Zombos' Closet of Horror Blog

The Haunting In Connecticut (2009) Boo Who?

Since its inception in the field of spiritualism, the concept of ectoplasm has escaped to become a staple in popular culture and fictional supernatural lore. Notable examples include Noel Coward's 1941 play Blithe Spirit, and the 1984 film Ghostbusters, in which "ectoplasmic residue" secreted by ghosts is portrayed as viscous, cloudy and greenish-white, similar to nasal mucus, famously referred to in Bill Murray's lines "Your mucous", and "He slimed me!" (from Wikipedia).

ZC Rating 3 of 7: Good

Right before I drove to the theater last night, to watch a late showing of The Haunting in Connecticut, a lightning storm sparkled and boomed through Westbury, dropping pea-sized hail and fat raindrops by the bucketful. Perfectly horrid weather for, as it turned out, a not so perfect horror movie. While director Peter Cornwell and writers did manage to startle me twice, The Haunting in Connecticut has more in common with Tobe Hooper's energetic spookfest Poltergeist than the lingering, atmospheric scares in Lewis Allen's The Uninvited or Robert Wise's The Haunting--but not enough in common to make it as good.

The Snedeker family's travails with a reportedly true-life demonic haunting in Southington, Connecticut have been documented (I'll leave it up to you if you'd like to put quotes around documented or not) in an episode of A Haunting, which aired on the Discovery Channel, and in Ray Garton's book, In A Dark Place. Taking the cheerless funeral home ambiance and malevolent presence aspects of their paranormal experience, the movie embellishes it with necromancy, runic magic, angry earthbound spirits (earthbound spirits in horror movies always seem to be angry), and spiritualism. This backstory, involving seances run by the sinister Dr. Aickman and his reluctant medium, Jonah, would have made a more effective and terrifying movie entirely on its own.

Old Time Radio Suspense Hear the Fear

Old Time Radio Show Catalog sent free recordings my way. I admit it. I like free stuff. I like old time radio shows even more. Growing up, I collected reel-to-reel tapes of Superman, The Shadow, and Suspense. Of course, not being able to see the action, sound effects, voice, and creepy music conveyed all the drama and, in the case of radio horror, the fear and terror through my ears and into my mind's eyes. I always thought it funny the way Clark Kent would huff and puff as he changed clothes to become the Man of Steel, but I realized it was necessary to hear his exertions in order to show me what he was doing.

I was pleasantly surprised by Old Time Radio Show Catalog's offer. I planned on receiving a sample disc; instead, they sent three fully-loaded, professionally labeled discs. Now the question is, why would you buy from them when so many old time radio shows are now available in MP3 format on the web for free? Of course, you will probably not trust anything I say from this point on--I did get those discs for free--but I can give you one good reason, important to me at least: sound quality. Listening to Orson Welles' Suspense episode, The Hitchhiker, it was clean, crisp, and filled with all those sibilant emotional nuances of dialog Welles' deep voice could produce, which are often obscured by hiss, pops, and other sound artifacts often found in those free copies online. So I'll let you be the judge, but I recommend you check out Old Time Radio Show Catalog's offerings, as they are extensive.

Orson Welles, for whom the role was written, first performed "The Hitchhiker" on the CBS network's Mercury Theater on the Air in 1941, and then again on Suspense in 1942. The radio play was written by Lucille Fletcher, who also wrote Suspense's most famous episode, "Sorry, Wrong Number." (This episode also features her husband, legendary film-composer Bernard Herrmann, who composed and conducted the music.) In 1960, "The Hitch-Hiker" became an episode of the CBS television show, The Twilight Zone but with Inger Stevens in the lead role (taken from Escape and Suspense, a superlative old time radio show blog by author Christine A. Miller).

LOTT D: March Horror Roundup

Howdy Pardners! Kick up those spurs and tilt those hats, it's time for another month's worth of favorite posts from the notorious LOTT D horror ranch. They're lined up and waitin' for you...grab your partner and dos-i-do, round the middle and on your toes!

Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat draws attention to the horror comics of Josh Simmons, T. Ott, and Derek Van Gieson lurking in MOME Vol. 13. And discusses Charles Burns's Black Hole at Savage Critic(s).

Igloo of the Uncanny kills his fourth best friend while reviewing the Swarm.

Unspeakable Horror! blows the Whistle to Open Worlds and analyzes the black beast stereotype we all fear.

The Moon is a Dead World goes back to The Orphanage.

Blogue Macabre goes all sci fi and reveals the answers behind Battlestar Galactica's mind-blowing series finale.

The Drunken Severed Head sends us this timely tribute to Uncle Forry, held at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles, from Jim Bertges.

Slasher Speak is hovering on Cloud 9 over their Bram Stoker Award nom for the speakably good Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows of the Closet, named a finalist for Superior Achievement in an Anthology. Way to go!

Mad Mad Mad Mad Movies tells us not to judge Savage Weekend by it's boom mike or other technical faults or "egregious continuity flubs, shots framed with some foreign object (possibly the cameraman's thumb) obscuring the top of the lens, and..." because it does "add some cool performances by David "Dr. Hill in Re-Animator" Gale (with rockin' 70s 'stache!) and William "This is my brother Darryl, this is my other brother Darryl" Sanderson playing (what else?) a country bumpkin with a difference, and I think it's an undiscovered gem. Check it out."

Zombos Closet In 100 Best Movie Blogs

I am elated and honored to be listed in Only Good Movies' 100 Best Movie Blogs. Sure, it stokes my ego, but it also validates all those sleepless nights blogging into the wee hours of the morning, wondering if anyone will read that next post, digest that next review, or enjoy that cheeky monkey part of me I let loose now and then. But of course, I'd never let this sort of thing give me a swelled head or anything like that. Well, maybe just a little bit...

The list, compiled by Shane Rivers, is filled with superlative science fiction, horror, classic, foreign, filmmaker, gossip and news, and celebrity movie blogs. Make sure to stop by and check it out. You will find current and future LOTT D members well represented, too.

In My Defense: Popcorn Movies Are Good

I was pleasantly surprised to see mention of my review for Knowing at Cinefantastique Online. Steve Biodrowski, in citing my review, brings up a good point about my apparent contradiction calling Knowing a popcorn movie on the one hand, while raving about it on the other. So here is my short explanation.

The term popcorn movie has been used, mostly and usually, as a disparaging term for films that pander to a mass audience (and even smaller ones) while showing little or no creative or artistic effort, design, or thought. I understand this, but I choose to not use the term in this way.

Quite frankly, and sadly, a sizable amount of theater and straight to DVD movies, both horror and non-horror, can be categorized as popcorn movies if the term is used in this way, forcing it to lose the value, the sting of negativity, if you will, it was originally meant to convey. There is now an expectation of mediocrity in film production greater than the expectation of excellence; this renders the negative connotation, usually applied to the use of the term popcorn movie, superfluous.

I rather avoid this and use popcorn movie to mean a film worth seeing--whether it appeals to a mass audience or not--that is enjoyable on possibly many levels, including the emotional, psychological, and spiritual states one may experience while watching it, and being thought provoking as well. The film may be disturbing, enlightening, or just plain fun, but the bottom line is that you, the viewer, are left with a sense of "damn, that was good."  Using this, admittedly personal criteria, I consider Casablanca (my favorite film by the way), Citizen Kane, and Halloween popcorn movies, along with many others I have enjoyed watching, like Watchmen.

I was left with a sense of damn, that was good after seeing Knowing. I hope you experience the same.

More Zombie Days Take Bite

Zombies and fun... a horror fan's dream come true.

World Zombie Day is back….and the zombies are still hungry. Award winning global food charity event returns for a second year!

Pittsburgh Pennsylvania – March 25, 2009 –

World Zombie Day, which made its wildly successful debut in 2008, returns to infect cities worldwide on October 11, 2009.

Last year, 46 cities in North America, Europe and Australia joined forces to fight global hunger through World Zombie Day, a day of fun and charity featuring zombie walks and food drives.  More than 6,500 people participated worldwide, gathering more than two tons of food donations while dressed as zombies. Many cities also held parties, festivals and even concerts to celebrate World Zombie Day.

Besides the fun part of dressing up like a zombie, participants in all cities are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food donation to benefit their local hunger relief agency.

For more information or to sign up your city to participate in World Zombie Day, please visit www.theitsaliveshow.com or www.myspace.com/worldzombieday.

No Joke: Penn Set for MGM Stooges Movie

I am a big Three Stooges fan, so this report from Variety is exciting news...!

"MGM and the Farrelly brothers are closing in on their cast for The Three Stooges.

"Studio has set Sean Penn to play Larry, and negotiations are underway with Jim Carrey to play Curly, with the actor already making plans to gain 40 pounds to approximate the physical dimensions of Jerome "Curly" Howard.

"The studio is zeroing in on Benicio Del Toro to play Moe.

The film is not a biopic, but rather a comedy built around the antics of the three characters that Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Howard played in the Columbia Pictures shorts."

There's more...

LOTT D: Pick a Post Sensation 2

Beware! The archives have been unburied, and the hideous horrors released! For your entertainment and edification pleasure, of course. Members of the League of Tana Tea Drinkers dig deep to find their past misdeeds...and reveal them to you!

Blogue Macabre provides a timely public service announcement to help you prepare for the next zombie holocaust. So pay attention.

Mad Mad Mad Mad Movies gives 2.5 thumbs up for demon-antics in Amityville II: The Possession. It's the .5 thumb that bothers me, though.

Unspeakable Horror takes note of the queer WTF happenstance of the appearance of the Dogman in Kubrick's The Shining. Woof!

Billy Loves Stu bites into George Romero's "odd little horror film," Martin.

Zombos Closet of Horror explores the odd war-time fairytale of Bela Lugosi's declining star in The Return of the Vampire.

And Now the Screaming Starts hops in the saddle as Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter, and squares it all away with a nice little overview of director William "One Shot" Beaudine's career. He isn't called one shot for nothing!

The Drunken Severed Head gives us their best of the worst, in two parts no less! So head on over and get a heads up on the best of the worst posts they've dared to show us. So, just head on over so I can stop before I head into another heady pun!

Dinner With Max Jenke reveals their dream version of Rob Zombie's Halloween 2. (Though it reads more like an hallucination, really.)

Visitors Haunting Connecticut House

The Haunting in Connecticut movie scares up unwanted visitors...

"SOUTHINGTON, Conn. - A Hollywood horror film that depicts the alleged haunting of a former funeral parlor in central Connecticut is turning into a nightmare for the home's current owners and their neighbors."

Read the story.

Knowing (2009) Destiny In a Handbasket

ZC Rating 5 of 7: Excellent

That particular sequence caused me no end of headaches and nightmares, because we decided at an early stage to get it all in one continuous shot. So from the moment when the plane crashes into the freeway and goes breaking up and exploding into a field, Nic’s character then pursues, and runs into the maelstrom and tries to save people (Alex Proyas Interview).

I am taken aback by the negative--at Times, vitriolic-- criticism for Nicolas Cage and director Alex Proyas' dark, apocalyptic thriller Knowing; such disdain is usually reserved for horror films, not more mainstream fare. As he did in Dark City, Proyas conjures another sepia-toned vision of determinism, fate, and faith, and ratchets up the tension with three carefully crafted, special effects-laden scenes of death and destruction before finishing with an outstanding fourth. Cage, as astrophysicist John Koestler, portrays an everyman, quirks and all, coiled and held tight in the moments, filled with knowledge but mostly powerless. Borrowing the science fiction staples of pending global cataclysm (seen in 1951's When Worlds Collide, slated to be remade in 2010 by Stephen Sommers), and celestial intervention, Knowing is an emotionally charged drama meticulously combining horror, science fiction, and fantasy conventions into an absorbing story worthy of more serious, and less caustic, critique.