Monday, November 1, 2010

Day Twenty One: "Psycho killer qu'est-ce que c'est?"

I love my mother but Norman Bates takes wanting to be with your mother forever way to far. "Psycho" starring Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates showcases a story about an unstable, twisted and extreme version of a classic mama's- boy.

The movie starts off with Marion, a young lady who has embezzled money from her boss and searches for a hotel to hide out in. She finds the Bates hotel. Norman's mother lives in the house next to the hotel. When he asks her if Marion can have dinner with them she denies his request saying she won't allow "strange young girls for supper". Norman and Marion end up eating at the hotel and talking about his Mother. There's a heated argument between the two about the mental state of his Mother and how she should be institutionalized. Once dinner is over Marion goes to her room. Norman is creeping outside her door and watching her undress. She's heading to the bath room, anyone want to take a guess at what comes next?

Alas, the iconic shower scene. Before I even knew the plot behind this movie or heard of the character of Norman Bates I had watched this scene. It's a great scene, don't get me wrong, but I'm pretty sure we all know about it so lets move on to Norman's little secret.

Essentially, without going into great detail about the rest of the movie, Norman Bates is seriously screwed up. The story behind him is that he was jealous of his Mother's lover so he killed both of them but felt such guilt from doing so he wanted to erase what happened from his memory which then made him crack and stake on another personality; his Mothers. Marion is killed in the shower by a female who is suspected to be Normans Mother. But to my surprise it was just dear old Norman dressed like his Mama. Well, there wasn't too much surprise, Anthony Perkins is a good looking guy but he can pull off disturbed well.

This Hitchcock classic is worth a watch. Bring on the chocolate syrup!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Day Twenty: ... What?

It took me 20 days to find the original version of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre". Dear lord was I tired of being disappointed when I saw Jessica Biels name on the credit list on the back of the DVD. Although the movie itself was pretty disappointing.

This movie was the influence for Rob Zombie's "House of 1000 Corpses" which makes a lot of sense after seeing both of them. The hillbillies attacking people is always a favorite storyline of mine. Can't go wrong with a little mutilation from a guy wearing a mask made out of other peoples skin. I found it ended kind of abruptly and my friend and I both said "wait, what?" when the credits started rolling.

I think for this type of movie its a good start. I remember seeing a scene from what I thought was this movie that had a radio station playing "Goo Goo Muck" by the Cramps but when the movie was over and I hadn't heard it I looked it up and found out that the scene I saw was in "Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2". Ain't that just my luck, the one part I'm looking forward to is in the sequel. I'm interested in seeing the second movie, I didn't really get into this movie.

Day Nineteen: And we thought adoption was safe...

Creepy kids, they're on my list of things that terrify me in movies and "The Omen" has a creepy kid. He's really more evil than creepy, seeing as he's the son of Lucifer. I was a little disappointed when the kid wasn't really in a lot of the movie, just his creepy smile here and there but no actual kid killing anyone. Although I guess if you're the son of the devil you have people to kill people for you.

The movie starts of with a man loosing his son during childbirth and crying about having to tell his wife the bad news. Then a priest comes to tell him that he can adopt a child that was born at the same time but the mother died. Suspicious? Apparently not because he takes the kid and never tells his wife that their son isn't actually theirs. Then the people around the boy end up dying one by one, and eventually the father goes on this hunt to find out where his son came from.

I didn't find this movie particularly interesting mostly because it was pretty predictable. The idea for it is good, I'm all for creepy kids. There could have been more of the kid actually being evil though, that might have made it more enjoyable. All in all, not bad but very long. It has its moments of creepy but I didn't find it to be overly amazing.

Day Eighteen: "Don't watch and say you did?" God I wish I had...

It was as bad as I imagined and worse. "Friday The 13th" happened to be on AMC Monday night so I thought perfect, on my list and I won't have to purchase it. It was the very first one with Mama and Kevin Bacon. I'm really glad I didn't buy this one.

The story of Jason has never appealed to me. A kid who was picked on is ignored and drowns in a lake and his mother takes revenge on camp counselors and eventually Jason himself comes back for the other 65, 000 movies to do the same in a hockey mask. I can see how the idea would be scary, a tall silent and soulless killer would generally be my idea of a great time but there's just something about the Friday The 13th franchise I just don't care for. Needless to say, in the movie "Freddy vs. Jason" I was on Freddy's side.

As I was watching this movie I was having "bad movie deja-vu" as my friend put it. I had seen some of it already which seems to be a consistent situation throughout this movie challenge experience. At one point I was just so bored with the movie and complaining to my friend via text she suggested I "don't and say I did". I didn't that would be fair, this is a challenge damnit, I'll suck it up and watch it through. I got a great chance to yell at the TV when the final survivor was running away from Mama but never actually killed her, they just ran around for like 15 minutes. Apparently someone doesn't know what to do in a horror situation, everyone knows you kill them dead!

P.S: Hey Kevin Bacon, this was your first movie hey? So hows your career doing? Oh... that's right! Your highlight was "Footloose". Sorry, but you're no Johnny Depp, seems you chose the wrong horror franchise. Bummer.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Day Seventeen: There once was a house that sat upon a passage to Hell...

My first initial thought while watching "The Amityville Horror (Original)", other than wow the Brolin's are sexy men was seriously you're moving into a house that people died in? Like OK, I get if someone dies in you house you can't help that but people are murdered in this house and you don't wonder why its such a great price? And then they're surprised when bad things go down.

So if anyone doesn't know the story behind this movie, this young family moves into a house where a man killed his family. The house is filled with spirits and supernatural beings that take focus on the young James Brolin, or George the Dad. It's and interesting story and is based on a somewhat true story. I say somewhat because the people who moved into the house after the family who this story is based on left the house and all of their personal belongings behind, say there is nothing strange about this house and have never had anything happen. Makes me wonder if its really just the family then, or if they're just lying. Hard to say but hey, its a great story. In the movie there is a hidden room in the basement that they find out is a passage to hell. Don't know about anyone else but wouldn't your next move after finding out you're sitting upon hell be to get the hell out of there? No pun intended.

It wasn't really terrifying although for its time I assume it would be. My Mom saw it in theatre when she was a kid. She told me that when she and her friend went to sleep that night they woke up at 3:15AM which is the time in the movie that the people living in the house experience happenings at night. Strange coincidence hey? Or was it? *insert shocked face here*

The story alone is intriguing and draws people in. I saw some of the Ryan Reynolds version last Halloween and it wasn't bad. I think there was more shock value in that version but whichever one you go with it still has the same plot. For those who love a good house haunting it's a must. If you wake up at 3:15AM though, I wish you all the best.

Day Sixteen: Back to basics...

"The Vampire Bat" was the movie I decided to go with today. I thought hey, maybe it will be the classic vampires that are mocked nowadays for their cheesy ways. I was wrong about the movie, it was kind of a dud but it got me thinking about vampires.

Living in a time where "Twilight" has taken over with its ridiculous sparkly-dirt bag vampires, I am thrilled to see any of the traditional naive stories about Vampires where the vampires are afraid of mirrors, garlic and can transform into bats. I like vampires but I really do not like the Twilight version. I could bash Twilight for days but I'll move on.

Only since I first saw "Interview With a Vampire" have I appreciated and liked vampires. My first vampire encounter was in a movie or a TV show. I don't remember what it was, all I remember is when I went to bed I tucked myself in and covered my neck with the covers so the vampires couldn't come bite my neck. Obviously there is something endearing about vampires these days that makes us gravitate towards them and see them as an object of lust rather than something to fear. I miss the days when a vampire scared me and made me want to get out a stake and some garlic. I don't deny that the cast of "Trueblood" is hot as hell but they're no more scary than a crazed lunatic for me now.

Alright, back to the actual movie at hand. The story of "The Vampire Bat" is basically about a town where the villagers are loosing blood and the town leaders suspect vampires. There is really no sign of actual bats, and only a shadow of a vampire near a sleeping woman. I was somewhat disappointed in the lack of real vampires. Ended up being more of a Frankenstein project more than anything.

For what I thought I was in for, it disappointed. However it had its moments of being entertaining, its no Vincent Price film but, it's better than "Twilight".

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Day Fifteen: Exorcism, you learn something new every movie...

Alright so today's movie was "The Exorcism of Emily Rose". I had always had an interest in this film seeing as any exorcism movie usually puts a damper on my sleep. This movie actually did keep me awake and had me thinking.

I don't think it was a ridiculously scary movie, I wasn't jumping out of my seat or hiding my face but the fact that it was a loosely based on a true story got me thinking and feeling very uneasy. I grew up going to church and reading about the devil and have always had this uncomfortable feeling when I watch exorcism movies or read about anything that was taken from true stories. I'm no bible humper but I do not deny the possibilities. 

I learned something interesting in the movie as well. In the movie, at 3AM every morning something would happen within the house. The priest says that 3 AM is "the devil's hour" and evil spirits use it to mock the Holy Trinity. It is also said that Jesus died at 3PM so the significance of 3AM is to be the opposite. I found this interesting seeing as I have watched several movies where "the devil's hour" or "the witching hour" is 3AM. From what I've researched on this the "witching hour" can be midnight as well, but still, an interesting bit of information I'll be bringing out when trying to make conversation.

So back to the actual movie. It was loosely based on the story of Anneleise Michel, a woman from Germany who was said to be possessed and died after many failed exorcisms. She was treated for mental disorders many times and they all failed. She was diagnosed with epilepsy at one point but once her family believed she was possessed they stopped all treatment. The coroner said she died in her sleep and died of starvation and dehydration seeing as she wasn't ingesting anything. Her parents and the two priests who were there during the exorcisms were all arrested and charged with neglect for not providing her with medical care and sentenced to 6 months in prison. There are tape recordings and photographs of her during exorcisms, if you want to get creeped out look 'em up. The movie shared most of this information and just went off on another path for a more religious ending. The movie wasn't horrible, however I didn't expect it to be set in a court room. I more expected seeing the day to day of Emily Rose living with what she believed to be demonic possession.

Believe what you want about what the truth was behind this story. Whether it was a mental disorder and an over-reaction from religious parents or legitimate possession, I take all of the possibilities into mind and don't rule anything out. Just doing a bit of research on this has made me feel very uneasy so clearly I have found what truly gets me a little scared; the unknown. I may not be as religious as I was when I was a kid and don't live with much religion in my day to day life but if it comes down to good versus evil, I'd like to know some ones got my back.

Day Fourteen: A Zombie Beginning...

So today's feature film was "White Zombie". The quality of the movie was pretty bad but it is from 1932. The movie itself wasn't horrible, definitely clear its from a particular time when the thought of zombies was somewhat fresh.

The zombies in "White Zombie" were not your everyday, brain-eating zombies. They were dead but under a spell rather than driven by hunger for flesh. The plot of the movie is a jealous man wants to steal another mans fiance so he turns to a witch doctor to make her fall in love with him and dump her fiance. The witch doctor makes a potion and after she drinks it she dies and turns into a zombie under the witch doctors command along with his gaggle of zombie slaves. Near the end the witch doctor is killed and the girl comes out of her zombie state and embraces her original man.

The zombies I'm used to are dead, thus do not come back to life. Maybe in killing a zombie is where one can properly use the term "kill them dead". They're dead but not dead-dead. Anyway, this confused me but hey, it's a start for the zombie movement so I respect it. Perhaps this is where the phrase zombie-like-state came from, to be blank and not all there but not trying to eat your best friend, just kind of there.

I realize everyone has a different vision about what zombies will be so this was probably just an adaptation or what people honestly believed, more dead and empty instead of dead and hungry. This movie also was the inspiration for the name of the band White Zombie which is Rob Zombies first band so the movie had a bit more appeal because of that. By now we all should know how I feel about Rob Zombie.

I think this movie in its own way was good. The acting wasn't amazing and its not what I'm used to for zombie movies but its different and was interesting to watch. If you're really interested in the zombie genre and the genres beginnings it's worth seeing.

Day Thirteen: Favorite number calls for a favorite actor

The number 13 is my favorite number. It's the day I was born and although tends to be most peoples unlucky number it has always stood out to me. That said, there is no link between the movie I watched for this day and the film itself. I just chose a movie starring one of my favorite actors for the thirteenth day. "The Last Man on Earth" was my choice movie today, with Vincent Price as the lead.


"The Last Man on Earth" is an adaptation of a book called "I Am Legend". If you've never seen this film but have seen the Will Smith movie "I Am Legend" they are the same storyline. Man looses family and friends and is trying to stay alive and protect himself from vampires. The adaptations between the two movies and the novel are different but essentially the same.


Bob Morgan, Vincent Prices character is immune to the virus that infected the people and turned them into vampires. He comes across a seemingly cured woman who ends up having been infected but has a serum that calms down her symptoms. She asks for him to join her and the other people who are able to control their symptoms. He declines and ends up in a war with the other people. He ends up wounded and goes to a church.


I'd like to take this moment to say "Sanctuary!!! Sanctuary!!!". Alright, now that I got that out, back to the story line.


The ending has him impaled by a spear. In his last moments he calls his killers freaks and says that he is "the last true man on earth". Leave it to Vincent Price to end with a statement like that. I love old movies for lines like that, like in "The Wizard of Oz" when Dorothy returns home and says "there's no place like home". I apologize for the reference, it was the first that popped into my mind but I'm sure you get what I mean. That final moment when a line ties the entire movie together. Such a classic signature move of from that time.


The movie was good, I recommend it. The vampires or infected where actually quite funny, and while the movie lacked being horrifying or anything I enjoyed it. It's made me want to check out "I Am Legend" and perhaps even read the book.

Day Twelve: Oh Vincent Price, you have yet to let me down!

At long last, I watched a Vincent Price film. Oh how I waited for this moment, and it was well worth the wait. "House On Haunted Hill" had it all; a chilling situation, an expressive and interesting lead actor, stories of ghosts and the music to add the flair the ghosts need to make a proper entrance as well as an intriguing mystery and storyline.

Vincent Price has, as most people know, an amazing voice. He seems to have a certain something that draws you into the movie, something I feel is lacking in Hollywood today. I could probably go on and on about Vincent Price, but I'll just stick to the movie for now. I'm sure Vincent Price will make his way into my movie selection again which will give me more opportunities to gush about him.

The plot of the movie is somewhat simple. Six strangers are invited to this house which is rumored to be haunted. They are invited by, as the doctor puts it an eccentric and his wife. They are told that at midnight the doors of the house will lock, trapping them all inside. Who ever makes it through the night will each get ten thousand dollars. The movie takes an interesting turn when Fredrick, Vincent Price's characters wife is hung. From there it takes a few turns and ends fantastically.

As I thought, "House On Haunted Hill" did not disappoint. I figured Vincent Price wouldn't let me down and am glad the movie overall was very enjoyable. I recommend it to anyone who likes classic horror flicks and think it was a great first Vincent Price movie.

Day Eleven: 28 Weeks? Yes. 28 Months? Sorry guys, not likely.

After "28 Days Later" naturally there had to be a "28 Weeks Later". I personally liked "28 Weeks Later" more for the gore factor but it still was slightly disappointing.

Movies such as these where the zombies, or infected, are stupid fast and crazy make me long for the days when zombies were slow and had issues getting onto escalators. I do believe I prefer the classic zombies; still scary but at least you can get away from them if you're a good sprinter. Now the hyper-souped-up zombies were a creative twist but still, makes you appreciate the good ol' days.

Now it might just be me, but I am not a fan of the overly drawn out scenes. I understand its to build up anticipation and fear but come on. I don't know, maybe it was the acting, maybe I was just tired of the storyline. Either way, not the best in my mind but its worth a watch if you enjoyed "28 Days Later".

Day Ten: Oh, infectious disease... you never lose your touch!

The beginning of "28 Days Later" starts off with raging Chimps and then flips to a naked man attached to machines in a hospital. He then wakes up, finds clothing, and most importantly Pepsi, then wanders around the hospital. When he finally ventures outside he walks aimlessly around London its clear he is definitely alone. 

Now I've got to say, ever since I saw that scene in the trailer the thought of being so incredibly alone has made me feel very uneasy. I like alone time, but that's going a little too far. Not to mention it would mean basically everyone I've ever known has either been infected with "Rage" and become a crazed freak who wants to kill me, or died by some other means.

The more zombie movies I watch, the more I think the government should put serious thought into a zombie action plan. In movies they are never prepared and while that is really no surprise, it still scares me. Or I could just take matters into my own hands and consider learning how to work military machinery or at the very least a gun. In my dreams I am completely capable of firing a gun but when I wake up I have my doubts, and the last thing I need while dealing with the undead is doubts. I mean hell, if I last 28 days in a zombie apocalypse I want to make sure I know what I'm doing so I can last a heck of a lot longer. I really have to work on my zombie survival plan. My Mom was probably right to keep the baseball bat by the door for so long, and I think I'm going to start keeping it within arms reach from now on.

As for the movie, it wasn't terrible. I enjoyed it to a point but found my attention wandered within its long drawn out scenes. There were even some somewhat gross parts, one in particular was the part where one of the army men gets his eyes pushed into his skull by thumbs. What a way to go.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Day Nine: You can't kill the boogeyman!

So Day Nines movie actually did scare me. The original "Halloween" was definitely a success. I have always liked the story of Michael Myers, I even liked the first Rob Zombie movie, although that was half love for the story other half love for Rob Zombie.

People under-estimate how much music can help a good scare. The music for "Halloween" has always been amazing. Very simple if you think about it, I mean was tapping the beat of the stalking music on my dog. Dramatic tones were put right where they should be, in moments when Michael appeared in the frame. I got some good jumps out of this movie which is hard to do lately.

A random fact that is more related to my challenge than this movie but I actually dream in horror movies now. From the music to the dark lighting and dull colors, the classics horror movies are coming out through my dreams. Most of the dreams aren't scary, no nightmares to speak of just seems like I'm living my life in a horror movie without the horror. It's actually kind of fun, I'm really glad that that's the only side affect I've had thus far.

In closing, the Halloween franchise definitely has something going for it. The thing about Michael Myers that scares me the most is that he's no longer human. He looks like one sure, but there is no emotion in his killing. He doesn't care if you have a wife and kid's, or how young you are. The scariest people -in movies and life- are the ones who know longer feel compassion and sympathy.

Now that, my friends, is what nightmares are made of.

Day Eight: 1, 2 Freddies coming for you...

After watching an epic fail from Wes Craven I felt I should watch one of his classics so I chose to watch the original "Nightmare on Elm Street." Thank god I did or the Craven name would mean nothing to me except for when I use it to describe crap movies.

One thing I noticed in a similarity between "Nightmare on Elm Street" and Craven's latest disaster, was one character always calls out the villain. What is it with people trying to find the things that are trying to kill them? Don't be a hero. Freddie gets a thousand more movies and you're still the stupid chick who called out the monster in the first movie. Although, kudos for trying.

I really liked that Johnny Depp was in this. I actually laughed when his bed ate him. Great way to start of your career, maybe some of the crap actors these days should have done the same.

A creepy part for me is the song. The " 1, 2 Freddie's coming for you" song, gives me a mini panic attack because like I've said in previous posts, children terrify me in horror movies with their creepy voices. The song is very catchy though, and creepy, so clearly a winning tune.

"1, 2 Freddie's coming for you. 3, 4 better lock the door. 5, 6 get your crucifix. 7, 8 don't stay up late. 9, 10...


Never sleep again..."

Day Seven: I expected so much more Wes Craven...

I went to a screening of the new movie "My Soul To Take" directed by Wes Craven. It was in 3D however at the end neither me nor the fiery red head I went with could figure out what made it 3D other than wearing the glasses.

Being directed by Wes Craven I expected a lot from this movie, maybe too much. The story was about this psycho path who has multiple personalities and the angry personality takes over and kills his pregnant wife. Then when he dies there are seven babies born on the same night and the myth is that each baby received one of his personality or souls. Anyway, the kids grow up and all have the same birthday and on their 16th birthday "the Ripper" comes to kill them off. The story isn't terrible, I appreciate it but it was poorly executed.  It was really more comedic then scary. At one point one kid in the movie was walking around his house calling out for the Ripper and a guy a few rows behind us in the theatre said something like "yeah Ripper where you at bro?!". My friend laughed for about ten minutes, but I didn't hear the guy say that so I was just very confused. Now that I know, I find it hilarious and just shows how scared people really were.
 
Another part that was poorly designed and ended up being more a laughing stalk than a villain was The Ripper himself. He looked like, as I put it, a cracked up Bob Marley. My friend, or the fiery red head, corrected me and said "if Bob Marley came back from the dead and joined Insane Clown Posse, he would look like The Ripper."

Either way everyone, it was terrible. Save yourselves $14 and stay home. If you're still interested when it comes out on DVD, go ahead and watch it. But don't say I didn't tell you so. You were warned!

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Day Six: Zombie love... Rob Zombie that is..

A million years ago I watched "The Devil's Rejects". For what ever reason, I couldn't remember a damn thing about it except the end. So tonight I decided watch it.  I didn't like "House of 1000 Corpses" much, it scared me when it first came out - when I was still new to watching horror movies frequently- but after watching it again a few months ago I was kind of disappointed.

"The Devils Rejects" was better. This movie was much less ridiculous and finally killed the hillbilly fucks. Keep these movies and movies like this in mind when you shop at Wal-Mart. Anyone who looks suspicious and like they could take you out back and skin you probably can, and might. Be nice to hillbillies. Unless they ask for it, in which case you just better hope your gun is bigger.

This is definitely won't be making my favorite movies-ever-list but love Rob Zombie, thus I appreciate this movie. I think movies that take the creepiness of being kidnapped or held hostage to a whole other level generally gets to people. Makes you think twice when travelling in rural areas.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Day Five: Being Dragged to Hell would have been more enjoyable...

If the title didn't already give it away, today's movie was "Drag Me To Hell". What a disappointment. I'm not saying I had super high hopes but I'm left with the same feeling I had when I watched "Paranormal Activity".

For months I heard how scary "Paranormal Activity" was and how I had to see it. Finally saw it and was very unimpressed. "Drag Me To Hell" was  the same. I expected the crazy old lady and knew the main character was cursed but wasn't expecting her to kill her cat. It was downhill from there, well actually its downhill ride happened much earlier than the killing of the cat but that definitely didn't help its case.

It was very predictable and unless I'm completely immune to being scared now, not in the slightest bit scary. The gypsy lady made me jump and grossed me out but what crazy gypsy doesn't?

I'm just glad I didn't pay for the movie, and that Justin Long was in it to offer something to keep me interested. Don't see it, its not worth it. And if you have, I am so so sorry. Only silver lining to having watched this is I wasn't in the mood for going into detail tonight, and this movie is pretty self explanatory.

Day Four: Don't blow out the candle in the Jacko-Lanturn!

Todays film was "Trick R Treat". The plot of the movie is set up like a comic book. There are four different stories which all in the end come together. The main character- or the most frequent character- is Sam, the devilish trick or treater in orange pajamas with a burlap sack over his face with a jacko-lanturn face on it.

My first initial thought was, "damn, a little kid? fuck". 

I have made a list of things that always freak me out in horror movies, and this movie had one of the things at the top of the list- kids. Kids are supposed to be so innocent and maybe that's why when they're pure evil it freaks me out the most. The worst is when they have that giddy little laugh. That laugh has made me reconsider having children. Ok, thats a little far but it makes the point. 

So back to Sam, who ended up being not so scary to me. I think it was the orange pajamas that made him  adorable. I feel the cuteness evens out the fact that he kills people. His reason for killing people is they are without a Halloween spirit. For example, he kills one girl for blowing out the candle of the jackolanturn-lantern and hating on Halloween.

Another little fact about Sam; he's not really a kid, but a pumpkin kid hybrid. At one point the mask comes off and he looks like an alien pumpkin. 

So the moral to the story of Sam, keep your Halloween spirit up or you got issues in the form of orange pajamas and a burlap sack mask crawling across your ceiling and stabbing you with razor blades hidden in chocolate.

Another notable part of the movie- and my first attraction to the movie- is Anna Paquin. In this movie she plays a "virgin" going out on Halloween with her sister and friends. I don't want to give anything away for that part of the movie because it has an interesting twist, but I'll end with something I thought at the end of this story:

"Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?"

Monday, October 4, 2010

Day Three: "Time to nut up or shut up"

My weekend was zombie themed. It wasn't planned but it just so happened that "Zombieland" was on TV today. Not scary no, but I looked it up and it says it's technically horror, even if its comedy-horror, but I'm counting it.

I am not a fan of Woody Harrelson, and generally just roll my eyes at most things he's in but I really enjoyed this. It was funny and the zombies were creepy. These zombies had a human strain of mad cow, and it painted a very freaky picture and worked to their advantage. Creepy, bloody and oozing... just how I like my zombies!

This movie was definitely not short of laughs. "He was in the ass-kicking business... and business is good!". I have always like that saying, I don't know why, don't judge me. Also, theres the quote I used at the post title. Ah yes, "nut up or shut up", words to live by. Oh and Bill Murray has a cameo... need I say more?

The girls in the movie pissed me off at first because I thought they were little bitches but then I thought about what I would do if I were in their position and came to the conclusion I'd probably do the same. So, good for them. Any twelve year old who can fire a gun would be an asset in the zombie apocalypse. However she would have to shut the hell up about Hannah Montana or she would be the first to get sacrificed. If she brought up Bieber, I'd be killing her myself.

Technically this has nothing to do with the movie but I was more than pleased with the music selection. Sea Wolf, The Velvet Underground, Paul Anka?!? Boy howdy.

"Zombieland", you had me at "nut up". I look forward to a sequel.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Day Two: "They're coming for you Barbra..."

Finally, a movie I enjoyed. Today's movie was "Night of The Living Dead" directed by the amazing George A. Romero.
 
Every time I think Zombie anything, my initial thought is "They're coming for you Barbra... Look, there comes one now!". Having never seen the movie yet loving that classic line, "Night of The Living Dead" has been on my must see list for a while now. It did not disappoint.

I have to say for such an old movie I was surprised that I still jumped at a few parts. I think thats due to the dramatic music more than anything but was still pleasantly surprised. That said, I really loved the music. To me the music is always very important.

Actually, I can't blame it all on the music. Ever since I saw Max Brooks -the author of "The Zombie Survival Guide"- on a special dedicated to zombies called "Zombiemania", I haven't felt the same towards zombies. I used to think of them as stupid and funny to watch but not very scary. However, on this TV special, Brooks described zombies as "walking AIDS". Those two words changed my mind forever about zombies. Ever since I saw that video on AIDS in health class where AIDS dressed up in some weird outfit broke into a house and made it its bitch, AIDS has unnerved me. Now zombies are doing the same.

Now, onto the actual zombies and talking characters. The first zombie was awesome, the one who chases Barbra from the cemetery to the house. When it gets stuck in the clothes line and flailed ridiculously all I could think was, "I feel you man". After Ben shows up I really start to dislike Barbra. Like shut up you stupid twit! Then the whole she lost her brother thing sets in and I feel sorry for her. Still annoyed, but sorry that her brother is a zombie.

The end of the movie is a bit of a slap in the face. Definitely had a "well fuck!" moment at the end. You have to see it for yourself if you haven't already. That said, if you haven't watched this, you haven't lived. Also, if you didn't think zombies were terrifying before, think about AIDS... it'll make you go out and buy that book. At the very least, watch it to get an understanding of why this movie is such a masterpiece.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Day One: Slight fail, no ones fault but my own...

So October is upon us and my intentions to watch "Night of The Living Dead" to start off my month right flopped when I found "Paranormal Activity" on TV Boy did I ever make the wrong decision.

"Paranormal Activity" was a movie I'm glad I didn't pay to see. I jumped at the end and that was it. I'm not saying a classic zombie movie from the 60s would make me jump out of my skin, but at least it's got something behind it, such as, being revolutionary for starters.

My attempt at watching a horror movie for each day of October does have some rules behind it and if anyone actually reads this I want my intentions to be clear. I'm watching horror movies I've always wanted to see. From some of the classics to newer movies I've just been meaning to watch. Some - possibly most- of the movies I end up choosing to view may not be the best movies in the world, the most cinematic revolutions in the horror film genre, or the scariest movies ever seen, but they're on my must-to-see list. I am very open to suggestions as my list is constantly growing.

Also, if it gets down to 11:59pm October 31st and I have yet to write about "The Exorcist", its for that reason. I love it, its one of my favorite horror flicks ever, but I've seen it a bi-gillion times. I feel I need to start shedding light on the movies I've neglected - rather than just hear about what others have said about them, see for myself.

So as day one of my little mission concludes,  all I can say for "Paranormal Activity" is:
"The Blair Witch Project" called and it wants its camera work back.