Corpse Eaters

C'est L'Halloween!

2005-10-31T14:18:00.000-04:00

And the good news is, this is my last post on Corpse Eaters.

A couple of recent occurrences, all of them positive, have prompted me to reconsider my involvement with Corpse Eaters.

One, my best friends and former roommates have cobbled together a new group blog at The House of Irony. While the blog is as general as you can get, I did manage on convincing the designer of the site to allow readers to visit pages devoted solely to select topics, ie. Horror. So, in addition to the ramblings of mine that you've grown accustomed to, you can also catch the opinions on the topic from five additional deviants, all conveniently located in our horror section. Change your blogroll accordingly.

Two, I've had a horror-related project in mind for a couple of years now but I never quite had the concept nailed down well enough to feel comfortable pursuing it. I recently had the epiphany that I was waiting for, and which my tenure on Corpse Eaters helped me to achieve, and I need all the free time I can get to make this project a reality.

Before Corpse Eaters I had a moderately successful comic-related blog. On average, I received about one-tenth of the hits on Corpse Eaters as I did on that earlier blog, and every time I considered that fact I had myself a good laugh. Writing Corpse Eaters has been a joy that can't be numbered in the amount of readers, but can be judged by the quality. In fact, I appreciate the people who stuck with me even more so then I ever did before. Here's a few of the people whose work I've enjoyed and whose contributions to Corpse Eaters I've valued. Please, if you don't already visit their sites, do so.

Warrenzone - You crazy fucker. It always made me proud that I was one of only a handful of horror blogs linked to on your site. Rock out with your cock out, man.

Carnacki - One of the most fervent supporters of Corpse Eaters, I always regretted that I didn't touch on real-world supernatural events so that I could link to your excellent site more then I did. I hope this makes up for it.

Final Girl - The untamed Valkyrie of horror blogging, she achieved in one day what I couldn't in one month. May the blood on your sword be the blood of a King.

And the last thank you must be reserved for the lovely J. who has gleefully watched every single movie mentioned on this blog in addition to twice the amount that didn't quite make the cut. This silent masked killing machine couldn't ask for a nicer, kinder, silent masked killing machine to be his girlfriend.

Now what's it going to be next, baby? Blood Harvest, Curse of the Devil or Boa Vs. Python again?

The One Where Jason Wears A Potato Sack On His Head Pt. 2

2005-10-26T21:07:00.000-04:00

The following examination of the second Friday the 13th, and all subsequent discussion on the series, won't be reviews as such, and will therefore contain numerous SPOILERS. I will be including this warning before each entry. Please read no further if you haven't already seen the movie in question. Thanks.

"Some kind of out of control psychopath? A frightened retard? A child trapped in a man's body?"

It would be hard for me to pinpoint my main reason for being fascinated by the Friday the 13th franchise, but one of the major contenders would be the way it plays fast and loose with its own mythology, and how it seems to be able to get away with it. I think the explanation lies in its shaky beginning. The creators of Friday the 13th have admitted that they had no idea where they were going to go with the second one and the development of Jason was just one of many different possibilities. Compare this organic way of constructing a mythology with any other series. As examples, Halloween and Hellraiser established ground rules and main antagonists right off the bat, and any deviation from that standard, no matter how minor or even beneficial, was considered a form of blasphemy. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. Friday the 13th evades this trap simply by having little in the way of a concrete foundation from the very start, which isn't to say that various installments haven't stretched this dubious advantage to its breaking point. Yes, I'm looking at you The One Where Jason Goes Into Outer Space.

The Godfather II, Empire Strikes Back, The Bride of Frankenstein, Friday the 13th Part 2. Many people feel that this movie is one of those rare jewels, the sequel that is superior to its originator. I'm not sure I agree, but I can see why some would feel that way. Part 2 retains some of the grit of the first film, while finally establishing some of the more popular ground rules. With its transitional sequence from Part 1 to Part 2 out of the way, this installment jumps right in with a noticeable lack of bosomy support and the introduction of some truly scandalous ass cheek-enhancing short shorts. The 80's are just starting to kick into gear, camp counselors have gathered at nearby Camp Packanack for "training" and already the woods are looking more spacious and inviting.

Jason's supposed origin is told to the counselors as they huddle around a campfire. In it, Jason didn't drown as a child but survived and lived in a near bestial state in the surrounding woods. He was, according to legend, an unwitting witness to his mother's demise, which set him on his current path of destruction. To purists, this origin is the true one, preferable to the notion advanced in later films that Jason drowned in the lake and emerged from his slumber upon his mother's death. Truth be told, though numerous indications are made throughout the second film to support the first theory, we never objectively find out what happened to Jason during those missing decades. The head counselor's campfire tale is just that, a tale. If it also happens to be true is pure coincidence.

The inherent isolation of Jason in this situation, if this version is true, adds a compelling twist to his character. Unlike, say, the family in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Jason is left without a support system. His motives are entirely clear, untainted by the whims of kin or friends. It's true, as critics have asserted, that Jason's actions are base, but how much thought has gone into the how and why of his rampage? Does he even understand the concept of Death, or what happened to his mother? The time that Jason has spent in the woods scrounging like an animal take up nearly half his life before the events of the first Friday the 13th, two decades worth, and none of it is accounted for. Also of interest is the human weakness shown by Jason in the second film. He hasn't yet developed his purposeful stride, instead varying his step from a slow stalk to a sharp trot to running away instead of towards danger. His hand isn't sure and steady yet, groping around seeking out a vengeance even he doesn't fully understand, but somehow feels compelled to obey. He even sets snares and requires shelter from the elements and his mask is utilitarian, with only one ragged eye hole poked through a dirty burlap sack.

Back to the story, in the evening the majority of the counselors make their way to the local watering hole for a few drinks and necking. This whittles the large group down to a more manageable level, but it's also weird in that they decide not to partake in such pleasures at the camp itself. In fact, at least one of the major characters, Ted the obligatory smart ass, doesn't even return to the camp. He ends up staying behind and we never really find out what, if anything, happened to him. The killings themselves have a few bright spots, including another use of the fake subjective camera where it appears that we're watching through the killer's eyes when really it's just another case of sleight-of-hand. Even the victims are interesting. It's one of the only instances that I can think of in a slasher film where the characters actually state their dreams and aspirations for a future they don't have, almost convincing an audience so used to ciphers that anyone with hopes can't possibly be cut down before they're given a chance to make them come true. It's little flourishes like this that place the first two films up there with Halloween and other more respected slasher fare, despite the heavy and usually well-deserved criticisms that came with later installments.

Now despite my preference for the first one, the second film has what is easily my favourite scene in the entire series, and one of my favourite scenes in all horror films. I'm glad Final Girl pointed this one out as well. I'm talking about the scene where Paul is investigating a dimly lit room in the main cabin and Ginny says "Paul, there's someone in this room," which escalates to "There's someone in this fucking room!" That instinctual knowledge that someone is right there with you, coupled with what seems to be a reluctance to immediately freak out for fear of embarrassment. It's the battle between rational reluctance and irrational certainty, played out in two nearly identical sentences, with the word "fucking" hammering the fact of the matter home. That second sentence pops right out, much more then if Ginny had simply started screaming straight away. It's a punch to the gut, and the perfect signal to start a new round of carnage, because all the last minute warnings in the world can't help you when the killer is right beside you unseen, waiting.

Damn, I'm going to go watch that part again.

The One Where Jason Wears A Potato Sack On His Head - Part 1.

2005-10-17T21:21:00.000-04:00

Friday the 14th

2005-10-14T23:13:00.000-04:00

That's How We Roll.

I bought a machete for J. today. While the cashier was ringing up my purchase, another salesperson pulled out a fancier, more expensive model that had just come in and tried to convince to buy it instead. This was the first time I had ever had someone attempt to upsell me on a machete. The new machete was mean looking, with a jagged handle that looked like something a member of Slipknot would approve of. I declined, pointing out that the machete I was already purchasing said "Property of Camp Crystal Lake", and that I'm old school like that.

I'm just glad I decided against the Friday the 13th shot glasses. If they had tried to push the ones with Leatherface based on the 'Saw remake on me I would have lost it.

Corpse Eaters Contest!

Funny but true, I haven't really done much drawing since I started work as an animator over a year ago. To rectify that, I've started forcing myself to free up time to get the artistic juices flowing again. Part of my new regimen involves sketching from movies while watching them. The above is a sampling of skecthes I did last night. As you can see, I'm plenty rusty. To help boost my confidence (or shatter it irrevocably), I've decided to hold a contest. If you can name the famous scream queen depicted above, send me an email at giant_ants@hotmail.com. At the end of the weekend, if any more then one person submits a guess, I'll randomly select one contestant who will win a DVD of the movie which these drawings were taken from. It doesn't get any simpler then this, unless we develop group telepathy or a hive mind of some kind.

Gone Fishin'

2005-10-12T23:07:00.000-04:00

I would like to apologize for my absence during this past weekend. I had every intention of posting every day this month, however, we Canadians get our Thanksgiving a week earlier then our American cousins. I had made a last minute decision to pay my mom a visit for the holidays, and though this normally wouldn't deter me from my duties, she had already made alternate plans which took me out of range of internet access for the entire trip. Those of you paying attention may have already guessed where this change of venue. That's right, I spent a chilly October long weekend at my Grandparent's cottage, the one I refer to in my Introduction. The lake, the woods, the dead leaves and the world's longest pathway to an outhouse. The past week's immersion into the Friday the 13th series served as the catalyst for one scary Thanksgiving dinner, let me tell you. I hope the thought of me cowering in terror all weekend will bring you some satisfaction.

On a related note, I've invited some of my friends from the upcoming House of Irony blog to contribute to Corpse Eaters during this month. Years ago the bunch of us would get together weekly to watch and review movies for a horror 'zine we were writing. In fact, Corpse Eaters was conceived as a continuation of that idea. I have no idea when or how much any of them will be contributing, if at all, but hopefully they'll be able to counterbalance some of my own views. If anyone else is interested in writing an alternate review, or has something related to Friday the 13th that they'd like to share that just won't fit in the comments, please feel free to contact me about contributing. I can be reached at giant_ants at hotmail dot com.

F13-C-64

2005-10-06T23:19:00.000-04:00

Most people I've spoken to remember the Nintendo Friday the 13th video game if they remember any, but it wasn't the first and certainly wasn't the best. The Commodore 64 version of Friday the 13th was one of my all-time favourite games for that system for one very compelling reason. You could beat Jason at his own game.

The premise of the game was simple. You and a group of friends are stalked by Jason within the confines of Camp Crystal Lake, with various scenes including a barn, haystacks, and some sort of cathedral. Within these scenes were a multitude of weapons such as a pitchfork, baseball bat, knife, machete and my favourite, the axe. Deviating from the status quo, one of the campers was in fact Jason Voorhees in disguise. It was your job to hunt down Jason and kill him before he killed all the other campers, including you. In order to unveil Jason's identity, you had to run into a camper or attack him, and if you were lucky and it was Jason he would reveal himself and come after you instead, giving you a chance to hack away at him. This is where things got interesting.

If everything were as straightforward as the above, then there wouldn't be much to playing the game, but in our variation you attempted to kill as many campers as you could before Jason got to them. Killing campers enraged Jason, and sent him on a mission to stop you, thereby reversing your roles. If you could whittle the numbers down until only you and Jason were left, then you'd finally face him and try to take him down. Killing campers and Jason was commendable enough, but if you managed the difficult task of getting all the campers before Jason was able to get any, then you'd really be rocking out with your cock out. In a sense, it was the pixelated mixture of Friday the 13th-Jason Goes To Hell and Freddy Vs. Jason, two decades ahead of its time.

Holy Guacamole

2005-10-05T23:19:00.000-04:00

O.K., fourth all-nighter in a row trying to get all these scenes done and I'm just too exhausted to even think, let alone write about hockey. Just when I think all hope is lost and I won't be able to post, along comes the wonderful J. to save my hide.

"I'm still working on Stephen King's Skeleton Crew. I'm kind of just reading the stories in random order. It struck me today that Stephen King always has his characters having sex at the most inappropriate times and its always because they can't help it, some force just overtakes them and they become aroused and apparently have no control and who cares if there's a fucking mist with giant bugs ready to eat them, or some big black pool of god-knows-what on the lake that would like to melt their flesh.

Remind me if the zombies come that Bangor, Maine is probably not the best place to go because Stephen King is probably going to be fucking everything on two legs."

Thanks for that pick-me-up, babe.

The Best Game You Can Name

2005-10-04T23:20:00.000-04:00

“You tell me goalies haven't suffered horribly because of those movies. Hell, it's like every day is Friday the 13th for us!”

I'm sure you all know what tomorrow is. Everyone here at work is pissing themselves in anticipation of the start of the hockey season, making side bets on the office pool. As I write this, someone started singing the Hockey Night In Canada theme. No, really. I'm serious. Me, I'm not a big fan of professional sports, preferring local rinks and ponds to arenas, but as a Canadian I'm honour-bound to have at least a modicum of interest. Apart from my nationality, at least part of this can be traced to the photo currently sitting at the top of this blog, the one of me wearing my Dad's mask when I was a child.

Practically every weekend I would go out to the rink and catch a game. My favourite hockey memory ever was when my Uncle, who usually played on the same teams as my Dad, dropped the gloves and started hammering some goon. It became a free-for-all, with both teams jumping in for a piece. During the carnage, I looked over to the crease to check on my Dad, and I caught him leaning against his net, watching the whole thing with a bemused look on his face. Not long after, the other goalie skated on over, they exchanged pleasantries, and gave colour commentary for the carnage playing out before them.

No wonder these guys were bent out of shape with Friday the 13th's depiction of those who wear the mask. Goalies are more often then not the peacemakers, taking the shots without feeling the need to dish them back out again. So this one is for all the goalie mask-wearing psychos out there, amateur and professional, peaceful and murderous, but especially for my Dad, the greatest goalie in the world.

“Dun dun dunn da-dahhh!” Now they've got me doing it.

The One Where Jason's Mom Is The Killer - Part II

2005-10-03T23:08:00.000-04:00

The One Where Jason's Mom Is The Killer - Part I

2005-10-02T21:49:00.000-04:00

The following examination of the first Friday the 13th, and all subsequent discussion on the series, won't be reviews as such, and will therefore contain numerous SPOILERS. I will be including this warning before each entry. Please read no further if you haven't already seen the movie in question. Thanks.

"I've had this dream about five or six times where I'm in a thunderstorm. It's raining really hard. It sounds like pebbles when it hits the ground. I can hear it. I try to block out the sound with my hands only it doesn't work. It just keeps getting louder and louder. And then... the rain turns to blood. And the blood washes away in little rivers."

It's hard to believe that it's been nearly half a century since the very first murders took place at Camp Crystal Lake.

Everyone who has seen these films has a favourite, but there can very little doubt that the first one in the series is the most distinct of the bunch, and that's even aside from the fact that Jason is not the killer. I'd guess that two factors play into this. Obviously, being the initial entry, the template for the films hadn't calcified yet. Later attempts to change the format of the series proved largely to be mistakes. The reason isn't necessarily because the audience wasn't getting what they were used to, though there was that too, but mainly because the changes were so large as to completely alter the concept. The first film, in comparison to these later experimentations, had differences that were so subtle that they were largely felt, not seen. Being familiar with the entire series actually makes watching the first installment more pleasurable, since it's a nice change of pace from the series as a whole without distancing itself completely.

The second reason for the unique nature of the first film is that it was a horror movie largely created by people who had only the basest idea of how to make a horror movie. This may sound like a recipe for disaster, but what the filmmakers had on their side was the technical experience of years in other areas of commercial film making, untainted by the cliche visual shorthand that might ruin an attempt by an expert on the genre.

Let's begin right from the start, at Camp Crystal Lake during the summer of 1958. The night sky is pitch black with just a bit of silver moon illuminating the screen. The camera moves down through absolute darkness and the solitary sounds of nature to the camp, with its warm colours standing out from the near encompassing void that surrounds it. After checking in with a group of counselors singing before the fireplace we see, through the killer's POV, a bunkhouse filled with small children sleeping peacefully. After stopping at each bed to hover over the children, the camera soon makes its way to the a pair of counselors and the carnage that the series is renowned for begins. It's worth pointing out that this is one of the only times we actually see children within the camp throughout the entire series, an exception being Part 6. Children are threatened in a few of the films, but rarely in the capacity as campers. In most subsequent films, even including the bulk of the first one, the counselors have arrived early for orientation, or the action doesn't take place at Camp Crystal Lake at all. I can only guess as to why children were rarely introduced into the Camp at a later date. Perhaps it was a result of the gradual sanitization of the series, or maybe it was simply eliminating excess characters for narrative or financial reasons. Regardless of the reasoning behind this omission this initial scene, accompanied by the familiar Friday the 13th theme, establishes the modus operandi of the killer while also giving us a slight chill as vulnerable children sleep soundly, unaware that death has chosen to pass them by in favour of other, more worthy victims.

The remainder of the film takes place in the present-day, and we're introduced to this world through the character of Annie, a spunky counselor on her way to Camp Crystal Lake. Along the way she, and we, are introduced to the townsfolk, who in turn tell her of the horrors that had taken place at that spot decades ago in the hopes of turning her away. Annie is yet another anomaly in the series.

In nearly every installment, with few exceptions, the characters can be neatly divided into the heroes, the primary victims and the secondary victims. Where all the roles are assigned is usually obvious from the start, again with some exceptions. The heroes become aware of the situation and survive until the end or close to it and the primary victims are given at least some degree of character development before they're killed. The secondary victims are probably the most interesting, in theory if not in characterization. Because later films usually stretched the action out over multiple days, it would be difficult to have any kills without tipping off the rest of the characters that something was amiss. Therefore, the secondary victims are either those who have absolutely nothing to do with the main plot, or they do have some relation to the other characters but don't actually interact with them and may have some reason why they could go missing without anyone noticing immediately. Secondary characters, by virtue of only being on the screen for a scene or two, have little time to develop character and are simply fodder, there to keep the pump primed.

This brings us back to Annie, who doesn't fit easily into any category. Though she's most snug in the role of secondary victim, we spend a great deal of time with her, including the pivotal introductory phase of the film. In a sense, Annie is a stand-in for the audience themselves, which makes her death so early in the film so horrifying and shocking. She doesn't even make it to the campsite. In addition, Annie is extremely likable and out-going, even going so far as to gush about her love of working with children, who she has enough respect for to refuse to call "kids". Mrs. Voorhee's vengeance isn't justifiable in the best of circumstances, but in the case of Annie it's hammered home that who you are or what you do doesn't matter, only that you've matched the criteria that fuels her blood lust. Continuing with this, later in the film Brenda is lured out into the darkness by a fake call for help. By rushing to the aid of this fake victim, she's not only setting herself up to be killed, but she's disproving the very rationale for the vengeance visited upon her, that is that her supposedly irresponsible behaviour is worthy of punishment. This is in stark contrast to the common assertion that only those who sin will be slaughtered. It's not the sin itself that matters, it's the potential for sin that decides the victim's fate. And since we're all capable of sin, we're all of us potential victims.

To be continued...

Introduction

2005-10-01T13:52:00.000-04:00

I used to go camping for at least a month every year. From birth to the onset of adulthood, I estimate that about 1/10th of my life was spent within the woods. As much as I loved the experience and miss it to this day, one of the most powerful emotions I feel from those days is that of fear. The fear of having to make my way blindly along the path between my grandparents' cottage and the outhouse at two in the morning. The fear that came from paddling across a lake as smooth as glass with only the strange sounds of nature drifting across the water. The fear of something residing in the dark shallows of the lake's bottom waiting to caress and tease my feet and legs while I swam. Bears roam the islands we set camp on. A friend of mine was disfigured when the car she was in hit a moose.

Just a few years ago, during the off-season, I visited the provincial park I used to stay at. My brother and I walked along a road we had traveled dozens upon dozens of times before, but this time with no one else within miles, with no lights, no moon to light our path, and with the occasional rustling from the woods pacing us mere metres away. We tried to alleviate the anxiety we felt by scaring each other, imagining what could be in among those trees. In the end, we did such an effective job frightening one another that we ended up running the rest of the way to the docks and our boat.

When I hear people reject the notion of the forest being a place thick with terror, I wonder if they're either the type that has never been in the woods before or one of those who have lived there all their lives. Because I know that for myself and others like me, a little knowledge is a very dangerous thing.

Derivative as they can be, the Friday the 13th franchise has attempted a number of different tactics in eliciting scares within (and without) the forest milieu, from utilizing that alien darkness I describe above to simply barreling in with two-fisted, hockey-masked mayhem. At their best, and hell, even at their worst, they provide as primal a thrill as any horror film.

T.G.I.F13

2005-09-30T13:08:00.000-04:00

With the month of October nearly upon us, numerous horror and non-horror blogs alike are preparing to unleash their very best material leading up to Halloween. I've noticed this build-up with envy, and have spent many long nights considering what I can do to contribute, if anything. It's purely a desire to keep up with the neighbours, as well as shaking the malaise that Corpse Eaters has been forced into in recent weeks. After pondering what I could do to stand out from the crowd and provide horrorific insight and excitement for the upcoming month, I realized that I've got nothing. So, instead, I'm going to post about Friday the 13th.

Many of you may recall that I promised an overview of the Friday the 13th series when I first started this blog. The time has finally come to deliver. Over the next month I will be sharing my observations on all eleven films made to date, as well as Jason Voorhees' excursions into other media. Due to circumstances beyond my control I may not be able to post every day, but I will try my hardest, and I guarantee that I will finally finish the task I set for myself many months ago. Welcome to a month full of Fridays.

Hold Yr Terror Close

2005-09-22T21:29:00.000-04:00

“Close your eyes and hold yr terror close.”

The Go! Team is even further away from the genre then The Gorillaz, but I've been listening them non-stop for the past two weeks and I wanted to share. The song found above first appeared on the B-side their single “The Power is On” and will appear on their forthcoming EP “Are You Ready For More?”. Atypical of The Go! Team's usual funk-filled Saturday morning cartoon lunacy, Hold Yr Terror Close is a quiet little toy piano piece accompanied by drummer Chi on fragile vocals. Enjoy!

Robert Wise 1914 - 2005

2005-09-17T13:06:00.000-04:00

"I've been accused by some of the more esoteric critics of not having a style, and my answer to that always is this -- I've done every genre there is, and I approach each genre in the cinematic style that I think is appropriate and right for that genre."

Journeyman director Robert Wise is probably best known for his musicals, but in a career that spanned over 45 years he brought his skilled craftsmanship to almost every imaginable genre, including horror.

Wise was one of those people who seemed to steal his way into the film industry, and with a combination of talent, determination and incredibly lucky timing, found his way onto the sets of some of the greatest directors and producers of the last century. After a stint editing on Citizen Kane and The Amazing Ambersons for Orson Welles, Wise's break into directing came from Val Lewton's The Curse of the Cat People when he was promoted from editor to director partway through production. Nowhere is the influence of Welle's chiaroscuro style and Lewton's less-is-more approach more evident in Wise's films then in those with a horrorific bent, particularly the film considered by many to be the greatest haunted house movie of all time, The Haunting.

Other films of interest to readers of this site include The Bodysnatchers, which was the last onscreen pairing of Karloff and Lugosi, the science fiction classic The Day The Earth Stood Still, The Andromeda Strain, and Audrey Rose. For a far better and more comprehensive genre-centric obituary, please refer to Hollywood Gothique. In addition, this interview with the director includes discussions on Wise's horror and sci-fi work, Dark, But Shining has posted a sweet little obituary, and Monsterzine contributes a wonderful essay on just why The Haunting works so well.

Godspeed, Mr. Wise, and thanks for the chills.

Red Eye

2005-09-10T00:40:00.000-04:00

I hate the word “thriller” as it relates to modern movies. It never really bothered me that thriller was usually an appellation attached to films considered by many to be too sophisticated to be considered horror. After all, they usually end up being nothing more then incredibly benign bores that would serve only to drag horror as a genre even further down then it can manage on its own. To that end, I usually avoid self-styled thrillers, and considering Wes Craven's recent track record I was more then ready to give Red Eye a pass, but the opportunity to watch it presented itself and I would be lying if I didn't say I was grateful for the chance.

For those who don't already know, Red Eye concerns a young woman who must share a seat on an overnight plane trip with a sociopath who needs her help in arranging an assassination. Craven drops all the faux-intellectual posturing and self-referential garbage that have plagued his latest films and takes a workmanlike dive into a wonderfully cliché premise. I'm a great admirer of old school entertainment that doesn't pretend to originality but instead tries to deliver in the execution, and here Craven excels with the material.

Red Eye is a lean, tight, straightforward little movie, where every minor detail is a pivotal part of the plot. The pacing is fantastic. Just as the innocent little set-up at the beginning of the film starts to become numbing, Craven takes the lackadaisical pace and kicks it immediately into terror without a backwards glance. He even manages the difficult task of making the setting of the interior of a plane interesting, even at more then half the film's length. Reining himself seems to be a good exercise for Craven, as the sly, barely noticeable attempts at humour are the perfect asides. I was impressed despite myself.

Despite this, Red Eye wouldn't have been half as enjoyable without the presence of Cillian Murphy, who uses some leftover mojo from his role as The Scarecrow in Batman Begins. A lesser talent would not have been able to keep the protagonist, or the audience for that matter, riveted in their seats for that long. He enlivens the entire film with his performance, showing subtle shades of cool menace coupled with authority and even concern. Murphy punctuates this with quick, brutal scenes of violence, most of which were not only entirely plausible but also had real world repercussions that usually aren't seen in the cinema. The rest of the cast, including Rachel McAdams, comport themselves well, and it's certainly refreshing to see a cat-and-mouse game where the plot doesn't have advance based on the victims making a multitude of stupid mistakes.

All in all, it was certainly refreshing to watch an unpretentious little b-movie that doesn't rely on a twist ending to try and stand out.

J. on Foree

2005-09-05T21:36:00.000-04:00

"Sorry, baby, but that's one handsome man."

A Sound of Thunder

2005-09-02T02:30:00.000-04:00

Apparently, 80 million dollars doesn't go as far as it used to. That's the budget for A Sound of Thunder, a film based on a Ray Bradbury story first published over 50 years ago. The basic premise is one that should be familiar to most anyone. A group of people travel into the prehistoric past and change one little thing, which in turn sets into motion drastic changes in their present, like evolutionary dominoes.

Translating a short story into a feature film must be quite the task, but where A Sound of Thunder goes horribly wrong isn't in having a lack of material to work from, but in adding the wrong kind of padding. There are entire sequences of the movie that could have been dropped altogether, allowing the filmmakers to concentrate on improving what is one of the single most bland, badly-lit, mediocre special effects driven films I have ever seen. I half expected Uwe Boll's name to pop up in the credits somewhere, and I seriously could not believe that A Sound of Thunder wasn't made for the Sci-Fi channel. At one point J. seriously compared it unfavorably to Boa Vs. Python. Making things even worse, this movie has been sitting on the shelf for over two years, during which time surely somebody could have made an effort to edit it a little better, maybe even fix the little mistakes and incongruities strewn throughout. It's probably only because I'm an animator that I notice these things, but there were scenes with real people walking in front of CGI backgrounds where the people weren't just moving forward, but also drifting sideways at the same time. It was like they were on another plane of existence entirely.

The plot is king in A Sound of Thunder, something I normally wouldn't object to, except other little tidbits are thrown out there and never really go anywhere. For example, the main character has a chat with one of his co-workers, and they hint at a past together, one which has resulted in the main character feeling obligated to look after her. Not only is this never mentioned again, but when she's in peril he seems even less interested in her safety then if it was someone who he doesn't supposedly have an emotional investment in. And that's just one of dozens of examples of shoddy storytelling that make A Sound of Thunder stumble.

Aside from the lousy characterization, A Sound of Thunder also boasted a pre-Jurassic Park level dinosaur, boring set design, Ben Kingsley's hair, and only a few small, seemingly accidental instances of suspense. The entire movie centred around a small group of professional scientists/hunters, leaving the main ingredient of a good disaster movie on the cutting room floor, that is, small vignettes of everyday people dealing with the crisis. The few times they did deal with that aspect of the story were by far the best moments of the film. To cap it off, there were so many glaring plot holes and forced coincidences that it would make Warrenzone's list of Toolbox Murder transgressions pale in comparison. I'd mention a few, but the only real reason anyone could halfway enjoy A Sound of Thunder is for the unintentional laughs and I wouldn't want to ruin it for anyone. O.K., just one. I can't resist. The next time I'm confronted by a horde of slumbering reptilibaboons, I'll know to constantly shine a light in their face to keep them from waking up.

Not the worst movie I've seen all year, but it certainly comes close, A Sound of Thunder's only saving grace was in ripping it apart afterwards. Do yourself a favour. Skip the movie, save ten bucks and read the original story online instead.

I have a dream...

2005-08-31T11:32:00.000-04:00

I had a dream last night that a public access television show devoted to the discussion of classic and arthouse films had decided to do a profile on Amityville 2 - The Possession. The show was excellent.

That's it, really. I just thought I'd share.

Have you ever noticed how the word "Worm" is kind of in the title "Squirm"?

2005-08-26T15:13:00.000-04:00

Before they announced that Crispin Glover was attending the Festival of Fear this weekend, the guest I was most excited about was Jeff Lieberman. Even more then Clive Barker, and even more then Gunnar Hansen. Squirm was one of those chunky little films that my cousin and I discovered as kids when we would wade through all sorts of Mom and Pop dreck every week. I was all set to pick up one of the original posters from a source near Toronto for him to sign, one of the coolest fucking posters ever made. Even J., who was making fun of me for it, became excited by the prospect on the merits of that poster alone.

Unfortunately, I just found out that Lieberman is unable to attend. I found this out through the Rue Morgue message board, within an announcement stating that Linda Blair would also not be able to make it. I'm glad I found out now rather then at the convention, but I also kind of wish that there had been a similar sticky made for Lieberman on the message board. I can kind of understand that he isn't as big a name as Linda Blair, but as you can see here, to some people his appearance (or lack thereof)was at least as important.

Regardless, this weekend is going to kick my teeth out and carry them in a small, paper bag. Gygax for life!

Potpourri

2005-08-19T12:10:00.000-04:00

Oh, like a mixture of dried flower petals I deliver to you odds and ends from around the pajama party.

Festivus of Fear

The schedule for this year's Festival of Fear is up, and between that and digging up old Archie comic digests I don't think I'll have time to rest, eat or even think next weekend. I talked with my brother on the phone the other night. He isn't able to make it this year and he's feeling a little bit down about it. When I told him that Crispin Glover was going to be there he flipped. "I would have asked him to try to kill me. How cool would that be? You know he'd do it."

Destroy All Monsters!

While I'm town for the Festival of Fear, I'm going to try and visit MONSTROUS VISIONS:Horror and Destruction in Japanese Films, an exhibit put together by the Japan Foundation Toronto.

"From monster films like Godzilla, apocalyptic anime such as Akira, to recent films as in The Ring, provocative Japanese films about horror and destruction continue to disturb and stimulate our imagination.

Using film posters as a starting point, MONSTROUS VISIONS invites visitors to reflect on the social and environmental destruction of war, disaster, and other dystopic scenarios, as well as horror on a personal, psychological level, as expressed through Japanese film. It also invites the viewer to think metaphorically about 'monsters' and their various cultural symbolic interpretations. The exhibit includes films about people who are monstrous in appearance, things that incites fear or cause trauma, or something atrocious, horrible or nightmarish."

Courtesy of the Rue and the Mortuary.

Those Crazy Kids

The Mystery of the Haunted Vampire has a link to a great zombie rant. Everyone knows I'm a sucker for zombies.

Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat sings the praises of a good underwater scare. On a related topic, I was only mildly interested in The Cave until I saw the new trailer for it. Now I've got an underwater, subterranean monster-sized boner, if you care to imagine that.

I would have more, but most everyone seems to be on vacation. Lightweights.

Excuses, Excuses...

Speaking of lightweights, you may have noticed a lack of regular updates on Corpse Eaters. I'd like to take a minute to explain. I just switched over to a new show and a new program at work, which has slowed my production down considerably. To get up to speed I've been working 60+ hours a week, with any remaining time going to hanging out with J. This delegation of time is likely to continue through to December, as this new show is potentially more lucrative then the last, and I want to make as much easy money as possible while the getting's good.

The funny thing is that my reason for not posting as much isn't the standard excuse of simply not having the time to write. On the contrary, because I spend at least an hour a day waiting for the computer to save while at work, I have accumulated quite the backlog of writing for the blog. No, my problem is that I have no time to make my way to a computer with internet access to post them.

Now, the good news. With the extra income I'm planning on buying a new home computer and finally getting internet access. In addition, there's a good chance that I'll be between jobs for a few months and will be able to concentrate more on Corpse Eaters. In fact, M Valdemar's recent post on creating a better horror blog has inspired me to think of new and better ways of presenting the material I bring, especially in regards to my field.

This isn't a farewell. I'll still be posting at least once a week, which was my original schedule when I first started the site. I just wanted to let everyone know why there hadn't been frequent updates and that there are even better days ahead.

Thanks for your support.

Matthew McGrory 1973 - 2005

2005-08-10T23:04:00.000-04:00

According to Yahoo News, actor Matthew McGrory has passed away at the age of 32. Probably best known to horror fans as "Tiny" from House of 1000 Corpses, McGrory's fleeting yet effective appearance in its sequel, The Devil's Rejects, was one of the highlights of the film for me. He also appeared in The Dead Hate the Living and Constantine, among others.

Further information on the man and his career can be located at his official site, A Foot And A Half. A fan-conducted interview with the actor can be found at the unofficial Matthew McGrory site.

Condolences to his family and friends.

Ray Harryhausen Q + A

2005-08-05T15:39:00.000-04:00

The following is a transcript of Ray Harryhausen's introduction to a screening of Jason and the Argonauts as well as the question and answer period conducted with the special effects legend immediately after the screening. It was transcribed from a shoddy personal recording and as such there may be a few instances where I was off on a word or two and had to take a few liberties to fill in the blanks. Mr. Harryhausen was incredibly funny and charismatic throughout the session and the entire experience was a delight.

INTRODUCTION TO THE FILM.

The whole picture was shot in Italy, and the interiors were shot in a studio in Rome. Jason and the Argonauts should have been shot in Greece, of course. When we investigated all of the various monuments there, they never bothered to rebuild some of them. Italy had them restored, and Italy was a much more colorful place. So, we shot a lot of it up North, and then we went down to Naples, where there are Greek temples of five thousand years old. I think you'll all enjoy the picture, Jason and the Argonauts. It's one of my favorites and most of the fan mail I get they say, Jason, many people love it. And I just want to say, we had the good pleasure of having that wonderful composer Bernard Herrmann on it.

Q + A

I have a little surprise for you. Perhaps you may recognize one of the...

[Drowned out by startled dork gasps]

This was one of the skeletons that was in The Incredible Voyage of Sinbad and I made six more to fight Jason. He has every joint that a real skeleton would have, and actually, I'm a people shrinker. I shrink the humans down to this size instead of building them up to the size of a normal skeleton. We had seven of them. Three are in Berlin, three are in my own collection and one has been dismembered for some other character.

Recycled!

Recycled? Cannibalism! [Laughter] I'm glad you enjoyed Jason so much.

If you redid the film today, with modern technology, what major changes would you make?

I'd rather not. [Wild applause] Of sixteen features, I think Jason was the most complete. We had a disadvantage because we had to make the pictures for very low budgets. The Beast from 20, 000 Fathoms only cost $200, 000 to make the whole picture, and today you'd spend millions on it. So, it's a different world, and I think this is a sign of that period, the Sixties, and I'm grateful that it holds up so well. Thank God for DVDs and laserdiscs. You can all see them again. These were made before some of you were born!

My question concerns your association with Bernard Herrmann. Knowing that Mr. Herrmann had an erratic character, I was just wondering if your collaboration with him was smooth through all the four films, or did he give you a little trouble sometimes?

Oh, we got along very well. We were both born in June. [Laughter] He was ten years older then I was. But, we got along very well and he was a delightful person under me. He's a Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll. He's got a lovely heart underneath it all. I think that if you've read his biography, you'll understand. I only wish I had read his biography before I knew him. [Laughter] He was rather irascible and when we first chose him for the 7th Voyage, the picture was incomplete when we showed it to him, but I showed him a lot of my drawings. He had a reputation that if he didn't like something he'd say "Why did you show me this crap?!?" He didn't say a thing when he came out of the room after watching the first rough cut. He said, "Yes, I'd like to do the picture." It wasn't complete, there were very few creatures in it, he had to imagine them. I think his contribution to the film was enormous. I feel grateful that we had him for four of our films.

I don't have a question; I just wanted to tell you something. I have a four-year-old son, and of all the movies I own, yours are the movies he likes the most.

When these pictures were made they were considered B-pictures because they were made for very tight budgets. I'm glad to see that the pictures over the years have survived, and many of the so-called A-pictures that came out about the same time disappeared long ago.

Two-part question. First of all, did you find the transition from black and white to color made it more difficult to achieve a sense of realism? And secondly, when is your next movie coming out? [Laughter]

I retired twenty years ago. [Laughter] The black and white we did in the early days, I'm glad to report that a new color process has been devised and some of our black and white films are going to be colorized. It's a delight. I saw some of the tests and they look very promising. So they'll have a whole new life and I'm grateful for that.

You recently went to New Zealand to visit WETA FX. What do you think of the work they're doing down there?

After we did 1 million BC for Hammer, they wanted to do King Kong, and I'm rather grateful that they didn't get to it. They wanted me to work on it, and I rather hesitated about trying to remake a classic such as Kong. Peter Jackson has a love of Kong as much as I have, and I think he'll do a good interpretation, but there will always only be one King Kong. [Applause]

Do you have a favorite creature from all of your movies?

I can't, the others get jealous. [Laughter] Even the seven skeletons get jealous if I pick just one of them. No, I think Medusa. I like the complicated ones, like the Hydra. That was a problem, keeping those heads going in stop-motion. If I answered the telephone, I'd forget whether the third head was going forward or backward, but somehow I managed to get it. [Laughter] But don't look too closely.

Which animator do you think nowadays follows your legacy?

Well, it's a whole different world today. Phil Tippet has been doing some wonderful work. Most studios have had to give up dimensional work and they had to go into CGI, because they think that CGI is the cat's pajamas. I think it's a wonderful tool, but only a tool, and there's no reason it can't be combined with stop-motion animation.

What is the importance or influence of Willis O'Brien on your work?

Well, obviously, when I saw Kong my jaw was down to my navel. Nothing like it had been put on the screen. And that score... I had always appreciated the fact that the music was so important in this kind of film, this type of fantasy film. And we got the best composers possible for our major productions. In the beginning, we made pictures on the cheap and we had to use canned music and tracks from other films. Somehow it worked. They're not ideal, but I think when we got Bernie Herrmann, he was our first true composer, we got Miklos Rosza and Laurence Rosenthal many other very top-grade composers. And that's very important in this type of picture. Max Steiner's score for Kong was almost like an opera. He made leitmotifs for each character. That was the first time it had been done and we've tried to borrow those traditions. And I think that we've had some very good fortune to have the late Bernard Herrmann and others to compose them.

Mr. Harryhausen, I just wanted to wish you a belated happy birthday. [Applause] I have a question about the skeleton scene in Jason and the Argonauts. Like the lost spider scene in Kong whatever happened to that scene where the skeleton looks for his head? I assume it got cut out for some type of reason.

We cut it out because it slowed the action down, the whole pace of the film. So, we cut it out. I wish I'd kept it. I left it in the cutting room.

Mr. Harryhuasen, after you retired was there any movie that you saw on screen that you said, "Oh, I would like to have a hand in it"?

Yeah, well, wishful thinking. I loved Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T. and some of those, but that goes back some time. Recent pictures are very dynamic. You have to have an explosion every five minutes. We couldn't do that with Greek mythology. [Laughter] Young people have been brainwashed today to want something to happen every second right from the beginning, so, that's how the special effects pictures can reign supreme without story, which is unfortunate. But perhaps it will change.

What was the hardest monster for you to create?

I think the Hydra was one of them. The longest scene, it took four months to animate the five-minute sequence you just saw in Jason with the skeletons. That had to have split timing and I had to have a skeleton to meet all the swords of the actors so that it looked convincing, and of course the sound effects department put in the clashes of the metal, and that helped, too. I think that was the longest, and I tried to avoid those types of scenes in a film. Medusa was a problem. She had twelve snakes in her hair and the heads and tails all had to writhe and each frame of film had about 25 moves to make. That could get a little tedious sometimes. Apparently most people like her. I based her on Joan Crawford. Not that I feel Joan Crawford is Medusa. [Laughter] She had that bone structure and I played around with little features. I did a lot of research. I found out that the classic concept of Medusa was just a woman with a pretty face and snakes in her hair. For our purposes, we made her as ugly as possible. We gave her a bow and arrow so she could be wicked from a distance so I wouldn't have to animate little rattlesnake tails and little rattlesnake bodies and gossamer gowns. [Laughter]

How I Spent My Summer Vacation - Part 2

2005-07-29T15:11:00.000-04:00

Back to Montreal for the tail end of the Fantasia film fest for a full day of cinema with very little sleep and next to no food. Who has the time? I made sure I got in earlier then I had to so I could get a good seat for the Jason and the Argonauts screening, but decided to squander a bit of time wandering around St. Catherine Ave. instead. When I finally got there, Mr. Harryhausen was in the lobby signing memorabilia, but I decided to wait until after the movie for my chance to meet him. Unfortunately, the line-up was immense despite my remaining lead-time. J. couldn't make it this trip, so being by myself I managed on finding a decent seat anyway.

When Mr. Harryhausen entered the theatre, the entire audience leapt up for a five minute standing ovation that went on long after he had taken his seat. Thank goodness for La Belle Province. The Québécois are so damn passionate. There must have been something wrong with the theatre's air filtration system, because I think I got something in my eye. I'm such a soft touch. After all the ruckus wore down, Mr. Harryhausen introduced the film and we all sat back to watch. I could probably make the case that Jason and the Argonauts falls under the purview of Corpse Eaters, but I don't know what I could say that hasn't been said already. Regardless, there are two kinds of people in this world. Those that think evil reanimated sword swinging skeletons are awesome, and losers.

After the screening, Mr. Harryhausen took questions and had a signing in the mezzanine. I never get flustered around celebrities or other very important people, with the exception of really incredible animators. At least part of it is knowing first-hand just how tough animation can be, but even more so, unlike many of my peers I have a passion for the history of the medium. A few of the people I graduated with would actually brag that they didn't even like animation, and were simply looking for a way into the video game industry. Now, I don't think it's at all necessary to be completely knowledgeable in your field, especially if all it means to you is a paycheque, but I think it's important to know whose efforts and ingenuity created the basis which you take for granted every day. Ray Harryhausen is obviously one of those people. Don't forget your roots. When my turn at the signing came up, I rather nervously thanked him for all he had done for the art form of animation and special effects. He told me "Keep it up!" and I have to admit, I was smiling for the rest of the day.

Heroes of the East was up next. I wasn't really anticipating much, but I had an extra ticket and wanted to fill the gap in my schedule. Even though this is primarily a horror blog, like everyone else in the Pyjama Party I have a wider range of interests then shown here. One of those passions is old school kung-fu flicks. I was wrong to dismiss this film before watching it, because Heroes of the East was incredible. The simple premise of the movie involved a Chinese man marrying a Japanese woman and the culture clash that occurs, not only between their differing customs but including an exhaustive amount of marital arts techniques and weapons that each whip out in their escalating domestic dispute, culiminating in an international incident and a final third that was nearly all fights. Heroes of the East was hilarious, exciting and, surprisingly, educational, from kung fu superstar Gordon Liu demonstrating a more modest style of feminine martial arts, to one of the greatest Drunken Gods fighting sequences I have ever seen. At this point I was convinced that I was going to achieve that rare experience, a solid day of cinematic goodness at a film festival.

Then I watched Spider Forest.

After Spider Forest I remained seated in the theatre until the sold-out Stop The Bithc Campaign began. I'll speak about that later, but needless to say, I've never before seen that many people walk out of a theatre in the middle of a movie. With both a Mickey Mouse and Satanico Pandemonium dvd in my possession (you should have seen the look on the cashier's face when she rang that up), I headed back home to Ottawa and a night of rocking out at the club. So ends another wonderful experience at Fantasia, and I hope that next year I can devote even more time to its splendour.

Maybe I can book the whole month off.

Mischief is my business

2005-07-25T02:14:00.000-04:00

For the past year and a half I've worked side by side with monsters. Today is our last day in each other's company for at least a few months. There's a very good chance we'll be working together again in the future, but until then I'll miss our time together.

We've seen each other through laughter and tears, quivering terror and manly embraces, jiggling breasts and crotch-clutching suspense, tightie-whities and flaming guitorgans. If the monsters found themselves in a situation where they had to cross-dress (which was disturbingly often) they called me. Whenever someone had to do a face plant into a tree, a wall, or even a windshield, I was there. And when a monster started vomiting, stopped, then swallowed his own barf, I'd roll up my sleeves and spend five whole days making what has become known as The Citizen Kane of Near-Puke scenes.

Mr. Cube. Hey Hey. One day you'll find your rainbow.

2001 Maniacs Q + A

2005-07-22T11:50:00.000-04:00

"Horror to film is like Rock 'N Roll to music."

Director Tim Sullivan and Actress Christa Campbell were in attendance at the Fantasia screening of 2001 Maniacs and conducted a Q + A afterwards. J. rather snarkily asked me if I was planning on taking notes. Actually, J., I memorized everything. Faced!

2001 Maniacs was filmed in a Civil War re-enactment tourist town that cost only ten grand. The crew had to shoot all the most disturbing scenes early in the morning before the tourists came, and around them during business hours. During one of the more spectacularly gruesome set pieces, they were shocked to discover a group of kids applauding off to the side.

They had commissioned a group of Civil War re-enactment people for the film, but they ended up quitting after they had a chance to read the script. Their notice of termination came in the form of the so-called Curse of the Confederation, which each of them signed. From that moment on there were many odd, potentially dangerouoccurrenceses during the shoot.

One of the original contributors to 2000 Maniacs enjoyed the movie, declaring that everyone who deserved to get killed did, especially "the coloured one and the queer boy." Yikes.

H.G. Lewis liked the script so much that he decided that he should shoot all the murder sequences himself. Tim Sullivan tried to escape the situation gracefully, but in the end Lewis was apparently affronted and appears to have stopped speaking to Sullivan.

Travis Tritt, supposedly a huge horror fan, called Sullivan expressing interest in appearing in the film. At one point during the filming of 2001 Maniacs Tritt was locked in an enclosed space which the crew was unable to reopen. Fearful that they had killed him, they finally pried it loose and Tritt sprang out and clocked Sullivan in the head with a crowbar. He thought they were still filming.

2001 Maniacs actress Christa Campebell is set to appear in the November issue of Playboy. She seemed somewhat shy about it.

Robert Englund was very approachable and enthusiastic, and kept everyone's energy up. He performed his own stunts, including jumping over a wall of fire carrying a 40-lb. Sword and with the use of only one eye.

One member of the audience sincerely declared his shock that the man who played "the innocent alien from V" could portray such a villain. Stunned silence from the rest of the audience. Highlight of the night.

2001 Maniacs

2005-07-20T11:34:00.000-04:00

"Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it."

A weird prequel of sorts to Cabin Fever, this remake of the H. G. Lewis' gore trendsetter is a manufactured piece of midnight movie sleaze sure to split viewers right down the middle. A bunch of kids on Spring Break, along with other assorted urban types, become the guests of honour at the Jamboree of the Damned. Break out the banjos.

One of the marks of great satire is the ability to take no prisoners, to not only attack those things that the audience can laugh along with, but to also put that same audience on the defensive as well. I'm not sure if 2001 Maniacs is great satire, but they certainly take a big, broad stab at it. Every cliche of both the North and the South is on display. This is the archetype that Warrenzone lambasted not long ago, the city folk traversing in dangerously feral rural areas, writ large. There is not one redeemable character in the entire movie. The victims from the North are predominantly wooden and rude, while the Southern folk are the kind of eccentrics that trot out every single redneck cliche possible. If anyone has an edge for the audience's affection it's the Southerners, if only because at the very least they're interesting.

The incredible thing is that I've already had a chance to see viewers take away completely different impressions on the characters from 2001 Maniacs, siding with one group or another, or even taking offense to the way their own side was portrayed, without realizing that the nastiness is smeared clear across the board. Unfortunately, one of the side effects of this type of characterization is that there is absolutely no chance of empathizing with the characters, and therefore little to no chance of actually feeling any kind of fear for their safety. This lack of empathy also had the side effect of slowing down the movie, as the urban types weren't nearly interesting enough to make someone care whether they found a way out of their situation, and couldn't carry the weight of their scenes unless they were being butchered or skewered.

As I've already mentioned, the best performances come from the townsfolk, comprised of some wonderful character actors, including Robert Englund, Giuseppe Andrews and Lin Shaye. The gore is plentiful, and while some of it subpar, the majority of set pieces manage to either be ridiculous, offensive, ribald or disgusting, and usually a mixture of all the above. Plus, there's plenty of maggots. An abundant amount of flesh is on display and, as can be expected when you have sex with maniacs, most of it is distastefully bizarre.

Despite my usual dislike of jokey, self-aware gruefests, I found myself howling along with the rest of them, both because of the gore as from the humour. While it's not something I'd see outside of a large group of demented souls, I'm glad that J. dragged me out to catch it. And if you want a real glowing report, ask her. She adored it.

The Dark Hours

2005-07-18T12:21:00.000-04:00

"I have to chop something off. That's the rules."

Initially and more appropriately titled Head Games, The Dark Hours is an incredibly stylish and gruesome little slice of Canuck horror that utilizes its lean budget to the fullest. It tells the story of psychiatrist Samantha Goodman, a woman whose discovery of an inoperable and fatal brain tumour causes her to act erratically towards her patients. She escapes to a cabin she shares with her husband, a writer, who is working on his latest novel with the help of Samantha's younger sister. There she hopes to reveal her predicament to them, only to have a former murderous patient with a grudge come calling with a young and nervous apprentice in tow. In the confines of the four walls of the cabin the roles of doctor and patient reverse, and a number of gruesome exercises are concocted to make the participants of the games face their sins.

After the screening I spoke to one of the representatives for the film, and she told me that she was struck by how many people stepped out of the theatre who couldn't believe that it was a Canadian horror film due to its rich visual quality and explicit horrors. The funny thing was that I almost felt the opposite, that The Dark Hours couldn't be anything except a Canadian film. The entire movie is steeped in it, trading in the typical sun-baked highways and back roads of the average survival horror film for the sterile desolation and weird sexual tension of our cinematic history. In its own way The Dark Hours uses its environment as well as Texas Chainsaw Massacre or The Hills Have Eyes, with a picture so crisp that you're afraid it's going to shatter. A lot of care went into this production, with amazing visual and audio cues throughout. Vibrant eyes becoming shadowed over time, trails of blood that congeal and stain the woodwork and sudden explosions of sound cut immediately to deafening silence. There was one shot near the end which lasted just a few seconds that took my breath away with its audacity. This is the kind of filmmaking I love, the type that tries something that shouldn't work at all and makes it happen through sheer craft and artistry.

One of the most pleasingly Canadian elements of the film is Dov Tiefenbach's performance as Adrian, apprentice to lead madman Harlan Pyne. Tiefenbach mixes modest Canadian politeness with excessive cursing in a way that I can certainly fucking relate to. His nervous naiveity and amateur brutality make Adrian a far more relatable and frightening villain then his mentor, and his performance is well worth the price of admission on its own. The other cast members comport themselves well throughout, with Kate Greenhouse as the lead being the other standout. Watching her glacial Cronenbergian cool repeatedly stumble and recover as the tension rises adds a nice counter balance to the entire affair.

Every act of violence in the film was played to perfection, making it hard to believe that the filmmakers weren't already old hands in the horror business. The games themselves are models of simplicity executed with vicious aplomb, and make much more sense then other recent ventures in this territory. Rage and perversion boil just under the glacial Canadian exterior, and when released it comes suddenly and without mercy. The devil's in the details here, with the kind of small, gut-wrenching tortures that never fail to freak me out. Blood flows in both trickles and geysers, and it's always appropriately disturbing. The anticipation and aftermath of violent confrontation are given just as much attention as the act itself, if not more so, and to great effect. And as can be expected in a story of this kind, a fair amount of frustration and discomforting sleaze makes its way into the games the characters play.

So, with all this effusive praise, what could possibly go wrong? Long-time readers of this blog can probably guess. The final ten minutes are not only a cop-out, but the lean, mean fighting machine of the previous seventy are replaced with the kind of excess material that slows the entire thing to a crawl and should have found its way to the cutting room floor instead.

All in all, The Dark Hours came incredibly close to being my favourite horror movie of the year, and is still well worth watching. But like every other contender to the title, it wins by a technicality when a knock out would have been preferable.

Twist of Fate

2005-07-15T14:02:00.000-04:00

With the J-Horror trend subsiding, we're seeing a resurgence of the gritty survival horror films popularized in the 70s, movies like High Tension, House of 1000 Corpses and a new Canadian film called The Dark Hours. I adore the era of filmmaking that these upstarts are based on, but I've noticed a disturbing pattern emerging. Instead of simply evoking that period of horror movies by utilizing brutally realistic violence and endurance straining terror, many of the new breed are merging that sensibility with the tired hokum of the twist ending. While definitely not a modern invention, with the popularity of M. Night Shyamalan's films it seems that it has become almost de rigeur that if a film isn't a franchise, it stands to reason that a final twist must be added.

A few weeks ago, I couldn't completely agree with Warrenzone's assertion that the twist has overstayed its welcome. I was still holding out that a twist could be used effectively. Recent events have forced me to reevaluate my stance. I'm beginning to find the whole thing insulting, as if modern audiences have somehow become so accustomed to an ending that will have them leaving the theatre retroactively pondering the true meaning of the events of the past hour and a half that its become a necessity. An emotionally wrenching, yet narratively straightforward climax is becoming a thing of the past.

The horror film, and survival horror specifically, is already laden with a twist. It is speculation, presenting a situation we never see in our day to day lives but can dimly remember in the primordial parts of our minds. What if outcasts from society, isolated from the world, considered murder and cannibalism to be something mundane? What if we were hated by them because we were different, soft, smugly superior in our strange ways. What boundaries, mental and physical, would we cross to survive our visit to their world? And most importantly, how far would we ourselves devolve in our conflict with them? Would we become nothing more then mewling animals led to the slaughter, or partake in the same kind of brutal debauchery to survive?

A further twist in these kinds of films is superfluous and distracting, a faux-intellectual speedbump in a movie that works best raw and on a gut level. What really burns me up, and the reason for this little rant, is that bad endings are tacked onto what until that moment were near-masterpieces of horror cinema. I just recently viewed a film that could very well have become my favourite of the year, but in the end it traded in its instincts for rational thought, as if the filmmakers had suddenly become ashamed of the means they had thus far employed to peel away at humanity's fears.

I join Warrenzone in calling an end to this degradation of an otherwise pure objective. A film that's powerful enough already will inspire more interesting thought and discussion afterwards then any gimmick possibly could. Fuck the twist ending.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation - Part 1

2005-07-14T11:23:00.000-04:00

We're already knee-deep into this sun-baked season, but this past weekend was the unofficial kick-off for my summer of horror with the start of the Fantasia Film Festival.

I was contacted Friday morning with the offer to sit in at a press screening of The Dark Hours, a Canadian slice of old-school survival horror that I wasn't going to be able to attend when it premiered later in the festival. Montreal is over two hours away by bus, and I was going to go back the next day, but I really wanted to catch this movie. During the screening, one of the girls from the Space channel (Canada's equivalent to The Sci-Fi Network) kept screaming throughout, and her companion made sure to point out afterwards which one of them was the wuss.

Saturday night came and J. and I headed back to Montreal. I hadn't planned on attending that weekend, but an excitable email from J. changed my plans. There's nothing J. likes better then a trashy, bare-breasted, gore-soaked midnight flick, and 2001 Maniacs was on the bill. We got to the theatre just under the wire, where her friend N. was waiting in line with his girlfriend. J. got everything she was hoping for, and we headed to our room at J.'s alma mater. Surprisingly, everything went down without a hitch. It was from this point on that we worried about when things would go South.

Sunday morning we hit Cosmos, by far the greasiest greasy spoon on the planet. Their hash browns are disgustingly delicious. I ordered the double meat special. Oh, Montreal... We walked off our breakfast while purusing the used bookstores in that part of town, and ended up buying nearly a dozen Archie digests, most of them sporting those groovy geometric covers of the mid-to-late 70s.

I missed out on buying back issues at the Rue Morgue display during the 2001 Maniacs screening, and they were nowhere to be found the next day. As a matter of fact, the dealer area seemed especially sparse. Last year there was a table with some interesting FAB books for sale, including the one on Fulci. Hopefully they'll be back next time. I did dig up a copy of Fear No Evil, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake and Black Christmas, which I've been trying to get forever. I tried to buy it without J. noticing so I could give it to her for the holidays, but she knew something was up and wouldn't let me surprise her.

The New One Armed Swordsman was next on the agenda, and though this brilliant chop socky is hardly straight-up horror, there were enough hacked limbs on display to put 2001 Maniacs to shame. In fact, dismembered limbs seemed to be the theme of the wekend. We debated sticking around for a package of Quebecois shorts, which included at least two zombies picks, and The Birthday, an apocalyptic real-time comedy which J. wanted to see because Corey Feldman was in it, but in the end we relented and dragged our sunburnt bodies home.

That night we watched the 'Saw remake, and it wasn't nearly as good as we thought when we saw it in the theatres. Oh, well.

Don't Let Them Hear Your Heart Beating...

2005-07-13T23:10:00.000-04:00

From the Blue Underground press release...

The Blind Dead Collection (1971 - 1976) (5Disc / Limited Edition) - DVD

The Holy Grail Of EuroHorror Classics - Now Totally Uncut & Uncensored For The First Time Ever On DVD! They are called THE BLIND DEAD, heretic horsemen whose eyes were burned out to prevent them from finding their way back from Hell. Over the course of 4 unforgettable films, writer/director Amando de Ossorio created what fright fans worldwide consider to be one of the most startling series in horror history. This unique quartet of shockers delivers a relentless onslaught of creepy atmosphere, shocking violence, forbidden sexuality, and the still-chilling icons of EuroHorror: The eyeless undead who hunt by sound in their quest for human flesh. Don't move.don't breathe.don't let them hear your heart beating: THE BLIND DEAD are back! Blue Underground is proud to present the Definitive Editions of these four long-unseen classics, now fully restored from original vault materials and remastered in heart-stopping High Definition. This Limited Edition Collection also contains an exclusive Bonus Disc of interviews with the late Amando de Ossorio, a collectable booklet and more eye-popping Extras, all packaged in a killer coffin-shaped box!

You can't imagine how much I'm looking forward to this. Details courtesy of The Rue Mortuary.

Back in five minutes...

2005-07-12T11:48:00.000-04:00

J. and I just got back from Fantasia. Expect an overview, reviews and other assorted goodies in the days to come. In the meantime, dig that crazy Burger King ad.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2005-07-07T00:03:00.000-04:00

Today's my mom's birthday, and in celebration of this event here's something even she can appreciate.

As I've mentioned previously, I don't have full internet access at work. However, for some strange reason I can access any Yahoo page. So when I want to take a look at what's happening at the cinema, I turn to Movie Mom's Reviews.

Now, I can't say I agree with most of her reviews, but I have to give Mom some credit for not being automatically dismissive of horror films. I assumed that each review would be fueled by hatred and ignorance like other family-oriented film forums, but once you get past the relatively objective listings pertaining to violence and vulgarity that are a hallmark of this kind of criticism you'll find that more often then not Mom knows her shit. And when she doesn't, as in the case of Freddy Vs. Jason, she passes the reins over to someone who does.

By this point you're asking yourself why I'm even bothering telling you all this. I'll admit, if that was everything then I wouldn't be posting this, but the aspect of the reviews that I keep coming back for is the conversation starters suggested for after viewing. So, if you decide to sit down and watch High Tension with the kids, you can "discuss how 'love' is treated in this movie as a motivator and whether the Killer's callousness is a mask for stronger emotions.”

Movie Mom's Reviews makes me wish I had kids.

Willard

“Families who see this movie should talk about why Willard felt he had no alternatives, and how stories like this are often inspired by the consequences of keeping feelings inside and a sense of powerlessness. Why was Willard unable to accept Katherine's offer of friendship?”

28 Days Later

“Families who see this movie should talk about the different characters' responses to ultimate questions about the meaning of life. Who is responsible for what happened? What will the world be like 10 years later? They should also talk about the enduring appeal of apocalyptic stories and the way they present moral choices in sharp relief. “

Country Bears

"Families who see this movie should talk about how everyone feels different from the rest of the world at times, and how we make connections with those who are and who are not like us."

Meet the Press

2005-07-06T23:32:00.000-04:00

It's been an exciting week here at Corpse Eaters Central, and it's about to get even better. I have been granted a press pass for the Fantasia Festival in Montreal, thanks to the fine folk working behind the scenes, particularly publicist Stéphanie Trépanier. The festivities start this weekend, so while my posts may not be as frequent as you've grown accustomed to, hopefully they'll be worth the wait.

War of the Worlds

2005-07-04T11:49:00.000-04:00

War of the Worlds is a bombastic piece of survival horror. I can't remember the last time I felt that tense so often in a movie theatre.

Spielberg still has what it takes to wring out some genuine tension. There are numerous scenes where, instead of catching the characters completely unaware, the Martians practically announce their imminent attacks thereby increasing the anticipation tenfold as they slowly move in for the kill. The scenes of frenzied mobs are especially well done, with nice little touches that emphasize the secondary danger of societal breakdown in the face of crisis. I was even impressed by Cruise, who allows himself to shed the tough guy image and fuck up, break down, and make some hard decisions in the face of annihilation.

Unfortunately, Spielberg's version of War of the Worlds is a little top heavy. All the best thrills hit you in the beginning and make the remainder a bit of a let down. The action sequences become claustrophobic where before they were all-encompassing and intimidating. The landscapes seem stylized and dreamlike as opposed to the gritty realism of the part. And, worst of all, the doomed scurrying of the previous four-fifths of the film gives way to a number of heroic and sentimental concessions.

In the end, what could have been a nice counter balance to Independence Day and its ilk finishes up with a feeble emulation.

War of the Words

2005-07-02T13:02:00.000-04:00

J. and I are off to see War of the Worlds tonight. I've heard a great deal of confusion concerning what kind of allegory this new treatment is going for. To help clear things up, here are a few quotes from people involved.

From an interview with actress Ann Robinson from the June issue of Rue Morgue magazine.

"When Wells wrote the book initially it was about the British empire and imperialism, those were his Martians. Orson Welles had Hitler and the Nazis in 1938 and those were his Martians. George Pal had the Red Menace, communism, the Cold War, and those were his Martians, and now we have Steven Spielberg and I guess his Martians are going to be Al Queda."

From an interview with War of the Worlds screenwriter David Koepp, from the same issue.

"And now, as we see American adventurism abroad," he continues, "in my mind it's certainly back to its original meaning, which is that the Martians in our movie represent American military forces [invading] the Iraqis, and the futility of the occupation of a faraway land is again the subtext."

Hope that helps!

The World's Most Dangerous Band

2005-06-30T11:26:00.000-04:00

"Jail, Death, Tequila, Exorcism, Breakdowns, Zombies, Ravens, Teddy Boys, Paranoia, Pills and Renegade Bandits!

Welcome back, Gorillaz. You Saucy Bastards."

-From Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head, a pictorial history of the Gorillaz

I find myself in agreement with M Valdemar's earlier assessment of Rue Morgue's Audio Drome segment. It's the one part of the magazine I never fail to skip over. Even those times that I've tried to read the magazine from cover to cover have failed because of that section. This isn't to say that it isn't a worthy addition to the magazine. I won't pretend that every aspect of Rue Morgue should appeal to me, and I'm quite happy with every other article and review. But I could never figure out how so many of these bands could even be catalogued under the horror tag. Never mind that Rue Morgue still regularly receives letters from every two-bit metal band looking for more exposure simply because they put some skulls on the cover. All of which is to say that it's altogether too bad that something as rife with horrific dimensions as the Gorillaz won't make the cut, the latest release of which along with other odd paraphernalia I received from a mysterious benefactor.

"The album opens with an ominous soundscape sampling George Romero's 'Dawn Of The Dead'. It expresses a similar sense of foreboding we feel about the world." - Noodle, in an interview with NME

I don't listen to music. I can't even pretend to criticize an album when I live the majority of my life in silence. I can say that most of the Gorillaz' latest album Demon Days does very little for me. Whether that's due to it being a lacklustre album or my own admitted musical ignorance is up in the air, though I would argue for the latter. Titles such as Last Living Souls, Every Planet We Reach Is Dead and the title song, Demon Days, hint of horror, but other then a few allusions, they don't necessarily deliver. The intro comes the closest to creepiness, along with the spoken word piece Fire Coming Out Of A Monkey's Head, featuring Dennis Hopper. All of which may prompt you to ask why I'm even talking about it here.

"When there's no more room in Hull, the dead will walk the Earth!" - 2-D

The music of the Gorillaz stands, I think, in stark contrast to the band itself. The group consists of a perverted satanic magician, a formerly possessed mad genius, a preteen with the destructive power of an atom bomb, and a knife-wielding carnie dimwit. Their misadventures are quickly becoming the stuff of legend. In fact, it's unlikely that there's been another band in history that has fought zombies on so many different occasions. During their sabbatical between their first and second albums, during which the quartet experienced even more bizarre revelations, their studio in Essex had been overrun by the undead. Some of you may even remember their broadcast showing proof of the zombie invasion (stills of which can be seen above), and the message they have sent out warning us all.

"The Dark is rising, there is a day of Reckoning coming, and the Harvest is almost upon us!!"

It's unsure if the studio was always a weirdness magnet or if it slowly became one over the centuries. Lead guitarist Noodle found out that Kong studios was built variously upon a druids meeting place, an ancient cemetery, and a decadent house of deviant sadism.

"On further investigation, it turned out that underneath the wallpaper and false walls lay whole parts of Kong never seen! Rooms full of murder, mystery and suspense. Rooms full of trapped photographers, empty haunted Casinos, elongated corridors, muffled moans, forgotten turrets, rooms that seem to change every time you open the doors and a tunnel that leads from the mountain right down to the graveyard."

All I know is that there's something sinister going on here. Plain-wrapped packages left in my mailbox with no contact info containing cryptic information on odd otherworldly going-ons, while always welcome, leave me feeling terrified. I only hope that the Gorillaz have been brought together again to save the planet, and not, God help us all, destroy it.

Happy Anniversary!

2005-06-29T10:58:00.000-04:00

It's been five years ago today since the love of my life stepped on my toes during our first date. Though we were seperated by many miles for the vast majority of those five years, I never considered us to be apart. Not even for one day.

Happy Anniversary, J., and many more to come.

For several reasons, it is a film perhaps best avoided by the pregnant...

2005-06-28T11:52:00.000-04:00

Here are a few highlights of the Fantasia Film Festival as gleaned from their press release. The festival is getting underway this July in Montreal. I plan on attending, as I did last year, and will bring back reports from the fest as well as some greasy bacon from Cosmos. Yum. The following are selected horror and horror-related films that I hope to see, but does not include all the other fantastic genre offerings that I'm salivating over, especially the Shaw Bros. retrospective and the new film by Johnnie To, one of my all-time favourite action movie directors.

Dark Hours, Canada, Paul Fox, Montreal Premiere

Director Paul Fox, screenwriter Will Zmak and producer Brent Barclay will be present. An amazing film - from Canada, no less - that might prove to be the single most powerful horror production to emerge from any country this year. The Dark Hours depicts the ordeal of a criminal psychiatrist and her family being held hostage by a vicious former patient. We dare not spoil a frame more in synopsis. Dark Hours is a harrowing portrait of psychological mutation in the face of physical decay, anchored with strong, authentic characters. At times, the film is almost unbearable in its intensity. Director Paul Fox is a huge emerging talent. Not since the arrivals of John Fawcett and Vincenzo Natali has there been such an exciting new voice in Canadian horror cinema.

The Roost, USA, Ti West, Canadian Premiere, hosted by director Ti West

25-year-old Ti West’s acclaimed feature debut is a spookshow love letter to yesterday’s American exploitation film culture, designed to play as if you tuned into it on a late night TV broadcast, complete with charming horror host segments featuring Tom Noonan (Manhunter)! Intervals are comic but West plays all horror elements straight. Gritty and unusual stuff. It was a huge success at this year's South By Southwest film festival.

Note : The U.S. represent a very high percentage of the horror films being shown, including The Devil's Rejects, Live Freaky! Die Freaky!, and 2001 Maniacs.

Godzilla: Final Wars, Japan, Ryuhei Kitamura, 2005, Canadian premiere

What better way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Godzilla than to go all the way. With 15 monsters in one single film, Godzilla: Final Wars features all the favourites. To helm the magnum opus, Toho hired the sensation of the moment Ryuhei Kitamura (Versus, Aragami: The Raging God of Battle and Azumi).

Eye 2, Hong Kong - Thailand, Danny Pang and Oxide Pang, North American Premiere

The Pang Brothers’ sequel to their supernatural mega-hit takes every possible risk and scores powerfully on all counts. Eye 2 bravely bears no relation to the original and actually manages to surpass much of that film’s nightmarish impact. It is a poetic, stylish and unsettling mix between Buddhist philosophies and shrieking surrealistic terror. For several reasons, it is a film perhaps best avoided by the pregnant...

P, Thailand, Paul Spurrier, Canadian Premiere

A young village girl moves to Bangkok and gets a job working in a sex club to raise money for her ailing grandmother. When her lack of big city sophistication causes awkward embarrassment, she turns to primitive magic to gain strength, with horrific consequences. British director and Thai local Paul Spurrier's (Underground) unusual and conflicted film has been ruffling feathers all over the world. It’s not only the first Thai film directed by a westerner, the use of demonic possession as a metaphor for drug addiction and the depiction of the harsh reality behind the Thai sex industry has also caused a lot of controversy in Thailand.

Spider Forest, Korea, Song Il-Gon

Spider Forest by the renowned director Song Il-Gon, a modern-day fairy tale for adults, perhaps even a love story, though one with a number of shocks and an eerie, constant atmosphere of foreboding. TV producer Kang Min comes to in a forest, not far from a desolate cabin. There, he finds the brutally butchered body of a middle-aged man, and in another room, his girlfriend Su-yeong, on the verge of death and gripped by nameless dread…

Three Extremes, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Fruit Chan, 2004

Three… Extremes is a transgressive trilogy of medium-length short films from South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong, each an assaulting exploration of egoism, with shared imagery revolving around destruction/rejuvenation of the flesh, and a shattered entertainer at its core. The most disturbing entry is Fruit Chan’s Dumplings, which proved so strong that the filmmaker released a longer, feature-length version in his homeland. Hong Kong’s art house auteur has delivered what might well be the most confrontational horror fable in recent memory.

Note : I live in Chinatown and rented Dumplings from my neighbourhood video store. J. and I soon discovered that this is most definitely not a date movie.

Retinal Stigmatics: An Evening with Joe Coleman

The visionary and notorious painter / performance artist, widely hailed as this era’s Salvador Dali, will be making his first-ever Montreal appearance to present a special two-hour midnight multimedia show entitled Retinal Stigmatics: An Evening with Joe Coleman, on July 15. A rare chance to explore the shattering universe of one of the greatest living surrealists, with the artist performing live spoken word, projecting imagery and screening live footage!

Stephen R. Bissette’s Journeys Into Fears

The esteemed comic-book artist and film journalist Stephen R. Bissette will be in town to host a pair of lectures on the early history of horror comics, entitled Stephen R. Bissette’s Journeys Into Fears. The first part will be on July 16, the second part on the following day, July 17.

Lloyd Kaufman’s How to Make Your Own Damn Movie

Lloyd Kaufman, the American director, independent producer and unstoppable father of all things Troma will be performing his lecture How to Make Your Own Damn Movie. Following the seminar, Kaufman will present a rare 35mm screening of the original Toxic Avenger.

Ray Harryhausen to be presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award

For the first time in Fantasia history, a Lifetime Achievement Award will be given to an international genre-cinema craftsman. The first laureate is Ray Harryhausen, famous for his stop-motion animation work. During the 1950s and 1960s, Harryhausen developed and improved animation techniques, making significant advances in his technique and range with each successive movie. He is the genius creator behind the films Jason and the Argonauts and The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad. In 1991, Mr. Harryhausen was finally presented an Oscar for his work. On July 24, Mr. Harryhausen will hold forth on his career and present a few of his rare early works, followed by a screening of Jason and the Argonauts in a new 35mm print, and concluded by a Q&A period. Three hours with the stop-motion master, whose special effects inspired the likes of James Cameron, Peter Jackson, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

Land of the Dead

2005-06-27T14:17:00.000-04:00

"In a world where the dead are returning to life, the word 'trouble' has lost its meaning."

Just before Land of the Dead started, some co-workers of mine noticed J. and I and came to sit with us. After the movie was over, the co-worker nearest to me asked what I thought of it. "Fantastic," I replied. As we were leaving the theatre, when we were out of earshot, J. asked me "So, what did you really think?"

Maybe it's all about expectations. Mine were incredibly low up until the past few days, and even then I couldn't really bring myself to get too excited. Much as I've enjoyed them, I'm hardly a slavish fan of Romero's trilogy. Yes, Night of the Living Dead is one of my two favourite horror films, but I've always felt that Romero became far too heavy-handed immediately afterwards. Night of the Living Dead can, and has been, taken as an allegory for many things, but it always seemed to be one of those movies that was shaped by its times on a subtle, subconscious level, as opposed to the blatant moralizing of Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead. Which is why the fact that Land of the Dead has become my second favourite film in the series is a bit surprising. Should I return my horror blog license through the mail, or will someone be along to pick it up from me?

Observations on Land of the Dead are obviously going to be influenced by the previous three films to a certain degree. Already I've seen numerous critiques which cite Land of the Dead as a let-down, especially after such a high degree of anticipation. Not to shrug off many of the completely legitimate complaints about the film, but it seems to me that people were expecting immediate gratification the likes of which may not have even been evident in the previous films, all of which become stronger with repeated viewings and more in-depth evaluations. I'm convinced that, like Day of the Dead, as the years go by many of the people who dismissed Land of the Dead at first will come to appreciate the many subtleties strewn throughout.

In what was perhaps my favourite moment in the movie, John Leguizamo's character Cholo reflects upon his own frustration while watching a Mexican zombie trying to use a lawnmower on concrete. Much has been made of the post-9/11 allegory present in the film, but I believe the subtler, more pervasive theme throughout Land of the Dead is of class barriers. With that scene in particular, Romero opens up the struggle to include sub-sections within different classes and ethnicities. If you're a put-upon minority, well, at least you aren't a dead put-upon minority, and the presence of such a group can be used as an outlet for your own self-loathing. This is something so rarely presented in pop culture, the class divide within particular classes, and is an ingenious way of retooling the zombie sub-genre. It also ties into the thread prevalent throughout the series in that the zombies aren't mentally capable of fighting amongst themselves and are therefore in a somewhat superior position in comparison to the constantly squabbling living. With the previous films in the trilogy the small cast of characters had to fill-in for all of society. With Land of the Dead, this vision has been expanded to the point that a wider variety of sections of society can be examined without putting the full weight of the allegory on the shoulders of the few.

I walked away convinced that the characterization was the best of the series, bolstered perhaps by some top-notch acting. Believe me, I was the world's biggest skeptic when it came to the decision to cast name stars as opposed to the lesser known actors of the previous installments, yet somehow they made it work. Dennis Hopper, in probably the most subtle performance I've ever seen from him, portrays the corrupt ruler of Fiddler's Green with the same kind of demeanour your boss has as he soullessly smiles his way through firing you, like a shark trying to play nice. John Leguizamo practically steals the entire movie, and provides what I would consider the most nuanced performance in the entire series. Again, where do I return that blogging license?

Good Ol' Romero can still pull off some new tricks. There are a great number of genuinely wonderful set-pieces, both of the horror and, perhaps most surprisingly, action variety. The gore, with the exception of the deadline induced CGI-head shots, was wonderfully creative and disturbing. Wonderful little twists abound, and though I'd say Land of the Dead may be his least horrific film, it comes in second place for me as the most tense and suspenseful. It's been a long time since a movie has actually been able to misdirect and surprise me as much as Land of the Dead.

Which isn't to say that the film was perfect. I found it hard to place myself in the post-apocalyptic world that was presented. With one exception, every major character is in some position of authority. The lowly masses, whose very survival becomes the crux of the film, are given lip service at best. Adding to this problem is the overlarge cast and with a shorter running time then his previous epics, many of the other characters were given considerably less chance to establish themselves, with many of them seeming superfluous at best.

Another reason for the perceived distance is also one of the themes of the film, the complacency of a populace who has grown accustomed to the undead hordes, so much so that they no longer feel any real danger. This was obviously a theme in Dawn of the Dead as well, though that came from a decidely consumerist viewpoint while this film deals with it on that level and more. It's incredibly hard to feel a personal sense of panic when every single character seemingly wouldn't even consider placing zombies on their top ten list of concerns. However, while this lowers the horror of the film considerably, it seems like a natural progression for the history of this world and its inhabitants and is therefore necessary for the film, much like the forced ennui of Dawn of the Dead was a must for that film.

Land of the Dead is just as sloppy in its way as Dawn and Day before it, but that method of experimentation is precisely why Romero is so highly regarded. For every three pieces of subpar acting, plot holes, ham-fisted moralizing, sappy ending or intrusive slapstick, there's at least one absolutely brilliant touch that elevates the movie from simple exploitation to art and makes you gloss over the defects.

I could easily fill a week's worth of posts on Land of the Dead without breaking a sweat, and I'll be sure to see it again. Somehow I doubt J. will be joining me.

Me-ow!

2005-06-25T13:39:00.000-04:00

I'll be getting to Land of the Dead as soon as I'm through mulling it over. In the meantime, M. Valdemar seems to be feeling a bit better after his recent travails, or at least well enough to treat us to some candid pictures of an incredibly hot Edwige Fenech in her late-50s. Work it!

Waiting for the Dead

2005-06-24T10:25:00.000-04:00

"We watch old George Romero movies
Relish the short time left
Yeah, waiting for the dead
To rise up from their graves"

-From the song Waco, by The Mountain Goats

Here's hoping everyone who makes it out to Land of the Dead tonight has a wonderful time!

The Great Horde-Monster Nezura

2005-06-23T10:16:00.000-04:00

"At Daiei, the advertising trailers for movies were made by assistant directors. Mr. Yuasa made trailers beginning in 1959. One trailer he made was for a movie called "Dai Gunjyu Nezura," a Tokusatsu movie about an invasion of giant rats. Unfortunately, the film's production was cancelled, and the trailer seems to be no longer in existence."

From the article Gamera's Godfather - Noriaki Yuasa, written by Daisuke Ishizuka for G-Fan #59

The Giant Rat Invasion is one of my three favourite sub-genres of horror films, so I was especially intrigued when I came across the photo shown above. Apparently, Daiei studios had made plans to shoot a picture emulating the giant bug movies prevelent in The United States during the 50s and early 60s. Titled Daigunjyu Nezura, or The Great Horde-Monster Nezura, production was halted on the film when it was discovered that the rats were infested with fleas. Having already promoted a creature feature, and left with a number of minature sets, the studio traded in rats for a turtle and made the first film in the exceptionally popular Gamera series.

Man, I wish they had finished The Great Horde-Monster Nezura.

Cold Cuts

2005-06-17T14:18:00.000-04:00

Oh, wonderful weekend. The only time in the entire week that I can actually take the time to read through other people's blogs and sites and such. Unfortunately, over the next half week or so I will be inactive, as my regular computer access will be unavailable due to upgrades. In the meantime, here's what's happening out there in Pajama Party Land.

Listen to the human's artsy fartsy squeekings!

My brother is North Bay's foremost cryptozoologist, so this art installation caught my eye when I read about it in the paper.

San Francisco-based American artist Jill Miller is participating in Norwich Gallery's EAST 05 international exhibition, July 2 - August 20, 2005. Although she will exhibit a performance work, she will not appear in the gallery. At least not in the flesh. Miller's durational performance-installation, "Waiting for Bigfoot," will be located in a remote Northern California forest ("Bigfoot Country").

This is presumably the same location as that where the infamous Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin Bigfoot photo was taken.

Bigfoot himself weighs in on this affront.

One thin dime

The always delightful Mystery of the Haunted Vampire brings Stephen King's commencement address for the University of Maine to our attention. Not strictly horror related, but definitely worth making an exception for.

One Day At A Time

The Groovy One has posted the third part of his Groovy Guide to Horror Blogging, buried deep in his blog by now because he posts too damn much. Once again, it's well worth a look.

Shameless

Warrenzone has listed off 20 of his most shameful horror confessions. I would list my own, but I've found to my amusement that I have no shame.

We Must... Destroy... The Living

For all my Canadian readers, as I mentioned yesterday, I picked up Retromedia's release of Frankenstein Island. I bought it at Music World along with Blood Harvest, Fiend and Garden of the Dead for $5 each. There's plenty more where that came from, and I plan on heading back later this week for more. If anyone thinks, after having read my recent spiteful reviews that I hate horror, let me set the record straight. I started hyperventilating when I bought Garden of the Dead, one of my favourite movies. Info on the sale provided by The Gore-Met of Rue Morgue, who, if I didn't know any better, I would think was actually me hiding behind a pseudonym.

Finally

Belated welcome to Final Girl. I enjoy a good slasher flick myself, so I'll be checking back often.

Robert I. Clarke 1920-2005

2005-06-17T14:17:00.000-04:00

"I'm known as the Sun Demon."

Yesterday I picked up a copy of the notorious Frankenstein Island only to find out a few hours later that the lead of that film, Robert I. Clarke, had passed away.

Best known for his role as The Hideous Sun Demon, Clarke not only starred in the film but also co-wrote, co-directed and produced the effort. He took on this task after realizing, during the filming of The Astounding She Monster, "God, I can make a better movie then that!" The tale of a man cursed by exposure from a strange radioactive isotope to become a reptilian monster when bathed in sunlight, the film's noirish quailty lent itself to the plight of a man who not only suffers from muderous transformations but also the alcohol abuse that contributes to his woes.

Clarke eventually semi-retired from film, but not before starring in a number of extremely low-budget films directed by trash maestro Jerry Warren, including the aforementioned Frankenstein Island. "It's a terrible picture," Clarke added helpfully. Having penned his memoirs, To "B" or Not to "B" - A Film Actor's Odyssey, Clarke seemed to have accepted his place in the world of cult cinema and the hearts of atomic horror fans everywhere.

"There I am, and I can't erase history."

Fangoria has posted a wonderful obituary to the actor. B-Monster has a plethora of discussions with Clarke on his rubbing elbows with the greats in various b-grade sci-fi and horror films, and Horrorwood also has an interesting interview available.

Alone In The Dark

2005-06-15T13:56:00.000-04:00

"Don't be insane! Don't open that door!!!"

I read Naked Lunch back in high school and had a hard time getting a handle on it. About one-third into the book it was as if my mind had adapted to the language to the point that I could read it clearly. In fact, I was so involved that I had to make an additional effort to get back to reality. Alone In The Dark had a similar effect on me. Unfortunately, this wasn't really a positive experience.

I enjoyed House of the Dead. I admit it. Not because it's so bad it's good, but because it was made with such insane abandon. Ego trumped common sense, but without the tempering force of talent or craft that can turn such wild experiments into success. Springboards! Game statistics! Underwater zombies! Unfortunately, Boll seems to have elevated his skills, or gained some modicum of restraint, to a level where he's become almost competent, and therefore, fucking boring.

By the end of the movie I wasn't even really watching the screen, but rather through it, much like when you find yourself drifting away while staring off in the distance. It was almost transcendent, a calm wave of ineptitude washing over me. Despite a lengthy crawl and numerous voice-overs explaining the backstory and constant reminders of what the convoluted plot entailed, I was still unable to focus long enough to absorb what was happening. Tara Reid spent the last third of Alone in the Dark being dragged around by Christian Slater from place to place for no apparent reason. Watching her stumble around without any dilalogue was both bizarre and mesmerizing. There are so many plot holes and continuity errors that you not only lose track of them, they become part of the very fabric of the film, like the inane dialogue and lacklustre delivery. Boll's delighted and confounded me with his illogical tack-on ending once again. And surprisingly, there weren't very many moments where characters found themselves in the dark alone.

If House of the Dead was Resident Evil without the puzzles, Alone in the Dark completes the equation. I'm baffled as to how anyone can think that showing video game-based puzzles being solved onscreen would be interesting to a passive audience. I remember when Resident Evil came out, those people who played them primarily for the puzzles were pissed that this aspect wasn't emphasized. Never mind that spending over an hour may be engrossing for the participant, but for a captive audience it's not the most exciting experience, especially when the obstacles aren't especially creative or difficult.

Believe it or not, I did enjoy a few of the scenes in the movie. There were a few nice pieces of gore, a small handful of scenes that almost achieved some level of suspense, and a ludicrous sex scene that almost reached the heights of House of the Dead, but I prefer my trash without the side order of zen.

Alone in the Dark was shot entirely in Canada. On behalf of my country and its people, I apologize.

The commentary track is everything you could hope for, including a surprise appearance by Boll's puppies, who he has to spend time scolding for interrupting daddy's recording session. A few choice moments.

"Tara Reid looks really intelligent with the eyeglass. I hope. Haha."

"To be honest about Alone in the Dark theatrical release results, I'm very, very disappointed, and especially because the audience saw Darkness, then White Noise, then Hide and Seek, and then Boogeyman, and these are all not really great movies."

"With that shadow, now, we did a little homage to Cabinet of Dr. Caligari."

Batman Begins

2005-06-14T12:00:00.000-04:00

A few weeks back, Dread Central made a very clear announcement that although they were looking forward to the new War of the Worlds movie, they would not be covering it because they felt that it fell outside of their purview. Rue Morgue's recent issue had a cover story on War of the Worlds in addition to an editorial explaining why they felt it was worthy to be discussed as a horror film. Everyone who enjoys a particular genre has some individual idea as to the parameters in which that genre exists. Looking above, it must be pretty obvious where I stand.

So why am I writing about this for a horror blog? Batman has always seemed to me to have leanings in that direction, more so then most superheroes, though it's rare that it's been taken all the way. From Batman's grotesque rogue's gallery to his own modus operandi of striking fear in the hearts of criminals, horror is a cornerstone of the Batman legend. The tipping point for me to include an entry on the film here came about from one of the trailers, which emphasized the terror that Batman sets out to convey to his prey. There are moments in Batman Begins where this promise is fulfilled. The time Batman appears before the criminal element in his costume is set-up just like a horror movie, and the slow build-up contains one of the film's only real moments of suspense. Batman Begins also borrows from horror with the filmic introduction of The Scarecrow, who induces panicked hallucinations in his victims, some of them better, much better, then others. Unfortunately, this promise is wasted time and again throughout the film.

No matter how hard they try, bringing Batman out into the light always results in the character looking ridiculous. Christian Bale, like many of the past incarnations, makes a good Bruce Wayne and infuses the first act of the film with the kind of grim determination that we would hope for. However, the second he dons that awful rubber mask and adopts a foolishly husky voice, projected in all its hunchbacked, fat-necked glory 40 feet high in front of the audience, you wish that they had just kept him in the shadows all along. Batman shouldn't be treated as a superhero. He should be filmed in the way good creature features are, with shadowy glimpses and whispers from the dark. By increasing the mystery surrounding the Bat the audience can appreciate the terror he infuses in the criminal element. Despite creating a distance from the main character, such a move would allow us to become complicit in the grimy underworld of Gotham City and enter that environment more fully.

Jack of all trades, master of none, Batman Begins tries to cover all the bases of the Batman mythos, little realizing that by making itself needlessly complex it loses all the power a good myth might contain. There must be at least ten different plotlines all swirling around, with more themes then I could count. With every subplot vying equally for the viewer's attention, the entire thing becomes what appears to be one tacked-on scene after another. One of the major mistakes made in previous entries in the franchise was in believing that an inflated cast would result in more thrills. As everyone knows, this approach backfired. It's obvious from Batman Begins unnecessary surface complexity that this lesson was lost on the filmmakers.

Batman Begins seems to be comprised at least partly by set pieces lifted from various print escapades of the character, notably those depicted in Batman - Year One. The real shame about this is that if it wasn't apparent before that Frank Miller and Darren Aronofsky were never going to be able to make their adaptation of that graphic novel, now they definitely can't for fear of being labeled plagiarists. These lifted elements, which the filmmakers are obviously entitled to use as they see fit, are rendered nearly incomprehensible when taken out of their previous context and placed in another.

I recently listened to the commentary by director Brad Bird on the film The Incredibles. In it he mentions that one thing he tried to emulate from the great action movie directors is in conveying spatial relations. A good action movie will always strive to let the audience know where they and the characters are situated during the proceedings. The pacing of both the camera placement and action may vary. Pauses can be used to not only establish the surroundings, but to build anticipation for the upcoming conflict. A quick succession of samey shots will become a blur. A change of tempo, even a slower one, will create a pleasurable frisson. Nearly every fight in Batman Begins was composed of the kind of ham-fisted quick cuts and flailing limbs that make up the majority of lame modern action movies. Both the balletic beauty of human movement and the ugly brutality of violence is left on the cutting room floor, leaving only boredom.

It would be altogether too easy to create a Batman Begins drinking game in which the participants take a shot every time a character repeats a line already spoken previously in the movie. Usually when this occurs in films, it's used sparingly and when effective it's usually because the repeated line is either used to strengthen its original intent or, even better, to give the line a new meaning within the changed context. In Batman Begins this device is used for no reason whatsoever, almost as if the writers had just discovered the cut and paste function on their word processor. Like so much of the film, words and actions are given the illusion of depth without really achieving it. Case in point, the juxtaposition of Bruce Wayne's superheroics and his father's good deeds. Instead of lending credence to Batman's psychotic misadventures, it only emphasizes what a self-serving, narcissistic, delusional maniac he is. No wonder they cast the star of American Psycho for the film.

Lest it appear that I despised Batman Begins entirely, I did enjoy at least some parts of it on a popcorn movie level, and even fewer parts on a level above even that. The actors all comported themselves admirably, especially considering the material they had to work with. Before my conclusion becomes a volley of backhanded compliments, there was one aspect of Batman Begins that really stood out, and that was Gary Oldman's depiction of Officer Gordon. From his very first scene, Oldman took the script and transformed his scenes into pure gold. His characterization was the only part of the movie that achieved the kind of psychological depth which the filmmakers appeared to strive for, and this despite their best efforts. It was a terrific opportunity to see such a fine actor at work once again, delivering a performance that was both tough and fragile, with the tentative real world heroics that Batman's delusional immature fixation could never comprehend. The only way I could rewatch this film is to push aside all the sound and fury and concentrate instead on the subtle story arc of Oldman's Gordon.

In the end, Batman Begins is the kind of movie that, while it only annoys me slightly during or immediately after viewing, becomes a kind of malignant abrasion which festers the more I pick away at it.

The Machinist

2005-06-11T15:01:00.000-04:00

Sometimes even when a film is derivitive of others it can still manage to pull it off by sheer craft. Such is the case with The Machinist, a film that takes many of the aspects of neo-noir and post-modern cinema and adds a touch of humanity lacking in most of its predecessors.

Christian Bale is Trevor Reznik, a man who is falling apart in almost every way possible yet for no conceivable reason. When we first meet him we're treated to the disturbing effects that prolonged insomnia has played out on his body. This is in stark contrast to his seemingly stable, even charming, demeanour. As the film progresses, though, the mental torment that accompanies his physically frail form begins to filter through, blurring the line between the right to self-destruction and its impact on those caught too close to the walking wounded. Reznik's perception of the world and his responsibility to others becomes more indistinct and confusing as he comes closer to the truth behind the cryptic messages scattered across the landscape, left there for him to find and decipher by people unknown.

As seen through Reznik's exhausted mind, the events portrayed in the film may at first seem contrary or illogical. However, every aspect of The Machinist interconnects beautifully to create one horrifying story, made all the more gut-wrenching for its plausibility, a reminder that each and every one of us can succumb to physical or mental anguish if we so choose. And in the end, that's what it's about. The choices we make.

Boogeyman

2005-06-10T13:51:00.000-04:00

I originally conceived of starting Corpse Eaters in the Fall of last year. I was unsure if I had the time to take on any projects because of my work schedule. I'm even more sure now that I don't have the time now then I did then, but I'm making the time for the sake of my own sanity.

To see if I could even write coherently enough to start Corpse Eaters, I tested out a few small entries at home, and quickly abandoned the idea. I forgot all about them until I stumbled upon them just this past weekend. The only two that were completed were a review of Boogeyman and another of the Machinist. With the recent DVD release of both films I thought it would be appropriate to dig them up.

The creation of Ghost House productions certainly seemed to suggest a potential return to hard horror form for Sam Raimi, if only in a supervisory capacity. Unfortunately, with Boogeyman, that promise has been squandered, sacrificed to feed the multiplex yet another watered-down time-waster. Boogeyman opens well, with a pre-credit sequence that successfully incorporates childhood traumas that, while presented in specifics, manages to tap into common fears. It's rare that a film markedly shows the terror darkness can add to the mundane. The remainder of the movie, however, meanders along, introducing throwaway elements and characters that don't quite seem to fit into its storyline. Pieces of the puzzle are tripped over without warning, and relationships are introduced at the drop of a hat in order to advance the threadbare plot.

The worst grievance I have against Boogeyman is that, with seemingly only one potential victim, we're left with a series of "fake" scares where the protagonist freaks himself out over moody mist-shrouded parks and menacing clothes hangers. Without the anticipation and execution of mayhem to dole out between the expository bits, Boogeyman drags. Once again, largely unannounced and inexplicable plot twists attempt to ratchet up the suspense near the end, but by that time I was so bored by the tepid proceedings that I had given up almost entirely.

The ending, supposedly tacked on at the whim of test audiences, is a CGI-induced afterthought that whips through the rest of the film at lightning pace, perhaps to trick the viewer into believing they watched worth their money after all. If the rumours are true, the original ending, if it didn't save the film, would have at the very least made Boogeyman go down a little easier. Add to that Ghost House's capitulation in cutting this movie down from an R to a PG-13, and it seems that the founders of Ghost House have quickly forgotten what it's like to stick to your guns in the name of quality, bottom-line be damned.

Free Comics Thursday Revisited - The Monster of Dread End

2005-06-09T13:28:00.000-04:00

The Groovy Age of Horror seems to have cornered the market on showcasing excellent online horror comics, but I can't help posting this link to one of the most disturbing comics ever printed, The Monster of Dread End (To read the story, scroll down). The writer of this mini-masterpiece was none other then John Stanley, the artist made famous for his popular Little Lulu stories. Over the past couple of years Stanley has captured my heart and now I just can't get enough of his work. Enjoy!

Gonzo Horror Journalism

2005-06-08T12:10:00.000-04:00

It seems fairly obvious that something which you consider to be the best of the bunch is also your favourite. Not so. Looking over the miniscule, yet resoundingly excellent horror blogs available at this writing, there is one that, while not comprehensive, professional, or any other obvious indicator of greatness, still manages to fill me with girlish glee every time. Warrenzone.

Some idiot recently poked fun at Warrenzone's grammatical and structural idiosyncrisies, and this post is a big fuck you to that guy. Warrenzone's style of writing is the icing on the cake for me, not because I find it to be unintentionally humourous or some other such nonsense, but because it's like fucking poetry. It flows so well, each bizarre thought and aside constructed with a natural grace that makes me envious. What prompted me to come to this conclusion?

We don't have full internet access at my work, but when I'm bored or waiting for the computer to save I'll take a break and check out cached pages via Yahoo. I've recently been going back over various horror blogs' past entries, and Warrenzone's review of Night Thirst, specifically this portion pertaining to a film by the name of Splatter Farm, caught my eye.

"This movie might have been the single most offensive film ever made in America. I can't describe the violent scenes because even explaining what happened would make this blog legally obscene. I would surely be banned from blogger.com and my internet connection would probably be taken away. Get a hold of Splatter Farm if you can. I've bought my copy, but I'm holding on to it just in case there is a crazy campaign be the decency commission to destroy every copy in existence."

Or to take another example, Psycho Scarecrow.

"My first impression was that this movie sucked. My second impression was similar, but I had some hopes since the cornfield was pretty creepy. In the end, I reached the conclusion, that this movie sucked. In order not to write a very long review trashing this movie, I will just make a list."

One more, from Night of Bloody Horror.

"This one is an all bizarro mania and more type of movie. I just through a bunch of weird words into that sentence and while on the topic of words, "night of", "bloody", and "horror", are probably the most common words used in horror movie titles of all time."

Genius.

Like the movies on the blog, Warrenzone's reviews take everything even further then you expect or down some twisted road that no sane reviewer would ever dare. And yet it works each and every time. He has just collected his thoughts on his trip to Fangoria's Weekend of Horror, and it's well worth a look.

Long live Warrenzone!

It Was Beauty That Killed The Beast

2005-06-07T10:29:00.000-04:00

""Every time I'd pass the Empire State Building, I say a little prayer. A good friend of mine died up there."

Fay Wray, the famed heroine of the original King Kong, was inducted posthumously into the Canada Walk of Fame this past Sunday. Wray was raised in the United States from an early age, but was in fact born in Canada.

I remember catching part of the Academy Awards one year, an event I normally avoid. Happily, the one part I stumbled upon had host Billy Crystal standing in the aisle, giving recognition to a visibly surprised Fay Wray. There was no award presented, no fanfare, simply a small, unexpected token of appreciation for a performance that did everything to enhance the wonder and the terror inherent in one of the greatest monster movies of all time.

Though she hated the term herself, Wray is considered to be the original and, to many, quintessential "scream queen". Willis O'Brien aside, Fay Wray's glowing beauty, sultry innocence and the adoration she demands from many genre fans is one of King Kong's greatest special effects. It's nice to see a horror movie starlet from a 73 year old creature feature given respect, in any form. You are missed, Ms. Wray.

The Dark Side Clouds Everything. Impossible To See The Future Is.

2005-06-05T13:37:00.000-04:00

I've been receiving a fair amount of traffic from a thread concerning The Dark Side plagiarism accusations on The Latarnia Forums. It seems that many of the pages in that thread have been lost and/or hacked into oblivion, which is a real shame. Merik promises that the posts have been saved and will be up once again in the near future. In the meantime, I'm thankful that I reposted a portion on Corpse Eaters. If you haven't read the post or the thread linked above, please do so, and check out M. Valdemar's look at this recent complication, including a link to a blog dedicated to the controversy. Wishing those beleaguered horror scholars the best of luck...

The Bonesetter

2005-06-02T13:27:00.000-04:00

Just a quick reminder that there will be a fundraising screening of Brett Kelly's films The Bonesetter and Spacemen, Go Go Girls and the True Meaning of Christmas tonight. The event takes place at the Main Branch of the Ottawa Public Library, on the corner of Metcalfe and Laurier. Help support independent horror cinema! The fun starts at 7:30 p.m.

Dinosaurs Attack!

2005-06-01T13:24:00.000-04:00

This is entirely too awesome. I recently came across a discussion concerning a Tim Burton follow-up to Mars Attacks! based on another set of gory trading cards entitled Dinosaurs Attack! It seems that Burton hadn't quite decided which film to go with, and had purchased the rights to both. A quick look around revealed Bob Heffner's Dinosaurs Attack! homepage, with everything you ever wanted to know about these grisly cards, from a short history of their evolution, to every single card, sticker and package, front and back. If that weren't all, the cards can be read as a fairly gruesome narrative. And it's even educational, too!

Tantalizing Tidbits

2005-05-31T11:07:00.000-04:00

Why do I engage in cross-blog discussions? It only me serves to make me anxious over my inarticulate rambling. That said, let's bolster the Generic Horror coalition with some much needed frivolity!

The BBC has a report on a real-life zombie outbreak in Cambodia. Someone call Collins! Luckily, it appears that Syrian troops have been brought in as reinforcements, so don't panic, everything seems to be under control. Courtesy of The Rue Mortuary.

In other walking dead news, a new re-edit of Romero's first feature is making the rounds, entitled Night of the Living Dead SURVIVORS CUT. It actually sounds interesting, but I can't tell since I don't have a home computer. Someone let me know if it's any good. Via Creature Corner.

In response to all this recent horror blog navel-gazing, M. Valdemar posts a personal history of horror which has made me feel surprisingly melancholy.

The Mystery of the Haunted Vampire cheers me up with a laundry list of upcoming genre flicks. I'll get on my own choices right after I finish my Friday the 13th posts and get on those thoughts about Night of the Living Dead's status in the public domain. In other words, probably never.

Some of my best friends are sub-genre specific horror blogs...

2005-05-30T10:31:00.000-04:00

With the recent proliferation of horror blogs, The Groovy Age of Horror has written an incredible post on finding your specific niche, and though it's directed at horror specifically, I imagine it would apply to just about anything. It's an absolutely compelling and persuasive argument which I hope you take the time to read. Oh, and I disagree with large chunks of it.

One effect of the article, for both myself and others, is to prompt us to re-examine our intentions with blogging. My main difference in opinion stems, I guess, from my own decision to examine horror as a whole. There are at least two reasons I can think of why potential horror bloggers may not want to find a niche, no matter how potentially lucrative it may be. One, they may not have or wish to acquire the specialized knowledge required to run such a blog. I know that Corpse Eaters would be quite sparse if I focused on only one aspect of horror. And the second reason is simple boredom. Corpse Eaters is my hobby, and even though I could take a stab at condensing my writing to certain topics, that would inevitably result in disinterest with the blog as a whole.

Also, as I related in my initial post on Corpse Eaters, my reason for starting the blog was to more closely examine my affection for a subject I know very little about. I'd say I'm the least knowledgeable person among the Pajama Brigade, and for me, delving into the world of Horror and seeing what makes it tick is half the fun. If I had a blog that was tailored to a specific area which I did have more expertise in, I wouldn't feel as much of the thrill of discovery which lead me to start it in the first place.

Blogs still have a stigma attached to them of being primarily about a person's personal life. Like anything fairly new, their use as a source for information and healthy debate is often derided by more established mediums that share the same goals. Among the advantages blogs have in comparison to more mainstream avenues is that they are often more cohesive and less likely to be answerable to higher-ups (though to be fair there are obviously some disadvantages to go with this freedom). Even if a blog has a diverse range of subject matter, a blogger's style of writing, persistence in making updates and what the blogger chooses or chooses not to focus on can create success both personally and, if you're interested, in page hits. I think a well-maintained general horror blog or three would be a boon to everyone, including those who choose to become more specialized.

Once again, I'd like to point out that the post linked to at the start is a great read (no need for justifications), and I hope it helps future horror bloggers in determining their intent, if any. Most of my favourite blogs are, like The Groovy Age, very specific in their topics and I certainly hope to see many more of them in the future. The Groovy Age's example of a giallo-based blog has certainly whet my appetite.

High Tension

2005-05-28T13:45:00.000-04:00

One of the problems with a film that holds a final plot twist is that even if you keep yourself in the dark, just the knowledge that there is a twist at all will leave you guessing at it throughout the film. And here I've just done it to you, like a virus.

J. and I attended an advance screening of High Tension a few nights ago. The emcee from the radio station introduced the film by saying that they had no idea what it was about and, from the trailer they caught just hours ago, they determined that it could very well be a scary movie. From the reaction of the crowd, almost know one in the theatre had any idea what they were in for. High Tension is a stripped down tale of survival horror, with the protagonist, Marie, both eluding and combating a perverted serial killer who has taken her best friend, Alex, as some sort of trophy.

The audience was almost completely silent throughout the gruesome parts of High Tension, with only one exception. This was the only time in all my years of seeing horror movies in the theatre that I heard a person scream at something that wasn't a boo scare. It was bizarre, as a scene that was slow, disturbing and messy prompted a woman to very slowly let out a whimpering scream that turned into a strangled howl of terror. The gore on display, while at times pleasingly over the top, never forgot that truly effective scares come from simplicity and a desire to show us grotesque, painfully empathic sights without merely throwing lots of blood at the wall (though there's that too).

I'm a great admirer of entertainment that strips away commonplace yet needlessly distracting elements, choosing instead to expand on what little is left. A comic book with static panel placement, or a limited amount of characters in a novel, or, in the case of High Tension, a brutally simplistic plot which allows the suspense to shine through. The conflict between the two main characters is so bare bone that every little detail of their cat and mouse game is allowed to be explored further and given deeper meaning, and its those very same touches that most stand out after viewing. Even the dialogue is kept to a minimum once the mayhem starts, rendering practically meaningless the wrongheaded decision to dub parts of the film while leaving the remainder subtitled, a choice that resulted in more then a few guffaws from the audience. The charm of such a film isn't necessarily in providing an original story but in presenting it in such a way that we remember why we were drawn to such tales of extraordinary resolve in the face of horrifying circumstances in the first place. It's too bad that the film-makers couldn't carry their "less is more" ethos all the way across the finish line.

I work in the commercial arts, and when I'm asked what the most important aspect of success in that field, I say it's getting it "not wrong". On a ridiculously tight deadline it's ok if your work isn't very accomplished, or even satisfactory, so long as it doesn't have a glaring error that will distract the viewer. I'm aware of the rationale and clues that lead up to the twist, thanks. But I think sometimes an artist can be so close to their work that they don't realize that something obvious to someone working on the project for many months, if not years, will be gone in a flash for their intended audience. Far be it from me to suggest that films should never be subtle, but there are ways to reinforce a message without necessarily hitting the viewer over the head with it all at once. In the end it seems that the creators of High Tension believed that their twist was either not important enough to fully consider, or that it was obvious enough for a general audience to grasp. Either way, I think it was largely a superfluous and annoying aberration to an otherwise remarkable movie.

Sorted.

2005-05-27T10:08:00.000-04:00

Musical Chairs

NOT WORK SAFE! But then again, odds are if you're visiting a horror blog you're already aware of that. Ain't It Cool News has some pics of Eli Roth's second feature, Hostel, and it's looking good. Courtesy of The Rue Mortuary.

Relieving the Tension Parts 2 & 3

Lion's Gate has released two more clips from High Tension, though I wouldn't really recommend watching either of them if you haven't seen the film yet as they take some of the fun out of both kills. Also, at least two of the clips presented so far have been re-edited. J. and I attended an advance screening last night, and I'll endeavour to present my thoughts soonish. At least as soon as my Friday the 13th observations. Ha.

Three Evil Eyes

Dark Dreams has reported that Dario Argento, Tobe Hooper and ...Monte Hellman have signed on for a horror anthology.

Due to start shooting in September, the terror trilogy has been scripted by Dennis Bartok, programme director of the American Cinematheque and one of those people endlessly thanked on such 'Making Of' DVD extras for EVIL DEAD, THE FOG, THE HOWLING and TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE.

Don't let the bastards grind you down

In other announced but potentially never realized news, Tarantino and Rodriguez are set to film a horror showcase entitled Grind House, which intends to replicate the heady atmosphere of those sleazy theatres of days gone by, including additional trailers and other bits by other filmmakers.

Adriaaaaaaan!

Dark, But Shining has the scoop on a stunning new horror biopic to be written and directed by a famed academy-award nominated actor/screenwriter.

Returning the Love

I'm pleased to discover that a few other blogs have sent a link my way. It's suddenly far less lonely in here.

The prolific M. Valdemar, has posted various links concerning Lugosi's rendition of The Tell-Tale Heart, among many other wonderful topics. In related news, Cartoon Brew has reported that veteran animator Raul Garcia has completed his short film which utilizes the very same audio track. A page for the project has been set up here.

The Groovy Age of Horror, hardest working blog in the business, has a plethora of delights, including a complete 12-page Vampirella story featuring that squarest of monsters, the Mummy.

Sean T. Collins is still coping, somehow.

And a triple El Cronado to Warrenzone who was the first to leave a comment or two. Besides, "if you're not into metal, you are not my friend".

Approved By The Miskatonic Code Authority

2005-05-24T14:06:00.000-04:00

Thrill to the monstrous goodness of Peter Von Sholly's Sergeantstein and his Maraudin' Monsters. Man, does anyone remember The Creature Commandos?

Link courtesy of the legendary Fred Hembeck.

Destroy All Monsters!

2005-05-22T15:14:00.000-04:00

I'm unable to read Pulog1's site, but who cares? Just look at those grainy screenshots of giant monsters duking it out, like they were ripped straight from a kaiju documentary. Monstrous Trillobites and Starfish... attack!

Hard To See, The Dark Side Is.

2005-05-21T13:33:00.000-04:00

Though it may not directly involve the current handful of horror bloggers, the recent Dark Side plagarism controversy may be of interest to anyone who writes about horror, particularly online. In a nutshell, long-time horror scholar Mirek has accused U.K.-based horror fanzine The Dark Side of not only reprinting sizable chunks of his writing word-for-word, but also of pilfering a much larger number of online sources. The following is a post made by Mirek on the second page of a thread on his Latania Forums, entitled Krimi Does Not Pay.

"On Wednesday I became aware that something was very wrong with THE DARK SIDE magazine. I never realized that day the shocking scope of what was wrong, and even now, as I write these words, I'm in a state of near stupification.

Wednesday: A chance stopover at Tower had me looking at Tower's magazine section and spotting the latest issue of THE DARK SIDE (# 114). I flipped through the magazine, looking for something of interest, and came upon a review of the first DVD volumes released by Germany of Rialto's Edgar Wallace productions. Being an aficionado of these Wallace "krimis," I wondered what the unnamed reviewer would have to say about these DVDs. As I started reading the review, I began to notice familiar phrases and sentence structures. As I read on, it became obvious: The reviewer had copied chunks of my introduction to the Wallace krimis, found in Latarnia's section "Krimi Corner," and had used this material without authorization from me or without crediting me or my website. I bought the magazine and, back home, I began to examine the fairly lengthy review, checking it with my website krimi page. (The review was cynically titled "Krimi Does Pay.") I quickly discovered that nearly my entire introduction had been used, over 500 words. At that point I sent off an e-mail to the magazine's editor/publisher, realizing that I would probably have to wait till next day for a response, as the magazine and its publisher were England-based and operating in a different time zone. Now my attention turned to other parts of the DVD review. Soon enough, I discovered that the reviewer had copied material from another writer, another website--Gary Banks, Horror-wood.com.

Here are the links to both my krimi page and Gary's Horror-wood.com Wallace article ("The Edgar Wallace Connection"):

www.latarnia.com/krimi.htm

www.horror-wood.com/wallace.htm

Folks can find out the chronology of what happened by reading my previous posts in this thread, but let me compact the information here: I did receive a response from the editor/publisher and I contacted Gary about the plagiarism of his work. The editor/publisher did acknowledge, after being offered proof, that the krimi DVD review had used my writing. He made a monetary offer as recompense and left the door open for employing me as a writer on his magazine, and noted that the person responsible for the review would not be working for the magazine anymore. He gave me a name for this person, Gordon Booker, and wrote that Mr. Booker had been turning in a lot of stuff "on spec." I did not believe then, nor do I believe now after further investigation, that a "Gordon Booker" exists.

Okay, so the day goes by. Later, when I get the time, I decide to investigate the other reviews in the DVD section of THE DARK SIDE. As the saying goes, "Where there's smoke, there's fire."

As I began researching each review, I found that a counterpart, in many cases an exact counterpart, existed on the web--my search took me to sites such as DVD Drive-In, DVD File.... I began the process of contacting the writers of these reviews to find out if they had authorized or sold their reviews to THE DARK SIDE.

I've already received responses from a couple of these writers. Their writings were NOT authorized or sold to THE DARK SIDE.

This is where we stand right now. I'm disgusted by this and angry.

I don't have all the time in the day, but I will begin to lay out just what was taken from my krimi page and Gary's krimi writings. I'm hoping that the other writers who have been plagiarized will post here, too, but it is up to them as to how they want to deal with all this.

Please note that I am still investigating DARK SIDE's DVD review section and still waiting to hear from people on this matter. It is very possible that certain writers have sold their online material to THE DARK SIDE. But even if so, the remaining thievery is mind-boggling.

Mirek "

There's quite a bit more where that comes from, including an astonishing colour-coded comparison of the article in question, and a list of numerous other reviews which appear to be plagarized from online sources.

Controversy found courtesy of this post on Rue Morgue. Credit where credit's due.

More Nonsense.

2005-05-20T10:39:00.000-04:00

Pop Art

A recent Mac's Milk ad campaign for their newest slushee flavour has caused a bit of an uproar up here in Ontario. Anything that can manage to make it into public view and turn even my stomach must have something going for it. I wish I were back home, kicking back a Bloody Zit on the stoop with the guys. Sigh. View the commercial here.

Cronenblog

Someone's devoted a blog entirely to David Cronenberg's new film, A History of Violence. I must be slipping. I had no idea this was based on a graphic novel.

Relieving Some Tension

Lions Gate has made available a short clip from their upcoming release High Tension, my most anticipated movie of the year. Warning: it's pretty damn sexy.

Misc.

2005-05-19T10:08:00.000-04:00

Christmas in June

Local filmmaker Brett Kelly will be holding a fundraising screening of his films The Bonesetter and Spacemen, Go-Go Girls and the True Meaning of Christmas. The event will take place a few floors below me at the main branch of the Ottawa Library on Metcalfe, at 7:30 pm, on June 2nd. A portion of the proceeds will also be going towards the Canadian Cancer Society. Advance tickets are available at the Comic Book Shoppe on Bank Street. If you're in town, do what you can to support local independent cinema. I know I'll be trying to play hooky from work.

Fashionably Late

As I mentioned in my introductory post, I started this site not only because I wanted to jump back into the blogging game but also because I couldn't believe that there wasn't much of a horror presence within it. I'm obviously quite happy to be proven wrong, as the more I dig, the more I realize that I'm joining an already burgeoning community. What's most surprising is how many familiar faces from the comics blogosphere have defected to horror. I'll give a more detailed rundown of my favourite horror blogs at a later date, but in the meantime, Little Terrors provides links to a number of sites I haven't seen yet. Time to update that blogroll...

International Read A Comic Book Naked Participant Does Good

Sean T. Collins has posted links to a number of his past Where The Monsters Go entries and briefly discusses the sudden emergence of a horror blog community. Funny how we all seem to have unknowingly come at this from different angles. Link courtesy of Dark, But Shining.

Rave of the Century

Much to J.'s consternation, I'm one of those freaks who actually enjoyed the springboard zombie action of House of the Dead. So I was a little disappointed that Uwe Boll's follow-up, Alone in the Dark, didn't last in the theatres long enough for me to catch it there. Disappointed, but not surprised. However, from the looks of things, the DVD commentary by Boll will make the wait worthwhile. Thank you, Morgueites!

PJs

"I do hope more people use 'pajama brigade' interchangeably with that horror 'blogosphere'." Italics mine.

Friday the 13th - An Introduction

2005-05-13T14:00:00.000-04:00

"I don't think they had any idea that the mask would become this iconic symbol of horror movies. I mean you could show anyone a hockey mask now and they'll know what movie you're talking about and what character." - Larry Zerner, who played Shelly in the third film.

Friday the 13th, the movie turned 25 on Wednesday, appropriately falling upon a week that ends with that particular day. To many hardcore horror fans, beginning this blog with a look back at one of the genre's most derided franchises could be construed as a misstep. The Friday the 13th series has been dismissed by many of its own cast, crew and fans as a paint-by-numbers affair without any artistic merit. It would be hard to deny the sheer commercialism of the films. However, the sheer iconic power of the Friday the 13th series alone should merit at least some discussion. In addition, with any long-running story line, no matter how lacking in intentional continuity or creative vision, interesting threads tend to appear.

I haven't seen these movies in ages, and in the case of a few of the sequels, not at all. J. and I recently purchased the box set on a whim, and I've found the viewing of the series to be absolutely fascinating. For the next month or so I hope to take a look at each film, not so much in the form of reviews, but as general impressions.

In the meantime, if you haven't decided how you'd like to celebrate today, the fine members of the Rue Mortuary have some suggestions.

Welcome.

2005-05-10T12:18:00.000-04:00

Hi, and thanks for visiting Corpse Eaters. This blog is intended to be a personal exploration of my lifelong love of Horror. To the best of my knowledge, and despite the proliferation of sites and message boards dedicated to the genre, there are few horror-based blogs available, certainly less then those communities found in other topics. This is similar to the situation I found myself in a few years ago when I started a blog devoted to comic and animation art, which has since expanded to include well over a hundred different voices.

My reasons for starting that site are the same as this one, to better understand and increase my knowledge of the subject while hopefully providing small doses of entertainment and education to anyone else who may stumble in. It should be obvious to anyone reading this blog that I am not an expert in the field, nor do I claim to be, but rather someone who admits to his ignorance and intends to use this forum to learn more about Horror in all its forms.

There is another reason for the creation of this blog. I moved to Ottawa, Ontario a few years ago, and while there are a few horror devotees in town, in comparison to both Montreal and Toronto we fall far short of publicly embracing Horror. Rather then just gripe about it, I've decided to do something constructive and help in even this small way to add to a horror culture in our nation's capital. With that said, I hope to persuade other people in the city to contribute, debate and celebrate various aspects of Horror in our community for future installments.

The title of this blog is in tribute to the film of the same name, most likely the first zombie movie created in Canada (or the outskirts of Sudbury, to be exact). Small, cheap, uneven, and at times quite bad, but with a hell of a lot of chutzpuh. This is The Corpse Eaters legacy.

I hope that you enjoy your visit and come back often.

Grarrrr!

2004-12-01T05:21:00.000-04:00