10 Under Appreciated Psycho Killer Movies

With the recent remake of “Maniac” now hitting the festival circuit and the actual release date getting closer I thought I would show my excitement for the cult classic reboot by listing ten killer flicks that are greatly under appreciated. These are films that many may not have seen or forget about over the years but deserve a little more love from us all.

1. Carnival Of Blood (1970)

Directed by Leonard Kirtman and starring Burt Young, Earle Edgerton, Judith Resnick, and Martin Bardsky. “Carnival Of Blood” is about a psychopathic killer who uses the carousel ride at a carnival to pick his victims, whom he then murders and dismembers.

2. City In Panic (1986)

Directed by Robert Bouvier and stars David Adamson, Lee Ann Nestegard and Ed Chester. “City In Panic is about a serial killer who stalks homosexuals, and leaves an “M” carved on their skin. Late night radio host Dave Miller is asked by police to challenge the maniac by provoking him to call in to the radio show.

3. Dr. Giggles (1992)

Directed by Manny Coto and stars Larry Drake, Holly Marie Combs and Cliff De Young. “Dr. Giggles” is about the psychopathic son of a mass-murdering doctor, who escapes from his mental institution to seek revenge on the town where his father was caught. The giggling doctor kills his victims with a surgical theme. His goal being to give one of the town folk a heart transplant.

4. Fade To Black (1980)

Directed by Vernon Zimmerman and starring Dennis Christopher, Tim Thomerson and Gwynne Gilford. “Fade To Black” is about a shy, lonely, film geek who goes on a killing spree against those who bully and browbeat him, while at the same time, he stalks his idol; a Marilyn Monroe look-alike.

5. Deranged (1974)

Directed by Jeff Gillen and Alan Ormsby; starring Robert Warner, Roberts Blossom, Cosette Lee, Micki Moore, and Leslie Carlson. “Deranged” is  based on Ed Gein a deranged rural farmer becomes a grave robber and murderer after the death of his possessive mother whom he keeps her corpse, among others, as his companions in his decaying farmhouse.

6. Hands Of The Ripper (1971)

Directed by Peter Sasdy and starring Eric Porter, Angharad Rees, Jane Merrow, and Keith Bell. “Hands Of The Ripper” tells the story of Jack The Rippers daughter who witnesses the murder of her mother at her father’s hands. She then grows up and becomes possessed by the spirit of her serial father and goes on a murderous killing spree.

7. Lucker (1986)

Directed by Johan Vandewoestijne and starring Nick Van Suyt, Helga Vandevelde and Let Jotts. This Belgian exploitation film saw worldwide release in 2007 and tells the story of a serial killer who awakens from a coma and escapes from a mental hospital to kill a survivor of his slayings years ago, all the while stalking, terrifying, and killing women on the way.

8. Mikey (1992)

Directed by Dennis Demstir and starring Brian Bonsall, Josie Bissett and Ashley Laurence. “Mikey” is about a little boy whose original family dies accidently and he is sent from foster home to foster home because every family he is sent to has a series of unexplained incidents. Soon the truth of Mikey’s misfortune becomes frightfully clear.

9. Night School (1981)

Directed by Ken Hughes and stars Rachel Ward, Leonard Mann, Drew Snyder, and Joseph R. Sicari. “Night School” is about a Boston detective who investigates a series of decapitations of college coeds. The murders are committed by a helmet wearing leather clad serial killer.

10. Savage Weekend (1979)

Directed by David Paulsen and John Mason Kirby; starring Christopher Allport, Jim Doerr, David Gale, Devin Goldenberg, Marylin Hamlin, and  Caitlin O’Heaney . “Savage Weekend” is about several couples who head upstate to the country to watch a boat being built. Unfortunately they are stalked by a murderer behind a ghoulish mask.

Four New Character Poster’s For Brit Horror Flick “Airborne”.

Gearing up for it’s limited UK run in theaters is the British horror flick that takes place in the air. “Airborne” stars Mark Hamill ('Star Wars'), Alan Ford ('Snatch'), Julian Glover ('Mirrors') and  Gemma Atkinson ('13hrs'). Directed by Dominic Burns the film debuts at the British Independent Film Festival.

Character Posters - Mark Hamill

Character Posters - Julian Glover

Character Posters - Gemma Atkinson

Character Posters - Alan Ford
Synopsis:
"As a snow storm closes in, one final plane takes off. The plane reports to the ground that both pilots are dead, while the slowly dwindling number of passengers on the plane wish that they'd never left the ground."

“Prometheus” Images From Entertainment Weekly

The “Prometheus” exclusive issue of Entertainment Weekly hits newsstands tomorrow but there is a ton of new images on the EW site that will be featured in the special issue.

Enter The World Of A Serial Killer With “Billy Club”

“Billy Club” is a psychological slasher flick into the world of a serial killer. This low budget horror experience will see Nick Sommer and Drew Rosas (TROMA’s “Blood Junkie”) co-directing the twisted tale that has a killer preferring a baseball bat as his weapon of choice.

Billy Club follows four little league friends that reunite 15 years after a terrible homicide ripped their baseball team apart. Setting out on a mission to pay homage to their fallen teammates, the friend unknowingly find themselves hunted by a brutal killer with a twisted form of revenge.

Website and Facebook Page

“The Quiet Ones” Bringing Hammer Film’s Into The Realm Of The Paranormal Once More

With the recent success of “The Woman In Black”, one of the most iconic ghost stories ever penned. Hammer Film’s is once more exploring the realm of the paranormal with their new project “The Quiet Ones”. The film will be directed by John Pogue and is currently in pre-production. So far the cast includes Jared Harris and Sam Claflin. The film is about the events surrounding a 1970’s real case. Read the synopsis below. This project sounds really interesting but more than that it shows Hammer Film’s is firmly planted into the horror genre once more bringing the classic stylizing of dark story telling to a genre they once dominated.

Inspired by true events, The Quiet Ones tells the story of an unorthodox professor who uses controversial methods and leads his best students off the grid to take part in a dangerous experiment: to create a poltergeist. Based on the theory that paranormal activity is cause by human negative energy, the rogue scientists perform a series of tests on a young patient, pushing her to the edge of sanity. As frightening occurrences begin to take place with shocking and gruesome consequences, the group quickly realizes they have triggered a force more terrifying than they ever could have imagined.


Hammer Films

Observing The Lucifer Effect

One of the more interesting projects to come along since “The Blair Witch Project” is the story that follows paranormal events surrounding the Rauceby Mental Asylum in Quarrington, near Sleaford, Lincolnshire where eight people volunteered to be in a movie, then locked inside the asylum for three days and the severe psychological effects the experience had on them. “The Lucifer Effect” is the purported footage from the events that transpired. Now whether this is all PR hype around a new spin on a much worn movie premise or the real deal dark side to indie movie making in “cursed” locations you can only decide for yourselves. The information given reads more of a blend of police investigation report and legal disclaimer. Read it for yourselves and decide and check out the trailer.



“The film studies the social condition known as “The Lucifer Effect,” a psychological consequence that is said to occur when “good” people are given power over others in an evil place. The experiment was first conducted in the 1970’s during the infamous Stanford Prison experiment, and now the film’s producers have recreated a modern-day equivalent in an abandoned mental asylum.
Reports of a curse originally surfaced due to the fact that the film features disturbing events that occurred when the participants in the film were taking part in a Ouija board session during their brief stay in the asylum. Unlike other films that it has been compared to, such as The Blair Witch Project or Paranormal Activity, the footage and events in The Lucifer Project are actually real, there was no script and the reactions of the participants are genuine, including the unfortunate assault. As a result the police in Lincolnshire, England, seized the footage and the film was put on hold, creating media attention with coverage in the British press.
Adding to the notion that the film may be heading into unsettling territory, it also uses subliminal imagery and has a secret secondary storyline interwoven in hidden frames beneath the main storyline, which has only fueled the rumors that something very odd is going on.
The film centers around eight people who volunteered for a role in a movie, only to be locked inside a reportedly haunted mental asylum for three days and nights, with no communication from the outside world and little food to eat.
Since these events, two members of the cast have reportedly been hospitalized, with others receiving counseling for any possible after-effects. All involved have signed release forms and given their consent for the footage to be used. Compounding the stories of a curse is the fact that the director who oversaw the filming of the original events is also now missing, with rumors that one of the actresses has been sectioned in South America.
In order to investigate whether the alleged “curse” can have any effects on the public at large, the film has added an innovative social media angle. When anyone activates the trailer on the film’s Facebook and social networking pages, their webcam activates, thereby involving the viewer in what is onscreen. Already there have been reports of doors seen mysteriously opening, shadows appearing and lampshades moving in the background.
The producers added the webcam feature after the curse reports surfaced to pick up on any paranormal activity once the film trailer had been watched. The producers say if anything interesting or unusual is recorded whilst watching the trailer, there is a chance that the recordings will be featured in the final cut of the film when it is released.”

 
The Lucifer Effect Website

More “Maniac” Remake Update

Franck Khalfoun’s “Maniac” remake is currently making it’s rounds at the Canne’s Film Festival where it will have a midnight screening. Horror-Movies.Ca posted these sweet pics that they snagged giving us the first official images from the psycho killer flick which has Elijah Wood playing the part of the maniac. Also we finally have an official synopsis for this updated revisioning of the 1988 classic movie. I am uber excited about this film and cannot wait to see Elijah as the demented killer.

Synopsis:

“Just when the streets seemed safe, a serial killer with a fetish for scalps is back and on the hunt.
Frank is the withdrawn owner of a mannequin store, but his life changes when young artist Anna appears asking for his help with her new exhibition. As their friendship develops and Frank’s obsession escalates, it becomes clear that she has unleashed a long-repressed compulsion to stalk and kill.”

Santa Packs Some Serious Heat In “Silent Night” Artwork

Steven C. Miller’s remake of the classic “Silent Night, Deadly Night” is currently filming in Winnipeg and there have bee some awesome images and info come out recently. The most exciting for is always to see the one sheets and sells posters that hit the net to advertise films. I remember the image of Santa climbing down the chimney with only one had visible waving in the night sky against a snow covered roof gripping a bloody axe. It was epic. So all though I am very modern in my thinking and realize that when things get rebooted or remade for new audiences there will be changes to familiar scenes and landscapes within a story, I am not quite excited about this first art sheet for “Silent Night”. I get the flamethrower completely, Santa sometimes needs to bring some heat, how else is he gonna roast your chestnuts? I just would rather have seen that wonderfully intimidating axe wielding Kringle that terrified me so as a child. The image is truly powerful with this new take on the psycho Santa slayer. So I will adjust and bask in the awesomeness of this new “Silent Night”. 

Synopsis
It's a snowy Christmas Eve in Cryer, Wisconsin. The normally quiet town is bustling with activity as the residents are getting ready for the big day. The events take place around the town's annual Santa Parade, which has brought a record number of Santas to town. Deputy Sheriff Aubrey Bradimore (King) is stuck reluctantly working the night shift, dealing with all of the drunken Santas, road closures, and stressed out locals — but things are about to take a deadly turn. A vicious serial killer, dressed as Santa Claus, has made his own “naughty list”, and anyone on it is in big trouble. As the body count rises, Aubrey races to discover the killer’s true identity – but in a town full of Santas, shady characters, and dark secrets, finding the real murderer will take more then a Christmas miracle.

Another “Deer Crossing” Film Coming In 2013

“Deer Crossing” writer and director Christian Jude Grillo has announced that there will be a sequel to “Deer Crossing”, his horror/crime drama that expected to be released everywhere this fall. “Deer Crossing 2: The Legend Of Carvin County” is scheduled for summer of 2013 and already Grillo has Andy Miller from ‘The Walking Dead’ and John Amplas from Day Of The Dead lined up for the next installment of the dark tale that blends crime drama emotion with full on grindcore horror.


Synopsis for “Deer Crossing 2”

“In this action-packed continuation to Deer Crossing, Carvin County’s new deputy, Derrick Stanswood now acts as Sheriff during the absence of drug-depressed Andy Lock. Stanswood assembles a team to help him cleanse the corruption of the town and of its’ undergound drug queenpin, Gail Kennedy. A theatrical wild card enters the mix putting Stanswood in a race against time and forcing Gail to quickly cover her tracks. Stanswood has to look deep into the legend of the Carvin County to know how to stop the current crime wave that has been paved by prior generations.”

Check Out The Teaser Trailer For “My Horror Project”

Grant, a documentary filmmaker, along with his trusty cinematographer David and two Producers rent an alleged demonically possessed home with a very sordid past. While the Producers are hoping to cash in on what could be the next supernatural reality phenomenon, Grant has other plans. A harsh skeptic, Grant plans to make an over budgeted spook house flop to prove a point; that ghosts don’t exist and to shatter the mythos of the “haunted house” once and for all. It isn’t long before Grant begins to discover the malevolent secrets hidden within the walls of the decrepit Victorian manor. As the mystery unfolds and the body count rises Grant is forced to make a deadly choice; let his film die or finish what he’s started and see this project to the grisly end! MY HORROR PROJECT… an experiment in fear.

Facebook Page

“Babycall” Gets Name Change For U.S DVD Release

Noomi Rapace’s “Babycall”, a supernatural thriller has been re-titled “The Monitor” for the DVD release in the U.S from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. The film will hit shelves on July 24th hoping to catch the new wave of Rapace fan’s who were a bit underwhelmed by “Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” and more than likely still reeling from the “Prometheus” rush the month before. I personally don’t understand changing the name of the movie, Americans are not so different from Brits that we can’t comprehend what the title of films mean. Yet the movie industry has always done this and always will so what are ya gonna do? 

Synopsis:

After escaping an abusive husband, Anna (Rapace) and her 8-year-old son move far away to a secret location.  Terrified that her ex-husband will find them, she buys a baby monitor to keep in her son’s room at all times - but she soon discovers strange noises echoing through the monitor from elsewhere in the building.  As she witnesses the sounds of what she believes is another child being murdered, she fears the worst – that it’s her own son.  Reliving the nightmare she recently escaped, Anna will need to figure out what’s real and what isn’t before she loses her sanity and her child

“Prometheus” Featurette and TV Spot

Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus” on June 8th. I am counting down the time until that day. This has been one of my most anticipated movies to come out in along while as a sci-fi and horror fan. There has been a lot of material to come along since this film was first announced over a year and a half ago, maybe longer to keep me pleasantly teased until June 8th. Now there is an origins featurette to enjoy. I also posted a new tv spot as well.

Photos From Set Of “Silent Night”

Director Steven C. Miller has released photos from his latest project, the much anticipated “Silent Night” remake or reboot, it’s all in how you look at it. Either way it one of my favorite horror franchises of all time and I am glad to see it given new life.

“Dark Feed” Poster & Trailer

The Rasmussen Bros. wrote the script for John Carpenter’s “The Ward” so they now something about horror and insanity. Now they step up the psycho-slaughter in their new horror film “Dark Feed”. They shot the film in New England using the same hospital that was featured in “Shutter Island” but don’t hold that disappointment against this movie. “Dark Feed” brings the scary to the crazy house. Below is the poster and trailer for Shawn and Michael Rasmussen’s horror film where insanity is contagious.

DARK FEED centers on a film crew shooting a low budget movie in an abandoned mental hospital with a shadowy past. The late nights and lack of sleep are taking a toll, and the longer this crew works, the more the leaky, wet building seems to be coming back to life, feeding off its new inhabitants. Something hiding in the hospital's walls is slowly seeping out and infecting their minds.


Website and Facebook Page

The White Room By Rick Hauntala

Rick Hautala is best known as a speculative fiction and horror writer. Recently he has published many of his works with specialty press and small press publishers like Cemetery Dance Publications and Dark Harvest. His novel The Wildman (2008), was chosen to be Full Moon Press' debut limited edition title.


Heading for Hilton, Maine, to spend the summer restoring his old childhood home, Tim and Polly Harris and their young son, Brian, encounter more than they had bargained for when human bones are found at a nearby construction site, Brian nearly drowns, and Polly encounters a mysterious young girl whom no one else can see and an evil force bent on their destruction.

Synopsis And Release Date For Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep

Synopsis: “Stephen King returns to the characters and territory of one of his most popular novels ever, The Shining, in this instantly riveting novel about the now middle-aged Dan Torrance (the boy protagonist of The Shining) and the very special twelve-year-old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous paranormals.

On highways across America, a tribe of people called The True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless—mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and tween Abra Stone learns, The True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the “steam” that children with the “shining” produce when they are slowly tortured to death.

Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father’s legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant “shining” power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes “Doctor Sleep.”

Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan’s own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra’s soul and survival. This is an epic war between good and evil, a gory, glorious story that will thrill the millions of hyper-devoted readers of The Shining and wildly satisfy anyone new to the territory of this icon in the King canon.”
 
The US release date for Doctor Sleep has been tentatively set for January 15, 2013.

Check Out The Trailer For “The Last Sacrifice”

This could have easily been an episode of Buffy! However I must let Buffy rest in peace and move on. This story comes from David Storey. “The Last Sacrifice” is about creatures who feed college kids.

Somebody killed the party… that’s what Silas and Babs remember from last night’s party. The story of the monster that kills children and feeds on Sacrificial Freshmen.
But now they’re awake the morning after only to find that the party the attended supposedly occurred five years ago and every student that attended the party has not been seen since.
Trapped by a bereaved father named Shishio, and Ex-Biology teacher named Gideon and a homeless priest named Dedalus; Silas and Babs must figure out what happened at the party, or suffer the same fate as their classmates.

“The Human Race” Premiering At Fantasia

Action/Horror flick “The Human Race” will premier at Fantasia 2012 in Montreal Canada. The film is a future in which people are forced to actually race but not for glory or a medal, they must race to survive.  This is a movie that claims to have characters like we have never seen before and does unthinkable things to them. So to that says one awesome gory action packed nightmare. Can’t wait to see this one…

The film stars Paul McCarthy-Boyington, Eddie McGee, Trista Robinson (Hell’s Belles), Fred Coury and Domiziano Arcangel. Written and directed by Paul Hough.


Website