Books: The Shining PART TWO?

Apparently Stephen King has now finished the sequel to 'The Shining', and the title of this book is 'Dr. Sleep'. The book is about Danny Torrance who is all grown-up. He, (trying my hardest not to make any sarcastic comments) runs into a gang of psychic vampires, who call themselves 'the tribe'. Also in the book someone is trying to prevent the Kennedy murder?

What are your thoughts on the sequel?

I personally believe he ran out of ideas. He just put a lot of ideas in a hat, drew out a few and voila.


Source:  Iltalehti IMDb Slashfilm

Valentine's Day: Top 15 Creepy Couples Part 2

As promised, here's part 2 of our Valentine's Day special: Creepy Couples!
(There will probably be spoilers on this page!)

Edward Scissorhands & Kim

Up next, more Tim Burton and Winona Ryder. This time she plays Kim, the teenage daughter of Peg Boggs, the Avon lady that brings Edward (Johnny Depp) home after finding him living in isolation in a mansion on a hill. Within this part dark fantasy, part 'Romeo & Juliet', part 'Frankenstein', part unpopular new guy gets pretty girl-style movie, Edward & Kim's romance blossoms slowly and ends the only way it actually could - the strange, nice young man that can't age goes back to his mansion and Kim settles down, has kids and gets old, only remembering Edward when it snows *violins*. Oh, but don't think this means you can make fun of it now; it's been a favourite with me (Lilia) since childhood :P

Thomas & Ellen Hutter

For the German Expressionist horror, 'Nosferatu', we decided not to choose Count Orlok (Max Schreck, the movie's equivalent of Count Dracula, for those of you who haven't seen it) but instead we're going to present Thomas & Ellen Hutter (played by Gustav von Wangenheim & Greta Schröder, based on Jonathan & Mina Harker). Just look at his disturbing smile and her shifty eyes...there's obviously something more going onto this story than just a vampire Count! There's also no doubt that they're in love but there's touch of tragedy to them too, as Ellen is eventually killed by Count Orlok as she sets a trap for him. So sad, but at least he stopped grinning like that...

Imhotep & Princess Ankh-es-en-amon/Helen Grosvenor

High priest Imhotep (Boris Karloff) returns from the grave, set on reincarnating the soul of his beloved Princess Ankh-es-en-amon (Zita Johann), in the 1932 film, 'The Mummy'. Conveniently enough, his Princess-pie just happens to look exactly like Helen Grosvenor! It's quite unfortunate though, because it's his sole reason for liking her, but yet again, the girls just don't like Karloff. :(

Frederick & Annabelle Loren

Eccentric millionaire Frederick Loren (Vincent Price) invites five people to a party he's throwing for his fourth wife Annabelle. Sounds nice, until Frederick explains that they will each be given 10,000 dollars, if they can last the night, with the shares of anyone who doesn't being divided amongst the other guests. Don't let her smile and his...vaguely disgusted look...fool you, these two have some serious marital issues going on! When they're not trying to kill each other, they're hurling semi-offensive insults and pulling hair. Example of a couple in love if ever there was one.

Hannibal Lecter & Clarice Starling

Now for another anniversary! 'The Silence of the Lambs', from which our next creepy couple comes, is 20 years old today! It was then that audiences first saw the slightly strange but engrossing chemistry develop on screen between serial killer Dr. Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) and young FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster). With his high IQ and knowledge of psychology, he uses Clarice's inexperience to exploit her vulnerabilities and becomes much closer to her because of it. However, she gains vital clues about the cases she's working on by speaking with Lecter and the pair develop a mutal respect. Although Lecter does seem to fall slightly in love with Clarice, she never overtly returns those feelings,  and always remains slightly wary of him. Ah the perils of being involved with a serial killer cannibal. We've all been there...right?

Jack & Wendy Torrance

The married couple in Stanley Kubrick's psychological horror, 'The Shining', Jack & Wendy Torrance, seem to have a close, loving relationship in the beginning. That is until they move to The Overlook hotel whilst it's closed for the winter. Their son begins experiencing psychic and paranormal phenomena and Wendy soon becomes aware that Jack's not the same man she married anymore, when he starts typing reems of the same sentence and becomes highly agitated for no reason. This culminates in Wendy and her son being chased with an axe by her once loving husband. Nothing says Valentine's like a near death experience dealt out by that special someone :D

Candyman & Helen Lyle

'Candyman''s eponymous villain and graduate student Helen Lyle don't know each other at first. In fact, Helen doesn't even believe that Candyman exists, so her and her friend call out his name five times into her bathroom mirror. Nothing happens that day, but soon Helen becomes aware that she's being preyed upon by Candyman, who says he wants her to "be my victim, join me in death". That might all be quite romantic if it was in a vampire movie, only, this isn't one. This movie is about Candyman, who wants Helen to sacrifice herself to him so that his legend, and in turn he, can live on. There is some sort of strange fondness going on here, including a kiss, but we should probably mention that he also has hundreds of bees pouring out of his mouth at the time too. The Valentine's gift that keeps on giving...ouch!

Ash Williams & Linda

So, last but not least...Ash & Linda from 'The Evil Dead'; a movie about a trip to a cabin in the woods that goes horribly wrong when five friends unwittingly unleash a hoard of Candarian demons. Ash sees both his sister and two friends possessed before the same fate befalls his beloved girlfriend Linda. She goes from lovey-dovey to singing creepy songs and tormenting Ash pretty quickly (normal relationship right?), but even after she tries to stab him he still won't dismember her with a chainsaw (essential for demon killing, doncha know?). See, despite all his "hey baby"'s and foolishness, when it comes to Linda, he's a decent guy! Uh..that is, until she rises from the grave and attacks him. Then he chops her head off with a shovel : D True love!

☆HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!☆

Movies: 12 Fantastic Possession Movies - Part 1/3

Whether it's a demon, a malevolent spirit, a paracitic alien or even the devil himself, the fear of something taking over your body/mind and using it to carry out its evil plans is something that's inspired countless writers and directors over the years. Whilst not all of the offerings in the 'possession' genre are wonderful, or even good, it has provided some amazing movies. They send shivers down your spine and have you sleeping with the lights on, or are extremely entertaining at the very least! 

The following films (1-4) are, for one reason or another, some of our favourites. Why 12 you ask? Why not!

The Shining (1980)

Based on Stephen King's novel of the same name, Stanley Kubrick's eerie psychological thriller, 'The Shining', is the story of a writer, Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) who becomes the caretaker of the remote Overlook Hotel, which is closed for winter, in order to try and remedy his writer's block. Jack moves into the hotel with his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and son Danny (Danny Lloyd), who has 'the shining', a term used for the psychic abilities of children.

Soon after the family arrive, Jack's behaviour changes dramatically and it  becomes clear that the hotel and its former residents are having an evil influence over him. Well-acted, visually superb and cleverly blurring the lines between the supernatural and madness, 'The Shining' is a classic of the genre.

The Evil Dead (1981)

Written and directed by Sam Raimi, 'The Evil Dead' is an amazingly well done and creative gore fest and the first film in the trilogy (followed by 'The Evil Dead 2' and 'Army of Darkness'). The plot centres around 5 college students who take a trip to a cabin in the woods,  only to find themselves hunted and possessed by demons, after unwittingly playing an audio tape of a summoning incantation from 'The Book of the Dead'.

On the surface, it sounds like many other 'college kids in the woods being killed' movies, but Raimi actually manages to create something very unique and hooks the viewer from the outset with a combination of an entertaining plot, endearing cast (including Bruce Campbell as Ash and Betsy Baker as Linda), strange camera angles and grisly effects. There really is nothing quite like it!

The Exorcist (1973)Possibly the most famous movies in this genre, the film adaptation of William Peter Blatty's novel 'The Exorcist', directed by William Friedkin,  provoked hysteria and shock amongst movie-goers at the time. Even now, it still has the power to scare jaded modern audiences, even if it isn't really as frightening as its reputation would lead you to believe.

The film starts at an archaeological dig in Iraq, at which Father Lankester Merrin is present. After finding a small artifact - the head of a strange figure - Merrin goes onto find a statue of the demon Pazuzu. The main story, however, begins in Washington D.C. Well-known actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) begins to notice unusual and concerning behaviour in her daughter Regan (Linda Blair) after she has played with a Ouija board. Regan's behaviour steadily becomes worse, but after tests show nothing wrong with her brain, Chris is told that her daughter's problem is most likely psychological. After more violent seizures and terrible behaviour, as well as unexplained happenings in the house and the murder of the director of the film she is working on, it becomes blatantly obvious that Regan's problems are superatural in nature. Chris then decides to enlist the help of the church in the form of  a priest having a crisis of faith, Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller), and Father Merrin, who is also an experienced exorcist. Regan's condition becomes drastically worse, and when asked who she is, she calls herself the devil, but she is, in actual fact, possessed by Pazuzu. The two priests must then face both the evil possessing Regan and their own fears and self-doubts in order to save her.

Paranormal Activity (2007)
Oren Peli wrote, directed, edited and was the cinematographer for this massively successful, creepy low-budget flick. Like 'The Exorcist', 'Paranormal Activity' also has a huge amount of hype surrounding it, but this does no favours for either because some movie-goers are then disappointed, as they expect far too much from what would otherwise be considered great films.

The story takes place in the house of Katie (Katie Featherstone) and Micah (Micah Sloat) (Peli's own house in real life), presenting itself as 'found footage', and was filmed entirely with a handheld camera in order to make it appear more realistic. The couple begin experiencing some minor strange happenings and Katie believes that it is a spirit that has haunted her since childhood causing the disruptions. The couple then contact a psychic for help and he suggests that rather than a spirit, it's a demon that is attached to Katie. He suggests that the two of them should contact a demonologist that he recommends and that they should not provoke or interact with with demon. However, Micah instead decides to set up a camera in their bedroom at night, when the majority of the activity happens, in order to catch the entity's prescence on film. Just as the psychic said it would, the interaction with the demon seems to enrage it, and Katie begins showing more and more severe signs of possession. The couple then try to contact the demonologist, but are unable to reach him and must try to deal with the situation themselves.

More to come in parts 2 & 3!

Trailers for 'The Shining', 'The Evil Dead', 'The Exorcist' and 'Paranormal Activity' after the cut↓