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Monday, April 22, 2013

And The Ants Will Inherit The Earth...


I posted the commentary from below on a page of a person posting a picture of a Honey Ant. This is a different image.






I added the below comments to that page. Here, I have included more information about the movie I recommended in the body of the text.

This movie is Science Fiction. But, there are frightening horror elements, too.

********

I remember reading about these ants when I was a kid in school on the 1960's. Several nature programs, including NATURE on PBS have included these cool ants in their ant documentaries.

Want to see a wild and scary movie about ants from 1974? Check out the feature film "Phase IV." The movie plays like a documentary, but it is frightening in its Science Fiction plot -- an unknown force from out there in space comes to earth and affects a swift evolutionary change in the behavior of ants in the Arizona desert. A team of scientist investigate these intelligent, and dangerous, ants and... well bad things happen.

I saw this movie twice back in 1974, and then found it again around 2004. And I still love "Phase IV." The fact that we still don't know what is out there in space all these years later makes this movie relevant today.

Remember what I said... this movie almost plays like a documentary... kind of like the original "The Andromeda Strain" or "The China Syndrome." And if you allow yourself to believe... you will be frightened.

RLJ






Saturday, April 20, 2013

Showing The Horror Anthology A Little Love







I have always thought of Creepshow as a masterpiece of horror. Stephen King wrote all the stories and George A. Romero directed them. Both men were at the height of their super powers at the time of Creepshow

Creepshow 2, from 1987, tried to live up to Creepshow… and it came pretty close. I didn’t understand why the producers of the third Creepshow left the EC comics angle.

And, I would like to present this to you...

What do you guys think of Trilogy Of Terror? I was a sophomore in high school in Texas, in 1975, when Trilogy Of Terror was released as an "ABC Movie Of The Week." Back then, ABC would produce original made for television movies. And, they actually made some excellent movies back then.

And I can tell you this... that movie scared the shit out of a hell of a lot of people back then! It aired on prime time television, March 4, 1975. And it caused a sensation because of the terror, horror and violence.

You better believe I figured a way to watch the movie. I lied to my Pentecostal fundamentalist mother and told her I had to practice, or something... all I remember is I lied to get out of her house and watched the movie at a friend's house.

And, this movie STILL will scare the crap out of you.

Check it out.

RLJ

Friday, April 19, 2013

Hannibal -- Atmosphere Times Ten!








(Toronto, Ontario, Canada.)

There is something about Canada that helps horror television to have an eerie coldness to the visuals. A perfect example of this was the X-Files. The horror atmosphere was intensified by the Canadian crispness and “color” of the air and the filming location landscapes.

Hannibal, on NBC, is filmed in Toronto. And, it has that stark coldness that plays perfectly with the intensity if this psychological horror thriller. So far, the tension is as sharp and intense as a razor blade edge.

Right now, the two protagonists are in a sort of patient/doctor relationship. But, they are destined to become vicious mortal enemies and you can see that Hannibal Lecter is practically manipulating every atom of the surrounding horror. Lawrence Fishburne is simply fantastic and Caroline Dhavernas is really good. 

Everybody on Hannibal is playing mind games, with Huge Dancy’s character… Will Graham, being caught right smack dab in the middle of the eerie psychology!

Also, check out that background music and ambient sound… creepy and nerve grating.

I am a HUGE fan of this new show. We will only get 13 episodes of Hannibal, as the producers have decided to go with the cable model of television for this show. Hey, it works for The Walking Dead… and it will work for Bates Motel, too. Bates Motel has already been given a second season.

I love good horror writing, and we are getting it in this new crop of horror shows. Throw in Being Human and Lost Girl and you have some good horror on the television. And True Blood has yet to bite its way back to HBO.

Good horror…

RLJ

Friday, April 12, 2013

Hannibal -- My New Horror Obsession, On NBC!



(If you are not affected by this scene from Hannibal, you are a cold undead zombie... for real!)




Holy crap, horror fans... Hannibal, last night, was absolutely friggin' fantastic! Talk about intense! And the shocks continue to amaze and appear in tidal waves. This episode blew me out of the back of my chair!

I thought Bates Motel was going to be the bloody, crazy plasma bath if guts and gore. No! That, so far, is not the case! If you want arterial blood spray, gross-out special effects, the potential for cannibalism and your mind fucked something awesome.... it is all in Hannibal.

And if you missed last night's episode, hoo boy... you are in for something akin to what the X-Files was in its hay day.

And all this has happened in two episodes, for goodness sake!

I'm holding back the spoiler details because I now realize a whole lot of people wait to watch these horror show episodes. But, you better watch soon because Hannibal must be discussed!

My feeling is, this show will make the perfect DVD box set. Commercials stick a bloody knife into the heart of the flow of the show when it is this intense!

If you are a horror fan... hurry up and watch what might become the best show on television... and I'm talking acting!

Take care, horror fans.

RLJ

Monday, April 8, 2013

It Is Time For Ghosts to Make A Comeback






Hey fans of horror stuff. Have you ever seen this box set? All the information about it is right there on the cover. There are 40 half hour episodes in this box set. All are eerie, some are scary and a few are downright frightening. If you like ghost stories then this is for you.

On a scary ebon night...
When the stormy winds blow through the darkened wavy trees,
And swirling things bump against vibrating windows --
When outside dogs howl through their fear...
The perfect atmosphere is created for tales of ghosts and things.

On a scary ebon night....
When you wonder, 'what made that noise in the attic?' --
As you cringe as another thunder clap rattles your windows --
When you pull your comfort blanket even closer to your body...
That is the perfect time to pull out some... GHOST STORIES!

RLJ

Sunday, April 7, 2013

What Love To Show A Vampire?


I respect old school horror... the kind of horror we loved before people began to try to define horror by scientific terms. Today, the new school must assign a virus as a cause of the Zombie Apocalypse. They must assign a virus to the cause of Vampirism. Today they must assign a virus to the cause of Lycanthropy. And today science must be the answer to other horror creations.

What about this place called Hell that 90% of the world believes in... with its demons and monsters and tortured souls? What about this Heaven... this place with its frightening, vengeful, world destroying God of fright and derision! If you believe in God, this all powerful unseen super spirit... then you HAVE to believe in ghosts, demons, monsters, devils and Lucifer! You cannot, with any insane delusion, say one does not exist without the other.

And so, I declare to the world that I, a man who writes horror stories, including vampire tales, am a Twilight hater! My young son loves the Twilight book series and has seen every one of the movies. I never attempted to sway his love away from Twilight. But me? No, I can' do it...

I, the old school horror fan, hate Twilight with a passion. I will never read the books or see the movies. But, I will also never tell you to not read the books, or watch the movies. In the end, the horror genre needs all the love it can get.

And so, here is an article from the above cool horror site that is a look into my horror soul! Check out why I am not a Twilight fan.

RLJ

Friday, April 5, 2013

My Mini-Review Of Hannibal

 
 
 
 
 
NBC might have just jumped over the quagmire of low ratings with Hannibal. Beautifully shot, great acting and mature like The Walking Dead and Bates Motel... this might be a masterpiece in the making.
 
I will tell you this about Hannibal... don't eat food that might bubble up in your tummy before you watch Hannibal! Really...
 
Recently, I caused all kinds of hell to break loose when I reviewed the final episode of season 3 of The Walking Dead... two days later. I obviously gave away spoilers, too soon. I hate people who spoil movies, so I have come to terms that I did offend some people... but, television is another animal, isn't it? Anyway, I'll hold back for a short time.
 
I will not give away any spoilers, even though you can find all kind of spoilers all over the Internet.
 
What I will say is this... Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Lawrence Fishburne, Caroline Dhavernas and the rest of the great supporting cast!
 
And is it a spoiler to say this: You know Hannibal Lecter is the most diabolically evil human on the planet, don't you? You already know that, I hope, before you watch a TV horror program titled "Hannibal."
 
OK, I'll say no more about this until at least next Wednesday. By then, if you haven't seen Hannibal, well that will have to be your problem... I need to discuss the show. WITH SPOILERS!

 
RLJ