M.R. Gott's Blog, page 7
October 10, 2013
Halloween Bash with Die Booth...Why I love monsters
When I was little, I always liked the villains the best.
Apparently that marked me out quite early on as being ‘odd’ (or at least, a horror author in the making!) but I don’t really think it was odd at all. Initially, I think it was a typical childish fascination with ‘scary’ things and a very marked desire to be seen to brave with ease the things that other people found frightening. One of my earliest memories is being taken to see Disney’s Snow White at a long-since closed cinema in the big city. I was maybe five at the time (no, it wasn't the original film release, I’m not quite that old!) and clearly recall people warning me that I might be afraid of the witch. I wasn't afraid of her. I thought she was brilliant. Aside from my obvious desire to prove them wrong and show how brave I was, it was a genuine fascination. The witch in disguise was interesting and cool, but the Evil Queen was beautiful. Why was evil always so much better dressed? I think that was probably a big (and admittedly quite shallow!) formative decider. The fairy godmothers in Sleeping Beauty were sparkly and annoying, but Maleficent’s dragon was spectacular, and nobody was going to diss her.
Peter Pan - despite his impressive abilities of flight - was twee, not to mention sartorially challenged. Captain Hook, with his debonair swagger and excellent hat, had my absolute allegiance from the off. Initially, it was just that the baddies always seemed more interesting to me, but as I grew up, something else crept in. It struck me that the villains of fairy tale, even when not actually intrinsically evil, well - nobody really liked them. They seemed to have no friends. I began to empathize with them. Of course, some characters are pretty irredeemable, but it’s that type of ‘looks evil, therefore must be evil’ monster that started to really pique my interest. The generic ‘run as soon as you spot it’ lumbering B-movie demon. It looks horrible, so you know, instinctively, that it must be horrible. This didn't, and still doesn't, sit right with me. I wanted to know the story behind the twisted old lady living alone in the woods. I wanted to talk to the lonely ghosts from whom people fled in fright before they even got out their first ‘boo’. I wanted to make friends with the monsters.
And so it came to pass that, on school trips to museums, where my classmates would loiter around the Egyptian mummy exhibits, squealing ‘ewww dead bodies, gross!’ in horrified delight, I would be the kid with my nose pressed against the glass, whispering ‘look at her eyelashes!’ in admiring awe. Fast forward to adulthood, watching films with friends, I’m the one who thinks the creatures of Pan’s Labyrinth are beautiful instead of freaky. I’d take them over the horror of civil war any day.So this is what has shaped my writing style. My horror isn't meant to make people scared of monsters: it wants to reassure them that the monsters are often nothing to be scared of. There’s more of a challenge in helping people see the beauty in the horrific and encourage them to sympathize with the ‘monsters’ than there is in handing them a shotgun and pointing them, unquestioning, at the zombies. Sometimes monsters look like monsters, but sometimes they don’t. And sometimes the ‘monstrous’, if you only give it a chance, can be very beautiful indeed.Die Booth lives in Chester, UK, in a tiny house with four fire-places and enjoys old things, funny noises and exploring dark places. Die’s work has featured in three Cheshire Prize for Literature anthologies and has most recently appeared in The Fiction Desk, Litro, and Prime’s ‘Bloody Fabulous’ anthology amongst others. You can also read several of Die’s stories in the 2011 anthology ‘Re-Vamp’ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Re-Vamp-ebook/dp/B005UGJYEC/co-edited by L.C. Hu. Forthcoming work is due to appear in ‘Gothic Blue Book III’ from Burial Day Books and ‘The Art of Fairytales’ edited by Sarah Pasifull Grant. Die’s first novel ‘Spirit Houses’, a monster-friendly supernatural tale of action, adventure and excellent Scotch, is available now from the following outlets:
Paperback and e-book: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/diebooth
Kindle: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spirit-Houses-ebook/dp/B00F53BVO6/
October 8, 2013
Halloween Bash with Brian Moreland
Brian Moreland (Author)
Dead of Winter
,
Shadows in the Mist
,
The Girl from the Blood Coven
,
The Witching House
,
The Devil’s Woods
, http://www.BrianMoreland.com
I love Halloween. When I was a kid, it was all about dressing up in costumes and going Trick-or-Treating and then afterward, pouring a large bucket of candy onto the floor with my sisters and friends to go through our spoils. We would barter and trade for the candies we wanted so that our collection of sweets would be mostly our favorites. I always loaded up on candy corns, mini Reese’s peanut butter cups, bags of Peanut M&Ms, Snickers bars, Twix, and Krackles. I was more a connoisseur of the chocolate variety than the hard candies.
Now that I’m all grown up (and it’s considered weird for a grown man to go house to house asking for candy), my new tradition is watching horror movies at home with a bowl of popcorn. Here is a list of classic horror movies that I’ve enjoyed over the years on or around Halloween.1. Halloween (the first one)2. Trick ‘r Treat (2008)3. Friday the 13th (the first one)4. A Nightmare on Elm Street (the first one)5. Prophecy (1979)6. John Carpenter’s The Fog7. John Carpenter’s The Thing8. Evil Dead (the first one and the remake)9. Evil Dead II10. Night of the Creeps11. Terror Train12. Horror Express13. Hellraiser14. Phantasm
15. Jeepers Creepers
October 7, 2013
Halloween Bash with Reed Rothchild's Movies and other Epic stuff, Checking out an 80's classic starring that old dude from The Terminator
Pumpkinhead (Dir. Stan Winston): I'd been meaning to check this one out for years since it always seems to land on best of horror lists. The one thing you can always count on with 80's horror classics is that the special effects will deliver. No matter how cheesy the acting and dialogue may be I am always thoroughly impressed with how good the makeup effects are. You just don't see this kind of time spent on many horror films these days and it really does make a big difference. Even some of the weaker films from the 80's are infinitely watchable just for one or two "holy shit moments" usually do to killer special effects.
The film starts off with a flashback from the 50's where we look on as a little boy watches his older brother get killed by some monster deep in the woods. In present day the little boy, now a father takes his son to their farm stand off of the highway to sell groceries. A rowdy group of teenagers heading up to a cabin for the weekend (totes original scenario I know) stop by the store for some provisions and tragedy strikes when one of them accidentally runs the little boy over with his dirt bike. The distraught father Ed Harley (Lance Henriksen) travels deep into the woods to find an old hermit with special powers to bring his son back to life. He is told the only way to bring his son back is to raise the evil Pumpkinhead from the grave. As one would expect, shit hits the fan from there...
Click Below for the full review.
The film starts off with a flashback from the 50's where we look on as a little boy watches his older brother get killed by some monster deep in the woods. In present day the little boy, now a father takes his son to their farm stand off of the highway to sell groceries. A rowdy group of teenagers heading up to a cabin for the weekend (totes original scenario I know) stop by the store for some provisions and tragedy strikes when one of them accidentally runs the little boy over with his dirt bike. The distraught father Ed Harley (Lance Henriksen) travels deep into the woods to find an old hermit with special powers to bring his son back to life. He is told the only way to bring his son back is to raise the evil Pumpkinhead from the grave. As one would expect, shit hits the fan from there...
Click Below for the full review.
October 5, 2013
Halloween Bash...Win a copy of Where the Dead Fear to Tread
To enter to win a free copy of Where the Dead Fear to Tread post a comment on my facebook page stating what the first really scary movie you remember watching was, and what age you were at the time. Then send me a facebook message with the date of your comment, your email address and the format you would like your copy in. You can also enter by adding Where the Dead Fear to Tread to Your goodreads to read list and sending me a goodreads message with your email address and your format of choice.
Double Entries are allowed and if you have already added Where the Dead Fear to Tread to your goodreads list, just shoot me a message with your contact info.
Best of Luck and a Very Happy Halloween. Contest ends on October 12th.
October 4, 2013
Halloween Bash, With Reed Rothchild's movies and other epic stuff
Hell Baby (Dir. Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon): It's that time of year again folks. This time there's no lengthy intro or anything. Simply put- I'm once again going to watch one horror film a day for the entire month of October and then review it here for you so you don't have to wade through all of the feces to find that epic horror gem. So without further ado let's get fapping... I mean started!
I'd been really looking forward to this flick ever since I read about it getting really great reviews at Sundance. I've always been a huge fan of The State (though now I realize a lot of that is nostalgia) so I was really happy to see that Tom Lennon and Ben Garant had gotten together to write something they were really passionate about. Up until now they had been paying the bills writing shitty teen and family movies like The Pacifier and Herbie Fully Loaded. Luckily it was worth the wait because Helly Baby delivers the goods!
Click the image below for the full review...
I'd been really looking forward to this flick ever since I read about it getting really great reviews at Sundance. I've always been a huge fan of The State (though now I realize a lot of that is nostalgia) so I was really happy to see that Tom Lennon and Ben Garant had gotten together to write something they were really passionate about. Up until now they had been paying the bills writing shitty teen and family movies like The Pacifier and Herbie Fully Loaded. Luckily it was worth the wait because Helly Baby delivers the goods!
Click the image below for the full review...
October 3, 2013
Night at the Demontorium by Naima Haviland
Naima Haviland’s Night at the Demontorium is a collection of short stories that harken back to the style of The Twilight Zoneand Tales from the Darkside. While all the stories are unquestionably horror tales, they aspire to be more than just that with very original and clever flourishes throughout. ...Click either image to jump to Ravenous Monster for the Full Review
Halloween Bash with Michael Brookes
Welcome to my guest slot on MR Gott’s third Halloween Bash, for this post I have written four exclusive drabbles for the occasion. Those of you that know me know that I love writing drabbles. For those that don’t know a drabble is a story that is exactly one hundred words long not including the title. As a writer they are an excellent exercise in economy and telling a story in so few words. As a reader they’re bite sized stories that like popcorn are all too more-ish!So without further ado here are the Halloween Special Drabbles:Trick or TreatPatiently I wait with my favourite axe in hand, the smile of the blade sharp and eager. Night after night I’ve watched her parade in the glow from her bathroom window.She knows that I watch, of course she does, but she continues her dance anyway. She tempts my mind with thoughts that I dare not share or express. I watched her leave in her sexy vampire costume; she’ll prowl along the street, calling for a trick or a treat. When she knocks on my door, there’ll be no treat and I’ll chop a smile into her pretty whore face.The Pumpkin MoonA toothy grin cut into its pulpy flesh, carved by a hand deliberate and pale. She scoops out its innards, they slop to the side. She admires the Halloween fancy she’s creating. The face is just right, plump enough to carry the smile she’s worked so hard to create.She stands with her costume already made. Her skin drenched in the blood from her kill. The same bloody knife caresses the man’s moon face. It only needs one final touch, the tallow candle splutters with its rancid smell. The weak flame flutters, casting shadows from the ragged eye sockets.Perfect.The Crow DanceHe swaggers and then he struts back and forth. His greedy eye cast upon the fragrant corpse barely hidden by the leafy mulch. Another crow lands on the nearby branch of a moss covered tree. The first continues his solitary dance, punctuating his movements with raucous cries.Another crow lands, soon followed by another. Then the whole group arrives, more commonly known as a murder. They all watch with rapt attention until the first crow stops, he bows his head. A cacophony of celebration as the first crow takes his first peck at the waxy flesh. Then they all feast.Under the Bed
There’s a strange noise under my bed, it sounds like someone scraping the wooden floor. It spooks me at first then I remember what it is.It’s funny how you forget things in the middle of the night.My dear cousin locked in his box. We looked so similar we might have been twins and that proved his doom. Unfortunately for him the spell required him to be kept alive. For thirty years his life, piece by piece has fed the sacrifices and fuelled my life’s success, all for the price of a few bumps in the night. Sounds fair to me.
AN ODDER QUINTET
An Odder Quintet explores a world of dark and strange happenings. From new technology to ancient legends, nothing is quite what it seems.Prisons without WallsA prisoner serving a life sentence takes part in an experimental programme that manipulates the perception of time to rehabilitate prisoners and ensure they never reoffend.The TapestryLegend speaks of a Great Loom, operated by three women who guide the fate of every living person. The secret kept for thousands of years has now been found by someone with his own designs for it.Ghost in the CloudEveryone knows not to click on links in strange emails, but what do you do when the link comes from your dead husband?In the DepthsThis story continues from ‘Forced Entry’ in ‘An Odd Quartet’.Bravo Team took part in a hostage rescue mission in what they thought was a normal suburban house, now trapped in the basement they try to find a way out and only discover only more insanity.Not Welcome at the GateThis story continues from ‘The Reluctant Demon’ in ‘An Odd Quartet’.Morlock failed his possession exam in the most spectacular way possible, now ninety years later he faces returning to Hell.
An Odder Quintet is available from:Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/13QJbwDAmazon US: http://amzn.to/13QJnMiBarnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/17eCX6EAbout Michael Brookes
Michael Brookes is an Executive Producer with a leading UK games developer. Working in games and writing are two of his life passions and he considers himself fortunate to be able to indulge them both. He lives in the east of England, enjoying starry skies in the flattest part of the country. When not working or writing he can sometimes be found sleeping. Which is good as that is where many good ideas come from.When not working or writing he can be found volunteering as a technical editor for his local community magazine. He also hosts a monthly short fiction contest on his blog.Follow his blog: http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/Follow him on Twitter: @TheCultofMeOther Books by Michael BrookesFaust 2.0Is it the rebirth of an ancient evil in a new realm? Or something much worse?
A sexy looking avatar grants wishes for people across the web, but nothing is truly free, and for those who accept, what price must be paid?
Sarah Mitchell must discover the truth of this creature and stop it while it can still be stopped, but why is a mysterious lawyer dogging her every step?
Faust 2.0 is the first book in the new Mitchell & Morton series.Available now on Kindle:Amazon (UK): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Faust-2-0-Mor... (US): http://www.amazon.com/Faust-2-0-Morto... Cult of MeThe first book in ‘The Third Path’ trilogy.For too long he dwelt apart, watched those who passed him by. With his unique abilities he entered their minds and inflicted terrible suffering upon them. They didn't even know who he was. The game has lasted for years, but now the game has become stale. On an impulse he decides to make a final and very public last stand. After surrendering himself to the police he enacts his plan to seize the prison for his final bloody act.
There he discovers that he's not as unique as he once thought.Buy now from:Amazon (US): http://www.amazon.com/The-Cult-Third-Path-ebook/dp/B008O7ZVXW/
Amazon (UK): http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Cult-Third-Path-ebook/dp/B008O7ZVXW/
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-cult-of-me-michael-brookes/1112888391?ean=2940016637747&isbn=2940016637747
iTunes (US): https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id639396634
iTunes (UK): https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/id639396634Conversations in the AbyssThe second book in ‘The Third Path’ trilogy.Stealing Lazarus’s miracle gifted him immortality. Combined with his natural ability of invading and controlling people’s minds this made him one of the most dangerous people on Earth.But the miracle came with a price. His punishment was to be imprisoned within the walls of an ancient monastery and tormented by an invisible fire that burned his body perpetually. To escape the pain he retreated deep into his own mind.There he discovers the truth of the universe and that only he can stop the coming Apocalypse.Buy now from:Amazon (US): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BCP08JU/
Amazon (UK): http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BCP08JU/
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1115281270?ean=2940016700465&isbn=2940016700465
iTunes (US): https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/id647298331
iTunes (UK): https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/id647298331An Odd Quartet – Drabble Enhanced EditionA quartet of dark short stories (10,000 words total) each with a twist in the tale. The drabble enhanced edition also contains some of my favourite drabbles (100 word stories).The Yellow Lady
Grave robbing is a dirty business, in more ways than one. When he disturbs the grave from a childhood scary story he discovers it's not always treasure to be found.
This Empty Place
At the heat death of the universe, Death contemplates his existence.
Forced Entry
Terrorists seize an average suburban house. A Special Forces hostage rescue team is sent in and encounter more than they were trained for.
The Reluctant Demon
A young demon prepares to take his possession exam.Buy now from:Amazon (US): http://www.amazon.com/An-Odd-Quartet-ebook/dp/B009QJMMPC/
Amazon (UK): http://www.amazon.com/An-Odd-Quartet-ebook/dp/B009QJMMPC/
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/an-odd-quartet-michael-brookes/1046494250?ean=2940016693453
iTunes (US): https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id636526301
iTunes(UK): https://itunes.apple.com/uk/book/id636526301
Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/An-Odd-Quartet/book-IW9-ulByxE-fcgKdLgZT8Q/page1.html
There’s a strange noise under my bed, it sounds like someone scraping the wooden floor. It spooks me at first then I remember what it is.It’s funny how you forget things in the middle of the night.My dear cousin locked in his box. We looked so similar we might have been twins and that proved his doom. Unfortunately for him the spell required him to be kept alive. For thirty years his life, piece by piece has fed the sacrifices and fuelled my life’s success, all for the price of a few bumps in the night. Sounds fair to me.
AN ODDER QUINTET
An Odder Quintet explores a world of dark and strange happenings. From new technology to ancient legends, nothing is quite what it seems.Prisons without WallsA prisoner serving a life sentence takes part in an experimental programme that manipulates the perception of time to rehabilitate prisoners and ensure they never reoffend.The TapestryLegend speaks of a Great Loom, operated by three women who guide the fate of every living person. The secret kept for thousands of years has now been found by someone with his own designs for it.Ghost in the CloudEveryone knows not to click on links in strange emails, but what do you do when the link comes from your dead husband?In the DepthsThis story continues from ‘Forced Entry’ in ‘An Odd Quartet’.Bravo Team took part in a hostage rescue mission in what they thought was a normal suburban house, now trapped in the basement they try to find a way out and only discover only more insanity.Not Welcome at the GateThis story continues from ‘The Reluctant Demon’ in ‘An Odd Quartet’.Morlock failed his possession exam in the most spectacular way possible, now ninety years later he faces returning to Hell.
An Odder Quintet is available from:Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/13QJbwDAmazon US: http://amzn.to/13QJnMiBarnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/17eCX6EAbout Michael Brookes
Michael Brookes is an Executive Producer with a leading UK games developer. Working in games and writing are two of his life passions and he considers himself fortunate to be able to indulge them both. He lives in the east of England, enjoying starry skies in the flattest part of the country. When not working or writing he can sometimes be found sleeping. Which is good as that is where many good ideas come from.When not working or writing he can be found volunteering as a technical editor for his local community magazine. He also hosts a monthly short fiction contest on his blog.Follow his blog: http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/Follow him on Twitter: @TheCultofMeOther Books by Michael BrookesFaust 2.0Is it the rebirth of an ancient evil in a new realm? Or something much worse?A sexy looking avatar grants wishes for people across the web, but nothing is truly free, and for those who accept, what price must be paid?
Sarah Mitchell must discover the truth of this creature and stop it while it can still be stopped, but why is a mysterious lawyer dogging her every step?
Faust 2.0 is the first book in the new Mitchell & Morton series.Available now on Kindle:Amazon (UK): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Faust-2-0-Mor... (US): http://www.amazon.com/Faust-2-0-Morto... Cult of MeThe first book in ‘The Third Path’ trilogy.For too long he dwelt apart, watched those who passed him by. With his unique abilities he entered their minds and inflicted terrible suffering upon them. They didn't even know who he was. The game has lasted for years, but now the game has become stale. On an impulse he decides to make a final and very public last stand. After surrendering himself to the police he enacts his plan to seize the prison for his final bloody act.
There he discovers that he's not as unique as he once thought.Buy now from:Amazon (US): http://www.amazon.com/The-Cult-Third-Path-ebook/dp/B008O7ZVXW/
Amazon (UK): http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Cult-Third-Path-ebook/dp/B008O7ZVXW/
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-cult-of-me-michael-brookes/1112888391?ean=2940016637747&isbn=2940016637747
iTunes (US): https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id639396634
iTunes (UK): https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/id639396634Conversations in the AbyssThe second book in ‘The Third Path’ trilogy.Stealing Lazarus’s miracle gifted him immortality. Combined with his natural ability of invading and controlling people’s minds this made him one of the most dangerous people on Earth.But the miracle came with a price. His punishment was to be imprisoned within the walls of an ancient monastery and tormented by an invisible fire that burned his body perpetually. To escape the pain he retreated deep into his own mind.There he discovers the truth of the universe and that only he can stop the coming Apocalypse.Buy now from:Amazon (US): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BCP08JU/
Amazon (UK): http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BCP08JU/
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1115281270?ean=2940016700465&isbn=2940016700465
iTunes (US): https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/id647298331
iTunes (UK): https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/id647298331An Odd Quartet – Drabble Enhanced EditionA quartet of dark short stories (10,000 words total) each with a twist in the tale. The drabble enhanced edition also contains some of my favourite drabbles (100 word stories).The Yellow Lady
Grave robbing is a dirty business, in more ways than one. When he disturbs the grave from a childhood scary story he discovers it's not always treasure to be found.
This Empty Place
At the heat death of the universe, Death contemplates his existence.
Forced Entry
Terrorists seize an average suburban house. A Special Forces hostage rescue team is sent in and encounter more than they were trained for.
The Reluctant Demon
A young demon prepares to take his possession exam.Buy now from:Amazon (US): http://www.amazon.com/An-Odd-Quartet-ebook/dp/B009QJMMPC/
Amazon (UK): http://www.amazon.com/An-Odd-Quartet-ebook/dp/B009QJMMPC/
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/an-odd-quartet-michael-brookes/1046494250?ean=2940016693453
iTunes (US): https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id636526301
iTunes(UK): https://itunes.apple.com/uk/book/id636526301
Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/An-Odd-Quartet/book-IW9-ulByxE-fcgKdLgZT8Q/page1.html
October 2, 2013
Halloween Bash, Untreed Reads Sale.
All Full-Length Untreed Reads Horror Novels for $2.99 (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple's iBookstore, The Untreed Reads Store)
Blood Sacrifice by Rick R. ReedDante's Awakening by Devon MarshallLady in Flames by Ian LewisObsessed by Rick R. ReedOrlin Wood by Jeremy K. TylerPenance by Rick R. ReedRunning Red by Jack BatesStolen by Catherine StovallStrange People, Scary People by Tally HarbourThe Kingdom of Fear by Robert De GraauwThe Other World by John Stewart WynneWhere the Dead Fear to Tread by M. R. GottYear's End: 14 Tales of Holiday Horror edited by J. Alan Hartman
Blood Sacrifice by Rick R. ReedDante's Awakening by Devon MarshallLady in Flames by Ian LewisObsessed by Rick R. ReedOrlin Wood by Jeremy K. TylerPenance by Rick R. ReedRunning Red by Jack BatesStolen by Catherine StovallStrange People, Scary People by Tally HarbourThe Kingdom of Fear by Robert De GraauwThe Other World by John Stewart WynneWhere the Dead Fear to Tread by M. R. GottYear's End: 14 Tales of Holiday Horror edited by J. Alan Hartman
October 1, 2013
Halloween Bash James S. Dorr Reviews VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL RECOMMENDED
FOR HALLOWEEN NIGHT FILM FUN
(A Film Review by James S. Dorr)
Well, that is if you don’t get offended too easily (or have Mary Shelly and Bram Stoker finished rolling over in their graves yet?). You see, everything in this film is excessive. Everything. Yet part of the point is that’s the way it is in Japanese society, especially with teens. There are the ganguros, for instance, girls who paint or tan their faces a deep brown-black, wear white lipstick and eye shadow, and otherwise emulate American Blacks who here take their models, seemingly, from 1930s cartoons. And then there’s wrist-cutting (“Wrist cut is very popular in Japan,” according to one source. “Some people attempt ‘Wrist cut’ for autoside, but many people do ‘Wrist cut’ to ensure they are living. Japan is very controlled society. It is difficult to feel that people live their own life.”), which here includes a sanctioned school team and competitions to see who can fill buckets the fullest with blood (the girl who cuts her arm entirely off is not the winner!). And then there’s the teacher from China who has super lungs from all the pollution on the mainland, so much so that he can smoke ten cigarettes all at once. These things, believe it or not, turn out to play an important part in the film’s denouement.
It starts off calmly enough, however (well, not counting the opening sequence where an otherwise quiet girl destroys three zombie-like creatures to lead to the title sequence, disarming [literally], face-peeling, and beheading, accompanied by spurting gore in the more than bucketful), with an explanation that another Japanese teen custom is for a girl to give the boy she fancies a piece of chocolate on Valentine’s Day, which he will then eat to show reciprocation. But when quiet transfer student Monami, the only one with chocolate left after a zealous teacher has confiscated all the other girls’ candy, offers hers to clueless male heartthrob Mizushima, Mizushima finds that the candy is filled with blood and yet strangely delicious. In fact, he feels strange after he’s eaten it, among other things having flashes of people as walking circulatory systems, and no wonder, it turns out. The blood is Monami’s, demure, shy, who skips class a lot on excessively sunny days either staying at home in bed or holing up in the school nurse’s infirmary, and who is a vampire.
Unfortunately for young love, however, Keiko, the vice principal’s daughter, has the hots for the young man as well, while the vice principal who has his own hots for the oversexed school nurse (as do most of the male students except Mizushima) has a secret laboratory in the school basement where he, seeing himself as the spiritual heir of Dr. Frankenstein, attempts to cut up and then reassemble various corpses and bring them back to life. So, when Monami corners Mizushima on the school roof and explains to him that with another drop of her blood he can turn fully into a vampire too and live with her and no longer grow old and (cutting her lip with one of her fangs and puckering up for him to kiss it) would he be interested (he says no at first until she explains that, since he now knows her secret, the alternative is that she’ll have to kill him, at which point love triumphs), who should appear but a jealous Keiko. Then, attempting to attack Monami, clumsy Keiko tumbles over the roof’s edge and goes splat below.
The body is brought to the nurse’s office, the nurse takes it downstairs, and even she is a little surprised when Keiko’s pop is delighted. Here is the perfect corpse for him to bring back to life, but first it must be augmented by certain improved body parts which the nurse, who moonlights as a psycho killer, delightedly gets for him.
Then comes the main event, Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl, beginning in the school gym but soon moving outside to a more heroic venue, while still inside Keiko’s dad and the school nurse (who, after having been killed by an all-but-torch-bearing mob of faculty and students who have traced the recent disappearances of experimental body-part donors to her, has been brought back as a zombie) continue their own bout matched against “Mr. Igor,” the school janitor (the old janitor had somehow disappeared at about the time Monami transferred in), and a newly released Mizushima who resurrected-and-augmented Keiko had captured and lashed to a cross to lure Monami to the gym in the first place.
The film is hilarious, gory (in spades — one reviewer has noted that people here seem to have thirty gallons of blood which, when tapped, will spray out over everything near them including the camera lens), over the top Japanese grindhouse, and yet it works. The special effects, to be sure, are largely cartoonish, ditto the sets and most of the characters, but the glue that holds it together, I think, is Yukie Kawamura, the actress who plays Vampire Girl Monami. She plays it straight (well, almost straight, think of Carolyn Jones as Morticia in the original 1960s TV version of THE ADDAMS FAMILY) and is actress enough that she pulls it off. The poor girl who had to flee with her mother, pursued by a relentless vampire hunter, and saw her mother murdered before her eyes. Who’s been on her own for hundreds of years since, so she says to Mizushima who comes to genuinely love her in spite of everything (including a twist at the very end reminiscent of the Swedish vampire film LET THE RIGHT ONE IN). Who has limitations (she can be killed, for instance, as was her mother) but has no qualms about admitting she’s left her own body count behind her, yet exudes a shy charm — and makes us accept it. She kills people, sure, we all have our faults, but she’s SO CUTE.
You just have to see it .
______________________________
James Dorr is a short story writer and poet working largely in horror and dark fantasy with occasional forays into mystery and science fiction. His latest collection, THE TEARS OF ISIS, was released by Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing in May this year, joining two earlier collections from Dark Regions Press, STRANGE MISTRESSES: TALES OF WONDER AND ROMANCE and DARKER LOVES: TALES OF MYSTERY AND REGRET, as well as his all-poetry, all-vampire VAMPS (A RETROSPECTIVE) from Sam’s Dot/White Cat. His own cat, Wednesday (for Wednesday Addams of the TV show THE ADDAMS FAMILY), is more a dark gray herself and spends her days (when she’s not asleep) slinking about Dorr’s fairly extensive DVD and VHS collection.
More on THE TEARS OF ISIS can be found on the publisher’s website at http://perpetualpublishing.com/the-tears-of-isis/ . Readers are also invited to check out Dorr’s personal site at http://jamesdorrwriter.wordpress.com.
(A Film Review by James S. Dorr)
Well, that is if you don’t get offended too easily (or have Mary Shelly and Bram Stoker finished rolling over in their graves yet?). You see, everything in this film is excessive. Everything. Yet part of the point is that’s the way it is in Japanese society, especially with teens. There are the ganguros, for instance, girls who paint or tan their faces a deep brown-black, wear white lipstick and eye shadow, and otherwise emulate American Blacks who here take their models, seemingly, from 1930s cartoons. And then there’s wrist-cutting (“Wrist cut is very popular in Japan,” according to one source. “Some people attempt ‘Wrist cut’ for autoside, but many people do ‘Wrist cut’ to ensure they are living. Japan is very controlled society. It is difficult to feel that people live their own life.”), which here includes a sanctioned school team and competitions to see who can fill buckets the fullest with blood (the girl who cuts her arm entirely off is not the winner!). And then there’s the teacher from China who has super lungs from all the pollution on the mainland, so much so that he can smoke ten cigarettes all at once. These things, believe it or not, turn out to play an important part in the film’s denouement.
It starts off calmly enough, however (well, not counting the opening sequence where an otherwise quiet girl destroys three zombie-like creatures to lead to the title sequence, disarming [literally], face-peeling, and beheading, accompanied by spurting gore in the more than bucketful), with an explanation that another Japanese teen custom is for a girl to give the boy she fancies a piece of chocolate on Valentine’s Day, which he will then eat to show reciprocation. But when quiet transfer student Monami, the only one with chocolate left after a zealous teacher has confiscated all the other girls’ candy, offers hers to clueless male heartthrob Mizushima, Mizushima finds that the candy is filled with blood and yet strangely delicious. In fact, he feels strange after he’s eaten it, among other things having flashes of people as walking circulatory systems, and no wonder, it turns out. The blood is Monami’s, demure, shy, who skips class a lot on excessively sunny days either staying at home in bed or holing up in the school nurse’s infirmary, and who is a vampire.
Unfortunately for young love, however, Keiko, the vice principal’s daughter, has the hots for the young man as well, while the vice principal who has his own hots for the oversexed school nurse (as do most of the male students except Mizushima) has a secret laboratory in the school basement where he, seeing himself as the spiritual heir of Dr. Frankenstein, attempts to cut up and then reassemble various corpses and bring them back to life. So, when Monami corners Mizushima on the school roof and explains to him that with another drop of her blood he can turn fully into a vampire too and live with her and no longer grow old and (cutting her lip with one of her fangs and puckering up for him to kiss it) would he be interested (he says no at first until she explains that, since he now knows her secret, the alternative is that she’ll have to kill him, at which point love triumphs), who should appear but a jealous Keiko. Then, attempting to attack Monami, clumsy Keiko tumbles over the roof’s edge and goes splat below.
The body is brought to the nurse’s office, the nurse takes it downstairs, and even she is a little surprised when Keiko’s pop is delighted. Here is the perfect corpse for him to bring back to life, but first it must be augmented by certain improved body parts which the nurse, who moonlights as a psycho killer, delightedly gets for him.
Then comes the main event, Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl, beginning in the school gym but soon moving outside to a more heroic venue, while still inside Keiko’s dad and the school nurse (who, after having been killed by an all-but-torch-bearing mob of faculty and students who have traced the recent disappearances of experimental body-part donors to her, has been brought back as a zombie) continue their own bout matched against “Mr. Igor,” the school janitor (the old janitor had somehow disappeared at about the time Monami transferred in), and a newly released Mizushima who resurrected-and-augmented Keiko had captured and lashed to a cross to lure Monami to the gym in the first place.
The film is hilarious, gory (in spades — one reviewer has noted that people here seem to have thirty gallons of blood which, when tapped, will spray out over everything near them including the camera lens), over the top Japanese grindhouse, and yet it works. The special effects, to be sure, are largely cartoonish, ditto the sets and most of the characters, but the glue that holds it together, I think, is Yukie Kawamura, the actress who plays Vampire Girl Monami. She plays it straight (well, almost straight, think of Carolyn Jones as Morticia in the original 1960s TV version of THE ADDAMS FAMILY) and is actress enough that she pulls it off. The poor girl who had to flee with her mother, pursued by a relentless vampire hunter, and saw her mother murdered before her eyes. Who’s been on her own for hundreds of years since, so she says to Mizushima who comes to genuinely love her in spite of everything (including a twist at the very end reminiscent of the Swedish vampire film LET THE RIGHT ONE IN). Who has limitations (she can be killed, for instance, as was her mother) but has no qualms about admitting she’s left her own body count behind her, yet exudes a shy charm — and makes us accept it. She kills people, sure, we all have our faults, but she’s SO CUTE.
You just have to see it .
______________________________
James Dorr is a short story writer and poet working largely in horror and dark fantasy with occasional forays into mystery and science fiction. His latest collection, THE TEARS OF ISIS, was released by Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing in May this year, joining two earlier collections from Dark Regions Press, STRANGE MISTRESSES: TALES OF WONDER AND ROMANCE and DARKER LOVES: TALES OF MYSTERY AND REGRET, as well as his all-poetry, all-vampire VAMPS (A RETROSPECTIVE) from Sam’s Dot/White Cat. His own cat, Wednesday (for Wednesday Addams of the TV show THE ADDAMS FAMILY), is more a dark gray herself and spends her days (when she’s not asleep) slinking about Dorr’s fairly extensive DVD and VHS collection.
More on THE TEARS OF ISIS can be found on the publisher’s website at http://perpetualpublishing.com/the-tears-of-isis/ . Readers are also invited to check out Dorr’s personal site at http://jamesdorrwriter.wordpress.com.
September 30, 2013
Welcome to the Third Annual Halloween Bash
It's that time of year again horror fiends. A time when our admittedly odd sensibilities overtake the nation. When stores have motion activated demons, and buying fake blood is so very easy. Here at Cutis Anserina we will be hosting guest bloggers such as Naima Haviland, Jack Ketchum, Brian Mooreland, Scott Baker and many more in celebration of the season. Stick around for a chance to win a book or two as well.
So Welcome my friends to Halloween.
