From The Basement

Chris is meeting his girlfriend's family for the first time.  Strange comments by her parents, combined with odd behavior of the black staff causes Chris to begin investigating the family's history a bit more.

What he discovers is a conspiracy that threatens himself and thousands of blacks with enslavement and destruction...

The story is really good in Jordan Peele's "Get Out."  It takes the touchy subject of slavery, and talks about it in a frank, open way via the use of horror.  As someone that has a real fear of losing my ability to think and control my body, the concept of "the sunken place," and having my body hijacked really struck a chord.

The characters aren't too bad.  They aren't really all that fleshed out, beyond "good" and "bad", but you're able to at least root for Chris.  I didn't mind the character of Rod, but felt that his comedic turn was a bit much.  His scenes are funny as fuck, but I felt they were…

I've come to enjoy my late-night Thursday viewings of Shudder's Creepshow. It's something I look forward to every week, in much the same way I anticipated my weekly watches of The A-Team or Knight Rider as a boy.

Yes, that's supposed to be a compliment. Shawn and I have some things to say about that on our upcoming podcast, by the way.

The latest Creepshow episode offers one groovy story, and one that's not so groovy. As with any anthology, you gotta take the good with the bad. It's the nature of the beast.

The Companion is my preferred story. It's an old-school tale about a boy combating a bully, and finding an unlikely ally in a monstrous scarecrow. Being a creature-feature fan, I was all over this one. The practical effects, lean script -- this is based on a Joe R. Lansdale story -- and tight direction make this a fun romp. And it ends exactly how I wanted it to. Stoked!

As for Lydia Layne's Better Half... well, it wasn't the better half of this…

It's sequel weekend at the movies this... well, weekend. And Jason and Howie are gonna tell you all about it when From The Basement takes to the Radio NL 610 AM Morning News at 7:20.

Jay's also got a new interview for fans. This time he talks with scream queen Trista Robinson about her new horror flick Echoes of Fear, which is making the theatrical rounds as well speak.

As always, you'll hear a few minutes of their conversation this morning, then the whole thing appears when the extended cut podcast drops later today.

As for those movies; there's the much-anticipated Zombieland: Double Tap with Woody Harrelson and Emma Stone, and Angelina Jolie brings her bad self back for Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. One of those has to appeal to someone!

So grab your morning coffee, tune in via the AM dial or the streaming link to your right, and settle yourself in, we're waiting for you... in The Basement!

Stick with us!

One of the icons of the horror literature genre is none other that Edgar Allan Poe.  Pretty much every short story he's written has been adapted onto the big and small screens.

Edgar Allan Poe's death was very much like his stories- mysterious, creepy... and unsolved.  So, it was only a matter of time before the "story" behind the events leading up to his death was turned into a film...

A series of murders based upon Poe's short stories lead the police to investigate him as a suspect.  To clear his name, Poe must embark on a game of literary cat and mouse- and journey to the dark corners of his mind to find the real killer... at any price...

The concept behind this movie is certainly interesting- especially for Poe fans and experts.  It moves at a fairly good clip, with some decent twists and turns to keep the viewer interested.

The characters aren't too bad either- with Poe being the best of the lot of course.  There isn't much in the way of development…

Is it possible for a remake to be better than the original? It's usually not the case, but there are exceptions...

Like 2002's The Ring.

This film and the original, Ringu (1998), are horror movies with pros and cons of their own. However, I feel the remake is an improvement on the Japanese version. The tone, characters and story are far more pronounced and effective.

In The Ring, we feel a sense of dread throughout, established with the grim, de-saturated cinematography. The characters are far more believable, as the direction and acting commits to their personalities. The story is better structured, as it feels like a supernatural mystery unfolding.

With Ringu, the film tries to have these things, but can't realize it's potential. The atmosphere is held back, making you forget you're watching a horror movie until the very end. The characters are believable when they're introduced, but the film forgets their personalities to focus on the plot, which made the f…

Amitville: The Awakening is one of many films that suffered at the hands of the Weinsteins, first from re-shoots and re-edits, then from the scandal. It was supposed to come out in 2012, then finally appeared in 2017 as a limited theatrical release. I caught it with it on Netflix this past weekend.

The film's storied history, which is almost as storied as that house in Amityville, is a black mark against an otherwise harmless film; one that is better than of most The Amityville Horror's sequels and remakes.

Here we get a good, female-focused horror movie that relies on atmosphere and The Amityville Horror legend for it's suspense and scares. Yup, this movie takes place in a world where Jay Anson's book and the series of films exists. This adds an interesting and fun layer to the movie, especially a sequence where some of the characters watch Stuart Rosenberg's movie in the Amityville house at 3:15 a.m.

Novel approach aside, there isn't much going on here in th…

Religion sometimes has a huge influence on horror movies- especially when it involves Satan.

So, one could expect religious influences to appear in the music from such movies.  1976's "The Omen" is a perfect example of that influence- and is this week's horror movie theme to be enjoyed and commented on.

Not many horror movie themes have actual titles.  The theme from "The Omen" is different in this regard.  This Jerry Goldsmith created piece was title "Ave Satani".  It is essentially a "Satanized" version of the Latin Mass- and was one of the few non-English songs to be nominated for an Oscar.

It's short, but memorable, and sets up the tone of the movie perfectly.  The religious sound of the Gregorian style chanting is familiar (especially to those of Roman Catholic upbringing), but is just off centered enough to create a dissonance that makes you uneasy.  The low tone of the melody, and the slow, deep sound of the chanting sinks in…

One of the pleasant surprises of the fall movie season has been the creepy supernatural flick Echoes of Fear, which Shawn and I reviewed just last week. If you have a chance, please seek it out as it makes the theatrical circuit. It's worth your time, and dollar.

And one of the best parts of the movie is star Trista Robinson, who is well on her way to becoming the next big scream queen.

Trista and I sat down today for a chat about Echoes of Fear, her role in it, and what it's like earning the scream-queen title. Trista knows her stuff, is super talented, and probably the nicest person we've ever talked to in our nine years in this business. We had a great conversation I think fans will enjoy.

As always, you'll hear a portion of it when From The Basement storms the Radio NL 610 AM Morning News at 8:20 Friday morning. The full interview appears on our extended cut podcast later in the day.

Stick with us!

One of the highlights of our last year in The Basement was interviewing veteran director Richard Friedman. The man has done everything from horror movies to TV series, and he is a perfect gentleman and class act.

Which is why it pains me to say I didn't enjoy his second feature film, Scared Stiff, as much as I'd hoped. Sad reviewer is sad.

Scared Stiff has everything I dig in a late 80s horror movie; the effects are cheesy, there's lots of gruesome makeup, and we get a hot leading lady in Mary Page Keller. And nothing takes itself too seriously either. So what went wrong?

I'm not actually sure. But the story is nothing more than a riff on The Amityville Horror, with the lead actor being taken over by the spirit of someone who previously went mad in an old home. And yes, he tries to kill his girlfriend and her child.

It takes forever to get there, though, and not a lot happens along the way. We're led to believe Keller's character might be crazy, and all this i…