Paranormal Activity

Has anyone out there actually been to see this film. It has really caught my attention, even though I feel it would be very polarising and I could either love or despise it. According to the various reviews and conversations I've been having it's either terrifying and original, taking the Blair Witch themes and plot one step further or quite tame and a total rip-off, nowhere near as good as it or other people think. If I ever do get round to catching it somehow I'd be intrigued to see what I make of it, and will post my thoughts. Likewise let me know yours if you're out there and have an opinion, I'm very interested.

MM

Vampire news to sink your teeth into...

... (sorry.) No I am not talking about the god awful Twilight franchise which seems to have hypnotised teenage girls and the quality impaired, that will NEVER be covered by me. However what I did come across were a couple of other interesting tidbits about undoubtedly better upcoming movies starring the fang-baring blood suckers:

First up I noticed that there is a 30 Days of Night sequel headed our way, along with yet more future releases planned, and thought this worth mentioning. I liked the first flick, which I bought and watched around the same time as Mr B, but I think he got more out of it. Still a very enjoyable movie, ripe for a rewatch, and this still definitely interests me.

Secondly whilst sifting for gems through the news on this especially bored Saturday I came across a synopsis and trailer for an interesting sounding film called Daybreakers. Upon viewing the promo piece it looks a little tame and perhaps too geek-based and less horrific than could be good for it, but the premise still seems really enticing, and don't get me started on the cast. BD (of course) says of the film:

With all of the remakes shrouding the box office, it's nice to see some unique and thought-provoking horror films hitting theaters. Lionsgate is gearing up for their January 8, 2010 release of the long-delayed Daybreakers, Peter and Michael Spierig's sophomore genre effort that follows a race of vampires who have all but wiped out the world's blood supply. Interesting premise, no? Check out the second full trailer by reading on.

BD Horror News - A Second Trailer for Lionsgate's 'Daybreakers'

MM

Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever!?

As if any further evidence of the differing fandoms of Mr B and myself were needed I'd guess that today we both saw news which interested us respectively on the same site, during down time and random surfing. Yes Mr B, I too occasionally visit bloodydisgusting.com, where I found out for the first time about an upcoming (but worryingly DTV) sequel to a film I love, Cabin Fever. Without the original director and only the surviving cast member signs didn't look good. The synopsis provided intrigues a little but with potential for it all to be so very hokey... let's just hope its in a good way (like the original or i.e Drag Me To Hell) and not as terrible and Prom Night-ish as it sounds. The official press release reads:

"Cabin Fever delivered terror in the flesh but your flesh will crawl with Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever, the bloodcurdling sequel to hit horror film. Days after a killer virus consumed his friends, Paul emerges from a ditch by a river. Though his body has been ravaged by the virus, he is determined to survive and to warn others of the danger. However, a water bottling plant has already distributed contaminated water to the local high school. The school’s students are excitedly preparing for the prom, unaware they’re about to have a grisly date with death. The DVD contains thrilling bonus materials including audio commentary, a “Making of” feature and gag reel. An Official Selection of Screamfest L.A., Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever will be available in rated and unrated versions on February 16, 2009, coinciding with the Blu-ray debut of the original."

Also debuting is the cover art for the piece, which does little to dissuade my fears as it tows the line between genius visual imagery and unnecessarily cheesy, and loses. Sigh, hope sometimes pans out right?



MM

Hierro Trailer

If you like your horror a little more cerebral, Hierro is definitely going to be for you. A Spanish thriller with a difference, I'm looking forward to it.

3,4, better lock your door...

Hi again gang. I'm getting pretty hyped about the Nightmare on Elm Street reimagining heading our way next year, enjoying the pre-release excitement before the often inevitable disappointment. To that end forgive the fact that this is barely news but the first clear picture of Jackie Earle Haley's new interpretation of Freddy Kreuger was released today. Unfortunately it's only the action figure but it does show you clearer than we've yet seen how they're going with this and, yes, it's remarkably similar to what we've already seen. Good or bad thing? I don't know, looks good to me. The image originated at figures.com but is gradually being removed from the net by a sweeping and presumably panicked marketing department. Doesn't stop this fearless reporter though. Thanks to AICN for the heads up on this. See what you think below, oh and clicking on the image should give you a larger and clearer picture:



MM

Scream Queens

Hey loyal few! Apologies for the reduction in rate of posts here, it'll probably dwindle to a bit less than we got used to as we head into this busy time of year, and it's eventual end. I did want to mention something I saw last night though and which I figured would be appropriate to bring up here.
As I was doing my usual channel surfing I hit upon an obscure digital channel named "Viva". Recently launched and kind of a weird music and shows mix showing everything from reality shows to sitcoms. In this particular case it was screening a show named Scream Queens. Has anyone seen this? I had, truthfully, in passing and disregarded it. For anyone unaware who gives a damn it is a cheesy, fairly typical american reality show in the whole Bachelorette/Beauty and the Geek etc mould, but related to horror. Basically a bunch of wannabe horror actresses (get the title yet?) are competing for a role in Saw 6 (obviously the show is not live or in the least bit up to date). Along the way they are mentored by an acting coach I haven't heard of, film director James Gunn (Slither), and Saw actress Shawnee Smith. The girls must complete various challenges to impress these judges and win the day.
Now I get that the show isn't great, as I say it took me this long to even bother properly watching it and half the contestants are gone. It's also the worst genre of t.v spawned by the depths of Hell. Add to that the blatant attempts at titilation and exploitation of these girls and yes it looks bad.
But something last night drew me in. The craziness and sheer wtf moments of the tasks I saw perhaps? Everything from being dumped in a swamp of blood and told to act, to being locked in a morgue just to achieve an acting effect that a good imagination could utilise (or a better actor). Finally this culminated in our director dropping live cockroaches on each girl. The first thing that sucked me in was this sheer lunacy. Then something happened, I started buying into the melodrama, recognising the Hollywood nature of how this is probably what the "biz" is like. Along the way it was interesting to see the trade being plyed in the form of watching Mr Gunn at work, or seeing a glimpse into acting coaching. There are some truly terrible actresses, some greatly fitting B-movie ones, and a couple of potentially great new stars, though they have no visible or interesting personalities as such. The real meat here is perhaps the glimpse into the industry itself, imagining being there in front of and behind the camera and just the voyeurism typical of the genre, but in this case showing me something that interests me in the putting together of horror and utilisation/manipulation of it's tropes. We'll forget the pointless attempts at poignancy from the contestants' sob stories and say that this might just become a permanent guilty pleasure, I'd be interested to know what others' thoughts are on this and what they make of it.

MM

Friday The 13th Part 3 IN 3-D!!! - Quick Thoughts.

This movie aired twice over the weekend as part of the whole season described below. I didn't watch the whole thing (partly due to the hazy, coloured effects which were just headache inducing without the glasses on, but also because of what I saw). I thought I would chime in with opinions on what I did see though.
The first scene was an attack in a barn with a rake, which wanted so badly to be shocking and did feature a corpse hanging in an almost affecting way in the 3-d but after realising that implements of imapling could point almost from the screen this death was milked to, well death, and robbed of already ropy impact.
The next thing I happened across whilst channel hopping was the entire last half hour. Up to now Texas Chain Saw Massacre had the most annoying final act in horror but no more. The worst synth score of the 80's, climaxing in electronic and irritating shrieks with every jump shot as if the 3-d effect itself demanded it and happening every 3 seconds, a lame chase, effects rendered impotent and overkilled, a completely lacklustre and non-threatening Jason, a criminally boring scene and even a rehashed first film shock at the end which robs both of any impact. If anyone has seen the full thing let me know if the effect works and what it's like. It is not one I will be going out of my way to catch properly.

MM

Greatest 3-d horror moments.

To those who didn't catch this, Channel 4 here in the U.K last night aired an hour long special of the greatest moments of 3-d on tv and film to date. A lot of the scenes and clips shown were from horror so if you get a chance do catch the repeat tonight, ideally with 3-d glasses if you have them and the technology works for you. Unfortunately it doesn't for me due to my lack of decent eyesight but I still watched the piece and got the intent. What's featured were everything from the terrible to the, well frankly worse, but with a couple of good moments and a wow factor. Spoilers lie ahead but viewers saw,or can expect to see, scenes from:

Flesh For Frankenstein: sample dialogue "You cannot truly know death until you have f@*ked life,... in the gall bladder", no seriously I was already in stitches at this hilariously crazy level of terrible but the scene shown itself, with the comedy "spleen on a stick" lunging at the audience member confirmed this as just excellent comedy. That was the intent, right?

Creature From The Black Lagoon: No, not Brooke Shields, the classic monster creature feature star, extremely well designed with, as Kim Newman states in the show, great dimensionality anyway in a seminal film.

Jaws 3: Truly abysmally filmed effects, already poor, slowed down and bearing at you but still a slow, rubber shark doing so even in three dimensions.

...and another piece which eagle eyed viewers will note has been left out, because it is, of course, above this little box...

MM

Scariest Who ever?

About a week ago the BBC aired the first of the last episodes of its popular flagship sci-fi show Doctor Who to star David Tennant before his announced departure, entitled The Waters of Mars and featuring an H2O based villain possesing the crew of a Mars base 50 years from now, yes I know it's a show aimed primarily at a younger or family audience and not our genre as such but I wanted to focus on horror elements ok? Put down the pitchforks (fitting though they might be). Hey, my blog, my rules, allow me the indulgence.
Ignoring the excellent s-f elements except to say that the climax was excellently written and unbelievably well played what got me thinking about horror is specifically when people came up to discuss the show with me post airing (I am kind of a well known and renowned geek and, as such, sort of a spokesman for these things at work and among friends). When describing the episode many people said their younger child viewers, the target audience remember, commented on how scary the villains seemed. I had heard this in pre-publicity but it comes up a lot, being a show about strange monsters so I thought nothing of it. Likewise when watching the episode initially under the gaze of this hardened extreme horror viewer I found it beyond tame. It did get me thinking though, would this be a lot of kids' first experience of horror tropes and conventions? Maybe even an early memory of being switched on to the genre? Surely that can only be a good thing right?
Watching back I saw the point, if you didn't know, for example, zombie movie conventions then here they are. A bunch of protagonists in a combined space fall prey to an infection, it changes them into the same people but looking different, almost decomposed somehow. The aim is merely to infect others whilst shambling slowly and speaking as little as possible, if at all. It was quite effective as an early, tame version of this. So kudos for that in an already great episode.
The final point of interest comes back again to my idea of horror potentially also coming from good storytelling and horrific ideas, sometimes emotional (see the previous piece on horror as heart breaker). I doubt anyone, child or adult, was prepared for the moment at the climax of the story where the main female character (the stereotypical survivor of this show's set rules and arguably the equivalent of the "final girl") realises that she should have died, our hero was wrong to save her and the consequences could be vast. Shockingly she uses her blaster gun to end her own life in an exceptionally dark and shocking moment, which will no doubt echo and cement the horror nature of this in most younger memories, and the piece will doubtless be remembered and labelled as dark due to this and the ominous portents of the central characters death and frightening defiance during his change of character. I cannot recommend this enough but I am somewhat biased, if you're interested in a score from this uber geek though...

**** (4/5)

MM

An Exorcist Mini Series?

Oh god, I hope so. Bloody Disgusting has the news...

Harry Brown - Representative Of Real Life Horror?

I'm going to see Harry Brown tonight, a film that I'm hugely looking forward to. In my younger, formative days I wasn't very impressed with Michael Caine but as I've got older I've enjoyed his acting more and more. Some have said this is his magnum opus, his Gran Torino. I do see where the comparisons are coming from, but it's a different take for reasons I'll go into in the review after I've seen the film.

So, what's this commentary of a British thriller doing on a horror blog? It's more simple than you think. Whilst ghosts, the supernatural, insane masked killers etc are frequent tropes of the genre, Harry Brown confronts a more apparent and readily accessible true-life horror - the breakdown of society. The hoodies, the druggies, the low-lives, the chavs, those with disregard for the law and others - this is where true horror is for some and also where the phrase 'Lawless Britain' was spawned.

If you've ever walked down the street feeling nervous about who you might bump into, if your phone has ever been half inched, if you've ever been threatened or attacked then you've probably felt more real fear than 100 horror movies provide. This is Harry Brown explores and the reasons behind the will of one man to fight back.

Dead Snow - Quick Thoughts

I'd been looking forward to Dead Snow for a while - I'd heard that it was a fun film with lots of in-genre references, some (very) black humour and playing out a cliched but cool story. I wasn't disappointed I can assure you of that. Much intestinal tearing viewing later, and I'm glad to say it was worth the anticipation. Look out for the full review in the next few days.

Why Great horror is heartbreaking.

One of my fondest genre memories is of going to a local art-house cinema with Mr B to watch the original Dark Water. After being initially underwhelmed I was terrified and heartbroken by the end revelations, finding myself deeply affected by the past history of this ghost, and abuse suffered of a young child, far scarier than any unexplained supernatural force or o.t.t demon etc in my opinion.

Why do I bring this up? Well I'd ask you all to check out this article at IO9 on the subject of why heartbreaking horror is great. An interesting piece which plays to my fan strengths so be warned there is a heavy emphasis on the work of Joss Whedon (though not exclusively).

Big hello to everyone who has been coming to mention the blog and any new viewers. Hope to catch you all soon.

MM

Real Life Horror/Ghost Stories

Unfortunately, due to a variety of conspiring circumstances I haven't had a chance to write up some of my most recent horror watching. However, as every day is like Halloween to some degree (i.e. I'm probably reading about some sort of horror) I'd like to continue the scary angle and provide a link to a bunch of apparently true ghost stories.

You can read them here on The Apron Stage blog. Perhaps best of all is the fact that they take place in am asylum! Surely one of the scariest places ever!

Halloween round up

So how did everyone enjoy their night? Sadly a combination of illness, tiredness and indeciseveness prevented it from being such an event as I would like, and has previously been the ritual. I did still watch a couple of television specials (as is my tradition) and part of a movie. Here's the brief blow by blow.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Season 6 Episode 5 "All The Way"

Included mainly because of the atmosphere of the day evoked. I usually watch the series 4 special (Fear, Itself) but opted for this one for a change. As a stand-alone it's a bit too bogged down in continuity, which is to be expected for an ongoing show. Did have a brilliant cliche reversal though as an old man is set up as crazy and even given a horror film style back story, lures in children and is then killed by them as they are revealed as vampires, the show's twisting of such established formula being displayed in a microcosm. The seasonal touches were nice and give a great feel, particularly of the U.S love for Halloween, there is one hilarious joke moment but the whole thing is let down by a plot which, now, is culturally overdone and detestable, the whole "Twilight/Vampire Diaries" teen girl pining for a monster schtick which I have no tolerance for. Still a great show though with good acting, believable characters and a sense of fun.

*** (3/5)

The Simpsons
Treehouse of Horror 14

Sadly the opposite of that last sentence. Nowhere near as good as some of this show's specials, relies now on doing crazy things which the show proper couldn't do, and homaging films quite poorly, some great (The Dead Zone), others not even horror (Fantastic Voyage? seriously?). Crucially not very funny or imaginative, a real shame.

* (1/5)

Halloween

O.k, honesty time, I fell asleep about half an hour in. I will do a proper review, with scoring, at a time when I can watch the whole thing properly. What I did notice is the bold and unsettling nature of where Carpenter places the camera, adding to the disturbing feel. Point of view shots in the place of the killer, or even nobody in particular mesh with glimpses of the bogeyman far scarier than the excesses of modern horror, including the remake. Struck me as just a good film, outside of it's generic and historical background. I genuinely look forward to seeing it again properly on the DVD I bought over a year ago, and still haven't watched (though I have seen the film before, I like my opinions to be fresh though).

Hope the weather isn't getting people too down where you are, hope to catch up again soon...

MM