I cannot recommend Serbian Film to anyone. It is a movie that hard-core horror fans will be daring each other to endure for years to come. On an intellectual level, I think I can see and appreciate what it’s trying to do. But if I could unsee it, I would.

I have so much I could say; I was thinking about my little girl (she’s 4) and this picture she just drew for me. It’s me, and her and her little sister-to-be (my wife is due in about 2 months). In the picture, we’re all smiling and it’s just a cute little thing, you know? Typical thing a little kid would draw. She draws little cats and bunnies and fairies, etc. I’ve had this thought often: I love that this is what’s in her little head. Her mind is full of good things. Of course, you can’t shelter a kid forever; she’ll learn that sometimes some people are cruel and sometimes bad things happen and all that jazz. But mostly, it’s just bunnies and fairies right now. And that’s wonderful.

Now we, as adults, have a lot of control over what we put into our heads. I’m not saying horror movies are going to influence your behavior, like you’ll head over to the nearest summer camp and start chasing teens with a machete – I don’t really buy that at all. I am saying, though, that it just can’t be very good for your heart, mind or soul to watch some certain things. I mean, how can it be a net positive, in any way, to elect to put this into your head?

I’m not swearing off horror, of course not. However, I may spend the next few weeks reviewing my daughter’s Hello Kitty DVDs on the Splattercast, instead of whatever genre stuff we had on the docket.

I know it’s pretty lame to quote song lyrics on the internet, but the Bad Religion song, Marked, came to my mind:

if I’m a monster,
I am a willing one,
this roller coaster ride is an enticing one,
on the tip of a continuum flowing wavelike
through disorder carry me like a vessel to water

everything you see leaves a mark on your soul,
everything you feel leaves a mark on your soul,
everything you touch leaves a mark on your soul,
everything you make leaves a mark on your soul

if I can touch it,
I can destroy it,
if it’s imaginable to some degree,
I can become it,
like a hungry turning vortex that just flickers to existence,
consuming bits and pieces until I’m finally extinguished

everyone you see leaves a mark on your soul,
everyone you bare leaves a mark on your soul,
everyone you touch leaves a mark on your soul,
everyone you love leaves a mark on your soul

everything you take leaves a mark on your soul,
everything you give leaves a mark on your soul,
and all the fear and loneliness that’s impossible to control,
and every tear you cry leaves a mark on your soul

Bonus: An actual comment from this video’s YouTube page…

What happens when a Population Control Virus wipes out over half of humanity and the only antidote is a fresh human cerebellum? Who unleashed this horrendous virus? How will people survive? Is anyone immune? What would you do?

Alone – Donation Pitch from Rory Abel on Vimeo.

A collection of clips from previous short horror films as well as an introduction to our new project, a feature length film titled “Alone,” by the film’s director.

Bleak writes…

Back when I was a young lad in the very early 90′s, I was in college and working full time in a video store to help pay my tuition. You know what it’s like for a college student struggling to pay rent, buy groceries, and have enough pocket cash for a social life. It’s not easy, but it’s also a lot of fun.

It was also back at this time that videos were usually not released at a sale through price point, and if you wanted to own a movie you had to shell out anywhere from 80-100 bucks. Well, it was about this time that a film that I had been reading about for years and had never managed to see was released on VHS. That movie was Dario Argento’s SUSPIRIA. The video store I managed, a franchise based Ballbuster Video, at the time refused to carry the film due to it’s unrated nature. I could, however, order myself a personal copy for the rousing sum of $99.99.

It came down to a choice of buying the movie and eating nothing but egg sandwiches for a couple of weeks, or waiting a few months while I reasonably saved-up the funds to afford a copy. I was young and dumb so I chose to eat the egg sandwiches.

It was a tough couple of weeks, but when I opened the UPS box with my shinny new copy of Suspiria, all my hunger pains quickly vanished. That night, after class, I watched the film twice and was not disappointed. It was not my first Argento film, nor is it my favorite, but at the time I was completely blown away by its operatic colors and sounds. Also, I think I might have fallen a bit in love with Jessica Harper.

Well, times have changed. Today, Suspiria is available on Netflix Instant.

We wish the team at Sword & Cloak all the best on this project.

House of Black Wings is a character-driven Lovecraftian ghost story. Inspired by the social drama of Polanski’s The Tenant and Larry Fessenden’s Habit, the surreal images of Argento’s Suspiria and Fulci’s The Beyond, and the pervasive menace of Asian ghost stories, it is a nightmare of urban paranoia, loss of identity, and the blurred line between creativity and madness.

Via Fork Party: The Five Worst Movies to Watch While Stoned

I can’t say I’m much of a smoker; I stick mostly to good old-fashioned booze. Stil, I imagine some of these movies must be better if you chemically scramble your brain before hitting “play.”

I went to the new A Nightmare on Elm Street remake today. I’m hearing a lot of hate being directed at the flick, but I thought it was pretty decent. I think a lot of folks are just having a kneejerk reaction to seeing someone other than Robert Englund wearing the glove.

I’m sure the other guys will want to chat about this movie when we sit down to do the next Splattercast, so I’ll hold my thoughts until then. For now, I’ll just say that I would easily recommend you go check this remake out.

I once facetiously said that horror heroine Ellen Ripley officially belonged to the world of sci-fi because she broke bread with robots and drove a spaceship to work. The truth is, no amount of blinking computer lights or sparkling stars can keep ALIEN from being one of the purest examples of a horror film in existence.

http://www.kindertrauma.com/?p=12315