In 1980 Stanley Kubrick introduced the world into the darkest of places; the human spirit, isolated, and gone completely mad.  The Shining is as much a triumph today as it was nearly 30 years ago.  It is, arguably, the greatest horror film ever made and may be, in fact, the greatest film ever made, period.  It is as close, I think, as any one film has ever gotten to absolute 100% perfection.  Every element, every nuance, is carefully charted out in an effort to amaze and intrigue the viewer.  From the breathtaking visuals to the menacing score, every piece of the film is captured in such a way as to render the entirety of it almost unbelievable.

If the 80's was the peak decade for the horror genre on film, then The Shining was the pinnacle of that success.  The film opens with a beautiful aerial shot of Jack Torrance driving through the amazing Colorado countryside on his way to The Overlook hotel for an interview.  From the moment we're introduced to Jack, we can tell that he is an intense figure with a somewhat unpredictable nature.  We're next introduced to Wendy Torrance (Shelley Duvall) and their telepathic son Danny (Danny Lloyd).  Duvall's homely appearance is made an immediate focus when her character is introduced.  This is a step away from the current Hollywood horror trend, which includes throwing in insanely beautiful women.  Rather Kubrick chose Duvall in an effort to drive the point of Jack's madness home.  She is difficult to look at and her voice is extremely annoying all of which become amplified as the film progresses.

The setting of The Overlook both exterior and interior are magnificent.  The interior shots were truly special.  Where most filmmakers would have chosen darker hallways and rooms, Kubrick went in the opposite direction making the most of the lighting.  While the first shots of the hotel's interior look beautiful, Kubrick manages to emphasize the menacing nature of the place through the use of camera angles and lighting techniques.  In one scene, as the climax begins, Jack is walking up the steps slowly as Wendy backs up, baseball bat in hand.  As Jack's nature plummets and he tells Wendy that he aims to "bash her brains in," the lighting of the hallway casts a red reflection on his face and body.  The synchronization of this timed with the lines spoken are amazing.

While in King's version of the story, the hotel itself was evil, in Kubrick's vision we never really know what's going on.  Every time Jack is talking with a "ghost" he is either standing in front of a mirror or looking into a mirror or some other reflective surface.  I have always been of the mindset that the film featured both the combination of a malevolent and evil force with a man whose sanity was already on a slippery slope.  We know there is an evil presence in the hotel.  Danny's visions can legitimize that notion.  Also, the fact that Jack somehow escaped the locked pantry lends credence to this idea.  Finally, Wendy's visions at the end of the film while in the hotel solidify the fact that, while Jack has definitely gone insane, the hotel is evil in of itself; "great party, isn't it?"

Another element of the film's perfection is the use of sound.  The echoes of Danny's toy bike hitting the floor then the carpet and then the floor again were extremely eerie.  The score itself was one of the most terrifying I've ever heard.  Perfectly timed with the intensity of the scene it elevates the film from creepy to downright, plain scary.  The 20's jazz age tunes from The Gold Room taking us into the hotel's dark past. As perfect as this film is, I believe at least half of that perfection can be attributed to the film's score.  It really sets the tone for the entire film.

Finally, we come to the film's enigmatic ending, one of the greatest of all time.  The camera retreats back into The Overlook and over onto one of the many pictures on the wall, this one taken from a July 4th ball at the hotel from 1921, in which we see Jack Torrance.  What makes the movie so great is the mystery behind the ending.  What did it mean?  Why was his face in the picture?  While many have theorized and speculated, it really could mean a number of things.  What I happened to get out of the final scene was the fact that the hotel itself, being a malevolent force of evil, sucked Mr. Torrance somehow into a visual representation of itself.  His soul is literally trapped with countless others in the hotel's history and he is doomed to torment others from this personal hell.

The Shining is, as I've already mentioned, the closest I think I've ever seen to a truly perfect film.  And by perfect I don't mean one that has no errors.  I'm sure you can find numerous editing errors as with any other movie.  By perfect I mean great acting, a well placed and thought out plot, a chilling score, and innovative camera imagery.  The Shining remains a timeless classic and, not just one of the best horror films ever made, but one of the best films made of any genre.

]]> http://thenationalevil.wordpress.com/?p=771 Thu, 09 Oct 2008 20:49:26 +0000 the national evil http://thenationalevil.nl.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/if-vampires-are-so-last-year-and-zombies-are-so-last-week-what-will-terrorize-us-tomorrow/

Can you hear me now?

Just t’other day, a FOE asked the Evil: “What’s up with this zombie infatuation all of a sudden?”

Evil knew of what she spoke: over the past two years, zombiana has infiltrated pop culture to an extent the once-living, now horribly risen could never have imagined. You’ve got your “zombie survival guides,” zombie apocalypse t-shirts, zombie walks, zombie rockstar mockumentaries . . . and the list goeth on.

Now, Evil is pro-walking dead. He himself has dabbled in the occasional zombie-related anecdote, though, truth to tell, he stopped when he sensed the impending oversaturation in our society of lifeless eyes, senseless moans, and death-stank.

Among publishers, who buy books 18 to 24 months before publication, this zombification of popular culture must have been met with sighs of relief; you’d have to think editors would be sick unto undeath of vampire novels by now. (Though apparently those Twilight books, and this True Blood HBO series, indicate that vampire love will never die.)

But that begs the question: when we finally tire of zombie this and zombie that, where does our cultural lust for heebie-jeebie providers take us? Naturally, Evil is here with a suggestion:

Observe: so intent is our model on her pose that she fails to notice scaly death approaching . . .

How about a certain lagoon-based creature? Or, heck—lake, river, swamp, loch, sea, bay, or fjord-based . . . basically, how about the famous but criminally underexploited Fishman? You’ve got your “humanoid but creepy” angle . . . the fact that it rises from the murky depths in which you, presumably a scantily-bikini-ed hottie, so blithely swim . . . throw in the whole “giant companies dumping toxic waste into our water supply” back story—what’s not to like? And fear?

Plus . . . looka that face:

That’s a mug you can love, even as it drags you screaming into its cavernous lair. Shot in grainy black-and-white, its lines and wide eyes—seemingly saddened by the accumulated wisdom of man’s follies—resemble those faces you see in Depression-era photos, no?

Who knows? Fishman might be the perfect monstrous metaphor for our times.

Enjoy the weekend. If possible, look great while screaming in terror.

Hmm... What do I know about this film, well... not much at all but one thing I do know is that Chipmunk and Double S feature in the movie. I've heard that Chipmunk studies Drama at College so I'm looking forward to see what his acting skills are like haha.

The trailer looks exciting, I love movies like this. It's Professionally done, everything looks tidy. It's going to be like a Kidulthood type of film which us man can all relate to. I don't think it is going to do well - as far as cinema screening and all that but still, i think it will be good.

   Sweet Mother Trailer

Walking Sticks 2: LIMB From LIMB

The Pitch:

"In 2007’s direct-to-DVD blockbuster Walking Sticks, audiences learned the true meaning of terror as mutant carnivorous swarms of walking sticks descended on the sleepy town of Meadowlark, Kansas. But if you thought the stick menace was over, you’re wrong . . .

"DEAD wrong.

"The Army liked what it saw when the sticks devoured Meadowlark. Now the Pentagon has put the beautiful Dr. Carmen Lucero, the world’s top expert in gigantism, to work breeding a race of GIANT mutant carnivorous walking sticks—walking sticks the size of fallen limbs.

"When the giant walking sticks inevitably escape the top-secret Army compound, they descend on Yosemite. Hiding in plain sight, the sticks inaugurate a reign of terror in the National Park. Joe, Carmen’s estranged ex-lover and Chief of Park Rangers, must rally a team of rangers, Special Forces Operatives—and Carmen—to rescue a Girl Scout troop lost deep in the heart of Yosemite.

"Will Joe and Carmen reach the girls in time? Or will the poor scouts be torn . . .

"LIMB from LIMB?

"Find out this October in the comfort of your home when Walking Sticks 2: LIMB From LIMB hits straight to DVD!"

Walking Sticks and Walking Sticks 2: LIMB From LIMB copyright 2007, 2008 Zombie Mafia Productions.

ShockTillYouDrop is reporting, exclusively mind you (oh how exciting), on the new remake of the 80's B movie, which most of you have either forgotten or never seen, Night of the Demons.  Among the film's stars are notable D listers Shannon Elizabeth and Edward Furlong, because, well, damn it times are tough and you can't really get much street cred by casting legitimate actors for a Night of the Demons remake.  I'm especially pleased in the choice of Furlong, whose work in Pet Semetary 2 was nothing short of brilliant.

What's even better than seeing Shannon Elizabeth's bosom and Furlong's amazing performance?  How about a cameo by one of the original stars, Linnea Quigley?  Errhh...who?  Yes, we were wondering the same thing.  Apparently the producers of the film think this is something special:

"She does something familiar for the fans. It's a huge homage to the first movie," says (Adam) Gierasch, who was wowed by having her on set. "She's totally cool. We shot a lot of [behind-the-scenes] video of her reciting her lines from Night of the Demons that are going to come out sporadically online or as DVD extras."

What fans exactly, Mr. Gierasch?  Are there hordes of Night of the Demons fans in hiding somewhere?  Is "homage" really necessary to a film that was absolute horseshit in the first place?  Of course, I'm sure these "fans" will be climbing over themselves for those DVD extras with Quigley spouting her "lines" from the film like, "Do you guys have sour balls?"

Congrats goes out to Gierasch for this.  I believe the kids call it an "epic fail."

News about some shitty horror remake-->

Herewith, a few pithy remarks concerning the first three movies in this batch o’ bloodbaths. And no, Evil will not be rating them “one to four skulls” or something stupid like that. Though, if you’re curious—or if you look to the Evil as your guide to right living, as you should—he will recommend or condemn each one.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose: The long awaited courtroom-drama-meets-Satanic-horror movie. It’s what we all hoped A Few Good Men would be but wasn’t. “This movie is based on a true story,” claims the opening credits. If so, Evil regrets that he wasn’t on the jury for that case. Overall, a nice atmospheric piece of near-horror. It’s not really spooky, and only has a couple of those “LOUD NOISE! Wait—it’s only a cat, whew” moments. And for an exorcism movie, not much pea soup vomit. Which makes it perfect if you’re looking to watch a semi-scary movie with someone who doesn’t care for the genre.

Hellraiser: Evil never got around to seeing this back in the day. Though here’s an anecdote: waaaaaay back in high school, he went over to a friend’s house to watch Alive. When Evil arrived, said friend told him Blockbuster was out of Alive . . . “So I rented this.” This being Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth. One supposes said friend didn’t quite get what Alive was all about, just that he had heard it involved cannibalism. Anyway, Hellraiser the First: A+ for concept, C for execution. And it’s hard to get past the 80’s hair—at some points, Evil couldn’t remember if he was watching a horror movie or a T’Pau video.

Re-Animator: Or, more precisely, “H.P. Lovecraft’s Re-Animator”, though Evil doubts H.P. would recognize this as “his.” Given the fact that it’s an Evil Dead-style farce of a horror movie (though it predates Evil Dead, for those keeping score), Evil wonders whom the filmmakers thought attaching Lovecraft’s name to the title would lure in. Anyone sold on seeing this movie solely for its Lovecraftian elements would be sorely disappointed. But otherwise, Evil highly recommends Re-Animator. Just so you can see how one can force a severed head to sit upright on a table. You need to know these things . . .

That’s all for now. More to come . . .

Everyone has heard of The Midnight Meat Train and the controversy surrounding it's release by now.  A couple of months ago, the geniuses at Lionsgate decided to run the film only in second-run and dollar theaters.  While I'm not going to go on a rant behind the asinine politics of this decision, I can say that I've seen the film and I do believe that it did warrant a theatrical release outside of second-runs.  Was it good enough for 3,000 screens?  Probably not, but 1,000 or so wouldn't have been so bad.

For those who don't know what the movie is about, it's based on one of Clive Barker's stories of the same name from his "Books of Blood" series.  The film itself is fairly faithful to the original material so if you've read the story, then you'll know how it turns out.  Basically the story follows a New York City photographer as he trails a serial killer responsible for murdering his victims on a train in the NYC subway system.

The movie is loaded with grotesque violence, make no mistake.  This is definitely a Clive Barker story.  Aside from the gallons of blood that are spilled, it actually turns out to be a good film in a genre that has been floundering of late in utter and complete mediocrity.  Gone are the days where you can enjoy a good R rated horror film like Halloween or The Exorcist in theaters.  Chances are, if you actually get to see a horror film with a major theatrical release it's going to be some kind of Asian, PG-13 remake, adorned with hot chicks.  If you see an R rated film in theaters it's more likely to be simply torture porn like Saw, Hostel, or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, which we argue, is not horror at all.  While The Midnight Meat Train could be lumped in with those other gory flicks, it has enough atmosphere and suspense to stand alone as true horror.  Those moments which do include gory, ridiculous violence don't seem to fit in the film.  The way in which the violence is presented is intended to be disturbing, yet the delivery often feels like you're watching a horror-comedy like Wrong Turn 2 or See No Evil.  In this regard, the film fails.

The script and acting were very good considering the genre.  Vinnie Jones gives a chilling performance as Mahogany, the butcher.  Bradley Cooper's descent into obsession and madness is equally impressive.  The film also includes interesting cameos by the still hot Brooke Shields, Ted Raimi, and MMA superstar Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (who actually gives good ol' Mahogany a run for his money).

Overall, while not the best horror film in recent memory, it does succeed in reminding us that the genre can still produce quality movies from time to time.  It's a shame that Lionsgate didn't give this film a chance.  In-house politics could have cost them a few million dollars.  They're likely to get that back in DVD sales when it finally hits shelves.  If you haven't gotten a chance to see the film, you'll be happy to know that FEARnet will air The Midnight Meat Train on its website on October 30th.  While I wouldn't recommend the film to general audiences, true horror fans will likely appreciate the film.  Chances are, if you liked some of Barker's previous works like Candyman or Hellraiser , you'll likely enjoy The Midnight Meat Train.

In the seventh part, near the end of his life, Adams is walking along the edge of a cornfield with his son Thomas.  He's lost his wife and his daughter by now, and long ago he lost the presidency to Jefferson.  His hair is long and white, and the sky above him is deep blue.  The corn stalks are tall and green.  Adams tells Thomas of a woman he once knew in France, fabulously wealthy, dressed in her finery and jewels; but he says this impresses him less now than the sight of a little white flower by the side of their path.  He points to the flower with his walking staff, and then, overwhelmed with thankfulness for his life, he says, "I must bend my knees in adoration."  He tries to kneel, but his old knees no longer can.  He laughs and smiles, and he and Thomas continue their walk.  Adams was a Unitarian, I believe, and he must have found great beauty and inspiration in nature, as we all do.

A wise mentor once told me it's a good practice to stare at a flower or tree, greet it as a partner in creation, and give thanks for our life.

I just downloaded and had a brief play with Plex on my Macbook.  It is basically a direct port of XBMC (Xbox Media Center) to the Mac platform.  This makes me want to buy another Mac to plug into the telly to replace my current XBMC.

The trust old XBOX is getting a little underpowered.  It can't output HD and it can't decode HD content on its puny 700Mhz Celeron processor.

Now, where can I find a cheap Intel Mac Mini when I need one.

Currently reading: "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Philippa Greggory (my first "dabble" at something more romantic than political, well maybe not, I still haven't finished "Atonement"by Ian McEwan.) Better find that copy of "The Fight Club" soon.

As per usual, whenever I get a full time job, there hardly is any spare moment for me to draw anything, plus the fact that I'm not entirely comfortable with the living accommodations (shall we say the group harmony is slowly unraveling). So I prefer to stay asleep or out most of the time, rather than provoke unseamly outbursts from the other party. I think I've made this part of the entry sufficiently vague for "them". As for drawing, I'll try to do a sketch or something tonight.

I also bought a "Death Note" replica (silver edition) for a wopping 299.00 pesos on a whim. Said replica has been sitting on the bed for 3 days now. I'll have to think of something to do with it.

Movies to watch out will be: "HP: Half-Blood Prince" and "The Duchess" (will have to locate the book in the future).

OK. Be signing off for now.

Of course, it doesn't matter that I rarely actually watched TV, especially in the evening or nighttime.  I would just have it tuned to one of the cable news channel during the day when puttering about the house.

Tonight I watched the movie Rail and Ties with Kevin Bacon and Marcia Gay Harden as the primary actors/leads.  I've been a fan of Kevin Bacon since 'Diner' and one of the most unforgettable movies I've seen him in was The Woodsman, along with Mos Def.

This Mazzy Star song was part of the soundtrack from 'Rail and Ties.'

Horror these days sucks, plain and simple.  Perhaps we're all just getting old here at Hey! Media, but the mediocrity of Hollywood horror films these days is something that really gets under our skin.  Such is the case with Hollywood's latest attempt to make a quick buck, The Uninvited.  I won't bore you with unnecessary plot details.  All you really need to know, or should need to know anyway, is that this film follows the same watered-down formula that has permeated the market for the past four years or so.  Here's the formula:

1.  It must be either one of two things: an Asian remake or a film focusing on modern technology (cell phones, a computer, the interwebs, etc.)
2.  It must be rated PG-13, because hey, parents don't want their kids to go see mind rotting R rated horror like we did when we were kids.
3.  And most importantly it must, absolutely must, have a hot chick as either the main protagonist or villain (usually the former).

So, you throw those ingredients together and viola, you have a multi-million dollar horror film on your hands!  Let's just look at a few examples over the years of major theatrical horror:  The Grudge, The Grudge 2, One Missed Call, The Ring, The Ring 2, The Eye, When a Stranger Calls, Fear Dot Com, Pulse, yeah...you're getting the idea.

This brings us to the latest Hollywood horror shit-fest, The Uniinvited.  A PG-13, Asian remake starring Elizabeth Banks.  Check, check, and whadya know...check!  And on the third part of the formula, Hollywood decided to up the ante and throw in a couple of hot chicks, bikini clad, of course.  After all, we wouldn't want you to have any question as to whether your intelligence was insulted or not.  For those interested in wasting two minutes of your lives, here's the trailer.

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.1625211&w=425&h=350&fv=]

Dreamworks releases The Uninvited movie trailer-->

This, then, would be turnabout.

My wife has gotten rather hooked on the TV program "Bones", which features a weekly dose of blood, gore, and oozing dead people.  It is, however, a network program, so it's very careful with the language the characters use; it tends to stay firmly in the PG realm.

Anyway, we don't actually WATCH weekly programming, as a rule, but we've bought the first two seasons on DVD and we've been watching them.

The other night, we're watching this program, and after a family-friendly 40 minutes of the main characters trying to track down the killers of a guy who was found mostly dissolved in a bathtub full of ...I want to say acid, but I think it was actually a strong base.  Lye's a base, right?  "Acid" sounds cooler... anyway, after the main story is resolved, Angel Booth and Temperence are talking in her office, and  I notice that Angel Booth's shirt is written in Japanese, and then I have to pause the episode and go back to make sure that it says what I thought it said.

”ファック　ザ　世界”

"Fuck the world"

I'm going to guess that nobody on-crew could read the shirt they put on him, and just figured "Hey, Japanese looks cool, we'll go with this one."