George Romero is best known to horror film fans for his Living Dead films.  My personal favorite, and what I consider to be his best film, is Martin (1976), a highly under-rated film shot just prior to what is perhaps his most beloved film, Dawn of the Dead (1978).  The title character is portrayed with understated grace by actor John Amplas as a young man whose uncle is convinced that he is a vampire. 

The film will be screened at the beautiful Nitehawk Cinema in Brooklyn, NY on Monday, August 4, 2014.  Actor John Amplas will be on hand to discuss the film with Fangoria's Sam Zimmerman and answer questions following the 9:30 pm screening. 

Click here for more information.

Italian film director Michele Soavi's stunning directorial debut Stagefright (1987) is coming to Blu-ray in the UK.  Though it has existed under several alternate titles over the many years since its release, Stagefright, a longtime favorite among fans of the giallo and slasher genres, has rarely been accurately represented on home video.  The one notable exception has been the British DVD done released in 2000 which was mastered from the original camera negative.  The new DVD/Blu-ray combo promises to add more color and clarity to the film. 

This is a limited edition with a pressing of just 3,000 copies due for release on September 15, 2014.  Click here to pre-order. 

For those of you who cannot wait until October for Halloween to begin, the ScareLA convention returns to the City of Angels on August 9 & 10, 2014. 

From the press release:

ScareLA returns on August 9 & 10, 2014 as the first Los Angeles convention dedicated to celebrating Halloween. Situated in the entertainment capital of the world it will combine the city’s top talent and unique cultural setting with a twist! Drawing fans and haunt entertainment professionals, the event will feature top attraction designers and operators, manufacturers, artists, filmmakers and more. The weekend-long Halloween season teaser will celebrate California's hottest scary faire with attraction unveils, workshops and classes, top industry panels, haunt experiences, screenings and activities. Share, inspire, play – ScareLA.

Among the functions attendees can expect:

• Curated collection of exhibitors showcasing scary goods, services & job opportunities

• Expert and celebrity panels on the haunt business, horror entertainment and more

• Presentations of top and upcoming local haunts with sneak peeks and unveils

• Performances by local horror themed theatre companies and musicians

• Professional demos of makeup, set building, costume creation, animatronics and more

• Hands-on workshops taught by top haunt industry professionals for all skill levels and ages

• Onsite  interactive experiences

• Screening room showing premiere attraction walk-throughs and local horror filmmakers

• Games, roaming monsters and more!

For more information, visit http://scarela.com/.   

The North American rights to a new documentary, Eurocrime: The Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled the 70's, have been acquired.  The film is due for release on DVD in the fourth quarter of 2014.  Directed by Mike Malloy, the nearly 140-minute documentary features interviews with many actors and directors involved in the making of these films, among them Franco Nero, John Saxon, Henry Silva, Fred Williamson, Enzo G. Castellari, Joe Dallesandro, and John Steiner.  

Click here to see the film's Facebook page.

Click here to see the film's IMDB entry.   

Click here to see the film's official website. 

HouseofHorrors.com will keep you updated as the release date nears. 

A new Canadian documentary on the horror film genre entitled WHY HORROR? will be featured at the Cannes Film Festival this month.  The film follows horror fan Tal Zimerman across the globe as he talks to filmmakers on the nature of horror to understand why audiences pay good money to be scared.

With stops in Japan, England, Mexico, the United States and Canada, WHY HORROR? features interviews with Eli Roth (HOSTEL), George A. Romero (NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD), John Carpenter (THE THING) Alexandre Aja (HIGH TENSION), Alex de la Iglesia (THE LAST CIRCUS), Ben Wheatley (KILL LIST) Simon Barrett (V/H/S/2), Takashi Shimizu (THE GRUDGE), Don Coscarelli (PHANTASM, Nicolas Lopez (AFTERSHOCK), writer Kier-La Janisse (HOUSE OF PSYCHOTIC WOMEN) and FANGORIA Editor-in-Chief/filmmaker Chris Alexander.

Directed by Rob Lindsay and Nicolas Kleiman, WHY HORROR? is being prepped for release just in time for Halloween 2014.

For more information, visit this link.