In Fear - Mini Review

 From the UK, comes "In Fear".  It is about a couple on a somewhat "date" to a hotel in the remote countryside.  Things start going wrong on the way, and soon they feel they are in mortal danger!

The film is good at building the tension.  There are some very creepy moments in the film.  The ending was a little bit of a let down.

There is a behind the scenes feature on the Blu-ray, that explains the interesting way the film was made.  Basically, the actors didn't know what was going to happen to them.

I like the film.  I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Blast Vegas - Mini Review

 Another Syfy produced film, like the movie, Scarecrow, that I just reviewed.  This is the better film between the two.

  A group of friends in Vegas, steal a sword and initiate an ancient Egyptian curse.  Soon, devastation is set upon Sin City.   This was a fun movie.  While not taking itself too seriously, it was a fairly good horror/disaster flick.

  Though not totally perfect, the visual effects / CGI was done well.  It was cool witnessing Vegas landmarks get annihilated time and time again.  The acting was great and the writing was intelligent.

 I would give the film 4 out of 5 stars.

Scarecrow 2013 - Mini Review

 This is a mini review for the Syfy channel original movie, Scarecrow.  First off, you might be enraged to learn that this movie does not contain a single crow, whatsoever! 

  The story involves a teacher taking a bunch of trouble teens to a farmhouse, where there is a legend about a killer scarecrow.  The film suffers from lazy writing, the kind many a horror flick falls victim to.  An old legend that no one believes- check, cell phones don't work- check, troubled, sex-crazed teens- check, truck won't start- check, etc.  My favorite part was when five of the characters were knocked unconscious at the same time, and awoke a few hours later, all at the same time.  The characters don't act realistically at all.  They behave irrationally and many times when they are being chased, they take their time and frequently pause to assess the situation.  The movie also doesn't explain many things about its plot.

  There is a lot of overacting in the cast, although, Lacey Chabert and a couple of the others in the cast do a fairly good job.  The creature is not a typical scarecrow.  It is created using Syfy's typical "discount" CGI.

  I did like some of the locations, particularly, the boat graveyard.  In summary, it was an adequate movie, just a typical straight forward kill the teens movie.  I would give it 2 out of 5 stars.

 

Celebrities that sell their autographs rant

  This rant encompasses not only horror celebrities, but all celebrities.  As conventions have become more popular over the last few years, so have celebrities selling their autographs at them.

  I am fine with celebrities signing for free to promote projects they are in, and those that are authors signing books that they have written.  However, I think celebrities that sell autographs and photo opportunities are leaching off their fans.  I think the whole scenario is really tacky.

  Autograph prices are now going up at conventions.  It used to be $20 for an autograph and a photo with the celebrity.  Now the amount celebs are charging is escalating.  They are now charging separately for photo opportunities.  Star Trek celebs are among the worse, with some now charging around $100 for an autograph.

  Many stars seem to look at their most die hard fans as a pathetic source of income that they can squeeze as much cash out of as possible.  I guess this is nothing new, I think of greatest hits albums from rock groups that include one new song, so the fans that bought all of their earlier albums, will have to buy the greatest hits album to own that one song.

  Now for the celebrities excuses as to why they do this.  They say it really isn't about paying for the signature, but paying for the experience to meet and converse with the celebrity.  Isn't this the same as paying someone to be your friend?  I have spent quite a bit of time around celebrities and most of them would rather avoid their fans than talk to them.  I think this is because they mostly encounter the aggressive type of fan, which are the ones who have the nerve to come up to them.  I think there is also a feeling when you are a celebrity, that everyone wants something from you.  I just don't think many would offer to sit and talk to their fans for free.  I don't really understand the allure of all of this.  Why would you want to talk to someone who is only interested in you because you gave them $40?  "Here is a picture of me with the entire cast of Star Trek the Next Generation".  "Oh yeah,  I am good friends with all of them.  I only had to pay $350 for it."

  The other excuse is- "I take the time to sign a picture for someone, the next thing I know it's on Ebay!".  Celebrities can't stand when someone else makes any kind of money off them.  It isn't like someone is going to make a career out of re-selling their autographs.  These people that re-sale their autographs aren't the ones the celebs should be getting mad at.  At least eventually, that autograph will end up in the hands of a fan.  The people to get mad at are the ones who fake their signature and sell it on Ebay.  And there is the photo opportunity fees.  Those aren't really sellable, as no one wants a pictures of a celebrity with a stranger.  It is only valuable to the person that is in the picture with the star.

  The autograph writers aren't very considerate of their fans many times.  Celebrities frequently don't show up to autograph events or are only their part of the time they are scheduled for.  Many have rules for what they will and won't sign and how they will sign it.  Some will only personalize autographs, some will only sign their name.  Some want to be paid the absolute highest value the item with their signature will be worth, if they sign it.  So if you have a $100 memorabilia item and it would be worth $150, if they sign it, they want to charge you $150 for the autograph.

  I realize there are celebrities that are nice to their fans.  There are celebs that give the money they make off autos to charity.  Some celebs that didn't get paid much for their acting careers see autographs as a way of making up some of that money they feel is owed to them.  I just think trying to make a living off the fans that like a show you were on 30 years ago, when you were ten years old, is kind of pitiful.

 In a perfect scenario, celebrities would be paid their costs to attend the event by the event promoters.  I don't think it should cost celebs to be at these events, but I also don't think they should be making money off them.  If they don't want to meet their fans and are only interested in making money, they shouldn't be at autograph events.

  What celebrities have done with this autograph selling is taken one of the few ways that they can give back to fans, and turned it into yet another way they can take from their fans.

Ticks - Mini Review

  From the pre-CGI early nineties, comes Ticks!

  This campy horror film is infested with a  good cast, with many familiar names, including a young Seth Green.

  The story is about a group of troubled teens who are sent to a wilderness camp (filmed in Big Bear, California), to confront their inner demons.  Little do they know, they are about to encounter real monsters, like mutated ticks and worse... crazy locals! 

  The movie is fairly good.  The practical effects are mostly well done.  There were some issues near the end, where there were jumps in the editing.  It was like they rushed through some of the ending shots. 

  I enjoyed the film.  I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.

The horror community and attending horror related events

I live in Southern California.  I can't speak for the rest of the world, but I believe the horror community here is comprised of a small, but devoted group of people.  These are the people that watch indie horror movies, go to horror conventions, attend horror film festivals, etc.

I would guestimate the number in the Southern California area to be around 1,000.  That is a pretty small number for such a populated geographical region.  I tend to see the same people at horror events here.  Maybe we should all carpool to these things.

At general conventions, the horror panels don't seem to draw a large attendance.  Horror-related panels at the popular San Diego Comic Con are always easy to get into. 

We know that we are a small group, and most of us do our best to support horror in various ways.  With the horror community being as small as it is, I think it is important for people who put on horror events to listen to feedback from horror fans.

 I think what happened with the Weekend of Horrors convention is a good example of this.  The people who ran it did 80% of things right.  The frustrating part was that they would not do the small things to take care of the 20% of things that they did wrong.  They had a tiered ticketing system and screwed over the people who paid for the more expensive ticket types.  For example, they sold reserved seats for the panels at double the normal price and then did not enforce the reserved seat rule.  People that bought reserved seats felt like idiots for paying more and had to kick out people that were sitting in their reserved seats, themselves.  The people who ran the convention ignored suggestions on how to fix the convention.  Unhappy attendees means lower attendance numbers for future conventions.  As a result, the Weekend of Horrors convention is no more.  I think there is a lesson here.

A frustrating thing is happening regarding horror events this year.  There aren't many major horror events that occur in the Southern California area, and yet The Days of the Dead Horror Convention, The Long Beach Comic and Horror Con, and the HP Lovecraft Film Festival are all taking place on the same weekend this year, September 27th and 28th.  It is maddening as hell!  Why!?

Random Acts of Violence - Mini Review

This is a documentary style film about a British man who casually kills people in New York. His main motive for this murder spree is to drive out all the pretentious rich people, so the artsy, real people can return to New York City.

The film has a dry sense of humor.  I think it is inferior to similar films, like "Behind the Mask".  It has a few twists, but I found it hard to stay interested in the film.  Despite being listed on the cover, Kirsten Dunst only makes a very brief cameo, as herself.  I thought she was going to be one of his victims, but no.  A loss of a cool opportunity.

The DVD has no extras.  I would give the film 2.5 out of 5 stars.