We are thrilled to announce that Maniacs and Monsters has been nominated for a Sunshine Blogger Award. Thanks so much to our fellow blogger Gill over at Realweegiemidget Reviews for the nomination. We are honoured to be included in such a prestigious list of nominees. Please check out Realweegiemidget Reviews for a wide variety of... Continue Reading →
Burn for Your Sins
The mid-eighties saw the appearance of the consumer camcorder and with it a whole new generation of amateur movie makers. Andrew, my Maniacs and Monsters co-host, and I spent many a weekend, late night, and summer break creating cinematic masterpieces with our friends. Most commonly, the artistic process involved the realization that we had a... Continue Reading →
Toronto After Dark in the Spotlight
Next stop on Maniacs and Monsters' tour of horror events is the Toronto After Dark (TAD) Film Festival. Founded in 2006, the event showcases new and independent films, bringing together fans and filmmakers for a nine night extravaganza of horror, sci-fi and cult genre films. The 14th edition of this growing event is set to... Continue Reading →
The Young and the Satanists: A Review of The Visitor (1979)
When a film has a cast that includes Hollywood legends such as John Huston, Shelley Winters, Glenn Ford, and Sam Peckinpah you expect you are in for something great. Sadly, such is not the case with The Visitor (also known as Stridulum) which has more in common with a schlocky soap opera than the classic... Continue Reading →
Safe and Secure from All Alarms
My dear, dear friends. My brethren. I am here to denounce my transgressions before ye. I have sinned the sin of misdirection. For while the movie on which I am about to speak boasts a villain most heinous, and while it is true that numerous characters suffer both physical and psychological terrors, yet this work... Continue Reading →
The Legendary Last Man
(This article originally appeared, in a slightly different form, in October of 2013 on the site Cheese-Magnet.com. Cheese-Magnet is people!) I suspect most horror and science fiction enthusiasts are fans of the late writer Richard Matheson (1926 – 2013), although many may not realize it. As author and/or screenwriter, Matheson was responsible for many genre favourites... Continue Reading →
It’s Alive! The Art of Horror and Sci-Fi on Display
Our next stop on Maniacs and Monsters’ tour of horror hot spots in the Great White North takes us to the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) in Toronto. With its exhibits of Rembrandt paintings and historical artifacts, the ROM is not normally known as a hangout for horror fans but it has become the temporary home... Continue Reading →
Call Evil by Its Proper Name
I have always been fascinated with the concept that faith and belief are the precursor to deities rather than, as is usually assumed, the other way around. The theory is that faith is what brings the gods into existence and what gives them power in a literal sense. Humanity looks to the gods for guidance... Continue Reading →
Fear in the North: Not to be Missed Horror Events in Canada
The Fall is fast approaching and with it comes a wide variety of events to keep horror fans busy. Those who live in Ontario, Canada and surrounding area are especially spoiled with a non-stop list of events in the days leading up to Halloween and beyond. Let Maniacs and Monsters take you on a tour... Continue Reading →
The Devil’s in the Detail: The House of the Devil Review
Directed by Ti West (known for The Innkeepers and, most recently, the Netflix series The Chambers), House of the Devil is a moody homage to 80s horror. Filmed in 2009 and set in the early 80s, the filmmaker did such a good job capturing the look and feel of a horror film you might have... Continue Reading →
Do You Wanna Paaaar-tay!
(This article originally appeared, in a slightly different form, in July of 2013 on the site Cheese-Magnet.com. All hail the Cheese-Magnet!) In 1968, Night of the Living Dead had a profound impact on the cinematic world. Not only was it the catalyst behind the splatter and slasher subgenres of horror filmmaking, it lead to an expansion... Continue Reading →
Misery Loves Comedy – Amityville: Mt. Misery Rd.
Watching truly frightening horror films is one of my favourite things. A close second is watching B horror movies that were intended to be frightening but unintentionally end up becoming a comedy due to poor production values, horribly written scripts, amateurish acting, and often all of the above. A prime example of the B horror... Continue Reading →
The Oppressiveness of Waiting: An Interview with Author Robin Bailes
The name Robin Bailes may not be immediately familiar to some. If, however, you are a fan of B-Movies and, in particular, horror films, you may be acquainted with his work on YouTube. Robin is the creative force, along with director Graham Trefler, behind Dark Corners (of this Sick World), a web series primarily focused... Continue Reading →
What Evil Drives…
(This article originally appeared, in a slightly different form, in June of 2014 on the site Cheese-Magnet.com. Long live the Cheese-Magnet!) I should probably preface this article by stating that I am a big fan of The Car (1977). I have watched it over a dozen times and I own a 1:18 scale die-cast of... Continue Reading →