October 4th: 3 Comedic Horror Films to Lift Your Spirits

04 Thursday Oct 2018

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October 4th: 3 Comedic Horror Films to Lift Your Spirits

It’s difficult to combine the horror genre with comedy. Few films succeed. Here are three films to tickle the funny bone, provided it’s still attached once the monsters arrive.

  1. Shaun of the Dead (2004): Zombies force relationship reconciliations. Shaun, played by the versatile Simon Pegg, is having the worst day. The zombie apocalypse has arrived, and Shaun sets out to save his ex-girlfriend, while mending his relationship with his mother. The quick camera cuts and snappy dialogue showcase the writing talents of Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright. This film rapidly became a cult classic.
  2. Tucker and Dale v. Evil (2010): Is That a Banjo I Hear? Eli Craig’s 2010 cult classic Tucker and Dale vs. Evil features two hillbillies, played by Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk, heading out to fix up their waterfront vacation house. The house is an abandoned cabin set deep in the West Virginian woods. While loading up on supplies, “Tucker” and “Dale” encounter a large group of college students heading out on a camping trip. Queue the banjos. Not so fast. As NPR’s film critic Ian Buckwalter asks: … “what if that banjo were just a bango?” This limited-release feature film upends the horror genre by injecting comedy into the plot.
  3. What We Do in the Shadows (2014): A Kiwi Delight. A film crew follows three vampires as they adjust to modern living with roommates, assign chores from the chore wheel, and navigate the singles scene in Wellington, New Zealand. Filmed for $1.6 million dollars, the film grossed over $6.9 million in the United States alone. The film is probably one of the most financially successful horror/comedy films Americans haven’t heard of. That is until now. Amazon Prime is streaming the film for free.

 

October 3rd: The Largest Blockbuster Horror Film

03 Wednesday Oct 2018

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October 3rd: Largest Blockbuster Horror Film

Hands down: It (2017). A blockbuster film is one that is insanely popular and financially successful. Horror movie franchises may be blockbusters; however, single horror movies within the franchise rarely are.

Stephen King’s 1153 page, 2 and ½ inch thick tome hit the theaters on September 8, 2017 with low, really low, expectations. The studio was hoping to double their $35 million-dollar investment. Bad weather was forecasted and would surely hinder theater attendance. Instead, the weather and the trailers couldn’t draw movie-goers in fast enough. Until It. The R-rated movie grossed $123 million in the US over the opening weekend and $770 worldwide during its theatrical run. It was a blockbuster movie and worth an investment of 2:15 minutes of audiences’ time.

Set in Derry, Maine in 1989, It: Chapter 1, as it’s now referred, introduces audiences to little Georgie, a bored boy with a mission to sail his toy boat down the bloated streets during a thunderstorm, where he encounters “Pennywise,” a sinister clown who lures unsuspecting minors to their deaths. The first film follows older brother Bill and his friends trying to sort out what is happening.

Although the book jumps back and forth between the teenagers and then adults, the movie focuses on the teens. Chapter 2 will pick up with them grown, yet still sorting out Pennywise with flashbacks to the younger kids. Grab some popcorn and get comfortable, Pennywise has just begun to frighten.

 

October 2nd: Top 5 Halloween Flicks Featuring Teenagers

02 Tuesday Oct 2018

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Top 5 Teen Halloween Flicks

Teenagers are ripe for the picking in horror movies. Here are 5 Top 5 Halloween Flicks Featuring Teenagers. Note: Other teen-inspired films not appearing on this list may appear on another listing. Stay tuned!

  1. Carrie (1976). Stephen King’s Carrie captures the angst of high school. Add a Pentecostal controlling mother and supernatural powers, and you have one seriously dangerous female. Makes your high school prom pale in comparison. View the original. Outstanding performances by actors who would go on and highly successful careers.
  2. The Craft (1996). Teenage girls using witchcraft rarely goes awry. The new girl transfers to a Catholic high school and is befriended by three girls who are obsessed with the occult. The filmmakers attempted to persuade the Motion Picture Rating (MPAA) to give the film a PG-13 rating. Efforts failed since the movie dealt with underage girls practicing sorcery.
  3. The Faculty (1998). Students suspect the faculty of the high school are aliens. Yeah, that’s all I’ve got. Still worth watching. Was rushed into production after the success of Scream (1996).
  4. Fun Size (2012). This movie isn’t a horror film, merely a film that takes place on Halloween night. Wren ditches her Halloween plans in order to locate her little brother who ran off in a crowd of trick-or-treaters. She enlists the help of her friends and set off on a funny adventure.
  5. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). The dead janitor Freddy Krueger haunts the dreams of teenagers in Wes Craven’s masterpiece. Filmed on the low budget of $1.8 million, this film grossed over $25 million in the US alone and generate numerous less-worthy sequels.

 

October 1st Best Family Halloween Movie

01 Monday Oct 2018

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Each day this week, I will be posting my personal listing of the best Halloween-themed and Halloween-inspired movies based on ratings and the best horror movie to watch around Halloween. This will be eclectic and purely based on my own system of ratings.

Join me on my monthly journey. I will post a combined listing near the end of the month.

October 1st: Best Family Halloween Movie is Monster Squad (1987).  A group of tween-age kids battle Count Dracula and his gang of monsters to keep the streets safe. It’s rated PG-13 and runs 90 minutes. It’s a fantastic film for families with small children.

The Miniaturist Enthralls

18 Tuesday Sep 2018

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The Miniaturist Enthralls

“Every woman is the architect of her own fortune.”

The new 3-part mini-series, The Miniaturist, airing on PBS delves into 17th century life in Amsterdam. Based on Jessie Burton’s book by the same title, the mini-series is based on a real married couple and a bizarre wedding present: a cabinet house.

Cabinet houses were displayed in many seventeenth Amsterdam houses serving 2 purposes: status symbols denoting extreme wealthy and privilege. A cabinet house was a miniature replica of a home consisting of a large hutch sectioning off rooms. They were expensive showpieces and incredibly popular; they were not toys. The cabinet house led to the modern-day dollhouse.

The inspiration for the novel exists and is housed in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Johannes Brandt, a Dutch merchant, gifted his wife Petronella “Nella” Oortman an expensive cabinet house upon her arrival in Amsterdam. Nella spent the equivalent of $2 million Euros over 5 years filling up the house with trinkets, furniture, and people. It is exquisite!

Author Burton proclaimed, “[seeing the doll house] really started in my imagination this concept of the domestic world.” She constructed her novel highlighting the marginalized misfits within society. Although the story revolves around the true owners of a cabinet house displayed in the Rijksmuseum, the story is pure fiction.

The television cabinet house reflects the coldness of the physical house and the characters living within. The British production company crafted a cabinet house to match the home used in the series. However, not everything is as it appears. A mystery surrounds the Miniaturist, played by Emily Berrington, and how she knows so much about the house, objects, and people associated with the dwelling.

The PBS series is a refreshing addition to the line-up of British productions airing.

 

The Nun (2018) Conjures Up Largest Opening Weekend for Franchise

10 Monday Sep 2018

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The Nun (2018) Conjures Up Largest Opening Weekend for Franchise

The Nun raked in $53.5 million over its opening weekend—far exceeding projections. Filmed on a shoestring budget of $22 million, The Nun is a financial success; however, it failed to excite critics and fans alike.

Friday night’s episode “Damaged” on The Dead Files was more believable than the latest offering in the Conjuring franchise. The movie opened with the all-to-cliché disclaimer: “Based on a true story.” Unfortunately, it isn’t. There are more effective ways to insinuate a true tale of horror. Instead, the producers decided to lie. Horror audiences aren’t that gullible.

The film follows Father Burke, played by Demián Bichir, the Catholic Church’s “Miracle Hunter” who has been assigned the uninitiated Sister Irene (played by Taissa Farmiga) as they travel to the isolated Carta Monastery in Romania to investigate the suicide of one of the cloistered nuns. The year is 1952.

Narrative and jump scares propel the film forward. The backstory is complicated as Father Burke and Sister Irene pick up Frenchie, played by Jonas Bloquet, who provides much needed comic relief. The story is slow in places; the jump scares predictable in others.

However, it’s important to stay until the end.

The 96-minute horror movie is rated R.

5 Things I Learned from The Nun

09 Sunday Sep 2018

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5 Things I Learned from The Nun

  1. Father Burke, played by Demián Bichir, is called a “Miracle Hunter,” not an exorcist. Watch the movie and decide if the correct title is used.

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  1. The Carta Monastery in Romania, the named location in the film, was built by Benedictine monks around 1202-1206. At no point in time did it transfer into the hands of a sadistic Count.
  2. The Corvin Castle, where the movie was filmed, may have a checkered past; however, that past is nothing compared to the story relayed in the film. The Romanian Minister of Culture owns the castle.

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  1. This addition to The Conjuring franchise focuses on the Catholic Church the most. That may explain the couple next to me who left. Using a religious relic from Christ may have been a bridge too far for some moviegoers.
  2. The movie opens claiming, incorrectly, that it is set in 1952 and based on a true story. Most Conjuring franchise fans know this is incorrect. However, there are still many moviegoers—and I mean a lot—who fall for this marketing ploy.

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Thank You, DragonCon!

03 Monday Sep 2018

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Thank You, DragonCon

DragonCon 2018 is in the books. My two panels were well-attended providing lively discussions related to paranormal investigations. I spent the last two days with 85,000 of my closest cosplay buddies at Atlanta’s largest fandom convention. It was fantastic.

The Paranormal Track is housed at the Sheraton Hotel and provides close contact with some of the best paranormal people working in the field. My first session was a 6-member panel discussing researching paranormal activity ranging from private residences, well-known active locations, client interviewing, and the future of academic paranormal research. Each panelist expanded upon unique researching techniques they employ, specific to the location or subject-matter. It was reassuring the number of people looking for the correct/proper way to investigate. The second panel was equally engaging.

To be sure, there are a lot of women paranormal investigators. I met them at the second panel focused on “Women in the Paranormal.” Of the estimated 52% of Americans who believe places can be haunted by ghosts, the majority of believers are women, according to the Chapman University study (2017). Yet, women are not that well represented in the television paranormal series. Indeed, of the 12 current productions, only 3 shows involve women, with 2 leading the investigations. Of course, these productions are tied to advertising dollars, and, admittedly, women like to watch men on tv. That’s the para-tainment path.

However, women work in the boots-on-the-ground paranormal teams who respond to private citizen concerns. They lead investigative teams; they host podcasts; they blog. They won’t appear on television soon. They’ll be the ones with the crazy, hard-to-believe stories from the general public. I hope to return in 2019 to share some more of mine.

Thank you, DragonCon for allowing me to present and to attend your insanely popular convention celebrating nearly every realm of fandom. PS. Please invite me back!