If you see anything wrong with this movie, please let me know because I’m seeing nothing but right.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
This song is from a really fucked-up horror movie I bought recently. Listening to the lyrics, I hear/ see/ feel a whole lot more:
When you’re on your own and no one seems to care at all,
I’ll just leave you with a choice.
You can pack it in or try it from another angle.
All you need is your voice.
‘Cause the world is so dark, but there’s light deep inside you.
We all have been hurt. We all have alot to distract us before we know.
We’re distracted and so it goes.
We’re all adrift on upon this planet spinning around the sun.
Years ago I thought we were fucked.
Now I got a gun, got target practice noon at one.
Yeah and I’m havin’ a lot more fun.
We get the gist of things that no one has the time to dig,
Stories no one wants to hear.
Now the consequence of actions and incompetence,
Shows it’s worse than we had feared.
‘Cause the world is so dark, but there’s light deep inside you.
We all have been hurt. We all have alot to distract us before we know.
We’re distracted and so it goes.
I watched this a couple weeks ago and it still resonates inside me. It is another example of the type of films I want to make: disturbing genre pictures that are also moving and insightful. There are many sick and depraved things that occur, but it’s all for the sake of showcasing something greater (in this case: the bonds of friendship, the pressures of teen sexuality, the overall trials and tribulations of maturity).
I want to make movies like this. It’s sick and it’s twisted, but there is still something touching and endearing about it. It makes you feel… then throw up :)
I love that my brain is racing so many miles an hour with so many different ideas, but it’s beginning to drive me a bit mad. “Shut it off!”, indeed.
***There be SPOILERS ahead***
The pre-release buzz indicated that Cabin in the Woods was “the horror movie to end all horror movies.” It isn’t (not that it tries to be or even has to - the horror genre will never die). I will say this, though: Cabin in the Woods is “the ultimate horror movie!”
Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon have crafted something special, a celebration of all things horror so ecstatic that it becomes every horror movie. They present moments and formulas of old that we all know and cherish so well in a wholly original and subversive manner. It is the rare kind of film that turns the focus onto its audience, aware of their standards and expectations and gives them exactly what they crave.
In the same way that Watchmen fits in the world of graphic novels, Cabin in the Woods is the new seminal horror film (Yes, I’m going so far to say Evil Dead now has to settle for second). It stands up and proudly proclaims, “THIS is horror.” If you haven’t witnessed it yet, hop into the Rambler right now and head on down to Tillerman Road. Just be sure and ignore the Harbinger on your way.
PS. Fran Kranz, who plays Marty in the film, is freaking amazing and makes Jamie Kennedy eat his own heart out. If ever there were decency in the Academy Awards voting system, he’d be on the short list for a nomination next year. Seriously… he’s THAT good.
Now I’m depressed! Not really, but I am called to re-examine my priorities when it’s taken into account that Emily Hagins, the writer/director of the above horror comedy, is only 17 years old. Not only that - this girl emerged onto the scene when she was 12 and became a starlet of the film festival circuit at 14 when the 2009 documentary Zombie Girl chronicled her rise to fame.
Is My Sucky Teen Romance a film I’m chomping at the bit to see? Not quite. Still, the girl undoubtedly has cinematic chops and a knack for witty dialogue, so I’m anxious to see where she ends up in her career.
If you dare view The Innkeepers as anything even resembling typical, you obviously know nothing of the cinematic genius that is writer/director Ti West. The man is a master of suspense and puts even the bravest and most knowledgeable of horror fans to shame. Think you know what’s coming from around that corner or from under that floorboard? Perhaps… but you’ve only got the half of it!
I for one am excited as can be for this armrest-clencher of a scarefest that hits theaters in early February. Who’s with me?
The House of the Devil is another amazing horror film I caught this weekend and it’s easily the scariest movie I’ve ever seen. No… Seriously! Never before have I seen suspense and dread executed with such expertise. Writer/Director/Editor Ti West has crafted the perfect love-letter to the great spookfests of the early 80’s. Not to mention, he deals with atmosphere in a way that would make Polanski and Friedkin shake in their boots. Don’t believe me? Lock the doors and kill the lights and see for yourself.
