OK, so now that 2010 is biting the dust and no new albums are coming on the next few days, I can safely announce what music rocked my world this year, so drum roll please...
1. The Like - Release Me
The retro rock masterwork, Amy Winehouse can eat her heart out. The Like ventured and succeed in the 1960's girl group territory. With lyrics full of wit, beats that will make you reply the album again and again, and again. You won't be skipping any tracks 'til the end... or the bonus track!
Key tracks: Narcissus In A Red Dress, In The End, Why When The Love Is Gone*... the full album!!!
2. Fangoria - El Paso Trascendental: Del Vodevil a la Astracanada
In the beginng there was Pegamoides, then Dinarama... but when Carlos Berlanga, thy proud Captain jump off the boat, Fangoria was born and the amazing talent of Nacho Canut and Olvido Gara (Alaska) took the main stage. 20 years later, the pair decided not only to release a singles collection, but record their own versions of some Pegamoides and Dinarama tracks.
While 'Vodevil' is the chronological compendium of the 22 singles, 'Astracadana' is the wild and amazing electro-pop reinvention of some familiar tunes, the dancefloor deities from Spain show us that you can go back and turn into gold even the most dated (but amazing) songs.
The special edition (available only in Spain) contains an extra CD (Sainete) with some rare tracks and b-sides (not the most comprehensive collection) and a DVD (Variedades) with all the videos (with the exception of the 'new' single Ni Tu Ni Nadie)
Key tracks: Sálvame, Me Odio Cuando Miento, El Cementerio De Mis Sueños, Absolutamente, Bailando, La Tribu De Las Chochoni, Descongélate, La Funcionaria Asesina, Quiero Ser Santa
3. Glee - Vol 3. Showstoppers, The Power Of Madonna, Journey To Regionals, The Rocky Horror Glee Show & The Christmas Album
So there was a little show about geeks turned into school choir gleeks. Fox and Ryan Murphy (The man behind the amazing Popular) bring pop tunes, Broadway showtunes, and some songbook standards to prime time... and it's beyond great.
With a great line up of performers that show that a wide vocal range can be exploited to create the perfect pop act (with some killer moves and great storytelling) Glee as a music product can make you enjoy those songs that you may hate with their original performers (The Beatles, Paramore, Kanye West, etc...)
And why I didn't put Volume 4 up there, to be honest the lack of showtunes, Telephone and the Umbrella/Singing In The Rain mash-up, made a lackluster of collection, hope those tracks show up in a compilation of the missing tracks from both seasons so far...
Key tracks: Gives You Hell, One Less Bell To Answer/A House Is Not A Home, Physical, Rose's Turn, Bad Romance, Borderline/Open Your Heart, Bohemian Rhapsody, Over The Rainbow, There's A Light (Over At The Frankenstein Place), Baby, It's Cold Outside
4. Evelyn Evelyn - Evelyn Evelyn
So what do you get when you mix Amanda Palmer with Jason Webley? not the Olsen twins... but EvelynEvelyn, the conjoined twin sisters Eve and Lyn Neville that after 3 years of vigil, released the soundtrack of their life.
It's cute, disturbing, cheerful and depressive, all at the same time and with the best intentions, I still don't get why some people either felt enraged by the concept, or laugh stupidly (specially if you check videos of the live performances) at the twins
Final note, as a soundtrack the twin's story should be filmed, an animated feature in the vein of Coraline would be perfect.
Key tracks: Evelyn Evelyn, A Campaign Of Shock And Awe, Elephant Elephant, Love Will Tear Us Apart
5. Amanda Palmer - ...Performs The Popular Hits Of Radiohead On Her Magical Ukulele
And what do you get when you produce Amanda Palmer and her magical ukelele? a fucking amazing collection of Radiohead covers, I bet that Thom and the gang are really amazed with Miss Palmer's wit and skill.
If you love Amanda or Radiohead's music, this EP will bring some nice surprises to your playlist, it's a shame that the only 'physical' version was released in limited edition vinyl
Key tracks: High And Dry, No Surprises, Creep (both live versions)
December 16, 2010
My Fave Albums of 2010
November 01, 2010
The Day after Halloween
This year, the Halloween marathon narrowed down to 3 films:
The Evil Dead
Suicide Club (Suicide Circle)
Scream
And I don't know, but is it just me or Suicide Club is just a more stylist version of Halloween III: Season of the Witch... in the core the premise is just the same, evil via technology will take the life of people... What else I can say without spoilers, if you have seen it, what do you think?
And then there was the Scream Awards (I should have picked another DVD, but well...) The only reason I was eager to see this show was the Scream 4 teaser, but it hit the net quicker than swine flu, but really? the bunch of 'hardcore' horror fans cheering to K-Stew and the whole Twilight crap???? O_o
I guess now I can proudly announce my love for musicals in front of that crowd... not that I've ever denied it.
August 17, 2010
Images of Non-Generic Nudity in Horror
A very Not Safe For Work (NSFW) post, by yours truly...
From a meme doing the rounds in some blogs, thematic images in horror films, my choice: Non-Generic Nudity.
We know that sex is a big chunk of the horror's formula, and with sex involved, you'll need some degree of nudity. But beyond of the common images of virginal nannies changing clothes or coming out of the shower, here is a brief display of the nudity that goes out of the box in some horror films, in various degrees...
click the above Read More! link for the fleshy and bloody images...
1. Deep fried bimbos in the tanning salon:
Ashley & Ashlyn in Final Destination 3
OK, at first, the scene looks very generic, cute girls get rid of some or all of their clothes to go into the tanning beds. But by the time the death starts to play its game, you really forget about the nudity and a creepy feeling grows on you: the fear of being burned alive in such a vanity and glamorous way! By the way, the deep fried bimbo may apply more to that scene in Blood Diner... nevermind
But wait, even if it was a fun concept, it was used before, as an urban legend in Urban Legends 3: Bloody Mary. This proves that a good idea, when executed lousily, looks horrible on film, even if Mary Lambert dared to use a boy, but got shy with the nudity and gore overall...
2. The stomping body double:
Willow in The Wicker Man
Another that may look generic, but once you digest the lyrics of Willow's song, and do the math for the Sergeant fate, you wish that no naked girl or boy start to chant and stomp at your door, naked, not in a hostel or any other place, you may end as the main attraction of some pagan ritual. As a side note, you may already know that the frames with the full body shots are from a body double and not from Britt Ekland.
3. The 'Runners' took your clothes:
Jim in 28 Days Later
So a group of stupid activists go ape in a animal testing lab, they let out this cute little monkey that happens to be the carrier of 'the rage', a virus that turns people into zombie like creatures (not totally zombie since they can run an have a patient zero). Cut to Cillian Murphy totally naked in a panoramic shot of an hospital (a few years earlier and I bet Ewan McGregor would be playing Jim, just for the nudity and having Danny Boyle as the director). Alas, it sets the tone of a post-apocalyptic world, were clothes are optional.
4. Soft-Core Zombie:
Nude Zombie in Night Of The Living Dead
The other, other side of the coin. While Barbara and Ben are waiting for something in that rural house, all the noises start to attract the recently resurrected, and one of the most memorable zombies is the nude zombie crawling, I guess you really lose all your inhibitions when you die... and the fact that is one of the less elaborated zombies ever, makes it even creepier!
5. & 666. Showers aren't safe:
Marion in Psycho & Doug in Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter
Again, when the nudity involves a situation that can be related to the common things in everyday life, it doesn't matter how much flesh, and how much you dig the person in screen, it gets ugly. Sorry Mr. Van Sant, but Joseph Zito made a perfect, almost shot by shot homage to Hitchcock's work, sorry I didn't include the matching frame of Janet Leigh washing her hair, but the part when you almost see the knife hitting her body is terrifying...
7. The S&M Shower:
Coach Schneider in A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge
After the original, the least you expected for a sequel, and one stating that Freddy will get his revenge, was one of the most progressive exercises in gay horror. Since Schneider was in his leather S&M attire, you may get to the conclusion that he enjoyed his last minutes on earth... this was definitely a different kind of shower
8. Dude! where are my classmates?
Todd, his classmates and some concentration camp victims in Apt Pupil
Yet another shower, and also in the school showers... by the time you got the Steel Magnolias flashback, Todd's classmates disappear and he has a vision of the Holocaust that may or may not change his perspective about life and the people around him. So sad that we lost such a talented actor.
9. Run Patrick, Run!
Patrick Bateman in American Psycho
Now, this is what I call bold movie making, and the perfect mix between the director's vision, the studio boundaries and respect to the original material (by the great Bret Easton Ellis). And you don't even need to see it all, but if you want to, the new DVD has the scenes with Bale's uncensored parts, but even if is the poster child of perfection, a killer with a chainsaw is a killer with a chainsaw...
10. The corpse with the rose tattoo:
Darry in JEEpERs CrEEpers
The big finale in Victor Salva's moder classic, doesn't hesitate to show you that the final boy wasn't one (in this case there was a final girl all along). And even beyond the fake naked body of Justin Long, the last frames with the Creeper showing his new eyes, morbid!
11. We are nude too... almost:
The vampire aliens in Lifeforce
Even when Mathilda May's character managed to spend almost all 116 minutes of the film in the nude, her vampire alien 'brothers' just had a split second of almost nudity when they scape the lab. Of course we also get some nude victims in all their raisin-like glory, but you surely missed the boys while trying to catch as much of the girl... I don't know how our TV station managed to program this film like four times a year back in the day if they needed to edit almost every other scene, and even the plot made as much sense as the unedited version...
12. He's coming to flash you!
Zombie flasher in the remake of Night of The Living Dead
Simple, effective, and out of the blue... detour number three of one of the best remakes ever. One: Barbara with short hair, Two: The old man is not a zombie, and Three: The man who doesn't look like a zombie will try to kill you, oh! and he has some wardrobe malfunction, How Janet of him!
13. No pain, no gain:
Julie in Return of The Living Dead 3
You can really see Yuzna's touch in this sequel, and even with the beautiful Mindy/Melinda Clarke (as Julie but pre-The O.C.) all the wires, spikes and broken glass makes you go: ouch! Like a Zombie Venus raising from the sewer.
14. She is a he!!!
Angela in Sleepaway Camp
Before The Crying Game, this was the original shock scene, if you aren't spoiled enough, you need to watch this film!
15. The nudity that is not:
Buffalo Bill in Silence of The Lambs
Pubic hair but no privates (the mangina pose), so no nudity in the common sense... This may be the anti-Crying Game... but the shocking part is the whole psychological baggage that Clarisse is trying to get from Hannibal, is masterfully explained in this brief but memorable scene: the real deal with Jame is that he wants to be a she, but only by wearing a suit made with the leather of the women he hunted. My guess is that this was kind of the direction that Kim Henkel wanted to take in The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre
"Goodbye horses, I'm lying, lying, lying over you..."
August 15, 2010
To kill your friends and relatives pt. 1
To kill your friends and relatives pt. 1
One of the core ideas in horror is that the menace, the force treating your life, is unknown. Either a count from eastern Europe with a thirst for blood, a gypsy curse, a creature from beyond or dead itself an its tricky design; the one who will take your life is a stranger.
But then, what happens when the idea that someone familiar, inside your circle of friends or your own family is a murder machine ready to kill you for whatsoever the reason is throw in the mix? is that one of the primal fears, to be murdered by someone you trust?
We meet two scenarios in this peculiar event in horror:
1. Your friend/relative is under a spell/curse/infection, and is not conscious of the murderous desires.
2. Your friend/relative is a whack job, and either for revenge or pure pleasure, will enjoy to dispatch you to the land of the unknown.
Let's start with the first scenario:
You're a blond toddler, living with your family on a old roadside house, suddenly your fragile tempered father, a doctor, lost sight on your and you are crushed by a truck right in front of your family, while trying to grab your balloon. Cut to a few days later, when you wake up so out of yourself, worst than Megan Fox in Jennifer's Body, turned into a little murder machine just because your father buried your body in that ancient Indian cemetery (you may be possessed by an angry ancient spirit).
You'll kill Herman Munster and your mom, before your dad decides to "kill you"... bam! your dead again!!! Did that sounded harsh, wait until you have to escape from Freddy...
If we take Gage Creed as a zombie, the first example of a zombie killing a relative is the one and only Karen Cooper. Actually, a friend or relative turned into a flesh eating freak is one of the main horrors inferred in the zombie sub-genre. Working both ways: you get afraid that a person you care will turn into a zombie, but you also are afraid that when the time comes, you will need to take the decision to blows the brains out of your loved one... it's all about survival
If he was possessed, then we can think of the demon possessed Angela Franklin, (un)willing to kill her friends and then some. And the whole Asian horror cinema is plagued with long black haired grudges.
Stay tuned for the second scenario.
August 07, 2010
Horror Monster Smash Hits: The Final CD
Horror Monster Smash Hits: The Final CD aka Part IV
01 - The Chordettes - Mr. Sandman
from Halloween II, hey Laurie, maybe he's not a dream, but Mister Sandman sent one hell of a nightmare of big brother
02 - Little Shop Of Horrors - Little Shop of Horrors
from Little Shop of Horrors, the second greatest horror musical, and the hint of some future tv stars in Chiffon and Ronnette, priceless
03 - Blondie - Rip Her to Shreds
in my mind, this track should be used on a slasher scene, or can be used in a montage... really
04 - Alaska y Dinarama - Vampirela
an homage to the most sexy female vampire ever, even as a cartoon, she's beautiful and will awake the joy of blood in yourself
05 - Mecano - No Es Serio Este Cementerio
a cemetery where the dead wake up at night to enjoy their last resting place, the video made specially for the Mexican market is a grim perfection for its time
06 - Sinead O'Connor - I Want Your (Hands On Me)
from A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, Debbie's choice of workout tune, and the last before she's turned into a roach by Freddy
07 - Hole - Violet
from Jennifer's Body, once again way before any horror usage, the single cover artwork, and the vintage burlesque of the video, scream for the use in an horror film
08 - PJ Harvey - Hardly Wait
not in an horror film (avoiding that film reference since this is a 100% clam free blog), a song with a corpse wondering why it hasn't happen... you know, the so-called afterlife
09 - Liz Phair - Flower
I will say it out loud, one of my dreams is to direct the film adaptation of Poppy Z Brite's Lost Souls, and I would replace Robert Smith poster and the Bauhaus track in the oral scene, with Liz and the perfect song for the soundtrack
10 - Tori Amos - Father Lucifer
you've guessed it, this CD is more like a compilation for a personal soundtrack, but if the track is about a trip or a fearful parent, a montage with scenes of The Omen, The Bad Seed and Rosemary's Baby would be great
11 - Radiohead - Paranoid Android
a quite fantastic and groundbreaking video, with a concept full of gore that could inspire an animated short or future to expand the story
12 - Veruca Salt - Born Entertainer
the opening track for the soundtrack of a project of mine
13 - Avenged Sevenfold - Bat Country
also for Lost Souls, during the road scenes for Zillah, Twig & Molochai
14 - Peaches featuring Iggy Pop - Kick It
have you seen the video? do you really need an explanation? I thought it was part of Zack Snyder's Dawn of The Dead soundtrack
15 - Kristeenyoung - Skeletons
from the Music From The Succubus Club (Vampire: The Masquerade) soundtrack, well that album included Rotting on The Vine, a different mix of the track
16 - The Dresden Dolls - Slide
a masterpiece about the real bogeymen in the world, one part Freddy Krueger and three parts Vince, the guy from Identity
17 - Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Phenomena
from The Ruins, an amazing song with the right touch for the closing credits of this film
18 - Goldfrapp - Slippage
OK, if you haven't heard this song do it and tell me how much it sounds like the A Nightmare on Elm Street score
19 - Camille Jones - The Creeps
The Creeps can be an analogy of too many things, so please Victor Salva, if Jeepers Creepers 3 is ever made, use this track
20 - Dangerous Muse - Everyday Is Halloween (Extended Version)
Mike Furey, you're a God!!! your voice makes this song a very... but talking about horror, amazing track for any upcoming Halloween themed film with a party scene
21 - The Rocky Horror Picture Show - Double Feature (Reprise)
from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the perfect closure for the collection
August 06, 2010
Horror Monster Smash Hits 3-D
Then whooping stunt right at your brain, in red & cyan 3-D!!!
Horror Monster Smash Hits 3-D
01 - Glenn Miller - Pennsylvania 6-5000
from Transylvania 6-5000, the cartoon and the film... something fun to warm the engines
02 - Alaska y Dinarama - Carne, Huesos y Tú
a song about a Doctor complaining on how hard is to find a dead body to do some research nowadays: the flesh, the blood and you
03 - Michael Jackson - Thriller
another classic for Halloween, with Vincent Price rapping, and the Romero homage by John Landis
04 - Dokken - Dream Warriors
from A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
, this is a geek and girl power metal song: big hair, spandex and Freddy as a sexy nurse
05 - Tuesday Knight - Nightmare
from A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
, the only reason that I'm glad that Patricia Arquette didn't reprise the role of Kristen
06 - Alice Cooper - He's Back (The Man Behind The Mask)
from Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, not as good as the Fangoria cover version, but hey! It's Alice "Daddy Krueger" Cooper!!!
08 - Junk Monkeys - Everything Remains The Same
from Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, I was puzzled by this track for years, in film if played after the end credits montage, I really like the 60's vibe of it! Like a song that Freddy used to hear while being tortured by the world...
09 - Iggy Pop - Why I Was Born
from Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, unintentionally, the soundtrack for the whole saga, with a kick as 'video'... I get very nostalgic with this one
10 - Sonic Youth - Superstar
from The Frighteners, This version itself is quite melancholic, grim... specially with the video and those images of Karen
11 - Letters to Cleo - Dangerous Type
from The Craft, one line: "We are the weirdos"
12 - Cibo Matto - Sugar Water
At the end of a mind blowing video, two pieces of paper joined in the split screens, with a sinister message: "You Kill Me"
13 - Björk - Scary
This is why "love" should be a subject of more horror films, share your life with someone, that's scary!
14 - Goldfrapp - Lovely Head
an homage to Dr. Frankenstein and The Monster, and the lovely vintage sound of Alison and Will
15 - Esthero - Heaven Sent
another video, with a fatal accident: a dead lover under the wheels... sounds like an urban legend
16 - Hooverphonic - This Strange Effect
as Goldfrapp, Hooverphonic had a very thriller-film sound on their first recordings, and specially with this cover: a truly journey into the unknown
17 - Amanda Ghost - Filthy Mind
from Valentine, a party with a vengeful killer in the loose: the body count raises quickly!
18 - Snake River Conspiracy - Breed
from Valentine, by far, one of the greatest songs from one of those groups that for some reason didn't break into the scene
19 - Royksopp - The Girl And The Robot (Radio Mix)
A sci-fi track that scream 50's horror: The Day that Earth Stood Still and such
20 - Alkaline Trio - Over At The Frankenstein Place
A perfect cover from the best horror musical: The Rocky Horror Show!!!
Tomorrow, the Final Chapter
?
August 05, 2010
Horror Monster Smash Hits II
And when you thought it was over, it came back... with more blood and more nudity!!! keep reading and you'll understand
Horror Monster Smash Hits II
01 - Slim Whitman - I Remember You
from The House of 1000 Corpses, oh Björk! how much I love you, and your version of this song, specially the live recording from the MTV Unplugged, but for Halloween this version plays instead
02 - Louis Armstrong - Jeepers Creepers
from Jeepers Creepers, the nudity begins in this case with Justin Long's naked corpse hanging, while the Creeper try those eyes, lovely!
03 - Harry Belafonte - The Banana Boat Song
from Beetlejuice, next to Winona Ryder dancing in the air with the all dead stars football team, is Catherine O'Hara rendition of the song that brings seafood to life!
04 - Paul Giovanni - Willow's Song
from The Wicker Man, Britt Ekland stomping naked at your door, do you really need further explanation? as a side note to the note, the Sneaker Pimps re-do is also a do!
05 - Kate Bush - Hammer Horror
A tribute to the Hammer House of Horrors, by the best artist ever!
06 - Creedence Clearwater Revival - The Midnight Special
from The Twilight Zone Movie, something really scary, Dan Akroyd without makeup!! ha, next to the clown on Zombieland and the clown on Poltergeist, the biggest scare I'd
07 - Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick And Titch - Hold Tight
from Death Proof, the main reason on why women shouldn't trust Kurt Russell, a bit like the pile up scene on Final Destination 2, you'll think twice before driving a car again
08 - Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear The Reaper
from Zombieland, even before the film, a must on a Halloween night, I remember it was part of a video game that came with the first Toshiba laptop I crossed my path, back in the day...
09 - Crowded House - Don't Dream It's Over
from The Stand, thanks to B-Sol & BJ-C, I remember last year how disappointed I was from almost all the Stephen King adaptations of the 90s: The Tommyknockers, The Golden Years, etc.
10 - Pat Benatar - Shadows Of The Night
from Dance of The Dead, the emo way to dispatch Zombies in your prom night... in a sedating way. I used the original version, because it fits better the whole continuity of the collection
11 - Huey Lewis & The News - Hip To Be Square
from American Psycho, just think in Mr. Bateman, running naked with a chainsaw, is that punishment or reward?
12 - Mecano - El Amante de Fuego
This is the perfect song for a Freddy Krueger montage, a track about a lover who died in a fire, and invades the body of his former lover at night. Jesse is that you?
13 - 45 Grave - Party Time
from Return of The Living Dead, aside from the Thriller thing going on (I know, but I saw the video before any Romero film), Linnea Quigley dancing naked on the graveyard... 'nuff said!
14 - Q Lazzarus - Goodbye Horses
from Silence of The Lambs, don't hate me, but again: Buffalo Bill dancing almost naked, and with trick!!! ha ha, it can be any scarier, right?
15 - Type O Negative - Summer Breeze
from I Know What You Did Last Summer, a bit token, unless you go to the shower scene, I'm kidding, next!
16 - Hooverphonic - 2 Wicky
from I Know What You Did Last Summer, a glorious moment, Helen haunted by the fisherman at her family store, only to find the dead body of her sister, run away, and get hooked right next to the festivities!
17 - Kristeen Young - Wake the Dead
music can create zombies, specially if it is influenced by Busta Rhymes & Béla Bartóck...
"When I’m glad, I’m so bad, I strip and dance.
And when I’m sad I strip and I dance.
But, when I’m mad, expected to strip and dance,
To show my freedom…I dance and strip."
18 - Miles Fisher - This Must Be The Place
a homage to American Psycho in the form of music video, with Miles strip naked fake-banging some models.
19 - Repo! The Genetic Opera - Zydrate Anatomy
from Repo! The genetic Opera; Terrance, Alexa, Sarah & even Paris... maybe one of the tunes can be placed up there next to Rocky Horror
tomorrow, the stunt
August 04, 2010
Horror Monster Smash Hits I
A little over a year ago The Vault of Horror & Day of the Woman posted their Horror's Greatest Hits
Inspired by them, I started to mix, match, cut and snap a CD collection. After some witchcraft I ended with a 4 volumes anthology...
This is the track list and some notes on CD 1:
Horror Monster Smash Hits I
01 - Bobby Pickett - Monster Mash
This is the song that every Halloween party must play, and it has been around films and TV shows, in original and cover versions
02 - The Marcels - Blue Moon
From An American Werewolf in London, a nice touch of irony for the broken heart characters
03 - Lesley Gore - You Don't Own Me (Marcy's Song)
From The Woods, Lucky McKee may have orchestrated this amazing and haunting mash up of one of the characters and the 60's pop sensation (I edited it right out of the DVD)
04 - Lynyrd Skynyrd - Freebird (Edit)
From The Devil's Rejects, the fade out to edit this one gives a nice touch to the images it brings to your memory while listening...
05 - Ohio Players - Love Rollercoaster
From Urban Legends & Final Destination 3, I was torn by the version I wanted to use, but at the end I picked the original, I still can mix Ashley & Ashlyn in the scene even if they prefer the RHCP version
06 - Queen - Don't Stop Me Now
From Shaun Of The Dead... killing zombies with acetates right out of the jukebox, classic!
07 - Johnny Cash - When The Man Comes Around
From Dawn Of The Dead (2004)... check No. 13
08 - Dramarama - Anything, Anything
From A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, Rick and Alice kicking ass with martial arts!
09 - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Red Right Hand
From Scream, Woodsboro: be afraid, be very afraid... of novelty Halloween costumes
10 - Love Spit Love - How Soon Is Now
From The Craft... check No. 13
11 - Annie Lennox - Love Song for a Vampire
From Bram Stoker's Dracula, if Winona Ryder as Mina Harker had a voice, this would be her lament
12 - Marilyn Manson - Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
From House on Haunted Hill... check next entry
13 - Nine Inch Nails - Closer
From Se7en, I know is not the precursor remix, but the film and the video are two creatures that can be mixed and spawn such a glorious and horrifying child in my mind. It's all about those songs that always remind you about the film where they were used at the opening titles sequence, like the aforementioned tracks
14 - Rasputina - Transylvanian Concubine (The Manson Mix)
Well the collection is Horror Monter Smash Hits, so I decided to include anything great and horrific enough to create some nice images in your head and set the right mood, this must be played on Halloween night!
15 - Squirrel Nut Zippers - Put A Lid On It
From Fido, it also reminds me those vintage cartoons of dancing skeletons
16 - Garbage - As Heaven Is Wide
Beyond horror cinema, but this amazing track about the lost of faith can be mixed with some images of sinning Angels turning to the dark side (Prophecy anyone)
17 - Fangoria - Jason y Tu
This may or may not break the rules, an amazing adaptation of Alice Cooper's The Man Behind The Mask, it even uses some of the Spanish dubbing of Friday the 13th
18 - Panic At The Disco - This Is Halloween
From The Nightmare Before Christmas OK, I don't like over-dramatic emo bands, but it works for the track way better than Danny Elfman's cliche soundtracks
19 - The Rocky Horror Picture Show - The Time Warp
From... you really need to ask? At the same place of The Monster Mash, but with the amazing Broadway musical-Cult Film edge... let's do the time warp again!
Tomorrow, the sequel
Stay tuned!
August 01, 2010
Code Name: Veronica (Horror & Me pt 3)
With the love for horror already in my veins, by the time I was 9, in fifth grade, and in the most precious private catholic school (yeah! right...). There was at least a bright shinny thing that help to made the days fun and easier, not in the formal education side, that was fine and it helped to feed my brain. But in the other learning, the social one.
There was a girl, Veronica, and some day out of nowhere, she started to chat about A Nightmare on Elm street pt 3: Dream Warriors, the passion that she printed in her storytelling was fascinating, even before watching any ANOES film, she introduce me to Freddy Krueger with such magic, that the very next weekend I was in a hunt to rent the films.
She described every scene with such a vivid perfection: like the Freddy puppet tearing Will's skin; that I also started to understand that horror, and murder in some extended (in the fiction of literature and cinema) was a honest for of expression: art!
So many things have happened since those days, but I've promise myself in this very moment that If I'm lucky enough to run into her, I need to thank her.
In the meanwhile... Thank you Veronica! the second woman to propel my love for horror, right after my mom.
Gagarella
A new section, and like any self-respected horror blog, a token Gaga entry.
You should know by now that Lady Gaga is not only the most exciting performer on the pop scene (right out of the indie NY). With blood and guts, the all mighty Queen of all the little monsters across the earth. Momma Madonna is really proud of the new Icon in training.
The September issue of Vanity Fair, features Gaga in the cover, in a Jane Fonda driven session, meet Gagarella!!!
July 29, 2010
Horror & Me pt 2
on how it began...
OK, the the anecdote goes something like this, it was 1986, our neighbors across the street, some kids a bit older than me, invited my sister to watch Halloween... me, because of my age wasn't invited.
So after a tantrum, my mom gave me the option: "You can rent a horror film, but you'll also rent a kid's film"
The big deal it was, mainly because back in those days, Channel 5 (owned by Televisa) used to schedule horror films every Friday night, somewhat edited for TV (in most cases they only cut out nudity, not the gore or the violence)
The first hunt to one of the near independent video stores ended with Carrie & The Care Bears Movie as the memorable first rentals of this family deal
Soon enough I was only renting horror, and after a few months, I was lucky enough to rent Halloween, when a department store that nowadays only sells clothes and some accessories had a video store: Suburbia (insert Pet Shop Boys soundtrack)
Now, a confession, I don't own a copy of Halloween, and I actually don't think is the perfection of film that most claim, that Carpenter guy really gets away with so many plot holes... but I like it, and may own it soon, really soon
July 28, 2010
Horror & Me pt 1
The first post about my long relationship with horror will set the social-historic frame...
Living in a country so close to the US, but being the borderline of Region 4 (DVD speaking) back in the early 80's, when the horror bug bite me, wasn't the best setting to watch the classic, cult or blockbuster horror films, even in the bloom of the VHS era.
Back then, Televisa (the monopoly of media)owned the main chain of video stores: Video Centro, and the suburbia version: Video Vision. As a monopoly, they owned the distribution rights from the major movie studios with their Video Visa label (hey, they already owned rights for cinema distribution, so why to let someone else eat from the big cake?)
The only big competition for Video Visa was Videomax (and thanks someone it still exists), so most horror films were distributed by this brands, but there were also a lot of short-lived independent distributors, with the same amount of small and independent video stores.
This spread the video horror offer through so many different labels, and also through a hunting-chase in different video stores, to made a good horror rental, or at least a fun one.
This was the cause that many horror franchises were spread around the town, and sometimes it was impossible to keep track, and watch the films in the correct order... from the vault of my brain I can remember:
Friday the 13th was never available in VHS, it actually was released for the first time (on DVD) last year, but from part 2 to part 8, it was distributed by Video Visa, part 9 was offered by Videomax.
The first 4 chapters on the A Nightmare on Elm Street saga were also from Video Visa (via the CBS deal, I own part 4 on this VHS, also as a side note, the box for part 3 had the ugly cover of Freddy surrounded by Will's green magic rays)... 5 & 6 were Videomax... New Nightmare, I don't remember right now
The most fun/rare case was the Sleepaway Camp trilogy, part 1 was released in it's beautiful original art by Video Visa... Part 2 & 3 were released by different independent labels; for part 2 a pic from Angela's cabin with all the dead bodies was used, but for part 3 not only a really weird pic of a guy in a hockey mask with a a neon green background was used as the cover art work, it was re-titled as 'Martes 13: Día de Sangre', as I mentioned, since Friday the 13th was never released in VHS I rented it thinking it was the 1980's Jason-less classic, but no, it was Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland!!!
So back in the day, I started to rent horror films, at the tender age of 8 [:)]
I was able to watch, thanks to diverse offer of distributors, tons of horror films from all over the globe... I still have some notebooks where I kept rack of all my rental!
And now with the DVD technology, and a new batch of distributors (Video Visa is officially dead, almost all major studios release their own films as in the rest of the world), I can own some of those oldies and the new features: cheap or big budget, crappy or classic...
I <3 horror, I live horror!
July 27, 2010
Intellego goes horror
The First Ever Billy Loves Stu Meme for Horror Bloggers
1: In Ten Words or Less, Describe Your Blog:
Regio 0 Zombie social blog born-again-horror
2: During What Cinematic Era Where you Born?
F: The Halloween Era (Late 70's to Early 80's) 1978!!! is that Halloween enough???
3: The Carrie Compatibility Question:
nah! Carrie was meant to be alone, no man or woman
4: You have been given an ungodly amount of money, and total control of a major motion picture studio - what would your dream Horror project be?
I've it in mind, and it would be a savage bloody fight between evil forces...
5: What horror film "franchise" that others have embraced, left you cold?
Hellraiser, the first 3 are good, but how in the unholy cenobite's name they fucked up the series so hard, using trash-bin scripts...
6: Is Michael Bay the Antichrist?
No... he's part of the American dream, let him be
7: Dracula, The Wolf Man, The Frankenstein Monster - which one of these classic villains scares you, and why?
The Wolf Man, I guess, he looks like a dangerous puppy...
8: Tell me about a scene from a NON HORROR Film that scares the crap out of you:
The only thing that really, really scares me are the sudden on-screen image of a clown (like Poltergeist, Zombieland) so no NON HORROR scare so far...
9: Baby Jane Hudson invites you over to her house for lunch. What do you bring?
Rats and ice-cream!
10: So, between you and me, do you have any ulterior motives for blogging? Come, on you can tell me, it will be our little secret, I won't tell a soul.
I barely blog... I've neglected intellego so bad :(
11: What would you have brought to Rosemary Woodhouse's baby shower?
A loaded gun, holly water and something kosher
12: Godzilla vs The Cloverfield Monster, who wins?
The Cloverfield Monster... CGI bets the crap out of rubber
13: If you found out that Rob Zombie was reading your blog, what would you post in hopes that he read it?
"Sherri Moon 4 ever!!!"
14: What is your favorite NON HORROR FILM, and why?
A tie between Cabaret & Chicago... musicals are the best next thing!!! but by the Bob Fosse factor, Cabaret wins
15: If blogging technology did not exist, what would you be doing?
The same as I do now... keeping a lot to myself
