HORROR 101 with Dr. AC

CURTAINS (1983) d. Richard Ciupka/Peter Simpson (Canada) PSYCHO II (1983) d. Richard Franklin (USA) Tonight we're jetting back to 1983 to discuss a couple of undersung gems from the heyday of the slasher boom, one a belated sequel to a groundbreaking masterpiece, the other a curious Canadian feature made all the more appealing by its troubled production, release, and subsequent obscurity. In PSYCH...

BLOOD AND BLACK LACE (1964) d. Mario Bava (Italy) AMER (2009) d. Bruno Forzani / Helene Cattet (Belgium/France)  In 1963, director Mario Bava made The Girl Who Knew Too Much and gave birth to the Italian film genre known as the Giallo. Named after a series of crime paperbacks with yellow covers, the Giallo was boldly contemporary, eschewing the cloaks and capes of Hammer's Gothic melodramas. A yea...

KING KONG (1933) d. Merian C. Cooper / Ernest B. Schoedsack (USA) SON OF KONG (1933) d. Ernest B. Schoedsack (USA) It's almost impossible to overstate the importance the original 1933 King Kong has had on the monster movie genre and on the history of cinema overall. As such, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that there was a time before Kong, and that there were individuals who brought the chara...

PHANTASM (1979) d. Don Coscarelli (USA) PHANTASM II (1989) d. Don Coscarelli (USA) PHANTASM III: LORD OF THE DEAD (1994) d. Don Coscarelli (USA) PHANTASM IV: OBLIVION (1998) d. Don Coscarelli (USA) PHANTASM V: RAVAGER (2016) d. David Hartman (USA)  When Phantasm premiered in early 1979, it was unlike anything horror fans had seen before. It was a coming of age tale that also dealt with death, loss...

IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE d. Jack Arnold (1953) (USA) INVADERS FROM MARS d. William Cameron Menzies (1953) (USA)  WAR OF THE WORLDS d. Byron Haskin (1953) (USA) ROBOT MONSTER d. Phil Tucker (1953) (USA) By the closing of the 1940s, it seemed that audiences had grown weary of the classic monsters of yesteryear, and were hungry for new thrills. Those exciting new stories came not from moldy crypts or...

I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943) d. Jacques Tourneur (USA) THE LEOPARD MAN (1943) d. Jacques Tourneur (USA) THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943) d. Mark Robson From 1942 to 1946, when rust was appearing on the Frankenstein Monster's neck bolts, Dracula was growing longer in the tooth, and swaddled, swollen mummies were limping along, both literally and figuratively, a savior appeared on the horror horizon, who...

GHIDORAH THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER (1964) d. Ishiro Honda (Japan) GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA (1974) d. Jun Fukuda (Japan) GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE (1989) d. Kazuki Ōmori (Japan) GODZILLA VS. SPACE GODZILLA (1994) d. Kensho Yamashita (Japan) GODZILLA: FINAL WARS (2004) d. Ryuhei Kitamura (Japan) Ever since the original Gojira debuted in Japan in 1954, followed by 1956's even more successful internatio...

LEPRECHAUN (1993) d. Mark Jones (USA) LEPRECHAUN 2 (1994) d. Rodman Flender (USA) LEPRECHAUN 3 (1995) d. Brian Trenchard-Smith (USA) LEPRECHAUN 4: IN SPACE (1996) d. Brian Trenchard-Smith (USA) LEPRECHAUN 5: IN THE HOOD (2000) d. Rob Spera (USA) LEPRECHAUN 6: BACK TO THA HOOD (2003) d. Steven Ayromlooi (USA) LEPRECHAUN: ORIGINS (2014) d. Zach Lipovski (USA) LEPRECHAUN RETURNS (2018) d. Steven Kost...

EYES OF FIRE (1983) d. Avery Crounse (USA) When celebrated photographer Avery Crounse set out to make his feature film debut, he didn't opt for the simple route of an escaped psycho wielding a butcher knife like so many of his early '80s contemporaries. Eyes of Fire is instead an epic venture into the realm of magical realism, following a pair of families in 1750 on the run from their Puritanical...

AUGUST UNDERGROUND (2001) d. Fred Vogel (USA) AUGUST UNDERGROUND'S MORDUM (2003) d. Fred Vogel (USA) AUGUST UNDERGROUND'S PENANCE (2007) d. Fred Vogel (USA) Inspired by the videotaped home invasion scene from Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer and the documentary aesthetic of both Man Bites Dog and The Blair Witch Project, makeup artist-turned-writer/director Fred Vogel elected to burrow below the...

CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954) d. Jack Arnold (USA) REVENGE OF THE CREATURE (1955) d. Jack Arnold (USA) THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US (1956) d. John Sherwood (USA) One of the best sci-fi/horror efforts of the 1950s and must-see material for any card-carrying genre fan, Creature from the Black Lagoon was the brainchild of producer William Alland who blatantly riffed on King Kong's storyline of...

DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE (aka Cemetery Man) (1994) d. Michele Soavi (Italy) Dellamorte Dellamore (aka Cemetery Man) is arguably the last great Italian horror movie of that country's heyday, and yet somehow still struggles for a place of respect amidst the masters. Originally a novel by Tziano Sclavi, and later adapted by Gianni Romoli and directed by Argento protege Michele Soavi, the story follows Bu...

THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (1953) d. Eugene Lourie (USA) GODZILLA (1998) d. Roland Emmerich (USA) CLOVERFIELD (2008) d. Matt Reeves (USA) Ever since King Kong tore up the town in 1933, New York City has played host to a number of giant monsters stomping their way down 5th Avenue and giving colossal headaches to insurance companies. Tonight, we'll be paying homage to a trio of cinematic goliaths...

MESSIAH OF EVIL (1974) d. Willard Huyck (USA) Clearly inspired by Night of the Living Dead and possessing the dreamlike, doom-laden tone of Let's Scare Jessica to Death, 1974's Messiah of Evil is a thoughtful, introspective, original and regrettably neglected low-budget horror effort. Directed by Willard Huyck and co-written with Gloria Katz (later the screenwriters for American Graffiti and India...

THE WICKER MAN (1973) d. Robin Hardy (UK) Released the same year as The Exorcist, The Wicker Man also wrestles with religious rituals and fading faith. However, while the former was an instantaneous sensation that garnered Oscar nominations and huge box office receipts, its poor British relation suffered the indignities of studio-imposed edits and general public disinterest. However, as time has s...

DRACULA (1979) d. John Badham (USA) NOSFERATU (1979) d. Werner Herzog (Germany) LOVE AT FIRST BITE (1979) d. Stan Dragoti (USA) THIRST (1979) d. Rod Hardy (Australia) VAMPIRE (1979) d. E.W. Swackhamer (USA) SALEM'S LOT (1979) d. Tobe Hooper (USA) The year was 1979, and it was a time of disco, political unrest, walkmans, and vampires. No fewer than six major film and TV projects premiered across th...

SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939) d. Rowland V. Lee (USA) YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974) d. Mel Brooks (USA) From the moment the original Frankenstein from Universal Studios was released in November of 1931, the landscape of cinema changed forever as Mary Shelley's creation became a household word overnight. Unsurprisingly for Hollywood, further adventures featuring the Frankenstein monster followed, some cri...

THE TERROR (1963) d. Roger Corman (and others) (USA) TARGETS (1968) d. Peter Bogdanovich (USA) 1963's THE TERROR, celebrating its 60th anniversary, is a legendary curiosity item from producer/director Roger Corman, more famous for its origins than the finished product. According to legend, when Corman wrapped shooting on The Raven ahead of schedule, he took advantage of Boris Karloff's two extra c...

HEREDITARY (2018) d. Ari Aster (USA)  MIDSOMMAR (2019) d. Ari Aster (USA) BEAU IS AFRAID (2023) d. Ari Aster (USA) From his Sundance smash debut, Ari Aster has been a rising star in the "elevated horror" firmament, challenging audiences with features packed full of adult themes, metaphor-laden subject matter, superlative performances, and gorgeous attention to production design. Polarizing as his...

GREMLINS (1984) d. Joe Dante (USA) GREMLINS 2: THE NEW BATCH (1990) d. Joe Dante (USA) GHOULIES (1985) d. Luca Bercovici (USA) GHOULIES 2 (1987) d. Albert Band (USA) The early 1980s were a magical time for fans of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy fare at the cinema, with genre fare being cranked out by the fistful and practical effects ruling the day, making viewers gasp, gag, gawk, and greedily gobble...