Winnie Jean Howard's Blog, page 17

Movie Review: The Horde (2009)

This week I’m reviewing The Horde (2009) for my monthly zombie movie choice. And in February I’m featuring a woman in my choices for Women in Horror Month. Here’s what the movie is about about:

“A posse of crooked cops, malevolent gangsters and a horde of walking dead are the centre point of this gruesome, tight, action packed, claustrophobic tale of retribution and escape. Penned like animals, on the top floor of a deserted high-rise block, these two opposing gangs find that they are not alone in the lair of bloodthirsty corridors of death. Joining forces to survive, they must reach ground level together or perish. Loaded with a bad ass attitude, guns, axes and extremely creative hand-to-hand combat sequences that project the fears and paranoia that are the fighting forces behind the need to survive, when caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Holy FUCK! The Horde is kick ass! Watch it! Can I leave it at that?

I was at the point where I thought I’d seen most of the really good ones, or bad ones considering I like ’em that way. Somehow, this one had escaped me.

Who you really need to keep an eye on is Claude Perron. This lady is the most kick ass of all the characters. Particularly watch for a fight scene between her and a woman zombie. I was screaming my approval at the screen. I loved her so much that I added her to my daily highlighted Women in Horror Month Tweets.

The Horde has a darkness to it that I loved. It also had quite a few hunky and hot French men. Let’s just say nothing could distract me from watching. But seriously, the violence in this movie is believable to a disturbing level.

Make sure you watch the 2009 version, just in case you hadn’t noticed me highlighting the year. You’ll love it as much as me! This one is being added to my best of the best list.

My Rating: 5 out of 5

Movie Review: The Gift

This week I’m reviewing The Gift, not so much a horror movie as a psychological thriller, but equally disturbing a movie. Here’s what it’s about:

“Simon and Robyn are a young married couple whose life is going just as planned until a chance encounter with an acquaintance from Simon’s high school sends their world into a harrowing tailspin. Simon doesn’t recognize Gordo at first, but after a series of uninvited encounters and mysterious gifts prove troubling, a horrifying secret from the past is uncovered after more than 20 years. As Robyn learns the unsettling truth about what happened between Simon and Gordo, she starts to question: how well do we really know the people closest to us, and are past bygones ever really bygones?”

Good movie. Really good movie. When I said disturbing earlier it was thanks to Joel Edgerton’s performance as the creepy Gordo. By the way, he also wrote and directed this film. My guess is he’s inspired by Alfred Hitchcock because this film has an eerie twist and turn feeling about it as does Hitchcock’s films. Edgerton is someone to seriously watch.

I don’t want to tell you too much about the movie or you won’t appreciate those many twists and turn. But anyway, bottom line is The Gift focuses on man’s drive to ruin others to somehow feed egotistical needs. We stand by and watch people do this to each other daily, and in films we like to watch it play out to the extreme as it does in this movie. Why we haven’t killed off our own species by now is mind boggling.

WATCH The Gift! I predict you’ll love it too.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5

WiHM Events, A Bad Snow White, and Heads that Roll

Howdy all! Every Saturday I share what I’m up to along with things I recommend you check out. Here’s what happened this week.

Upcoming Events

February 6th WiHM Getting to Know You: I’ll be participating in a Women in Horror Month blog post on the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Blog on the 6th of the month. This blog post includes female members who are horror writers talking about our chosen genre.

February 20-24 WiHM Blog Talks: I’d like to remind everyone about the Women in Horror Month event I’m hosting the last full week of February. The talks feature creative women in the horror genre talking about horrific topics and their favorite peers. It’s a shared blog event where you can respond the 5 topics and be featured in blogs up to 5 times during the event. CLICK HERE for all the details on how to join, or CLICK HERE to volunteer your blog or be featured in a blog.

Other Events You Should Know About

28 Days of Black Women in Horror History: Eden Royce and Ashlee Blackwell of Graveyard Shift Sisters are collaborating on this project. From Eden’s blog, “Each day in February, both Ashlee and I will post a brief bio, photo, and links to these horror sisters. Ashlee will focus on television and film on the Graveyard Shift Sisters site, while I focus on novels, short stories, and poetry here on my blog The Dark Geisha.” I’m looking forward to reading their posts and learning about a bunch of new ladies in horror. MORE INFO

The Movies

This week’s review was remembering the movie Kiss of the Tarantula.

This is a weird one more than a horrific one. While the spiders are supposed to be the thing that scares us, the lead actress is way creepier. Predictable character, constantly getting herself in situations, mostly sexual, that warrant the spider attacks she delivers. READ MORE

Stories

In an effort to read more fiction in 2017, I features a novel, anthology, or short story I’ve enjoyed over the past week. Below is this week’s read:

Flash Prequel to Snow White by Carole Gill

Check out this fun flash fiction story that’s just what the title says, a prequel to Snow White from the evil step mother’s perspective. I’ve always thought it would be fun to write some fairy tales that turn the good princesses into the bad ones, and this story delivers such a twist. It’s dark comedy you’ll enjoy. READ IT

This Week’s Release of The Courier

Chapter 10 of Warrant for Damnation was released on WattPad yesterday. Some crazy things happen this week you don’t want to miss, including Barry gets his first look at his fallen angel father’s temper.CLICK HERE to read it from the beginning or GOT TO chapter 10.

How to Help Me This Week

Every week, I end the post nicely begging you to help promote my work. Here’s this week’s request:

Follow my Amazon author page. CLICK HERE to follow me.

Thank you and have a GREAT week!

The Problem with Gita

Part 10 of Warrant for Damnation is available to read on WattPad. This week you’ll find out what Gita did that sent Barry and Pete racing back to the boarding house. Enjoy!

Go to part 10 or start reading below.

Remembering Kiss of the Tarantula

This week I’m remembering Kiss of the Tarantula, a movie released back in the 70s. Here’s what it’s about:

“John Bradley operates and lives in a mortuary along with his wife, Martha, and daughter, Susan, who collects tarantula spiders and has always been ostracized by her friends because… she’s a little bit strange.When Susan discovers that mommy dearest is plotting to have dear old dad killed by her secret lover, who is also dad’s brother, she places a tarantula in mommy’s bed while she sleeps. Abruptly awakened by the spider, mom dies of a heart attack. This bizarre little episode apparently puts sweet little Susan over the top. Later as a teenager, Susan uses her pet tarantulas in acts of revenge against her terrified classmates, who have been tormenting her for way too long. And innocent looking Susan doesn’t stop there, making good plot use of her father’s mortuary and her creepy little playmates!”

This is a weird one more than a horrific one. While the spiders are supposed to be the thing that scares us, the lead actress is way creepier. Predictable character, constantly getting herself in situations, mostly sexual, that warrant the spider attacks she delivers.

This is one of the many low-budget horror films that came out of the 70s, and over the years I’ve been obsessed with these types of movies. This one fell short for me though. I was a bit bored. Plus, the acting was really bad. still, there was some charm in the end that boosted my rating from a 1 to a 2.

My Rating: 2 out of 5

Join Women in Horror Month Blog Talks

Need something to do during Women in Horror Month? Here’s an opportunity to join group blog talks February 20th to 24th. The talks feature creative women in the horror genre talking about horrific topics and their favorite peers.

Go to the SIGN UP FORM

and respond to as many topics as you like

and/or volunteer your blog to host a talk.

How does it work?

Be Featured in Blog Posts: There are 5 topics for the ladies participating in the blog talks. Men are welcome to join in on the Tuesday and Thursday posts because the topics are about the ladies. Each topic has an assigned post date during the February 20th to 24th time frame–dates and topics are below. Join in on as many topics as you like. Your responses to topics will post with 3-4 other participants in other people’s blogs. You can also add giveaways and drawings to your responses.

Volunteer Your Blog for a Post: We need bloggers to feature submissions for 3-4 participants. You’ll receive a document with everything you need to add your assigned blog post with the ladies responses. You can volunteer for specific topics if you like.

Help Promote the Participants: Everyone participating will promote the blog posts during the week on social media. You’ll receive a plan on how to best help promote the talks.

Below are the topics and schedule:

Monday, February 20th: Choice of Weapons: What have been your favorite weapons to use in your work? Talk about a weapons scene in your work. Or, write something you know about weapons and their use that horror fans would enjoy reading.

Tuesday, February 21st: Favorite Women in Horror: Of the women who create horror, who do you admire? Who do you love? These can be writers, directors, artists, actors, characters, etc. Include a short paragraph on why. Yes, you can add more than one lady you admire.

Wednesday, February 22nd: Scary Confessions: Tell a story about the things that scare the crap out of you. How have your worst nightmares influenced your work.

Thursday, February 23rd: Evil Women Personified in Pop Culture: There are many stereotypes of evil women such as the Witches in Disney movies, the evil stepmother, women of success, the friend who turns psychotic, women killers, and more. Contribute something favorable or critical about these personas as they relate to the horror genre. Talk about women in history who embody evil and have influenced the horror genre. Or discuss how these stereotypes perpetuated in books, movies, and other media.

Friday, February 24th: Torture: Let’s talk torture both physical and psychological. Share something about torture scenes in your own work. Share an example of torture you admire in another writer/artists work. Or share anything else about this topic.

Enter 200-500 word about torture

If you have questions, add it to the comments below.

Join a Women in Horror Blog Hop

Need something to do during Women in Horror Month? Here’s an opportunity to join group blog posts February 20th to 24th.

This is a group effort that will feature women in horror and their answers to discussion topics on blogs.

How does it work?

Be Featured in Blog Posts: There are 5 topics for the ladies participating in the blog hop. Men are welcome to join in on the Tuesday and Thursday posts because the topics are about the ladies. Each topic has an assigned post date during the February 20th to 24th time frame–dates and topics are below. Join in on as many topics as you like. Your responses to topics will post with 3-4 other participants in other people’s blogs. You can also add giveaways and drawings to your responses.

Volunteer Your Blog for a Post: We need bloggers to feature submissions for 3-4 participants. You’ll receive a document with everything you need to add your assigned blog post with the ladies responses. You can volunteer for specific topics if you like.

Go to the participation form

and respond to as many topics as you like or volunteer your blog.

Help Promote the Participants: Everyone participating will promote the blog posts during the week on social media. You’ll receive a plan on how to best help promote the hop.

Below are the topics and schedule:

Monday, February 20th: Choice of Weapons: What have been your favorite weapons to use in your work? Talk about a weapons scene in your work. Or, write something you know about weapons and their use that horror fans would enjoy reading.

Tuesday, February 21st: Favorite Women in Horror: Of the women who create horror, who do you admire? Who do you love? These can be writers, directors, artists, actors, characters, etc. Include a short paragraph on why. Yes, you can add more than one lady you admire.

Wednesday, February 22nd: Scary Confessions: Tell a story about the things that scare the crap out of you. How have your worst nightmares influenced your work.

Thursday, February 23rd: Evil Women Personified in Pop Culture: There are many stereotypes of evil women such as the Witches in Disney movies, the evil stepmother, women of success, the friend who turns psychotic, women killers, and more. Contribute something favorable or critical about these personas as they relate to the horror genre. Talk about women in history who embody evil and have influenced the horror genre. Or discuss how these stereotypes perpetuated in books, movies, and other media.

Friday, February 24th: Torture: Let’s talk torture both physical and psychological. Share something about torture scenes in your own work. Share an example of torture you admire in another writer/artists work. Or share anything else about this topic.

Enter 200-500 word about torture

If you have questions, add it to the comments below.

The Weekly Wrap Up with Mystery, Horror Comedy, and More

Howdy all! Here’s what happened this week.

Upcoming Events

No new events this week, but I do have a new Events page.

The Movies

This week I suggested you watch Solomon Kane.

Solomon Kane came out awhile back and apparently it didn’t do well at the box office. Not sure why. It was typical for fantasy, with dark magic and lots of sword fighting, but it was also a decent movie. Good acting, and the costumes and makeup added nicely to the dark atmosphere. READ MORE

Stories

In an effort to read more fiction in 2017, I features a novel, anthology, or short story I’ve read and enjoyed over the past week. Below is this week’s read:

Hallelujah is Dying by Michael Arches

Flint Harrington was Hallelujah’s marshal until Mayor Joe laid him off. Five months later, the mayor is dead, found collapsed in his mine. His widow asks Flint to investigate. He agrees to help her as a favor but expects to find that Joe died of natural causes. To Flint’s horror, he discovers instead that Joe was hiding a terrible secret from his wife and the town. Joe’s unexpected death pulls back a curtain and exposes a criminal enterprise thriving in Hallelujah’s dark and remote mines. BUY IT

Podcasts

I listened to the first Devil Dog Podcasts this week. Appropriate for me because it’s about horror comedy, the very thing I love writing best. I really enjoyed it and will catch up on more episodes. Here’s what the episode is about:

Jack and Jaime dive into the dark and hilarious world of horror comedy. Find out what their favorite uproarious horror films are as well as their take on using humor to mask the atrocities found within their own works of the dark fantastic.

If you want to listen, here’s a link to the episode that initially drew me in.

Devil Dog Podcast Episode 3 is now live. https://t.co/9FVQqM0pvI on writing horror @JaimeJohnesee @SuzanneMadron @devildogpress

— Jack Wallen (@jlwallen) January 16, 2017

This Week’s Release of The Courier

Chapter 9 of Warrant for Damnation was released on WattPad yesterday. This week, Barry learns the truth about his father.CLICK HERE to read it from the beginning or GOT TO chapter 9.

How to Help Me This Week

Every week, I end the post nicely begging you to help promote my work. Here’s this week’s request:

Same as last week. Go like my Facebook page. CLICK HERE to go like it.

Have a GREAT week!

The Truth About Barry’s Dad

Part 9 of Warrant for Damnation is available to read on WattPad. This week Barry Learns a lesson about his father. Enjoy!

Go to part 9 or start reading below.

Movie Review: Solomon Kane

I happened upon Solomon Kane a few weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

“Once a mercenary of Queen Elizabeth I fighting Spaniards in Africa, Solomon met the Devil’s Reaper and discovered he was bound for hell. Barely escaping, he soon renounced violence to atone for his past sins, seeking out redemption in a life of peace. That is until the followers of sorcerer Malachi kidnap a Puritan girl, Meredith Crowthorn, and brutally slaughter her family before his very eyes, forcing Solomon to take up arms and return to his violent ways once more to rescue her.”

Solomon Kane came out awhile back and apparently it didn’t do well at the box office. Not sure why. It was typical for fantasy, with dark magic and lots of sword fighting, but it was also a decent movie. Good acting, and the costumes and makeup added nicely to the dark atmosphere.

James Purefoy is excellent in the lead role as Solomon Kane. They took the time to develop Kane’s character early on instead of focusing more on the action. Then again, Purefoy is the sort of actor to enthrall an audience. A good thing because Solomon Kane is not over the top with special effects.

I had no idea there’s a Solomon Kane book series by Robert E. Howard before watching. The movie piqued my interest enough to want to read the books.

Dark fantasy is my preference and this movie delivered. If you’re looking for a decent good vs. evil fantasy to watch, try this one.

My Rating: 4 out of 5