HATCHET III

Mr Jim Moon takes a look back at Adam Green's modern day slasher saga,  and reviews the (so far) final chapter of the Victor Crowley story.... Hatchet III

CLICK HERE FOR THE REVIEW

ALL SUPERHEROES MUST DIE (2013)

Four heroes from a now defunct superhero team are reunited when they are kidnapped and wake up in a deserted town. Stripped of their powers, their arch nemesis Rickshaw (James Remar) forces them to compete in a series of brutal challenges to save the kidnapped townsfolk...

Over at Geekplanet Online this week, Mr Jim Moon takes a look at Jason Trost's low budget exercise in super heroics - All Superheroes Must Die (AKA VS. )

CLICK TO FIND OUT IF ALL SUPERHEROES MUST DIE! 

STOKER'S MANUSCRIPT by Royce Prouty

When Joseph Barkeley receives a call enlisting his services to authenticate the original draft of Bram Stoker's Dracula, he is intrigued. And he agrees to return to his childhood home of Romania and hand-deliver the manuscript to a most mysterious buyer...

Mr Jim Moon likewise receives a call - to review a new book from a first time novelist which is based around the literary genesis of the Count and plays with Stoker's mythology.

Take a trip to Geekplanetonline and discover what lies at the heart of Stoker's Manuscript 

WHITSTABLE by Stephen Volk

In 1971 in Whitstable, Kent, a middle-aged man, wracked with grief, is walking along the beach. A boy walks approaches him and, taking him for the famous vampire-hunter Doctor Van Helsing from the Hammer movies, asks for his help. Because he believes his stepfather really is a vampire…

...And so begins Whitstable, a new novella from Stephen Volk starring the one and only Peter Cushing.

Mr Jim Moon reviews Whistable by here

MANIAC (2012)

Another day, another cult horror remake... William Lustig's Maniac (1980) gets a 21st century make-over, with the deranged Frank Zito regenerating from sleazy Joe Spinell into cute Elijah "Mr Bilbo" Wood! Surely this will never work...

Click here to discover how Elijah Wood has fallen into some very bad hobbits!

JAGO by Kim Newman

Those lovely folks at Titan Books are reissuing Kim Newman's back catalogue  and the latest release is his third novel Jago (£8.99 and out now). So over at Geekplanet Online, Mr Jim Moon makes a most welcome return to the village of Alder !

Click here for the review!

BEFORE DAWN (2013)

Alex and Meg's marriage is falling apart and so in order to have some quality time together away from the pressure of work and their young family, they have rented a charming little cottage in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales. However unfortunately for them, this particular weekend it turns out that the world itself is falling apart too...

Mr Jim Moon takes a look at a cracking new British zombie movie, starring and created by Joanne Mitchell and Dominic Brunt!

CLICK TO BE EATEN BY ZOMBIES IN THE PICTURESQUE YORKSHIRE DALES!

Their Dear Little Ghost

Just in time for Christmas Eve, a special edition of Hypnobobs for the Geekplanet Christmas Stocking! As you might expect, this involves Mr Jim Moon reading a suitably seasonal Victorian ghost story - 

Their Dear Little Ghost by Elia W. Peattie.

Find it here!

or 

Direct Download here

   HYPNOBOBS is hosted by GeekPlanetOnline and is part of the ROGUE TWO Podcasting network.

CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS

Lovely Molly (2012)

From one of the codirectors of The Blair Witch Project, Eduardo Sanchez comes Lovely Molly, a creepy tale of ... a haunting? ...or madness?

Click here for the full review

BLOOD CAR

There's thrills, spills, lots of blood... and a vegan school teacher?!? Take a trip to a nightmare near future where the high price of gas has spawned the invention of car that runs on the red stuff running in your veins!

CLICK HERE TO HIT THE ROAD AND  READ MORE!

EXIT HUMANITY (2012)

Zombies! Bill Moseley! In the American Civil War?!? Yes, it's the period walking dead apocalypse - Exit Humanity! 

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE!

THE BLACK DOG VS CREEPSHOW

In this weeks episode Lee & Darren are joined by the mighty Jim Moon of Hypnobobs as they tackle such diverse subjects as crappy government delivery forms, Indiana Jones 5, Karl Urban's chicken neck, wedding food, Amy Jo Johnson again and the horror of Tang the Zingzilla...

And after a live Profanasaurus from our guest and a new shitty superhero, the three intrepid heroes flick through the pages of EC Comics homage film Creepshow. Will it stand up to a rewatch or is it just papier-mâché  waiting to be recycled?

Download THE BLACK DOG - EPISODE 118: Meteor Shit! here

TANGENTIAL DEVIATION #3

And just what is a Tangential Deviation I you cry?

Well it's what happens when two experienced podcasters allow their waffling segues to become the show? Dave Probert and Matt Dillon embrace the lost art of conversation to explore this oddly terrifying premise, dragging fellow podcasters and other guests along for the ride whenever possible. The timer's set for 99 minutes, the chatter is embraced rather than curtailed... anything could happen!

And why 99 minutes? Because that's how long Darkman's synthetic skin lasted! Obviously!

This week, Mr Jim Moon joined the affray to discuss subjects ranging from the Austin Powers sequels to advertising movies with sandwich boards alone!

Hear this rambling epic here

Evidence (2011)

Four friends go camping in the woods while making a documentary? In a found footage movie? So then isn't Evidence just another knock-off of The Blair Witch Project then?

Click here and find out in the review!

BONG OF THE DEAD!

The Dead are a busy bunch aren't they? They've been Blind, Evil, and even Video! And they've had two Dawns, two Days, a Flight and even a Stag Night! And now they've got a bong?!?

Click here to read Mr Jim Moon's review of BONG OF THE DEAD over at Geekplanet Online!

UMBRAGE - THE FIRST VAMPIRE

Another day and another vampire flick! But this low budget production is one with a difference... The unintentional pun 'bloody strange' immediately spring to mind...

Find out what I made of UMBRAGE THE FIRST VAMPIRE at Geekplanet Online! 

THE GENTLEMEN'S GRINDHOUSE

It’s been a while since I turned the old critical spotlight on to the world of podcasts, and so it must be high time to rectify that! And what better way to begin than taking a look at a recent discovery…

“A podcast for the more laid back horror fan. Put on your smoking jacket, light your pipe and have our manservant pour you a large brandy, then come and take the seat we've reserved for you at The Gentlemen's Grindhouse (ladies welcome too!)...”

Coming to you every fortnight from Geekplanet Online, The Gentlemen’s Grindhouse is a young podcast, just ten episodes old at the time of writing. However don’t be fooled by their relative youth, as this is a ‘cast that arrived fully formed and has swiftly become a firm favourite of mine. And if, like me, you are a devotee of the horror genre, then this is one you’ll want on your subscription list pronto!

The eponymous gentlemen in question are Tom and Matt and each episode comes in three sections. First up, the show opens with Two Weeks of Terror, in which our heroes discuss the latest news from the world of horror and also whatever genre delights – be they movies, TV, comics or books - they’ve consumed since last gathering around the digital hearth.

Next up, is Morgue Mail , the listener feedback segment and then it’s onto the meat of the ‘cast – The Morbid Matinee – an in-depth discussion of the film chosen that episode. Previous celluloid cadavers on the slab have been -

01 - Hammer’s The Vampire Lovers (1972)
02 - Fulci’s The Beyond (1982)
03 - Universal’s The Wolf Man (1941)
04 - Michael Winner’s The Sentinel (1977)
05 - The Legend of Hell House (1973)
06 - Martyrs (2008)
07 - Val Lewton’s The Body Snatcher (1945)
08 - Romero’s Creepshow (1982)
09 - Nosferatu (1922)
10 - Return of the Living Dead (1985)

And I’m sure you’ll agree that’s a very fine roster of film and a veritable banquet for the horror movie buff.

As I’ve remarked before in previous reviews, horror is a very broad church and the genre has a very rich heritage to explore. And the Gentlemen’s Grindhouse is doing sterling work in covering a broad range of very different takes on the genre.

But aside from covering a bit of everything the genre has to offer -from the old to the new, from the cult to the classic – and delivering intelligent and entertaining discourses on the films, what makes the Gentlemen’s Grindhouse so interesting is their unique approach. Basically our hosts are coming at the movies under discussion from differing angles: Tom favours the grittier end of the horror spectrum whereas Matt is more drawn to the more gothic classics.

Roughly speaking, there is a definite split in the history of horror cinema which occurred at some time in the 1970s. One effect of the so-called ‘permissive society’ which emerged in the ‘60s was a gradual relaxing of censorship laws which produced two landmark movies that provided a tipping point for genre cinema. And those films were Romero’s Night of the Living Dead and the Exorcist and as well as redefining the limits of what could be shown on screen, their explicit and contemporary approach expanded the boundaries of what the genre as whole could do and marked a distinct break from the previous horror paradigm that more genteel, gothic and period set, as exemplified by the films of Universal, Hammer, Amicus and the Corman Poe adaptions.

Hence discussing notable horror films from down the years with a pair of gentlemen who interpret these movies through the lenses of these two different paradigms makes for intelligent and fascinating podcasts. And as the more astute reader may have deduced from the episode list, our genial hosts alternately take turns to pick a different film from their respective period. It’s a fantastic conceit and makes for an interesting critical tennis match as the weeks progress.

As this 'cast does go into considerable depth with their discussions, it's a wise move to have already seen the films under the microscope if you are concerned about spoilers. But it's also great fun to play along at home as it were.

So no matter what pew you prefer in the haunted horror cathedral, there's something in the Gentlemen's Grindhouse for you. Indeed one of the great virtues of the horror genre in my book, is that it is so far reaching that it often opens doors into whole new vistas of cinema. And you could hope for no better guides to such pastures new than Tom and Matt.

So then, all that remains to be said, is click here now, and book your armchair by the fireside...