Eric's blog

Got a note from friend of the site and kick-ass indie filmmaker Dante Tomaselli recently that his long gestating film, "Torture Chamber" has begun production. I've been following Tomaselli since around 2003, when his sophomore film "Horror" was getting ready to be released. If you're a fan of strange, violent, surrealist horror, Tomaselli is an indie voice you should be checking out. Here's the official press release, and you can check out some of his trailers below that.

I'll be sitting in live over at the Outside the Cinema Studio tonight. They're a great film/pop culture podcast that's also based out of Boston, so I'll actually be live on their show tonight. They stream a video feed of the show over Ustream, which you can watch by clicking play below at 6pm (EST) tonight. They usually turn the camera on at 5 for prepro, and you can chat with other viewers as well. Check it out!

Kurt Russel poses as "Stuntman Mike" in this promotional still for Quentin Tarantino's "Death Proof", one half of 2007's "Grindhouse". "Legion", in theaters tomorrow, is directed by Scott Stewart, whose resume boasts uncredited effects work on the double feature. "Legion" is Stewart's directorial debut, which hits US theaters tomorrow. Synopsis after the jump.

In this poster for the delightfully tasteless "Dahmer Vs Gacy", our titular villains square off (sort of), while each screams out into darkness. Meanwhile, a group of tiny cheerleaders are acting scared below them? Who knows. What I do know about this bizarre mashup of two of the United States' most horrific serial killers, is the plot:

Tentatively riding the line between guilty pleasure and solid thriller, 1997's "The Devil's Advocate" stars Keanu Reeves as a southern lawyer with a heart of gold who must stand strong in the wake of being offered an eternity of life's dark pleasures. In the shot above, the Devil (played by the deliciously hammy Al Pacino), reveals his grand vision to rule the world. Also featuring a very nude performance from Charlize Theron, and Keanu Reeves sporting a magically disappearing southern accent. Director Taylor Hackford was nominated for an Oscar 5 years later for directing the Ray Charles bio-pic "Ray". To see another Hackford-directed thriller, check out 1995's "Dolores Claiborne".

"Ricky" (Shiloh Fernandez) stares down the abyss in this still from 2008's "Deadgirl". In the film, a group of adolescent males find a zombie girl tied up in an abandoned insane asylum, and quickly let their baser desires take over. The controversial film will be the subject of this week's Podcast discussion, which will be recorded tonight. Expect to hear the episode by mid week.

Aaron Eckhart butches it up in Jonathan Liebesman's "Battle: Los Angeles", currently set for a February 2011 release. The film centers on a marine platoon which is charged with taking on an alien invasion in Los Angeles, and also stars Michelle Rodriguez and Bridget Moynahan. Liebesman's previous genre credits include "Darkness Falls" (2003) and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning" (2006).

Today's the day folks, when the 2009 British horror comedy "Lesbian Vampire Killers" gets released on DVD in the US. If you have to ask what the film is about, your powers of deduction are seriously compromised. Above, feast your eyes on the saucy teaser poster for the film, which went a long way toward spreading buzz on the internet during the run-up to its UK theatrical release.

History's most famous detective made a major comeback this weekend with "Sherlock Holmes", and an opening weekend box office take to the tune of $65 million. Robert Downey Jr. is the current inhabitant of the role, but it was 1939's "The Hounds of Baskervilles" that catapulted the anti-hero that we know today into pop culture lore. In this case Holmes was played by Basil Rathbone, who over the course of his career would play the sleuth 13 times. In "Baskervilles", Holmes uncovers a plot to have a Nobleman killed by a "terrible trained hound".

It wasn't the first Christmas themed horror film, but "Silent Night, Deadly Night" would prove to be the most controversial upon its wide release in 1984. Director Charles E. Sellier Jr.'s slasher film caused quite a stir with its provocative promotional campaign. Not only did the national PTA fight to have it pulled from theaters due to the potentially scarring image of a killer Santa, the film was given the best reward an exploitation film could hope for, a condemnation by Siskel and Ebert. It was so controversial in the UK, that it wasn't officially released there until 2009.