Nick Cato's Blog, page 49

New film Column now LIVE

For my first installment, I revisited a very unusual experience at a "teenage-comedy" double feature...

http://cinemaknifefight.wordpress.com/2010/04/01/suburban-grindhouse-memories-giselle/

Puke-inducing Fun

DINNER BELL FOR THE DREAM WORMS by Jason Wuchenich (2010 LegumeMan Books / 96 pp. / tp)

First-time author Jason Wuchenich delivers 2 offbeat tales, one that would probably rank in the top 5 at the next World Horror Convention "gross-out" contest.

'Stinky Incubus' is a modern-day fairy tale about a love-struck demon (named Lemmy) attempting to stay in the flesh...but in order to do so, he must consume mass amounts of excrement, and the length and quality of his farts determine how long until he...

mini-Blast from the Past

THE FEMINISTS by Parley J. Cooper (1971 Pinnacle / 188 pp. / mmp)

After seeing the cover and synopsis for this lost scifi pulper on some website, I managed to track a copy down for under two bucks (let's hear it for the Internet).

Picture, if you will, a combination of ILSA: SHE WOLF OF THE SS, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, IN LIKE FLINT, and INGLORIOUS BASTERDS and you'll pretty much have a perfect picture of THE FEMINISTS, a novel that (probably) gave even Archie Bunker nightmares. I also discovered...

New Film Column

I'm thrilled to announce that beginning on April 1st, my new film column, SUBURBAN GRINDHOUSE MEMORIES, will appear every-other Thursday over at CINEMA KNIFE FIGHT. I haven't done a steady film column since 1991, so am looking forward to this. Here's my "official" pic for the column, as well as an introduction on the site: http://cinemaknifefight.wordpress.com/2010/03/26/introducing-suburban-grindhouse-memories-by-nick-cato-2/


See ya'll then.

A Decent Debut

SLIGHTS by Kaaron Warren (2009 Angry Robot / 502 pp. / mmp)
After a car accident (which leaves her mother dead), Stephanie has an unusual near-death experience. There's no tunnel, no lights, nothing that's been heard of before. Stevie (the name she's referred to more often throughout the story) finds herself in a small dark room, surrounded by people she has slighted throughout her life...people who apparently want revenge, and as they begin to scratch and poke her, she comes back to the...

After 16 Years . . . Henenlotter's Back

In many ways, cult-film icon Frank Henenlotter has finally outdone himself in his latest sickie, BAD BIOLOGY (2008, but finally released on DVD). I've always considered Henenlotter "The Poor-Man's Cronenberg," but this time I'm sure even Cronenberg will find something even he hadn't thought of within these hysterical (yet disturbing) 85 minutes.

Without wasting any time, Jennifer (in the film's opening line) tells us she was born with 7 clitorises. She tells us she's been on an unquenchable mi...

6th title coming from DARK ARTS BOOKS

John Everson's DARK ARTS BOOKS is set to release their 6th-multi author collection, and it looks like another winner. Dark Arts Books (www.darkartsbooks.com) has just unveiled its sixth horror/dark fantasy anthology, WHEN THE NIGHT COMES DOWN. Following Dark Arts' trademark format of offering multiple stories from four authors to show the range and breadth of their work, this time around the dark scribes featured are Joseph D'Lacey, Bev Vincent, Robert E. Weinberg and Nate Kenyon.
Joseph...

Hill'll Getcha Horny...

Ignatius Perrish ("Ig" or "Iggy"to his friends) wakes one morning to find two lumps growing from his forehead. It's been a year since his girlfriend Merrin was murdered, and most of the residents of the small town he grew up in are convinced he did it. Not knowing what to do, he goes to see his parents, despite the fact he knows they, too, will continue to reject him. The only one he can turn to is his now-famous brother, Terry, a TV star who's also recently back from L.A. But as Iggy's...

Are You Getting Enough STATIC?

BLACK STATIC (Issues 14 and 15)

The UK's Premiere Horror and Dark Fantasy Fiction Magazine comes out bi-monthly, but it takes about that long to get through each issue. Issue 14 (Dec09/Jan 10) kicks off with a real chiller by Paul Finch titled 'We, Who Live in the Woods,' while Maurice Broaddus' 'Hootchie Cootchie Man' is another fine example of why he's one author to keep your eye on. Gary McMahon and Christopher Fowler (as usual) deliver the goods, and Rosanne Rabinowitz' 'Survivor's Guilt' ...

Christmas Ain't What it Used to Be...

Not bad---much better than the 1980 film of the same title (although this isn't a remake thank goodness). 2 families get together for a Christmas visit when their younger children begin to puke, then go nuts. It's never described what this "virus" is that's making them kill (and if it didn't say it was a virus on the back of the DVD cover, I'd still have no idea), but suffice it to say, the 2nd half of this is pretty good, and all the young actors did a great job. It was nice to see UK Soap s...