October 26th

The Walking Dead 5.13: "Forget" directed by David Boyd
Sasha's reaction to the party is exactly the same as what I would have had. When the world is still in such disarray, it's maddening to see people worrying about the same pointless garbage they used worry about before the apocalypse (e.g., pasta makers). In fact, I'd say that if there is one advantage to the end of the world, it's the chance to ditch all of society's idiotic bullshit.


Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994) directed by Wes Craven
Freddy vs. Jason XVI: A Parent's Nightmare 

Robert Englund as Freddy
14 Oct 1994

Wes Craven's best film. Yes, Part 1 is iconic. It was powerful enough to change our culture. It's the reason New Nightmare even exists. But, it's rough around the edges; the ending -- being the result of a fight between Craven and Shaye -- is not satisfying. New Nightmare feels like it is exactly the movie Craven wanted to make, and he has much worthwhile to say in it.

This is a horror movie for parents. All of Heather's nightmares involve Dylan either disappearing or in immediate danger from Freddy. All of my worst nightmares since becoming a parent are similar. But it's not just the supernatural that scares Heather (or me). What if there were something wrong with your child and you hadn't a clue on how to fix it? Worse, what if it's your fault? What if the stress in your life is affecting him? Or, what if you passed on a mental illness to your child? The little one is depending on you to fix things, but what if that can't be done or you don't have it in you?

Your child is the most important thing in the entire universe in a way that I don't believe the childless can comprehend. For this reason alone, I'm not surprised New Nightmare was the lowest-grossing Elm Street movie and that it is now only spoken of dismissively as merely a warm-up to Scream. The teenage audience that makes up the bulk of ticket sales for slasher movies cannot identify with this movie in the slightest. Myself, I caught this on opening day at the theater when I was 17. While I enjoyed the movie back then, my admiration of it has consistently grown every time I've watched it. This time, I'm the parent of a child who is the same age that Miko Hughes was during filming. Shortly after I started the film -- luckily right before Freddy's hand attacks the SFX crew, so when I paused it was on Heather's face on not a claw stabbing a chest -- my daughter wandered downstairs and told me she was too scared to sleep. Life and art, forever intertwined. Needless to say, the film affected me quite a bit this time out.

Nosferatu (1922)

This is a horror movie about the importance of horror stories. I greatly enjoy the premise of this movie: there's an ancient evil that thrives on the killing of innocents. The only way to stop this entity -- temporarily -- is to capture it in a story that it finds appealing. Once that story dies -- by becoming "too familiar, or too watered down by people trying to make it easier to sell, or it's labeled a threat to society and just plain banned" -- the entity escapes. This is an incredible perspective. What societies enjoy horror stories? Peaceful societies. If your country is involved in a civil war, you tend not to be going to the cinema to watch people get slashed to ribbons. Once you've gotten things under control -- you've captured the evil and contained it temporarily -- you're able to relax and enjoy darker stories.

New Nightmare (1994)

Why enjoy those darker stories in times of peace? Dylan gives us the answer in the movie. When Heather stops reading "Hansel and Gretel," telling him "this is too violent.  I don't know why you like these stupid old tales," Dylan insists she finishes. When she does not, he tells her the end of the story from memory. At the end of the movie, Dylan uses this story as a way to defeat Freddy. Dark stories, as Dylan says, are important. They get us thinking about what we might do should the same thing happen to us. They keep us strong and aware and prepared for the less-than-pleasant situations life puts us into. Horror is important and perhaps even vital to our ability to deal with our own existence.

It's been five years since the remake that didn't impress anyone and 12 years since Freddy vs. Jason. Freddy's mostly assuredly dead again. Has some other story captured his evil? I can't think of any monster from the past decade that could qualify on anywhere near the same level as Freddy. Perhaps The Walking Dead? Though not about a single character, the show has immense cross-cultural appeal (it's not something only horror nerds watch or read). The more I think about it, the more I think this is correct: fear of the zombie horde has captured this entity at the moment. Though, I'm fairly sure we're nearing the end of that cycle as well. What will be next? Or will he be free?

Favorite Character
Heather Langenkamp: the character of Wes Craven tells her in the film, "it was you who gave Nancy her strength." I think the real Craven believed this, too (take a listen to the commentary track for Part 1 sometime). I believe it as well.

Favorite Sin
Taking your child somewhere and forgetting their favorite stuffed toy. I can't count how many times I've done this. Dylan's reaction is calmer than my own daughter's when this has happened.

Favorite Kill
Rex (the stuffed dinosaur), who sacrifices himself to Freddy's claw to protect Dylan. Stuffed animals -- we call them "buddies" in our house -- have a near-magical power to children that they take very seriously. I'm confident my daughter's Ele would do the same for her.

Freddy's Mood
Darker, more evil.

October 1st

The Walking Dead 5.02: "Strangers" (2014) directed by David Boyd
Well, damn, I have to eat my words: the TV show did go that far. This one ends with poor Bob having his leg eaten by the few cannibals that remained from Terminus in a situation not unlike what happened to Dale in the comics. I suspect, like Dale, Bob got bit by the zombies in the food shelter basement earlier and the cannibals will become infected. Color me impressed. I'm tempted to dig into Google and see what the normal people thought of this when it originally aired. Now, if they eventually kill off the uber-popular Daryl, the showrunners will have my complete respect. Still, this show is loads better than it was during the farm / prison era.

And yet another The Wire alumnus joins the cast. I ain't complaining: that show was packed with fantastic actors. Newbie Seth Gilliam plays a suspicious priest, joining Chad L. Coleman as Tyreese and Lawrence Gilliard Jr. as poor Bob. My next Wire request: I want to see a hard-ass, grumpy John Doman in the zombieland.

October 22nd

The Walking Dead 4.05: "Internment" (2013) directed by David Boyd
Good. The end of the plague story has come early enough in the season that they can get to doing more interesting things. I'm utterly tired of seeing people coughing inside of the gray walls of the dull prison location. Gotta love how Rick splashes water over his face from a community barrel of water. They all deserve to cough up their lungs for being so stupid.


The Walking Dead 4.06: "Live Bait" (2013) directed by Michael Uppendahl
This was one of the best episodes in quite a while, likely because it was completely divorced from the folks at the prison. Instead, we follow a bearded and depressed Governor, who walks the streets not really caring what happens. He stumbles upon a family living in an apartment who've been holed up there since the SHtF thanks to a handy truck full of food. It was nice to see how other people were dealing with the apocalypse for a change, and to see the Governor as a regular person instead of a villain. I wish the show had hung out here longer.


The Walking Dead 4.07: "Dead Weight" (2013) directed by Jeremy Podeswa
Their father dead and the truck full of food nearly empty, the family leaves the safety of the apartment with the Governor as their new protector. Not having dealt with the horrors of the apocalypse, the family is complete useless out in the real world and they soon run into trouble. Luckily for them, the Governor's old pal Martinez wanders their way and they soon join Martinez's camp. The Governor discovers he just can't deal with not being the leader -- he's super-anal about security -- so, obviously, he begins to murder or threaten the other alpha males in the camp. Boo, old Governor is back.


The Walking Dead 4.08: "Too Far Gone' (2013) directed by Ernest R. Dickerson
And within the space of just 3 episodes, the Governor's return is completed with his death. Kind of a waste. On the plus side, the prison is destroyed, so I'll never have to sit through another episode in that boring place.

The Governor's pseudo-wife, carrying her dead daughter all the way to the prison in her arms to show the Governor what he has wrought... yeah, writers, you reached further than your grasp on that one. There's already a giant war going on, with Herschel getting his head chopped off and all. Lots of emotions already there. Your attempt to push it further just came off as manipulative.


The Craving (2008) directed by Sean Dillon

Wow. Another movie from my $5 Highway to Hell Collection that wasn't half bad. This one, like the horrible first film I watched from the set, is another one of those "filmed with a camcorder by a group of friends" productions that are usually painful to sit through. Surprisingly, The Craving wasn't torture. These folks seem to know what they're doing. Decent editing. Original story. Nice acting. Even an appropriate level of humor added into the horror (everyone whipping out a cellphone at the same time when they discover they're in trouble; calling shotgun for both the car and the guy with a shotgun that pops up; the guy with the broken leg letting out painful yelps as he has sex: lots of chuckles). Nice work, guys!

Their story idea is mostly pretty standard stuff. Five horny teens in a van breakdown in the middle of nowhere and have to deal with the horrors there. Except, the horror they find is fairly unique. It's kind of a demon-beast-man that only comes out at night and likes to eat people if there are no dogs handy. It also stinks very badly and it's odor is actually an addictive drug. It's so addictive, people crave it enough to want to hang out in the middle of nowhere and feed the beast puppies in order to get a whiff. Can't say I've ever seen a movie using this idea before. Love it.

Also, the movie was filmed in Desert Center, CA. The founder of that town was an interesting guy.

October 28th

Chained (2012) directed by Jennifer Lynch

I always meant to watch David Lynch's daughter's first film Boxing Helena, but never managed to get around to it.  This one she made 19 years later and tells the tale of a maniac (Vincent D'Onofrio) who kidnaps, rapes, and murders women in his out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere home.  One woman has her 9-year-old child with her and he decides to raise the kid in his own demented way.  He chains his leg, forces him to make him meals and cleanup dead bodies, and calls him Rabbit.

This is a perfect example of a movie completely ruined by its ending.  According the the IMBd trivia, there wasn't enough time and money to complete the the movie properly.  You can tell.  Towards the end, Rabbit kills the psycho and locates his father, who he hasn't seen in ten years.  Within the span of a few minutes, we find out that his dad setup the kidnapping, the psycho was his uncle, his dad is also a psycho, and his dad's new wife is unaware of all of this.  Rabbi then fights with and kills his father.  His father's new wife instantly believes Rabbit's in the right during all of this -- though she'd never seen the kid before and he husband is dying on the floor -- and allows him to escape.  Yeah... what?  None of this was setup in the film before the last ten minutes.  It comes out of nowhere and slaps you in the face.  Awful.

Watched: DVD from Anchor Bay.

The Walking Dead 3.13: "Arrow on the Doorpost" (2013) directed by David Boyd
The entire episode is mostly a tense meeting between Rick and the Governor.  Rick wants to divide their territory using a river between them and the Gov just wants Michonne.  As the audience, it's mostly us wondering if Rick will be dumb enough to believe the Gov's offer.  Also, mighty generous of the prison folk to have Rick handle the negotiations when the guy was recently was running around with zombies chasing the ghost of his wife.


The Walking Dead 3.14: "Prey" (2013) directed by Stefan Schwartz
Woodbury continues to prepare for war.  Tyreese finally gets a little more screentime, but the guy such a wimp at this point.  In the early comics, he was the other alpha male competing with Rick to lead the group (instead of Shane, who was killed far earlier).  While not very believable, the Gov's stalking of Andrea was pretty fun in a slasher kind of way.

Just some more build-up for the finale.  I suspect the next episode will be the war preparations on the prison side of the things and nothing will really happen on the show until the last few minutes.  Such is life with a limited budget.

October 22nd

Taxidermia (2006) directed by György Pálfi

Though tagged with a "horror" label in both IMDb and Netflix, this is not a horror movie.  It has horrific imagery in it, sure.  The scene at the end that poster to the right references could be inserted into a new Aftermath sequel without anyone questioning.  But, the movie's purpose is not to horrify.  The film seems to be most interested in commenting on Hungarian society as it has changed over the years by following three generations of not-so-normal men.

I'm afraid I don't know know much about Hungary.  Capital is Budapest, former Eastern Bloc country, birthplace of Zsa Zsa, inventors of goulash.  That's about it.  That ain't anywhere near enough knowledge to understand what this movie is trying to say about Hungary's transformation from empire to communist regime to republic.  Given the characters -- a horny military man who resorts to relations with a recently slaughtered pig, an obese competitive eating champion, and a taxidermist -- I'm sure the satire is biting and hilarious to Hungarians.

I suspect most non-Hungarians are in the same boat as me while watching the movie.  I would guess that the weird characters and grotesque imagery are what attract foreign audiences to watch this film.  The aforementioned Aftermath-like scene at the end is incredible.  In it, taxidermist Lajoska places himself in a machine of his own devising in order to practice his craft on himself.  Using -- what I hope was -- slaughterhouse renderings, Pálfi shows us an extreme close-up of Lajoska carefully extracting all of the organs from his own abdomen.  It's bloodless, but it's also clearly real flesh that is being sliced and retracted and dumped on the floor.  The lighting and editing and angles used make this process quite beautiful.  Once finished, he sews himself shut and turns on the final portion of his machine, which slices both his head and right arm off.  Later, his taxidermied corpse is displayed in a museum.  I'm sure it all means something, but it was interesting as hell to watch even without knowing what.

Watched: DVD from E1.

The Walking Dead 2.06: "Secrets" (2011) directed by David Boyd
More searching for Sofia and more lazy days at Hershel's farm.  At least they finally get around to training people to use guns so we can finally find out that Andrea is a natural shot.  Carl seems to have recovered suspiciously fast.  Maybe tell the Chandler Riggs to wince in pain every once in a while to remind us that Carl was seriously wounded and almost died not so long ago?  Norman Reedus could give him tips.


The Walking Dead 2.07: "Pretty Much Dead Already" (2011) directed by Michelle MacLaren
Season two seems to be following the general flow of the comics -- not the plot -- by having long periods of not-too-much-happening broken up by shocking events.  I think it works OK.  The not-too-much-happening episodes never fail to have at least one cool zombie and the shocking episodes tend to change events enough from the comics enough so that I'm surprised by them.  Just like this episode.  In the comics, Sophia is a long-time survivor who now calls Glenn and Maggie her parents.  But, I have to admit, she's probably not necessary to keep around at this point.  Carl's the kid who's character is interesting to follow.  And, having Rick shoot the zombified Sophia in this episode should have more interesting implications for the show as they deal with its impact.

This event and Hershel's insistence that the zombies are just sick people also opens up the potential to discus my favorite topic from the comic.  What are Rick and the gang becoming?  Should they be so comfortable blowing away people, even if those people are kinda, sorta dead?  Are they losing their humanity by becoming numb to the massive amount of killing they need to do?  Hopefully, the show will begin to explore this for the later half of this season.