First of all, Happy Halloween. Secondly, let’s talk great costumes. It’s pretty well known around these here parts that the Oak Lawn Halloween Block party, which opens up Cedar Springs for the costumed roaming, is one of the great Halloween parties. Our contributing photographer Stephen Masker patrolled the area with…
Of all the horror films in our countdown, Ti West’s The House of the Devil (2009) is the most unpredictable and inspiring homage to the genre. The film is set in the 1980’s, and if you didn’t read anything else about the film before popping it in your Playstation–you’d think…
A note to all homebuilders: Please pay better attention to the likes of your grounds. You see, over the years, too many homes have been built on or near pet cemeteries, directly on top of Native American burial grounds, or caves that lead to the Hell. Land is land, I…
In between Rangers games this weekend, Dallas was busy. There was belly dancing, jets juuuust about to break the sound barrier (holy shit!), a food truck smackdown and enough barbecue to make PETA blush. Hey dudes! Don’t worry if you were walled up inside with a helmet sundae, we so…
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Nearly a week before Halloween, and we haven’t spotlighted a zombie film? Well, here’s two: 28 Days Later (2002) and 28 Weeks Later (2007). The original and the sequel are watershed zombie films. They changed the game. Moaning, meandering brain-eaters are officially boring. Danny Boyle’s two-part, digitally-shot…
In the realm of horror film trailers that use hyperbole to sell their movie, Hellraiser is one of the very, very few that actually live up to the promises. “A nightmare unlike anything that you have witnessed”? Yep, that is true! When you’re talking Clive Barker’s 1987, debut film, it’s…
Joss Whedon’s Avengers trailer arrived on iTunes on October 11. Since then, it was downloaded over 10 million-freaking times. The trailer’s pretty much a big candy-bag of film fun: Thor looks pretty with his flowing blonde hair, Iron Man playing Robert Downey says some hilarious-smart things, and explosion, explosion, explosion…
Those who might have been avoiding the Dallas theater scene because it’s too talky or Sam Shepard-y, Level Ground Arts presents a play to draw in the skeptics of the stage (or anyone who snoozes in the back after one martini): A Samurai Nosferatu. That’s right; it’s real. All you…
Earlier this year, The Mixmaster, the Observer’s arts blog, took part in the 24-Video Race at the Angelika. The stay-up-all-night battle results in one super-fun weird piece of cinema. Feeling left out? Don’t. Now comes 48 Hours of Hell, which, surprisingly, does not involve sitting in a windowless room with…
Earlier this morning, Pete released the full list of the DOMAXXIII award winners following a damn great night at the House of Blues. If you missed it, the performers were RTB2, A.Dd+, The Burning Hotels and Erykah Badu–all with support from the Cannabanoids. A good night. While were celebrating, our…
McDonald’s new phase of mind control and world domination is upon us: McTV is here. [ACTIVATE MIND CONTROL] McDonald’s is launching the “McDonald’s Channel,” according to the LA Times, The “digital network of exclusive original content targeted at dine-in customers” is called McTV, and it will include “local news and…
The Exorcist, the original, isn’t a film. It’s a two-hour study of anxiety and dread. Beyond the demonic possession scenes, there’s happy-pappy moments like the ol’ “you’re going to die up there scenes,” or Father Karras’ dream about his mother. For that scene,which is presented with minimal sound, William Friedken…
It was a good weekend. Zombies, Sarah Jaffe’s badass new haircut, the Toadies and much, more. Yeah, we’re gonna mark down this year’s Dallas Observer Music Awards Showcase as a success. Oh, and we got plenty of photos. So, before we head to tomorrow night’s free-to-attend Dallas Observer Music Awards…
Walking through Deep Ellum to get to the Main Stage of the Observer Music Awards Showcase, I saw two things: 1. A zombie attacking a mock SWAT Team. 2. A zombie whirling around his enormous zombie penis. So, yes, it’s true, Deep Ellum’s Zombie Walk was in full swing on…
UPDATE (Sunday, 10/16): We got your photos from the main stage, and the night in Deep Ellum in our slide shows. Much more to come. What a night. OK, here we go, here we go. So, the Rangers game is in full swing, which can you follow over on Unfair Park,…
UPDATE (Sunday, 10/16): We got your photos from the main stage, and the night in Deep Ellum in our slide shows. Much more to come. What a night. OK, here we go, here we go. Right now, Sarah Jaffe’s on the main stage over here at Elm and Good Latimer–kicking off…
Little big ago, The Dallas Film Society announced their plans for the second Art of Film at the Hall of State in Fair Park. If you weren’t around for last year’s inaugural shindig with Elvis Mitchell and Robert Duvall, it was apparently a damn good time. Anyway, today the DFS…
Over the past week, Unfair Park has racked up a number of recaps in the wake of Occupy Wall Street in Dallas. There was the march, and–of course–Infowars host Alex Jones’ protest on the Dallas Federal Reserve on Friday. While that’s going on, which it totally still is, here’s a…
Since Silence of the Lambs, there’ve been dozens of trashy Hollywood attempts at remaking the success behind the brooding, dark serial killer thriller. They’ve all been punch-yourself-in-the-nuts bad. Except for Se7en. You don’t forget Se7en. Who can: there’s a scene where you see a knife attached to a dildo [shudder]…
Besides having more than one plate of fried chicken skin at the State Fair of Texas, there are some good scares in Dallas for Halloween. The events range from family-friendly strolls through autumnal gardens to holy-shit-that-zombie’s-gonna-eat-me scary. Luckily, we’ve culled those events in one happy place for you over in…
Dear David Cronenberg, You permanently re-wired me. Not sure if it was the scene when Jeff Goldblum, who becomes a massive, bipedal fly, dissolves a man’s hand with battery-acid vomit, or the scene where the baboon blows up from the inside-out, but I’m permanently fucked. Toodles, Young Nick. David Cronenberg…
There is no body of water immune to the fear from Jaws. Any lake, any pond, any tepid street puddle is a possible place to swim and be eaten by a large, meat-hungry shark. I’d even bet there’s literally no swimming human on Earth that doesn’t, at some point, imagine…
