I originally posted about this YESTERDAY, but had to pull it (ie- delete it), because one of the films had been pulled due to it not being of "Canadian Content"... now, however, it seems that that film is BACK into the 16th "Kamloops Canadian & International Film Festival," and I've been asked to repost this.  Unfortunately, when you delete a post here... it's gone for good. And I'm just too lazy on Friday to be witty and write my own version of the press release that my friends at " Film Reviews From the Basement " gave me... so I'm going to type exactly what they posted on their own blog- but with the added change about the film. So, read on... From out of the cinematic basement and onto the big screen, the 16 th " Kamloops Canadian and International Film Festival " has plunged into a dark realm of B-grade movie entertainment with the inaugural " Dark Fest ", a loving tribute to the frightful side of cine...

Vampire movies have gotten a bit boring over the past few years, relying on either the vampire being either moody and angsty or in a rivalry with a werewolf.  But rest assured that there ARE some that step out of the usual vampire mold and are quite entertaining. Marcel and Amy, two vampires have stolen $100,000.00 from vampire mobster Jimmy "Fangs" Petrucci, and are on the run.  A mysterious vampire hitman has been hired to hunt them down to get the money back.  While waiting for his money to be returned, "Fangs" has to deal with a strange female vampire who is killing his gang on her path to the vampire that created her. " Strange Things Happen at Sundown " is a fun little vampire film that is witty and intellegent.  In 2003, it won the Audience Choice Award at the New York City Horror Film Festival. The story is well crafted and smart.  It uses much of the vampire mythology with minor changes to bring a fresh feeling to the vampire genre.  Unused ...

I have found that usually, when it comes to haunted house stories, those from Europe tend be a bit better than those made in North America, and are often more envelope pushing in respect to gore. Lucy and Norman- with their son Bob, are moving into a new house... despite a little girl in a photo warning Bob not to.  After moving in, strange noises can be heard as Norman begins to investigate the death of the previous owner- who happened to be a colleague of Norman's.  Soon, the family is involved in the fight of their life as the dark secret of the house comes to life and stalks them... I often enjoy foreign horror films, and I definately enjoy haunted house movies. " The House by the Cemetery " is a pretty decent one, despite some of its flaws. The acting was pretty good, though hampered by the dubbing.  The voice work was a little stilted at times.  While most of the characters seemed a little two dimensional, I still liked them.  The role of the young ...

The 1980's saw a surge of slasher films rising to prominence.  Some were effective, while others, though entertaining, were not so effective. During the annual carnival in a small town, a couple are killed and dumped in the river.  As the Sheriff investigates, a group of teens decide to have a private party near the river... only to have the killer being to take them out one by one... Some people will know, "Death Screams" under the titles, "House of Death" or "Night Screams".  Under any title, this film has some entertainment value- but some serious flaws as well. The acting isn't too bad, and is entertaining.  There weren't any stand out performances, though Hanns Manship- who plays the child-like Casey, did give a good performance in his role.  The characters are a little stereotypical of the 1980's, but still likable. The kills are decent, and fairly well done- though the one with the girl being shot with an arrow during broad d...

Over the course of the past month, I paid tribute to a great man that was born to make my favorite movie genre more fun- William Castle.  Well, today, I'm paying tribute to another great guy... me! But, rather than tooting my own horn about how my friends from " Film Reviews From the Basement " use a rating system devised by myself years ago, when Jay and I did a small website called, "Critics @ Large"... or how I have a minimum of 250 horror movies in my collection (so far)... or how I actually have a figure of the "Cemetery Zombie" from George Romero's original "Night of the Living Dead"... or... no, rather than talking about those things, I'm going to do something simple and elegant. I'm going to simply list a bunch of horror movies released in 1972- when I was born.  Now these aren't just North American movies, but movies from around the world.  I'll be underlining the movies that I have seen myself.  Let me know...

On May 31, 1977- after a career spanning 34 years, William Castle was laid to rest in Glendale, California's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.  He passed away at the age of 63 due to a heart attack. The end of an era had come... or did it? William Castle's influence still resonates today.  The character of Lawrence Woolsey, played by John Goodman in the movie, "Matinee" was inspired by William Castle and the ways that he promoted his movies- as seen by the use of "Atomo-Vision", and "Rumble-Rama". In 1999, a new movie production house was founded.  It's original intent was to remake most- if not all, of William Castle's movies.  This company is called, "Dark Castle Entertainment" and did produce two remakes before going onto their own original material.  The first film to be remade was "House on Haunted Hill", and was promoted with scratch and win tickets given to the audience.  Dark Castle Entertainment then re...

What would you do if unseen forces started to harass you in the still of the night? Micha and Katie are a happy couple living together, when they start to experience strange noises. Using a video camera he just bought, Micha is determined to catch whatever is disturbing them each night. What they both discover is something that may be related to Katie's childhood... and the entity that plagued her family... "The Blair Witch Project", with its success in 1999, spawned a new category of horror film- the "Found Footage" style of film making.  Using "found footage", the story is told from the more "personal" look at the characters and the events surrounding them.  One such example is 2007's "Paranormal Activity", and in a world of YouTube video watching is a great example. This supernatural horror movie is almost as low budget as you get: hand held video camera, cast working for $500.00, and the Director's home as the se...

My friends Jay and Shawn over at " Film Reviews From the Basement " has agreed to a bit of a partnership between our two sites.  Every Friday night, while they're doing their Radio show on 92.5 FM " The X " in Kamloops, BC from 10:00 pm to 11:00 pm, I'll be posting tweets for them letting their Twitter fans know what's going on.  We did it for the first time this Friday- and they managed to gain three new listeners!  How awesome is that!?!  In addition, once a month, I'll be stepping out of my corner and into the basement with a review of either a classic or more recent horror film.  We'll actually be kicking  that off this upcoming Friday when I actually review a Sci-Fi classic- Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey". I know it's not horror, but don't worry, I'll start in with the proper genre in April. Also, every Sunday, they convert their radio show into a Podcast on PodOmatic , for those  that missed the live show....