HO-HO-HORROR FOR THE HOLIDAYS: "And All Through The House" : Tales From the Crypt Season 1, Ep 2 (1989)

Running Time: 22 minutes

Release Date: June 10, 1989

Review by: Stacey

In keeping with the season of killer Santas, I'm bringing you a favorite of many with an episode from season one of Tales From The Crypt.  Yes, I'm talking about "And All Through The House".  Every person I have talked to has made it a point to tell me how much they love this episode, and surprisingly enough, I hadn't seen it yet!  Now I understand what everyone was talking about!

HO-HO-HORROR FOR THE HOLIDAYS: Christmas Evil (1980)

Running Time: 100 minutes

Release Date: November 1980

Review by: Stacey

 

A majority of the Christmas horror films on my list to watch this month are ones that are mostly obscure and first-time watches for me.  That brings us to the cult classic, Christmas Evil (or You Better Watch Out OR Terror in Toyland), which actually featured a deranged, killer Santa Claus BEFORE Silent Night, Deadly Night.  Released on DVD by Troma films in 2000, I wasn't quite sure what to expect other than a typical holiday slasher.  John Waters has actually stated that this is the greatest Christmas movie ever made and whatever that dude backs, I back.

Two Strains

 

Fox Horror is gearing up for the release of FX's The Strain blu-ray/dvd and digital HD!  I was given the opportunity to check out their awesome site, twostrains.com which gives you a side by side comparison of the graphic novel with scenes from the series with exclusive commentary from the graphic novel artist, Mike Huddleston.

If you've seen the The Strain but haven't had a chance to read the graphic novels, I'd say get on that now!  With the growing trend of graphic novels being turned into t.v. shows it's hard to really get a feel for how true to the books these series are, especially for the folks that have never heard of them until they're on their t.v. screens.

With twostrains.com you get to see exactly what vision Guillermo del Toro had for both the graphic novels and the television series as he created both (along with some other incredibly talented folks).  

I've always found that graphic novels give you more freedom to put your own imaginative spin on the personalities of each character and such was the case with The Strain but it's really fun to see what the show creators came up with to bring it to the screen.  And from what I've read and seen, they did a fantastic job with the casting.

 It's pretty awesome to see scenes from the graphic novel right next to the same scenes from the series and see just how on point they were because I remember watching the show every Sunday super excited to see what would come next and I can imagine readers of the novels felt the same!  

 

While the show didn't deviate much from the graphic novels, it didn't make it any less frightening!  The anxiousness for every next scene in the tv series filled me with just as much dread as every panel in the graphic novels.  

 

 

The site gives you an inside sneak "peek" into the making of both giving you a greater appreciation for the creative process these folks had, while making you feel closer to a show that I love and really think is going to only get bigger and bigger over the coming years!

 The takeover for the Fox Horror site won't last long so I suggest you check out twostrains.com for exclusive videos on the FX's The Strain and the graphic novels now!

HO-HO-HORROR FOR THE HOLIDAYS! Saint Nick (2010)

I've been a tad MIA the last month due to me and the hubs picking up and moving our asses on out to the dang 'ol country!  But I'm back and ready to take on this dreaded holiday season here at To Avoid Fainting with the good, the bad, and the downright ugly of the Christmas horror films!  All December long I'll be posting reviews for these films (with a few random non-Xmas related films sprinkled in) to make this cheery holiday a little more bloody.

------------------------------------------------------------

Let's kick this off with 2010's Dutch dark comedy/horror film Sint (Saint or Saint Nick in the States).

Running Time: 85 minutes

Release Date: Oct 31, 2010 (Razor Reel Fantastic Film Festival) & Nov 11, 2010 (Netherlands)

 

 

Carrie (2013)

 Running Time: 99 minutes
Release Date: October 18, 2013

Review by: Stacey

Any time news comes out about a classic horror film being remade, you immediately hear the angrily hurried clicking of the keyboards as horror fans all over spit and hiss at the very idea of some schlub ruining fan favorites.  I will not lie, I am usually one of those people.  Most modern remakes of horror films that we've all grown to love over the decades have been pure shit (*coughTheFogcough*), can you blame me?  Now this brings me to 2013's Carrie remake, which actually wasn't PURE shit but also wasn't good at all.

Video review #3: Tremors!

Chris came up to lovely 'ol Austin last weekend at which point we decided we needed a new video review.  And naturally, we decided on the 1990 "classic" Tremors.

Feel free to leave comments telling us how much we suck or rule.  Or if there's a movie you'd like to see us review!  

Also, don't forget to sign up on the right hand side of the page with your e-mail to receive updates whenever a new post goes up!

Watch and enjoy!

The Hunted (2014)

Running Time: 89 minutes

Release Date: Oct. 10, 2013 (Screamfest) and Sept. 9, 2014 (VOD & DVD)

Review by: Stacey

Looks like we're back on the found footage trail this week with Josh Stewart's (The Collector, The Collection) directorial debut film, The Hunted.  I ain't even gonna lie, I love me some Josh Stewart, so naturally I was pretty excited to hear he had written/directed and would be starring in a new horror film.  I'm not even going to go over the "found footage" debate because I already discussed that in my last post for The Houses October Built.  I will say that while The Hunted suffers a few pitfalls of the genre and some of the mistakes that usually come with first-time directors, this film had more good than bad.