Not many people can boast that they’ve been killed by two iconic movie villains, but those are exactly PJ Soles’ bragging rights. Slaughtered by both Michael Meyers and Carrie White in the space of a few years, she endeared herself to generations of horror fans as a spunky girl with a lot of lip but not much luck. Though she turned in equally memorable comedic performances in Rock and Roll High School and Stripes, it’s her double-deaths for which she’s probably most remembered; and while many actresses who cut their teeth on the genre before departing it are reticent to discuss those bloody stepping stones to stardom, Soles has embraced her roots, returning to do cameos in such modern films as The Devil’s Rejects and participating in festivities to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of Carrie, which was celebrated last fall by Scream Factory with a gorgeous Blu-ray release.
Read MoreJill Sixx Gevargizian (2017) #WiHM
There are few art forms that have the same power as the short film. In an age of binge-wallowing Netflix, Hulu, Prime, and Shudder, we’re used to consuming hours and hours of entertainment in a single gulp. While this is a great way to kill an evening, with all that back to back binging, one can’t help but notice, horror movies are often hurt by length.
Read MoreMaude Michaud (2017) #WiHM
While every country with a horror culture has dabbled in just about every subgenre imaginable, it’s fun to look at which of those particular genres tend to crop up in certain places more than others and think about why. Italy, for example, was the epicenter of cannibal and zombie films for just about the bulk of the 70s and 80s, whereas Japan was the destination for supernatural horror in the late 90s and early 2000s. Canada, curiously, appears to be the place that body horror calls home.
Read MoreJoyce Carol Oates (2017) #WiHM
Denizens of CineDump, it’s my honor to welcome you to our inaugural post for Women in Horror Month. We’ll be chronicling some of the most talented women working in the field of the macabre along with some reviews featuring the most heroic heroines and villainous villainesses the genre can boast. To get things off to a ghoulish start, I was honored to interview the great Joyce Carol Oates, spinner of sinister stories and wickedly readable novels.
Read MoreSadie Katz (2017)
In my time conducting interviews with members of the horror filmmaking community, I’ve learned to gauge the course of an interview by the first few minutes. It’s been important to determine—and determine quick—whether the person to whom I’m speaking is shy and in need of a bit of gentle prodding, or bombastic and talkative and in need of some chamomile. Sometimes I’m speaking to someone afocal who needs to be kept on track; and sometimes I find myself speaking to someone with only the barest amount of involvement in a given project, who might even be confused why they’re even speaking to me.
Read MoreDrake Bell (2017) #audio
Merry Christmas, CineDumpers! How's everyone doing after the break? Well, daddy is back with an interview that is best served hot.
Read MoreLin Shaye (2016) #audio
Genre films come and go, but legendary actors and actresses tend to stick around, and as it turns out, that’s just the case with our guest, Lin Shaye. Wes Craven, James Wan, and the Farrelly brothers are a just a few of the names that have added her to their more permanent side of the rolodex. Needless to say, she’s a repeat offender with most directors not only because of her talent but her charm plays a major role as well, I quickly found out.
Read MoreEvan Stone (2016)
So, there I was, in my car, sitting outside of a strip club... in broad delight. While many of you would like to believe this is a norm for me, I assure you, this is not a place or situation that I tend to frequent on most Sunday afternoons. Anyway, I had time to kill.
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