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Tony Todd and Mick Garris: Two Horror Icons, One Birthday

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December 4th might seem like just any other day, but horror fans have two reasons to celebrate the day. Tony Todd and Mick Garris, two men who have helped shape the modern face of horror, were born, three years apart, today.

Garris, born in 1951, was already making 8 mm films on his own by the time his parents divorced when he was 12 years old. He moved with his mother to the San Fernando Valley where he cultivated his taste in both films and music which would later serve him as he began to write about both.

By 1980, he was directing “making of” featurettes for films like The Howling and The Thing, further honing his skills an interviewer for which he is also deservedly well known.

By the end of the decade, this genre Renaissance man had written for “Tales from the Crypt” and “Amazing Stories” as well as Psycho IV: The Beginning, which he also directed.

Todd, meanwhile, was carving his own path. The 6’5″ actor was born December 4, 1954 in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Hartford, Connecticut where he began to study theater.

After two years at the University of Connecticut, he received a scholarship to study at the Eugene O’Neill National Actors Theatre Institute, and it seemed there was nothing he could not do.

In 1986, Todd made his feature film debut in Sleepwalk, a fantasy film directed by Sara Driver.

Could either man have known what the changing of decades between would bring?

Garris found himself in the director’s chair in a growing working relationship with Stephen King directing the big screen release Sleepwalkers before taking the reins on the mini-series adaptations of King’s The Stand and The Shining. It was during this time that he also wrote the story on which Hocus Pocus was based.

Gary Sinise and Molly Ringwald in Mick Garris’ adaptation of The Stand

Todd, whose voice and stature seemed ready made for genre work, began the 90s with a began, starring as Ben in the remake of Night of the Living Dead. He then took on titular role in Candyman, the big screen adaptation of Clive Barker’s The Forbidden, co-starring Virginia Madsen.

Tony Todd was the Candyman!

As the 2000s dawned, Todd took on the recurring role of Bludworth, the menacing undertaker in the Final Destination franchise, and Garris was directing Riding the Bullet. The two men had, at this point, circled each other professionally for quite some time, but had yet to collaborate on a project.

That didn’t happen until Garris developed the Masters of Horror television series, an anthology series with genre legends like John Carpenter, John Landis, Stuart Gordon, and Garris himself each directing their own one-off episodes.

It was in this series that Garris and Todd finally combined their considerable talents to create the episode titled “Valerie on the Stairs” based on a story by Clive Barker.

Garris wrote and directed the episode and Todd made an appearance as The Beast in the terrifying tale of a novelist despairing over her anonymity who finds that there are far more serious things to fear.

Since that time, the two have continued their busy careers with Garris writing and directing as well as producing his Post Mortem Podcast in which he interviews the men and women who have helped shape the genre and Todd working almost without stopping between television, film, and theater.

It has been more than a decade since “Valerie on the Stairs”, though, and we here at iHorror wonder when the two might find themselves on the same project again!

Until then, we wish both Tony Todd and Mick Garris a happy birthday, and we encourage our readers to revisit both men’s work to celebrate this auspicious day. We certain will be!

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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