Ugly Americans Season 2 premieres tonight

Remember Ugly Americans, the adult cartoon show on Comedy Central? You should, as I've been posting about it since its inception on the channel. Tonight, Ugly Americans returns for its second season at 10:30 pm. But that's not all - Comedy Central is hosting the first seven episodes of the series here so you can catch up on all the monstrous events in main character Mark Lilly's life.

Below is a clip for the first episode of the season, premiering tonight at 10:30, right after a new Futurama.

Ugly Americans	New Episodes Summer 2011
Preview - Welcome to Camp Friendship
www.comedycentral.com
New Episodes Oct 6, 10:30pm/9:30c Department of Integration Field Guide Follow the Show on Twitter

Last day for the giveaway

If you want a chance to win Soul Trapper, today's your last day to get your name into the drawing. Send an email to rynepbarber@gmail.com with the subject "Soul Trapper Giveaway" before 11:59 tonight!

I hope mine is as eventful.

Death Metal Debauchery #24: The INGESTED Edition

It's easy to get caught up in the "genre argument" of death metal, a movement that has become a plague on all types of music with needless dissents about what is "core" and what is not, what is "brutal" and what's plain death metal. In essence, it doesn't really matter - the influences are really similar, the differences in sound are almost non-existent, and you should listen to what you want to whether it be frowned upon because of its hardcore influence (Job For a Cowboy) or because it's just a mess of jumbled guitar sounds and drums (The Locust).

The reason I bring this up is because it's difficult to define where Ingested stands in the field. Their name emphasizes the same bodily functions as brutal death metal, but their assortment of screams and breakdowns seems more deathcore-esque than death metal. But here's the thing - it doesn't really matter. Their latest release, The Surreption, sounds similar to the metal of the '00s - Whitechapel, Suicide Silence, and Carnifex - but it still hits hard with some pummeling blast beats and good breakdowns. It all depends on what you like, not what title they sport.

North West Slam Fest (2007, Grindethic Records)

Surpassing the Boundaries of Human Suffering (2009, Siege of Amida)

The Surreption (2011, Siege of Amida)

The Evil Ad #37

Here's a foreign commercial for DIRECTV set during the Christmas holiday - and this Evil Ad comes just in time for the Christmas Terror in July Blogathon I'll be announcing soon on the blog. The ad brings together some of horror's best evil-doers: Jason, Freddy, Dracula, the Mummy all appear here, sporting bouquets of flowers and presenting presents to all of the little kiddies on Christmas day. It's just the power of DIRECTV to bring killers and victims together before a blood-red and green holiday.

GIVEAWAY ENDING SOON: Soul Trapper by F.J. Lennon

It's time for another Moon Giveaway, this time with Soul Trapper by F.J. Lennon. A review will be coming soon, but for those who know nothing about the novel, it's best described as an updated Ghostbusters for the technological era. Soul Trapper is Lennon's first book, and it was based off of an iPod app that Lennon and a team of programmers designed - and the press release claims it's the first novel that is based off an app.

To enter, simply send an email to rynepbarber@gmail.com with the subject "Soul Trapper Giveaway." It must have this subject - any others will be deleted immediately and will not be entered into the drawing.

A winner will be chosen at random through random.org based on a numerical value assigned your email. I will email the winner letting them know they've won, so please use an email you use regularly. One entry per email. Entrance limited to the United States (sorry foreign countries, if I had money to mail it to you, you'd be accepted as well!).

This contest ends Thursday, June 30 at 11:59 PM eastern time. Any entrants after this time will be deleted and excluded from the contest.

Any other questions? Feel free to email me or comment below.

The Noose: Participate in Strange Kids Club's Halloween Costume Contest!

For fans of horror, no time is too early to begin thinking about the coming Halloween season. I know I've already been contemplating making some crafts for the holiday, but Strange Kids Club has a jump on me - the blog has announced a Halloween Costume Contest that invites you to dress up in your favorite Halloween attire (even if it means a picture of you in just a diaper - eeeeesh) in hopes of winning some wicked cool prizes.

The grand prize winner will get $125 in Halloween merch, including an awesome Nail Mouth mask (see picture). The rules are pretty simple: the costume must be homemade, meaning you put the ensemble together yourself rather than buying it from Walmart; you must send a picture to Strange Kids Club at ghostlab.ds@gmail.com; you must enter by August 21. That means you've got limited time to craft your costume, so you better get to work.


Please visit the official rules page for more info.

Horror Horizon - June 28

Notable DVD releases for the coming Tuesday. Selections are subject to Blu-Ray release as well.

Sucker Punch

"Born from the creative vision of filmmaker Zack Snyder (Watchmen, 300), this epic action fantasy launches from the vivid imagination of a young girl whose dream world provides the ultimate escape from her darker reality. Locked away against her will, Babydoll (Emily Browning) has not lost her will to survive. Determined to fight for her freedom, she urges four fellow captives – outspoken Rocket (Jena Malone), street-smart Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), fiercely loyal Amber (Jamie Chung) and reluctant Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish) – to band together and try to escape their terrible fate at the hands of their captors Blue (Oscar Isaac), Madam Gorki (Carla Gugino) and the High Roller (Jon Hamm)."

Warehouse 13: Season 2

"Return to Warehouse 13 for more supernatural mysteries and paranormal adventures with Season Two of Syfy’s most popular series ever! Join Pete Myka Artie and their quirky crew on the chase for fantastical new artifacts across the globe and through time. Racing against the clock these dangerous missions lead them to discover new allies and encounter treacherous old foes…and the unexpected ultimate new villain. Wildly entertaining and always filled with the fan-favorite inventions and gadgetry now’s your chance to snag bag and tag this collectible three-disc set that catalogs and archives twelve action-packed episodes plus top-secret bonus features including the thrilling Eureka crossover episode 'Crossing Over.'"

High School of the Dead Complete Collection

"Highschool of the Dead is set in the present day, beginning as the world is struck by a deadly pandemic that turns humans into zombies, euphemistically referred to by the main characters as "them" since they are no longer considered human. The story follows a group of high school students, the high school's nurse, and a young girl as they fight their way to safety through the deadly streets of Japan during a worldwide catastrophic event known as the 'Outbreak'. Led by sophomore Takashi Komuro, the focal group of survivors consists of six others and a small dog, and creating a gestalt team with one purpose: to survive."

The Nesting [Blu-Ray]

"Agoraphobic mystery novelist Lauren Cochran decides to leave the city in an attempt to cure her recent writer's block. She rents an old Victorian house in the quiet countryside, unaware of its shocking history. As those around her suffer increasingly violent deaths, Lauren begins to unravel the truth: the house was once an infamous brothel now haunted by the victims of a bloody massacre. Will her terrifying phobia allow her to escape from THE NESTING?" 

Nightmares

"From John Lamond, the infamous producer/director of Felicity, Australia After Dark and ABC of Love and Sex comes this depraved mélange of sex, murder and psychotic mayhem. Jenny Neumann of Hell Night and Mistress of the Apes fame stars as a frigid young theater actress traumatized by her mother s horrific death years earlier. But when a series of brutal stabbings rocks her latest production, the drama queen prone to bloody hallucinations fears that she herself may be the killer. Are all actresses genuinely insane or is the stage set for a shocking final twist? Max Phipps (The Road Warrior) and Gary Sweet (The Chronicles of Narnia, Voyage of the Dawn Treader) co-star in the graphic Ozploitation giallo also known as STAGE FRIGHT, now fully restored from the original Australian vault elements."

Bloody Birthday

"Get ready for the rarely seen slasher classic from the 80s that may also be the most disturbing killer kids movies in grindhouse history: Three babies are simultaneously born in the same hospital at the peak of a full solar eclipse. Ten years later, these adorable youngsters suddenly begin a kiddie killing spree of stranglings, shootings, stabbings, beatings and beyond. Can the town s grown-ups stop these pint-sized serial killers before their blood-soaked birthday bash? K.C. Martel (E.T., Growing Pains), Joe Penny (Jake and the Fat Man), Michael Dudikoff (American Ninja), screen legends Susan Strasberg and José Ferrer, and MTV vixen Julie Brown whose nude bedroom dance remains a landmark of celebrity skin star in this still-controversial shocker from director Ed Hunt (The Brain, Diary of A Sinner), now featuring an all-new HD transfer from the original vault elements." 

The Baby

"An A-list director. A jaw-dropping storyline. And depraved depictions of suburban violence, 70s fashions and sick love . The result remains one of the most disturbing movies in Hollywood history: Anjanette Comer (The Loved One) stars as an idealistic L.A. County social worker who investigates the case of Mrs. Wadsworth (former 50s starlet Ruth Roman of Strangers On a Train fame), her two buxom daughters, and son Baby , a mentally-disabled man who sleeps in a crib, eats in a high-chair, crawls, bawls and wears diapers. But what secrets of unnatural attachment and sexual obsession are all of these women hiding? Marianna Hill (The Godfather Part II) and Michael Pataki (Grave of the Vampire) co-star in this psychotic stunner from director Ted Post (Magnum Force, Beneath the Planet of the Apes), now fully restored from the original film negative for the first time ever." 

Rammbock: Berlin Undead

"Just when Michael arrives in Berlin to visit his ex-girlfriend Gabi, a terrible virus starts spreading across the city at a rapid pace, turning people into mindless homicidal maniacs. Much to Michael's concern, Gabi's not home; instead, he meets Harper, a teenage plumber's apprentice at work in her apartment block. Together, they manage to barricade themselves when raging hordes of infected people swarm the building. Surrounded by these thirsty zombies, Michael and Harper have their hands full to survive - and it will take all of their ingenuity to make their way out to try and find Gabi." 

Dawning

"Dawning follows brother and sister Chris and Aurora as they travel to visit their father and stepmom at the family cabin. As the first night unfolds with uncomfortable small talk and tension, tragedy strikes when the beloved family dog is found mortally wounded. Almost immediately a crazed, blood-soaked stranger barges into the cabin and tells the family that he has come to save them... but from what? Though their unwanted guest may just be a lone maniac, menacing noises outside suggest the presence of something far more frightening. It's not long before the family realizes a dark force is at play - one that wants them all dead by the dawning of the day. 

Director Gregg Holtgrewe's Dawning is a psychological thriller that ratchets up the tension as it uncovers the hidden demons that can tear a family apart. With its mysterious and unpredictable plotline, it will rivet viewers until its shocking and disturbing end."

Tetsuo: The Bullet Man

"Anthony is a bland and cautious American office worker living in Tokyo with nothing exceptional about him. Or so he thinks. When his young son is killed, Anthony begins a violent and bizarre metamorphosis, his flesh transforming into metal, his body expressing his repressed rage and lust for revenge. Anthony is becoming the weapon that will destroy the man who killed his son and, if his rage cannot be contained, the entire city in the process. Cult director Shinya Tsukamoto s TETSUO trilogy comes full-circle with TETSUO: THE BULLET MAN."

The Eleventh Aggression

"Taken from police archives of a real series of brutal murders that occurred over a period of eleven years, the tense story laid out by critically acclaimed director, Charles Peterson, reflects a new style of storytelling. Quick paced, and slickly presented, this study in human nature and not-so-humane actions focuses on just how difficult it is for modern law enforcement to cope with the never-ending ability of mankind to devise new ways to force hurt upon us all. "The 11th Aggression" tells the twisted story of a Vietnam Era, special services operative who assumes the role of serial killer." 

Melvin

"Melvin is dead... Now, three years after his accidental murder, he is finally making up for lost time. After enlisting the involuntary help of nerdy college student Norton Pincus, he's ready to take on those who are responsible for his death. Melvin's thirst for vengeance will take this dynamic dork duo on a mind-blowing streak of throat ripping, vomit spewing, head decapitating and much, much more. Melvin will teach you that getting picked on at school can be a real killer!" 

Graphic Novel Review - The Green Woman by Peter Straub, Michael Easton, & John Bolton

The Green Woman

In The Green Woman, Peter Straub revisits an old acquaintance named Fielding Bandolier from his "Blue Rose Trilogy" of novels. But unlike that series of the past, Straub and co-writer Michael Easton work with John Bolton (who together I like to think of as "Michael Bolton") to literally paint a new picture of the serial killer audiences have loved to hate. The Green Woman becomes another killing point for Bandolier, an outpost of evil voices and dead women who call out and pull in any who come near Bandolier - like Bob Steele, a cop who is drawn to Bandolier's case after encountering one of his victims. In this graphic novel, the reader is introduced to Bandolier's varied background as a Vietnam war vet, a undeniable killing machine, a disturbed lover, and a possessed man, making the emotional impact of this serial killer confusing and often strangely alluring.

There's no need to read the other novels in the "Blue Rose Trilogy" to understand The Green Woman. In fact, I've never read that acclaimed series, and though Fielding Bandolier might be a new character to the ignorant reader, he quickly becomes one with an enigmatic but strong background. Straub easily enhances the limited number of characters in the novel with heavy characterization, setting aside limited amounts of the plot to illuminate the reader with quick flashes of splotchy backstory. I say splotchy because at times it's difficult to pinpoint exactly where in time we are; Straub includes little narration from Bandolier or Steele, making it up to the reader to follow the often shifting timeline of the novel.

This is the general feeling through much of The Green Woman, a tendency to both understand the story and feel like you're missing a key element of what's going on. And even at the end, where the fiery conclusion brings into question the underlying element to Bandolier's obsession with killing, there's a sense that all is not explained to us, that somewhere Straub has withheld information from us as another secret Bandolier keeps. It's this foreboding sense of dread, that something is happening we really have no power over to control, let alone understand, that keeps the reader carrying on. That and Bandolier himself.

Bandolier has his own dark history, one set in Vietnam during the war where he was forced to become a killing machine for the nation. Killers rarely get this sort of humanization (which ultimately devolves into dehumanization), and the love affair Bandolier has with a Vietnamese woman characterizes him as someone who can achieve romanticism and sicken it at the same time. These facets of his character are some of the strongest moments of The Green Woman.

But one can't forget the excellent art by John Bolton. Each panel is expertly painted with a blend of vibrant colors that certainly stand to bring out the more grotesque parts of the novel. The demonic representations of the green woman are outstanding, and the grit of the slightly blurry paint physically shroud the story in a fog that the reader loves to stare at. However, the paint can sometimes obscure the characters' faces, making it difficult to recognize physical traits, and a couple of times I got confused by what character I was looking at.

Slash to the Point: With The Green Woman, Straub and Easton carry the "Blue Rose Trilogy" in different directions - with a different medium and a cat-and-mouse game that takes Bandolier even further into his den of misery and destruction. The illustrations by John Bolton enliven the already poignant tale in beautiful comparison; this is a book you'll not only need to read over again, you'll want to for the eye candy alone.

Only a few more days to enter to win Soul Trapper

Email rynepbarber@gmail.com now with the subject "Soul Trapper giveaway" to win a free book! How easy is that?

Movie Review - The Curse of the Werewolf

The Curse of the Werewolf

The Curse of the Werewolf opens with an excruciating close-up of Leon's (Oliver Reed) eyes, in werewolf form, as the credits roll. This lengthy shot causes Reed's eyes to naturally water, and tears trickle down his cheeks in rivulets; the viewer is too mesmerized by this torturous staring contest to watch the credits at all. But the shot seems to sum up Terence Fisher's Hammer film all too well - a prolonged event with occasional bouts of successful horror interspersed with a good deal of overly drawn-out scenarios. And, like Reed, it's difficult to keep the eyes open through much of it.

The plot begins wiith a dirty beggar entering the castle of a rich king. Begging for food, the tramp becomes a pet for the king's new wife, which means being thrown in the dungeon from now to eternity. From there, things only get worse, as the king's lecherous lifestyle kills the queen; after his attempts to force himself upon a maid are rejected, he has her thrown in the dungeon, where she is raped by the hairy beggar who has become a sort of half-animal half-beast hybrid. The maid escapes and is rescued by a couple who try to restore her health, but her pregnancy ends in her death after a struggle to birth Leon.

Leon has some strange behaviors that affect his mood, and as a youngster he finds out that he becomes a werewolf during the full moon. With protection, Leon is limited to his bedroom during these spells, and all proceeds as normal as possible until Leon grows up and leaves his caretakers for the real world of work, love, and death. He meets a woman who is set to marry a particularly unpleasant prince, and they fall in love at first sight. As the old witch doctors say, love will keep the beast at bay, and it seems as though Leon would have little to worry about with his new beau. But one night of partying alone and Leon kills a woman, and, days later, he's targeted by an angry mob replete with pitchforks and torches.

Like Brides of Dracula, Fisher is adept at providing a pervading atmosphere. In the tiny village of Spain, the brick homes and sterilized outer surfaces act as facades for the interior evil of the people. Leon is obviously plagued by his internal beast, but the other characters we meet have their own dilemmas beneath their physical  frame. Men and women escape their working lives to attend raucous bar parties; kings hurl crass jokes and food at the poor and keep them as slaves. And Fisher paints a picture of the internal struggle between man and beast throughout The Curse of the Werewolf, whether it be the obvious depiction of Leon as a wolf or the bestial treatment of the beggar as a metaphorical dog.

There's a significant amount of juggling to the plot, too, that is particularly admirable. The movement from Leon's conception to his final moments as beast pursued constitute a considerable amount of time, and intermittently dispersed are moments of love, friendship, and encounters with the violence of the wolf. Some of these scenes are nicely character-driven by Leon or his lover Cristina (Catherine Feller); at other times, they drag on so long that they seem overly drawn to reach the hour-and-a-half runtime. Unfortunately, The Curse of the Werewolf suffers from the same strange plotting techniques of other Fisher films.

The movie tends to lack focus, especially in its early sequences which are included for no other apparent reason than song, dance, and rape. Fisher pulls little from the opening besides Leon's birth, and even the extended moments in the scenes where Leon is a boy first learning about his startling secret are only tenuously connected to the film's turning point. In fact, much of The Curse of the Werewolf feels unnecessary, a meandering walk through Leon's life as an adult where he becomes a werewolf only twice and is killed by the townspeople in an anticlimactic finale. We're taken through these events as unincorporated onlookers, but it's difficult to really see the point in the whole matter - and when we finally do reach the conclusion, the engagement of the viewer is so minimal that Leon's predicament seems fantastical and unrelatable.

There's a point where the film tends to bring out the best in the old Universal monster movies; amid the chaos of the mob, we see ourselves brandishing weaponry to pelt the beast. But the lackluster demise of Leon comes about from a major flaw - an ignorance of the advice that Leon's father was given about keeping the beast at bay. The unfortunate feeling from the final act is one of grief, but not for Leon's death as a werewolf; instead it comes because it all seems so foolish and misguided, a climax that could have been significantly more emotional if the plot had been ordered better.

Slash to the Point: The curse of The Curse of the Werewolf is its convoluted plot, an affair which journeys throughout Leon's life without rhyme or reason. The legitimate problems of the werewolf are watered down in favor of Leon's love life, and the film lacks the substance required to affect the viewer during its mob-umental finale. Perhaps the real curse of the werewolf is being human; more likely is that the film itself is too preoccupied with howling at nothing.

The Curse of the Werewolf on Rotten Tomatoes

Carnival of Blood Blogathon: The Funhouse

I only recently heard about In It For the Kill's carnival blogathon, and I'm coming really close to the deadline here with my post. The blogathon was scheduled for June 21, and silly me, I waited until the very last minute to watch a flick that holds some nostalgic feelings for me.

For the Carnival of Blood blogathon, we're supposed to pick a carnival-themed horror film to write about. But what is it about the carnival that seems so scary? For one, carnivals tend to pick up and move quickly - it seems they've just pulled into town before they're off again on another road trip for a new town. It's this strange nomad lifestyle that attracts the attention of viewers, because who's to say that the band of marauding carnival runners aren't lunatics who escaped from an insane asylum and can't settle down for fear of being tracked down? The mysteries of the carnival owners are so hidden because most have never met the town, nor does anyone have an impression of who they are. It breeds distrust, and distrust breeds fear.

But there's also the idea that the carnival can attract strange people from all parts of town. Because carnivals tend to settle in smaller towns and villages that might not have the attractions and amenities of city life, there's both a tendency to know almost everyone at the carnival and be unsure of some strange faces that have been drawn from the seedier parts of town. In essence, the carnival brings out the best and worst of people, and those lurkers of the dark could be the ones who snatch up parentless children who think they're out for a night of mischief.

And then there's the funhouse - which also happens to be the movie I picked to focus on for the Carnival of Blood. Funhouses can be the same as their namesake, or quite the opposite - a scary (or boring) ride through various haunted house props and music. But what if there's more behind the funhouse than plastic skeletons and Vincent Price-influenced screams?

Tobe Hooper explores this in The Funhouse (also known as Carnival of Terror), a 1981 slasher about a mysterious carnival that sets up shop in a small town, rumored to be the source of a couple of killings in another town. It just so happens our heroine and her troop of pot-smoking teens are heading out to the fair for a night of shmoozing and sex - and they decide to test their nerves and spend the night inside the funhouse. After witnessing a mutated freak from the show, aptly dressed as Frankenstein's monster, kill a gypsy/prostitute (you'll have to see the movie to figure that one out), the teens are locked in the funhouse and tortured by the monster and his owner.

It sounds pretty cut-and-dry, but I have been a huge fan of the movie ever since I first saw it. You might have read about my fascination with it in my article on AMC's Fear Fridays, but if you didn't, I first caught The Funhouse on late-night TV and couldn't get enough of the campy monster and the excellent setpieces of the horror ride. Though it's probably not deserving of the esteem in which I hold it, my answer to the question of why I like it so much can be summed up in two simple words: "just because." That's right, there's not really a rhyme or reason to my obsession of the film. But I'll try to narrow my thoughts down to a select few parts of the equation.

I think part of the allure is the constant odes to previous horror and slasher movies. You'll see a lot of references to Frankenstein, but there's more to it than that. The opening scene takes a huge cue from Halloween, but it turns the scenario on its head by surprising the viewer with a fake killing (and some soapy boobs, mind you).

The carnival itself is displayed in its full glory by a lengthy scene in which the teens participate in the various activities offered. In this way, the film moves slowly but effectively to its major plot point, rather than jumping to the action right away. Indeed, The Funhouse is a film that explores a rigidly glacial pace, balancing character exposition with action in just the right way to allow for maximum tension. The same goes for the slayings, which occur in tightly-sequenced but distanced places in the film. Since there are only four main characters, Hooper paces the killings accordingly, and none feel too rushed or harried.

But the main draw is obviously the giant, atmospheric funhouse, which turns on and off variously throughout the film. The gloom of the murky house is ever present, sometimes coupled with red lighting or stained glass for eerie effect. The props and scares of the funhouse are doled out here and there, and some of the dead characters are presented via the funhouse ride in creepy and strangely humorous ways, just like the good old slashers of yore. Hooper even manages to get a boiler room scene in for those who enjoy the scenery of rusty hooks and steam-spouting pistons.

If you're looking for a scary but darkly comic and campy carnival film, look no further than The Funhouse. A slasher with all of its ideas in the right place, it brings the spookiness of "Something Wicked This Way Comes" and incorporates a bit of Halloween for a fun and frightful romp through a carnival's sinister company. Put down the stakes, play a few games on the midway, and stay awhile - ride The Funhouse all night long.

Doom Metal Destitution #6: The DEADBIRD Edition

Have you heard of Rwake? Nachtmystium (you should, because I posted about them a couple weeks ago)? Deadbird is a sludge/doom metal band made up of members from those bands, but you'll find the band is most similar to Rwake in sound. Deadbird have only two full-lengths under their belt, but their latest release, Twilight Ritual, was a heavy hammering of sludgy down-tuned riffs with a slice of southern edge. Let's take a look at the John Dyer Baizley artwork of Twilight Ritual and a couple of other covers.

The Head and the Heart (2004, The End of Existence)

Alternate:

Twilight Ritual (2008, At a Loss)

Deadbird / Burned Up Bled Dry Split (2010, At a Loss)

Coming up

Tomorrow will be another Death Metal Debauchery (or perhaps Black Metal Blasphemy, I'm never sure until I actually do it). Wednesday I will have a review of The Curse of the Werewolf, a Hammer film that came on the Netflix disc of Brides of Dracula I received. Thursday I'm not too sure of yet, although it could yield either a review of the second episode of Teen Wolf, a review of a Masters of Horror episode, a review of the graphic novel The Green Woman, or an opinion piece on horror.

If you've got a preference for Thursday's post, let it be known in the comments below! And enter to win the Soul Trapper giveaway if you haven't done so already.

The Evil Ad #36

Fast food companies always seem to flood the advertising market with ads designed to draw even more voracious consumers to their food. They also tend to have the best Halloween-related commercials. While I dislike promoting the megalomaniacs of the major fast food corporations and their unhealthy food (end tirade), these recent Sonic commercials capture the humor of horror well. Sonic decides to focus just as much on the food as the theme, and the two commercials below find well-paced jokes and awkward characters an advantage.

The Woes of Being a (Horror) Blogger

Lately, I've been feeling a bit on edge about my blogs, and it's not just because I'm constantly working to finish things on my own near-impossible deadlines. I'm talking about the dwindling number of visitors - here, on my other blog, on other blogs I've seen - and the lack of a community.

It's especially easy to feel lost amid hundreds of solid blogs in the horror blog-o-sphere. The population has boomed quite fast in the last year or so, and with all of the new resources for readers to take residence in, being just one more blog out of a number can feel overwhelming and often makes me feel unnoticed in the crowd.

The decrease of commenting and the lack of participation is also something that keeps me biting my fingernails. It's certainly true that I don't write (and I'm sure most bloggers feel the same way) for someone to recognize me, and I've kept writing for three years solely because of my own ambitions. But when it appears that one is only talking to a brick wall all of the time, it makes you wonder whether you should be pursuing other avenues, or at least finding something with a bit more reciprocity.

Maybe I'm just becoming a bit unnerved by the thought of falling out of existence into an abyss of inferiority. Or perhaps I'm the only one feeling this way, and I'm being ostracized for a reason. But I'd like to think traffic will someday pick up, and I'm trying to find new areas of improvement and expansion.

Please let me know what you'd like to see, or what would keep you coming back for more.

The giveaway, folks!

Come on, I can't even give Soul Trapper away! Enter the giveaway to win. Just send an email to rynepbarber@gmail.com with the subject Soul Trapper giveaway. Easy, free, and you've got a good shot at winning.

Opinion - Masking the Psychoses: The Masks of Black Rat and Bunnyman

This week, two relatively low-budget slasher flicks will be released on DVD: the Japanese Black Rat from Kenta Fukusaku (son of Kinji Fukusaku, of Battle Royale fame), and Bunnyman, a cat-and-mouse slasher flick from a small production company. Neither is a stretch of the imagination, nor is it surprising that both will be released on the same day, as multiple low-budget thrillers are released on a weekly basis like legion. What is surprising, however, is that both feature a step away from the more conventional aspect of slashers - the mask. Both Black Rat and Bunnyman have killers who sport an animal mask, as the titles both suggest. Are these films a sign of a more animalistic slasher genre? Has the stalker film entered the furry fetish? Probably not, since these films haven't and most likely won't hit the big leagues, but we're going to explore it anyway.

There have been different incarnations of slashers in the past. The masked killer has been the most prominent, the necessity being to protect their identity until the penultimate reveal in the film's finale, but another vast array of slashers has propagated from the cannibalistic denizens of hick country. Most of the time, Hillbilly Slashers require no mask at all because of the emaciated and deformed faces of these Deliverance-style murderers. Sometimes, films used both masks and deformity to enhance the surprise and tension of the killer's lack of identity, like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The Hills Have Eyes and Wrong Turn, along with Just Before Dawn, introduced multiple deformed killers for maximum terror.

Other slashers have neglected the mask or deformity entirely, opting either to rarely show the killer with point-of-view shots of the murders instead, or the killer is never fully uncovered by the camera until the finale with a surprising reveal of a character the audience already knows. Most of the time, the film's reluctance to show the killer besides their hands, feet, and overly drab dress is a mask itself, a form of hiding the killer without the need for any special guise.

But the films that have performed the best to reach cult status have most often utilized the efficient and effectual simple mask to hide the ugly mug of the killer. Unfortunately, it seems the pale and gaunt face of William Shatner after he heard $#*! My Dad Says was cancelled (Halloween) and Jason's attempts to relive his school glory days as a hockey star (Friday the 13th) just won't cut it these days. Perhaps the current slew of slasher directors feel the simplicity of the mask too trite, overly used and less terrifying than in the heyday of the genre (and yet they still play off the same teens-have-sex-then-they-die routine?). Or maybe it's just a new animal craze that's all the rage, an inspiration from Lady Gaga's meat suit or a physical manifestation of the slogan "Meat kills."

I don't mean to suggest that we haven't seen bestiality slashers (sounds fishy) before. Motel Hell was an early great that utilized hog heads as disguises; Saw characters used a boar mask to inject their victims before torturing them. But Black Rat and Bunnyman aren't using the animal masks as black humor (the former) or minor plot points (the latter); their killers have donned the masks for the entire film. This is almost a complete juxtaposition to the simple masks of yore. Michael Myer's pale mask acts almost like a physical representation of the comedy and tragedy masks of ancient Greece, but these new bestial identities hint at the underlying psychoses underneath the exterior's rigid and static expression.

The Myers mask remains stoic throughout, and the disturbing revelation to the viewer while watching Halloween is the sense that the complete opposite emotion is happening beneath the plastic - that the real face of Myers is one of intense and unbridled rage, and the mask on the outside is a facade to hide the psychosis of the man. With Bunnyman and Black Rat, the animalistic tendencies of humanity are exposed to the exterior world, no longer hidden within the individual but outwardly projected as a new facet of the killer. Is this really scarier or more threatening than the simplistic pale mask? Or are the new slasher films only showing the viewer a side of humanity that we already know exists? Personally, I lean towards the latter - and that's not just because the idea of a human bunny or rat feels less dangerous than a lion. It's the outward perception of the individual - the complete opposite of the internal emotion - that creates the menacing nature of the killer, not just the physical representation of an evil buried beneath the surface of humanity.

How do you feel about the new face of the slasher? Shoot some notes below.

Horror Horizon - June 21

Notable DVD releases for the coming Tuesday. Selections are subject to Blu-Ray release as well.

Medium: The Seventh and Final Season

You know the drill - a collection of episodes from the seventh season of the television show Medium, and this time it ends the series. No more expensive DVD collections to buy.

The Women in Cages Collection

"Pam Grier (Jackie Brown) joins a group of sexy, young female prisoners in their struggle against a sadistic warden in Big Doll House. This shockingly real film is perhaps one of the most influential of all women-in-prison films! Also starring Judy Brown, Roberta Collins (Death Race 2000) and Sid Haig (House Of 1,000 Corpses). Directed by Jack Hill (Spider Baby, Foxy Brown). 

Innocent Carol Jeffries (Jennifer Gan, Naked Angels) is framed by her drug-dealing boyfriend and ends up in a tough prison in the Philippines jungle in Women In Cages. She must face off against the sadistic warden, Alabama (Grier), who takes great pleasure in alternately seducing and torturing her prisoners. Also starring Judy Brown and Roberta Collins. Directed by Gerry De Leon (Mad Doctor Of Blood Island). 

Inside the hellish women’s prison called The Big Bird Cage, inmates like Terry (Anitra Ford, The Price Is Right) struggles to survive. They get their chance to escape when scheming revolutionary Blossom (Pam Grier) engineers a prison break . . . from the outside in. Also starring Carol Speed (Abby). Directed by Jack Hill."

Mega Python vs. Gatoroid

"It’s a battle of the beasts from the director of Pet Sematary that’ll rock your world when two titanic terrors face off along with a pair of ‘80s pop icons! After doctor and activist Nikki Riley (Debbie Gibson) accidentally unleashes a python into the Everglades, rival doctor Terry O’Hara (Tiffany) is tasked with finding an expert reptile hunter—and when her boyfriend dies in the process, she resorts to extreme measures to create genetically enlarged gators to stop the slithering menace. Soon the swamp is a huge, scaly battleground between colossal gators and pythons -- with a charity ball of potential human snacks in their path! Don’t miss this mammoth spectacle of teen queens and man-eating monsters in a gargantuan duel to the death!"

Haunted 3D

"'Haunted' is a compelling story, set in the misty mountains of Dalhousie that revolves around Glen Manor, a sprawling mansion with a secret past and a haunted present. The protagonist Rehan visits Glen Manor to complete a transaction, involving its sale that his father had initiated and which is now under a cloud due to certain mysterious incidents. What he does not bargain for is that while he is trying to do so he discovers a Secret and falls in love with it. What he does not bargain for is that the Secret catapults him to the biggest challenge and question of his life." 

Bunnyman

"Bunnyman is the story of a group of friends on their way back from a spontaneous weekend trip to Las Vegas, and while driving through the remote regions of southern California they suddenly find themselves in a sickening game of cat and mouse with a five ton dumptruck and, when looking for help, stumble upon a nightmarish family who takes pleasure in dismembering and eating as many of the kids as possible." The title killer, described as having been severely abused as a child, is now an adult with manifestations of intense rage and child-like taunting behavior. He dresses in a bunny suit as something of a security blanket for his fragile psyche."

Playing House

"A Young couple gets their dream house with the help of a friend that becomes a boarder. Their friend then brings home BLAIR... a stunning temptress that decides she likes what the couple has and never wants to leave. So Blair turns ther friends against each other and exploits her seductive talents on the husband in efforts to become the new woman of the house... if you're a fan of Obsessed, Hand that Rocks the Cradle, and Roommate type movies this is good one for this genre...."

Face of the Screaming Werewolf

"Experimenting in hypnotic regression to past lives, Dr. Edmund Redding has discovered that Ann Taylor is a reincarnated Aztec woman. Via her recovered memories, she is able to lead Redding and his associates to a hidden chamber in the Great Pyramid of Yucatan, where they hope to find the lost treasure of the Aztecs. Instead, they find two mummified bodies - one of a modern man and the other of an ancient Aztec mummy/werewolf and only one is still alive. The supernatural creature escapes and menaces the city that night..."

Black Rat

"Six classmates receive an e-mail from Asuka, who they thought had committed suicide, asking them to meet up later that night. But when a person wearing a bloody rat mask surprises them and begins a ferocious attack, the students realize that someone is out for revenge!"

Killer Stories: Crimes of Torture and Horror (No IMDB)

"A true horror anthology containing perverse stories detailing serial killers stalking the local townspeople. A couple retreat home to have sex after meeting at a nightclub. Following their steamy lovemaking, they start to talk about the psychopathic local serial killers they have heard about. The first is about a killer who kidnaps a woman to torture her in as many sick and perverse ways possible. The second story follows a madman who has escaped a mental asylum. In the third installment a crazed filmmaker goes out of his way to create the sickest and most perverse film possible."

Psycho Holocaust

"Eager for one final vacation before their lives change forever, six friends embark upon a camping trip to a remote mountainous area. By nightfall, their lives WILL change forever...in ways too horrific to imagine. For in the shadows awaits a pack of the most evil, vicious rejects of humanity, addicted to violence and thirsty for blood! This is Psycho Holocaust..." 

Book Review - Soul Trapper by F.J. Lennon

Soul Trapper

It started as an iPhone application from the mind of F.J. Lennon - an audio-based adventure game with narrator Kane Pryce leading the player through a ghost-hunting adventure in four chapters. The objective for the game was a three-part series with each part featuring three or more hours of gameplay. Now, Simon and Schuster has tapped Lennon to pen three novels with the same character, who uses his soul trapper device and special EVP technology to help spirits (or force them) to cross over to the other side.

It's F.J. Lennon's first novel, and it's fairly apparent from the prose styling of Soul Trapper that the writer is less technically proficient. That's not to say that Lennon's writing is terribly poor, or that his grammar or sentence structure is so egregious it's downright unreadable; it's more just the construction of the writing tends to favor easy readability over astute description. This, however, tends to make Soul Trapper speed along at a good clip, and the short, concise prose allows the reader to make quick work of this rather short novel.

The plot is quite frankly an updated Ghostbusters, albeit with more modern technology and a more scientific approach to ghost-capturing mechanisms. Whereas Bill Murray and company were apt to blast their electric rays willy-nilly, Kane has a simpler and cleaner method of trapping ghosts with a gun that automatically aims at the entity in the room. What's more, Kane can also enter the trap to talk with the ghosts by attaching electrodes to his body and somehow transferring his spirit energy into the trap with a scientific process too complicated to understand, much less explain. Lennon gives the reader ample opportunities to meet ghosts from history, and their backstory is often told in expository form by the ghost, who much of the time happens to be under the impression that it's still alive.

The overarching story deals with Kane's personal quest to reunite a ghostly child with his movie star mother. Along the way, he falls in love with two women, and they tend to trade off with each other throughout the story. Kane also faces down demons and travels to Hell, although this plot line is a bit too farfetched and ultimately lessens the believability of the relatively realistic events.

Soul Trapper is told through Kane's perspective, a new-age noir narrative with a crass and sometimes overly vulgar bent. Kane can be entirely humanistic and downright detestable depending on his mood, and though it at first feels like his character will become the sort of douchebag we'd like trapped in the soul trapper for good, Lennon is able to circumvent the nasty side of Kane by incorporating a bit of lightheartedness after Kane becomes buddies with the ghost child. Even still, Kane's attitude can be a bit off-putting in the first few chapters, and Lennon could have given Kane a less mean-spirited edge.

Slash to the Point: The novel does have some awkwardly unfunny pop culture humor, and its constant references to current icons (Nickelback? This might be just my taste in music talking, but I'd like to think that most people would be offended by Kane equating the talents of Nickelback to Eric Clapton or The Beatles) almost insist that the book will become outdated in the future. Yet for all of the cheesy elements like the jokes that fall flat or the celebrity name-dropping, the book still held my attention for the more supernatural elements. It's a solid first impression for F.J. Lennon, but next time I'll be looking for a plot that will entrap me with a little more substance.

The Noose: Retro slasher one-sheets for THE SLEEPER

 

The new slasher flick from director Justin Russell titled The Sleeper has a couple of new one-sheets, as seen above. These have retro artwork as an homage to classic '80s slasher flicks like The Mutilator, Happy Birthday to Me, and others of the time period. Notice the splotchy and faded look of the bottoms, and the box warning about the graphic violence is just icing on the cake. Though I've yet to see the film, I can just imagine having these posters above my bed, with the outstretched arms reaching out to me just before sleep...

The synopsis, taken from Dread Central:

"Alpha Gamma Theta are hosting a party for new pledges for the upcoming year. As the new pledges arrive, so does an uninvited guest. Little do the sisters know someone is watching them in the shadows. As the girls shower, study, eat and sleep the stalker studies the girls. One by one he finds the girls at their most vulnerable and murders them. The police hunt for the missing girls and their killer, but will they find them in time? Or will the girls be forced to fight for their lives."

Even the plot summary sounds very similar to those sorority slashers of the '80s, so the crucial dilemma for The Sleeper is walking the fine line between homage and ripoff. As far as I can tell, there's no release date yet, so keep checking back for more information.

Viewer Vomit #4: Brides of Dracula

Welcome to the fourth edition of Viewer Vomit, a film club which compiles reader reviews along with my own review of a horror movie that I chose. This month, I picked Brides of Dracula as the film selection - hopefully, others will join in with links to reviews.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my take on the film, and I encourage you to join in by sending me a link to your own review of Brides of Dracula.

Brides of Dracula

In 1960 Hammer Films introduced a sequel to their successful re-envisioning of Dracula. Brides of Dracula became an offshoot that continued Dracula's legacy, but without the iconic title character played by Christopher Lee. For some, that might be a fatal flaw in Brides of Dracula, a film that lacks some of the vital presence of Lee during the more horrific scenes of vampire violence. But Peter Cushing, Hammer veteran, reprises his role as Van Helsing and swoops in to save the day yet again, an effective vampire-hunting force that rescues the damsel in distress Danielle (Yvonne Monlaur).

Brides of Dracula's set is gorgeous, with dark, brooding castles set against a backdrop of thunder and lightning. Suits of armor deck the halls, along with smooth banisters of wood and carpeted stairs. The castle is the setting that dominates much of Brides of Dracula, and it certainly captures the dreary and mysterious ambience. Chill lighting has a similar effect, and the cool colors are a perfect offset to the occasional technicolor red of the blood.

The film tends to drag in its opening scenes, a very tedious affair with Danielle staying the night in the Baroness  Meinster's (Martita Hunt) castle. Soon it becomes apparent that the Baroness has some less than amiable aims for Danielle, and Hunt's character becomes the enemy after Danielle finds a chained Baron Meinster (David Peel) locked away in his room. There's no mystery why Meinster has been delegated to the back chambers; only Danielle is airheaded enough to set him free, and once Meinster is released he quickly flies away via his bat powers, and Danielle is so shocked she passes out to be found by Van Helsing the next morning.

It's lucky for Danielle that Van Helsing happens to be in the area, because now that Meinster has escaped he begins to turn nubile ladies into vampire slaves who stand around hissing and pouting at his castle. Technically, they're not brides, and they definitely don't have a role in the film like the title suggests. But perhaps the use of bride is directed more towards Danielle, who quickly falls in love with the Baron even after she's seen the terrible power he has over his mother.

Peel is not the most dominant character of the film, and that's a problem when Meinster is supposed to be the epic vampire villain. Instead, Cushing as Van Helsing is the powerhouse, and it comes as no surprise that Meinster is as weak and insignificant as his vampiress counterparts in comparison to Van Helsing's might. There's not a good power struggle here, and that leaves the tension trickling away. It also doesn't help that Peel is missing from much of the film; there are few scenes where we see the vampire at work, and when we do, the foppish blonde hair lessens the fear factor during his physical appearances.

But the biggest drawback to Brides of Dracula is its wavering plot. The progression feels awkward and unsure of itself, as though the film's focus is continually shifting. At first, it feels wholly centered on Danielle, but after her first encounter with Meinster in the castle, she shrinks from the viewpoint as Van Helsing takes center stage. And then, after Van Helsing discovers the Baron's vampiric tendencies, she reappears as a means to taking down Meinster. The same can be said for a very strange encounter with Dr. Tobler (Miles Malleson), who appears quickly to lead Van Helsing to another bite victim and then quickly disappears after adding some out-of-place comic relief.

Slash to the Point: With all of this firmly in place, however, it still has that Hammer Horror feel to it: beautiful women, fantastic settings, and eerie introductions to the cult of Dracula. It is more flawed than others of its ilk, and the poor plotting doesn't help, but it's certainly another defining moment in a series of films that have changed the face of horror forever. But the vampirism is limited, and the influence of the original is significantly lessened. To put it simply, and tritely, it's a similar sequel with less bite.

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Viewer Vomits

• L-G-B-Terror returns for his second Viewer Vomit with his review of Brides of Dracula

Death Metal Debauchery #23: The HATE ETERNAL Edition

Erik Rutan, the lead vocalist of Hate Eternal, has had a long run in the death metal genre. His most influential band Morbid Angel began in 1984, and that gives you the sort of timeline we're working with here for Rutan's career. Hate Eternal has been around for over ten years, but their output has been limited. That is, until now, with  the release of Phoenix Amongst the Ashes, a title quite obviously meant to elicit images of that dazzling bird of re-creation equivalent with Hate Eternal's new comeback. But let's take a trip back to revel in the horrific glory of their past covers.

Engulfed in Grief / Promo 1997 (1997, Self-released)

Conquering the Throne (1999, Wicked World Records)

King of All Kings (2002, Earache Records)

I, Monarch (2005, Earache Records)

The Perilous Fight (2006, Earache Records)

Fury & Flames (2008, Metal Blade Records)

Phoenix Amongst the Ashes (2011, Metal Blade Records)