Tor's blog

My friend Steve is the 80's action guru. He salivates every time Dolph Lundgren talks about uniting all the old 80's ass-kickers for one big celluloid Buttkick-a-thon. That said he is fired up about JCVD

When I first got wind of this in John Shelton's post from September,I was not on board. Something about a guy who even in the prime of his action hero career had to have every fight scene shot in slow-mo to disguise his tortoise-like reflexes that never appealed to me.

But with Thanksgiving looming and the prospect of having to accompany my in-laws to the theater, I'm warming to it. Generally, the trip to the theater involves sitting through a right piece of worm-riddled big-screen shit. But my father-in -law is also a 80's action aficionado, so if JCVD is in the theater that's what we are heading for. A Van Damme on the down slope making fun of himself is better than anything Tyler Perry has ever done.

Not sure if Eric reported this in the daily news headlines, but apparently thieves made off with a Russian church. The whole thing. And for awhile nobody noticed...maybe the header of this should have been "you know you have too many churches when..."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7728407.stm

This is not the church in the story, just liked the picture.

I recently spent 10.5 hours on a plane. At first in situations like these, one considers American Airlines' on-demand style viewing to be a true stroke of good fortune. But used immoderately and without discernment this blessing quickly becomes one of those that finds even theater haters like me looking for Shakespearean quotes to express (with adequate gravity) the other side of the experience.

"Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered."

My six movies, in the order watched...

Wall-E:
Believe what you hear, this thing devolves into a joyless slapstick monstrosity once the little rusty bastard leaves Earth. Yes, I know it wasn't made for sad 38 year old horror fan!

Filth: An account of woman who waged a war of morality against the BBC's lead programmer in the sixties. Does a nice job of not taking a side...then again movies that don't are often tedious, Not a good airplane movie, not good.

Journey to the Center of the Earth:
While watching this I had only one thought...Brendan Fraser is a more likable Jerry O'Connell who is a slightly more likable Ashton Kutcher who coincidentally is a completely unlikable Brendan Fraser.

Some BBC Judge TV show:
It was good but why is every protagonist on the BBC always going through 6 personal crises simultaneously whilst professionally displaying the wisdom of Solomon .

X Files: I Want to Believe:
I was never a huge fan of the show. Watching it did remind me that Gillian Anderson got somewhat naked in a magazine in the run-up to the last film. That was the only moment of airsickness I experienced during the flight.

Swing Vote:
Kevin Costner's career is exactly what Mel Gibson's would have been minus the personality disorder, the flaming sword of God, and the hallucinations of a Jewish Goliath lording over Hollywood trying to keep him from his next cinematic hate crime.

In case it doesn't read like one, this is a cautionary tale boys and girls. There are far worse things than airplane food.

After three weeks in Italy, you'd expect a person to come back bursting at the seams from the amazing food and awed by the art, artifact and arboreal splendor. I am sufficiently impressed with all that,but the highlight was a rainy Saturday morning at Profondo Rosso.

Profondo Rosso is the store/museum opened by Dario Argento and Luigi Cozzi to sell and honor the grand(ly ignored) traditions of Italian horror and fantasy cinema. And despite being a tiny little space on a Roman side street, it did not disappoint this ardent acolyte of spaghetti splatter. I took some photos, talked to Cozzi, who mans the store every morning and even got a little news on the upcoming Argento film 'Giallo'. Actually, I am sure the news is all common knowledge by now, but it was cool to chat with the longtime Argento collaborator, even if only briefly.

If you are ever in Rome make your way to Via Dei Gracchi #260, bask in dusty old dungeon of props and chat up one of the stalwarts of the Argento creative team. You might even be lucky enough to run into the 'Italian Hitchcock' himself if you are around on Halloween.

For what it is worth, Cozzi said that "Giallo" is done, cut, and awaiting a score, which Dario is working on in Bulgaria. Cozzi said he expects the film to be out in the states in February or March of '09.

I feel like I was misled...I have read many reviews of "The Signal" and very few have gushed over this thing. Sorry, I maybe showing my ass here, but this movie is fantastic. Maybe it's that we've all been binging in this zombie/contagion/mass hysteria phase of horror, and thus tend to toss things early if they aren't taking us where we expect to go, but Fuck! When it works it works, and this thing works in spades.

Yes it's derivative in places, even stylistically at times, but this is high craft and a solid bit of writing on a low,low budget. The triumverate of directors here aren't Soderburgh/Wes Anderson/Danny Boyle but there are places where they come damn close to delivering a movie the merges all those styles.

As for why this hasn't made it into the hearts and minds and onto the tongues of the horror public... maybe it's the aforementioned over indulegence on ambulatory maniacs or perhaps it's the personal nature of what is set up as a pandemic film. Fuck, I don't know, but watch this movie. If you've seen it and didn't like it, watch it again. While your at it , rent Billy O'Brien's "Isolation" and see if you can tell me why that motherfucker isn't being trumpeted either?

I'll keep this one short as Schnaars already has done a spot on Review of the film. But I did want to mention it , because other than "I Know What You Did Last Summer" no film has featured the coastline of Northern California as prominently. Most of "The Fog" was shot on location in Point Reyes, Ca. a town that serves as the gateway to the National Seashore Preserve. More glorious than creepy, Carpenter did manage to mine the geography for it's remoteness.

Reasons to watch the Fog
-One of Carpenter's best in terms of atmosphere
-John Houseman spins a mean fuckin' yarn
-The DJ in a lighthouse gig...dreamjob!
-Adrienne Barbeau drives a Volkswagen Thing
-A really strong set-up/first act
-Janet Leigh and Jamie Lee in the same film...for shits and giggles and no other reason
-Ummm, did I mention atmosphere?

Complaints
-The third act is abbreviated to the point of non-existence
-Too few drunk fisherman gaff impalements
-No Adrienne Bar-boobies
-A little more gore would've gone a long way

After reading interviews and hearing Carpenter speak, it's clear that the third act shortfalls were a result of incomplete pre-production. In fact, they had to do numerous re-shoots just to get the film to what he felt was a watchable/cohesive place.

Well, actually that is exactly what it was, a reunion. My 20th High School Reunion. I went, I drank, I enjoyed, I drank more and I suffered a bit the next day. While there, I reconnected with an old classmate named Omaha.

Actually, we were both quick to acknowledge that it was more of a connection than a reconnection, since not a word was exchanged between us in high school. Anyway, I found his impossibly cool Iggy Pop cum Sherlock Holmes business card in my wallet yesterday and decided to look up his work. To my surprise, I was very familiar visually with some of his stuff.

Omaha has a SAW V poster similar in style to those posted here that should be released in the next few weeks. For more samples of Omaha's work including his incredible graphic novel stuff go here...Omaha's work

I spend so much time on here promoting, often inadvertently, the work of complete strangers; it's nice to finally give a bump to an immensely talented, genuinely humble person.

All Mirrors images are copyrighted to Fox.

In the Pantheon of truly eerie television shows "In Search Of" holds a seat at the head of the table. It's blend of dubiously collected evidence conveyed in documentary form, it's baleful soundtrack and some haunting verite reenactments made for a potent viewing experience.

Between 1976 and 1982, Leonard Nimoy's cold tone helped open the portals of the world's greatest mysteries, from The Yeti to the Mary Celeste. The result was a truly scary show. Still, it is not nearly the scariest project on which Nimoy served as a mouthpiece.

As yet no DVD release of the series, but there are plenty of low res. goodies on youtube to fish through if it tickles your fancy. I recommend starting with Bigfoot...

Also check out "Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World" when you get a chance.

Like many, I greet with cautious optimism the news of long dormant British horror/fantasy purveyors Hammer films jumping back into production.The recently introduced "Wake Wood" will probably veer well away from the studio's turn of the seventies style, that said, as a one-time rabid consumer of their product I would like to offer one small plea. It goes as follows...

More images like this:

More PR photos like this:

And a little of this wouldn't hurt...

Nothing more.

When I was about 12, I saw Ed Hunt's "Bloody Birthday" for the first time. The experience was coring. Of course there have been other films that have tackled evil kids, but none of them has ever done for me, or to me what "Bloody Birthday" does.

Craft wise the film is very much a 70's TV movie with boobs and blood. The music sounds like it's culled from some lost episode of Banacek; the lighting is often flat and the acting in most spots is not note-worthy. Plot wise it isn't a script that wants the viewer to do a lot of extrapolating.

Oh but then there are those murderous kids. Elizabeth Hoy, Billy Jayne or Billy Jacoby,if you prefer, and Andy Freeman are all too familiar. I knew the kids they portray or at least their non-homicidal facsimiles. Shit, I may have been one of these conscienceless little bastards at times during my youth. This is the gold in "Bloody Birthday's" plastic package. While your watching, you just might recognize the little monster that coaxed you into burning ants with a magnifying glass or pushing the kid who was afraid to go down the slide. Hopefully you're like me, and your little Satan didn't stay long or leave any bodies behind.

After viewing this for the third time not an hour ago, I feel like this might be a cinematic version of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory; a test used to help pinpoint specific personality disorders. Relate a little too closely with the kids in this thing and...excuse me, I'm gonna go re-watch E.T. and try to convince myself that I'm not a sociopath.