Category Archives: Horrorthon

6 Things That I Am Looking Forward To In October

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to October!  October is a big month here at the Shattered Lens.  It’s the month when we devote the majority of our time to the horror genre.  It’s time for our annual Horrorthon!  Last year, we had a record number of Horrorthon posts.  I’d love to break that record this year but mostly. I just want this year’s Horrothon to be fun for both our writers and our readers!

Here’s what I’m looking forward to in October!

  1. Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein — I think I was one of the few people who unreservedly loved Del Toro’s version of Nightmare Alley and I’m very much looking forward to seeing what he does with Mary Shelley’s classic tale.  Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein just feels like perfect casting.
  2. The Horror Movies On TCM — TCM never lets me down in October.  I can’t wait to binge all of the classic horror that will be aired this month.
  3. Nouvelle Vague — Richard Linklater’s tribute to the French New Wave is scheduled to be released in theaters on October 31st and then on Netflix two weeks later.  While I was a bit disappointed with last year’s Hit Man, I still look forward to every new Linklater film.  Speaking of which….
  4. Blue Moon — Linklater’s other 2025 film is scheduled for an October 17th release.  Ethan Hawke is said to be brilliant in this film.
  5. After The Hunt — I’m not really a huge fan of director Luca Guadagnino and I’ll probably never forgive him not only his Suspiria remake but also his uncharitable words about the original.  That said, After The Hunt has gotten such mixed reviews that I’m intrigued.  Julia Roberts is said to give one of her best performances in the film but the film’s storyline has been criticized.  Whenever critics give a negative review to a politically-charged film, I feel almost duty-bound to watch the film and decide for myself.
  6. Halloween — It’s my favorite holiday!  I can’t wait to see all the decorations, all the parties, and all the costumes!

October’s going to be a great month and those of us at TSL can’t wait to celebrate it with you!  What are you looking forward to in October?

“Bloody Mary” (Dir/Writer Mostafa Nohekhan) Short Film Review By Case Wright

Posted on by casewright

Happy Horrorthon! I’m writing this in July because I enjoy it, not this particular short- this short is garbage trash. It got 1.2 Million views and I’m certain at least 3 of those views were On Purpose! Mustafa Nohekhan should be featured on the Real Men of Genius ad campaign. Here’s to you Mr. Super Low-Budget Horror Film Maker [sung]. It’s hard to make a movie when all you have is your iPhone, Party City makeup, and some leftover jello for blood from your Sunday picnic, but you showed them- YOU SHOWED THEM ALL! Here’s to you – God of the bloody goop and unpaid crew. Mr. Super Low-Budget Horror Film Maker because when your critics said that this film couldn’t and shouldn’t be done. You responded, “I can do it!” They responded, “But why?”

This short does have a beginning, middle, and an end. The protagonist, an actress, says bloody mary in a mirror and is killed by “Mary” between takes. The acting is worthy of the finest 7th grade home movies. It has a we’ve got an iPhone let’s make a movie vibe. If you don’t want to take my word for it and wish to watch this piece of cinema- Here is the link:

Happy Horrorthon!

Music Video of the Day: Shining Love by Odin (1985, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Odin was one of the many hair metal bands that tried to make it big in the 80s.  They were a part of the same L.A. scene that launched everyone from Poison to Guns ‘N’ Roses to Mötley Crüe.  Today, they are probably best-remembered for being prominently featured in the 1988 documentary, The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years.  While bands like Poison and RATT and musicians like Ozzy Osbourne appeared in the documentary as battle-weary veterans, Odin was meant to represent the up-and-coming band that was on the verge of breaking through.  This video came out a few years before Odin was featured in Decline.

Who directed this video?  I’m not sure.  I even resorted to asking Google A.I.  Google A.I. replied with:

Mark Romanek is a pretty well-known director so if he started out his career directing videos for Odin, that would be a pretty big deal.  However, every list of credits that I could find for Romanek online listed neither Odin nor this video.  The video was released in 1985.  Both Wikipedia and the IMDb list Romanek’s first music video as being 1986’s Sweet Bird of Truth by The The.  I could be wrong but I’m 99.9% certain that Mark Romanek did not direct this video.

Odin never did break through and broke up shortly after the release of the documentary.  (They may have gotten more screentime then most of the veterans but what most people remembered from that movie was Ozzy making breakfast and Chris Holmes drinking beer.)  Maybe one reason they didn’t really break through is because, according to this video, their drummer could blow people up just by looking at them.  It’s not a good idea to blow up your own fans.

Enjoy!

Scenes That I Love: Tony Soprano Dreams Of A House In The Sopranos

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

With our annual Horrorthon starting tomorrow, I thought that this would be an appropriate time to share a creepy scene that I love from The Sopranos.

The Sopranos was well-known for its dream sequences. For me, this dream from the season 4’s Calling All Cars is one of the best and scariest of the series. It’s full of menace and ominous atmosphere, from the minute we see Tony being led to the house by the deceased Ralphie. And then, when that mysterious shadow appears on the staircase — AGCK!

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Horrorthon Preview

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

With October approaching, it will soon be time for our annual Horrorthon here at the Shattered Lens.  We’ve been working hard getting things ready!  Here are 4 shots from 4 of the many films that we will be reviewing this October.

4 Shots From 4 Horror Films

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920, dir by Robert Wiene)

Last House on the Left (1972, dir by Wes Craven)

The Grapes of Death (1978, dir by Jean Rollin)

The Shining (1980, dir by Stanley Kubrick)

 

Scenes I Love: Carrie Blows Up A Car

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

When it comes to the 1976 film, Carrie, we tend to focus so much on what Carrie does at prom that we forget about what she does while she’s walking home.

The prom scene, to me, is disturbing because Carrie not only kills her bullies but also a lot of people who probably weren’t actually laughing at her.  The floppy-haired photographer wearing the dorky fake tuxedo?  That dude did not deserve to die in a fiery inferno!

However, the scene in which Carrie blows up Chris and Billy is extremely satisfying because there’s no doubt they deserved it.

Freddy’s Nightmares Late Night Retro Television Review: Freddy’s Nightmares 1.6 “Saturday Night Special”

Posted on by casewright

GUEST REVIEWER ALERT!!! Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing Freddy’s Nightmares, a horror anthology show which ran in syndication from 1988 to 1990. The entire series can be found on Plex! 

This episode was really two storylines that had very little to do with one another; so, I’ll have to do like a story A and a story B. Story A shows Gordon (Scott Burkholder) and weird friend pining for a blonde bombshell ice skater. This entire scene is really creepy. Why? Neither of these guys went to the skating rink to skate or watch a game. They are literally just there to watch people. Yikes!

Super creepy Rob Lowe likes to go to the rec center and watch folks swim just like these guys who go to the rec center and watch people ice skate

Gordon has an OK job. He is not particularly handsome, but he’s not the worst. Anyway, he’s lonely. Gordon decides to use a dating service that has him lie on a video to get women. This could’ve been a cool plot line, if the dating service was run by the devil and he was selling his soul, but nope, it was just a dumb dating service. Then, out of nowhere, he was dead the whole time. So, huh?

Story B has an unattractive woman named Mary who gets convinced by her pretty coworker to get bizarre plastic surgery to be beautiful, but she’s actually not beautiful. It was so convoluted that it was really hard to follow.

The story B also had a sub plot that the real estate place where Mary worked was hiring pretty women to sleep with the clients to close deals. After Mary beautifies herself, she agrees to prostitute herself to close a real estate deal, but then the client thinks she’s ugly and she dies. Yep, the plot was schizophrenic. I was going to use a flow chart to follow it, but I can’t spend more time on story than the writers did.

Freddy’s Nightmares Late Night Retro Television Review: Freddy’s Nightmares 1.5 “Judy Miller, Come on Down”

Posted on by casewright

GUEST REVIEWER ALERT!!! Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing Freddy’s Nightmares, a horror anthology show which ran in syndication from 1988 to 1990. The entire series can be found on Plex! 

Judy (Siobhan McCafferty) is living a very terrible life. Tom (John DeMita), Judy’s husband, is a spoiled manchild hiding out in school to avoid working. Tom’s parents live with Judy and Tom and they treat Judy like an indentured servant. Judy’s only escape for a better life is to buy lottery tickets and apply to appear on gameshows. Like all Freddy’s I’ve seen, the initial story was not bad and should have remained 22 minutes. However, I will say that in NO WAY was this a horror script at all. It was meant to be a mediocre Twilight Zone script or that should’ve been where it was pitched. In fact, the only real blood was at the very end of the episode where Freddy squeezed a fake heart with blood in it. Really, that was it!

Back to the show, Judy gets called to be contestant on a gameshow, but it gets…weird. Not scary weird, but weird. The game show became a “Pit and the Pendulum” knock off where the host asked Judy personal questions and every answer led to her family members being NOT KILLED, but scratched. They could’ve had the deaths off screen. The show goes on and she wins the gameshow, but instead of the show allowing her to evolve and leave her abusive husband and in-laws, the story continues into ….. time travel. For real, the story took a turn into time travel, which is impossible. Look, I’m an applied physicist- let time travel go because It does not work. Let it go! You can’t save Kennedy! LET IT GO!

Once again, the story ached to end at the 22 minute mark, but had to keep going and where did it go? Time travel. Judy gets the money, stays married, and spends a lot. Then, her older -self time travels by “I went a long way”… so like Trader Joe’s and back because that is difficult with the small-ass parking spaces! Anyway, the older Judy warns her that her husband will cheat on her and she’ll stab him to death. Her older self advises her to give the money away and she’ll be happy. THIS IS STUPID! She was poor at the beginning of the story and miserable! Hey writers, weren’t you there?!!! Simple solution: just get a divorce – California is a no-fault state- Move on!

The problem with this show is that instead of doing re-writes, they took 22 minute stories and doubled them in the stupidest ways possible.