kindertrauma

Author: unkle lancifer

It's a Horror to Know You:: Bigwig!

Posted on By unkle lancifer

It's a Horror to Know You: Bigwig

Hey Guys;

I would have submitted this ages ago, but was trumped by 5 interesting places on the internet, (I would have had no problem with 5 places to avoid) and the fact that I'm not really a Horror-phile in comparison to most others who frequent the site. (I'm more a Trauma-phile I suppose.) Anyway, you can only sit along the wall while the others dance for so long, so here goes nothing…

1. What is the first film that ever scared you?

That would be Live and Let Die, as shown at the pool we belonged to one summer Saturday night. I was about seven, and we had seen a few tame Disney movies at the pool previously. I was on the kid's blanket with my friends, away from any adults. James Bond shooting it up wasn't a shocker….it was the voodoo ritual scenes, specifically Baron Samadhi's screen appearances…"The Man who Couldn't Die"… Was he even supposed to be real? At one point, his head gets blown off, and it turns out he was mechanical (?), but then sure enough he comes back to fight and fall in a coffin of snakes, plus, he's on the train cowcatcher at the end. Very vivid…

2. What is the last film that scared you?

I'll have to say Prometheus for this one. Say what you will of the plot, it captured for me the exact same sense of "Space Dread" that we had as young un's watching Alien in the theatre unsupervised when such things mattered. (The conundrum of getting frightened, but not being able to tell a parent why at night, since you were forbidden to go to R rated movies, making the nights even worse) The fact that there was an escaping internal logic to what was happening with the black goo, only made it scarier in my mind, and I didn't mind it one bit.

3. Name three horror movies that you believe are underrated

The Skeleton Key. Maybe it harkens back to Baron Samadhi, but I really thought this was a well done voodoo flick. Good heady scares without the gore – my kind of movie. John Hurt was especially convincing, and all the more when you realized his true predicament.

The Ordeal (AKA Calvaire). Not very well known, and truly disturbing to me. The dance scene alone is worth a watch. Quite Lynchian. Probably the one movie of my adulthood that still manages to have me thinking at night.

Let the Right One In (Non-English version) (probably not underrated, but I never hear it talked about). As an adult and parent, the scene that nails me is the confrontation at the pool. The extreme vulnerability and the age of the (almost) victim juxtaposed against his clothed attackers sets off every alarm I have in my body. Subtitles somehow make it all the more riveting.
If the last one doesn't qualify, substitute it with Videodrome, which doesn't seem nearly as abstract in concept 30 years later…kind of like Naked Lunch with a healthy smattering of Night Flight.

4. Name three horror movies you enjoy against your better judgment.

The Incredible Melting Man. I remember this trailer very well, but was too young to even think about wanting to see it, not that I would have. But ever since I have, I won't miss it. Perhaps the least rational movie of its decade.

Return of the Living Dead. This gets my vote for the soundtrack alone. The Cramps, TSOL, 45 Grave, the Flesheaters — all this goodness before Goth/Psychobilly was even dreamed up as a concept which in turn sunk the fun. At least one zombie (the one in the tank) could have posed as the Incredible Melting Man!

Altered States. I would hardly call this a horror film, and boy the effects get cheesy, but I dunno, something about William Hurt pounding the hallway at the end he devolves into Proto-Blob status trying to keep it together….another one that had me up as a teen hoping my bad choices in drug experimentation didn't lead me down that path.

5.Send us five places on the internet!

No thanks; please go on without me…

It's a Horror to Know You:: Adam Sherlock of A Damn Movie Podcast

Posted on By unkle lancifer

It's a Horror to Know You: Adam Sherlock of A Damn Movie Podcast!

1. What is the first film that ever scared you?

I remember being really scared of Garfield's Halloween Adventure. The idea of the ghost pirates, and the fact that they follow him BACK to his house always terrified me. Also, the episode of The Bloodhound Gang where the house was supposed to be haunted.

As far as films go, Poltergeist was huge, to the point where any 80's architecture creeps me out and makes me think of Questa Verde. And of course Jaws held massive sway over my tender young mind. For years I was sure that there was a trap door in my bathtub that led to a shark tank. I also saw a trailer for Blood Beach as a child and was forever traumatized. But the reigning champ is still the librarian ghost from Ghostbusters. I saw this in the theater with my dad and just about jumped out of my skin when it transformed. I thought about that stupid ghost for months after that.

2. What is the last film that scared you?

There have been a few the last couple of years that have really done a number on me. Lake Mungo, which has such a surprising emotional and artistic impact that I thought about it for days, not to mention an undercurrent of real world dread. Absentia, which refuses to ever become a traditional horror film, whether through not giving us shocking scares, but rather ones that make us know what it might feel like to be losing ones mind. And speaking of losing your mind, The Eclipse with Ciaran Hinds has a couple of scenes that made me accidently drop kick the beer I was drinking across my living room.

And finally, The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh does some amazing stuff with just atmosphere and one of the things that gets me more than just about anything: Religious Cult crap! Those who have seen this (which is streaming on Netflix) will know what scene got me the worse. It has to do with a quaint little framed needlepoint saying on the wall. Yikes!

3. Name three horror movies that you believe are underrated.

I go nuts for undiscovered or underrated. It's a trait I am still holding onto from high school, when having that record by that really good punk band meant something (before the internet made all of that obsolete).

Let's start with the Dowdle Brothers' The Poughkeepsie Tapes. It's kind of a shame that nothing they have done since (Quarantine, Devil) in any way live up to the grim terror and surreal viciousness of this film. There are some real August Underground-esque levels of depravity here and some really effective unsettling doom and gloom with fairly little gore. Is some of the acting cheesy? Sure. But it cost them $500,000 dollars! Plus, it was a real stroke of genius to take the found footage genre and go full Court TV Forensic Files with it. I love this movie.

I know that you guys have talked about it a little bit on your site, but I want to give another shout out to Exorcist 3: Legion. There are so many reasons why I think that this movie should be more important. It's always a shame when a studio gets their hands in a film and twists it away from its original vision. And to be sure, the last twenty minutes of lightning, snakes, acrobatic priests and pyrotechnics does nothing but fly in the face of the deft and subtle hand of Director William Peter Blatty. But let's not get bogged down in that. What still works? The arguments of morality and faith between Father Dyer and Lt. Kinderman. The incredible performances from George C. Scott, Brad Durif and Ed Flanders. The slow, methodical pacing of the first half of the film, having us show up after the gruesome scenes, and not showing us the atrocities, but just showing us Scott's face as he reacts to them. Brilliant. Not to mention some of the most memorable single images. The statue of Christ with no head, old ladies playing the piano too fast, the neatly organized jars of blood, the scissor-legged figure in the white sheet bounding down the hall, and heart attack of heart attacks: the old lady climbing across the ceiling.

Alright. My third may be a little controversial. I thought that the second installment of Paranormal Activity was the stupidest thing I ever saw (probably not true, but hyperbole is just so damn fun). Why should I be scared of a pool vacuum? Who green-lighted this thing? But I gave the third installment a chance, and I am really glad I did. I loved the throwback to the 80's timeline, and it makes sense to set a found footage film in this era. We were crazier about filming everything when home camcorders came of age than we are now. I like how Paranormal Activity 3 adds to the mythology of the girls. Toby is a pretty creepy (giant rabbit?) entity, but nowhere near as creepy as some of the reveals towards the end. Everything gets pretty Wicker Man, which as I said above, the culty thing always freaks me out. And, one of the most cheap / effective scares? A freaking person under a sheet! Man, that takes some serious cojones to put that in your film, but it was AWESOME! Too bad that part 4 was so god-awful.

4. Name three horror movies that you enjoy against your better judgment.

I'm going to start with a movie that I think is actually pretty good, and well done (no pun intended) but that in and of itself is one of the problems. The movie is Long Pigs, a Mockumentary style film that follows serial killer cannibal Anthony McAllister while he does his ‘work'. Far from a perfect film, a lot of the acting and realistic portrayals are really creepy, shocking and effective. I guess I have the same problem with this as I do with something like Nekromantik. I am drawn to the things I find the most repulsive, and then when I get so queasy later that I can't finish my dinner, I get really pissed at myself.

So I know that for some people, Prince Of Darkness is a great film, but for me, it is pretty embarrassing. Lots of the effects in it just suck, like the whole green ooze, the dude made of bugs, not nearly enough creature transformation, etc. let's not forget that this is the same year that Hellraiser came out and a year after Aliens and The Fly, so the bar was pretty high. Plus, it's John Carpenter, fer crying out loud! Then the whole homeless people army led by Alice Cooper (who does nothing but stare menacingly at our main characters and eventually kills someone with a bike!?!), this movie has a lot of problems. SO why have I watched it fifteen times? I LOVE the story here. The idea of the end times being explored by scientists inside of an old church. The hubris of researchers accidentally unmasking some ancient evil that they cannot control totally gives me the willies. And the whole ‘transmission from the future' with a veiled in fog silhouette of some Lovecraft like ‘old one' is totally the stuff of nightmares.

Finally, Dr. Tarr's Torture Dungeon (A.K.A. The Mansion Of Madness) is one of my favorite films, but at times it is almost unwatchable due to it's low budget, acting and overall weirdness. Directed by Juan Lopez Moctezuma (who was a protégé of Alejandro Jodorowsky's, and actually served as a producer on El Topo, if that is any indication) it was filmed in Mexico, and then all of the actors voices were dubbed over. It isn't a good movie, but man, some of the visuals are hilarious, violent, and all around painfully surreal. There is a dandy Prince look-a-like, an awful rape scene with Benny Hill style music set to it, a man dressed up as a giant chicken, a psychedelic dance sequence with a group of women who look like the Bene Gesserit witches from Dune. You get the picture. It's like a bad fever dream. Plus, the whole thing is on YouTube!

5. Send us to five places on the Internet!

1. I need to pimp my podcast of course, A DAMN MOVIE PODCAST. We are currently getting ready to celebrate our 200th episode. We have been doing this since 2008. We review all kinds of films, old and new, and are super casual about it. Just a couple of buddies sitting around drinking beers and being nerds.

2. I also would like to share my job website. I help incarcerated youth tell their own personal stories in radio podcast form. It's called Sending Messages, and it is basically a This American Life for incarcerated kids. Check it out HERE.

3. I totally just stumbled onto this guy's stuff. It is very genre based artwork, and it is really gorgeous. It is also very NSFW, but the combination of pin up girls with giant creepy robots and sea monsters is your thing, THIS GUY is right up your alley.

My last one is a friend's movie review blog that is just plain stellar. If you like in depth thought provoking film critique, check it out: HERE.

Name That Trauma:: Michelle D. on an Aussie Anti- Smoking Ad

Posted on By unkle lancifer

Hi! Before I begin I would like to say how awesome your site is even though I'm not into horror myself.

Maybe you can help me with this trauma.

It was the '90s and I was a little maybe nine or ten and I remember this one particular ad that used to scare me and I would dread it when it came on.

It's an Aussie ad from "smarter than smoking" And that was a talking cigarette with a rather sinister voice. One part of the ad he would say "All I want is your money… AND I'LL TAKE YOUR HEALTH!!!" He would laugh and say "I'm going to get you. We come in packs!" Then he laughs manically. Brrrr. I don't think I was the only one scared of that ad as it didn't last very long on the set.

UNK SEZ: Thanks Michelle! Hopefully one of our Aussie pals will remember this one too! As for myself, I just learned the hard way never to google "anti smoking ad"! What a horror show! The delusional commercial below is more my speed!

Sunday Streaming:: In Her Skin (2009)

Posted on By unkle lancifer

Who wants to feel terrible? Yeah, me too! Gather around because I'm about to ruin your day! Don't be shy! I only want to confirm your suspicions that humans are capable of the most horrible things. IN HER SKIN is based on a true story and I'm still trying to wrap my head around that. It's the tragic tale of a family dealing with the disappearance of their 15-year-old daughter and their coming to terms with what befell her once her heart-breaking fate is discovered. It's currently on Netflix Streaming and why have I never heard of it? People should throw awards at everybody in it! Did you like HEAVENLY CREATURES? Of course you did! And you'll dig this also. I say that because this too is a reality-based story with flashes of surreal, psychologically expressive fantasy not because I don't know the difference between New Zealand where HEAVENLY CREATURES is set and Australia where IN HER SKIN's events occurred. I promise I do.

It's hard to imagine anyone who would want to do harm to the Barbers' daughter, Rachel who is pretty, talented and loves life. That is until you meet her next-door neighbor and former baby sitter Caroline Reid Robertson who is not so pretty, not so talented and not so life-loving. Caroline suffers from a raging hatred of herself. She covets Rachel's seemingly charmed existence to the point where she fantasizes, obsesses and ultimately devises a plan to appropriate her life by destroying it. If I'm making this sound like your standard SINGLE WHITE-usurper Lifetime drama than I really stink because it's not. Director/writer SIMONE NORTH takes what could have been such and creates something darkly poetic and profound.

GUY PEARCE and MIRANDA OTTO give excellent performances as the slowly loosing hope parents of Rachel and SAM NEILL is convincingly artic as Caroline's emotionally absent father. The real stunner though is RUTH BRADLEY as roaring misery monster Caroline. She oozes the most uncomfortable type of madness… sad, sick, insecure and, most challenging of all, somewhat sympathetic. (She kept me flashing back to that line from SESSION 9: "I live in the weak and the wounded".) As impossible as her actions are to fathom, it's nearly as difficult to understand the inaction of those in her life to get her the help she outright begged for.

Grim, shocking and fascinating, IN HER SKIN coils around the viewer like a snake. As rare as this true case may be there's something common and timely about Caroline's frenzied coveting of someone else's life to the point of destroying it and her own. Seriously, how much of our current culture goads and feeds upon people hating themselves and desiring to be someone else? This is a hard movie to watch and it's a hard movie to turn away from- even though turning away is exactly what we all seem to have been trained to do. Go on, check it out. You're looking a little too chipper today anyway.

Mad Monster Funhouse Part 2!

Posted on By unkle lancifer

Dear friendly humans, how many of these monsters do you know? Can you name the titles of the movies they appeared in? One lucky commenter will win MAD MONSTER MAGAZINE issues 2 and 3!

Each fantastic issue sports a feature penned by yours truly! For more on MAD MONSTER check out this evil lair HERE! Good luck!

Name That Trauma:: Philip W. on a Detergent Demon

Posted on By unkle lancifer

Love the site! Back in the late 70s, there was a commercial for a dishwashing detergent that featured an animated green monster that had a head reminiscent of Mr. Clean's and who's arms and legs were straight and ended in points. I suppose it was a representation of either caked-on food or the detergent itself – I don't remember the finer points, being quite young. This commercial absolutely terrified me. Does anyone know what the detergent was?

UNK SEZ: Thanks Philip! I'm happy to say I know this one like the back of my hand! You are speaking of Kindertrauma's arch nemesis "The Spotmaker"! That snidely goblin was the reluctant spokesperson for CALGONITE! You can find an earlier traumafession that includes a partial list of Spotmaker's cinematic appearances HERE!

NOTE: It turns out that CALGONITE commercials are terrifying even without The Spotmaker….

Name That Trauma:: Blaine H. on a Circus Set Clown Chase

Posted on By unkle lancifer

Hi,

Please help me find this movie…

I remember watching a film when I was younger. It was on TV. I couldn't have watched it any later than 1998. So it was definitely made before then.

I'm not sure what it was about, but it featured a scene where this scary clown or circus guy was chasing this kid through a circus; around the big tents, under cables and storage areas, and in the truck area etc. He was really creepy looking – probably a clown as this is what gave me a fear of clowns.

That's all I remember. It was dark, at night when this chase happened. I got the feeling it was in a European city, maybe Budapest or Moscow, but it could have been anywhere. It was on TV in the UK when I was younger, so it wouldn't have been an obscure foreign film, it must be a US or UK-produced film, and despite it being scary, I feel it was made for kids. It was on on a Sunday lunch afternoon so it was definitely a PG and not a "horror" movie.

Any ideas?

PS: It wasn't IT Although that also contributed to my fear of clowns.

UNK SEZ: Shame on me for not knowing the answer to this clown themed NTT right off the bat! My first instinct is CLOWNHOUSE (1989) but I can't find a scene of a kid being chased at the circus! My second guess is KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE (1988) but something tells me that one would have left a more vivid impression. I do know that a kid is chased on fairgrounds in THE FUNHOUSE (1981) but like my other guesses that doesn't fit your "not horror" description at all! I'm going to need some help on this one!

Name That Trauma:: Woody Monster on an Ear Severing Silver Disc

Posted on By unkle lancifer

I recently stumbled onto Kindertrauma, and I'm already hooked. I would love it if you guys could help me figure out what movie scared the crap out of me as a kid. I don't remember much about most of the movie, but there was one thing that was imprinted on my brain. I remember being terrified of this movie. There was a silver disc like object that could float and fly up to high speeds. On the side of this disc was an eye. At one point this sharp barb ejects from the disc and it rips a guy's ear off. That probably isn't much to go from, I was quite young when I saw the movie. If I'm not mistaken there was also a scene with some type of impish creature that was quick and darted and ducked around shelves and corners (again, it was so long ago that might not even be part of the same movie). If anyone could help, I know it would be you guys.

UNK SEZ: Thanks Woody! This one had me stumped but then I realized that perhaps the "disc" was actually a sphere and that would land your NTT right in the PHANTASM zone! I do know that in PHANTASM 2 (1988) an ear is most definitely sliced off by one of the series' signature silver spheres! This would also fit in with your recollection of an imp as there are some hooded gnome-types running around in this picture! Taking a screen-shot of the floating devil, I even think I can see where one might imagine an eye! I hope this helps. If anybody has another guess , please let us know about it in the comments section!

Sunday Streaming:: My Amityville Horror (2012)

Posted on By unkle lancifer

If you wanted to trap me and keep me prisoner it would be easy. All you'd have to do is a put a T.V. in the room you desire to detain me in and have that T.V. playing CELEBRITY GHOST STORIES, PARANORMAL WITNESS, A HAUNTING or anything else of that ilk. I will be trapped. I will be incapable of escape as long as a supernatural eyewitness show is playing. I love ghost stories. I love hearing people recount frightening things that happened to them (hence this site). I am your best audience if you have a scary story to tell. I will believe you! All you need do is be sincere! MY AMITYVILLE HORROR is fascinating but only because I will behave like a jolly raccoon toward any Amityville crumb that is flung at me. Beyond that, it's undeniably unsatisfying. "High Hopes" indeed.

On paper the thing can't loose. Who wouldn't want to have a conversation with the eldest son of the infamous Lutz family who spent roughly a month being terrorized in the world's most haunted abode? The only trouble is Daniel Lutz is the type of guy that if you bumped into him on the street and he said, "Hey, buddy can I talk to you?" the first thought that would pop into your head would be, "Oh geez, here comes a spiel!" He does not instill confidence; rather, one just hopes they can squirm away from him without having bought a used car. I can't blame Daniel for this documentary feeling weak though; he's obviously been around the block and has learned to fill his pockets with as many meatballs as he can until someone flags him. It's not his fault director ERIC WALTER seems too intimidated to cut through the subterfuge. I guess a documentary is supposed to just present the facts and not push any agenda but does that mean it has to be completely directionless? I don't need to be shown that Dan can play guitar. I assumed as much at soon as I saw him.

I don't know enough about his experience to call Daniel Lutz a liar. I do know enough to say that he exhibits every cliché giveaway that a seasoned con man would. He's defensive, he jumps to add extra detail when he senses he's flailing and he's quick to imply that there's something inadequate about the listener if they fail to believe him. There is at least one moment where he comes off as genuine, Dan is recounting an incident at the house where the garage door was opening and slamming shut on its own accord. The family dog tries to jump a fence to escape the insanity only to end up nearly hanging itself on its own leash. This is the incident that has left Dan with the most emotional damage, his personal ground zero. He has been tellingly haunted by nightmares of it for decades. Sometimes he dreams he is the dog. This is beautiful to me! What a perfect representation of Dan's ordeal! He, like the dog, tried to escape the house only to find himself on a short leash choking. There's the heart of the movie! But no, let's not talk about that. Let's take Dan to the world's most transparent psychologist who blunders through lame, "I'll just repeat what you said with affirmation" therapy. Dan: I'm angry. Psychologist: It sounds like you're angry. Dan: It was really frustrating. Therapist: Wow, it sounds like you were really frustrated! There is no reason for this (his first!) session to be in the movie. It can only go nowhere and so it does.

So why the heck am I making this a Sunday Streaming pick if Dan is as shady as a willow tree, the director is a too- passive bystander and even the appearance of Lorraine Warren fails to make things seem anything less than a grasping at straws (in this case, magic splinters from Jesus' cross) pitch for semi-relevance? I dunno. If you have Netflix Streaming it's already sorta paid for and is kinda free-ish and I say that's the right price! I hate to sound so negative but I would have loved to believe Dan's story if only the cost wasn't being left feeling like a strong-armed chump.

In the absence of anything mind blowing I suppose I was supposed to walk away happy with the newfound knowledge that George Lutz was a crappy step dad and the house was a breeding ground for garden-variety dysfunction. Take a number with the, "My old man was a bastard" story buddy- I'm here for the demon pig! (That reminds me, Dan does mention our pal Jodie and describes the porcine superstar as "a cartoon pig." How trippy is that? And how maddening that he's not pressed to elaborate!) Oh, heck, I'm cursed! I'll always be interested in anything AMITYVILLE! I can't help it! It's such a big part of my childhood. If you want something fulfilling though this ain't it! I suggest THE HAUNTING OF RODDY PIPER instead.