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Horror movies from every corner of the genre: new releases, indie standouts, international shocks and the classics worth your night.

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Horror Fuel

Halloween III: A Second Look

Gather Round Your TV Sets, Kids “You don’t really know much about Halloween.” – Conal Cochran Oh, You Mean THAT Halloween Movie… It’s the one without Michael Myers. It has nothing to do with the other movies. This one sucks. Right? Well you’re right on two counts. Halloween III: Season of the Witch does not have Michael Myers. It is not connected in any way to the Jamie Lee Curtis storyline started with the 1978 John Carpenter classic and most importantly, it was never meant to. Halloween III is as misunderstood as it is reviled with most of the hostility for the film attributed to the concept of Cynema. “When the [ Halloween II ] script came in I thought it was…the anti-Halloween. All the things that Halloween did so well…had been tossed out the window…I understood that in the intervening time between the first movie and what was going to be the second movie that times had changed, audiences

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 18, 2015
Horror Fuel

Jaws 3D: The Third Dimension Is Cynema

Third Time’s A Charm Hey, weren’t you in Jaws 3? Why do they make shit like that?” — Fan to Dennis Quaid, star of Jaws 3D I’m going to say that while Jaws 3 is a bad film, it is not totally Cynema. The third shark film was planned as a spoof called Jaws 3, People 0. A script written by National Lampoon’s Vacation Matty Simmons and 16 Candles, Breakfast Club teen king John Hughes exists online. It was to be directed by Jaws ripoff artist Joe Dante of the cult film Piranha (remade as the fun Piranha 3D. How things have come full circle). When the producers of Jaws and Jaws 2, Richard Zanuck and David Brown were approached by Universal to produce a spoof as a third installment, they declined. “It would have been like fouling your own nest,” Brown said. Universal went forward anyway. According to the Jaws 3D.com blog, director Joe Alves revealed how he came

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 17, 2015
Horror Fuel

Jaws the Worst

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Reviews The picture above is a series of stills from the ending of “Jaws The Revenge.” People rip on Ed Wood’s hubcaps and pie tin flying saucer’s in his “Plan 9 From Outer Space.” However, Wood had about 200 bucks for his effects budget. “Jaws The Revenge” had about six million and you get what’s in that picture? Cynema: The cynical contempt for an audience in the making of product that is devoid of creativity, passion, production value or respect while having the financial and creative means to do better. This Time It’s Ridiculous…Imagine you are sitting in an office at Universal Studios. You approve film projects pitched to you. Here’s the challenge. Without any knowledge of the previous Jaws films, someone pitches you the plot for a fourth installment to the famous shark series. Would you or wouldn’t you give 20 million dollars to make this movie? Here’s the pitch: “We get Lorraine

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 15, 2015
Horror Fuel

The Past Comes Back To Haunt A ‘Girl In The Woods’

When a man is accidentally killed, his girlfriend is left stranded in a remote area of the Appalachian Mountains, leaving her to struggle for survival against nature and her own inner demons as memories of her father’s suicide come flooding back. Jeremy Benson both wrote and directed ‘Girl in the Woods’. The film stars Juliet Reeves, Lee Perkins, Charisma Carpenter, Jeremy London, John Still and Shaun Elizabeth. The release date for this psychological thriller will soon be announced.

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Aug 15, 2015
Horror Fuel

Cynema: Ed Wood–Hollywood’s Whipping Boy

No Respect Apparently Michael Medved, the respected film critic gets the credit with dubbing Edward Wood, Jr. the “worst director of all time” by referring to Wood’s crowning film achievement, Plan Nine From Outer Space as perhaps the worst motion picture ever made. This is not only to come to the late Mr. Wood’s defense, but to also show how off the mark Mr. Medved was in his 1980 book The Golden Turkey Awards. Wood is the antithesis of Cynema–his passion and love for film makes him one of Hollywood’s greatest directors. Say what you want about Plan Nine, Bride of the Monster or Glen or Glenda…bad films, yes. Bad directing, absolutely. However Ed Wood was not a cynic. This column will show why films like Jaws The Revenge, Godzilla 1998 and other big budget films are far worse than anything Ed Wood ever put out, including Plan 9. By many accounts, including his own, Plan 9 From Outer Space

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 14, 2015
Horror Fuel

A Sequel For Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters

Paramount is moving forward with the sequel to 2013’s action-fantasy movie ‘Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters’. Both Jeremy Renner (The Avengers) and Gemma Arterton (The Voices) will be returning as the ass-kicking, witch-hunting brother and sister team, this time to take on an even bigger threat. Tracking Board has reported that acclaimed French photographer and director Bruno Aveillan will be at the sequel’s helm. Paramount went in search for a new writer to rewrite the present script, which was penned by Tommy Wirkola, and found Michael Finch (Agent 47). Beau Flynn will return as a producer, through Flynn Pictures Company, along side Will Ferrell, Kevin Messick and Adam McKay under the banner of their Gary Sanchez Productions company.

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Aug 13, 2015
Horror Fuel

The Exorcism Of Molly Hartley Coming This October

Molly Hartley, played by Sarah Lind (Wolfcop), is now all grown up. The demon inside her lives on. It’s been six years since graduation, Molly is a suspect of a murder investigation and she has been admitted in into a mental hospital. Molly is wreaking supernatural chaos on the other patients and staff. It’s up to a priest (Devon Sawa) to rid her of the demon before she completes her transformation. Steven R. Monroe, who also directed ‘I Spit on Your Grave’, directed this supernatural sequel to the 2008 movie ‘The Haunting of Molly Hartley’. In the first movie Molly discovers that she is marked for the devil and will become his at the age of 18. ‘The Exorcism of Molly Hartley’ will be out on DVD and Blu-Ray on October 20, 2015.

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Aug 13, 2015
Horror Fuel

What Is Cynema?

What Is Cynema? For those of you wanting to be filmmakers, screenwriters or even actors, this blog is a way to address a trend that’s been gaining cultural power in the entertainment world. It is not column about how much you “love” or “hate” a movie. This will look at certain films that fit criteria called “Cynema” while other films examined will be those deserving of a second chance and look. Cynema: The cynical practice of contempt for an audience in the making of product that is devoid of creativity, passion, production value or respect while having the financial and creative means to do better. Some films in the following list are Cynema while others deserve a second look: Jaws 3D, Jaws The Revenge (aka Jaws 4), King Kong 1976, King Kong Lives, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Popeye, 1941, Waterworld, Gojira (1954), Godzilla 1998, The 4th Dimension, Psycho III, Alien 3, They Live, are examples of “Cynema” while

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 12, 2015
Horror Fuel

When Filmmakers Strike Back

Keyboard Warriors A bane of social media is the “Inspirational Tweeter.” This is the person whose life is going so well, they feel the need to tell you how you too can find the happiness they have. They’re a digital Hallmark Card, the cyber chicken soup for the soul. It’s amazing how much annoyance can be packed into 140 characters. Another facet is the “Hipster Movie Reviewer.” These are the folks (usually male) with a blog or You Tube Channel who think they know about movies. Some are ballsy enough to take on real reviewers like Scott Weinberg and tell THEM how they’re wrong or “set them straight” especially when it comes to super hero or Adam Sandler films. These “reviewers” usually have little production value. Their videos are shot with no lighting or professional sound and while some have under 50 views they usually start their critiques with “Hey Everyone…” Everyone? You mean the 6 viewers minus the ones

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 12, 2015
Horror Fuel

NOT A REBOOT. NOT A REMAKE. IT’S A REPACKAGING

The Summer of the Dinosaur Dinosaurs clobbered the combined super hero talents of The Avengers. They also handed Schwarzenegger his T-800 ass. Interestingly all three films are bred from the same cynical experiment that might have started in JJ Abrams’s lab…repackaging. Cynema has evolved or been upgraded much like Arnie’s T800 at the end of the latest Terminator franchise. My definition of Cynema says that a movie is made deliberately bad even if the filmmakers have the means to do it better. In the case of Jurassic World, Terminator Genysis and Star Trek: Into Darkness they are beautifully produced films, but all the more deceptive. These films all lack a central thing: a well done script. All three of these films are not unfolding stories, but rather set pieces stitched together with basic dialogue and character development to push things toward the next set piece. The argument could be made, that in a few years, the need for directors and

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 12, 2015

More from Movies

Horror Fuel

Halloween III: A Second Look

Gather Round Your TV Sets, Kids “You don’t really know much about Halloween.” – Conal Cochran Oh, You Mean THAT Halloween Movie… It’s the one without Michael Myers. It has nothing to do with the other movies. This one sucks. Right? Well you’re right on two counts. Halloween III: Season of the Witch does not have Michael Myers. It is not connected in any way to the Jamie Lee Curtis storyline started with the 1978 John Carpenter classic and most importantly, it was never meant to. Halloween III is as misunderstood as it is reviled with most of the hostility for the film attributed to the concept of Cynema. “When the [ Halloween II ] script came in I thought it was…the anti-Halloween. All the things that Halloween did so well…had been tossed out the window…I understood that in the intervening time between the first movie and what was going to be the second movie that times had changed, audiences

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 18, 2015
Horror Fuel

Jaws 3D: The Third Dimension Is Cynema

Third Time’s A Charm Hey, weren’t you in Jaws 3? Why do they make shit like that?” — Fan to Dennis Quaid, star of Jaws 3D I’m going to say that while Jaws 3 is a bad film, it is not totally Cynema. The third shark film was planned as a spoof called Jaws 3, People 0. A script written by National Lampoon’s Vacation Matty Simmons and 16 Candles, Breakfast Club teen king John Hughes exists online. It was to be directed by Jaws ripoff artist Joe Dante of the cult film Piranha (remade as the fun Piranha 3D. How things have come full circle). When the producers of Jaws and Jaws 2, Richard Zanuck and David Brown were approached by Universal to produce a spoof as a third installment, they declined. “It would have been like fouling your own nest,” Brown said. Universal went forward anyway. According to the Jaws 3D.com blog, director Joe Alves revealed how he came

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 17, 2015
Horror Fuel

Jaws the Worst

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Reviews The picture above is a series of stills from the ending of “Jaws The Revenge.” People rip on Ed Wood’s hubcaps and pie tin flying saucer’s in his “Plan 9 From Outer Space.” However, Wood had about 200 bucks for his effects budget. “Jaws The Revenge” had about six million and you get what’s in that picture? Cynema: The cynical contempt for an audience in the making of product that is devoid of creativity, passion, production value or respect while having the financial and creative means to do better. This Time It’s Ridiculous…Imagine you are sitting in an office at Universal Studios. You approve film projects pitched to you. Here’s the challenge. Without any knowledge of the previous Jaws films, someone pitches you the plot for a fourth installment to the famous shark series. Would you or wouldn’t you give 20 million dollars to make this movie? Here’s the pitch: “We get Lorraine

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 15, 2015
Horror Fuel

The Past Comes Back To Haunt A ‘Girl In The Woods’

When a man is accidentally killed, his girlfriend is left stranded in a remote area of the Appalachian Mountains, leaving her to struggle for survival against nature and her own inner demons as memories of her father’s suicide come flooding back. Jeremy Benson both wrote and directed ‘Girl in the Woods’. The film stars Juliet Reeves, Lee Perkins, Charisma Carpenter, Jeremy London, John Still and Shaun Elizabeth. The release date for this psychological thriller will soon be announced.

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Aug 15, 2015
Horror Fuel

Cynema: Ed Wood–Hollywood’s Whipping Boy

No Respect Apparently Michael Medved, the respected film critic gets the credit with dubbing Edward Wood, Jr. the “worst director of all time” by referring to Wood’s crowning film achievement, Plan Nine From Outer Space as perhaps the worst motion picture ever made. This is not only to come to the late Mr. Wood’s defense, but to also show how off the mark Mr. Medved was in his 1980 book The Golden Turkey Awards. Wood is the antithesis of Cynema–his passion and love for film makes him one of Hollywood’s greatest directors. Say what you want about Plan Nine, Bride of the Monster or Glen or Glenda…bad films, yes. Bad directing, absolutely. However Ed Wood was not a cynic. This column will show why films like Jaws The Revenge, Godzilla 1998 and other big budget films are far worse than anything Ed Wood ever put out, including Plan 9. By many accounts, including his own, Plan 9 From Outer Space

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 14, 2015
Horror Fuel

A Sequel For Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters

Paramount is moving forward with the sequel to 2013’s action-fantasy movie ‘Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters’. Both Jeremy Renner (The Avengers) and Gemma Arterton (The Voices) will be returning as the ass-kicking, witch-hunting brother and sister team, this time to take on an even bigger threat. Tracking Board has reported that acclaimed French photographer and director Bruno Aveillan will be at the sequel’s helm. Paramount went in search for a new writer to rewrite the present script, which was penned by Tommy Wirkola, and found Michael Finch (Agent 47). Beau Flynn will return as a producer, through Flynn Pictures Company, along side Will Ferrell, Kevin Messick and Adam McKay under the banner of their Gary Sanchez Productions company.

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Aug 13, 2015
Horror Fuel

The Exorcism Of Molly Hartley Coming This October

Molly Hartley, played by Sarah Lind (Wolfcop), is now all grown up. The demon inside her lives on. It’s been six years since graduation, Molly is a suspect of a murder investigation and she has been admitted in into a mental hospital. Molly is wreaking supernatural chaos on the other patients and staff. It’s up to a priest (Devon Sawa) to rid her of the demon before she completes her transformation. Steven R. Monroe, who also directed ‘I Spit on Your Grave’, directed this supernatural sequel to the 2008 movie ‘The Haunting of Molly Hartley’. In the first movie Molly discovers that she is marked for the devil and will become his at the age of 18. ‘The Exorcism of Molly Hartley’ will be out on DVD and Blu-Ray on October 20, 2015.

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Aug 13, 2015
Horror Fuel

What Is Cynema?

What Is Cynema? For those of you wanting to be filmmakers, screenwriters or even actors, this blog is a way to address a trend that’s been gaining cultural power in the entertainment world. It is not column about how much you “love” or “hate” a movie. This will look at certain films that fit criteria called “Cynema” while other films examined will be those deserving of a second chance and look. Cynema: The cynical practice of contempt for an audience in the making of product that is devoid of creativity, passion, production value or respect while having the financial and creative means to do better. Some films in the following list are Cynema while others deserve a second look: Jaws 3D, Jaws The Revenge (aka Jaws 4), King Kong 1976, King Kong Lives, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Popeye, 1941, Waterworld, Gojira (1954), Godzilla 1998, The 4th Dimension, Psycho III, Alien 3, They Live, are examples of “Cynema” while

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 12, 2015
Horror Fuel

When Filmmakers Strike Back

Keyboard Warriors A bane of social media is the “Inspirational Tweeter.” This is the person whose life is going so well, they feel the need to tell you how you too can find the happiness they have. They’re a digital Hallmark Card, the cyber chicken soup for the soul. It’s amazing how much annoyance can be packed into 140 characters. Another facet is the “Hipster Movie Reviewer.” These are the folks (usually male) with a blog or You Tube Channel who think they know about movies. Some are ballsy enough to take on real reviewers like Scott Weinberg and tell THEM how they’re wrong or “set them straight” especially when it comes to super hero or Adam Sandler films. These “reviewers” usually have little production value. Their videos are shot with no lighting or professional sound and while some have under 50 views they usually start their critiques with “Hey Everyone…” Everyone? You mean the 6 viewers minus the ones

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 12, 2015
Horror Fuel

NOT A REBOOT. NOT A REMAKE. IT’S A REPACKAGING

The Summer of the Dinosaur Dinosaurs clobbered the combined super hero talents of The Avengers. They also handed Schwarzenegger his T-800 ass. Interestingly all three films are bred from the same cynical experiment that might have started in JJ Abrams’s lab…repackaging. Cynema has evolved or been upgraded much like Arnie’s T800 at the end of the latest Terminator franchise. My definition of Cynema says that a movie is made deliberately bad even if the filmmakers have the means to do it better. In the case of Jurassic World, Terminator Genysis and Star Trek: Into Darkness they are beautifully produced films, but all the more deceptive. These films all lack a central thing: a well done script. All three of these films are not unfolding stories, but rather set pieces stitched together with basic dialogue and character development to push things toward the next set piece. The argument could be made, that in a few years, the need for directors and

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 12, 2015
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