Lili's Lair

Created by Wes Craven in 1984, A Nightmare On Elm Street is not only considered a quintessential watch by horror fans worldwide, it also stars one of the most recognizable bad guys in the genre: Freddy Kruger. If his visage didn't instantly pop into your head, my acrid acolytes, you must've been living in a cave since the seventies! There are nine movies in the franchise, including a crossover with Friday the 13th  and a re-boot of the original in 2010. There are rumours that New Line Cinema will be doing another re-boot for 2019, but no official statement has been released. A Nightmare On Elm Street franchise doesn't just end with movies, however. There are comics, its own series of novels, appearances in compilations, and short stories. The character of Freddy Kruger has become so popular, in fact, that it spawned a short-lived television series staring Robert Englund as Freddy himself, aptly named Freddy's Nightmares . It had 44 episodes and ran from 1988 to 199

Tiny Tidbits and Juicy Morsels is a new series of, well, tiny bits of juicy news and gossip. This news series is for those of us who just don't like, care enough, or want to read a whole article on the ins and outs, whats and wheres, or whos and whys of entertainment news. Who's got the time to consume all that anyway?! The news from the crypt : Terminator James Cameron is back, minions, to give us another Terminator movie. He's teamed up with Paramount Pictures and Skydance Media. Cameron - as well as Tim Miller, David Ellison, Gale Anne Hurd - created the new story, with screenplay written by Billy Ray, David S. Goyer, Josh Friedman, Justin Rhodes. Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger will be back, and the movie will feature Gabriel Luna from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D as the new terminator. Additional cast includes Mackenzie Davis and Diego Boneta. Their roles are unknown to the public at this point. Paramount Pictures has set a release date for 22 November 2

The IMDB description of Ravenous (the English name for the Canadian film   Les Affamés )  reads: "In a small, remote village in upstate Quebec, things have changed. Locals are not the same anymore - their bodies are breaking down and they have turned against their loved ones. A handful of survivors goes hiding into the woods, looking for others like them." So, one more movie I almost didn't watch because its description is so boring. But don't let the description fool you, minions. Although Ravenous is not your typical high-energy, ripping guts out, characters more concerned about having sex than surviving film, it is totally worth the watch if you love end of the world-type movies. Ravenous is a bit of a slow burn, and feels like every scene is painstakingly deliberate in it's delivery, but in a good way. Getting through the first five to seven minutes is a bit tough, but well worth it. The zombies are not your typical zombies. They don't particular

Recently, my malevolent malcontents, I've had the pleasure of watching a few movies that not only disturbed me, but also infected my dreams with their malicious splendor. T he Bye Bye Man (I hate to even write the title for fear of summoning him!) is one of them. Feeding into my phobia of the utterance of a name multiple times and viral propagation of said evil deed, this movie delivers that super-creepy unease you get when you know something is going terribly wrong, and you're certain it's not going to stop until the whole world is infected. The Bye Bye Man is a film in the same vein as The Ring and Pulse,  with a dose of the Bloody Mary urban legend, and a bit of Candy Man thrown in for good measure. The Bye Bye Man was directed by Stacy Title and written by Jonathan Penner. It was based on the chapter "The Bridge to Body Island" from the book The President's Vampire by Robert Damon Schneck. It stars Douglas Smith as Elliot, Lucien Laviscount as Joh

I almost didn't watch The Void  my minions. I've been reviewing way too much horror and not showing enough love to the other genres I should be covering. But when I heard it was a Lovecraft-style story, I couldn't resist. (I have a weak spot for anything Lovecraftian, you see.) The Void was a good, old-fashioned, in your face, blood-drenched horror movie that proved that physical effects are still just as good as CGI if done properly. And boy - did their special effects people get it right! The special effects in The Void were very cool throughout. (I'm not going to tell you why because it would spoil your twisted fun!) The story was interesting without being too convoluted, making the film an entertaining watch.  I kept yelling at the characters, asking why they were doing such stupid things. This just goes to show that  The Void had me completely engaged not only with the story but also with the characters. (Even though I wanted to bitch slap every one of them

In the past, I've covered the creepy pasta of summoning an evil spirit by calling its name three times in a mirror. And I've said vehemently how bad and stupid doing this is. I've also admitted that this reiteration of names freaks me out. Well, it seems to be an epidemic in horror movies these days. And although I'm seriously tweaked by this type of movie, I'm also sickly drawn to it, like a moth to a flame. So, of course, when I came across Queen of Spades: The Dark Rite I had to watch it. (I didn't want to; I had to!) Be forewarned: this is a Russian film and therefore it has subtitles. For me, that meant watching it twice and taking copious amounts of notes. Honestly, I'm not sure why I took over ten pages of notes, but I have a suspicion that my subconscious was in a full act of rebellion against my watching another Bloody Mary-type movie. My unconscious thought probably was: if I take loads of notes, I will be detached enough from all the messed

I was going through movies on Amazon when I stumbled on The Monster Project . Since I love indie horror, I had to give it a watch. I'm happy I did. The Monster Project was directed and co-written by Victor Mathieu with Shariya Lynn and  Corbin Billings. I loved the whole premise of the movie: Indie filmmaker Devon (played by Justin Bruening) sees that people are willing to believe anything  online with regards to the supernatural, so  decides to cash in on this and do a documentary about "real" monsters. With his sidekick, Jamal (played by Jamal Quezaire), manning the camera and tasked to come up with a name, The Monster Project is born. An ad on Craigs List goes up calling all real life monsters to come out to tell their story, and the fun begins. Also in the movie we have Bryan (played by Toby Hemingway), a recovering drug addict looking to change his life though his new found faith, and Murielle (played by Murielle Zuker), an aspiring director and Devon's ex

The month of May at the Lair has been dedicated to some wicked indie talent. From music to movie makers, and now to my second creepy author of the month, Matt Hayward, who's work has been nominated for a Bram Stoker Award and garnered a nomination from Penguin Books for short story of the year, 2017. Not only is Matt one busy boy who's written or is writing a plethora of tales, but he's also a professional musician. The latest album from his band, Lace Weeper, entitled As The Crow Flies , features  Chad Channing  of Nirvana and Before Cars. Pretty wicked, my minions, especially since Nirvana inspired Matt as a teen. (You can read that in the interview, I'll sew my mouth closed now. No more spoilers, I promise.) As busy as Matt is (he's a newlywed, to boot!) he found enough time for an interview and gave us a bio to read. So, without further ado my malcontents, read on: Lili's Lair: Why do you write? Matt Hayward:  Because I’d make a piss-poor salesma

Over the past two weeks, I've featured indie talent worth listening to and worth reading. This week, it's something worth watching. My find is a film: Prodigy . Written and Directed by Alex Haughey and Brian Vidal, and starring Richard Neil, Savannah Liles, Jolene Andersen, Emilio Palame, and David Linski, it's a thriller (with a little sci-fi thrown in) about a girl who may or may not be the most dangerous person in the world. Well, the government thinks so, anyway. Read on for my review of the film, Prodigy . The opening was a nicely done little prologue introducing you to some key background people of the film without giving away the film's content. It left me wondering "What's the deal?" and wanting to know more. The ongoing exchange between Savannah Liles character, Ellie, and Richard Neil's Dr. James Fonda was cleverly written. This, coupled with the chemistry between the two actors, allowed them to play off each other well. This, in turn

Welcome to this week's feature, my accursed acolytes! Last week. I featured indie talent worth listening to. This week. it's someone not only worth listening to, but also worth reading. This week's find is a storyteller for you to discover: Isaac Thorne. His narratives are a must-listen, and his stories are not only a darkly delicious read, but have also been made into award-winning film shorts. Give Isaac a listen, and a read. You won't be disappointed, minions. Check out Isaac Thorne's bio and his links: "Isaac writes the kind of stories he writes because he finds them funny, gross, and horrific, all of which appeals to his–shall we say–underdeveloped maturity. Rest assured that even though his work might not fit the sensibilities of some readers, he truly means no harm nor offense. In addition to Isaac's written works, he hosts two programs on SCRM Radio, a horror-centric internet radio station. THORNE'S THEATER OF TERROR features Isaac'

Welcome, perusers of the putrid! I have a special month planned. Throughout the month of May, I will be featuring indie talent worth watching, reading, or - as in this particular post's case - listening to. That's right, minions, I have found a creepy cool musician for you to try out: Dr. Snik. Trust me when I tell you these songs are a must-have for any spooky Halloween party, or. if you're like me, just as a nice addition to the creeptastic music I listen to every night in my crypt. (I particularly like "March Of The Dead," but then I may be biased: some of my closest friends are zombies.) Check out Dr. Snik's bio and his links: Bio "Dr. Snik has risen from the grave in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to bring you spooky grooves from the Other World. A collection of original psychedelic/horror/pop-punk/trance songs/soundscapes influenced by Radiohead/Pink Floyd/Alice Cooper. These songs are born out of many places such as The Pits of Hell, The Re

I know, minions, not my usual title or post, but I have to be honest: the last few months of watching horror and sci-fi movies has been painful for me. I really just wanted to find something redeemable about movie after movie, and I just could not. Not one good thing. I paid to rent a couple of the movies, and all it left me feeling was ripped off. I seemed destined not to find one movie that didn't suck. Since I don't do negative reviews, I threw in the towel and moved on to watching anthologies. I finally found a keeper, and you can read that review here . After that, I decided to go to Netflix and see what was new there. Guess what, darklings. Not only did I find one movie that didn't suck, I found three! (Just a reminder: I don't give spoilers or go into film details, that is for you to discover all on your lonesome.) The first in the lot was The Cloverfield Paradox . I'm trying to figure out why this movie didn't get a theatrical release because

Let's see what's coming to the big screen this April in the Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy genres, my corpulent cutthroats. Horror A Quite Place Release Date: April 6th, 2018 PG-13|1 hr 35 min Plot Summary: A family of four must remain silent in its isolated farmhouse to avoid mysterious creatures that use sound to hunt their prey. Cast: Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Cade Woodward Director: John Krasinski Genres: Thriller, Horror Production Co: Paramount Pictures, Sunday Night, Platinum Dunes The Endless Release Date: April 6th, 2018 Not Yet Rated|1 hr 51 min Plot Summary: Two brothers receive a cryptic video message inspiring them to revisit the UFO death cult they escaped a decade earlier. Hoping to find the closure that they couldn't find as young men, they're forced to reconsider the cult's beliefs when confronted with unexplainable phenomena surrounding the camp. As the members prepare for the coming o

Welcome, my twisted troglodytes, to the first post of 2018! I even had my claws filed especially for the occasion! The movie I'm reviewing today is actually a 23-minute short that is now part of a collection called From Beyond,  available on Amazon Prime video. I'll be giving my thoughts on the rest of the collection at the end of this post. (Remember, I don't give spoilers or discuss details of the story - those are for you creeps to discover on your own!) "The Madame In Black" is episode two of the series. It deals with two things I really don't care for because they are just plain wrong: mirrors and urban legends/ kid dares that involve calling on some freaky psycho or tortured soul three times and daring them to show themselves. First, let's talk a bit about mirrors. They're evil - plain and simple. Trust me when I tell you this, as I've lived a very, very long time and know for a fact mirrors are gateways to places you would rather no