Archive for October, 2015

#31HorrorFilms31Days (Part Two)

If you read the last post you know I’ve been participating in the #31HorrorFilms31Days challenge, because any excuse to watch horror movies is good with me. Though at the outset I feared being able to complete it, due to lack of time, or lack of interest in 31 different and mainly unseen films, I think I’m going to pull it off. Horror flicks are generally short, too, so that helps. It’s not like I’m trying to watch The Lord of the Rings movies 31 times.

PART TWO: Films 11-23 (those denoted with an asterisk are ones I have never seen before)

11. THE WOMAN IN BLACK 2: Angel of Death* – Look, spoiler alert, this broad killed Harry Potter in the first one, and I wanted to know what somebody was going to do about it. Such things are not allowed.

12. MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE* – Stephen King directed it and Lisa Simpson screams a lot in this “asteroid caused our machines to turn murderous” flick. Fun. And nice stunts!

13. DON’T LOOK NOW* – Okay, more an art house thriller than horror, I still find all the Donald Sutherland nudity to be plenty horrifying. Good acting though.

14. THE FINAL GIRLS* – Friends trapped in one of their favorite horror films and have to survive it? Sign me up! The Adderall-fueled striptease was hilarious.

15. THEY LIVE!* – Rowdy Roddy Piper finds sunglasses that let him see the alien invaders around him. Spoiler alert, they’re everywhere. Double spoiler alert, Rowdy Roddy Piper has come here to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and he is all out of bubblegum. (seriously, is this where that phrase came from?)

16. IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS* – More John Carpenter, this one played out like Stephen King’s wet dream where everything he writes comes to life. Sam Neill grounds this picture but it’s still a fairly wild ride.

17. 7-Below* – what the hell is this shit? Seven people trapped in a murder house where Ving Rhames tries to be terrifying and someone asks for more sex from Val Kilmer. Look, he only has so much sex to give, all right?

18. SCREAM 2 – Dylan had never seen it. And honestly, it’s a pretty decent movie. Particularly compared to the rest of the Scream sequels.

19. OUIJA* – I like movies about Ouija boards. Don’t judge me.

20. THE LAZARUS EFFECT* – Like a heartless, updated Flatliners, where you just want everyone to turn slap happy.

21. CRIMSON PEAK* – This was a beautiful film. As expected. Unexpected was the sight of Tom Hiddleston’s hiney. I think I made a little noise in the theater. Do note that this is more gothic romance than horror. The scariest thing about it was seeing it an an actual theater, and keeping an eye out for potential mass shooters. Thanks for ruining the movies for me!

22. DELIVERANCE* – Recommended by a friend who loves hillbillies. Dylan noted that Angelina Jolie must get her long legs from Jon Voight.

23. HELLRAISER* – Wanted this to be scarier. Wanted it to have less boning. It was sort of 50 Shades of Pinhead.

On the writing front I’m still working on THREE DARK CROWNS. I did see the flap copy for it this week, and loved it. It’s always weird when that first piece of a book arrives that I didn’t actually work on. Like, other people are working on this. It’s going to be a book. That remains very, very weird. And cool.

Speaking of that, time to get back to it. Word to your mothers.

 

 

Where to order signed books and #31HorrorFilms31Days (first 10)

I get inquiries about where folks can buy personalized, signed copies of my books, when they can’t make it to events. Unfortunately, I don’t have a nearby bookstore that I can just hop over to and sign and doodle in orders anytime. But I am going to be a few places this fall, so if anyone wants any of my books signed/personalized/doodled in, here are places to order from: (check with them for any shipping deals)

Klindt’s Booksellers, 541-296-3355. klindtsbooks.com

University Bookstore Seattle, 206-634-3400. ubookstore.com

Last week or so I heard about the #31HorrorFilms31Days challenge from Stephanie Perkins. Since I’ll take any excuse to binge horror movies, I jumped onboard. The “rules” are to watch at least 31 horror films that you’ve never seen before, prior to November 1st. But you know how I feel about rules. I wasn’t going to let them stop me from re-watching my favorites. Last week I watched my first ten. (films marked with an asterisk are ones that I hadn’t seen before.)

  1. A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET – Wes Craven just died. This is my eternal favorite horror franchise. I couldn’t start off with anything else.
  2. WILLOW CREEK* – Samsquantches! The description mentioned unexplained phenomena and I immediately thought of one of my favorites, NATURE’S GRAVE with Jim Caviezel. Alas, this was more, Blair Witch but with more wood-knocking. Come on, Bobcat, make it weirder.
  3. NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4 – this was possibly the first horror movie I ever watched as a child. Thus, it is a sentimental favorite. And that martial arts sequence set to Dramarama’s “Anything, Anything” is fantastic.
  4. UNFRIENDED* – could these people be any more bitchy? Oh, how I laughed. Everyone in this film is a huge dick. Including the ghost. The framing device they use to tell it (all in Skype) is a bit of a disconnect. But it is a good tutorial for Facebook.
  5. APRIL FOOL’S DAY* – this was my best friend’s favorite as a child. I told her I was watching it and she just kept screaming, “Buffy! Buffy!” and I didn’t get it because the character’s name was Muffy.
  6. SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE 2* – I watched Slumber Party Massacre 1 as a child. Guy has a big drill and nobody knows how to defend against it. Thoughts while watching 2: Being drilled to death is a degrading way to die. Whirr, whirr, whirr, whirr….awww. And, hey, isn’t that the lady from the 90s sitcom, WINGS?
  7. JOHN DIES AT THE END* – the doorknob turns into a penis. He declares it unable to be opened. Fun and random and clever.
  8. DEVIL’S DUE* (part of our Evil Impregnation Marathon) – After everything that happens, she gains consciousness and asks if the baby is ok. What the eff, lady? What she should have said: “Is the baby dead? Where’s my dog?”
  9. ROSEMARY’S BABY* – this was just grand. But, the antichrist’s name is Adrian? No way. I could accept many things, but I would not be raising an antichrist that Rocky fans could easily mock.
  10. HELLBABY* – technically a horror comedy, and technically still half-watched. We had to cut the Evil Impregnation Marathon short because it got late. And this was dumb.

I’m looking forward to THE FINAL GIRLS later this week. If you know any great films I should not miss, please do let me know. I’m on this until the 31st, when I will bookend the thing with more Wes Craven: NEW NIGHTMARE.