Movies

My Experience with the Works of Wes Craven (Part 2)

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It’s been two weeks since the Horror community lost one of its pillars in the iconic form of director Wes Craven to brain cancer at age 76.

Here is part two of our tribute to the legendary filmmaker (click here for part one).

Deadly Friend

Another film I’ve seen thanks to Guy and Angie. We found this on a now removed streaming site called AllUC. The site had many films on it including several cult horror films from the 70’s and 80’s. Knowing this was a more obscure Craven film we decided to watch it.

The movie is about a young child prodigy who’s best friend is a robot he built named BB. He has a crush on his neighbor Samantha who’s father abuses her. The two decide to play a prank on a crazy old lady from their neighborhood that goes wrong. BB ends up being destroyed and Samantha gets pushed down the stairs by her dad, leaving her brain dead. Doing what any normal teenager would do in this situation, he puts BB’s chip in Samantha’s brain to bring them both back. Although the experiment works, Samantha isn’t quite the way she used to be.

This movie is as cheesy as it sounds. When we first saw this the three of us thought this film was a great underrated work by the master. Looking back, the film is pretty bad – but in a fun way. The concept brings stupid to new levels and the kills are hilariously bad (including the infamous dodgeball scene). Originally the film was going to be more of a Sci-Fi film driven by its story. Hopefully one day that cut will show up.

The Serpent and The Rainbow

This was always a film I’ve heard of. Although I never knew anything about the plot, it was a title that stuck out. One day I saw that Chiller was showing it. Naturally, I decided to watch it.

The film is about a man named Bill Pulman (Dennis Alan) who goes to Haiti after hearing rumors of people coming back from the dead. This is very different from Craven’s normal work. The film is surreal, atmospheric and isn’t really based around gore. Nor does it have the amount of tongue-in-cheek humor Craven’s films tend to have.The film is also based on a true story which made it seem bizarre to me. I love learning about weird real-life stories so that aspect got me hooked. I admired that the film showcased a more intelligent style from this director. My mom recently bought a cheap copy of it for herself from Walmart as she remembered this was a film she really liked.

Shocker

Yet another film I watched with Guy and Angie. Being bigger Horror collectors then me, those two would always end up with new additions to their collections almost every week.

The film is about a psychotic TV repairman who is turned in to the police by a football player. He is then put on death row. Before he is killed in the electric chair he sells his soul to Satan. This causes him to become one with electricity and gives him the ability to travel through power lines, TVs and even people.

I found this film to be very silly but in a fun way. It doesn’t take itself seriously at all. The second half of the movie is where it really gets weird, but I won’t spoil anything.

The People Under the Stairs

My mom was searching through eBay for a film she remembered from childhood about little people coming from under stairs and taking people away. She mistakenly thought it was the film called “The People Under The Stairs.”  Upon watching we find out she mixed the title up with a different movie.

The film is about a young kid in the ghetto named Fool. When attempting to rob the house of his family’s insane landlords, Fool, along with two others, get trapped in their house. They then face the horrors inside and learn some very dark secrets. The landlords themselves are an incestuous brother and sister who are really over the top.There are also themes of child abduction and abuse. One would think this is a throwback to Craven’s exploitation days, but this film has a more comical tone then his earlier works.

To this day this is one of my favorite Craven films and one I recommend it to those who want to explore him beyond his obvious works.

Wes Craven’s New Nightmare

After buying the “Nightmare on Elm Street“ collection I would watch one or two of them every day after school. I enjoyed part two even if it was little weird. Three was my favorite of the sequels. Four, five and six I found to be pretty weak. The only one left was “Wes Craven’s New Nightmare.”

I was a little worried since three of the films in a row were crap and the concept almost sounded like a spoof. Part of me was excited since it was Craven back in the director’s chair.

The film is about Craven (as himself) and the cast members of his films (also as themselves) having their dreams invaded by Freddy Kreuger from outside of the movie world. Though the concept may seem a little silly this is the darkest Freddy film to date. Unlike the other “Nightmare“ films, he is not portrayed comically at all.

I fucking love this film.

I found this darker updated version of Freddy to be pretty cool. It is my third favorite in the series.

Scream 1 and 2 

While first getting big into Horror (collecting in 8th grade) I’d go on eBay and look up horror films I’d heard were supposed to be good.

I saw a lot that contained “The Howling,” the first two “Scream” movies, a film I hadn’t have heard of called “The Last Broadcast” and “Friday the 13th Part Seven.” I’d eventually watch all of these films. “The Howling“ would end up being my all-time favorite werewolf movie, I had seen “Friday” before and loved it and “The Last Broadcast“ was pretty cool and not what I expected at all.

Then there were the “Scream“ films. “Scream” is a pretty well known movie about a killer in a ghost face mask who goes around killing people – but before he kills them he gives them horror trivia.

The film is very meta and full of self references and jokes about the slasher genre. The film is kinda TOO meta especially considering it is set in reality.

If this was a weird surrealist film or a parody film like “The Naked Gun” trilogy this might have worked. To me it just came off as hipster shit.

The film’s influence was even worse as a good chunk of mid 90’s-early 2000 Horror was filmed to the brim with “Scream” clones. I had the same feelings about the sequel which had a similar plot. I never saw the remaining two and have no interest.This would be the point where Horror fans said Craven had sold out. While I don’t like most of his post “New Nightmare” stuff I don’t blame this franchise on him but on writer Kevin Williamson. I have yet to see a film with that name I like.

Cursed

Seeing previews for this I was little excited.

Having only known Craven for Freddy at the time and seeing his name in previews made me want to see said films.

My Dad would buy the bootleg of this from that same guy in the city who he bought “The Hills Have Eyes” of off.

The film stars Christinia Ricci and Jesse Eisenberg as two siblings who get attacked by a werewolf. They then start turning every full moon and try to find out who bit them to end this curse.

This movie absolutely sucks.

The writing (which no surprise is by Williamson), the acting , the plot, everything in this movie is horrible. There is no atmosphere. This couldn’t scare an agoraphobic five-year-old. All of the characters are annoying. To think this is the same guy who brought us many classics in the past is amazing.

Red Eye

The same year as “Cursed,” Craven would release another film called “Red Eye.”

I remember seeing previews for this that didn’t detail what it was about. All it showed was a woman talking to a man on a plane then one of his eyes would flicker red before the title appeared.

I didn’t see this in theaters but sometime after it went to DVD I rented it from Blockbuster (remember those?).

The film is about a woman who meets a mysterious man on a plane. She then ends up getting kidnapped and is forced into a plot to kill a politician. If she refuses her father will die.

This movie was surprisingly good. The style was different from Craven’s norm. More of a Hitchcock style Thriller than Horror, “Red Eye’s” moments were very intense and you worried for the girl the entire time.

Out of the post “New Nightmare“ Craven films, this is the only one I’ve seen that I enjoyed. I have not seen “My Soul To Take,” but have heard nothing but bad things about it and “Music of the Heart” does not look like my kind of film. All in all, Craven is someone who was important to me as a Horror fan and will be missed.

Music

The Unravelling: Tear a Hole in the Collective Vision Review

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After a five year hiatus, battles with Cancer and a revolutionary new sound, Canada’s The Unravelling have returned with their striking sophomore release, “Tear a Hole in the Collective Vision.”

Ten tracks of beautiful, chaotic frustration make up the release, starting with “The Hydra’s Heart.” Gustavo de Beauville’s ambient, droning guitars over spacious synths, dancing drums and the agonized, rage-fueled vocals of Steve Moore fuel the album to life.

Weaving a morbid, raving web, the albums tempo picks up in the Powerman 5000-esque “Lucky Me,” then slows to a crawl in the title track and the gripping dirge “Out of the Depths.” Moore’s lyrics are of a man possessed, dissatisfied with society and the cards he has been given and willing to make a drastic change for better or worse. De Beauville’s scoring of Moore’s dwindling frustrations is timed immaculately, with each transfixed scream generating its own unique crescendo.

The remainder of the album continues with “The Fearless Seed,” the piss-and-vinegar ranting of “Enough is Enough, and ” “No One’s Song.” Also contained are the two singles (“Revolt” and “Master Drone“), and the albums ironic closer, “We Have No Problems.” What’s interesting is not only de Beauville’s sonic decoration of Moore’s chilling vocals, but the fact that both singles are the deeper cuts of the album rather than highlighted at the beginning. Placement is everything and if you read the lyrics, there is a damn good reason.

We very well may have a concept album on our hands.

While the album’s pace is of a slower pace than their previous effort “13 Arcane Hymns,” “Tear a Hole in the Collective Vision” (which can be downloaded here) is a more enraged horse of a different color. The Unravelling have gotten darker and angrier, emerging like a phoenix from the ashes out to solidify their place in musical history. Lyrically the album seems like there is a story element, especially when you think about the placement of the songs and the way they bleed into each other.

How’s that for a hole in your collective vision?

Movies

My Experience With the Works of Wes Craven

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Last Sunday, Horror icon and director Wes Craven died of brain cancer at age 76. Like John Carpenter and George A Romero, Craven was one of the most important Horror directors of all time.

“The Last House on the Left,” “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Scream” (even though I don’t like the latter) all left their mark on the Horror genre and have influenced countless other films.

Here I will go into my experiences with his directorial work (take note I have not seen every film he’s ever done).

The Last House on the Left 

Back when I was in High School my local mall had a Borders. It was an awesome book store with tons of books and a decent-sized movie section. I had always heard of this film from reading about Craven’s works and from my mom who is also a Horror fan. I had also always heard that this film was widely controversial and as a mid teenager, that made me want to see it more. I eventually saw a copy at this particular Borders and without hesitation, I picked it up and watched it as soon as I got home.

The film is about two girls on their way to a rock concert that are kidnapped by four thugs and are raped,tortured and eventually murdered.

The thug’s car later breaks down in front of the house of an old couple who let them stay the night. Little do they know that this couple happens to be the parents of the two girls.

I loved this film. I loved how fucked up and violent the way the girls are tortured and in the way the main villains die. David Hess was great as Krug – the head of the thugs and the characters were mostly very fun. The explicit content helped tell the story and wasn’t there for just shock value. The film is loosely Inspired by Ingmar Bergman’s “The Virgin Spring“ (a great film that’s more of a Drama than a Horror) in plot. The film spawned many rip-offs including ones that would have Hess in the same role (“Hitchhike” and “The House on the Edge of the Park”).

The Hills Have Eyes

In 2006 I was still in my early stages of becoming a full-fledged Horror fan. I remember seeing trailers for a movie called “The Hills Have Eyes”. It looked very cool to me.

My dad at the time was working in New York City and would buy bootleg movies off of a guy he knew. After his shift, he brought home a bootleg copy of the film and we watched it. We both found it to be very fun and pretty damn brutal.

Around that same time I used to hang out a lot with a brother and sister named Guy and Angie who were the biggest Horror fans I knew. They recommended I check out the original and that Craven had directed it. That next weekend I went over their place and watched the original with them. Eventually I picked it up at a local Rite Aid during a Halloween Season.

The film is about a family whose car breaks down in a desert in the middle of nowhere. They are then attacked by a family of inbred cannibals. The parents are killed and the child of the oldest daughter and her boyfriend is captured. The daughter and her brother stay behind while the boyfriend goes out to find the baby and fight these inbreds.

Like the previous film, this movie is very raw and violent as this was Craven’s exploitation era. Though most people I know liked the remake, I preferred this version. The remake was great but this just felt more like what I love from horror films. The two movies are very similar with the only major difference being the origins of the cannibals. In the remake they are a community of people mutated from nuclear testing instead of an inbred family. Not only do I recommend both versions, I also suggest you stay away from both sequels as well.

Swamp Thing 

I have always known about the Swamp Thing character.  My friend Isaac showed me some of the comics (which I thought were cool) as well as hearing from Guy and Angie that the comic series is the first appearance of Hellblazer’s John Constantine.

I always knew this movie existed but never took the time to check it out (mostly because I was a teenager with no job). Then one day Isaac got a copy and invited me over to watch it, claiming it was the best Craven film.

“Swamp Thing”  is about a scientist named Alec Holland who is working on a chemical that can merge animal and plant life. He is sabotaged by the evil Anton Arcane who causes a freak accident that turns him into Swamp Thing. He ends up helping a woman named Alice Cable and uses his new found abilities to fight Arcane and his followers.

While I did disagree on this being Craven’s best, (and still do) I enjoyed it a lot and to this day consider it to be the most underrated DC movie out there.

This film appears in horror sections all the time but I wouldn’t call it a horror film. It’s more along the lines of a Sci-Fi/Action movie although the film still feels like it was made by Craven. I would later pick up a copy for myself last year when the store I work at added a movie shelf. It came in a pack with the other classics “Return of the Living Dead,” “A Bucket of Blood” and “Frogs”.

A Nightmare on Elm Street

My Horror journey started when I was in middle school. While I have always had an interest in Horror and have always had ones I’ve seen that I like (such as “Carrie” and “The Shining”), I was still more focused on playing video games and watching anime on Toonami.

Then around the seventh grade, my mom started buying Horror films she remembered loving. These includes such classics as “Pet Cemetery,” “Beyond the Door” and “Fright Night.” I fell in love with the Horror genre and felt the need to see all the classics.

Some time later Isaac and I were at an FYE looking at the VHS tapes (yeah, the good ol’ days). I picked up “Friday the 13th Part III,” “The Thing” and this film. After having a fun time watching some hockey masked massacres we put in “A Nightmare on Elm Street.”

For the two people that don’t already know, the film is about a killer named Freddy Kreuger (played by fellow Horror icon Robert Englund). Unlike your average serial killer, Kreuger is a demonic spirit that haunts people’s dreams. If he kills you in your dream, you die in real life. While trying to stop this from happening, the main protagonist Nancy finds out more about Krueger and his connection to the parents of her and her friends.

This film is a horror classic. Kreuger’s mix of sadistic insanity and silly one-liners made the character a Horror behemoth to this day and made England a star. Johnny Depp’s death scene remains a staple to the franchise and help project his career into the stratosphere. Seeing this movie made me want to check out the sequels and eventually I would get the Nightmare Boxed set with all the films except “Freddy vs Jason” (which I have no reason to own anyway).

The Hills Have Eyes Part 2

As a random gift, Isaac decided to buy this for me when he saw it for real cheap. I popped it in when I got home the next day (even though I knew this film was an infamously bad one).

“The Hills Have Eyes Part 2” is about a group of bikers which include the youngest son from the first film, the daughter of the cannibal family (who is now a regular person as well as a blind psychic because, why not?) and a black guy who gets kicked in the balls every other scene he’s in (because that’s funny, right?).The team decides to race where the events of the original film took place.They are then attacked by some of the cannibals from the first film.

This movie sucks.

The first part is made up of mostly flashbacks from the original, including a flash back from the dog (not making this up). While part one was awesome, part two is not scary at all. Part two is full of wooden acting, terribly unfunny jokes and scenes that make you wonder “what were they thinking?.” The remake had a sequel that was pretty bad too but not as bad as this. Craven would later admit he only made this film because he needed the money.

As is tradition with Horror, there’s always a sequel. Keep checking back for part 2 of this tribute to one of the masters of terror.

Podcast, Pro Wrestling

Manopera – Ep. 1: WWE SummerSlam 2015 Extravaganza

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manopera

Welcome to Manopera – A Wrestling Symposium. Join hosts Chris “Mr. Bonesaw” Butera and “Spaceman” Frank Hickey (aka Frank Lucci) as they discuss professional wrestling with brutal honesty.

In this premiere episode, the boys lay the SmackDown on WWE’s epic SummerSlam weekend in Brooklyn, NY. Witness Butera’s first-hand accounts of NXT Takeover and last week’s Monday Night Raw as well as Lucci’s commentarial thrills, spills and chills.

Music, Podcast

Bonesaw Podcast – Episode 19: Robert Orr of Zamboni

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Joined by his partner in crime Robert Orr, Chris Butera discusses the NWA biopic “Straight Outta Compton,” this year’s installment of their annual “Thrash Bash BBQ” concert, Batman: the Animated Series and more.

Music

Paul Bostaph Talks New Slayer Album, Jeff Hanneman, Mayhem Fest

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On July 21st 2015, Rockstar’s Mayhem Festival came to Holmdel, New Jersey. The fest had several big names, though the highlights were Jungle Rot, King Diamond and Slayer.

Jungle Rot put on a crushing death metal performance and got the pit going. Their setlist only contained six songs, but they made the most of their short set.

King Diamond was the most hyped act of the year and had the biggest crowd of any band that day. The theatrical set mostly consisted of songs from King’s classic albums. It got even better halfway through when he covered the Mercyful Fate classics “Evil” and “Come to the Sabbath” with Slayer’s Kerry King on guitar. The set then ended with three songs from King’s most popular album, Abigail. 

However, the final band of the night was none other than Slayer. Slayer started their set with several of their 2000’s songs including the three singles from their upcoming album Repentless. The second half of the set was all older songs including the popular tracks “Raining Blood”,”South Of Heaven”,”Hell Awaits” and “Angel of Death” as well as deep cuts like “Chemical Warfare”, and “Ghosts of War”. The band’s energy was great and the sound was spot on.

During the fest, Alternative Nation was able to catch drummer Paul Bostaph for an in person interview. We discussed the band’s upcoming album as well other topics related to his body of work.

Tell us a little about your upcoming album Repentless.

We all have different opinions on the album since we are all different people. It’s the first album we have done without Jeff as well as the first album I’ve been on since God Hates Us All in 2001. The whole time I was in the studio, Jeff was on my mind. He was a big part of the band and I feel I lost a friend. We still haven’t let things settle… that type of thing is not easy to deal with.

I noticed the three singles released for far,”Repentless”, “As Stillness Comes” and “Implode” are pretty different. Which one would you say represents the new album the most?

I wouldn’t say that one any of those songs represent the whole record at all. The different between the three represents diversity in the record. Each song on this record will have a different intensity. Some songs are darker then others. The three songs released show that it will not be the same thing on every track.

I see Mayhem Fest is going well so far…

Mayhem Fest is awesome! Unfortunately, I have not been able to see any of the bands on the second stage. The second stage is normally not very close to the main stage and we usually get here too late to catch those bands. I really enjoy sharing the stage with King Diamond. I’m a huge Mercyful Fate fan and love his solo stuff as well.

To continue reading on Alternative Nation, click here.

Music

Chelsea Wolfe Discusses ‘Abyss’, ‘Game Of Thrones’ Fandom, & Top Secret Upcoming Project

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Edited by Doug McCausland

Chelsea Wolfe, a California singer/songwriter, is one of the most eclectic artists on today’s scene. With her lo-fi sound self described as “doom-folk”, Wolfe has gained an underground following among metalheads, art kids, and goths alike while touring with major acts such as Queens of the Stone Age. She’s probably one of the youngest musicians to say that Mark Lanegan covered her!

Meanwhile, in the realm of television, major networks have taken notice of her cinematic potential: last year, her song “Feral Love” was featured in trailers for the hit HBO show Game of Thrones, while more recently Wolfe has been gaining even more exposure via ads for AMC’s Fear The Walking Dead.

Chelsea’s making critical waves with her ethereal new opus, “Abyss”, and I recently had the chance to interview her via email. We discussed her new album, rising fame, and other topics relating to her work.

On the heavier direction of Abyss: We’ve been touring a lot for the past few years so for the first time I kept the live show in mind while writing an album. I knew I wanted to have some heavy songs that would translate well live and be fun to play. I played Roadburn, I love that festival. I think our audience is really varied, actually.

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On the themes of sleep paralysis permeating Abyss: It’s just something I’ve had for years so it started creeping into my music, into my daily mindset. I’ve had sleep and dream issues since I was a kid, but as an adult I started getting this version of sleep paralysis where I wake up, and my body wakes up, but I can still see the figures from my dreams in the room, like shadows moving towards me. At times I’ve lashed out or tried to fight them off. While I was writing this album I started talking about my experiences of sleep paralysis with other people, and got some books on sleep, and it all just kind of happened naturally. Not every song is specifically about sleep or dreams, but every song has a nod to it, at least.

On visualizing Abyss‘s music: I think it would be really stylized with deep colors, lots of blue. It would be like the painted world in What Dreams May Come.

To continue reading on Alternative Nation, click here.

Music, Podcast

Bonesaw Podcast: Episode 18 – Nina Marie

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We dive into the crazy world of New York City busker and underground soul artist Nina Marie. Marie describes her life, including the twists and turns that come with underground musical endeavors. A cover of Adele’s “Crazy for You” is featured.

Listen to Nina Marie here.

Graphic Novels, Movies

Trailer Feedback: Deadpool (2016)

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Everyone’s favorite gun slinging, wise-cracking, hyperviolent anti-hero has his own movie and yes, it’s rated R.

Deapool’s trailer is filled with a plethora of murder, mayhem and mature language – and that’s not all. We also get a glimpse of leading man Ryan Reynold’s transformation from Wade Wilson to the merc with a mouth, complete with love interest bound to end in tragedy.

From a first look, Deadpool’s main characteristics seem like they will be intact. Marvel’s wittiest asassin breaks the fourth wall numerous times and goes back and forth with X-Men Colossus (Andre Tricoteux) and Angel Dust (Gina Carano), a few grunts and even an old lady (verbally).

Nothing is more priceless than the exchange that goes on between an unmasked Wilson and T.J. Miller’s “Weasel” (avocado anyone?).

And then there’s the pun-intended kicker. DMX’s “X Gon Give it to Ya” (because Deadpool is part of the Weapon X program).

Deadpool breaks into theaters next February.

We’re in (and we’ll be wearing our brown pants).

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