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.

I Will Follow You Into The Dark - Mini Review

 This is a dark, horror movie with a dash of romance.  It is very reminiscent of the 1998 movie "What Dreams May Come".

  Mischa Barton plays a woman questioning her faith in religion, after enduring a tragedy.  She starts experiencing some strange phenomena in her life. Someone she cares about disappears and evidence seems to indicate he went, willing or otherwise, to the top floor of his apartment building.  The only problem with that, is the building used to be a mental hospital and the top floor is an abandoned, haunted hellhole.  After the police don't believe her, she and three friends must brave the eerie hallways to try to find him.

  The movie is very slow paced, during its almost two hour length.   The first part of the movie is the build up to the horror-filled second half. 

  The acting is good, and in a rare feat for a horror movie, the characters are actually intelligent.  They don't foolishly do stupid things, to create further plot complications due to lazy writing.  The story was interesting and unpredictable.  The movie doesn't dumb itself down to explain things to the viewer.      

  Where the movie shines is in its build up of the horror on the top floor and the creepy atmosphere / cinematography
of those hallways.  Once the four characters get off the elevator to start the search, the dread in the air and the danger they face is apparent and equally felt by anyone watching the movie.  These are the qualities that really make a good horror movie.

  While very well done, the movie is not perfect.  At times it gets a little too crazy.   It also might not be for people with attention deficit disorder.  I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Future of Horror Magazines

  I love horror magazines.  There is something about the scenes of terror depicted on the full-color slick pages.  Somehow, websites just can't compete with them.

  In the old days, I used to avoid them because magazines like Fangoria would show spoilers about the films, like revealing what the creature in the film looked like.  Nowadays, most of them are very well done and informative.  Reviews, previews, in-depth stories, interviews, and of course, great pictures.

   There are more now than ever.  There are even two named almost the same- Screem from the U.S.A. and Scream from the U.K..  However, they may be in a death spiral that many genres of magazines are experiencing.  Horror magazines seem to be spiraling faster than other types. 

 Competition from web sites, which are free and more timely, has cause the magazines to not only raise the prices, but also lower the number of pages contained in each issue.  As an example, Fangoria is now $10.99 and issue for 80 pages of content.  It is getting to the point where only die hard horror fans with plenty of cash can afford to buy these publications.

  I think some will go on, but very soon the herd will be culled.  I think horror fiction magazines, like Cemetery Dance will continue.  They have very little print or web-based rivals.



  Amid this, Full Moon Features is about to put out a new magazine in February of 2014.  It is called Delirium. The link is below.

http://www.deliriummagazine.com/

 It will be interesting what they will do with it.  They have the advantage of being inside the industry, and yet the disadvantage of not being able to do impartial reviews.

  I really hope these magazine thrive in some way, as they really support the horror community in more ways than one.

House of Bad - Mini Review

 House of Bad... Acting?  Sound?  Filmmaking?  Yes, all that and more.

  This is a low budget movie about three sisters who steal from a drug dealer and hide out in an abandoned house where two of the sisters grew up.  Of course, it hides a dark secret from their past.  Can you guess what it is?

  The movie actually starts off somewhat promising, story wise, and then slowly goes off the deep end.  The movie gradually gets worse with continuity errors, absurd action scenes,  nonsensical plot twists, and wacky acting, until in the final 15 minutes, it gets so bad, it is good.

  I would give the film 1.5 stars out of 5.

We Are What We Are - Mini Review

   First, a warning about this movie - if you don't like seeing people brutally tortured and savagely put through hell, please remove all mirrors and any kind of reflective surface around you, before you watch this movie.

   We Are What We Are and what we are is a bad movie.  A film about a family of cannibals.  It is slow.  It is stupid.  It did have good lighting.  If all you all you want out of a movie is well lit scenes, then you may like this.

  The behind-the-scenes and interviews run a total of 75 minutes.  I didn't care to watch them.

  I would give it 1 out of 5 stars.

Die Monster Die! - Mini Review

  Die Monster Die was one of the earliest film adaptations from an H.P. Lovecraft story.  It was also one of Boris Karloff's last films.  Made in 1965, the film is very loosely based off of Lovecraft's story, "The Color out of Space".

  It is a decent horror film.   The two things that keep the movie interesting are the acting and the atmospheric film locations, particularly the cool mansion in which most of the story takes place.

  The Blu-ray was recently release from Scream Factory.  It is not a special edition release, the only extra is a trailer.  The trailer is made up of all the action scenes in the movie, including the ending.  It is kind of like fast-forwarding through the entire disk.

  I did enjoy the movie.  I would have preferred that the film had followed Lovecraft's story more faithfully, but I guess the special effect technology at the time wouldn't allow it.  I would give it 3 out of 5 stars.