Drew Daywalt - Master of Horror - Brings you "Doppelganger"

I recently discovered one of the finest horror filmmakers ever! Yeah, that's right, I said EVER! Drew Daywalt is the master of the horror short. There are many well known horror creators for whom I have great admiration, but none of them have had the consistent ability to make the hair stand up on the back of my neck (and include a clever twist) all in under 5 minutes! His latest effort, "Doppelganger", lives up to that benchmark handily. There is little point in giving an actual review of the piece itself, as any spoilers would probably ruin the 'creepalicious' effect. Yeah, I made that word up!

JUST WATCH IT!

Drew Daywalt and his team at Daywalt Fear Factory consistently deliver stellar examples of what can be done with short form low or controlled budget filmmaking. You can see more of his hair raising storytelling at:

Daywalt Fear Factory

And if you liked "Doppelganger", make a point to also watch "Bedfellows". Am I exaggerating by calling Drew Daywalt a Master of Horror? Judge for yourself and let me know your opinion. And for God's sake...

"DON"T GO HOME!"

Angry Robot Review of Tim Waggoner's "Dead Streets" by T. Reed

Nightmare Sound Laboratory

presents:

The Angry Robot Review for April 19, 2010

“Dead Streets” by Tim Waggoner

“Oh baby, baby it’s a wild world.” ... Cat Stevens

Or at least that’s what the Artist formerly known as 
Cat Stevens might have said about ‘Nekropolis’, the alternate universe inhabited by Matt Richter – Zombie Detective, and the Midnight Watch.  

         Somewhere between ‘Mad Monster Party’ and 
the alter-dimensional Hell of Clive Barker’s ‘Hellraiser’ we find ourselves on the “Dead Streets” of Tim Waggoner’s Nekropolis.

In this world filled with Frankenstein’s abominations, Vampire Lords, Half-bloods, shape-shifters, and Lycanthropes of every imaginable variety, ALL of our childhood’s favorite TV and movie monsters converge with entirely unheard of creatures, most of whom spell trouble for Zombie Detective Matt Richter and his cadre of security professionals. When the neighboring businesses are a “misfortune teller” and a “head shop" – ("new and used, all species, original size and shrunken") – you just know there is going to be more than enough humor and horror to go around in this ambitious tale that starts with a mystery and escalates into an all out monster war.

I started reading this series with “Dead Streets” (Book 2) and felt (at first) as though maybe I should go back and read Book 1: “Nekropolis” before embarking on this path, but ‘Dead Streets’ was the book I was entrusted to review, so onward I forged, to be pleasantly surprised at the ease with which Tim Waggoner brought you right into the story regardless of having not yet read “Nekropolis” already. It’s like picking up right where you left off without ever having been there! That said, ‘Dead Streets’ made me hungry to go back and see how Matt Richter became a Zombie Detective in the first place, and of course, what the next case for Matt Richter – Zombie Detective will be.

Keep tuned in for more: COMING SOON! An audio excerpt from “Dead Streets” featuring a spoken excerpt with the music of the novel’s Banshee led, all monster band ‘Kakophonie’! 

As one might hear on Bedlam 66.6 
Nekropolis’ favorite ghoulish radio station.

Right here @ http://nightmaresoundlab.blogspot.com/

Let the ‘Scream Queen’ sing!

~

T.Reed is a Film Composer and Multi-Media Creative specializing in the realm of Horror and Sci Fi Music, Art, and Writing. http://www.taoxproductions.com

My Monster Madness & the Book that Started It All!

"A Pictorial History of Horror Movies" by Denis Gifford
Review by T. Reed - 2009

In 1973 Denis Gifford, a British author who wrote several books on the culture and genre of Horror and SciFi, published "The Pictorial History of Horror Movies"( © 1973/74 - Hamlyn).
I received this book as a gift as a kid less than 10 years old, and for years I carried this around , like a sacred tome, studying every word and picture .
From the original dust jacket picture one might get the mistaken impression that this was a book primarily featuring Universal's Monsters, but further inspection proves it to be far more. Most of those dust covers don't exist any more, like mine, they disintegrated. I actually recovered my copy from my parents house over 20 years later, showing the incredible wear and tear I put this thing through.
While most of the photographs in the book are black and white on cheap paper that easily yellowed, there are a few nice full page color glossies, one, most notably a full page picture from a rare and difficult to find film starring Boris Karloff called "The Sorcerers" (Tigon 1967).
The black and whites are easily every bit as fascinating, offering a good blend of images from many classic films as well as a host of rare and seldom seen images, such as pictures from Georges Melies silent films done at the edge of the 19th century, featuring amazingly well crafted demons, devils, skeletons, and assorted fantastical creatures and events, (including one of the first cinematographic ventures to to the Moon). Also striking were pictures from Terror in the Sun (Ungar 1961), and some of the Asian titles very few outside of Japan were seeing i.e. "The Snake Girl and the Silver Haired Witch" , Living Skeleton (Schochiku 1968), and "Horror of Malformed Men" (Toei 1969).
But beyond the awesome pictorial record, there are tidbits of information and very cool and obscure facts about many of the movies and artists we are all familiar with, as well as the many of the less familiar. From Melies to Poe, from "Fiend Without a Face" to the "Mad Doctor of Blood Island" and from all across the World, Denis Gifford presented an intoxicating look into the heart of the Beast that is the Art of Horror and SciFi film-making. To my knowledge, this book is no longer in print but can still be obtained as a used book via Amazon.

T. Reed - TAO X Productions - Nightmare Sound laboratory
http://nightmaresoundlab.blogspot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/monstermakerslab/
http://www.taoxproductions.com