Good evening and welcome to my blog. Those of my fellow bloggers that know me, I apologize for the long wait (Lately there have been many things coming at me at the same time that sometimes I wish I had a windshield wiper for life.) For those of you who don't, it is simple. I am your host, one who prefers the balance between the glorious embrace for light and the twisted love for the dark. Ever since I was little, I loved horror (Even though a lot of people thought I was crazy). I thought it was natural for anyone to have a curiosity to see what the dark side is like. Not everything is as evil as it seems since often times we may witness the dramatic side of it. Often times it has a comedic side. Other times it even has romantic feelings for you, but for now let's talk about tonight's showcase. I showcase several things from both the critically acclaimed, the cult gems, the unique messes, or the unknown and forgotten. I also tend to rate some of them (Depending on if they can be rated). That being said, I would like to go on about our newest showcase entry. Like I said, I have always been doing my research, so tonight's showcase will be interesting for most of you watching. The first item I would like to show you all is:
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| The Conjuring |
To anyone who is not familiar with the legendary couple Ed & Lorraine Warren, they were two of the world's most famous paranormal investigators. There careers have spanned to some well known cases, like the Amityville Horror or the Demonic Possession murder case. As the movie states, though, that there is a specific case too horrible that they kept it sealed off from the public....(Until now?) The film gives a unnerving tale about a family who recently purchased a home. As soon as they find out there is a basement, things take a twisted turn for them. So they ask Ed & Lorraine Warren to investigate, and the rest of the film is self explanatory....... I think. The family gets attacked by unknown entities, The Warren's come over, exorcism on the house (Yes you can actually exorcise objects and buildings. People aren't the only ones to get possessed..........that would be boring.) The film is divided into three separate sections merged together: The titular movie plot, the Warren family's previous encounters, and a doll named "Annabelle", a "possessed" American Girl runoff who terrorized it's previous owners until it was taken care of by the Warrens. This takes place at the beginning of the film. In reality, the doll actually looks like Raggedy Ann, but I'm guessing producers thought it was less frightening. What can I say though? It's their movie. Now that I'm done giving off a quick dose of the movie without entirely ruining it, it's time to get serious.
The movie was pretty good in general: Great story, beautiful visuals and a creepy atmospheric presentation. One of the best presentations using the "Based on a true story" label. Although half of the scares produced in the movie consist of ear shattering noises and pop-ups, the movie is a gigantic build up scare that reaches the climax. It uses what would be normal objects and everyday rituals and gives them a foreshadowing that later on it will be used against them. If you don't know what a buildup scare is, it consists of either a usually long scene or several clips that tie in together to deliver a scare, relying mostly on the atmosphere. A very excellent tactic to a buildup scare is to let the audience for a while notice something unsettling while any film character remains unaware of whatever is presented to the audience. For example, the clapping game. Oh yes, notable scene would be the mom playing the clapping game with her youngest daughter. That is an excellent example of a buildup scare. For a movie that had also used one of pop culture's most well known labels, it gave a pretty good delivery without over-saturating it with over the top questionable moments. Now that I've given somewhat of a review for the film, it's time for my vote. I'm rating this a
Moving on to our next in showcase item, we have a cult hit here by the name of:
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| Harper's Island |
What happens when you mix Scream & And Then There Were None, throw in a boat fully of yuppies and take them to an island to unknowingly die? Yep. Harper's Island indeed. The series (Which sadly ended too soon due to low viewer ratings, although they released the entire show.) is about a young woman named Abby Mills, who has returned back home to Harper's Island to celebrate her friends' wedding., is trying to get past a horrible incident that ended the life of her mother and several others in the hands of serial killer John Wakefield, who is dead after falling off a cliff. As the wedding starts off, the party and locals are killed off one by one while Abby is concerned if Wakefield is really dead or the brutal murders are from the hands of a copycat. The show is notable for each episode containing between 1 to 5 deaths, each extremely uncomfortable to watch. Now that you've got a handle on the basics, let me give you a summary on my thoughts on the show.
The show itself has very good potential of becoming a well known cult classic. It's very reminiscent of Scream, as in a "Who did it?" fashion (When you think one person did it, they die and they point it at another. It's like the Nightmare on Maple Street with gore). Every episode leaves off on a cliffhanger. Although the acting and subplots are cheesy during some moments, it's not that bad once the seriousness starts to kick in. While the show was fully released even though the network had canceled it, it still felt a little short for 13 episodes (Maybe worth 24 episodes but more people would have to die.) The marking points that kept the show going was not only the plot line, but I felt since this show features bloody & gory demises, were also the somewhat fascinating deaths scenes and the amount of people killed off the entire season. The show deserves to become an excellent mark as a cult favorite for horror fans. Now that I've finished my thoughts on the show, I'd like the rate this show a:
Now that it's settled, my next selection at this time would be:
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| Catherine |
In all honesty, Catherine is a weird game, like David Lynch weird. Like David Lynch and Dario Argento decided to collaborate while Roman Polanski simply gave them a sheet saying "Guy cheats with a demonic hooker." Catherine is set up as a frame story to an anthology series called the Golden Playhouse, hosted by Trish, The Midnight Venus. The story of Catherine revolves around Vincent Brooks, a timid man who is under pressure about marriage from his girlfriend Katherine McBride (The strawberry blonde with glasses) and decides to go out drinking with buddies until he meets the titular Catherine, A blonde lolita who has an interest with Vincent (Now this would be the moment they give the color pink a sinister feeling.) Vincent passes out and has a demented dream where he is surrounded by male talking sheep. Vincent constantly climbs a mountain of falling blocks while avoiding extreme hazards like bobby traps, gigantic monsters and other sheep. Meanwhile, strange deaths have been occurring where young men die in their sleep. He wakes up to Catherine in bed and feeling guilty, tries to cover the incident from Katherine while Catherine continues to pursue Vincent. Questions also begin to raise about the origins of Catherine. While Catherine is mostly a puzzle game, it mixes Psychological Horror, Comedy, Romance & Mystery with a touch of sexual fantasy. There are also multiple endings depending on the choices you make throughout the game, and not just choices through dialogue and text (Nooooo), any decision you make such as how much time you pass, who you talk to specifically, and even your drink choices can affect the game. Now that I've given you the details, It's time to get on the down low.
Okay, where do we begin. Catherine is an excellent platform/puzzle game. The artwork, presentation, and storyline are definitely unique, even the character designs are something you don't see much. In fact, there are barely any platforming games that mix in with horror and deliver it well (Only other one that comes in mind is Eversion, which I will cover later on in another showcase.) I also like how they symbolized pink in the game. As I did mention before, if you happen to notice in the game, the color pink pops up a lot and usually gives off an uneasy feeling. Something usually represented as a innocent choice of color gives off bad vibes. Each level rewards you on your skills and unlocks certain features, including more places to either team up or compete against another player. It's also interesting on how your actions can affect the storyline. Not only on what you choose to say through certain dialogue, but almost anything you do can affect the outcome, which I believe is excellent beyond standards. I haven't seen this much tragedy-inducing fear since Pathologic (Another game I will showcase later on.) the gameplay is pretty much refreshingly new: climbing a mountain of blocks with a confined limit of time and space as a sheep man is definitely refreshing and new. Now that I've given my thoughts, it's time to rate. I'm going to give this game a rating of:
(I should seriously make my own stars or rating system) Okay now, it's time to move on to my final entry of tonight's showcase. I know what you all are thinking; It's been over a month and I'm only going to do four entries (Deal with it, I'll be updating again very soon.) My final entry, as usual, is something that I cannot rate. The final entry tonight is:
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| La Isla De Las Munecas |
(By the way, did you find Elmo's washed up body in one of these photos?) In Mexico, there is an island nearby Xichomico where it is inhabited by hundreds of mutilated childhood dreams. The creepy choice of decor was actually to pay tribute to an unnamed girl who had drowned nearby due to mysterious circumstances. The man in charge of taking care of the place, Don Julian Santana Barrerra, was the one who found the girl and wasn't able to resuscitate her back to life. Shortly after that, a doll was floating nearby. Presuming the doll belonged to her, he picked it up and hung it on a tree nearby to show respect. Apparently she wasn't pleased, for the girl began to haunt the poor man and more dolls began to strangely appear. He hung them up to appease her and noticed that the dolls were possessed; Not by the little girl herself, but by other spirits of dead children. After 5 decades of collecting the dolls and paying respect for the dead, Julian was found floating in the same area where he found the girl. After his death, it became a landmark in touring Mexico and being portrayed as a sinister and scary place in television shows and internet pages (Because people couldn't get any stupider.) On the bright side, it's a very innocent way to respect someone. I mean Don wasn't insane; He just wanted to show respect and felt guilty about not saving a complete stranger's life. On the downside, according to Don and other people who've came across the island, the dolls actually move and stare at you (So if you're one of those people who don't like getting peoples' attention, don't go.) Now that I've wrapped up, it's time for my leave. I hoped you enjoyed tonight's showcase and get some rest (You're really going to need it.) I will see you all later. Buenas Noches!
