7 MORE DAYS 'TIL AHS: ASYLUM!

CAN'T EFFIN' WAIT! American Horror Story: Asylum, Premieres Wednesday, October 17 on FX.

PREVIEW: AMERICAN HOROR STORY: ASYLUM

My most anticipated release, after Rob Zombie's The Lords of Salem, this coming fall is FX's American Horror Story: Asylum. Yet again created by Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy, the new season offers a completely new story in a completely new setting. American Horror Story: Asylum takes place in 1964 at the Briarcliff Institution in Boston and is said to involve Nazi's, aliens and a serial killer named Bloody Face, who wears 'a mask made out of his victim's skin along with a black nightie and opera length gloves'. Premiering in the new season are (the oh so hunky) Adam Levine (insert pause to drool), Chloe Sevigny, James Cromwell and Joseph Fiennes. Returning to the series with new characters are Jessica Lange, Zachary Quinto, Evan Peters, Lily Rabe and Sarah Paulson. To get a glimpse of the new season's character set up, check out the two trailers below.

 

 

Briarcliff Institution is run by the sadistic Sister Jude, a stern woman with 'a dark past that will resurface'.  Working with her are Dr. Thredson (Zacahary Quinto) a psychiatrist whose forward-thinking inflicts him to go head to head with Sister Jude, and Dr. Arden (James Cromwell) whose behind one of the season's new frights; The Raspers - mutated humans that are the result of Dr. Arden's diabolical experiments on Briarcliff's inmates, and who lurk in the forest outside the institution. Superior to Sister Jude is Monsignor Timothy O'Hare (Joseph Fiennes) who finds himself on the receiving end of her affection, and inferior to her is Sister Eunice (Lily Rabe) who, although she appears a bit dense, might not be the perfect second-in-command.

Adam Levine plays Leo, a newlywed who visits Briarcliff and gains the attention of the 'Big Bad', who will be the Rubber Suit Man of this season. With him he brings his wife Teresa (Jenna Dewan-Tatum). Sarah Paulson portraits the lesbian reporter Lana, who's committed to the asylum by her own girlfriend after she nearly exposes Briarcliff's darkest secrets. Chloe Sevigny plays the ominous but secretive nymphomaniac Shelley and Evan Peters returns as as the good-guy Kit, one of Briarcliff's newest inmates who's committed after being accused of murdering his wife (played by Britne Olford) although he claims she was abducted. And not by humans.

Not much else has been revealed on the new season's setup or synopsis but the twelwe teasers below might give some clues on what to expect. American Horror Story: Asylum premieres on FX, October 17th .

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

WOMEN IN HORROR RECOGNITION MONTH: THE FEMME FATALE OF FEMALE VILLAINS

In honor of Women In Horror Recognition Month, I present my top 3 femme fatale of female villains.








BABY FIREFLY 
Portrayed by Sheri Moon Zombie (wife of writer and director Rob Zombie) Baby Firefly is a statuesque beauty with a childlike mind and youthful appearances, with a strong sadistic streak. Born as Vera-Ellen Wilson to parents Mother Firefly and Captain Spaulding, Baby Firefly soon became the perfect lure for the family victims. Even as a child Baby showed signs of mania and psychosis; at the age of seven she stabbed a school mate in the eye with a homemade knife, later on becoming an expert on knives and firearms.

Baby Firefly in House of 1000 Corpses (2003) and The Devil's Rejects (2005)

By the time of the first film (House of 1000 Corpses 2003) Baby was wanted for first degree murder, armed robbery, grand theft auto and prostitution. In the sequel (The Devil's Rejects 2005) Baby developed into a much darker character. Though having higher aspirations of Hollywood Stardom, Baby is stuck with her low-life family, taken out all her sexual aggression on her male victims and the jealousy of other women on her female victims.

Other trivia: Sheri Moon Zombie was also featured in Rob Zombie's remakes Halloween and Halloween II, based on John Carpenter's cult classics, as Deborah Myers, mother of the notorious killer Michael Myers. Apart from starring in her husband's movies, she's appeared in 15 of his music videos, including one of my favorites: Living Dead Girl.

SOPHIE-ANNE LECLERQ

Being the Queen Bee of HBO's hit-series True Blood, in a world where vampires have 'come of out the coffin' Sophie-Anne Leclerq is the five hundred year old vampire who reigns as the queen of Louisiana. Portrayed by Evan Rachel Wood, this vampire queen is the ultimate example of a femme fatale; she carries herself regally and respectfully.

Sophie-Anne Leclerq in True Blood (2009)

However, underneath that porcelain face hides the insecurity of childish mannerisms, self-indulgence and a slight attention disorder. Being obsessed with Yahtzee and lottery scratch tickets, her tendency to hyper-focused can suddenly become subject to changes in topics of discussion or even random ramblings without any specific focus. Sophie-Anne's quirky personality is enhanced in True Blood, compared to her more reserved and more mature appearance in Charlaine Harris' book series The Sookie Stackhouse Novels. 


MANDY LANE
All the Boys Love Mandy Lane is the disturbed tale of high school beauty Mandy Lane (Amber Heard), a porcelain goddess who manages to tempt every boy within her reach by simply batting her eyelashes or ever so slightly licking her lips. She's got an etherial allure so prominent it literally draws all men to their doom. She's the girl every boy wants to have and every girl wants to be. The only problem is that the fair Mandy Lane herself has the complete inability to recognize her own charms.

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006)

The film opens at a pool party where Mandy's been invited, and decided to drag along her alienated friend Emmet (Michael Welch), much to the dismay of toddler-faced jock boy Dylan who has his sight set on Mandy. Acting on the only power that Emmet's knows he has, he talks Dylan into following him onto the roof of the house where he convinces him to jump into the pool to impress the clueless Mandy. Dylan takes a drunken dip and bashes his head onto the concrete, much to Emmet's pleasure.

Nine monts later Mandy's invited to join a group from school to a remote ranch for the weekend, which she reluctantly accepts. Despite her beauty, she's still an outsider much due to her struggling to relate to other people. Unsettled by Emmet's earlier manipulation that led to jockguy's death, Mandy decides to not invite Emmet this time.

The weekend plays out just as expected; booze, drugs and 'B-J's are exchanged and the sexual tension is buzzing. The girls are more than hormone exploding, but the boys only have eyes for Mandy Lane. What starts out to be demeaning looks from the other girls and hormonal advances from the boys, soon turn menacing. And so the drunken, selfish, horny teenagers start to get get picked off, one by one, in increasingly, almost torture kind of, ways. What's fascinating about the character development is that I found no interest in the stereotype teenagers as they were alive, but somehow felt empathy with them as soon as they got a gun pipe gagged in their mouths and their lifeless bodies wrapped in barbed wire. As the uninvited Emmet suddenly appears on the farm, craze-eyed and psychotic, it's safe to safe that the killer's identity is revealed fairly early on.

OBS! THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH CONTAINS SPOILERS! 

But.... there's a twist. A tragic but sexy one, as the femme fatale Mandy Lane seemingly tries to rescue the last surviving teenager from the death-crazed Emmet, only to be the one to stab the girl to death. The earthbound angel that had been courted by every man in the small Texas town who wanted to claim her virginity, showed to be a sociopath and a tempting murderess who doesn't skimp on the gore when it comes to revenge.

Other trivia: The sumptuous Amber Heard also stars as 406 in Zombieland (2009) and as Kristen in John Carpenter's The Ward (2010).

HALLOWEEN TOP 10: CREEPY CHARACTERS

As per tradition, I will celebrate this Halloween and its seven day countdown with my Halloween Top 10-lists, warming up with some bizarre and creepy movie characters.

#10 -  Captain Spaulding, House of 1000 Corpses

I love Rob Zombie, both his music as well as the directorial debut of House of 1000 Corpses. Known for creating utterly and perversely bizarre characters, he's taken the worst scary figure, bordering on phobia, from my childhood and turned it into one of the most disgusting personalities hitting the screen.

#9 - Masked guy, Fire Walk With Me

There are a lot of symbols and characters I have yet to figure out the meaning behind in both Twin Peaks and Fire Walk With Me. It's safe to say that the masked guy and his little rendezvous with The Little Man From Another Place, BOB, Mrs. Tresmond and her grandson during a dream sequence in FWWM is one of them. 

#8 - Frank, Donnie Darko

Death manipulated or not, the point is not who's in there; the point is the costume itself.

#7 - The Stranger, 30 Days of Night

I don't do well with backwoods-dressed, redneck-accented guys who act and look like mad rapists. Especially not the appalling  appearances of the stranger in 30 Days of Night.

#6 - Margareth White, Carrie

No, sin never dies, but hopefully it get what it deserves and takes the rest of the nutty crusaders with it.

#5 - Mrs. Bertha Mills, The Others

Who doesn't love atmospheric ghost stories? Especially when you don't know which party is dead. Although I've always had a hard time seing Fionnula Flanagan as anyone else than Molly Culhane in How the West Was Won, she does the role of Mrs. Bertha Mills with beautiful and frightening ambiance. 

#4 - Constance, American Horror Story

There really isn't anything gory or obviously disturbing about FX featured murder house's next door neighbor Constance except the creepy atmosphere of her appearance.

#3 - Leatherface, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Uuhh, if I hadn't been so desensitized I'd probably have some serious nightmares about his face. There's something Transvestite-going Joker in Batman-going panicking retiree about this patchwork that makes me a little nauseous.

#2 - Dr. Frank-N-Furter, The Rocky Horror Picture Show

The 1975 film adaption "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" of the British horror comedy stage musical "The Rocky Horror Show" presents Tim Curry as Dr. Frank-N-Furter; the self-proclaimed "sweet transvestite" from Transsexual, Transylvania.

#1 - BOB, Twin Peaks/Fire Walk With Me

The garmonbozia fetishist Killer Bob is hands down the most frightening, psychological torturer/molester/terrorizer and with him David Lynch created a character that very few writers/directors could ever compare with.

WOMEN OF HORROR: MAMA'S GOT FANGS FEAT. PAM RAVENSCROFT & SOPHIE-ANNE LECLERQ

SPOILER ALERT! 

Pam Ravenscroft

Savvy, ruthless, cold-hearted, humorous and ravishing! Pam Ravenscroft is my absolute favorite vampire portrayed in The Southern Vampire Mysteries and True Blood. No one beats her sense of humor or her (lack of) fashion sense!

  

"I don't know what it is about me that makes people think I want to hear their problems. Maybe I smile too much. Maybe I wear too much pink. But please remember I can rip your throat out if I need to. And also know that I am not a hooker. That was a long, long time ago."

―Pam

1. Her humor

I just love her morbid sense of humor and the lethal charm to it. She seems to be the only main vampire character who's actually able to be subjected to humor. Eric's just too dumb to get the jokes, and Bill's too serious to even bother to offer a smile. Pam's bluntness and apathetic appearances are entertaining without her even trying. When she does try to joke (or threat); she does it with a lethal sarcasm that scares the shit out of most human. It's priceless.

"You fucking cunt, I'm gonna shove my fist up your ass and us you as a hand warmer!"

- Pam

2. Her dislike for humans (but sexual interest in them)

Pam's dislike for humans (and especially kids) makes her interactions with them so much more entertaining. Since she wasn't very attached to her own human life and willingly accepted the offer of immortality, it seems that she despises humans for the simple reason that she sees their lives as unnecessary and finally feels alive being a vampire (the same with Baby Vamp Jessica, thumbs up!).

Like most vampires she strongly believes her kind to be superior to their human counterparts and is somewhat apathetic to the concerns of humans. This makes her struggle to understand the intentions and feelings of Sookie (who's human) so entertaining and hilarious to follow. And though Pam has a hard time making friends with either race, or sex, she has no difficulties connecting sexually with either of them. More of that on True Blood, thank you!

3. Her (lack of) fashion sense

Who would have thought that vampires like dressing in pink plush!? Well, apparently they do. And no one can carry a pink plush suit with matching shoes and makeup better than Pam. In the beginning of The Southern Vampire Mysteries Pam reveals to Sookie that she hates putting on black leather, but she does it during her working hours at Fangtasia 'cause it's what the fang bangers anticipate and want. Otherwise it's the pink full-body suit that's on!

Even her coffin's quilted in pink with cream- and pastel-colored lace edges!

Sophie-Anne LeClerq
Louisiana queen Sophie-Anne LeClerq features in The Southern Vampire Mysteries series as well as the HBO show True Blood as the 500 year old vampire who still carries childish mannerisms and is probably suffering from some kind of attention disorder. This is just what makes her one of my favorites amongst Charlaine Harris' supes.

True Blood vs. The Southern Vampire Mysteries
What I love about the novels is that they first of all tell so much more on Sophie-Anne LeClerq than True Blood. In the show she was offed on the first episode of the fourth season, leaving the throne empty for none other than Vampire Bill. We all know that the Queen's been struggling with the IRS, being indebted for the years pre the Great Revelation and struggling to save as much of her wealth and property as possible. Whether it's by (tv-show style) illegally selling V and then finally resorting to marry the charming, but lethal, Mississippi King Russell Edgington, or by marrying the Arkansas King Peter Threadgill (novel style), we've come to known Sophie-Anne as a very powerful and survival instinctive young woman.

"Hell hath no fury like a vampire queen broke."
- Sophie-Anne

The difference between the two displays of this female vampire is that one of them takes the time to reach inside her character, and one only has the time to scratch the surface.
 
1. The personality disorder
It becomes very evident, in both the novels and the show, that Sophie-Anne suffers from some type of personality disorder. Which I just love. She is the typical example of a self-indulgent, attention seeking woman, used to having her ways. I love the way her instability and her contrasted mentality is described; her rambling, the abrupt changing of subjects, her hyper-focus on games and her impatience with uninteresting matters, and her lability which always seems to be on the verge of a breakdown. She reminds me of any 16 year old (human) girl, trying to balance on the thin line between her childhood and her womanhood.


"She's as mad as a monkey on a trike and she has been for centuries! "
―Talbot on Sophie-Anne, the "Delightful Eccentric"

A trait of hers that is actually never fully displayed in True Blood. In Definitely Dead (#6 of the Southern Vampire Mysteries) we got acquainted with Sophie-Anne's (born Judith) abusive and tragic background, followed by the short story on how she was turned. This episode (both the historic memories but also the fact that Sophie-Anne sat down and took the time to even bother telling Sookie this) gave some depth to her otherwise rather stone cold appearances. Perhaps it's due to her early turning, but her attention disorder (which is not hard to guess where it's coming from when you know her story) and ADD personality never seemed to succumb to her new nature.

2. Regal and respectful
Queen Sophie-Anne possesses a very powerful and calculating mind. And although she's not as malicious and cunning as her state reigning neighbors, she still planned on how to use Sookie's gift (whether it's her fairie blood or her telepathy) to her greatest advantage. She only indulges in matters that further suit her own needs. Everything else is irrelevant. And that's probably what people tend to forget about her; that underneath that childlike, porcelain exterior is a selfish and ruthless being that should be treated accordingly.

3. The envy of humans
Although Sophie-Anne indulges in various entertainments and games with the human companions that she keeps at her mansion, her envy of the human race is never really portrayed in True Blood. With her mansion's day room with the green house, the pool and the light setting resembling daylight, it's evident that she has a longing for the outdoors and the sunlight. And the fact is that she might miss her own human life (or rather the opportunity of having a human life) so much that she values human life more than most other vampires presented. Her decision in keeping her consort Hadley human in the show might be, by most viewers, seen as a sign of dominance but it could also be seen as a sign that Sophie-Anne values the human life so much that she refuses to turn Hadley, despite that the choice means that she will lose her much sooner.

4. The maternal counterpart
The last thing you would call Sophie-Anne is maternal. As mentioned; she only does what suits her needs. But as ruthless as she might be, a 500 year old vampire would not stand a chance going up to some of the slightly older gentlemen. As a solution to this Sophie-Ann surrounds herself with a group of consorts, including her second in command Andre Paul, as well as the bodyguards Wybert and Siegbert. As we're learned in Definitely Dead these are her Children who she's able to keep with her and communicate with on a telepathic level. Though this doesn't make her into a biological or conventional mother, it still shows a maternal counterpart to this self-indulgent child, which unfortunately never had the chance to be displayed in True Blood.

Since Sophie-Anne LeClerq already has been eliminated from True Blood, I still hope for a last encounter in one of the coming books. I've only read the first eight of the Sookie Stackhouse novels so I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that the Queen'll survive the bombing in Rhodes and do a ravishing comeback!