The White-Trash King

*** Disclaimer: The following in no way means to disparage the people of lower class income or who live in certain kinds of homes. It is specifically about the character of some people and speaks to the common and likely even stereotypical view of such groups of individuals. ***

Let’s talk about Rob Zombie again. Specifically I want to talk about how sometimes I jokingly refer to him as the White-Trash King. I mean no disrespect in this, in fact quite the opposite. If you want down and dirty, trailer trash--with or without the trailer--lowbrow, low rent, it must be both trying and fun to be around these people, kind of characters then Zombie is your man. I mean wow. I am in awe and more than a little jealous. I feel way too clean cut and, take your pick, suburban or rural to get the kind of grasp on these kinds of characters like Zombie does. You can have your opinion as to why he has this grasp, but that's none of my business, and I'm here about other things. Now, let me give you a little background and viewing history.

I've had an influx of Rob Zombie watching over the last couple of months. I had liked "House of 1000 Corpses" from the moment the end credits rolled despite some of its obvious flaws. It took me quite a while to get around to "The Devil's Rejects" and I was floored. It was amazing. What a huge leap forward in directing--and the other aspects of the filmmaking process were also up to that standard. Then we have Zombie's "Halloween" remake. I like it. I've only seen the director's cut--go unrated discs. It really puts me in mind of the original's director cut in that it seems to carry on quite a while. The thing is that it is interesting if you are in the mood. Since I recently saw Rejects I also finally got my hands on "Halloween II"--again director's cut and unrated. Let's start with the bad news--I'll be brief, the review will be elsewhere. It has it's problems--again that will be elsewhere (sorry).

Back to the characters. These trashy characters aren't just everything I described in the first paragraph. Those people aren't all that bad. There is a subset among them though, that you might say are equal in roughness, more kindly unpolishedness perhaps, morally as they are in the more obvious attributes. This more rotten core will stab you as soon as look at you, smack their kids and spouses around (yes, by no means limited to the trash demographic), and attack the authorities when they come to take away their right to be beaten. As with any group, the two kinds mix freely making it harder to spot the villains, and adding complexity to dealing with them for both the author and any characters from the outside. Now, with this look at these types of characters in hand, we can take a look at how they affect the horror in any given story or movie.

Mood: daring.
Music: Deep Unknown by Stratovarius and These Colours Don't Run by Iron Maiden.

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Get Your Scary and Cool Gifts

Yes it's that time again. Rather than leave it too too late I decided to hit you now with my holiday gift giving suggestions. It's a shorter list than last time. Only you can decide if it's a better list. It's part things I want and part things I own and heartily suggest. It's a pile of awesome as far as I'm concerned. Knock your friends and family socks off. Have at it.

Movies/DVD
The Haunting in Connecticut (Unrated Special Edition) (2009)	House of 1000 Corpses/The Devil's Rejects 3-Disc Set	Heartstopper (2006)
The Crazies (2010)	A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)	Dark Night Of The Scarecrow (1981)

Music
Iron Maiden: The Final Frontier	Twisted Sister: A Twisted Christmas

Mood: generous.

13 Nights of Hallowe'en 2010 Preview

Hello and welcome to the rundown of this year's 13 Nights of Hallowe'en. I decided on a ghost and hauntings theme this year. I also avoided repetition from previous years. The way this works if you are new to the proceedings is I suggest thirteen movies to watch on the final thirteen nights of October with the final 13th night on Hallowe'en. I do not give spoilers to the movies--I hope--but I tell you about the actors, director, writer, and their connections to other movies and TV shows. I talk about connections to other movies sometimes. I also let in a bit of comparison between the movies if I feel it's relevant. In a moment I will drop a link to the list of all thirteen movies. Hit your local video store, snail mail rental services or legal download service and watch along. I have never suggested it before, but if you felt like it you could start watching a night early and be in the know at some of the things I may hint at about the movies--plus you could watch whatever you wanted on Hallowe'en night.

Without further ado you may now go to see the list of the 13 Nights of Hallowe'en 2010 at WraithStop™.

Mood: anticipating.
Music: Against the Wall by Quiet Riot and Breakin' in the Gun by Vince Neil.

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Initial Stages of a Yearning for More

Let's talk about e-books and what can be done with them that can't with dead tree books.  Let's start with that first, it's been quite some time that I have been referring to them as dead trees, not just out of deferment to the sacrifice of trees to make them--I have certainly proliferated the slaughter of trees for my fairly large book collection, especially on the RPG front, of which I have more, and they are also bigger requiring more paper to make them--but also due to the unchanging nature of them.  You put the works on the paper and there they lie, immortal and static, a testament to whatever went into them for as long as the paper and ink shall live.  This is a fine thing, a far nobler deed than--well, not nobler than living in a forest sucking up carbon dioxide and spitting out oxygen.

Still, this is not about the environmental impact.  Nor is it about the immutability of unchanging words on a page.  We are not at the stage that a book can easily be altered, not even e-books.  They can't be upgraded, only a newer version downloaded.  Narratives, stories, are best left alone, not updated anyway.  To carry on, to expand the narrative is what sequels and series are for.  While not new, one advantage e-books can have is that annotations can be kept with the page they belong to, hidden until necessary, and if done correctly viewed along with text they accompany.  Certainly people can annotate their books with a pen, or the author can include footnotes or endnotes--though endnotes pull the reader to another page and induce flipping back and forth.

The amount of information in the annotations is also limited in size, endnotes aside.  This all so far is indicative of the old school thought about not only books but also information in general and how to organise it.  Further, it is about limiting it as well.  Take for instance Stephen King's The Stand, or any film with deleted scenes available in the extras for the movie.  What if a book could have extras?  What if a novel could have deleted scenes?  With an e-book they can.  Ever heard of the book House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski? Among other components, some of which are not recommended for just any book, it has footnoted footnotes, and references to different information sources.  It is a step in the direction of what can be done, but just a step in one direction.

Mood: inspired.

Music: Original Sin by Meat Loaf and I Surrender by Stratovarius.

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13 Nights of Halloween: Night #13: Wrong Turn

It's Halloween! Yay! Tonight's movie is "Wrong Turn" starring Eliza
Dushku. Don't be confused by the other movie of the same name that came out a couple of years later. There is a Wrong Turn II also, which is the sequel to this one. As long as you have Eliza you've got the right one, she's on the cover of the DVD box. Also of note is horror veteran Julian Richings who was in "Urban Legends" and Stephen King's "Kingdom Hospital". Speaking of King, note that Eliza's character is named Jessie Burlingame. Cute eh? Also in the cast we have both Lindy Booth and Kevin Zegers who were in the "Dawn of the Dead" remake.

Once again we are graced with a movie bearing special effects by Stan Winston. The three characters he visually created with his designs and makeup effects are spectacular. Now I'm going to tell you my biggest impression of this move. This movie is in many ways what the "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" remake should have been like (I like the remake, don't get me wrong), particularly up until the movie's turning point. In particular is the absolutely stunning scene that is exactly right straight out of your worst nightmare ever. That's right, this has one of the "nightmare moments" I was talking about the other night, and wow, is it nightmarish. You've got to see it! Happy Halloween everyone!

Mood: thrilled.
Music: Halloween by Helloween.

13 Nights of Halloween: Night #12: The Gravedancers

Tonight, as promised, I have another movie from After Dark Films
and their 8 Films to Die For that was a part of the annual independent horror film festival Horrorfest in 2006. The movie is "The Gravedancers" and apparently it is the one (of the eight) with stars in it you may have heard of, starting with Dominic Purcell who can be seen currently in "Prison Break" on TV. Up next is Clare Kramer who you Buffy fans will recognise as Glory/Glorificus from season five. Then we have Josie Maran who was in "Van Helsing". Also, Tchéky Karyo, who played the parapsychologist, is a respected and popular actor in French movies.

When I was seeing the commercials for the 8 Films to Die For there were short bits with one or more pale monstrous looking people--not seen together, don't want to give the wrong impression--that immediately grabbed my attention and made me say I have to see the movie that those flashes of scenes are from, have to. Well when I ordered a pair of the eight movies, and I popped the first one in, I found that movie, and its "The Gravedancers". I was not disappointed, those figures are awesome and this movie rocks. I expected something of a different kind of haunting story than what I got, but the actual difference more than made up for it. Enjoy!

Mood: thrilled.
Music: Halloween by Aqua.

13 Nights of Halloween: Night #11: Dead & Buried

Tonight I have a movie for you that I had never heard of until I
tripped across it looking around online for new and different horror movies. It's called " Dead & Buried". As the tagline and PR materials point out it is from the writers of "Alien", in particular Dan O'Bannon. What's nice to see, and he's the only nameable actor in it I'm aware of, is a small part played by Robert Englund. The DVD edition I bought was the two disc uncut widescreen from Blue Underground. I haven't listened to them yet but the DVD comes with three commentary tracks. There are also a lot of extras on the second disc. The featurettes all contain bits of one particular scene that had an impact on everyone cast and audience.

This scene involved a special effect by Stan Winston, who did most of the special effects for this movie, with notable exception of the one that no one likes the looks of. Stan's effects are pretty spectacular even aside this haunting one that just grips everyone. You'll know it when you see it, and I won't mention the nickname I've given it for fear of tainting your impression of it. There is also one scene where it turns out the Oscar for acting should go to a dummy, but I doubt anyone can spot it, nor should they try. Besides the cool effects we have an even cooler story in this movie. I've likely said too much already, so go watch and ignore what I've said until the credits roll.

Mood: hurried.
Music: Halloween Theme 2007 by Tyler Bates.

13 Nights of Halloween: Night #10: Dark Water

Tonight's movie is the original Japanese version of the movie "Dark
Water". I picked it over the American remake only because I've seen the original and not the remake. I fully intend to see the remake because Jennifer Connelly is in it. That isn't really here or there though. The version of "Dark Water" I saw, was I must say not only the Japanese, but it was actually dubbed in English. Yeah I know, I should be that last one to watch a dub, but I did in this case since I wasn’t the one who rented it and had final say. As far as dubs go I have little to nothing to complain about it, other than of course a dub is never actually any better than the subtitled version.

I think I should start with a bit of vetting. I've seen only a small handful of Japanese horror movies outside of horror, and horror-inspired anime--those that have monsters, ghosts, etc, but are focused on other elements like action, comedy, or drama. I've seen the original Japanese version of "Ringu", and the American remake "The Ring". I've seen only "The Grudge" remake with Sarah Michelle Gellar and not the original as yet. Out of the three, Ring, Grudge, and Dark Water well you're reading about the one I picked. This one as far as I'm concerned is the creepiest and has the strongest horror of the pack. I can only imagine that watching it subtitled is even better.

Mood: excited.
Music: Halloween Theme by John Carpenter.

13 Nights of Halloween: Night #9: 976-EVIL

Just a reminder, the full list of movies is available at Wraithstop so you can watch along.

Woo boy! Do I have a treat for you tonight with the movie "976-EVIL".
The first reason I have to be so excited about this one is because of Robert Englund. You know him, the man of your nightmares, the one and only man behind the makeup and glove of Freddy Krueger. Wait though, there's more, in a huge twist, Mr. Englund is the director of this movie and is the man behind the camera instead of in front of it. So what does Mr. Englund have in store for us--not to knock the scriptwriters, but who are they? Well one scriptwriter, Brian Helgeland was a writer for "Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master " that came out the year before. The other scriptwriter, Rhet Topham, wrote on "Trick or Treat"

So, back to the movie, just to get it out of your system, I saw some strong parallels between parts of it and parts of "Carrie", but it's only one element so never fear, I didn't think it held any kind of rip-off factor. This was one of those movies that I desperately wanted on DVD and thankfully didn't have to wait too long for it to be released. It's also the kind of movie that makes you think, think about how it is that these actors can step from in front of the camera to behind it, and rock just as hard when they make the millions of directorial decisions as they do when they just take direction and focus on a single character. I don’t know but I'm glad they can do it, and I think Robert Englund did an excellent job.

Mood: even.
Music: This Is Halloween by Danny Elfman

13 Nights of Halloween: Night #8: Unrest

Tonight we delve into the horrors from After Dark Films with their
movie "Unrest". After Dark Films is the one responsible for the 8 Films to Die For that was a part of the annual independent horror film festival Horrorfest. Here's a little hint, there's another one of these eight horror movies yet to come. Tonight though, we have something that's a bit different, somewhat unique. That is a really hard thing to find any more, but once you've seen this movie I think you will agree. What is this new thing? Where other recent horror movies involve elements of the current trend toward reality television, this one involves elements of popular crime shows like CSI.

One thing I do want to point out about "Unrest" is something that cropped up in the trailers. The trailer claims that there are real corpses in this movie. I can't say one way or another if there is but it was filmed in a real morgue. I didn't know what to make of this before seeing the movie because sometimes films will do improper things, but rest assured I saw nothing untoward or troubling. The corpse that the story revolves around isn't real because it would take some doing to find the perfect specimen, and one that would look like the live actress in the flashbacks. That out of the way, the movie is interesting, different as I said, and I was greatly pleased with buying it.

Mood: serious.
Music: Hotel California by the Eagles.