The Haunting in Connecticut and the "true story" it's based on...

Re-visiting my favorites from when I was young is always interesting. I can't remember what age I was when I first watched The Haunting in Connecticut but I'm assuming it was the year it came out because me and Oprah would grab anything and everything off the horror new releases shelf at Blockbuster. So 2009....I would've been 19/20-ish. What a year....mainly because Blockbuster still existed. There would've been booze involved, there would've been cheetos, and it would've been watched at 11pm or later because that was when Oprah's Mom went to bed and we had free reign of the flat screen TV and the lazyboys.

I remember being terrified the first time I saw it, because I was young and drunk, and I remember also really enjoying it. I also remember thinking it was very similar to The Amityville Horror.

Last night I re-watched it because a few days ago I suddenly remember it existed. And my stomach was trying to murder me with acid like it normally does, so I needed a distraction.

Re-watching Haunting in Connecticut was actually super fun! And I even jumped in a few different scenes. Granted, that's because it has a lot of jump scares. Like A LOT. And not all of them work but some do and that's pretty great. There's also A LOT of plot holes. There was quite a few moments where I was taken out of the story because I was trying to wrap my mind around how something worked. And in the final scenes SPOILER ALERT when Matthew and Sara are hiding under a table while the room burns around them and all I can think is, why haven't they died from smoke inhalation yet? They've been in there for like 20 minutes just sobbing and coughing.

But I enjoyed it and it holds up. The performances are very strong, from Virginia Madsen especially and Elias Koteas who plays the priest. The effects haven't succumbed to CGI hell yet which was nice and honestly it really is just a creepy ass movie. There's lots of spooky images and I'll always remember when they find a box of eyelids, even if I don't always remember what movie it's from, and sometimes panic because I think it's my own memory.

What I wanted to talk about today, other than the actual movie, is the "based on a true story" aspect of it all. I've actually never looked into the "true story" behind this movie, and not surprisingly it is very loosely based and the original story is not as gruesome or as intense. Although, I'm still holding out hopes that one day I'll move into a house and discover my basement was actually a funeral home and then I get all crazy and try and kill everyone with an axe. I'll cross my fingers.

1986 - the world is much cooler as shown by TV nowadays, the reactor at Chernobyl exploded causing a nuclear disaster, Halley's comet swung by to say hi, Hands Across America accomplished nothing, and the Snedeker family moved into a white duplex rental home in Southington. It had originally been a funeral home and the family found a bunch of free mortuary stuff in their basement like a medical gurney and toe tags. Unfortunately, the family were not as stoked as I would be and soon started experiencing evil attacks and violent personality changes. Which is mostly just me when my medication stops working. Their oldest son was undergoing treatment for Hodgkin's disease and he seemed to suffer the worst of them all. 

Ed and Lorraine Warren were called, as they always were back in the day, they were very much like the ghostbusters, and officially claimed the house as possessed and capitalized on it much like they did with Amityville. But alas, remember that son who was suffering worst of all? Turns out he had a pesky drug habit and was schizophrenic. And not because of demons. 

The upstairs neighbor, because this was a duplex, lived a pretty chill life - seemingly untouched by the violent demons that clearly understood that bothering your upstairs neighbors is rude. So while there was maybe nothing sensational going on demon wise, the family still lived in a pretty creepy home complete with old mortuary tools.

And so in 2009, The Haunting in Connecticut was released, "based on a true story".

The original house

Overall I'd still give The Haunting in Connecticut a solid 7/10 - it can still scare, and its imagery hasn't ruined its spookiness over time. The performances are great, the house is super spooky, and while the family seemed to live in a house filled with dead bodies in the walls and not smell a single thing, it's a really fun ride.

What do you think of The Haunting in Connecticut? Do you have a funeral home in your basement? Can I live there? Let me know in the comments.

Day 24 - Rec 2 - October Horror Movie Challenge

REC 2 (2009)

We have to tape everything...

Rec 2 picks up a few minutes after Rec ends. Dr. Owen and a team of GEO's are equipped with video cameras and sent into the apartment where we last saw all of its residents go nuts and turn into rabies infested zombie things. Quite quickly things get out of hand and when Martos, one of the GEO's is attacked, Dr. Owen pulls out a rosary and starts performing what seems to be an exorcism on him. The GEO's freak out and demand to know the truth as they're unable to leave the building until Dr. Owen lets them out with a voice controlled system. He admits that he's really a priest sent from the Vatican to receive a blood sample from the girl who started all of this; Tristana Medeiros.

That's right. It's not zombies. It's DEMONS!!!!

They head up to the penthouse where the last movie ended but Tristana isn't there. Larra, another GEO climbs through a secret hatch and finds the original sample of blood that the priest is looking for but during a religious rite on the blood to test its authenticity, the blood is dropped and destroyed.

This leaves only one option - to get a blood sample from Tristana herself.

But where is she? And who are those unaffected teenagers running around with a camera? And how deep is the Vatican involved in all of this?

Alright...what did I love about this movie?

• I loved the twist from the first to the second. The first was a goddamn great zombie flick and instead of the sequel being more of the same it twisted the whole genre on its head. 
• Dr. Owen was great - super intense and creepy.
• The effects as always were really well done.
• The cameras made sense in this movie - usually with found footage you're like screaming at them going DROP THE CAMERA IDIOTS AND RUN, but in this movie every reason for the footage made sense.
• The final scene in the dark was terrifying and suspenseful.
• And the twist at the very end was so good and I didn't expect it at all.

 What I didn't love?

• The blood thing confused me - they kept going on about taking the blood samples but then the person they were trying to take it from would die and they would freak out and go find someone else. Why couldn't they take the blood from a dead person? 
• The teenagers were SUPER annoying. SO HYSTERICAL. I just wanted to smack them.

Overall?

Rec scared the ever loving shit out of me. I watched it about 5 years ago and those final scenes with Tristana gave me fucking nightmares. So I was hesitant to watch Rec 2 because I can secretly be a scaredy cat. But I finally took the time to dig through Shudder and saw that on there and instantly decided that was the movie for tonight.

This is a great sequel and I can't wait to check out the rest of the films!

9/10

Alright, so I changed up the last week of movies because my week got INSANE at work and I have my Halloween event on Friday and then fly out Saturday morning so I needed some easier, more low key movies. And most of them are on Netflix so I don't have to fuss around with downloading them. So if you were following along with the list, I apologize.

Here's the updated final week:

HALLOWEEN WEEK
Oct 24th - REC 2 (2009)
Oct 25th - Jaws 2 (1978)
Oct 26th - Jaws 3 (1983)
Oct 27th - Jaws the Revenge (1987)
Oct 28th - Christine (1983)
Oct 29th - An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Oct 30th - Halloween 3 (1982)
Oct 31st - Halloween (remake) (2007)

Stay Spooky!

Re-looking at Jennifer's Body

How great is Jennifer's Body?
Seriously...this movie is amazing.
Let's talk about it!

JENNIFER'S BODY 

PMS isn't real Needy, it was invented by the boy-run media to make us seem like we're crazy. 

"Hell is a teenage girl." and so Jennifer's Body begins, a crazy story full of hormones, teenagers, and a man eating psycho demon.

Jennifer's Body came out in 2009 and is directed by Karyn Kusama. It's named after the song by Hole and is a film about female empowerment and the complex relationships of teenage best friends.

Jennifer is played by Meghan Fox, a highschooler who is pretty advanced for her age and stunningly beautiful. Her best friend, Anita or "Needy", is played by Amanda Seyfried. The two have been best friends since they were little and now in high school remain so, even though Needy is your typical nerdy type. One night Jennifer drags Needy to a rock concert at their only local bar so that she can possibly hook up with the lead singer, but the band are a little spooky and after a fire tears about the bar, killing almost everyone inside, Jennifer and Needy escape out the bathroom window. Once outside they are greeted by the lead singer, played by Adam Brody, who encourages Jennifer to come with them, leaving Needy behind.

The band are witches and need to sacrifice a virgin in the devil's kettle, which is a waterfall that the town is named after. It has a whirlpool in it that goes nowhere, hence the rumor it goes to hell. The only problem is that Jennifer isn't a virgin, "Yeah, right. I'm not even a backdoor-virgin anymore, thanks to Roman." and so after they murder her and toss her into the whirlpool, she comes back alive. Only she comes back completely fuckeeeedddd up.

Jennifer becomes beautiful, even more so than she usually was. But the problem is it doesn't last. She needs to feed on teenage boys to keep healthy and beautiful. "You're killing people?" "No. I'm killing boys."

Jennifer's Body is such a fun movie with great one liners and slang and it's gory enough to be satisfying and silly enough that you don't take it too seriously but still enjoy yourself. I watched it for the first time when I was a teenage girl so it hits me close to my cold dead heart. But late in my 20's I still enjoy it so much.

There's some beautiful shots in this film, one of my favorites being an overhead shot of Jennifer swimming naked in the lake. Gives me major Jaws vibes. There's also a great shot of Jennifer holding a lighter to her tongue as it burns and heals itself. There's some fantastic scenery, including the final showdown in what looks to be an abandoned pool, and some of the shots in the forests.

It's just a really well done teenage horror film with some believable and relateable characters and some great cameos including Chris Pratt and J.K. Simmons.

I adore this film and even though it is very much of its time, its still a fun watch every time for me. So give Jennifer's Body a watch, or a re-watch and enjoy the ridiculous but beautiful film!

Stay spooky!

The Uninvited and too many ramblings

Sooooo my original plan was to watch The Hills Have Eyes from 1977. I downloaded it and got about 10 minutes in before I realized that not only was it not The Hills Have Eyes from 1977, it was the sequel to the remake. I was watching The Hills Have Eyes 2 Where'd Ya Get Those Peepers?

(Also I know I preach a hard game of supporting horror movies and spending the money but in my defense I am FLAT broke from the move sooooo....don't download movies kids, it's illegal, and you might end up watching awful sequels to remakes.)

I actually did sit through the whole thing and Mitch joined me for the last half. It was awful. But I felt like I'd already dedicated time to it so I might as well finish it. It was awful. GARBAGE. So many plot holes, so many bad character decisions, so many stereotypes.

Ohhhh boy it was bad.

I've had a productive weekend so far - aka watched a lot of horror movies, played Until Dawn again (see my review here) and pre-ordered Batman V Superman on DVD with my amazon gift card (thanks Aunt Sam!). And if you want to send hate my way for loving the shit out of BVS please direct your hate mail to my best friend Ben Affleck's bank account. 

Oh, also....ya'll should be watching Deadly Possessions, Zak Bagans new show. It's so awesome! He has opened a museum in Vegas that houses his collection of haunted items and has people bring him their own haunted items. This week's they had Bela Lugosi's mirror and some letters from Charles Manson.

Today I decided to watch a movie that I had seen when I was much younger and remembered loving it. I also remembered it having some sort of twist ending but not really what it was.

So...let's talk about it:

THE UNINVITED (2009)

We survive by remembering. But sometimes we survive by forgetting. 

So as soon as I started the film I remembered the twist right away but it didn't really ruin the film for me. It was more fun to watch it and see how they trick you into believing what is true. The Uninvited is a remake of the South Korean film, A Tale of Two Sisters and was remade in America by the Guard Brothers. The movie was filmed here in Vancouver, and specifically in one house which I will one day own because it is stunningly beautiful and everything I want in a home. Aka isolated and next to a lake with a creepy boat house. Stephen King novel realness.

It tells the story of Anna who has returned home from the psych ward. She was in there after the tragic fire that took the life of her already deathly ill mother. When she returns home she finds her father has started dating the much younger nurse who took care of her mother and her sister is drinking a lot and miserable. As Anna readjusts to life, she starts to suspect that perhaps the nurse is not what she seems and she starts seeing the ghosts of three little children who may lead her to the truth of her mother's death.

Elizabeth Banks does a wonderful job of playing the nurse, Rachel. Every word out of her mouth can be interpreted in so many different ways and you spend the whole movie wondering if she really is evil. She plays scary very well. Emily Browning, in the lead role of Anna, does a great job of pulling you along as she lives day to day in this emotional and confusing new world she's found herself in. Browning is a phenomenal actress who I believe deserves more credit than she's given. She's also breathtakingly beautiful.

I'm sure a much smarter person than I could figure out the twist in this film very quickly. But the first time I saw it I honestly had NO idea and it came as a complete and amazing shock. The scares in the film rely solely on the big "jump". It's not a scary film for the average horror viewer. Although the scene where Anna is sleeping in her bedroom and wakes up to hear a bell ringing and sees a figure sliding along her floor....that shit creeped me out.

Overall I do enjoy this movie, it's isolating and a full bodied story without too many gaping plot holes.

8/10

Stay Spooky!

Drag me to the bargain bin

GUYS
LOOK WHAT I FOUND TODAY
Mitch and I were on a hunt for shallot today (completely different story) and in our search I ended up finding gluten free cupcakes, a new cardigan....and....

DRAG ME TO HELL FOR $3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
What a fucking steal ya'll. I am so blessed ~~

So now me and Mitch are watching it. Mitch, for the first time, obviously. My quest continues to subtly develop an interest in horror movies in Mitch. One day he'll think to himself, hmmm...I want to watch Freddy Vs. Jason.....and my quest will be completed. I'm basically just using those techniques that big companies do to get you to crave their product by subtly inserting it into movies. If he watches enough of them by accident, eventually he'll choose to do it on purpose. It's been 5 years and I feel I'm getting closer.

ANYWAY

Drag Me To Hell....
Let's talk about this masterpiece while I live blog watching it.

 
What is it exactly? In 2009 Drag Me to Hell was released into theaters where we could feast our eyes on this joy of a film. Co-written and directed by Sam Raimi, it focuses on Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) who refuses a loan to a gypsy woman at the bank where she works. The gypsy woman places a curse on her which basically ruins her life. It also stars Justin Long.
Aka it's very close to my life because my life also has a gypsy curse which I firmly believe. (another story for another day)

Drag Me to Hell did great at the box office, grossing over $90 million worldwide and ended up winning the award for Best Horror Film at the Scream Awards and the Saturn Awards.

The original story was written ten years before the release of Drag Me to Hell and was a morality tale where a character who wants to be a good person, but makes a choice out of greed and ends up paying for it. Some of the elements are drawn from Night of the Demon.



It's a dark and humorous, campy horror film that is also disgusting and actually quite jumpy the first time you watch it. The gypsy is scary and some of the scenes combine both humor and horror in the most perfect way. It also has a really great score!

Honestly, it's just the perfect Raimi scare/laugh hybrid.

So Mitch and I just finished watching it together and he enjoyed it! It's a fun movie to watch with someone else because you get to have the discussion side of it. Like, who would you give the button to, knowing they would die? He was pretty grossed out at some parts, but I mean....that's a Raimi film.
Every time I watch this film I fall more in love with it. It's just a great, solid piece of work. And one that comes with a moral tale.

Always a 10/10

GO WATCH IT YOU WEIRDOS

I've got to be up early tomorrow to catch my flight so I'm signing off for now. This was my first blog of the new year AND my first horror movie of the year.....HAPPY NEW YEAR! May 2016 be filled with jump scares, gore fests, and some original horror.

Stay spooky!