Hey there you baby eating beauties! I just posted a new review over at Paracinema...The Blog, but before I get into that, I would like to direct you all over to Horrorblips where they have just posted "Horror for the Holidays." Horror for the Holidays is spotlighting 27 horror blogs that have some sort of holiday theme for the month of December, or better yet, Death-cemeber! Of course, I wouldn't direct you there if CNAMB wasn't one of the featured blogs (cause I'm selfish!), but head over there and see all the holiday horror goodies they have to offer.
Back to why I'm here...over at Paracinema, I just posted my review of the 2008 Uwe Boll film, Far Cry staring Til Schweiger and Udo Kier. I am a bit of an Uwe Boll apologist and you can read my thoughts on the man and his work, as well as my thoughts on Far Cry over there. Should be interesting. I'll aso point out that our good friends Miles from ShowShow and Samurai of GGTMC fame have just teamed up to review Far Cry for a special edition of The Gentlemen's Guide to Midnite Cinema. So if you are down for some fun Uwe Boll talk, head over and give that review a listen.
You can check out my review of Far Cry by clicking this link...it's just that easy! And for shits and giggles, I grabbed a couple of Uwe Boll clips showing the mans madness and thought that some of you might enjoy watching this maniac go to work...I know I do! Enjoy.
Hey there gory guys and gals, after the fun time spent at Mickey D's last Friday, I thoug..*WITCH!* Whoa, what the hell was that? Huh...anyways, I thought we could get back to the darker side of things, with this week's edition..*WITCH!!* Really? Okay, I'll try this one more time. This week's edition of Freddy's Friday Night Dance Part...*WITCH!!* WHAT THE FUCK?! Seriously? Who the hell keeps doing that? Oh, it's that asshole, Claudio Simonetti. Can't you just keep your "Witch's" to yourself? Try using your inside voice, maybe? It is very rude and I don't appre...*WITCH!* Fine! Just do whatever the hell you want...I'm going to Subway.
In 1977, Italian Prog rock band Goblin composed one of cinemas finest scores for Dario Argento's masterpiece, Suspiria. Fronted by Claudio Simonetti, Goblin was behind numerous film scores, many of them for Argento films, but their work for Suspiria is what they are best known for.
This version featured tonight is not the original version of the song, but a slightly retooled one done by the Simonetti formed band, Daemonia. I think the original is better, but the original Goblin release doesn't have this fantastically awful video to go with it. So the trade off is worth it. I thought this was a Full Moon film with the expertly executed CG fire FX and the brilliant set design. Actually, that might be taking credit away from Full Moon a bit. Well, I hope Claudio is happy with "his" choice for this week, since he all but chased me away his "witch" business...I really need to start locking my doors.
In 2008, Lionsgate released 6 Films to Keep You Awake, a conglomeration of six (no shit, right?) somewhat short Spanish horror films from different directors, most of whom, are of Spanish decent. The mastermind behind the this set is Narciso Ibáñez Serrador of Who Can Kill A Child fame and with us being knee deep in Death-cember, the no-brainer film to be discussed from this set is 2005's A Christmas Tale (Cuento de Navidad).
Written by Luis Berdejo and directed by Paco Plaza, who are the writer and co-director of the fantastic Spanish zombie film, [REC], A Christmas Tale is about five pre-teen kids that stumble upon a woman dressed in a Santa suit and trapped in a large deep hole in the woods. They decide to help her out, but when two of the boys go to the police, they discover that the woman is wanted for robbing a bank for two million pesetas.
With this information, the children decide not to help the woman out of her trappings, but instead of calling an adult or telling the police for that matter, these kids take a different route. A few of the youths decide it would be a good idea to try and get the stolen money from this unintentionally trapped thieving Santa, using the leverage that she cannot get out without their help. Cross dressing Santa's aren't down with extortion, but with a choice of losing all of her money, or being trapped in a massive hole and left to die, well, there's no real wiggle room there.
At a scant 71 minutes, A Christmas Tale works like two very different films in terms of tone. The first half is almost like a kid's movie right out of the 80's and is very reminiscent of films like Stand By Me and the Brian Trenchard-Smith film, The Quest (man I loved that movie). It is set in 1985, so you see a film set in that time period, that is also successfully conveying how life was for a lot of kids that age, at that time.
If you are in your mid 20's to mid 30's, you will love all of the bad-ass retro movies and TV shows that these children are in to. They use code names that are all characters from the A-Team, one kid is completely obsessed with the Karate Kid (I still am), and you get glimpses of bedrooms filled with Star Wars toys and Ghostbusters stuff strewn about. A few of the characters watch what is a film within a film titled Zombie Invasion, which is like an Exploitation Zombie movie that is inter-cut into A Christmas Tale. It serves no other purpose than to show that these kids are into the same stuff many of us were when we were kids and I am assuming the filmmakers were into also.
This is very well done and really brings a fun sense of nostalgia in how it is all captured, and it brings about a sense of connection to the characters as you can see a bit of yourself in these kids in one way or another. How far does that connection go though? That is where the film takes a turn from fun 80's kids movie, to a much darker place when a few of the characters become manipulative and it shows how even youth can be driven by greed and power.
We are all like the kids in many ways and most of us would do differently in such a situation. Others...maybe not so much. The way a few of the characters treat their siblings and this woman, who is essentially bad, but still a human, shows how evil some people can be when put into certain situations. There is also consequence in making the decisions that are made and without getting into too much detail, when the woman escapes her unholy hole; she is not too pleased about what the children did to her.
Outside of the trapped woman, there are no adults to be "physically" seen in this film, which shows you that these kids are in their own little world, almost living by their own rules. All of the youthful actors in A Christmas Tale are very solid and believable in their roles, and all but one of the children are boys, with the lone girl being played by a pre-Pan's Labyrinth Ivana Baquero. Maru Valdivielso as the trapped thief in a Santa suit is fantastic and when you get into the more horrific elements of this film, she is quite scary and effective and makes for a great villain of sorts.
A Christmas Tale is an enjoyable, nostalgia filled romp that is very well made and something that is not commonly seen these days. The feeling of retro-kids films is spot on and the horror elements are all in place for a fun holiday fueled ride that is well worth a watch for the Christmas season. I cannot stress enough what a great bargain the 6 Films to Keep You Awake is; with 6 semi-short Spanish horror films for under $20, you just can't beat it.
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 you baby eating beauties! I just posted a new review over at Paracinema...The Blog, but before I get into that, I would like to direct you all over to Horrorblips where they have just posted "Horror for the Holidays." Horror for the Holidays is spotlighting 27 horror blogs that have some sort of holiday theme for the month of December, or better yet, Death-cemeber! Of course, I wouldn't direct you there if CNAMB wasn't one of the featured blogs (cause I'm selfish!), but head over there and see all the holiday horror goodies they have to offer.
