Any slasher worth its salt should have a little bit of unique flavor; or at the very least, come at the material from a slightly different angle. Such is the case with Ken Wiederhorn’s (far and away) best film, Eyes of a Stranger (1981), a taut thriller and an effective big screen debut for Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Released by Warner Bros. in late March and produced by the Friday the 13th folks, Eyes barely made back its $800,000 budget, and was frowned upon by critics as just another link in a never-ending chain of misogyny and bloodletting. Eyes however, while adhering to many of the tropes of the time, gives a sense of agency to its female leads that wasn’t completely uncommon to the genre yet always refreshing to see.

Our film opens as a photographer comes across a woman, naked and dead, submerged on the shore of a Florida swamp.

Tony Sokol Oct 1, 2018

Psycho, Silence of the Lambs, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre all tried to make sense of one serial killer.

The year was 1957 and crime rocked the headlines. Elvis Presley swiveled prison stripes in Jailhouse Rock. Mary Elizabeth Wilson, the Merry Widow of Windy Nook, gave beetle poison to the last of her quartet of husbands. The Barbershop Quintet took too much off the top of gangland’s Lord High Executioner Albert Anastasia. The body of the 3-to-6-year-old Boy in the Box was found in Philadelphia. But they were all eclipsed by “Weird Ed,” a quiet, unassuming man from Wisconsin farm country.

Investigators found the corpses of Mary Hogan and Bernice Worden, two women in their 50s, and the remains of about fifteen bodies, when they searched Ed Gein’s Plainfield, Wisconsin, farmhouse after his arrest. Ed said he couldn’t even remember how many people he actually killed.

More than a decade before Freddy Krueger and his knife-hands existed, another sadistic and maniacal monster roamed the cinematic screens in Brazil. Jose Mojica Marins is the writer, director, and actor most commonly known in horror circles as Coffin Joe. Coffin Joe’s legacy all started with At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul in 1964, the first film in a trilogy of terror-filled tales all starring the man himself. He often addresses the viewer directly in his films, bringing us into the screen and completely immersing us in the horrors of his world. What is truly remarkable about Coffin Joe’s films is threefold: he started making horror and exploitation very early on; he made extremely controversial films in a deeply religious (Catholic) country; and his mode of filmmaking was 100% Diy. Not only did Coffin Joe direct, write, and star in all of his films, but he also handled most...

By this time next week the 2011 New York Comic Con will be wrapping up for another year, but let's not get too far ahead of ourselves -- there are panels to see and toys to buy first! Here's a look at the horror highlights along with a few other genre-related appearances that should be of interest to our readers.

Thursday, October 13th, is void of horror (might be a good shopping day) so this list just covers the 14th-16th. It is, of course, subject to change so if you're going, keep your eyes on the official New York Comic Con website.

Friday, October 14th

10:30 am - 11:30 am

Once Upon a Time Exclusive Screening and Panel

American Airlines Theater, 1A06

Calling all “Lost” fans – join creators and executive producers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz (“Lost” and “Tron: Legacy”) as they introduce you to the magical story of two...