More than maybe any other genre, contemporary horror tends to be dominated by passing fads and formulaic stories that rely on cheap jump scares and one-dimensional hardbodied coeds who are nothing more than victims-in-waiting.  Right now, found footage titles are impossible to miss, and the shaky cam aesthetic has become so common that old-school horror fans are doubtless feeling burned out.

For anyone looking to mainline a more simultaneously old-fashioned and daring vision, though, there is an antidote to all these shaky cam stylings.  It's The Theatre Bizarre, an anthology horror film that uses one woman's venture into a seemingly derelict theater as a framing device for seven individual tales directed by seven different horror luminaries (Richard Stanley, Tom Savini, Douglas Buck, David Gregory, Buddy Giovinazzo, Jeremy Kastain, and Karim Hussain).

Taken as a whole, The Theatre Bizarre is an audacious, phantasmagoric Grand Guignol trip that surprises, amuses, digusts, and generally rewards any daring viewer.  Though every featured director contributes something unique, the project's primary architect is David Gregory, who conceived of the film, as well as wrote and directed the final segment, "Sweets," a singular portrait of strange addiction.  Gregory is the co-founder and CEO of Severin Films, and is known for his directorial debut Plague Town and having directing literally over a hundred making-of documentaries.

The film has earned big reactions on the festival circuit, including screenings at  Fantasia International Film Festival, Frightfest, Sitges Festival De Cine Fantastic, Toronto After Dark.  With midnight showings starting this Friday, the loquacious, funny, and knowledgeable Gregory engaged in an exclusive interview with IAR.  Read on for Gregory's thoughts on anthology movies, the beauty of resourceful low budget filmmaking, combining beauty and revulsion, as well as the eventual The Theatre Bizarre sequel.

Back in 1972 Bob Clark directed a quirky little comedy horror flick titled Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things. It’s no masterpiece, but for genre fans, it remains an underappreciated treasure. Now, nearly 40 years later, horror icon's George Romero and Tom Savini may be eyeing a contemporary reboot.

Robert Rodriguez and Danny Trejo go together like PB and J; the two have been collaborating since Rodriguez's 1995 action flick Desperado and you just know it's been building toward Machete this whole time. (Trejo's Desperado character even carries around a slew of sharp killing implements.) While the two have Predators on the immediate horizon, they've been busy working on this, a feature-length version of the Grindhouse trailer that kicked so much butt a few years ago.

As for the film's trailer, it's... okay. I'm not jumping out of my seat and salsa dancing. Still, the concept and cast are enough to put a smile on my face and eagerly await the film's debut, which comes on September 3rd.