Published by wil December 30th, 2009
in NEWS and ORGINAL ARTICLES/ RANTS.
With 2010 right around the corner it is time to wrap up all of our year end coverage and start preparing for another great year. Below is the top ten grossing horror films of 2009. Of course the biggest success story was Paranormal Activity and the biggest failures were Rob Zombie’s Halloween 2 and perhaps Saw VI. I left New Moon off the list because it isn’t a horror film, but I did post its number in case you would like to see the insane spending power of teenage girls and overweight middle-aged housewives.
Also be sure to check out our other end of the year features like; HYB’s Top Ten Horror Movies of 2009, Hottest Horror Babe of 2009 and the Best Horror Bitch of the Year.
Have a great New Year!
Continue reading ‘Top Grossing Horror Films of 2009′
Published by Andrew December 29th, 2009
in ORGINAL ARTICLES/ RANTS.
What would a slasher movie be without it’s requisite bitch? For every virginal good girl there must be her opposite number, the yin to her yang. In recent years many under-qualified nouveau 90210 wannabes have attempted to make a name for themselves in the pantheon of horror bad girls by flatly delivering lines in Valley Girl-esque tones and stomping around in stiletto heels. They have tried to place their names beside such luminaries as Wendy in Prom Night, Barb in the original Black Christmas, and Gail Weathers in Scream. They have tried, and they have failed. Miserably. This year there was one actress who took an overstuffed, convoluted, who-dunnit mess of a remake and it worth the price of admission. She came , she saw, and she stole the movie from the bland final girl the way only a good bitch can. Her name is Leah Pipes, also known as Jessica from Sorority Row.
Published by wil December 28th, 2009
in ORGINAL ARTICLES/ RANTS and TOP TEN LIST.
There were a lot of great films in 2009 but unfortunately most of them did not come from the horror genre. I feel like most of my year was wasted watching bad 3D gimmicks (The Final Destination), boring and uncreative remakes (Friday the 13th) and comedies disguised as horror films (Jennifer’s Body)… Even the films that made our list barely elicit any kind of excitement from me; while entertaining Sam Raimi’s Drag Me To Hell felt lost in the Summer movie season, and Michael Dougherty’s Trick ‘r Treat didn’t seem like is was worth the very long wait. Paranormal Activity just gave me Blair Witch Déjà vu and unfortunately I managed to miss Zombieland in theaters.
Published by wil October 2nd, 2009
in ORGINAL ARTICLES/ RANTS.
Today super “producer” Brad Fuller responded to the “overwhelming response” to the A Nightmare on Elm Street teaser trailer on his official Platinum Dunes blog.
Published by Steven Tee September 30th, 2009
in ORGINAL ARTICLES/ RANTS.
The other day, I was scanning through our forums, looking to see what others have written and looking for something to write in. When I came to the conclusion that all the topics were old and nothing was interesting, I started looking at the forum members. Then, this thought/question came to me – “I wonder what type of horror fans these people are?” I can tell most of the time just from looking at their user name and their posts what kind of a fan they are.
Then, I went further with this thought/question and made a post. I want to see, and I’m sure you might want to as well, see what kind of fan you are. There are six fields that I believe are the biggest and broadest for everyone to be placed in one. Like our human nature and behavior, what we like in our genre is vastly different among us all.
Published by wil September 22nd, 2009
in ORGINAL ARTICLES/ RANTS.
A lot of horror fans have already given up on After Dark Films, and regular Horror Yearbook readers know that we were so outspoken about their suckiness, that it resulted in an online flame war with some of their volunteers. However, it seems like Horrorfest 4 has the potential to be decent this year. Did they finally realize that it takes more than just hype to get people interested in their movies, and is it time for horror fans to give 8 Films to Die For another chance?
The problem with After Dark is that every year there are at least eight films that do not make it to theaters that are to “die for,” but for some reason they never seem to be part of Horrorfest. Four years ago After Dark Films promised to release decent hard to see horror films in theaters, and instead horror fans got bargain bin crap backed by a lot of bullshit hype. It wasn’t that the movies were “too extreme” for theaters, it was that they were too shitty for theaters, and barely even deserved a DVD release.
The remake argument is a moot point, a waste of time, especially when it comes to Platinum Dunes’ remakes. If you’re still asking the question “why do they do it?”, the answer is money, so stop asking and move on. However, that doesn’t mean we have to continue being insulted by Platinum Dunes, who still feels the need to play the fan angle. If they were really listening to the horror fans, they probably wouldn’t be remaking these movies at all. Instead they’re listening to the dollar of the Saturday Night Dead, the same people who made Paul Blart Mall Cop the biggest hit of 2009. People who will see almost anything, especially when it’s manufactured to be “cool” like Dunes’ remakes are.
We also know over-obsessed fandom and the internet can ruin a film or TV show. If the creators of Battlestar Galactica had listened to fans of the original, we would have never received one of the best Sci-Fi television series to date. Heroes caved to public opinion which resulted in the decline of a promising show , and ultimately their ratings. However, this does not mean we need patronizing blogs posted on Bloody-Disgusting to remind us that there is nothing we can do to stop the Dunes’ remake machine…
[Editor's Note: Horror Yearbook is always looking for ways to help out the little guy, but to be honest the little guy sometimes makes it hard to do so. Upstart filmmakers, comics artist and so on are sometimes not very good at promoting their own stuff, or getting material to the websites that will take the time to feature them. So when David Doub approached me about his graphic nove,l Dusk, I decided to let him write his own story about the up-and-downs of trying to get his vampire comic published, below is that story]
Published by wil March 23rd, 2009
in ORGINAL ARTICLES/ RANTS.
This is part 3 of HorrorMovieFans.com series titled, Selling Horror to the Fans written by the wise and sexy Foo. You can read parts 1&2 here, and be sure a check out Foo’s other article Not all Remakes are Created Equal.
Published by Brain Hammer March 17th, 2009
in ORGINAL ARTICLES/ RANTS.
In the past Code Red DVD promised horror fans DVD releases of cult classics such as The Mutilator, Nightmare, Silent Scream, The Visitor, and Night Warning and delivered nothing in return but excuses. Instead of offering honest reasons why these flicks never came out as promised, Mr. Code Red goes on various horror message boards and talks shit to the fans. He blames them for not buying his other dvd releases. He blames the filmmakers for not providing him with “pristine” quality prints. When all else fails he even resorts to whining about having a medical condition.
Published by wil March 17th, 2009
in ORGINAL ARTICLES/ RANTS.
One of the most highly anticipated movies for horror fans was the Friday the 13th remake/reimagining/whatever bullshit word they make up for it. Even before the movie was announced, speculation was rampant. Since the film began production, fans were bombarded with jaded set reports, studio-approved images, and bootleg trailers. The hype machine was in effect, full throttle.
Published by wil February 27th, 2009
in ORGINAL ARTICLES/ RANTS.
The Twilight franchise is starting to make me realize something about so-called “whiny” horror fans; they may not be as whiny as we think. I know most of you are not following the Twilight mania so let me quickly recap it for you.
Published by wil February 20th, 2009
in ORGINAL ARTICLES/ RANTS.
We love a good fight here at Horror Yearbook, but what we love even more is when an independent filmmaker, website owner or NOW DVD distributer throws a hissy fit. I previously mentioned that some horror fans are less than happy with the company Code Red for not delivering on promised DVD releases. The simple solution would be for them not to make the announcements when they require the distribution rights for a film, but rather, when they were closer to releasing the DVD. This way fans will not feel like they have been waiting for years, for something that seems like it may never be delivered.
Published by Kevin Touch February 11th, 2009
in ORGINAL ARTICLES/ RANTS.
In two days the Friday the 13th remake will tear the horror community apart, and when the dust finally does settle, the horror message boards will be prepping for their attack on Rob Zombie’s new Halloween sequel. Meanwhile, Freddy Krueger waits in the wings for his chance in the spotlight, finally putting three of the biggest horror icons back on our movie screens… if you like it or not.
The slasher genre always did get a bum rap. It might have made oodles of dinero for the production companies, but they still turned their back on their product for fear of becoming victims to the backlash. Still, as with any tried and true formula, the slasher blueprint became a staple in other types of films. They might deny it, but many a film took the conventions and just dressed them up all pretty, hoping no one would notice the soiled underpinnings. Here are the 10+ movies that came to mind when I thought about films that fell into different genres but retained a little of the slash.
