The End of Summer: January 2024

PIECES

I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO THIS WITHOUT YOU: THE COMFORT AND CONSOLEMENT OF SAD AND SCARY CINEMA

I’m a sad person by nature. I always have been, even as far back as when I was a child unable to notice or identify the brood I carried for what it was...
- MUTANT FAMILY VALUES: JOE BOB BRIGGS AND KEEPING ‘THE LAST DRIVE-IN’ ALIVE
  
  My love for horror was forged in my childhood. In many of the horror reviews I’ve written over the years, whether for home video reissues of cult classics...
  - A TIME TO KILL: ANTICIPATING AND DREADING THE NEW 'HALLOWEEN'
    
    As a kid, I was a devout Michael Myers fan. Granted, I was a horror junkie in general, but there was something about that white-masked boogeyman...
    - THE GAME IS FINISHED: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE 'PHANTASM' SERIES
      
      Since 1979, the Phantasm series has been both entertaining and baffling the brave and dedicated few willing to traverse its bumpy path...
      
      LET’S RAISE SOME HELL: ‘PET SEMA-TARY TWO’ IS A MASTERPIECE
      
      Oh, sequels. On paper, you’re so weird. You’re a continuation that was never meant to be. You’re glorified fan fiction sanctioned into existence by a producer...

TALK TO ME

LETTING OFF STEAM: INTERVIEWING THE HENCHMEN OF 'COMMANDO'

Commando, written by Steven E. de Souza and directed by Mark L. Lester, turns exactly thirty-five years old today, and yet enthusiasm for the film has never diminished....

FRANCHISE REGENERATION: A CON-VERSATION WITH FILMMAKER JOHN HYAMS

Part One of Franchise Regeneration explored the entire history of the Universal Soldier franchise, includ-ing its wacky, wacky path....

INTERVIEW WITH DAVID SCHMOELLER — PART 1: 'LITTLE MONSTERS'

Writer/director David Schmoeller might not be a household name—maybe not even for your most prolific of horror fans—but he’s given us two undeniable minor horror classics...

INTERVIEW WITH DAVID SCHMOELLER — PART 2: 'TOURIST TRAP'

Tourist Trap is the most insane movie you likely haven't seen. I'd attempt to explain exactly what it's about...

THE BOY WITH NO SHADOW: AN INTERVIEW WITH LONESOME WYATT

Lonesome Wyatt and The Holy Spooks are no stranger to The End of Summer. Having featured this delightfully dark musical act three times before...