Top 10 Lists

Welcome to the first Top 10 list of 2012! In celebration of the off-kilter weirdness that is the upcoming release of the anthology film The Theater Bizarre, we bring you a list of other movies that stand out from the crowd. We at Dread Central proudly give you, in chronological order, 10 of the most groundbreaking horror films of all time. Enjoy...

Well, folks, 2011 is officially in the can, and surprisingly it wasn't such a horrendous year. It was definitely better than 2010, which was a huge step up from the putrid 2009. We laughed, we applauded, we were left dumbstruck, and of course we were infuriated. Read on for our cheers and jeers!

The horror-comedy. Perhaps the most difficult sub-genre of film to perfect. Most attempts at horror-comedy don't come off well. Either they're too scary without enough comedy or (more frequently) mostly humor with not enough horror. A lot of times they just come across as trying too hard and cheesy. But every once in a while a movie gets it just right. And when that happens, audiences embrace and celebrate the brilliant and elusive successful horror-comedy.

If the name Valora rings a bell, it may be from our coverage of the band's digital comic (look for Chapter 3 soon), but now we have something different. They've released a video for the first single from their debut album, "I Waited for You", and in that its tone is reflective of frontwoman Syd Duran's love of horror films, she took time out of her busy schedule to prepare a list of her Top Ten favorites just for Dread Central readers.

On October 14th Lucky McKee's new film The Woman (review here), adapted from the Jack Ketchum novel, will open in limited release. It's the story of a feral woman and the unfortunate family who attempts to civilize her. Believe me, this chick needs more than finishing school.

Creepy ... crawly ... creepy ... crawly ... creepycreepycrawlycrawly, creepycreepycrawlycrawly ... Certainly no one every musically expressed humanity's inherent fear of the creepy crawlies better than The Who in the 1966 John Entwistle-penned song "Boris the Spider". This number was an ode to one particular ill-fated spider, but it smartly illustrated the strange, seemingly inborn fear the majority of us have of bugs ... yuck!

Here's an interesting and completely unexpected news item coming in for everyone's favorite Chernobyl-like celebrity, Charlie Sheen. It seems as if since his schedule is now free, he could be appearing on, of all things, Season 2 of the "The Walking Dead".

There is something in the air. Can you smell the sweet scent of lust? Be careful where you step, kids; things are bound to get extremely messy as we present to you some of our favorite and most inappropriate sex scenes that the horror genre has doled out over the years! Be warned right now ...

Well, folks, 2010 is officially in the can, and unlike 2009 horror movie fans took it in the can a lot less this year. Sure the last twelve months had its fair share of lows, but it also brought us a couple of new classics. As always we covered every single one of them mostly in great detail for you.

Can it be true? Is the final Saw really upon us? Hard to believe James Wan’s little indie nasty resonated with audiences six years back in a way large enough to spawn six freakin’ sequels. And what’s more surprising is that Jigsaw waited until the very end of his October reign to cash in on the trendy 3D craze that’s been putting the hurt on our wallets the last few years.

It’s ironic. The profession of horror journalism (or horror literature of filmmaking for that matter), at least for this writer, was initially and unsurprisingly inspired by my love of all things Halloween; yet, the subsequent October workload which has resulted often forces me to miss the simple trappings that launched my macabre interest in the first place.

During this month of ghosts, werewolves, vampires, and zombies, it is important to remember that there are other sub-genres of horror films that still make essential viewing. Unbeknownst to a lot of horror fans, there was once a style of film made mostly in Italy during the Seventies and Eighties known as The Third World Cannibal Film, or simply The Cannibal Film genre.

Yeah, kiddos. With Buried on the brain now that it’s been lowered into theaters, we thought it’d be fun to look back at some of the worst moments in characters’ lives in the history of stuffy cinema.

Finally, after a summer from hell (for most of the US anyway), there is a chill in the air, the leaves are changing colors and Halloween, our favorite holiday, is almost here. So, in the spirit of the season, here are some new Halloween titles (as well as a couple of classics) you might want to pick up at your local bookstore.

On the 31st of October every year, my wife and I have a Halloween “party.” We never invite anybody, but like bats coming out to feed on bugs at dusk, a freakish horde of friends and friends of friends magically arrive around sundown. They block the streets with their filthy cars and come dancing through our front and back doors like they own the place.