Mocata's Den of Horror

I may be jumping the gun here a bit, but with August rapidly approaching, that means the Halloween season isn't all that far away.  Since I was a little kid, Halloween has always been one of my favorite times of the year.  Once summer had arrived, I would realize that Halloween was getting much closer.  It seems only appropriate to discuss some things related to Halloween from throughout the years. First, we have a release on A&M Records entitled Halloween Horrors .  I first encountered this on cassette in 1985.  It was the first time I had seen a release like this.  I hadn't known there were Halloween-themed albums for sale.  If I recall correctly, I picked this up right after Halloween.  I was with my parents and found the tape and asked my parents for it.  Thankfully, they bought it for me and I listened to it many times over the years and still listen to it to this day. Cassette copy I got in 1985 When I got older, I found out more ab...

Lucio Fulci was an Italian film director who worked in just about every genre there is.  He did sex comedies, westerns, historical/period pieces, gialli, and basically anything else Italian cinema had to offer during his long career.  His directorial credits go back to short documentaries in the late 1940s. Laserdisc edition by The Roan Group However, it wasn't until the late '70s that he would begin the work that would form his legacy, whether he liked it or not. VHS release by Anchor Bay Entertainment 1979 saw the release of his film Zombie (aka Zombi 2 , Zombie Flesheaters , Woodoo , Zombie 2: The Dead Are Among Us , and many others).  This film would kick off the most celebrated part of his career, with films like House By the Cemetery , The Gates of Hell , The Beyond , and The New York Ripper to follow.  Written by Dardano Sacchetti (who ended up taking his name off the movie) and Elisa Briganti, Zombie was Fulci's first foray into horror.  He had previou...

What can you say about Dawn of the Dead ?  It is one of the most revered of horror classics and arguably, the most beloved of zombie films.  A film that both shoves gruesome gore-filled scenes in your face and presents some still-relevant social commentary about consumerism, Dawn of the Dead was a follow-up to another already classic film, Night of the Living Dead , that managed to stand on its own, rather than just hanging out in the shadow of its predecessor.  It is an American movie with Italian funding, featuring a score by an Italian prog rock group, mixed with various pieces of stock music.  There is a nearly-as-classic documentary by Roy Frumkes that deals with the making of the film, Document of the Dead .  On top of all that, there are multiple cuts of the film, with each having its own group who support it as the best version. The "Ultimate Edition" DVD release from Anchor Bay Includes U.S. theatrical cut, extended cut, Argento's cut, and Document of ...