Tessera

Whilst it's widely known that mainstream critics hated FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 (even though now it's widely regarded as one of the franchise's best), were you aware that many horror fans did, too? So much so that Steve Miner's film was voted the WORST horror film of 1981 by the readers of Fangoria!

Slashback Review: FATAL GAMES (1984) Do you know the (admittedly) tenuous connection between mad javelin slasher and Bette Davis? Here is some early promotional artwork from when it was originally filmed under the title THE KILLING TOUCH. Find out the link: www.hysteria-lives.co.uk/hysterialive...

And still they come FROM HELL ... '96's ONE GOOD TURN. Another overlooked gem with James Remar, Lenny von Dohlen & Suzy Amis. A man saved from an explosion years previously finds there's no such thing as a Good Samaritan when his hero comes looking for retribution. Another one reviewed for the book!

New Review: CARVED: THE SLIT-MOUTHED WOMAN (2007) "Kōji Shiraishi, known for the excellent NOROI: THE CURSE, delivers an off-kilter Japanese slasher movie based on an urban legend about a woman with a slit mouth who carries a huge pair of scissors." Read now: www.hysteria-lives.co.uk/Carved.html

Working my way through Apple TV WIDOW'S BAY, their dark comedy horror show about a cursed island community. They hinted at it before, but episode 8 goes full '80s slasher with a pitch-perfect take on the masked maniac on the loose. Love it! Anyone else seen the show and enjoyed it?

Did you know that the long-gestating SO I MARRIED AN AXE MURDERER (1993) was initially going to star and be directed by Woody Allen? Or that Sharon Stone was originally set to star in a dual psycho and non-psycho role? Another of the From Hell thriller spoofs I'm covering in THE NANNY HAS A KNIFE!.

Just imagine being there! October 20, 1978, in Chicago.

Gary Graver's ANGEL EYES (1993) pushes the erotic angle just about as much as it can before it stops being a thriller. But Monique Garbielle is a campy delight as the demented 30-year-old stepdaughter From Hell, so it just about squeaks in for inclusion in my upcoming book The Nanny Has a Knife!.

New review: NEW FEARS EVE (2025) "This low-budget but glossy love letter to ‘80s and ‘90s slashers ... There is an infectious, hyperactive fun to be had here, but at times you do kind of wish the film would pop a Ritalin." READ NOW: www.hysteria-lives.co.uk/New-Fears-Ev...

"Hollywood’s hottest male star is used to female fans’ attention, but when he has a weekend affair with a young woman secretly obsessed with him, he has to fight to save his engagement and even his life when she turns on him." NUMBER ONE FAN (1995). Another one done for the book ...

Get ready for Freddy (again). www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...

New ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ Movie in the Works From Paramount (Exclusive)

The studio has inked a deal with the estate of Wes Craven to revive the Freddy Kreuger horror franchise and will release it via its newly launched Paramount Primal label.

hollywoodreporter.com

In the first of an occasional blog looking at the critical reception of ‘80s slasher movies, I’ve gathered 18 quotes from newspaper critics’ reviews of the 1983 pic SLEEPAWAY CAMP. Spoiler: They didn't much like it, and sometimes to a hilarious extent! Read the Blog now: ko-fi.com/hysterialives

66 review retrospectives done for my upcoming book THE NANNY HAS A KNIFE!: THE FROM HELL PSYCHO THRILLER (1987-1996)! I still have a few more lined up to cover as I get close to finishing and my deadline. What do you spot that's missing?

"There is fun to be had watching a sassy, pint-sized psycho rampaging through the neighborhood on her princess-pink push bike (she even rings the bell on the handlebars as she departs a murder scene)." DADDY'S GIRL '96 section done for my book: THE NANNY HAS A KNIFE!: THE FROM HELL PSYCHO THRILLER.

New Hysteria Lives! review: EFFECTS (1979) "It is a film that could have been read as a postmodern take on the Golden Age of the slasher movie, had it not been for the fact that the cycle had not even begun when it was filmed." www.hysteria-lives.co.uk/Effects.html

Originally envisaged as a big-screen replacement for Paramount’s FRIDAY THE 13TH franchise. THE SUBSTITUTE (1993) saw Amanda Donohoe as the psycho teacher From Hell, who will kill anyone to keep her secrets - including Mark Wahlberg (as Marky Mark) in his first role. Another one done for the book!

When John Waters' SERIAL MOM was in development at Columbia Pictures in 1992, it was touted as a "thriller" in the vein of From Hell movies such as FATAL ATTRACTION and SINGLE WHITE FEMALE. Although ultimately a satire of true crime obsession, it still retains enough ... (1/2)

Slasher movies in the early 1980s routinely got terrible reviews in the mainstream press, but PIECES probably got the worst reviews by far. A shame none of them could appreciate its campy, goofy charm!

New Review: PITFALL (2026) "An estranged brother and sister’s attempts to reconnect in the great outdoors go disastrously wrong when they are hunted by a hulking madman. PITFALL draws inspiration from post-millennium slasher throwbacks. " Read now: www.hysteria-lives.co.uk/Pitfall.html

Mary Beth McDonough talks about being chased by a psycho with an embalming pipe in MORTUARY (1982), nude body doubles, & working with Lynda Day and Christopher George. "I had always wanted to be a final girl because I loved horror films so much!" Interview: www.hysteria-lives.co.uk/hysterialive...

Envisaged as a North American SUSPIRIA – a supernatural horror tale with slasher movie deaths. SUPERSTITION had a chequered release before a short theatrical release Stateside in 1985. Here on a double bill with, by that time, Lucio Fulci's equally long-in-the-tooth HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY.

"THE GOOD DIE YOUNG ... SWEET SIXTEEN ... SHE'LL NEVER REACH SEVENTEEN." Omaha World Herald, 27 April 1984