Jeff Allard profile picture

Jeff Allard

Opininated About Horror

About Me



Since my misspent adolescent days, '80s slashers have been the stars that I steer my ship by but I honestly love it all - from classic b&w Universal to the seedy swagger of early Abel Ferrara; from mondo shockumentaries to 2004's Dawn of the Dead. I've been sharing my thoughts on horror and on popular culture for some time now beginning with a long-running film column, "Celluloid Heroes", that was featured in the Northampton, MA based weekly newspaper The Valley Optimist, through my self-published fanzine Gravedigger's Union, and my website Undertaker's Lounge. I'm also an amatuer cartoonist and I'm actively involved in the Western Massachusetts filmmaking community as a screenwriter and sometime director. Currently, I'm a contributing writer for the online horror news outlet Shock Till You Drop and I maintain a horror-themed blogspot "Dinner With Max Jenke", located at http://dinnerwithmaxjenke.blogspot.com/

My Interests

Well, horror movies. I'm also an avid comic book fan, an old-school Marvel Zombie. In my spare time, I'm involved in local filmmaking projects in Western Massachusetts as well as having self-published several mini-comics.

I'd like to meet:

Horror fans from around the world - people who share my passion for the genre. As well as those working in the genre as writers, filmmakers, etc. (or those who one day plan to) to make the future safe for fear fare.

Music:

I'm big on alternate rock from the '80s - The Cure, Smiths, Echo and the Bunnymen. Big metalhead as well - Iron Maiden, Slayer, Metallica, Dio, Sabbath. I'm a little out of touch with the current scene, unfortunately.

Movies:

As much as I love horror, I'm an overall movie buff with favorite films all across the board from every genre. I just think that horror, fantasy and sci-fi offers the most complete use of the medium in terms of lighting, editing, cinematography, sound design, etc.. Movies like Suspiria and Evil Dead II are just purely cinematic, involving every facet of filmmaking in a way that dramas or comedies typically don't.

Television:

My favorites shows up through my teen years were The Rockford Files, Six Million Dollar Man, Kung Fu, Match Game, The Twilight Zone, The Incredible Hulk, The Bob Newhart Show, The Odd Couple, and The Greatest American Hero. I think The X-Files is the best genre show that's ever aired - even if it hit the skids in the last couple of seasons. My cult faves include Friday the 13th: The Series, Forever Knight, Nowhere Man and old-school Dr. Who. I don't watch too much TV these days. But I love The Office and Monk and for genre shows, Supernatural is my current top pick.

Books:

I have zero time to read, unfortunately. But my teen years were spent with Poe, Lovecraft, Matheson, Bradbary, King, and Vonnegut.

Heroes:

John Carpenter, George Romero, David Cronenberg, Sam Raimi, Stephen King, Fred Dekker, Lucio Fulci, Dario Argento, David Lynch, Frank Henenlotter, Don Coscarelli, and Tobe Hooper collectively gave me vast, dark worlds to explore as a kid that I still have yet to exhaust. I also owe a thanks to everyone who ever made a cheap slasher movie in the early '80s. And William Shatner, Chuck Norris, Arnold Schwarzenneger, and Sylvester Stallone are the faces on my own personal Mt. Rushmore.

My Blog

Quarantine

The latest horror remake arrived in theaters this weekend - Quarantine, the Americanized take on last year's Spanish thriller [REC]. For those who've seen the original, there's good news and bad news ...
Posted by Jeff Allard on Sun, 12 Oct 2008 06:45:00 PST

Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead

I'm guessing very few people will be rushing out to rent or buy tomorrow's release of Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead on DVD but for anyone who wants an idea of what to expect, my review is up now at Shock Til...
Posted by Jeff Allard on Mon, 06 Oct 2008 01:53:00 PST

The House on Sorority Row (1983)

In conjunction with my pals at Kindertrauma, I've posted a retro-review of the 1983 slasher fave, The House on Sorority Row. This one tends to get overlooked in favor of more celebrated&nb...
Posted by Jeff Allard on Sat, 27 Sep 2008 07:30:00 PST

The Funhouse

Over at Dinner with Max Jenke, I just posted a look back at one of my favorites - Tobe Hooper's The Funhouse (1981). This always struck me as one of Hooper's better efforts but somehow it never seems ...
Posted by Jeff Allard on Mon, 15 Sep 2008 08:31:00 PST

Anniversary Dinner

A year really does fly by as yesterday, my blogspot Dinner with Max Jenke celebrated its first year. Overall, I'm happy with how the blog has developed over a relatively short time and I'm grateful at...
Posted by Jeff Allard on Sat, 13 Sep 2008 05:39:00 PST

Lets Scare Jessica To Death (UPDATED)

As soon as the first hint of fall comes, I always think of 1971's Let's Scare Jessica To Death. To me, it perfectly embodies the feeling of autumn in New England. It also happens to be one of my all-t...
Posted by Jeff Allard on Sun, 07 Sep 2008 12:02:00 PST

Childs Play: 20th Birthday

Next Tuesday, the 20th Birthday Edition DVD of Child's Play hits stores. For fans of the movie, this is an outstanding package. Unfortunately, thanks to a long-standing feud between director Tom ...
Posted by Jeff Allard on Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:19:00 PST

Breaking News!

Well, if by "breaking news" I mean here's a review of Shutter that tells you all about how it sucks shit through a straw. Even though the movie came out in theaters last March and hit DVD in July...
Posted by Jeff Allard on Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:40:00 PST

The Problem With Todays Horror Films...

As a member of the group of bloggers known as The League of Tana Tea Drinkers, I answered the group's invitation to finish the following sentence: "The problem with today's horror films...
Posted by Jeff Allard on Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:17:00 PST

Review: Mirrors

20th Century Fox didn't hold any press screenings of Mirrors (not that I was aware of, at least) but for anyone looking to hear some thoughts on it, I just posted my review of director Alexandre Aja's...
Posted by Jeff Allard on Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:12:00 PST