Tag Archives: horror movies

Editorials

(VIDEO) That Deleted Scene From “The Fly” 1986 That Went Too Damn Far

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David Cronenberg’s THE FLY is highly regarded by us horror fans as not only one of the greatest remakes of all time but, quite possibly, one of the most gorgeous representations of practical effects in horror films to this very day. In the 35-plus years since the movie’s release, horror fans and aspiring filmmakers look at THE FLY slightly different to the average moviegoer. While the typical viewer sees shock and horror, we see the most tragic love story ever told. Ok, it’s also one of the grossest love fests ever told but nonetheless, tragic as hell. And the following deleted scene just validates that point even further.

The infamous monkey-cat deleted scene most of us have seen already is grotesque in nature and mostly unnecessary. I say mostly because I’m not too crazy about watching animals being mutilated- but it also touches on the absolute desperation at this point in the film for Seth Brundle. You could see the defeat in his mangled face after the terribly gone wrong experiment on the roof, and ummm, ripping off an insect leg that had spawned from his stomach with his mouth. Stating the whole scene is slightly painful to watch would be the understatement of the century- and of course, this deleted scene in particular is no exception to the argument either.

At the height of the end of the film where Brundle ninja attacks Stathis from the ceiling of his now Fly Nest and vomits on the hand and foot of Veronica’s ex, there’s an extended scene where Seth takes the severed foot of Stathis and treats it like the testy morsel he believes it to be. The easy movie-goer in me just thinks this shit is just straight-up nasty, HOWEVER, since I also analyze everything to death, it also demonstrates just how far gone Seth was at the end. This attack had nothing to do with Veronica. It had everything to do with his infamous monologue of “insect politics”. The insect inside him has mostly taken over at this point, with the last moment of humanity in Brundlefly is shown when Veronica asks him to stop before he kills Stathis. Shortly after, he sheds his outer skin to expose the creature it has become.

Don’t watch this while eating lunch, folks. Since the YouTube video is age restricted, just click watch on YouTube in the video box or right here!

Editorials, Horror Nostalgia

Gateway to Horror: How Michael Jackson’s “THRILLER” Tuned Kids into the Genre

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The foulest stench is in the air, the funk of forty years since the universally proclaimed “King of Pop” released the infamous music video “Thriller”, a badass tune on his 1982 album of the same name, nationally to audiences everywhere, smells as fresh as it did since we first saw zombies dance across TV screens in 1983.

I was only a year and a half old when the “greatest video of all time” debuted on December 2nd, 1983 so I have no recollection of any first-time viewer accounts. What I do remember, however, is before the age of five being absolutely fucking terrified of this little short film/music video. The hilarious part about all of it is, I was NO stranger to the horror genre as I, myself, grew up in a household of horror fanatics; being raised on Universal Monsters, JAWS, and John Carpenter’s Halloween on heavy rotation via my father who gave no fucks on teaching his darling daughter early on about the glorious horror genre before I was able to even use the toilet on my own.

That’s some goddamn commitment. Bless that man.

That being said, I was pretty desensitized to a lot early on, and it took a lot to get that kind of fear going via a horror film. However, there was ONE thing I was scared shitless of early on- Werewolves. Thanks to a little movie called SILVER BULLET, my parents and grandparents had rented the film somewhere, I wanna say around 1986, and me being the curious little shit I am, sat in on most of it until I freaked out at the infamous church scene, crying my eyeballs out at the visions of everyone, including kids turning into werewolves. That memory stuck with me forever and induced nightmares for months where I would have night terrors of either me, or my parents transforming into hairy-murderous lycanthropes. A few years later, I turned that fear into comfort being the sociopath I am, and SILVER BULLET was in my personal steady rotation, so much so I went to sleep with it almost every night for months on end. I can’t explain it, but all of that is true. Perhaps it was some sort of way of fighting those fearful feelings. I’m 41 years old and to remember vividly nightmares I had when I was 4 fucking years old, shows you how extreme that shit was. Eh, anyways, this all had to be said for a little context so I can explain the next part: YES I WAS SCARED SHITLESS OF THRILLER AS WELL thanks to that werewolf scene.

But only that part alone, before the actual music video started to take off. I fucking loved the zombies, the dance, everything else going on. Just not the goddamn werewolf scene or the very end stare with those yellow eyes.

Big fat fucking nope for me.

My dad, again bless his heart, tried to soothe my fears by telling me a great big fat lie how he was one of the zombies in the music video. Yep. You read that right. The man claimed to be one of those dancing dead fucks. Nice thought, but the only dance moves I ever saw him do was the robot, so I wasn’t buying it.

While I may have been no stranger to the horror genre before ever seeing the 14-minute masterful music video directed by John Landis (An American Werewolf in London, Innocent Blood), for an entire generation of kids who didn’t know Michael Myers from Jason Voorhees, they got their first taste of the horror genre in a wildly popular song turned into a short film that anyone, who is anyone saw. It was groundbreaking to say the very least, and a gateway of curiosity for kids and young adults to explore the genre of horror films. “Thriller” led to a massive interest in renting films like, of course, AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF OF LONDON, and George Romero’s zombie flicks like NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and DAWN OF THE DEAD by a younger generation and sparked a resurgence, especially of those films mentioned. As for me, “Thriller” was actually my introduction to Vincent Price. While the first part of the video scared the crap out of me, his voiceover was so damn soothing to my anxiety- and I’ve been obsessed with the guy ever since.

40 years later, the land marking video still has a strong impact and on its Ruby Anniversary, Showtime is releasing a documentary that airs on December 2nd, 2023 which takes fans back in time to experience the making of the record-breaking album and the release of the accompanying short film that forever redefined the music video format and introduced a new generation to the world of horror.

Now, let’s roll those shoulders, give a quick head jolt, and celebrate this fantastic piece of horror history!

Editorials

Tainted Candy: The Most Unnerving Scene In “Halloween II”

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I’ve said it a million times. HALLOWEEN II is by far, in my humble opinion anyway, the scariest of the franchise and is rightfully so for many reasons. HALLOWEEN II goes harder in just about every aspect, from the angrier music as a metaphor for a more pissed-off Myers, to the minute details scattered around the film. One in particular, shoved in by John Carpenter that is brief in nature, but perhaps the most fucked up moment in the whole movie.

And it had nothing to do with Michael Myers.

While Laurie Strode is being tended to her wounds by a drunken Dr. Mixter inside Haddonfield Memorial, a car pulls up to the front of the entrance with a frantic mother gently easing her son dressed as a pirate, out of the car and the kid is gushing blood from his mouth as we can see something shiny stuck up in there good. ‘m going to be completely honest because when I saw this as a kid, I thought it was a fuckin’ ice cube. Maybe it was the low definition on my crappy TV, but I went for YEARS thinking this kid had an ice cube stuck in his mouth. Did it make sense? Not a bit. Did I ever question it? Hell no. All I understood was that shit looked like it hurt and when I finally found out it was an actual razor blade from a piece of candy, it was like an emphatic moment of HOLY SHIT for me, and it just made that movie so much scarier.

We only see the mom and son duo two more times-once checking in and being told to wait as the frustrated mom is putting pressure on her kid’s jaw, and then again upon discharge outside the hospital where Gary French (yes, the kid actually has a name) and mom Leigh, (hey, so does the mom!) attempt to have a conversation, but the kid’s words are muddled from the injury and although Gary lives to see another Halloween, he’s obviously scarred for life.

Watching (and realizing) what I was seeing within that scene as a child, and now a parent myself, just makes it that much more chilling knowing these things have absolutely happened. The genius of John Carpenter sticking this out-of-pocket, non-essential plot point in HALLOWEEN II, comes on the heels of mass hysteria of stories of crazed people tainting candy for trick-or-treaters with poison and, of course, razor blades. The first documented incidents go back to the 1950s, where a California dentist laced over 400 pieces of candy with laxatives, sickening over 30 kids. As if kids aren’t scared enough of the dentist! Another incident came in the 1960s where a mother in New York handed out bags of treats containing arsenic-laced ant traps, metal mesh scrubbing pads and dog biscuits. In the 70s, a boy was killed by ingesting a pixie stick laced with cyanide by his own father, who used the legend of poisoned treated on Halloween to attempt to thwart the suspicion away from him. In Minneapolis, in 2000, James J. Smith, 49, was charged with felony adulteration after four teenagers told police they received chocolate bars that were later found to contain needles. As recent as 2022, a child in New York found a razor blade inside a candy bar she got while trick-or-treating. Bringing this John Carpenter’s horrifying scene here, full circle.

PSAs began in the early 70s, warning children and parents about Halloween dangers in the form of educational videos, and after the infamous Tylenol murders of 1982, one year after the release of HALLOWEEN II, the fears of product tampering reached an all-time high, especially around Halloween, and in 1985, another national PSA video was made containing fifteen-minutes beginning with glorious Ben Cooper masks dancing across the screen to some serious disco music. It tackles such pressing issues as the importance of safe pumpkin carving, costume dos and don’ts, and the all-important candy inspection before digging into your sugar haul for the night. 

Seriously, this thing rocks. Sure, it’s slightly dated, but the message still applies.

Many people shrug off the Halloween candy story as just that, a scary story. And while it’s true, most cases of reports seem to be unfounded and the biggest threat of a kid’s Halloween bucket is a sugar-induced stomachache, urban legends notoriously become reality in the minds of crazed folks where the myth turned into a real-life danger for unknowing innocents. Knowing that John Carpenter really didn’t want to do a sequel to his immortal classic and had a vision of his Halloween films exploring the horror holiday’s urban legends and cautionary tales of lore, this scene in itself, doesn’t seem so, out-of-pocket after all. Speaking plainly now, it truly is the most unnerving part of the entire film as the reality lines blur from Terminator Myers hunting down Laurie in a hospital, into something we know has, can, and may happen again somewhere; and that’s what makes it so terrifying.

So, is this scene the most messed up in the movie? I’ll let Dr. Loomis answer that one…