HORROR MOVIES A-Z: a poem

To get ready for Friday's show (KEVIN GEEKS OUT: ALL ABOUT EVIL**) here's an A-Z poem about horror films. 

A is for Alien, chest-bursting bitch

B is for Belial, makes baskets twitch

C's for Chatterer, cenobite #2

D is for Damien, this hanging's for you

Don Coscarelli Double-Feature

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New York's 92Y Tribeca is screening a Don Coscarelli double-feature with his new film JOHN DIES AT THE END and his cult classic PHANTASM. 

The director will be there in person and I'll be moderating the Q&A. 

It's Wednesday January 9th at 7pm. Come on by, get tickets here. 

I haven't been this excited since I went to PHANTASMANIA at the Alamo Draft House. (c. 2000)

Freddy vs. the Tall Man: a deleted scene from Kevin Geeks Out About Dummy Deaths

In Jeffrey Cooper’s book The Nightmare on Elm Street Companion: The Official Guide to America's Favorite Fiend, director Wes Craven describes a new direction in horror, saying that he’s pioneering a new territory which blurs the lines between the real world and the dream world.

Of course, he’s talking about his own movie A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), but he could just as easily be describing Don Coscarelli’s Phantasm (1979). I’m not knocking the first Elm Street movie, but I think it owes something to Don Coscarelli’s sublime, dream-like film.

Here are the endings to both films. (Note: The Spoilers! statue of limitations expires after 15 years, so “Spoilers!” does not apply.)


(note: I couldn’t get find the Elm Street final scene online, so I had to post this slightly different version without the car turning on the kids. But you get the idea.)



This side-by-side screening was supposed to be part of KEVIN GEEKS OUT ABOUT DUMMY DEATHS, but we cut Phantasm in the interest of showing more dummy deaths. (A decision I stand by.)

Arguably, Craven’s use of the dummy gives his scene an added punch and a not-quite-real dream quality. But Coscarelli knows how to make the most of Monster Hands.

This comparison was previously included in my AMC video-essay about SCARY SCIENCE-FICTION, where we even do the bit with monster hands.


Watch the episode, it's only two and a half minutes, and it's one of the best looking ones we did (tip o' the hat to DP Jeremy Carr, editor Eric Hendricks and the actor's actor, Mike Birch.)

Scary Sci Fi

This episode was supposed to tie-in to AMC's FearFest, but it became a fun experimental piece.

Sequels I Still Wanna See