Some monsters are in your face with how scary and bad they really are, but once in a while, you get a monster of the worst kind. Nothing is more frightening than an evil demon trapped in the body of an seemingly sweet looking young girl, well, except for genital warts. That is way scarier. So for this weeks Death-cember Monster of the Week, I present you with the vicious....
Lucy van Pelt!
Created by Charles M. Schulz and introduced on March 3, 1952 for the Peanuts comic strip, Lucille "Lucy" van Pelt has appeared in numerous films and television specials, most notably A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown (1992), Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales (2002), and most recently, I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown (2003), all of which are her gateway into the Holiday Monster of the Week.
There are plenty of bad kids to be had and while the threat of a cartoon would not seem to be much of one per say, with a child as mean-spirited, cynical, and downright terrible as Lucy van Pelt, she is truly deserving of Monster status. Snarky, condescending, and the way she takes advantage of decent guys like that poor Charlie Brown with her football follies, she really is a despicable character.
She's got a bad attitude, a bad temper, and a bad hairdo...Charlie Brown might be a good man, but you, Lucy van Pelt, are not.
Written and directed by Jamin Winans, Ink is a surreal fantasy film that shines the light on those that control both our dreams and our nightmares. There's the good - they are called the Storytellers, and they're the ones behind all of our happiest dreams. Then there are the bad - they are known as Incubi, and the Incubi are the ones that cause us to have our worst nightmares. Then there is the ugly - his name is Ink, and he is a damaged man who has gone down a path that has put him in a place where he wants to become one of the Incubi. And to do so, Ink must find a sacrifice that will satisfy the Incubi so they will allow Ink into their fold. Ink's sacrifice would become Emma (Quinn Hunchar), a young girl who Ink kidnaps from her own dreams, only to bring her to an alternate dream realm, leaving her physical being in a comatose state.
The Storytellers must to use the help of a man known as The
Pathfinder to help find and rescue Emma from Ink and her impending
sacrifice. They cannot do it alone as they need help from someone in
the real world, someone that loves Emma but is too clouded in his own ego to do the
right thing. That would be John (Chris Kelly), Emma's estranged father. John has some very serious personal issues such as a raging work related God complex and an incredible anger he fosters for losing custody of Emma due to his abuse of alcohol and drugs after his wife's tragic death.
To say Ink is ambitious would be underselling it big time, and the fact that this film cost about $250k to make is an incredibly impressive feat all its own. Along with being the writer and director, Jamin Winans edited the film as well as composed the amazing original soundtrack. He also served as the films co-producer with Kiowa K. Winans, who is credited for the Art Direction, Costume and Sound Design of this very grass roots film.
Shot by cinematographer Jeff Pointer, Ink has a visual style that would best be described as Sin City though the eyes of Terry Gilliam. The intense style used is a wise choice in that is helps hide the low budget look of the film, which is still apparent no matter what. One of the issues I had with the film initially is the erratic camera work and quick editing style. However, this is probably the only way to do what was done and make it look bigger than they could make it with the low budget, so they get a pass. Plus, hate it or not, it is well done for this style and everything flows pretty well and gets better throughout the film.
Some of the performances are very good (for what they are), namely the young girl who plays Emma, Quinn Hunchar. Jessica Duffy is more than capable as she portrays Liev, a Storyteller that becomes a hostage of Ink when she tries to unsuccessfully rescue Emma from her eventual sacrifice. Her character and Emma have some genuinely tender moments together that could have been totally cheesy, but they worked very well and added to Duffy's character and here selflessness. Chris Kelly, who plays Emma's issue ridden father, John is very solid too and carries a lot of the emotional baggage in Ink and he does so quite effectively. There are a few weak performances to go along with the better ones, and the most annoying comes from Jeremy Make, who plays Jacob, The Pathfinder. He's just very over the top and reminded me of a second rate Dane Cook, which is not really a good thing even if it was first rate.
The Pathfinder does bring me to another important facet of Ink and this is what makes The Pathfinder bearable for me. He is a blind character with an ability to see by using the rhythm of the Earth, or the rhythm of life as it were. That rhythm leads to an awesome scene of chain reactions that had me floored with how it unfolded and how it was created on every level. From the way it looked, the way things happened, and the way that The Pathfinder almost orchestrates the events had me caught up in the as they unfolded and connected to an earlier event in the movie.
There is not that much action in this film at all and most of the action is at the beginning and then at the end. This is where the choppy film style comes together quite perfectly as the real world and the quasi dream realm collide for an interesting cause and effect fight scene between the Incubi and the Storytellers. Light on the tough stuff this film may be, but what it brought instead of flying fists is what I loved about Ink. $250,000 fucking dollars this film cost and it brought more emotional impact than all but maybe three films I have seen this year. One film that came to mind for its story of good versus evil and its stylistic ambition was Night Watch (a film I hate), which had a budget of 4 MILLION dollars and couldn't achieve a sliver of what Ink could dish out in spoonfuls as far as passion and heart.
Heart is something that is to be almost neglected or done poorly in an action adventure/fantasy film and that is the transcendental element of this movie, it is not afraid to be an impact full story. Not a love story, but a story of love and fear and being unsure of ones self. It is a story of being alone by choice and why that choice is made, and how it can affect the ones around you and even the ones that are not around you. Personal greed and selflessness are major themes in Ink and I was emotionally touched by this moving modern day fairytale, as it was able to greatly exceed its meager budget with passion, care, and honesty.
This film is getting a small amount of buzz on teh webs and I hope to contribute to this buzz a little. This is an emotionally charged film that I would love to see get the support it deserves. Ink is available from all the usual places and better yet, it's on Netflix instant watch, so if you have access, you can watch it that way too. Here is a link to the film's website if you would like some more info on the movie and I hope everyone checks out this independent gem.
Well, not quite. I did find this incredibly odd video recently and thought that you all would get a kick out of it. It's all in Spanish, but there are subs for anyone with the power of understanding. Whatever, just watch this thing...
Right?! So weird! Like I said, it's Spanish, but they refrained from swearing, so I didn't hear any familiar words. If anyone knows what the hell these dudes are saying, please, enlighten me...I can only imagine so much ya know.
With the off lip syncing, I thought I was watching a Giallo for a moment and I do Love Freddy's gold glove with exposed thumb. Also, why is Jason only wearing one glove? Or a glove at all? And why are his sleeves ripped off? Is this an alternate Jason that Freddy met at the bar from Freddy's Revenge? These are burning questions and I need some answers, now! The beat is pretty dope though.
With the post and movie title, I think you get the gist of where this post is going, well, more like I think you know where YOU are going...and that's to check out my review of Drag Me to Hell over at Paracinema! Well, you don't have to if you don't want to, but I would probably shed an Indian tear as you toss my heart to the ground like useless liter. Just saying.
Some quick housekeeping first, Shock Till You Drop just posted their Shock's Top 25 Horror Films of the Decade and it's a pretty interesting list of the best horror films of the decade. It's a very solid line up of the decades finest, with only a few movies that could be dropped and swapped for me. Off the top of my head, I would liked to have seen Audition or Martyrs on this list and I could do without Hannibal and I would also rather see Haute Tension over Aja's The Hills Have Eyes too. While Haute Tension has a faulty ending, it is a fantastic Slasher film and one of the most tense horror movies of the decade, and while Hills was decent, it just wasn't as good in my opinion.
Still, that is my opinion and that's what opinions are for, to be your own. I was very happy to see films like May, Ginger Snaps, and The Devils Backbone make the cut as I think those are great horror movies, but I'm a little surprised that Session 9 is on there. Not a perfect movie, but for anyone that has seen it, you know that film may have one of the best locations of any horror flick of this decade with the Danvers state mental asylum in Massachusetts. Represent! A solid list from some very knowledgeable horror fans, one of whom is a good friend to CNAMB, so head over there and see how the list stacks up to your own.
Lastly, the wonderful people behind All Things Horror have a new weekly segment titled The Sunday Morning DIE-gest,where they spotlight a few of their favorite horror blogs each week. To my surprise, they were kind enough to mention CNAMB, so head over there and see what fun horror shenanigans they are up to and check out what they had to say about the crud posted on here.
Okay, now you are free to go to Paracinema and check out my late to the party review of Sam Raimi's most recent foray into horror, Drag Me to Hell. Hope you enjoy!
Hey there hot stuff, the hangovers should be getting worse as you all are drinking yourselves into an "I can't afford or figure out what to get for Christmas" coma! I'm here for you, lovely reader and I will give you the gift that keeps on giving, and no, it's not a picture of me this time. It's The Horror Hangover!
Starting at 11:00 AM (2007) Hot Fuzz is on Comedy Central. Edgar Wright's follow up to his masterpiece, Shaun of the Dead is not nearly as good, but a whole lotta fun with its comical situations and extreme flashes of gore. Anything teaming up of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and Wright is all "Wright" in my book and Hot Fuzz is a great way to start off the Hangover this Sunday.
Also at 11:00 AM, King Arthur (2004) is showing on SyFy. I never saw this film, but thought it looked like a pretty decent action/adventure film. Clive Owen is the man and he may be enough to make this one worth a shot at some point.
SyFy follows up King Arthur with The Brothers Grimm (2005) at 1:30 PM. I'm a big Terry Gilliam fan, but I have only seen bits and pieces of this mish mash of fairy tale and horror and it seemed okay. Monica Bellucci is in it, and she is hawt enough to garner a full viewing at least!
1:30 PM brings the pain with Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003) on Spike. LOVE Kill Bill and I can and will watch this movie every time it's on. I'm sure it will be edited to shit, but it is still a fun view, censored or not. This just makes me wish that Tarantino would release The Whole Bloody Affair, for crying out loud.
At 2:00 PM, Tales From the Darkside: The Movie (1990) is showing on WGN. Not all that familiar with this station, but I looked into it and it is Chicago based and an affiliate of the CW, so hopefully most people get this channel. Anyway, I love this horror anthology staring Christian Slater, Steve Buscemi, James Remar and Blondie in a great wrap around story. I haven't seen it in many years, so it is my definite pick of the week.
3:00 PM brings us Heat (1995) on ION. Michael Mann's best film by far and another I haven't seen in a wicked long time. Great cast of actors that were still great at this time, Heat is an awesome crime film that is a sure bet for a great Hangover movie. "Hoo-hah!" That's my Pacino imitation.
And to end the day, at 4:00PM Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004) is on Spike. I love Vol. 1 more, but this second part to Tarantino's epic is quite great and the Pei Mei segment alone is worth the free price of admission.
About a month ago, this magical little blog that you are reading right this very moment became old enough (three months to be exact) for LAMB consideration. For those who do not know, The LAMB stands for The Large Association of Movie Blogs and is the premier movie blog directory (well, now it is!), a one-stop shop for readers and blogger's alike. So CNAMB became a member of The LAMB and after the first month of membership, CNAMB made it on The LAMB leaderboard! The leaderboard works from click-through's from this site to The LAMB's site and apparently my 9 readers have clicked enough to get me on the leaderboard! This made me extremely happy and I don't know if it means anything outside of making me feel warm and fuzzy, but it does and that is all that matters.
So thanks to the LAMB for letting an asshole like me be down with their cause and thanks to all of you who read and comment and follow and get some sort of enjoyment out of reading posts where all I talk about is boobs. I truly appreciate it and the comments have been nothing short of spectacular and they are a big reason for my enjoyment in doing this blog. The interaction with, meeting, and befriending some quality horror fans, many with crazy dope blogs themselves, makes all of this worth it. Now go and click on that LAMB thing up on the left side of the page and while you're at it, why not click on that HS Top 100 thingy too. You should have known there'd be a catch when I was being so sweet!
It's Christmas Eve in a small New England town, where a battle over the rights to an infamous psychiatric hospital with a storied and disturbing history has been going on. The hospital's owner has no interest in this long time abandoned building and is trying to strike a quick deal to get rid of it for good. Besides the mysterious horrifying history behind the asylum that is plaguing the community, there is also the threat of an escaped serial killer running around knocking off the town's bigwigs. For the record, that always makes things worse.
That's the best your getting out of me as far as a plot goes, because Theodore Gershuny's Silent Night, Bloody Night has an obnoxious plot filled with a lot of depth - and a lot of holes that go just as deep. Very confusing at times and told through voice over for at least 40% of the film, this 1972-or-3-or-4 holiday Slasher film is incredibly tedious with its overly complicated story. HOWEVER, there is a story to be had and one that has some smarts to it in many ways. Dealing with intense family trauma, cover-ups and themes of incest, there is something interesting to take from this film's story, convoluted or not.
Silent Night, Bloody Night was made almost two years before Black Christmas, but wasn't released until '74, the same year as Bob Clark's holiday Slasher classic (which I will be posting a review for very soon!). So it's an easy case to make that Silent Night is the first Slasher film and there is no way in hell that "someone " didn't see, or hear about, or even know someone that worked on this film and used it some capacity as inspiration for Black Christmas. Not to take anything away from Black Christmas, which is an inspirational film that paved the way for Halloween to pave the way for the Slasher genre as we know it, but this film's inspiration should certainly be noted.
Silent Night, Bloody Night is filled to the rim with promise and great ideas, only to be hindered by the low budget and cheapness of it all. Doesn't help that most transfers of this film are utter shit too. This first use of a Slasher POV is competent-to-very well done and there are some odd, yet intriguing technical and stylistic choices that work and hurt the movie. Shot in a sort of low light, the film has a very nice looking, almost Gothic quality to it (and the old New England setting helps too), there are some shots that are only lit by a lantern, which had a great old look and feeling...kinda reminded me of Old Sturbridge Village!
With that, kinda neat, kinda cool low light effect comes a wickedly dark film that is made even darker by a terrible transfer of an older low budget movie. There are moments where you can almost see nothing on screen. Not entirely the fault of the filmmakers, but there are some very dark scenes in Silent Night, Bloody Night, bad transfer or not. There are even a few decent kills in this holiday horror with one of them really being a surprise in a Psycho sort of way, as in, I was not expecting it to happen when it did. Or I am naive, which could be the case too.
As I mentioned before, there is a lot of voice over, and while voice over is often used as a crutch for the untalented, it is much needed in such a complex story. Most of the voice over work in the opening of the film is set to old photos of the past, as the history of the mental institution and the town is gone over. Almost the entire last 20 minutes of Silent Night, Bloody Night is told through voice over, but instead of being done to photos, it is done to old sepia tone footage of the past horrors that occurred. It is surprisingly inventive and while being a bit off putting at first, it really starts to draw you into what is happening with how it's done...which is well I might add.
At one long moment, the voice over to this old footage is fittingly replaced by an instrumental version of the Christmas song, Silent Night, Holy Night and it is a very creepy and nicely created scene that had me at full attention as to what was happening on screen. What unfolds in the story during this final act is another captivating aspect too and something that keeps the wild plot above water with its incestuous cover up scheme and other equally awful happenings at the mental institution resulting in the current issue of the escaped lunatic that is taking people out in present times.
Silent Night, Bloody Night has cult status written all over it, with its proto-Slasher sensibilities and to top it off, there are a few nice genre surprises to be found with a mute played by John Carradine and the presence of cult starlet, Mary Woronov. While this film is a bit of a mess and extremely cheap looking, there is a lot to be seen in this little known gem and it is worth the time of any fan of Slasher films and anyone looking for a decent Christmas horror movie. Silent Night is a public domain film, so it is easy to find on many multi pack sets and it is available to watch on sites like YouTube, so you have no reason not to give this one a try!
Created by Charles M. Schulz and introduced on March 3, 1952 for the Peanuts comic strip, Lucille "Lucy" van Pelt has appeared in numerous films and television specials, most notably A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown (1992), Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales (2002), and most recently, I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown (2003), all of which are her gateway into the Holiday Monster of the Week.
