WHAT'S YOUR TOP 3 HORROR FILMS OF ALL TIME? GHOULISH GARY PULLIN GIVES US HIS!

If you're a horror fan then you probably know the name Ghoulish Gary Pullin. An amazing artist who has created many outstanding eye-popping pieces for posters, magazines, records, and films and a 2009 Rondo Award winner. In my personal collection I have Waxwork Records' original soundtracks for RE-ANIMATOR and CREEPSHOW which Gary created original artwork for. They are drop dead gorgeous! Gary and his work will also be featured in the upcoming film TWENTY-FOUR BY THIRTY-SIX!

So for the month of Halloween I've asked a few people to share their top 3 horror films of all time, for any of you planning a scare-a-thon for Samhain and are pressed for what to watch. Well Gary was kind enough to share his top 3, so take it from a true monster kid...

Gary's first choice is one that I haven't seen and I feel like a chump, because everyone I know who has seen it talks about how scary it is. Starring George C Scott (Exorcist III, Dr Strangelove, Hardcore), THE CHANGELING is about a composer who tragically lost his family. He's consumed by grief and his friends convince him to get away for a while, so he rents a turn of the century house, but things get worse when he discovers the house is haunted by the ghost of a murdered child!

...yea, this is the year I watch THE CHANGELING!

Gary's next choice is one we have in common, THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON! What a fantastic picture-what an incredible monster...It's rare to find a full body monster suit from the 1950s that looked so realistic and gave such an iconic performance (there were actually two people who played the creature-Ben Chapman for the above the water scenes and Ricou Browning for the underwater scenes). In the film, a paleontologist discovers a fossilized hand with webbed fingers, marking the link in evolution from sea to land creatures and leads an expedition into the Amazon to try and learn more. There they encounter the curious monster who becomes enraged after being attacked, but also infatuated with the sole female member of the crew, Kay (Julie Adams). Though it came out much later than the original Universal Classics, the Creature is still counted among their ranks and will be included in the new line of shared universe remakes. One of the gems of the monster cinema and an unimpeachable classic. 

And for his number 3 pick, Gary chose a modern classic that just hit Blu Ray back in August.

SESSION 9 landed with little fan fare back in 2001, flying under the radar. It is criminal this movie wasn't a hit! I saw it at a midnight showing and it was seriously one of the scariest films I've seen. Shot in Massachusetts, SESSION 9 is about a crew of contractors hired to go into an old insane asylum and clean out the asbestos so the place can be torn down. Are they alone in the place, or is someone not what they seem? No frigging joke, the last half hour is intense! No spoilers and no more details, if you haven't experienced this underrated jewel, you need to add this your Halloween viewing schedule.  

Thanks, Gary, for sharing your top 3 favorite horror films! Too learn more about Ghoulish Gary and purchase his art you can go HERE to check out his official site. And you can follow him at @ghoulishgary on Twitter and Instagram and he'll be a guest at MondoCon, October 22-23 and Days of the Dead: Chicago, November 18 - 20. And check out the official trailer for TWENTY-FOUR BY THIRTY-SIX below...

 

 

A SEQUEL WORTH YOUR TIME; THE EXORCIST III

Sequels are the bread and butter of successful horror films and often the bane of horror fans. More times than not a sequel is nothing more than a cash in, a retread, or a dud. Sometimes it's not a dud, but gets such a strong negative reaction before it even hits theaters or DVD that it bombs and gets a bad reputation. You can't blame horror fans who groan at news of another chapter for their favorite horror film when we get more Texas Chainsaw Massacre; The New Generation, Jaws The Revenge, Friday The 13th Jason Takes Manhattan than we do Aliens, Evil Dead 2; Dead By Dawn, or Dawn of the Dead.
Last month The Exorcist turned 40. Both Rue Morgue and Fangoria have excellent celebratory issues on the stands right now. The Exorcist has to be the scariest movie of all time. The only other film I can think of that made me cringe and fill me such a sense of dread and left me not wanting to rewatch it (at least for a very long time) was Henry; Portrait of a Serial Killer. Even Henry falls short of The Exorcists ability to create a true horror experience with shocks that haven't dulled over the decades.
Like all successful horror films The Exorcist has some sequels. There's even talk of a Exorcist TV series and let's all go ahead and cross our fingers now that this never gets off the ground. The first sequel, The Heretic (1977), directed by John Boorman, is widely considered by fans to be an

abomination. I remember someone going on a lengthy rant about what a piece of shit it was when I worked at Garage Video in Allston MA. Exorcist III is completely different animal though.
1990's The Exorcist III is based on the William Peter Blatty's real sequel, Legion (1983), to his original novel and was directed by Blatty himself.  Taking place years after the original film, we follow Detective Kinderman
(George C Scott) as he investigates a series of murders that closely resemble the murders of The Gemini Killer, a serial killer believed to be dead. The investigation leads Kinderman to a mental hospital where he meets a man known as only as Patient X (or Sunshine in the novel). I don't want to give away any plot details, but I will say there are direct connections with the first novel/film and presented in a way that feels nothing like a cash in on the originals' successes.
Blatty is a powerful storyteller. Both The Exorcist and Legion are scary as hell reads and the films are

worthy adaptations (which goes without saying in The Exorcist's case). III is an overlooked gem, which considering the colossal disappointment of Heretic, is understandable. The scares are very effective, the dread is palpable, the imagery is frightening and the villain (Brad Dourif) is intense. I've watched III probably half a dozen times at least and there's one scene that still makes me jump-I know it's coming, in fact I knew it was coming the first time I saw the film, Blatty really telegraphed the scare with the shot he used, but dammit if I'm not "Ah!" everytime.
The Exorcist III is not a perfect film, but it is a hell of a thriller/horror film and a worthy follow up to one of the best horror films ever made.