Being a major fan of the Horror Genre is an amazing experience, the community feeling you get when being with other Horror fans, no arguments about films, characters, writers etc, just discussions & opinions. No argument about which is the best film that Hugh Grant play the bumbling romantic in or how gorgeous Johnny Depp is in his newest flick. It's more about which N.O.E.S. is the best or Why Halloween 3 IS a good film.
Unfortunately being a Horror fan also has many downfalls...
The weird looks you get from strangers whilst discussing Horror Films with your friends, also from the movie staff whilst ordering a ticket to Friday The 13th Part 82, the look of disgust from the Blockbusters Clerk whilst renting the newest George A. Romero zombie film, Having a movie night and being the only person to bring a Horror movie and everyone laughs and shoves it to one side....We've all been in situations like these in one way or another. I myself have even been called and I quote "A serial killer in the making" because of my love for the Horror genre. It's the price we pay for the genre we love!
I have been asked "Is it all worth it?" and even "Just hide the Horror and watch it when you're on your own" well all I can say is..... I'M A HORROR FANATIC AND PROUD OF IT!!!! Yes it is worth it and I wont hide it away like I'm ashamed of it and neither should any of you. It is a community to be proud of being involved in. Wear your Horror proudly! So the next time you rent the newest Bruce Campbell film, or go to the movies to watch SAW 13, just smile at them and maybe a wink to send a chill up there spines ;)
Wednesday 20 April 2011
Thursday 17 February 2011
Children's Horror: Where's it gone?
Whilst watching the TV with my niece on another boring night of babysitting, I had a sudden realisation....There's no "Horror" cartoons any more.
I started thinking about programmes I used to watch as a child, "Are You Afraid Of The Dark", "AARRGGHH Real Monsters!" "Transylvania Pet Shop" "Trap Door", "Little Dracula" and more. No, they weren't scary, but the Horror elements were there, the monsters, the stories, sort of like an introduction to the horror world, it was Horror entertainment for kids. Even books, books like Goosebumps and ghost stories, you just don't see them around .
Nowadays it's all brightly coloured children's programme's that give you a migraine within 30 seconds of watching it, or kids running around singing or even books about twinkling vampire's!
I asked my niece whether any of her programmes had monsters or anything like that in them, she had no idea what I was on about, she said monsters are for Halloween!
All of this saddened me, it's such a shame really. I even asked her if she had ever seen a black & white film, she looked at me like I was from Mars. I remember on Sunday afternoon's you would find an old Horror on TV, I LOVED them and still do!
They will never know what there missing out on and really it is a damn shame!
Sunday 10 October 2010
My Love Of Horror Characters
After my mum found out I was obsessed with Horror films she started to suggest some that she'd seen that I should watch. She lent me all 4 Psycho films, I spent the entire day watching them back to back, the Character of Norman Bates (Played by the great Anthony Perkins) was so fascinating! I started to grasp onto characters and the psychological aspects of them. Characters Like Hannibal Lecter, Mrs. Voorhees, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, Jack Torrance, Billy Chapman, Jerry Blake, Annie Wilkes, John Ryder and alot more.
These characters weren't just zombies or monsters etc, these were human beings with mental illnesses, psychological illnesses etc. These characters were more frightening than any monster or whatever because these characters could be your next door neighbour, room mate or even a family member and also you weren't just reading about it in the paper or seeing it on the news it was on your screen, blood and all.
It was these characters that got me into horror films based on real people, serial killers, which when done properly can be very, very frightening. I remember watching "Bundy" and the man was so charming, polite very much a gentleman. The next thing you know he's killing all these people and more (Too graphic to write here). The fact that this person was real scared me to death! It goes back to my point of this is a person you could know, these crimes weren't thought up by some writer, these things actually happened!!
I will always love my zombies, monsters etc but show me a film were its a true story and more than likely it will scare you more. To prove my point I'll leave you with this:
If you have watched "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" do you think it wouldn't have been as scary if it didn't say "Based On A True Story"? Yes I know its Based On Ed Gein but still think about it......
These characters weren't just zombies or monsters etc, these were human beings with mental illnesses, psychological illnesses etc. These characters were more frightening than any monster or whatever because these characters could be your next door neighbour, room mate or even a family member and also you weren't just reading about it in the paper or seeing it on the news it was on your screen, blood and all.
It was these characters that got me into horror films based on real people, serial killers, which when done properly can be very, very frightening. I remember watching "Bundy" and the man was so charming, polite very much a gentleman. The next thing you know he's killing all these people and more (Too graphic to write here). The fact that this person was real scared me to death! It goes back to my point of this is a person you could know, these crimes weren't thought up by some writer, these things actually happened!!
I will always love my zombies, monsters etc but show me a film were its a true story and more than likely it will scare you more. To prove my point I'll leave you with this:
If you have watched "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" do you think it wouldn't have been as scary if it didn't say "Based On A True Story"? Yes I know its Based On Ed Gein but still think about it......
Thursday 27 May 2010
My Continuation Into The World Of Horror
First of all my apologies for taking so long to write again, had a few problems.
Anyway Back to my world of horror:
Now that I was free to watch whatever Horror's I wanted I have to admit that for a while, I lost interest, I wasn't sneaking around any more, or watching them with headphones at 1am. my parents were now openly inviting me to watch them with them and like every teenager, I had to be rebellious! I wanted these films to still be a source of that but it wasn't. That feeling didn't last long when I finally got to go to the movies to watch a Horror film. This was to be my first of many.
The film was "The Blair Witch Project" what you have to remember about this film is that at the time it was brought out there had never been anything like it before! It looked real, Like this had actually happened, it wasn't a film, it was a documentary and teenage brain believed it all. Me and a few friends went to see it, Id been to the movies before, but not to see a Horror, The darkness, the sorround sound, the tension in the room, This was a world away from a VHS at 1am with headphones. I remember being creeped out because there was no monsters to be seen, no blood, no gore or even a weapon. Where was the hero? Where was the villain? People were screaming in the cinema at the ending (Incase you haven't seen it I wont ruin it for you). It got me so worked up I couldn't walk in my local woods for a long time!
I finally had that rush of excitement and fear again, it was brilliant! I know nowadays this film gets slated, but like I said 10years ago when it was released there had never been anything like it before. This was new, no one knew what to expect. I will always think of that film very fondly.
Throughout the years I have been a regular customer to our local Movie theatre, I knew this when staff members started to get to know me on first name terms and know that whenever a horror movie is out they expect me to be there, Iv dragged my dad along sometimes aswell, as these films were new to me still my dad had lived through the original slasher genres and thought most of them were rip off's etc, but he saw that he and I had a connection in the world of Horror which brings me to another first, The world of the Horror conventions.
My dad surprised me for my birthday with 2 tickets to a Horror convention. I had never been to anything like this before so I didn't know what to expect at all, and I'll tell you know, I will never forget it!
There was 3 major guests, Robert Englund, Tony Todd and Tom Savini. I knew all 3 by now, my dad was a huge Tom Savini fan!! He was as excited about meeting him as I was about seeing THE Freddy Kreuger and THE Candyman!! We got there and it was like Halloween had started (Even though it was July) I waited for a long time to meet Robert Englund but when I did something weird happened, He shook my hand and asked me my name, as he did this I looked him up and down, He was wearing a beige suit, white shirt, black shoes and where was his scars? where was his glove? the hat and the shirt? This wasn't Freddy Kreuger, he wasn't dressed like this on the poster! But in the end it didnt matter, as he looked at me with his stare and quirky smile and asked me my name again, I went speechless, He terrified me! He didn't need all the Freddy make up, HE WAS FREDDY! I managed to squeekly say my name, He signed a photo of Freddy for me and took a picture with me, as his hand gripped my neck and his other hand did the claw movements I felt true fear! I half expected him to suddenly turn into Freddy and kill me because it truly felt like I was dreaming!!
I also got to meet Tony Todd, I thought after the Robert Englund experience I'd be ok now, I wasn't! As he spoke in his deep voice I saw his eyes glisten over as he talked about the killings of the film with my dad, I thought we were being duped into thinking he was a "normal" person!
Looking back at it now I laugh, but hey, what else do you expect from a teenagers imagination!
Additional: We never did get to meet Tom Savini, we later found out he had pulled out at the last minute.
Anyway Back to my world of horror:
Now that I was free to watch whatever Horror's I wanted I have to admit that for a while, I lost interest, I wasn't sneaking around any more, or watching them with headphones at 1am. my parents were now openly inviting me to watch them with them and like every teenager, I had to be rebellious! I wanted these films to still be a source of that but it wasn't. That feeling didn't last long when I finally got to go to the movies to watch a Horror film. This was to be my first of many.
The film was "The Blair Witch Project" what you have to remember about this film is that at the time it was brought out there had never been anything like it before! It looked real, Like this had actually happened, it wasn't a film, it was a documentary and teenage brain believed it all. Me and a few friends went to see it, Id been to the movies before, but not to see a Horror, The darkness, the sorround sound, the tension in the room, This was a world away from a VHS at 1am with headphones. I remember being creeped out because there was no monsters to be seen, no blood, no gore or even a weapon. Where was the hero? Where was the villain? People were screaming in the cinema at the ending (Incase you haven't seen it I wont ruin it for you). It got me so worked up I couldn't walk in my local woods for a long time!
I finally had that rush of excitement and fear again, it was brilliant! I know nowadays this film gets slated, but like I said 10years ago when it was released there had never been anything like it before. This was new, no one knew what to expect. I will always think of that film very fondly.
Throughout the years I have been a regular customer to our local Movie theatre, I knew this when staff members started to get to know me on first name terms and know that whenever a horror movie is out they expect me to be there, Iv dragged my dad along sometimes aswell, as these films were new to me still my dad had lived through the original slasher genres and thought most of them were rip off's etc, but he saw that he and I had a connection in the world of Horror which brings me to another first, The world of the Horror conventions.
My dad surprised me for my birthday with 2 tickets to a Horror convention. I had never been to anything like this before so I didn't know what to expect at all, and I'll tell you know, I will never forget it!
There was 3 major guests, Robert Englund, Tony Todd and Tom Savini. I knew all 3 by now, my dad was a huge Tom Savini fan!! He was as excited about meeting him as I was about seeing THE Freddy Kreuger and THE Candyman!! We got there and it was like Halloween had started (Even though it was July) I waited for a long time to meet Robert Englund but when I did something weird happened, He shook my hand and asked me my name, as he did this I looked him up and down, He was wearing a beige suit, white shirt, black shoes and where was his scars? where was his glove? the hat and the shirt? This wasn't Freddy Kreuger, he wasn't dressed like this on the poster! But in the end it didnt matter, as he looked at me with his stare and quirky smile and asked me my name again, I went speechless, He terrified me! He didn't need all the Freddy make up, HE WAS FREDDY! I managed to squeekly say my name, He signed a photo of Freddy for me and took a picture with me, as his hand gripped my neck and his other hand did the claw movements I felt true fear! I half expected him to suddenly turn into Freddy and kill me because it truly felt like I was dreaming!!
I also got to meet Tony Todd, I thought after the Robert Englund experience I'd be ok now, I wasn't! As he spoke in his deep voice I saw his eyes glisten over as he talked about the killings of the film with my dad, I thought we were being duped into thinking he was a "normal" person!
Looking back at it now I laugh, but hey, what else do you expect from a teenagers imagination!
Additional: We never did get to meet Tom Savini, we later found out he had pulled out at the last minute.
Wednesday 5 May 2010
My Introduction To Horror
My whole life has revolved around Horror, I remember as a child having a fascination with these films that I wasn't allowed to watch, I was banned from seeing them apparently for my own good. Like most children if I was told not to watch or do something I would do it! It was like staring at a giant red button stating "Do Not Press!!" The problem was the covers on these VHS videos looked more interesting than my cartoon videos, I remember seeing the cover for "Evil Dead" and begging my mum to let me watch it, "No son, your only 9" I was very disappointed and decided to sulk whilst watching Nickelodeon that my mum put on for me.
Then one night I snuck downstairs and searched for "Evil Dead" but without success, I would've kept looking but I didn't want to make too much noise. I stumbled upon on "Halloween" I remember thinking the cover didn't look as good but what the hey, beggars cant be choosers! I decided to put headphones in the TV, my thought was that if I get caught then at least I can say I tried and was clever about it.
The next 91 minutes transformed my life, the music, the screaming, the deaths. I switched the TV off, put the video and headphones back and went straight back to my room. I had to try and sleep with the light on because every time I switched the light off I saw a white face in the corner of my room. Its safe to say I never slept that night.
Over the next few weeks, despite how scared I was after "Halloween" I continued to do this, sneaking downstairs, plugging the headphones in and getting myself terrified. I managed to watch, "A Nightmare On Elm Street", "The Omen", "Friday The 13th", "Hellraiser" and some that I have forgotten.
To say I had bad dreams would be an under statement, I could now see why my mum didnt want me watching these silms but I was fascinated.
Then one night whilst secretly watching "Sleepaway Camp" my dad caught me. Instead of telling me off he sat me down and asked me what I was doing watching a Horror film. I told him I thought it was a comedy because of the title and that I couldn't sleep and the reason I was using headphones was to wake no one up. He then sat me down and made me watch the rest of the film in the dark (After "Halloween" I decided to have a dim lamp on so it wasn't completely dark). Then my dad asked me if I was tired which I wasn't because the film had just freaked me out and I was having second thoughts about my Mum and Sisters gender because of the ending of the film. Then my moment had arrived, he pulled out "Evil Dead" and stuck it in the VHS Player. I had alot of mixed emotions, fright, excitement, fear, anxiety, giddiness .....So many emotions. I remember burning up and sweating with anxiety.
The lights were off, it was 2am and here I was with my dad about to watch the film I had been wanting to watch for the last 6 months.
The film ended and I was absolutely terrified!!!! my dad put me to bed, with a smile on his face, thinking he'd taught me a lesson. Thing is he'd just made me want to watch more, these films gave me a rush of excitement and fear at the same time, the films I was meant to watch for my age did nothing for me except give me the odd laugh. I started to tell my friends about the films I'd been watching. Especially "Evil Dead" to me Ash was the coolest guy alive!! my friends just thought I was weird.
Then one night whilst walking through the living room whilst my sister was watching "X-Files" I saw Ash on TV, I remember thinking he looked older but I didn't care so I sat down and waited for the zombies and the chainsaw. It never happened, I was seriously confused. That's when my sister explained to me about actors etc. I was very very upset.
Bruce Campbell opened my eyes to the horror movie world and I'll never forget it, same with my dad and his VHS Horror collection. Its funny watching "Evil Dead" nowadays and thinking back to how much it scared me. But it did its job I guess. I still watch the trilogy with fond memories and nowadays I still watch anything with Bruce Campbell in it.
My mum never found out what my dad did, We'd both be dead if she did, but over the next few years he let me watch more by sneaking them in my room and letting me watch them on my own TV/Video combo I'd recently got for Christmas (Still with the headphones). That was until I got to the age that my mum thought I was old enough to watch them maturely and not get frightened. I was now free to roam the world of Horror.
Then one night I snuck downstairs and searched for "Evil Dead" but without success, I would've kept looking but I didn't want to make too much noise. I stumbled upon on "Halloween" I remember thinking the cover didn't look as good but what the hey, beggars cant be choosers! I decided to put headphones in the TV, my thought was that if I get caught then at least I can say I tried and was clever about it.
The next 91 minutes transformed my life, the music, the screaming, the deaths. I switched the TV off, put the video and headphones back and went straight back to my room. I had to try and sleep with the light on because every time I switched the light off I saw a white face in the corner of my room. Its safe to say I never slept that night.
Over the next few weeks, despite how scared I was after "Halloween" I continued to do this, sneaking downstairs, plugging the headphones in and getting myself terrified. I managed to watch, "A Nightmare On Elm Street", "The Omen", "Friday The 13th", "Hellraiser" and some that I have forgotten.
To say I had bad dreams would be an under statement, I could now see why my mum didnt want me watching these silms but I was fascinated.
Then one night whilst secretly watching "Sleepaway Camp" my dad caught me. Instead of telling me off he sat me down and asked me what I was doing watching a Horror film. I told him I thought it was a comedy because of the title and that I couldn't sleep and the reason I was using headphones was to wake no one up. He then sat me down and made me watch the rest of the film in the dark (After "Halloween" I decided to have a dim lamp on so it wasn't completely dark). Then my dad asked me if I was tired which I wasn't because the film had just freaked me out and I was having second thoughts about my Mum and Sisters gender because of the ending of the film. Then my moment had arrived, he pulled out "Evil Dead" and stuck it in the VHS Player. I had alot of mixed emotions, fright, excitement, fear, anxiety, giddiness .....So many emotions. I remember burning up and sweating with anxiety.
The lights were off, it was 2am and here I was with my dad about to watch the film I had been wanting to watch for the last 6 months.
The film ended and I was absolutely terrified!!!! my dad put me to bed, with a smile on his face, thinking he'd taught me a lesson. Thing is he'd just made me want to watch more, these films gave me a rush of excitement and fear at the same time, the films I was meant to watch for my age did nothing for me except give me the odd laugh. I started to tell my friends about the films I'd been watching. Especially "Evil Dead" to me Ash was the coolest guy alive!! my friends just thought I was weird.
Then one night whilst walking through the living room whilst my sister was watching "X-Files" I saw Ash on TV, I remember thinking he looked older but I didn't care so I sat down and waited for the zombies and the chainsaw. It never happened, I was seriously confused. That's when my sister explained to me about actors etc. I was very very upset.
Bruce Campbell opened my eyes to the horror movie world and I'll never forget it, same with my dad and his VHS Horror collection. Its funny watching "Evil Dead" nowadays and thinking back to how much it scared me. But it did its job I guess. I still watch the trilogy with fond memories and nowadays I still watch anything with Bruce Campbell in it.
My mum never found out what my dad did, We'd both be dead if she did, but over the next few years he let me watch more by sneaking them in my room and letting me watch them on my own TV/Video combo I'd recently got for Christmas (Still with the headphones). That was until I got to the age that my mum thought I was old enough to watch them maturely and not get frightened. I was now free to roam the world of Horror.
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