip the record over. Instead, I waited until the following day. In fact, I started it beforenoon so that there was no chance that Side B would finish after dusk.

Revisiting this record now, for the first time in nearly 30 years, everything is all new and familiar to me which means I must have listened to this record A LOT. I am instantly transported back to my childhood bedroom bathed in the gloom of a cloudy afternoon. There are G.I. Joes in every available nook and cranny. There is a collection of secondhand (and unread by me) Hardy Boys books. What the fuck is up with those anyway? How come they were never as good as the cover art? 

"Ghost Stories for Young People" is just wonderful even though it is wildly hokey. Any ghost story that features the line: "And in the door came a squirrel as big as a... SHEEP DOG!" is silly as heck, to say the least. Give it a listen and maybe get a little peek into my childhood. More importantly, see if you get a little creeped out by some fun yet effective ghost stories.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T255y7nKLY&feature=youtu.be

Slashers from 1989

While Richard was having The Vorheesathon he sent me a text complaining how awful Friday The 13th Part 9: Jason Takes Vancouver After A Long Boat Ride was and I said that I couldn't think of ANY good slasher films from 1989. He said he would have to take a look at a list to be sure, but offhand he couldn't either. So you know what I did: easy blog content!

The first things that popped into my head were Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Myers and whatever Nightmare On Elm Street film came out that year. Halloween 5 has a few moments that I really enjoy but as a whole is not a great film. I haven't seen A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child as I'm not a big Freddy fan but I think I have read it is not that great.

So I did some digging around and made a list.


Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland
Silent Night, Deadly Night III: You Better Watch Out
The Stepfather II
Intruder
Clownhouse
Cutting Class
Moonstalker
Nightmare Beach
Psycho Cop
Elves
Fatal Image
Freeway Maniac
Massacre
Las Vegas Bloodbath
Offerings
Out Of The Dark
Phantom Of The Mall: Eric's Revenge
Return Of The Family Man
Slashdance
Night Visitor
Parents
Hell High


I'm sure the list isn't complete and I'm not sure if all of them are even slasher films. Out of the ones I have seen I do enjoy Intruder and Nightmare Beach. Actually I really liked Nightmare Beach. I've seen Clownhouse but I don't remember much of it other than it's decidedly unwholesome reputation. The Cutting Class disc I got from Netflix didn't play all the way through. Elves is the craziest film I have ever seen and Phantom Of The Mall: Eric's Revenge was okay.

Am I missing some films? Are there films on here that I haven't seen but should?



Check out The Vorheesathon here:


http://www.cinemasomnambulist.com/2013/09/the-friday-13th-voorheesathon.html

Question

Today's question is short and sweet. What was the last great Italian Horror film? Hit me up in the comments.

Creatures Of Light And Darkness

Hello folks. Everyone should quit fooling around here and head over to Simon's blog. We've been corresponding through email for a bit and he is a gentleman of incomparable insight and wit. I suspect he speaks with a British accent. Anyway he is doing a big October blogathon and you do not want to miss it! He is too cultured to do something rash if you don't but you know how I am!

(And I know everyone is checking out Slashtober II at Nessun Timore. Don't make me come over there.)

Creatures Of Light And Darkness