Saturday, June 18, 2011

My Top Werewolf Movies of All Time

Witches, werewolves, vampires, ghosts, and demons have always ruled my thoughts and passions in literature and cinema. The supernatural as a very natural and scientific yet mystical possibility sends tingles throughout every fiber of my being. In cartoons and live action the genre has dominated my dreams, nightmares, and fantasies as a child and even still as an adult.

Here is my top five werewolf movies of all time!

1) An American Werewolf in London:

I was just a kid the first time I saw this film on late night HBO. It was also one of the first time I saw a naked body on TV. The film both terrified and fascinated me. The transformation scene in the living room floor of Alex Price's flat had me in knots suffering the bone splitting agony along side David. The constant and haunting images of his victims throwing quips at him at every turn trying to convince him that suicide was the only solution had me feeling sorry for him. The humor and the death of the wolf had me gasping and the most cringing and wincing was the nightmare scene where his family was slaughtered by Nazi werewolves. This is one of the best thought out and shot films ever made. To this day I measure all werewolf transformations based on David's metamorphosis in 1981's "An American Werewolf in London". A must have for any fan of the wolf.

2) The Howling:

"The Howling" is darker and much more serious than "American Werewolf..." by all counts. The story shows the seedy underbelly of societies fascination with lust and sex. The transformations are more raw and this film was the first time I saw the giant upright terrifying wolves that towered over man and could take off your head with on bite. The film had me scared of foggy nights on back roads and always popped in my head on dark Georgia nights walking the path from my house to my cousins when we all moved out into the country.

3) Silver Bullet:
I think this is the only film that pits a handicapped person against a monster, don't hold me to that though! I do accredit it with my deep seeding mistrust and dislike of religious figures. This film made me believe that all preacher men were dark and evil and only interested in consuming everyone around them. So really "Silver Bullet" is a PSA and warning for all good catholic and religious children the world over. Head the warning, the holy man is the wolf that feeds on innocence.

4) The Wolfman:

This film although way before my time is a classic that I adore. I remember coming home from the swimming pool one weekend as a kid and waiting for Late Night Movies to come on cable. They always played old scary films or low budget monster movies. That particular night was "The Wolfman" and "The Hounds Of Baskerville". I sat there drained from sun baked skin waterlogged and even after a shower permeating from long exposure to chlorine watching complete awe at this black and white gem. That memory alone is why this film remains always in my top 5.

5) The Company Of Wolves:
This film is perfect if you like a romanticized fairytale flavor with your nightmare. I remember renting this one when VHS was all the rage and you could rent as many as 10 at a time. Yeah a long long time ago. It tales the fantasy with mystery and soft spoken passion. It has Angela Lansbury and is a text book telling of red riding hood in an adult and tasteful PG way. It's story is the heart of all werewolf folklore.

"Ellos No Pueden Gritar" /"They Can't Scream"

Synopsis
The story is about a young biologist who travels with a few colleagues to the Amazonian rainforest in search of medicinal herbs for their research works. With the help of a local guide, they get into the rainforest on a ship. During the voyage, the scientists party finds some people practicing zoophilia to a freshwater dolphin, known as ‘boto cor de rosa’. The scientists, horrified at the situation, tried to stop the act, without imagining that their lives were hanging by a thread.

Argentianian shock-horror mockumentary.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Korean Horror "The Cat"

Byeon Seung-wook directs and Park Min-yeong, Kim Dong-wuk, Kim Min-jae, Sin Da-eun, and Kim Ye-ron star.
Synopsis
So-yeun is an animal groomer who works in a pet shop. One day she gets stuck with a Persian cat named Silky when its owner suddenly dies. From then on, So-yeun is constantly haunted by a bobbed hair girl with green cat-like eyes who turns her life into turmoil. So-yeun desperately seeks help from the people around, but no one listens to her. The presence of the girl and the sound of Silky's cries start to choke in around her life more and more. Not only that, people around So-yeun get killed one by one. Soon So-yeun comes face to face with the bobbed hair girl at the scene of a horrific death. So-yeun gets rid of Silky, hoping her troubles will come to an end, but Silky keeps coming back to her like a boomerang. Terrified she could be the next to die, So-yeun sets out to find out the identity of the girl with the help her dead friend's ex-boyfriend, Jun-seok, who is a cop. Later So-yeun finds out the truth to the tragic incident that took place in the past.

"Super Hybrid" DVD Release Date

Late one night, a mysterious car is brought into the Chicago police impound garage after a deadly traffic accident. The on-call mechanics soon discover the car has a mind of its own. With hundreds of horsepower and two tons of reinforced steel at its command, it’s a seemingly unstoppable killing machine capable of outrunning — and outwitting — humans.

In tradition of such “car from Hell” films as Christine, The Car, and Maximum Overdrive, Super Hybrid has been dubbed “a fun monster movie” (Blueprint Review.) From the producer of Punisher: War Zones and the director of One Missed Call comes the next generation in killer car movies with Super Hybrid, a high-speed thriller pitting man against the ultimate driving massacre machine! Anchor Bay Entertainment releases the parking brake with the August 23rd Blu-ray™ and DVD release.(via Beyond Hollywood)

Trailer for "Rage"

Synopsis: “A thirty something man who lives in a suburb just outside of Portland says goodbye to his beautiful and loving wife and heads into town. There he unintentionally provokes the wrath of a mysterious motorcyclist. The confrontation between the two, sets in motion a day long battle. Beginning in the form of harmless taunts then quickly escalating into something more serious and then into something unimaginable.”

Trailer for "Panumbra"

Cristina Brondo (Argento's Do You Like Hitchcock?) stars in the Spanish co-production as a Spanish businesswoman working in Argentina. While trying to sell her apartment she discovers the hard way that her potential tenants have more in mind than just residency. Camila Bordonaba, Mirella Pascual, Sebastian Muñiz, Diego Cremonesi and Victoria Witemburg also star.

source(Twitch)

"A Horrible Way To Die" Cover Art and Trailer

Serial Killers, what can you say ?! They are terrifying and as close to reality horror as one can get in film genre, next to torture horror films like "Hostel". They scare me and fascinate me at the same time because the killer could be your neighbor or teacher or hell!,even your neighborhood cop! "A Horrible Way To Die" carries on that psychotic flame of all too real nightmare sub- genre of horror with a serial killer as gentle looking as your local high school football coach and as vicious as any mutant from "The Hills Have Eyes"!

A HORRIBLE WAY TO DIE sees serial killer Garrick Turrell (THE SIGNAL and HOUSE OF THE DEVIL's AJ Bowen) escape from the law and set off in search of his damaged ex-girlfriend Sarah (BITTER FEAST'S Amy Seimetz), who's recovering from past trauma and living with a new boyfriend, played by filmmaker/actor Joe Swanberg.

DVD and Blu-ray September 6

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

"The Market Street 6" Boasts New Type Of Hyper-Horror

"The Market Street 6" is a found footage film (yeah I know- another one!) Director Mark Costanza claims that this film will bring a new type of hyper horror to the table of these new micro budget footage flicks. Details on the film are tight. According to Constanza it is like a Ritalin overdose with a Pixie stix chaser...so there ya go...speedy, sweet, and probably a hot mess!

New Horror From Dimension Extreme

 "Hellraiser: Revelations", Zombie Diaries 2" and "Children of the Corn: Genesis" are coming to DVD soon via Dimension Extreme. Here is the cover art.

"Wake Wood" Movie Clip

Dread Central posted an exclusive clip from the soon to be classic "Wake Wood" from Hammer Films....
From the Press Release
July 5, 2011, will be a momentous day for fright-film aficionados as MPI/Dark Sky Films has announced it will release WAKE WOOD, one of the first feature productions in more than three decades from the classic horror studio Hammer Films, on Blu-ray and DVD. WAKE WOOD marks a bold return to the gripping stories and atmospheric visual style that made Hammer productions the gold standard of horror via classics like The Curse of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Vampire Lovers.
The eerie instant classic, available on both high-definition Blu-ray and DVD, with SRPs, respectively, of $34.98 and $27.98.
WAKE WOOD tells the story of Patrick and Louise Daley (Aiden Gillen and Eva Birthistle), whose 9-year-old daughter, Alice (Ella Connolly), is killed in a horrific dog attack. To escape their grief, the devastated young parents move to the remote rural Irish community of Wake Wood (the movie was shot on location in County Donegal, Ireland). Sensing Patrick and Louise’s loss, the strange people of Wake Wood introduce the couple to a bizarre pagan ritual that will bring Alice back from the grave – for three days only. The Daleys find the idea disturbing and exciting in equal measure, but once they agree to terms with Arthur, the village’s mysterious leader, a far bigger question looms: What will they do when it’s time for Alice to leave them forever?
In addition to Gillen (12 Rounds, The Wire) and Birthistle (The Children, Ae Fond Kiss), the WAKE WOOD cast includes National Board of Review winner Timothy Spall (Harry Potter, Nicholas Nickleby) and Amelia Crowley (Ella Enchanted). It was directed by David Keating (Summer Fling).
Critic Philip French of The Guardian (UK) said WAKE WOOD is “both touching and scary.” Sky Movies’ Tim Evans said, “Cinematographer Chris Maris has a keen eye while [screenwriter] Brendan McCarthy’s dark narrative makes this a worthy frontrunner in Hammer’s return to the horror fray.”
David Edwards of the Daily Mirror and Nigel Floyd of Time Out London also noted a connection to the Hammer of yore. Edwards wrote, “Thoroughly unsettling from start to finish, WAKE WOOD will please horror fans with its muted palette, ominously creepy atmosphere and neat nods to the best of ’70s British horror,” while Floyd said, “For all its pre-Christian paganism, demon child imagery, blood and guts, David Keating’s rural horror movie is at heart an involving portrait of a young couple struggling to come to terms with the death of a daughter.”

Extended TV Clip for "Conan The Barbarian"


The most legendary Barbarian of all time is back this Summer. Having thrived and evolved for eight consecutive decades in the public imagination- in prose and graphics, on the big screen and small, in games and properties of all kinds- Conan’s exploits in the Hyborian Age now come alive like never before in a colossal 3D action-adventure film. A quest that begins as a personal vendetta for the fierce Cimmerian warrior soon turns into an epic battle against hulking rivals, horrific monsters, and impossible odds, as Conan realizes he is the only hope of saving the great nations of Hyboria from an encroaching reign of supernatural evil.

"388 Arletta Ave. : )" Movie Posters

Synopsis: “Shot from the point of view of hidden cameras, the film follows a thirty-something couple, James and Amy Deakin, as they are secretly videotaped 24/7 by a mysterious stalker in their home, on the streets, and at their workplace. The stalker uses information gleaned from the footage to subtly manipulate the unsuspecting couple, and cracks in their relationship surface. When Amy suddenly vanishes, James is not sure whether she has been abducted or has simply left him. As the acts of the tormentor become more twisted and violent, James desperately tries to figure out who is behind the terror in order to save his wife. But it seems the stalker is always one move ahead…”



BlogCatalog

Personal Journals of Life's Lessons and Experiences Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory

ZombiesEverywhere


JoJo's Book Corner

Jojo's Book Corner

Reading on The Darkside

Reading On The Dark Side