MB Blog's Courtney Girls Blog Appreciation Day: 30 Days of Night

I've been doing a lot of spoOoOoOooOky appreciations lately, haven't I?
And by "a lot"...I mean two. I like doing them though, I mean...what better way to blog about spoOoOoOoOky Halloween magic than to include you, my wonderfully terrifying readers!

In one of my past blogs, Julie from the Courtney Girls blog suggested a great horror movie:

30 Days of Night (2007)

and I was shocked, and slightly embarassed, that I haven't covered this movie yet, because it is great!

So, closing out the un-spoOoOoOky month of May is a horrorfest known as: Monster Bash Blog's SpoOoOoOktacular Review of 30 Days of Night!


The movie is based off of a horror comic book series of the same name. Directed by David Slade (also directing the next Twilight film: Eclipse), the movie takes place in a town called Barrow, Alaska. We join the movie as the town is gearing up for the annual period that the sun sets for 30 days, and the town is besieged by darkness. Josh Hartnett stars as Sheriff Eben Oleson, who is the hunky, good looking sheriff in town.

Of course, there's an underlying drama of him and his wife, Stella, going through a separation, and she is preparing to leave town for the 30 day period and leave Eben in the dust.

That's Stella. She's one badass chick. And a heartbreaker.

Let me also just say here that I love, love, love when I'm watching a horror movie and the screen goes black and it says something like "Last day of sun" or whatever. I love it. It creates such a spoOoOoOOky mood. They had it in 28 Weeks Later as well and I loved that too. I appreciate the little things.

Anyway, we follow Sheriff Love Stallion all over Barrow as he does his rounds...except today, weird things are happening that can't be explained...

A weird stranger has entered the town...but he hasn't flown in...he's walked (you see him in the beginning).

**note my only pet peeve with this movie really is the stranger's voice...it's pretty annoying.
Anyway...
People start brutally dying.

Then the power goes out and the phones go down.

And then...vampires go on a murderous rampage!

There's blood all over the snow covered town. It's mayhem.

Basically, this movie is a vampire movie. But not like, Dracula vampires....

These vampires are friggin' awesome looking:



Their eyes are black and beady...and they are covered in blood and they make these screechy noises when they're "feeding". They also speak another language, and they love classical music.

This one is the "head vampire":

He does most of the talking. The others mainly screech.

The survivors in the town have to wait for snowstorms to provide cover so that they can move from building to building in an attempt to make it to where the generators are to wait out the rest of the 30 days until daylight reappears.

A lot of crazy things happen...and the ending breaks my heart. I mean...come on. Why can't the ending be happy? So sad. He loves her.

You can actually watch the entire movie on YouTube here (it's in different parts, but all you need to do is click). I actually watched the entire thing again and it was just as awesome as I remembered it, and I saw it in theaters...so this is pretty good. Just a suggestion...do the full screen if you're going to watch it on YouTube...I learned that by part 6 and it was so much better.

Oh, and think you're a fan?
Think again!

H2 Will Be 2 Times SpoOoOoOoOkier!

Monster Bash Blog Terrifying Teaser Time!

In 1978, John Carpenter made one of my favorite movies of all time: Halloween.
In the years to follow, up until around 2002, there were a total of 8 sequels.
In 2007, Rob Zombie created a "remake" of Halloween which explored the inner workings and beginnings of Michael Myers.


The remake was awesome because Rob Zombie's films tend to be very shocking, gory, and violent...yet very entertaining to watch. Halloween was no exception.
There were definitely some scenes that were horribly difficult to watch...like this one below:
This scene is where the bully that tortured Michael Myers at school during the day is walking home from school through the woods...
(Warning! This clip is pretty gruesome):

The clown mask even creeped me out.

Overall, I felt that Zombie payed homage to one of the greatest horror films ever.

So you can imagine my excitement when I found out that Rob Zombie's sequel to the original Halloween was going to be coming out...and it's called....H2:



Not to be confused with Halloween H2O:


According to the official website, H2 will be in theaters on August 28th...that's so soon! It's exactly 3 months from today...that's 3 months to get insanely pumped about it!!!

More to come on this later...

The Horrors of Heatstroke

I realize that with Mummy-morial Day coming up, the unofficial start of summer is on the horizon. Once May 25th rears its warm, sunny head... pools will open, tank tops will be put in the top drawer, lemonade and ice cream become major food groups, and people spend their days bbq'ing and having deck parties. Halloween seems to be so far away....

But something much more terrifying lurks in the shadows cast by the seemingly inviting sunshine....HEATSTROKE!

So....Hot...Can't....Go...On....Wearing...Jeans....

Here's a spOoOoooooooOoOooky picture of heatstroke effects:





so calm...yet....so horrifying and sweaty...on...half of his face? I wonder if this is one of those "Goofus and Gallant" things from Highlights magazine? This picture reminds me of Greg Tolan (Billy Zabka...also from the Karate Kid) from "Just one of the Guys"

Kind of? No? Fine.

Anyway...where was I? Oh...

Heatstroke, or Hyperthermia, occurs when the body's temperature rises to such a high degree that it can't cool itself off. The heat isn't dissipated enough to maintain a normal temperature, and the body take a major hit from it, sometimes even resulting in death!

So what should I do?!

AHHH!! This guy is so serious, I'm scared.

Scary picture of a guy laying there. There's so much going on here...fluids...fans....compresses....


Mayo Clinic offers some comprehensive tips to identifying heat stroke and treatments.

Also, my friend and every doctor's arch nemesis, WebMD, also gives some great info.

Heatstroke has such a vendetta against us that there was even a b-alien-sci-fi-horror movie made called...Heatstroke! Starring Danica McKellar (Winnie Cooper) and D.B. Sweeney from The Cutting Edge and that movie about the Alien abduction (Fire in the Sky), the movie is about a model and a marine fighting against aliens who want to destroy Earth through Global Warming! Scary!

I seriously used to think you could find ANYTHING on the internet...but....I cannot find the trailer for this movie. This makes me think one of three things:

a) This movie doesn't really exist

b) Nobody on Earth has seen it

c) It's so horrible that nobody even bothered to post it

I boldfaced the one that I think is true. What do you think?

So, enjoy your bbq's, unsuspecting victims...and beware...when the sun hits high noon....HEATSTROKE IS COMING FOR YOU!

Unsafe Carnival Rides are Scary

I remember as a kid I used to get SO PUMPED when I would see those carnival fliers that a carnival was coming to town. I knew all the carnival "hotspots"...the K-Mart parking lot....next to Wendy's...you know what I'm talking about.

And then I'd usually get someone to take me, or as I got older, I'd get dropped off to meet friends and we'd do the "laps" around the carnival, play a few games, maybe I'd win some garbage that would sit on my shelf or in the garbage forever.

And of course...there were the horrifying carnival rides....

Zipper


It appears that this is a main website for the Zipper. The Zipper is one of the most terrifying rides of all because the only thing separating you from a concrete death is a small pin holding together a thin cage of painted metal. Also, the guy running the Zipper is rarely someone that you would want to converse with on a human level. He (I've never seen a she) usually has mid-back length hair, is wearing a flannel that has a few holes in it, sporting unkempt facial hair, a backwards Daffy Duck cap, and may be covered in motor oil. His fingernails are also 4 inches long and he loves listening to Godsmack while rotating the Zipper cages. Or Drowning Pool.

The Zipper also has its very own Facebook. Who'd have thought?

The Domain of Death3 , which has some great reviews on all rides, carnival and otherwise, also has some great info on the Zipper.

Gravitron



Are we in outer space?! Whoa!! The Gravitron is perhaps the most visually appealing ride of them all, with a weird UFO design. While on the ride, you'll notice about 70% of the riders turn themselves completely upside down, and the rest of the people are busy feeling their cheeks separate from the rest of their faces. Also, you have to walk up an awesome ramp into complete darkness where it's you, your friends, complete strangers, and some dude, usually a DJ in the making, in the center running the ride/music selection. The music in here is either techno, metal, or gangster rap. Take your pick, I've seen them all.
This video has the elusive "hip hop" dj:



Kamikaze


The Kamikaze ride looks kind of like two opposing hammers that swing past each other and go upside down and makes me want to barf. Fortunately, you get a shoulder harness. Unfortunately, it doesn't look safe to me.

Ring of Fire


This ride is basically one huge loop. It's a rollercoaster that is in an eternal loop mode. According to its Wiki page, it says it's not good to operate this ride in frequent lightning. Apparently there is a lot of red tape to operating this ride: hydroplaning, not allowing poor unsuspecting riders to hang upside down for more than 6 seconds, etc. It also makes loud screeching noises as it reaches the top to stop. Yikes.

RoundUp

This is basically an outdoor version of the Gravitron (see above), but it moves up and into the air instead of staying stationary. At Six Flags Great Adventure, it's called "Fantasy Fling". Did that close? I don't remember. RoundUp makes me extremely uncomfortable, because if memory serves, all that's holding you in is centrifugal force and a piece of chain from dog leash.

Scrambler

Apparently, this isn't known to the entire world as the Scrambler, which upsets me. It's actually more well known as "the Twist". And upon reading the Wiki page, there are two distinctive types of Twists: Grasscutter and and Sizzler. The difference? Sizzler kills more riders than the Grasscutter. Just kidding...well...not really.

Pharoah's Fury

Also known as "the Pirate Ship" or in some more extreme cases, a space shuttle that actually goes upside-down, the Pharoah's Fury is a pendulum-style ride that basically goes back and forth and continuously raises in height until giving the feeling that you are practically vertical. The daredevils usually sit on the far ends, because you feel like you're even higher than everyone else and like you're falling out the seat. The older crowd takes the middle, usually. I guess what make this terrifying is the fact that they way the seats are, you are looking at everyone on the other side...which I find weird and uncomfortable. Also, you're held in by a lap bar and that's it. I can't tell you how many times I feared the boat becoming "unhinged" and launching me to my doom.

Ferris Wheel


I hate heights. Like....I haaaaate them. I don't even like standing on chairs...too high. So the ferris wheel just is not a winner for me. Also, the way they are constructed at carnivals makes me even more firm in my hatred of them. It's a sloooow rise up to the top and sometimes, you get stuck up there...or your cart detaches and you crash to the ground. Either way, I'm not having it. I don't care how romantic you think it is.

Fun Slide

The Fun Slide is a ride where you literally do all of the work. You have to grab a filthy potato sack that everyone else has been riding/vomitting/spitting/crying/drooling on, walk up, up, up to the top of the slide, and then wait until it's your turn to possibly go flying off the side to your death, because there are no rails...just yellow greased mayhem all the way down to the bottom, where you roll onto some outdoor carpet that's covering pavement. This is my least favorite of all carnival rides.

Chair-O-Planes

In terms of "least protection from death", this ride comes pretty close. Picture being on a swing in a swingset...that starts violently flailing you around and you are basically held there by a long chain. And then the chain breaks. Or the ride collapses. Ok, maybe not always, but the chance is there.

Another ride called the Yo-Yo (a variation of the Chair-O-Plane rides) is apparently very unsafe...This happened last year in May



There's so much uncertainty when you go on carnival rides. First, who or what is that person running your ride? Does he have concern for human life? Also, why is "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor" constantly on repeat by every scary ride? Are these rides even safe?

Who can forget Kaitlyn Lassiter, the teenage girl who's feet were severed on the Superman ride at Six Flags in Kentucky?

Not to compare Six Flags with that of the travelling carnival, but there are sure a lot of accidents that occur.
Here's a list of all incidents that occurred at a Six Flags park.


RideAccidents.com is a great site provides all up to date accidents referring to rides.

For the most part, I'm sure these rides run fine and for every accident, there are a billion riders that walk away just fine. I just personally can't trust any ride that is taking my life into its hands that can be assembled/disassembled in a day.

Dr. Giggles

I have a really funny memory of my friend Heather and I when we were younger. Heather was always such a horror movie buff and her parents had a great collection.

One year for our town's Halloween parade and contest, I think we were in 6th grade, I dressed up like the Molly Doll from American Girl (I know, not my brightest moment in horror history) and she dressed up as Dr. Giggles.

You can just imagine the judges at this event, judging adorable apple-cheeked 6th graders and coming up on a girl wearing a bloody surgeon uniform. I think she won 1st place, I'd like to think based on their fear and her creativity.

In any case, that was one of her favorite movies, and I remember her so vividly carring a huge knife (fake, obv, we were like 11), wearing bloody scrubs, and telling people she was Dr. Giggles...followed by a maniacal preteen giggle.


Dr. Giggles is from 1992, directed by Manny Coto (for all of you Star Trek/24 fans out there). It's about the psycho son of a murdering surgeon who comes back to the town of Moorehigh to "seek revenge" and "giggles" while he kills everyone.

Basically, he and his father were "ripping patients' hearts out in a gory attempt to bring back the doctor's dead wife" -Wikipedia. That father surgeon was stoned to death, but the son (Dr. Giggles) escaped.

Dr. Giggles ends up coming back to Moorehigh, out for revenge.

It really doesn't star anyone famous, except Holly Marie Combs, who is in Charmed and that lifetime movie where she and her boyfriend are in the military and they kill some girl and then they talk to each other in code like instead of saying "I love you" they say "greenish brown female sheep" (get it? olive ewe?) or something like that:

She always looks like she's super pissed or in serious pain. Perfect for Dr. Giggles.

Anyway, Combs stars as the main character, Jennifer, who coincidentally is diagnosed with a heart condition and has to wear a monitor. Of course, there's parties and promiscuous teens involved, and Jennifer goes through drama seeing her bf Max with another girl and running away, all while Dr. Giggles is on a murderous rampage.

Jennifer eventually gets successful heart surgery all while defeating Dr. Giggles. A lot is accomplished by Jennifer in this film, I suppose!


Also, this movie is filled with bizarre medical murder scenes and corny lines delivered by the Doc.



I mean...the tagline is:

Sorry...the Doctor is in...sane

Tell me you didn't cringe a little on that one.

He also addressed the audience directly at the end when he's dying, saying, "Is there a doctor in the house?" Boo.....

All in all, this movie is so ridiculous, you should see it. For nostalgia's sake.

SpoOoOoOoOoky Horror Movie Websites

So, being the number one (only) Official Monster Bash (not the game, the party) Blog site year 'round...I always (never) get asked this question:

What is the best Horror Movie Website?

Well, I think I have it narrowed down to three...but which is the BEST?

Fearnet.com vs. Upcoming Horror Movies vs. Bloody-Disgusting.com

I have practically grown-up with (in Monster Bash terms) UCM. They are my go-to guys and ghouls for all of my upcoming horror needs. Then one day, I was doing some extensive online spoOoOoOOoky research, and Fearnot.com crossed my path.




FEARnet is basically the website that accompanies the FEARnet horror network. It was launched on Halloween, 2006, and offers free streaming of movies, message boards, trailers, shorts, etc etc. There is also FEARnet on Demand for 24/7 horror fun on TV. If you don't have access to that though, every Wednesday, the section for free movies available to stream is updated and rotated, so you can watch 24/7 horror right from your computer as well. The site has a lot going on, there's videos all over the place, one starts automatically and it too me a few minutes to find it, there's a section for "Frequently Feared" videos, a news section, a lot. Lots of stuff. There's also a whole heap of upcoming trailers to check out that appear exclusive to the site. Very cool.

Upcominghorrormovies.com is the only of the three without an official Wikipedia page. Bummer. On the bright side, I have exclusively been going to them to make my list of movies out during a particular month since the creation of this blog. I like their forum setup where people can review the films and how they give a calendar of movie releases. Of all the websites, I find UHM to be the most clear and easy to navigate. While it lacks the bells and whistles the other two have, I find it to be very efficient for what I'm using it for: details about upcoming horror movies coming out.

Bloody-Disgusting.com is something that I find myself linking to often, yet never really realizing its full potential...until now. According to Wikipedia, it is considered "the world's most popular horror website". It has been running since 2002, and is run by Brad Miska and Tom Owen. Bloody-Disgusting is also affiliated with the Horror Hound convention. BD's page is clearly the most gruesomely designed out of the 3. It's bloody...and kind of disgusting! MB loves it! I would say that their best asset on this site is the extremely comprehensive news articles they post. I learned about 10 new things just from looking at this site that got me super pumped about the horror world. I'm definitely a fan of the black and red theme that the site has going on. Very spoOooOoOOooOOoky!

So...what's the best? Am I missing one? More than one? I find that I use each site for a different purpose and they are teach the pinnacle of my horror search. So as usual, I stay neutral. I love them all equally. What about you?

Drag Me To Hell...and Pontypool

May doesn't really have alot going on in terms of horror movies in theaters. I guess it's that whole "warm weather" thing deterring people from what really matters: Halloween!

Fortunately, there is May 29th.

May 29th has not one...but TWO horror movies entering theaters! Wow! What a treat!

Here are my thoughts on each of them...

Drag Me To Hell:



I can totally see the relation to the Evil Dead trilogy and
The Ring. Not in the plot of the movie so much, but just in the over-the-top nature of what appears to be the climax and ending of the movie, and with the whole "you only have a certain period of time to live before you're killed" theme.

Justin Long stars in this movie and to be honest, I kind of like his movies. I actually did see "He's Just Not That Into You"...I thought it was about some kind of bodysnatchers, but I was wrong. And I also liked him Jeepers Creepers.

Alison Lohman plays the main female lead, and she is from Big Fish.

There's a ton of other people in this, none of whom I've ever heard of, which is always a plus for me.

The movie is directed by the Raimi brothers, who are most noted for a whole slew of horror films, including The Evil Dead, The Grudge series, 30 Days of Night, and they will be directing the 2010 sequel of The Evil Dead.

I also love the tagline to this movie:
Christine Brown has a good job, a great boyfriend, and a bright future. But in three days, she's going to hell.

Basically, the trailer looks pretty self explanatory: girl wants a job promotion, shows the boss that she's a tough cookie and stands her ground and makes "tough decisions", gets cursed, has to break the curse before she's "dragged" to "hell".

I think this movie is going to be good.


Pontypool:




I liked both advertisements for the movie. Very clever. The tagline:
Shut up or die.
Brilliant!

This movie reminds me of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, mixed with The Fog and The Mist, and 28 Days Later.
For some reason, I can't get over how much I dislike this name for a movie. I keep thinking it's another Hostel movie, but it isn't. It actually sounds pretty good,but I keep getting it confused with a snuff type of movie, because of the name. I know it's the name of the town...but come on...Why can't they call it Zombie Language or something?

Anyway, the movie is based off of a book called Pontypool Changes Everything by Tony Burgess. The plot of this movie is one of my fave types of plots....savage virus on the loose, people becoming "zombies", few survivors...how do they survive? Can they survive? I mean, this is legitimately scary because it's semi-realistic. Not the zombie part, but the virus outbreak.

I think it sounds like a really cool concept...supposedly the entire movie leaves you kind of "out of the loop" as you only discover things as the characters do. You're trapped with them. There is no outside help. Plus, the whole idea of the disease being spread through language is a clever idea.

Pontypool will only be available in limited release, but I think we should go find it! Rumor has it IFC will release it so you can watch it from the comfort of your own home!


Can't wait? Check out the radio station Mazzy in the Morning!

Even though May is pretty shorthanded on Horror in theaters, at least we have May 29th.

April Showers Bring....

May is officially underway...whoa...rhyming!

Can you believe it? 5 more months until October...and you know what October brings! Magic, Mania, and Monster Bash!
We're more than halfway now! I can't wait! Have you thought of your costume yet? I finally have figured mine out. It came to me while I was blogging the other day, so thank you Monster Bash Blog for inspiring me!

So for the first blog of May, I was trying to play around with the whole idea of "April showers bring May flowers"...but I couldn't think of anything witty or clever. I was trying "April showers bring May scours" but then I wasn't really sure what "scours" meant...something about diarrhea and lamb illness? And I didn't like "May sours"...so it just got to be too messy.

Instead, I'd like to take the idea of pretty May flowers...and make it a little more spoOoOoOoOooky:

I give you....

Deadly flowers!

Wikipedia, my good friend, has an incomplete, yet comprehensive list of poisonous plants, as does LiveScience.com with their "Top 10" List.

Associated Content also had a list of 4 deadly types of flowers.

Now, I'm no Botanist, but I'm going to attempt to discuss a few deadly folliage offenders here...feel free to add to the list!

Water Hemlock:

is a flowering poisonous plant that is sometimes mistaken for the delicious parsnip...except for the fact that it can kill you. The poison in the plant, cicutoxin, causes death by the rapid distruction of the central nervous system. Ingestion of water hemlock is "fatal when swallowed, causing violent and painful convulsions" (Wikipedia.org). Hemlock all around isn't too great, because another type, called "Poison Hemlock" works similarly by taking out the CNS (check out my biology terms!), but with a poison similar to that of nicotine (quit smoking!), called coniine.


Rhododendron

Species of this plant can be toxic to animals like horses and other "grazing" animals. For humans, the honey made from bees feeding off the pollen of these plants can have a hallucinogenic and laxative effect. The culprit of these plants? Grayanotoxin.


Lily-of-the-Valley

Apparently, all parts of this flower are poisonous. So stop right there with your L-O-T-V love. Look but don't ingest.

Foxglove

I swear I've heard the name of the thing found in Foxglove...it's called digoxin. I remember hearing something about people giving digitoxin (from digoxin) to horses? Or maybe it was people? Perhaps in a Lifetime movie or two? Maybe I'm wrong. I probably am, but still...digoxin is some serious stuff, because it not only causes some horrible effects upon ingestion, it also affects the heart. Foxglove is highly poisonous....hence why it's on my list!

Oleander

Isn't this also the name of a deer or a band or something? Oleander is highly poisonous, and in small amounts, is lethal. Especially to young children. Oleandrin and neriine are two toxic components of oleander. Wikipedia gives a great description of just what this plant does.

Wolf's Bane

According to Wikipedia, the first effects of Wolf's bane occurs in the gastrointestinal area-mouth, stomach, throat, etc. After an hour, you begin vomitting and everything begins to shut down. Eventually, the pulse slows and you die from asphyxia. Not pleasant.

Nightshade

Nightshade sounds scary. Is there a band named "Death by Nightshade"? Seriously, what a great name. I just googled and there isn't...so if you decide to name your screamo/death metal/progressive rock/whatever band "DBN", please include me, Monster Bash Blog, in the liner notes...thanks.

Anyway, botanical.com even agrees that nightshade is DEADLY. So take that.

So, I know you're riveted at this amazing list of poisonous plants but I bet that the main question on your mind is: "what's the worst plant?" Well, look no further. I mean, it's open to interpretation, but according to a bunch of places I searched, the Castor Bean is considered the world's most deadly plant.
Ricin, a poison found in the Castor Bean (which grows to the Caster Oil Plant)

can be deadly if consumed...even in small quantities. The Castor Bean was considered by the 2004 Guinness Book of World Records to be the most poisonous plant in the world.
Honestly, Ricin is no joke. Read here about these related ricin incidents. Even though there's a vaccine for ricin poisoning, survivors may suffer long-term organ damage! AHHHH!

Not enough deadly plant info for you? Here are some other ones to check out:

Narcissus
Chrysanthemum
Anthurium
Wisteria
Ficus


Deadly flowers and plants are no strangers to the box office either.

We've got Little Shop of Horrors:



I mean, not really scary...but still...deadly plant...

The Ruins:



Which I discussed way back when.

And then there's another one called "The Day of the Triffids":



Which is about a meteor hitting the planet, everyone goes blind, and are attacked by experimental plants/aliens.

IFC made a great list of movie plant villains.

And of course...MY favorite deadly plant?


So be careful the next time you're out there stopping to smell the flowers...spoOoOooOoOoOky!

**All pictures linked from Photobucket.com**