Taking Shape II: The Lost Halloween Sequels
Published by Harker Press, 2020. 600 pages.
By Dustin McNeill & Travis Mullins
With all the information packed in their initial book, Taking Shape, how could authors McNeill and Mullins put out yet another massive 600 page book on this series that fans have been following for over 40 years? That’s just it… it’s not about the films that were made, it is about the films that were not made. In fact, Taking Shape II: The Lost Halloween Sequels covers 24 sequels(!!!) that never got off the ground for a variety of reasons. You get to read about each of these proposed storylines, with interviews with the people directly involved, like the writers and directors. You also get a good look at inside the studio systems and just how screwed up the industry can be, and the poor creatures that have to work in there! Imagine turning in a screenplay that is exactly what was asked for only to be told that another executive hated it and you’re now off the project. Or being notified (over the PA system, no less) that the whole project itself was now cancelled just weeks before shooting was to start. It shows that with multiple bosses / executives, guiding the writers and directors in different directors, at the same time, while others not even caring about anything but the potential box office receipts, the scariest part of these films were trying to get these films made. Continue reading
The first one is Global Horror Cinema Today by Jon Towlson, which according to the cover, it represents 28 films from 17 different countries, with each chapter focusing on a particular country, looking into what frightens the native people there, and how it can cross over to an international audience. Some of the films covered are It Follows (2014), Grave aka Raw (2016), Busanhaeng aka Train to Busan (2016), and Get Out (2016), as well as discussing another 100 titles.
Norman J. Warren is a perfect example of a filmmaker that does not have a huge filmography but the few films he made are more than enough to be remembered. Warren grew up loving film and started working in the industry before he was 20, and directing his first short film, Fragments in 1965. Three years later, he directed two successful softcore exploitation films, Her Private Hell and Loving Feeling, both in 1968. But it is his horror films that he is best remembered for. In the late 70s, he directed Satan’s Slave (1976), Prey (1977), Terror (1978), and the early 80s, took advantage of the Alien phenomena and directed Inseminoid (1981), and then a nod to the nightmarish slasher sub-genre, gave us Bloody New Year in 1987.
If you have any of the amazing volumes put out by Peveril Publishing, then you know how simply amazing they are. Yes, they are a bit pricy, especially when you’re getting them shipped over here to the US, but they are worth every single penny. So start saving those now because (hopefully) this summer, they will be unleashing the Hammer Vampire Scrapbook!
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