13 Nights of Hallowe'en: Night #13 Silent Hill

Here it is finally, Hallowe’en! What better choice for a
movie can there be than one that is a horror among horrors? This one is amazing. Tonight I present to you “Silent Hill”. The film stars Radha Mitchell who was in “Pitch Black” and most recently seen by horror fans in “Rogue”? In a smaller part is Sean Bean who was in “The Dark” and here’s a connection to a previous night, “The Hitcher”. I’d also like to point out Kim Coates who I always remember from my favourite Amityville sequel, “The Amityville Curse”. Then we can’t forget to mention Alice Krige who the sci-fi fans know as the Borg Queen from several different parts of “Star Trek”, and us horror-philes know from the likes of Stephen King’s “Sleepwalkers” and Peter Straub’s “Ghost Story”.

“Silent Hill” is directed by Christophe Gans who directed “Brotherhood of the Wolf”. “Silent Hill” is a movie based on a video game series. Usually this isn’t such a good thing but Gans and all of the film staff prove that a good movie can come from a game. Silent Hill’s setting was inspired by an actual real world location called Centralia in Pennsylvania where coal in the ground caught fire and has burned for over forty-five years. This turned the place into a ghost town. What better place for the supernatural run wild as seen in “Silent Hill”? The movie borrows parts from the first two video games and is chock full of gruesome monsters that can be as bizarre as they are frightening. This is the real deal in horror and I can only imagine how hair raising it is to the casual horror fan.

Mood: festive.
Music: This is Halloween by Danny Elfman off of The Nightmare Before Christmas Soundtrack.

13 Nights of Hallowe'en: Night #12 Stir of Echoes

Can you smell that? That is the smell of Bacon-y goodness.
The movie is “Stir of Echoes”, a horror with Kevin Bacon. This movie is zero degrees of separation from Bacon, and greatness. Could you expect otherwise with Bacon in a movie based on the 1958 novel by Richard Matheson? Fear not this, the movie does not disappoint. “Stir of Echoes” even takes a solid left-hand--the sinister hand--turn shy of halfway through making for a fresh experience for fans of the novel. “Stir of Echoes” echoes Matheson’s novel, well maintaining the spirit and staying on point, all while changing things up. This balancing act comes from the movie’s writer/director David Koepp. Koepp is also responsible for the Stephen King movie “Secret Window”, and wrote the screenplay for Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man”.

One last note about Koepp, this year’s movies list has included a staggering number of films from writer/directors. “Stir of Echoes” also boasts Jennifer Morrison from “Urban Legends: Final Cut” and TV’s “House” in a scant few memorable scenes. Then there is Kathryn Erbe from TV’s "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" who in an acting sense stands up to Bacon’s performance more than admirably. I would like to make a note about the DVD. The Amazon link should be to the same edition that I bought. If not I don’t know what to say. The DVD that I have has the creepiest menus that I have ever seen. The menu for the special features in particular causes the hair on the back of your neck to rise. Some people wish their movie was this creepy. I give my kudos on the entire movie experience.

Mood: anxious.
Music: Halloween by Helloween off of Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 1.

13 Nights of Hallowe'en: Night #11 Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

It’s hard to say where to start with the movie for tonight,
“Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon”. Getting into who the actors are and the director and writers is so much fun, but let’s try to be quick about that. There are small parts played by Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger) and Zelda Rubinstein (from Poltergeist). Great things need to be said about horror newcomers Nathan Baesel and Angela Goethals. They absolutely make the film--they’re in most of the scenes. Writer/director Scott Glosserman has no other credits for those two job titles previous to this film, which makes him immediately awe inspiring. The other writer, David J. Stieve, is in the same boat. This movie really makes it true that some films are better and better every time you see it.

“Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon” is a full-on horror mockumentary. It has an amazing balance of comedy and horror. It’s the good kind of comedy too, all deadpan satirisation in a smart and funny way without resorting to being lame or stupid. This movie is serious fun. At one point some will wonder if it is going to become the movie it was presented as, then it reaches a tipping point, where just like a roller coaster some good drops are past, and then around the corner is the monster rise and fall for which everyone was waiting. Keep an eye on everything in this movie. There are a number of references that are less obvious than others. There are also several horror in-jokes, one of which is incredibly cool and funny. Sit back and enjoy the birth of a new legend.

Mood: extravagant.
Music: Halloween in Heaven by Type O Negative off of Dead Again.

13 Nights of Hallowe'en: Night #10 The St. Francisville Experiment

The selection of these thirteen movies has been
intentional and deliberate. This is not because they are all out there choices, or outré, or favourites, or even due to being special. They are films worth recommendation, and maybe to a degree a few of them are here because they get a bad rep. “The St. Francisville Experiment” requires some defending. It was saddled right away as a rip-off of “The Blair Witch Project” because of the ill-conceived title. “The St. Francisville Experiment” is about paranormal investigators like on “Ghost Hunters” or “Most Haunted”, which pay their dues back to “Sightings” in the early, early 90s. Even “Sightings” could owe back to “Poltergeist” with its engaging paranormal researchers for example. This is a movie about such researchers.

“The St. Francisville Experiment” is a non-comedic mockumentary, plain and simple. The documentary is an exploration of an infamously haunted mansion in St. Francisville, Louisiana. St. Francisville is, in all actuality, home of The Myrtles Plantation, one of America’s most haunted homes. Google it and see. There is some MST3K-worthy atrociously bad dialogue in this movie, but given some online conversations not necessarily unrealistically bad. The pace is a little slow for a movie, but it seems good for a documentary. Similar can be said about the minimal special effects and the plot. After all is said and done, when “The St. Francisville Experiment” gets rolling it is a pretty good horror pseudo-documentary. A little review reading even digs up people creeped out by it.

Mood: impressionable.
Music: Halloween by Aqua off of Aquarius.

13 Nights of Hallowe'en: Night #9 Just Before Dawn

Here we have a nature lover’s horror movie. “Just Before Dawn”
is an absolute joy to watch for the seemingly endless shot after shot of breathtaking scenery on location in Silver Falls State Park, Oregon. Not only is the landscape beautiful and majestic, but also it is incredibly lonely and creepy. It is especially creepy with the film’s score backing it, and the pace and quality of the horror that begins to build in the movie. The sales link on this blog points to an excellent edition of the movie from Shriek Show. The video quality is not pristine, but it doesn’t diminish the impact of the gorgeous backwoods, and maybe actually accentuates the horror. The film’s score has a wickedly cool music queue that repeats for great punctuation throughout the film and ties everything together emotionally.

“Just Before Dawn” is low on big names. It has the son of Jack Lemmon, Chris Lemmon, who isn’t horror noteworthy. It also has George Kennedy who is a familiar face from “Creepshow 2” and a lot of other movies and TV appearances. Then we have writer/director Jeff Lieberman who has a fair cult following thanks to his writer/director work on “Squirm” and “Blue Sunshine”. “Just Before Dawn” is one of the gems of the ‘should have listened and not gone wherever’ genre of slasher movies. It was released in 1981, a year after “Friday the 13th”, and became somewhat lost in the flood of similar movies spawned from that. Like that other famous movie this one fits the bill of ‘please don’t reveal the secret ending to your friends’ on not just one count but two!

Mood: calm.
Music: Wake the Dead by Alice Cooper off of Along Came A Spider.

13 Nights of Hallowe'en: Night #8 The Mangler

For those who think that the movie from last night had
a good pedigree, this one will be mind blowing. The movie is “The Mangler”. Let’s start from the considerable bottom and move up. At the bottom on this impressive horror chain is Ted Levine, instantly recognised at the drop of this line... “It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.” Rising higher we come to the director of this movie. It is none other than Tobe Hooper director of “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre”. Hooper also has credit for work on “The Mangler” screenplay. Next up is an actor whose work nearly everyone knows but yet many do not know his face. Even from this movie they won’t know his face. He is of course Robert Englund, famous for he of the burned face and finger-knives, Freddy Krueger!

One might think that this is enough of a collection of horror’s best. How could it get any better? Easy. “The Mangler” is based on one of the short stories of Stephen King. The movie takes the story and adds onto it in nice ways. Some people don’t like that. Numerous people do not like the movie at all. However, when the complaints involve the idea that Englund is terrible in everything, then obviously they are not the right audience for “The Mangler”. It could be said quite insultingly these people don’t know horror, on that count at least. Same situation for complaints essentially about King’s story. “The Mangler” is a blood drenched, body mangling, capering and leering, antacid chewing, masterpiece. Watch it for what it is and you won’t be left flat... or pressed and folded.

Mood: frivolous.
Music: House of 1000 Corpses by Rob Zombie off of Sinister Urge.

13 Nights of Hallowe'en: Night #7 Body Parts

Wow, what can I say about tonight’s movie? It’s called
“Body Parts” and it stars a bunch of people I love to watch. This movie is a personal favourite. Up first is Jeff Fahey who is stupendous and I dig all his work. I have to tout another of his movies “The Lawnmowerman”. I just have to tout it. Okay, done. Fahey plays criminal psychologist Bill Crushank. Crushank consults on a convict named Ray, played by the coolest man with three first names, Paul Ben-Victor, who is like Super Guest-Star-Man on TV. Later Crushank runs into a man in his unique situation played by Brad Dourif. Dourif of course is most famous for all of the “Child’s Play” movies as Chucky’s voice but I must also tout “Death Machine”! Dourif won a Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Supporting Actor in “Body Parts”.

One last cast comment: Crushank also gets help from Detective Sawchuck played by Zakes Mokae who should be remembered from “The Serpent and the Rainbow”. Now for the director, Eric Red. Red is the director for “Body Parts” and did some of the writing. He was also a writer on the 1986 and 2007 versions of “The Hitcher” and on “Near Dark”. Now, “Body Parts” is one of those movies that the audience has to go with. Some call it cheesy, and laugh at the dialogue, but that’s mostly a matter of the philosophical questions given flesh (pun intended) in the film. Does that fall flat? Honestly, kind of, but the pacing is good, it has great excitement, and I enjoyed Red’s handling of things. After all, the film was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Horror Film and won one for Best Music.

Mood: contemplative.
Music: Haunted by Type O Negative off of October Rust.

13 Nights of Hallowe'en: Night #6 Dead Silence

While tonight’s movie is a more recent release it
is not hard to classify it as a classical kind of horror. It hearkens back to an earlier time in horror. At the same time it is a modern film. The movie starts, as some of the most interesting ones do, with a local legend. There is even a nursery rhyme associated with the legend. This is another movie that is not a remake of anything and has no immediate point of comparison. Don’t let the director’s name be a red herring, or the front of the box promotional text. James Wan is indeed the writer/director on “Saw”. Wan has two more movies beside “Saw” and tonight’s movie, “Dead Silence”. Don’t let “Saw” influence expectations for this movie; it can only lead to frustration. This movie taps into a different vein of horror.

“Dead Silence” has the best kind of examples of what moviemakers are doing right with CGI and green screens. There is a lot of negative talk about CGI in horror movies. They say it disrupts people staying engaged in the movie. Bad effects aside, they say the CGI makes them remember it’s a movie every time there is a scene that would be impossible without it. This is somehow worse than other effects. “Dead Silence” has CGI scenes that people will not notice until the bonus features tell them otherwise. Parts that seem completely normal in the movie were not fully real. Another great thing done in “Dead Silence” is how the supernatural is bound by rules, which is always fun. It is a great way to create tension and anticipation, by actually keeping the audience in on things.

Mood: creaky.
Music: How Can I Live by Ill Nino off of Freddy Vs. Jason Soundtrack.

13 Nights of Hallowe'en: Night #5 The Messengers

Tonight we have a movie that isn’t going to immediately
find comparison to something else based on just the title or a trailer. The movie is “The Messengers” directed by the Pang brothers. Oxide and Danny Pang are Hong Kong film creators responsible for the original “The Eye” and two sequels--a new one is schedules under someone else. Despite that, this movie does not appear to be a remake of any Hong Kong or other Asian film for that matter. This is immediately a good thing since that particular kind of remake is generally not more than just an alternate version, and subbed versions of the original are the preference amongst the English-speaking fans of the original films. This is also a good thing because it means it is the first run at the movie’s concept.

“The Messengers” is a haunted house story. The first thing anyone needs to know is in the lengthy movie tagline itself, “There is evidence to suggest that children are highly susceptible to paranormal phenomena. They see what adults cannot. ...” This idea is a common parapsychological tenet, though it does get a little lost in the movie, causing unnecessary confusion among some viewers as evinced by their comments about the film. The Solomon siblings are aware that their new house is haunted, but of course for their parents to understand this fact things will have to get pretty wild and crazy. One of the working titles for the film was “Scarecrow”, which explains some things. The crows are indicative of more than meets eye to anyone who knows what a psychopomp is.

Mood: relieved.
Music: Haunted by Evanescence of of Fallen.

13 Nights of Hallowe'en: Night #4 The Exorcism of Emily Rose

The theme of this year’s thirteen nights seems to be comparison.
The second word in the title of tonight’s movie is all that anyone needs to start making comparisons. Tonight the movie choice is “The Exorcism of Emily Rose”. This movie is anything but an “Exorcist” rip. The movie’s creators bill the film as a supernatural court drama. They take the idea a bit too far in the extras claiming it as the first. While the focus may be tighter on the court scenes, it’s certainly not the first time the supernatural has affected the courts in movies. Sam Raimi’s “The Gift” is a prime example. Even going back to “Amityville Horror II: The Possession” we have possession on trial. Still, it was a good idea and gave the film an excellent grounding upon which to build its supernatural ideas.

“The Exorcism of Emily Rose” is something of a joy to watch. The story is one divided into two timelines. In the past is the actual story of Emily Rose, a college student suffering with a demonic possession. Here is meat of the horror for the film. It is told through flashbacks in the current timeline of the film. Father Moore was the priest tasked with Emily’s exorcism and after her death is charged with negligent homicide. Emily’s ordeal is definitely not a rehash of previous possession. Some bits at the start bear some resemblance to some haunting stories in parts, but this is not uncommon in the initial stages of possession cases. The entire story is based on a true story for what that is worth, but the message of Emily’s story is definitely worth something.

Mood: content.
Music: Haunted by Poe off of Haunted.

13 Nights of Hallowe'en: Night #3 Mimic: Sentinel

Sequels are something in cinema that are often
maligned, especially by critics. The need to compare a sequel to its original is natural but best avoided. A film should stand on its own, or fall on its own to be fair. Tonight’s movie is a sequel. It is the third in the Mimic franchise. For some reason the number is left out of this sequel’s title and it is simply called “Mimic: Sentinel”. While all it takes for a movie to be a sequel is to carry on with some part from the previous movie--a character, a creature, a storyline--sometimes sequel take their own direction, blaze a new trail. This movie falls into that category. At the same time it is not extremely divergent. It is still in the horror vein, and it still has the Mimic bugs, the Judas Breed.

“Mimic: Sentinel” can be described--it is by even the director--as “Rear Window” with Mimic bugs. As funny as this sounds on the surface this is a seriously good movie. J.T. Petty is the writer and director of this film. Comparisons between this movie and “Rear Window” can only be a good thing. It has great suspense, some really nice mystery, and satisfies from start to finish. Some people are going to wish for more material with the Mimic bugs in it, but this one has about as much scene time for the special effects as the original film. It is next to impossible to say if this sequel is better than the first movie in the trilogy, they are very different movies even staying in the same genre and sharing the link that they do. The best that can be said is see this movie and judge for yourself.

Mood: tired.
Music: Spookshow Baby by Rob Zombie off of Hellbilly Deluxe.

13 Nights of Hallowe'en: Night #2 The Ugly

Tonight’s movie is one that has been elusive to find.
It comes out on DVD and then it sells out, then some time later it gets re-released. It is a good sign, if somewhat frustrating. How many releases does a film need before people start to figure out that it sells so there had better be good volume for the release? “The Ugly” was the first feature-length film by New Zealander Scott Reynolds as both writer and director. This is a great first feature. The star, Paolo Rotondo, is also a first timer with only one previous acting credit according to IMDB. If Reynolds as director did an excellent job as director then Rotondo’s performance is nothing but spectacular. The acting all around is good. Beyond these things it is also evident watching the movie that a lot of thinking went into making it.

“The Ugly” is chock full of intricacies. Pay close attention to names, anything written anywhere in the foreground and even most of the background. Where “fear dot com” uses colour to set the mood, The Ugly uses it to send messages in addition. The movie itself is easy to follow on the surface. Seeing where it is going is maybe a tad more difficult. Deciphering the real truth of Rotondo’s character Simon and his situation is extremely difficult. Unlike movies in the past where plot-lines and back stories were confusing just for the sake of it--or drug fuelled--the twists and convolutions in “The Ugly” are well thought out and really open to interpretation, rather than just undecipherable. Can you sort out what is real, what is the insanity, and not fall into Simon’s trap?

Mood: crafty.
Music: Fear Of The Dark by Iron Maiden off of Fear of the Dark.

13 Nights of Hallowe'en: Night #1 fear dot com

Hello, and welcome to the first of the thirteen nights of Hallowe’en.
What we do with these thirteen nights is we watch a horror movie or other kind of movie fitting to the festive spirit of All Hallows Eve. The full list of this years movies is available at WraithStop™. Tonight is the first night running to Hallowe’en, which is the thirteenth night. Come back to this blog every day for a heads up about that night’s movie.

Tonight’s movie is “fear dot com”. Today there is the sense among some people that movie A is nothing but a rip-off of movie B. It becomes ridiculous when it reaches anyone in a mask is a Jason Voorhees, even the much older Phantom of the Opera. “fear dot com” has the unfortunate distinction of being compared to “The Ring”. Some event is the trigger for your death hours later is a pretty simplistic plot. This is why the comparison is made, but the how and why makes a difference, never mind the hugely different path in dealing with it. How many movies for instance share the plot that there is a killer who has to be dealt with? They’re infinite, but there are a lot of extremely different movies come out of it. That plot covers everything from Agatha Christie to the latest slasher.

“fear dot com” is one of those movies that just oozes with a particular mood. The mood comes out through everything in the movie from the colour palette, to the architecture of the sets and locations, to the music, to the plot and the casting. The basic back of the box synopsis tells us, people are logging onto a site and then dying forty-eight hours later. The movie’s de facto web browser is very distinctive and it speaks loudly about the world of the movie. It ties in with the other visuals to paint a different kind of world than the one in which we live. There are a lot of interesting touches like this throughout the movie that help the feeling that permeates the film. Likewise there are other events that add to the plot as well as giving the setting its own sense of being, separate from the plot.

Mood: anxious.
Music: This House Is Haunted by Alice Cooper off of The Eyes of Alice Cooper.

Anatomy of a Horror Setting #2-20: The Final Conjurations

Let’s continue with our specific spells of horror. The first comes from a self-proclaimed Demon Lord of Pestilence. The spell was always unleashed upon one victim who was initially unaware of the dark magic worked upon them. A lone nomad with no home or tribe was the first victim. The nomad travelled far and wide. All that came in contact with the nomad would fall to the pestilence laid upon him by the spell. Three days after contact, with no warning signs, the disease would strike. It was a deadly wasting. The virulent contagion spread via contact as well as contaminating the water. Animals were not immune to it either. Wherever the nomad went, even taking to a life of hermitage, he killed off all the local game, forcing him to move on and spread it even further.

Spells to raise the dead as a zombie are easy to find. A nasty twist already lighted upon is to tie someone’s consciousness to his or her corpse. A searcher of ancient lore can find something more sinister in dusty forgotten tomes with pages that barely resist crumbling. There is a spell said to come from Mictlantecutli himself. The last to use the spell was a Death cultist. The victim was a traitor to the cult. The traitor was fed to a starving jaguar. The spell brought the traitor to the brink of death and then the traitor was healed within an instant, and given a short reprieve before he began to be eaten again, without the presence of the jaguar. The spell causes its victim’s murder to repeat over and over again in every excruciating detail for seven days and nights.

Blood feuds are as old as people. There is a spell that tries to bring them to an end. This spell curses anyone who kills or murders. The spell attracts non-corporeal entities to the murderer. The entities appear as the slain and are visible only to their killer. Much like a poltergeists these entities throw things, break things, violently--but not deadly--assault the killer, assault those who associate with the murderer, and create a terrible noise and ruckus. The entities cannot affect the physical world constantly and often have to build up to a good tantrum. The true power of this spell is that going forward the killer’s descendents who kill anyone accidentally, on purpose, or even in self-defence will suffer the wrath of a new entity as well as all of his or ancestor’s spectres.

Mood: exhausted.
Music: Day Job by Gin Blossoms and Department Of Youth by Alice Cooper.

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Anatomy of a Horror Setting #2-19: Spelling Horror

Let’s talk about some actual spells now. Rather than retread the usual ones how about something a little more original? First up, what villain hasn’t wanted to flay someone alive? It needs to be little more interesting though. Some ancient, angry, master of the arcane decided that it would be better instead to have a spell that caused his enemy’s skin to pull away from their muscles and stretch but not to tear open anywhere. The result was beyond painful and continuous. It led to a long agonising death due to internal bleeding. It had two added benefits dealing with the increased fear it caused. No ordinary man could achieve such a bizarre thing; it had to be the work of dark magic. It also looked really terrible, especially as the space between skin and flesh filled with blood.

Curses are popular. There’s endless itching, having no reflection, and permanent bad luck. A vengeful Mayombe (evil voodoo priest) decided to make an enemy’s life an actual living nightmare. He set upon this man a powerful curse to make him forever see everything as if it were dead and rotting. This extended to the man’s senses of touch, smell, and taste. Things that don’t exist capered and leered threateningly from nowhere and circled around in the man’s peripheral vision. Voices whispered constantly, saying terrible things and inviting the man to do terrible acts. The last bit was the worst. It constantly ate at the edges of the man’s sanity and tried to drive him to visit evil upon others. It caused the man great guilt long before he gave in to the voices.

Here is a twist on an old stand by. There is a powerful spell used to turn people into slavering, violent, monsters. However, a great and powerful being from another realm of existence, who was capable of great guile and viciousness, had a better idea. This nameless being came up with an alternative. It cast the spell upon some random man, who upon touching his beloved wife changed her. That night the man was awakened to see his wife change into a monster and run off into the night. He went after her, but the local villagers caught her slaughtering the neighbours. The husband found his wife just as the villagers moved to destroy the monster. The man had to chose to die with his beloved or to fight his friends and neighbours, even as true to the spell’s form she attacked them.

Mood: excitable.
Music: Losfer Words (Big 'Orra) by Iron Maiden and Silver Wings by Bruce Dickinson.

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Anatomy of a Horror Setting #2-18: Something Came Over Me

No matter what setting it happens in one of the most frightening things that can happen to a person is for them to be possessed. People innately need to feel in control, if of nothing more, than at least their own bodies and their actions. This is merely the first level of this insidious invasion. Invasion is actually the next level. Not only do the possessed have the vital loss of control, but also it is lost to something else, some invader--making it worse than mere mind control. At the next level there is a divergence that happens with two different kinds of torment possible. On the one hand the possessed person blacks out and does not know what happened when the invading force is in control. The other hand is that the possessed person helplessly watches everything that the invader is doing.

Fear of the unknown is one of the greatest fears. The imagination comes up with all sorts of vivid, frightening images. It sees endless actions and consequences as terrible, depraved, and terrifying as the imaginer is capable of thinking. The blacked out possessed suffers not only the indignity and shame of their uncontrolled actions, and the inability to stop it. They learn piece by horrible piece what happened, and have the looming dread of what is yet unlearned. By contrast the suffering is immediate for the possessed that witnesses it all. That awareness brings with it greater guilt that they cannot stop it. These aware ones may even know what will happen just before it does. Either they are tapped into the consciousness of their possessor or it gleefully tells them what horrors await.

There are two ways that possessions happen in a magical horror setting. Possession spells allow someone’s consciousness to inhabit and control the body of another person. The tightest control comes form the magic being the possessor so that they can make sure everything goes as planned. A trusted bodyguard is required while the caster’s body is bereft of its intelligence. If the needs are less stringent the magic user may use an agent to be the controlling force of the possession. These agents can be other humans or summoned beings willing to entrust their bodies to others. The other way to possession comes from incorporeal beings that are naturally able to possess other beings. Brushes with the mind of an unnatural possessor are always an added terror.

Mood: impulsive.
Music: Public Animal #9 by Alice Cooper and Mr. Brownstone by Guns N' Roses.

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