11 of the Scariest 3D Moments in Horror Film History, RIP LORRAINE WARREN, and More!
In this Issue:
- Horror History: A Dimension of Fear
- Image of the Week: Phantom FX
- Tiny Bites – This Week’s Best Horror Headlines
- Things We Love: Head-Spinning Horror
- Hey, That’s Us! – Shudder in the News
HORROR HISTORY: A DIMENSION OF FEAR
By Lisa Morton
Long before “immersive” became a buzzword — all the way back to this week in 1953 when the 3D House of Wax opened across the U.S. — audiences have loved movies that promised that third dimension of thrills. Who doesn’t love the feeling of being right in the middle of the action? Add in the element of horror, and you’ve got a movie experience like no other.
In honor of that first color 3-D feature from a major American studio — which was even selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress — we’re taking a look back at 11 of the scariest 3D moments in horror film history.
A word of warning before you don those 3D glasses: If you’ve yet to catch these horror classics … SPOILER ALERT!
In House of Wax, the scenes in which a shadowy, cloaked killer pursues victims had viewers cringing when it seemed that the mysterious figure was among them.
For 1953’s It Came From Outer Space, Universal-International’s polarized glasses were put to best use when an alien mimicking the heroine (Barbara Rush) fired a pulsating weapon right at the audience.
C’mon, 1954’s The Creature from the Black Lagoonswimming right at the camera? 3D doesn’t get any better.
Andy Warhol resurrected 3D for his 1973 Flesh for Frankenstein, and director Paul Morrissey reveled in thrusting lots of bloody body parts right at us.
It was probably only natural that the slasher movie craze of the ‘80s would discover 3D with Part III ofFriday the 13th (1982). This one’s all about the pitchforks, pokers, and machetes.
A year later, the best effect in Amityville 3-D was the corpse that leapt out of the basement well.
That same year, terror-seekers donned their disposable glasses again for Jaws 3-D, arguably the best of the ‘80s 3D thrillers, thanks to the shark’s climactic attack on a glass control room.
It may be only the last 10 minutes of Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991) that are in 3D “Freddyvision,” but those 10 minutes include a wild trip through Freddy’s brain, complete with darting Krueger-headed snakes.
It took a remake — 2009’s My Bloody Valentine 3D — to make 3D profitable in the 21st century. This one may be the king of 3D gore. It’s hard to pick one favorite, but we’re going with the guy who gets pickaxed in the head from behind and his eye pops out.
Eli Roth entered the third dimension for 2010’sPiranha 3D. If you want to see hordes of prehistoric fish lunging from the screen, this one’s for you.
We have friends who would argue that shirtless David Tennant is the best 3D effect in 2011’s Fright Nightremake, but most agree that it’s actually the floating embers from Charley’s burning house that capture the trophy.
IMAGE OF THE WEEK
Phantom FX
Lon Chaney — who created his own look for the 1925 silent film adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera — proudly shows off his personal makeup kit before and after his transformation. Some audience members reportedly fainted upon the reveal of the Phantom’s face, which had been kept secret prior to the movie’s premiere.
TINY BITES
SWAMP THING TRAILER, MARK HAMILL’S CHUCKY & MORE
Godzilla’s looking more magnificent than ever in a gorgeous new poster. But if you want to experience everyone’s favorite kaiju looming over you for real, you’ll have to check into this unique Tokyo hotel.
Lorraine Warren, whose paranormal investigations with her husband Ed inspired The Conjuring films, has died at 92.
Did you know there was a Halloween II that never happened? It was going to be set years after the original — and shot in 3D!
Capcom teased a remake of Resident Evil 3 with a series of puzzling tweets.
A critic wrote a fantastic, in-depth analysis of the amazing crash scene that helped make Near Dark a horror classic.
Heavy Metal singer/songwriter Glenn Danzig announced he’s finished the script for “a vampire Spaghetti-Western.”
DC Universe responded to fears that cutting theSwamp Thing series from 13 episodes to 10 meant the series was in trouble by releasing the show’s first trailer.
How Tim Burton’s visual aesthetic of “the sinister, the grotesque, the weird, the bloody, and the terrifying” evolved over the years.
Hear Mark Hamill’s creepy Chucky voice for the first time in a new Child’s Play trailer.
If you’re going through Shirley Jackson withdrawal now that the first season of The Haunting of Hill House is over, check out the first trailer for the upcoming movie adaptation of her terrifying classic We Have Always Lived in the Castle.
Catch up on your horror history with the 5 best foreign language horror films and 8 awesome silents every sci-fi and horror film fan should see.
Thanks to the reaction from test audiences, Escape Room was released with a less nihilist ending.
Horror fans are protesting after August Derleth Park — named after the Arkham House publisher who released H. P. Lovecraft’s first book — is renamed.
THINGS WE LOVE: HEAD-SPINNING HORROR
Martin Smith has devoted the past three years to researching how audiences reacted to the groundbreaking horror film The Exorcist at the time of its release, and then sharing what he’s learned over at The Exorcist Project. The site includes 100+ photos and scans of contemporary magazine articles, plus video interviews with WIlliam Friedkin, Linda Blair, and more. So much Exorcist info it’ll make your head spin!
HEY, THAT’S US! – SHUDDER IN THE NEWS
Tigers Are Not Afraid: AMC’s Shudder Gets Its Wish, Locks In Acclaimed Mexican Horror Fable
Shudder Has Acquired and Will Finally Release Issa López’s Festival Hit Tigers Are Not Afraid
Revisiting The Last Drive-In: Deathgasm and The Changeling
Lizzie Borden took an axe: Four new movies available on Shudder (Lizzie, The Car, 3 Women, Dead Silence)
Lizzie: a story about Pears, Pigeons and Patricide
Creepshow: Tom Savini to direct adaptation of Joe Hill story for Shudder series
Punk Rock Slasher The Ranger Coming to Shudder