my love letter to the Vicious Brothers

The Vicious Brothers are a film making duo from here in Canada and have stolen my heart three times in a row.

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The first was with Grave Encounters. And I am fully aware that most people don't love Grave Encounters and its sequel but you know what I think? That's just cause ya'll got scared shitless. Grave Encounters is one of the top ten movies that scared me SO badly and one of the few horror movies I constantly re-watch.
I first watched it with Oprah during a sleepover many moons ago. Her bf was asleep on the couch and we spent most of the movie whispering about other things. But I remember it being just scary enough that I couldn't wait to properly watch it again. And so I have. Many, many, many times. Like...I'm obsessed.

And the best part about this movie is that it will always scare me because there are so many amazing jump scares that you simply can't remember them all and something will ultimately always catch you off guard.

The premise is simple. You take a ghost hunting team (loosely based on my baes from Ghost Adventures) and put them in an abandoned mental hospital. It's found footage, and shit goes wack. It goes super crazy. And it really fucks with you near the end and you start to feel like you're also trapped inside of this asylum. The first time they break open an emergency exit door only to find another hallway.....words can't even. You just feel a drop in your stomach.

And yeah, this sounds like a lot of other films, and I feel you on that. But there's something about Grave Encounters that keeps it original, and you never feel like oh, here we go again.

Anyway, I love Grave Encounters so much and needless to say this is basically me:

THEN...a year later...GRAVE ENCOUNTERS 2 COMES OUT. And all is right with the world.

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The sequel takes an interesting turn where it starts out with youtube vloggers questioning whether the movie is real or not, and talking smack about the special effects or going, you know what...this movie fucking scared the shit out me (me too vloggers, me too). Our lead in the sequel is a horror film maker who's a student at university. He believes this movie is real after he receives a strange message on youtube (been there my friend) and heads out to prove so. Obviously he ends up at the same asylum with his friends and they fall right into the trap of the hospital.

This one is also found footage but is a lot more fluid than the first. The scary shit goes down almost immediately and as the movie unravels we learn more about the being that possesses this hospital and the ghosts that bring it to life.

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I definitely prefer the first because how can you not? But I love the Grave Encounters franchise so fucking much and will defend it aggressively. My grave stone will basically just say, "Here lies Charlotte, she had some grave encounters".

Also, fun fact: the hospital they filmed at is a 30 minute drive from my house!

HERE'S WHERE IT GETS BETTER

Last year, the Vicious Brothers released Extraterrestrial....A MOTHER FUCKING ALIEN MOVIE YA'LL.

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Because if you know me at all, you know my three loves are aliens, sharks and magicians. When I saw the trailer for the first time I got so rowdy. THERE'S A PROBING SCENE, I screamed to the heavens. And then I threw up in my mouth a little.

Last night I found the time to be able to watch this film and I spent the first half of the film kind of bummed because it wasn't clicking with me. But as the action picked up and the ending rolled around I danced for joy because there it was.....a new and unique alien movie I could love.

Basically a group of 20 somethings go off to their cabin in the woods (it has a bad ass pool, so don't go judging) and witness a crash in the woods, shoot an alien, and now the aliens are out for blood.

Trust me.

It's great.

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And the aliens themselves? Actually pretty scary. Which is weird because if I showed you a picture of what they looked like, they look cheesy, but in the context of the film it never comes off that way...it comes off scary and creepy and holy shit aliens. The spaceship scenes and the alien world were a joy to watch and I wish we could explore more up there. The ending was a little bit obvious but I still thoroughly enjoyed it and there was an amazing X-Files Easter egg that made me cry. #xfiles2015

The probing scene?
I can't.

Grave Encounters is far better and far scarier than Extraterrestrial but you know what? Who fucking cares. All three of these movies are amazing and I'm in love with them. The Vicious Brothers have my undying commitment and even ten years from now when the inevitable Grave Encounters 15 comes out, I'll still be watching. 

And honestly, you should too.

Go follow these fools on twitter

what i'm watching next (spoiler alert; it's horror movies)

This happens every year - I binge watch horror movies from July to October and then purge on TV shows for November and December. But here we are, new year, new month, and my incredible urge to constantly watch horror movies is back.

So here's the ones I'll be delving into for the next little while:

TUSK

From my beloved Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier comes perhaps the weirdest film of the year; Tusk. I remember listening to the podcast that sparked it all, walking to the grocery store and back one sunny afternoon and thinking fuck I hope he goes through with this. And here we are. If nothing else, Kevin Smith delivers. I've heard not so great things, and I've heard amazing things about this movie. But I know I will love it because Kevin Smith gets me on a spiritual level. MY BODY IS READY (to turn into a walrus).

OUIJA

I know this movie will be average. I feel it in my soul. When I watched the trailer it showed me the entire movie including all the scary parts. I fucking hate when horror movies do that. And it makes me worry the movie itself is lackluster and a waste of time. BUT I also have this itch that tells me it might be in the same kind of boat as Final Destination, as in teens getting murdered in gruesome ways with typical jump scares and a "clever" twist of an ending. And I'm one hell of a sucker for those types of films.

ANNABELLE 

I am so excited for this moooovieeeeee. I love everything and anything to do with the Warrens' and their cases. I absolutely adored The Conjuring and I've heard this film has the same type of beautiful imagery and subtle but terrifying scares. I want to be SCARED by Annabelle or at least enjoy the shit out of it.

JESSABELLE

All I remember about this movie is the main character is in a wheel chair, it's set in the Louisiana swamps (maybe?) and the mom dies leaving something for her daughter (I think?). Idk. I watched the trailer months and months ago. But I was intrigued. And a little southern ghost story sits just right with me.

THE PURGE: ANARCHY

The sequel to The Purge. Basically same shit different streets right? But I loved the first one, and I'm fully aware the second one will be the same kind of stuff, and I still want to see it and enjoy it. Simple as that! (I hope).

HOUSEBOUND

A horror movie from New Zealand I heard about in 2013. Somewhat comedy, somewhat horror. The story of a girl moving back in with her parents and finding out the house is haunted. My knowledge is minor on this but I've read some great reviews.

DRACULA UNTOLD

This is just guilty pleasure because I think the lead guy is gorgeous. I will probably hate this movie, I probably won't get all the way through. But I'm willing to try. For like half an hour. Honestly, I don't even know why I put this on here.

WILLOW CREEK

A BIG FOOT MOVIE THAT'S ACTUALLY SCARY. I hope. Also I just realized there's a lack of found footage film on this list which is refreshing but this one is found footage so there goes that. Something about a couple in the woods, maybe the wife believes, maybe the husband doesn't? idk. that might just be an episode of Finding Big Foot. Regardless, I remember being excited for this one.

V/H/S VIRAL

The end of a beautiful, terrifying, bizarre, refreshing anthology trilogy of found footage with multiple directors. And this ending doesn't look like it dissapoints. Wasn't it something about a video of an ambulance going viral so everyone tries to make viral videos and shit goes wack? Isn't there a scene with a girl in the shower and then she dissapears and there's a lot of blood?
Guess I'll find out.

EXTRATERRESTRIAL

AN ALIEN MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!! I fucking love alien movies. Oh god, I love them so much. This also might be found footage? Honestly, all I remember from the trailer was a dude getting straight up PROBED and I couldn't even.

You know what this list taught me?
My memory is terrible. I watch too many trailers. I cannot wait to binge horror movies again.

(Edited Jan. 22) Adding to the list:
The Canal
The Guest