In addition to the usual reviews and comments you would find on a horror movie blog, this is also a document of the wonderfully vast horror movie section of the video store I worked at in my youth.
Carrying on from Monday’s post, it seems fitting to continue on with the Stephen King theme for this week’s Coverbox Wednesday. I showcased covers from his early works last year and stated then that it would likely be the first of many, considering how many of his stories have been adapted for the silver screen. To see the first edition, click here. Okay, here we go.
Technically the last two were TV movies, but we had 'em, so they're up there. See that? Twenty titles in and we barely cracked the nineties. I sense a three-peat in the future.
I’ve always got some reading material on the go, but with all the other media available to me, it does tend to spend more time on my bedside table than in my hands. Recently though, I did manage to absorb Stephen King’s new short story collection Just After Sunset.
Just After Sunset is a collection of thirteen stories, most of which were written in the last five years or so. Here’s a rundown of some of the more notable ones.
My favourite is still The Gingerbread Girl. I read it in its original form in the July 2007 issue of Esquire and it is a true page turner; definitely up there with some of his best short fiction. There’s a woman… running… from a maniac. That’s all you need to know.
Stationary Bike is one of those stories where you read it and think ‘Man, this is an idea only ol’ Steve could come up with.’ Everything about it, from the characters – real and imagined – to the narrative just screams King. This tale, about a man’s daydreams while riding his exercise bike, left me as hypnotised as the protagonist within.
Even armed with his magical imagination, King is still just an ordinary man and was affected as much as anyone by the events of 9/11. The Things They Left Behind is perhaps his way of dealing with that emotional baggage. It tells the story of a man who played hookie from work that day thus surviving the tragedy. However, in doing so, he becomes the bearer of an unwanted responsibility. Another shorter story in Sunset called Graduation Afternoon shares a similar theme of mass destruction, as well.
The story N, previously unpublished, is probably the most eerie of the bunch. Using some elements from his previous works, the format of Skeleton Crew’s Survivor Type (except instead of diary entries, the narrative is made up of correspondence and transcribed psychiatric sessions) and the spellbinding essence of Everything's Eventual's 1408, it tells of an acute and obsessive descent into madness.
There are a few ones I didn’t care for, however. Willa I pretty much had figured out five pages in – which is a rarity with King’s work – and A Very Tight Place was kind of an excessively gross retelling of Night Shift’s The Ledge, but not nearly as engaging. Overall though, Just After Sunset is a solid read, with quality bite-sized pieces of King that can be easily consumed in multiple sittings. An an aside, for the release of the book, the publishers ran an online competition. They asked for a trailer for the story The Gingerbread Girl and the winner is below. Congrats be to Red Clark; this is great stuff.
Oh, and there is one last thing I’d like to address while on the subject of Stephen King. Last year, I had made allusions to the fact I was making my way through The Dark Tower series. Well, I did and it was great, but I found it difficult to post something about it when I was finally at the other end of the tunnel. It’s a fantastic series that even gets meta-physical toward its conclusion and makes you think about how real world events (namely King’s accident in 1999) affected the outcome of his ‘white whale’ epic. It is truly mind-boggling how he worked in almost every single one of his books into the Dark Tower universe. I heard some people hated the ending, but I had a problem with neither (because there are actually two) of them. I just wanted to mention that I did get through it and it was immensely fulfilling. It was extremely cumbersome at some points, but well worth the time and effort. Hile gunslinger!
Sundance wraps up today and there has been sizable buzz about a few genre picks in the last ten days or so. Last week, new stuff was released about Paul Solet’s new flick Grace starring Jordan Ladd. This movie, about a mother and her unusual child, sounds pretty effed up. And why not? Is there any stronger bond than a lioness for her cub? Consider this and Dead Snow now on my short list. Check out the new Grace teaser below.
Happy Birthday John
Something I forgot to mention last week was that it was John Carpenter’s birthday on the 16th. Mr. Carpenter has been pretty quiet of late. Apart from a couple of Masters of Horror episodes, it’s been almost ten years since we’ve seen anything from the man. His next project Riot – which I believe has recently been renamed Scared Straight – about a bunch of juvenile delinquents trapped inside a prison during a riot, is in production now. From what I’ve heard it definitely has a Precinct 13/Escape From New York vibe to it, so that is reason enough to get excited. Happy 61st John!
I hadn’t watched CSI for a while because I guess I’d sort of got out of the habit of DVR-ing it. Maybe it was getting a little stale; maybe I was miffed they got rid of Jessica Lucas, who appeared in a few episodes as newbie Ronnie Lake (as a replacement for Jorja Fox - they ended up bringing in Lauren Lee Smith instead though). Last week was the big Grissom’s exit episode, so I tuned in for that (which also had an appearance by Katheryn Winnick) and got hooked in again.
So, Langston (played by new cast member Laurence Fishburne) and Adams are searching this teenager’s room for stolen property and what catches my eye?
There’s Rue Morgue stuff plastered all over the walls.
I’d be interested to know the story behind this. Was it a situation where the set dressers were like ‘okay, we need stuff for the walls… let’s make the kid into horror, someone go online and get some.’ Was Rue Morgue the first thing that came up in Google? I find it funny because a lot of these posters (the FOF’08, the Pharaoh party) are for events in Toronto that this character, being in Vegas, would have likely not attended. Regardless, it is pretty sweet to see Rue Morgue exposed to a larger audience. I know that over the last decade RM founder Rod Gudino has built himself a sizable media empire, but to me Rue Morgue is still that little Toronto magazine that could. I’ve been seeing these guys at the same events for years and most of them are pretty cool cats.
It was just a nice little surprise that added an extra element to my evening.
I’ve been talking a lot about movie theatres lately. With the blackout last week, my 3-D experience and yesterday’s movie-within-a-movie slasher, it only makes sense that they have been on my mind. It started me thinking that cinemas are somewhat strange places. They are dark, loud and cramped with limited access points. Things can happen around you and you would not even be aware of it. Having said that, is it no surprise that several horror movies have honed in on that and set themselves – all or in part – within the blackened aisles of the theatre? This Coverbox Wednesday is a selection of such films. Until next time, I’ll be sitting in the back row.
Thanks be to Schwartzy for that last one. I have no idea how it could have slipped my mind. It's not like I haven't seen it several times. Forest for the trees and all that, I guess.
Since My Bloody Valentine week won’t truly be over until I review the new DVD release (hopefully this Friday), I submit to you this semi-related review. This one has stuff coming out of the screen as well, but things decidedly less harmless than 3-D effects. Check it out.
A group of theatregoers, taking in an old seventies-style horror flick, suddenly find they are being offed by the killer from the movie. Inexplicably locked inside the theatre, they must fend for themselves, or end up like their onscreen counterparts.
I had been looking forward to Midnight Movie for a while and it finally released on DVD last month. It’s a great idea, but ultimately falters a bit in its execution. I’ve definitely seen the movie-within-a-movie device handled better in films like Anguish, but what you do get is still a pretty fun slasher. Creators Jack Messitt & Mark Garbett of obvious horrorphiles, as the movie sports numerous references to the era it is aiming to emulate. I counted no less than six such shout-outs without even batting an eyelid – NOTLD, TCM, Psycho, NOES, Alien, plus a little kid who I’m sure was supposed to be Tommy Doyle.
That haircut looks strangely familiar.
This isn’t a knock however, as it was actually kind of fun seeing them pop up. I think a drinking game is in order! The killer’s mask and design were pretty cool, even if he was toting around one of the most impractical weapons ever used in a slasher.
I’m still not really sure how that works exactly.
The gore effects are well done and apart from a few shots here and there, they are top notch. Lastly, I have to say I was quite taken by cutie Rebekah Brandes, who plays Bridget. After looking her up on Imdb, it looks like she has clawed her way up from someprettyquestionablefare that even I am in no hurry to seek out. You go girl!
Midnight Movie is a worthwhile venture that mostly succeeds in capturing that ol’ slasher feelin’.
It's been a busy week around here. Now that all that MBV stuff is out of the way (at least until I can get my hands on the Uncut DVD), let's talk some news.
Canadian Connection
I have a couple of vids to show here. It looks like the defunct Picturehouse's horror project Amusement is finally going to get a release on DVD next week. It stars Canucks Kathryn Winnick (who first caught my eye in a little hidden gem called Satan's Little Helper) and Cloverfield's Jessica Lucas. Here is the trailer below and you can also see a newly released clip over at Bloody Disgusting by clicking here.
Also, a trailer for the Canadian production The Thaw has surfaced recently.
I can see many other films in this trailer, namely Larry Fessenden's The Last Winter. My only hope is that The Thaw's ending doesn't go into the shitter, like Winter's did. I'll defintely keep my eye out for it though. It has a good cast, solid effects and decent productions values. With Splice and Pontypool also coming out in '09, this could be an important year for Canadian horror.
Tokyo Gore Phalice?
Over at Twitch this week, they posted a still from the new Tokyo Gore Police prequel. It is an original short that will be packaged with the upcoming Japanese DVD release. Some I'm looking at this still, and I'm like 'It's kinda dark what is that? Is that? Are those? THEY ARE!'
Only the Japanese would think to replace Medusa's hair with cocks. I love those crazy cats.
Courtesy of 
