The Brood (1977) dir. David Cronenberg
I feel like a bad horror fan for never having seen this -- Selana

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@psevilpodcast
The Brood (1977) dir. David Cronenberg
I feel like a bad horror fan for never having seen this -- Selana
Hey guys, if you didn't set your clock back before you went to bed on the 31st, remember you get an extra hour of sleep Sunday! #fallback
106: Patrick + Selana VS The Evil Dead
In this episode of Patrick + Selana VS Evil, our intrepid hosts battle the forces of Deadites as they discuss the Evil Dead franchise.
Ace listener, @AsHeardInNYC calls us out for not mentioning Trollhunter in our found footage episode, and offers to join us on our eventual search for the Jersey Devil whenever Selana gets out to visit Patrick. In a bit of foreshadowing for our planned Januay episode, X-Files comes up. It's still streaming on Netflix BTW, so if you want to watch or rewatch before the new miniseries drops, GET ON IT!
Patrick brags about his trip to Universal Orlando for Hollywood Horror Nights and the show almost breaks up when he proclaims the Wizarding World of Harry Potter to be better than Disneyland.
We finally get to the actual topic of conversation for the night, and bust open a can of whoop-ass all over the Evil Dead franchise. Our resident guru waxes poetic about the inside stories and behind the scenes tidbits. We ponder whether 2013's Evil Dead was a remake, a retelling, or a story from a parallel universe (that also has Sam Raimi's car in it???).
Selana takes it down a notch and has a Very Special Message for our listeners about the Hellraiser series of movies and whether or not you should watch them all (#dont), and we both birdwalk all over the place, discussing Patrick's son's Halloween costume plan (the demon from Sinister) and whether or not Selana is staying home again with her cats and her laptop.
We finally wrap it up and talk about Selana's newest obsession, The Black Tapes podcast, and Patrick's recommendation for the weird, undead-but-not-zombies movie, Cemetery Man.
Next time we chat, it'll be a mid-season finale wrap up of season 6 of The Walking Dead (Is [REDACTED] really [REDACTED]???!! What happens when [REDACTED] comes to Alexandria??) and a discussion of Fear the Walking Dead (which Selana will have to binge on in between studying linear equations and polynomials and graphing, oh my!).
And remember kids, don't read books wrapped in barbed wire and claiming to be cursed, and also don't press play on a tape player in an abandoned cabin!
Credits Hosted by: Patrick Krause and Selana Dawn Edited by: Selana Dawn Researched by: Patrick Krause Uploaded to: Podomatic Extra Love to: Diabolik DVD, Scream Factory Intro Track: Halloween - Souxie & The Banshees Outro Track: Reel to reel from Evil Dead
TALES OF HALLOWEEN (2015)
Directed by: Darren Bousman (The Night Billy Raised Hell); Axelle Carolyn (Grimm Grinning Ghost); Adam Gierasch (Trick); Andrew Kasch & Paul Solet (This Means War); Neil Marshall (Bad Seed); Lucky McKee (Ding Dong); Mike Mendez (Friday the 31st); Ryan Schifrin (The Ransom of Rusty Rex); Paul Solet (The Weak and the Wicked)
Screenplay: Axelle Carolyn (Grimm Grinning Ghost); Andrew Kasch & John Skipp (This Means War); Neil Marshall (Bad Seed); Lucky McKee (Ding Dong); Mike Mendez (Friday the 31st); Parker (Sweet Tooth); Ryan Schifrin (The Ransom of Rusty Rex); Clint Sears (The Night Billy Raised Hell)
Starring: Lin Shaye, Ben Woolf, Adrienne Barbeau, Sam Witmer, Barbara Crampton and a host of great talent!
TALES OF HALLOWEEN was released on VOD and in theaters in October of 2015. TALES is an anthology film that loosely interweaves ten short horror stories all set on the same Halloween night and connected by a radio host voiced by horror movie icon Adrienne Barbeau.
I love anthology films, from CREEPSHOW to TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE to V/H/S to TRICKāR TREAT. Horror is a great platform for short stories, they just work. Some of the best stories Stephen King has written are in his short story anthologies.
Originally posted by halloweenhorrorsqueen
Unfortunately, TALES OF HALLOWEEN falls a bit short of the mark despite all the talent involved in putting this project together. My sense is that they were going for an EC Comics / Tales From the Crypt vibe, with outlandish stories that hit the viewer with a macabre twist ending. Most of the ten segments fail on the promise of each premise. They all have a pretty good set up, are executed well, but fails when it comes to delivering that powerful last blow.
The movie starts off well with āSweet Tooth,ā a story about a babysitter and her boyfriend who tell tale of a boy who was denied his Halloween candy by his parents and now haunts the neighborhood for candy. In hindsight, this should have been the bumper story throughout the movie. The babysitter and her boyfriend, telling Halloween tales to the kid theyāre watching and the payoff to their own Halloween story coming at the very end of the movie.
As with many anthologies, there are some strong segments like āSweet Tooth,ā āThe Night Billy Raised Hell,ā āFriday the 31st,ā and āThe Ransom of Rusty Rexā and weaker segments that donāt satisfy. With ten segments, the weaker ones stand out all the more. With ten segments, the weaker ones stand out all the more.
If TALES OF HALLOWEEN had cut their segments from ten to four or five, with a strong bumper story that ties everything together, I believe this collection would have been much stronger. The segments would have had more time to let their stories breathe, and deliver that macabre twist ending that makes horror fans glee with delight.
Having Adrienne Barbeau play a local DJ was a nice nod to her role as Stevie in JOHN CARPENTERāS THE FOG, but her part needed a bit more crypt keeper added to her sultry ruminations on Halloween.
I hope that the producers come back to this concept next year. Thereās a lot of promise in this anthology series, and it can be improved upon. TALES OF HALLOWEEN is a fun anthology, that doesnāt take too many chances. It makes for a good rental on an October night, but wonāt leave a lasting impression.
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Beware of what lies beneath the red clay of Crimson Peak.
Tumblr Creatr Lily Padula depicts the secrets Edith discoversā¦
CRIMSON PEAK. In Theaters this Friday. Buy tickets now.
Oh boy oh boy oh boy! I need to see this so bad!!!! --Selana
Camp Blood Recap
This past weekend (Aug 28th and 29th) my son Jacob and I attended the Camp Blood, 2-Night event at Mahoning Drive-In Theater in Lehighton, PA. Ā Before I do the recap of events, here are links to the drive-in website and their partner for this event, Exhumed Films. Check out their site for upcoming events.
FYI: Ā Exhumed Films runs shows in Philadelphia at the International House on Chestnut Street, and partners with theaters in New York and Philly to showcase horror and cult movies.
The Camp Blood event is a 2-night drive-in and camping experience with a screening of six summer camp themed horror films. Night one showed FRIDAY THE 13TH, FRIDAY THE 13TH: PART 2 and FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE FINAL CHAPTER (PART 4). Night two showed SLEEPAWAY CAMP, MADMAN and RITUALS (aka THE CREEPER).
(Mahoning Drive-In road sign ā b&w filter for that old timey look)
Night One (Aug 28)
Jacob and I packed up my car with a tent, sleeping bags, food and lawn chairs and headed on the 1.5 hour drive to Lehighton, PA. We met some Friday rush hour traffic on the way that made it more like 2 hours, but we arrived around 6:45, about 15 minutes before the camp events were scheduled to start. Mahoning Drive-In was already pretty filled with people there for the one night and the campers. There is a section of the drive-in that is meant for campers (behind the refreshment building).
We found a spot just off center, to the left, of the giant movie screen and began to set up our small camp site. By the time we were done, the ācamp counselorsā were calling people to the area under the screen to begin the camp games. Some of the staff of Exhumed Films and Mahoning were dressed as camp counselors, one was dressed as Ginny from F13:2 and two were dressed as Jason from F13:2 and Jason that was a bit more monster looking (from later in the series, maybe from the reboot movie).
(āGinny,ā Jacob and F13:2 Jason Voorhees)
After settling in, Jacob and I headed over to the events area to see what was happening. First was the body-bag race, which is a potato sack race but in ābody bagsā and chased by Jason with his weapon of choice. It was fun to watch the racers, and the event was eventually won by a camper dubbed āBacon guyā for his wonderful Kevin Bacon t-shirt.
The second event was the 3-legged race. Teams of two partners with their arms over each otherās shoulders and two legs tied together. Again, the racers were chased by Jason, but this time if he caught a team that was too slow or had fallen, that team was ādead.ā Unfortunately I was laughing way too hard to catch who won the race.
The third event was the squishy eyeball catch, which was fresh eggs with eyeballs painted on them. Another classic and fun event, and we had a ball watching the teams try and catch their eggs. No one had an egg thrown at them though for the purposes of having it break on purpose. Oh well. The winner of this event was the son of Bacon guy! They dominated the nightās events.
The fourth and final event, which Jacob participated in, was the slasher movie grudge match tug-of-war! The idea was that each team represented one F13 movie, and the winning team gave bragging rights to the fans of that movie. Or something like that. This time Jacob jumped in to play. There were 20 players and sides were selected by each player selecting between F13:2 and F13:TFC. Jacob was on THE FINAL CHAPTER team. Ā The TFC team was anchored by monster Jason and F13:2 was anchored by potato sack Jason. Ā At the start it seemed each team was equal in strength, but soon enough the TFC team pulled (literally) out the victory and to the victors a coupon for a bag of free popcorn.
(The winning team photo ā it was getting dark at this point ā our Jason in the middle)
Thereās a bit of a break before the movies started, so we made our way to the refreshment building where Mahoning and Exhumed Films were selling two event specific items. A Camp Blood poster and a Camp Blood shirt! I was able to snag one of the last posters for Jacob, but the shirts were gone!
(Shirt design on top ā poster on bottom)
Then it was time for the first movie, the original FRIDAY THE 13TH, uncut and in full 35mm glory. Jacob and I had popcorn, and for his very first time, a corn dog. Quite honestly there are few things better than a corn dog. Jacob tapped out after the screening of Part 2, which ended around 1 a.m., and he crashed in the tent. The temps were dropping into the low to mid-40s, but I was wrapped up in my sleeping bag and sitting in my lawn chair. TFC ended around 3 a.m. and I was covered in dew. I closed up the car, turned off the radio and hit the tent for much needed sleep.
We woke up around 7:30 to a quiet camp ground, but other campers were beginning to stir. We decided to hit up a local restaurant for breakfast. The family restaurant served country breakfast specials, which is a rarity where I live so I happily ordered country fried steak with sausage gravy. Jacob was a little puzzled by the sausage gravy and he just went for a traditional omelet.
Night Two (Aug 29)
Back to the camp we went to prepare for Night 2. Ā We cleaned up our site and my car a bit, talked about the previous night and just relaxed. Later we hit the local town to see
SINISTER 2
, which was good, and pick up some supplies. We got back just before the theater officially opened. We had decided not to sleep on site for the 2nd night, so we broke down our tent and settled in.
Then we got a surprise. In celebration of the screening of the slasher flick MADMAN, Mahoning and Exhumed had arranged for special guests for a meet and greet. Ā MADMAN star Paul Ehlers (Madman Marz), along with actor Michael Sullivan (Dippy) and producer/writer Gary Sales. My sidekick didnāt accompany me this time, so I was unable to grab a photo with them, but I got this one as I waited in line. Paul, Michael and Gary were the nicest possible guys. They were engaging and friendly with all the fans, answered every question, always had a smile on their face, talked movies, etc. Paul and Michael even commented on my DEAD ALIVE shirt which lead to a conversation about Peter Jackson movies.
(Michael on L and Paul on R signing for fans ā my signed MADMAN blu ray!)
Full disclosure: I had never seen MADMAN before the screening at the drive-in. But I ended up really liking the movie after seeing it. Certainly can see the limitations of the budget in the lack of gore, but the story had a nice set up and a good monster/killer in Madman Marz. If youāve seen the
HATCHET
Ā movies, you can see that there is definitely some influence of MADMAN on that series. Due to the meet and greet, I missed out on the camp event games, but they were the same as the night before. We settled in to watch the nightās three movies, which were:
SLEEPAWAY CAMP
MADMAN
RITUALS (aka THE CREEPER)
More full disclosure: Jacob and I tapped out after MADMAN, which ended a little after 1:00 a.m. We had a long drive home ahead of us, so we left before the screening of RITUALS.
The Camp Blood event was a huge success for the theater, and there is discussion to hold a Camp Blood 2 event. Not sure if they mean for this season or for next summer. Ā Iām not sure if camping at the drive-in is feasible as the temps continue to lower as we get into the Fall season. Ā Having said that, if the event is for this season and it isnāt the weekend that Jacob and I are in Florida for Universal Horror Nights, we will be at the event! We had a blast at this event, and based on the comments the theater got on Facebook, all the other guests had a great time as well. Ā It was fun to be among other horror movie fans, talking films and horror icons, seeing what other people were wearing (shirts or costumes). Next time I will take more pictures. For now, weāre looking at returning to Mahoning for their EVIL DEAD 2 / NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD double feature, and then itās off to Florida for some horror fun at Universal Horror Nights.
If youāre in the PA, NJ, Delaware area, the Mahoning Drive-In is worth checking out. Great movie events and the staff at the theater are all friendly and amazing people.
>Patrick<
āHorror films donāt create fear, they release it.ā ā Wes Craven
Patrick + Selana VS Evil: Remembering Wes Craven
The world of horror lost a legend on August 31, 2015. We got together to chat about the impact Wes Craven had on our lives, as well as the genre in general.
(art source)
We Are Still Here (2015) | Ted Geoghegan
This really caught my eye, so I went googling and found this trailer!
This looks fantastic!! In even better news, itās apparently selling pre-ordered blu-rays DIRT CHEAPĀ over on Amazon!
>Selana<
The Problem With CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST
Selana and I (Patrick) are busy preparing to record out next episode of the āPatrick + Selana vs. Evilā podcast, in which we will be tackling the subject of found footage movies. As part of getting familiar with the found footage format, Iāve been trying to watch as many horror movies as possible that use that format or the mockumentary style. Iāve mostly stayed away from re-watching movies from the past that Iāve seen years ago, but I felt it was appropriate to watch the found footage godfather, CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. To be up front about this subject, Selana has not watched the movie, but neither have most of my friends. Itās a legend, something whispered about, and held in a kind of awe due to the controversy surround the film. CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST was banned in multiple countries (producers claim over 50), the film makers were arrested under suspicion that they had filmed the murder of actors and, of course, they were charged with animal cruelty. But I had seen it, back in the days before the internet. I watched the movie on a VHS tape, a copy of a copy of a copy; handed down from someoneās friend to a cousin to a brother to a friend of a friend to me. It was, as promised, the most disturbing movie I had seen at the time. Re-watching it now, on blu ray, it loses none of its power to repulse and disturb and enrage. Hereās the thing though; the feelings that it elicits from its audience are appropriate and not to be shied away from. A film, especially in horror, offers no promise to the audience that he or she will come out unscathed. Thereās no wink or handshake that says you will walk away from a movie happy or feeling enlightened for watching it. Some movies are mean and dirty, and when you walk away from the movie you may feel very negative feelings. When I watch CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST I honestly want to shower after. I still believe that is a good thing. Art, in any form, promises no specific reaction from its audience it simply allows the possibility of having a reaction. Having said that, I find that I cannot follow through on of the very first idea I had for the podcast. My girlfriend of just over one year, April, told me that she was not a fan of horror or violent movies. I simply nodded and said she should watch this great show on HBO called āGame of Thrones.ā April watched it and loves the show. There are few shows on television as violent and rapey as āGame of Thrones,ā so Iām naturally thinking that the show has become a gateway to watch horror films. Then the idea hit me to introduce her to CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST and live-tweet her reactions to the movie. This, to me, seemed like a great idea and a way to mine humor out of having a non-horror movie fan watching one of the most controversial films ever made. After re-watching CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, Iāve come to the realization that I cannot ask her to sit through the movie. The movie is so raw, so gritty, soā¦real, that it would be wrong of me to ask her to sit through a screening of it even if we watched the movie with the animal cruelty scenes removed (an option on the Grindhouse Releasing blu ray). Beyond that decision, Iāve also suggested to Selana, my wonderful co-host, that she should probably steer clear of CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST as well. Are we going to talk about it in the episode? Yes, it will be discussed. Itās impossible to talk about found footage movies and not talk about CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. However, we can talk about it from the viewpoint of someone who has seen it multiple times (me!) and from the viewpoint of someone who has no interest in being exposed to the images in CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. One of the pleasures of being a fan of something is introducing that something to a whole new audience. But Iāve also learned, over the years, that sometimes a line needs to be drawn on what should be shown. The better you know a person, the better youāll be able to feel out what is and is not appropriate. Get out there and fly your horror flag proudly, and introduce wisely to get your friends, families, loved ones hooked. Right nowā¦I have to keep my 15 year old son from watching CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. Now that heās heard how graphic it is and that itās been banned in several countries, he wants to watch it. Of course he doesā¦because thatās why I wanted to watch it when I was 15.
Whenever I hear my own voice in a recording, it just makes me want to apologize to everyone that Iāve ever spoken to.
This is why I hate editing our podcast.
Episode 4: Patrick + Selana VS Kevin Smith
This time, our intrepid podcasters take on the king of podcasting himself, Kevin Smith, and his foray into the world of horror.
First, we talk about Selana's weekend at San Diego Comic Con, where she works every year at Stuart Ng Books, met a monster zine creator, sold books to JJ Abrams and asked Guillermo Del Toro to call Patrick. Then, listen to Selana's live reaction to the Ash vs The Evil Dead trailer, as she missed seeing that during con.
Then Patrick subscribes to Shudder, a horror streaming service, and Selana gets wistful about eventually whoring the podcast out for free horror stuff.
Have you listened to episode 3 where we talked for almost 2 hours and recapped all of The Walking Dead's season 5? Go! Go listen now!! No one had anything to say about it, so we had no one to talk about when discussing the last episode.
Finally, we get into the meat of the episode, talking about Kevin Smith and his two "horror" movies. Patrick recaps Kevin's career briefly, and mentions what became the genesis of Red State. Then they break down Tusk. We both decide we love Micheal Parks, though we disagree on Kevin's success.
Selana manages to squeeze in a shoutout to Eli Roth and drools over his upcoming return to the director's chair with Green Inferno.
Patrick gives the movie The Sacrament some love, because he's good at sticking with the theme, and Selana tells you to watch Absentia, because it was really unexpected and she's not so good at sticking with the theme.
Lastly, we throw some love to @ChillThrillNews that contacted us about @Inkitt's writing contest that's still going on, and Patrick makes Selana jealous over the awesome Mahonig Drive In Theater's upcoming Camp Blood series at the end of August.
We are still drooling over our new logo. Go check out Surrender Art&Design. Also, subscribe to us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Podomatic. Talk to us on Facebook, here on Tumblr, or on Twitter!
Until next time, fight bravely listeners!
Click here if the player above doesn't work for you and you want to listen in your browser!
We Are Still HERE!
Hello!Ā Patrick here, using a painfully outdated internet explorer to tell you, our loyal fans, that we ARE still here and flying the flag of horror.Ā But, as Dr. Malcom so rightly pointed out, life gets in the way (paraphrased).
After our very long and detail filled Walking Dead episode of our podcast, life happened.Ā If you check out our Facebook page and Twitter accounts, we are fairly active there, and are planning our next podcast recording.
We are planning a Kevin Smith episode for our fourth episode, and will concentrate on his forays into horror, RED STATE and TUSK
In addition to that, here on the East Coast of the states, I plan to attend more Exhumed Films events, and other NJ/PA/NY horror events when possible
We also have a new, very cool, logo, which we'll update on Tumblr once I figure out how to update.Ā The problem may be that I'm using a painfully outdated IE, which limits my options.Ā Even posting this straight text is a horror movie unto itself.
Having said that, I'm going to sign off for now by advising that you hit up your VOD and find the movie WE ARE STILL HERE. It is a fantastic horror movie that captures a lot of what made so much 70s and Italian horror movies so great.Ā Don't miss out on WE ARE STILL HERE!
It's off to Patrick for approval and if he's okay with my editing, we'll be posting it!
Guess what!!! You can now subscribe to us on iTunes!!! We're legit podcasters! We've made it into Apple's "walled garden"!!!! https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/patrick-+-selana-versus-evil/id961294430 #subscribetous #isthisreallife
It's up! It's live! I don't have enough exclamation points to express my excitement!!!
ANNABELLE - The movie review
Here is my review of the movie ANNABELLE, but first let me remove all the creepy dolls from the room. ANNABELLE Director: John R. Leonetti Starring: Ward Horton, Annabelle Wallis and Alfre Woodard Grade: C Before I get this review underway there are two points Iād like to bring up. The first is that I am not a huge fan of horror movie prequel/origin stories, and I went into the screening of ANNABELLE with that prejudice, but I donāt believe it clouded my overall view of the film. The other point is that I would like to discuss my biggest disappointment in the movie, the ending. Obviously, this will be spoilerific, so I will write my review and follow that up with a look at the filmās story and the ending we were given. ANNABELLE is the prequel to the James Wan hit movie THE CONJURING, in which audiences were introduced to the demonically possessed doll, Annabelle. While THE CONJURING has an introductory scene that introduces the doll and the married, paranormal investigation duo, The Warrens, the audience never learns why the doll is evil or where it came from. ANNABELLE gives us that story. The problem I have, generally, with monster origin stories is that they tend to lift the veil on what makes the scary monster evil or monstrous. Most times, all it does is remove the very thing, the aura so to speak, that made the monster scary. In the case of ANNABELLE, that is not the problem as the doll is given a well designed origin that doesnāt betray what we know from THE CONJURING. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie doesnāt hold up its end of the bargain. Mia and John Gordon is a young married couple in love and about to have their first baby. Mia is a collector of vintage dolls, and on the same night in 1969 that a newscast reveals the crimes of the Manson family, she is given the doll we know as Annabelle as a gift from her husband John. On that same night, cultists have come to town with murderous intent and as weāve seen from the trailers, one of them is killed and bleeds onto the doll, seemingly attaching her ghostly essence/evil to it. Soon after these events strange things begin to occur, and as anyone would after a horrific experience where people are killed and blood splatters the walls, the Gordonās decide itās best to move out of the house. Coincidentally John, who is a medical student, needs to move into the city to be near his first residence assignment. It all works out in the end, right? The Gordonās move into an apartment building and itās here that ANNABELLE attempts to evoke some imagery from ROSEMARYāS BABY. While capturing the visual element of a tall, somewhat secluded, claustrophobic apartment building; ANNABELLE does not attempt to take advantage of that by actually secluding Mia and her newborn baby. In fact, the problem is that Mia has all the support in the world for what sheās going through because moving from the house doesnāt stop the paranormal activity, it seems to intensify them. This is where one of the main issues, for me, comes in. The movie should focus on secluding Mia from everyone emotionally as well as physically. Itās not enough that her husband works long hours because he is, quite literally, the most awesome husband ever. Earlier in the movie he correctly points out, very nicely, that starting a residence at the same time their first baby is about to be born causes some stress. He apologizes to his upset wife for stating the obvious! Whenever Mia needs help, John is there by her side in a flash. When Mia reveals to John, her priest and the bookstore owner she meets near the apartment building, that she is being haunted and that itās probably the doll, everyone believes her. No one thinks sheās crazy, no one doubts her story, and there is only one mention of post partum depression which is quickly apologized for and forgotten. Mia has the greatest support team in horror movie history. Eventually we learn what Annabelle is after, and that Mia has decisions to make to possibly end the visitation by Annabelle. Unfortunately, the wrong decisions are made and the ending does not serve the story. It feels like we were given a āhappyā ending. In this type of movie, where we know what happens to Annabelle, I think the writers/director have some freedom to tell a horror story where there isnāt a pleasing or happy ending (Iāll get into this more later). The acting is very good; the Gordonās are a believable happily married couple. Father Perez, as the family priest, is unremarkable as a character. The bookstore owner, Evelyn, is an added support for Mia but has little to do in the movie until the very end. The film is well shot, but there is a feeling of been there, done that. The music, the solid ghosts that reside in the background then quickly appear in the foreground, itās a very James Wan formula type of movie. While I understand staying with the aesthetic that was introduced in THE CONJURING, the movie comes off as James Wan lite, to its detriment. There are some effective jump scares, but the best ones were mostly revealed in the trailers leading up to the movieās release. Overall, ANNABELLE is a solid possessed doll movie, though there are a few plot holes and the ending takes the teeth out of the sense of terror in the story. Now about that ending...Itās time to get into the meat of the story and why the ending of ANNABELLE doesnāt serve the story. So, here is your SPOILER warning. Turn back now if you have not seen ANNABELLE. Letās get some of the particulars of the story out of the way before we get to the happy ending. Annabelle, we learn, is possessed by a demon that was called upon by the murdering cult couple from the beginning of the movie, and it is revealed that this demon is craving a pure (i.e. innocent) soul to consume. Obviously, the purest soul is Mia and Johnās newborn and super adorable baby. The haunting activity that happens is all designed to get that babyās soul. We later learn that a soul cannot be taken by the demon; it has to be offered to it. Problem #1: When Mia learns that the demon canāt take a soul unless itās willingly given, that turns the demon haunting into a giant long-term temper tantrum. The demon wonāt/canāt kill the baby or Mia, because that would mean their souls are not available. That means Annabelle spends its time playing records, throwing stuff around, making banging noises and pretending to scratch and scar Mia. But, essentially, Annabelle has no real power over Mia because⦠Problem #2: Everyone is so awesome and supportive. There arenāt too many characters in the movie, but they all believe her claims that Annabelle is haunted or possessed, and that she is the target of these haunting. Where is the doubting character, the laugh in her face character, where is the isolation?! If youāre going to mimic ROSEMARYāS BABY apartment building seclusion, then you need to mimic the emotional isolation. Itās not enough that John works late hours, he has to be unavailable and callous to her description of the events inside the apartment. He canāt just be physically unavailable; he has to be emotionally unavailable. Heās already admitted heās under pressure. Now the baby is there, heās off on a residence for long hours and his wife is claiming that she and the baby are being attacked by a possessed doll. For the ending to work, for the decision that has to be made to work, Mia must be cut off from that support, because⦠Problem #3: Mia has bookstore owner, Evelyn. Letās be clear, Evelyn being supportive and believing Mia isnāt the problem. The problem is that Evelyn is so obviously a red shirt. Alfre Woodard, because sheās a great actress, imbues Evelyn with a grace and sadness that goes beyond the script. Alfre elevates her part in the movie, but can only do so much becauseā¦red shirt. Evelyn being a red shirt is a problem because⦠Problem #4: That ending sucked. All the haunting, all the reveals and all the red shirting done by Evelyn leads to Miaās choice given to her by Annabelle. She can, as a mother, offer her baby up to get rid of the demonic activity or offer her own soul in exchange for the life of her baby. So Mia has two choices, both of which are horrific but for the purpose of this movie and the audience, totally awesome and serves the story. Ending possibility #1: Mia kills her super cute baby, giving the babyās soul to Annabelle and sending the demon on its way, sated. This is obviously the most horrific ending, and I would never expect a Hollywood studio horror movie to end with a mother killing her baby to save herself. A little over the top perhaps, but it would have been a jaw dropping end to a movie that clearly needed, and deserved, a horrific ending. Ending possibility #2: Mia sacrifices herself in place of her baby. Mia canāt simply proclaim her own soul forfeit to the demon; she has to commit suicide to give her soul over. While teased, this is the ending that should have happened. The baby is saved, and thatās great. But Mia is dead; her husband in shatters, Annabelle has destroyed a family AND has a fresh soul to consume. Annabelle is an awful and horrific doll demon and deserves to be locked in the Warrenās basement for all time. This ending could have happened if Mia had been emotionally secluded and without a supportive husband or neighbors. This works because we know Annabelle goes on to haunt someone else and ends up in the Warrenās basement. The evil does not NEED to be defeated. Sometimes evil wins, itās ok to show that. Real ending: Evelyn takes Miaās place, and offers her own soul for the demon to take. The movie teases Mia killing herself, but John is there to save her. Of course he is because heās a super awesome husband who is always there to save and support his wife. While this should be applauded, this is a horror movie and being this awesome of a person just makes him a dick. While Mia and John console each other, Evelyn steps up and jumps to her death while holding Annabelle to satisfy the demonās need for a pure soul. Which begs a few questions. Does the demon not care whose soul it gets? Weāre told that the demon wants a pure soul, and that soul is either the babyās or Miaās. Why is Evelynās acceptable? If the demon doesnāt care whose soul it gets that kind of negates the weight of Miaās choice (even though she doesnāt go through with the suicide). She could have picked some homeless guy off the street, pushed the doll into his arms and pushed him out the window after filling him with enough booze to freely, albeit drunkenly, give up his soul. Having Evelyn, the red shirt, make the sacrifice brings us too⦠Problem #5: if Annabelle the demon wants a pure/innocent soul, how is Evelyn acceptable as a replacement for either Mia or the baby? Evelyn, as we learn earlier, attempted to commit suicide after the death of her own daughter. Doesnāt that attempt put a mark of non-innocence on her soul? This is where the ending doesnāt serve the story. Why would the demon accept Evelyn as a replacement soul for Mia or her baby. Thereās no reason to accept Evelyn at all, aside from the fact that the Gordonās survive the ordeal and can continue having a happy life free of any creepy demon dolls. As much as a movie that ends with a suicide can be, this is essentially a happy ending. The only characters we really care about, the Gordonās, survive and the red shirt dies. Aside from some minor complaints, I bought into ANNABELLE. As the movie crept closer to its ending and I started to think that maybe they would do one awful death to really shake up the audience, the rug is pulled out. ANNABELLE has the ingredients to be a great movie, but it didnāt quite nail the landing.
Wir Sind Alle Freaks
I have loved the show American Horror Story from the first episode. Itās had a few misses, and been problematic at times, but oh god, Iāve love it. So obviously, I am drooling over the premiere tonight! One thing I am really enjoying has been the featurettes on the different bodied actors they have cast in these roles. Super amazing and I hope that the show does right by these people and portrays them in as positive a light as possible!