Editorial

Gore Gore Gore! Remembering the ChromeSkull Movies

Published

2 months ago

February 29, 2024

No avid gorehound or SFX artist has seen the movie Laid to Rest and thought the kills were badly done. If you did, then reread the first part of my sentence. There are two movies in the series, and there would have been a third had director and creator Robert Green Hall not passed away in 2021.

These two films, Laid to Rest and ChromeSkull: Laid to Rest II are brutal slashers, showcasing realistic kills that are so gory and surprising it’s a wonder how they got an R rating and not an NR. It’s so bad that Germany removed 18 seconds of violence to meet their adult rating system. There are unrated director’s cuts that you can find if you want to further your curiosity.

The original R-rated movies are available on Tubi now.

Laid to Rest

As stated before, these films were directed by the late Robert Hall, a special effects makeup artist and a musician in his spare time. His work can be seen in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vacancy (2007), The Crazies (2010), and Quarantine 2 (2011).

In almost the same vein as Damien Leone’s Terrifier movies, Laid to Rest was built around showcasing extremely gory practical effects. Leone, like Hall, has a background in the art and brings that into his own successful slasher series.

That being said, the Laid to Rest films aren’t particularly great when it comes to writing. Their plots have some questionable choices, and maybe the acting could have used some polish. But you don’t watch these types of movies for realism, you most likely are going to turn these on to ogle at the mastery of the special effects. They’re slashers through and through, but still entertaining and original enough to keep you watching until the final fade out.

If you haven’t seen them yet, it might be worth your while if you’re going through a particularly bad horror movie dry spell. Both are available on Tubi which is a free movie streaming service that only asks you to endure a few commercials during the runtime.

Laid to Rest II

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Editorial

Yay or Nay: What’s Good and Bad in Horror This Week: 5/6 to 5/10

Published

23 hours ago

May 11, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Welcome to Yay or Nay a weekly mini post about what I think is good and bad news in the horror community written in bite-sized chunks. This is for the week of May 5 through May 10.

Yay:

In a Violent Nature made someone puke at the Chicago Critics Film Fest screening. It’s the first time this year that a critic got sick at a movie that wasn’t a Blumhouse film.

Nay:

Radio Silence pulls out of remake of Escape From New York. Darn, we wanted to see Snake try to escape a remote locked-down mansion full of distopean New York City “crazies.”

Yay:

A new Twisters trailer dropped, focusing on the powerful forces of nature that tear through rural towns. It’s a great alternative to watching candidates do the same thing on local news during this year’s presidential press cycle.

Nay:

Producer Bryan Fuller walks away from A24’s Friday the 13th series Camp Crystal Lake saying the studio wanted to go a “different way.” After two years of development for a horror series it seems that way doesn’t include ideas from people who actually know what their talking about: fans in a subreddit.

Yay:

Finally, The Tall Man from Phantasm is getting his own Funko Pop! Too bad the toy company is failing. This gives new meaning to Angus Scrimm’s famous line from the movie: “You play a good game…but the game is finished. Now you die!”

Nay:

Football king Travis Kelce joins new Ryan Murphy horror project as a supporting actor. He got more press than the announcement of Dahmer’s Emmy winner Niecy Nash-Betts actually getting the lead.

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Editorial

Yay or Nay: What’s Good and Bad in Horror This Week

Published

1 week ago

May 4, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Welcome to Yay or Nay a weekly mini post about what I think is good and bad news in the horror community written in bite-sized chunks.

Yay:

Mike Flanagan talking about directing the next chapter in the Exorcist trilogy. That might mean he saw the last one and realized there were two left and if he does anything well it’s draw out a story.

Yay:

To the announcement of a new IP-based film Mickey Vs Winnie. It’s fun to read comical hot takes from people who haven’t even seen the movie yet.

Nay:

The new Faces of Death reboot gets an R rating. It’s not really fair — Gen-Z should get an unrated version like past generations so they can question their mortality the same as the rest of us did.

Yay:

Russell Crowe is doing another possession movie. He’s quickly becoming another Nic Cage by saying yes to every script, bringing the magic back to B-movies, and more money into VOD.

Nay:

Putting The Crow back in theaters for its 30th anniversary. Re-releasing classic movies at the cinema to celebrate a milestone is perfectly fine, but doing so when the lead actor in that film was killed on set due to neglect is a cash grab of the worst kind.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

Published

3 weeks ago

April 19, 2024

Timothy Rawles

The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?