#but there are still supernaturals (which is a gateway to something horrifying)

[makshu]

Did you notice? In the last panel of chapter 115 Tsukasa appears with a hole in his face, but did you notice that it seems to overlap his face?

Normally his hair would be above the hole if it were directly on his skin, but the hole is above and what's more, the hole distorts the surrounding hair.

It's like a vortex or a black hole superimposed on his face, with the hole distorting what's around it.

For me, that's what makes this scene more macabre. It's not just a hole in his face, but something superimposed in front of his face itself, being a bizarre distortion of reality and even more, a distortion of a child we've seen before.

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

Have you ever read Borrasca?

Yes Anon, I read it.

I don't even know how to start this. My instinct is "Content warning" but like...where to even begin in terms of listing the content I would warn people about with Borrasca. I'll just say, that if you've already read it, you know what I'm about to discuss. If you haven't read it, do not go under the cut. Because it's better to experience this story yourself.

But only if you have the strongest of stomachs. You are not prepared and neither was I.

Still here? Okay. Content warning: Child sexual abuse, kidnapping/trafficking, (gruesome) murder, discussion of remains, infertility, incest, parental abuse, horror....did I cover everything?

I don't normally like creepypastas. I am not a horror fan. Never have been. It's easier to consume horror via reading because it ensures a lack of jumpscares but I still don't like it. The content all too often makes me queasy and just don't fit me. So it was fortunate that when I picked up this story, I had no idea it was horror. Because that genre just has telltale signs and, at least to me, those signs weren't initially there. It wasn't until the characters first visited the Treehouse that I began to feel uneasy, (especially the first instance of the Shiny Gentleman's "song of death") and not until Whitney disappeared that I knew the story would be dark. But then it throws you for a loop by doing that time-skip without any notification, no "Seven years later" etc. They just leave it to you to figure it out, House of The Dragon style, so it took me a bit to figure out what happened and that kind of wrapped up my attention. (Speaking of, as a major fan of the Thrones universe, a lot of this was stuff you'd think I'd be able to handle no problem, but that didn't make it any easier.)

Unfortunately, the story had fish-hooked me by this point and I wasn't going anywhere. One moment that properly stood out to me was Phil Saunders talking about all the missing people going in the ground, or, as he put it, "grounder." In hindsight, that is downright cruel foreshadowing, or maybe it was purely coincidental (but I doubt it) and it stuck out to me the first time. That whole sequence did, of him basically saying that when he got high, he would figure out that all these people going missing was no accident, and that everyone in town either knew, or chose not to know. For some reason, the "grounder" line stuck out to me, and the next time we heard the Shiny Gentleman, the description of it being metallic and everything just made me pause. I remembered the "grounder" line and...a truly horrifying thought crossed my mind about the place where bad things happen. And when I make obscure predictions about stories, I often wind up being exactly right. (It's a strange gift, I'd rather something useful like Sign Language or Tax Lax, but I digress.) What kept sticking in my mind was "Why?" I couldn't place who or why people were taken there to be put in the "grounder" or what they were wanted for.

Side note, a lot of my thoughts were wasted on trying to figure out the "skinned men." A masterful red herring with an actual explanation that works. I didn't think of the answer as a cop out, I just went "Ohhh...." The whole concept leads you on a wild goose chase to assume there is some sort of supernatural element to this story when there isn't, because reality is so much more frightening than fantasy. It all feeds into the Borrasca folktale, which helps build a mythos for the place and acts as a gateway for people in the town learning about it as they grow up without questioning it too strongly. Which is useful for things like the "song of death" which will be heard periodically but mustn't be something anyone overthinks. They ignore it, because they assume it's just a logging company up the mountain, or because they fear the whispers and legends about the "skinned men" and want nothing to do with it...or because they know. Or, even worse...they don't want to know. Like Tom Prescott said, the townspeople probably don't know everything, most of the time...but some of that is willful ignorance and complacency with a system that they must sense is rotten to the core. Even the more sympathetic characters like Anne and Meera, they aren't innocent in all this. Anne says it herself - everyone is guilty. Meera's refusal to participate in Borrasca to get a baby until she eventually wilts...that's not her "falling to the dark side." She was already there. Because clearly, she knew. She knew, and she did nothing. Then again...what can she do? What can any of them do? This is how evil institutions rise and remain in power. Complacency and hopelessness.

The other moment...I could call it prophetic, but like, I don't want to pat myself on the back. The story is just very well told. But I remember the moment, distinctly, that Graham Walker told Sam and Kyle that he would "never let Whitney go." And the wording...I noticed the wording. And I thought to myself in that moment, "You have her. I don't know how, but you have her." And it made sense. When children go missing, sometimes it's the parents who are behind it. I mean, we've all seen SVU, right? Up to that point I genuinely hadn't suspected Walker at all, because I just thought - if there is some deep conspiracy in this town, how could Walker be a part of it? He moved here, only a few years ago. But it's quite possible that he was involved with Drisking even before moving his family there because he did something "bad" that caused them to reassign him. Honestly, that entire act is filled to the brim with amazing foreshadowing. Like, the adults really shouldn't be talking about any of this or even hinting it around the kids - that's just a writing tool, right? Well, yes, but, all of the adults know and are either involved or they turn a blind eye, so it's the kind of thing they would want to introduce to the teenagers gradually - Owen and Meera's cryptic conversation about the "only other option." comes to mind. Especially Sam, as Walker undoubtedly wants to recruit Sam to the "business" even at this point, and so they have to start grooming him early.

Kimber. Probably my favorite character, though both her and Kyle are compelling. Kyle's fate may be the saddest part of the story, actually. But the entire journey of Anne's death, about the mysterious suicide note and the lengths Kimber had to get to in order to read it. The way her father slipped and mentioned it within earshot, and then all anyone could do was try to gaslight the kids into believing he never said that and there was no note. The way Kimber knew Prescott was involved but also just knew it wasn't an affair. Like, sure, she probably didn't want to believe Anne would do that, but it was much more than that too. The clues just didn't point in that direction - oh, and don't get me started on Tom Prescott's ravings, by the way...why did they put him in a home outside of Drisking if he's going to be ranting about Borrasca to anyone who talks their way into a visit? But I digress. Nothing made my heart pound more than Kimber's final texts. How she was so unresponsive for so long before just sending back "I found it." Like. She definitely had already read it, and was processing what she had been told. Of course, after being told that the police were coming to find her (complete with her father "objecting" to something with them) all she texts back is "They're here." And that's the last thing she sends, and jesus cartwheeling christ, that is basically proof that the cops kidnapped her but of course, Walker pretends he does not see it.

The foreshadowing is everywhere. There's a scene where Kyle says "She's my...my..." And Sam notes that he "still can't say it." Which, in hindsight...yikes. Like, the story itself stops short of saying what Kimber and Kyle are to each other. Obviously, Kyle meant "girlfriend" and that's what Sam understood. But rereading that moment is another punch in the gut. And so many of the most twisted reveals aren't actually reveals. A lot is left implied. You have to read between the lines and put the puzzle pieces together to figure some of it out. Like how the last baby born in the story is called "William" and then the Shiny Gentleman sings his song one more time. They don't explain what that means. But if you pay attention to the naming rule, then you know who William's father is. Whitney was putting out "shit babies" and Walker said he would "never let her go." He had to be the one behind her being sold to Borrasca, but he was seemingly the only one "visiting" her. I don't know how he arranged it that way but I know he did. They don't even directly confirm what the "Shiny Gentleman" is, if I recall. Oh, and Kyle and Kimber are an incestuous couple but honestly, that is the least of the town's problems and it's probably not a unique situation. They're all unknowingly unrelated, and it's not as though Kimber will be having Kyle's babies, right? Not in this town.

Like. Once you read it over again (or listen to one of the many live readings/podcasts) things become clearer. Jimmy Prescott is initially the worst human being in the story (and don't get me wrong, he's still a monster of immeasurable proportions, I cottoned onto that as soon as Kimber said he was checking her out when she was in fifth grade) but on a second consumption of the story...Graham Walker is the one I want to throw into The Shiny Gentleman, and he's never outwardly wicked the way Prescott and Clery are. He hides his darkness very well until his last scene and even then, he admits to nothing. Based on the scene where he tells Sam that he'll be taking the blame for what happened to Kyle, it reads in two ways. You think to yourself, he's definitely in on it, but on the other hand, maybe he just chugged the koolaid and is believing this town's bullshit over his own son. Until little William is born, and Anne's clue about the naming smacks you in the face. No, he's not just ignorant to the point of being part of the problem, he is so emphatically the problem.

Borrasca is...devastating.

It's horror, to be sure, but it's good horror, and I don't even come out of it scared. I come out devastated. Angry. Feeling hopeless. Because the villains win. The corrupt and wicked institution isn't going anywhere, because why would it? Prescott and Clery let Sam go, because why shouldn't they? The situation is under control no matter what Sam does. The entire town is either part of Borrasca or willing to turn a blind eye to it. Except Kathryn. I honestly believe she didn't know a damn thing and bless her for being a wholesome light in this dark facade of a town. There's nothing to be done except get the hell out of Drisking and never look back. To just try and forget.

P.S: I am aware of the sequel.

I didn't really talk about it here because I have mixed feelings about it. I appreciate the happy ending and god knows Sam and Kimber have earned it, but there were several aspects of the story that I just didn't enjoy. Don't get me wrong, the prose is as well written as ever, but the plot feels like wish fulfillment and without a mystery to drive the story I just wasn't as engaged. I mean, there was kind of a mystery but the answers didn't really click for me. While it's realistic and painful, seeing the way Sam treats Kimber is hard to read. It hurts. These two were best friends, and none of this is her fault. Obviously, she was a victim of Borrasca too. Also, I do not buy that Kimber would have ever trusted Prescott, even if he dangled Kyle's name before her. No way, no how. I don't know why Sam kept using his real name after he escaped, enabling both Kimber and Walker to find him again. I also think it's rather...I don't want to use the word "convenient" but the fact that he was best friends with a hacker...also, why would Borrasca have any records to begin with? Fine, fine, business and all, but why keep them for so long? Prescott talks about destroying all of them, including the backups, and it's like....motherfucker, why don't you do that on a regular basis? Why do you even have backups?

I also feel like the sequel just takes some of the dread out of the air by removing the ambiguity and the lies. Everything that was left implied in the original story is outright confirmed. Walker is shown to be the monster that we know him to be, when he never fully revealed those true colors in the original story. Ultimately, the idea that two people could walk into a criminal empire like this one and topple it so successfully, not to mention that they both survive...it just stretches my suspension of disbelief, especially for a story that has already established itself as gritty and heartless. I'm glad there's a happy ending out there for people who wanted one, and in my own way, I obviously wanted one too, but I remember being both sad and a little relieved that Kyle's years of trauma had taken physical toll on him and that he didn't just immediately embrace Kimber and Sam. Because there needed to be at least one bittersweet aspect to all of this, especially if they were getting Kyle back at all. Something about the way Kimber "reverted to her old self" and was even more than fine with physical affection again after the climax....like, no, that's not how that works, and the original story wouldn't have tried something like that. It's hard to explain but I just couldn't get into it in the same way.

[aion-rsa]

Best Horror Movies on Netflix: Scariest Films to Stream

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Editor’s Note: This post is updated monthly. Bookmark this page to see what the best horror movies on Netflix are at your convenience.

Is it Halloween when you’re reading this? If not we’re still close enough with fall here and the month of October almost upon us! It’s the time of year where we like our drinks spiced with pumpkin or apple, our flannel light, and the movies we consume scary. And lucky for you there are more than a handful of worthwhile scary movies on Netflix.

There is nothing quite as fun as embracing the spooky, the creepy, the scary, and things that go bump in the night. Thankfully we have horror movies to help us down these paths. If you ever find yourself in need of a thrill or a chill, check out some of the best horror movies on Netflix, we’ve gathered here.

Enjoy your tricks and treats.

Looking for the best horror movies on Netflix UK? Click here!

As Above, So Below

We know what you might be thinking: a found footage horror movie? Yes, this was one of the later adherents to a genre craze that got run into the ground during the 2000s and early 2010s. However, As Above, So Below is the rare thing: effectively creepy. With a crackerjack premise about the real Catacombs of Paris being a secret gateway to Hell, the film casts an energetic Perdita Weeks as a modern day Indiana Jones in a Go-Pro helmet. She and her colleagues make the unwise choice to go off the tourist-guided path in the catacombs, which is home to the remains of more than 6 million people who died between the early middle ages and 18th century.

But once deep below the City of Lights, the film’s dwindling protagonists find themselves crawling beneath a wall with the words “Abandon all Hope Ye Who Enter.” And things just get bleak from there. This is a ghoulish good-time for those who are willing to indulge in the gimmick storytelling.

Apostle

Apostle comes from acclaimed The Raid director Gareth Evans and is his take on the horror genre. Spoiler alert: it’s a good one.

Dan Stevens stars as Thomas Richardson, a British man in the early 1900s who must rescue his sister, Jennifer, from the clutches of a murderous cult. Thomas successfully infiltrates the cult led by the charismatic Malcom Howe (Michael Sheen) and begins to ingratiate himself with the strange folks obsessed with bloodletting. Thomas soon comes to find that the object of the cult’s religious fervor may be more real than he’d prefer.

The Blackcoat’s Daughter

Some kids dream about being left overnight or even a week at certain locations to play, like say a mall or a Chuck E. Cheese. One place that no one wants to be left alone in, however, is a Catholic boarding school.

That’s the situation that Rose (Lucy Boynton) and Kat (Kiernan Shipka) find themselves in in the atmospheric and creepy The Blackcoat’s Daughter. When Rose and Kat’s parents are unable to pick them up for winter break, the two are forced to spend the week at their dingy Catholic boarding school. If that weren’t bad enough, Rose fears that she may be pregnant…oh, and the nuns might all be Satanists.

The Blackcoat’s Daughter is an excellent debut directorial outing from Oz Perkins and another step on the right horror path for scream queens Shipka and Emma Roberts.

The Evil Dead

1981’s The Evil Dead is nothing less than one of the biggest success stories in horror movie history.

Written and directed on a shoestring budget by Sam Raimi, The Evil Dead uses traditional horror tropes to its great advantage, creating a scary, funny, and almost inconceivably bloody story about five college students who encounter some trouble in a cabin in the middle of the woods. That trouble includes the unwitting release of a legion of demons upon the world.

The Evil Dead rightfully made stars of its creator and lead Bruce Campbell. It was also the jumping off point for a successful franchise that includes two sequels, a remake, a TV show, and more.

Gerald’s Game

We are living in a renaissance for Stephen King adaptations. But while there have been many killer clowns and hat-wearing fiends getting major attention at the multiplexes, the best King movie in perhaps decades is Mike Flanagan’s underrated Gerald’s Game. Cleverly adapted from what has been described as one of King’s worst stories, Gerald’s Game improves on its source material when it imagines a middle-aged woman (Carla Gugino) placed in a terrifying survival situation after her husband (Bruce Greenwood) dies of a heart attack during a sex game.

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Movies

15 Best Stephen King Movies

By John Saavedra

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The Shining: 5 Things Jack Torrance Taught Us About Social Distancing and Quarantine

By David Crow

Handcuffed to a bed in their remote cabin in the woods, Gugino’s Jessie must face the fact no one is coming to save her in the next week… more than enough time to die of dehydration or the wolf prowling about. Thus the specter of death hovers over the whole movie, seemingly literally with a monstrous shade emerging from the shadows to bedevil Jessie each night. A trenchant character study that frees Gugino to show a wide range of terror, determination, and finally horrifying desperation, the movie delves into the shadows of a woman haunted by trauma and demons almost as scary as her current situation. Almost.

The Gift

Who knew Joel Edgerton had it in him?

The Gift is the Australian actor’s writing and directing debut and it doesn’t disappoint. Edgerton stars as Gordon “Gordo” Mosely. He’s a nice enough middle-aged man if a little “off.” One day while shopping he runs into an old high school classmate Simon (Jason Bateman) and his wife Robyn (Rebecca Hall). After their brief encounter, Gordo takes it upon himself to start dropping off little gifts to Simon and Robyn’s home. Robyn sees no problem with it at first. But Simon becomes disturbed, perhaps because of the unique past Simon and Gordo share.

Many horror movies understand there must be a twist of some sort or at the very least an unexpected third act. Even still The Gift‘s third act switch up is particularly devastating because it’s so mundane and logical. The Gift ends up being an emotional drama disguised as horror.

The Girl with All the Gifts

Just when you thought there was nothing left to be done with the zombie genre, in comes a shocking and original idea… one that has sadly grown only more scary in 2020 with regards to The Girl with All the Gifts. A brilliant little indie from Colm McCarthy, this underrated gem imagines a zombie apocalypse as something closer to a viral pandemic that lasts for generations…. and one where a vaccine is always just out of reach.

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Movies

Evil Dead Movies: The Most Soul Sucking Moments

By David Crow

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Zombie Comedies Ranked

By David Crow

Thus enters the class of Helen Justineau (Gemma Arterton). Years after a fungal infection ravaged the planet, turning the infected into “hungries” (breathing zombies), their offspring have shown a creepy ability to retain the ability to think, learn, and love… even as they crave living flesh.

Hence the students in Helen’s class, including her favorite Melanie (Sennia Nanua). The child is special… too much so when it’s believed her biology could create a vaccine that would spare anymore humans turning “hungry.” But to harvest her body, the military will drag Helen and Melanie through an urban hellscape which has reduced London to an abandoned refuge for Hungries and feral children who likewise hunt uninfected humans for food.

The Golem

The Golem is such an awesome monster from Jewish mythology that it’s hard to believe they don’t make more movies about him. Well now they have. The Golem isn’t a straight-up remake of the 1915 movie of the same name so much as it is the next step in the evolution of this grim mythological beast.

During the outbreak of a plague, Hanna (Hani Furstenberg) will do whatever it takes to defend her community from outside invaders. Unfortunately, and in true fairy tale fashion, the creature she conjures up to defend her community quickly develops a murderous mind of its own.

Green Room

Green Room is a shockingly conventional horror movie despite not having all of the elements we traditionally associate with them. You won’t find any monsters or the presence of the supernatural in Green Room.

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Movies

31 Best Horror Movies to Stream

By Alec Bojalad and 1 other

Movies

The 13 Best Horror Movie Themes

By David Crow

Instead all monsters are replaced by vengeful neo-Nazis and the haunted house is replaced by a skinhead punk music club in the middle of nowhere in the Oregon woods. The band, The Aint Rights, led by bassist Pat (Anton Yelchin) are locked in the green room of a club after witnessing a murder and must fight their way out.

Horns

A horror vintage for a distinctly acquired taste, Alexandre Aja’s Horns is a bizarre fairy tale for adults. As much a revenge fable as a typical chiller, this movie which put “Harry Potter in Devil Horns” is actually something of a grim love story based on a novel by Joe Hill.

Daniel Radcliffe plays Ig Perrish, an outcast in his local community who wants nothing more than to forever be by the side of his lifelong love Merrin (Juno Temple). After her brutal unsolved murder prevents that, Ig swears he’d sell his soul to get revenge.

Funny thing is the day after he makes such a proclamation, horns begin growing from his forehead. The greater they grow, the easier it is to get sinners around him to confess their most hidden shames, and indulge in others. But with the clock ticking before he becomes a full-fledged demon, and his soul is presumably claimed by Beelzebub, there is only a narrow window before he can get revenge while raising a little hell.

Hush

In his follow-up to the cult classic Oculus, Mike Flanagan makes one of the more clever horror movies on this list. Hush is a thrilling game of cat-and-mouse within the typical nightmare of a home invasion, yet it also turns conventions of that familiar terror on its head.

For instance, the savvy angle about this movie is Kate Siegel (who co-wrote the movie with Flanagan) plays Maddie, a deaf and mute woman living in the woods alone. Like Audrey Hepburn’s blind woman from the progenitor of home invasion stories, Wait Until Dark (1967), Maddie is completely isolated when she is marked for death by a menacing monster in human flesh.

Like the masked villains of so many more generic home invasion movies (I’m looking square at you, Strangers), John Gallagher Jr.’s “Man” wears a mask as he sneaks into her house. However, the functions of this story are laid bare since we actually keep an eye on what the “Man” is doing at all times, and how he is getting or not getting into the house in any given scene. He isn’t aided by filmmakers who’ve given him faux-supernatural and omnipotent abilities like other versions of these stories, and he’s not an “Other;” he’s a man who does take his mask off, and his lust for murder is not so much fetishized as shown for the repulsive behavior that it is. And still, Maddie proves to be both resourceful and painfully ill-equipped to take him on in this tense battle of wills.

Insidious

Insidious is the start of a multi-film horror franchise and a pretty good one at that. Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne star as a married couple who move into a new home with their three kids. Shortly after they move in, their son Dalton is drawn to a shadow in the attic and then falls into a mysterious coma from which they can’t wake him.

It’s at this point that the Lamberts do what horror fans always yell at characters to do: they move out of the damn house! Little do they know, however, that some hauntings go beyond mere domiciles.

The Invitation

Seeing your ex is always uncomfortable, but imagine if your ex-wife invited you to a dinner party with her new husband? That is just about the least creepy thing in this taut thriller nestled in the Hollywood Hills.

Indeed, in The Invitation Logan Marshall-Green’s Will is invited by his estranged wife (Tammy Blanchard) for dinner with her new hubby David (Michael Huisman of Game of Thrones). David apparently wanted to extend the bread-breaking offer personally since he has something he wants to invite both Will and all his other guests into joining. And it isn’t a game of Scrabble…

It Comes at Night

Surviving the apocalypse comes with a certain amount of questions. For starters, what do you do after you survive a global pandemic thanks to your secluded cabin in the woods…and then someone comes knocking? That’s the situation that the family consisting of Paul (Joel Edgerton), Sarah (Carmen Ejogo), and Travis (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) find themselves in in It Comes at Night.

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TV

Best Horror TV Shows on Netflix

By Alec Bojalad

TV

Best Horror TV Shows on Hulu

By Alec Bojalad

When Paul and his family come across another family in the woods seeking shelter and water, they hesitantly welcome them in. But this soon proves to be a dangerous decision. Having guests in the real world is annoying enough to deal with and it only becomes harder when you suspect that any one of them could be sick with a highly-contagious, utterly fatal illness.

Paranormal Activity

Ignore the sequels. Yes, you know they’re bad and we know they’re bad. But long before “the Ghost Dimension” (whatever the hell that means), there was this eerie surprise hit that started it all. A movie which was estimated to be the most profitable movie of all time in its day–earning $193.4 million worldwide on a budget of $15,000–Paranormal Activity put Blumhouse Productions on the map and is still a supremely affecting piece of atmosphere.

Presented as the true story of a young, and not wholly likable, couple (Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat), the film follows the pair as they attempt to document the bumps they’re hearing in the house at night–only to discover a demonic presence and some repressed memories for one party. A still brilliant exercise in sound design, tension, and the uncanny ability to trick audiences into believing what they’re seeing is actually happening, this remains the best found footage horror movie ever made.

Poltergeist

Before there was Insidious, The Conjuring, or a myriad of other “suburban family vs. haunted house” movies, there was Poltergeist. Taking ghost stories out of the Gothic setting of ancient castles or decrepit mansions and hotels, Poltergeist moved the spirits into the middle class American heartland of the 1980s. With a smart screenplay by no less than Steven Spielberg (and, according to some, his ghost direction), Poltergeist finds the Freeling family privy to a disquieting fact about their new home: It’s built on top of a cemetery!

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TV

The Best Haunted House Movies and TV Shows of All Time

By Sarah Dobbs

Movies

How Annabelle Comes Home Fits into The Conjuring Universe

By Don Kaye

You probably know the story, and if you don’t you can guess it after decades of copycats that followed, but this special effects-laden spectacle still holds up, especially as a thriller that can be enjoyed by the whole family. Fair warning though, if your kids have a tree outside their window or a clown doll under their bed, we don’t take responsibility for the years of therapy bills this may inflict!

Red Dragon

The often overlooked other child of the Hannibal Lecter movie family, Red Dragon is no The Silence of the Lambs, no matter how much it wishes it was. Nor is it as visually evocative or luscious as Ridley Scott’s decadent Hannibal. Nevertheless, we find this prequel to both films to be at least worthy of association with the former, and ultimately more satisfying than the latter. A definite attempt to reshape Thomas Harris’ first novel to feature the Lecter character into a Silence of the Lambs clone, Red Dragon still has quite a bit to enjoy.

At the top of the list is of course Sir Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal for the third and final time. Definitely his hammiest iteration of the character, even a campy Hopkins is impossible to resist given the not-so-good doctor’s droll wit or distinct taste palate. Director Brett Ratner’s framing around Lecter is competent enough, and he wisely gets a superb supporting cast who can overwhelm any shortcomings.

Edward Norton is a compelling lead FBI detective; Philip Seymour Hoffman is delightfully repellent as a tabloid journalist who suffers a terrifying fate; and Ralph Fiennes roars as the serial killer who inflicts that fate on Hoffman. It may be no Manhunter–Michael Mann’s first adaptation of the source novel–but Red Dragon‘s the one on Netflix. So love the one you’re with!

The Silence of the Lambs

If you are only going to watch one Hannibal Lecter movie, this is the all-time masterpiece which remains the sole horror movie to win an Oscar for Best Picture. An absolutely gripping thriller even 30 years later, Jonathan Demme’s movie is an all-time great because of stellar performances and a sharp screenplay told by an even sharper eye.

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Movies

The Silence of the Lambs: A Thinking Person’s Monster Movie

By Ryan Lambie

Movies

Best Horror Movies on Hulu

By Alec Bojalad and 1 other

Here is the movie that kicked off the serial killer craze in Hollywood during the ’90s. Yet more than the gory details, what lingers in the mind are little things like an opening sequence that introduces Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) as the lone woman on an elevator full of FBI ubermensches, or the way Anthony Hopkins breaks his unrelenting stare to mispronounce “Chianti” with dripping disdain for the Yokel sent to interview him. Every facet of this movie works, and thus it hasn’t aged a day. We do recommend watching it with a side of fava beans, though.

Sinister

One of the better Blumhouse chillers to come out of the 2010s, Sinister is the case of a brilliant elevator pitch meeting a superior pair of talents in director Scott Derrickson and star Ethan Hawke to bring it to life.

The setup of the movie is simple: There is a pagan demon god who will consume the soul of any nearby children whenever someone sees him. And not just him, but recreations of his image on walls. And wouldn’t you know it, true crime journalist Ellison (Hawke) just moved into a house with an attic full of home movies stuffed to the gills with Bughuul. And Ellison’s daughter is right downstairs. Uh oh.

Sleepy Hollow

As much a comedy as a horror film, Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow should always be on the table when discussing October viewing options. After all, this demented reimagining of Washington Irving’s classic short story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” never forgets the selling point is to have them rolling in the aisles. And more than a few heads do just that.

As a film with the most varied and imaginative uses of decapitation, Sleepy Hollow cuts a bloody path across Upstate New York. In fact, despite its American setting, we might as well confess what Sleepy Hollow really is: a modern version of a Hammer horror movie.

Burton incorporates all of his favorite tropes here: The intentionally stuffy faux-British acting (even though all the characters are of Dutch descent); the exaggerated and formal clothing; more than a few heaving bosoms; and lots and lots of gore. This film is so perfectly macabre and gleefully grotesque that you might even be forgiven for not noticing at first glance how dryly funny and deadpan a place this Sleepy Hollow tends to be.

Splice

What if Dr. Frankenstein banged his monster? That is just one of several creepy elements to Splice, a weird psychosexual sci-fi/horror hybrid. Directed by Vincenzo Natali and starring Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley as the world’s worst scientists, Splice follows two not-so-smart doctors who attempt to play God by creating an entire new species of creature they name Dren (Delphine Chanéac).

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Books

Frankenstein Adaptations Are Almost Never Frankenstein Adaptations

By Kayti Burt

Movies

Best Horror Movies Streaming on HBO Max

By David Crow and 2 others

At first a computer-generated child with alien eyes and a roping tail, Dren soon grows from girl to young woman, seducer to… well, something even more unexpected. Weird, unpleasant, and ultimately unshakable like that one bad dream, Splice plays with ideas of identity, gender, and parenthood.

Sweetheart

Don’t let the name fool you, Sweetheart is very much a horror movie. What kind of horror movie, you ask? Well, after a boat sinks during a storm, young Jennifer Remming (Kiersey Clemons) is the only survivor. She washes ashore a small island and gets to work burying her friends, creating shelter, and foraging for food. You know: deserted island stuff.

Soon, however, Jenn will come to find that the island is not as deserted as she previously thought. There’s something out there – something big, dangerous, and hungry. Sweetheart is like Castaway meets Predator and it’s another indie horror hit for Blumhouse.

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil is a fantastic little satire on the horror genre that, in a similar fashion to Scream, is packed with laughs, gore, and a bit of a message. When a group of preppy college students head out to the backwoods for a camping trip, they stumble upon two good-natured good ol’ boys that they mistake for homicidal hillbillies.

Their quick, off-the-mark judgment of Tucker and Dale lead to these snobs getting themselves into sticky, often bloody, and hilariously over-the-top situations. Tucker and Dale vs. Evil rides a one-joke premise to successful heights and teaches audiences to not judge a book by its cover.

Under the Shadow

This 2016 effort could not possibly be more timely as it sympathizes, and terrorizes, an Iranian single mother and child in 1980s Tehran. Like a draconian travel ban, Shideh (Narges Rashidi) and her son Dorsa (Avin Manshadi) are malevolently targeted by a force of supreme evil.

Read more

Movies

How Jason Blum Changed Horror Movies

By Rosie Fletcher

Movies

The 13 Best Final Girls in Horror Movie History

By David Crow

This occurs after Dorsa’s father, a doctor, is called away to serve the Iranian army in post-revolution and war-torn Iran. In his absence evil seeps in… as does a quality horror movie with heightened emotional weight.

Underworld

No one is going to mistake Underworld for high art. That obvious fact makes the lofty pretensions of these movies all the more endearing. With a cast of high-minded British theatrical actors, many trained in the Royal Shakespeare Company, at least the early movies in this Gothic horror/action mash-up series were overflowing with histrionic self-importance and grandiosity.

Take the first and best in the series. In the margins you have Bill Nighy and Michael Sheen portraying the patriarchs of warring factions of vampires and werewolves, and a love story caught between their violence that’ shamelessly modeled on Romeo and Juliet. It’s ridiculous, especially with Scott Speedman playing one party. But when the other is the oft-underrated Kate Beckinsale it doesn’t matter.

The movie’s bombast becomes the movie’s first virtue, and Len Wiseman’s penchant for glossy slick visuals, which would look at home in the sexiest Eurotrash graphic novel at the bookstore, is its other. Combined they make this a guilty good time. Though we recommend not venturing past the second or third movie.

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The post Best Horror Movies on Netflix: Scariest Films to Stream appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2Q3lgWj

[tyrantisterror]

Could you make like a top five or so best movies for a Kaiju film newb like me to dip their feet into? Thanks a lot!

Ooo, that’s a difficult but fun task!  I’ll try my best!

For clarity, this is not a Top 5 Best Kaiju Movies list or even a TT’s Top 5 Personal Favorite Kaiju Movies List.  This is a list specifically focused on introducing someone to kaiju, under the presumption they have very little if any understanding of the genre going in.  As you specified, it’s for newbies - which means some of the best kaiju movies aren’t going to be on it, because a lot of the really good ones are far better experienced once you know the genre well.  It’s hard to enjoy Avengers if you haven’t seen Iron Man, after all.

I’d also recommend watching them in the order I’m listing, because my goal is to give you a good entry point while also preparing you for the fun, weird shit that makes kaiju movies so special, and that’s going to take some progress.

First Intro to Kaiju Marathon Film - Kong Skull Island

I want to start you off with something close in tone to modern blockbuster sci-fi action movies, and while I’m spoiled for choices in this regards, I feel Kong Skull Island is your best bet.  More than any other modern kaiju film, it puts an emphasis on how its monsters are characters, with the main plotline being focused on humanity coming to understand the titular monster, King Kong, as being far more complex than simple obstacle to be overcome.  It’s also got a lot of weird monster shit in it, and honestly feels more like a typical Godzilla movie than a typical Kong movie, to its benefit.  Plus it’s PRETTY GOOD and very fun.

Runners Up for this category: Pacific Rim (a better film than Kong Skull Island, but while it’s a great gateway to kaiju cinema, it means so much more if you come into it with an understanding of the movies and TV shows that inspired it - I would put off watching it until you’ve watched a LOT of kaiju movies just so your first experience is all the more impactful), Rampage (gets down most of the same positives as Kong Skull Island, but is less ambitious.  Still a hell of a lot of fun and not a bad entry point into the genre.)

Second Intro to Kaiju Marathon Film - Gamera: Guardian of the Universe

Backtracking a couple decades, Gamera: Guardian of the Universe is the first film in the 90′s Gamera trilogy, and probably my favorite of the 90′s kaiju flicks overall.  Its sequels are arguably smarter (and definitely more ambitious) films, but you’re looking for an entry point, and this is what you need for that.  It’s new enough to still be slick, while old enough to give you a feel for the man-in-suit action that defines the classic kaiju film - and has some of the best man-in-suit special effects of all time to boot.  The villain monster, Gyaos, is truly horrifying and nasty, and the hero monster Gamera is absolutely lovable.  The human cast is pretty good too, and it’s one of the best examples of a human hero with a supernatural connection to the main hero monster, which is a pretty standard (and deservedly so) trope for the genre.

Runners Up for this category: Godzilla 1985/The Return of Godzilla (a lot of the same good qualities along with a more somber/scary tone, but a bit harder to get a hold of), Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack (again, a lot of the same good qualities, including the same director as Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, but with a bit more complicated mythology, and a bit more dependence on you knowing a bit about Godzilla already beforehand)

Third Intro to Kaiju Marathon Film - Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla (1974)

Backing up a few decades more, our third film in the marathon is meant to dive into the fucking CRAZY shit that makes kaiju films so fun.  With robot kaiju doppelgangers, spies, space-apes masquerading as humans, a giant semi-organic version of those Shisa lion dog statues, and 1970′s Japanese jazz music, this movie will give you a sense of how goddamn weird a kaiju flick can get, all while having some of the best action in the series.  It kicks ass and will leave you baffled but entertained.

Runners Up for this category: Godzilla vs. Hedorah/Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (even weirder than this film, but more divisive among fans in terms of quality), Godzilla: Final Wars (weirder still, dumber, and far more divisive, but also so fucking fun)

Fourth Intro to Kaiju Marathon Film - Ghidorah the 3 Headed Monster

This is possibly my favorite kaiju film of all time, and while part of my love for it is how it marks a colossal turning point in Godzilla’s character arc in the Showa movies (and thus isn’t quite as easy to appreciate divorced from the context of the movies that precede it), I still recommend it here because even taken on its own it’s a gem.  It’s a tight story that’s not quite as bizarre as Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla, but still plenty weird enough to entertain and delight the imagination.  Its got great human characters and great characterization for its monsters as well (they have arcs!  They develop!  It’s great!).  This is the reasonable standard by which kaiju movies should be judged - this is the solid A grade kaiju film.  Plus it gives you a good understanding of four of the most famous/important kaiju characters to exist - Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah - and so just for that it deserves to be viewed as a primer.

Runners Up for this category: Godzilla vs. Monster Zero (just as many good qualities as Ghidorah but sadly lacks Mothra), Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) (just as many good qualities as Ghidorah but sadly lacks King Ghidorah and Rodan), Gorgo (I may get hate for this but Gorgo is not only a kaiju film, but a very good metric to judge solo kaiju films - an A Grade for a kaiju movie with just one main monster)

Fifth Intro to Kaiju Marathon Film - Gojira/Godzilla (1954)

If you want to see what a completely straight-laced, horror-centric, utterly serious kaiju movie could be, you have to go with the original: the Japanese cut of the 1954 Godzilla movie.  It is a dark, somber, political, and legitimately unnerving film, with some great cinematography, marvelous acting, and an utterly gripping conflict at the heart of it.  It treats its central monster as a character while still mining the monster movie concept for all the horror and tragedy it could muster, and if you do a little research on it (such as learning that the opening scene of a fishing boat suddenly being hit with an unexpected explosion of radioactivity was based on a REAL incident where a fishing boat was caught in the crossfire of a secret US nuclear test on the Bikini atoll, or how Godzilla’s rampage is designed to recall the firebombings that were inflicted upon Japan in WW2) you’ll realize it was a very daring film for its time as well.  It is more than deserving of its status as a classic.

Runners Up for this category: Shin Godzilla (if black and white movies aren’t your thing, this has many of the same good qualities as Godzilla while being far more modern, though I think it is more effective in the context of the Godzilla movies that preceded it), Cloverfield (similarly serious and horrifying as Godzilla, but not quite as complex story-wise nor as good character-wise - plus the found footage style can put some people off)

[zetalial]

BH rewatch episode 23

Previous Episode             Next Episode

Episode 23 Girl on the Battlefield

Wow. What was this episode? So much happened. I’m not sure if I can even have an opinion on anything as something else happens before I can digest what was happening. I’m exaggerating slightly – I have lots of opinions

So Alphonse is chasing after Scar. Edward is still in the alley with Winry, comforting her, and he gives her his red jacket. He doesn’t stick around long though as he needs to go and help his brother. Winry sits there feeling useless, that all she can do is wait (yeah we hear Winry’s thoughts all the time. It’s almost strange because we rarely hear the inner thoughts of other characters except when they’re expressed aloud.). Edward orders some of the soldiers to take care of her as he runs off.

Meanwhile, Ling is running away from Wrath with Lan Fan still over one shoulder. (Is Ling supernaturally strong and fit?) Yeah, he got out of the room somehow. I swear last episode he was practically cornered but whatever. Wrath gives chase.

As Wrath is chasing them, he hears that Scar is still out and about and orders Gluttony to deal with him. Why does he even think Gluttony can deal with Scar? Scar can just blow him up every time he gets close, which Gluttony has to given his only weapon is his face and he’s not very smart.

I am also wondering where Envy is. Last time we saw him, he was still just hanging around Central. He should really be helping out too. With his powers, he’d theoretically be able to be quite discreet in watching over the Elrics. He’d be far better than Gluttony.

Anyway, Lan Fan tells Ling not to be noble, that a leader needs to be there for his people and they need him alive. He doesn’t want to abandon her though. Lan Fan is looking at her severely injured arm and realising she’s useless to him while injured like this and she’s only weighing him down. We see her lifting her good arm to make a strike but we don’t see what she does before the scene shifts.

Al is still fighting Scar, saying he’ll make him pay for Nina and the Rockbells, Ed soon joins him. Oh, Scar notes Al is in a metal body and wonders at how he can use Alchemy when it put him in that form. Al points out that the alchemy also saved his life and he’s thankful to Edward for it. Now the fight is in a much more open space.

Then Gluttony appears and Ed and Al identify him as a homunculus and so the three of them all start working to fight Gluttony. It seems its Scar’s first time hearing that term though he has fought Gluttony before. Honestly that Gluttony even manages to bash his face into Scar is impressive. The homunculus is hopelessly outmatched.

Then, Ling appears from the Sewers and he’s taken his yellow shirt off to show off his muscles and cuts Gluttony in half with his sword. He asks Edward to make some restraints and Ed creates some metal coils. Ling quickly ties Gluttony’s regenerating body with them. He does it so tightly that Gluttony’s body is stuck constantly trying to expand but can’t because of the coils and so he’s completely trapped.

Riza appears in a car then, and shoots Scar in the leg. She’s in a paper-thin disguise of glasses and her hair down. It’s to trick the watching soldiers as she takes Ling and the trapped Gluttony away.

So Ed and Al have cornered the wounded Scar and intend to… capture him I assume? But then Mei appears, kicking Alphonse back. She calls Edward short – apparently unaware that she is a complete midget herself. She’s meant to be like 13 or something, right? Anyway, she makes three Alkahestry circles, causing a reaction from a distance to cause some explosions covering the area in smoke. Ed is very interested by this as he recognises it’s not normal alchemy. Mei then escapes with Scar.

Mei doesn’t seem to be aware that Scar is a killer. She has no idea why a group of Amestrian soldiers and Ed and Al were attacking him and she never asks! She just heals his injury. I hate that she’s just ignorant here. It’s so much more interesting if she knows and decides to help him anyway. Or at least have her be curious but show Scar trying to hide the truth or something. But, no, it’s just never addressed. (Also how many daggers does she have? She just used 15 of the things and 10 of them are definitely lost to her. Where does she keep them? Mei’s ridiculously powerful (throwing those 10 daggers perfectly) which I’m fine with but her being so out of the loop and how little information we get about how her power works is a little more annoying.)

Oh, Al has her panda. There’s a brief comedy scene of him holding on to him in spite of Ed’s protests about stray animals. The panda has this gag of a pyramid of hierarchy of Al on the top. I’m not sure why Ed was on the bottom with Yoki – it barely met him - more jokes at Ed’s expense?

Okay, so Lan Fan cut off her arm and attached it to a dog as a decoy while she and Ling escaped into the sewers. Wrath is fooled by this. When he follows bleeding arm and discovers this, his response is basically. “well-played”. This is a nice trick but I really think we should have been shown a bit more of it. Wrath was following them reasonably closely. He’s very quick while Ling was carting around Lan Fan on his shoulder. I would have liked to see them attaching the arm to the dog and then hiding in the sewers. Otherwise too much is happening offscreen. Like, when Mustang was fighting Lust, he cauterised his wound, walked through the empty laboratory and drew his array in his own blood all off-screen. (And got Havoc’s broken lighter working.)

Honestly, I’m not sure this is really feasible. I’m not sure I can believe that Ling really got away from Wrath long enough to pull off this bluff.

Oh well. So Lan Fan is wrapped in Ling’s jacket in a pretty dire state. Ling is in a car with Riza and convinces her to go and get Lan Fan. They take her to Doctor Knox’s place – Mustang got him to reluctantly agree as per usual. Wrath notices Riza and recognises her despite her ‘disguise’ and decides its best he deal with Mustang.

So we cut to Winry, who is waiting in the military and she’s talking with Wrath – well Fuhrer Bradley anyway. Ed comes in to see her and Bradley gives him a subtle warning that he should take care of her.

Winry gets a phone call from Rush valley and all her customers are begging for her to come back. (She was only there from Episode 11-15 and there’s dozens of automail shops and she’s only 16. Why on Earth are they trying to make her skills so ridiculous? This is way too extreme.) Just as she was having tough feelings about being stuck always waiting.

So she heads out on a train and they say goodbye to her as she leaves for Rush Valley. Ed tells her that she’s not going to cry again until it’s tears of joy when they’ve got their bodies back. She agrees. As they leave, Winry realises she has feelings for Ed. (Yeah more of her inner thoughts are being stated to the audience.)

Ling gets introduced to Mustang who thanks him for all his help. Ling, Lan Fan, Ed, Al, Mustang and Riza are all in this safe house together as Lan Fan wakes up. Ed apologises for her getting hurt but Ling says that it was his plan and Lan Fan was willing to make the sacrifice, doing what he could not.

Oh and Ling informs them that Bradley was a homunculus. Huh, a few episodes ago they seemed close to deducing that themselves but yeah it makes sense that Ling can just tell them. They act with typical horror as you’d expect. (Ling foreshadows that Bradley is different from other Homunculi too.)

Lan Fan explicitly draws attention to how her distraction plan was based off her and Ed’s fight. Aww, I thought it would be cleverly not mentioned. But they had to say it. (I’m just disappointed because I was feeling clever for noticing the parallel.) Lan Fan notes again that she is useless to Ling and Ed recommends automail.

Mustang wants to use Gluttony’s Philosopher’s stone to cure Havoc’s injury. Ling protests, saying how Lan Fan just got injured for it and he deserves the stone. Ed cuts in, pointing out how he needs the stone to fix his brother’s body as they’ve been searching for it for so long. It an interesting dilemma. Ed should be pretty urgent to fix Al knowing that his soul is being rejected but on the other hand Ling’s got a duty to his people and he is chiefly responsible for this capture (though it was only possible with Ed and Al luring the homunculi out).

But the argument is quickly cut short as Gluttony reacts to the mention of Mustang, who killed Lust, and with extra determination breaks out of his bonds. Nice to see he cares so much about Lust. His stomach opens up to show the giant gateway inside with the eye inside. It’s eating power takes out what looks like an entire wall and a car.

—————-

And finally, finally the episode is over. Wow, they stuffed in a lot. Can you believe it’s only normal length? Course, everything was very brief as a result. Sometimes the pace is too much. I guess I like it but more time could certainly have been spent on some events. I’m mostly thinking about Ling and Lan Fan. Their storyline is way too rushed here.

You know I’d like a reason to like Ling but how can I if it’s going to rush through the part where he is horrified as he ties his best friend’s bloody arm (which she just cut off for him) to a dog while she is practically bleeding to death next to him and he’s in a hurry. That’d be just the sort of scene to make me sympathise with him. We’d get to feel his guilt, mixed with a sense of duty and the dark side of Lan Fan’s loyalty. Instead we get him telling her not to do it and then a cut to him jumping out of the sewers with his shirt off and cutting Gluttony in half. Yeah, I get it, he’s ‘badass’ and a loyal friend. But his most interesting scene was offscreen! Instead we’re messing around with setting up Ed/Winry.

I’d also have appreciated lengthening the Philosopher’s stone argument. It’s interesting to see Edward, Ling and Mustang all in an argument where they all have compelling reasons. They’ve all sacrificed a lot after all. It’d be great too as it’d make the moment where Ling offered the Stone to Edward at the end of the series more meaningful.

I’m going to keep a watch out for the use of inner thoughts being stated to the audience. Often thoughts are expressed out loud but I think inner thoughts being shared is actually pretty rare. I feel like Winry’s thoughts have been shared before (just the other episode she was thinking in her head about Ed’s broadening shoulders). I don’t recall any other characters having this happening but maybe I can’t remember. Either way, I’ll keep an eye out in the future. (I’m curious if this is unique to Winry. Which would be weird as she’s not the protagonist of the story and I don’t see why her inner thoughts would deserve special treatment.) 

But it’s not a bad episode or anything. A lot happened and it was good, I just wish more time was spent on some of these events not that any of them were bad. But they don’t have the full impact if there’s not a chance to dwell on them a bit. 

[manicpanicaddict]

𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬

v: books and busts: The default verse. IDW comics canon (which includes GB1, GB2, and GB: The Video Game). Kylie works as both the manager of Ray’s Occult Books and as a part-time Ghostbuster. Eduardo works the morning shift at Ray’s Occult Books and makes ends meet with his shitty punk band. Egon is a full-time Ghostbuster and the world’s leading expert in the study of the supernatural. Takes place in the ‘90′s.

v: cross the extremes: Kylie from dimension 68-E, a.k.a the Extreme Ghostbusters. This Kylie is brasher and younger (cartoon canon conflicts on her age. I’m saying she’s 18 to be safe.) Takes place during the late ‘90′s and after the events of The Real Ghostbusters.

v: no ghost: It’s... quiet. Too quiet. New Yorker’s are just as mean but there’s no river of slime beneath their feet feeding on their emotions. The temple built on top of 55 Central Park West went unused. Ivo Shander was never successful. ...The Ghostbusters never existed. But this doesn’t mean the world isn’t strange and void of the unknown.

Kylie works at a normal bookstore while pursuing a normal degree in a (relatively) normal version New York. Most things are the same. Kylie doesn’t speak with her parents, her grandmother has passed away, and she has an intense interest in the para and supernatural. However, without the proper mentorship from the Ghostbusters, it remained a hobby.

Eduardo's situation is nearly the same. He works in the same bookstore, still in a punk cover band, and is a forensic science major. 

Egon... is less than okay. He’s struggling to prove his theories. He works primarily in theoretical physics and teaches graduate courses at a high-level university. He is a recluse and his colleagues aptly refer to him as “Spooky Spengler”. Realize that without Peter and Ray, Egon struggles with daily needs and he’s quite depressed.

v: down the rabbit hole (halloween horror nights au): Kylie never really paid attention to Eduardo when he talked about the Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. She’s quickly learning that she should have- but nothing could’ve prepared her for dealing with the human variety of monsters. Ghosts, demons, and gods are child's play; immoral men with an appetite for flesh and blood are something else entirely. Now she’s stuck with dark secrets and only herself to blame. 

v: conspiracy (x files crossover): Crossover “canonized” by The X-Files: Conspiracy : Ghostbusters issues. (However, I haven’t read these issues since 2016 so I don’t remember what’s in them!)

𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬

Egon:

v: re-animated (re-animator au): College AU? Check. Roommates AU? Check. Borderline unethical human testing, gore, and homoerotic subtext? Check, check, and check! Egon Spengler’s grotesque fascination with life after death led him into the medical field. Unlike his father before him, he’s looking for a solution for death- not prevention. After leaving an obscure medical university for unknown reasons, he finds a home in the basement of an unassuming peer to conduct his off-the-books research on how to restore life to the dead. 

v: mini labs and mayhem (second sight au):

v: golden years You can’t just twiddle your thumbs and wait 20 years for the next apocalypse! You can get ready, sure, but what else is there to do when there aren’t any spooks, specters, or ghosts that need busted? You do what anyone else does, of course: settled down, start a family, and make your own happiness. Welcome to Summerville: home to the horrifying temple of Gozer that moans with the echos of damned souls every Friday night, two retired Ghostbusters waiting for the end of the world, and their adopted daughter Callie. What could go wrong?

v: afterlife It’s been years... decades... since their work ended--“Their” as in the Ghostbusters he once called his friends. Now Egon is on his own in the middle of nowhere in a small town called Summerville; very possibly the last place on Earth with a gateway into the ghost dimension. He continues his work, alone, to prevent the end of the world as we know it.

Eduardo:

v: who are you? (csi au): wip

Kylie:

none established

Archived below.

v: never trust the living (beetlejuice au): [drabble found here]

v: ghosts of the vault (borderlands au): Got a problem with your guns, guts, or ghosts? Kylie can help. She’s a little more nihilistic in this one, a little more on edge, and a little too eager to blow something up. As far as she knows her parents are dead. Her grandmother sure is. It wasn’t pretty when Fyrestone got captured. She wandered around different camps fixing things for spare cash and ammo before landing a gig with the self-proclaimed Ghostbusters (who do you think took care of those guardians?). If her ragged, black apparel adorned with belts and spikes doesn’t make you nervous, her pet skag, Pagan, will. (Not currently interacting with Pre-Sequal and TFTBL muses/verses as I have not had the chance to play them yet.)

v: the brightest witch of her age (harry potter au): [based on this post] Kylie is a 6th year Hufflepuff, a prefect with aims to be head girl next year, and a seeker. With her high aptitude in her studies, people are surprised she’s not a Ravenclaw. As much as she wonders what the tower may look like, she wouldn’t trade the kitchen for the world. Kylie is also a half-blood. Receiving her letter when she was 11 should have been the happiest day of her life but it’s when everything fell apart. Her dad never told her mom that he was a wizard and because of this, she rejected everything. They divorced during Kylie’s first year and after that, she spent the next summers at her grandma’s in Ireland. Rose past away during the summer after Kylie’s 5th year.

Eduardo is also a 6th year Hufflepuff

Egon is the Ravenclaw head-of-house

[movieswithkevin27]

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

A descent into the hellish mind of resident cinematic mad scientist David Lynch, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is the prequel to his surreal early 1990s television series Twin Peaks, which was recently revived by Showtime. Introducing us to this sadistic and surrealist world, Fire Walk With Me starts off withe murder of Teresa Banks (Pamela Gidley), the disappearance of FBI agent Chester Desmond (Chris Isaak), and then moves into the central mystery regarding the suspicious incidents happening to high school prom queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) in the lead up to her death. From what I gather, her death is the mystery explored in the original television series. What is perhaps the most interesting is how little is actually revealed. Sure, we see what kills her here, but that is hardly the only bit that is important. A film that defies definition and reaches comical levels of Lynchian absurdity, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is simply a damn good time if you are a film lover who adores being thoroughly confused.

What is perhaps most obvious in this film is the balance between heaven and hell that Lynch creates. With references to how, once you walk with the fire, it consumes you entirely with innocence the first thing to go. Read as being in reference to hell fire or walking in sin, Laura Palmer exemplifies this by working as an apparent sex worker who goes to seedy, red-tinted dance halls with creepy men who give her drugs. In dancing with the devil in such a fashion, Laura has let her soul come into direct contact with danger that leaves her open to losing her soul entirely to the pits of hell. With a scene calling back to Rosemary's Baby, Lynch shows what appears to be Laura's father or some other guy named Bob (it flips between the two) mounting Laura as she sleeps, clawing with long finger nails against her body, and thrusting as she slowly wakes up, leading her to wonder if it was all a dream or not. This scene is certainly similar to Rosemary's Baby when Mia Farrow's character is raped by Satan in a dream-like sequence. In many films, such as Angel Heart or The Devil's Advocate, Satan is depicted as having long, gnarly looking nails and the character of Bob has these exact same nails.

The further she descends into madness and sin, Laura loses sight of any of the light of God in the film. In an early shot, Lynch shows a painting on her wall that has an angel serving food to children. Later, this angel is gone. In a scene where she is being attacked along with a friend also caught in this life, the friend is able to escape after a guardian angel arrives to untie her hands. Laura, however, is left to deal with every bit of the terror that her sinful ways has brought upon her. While perhaps not the most important theme, it is clear that there is some evil forces bubbling under the surface here with these nefarious characters clear depictions of absolute evil in our world, capable of destroying the purity, innocence, and mental health of those who give into their temptations purely by being in their presence.

In line with this concept of purity, Lynch places with ideas regarding incest and the protective nature of fathers throughout. Creating horror out of images of Laura's father Leland (Ray Wise) seeing her getting awaiting his arrival to the bedroom after he had asked Teresa to bring her friends to their next encounter, the film dances with going all the way as Leland/Bob/Satan mounts her in the bedroom and has sex with her. This incestuous relationship is naturally jarring to watch unfold and one that neither wants, with both sharing repulsed glances at one another once they know the devious lifestyle the other leads that has led to some unwelcomed shoulder rubbing as a result. On one hand, the film manages to create horror and tension out of this weird relationship between the two that often spirals into absolute insanity, while also calling into question just who Leland is and why he is being used to get closer to Laura in this way.

Much of the horror shared between Leland and Laura is derived from the natural desire of a father to protect his daughter from growing up and meeting seedy characters. Seeing her as a sexual being is not just jarring, but Leland seeing her somebody being prepped for a man as sexually depraved as himself really does him in completely. He knows that Laura is just like the girls he sees, none of whom he actually respects. Thus, it is no surprise to see him freak out on her to wash her hands when he sees her after their unfortunate near-encounter in the bedroom. Yet, it is clear that this is not just some simple case of a father trying to protect his daughter from sex. By rubbing shoulders with these evil characters in his own journey through the film's story, Leland knows the dangers they pose to him, let alone his previously innocent and proper daughter Laura. This largely explains why he is so upset by her wearing a necklace given to her by a boy, questioning if it came from Bobby (Dana Ashbrook). As a member of that world, Leland likely knows Bobby and the dangers he poses to Laura's soul and being by opening the gateway to this seedy underworld that both are immersed within. Yet, as a member of this society, Leland forgets that he too could be used to harm Laura and the more he tries to control her every action and interaction, the more he himself is used to harm her for those behind these murders and evils.

This same protective behavior is exhibited by Laura with her friend Donna (Moira Kelly). Wanting to accompany Laura on one of her meet-ups, Donna is initially repulsed by Laura's actions before being coaxed into behaving just like her and going full bore into the lifestyle. Yet, immediately upon sobering up, Laura panics and goes to rip Donna away from the man who is presently kissing her breasts. Whisking her away and comforting her afterwards, Laura clearly has self-recognition regarding the morality of the lifestyle in which she is partaking. One she realizes that her best friend is about to embark on the same path and may similarly find her death to be coming alarmingly soon. In an effort to curb this possibility, Laura tries to save her akin to how her father tries to save her. Part of it is certainly from the need to protect, but much of it is an attempt to not allow those you love to fall into the same sin as yourself, which is certainly quite noble.

As the lead character in a crime so wicked, Laura Palmer is perhaps the perfect choice due to Sheryl Lee's looks. Attractive, blonde hair, and a truly All-American girl, her being consumed by fire and sin at the hands of these perverse men and perhaps even Satan himself feels like an intimate attack on American culture as a whole. For Lynch, he uses Laura as an allegory to critique the descent of America into sin and wicked behavior, both on a personal level and in the government. With a girl being murdered who seems to be the quintessential American girl, Lynch is able to bury this a bit under the themes surrounding her actual murder, but is still able to develop this enough through throwaway lines like, "So you want to fuck the prom queen?" While it may, on the surface, seem rather innocuous or fetishized, Lynch uses lines such as this to focus on what Laura's significance is as a character. As a personification of this All-American girl, her death and corruption is an attack on the ideals of all America. In the process, her descent into sin, hopes to protect others from falling into her own devious path, departure from being protected by angels, and opting to walk with fire instead, Laura operates as this allegorical figure that Lynch uses to explore deeper themes in the film and crime with this in mind.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is my ninth Lynch and one I put off until after I watched the show, but I really cannot muster the energy or will to watch a television series, so I went into watching this one blind and came away incredibly impressed. Surreal as only Lynch can be, my feeble attempts to ascribe meaning to the film's events likely would make Lynch laugh. Often his films are best watched on drugs or just ignoring anything that could mean something because, in Lynch's films, there may be some meaning but it is so indecipherable that it is hardly even worth undertaking the effort. Instead, they are best enjoyed as surreal, horrifying, and sickly comedic works of a master. Checking every box one is looking for when watching a Lynch film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is chilling, ominous, atmospheric, and an absolute joy to watch throughout, especially as the film's plot and depictions continue to spiral to the supernatural in a way that only Lynch can do without making it feel cheap or arrogant. How this film was derided upon release is absolutely shocking.

[ecotone99]

[SP] Misremembered Dreams (Part 2/9)

Part 1: https://www.reddit.com/r/shortstories/comments/dapx91/sf_a_dream_i_had_rather_recently/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x

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Dread.

In that singular word, my entire mind dwelt for far too long.

She failed, I failed. My death brought about her demise. And I hated myself for it. Because of the uncleansed fissure, I must take up her mantle, I must contain the menace.

But I could not control the boy any longer, at least, not without the watcher’s intervention. What disturbed me the most however, was the method of the monsters. They seemed to require a host to act upon the world outside them, much like myself. This much had changed since I was last alive. Perhaps the girl had done something after all… The problem is that their powers of environmental manipulation have not changed, if anything, they’ve gotten stronger. Each time I control the boy and attempt to reveal myself or take direct action against the monsters, they interfere and transform the world around me into a sunken wasteland, an apocalypse of water. The streets flooded, cars adrift, husks of my neighbors floating in incomprehensible currents. The water, it weighs me down, pulls me deeper, as if it were some sort of murderous quicksand. I struggle, and it pulls me faster. The only way to rid myself of the fluid in my lungs is to relinquish control over the Child.

Months of testing pass, and frustration builds, nearly bursting at the seams. It was finally time to commit to the act. The boy was reading a comic book, something about an indestructible man who always seemed to be right where he needed to be, and always saved the girl, no matter what. Such an adolescent notion. Without a second thought I claimed his muscles once more in a regular ritual, looking for my mother. She was busy, overworked, overburdened, and suffering from the monster she can’t see. As I drew her attention, my focus narrowed on her pupils. Like clockwork, the cylinder made itself visible, and observed the proceedings, screeching all the while. A monster is easily summoned, they rest nigh visibly under the skin. The urge to blink is torturous, resisting is effectively impossible. The boy blinked, and the water was chest-height. Something was off. And then it came to me. My house gets more twisted each time I keeping coming down here. Perhaps, there was a limit to their power? Further testing would be required.

I swore silently to myself, urging forth subdermal courage, and dove under. Out of carnal instinct, the Child’s body spasmed and cramped, the boy’s fight or flight reaction managing to slip into his nervous system. He began clawing his way back to the surface and failed, the abyssal pull being absolute.

Soon, it was as if the boy were free falling from a high altitude. Sinking faster and faster, as if he had no buoyancy at all. Gritting the boy’s teeth didn’t help, nor did tightening his fists or tensing his arms, the weight of the water was immense. I held the Child’s breath, but the pressure of the aquatic wasteland crushed the air out of his crumpled lungs. I felt bone splinter, and a vital organ or two rupture before I saw it.

The core.

Shapeless demons boil the water and blister the skin. Horrified, I watched smoldering beings possess the floating husks above.

The heat quickly became unbearable The boy’s skin was turning black and peeling, his eyes were but a memory. Panicking, I return control and am relieved to find the boy lying on the floor, having stumbled over.

The doctor’s report was somewhat expected. According to the physician, the boy had suffered from some sort of fever, minor bone atrophy, and acute heart palpitations. I felt no guilt at this, only worry. My vessel was much weaker than I originally thought.

Three suspicions of mine were answered with this venture. The manipulation is weak, and cannot kill directly. Proof of the girl’s failure. And the increased strength of the illusions.

Time was hydration needed to water the roots of discovery. And over time the boy would grow to be frustrated from his lack of control, failing repeatedly to draw others’ attention to my presence on his own. I spent his spare time documenting and researching, EVERYTHING. It pained me to see my mother look so worried, as the Child developed rare health condition after rare health condition, all due to my tampering, but I reassured myself, each time with ever saddened thoughts, that I was making the right choices.

And then I went too far. I dug too deeply. I broke a barrier I didn’t know existed. While the boy slept, I found the time I so desperately required. Or so I thought. Dreams became gateways to nightmares, which became homes for monsters. Since then,I’ve had to struggle against the beasts, just to keep the Child from passing away in between snores. Our mind is still far too weak to fight these beings effectively, and the best I can do is just to keep them at bay. Each of these battles, leaving only unexplained scars. My only memories are of primal chaos resonating, running down corridors that were filling with the metallic stench of deep red fluid, and the tireless monstrosities that tore through the hallways like a tidal wave through the coast.

My sanity was becoming thin. I could not rest. Experimentation is mandatory for progress, but there is not enough time in the day, and there is not enough safety in the night.

I pushed the boy to his limits, physically and mentally and got nowhere. Three full years, and I had no useful conclusions.

Watchers warn, Monster manipulate, and Demons possess. A cycle of fiendish inevitability.

But most of all, I learned that there was nothing I could do alone.

If only the girl had resurrected like I had, then I’d have a chance. In times like these, she would’ve lent me her strength. In times like these, she would have made my struggles disappear. The girl was always the hero, for she alone had the overwhelming power to crush whatever obstacle stood in her way. And yet... And yet.. She perished.

Maybe she wasn’t the hero I saw her as.

My vessel must be improved before I can fight with the intensity I had called upon so long ago. We would have to work as a team, the boy’s flesh and my experience, to bring about the end of the core. I would devote myself to this task, in its entirety.

Before I ruined him, the boy was unremarkable. Further testing was doubtlessly out of the question, lest he become crippled.

I would work through his studies while he played games, and I would assist his posture, his muscle development while he stumbled about his physical therapy. Both he, my mother, and his friends were surprised by what seemed to be supernatural vigor.

And I left them alone. I ignored the monsters. I ignored the watchers. And I ignored the demons. I avoided them, but did not forget. As I well know, memory is the most important resource.

And then something happened. A human being saw me. Not a demon, watcher, or monster. A real human consciousness with mind fully intact.

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