The Horror Hut: The Caller

Welcome back, dear readers, to another terrifying edition of ‘The Horror Hut’. In previous columns, I’ve showcased many different kinds of horror, in many different ways. But the generally common thread between a majority of my pieces is that they’ve come in the form of 1980’s slashers. Today I take a departure from that time period to focus on a current day plot. Although I have always fashioned myself as an easy-to-please viewer that can find enjoyment and positives in just about any movie, I absolutely abhore some of the modern day conventions of ‘scary’ movie making. Everything is convoluted, the violence and nudity is overdone and outside of the context of a story, and twists are added just for the sake of shock value. But I chose this 2011 release because although the storyline has been done before, very few people seem to know about this movie, and it’s slow build and simplicity deserve a glimmer of relevance.

The Horror Hut Presents: Childs Play

Dear readers, welcome back to another installment of The Horror Hut. In keeping with our general theme, I want to delve back into horror in it’s purest form, during it’s most popular time period. In knowing I had to come back strongly after a weeks absence, I want to revert back to another classic 80’s slasher. Sometimes a lot of these films asked us to suspend disbelief while exploring premises that were a little ‘out there’ to say the least. But maybe none moreso than the film I’m doing today…Child’s Play.

The Horror Hut: The Green Mile

Welcome back, dear readers! This week, The Horror Hut takes a vacation from the 80’s slashers to visit a different kind of horror. As much as I love bringing killers in masks back into the caverns of our minds, I’ve been very outspoken thus far on the importance of a good story, and how it makes a film come to fruition. So today I leave conventional horror on the outskirts, as I walk you through to 1999, as a movie is made based on a Stephen King (the master of written horror) series of novels. As some of you may know, my mother passed away over this past Thanksgiving weekend, and this was one of her all time favorite movies. So mom, this one’s for you.

The Morning After: The Horror Hut Reviews ‘The Woman in Black’

For weeks now, we’ve seen the trailers. Those creepy, cryptic children in the background, echoing their flowly rhymes while dark, macabre action happens in pictures. Let me just say for openers, that is THE way to hype a movie. When I first saw the clips released on-demand, I wasn’t a fan. The movie looked too drab and time-particular for my tastes. But after weeks of these new trailers, wherein eerie kids spout off couplets to hype the film, I couldn’t wait to see it. Children, in my opinion, are the ultimate gateway to successful hype for a horror movie. It’s something about the innocence and quiet calm of a younger child, that makes you want to listen and wonder, what they know that we don’t. That, plus the consistancy with which they released the new spots on TV, really makes me take my hat off to whomever thought of the idea. I haven’t seen such great distribution and packaging of a product in over 15 years. With that said, that makes this film the perfect choice for my ‘Horror Hut’ column to break into modern day and tackle the new era in scary movies. Ladies and gentlemen, ‘The Woman in Black’:

The Horror Hut: ‘Happy Birthday To Me’

Welcome back, my dear readers. It’s time for another edition of The Horror Hut. When we look specifically at the horror genre, the 1980’s come to mind as the time when horror films really found their home, their identity, and their niche audience. Last week I bandied about with all the different ways that ‘Halloween’ was an initial catalyst for other slasher films to break through to the big time. This week, the Hut takes on a film that isn’t anywhere near as widely respected or known, but has become a cult classic for the inside fans. Most slashers in this time frame specified a particular holiday, calendar date, or place, but this was the first of it’s kind to center around….a Birthday party.

Controversy Creates Champions: Big Botch by the Big Show?

Heading into the 2012 Royal Rumble, the vast majority of the wrestling world was pretty sure that underdog Daniel Bryan’s unsuspecting title run was coming to a close. The combination of his ‘average by WWE standard’ size, his indy style/background, and his push up until his Money in the Bank victory all point to Vince McMahon and the powers-that-be not wanting to see the former ROH World Champion have a lengthy World Heavyweight Title run. With all that said, it seemed that luck would be the only thing that could save Daniel Bryan’s title hopes on that fateful Sunday, and that just may be exactly what happened.

The Horror Hut: ‘Halloween’

Welcome, my respected readers, as I bang out this first set of keys in an attempt to relive some of the more fond moments of my childhood. First, a slight departure from this articles’ intent to give you some background. I grew up as an avid horror movie buff, learning firsthand in my mothers’ and my aunts’ respective living rooms. My cousins and I would build huts out of blankets, turn off all the lights, and try and scare ourselves to death with a classic horror movie every week. I’ve since grown up to now direct and write my own horror films, so the resonance of those nights stay with me, always. I’ve been doing journalistic work for sports for years now, and I’ve been a writer of short stories and poetry for years, but this is my first full attempt at delving into the horror world. So I’m going in head on, opening with one of my top 3 movies of all time, a film that started as an indie, and later reshaped the entire geanre of slasher films: Halloween.