Tag Archives: horror
How can you remake “Oldboy”?!
I love Asian cinema but it took my friend, Amanda, breaking out her collection of dvds to really get me into some of the films I’d never heard of.
Like Oldboy. It’s the second in Park Chan-wook’s “Vengence Trilogy†but it was the first one that Amanda suggested that I see. After watching it I understood why. It’s brutal with its plot and twists. It can be hard to watch, and not just because of the violence, but because of the gritty situation and the realistic way it’s presented. And how can I not mention the amazing fight scene with the hammer? Seriously. It’s brilliant.
But if you’ve seen Oldboy and love it you might find yourself a little nervous at this latest bit of news.
Steven Moffat’s “Jekyll” is a series worth owning
(photo via BBC)
Last night I finally finished a series that I started months ago. (Which is somewhat sad to say as it’s only six episodes long.) I watched the last half of the BBC series “Jekyllâ€, written by Steven Moffat. I started the series on recommendations from friends and the knowledge that if I loved “Sherlock†I would probably like this one. Not to mention I’m a huge fan of the original novella and actually tried for awhile to determine what might have been in the potion that first changed Jekyll to Hyde, or at least, what might have been the impurity in his orginal batch.
“The Stand” as a graphic novel
Creepy, isn't it?
Until Free Comic Book Day I had no idea that Stephen King’s “The Stand†had been put into illustrated form. Yet as I wandered around the comic-filled boxes on the sidewalk tables I saw one particular comic on a table marked “Free†that I couldn’t resist picking up.
It was an issue from the “Soul Survivors†chapter of “The Stand†graphic novel.
A few of my favorite horror movies
"Hello, Clarice..."
I’m a fan of horror movies but the ones I love most are the ones that are more psychological thrillers. I’m not opposed to blood, gore, guts and so on though unless it’s done just right I do get rather tired of it in excess. But I love movies that mess with your head. The reason this is on my mind today is thanks to watching one of those movies with a group of friends last night. After seeing it I felt the need to share some of my top favorite movies that don’t rely as much on gore but instead love to mess with your mind.
Don’t worry, I promise not to give any spoilers just in case there are folks who haven’t seen one or more of these movies.
“Nothing But Trouble” – A lost classic
photo via Wikipedia
My love of strange movies often leads me to some that I wish I’d never seen. Other times it leads me to gems that I just have to share.
Nothing But Trouble is a hilarious comedy with a cast that includes Chevy Chase, Demi Moore, Dan Akroyd and John Candy (not to mention the Digital Underground). Essentially, four travelers get pulled over for a minor traffic violation (and failed attempt at evading a police officer) and are taken in the middle of the night to the reeve of Valkenvania for sentencing. Things only go downhill from there.Â
What’s not to love about zombie sheep?
photo via Amazon.com
Sometimes you run across the most awesome things completely by accident. That’s how I ended up watching “Black Sheepâ€, a New Zealand horror-comedy a few years ago.
It’s hard to describe the movie other than with the phrase “mutant zombie sheep†but think of Evil Dead 2…only with sheep. Yep, it’s that hilarious.
The story starts out with two young boys on farm in New Zealand. One of them is out herding the sheep with his father. The old brother gets jealous and plays a horrible prank on the younger boy when he returns. The combination of that and some devastating news at the same time gives the younger brother a severe phobia of sheep. It then picks up 15 years later when the younger brother, Henry, is returning to the farm to sell his part of it to his older brother, Angus. Angus has become known for his work to breed a new type of sheep that will outshine the others. While this is going on, a pair of folks (who are very hippie-ish) are trying to break into Angus’ lab to steal evidence of what they believe to be dangerous and extremely harmful experiments.
Are you ready for Freddy? – Thoughts on the remake of Nightmare on Elm Street
One..two..Freddy’s coming for you…
Three…four…better lock your door…
Ah, “A Nightmare on Elm Streetâ€. A classic horror film made in 1984. It gave us one of our most memorable and beloved horror icons, Freddy Kreuger and caused us to laugh and cry in the sequels that were made.
I’ve been a huge Freddy fan since the first time a friend showed the original movie back in 2000. True, I got into the fandom late but I made up for it with obsession. I devoured the rest of the series that was out (which meant 2-New Nightmare) and quickly decided on my favorites (1 and 3) and the one I hated the most (2). Fanfiction writing immediately followed and I knew that I was now a fangirl of Freddy for life. Even “Freddy Vs. Jason†was brought in as one of my top three favorites.
Then I got wind of a remake of the first Nightmare on Elm Street movie.
Needless to say I wasn’t thrilled. I saw no reason to remake a classic that was already wonderful. Still, as Hollywood never listens to my opinions, they went ahead with the movie.
As it was released I caught wind of a few plot points that immediately caused me to hate the film with a passion though I had never seen it. I finally broke down and put it on my netflix, because it’s hard to truly bash a movie until you’ve at least watched it.
Less than a week ago I sat down and watched it, biting my tongue to keep from uttering any scathing remarks (that didn’t work as well as I had hoped). After it was over I realized that I had several things to say about it (Beware of spoilers!!):
First, Jackie Earl Haley does a really good Freddy. He’s no Robert Englund and as such I can’t ever think of him as Freddy, but he has the right build and movements for it. I wasn’t thrilled with his makeup though. It looked too….Voldemort-ish. I would have been happier with a look that was more of the 1984 version.
Second, they added back in the discarded plot idea of Fred Krueger being a child molester. This is something I hated. You see, I loved the original storyline where he was a child-killer instead and so this did not sit well with me at all. Combined with this is the flashback to Freddy’s memory of being chased and then burned alive. I cannot, for the life of me, ever see Fred Krueger cowering and swearing that he didn’t do what they were accusing him of. Instead I still picture him as the smarmy bastard who was proud of it and didn’t care if the townspeople knew.
Third, they used several of Freddy’s more amusing quips from the various movies in the series and combined them into this one remake. While that was a nice homage to the previous movies I think they should have stuck with Freddy being more visually morbid and frightening. In the 1984 version he didn’t speak much at all but instead displayed a sick sense of humor with stretching arms, cutting off his own fingers and even waggling his tongue. That version was much more frightening.
Related to that point is that there was a severe lack of tongue waggling and pelvic thrusting in this movie. And definitely not enough of the creepy “knives on metal†scraping noise that is such a part of the series.
There were a few good things about the movie, though. I liked the opening credit sequence. Done with cuts of children, chalk lettering and sidewalk drawings, it was extremely creepy and set the nightmareish tone for the rest of the movie. Also, kudos to the composer for remembering to bring in the original theme from the Nightmare movies in the right places. Without that they would have made the same mistake that Terminator Salvation made and left out one of the most important things that makes the movies identifiable.
And there is that first moment when we see Freddy’s glove. There’s something about the sight of just the right leg and then the glove opening with that familiar *snik* sound followed by each one of the fingers moving and clicking in turn that makes you shiver. That was very Freddy-like.
And let’s not forget…at least this one wasn’t done by Rob Zombie. Whew!!Â
Overall….I didn’t hate it as much as I thought I would but I still don’t like it at all. I felt there were too many changes made to the backstory and plot of the movie and thanks to that it lost it’s “Nightmare†feel. I’d still suggest watching it, however, even if you are ambivalent as I was.
Did you really enjoy the remake? Really hate it? Care to counter with your own arguments? Drop me a line!
Addicted to the knife… (or “why I love Repo! The Genetic Opera”)
I’m surprised I haven’t really written about one of my favorite geeky things yet in the past two weeks I’ve been a proud writer here at The GeeksFTW.
Repo! The Genetic Opera
Never heard of it? Let me give you a few reasons why you should go out and pick this up:
1. Much of the movie involves ripping out people’s organs and singing maniacally while doing so.
2. Anthony Stewart Head (yes, Giles!) sings the lead role.
3. Where else can you see Bill Moseley and Nivek Ogre (from Skinny Puppy) play homicidal brothers?
4. Terrance Zdunich as the Graverobber is definitely a hot goth boy.
And the reason that actually gets most people to watch it:
5. Haven’t you always wanted to see Paris Hilton’s face fall off?
Now that you have those reasons, I can give you a quick summary:
It’s in the “not too distant future†and the human race got a little ahead of itself with technology. The population fell victim to a disease called Neural Overstimulation Syndome which cause massive orgran failures. Billions died because of this until a company called GeneCo, headed by the Largo family, came up with a way to create and patent replacement organs. People who couldn’t afford transplants could finance them instead. With this new lease on life “upgrading†your body with surgery became fashionable and very popular. A new anesthetic was developed by GeneCo called Zydrate. This drug was highly addictive and blackmarket (and dangerous) versions of it extracted from dead bodies started being sold as well (with the dealers often being Graverobbers).
The downside to this came if you defaulted on your payments. When that happened GeneCo sent out special enforcers called Repo Men to get back their property…without anesthesia.
It’s in this setting that we find one man, his daughter, a corrupt family and the ties that bind them all in a complex web as one young girl tries to break free of her genetic destiny.
Tell me that didn’t intrigue you a least a little bit.
As you probably guessed by now, this is a rock opera. Yes, that means there is singing. However, with people like Bill Moseley and Ogre singing a couple of lead roles, this isn’t your typical musical. Even my friends who can’t stand musicals seem to love this movie. The gore is the type that is so over the top that it’s funny. (wait till you get to the “puppet†moment….trust me) The comic art sequences that are inserted to give the backstories are amazing and drawn by one of the creators of the movie, Terrance Zdunich. The music is catchy. I promise that “Zydrate Anatomy†will get stuck in your head in a good way.
And finally, the story is well written. As Shilo (the daughter) explores the world outside that she’s been locked away from during her life you find yourself caught up in her discoveries and how she reacts to the strange people that she encounters. I also love the interactions between the head of GeneCo, Rotti Largo, and his three children.
The movie itself has already attained a solid cult status among fans and has followed in the tradition of Rocky Horror Picture Show of being a film that has “official†shadowcasts around the world. Many cities boast a Repo! shadowcast that is well rehearsed with costumes, props, sets, special fx and even their own home venues. I’m the creator and co-director (and Graverobber) of the shadowcast here in Nashville, Testify! And I gotta say, we’re about to have our third performance and even after watching/listening to this movie hundreds of times (I’ve lost count….I lost count about 2 months into creating the shadowcast) I still love this film. It’s one that I just can’t seem to get tired of.
Terrance often describes the movie as one that you either love or hate. I have to agree, though I was originally “meh†about it untill a sudden obsession with it hit me three months after the first watching. Even knowing that, give it a try. Watch it through to the end. Then drop me a line and let me know what you thought.
Testify!
Session 9: Who doesn’t love haunted mental hospitals?
Looking for a suspenseful horror flick that is heavy on the creepy and light on the gore? Want something with an ending that will make you shiver? “Session 9†may be just the thing you need.
I found this movie through a roommate back when I lived in California during one of our weekly movie nights. Since the first watching of this particular film I’ve recommended it many friends. About half of them love it and half of them are more of the “meh†reaction. I admit, if you want a movie that does all the thinking for you, this one isn’t it. There were twists that had me re-watching to make sure that I caught something properly and the whole movie can make you sit there for bit after it’s over just lost in thought.
Here’s a quick summary:
A small asbestos removal crew wins a bid to clean out an old mental hospital in an extremely short amount of time. The crew itself has its own issues: one member who is angry at another who stole a girlfriend, one who is new to the job and has a severe phobia of the dark, one who has problems at home and so on. They each react to the job and the atmosphere of the hospital in a different way. One of the workers finds a box marked “Evidence†while cleaning and begins to listen to the nine session tapes of a patient called Mary who has multiple personality disorder. Through the movie we get to listen to excerpts of these sessions played over the action of the movie. The personalities all refer to an incident that happened early in Mary’s life and another personality called “Simon†that they fear.
I can’t really explain more without giving away spoilers and trust me, you need to watch this movie and be surprised. I will say that the very last line of the movie is my favorite and I often quote it when I’m in full creepy mood.
Overall the movie is a wonderfully creepy look into the minds of several folks, letting us see a fraction of the broken personalities and paranoia that grows through the film. Let’s just add to that mix with the setting of a recently shut down mental hospital. When are mental hospitals NOT creepy? The tapes of Mary’s sessions that we hear played throughout (as there’s not as much dialogue as you might expect between the workers) heighten the sense of anticipation and suspense, all leading to the final line of the movie.
Ha! After writing about it I now want to watch it as soon as I get home. Have you seen it or are you curious to see it? Let me know what you think!
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