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Untold Horror
Insightful interviews of horror legends George Romero, John Landis, Joe Dante, Brian Yuzna, and more, by former editor-in-chief of Rue Morgue Dave Alexander, about the scariest horror movies never made!
Take a behind-the-scenes look into development hell to find the most frightening horror movies that never were, from unmade Re-Animator sequels to alternate takes on legendary franchises like Frankenstein and Dracula!
Features art, scripts, and other production material from unmade films that still might make you scream, with insights from dozens of directors, screenwriters, and producers with decades of experience.
Features interviews with: George A. Romero, John Landis, Joe Dante, Vincenzo Natali, Brian Yuzna, Richard Stanley, William Lustig, William Malone, Buddy Giovinazzo, Tim Sullivan, Richard Raahorst, Ruggero Deodato, Jim Shooter, Bob Layton, and David J. Skal.
Take a behind-the-scenes look into development hell to find the most frightening horror movies that never were, from unmade Re-Animator sequels to alternate takes on legendary franchises like Frankenstein and Dracula!
Features art, scripts, and other production material from unmade films that still might make you scream, with insights from dozens of directors, screenwriters, and producers with decades of experience.
Features interviews with: George A. Romero, John Landis, Joe Dante, Vincenzo Natali, Brian Yuzna, Richard Stanley, William Lustig, William Malone, Buddy Giovinazzo, Tim Sullivan, Richard Raahorst, Ruggero Deodato, Jim Shooter, Bob Layton, and David J. Skal.
152 pages, Hardcover
Published August 31, 2021
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267 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 28, 2025
A lovely collection of interviews with filmmakers about the horror movies they could not get made, for a delightful spread of different reasons.
The book is fully and beautifully illustrated, from script pages to photos and design drawings (and is this the first non-comic book Dark Horse has published?).
The directors and producers included are quite varied (most of them US based, but not all). If you love your horror cinema and your what-could've-beens, this book is for you.
Two dislocated thumbs up.
(Thanks to Dark Horse Books for providing me with a review copy through Edelweiss)
May 7, 2021
Reading these stories of horror "development hell" made me continuously wonder, "How does ANY move ever get made?" And "How so many CRAPPY movies get made instead of the more interesting stuff?" Each chapter follows another film-to-be or writer/director and the various rocky and ultimately dead end paths their project(s) took.
It's a fascinating glimpse into the inner workings of Hollywood and how even big names have problems getting edgier, odder projects made.
The graphics are amazing, most all from the private collections of the creatives. Amazing concept drawings, creature sketches, marketing one sheets, et cetera. I'll have to get the physical copy of this so I can see all these images bigger!
Highly recommended for any horror lover, any film lover, any writer/director/producer with a passion project.
It's a fascinating glimpse into the inner workings of Hollywood and how even big names have problems getting edgier, odder projects made.
The graphics are amazing, most all from the private collections of the creatives. Amazing concept drawings, creature sketches, marketing one sheets, et cetera. I'll have to get the physical copy of this so I can see all these images bigger!
Highly recommended for any horror lover, any film lover, any writer/director/producer with a passion project.
January 11, 2023
An entertaining look at some horror movies that were never made. I only recently heard about the National Lampoons Jaws 3 'Jaws 3 People 0' that was going to be the original sequel (and would inarguably have been a better film than the one that ended up getting made). I was fascinated by that concept and wondered what other horror films never came to fruition, this is that story. Some were more interesting than others but the writing and artwork here are fantastic. This is ultimately a fun book for horror movie nerds.
January 21, 2022
I saw this book at a bookstore and knew I wanted it just from the cover. When I got it for Christmas, I was so excited and absolutely continue to recommend it to any horror fans. This book came out of a TV show effort that has itself not been brought to the screen, but I hope someday it does. I know, similarly, that not all of the films described will remain in development hell: some are just too good.
John Landis opens the book with a foreword saying how every filmmaker has films "that got away". Some of the scripts were essentially rough drafts that evolved into fabulous final films, but most are of the former variety and many of the filmmakers haven't given up on their creations. Some of the film ideas are mainstream and others cult, some hilarious and others downright scary. But it is the stories of the real-life filmmakers who wanted to make these never-realized films drive this book, whether it be the eccentric manner of Tobe Hooper's speech or the gay culture that surrounded a coming-of-age Tim Sullivan.
The chapters in this book vary greatly in length and there's little rhyme or reason as to why certain ones are longer or shorter, but there's amusement and filmmaking lessons in every one. You can jump around to the stories that interest you most, complete with the great art backing them up, or read it cover-to-cover like I did.
If you're a horror movie buff looking for your next read, I cannot recommend this one more highly. And hopefully someday we'll be sitting in the same theater watching as some of these picks are brought to the big screen.
John Landis opens the book with a foreword saying how every filmmaker has films "that got away". Some of the scripts were essentially rough drafts that evolved into fabulous final films, but most are of the former variety and many of the filmmakers haven't given up on their creations. Some of the film ideas are mainstream and others cult, some hilarious and others downright scary. But it is the stories of the real-life filmmakers who wanted to make these never-realized films drive this book, whether it be the eccentric manner of Tobe Hooper's speech or the gay culture that surrounded a coming-of-age Tim Sullivan.
The chapters in this book vary greatly in length and there's little rhyme or reason as to why certain ones are longer or shorter, but there's amusement and filmmaking lessons in every one. You can jump around to the stories that interest you most, complete with the great art backing them up, or read it cover-to-cover like I did.
If you're a horror movie buff looking for your next read, I cannot recommend this one more highly. And hopefully someday we'll be sitting in the same theater watching as some of these picks are brought to the big screen.
January 20, 2023
Fun read. Sadly, most of the movies it is about though are before my time, so I had to think a bit on the original movies as it has been a very long time, if at all, that I had seen some of them. Still love behind the scenes like this as what could have been vs what was.
January 9, 2024
It’s good but it could have done with a better editor because there’s a couple of times basically the same paragraph is repeated and certain facts are wrong.
There’s also no way that some of these films had they been made would have been anything other than direct to video crap. I had to skip the chapter about Tobe Hooper’s proposed remake of White Zombie because that would have been awful. Even the concept art was terrible.
There’s also no way that some of these films had they been made would have been anything other than direct to video crap. I had to skip the chapter about Tobe Hooper’s proposed remake of White Zombie because that would have been awful. Even the concept art was terrible.
January 21, 2022
A fine book, detailing some really cool projects that never made it to the finish line. It starts real strong and drops off after the Reanimator section. That said, worth picking up for any horror/genre film fan. I hope there’s more to come as I am sure this was just a small swatch of what they have up their sleeves with the research and interviews they have done.
October 12, 2021
What a book, so insightful and the book has tons of pictures and storyboards on the various films not made. I loves books like this and I don't want to go into any great detail but if you'd like to know how films die and never get made this books gives you an idea.
March 2, 2022
What if... Stories we will never see but we can still discover them with this book. If your not a fan of horror movies, it's readable but not that enjoyable. Some parts are like interviews and others very descriptive. A reference book with very bad characters and crazy movie makers.
November 3, 2021
4.75 stars.
December 27, 2021
Amazing insights into the development process. Nice to see what might have/could have been.
January 20, 2022
3.5 stars.
This had some interesting behind the scene stories. It also had some great artwork
This had some interesting behind the scene stories. It also had some great artwork
March 2, 2022
Some joy and some dross. Some movies no one would have cared about and some I’d love to see. Borrowing it would be better than buying
March 4, 2022
I would say a 3 1/2 stars really. Had some interesting facts, but I suppose I didn't really care about some of the movies discussed.
April 19, 2022
I love anything to do with films that could have been and this one is great.
April 20, 2022
Fun, gorgeous book about horror movies that almost but never quite got made—loved it, but surely there are some women horror writers who might have been included
April 2, 2024
This depressed me. The interviews are insightful and the artwork cool, but I wish these movies and more had been made.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews