Horror

V/H/S

/ / Home Video
  • Title: V/H/S
  • IMDB: link

vhs-blu-rayLike most short film anthologies V/H/S is something of a mixed bag. Structured around a story of a group of criminals hired to retrieve a videotape from what they believe is an empty house, the group of thieves stumble upon the owner’s dead body and an insane collection of videotapes each with a different found-footage-style horror tale captured on film.

As the robbers search and plunder the house for what they’ve been sent to find, along with anything else of value they can steal, one member of the group starts browsing through five of the tapes giving us our five separate horror shorts.

In “Amateur Night” a group of frat boys attempting to make their own amateur sex tape get far more than they expected when one of the women (Hannah Fierman) they pick has a violent episode as the camera starts to roll. Although the set-up is far too long, the payoff works well and Fierman is certainly capable as coming off as creepy as hell on-screen when called upon.

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Fatale #10

/ / Comics

fatale-10-coverFatale‘s second arc comes to a close as Miles retrieves a sacred book from the the cult as Josephine’s home is invaded by Hansel and his inner circle who find a Josephine far more eager (and able) to fight than the last time they crossed paths.

The final issue works very well in tying up several loose ends, despite being more than a little melancholy as both Josephine’s recent former lovers meet tragic ends over the course of the comic. Miles dies in the cult’s invasion of Josephine’s home and Nicholas Lash begins a long prison stint for murder and, to his horror, discovers what happened to his uncle’s missing manuscript.

They comic ends the first ten issues of the series with a bang and leaves plenty of room for more stories and a new direction as Josephine’s admission to Miles about her effect on men seems to free her in a way that may not only be dangerous for Hanzel and his friends but whoever may cross her path next. Must-read.

[Image, $3.50]

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Here’s a little rant about Jack & Diane

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Jack & Diane
  • IMDB: link

jack-and-diane-posterJack & Diane, sadly unrelated to John Mellencamp’s 1982 hit, is a regrettable piece of filmmaking. It’s regrettable that writer/director Bradley Rust Gray wasted four years trying to get the film made. It’s regrettable that young actresses Juno Temple and Riley Keough are wasted in thankless roles. And it’s regrettable for anyone who has to sit through what is arguably the worst film released in theaters this year.

The story centers around teenagers Diane (Temple) and Jack (Keough) who meet and share a rather tepid and unremarkable romance over the course of a summer. Gray intersperses the emotional and sexual aspects of their relationship with horror imagery meant to underlie the animalistic nature of their attraction (which we see little evidence of on-screen).

Gray’s metaphor is ill-defined and sophomoric at best. The only positive to the various scenes involving monsters, growing hair, and various pulsating internal organs is a welcome relief from the relative boredom of the rest of the movie.

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Here’s a little rant about Jack & Diane Read More »

Fatale #9

/ / Comics

fatale-9-coverAfter Suzy is captured and comes to an unfortunate (but not completely unexpected) end, Josephine and Miles come up with a new plan to use the film stolen from the cult to draw them out into the open.

Miles struggles with how different his life has become since meeting Josephine and his inability to fear or grieve for Suzy in the right way. Hansel’s displeasure grows at the death of Suzy and the end to his link to Josephine and his revenge. As Hansel prostrates himself for forgiveness from his god, Josephine and Miles attend a swank Hollywood party where they put their plan into play.

I expected the cult would be making their move in this issue, but even if writer Ed Brubaker has drawn out events a little longer than originally planned (the twelve issue series could now number more than twenty when all is said and done), the continued look at these characters, particularly Miles who has begun to question what is happening to him, is well done. Worth a look.

[Image, $3.50]

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Batman Adventures / Scooby Doo Halloween Fest

/ / Comics

bataman-scooby-halloween-freeOne of the free Halloween comics this year Batman Adventures / Scooby Doo Halloween Fest reprints stories from both comics. From Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #2 we get the Scooby Gang investigating the appearance of aliens at the Grand Canyon.

We also get a pair of short Batman stories from Batman Adventures #1 featuring a short origin of the hero and Batman taking down the Cavalier and Batman outwitting Hassan, a member of the League of Assassins, into revealing the location of Ra’s al Ghul from part of that story originally printed in Batman Adventures #4.

If you can still find this it’s worth picking up. The Batman stories work better for me than the Scooby-Doo one which feels a little forced with Velma’s lecturing about the importance of the Grand Canyon. However, I do give it credit for staying true to Scooby-Doo’s original premise that all bizarre happenings have a real-life (not alien or mystical) cause. Worth a look.

[DC, FREE]

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