Sinopse:
Jovens homens e mulheres sonham muitas vezes com um mundo inalcansavel, rico e ocioso. Wade, Richard, Hitomi, Holly e Lin sonham. Todos eles receberam por engano um convite para uma festa exclusiva que está sendo realizada por pessoas ricas e famosas. É a melhor festa de todas, um jogo de desejos se realiza e onde seus desejos mais profundos se materializam. Mas quando eles encontram o corpo de Richard brutalmente assassinado, o jogo de desejos se transforma em um jogo de assassinatos no qual eles são as vítimas torturadas para um rico público de sádicos espectadores. Sobreviver e escapar da festa agora é seu unico sonho.
Trailer:
Dados do Filme:
Título Original: Jue Ming Pai Dui
Gênero: Horror
Lançamento: 2009
País de Origem: Taiwan
Duração: 95 min
Direção: Kevin Ko
Elenco:
Kristian Brodie
Bryant Chang
Vivi Ho
Jerry Huang...President Yang
Joseph Ma
Maria Ozawa
Kao Yin-Hsuan
Dados do Arquivo:
Servidores: Uploading
Tamanho: 385MB,
Formato do arquivo: Rar
Formato do Video: Avi
Idioma do Audio: Português
Legenda: Não tem
Codec do video: XviD
Codec do audio: MP3
Resolução: 640 x 352
Taxa de frames: 23.976
Qualidade do Vídeo: DvdRip
Links dos arquivos:
Parte única Dublada - Aqui
Se quiser saber mais sobre os filmes de terror asiáticos e encontrar aquele filme tanto desejado nos visite no orkut “Japanese Horror Films”
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20101031
Acesso Restrito (2009)
20101029
A Guide to NYC Haunted Houses
Happy early Halloween! As everybody gets ready for Halloween on Sunday, if live in NYC (or are visiting) and you're in the mood to get your scare on this weekend, this is your guide for all the haunted houses in NYC.
I've reviewed 5 haunted houses and there were a couple I didn't get a chance to go to. But this is an all inclusive guide to give you options. Depending on your level of fear, you can pick from the list below. They all have their slight differences on getting you jumpy and frightened, but all, on some level will lead to a fun, good time.
In alphabetical order.....
1.) After Dark at Madame Tussauds (full review here)
Basic Premise: Located in Times Square, this is a tourist friendly haunted house that turns the famous wax museum into a terrifying haunted house attraction.
the jaded viewer says: "After Dark at Madame Tussauds pushes all the right buttons in scare-o-logy. An interactive blend of 4D William Castle Percepto accompanied by your standard walk through haunted house makes it doubley fun for all. Think Blair Witch meets Night at the Museum. It's a high quality production that echoes an attraction found at Universal Studios."
Where: 234 West 42nd St, between 7th & 8th Ave,
2.) Blood Manor (full review here)
Basic Premise: NYC's #1 haunted house attraction. It's got the rooms and the performers to get you jumping out of your socks.
the jaded viewer says: "It's like a freaky world into the macabre and what makes Halloween such a horrificly fun holiday.Before you dress up in your costume, see the professionals dress up in theirs."
Where: 542 West 27th Street
3.) Fear on 21st (no review, official site)
Basic Premise: An interactive guided tour through the bowels of a run down decrepit asylum for the criminally insane, about to be shut down.
the jaded viewer says: Not Reviewed.
Where: 12 West 21st Between 5th and 6th
4.) Hotel Savoy (no review, official site)
Basic Premise: "With its overlapping of Joseph Roth's novel, reality, and contemporary history, HOTEL SAVOY opens up a world between dream and reality in the history-laden and often unseen spaces of 1014 5th Avenue.
Visitors become guests in the empty hotel and encounter past employees: an elevator operator, a young maid, the hotel barber, the concierge, and a barmaid. These gatekeepers lead us into remote corners of the building, into unreal hotel rooms and real salons still haunted by spirits of past occupants.
Against the background of this surreal through-station for German exiles, visitors are faced with questions about their own heritage in these restless and unanchored times. Guests play the lead role in their brief stay at the Hotel Savoy."
the jaded viewer says: Not Reviewed.
Where:1014 5th Avenue
5.) Nightmare: Superstitions (full review here)
Basic Premise: One of the most unique haunted houses the city has to offer. This year's version has participants breaking superstitions while dealing with the consequences in an insane asylum.
the jaded viewer says: "Nightmare: Superstitions is an interactive experience full of pure, unrelenting dementia. You will come away feeling like you have racked up a million years of bad luck, but had fun doing it."
Where: 623 Broadway at Houston (enter on Mercer Street)
6.) Steampunk Haunted House (full review here)
Basic Premise: Performance art meets steampunk in this free roam haunted house where viewers see the inhabitants of a playhouse theater up close and personal.
the jaded viewer says: "Steampunk Haunted House is a walk through mesmerizing steampunk art with a ballet of neo-noir Agatha Christie surrealism. This is not your tweens or teens haunted house. It's up close and personal performance art set to breathtaking steampunk backdrops."
Where: 466 Grand Street, at the corner of Pitt Street, on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
7.) Trapped Purgatory (no review, official site)
Basic Premise: Green House Solutions, by the government has been officially quarantined and no admittance is allowed. There has been a chemical spill containing a highly hazardous toxin which caused various diseases and mutations. Some of these mutations have caused paranormal behavior for its victims; so take precaution and do not come close into close contact with this building.
the jaded viewer says: Not Reviewed.
Where: Green Side Up Nursery at 5050 Hylan Blvd, Staten Island, NY'
If you have any questions or comments about these haunted houses, you can tweet me a message @jadedviewer or leave a comment on my Facebook page.
Have fun and stay safe! Happy Halloween!
20101028
The Opening Credits and Theme of the Halloween Films
"I met him, fifteen years ago. I was told there was nothing left. No reason, no conscience, no understanding; even the most rudimentary sense of life or death, good or evil, right or wrong. I met this six-year-old child, with this blank, pale, emotionless face and, the blackest eyes... the *devil's* eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply... *evil*. "
The iconic opening theme of Halloween scared the crap out of me as a kid. Every time I listen to it, it gives me goosebumps. If you're a noob and the only version of Halloween you saw were those rubbish Rob Zombie versions, do yourself a favor and see the original and Part 2.
Those are guaranteed to scare the crap out of you.
So as we approach Halloween this week, why don't you check out the various incarnations of the famous theme song through the opening credits of the movie. (I did not include Part 3, 4 or 5 just because and why is H20 and Resurrection included? Its got the theme songs so there.)
Yikes. That theme song and Sandman still gives me chills. ::SHIVERS::
20101027
Almas Reencarnadas (2005)
Sinopse:
Professor universitário inicia massacre num hotel turístico, matando 11 hóspedes e funcionários. Enquanto filma seus atos com uma câmera 8mm, ele esfaqueia uma vítima após a outra, enquanto elas tentam fugir. Trinta e cinco anos depois, Matsumura (Kippei Shiina) é um diretor que quer transformar esse crime em filme. Intitulado Memory, ele convida a atriz Nagisa Sugiura (Yuuka) para interpretar a heroína de seu projeto.
Trailer:
Dados do Filme:
Título Original: Rinne
Gênero: Horror
Lançamento: 2005
País de Origem: Japão
Duração: 96 min
Direção: Takashi Shimizu
Elenco:
Yûka...Nagisa Sugiura
Karina...Yayoi Kinoshita
Kippei Shiina...Ikuo Matsumura
Tetta Sugimoto...Tadashi Murakawa
Shun Oguri...Kazuya Omori
Marika Matsumoto...Yuka Morita
Mantarô Koichi...Yamanaka Producer
Atsushi Haruta...Norihasa Omori
Miki Sanjo...Ayumi Omori (as Miki Sanjô)
Mao Sasaki...Chisato Omori
Hiroto Itô...Yuya Omori
Takako Fuji...Hotel Maid
Dados do Arquivo:
Servidores: Vários
Tamanho: 700 MB,
Formato do arquivo: Rar
Formato do Video: Avi
Idioma do Audio: Português
Legenda: Não tem
Codec do video: DivX
Codec do audio: MP3
Resolução: 640 x 288
Taxa de frames: 23.976
Qualidade do Vídeo: Avi
Links dos arquivos:
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Paixão Sobrenatural (2007)
Sinopse:
Durante anos, um casal vive feliz, até que ela é diagnosticada com câncer. Para animá-la, o namorado a pede em casamento para que possam viver intensamente juntos nos últimos anos de vida que restam. Mas, logo ele arruma um novo emprego na empresa de uma bela amiga de escola do casal. E os dois acabam se envolvendo. De alguma forma, a esposa acaba descobrindo a traição e, depois de um estranho desaparecimento, as coisas mais bizarras e macabras começam a acontecer com o marido. O que estaria causando a repentina queda de cabelo e o estranho cheiro de cadáveres em decomposição?
Trailer:
Dados do Filme:
Título Original: Chung Oi/ In Love With The Dead
Gênero: Horror
Lançamento: 2007
País de Origem: Hong Kong
Duração: 97 min
Direção: Danny Pang
Elenco:
Shawn Yue...Ming
Stephy Tang...Wai
Yung Yung Yu...Fong (as Yung-yung Yue)
Wing Lim Cho
Tin-Ngoh Seung
Patrick Tam
Ken Wong
Yaqi Zeng...Ping
Dados do Arquivo:
Servidores: Vários
Tamanho: 700 MB,
Formato do arquivo: Rar
Formato do Video: Avi
Idioma do Audio: Português
Legenda: Não tem
Codec do video: DivX
Codec do audio: MP3
Resolução: 640 x 288
Taxa de frames: 23.976
Qualidade do Vídeo: Avi
Links dos arquivos:
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20101026
A Maldição Do Lagarto - Dublado (2004)
Sinopse:
Uma expedição de cientistas acha, em uma caverna, um antigo artefato desconhecido. Eles decidem abri-lo e, acidentalmente, soltam um espírito vingativo, que tem a capacidade de transformar seres humanos em lagartos com uma terrível sede assassina. O namorado de uma escritora passa a brigar para achar a cura dessa terrível maldição.
Trailer:
Dados do Filme:
Título Original: Lizard Woman
Gênero: Horror
Lançamento: 2004
País de Origem: Tailândia
Duração: 98 min
Direção: Manop Udomdej
Elenco:
Rungrawee Barijindakul,
Chatthapong Pantanaunkul,
Pete Thongchua
Dados do Arquivo:
Servidores: Vários
Tamanho: 1,2 GB,
Formato do arquivo: Rar
Formato do Video: Avi
Idioma do Audio: PortuguÊs
Legenda: Não tem
Codec do video: DivX
Codec do audio: MP3
Resolução: 640 x 288
Taxa de frames: 23.976
Qualidade do Vídeo: Avi
Links dos arquivos:
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NYC Haunted House - After Dark at Madame Tussaud's (Review)
Wait! Another haunted house review? Really Mr. Jaded Viewer? Jeez, how many has it been?
Yes I know what you're thinking. I've gone to waaaay too many haunted houses. But hell it's October in NYC and the smell of fear and Halloween is in the air. And what better way to get your scare on but to go to a haunted house...and in my case how about 4 of them? To recap, I've been to Nightmare: Superstitions, Blood Manor, Vortex Theater's NYC Halloween Haunted House and Steampunk Haunted House. They don't call me the jaded viewer for nothing.
The fifth one which I think may be the last is After Dark at Madame Tussauds. For the uninitiated, Madame Tussaud's is a world famous wax museum of celebrities. Could a wax museum pull of a scary haunted house?
My overwhelming answer is a most definite yes.
After Dark at Madame Tussauds pushes all the right buttons in scare-o-logy. An interactive blend of 4D William Castle Percepto accompanied by your standard walk through haunted house makes it doubley fun for all. Think Blair Witch meets Night at the Museum. It's a high quality production that echoes an attraction found at Universal Studios.
Who knew a wax museum could give me a serious case of the heebee jeebees?
The Disclaimer.....
As a born and bred New Yorker, I try to avoid Times Square at all costs. It's a haven for tourists and as such is a perfect place for a haunted house attraction. The disclaimer is this is a touristy haunted house that will cater to that crowd. Expect long lines that are seas of humanity.
But it's well worth the wait if you endure. After Dark will only run for 8 nights (it started on October 21st and ran to 10/24. Scheduled times run from 10/28-10/31 from 9pm to 1am). With the limited run and the late start time will come high volumes of people.
I have to say, if you want to see wax figures close up, go during the day. Because at night, you won't want to stare at them as they tend to "come to life" to scare the bejesus out of you. And I gotta admit, it's one of the creepiest haunted houses I've ever been to.
The Percepto.....
After a short elevator ride, your adventure begins in a movie theater. Unfortunately on the day I went, their was a 15 minute delay due to technical difficulties as they could not get the movie to play. A few patrons got angry and I was even adamant that I needed to see the "movie" before I went to the haunted house portion. But after waiting it out, it was worth it.
You watch a quick maybe 5-10 minute short film about the supernatural events that surround the museum. Done in a Blair Witch, shaky cam style, two characters experience Madame Tussauds fictional "Scream" haunted house. As they walk through their house, you get to experience bit of Percepto ala William Castle. Your seat comes to life and events on the screen are felt by you.
I haven't experienced a 4D screening in so long that I forgotten how simple buzz seats and smoke make everything more fun. It's the gimmick that worked in 1959 and hasn't lost it's touch in 2010. These 4D theater experiences are common at your major theme parks such as Disney World or Universal Studios. It perfectly fits in on the found footage video you watch and gets you jacked for the haunted house that awaits you.
You'd think with our high level technological film advances such as Real D 3D and IMAX the common viewer wouldn't get a thrill out of Percepto, but you'd be wrong. I love these gimmicks and it was a nice touch to see it used effectively as part of After Dark.
The Walk Through.....
After finding out from the movie that the museum is haunted, you get to walk through it. I was pleasantly surprised how they transformed Madame Tussauds into a real, breathing haunted house. Even the snack shop seemed scary!
I never actually went to the museum during the day but going through it at night is disturbingly creepy. The brilliance of a haunted house in a wax museum is the potential out in the open "hiding" places the performers can come out of. With the wax figures so lifelike, you really couldn't tell a wax figure from an actor camouflaged to scare the hell out of you. With the added darkness, it's damn near impossible.
Were Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth going to scream at me from behind? I wasn't exactly sure. As I passed through a Presidential exhibit, I was pretty sure Obama was made of wax but upon closer inspection of Nixon, I began to wig out. If one of these Presidents "came to life" it would totally be Nixon.
The random scares came O'plenty as incognito actors standing statuesque Ninja-ed some unsuspecting victims. The staff does a good job of separating the groups so only groups of 6 or so are exploring at the same time.
The one benefit of having a haunted house at a wax museum is the sheer openness of it all. The other houses are rooms that are tight on space. But that's the opposite at Madame Tussaud's. It's sheer museum quality has everybody spread out and there are plenty dark places for somebody to jump out of nowhere.
After Dark also forces you to go down narrow hallways and into rooms that have high quality production sets. Jungle scenes, blood splattered curtains and empty baby cribs were a nice touch of eerie. However, I was completely mesmerized by the wax figures that were designed to be part of the After Dark experience. I have to say lifelike wax figures of creepy kids (see pic to the right) in the dark are a more disconcerting than say a performer dressed as a bloody mental patient holding a bunny.
The entire walk through takes about 20-30 minutes and all the rooms plus the museum are quite a thrill. After Dark uses every inch of its interior to get max scare value. Even the most alpha male dog will be scared to walk through a pitch black corridor first. Though going first doesn't mean you'll be a victim. The performers do a great job of mixing in the scaring by going after the tail end of the group.
Part of the joy of a haunted house is accessing the fear trigger. Halloween is perfect for this. It gets your adrenaline rushing and you laugh about it after you get jolted. The other joy is seeing tweens and teen girls scream but the topping on the cake is seeing a grown man stagger back in fear. Now that's just priceless.
The Jaded Viewer's Final Thoughts.....
After Dark at Madame Tussaud's created a haunted house out of their wax museum that is on par with the best a Six Flags or a Universal Studios production could be. It is 100% a tourist oriented haunted attraction but don't let that deter you if you're in the mood of gimmicky effects and a walk through the corridors of celebrity wax figures.
I can't help but get annoyed from giggling teen girls who jump from the slightest sound but when you're in Times Square, this is bound to happen. But after you endure the wait, the museum at night is bound to give you goosebumps.
Watch out for Richard Nixon.
The Vitals.....
- Madame Tussauds New York is located at 234 West 42nd St, between 7th & 8th Ave
- The last 4 showings run from October 28th-October 31st from 9pm to 1am.
- From 9pm-11pm tickets cost $22, after 11pm they cost $20
- After the tour, you can check out a few celebrity wax figures, play trivia and get food or souvenirs
- Check out the official site
- Check out the Facebook page
- Follow Madame Tussauds on their Twitter page
- Photos by Alex Oliveira /Startraks Photo
- Check out the trailers below!
Have you experienced After Dark at Madame Tussauds? If so share your experience and leave a comment!
20101025
NYC Haunted House - Steampunk Haunted House (Review)
You would have thought 3 haunted houses would have been satisfied my scare quota but as Halloween creeps closer, a few more haunted houses in NYC are getting buzz. After Nightmare: Superstitions, then Blood Manor, then Vortex Theater's NYC Halloween Haunted House I figured the trifecta was complete and I could relax, take it easy and rewatch Trick R Treat.
But I realized there were other haunted houses in NYC that I missed. With that hanging over my head I couldn't NOT go...right? Dammit. I've already been to 3, hell let's make it 4.
I read about this Steampunk Haunted House in the NY Times and I knew I had to go. I mean it wasn't your traditional haunted house. Check out their description of the place below.
In this truly immersive experience, audience members are thrust into a beautiful and terrifying dreamscape of neo-Victorian elegance and phantasmagoric clockwork horrors. Once inside, audience members are separated, until one by one, they find themselves alone, lost somewhere within the three sprawling floors of Abrons’ majestic century-old playhouse. From there, they must choose where to go, exploring innumerable twisting hallways, looming balconies, and labyrinthine cellars. All the while, a whirlwind of mechanical apparitions, wraithlike sleepwalkers, and gear-powered beasts hurtle through corridors and lurk behind every corner and within every room.
Created by Bessie Award-winning artists, the Steampunk Haunted House is an integration of contemporary installation and performance art, and is an accessible, fun, utterly breathtaking experience. Unlike traditional haunted houses that rely on gore or graphic violence to horrify their patrons, this event chills, delights, and terrifies its audience without having to show a single drop of blood.
Haunted house tour groups are admitted incrementally into a labyrinthine world that trades conventional devices of blood and gore for the more terrifying nuances of suspense and meticulously engineered surprise. The aesthetic of steampunk offers a fresh, romanticized view on technology and fashion by making it retro, set in an alternate, anachronistic Victorian-era that retains a pre-industrial elegance.
Like most attractions of its kind, this is roughly a twenty-minute experience.
But none of my imaginative neo-tech was realized as I went to Abrons Art Center's Steampunk Haunted House attraction. So what was the reality check? Simple. Steampunk Haunted House is a walk through mesmerizing steampunk art with a ballet of neo-noir Agatha Christie surrealism. This is not your tweens or teens haunted house. It's a up close and personal performance art set to breathtaking steampunk backdrops.
So what's the experience like?
The Disclaimer.....Serious warning to all you haunted house enthusiasts. This isn't your traditional catch em off guard and scare em haunted house. It's more of a open house to different scenes in different settings that have a steampunk flavor to it. If Vortex Theater's Haunted House was on the extreme scared shitless end of the haunted house spectrum, Steampunk is on the other end. More relaxed, more eerie and more subtle with their performances.
This is a haunted house for steampunk enthusiasts and also for people who are interested in seeing what steampunk is all about.
The Walk Through.....
The first steampunk gear your given is a vintage lantern flashlight gizmo. It helps guide your way through the theater. As they began, a performer silently guides you to hold on to rope as they lead you to a section of the theater. It's designed to give separation to all the participants so you'll encounter the performers in a wide variety of ways.
You are free to roam the playhouse as the action takes place all around you. Each part of the playhouse is filled with exquisite steampunk sets and the silent performers scene out an orchestrated piece of performance art for you to watch. The tour I went though was for the performers to get a taste of a real audience. It started out a bit clumsy but once it got going it became like a waking dream.
I didn't know what to make of what I was seeing as this was my first ever steampunk anything. Given no direction on what to do or where to go, I started wandering around. Later I was told you have 3 options on how to experience this haunted house.
- Follow the "main" actress who is in distress in the opening scene
- Stay in one room to see a scene play out
- Wander aimlessly and encounter the performers in each room
I'll admit I kept shaking my head as I wasn't sure if I had to be aware of clues to a "story". Would I be given cues to "do something"? None of that happened and so I tried to immerse myself in everything I saw. I realized that this experience is 80% style and 20% substance. It's like a steampunk fashion show.There is no inherent story but more of a styilized ballet of steampunk retroness.In one scene, a few actors dressed as school children tried hiding underneath a large colonial style bed. Other school children hid in a large wooden trunk. A "school teacher" soon caught the boys at play and ordered them to sit in a chair as she waved a large ruler at them. Another school boy was "captured" and put into a large tube like contraption that had a Frankenstein laboratory steampunk look to it.
If I read into this scene, it's taking the old brickhouse school world and using a steampunk edge to punish the crime. As much as I tried to decipher what I was seeing, I had to just let it go. Without any knowledge of steampunk culture, I was as clueless as a monkey at NASA. If these were scenes from steampunk novels or film, I can only imagine what else has been reimagined.
Another scene that brought in the eerie took place in the main seated theater as a man in a gas mask "scared" guests while "human spiders" crawled on the seats. This took place while a man on stage pulled a chain over and over again. This is David Lynch-ian live imagery come to life. The best way to describe it is as a noir painting come to life.The Sets.....
Many of the sets we're very steampunky. There were not alot of tech blending but more of Victorian style rooms with a surrealistic twist. Armours with torn paper, a wall full of violins and a large bed that echoed haunted.
The one design that impressed me was the laboratory I mentioned earlier. This could have been a set straight out of Frankenstein with its futuristic glass tube enclosures and gizmos and gadgets.
My only gripe is I would have wanted more of what I've seen on the interwebs about steampunk and their crazy retro-tech. I've always wanted to see these "inventions" and somehow I felt gypped I didn't get to see more of it.
The Jaded Viewer's Final Thoughts.....
Steampunk Haunted House is not for everyone. But for the art crowd, it's a definite must see. If the movie The Others came to life, it would be Steampunk Haunted House. The performers do a solid job of acting in tight spaces and within the confines of the playhouse. At times, they interacted with me like I was a splinter in their dreamworld.
What you'll get is a taste of the steampunk world mixed in with fantastic elegant scenes and an odd feeling your walking through a nightmare that isn't your own. I can only say that I've never experienced anything like it and it's actually peaked my interest of this sci fi subculture.This is the future of the past in 2010. Enjoy it while it's here.
The Vitals....
- Steampunk Haunted House is located at the Abrons Arts Center which is located at 466 Grand Street, at the corner of Pitt Street, on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
- Days and Times are October 23, 29, 30 | 8-11:30 pm and October 24, 27, 28, 31 | 6-9:30 pm
- Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students
- The official site
- The Facebook page
- Trailer is below!
Steampunk Haunted House 2010 from Third Rail Projects on Vimeo.
20101022
Siskel and Ebert Review Good Horror Movies
Before bloggers, before Facebook and Twitter and before the Interwebs, real critics who we the public sort of respected reviewed movies. You know who Siskel and Ebert are. But when you go back into the YouTube time machine and watch clips of their shows, I turn back into a tween and actually want to know what they had to say about my favorite movies.
I think I've been conditioned to respect their opinions because well....they were the only famous movie critics of their time (other than newspaper and local TV news movie critics). I really wanted to know what Siskel and Ebert gave a thumbs up or thumbs down to and that actually affected whether or not I saw a movie (now I just check the Fresh meter on Rotten Tomatoes).
We all still sorta respect what Roger Ebert says via his Twitter but these 2 were so highly respected back in the day, looking back at it now, I can't believe they hated some of my favorite horror movies. They always seemed to put down horror films. So I dug up on YouTube what I consider their reviews of good horror movies.
You'll be surprised by what they gave a thumbs up to.
Thumbs up? Thumbs down? Do you still respect Ebert or other critics in this blogging day and age? Hell, do you even trust my reviews?
20101020
What horror movies do you put on for your non horror loving friends?
October is the usual time my non horror friends and family ask what horror movie should they go see. Paranormal Activity 2? Saw 3D? So it's fitting that Mike over @ All Things Horror posed this same question to the horror blogosphere. What horror movies do you put on for your non horror loving friends?
I of course picked the Lucio Fulci's Zombie and you can read why if you head over to All Things Horror. There you'll see the other opinions from some top notch horror bloggers. All have great recommendations and I agree with a majority of their selections.
If I had to add more to my list, I'd definitely add what's already been mentioned. The Descent, Halloween, The Evil Dead and The Shining. All are solid picks.
What I'd also add are a few mainstream selections from my Top 10 Horror Movie list from last year. Zombieland, Let the Right One In, Trick R Treat and Orphan. Non horror fans scoff at "classic horror movies" so you won't be able to convince them to watch something from the slasher 80s or the supernatural 70s. Subtitled? Fughedaboutitt.
I think the criteria has to be the following for non horror peeps:
- 90 minutes max
- One star they recognize
- If it has a zombie, vampire or werewolf it will probably be tolerated
- Most non horror people always think they are seeing a "scary movie" which is different than a horror movie. It's your duty to recognize what they like and show them what's appropriate
- If there are boobs and gore, it will usually fly but this might not be for everyone
- Non horror fans usually think whispering children is scary
- Horror comedies are always a solid choice. It's something familiar to them and something that's not. Like and Irish coffee.
- If you are watching a scary movie make sure it's in the dark. Atmosphere is everything.
- Your non horror fan will never be completely turned over to the dark side. So sometimes you just gotta give up.
20101018
NYC Haunted House - Vortex Theater's NYC Halloween Haunted House (Review)
I'm kind of proud of myself this year. I set a goal for myself to go to all 3 major NYC Haunted Houses. First was Nightmare: Superstitions which was cleverly fun, next up was Blood Manor which always thrilled me with their highly detailed sets and finally I had to go to the one haunted house that I didn't go to last year. Josh Randall and Kris Thor's Vortex Theater's Halloween Haunted House was the most intimidating of the 3 and I was actually kind of nervous about going to this one. It's reputation has been growing as the ultimate experience in psychological horror.
The fact that this haunted house has a safety word says volumes.
But I have to say, I saved the best for last. There are no gimmicks or fancy sets here. This is you alone having to go through a series of rather intense actions and reactions. To call Vortex Theater's Haunted House a haunted house is kind of misleading. It's more of a psychological horror experiment. Do Josh Randall and Kris Thor have PHd's in fear? Because it's like your worst ever nightmare scenario come to life.
NYC Halloween Haunted House is an experiment that tests your emotional and mental limits with audio and visual stimuli that you swear you've just checked yourself into a crazy psychologist's fun house. I've been creeped and slightly scared by other haunted houses but in this experience I've never been mentally exhausted and felt so dirty after going to one. But I gotta admit, it's the good kind of dirty.
The Disclaimer.....
The fact you have to sign a waiver had me little WTF-ed. With the waiver is an acknowledgement of the rules which are below.
1. STAY ON THE MARKED PATH AT ALL TIMES.
2. YOU WILL BE PROMPTED TO DO CERTAIN ACTIONS, (i.e. "sit down", "stop", "move forward") PLEASE DO EXACTLY AS YOU'RE TOLD. THIS IS FOR YOUR SAFETY.
IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS - YOU WILL BE ASKED TO LEAVE.
3. DO NOT EVER TOUCH THE ACTORS.
4. DO NOT EVER TOUCH THE WALLS.
5. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO SPEAKING ALLOWED INSIDE. YOU CAN, HOWEVER, SCREAM AS LOUD AS YOU'D LIKE.
6. YOU MUST WEAR A PROTECTIVE MASK AND CARRY A FLASHLIGHT AT ALL TIMES.
(we will provide both of these items for you. please do not bring your own.)
**NOTE**
They've totally removed the flashlight from your inventory this year. To me this was a good thing.
7. YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO REMOVE YOUR SHOES AND SOCKS. PLEASE BE PREPARED TO DO SO.
8. YOU MUST WALK THROUGH ALONE.
If you have an emergency while walking through the house and need to be escorted out, please yell the word “SAFETY” as loud as you can. Stay where you are, remain calm, and someone will come to get you and bring you out. Once you call "SAFETY", there are no refunds and there are no options but to leave.
While waiting with another fellow noob, we tried to break this nervousness with humor, but more participants exited looking rather flustered. Never has a buildup been so grueling. Insane thoughts entered my head. Would I yell out the safety word? Would I start to hyperventilate? Scream? Umm cry?That's when I was called in to enter behind the black partition.
Obviously, I'm not going to tell you a detail by detail account of what happened to me as it would ruin the experience for anyone wanting to partake. But here's a glimpse of what my reactions were.
The Stimuli.....
If I told you what happened, you wouldn't go. Where is the fun in in that? But what I will say that complete darkness is 50% of the experience and though terrifying, I have to admit the scenes where you meet the performers are as chilling as the blackness.
There is no doubt that you will be touched and you will be pushed and held and a couple of things I can't really name. It's an odd sensation to be physically touched by total strangers, some you see and some you can't see. At times, I felt as if I was in a movie where I didn't know my lines. Hell I tried to improvise and it came out as "ARGHHHHHH...Jesus H. Christ!". You are made to follow actions in pitch darkness, kneeling and walking and crawling. It really messes with your mind to see a few glimpses of light get snuffed out and all you hear is machinery and approaching footsteps.
Mind you are equipped with only a safety mask (which only amplifies the trapped in feeling you get). I can see why they do this as it only adds to the out of breath stimuli that tricks you into thinking you're in some quarantine zone.
Add all these things together and I was a little weirded out by it all. I was scared a little and at times jumped out my socks but somehow the most anxiety came from what the hell would happen next. Which leads us to our actors.......
The Performers.....
Other haunted houses will have you interact with the actors for a few minutes before they usher you to another room. But in this one, you become the center of attention for more than that. I met a variety of insane hot vixen "mental patients" as well as some thuggity thugs. If ever there was a mix of Rated X sex and violence in a live action haunted house, this be it.
I have so much admiration for these actors as they have to perform the same scene in a span of a few frantic minutes. You encounter them and they in turn encounter you. Whose to say who gets scared more? But the dimly lit sets and their sickly dialogue was more mesmerizing to me than the darkness itself. If ever there was a haunted house that took advantage of their setting it's this one. A Hollywood set designer couldn't make it creepier.
Sure, creepy makeup and monster masks are scary for tweens but for the jaded viewer, the subtle touches of psychological torture and all out weirdness are a little more frightening. Who knows what the hell these characters have up their sleeves? You really play the victim in this living horror movie and for me it was one of the most thrilling experiences I've ever had. My snarky misfit character I was creating in my head was enduring an ecletic group of characters which all climaxed in the ultimate final room which made my jaw drop as I entered. So what was in this room?
Oh golly gee Beav, just some serious uber depravity.
This wasn't just images on a screen. This was touchy feely depravity in high def 4D.
The Jaded Viewer's Final Thoughts.....
So what's the best haunted house in NYC? Well that's a tough one to answer. All of them have their perks and little things that make them standout. But I have to say Vortex Theater's NYC Halloween Haunted House left me with the creepiest feeling I've ever had. The visual mental scars are now embedded in my mind.I oddly now know what it feels like to be Abu Gharaib-ed. I was molested (in a scary way) but not so much I'll be running to my local priest (errrr well that maybe even a worst idea). It's an interactive experience that makes you the main character in a live action horror movie.
Think of this as your 15 minutes. You're the star and all eyes are on you. You're going to have to improvise your lines and you also haven't read the script. You're the victim and also the the final girl (or guy).
That's how I felt as I went through it. Like the tagline says:
"You don't just walk through it -you live it."
I couldn't agree more.
The Vitals.....
Vortex Theater's NYC Halloween Haunted House is located at 115 West 27th Street in Chelsea. Tickets range between $15-$30. For more information head to any of the links below.
- The official site
- Facebook Page
- Twitter Page
- For more EXCLUSIVE PICTURES of what the house looks like head over to the jaded viewer Facebook page!
NYC Halloween Haunted House - 2009 from HauntedNYC on Vimeo.
Have you been to Vortex Theater's NYC Haunted House? Share your experience and leave a comment!*********************************************
Want to read a spoiler and walkthrough review of Vortex Theater's NYC Halloween Haunted House??
CLICK HERE!!!!
Click here to read a review of Blackout Haunted House 2011!
20101015
Brain Dead (Review)
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Brain Dead
Brain Dead (2007)
Directed by Kevin Tenney
No its not that Brain Dead.
If you're like me, that title goes with one film and one film only and that's Peter Jackson's zombie classic. But let's not judge the film based on title alone. Because if you know horror, you know who Kevin Tenney is. The man has quite a directorial horror resume which includes Witchboard and the classic Night of the Demons.
So I kinda knew what I'd be in for when I watched Brain Dead. But could Tenney bring back all that was fun about mutant zombie 80s gorefests?
Great cerebral cortexes! Yes he can.
Brain Dead is an assembly line produced throwback 80s splatter flick that hits all on all the cliches that make the genre so great to watch. Gratuitous nudity, gratuitous gore, gratuitous over the top makeup and gratuitous snarky characters spewing curse words a mile a minute. It took a director from the 80s to actually make a good, solid 80s throwback splatterfest.
Sure it's a low budget, been there, done that premise, but sometimes you just gotta go with the ridiculousness and try to shut off your brain like the zombies in this film.
Boring Plot-O-Matic
What do a pair of escaped convicts, a preacher and his assistant, and a pair of pretty hikers have in common? They’re all delicious.
After an extraterrestrial parasite crash-lands in a backwoods American town – landing squarely on the head of a local fisherman – it sparks a fast spreading zombie infestation. As the brain hungry monsters multiply, three pairs of unlucky misfits convene on a fishing lodge for shelter. With zombies pounding at the door, the stranded, mismatched travelers must band together to stop the invasion – or serve themselves up as a main course. The problem is, they may lose their minds to each other before losing their brains to the zombies.
Full of ingenious gore effects, nudity and witty banter, “Brain Dead” is just as much a parody of classic zombie films as it is a clever update to the beloved genre.
Awesome Review-O-Matic
Let's review a movie by breaking it out by cliches. It's got em all and I felt like I time traveled and was watching a movie through my VCR. the only thing that was different was I didn't have to fix the tracking....and I have an awesome TV. So let's start off with the most important shit first.
Gratuitous NUDITY!!!!!!
In the first 30 minutes, we get to see not 1, not 2, not 3 but 4...YES! Count em 4 sets of boobs in this movie. And I'm not talking about icky fat-ish actresses. Nope we got some hotties showing off their assets.
Names are not important but grades are. Without a doubt, Cristina Tiberia gets an A, Sarah Grant Brendecke gets a B+, Michelle Tomlinson gets a B- and some other chick gets a C.
Yes you will see boobs and they're real and they're spectacular.
Gratuitous Cliched Plot!!!!!!
Some space creature that looks like black ooze crash lands and it's actually a parasitic organism that when it takes over a human body, craves for brains so it can reproduce. Enter zombie mutant puppets.
You've seen this in Night of the Demons and the movie takes elements of Evil Dead, Slither, Evil Aliens and countless others.
Gratuitous Stereotypical Characters!!!!!!
So who do we get to watch for an hour and a half?
- A smart ass Sawyer like guy named Clarence
- A convicted felon dumb hick named Bob
- A lesbian, man hating hottuie named Claudia
- A vegan, commune with nature med student named Sherry
- A hypocritial lusty preacher named Farnsworth
- A God fearing, Tea Party belle named Amy
- A few other locals that make for good death fodder
Gratuitous Gore and Splatter!!!!!!All these people come together and meet in a cabin in the woods (I did mention were in clicheworld right?) where our zombie aliens are looking for fresh BRAAAAAAAAAAINNNNNS!!
The best part of Brain Dead is the non CGI gore. It's old school here with shotgun head blasts, quick edit watermelon blasts (its suppose to be a human head) and decapitations and arm rippage. It's like they DeLoreaned into the past and made this movie in the 80s.
Tons of blood, tons of gore and tons of black ooze vomiting from our zombies to infect other people. Shit was coming out of every orifice dude. And it was fuckin awesome.
Gratuitous Gripes and Negatives!!!!!!
Brain Dead won't be for everyone. Noobs won't understand why us "old timers" think is a big deal about some boobs and gore. But here's a message to you noobs. Boobs and gore were not as easily accessible back in the day. If you saw boobs in a movie, you couldn't believe your eyes. If you saw somebody's heart gets ripped out, you applauded. So we have a special place in our hearts for these movies. You noobs are lucky with your free porn and YouTube.
Brain Dead kinda gets ZZZZZZZZs with some badly written dialogue and goofy makeup effects. But Clarence's snarky one liners had me laughing a few times. His zingers zinged and I have to admit, I chuckled a few times.But being low budget, you can smell the cheese and it's extra velveetay. What can ya do right?
Brain Dead ain't the best throwback but it's done with fun and care and Kevin Tenney knows what us gorehounds and breasthounds want. All of this is packaged into Brain Dead and I had fun nostalgia-ing to my VHS days. What more can you ask?
Well more boobs would have been nice.
WTF moment
One of the characters get an untimely demise I didn't see coming. Holey moley.
The Jaded Viewer's Final Prognosis
Brain Dead was just released on DVD via Breaking Glass Pictures. You can buy it via Amazon.com.
For more info, head over to Breaking Glass Pictures or the Facebook page.
Rating:
Check out the trailer below!
20101013
Mute Slashers vs Chatty Slashers: Which do you prefer?
I've been thinking about this for a while but I've never actually seen anybody debate this on a blog. Well, I figure I'd get some opinions. We all love our slashers with all their different personalities but there are 2 distinct characteristics you can group em into.
Silent and deadly or chatty and jokey.
Which do you prefer?
Insano Steve prefers mute slashers. I too prefer the silent types. But that's not too say I don't love some sadistic one liner by one Freddy Kreuger. It says a lot about you if you say you like the mute slasher compared to the chatty one.
So who's in these 2 groups? Let's start off with the mute killers.
Notable Mute Slashers
- Jason Voorhees
- Michael Myers
- Leatherface
- Ghostface (well until the end anyway)
- Victor Crowley
Notable Chatty Slashers
- Freddy Kreuger
- Pinhead
- Chucky
- Candyman
20101012
Death of the Dead (Trailer)
Sometimes I can be a little mean when it comes to low budget horror. I know filmmakers have to make lemonade without even lemons but sometimes it comes out a little laughable and it's an easy target to make fun of. Why do I bring this up?
It's because when I reviewed Gary King's Dismal: Eat or be Eaten, I kinda made a few zingers at the movie's expense. I didn't mean to be harsh but I was just being honest. But at the conclusion of my review, I actually gave the movie 2 out of 4 spinkicks. So bad its good horror I wrote. Shockingly, I got an e-mail from writer Bo Buckley and he appreciated that I reviewed the film even though it wasn't overly positive.
So Mr. Buckley has dropped me another line that he's teamed up with Gary King again for a new feature called Death of the Dead and after watching the trailer, it looks uber funny. It's literally "ball bustin" -gly funny. I'm gonna have to check out this one as it may be not be "bad its funny" but its "funny because its funny".
Here be the plot.
It's Karate Kid meets 28 Days Later in this over-the-top horror / action / comedy from Strange Stuff Productions. Wanda is an uber nerd with the coordination of a seizure victim. Her karate trainer is an aging pervert with a penchant for ball gags and various sex toys. When a bus from a rival karate school accidentally runs over a couple scientists dumping a toxic chemical down the sewer, the entire class is turned into high flying, flesh eating baddies!
As they wreak havoc on the town turning others into zombie ninjas, Wanda and her instructor must save the planet with the help of a magic karate belt. That's right, I said MAGIC KARATE BELT. An epic feature full of brains, boobs and bad ass bitches, Death of the Dead is fun for the whole family!
Check out the trailer below. Let me know what you think!
