Dollar Bin Horror Spotlight - Etienne DeForest

Etienne DeForest was born in Lansing, MI but grew up in Dallas, TX. While in Texas he was apprenticing to be a gunsmith, until he decided that an office job better suited his tastes and salary requirements. So at the age of 21 he moved up to Michigan to attend college, and get his dream Corporate American job.
One day something changed, and Etienne decided he didn't want this life anymore. He cut his 50 to 60 hour work weeks down to 40 hour work weeks. And when his bosses yelled at him for his new work ethic, he returned their frustrations with a blank stare until they grew tired of hearing themselves talk. Eventually he was fired, he was poor, and he was happy again.
Etienne currently lives in a trailer park in Jackson, MI. He writes and publishes books; and lives a fairly simple life.
He sent me his book, The Zombie Survival Guide, How to live like a King after the Outbreak, for review and my I say, It's pretty funny and very informative. Theres information on almost ever aspect you'd ever encounter in a Zombie apocalypse such as Training Zombies, Zombie Fortification, and even how to deal with zombie Pimps! Who knew!?! The book as a good read, very enjoyable, and for these reasons, Etienne DeForest is in the Dollar Bin Horror Spotlight.

Q. Where did you get the idea for the book?

A. The day before I got the idea for the book I had gotten fired from my very good job as a corporate accountant. I woke up at four A.M. sweating and panting from a very graphic nightmare about zombies ripping down my door and eating me alive. I was petrified, and I didn't have a gun to make myself feel better. It was then I realized that I had no idea what I would do if a zombie outbreak occurred. So I decided to write a handbook about how to survive a zombie outbreak. I jumped on Amazon to see if the idea had already been done, and of course it had, by Max Brooks of all people. Mel Brooks' son. So I got intimidated, and I wasn't going to write the book. Then I got drunk the next day and said to hell with Max Brooks. I wrote the about the author section and everybody I showed it to laughed their ass's off. One person even started crying he was laughing so hard. After that I had the confidence to write the rest of the book.

Q. I loved the chapter about Zombie Training. How did you figure out how to do it?

A. The idea of zombie training relies of the premise that any animal can be classically conditioned enough to respond to simulation in a way you define, if the training is done in a scientific manner. Much like Pavlov's Dogs. The problem with this, was I decided to use violence as the stimulation that represses the zombie's killer instinct, and I'm not a very violent man. So before writing I did the only thing that makes me violent. I got shit faced drunk, and wrote all night till I passed out next to my computer. The next day I woke up with a pounding headache and read what I had written. Besides all the spelling and grammar mistakes, it actually wasn't that bad. I cleaned it up and viola, the chapter was done.

Q. Seeing as you know your Zombies, what are your favorite Zombie films?

A. I'm a big fan of the “Evil Dead” series. Especially “Army of Darkness”. The first fifteen minutes of that movie are so awesome the rest of the movie has a hard time keeping up the pace. Plus Ash is such a macho badass it's hilarious. After that I have to go with “Dead Alive”. Again because it's comical. There is a zombie on zombie sex scene in the movie that is beyond funny. When you add to that the fact I've never seen zombie on zombie sex in any other movie, it takes the crown for creativity.

Q. What other projects are you currently working on and where can we find out more?

A. I'm currently working on a Choose Your Own Ending style book tentatively named “Texas Biker Zombies From Outer Space”. The premise is that a comet enters the earth's atmosphere somewhere over Texas, and brings zombism along with it. YOU, (remember this is a book about your decisions) are a sociopath biker with a serious cocaine addiction, that is now stuck in a zombie outbreak.
You then go around snorting cocaine off of the asses of zombie strippers, seducing not so attractive female survivors with date rape drugs, opening up zombie whore houses, and killing any human survivors who stand in your way.
Or, you go around snorting cocaine off of babies you just saved, helping survivors along the way, and starting up a new community with the people you find, that is a utopia of peace, and transcends the evils of humanity with love for your fellow man.
Either way you're still a coke head, I'm not giving you a choice when it comes to that.
Find out more at www.nxebooks.com. I'm thinking it should be done by Spring 2010 (and grab a copy of the Zombie Survival Guide while your there).

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Hey everyone, It's Rhonny Reaper here and I want to wish everyone a Merry, and Scary, Christmas! It's time of year for spending time with those you love, for good will toward men, for a strange man dressed like an over-sized apple with white hair to break into your house and leave things for your kids to play with...ah, what a magical time it is indeed. So have fun this holiday. I'll be back with more posts after Christmas, and for your enjoyment now, I present to you the Crypt Keeper's Twas the Fright Before Christmas.

Dollar Bin Film - "The Monster Maker"

A mad scientist injects his enemies with acromegaly virus, causing them to become hideously deformed.
What is it with monkeys and pre-1960 monster movies? I mean, they don't even need it in this film, but they got one just for good measure or some shit like that. I don't get it. But other than that, this film was quite enjoyable. It delivers the sci-fi camp, the low budget B-movie feel, and the old school plot twists. Overall, not a bad watch!
Sending Deadly Kisses,
Rhonny Reaper
P.S. if you REALLY broke, This film has fallen into the public domain and can be freely downloaded from http://www.archive.org/details/The_Monster_Maker

Dollar Bin Film - "Silent Night Bloody Night"

Folks trying to sell an isolated New England mansion, with a dark history, are being stalked and killed by an escaped maniac. But who is this deranged murderer and why do the local townspeople act so strange?
I didn't get this film the first time I watched it, but over time I've come to like this low budget b-movie. The story is a little confusing, and the acting ain't so hot, but it has a dark and chilling atmosphere throughout the whole film that makes you wanna watch it again. If you like B-movies, and I do, then this is definitely worth a look.
Sending Deadly Kisses,
Rhonny Reaper
P.S. if you REALLY broke, This film has fallen into the public domain and can be freely downloaded from http://archive.org/details/SilentNightBloodyNight

Dollar Bin Horror Spotlight - Hayes Hudson

I recently did a fun little interview with Hayes Hudson, author of Hayes Hudson's House of Horror His blog is dedicated to Horror, Exploitation, and Cult films. It's full of horror news, reviews, and info and definitely worth checking out and following. His awesomeness in horror blogging puts Hayes Hudson in the Dollar Bin Horror Spotlight.

Q: How did you get into horror films?

A: I don't remember why, but I was always fascinated with the box art of horror films at my local video store. I would always go to that section and dream of the day I could watch these wonderful films! The rule was I could only get PG or PG-13 rated films, so usually a Horror film was not an option. Until..one day while looking at all the horror movies, something caught my eye. Instead of one of the red R stickers, I saw an orange PG-13 sticker staring back at me. It was on the slipcase to a little film called EVIL DEAD 2: DEAD BY DAWN! It had obviously been put in the wrong slipcase, probably by some teenager that wasn't paying attention to what he was doing, or just didn't care. Either way, I showed my Mom it was PG-13 so was able to rent it and the rest is history!! Bruce Campbell changed my life!!!

Q: How did your blog get started?

A: Back in April of this year, I caught a movie on TV called ZOMBIETOWN. It was a great flick and I wanted to tell someone about it right then. I then remembered reading about BC's Horror Movie a Day blog (http://horror-movie-a-day.blogspot.com/) and thought, that is what I want to do!! But not only do I discuss movies, but also, books, toys, comics, whatever as long as it is somehow related to the Horror genre.

Q: Where do you envision your blog and yourself going in the future?

A: I don't see the blog really changing much, I am realistic about it in terms that I know I won't be quitting my day job to focus on Horror blogging!! But who knows, if seen by the right people, it could lead to other projects such as writing reviews/articles for other Horror sites or magazines. I would like to see my blog grow a little faster than it has. As of this interview I am on 34 followers. I would love to see that number spike and for 4H (my nifty new term for Hayes Hudson's House of Horror) to become one of the greatest Horror blogs on the net...right up there with DOLLAR BIN HORROR, which I consider one of THE best blogs going!

Q: Whats been your favorite post to do to date?

A: I guess my favorite posts are my Monday night posts that I do of the Horror DVD's coming out the following day (Tuesday). It is fun to find all the films and I find a trailer for each one and link it to the title of the film in the list. I love horror movie trailers so it is fun to just go down the list and watch all the trailer for the movies coming out that week.

Q: Fav and Least Fav horror films ever?

A: Faves would have to be EVIL DEAD 1 &2, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (original, of course), RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, DEAD ALIVE, CEMETERY MAN and the FRIDAY THE 13th series. I also love the old grindhouse rape/revenge flicks such as LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (again, the original) and I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE.
Least Faves would be any of the Japanese remake "Horror" films, such as THE GRUDGE, THE RING, etc. I just don't find those scary so they tend to bore me.

Thanks for the questions!! I enjoyed the interview and love the Dollar Bin Horror blog!!!

Rhonny Reaper's Top 5 BEST Films of 2009

Ah, finally we get to the good stuff. These are my fav films this year. Love em or Hate em, Let me know what you think!

#5 Paranormal Activity
After moving into a suburban home, a couple becomes increasingly disturbed by a nightly demonic presence.
The little film that could. I liked this movie cause it didn't need a bunch of special effects to be effective , a lot like the Blair Witch Project. Although I did believe this movie was over hyped the the point of having a slight disappointment, it's still was one of the best genre films of the year.





#4 The Last House on the Left (remake)
After kidnapping and brutally assaulting two young women, a gang led by a prison escapee unknowingly finds refuge at a vacation home belonging the parents of one of the victims, and a mother and father who devise an increasingly gruesome series of revenge tactics.
Yes, It had to happen eventually...I remake that I liked! This one took it to another level and unnerves the viewer from the get go. And by the way, I was that annoying person in the back of the theater yelling at the screen "Get that Son of a Bitch!".




#3 Drag Me to Hell
A loan officer ordered to evict an old woman from her home finds herself the recipient of a supernatural curse, which turns her life into a living hell.
Sam Raimi's return to the genre proves to be a triumphant on. I liked this film a lot. It was a fresh face in a land of crappy remakes, and a good one too. Raimi's use and placement of scares, gore, a mixture of comedy and horror as well as the pacing of the story in general shows he didn't have to do much dusting off to get back in the horror genre.




#2 Zombieland
A horror comedy that focuses on two men who have found a way to survive a world overrun by zombies.
Do I even have to list the reasons why I loved this movie? Woody Harrelson kicking zombie ass, brutal, slow motion kills, Abigail Breslin explaining to Woody Harrelson about Hannah Montana (I almost pissed my pants laughing). LOVE LOVE LOVE this movie! Go see it. Now. Like Right Now





#1 SAW VI
Special Agent Strahm is dead, and Detective Hoffman has emerged as the unchallenged successor to Jigsaw's legacy.
Yes. I'm bias as hell (my blog, my list biotch). I love the Saw films and if you know me, you knew this was gonna be my number one. I'm a sucker for these movies. Saw 5 got me a little scared that this series was going down hill, but this movie is one of, if not the best in the series, and re-affirmed me faith in the message of Jigsaw...Plus I like gore, so sue me!