2018 Books! What I filled my head with last year.

Another year has passed and so has a year of reading. I like to remind myself of where my interests have traveled over the course of a year, so with that here is my list of reading this year. I started with a classic piece of horror literature, then as I prepared for my 30th wedding anniversary with a trip to Spain read some fiction  about hwere we were heading, about an artist whose works we would see there and about the current political climate for our destination. I finished off all the completed Game of Throwns books so am now caught up to the world in anticipating the next volume.  I received a wonderful book on Father's day about one of my favorite all time films and relished the exploration of the classic. That book being a serious volume I switched to some light and quick horror choosing a book set around where I live and finally finished the year reading history, I find it soothing to know more about how this country came to be in these turbulant times where we can question where this country is going. I don't think I am going to finish the two books I have going this month by the new year so you can hear about them next year. I hope you all will check these books out or at least READ. 


The King in Yellow, by Robert W. Chambers - A classic for horror lovers written in 1895 this is a wonderful bit of horror writing, dated with some problematic relations both concerning class and race it is still something to be read since it was influential for later horror writers.

The short story "The Mask" is introduced by an excerpt from Act 1, Scene 2d:

Camilla: You, sir, should unmask.

Stranger: Indeed?

Cassilda: Indeed it's time. We have all laid aside disguise but you.

Stranger: I wear no mask.

Camilla: (Terrified, aside to Cassilda.) No mask? No mask!

Bacelona Tales, edited by Ian Whates -  Excited for a trip to Spain for my 30th wedding anniversary I picked up a bit of speculative science fiction in the short story form. All the stories were based in Barcelona and it was a fun quick read.








Little Story of Gaudi, by Fina Duran I Riu, illustrated by Pilarín Bayés - A quick short picture book giving a quick life story of the famous architect from Spain. Nothing in depth here just a brief wonderfully illistrated primer for any one looking to appreciate Gaudi's work.











The Struggle for Catalonia: Rebel Politics in Spain by Raphael Minder - A very interesting and enjoyable book looking at the history and issues surrounding the the Catalan people, language and Catalonia independence movement. Written after hundreds of interviews it is the perfect book to get me ready to visit the area. I really enjoyed it and even if I remember a fraction of the vast explanations of the independence movement and the history that has brought it into being.

A Feast of Crows by George R.R.Martin is the fourth in the series and I really enjoyed how this book departed from the plotting of the television series, filled with languishing descriptions of meals and clothes as well as a continuing orientation towards any noble house's history no matter how small when it does get to character and plot it is really enjoyable.

A Dance with Dragons: Dreams and Dust (A Song of Ice and Fire) by George R. R. Martin is the fifth book of the series sort of catching me up most of the way to the television show which will not air until 2019. Lots more descriptions of food as always.

Blade Runner : Philosophers on Film edited by Amy Coplan and David Davies, a great collections of essays for anyone looking for some deeper insight to the film Blade Runner. Since it is absolutely one of my favorites I was thrilled when my daughter gifted me this book for Father's Day.







Blue Bloodbath by Katrina von Kessel: This is the amazon description, "When members of a private club in Boston, led by Dr. Edward Shaw, create a chemical formula that will modify their DNA to ensure themselves eternal life, something goes horribly wrong. And the formula turns those who take it into zombies. Mayhem ensues."
More this is a book about the wealthy wanting to rule everything and exercising their prejudices about the working classes. Even when things go horribly wrong with the plan they are vying for control internally with even more bias towaqrds their peers. A quick read on the kindle. Some of the stereotypes are too on the nose but in all a fun afternoon read.

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The Bill of Rights: The Fight to Secure America's Liberties by Carol Berkin. This was a concise well structured short history covering the end of the constitutional convention through the ratification of the Bill of Rights. Exploring Jame Madison's project to take the narrative away from the anti-federalist, states rights defenders, through a proposal to add the Bill of Rights to the U. S. Constitution. A reminder of how the country progressed early on when the nation coming together was in serious doubt. Reading some history every year is a good way to engage yourself in the country and its original meaning. This one reminded me that things were not as clean and orderly as we would like to think when thinking about the founding fathers. It has always been a struggle between competing ideas and the ability of the winners to graciously defend the rights of the the minority have been a rock hard foundation since we broke from England. Another kindle read.

Cam (2018) Horror Thriller

Cam (2018) - In the opening sequence a camgirl (Madeline Brewer who I know so well from watching A Handmaid's Tale) flirts and teases her followers for tokens (I don't know this world so can't really say I know what that means) She suggest sex toys that she might use and lets the followers bid to see if she inserts the small, medium or large one. When the bidding gets going a user suggests she use a knife and this is where things spiral out of control. Goaded by the unblockable member she threatens to actually kill herself on camera.  It's a nice set piece that gives us not only an introduction to the world of cams but also into the psyche of the girl. In addition we learn that Lola, her stage name is always driving to be the top girl on her platform. Also that Alice the real name and we she she is obsessed with getting Lola to number one, shit she is very happy just to make the top fifty.
  This film is about obsession with popularity. Alice is a young woman on a roller coaster of wanting approval from others and the cam platform is where she gets it. When she finally makes it to 50 she sees that one of the other girls Princess is willing to get naked if the users drop Lola down 10 spots. What kind of unfair competition is this? Well apparently this spurs Lola to ride a vibrator seems excessively desperate. It speaks to that drive she can't let go of. Doing this show nude and at the vibrator mercy of a friend this without a doubt is a low but the girl wants to move up the ranking and it seems the strange or more extreme the act the higher you go. At this point we are wondering when the scary or even thriller vibes will start. Waking from that long night of performing the plot really gets going. Alice sees herself playing Lola in a kiddie pool. Impossible right! How can she be live when she just got up and is not on the feed? Thinking it is a repeat of some past performance she logs into the room as a user to warn her customers only to be live blocked by herself. WTF! She is live but it is not her and she is locked out of her account. There is now a line here where performer and audience member become one in the same. cool as it is as a plot device Alice is not pleased. No money from this performance is coming to her and she is confused about just what the hell is going on. Attempts to get help from the company fail repeatedly.

   Alice is frustrated that she can't seem to convince the platform provider of her situation. Meantime the Lola 2 is performing stranger and stranger shows and moving up the charts as Alice helplessly watches. Making the first scene a foreshadowing Lola 2 performs a suicide show with a gun seeming to blow her own brains out. Alice watching is juxtaposed as a worried audience member seeing her own brain blown out. All of this spirals out of control leading to a cross from reality to fantasy. What is Alice to do? Her money stream drying up as an impostor steals her fans she is desperate to figure out how to get her life back. At the same time the consequences of her job with her families discovery is stressing her in a completely different way. Taking risks is what is needed and Alice is up for the task. It means interacting live with a couple of different followers always a dangerous this when your job is to present yourself as a sex object for them

  Alice pieces together some things and manages a final confrontation with the Lola 2 to take back her account and her life. All in all this is a reasonable thriller. there is a lot of buzz around it as a pro sex worker portrayal and certainly the final scene is very positive even after such a horrible experience. I have to say that whether it is or is not is not really something I would have considered before hearing the buzz. To me it is a fairly well crafted film about identity theft, with a bunch of sweaty turds for men skulking around the edges. Sure the film goes through the motions of letting us see societies puritanical approach to this work, based mostly in the family story where the younger brother's friends come across Lola on the internet and all have a good laugh about it.  How someone spray paints "Whore House" on her mother's house after Lola is made public.Alice needs to deal with her Mother around the choice also. It was encouraging to see the Mom come around and embrace her daughter for the decisions she made instead of shunning her. Directed by Daniel Goldhaber this is a Netflix film so look for it there.

Maniac (2012) Horror Psycho

Maniac (2012) - This remake of a slasher Maniac (1980) is a surprise to me. It's original was not really a hit and although horrorphiles will point it out as something to see it is not a very good film. Too straight forward with a real lack of surprises it is just a slog to get through. Although the lead, Joe Spinell is great at being a maniac and Tom Savini's gore effects are awesome, the lack of a interesting story is its downfall. I mean how many times have we seen Mommy issues as a basis for abhorrent behavior in the horror genre. Pycho (1960) famously did it and there were scores of films after that. So the trope needs something else to make it interesting. The original did not bring that added something and fell flat. So what will the 2012 remake bring?
   Starring Elijah Wood as Frank in the opening scene he is stalking a young woman who is out clubbing with a friend. When the friend grabs a cab we see POV from Frank are he drives slowly following the girl along the street from inside his car. She notices him too and starts moving at a quicker pace getting scared. When he turns off saying he knows where she lives we get the realization that this is not a random victim, that Frank has been following her for a while. When the girl arrives at her apartment building relieved for the safety of home, the lights have been cut by Frank. POV Frank walking in the dark behind her as she arrives at her apartment. As she gets the key to her apartment she senses him and turns, Her says Please don't scream and then jams a large knife up her throat to make sure. Unfortunately this effects in this scene are not well done and the logic of the interaction make no sense. Frank grabs her hair, takes the knife out of her skull, at this point the body should fall to the ground but no an unnaturally she stands in place dead while he makes a quick slice to scalp her. eh.
  Frank stalks women through a online date site, which as an idea is scary as shit. The fear that should come with the amount of our personal lives are broadcast through the internet is his tool. After finishing off Judy in the first scene he now introduces himself to the profile of Lucie (Megan Duffy) who he expertly chats up to get a date with. Franks issue social anxiety as we see when he meets Lucie for dinner. Shot always in the POV of Frank the film is interesting in its approach. Producer / Screenwriter Alexandre Aja wanted this change in perspective thinking it would be terrifying. The POV perspective becomes an issue now, where the viewer will wonder over and over again how the director Franck Khalfoun will manage to get the star into a shot. Distracting at best annoying mostly. Frank's awkwardness with Lucie's seduction is wonderfully uncomfortable. Seeing himself in the bed above the mirror shows the star who you would not see otherwise. The scene though is a character defining event where we learn about the sickness driving the main character. The gore is more realistic in this scene and we are now set up for the main story.
  Frank meets a young artist, Anna's (Nora Arnezeder) who is taking pictures outside his store. She loves his collection of mannequins from different eras and wants to use them for a photo shoot she is doing. A new obsession that is not from a dating site maybe?  Well instead of that we get another very long stalking and killing scene which brings us to almost the halfway point in the film. I would think that establishing who the killer is was already done in the two stalking and killing scenes we already saw. No this one is different, way more brutal and surprise a release from the killer POV but just for a second. Did the brutality pull is out or did I miss something?

  Finally we get to his obsession with Anna, she likes him even with his quirks and they date and start forming a relationship. Frank is not a person who can handle situation that are not what he imagines them to be so every little negotiation of interpersonal boundaries is too much for him. He can't stay connected to anyone because he has been warped by his past. We get a couple of scenes where we see his Mother (America Olivo) was a prostitute who had no boundaries about him seeing her at work. So the story really is the same as the original in its structure. Still not really connecting the dots about how his childhood made him the way he is we get even more killer POV as he continues to deal with his sickness by acting out. Trying to make us understand but really no one should get this crazy from that childhood.
  This film should have had a couple detectives hot on the trail but it doesn't and because of that you have to wonder if this is a cop free city. Instead this is a meditation on his sickness and how he just can't stop himself. When his relationship with Anna goes sideways as we knew it would. We realize they are really not going to attempt to make the film have a different outcome than the original. In the 1980 version there is this small hope that Frank can change but not in the new version. There is never an indication that this film is going to be anything but a tragedy. Although it tries to save itself with a gore filled final scene overall you are left wanting. It is a film about a sick bastard and in the end he stays just that. I have to say I love that there was enough interest in this film to get it remade. I think it is an indication of how strong the genre is right now where even bad horror is getting remade. Not really my cup of tea Maniac is what it is and this film never found an audience. It opened and closed before anyone could see it and will probably never recoup the 6 million spent on making it. I wouldn't recommend this film to anyone but those who have seen the original may want to check it out as a slightly different take.

The Wicked (2013) Horror Witch

The Wicked (2013) - This is one of those not quite top of the line productions where there was obviously some money spent but something is not quite up to normal Hollywood studio standards. The acting is by lesser known people, the effects are just okay, the script is not a knockout. IMDB estimates the budget for this film at about 800k and that seems like it could be true. Still though this is a film that went straight to DVD in 2013 even though it was filmed in 2011, So it is with some trepidation that I wade into reviewing the film.
  The basic premise is that a group of teens are going to search for the witch in the woods. She is a local legend called the Wicked. We get a cold open before the credits to show that the legend of the town of Summerset is now active again. A little girl, Amanda (Caitlin Carmichael) is terrified in her bed while her Mother (Nicole Forester) comforts her. She is crying about The Wicked coming to get her. While out with her friend they went to the woods with an older sister of said friend and found the witch's house in the woods. The little girl threw a rock at it breaking a window. This act means to her that the witch will come and get her. Mom comforts her that it is just stories to scare little girls like her and then puts her to sleep. In the night though the girl wakes to her window being opened and the witch appearing (well at least her hands on the sill) A wind pulls the girl towards the window while the girl screams. Some special effects yellow waves in the air show us it is magic taking the girl. The Mom comes in but it is just after her daughter is taken. She screams for her through the broken window. It is not a badly done opening scene and sets the stage for the rest of the film.
  After that we get to the main story about a group of teens who are going to dare the same haunted woods. Max Reese (Devon Werkheisher) has just lost his Grandfather and the story lets us know that he was a magician. Max inherits his magic stuff including a witch's bottle, that his friend Sammy (Diana Hopper) promptly drops and breaks. That is a bad omen. The two of them are going to follow Max's older brother Zach (Justin Deeley) and his friends to the woods where The Wicked lives, along for fodder are Julie (Jess Adams), Tracy (Jackelyn Gauci) and Carter (Chase Yi) all various stereotypes of teenagers. They all know the old saying and should be expecting trouble, "Season of the Equinox, the witch besets her kill. One less soul in the town to know, taken against their will." but you know kids are kids. The lack of being at all weary of local legends is really lost on them. They give us a good amount of exposition about how the witch eats little kids to stay alive. Also about local disappearances over the years that are attributed to the witch.
  Part of the problem with the film is the heightened relationships between the characters. The Director Peter Winther plays the script by Michael Vickerman like a teen soap opera. The brother can't like each other, but not just like brothers might be they really don't seem to like each other. Teens are means to Sammy calling her a lesbian because she is a tomboy. The local deputy Karl accuses her of stealing because he doesn't like that Sammy's mom is an alcoholic. They at least pay this relationship off later but it really does not work because people just don't really treat each other this way. It is all way above being normal interactions and it really throws the viewer off. Everyone is a little rich and a lot douche and we probably won't feel for them when they get theirs.Then there is the music montage as Max and Sammy travel on bikes towards the same place his brother is going by car. uuugggg. So a little romance for the younger couple filler when we really just want the killing to start. At least we know who the possible survivors are.
  The plot is setup and when the older kids throw rocks one of them finds a window. Camping in the woods the creepy begins to happen as well as some flirtation and skinny dipping for Zach and Julie , sex between Tracy and Carter we are primed for them to get stalked but also possibly to run into Max and Sammy who throw their own rocks through the window.  The whispers that follow that and the creaking door, spook them but good. They run but are apparently taken by the witch. Julie finding little missing Amanda's teddy bear wants to go to the house to search  for the girl. Spookiness ensues, windows fix themselves and Julie and Zach find the little girl bound with an apple in her mouth in the root cellar. The pentagram on the floor down there should be an indication that this is one real witch. Of course we have not seen her yet so the threat level is still sort of low. This is about the half way point in the film so some bad has to start happening to these characters.
  Running from the house we hear the witch's screams when she learns her prize has been taken. She is now on the hunt for the older kids with little Amanda. The car is gone when they get back to their camp. When Zach finds his brother's bike he heads into the woods to find him at the witch house. The witch finally makes an appearance hunting and getting each of the rest of the group, except Julie and Amanda. Zach runs into Sammy and sends her off to the Rangers station while he goes back into the house to find his brother. Now there are characters that are going to win and many who will lose. The witch for her part is real and cocooning up people for sacrifice. Now you can probably guess the outcomes for the most part. This is a really clean movie as far as gore and not at all satisfying then suddenly there is a stew (brew) to be made and all that changes.
  Each time the witch drinks her brew she gets a bit younger, so more bodies need to be ground up and added to the mixture to get full youth. Luckily she has no problem catching the kids even if she can't seem to hold them long. The last thirty minutes is a whole lot of the witch knocking out future sacrifices and then them waking up and trying to get away only be be caught again. When the final confrontation happens there is nothing unexpected about it. We lose some people and we have some relationships healed but they never find the witch in the end. So we know the story of the Wicked will continue.
This is a tough film to stay engaged in but they worked hard to make something with a story and mythology so you have to give it some credit. There are some above low budget effects that are not too bad. In the end they even save little Amanda a nice touch.

Cemetery Gates (2006) Horror Monster

Cemetery Gates (2006) - When a couple of eco-terrorists decide to set free what they think is a bear trapped and experimented on in a lab they release a mutated Tasmanian Devil named Precious on a local community. The scientist of that labKevin Belmont just happens to have a son Hunter Belmont (Peter Stickles) who plans to shoot his school film, on his twenty first birthday in the area where the creature was released. His father just called Belmont (Reggie Bannister) in the film is a forgetful man with an awkward connection to his son.  He is too busy at work to take time for the young man and because of it Hunter tells him he is moving out. It really is a weird way to base the characters, but establishing relationships is just part of the struggles for this film. There really is never any chemistry between the two so the entire family dynamic thing the film was going for never pans out.
 Kristen Novak), the pot smoker Enrique (John Thomas), the cool guy Tony (Ky Evans) the strong willed brunette Kym (Nicole DuPort) and the buddy Matt (Chris Finch). Most of what we see early is that the film is taking a pretty misogynistic approach to how women are treated and viewed. The sophomoric ogling of August by the three bros as Hunter drives the van to the filming location is meant to be funny but is more cringe inducing than anything. Writers Pat Coburn, Brian Patrick O'Toole, and J. Victor Rinaud are trying to create a fun atmosphere but it will be a miss unless you are a 13 yr old boy. I suppose seeing August boobies is the thrill you get for all the leering and joking at her expense.
The crew for the movie shoot is a purposefully stereotyped group, the ditsy blonde August (
 Now the creature named Precious is gone and he has to explain himself to his superior Dr. Cristine Kollar (Aime Wolf) she is going to keep the security breach and her funneling grant money to Belmont a secret. The two are guessing if the creature was stolen to be released that the likely place for that will be Franklin Park. They are going to head there to try to capture it. So we have our setup, the six film students, the two scientists, the two guys that stole the creature all heading to the same place. Where this is a monster movie gory attacks must soon follow. Add in a couple hippie dudes smoking peyote in the park and we have enough fodder to get this movie going.
  The film is played for laughs, the Director Roy Knyrim was thinking that this would be a fun film and in the special features talks about the spirit of Evil Dead where you have gore and horror elements but also campy humor. Unfortunately there is nothing smart about the humor. The majority of the gags are about August and her body. Then there are the two hicks the sons of the gatekeeper. They are dullard jerk offs who are worst than stereotypes, they are cartoon versions of bad hick boys.
  Made with a bunch of special effects people this film has gore aplenty even if they never quite get a creature that seems remotely threatening. Almost ever kill could be avoided by running away without falling down since the animal design is cumbersome to make move. There is a very impressive body count  17 with tons of fake blood as the creature mauls its way through the supporting cast. Random added characters show up and die and there are further attempts at humor and problem solving. Is this film good, no not really but it is trying to be entertaining.
  I was expecting a payoff for the story line that Hunter treated Precious as a pet when he was young. Like maybe Precious recognizes him and does not attempt to kill him. This never materializes, instead we get a bunch of rationalization from Belmont about wanting to create a creature who could lead to disease cures. It all just comes down to a "we have to kill the monster" plot that really is disjointed in its execution. This film really misses on what it is trying to do, they tried but the end product was not a hit for this viewer, even the twist ending that can set you up for a sequel has the feel of  too little too late.

The Devil's Nightmare (1971) Horror Satan

The Devil's Nightmare (1971) In doing these old films I have a tendency to be a bit Spoiler filled. Even worse it really is just a summary of the film with my opinions of it at the end. So go watch the film before continuing reading, or You have been WARNED.  The films starts with Baron von Rhonesberg during WWI in heavy bombing by the allies. I am guessing the war is the first since the Baron is not wearing a Nazi uniform. His wife is delivering their child but dies in the attempt. The child a girl is them killed by the Baron (Jean Servais). Quite the scene where he stabs to death a newborn. What could be so horrible that he would kill a child? It stressed is a girl so why would this matter?  Getting closer to the story of the film we need a bit more background. Cut to current time, a reporter talking to Baron von Rhoneberg about writing articles about his family. He is concerned that his family is under a curse. The reporter sneaks around the castle taking pictures even though she was asked not to. Suddenly she is in danger and being chased through the woods. We are pretty sure when she falls she is about to meet her doom. Cut to a bus with seven people on it heading to Arnstadt Germany, the road is blocked we have a contrivance to get the group to the castle of Baron von Rhoneberg. The man that directs them there we later find out is the devil. So all of what comes next was predetermined.
  Ivana Novak) and Regine (Shirley Corrigan), Howard Foster (Lorenzo Terzon) and his wife Nancy (Colette Emmanuelle), Father Sorel (Jacques Monseau), an grumpy older gentleman named Mason (Lucien Raimbourg) and the driver Ducha (Christian Maillet). Right from the time they arrive things are strange, a piece of the facade falls almost hitting Corinne, the door to the castle opens by itself and after they are in closes in turn. They are surprised by the Baron man Hans who welcomes them to the castle but inexplicably knows there names. These films always have lots of back story to get out and in this one we have Hans tell father Sorel how the Mark of the devil ended up on the floor of his room. December 8th 1575 when Erika von Rhonesberg plunged a knife into a monk who was exorcising her. Erika disappeared leaving the mark of the devil in front of the fireplace. He also gets to mention the family curse. And it seems that each room has a story as we learn about the Foster's room where two people were slain while sleeping.

Back at the village near the castle the villagers see the reporters body has the mark of the devil on it. "The succubus has returned to the castle says one of them. This is starting to shape up to be an amazing film. The group consists of two young lovely women Corinne (
  Before dinner Director Jean Brismée gives us a shot of Corinne and Regine laying about the bedroom in just bra and panties. There is a sexual tension between them and Corinne acts on it. Soft music and hands in closeup touching skin. Gentle kisses and the small bits of clothes come off. Regine takes a bath and Corinne is there to bathe her. "You've got such lovely skin." This scene is then contrasted with Nancy haranguing Howard for flirting with Corinne when they arrived. She also is in half dress but is not being sexy at all instead laying out for the audience how bad their marriage is. Enough of this back to the Corinne and Regine in bed making love, all the way to the classic shot where Corinne head moves down Regine's body and disappears off camera, the focus staying on Regine's face as she enjoys what is happening and then calms to a quiet sleep satisfied.
  At dinner the guests are defined a bit more and we learn of the Baron's curse. In the 12th century his ancestor sold his soul to the Devil and also received the curse that any oldest daughter born to his line would become a succubus. A demon that takes the form of a woman to lead men to their spiritual ruin. Now we know why he killed the child, or did he. The housemaid who was also the midwife in the first scene meets Lisa (Erika Blanc) who has arrived at the house as a storm rages outside. That bit of foreshadowing can mean only one thing. Now the cast is complete and we can get on with the story. This film takes the seven deadly sins and brings death to guests in accordance. Ducha gluttony, Corinne and Howard? lust, Father Sorel Pride, Mason Envy or wrath?, Regine Sloth, Nancy Greed. But who will be the first to die?
  Father Sorel is hallucinating Lisa in his bed. She is a seductress and is disturbing enough to him that he leaves his room. In the library he browses the books but they seem to fall off the shelves on their own. Lisa meets him there and provokes him only to be interrupted by the baron. Shifting from the library to the kitchen she offers Ducha a banquet of foods. Surprisingly giant prawns and the such but we don't yet see him die although his gluttony is primed. Instead we see Nancy insisting that she and Howard could find the baron's gold, her greed priming her to be the first death. Howard now has the chance to meet Corinne under the stairs for some lust action. Cutting between the characters the film does a great job of building our anticipation. Lisa seems set with Ducha offering him a "last" glass of wine which chokes him. She in her succubus makeup is looking over him as he dies. Gluttony!!!
 Lisa then works on Nancy who she leads to a room full of gold dust, she is amazed until she realizes that she is sinking in it  Nancy gone beneath the gold Greed!!!
  Howard and Corinne are getting it on but at the same time are too loud for Mason to sleep.  They decide to change locations and Lisa is fast on their heels. As the two lovers play hide and seek, Lisa finds them forcing Howard into the guillotine we saw earlier. Chop! Corinne forced into the Iron maiden is killed by Lisa also, Lust!!!
  Mason comes out of his room to see Lisa turn a corner down the hall. Following her angry at the noise he searches for her. She though circles behind him, then leads him on to a dead end. Trapped and in her scary make up she pushes him out of a tower window. Wrath!!!
  The ever sleeping Regine lays in bed while a snake conjured by Lisa closes in on her. This is cut with Sorel and Lisa scenes and really is about one last look at the actresses lovely body before she dies. A victim of her own Sloth!!!
  In the library the sleeping Father Sorel is awakened by Lisa. She is making him nervous with her beauty. She closes in on him trying to find his weakness, showing skin. Regine's scream at waking to see the snake brings out the ghoulish Lisa and he sees through her disguise. He finds the dead girl and is confronted by Lisa she tells him who she is. He raises his cross and prays causing her pain. He flees to outside where a hearse drawn by a horse arrives. It is the Devil, the same man that directed the bus to the castle. The Devil (Daniel Emilfork) follows Father Sorel to the chapel but can't end. the Devil says he will get him. Sorel offers his own should for all the souls already taken this night. His pride is showing but he makes the offer anyway. He signs the deal with the Devil.
  Morning Sorel is woken by a shouting Ducha. He joins the group at breakfast and everyone is there including Lisa.  She starts playing the organ as the Baron and hans train with epees in the yard. her sudden playing makes him hesitate and he is wounded by Hans. He wishes to confesses to Sorel that he killed his child all those years ago. The final piece of information we get is that the aid admits Lisa is a bastard child of the von Rhonebergs. She talks to Sorel in the chapel, he will stay behind with her. As they watch from the balcony the bus leaving we see it crash over a cliff and exploding. WTF! Well maybe there souls are saved but not there bodies.
 I saw the Redemption Films version of this movie, which has a  long tacked on introduction with a Vampire Hostess over acting and being way too serious. Some strange topless cannibal women that have absolutely no connection to the film that followed. Advertising it seems that was just added on without thinking about if it matched the film or not. It added 10 minutes of really useless trash. The theme of a succubus killing because of some of the seven deadly sins was pretty cool. Long before the film Se7en (1995) where a serial killer used the same theme for his kills. This is seventies sexploitation and a very mild form of that. The one sex scene between Corinne and Regine was the majority of the sex, some boobs and moaning filled out the rest. The talent is primarily three actresses, Blanc, Novak and Corrigan with Corrigan showing off her impressive body through nightwear most extensively.  Still all of these scenes are through a man's eye always titillating and lingering. That is not to say that women do not have agency in this film. Corinne clearly wants Howard and initiates their tryst. Lisa is the main antagonist of the film and as the succubus relishes hunting her prey. Even Nancy with her greedy desire has the agency to seek the wealth she dreams of only to be punished for her agency. Really the film is a slow paced Gothic horror that is not so great but certainly representative of its era. Not horrible mind you but I think with the change in pacing that movies have taken on in the 40 years since this film was made just makes this unwatchable for a modern audience.

31 Days of Halloween 2018

The House That October Built 2 (2017) - A few years after the first trip where five friends Brandy, Zach, Bobby, Mikey and Jeff travels to haunted attractions. They are internet famous after there encounter with Blue Skeleton, a group of extreme haunters who made the friends internet sensations with the video streams of the scares they endured. Brandy Traumatized still initially bows out of going on the road again. This time though they are to be guests of the haunts, paid to make the appearances. So a lot of the plot centers around Brandy refusing to go. Of course without the now famous "Coffin Girl" the group can not pull in the larger appearance fees so there is an effort made to get her to come along. When she finally agrees we again follow them as they go to haunts. The plot is more complex this time and actually I liked it better than the first movie. Zack is making deals to get the scares the internet wants without telling Brandy who although there is clear she does not want to participate in any extreme scares. We get different kind of haunts from a zombie pub crawl in Minneapolis MN to a haunted hayride, and a zombie 5k where runners try to avoid zombies as they run a course. Zack is focused on Hell Bent another extreme haunt place insisting all the time that Brandy does not have to participate. There is more of a twist here though and we get to watch it all unfold as friends show their true colors and the Blue Skeleton wants new videos to drive traffic on the internet. So raise your hand if you have ever lost a friend because he put his needs ahead of your friendship.

Tales From the Hood 2 (2018) Anthologies are always hit or miss, some messages connect more than others, cliche sentence, cliche sentence. Then we get to this new straight to streaming film, an anthology with a purpose. Now as a viewer I have to say that it seems the intent of the film was to throw shade on an American society that has shown its ugly racist underbelly, not just the last two years but for 227. It is not subtle but it is satirical and hits the viewer over the head with stereotypes. It holds back nothing dissecting the all too common and ever more vocal racist attitudes in this country. Broken into four tales and a connecting story it brandishes hamfisted hands to get its points across. Not that it is bad by any means, well maybe the connecting story that swipes so hard at American racists that it would knock them into yesterday where they belong. The first story playing with the idea that if only rape culture had defenders to pay back the bad behavior is only mildly interesting. The next we see how fetishistic collecting of racist pop culture gets punished. Leave no doubt the stereotypes of the white witless collector and her equally banal black friend are funny and she should be at least educated but this film really is about punishment. In the third story thug life is pitted against community service exposing how greed and selfishness damage the black community. The fourth has the ghosts of black historical struggles coming around to teach a currently co-opted African American lessons about the interconnected threads of sacrifice for the greater good. Overall this film did what it should it made me uncomfortable. Writers / Directors Rusty Cundieff and Darin Scott within the bounds of a horror film challenge people of all colors to check there privilege and pay attention to the attitude still pervasive in our society. Entertaining maybe a bit too on the nose the film is always honest and it still played really well for me.

31 Days of Halloweeen 2018

Grave Encounters (2011)  Found footage was all the rage when this litle film can about in 2011, not quite true found footage but a quick and dirty film about a haunted places television show called Grave Encounters. Written and Directed by "The Viscous Brothers" Colin Minihan and Stuart Ortiz it is a reasonably executed low budget horror film that uses CGI effects well. These are not expensive effect so you would be disappointed if looking for a really polished horror film. The dialog seems ab-libbed so there is a roughness that takes away from what is a sort of cool idea about a haunted asylum.
  The story is that what we are seeing are the last recordings of a team of ghost hunters who do a show called Grave Encounters. Lead by Lance Preston (Sean Rogerson), he with his sound and camera crew, Jerry Hartfield (Ben Wilkinson), Sasha Parker (Ashleigh Gryzko), T.C. Gibson (Merwin Mondesir), and Matt White (Juan Riedinger) are to be locked inside the old and closed Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital while filming their show. We the viewers get to see some of the behind the scenes of the show, where the crew stages some stuff to make a scary show. We also learn that five episodes in the crew has yet to really experience anything supernatural. Well episode six is going to be different because the hospital is really haunted and does not like visitors. Although the dialog is a drawback for this film the building of the dangers and the discoveries of haunting is well done. The story uses the ghosts to scare but also place and time displacement to freak the characters out and build a really nice sense of dread for their futures. The last act is really where some of the CGI stops are pulled out and sort of makes the earlier shouting and arguing of the characters worth it. Not a great film but certainly not the worst thing you could watch around Halloween.

The House That October Built (2014)  This is another film where the characters are doing the filming. Directed by Bobby Roe it is the story of five friends, Zach (Zach Andrews), Brandy (Brandy Schaefer), Bobby (Roe), Mikey (Mikey Roe) and Jeff (Jeff Larson)travelling the country looking for the most extreme haunted house experiences they can find. When they apply to the Blue Skeleton they get more than they bargained for and a haunting experience that will scar them for life. In the film the audience gets to see the scares as they film their adventures but also the strategic camera placement and use allows for us to see just how much trouble the group is in. Part documentary in style but also with some actual dread filled moments the film delivers on setting up the audience to think things will go to far. As the characters are enticed, then frightened and then terrified we see the Blue Skeleton group use the cameras to document the anxiety produced by their antics.  Followed and harassed there is a palpable dread built for the characters on the road trip particularly Brandy who is targeted as the only women. Terrorized and panics we watch as she is really pushed to the edge of sanity but the group of primarily men. Already in a world where women have to worry about the behavior of men the story ups that ante with a situation where intimidation and threats of violence are seen as acceptable. In the end the Blue Skeleton group after posting the fear of the victims online fades away leaving Brandy and her friends to cope with the experience they had.

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The Skeptic (2009)  What can you say? This is an example of expectation of a title being something that it turns out not to be. First off Writer Director Tennyson Bardwell, it is hard to believe that is a real name and if it is he really should be a playwright. Second what appeared to be a story about Bryan Becket (Tim Daly) as a skeptical lawyer forced to face his past and some ghosts when he inherits his Aunts house. Estranged from his wife Robin (Andrea Roth) he moves into the house and soon has what seem to be paranormal experiences. Being the hard nose realist he believes himself to be he looks for common explanations to the strange events. When that does not seem to work we get a abbreviated appearance by Zoe Saldana as Cassie a psychic who helps Bryan get in touch with the spirits in the house. Still the big turn in this film is the repressed memories he has about childhood abuse that all come spilling out in the final act. The film really feels like each act is a separate film. The horror is missing through most of it and when you do get some creepiness it is muted by the characters disbelief. The first act is the drama of his breakup of his wife and his moving into the creepy house. During this act Bryan is a disbeliever looking for answers to the house. The subplot that the house is being left to an institute doing ESP research allows for the inclusion of the Cassie character.  The second act is him coming to terms that maybe there is something more to the house outside of his rigid world view. The spirited Cassie allows him to open to the possibility that ghost may be involved and that maybe his memory of events from his past are just a wall built to protect his psyche. The third act bring the realization of repressed memories and his abuse in that very house by his Mother. So we pivot again to the real world and away from the supernatural only in the last scene to reverse course before the film comes to an end. Bland acting on Daly's part never quiet reflects the bubbling pressure of the character arc. Side characters seem contrivances who only each play a small role and then are never seen again. In the first act Roth, in the second coworker Sully (Tom Arnold) in the third family friend and doctor, Dr. Shepard (Edward Herrmann) and family minister Father Wymond (Robert Prosky). So in the end I just did not dig this movie too much. It was not quiet a ghost movie, not quite personal journey past abuse.

The Sentinel (1977)  It's a strange thing how there are some movies that despite all the negative reviews and comments that they are still your favorites. This film was panned when it came out, too slow, too derivative, religiously offensive. It may be that those things but I think it also is creepy and well written. The novel by Jeffrey Konvitz was adapted to a screenplay by he and Director Michael Winner about a portal from hell in Brooklyn that is guarded by a priest/nun to keep the evil where it belongs. Of course it is a bit more complex that that. The guardian must be a condemned soul who has then chosen God. So the Church, when a new guardian is needed, funnels a person who has attempted suicide to the building, they are the condemned for the attempt but can be redeemed if they become the new guardian. Demons in Hell knowing that a chance to break through haunt the apartment building attempting to make the chosen one choose death over God. This is where our story begins. The old priest Father Halliran (John Carradine) must pass on his duties. The Church through realtor Miss Logan (Ava Gardner) find a young model Alison Parker (Christina Raines) to the building making the amazing apartment too good to be true for $400 a month. She is a conflicted girl having attempted suicide twice. Traumatized by a horrid wealthy Father (Fred Stuthman), deceased but still haunting her with memories his sexual antics and events that precipitated her first suicide attempt. The seventies, and 80s for that matter seemed fixated on the idea of mental illness being caused by seeing your parents in sexual situations. So many slasher killers had this hang up and here it is again where finding your dad in bed with a couple naked ladies having a good time can make a teen try to take her own life.
  I like the writing in this film when it comes to that idea. It certainly informs the character Alison. She is noncommittal to her boyfriend Michael (Chris Sarandon) suggestion to live together or possibly marry. It comes directly from her living with her lecherous father and that his unfaithful marriage informs her sensibilities. She does not want to be like her Mother who when asked why she stayed in the relationship said that she had no place to go. Maybe also she senses something in Michael that may be like her father, for he is not all smiles and love. We learn his secrets before the end of the film and they are not small. So instead of moving in with him she takes the bottom floor of the apartment building where Father Halliran lives on the fifth. A dream come true for the price.
  She starts to meet the neighbors, Mr Chazen (Burgess Meredith) alight with energy and a bit nosy like the Castevets in Rosemary's Baby. Gerde Engstrom (Sylvia Miles) and her lover Sandra (Beverly D' Angelo), the Clotkins and the Stinnets as well as Mrs. Clark. You don't really get to know these characters mainly just Chazen who interacts the most with Alison. SPOILER: They are manifestations from hell sent to drive Alison to suicide, each a murderer condemned to hell for eternity. There is though a scene with Engstrom and Sandra that was most talked about at the time but fits with Alison's uncomfortable relationship with sexuality. She is visiting them and Engstrom leaves the room to get the coffee. Sandra then masturbates in front of  Alison never saying a word to her. When she cums she smells her hands which I thought was a great and strange choice by the actress. We get to see the shear uncomfortable reaction and the quick departure from the apartment, but more it is a trigger to Alison's teen years with her suicide attempt.
  Strange dreams, fainting spells, and noises upstairs are having an effect on Alison. In an attempt to ease her anxiety she asked the realtor about her neighbors and is told that she and Father Halliran are the only residents in the building. But she went to the other's apartments it is not possible. Miss Logan shows her the other apartments, not furnished as Alison remembers them and with cobwebs and different furniture. Her hold on reality starts to slip at this point. Michael tries to help her but he has his own secondary story involving the death of his wife, a private dick who works for him and some cops that don't want to leave her death a cold case suicide. Still he moves the plot along after Alison starts seeing only a latin phrase in a book in one of the abandoned apartments. "Tibi sortu cursus Tuum vigilia que severa munus"  which in Google translate is "The function of which is strict, the course of your watch, and you get lots of" but that could just be a poor translation, what the film gives us is
"To thee thy course, Thy lot is given charge and strict watch, To this happy place no evil thing approach or enter."  which is similar to the Milton from Paradise Lost, “Gabriel, to thee thy course by lot hath given Charge and strict watch that to this happy place No evil thing approach or enter in."
All of this to point the audience to the fact that there is a doorway to hell in the building and that Alison is chosen to be the next to defend it.
  What is a slow burn for most of the film really ramps up in the third act. Alison could go either way and on the day she is to decide the neighbors are back and with friends to try to drive her mad. The final scenes where she is being pursued through the apartment building filled with circus freaks, her father, her dead neighbors is just great. While most people probably don't dig this film I really do and think everyone should watch it. Alison is put in the position of either choosing death or receiving the mantle from Father Halliran and it is just great. I love the idea of this story, that there could be a gate to hell somewhere and that whatever church has to have a guardian to keep the world safe. I could totally get behind a remake of this film, like the idea in The Nun where perpetual prayer is needed to keep the demon in the convent. That could be the new version for a remake of this film. Where are you James Wan?!

31 Days of Halloween 2018

House on Haunted Hill (1999) The remake of the original Vincent Price story of a rich man who invites a bunch of strangers to a birthday party for his wife. The couple really don't like each other and it is clear that either the husband or the wife would be pleased to see the other dead. The catch with the strangers is that each has has a chance to win a share of 5 million dollars but in order to do so they must stay the whole night.  Now in the original the dollar amount were smaller and it looked like Vincent Price was trying to kill his wife but it was the same story. Give the guests guns and the incentive to kill each other off and see what happens.  The was a bit of added backstory to this newer version. The building rented for the night is a really haunted house. A giant asylum in which a sinister Dr. Vannacutt (Jeffrey Combs) did horrible experiments on his mentally patients. When the patients rose up the doctor just prior to being torn apart managed to trigger the fail safe on the building shuttering it with steel shutters so no one could escape. The fire that was started inside burned the whole lot of them so now the place is haunted.
  Leading the cast this time as Stephen Price is Geoffrey Rush an amusement park mogul who relishes scaring people. He is really over the top wonderful in the lead. His young wife Evelyn (Framke Janssen) is tired of her marriage of convenience and would sooner see Price die that have to live with him. It makes you wonder how these two ever came to be together. The level of hatred is so palpable. The invitees to this party are Eddie (Taye Diggs), Blackburn (Peter Gallagher), Melissa (Brigette Wilson-Sampras), and Sara (Ali Larter) with the two remaining characters being the owner of the house Pritchett (Chris Kattan) and Price's scare technician Schecter (Max Perlich) When the house shuts itself down they are all trapped inside together, so instead of who will stay the night it becomes who will survive the night. The film could have done more with Schecter and the tricks he setup in the house but very quickly the film becomes more of a story about the evil of the house seeking out and killing. Pritchett is used as a expository feature through his complete insistence that they all need to find a way out of the house. Sort of annoying he is really just there to awkwardly add background about the house. The scares with the ghosts of  Dr. Vannacutt and his nurses are indeed well done and the film could have used more of that.
  The best part of the film is the back and forth between Rush and Janssen who play to the max their disdain for each other. The guest are sort of after thoughts. Each has just enough back story so you know who they are but I think most people will figure out who is going to live through this film long before we ever come close to a climax. I somewhere in the back of my mind thought I liked this movie, or have a memory of liking this film, but I don't. Scarier than the corny original but also sort of predictable it stands as a entry into the remake category that probably did not need one.

The Gate (1987)  This film certainly has a place in that it really is a gateway movie for younger people and the horror genre. It is the story of Glen (Stephen Dorff) and his sister Al (Christa Denton) who for the very first time are being left at home alone for the weekend. The parents are trusting their teenage daughter to be responsible and look after Glen who maybe is twelve. It is a film about Glen's anxiety about his older sister starting  to seek her friendships outside the house. Where they had once been very close launching rocket kits together, now she would rather go to the mall with her friends. When a tree falls in the backyard and a hole is opened in the earth beneath it. Glen finds a geode and he and his friend Terry (Louis Tripp) dig the hole looking for another. Little do they know that the hole is a gateway to the underworld and they have unleashed events that could doom all of mankind.  As creepy events begin to unfold they kids work together to try to close the gate before the apocalypse is upon them. I did not remember this film being so kid screamy but boy that really is what it is. There are some really good horror elements but the claymation little monsters are quite dated. This is at its heart about the relationship between Glen and Al, at first she is all into her friends  the Lee sisters, Linda (Jennifer Irwin) and Lori (Kelly Rowan) coming over to party. When the effects of the gate start making shit hit the fan though she is by her brother's side and spurns her older friends in favor of family. The way too happy ending may be what puts this film firmly into the family friendly category. Although the kids will have to explain to there parents how the house got destroyed, and giant demon from hell will probably not fly with them. I am watching this as prep for the next Stream Queens podcast which is under the http://zombiegrrlz.com umbrella, Rachel and Erin do a great job chatting up films you can get on streaming services.  I look forward to it.

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The Descent (2005) - The year before this movie hit theaters in the USA my family and I were spending a couple weeks in Cuernavaca Mexico, at the Encuentros Spanish school, and living with a family when not in class. We were really tired of the nonstop Spanish and needed to find some way to hear English just for a little while, you can only watch so much TV in Spanish before tuning out. We decided to go to the big fancy mall in the city to see a film. In English with Spanish subtitles. While the girls went to see some romantic comedy or something I found the movie The Descent. I already knew the director Neil Marshall from his great Dog Soldiers so I was excited that I was going to get to see a new movie from him. It was just what I needed to see, a claustrophobic, exciting horror movie with lots of gore. I love this movie, I have seen it multiple times now and enjoy it each time. Smartly paced with excellent scares it build to an exciting action filled climax and then leaves you thinking with a ending that does not explain everything completely. This being the international ending, which is different than the US ending.
After loosing her family in a car wreck Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) rejoins her female adventure group for a caving expedition in the Appalachian mountains. Sarah is still feeling the effects of the deaths of her husband and daughter is taking medication and having horrifying dreams. Juno (Natalie Mendoza) who secretly had an affair with Sarah's late husband, struggling with the guilt of it wants to organize a special trip to bring the group closer together. She without telling the group leads them to a cave that has never been explored before. Things go horribly wrong when the way they just past collapses leaving the group stuck under the mountain. As they attempt to find a passage out they realize they are not alone in the cave. Living in the system is a group of humanoid creatures evolved for living in the dark. The bat people stalk and start killing the party and very quickly the women are in a fight for their lives.
Spoilers: The ending in the US version of this film has the main character escaping from the caves and pulling over on the side of the road. She sees her friend Juno (dead at this point) sitting next to her and screams, the movie ends. This is the happy ending, Sarah escapes being the only survivor of the expedition.
In the international version after Sarah screams in the truck she wakes up still in the tunnels. You hear the sounds of the creatures and see her hallucinating her daughter blowing out a birthday cake. In this ending you are brought back to some of the exposition dialog, where the effects of darkness can be hallucinations, paranoia, etc. It could be that the women were trapped and then Sarah broke and killed all her friends and the creatures and all were just her minds way of dealing with the craziness. Or that there was indeed creatures and although she fought then off and sacrificed Juno to them that she never found the way out of the caves and it ends with her still trapped.
Either way this movie kicks ass and I loved it. Even after seeing it multiple times I still sit enthralled with this one.

Mom and Dad (2017)   The idea that a signal could make people violent is not a new idea. I think of things like Stephen King's Cell and the film the Signal (2007) of examples. This story by writer director Brian Taylor is a great take on it though.  In the story some kind of signal when heard by people makes them need to kill their offspring. Brett (Nicolas Cage) and Kendell (Selma Blair) are a married couple with two children, teen Carly (Anne Winters) and 10 yr old Josh (Zachary Arthur). Neither is particularly happy in life having settled down for a life of middle class boredom. They are out when the signal gets them so the first part of the film focuses on the kids. Josh is home with the house keeper Sun-Yi (Sharon Gee) and her daughter. He witnesses the Sun-Yi kill the girl and fearing for his own safety locks himself in his bedroom. He does not understand that the only child Sun-Yi is driven to kill is her own. In fact she goes about cleaning up the mess she made like nothing happened when the act is over. Carly is at school and when all hell breaks loose she and her friend Riley (Olivia Crocicchia) make there way to their homes. Also coming to Carly's aide is her boyfriend Damon (Robert T Cunningham) who after surviving an attack by his father heads to Carly's to check up on her. Unfortunately Mom and Dad do arrive home and when they do the kids are in a tough spot. Eventually they lock themselves in the cellar and Mom and Dad then begin a cat and mouse game trying to kill their children. The film mixes horror elements, humor and drama to create a really enjoyable film. The turn in the third act is great when Brett's Father and Mother arrive at the house. There is no satisfactory ending to this film but it sure was a lot of fun.