Amanda Norman
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"Take This Lollipop:" Interactive Horror Ap Tops 5 Million Hits
OH MY GOD!
Fancy being stalked on Facebook by a psycho madman who stalks you, your friends, family and nothing can stop him?
With Halloween just around the corner, Take This Lollipop is going to FREAK YOU OUT!
(Oct 22) A week before Halloween, the Facebook horror application Take This Lollipop (the brainchild of director Jason Zada and starring actor Bill Oberst Jr.) has topped 5 million unique hits to become the most-watched interactive horror project in web history.
Take This Lollipop offers users who connect via their Facebook account the experience of entering the lair of a disturbing cyber-stalker (played by Oberst) who peruses their friends list, pictures and location in a frightening demonstration of internet privacy concerns. The interactive video has the look and feel of a big-budget horror film. Take This Lollipop, and Oberst’s performance in it, have been compared to the original SAW in fan comments online.
Director Jason Zada, who shot the project with Oberst at the abandoned Linda Vista Hospital in LA (a popular and reputedly haunted LA horror film location) said in interviews on Friday for that it was all in scary fun. "I’m a huge fan of horror and Halloween…I felt it was a great opportunity to focus on Halloween and mix it with the underlying fear of privacy that we have nowadays with Facebook and other social networking sites," Zada said. "I’ve had this idea in my head for awhile and the talent came together at just the right time…from the perfect collaboration with my developer, Jason Nickel, to the ideal actor."
As for Oberst, being the most visible horror actor on the web just before Halloween has led to both professional interest and personal satisfaction. "I’m getting e-mails from all over the world," he said "and the reviews are fun to read (one said I looked like ‘a malnourished Daniel Craig.’) My dad was happy to see me mentioned in Forbes and The New York Times….but most fun of all, kids have been posting great vids of themselves ‘taking the lollipop’ on YouTube. But I can’t take any credit for the performance. Jason Zada is a truly great director. If my performance creeps folks out the credit for that should go to Jason and his team. This was his vision. I’m just happy to have played a small part in it."
As of press time Take This Lollipop.com was approaching a million Facebook "likes" in addition to over 5 million unique URL hits. Oberst will next be seen as the leader of a desert cult in director Jourdan McClure‘s feature film CHILDREN OF SORROW and has just been attached as lead to horror screenwriter Cheryl Compton’s script EVIL’S TOY, in which a young woman obsessed with a Ouija Board unwittingly releases a demon via the world of social networking.
TAKE THIS LOLLIPOP
Official Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xBA0mpWuuo
Official Site: www.takethislollipop.com
A Haunting in Salem
A Haunting in Salem, based on true events was made available online (DVD Region 1, Blu-Ray and 3-D TV ) on October 4th 2011. Unfortunately, I can’t review it as I’m in the UK, but hopefully it will be available over here soon. If you’ve watched it, please let me know what you thought of it.
Plot Synopsis: When the new Sheriff of Salem, Massachusetts discovers that he is the victim of a centuries old curse, he must protect his family from the vengeful ghosts that torment his home.
As you probably already know, I’m such a HUGE fan of classic horror and it’s not often that we get new films to rave about these days. Most film makers love to cater for fans who love blood, gore and torture and add lots of CGI effects and terror for added effect, but they forget that there are people out there who can’t watch it. I love to be scared by the unknown and the ‘what if’ element. I want to watch a film where the director or producer concentrates on creating the perfect scene that is full of atmosphere and together with clever lighting and brilliant acting, the audience are left in a state of dreaded anticipation.
When was the last time you watched a scary movie and you were actually worried about turning the light off when settling down for sleep?
The unknown is terrifying to some of us. Haunted houses, ghosts, demons, vampires and poltergeists, do the thought of these existing scare you?
Don’t tell me that if a doll suddenly opened it’s eyes and stared at you blankly that you wouldn’t shit yourself!
I could list a lot of films from the late 70’s early 80’s like The Exorcist, Amityville Horror or The Entity for example that scared me when I was younger and I want to be scared again. Will A Haunting in Salem scare me?
This film stars my friend Bill Oberst Jr as the Sheriff of Salem who is the victim of evil forces. Bill told me….
The plot synopsis on the DVD cover is pretty accurate: it is a classic haunted-house movie with a nod to AMITYVILLE HORROR and a little of America’s grisly history of persecuting "witches" mixed in. The location was an old house in Pasadena and it was indeed creepy to film there…the rooms had wood panelling and high ceilings with massive old furniture and even a slightly creaky staircase. It was deliciously creepy and people who make horror films like that vibe anyway, so we all had a lot of fun. One scene filmed outdoors at night where I find a victim gave me the creeps for real. Sometimes scenes filmed at night seem real and you forget there is a camera. Walking barefoot around an old garden with a flashlight and whispering at midnight…it felt pretty darned real! Here is The Asylum’s page on the film: http://www.theasylum.cc/product.php?id=190
I’m intrigued to know what you thought of the film if you’ve watched it, so please get in touch.
Bill Oberst Jr Classic Horror Rosary
Some weeks ago I was very lucky to interview Bill Oberst Jr who is a horror actor based in LA. Click here to read the interview, because you need to know why I believe that he will become a horror icon.
Bill has kindly offered to model some of my classic horror inspired jewellery and therefore I’ve designed the perfect rosary for him that features gorgeous red skulls with Swarovski crystals. I’ve also named it the Bill Oberst Jr Classic Horror Rosary and more information about that rosary can be found by clicking here.
I’m currently waiting on some more Haematite crosses and as soon as I get them, I will create some more. If you would like one, simply contact me to pre-order yours now. I will have some available shortly that will have a cross made out of red Jasper, which will look just as good.
I can’t wait to get the photographs of Bill modelling this necklace and the Peruvian skull and bones leather necklace that I created today. Of course I will publish them once received.
Review of The Funhouse 1981
Watching Funhouse was like stepping back in time and remembering what it was like to have a sleepover with your friends while watching a horror movie to scare yourself silly.
The Funhouse, directed by Tobe Hooper, who I immediately associate with Salem’s Lot, is one of those typical 80’s horror movies about two teenage couples who dare to do something totally stupid, and you know that only one of them will survive. Yes you guessed it! They spend the night in a funhouse and once they realise that they’re in danger, they find themselves locked in.
I think I really liked this film due to the memories I have as a teenager watching such movies. Of course it’s not on a level with the likes of Halloween or The Exorcist, but there’s something amusing about it. I always find carnivals creepy and you don’t really know what lurks amongst those wagons in the dead of the night. In fact, I’d love to visit one at night with my camera to catch the creepy atmosphere of it, but I wouldn’t do it alone. Hell no!
What was even better about this film was the fact that Luke and I had the wonderful and funny company of Mr HorrorExtreme himself, Steve. He told us such a funny story, that I will remember Funhouse for all the wrong reasons.
It’s worth watching, but don’t expect to be scared and why was that little boy in the movie?
Finally, if any of you have read Richard Laymon’s book titled ‘Funhouse’, the book wins big time and this film isn’t based on the book.