An Unorthodox Halloween – Page 70

Careful what you wish for.

You know the tales.

You get 3 wishes. Each goes horribly wrong…

These tales were some of my favorites as a youth. From the Arabic tales of the Djinn (Genie) leaving poor souls in desparate situations (Disney’s Aladdin has been pacified as all other Disney films), on through more traditional tales of magic fish or other beings known to grant wishes.

Last night was a real treat. The Chiller Network was doing their tribute to St Patty’s day. Now, the guide on the Direct TV said I was tuning in to see an episode of the scariest places on earth. I was surprised to find a fascinating treat from my childhood.

The Leprechaun Artist. I recalled this episode fondly. And got a good chuckle as it proceeded along it’s predictable path.

I though I would take the opportunity to share a personal favorite of mine among these wish-granter tales.

The Monkey’s Paw.

I recall reading this in school, and being fascinated by it. I find today’s childrens tales of things like Goosebumps and similar style to be quite silly, and far less terrifying than these old school notions of keeping the horror in the reader’s imagination. Seldom do we see new fare that lives up to the old classics.

It was even a feature of that scary radio show my older brother and I would stay awake to listen to. One of the few episodes that made a lasting impression.

And, for a real treat, here is a reading of the Monkey’s Paw, along with some other greats, by John Lithgow.

It was a rare treat to stumble across that at work late one Sunday evening (years ago, back on the weekend shift)

Year of the Charr.

We broke out and actually started work this weekend.

As spoken of, last year in the rain, one of the totems turned all mushy, and it’s still unsure whether or not it will be salvageable.

Still, those things inspire quite the intimidation to children. Something with that fog, lights, ‘fire’…If I could capture a piece of that in a NEW addition…one that will fit future themes as well as the current one…

Thinking primarily on this, and reflecting on the last year. Project Nightfall was Jen’s favorite thing we’ve done to date. PERSONALLY, I found it the biggest pain in rear to date. The rain also played havoc on IT, and I have yet to open the shed to assess the carnage. I truly hope it’s not totally destroyed…all that work for one year….What we DO know of it, is that it was not a winner of the art contest.

With us moving away from themes that will mesh well with things found in Guild Wars, I also wanted to give one last go at that contest. So, I searched my archive of photos from Guild Wars, and have found the Charr. Or, most specifically, the Charr’s Idols.

From Year of the Charr

I’ve always loved the Charr in the game to begin with. Big, carnivorous, menacing. Worshipping fire, and viewing humans as a meal. It was said, the more of these idols they made, the stronger they became.

From Year of the Charr

Of course, as they worshipped fire, most often these things were seen ablaze.

From Year of the Charr

And, some of their other “decoration” just fits RIGHT in with our yard…

From Year of the Charr

In fact, it was the Charr that inspired much of the yard to begin with. It feels only right to give them one last nod before we move on to Spider Woman.

The challenge now, is to bring these to life.

From Year of the Charr

There is a plan set in motion this weekend, but some of the hardware proved to be a bit on the weak side. Once that is replaced, we’ll get some pics going.

Zuvembie sighting!

A what sighting?

Zuvembie.

I was sitting down Saturday, scrolling through the channels, when I saw in the guide Snow White: A Tale of Terror.

I recalled it had not gotten great reviews, and it was on my ‘wait till video/tv’ list as a result. So, my PLAN was to record it and get off to bed (not wanting to stay up for the whole movie with the daylight savings time change and all).

But, the opening sequence just grabbed me from the get go.

Oh, I’ve read many folks claiming this is the Grimm treatment of the fairy tell. Don’t fool yourselves, this movies is as far removed from The Brothers Grimm as the Disney version.

But, it is certainly a dark look upon the tale. One that attempts to weave a sense of realism with the realm of the fantastic.

The greatest accomplishment of the film is the portrayal of the wicked witch. Of course, with Sigourney Weaver cast in the role, it is hard to expect anything less from the film. The witch is evil, vile, and utterly merciless in the pursuit of her goals. Yet, at the same time, QUITE human.

The movie just drips atmosphere with every scene. This is actually spurred on by the fact there are no fancy effects, no razzle dazzle. This is old school movie making, with the effects coming from well done camera fades and scene blends for much of the movie. This just adds to the charm of the movie.

They did pull ONE punch towards the end of the film that was a disappointment, detracts a bit from the witch, and left a plot hole that makes you scratch your head in wonder, however. It also comes in conjunction with some unfortunate stock Hollywood lunacy with ‘witchcraft’. Especially disappointing since they had taken care to steer clear of that for the rest of the film.

The second disappointment came in the finale of the film, when apparently they decided the old school techniques would not fit the bill and went with some (poorly done) of the razzle dazzle special effects. In 1997, they were probably adequate, at best. Today, they look very low budget.

So, what’s this about Zuvembie?

Well, see for yourself. The Witch, not satisfied with killing the servants, made them into Zuvembie. (Zuvembie sighting at 4:30, creepy Zuvembie baby at 7:00)

Crappy Movie Fridays 3/6

AMC is really pushing it…

Crappy Movie Friday is put on hold again this weekend, in lieu of a Breaking Bad marathon.

But, unlike the Oscar weekend, it’s not TOTALLY absent.

The Puppet Master is airing in the wee hours of Saturday Morning.

After Magic last week, seems AMC is on some kind of doll fetish lately.

I’m rather curious just how AMC is going to edit this thing up to air it…

It’s not often you find even straight to VHS crapola movies having to cut things to keep their rating under “X”…I can’t even post the trailer on here without adjusting the blog settings to adult content.

If you can get by some of that, though, you have a film that inspired 8 sequels. There is a certain charm to the puppets, in that they are as much victim as they are villain. A formula lost on many modern shows, and virtually absent from the slashers this fits in with.

No, this week is for UEN.

UEN is airing Atom Age Vampire.

A little history with me and Italian horror…

There have been 2 movies that have caused a lasting phobia within me. The first being Alien. Oh, how terrified I was of that thing. It’s responsible for the ONLY time in my life I have ran in pure fear, losing all sense. A haunted house at the age of 10, had re-created part of the Alien movie, and when that alien (guy in a costume) popped out of the wall and made that noise, I was GONE.

The second film, was The Beyond. How Zombie movies SHOULD be done. Specifically this scene: