Two new ones from Fangoria.com:
First, my trip to THE DEVIL’S CARNIVAL in Toronto.
http://www.fangoria.com/index.php/moviestv/fearful-features/7028-qthe-devils-carnivalq-tornto-tour-report
Next, my review of CABIN IN THE WOODS: THE OFFICIAL VISUAL COMPANION.
http://www.fangoria.com/index.php/reviews/53-book-reviews/7035-qcabin-in-the-woods-the-official-visual-companionq-book-review
Enjoy!
My review on Fangoria.com of THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE, Stephen King’s return to the world of his DARK TOWER saga.
http://www.fangoria.com/index.php/reviews/53-book-reviews/6995-qthe-wind-through-the-keyholeq-book-review
Just back from catching the long-awaited CABIN IN THE WOODS. Infatuated with it. It’s not Meta. It’s not parody. It’s not a denouncement of the genre. It’s a question: Why do we love horror movies? Why do we demand, and then applaud, awful, amoral atrocites from the safety of our plush, cup holder-equipped seats? I’m always suspicious when confronted by unanimous critical praise, but CABIN’s hype is justified. Ignore the depressingly large segment of contrarians trying to shoot it down; this thoughtful movie is surely destined to be misunderstood by fanboys who would argue that CABIN sucks, but something as traditionally shallow as, say, FRIDAY THE 13th PART V: A NEW BEGINNING is anything other than entertainingly inept garbage. Be assured, 
CABIN has a very active brain pulsing underneath its floorboards. See it, see it, see it.
Less than two weeks and I’ll be in London, Ontario for the second annual Shock Stock convention. As many horror conventions of unwieldy size align themselves with comic and soft sci-fi components and are determinedly kid-friendly, Shock Stock props its beating heart up against the seamy, grimy side of horror and exploitation. Shock Stock, thank you for that. This year, the show has been subject to a number of guest cancellations, but really, to hell with guests. Personally, I’m always more interested in screenings and panels, and this one has a 35mm presentation of Lamberto Bava’s DEMONS (a favourite I fawned over in a previous post.) So if you’re heading up, look for me skulking around the Fangoria table or elbowing my way to the front row of the Goblin concert…
Like many folks out there, I hate George A. Romero’s DIARY OF THE DEAD. My least favourite Romero effort. And yet, I have to give DIARY credit– that style of film, not the BLAIR WITCH found footage faux-documentary, but more in the vein of a youtube upload, a bandit transmission, was a crystal ball into 2012′s cinema vernacular. Take SKYLINE, MONSTERS, CHRONICLE, PROJECT X (2012), etc. with scores more coming to coax the bucks out of a generation whose film dialect comes from crude snippets of internet video. Romero predicted this. My point is that even in Romero’s weakest offerings, there’s something going on; something to consider, something to savour. So I can’t wait for Fangoria’s special one-off Romero tribute mag, coming soon in a limited run and available only through the Fango webstore. This thing is packed with interviews, retrospectives, and swaddled in a fantastic painted cover by Kelly Forbes. No icon is more deserving. Snap one up before every last copy is devoured!
After a month off roaming the deserts of South America, I was thrilled to return and learn of Fangoria’s upcoming party to promote the new GHOST RIDER flick, especially as the man, the legend, Nicolas Cage himself would be present and accounted for. Sadly, I won’t be mounting my own flaming motorcycle and roaring to New York for the festivities, and will have to subsist on secondhand scraps of stories from those who were lucky enough to attend. If you do happen to reside in NYC, you may still not be too late to impose yourself onto the guest list; fango.com has all the details. Good luck and have fun! 
Man, sifting through the curriculum vitae of director Paul W.S. Anderson is a disheartening affair. He was behind the lens for one of my bottom ten movies of all time, the truly wretched ALIEN VS. PREDATOR, among a number of other felonious filmic trespasses. So what is the point of promoting an upcoming appearance of his on this site? Well, Sunday, December 18 sees Anderson in person at the Toronto Underground Cinema to introduce the one film of his that I actually and genuinely love, the outer space gothic EVENT HORIZON. I’ll definitely be aboard the ship Sunday night, saluting skipper Laurence Fishburne and fleeing inflamed apparitions drawn from my subconscious phobias. How about you?
Just returned from the concrete wasteland known as Mississauga, where I took in a day’s shooting on the fifth entry to a certain horror video-game adaptation franchise. My lips are currently frozen shut by studio decree, but lots of goodies to come once I thaw!
Fango’s Major Domo Chris Alexander on the new issue! (Wait, is that really an INNOCENT BLOOD poster in the bottom corner of Chris’s lair? Yikes!)
Let’s double up today on Fango.com with part two of my IMMORTALS set visit, where director Tarsem finally speaks out on a topic that everyone else is too polite to breach, namely Mickey Rourke’s synthetic-looking face.
http://fangoria.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6082:immortals-beloved-part-two&catid=36:demo-articles&Itemid=56
Next up is my review of Stephen King’s newest doorstop thriller, 11/22/63. Enjoy!
http://fangoria.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6099:112263-book-review&catid=53:book-reviews&Itemid=248
