Name That Trauma:: Shane M. on a Cop Show Cross Dressing Killer
Hi, I have been a fan of your wonderful site for a long time, and I have something that I hope someone can help me with. When I was younger there aired on TV an episode from some cop program, it might have been Starsky and Hutch, I'm not sure. There was a crazed woman killing people, who would dress up as a man, wearing a derby and a suit, and would walk in the darkness saying to victims "You, you, I'm going to kill you". Thats all I can remember, and if anyone remembers what TV show this was from I appreciate it.
Society (1989)
Is it possible that I read too much into horror films? Am I hallucinating subtext where there is none in order to justify my obsession? Well, I needn't worry about subtext when it comes to Brian Yuzna's SOCIETY (1989). If I interpret it to be about rich people sucking the life out of the poor, it's because in the film, rich people grow giant puckering lips, seize the poor and suck the life right out of them. Actually, they do far worse than that but to describe it would mean thinking about it and I just had lunch. Much of SOCIETY operates as a paranoid mystery, so I'm sorry if I just gave away the ending. Don't worry, even though everything suspected within the film is revealed to be true, there's no way you can possibly imagine what that entails. Suffice to say, the wealthy are not shown in the best of light but I suppose into each life a little rain must fall.
Bill Whitney (BILLY WARLOCK son of DICK WARLOCK of HALLOWEEN II and III!) is at the age where he is starting to feel disconnected from his family and their values. Part of his mounting alienation may be due to the fact that he is adopted and part of it is probably because he's heard a tape recording of his parents planning and participating in a deranged orgy with his sister. His parent's obsession with garden slugs and his sister's ability to twist and contort her body in impossible ways while showering only add fuel to the fires of mistrust. You'd think that having three-time scream queen HEIDI KOZAK (FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 7: THE NEW BLOOD; SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE II's zit girl) for a girlfriend would be enough for a guy, but Bill has got his cagey eye on exotic and suspiciously limber Clarissa (DEVIN DeVASQUEZ). His psychiatrist is zero help and if you've watched any conspiracy movie in the history of ever you know why.
The horror genre is one that is granted some added leeway to be as bizarre and inappropriate as it can get away with, so it's a big fat shame that more filmmakers don't take advantage of that extra elbowroom. BRIAN (BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR) YUZNA's SOCIETY is refreshingly oblivious to good taste and it delivers all the creativity and originality that audiences beg for and so often overlook once they receive it. I'd say it's a little too breezy and footloose in the storytelling department but if it is that type of freewheeling attitude that ultimately opens the door for the gooey, loony, hilariously unhinged insanity that concludes the film, I'll take it. I'd appreciate a better mapped out route but as long as I end up someplace I've never been, I'm happy.
There is a downside to SOCIETY though, at least for me, knowing that the last third of the movie is an explosive orgy of ferociously perverse, audaciously surreal, bold-faced bacchanalia, makes the first two thirds feel like a bit of a semi-chore. Before we're finally gifted with the full-disclosure finale, we're subjected to more than any movie's fair share of stalling. Suspicious evidence is discovered, discounted and rediscovered in a tiresome loop and too much of what transpires has no relevance at all. Fortunately the cast is likable enough to keep things afloat and of course there's always the added charm of the time period in which SOCIETY was filmed. More than anything though, if you have any interest in the art of pre-CGI special effects the work here, care of SCREAMING MAD GEORGE, is required viewing. I don't know if it "holds up," I just know that it's fantastic and that it's gorgeously grotesque and thank God it's captured on film. So what if we end up with a half hour's worth of material stretched like taffy to three times that length? Since that half hour is three times more potent than what is standard, I say, fair enough.
Name That Trauma:: Pupils T. on a Claymation Granny Back From the Dead
Hi, I just discovered Kindertrauma a little while ago, and I have loved reading it. I'm a big horror fan, and reading some of the traumafessions led me to try and remember some of the things that scared the hell out of me as a child.
I remembered something I had seen a long time ago that I couldn't name that absolutely scared the shit out of me as a kid. I used to love watching Wallace and Gromit with my mom, growing up. We would rent the VHS tapes from the local blockbuster. I remember that on one of the tapes, and sadly I can't remember which, there was a preview for another stop motion animation. The style was sort of crude looking, and from what I can recall it was about a young girl and her… Well, I'm not sure if it was her aunt or her grandma or what, but there was something about her being dead, or coming back from the dead, and there was this crazy swirly portal. I think it was probably a comedy, but all I can remember is this creepy old dead lady, and that she called the little girl 'dearie'. I used to have nightmares after that, where I would go into my parents room to wake my dad up. I'd approach from the back, climb over mom, and then when I got to the side where his face was I'd find him as a zombie with one eyeball hanging out of its socket. After that I was sometimes afraid to lift the covers off his face in the morning. I would check to make sure both my parents were still alive. It was the idea of an adult relative, someone who you're supposed to trust and rely on, becoming something other that scared me so much. I have often wondered if the 'trailer' itself was just a nightmare. I've tried googling it, but I can't find it. So, did I hallucinate it entirely? Or does anyone else remember this?
It's a Horror to Know You:: Todd Miller Author of A Silence of Spiders!
It's a Horror to Know You: Todd Miller author of A Silence of Spiders!
1. What was the first film that ever scared you?
My parents did a pretty good job of keeping me away from scary images in the movies and on television—until that fateful plane ride to Amsterdam in the summer of 1978. Just seven-years-old, I was tricked into watching the in-flight movie: Who's Killing the Great Chefs of Europe. At some point Jacqueline Bisset is wandering around in some fancy kitchen, when she opens up one of the ovens and out pops a hideously charred human arm! I spent the rest of the plan ride cowering under the seat, bitterly cursing Dutch hospitality.
But the first scary movie I remember seeing all the way through was The Black Hole. I can hear Walt Disney now…
"Hey, kids! Come to our wholesome Walt Disney movie! It takes place in Outer Space, just like that other Outer Space Movie you kids like so much. And our movie's got robots! In fact, our movie has a big, scary red robot named Maximillian. And he's got little chainsaws for hands. Look out, spaceman Anthony Perkins! Maximillian is going to get you! Oh, no! Look, kids! Spaceman Anthony Perkins is getting butchered right before your very eyes! And here's a bunch of black-robed, lobotomized drones with hideous ghoul faces under their gleaming metal masks! And here's that lobotomy machine we were talking about earlier. It shoots lasers into your brain! Uh-oh, now everybody's getting sucked into that giant black hole, and oops! Now the bad guy is trapped in a burning Hell surrounded by the flailing bodies of the damned!"
Thanks, Walt.
1. What is the last film that scared you?
The last film that really creeped me out was Carnival of Souls. This movie marches along to the beat of it's own drum, and man, that drum is weird.
A young woman named Mary is the sole survivor of a drag race gone bad, and shortly after the accident she takes a new job in a far-away, desert town as a church organist. And, well, things get really strange from there.
What's going on in that dark, abandoned amusement park on the edge of town? Why does Mary always play that creepy organ music as if she's in some kind of hypnotic trance? And what exactly is causing those unsettling moments when Mary appears to become invisible to everyone else?
And then there is The Man. A white-faced apparition who appears without warning, in her dreams, in her waking hours, reaching for her, trying to pull her back to the whirling, never-ending dance at the amusement park…the dance of the damned.
2. Name three horror movies that you believe are underrated.
1. If Frankenstein is the Grandfather of all Mad Scientist movies, then Island of Lost Souls is their Great Uncle, the bad one that nobody talks about anymore. It's too bad that the movie seems to be best remembered for inspiring the lyrics of a Devo song, because Island of Lost Souls is a wild, kinky freak-out festival of darkness and perversity.
The film is based on H.G. Wells's book The Island of Dr. Monreau, but plenty of liberties are taken with the source material and what ends up hitting the screen is a boiling cauldron of American fears, circa 1932. And these fears aren't pretty (or politically-correct): The perils of Colonialism! Eugenics! Miscegenation! Rape! And, of course, the dangers of playing God with Science!
But, I'm making this sound way too academic.
A castaway ends up on a mysterious island and is gleefully taken in by the even more mysterious Dr. Moreau. The good doctor does experiments here in his secret jungle laboratory. Secret, mysterious experiments that usually involve someone…or something…screaming in agony. But don't worry about the Doctor. He's only a cheerful, smirking, civilized little sadist who likes to play with a whip.
And never mind the island's lumbering, hirsute inhabitants, with their fangs and pointy ears. They obey The Law. What is the Law? Not to run on all fours. Not to eat meat. Not to spill blood. Are we not men? Here, meet our only woman, Lota…don't you find her…strangely alluring? Wouldn't you like to…get to know her better? Never mind her strange fingernails…
2. In the 1970s, kids weren't just bad, they were Evil. And the Doublemint twins of Evil are Niles and Holland Perry, from The Other. Based on a book by Tom Tryon (author of the also excellent Harvest Home), The Other is a crafty, gothic tale of madness and murder set during the summer of 1935.
I know what you're thinking: one of the twins is good, and one is evil, blah, blah…YAWN. But, what if both of the twins are evil…or what if something else entirely different is going on? To say anymore would give away the devious plot twists that raise the movie to a whole other level of horror.
Instead, I'll just throw out a few tid-bits: a mysterious well, a woman in the attic, a grandmother from the Old Country, a circus freak show, a rickety staircase, a white rat, a pitchfork, Dad's old ring, a voice in the darkness, a book about Changelings…
The movie's deliberate pace isn't what we're used to these days, but try to stick it out. Holy moley, what an ending! It gave me goose bumps.
3. You know that Roman Polanski movie about the person who goes crazy in their apartment building because all the other tenants are evil? No, I mean the other one. Okay, I mean the other, other one—Roman Polanski's The Tenant, based on a book by Roland Topor.
The Tenant has been called the last film in Polanski's "Apartment Trilogy," and the story involves a somewhat meek man named Trelkovsky (played by Polanski) trying to rent a new apartment in a busy section of Paris. It seems the apartment's previous tenant just threw herself out the window, and when Trelkovsky goes to visit her in the hospital, he can't help but notice that one of her teeth is missing. Shortly after his visit, she dies, and the apartment becomes his to rent.
Ah, but the landlord is unreasonably strict, the other tenants are boorish and mean, and the noise complaints against Trelkovsky begin to pile up. Soon he can't help but notice that the neighbors are spying on him. A little house cleaning reveals a bizarre object that belonged to the former tenant, an object which sets in motion Trelkovsky's frightening descent into paranoia and madness. But is Trelkovsky going crazy, or is everyone really out to get him?
Why does the landlord insist he hears a woman in Trelkovsky's apartment at night? And why does Trelkovksy wake up one morning with painted fingernails? Or…does he? And, what's with the tooth?
This is a classic Person-Going-Crazy horror film, my favorite in the genre.
3. Name three horror movies that you enjoy against your better judgment.
1. Poor H.P. Lovecraft. There's never been a really good, big-budget adaptation of any of his stories. But there have been plenty of bad ones. One of the goofiest has to be Roger Corman's The Dunwich Horror, filmed in 1970 and staring Sandra Dee and Dean Stockwell as the evil hippie wizard Wilbur Whateley. And hey, the soundtrack is by faux-exotic lounge music composer Les Baxter!
Okay, they didn't have a lot of money for special effects. But, man, they try really hard to invoke the mind-blasting, sanity-shaking horror of encountering one of Lovecraft's cosmic baddies. What other movie presents a hideous dark god from another dimension in the flesh as a really, really bad acid trip? Incense and Peppermints! Yog-Sothoth!
Oh, those weirdo hippies with their Free Love and their Elder Gods! Dean Stockwell is perfect as an oily, ascot wearing youth with dangerous hair who needs the body of Sandra Dee to open up a portal to another universe. And just who is going to come out of that portal? I think you know…
2. The Stepford Wives is another movie which has been reduced to a pop culture catchphrase. You may think you don't need to see this movie because you already know the main surprise of the story. And it all sounds so completely over–the-top. Women getting replaced by robots? Please.
But, really, how is it any different than getting replaced by aliens from seed pods, or getting turned into a zombie, or any other horrible thing that can happen to a person, to their identity, in any number of scary movies? What is the loss of your identity, if not a kind of death?
It's all here, all the trapping of a good horror movie: paranoia, creepy clues that Something is Wrong in Stepford, our heroine's growing sense of isolation and fear as her friends are changed and her enemies grow stronger…
And then suddenly there's violence and the appearance of The Strange Thing…
"I'll just die if I don't get this recipe. I'll just die if I don't get this recipe. I'll just die if I don't get this recipe."
3. Way before Anthony Hopkins played Hannibal Lector, he was Corky Withers in Magic, a movie about an evil ventriloquist dummy. C'mon, we all know ventriloquist dummies are evil. Look at them. With their dead eyes and gaping mouths!
Okay, maybe the dummy isn't evil. Maybe eccentric, short-tempered ventriloquist Anthony Hopkins just has something wrong with his head. Crazy-wrong! Killing wrong!
As goofy as the concept sounds, the movie is incredibly clever. Let's just say that as Corky starts to make mistakes, and the bodies start to pile up, that watching him twist and turn in mental agony is good, creepy fun.
Plus, the dummy really is evil.
4. Send us five places on the Internets!
MATTHEW KIRSCHT – shout-out to my friend Matthew Kirscht, an artist whose work is inspired by 19th century Halloween imagery. (He also draws Wacky Packages for Topps.)
CTHULHU LIVES – The official website of the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society. They did a cracking-good silent movie adaptation of The Call of Cthulhu.
SPACE 1970 – A really fun blog about 1970s science-fiction movies. Soylent Green! Rollerball! Logan's Run!
MIKE"S AMAZING WORLD – A great resource for tracking down old horror comics.
THE BOOK DESIGNER– Helpful advice for self-publishing authors.
It's a Horror to Know You:: FatherOfTears!
It's an Horror to Know You: FatherOfTears!
OK, just who is this guy hiding behind a "Twin Peaks" character avatar? My name is Bob, age 45, and I reside in Northern New Jersey. My TV viewing back then could have been considered typical: Saturday morning cartoons, TV shows like "Emergency", "Kung Fu" and just about all those Sid & Marty Krofft shows. I also spent a good deal of time watching syndicated reruns of classic 60's TV shows like "Star Trek" and the Emma Peel/Tara King episodes of "The Avengers". I was also hooked on "The Little Rascals" too. There was also the comedy stuff like "Gilligan's Island", "I Dream of Jeannie", "Bewitched" and so forth. I did also spend a good deal of time watching sci-fi and horror movies on TV. Who didn't rush home from school to see ABC's "4:30" movie whenever "Monster Week" was on! Let's also remember WPIX Channel 11's "Chiller Theater" with the claymation 6 fingered hand coming out of a pool of blood:
Yes, a bit creepy bit it never scared me outright. I even saw "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" in a theater when it first came out and I thought those Ray Harryhausen animations were great! Now this was all early to mid 1970's and asides from a few scenes in "Star Trek" (The Empath absorbing McCoy's injuries and Scottie's alien possessed girlfriend) and a few TV commercials, one involving a cymbal monkey toy, I was never terrified from something seen either on TV or at the movies till 1977.
What is the first film that ever scared you?
A three way tie starting in the Summer of 1977. Yes, it involves a TV add for a Dario Argento movie:
I first saw this during a commercial break for "Welcome Back Kotter". Ten year old me thought this was some type of shampoo commercial and this was then popular brunette like Jacklyn Smith……till "she" turned around! Made my heart leap into my throat! Scared me so bad each time it came on I ran out of the room……while my seven year old sister ran into the room to watch it! For years just mentioning the name "Suspiria" would make me stop for a moment and freeze! After that it was the trailer for Magic:
That voice! The rolling eyes! It didn't make me run out of the room but I would sit by the TV sort of frozen in terror! Number three was an actual movie: The made for TV film "Salem's Lot". For years I was used to Lee and Lugosi's vampires who, while creepy, looked human. Reggie Nalder's Kurt Barlow scared me! Oh, the townsfolk vampires with their sunken eyes and pale faces were just as terror inducing! Don't get me started on those "window scenes" with the floating vampire kids!
What is the last film that scared you?
2005's "The Descent". The whole claustrophobic atmosphere in those caves got to me. OK, I'm not claustrophobic but I always feel uneasy watching a TV show on "The Discovery Channel" involving spelunking! Crawling in an 18 inch wide hole that could be filled half way with water! No lights except for you glow stick and flash light. Oh, those "Crawlers" reminded me a bit of the Barlow character from "Salem's Lot"!
Name three horror movies that you believe are underrated.
"The Witchmaker" (1969) A professor of paranormal studies and his student with psychic abilities go out with a small group to investigate reports of witchcraft of the Louisiana swamps. The sorcerer who resides in the swamp has killed young women for their blood so he can use it to summon his fellow evildoers. He has his sights on the psychic and he wants her in his coven. As for the rest of the group? Well……Some scenes do show the film's low budget but the dark exterior swamp scenes cast a feeling of eeriness as do the scenes in the underground lair where the sorcerer does his black magic.
"Messiah of Evil" (1973) OK, yet another zombie movie. However it has two of the all time classic zombie kills seen in a horror film. First there's the theater scene:
And then there's the supermarket scene where 1970's "The Price is Right" model Anitra Ford suddenly becomes the main course:
"Inferno" (1980) The sequel to "Suspiria". Some may not like the fact that Argento used Keith Emerson instead of Goblin. I thought he did a good job. Most of his pieces were more subtle than the Goblin music in the previous film but I don't think the eeriness felt in that New York apartment would have worked with more louder "Suspiria" pieces. Yes, the "Mater Tenebrarum" piece was out of place near the end of the film. The movie is also missing "Suspiria's" BOLD red colors but the featured blues and green work well here.
Name three horror movies that you enjoy against your better judgment.
Speaking of "Suspiria" sequels there's the film that's the basis for my username: "Mother of Tears". Yes, I found it not as good as the first two films though it wasn't completely wretched.
"The Return of Count Yorga" This was done with more for laughs. It does have its moments though. The scene where Yorga's brides crawl out the earth from their graves is good. It's also interesting to see Mariette Hartley, the lady from those "Polaroid" commercials in this as well as a young Craig T. Nelson. By the way, how did Yorga come back?
Speaking of horror films with Robert Quarry I also liked the zombie film he did called "Sugar Hill". Chrome colored zombies with silver eyes!
Send us to five places on the Internet!
I am a big fam of the current ABC series "Once Upon a Time" so here's that show's official site.
As some of you have seen I am a big fan of the classic TV series "Mystery Science Theater 3000". Here's the official fansite.
The official site of rising rock performer Annie Clark/St. Vincent.
The Kyle MacLachlan site.
And I might as well plug my Vimeo channel.
Name That Trauma:: Reader Cameron C. on a Vampire Book with Animal Ghosts
Greetings! First off I'd like to say how much I enjoy your website. I've already read my way through the entire Name That Trauma and Traumafession archives and have been turned on to some great things by doing so. Reading about other peoples traumas has made me think more about any unresolved fears that I had in my younger days. One that stands out to me is a book that I remember getting at my local library when I was in elementary school (maybe six or seven). The book was about vampires which I was absolutely obsessed with at the time (I remember making an effort to sleep with my neck out of the covers to be open to any chances of getting bit). The book was in the children's section of the library, but I really don't think it belonged there. It was a black hardcover book with cover art of a vampire wearing dark clothes with a pale white face and an impossibly large fang filled grin. The vampire also had what appeared to be bat white bat wings sticking out of the side of his head and blood dripping from his mouth. The picture wasn't drawn in a cartoony way but seemed like a piece of artwork made to look truly terrifying. The book was just a collection of legends and facts about vampires. I remember towards the end there was a section on animal ghosts for some reason. One of the animal ghost legends was something about a ghostly bull who cursed a bridge so that any pregnant woman who walked over it would lose her baby. I had nightmares after reading the book, but for some reason continued to take it out of the library periodically until some time in middle school. Each time I read it I ended up having nightmares (something that happens very rarely for me). It might have been called The Book of Vampires or something along those lines. It was probably the mid to late nineties when I first took the book out of the library, but the cover looked pretty worn even then, so it was probably an older book. I'd love to find this book again, even if just to see that eerie cover art one more time. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this and helping me to find this book. If anything can help me find this lost nightmare, Kindertrauma can!
Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)
POLTERGEIST II: THE OTHER SIDE falls apart like a subpar paper towel on several occasions and yet it somehow sports a scene so acutely chilling that it leaves most other cinematic depictions of evil looking hopelessly impotent. That it achieves that transcendent point without the aid of special effects (save a rain machine) compounds the impressiveness of what's been captured. If you've seen the movie you know the bit I'm referring to. In it, JULIAN BECK as the reverend Henry Kane attempts to gain entrance into the home where the ill-fated Freeling family has taken up temporary residence. The day is bright and gorgeous and watching cadaverous Kane making his way to the front door is like witnessing a skull-faced wrecking ball rolling through a flowerbed leaving a trail of smoldering ash behind it. At the time of filming BECK was reportedly gravely ill and I can't help wondering if his proximity to death allowed him to relay his grim tidings in a frighteningly unmodified manor. We peg Kane at once as a manipulative liar but wince at the base truth he dispels when he very nearly looks directly into the camera and bellows, "You're all going to die in there!" The scene, taken alone, remains as ghoulishly powerful as it ever was and I know I'm not exaggerating its impact because we've received a slew of Traumafessions certifying its indelibility.
Running not so close behind is a lesser showstopper involving lovable (mostly due to cues provided by the impossible to argue with JOBETH WILLIAMS) dad Steve Freeling (CRAIG T. NELSON) getting trashed on tequila, gulping a possessed worm, and transforming into the antithesis of the good natured man we've come to know. NELSON mimics BECK's mannerisms with wild gusto and even purses his lips to mime his facial structure and the result hits my favorite note of being both legitimately disturbing and borderline embarrassing. Love still holds some power in the POLTERGEIST universe so when Diane states her unconditional devotion to her hubby, he has no recourse but to puke up the demon, which then squirms and flaps about on the floor like a giant maggot. The slimy bastard even has the cheekiness to grimace like a Kane-o-lantern before hobbling out of the room! I am giving this scene less laudation because some of its success hinges on somewhat dated special effects but like the one previously mentioned, it hits a bona fide nerve. Vomit creature (as it's listed in the credits) aside, Steve's loathsome, post-possession behavior replicates that of an abusive alcoholic in a squirmy, uncomfortable way (not much of a leap considering the instigator he ingests is found at the bottom of the bottle.)
So with not one but two highly memorable, if not classic, scenes like these what could possibly be wrong with POLTERGEIST 2? Well, a lot. Director BRIAN GIBSON is fine when dealing with consummate professionals like BECK, NELSON and WILLIAMS, but every other cast member is left looking humiliatingly amateurish and hung out to dry. Matters are made worse by a title that sparks the imagination with a promise of revealing the afterlife when all we are delivered are poor blue screen flying effects, a badly realized miniature representing "the beast" and a too corny for even this cornball glowing grandma angel who saves the day to a furiously trying to pick up the slack JERRY GOLDSMITH score. In fairness, P2: TOS experienced more than its share of behind-the-scenes setbacks including the already mentioned death of its ace in the hole baddie BECK but that hardly explains all of the lack of creativity shown depicting the titular "Other side." In addition, it's a little difficult to buy the "We must do this as a family" schmaltz when the Freeling's eldest child has disappeared and it's deemed not worth mentioning why. The fact that DOMINIQUE DUNNE who played daughter Dana, was murdered shortly after the first film makes the mass denial all the more crass…or maybe it's just sad.
Oh hell, you know what I have to do? I'm going to do it. I'm stamping this movie with my slightly unflattering but ultimately affirming GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME stamp! There. Bang. I just did it. Parts of it are crap and it reeks of negative energy but when it shines it shines and maybe there are better sequels out there but do they boast such monumental take away moments? Not much can alter the fact that THE OTHER SIDE is the least fun film of the trilogy (PART 3 is hilarious) but that's the price you pay for raking up unpleasantries like spousal rape, alcoholism, child abuse, religious fraud and suicide cults (not to mention granny death) in a would-be summer blockbuster. Hey, at least it's ambitious. People can go ahead and claim this is a retread of the first but its actually following its own dark guide. If the first film secretly worried about the teacher student relationship children have with their television this one boldly wonders if Sunday school was ever any better. I love the first movie, it can't be beat, but one thing it doesn't have is JULIAN BECK as Kane. If his character was all that this movie offered that would still be good enough for me. Yep, heaven is a let down but should anyone be surprised? Here's hoping BECK is somewhere enjoying something grander than a blue screen cloud.
Wait a minute! I thought I was done with the above post but I have to add one more thing. If I had any pride in my work I'd incorporate this thought to the above text but I'm taking the easy way out and shoving this tacked on addendum here instead like a lazy bastard. While gathering the images for this pile of words I came across another scene that I'm strangely drawn to. It's right after the grandma dies and Diane goes out to the garden, she sees a rose bush and she recalls planting it with her mother in a gauzy flashback (Me = sucker for gauzy flashbacks). A wind picks up and as petals fly by, Diane senses her mother still very much with her and how sweet. Then suddenly it's night and a weird cloud is over the house. Diane gets up from bed to visit the area where she felt her mother's spirit. I think she even hears her voice. Then all of the sudden rotting dead people jump out of the ground and drag her under the earth screaming (Don't worry it's just a dream). I don't know, something about contrasting the earlier consoling scene with it's pessimistic opposite so quickly afterward gets to me. One moment it's suggested that the cycle of life is completed with one becoming part of nature and the next we're being told it ends with one succumbing to an inescapable army of rot. See, this movie is so unapologetically morbid that I must forgive its slipshod moments. I have no choice.
It's a Horror to Know You:: John Squires of Freddy in Space!
It's a Horror to Know You: John Squires of Freddy In Space!
1. What is the first film that ever scared you?
Don't really have any sort of great story here, but I have this one very vague memory of watching The Exorcist with my dad when I was pretty young, and being very scared of it. It's weird because I remember feeling like the film had some sort of evil power to it, and it totally freaked me out. I don't even think we watched the whole movie together, I think it was just on TV and we passed by it and watched for a bit but yea, that feeling I got from it always stuck with me. The way my dad spoke about it in particular really had an impact on me, and made me feel like we were watching something that could potentially be harmful to our health. It's kinda weird that I even have that memory, and can recall those feelings, but I'm glad I do, and that I can!
2. What is the last film that scared you?
That'd be Jaume Balaguero's Fragile, which was made way back in '05 but not released until 2010, when Fangoria picked it up for their 'Fright Fest' DVD line. It's not that the film is super scary or even all that amazing or anything, but I watched it at the absolute perfect time for it to creep me out. I've always felt that one's enjoyment of any given horror movie has a lot to do with the circumstances it's watched under. Like if you watch Blair Witch with the lights on and some friends in the room, it's totally gonna be lame and unscary. But if you watch alone in the dark, it's a whole different story. When I watched Fragile, my wife and I had just moved into our own place, and I still had that feeling that we were sort of living in someone else's house, where we didn't belong. It didn't hurt that the house used to be owned by my uncle, and all my childhood memories of the place were linked to it being really dark and unsettling. Not that he's a dark guy or anything, but he was a bachelor at the time, so the place had this kinda lonely and sad vibe to it. On top of that, he used to tell my brother and I that a boogeyman lived in the basement. So yea. Anyway. One night, after Jen went to bed, I watched the movie, alone, in the pitch dark, in this house that felt foreign to me. Needless to say, it scared the shit out of me. Again though, really has more to do with the way I watched it than it does the scary factor of the movie itself. I honestly don't remember much about the movie but it is pretty solid, definitely worth checking out for anyone who may have skipped over it. Give it a chance, it's directed by one half of the directing team who brought us the super scary REC films!
3. Name three Horror movies that you believe are underrated.
1) Blood Creek – Gotta put this on here because I never hear anyone talking about the movie, which leads me to believe that not all that many people have seen it. Why do I say that? Because if you've seen it, you'll damn sure be talking about it! Directed by Joel Schumacher, Blood Creek is the story of an immortal badass Nazi demon … played by Michael Fassbender! The movie is so different and gory as all hell, with one scene of zombie horse carnage that needs to be seen to be believed. SEEK THIS MOVIE OUT. It'll totally make you forgive Schumacher for the nipple suits.
2) Amityville 1992 : It's About Time – There's generally this broad sweeping belief that everything past Amityville 2 is complete and utter garbage. Which is mostly true, but there is a gem hidden in the wreckage of the infamous evil house. And that gem is the sixth installment, fitting titled "It's About Time" … as in, it's about time this franchise had something worth watching in it! Directed by the dude who made Hellraiser 2 (Tony Randel), Amityville 92 is about an architect who becomes consumed by the visage of the Amityville house, so much so that he plans on building an entire town full of nothing but Amityville houses. It's all a result of the man bringing home a clock from Amityville, which has the power to turn his own home into the evil 112 Ocean Avenue house, whenever it so desires. It's a very interesting film, full of some pretty awesome and memorable sequences, and I highly recommend skipping everything else past Part 2 and giving this one a chance.
3) Silent Night, Deadly Night 4 : Initiation – Much like Halloween 3, this is one of those movies that would probably be a whole lot more appreciated if it weren't attached to the franchise it's attached to. Silent Night Part 4 has absolutely nothing to do with the first three films, and in fact really has nothing to do with Christmas either. In other words, it could be enjoyed all year round, if only anyone other than me seemed to enjoy it! Directed by the equally under appreciated Brian Yuzna, Initiation is a whacky mess of giant bugs, awesome practical effects and Clint Howard, a mixture that has to date never failed me. Look past the fact that this movie is part 4 in the Silent Night franchise and go ahead and fall in love with it as soon as you possibly can!
4. Name three horror movies that you enjoy against your better judgment.
1) Ice Cream Man – I talk about this one a lot over on my blog, perhaps way too much. The reason for that is because Ice Cream Man is the ultimate 'best worst movie' for me, a delicious little treat starring Clint Howard as a killer ice cream man that is just so damn good, despite the fact that it tries very hard not to be. I could watch that movie every single day and never tire of it. In fact, just talking about it is making me want to get off the computer and pop it in. But I won't leave you hanging. So I'll continue writing this post instead.
2) Sorority Row – Is the 2009 remake of House On Sorority Row a good horror movie? Or even a great one? No, it's not. But I'll tell ya what. I have an absolute blast with the film every time I watch it, and that's enough for me to sing its praises whenever I hear anyone else bashing it. It's a totally run of the mill and generic slasher flick, but there's just something I dig about it. Maybe it's the cool kill scenes (bottle down the throat!). Maybe it's the image of a bloated Princess Leia with a shotgun. All I'm saying is, this movie + a couple adult beverages = fun.
3) The Creeps : Full Moon's Charles Band wrote and directed this film in the late 90's, about midget (sorry, little people) versions of the Universal Monsters and their quest to take over the world. Need I say more? No? Well I will anyway. The Creeps is one of my favorite Full Moon titles, which I first discovered on television back in my high school days. In fact, I can remember staying up many nights way past my bedtime, watching this movie. It's one of those movies that simply cannot be turned off whenever it's flipped past. It's admittedly a guilty pleasure, but nevertheless is somewhere up there with The Monster Squad as one of my favorite film uses of the Universal Monsters. Well, it's of course no Monster Squad, but I love it all the same!
5. Send us to five places on the Internet!
1) Dinosaur Dracula – This is the new site from the guy who used to run X-Entertainment, which was a huge inspiration for me in the blogging game. Dinosaur Dracula is pretty much the same site, only with a Dinosaur mascot that wears a Dracula cape. Matt is a crazy sumbitch, in the best of ways, and there is quite frankly nobody on the net capable of writing up posts in as entertaining a way as he. Whether it's Halloween product reviews or looks back on vintage toys like Madballs and Boglins, Matt is the absolute best of the best in the entertainment blogging game.
2) Shit Movie Fest – My buddy Tom Bryce runs this blog, which is very much like my own. In other words, it's totally awesome, and full of cool shit both new and vintage that'll remind you why you love the horror genre. And wrestling. Because Tom loves both, and gives both equal love on his blog. Which works for me, because I also love both!
3) Fright Rags – Pretty sure most people reading this are well acquainted with this company by now, but if you're looking for cool horror movie shirts, you need not go anywhere else. Truth.
4) Horror Movies And Beer! – This is a blog after my own heart, given my love for both horror movies and beer. Our host Erik not only talks horror, and reviews movies from time to time, but he also reviews various different craft beers, oftentimes ones that have horror themes to them. What more could you ever ask for from a blog!?
5) VHSPS – With so many horror and cult titles still not yet released on DVD, and the VHS releases of those films selling for a pretty penny as a result, somebody needed to take matters into their own hands and give us a chance to own and watch those films affordably, and on DVD. Thankfully, brothers Sean and George Jordan did just that with the VHS Preservation Society, where you can find hundreds of awesome lost gems, on DVD and for a mere 10 bucks a pop. Oh and be sure to use the Freddy In Space coupon code 'BOOTS10' to save 10% off all orders!!