Horror

Priest

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Priest
  • IMDB: link

priest-blurayIn the dystopian future ruled by the Church most of the world is a wasteland after centuries of battle between humans and vampires. The film opens with the last of these battles as the Church’s best warriors, known simply as Priests, set out to destroy the last hive of vampires. They are victorious, but only at the cost of losing one of their own (Karl Urban).

The film skips an undetermined amount of time into the future when the Priests have been disbanded and all vampires are believed dead. An attack on his brother’s home on the edge of the wasteland sends one Priest (Paul Bettany), against the Church’s orders on a hunt to rescue his niece (Lily Collins).

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Fright Night

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Fright Night (2011)
  • IMDB: link

fright-night-posterWith one or two exceptions, I’m not usually one for vampire stories. Sure I have some fondness to cheesy flicks from my childhood such as Love at First Bite and Once Bitten, but for the most part vampire movies leave me cold. So when I find one I enjoy I’m pleasantly surprised.

An exception to my disinterest to the genre is Joss Whedon‘s TV-series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel. It’s probably not a coincidence that I enjoyed Buffy writer Marti Noxon‘s fresh take on 1985’s Fright Night. I’ll also freely admit it doesn’t hurt that the movie co-stars Doctor Who‘s David Tennant.

The remake streamlines the plot of the original film and kicks into high gear much earlier as high school student Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) discovers his new neighbor Jerry (Colin Farrell) is not only a vampire but responsible for the death of several of his classmates in the Las Vegas suburb including his missing friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). (A fact that is revealed to the audience, Charlie, and his friends, much earlier than in the original).

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Red State

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Red State
  • IMDB: link

red-state-posterI’ve been saying for years I wanted to see Kevin Smith try something different. With Red State, the writer/director attempts to create a horror film based loosely on the Westboro Baptist Church. It’s a departure of sorts (Smith still finds a way to slide in his usual assortment of dick jokes), and even if its not entirely successful, Red State does have its moments.

The film centers around the fictional Five Points Church led by the charismatic Reverend Abin Cooper (based on Fred Phelps and played by Michael Parks). No longer content to just protest at funerals of homosexuals, Cooper and his brethren have begun entrapping and executing those who they see as a blight on their community.

In true teen sex comedy fasion Red State begins with the lustful dreams of three teens (Michael Angarano, Kyle Gallner, Nicholas Braun), but, after more than a few twists and turns, ends with a shoot-out between the ATF and the Five Points Church.

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Buffy the Vampire Season Eight #40

/ / Comics

Buffy Season Eight has been an adventure. Almost twice as long as its original intended length, the story has meandered a bit on its way to giving us some great (and less than great) moments over the course of 40 issues.

The conclusion of “Last Gleaming” finds the Buffy and the Scoobies alive (with one big exception), but trapped in a world without magic. The world was saved both from a demon horde and the creation of a new reality but the line of Slayers has been severed as has any connection witches like Willow had with magic.

As final issues go this one’s not half-bad. I grew a little weary of Season Eight, especially when Twilight was revealed to be Angel and he and Buffy started going hot and heavy again. Thankfully, this final issue gives us an end free of the insanity that plagued the final ten issues of this season.

This feels like Buffy again, and sets down the events that lead to Fray as well as foreshadow the fallout which is sure to come in Season Nine (set to begin this summer).

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Black Swan

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Black Swan
  • IMDB: link

Darren Aronofsky is a weird dude. Talented, but weird. The latest from the director who has given us The Fountain, Pi, and Reqiuem for a Dream is a journey into madness. Black Swan, his companion piece to The Wrestler, examines the the insular world of ballet through the tormented mind of a rising star.

Nina (Natalie Portman), a sheltered but talented ballet dancer, is on the cusp of stardom after being chosen by a demanding director (Vincent Cassel) for the lead role in his new interpretation of Swan Lake. The pressure of the role added to the smothering affection of an over-attentive mother (Barbara Hershey), and the arrival of a talented new dancer (Mila Kunis) begin to fracture Nina’s world as she starts to have experiences that cannot be rationally explained. These include, but are not limited to, hallucinations of strange bird-like creatures, seeing herself on the street, a growing paranoia, and an odd rash on her back as well as fingers which bleed without cause. No one else notices what is happening to her.

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