Author Archive: Eric San Juan
Eric San Juan
October 26, 2010
Many of the films we dive into during this week o’ horrors will be silent films. Not this one. House on Haunted Hill is an influential B-movie from 1959 starring the legendary Vincent Price. So influential, in fact, it was one of the inspirations for Alfred Hitchcock’s slasher classic, Psycho. House on Haunted Hill tells the kind of story you’ve probably heard before. Five people are invited to stay in a house overnight. Guests who stay until morning win a boatload of cash. But staying is dangerous, and terrible, terrible things begin to happen. The film is in the public domain, and that means you can watch it right now: A few things to note: * The film was re-made in 1999, starring Geoffrey Rush,…
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Eric San Juan
October 25, 2010
This creepy, dreamlike film from 1920 is based on the old Jewish folklore of the Golem, an artificial creature made of inanimate matter and brought to life. (Shades of Frankenstein’s monster there.) In this moody German production, the creature comes to life and, naturally, wreaks havoc. This variation on the tale — the full title is The Golem: How He Came into the World — is one of the great examples of German impressionist cinema. Both the story as well as the approach to visual storytelling in this film proved highly influential, guiding the work of legends like Alfred Hitchcock. Since the film is in the public domain, you can check it out yourself right here: * The film is available to download (legally) right…
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Eric San Juan
October 24, 2010
Halloween is coming, so this week I thought I’d share some great bits of old film that fit into the Halloween theme. These are amazing pieces of our cultural history, many sadly forgotten. We’ll start with a 1910’s Frankenstein. Produced by Edison studios (though Edison himself had nothing to do with it), this adaptation of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein was long thought lost. For decades, only a few stills existed. In the 1970s, it was discovered in a private collection, where it had sat since the 1950s, the owner unaware of just how rare the film was. Though it had been released to DVD earlier, the print was only fully restored and released back in March 2010. The film is in the public domain. Here it…
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Eric San Juan
October 16, 2010
You’ve been waiting. And the wait is over. PITCHED 2 IS NOW AVAILABLE! And even better, I’m proud to announce that all profits will go to the Hero Initiative! BUY IT NOW!!! via LULU via INDYPLANET (Ka-Blam.com) (2016 update: no longer available here) via COMICSMONKEY! (Ka-Blam.com) (2016 update: no longer available here) (I recommend purchasing through IndyPlanet, but all of the folks above will treat you well.)
Eric San Juan
October 9, 2010
If you were interested in that little comics anthology I wrote last year (with the help of a slew of talented artists) but still hadn’t gotten around to getting a copy, good news. It’s now available via lulu.com. I’ve gotten my copy and can vouch for its quality. Nice, glossy cover, strong binding, and decent paper quality. I’ll be up front: happy as I was with the quality of the work ComiXpress did (and I was), I got some complaints about slow order fulfillment. Excellent quality on the product, but it’s true. A few orders were slow to be fulfilled. The Lulu version takes a slight slight (slight!) hit on paper quality, but trades it for a glossy cover, printed spine, and very fast delivery….
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