Heart- "Heartless"

Horror movie favorites

It seems like I've been watching horror films forever. Obviously not literally forever but I have been on a steady diet of horror movies since I was a teenager. That's about forty years. I've never taken the time to write down my personal favorites in this movie genre...until now. Without further ado, my top twenty five horror movies, in no particular order:

• The Shining(1980)
• The Conjuring(2013)
• Insidious(2010)
• The Descent(2005)
• The Exorcist(1973)
• Friday The 13th(1980)
• The Haunting(1963)
• Pit And The Pendulum(1961)
• House Of Wax(1953)
• Horror Of Dracula(1958)
• The Curse Of Frankenstein(1957)
• The Howling(1981)
• Halloween(1978)
• Candyman(1992)
• The Evil Dead(1981)
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre(1974)
• The Entity(1982)
• Dog Soldiers(2002)
• Dawn Of The Dead(1978)
• Hellraiser(1987)
• A Nightmare On Elm Street(1984)
• The Omen(1976)
• Prophecy(1979)
• The Burning(1981)
• The Curse Of The Werewolf(1961)

Honorable mentions: The Fog(1980), Fright Night(1985), Day Of The Dead(1985), Hellbound-Hellraiser II(1988), Night Of The Living Dead(1968), The Babadook(2014) & Squirm(1976).

Getting schooled

Our federal government has spent millions of dollars on public schools over the years...and yet average test scores continue to decrease as does the percentage of students attending public schools who graduate. Maybe we could learn a thing(or two) from school systems in Japan!

Here's an article I came across that touches on the dysfunction in American high schools: High school in America-a complete disaster

An article about taxpayer funded federal dollars being wasted by schools across America: School funds wasted 

Hare today, gone tomorrow: NIGHT OF THE LEPUS(1972)

I was asked recently by a casual friend which "bad" movie I like the most. Good question. There are numerous low budget horror and sci-fi schlockers that I am still greatly fond of. One of my all time favorite sci-fi stinkers remains Allied Artists' Frankenstein Meets The Space Monster(1965). Another low budget film also comes to mind which I watch whenever it makes the rounds on Turner Classic Movies: NIGHT OF THE LEPUS(1972), directed by William Claxton.

In this movie an Arizona rancher(played by Rory Calhoun) suffering from a "mongrel" rabbit infestation on his land seeks out the help of a local college president(played by DeForrest Kelley). A scientist and professor from the local college(Stuart Whitman) decides to take care of the rancher's rabbit problem by using genetic modification, specifically hormonal injections to disrupt the breeding cycles of these critters. Predictably, one of the injected rabbits escapes and infects other rabbits. Result: a horde of ornery, buck toothed rabbits as big as cattle which attack anyone and anything that gets in their way. The movie concludes with a final showdown between the human cast, local Army National Guard and the marauding giant rabbits.

The special effects are often laughable but I like the sequences in which the giant rabbits stampede across the countryside, and through residences and businesses, like angry bulls. I'm sure most people wouldn't consider rabbits an ideal animal upon which to base a horror film but the giant critters in this movie are no joke and once on the march, they open up a serious can of whoop ass on their victims. There is little gore but a good bit of action violence, grisly deaths(mostly implied), plenty of bright colored fake blood and actors Rory Calhoun and Stuart Whitman blasting away at the giant rabbits with their shotguns and rifles.

A trailer:


This movie is available on DVD(-R) as an "on demand" DVD from Warner Brothers, the movie presented in a 1:77.1 widescreen aspect ratio. To see this "on demand" DVD for sale at Amazon click the link: NIGHT OF THE LEPUS Warner Archive on demand DVD-R

Tangled webs we weave: SILK(2015) - short horror film

As a horror movie fan I always get excited when I come across short horror films...and SILK, directed by Rob Himebaugh, is one of the best I've seen in a long, long time. If you're arachnophobic(have a genuine fear of spiders), then watch this fourteen(14) minute short horror movie at your own risk. Prepare to be creeped out!

Silk from Tristan Borys on Vimeo.