Category: Horror

Our Favorites, Day 2. The Exorcist.

download (3)

The Exorcist (movie) Here was are for day 2. This movie is a classic and has had a million and one stories around its filming. But only one holds a special memory for me. Years ago when I was a kid I wanted to watch this when it was on television  and my mom said no. My brother and I being not so good at the listening watched it anyway. By this time we had seen a ton of horror movies. See my mom as a little kid had been scared by this movie. Years later watching it wasn’t scared, changed her mind and told us to watch it. I remember because when we yelled “too late” she was a bit pissed at us.

Well for about 5 minutes. See the movie is a classic, and when it was made was terrifying for a lot of people. Now, despite being allegedly based off a true story we have seen far scarier movies. This one however, is still great. Just don’t eat pea soup while you watch. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Are They Really Horror Movies?

There are certain movies that always sort of get called horror movies, but aren’t really horror movies but people discuss them as if they were or weren’t horror movies. For example Alien. There really isn’t much to call this a horror movie. It takes place in space, involves a literal alien species that takes over a space ship. This is all typical and known sci-fi territory in every sense of the genre. Many times however it gets tossed into the horror section. Here for example Nerdist list as a space horror movie. I have had this argument with @torstenvblog for years actually. But realistically aside from “it scared some people” I have never gotten a real answer on how its a horror movie.

Another one I have heard, and made a list of 70 best horror movies is Jaws (1975) A thriller about a man-eating shark somehow quite often gets tossed into the horror movie category because simply, it scared people. What we really need is some sort of check list to decide this on. Is something being scary simply what decides it? Because plenty of horror movies didn’t scare me so are they no longer horror movies? Clearly being scary isn’t enough imply on the grounds of that being subjective. I also am not sure that simply having a monster won’t do it. Godzilla is a monster and nobody would call those monster movies.

Realistically I think we need to have a few things in place, for example there needs to be some sort of otherworldly or super force in play. Think werewolf or vampire or maybe Freddie/Jason sort of deal. A natural entity such as a shark or Alien alone doesn’t seem to be enough.

On the other side of things, a movie should also be making the attempt to be scary on some level, obvious exceptions are when something is trying to be funny or is clearly setting up something for later. Nobody expects horror movies to be scary constantly. Jaws was a suspenseful movie and had some jump scares, but the movie was never really designed to truly make you scared the same way most horror movies are.

Now I am not pretending to be an expect or to by any means simply dismiss new variations of the horror genre. In fact I love them, but this idea that anything that is scary equals horror movie makes very little sense to me. It is like saying anything that has a funny moment is a comedy which is something nobody ever says.

Anyway, I truly think it is time we recognize that movies like Jaws and Alien are great and classic movies, they simply are not horror movies. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Our Favorites Day 1, Nightmare On Elm Street.

download (2)

Nightmare on Elm Street Anyone that has followed the blog long-term knows how much I love the nightmare on else street Movies. This one is on the list because honestly not only did it start the whole thing, it is also one of my first horror movies. I don’t even remember who I saw it with. I just remember that first time seeing Fred Kruger and those claws, and the things he did in people’s dreams. Now I can’t recall if I was scared or not, but considering I laughed when Bambi’s mom got shot I doubt I was, but this movie sent me on a life long love of the genre. It isn’t the best horror movie, and it isn’t even the best movie you will see on the list this month, but it is quite possibly the reason this list even exist. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Chanel Zero Season 4 trailer

First I have to say I’m big fan of Creepypastas and I’ve heard really good things about the Chanel Zero series to date. I’m glad that there is a show that’s putting these creative ideas to use. This season, The Dream Door, looks intriguing and actually pretty creepy. If I found it streaming, I’d be glad to check it out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Hills Have Eyes

hills 78

Last House on the Left was legendary horror director Wes Craven’s first big film and the impact it had was huge, pushing boundaries and kicking ass. His second major feature to follow would only solidify his status as a renegade of horror.

The Hills Have Eyes, like Last House, is simple but full of layers. The Carter family is on vacation, driving through the desert after receiving the deed to a silver mine as a anniversary gift ( I know, WTF but let’s go with it.) They come by a grizzly old guy who runs a rundown gas station who gives them a short cut, a short cut that leads to disaster as they break down in the middle of the desert with there RV, miles from anywhere. The oldest men set out for help, leaving 2  women, 2 teenagers, and 2 dogs behind. They aren’t alone however. The hills are inhabited by a group of incestuous cannibals that are watching the Carters and when night falls, they strike on family. The father is burned alive, the mother and oldest daughter are killed and a baby stolen leaving the daughter’s husband alone with the teens and 1 dog left. the husband rushes into the desert to face the cannibals and get his daughter back while the kids are left to fend for themselves. Can they survive?

I have a massive amount for this movie and the influence it had and the boundaries it pushed but I cannot lie, it didn’t age great. Back then, Hills struggled not to have an X rating; in 2018 it could pass for  PG-13  I’d d wager if reevaluated. There is almost no bad language, not much blood and no real nudity. I have a glaring issue with the narrative itself. I feel the beginning and end are too abrupt, especially the ending; I feel there should be more to the beginning to either give the characters more time to develop or develop the situation and the end feels like a car crash, you just slam into it. The cannibals mostly feel like the family from Texas Chainsaw Massacre only with a more deformed, Mad Max twist. Michael Berryman, the iconic face of the film, is great and is a genuinely eerie presence on screen. It’s filmed alright and the score is there but nothing memorable. In the end, by today’s standards the original Hills Have Eyes is an ok horror movie that had some groundbreaking ideas for it’s time but has softened with time but worth a watch. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Supernatural Season 12

download (4)

Supernatural season 12. What the hell are you doing to me guys? This season focuses around the guys trying to stop the birth of Lucifer’s son and dealing with the British chapter of The Men of Letters. See at first aside from a minor incident of torture they are quite helpful, until they go back to not being helpful.

This season is pretty great, except for the ending. Don’t get me wrong the end of season 12 is great, but be prepared to be pretty damn upset. I won’t spoil it for you but the series in a way is going to go through a pretty massive shake up.

Aside from that we once again get a pretty definitive ending to one arc that will bring us firmly into the next story in season 13. Tho this time we had a pretty major story that brought us into another pretty major story. My only real complain is if you remember waaaaay back into the apocalypse seasons where Lucifer was this big dangerous evil being, they seem less worried about him now. Not that he isn’t still powerful and invincible, but the rush before of stopping him seems to be gone. In fact the entire act of figuring out a plan and stopping him is largely just the last episode or 2 of the season. After 12 seasons I am still enjoying the show, and I don’t see season 13 changing that. But there are some things you have to look past. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Nailbiter vol 2: bloody hands

nailbiter v2

A special thanks goes out to my long time friend Violet who got me volumes 2 and 3 as a birthday gift after finding out how nuts I was after Nailbiter: vol 1 there will be blood ; absolutely awesome gift…

The town of Buckaroo is suffering a familiar hit after the Murder Store was burned to the ground, the local high school asshole/ reverend’s son ended up dead, press and attention are running amok again as a new killer in the long line of Buckaroo Butchers seems to be afoot. A big, broad shouldered figure in black wearing a horned mask. Nick Finch, enraged after finding what was left of his best friend is out to track down the secret of the Butchers and stop them once and for all; Sheriff Shannon Crane is trying to keep the peace but it’s easier said then done. Finch finds a family of bee obsessed red necks; the long time town bus driver loses his mind and tries to “cleanse” the children’s souls by drowning them in the river. This madness and more while the horned killer watches and Finch is pushed to the edge, driving to Warren- The Nailbiter- for answers…

Volume 2 is strange but another great addition to the series. This world feels oddly realistically crazy, I can’t say it ever felt too scripted but rather natural how much of it goes down. At first, it does feel like filler but it does help build up to the madness to come. I like the chapter about real life comic book writer Brian Michael Bendis and his journey to Buckaroo and the chapter about Crowe the bus driver. As before there  are grim undertones of dark humor that work pretty well in a dark story. The art is creepy and looks good. Overall, if you read the first book, the second won’t disappoint and I can’t wait for the third. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Man Up (2015)

download

Man Up is the story of a blind date that went wrong mostly because it involved the wrong people. More specifically the wrong woman. See when Jack (Simon Pegg) meets up with his blind date it turns out due to a weird coincidence he meets up with Nancy (Lake Bell) thinking she is his date, Jessica. Nancy is happy to let him think this however since she is surprised by how mice he is. The date is going great actually, that is until she is caught in the bathroom with a guy threatening to blackmail her by telling Jack the truth.

The story itself is pretty nice and is quite original, the problem is much of it is quite cliché. The ending, the date itself, the dance scene. It’s all quite been there done that in romantic comedies which is disappointing. Not that it was done badly, quite the opposite. Simon Pegg and Lake Bell play their roles well and worked well together. The script was also well written, my issue is simply that an original idea falling back on so many old tropes saddened me.

All that being said, I still suggest a fan of romantic comedies check the movie out. It’s still pretty above average and worth checking out at least once. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.