Black Friday Week is HERE!

Not that we're trying to shill or anything, but if you buy anything from Amazon this Holiday Season (or ever), using our links gives us a special, albeit small, bonus from the sales.

That is how we pay for the VOD releases that we review which we don't recieve screeners for.

It's the circle of life. 

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL HORROR CLUB!

Wherever You Are in the World, Happy Thanksgiving!

I know that Thanksgiving is a Holiday that is only celebrated in North America, but wherever you are in the world, you don't need a holiday to be able to gather with loved ones, eat some good food, have a drink or two, and be thankful for what you have.

We should all probably do that more often than we do anyhow.

We're grateful for a great many things around here, most of which involved the great people who make our lives better, and that definitely includes you. You're all a part of our little Horror Club after all, so don't think for one minute that you're not on our "Thankful For" lists.

So wherever you may be on the 26th, be sure to eat, drink, and be merry if you're able. Life is just too short to do otherwise.

Blu-ray & DVD: The Digital Dread Report for 11/24

*Click these links to see our other Release Date Pages: Theatrical, VOD, and TV.

It's a rather sparse week on the release front this week, but with Thanksgiving only two days away, you know that no one is going to be releasing anything too major; Black Friday, or Thursday, or whatever it's called now, kinda kills it for we movie lovers.

Still, there are a few noteworthy titles hitting shelves today, so not all is lost.

*Be sure to click the pics to order yourself some flicks.

It's the season of joy, peace, and goodwill…unless you live in Bailey Downs. Last Christmas Eve, two teens came to a grisly end in a school basement. Now, one year later, a new set of horrors has come to town. As three friends explore the site of the massacre, a malevolent spirit is determined to keep them there forever. One of the first cops to the scene of the bloody murders has new complications as his seven-year-old son exhibits terrifying and violent behavior. And when a local family seeks reconciliation with an estranged aunt for the wrong reasons, they suddenly find themselves running in terror from Krampus, the demonic anti-Santa Claus. Not even St. Nick is immune to the terror as he fights back against a horde of zombie elves. This is destined to be a holiday no one will ever forget.

It's no Trick 'r Treat or anything, but A Christmas Horror Story still manages to be a fairly entertaining Horror Anthology in its own right.

See our full review below to find out why we thought it was decent, but let me just say that William Shatner is awesome in general, and he's perfect in this one.

Put together a gloomy New England house, a dark night and four of America's legendary leading men and you have all the ingredients for a classic Ghost Story. The spine tingling motion picture stars Fred Astair, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and John Houseman as members of the Chowders Society, a group of hail and hearty fellows who get together each week to share incredible tales of horror.

Ghost Story is an eerie, atmospheric movie which boasts more than a few creepy scenes, one of which is widely considered to be among the best of all time. It also boasts one hell of a classic cast featuring names like Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., John Houseman, and a young Alice Krige.

A classic 80's ghost story in every way, Ghost Story is one of those movies that every Horror fan should see at least once. Trust us.

• NEW Audio Commentary by Director John Irvin
• NEW Interviews with Author Peter Straub, Actress Alice Krige, Screenwriter Lawrence D. Cohen, Producer Burt Weissbourd and Matte Photographer Bill Taylor
• Vintage Theatrical Trailer, TV and Radio Spots
• Photo Gallery

There aren't many big releases down here in the bottom of the order this week, but again, it's two days before Thanksgiving, so that's to be expected.

• Blood & Lace, The Mask, and Wake Up and Kill are great releases for those of you who love retro Horror and Genre flicks.
• A Hard Day looks like a fun Korean Thriller, and we love the hell out of those. 
• The Badger Game could be a solid Indie Thriller.
• Everything else, as always, is a crap-shoot.

What's New on VOD This Week? (11/17-11/20)

*Click these links to see our other Release Date Pages: Blu-ray & DVD, Theatrical, and TV.

What a great week for VOD releases.

Sure, three of them aren't even Horror movies, but let's not kid ourselves and pretend that we aren't suckers for a good Comic Book movie, or Tom Cruise doing crazy stunts. Because we are. 

*Be sure to click the pics below to rent the movies, or check out their trailers.

• See it First: Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation was all kinds of crazy fun, and maybe even the best of the series. Or maybe Ghost Protocol was the best. Not sure. Either way, it's a great flick, especially if you enjoy Tom Cruise, and who doesn't?: HE HANGS FROM A PLANE AS IT TAKES OFF in this one. You can't bruise the Cruise.
• See it a Close Second: Ant-Man is probably the "smallest" (no pun intended) of the Marvel movies, but it's big on heart, funny, and a great addition to the MCU overall. We're waiting to see it again on Blu-ray, because it's a definite Must Own for us, but for those of you who prefer to do it digitally, this is a must rent.
• See it Horror-First: Our first Horror flick of the week, #Horror is one that we'll definitely be watching. It definitely looks a bit odd, so we're hoping it ends up being odd in a good way. We'll let you know either way.
• See it With a Date*: Landmine Goes Click is another one that we're excited to check out. It look bleak and disturbing, and it garnered some good buzz when it ran the festival circuit, so we're expecting big things from this little Indie Thriller. *Realistically, this is probably not a great date movie.
• Just See it: The Stanford Prison Experiment is one  of those Indie Drama/Thrillers that will probably make you think as much as it disturbs you, but those usually end up being the best kinds of flicks. Billy Crudup is always great in anything he's in, so we're all aboard for this one.
• See it as a Morbid Curiosity: Fantastic Four was ill-conceived from the start. We love Kate Mara and Michael B. Jordan, and Miles Teller was great in Whiplash, but this movie just effed the whole F4 thing right up. Why is it so hard for studios to make a good F4 movie? It's about the strength of family, it's not a hard concept to master. This one bombed at the Box Office, and sits at a whopping 10% on Rotten Tomatoes, so proceed with caution. Bad movies can be fun though, so maybe it's worth a rental for the bad movie lovers out there.  

Happy streaming!

A Quick FYI For You All

Last Monday, My Mom passed away. I'm not usually one to share personal things like that online, but I wanted to explain the lack of content around here as of late.

Being that I am the one of us who does all of the work on the site (reviews, posts, release date lists, etc...), the posts have been light, or more honestly, non-existent. That will change, and I'll try to get back to normal as soon as it's possible, it just hasn't been easy to focus on much since it happened.

Running this website is something I love. Not only because I love movies, but because it's a creative outlet for me, and it connects us (and me especially) to a world full of fellow movie-lovers. I've met a ton of great people from every corner of the world since starting our little site, and it's been nothing but a great experience.

The bottom line is that I appreciate every one of you guys as much as you appreciate what I, and the rest of our little Horror Club, do here. Probably even more so.

So don't give up on us. We're not going away. I'm just licking my wounds and trying to find my bearings.

Love and peace (and of course, Horror)
-J

 *I'm Working on the review for The Hallow now.

Blu-ray & DVD: The Digital Dread Report for 11/10

*Click these links to see our other Release Date Pages: Theatrical, VOD, and TV.

This week, due to events beyond our control, we've got an abbreviated edition of our Digital Dread Report.

A few quick words though...

• Better Call Saul is excellent.
• Terminator: Genisys was better than we expected it to be. 
• Bound To Vengeance was a really good one.  
• Pay the Ghost was a decent watch.
• And everything else, as always, is a crap-shoot.

R.I.P. Gunnar Hansen

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre shocked moviegoers, and changed the Genre back in 1974, and it was all because of its iconic main character, Leatherface. Even now, 41 years on, and as jaded as we've become over those years, the mere sight of Leatherface is still terrifying.

Now, the man who brought the flesh-wearing maniac to life, is gone.

Gunnar Hansen died on Saturday, November 7th, at his home in Maine, from pancreatic cancer. Last year we lost Marilyn Burns, and now Gunnar, and you know what, it hurts.

How do you write about the passing of someone that you never knew personally, and make it sound sincere? To us, and to many Horror fans the world over, he was the guy that played Leatherface. We only "knew" him because of that role (and the ones he took after that, of course), but with as many nightmares as he gave us a kids, and as much as he helped to shape our imaginations, that should be enough, right?

The guy was more than a role that he played 40 long years ago though. He had friends and family who loved him. He was a writer, a documentary filmmaker, and I've yet to hear anyone say that Gunnar Hansen was anything but a sweet, kind, and gentle man, which makes his passing even harder to take.

He's the kind of guy who we'd have loved to buy a beer, chat with, and tell him thanks for scaring the living shit out of us. Just so he knew that we appreciated him, you know?

It's alright to remember him as Leatherface, and to love him for it. After all, that's how we knew him, and for what that small part of his life gave us, that's why we loved him. It's good to know though that Gunnar Hansen got to live a life in which he was so revered, respected, and loved by millions of fans the world over, us included... and not just because he played a fantastic character in a fantastic movie, four decades ago.

Sleep well, sweet prince, and may you swing that 'saw forevermore.