The low-budget horror film has always been a staple of the movie industry but back in 1980, a producer named Harvey Weinstein was desperate to get his shot in Hollywood so he decided to try his hand at creating a scary movie after hearing stories about the Cropsey legend in upstate New York. He pitched the idea to his producing partner Michael Cohl, who knew this was a potential hit after the success of films such as “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” and “Halloween.” The initial pitch for the film ...
Jun 19, 2021•1 hr 16 min
In 1981, 19-year-old Arne Cheyenne Johnson was arrested and charged with the murder of his landlord after stabbing the man numerous times with a five-inch blade from his pocket knife. A media circus soon followed the sensational murder thanks to the attention brought on the case by famed demonoligists Ed and Lorraine Warren after they reportedly conducted an exorcism on a young boy that resulted in the spirit inhabiting the child then transferring to Arne. In court, Arne attempted to claim he wa...
Jun 05, 2021•1 hr 12 min
For the better part of two decades, producer Tony DeRosa-Grund had been desperately trying to adapt a story told to him by paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren after hearing a chilling audio recording from one of their cases. The Warrens had already been considered the foremost expert when it came to hauntings and possession stories after they investigated infamous cases like the Amityville Horror as well as a man going on trial for murder, who claimed demonic possession was the reaso...
Jun 01, 2021•1 hr 9 min
Following the massive, worldwide success of “A Quiet Place” in 2018 — a film that grossed over $340 million at the global box office — Paramount immediately began looking into a possible sequel. The only problem was original star, director and co-writer John Krasinski wasn’t interested in creating a franchise but rather a one-off film, which he already made. The original screenwriters also bowed out of the project, opting to focus on creating new material rather than mining a sequel out of the f...
May 29, 2021•1 hr 7 min
When John Krasinski wrapped his role in “The Office” back in 2013, he was left at a crossroads in his career. He could have easily stuck to comedy, a genre that gave him a comfortable home for man years but he also yearned to branch out and do something different. So he began directing features as well as developing films such as “Manchester By the Sea” alongside Matt Damon. He also signed onto star in the Amazon Prime series “Jack Ryan,” which was based on the famed character from author Tom Cl...
May 27, 2021•1 hr 4 min
Following a five year long journey making a documentary about the revolutionary Roland TR-808 drum machine, writer and director Alex Noyer wanted to transition into feature film making and he couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity than to dive into his favorite — the horror genre. The concept for his first film was simple yet nuanced at the same time — how about a movie you actually kill someone with a drum machine? From there, Noyer’s vision for a new project was born as he plotted out a ...
May 25, 2021•53 min
Over the past 20 years, Zack Snyder has become one of the most polarizing directors in the film industry, especially after he managed to remake an all-time classic like “Dawn of the Dead” and live to tell about it with horror fans actually embracing his idea about zombies invading a mall just like George A. Romero’s classic version from the 1970s. After the success he found with that film, Snyder decided he wanted to stick around the same genre so in 2007, he signed onto direct a movie called “A...
May 22, 2021•1 hr 24 min
The sequel is a staple of the horror genre but few films have produced as many replicas in such a short period of time in recent years as the “Saw” series. With the original movie released in 2004, the “Saw” franchise had a new film released each year up until 2010 when “Saw 3D” was teased as the final movie in the series. Then seven years later, a new film was commissioned called “Jigsaw” that restarted the franchise yet again, although with less than favorable reviews but still proving to be a...
May 15, 2021•1 hr 12 min
When Australian director James Gunn and his writer friend Leigh Wannell graduated from film school, they decided to work together on a low budget horror film after being inspired by “The Blair Witch Project.” Another film titled “Pi” by Darren Aronofsky convinced them they could self-finance the film and they started coming up with ideas. They decided the cheapest film possible would involve two characters being locked inside of a room together. Wan then pitched the idea about two men being chai...
May 11, 2021•1 hr 13 min
The Pierce brothers — Drew and Brett — were essentially born to do horror movies considering their father Bart was a photographic FX artist on the original “Evil Dead” movie by Sam Raimi. Following their first film “Deadheads” that came out back in 2011, the siblings decided to take a stab at a different genre in the horror field by focusing on witches. Inspired by the idea to build a different interpretation and mythology around witches, the Pierce brothers wanted to apply a dynamic to a supern...
May 06, 2021•1 hr 26 min
It’s a well known fact that the 1980’s was arguably the most prolific and profitable time for horror films — sometimes for better, other times for worse. Julie Corman, wife of legendary horror producer Roger Corman, had a deal with Vestron video for a horror film that would take place in a shopping mall, which was the center of American consumerism in the 80s. She hired Jim Wynorski to pen the script and he only agreed to the project so long as he got to direct. He ended up writing a script afte...
May 01, 2021•1 hr 4 min
In 2015, horror icon Barbara Crampton was handed a script written by Mark Steensland that tackled issues often ignored in filmmaking. He had written a movie that focused on “a woman in the second stage of life, battling against a relationship that feels restrictive.” The result was a movie that took home the top prize at Shriekfest, a horror film festival in Los Angeles. After Crampton received the script, she spent the better part of the next five years trying to make the movie a reality after ...
Apr 20, 2021•1 hr 3 min
In this special edition of Rewind of the Living Dead, we discuss the 2021 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, breaking down all of the winners and giving some of our picks for the best in horror for the past year and what's coming next in 2021. Music courtesy of Andrew Scott Bell and Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio For more Rewind of the Living Dead, visit our website or follow on social media: https://www.rewindofthelivingdead.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/rewindofdead Facebook: https://www.facebook.com...
Apr 19, 2021•45 min
A nightmare after watching ‘The Ring’ inspired writer Christopher Robert Cargill to pen his own screenplay following visions in his head that he once found a film in his attic that contained disturbing footage of an entirely family being hanged. Eventually he teamed up with writer and director Scott Derrickson to flesh out the idea of a demonic creature, who lured children into his wicked web and an evil being later known as Mr. Boogie was finally born. Cargill and Derrickson finished a script t...
Apr 13, 2021•59 min
Writer and director Bryan Bertino gained a huge following in horror after he served as the writer and director to the 2008 home invasion film “The Strangers,” which terrified audiences and left everybody in the theater feeling like this could happen to them. Bertino followed that up with the found footage film “Mockingbird” and then the 2016 movie “The Monster,” which kept him once again focused on a claustrophobic scenario featuring only a couple of key characters. Working alongside producer So...
Apr 06, 2021•1 hr 16 min
The slasher movie is a staple of the horror genre with classic films such as “Halloween and “Friday the 13th” influencing audiences and filmmakers for decades to come. In 1980, director William Lustic alongside writer and star Joe Spinell unleashed a different kind of slasher film that was more brutal and intimate than almost anything that came before it. A lonely man named Frank Zito leaves his apartment at night and seeks out women, who he then captures and murders in horrific fashion. Rather ...
Mar 30, 2021•1 hr 7 min
In 1974, director Tobe Hooper shocked and stunned audiences with his magnum opus — “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.” It was a film Roger Ebert called as “violent and gruesome and blood-soaked as the title promises.” Hailed by some as a classic but others as a disturbing film not worthy of an audience, the original “Texas Chain Saw Massacre” eventually reached cult status and today it’s hailed as one of the single greatest horror films ever made. It wasn’t until 12 years after the original film was...
Mar 15, 2021•1 hr 10 min
Horror franchises have notoriously undergone a number of changes, reboots and recreations over the years but the Texas Chainsaw Massacre films stand in a class all on their own. In 2013, director John Luessenhop decided to take his own stab with “Texas Chainsaw 3D” — a film that sought to carry on the legacy of the original movie while trying to take advantage of the new 3D technology that was sweeping through movie theaters worldwide. The seventh overall film to feature the “Texas Chainsaw” nam...
Mar 09, 2021•1 hr 40 min
Inspired by fairy tales about predators that call back to classics like Grimm brothers fables, Shawn Linden decided to create his own take on the genre in a modern setting. The story was plotted out during a trip home from a European film festival back in 2007 but Linden didn’t get to actually create the film until 13 years later. Set against the backdrop of a remote cabin in Canada, a family lives off the grid, working and surviving as fur trappers who have largely shunned the norms of society ...
Mar 01, 2021•1 hr
More than 25 years after Tobe Hooper created one of the most iconic horror films of all time with “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” action movie producer Michael Bay saw an opportunity to capitalize on the property after starting his own studio called Platinum Dunes that was created specifically with low budget films in mind. Eventually, Bay’s company purchased the rights to the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and the work began on reviving the franchise. Rumors abounded that Tobe Hooper would be involv...
Feb 22, 2021•1 hr 30 min
Thanks to TV series such as “The Walking Dead,” the zombie genre has really been rejuvenated in recent years with a number of truly creative takes in horror films made across the globe. In South Korea, “Train to Busan” was a pulse-pumping thrill ride that was equal parts terrifying and claustrophobic thanks to the inventive way zombies were used in that movie. In 2019, writer and director Jeff Barnaby decided to take his own unique stab at the zombie genre by introducing the dead coming back to ...
Feb 15, 2021•1 hr 5 min
The explosion of the slasher genre in the 1980’s had just about every studio in Hollywood thirsty for the next great horror franchise. New Line Cinema, which was the studio responsible for the rise of the Nightmare on Elm Street series, decided to reinvent the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise with a third film in the series with plans to focus more around Leatherface than his cannabilistic family. The result was the 1990 film “Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III,” which starred future ...
Feb 08, 2021•1 hr 33 min
Horror films are best known for scaring audiences with gruesome scares or terrifying monsters but the horror genre has also been able to simultaneously tackle a lot of societal issues. Whether that’s facing the real life horror of prejudice and racism in films such as “Get Out” and “Candyman” or the class war displayed in movies like “Society” or “The People Under the Stairs,” horror films are often times overlooked for just how much they deal with serious, real world issues. In 2019, director K...
Feb 01, 2021•54 min
In the latest edition of our ongoing series exploring the entire Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, we take a deep dive on the original sequel "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2" where the buzz is back! Following the massive success of the original film, director Tobe Hooper returned to the franchise he made famous with the first sequel in the series, which also introduced horror icon Bill Moseley to the masses as the maniacal Chop Top. Take a listen to our newest episode where we talk all things "T...
Jan 23, 2021•1 hr 3 min
Possession and exorcism are both common themes when it comes to the horror genre. “The Exorcist” is widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time while “Rosemary’s Baby” still haunts audiences to this day. Of course more modern tales such as “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” and “The Last Exorcism” have received solid reviews from both critics and audiences. A new film on Shudder delves into those same subjects with director Justin Dyck and writer Keith Cooper abandoning their typical pass...
Jan 16, 2021•59 min
As part of a new series exploring different horror franchises, Rewind of the Living Dead will spend five episodes taking a deep dive into "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" as well as all of the sequels, remakes and reboots. The first episode will explore the original 1974 classic "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre." The word legendary gets tossed around a lot in the horror genre but Tobe Hooper’s first major film certainly fits the bill. Initially inspired by a Christmas shopping trip where he saw a rack...
Jan 08, 2021•1 hr 12 min
In this special edition of Rewind of the Living Dead, our hosts Damon and Patrick give their picks for the top five horror films of 2020. What made the final list this year? Listen and find out! Music courtesy of Andrew Scott Bell and Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio For more Rewind of the Living Dead, visit our website or follow on social media: https://www.rewindofthelivingdead.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/rewindofdead Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rewindoflivingdead Instagram: https://w...
Jan 06, 2021•41 min
Dracula. Frankenstein. The Wolfman.. These were all staples of the Universal Monsters line made famous by performances from actors such as Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. Years later, Universal decided to relaunch a new monstrous universe based around those same iconic characters but a disastrous attempt at remaking The Mummy starring Tom Cruise cast doubts that the great monster of old would ever rise again. That was until 2020 when Leigh Wannell, previously known as the creator of the “Saw” uni...
Jan 03, 2021•1 hr 11 min
In the 1980’s, the combination of horror and comedy was becoming more and more popular. Chris Columbus, who would go onto become a famed director in his own right, wrote a spec script after he was inspired by the sound of mice scurrying across his apartment but the story was really just an effort to get more attention on his work. That was until Steven Spielberg took notice of his script with interest of transforming this story into a feature film after calling it “one of the most original thing...
Dec 25, 2020•1 hr 4 min
There are a lot of incredible female-led horror films throughout history but a new movie released in 2018 not only featured a female director in Caitlin Koller but the screenplay came from an actress and writer named Shawna Kofed. Described as “a scary version of the Big Chill,” old college friends gather at a remote cabin in Wisconsin to attend the funeral of a former classmate who committed suicide. They haven’t seen each other for years so it doesn’t take long for the skeletons to start getti...
Dec 21, 2020•59 min
