Hidey ho readers and welcome to the week entitled Horror Grab Bag Week. I will dip into random and obscure horror films ranging as far back as 1974 to 1990. Should be an interesting trip not unlike of mushrooms or California Red. I am striving to find the forgotten gems and hopefully less of the vomitous of the current horror era. The focus is based on camera angles, creativity in story in both background and characters as well as is it genuinely scary.
My humble opinion is the horror genre is so much better with a more or less original story. whether it is a ghost story, a fantasy land besieged by vampires or legions of the dead rising from the gates of Hell, gimme something to leave me with chills and a possible fright. So let's roll them bones and see what we get.
Say, what do you call a show with two pretty boys with
hand-to-hand, firearms melee weapons training? Welp about this time them
Winchester boys got themselves in a peck of trouble banged up the Impala and
shook Pappy about. So pop this DVD in,
grab a soda and some chips. This is
Supernatural Season 2.
Spoilers can be found
at a crossroads…
Hospitalized after a major car accident Dean Winchester (Jensen
Ackles of Days of Our Lives, Dark Angel, Dawson’s Creek and My Bloody Valentine)
wakes from a coma under mystical means as his father gave his soul to save his
boy to the same demon that took his wife.
Brother Sam (Jared Padalecki of Flight of the
Phoenix, Gilmore Girls, House of Wax, Cry Wolf and Friday the 13th)
informs Dean what happened to Dad.The irony was steeping against the
Winchesters to an epic level. This season
we have more than a few familiar guest stars appear this season, such as: Emmanuelle Vaugier(Saw II and Painkiller Jane) Dan Gauthier (Tour of Duty, Teen Witch and Son in Law)
Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica, Burn
Notice, Warehouse 13, Dark Blue and The Firm) Gary Cole (Midnight Caller, Office Space, Crusade, Family
Affair, Kim Possible, Wanted and The West Wing) to name a few. Our young hunters are trying to carry on the
mission their father assigned with to safeguard them and preserve them,
sacrificing their normal childhood but giving them skill and will to spare
future children the losses they have felt.
Wither from bad jokes, cheeseburgers or half assed bonding moments the
brothers are there for each other as best as they can be. The yellow eyed demon that slew the boys’
mother has been concocting a plan that has span over 2 decades and our heroes
must thwart his plans.
We are also
introduced to Ellen (Samantha Harris of The Evidence, The 4400,
Gray Matters and V) a former hunter now bar owner of her own roadhouse
for hunters. This season also has one of the better
villains The Trickster from episode 15.
This is so worth the watch, folks and no not to be confused with the
Flash’s villain played by Mark Hamill.
A few things of note pointing out the FX linked to this
series. TV and movie makeup crew Andrea Manchur (Sanctuary, X-Men: The Last Stand,
Kyle XY), Toby Lindala (X2,The
Butterfly Effect, Final Destination 3 and Lost Boys: The Tribe) and
Julie Beaton-Pachauer (X-Men: The Last Stand, Scary Movie 4, TRON:
Legacy and The Cabin in the Woods) which in junction with some of the
CGI, handheld cam, zooms and fair amount of dolly track the creatures have
scope, definition and frankly are creepy as hell.
Seasoned Visual Effect supervisor Ivan Hayden (Stargate SG-1, Andromeda, Special Unit 2,
Damaged Care and Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed) along with Grant Lindsay (Warriors of Virtue, Voyage of
Terror, Air Bud 3, Superbabies: Baby Geniuses and Andromeda) have
brought us spooks, specters and demonic effects that could very well rival most
movie productions. As each season seems to progress, the writers
up the ante and the monsters seem to be a bit wilier to thwart the Winchester
boys. So grab a copy from CD Universe,
Netflix or heck hit your local video store if you have one in your
neighborhood.
Hey all. Just touching
base on a cult following that could only be rivaled by Buffy the Vampire Slayer
and its spin-off show Angel. I refer to
those pesky kids, the Winchester boys.
Driving in their father’s ’67 Impala these two very different lads dispense
justice for the victims of the monsters that go bump in the night. So sharpen your stakes, pour your silver
bullet molds and above all don’t be a douche nozzle. This is Supernatural Season 1.
Spoilers are all around
us man!
Our pilot opens with a happy prosperous young man Sam
Winchester (Jared Padalecki of Gilmore Girls, House of Wax and Friday the 13th)
pre-law student, straight A’s and hotty for a girlfriend Jessica (Adrianne
Palicki of Lone Star, Legion, Wonder Woman and Red Dawn) and over all
life is feeling good. The two lovebirds
have a little celebration nookie and fall asleep (No fellas, this is CW so no
skin on that level) when Sam hears a noise in the apartment, goes to
investigate and handle the burglar. After
a fairly intense fight choreography we can see Sambo has had some training only
to get tossed on his butt by…his little big brother Dean (Jensen Ackles of Dawson’s Creek,
Still Life, Smallville, My Bloody Valentine and Batman: Under the Red Hood). After nursing a few egos and bruises, Dean
tells Sam their dad has gone hunting and hasn’t been back in awhile. Feels all coded in front of girlfriend
Jessica. Reluctantly Sam joins Dean in
pursuit of their wayward father because you see folks the family business is
hunting…monsters of all shapes and sizes.
Ahh spoiler you say? You
had 8 years! Catch up!
Now given that John and Jane Public thinks monsters are
nothing more than the work of fiction, cinema and tween writers, our would be
heroes have to go incognito. So on top
of less than legal firearms, credit card fraud and posing as Federal officers,
our lads do battle with the nastiest freakiest creatures this side of
Sunnydale.
The storyline unfolds on what could have made these two
seemingly normal guys into hunters of the preternatural and
extra-dimensional. 22 years prior the
boys’ mother died in a mysterious fire and their father, a Marine recon Vietnam
vet could not save her in time. Finds out
there are creatures of myth and legend and they are very real. To keep his boys safe he will instruct them
how to survive, fight and win. From hand
to hand combat, firearms and blades these two could probably be dropped on the
F.B.I.’s most wanted list if they wanted to go on a killing spree but they
remain knight errants and do what they must to spare families the hell that is
their lives.
Admittedly I went into this show kicking and screaming foul
to preceding shows. Kolchak: the night stalker Poltergeist : The Legacy, Friday
the 13th The Series and X-Files all dealing with the ghosts and
ghoulies so I felt yeah YET another less than original idea. This bleak, dark background story unfolding
simultaneously with the current events quickly changed my mind and established
this is a dialogue driven story arc as much as it is character based. A dysfunctional family that shows their
breaking points, their flaws and strengths gives scope to the show and guest
stars galore. Only complaint from the
man here, not enough reoccurring eye candy for hetro boys.
And there on the handle was a hook…OoOoO… ah we all enjoy
our campfire tales while toasting marshmallows but some stories can be more
than a little spooky. So grab your pup
tent, let’s make s’mores and settle in.
This is Friday the 13th Part 2.
Legend tells of a
spoiler that resurrects from the beyond.
It is five years later after the massacre of Crystal Lake
and Pamela Vorhees has been killed and the young girl that survived, Alice (Adreinne
King of Friday the 13th, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and While You
Were Sleeping)attempts to live her life beyond that nightmare only to
feel as though she is being watched. Her small apartment is filled with
drawings of a disfigured boy that drug her underwater. She peers into her
refrigerator to find the severed head of Pamela Vorhees , then has an ice pick
driven in her right temple. A group
of teenagers come to Crystal Lake to reopen the site and set up a new camp and
the head counselor Paul Holt (John Furey of A Killing Spring, The
Gali’ndez File and A Little Thing Called Murder) his wacky sidekick Ted
(Stu Charno of Christine, Just One of the Guys and
Once Bitten) and his psychologist girlfriend Ginny (Amy Steel of All My Children, Guiding Light
and April Fool’s Day) this camp will be good for the upcoming
children’s summer. Unbeknownst to our
happy campers that Jason Vorhees somehow survived his drowning and was lost in
the woods, living off wild life and vegetation like a confused creature of the
wild. Could he be fact or fiction? Is he right behind you even as you read
this!!?? No dummy he is the stuff of
fiction.
As most of the camp crew head into town for a little
partying a smattering of counselors remain at camp to keep the home fires
burning. Obviously to have sex, smoke
some local reefer and have a few beers; which as we all know this is a recipe
for disaster via the killer’s perspective.
One by one they are being systematically slaughtered without provocation
as Jason is a big time moral crusader against pre-marital sex, drugs and alcohol. You would think the MPAA and he would be
natural allies but I digress.
Steve Miner (Friday
the 13th Part 3, House, Soul Man, Warlock and Wild Hearts Can’t Be
Broken) takes over for Sean
Cunningham (Friday the 13th, A Stranger is Watching, Spring Break, The
New Kids and DeepStar Six) after the first movie from his former
associate producer title he held. The
tagline alone is worth viewing. The body
count continues. Granted the murder
effects of Tom Savini is not in this film but in fact done by Carl Fullerton (Friday the 13th Part
3, The Hunger, Spasms, The Return of Swamp Thing and Warlock) and as
always the musical score but Harry Manfredini ( Scores
for Friday the 13th 1 through Jason X, Wishmaster, Bad Karma, the
Omega Code and Terminal Invasion)The acting was not over the top, the
lighting and sound was phenomenal and frankly there were some real scary
moments rather than the expected point of countless jump scares. Feel free to give this one a viewing if you
are a slasher fan.
Four score and seven beheadings ago… Yeah not sure that speech would generate the
same impact if you enlighten the masses to the realms of the undead in their
lands. Then again who knows? Maybe they would have taken it in stride and
gathered arms to purge the evil from their shores. So sharpen your knives and stakes and start
prepping holy water. This is Abraham
Lincoln Vampire Hunter.
Spoilers of the night
shut up!
Director Timur
Bekmanmbetov is carving himself a niche with vampire stories now with two
already under his belt with Night Watch
and Day Watch turns to a little bit
of fiction that has been on the best sellers list with Abraham Lincoln Vampire
Hunter. He adapted his own novel into
the screenplay so one comes to the conclusion it didn’t stray far from the
source material.
Our story
opens with the exploitations of 12 year old Abraham and his mother and father working
as indentured servants to Jack Barts (Marton Csokas of XXX, Bourne Supremacy, Aeon
Flux, Alice in Wonderland and The Tree), a man of unscrupulous behavior
fires Thomas (Joseph Mawle of Freefall, After Tomorrow, Heartless and Game of Thrones)
and Nancy (Robin McLeavy of 48 Shades, The Loved Ones, After the Credits and Hell
on Wheels TV series) when Abraham tries to stop Barts from beating a
slave boy and friend Will Johnson. Barts
did not care for Thomas’ attitude to his “betters” and tells them they will pay
one way or the other. Barts sneaks into
the Lincolns’ cabin and feeds on Nancy, Thomas is grief stricken and tells
Abraham he is not to seek revenge for that is a dark path.
Seven years later Abraham (Benjamin
Walker of The War Boys, Coach, Westward and Flags of Our Fathers) and is
all alone and feels he will have is revenge…after a few rounds of liquid courage. An idle chat with a fellow patron Henry (Dominic
Cooper of An Education, The Duchess, The Devil’s Double and Captain America:
The First Avenger) who states the only time you see a man drinking like
that is when he is going to ask out a girl or kill man. Patting Abraham on the back hard, a flintlock
falls out of Lincoln’s coat. Fending
off the effects of alcohol and a formidable beating at the hands of Jack Barts;
Lincoln awakens in the house of Henry and was told he is going about it all
wrong. Look at the bigger picture, adapt
and plan his attacks on these vile creatures.
Henry mentors Lincoln in a series of mixed martial arts and melee
weapons, oh which a 5 pound wood axe seems to be Lincoln’s preferred weapon.
Let’s break
this down into various categories shall we?
One hand you have a historical figure not only founder of the
Emancipation Proclamation, the document to end slavery and offer a modicum of
dignity to men that were whipped, beaten and often members of friends and
family slaughtered, but you also have a different set of rules to
vampires. Silver is back, beheading and bodily dismemberment works.
There are plenty
of the traditional standings such as; vampire powers and
superiority complexes but a fairly complex storyline of the involvement of humans
growing, aging and living life. An amalgam of CGI green screen, wire work
and prosthetic appliances, this film is wowing the audience a little too much
on the lines of a Bruce Willis Die Hard in places. A
hybrid of Super 35mm Digital film, anamorphic for the all-encompassing shot and
of course, the Phantom Flex for the 3-D version of this movie.
Now I
freely admit the title does sound a trifle silly but you have to admit it does
catch the eye and make you question it and when all is said and done I actually
had a good time, with one minor drawback.
I was in the far front row right in line of the surround sound. A tad booming at times but one will adapt and
move on. Give it a view folks. You will be pleasantly surprised.
