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Horror Fuel

Robert Altman & Popeye vs. Cynema

To Clear A Few Things Up A few myths need to be dispelled about the 1980 Robin Williams film, Popeye. It was NOT a boxoffice failure. It was made for 20 million and grossed well over 60 million. While deemed a “disappointment” by Paramount Pictures, it hardly failed. 2. It is NOT Robin Williams’s worst film. I will argue it is his best, hands down. Like Williams and its director, the film paid a price for breaking away from formula. Popeye is fucking art, so there, I said it. Popeye fought Cynema and lost the first few battles, but I think it won the war. It was Robin Williams’s first film, and almost his last. It’s been called a mess, incomprehensible, a misfire, a disaster and a bomb. Bear with me as I show how this unique film stands up against Cynema. I’ll also lay out how this film reflects the present attitudes between industry and audience. Years after I

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Sep 19, 2015
Horror Fuel

Interview: Guinness World Record Holder John E. Boylan

The Guinness World Record for the largest collection of Swamp Thing memorabilia consists of 797 unique items and belongs to illustrator and designer John E. Boylan (USA). His collection was verified in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA on March 21 2015. I was fortunate enough to be able to ask Guinness World Record Holder, John E. Boylan, a few questions for this interview and he was gracious enough to provide me with some great answers. STG What inspired your passion to collect all things Swamp Thing? JEB “Good storytelling, other Swamp Thing fans, and enough oddball collectibles to stay intrigued. I was drawn to Swamp Thing, like many I imagine, by the beautiful art and writing. Once I started collecting single issues and chatting with other Swampy fans, I wondered what else was out there relating to Swamp Thing and found a bunch of great collectibles like, chalk, pencil sharpeners and furry slippers. Since Swampy isn’t the most popular/well known

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Sep 15, 2015
Horror Fuel

Exclusive Update: The Crawl Or Die Sequel And Their New Updated Website

Today I caught up with two of my favorite people in horror, director Oklahoma Ward and actress Nicole Alonso of the horror-scifi film ‘Crawl or Die’. Oklahoma and Nicole have been very busy preparing their new updated website, as well as getting ready to film the second movie of the franchise. 2014’s ‘Crawl or Die’ follows Tank (Alonso), a soldier in an apocalyptic earth over run with aliens , who is escorting the only remaining fertile woman to a ship so that she may be evacuated. On their way a nasty alien has began tracking them. The soldiers take to tunnels to escape. They must crawl or die. Tank is the only thing standing between the woman and the hungry alien. ‘Crawl or Die’ is an action packed, claustrophobia inducing thrill ride. &feature=youtu.be Oklahoma and Nicole are doing something unheard of in the film industry, building a website that truly revolves around their fans. The site goes live globally on

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Sep 4, 2015
Horror Fuel

Big Apes, Big Cynema

Dino! “When Jaws die, nobody cry . When my Kong die, everybody cry.” – Dino DeLaurentiis, producer Younger viewers have almost no idea who legendary producer Dino DeLaurentiis was. Some saw him as the Italian forerunner of Michael Bay; creator of expensive, big budget, soulless films followed by similar producers like Alexander and Ilya Salkind, Peter Guber and Jon Peters, Jerry Bruckheimer as well as Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich. DeLaurentiis said this about his humble beginnings in film: “After the war, there was no industry. We lost the war. We had our whole city destroyed. No money. No studio. No film. No camera. No equipment. We would shoot in the street. We had no actors. Nothing. But we wanted to do movies. And we did the best movies in the world. If you lived in a provincial town like Torre Annunziata, where there was nothing to do in the evening but go to the movies with your friends, the

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 21, 2015
Horror Fuel

Cynema: Godzilla vs. Gino

Go Go Godzilla “We spared no expense.” – Sir Richard Attenborough, Jurassic Park Rumors circulated Hollywood since the early 1990’s of an American Godzilla movie. Writers and directors left the project and by 1996, Toho and Sony/Tri Star came to terms and the producing team of Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich were anointed to bring a full fledged American Godzilla film to the US masses. He would attack New York City; it would boast a big name cast and incorporate state of the art visual effects. There would be no man in a giant rubber suit in this film since Jurassic Park raised the bar for giant reptilian creatures. Toho Knew In the wake of the successful 2014 reboot (which had its own issues), it seems like a cheap shot to take yet another swipe at the much maligned (and deservedly so) 1998 mess. This time it’s to see how this film fits the Cynema paradigm. It’s not Godzilla, it

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 20, 2015
Horror Fuel

An Interview With Actress Bianca Bradey Of ‘Wyrmwood: Road Of The Dead’

I had the chance to interview actress Bianca Bradey. Bradey’s most recent film was the zombie film ‘Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead’. In the movie, Bradey plays the role of Brooke, a badass heroine that develops the power to control zombies after she receives a series of shots from a deranged scientist after being kidnapped. Bradey does a fantastic job in the movie. Her character comes across as tough, but sexy. You have to see ‘Wyrmwood’ for yourself to truly appreciate her performance. Bradey was kind enough to speak with me and answer a few of my questions. KM “How did you get started in acting?” BB “I always wanted to be an actor. I started acting, singing, and dancing when I was very young. But I never pursued it seriously. I was always so shy when I was little. I never really believed in myself enough I think. But one day I woke up and realized I wasn’t being

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Aug 18, 2015
Horror Fuel

Jaws the Worst

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Reviews The picture above is a series of stills from the ending of “Jaws The Revenge.” People rip on Ed Wood’s hubcaps and pie tin flying saucer’s in his “Plan 9 From Outer Space.” However, Wood had about 200 bucks for his effects budget. “Jaws The Revenge” had about six million and you get what’s in that picture? Cynema: The cynical contempt for an audience in the making of product that is devoid of creativity, passion, production value or respect while having the financial and creative means to do better. This Time It’s Ridiculous…Imagine you are sitting in an office at Universal Studios. You approve film projects pitched to you. Here’s the challenge. Without any knowledge of the previous Jaws films, someone pitches you the plot for a fourth installment to the famous shark series. Would you or wouldn’t you give 20 million dollars to make this movie? Here’s the pitch: “We get Lorraine

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 15, 2015
Horror Fuel

Interview: Chris Welsh Of “Wart-The Comic”

A bit about the book from it’s creator: Wart is an original horror comic series starring Wart Bellamy, an unfortunate young fellow ripped from his reality and tossed into a mysterious, other-worldly ‘Asylum for the Belligerently Insane’. It’s written by Chris Welsh (from the UK) and drawn by Ammar Al-Chalabi (from The Netherlands). There are monsters, cults, ghosts, rats, and a shady doctor in charge of the whole thing. Wart’s story takes him through multiple dimensions that threaten both his physical health and his crumbling sanity. Along the way he makes friends, enemies and gets incrementally closer to finding out just what the hell is going on. The series is independently published, Lovecraft-influenced cosmic horror that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Our first two books have been incredibly well received, and we’ve just launched the Kickstarter to fund Book Three. I was fortunate enough to be able to ask the writer of Wart, Chris Welsh, a few questions for this

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 13, 2015
Horror Fuel

When Filmmakers Strike Back

Keyboard Warriors A bane of social media is the “Inspirational Tweeter.” This is the person whose life is going so well, they feel the need to tell you how you too can find the happiness they have. They’re a digital Hallmark Card, the cyber chicken soup for the soul. It’s amazing how much annoyance can be packed into 140 characters. Another facet is the “Hipster Movie Reviewer.” These are the folks (usually male) with a blog or You Tube Channel who think they know about movies. Some are ballsy enough to take on real reviewers like Scott Weinberg and tell THEM how they’re wrong or “set them straight” especially when it comes to super hero or Adam Sandler films. These “reviewers” usually have little production value. Their videos are shot with no lighting or professional sound and while some have under 50 views they usually start their critiques with “Hey Everyone…” Everyone? You mean the 6 viewers minus the ones

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 12, 2015
Horror Fuel

An Interview With Writer, Director, Producer Harrison Smith Of Carolco Pictures

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Harrison Smith. Smith is a talented screen writer, director, producer and the head of Independent Genre Development at Carolco Production. KM “How did you get started in the film industry?” HS “I was ten when my uncle gave me a Super 8 camera, I made silent movies, I made a comedy series with my brother. Then I had a comedy cable show. ‘The Fields’ was my first real movie.” KM “How did ‘The Fields’ come to be?” HS “‘The Fields’ is based on what happened to me as a boy. My parents had a tumultuous relationship, so I spent a lot of time at my grandparent’s farm as a kid. The farmhouse was surrounded by corn fields that went on for miles. The events depicted in the film all started with a stick. I would play Godzilla with sticks and one day I heard something in the edge of the corn field. I

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jul 9, 2015

More from Interviews

Horror Fuel

Robert Altman & Popeye vs. Cynema

To Clear A Few Things Up A few myths need to be dispelled about the 1980 Robin Williams film, Popeye. It was NOT a boxoffice failure. It was made for 20 million and grossed well over 60 million. While deemed a “disappointment” by Paramount Pictures, it hardly failed. 2. It is NOT Robin Williams’s worst film. I will argue it is his best, hands down. Like Williams and its director, the film paid a price for breaking away from formula. Popeye is fucking art, so there, I said it. Popeye fought Cynema and lost the first few battles, but I think it won the war. It was Robin Williams’s first film, and almost his last. It’s been called a mess, incomprehensible, a misfire, a disaster and a bomb. Bear with me as I show how this unique film stands up against Cynema. I’ll also lay out how this film reflects the present attitudes between industry and audience. Years after I

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Sep 19, 2015
Horror Fuel

Interview: Guinness World Record Holder John E. Boylan

The Guinness World Record for the largest collection of Swamp Thing memorabilia consists of 797 unique items and belongs to illustrator and designer John E. Boylan (USA). His collection was verified in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA on March 21 2015. I was fortunate enough to be able to ask Guinness World Record Holder, John E. Boylan, a few questions for this interview and he was gracious enough to provide me with some great answers. STG What inspired your passion to collect all things Swamp Thing? JEB “Good storytelling, other Swamp Thing fans, and enough oddball collectibles to stay intrigued. I was drawn to Swamp Thing, like many I imagine, by the beautiful art and writing. Once I started collecting single issues and chatting with other Swampy fans, I wondered what else was out there relating to Swamp Thing and found a bunch of great collectibles like, chalk, pencil sharpeners and furry slippers. Since Swampy isn’t the most popular/well known

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Sep 15, 2015
Horror Fuel

Exclusive Update: The Crawl Or Die Sequel And Their New Updated Website

Today I caught up with two of my favorite people in horror, director Oklahoma Ward and actress Nicole Alonso of the horror-scifi film ‘Crawl or Die’. Oklahoma and Nicole have been very busy preparing their new updated website, as well as getting ready to film the second movie of the franchise. 2014’s ‘Crawl or Die’ follows Tank (Alonso), a soldier in an apocalyptic earth over run with aliens , who is escorting the only remaining fertile woman to a ship so that she may be evacuated. On their way a nasty alien has began tracking them. The soldiers take to tunnels to escape. They must crawl or die. Tank is the only thing standing between the woman and the hungry alien. ‘Crawl or Die’ is an action packed, claustrophobia inducing thrill ride. &feature=youtu.be Oklahoma and Nicole are doing something unheard of in the film industry, building a website that truly revolves around their fans. The site goes live globally on

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Sep 4, 2015
Horror Fuel

Big Apes, Big Cynema

Dino! “When Jaws die, nobody cry . When my Kong die, everybody cry.” – Dino DeLaurentiis, producer Younger viewers have almost no idea who legendary producer Dino DeLaurentiis was. Some saw him as the Italian forerunner of Michael Bay; creator of expensive, big budget, soulless films followed by similar producers like Alexander and Ilya Salkind, Peter Guber and Jon Peters, Jerry Bruckheimer as well as Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich. DeLaurentiis said this about his humble beginnings in film: “After the war, there was no industry. We lost the war. We had our whole city destroyed. No money. No studio. No film. No camera. No equipment. We would shoot in the street. We had no actors. Nothing. But we wanted to do movies. And we did the best movies in the world. If you lived in a provincial town like Torre Annunziata, where there was nothing to do in the evening but go to the movies with your friends, the

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 21, 2015
Horror Fuel

Cynema: Godzilla vs. Gino

Go Go Godzilla “We spared no expense.” – Sir Richard Attenborough, Jurassic Park Rumors circulated Hollywood since the early 1990’s of an American Godzilla movie. Writers and directors left the project and by 1996, Toho and Sony/Tri Star came to terms and the producing team of Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich were anointed to bring a full fledged American Godzilla film to the US masses. He would attack New York City; it would boast a big name cast and incorporate state of the art visual effects. There would be no man in a giant rubber suit in this film since Jurassic Park raised the bar for giant reptilian creatures. Toho Knew In the wake of the successful 2014 reboot (which had its own issues), it seems like a cheap shot to take yet another swipe at the much maligned (and deservedly so) 1998 mess. This time it’s to see how this film fits the Cynema paradigm. It’s not Godzilla, it

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 20, 2015
Horror Fuel

An Interview With Actress Bianca Bradey Of ‘Wyrmwood: Road Of The Dead’

I had the chance to interview actress Bianca Bradey. Bradey’s most recent film was the zombie film ‘Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead’. In the movie, Bradey plays the role of Brooke, a badass heroine that develops the power to control zombies after she receives a series of shots from a deranged scientist after being kidnapped. Bradey does a fantastic job in the movie. Her character comes across as tough, but sexy. You have to see ‘Wyrmwood’ for yourself to truly appreciate her performance. Bradey was kind enough to speak with me and answer a few of my questions. KM “How did you get started in acting?” BB “I always wanted to be an actor. I started acting, singing, and dancing when I was very young. But I never pursued it seriously. I was always so shy when I was little. I never really believed in myself enough I think. But one day I woke up and realized I wasn’t being

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Aug 18, 2015
Horror Fuel

Jaws the Worst

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Reviews The picture above is a series of stills from the ending of “Jaws The Revenge.” People rip on Ed Wood’s hubcaps and pie tin flying saucer’s in his “Plan 9 From Outer Space.” However, Wood had about 200 bucks for his effects budget. “Jaws The Revenge” had about six million and you get what’s in that picture? Cynema: The cynical contempt for an audience in the making of product that is devoid of creativity, passion, production value or respect while having the financial and creative means to do better. This Time It’s Ridiculous…Imagine you are sitting in an office at Universal Studios. You approve film projects pitched to you. Here’s the challenge. Without any knowledge of the previous Jaws films, someone pitches you the plot for a fourth installment to the famous shark series. Would you or wouldn’t you give 20 million dollars to make this movie? Here’s the pitch: “We get Lorraine

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 15, 2015
Horror Fuel

Interview: Chris Welsh Of “Wart-The Comic”

A bit about the book from it’s creator: Wart is an original horror comic series starring Wart Bellamy, an unfortunate young fellow ripped from his reality and tossed into a mysterious, other-worldly ‘Asylum for the Belligerently Insane’. It’s written by Chris Welsh (from the UK) and drawn by Ammar Al-Chalabi (from The Netherlands). There are monsters, cults, ghosts, rats, and a shady doctor in charge of the whole thing. Wart’s story takes him through multiple dimensions that threaten both his physical health and his crumbling sanity. Along the way he makes friends, enemies and gets incrementally closer to finding out just what the hell is going on. The series is independently published, Lovecraft-influenced cosmic horror that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Our first two books have been incredibly well received, and we’ve just launched the Kickstarter to fund Book Three. I was fortunate enough to be able to ask the writer of Wart, Chris Welsh, a few questions for this

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 13, 2015
Horror Fuel

When Filmmakers Strike Back

Keyboard Warriors A bane of social media is the “Inspirational Tweeter.” This is the person whose life is going so well, they feel the need to tell you how you too can find the happiness they have. They’re a digital Hallmark Card, the cyber chicken soup for the soul. It’s amazing how much annoyance can be packed into 140 characters. Another facet is the “Hipster Movie Reviewer.” These are the folks (usually male) with a blog or You Tube Channel who think they know about movies. Some are ballsy enough to take on real reviewers like Scott Weinberg and tell THEM how they’re wrong or “set them straight” especially when it comes to super hero or Adam Sandler films. These “reviewers” usually have little production value. Their videos are shot with no lighting or professional sound and while some have under 50 views they usually start their critiques with “Hey Everyone…” Everyone? You mean the 6 viewers minus the ones

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 12, 2015
Horror Fuel

An Interview With Writer, Director, Producer Harrison Smith Of Carolco Pictures

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Harrison Smith. Smith is a talented screen writer, director, producer and the head of Independent Genre Development at Carolco Production. KM “How did you get started in the film industry?” HS “I was ten when my uncle gave me a Super 8 camera, I made silent movies, I made a comedy series with my brother. Then I had a comedy cable show. ‘The Fields’ was my first real movie.” KM “How did ‘The Fields’ come to be?” HS “‘The Fields’ is based on what happened to me as a boy. My parents had a tumultuous relationship, so I spent a lot of time at my grandparent’s farm as a kid. The farmhouse was surrounded by corn fields that went on for miles. The events depicted in the film all started with a stick. I would play Godzilla with sticks and one day I heard something in the edge of the corn field. I

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jul 9, 2015
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