Hooray for the One Halloween!

Ah! It's Halloween! Not that I'm one who denies that if you really want it to be true, every night can be Halloween Night. The first thing Halloween means around here is eating in the dark because as soon as it starts to get dark the trick or treaters are out and since I'm a cheapskate and working on my hermithood that means no giving out candy. You don't feed the brats, you don't turn on any light that they can see from outside your house, which rules out any light in the kitchen other than the one inside the oven, and it sure is no help.

Well it's sure been fun doing these Thirteen Blogs of Halloween. That's not to say it isn't a lot of work too. Especially since I had a tendency for a while there to essentially talk about two different things. Then there were the titles with the number countdown buried in them. Those seemed to get progressively harder as the blogs rolled out. Of course I don't want to discount the effort to come up with that many music suggestions either. The easiest part was selecting the movies and getting their sales links ready. I did change at least one of the movies when I decided I wanted to change up something.

Last night's movie took absolutely no effort to decide upon. The Crow is just such an amazing movie and I'd watch it until I became sick of it if I didn't apply a heavy dose of restraint. I know there must be flaws in it, but I no longer see or think about them. I just watch and almost every scene I tell myself that I love this part. There just isn't a part of it that I don't think is spectacular. If I had the memory for it I would be one of those guys who quotes a movie from start to finish. As it is, I lip sync along with so many lines in it. I just love it.

My pick for horror movie to watch on Halloween night this year is the, so far, most recent movie in the Michael Meyers saga, Halloween: Resurrection. Now, for the life of me I don't know why after all this time there is still no image for this movie at Amazon.ca. I almost chose a different movie for tonight, but decided why let the mistake bother me. Go ahead, buy it if that's what you want. I made sure that there are no other listings for it under DVD and some other searching to make sure it was what it reported to be. I've satisfied my paranoia. I also think I bought it from them myself (as opposed to going to the .com version to buy it). Well, expect to hear from me again tomorrow about watching it, and enjoy your Halloween!

Mood: ecstatic.
Music: I Ain't Superstitious by Megadeth and This House is Haunted by Alice Cooper.

Buy these at Amazon.ca Click Images to Buy

This is the really real world! There ain't no coming back!

Two Times the Trouble

Here we are the night before All Hallow's Eve, the night more infamously know as Devil's Night due to the terrible vandalism that goes on by stupid kids who should know better, and delinquents and miscreants out setting fires (or so it used to be when crime rates were through the roof all over the place). Either way it's a tradition that we could pretty much do without. Who needs a second shadow holiday to the real one anyway, even if it wasn't an excuse from criminal activity?

I hope, and am planning, to have the blog online early tomorrow. Hopefully that will be before everyone's commute home from work, rather than waiting until later. To do that I'll have to cheat a little and get most of it written up later tonight so that tomorrow all I have to do is give my impressions of tonight's movie and upload it. You betcha... I usually write the bog just before I put it online. No pre-writing it, for me, usually.

Well, last night I watched Thir13en Ghosts, and it is everything I said. It's a lot of eye candy, and some excellent work from Mathew Lillard who, to me, just makes the movie. I really like the role they've given him to play too. Then there is the awesome set piece of the glass house, and the amazing work on the machine which I was reminded is entirely CGI, though it really looks like they built it as a physical thing. It is so nice to see a movie where it pretty much tells us that anything you can imagine, they can put it on film, using one technique or another. There really is very little that they can't do now.

Tonight I will carry on a long-standing Devil's Night tradition of the nice kind, the watching of The Crow. It's a natural movie choice to watch, tonight of all nights, given the subject matter and it's timing. I don't know necessarily that I would even begin to call it a horror movie, but it's certainly dark enough and has shall we say certain fitting elements, even though its more of an action hybrid if not just a fantasy storied action flick. No sorcery but at least a little sword. It is also definitely a favourite movie of mine, no matter how anyone wants to categorise it.

Mood: hyped.
Music: Shout at the Devil by Motley Crue and Killers by Iron Maiden

Buy these at Amazon.ca Click Images to Buy

Death Comes in Three's

It's been a long standing adage around where I come from that death comes in three's generally. You will never just see one death in any given short time, like say a month maximum. There will always be three people you know that end up dying within days of each other. For people you don't know, the numbers might not apply, but certainly when the first death is an acquaintance, then you can kiss two more people goodbye. Thankfully though, the closeness of each of the passers-on can vary. So if you lose a close family member or your best friend, then the other two people to die don't necessarily have to be that close to you, you can know them in passing only.

I always ponder how it is that ideas like this come about initially. They're as old as the hills, and I have to guess quite often it's hard to track down the origin, or the reason it originated. They're not like trying to sort out word etymologies where the oldest written use of a word is the most important find. What is also funny about them is how easy it is to see them to be true. It pretty much seems like always three people die close together. I used to joke that you were safe crossing the street if there was only two people crossing at the same time. If you had three then something might happen. If there were four you had to hope that you would be the survivor.

It sure was a joy last night to watch The Howling again. The transformation scene with Robert Picardo--yes, baldy from Star Trek: Voyager, though back when he was younger and had hair... or at least a nice wig--is still amazing to watch. Rob Bottin is just an amazing physical special effects guy. Actually, seeing him in one of the documentaries you might think Rob is a werewolf himself. It would be really hard to judge who is hairier, him or Robin Williams. Another great thing in this movie is the woods and the fog. Just excellent fog in that film.

Tonight is a visual extravaganza of horror, the remake of an old movie that starred Vincent Price, and now the big star is Tony Shalhoub. Matthew Lillard is also in it, in a role he seems perfectly made for. Thir13en Ghosts is the movie for tonight. I will admit the first time I saw it, immediately afterward I said to myself, boy did they go overboard with the special effects and making them most if not all of the horror. It seemed badly gratuitous (unlike excellently gratuitous in Blade II). By time the next day rolled around I had decided, that it didn't matter if it was all eye candy, I liked it anyway. The house is just awesome, and I do like the classic special-glasses angle.

Mood: peaceful.
Music: Bat Out of Hell by Meat Loaf and Horror Teria by Twisted Sister

Buy these at Amazon.ca Click Images to Buy

Four Means Death

Well not means, I suppose, though it sounds the same in Japanese. The word "shi" doubles for both apparently, which would explain why my book on the language says that there is also the word "yon" to mean four. In fact a similar thing happens where there is a preference to say seven as "nana" instead of "shichi" to avoid speaking of death even in such a tangential way. It makes me wonder immediately is there is an instinct to not make films beyond the trilogy point in Japan. Back to four, this has lead to something of a superstition involving never giving gifts in number of four, or multiples of four. So no boxes of 16 cookies or anything of the sort. Makes you wonder about 24 packs of drinks or four wheeled conveyances.

As you can only guess that I would say, superstition can be a powerful factor in a story if you so wanted it to be. We have our own superstitions on this side of the world and they are pretty well trod. So why not go a little further afield for inspiration. Certainly there is a market for translations and remakes of foreign horrors. I always prefer something a little more original though, so I tend toward the translated movies, and hope (though it may well be pointless) that the studios will begin putting out something new if only because the scriptwriters and directors get a good jones on to write their own stuff and cash in more directly.

Last night, watching Killer Klowns from Outer Space, was as fun as always. I cracked up at one point where there was such a blatant giveaway about what was going to later happen to the one character. Of course seeing it the first time it didn't seem like anything other than just an ordinary bit of dialog until it came to fruition. I also got a real kick out of the set and character which I just can't help think are some kind of homage or send-up of "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" from Stephen King's Creepshow. Then of course there is the balloon-tracking-dog, can't forget how utterly absurd and hilarious that is on the surface and how disturbing it is if you really think about the power that represents.

Tonight we go back to the real horror movies, and what a doozy this one is. I call it a real piece of cinema, something much more movie than other movies. This one is so great and yet at the same time it stands on the precipice of a real controversy. That controversy for once is among the horror fans themselves. Everyone picks a side, or so it seems and the battle lines are quickly drawn. Which is the best werewolf movie? The satirical one about a foreigner turned werewolf while in England, or the one I stand by wholeheartedly, the real horror movie, The Howling.

Mood: drained.
Music: Furnace Room Lullaby by Neko Case & Her Boyfriends and Dead Girl Superstar by Rob Zombie

Buy these at Amazon.ca Click Images to Buy

Five Deadly Venoms

The title today is a movie, but it's not on the list for Halloween because it's a martial arts movie. I suppose murderous, super-skilled-in-kill-you-in-terrible-and-violent-ways martial artists could be pretty scary. Still it makes a pretty snappy title. The venoms are scorpion, centipede, snake, lizard, and toad. I'm not sure I can think of more than one venomous lizard that being the Komodo Dragon, and it's more virulent than venomous anyway. Also, for those who don't know, I hear bad things about centipede venom, not from the small ones we have up here in the more northern climes, but from the ones in the tropics, where they commonly reach at least one foot in length.

In general, venoms are pretty nasty stuff in the short term. Of course they are often short term because that is all it takes to kill you. They're not like viruses which can make you suffer for days on end before killing you or diseases which can torment you for years. Not that you really want to suffer from any of them. Most of them kind of make you wish for the guy with the machete or chainsaw, just to get the dying over with so you go on with your what have you.

Last night was a good night. First I watched a new episode of Supernatural on CW, and then I came down here and popped in The Sixth Sense. One thing I noticed while watching it was the use of light and shadows, hearkening back to The Fear the night previous. There seemed to be a big difference though. In The Sixth Sense the shadows seemed to work as a part of the plot, or a warning or indicator. Not quite like characters as might appear in some movies, and not as just a matter of mood and the visual style like in The Fear. Other than that I don't think I picked up anything new, though I did have fun pointing out to myself certain clues peppered throughout.

Now for tonight I'm going to slide it down a little bit and watch something that's a change of pace. Still a horror certainly, but also something that is a little funny. This one was long considered a cult classic and I have to say that it might be one of the few I still consider cult. I can't say that I agree that the highest grossing horror movies of all time are cult anymore. They've sort of lost what made them cult when they have that kind of cash to show for their efforts. So what is tonight's movie? It's Killer Klowns from Outer Space. I can hear the theme music already.

Mood: fatigued.
Music: Haunted by Evanescence and How Can I Live by Ill Nino.

Buy these at Amazon.ca Click Images to Buy

The Sixth Sense

I can see the bloated flesh and sloughing skin. I can hear the moans and whispers. The smell is sweet and at the same time rank, and forboding. The taste of the essence of death is floating on the air. I can feel the smoothness of the edge of the wound. These are not from my five senses, but all of them from a sixth sense. Beyond what is normal, but still within what is real...

The above was just something that struck me I should write for the number six, given there's that many blogs left counting this on in my little extravaganza here. On a different note (and a different number too) I saw an ad last night for the convention called Horrorfest. The commercial said that they are going to be showing eight horror movies that were deemed too excessively frightening to be released. At least that is I hope the meaning, when they said they were "too graphic". If they are just too gory I don't see the point of hyping them. I'll see if I can do a little a digging and get us all some information on this.

Last night's movie was excellent. It's maybe not in even the top ten horror movies on my list, but I do certainly enjoy it. The Fear is quite a story with a nice mix of more than one story going on at the same time. There is excellent characterisation and diversity among the characters without falling into cliches. Also as usual for mentioning this film, I have to say how much I love the use of light and shadows in this movie. It's just phenomenal for that. Then there is real high point of the horror, Morty the wooden dummy who is just the creepiest.

Tonight's movie is of all things... The Sixth Sense. You had to see it coming. Well maybe not given there are other movies I might have watched as a part of this list had I not seen them more recently. The Sixth Sense is one of those movies that is just a brilliant chunk of mythos all neatly tied up in the bow. It supplies everything you need to know at just the right places. It lays out the rules and follows them. It also runs so far along the course that you would expect it to, and then it does this amazing left turn and heads off a different way. Not to mention the huge surprise... and no I'm not going to spoiler it, though by now everyone must know what it is.

Mood: exasperated.
Music: Halloween by Helloween and Haunted by Poe.

Buy these at Amazon.ca Click Images to Buy

The Scary Seven

Some people like--or some others would say need--clarification, categorisation, or pigeonholing of the ideas that are given to them. They want everything to be neat and tidy. This is this, that is that, never the twain shall meet. It gives them a launching point from which to understand their entertainment as well as a common reference to discuss it with others. Certainly few can, hopefully, complain about the latter. A common language or lingua franca is always helpful. Genres are a perfect example of such categorisation. While they can be binding, or confuse people if straddled or broken, they do certainly help with selecting what you want to see, hear, or read.

Now, since this holiday is about only one genre related thing I can't launch into a discussion of that. I could look at the lesser breakdown into sub-genres, and after a fashion am sort of brushing against such. Instead though (perhaps in contrast of) I thought I would present to you what I think are the scary seven of horror, and certainly movies in particular. They would be--in no specific order--Slashers, Devils, Creatures Ghosts, Vampires, Witches, Zombies. Certainly there could be overlap, but I think this is a pretty well defined set.

Last night's movie definitely fits into the creatures' mold. Oh, and what a creature The Thing is. I can't say that I picked up anything new from watching it again. That's not to say that it wasn't worth every minute. I did get reacquainted with one fact while watching the documentary that came on the DVD. I do have to laugh at these sometimes. The movie runs for 109 minutes, and the documentary runs 80 minutes. I have seen it where the documentary is as long as the movie. The fact I relearned was that the special effects wizard Rob Bottin also wowed us with the Howling. Sometimes it's a small horror world.

Tonight's movie is The Fear. Offhand I don't know who directed it, or who did the special effects for Morty, or the names of any of the stars, other than Wes Craven has a bit part in it with two scenes. So obviously there must be someone involved in it that he knows, or the script was just that good. Not to knock it, but I'd guess he knows somebody just for the simple fact I'm sure there are a lot of good scripts but how many got him involved in the acting?

Mood: amused.
Music: Walk Through the Fire by Sarah Michelle Gellar and Captain Howdy (Cover) by Crisis.

Buy these at Amazon.ca Click Images to Buy

Eight Special Features

After watching last night's movie I got thinking about the extras that come with it. I watched some of them, and a couple I didn't due to time constraints. I thought then, that I'd talk a little bit about them. In honour of tonight's number I decided to tell you my eight favourite extras, in order. They are: 1) Documentaries, 2) Deleted and Alternate Scenes, 3) Commentaries, 4) Trailers, 5) Music Videos, 6) Design/Art Galleries, 7) Productions Notes, and 8) Talent Bios.

The documentaries that I really like are the ones that talk about the movie and its relationship with the audience. This pretty much requires it be an older movie with a newly made documentary. A prefect example is the "Fanalysis" documentary with the special edition Book of the Dead version of Evil Dead. I don't know about its availability elsewhere. In it Bruce Campbell talks about the movie's impact, as well he goes out and talks to the fans about it. If I recall he was at a convention talking to fans about it, and at a recent showing of the movie, perhaps in conjunction with the convention, but at a different venue.

So, what can I say about watching Evil Dead again last night? For starters I learned a couple of things. First off I decided that there was no need to adjust the contrast on the moon scenes like I had thought for the last several times. The reason for that is because its not a direct shot of the moon. I doesn't belong in the frame from the standpoint of where the moon really is. It is there on the screen to show us what is going on, though. The other thing that really stood out was I picked up on a bit of dialogue in Shelly's wailing that I somehow hadn't before (to my recollection). It was pretty cool.

Tonight's movie is another classic, and this one is a remake to boot. Actually as far as remakes go it's something more of a total re-imagining of the original. It is also a movie with a lot of heavy duty special effects and most of them mechanical effects. Without even watching it again yet I can tell you that those effects still stand up amazingly. They rock! Tonight I will face... The Thing.

Mood: quiet.
Music: The Hedge from Halloween (Soundtrack) and Kidnap the Sandy Claws from The Nightmare Before Christmas (Soundtrack).

Buy these at Amazon.ca Click Images to Buy

"You can't, you love her!"

Nine Planets no More

Certainly it isn't news anymore, but hey you come up with a title dealing with nine, and something to talk about! Poor Pluto, no longer a planet, stripped of it's power. If the Romans who worshipped Pluto were alive today what would they think? Would they have stopped the declassification? Perhaps by violent means? Bloody ritual? Dark magic? Don't forget the Greek counterpart to Pluto was Hades. Perhaps the damned would have risen to put an end to the discussion of whether it was planet or not. Don't mess with the ruler of the underworld.

As you can see it's not hard to find the horror in things that at first glance look as if there is no real connection. There is such a breadth of terrifying material to draw from. Everything casts a shadow. The trick quickly becomes what elements to put together and what direction to go with them. Just as there is power in drawing upon something familiar there is also the need to differentiate your own work. Even a large bit of homage like with tonight's movie (coming up soon) you have to step off the beaten path and forge your own trail. Or of course you can run parallel in the first place before your divergence and have the familiarity without treading the same steps.

Last night's double feature was good. Though there isn't really anything to complain about Waxwork I still can't help but feel that the sequel is better, and certainly I think its a total blast. The spoof with Bruce Campbell in it certainly takes the cake. As soon as it starts I can't help but laugh even though it cuts away to another one for a bit. Going back to the first movie I do have to say I get a real kick out of the Marquis de Sade bit but that's not necessarily for the horror content. People who've seen it no doubt know what I'm talking about.

There is a bit of a connection between last night and tonight because tonight's movie is none other than the huge classic, Evil Dead. What's the big homage in it that I was talking about earlier? Well the cited influence, and it is easily seen that it is a big fancy send up of it, is the granddaddy of horror, Night of the Living Dead. Of course as I said it blazes its own path. That's the point. We have related elements: animated dead, trapped in a house, and unbeatable odds outside. Still, the story is different in just about every possible way. A great example of how it's done.

Mood: excited.
Music: Terrified by Quiet Riot and Nature Trail to Hell by Weird Al Yankovic.

Buy these at Amazon.ca Click Images to Buy

Ten More Nights to Fear

Ah, it feels like things are in full swing now. We're well on our way to H-Day. Of course I had a prep night first, when I watched Willard as a matter of watching new DVDs that I bought. Along with that movie I grabbed up a group of four movies for a ridiculously low price of $10 or slightly less. The four movies are all related involving some town called Collinsville. Maybe you've heard of them, or maybe not. I also grabbed up another weird movie (or so it seems) called Pinata Survivor Island that I haven't watched yet. It has Nicholas Brendon (from TV's Buffy The Vampire Slayer) in it so I figure how bad can it really be. Well, time will tell.

I still as yet don't know what to make of the current format war between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. It's maybe too early to tell, but thankfully--for me at least--it has not stopped new regular DVDs being released and I take it as a bad sign for the new ways that old movies are still getting new regular DVD releases with new features like the previously mentioned 2-disc NoES. Chalk it up to age but I don't remember if I complained yet about two of those re-releases. I was rather dismayed to find out about the release of new super editions of Pet Sematary and The Dead Zone (the original directed by Cronenberg). Don't they know that I just finally got my hands on an extra-features-light copy of each of those. Now I'll have to see about selling them when I get the new ones because the new features are so desirable. What a nightmare.

Speaking of which, last night's New Nightmare was everything and a side of fries as they say. Heather Langenkamp is so easy on the eyes, and the movie is just so smooth and well organised in drawing from the original and still providing good twists and turns. There are some scenes that I just absolutely adore, like the slowed down surreal scene in front of the audience, or that one moment of pure parental horror with no antagonist, or the scene where the voice in my head was screaming at me, "Who needs James Cameron we have Wes Craven!"

Tonight's movie is Waxwork and it's sequel Waxwork II. Yes, a double feature, and probably the only one I'm going to have. This one is only due to the highly integrated nature of these two films, with one following right on the heels of the other timeline-wise, not to mention they're available on the same DVD, and they're just so much fun to watch one after the other. The first Waxwork is a straight on horror. The second, is a horror comedy/spoof that just happens to be a pretty good adventure to boot. I could almost spill all the beans right now.

Mood: exasperated.
Music: Halloween by Aqua and Dragula by Rob Zombie.

Buy these at Amazon.ca Click Images to Buy

News at Eleven

When it comes to thinking about what is the most important use of eleven the first thing that comes to mind, or came to mine anyway, was the eleven o'clock news. For years the news was a pretty scary thing. There was almost always a murder in Tonawanda and a fire in Cheektowaga (very telling of what news I watched most often). Either through desensitisation or actual crime and fire prevention the news became a much less scary thing. In a similar vein for the Halloween season for a while the news used to carry scary stories about supposedly haunted locations, or creepy local history. Now that's been replaced with spots about who's hosting extremely kid friendly Halloween walks or parties. Kind of a let down in comparison, even if you can tune in to ghost hunting shows on cable nowadays.

Last night's movie was every bit as good as I remember it. I was struck by one bit with Nancy's mother. The scene was very reminiscent of much older films in the way that the mother acted exaggeratedly as if in say a stage production. Theatre has a certain over-acting to it that works in some ways, such as carrying intent and meaning out to the audience that isn't that close to see the finer points of facial expression and body language. This woman was acting more than a touch like this. I can't say I'm fond of the style, though as I said if you go back a certain number of years (decades really, I guess) then all of the film acting is like that.

Tonight's film choice is something of a natural, as a book end to last night's. Tonight I will watch Wes Craven's New Nightmare. This is of course Wes' return to the franchise after having nothing to do with any of the sequels in between. It is also one of those movie in a movie films and takes a good look at what if Freddy were for real. Of course it also has the return of Heather Langenkamp, as herself of course, for the third time in the series. Also in the film are Wes Craven, Bob Shaye, and of course the un-made-up Robert Englund, all as themselves. How much better can it get?

Mood: run-down.
Music: Witch Hunt by Stratovarius and The Book of Thel by Bruce Dickinson.

Buy these at Amazon.ca Click Images to Buy

Twelve Film Series

I had originally had a thought about doing a twleve days of Halloween song listing movies by their number of sequels, but there was a problem. Nothing has twelve films. If we count Freddy vs Jason as a Friday the 13th for the sake of argument, that still only puts it at eleven Friday's thus far. By the same token FvJ makes for eight Nightmare on Elm Street films. In between the two would be nine Puppet Master movies. An alternate eight would be the Halloween movies. There are Seven Children of the Corn films. Five for the Prophecy movies, or with the pair of prequels we also have five Exorcist films. Four Wishmaster films. Notice I'm still missing a ten. Though we have only three Poltergeists movies. Don't forget 6 is missing, too. Two Waxwork movies. ...and a white rat named Socrates... (guess where that's from!)

Well, that done, I suppose before I move on to tonight's feature I should go back in my mind and tell you about watching Strangeland last night. I have to start by saying I love this movie. Almost everything is perfect. I do have to wonder if I would have caught that really bad mistake with the moving prop if Dee hadn't pointed it out in the commentary and cracked up laughing so much over it. Not that I watched the commentary last night, or in quite a while, but that bit has stayed with me. There are some scenes in that movie that are just so awesome and well thought out and executed. Also the dialog, especially Dee's is just amazing. It was such an (horrific) inspiration.

Tonight's movie is about as classic as a horror movie gets. I always brag and brag about how great it is, how popular it's antagonist is, and I always argue he's the most popular horror icon ever, though I usually refrain from saying it's for four specific reasons. People who know me are groaning and saying, "Oh no, it's another Freddy Kreuger tirade!" Yes, tonight I cast back to the first, the original, A Nightmare on Elm Street. A film that I might note is now available in a new 2-disc DVD release! *Shakes fist* Something else to repeat buy to get extras I should have got in a boxset but didn't. Still, I intend to get it, and I can probably fairly safely say so should you if

you love the film even half as much as I do. What I remember most about the original film is that it was one of the few horrors I've seen where I just sat there and said, "This is a piece of cinema, not just a movie, but a peice of real art."

Mood: rushed.
Music: Terror Train by Demons & Wizards and Chains of Misery by Iron Maiden.

Buy these at Amazon.ca Click Images to Buy

The Thirteen Blogs of Halloween

Here we go! Today is the first of the Thirteen Days of Halloween. I've been waiting for this. This morning I realised something about it though. To watch thirteen movies on thirteen days leading up to and including a movie on Halloween night, I would have to blog about Halloween's movie the following day. So, I should have started last night with the first movie, then that would have... not have really helped the situation any. So, what to do to sort things out?

Well I could talk about the movie that I plan to watch tonight. That might require knowing enough about it to talk about it. Not to mention I would have to pick it out now rather than go by feeling just before I'm ready to watch. What I could do is talk about what I expect from the movie today, and what I got tomorrow. However, what if I watch a movie I've already seen before? Then I'll know what to expect from it. So, that doesn't work so well either. Maybe there will just have to be a compromise. Or maybe, like last year there will really be Fourteen Blogs... My brain hurts like its under attack from a Scanner (you knew this joke was coming).

So, what is the first movie, and have I watched it yet?

Tonight's movie, yet to be watched, is... *drum roll* ... Dee Snider's Strangeland. Dee Snider is the front man (and lead singer) of Twisted Sister. He both wrote, and stars in this movie, which was first shown at a convention for S&M, tattoos and piercings, and such. Why is that, you ask? Strangeland tells the tale of a cop who's daughter goes missing. She was lured into the clutches of a most human monster via an Internet chat room. The man is heavy into neo-primitivism, focused on the painful rights of passage from around the world, and in general the spiritual awakenings coming from such rituals.

What's special about this film? Aside from Dee as the star, and a most excellent part for Robert Englund, this film is definitely erring toward being an unsafe movie. After all, a psycho could grab you and do any and all of the terrible things that happen to the people in this movie.

Mood: straightforward.
Music: The Black Widow by Alice Cooper and Love You to Death by Type O Negative.

Buy these at Amazon.ca Click Images to Buy