We haven't covered magazines in a while, and I can't allow Fear Zone to pass without revisiting the two best magazines keeping horror fiction alive in that medium, CEMETERY DANCE and BLACK STATIC.

CEMETERY DANCE has undergone a startling transformation in the last year, at least in regards to its publication schedule. I believe I bought a four year subscription to this periodical, which had either a quarterly or bi-monthly schedule, eight years ago - and it's still going strong because only one or two issues have appeared per year for the last few years. But that all seems to be over now, and under the guidance of Cemetery Dance Publications founder Richard Chizmar and Managing Editor ... (more…)

I've anxiously awaited seeing I SELL THE DEAD, the latest film from Larry Fessenden's Glass Eye Pix company, since I first saw its trailer. The film has been playing the film festival circuit all year, just completed a VOD run, and will be available on DVD soon. The initial trailer I saw reminded me of a Hammer horror, but after seeing the film, written, directed and edited by Glenn McQuaid, who has created special effects for past Glass Eye productions, I think a more accurate comparison would be Roger Corman's more humorous period piece, THE RAVEN. Despite the prevalent comedy, the film still serves up a fair amount of chills and is a welcome treat for horror fans.

At its heart, I SELL ... (more…)

More than likely, this will be Mario's last installment of MARIO'S INDIE HORROR GALLERY for Fear ZSone. I have loved this column! No one alive possesses more knowledge about obscure, micro-budget horror fare than Mario, and I love running these reviews because they show that there is so much more to horror than whatever crap is showing at the multiplex. Fear not, like Nicholas Kaufmann, Lisa Morton, L.L. Soares and Michael Arruda, Mario will continue the good fight at another site, Horror Yearbook. The spirit of Fear Zone lives on!


WELCOME TO DEER CREEK (2009 dir Jim Roberts)

Blind Sight Productions DVD

On a sunny day in a small Ohio town, the town's mayor is out driving in his truck with ... (more…)

(A note from the Knife Fighters - if you like our column and would like to continue to get your fix of CINEMA KNIFE FIGHT, you're in luck. We've created a site just for CKF. Just go to www.cinemaknifefight.com

It's currently a work in progress, but new columns will continue to be posted there, as well as columns from our archives from the last five years.

We have really enjoyed working with Fear Zone the last two years, and it will be sad to see it go. CKF was one of the first columns to be published on Fear Zone, and we'll always remember it fondly. It was great working with our Editor, Greg Lamberson, and we wish him nothing but success for the future.

Please stick with us. Cinema Knife ... (more…)

OH NO! IT'S SAW VI!

I've seen every installment of the SAW series, and I'd say the hardest part about watching these movies is trying to convince yourself that what you're seeing is actually new. After awhile, these movies tend to all blur together and seem interchangeable. Between the flashbacks to scenes from previous movies, to newly filmed flashbacks to scenes we hadn't seen before (mainly revolving around John Kramer (Tobin Bell) the "real" Jigsaw back when he was alive), and then the same torture devices we've seen in other SAW movies popping up again (how many times can they use that contraption that is like a bear trap for people's heads?), it can get confusing without a score card.

... (more…)

I stand atop a facsimile of The Empire State Building. It looks pretty good - a little pixilated, not as sharp as most current gen visuals - but the cornices are rendered adequately and scale, at least in terms of height, seems fairly accurate. The rest of the world, far, far below, the whole of Manhattan, splays out before me in a knobby stretch of angular skyscrapers. The landscape sprawls gray and more gray, punctuated with the shine of glass here, the shimmer of chrome there, interrupted by a large rectangular patch of Central Park green and brown. Again, everything looks pretty good, but again, again, shit is a little muddled and not as crisp as I've come to expect from high def ... (more…)

Deluxe Edition DVD
Friday the 13th Part 7: The New Blood
Friday the 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan

Paramount Home Video 2009

Here we go again.

Just in time to fill your favorite horror fan's dirty X-Mas stocking, Paramount has released the next 2 in the F13 Deluxe Edition DVD series, with less impressive results than the previous discs making up this ongoing cash cow. The films look and sound as good, and each installment comes with the prerequisite deleted scenes, theatrical trailer, and a commentary tracks. All cool, but not anything out of the ordinary. Missing from these DVD's are any new installments of the "Crystal Lake Massacre Re-Visited" featurettes, which were my favorite element ... (more…)

I recently wrote an article about all of the low budget horror films being produced in Buffalo, and posted an interview with the co-director of one of them. Now I'm going to review another one - HOUSE OF HORRORS: THE MOVIE, which is having its premiere at the Market Arcade Film and Arts Centre today, and is also now available as a Limited Edition DVD (1,000 copies). A non-disclaimer is in order: I shot my short film GRUESOME at the House of Horrors, a haunt attraction in my home town Cheektowaga (which means "Land of the Crab Apple Tree"), and I've met Tim Bunch, who owns the House and executive produced this movie. I also know Michael O'Hear, who plays a priest in this film; Jennifer ... (more…)

Mad Cow Disease has mutated into something far worse, and the world is overrun by bloodthirsty hordes of post-28 DAYS LATER sprinting infected*. Four lone survivors come together and make their way across a ruined and desolate America, all for the love of Twinkies and in the hopes of finding someplace free of zombies**.

It's DAWN OF THE DEAD meets NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VACATION, but this is really all you need to know: ZOMBIELAND contains one of the funniest sequences ever put to film***. Feel free to stop reading this review right now because the damned movie is worth your time for this sequence alone, and if you keep reading you may miss the next available screening. I'll keep talking, and ... (more…)

EDITOR'S NOTE: Norman Rubenstein penned this review of on the eve of its publication by Humdrumming last year. Because of his enthusiasm for the project, I looked forward to running this along with my interview with co-author Michael Kelly. Then the unthinkable happened: at the very last minute, Humdrumming folded, leaving Ouroboros without a home. In a rare instance of a reviewer taking action into his own hands, Norman presented the material to Larry Roberts at Bloodletting Books. Roberts acquired the novel, which also led to a stint for Norman as an associate editor at Bloodletting. Because Norman had become involved in the book's publication, I decided to run his review - which ... (more…)