Tag Archives: movie

Ukategorisert

The Witching Behind the Production of Practical Magic

Leave a comment
Advertisements

The cult classic Practical Magic is a movie about witches, spells and curses. But did you know that a witch actually cursed the film production when they worked on it? And did you know there is going to be a sequel about the family of witches?

The 1998 cult classic Practical Magic is not just a beloved witchy film—it also has an eerily enchanting history behind its production. Starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, the film tells the story of two witch sisters navigating love, loss, and a family curse. With an all-star cast, including Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest, Practical Magic was filmed at the height of late 90s nostalgia for magical and supernatural tales. 

Read Also: Check out all haunted stories from the USA.

One of the most memorable scenes in the film features the characters enjoying “Midnight Margaritas,” a spontaneous, tequila-fueled bonding session. Behind the scenes, the cast really did get tipsy on the cheap tequila Nicole Kidman had brought on set, leading to authentic moments of tipsy joy that made it into the final cut.

Midnight Margaritas: The booze in the Margarita was real tequila. Were the curses in the movie real as well? If we are to believe the stories, the witch consultant really did leave a curse on the whole movie.

In addition to boozy fun, Practical Magic became an unexpected sisterhood for the actresses. Though the film was directed by Griffin Dunne, a man, the female cast formed a powerful, almost mystical bond. As Kidman recalled, they synced their menstrual cycles during a full moon while filming, teasing Dunne that they might soon “turn on him.”

Musically, the film drew on the talents of self-proclaimed witch and Fleetwood Mac legend, Stevie Nicks. Nicks not only contributed her song “If You Ever Did Believe” to the film but also re-recorded her classic “Crystal,” both featuring Sheryl Crow. 

Yet, what many don’t know is that the film’s making was just as otherworldly as its plot.

Was Practical Magic a Haunted Set?

Behind the camera Practical Magic was plagued by darker forces as well as in front of it is we are to believe the rumors. 

Stories about supernatural occurrences circulated during filming from both cast and crew. Cast members reported eerie noises, especially during the climactic coven scene at the film’s end, raising suspicions that the fictional witchcraft may have stirred something real.

Read Also: Check out The Haunting of Fernhills Royal Palace Hotel in India’s Hills where another movie production encountered the supernatural.

As the director said: “It’s something I will talk about now, but at the time I would sort of deny it. I didn’t want the vibe. As the line from the movie that Aidan has [goes], “I didn’t want to give the curse any strength.” Not that I believed in it. But if you believe in it, you’re giving it strength.”

So was the movie set really haunted, or was it simply the witchy vibe of the set something to the atmosphere. The scariest thing by far was when the witch consultant they had hired cursed the entire movie, as well as the director when they didn’t give into her demands. 

The Exorcism Scene: The scene where the witches gathered for a huge spell was thought to bring with it a strange atmosphere people borderline chucked up to a paranormal one.

The Witch Consultant’s Curse

Originally brought on to help ensure the accuracy of the film’s portrayal of magic, things took a sinister turn with the witch consultant they had hired. They had hired the witch through a friend of the director put them in touch with. The friend has never stopped apologizing for the introduction because of how badly it ended, according to the director. 

Read More: Check out all stories concerning Witches

The witch was, according to the director, paid very handsomely by Warner Brothers for her consulting on spells and such. The director thought it would be fun to bring her out to Los Angeles where they were filming a lot of the movie. They wanted to put her in a nice hotel as he wanted her to meet Bullock and Kidman, who were dying to meet her. 

The Owen Sisters: Nichole Kidman and Sandra Bullock played the sisters in the movie. In the plot, the sisters are cursed as well, and any man who loves them or they love will die.

This all greatly backfired though as the witch got offended. She said to the producer in a phone call: “I’m going to put a curse on you. I’m putting a curse on this movie, and I’m putting a curse on Griffin.” 

She wanted three gross points of the profit the movie would make as well as the right to publish a Practical Magic cookbook. She also left an ominous voicemail as well to Griffith: “There is a land of curses!” and started to speak in tongue on a voicemail before threatening to sue Warner Bros as well.

Griffith brought the recording to the legal department and played the curse for them. Only halfway through they stopped the tape and wrote her a check. 

A New Age Exorcism for a New Age Movie

The threat of the curse rattled the crew, especially when tragedy struck: a crew member’s father died suddenly. Though he was elderly and already ill, many on set believed it was the witch’s doing. In response, Griffin Dunne arranged a New Age exorcism to cleanse the set. 

“It was a very simple, New Agey ceremony that was about as silly as the idea that someone would curse you over the phone,” he told Vulture when he talked about the whole ordeal. “It was mostly chants and smoke and shit like that. “I just did it to cover my bases.”

Though he admitted it was “silly,” the ritual provided some comfort, and filming continued without further incident. The incident did however inspire the creator of the movie to write one of Aidens lines: “Curses only have power when you believe them.” 

Critic Reviews and the Supernatural Vibe

Despite the fun behind-the-scenes stories, Practical Magic wasn’t initially well-received. Critics like Roger Ebert and Entertainment Weekly panned the film, calling it “muddled” and “cursed,” as if the alleged witch’s hex truly took hold of the production and made it to as badly as it did on the box office. In fact, it was the last feature film the director did for ages, and he said it certainly didn’t help his career. 

However, over the years, the film gained a cult following, embraced for its charming mix of romance, sisterhood, and spooky magic. Today the movie is considered a classis by many, a thing put on every fall to get you in the spooky October mood. 

As if continuing the magic of the original, in 2024, news broke that both Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman would return for a much-anticipated sequel. The announcement reignited fan excitement and speculation that the witchy energy from the first film might soon stir again. But the question is: how would a sequel fare if there truly is something like a curse put on the production?

More like this

Newest Posts

References:

Practical Magic (1998) – Trivia – IMDb

Practical Magic – Wikipedia

How ‘Practical Magic’ Pissed Off a Real-Life Witch | Vanity Fair 

Prepare a Midnight Margarita and Enjoy These 25 Secrets About Practical Magic

Cool, Shocking Facts You Never Knew About Practical Magic – Business Insider

Practical Magic Got Cursed by an Actual Witch. Is That Why It Bombed? 

Uncategorized

Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital

5 Comments
Advertisements

Arguably the most famous haunted place in South Korea is the Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital. When it was still standing it attracted a lot of ghost hunters, curious tourists and urban explorers. What was it behind the place that drew all these people?

One of the allegedly most haunted places in South-Korea was the Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital (곤지암 남양신경정신병원). It was closed down in the 90s and the owner left the country after not documenting for the public the reason why it closed down according to myth. And the legends, rumours and tales started spinning, everything from murderous patients, mad doctors and so on.

So spooky did the world find this place that even foreign TV-station CNN called it one of the world’s most freakiest places in 2012, really making it an international destination for thrillseekers. Today however the empty building been torn down. But before that it managed to become one of the biggest hotspots for ghost seekers in Korea.

Let’s see how the abandoned hospital became known as one of the most haunted places in the country and unravel some of the legends it became known for before being demolished with nothing left but its legend.

The Asylum: This is how the abandoned hospital looked before being demolished in 2018, hidden away between trees at the foot of a mountain..

Abandoned Asylum in the Mountains

Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital was a building near the small city of Gwangju outside of Seoul in a residential area at the foot of a mountain. The old ruins of the abandoned hospital was just remote enough to be considered a spooky and haunted asylum tucked away in the mountains, and close enough to visit from big places like Seoul to spread the word of ghosts and mad doctors. Much to the locals’ nuisance as they have hated the rumours about the place that have drawn people from all over the world to trespass to have a look for themselves.

According to those who tried to find their way there, the locals around the place are not so forthcoming with giving directions to the site. This of course has fueled the excitement for the urban explorers and paranormal researchers alike, and every year thousands of people broke through the barriers to get a glimpse of the allegedly haunted asylum. 

The Mad Doctor at Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital

So what really went down inside Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital before closing? Let’s have a look at what the legend claims happened inside of the supposed haunted asylum.

The Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital first opened its doors in 1961 and was a full functioning one all the way up to July 1996. Nurses took care of the patients on the three floor hospital and the doctors made their rounds, just as expected. But over the course of the last decade the hospital was in operation, mysterious things kept happening according to the legends the place left. 

Read About More Haunted Hospitals Around the World in the MoonMausoleum

The story goes that the patients started dying mysteriously without a good explanation. In addition to dying patients, there were also some of the staff that went missing and turned up dead in the rooms inside of the hospital. From a medical standpoint it was first believed that it could be an infection seeing as it also afflicted some of the patients family members as well, but no, it turned out to be something much more sinister. 

Apparently it was the owner of the asylum who went insane himself and kept many of the patients prisoners and killing them one by one until he was stopped. It wasn’t until the government came to investigate because of the missing staff that he was caught and fled to America, causing the hospital to shut down. 

There were also rumours about the director of the hospital took his own life after being found out to be behind the dead patients and missing staff, becoming one of the souls haunting the place.

But even after the mad doctor was caught, the souls of the victims could never be at peace, long after the hospital closed down and became forgotten for a long time as time ate away at the building.

According to the locals, screams had been heard coming from the abandoned building along with mysterious figures lurking around the dark hospital, believing it to be the haunted souls of the asylum. Poor victims that turned to vengeful spirits, haunting the premise and seeking revenge on those who wronged them.

The people that dared to visit the haunted asylum to check out the stories told of scary encounters they could only explain as paranormal. There were reports of dropping temperatures when it suddenly turned cold on a hot summer’s day, opening and closing of the heavy doors without a draft and they kept hearing voices of people that weren’t there.

The Legend of the Haunted Hospital Grows

Although Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital was such a well known place, the facts of the asylum’s history is hazy, especially after it has been mixed in with unverified legends and blockbuster movies. In 2008 a ghost hunter show showcased the hospital where they brought on shamans and reported that there indeed was something going on in the place.

It was not the only “documentary” that were made of the former hospital and helped to make it a well known building in the entire country and beyond.

The Documentary of the Ghost of Gonjiam: The ghost hunter “documentary” series Ghostspot aired an episode in 2008 about the legends of Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital. This definitely helped further the legends of the place and made the whole nation aware of its existence.

The culmination and peak of the legend must have been when the movies like commercial successful Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (Korean: 곤지암) from 2018 didn’t help to quench the rumours about the asylum being haunted by ghosts. Although the movie itself was primarily filmed at Busan National Maritime High School, a supposed haunted place in itself, it capitalized on the legend behind Gonjiam.

It was kind of a big controversy when Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum came out in theaters as the owner of the building tried to stop the movie as he feared it would affect the property value.

But he lost and the movie was aired, making it a paranormal hot spot to visit once again, despite of the owner trying to keep people out. Barbed wire, cameras and warning signs have tried to keep visitors out since it closed down, to no avail. And the legend would not stop until the whole building disappeared. 

Unraveling the Legends Behind Gonjiam

So why did Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital close down then if not for a mad doctor, missing nurses and murdered patients? More mundane reasons like financial difficulties, unsanitary conditions and big problems with the sewage systems according to the owners of the building was most likely the case. And with the water pipes not up to modern standard, they had no choice to pay up or shut down.

The director that was rumoured to have taken his own life had really just started to work at another hospital after Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital closed down. The children of the director inherited the hospital, but the costs of operating the hospital was too big and they decided to let it fall into ruin, perhaps not realising the stories an abandoned building can create.

In regards to the missing staff and murdered patients at the hospital, there are no evidence for it at all. According to a journalist making a piece on the Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital, they found out there had been no suspicious reports about the hospital over the years about missing people and dead patients.

The source to this article delving into the truth behind the claims was among others a policeman in the local police district. In fact, the patients that resided in Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital were supposedly transferred to Yongin mental hospital after the hospital closed down.

Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital Movie: The movie based on the legend from 2018 was a box office success. Screenshot from that iconic scene. //Photo: Source: IMDB

So, although alive in legend, the former hospital and legendary haunted building is no longer there for those curious about the legend to see for yourself and we have to make due with movies, picture and old footage. In 2018 Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital was demolished, the same year that the movie made the legend last forever on film.

There are plans that it may be a new apartment building at the place, further erasing the history and creating a new one at the foot of the mountain. So perhaps now the legend of Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital will die out as an actual place and story, as the building can no longer attract the curious people looking for a thrilling legend? Or maybe the spirits of the place now just lost their home?

Advertisements

More like this

Newest Posts

References

Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital – Gwangju-si, South Korea

Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum

Best time for Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital in South Korea 2021

A Creepy Afternoon Alone in an Abandoned Hospital- Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospitalgonjiam-psychiatric-hospital-patients-started-dying-mysteriously-know-the-horror-behind-it

[ESC] 공포영화 ‘곤지암’ 실화냐? 정신병원 괴담의 실체

귀신 나온다는 ‘한국 3대 흉가’는 조작됐다

Uncategorized

Chaonei No. 81 — Beijing Horror House

3 Comments
Advertisements

Shadowy figures in the window, chilling entrance during the summer, the old and haunted church in Beijing called Chaonei No. 81, keeps its secrets close to the chest. The famous haunted house is believed to be haunted by a woman said to have taken her life inside.

Chaonei No. 81 ( 朝内81号), also called Chaonei Church as it was built with that in mind, perhaps, the records aren’t clear. The French reimagined baroque architecture from the 20th century stands out amongst the modern Beijing skyscrapers and the Ming dynasty buddhist temples.

Read Also: Check out all of our ghost stories from China

Out of place it has passed from a French manager of the railway or Christian missionaries, different governmental members of the Chinese Republic as well as the Catholic Church. But one thing remains the same, the rumours about a restless spirit that lingers, no matter who lives there. 

The Mystery of the Chaonei Church Building

The story behind the supposed haunted house at Chaonei No. 81 is hard to get straight. As with a lot of buildings before the formation of the People’s Republic of China was formed, because of missing paperwork. Who built the Chaonei Church? Was it the French manager of the railway? Or it might even have been the Qing imperial family building it for the British to use as a church? However it is believed to have been built around 1910, although some claim it is even older.

Read Also: Check out the rest of MoonMausoleums Haunted Houses

Chaonei Church Building: How Chaonei No. 81 ( 朝内81号) looked from across the street in 2014, looming dark in the otherwise bright and busy street. //Photo: Daniel Case/Wikimedia.

By the neighbouring hutong, the traditional streets in Beijing, the house has always been remembered as haunted. And even during the 1970s, during the cultural revolution, the neighbours remember the Red Guard that lived in the Chaonei Church, got so frightened after staying inside of the haunted house, they had to leave after a few days. 

The Woman Hanging from the Rafters

But who frightened its inhabitants, that even the red guard couldn’t handle? According to the most commonly told legend, it is to a woman that once resided in Chaonei No. 81. Or rather, a scorned woman that used to live there, as most haunted histories start with.

The woman that used to live in the Chaonei Church is said to have been a wife or maybe a lover of an officer of the Kuomintang (KMT, or the nationalist party of China) that fought against the communist party during the Chinese civil war in the 1940s. The nationalist lost, and fled to Taiwan as the communist came into power.

The woman was allegedly left behind by her officer man who fled with the army to Taiwan, and she is said to have hung herself from the rafters of the house. 

The Ghost Inside of Chaonei No. 81: According to legend, the ghost haunting Chaonei No. 81 is the spirit of a woman left alone in the house by an officer who fled the country.

Whether the outcome of the war had anything to do with her death is debatable, as some suggest it was more that the officer was never at home, not paying her the attention she needed than the victory of the communists that led her to her decision of taking her life in the Chaonei Church.

Her existence at all is debatable as a lot of things during the civil war are lost, forgotten or even hidden away and a lot of documentation to confirm or deny the story is not there. What we can go by is the word of mouth however, and many that have stayed in Chaonei No. 81 knowing its history say there was never a KMT officer living there, and no woman hung herself in the rafters. 

The history behind Chaonei No. 81 is clouded in mystery, and there seems that no one can really agree on one account. But ghost stories have their own way of ignoring this, and sneaking their way into the mind of those around anyway. And according to the locals, this place has always been haunted. The locals persist in their own lore that she can indeed be heard, especially on those stormy nights, screaming from the empty house during thunder. 

The Vanishing Workers From the Chaonei Church

Even the construction of the house has been up for dispute with strange tales from the Chaonei Church. Like the story of a British priest who supposedly built on the property disappeared before being able to build the church. When a search party was sent, they supposedly found a secret tunnel leading all the way northeast of the premise to the Dashanzi neighborhood. 

There have also been three people, working on construction down in the basement in the building next to Chaonei No. 81 that supposedly vanished into thin air. They got drunk on the job and decided to break into the house by breaking the thin wall that separated the two houses. They were never seen again according to the reports. 

The House that Never Dies

A message to the entrance is put up, telling the visitors that there are no ghosts residing there, contrary to local beliefs, urging the paranormal seekers to stay away from the Chaonei Church.

Warning off people: Chalked notice on Chaonei No. 81 in Chinese, warning of ghosts in the house. Original text: “请勿相信谎言 无鬼” (Please do not believe lies, there are no ghosts)//Photo by Daniel Case//wikimedia

Especially after the horror movie, The House that Never Dies, inspired by the the haunted legends of Chaonei No. 81 and its story, the interest of it came back. And after its release in 2014, up to five hundred people crowded outside the house, causing the catholic church to close the gates, only letting a few in at the time.  

The same thing happened with Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital when a movie was made about the legend and they eventually demolished the entire building because the paranormal seekers were too much and the construction of the building not safe enough.

Keeping the legend alive: The movie trailer from the 2014 movie ‘The House that Never Die’, inspired about the legends surrounding Chaonei 81.

In 2016 however, Chaonei No. 81. interior and outside was renovated and rented out. Perhaps that is what it took to get rid of the spirit and the lore seeping from the old bricks of the Chaonei Church. But there are also those claiming they have an uneasy feeling of dread when walking by the house. And even in the hot summer, with the sun scorching right at the door, the doorway of the mansion somehow always feels cooler than in the shade.

More like this

Newest Posts

References

Featured Picture by Daniel Case source:

Chaonei No. 81

The House That Never Dies  

Dilapidated Mansion Has Had Many Occupants, Maybe Even a Ghost (Published 2013)

This abandoned “Chaonei No.81” house in China is described as “Beijing’s most celebrated haunted building” …  Raising Ghosts: Five of Beijing’s Most Haunted Attractions

Uncategorized

‘Wholesome’ X-Mas Movies – Have a Happy Horror Christmas

Leave a comment
Advertisements

What to watch in these merry Christmas times where you just want some horror and gore? There is so many takes on the Christmas horror genre. There are folkloric Krampus, crazy killers, ghosts of every time and other creatures. One thing most have in common though is the scary man that visits every time. Santa Claus. Don’t trust him. #cancelsanta

The Lodge

Released: 2019
Starring: Riley Keough, Jaeden Martell, Lia McHugh, Alicia Silverstone, and Richard Armitage.

Its plot follows a soon-to-be stepmother who, alone with her fiancé’s two children, becomes stranded at their rural lodge during Christmas. There, she and the children experience a number of unexplained events that seem to be connected to her past in a suicide cult.

Advertisements

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

Released: 2010
Starring: Onni Tommila , Jorma Tommila , Ilmari Jarvenpaa , Per Christian Ellefsen

Synopsis

(provided by the studio) It’s the eve of Christmas in northern Finland, and an ‘archeological’ dig has just unearthed the real Santa Claus. But this particular Santa isn’t the one you want coming to town. When the local children begin mysteriously disappearing, young Pietari and his father Rauno, a reindeer hunter by trade, capture the mythological being and attempt to sell Santa to the misguided leader of the multinational corporation sponsoring the dig. Santa’s elves, however, will stop at nothing to free their fearless leader from captivity. What ensues is a wildly humorous nightmare — a fantastically bizarre polemic on modern day morality.

Advertisements

Black Christmas

Released: 2019
Starring: Imogen Poots

Synopsis

Just in time for the holidays comes a timely take on a cult horror classic as a campus killer comes to face a formidable group of friends in sisterhood. Hawthorne College is quieting down for the holidays. But as Riley Stone (Imogen Poots, Green Room) and her Mu Kappa Epsilon sisters—athlete Marty (Lily Donoghue, The CW’s Jane the Virgin), rebel Kris (Aleyse Shannon, The CW’s Charmed), and foodie Jesse (Brittany O’Grady, Fox’s Star)—prepare to deck the halls with a series of seasonal parties, a black-masked stalker begins killing sorority women one by one. As the body count rises, Riley and her squad start to question whether they can trust any man, including Marty’s beta-male boyfriend, Nate (Simon Mead, Same But Different: A True New Zealand Love Story), Riley’s new crush Landon (Caleb Eberhardt, Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle) or even esteemed classics instructor Professor Gelson (Cary Elwes). Whoever the killer is, he’s about to discover that this generation’s young women aren’t about to be anybody’s victims. This December, on Friday the 13th, ring in the holidays by dreaming of a Black Christmas.

Advertisements

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Released: 1993

Questions like: Is this actually a Halloween movie or a Christmas movies must be forgotten! Let us all just call it a movie about festivities. Jack Skellington, king of Halloweentown, discovers Christmas Town, but doesn’t quite understand the concept.

Advertisements

Wind Chill

Released 2007
Starring: Emily Blunt

Before a quiet place, there was the Christmas horror movie for Blunt, giving her a chance to practice her horror scream queen skills to perfection. Two college students share a ride home for the holidays. When they break down on a deserted stretch of road, they’re preyed upon by the ghosts of people who have died there.

Advertisements

Krampus

Released: 2015
Starring: Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner, Allison Tolman, Conchata Ferrell, Stefania Lavie Owen and Krista Stadler.

Toni Collette. Wanna watch her in a horror flick without the psychological trauma from Hereditary? Krampus is the movie. Or…

Legendary Pictures’ Krampus, a darkly festive tale of a yuletide ghoul, reveals an irreverently twisted side to the holiday. When his dysfunctional family clashes over the holidays, young Max (Emjay Anthony) is disillusioned and turns his back on Christmas. Little does he know, this lack of festive spirit has unleashed the wrath of Krampus: a demonic force of ancient evil intent on punishing non-believers. All hell breaks loose as beloved holiday icons take on a monstrous life of their own, laying siege to the fractured family’s home and forcing them to fight for each other if they hope to survive.

Advertisements

Gremlins

Released: 1984
Starring: Hoyt Axton, Zach Galligan, Frances Lee McCain

A boy inadvertantly breaks 3 important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.

Advertisements

Black Christmas

Released: 1974
Starring:  Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, Andrea Martin, Marian Waldman, Lynne Griffin and John Saxon

Synopsis

Kind of more into originals slasher movies than remakes? Then lo and behold, you can have one without Imogen Poots.

The story follows a group of sorority sisters who receive threatening phone calls and are eventually stalked and murdered by a deranged killer during the Christmas season. It is the first film in the Black Christmas series. The script of the movie is actually inspired by the urban legend “The babysitter and the man upstairs” and a series of murders that took place in the Westmount neighborhood of Montreal, Quebec.

Advertisements

More like this

Newest Posts

Review, horror, listicle, movies

5 Vampire Movies Twisting the Genre

Leave a comment
Advertisements

The vampire genre is one that has been intertwined in our storytelling, perhaps the longest. From folklore, mythology, classic tales and modern ones. High cultured to the lowest, the vampire walks among them all. So how to keep it fresh? Is there really such a thing as ‘a generic vampire movie’? Or is it all about choosing the one fitting our personal taste?

Read Also

This is a list of five vampire movie, telling all very different parts about the human experience and the life and desires we have.

Only Lovers Left Alive – The Deep One

2013

Director: Jim Jarmusch
Starring:  Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska

Premise: A depressed musician reunites with his lover. Though their romance, which has already endured several centuries, is disrupted by the arrival of her uncontrollable younger sister.

What Kind of Vampire Story: This is one of these moody movies capturing the brooding boredom of vampiric lore and were the vampires are an instrument of showing the human spirit throughout the ages. The instruments are vintage, the music and literature talked about are classics, the clothes are mouth eaten. More than a scary action story that are common for the modern vampire, it is more a discussion about the very human questions. What keeps us going on? What is the point of it all? For more philosophical discussions from Shakespearean theater actors, this is the Vampire movie for you.

Advertisements

Bram Stoker’s Dracula – The Classic

1992

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Stars: Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, Keanu Reeves

Premise: This movie version is one of those Dracula adaptations that are following the plot of the original novel pretty close. A young man travels to eastern Europe and are captured by the vampire Dracula. He goes to London after seeing a picture of the man’s betrothed, Mina Murray. From there on, the streets of London are victim to the reign of horror caused by the undead.

What Kind of Vampire Story: A love it or hate it movie, this is one that divide vampire fans all over. The over the top costumes, the stiff acting, the cliche dialogue, it is certainly an acquired taste. But even though it can get to cute for some, no one can deny this movie was a game changer for vampires in movies. It stripped away the black cloak, introduced us to retractable fangs among other things. It is a movie for those that love the campy and gothic feeling of flowing dresses with long hair and in all seriousness loves the used and tested gothic horror tropes.

Advertisements

What we do in the Shadows – The Funny one

2014

Directors: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi

Stars: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer

Premise: Viago, Deacon and Vladislav are vampires who are finding that modern life has them struggling with the mundane – like paying rent, keeping up with the chore wheel, trying to get into nightclubs and overcoming flatmate conflicts.

What Kind of Vampire Story: Now a household name in Hollywood, the world was perhaps introduced to Taika Waititi though this low budget mockumentary. It was what the vampire lore needed. Something fun, something that didn’t need to take itself so serious and some dark humor to laugh at. At that time, a great fresh breath of air combining both the vampire genre as well as the found footage horror genre, it is still today used to satire and honor the vampire lore. With an american TV-series adaptation from the original New Zealand movie, this is the movie for those that want to have a laugh, but still uphold the gothic horror aesthetic.

Advertisements

Thirst – The Uncomfortable One

2009

Director: Chan-wook Park (as Park Chan-wook)

Stars: Kang-ho Song, Ok-bin Kim, Hee-jin Choi

Premise: Through a failed medical experiment, a priest is stricken with vampirism and is forced to abandon his ascetic ways.

What Kind of Vampire Story: It is a very dark look at life and the human nature, inspired by the very bleak naturalist novel, Thérèse Raquin. By making the main character a catholic priest in celibate, the contrast the flesh thirsty for intimacy and warm blood makes an eerie watch. Also, did we mention it is loosely based on the bleakest novel of all time?

Advertisements


Let the Right One In – The Endearing One

2008

Director: Tomas Alfredson

Stars: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar

Premise: Oskar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl.

What Kind of Vampire Story: This takes the outsider perspective to the max, showcasing a very humane story about being an outcast, both in the broader society as well as in the more social settings. The cold and sterile Scandinavian pessimistic social democratic onlook on vampires contrasts the steamy and sensual stereotype.

Advertisements

More like this

Newest Posts

book, Review

5 Works With Vampires Before Dracula

Leave a comment
Advertisements

So we all know Dracula. That old fella, the campy movies, the bone chilling books. It was a real table turner, and has this lingering precence in todays culture. And I mean, espeacially in todays culture. Vampires are so mainstream, the mainstream feels it’s too mainstream. So let’s give it to Stoker, he made all of us goths, emos, metal heads, and whatever subculture you subscribe to. Because Dracula is about subculture and about breaking free from your past, time, history and reinvent yourself. Well… In some readings at least. Bloodsucking toxic people is another one. But there was always something that preceded it, something that inspired the Magnum Opus. And here are some examples.

Carmilla

For all the snobby lesbian goths out there, yes, you are right, Carmilla was way ahead of Dracula. And by way ahead I mean by 26 years. It turned the vampire tropes to stone, set the stage and even the cultural analysis of it, yes, Irish vs British problem, I think of you. And so did probably Stoker and Sheridan Le Fanu, the author of the work, as they were both Irish in a time, the Irishmen really needed some literary boost.

Editions

If you want an edition to read that are more academic oriented, i recommend “Carmilla : A Critical Edition” that put weights on its Irish roots.

Because of its length, it is mostly published alone, but if you are interested in the whole short story edition it was originally a part of, In a Glass Darkley, there is also that possibility. But for the cover though, I feel disappointed. It is a bit… boring. The coolest I think, is this hardcover edition by Pushkin press.

Synopsis

But even this, even this wasn’t the so called O.G vampire. Carmilla in turn was most likely inspired by this unfinished poem called Christabel.

Carmilla is the story of a young girl, Laura meeting with the mysterious Carmilla. They live deep in the woods of Styria, in today’s Austria.

Apparently Stoker was working on a new story, set in Styria, Austria with a character called Count Wampyr. So at least he moved the story further east. There is this direct link, I feel, that can’t be ignored. And it isn’t mostly. But to those snobby lesbian goths out there: You go girls, spread the word.

Buy the hardcover here

Listen to it here (Both Rose Leslie (Ygritte in GOT) and David Tennant (ALL CAPS LEGEND) is narrating, check it out)

Advertisements

The Vampyre

This is an interesting one. John William Polidori’s short story: The Vampyre has sadly been so left at the side. First, he didn’t get the credit he deserved, as it was published by mistake as Lord Byron’s work. Then he tragically ended his life too soon.

It is based on Lord Byron though. He wrote it on that infamous literary retreat with the Shelley’s, and among other works was the start of Frankenstein. Lord Byron also wrote a similar pice, called “A Fragment“. But even more of a fun fact. The whole idea, Polidori played with the idea that a scourned lover of Byron, Caroline, already had published. It is heavily influenced on her book Glenarvon, that is in essence a diss track of Byron. Damn, those friends!

Among gothic and horror fans alike, his work is well known and has its cannon in the genre, but it hasn’t quite reached the mainstream audience as Dracula and in some regards, Carmilla did.

Read it here

Listen to it here

Advertisements

Varney the Vampire; or, the Feast for Blood

This is one that I long avoided, because I thought it was a comedy, and my small gothic heart couldn’t take the irony, and I found the name Varney a bit comical. Now I BTW love the vampire comedy and What We Do In The Shadows are my life, all versions, thank you very much!

But in fact, it any just seem like a satire because it in fact, installed many of the campy tropes that comes with gothic fiction and vampire fiction. But at the time, it was a Victorian era serialized gothic horror story variously attributed to James Malcolm Rymer and Thomas Peckett Prest. It first appeared in 1845–1847 as a series of weekly cheap pamphlets of the kind then known as “penny dreadful”, and we simply loves penny dreadful, so much so, that we included it in our merch, check it out here (shameless self promotion, but hey, goths need to eat too).

The author was paid by the typeset line so when the story was published in book form in 1847, it was of epic length: the original edition ran to 876 double-columned pages and 232 chapters. Altogether it totals nearly 667,000 words, and for those of you that ever tried Nanowrimo, you know what I talk about, this is legit a lot.

Read it here

Listen to this and some other not so well known vampire stories that should be heard, read and repeated to infinity here

Advertisements

Thalaba the Destroyer

Where the main character Thalaba’s deceased beloved Oneiza turns into a vampire, although that occurrence is actually marginal to the story.

OK, but in all seriousness, I do read. Like, a lot. Might just seem like I just subscribe to a niche part of tumblr, but no, this is serious literature. Serious FORGOTTEN literature. Ah. I think I would have been more OK with it, if not the end product (read Dracula) didn’t become so influential and that they give whole subjects to at uni. Also, sorry for my informal tone in talking about these pieces of arts, as my academic is reserved for school and I love to shake that stiff old academic voice off. (my professor highly disapproves though = academic literate reject).

Thalaba the Destroyer is more of an epic-work as in ,literary epics, spanning over time, place, people. It was written by Robert Southey from the Romantic school, as in the literary Romantics. If he really was into romance, I have no way of telling. It is interesting because of the plot. The poem is a twelve-book work with irregular stanzas and lines that are not rhymed. The poem deals with Harun al-Rashid and a group of sorcerers at Domdaniel that live under the sea. It was foretold that Thalaba, a Muslim, would be God’s champion and conquer the sorcerers. Something a bit odd for a British christian guy in the early 1800s to write about, but nonetheless very interesting.

Read it here

Ninety Years Later

Why does it have to be British tough? It makes sense in the Victorian times, being so sexual represses, something we might read into modern day mormon vampire tales and deep south sexual repression?

But no, it doesn’t always have to be British. In fact, Eastern Europe is steep in vampire lore, literature and culture. Several of those books and the likes though is not translated. But they do exist. For example we have the Serbian story with the most famous Serbian vampire, Sava Savanović from a folklore-inspired novel Ninety Years Later, or as in this translation: After Ninety Years, by Milovan Glišić, first published in 1880.

Read it here

There are also German, like our emo friend Goethe that wrote the poem The bridge of Corinth. There are a lot of them. What is your favorite forgotten vampire story?

Any of this seem interesting for you? How about getting into the listening train of audio books. Now, get 50% off for the next 3 months. I’ve checked and I am now firmly sure these are the one that can offer most horror titles of the audio book platforms.

Advertisements

More like this

Newest Posts

book

5 Horror Movies Based on Books

Leave a comment
Advertisements

The creepy stuff on TV is often visual or sound based. Jump scares and scary costumes. It makes me wonder how on earth one can sustain the same type of scare in a book. But then I pick up one of these and I remember. The internal images in my head is pretty messed up as well.

In that regard, let’s have a look at the books that inspired some pretty iconic movies. The links provided are from Audible, and are affiliated links. That means I make a commission from each of the purchases coming off the links. And with that disclaimer out of the way, let’s look at the books and movies.

Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin

The movie has now gone on to be this iconic horror movie credited to director Roman Polanski. But did you know that it was originally a book published in 67, only a year before the movie came out. The writer Ira Levin is sort of an iconic figure about writing about seemingly perfect societies. He also wrote the Stepford Wives.

Summary
Rosemary Woodhouse and her struggling-actor husband, Guy, move into the Bramford, an old New York City apartment building with an ominous reputation and only elderly residents.
Neighbours Roman and Minnie Castavet soon come nosing around to welcome them; despite Rosemary’s reservations about their eccentricity and the weird noises that she keeps hearing, her husband starts spending time with them.
Shortly after Guy lands a plum Broadway role, Rosemary becomes pregnant, and the Castavets start taking a special interest in her welfare. As the sickened Rosemary becomes increasingly isolated, she begins to suspect that the Castavets’ circle is not what it seems.

Read it here (Intro by Chuck Palanhiuk, writer of Fight Club)

Listen to it here

30 Days of Night, Vol. 1 by Steve Niles

This was one of those movies that came out in 2007 that I never thought I would like, but then did, because… well, not sure, never mind that. But anyhow. Before it was a movie, it was a comic book published in 2002 by Steve Niles. Since then it has continued to live and grow. Now Audiable have this cool thing where they get a bunch of narrators together.

Summary
The isolated town of Barrow, Alaska, is plunged into darkness for a month each year when the sun sinks below the horizon. As the last rays of light fade, the town is attacked by a bloodthirsty gang of vampires bent on an uninterrupted orgy of destruction. Only Barrow’s husband-and-wife sheriff team stand between the survivors and certain destruction. By the time the sun rises, will they pay the ultimate price – or worse?

Read the graphic novel here

Listen to it here

Advertisements

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

For those who follows Moonmausoleum, knows our weak spot is the classic Gothic setting. The movies that have been made of this have been alright, as I am extremely biased and just love everything with that setting: a haunted house, stiff British people and scary kids in Victorian clothing. And this is what it promises, a classical ghost story. Susan Hill wrote the book back in 1983, but the story is set at the turn of the century.

Summary
As is so often the case with truly well-constructed fiction, this story contains all the exquisitely crafted detail and richness that film adaptations can struggle to encompass. Only enhanced by Paul Ansell’s thoughtful narration, this is Susan Hill at her best. Eel Marsh house stands alone, surveying the windswept salt marshes beyond Nine Lives Causeway. Once, Mrs Alice Drablow lived here as a recluse. Now, Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor with a London firm, is summoned to attend her funeral, unaware of the tragic and terrible secrets which lie behind the house’s shuttered windows. It is not until he glimpses a young woman with a wasted face, dressed all in black, at the funeral, that a sense of profound unease begins to creep over him and take hold, a feeling deepened by the reluctance of the locals to talk about the woman in black or what happens whenever she is seen.

Read it here

Listen to it here

Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Do you know when you read a lot, one tends to become somewhat of a snob. This is what happened to me and in my stupid belief I had read everything worth reading and would never find something new I liked. But then, this came out, and it tipped the vampire genre on its head. Even the most snobbish Scandinavian literary critics that hates anything supernatural loved it. And so must you! And if you rather want to watch the movie, choose the Swedish one, as that one actually is pretty good as well.

Summary
Oskar and Eli. In very different ways, they were both victims. Which is why, against the odds, they became friends. And how they came to depend on one another, for life itself.
Oskar is a 12-year-old boy living with his mother on a dreary housing estate at the city’s edge. He dreams about his absentee father, gets bullied at school, and wets himself when he’s frightened. Eli is the young girl who moves in next door. She doesn’t go to school and never leaves the flat by day. She is a 200-year-old vampire, forever frozen in childhood, and condemned to live on a diet of fresh blood.

Read it here

Listen to it here

Bird Box by Josh Malerman

Yes Netflix, we have a lot to thank you for, but the movie version of Bird Box is not one. It’s not as it is bad, it is just… meh. And perhaps because it came out just because A Quiet Place came out and they were sort of similar. And by that, I mean very similar. But the book! The book is beautiful!

Summary
Most people ignored the outrageous reports on the news. But they became too frequent, they became too real. And soon, they began happening down the street. Then the Internet died. The television and radio went silent. The phones stopped ringing. And we couldn’t look outside anymore.
Malorie raises the children the only way she can; indoors. The house is quiet. The doors are locked, the curtains are closed, mattresses are nailed over the windows. They are out there. She might let them in. The children sleep in the bedroom across the hall. Soon she will have to wake them. Soon she will have to blindfold them. Today they must leave the house. Today they will risk everything.

Read it here

Listen to it here

Any of this seem interesting for you? How about getting into the listening train of audio books. Now, get 50% off for the next 3 months. I’ve checked and I am now firmly sure these are the one that can offer most horror titles of the audio book platforms.

Advertisements

More like this

Newest Posts

pop-culture

The Horror Summer Movie List

Leave a comment
Advertisements

Who said the Halloween feeling needed to be kept to the fall? There is something especially scary with the summer. The fact that creepy and horrendous stuff can happen on a bright, sunny day, on the beach and in the hot air, scares more than dark nights. And let us not forget about the deep, deep sea were the light never shines.

Midsommar

Released: 2019

Director: Ari Aster

Starring: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper, Vilhelm Blomgren, Ellora Torchia, Archie Madekwe, Will Poulter

Love, love, love, love it! Although not as scary as the typical summer slasher films, this movie is just excellent in every aspect. It is hard to make the internal fright scary on the big screen, but when it’s done right, it is the most scary thing ever.

Synopsis: The grieving Dani have problems dealing with the death of her parents and sister, leaving Christian, the only one she feels close to. He has planned a trip to Sweden with his anthropologist friends for the summer and Dani tags along. And what they think is some drug loving, hippy Swedes has a much darker side to it, even during the midsommar period when the sun never sets.

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Released: 1997

Director: Jim Gillespie

Starring: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Freddie Prinze Jr., Johnny Galecki, Bridgette Wilson

This have been on antother list, but this movie is just the perfect example of the summer horror slasher movie flicks we used to get during the slow, hot, humid times. When school was out and you were too young to care about getting a job, caring about politics and the likes. Or am I the only one getting nostalgic about it? It also spun some crazy sequels and a…. well, a sidequel? I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) and I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer. And rumours that Amazon is producing a series on the franchise have been spread on the web. Anyway, for a revisit to the urban legend inspired roller coaster of 90’s nostalgia, check it out.

Synopsis: On the Fourth of July 1996 a group of friends drive to the beach. While driving along a coastal byway, they accidentally hit a pedestrian. The group decides to dump the body in the water and never discuss what happened. But a year later something is attacking them, one by one, and they are soon forced to face their actions.

Us

us

Released: 2019

Director: Jordan Peele

Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker

Another instant classic from Jordan Peele, Us, takes a vacation at the beach and spins it into this crazy slasher, comedy, thriller, supernatural, apocalyptic roller coaster. All basking in the summer sun and hot nights by the beach.

Synopsis: In 1986, a young girl named Adelaide goes on vacation with her parents to Santa Cruz. At the boardwalk, she wanders off and enters a funhouse, where she encounters a doppelgänger of herself in the hall of mirrors. Years later she goes on a holiday with her husband and children. She is haunted by the memory, but it is seemingly just a normal summer vacation. That is until the family of doppelgangers turns up at their door in red clothing.

Advertisements

Piranha

Released: Original released in 1978, but a franchise of movies have been released throughout the years.

Director: Joe Dante (1978)

Starring: Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies, Kevin McCarthy (The 1978)

What is it about the summer horror flicks that just seems to break all the rules. The lines are blurred, the clothes are off, and the blood is gushing. And why do we just love watching pretty and shallow people die horrendous deaths? With boobs and blood being equally important, this movie is truly for the hot days when your brain need to just rest.

Synopsis: The film tells the story of a river being infested by lethal, genetically altered piranha, threatening the lives of the local inhabitants and the visitors to a nearby summer resort. And really. That is the basic plot of the rest of the franchise as well. And boobs. So much boobs.

Jaws

Released: 1975

Director: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton

No list without the master summer horror flick. This is one of those movies that will always stand the test of time, and will appear on any horror summer list. Read also our Summer Horror Reading List.

Synopsis: In the film, a man-eating great white shark attacks beach goers at a summer resort town, killing them, and killing tourism. This is prompting police chief Martin Brody to hunt it with the help of a marine biologist and a professional shark hunter on his boat. But when on the water, they are no longer protected by the safe havens of dry land. They are in shark territory now.

Advertisements

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Released: 1974

Director: Tobe Hooper

Starring: Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, Gunnar Hansen

If you have seen this, like a thousand times, the summer is a good time to watch it another thousand times. If you still haven’t seen this horror classic, what are you waiting for? This is the summer to do so.

Synopsis: The film follows a group of friends who fall victim to a family of cannibals while on their way to visit an old homestead. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was banned in several countries, and numerous theaters stopped showing the film in response to complaints about its violence. It continues the story of Leatherface and his family with several sequels, prequels and remakes.

It Follows

Released: 2014

Director: David Robert Mitchell

Starring: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary, Olivia Luccardi

The premise of the movie is more dream like than summer like. But the movie upholds some of the great summer vibes of beaches, summer dresses, bored days and a backyard pool.

Synopsis: The film follows a teenage girl named Jay, who is pursued by a supernatural entity after a sexual encounter. Like a transmitted haunting, she can only rid herself of by giving it to someone else. And it seems like nothing is able to stop it completely.

Advertisements

Tourist Trap

Released: 1979

Director: David Schmoeller

Starring: Chuck Connors, Jocelyn Jones, Jon Van Ness, Robin Sherwood, Tanya Roberts, Dawn Jeffory, Keith McDermott

A group of friends on the road, the desert wind and the heated sun that goes along with it. Compile it with a crazy killing tourist attraction and we got ourselves a horror summer flick.

Synopsis: The film follows a group of young people who stumble upon a roadside museum housing mannequins that wield supernatural powers.

Friday the 13th

Released: 1980

Director: Sean S. Cunningham

Starring: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, Laurie Bartram, Mark Nelson, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan, Kevin Bacon

There is nothing new about making a franchise of successful slasher movies, but Friday the 13th really goes all inn. It is around twelve movies, it got its own TV series, its been written books and made video games. This is sort of like the

Synopsis: The franchise mainly focuses on the fictional character Jason Voorhees, who drowned as a boy at Camp Crystal Lake due to the negligence of the camp staff. Decades later, the lake is rumored to be “cursed” and is the setting for a series of mass murders.

Advertisements

More like this

Newest Posts

pop-culture

What The Truly Terrifying Thing About Cult Movie Antrum Is

Leave a comment
Advertisements

The 2019 faux movie-within-a-movie type of horror has taken up interest again, the movie, “Antrum, the deadliest film ever made”. I can’t really remember that a so popular movie have fooled so many people since Blair Witch. Correct me if I’m wrong, but most of the trending now is challenging people to watch it, believing the intended myth behind this mockumentary-found footage type of movie. The premise of the cursed horror movie is of a real cursed movie from the 70s, now resurfaced. After watching it, jumping on the wagon a bit late, I couldn’t help noticing, what truly terrified me after watching. So after the initial hype has died out, and the truth is sort of “out there”, this is my take on it.

Spoilers ahead, so be warned.

Synopsis

The movie opens with a documentary type of style, talking about a horror movie from the 70s allegedly from the Soviet that caused the death of many many people, from casual movie goers to film festival leaders. It claims that it caused the death of 56 people in Budapest when it screened in a cinema that burned down in 1988. And also it injured and killed a woman in San Francisco in 1993 when someone laced the popcorn with LSD. Then it does a countdown of a clock, and the movie Antrum starts. Simple, but so effective. Then the “real” movie begins.

Source: IMDB

It tells the story of a teen sister and her kid brother, hiking. They recently lost their dog, and the boy is convinced the dog went to hell. So they travel to a place and try to dig their way to hell to get the dog back. They follow the instruction of a book the sister claims she got from a certain “Ike”. All told through a beautiful European art-house film from the 1970s filter, but with a horror twist in the cinematography. The rest of the movie is them battling hillbillies, what is dream, what is reality and the lurking shadows in the corner of their eyes. An honest discussion about what happens when one believes a lie.

Advertisements

Background of the “movie legend”

Of course, none of this is true, but it is some of the allure of the movie, and in my eyes, some of the social commentary the movie Antrum brings to the table, elevating it from mere horror-flick, to more of a drama with a purpose and moral. We learn halfway through the sister is behind it all, making the book, lying about meeting the devil and that it was all made up in order to help her brother, suffering from nightmares and the belief that the dog went to hell. But the fiction turns on her, making her lie true because of people believing in it.

Source: IMDB

Perhaps, it is a long time since a mockumentary was able to fool as big of an audience as it did. What is truly frightening is the way some with so many followers, like the teens on Tik-Tok, blogs and YouTube channels fuels this “found footage” story. Isolated, this is fun. Harmless lies we tell in the dark as we always have, as good horror intends to. It is also fascinating that even in the time of internet, were the truth is literary one google search away, people still believe the hype, the narrative, the story. On the other side, it is in these time of “fake news”, a bit sad of when we see how actual important news, fake as well as real, can be manipulated, believed and not believed in. But never mind that (puts the media education away) let’s look at how genius they did it (puts on horror loving hat):

Yes, hell is real
source: IMDB

For one, it is clear they put a lot of effort in making it be in the 70s. From the clothes, filming style, the grainy filter and color palette. Even down to that creepy CGI of the squirrel. A truly demonic entity that is.

As with other cult movies, they did something cool in the way they let the influencer who were fooled market the thing for them, making the viewing something of an event rather than just a standard movie night. Also it is something quite endearing about the collective watching of it that is only found in the horror community, I think.

Even with my obsessive googling, it took a couple of searches to truly find evidence of the falseness. Even down to the actors’ age was removed from their IMDb profiles, making it easier to keep up the belief. It is also cool about how it is finally a movie thinking more about the movie being bigger than the actors, not the other way around.

Advertisements

The terrifying thing about the movie Antrum

Is this a scary movie? In some regards, yes. Like the Blair Witch Project, it is the format that makes the scares, the legend behind it, the myth bigger than a simple movie. And the way the shaky camera movements from most found footage makes movies unpredictable and scary, it is the the overlaying of “cut in clips no one knows were came from” and the clip in of the sigils and Latin phrases making one question: Could it really be?

Is it truly “bad” enough to be believed in though? I think not, and I was sort of bothered about how perfect it all looked from a Soviet movie from the 70s. But then again, it did sort of look too rough to be a more “proper” movie. Also they spoke English, and none of the non-English speaking people can sort of believe that mash up. It just seems weird and sort of a very American thing to do, making it in English instead of just putting subtitles on.

What my main take of it was that it was more of a heart felt movie than a demonic one. I felt more sympathy for the siblings and believed in their relationship than I believed I was cursed by Satan after watching it.

Advertisements

It occurred to me mid movie, what scared me the most though. Even the myth, claims I would die few days after watching it, and that creepy demon between the trees, it was none of them though that made my heart race. It was the threat of people:

True, jump scares don’t really work on me in the long run, great costumes sort of blend in when watching as many horror movies as I do. But what never cease to scare me, are the threat of real humans. It never goes away. In the movie, not only do they have to fight of demonic entities, but some good old fashioned hillbillies, that does these random gruesome things like: fucking dead animals, boiling people alive, shooting children and wear antlers on a trucker hat. Yes, not really the most original or in depth type of characters. But when checking my pulse throughout the movie, it is sort of only in those scenes a steady rush of fear comes. I found that very interesting. That no matter how much of a supernatural, demonic myth, claiming it would take your life, nothing is as scary as the threat of real humans, wanting to do you harm.

And that is what really was terrifying about this cursed movie.

Advertisements

More like this

Newest Posts

Review, movies

5 Supernatural Horror Movies Based on True Events

1 Comment
Advertisements

What makes a true story a good story? This is five of the supernatural horror movies claiming to be true events. Is it? How much creative liberty can movie makers do before it is merely a work of fiction?

The Rite (2011)

Cover of the book The Making of a Modern Exorcist by Matt Baglio.

The actual story: This movie is based on a Book from 2009, The Making of a Modern Exorcist by Matt Baglio. Baglio attended a seminar and saw and met Father Gary Thomas who the book is based on. He became an apprentice to an exorcist in Rome. Initially a sceptic and reluctant, he changed his mind as he saw what he believe is demonic possession. Father Gary Thomas himself was a consultant and said that the exorcisms in the movie was “very accurate.”

The movie: American seminary student Michael Kovak (Colin O’Donaghue) travels to Italy to take an exorcism course.

Director: Mikael Håfström

Starring: Colin O’Donoghue, Anthony Hopkins, Ciarán Hinds

Advertisements

Veronica (2017)

A Spanish TV crew went inside the real house that inspired the movie.

The actual story: This movie is both a tragedy and very mysterious. It’s inspired by the actual Vallecas case where Estefanía Gutiérrez Lázaro died mysteriously. She suffered hallucinations and seizures after playing with an Ouija board in Madrid at her school. They were trying to contact a deceased boyfriend of one of her friends who died six months earlier. After this, things started to become– strange. Allegedly her house became haunted and she died where the cause of death is up to speculation.

The movie: Madrid, 1991. A teen girl finds herself besieged by an evil supernatural force after she played Ouija with two classmates.

Director: Paco Plaza

Starring: Sandra Escacena, Bruna González, Claudia Placer 

Advertisements

The Mothman Prophecies (2002)

Signage of the Silver Bridge collapse in Point Pleasant. It was blamed on the myth of the Mothman.
Photo by Richie Diesterheft in 2010.

The actual story: This is one of the weirder ones. It is based on the book by John Keel from 1975 who in return is based on investigation of the West Virginia folklore, the Mothman. In Point Pleasant in 66-67 people reported to have seen a man-like figure flying in the sky, glowing red eyes, ten-foot wings. In 1967 the Silver Bridge collapsed and 46 people died. The incident sparked the legend even further when they blamed it on the Mothman and reported sightings of the creature to the bridge collapsing.

Read Also: The Legend of the Mothman

The movie: A reporter is drawn to a small West Virginia town to investigate a series of strange events, including psychic visions and the appearance of bizarre entities.

Director: Mark Pellington

Starring: Richard Gere, Laura Linney, David Eigenberg

Advertisements

The Conjuring Series (2013-)

The Amityville house on 112 Ocean Avenue from 1973. One of the Warren’s more famous cases they worked on.

The actual story: Already somewhat of paranormal investigator celebrities before the movie came out, James Wan made them world wide famous with his Conjuring movies. Lorraine and Ed Warren worked as a team until they died in 2019 and 2006 respectively. and has been connected to some of the more famous hauntings, like Amityville and Annabelle. Ed is a self-taught and self-professed demonologist, while Lorraine says she is a clairvoyant and light trance medium.

The movie: Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse.

Director:  James Wan

Starring:  Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ron Livingston

Advertisements

Winchester (2018)

Sarah Winchester, taken in 1865 by the Taber Photographic company of San Francisco.

The actual story: The movie is based on real life Sarah Lockwood Winchester (1839-1922). She was one of the wealthiest women in the world at that time. She spent her fortune and twenty years on building the Winchester mansion in San Jose, California. Legends arose from this, as she was convinced she was cursed, and to build her home was the only way to fight the curse.

The movie: Ensconced in her sprawling San Jose, California mansion, eccentric firearm heiress Sarah Winchester (Dame Helen Mirren) believes she is haunted by the souls of people killed by the Winchester repeating rifle.

Director: Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig (as The Spierig Brothers)

Starring: Helen Mirren, Sarah Snook, Finn Scicluna-O’Prey 

Advertisements

More like this

Newest Posts