The Convention Documentary Fantasm Hits DVD on November 11th - PRESS RELEASE

Horror convention documentary Fantasm will be released on DVD on November 11th. It's currently available for pre-order at a discounted price via fantasm.storenvy.com.

In addition to the feature-length documentary, this limited edition DVD includes the original student film, extended interviews, bloopers, "Dinner at the Kuchta's," trailers and the Kickstarter video.

Fantasm is on sale for $13 until the November 11th release, after which the price will increase. It's also available signed by director Kyle Kuchta - at no additional cost - during the pre-order period only. Posters are on sale as well.

"I'm excited that Fantasm will finally be out and available," says Kuchta. "What started as a student film grew into so much more, and I'm grateful for all the love and support over the past two years."

In an effort to understand his own fascination with the genre, horror fanatic Kyle Kuchta embarked on a journey to six horror conventions throughout the united states. Through interviews with actors, directors, horror experts and fellow fans at conventions, Kyle discovered that it’s not only the love of the genre that makes these gatherings so special, but it’s the sense of community.

Fantasm features insight from such notable names as Tom Atkins (Escape from New York), Heather Langenkamp (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Lloyd Kaufman (The Toxic Avenger), Joe Lynch (Wrong Turn 2), Richard Johnson (The Haunting) and more, alongside the dedicate fans who attend horror conventions.

Kuchta will celebrate the release of Fantasm with a free screening and release party at Jumpcut Cafe in Studio City, CA on Saturday, November 8th. Event details can be found here.

Special features:
Original student film
Extended interviews
Bloopers
"Dinner at the Kuchta's" featurette
Trailers
Kickstarter video

Pre-order Fantasm on DVD now: fantasm.storenvy.com

Night of the Demons 1988 - REVIEW

If you are a horror fan and you think about Halloween of course you think of Michael Myers but Night of the Demons is always a good Halloween film that comes to mind.  Kevin Tenney had just put out his first movie Witchboard and went back to the horror genre again with NOTD and made his mark yet again at the end of the slasher craze of the 80's.

Angela (Amelia Kincade) and her friend Suzanne (Linnea Quigley) have decided to throw a little Halloween party at the infamous haunted house in town called Hull House.  Like any normal party it has party food, music and demons.  A Halloween party isn't the same without demons right?  Suzanne and Angela quickly become possessed by the demon in the house and everyone is in for the party of their lives or death if you will.  To make it out alive you have to climb the brick wall and get over the underground stream.  Seems easy enough.  Will anyone make it out alive?

This film is really a hidden gem that does not get the credit that it really deserves.  It has everything from the 80's that slasher fans love.  A good looking final girl, blood, and most of all nudity.  What was really unique about NOTD was fact that it wasn't a normal slasher film.  There was not a masked killer walking around picking off people one by one.  As more characters die in this one the more killers you have because they turn to demons once they die.  Don't get me wrong I am a sucker for a masked killer stalking campers in the woods but this was brilliant and was breath of fresh air at a time when the slasher craze was starting to dwindle.

One of the many bright spots of this film was the cast.  All of which are no names at the time like most slasher films but they all performed so well together.  The standout performance in this one was Linnea Quigley in my opinion.  She was the first one that turned and played the part of the demon great.  The final girl Cathy Podewell gave a good performance but really was not the strong final girl you would expect.  Not trying to take anything away from her but she is no Heather Lagenkamp.

NOTD was just released on Blu Ray this week by Scream Factory and they did it again bringing another great classic to Blu Ray.  The transfer looks great and has a featurette for the Making of which I can say is fantastic.  Any fan of this movie will be more than happy with this collector's edition release.  I give this film 9 out of 10 stars.  I am not sure I have ever rated a film that high till now.  Stay twisted everyone!

Poster Revealed for Horror Convention Documentary: Fantasm

Director Kyle Kuchta is excited to reveal the official theatrical poster for his forthcoming horror convention documentary, Fantasm. The film explores the bonds formed by the close-knit community of fans who attend horror conventions. A high-resolution version of the poster is attached for your use.

In addition to a variety of devoted genre fans, Fantasm features insight from several popular horror actors and filmmakers, including Tom Atkins (Escape from New York), Heather Langenkamp (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Amanda Wyss (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Lloyd Kaufman (The Toxic Avenger), Joe Lynch (Wrong Turn 2) and more.

After being shot at six different conventions throughout the country, Fantasm is currently in post-production. "The film is being submitted to festivals and conventions," Kuchta elaborates. "We're really excited to be releasing it in the fall when the convention season and the horror community are thriving full-force."

For more information on Fantasm, visit the documentary on Facebook and Twitter.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master 1988 - REVIEW

Some might find this weird but I can remember the actual date that I saw this movie: September 17th, 1988.  Well I guess it is not so weird considering it was my 8th birthday and there were only a selected number of people I wanted to spend it with.  A couple of friends, my parents and Freddy Krueger.  Actually I would have had more friends come but their parents did not approve of my movie selection.  What did they know?  I guess I could have gone to see License to Drive which was in the theater at the same time but nah, an evening with Freddy is all I wanted.

Kristen Parker (Tuesday Knight) is obviously in a dream and walks up on a little girl in front of the familiar house were Freddy used to dwell till Kristen and her friends defeated him.  She asks the girl if Freddy is home but she informs her Freddy is not home.  Kristen goes in anyway and finds herself in the boiler room scared for her life.  She pulls in her friends Kincaid (Ken Sagoes) and Joey (Rodney Eastman).  They are a little agitated with her because they know Freddy does not exist anymore and want to move on with their lives.  The next day we see them all at school, even though Freddy is dead and gone Kristen still is having problem sleeping.  She finds comfort with her best friend Alice (Lisa Wilcox) and her boyfriend Rick (Andras Jones).  Things are starting to happen again and they all come to a head in one of Kincaids dreams. He is in a car junkyard with no one around but his dog.  His dog suddenly snaps at him and lifts his leg to pee but a stream of fire comes out cracking the ground.  As the ground opens up we see Freddy (Robert England) rising again.  The nightmare is back and worse than ever.

New Line turned to little known Finish director Renny Harlin.  I have to say I think Renny did fantastic following the awesome Part 3.  This film had to be great to even live up to everyone's expectations and Renny delivered that with flying colors.  Another change that was welcomed in my opinion was the role of Kristen being played by Tuesday Knight instead of Patricia Arquette.  As I mentioned in my review of Part 3 Patricia was unable to reprise her role due to pregnancy and even though I thought Patricia did a stand out job, Tuesday in my opinion filled the role a little better.  Some familiar faces were welcomed though, such as Ken Sagoes, Rodney Eastman and of course Robert England reprising his role of Freddy.  As for the rest of the cast well there is really nothing bad I can say about them.  This batch of young actors and new faces made a nice compliment to the returning cast.

Part 3 and 4 are both in close running as my favorite in the series and while Part 4 is my second favorite it is not by much.  On top of seeing this on my 8th birthday I ended up seeing this 3 times in the theaters.  I guess you could say I liked it a little.  The only thing I was disappointed in was that Nancy (Heather Lagenkamp) was really dead and they did not find a way to bring her back.  I know what your thinking but I was 8 and did not think logically yet.  The Dream Master will always be something I watch on a yearly basis and I do hope to be able to meet most the cast at a convention someday.  Stay twisted everyone!

Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors 1987 - REVIEW

Nightmare on Elm Street 3 is a movie that has a special place in my heart.  The reason being is this was the first horror movie that I ever saw and needless to say I was hooked.  Not only just hooked on Freddy but I wanted to see everything after viewing this (3 times the first night I watched it).  I will always remember this movie and watch it at least once a year if not more ever since 1987.  Needless to say that this is in my 700+ dvd collection, probably a few copies of it.

Kristen Parker (Patricia Arquette) is in her room making a Popsicle stick house while trying to stay awake afraid to go to sleep.  Also worth mentioning she is  rocking out to Dokken.  Her mother (Brooke Bundy) comes home from a night out and makes her go to bed.  Kristen has a nightmare invaded by Freddy (Robert England), up to his old tricks again.  Freddy slices her wrists making it look like suicide.  Kristen's mother takes her to the psychiatric ward to have her evaluated.  This is were she meets the new intern Nancy Thompson (Heather Lagenkamp).  There is now a new batch of kids that are all having the same dream about our villain in the red and green sweater with a dirty brown hat and razors for fingers.  Nancy is their only hope for defeating Freddy once and for all.  Each onc of them learn they have a certain dream power that can help them.  Kristen is the key being able to pull others into her dreams.  Will it be enough to defeat Freddy once and for all

If you have seen this film then you know why it is the best in the series.  Thats not to say that there are not some stellar Nightmare sequels because there are but this one sits on top.  Freddy is more of a force to be reconed with and wittier than ever adding a little bit of dark comedy to the series.  Robert England really made this character his own and this is why he is one of the most popular horror actors around.  The original put him on the map, part 3 made him a superstar.  Not only was Robert awesome but the first look at Patricia Arquette was also a sight to see.  A phenominal performance that she was sadly unable to followup in Part 4 due to her being pregnant during the time they were filming.

Pictured above is probably my favorite scene/line in the whole movie.  "Welcome to prime time, Bitch!"  I can remember my Dad and I watching this and rewinding that scene and just laughing our asses off.  That is quality writing there (that was meant in a non sarcastic tone).  I just saw today the blu ray set of all the Nightmare films.  I was biting at the bit but I resisted all urges to buy it for a mear 50.00.  I think the DVD collection is enough for me.  Now only if I can resist buying the Blu Ray collection of Friday the 13th but that is a different story all together.  Stay twisted everyone!

I Am Nancy 2011 - REVIEW

Recovering from the Horrorhound Convention I just attended with the one and only Gore Whore, I decided to sit back and watch the documentary I purchased from Heather Lagenkamp's table.  Finally meeting Heather was a great moment of the weekend for me.  Since I purchased I am Nancy on Friday evening I have been biting at the bit to watch it.  Horror fans and more specifically fans of the Nightmare series strap in for this one!

We start in a tattoo parlor with a man who is getting his Freddy tattoo filled in and added to it with Heather Lagenkamp  observing and talking to him about the process of deciding on the tattoo and his passion for the Nightmare on Elm Street series.  What about getting a tattoo of Nancy?  This is just were it starts.  From here the camera is following Heather around to conventions around the world with her signing autographs and also interviewing the fans.  While she sees at the conventions Robert England gets more attention and promotion than she does, she is determined to find Nancy memorabilia.  There is a segment with Heather and Robert talking about the series and Nancy, and also Heather talking to Wes Craven on his take on the character Nancy.  All through the autobiographical documentary there are also clips from the movies themselves depicting Nancy's strong will and her fights with Freddy.

I Am Nancy was very well put together from the clips that are shown from the movies to the interviews with the fans from around the world.  Heather is so terrific in this with the fans and very friendly and approachable.  There are a ton of merchandise and promotions for Freddy, but this is all about Nancy.  What a great job to spotlight one of the most notable and strongest "final girl" in Horror movie history.  I can't emphasize enough how well the segments in this film were put together.  From the sound to the high quality of it as well.  Heather's commentary is outstanding and after all she did play Nancy and knows the character the best.

I really enjoyed this film death.  I did not want it to end, it could have been 2 hours longer and I still would have been in the same spot with my eyes glued to the television.  I have always been a HUGE Nancy fan.  Not only is she a fantastic final girl she is so much stronger and fearless than the rest and puts herself in the situation to destroy her night stalker not waiting for him to come to her.  The character of Nancy really can be an inspiration for us all.  I never thought of it like that before but after seeing this it all makes so much sense.  Now when i see someone or even Heather tell somebody to "be Nancy", I will know exactly what that means.  It is something that everyone can relate to.  I am very glad to have the opportunity to purchase this film and view it.  I have been a fan of the Nightmare series since I saw Part 3 (yes, I saw them out of order) when I was 7 years old.  Nancy was always my favorite character in the series.  I highly recommend this movie especially for Nightmare fans.  Stay twisted everyone, and Be Nancy!