October Country

I'm suddenly intensely Halloweeny, moreso than usual I mean. I watched Nightmare Before Christmas this morning and have this insane desire to make papier mache pumpkins. Now. I is autumn person thinking autumn thoughts.

"... that country where it is always turning late in the year. That country where the hills are fog and the rivers are mist; where noons go quickly, dusks and twilights linger, and midnights stay. That country composed in the main of cellars, sub-cellars, coal-bins, closets, attics, and pantries faced away from the sun. That country whose people are autumn people, thinking only autumn thoughts. Whose people passing at night on the empty walks sound like rain..." -Ray Bradbury

The Yard

Heh, heh, heh... Iiiiiiii love it.

Body Horror

Via Wiki: Body Horror, Biological Horror, or Organic Horror is horror fiction in which the horror is principally derived from the graphic destruction or degeneration of the body.[1] Such works may deal with disease, decay, parasitism, mutilation, or mutation. Other types of body horror include unnatural movements, anatomically incorrect placement of limbs to create 'monsters' out of human body parts, etc.

From the aptly titled blog, "Vomit Inducing", a few examples:

Dear Readers,

These are some of the more tame photos. If you decide to visit the blog, please be aware that the descriptive is not an exaggeration. I don't personally find it sickening but there is a lot of goo.

Also, I'm not answering or publishing any comments that threaten my eternal damnation, preach or moralize. I've gotten some head-tilters that would certainly qualify as "curious" but it's just not my cup of tea. Kind of clutters up the haus.

Love and Monkey Brains,
Shade

Taxidermia

I've been waiting for this movie for what seems like an eternity. Available for pre-order on Amazon, it's finally scheduled to be released on April 6. Me so happy!











Here is a great synopsis via Horrorphile:

In the first part set in a remote military post a handsome young soldier with a harelip is tormented by a cruel lieutenant. The private has developed dysfunctional masturbatory techniques, including spouting fire from the end of his dick (how utterly novel!). Eventually the private resorts to bestial porcine measures in order to get off. The consequences are tragic.

In the second part we follow the career of the lieutenant’s son (whom we see born with a pig’s tail at the end of the first segment) who has become a champion speed-eater in proud communist Hungary. His paramour is the canning factory champion, she cheers him on. Later they indulge in dual champion caviar consumption (in a scene guaranteed to put you off it for life!). But the question on the trainer’s lips is when will the IOC recognise this glory sport …?

In the third segment our legendary speed-eater is a massive middle-aged … er … blob, with head. His son, skinnny and uncutous, is a professional taxidermist with wealthy customers wanting unethical requests. Super-obese papa feeds monstrous cats, plumping them for competition, while son feeds father an unending supply of chocolate bars (wrapping and all). It’s all a bit overwhelming, really.

The taxidermist son realises he needs to take drastic measures in order to preserve the family legacy. And so embarks on the most novel and mesmerizing scene of body horror ever committed to celluloid (Cronenberg would be suitably impressed, I’m sure!)

Crooked Rot

Four minutes of nightmarish weirdness for those of you who don't get enough of that already.

You're welcome.

Liu Bolin: Real Life Invisible Man

"The talented Liu Bolin says his art is a protest against the actions of the Government, who shut down his art studio in 2005 and persecutes artists. It’s about not fitting into modern society. Despite problems with Chinese authorities, Liu’s works are appreciated at an international level." (Source)

Where Dreams May Come

Magnificent monsters covered in morning dew. Gorgeous, jaw-dropping photos. Click to BIG. Many, many thanks to the ever-amazing Lady M. for sending me the link!

"Glistening in the early morning, these insects look like creatures from another planet as dew gathers on their sleeping bodies. Captured in extreme close-up, one moth appears to be totally encrusted in diamonds as it rests on a twig."

Would Dew Believe It?

Uncanny

With a nod to the Steve McQueen of the poetry world (sorry M., you may not like that description but that's how I think of you), who originally posted this Elsewhere:

Scans from The Drama of Display, Visual Merchandisng and its Techniques by Jim Buckley, published in 1953












Master Magic Man recalled one of the best Twilight Zone Episodes:



And I thought of this:

Filmmusik

Christopher Young, James Horner...

Notable Quotables

"No man knows what he will do when driven by hunger." ~ Alexander Pearce

"Fear has many eyes and can see things underground." ~ Miguel Cervantes, Don Quixote

"I've always felt that the real horror is next door to us, that the scariest monsters are our neighbors." ~ George Romero

"And this is the forbidden truth, the unspeakable taboo-that evil is not always repellent but frequently attractive; that it has the power to make of us not simply victims, as nature and accident do, but active accomplices." ~ Joyce Carol Oates

"We are now up against live, hostile targets. So, if Little Red Riding Hood should show up with a bazooka and a bad attitude, I expect you to chin the bitch." ~ Dog Soldiers

My Father's Garden

Picnic at Hanging Rock

"It's interesting that most of these titles deal in one way or another with outsiders who find themselves in places where they are not a good fit. Somewhere at the very bottom of his imagination must lurk the conviction that you'll be all right if you stay at home, but if you wander into other lands you may find that you have disappeared." Roger Ebert on Peter Weir



I can't say a whole lot about this that hasn't been said already. Haunting, beautiful, plays like a poem more than an account or narrative. Perfect soundtrack. Not what I would consider a horror movie at all. A little Lynchian, a little Paris, Texas, a little long walk to nowhere. I wonder if it's some kind of something particular to Australian movies. Tone-wise, it reminded me of two New Zealand movies -- Jack Be Nimble and Heavenly Creatures.

Threads

"Threads is a 1984 BBC television play set in the city of Sheffield in Yorkshire, depicting the effects of a nuclear war and its aftermath on the United Kingdom. Written by Barry Hines and directed by Mick Jackson, Threads was filmed in late 1983 and early 1984. The premise of Threads was to hypothesise the effects of a nuclear war on the United Kingdom after an exchange between the Soviet Union and the United States escalates to include the UK. The primary plot centres on two families: the Kemps and the Becketts—as an international crisis erupts and escalates. As NATO and the UK prepare for war, the members of each family deal with their own personal crises. Meanwhile, a secondary plot centered upon Clive J. Sutton, the Chief Executive of Sheffield City Council serves to illustrate for the viewer the UK Government's then-current continuity of government arrangements. As open warfare between NATO and the USSR-led Warsaw Pact begins, the harrowing details of the characters' struggle to survive the attacks is dramatically depicted. The balance of the film details the fate of each family as the characters face the medical, economic, social, and environmental consequences of a nuclear war. Both the plot and the atmosphere of the play are extremely bleak." (Wiki)