It's Supposed To Be Primarily A Horror Blog Right?

I've been noticing that lately, I haven't written too much about horror films. This struck me as I was perusing the blogs in my Gamespot.com account and I came across my 50 Favorite Horror Films list that I started back in January of 2007 here: http://www.gamespot.com/users/Saruman1719/blog?page=1

It was quite an undertaking, something I didn't realize immediately. I started off strong, cranking out entries easily. It became a chore after awhile because I had little time after work and school, and I believe it took me about 7 months to reach the conclusion of it. Looking back though, it was a good time and I'm pretty proud of the list and how much I wrote about each film. Call me vain, but I enjoy going back to past things I wrote to get an idea of where my mind was at the time and considering it was 3 1/2 years ago, it is both interesting and amusing to see what I had to say about some films and how I feel now.

The list needs to be heavily revamped. I've been out of the horror film loop for awhile now, really only rewatching favorites, but a lot has changed in 3 1/2 years and I go tell you that #50 and #49 on my old list, IT and Candyman respectively, will make no appearance on a new list. The first half of IT was masterful, but it's garbage in the second half, thus making it an average film. Candyman...it's good, but #49 good?...as detailed and thoroughly worked on my list was, I don't know what I was thinking.

The question is: How do I go about remaking this? I figure my old list will serve as a rough draft of sorts. I always know what my top 10 is, so that's another base to build upon.

50 films was too constrictive and I don't think it let the readers see some of the more intriguing selections. I thought the #50-#30-ish range of my list was more interesting because it had some of the less obvious films. So I think this time, I'll go a little crazy and double the number, ranking my favorite 100 Horror Films. When I sat down to list all possible contenders, I came up with 200 films, so cutting it in half was the closest I could get without driving myself nuts. 100 seems like a lot, but when you've seen hundreds upon hundreds like myself, it is simply too hard to cut it down further and be happy about it.

The last thing I have to think about is how to deal with the mainstays of the prior list that will no doubt make reappearanes on the updated list. Should I recycle my old entries or rewrite them with a different perspective of almost 4 years later at the ripe old age of 25? Just typing that sentence, I'm definitely rewriting them, haha.

It's going to be a huge task again, but I'm going to try to stick with it. Not short how much time I'll spend yapping about each film, but I think I'll keep the quote feature of the previous list, maybe add a clip of my favorite scene if it is on YouTube, or maybe if the film has an exceptional soundtrack, a music clip or something...or both. I'll have to give it some thought because I don't want to get burnt out on this again.

Charles Hamilton

I’ve written about Charles Hamilton before, but I just can’t help writing about him again, especially since he gets so much venomous hatred. The last time I wrote about CH, he had disappeared for awhile after getting dropped from Interscope and releasing what would have been his first retail album, This Perfect Life. All was silent for a few months and then rumblings of him coming back were resurfacing. He released the oddly titled, “New Music From Charles Hamilton” track, though because of the lyrics and the time of the release, it’s real name has got to be “Charles Hamilton Is Back”. “Call your friends, all your friends, go ‘head whistle, tell ‘em that it’s official, Charles Hamilton is back, Charles Hamilton is back…” WORD. “I ain’t go off like analog TV”….FUCKING SICK. Complete banger letting the rap world know he was coming back strong. He released his comeback mixtape, Normalcy, this past December. In my eyes, it ranks right up there with his best work (other than The Pink Lavalamp of course!) I breathed a sigh of relief. The kid was still nasty and he remained independent, ensuring the likelihood that his unique approach to hip-hop would be kept intact.

I still can’t figure out how this guy survives. As far as I can tell, the only money he has made is off the Gauchos track on iTunes. I have 400 of his songs and he has released them all for free, through the form of mixtapes. It’s crazy. I would gladly have paid for nearly all them, he almost never disappoints me. I don’t have the internet at home, so I’m not up to date with stuff, but he released 6 freakin’ mixtapes in one day a couple of weeks ago! When I looked, I was praying for one. CH comes through yet again. As usual though, people bitched about it, wondering why he didn’t space them out or why can’t he just come out with a real album already? Most of these people don’t even like him or his music so it’s pointless to even argue with them. Plus, The Pink Lavalamp and This Perfect Life were real albums. Just because they were digital downloads for free doesn’t make them not so. Plus, quite a few of his mixtapes have a cohesive feel so that those end up feeling like albums too.



This is one of the things I love most about this kid. It is so obvious that he does this for the love of the music. The passion is clear just listening to the tracks and releasing his material for nothing is something you just can’t complain about. Again, I would gladly pay if this guy charged. If he put out an album in stores and let’s just say it was $50 for an extreme crazy example to illustrate how dope I think he is, I would buy two copies. According to my lastfm account, I have over 6,000 plays for CH, over the course of only a year or so…and now that I think about it, when I was introducing my friend to him, I remember telling him it was at 3,000 plays about a month after I moved into my new place, which was 5 months ago. So yeah, half the plays have come in the last 4 months…so I’m basically never going to get bored of his music.

I love hip-hop. I feel pretty confident that over the last 5 years or so, I’ve really listened to a lot and gained tons of knowledge. I am no longer too intimidated by other hip-hop heads, I can hold my own now. If you look at my other albums and artists and so on, the common consensus is that Charles Hamilton doesn’t make sense being such a huge part of my collection, at least according to other hip-hop heads. Maybe he’s my “guilty pleasure” (not really since I try to put everyone I know onto him), I don’t know. I just know that out of every artist I’ve ever listened to, none have hooked me like Hamilton has. His lyrics are sick, he has excellent beats, and he’s just fucking nasty overall.



“Fuck doing it for the money, I want a whole track list and some classic shit lasting in the memory of every hip-hop head…”
This hip-hop head is a fan for life, CH. The Pink Lavalamp is engrained in my mind. Wish it was on vinyl.

*ends very homosexual sounding blog….lol*

Fashawn- Boy Meets World (2009)

There are few things better in life than coming across an album that stirs the emotions that classics like Illmatic, Reasonable Doubt, All Eyez On Me, and a slew of other hip-hop records from the early to mid 90’s did on their initial and more importantly, subsequent plays. Nothing today is quite like that amazing time period where mainstream hip-hop was the shit, in addition to the semi-underground or straight up underground. These days, most of the music worth listening to is found in the underground scene, which is fine I suppose, as long as good hip-hop continues to be crafted in some form. An example of underground hip-hop, and in this case, an example sometimes scorned as “backpacker” rap for not having the raw and gritty gangsta theme behind it, Below the Heavens by Blu & Exile just might be my favorite hip-hop album of the past ten years because of the personal down to earth subject matter, along with the great flow and rhymes of Blu and superb beats by Exile. The best hip-hop is usually about something and when listening, if I can tell the artist poured their heart and soul into their work, I’ll fall in love with it. So is the case with Fashawn’s Boy Meets World.

When I listen to an album, I try my best to almost always play it straight through with no interruptions. Obviously, if I stop the album at some point for a non-important reason, it is unlikely it has captured me. An album like this is a treat because you don’t want to stop, even if something important did come up. You want to listen, and then listen again right afterwards. I love it because this doesn’t happen a lot. I know some people have problems hailing something as a classic if it is too new or if not enough time has passed to let it truly sink in. There is some merit in these viewpoints, but personally, I can’t remember a time where an album hooked me like this and months or years later I still don’t listen to it, so why wait to enshrine it? To be honest, only when my opinion is low on something does it ever change dramatically. Time in that case lets it grow on me, The Blueprint 3 being a decent example of the past year or so. For an album I initially found exceedingly average, I play it a bit too often now because it is fun to listen to.



So enough with debating a new album’s classic candidacy. Why do I love Boy Meets World so much? Why did it resonate so strongly that I felt the need to write a blog about it mere days after first listening to it? It has all the ingredients I find necessary to make a masterpiece. Fashawn is very capable on the mic, with a nice flow, great rhymes, and raps about meaningful subject matter. About 60% of the record’s 15 tracks are handled completely by Fashawn and the rest have guest appearances, which is a nice healthy mix. I hate when an album has a guest on every track; I like to see how the artist can do on his own. Fashawn succeeds easily, with or without anybody else sharing the mic. Everyday life in California is covered, growing up and family issues, social commentary on ecology, asking out a girl who is out of your league, the pain of a woman you love cheating on you, just nice, good (or not so good) normal, everyday subject matter about regular people that everyone can relate to. Overall, it is one of those albums that evoke feelings inside you and makes you think about stuff. As for the production, it is very good. It has lots of instruments, especially the piano and horns, so that’s practically an instant winner for me. I’m coming to really like Exile’s work, first on Below the Heavens and now on this.



When I listen to an instant classic like Boy Meets World, I feel very conflicted. On one hand, I feel more people need to hear this record. Someone as talented as Fashawn deserves to make it big. On the other hand, not having everyone know about it gives it a more special and personal feel. I go for the middle ground, letting other hip-hop heads know about it or giving props to the people who did mention this album online. Does it dethrone Below the Heavens or even Charles Hamilton’s The Pink Lavalamp for my favorite material of the decade? Well, that is something I will need time with. What I am sure of is that with new favorite emcees like Fashawn and Blu hailing from California, and my girl living there, my heart really seems to be out there these days.

Top 5 Songs:

5. Lupita
4. When She Calls
3. The Ecology
2. Hey Young World (Feat. Aloe Blacc & Devoya Mayo)
1. Samsonite Man (Feat. Blu)

GRADE: 71/75= 94.7%

Bewitched and TV Shows

As a 25 year old male these days, it’s likely perceived as odd that a show like Bewitched is among my favorite television shows ever. Most of my peers and maybe even people ten years year older than me have probably never even watched the show and if they have, they usually don’t see the charm to it. Oddly, it also seems to have a reputation as a “women’s” show these days for some reason. That’s fine of course, we all like what we like. However, in life, one of the big questions you tend to get asked is what some of your favorite TV shows are. When I start naming programs from 40-50 years ago, people give me quizzical looks and ask if I like anything recent. I don’t really watch TV anymore because I just can’t get into the shows these days. I’m sure there are some good ones out there, but at the moment, I don’t even have basic cable in my place. I also don’t like watching an episode and waiting a whole week to see the next one. One of my favorite things about DVD is that it has made having whole seasons of shows possible. The only waiting is for each set to come out. Otherwise, I can crank out a handful of episodes each night I come home from work and just relax. When watching something like The X-Files, I would watch an episode and wonder how mad I would have been driven waiting a whole week to see the next one or the continuation of the story.



To the real point of the blog: I have this great love affair with television shows of the past, particularly the 50’s-70’s. Maybe it is similar to my love for horror films of days gone by, but there is a certain charm and quaintness that exists with many older shows. Or maybe they were just truly higher quality. In terms of the more comedic shows like Bewitched, I Love Lucy, I Dream of Jeannie, Happy Days, and so on, the strongest aspect is the writing. It is just so well done a majority of the time. In their best moments, the situations, dialogue, and punch-lines are just pure comedy gold. Call me strange, but man, these shows just make me laugh like nothing else can. Taking Bewitched as an example, seeing Larry Tate threaten Darrin to “cool it” when he thinks he’s about to blow the account with a client and then it turns out that the client actually likes it, thus making Larry do a complete 180 and say he supported Darrin the whole time and more than imply he actually came up with the idea himself never fails to make me laugh my ass off…even if it was done hundreds of times during the show’s run and I’ve seen it multiple times. These old shows are so good, witty, and full of life, and even though I wasn’t around for their initial runs, and in some cases like Happy Days, I’ve only very recently begun watching them, I simply have an incredible feeling of nostalgia while I watch them and think about them. The old shows actually have theme songs too and damn are they catchy and pure fun.



Bewitched is the reason I’m up at 2 in the morning thinking about why I love classic television shows that my parents’ generation grew up with. If I had a gun to my head and was asked what my favorite show was and had only 3 seconds to answer, Bewitched would be my answer. The more I watch it over the years, the clearer it becomes to me. My other choices like Seinfeld (this show is definitely hilarious and if I’m going to be honest, yeah, it is funnier than Bewitched), The X-Files, Married…with Children, Tales from the Crypt, the first 8-10 seasons of the Simpsons, The Munsters, I Dream of Jeannie, and many more are all contenders, but there are so many things about Bewitched that personally elevates it above the rest as a whole.



I’ll get the first reason out of the way, the reason my girlfriend thinks I feel like this show is the best, something I don’t completely agree with. Elizabeth Montgomery. I’m not a big celebrity idolizing kind of guy, but there are a few on the female side I make exceptions for, and Ms. Montgomery probably heads my list of reverence and worship. Yes, it is because of this show and her portrayal of Samantha Stevens, the most gorgeous witch put on film in my humble opinion, but I’ve always had this tender spot for her in my heart and I can only imagine how much I would have adored her if I was a young boy in the mid-late 60’s and early 70’s of this show’s initial run. I have a thing for more classical beauties who leave something to the imagination and while she’s not exactly a Kim Novak or Grace Kelly, as has been pointed out to me rather viciously on one occasion, there is something about Elizabeth Montgomery that is insanely appealing to me. She does indeed have the more down to earth every day beauty you’d see in your everyday life look to her, but other things like her voice, manner, and quips just make her an intoxicating woman. She tends to look her best when she is dressed up for dinner or going out to lunch. I realize that I am mainly going off her portrayal as Samantha, but it’s not uncommon for people to get attached to an actresses’ main role, a problem that plagued Montgomery and thousands of other stars to this day of course. While watching the show, she just comes across as the type of girl I’d like to marry. It has nothing to do with her desire to be the “normal, everyday, mortal housewife” or her willingness to do what her husband wants (though we all know she basically almost never listens to him anyway). She is simply a nice, charming, loving woman who is compassionate, serious, and willing to go to great lengths for her relationship. So overall, the show definitely wouldn’t be what it is without her, but she is far from the only good thing about it.



The relationship between her and Darrin comes off as sincere and believable. They obviously have their issues, but they are willing to work them out, which is something I like about back in the day. People didn’t divorce or break up like crazy, they worked at it, and many relationships were probably strengthened because of it. There’s legitimate chemistry between them and it is shocking to hear they didn’t get along off set because you totally believe they love each other. Their romantic scenes are touching. When Darrin is upset with her, it is priceless stuff as well. Another often used line in the series is when Darrin is like “Sam, can I talk to you?” and she’s like “When?” and he’s like “Now.” Simple, not really amusing in print, but because of the couple’s expressions, it works. As for Darrin’s relationship with Samantha’s mother, Endora, it never fails to entertain. The complete disdain she holds for him, and vice versa, is uproariously funny. Like with Montgomery, York has true chemistry with Moorehead; it is so obvious while watching. Endora’s petty behavior towards Darrin is sometimes too much, it is so funny. Even juvenile humor like calling him any name but his own just works because of his outraged expression and her unconcerned look. Whether it is Derwood, Dumbo, Donald, or what’s his name, I doubt think there’s ever been a time I haven’t chuckled. It is simply infectious and I can’t help but smile, and that’s how it is for a lot of the show.



A strange thing about the show, but something I welcome, is that I like all of the characters. Whether it is the other main characters like Darrin and Endora, or supporting characters like Larry Tate, Serena, the Kravitzes, Uncle Arthur, Aunt Clara, Darrin’s parents, and Doctor Bombay among others, I just seem to like them all. All have their fine points and hilarious dialogue and situations exist with each of them. It’s hard to pick a favorite supporting character because they’re all so good. My top three would be Larry, Abner Kravitz, and Serena at the very least. Larry is simply hilarious, right up to the very end of the show. Whether he is inviting himself and a client to dinner at the Stevenses’, threatening to fire Darrin, telling Darrin he’s lucky to have had four good years of marriage and to just roll with the punches the rest of the way like he has, or simply talking about how greedy he is, he is a constant joy to watch and an underrated character in my eyes. Abner Kravitz is equally as hilarious. He never believes his wife, makes constant jokes at the expense of her mental health, and shows a complete lack of affection that makes you wonder why they even got married in the first place. As for Serena, she was a very welcome addition to the show as Samantha’s identical twin cousin. She serves as the complete opposite of Samantha and at times, it give the viewer an opportunity to see Montgomery in a more sultry and seductive role, as well as just providing a more fun loving character. Other background characters like the guy in the bar Darrin talks to whenever he has issues with Samantha are great as well. Both characters aren’t even listening to each other, with the guy talking about how marriage is a journey between two people, etc , etc, while Darrin bitches about whatever problem he has with Samantha. The guy eventually has to go somewhere, claps Darrin on the shoulder and says “Good talking with ya, Darrin. I’m here for you anytime you need to talk”, drawing Darrin out of his stupor and wondering what just happened. Like the usual elements that are on the show, it is humorous every single time.



As a hardcore fan, I can’t be without gripes though. My main issue is the replacement characters. Dick Sargent was a pathetic Darrin compared to Dick York’s dominating high energy and manic performance, but we only had to put up with him for the final few seasons and he replaced York at a time where the storylines were getting recycled, so maybe he doesn’t deserve too much grief…yet, I still feel that if Dick York was able to continue, the original trifecta of Samantha, Darrin, and Endora would have been enough to keep the show energized through the same stories, in a way that just didn’t happen with Sargent on the set. There was zero chemistry between Sargent and Montgomery, and Sargent and Moorehead (Endora), which are the two most important relationships in the show and it hurt the product a lot. Also, the replacement Gladys Kravitz was good in her own right, but she just couldn’t hold a candle to the original. The original was funny because she not only acted cracked out of her mind, but she looked the part as well. You truly believed she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She was also one of the rare people who could make you laugh by making the audible “Gulp” sound. And as funny as it was, you felt sorry for her sometimes. The newer one was just a cunt. She came off way too mean and vindictive most of the time, and unlike Pearce’s snooping, I was just aggravated whenever the new one did it. Supporting characters getting replaced didn’t derail the show like the replacement of Darrin did, but it still sucked sometimes.



When watching the show, I can’t help but feel at home. The humor is well written and plays out masterfully. The actors/actresses almost universally turn in great performances and Montgomery, York, and Moorehead in particular really make the show what it is. It’s something nice to relax to and one of my favorite pastimes is getting home from work and just chilling out to a few episodes before going to bed. Like many shows of the time, it is also something you’d feel comfortable showing to your kid. I know that if I have a kid, I’ll be showing him or her this wonderful classic show, enjoying myself and not having my girlfriend/wife nagging me about its content like she would with my horror films. Nah, she’ll just nag me how Montgomery isn’t the greatest thing in the world ;)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

"I keep having these dreams, and there is this man, and he's burnt."

With the remake of the obvious classic, A Nightmare on Elm Street, the circle is complete. The big three slasher icons of the 80's have all been remade now, with questionable and varying results. There is a lot to complain about with the Halloween and Friday the 13th remakes, so where does the Nightmare on Elm Street remake stand?

Surprisingly, it is actually a fairly decent film. It's definitely the superior of the three slasher icon remakes to me and I would rank it somewhere in the middle of the franchise, clearly behind the first two films and perhaps just behind New Nightmare and Dream Warriors. It's a very solid entry in a relatively uneven franchise. Unneeded perhaps, but considering it could have been a disaster, the results are pretty pleasing.

The teenage leads do an adequate job. I basically give everyone a pass because I wasn't annoyed with them, like I am in so many of the more modern horror films. None have the screen presence of Heather Langenkamp, who played Nancy in the original film (and returned in Dream Warriors and New Nightmare) so it's disappointing in that sense, but how many horror leads are that memorable and charismatic anymore? Speaking of the character of Nancy, one of the few holdovers from the original storyline, she's nothing like the original. It doesn't help that the focus doesn't go on her until a good 30-35 minutes into the film, a move reminiscent of the first film, but not for that lengthy amount of time. Instead, the viewer mostly follows Kris, played by Katie Cassidy, in the first act of the film. She was the best of the young people in the film, and the best looking too, so it was a shame to see her character kick the bucket after the first half hour.

Even though the main protagonists are important, everyone comes for the portrayal of Freddy Krueger. Jackie Earle Haley does a passable job. He looks great in the shadows, mainly because it still looks a lot like Robert Englund's classic. I'm not a big fan of how his face looks, but it's not a deal breaker. However, I'm not too fond of his voice. At times, he sounds menacing, but most of the time, he sounds like a drug addict struggling to catch his breath. And his one liners are usually cringe inducing. After the first couple of films in the franchise, the one liners became a part of this character, but those films were also not as serious. This remake is very serious in tone and a lot of Freddy's quotes don't jive too well. However, I think it's going to take me some time for this new portrayal to sink in. After all, having Robert Englund be the only person to play the character since the release of the first film a quarter of a century ago is the main reason Haley deserves a break.

The strongest area of the film is how it honors the original just enough, while expanding on other areas to make it a satisfying addition to the Elm Street saga. Scenes like the above picture with Nancy in the tub return, but play out differently than the original. Yeah, everything is better in the 1984 version, but this film pays tribute while refraining from being a carbon copy remake like the terrible 1998 version of Psycho. I also like how the kills are kept to a minimum. While not terribly creative, it was a good move to keep them all to glove kills. As mentioned, the tone is serious, so anything else would not have fit.

It was always hinted at that Freddy was a child molester, in addition to being a child murderer, but outside of a newspaper article that you had to pause on to read in Dream Child, I believe, it was never more than implied. This new film makes it very clear that Fred is indeed a child molester. As long as you're a normal individual, you should be creeped out by this aspect of his character. In this day and age, the way a lot of mainstream horror films play, I felt it was actually a bold and daring move by the filmmakers to bring this unsavory quality of Krueger to the forefront and spend so much time on it. Outside of actually showing him rape children, which no one wants to see, I think this is as close as we're going to get to the scenario behind the long rumored prequel tale showcasing Freddy's exploits with the Elm Street children.

The film looks great. It has that slick modern day Platinum Dunes quality that plenty of people bemoan (usually myself included) but it also has the dirty, grimy feel of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake. The dream sequences are well done, as expected with the CGI technology of today. Nothing is over the top, which is a good thing, and scenes like Nancy walking back into her room and having it covered in softly falling snowflakes capture the sleepy dream quality the film has most of the time. One negative is that sometimes it is too obvious at first to the viewer that the character is in the dream world. Warped and shuddering bookshelves is one scene that comes to mind. I like how in other films in the franchise, particularly the first two, it is not completely clear if we're in the dream world one minute or not. Like I said, they were mostly well done, but sometimes it was jarring, but I think that is more personal preference than anything.

As for the music, it peppers some of the original's main theme here and there. Thankfully, no heavy metal is present either, which is something too many modern remakes use in place of an original score. While there is some generic chase music here, it is pretty subdued and doesn't overwhelm any scenes. Again, they were careful in this area too and points are deserved.

Overall, the final product was about as much as I could dare hope for. It's a remake to one of the greatest horror films ever, from a time period where film-making was arguably more daring, more creative, and more personal. It's a solid horror film, possibly one of the best remakes in the current remake cycle that began with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in 2003. Getting used to the new Freddy is honestly my only glaring issue with the film and I think only time will help that. Here's hoping the inevitable sequel doesn't fail horribly like the sequel to the Halloween remake did.

Film Grade-
Cinematography: 8
Plot: 7
Score: 8
Suspense: 6
Tilt: 8
Overall: 7.6

Best 10 Year Run For Horror Films

Being bored one day, I organized all of my horror films in order, by the year they came out. It was no great mystery that the late 70’s and early-mid 80’s housed a vast majority of my all-time favorites, but there was something memorable about seeing them all lined up in front of me. One film after another was a bonafide classic, or at least a solid flick filled with the atmosphere you could only get from that period in film-making. What I mean by that is, most of the horror films of today are simply far too sleek and polished looking.



Maybe it’s all in my head and I’ve just become biased subconsciously over time, but if I’m at a store like Newbury Comics where there is an excellent selection of horror, I’ll read the synopsis of a film on the back of the case, and glance down at the year it came out, knowing it has a superb chance of coming from around that ten year timeframe. And I have no issues taking a chance on buying it. It happened the other day in fact. I finally got my hands on yet another good slasher film I wanted from the 80’s, The House on Sorority Row, and I found myself also intrigued by a little film called Hell High with a tagline that came out fresh out of the 80’s: “Where the students are dying to graduate.” Another caption was proudly plastered across the front, with clearly 80’s teenagers looking like their having a ball in their car: “The teachers are tough…but their exams are murder.” Lo and behold, the year was 1986, so armed with those great taglines and a price of $5.99, how could I possibly resist? On a side note, the film was a decent effort.

The House on Sorority Row was simply great. If you love slashers, it is impossible not to fall in love with this movie. The ingredients are all there: a memorable costumed killer with the usual sad backstory, pretty girls, interesting kills, and enough tense moments to make it one of the better ones.



Looking at the long list of great horror films, I got to thinking about what my personal favorite 10 year stretch of horror films is. Aided by the order of my films, there’s no question that it is from 1977-1986. Both an unbelievable quality and quantity of horror came out. Classic after classic, and if not, usually a good time at least. Being born in 1985, I didn't get to experience this golden age first hand and I envy those who did.

Personal Favorites from ’77-86:

1977: Suspiria

1978: Dawn of the Dead, Halloween

1979: Cannibal Holocaust, Phantasm, Tourist Trap, Zombi 2

1980: The Beyond, The Changeling, Christmas Evil, The Fog, Friday the 13th, He Knows You’re Alone, Inferno, Maniac, Motel Hell, Prom Night, The Shining, Terror Train

1981: Bloody Moon, The Burning, Evil Dead, Final Exam, Friday the 13th Part 2, The Funhouse, Halloween II, Happy Birthday to Me, The Howling, My Bloody Valentine, The Prowler, Student Bodies

1982: Creepshow, Friday the 13th Part 3, Pieces, Poltergeist, Tenebre, The Thing

1983: Evil Dead II, House on Sorority Row, Psycho II, Sleepaway Camp, Videodrome

1984: Friday the 13th Part 4: The Final Chapter, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Phenomena, Silent Night, Deadly Night

1985: Day of the Dead, Fright Night, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, Re-Animator, Return of the Living Dead

1986: April Fool's Day, From Beyond, Night of the Creeps, Slaughter High, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2



Man, just look at that list. That's not every great horror film, but damn...at least a handful of great movies in any given year. Years like 1980 and 1981 have a good dozen apiece. It's such a foreign idea to me, probably going to the theater to see a good horror flick month after month. Liking these films as much as I do, I'd likely be going every two weeks like clock work.

I didn't introduce a new topic or anything, but figured I'd do it a little different than just picking a particular decade.

Audition (1999)

"This wire can cut through meat and bone easily."

This is the movie that sold me on the brilliance of Takashi Miike. Perfection. The premise of Audition, like most of the greats, is simple. A man, trying to get over his grief of losing his wife, holds a fake audition for a show, to meet a girl that way. If that isn't creepy, I don't know what is.

The first hour of the movie plays out more like a love story, with only a few signs of the weirdness to come. I would have given anything to not hear a thing about this movie, not even see the DVD case before watching it. Because even though my stomach felt like it got kicked in, that probably would have brought me to my knees. The turn the film takes is simply unreal. That's all one can say, really. Un-freakin-real. Posting pictures contradicts what I just wrote about not wanting to be spoiled.


Really, Asami is beautiful, quiet, and all around lovely...you never knew she had it in her! Well, obviously you suspect there's something strange about her, but still. Multiple scenes come to mind when trying to name a favorite. When the main guy calls her and she is sitting there with her head down waiting...wow, that gave me the creeps. The fact that she just sits by the phone weirded me out. Then the bag roars and rolls a bit...and of course, her amazing smile that curls up on her face, wow. The whole vomit scene almost made me puke myself and still does whenever I watch it. And the whole conclusion with the piano wire and pins is mindblowing to me. I held my breath the entire time, it was so crazy and intense.

Audition is a masterpiece, there's no other way to call it. Do I recommend it? Hmm...I've had a tremendous failure rate with this movie, when it comes to lending it out to friends or when they ask me about it and rent/buy it themselves. So, I'll have to say that it is a decision you'll have to take the plunge on yourself...and don't hassle me when it doesn't live up to expectations. I give the same "warning" every time...it is a slow-moving romance film a majority of the time...but it pays off by the end. In my opinion, it is the best I've seen from Asia to date.

Film Grade-
Cinematography: 8
Plot: 8
Score: 8
Suspense: 10
Tilt: 10
Overall: 9.1