According to a recent Internet campaign to get a certain record to the No.1 spot in time for Christmas, everybody knows that the bird is the word. Well, I have news for The Bird and all his acolytes: namely, that a greater, more cultured, and ultimately more select group of us know that Monsters Rule OK. Anyone not acquainted with this premise obviously didn�t watch much late night TV, or attend many midnight movie screenings, in that otherwise barren period known as the 1980s, for �twas then … [Read more...]

OK, I�m going to ask a question which on the surface seems fairly obvious, but which, nevertheless, remains to my knowledge unanswered. Namely: just where exactly did the tradition begin of telling ghost stories at Christmas? �What tradition�, exclaim a million youthful voices raised on reality TV and gangsta rap. �Fooey!�, say I, diametrically opposed to anyone unaware of the grand customs of the past. But that still doesn�t stop me from wanting to achieve a greater understanding of such … [Read more...]

The early 1970s were certainly an interesting time for Britt Ekland. As well marrying Rod Stewart, during which time she helped popularise the now-recognised concept of �Swinglish�, she also appeared, one after the other, in a run of four undisputed horror classics- first as Charlotte Rampling�s murderous �friend� Lucy in Asylum (1972) then a thorn in the side of Hywel Bennett and Hayley Mills in Endless Night (also 1972) before achieving immortality as dubbed Caledonian temptress Willow … [Read more...]

A gentle ripple of acoustic, Latin- inflected guitar gives way to a blast of horns heralding possibly the most incongruous theme to a horror film ever: switch the TV on two bars into Laurie Johnson�s brassy caper tune (actually the result of an idea from Bernard Herrmann), set to the relaxing sight of bicycles traversing French roads as trees sway gently in the breeze, and you might be forgiven for thinking you�re actually watching a light comedy, rather than one of the scariest, most … [Read more...]