My Super Psycho Sweet 16

I know that MTV is a huge corporate cancer slash super-AIDS, but something about the premise of My Super Psycho Sweet 16 touches my heart.
I have to admit I was a fan of My Super Sweet 16... Watching all those spoiled rich people have tantrums and freakouts was just... well... FABULOUS.
Oh and that one where they send them to foreign countries was good too.
anyway checkout the trailer, straight from Satan's jaws.

http://www.fangoria.com/home/news/9-film-news/4386-exclusive-clip-from-mtvs-my-super-psycho-sweet-16.html

The problem with torture porn.

I thought that this article from Fangoria.com was quite good.

The Problem with Torture Porn

Tuesday, October 27, 2009 10:56 AM Brian Matus, a.k.a. Hellstorm RAISING HELL

Just when it seemed that usage of the term “torture porn” was behind us, it’s once again raised its ugly head - from reviews of THE HILLS RUN RED and Lars von Trier's ANTICHRIST to blog posts about how PARANORMAL ACTIVITY earned more than SAW VI this past weekend.

"Torture porn" is a term that simply doesn't make sense when describing horror films that feature graphic depictions of torture. To the uninitiated, it sounds more like a subgenre of porn than a horror subgenre, as evidenced by Roger Ebert's review of ANTICHRIST:

• "... These passages have been referred to as 'torture porn.' Sadomasochistic they certainly are, but porn is entirely in the mind of the beholder. Will even a single audience member find these scenes erotic?"

When a film critic with as much experience as Roger Ebert misunderstands the term, it's obvious that "torture porn" has no value in film criticism – not that this stops some people from using it as a crutch to avoid making informed commentary on a film.

The way “torture porn” has come to be used the last few years is (ironically) a perversion of its original usage. When film critic David Edelstein coined the term in his New York Magazine article titled "Now Playing at Your Local Multiplex: Torture Porn," he said:

• "... Torture movies cut deeper than mere gory spectacle. Unlike the old seventies and eighties hack-’em-ups (or their jokey remakes, like SCREAM), in which masked maniacs punished nubile teens for promiscuity (the spurt of blood was equivalent to the money shot in porn), the victims here are neither interchangeable nor expendable. They range from decent people with recognizable human emotions to, well, Jesus."

That's right, Jesus. Edelstein included THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST alongside THE DEVIL’S REJECTS, SAW, WOLF CREEK and HOSTEL (which he also described as, "not a bad little thriller, if you can live with the odd protracted sequence of torture and dismemberment") in a list of films that took scenes of torture and mutilation out of 42nd Street and Italian cannibal cinema and put them into the local multiplex.

Disregarding the term's origin - and the ease with which even Roger Ebert can misinterpret its meaning – what Edelstein wrote in his original article is nearly the opposite of how the term has come to be used, as a means of describing a film that’s all spectacle with no plot and generic characters.

With that, how do films like THE DEVIL’S REJECTS, SAW, WOLF CREEK and HOSTEL fit this or other similar definitions of the term "torture porn?"

You can't argue that there's no characterization. Even if you don't like the characters in these films, there had to have been enough characterization for you to dislike them.

You can't argue that there's no plot. Except for the SAW films - where the ongoing story becomes increasingly more complex with each installment - the rest of these films are essentially "road movies" - with torture.

(If you want to complain about the lack of originality in these films, you might as well complain about the lack of originality in films where a group of people are stalked by a slasher or fight off monsters in a city, town or whatever isolated location a film has forced its characters into.)

Besides having no obvious meaning, “torture porn” doesn’t even accurately describe the films it’s applied to using the definition people commonly assign to the term.

So, if not “torture porn,” what term could be used to categorize horror films featuring graphic torture without being confusing, inaccurate or pejorative?

Torturesploitation.

Given the resurgence of exploitation cinema's popularity post-GRINDHOUSE, it seems time that Torturesploitation - denoting films in which torture is the primary exploitable element - takes its place alongside Blaxploitation, Carsploitation and Nunsploitation as a subgenre of exploitation cinema.

• "There's something going on in "Hostel 2" that isn't torture porn. There's really something going on there that's interesting on an artistic basis. Sure it makes you uncomfortable, but good art should make you uncomfortable." - Stephen King on the Artistic Merits of Torture Porn, Los Angeles Times, June 21, 2007

DVD releases for Oct. 6th (Rue Morgue)

6teen: Dude of the Living Dead (Phase 4 Films)
Audition: Collector's Edition (Shout Factory) - Also in blu-ray.
Bleed With Me (R Squared Films)
Blood Ties: Season Two (Vivendi)
The Children (Lionsgate) - Also in blu-ray.
Chldren of the Corn (2009) (Anchor Bay) - Set to air on SyFy the eweekend before. Can't find a cover.
Crazy as Hell Steelbook (First Look)
Dark Country (Sony)
Descendant (Platinum Disc)
Feeding Grounds (Brain Damage)
Franklin's Halloween (Phase 4 Films)
The Gate Special Edition (Lionsgate)
Ghostbusters 1 & 2 Giftset (Sony) - I think the two films will also be available in a simpler set, without the statue.
Ghost Ship Blu-ray (Warner)
Goreality (Taylor Haden)
Hide and Creep (Celebrity Video Distribution)
Horror 101 (Well Go USA) - See cover.
I Spit Chew on Your Grave! (Sub Rosa)
It's Alive (2008) (First Look)
It's My Party And I'll Die If I Want To (Brain Damage)
Karloff & Lugosi Horror Classics (Warner) - See cover.
King of the Ants Steelbook (First Look)
Medium Season 5 (Paramount) - Will also be available in a set with the other seasons.
Mirageman (Magnolia)
My Pet Monster: The Complete Series (Phase 4 Films)
Not Quite Hollywood (Magnolia)
The Number 23 Blu-ray (New Line Cinema)
Offspring (Lionsgate) - Also in blu-ray.
Red Dwarf: Back To Earth - The Director's Cut (BBC) - Also in blu-ray.
Scare Tactics: Season 3 - Part One (Warner)
The Seamstress (Image)
Senseless (Well Go USA)
Seventh Moon (Lionsgate) - Also in blu-ray.
Shopping for Fangs (1997) (Pathfinder)
Skull Heads (Wizard)
Splatter Movie: The Director's Cut (Sub Rosa)
Staunton Hill (Anchor Bay)
Tales from the Cryptkeeper: The Complete First Season - Pleasant Screams (Phase 4 Films)
Tales from the Cryptkeeper: The Complete Second Season - All the Gory Details (Phase 4 Films)
The Thaw (Lionsgate) - Also in blu-ray.
Trick 'r Treat (Warner) - Also in blu-ray.
Wicked Lake + Soundtrack (Shriek Show)
Wolf / Dracula / Frankenstein Trilogy Blu-ray (Sony) - See cover. Wolf and Frank will also be available separately.

Weekly Discussion - Week 2 - Favorite George Romero flick

There was a very lively disscution about this question at the Harvest Moon Party. So which is your favorite and why?

New releases for the week of Sep. 29th (courtesy of Rue Morgue Magazine)

4 Film Favorites: Blade Collection (New Line)
42nd Street Forever: Volume 5 - Alamo Drafthouse Cinema (Synapse)
Alien Fear Collection (Mill Creek)
Billy Jack Blu-ray (Image)
Blade Of The Immortal: Volume 1 (Media Blasters)
Bloodwine (R Squared)
Burke and Hare (Redemption)
Casper's Haunted Christmas (Classic Media) - Can't find a cover.
Damnation: Media Pack (Shriek Show) - Whatever this is, it's centered on Shadow: Dead Riot.
The Dark Crystal Blu-ray (Sony)
Daughter Of Darkness (1948 (Redemption)
Decoder (Cobraside)
Dinner With A Vampire (Mya) - Pushed back from 8/25.
Dracula's Fiancee (Redemption) - Pushed back from 8/25.
Erotic Daughters Of Emmanuelle (Halo Park)
Fallen Angels: Director's Cut (Vivendi)
Farm House (Monarch)
Fermat's Room (MPI)
Flesh, TX (Well Go USA)
Godkiller: Walk Among Us #1 (Halo Eight)
The Hanging Woman (Troma)
Hardware: 2 Disc Special Edition (Severin) - Also in blu-ray. Details here.
Haunted Histories Collection Megaset (A&E)
Haunting Of Winchester House (Asylum)
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer Blu-ray (Dark Sky)
The Hills Run Red (Warner)
The Horror Vault, Vols. 1 & 2 (R Squared) - Two anthologies.
In A Spiral State (Halo Eight)
Island Of The Fishmen (Mya) - Dare we believe?
Italian Sex (Mya) - Pushed back from 8/25.
Labyrinth Blu-ray (Sony)
Lucifera: Demonlover (Mya)
Mafia Connection (Mya)
Monsters Vs. Aliens: Ginormous Double DVD Pack (Dreamworks) - Includes 3D and 2D versions. Also in blu-ray.
Naked and Violent (Mya)
The New York Ripper: Special Edition (Blue Underground) - Also in blu-ray.
Nightmare (MPI)
Nobody Loves Alice: Unrated Director's Cut (Indie Pictures) - Pushed back several times now.
Paranormal State: Demonic Investigations (A&E)
Princess (Tartan)
The Real Ghostbusters: Complete Collection (Time Life) - Wider release.
Screwballs Blu-ray (Severin)
The Sexy Box (Troma) - See cover for details.
The Shortcut (Anchor Bay)
Snakes on a Plane Blu-ray (Warner)
Stepfather II (Synapse)
The Storm Riders: 2 Disc Special Edition (Discotek Media)
Superman Batman: Public Enemies - Special Edition (Warner) - Also in single disc and blu-ray.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) Blu-ray (Warner)
Trauma (2004) (First Look) - Steelbook.
Uninvited / Mutant Double Feature (Liberation)
Ultraman: The Complete Series (Mill Creek)
Until Death (Mya)
Uzumaki (Eastern Star)
Zontar: The Thing from Venus/In The Year 2889 (Alpha Video)

Weekly Discussion - Week 1 - Top Ten Horror Movies

So I haven't finished my research on Maenads and I want to get something up so this is just a copy and paste job of an MSN Article. What I want to know is what you think doesn't belong on this list and what movie scares you the most. These is no date on this article but its about movies that stand the test of time so I assume that is why no newer movies are on the list. I pronise to be less lazy next week and have something more interesting and orginal to discuss next week.

When Norman Bates, dressed as his mother, ripped open Janet Leigh's shower curtain and knifed her to death in "Psycho," horror movies changed. Along with Leigh's blood, classic horror style and romantic figures like Frankenstein and Dracula went right down the shower drain. The veiled sexuality and hidden violence that dominated most classic horror films suddenly were gleefully dragged into the open, for everyone to exploit. For better or worse, style often became as important as substance, and booming box-office numbers proved that horror was serious business. The shifting times created opportunities for filmmakers to innovate, finding new and terrifying ways to scare the pants off audiences.

The mark of a great horror film is whether it sustains its vision of terror through several generations of increasingly desensitized viewers. Does the movie still make you jump or squirm or sweat or scream? The following efforts do all of the above.

10. "Eraserhead" (1977)David Lynch's cult classic is the closest thing to being stuck in a nightmare: Not much makes sense, but you get the feeling that nothing is quite right. Lynch employs dinners that walk off the plate, eerie silences that become deafening and an infant that makes Rosemary's baby seem cute and cuddly. So chilling it's damn near unwatchable.

9. "The Exorcist" (1973)The real terror of "The Exorcist" may not involve Satan and possession, but the helplessness of a parent trying to save a child. Of course, a ton of harrowing special effects and director William Friedkin's somber respect for the supernatural subject matter doesn't hurt either. It's horror for grown-ups.

8. "Halloween" (1978)John Carpenter's film is blamed for the rash of slasher films that destroyed the genre in the '80s, but "Halloween" possesses a style and intensity that most of its copycats lack. From the opening sequence -- when we see through the eyes of little boy Michael Myers as he stalks and murders his sister -- onward, the film relies on suspense rather than sensationalism. Our fear is caused by what might happen rather than actual events, as Carpenter spends a good amount of time in darkness, making us see things that may or may not be there.

7. "Don't Look Now" (1973)Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie head to Venice to forget the tragic accidental death of their child. However, it's impossible to forget when the dead child keeps reappearing. Nicolas Roeg's labyrinthine film is rich in dreamlike atmosphere and works on a purely psychological level: It disorients, frustrates and builds to a horrible climax, reminding that tragedy can never be forgotten ... and neither can this film.

6. "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1974)A group of annoying teens make a wrong turn on a road trip through Texas and encounter the most dysfunctional family imaginable. It's a teen exploitation flick shot like a documentary. Wonderfully grim, mean and inhumane, director Tobe Hooper's debut doesn't spill much blood, instead opting to giddily, relentlessly torture and chase its audience (much like Leatherface treats his victims) for 80 minutes. It feels like days.

5. "Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984) Before dream-killer Freddy Krueger became a quipping pop-culture reference, he represented the most twisted monster unleashed on the public since Halloween's Michael Myers. Seeking vengeance by slicing and dicing the children of the parents who murdered him, Freddy scared the hell out of Cineplex audiences. His on-screen entrance remains terrifying, as does much of director Wes Craven's surreal, smart and shocking masterpiece.

4. "Suspiria" (1977)"Suspiria" is a full-on sensory assault by Italian horror master Dario Argento, the cinematic equivalent of an anxiety attack. A poor American ballet student arrives in Europe and Argento berates her with weather, grisly murders, a possible coven of witches, his virtuosic camera, and possible the freakiest score ever conceived (by the director himself). The plot barely makes sense, so just let it terrorize you.

3. "Night of the Living Dead" (1968)A group of kids get trapped inside a farm house by an endless stream of flesh-eating zombies. Sounds silly, but director George Romero takes his simple premise and redefines the genre with a shoestring budget. The amount of sadistic gore, the claustrophobic tension, the rising levels of hysteria and an increasingly deflated awareness that a happy ending is impossible make this a nasty classic. There is no hope here, only suffocating terror.

2. Repulsion (1965) Director Roman Polanski did more horror afterward, with "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Tenant," but this -- a menacing, nightmarish profile of one woman's descent into madness -- may be his most realized effort. Catherine Denueve embodies sexual repression as a young woman left alone in her apartment -- and to her deluded fantasies -- for the weekend. The film is nearly silent, creating a mounting mood of dread. Try watching it alone with the lights off and see how long you last.

1. "Psycho" (1960)Alfred Hitchcock's blueprint for contemporary horror: More than just a film, "Psycho" was a cultural slap in the face. Censors wanted to ban it, while screaming audiences couldn't get enough of it. Hitch employs all of his tricks -- shifting audience sympathies, killing off the main character halfway through the film and a ton of macabre humor -- but more importantly he makes the horror internal. Norman Bates isn't a monster in the classic sense; he suggests that the greatest evil can lurk beneath the quietest, most pleasant surface.


Just missed: "The Shining" (1980); "Jaws" (1975); "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991); "Dead Ringers" (1988); "Seconds" (1966); "Audition" (1999)

free passes to Zombieland!!!

i have in my hot little hands 20 free passes for an advanced showing of Zombieland.
it's on wed. at 7:30 at southwind...