Happy Belated Birthday Edgar Allan Poe!

I didn't really forget... I just forgot to post anything.  With great sadness I report that it looks like the great tradition of the Edgar Allan Poe "toaster" has officially ended.  Check out the story at the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/edgar-allan-poe-toaster-tradition-is-no-more/2012/01/19/gIQAOQUBBQ_blog.html

Maybe someday another person will take up the mantle.

For those of you who love Poe there is a wealth of really good animation out there based on his poems.  I particularly like this one: James Mason narrates!  Enjoy......

Rare book review: Harbor

My rare book reviews are becoming not so rare anymore.  You haven't heard from me in while because I have been trying to finish John Ajvide Lindqvist's massive Harbor.  Lindqvist is the author of Let the right one in and Handling the Undead.  He is the hottest export from Sweden since Stieg Larsson (by the way, I just saw David Fincher's version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Is is horrible to admit I liked it better than the Swedish version?  I did.  A couple of reasons.  Although she annoys me, Rooney Mara does an excellent job as Lisbeth.  You really believe she may be psychotic.  I also loved the score but that has more to do with me being totally obsessed with Trent Reznor than anything else.  Finally, the opening credit sequence is bananas!) 

Confession. I read Let the right one in, but I never read Handling the Undead, which I hear is very good.  I only have Let the right one in to compare Harbor to.  And that is tough, because in my humble opinion, Let the right one in is a masterpiece.  Harbor, not so much.

Things start well.  Our hero, Anders, grew up on the island of Domaro.  Most people on the island, including his father, earned their living from the sea.  As an adult Anders returns to his father's cottage with his wife Cecilia and his precocious 6 year old daughter Maja.  During a visit to the lighthouse, Maja disappears, never to be found.  The tragedy destroys Anders and Cecilia's marriage and turns him into a not so functioning alcoholic.

A few years later, Anders returns to Domaro.  He is haunted by the memory of his daughter.  Soon, he becomes haunted by something much more sinister.  Trying to help Anders is Simon, his Grandmother's boyfriend.  Simon is a former magician who settled on the island.  Simon harbors a few secrets himself, not the least of which is a slimy slug that he keeps in a matchbox in his pocket.  This slug, called the "spiritus", needs Simon's saliva to survive.  It also controls water, which is a handy trick on an island. 

Simon and Anders discover that everyone keeps secrets on this island, and little Maja is not the first to disappear.  Anders begins a quest to find his daughter, whom he believes is another prisoner of Domaro.

Lindqvist has been called Sweden's Stephen King.  I didn't see the connection when I read Let the right one in, but I do with Harbor.  Like King, Lindqvist is a master of communicating a sense of place, not only geographical (although at the end of this book I felt I could navigate Domaro with no problem) but a sense of place with people.  As King does with so many of his novels, Lindqvist really creates a world that you feel you grew up in.  You get to know every character, and how the land they grew up on shaped who they became.  I welcomed every flashback, as it gave me a better sense of Domaro and the fascinating characters that inhabit it.

The sea is as much a character here as the island and its inhabitants.  The sea gives life and prosperity, but it also demands an unthinkable toll.  Reading Harbor I was not only reminded of King, but of H.P. Lovecraft and his Old Ones.  There is evil lurking in the sea, and it is not until the end that is shows itself.  It has the same respect for humans as Lovecraft's Gods do. 

So where does Harbor go wrong?  It sounds pretty good so far, right?  I get the feeling that Lindqvist lost interest about halfway through the book.  The ideas are interesting but the execution is lacking.  I hate to say it but I didn't quite understand the ending.  I had to go back and reread the last 30 pages just to make sure I didn't miss anything.   There is no emotional payoff, and the characters themselves don't even seem to be too interested in what has occurred.  My favorite character, Simon, gets pushed to the side and Anders just starts to piss me off.  At the end I really didn't care whether or not he found Maja.  I was so disappointed that a book I really enjoyed for the first 300 pages turned into such a disapointment. 

I am am looking forward to Lindqvist's next book.  He is an excellent writer.  I just hope the next one ends as well as this one began.  Now I am going to watch Let the right one in, which I did enjoy much more than the American remake.  Why don't you enjoy the opening credits for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. 

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil

 

 

I literally have nothing to say about this film except that it is AWESOME!  It is my favorite Shaun of the Dead type film since........Shaun of the Dead.  If you love Deliverance, Wrong Turn, The Hills have Eyes, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Offspring, or ANY of the Friday the 13th opus, you will love Tucker & Dale vs. Evil.    It is on Netflix streaming.  What is stopping you?

OK, it could have used some cannibalism.  My only complaint.  You know how I love Hillbilly cannibals. 

Happy Friday the 13th!!!!

Don't be sad good buddy!  It's Friday the 13th!!!!

Give Blue a chance....

Thanks TMZ!

Day of the Dead 1985: Revisited

Many thanks to ZOMBIEPEDIA for background info on Day of the Dead.  Check it out for all of your zombie related needs!

My local Rasputin's Music and DVD store just closed and I was lucky enough to snatch up a treasure trove of horror discs including George A Romero's Day of the Dead.  Of course I had seen Day before.  It is part of the Holy Trilogy after all (the other Holy Trilogy.) 

Like many others, Day of the Dead has been my least favorite of the first three dead films (of the total 6, my least favorite was and is Survival of the Dead.  Maybe in 20 years I will like it, but I doubt it.)  By "least favorite" I don't mean I ever disliked it: it just wasn't as scary as Night of the Living Dead or as awesome as Dawn of the Dead (do I have to explain why Dawn is awesome?  I don't think so!)  Day has it's charms, mainly Joe Pilato's crazy performance, Tom Savini's makeup and gore, and, of course, Bub.

Who doesn't love Bub?  What an amazing performance by Howard Sherman (aka Sherman Howard) and incredible make-up by Savini.  Bub is the first Zombie I have ever rooted for! 

  Day is claustrophobic, gloomy, and surreal.  From the setting, an underground bunker that is still half rock, to the cavern of Zombies, separated from the survivors by a wooden fence, the world of Day a tomb.  The inhabitants, a mix of scientists and military types, rightly worry that they may be the last survivors.  They are also totally crazy or halfway there.

Day would seem to suggest that there is little hope for humanity.  Indeed, the real monsters here are the power hungry Rhodes and the delusional Dr. Logan (aka Frankenstein), who has given up trying to "cure" the Zombies and instead is trying to tame them. 

Yes, strangely enough, Day of the Dead has a pretty optimistic ending.  Sarah, the final girl, escapes with the two remaining non crazy people in the bunker and ends up on a tropical beach.  True, they are not out of danger, but it beats having to hang out with Joe Pilato!  Romero has called Day his favorite of the first three Dead films.  Although I can't quite agree with him on this one, I do have to say I found it scary and compelling.  I like what he does with Bub and the whole Frankenstein angle.  The sense of claustrophobia and doom are overwhelming at times (my favorite part of Zombie films) and I think the performances are really good, particularly Sherman, Lori Cardille (Sarah) and Terry Alexander (John, the new Flyboy.)  Then there is Joe Pilato: crazier and scarier than any Zombie!  I really love him in this film: especially when he yells "choke on em" as he is being ripped apart! 

Go Bub!!!  I wonder: could he really have lived that long after being pulled apart?  And what is Pilato made of?  Jelly?

Happy New Year! and: The Howling.

Happy New Year everyone!  Or as some like to think of it: Happy End of Days!  Whatever your preference I hope 2012 is a good one.  I am not one to be sentimental but I am pretty sure 1/1/12 was the 5 year anniversary of my blogging career!  Yes, what started out of sheer boredom and a way to distract myself from a wicked hangover has become become my number one hobby!  So thank you kind readers who put up with my misspellings and lazy dependence on swear words to express emotion!  I hope to bring you much more horror in the years to come!

And now on to another well plotted and structured review (not really).  Fangoria recently did a two issue spread on Joe Dante's The Howling, also known as the "the film usually overshadowed by An American Werewolf in London".  Both films came out the same year (1981), both share a similar theme (Werewolf! There! Wolf!), both are infused with humor (John Landis, better known for comedy, directed An American Werewolf in London), and both feature kick ass special effects!!  Yet, The Howling is treated like Werewolf's less attractive little sister!  I am guilty of thinking this as well.  In fact, I can't say with certainty I had ever seen The Howling before.  I remember the weird sequel with the marsupials, but I don't remember the original.  Thanks to Fangoria I have remedied this situation and and I can proudly say that that An American Werewolf in London IS a better picture! But The Howling is pretty damn good as well.

"I am prettier than David Naughton"

Karen White (Dee Wallace) is a television journalist about to uncover the identity of a notorious serial killer.  When the big reveal doesn't go quite as planned, Karen suffers a bout of post-traumatic stress disorder.  The television station's psychologist (?) recommends that she spend a few days at "The Colony," his retreat center set in the woods.  Karen heads out there with her husband Bill.

Who drives like this?

Meanwhile, Karen's friend and co-worker Terri (Belinda Balaski) researches the life of Eddie Quist, the serial killer now presumed dead.  This is old school research, before the Internet!  They actually go to a bookstore!  Terri and her producer boyfriend Chris (Dennis Dugan) discover that Eddie may have been a werewolf! Meanwhile, Karen discovers that her husband is probably sleeping with the local whore Marsha (Elizabeth Brooks) and that everyone at The Colony may be a werewolf!!!  Coincidence?  I think not!!

Cut to Rob Bottin's transformation sequence.  If you read this blog regularly you know I LOVE Rob Bottin!  And his work here is amazing!  The sequence is similar to Rick Baker's work in An American Werewolf in London but not as famous. I think the transformation is better in Werewolf.  The makeup is incredible, Landis shot it perfectly, and David Naughton sold the hell out of it.  But don't discount The Howling.  Bottin is a genius, and I was surprised at how effective the transformation was, especially the final one at the end.

The Howling, although not really scary, has a lot going for it.  There is a great chase sequence in the middle, some nice gore, and plenty of sight gags and cameos to keep a horror hound interested.  My favorites include cameos by Roger Corman and Forrest J. Ackerman, and bit parts played by horror heroes such as Dick Miller (Bucket of Blood) and John Carradine (practically every horror film ever made.)  When you watch it, keep an eye open for the numerous "wolf" references Dante scattered throughout the film.  Next, I watch the sequel, which I think is the one with the marsupials and I know is the one with an interesting closing credit sequence.