June 11th, 2008 | → 1 Comments | ∇ Creepy Videos, Italian Spiderman |

Italian Spiderman episode 4

June 10th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Films |

Funny Games U.S. (2007)

Funny Games (2007) is an English language remake of Michael Haneke’s 1997 Austrian film of the same name. I’ve not seen the original so I can only give you my opinion of this version. However, this film is a direct shot by shot re-make of the original, the director wanting to bring his film to a new audience, without losing any of he impact that made Funny Games a highly acclaimed hit in Europe.

The hapless victims in this film are Naomi Watts and Tim Roth who play a happily married well off couple who are taking their yearly boating holiday with their young son. Pretty decent names for a film that is clearly too dark for mainstream America. The happy couple have retreated to their summer home on the lake and while Roth’s character George is out the back checking over the boat an unusually dressed polite young man has dropped in to the house to borrow some eggs. Initially Ann, played by Watts, is more than happy to oblige but it soon becomes clear that the unexpected visitor isn’t really after any eggs, he and his similarly dressed companion are more interested in playing their sinister funny games.

What follows is the physical and psychological torment and torture of the couple and their child by these two charming, polite and thoroughly evil strangers. While you might think you’ve seen a hundred of these types of films already Funny Games does enough to stand out from the rest.

Opinion
Although the original was made over 10 years ago its message is just as relevant today. Maybe even more so as Haneke’s movie is commentary on our current obsession with violence in the media and our voyeuristic attitude to on-screen sadism. Cleverly the director manages to keep most of the violence off-camera using the threat of violence to induce the fear in the viewer.

The audience isn’t allowed to develop a connection with the annoyingly smug bourgeois family. Instead we are placed on the side of the 2 protagonists, Peter and Paul, who are playing a giant sick prank for no other reason than it’s fun to torture people. Throughout the film Paul makes unusual statements like ‘You can stop anytime you want’ and ‘You’ve brought this upon yourself’. He’s not just referring to the the victims but to the audience themselves, reminding them that they chose to watch this film but they can switch off any time they want.

The camera work is fairly intense as well. There are some lengthy scenes which use only 1 camera shot to drag out the terror for longer portions. It’s an unusual film with some quite unique moments. I don’t really want to give away some of the tricks of this film but it does step outside the boundaries of reality at times that makes you wonder just who Peter and Paul really are.

Rating
As a word for word, shot for shot remake of a film it’s up to you whether to watch this or the original. It is just another home invasion film but the movie’s 2 anti-heroes are both interesting and strange enough to warrant 2 hours of your time. 7/10.

June 9th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ TV |

Supernatural: Season 4

The latest season of Supernatural kicked off on British TV last night and it was one of the best episodes i’ve ever seen. It’s one of four specials to celibrate the new season and based on this episode i will be making an effort to catch them all.

The plot was the usual ghost slaying affair but interestingly told via Blair Witch style camera work. The film crew, known as the ‘Ghostfacers’, are caught up in some un-worldly happenings at a local haunted house but fortunately for them Dean and Sam Winchester are on the scene to save their sorry asses.

What made this episode so great is that it was filled with tongue in cheek humour and witty dialogue. Well worth a watch.

June 9th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Comic Scans, Monster |

Monster continued… (part 6)

Uncle Terry has given the coppers the slip. Now he’s off to Blackpool but I don’t think he’s interested in going on any of the rides. This episode is quite touching!

June 5th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Creepy Videos |

An old friend…

From online videogame review programme, Consolevania…

June 5th, 2008 | → 1 Comments | ∇ Blah, Comic Scans, News |

The Dead

Sick of zombies yet? Well, if you aren’t, The Dead is a new ongoing zombie comic, out this august. It’s written by Alan Grant and illustrated by Simon Bisley with cover art by Glenn Fabry.

Britain has been overrun by zombies, but in Oxford a team of firefighters, allied with a pair of misfit soldiers, are about to strike back.

The official website has more information and a three page preview of the first issue. The preview seems awkward to view full-screen, (for me, at least), so I’ve included it below.

The Dead interview

The Dead MySpace

Official website

June 4th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Creepy Videos, Italian Spiderman |

Italian Spiderman episode 3

June 3rd, 2008 | → 1 Comments | ∇ Horror Art |

Joshua Hoffine: Photographer of the damned

I just came across the website of Joshua Hoffine, and just had to shout about it. Josh’s own brand of twistedness has materialised in an extremely dark series of photographs that are absolutely jaw-dropping.

Hoffine seems to be influenced by horror films and each of his own photographs could easily be seen as a horror movie poster that should have been made. Instead of using illustrations, or faking his imagery through Photoshop, Josh’s photographs are given their terror with the clever use of make-up, props and effective lighting. These are some of the scariest photos I have seen so please take a look.

Take a look at his awesome horror photography website.

You can also check out Joshua’s blog here.

June 2nd, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Comic Scans, Monster |

Monster continued… (part 5)

It’s Monster Monday again! Uncle Terry is alive and on the loose. If you see him, do NOT approach!