Amanda Norman
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Classic Horror
Paranormal Activity 2
I watched Paranormal Activity 2 last night and I must say that for a sequel, this was VERY GOOD! In fact, it’s just as good, if not better than the original.
The first loud bang really made me jump, but I’ve learned now not to be holding a hot cuppa when watching movies since freaking out once at Halloween and the coffee went all over me. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been stoned at the time.
When the movie finished, even though Luke was with me, I was very apprehensive and worried about walking down my long, long hallway that descends into darkness. Luke told me that I’m not watching movies like that again, but it goes to show how good this movie is.
So my question is, why do most people state that it’s a load of rubbish?
Perhaps it wasn’t that good watching it in a cinema or perhaps it’s because today, a persons appetite for horror has gone beyond the bounds of classic horror and it’s reality horror with torture, blood and guts that is required to satisfy?
I really don’t know the answer, so feel free to tell me.
Personally, I love classic horror and I find films about ghosts, supernatural, demons to be bloody scary in case they do exist. It’s the unknown that fuels my appetite and I’ve experienced reality horror in my life time and I don’t want to be reminded of it. Perhaps people who love these torture films haven’t experienced true horror?
I got half way through Wolf Creek and I couldn’t take it anymore and had to turn it off. OH MY GOD! The film was so intense and well made, but I couldn’t watch that a minute longer.
Perhaps I’m from a generation that was brought up on Hammer Horror and sneakily watching films like The Exorcist, The Entity and Amityville as a teenager that truly terrified me. If this is the case, what will future generations be like after watching movies like, Hostel, The Human Centipede, Saw? In case you’re wondering, no I haven’t watched them and I don’t intend on doing either.
Marchlands
Has anyone been watching Marchlands that is currently showing on ITV1?
Although not scary, it is a very good ghost drama that is quite apprehensive when you see the young lad fitting when the ghost of Alice appears. I love this drama because Alex Kingston’s character is in true denial of the existence of ghosts and can’t bear to think that her daughter is being haunted. For more information about Marchlands, visit the website by clicking here.
Classic Horror To Come
Wake Wood
I can’t wait for Wake Wood, a Hammer film that will be released in the UK on March 25 2011. It has already been described as ‘an instant folk horror classic’.
Synopsis
Still grieving the death of their only child Alice at the jaws of a crazed dog, vet Patrick and pharmacist Louise relocate to the remote town of Wake Wood where a local pagan ritual gives them three more precious days with her… but what will they do when it’s time for their new daughter to go back?
Further information about the film can be found on the Hammer Films website by clicking here.
The Woman in Black (2011)
Synopsis
Produced by Talisman Films in association with Hammer Films
The story follows a young lawyer, Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe), who is ordered to travel to a remote village and sort out a recently deceased client’s papers. As he works alone in the client’s isolated house, Kipps begins to uncover tragic secrets, his unease growing when he glimpses a mysterious woman dressed only in black. Receiving only silence from the locals, Kipps is forced to uncover the true identity of the Woman in Black on his own, leading to a desperate race against time when he discovers her true intent.
For further information about this film can be found on the Hammer Films website by clicking here.
The Horror of Thrill Kill
Every time I ask someone ‘Did you ever play Thrill Kill?’ the majority of times they have no clue what I’m speaking about.
Thrill Kill was a Sony Playstation game banned due to the violent fight scenes. I thought it was bloody excellent and it’s the only fight game I’ve ever played. It had characters like the following: -
- Nurses oozing sex appeal that will kill you in an instant.
- A mad doctor figure that will slice you up with his razor blade.
- A scary devil character on stilts.
The game was mental, but such good fun. Question is, do you remember it?
Legends of the Night TV Series
Recently, I was contacted by Karl White regarding a new television series that focuses on the old legends and classic monsters of long ago.
I was so excited to hear that someone is focusing on the tales that made classic horror what it is, that I decided to interview Karl to find out more about him and his TV show, Legends of the Night.
Please introduce yourself to my readers.
My name is Karl White, and I am the creator/writer of Legends of the Night. I have a BFA in Film Directing and have worked in TV for the last 5 years. I’m an avid movie fan, any genre as long as it has a compelling story and well developed characters. Of course I am a horror fan as well, but tend to lean a bit more towards the classic monster movies of the 1930’s and the Hammer films of the 50’s and 60’s.
I have a love of Gothic Horror and essentially films/stories that focus on the unknown and whether or not creatures and ghosts exist. I personally believe that a lot of modern horror concentrates on torture, blood and gore and I hate to think that future generations will be brought up on this material and lose out on the old legends. Do you agree?
I absolutely agree! There seems to be no subtlety any more in storytelling. It IS all blood and gore and somehow that’s representative of what horror is supposed to be. Horror, at it’s core, comes from oral histories, folk tales and cautionary tales. Hundreds even thousands of years ago people would sit around and tell stories about things that lived in the dark. It was a way to explain things, a way to keep people in check and as time went on it evolved. Horror turned into entertainment and as we sit today, it is just a way for movies studios and TV networks to make money. They don’t care whether the story entertains or if there is a message or meaning behind it. I guess I take issue with that. I don’t just want cheap scare after cheap scare. I want stories that build, characters that jump off the screen at me and something compelling that I walk away from thinking about the next day. There is nothing like that being made right now.
What are your influences and inspirations for Legends of the Night?
I’ve been inspired by so many things, it’s hard to fit it all into one answer. I looked to other anthology series as templates: The Twilight Zone, Tales from the Crypt, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Amazing Stories and of course Hammer House of Horror. But what has influenced the writing of Legends of the Night the most is my love of movies/stories outside of the genre of horror, carefully crafted dramas, tension inducing thrillers, intelligent and suspenseful sci-fi, if it’s good, it has influenced LOTN. What I’ve tried to do is build stories that blur the lines between the genres with the horror/creature element being the one thing that unifies them. There’s no chronology to the stories and each one takes place in different periods in time, set in locations all over the world. One episode could be the story of a person under control of a Vampire, force to do unspeakable things, set in contemporary Los Angeles. The next week’s show could take place in 15th century England with villagers trying to defend themselves against murderous Red Caps. The week after that could be a Samurai in Feudal Japan who is attacked by a werewolf and now faces the struggle that he is slowly becoming one himself. Those are just a few examples of show stories; I have 90 episodes laid out as of right now so I’m sure you can image the depths of subject matter and themes that I explore.
Legends of the Night is a television series, but what channels/networks will it be available on and will it be worldwide?
LOTN is still a written product, I am seeking a network. I would love for it to be a worldwide phenomenon, but that is where it gets tricky. Cable networks like HBO or Showtime are good platforms for that and they treat anthology shows pretty well. But I’ve also entertained the thought of producing it with Microsoft X-box or Netflix or Blockbuster or Amazon and make it a platform show for them – available to an international audience instantaneously. On-demand is where TV is heading so why not make that a starting point.
Any well-known personalities on board?
No one yet, but the undeniable quality to previous anthology series that cannot be ignored, is a host to provide insight to storylines and mythology. It would also help brand Legends of the Night as a unified entity, despite the changing subject matter, much as Alfred Hitchcock did with Alfred Hitchcock Presents. My short list includes: Rob Zombie, Danny Trejo, Josh Brolin, Tom Savini, Ving Rhames and Brian Cox.
Who will be writing the material?
The source material has all been written by me, I think that will help with keeping the stories a consistent quality. As far as the episode scripts, I would love to explore new and emerging writing talent or veteran screenwriters out of the horror genre who want to work on projects outside of their expertise.
Where do you see yourself in 1 years time?
Hopefully preparing to air the first season of Legends of the Night!
How can people get involved with your work and find out more?
Well first and foremost go to the website www.legendsofthenight.com
Sign the online petition, tell your friends, help make the show a reality. I am also working on a graphic novel series to act as a companion to the show. It will explore some of the mythology of behind LOTN and possibly spin-off some of the characters filling in their back stories. Don’t have any date on that, but keep a look out.
The Last Exorcism Review by Amanda Norman
It freaked me out!
The last time I was freaked out after watching a horror movie was when I was about 12 years old and I was introduced to Mr Barlow from Salem’s Lot. If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you will know by now that I have a bit of an obsession about him. I begged my sisters and my mother to sleep in their bed with them after seeing him and I cried when they told me to grow up.
27 years later and I watched The Last Exorcism the other night and thankfully I wasn’t alone otherwise I would have totally freaked out.
Horror films that have a theme of blood, gore and torture don’t do it for me. In fact, the tension and horror is too much that I have to turn them off. I can’t stand them and I wonder what future generations will be like when they don’t have horror movies that rely on your imagination to terrify.
The Last Exorcism has had mixed reviews and I think that it’s one of those films that either you love or hate. Personally, I enjoyed it, though at first I did have doubts with the shaky camera and documentary style of the phony priest telling us why exorcisms are mostly scams, why he scammed people and the offer of showing us all how easy it is to con people in distress.
The priest, Cotton Marcus is played by Patrick Fabian and funnily enough he reminds me of a real life individual who I won’t name. He’s so cheesy and such a con artist that you sit there waiting for him to get what’s coming to him. The more involved he gets with his final exorcism, the more you find yourself beginning to feel sorry for him and then you find yourself wishing he would just leave. Then he leaves, but he makes the mistake in turning around and heading back. This is such good character writing!
The whole idea of being possessed by a demon scares me, because I don’t want to find out if it’s true. The only way I would find out for sure is if I experienced it and quite frankly, you can forget that! I don’t want my head to spin and be in the flames of Hell while a demon makes my body bend in unimaginable ways and makes my throat bulge to the point of almost bursting.
There’s one scene in the film where the demon starts breaking the girls fingers, one by one. Oh God NO!
Yes, I’m such a mard arse, but it’s films like these that I really enjoy. Films that play on your mind, allowing the viewer to scare themselves or as much as their imagination will allow. The scenes of being hacked to death in the film, you don’t need to see the evidence of being hacked do you? Let your imagination do that.
Some say that the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre was so good due to the psychological element of it. Ask yourself a question, do you actually see the chainsaw cutting into the bodies? Tobe Hooper the director was skilled in allowing the viewer to imagine that.
Actress Ashley Bell who plays the possessed teenager Nell Sweetzer is astonishingly scary. Her eyes and evil expression unnerved me to the point where I did almost chicken out and switch off the film. She’s a brilliant actress and I reckon there’s more to come from her. I wonder if she scared herself playing the role of a possessed teenager?
Oh well, as I write this I’m on my own and it’s dark. Wish me luck as I’m about to walk out into the long dark hallway…
ON MY OWN!
Please visit the films official website for lots more information http://www.thelastexorcism.com