I was making my way through the Zombie Serengeti (aka the Walmarts) yesterday, when I noticed the DVD version of Breaking Dawn (Part 2).
I bought one.
Hard as it is for me to believe, this is the last in the Twilight Saga movie franchise.
Our long national nightmare is over!
I suppose I will watch it soon. Probably next week.
Stay tuned!
I watched the much-anticipated Season 5 Finale of True Blood and I am still reeling!
Without giving a blow-by-blow description of each scene…
Oh, screw it… here’s a blow-by-blow description of each scene!!
And we’re off…
Opening (Fairy Field/Nightclub): Russell Edgington sees the invisible nightclub. Fairies blast him with light. He just laughs and pushes forward as Steve Newlin watches. Fairy light pushes Russell back… right onto the stake held by Eric Northman! Russell Edgington dies. Steve Newlin flees. Eric: “Well, that felt even better than I thought it would.”
Fairy Field: Sookie runs out of nightclub and onto field after Jason (who was knocked away by fairy light). Nora shows up. “What is that amazing smell?” Nora chases after Sookie. Eric catches Nora by hair and makes her swear not to feed on Sookie. Jason comes to but hallucinates seeing his mother, not Sookie.
Authority HQ: Bill outside Lilith’s shrine. A naked Sam Merlotte is brought in as Bill’s ‘breakfast.’ Sam says he and Luna are at the Authority only to find Luna’s daughter, Emma. Bill says Sam knows too much. Sam shifts into fly and disappears through ventilation duct.
Fangtasia: Pam tells Eric and Nora that the Authority has Pam. Eric hauls out all of the money hidden in a basement wall. Plans to go to the Authority to rescue Pam.
Sookie’s House: Sookie on couch talking with Jason while Jason’s hallucinating his parents sitting on either side of Sookie. Bill, Nora and Tara burst into the house. Eric tells Sookie that Bill was behind the True Blood factory bombings. Asks Sookie for help in rescuing Pam, Jessica and, if possible, Bill, since Sookie is the only one who might get through to Bill. Sookie says OK. Jason agrees to come along at the suggestion of his hallucinated father in order to kill as many vampyres as he can.
Authority HQ: Bill reprimands Security Team and orders them to scour building looking for mice, flies, cockroaches… anything that might be Sam and Luna… and kill them. Salome asks Bill if he has seen Chancellor Akinjide. Bill admits killing him and tells Salome that Lilith appeared to him. Bill lies and says Lilith told him that Salome was the chosen one and that he was to serve and protect Salome.
Authority Cells: Dozens of naked people being held as food for the Authority, including Luna and Emma (in wolf cub form). Sam appears, tells Luna that Bill is crazy and that if they come for her, she should shift and get out. Luna doesn’t want to leave Emma but Sam convinces her (vampyres don’t feed from wolves). He shifts into fly and leaves.
Authority Cells: Pam and Jessica discuss the rise of the fundamentalist Saguinista movement.
Jackson Herveaux’s Trailer: Alcide’s dad talks about how hard it is for parents to teach their kids how screwed up the world is. Alcide says he’s heard it all before. Emma’s grandmother Martha pulls up in her car with Rikki in the back seat screaming. Pack master JD Carson made Rikki drink vampyre blood (V). Rikki freaking out. Martha is afraid she may have OD’d.
Authority Air Vents: Sam flies through ventilation system, looks through ceiling vent and sees Bill in bed with Salome.
The Stake House: Jason and Sookie go to the anti-vampyre weapons shop to stock up on supplies. Jason continues to hallucinate that his parents are with him and encouraging him to kill all vampyres.
Jackson Herveaux’s Trailer: Rikki’s going through a bad reaction to the V. Criticizes Alcide for just leaving the pack without a word and not calling her. She tells how pack master JD forced to drink the blood. Alcide wants to fight JD but can’t while JD is on V. Too strong. Jackson has ‘special reserve’ of high quality V for Alcide.
Authority HQ: Sam the fly goes to Steve Newlin’s room and snoops around, then returns to the Cells to talk to Luna about a plan he has devised.
Merlotte’s: Lafayette makes cajun margaritas for Arlene and Holly. Andy and his very pregnant fairy girlfriend Morella enter. He sits her at a booth and she drinks a container of salt. Andy talks with Holly and confesses his two sexual incidents with Morella a week before. Just then, Morella’s ‘light breaks’ and she goes into labour.
Authority Private Chambers: Bill and Salome in bed. He calls her his beautiful prophet. They have sex.
Jason’s truck: Sookie says Bill’s not evil. Jason’s Dad says Sookie’s blinded by love. Jason and Sookie discuss their screwed up relationships with others. Eric lands on truck roof and tells them to pull over.
Merlotte’s: Morella on pool table in labour. Holly: “I do not believe I am midwifing for your pregnant girlfriend… that I just found out about!” Gives birth to a girl with no umbilical cord. Holly: “We’re not done!” as Morella continues labour pains.
Authority Cells: Steve Newlin and guards go to cell where Emma is kept. We realize that Steve Newlin is actually Luna. She takes Emma (still a wolf pup) and says she needs a little ‘play time.’ Leaves cells carrying Emma.
Authority Reception area: Receptionist talks with Newlin/Luna and notices he has lost his southern accent. Chancellor Rosalyn Harris arrives and makes Newlin help her on damage control re frat boys Newlin and Edgington killed.
Merlotte’s: Morella gives birth to another girl. The fourth child that night. Morella gets up like nothing happened and walks out leaving the 4 babies with Andy. Holly says to Andy, “You’re a dick!”
Pack HQ: Pack Master JD has a vampyre strung up with chains, cuts him and says, “Drinks on me!” Alcide and his dad, Jackson, come forward. Alcide and JD fight. Jackson and Martha make sure others stay out of the fight. Alcide kills JD. Pack acknowledges Alcide as new pack master. Alcide sets new rules for pack.
Authority Building exterior: Eric and Nora drive truck with Sookie, Jason and Tara tied and gagged in back. Guard calls it in and Bill allows them past the gate.
Authority Video Studio: Steve Newlin/Luna being prepared for broadcast. Chancellor Harris complains about how things are going to hell. She tells Newlin/Luna that he broadcasts live in 5 seconds. Being interviewed live on a news program, Newlin shifts into Luna on national television. Lafayette, watching the broadcast from Merlotte’s: “I did not see that shit coming.” Luna warns viewers the people are being held captive in a building somewhere in New Orleans. Chancellor Harris opens her mouth to say something. Sam the fly goes into her mouth, then shifts into human shape, bursting out of Harris. Luna looks like she’s about to faint.
Authority Board Room: Salome enters Lilith’s shrine. Bill sees her on security camera. Salome promises Lilith that vampyres will rightfully rule the Earth.
Authority Elevator: Jason, Sookie, Eric, Tara and Nora arm up. Eric gives signal to Tara to disable security cameras.
Lilith’s Shrine: Salome removes crystal vial of Lilith’s blood. Asks for guidance as she surrenders herself to Lilith.
Authority Reception: Elevator opens. Receptionist hits alarm button. Jason kills receptionist.
Lilith’s Shrine: Intercom – “Initiating Level Two Protocols!” Salome runs out of Shrine.
Reception Area: Eric & Nora run out of elevator. Jason shoots cameras and guards who enter. Level Two Protocol initiated. Lights go out. Tara and Sookie leave elevator.
Board Room: A dozen security guards enter. Eric and Nora hiding above near ceiling. They kill all the guards. Eric: “See what you’ve been missing… working for the fucking authority?”
Cells: Tara and Sookie find Jessica and Pam and tell them they are waiting for Eric and Nora to disarm and unlock everything.
Control Room: Nora and Eric work on disarming and unlocking everything.
Reception Area: Jason behind reception desk shooting vampyres.
Cells: Gates unlock. Sookie opens door for Jessica (because they’re silver). Tara burns hand opening cell for Pam. Pam & Tara kiss deeply. Jessica: “I KNEW IT!!”
Private Chambers: Bill and Salome discuss Salome drinking all of Lilith’s blood and how it might adversely affect Salome. Salome drinks from the vial.
Reception Area: Sookie, Tara, Pam and Jessica return. Jessica runs to Jason and tells him she loves him. Jason says he could never love a vampyre. Eric and Nora arrive. Everyone goes into elevator except Eric and Sookie who say they are going to find Bill.
Chambers: Salome is vomiting blood, convulsing, having bad reaction. Bill transferred Lilith’s blood to a bottle, added human blood spiked with silver. Salome: “Lilith… chose wisely.” Bill stakes Salome. Takes out bottle of Lilith’s blood. Eric and Sookie enter. Eric tells Bill that Lilith is a mad god and not to drink the blood. Bill reveals himself to be a True Believer in Lilith. He drinks Lilith’s blood. Has immediate bad reaction. He bleeds from the mouth and eyes and explodes. A reborn Bill Compton rises from the pool of dead Bill Compton’s blood. Eric screams, “Run!”
End Credits
But wait… there’s more!
THE END
A whole lot of people were bumped off this season, including trashy Werewolf Debbie [I'm gonna miss her!], Mike the Coroner, a whole bunch of Authority people (Guardian Roman, Chancellors Dieter, Alexander, Kibwe, and the adorable Molly who was the Authority tech girl), Junior the clerk at The Stake House, Lt Patrick Devins and a whole bunch of others – but not including Tara Thornton (who was killed earlier this season and brought back as a vampyre) and Hoyt who was glamoured and left for Alaska.
Season Finale Tally:
Dead: Russel Edgington, JD Carson, Chancellor Rosalyn Harris, Salome, Bill Compton,
Unknown: Resurrected Bill Compton
Last year, I wrote how I broke down and bought the Twilight Saga movies.
They’re still sitting there on my computer table where I left them in September. Still unopened. Still in their original cellophane wrappers.
I feel like Pandora… or Bluebeard’s wife. I know I shouldn’t open them. I have a sinking feeling that they hold horrors untold… a sinister evil which has already been unleashed elsewhere upon the world. I’ve been told time and again that I should not… MUST NOT… allow the Darkness to spread.
And yet… despite the dire warnings of an immedicabile vulnus – an incurable wound, an irreparable injury – not only to my eyes and ears but to my very soul… I hear them calling to me. A faint yet clear siren’s call.
I close my eyes and breathe deeply. I have won another day.
But the box still waits… the locked door still beckons.
Hello, my dear little geeks…
I am presently in Toronto, taking a long weekend off and staying with dear friends.
I am sad to say that there will be no article today (November 25) or this coming Monday (November 28).
Devastating, I know… but I am sure you all will bear up admirably under this unspeakable tragedy.
Have no fear, nerdlings… I will be back at it, hammer and tong, right after that.
Have a wonderful zombie-free weekend!
XOXOX
Vampyre Fangs
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Sick of everyone using Facebook and Twitter as a forum for bragging about their amaazing boyfriend – fiance – husband – S.O? Does all this relationship bliss make you want to gag?
Look no further… this is for you! We got our readers to take to social media and share the #RelationshipFail they’ll never forget.
“Asked how old he was – i.e. when was he ‘made.’ He said ‘Thursday!’ EJECT!” –@CryptLvr
“Met Travolta/SNF type at H’ween party. Turns out he was made in ’77. That’s how he looks all the time now. FAIL!” –@Drucilla
“I said ‘I love you’ first and he goes, ‘I know’. WTF is that?” –@gothgrrl92
“Took him out his first time for sushi. Waitress brings chopsticks. He screams & runs away. Check, please!” –@atsuko666
“Applying make-up in front of mirror. Comes up behind me & touches shoulder. Lipstick across cheek to my ear! SO not funny!” –@HunterGreen
“I had Caesar salad before our 1st kiss – and he throws up in my car!!” –@Jasime
“Walked me to my door. Daddy saw red eyes glowing in dark. Thought bf was coyote & shot him. Awkward!” –@PatsyKake
“Found out new bf slept in coffin… with his mom. Wrong on so many levels!” –@VampB8
“Cute young guy takes me for midnight stroll… and bites my pet dog! Eeww!” –@CougrLdy
“Two words: Orthodontic retainer. Yeuch!” –KylaMarie
Read more:
Bad Relationship Stories: Dealing with a Bad Vampyre Boyfriend – Fangbanger magazine;
When He Becomes a Pain in the Neck: Dumping the Undead – You’re So Vein blog;
Cheating Vampyre BFs: The Cross We Bear – Coffin Counselors blog;
Blood vs. Brains : Vampyre or Zombie – Which is Right for You! – Cosmopolitan.
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I will be out of town from Wed. Nov. 16 until Mon. Nov. 21. See you when I return!
They’re absolutely everywhere. On TV, in the movies, on the bookshelves and magazine stands, on the computer… at the neighbourhood bar.
The undead have been a part of western culture for well over 1000 years but it seems only in the last 25 – 50 years or so that society has progressed from a fear of vampyres to an interest in vampyres to a desire to become romantically involved with vampyres.
(Do you go for the ‘bad boy’ type?)
The internet has become a resource for many folks to use both in learning about vampyres as well as searching for dates and long-term companionship with vampyres. Not everyone is willing to try it, though.
There are 10 reasons that people fear dating vampyres. Some of them are legitimate, as we shall see, and some are less so. In the end, it’s a matter of deciding whether the fear or the desire to meet someone is stronger.
(How about the ‘girl next door’ type?)
Here are 10 reasons people fear vampyre dating.
So buck up, people. Lift your chin, put on an attractive smile and get in the game!
There is nothing to fear but fear itself.
And getting your throat ripped out.
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I was sitting around the library, minding my own business, when a dear friend of mine (who also happens to be the librarian) came over to me and said, “You’re really going to like this!”
She directed me to one of my favourite websites, ScienceDaily.com. Somehow in all the Halloween hullabaloo, I missed this little gem of an article… Fighting Fire With Fire: ‘Vampire’ Bacteria Have Potential as Living Antibiotic!
Once again, it’s kudos and congrats to our intrepid research biologists… and a tip of the lid to the folks over at ScienceDaily.com!
This week’s Award for Excellence in Vampyre-Related Research goes to… (drumroll, please)…
University of Virginia’s College of Arts & Sciences biologist and chief researcher Martin Wu and graduate student Zhang Wang!
What is it, you inquire, that they discovered? I am SO glad you asked!
(Vampyre bacterium Micavibrio aeruginosavorus [yellow] preying on Pseudomonas aeruginosa)
The ScienceDaily article reports, “A vampire-like bacterium that leeches onto specific other bacteria – including certain human pathogens – has the potential to serve as a living antibiotic for a range of infectious diseases.”
Scientists have known for 30 years that the bacterium, Micavibrio aeruginosavorus, inhabites wastewater but they haven’t extensively studied it because it’s so difficult to culture and investigate the darn thing using traditional microbiology techniques. In short, growing the little beastie was a big pain in the microbial tush!
Fortunately for us, Messrs. Wu and Wang were undaunted and their study may pay off big in terms of human health.
The research microbiologists studied and decoded the bacterium’s genome and are learning “how it makes its living,” Wu said.
You see, this little bacterium ‘makes its living’ by seeking out prey – namely, certain other bacteria – and then attaching itself to its victim’s cell wall and essentially sucking out nutrients. Unlike most other bacteria, which draw nutrients from their surroundings, M. aeruginosavorus can survive and propagate only by drawing its nutrition from specific prey bacteria. This bacteria kills its prey – making it a potentially powerful agent for destroying pathogens.
(No, my little nerdlings, they don’t look like this. It’d be cool if they did, though!)
Chief researcher Martin Wu adds:
“Pathologists may eventually be able to use this bacterium to fight fire with fire, so to speak, as a bacterium that will aggressively hunt for and attack certain other bacteria that are extremely harmful to humans.
It is possible that a living antibiotic such as M. aeruginosavorus – because it so specifically targets certain pathogens – could potentially reduce our dependence on traditional antibiotics and help mitigate the drug-resistance problem we are now facing.”
In other words, if used properly, the vampyre bacterium will attack a harmful human germ, latching onto it like Eric Northman on a faeire, then suck it dry, killing it. This could revolutionize antibiotics and stop the rise of ‘super bugs!’
Well done, Wu and Wang!
And take that, you pesky pathogens! Your Upcoming Vampyre Apocalypse is on its way!
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At times like these when it seems that we are at the swirling outer edge of a vortex about to suck our society down the toilet, it isn’t surprising to see so many post apocalyptic kinds of movies.
I picked up a copy of Stake Land the other day and watched it during one of my more severe recent bouts of premature waking (i.e. up at 1:30 – 2:oo am with no ‘maybe going back to bed in a while’ about it).
(Stake Land – The Upcoming Zombie Vampyre Apocalypse)
Stake Land takes the by-now familiar ‘post zombie apocalypse’ theme and replaces the zombies with vampyres. The movie Priest does basically the same thing but also adds many (too many, in my opinion) other genres into the mix. Other than that, Stake Land is, in many ways, your basic zombie movie.
Take Zombieland and give it a humourectormy - in fact, make it extremely unfunny and kind of depressing. Replace Tallahassee with an older serious vampyre killer (Mister), replace Columbus with a kid (Martin) who’s had his parents and infant sibling killed by vampyres and is taken under the older guy’s wing and trained in vampyre killing, and replace Wichita with a small town pregnant girl (Belle). There is no Little Rock character but throw in a nun (Sister) whom Mister and Martin save from being raped by two young wacko guys from a bizarre Christian cult. Instead of going on an extended road trip across the southwestern United States in an attempt to find a sanctuary free from zombies (i.e. Pacific Playland), this group goes on an extended road trip up through the Appalachian United States in an attempt to find a sanctuary free from vampyres (i.e. Canada).
(Stake Land – A road movie with teeth!)
OK, here’s the deal in a bit more detail… A young man, Martin (Connor Paolo) has his family killed by a vampyre. Martin is saved by an older man known only as Mister (Nick Damici, also the movie’s co-screen writer) who is a highly skilled vampyre killer. Mister takes Martin under his wing and trains him in vampyre killing. We learn that the world has gone through a vampyre apocalypse in the not to distant past. People are beginning to regroup and trying to form towns. There are ‘normal’ towns (for lack of a better word) and also outposts of less normal groups of people. We hear about cannibals and we see evidence of a territory controlled by The Brotherhood, a Christian fundamentalist militia cult headed by Jebedia Loven (Michael Cerveris) that interprets the vampyre plague as the Lord’s work. Mister and the kid save a nun (Kelly McGillis) from being raped by two Brotherhood young men. Mister kills the boys and allows Sister to ride along with them.
Mayhem ensues when The Brotherhood’s leader, Jeb, does not take kindly to Mister since a) killing vampyres is, to them, killing the instruments that the Lord has sent down to destroy the earth, and b) one of the young rapists was Jeb’s own son. The Brotherhood and the group go back and forth, capturing each other and leaving each other to the mercy of the vampyres. Along the way they also pick up a pregnant girl (Danielle Harris) and an ex-Marine named Willie (Sean Nelson). The group soldiers on, ever northward, suffering horrors and losses all along the way, hoping to reach safety and, it is hoped, a new life for themselves.
(Stake Land – a low-budget I Am Legend meets Zombieland)
My two cents… Like the amazing AMC television series, The Walking Dead, Stake Land does not focus on the cause of the apocalypse. The vampyres are almost in the background, really, as the film concentrates on the survivors and especially the relationship of the members of the group. And it is the characters that I found truly interesting. Also, since most of the movie is set in the Appalachian regions of the eastern U.S. between northern Georgia and southern New York State, the scenery is often breath-taking, highlighting even more the ugliness and brutishness of the kind of life with which the survivors are forced to deal. It’s as if I Am Legend took place in the country back-roads and woods of Tennessee, West Virginia or Pennsylvania. As with many other post apocalyptic movies, religion is a strong theme – usually a warped fundamental perversion of what we have in present day. Priest showed a dark twist on the Catholic Church. In Stake Land, The Brotherhood is an obscene offshoot of southern born-again Christianity with survivalist eschatology-cult overtones.
Bottom line… I think “like” and “enjoy” are probably the wrong words to describe how I feel about Stake Land. It is a movie that is definitely worth watching. Great characters, good performances, fabulous scenery and a good if not wildly original storyline. It’s a bleak and not overly optimistic view of what is left of America after the stuff hits the fan in a major way. And yet, there is heroism and there is courageous self-sacrifice and there is a hope that somewhere at some time, life can start again and maybe just maybe there can be a future that is at least a bit brighter.
One and a half post vampyre apocalypse thumbs up.
Preamble: It’s not too often that I bump into friends and fellow Zombie Serengeti explorers during my DVD safaris. Imagine my joyful surprise at running into my dearly beloved friends KJ and SA just outside the audio-visual maze deep within the bowels of the local Walmarts.
Sadly, SA is being forced to leave town in a day or two. Something about her father moving off to the wilds of Sarnia, Ontario (where no one can hear you scream). She has no idea when she will return to civilization. It was like learning that your friend is being schlepped along on an expedition to Mars. Naturally, KJ and I were devastated beyond words. [1]
Even in the midst of our despair, my mission was not forgotten. Just when we thought all hope was lost, KJ and SA both pointed to a DVD of ‘Let Me In’ and declared, “You have GOT to see this movie! It is SO amazing!”
I needed no further recommendation. After the statutory hugs and kisses all around with suitable warnings regarding the departments in which the indigenous living dead congregated that afternoon, I made my way to the cash to check out my purchase.
Cost – $5. Major scare score!
OK, now… down to business!
Let Me In is an American remake of Tomas Alfredson’s critically acclaimed 2008 hit Let the Right One In. Both are film adaptations of John Ajvide Lindqvist’s celebrated Swedish vampyre novel Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right One In).
I did something I rarely do before watching a movie… I gave a quick glance of the reviews at RottenTomatoes.com. Many of the critics there said that the only reason Let Me In was made was because Americans hate reading subtitles. Notwithstanding this, the overall approval rating was a very impressive 90%.
I was definitely intrigued!
I had a good look at the DVD package when I was ripping off the cellophane. Coolish cover photo. A black and white close-up of a young girl with a trickle of blood at the side of her mouth. So far, so good!
(So far, so good!)
Then I looked at actors listed on the cover. Chloë Grace Moretz. The name rang a bell. Why did I know that name? I flipped the cover over and ready the blurb at the back. OMG! Chloë Grace Moretz! The little kid (Hit Girl) in Kick-Ass. I loved her! I wasted no time. Into the old hamster-driven computer DVD drive it went.
I was so looking forward to this movie. I was not disappointed. Not in the least.
I can easily say that Let Me In is one of the best horror movies I’ve seen in a very long time. This unbelievable film pushes a major button for me… scary children. But what is worse/better… scary children who are still children despite also being monsters. But I am getting ahead of myself here…
OK, here’s the deal… Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a 12-year old boy who is rather scrawny for his age, is viciously bullied at school and is pretty much a social outcast. Owen meets a girl who is ‘more or less’ 12-years old, Abby (Chloë Grace Moretz), who moves into the apartment next door. The two develop a deep and profound friendship, usually meeting at night in the playground of their apartment building. Owen begins noticing that Abbey is not like any girl he has ever met. She seems impervious to cold, often walking barefoot in the snow. He only sees her at night. She lives with an older man who Owen presumes is his father. Abbey at first seems reluctant to be friends but then slowly shows signs of affection for Owen. She encourages him to stand up to the bullies and, if they don’t back down, she will help him… adding that she is stronger than she looks. She asks if Owen would still like her, even if she wasn’t a girl. Owen does not know what to make of this question. We soon learn why. Her ‘father’ murders men and drains their blood into plastic jugs for her consumption. Abby, feigning helplessness in a dark tunnel, attracts the attention of a young man saying she is hurt and asking if he could pick her up and carry her… then savagely attacks him, drinking his blood.
(Abby and Owen in the playground at night)
Mayhem ensues when Abby’s guardian and caretaker screws up an attempted murder, crashes a car and is taken to the hospital where he dies. Abby comes to Owen for help. With no one to care for her and feed her, Abby is at a loss as to how to survive. Like a feral animal, she attacks wildly, almost blindly and feeds when she needs to do so to survive, at one point almost going after Owen when he takes his pen knife and cuts his thumb so he and she can make a ‘blood oath.’ Abby finally confides that she has been 12 years old for a very long time. Eventually, Owen has to confront the reality that his seemingly innocent next door neighbour, the one he likes so very much, the one who gave him his first kiss, is a brutal monster.
My two cents… Yes, boys and girls, Abby is a little vampyre girl! And like another little vampyre girl, Claudia from Interview with the Vampire, she is that terrible, horrifying blend of beauty and beast… the cute killer, the adorable predator. She is both young and old, sweet and savage, lovingly soft and heartlessly vicious. No attempt is made here to portray her as an angst-ridden conflicted sparkly vampyre. She is a real honest to goodness old school undead bloodsucker, thank goodness! I was beginning to wonder if there were any of them left!
(Torn between attraction and revulsion… between fear and love)
Let Me In is a beautiful, haunting romance-horror. It premiered last year at the Toronto International Film Festival and has received wide critical acclaim, and rightly so. I am always afraid when the US remakes a foreign film. I am filled with a nameless dread because somehow, some way, they are going to totally butcher the movie. To my infinite relief, Let Me In does not get lost in the cultural translation. It is a powerful, gripping and terrifying portrait of what happens when the monsters get too close… when you ‘let them in’, as it were. Chloë Grace Moretz is a very talented actress and she underplays Abby perfectly. Shy, sweet and sensitive… on the outside. Kodi Smit-McPhee also hands in a wonderfully understated performance which goes hand in hand with that given by Moretz.
Bottom line… Let Me In is one of the best, most refreshingly honest vampyre movies I have seen in a very long time. It grabbed me from the first scene and held me tight all the way through. This is what a vampyre film should be like. It should move you and touch you deeply, grab you by the guts and make you live that primal vampyre contradiction of being both attracted to and repulsed by the undead, the conflicting feelings of being afraid of them and at the same time desperately wanting them, of hating them and wanting them to love you. It doesn’t blur the line between the two. In fact, it does the very opposite. By keeping both sides far apart and clearly distinct, it heightens the differences and makes them stand out even more.
I highly recommend this movie to fans of vampyre fiction and to anyone who just loves a good tale of love, beauty and horror.
Two 12-year old vampyre thumbs way WAY up!!
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[1] SA trying to put on a brave face.
Come back soon, sweetie!! 
Yes, guys and ghouls… It’s time for…
(Is this a cool pumpkin, or what??)
I love Halloween. Ever since I was a little kid. Always have. Always will.
I’ve often said that, inside my mind, it’s a cross between The Nightmare Before Xmas…
(The Nightmare Before Christmas)
…and Corpse Bride.
(Corpse Bride)
As normal (or abnormal) as I may appear in real life, upstairs between the ears, my outlook on life… the way I view the world… is most definitely directed by Tim Burton!
To a large extent, this Tim Burton/Halloween theme extents into my day-to-day life. For instance, while most people go absolutely dippy at the thought of warm sunshiny days… I cringe. I literally hate the feel of sunshine on my skin. My idea of a perfect day is, well, today… cool, overcast, dark, damp, dreary, miserable, gloomy. In other words, perfect!
(A simply lovely day for a stroll!)
I’ve long since outgrown my desire for candy. I don’t have a sweet tooth. A tub of Häagen-Dazs can stay in my freezer for weeks and I won’t have the slightest desire to touch it. So, for me, Halloween isn’t about sweets. Nor is it about the wiccany-pagany-religiony aspects of it. I’m an Orthodox Jew and, to me, that is simply not in the cards either on a philosophical or spiritual basis.
For me, it is about getting in touch with The Dark Side not in terms of evil but in terms of attitude and outlook.
(Right look… the psycho aspect could use a bit of tweaking, however)
While I myself was never a goth, I think the old school Goth Girls had the right look and the right attitude. Modern goth girls… well, I’m not so sure. They all seem like depressing wannabees. They lack the intellectual mind and the dark macabre soul of the old Goth Girls from the very late 70′s and early 80′s.
Being ‘Dark’ isn’t about what you wear on the outside… it is about who you are on the inside.
For example, I would love to live in Halloween Town. And I would give almost anything to be a member of the Addams Family. I want to live in a world where I am not viewed as a freak for wanting it to be grey and dreary every single day of the year. I want to live in a world that is eternally overcast and cool and dismal, where weird is normal and vice versa. This is why I love Halloween. It is the one day of the year when the outside world… the ‘real’ world… matches the world inside my head.
(What you call ‘creepy’… I call ‘home’)
So, here’s to you, Halloween. I may not go out trick or treating. I may not festoon my apartment with pumpkins and ghosts. But I can do most people one better…
…To me, EVERY DAY is Halloween!
