During my recent hiatus from the site, I have been adjusting some of my plans in regards to the blog.  A few things have been delayed, others will continue forward with only minor disruption, and a couple of brand new ideas have sprung to mind. I was hoping to launch my " Radio TCoT " project this October, but I will have to delay that until the end of May.  Until then, I'll use the time to learn and tinker with my sound editing software so that when I DO launch the podcast, I can present you with a decent product. With the new computer, I can once again resume work on " Project Terror Wear "- which is what I've named the ongoing development of hoodie and t-shirt designs for the site.  I have a couple of designs already created, and am working on getting them actually produced for sale.  I'll be posting sneek peaks of these designs over time, and will keep you all updated on this project. The first new "episode" of " What Movie We...

It has been a long 2 1/2 months since my last blog post here.  For that, I am sincerely sorry. July 15, which saw my last blog post, also saw us get flooded.  A valve on the hot water tank broke, and the water spread throughout the basement.  The damage amounted to the following items: The bathroom lino had to be replaced; The sink cabinet had to be replaced; The kitchen lino had to be replaced; The kitchen cabinets had to be replaced; The carpet outside the bathroom had to be replaced; The carpet by the laundry room had to be replaced; The living room carpet had to be replaced; The carpet in the two bedrooms had to be replaced; and A good chunk of the wall in my bedroom had to be replaced. That wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't been plagued by computer problems as well.  Those included: Hard drives not being detected; Read disk errors with the hard drive; Blue screens of death; Computer freezing up; Sound card problems (including one insta...

What do you think of when you hear that someone is a blogger... especially a HORROR blogger? Do you envision a gloomy room lit by light filtering through the blinds as dust motes dance lazily in the dry breeze of an old fan?  Do images of a room consisting of shelves of horror DVD's, books, and collectibles come to mind?  How about a slightly disheveled shape hunched over in utter darkness tap tap tapping at a keyboard- their face lit by the cold blue glow of a computer monitor... empty pizza boxes and Twinkie wrappers scattered around their feet? Or do you imagine an average sort of person that you'd meet on the street, and think, " Hey, he's just like me ,"?  Well, that's the thing about horror bloggers- they can be ANYONE. ANYONE... even your Grandma could be one. Some people get a funny look on their face when I say that I write a blog about horror books and movies... a sort of, " You don't look like a gothic, Crow wannabe ," look....

You've all heard me hinting that I've been working on some T-Shirt designs, in addition to coffee mugs, etc, right? Right. Well, I'm still in the process of getting a few things in place to begin production and distribution- but I figured it was about time that I gave all of you a taste of what I've got in mind. What you see here is one of the T-Shirt designs I've done.   Pretty cool, eh? Darn straight it is! I hope to have about a total of five finished designs ready for when the store is finalized online.  If you're in the Kamloops, BC area, I'll be letting you know which outlets have them for sale as well. I've also got what I call the "Special Edition" Zip Hoodie.  These will be used a promotional items for interview guests- and for contests that I have in the works.  To keep you in suspense, I'm going to keep the design a secret until the first contest starts! I know... I'm evil. Hehehe... Please f...

Most readers are probably (hopefully) already familiar with one of the regular features of this blog- "What Movie Wednesday."  Right?  Right. Well, since the response to that feature has been good, it's about time that I add another regular feature- "Grave Questions".  In this feature, I'll be asking various horror related people questions... and they answer.  Or at least I hope they answer- as not doing so would make the articles really short. What sort of horror related people will I interview?  Well, I hope to talk to people who produce and direct horror films, people that star in horror films, people that write horror stories, host horror websites, host horror related podcasts, etc. I plan on doing this feature once a month if possible, so stay tuned for more! Some people will have noticed that the title banner at the top of the site has changed.  It's the first of some of the organization changes I'm going to be implementing over the c...

There comes a point in a writer's life (even if their writing consists mostly of babbling about horror movies), when they ponder whether or not their writing has an impact on anything or anyone. Well, Google helped me resolve that own sort of issue in my life. In addition to this blog, I submit my reviews to another great site- Horror-Movies.ca .  My username on that site is "TerrorCorner"... just like my Twitter name .  Well, I decided to Google, "TerrorCorner," and noticed something that helped to make me feel better about whether or not this blog is having an impact on things. Because apparently, it has. I have been finding that many of my reviews are appearing on sites OTHER than Horror-Movies.ca .  Even though most of those copies link back to Horror-Movies.ca , rather than my blog, there's a sense of satisfaction that comes from seeing my words spreading across the internet. Some of the sites I've found so far with my reviews...

Over the course of the past year or so, I have been asked by a few people a couple of simple questions: How do you determine what rating to give a movie, etc? and What makes you think that you're right about your rating? I'd like to take this time to answer these two questions. First, a quick and concise description of how I determine a movie's rating:   The Good : This a book, movie, or game that manages to fully engage my attention and suspension of disbelief. In a book or movie of this calibre, I tend to come to care about the characters and what happens to them. The story is unique, interesting, and well paced- with a style that actually manages to flip my emotional switches as it goes along. A book or movie that, when finished, make me want to sit down and experience it again. The Bad : This is a book, movie, or game that is hit and miss when it comes to engaging my attention and making me slip into the world described within. In a book or movie...

It's a special day here in " The Corner of Terror ".  As of today, " The Corner of Terror " is one year old! Yay! So, to celebrate, I dd some cool graphic changes to the site.  As you can see, I've got a new background, section dividers, and even a new banner!  Woo Hoo!  Let me know what you think, eh? :D In the course of the past year, I've had a total of 27,212 page views, with January 2011 being the month with the most views (5,167)!  My top five most popular to date so far are: The Curtain Rises... and the Lights Dim... (13,846 pageviews); The Hunchback of Notre Dame (729 pageviews); Sleepy Hollow (704 pageviews); William Castle Tribute IV: Rosemary's Baby (552 pageviews); and Happy Birthday to Me! (453 pageviews).  Twitter and Google are the main sources of traffic, with the following being the top five countries visiting: United States (9,448 pageviews); United Kingdom (2,812 pageviews); Canada (2,464 pageviews); Ind...

Today marks the beginning of a new year... in fact, it marks the beginning of the last year according to the Mayan Calendar.  I'll have to remember to stock up on beer for it. Anyways, as those of you that actually keep track of this blog probably noticed, I stopped posting just after Halloween.  My life had just gone through a bit of a change around that time in that I had just gotten a job that had working alternating shifts that pretty much screwed up my sleep patterns.  If I wasn't working, I was pretty much sleeping.  I simply didn't have the time- or the energy to post my reviews here... nor was I able to do the Twitter commentary for my friends at "Film Reviews From the Basement" during their radio broadcasts.  Hell, I haven't watched a horror movie since Halloween. It really sucked. Well, 2012 has been marked by another change in my life- I got laid off.  On one hand, it bites since I no longer have a steady pay cheque, and some of the thin...

We often hear movie critics (and advertizers) describing a movie as a "classic"- often with the descriptive "timeless" added onto it.  But what makes a horror movie a true "classic"? Is there a scale that details the criteria that needs to be met before a movie can be classified as a "classic"?  Are there mathematical equations that when tabulated and cross-referenced with a chart of quality to help us in naming a movie a "classic"? Nope. The truth of the matter is, the designation of "classic" is somewhat subjective- the definition varies from reviewer to reviewer.  With that in mind, I will do my best to give you my definition of what a "classic" is... First, let's consider the influence the movie had on the industry and genre.  Did the movie change how people looked at horror movies?  Did the movie change the way director's, etc shot and edit their films?  Did the movie change the way that techno...

  I enjoy my horror movies, and strive to find as many as I can.  In the process, I have found that as cool as it is to collect the " Special Director's Cut Holographic Foil Cover Necronomicon Edition " of a movie, it's more economical (for me at least) to simply buy box sets.  Of course, there are other advantages... as well as disadvantages to buying box sets. The obvious advantage is  the financial one that spurred me into collecting them.  I have one box set that has fifty horror movies (pretty much all of them black and white ones from the 1920 up to the 1950's).  It only cost me $20.00.  When you do that math, that's $2.50 per movie.  When you compare that to the price of most single movie DVD's- $9.00 to $24.00, and you can see the financial value of purchasing box sets.  A definate point in favor of them. Another advantage is the variety of box sets.  Are you a fan of a franchise such as, " The Omen "?  Well, you can prob...

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...

The year 1914 saw two events that would change the world.  One was the First World War... the other was the birth of William Castle. World War One would change the face of the world from one of empires to one of republics and democracies.  William Castle would change the face of the movie world from one of watching a movie to one of experiencing the movie. Thus today, on April 24th, we're celebrating the 97th birthday of William Castle.  While some may argue that a war changes the way world leaders looked at the world was more important, I would have to disagree.  I feel that celebrating the life of a single man that touched and influenced the lives of millions to be much more important.  Yes, World War One brought may have brought countries freedom from Imperialism, but William Castle brought people freedom from apathy and stale thinking. After all, even if you're "chained" by the rule of an empire, you're still free in your mind and soul... but if you'...

In my entry for the 19th of April , I discussed the many "gimmicks" that the great William Castle used to promote his films.  In that article- and the previous ones in the William Castle Tribute series, you probably noticed that I put quotes around the word, "gimmick".  The reason for this is that I really don't like that word as it applies to William Castle movies.  The word implies that the ways he promoted his films were silly, frivolous, and pointless. I would have to disagree. Personally, I think of his "gimmicks" more in the terms of "Audience Participatory Supplements."  This term is actually more accurate than the commonly used term "gimmick". "How?" you may ask?  Well, I'll tell you. Let's take Castle's movie, "The Tingler".  By rigging the seats with essentially giant joy buzzers, and having Vincent Price tell the audience that they need to scream for their lives, William Castle mad...

The past decade or so has seen a series of remakes and reboots shunted into theatres.  "Halloween", "Friday the 13th", "A Nightmare on Elm Street" being the biggest names put out there.  This overflow of remakes and reboots has caused a serious drop in faith when it comes to Hollywood's ability to produce original and exciting horror movies. Personally, I'm not a big fan of remakes.  When I hear that a remake or a reboot of a franchise is being released, I'm automatically wary and sceptical. I can understand WHY Hollywood would want to remake a horror classic- they hope that they can recapture the success of the original. They want to earn money. The same goes for reboots.  Hollywood studio reps can say they "want to introduce a new audience" to the classic horror franchises, but ultimately what they mean is they want to feed younger people to the cash cow and milk the franchise for more money. Do remakes really NEED to be made? ...

Imagine if you will that you're a zombie.  You're shambling along the darkened streets of the city, the occasional flickering of the street lights illuminating you in a staccato rhythm.  Your kindred are staggering through the alleys and parks around you.  All you know is a need... an unending hunger... and undying, painful desire for human flesh. Suddenly the sound of voices, and the scent of living meat draws your attention to the intersection in front of you.  The deathly silent air brings the voices and the enticing aroma of dinner to you- pulling you forward with a sluggish limping gait.  You approach them, the shadows and their voices disguising your approach.  If you could articulate what you saw, you would describe one of the appetizing morsels as lean... low fat but tough.  The other tasty treat is high in fat, but tender. Suddenly, the street light on the corner comes on as its timer activates!  They see you, and in some dim cor...

There is nothing like sitting in a darkened theatre.  The lights slowly dimming... the curtains parting... the audience quieting down. And then the gasps, and screams, and the rustle of clothes as people jump and squirm in their seats at the sights upon the screen... There is nothing like the horror movie.  They can reach deep into our minds, and bring out most twisted nightmares to hellish reality in front of us.  They can splatter us with hot crimson life blood and slimey entrails.  They can stalk us from the shadows and pounce on us with the speed and violence of a black panther.  They can haunt us long after the lights come up and the credits roll. Oh, yes... to my mind, there is nothing like the horror movie.  Vampires, zombies, and werewolves.  Sea serpents, radioactive lemmings, and rampaging dinosaurs.  Faceless killers, suave psychos, and beautiful black widows.  Ghosts, banshees, and demonic children.  All up on the ...