Trollhunter

Okay, so I'm a little late on the bandwagon on this one.  This particular gem actually came out in June.  And I started to watch it, only, I got distracted by, you know--life, and I just back to it this past week.  And wow!  There's a movie I hadn't realized I would like so much.  It could be potentially silly, could of  been ridiculous, could have been campy and laughable.  But it wasn't.  I've never in my life, including childhood been scared of trolls.  The only thing I knew about trolls, is from childhood fairy tales about  The Three Billy Goats Gruff.  And the trolls in The Hobbit (one of my all-time faves, it's the book that introduced me to the idea that trolls turn to stone in the daylight).   I have to say, though, this movie won't scare you, it's not horror, but it's a damn good movie that you shouldn't pass up.

[caption id="attachment_956" align="aligncenter" width="549" caption="This is Hans, Trollhunter Extraordinaire!"][/caption]

Okay, Synopsis:  There is a young camera crew (a trio) who are looking for this guy that, according to the bear hunters in the area, is poaching bears.  So the camera crew find him--his name's Hans, and he's all like, "Nope, I don't poach bears, I'm a troll hunter."  So the camera crew, who think this guy is either soft in the head or just joking, ask if they can come along and tape him whilst troll hunting.  And lo, and behold--there by trolls in that forest!  Once again, I gotta say, the troll could have cartoony or just stupid looking, but no, it's a pretty decent looking troll with three heads, and Hans, trollhunter, gives him a dose of his truck mounted UV lights and the troll turns to stone.  And the camera crew is shocked and exhilarated-this guy is for real!  I mean, come on, anyone would be-if you just found out that a mythical creature exists and your government's not only aware, but goes to great pains to hide the fact.

[caption id="attachment_959" align="aligncenter" width="549" caption="Check it out--Troll as big as a skyscraper and Hans is like, "I got this"..."][/caption]

Alright that enough spoilers--if you haven't seen it, don't wait like I did--it's pretty darn good.  And I hope there will be a Trollhunter 2.  I just love random movies that bring some new element in, and just make it work.  This is one of them.  Now, I need to find some sort of troll books to bone up on my troll mythos.

[caption id="attachment_957" align="aligncenter" width="549" caption="Can't have a troll movie without a bridge scene"][/caption]

Scary Stories To Tell In the Dark by Alvin Schwartz

[caption id="attachment_942" align="alignleft" width="93" caption="Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark---Seriously, what kid could resist this?"][/caption]

Even though the books and illustrations of Edward Gorey are wonderfully creepy, when I was kid, I'd never been exposed to his work.  One of my first exposures to the wonderful genre that his folklore/urban legends/horror (besides my mother) was this series--Scary Stories to Tell in The Dark by Alvin Schwartz.  The series is basically thin books each with some creepy tales based on folklore and urban legends.  Anyone who knows me, knows I love love love urban legends like I love breathing, and this is the series that introduced me to them.  The books are mostly black and white, the tales themselves, pretty creepy, especially when you're a 8 year old kid reading at night by the light coming from the bathroom (it was the only way I could read at night, considering I shared a room with 2 sisters.  Anyhoo, those little tales were made even creepier with Stephen Gammell's illustrations...pure genius!  I'm pretty sure I even had a few nightmares that my kid psyche forced me to repress...that's how good they were, and still are.  I highly recommend traumatizing your tykes--buy them these(who are we kidding, buy them for yourself)--they will love them!  In all seriousness though, this set is one of the most challenged books according to the American Library Association because of their violence (hey I turned out alright).  Keep in mind though, that The Harry Potter Series and books like A Wrinkle In Time are on that list of challenged books too.

 

 

[caption id="attachment_945" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Srsly? Who let me check these books out?"][/caption]

Remember:  buy your kid the books, don't let them read till bedtime, tell them they can't read because they have to go to sleep, but leave a flashlight conveniently on their little nightstand, then let the the fun begin.  Be prepared to have an impromptu sleepover though, or, as in my particular case, be prepared to have an insomniac pre-teen (be kind, buy the kid a nightlight).

[caption id="attachment_948" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Nightmare inducing? I think so."][/caption]

There are some great stories that I think most of us would recognize, like the oft-told around campfire tale of THE GOLDEN ARM, and the one about the girl with the beehive in which a spider laid its eggs, and the bride that was never found after a game of hide and seek....good stuff.  

 

It's when I recall books like this, I can't wait to have a little girl to scare the bejeezus out of her.

 

Seriously, it's Halloween time...the series is perfect.  Check out some of the stories on youtube.  There are quite a few posted on there.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVIGcOinSFY&w=420&h=315]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak108MwUJ6I&w=420&h=315]

 

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEtTh0vYMKI&w=420&h=315]

Red State

A horror movie by Silent Bob, I mean Kevin Smith, naturally, I was intrigued.  I love Silent Bob.  I love his love for Star Wars, his small role in the latest Die Hard, his itty bitty cameo in Scream 3, and I love Dogma. Red State is  not really a horror film in the typical sense.  Basically, the premise, without giving too much away is there is creepy preacher dude who leads a cult of mostly family members, who basically hate everyone whose not white and straight.  Of course, creepy preacher and his family/cult live in an out of the way compound armed to teeth for-I don't know-Armageddon, or for when the ATF or FBI or Homeland Security decide to "intervene".  Now the preacher of this intolerant religion, played to perfection by Michael Parks, is taking action against sexual deviants in the name of the lord.  You should watch, and I don't want to give away to much details.  I will say though, that they do entrap some poor idiotic teens just looking for some action.

I don't know about you--but intolerance sure horrifies me.  And if that isn't horrifying enough, John Goodman (whom I love), is the ATF (person, officer, idk what, but guy in charge) who leads his team to the compound.  They are unaware of hostages inside.  John Goodman's character is a good guy, yet, he follows orders, and they aren't necessarily good orders--I'm pretty sure they weren't legal orders.  Let's just say--the same guys probably made the same decisions for Ruby Ridge and Waco.

[caption id="attachment_930" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="This type of blind devotion always gives me the heebie-jeebies"][/caption]

Then there is this great trumpet scene (yes, I'm being deliberately vague) that for a while made me think this movie was going to go all M. Night Shyamalan spooky, but it didn't. But it wasn't a disappointment, because it turned out to be a great comedic angle that only Kevin Smith can pull off.

There's no typical horror fanfare.  No mirror scare, no creepy music, no evil children or satanic possession or any other typical horror film elements.  But it's still horror, because it does elicit fear and disgust (in people, in creepy intolerant religions, government, etc.) and it's all the more horrifying because there's no devil to blame it on.  No supernatural or psychopath to point the finger at.  Just horrifying, disgusting people.

[caption id="attachment_932" align="aligncenter" width="549" caption="Creepy, Intolerant Redneck PreacherIdiot teenagers, wrong place-wrong time"][/caption]

The Horror Club: Megan is Missing (2011)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Horror Club: Megan is Missing (2011).

Excerpt from review:  "If this movie doesn't make you feel dirty enough to live in a shower for 3 days after watching it, you're probably a serial killer."

It's very rare that I find a movie that actually scares me; thrills me-yes, great story-yes, beautiful or awesome effects-yes, but really scared-no, not really.   But this movie scares me, made me feel dirty for watching it, as if I was the perv, and it made me want to make the internet illegal for anyone under 21, seriously.  I wanted to write a review of Megan is Missing, but I found this one on The Horror Club, that basically said everything I wanted to say. Click the link above to read an awesome review of it.  

Rent it. Buy it. Netflix it.  Watch it.  Take away your teenagers internet.



Side note:  I'm sure I'm not the only one who noticed when the news anchor went on and on about popular, pretty, white Megan Stewart and her disappearance,  interview clips with her mother and friends, complete with mini Megan Stewart biography and Megan Stewart slide show and her stats THEN the news anchor devoted a whole 12 seconds to a missing Crenshaw boy, Tercell Jackson-he's 13, no other info was said about Tercell.  Social commentary about the bias of the news--I think so.