Scarecrow's Blog From the Darkside

King of the Ring opened with US champ Daniel Bryan, on quite a roll as of late coming off two big victories over Ted Dibiase and three over Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler , against Alberto Del Rio( who the WWE creative team seem to adore). I was puzzled as to why the US champion would enter the KotR tournament, but here he is and Bryan doesn't fare too well against Alberto who seems to be on his game, dominating Daniel. A running head butt outside the ring by Bryan with Del Rio capitalizing on the mistake by sending Daniel crushing shoulder first into the wall seals his fate. Del Rio used mostly a mat attack against the much smaller Bryan who himself favored small packages and kicks, only once able to even attempt the LaBelle Lock. Del Rio didn't wait long after Bryan's injured shoulder to lock on the arm wrenching finisher, moving on via tap-out. To be honest I knew right from the get-go that Del Rio would win due to the love he's constantly given. Big Show, w

But what am I doing? I'm not harming anybody. Just robbing a few graves. The Hammer film that started it all, the revival which I will forever be grateful. CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN features a far more devious mad scientist than what we were in accustomed to with Colin Clive's creation back in the 30s. Baron Victor Frankenstein as visualized by the incomparable Peter Cushing is methodical, determined, cold-blooded, even conscience-less in that he will not stand for anyone to ruin his experiments in creating life in a man made by his own hands. To see how heartless and cruel he can be on multiple occasions, just take two such examples. So ruthless a desire to get his hands on a brilliant mind, he will set in motion the murder of a renowned scientist whose ancient body is on it's way already to the grave. So Victor "assists" him in his date with death by staging an accidental fall from the stairs. Victor even pays for the deceased scientist's buriel, inside his own

This kind of place does strange things to people . Tempers flair and animosity boils over as four friends get lost in the outback, not only dealing with each other's increasing hostility but the knowledge that a big rig driver with a gun is somewhere near. The ultimate villain is the Road Train, a giant monster diesel with two haulers containing something mysterious. This rig, however, runs on a unique kind of fuel and seems to possess anyone who remains near it for too long. The hood ornament for the Road Train is a cerebus, three headed wolves splitting into three directions..as a particular character "falls under the rig's spell", we see the image of three wolves with glowing eyes of blood red. Craig(Bob Morley, quite menacing once he's under the truck's power, a charming smile masking evil intent)has slept with his best friend, Marcus'(Xavier Samuel; TWILIGHT:ECLIPSE)current girlfriend, Liz(Georgina Haig)which continues to produce unease between them

Lori Heuring stars as a doctor trapped in a well along with other selected victims, chosen for a madman's human behavior experiments to determine how they will contend with having no food, their bodies desire for sustenance slowly demanding nourishment. Linden Ashby, Joe Egender, Lea Kohl, and Julian Rojas round out the cast of suffering humans, Bjorn Johnson the psychopath monitoring them. Heuring explains to us in one scene, in detail, how the body will slowly deteriorate, the organs cannibalizing inside before total break down, starvation, and death. Bjorn Johnson's motivation derives from an incident when he was a child, eating from his dead mother in order to survive. Johnson will see if this group would do the same. Attempts to escape and reason how to get out of the well give way to anguish, fear, sickness, and mania. When a couple, choosing an area near the well as a make-out spot, are murdered by Johnson before they could get the trapped group help, we see that he wil

Jean Juno, a former banker, starts a new job working as an insurance salesman, immediately finding himself in a bit of a quandary, a client, demanding payment on the loss of his child, could have murdered his own step-son. Juno, not accepting that this little boy actually committed suicide, believing he was murdered, will attempt to prove his death was in fact a homicide. Juno is haunted by the suicide of his brother(a victim of bullies)and this has shaped him as an adult. In regards to cold blooded female psychopaths, Shin Yi-Hwa reminded me of Béatrice Dalle from À l'intérieur and Asami Yamazaki(Eihi Shiina)of Takashi Miike's Ôdishon. She has these black soulless eyes reminiscent to Michael Meyers, there's a void where humanity should be present yet isn't. Yi-Hwa moves in a deliberate but determined manner, a crook in her walk due to a handicapped foot which bends inward. Director Terra Shin often points his camera at Yi-Hwa's feet, establishing her presence in a

Director Cody Jarrett's homage to Jack Hill's women-in-prison exploitation flicks(it even features Hill in a cameo as a corrupt judge!)concerns a news journalist going undercover to undermine/shakedown a prostitution ring headed by an evil warden and her guards, using inmates as hookers to wealthy clientèle. Aunt Irene(Jacqueline Scott)calls up news reporter Valerie March(Geneviere Anderson), known for her crusades against those in power positions using their authority to commit criminal acts. Irene's niece, Cheryl Jean(Jayme Rhae Edwards), was arrested for prostitution(not a crime which warrants an excessive prison term)and she desires for Valerie to help save her. Valerie beckons her publisher to allow her the opportunity to assume the identity of hooker named Angel, and while clashing with certain inmates, she does, albeit not without some initial resistance, befriend a prostitute named Loretta(Thela Brown; an obvious Pam Grier imitation), a tough-talking sista with att

Chatree(Charlie Trairat) is sent to a boardinghouse for boys due to low grades and his current poor performance in school. Once there, a tight pack tell Chatree ghost stories which set up a terror in his mind which makes nights difficult for him. Adjusting and adapting to his new environment will prove difficult and uneasy, but Chatree soon makes at least one friend who starts up a conversation with him. DORM might be a bit too sappy and sad for some horror fans wanting edgy and visceral thrills because the filmmakers care about their little protagonist and his situation. They want us to sympathize with his predicament, but understand the father's reasons for his actions. Due to bad grades, his disapproving father sends Chatree to a boarding school hoping his boy will wise up and straighten himself out for the better. We have a dinner table memory where Chatree is informed that he would be "sent away", left by his parents in an institution where all the boys sleep in cots

Por(Intira Jaroenpura)is a bartender(who deals and abuses drugs)who narrowly escapes a drowning after being pummeled by Ord, her sadistic supplier after he discovers that she is actually using his product instead of selling it like she's supposed to. When she awakens in a hospital, Por is told by her caring physician, Dr. Rudee(Aranya Namwong)that she is pregnant. Por realizes that her guitarist boyfriend(who leaves her to go on tour with a new band)is the father and wants an abortion. The pregnancy is the least of her troubles because not only must she contend with Ord who demands answers, but a ghost named Mai(Prangthong Changdham)is haunting her. The Nong Luang Swamp where Por almost died was the location for which Mai's body was found. Mai wants what belongs to her and will torment Por into investigating so that this dead girl's spirit can find rest. "The dead don't stay dead," is what passed through my mind as I watched Bhandit Thongdee's THE UNBORN

John Hickman(Travis Aaron Wade), his girlfriend Brooks(Tina Huang)and friends, Ben(Howard Johnson Jr), Quincy(Trevor Bullock), and Wayne(Rajiv Shah)decide to go huntin' into the California wilderness. John's uncle is killed by something fierce at the beginning of the movie which turns out to be a gigantic monstrous pig known as "the ripper". John is using his uncle's land to camp on and old pals(he'd soon have avoided like the plague)from his childhood, dirty, foul hick brothers Jake(Jason Foster)and Ricky(Nick Tagas)impose themselves on the group. Tagging along(despite John and company's desire for them not to), Jake and Ricky go on and on about killing hogs, in particular, the ripper. Well, an incident involving the dirty duo's insistence on bagging up dope for profit(marijuana fields are being illegally cultivated on John's uncle's land), turns violent resulting in accidental murder, which spirals out of control as Jake warns them of the w

* * * * / * * * * "You know, this place makes me wonder.." "Yeah, what's that, boss?" "Which would be worse? To live as a monster, or to die as a good man?" Wow, what a movie! I am not gonna go in depth, others more highly skilled at breaking down this psychological thriller's premise have already done so, regarding how the plot reveals details about a US Marshall's trip to Shutter Island, seeking to bring the mental asylum, and those villains who run it, down, to expose their corrupt tactics towards the patients. Sometimes, fiction is simply more easy to handle and accept than the truth..that's what I got out of this movie. Boy, am I glad Scorsese is still around making movies. This movie is beautiful to look at and experience. I had forgotten just how special camera work can be when the right man is behind the camera. I love a movie that fucks with you and we follow down that dark road along with DiCaprio until the heart-wrenching, painfu

* * ½ / * * * * I won't lie, at the opening of BABYSITTER WANTED, I was thinking, "Oh no, not another torture movie." Truth be told, I'm tiring of these kinds of torture fare, where a woman is tied up, bound and gagged, squirming for her life, to be honest, I think this is played out. Maybe, it's not for others, but there just isn't anything that burns inside this horror fan any longer about the horrors of young women trapped in some godforsaken room located in a lunatic's lair, held hostage and due to die some sort of horrifying death. I mean, what else can be accomplished with this premise? Well, the film presents this pretty, sweet, religious Catholic who goes to college, finding that her roommate is a slob with a foul attitude, the apartment a mess of empty beer bottles, cigarette butts, with recently used bongs and pizza boxes. Looking for a bed, she sees an ad for a babysitter out in the boonies, and decides to check it out..we know, already that thi

I decided to watch a couple of tough guy action movies, and started with the easiest choice, THE TERMINATOR. The dvd had been staring at me in the eyes for years now, keeping it on a shelf in my bedroom, as I would walk by THE TERMINATOR would beckon unto me. I had watched the two marvelous documentaries(or they were to me being a die hard fan)last Sunday night and it put me in the mindset to revisit one my faves quite soon as time and mood would permit. It has been a while, too long, since I had last watched the movie, and found the dvd for a great price, but it would be some time before I would ever even take it out of the wrapper. The isn't too unusual, since time moves fast, and before you know it, it's June 12, 2010 and not 2003. Anyway, it was a pleasure seeing Ahnuld in his original form as an emotionless killing machine, hunting down Sarah Conners until finding the right one. I love that slow motion scene in the neon lit technoir club as Arnold approaches the last Sarah

I decided to hold myself a double feature(I had intended to include TERROR TRAIN, but alas this would not materialize)Friday night(June 11, 2010) and so I chose the movies HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME(1981) & PROM NIGHT(1980). I had recently purchased both movies for only 5 dollars a piece so I decided to finally watch them. Crawford Academy. The Top 10 are a group of wealthy kids who have an enemy taking them out individually. Virginia(Melissa Sue Anderson) returned to this school after some absense and has become part of the 10. She was almost killed in a car accident that took her mother's life. Memories of her trauma are returning and she depends heavily on her psychotherapist, David(Glenn Ford in what many considers his worst film), to help her through this trying cycle in her young life. Her damaged psyche is a staple in the slasher genre as it possibly implicates her as the potential killer. You can visualize her being a suspect for good reason. It's an old trick t

** / **** I agree with others as it came to my mind as well, the fact that NEVER BACK DOWN is an obvious clone of THE KARATE KID about a fatherless young man whose mom moves him to Orlando where he must contend with a mean bully whose reputation as a superior fighter gives him an advantage when confrontations occur. Sean Faris is Jake Tyler, who becomes a good fighter(full contact fighting replaces the more civilized karate tourney from THE KARATE KID)thanks to a mentor in mixed martial arts, who teaches him the ropes. Djimon Hounsou is Jean Roqua, Jake's teacher and "counselor" as there's no other father figure in the young man's life. Cam Gigandet is the hostile teen, Ryan McCarthy, who relishes his abilities to pummel Jake, and we get a look at why he's such a sadistic son of a bitch, a father who has obviously demanded nothing but discipline and excellence from his son..he's not strict in regards to his son's extra curricular activities, but no dis

***/**** The unruly group led by Peter Stegman(Timothy Van Patten) of Abraham Lincoln High are a severe nuisance to teachers and students alike and it will all come to a head as they finally victimize the wrong target who decides to strike back in Mark Lester's indictment on the plight of today's youth(well, in 1981 that is). This gaggle of punks of Stegman's push the weaker kids around and it is quite a statement when green teacher Andrew Norris(Perry King) recognizes that fellow academian Terry Corrigan(Roddy McDowell, in one of his best latter career roles) carries a gun in his briefcase! "Surveillance is the name of the game around here, Mr. Norris. " This coming from the principal of the school for petesake! It's like a high school from hell where teachers worry more about surviving the day instead of "molding young minds"! Sure, many of the kids just want to learn, but with Stegman's brood causing trouble at every turn, it'

I was about to go to bed and made the mistake(nah, it wasn't a mistake)of leaving the television on(the remote was next to me)as I was setting the timer for another movie(showing later, Roman Polanski's GHOST WRITER). But, director Patrice Chéreau's QUEEN MARGOT grabbed my attention and never let go. This production blew me away. The way he captures a particular kingdom in France during a tumultuous time where two religious sections in Parisian society were at each others' throats. There's an overwhelming hatred and animosity between the Catholics(who have the power)and lowly Protestants considered a scourge in the city. I think it's clear which side the movie's on, the Protestants led by Henri de Navarre(Daniel Auteuil with a prosthetic beak; who is fantastic)gain our sympathy after this great slaughter which is shown in all it's bloody(and pretty lengthly)detail. To supposedly bring about peace between the people, Henri marries the deceased king of Fra