Charlotte

Charlotte
Showing posts with label what we do in the shadows. Show all posts
Showing posts with label what we do in the shadows. Show all posts

Saturday, April 22, 2017

Birthday Horror Movie Marathon DAY ONE

 
WHAT A FUCKING DISASTER TODAY WAS!!!!!!!! No power, cleaning dog piss off of my bed sheets in the dark in the bath tub, and starving.

But first....let's get to the good stuff:

Yesterday was my 28th birthday! My friends went above and beyond and spoiled me with many amazing gifts....including this:


When you gotta work in the morning but murder in the afternoon

And then threw me a surprise party:

Talentcorpse made an appearance


My birthday party outfit

Then I came home and baked myself a birthday cake:


I am the real cake boss

Oh, and because you guys know the only thing I love as much as horror movies is Star Wars, the beautiful Rupy made me my own snap chat filter:


Then Mitch and I went for a yummy fish and chip dinner before coming home and starting the horror movie marathon. Unfortunately we could only get through two last night because I am an old lady now and I can't stay up later than 10pm.

And since Mitch was watching with me I catered the first two movies so as not to freak him out. First up we watched Ghostwatch which Shudder recently got. I watched Ghostwatch for the first time a few years ago on youtube and it was really bad quality but Shudder got their hands on a beautiful copy and it was amazing to watch it properly for the first time.

GHOSTWATCH

 
What's Ghostwatch? Well, it's basically the predecessor to The Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity. It was a made-for-tv film that was broadcast on Halloween night in England in 1992 on the BBC. But it was never aired again. Stephen Volk created this beast and duped the Halloween viewing audience into thinking the events unfolding were really happening. It takes on the appearance of a broadcast where a news reporter is sent into a supposedly haunted house in an attempt to find out what's really going on. It jumps back and forth from the reporter in the house with the family, to the reporter and news crew outside the house, to the news reporter and doctor inside of the studio. There's fake calls coming into the studio and fake scientific footage shown and things get really fucking crazy.

The in-studio news personality was the famous Michael Parkinson and the reporter who enters the haunted house was Sarah Greene. Enough people in England believed what they were seeing was real and when they found out they'd been duped, thousands of complaints were filed with the BBC and Ghostwatch was left to die on a basement shelf.


Ghostwatch is a lot of fun to watch. It plays a lot like most mockumentary type horror films nowadays where nothing much of anything happens for the first hour and then shit hits the fan for the last half hour. Watching a proper version of it on a proper TV this time I noticed a lot of things I had missed that made it even more fun. Mitch and I had a lot of fun trying to spot the ghostly figure every time it pops up. And the poltergeist activity is incredibly well done. It really is hilarious to watch now and then see so many tropes that are used endlessly nowadays in found footage horror films.



Obviously the underlining story of Ghostwatch takes heavy influence of the Enfield Haunting (you can read all about that haunting on one of my previous posts if you click here) with the two young girls being the focus of a poltergeist. There's some photos shown as evidence that are very similar to the original photos from that case. But in Ghostwatch the story is never clearly defined except for this ghostly figure called "pipes". There are various origin stories shared and even one that perhaps the ground itself is to blame from prehistoric time. But ultimately it's up to you as the viewer to choose your ending. 

Fantastic performances by everyone involved and a really fun film to watch alone, or with some friends. And if you haven't signed up for Shudder yet, you're an idiot and I hope you get your life together.

Solid 10/10


Me and Mitch really want to find a replica of that hilarious framed ghost photo above the fireplace to put above our TV. If anyone knows where we can find one....comment below or tweet me.

Now the second movie I showed Mitch was What we do in the Shadows because it's become one of my favorite films ever. Aside from everything that is brilliant about this film, what I want to mention is that it never loses its funny. I've seen this movie at least 20 times since it came out. I have it on my itunes and I watch it a lot when I'm falling asleep. But yet even after all that, watching it last night with Mitch I was still laughing out loud. Written and directed by Jermaine Clement and Taika Waititi it is a mockumentary following the lives of four vampires living in New Zealand.

It may be one of the funniest films I've ever seen. I'm constantly quoting it and explaining it doesn't do it justice. Seeing the vampires watch a sunset for the first time on youtube, or listening to a group of werewolves remind each other we're werewolves, not swear-wolves cannot be given enough explanation. I already reviewed this movie when I watched it the first time, and you can read that here but I implore you to watch this movie.

It's also a great introduction to horror because while it is hilarious, there are a few "jump scare" moments and quite a lot of gore.


Anyway, here's today's update....

I woke up, watched the new episode of Rupaul's Drag Race, went to Safeway for food and was planning my movie list for the day only to arrive home to the power being out. So that squashed my marathon plans. Instead I finished my re-read of IT and made some headway on my annual re-read of the Harry Potter series. And while doing that, Obie decided to piss all over my blankets and carpet for some annoying reason and so I found myself squatting over the bathtub with a candle trying to scrub piss out of my blanket with cold water because the hot water wasn't working.

BUT

The power is back, I can finally make some hot food, and I will use the evening to get back to my marathon. Hopefully nothing happens tomorrow so I can actually wake up and do a proper all day marathon. GYPSY CURSE STRIKES AGAIN! Serving Thinner realness.

Lastly,
I would like to thank all my amazing friends and boyfriend (who bought me a robotic BB-8 that rolls around our house scaring the dogs and being adorable) for making this years' birthday the BEST ONE YET. You are all wonderful people who I would be absolutely lost without.

Now leave me to do my dark bidding on the internet.

And don't forget to follow me on twitter where I'll be live-tweeting the evening.

Stay spooky!




Saturday, January 31, 2015

Vampires, Ghosts, and Bigfoot, Oh My!



What We Do In The Shadows
What a complete pleasant surprise this movie was. I saw the trailer a few months ago and I fell in love instantly. Great actors, great writers, unique idea. Another amazing film out of New Zealand. It's a mockumentary style movie about modern day vampires. Straight up, this is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. I was in stitches the entire time and texting Oprah all the best quotes...which was basically every quote. I know I will watch this movie over and over and recommend it to everyone.
Like, straight up, I can't stand vampires. There was just this ridiculous influx of vampires when I was in highschool and college and I got sick of them. Which sucked because I loved the Anne Rice novels and the movies, especially Queen of the Damned, but I couldn't bare to watch it anymore. Now it's zombies infiltrating everything and I'm starting to enjoy vampires again. So this movie came to me at a great time and is reigniting my vampire flame. (that sounds super erotic....)

Rating?
10 swearwolves out of 10 track pants




Housebound
Another film from New Zealand and absolutely refreshing for the horror genre. An amazing and beautiful and tough as nails female lead, a mother character we can all relate to, and a number of hilarious and strange characters revolving through. The film also does an amazing job of never really letting you know where it's going. You think you've solved it and then a twist happens that basically breaks your ankle and you're just like NOOO WHATTTT. Loved every moment of it. Aggressively recommend it. Like...I can't find a single flaw? It could've been 5 hours long and I would've been happy. It gave me hella old school horror vibes.

Rating?
Just straight up 10/10


Willow Creek
A found footage Bigfoot movie. My body was so ready. And part of it delivered, but most of it didn't. Aside from a very tense and well done 20 minute scene in the tent at night, there wasn't much going on except a long winded tour of Willow Creek. Steve Streufert and Tommy Yamarone make cameos playing themselves and there's a weird amount of big foot music. BUT
...................all this movie did was leave me with 1000 unanswered questions.
Everyone online says the naked lady was a forest bride? When was forest bride mentioned? I got that she was the missing woman from the poster but FOREST BRIDE?! WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN!?
And the guy guarding the film site telling them to go back? Who the fuck? If he was protecting the site then why does the town show off big foot if they want to keep it a secret? Was he protecting a pot field?
Why didn't the camera have night vision?
WHY WAS THAT SOCK IN THE TREE?
Why did they keep turning the light on and therefore attracting attention?
Why was I weirdly attracted to Steve Streufert in his scene?
WHO FOUND THE FOOTAGE?
Why am i ready to fall asleep at 8pm?
Why is Valentine's Day candy so expensive?
....

Rating?
5 suspicious town folk out of 10 forest brides?



V/H/S Viral
The end to the epic trilogy! But honestly this one was basically a stand alone. And the in-between story was so dumb? I didn't get it? It was super confusing and in no way scary and I was more annoyed than anything when a story ended.
The stories though?
The first one was about a magician and his evil magic cloak. And ya'll know I luuuurve anything to do with magicians so this was right up my alley. The camera in this one was pretty awesome because it was documentary style mixed with interrogation room footage and "home videos".

The second was a man who's opened a portal to an alternate universe where he finds himself. They switch universes for just 15 minutes but a whole lot of shit goes down. Including monster vaginas and a porn soundtrack that I couldn't figure out where or why or how? This had the shaky cam effect though which drove me nuts near the end. Both guys carried camcorders the entire time.

The third was a bunch of kids filming a skate video and going to TJ to continue to film. They end up there during what appears to be the day of the dead festival and while skating they skate over a weird pentagram and shrine and shit happens. This one was pretty creepy image wise but I hated every single person in this video, I had no idea what was really happening between the kids, and why and how did these kids get across the border? ONE HAD A GUN?!
Anyway.
Not the best V/H/S by far, but a satisfying end to the trilogy.

Rating?
 7 waves of nausea due to 10 shaky cam moments