American Mary and my rampage

 
So I'm going to get real here for a minute....being a girl in horror sucks. It's tough. At times it feels disgusting and you feel like you need to take a shower. For a genre that prides itself on its strong female leads and final girls, the audience sure can be hypocritical.

On some of the community forums I participate in (I won't be naming any names) once you're "outed" as a female fan, your views and opinions instantly become null. And that's part of the reason this blog came into play because it was a safe space where I could talk about the movies I love without being judged for something as minor as my gender. I've watched hundreds of horror movies, my opinion matters, oh yeah, and also I'm a girl. So...?

As you know if you follow this blog, I'm a big support of the Soska twins - two female horror directors who are carving their way through the industry. They are two of my personal heroes for many reasons, one of them being they don't shy away from speaking out about the sexism they've experienced while trying to get their films made or noticed. They're two tough bitches because unfortunately they have to be to survive. I am not. I shy away from conflict and it makes me feel sick in my tummy.

But the other day I was scrolling through one of my usual forum haunts and found a post about the Soska twins show Hellavator and I jumped into the comments to talk frantically about how great it is and awesome they are. But instead I was affronted with horrible sexist comments about them.

Things like "they only got their movies made because they're hot and probably slept with someone" or "their movies are too girly for me" or "i don't like their movies, but I'd sleep with them."

I was horrified. You don't see those kind of comments on posts about Jason Blum, or Eli Roth, or Rob Zombie. No...it's people discussing their films and not bringing their looks into it. But all of a sudden looks are important because why? Because the Soska twins, two talented horror directors, happen to be girls. And of course, when I finally put my foot down and commented on the sexism happening I got called "adorable" by some condescending asshole. 

Why? Why is this still allowed? Why does the fact that the Soska twins have a vagina mean their movies can't be good, or that they didn't work their asses off to get their movies made, it must ONLY mean they slept their way to the top.

It's disgusting. And I'm sure most of the horror audience doesn't feel this sexist type of way, maybe the bad ones are just more vocal. But every time I feel like I've got a footing in this community, I'm knocked back down by these "vocal" audience members.

Which brings me to the movie I watched last night, and one I have watched many times, but actually never really talked about on this blog:

AMERICAN MARY (2012)

Don't you ever devalue what you do, Mary. You make sure they deserve it, and don't waste a minute of your time thinking about them when you're done. 

American Mary was released in 2012 and is a Canadian horror film written and directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska. It stars the ever talented Katharine Isabelle as our lead character Mary, Antonio Cupo and the Vancouver local gem Tristan Risk.

It tells the story of Mary, a struggling medical student, who is an incredibly talented surgeon but is struggling to pay the bills and make her way through the rest of medical school. Her teacher Dr. Grant pushes her incredibly hard and is a total dirt bag. Mary applies for work at a strip club to make her way through the rest of school but during her pervy interview, the club owner offers her 5 grand instead of a job to sew up a man he knows who has been tortured. She takes it on a whim and saves the mans life, takes the money and runs, thinking it was the last of it.

But a few days later Beatress (Risk) approaches her from the strip club and offers her 10 grand to perform a controversial surgery on her friend Ruby who strives to be a real doll. Mary reluctantly accepts and finds herself doing a surgery in the back of a vet clinic. Once it's over with she is ready to focus back on her studies with her new money and graduate. But when Dr Grant invites her to a party filled with distinguished surgeons and doctors, she is drugged by him and raped while he films the whole ordeal. When she returns home the next morning she quits medical school and pays the strip club owner, Billy, to kidnap Dr. Grant. Mary then creates her own business performing controversial underground surgeries for the body modification community while torturing Dr. Grant and practicing body modification on him.

This movie is brilliant. For SO many reasons. The acting is phenomenal by Katherine Isabelle and Tristan Risk, Katherine going so far as to attend medical school to research the role. All the visual effects are practical, Tristan's makeup took 2 hours a day to apply. But most importantly, the movie was written while the twins were trying to sell their first movie, Dead Hooker in a Trunk, after being faced by horrible film industry experiences like meeting sexist, sleazy people. This movie is made out of real emotion.

It also continues to be prevalent in our society. American Mary underneath it all shows how horrible it can be to be a woman in the working world. It shows what it's like for anyone to strive for greatness only to be knocked back because of your gender. To be taken advantage of by those in power, to feel like you have no control over your life. And most importantly how it feels to not feel connected to anyone because your trust has been destroyed.

It's a beautiful, gory film and I love it with all my heart. Mary is a character I can get behind and root for, even when she's getting out of control. And I love the Soska twins for sticking with their dream and pushing through all the murk to get to it, all with a wicked smile on their faces.

So yeah, sorry to get so down on you all but American Mary always brings that out in me.

Go out and be nice to people okay?

Stay Spooky!

Upcoming Horror Movies - a completely biased list

Upcoming Horror Movies - a completely biased list

Let's take a look at the upcoming horror movies and the ones I'm excited for!
Aka this is a completely biased list of upcoming horror movies that I'm excited for but you may not be.
But that's how I role.

Of course - first up is the new Blair Witch. I am still shook from that reveal and I'm trying to be brave enough to go see this in theatres. Premiering September 16th this movie follows Heather's brother after he's sent a tape that supposedly shows Heather and her friends. The brother heads out to the Black Hills Woods with a group of his own friends and shit goes down.

I'm trying to ignore all the trailers and the hype about this film as I just want to see it myself and not let my expectations get in the way. Which is kind of why I want to see it in theatres as soon as possible.

I'm also hoping so hard that they don't show the witch, which rumor has it they don't.

Check out the latest episode of Shock Waves on iTunes where they sit down with the writer of this new Blair Witch, Simon Barrett.



Next up is Jack Goes Home which premiers on VOD and in select theatres October 14th. It has a phenomenal cast with Rory Culkin in the lead role as Jack, a guy whose Dad just died and now he's headed home to deal with everything. But when he gets home he finds a tape from his Dad telling him to go to the attic. When he heads up, shit gets wild. I'm guessing. The trailer doesn't reveal too much, thank god. It also stars Nikki Reed, Natasha Lyonne and Lin Shaye.



Then it's time for Rob Zombie's 31 which ya'll know I've been hyped on for a long time now. I can't WAIT to see this movie. It had an initial release on September 1st and some of the reviews I've read (people are SO critical of Zombie...what's with that?) say it's very "rob zombie" which to that I say....good? That's why I like his movies? The actual premier date, I believe, is October 21st but I don't think it's getting too wide of a release. So I'm hoping for a quick VOD release.

Sheri Moon Zombie of course stars in all her glory in a story about 5 carnival workers who are kidnapped and forced to play a game where only one of them can survive. There's violence, there's clowns, there's probably nudity.....I mean....gimme that VOD.


This next one I am EXTREMELY hesitant about because I despised the original. Ouija came out in 2014 and I turned it off half way through and angry blogged about. It was garbage. I was insulted. But damnit if this sequel doesn't look 100000 times better? I'm just a sucker for horror movies set in the 60's and I'm fascinated with the whole faking séances thing that used to happen a lot back then. Those con artists got so creative. And in this movie those fake séances turn into real ones after the mom brings home a Ouija board and her youngest daughter basically go nuts. It looks so good but I'm not holding my breath. It will probably be shit.
The movie is called Ouija: Origin of Evil and is premiering October 20th I think? Premier dates are so confusing.


Coming October 28th is the much awaited sequel/remake/reboot/who knows anymore to The Ring and The Ring 2 ....Rings. 14 years after the original adaptation we have a new story which is basically the same story. The video is no longer a V/H/S it's online and it still kills you after 7 days. Samara is still kicking around only this time it looks like she's trying to possess the main character instead of simply killing her. So maybe Samara is finally sick of living in the bottom of a well? We'll find out! Hooray! I'm really rooting for this one.


Shut In looks pretty spooky and intense so I'm adding that on here. Naomi Watts plays the mother, Jacob Tremblay plays the little boy and Charlie Heaton (aka baby Norman Reedus) plays her son. Naomi Watts' character is a widowed child psychologist who saves a little boy in a winter storm and then...he dies? I think? I have no idea, the trailer is kind of confusing but I am HERE for this spooky, isolated, winter horror film. Released on November 11th. Probably? Again, don't trust me on these dates.


It's been a great year for horror so far, and in fact horror movies were really the only ones who made a splash at the box office this summer. Looks like the rest of the year will hold up too!

Tomorrow Mitch is off to Victoria and my weekend of horror movie binge watching BEGINS!

Stay spooky!

ps; can I just toot my own horn for a second? look at all the videos I finally managed to embed....it's been a long, useless road...but we've made it.

THE BUZZ IS BACK.....I can't with this movie but I love it with all my heart

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 (1986)

No secret, it's the meat. Don't skimp on the meat. I've got a real good eye for prime meat. Runs in the family.

Good lord. I have never seen this one before and what a hot mess it is. In a good way. But damn it's all over the place haha.

First of all - the secondary title to this film is Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2: The Buzz is Back which....wow...I mean...can I get that inscribed on my gravestone? Released in 1986, it's obviously the sequel to the successful 1974 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It stars Dennis Hopper (who considers this the worst film he's ever been in) as Lefty the cop investigating the sudden surge in chainsaw murders and my new favorite girl Stretch, the radio DJ, played by Caroline Williams. Bill Johnson plays Leatherface in this one and Jim Siedow who reprises his role as The Cook.

 This sequel is like the exact opposite of the first film - it's super gory, bigger budget, and less subtle. From the get go there's chainsaws flying everywhere and blood spurting. Which, don't get me wrong, I loved. This film also has a tone of dark humor and cheesy moments which were a lot of fun. When it was released originally it bombed, grossing only $8 million in the US but over the years it's become a cult fan favorite.

The premise of this film is that it's set 13 years after the original events and two bro douchebags are calling into a radio station run by Stretch. They're driving down the highway and being assholes which is being sent out live over the radio. During the phone call the two bros are attacked by a pickup truck with Leatherface in the back wielding his trusty chainsaw.

Lefty aka Lieutenant Boude Enright is the uncle of Sally and Franklin from the original film and  has spent the past 13 years investigating their disappearances. He's also keeping an eye on the mysterious chainsaw killings that keep cropping up over Texas. Stretch brings her phone call evidence to Lefty to provide him with some proof because all the other cops are convinced he's nuts. Lefty asks Stretch to replay the violent phone call every hour on the radio, which she does. But unfortunately that attracts Leatherface and Chop Top who show up to the radio station to try and shutdown the evidence of their killings.

This movie is NUTS.

Let me just explain some of the scenes to you:

• Lefty showing up to the Sawyer home wielding three chainsaws.
• Leatherface has a crush on Stretch and so goes easy on her.
• A chainsaw duel between Leatherface and Lefty.....A CHAINSAW DUEL.
• A grenade blowing up for seemingly no reason.
• A shrine to the grandmother where her dead body holds a chainsaw. (ideas for my funeral though)
• "Listen. It's not going to work out. I'm trying to be open with you." Stretch says that to Leatherface at one point as if they were seated in a therapy session and not in an underground carnival graveyard?!

Although I do love the final shot of the film which is of course an homage to the original, only this time it's Stretch who has lost her mind and is swinging the chainsaw around.

"Hi, I love you, here's your friends face as a token of my love..."

Regardless of its flaws I loved this movie a lot. Leatherface is such a hot mess and he has a special place in my heart. Honestly, when I saw Texas Chainsaw (too cool for massacre) I thought it was just a piece of fan fiction I wrote about me and Leatherface being bros.

Watch it, love it for its flaws, and look at that goddamn poster!!!!!!!!! It's a play on the Breakfast Club and why don't I have this hanging on my wall yet?!

Stay Spooky!

It's thriller time ~~ Faces in the Crowd

Guys! Mitch is out of town this weekend. And while I will miss him a lot....that also means 48 hours solid of horror movies on the big TV.....SO MANY MOVIE POSSIBILITIES!!
Seriously. I'm going to plow through that list this weekend.

But right now I want to talk about a thriller I watched called Faces in the Crowd which was a total mind fuck and has given me a new phobia.

FACES IN THE CROWD (2011)

Faces are the barcode of the human race. Ever since mankind went tribal, we're constantly looking at each others faces trying to decide whether they're friends, foes, or lovers.

Now, it didn't blow my hair back or anything but it was fun to watch because it was so mind fucky.

Released in 2011, Faces in the Crowd was written and directed by Julien Magnat and stars the stunningly talented and beautiful Milla Jovovich.

SPOILERS - because I'm lazy and don't want to tip toe around the story.

Anna (Jovovich) is leaving the bar one night when she witnesses a murder by a serial killer that is wreaking havoc on the city she lives in. He's called Tearjerk Jack because he slits women's throats and then cries on them. Which...like....what? (the motive behind this is never explained)
The killer chases Anna after she sees him murder his latest victim, and after a grapple together, Anna falls off a bridge. She wakes up a week later and is diagnosed with prosopagnosia also known as face blindess.

Now, I'm pretty sure I've seen face blindness a few times before in movies and tv shows right? Like...didn't Hannibal do an episode of it? Or was it Bones? Either way, I was like meh that sounds like a lot of work. But this movie made me fucking TERRIFIED of ever developing this.

When Anna wakes up she's surrounded by her two best friends and boyfriend, none of whom she recognizes. When she looks in the mirror her own face changes multiple times. When she finally tries to go back to work (she's a teacher), all the children have the same face. IT'S SO SCARY.

Anyway, Detective Kerrest enters the picture and is frustrated because Anna's the only one who's ever seen the killer, but can't even recognize him. Anna is convinced the killer is after her after she finds her purse returned to her and senses someone watching her. She goes to a therapist/doctor situation who's deaf but reads lips incredibly well, named Dr. Langenkamp (named after Heather from Nightmare on Elm Street) who starts teaching her tips and tricks to remember people. Because although she can't remember people's faces, and they change constantly, she can remember the way people walk, talk, their specific mannerisms, the way they dress etc.

But the killer could be anyone, including her boyfriend. (I was convinced it was - what a weirdo)
But it's not.
It's Detective Lanyon, Kerrest's partner.....
Right?
What?

I mean, obviously this movie isn't believable in any way and takes many liberties, but it is super enjoyable. And some of the scenes where we see the world from Anna's point of view are quite terrifying. The final showdown between the detectives and Anna is suuuuper intense and you honestly have no idea who is who.

The very ending though is kind of a cheesey mess. But that's okay!

I'd recommend for any thriller fan to check it out and then join me in my fear of now developing face blindness.

See you this weekend...

Stay spooky!

Green Room

GREEN ROOM (2015)

I've got a dumb idea...

Months ago I saw the trailer for this movie and got immediately hyped. Sir Patrick Stewart playing a psycho neo nazi?! Sign me the fuck up.
I was also psyched because I was pretty sure I could convince Mitch to watch this movie with me since it had punk bands in it and a great soundtrack. Luckily, two months ago Mitch came to me and suggested we watch this movie. I didn't even have to convince him!

So last night we rented Green Room on itunes and settled down to watch it.

Written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier it stars the late and great Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots and of course Sir Patrick Stewart. It made it's premier at Cannes in 2015 but was widely released in May of this year. Sir Patrick Stewart accepted this role after he read the script in his home in England and was so terrified at the end of it that he turned on the security system and poured himself a scotch.

The poster is an homage to The Clash's London Calling album cover.

(SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT)

A punk band called the Ain't Rights are on tour and after being told about a show where they could make a fare bit of cash, they drive to Portland only to find it's a neo nazi show. The band decide to open with the classic Nazi Punks Fuck Off song by the Dead Kennedys to a not so thrilled crowd.

After their show they are hustled out pretty quickly, but Sam forgot her phone in the green room so Pat runs back in to grab it only to find a girl lying dead on the floor, a knife sticking out her head and three neo nazis standing around her. Her friend Amber is cowering the corner. And so the neo nazis are stuck in a tough position....this visiting band has witnessed something they want kept secret. And they don't want the cops sniffing around, especially with what they're keeping in the basement. So the band ends up basically quarantined in the green room, fearing for their lives, and trying to find a way out. While outside the neo nazis, led by Darcy (Stewart) plan their deaths, wanting to make it look like an accident.

First off - was this a horror movie? Not really. It was more of a really violent thriller. Of course there are horror elements in a sense - neo nazis are pretty horrific, and there's some flesh hungry dogs running around. But I was expecting more of a jump scare, horror type film. Which it isn't.

Now, that doesn't make me disappointed in any way. I still enjoyed the movie and found it very intense.

It had a nice slow burn beginning to it where we got to know the main characters and care about them. And what I will say is the deaths in this film - they are mostly pretty quick, violent, and shocking. It's incredibly upsetting once you've gotten to know these band mates.

I really loved Amber a lot. She was pretty fucking bad ass. Pat, played by Anton, was really really great too. Such depth to that character. Sam, played by Alia Shawkat was a joy to watch too. Her death really upset me. It was so damn violent!!

No part of this film felt too long to me, every scene felt like it needed to be there. It's a dark, gory film that I really enjoyed watching.

Mitch on the other hand seemed to get very confused at the beginning. He couldn't follow along with the characters or story line. BUT he was also very drunk. So I'm not sure if that's the film being too convoluted to start, or too much beer in Mitch's tummy. I followed along just fine.

Overall - Green Room is pretty damn great. Is it as great as everyone is saying? Nah. People have a real circle jerk going on for this film and while it was awesome....if I had paid attention to the hype and had incredibly high expectations...I think I would've been disappointed.

But...WATCH IT! It's unique, it's independent, support it.

gif credit

Alrighty, I've got a list of a tone of movies for September and October and I'm going to knuckle down and watch them. Although as I type this I'm watching Hellevator which I talked about awhile ago. It's that reality TV show that puts three people into a horror movie type setting and if they survive they win money. It's hosted by my favorite female directors; the amazing Jen and Sylvia Soska.  It's on Netflix now yeyyy!

Stay Spooky!

The Abandoned...and why you should abandon the ending of this film

Random movie choice....let's talk about it!

The Abandoned (2015)

Spoilers ahead because this movie made me angry...

You've been warned...

Alright, so The Abandoned suffers from a common horror trope of doing an amazing job and then giving up completely on the ending and causing the whole movie to fall apart. And I always feel so personally let down by this situation because I've invested my time into a movie and enjoyed myself watching it and then the ending hits and I'm sitting there with basically horror movie blue balls.

The Abandoned (also titled The Confines) came out in 2015 and is the directorial debut of Eytan Rockaway. It stars Louisa Krause as Julia, the main character who accepts a job as a night security guard at an abandoned apartment complex. Her co-worker, Dennis, is played by Jason Patric who is wheelchair bound and kind of a dick. The two start off butting heads quite quickly, Dennis annoyed because no one ever lasts in this night shift role.

Julia decides to go out and patrol the building and starts to hear and see things. She also discovers a locked room which Dennis tells her to forget about. BUT HOW COULD ANYONE?! Mysterious locked room in an abandoned building.....I want in!

A homeless man tries to get into the building to hide from the rain and Julia lets him in. She then breaks into the mysterious locked room and discovers some weird shit like child drawings and hospital beds. The homeless man follows her in and is quickly murdered by a ghost child. Julia goes back up to Dennis and the two of them research the building online finding a video that shows an investigative journalist uncovering the building they're in as an orphanage for the deformed and mentally-challenged children. The nurses and doctors treated the children terribly and abused them.

Side note; how many times has this been done before? God damn. It's based off of the real life expose of Willowbrook State School where Geraldo Rivera documented the tragic living facilities of thousands of children basically left to fend for themselves in a poorly run and understaffed institution. Rivera broadcast the expose and it shocked everyone. If you want to see this video, you can find it online, but watch with caution...it will shatter your heart into 1000 pieces and make you hate society.
It was also, of course, cleverly redone in American Horror Story; Asylum. But in the Abandoned it's more of an eye roll of course this is the story they chose moment. They even copied the original video. But again, not as well done as AHS accomplished it.

Anyway, in the movie, this is where Dennis discovers Julia is dependent on antipsychotic medication and his only reaction is to handcuff her......because...that's where we're at in the film. Dennis then goes down to the locked room and is taunted by the ghosts of the deformed children.

Julia goes down to rescue him and is lead by a ghost boy who shares with her the history of the place and how four children attempted to escape but were instead locked into a room containing a reservoir of disgusting water. When they got desperate they drank it and died all except one.

Look...anyway...ghost stuff happens, Julia almost dies, Dennis saves her and happily ever after right?

WRONG.

We are shown a hospital room where Julia is lying comatose and it is revealed that she is the daughter of Dennis Cooper who is sitting next to her bed in his wheelchair. We see some of the other characters from the movie as doctors or patients. You see....it turns out this was all a coma dreammmmm ~~~**~~~

It was literally all a fucking dream.

And I'm here to ask why?!

WHY

This movie was so much fun up until that last few minutes. It didn't need that little twisty turny garbage. It was a great, old fashioned, ghost movie set in an abandoned building. The scares were great, the ghosts were pretty terrifying actually, and the setting was creepy and perfect. The dynamic between Dennis and Julia was complex and interesting. Louisa Krause did a phenomenal job!
So...why...why would you bury your movie like this when it wasn't needed? Just end with Julia escaping and you've got yourself a great horror movie.

End it with "it was all a dream" and leave everyone watching annoyed.

And don't get me wrong, I love certain twists where it ends up that it was all a dream, or some sort of psychotic break. But I love it when it's done right. Like The Uninvited or Silent House.

I'm just pissed. It felt lazy and panicky.

But would I recommend it? Probably. The rest of the film was so great and pretty spooky. But maybe turn it off right before it ends and save yourself the disappointment.

(look...I'm watching horror movies again....hooray!)

Stay Spooky!

Frankenstein - a one-sided preference history

Alright, I've got two free hours and a bag of popcorn and I want to talk about Frankenstein!

Who is he? Where did he come from? Why is Hollywood obsessed with him? And why is the story actually so devastating?

How do you do? Mr. Carl Laemmle feels it would be a little unkind to present this picture without just a friendly word of warning: We are about to unfold the story of Frankenstein, a man of science who sought to create a man after his own image without reckoning upon God. It is one of the strangest tales ever told. It deals with the two great mysteries of creation; life and death. I think it will thrill you. It may shock you. It might even horrify you. So, if any of you feel that you do not care to subject your nerves to such a strain, now's your chance to uh, well, ––we warned you!!

First of all,
Yesterday I got a chance to watch Victor Frankenstein. Granted, I was multi-tasking while watching it but I enjoyed what I saw while side-eying it in between everything else I was doing.

Victor Frankenstein came out last year and stars the uber talented James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe who do not disappoint in the lead roles. It is directed by Paul McGuigan and written by Max Landis (who I don't love...as a person...but his work is pretty great).

It's told from the perspective of Igor, who is usually portrayed as a hunchback idiot, but in this film Radcliffe plays him as a troubled young man who is held in the circus as a clown because he has a hunchback. But he is incredibly intelligent and has a fascination with the human anatomy. I loved Igor's back story in this film and his tragic circus background really captured my imagination.
Victor Frankenstein visits the circus, and when a beautiful aerialist falls to her almost death, he works with Igor to save her life. When he realizes the hidden talents of Igor, he breaks him free from the circus and asks him to come live and work with him. He also cures Igor of his hunchback which is actually just a giant cyst that needs to be drained. GAG

The two partner and work on Victor's experiments to bring subjects back from the dead and create life through artificial means. 

I enjoyed it! McAvoy and Radcliffe are fun to watch and the scenery and costumes are drool worthy. They're pursued by an angry cop played by Andrew Scott aka Moriarty and that part of the story line bothered me. It was just boring and the same goes for the love story between Igor and the aerialist. Some of the story was really well written and unique, and others were boring and obvious. And that's where the movie fell short.

Was it scary? Of course not. But Frankenstein is a classic horror story so I'm including it in this blog because....I can?

So where does Frankenstein come from? 

 
In 1818 when Mary Shelley was only 20 years old, she published her novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, which is the most pretentious title ever. Shelley was probably exhausting to hang out with. The original story involves a young science student of the name Victor Frankenstein who creates a creature during a science experience.
When the novel was first published, it was anonymous, no one even knew Shelley wrote it until 1823.

She was inspired by Frankenstein Castle in Germany where an alchemist allegedly performed these types of experiments. She was also inspired by the occult ideas that were drifting around at the time and when her and her (most likely pretentious) friends sat around talking about themes and ideas. When Shelley and a few of her friends decided to have a competition to write the scariest horror story, Shelley dreamed about a scientist who created life and was then horrified by his choices, she awoke and began her story on paper. 

The novel is very "gothic" and is a great example of science fiction blended at its best with horror. Of course, as horror fans know, the creature itself is not called Frankenstein, though many make that mistake. In the book it is simply referred to as "wretch" or "monster". 

Since then the story has been adapted into plays, radio shows, movies and made countless cameos in anything you can think of like comics and tv shows and toys.

Frankenstein first appeared in films in 1931 with the iconic portrayal done by Boris Karloff. Universal had released Dracula and was seeing an increase in their wallets, so the next step was to pursue another horror classic. Bela Lugosi, who played Dracula, hoped to play Dr. Frankenstein but the studio wanted him to play the monster instead. After some really bad makeup tests and studio politics, Lugosi left.

 Karloff was chosen for the role after he was seen eating in the cafeteria on the lot. His face was perfect. And hence the iconic monster we still picture today when we hear "Frankenstein" was created. 

The film was another box office success for Universal but one scene was quickly cut from the film after outrage from studio audiences. This is the scene where the monster throws the little girl into the lake and she drowns. Of course, it's an accident, the monster was just playing, but in the 30's...a child dying on screen, basically being murdered, was shocking and unheard of. This scene was not even discovered until the 1980s and was then quickly added back in. We've come a long way ya'll.

In 1935 a sequel was made called the Bride of Frankenstein which brought back Karloff playing the monster and introduced the iconic wife, played by Elsa Lanchester. It's an absurd film with humor and romantic comedy and horror. It's also wonderful. 

In 1957 came the Curse of Frankenstein and Christoper Lee took over the reigns of the monster. This was Hammer Film Productions first ever color horror film and they went nuts with the color, including painting leaves and flowers to be even more colorful than they naturally were. Peter Cushing played Victor Frankenstein. For the time, this rendition was incredibly violent and filled with blood which gave it worldwide success and led to several sequels.

And that leads us to the truly last good Frankenstein film which was of course....Young Frankenstein. It came out in 1974 and was directed by Mel Brooks. It stared Gene Wilder as Victor Frankenstein (that's pronounced fronk-en-steen) and also other amazing actors like Cloris Leachman and Gene Hackman. Wilder himself wrote the screenplay along with Brooks.


This is of course a comedy that plays very well on the line of lovingly mocking horror films. It's absolutely hilarious and I find myself quoting this movie far too often in regular every day life. It was shot entirely in black and white which never happened in the 70's and was filmed with the old school iris outs and fades to black.

A lot of the funniest scenes were completely improvised including Marty Feldman secretly moving his hump from shoulder to shoulder until someone finally noticed, but they kept the gag in the film, didn't you used to have that on the other side?

Unfortunately since then we've seen a big decline in the Frankenstein movies like I, Frankenstein, Van Helsing, and Frankenhooker. But with the news that Universal will be bringing back all their classic monsters (The Mummy is filming right now), perhaps Frankenstein will finally breathe some fresh air. But probably not.

Frankenstein itself, to me, is the story of a man lost in his passions in life. He selfishly brings a creature to life, who should've never been through that, and is now forced to live in a confusing and terrifying world. Everyone sees him as a monster, but he doesn't see himself that way. It's heart breaking and scary and a classic, beautiful story.

Anyway,
I'm currently reading the original novel (along with about four other books) for the first time and am excited to see how my feelings and thoughts change as I go along with what I know of the story. Here's my trusty copy:

That's it for me for now! As of Friday morning, my hectic life is over and it's back to the couch for me!

Stay spooky!