Halloween has come and past but that doesn't mean we have to stop watching horror movies. A friend of mine dressed as Mary, from the movie American Mary, and I decided I needed to give it a watch. I had seen it floating around Netflix but wasn't sure it looked very good. However, if I had only just noticed that Katharine Isabelle plays the lead, I would have watched it in a heartbeat. I love Katharine Isabelle, but I'll get to that later. (PS. This is mostly going to be about Katharine).
American Mary is a movie about a med student who is pretty strapped for money and turns to extreme body modification to earn some easy money. At first, Mary tries to avoid the career after doing a couple extreme surgeries. However, Mary is so talented that clients seek her out and soon she makes body modification her life. After a horrific event happens to Mary, she becomes so controlled by her rage that she is dangerous.
This movie is awesome. It is a fresh, original, modern horror movie and I HIGHLY recommend you watch it. It's streaming on Netflix and you should take advantage. American Mary is a horror/thriller/slasher that stars the wonderfully talented Katharine Isabelle.
Katharine Isabelle is in a few of my favorite movies. First of all, she co-stars with Emily Perkins in the horror series Ginger Snaps. Then she and Emily Perkins play the only good characters in the movie Another Cinderella Story.
Okay, so, A Cinderella Story is one of my favorite movies. A young Hilary Duff, a young Chad Michael Murray, Regina King, and Jennifer Coolidge make for an amusing teen rom-com. It's my favorite movie ever to quote. "Shut your cat face!" I was excited when they made a sequel and less excited when there was a third. The best (or only) good thing about the movies is the step-sisters. In the sequel, Katharine and Emily steal every scene with their hilarious comedic timing and great chemistry.
Of course, the whole reason that I love the two of them so much is because of Ginger Snaps. This movie is a sort of coming-of-age horror tale that involves werewolves. I loved all three movies and that was the start of my love for Katharine Isabelle and Emily Perkins.
Basically Katharine makes American Mary extra awesome, on top of an already great plot. Katharine said of the movie, "I have some friends who are just too scared to see it. My brother has seen it at least six times and still can't watch one scene in particular, but my mother made it through the whole thing without any problem at all. My dad was the very first person I went to with the script - to make sure I wasn't crazy for loving this. I knew if my dad liked it, it was good."
It's gory, creepy, and full of revenge. I think it's swell and so will you. Watch the trailer below for a better understanding of what this movie is all about.
Oh and did I mention the creepy doll ladies? The character of Beatress, played by Tristan Risk, is mega weird. Her face doesn't move. Like, at all. She looks and sounds like a very creepy doll and is the perfect character for a movie that involves extreme body modification. This movie is all kinds of weird. I don't want to give much away but two people have their left arms cut off and put back on the other person. I mean, that's hardcore. And scary. And dangerously gross.
HAPPY (almost) HALLOWEEN! I completely forgot to write on Tuesday, it's been a crazy week, and I apologize. So, without further adieu, I give you Scream.
Scream is a 1996 slasher directed by Wes Craven. A lot of people really hate the Scream movies but I love them! I think the original film is unique, interesting, surprising, and pretty scary at times. The first time I saw it, I jumped a lot. Now, after having seen numerous times, it's more funny because it's predictable.
The movie pays homage to teen flicks and horror movies, at times poking fun. They openly discuss the "Rules" to horror movies; if they break rules then someone usually dies. Ghostface, at times, seems invincible no matter how many times he gets hit over the head or thrown out of a window. It's silly, of course, but that is how horror movies operate! And Wes Craven just uses it to his advantage in Scream.
After Scream came the sequel, then another, then another, and then after ten years they decided to make Scream 4! The absolute best thing about all the sequels is that the actors/characters stayed the same. A lot of time passed between the first and fourth movies but the actors stuck with it and I think that is admirable.
According to Wiki, Wes Craven has signed on to do a Scream 5 and 6. Now, the fourth wasn't very good so I'm not really looking forward to these movies. With that said, I love that the franchise is still going! There's something kind of sentimental about that. There was also talk of an MTV show but that would be terrible and I hope that never happens.
So, Scream. You've heard of it, you've probably seen it, so go watch it! It's streaming right now on Netflix, tomorrow is Halloween, and this is a good film for the holiday. Happy Halloween, everybody!! Here's some scenes from the first movie, enjoy!
"We're gonna get you, not another peep, time to go to sleep."
In honor of seeing Evil Dead The Musical on Saturday in Massachusetts, I decided to watch the first two Evil Dead movies. The Musical was SO GREAT. I highly recommend it for anyone who is a fan of the cult classic because it is hilarious, well-done, and very bloody. We got to sit right in the front row, of a small venue, in the splatter zone. I got pretty covered in fake blood, it was dripping down my face. It was fantastic!
Evil Dead is awesome. It is an over-the-top, disgusting gore-fest, heart-pounding horror cult classic movie! And I love it. The second one was a little confusing for me but I still liked it. The first one, though, that one has the original Linda. And Linda laughing and singing is one of the creepiest things I have ever seen in my life. Ever. She haunts my dreams.
The original 1981 The Evil Dead stars the one, the only, Bruce Campbell! Bruce not only stars in the first three movies but also co-produced the movies. Now, I'll admit, I was a little confused over the hype of Bruce because at first he seems like a nothing character. However, he somehow keeps surviving. Even when everyone else dies and comes back to life and dies again, Bruce just keeps getting cooler. And of course, in the sequel is when Bruce gets his trademark, bad-ass look:
Bruce Campbell plays Ashley "Ash" Williams in all of the Evil Dead movies, including an appearance in the 2013 re-make (I have not yet seen the re-make but I would love to! I've heard it's pretty great as well.). The oh so scary Linda is played by Betsy Baker and, judging by what I have seen online, I believe she is quite popular with hardcore fans along with Bruce. The Evil Dead really has sparked an intense following, even today, 32 years later.
One thing that is great about these movies is the amount of blood used. There will be a scene where blood just comes gushing out, completely soaking the character. Then the camera cuts and suddenly all that blood is gone. It's so great! I enjoyed the use of props, make-up, fake blood, and effects in these movies, it was very well done in the over-the-top way it was meant to be. The first film was to be taken seriously but it had a small budget and got pretty campy. The sequel was purposely comedic and made fun of the first film quite a bit. I like when directors and actors can make fun of themselves.
Now let's not forget the most important thing about these films: Sam Raimi. Raimi directed and wrote The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, and Army of Darkness. He also wrote, but not directed, the 2013 re-make of Evil Dead and is writing Army of Darkness 2 right now, set to release in 2016. Raimi has also written and directed Drag Me to Hell, Spider-Man 3, and The Quick and the Dead. Those are just the ones I've seen of his work, there's more! He is a talented writer and director and I have enjoyed all his films that I have seen. He has a particular style and I think it really works.
The Evil Dead and Evil Dead II are streaming right now on Netflix. So, go check it out, there's plenty of gore to be watched! Please enjoy creepy Linda in the clip below.
Also, here's a little preview of Evil Dead The Musical, in case you ever want to check that out, too! It's a bloody good time!
I decided it was finally time to watch Elvira: Mistress of the Dark.
The first Elvira movie, directed by James Signorelli, came out in 1988. Elvira is a different kind of woman, full of spunk with big hair and even bigger boobs. I had seen the movie on Netflix for a while now but decided to finally watch it after Elvira herself made an appearance on one of my favorite shows, Face Off.
Elvira is played by Cassandra Peterson, who started her career as a Vegas showgirl and still today makes appearances as the famous Mistress of the Dark. In the movie, Elvira is very outspoken and does not let anyone take advantage of her. Her sultry, revealing appearance attracts all kinds of creeps but Elvira fights them off. When she learns of the passing of a long-lost Aunt, Elvira goes to the small town to collect her inheritance and really shakes things up! The men all love her! The women think she's trash! But the teenagers befriend her and stand up for Elvira in this hilariously, dark comedy.
Elvira is definitely a cult movie, as the bizarre plot and outlandish appearance of Elvira is not for everyone. I really did enjoy this movie quite a bit! Certainly not my favorite but it is entertaining.
So, give it a try if you've never seen it! I know it looks weird but it is a great movie. Elvira will charm you and her large bosoms and revealing outfit won't bother you a bit! Enjoy!
Watch the trailer below and please notice the part where Elvira uses her chest to bust through the chain on the gate! I keep laughing about that scene....
Happy October 8th! Continuing in the horror awesomeness that is October I bring you this week: Nine Dead.
Nine Dead has been available to stream on Netflix for a while now and I watched it because a friend told me how great it was. I definitely agree that this movie is pretty great, even if Melissa Joan Hart is the biggest name in it.
The movie was released in 2010 and is directed by Chris Shadley, whose camera and electrical work includes everything from Spiderman to The Muppets to Little Black Book. Shadley has had his hand in many great films but Nine Dead was his first and only movie as director. The film is fairly low-budget, some acting is great while others are quite mediocre, but the plot it interesting. Nine Dead is about nine strangers who are locked in a basement together. A hooded man tells them that they have ninety minutes to figure out how they are all connected and he will come back every ten minutes to kill one of them until they figure it out or time is up. These people have no idea how they are connected and are not given a single clue to help them get started. Melissa Joan Hart is one of the nine people locked in the basement. I love Melissa in Sabrina the Teenage Witch, that show will always be one of my favorites. Melissa was huge in her younger days as Clarissa Darling on the Nickelodeon show Clarissa Explains It All and continues to act today. However, her acting as an adult falls pretty short and I did not particularly like her in Nine Dead. That could just be because her character is super annoying and bossy, though. Horror is probably a difficult genre for actors because there is a lot of screaming, crying, limping, and being terrified the entire movie and not everyone is capable of pulling that off.
The only other name I recognize is Daniel Baldwin, who played a detective. Everyone else is not important so I will not be mentioning them. You can look it up here yourself if you feel so inclined.
I'm not really sure what else to say about this movie. Horror is pretty self-explanatory: people will die, it will be gruesome, you might love it or hate it, and the ending will surprise you. The ending on this one was.... not exactly great. I won't give anything away but I want you to prepare for possible disappointment, however if you like horror you should already know how to watch the genre.
So, I hope you enjoy Nine Dead! It is not a scary, jumpy horror movie but more of a psychological thriller kind of horror. Plus some gore! What would horror be without a little (aka. a ton) of gore?
Watch the trailer for Nine Dead below to get a better feel for the movie. I really think you'll enjoy this one, as I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it!
HAPPY OCTOBER! October is my favorite month of the year. Why? Because the whole month is dedicated to celebrating Halloween! Halloween is my favorite holiday! There is just something about Halloween that makes me extraordinarily happy. The decorations, the celebration, the costumes, and of course the candy. Also, with October comes Autumn, my favorite season of the year. I live in Maine and Fall in Maine is gorgeous! Fall in Maine means cooler weather, beautiful changing leaves, and pumpkin flavored everything. What's not to like? So, dressed in plaid flannel and boots all October I will be writing strictly about horror! I'm hoping to write a new horror post each week of October in celebration of Halloween! So, to start us off I bring you The Walking Dead.
I admit, I was late jumping on this bandwagon. The Walking Dead series has been in my Netflix instant queue for at least a year, maybe more if it's even been on Netflix that long. Finally last week I decided it was time to give it a try. I'm not really sure why it took me so long to watch but it just never felt right. But holy-moly I'm glad I finally gave it a shot. The Walking Dead is AMAZING. There is so much to talk about and I know I won't even be able to touch on it all. First of all, let me start by saying how great it is to have a gory horror television series. Besides American Horror Story, there really are no other horror shows out there. Which is too bad because horror is a wonderfully disgusting and much loved genre that could be touched on a bit more on television.
This horror/drama series follows a group of people led by former Sheriff Rick Grimes. I suppose Rick is the main protagonist of the show, as the series started with just him and he is the leader of the group. The rest of the group does question his authority and decisions from time to time, including his own wife and son, but I find Rick to be a solid leader and his choices for the group usually have a way of working out.
For those of you unfamiliar with the AMC original show The Walking Dead, let me offer a little plot. The series was created in 2010 by Frank Darabont and is basically about a zombie apocalypse. Though, in the show no one ever refers to them as zombies, they call them "Walkers" and also one group calls them "Biters." The world, or at least we assume the entire world, somehow gets overtaken by Walkers and most people either die or get turned into a Walker. It is a creative take on the whole zombie thing, which is a popular topic in horror right now.
The show is totally gruesome and graphic, so if you don't like gore than this is probably not the show for you. There are some heavy zombie head bashing moments but also quieter human interaction moments. The acting on The Walking Dead is superb! The intense fighting or conversation moments between characters are just so well written and acted.
Because there are so many main characters I will list them to help you get a clear picture. Now, of course with a show like this there are many casualties! So, some of these characters last a long time, some a short time, and some are not introduced for quite a while. Here's the main players:
Rick Grimes: Played by Andrew Lincoln, is the leader of the group, a decent father and husband though he does like to go off and save the world, and an all around nice guy.
Lori Grimes: Played by Sarah Wayne Callies, is Rick's wife, she's kind of annoying but she's a good worker and a solid character.
Carl Grimes: Played by Chandler Riggs, Carl is Rick and Lori's son. He's pretty young but he carries a gun and wants to help, almost to a fault.
Glenn Rhee: Played by Steven Yeun, Glenn is one of my favorite characters. He's the token Asian and a very good guy.
Daryl Dixon: Played by Norman Reedus, is my favorite character and will probably be yours as well. You want to hate him at first but quickly learn he's a super dude.
Dale Horvath: Played by Jeffrey DeMunn, is the voice of reason and understanding in the group. Dale is the group mechanic and is an excellent and willing lookout.
Andrea: Played by Laurie Holden, Andrea is kind of annoying and does not listen to people. She gets herself into trouble by not listening to people like Dale and Michonne.
Shane Walsh: Played by Jon Bernthal, Shane pretends to be a good guy but is he really?
Merle Dixon: Played by Michael Rooker, Merle quickly gets cut off from the group (get it??) but I always knew he'd be back. No body, not dead. That's my slogan for The Walked Dead.
Carol Peletier: Played by Melissa McBride, I weirdly really like Carol. She's a little pathetic at first, well kind of the whole show. Her husband is a jerk-face but Carol makes it through. I'm rooting for a relationship between Carol and Daryl. I'm pretty sure it will happen.
Sophia Peletier: Played by Madison Lintz, Sophia is Carol's daughter. She gets lost in the woods and Daryl stops at nothing to find her. That's why I think he and Carol will get together, because he cared about Sophia so greatly.
Maggie Greene: Played by Lauren Cohan, Maggie is Hershel's daughter and Glenn's love. She and Glenn immediately fall in love, it's pretty sweet. She's one of the few female characters I like in the show.
Hershel Greene: Played by Scott Wilson, Hershel is cool! At first I wasn't sure about him, he seemed kind of mean and harsh. But he quickly becomes a total bad-ass.
Beth Greene: Played by Emily Kinney, Beth is Hershel's younger daughter. Her character is fairly minor but she's always there. I have a feeling she'll somehow become more focused upon.
Michonne: Played by Danai Gurira, Michonne is AWESOME. I liked her the second the saw her slice a Walker's head off with her sword. Oh yeah, she carries a SWORD. It does not get any cooler than a sword.
The Governor: Played by David Morrissey, this guy is a total DB (douche bag, for those of you who don't know what that stands for). I hate him because he's crooked but pretends to be perfect.
T-Dog: Played by IronE Singleton, T-Dog is just a good man. Super nice, puts his life in jeopardy for others and has a very unfortunate nickname. I mean, T-Dog, really? How much more stereotypical can you get for the token black man of the show? Geesh.
I hope that's everybody important! There are tons of characters, as you can see. Something neat about The Walking Dead, if you look at the cast on IMDB, it lists people as "Walker" and they'll be in like thirteen episodes which I think is super cool. They don't just have random people every single time they need Walkers, they use the same actors over and over. How cool must that job be? Sit around for a few hours, get made up into a zombie, then walk around making gross noises! Sounds fun to me!
The Walking Dead can be complicated and there is a lot of story-line that happens fairly quickly, so I don't want to go into any more detail on the show. I suggest you check it out if you haven't already. The first three seasons are streaming on Netflix! Netflix actually just added the third season a couple days ago, I'm assuming because the fourth season will be starting soon on AMC. So you better get caught up now! I'm almost finished the third season and I KNOW a lot will happen. I honestly cannot rave enough about his awesome horror show. Go check it out and as always, enjoy! Here's a clip about season four!
I love horror movies. It's my favorite genre and it probably seems uncharacteristic of me. I'm not sure what it is about horror that I like so much because I definitely don't like being scared. I don't watch horror when I'm going to be home all alone for a night. Sometimes I cringe at the gore or I hide my face during a suspenseful moment and maybe that is what horror is all about. The whole point of the genre.
Demons are not my favorite but The Possession was a very decent movie. I actually watched thinking it was another movie called Sinister. Clearly it wasn't the same movie! But it was still quite good. The Possession is about a little girl who buys an old box at a lawn-sale. What's in the box possesses her and her father will stop at nothing to get that demon out of his little girl.
Not an original plot but it was still entertaining. The movie is based off a real box called the Dybbuk box. Jewish folklore defines a dybbuk is a restless spirit believed to be able to haunt and possess the living. The box was first brought to light by previous owner Kevin Mannis who put the box up for auction on ebay. Mannis said that the box had "belonged to a Holocaust survivor named Havela, who had escaped to Spain prior
to her immigration to the United States. Havela purposely sealed a
dybbuk inside the box after it contacted her and friends performing a
seance with a homemade oracle board."
When Mannis opened the box, according to Wiki, he found "that it contained two 1920s pennies, a
lock of blonde hair bound with cord, a lock of black/brown hair bound
with cord, a small statue engraved with the Hebrew word 'Shalom', a
small, golden wine goblet, one dried rose bud, and a single candle
holder with four octopus-shaped legs; all items supposedly used in
Jewish folklore to exorcise demons."
The Dybbuk box is very cool and, if the information on Wiki is correct, has had interesting experiences with its past owners:
"Numerous owners of the box have reported that strange phenomena
accompany it. In his story, Mannis claimed he experienced a series of
horrific nightmares shared with other people while they were in
possession of the box or when they stayed at his home while he had it.
His mother suffered a stroke on the same day he gave her the box as a
birthday present – October 28. Every owner of the box has reported that
smells of cat urine or jasmine flower and nightmares involving an old hag accompany the box. Iosif Neitzke, a Missouri student at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri
and the last person to auction the box on eBay, claimed that the box
caused electronic failure – phenomena from lights burning out in his
house to computer failure, a mysterious insect swarm centering around
the box, and unexplained medical conditions such as extreme and sudden
hair loss. Jason Haxton, Director of the Museum of Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville, Missouri,
had been following Neitzke's blogs regarding the box and when he was
ready to be rid of the box Neitzke sold it to Haxton. Haxton wrote The Dibbuk Box, and claimed that he subsequently developed strange health problems, including hives,
coughing up blood, and "head-to-toe welts" His wife experienced
"bloody, weeping, blisters" after coming in contact with clothing he
wore during a failed containment attempt. His office also experienced
the bursting of light bulbs, shared by Neitzke and Mannis and computer
failures akin to Neitzke's experiences.
Upon removal of the box from the museum, Haxton had locked the box in
the back of his truck, parking it at his home in the evening. Haxton
experienced nightmares of Hag-like women, not unlike Mannis's claims.
The final straw, Haxton claims, happened while he and his son were
watching television and his son noticed a black flame-like mass in the
room with them. Haxton consulted with Rabbis
to try to figure out a way to seal the dybbuk in the box again.
Apparently successful, he took the freshly resealed box and hid it at a
secret location, which he will not reveal."
I personally do not believe in demons, ghosts, aliens, or anything of the sort. However, I still like movies and stories about those topics. The Possession is a great horror film! It has that typical horror end where more could possibly happen in the future. Plus it has a great cast! Jeffrey Dean Morgan plays the father and Kyra Sedgwick plays the mother. I feel like Sedgwick is too big a name for her small role but it was still nice to see her. Natasha Calis plays the girl who gets possessed and Madison Davenport plays her older sister. Both are unknowns but I think they did a wonderful job, especially Calis. Being possessed seems like a hard job! So, in honor of it almost being fall, almost being October my favorite month, and eventually being Halloween, here's a good horror! It's streaming right now on Netflix, so please enjoy!
PS. I wanted to add that Marisyahu is in this film. He's a musician and has done music for a few of movies plus has two of his own albums. I am not familiar with him but Caleb recognized him right away.
Caleb introduced me to the movie Event Horizon. We had each browsed through all that Netflix and Amazon Prime had to offer us. In the end, I handed him the remote, closed my eyes, and said "pick anything." I was, of course, a bit nervous because I was sure this was going to be a really stupid movie, but I was wrong. It was great! Well, it was sort of stupid but in a good way.
Event Horizon, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, came out in 1997. For a film that came out that long ago, I am impressed with its CGI capabilities. Normally, as you might know, I am not a fan of computer graphics but this is a case where it's necessary and it works. Paul Anderson is probably best known for his Resident Evil movies. He wrote, directed, and produced them.
The film is about a rescue crew, of sorts, that investigate a lost space ship called the Event Horizon. It got lost in a black hole that it created and now something sinister is hiding on board. It's a great horror/sci-fi and I'm not always a huge fan of sci-fi. Though, I do seem to like most of the sci-fi movies I see, I just wouldn't pick them to watch myself. But if it's someone else's idea, then why not?
You will probably recognize Sam Neill as Dr. William Weir. Neill has been in tons of stuff like Jurassic Park, Daybreakers, and The Horse Whisperer. He's talented and versatile, though in my opinion he plays creepy the best.
Then there's Captain Miller, the captain of the rescue team, played by Laurence Fishburne. He is best known for being in The Matrix and taking over as lead on CSI.
According to IMDB, there are a lot of neat facts about Event Horizon and I feel the need to share them. Because this blog is supposed to be about how the movie is made and interesting things that most people don't know about them. However, I get too excited while I write and totally stray away. Oops! So, here's some neat stuff!:
The space suits worn by the actors weighed 65 pounds each. Due to the weight, standing upright in them for
longer periods could lead to back injury, but sitting down was not
possible either due to the backpack. Special "hanging poles" were
constructed on the set, so the actors could rest on them between takes.
The Event Horizon was modeled on Notre Dame cathedral. Its long corridor
resembles a church nave, and its interior is filled with cruciform
shapes, columns and vaults. Also, its engines resemble rotated church
towers.
When the Lewis and Clark first docks with the Event Horizon, the number of the main airlock is briefly visible: 13.
The Event Horizon was named after the theoretical boundary surrounding a
black hole, within which gravitational attraction is so great that
nothing, not even radiation, can escape because the escape velocity is
greater than the speed of light. Technically, it is where the physical
universe ends and physical laws no longer apply. So the ship's name is
symbolic for its journey beyond the borders of the known universe.
Philip Eisner wrote
the movie after a family tragedy. He had recently entered a
multi-picture writing agreement, and in an effort to force himself to
get back to work he pitched the idea of "The Shining in space" to the
studio, who were very receptive.
The rotational shot of the space station over earth took nearly a third of the film's budget.
Some of the lost footage includes a great deal more of the
Bosch-influenced Hell sequences and of the orgiastic video log that was
found in the Event Horizon. This was shot by both director Paul W.S. Anderson and Vadim Jean, mainly on weekends.
The shot where Sam Neill stares out of a window which then pulls back to reveal he's on the deck
of a spaceship orbiting Earth took the digital special effects house
Cinesite 10 weeks to achieve. The shot lasts for 45 seconds.
What I take from all the trivia is that Event Horizon is a complex movie. I really did enjoy this one! It's streaming right now on Netflix and I think you should check it out if you haven't seen it already. If you have, then maybe you should watch it again for old time's sake! It's a great horror/sci-fi so if you like those genres then this is a good movie for you! Enjoy!
Watch the clip below for an intense scene between Captain Miller and a crewman. I love how he listens to the whole thing and his face is like "Yeah, this doesn't surprise me."
