Excitement in the Air

So I just recently sat back and realized how excited I am for 2009, and particularly, these next couple of months for the horror genre. There are some films coming out that look fantastic and some that just look like a good time. We have our share of studio fare, indie surprises, and foreign mindbogglers on their way. I will watch any horror film that comes my way; I love them all even if I don't think they are good. I will sit through PG-13 mass-marketed garbage, cliche teen slashers, another Asian ghost movie, and just about anything else that finds it's way into my beloved genre. So, just to get you all excited about the cinematic experience, here are some highlights of 2009 for the American theatrical run! *

What We've Had So Far:

My Bloody Valentine in 3D -- How much fun did you have watching "Harry Warden" come at your face with a pickax in the third dimension?

The Last House on the Left -- Finally, a remake for a film that actually could have used some updating and what a great remake it was.

Drag Me To Hell -- Oh, we still love you Sam! Do more horror movies please!

Dead Snow -- Two words: Nazi Zombies...SOLD!

Grace -- We're all dying to get a chance to see this one; damn you limited releases.

Orphan -- Better than everyone thought. It's nice to be pleasantly surprised by what appeared to be a run-of-the-mill studio film.

And Here is Some of What We Can Look Forward To:

The Final Destination -- Yeah, the actual movie looks bad, but I can't wait to watch the elaborate deaths play out in 3D!

H2 -- Whether you liked the first one or not, I think we are all curious to see what Mr. Zombie has in store for us.

Pandorum -- Good Sci-Fi/Horror blends don't happen all that often and I'm anxious to see this one. Plus, after watching Antibodies, I will see anything this director does.

Sorority Row -- Yup. It's gonna be great. Terrible, but amazing.

Jennifer's Body -- Well, you gentleman certainly have something to look forward to.

Zombieland -- This could quite possibly be the most fun horror movie of the year. Who isn't looking forward to this?

The Stepfather -- Really? You remade that? Ok, I'm down.

The Fourth Kind -- This movie could go either way (a disappointment or a surprise scare), but I am intrigued by the trailer.

* No, I didn't list everything, just some highlights.

Freddy and Jason Came to My Wedding!

I have to share this picture with you guys. Can you believe they made it to our wedding day? In all seriousness, those Freddy and Jason stand-ups have a lot of sentimental value in our relationship. On our first date, we went to see Freddy vs. Jason on opening night. Before the date, he surprised me with these lifesize stand-ups.

I was 16 years old, but somehow I look exactly the same...

A Night with the Gods of Metal

Heaven and Hell concert (Black Sabbath with Dio), with Coheed and Cambria opening!

On Tuesday night, we drove up to the Greek Theatre in North L.A. It's actually a pretty cool outdoor venue, with trees and rock formations surrounding the amphitheatre. We kept wondering if forest nymphs would hang out in the trees to listen to free music, but we didn't see any unfortunately.

The opening band was Coheed and Cambria--you remember them right? The lead singer with a high-pitched voice and a huge afro for hair? I was very concerned that he might have ditched the outrageous do, but he didn't and I was pleased.

They were great live and even blended one of their own songs with Iron Maiden's "The Trooper." That enlivened the crowd of Metal heads. And something must be said about the crowd. Rock concerts are the best place to people watch. Mullets, afros, long stringy hair, blue mohawks, bright pink locks, and just about anything else you can imagine are scattered around. It really is like going back in time, or some alternate universe, whatever you choose to call it. This also means people toking it up left and right, despite the policy forbidding such behavior. In front of us was an old man with crazy long, white hair and a beard to match. He was blazing the entire night. I am just glad the wind wasn't blowing in our direction.

Now, the main event: Heaven and Hell. I have seem them once before, when they toured under their original band name "Black Sabbath", with the tour being called "Heaven and Hell." A long time ago, Ozzy dropped out of Black Sabbath and Ronnie James Dio stepped in. If you don't know who Dio is, he is considered THE God of Metal. Tenacious D makes that case for me.

As always, these guys were amazing. They are some of the most talented musicians out there and are incredibly professional. Their set is awesome, with gargoyles, metal plates, wrought-iron fences, and a killer lighting design.

My husband and I keep talking about an epic movie that must be made with the band members as vampire slayers. I mean, just look at them.

And Tony Iommi (the guitarist) is one of the coolest people out there. He always wears black leather with a large silver cross gleaming against his chest and sports blue-tinted sunglasses (no matter what time of day). Iommi lost the part of two fingers in the sheet metal factory where he used to work, but he kept playing guitar with metal tips on his fingers. I think he uses something other than metal now, but regardless, he just screams vampire slayer to me.

Well, if these guys are still around and if I finally get a chance to make this rock opera, vampire slaying epic, it will be awesome I promise.

The Last 3 Movies I Watched

So this is what I've been up to: 70's exploitation, cheesy sci-fi action, and B-movie gold.


1) I Spit on Your Grave (AKA: Day of the Woman): I'm gonna' have to write up a full review for this one. I had been trying to watch this movie for a while. It's just not one of those films you can pick up and watch with other people around. And you have to be in a particular mood. It's certainly better than I was expecting.


2) G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra: Just like I enjoy watching over-the-top, horribly acted scary movies, I also enjoy action films that possess the same qualities. It's good for a laugh if nothing else and never takes itself seriously. I had fun and ninjas are always cool in my book, especially if they are called Snake Eyes.


3) Night of the Lepus: Carl, from I Like Horror Movies, reviewed this movie recently and I couldn't resist. It has Janet Leigh and Bones from Star Trek. Sweet. Plus, it's plot is centered around mutated rabbits! What's not to love about a movie in which most of the screen time is comprised of rabbits stomping around miniatures?

Honest Scrap Award/Tag

Special thanks to Geof over at Enter The Man-Cave for tagging me and nine others for this award. In specific, he mentions my CAPS reviews (screen captures and captions) and that means I need to do more of them because people seem to like them. I am currently working on one for The House on Sorority Row, so I'll try to have that up soon.

Anyway, in regards to the "Honest Scrap Award"...First of all, check out Enter The Man-Cave. Geof posts frequently on a variety of subjects (and yes, it is safe for women to enter the Cave) and he's pretty damn funny. Secondly, I get the opportunity to hand this award out to ten other blogs with links back to them. Thirdly, I am going to list 10 honest things you don't know about me.

Kick Ass Sites:

1) Horror Movie A Day: BC's was the first blog I started reading. He's hilarious and reviews everything from the big Hollywood releases to the crappy obscure horror flicks. Plus, he knows what he's talking about.

2) I Like Horror Movies: Carl is an insane blogger. How does he do it? So many posts! He's also a nice guy and comments frequently.

3) The Horror Club: Awesome reviews of a variety of horror films that are sure to make you laugh. If you're male, chances are you'll like this blog. Every post seems to have at least one picture of a hot chick in a skimpy outfit.

4) Tower Farm Reviews: Brothers Billy and Jeremy will find the craziest films to review that everyone has never heard of or simply forgotten about. These guys love exploitation and sleazy movies more than anyone I know.

5) Why Do I Like Stupid Horror Movies?: Zac Nova is a cool kid with a lot of great posts on his site. He is also an avid commenter on just about all of my favorite blogs.

6) The Action Effect: My husband's site for action films. He's new to the blog scene and doesn't have tons of posts yet, but so far, it's shaping up to kick ass. He even includes what type of food to eat with the action film he reviews.

7) No Comment: Aaron has well-informed, thoughtful reviews of every type of horror movie. He even has themed months.

8) Olympic Artichoke: Lots of well-put-together articles and I love the "Now That's Art!" section, which often features cool movie posters (back before they soley comprised of enlarged faces of movie stars).

9) Anathema Arcana: If you want to check out some dark artwork, take a look at the talented King Unicorn's blog. This stuff is sure to be conversation-worthy.

10) The Good Indoorsman: I just stumbled across this blog a couple days ago and I really like what I've seen so far. JLG seems to have a lot of personality and I look forward to reading the blog more in the future.

Honest Things About Me:

1) I have never broken a bone

2) I'm not only a nerd about horror movies, but I'm really into copyright law (and ultimately it's destruction muhaha)

3) I graduated Summa Cum Laude (complete nerd, I told you)

4) My mom HATES horror movies, but still loves me

5) I like to speak Spanish when I drink

6) I started making home movies at the age of 13 on a VHS-C camcorder

7) I don't have a MySpace account

8) My husband can beat me in almost every video game, except Mortal Kombat

9) I met my husband while playing Counter-Strike (the nerd theme continues)

10) I have never smoked

Well if you received the tag, then go ahead and pass it on to ten other bloggers and include a post with ten honest things about yourself.

Honeymoon!

A couple days after the wedding, my husband (I can finally say that now) and I went to San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico for our honeymoon.


Unfortunately, we did not run into any zombies or get chased down by a mysterious killer on an adventure hike, but we did have ten amazing days in the Baja. San Jose Del Cabo is about 20 miles northeast of Cabo San Lucas. It's less whitewashed and less focused on catering to party people from north of the border. However, it's an area that is changing quickly and almost the entirety of the southern Baja region is becoming more "touristy." Still, San Jose and Todos Santos were some fun places we visited that retain much of the charm and historical qualities of a traditional Mexican town.

Happy Hour means 2 drinks for the price of 1!

At the beach in front of our hotel.

Sunset.

A geuine Waborita. Mmmm

You have to go to Sammy Hagar's bar, Cabo Wabo when you are in the area

Inside Cabo Wabo. I just find this picture amusing cause I'm not looking at the camera, yet my smile is totally fake and posed.

The Collector (2009): If Vincent Gallo Were in Saw

SPOILER FREE! Gritty, Grainy, and Gory… oh and a Gallo lookalike!

This was a fun little treat, especially because I hadn’t heard much about this movie before seeing it. Sometimes I miss the days before the internet when it was easier to go into a movie with zero expectations because you knew nothing about it. Surprise is more difficult to come by and many of the films that have done really well still find a way to incorporate surprise by not revealing much in their advertising. Tangents aside, The Collector satiated my desire for a “kick ass killer” type of horror movie.

Uncanny

The opening sequence is great. It sets up some mystery, is shot in a bold, underexposed sort of way, and isn’t too long. It’s followed by a Se7en-style credit sequence (or perhaps I should credit Stan Brakhage), but I can’t get enough of those flashy celluloid visuals set to industrial music. What can I say? I’m a sucker for colorful, stylized cinematography and The Collector is full of scenes illuminated in vibrant reds, blues, and greens. It’s not like you are watching Suspiria by any means; think more in the line of a 90’s drug movie about dirty cops. The visual design is maintained well throughout the film, as we are given old school extreme close-ups and hard lighting. And they don’t overdo the 360 degree camera with speed ramping as in the Saw films.

Carrying David Fincher's reel

Our main character is not the girl next door, the angsty teen, or the pretty boy. Arkin (Josh Stewart) is a rough guy with a rap sheet and a desperate situation that pushes him to use his heist skills on the family who he is doing handyman work for. It’s refreshing to have a lead that’s not incredibly good looking or painfully generic. And he’s not a bad actor; nor is the rest of the cast who all seem to have been chosen well by the director.

Now for the horror. As you probably know, the house is full of macabre traps that admittedly are a bit too elaborate, but I didn’t really care as I was watching it. The killer has set up traps to appealing objects that one might grab for self defense, like scissors or knitting needles. Running through the house to escape is near impossible, as hooks and blades are behind every closed door. This concept adds a great layer of uncertainty and tension to the film. Every attempt to sneak around, outrun, or attack the killer gets your nerves going. And the killer himself is simple but effective. Clad in all black with a leather mask, the Collector’s eyes appear animalistic in the lighting and the sound designer pairs him with warped screams and howls. The fun thing about this film is that all of the technical elements are not necessarily geared towards realism. Many modern films attempt to make the cinematography, sound, and production design as natural as possible to render them unnoticeable to the audience. The Collector uses all these elements to further the story and tone.

What's happening? My basement was never juandice-colored before.

One of the downfalls to this film comes with its setup. It’s always difficult to pull off a film that is basically in one location the entire time, but you really do notice that you’re in the same place throughout the movie. A lot of that feeling comes from the repetition of specific locations within the house. Arkin runs up and down the same set of stairs at least a dozen times. Every now and then, a particular room pops out of nowhere and I’m thinking, why hasn’t he been in there until now? It’s a big house, so there’s plenty of room to move around and I wish it was explored a bit more. The other aspect of the film that was disappointing is the ending, but I won’t get into that here.

The Collector deserves a viewing, preferably while it’s still in its theatrical run, which is bound to be short. Yes, it’s similar to Saw. No, it’s not as pretty as those films. Yes, it’s by the Project Greenlight guys. No, it’s nothing like Feast. Give it a shot, that is unless you are too busy checking out The Orphan.