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As movie monsters go, filmmakers have gotten plenty of mileage from the concept of extraterrestrial threats. There have been countless movies about high-tech alien invaders (War of the Worlds, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers), parasitic alien biology (Alien, The Thing), and too-close-for-comfort contact with an alien intelligence (Fire in the Sky, The Fourth Kind). In the midst of this crowded field of alien terrors is Altered, a 2006 creature feature that was directed and co-written by Eduardo Sánchez, co-writer and co-director of The Blair Witch Project.Altered is about four men who were abducted and tortured by alien visitors when they were teenagers. After years of unsuccessfully coping with the trauma they endured, three of the men decide to hunt down and capture one of the visitors as an act of retribution; yet once they capture an alien, they're not completely sure of what they should do next. To make matters worse, their alien captive isn't quite as helpless as he looks and he has some sinister plans of his own ....I'm recommending Altered to creature feature fans for many reasons. It's a well-made film that takes a unique approach to both alien horror movies and modern alien abduction lore. It effectively uses practical effects to bring its alien menace to life (no CGI here), and it also does an excellent job at balancing the horror with some bits of clever humor. Some scenes feature inventive examples of splatstick humor, and there are a few bits of redneck humor because the abductees in this movie are working class southern white men. However, this is not Tucker and Dale vs. Evil--Altered is a tale of terror at its core. In fact, some of the concepts and visuals in this movie reminded me of Scanners and The Fly, two classic "body horror" films by David Cronenberg.Because most horror films feature characters who are being stalked by and defending themselves from a monster, the movie's story about men who search for and capture a monster makes it very different from most other films of its kind. Even though Altered is a horror movie, the pacing of its story reminded me fatalistic pulp crime dramas that begin with a major event (e.g., a bank heist gone wrong) and then subsequently unravel as the protagonists attempt and repeatedly fail to cope with the events they set in motion. The film also lets you understand the characters and the bitter motivations behind their actions. While hunting extremely deadly monsters sounds like something only a fool would do, you come to realize how the abduction left the main characters so broken in their adulthood that alien hunting has become the only meaningful thing left for them to do with their lives.Altered ranks alongside Abominable and Alien Raiders as one of the better low-budget creature features to be released within the last ten years. It's everything that big-budget alien movies such as Signs and Dreamcatcher should have been but weren't, proving that some of the best horror films out there are the ones that never made it to national movie theater chains.
For as much as horror movies are associated with scary monsters that are made possible through complex special effects, some of the most noteworthy movies are the ones that take something that is so ordinary and harmless and turn it into the source of unimaginable terror. Such is the case with the Super 8 movies that form the center of Sinister, a 2012 film that was directed and co-written by Scott Derrickson. Sinister tells the story of Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke), a true crime novelist who moves his wife and kids to a small town in Pennsylvania where a family was massacred by an unknown killer. Oswalt hopes that his research into the murders will provide him with a new bestseller that will rejuvenate his stalled career. While his family moves into their new home, he finds a box of Super 8 home movies in attic that were shot of different families at different locations, from the 1960s to the present. Strange and eerie things begin to happen as Oswalt researches the films to understand their link to the murders he is investigating, things that push him and his family deeper into a mystery that isn't meant to be solved. Sinister feels like a hodgepodge of ideas from other films that feature found footage, ghosts and slashers, but the end result of this combination is a creepy, compelling film that boasts a strong performance by Hawke and haunting direction by Derrickson. Even though seasoned horror fans will figure out the film's final twist before the characters do, Sinister is so well produced that it will keep you watching until the final twisted frame. Even though Sinister is not a "found footage" movie like Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity, the Super 8 home movies that Oswalt finds become an intimidating force during the course of the story, thus turning an obsolete media format into a vehicle for hallucinatory nightmares. In an interview with Bloody Disgusting, Derrickson revealed that he shot the Super 8 movies before shooting the rest of the film. "I think that creating the Super 8 imagery before shooting the body of the film – along with finding the music that I found – had a lot to do with the overall impact of the whole film," said Derrickson. "Those elements set a tone in my mind that represented what the movie was going to feel like. I bought 9 music tracks ahead of time and shot the Super 8 films to those tracks. ... In some ways I think buying that music early on was the wisest move I made when making the film. I can’t imagine what the movie would be without them." In that observation, Derrickson is absolutely correct. Imagining Sinister without its Super 8 movies is like imaging Alien without the artwork contributed by H.R. Giger. When considering the creative influences in Sinister, the most obvious would be The Shining, Ringu, and H.P. Lovecraft's "The Dreams in the Witch House" story. Yet with its depiction of the insanity that erupts when voyeurism collides with obsession, Sinister's most interesting themes are similar to those in David Cronenberg's Videodrome. Derrickson's film is not nearly as bizarre as Cronenberg's, but Hawke's intense portrayal of a man falling under the hypnotic thrall of disturbing moving images is reminiscent of Videodrome's doomed protagonist Max Renn (James Woods).
If you're a fan of The Fly movies, check this out: The cover story of the latest Rue Morgue issue is a retrospective devoted to the five Fly films. The retrospective's features include an interview with David Cronenberg, where he briefly mentions the "oblique" sequel script he has written to his 1986 version of The Fly, as well as a look back at the original Fly trilogy and its respective man-fly monstrosities. A noteworthy highlight in this issue is the interview with Chris Walas and Eric Stolz about The Fly II, which provides some fascinating insight into the production of this troubled sequel. Judging from Walas' comments about the original story that he had in mind, The Fly II could have been a much more worthy continuation of Cronenberg's movie had the studio heads just let him do what he wanted instead of forcing him to restructure his story to target a particularly desirable-yet-misunderstood audience demographic.Not to be left out of this Fly fan fun, I figured that now would be a good time to post an article I wrote about Hollywood’s most infamous insect hybrid. Before I started blogging about all things monster movie related, I got my first movie monster article published in issue #116 of Filmfax magazine back in the fall of 2007. Having no idea how to get my fan appreciation-oriented writing published, I figured that I’d write about one of my favorite movie monsters in a way that would coincide with Fox Home Entertainment’s release of The Fly Collection, a four-disc DVD box set of the original Fly trilogy: The Fly (1958), The Return of the Fly (1959), and The Curse of the Fly (1965). The article was titled “The Multifaceted Fly”, and it examined one of the more unique horror/sci-fi trilogies in Hollywood history to understand why it continues to bug film fans to this day. Read on…When I say that The Fly is one of my favorite movie monsters, what I really mean to say is that it was one of the few monsters that really terrified me when I was a kid. When I first began reading about classic movie monsters during the early 80s, The Fly was the only monster that I could truly call hideous, more grotesque and bizarre than any of the other classic monsters. Then there was the plot of The Fly movie, which made my kid-level brain reel. It was a nightmare like none of the other movies: to become an instant abomination as the result of an unexpected switch in body parts with an insect, and then to be stuck in a tiny web screaming “Help me!!!” over and over just moments before you are fed upon by a normal-sized spider that you would otherwise squash beneath your foot. 
When I think of mediums that are often used to depict gore, I think either in terms of materials used for movie special effects or for monster action figures and model kits. Of those materials, porcelain dolls and miniature furniture never crossed my mind ... until now.Meet artist/sculptor Jessica Harrison. To say that Harrison's work is focused on the relationship between living bodies and inanimate objects, between the organic and inorganic, is putting it mildly. On the one hand, there are Harrison's porcelain figures, as they are described by Anne B. Kelly in a recent piece for the Huffington Post:In the hands of Edinburgh-based artist and sculptor Jessica Harrison, maidens turn themselves inside-out, entrails spilling on porcelain petticoats. ... Her fancy figurine ladies-in-peril are reconstituted from found mass-produced porcelains, at once allowing the viewer both a sense familiarity of the precious and a tinge of hardcore gore. ... Her choice of the delicate female body contradicts the traditional use of the male figure historically used in sculpture, and with internal organs on display, proves that on the inside, we all look the same.
Then there are the pieces of miniature furniture that look like they were grown, not built. Again, from Kelly's post:For her miniature furniture pieces, (Harrison) embraces the feel of the flesh even more literally. When asked what media and methods are used to create them she replies, "The furniture pieces are cast from the palms of my hands so the fingerprints you see covering them are mine. It is not real skin, but it is real hair. I experimented for a long time with different materials to get something that looked as close to skin as possible so I can't give away my secret recipe... [They] are particularly unsettling as they can fit so snugly in the hand or in other crevices of the body. This makes them seem more monstrous perhaps than if they were full-scale furniture pieces--the fact that they camouflage so well into your own body. You have to get really close to miniatures so you can get a good look at them and by then it is too late, they are already right next to you before you realize you are looking at skin, hair and teeth."
Click below to see more pictures of Harrison's figures and furniture miniatures. Note: These figures are not action figures based on Seth Grahame-Smith's Jane Austen-themed parody novel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
. (Then again, it would be super-awesome if they were.)If David Cronenberg ever decided to build a dollhouse, he would certainly furnish it with Harrison's miniatures. They would be perfect accessories for Brundlefly
Barbies and Max Renn
Ken dolls, wouldn't they?Click here to see more of Harrison's work at her site, which also includes other forms of sculpture and two dimensional art. Also check out Anne B. Kelly’s Female Persuasion blog for more information about other provocative female artists.
While many kinds of narrative and visual art are grouped together into the genre of horror, fear comes in many different forms. Some horror is very explicit, shocking the audience with unrelenting, unpredictable bursts of violence and gore. Other horror takes a more subtle approach, getting under the skin through repeated suggestions, unexplained events, and pervasive atmospheres of dread and uncertainty. Covering both ends of this sinister spectrum are photographer Victoria F. Gaitán and painter Leslie Nolan, both of whom have exhibits that are currently on display in the Washington DC area.Gaitán's still life photos are on display at the Artisphere in Arlington, VA in an exhibit entitled "Sweet-Meat Cherry-Whip Flip". In terms of horror, Gaitán's work is of a more shocking, overtly visceral nature. According to the Artisphere, "Victoria F. Gaitán's photographic series of flesh-and-blood still lifes visualize human subjects as meat puppets. The images are calling cards from the artist's explorations of internal worlds, illness, in-between states, shared delusions and hells, stillness, memory, interpretations of pain, private and public intimacies, trauma, beauty and conditioned responses." While Gaitán's photos (as seen in the example above) at first seem like snapshots of zombies running amok at the Food Network, her overall work is somewhat suggestive of the subgenre of "body horror", echoing the themes and visuals of David Cronenberg
and Frank Henenlotter
--albeit with food, not blood and guts. Gaitán will be at the Artisphere to discuss her work on February 25, and the "Sweet-Meat Cherry-Whip Flip" exhibit will be on display until March 12.
and The Broken
. It is also evocative of some of Edward Hooper
's work, although with a much, much greater degree of expressionism. The "Off-Kilter" exhibit will be on display until January 30.
Forgive me fellow horror movie fans, for I have sinned. I'm a self-professed horror movie fan, but demonic possession films neither scare me nor pique my interest in the slightest. Watching one of the recent previews of The Last Exorcism alone reminded me of my particular horror hangup, because to me it just looks like a camera crew taking on a really angry, feral contortionist (an escapee from Cirque du Soleil with rabies, perhaps?). Don't get me wrong--I think that the idea of one's mind and body being overtaken by a hostile, evil entity is compelling and makes for great horror. However, possession films that involve Satan, the Prince of Lies himself, or one of his minions simply leave me cold. I suppose the reason for my disinterest is that unlike other movie monsters, Satan is also the key part of many religious belief systems; in my opinion, that's just way too much cultural and psychological baggage for a movie monster to bear. On the other hand, without the popularity of films such as The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby and The Omen, we wouldn't have such wonderfully cheesy, sleazy Satan-themed movies such as Satan's Cheerleaders, Satan's School for Girls, and The Devil's Rain, which features William Shatner, a young John Travola, and Ernest Borgnine as a goat-horned satanic cult leader. I guess it all balances out in the end. Anyway, possession is a creepy/cool idea that fits perfectly within the horror genre. Keep reading after the break to see the list of my six favorite Satan-free possession movies. 
(1979): One of David Cronenberg's greatest films. Some people fall under the spell of Satan; others fall under the spell of unmistakably unqualified self-help gurus, which is just as bad. In this movie, Nola Carveth (Samantha Egger) subjects herself to treatment by Dr. Hal Raglan (Oliver Reed). Raglan's treatment method is called "psychoplasmics", where patients exhibit various physical symptoms (boils, lesions, etc.) as they expel their psychoses from their minds. Unlike Rosemary's Baby, Nola's therapeutic-based possession doesn't result in the birth of the Antichrist; instead, Nola literally gives birth to physical manifestations of her deepest, most violent impulses and her offspring then murder whoever incites her rage. There's a scene at the end of the film that shows in great detail how this happens, and Nola even licks the afterbirth off of the newborn freak of nature. It's a birthing scene that would even make the Alien Queen from Aliens want to barf. 
(2006): If you can't use Satan to possess someone, evil parasites from outer space are excellent replacements. Take Grant Grant (Michael Rooker), for example: After he ingests a slug from outer space, he develops an insatiable taste for raw meat (both from the supermarket and, er, elsewhere) and sprouts all sorts of slimy growths and appendages. But that's not all--his parasite-mutated mind becomes obsessed with his estranged wife Starla (Elizabeth Banks) and when Grant uses another woman to spawn more parasites, the people who are infected by those parasites also inherit Grant's unhealthy interest in Starla. It's a case of single-minded possession taken to gory, insane extremes. 
(1987): Another alien parasite with huge appetites. For an over-sized slug with squishy, hairy tendrils, this thing really gets around--it possesses seven characters during the movie, including two cops, a stripper, a dog, and a presidential candidate (!). This is all part of its master plan of having the best and bloodiest thrill ride of its little slimy life, a thrill ride that includes as many sports cars, high-powered firearms, heavy metal tunes, store robberies and bank heists as its gluttonous, black-as-coal heart desires. 
(1987): How anyone can discuss demonic possession movies without mentioning at least one Evil Dead movie is sacrilege unto itself. Sacrilege! Of the three films in the franchise, Evil Dead 2 is my personal favorite: It's one of those rare horror films that takes off like a bat out of hell within the first few minutes and doesn't stop for anything until the very last frame. Furthermore, I saw this film before Army of Darkness was released, so the ending of Evil Dead 2 came out of left field and completely blew my mind. In keeping with the movie's frenetic pacing, the possessions in this movie (caused by evil spirits referred to as “Deadites”) are fast and furious, and nothing--either alive or dead, in one piece or more, animate or inanimate--is off limits. Even the main character Ash (Bruce Campbell) is possessed twice, and that's not including what happens to his poor, poor hand. 
(2007): To put this film on a list about possession movies kind of gives away the ending, but it’s still one of the creepiest possession movies that I’ve ever seen. It’s also interesting to note that the relationship between the couple in this film, Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah (Micah Sloat), isn’t too far removed from the married couple in Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, where the wife is threatened by an unknown force within their own home and the husband does nothing to stop it, putting his own interests instead of hers. Of the three endings of this film, the original ending--not the ending that was tacked on for nation-wide theatrical release in 2009--is the most effective and most tragic. 
(2001): This underrated, overlooked film has been considered by many to be a haunted house movie, and to some degree that is true. (Indeed, shooting a movie on location at an actual run down insane asylum would encourage that kind of classification.) Yet when you see what happens to all of the characters at the end of the film, it's clear that some sort of possession has happened. I'd go into more details but I don't want to ruin anything, so go rent this film and see it for yourself. Hint: The film's title provides a clue about who--or what--causes the possession. Enjoy! 
(1976) and Cure
(1997). Both of these films feature scenarios where otherwise sane, harmless people suddenly become brutal killing machines due to some sinister outside influence. In the first movie, ordinary people become killers and then calmly state that "God told me too" when asked about their crimes. In the second movie, ordinary people kill others by deeply cutting an X into their necks, and then they completely forget that they committed murder just seconds later. Unfortunately, both films have their share of problems, both in terms of story and execution, so the classic normal-person-turned-remote-controlled-killer movie has yet to be made. Dammit.
In our modern era of online video downloads, online DVD rentals and digital video recording, I find myself blessed to have so many options to avoid watching commercials (that is, except for when I show up early at the movie theater--who'da thunk that?). Yet in spite of these options, I still find myself catching a commercial here and there on TV and believe it or not, some of them are still worth watching. In particular, I'm talking about this Orkin commercial, as pictured above. Yes, I know that Orkin has been using human-sized, talking bugs as part of their recent ad campaign, which draws heavy visual influences from the classic movie Them!
and David Cronenberg's hallucinatory adaptation of The Naked Lunch
(yes, a film about an exterminator who gets high from pesticide chemicals is used as stylistic inspiration for an ad campaign for an extermination service), and that this particular commercial has been on the air for months. Being the big bug movie fan that I am, I think that the special effects in these commercials are amazing and it makes me wonder why we aren't seeing more big bug movies on the big screen these days because they would look so amazing. What makes this commercial stand out from the other Orkin commercials is how it's edited. The giant roach, complete with a towel wrapped around his, er, waist, approaches a romantic couple in a hot tub and asks if he can join them. That alone is pretty weird and funny. But then the roach drops his towel and the scene cuts away to a reaction shot of the couple as they watch the roach reveal his full, uncovered insect self. In this shot, you only see the roach's feet and falling towel, as if to briefly shield our sensitive eyes from the sudden appearance of full-frontal cockroach nudity. (Completely unclothed, he then asks the couple if they're "dipping skinny".) This always makes me chuckle. It's one of the most creative and ridiculous parodies of nudity on television that I've ever seen, and it's in a pest removal commercial of all things. Still, as oddball commercial humor goes, I have yet to find one that tops my all-time favorite: a Diet Mountain Dew commercial that features an unusually aggressive ferret. Believe it or not, this commercial is available in both edited and uncut versions(!), just like many modern horror movies, thus making it the perfect 30 second horror movie parody.
