Although Grave Encounters reminds a bit too much of Dr. Vannacutt and his House on Haunted Hill, there's still enough to make this a good film on its own. The story plot goes with a team of "ghost hunters" who are filming what supposedly will be a pilot for a TV-show called Grave Encounters, at Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital in rural Maryland. They boldly decide to let themselves be locked in the asylum for 8 hours to try to record what locals have described as "ghostly activity".
The 8 hour lock down turns into an ongoing nightmare where the doors won't unlock, objects start to move around, the team's food turns spoiled and rotten, the corridors become an endless labyrinth with no way out. An event that could have opened into anything, and hopefully something unexpected; still it lacks that intrigue and imagination that could have made it completely terrifying.
There's just too much of the constant screaming and the shaky night vision cameras. Ghosts of the former mental patients turn up and disappear just as quickly, never really contributing to the event more than being a couple of good scares. And instead of giving the viewer a creepy and genuine experience Grave Encounters gives you a rehearsed dialogue and not natural enough performances to make you believe in a ghost hunting show turning real,where everything's explained to you, leaving hardy anything for your imagination. So yeah; kinda stating the obvious.
What bothers me the most is the ending. The same goes for YellowBrickRoad.
YellowBrickRoad delivers the absolute right atmosphere and leaves room for the viewers imagination to roam free over the subtle but chilling elements; such as the behavior of the group members that develops into disturbing violence. Or the music which plays a vital role in the atmosphere, being somewhat the element that manipulates the story and the reason why the environment of the woods is so dangerous.
A group of investigators sets out on an expedition into the woods outside the town of Friar, New Hampshire, to solve the mystery with the missing citizens of Friar who in 1940 walked up the winding mountain trail and vanished.
First I thought YellowBrickRoad would turn into some parallel universe version, like after the turning the frozen wheel in LOST or like in the Black Lodge in Twin Peaks, since many of the elements in YellowBrickRoad remind me of both TV-shows. Not at all. This IS literally the yellow brick road in front of which a house in fact is placed. The Wizard of Oz-resemblance is interesting but completely unaccounted for as it's never explained.
Both Grave Encounters and YellowBrickRoad are really good indie-movies that build up tension and atmosphere just to have them spoiled by inadequate endings. Both movies present a series of events that both shock and scare but never give a plausible explanation. Instead; they have endings that try to interconnect with the origin of the stories and past events (a patient room at the mental asylum in the 1940's and a movie theater from 1940), making them "time travel" solutions that are both unsatisfying and disappointing.
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!
The master of bizarre, and father of my all time favorite Twin Peaks,David Lynch has announced that his second album "Crazy clown time" will be released on November 7th.
Good Day Today (to the right) is a single from his debut album with the same name.
Last night I downloaded John Ajvide Lindqvist's latest book Tjärven from Stockholm Public Library. Normally I hate reading PDF's or listening to audio books (since it makes me feel like I have a learning disorder) but since the book will not be released as a physical book, I had no other choice. Thankfully it's only a 123 pages of screen staring.
As seven old high school classmates are reunited to celebrate Midsummer's Eve together, they set out into Stockholm's outer archipelago, heading for the island Tjärven. What should be a nostalgic revisit to their youth in the idyllic settings of the small island and its lighthouse, turns into a nightmare of unsuspected events.
This is a straight on flesh eating zombie massacre with skillful details and Lindqvist's usual realism, accompanied by an 80's boom box with Modern Talking blasting over the 6000 square rocky island whilst the stranded characters get their brains chewed up, one by one. This is the night when those who are forever freezing awaken. The drowned come onto land, and they're hungry.
When I started reading I had the survival-feeling that I usually get when I watch zombie- and apocalyptic movies. It wasn't until halfway in I realized that it was only 6 weeks ago that I was in that same part of the archipelago, camping on a remote island not far from Tjärven. This is where I started to get creeped out.
Usually zombie reading gives me an uncanny but entertaining feeling. Tjärven felt, apart from that, also somewhat doleful. The sad feeling that permeates the story is mostly based on the classical set of lonely characters (like Oscar, Lacke and Håkan in Let the Right One In, Gustav, David, Elvy and Flora in Handling the Undead). They're plagued by personality issues from the past and subjected to the trials of the present, each set with a reoccurring inner monologue that hardly boosts their self-esteem. And despite them being a somewhat bigger group, the fact is that they really don't know each other anymore. It's been 25 years since they last saw each other. Being estranged is what makes them unable to rely on one another. And they know it. Also, reading about a group of people getting slaughtered on an island with no escape, might not be the best reading after the recent event on Utöya.
And even though the characters appear a bit thin and to be somewhat predictable stereotypes, Lindqvist always hits spot on with the very simple but rapid and concise dialogs, and the philosophical inner monologues. The thin appearance might be due to the fact that he only gave himself 35 days to plot, write and finish the story, which ended up being only 123 pages long. The stereotype, hackneyed characters might be deliberate since this in fact is a high school reunion during which people usually have a tendency to revert to their old roles. Or feel the need to demonstratively prove that they've changed, when they in fact are just the same as 25 years ago. This makes them all appear diluted. Perhaps it's just what the opportunity had to present.
This book does not deserve to be compared to Lindqvist's previous, as it will appear unfinished. Too short and underdeveloped. Simply because you know that he has so much more to give to the story. Ignoring the rest; Tjärven itself, is an eminent short-story.
John Ajvide Lindqvist talks about Tjärven (in Swedish):
The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco
No, this is definitely not in the horror section. It might be squeezed into the thriller genre, but my blog my rules. This one's a must simply because it has created such a controversy in Italy, especially in the Vatican. It's not the first time I'm intrigued with reading examinations of conspiracy theories, and it's not the first time Umberto Eco examines them. His latest takes on freemasonry, antisemitism and the forgery of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
The last conspiracy theory based novel I read was Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, which I loved. A lot of people found it overrated, irrational or even a blasphemy. I found it immensely interesting.
1. Because since I studied physics in high school I've always been fascinated with Sir Isaac Newton.
2. Because I've always believed that Jesus did have a woman, just like any other normal guy.
3. I love reading about secret societies.
4. I generally love conspiracy theories (Nope, I don't believe Armstrong walked the moon in 1969).
And even though I've read numerous contradictions, amongst them The Da Vinci Code and the Secrets of the Temple, which I bought from the writer, Robin Griffith-Jones, who's the Master of the Temple at the Temple Church in London, I was never thrown off. It's too damn interesting.
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion documents the late 19th-century meeting between Jewish leaders discussing their plan to control the press and the world's economies. The Prague Cemetery presents the main character Simone Simonini who's fueled by antisemitism and concocts the ultimate conspiracy theory; a mythic meeting of the Elders of Zion taking place in Prague's Jewish cemetery to plan the rule of the world. And it's supposed to be downwards from that.
Critics have said that Eco describes the Jews as so disgusting, plotting and ill-natured that they fear that the book will raise more antisemitism. That readers will forget that this is a novel, and look at it as a scientific book where the characters seem certain of this crime.
It can't be other than brilliant!
Människohamn (Harbour) by John Ajvide Lindkvist ”It was a beautiful winter's day. Anders, his wife and their feisty six-year-old, Maja, set out across the ice of the Swedish archipelago to visit the lighthouse on Gavasten. There was no one around, so they let her go on ahead. And she disappeared, seemingly into thin air, and was never found. Two years later, Anders is a broken alcoholic, his life ruined. He returns to the archipelago, the home of his childhood and his family. But all he finds are Maja's toys and through the haze of memory, loss and alcohol, he realizes that someone - or something - is trying to communicate with him. Soon enough, his return sets in motion a series of horrifying events which exposes a mysterious and troubling relationship between the inhabitants of the remote island and the sea.”
This one’s not new, I just haven’t come around to read it yet. Based on the fact that I've loved everything I've read from Lindqvist so far, this sure won't be an exception. I'm mostly interested in seeing how he incorporates the very distinct and characteristic feeling of the Swedish archipelago. If you haven’t been there (to either west or east coast) you can’t really imagine how very tranquil and, at the same time, terrifying it can be. I’m betting the scenery will go perfectly hand in hand with the subject of loss and grief that Lindqvist so gallantly masters. That, and the fact that he always seems to be able to personify the subject of horror, and make it an everyday and familiar acquaintance.
Lilla Stjärna (Little Star) by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Little Star is John Ajvide Lindqvist’s latest physically published novel (Tjärven is newer, but have only been released as audio book and e-book), that has not yet been released in English. The story reflects the failure of adults and the fragility of the young, in a story that reintroduces horror in everyday Sweden. Readers have said that this is by far his darkest (and best!) book so far so I’m excited to read it!
As mentioned above, I love finding an author who interprets local and familiar places or events that you, as a reader, have a personal relation to. When I lived in Oregon I loved reading Chelsea Cain’s Heart-trilogy, ‘cause it takes place in Portland and along the I-84, where I lived and worked. (Also the book series stars a female serial killer, which is awesome!!) Lilla Stjärna (Little Star) supposedly has a terrifying twist of the very much loved (and by me visited) summer event of “community singing” at Skansen in Stockholm.
“A scream, a perfectly pitched E is heard in the woods. Whilst out mushrooming, has-been Swedish pop singer, Lennart, makes an unpleasant discovery. He finds a lifeless infant in a plastic bag. The baby is resuscitated and turns out to have a beautiful and rare voice. Lennart takes her home and decides that she must remain untouched, undisturbed. Locked up in the basement, the girl Teres, must represent pure music and the purpose of his life.
At the same time another young girl grows up in a small village in another part of Sweden. Teresa finds it difficult to make friends and her only way to escape loneliness is via the internet. One day she sees a girl who calls herself Tora Larsson on the Swedish version of pop-idol and is immediately transfixed by her. Teresa tries to get in touch and it turns out to be Teres who has performed under a false name. The girls become inseparable and start making music together. They get a MySpace hit and slowly their relationship changes. Teres starts seeing other girls who have seen her in the video. Soon the girls gather outside the fence at Skansen, the local stage. Teres is the focal point, the girl they all worship, their idol. The group starts seeing themselves as a pack of wolves and display wolf like behavior."
The Bride of Frankenstein: Pandora’s Bride by Elizabeth Hand “Attempting to create life through dreadful experiments, Henry Frankenstein and Dr. Pretorius instead created unspeakable horror: two misshapen monsters, a brutish male and his female mate, stitched together from the bodies of cadavers. Crafted to be the monster's bride - an undead Eve to an equally accursed Adam - the female creature was destroyed mere minutes after taking its first breath - or was it?”
We all know the story plot. And usually it’s the other way around – you take a really good book (preferably older and almost forgotten) and turn it into a movie. In this case we have Mary Shelley's Frankenstein published in 1818 inspiring the first movie Frankenstein's Monster from 1931, with its sequel Bride of Frankenstein from 1935, which is also inspired (but not based on) the novel. Instead we have a reinterpretation (Dark Horse Comics, 2007) of Universal Picture’s classic 1935 film by detailing the bride of Frankenstein’s secret story. This could be just a novelization of the film or something that actually renews, reinterprets and retells in a challenging and surprising way.
Yes, HBO just announced that all 12 episodes of True Blood Season 5 will launch in June 2012. I know we're in the middle of season 4 right now (which is AWESOME, btw) but just knowing that there will be a next season (and that it will be produced by Allan Ball) makes me excited!! And I hope we finally get to see how Pam became a vamp. And that they'll throw some more shifters into the plot. And maybe some more of shirtless Alcide?
3. Heart-shaped box by Joe Hill
I loved this book mostly because it surprised me right from the first page and kept me on this nerve wrecking leash throughout the story. First, everything I had read and heard about the book made me assume it was some Valentine’s Day psycho version. Totally wrong there.
The story is basically about an old musician who decides to add to his home collection of snuff movies, human skulls and bones and occult artifacts, by online ordering a woman’s stepfather’s ghost. The supposedly ghost arrives in the old man’s suit and with that the nightmare starts.
It could be a predictable story with two very stereotype characters; the old rock star with his leather pants, his ignorant behavior and his love for his dogs who he treat way better than his twenty somewhat year younger girlfriend slash fan slash ex stripper.
Hill is a master of suspense and of character building making the douche rock star and his slutty girlfriend into a desperate and heart breaking couple in search for answers, bordering onto the world of the dead.
2. Hanteringen av Odöda (Handling the Undead) by John Ajvide Lindqvist
The filming rights for both movie and tv-show were bought by the Swedish movie production company Tre Vänner AB back in 2005. Rumor has it that they’ve actually been filming the tv-show this summer and have asked to do some zombie extras during the Stockholm Zombie Walk on August 20th. My only concern is that people tend to go for the traditional Romero zombie with the whole flesh-eating and blood dripping charisma.
However, knowing the character of the undead in the original book they are nowhere similar to be found in a classical zombie walk. I hope the director and the production team have chosen to stay true to the original story because this could be even better than Låt den rätta komma in (Let the Right One In).
1. Vampire Darcy’s Desire: A Pride and Prejudice Adaption by Regina Jeffers
OK, so I’m a huge sucker for Jane Austen novels and I loved the remake Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I’m as annoyed as I am intrigued with the classics that’ve gone horror. And some with better results than others. So when I was combing the shelves at Powell’s Books in Portland, OR last November I stumbled across Vampire Darcy’s Desire. The cover is just awful, like a British version of a Harlequin cover and the story plot sounds really cheesy, even for a Romantic and Victorian fantast as myself:
“This is the greatest literary love story of all time, transformed into a heart-pounding vampire tale of romance, lust, and danger. This inventive, action-packed novel tells of a tormented Darcy, dispirited by his family's 200-year curse and his fate as a half-human/half-vampire damper. Darcy meets Elizabeth and finds himself yearning for her as a man and driven to possess her as a vampire. Uncontrollably drawn to each other, their complex relationship forces them to wrestle with the seductive power of forbidden love. Meanwhile, dark forces are at work all around them, with the threat from George Wickham, the purveyor of the curse, a demon who vows to destroy each generation of Darcys and currently has evil intentions for the vulnerable Georgiana.”
But after having read a couple of chapters there was no denying that I loved it! It has all the elements that Pride and Prejudice and Zombies only touches on the surface; the unspoken passion between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet that grows into a hands on erotic passages. The beast versus the lover within Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth’s struggles between morals and passion alongside with full on zombie battles when the demon and necromancer George Wickham decided to return to his childhood village and raise the dead from their graves.
I’m confident that Vampire Darcy’s Desire would make a far better movie than Pride and Prejudice and Zombie, though I look forward to whichever zombie adaption of the classic novel that’ll be displayed first.
