Books Reviews

Horror Movie Freak – Book Review

By Frankie Dees Sep 20, 2010, 15:56 GMT

You\'ll scream with delight while reading this fun and engaging book that discusses fright flicks all horror fans need to see to ascend to the level of a true Horror Freak — from classics (Dracula and Psycho) to modern movies (Drag Me to Hell) and lesser-known gems (Dog Soldiers). Movies are divided into various categories including Asian horror, beginners, homicidal slashers, supernatural thrillers, and zombie invasion. Features more than 130 ...more

With the gorehounds favorite holiday right around the corner, Don Sumner’s ‘Horror Movie Freak’ arrives just in time to be that perfect Halloween treat.

A guide to essential horror pics, it will make an informative and fun read for horror film newbs and time-honored ‘horror movie freaks’ alike.

Speaking as a fan of a genre that doesn’t get much love critically, horror when done right can be the most affecting genre out there that speaks directly to our primal instincts of fight or flight. Let’s face it, nothing quite gets the blood pumping like a good ‘ol blood-letting.

And the horror genre will always manage to get your adrenaline going in a way that other, more “respected” genres can’t hope to match. I mean, who could deny that ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ wouldn’t be infinitely more entertaining if Freeman was a zombie and Daisy had to overcome being both a racist and, a, lets say deadist?

And Don Sumner, who runs Best-Horror-Movies.com, clearly understands this and gives dozens of smart write-ups on mostly established classics but also covers some recent pics and trends as well.

The book will be more informative to casual horror fans ready to take that next frightened leap but is quite entertaining to the aficionado as well.

While I’ve seen every film in the book, the full-page glossy pictures provide a great reminder of what you loved about them in the first place, and they get broken down into fun sub-categories like ‘Aberrations of Nature’ i.e. ‘Jaws’ and ‘Piranha’ and ‘Aliens and Outer Space’ i.e. a nice tip of the hat to ‘Event Horizon’.

It’s a cool way to separate the pics and while I wouldn’t necessarily agree with some of the category placements (I understand the logic, but having ‘Phantasm’ tucked between ‘Alien’ and ‘Event Horizon’ in the ‘Aliens…’ category just doesn’t feel right), it makes for easy reference.

Another positive is the inclusion of some more recent indie stuff like ‘Splinter’, ‘Midnight Meat Train’, ‘Black Sheep’ and others that wouldn’t necessarily get a call-out outside of ‘Fangoria’.

But like any movie book, opinions are subjective, and Sumner does let a few questionable choices slip in as no one should have to read a page on ‘Dead Silence’, ‘Pulse’ or ‘Darkness Falls’ - regardless of the context.

All in all though, Sumner knows what he’s talking about and plays a great host through this cinematic hall of horrors. And definite points for presentation and lay-out with posters and stills from the films complimenting lengthy but not exhausting write-ups.

In addition to providing the horror movie essentials, Sumner also provides some varying tidbits like a ‘Scream Queen’ section devoted to our hallowed females in terror and his ‘Ten Days to Halloween: Movies to Watch as the Big Day Approaches’ which is a compilation of films picked after “years of research” to be the perfect pics to watch as Halloween creeps closer.

And the book finishes off with a bonus DVD of the original ‘Night of the Living Dead’ with an intro by Sumner himself.

This one is an easy recommend for the splat pack, you members know who you are, and will make a great addition to the upcoming fright night. So throw away those old copies of ‘Good Housekeeping’ and throw something down on the coffee table you can be proud of!

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