"Sinister is a frightening new thriller from the producer of the
Paranormal Activity films and the writer-director of The Exorcism of
Emily Rose. Ethan Hawke plays a true crime novelist who discovers a box
of mysterious, disturbing home movies that plunge his family into a
nightmarish experience of supernatural horror." - (C) Summit
OBS! THIS REVIEW MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS!
So last night my boyfriend texts me, saying we're gonna watch Sinister when I get home from work. Great, I thought, having waited for it for a couple of months now, despite not having read or knowing anything about it. Sometimes you just have that weird feeling that a movie's gonna be really good. And it was. Damn it was.
Ethan Hawke does the convincing and committed role of Ellison Oswalt, a true crime writer who's famous for his debut book Kentucky Blood, in which his reporting exposed some cracks in the local police department's murder investigation techniques. And as a result, cops don't like him very much.
With the idea for his new book, Ellisson knowingly moves his family (his wife Tracy, his 12-year old son Trevor and younger daughter Ashley) into a new house in Long Island, where the previous family was hung from a tree in the backyard. All but one. Their youngest daughter, Stephanie, is still missing. With the purpose of solving the murders and find the missing girl, Ellison sets up his ordinary office with a cardboard box wall of clues and evidence and starts the hunt for material for his new bestseller.
Stumbling upon a box of homemade Super-8 reels in the attic, each labeled with a disturbing title (BBQ '79, Pool Party '86, Sleepy Time '98), Ellison rigs up his home movie theater, pours himself a whiskey on the rocks and starts watching. Each of the 'snuff' footage shows a gruesome set up of a family being simultaneously murdered in sickening ways, suggesting that the murder Ellison is currently researching is the work of a serial killer whose work dates back to the 1960's.
Once the filmstrips have begun rolling the movie itself suddenly takes on a dark tone. After reviewing the films over and over, Ellison discovers a special mark and a demonic face that turns up on each of the footage. With the help of the Sheriff's deputy and a local occult professor, Ellison starts to piece together a gruesome murder puzzle. A puzzle which effects the entire family. Ellison's son starts having his night terrors again, his daughter Ashley starts painting images taken from the 8mm films on her bedroom walls and Ellison himself leaves his wife on the verge of a nervous breakdown watching him fall into pieces due to his obsession battling his paranoia.
Sinister skillfully uses fragments of the supernatural to underline its investigation of the human mind and foibles of paranoia and insecurity, and does so with originality and a few genuine scares that will make you wet your pants. Apart from the few jump-and-scare tactics (desynced in video/audio which gives them a nano second's head start to your brain), it builds and broods atmospherically on the evil and hostility that mankind is capable of. When the demonic face from the filmstrips is identified as not only Mr. Boogie, but as the pagan Babylonian deity Bagul - he is inevitably invited to continue his work, resulting in the final film, House Painting '12.
On a personal note, this has been the atmospherically creepy and frightening movie I've seen in years. Adding to the scare is the fact the while we were watching the movie with all the lights in our house off, the globe lamp that's placed on one of the taller stereo speakers next to the TV suddenly lit on its own. An hour later when we were in bed (I'd already fallen asleep and J was laying next to me, watching Netflix on his computer) a flashlight on our dresser at the other end of the room suddenly turned itself on.
Yeah, I did it. Last night I went as Team Sceptic-but-still-hooked and saw the conclusion to the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn Part 2. It wasn't as dull as I'd expected (due to the twisted end), but it wasn't as upmarket aspiring as I'd hoped the finale would be, either. At times it was cute. Mostly it was the same naïve, antagonizing cuddling and fiddling as it has been for the last couple of years.
I know, for a 'true horror fan' the Twilight Saga is an abomination with its salad chopping, interior designing, forest hiking, teenage stalking, suprisingly slow moving, 'tofu vegetarian', sparkling vampires. It does take the humanization of vampires to an extreme when discarding the general traits of the aristocratic fiend among high society that used to identify a vampire. And it does also (as I've stated in a previous entry) set the female role back to the late 50's, as it has been doing for the last four movies. And even in this last installement Isabella Swan (Kristen Stewart) is never given enough space to reclaim her role as a strong and independent vampire female. What I liked most about the novel were the parts where she exercised her ability to project her mental shield and use it externally to weild against her enemies. Although playing with the thought of Bella having her way with flat-faced hubby Edward (Robert Pattinson) any time she wants, all Bella's traits as a vampire (the strength, the hightened senses, the ferocity, the hunger, the untamed traits of a newborn) seem diminshed as she lives in the shadow of her husband's thought of her finally being an 'equal'. Or should I say the obedient wife? All this gender and race (human/vampire/wolf) comparison both irritates and sets me off. Why does this keeping on happening? Why would a female writer deliberately make her female characters inferior, as they seem less worthy than their male mates?
And Breaking Dawn Part 2 does become very doozy and cotton candy-like with the post-honeymoon cuddling and post-transformative, weirdly enough, boring sex. All talk and no action, so to speak. The movie uses the same blue-grey production design that was also used in the previous as well as the first movie, which becomes a bit mundane after having stared at it for more than an hour. The wolves are still the same digital disaster as in the prequels and the newborn half-human, half-vampire Renesmee (what absurd name is that?) is also digitalized in her infancy. The same effects that make the fighting scene(s) a bit tacky and way too PG to actually make a good supernatural fight. One clever switch is pulled as the movie nears its end and this movie screen twist is probably the only innovative surprise from its original novel. The rest was a mediocre ending to a mediocre story.
To read more on my opinions on The Twilight Saga, check out this previous post from 2010.
"An agoraphobic father teams up with a renegade priest to save his
daughter from the clutches of a gang of twisted feral children who
committed an act of violence against his family years earlier" - IMDB
OBS! THIS REVIEW MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS!
Supposedly inspired by a violent mugging experienced by Irish writer and director Ciarán Foy, Citadel brings you to dilapidated council flats and crumbling social highrises in a dirty British suburb, a dystopia called Edenstown. The dingy surroundings and the bleak exteriors themselves make you cringe, and after the gruesome opening where Tommy Cowley's wife is silently attacked by a gang of hooded children that stab a syringe in her highly pregnant belly - you're left with a nauseating sub-textual message.
As a result of his wife's death (after being comatose for nine months) Tommy, played by Aneurin Barnard, is left with their nine month old daughter and a severe agoraphobia. Despite his intense therapy sessions, Tommy spends most of his days hiding out indoors in his new housing, cowering reduced to a gaunt wide-eyed emotional wreck. One night there's a banging on the door.
Convinced that the hooded gang is out to kidnap his daughter Tommy finds refuge in Marie, a sympathetic nurse that helped care for his wife during her comatose. Marie patiently explains to Tommy that his fear and paranoia are all in his head. “It’s so easy to demonize these kids. What they need is our sympathy." Well, what you got Marie, is blunt force trauma to the head.
In a last desperate search for an escape Tommy turns to the local vigilante priest, played by James Cosmo, who convinces Tommy that the children aren't the result of a greater malaise - they're plainly a disease unto themselves and must therefor be extinct. And you're dying to know; are these unloved children from broken homes or creatures far more sinister than that? Together with the priest, and his blind son, Tommy sets out on a final battle to save his daughter. And his sanity.
Citadel effectively rides on its initial tension through out the movie. The story balances between the feral reality of suburban brutality with poor economics and shattered homes, and the fragile mind of a young man who just lost his wife and is battling Social Services. For the main character Tommy, it's a parable of urban anxiety and the fear of fatherhood. For the viewer, it's an uneasy blend of horror of the psychological (the agoraphobia, the paranoia, the insomnia) and the supernatural kind; are those hooded child ruffians actually freakishly skinny zombies?
"When a group of petty criminals is hired by a mysterious party to retrieve a rare piece of found footage from a rundown house in the middle of nowhere, they soon realize that the job isn't going to be as easy as they thought. In the living room, a lifeless body holds court before a hub of old television sets, surrounded by stacks upon stacks of VHS tapes. As they search for the right one, they are treated to a seemingly endless number of horrifying videos, each stranger than the last."
V/H/S is basically divided into six different sequences, opening with a group of sleazy criminals filming their en route of harassment which includes attacking women and acting like complete jerk-offs. For those who've read some of my previous posts you might be aware of the fact that I loath any sexual brutality or female opressing behaviour. Which made the first couple of minutes of V/H/S intolerable for me. Luckily the storyline changes direction as the gang breaks into a house to steel an important VHS tape. Who ordered this job or why, is never explained (or I just missed that part) but wandering around the house leads them to different tv-monitors and recording devices, from which each of the five found-footage stories play out for the audience.
Containing nasties as follows, each hand-held horror story has you on the suspense delivering unique turns and surprises as you don't know what each story holds or for how long it will play out.
OBS! THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPHS MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS!
1. A group of horny guys set out for a night of clubbing wearing a hidden camera in one of their eye-glasses with the purpose of recording whatever sexual action will be achieved. This, however, goes disturbingly wrong as the guys bring back the wrong girl to their motel room.
2. An all-American couple is on a weekend getaway to Grand Canyon, when an anonymous intruder visits their motel room in the middle of the night. Although it sounds like the typical Hostel scene, it's anything but just that. This was my favorite segment of the movie and, directed by Ti West, it offered an unsettling enviroment disturbed by an even more uneasy ending scene, which was cut abruptly and without further explanation. Just the way I like 'em!
3. This segment offers the best visual effects with heavy distortions and blurry serial killers zooning in and out of the forest. A bit unnerving but as the sequence reminds a bit too much of The Blair Witch Project (c'mon, even stealing punch lines from it?) it's not far from lazy-ing back to being a gimmick.
4. During several Skype conversations with her boyfriend, a young woman reports having difficulties sleeping due to some racketing going on in her hallway at night. Her boyfriend guides her in trying to find out who's playing tricks in her apartment, but the man behind the machine turns out to be an unexpected guest. This is Joe Swanberg's 'The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger'.
5. Four party-hungry men drive to an address where there's supposedly a huge Halloween party taking place. Entering the house they realize they've stepped into another form of hell. This is rumoured to be favorite sequence of all the people involved in V/H/S and it is a damn fine and mind wrenching way to end the terror tales.
Each installment in V/H/S varies in quality and lenght; with shaky camera work, partly doubtful acting and seemingly incomprehensive plots and storylines. But despite its low-budget effects and low-rent feel it flashes some very sinister images and has some disturbed visual tricks up its sleeve. Truth be told - this is one of the scariest and disturbing movies I've seen for quite some time.
THE DEVIL INSIDE (2012)
A young American woman, Isabella Rossi, travels to Rome where her mother's been institutionalized for the past 15-20 years after killing three clergy people during what later turns out to be an exorcism. Trying to understand what happened to her mother all those years ago, Isabella brings with her a camera man in the hopes of making a documentary on her mother's case. When attending a seminar on exorcism in the Vatican City, Isabella meets two priests who explain to her that her mother's condition might not be medical, but could well be demonic possession. Together with the priests and the camera man she decides to perform an exorcism on her mother, which obviously goes horribly wrong.
US poster for The Devil Inside (2012)
Seems like a decent synopsis, doesn't it? Well... it isn't. In the range of exorcism movies The Devil Inside could be the worst example in years when it comes to storyline and acting, or rather lack thereof. Fernanda Andrade, who plays Isabella Rossi, is toe-curlingly embrassing in her lack of sensing the fine line of talking directly to the camera during a 'real' documentary and actually reading directly from the cue-cards, which in this case became extremely stilted. The two priests are the epitome of modern bad-acting crusaders; one a heavy American blabber mouth and the other a light weight British stiffness. Apart from some entertaining bone-breaking special effects this movie was just a huge waste of time.
CASSADAGA (2011)
What was time even worse spent was the 113 minutes watching Cassadaga. The deaf college student slash art teacher Lily Morel is devastated when
losing her younger sister in a traffic accident. Being an orphan, Lily
seeks solace in the spiritualist community of Cassadaga. Distraught by
the recent tragedy of her sister's death, Lily visits a local physic
together with some friends and her new hunky acquaintance (my long lost True Blood favorite Jesus). The seance is somewhat successful when the psychic manages to contact Lily's sister
but also has the side effect of opening a passage for the ghost of a
murdered young woman, whose hauntings soon start to jeopardize Lily's
sanity and safety.
Censored poster for Cassadaga (2011)
So far the story seems believable although Kelen Coleman has some difficulties tackling the deaf role. Having placed the spiritualist community of Cassadaga, FL, as the center point of a movie you would think that 'Psychic Capital of the World' would act a stronger foundation for the supernatural events of the movie. But these are suddenly pushed aside to give room for a serial killer plot, and that's how the movie starts go to awry. Although we learn that the ghost of the murdered young woman had fallen victim of a sadistic and sexually confused man who dismembers and reconstructs young women into marionettes, the two stories rather seem like incomplete sidelines than going hand in hand. Had the movie had a clearer sense of direction it might have been able to deliver on the tension it builds, but unfortunately it only left me with the sense that it actually didn't have much to offer.
"In an isolated, slowly dying mining town, children are vanishing without a trace - abducted, the townsfolk whisper, by a mysterious entity known locally as "The Tall Man." Town nurse Julia Denning (Jessica Biel) seems skeptical...until her young David disappears in the middle of night. Frantic to rescue the boy, Julia lives every parent's darkest nightmare in this twisting, shock-around-each-corner thriller from acclaimed director Pascal Laugier called The Tall Man." - Rotten Tomatoes
The small town of Cold Rock, Washington, is struggling with economic hardships and growing class differences as the prospect for the town's recidents is slowly diminishing when the mine that has been the main source of employment has shut down. In the midst of battling poverty and lack of resources, the adults in Cold Rock are one by one experiencing yet another heartbreaking tragedy; the children keep disappearing from their playgrounds, their schools and even from inside their homes.
Rumours surrounding the circumstances of the disappearances are widely spread; some believe it's a local child molester. Some say it's the Devil himself. Some talk about the town's own urban legend figure; The Tall Man - a mysterious man abducting children into the woods, after which they're never seen again.
One who's never fallen for the urban legend is the town nurse Julia Denning (Jessica Biel). Being the only medical practicioner in the area since her (doctor) husband died several years earlier, Julia Denning has become the antithesis of Cold Rock - the heroic baby deliverer, the house warming care taker and the loving mother. Naturally, as a counterpart to the social downward spiral, her son goes missing.
What starts out as a mother giving chase builds up in an intricate and inscrutable pattern, where The Tall Man's mysterious role decreases and the hidden role of nurse Denning slowly increases. The Tall Man is a heart-wrenching, shocking thriller that never fails to turn corners. We learn that the kidnapper is someone far less legendary than The Tall Man and that the urban legend figure himself exists in a whole other way than we are first to believe. The underlying supernatural prescence and the mythical references are soon diminished by the stereotype small town tropes being skillfully demolished into the heartbreaking conclusions of today; how a national economy crises always hits the hardest against small towns. The defiance and suspicion exuding from small town folks towards the outside world. The iron fist of distant and anonomous governments. The brutal consequences of class differences and the limited means of those less fortunate. The Tall Man is a provocative end twister that gives food for thought by putting an edge to the horror genre and leaves the viewer with more than one moral reflection.
Oh, wow. I haven't really made up my mind about this movie yet. Been digesting it for over a week now and can't seem to make up my mind whether this practical joke has just spun out of its own comfort zone or if it's in fact a master piece in the world of climax within the climax, and story on top of story.
It's safe to say that what starts out, after a thought provoking pre-credit sequence, as your typical teenage weekend getaway (yeah, you have the jock, the slut, the stoner, the virgin, the scholar) crammed up on an outback mountain dirt road with a name-calling, tobacco spittin' loonie stationed at the old gas station. You know the drill 'cause you've seen it before. Only, you haven't. And that's kinda the point.
The Cabin in the Woods is a simple idea executed into a whole different story. It positions itself amongst all previous slasher movies, all character clichés and genre zones just to deconstruct these very components into what can only be described as a wickedly entertaining caricatur and a brutal genre exercise. The rythm of the movie skilfully maneuvers its audience between stereotype assortments and commited actors, from scares to laughs, from hoarder basements to social science labs á la 'DHARMA in space', from hilbilly zombies to canned Silent Hill monsters, from haunted old cabin to futuristic force fields á la The Hunger Games in a surprising transition.
The Cabin in the Woods is a ritual sacrifice that'll require a lot more than just the blood of a virgin; it'll need its movie audience to. Because this is a playground for a completely new set of horror chess. A total game-changer.
Since today's no other than syttende mai (May 17th) and Nasjonaldan (the Norwegian Constitution Day) in my neighboring country, I thought it'd be an opportunity to freshen up the memory on some memorable Norwegian horror movies.
"The summer of 1974. Four young friends have planned a relaxing weekend
out in the woods. At a remote truck stop they pick up a hitchhiker, who
only after a short ride demands that they stop the car. They are
terrified. Suddenly they are all ambushed and left unconscious. They
wake up deep in the woods with no one around but the sound of a hunting
horn. Someone is out hunting, and they are the prey."
"A revengeful father embarks on a dark thrill ride of lost memories,
conspiracy and zombie-like symptoms. Finding the mysterious darkness
within is the source of the bizarre world he has uncovered."
"A group of students investigates a series of mysterious bear killings,
but learns that there are much more dangerous things going on. They
start to follow a mysterious hunter, learning that he is actually a
troll hunter."
Since this, after all, is a girl's blog, I thought it was about time to post something considered very feminine; a wishlist of zombie- and horror inspired shopping items that I've been yearning for for some time now.
SHOES
'Ruff Rider Skulls' from Iron Fist
'American Nightmare' from Iron Fist
'Lacey Days black lace up boot' from Iron Fist
'Lacey Days' from Iron Fist
'Shark Corset' from Iron Fist
'Zombie Stomper' from Iron Fist
ACCESSORIES
'Skull bowling bag' from Gypsy Warrior
'Manslayer Skull embossed wallet' from Iron Fist
EAR WEAR
There are an abundance of cheap horror/gothic/victorian inspired earrings in practically every store today, but since I can't use 'normal earrings' here are some flesh plugs I wouldn't mind wearing.
'Zombie Marilyn Monroe picture plugs' from mysticmetalsbodyjewelry.com
'Spider web screw fit steel flesh plug' from bodyjewelleryshop.com
'Owl design ear flesh tunnel' from killerink.co.uk
(mostly 'cause it reminds me of Twin Peaks and The Fourth Kind)
'Comic book picture ear flesh plug gauge zombie' from ebay.co.uk
Truth be told, I'm starting to get a bit disappointed in AMC's The Walking Dead. So yeah, they've been on the ranch for an entire season now, even though they're not wanted there. They talk about filling their tanks and heading up state, instead they go into town and stir up some walkers. They talk about rearranging the hierarchy and setting some ground rules, but instead they revert into the classical trap of gender roles - the hunting men and the stay-at-home moms. Enough already. It's a slow burn and as of now, I'd much rather watch The River or AMC's Hell on Wheels instead of this dragging show.
The major character's death in last night's episode (I haven't seen it yet) must make a damn good turn for the show, or otherwise I'm gonna lose interest. Perhaps for good.
UPDATE 3/7/2012:
So, a quick update this Wednesday morning. The last episode was wicked! I hadn't expected much based on this season's previous slow drama, but S02E11 Judge, Jury, Executioner did deliver! Not only were we faced with a major character loss at the end of the episode, but the road leading up to the gruesome (and remarkably sad) death scene was so strongly influenced by the personal journey and psychological hurdle of Carl. The change in his character, from an innocent child to that of an executioner, was so potent, both in the eye-to-eye-with-a-walker experience in the woods, to the moment of Randall's execution in the barn, where his determined little voice said: "Do it, dad".
Back to balancing between being solid and slow burning? Or are they heating it up for the last two up-coming episodes? Time will tell...
Last night my boyfriend and I watched The Thing (2011) and I was fairly surprised how good the movie actually was. I'd suspected it to be too much of a remake even though it's produced as a prequel to 1982 John Carpenter's The Thing. There were a few scenes that were strikingly resembling sequences from the 1982 movie (like the human/alien group testing scene and the dog in the kennel, etc.), but for me these contributed more to the a prequel, although déjà vu, kind of feeling than being rip-offs. Most of all the 2011 movie is true to the basic premise; being absurdly sticky and icky.
Usually I'm not a fan of science fiction horror films but since I really liked the 1982 movie (much due to Kurt Russell's hotness!) I was positively surprised. I'm very thankful that they actually cast born and bred Norwegian actors. Usually Scandinavia is a misinterpreted term and a grey spot on the map for a lot of people, especially Americans. Some have a really hard time grasping the fact that Sweden, Norway and Denmark (here not counting Finland and Iceland) are three different countries with their own, but very similar, languages. The mistake of casting a Danish guy to play the role as a Swede (like Allan Hyde who plays Godric in True Blood; his Swedish is awful for the single reason that he's Danish!) is very common. In The Thing (2011) they've cast good, neutrally accented Norwegians and I was delighted to be able to understand all their comments and jokes (I don't know if there's a subtitled version?).
Apart from the computerized monster and digitialized effects (80's effects were so much better!) this is a really good movie where the ending scenes intertwine with the opening scene of the 1982 movie in a really smooth and effectual way.
5 FUN TRIVIA ABOUT THE THING (2011)
OBS! THIS POST MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS!
5. The research team's station is named Thule Station. Thule is mentioned widely in European literature and maps, as a region in the far north. The modern interpretation is that Thule could be identified as Norway, which would make it a fitting name for a Norwegian station in the Antarctic. The term "ultima Thule" in Medieval geographies refers to any distant place located beyond the "borders of the known world". Thule is also mentioned in the first stanza of Edgar Allan Poe's poem Dream-Land.
Thule map
4. I'm guessing most people who aren't from Scandinavia perhaps won't notice this, but the station's medical officer and leader of the research team, Dr. Sander Halvorson (played by Ulrich Thomsen), is Danish not Norwegian, and therefore speaks Danish with the team. This is not explained on neither IMDB nor Wikipedia, which I find really interesting.
Dr. Sander Halvorson, The Thing (2011)
3. I haven't read the 1938 science fiction novel Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell Jr., nor seen the 1951 movie adaption The Thing From Another World, which supposedly isn't an as faithful film adaption of the novel as John Carpenter's version from 1982. Apart from being adapted into three different movies, the story was adapted as a radio drama by BBC RADIO which was first broadcasted on 24/01/2002. The story was published in comic book form in issue 1 of Starstream, and Dark Horse Comics has released The Thing From Another World, a comic book in two parts that picks up the story where John Carpenter's movie left off.
The Thing From Another World (1951)
2. I read on IMDB that "in order to not try to compete with Kurt Russell's portrayal of the 1982 film's protagonist, R.J. MacReady, the character of Kate Lloyd was designed to have traits in common with the character Ellen Ripley from the Alien film series". This is really interesting as my boyfriend kept referring to scenes from the Alien film series through out the movie.
Alien (1979)
1. My favorite detail was the song the crew's singing on the night that they've brought back "the thing" to their camp. At first I thought the song to be some kind of cultural joke from the American production company's side, since I recognize the melody from my childhood but always thought it to be a commercial jingle or likewise. It's not like Norwegians usually pick up a banjo and start yoiking every other second. But the melody is actually taken from "Sámiid Ædnan", the Norwegian entry in the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest, originally sung by Sverre Kjelsberg and Mattis Hætta. This song both contains lyrics in Norwegian as well as Sami yoik and the song title comes from a northern Norwegian Sami dialect. The song is a tribute to the Sami heritage and inspired by the Sami autonomy movement in northern Norway, and the lyrics are about the requirement of self-government.
So, in my previous post I solemnly declared my undying love for FX's and co-creators of Glee, Ryan Murphy's and Brad Falchuck's latest TV-phenomenon American Horror Story. As I'd been waiting for this show for quite some time before its release a couple of months ago, I watched the promo clues with much anticipation. Both creeping me out and catching my attention, I was intent on solving the puzzle. I must say though, even after six episodes I'm not sure I'm any wiser.
OBS! THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS!
Clue #1 - Cello
Masked rubber hands playing the cello bow on a woman's belly? Sexy and gross. I'm dying to find out who Rubber Man in fact is, during which time he lived in the house and what kind of guy he was. A pervert who liked to dress in rubber and play his cello? Tate stuck in his teenage S&M fantasies? I'm all ears to different theories!
Clue #2 - Baby
This porcelain baby is also seen in the promo photos (previously posted in FEASTY FRIDAY: 4 X SEXY POSTERS) and could both be representing the lost child of Mrs. and Dr. Charles Montgomery and all the babies who were killed in their underground abortion clinic.
It could also represent the babies that both Hayden and Vivien are carrying. Also, Nora Montgomery's appearance was first seen in 'Home Invasion' S01E02 after Vivien got pregnant, where she presented herself to Ben as a patient in a very dire situation; she's pregnant and needs his support to have an abortion. (Wow, Ben really could start a women's support group by now.)
Clue #3 - Couple
I'm not sure whether this clip is to represent a specific couple or if it's just referring to the couples of the house in general. The house has seen its share of life stories and brutal deaths; Constance shooting her husband after he has (or tries to have) an affair with the housekeeper Moira.
Chad and Patrick had their gay love story ended when Rubber Man drowns/snaps Chad's check in the apple bobbing barrel. Whatever happened to Patrick we haven't been told yet. This could be the 'murder/suicide' that the real estate agent was talking about in the pilot episode.
Then we have the builder or the house - the drug addicted Dr. Charles Montgomery and his wife Nora, who's baby son gets kidnapped by a boyfriend to one of the abortion girls, and chopped up in pieces. After going crazy and getting the Frankenstein complex, Dr. Montgomery starts sewing body parts from animals together, putting vascular looking wings on a two-headed pig. Nasty. The loss of their baby and the underground operations finally drive Nora mad after she walks in on her husband sewing pig's hooves onto their dead baby's body. Even nastier! (And what's interesting is that this must have some connection with the last episode 'Piggy, Piggy' S01E06) As if that wasn't enough, Nora evidently gets shot in the back of her head. Although that event, as well as the death of her husband, is still to be explained.
Larry taught us the gruesome destiny of his family and after playing the viral online game I know that there might be additional destinies and ghosts added to the equation.
Clue #4 - Black suit
The figure in the black suit is a reoccurring appearance in the show. First seen in the pilot episode as an inventory left behind on the attic by the previous owners the viewers were first to believe that the suit had belonged to the gay couple; Chad and Patrick. Which it also might had. But the person wearing the suit during Chad and Patrick's ill-fated Halloween night was neither one of the two. So who is the guy/ghost in the rubber suit?
On Halloween night one year after the death of Chad and Patrick, Rubber Man returns to the house standing in the hallway just behind Violet as she's watching the door (with crazy Larry on the outside). This could be the ghostly Rubber Man or just Tate wearing the suit in an attempt to either scare or seduce Violet (as he's seen earlier in the episode wearing the suit just to scare her).
The most memorable appearance of Rubber Man is however in the pilot episode, when he comes into the master bedroom and seduces Vivien, as she believes it's Ben being kinky wearing the gimp suit.
Clue #5 - Fire
Although the clip shows (again) the face of a porcelain doll, the distinct crack of a fire can be heard in the background. And fire seems to be an evident clue to the history of the house. We know that Larry was allegedly turned mad by the house in an Amityville Horror sort of way and it forced him to burn his whole family in.
In the pilot episode Ben seems to be under some supernatural influence as he walks downstairs (while Vivien's having kinky sex with Rubber Man) turning on the gas stove. Just before he burns himself, Constance enters the kitchen telling him that it's not his time yet and that he needs to "enjoy the house".
Clue #6 - Coffin
This clue is really interesting because I can't for my life figure out the meaning of it! My only guess would be the long shot that the owner of the black suit liked to play it dirty and kept some kind of human slave in the house and made her sleep in a box/coffin.
Clue #7 - Stairs
Again with Rubber Man. He definitely plays a vital role and it'll be fascinating to find out which role it is. The stairs however have a significant meaning when it comes to the subconscious and "stairs in dreams generally mean that you are coming to a conclusion about some issue. The ground floor in dreams symbolizes the reality in any given situation - the facts. The upstairs symbolizes the higher consciousness or conclusions surrounding some issue. It means that you have come to a decision. Going up and down stairs may suggest that you are coming to some new conclusions or keep changing your mind" (taken from Dream Dictionary).
It could be that the stairs are symbolic for each new discovery of the house's history or each new ghostly acquaintance.
The stairs could also be a direct clue to the 'evil' that lives in the basement of the house (as Rubber Man's standing at the top of the basement stairs in the clip). Obviously something wicked is going on in the basement; rubber balls are rolling back and forth. Dr. Montgomery had his weirdo operations going on down there. The ginger twins in the 1974 flashback were scared by something hiding in the basement. Adelaide literally warned them not to go down there. Violet's bully friend was violently shocked by what phenomenon Tate brought out down there, The intruders during 'Home Invasion' S01E02 get their throats slashed in basement, and so on.
Clue #8 - Melt
This clip is so Russell Edgington-chained-to-Eric in a True Bloody way that I seriously can't figure out what it means. If it does mean that the show will include vampires I will be sad. This show was not meant for fang banging, it's strictly S&M, gore and ghosts that are on display. Some poor guy with xeroderma pigmentosum would be totally fine though. If it's Larry or some previous occupant melting in a fire, the clue would make sense. Or a warning what will happen to Ben if he keeps getting influenced by the house and sleep walks turning on the stove.
Clue #9 - Red cello
Again with the cello bow playing on a belly. This time altering between a regular and a pregnant one. It's obvious that Rubber Man has some influence over the females in the house and the cello clips are somehow a statement of that.
This one's also referring to the fact that Rubber Man's gotten Vivien pregnant and it might be so that if Rubber Man has been around the house for some time (since after they invented rubber, I guess), she might not be the only woman he's impregnated. We don't know for sure that Constance's late husband was the father to either Adelaide nor Tate.
Clue #10 - Rubber bump
Uugh, Rubber Man with a prego bump is a bit disturbing. But as I wrote in Clue #9 - Red cello, it could be so that Rubber Man has impregnated more women that just Vivien. Do we know the reason why Adelaide was born neurologically atypical or why Tate turned out to be a Bowling for Columbine kind of guy? Impregnation by ghostly Rubber Man's got to be destined to have some side effects.
Clue #11 - Belly
I'm just hoping that the sonogram of Vivien's belly DID NOT show an evil spawn with hooves. That's just too much Christian mythology for my taste. I'm more for the unexplained, non-churchy stuff. It will be interesting to see whether she'll give birth to her fast growing baby or not, and if it'll be obvious that there's something wrong with it and that it's not Ben's baby. Maybe it'll turn out like Terry and Arlene's baby in True Blood, alarmingly cunning due to it's evil genetics.
Clue #12 - Family portrait
This clip doesn't say much more than what we've already learned from the six episodes that have been released. It's evident that past history plays a vital role in the current events; the twins from the 1974 flashback are seen running down the hallway, Adelaide is holding hands with her childhood self and young Moira's flashing her thighs to Ben as her older version's scrubbing the floor. Vivien is touched by the hand of Rubber Man, Violet's letting go of the hand of a very sad faced Tate and Larry bursts into flames as a calm Constance walks amongst them like the eye of the storm. This indeed is a portrait of the show.
Let me start by saying that I've become somewhat obsessed with American Horror Story. Now that this year's True Blood sexiness is over, the first season of Game of Thrones with the overwhelmingly hot Khal Drogo is over, The Vampire Diaries has become too repetitive and hormonal, The Secret Circle lacks hormonal outrages, Glee is too PC, Grimm is just in the line-up, The Walking Dead is somewhat picking up its pace but still haven't gotten quite there yet and my yearly Twin Peaks-marathon is finalized, I really needed something this fall to trigger my senses and satiate my need for the sexiness of horror.
I loved it from the first minutes in the pilot and I'll probably love all 13 episodes. It's all a bit over-the-top, but that's obviously what you get when you let Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuck (co-creators of Glee) go bananas! You need to have a thing for stylized cliches, a fondness of B-horror, a humorous approach to cinematic homages, a special love reserved for Twin Peaks aesthetics and no PC ethics to dig this. Well, since I'm raised in probably the world's most liberal country (Sweden) outside any politic, religious or other traditional condemnation and have a life long love affair with all things horror related, it's in my nature to love this! So here are three reasons why you should watch American Horror Story.
OBS! THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS!
#1. The underlying mystery of the 'murder house'
Fueled by the use of adorable 30's to 50's songs during perverted and gory scenes, the underlying mystery of American Horror Story is accompanied by a series of juicy jingles and mood setting tunes. As I've mentioned in previous posts, I'm a huge advocate for using the effect of music as a mood setter. With hints dropping everywhere, the storyline changes with each episode's flashback to previous house owners' life stories and brutal deaths. New and interesting characters are introduced as the timeline and history of the house is laid out piece by piece. It also becomes more and more evident that the next door neighbor Constance is pulling the strings, having the Harmon family at her mercy. The question is how and why. Each episode development also leaves me wondering which character will turn out to be dead despite their full on staging.
#2. The cinematic homages
Homage paying or rip-offs? Without being shy about its influences, American Horror Story acknowledges and blazes through every horror movie reference that they could possibly come up with in a bloody blur. A horror nerd fan base for a show like this a given, although I bet half of them think American Horror Story might be knocking out one too many references, as they get piled up in each episode. I, however, think it's a ballsy move and I love all the hat tipping. Some references are full on homages where as others are more subconscious absorptions by personal reference. Here are a number of my personal favorites:
The shapeshifting, ghostly seductress: The Shining
The home invasion: The Strangers
Creepy twins: The Shining
Mentally unstable mother trying to up-bring an even more unstable daughter: Carrie
Whichever party being ghosts: The Others
Abortion clinic doctor sewing together his dead baby with animal body parts: The Human Centipide
The housekeeper with too much inside information: The Others
Father turned mad by potential haunted house: The Amityville Horror
A potential supernatural rape resulting in pregnancy: Rosemary's Baby
And last but not least - taking an adorable song (or a nursery rhyme) and pervert it in a horror sequence: A Nightmare on Elm Street, Insidious... amongst others.
#3. The characters
Going on its sixth episode American Horror Story has finally let horror mythology take a back seat to the characters.
The creepy next door neighbor
Straddling the genre line between drama and horror extremely well, Jessica Lange plays the role of next door neighbor Constance; who makes Ipecac cupcakes, has a cleptomaniac behavior going on when it comes to silverware and refers to her daughter as the not so PC term 'mongoloid'. This aggressively sassy woman, who had to put her acting dreams on the hold to give birth to previously mentioned mongoloid daughter, has a define cruel streak that is evident in her history of killing the housekeeper (Moira) after finding out she had an affair with her husband. Constance also seems to be pulling the strings of the haunting drama with her growing number of ghost accquaintances.
The mongoloid girl next door
First seen in the pilot episode as the little girl back in the 70's who warns the twin brothers Troy and Brian ("You're going to die in there") when they're vandalizing the 'murder house', the next door neighbor girl Adelaide plays a short but impressive role in the first four episodes. Born with Downs syndrome she (in a Carrie-Margaret kind of relationship) has been resented by Constance since birth; a condition that makes me love her character. The resentment from her mother's side is so strong that Addie undergoes less ethical methods of up-bringing. Her (lack of) intelligence is also constantly undermined as her mother even sees her as a threat towards her (alarmingly) younger lovers.
The future high school massacre kid Being Ben Harmon's first patient in LA, Tate Langdon reveals his dreams of going on a killing spree at his high school, constantly speaking in a provocative way in order to upset Ben. Your average revolting teenager gone pervert, sort of. Masturbating to keep his high school massacre thoughts at bay, Tate starts secretly visiting Ben's daughter Violet in her bedroom at night. Having some dark evil friend hidden in the Harmon's basement and being the (bastard?) son of Constance, Tate would have his share of PTSD-syndromes. And it turns out that his dreams are based on his subconscious memories of him already having gone on a murder spree at his old high school in the 90's (Bowling for Columbine, much?). Current ghost-Tate doesn't seem to be aware of this fact, though. And despite his verbal perverseness he's unable to perform sexually with Violet. If this is due to him being a ghost or his unstable mental health in general; we don't know yet.
The teenaged, self-harming daughter
The typical teenager; resenting her parents because her father is a liar and her mother is weak. Add being a cutter to the equation, and we've heard the story before. But the petulant side of Violet Harmon was over shadowed by her strong will and courage during 'Home Invasion' (S01E02) and she's the only one who's actually willing to stay in the house as she sees it as a place of triumph, where she and her mother survived the attackers. Even though she's a bit annoying and immature for her age, I would have to agree that Violet grows with each new episode, much due to her emotionally struggling the fact that her boyfriend is a ghost.
The all-time horny father
Ben Harmon; the all American dad, the handsome therapist, the uninterested father, the douche bag husband. The list can be made long. After Vivien had a miscarriage, Ben couldn't accept the fact that she was no longer interested in sex, and being horny as he was, he decided to have an affair with Hayden. The event of Vivien walking in on the two of them is what led the family to move to LA, making their relationship strained in the start of the series. The new house immediately starts to play tricks with Ben. It makes him sleepwalk and perform violent actions which he forgets about due to constant black outs. It makes him see the housekeeper Moira as her young 80's seductive self instead of the 60 year old woman she portrays herself as in front of the rest of the living. Topping that off with Ben walking in on her as she's masturbating with her legs sprawling in the air. Poor guy. As if that wasn't enough, he gets stalked by a pregnant Hayden who claims he's the love of her life and he really can't seem to get his hormones under control, as he lashes out and kills Hayden in a rage.
The dependent and rock solid mother
It's still taking some personal adjustment to see Connie Britton in any other role than Tammy Taylor in Friday Night Lights. However, she does a fantastic job as the betrayed but strong mother of Vivien Harmon. Vivien has developed a strange biological tie with the house (like all pregnant women on the Island in LOST) after having sex with the rubber man (which she thought was her all-time horny husband being S&M playful) and becoming pregnant. With a fast growing baby in her belly, Vivien puts all her awakened time and energy into trying to sell the house after falling out of love with it due to not only the home invasion, but some very persistent ghost visits.
The scorned ex-mistress
Following Ben to LA and stalking him in his home, Hayden can't seem to get over the thought of Ben having another family apart from her and the pre-born baby that he left her with and which she never had aborted. Killed by Larry in a rage after terrorizing Ben in his home and pissing off Larry, Hayden's body is buried underneath the gazebo in the garden. It doesn't take long for Hayden to return, making Vivien believe she's still alive and Ben to believe that she faked her death in a conspiracy with Larry.
The stalking psycho
Larry seems to be the only actual living person who knows the secrets and evil of the house. Being the previous torment victim of the house's mental games, Larry burned his wife and daughters to death and became left behind covered in second degree burns. Having been recently released from a mental institution, Larry claims he has inoperable brain cancer and not much long to live. In an attempt to be either a pain in the ass or actually trying to help Ben to become free of the house's power, Larry starts terrorizing Ben, taking advantage of Ben's dire situation. After having killed Hayden with a shovel, Larry starts to blackmail Ben to pay him off or he'll tell the cops about Hayden's body being buried in the back yard. The seducing housekeeper
Being one of the ghosts of the house, housekeeper Moira, was shot in the eye and killed by Constance during the 80's after Constance caught Moira and her husband Hugo having what she believed was an affair. When the Harmons move in to the house, Moira shows up on their doorstep revealing herself as an old woman to Vivien, asking to be taken on as their maid. While Vivien sees the older version of Moira, Ben sees the young seductive version that is stuck in a seducing-her-employer-loop. One thumb up for young Moira constantly trying to seduce Ben and two thumbs up for Violet walking in on the old version of Moira straddling her dad.
