Showing posts with label Barbarian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barbarian. Show all posts

Monday, April 28, 2025

Techno Westerns - Loverboy


I rewatched In A Violent Nature last night, strictly because Joe Bob and Darcy hosted it on the previous installment of The Last Drive-In. Not a fan of this flick, but I did come away with this song, so that's cool.

The album this track is featured on shares its name, and while I didn't love it, I found a pretty reliable evocation of a certain kind of Electro-Indie-Pop that was ubiquitous in Los Angeles in the late 2000s and early 2010s, and thus, hits a certain nostalgic trigger for me. I'm not talking smack; I would have probably liked this a lot more back then, but my tastes have definitely shifted, and as it stands after a couple of listens, I do dig this, just not enough to really get excited by it. Still, if you dig this track, check out their music for yourself. 




Watch:

Zach Cregger's follow-up to Barbarian received a trailer last week:


This is another example of a creator who must have a hand in controlling the marketing of his films because, like Barbarian, this gives nothing away. I'm not going to test that theory by watching any subsequent trailers New Line releases after this; Weapons hits theatres on August 8th, and I will be there on opening day. 




Read:

Over the weekend, I ripped through a re-read of Preston Fassel's brilliant Our Lady of the Inferno. Second time reading this book, and it's an all-time favorite for me. 


The depth of emotion here is incredible. This is a book that can scare you, gross you out, and touch your heart. The imagery is above and beyond as Fassel conjures 42nd Street, New York, in 1983, in a way I cannot even begin to describe. You hear it, you feel it, you smell it. The characters are so well-written and so developed that you feel like you know them - like you have known them your entire life. And the Horror is both breathtaking and heartbreaking in equal measure.

I was lucky enough to grab this one upon original publication by Fangoria, but while that edition is long out of print, there is a new edition available everywhere books are sold. 


I know I say this a lot, and I always mean it when I say it, but I cannot recommend this book enough. While I would definitely classify Our Lady of the Inferno as a "Horror" novel, it is also a literary Horror novel and one that is far too human to be limited by any genre tropes.  




Playlist:

Black Sabbath - Sabotage
Moon Wizard - Sirens
Sumerlands - Dreamkiller
The Raveonettes - PE'AHI II
Matt Cameron - Gory Scorch Cretins
Zeal & Ardor - GREIF
Fever Ray - Radical Romantics
Turnstile - GLOW ON
Primus - Pork Soda
The Atlas Moth - Coma Noir
Ghost - Skeletá 
Perturbator - Dangerous Days
Final Light - Eponymous
Techno Westerns - Lover Boy
Joseph Bishara - Malignant OST




Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.


• Ace of Cups
• Four of Wands
• Seven of Pentacles

Emotional breakthrough leads to a stable foundation from which to move forward to victory.

Black Gloves & Broken Hearts is finished and is in the hands of my trusted Beta Reader, so I'm really just waiting on the cover art and any cleanup based on early readers' reactions. After that, we'll be looking at setting a release date. Conversely, I've added a chapter to my latest ongoing Nosleep Serial and moved back to Shadow Play Book Two with the intention of stripping it, streamlining it, and finishing it. I toyed with the idea of turning this proposed trilogy into a duology. However, I think I will simply make books two and three shorter than originally expected. There's just too much sprawl, and I think it's that admitting and acknowledging that right there that is the "Emotional Breakthrough" mentioned in the reading. Roping this in can only lead to a stronger foundation and, thus, completion (Victory).

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Diabolic Majesty

 

Holy cow - a new Revocation album dropped! Haven't heard the entire thing yet, but a couple songs in, I very much digging Netherheaven, which you can order from Metal Blade Records HERE.




NCBD:

A big haul this week for NCBD. Let's dive right into it:










Gonna have my hands full with this one for a day or two, but that's some great reading. 




Watch:

How the hell do you talk about this movie without actually talking about it? The trailer is one of the best I've ever seen, as it shows you so much that wets the Horror Whistle, but tells you absolutely NOTHING about the film, and after seeing this one yesterday, I want to tow the exact same line.


Barbarian's trailer indeed tells you little about the movie. In fact, it actually tells you less than I thought going in. There is so much here, so much that makes it not only my "film-to-beat" for 2022 but also, one of my favorite Horror Flicks in recent years. And make no mistake, this is no "psychological thriller." Nope. This is pure, unadulterated Horror. There are some gnarly ideas and images in here that make for an often revolting watch - in the best possible way, of course. 

 My suggestion - go see it on the big screen if you can. I may be going back for a second time tonight. My only regret will be that I can't go in blind a second time.

 

The fact that this is Writer/Director Zach Cregger's first feature blows me away. Mr. Cregger is now on my "See anything they make" list right next to other indie filmmakers like Ti West and Joe Begos.
 


Playlist:

NIN - Pretty Hate Machine
NIN - Broken EP
NIN - Burn (Single)
NIN - Dead Souls (Single)
NIN - The Downward Spiral
Ministry - Land of Rape and Honey
The Afghan Whigs - How Do You Burn?
A001 - Nyctophobia EP
Forhist - Eponymous
Revocation - Netherheaven




Card:


Sometimes you have to be an asshole to get things accomplished. 


Thursday, June 23, 2022

Preoccupations - Ricochet

 

Really digging this new track from Preoccupations that not only did Heaven is an Incubator post about recently, but both my good friends Jacob and Mr. Brown sent me last week (or the week before, we are now officially in a blur, ladies and gentlemen). It's been some time since we had new music from these guys, and I'd forgotten just how much I love their Eponymous and New Material Records (not to mention the Viet Cong stuff). 

The new album Arrangements is out September 9th, and you can pre-order it now HERE. I'm currently on a ban from anything pending our move, but that shouldn't hold you back.




Watch:

I feel like someone sent me something about this one a few months back, as the title rings familiar. After watching this trailer, however, I don't know. The first feature from Writer/Director Zach Cregger, this is new to me:

 

Holy smokes. SOLD. What a fantastic trailer - it gives us so much of the aesthetic but gives NOTHING away (I'm assuming). Bill Skarsgård is beginning to be enough to make me stop and consider anything he's in, so there's that, and the 'tunnels under suburbia' angle is right in my sweet spot, so my arse will be in a seat come 8/31.
 


Playlist:

Black Sabbath - Eponymous
The Mars Volta - Blacklight Shine (pre-release single)
The Soft Moon - Him (pre-release single)
Preoccupations - Ricochet (pre-release single)
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles - 1957-1972 (Live)




Card:



Fortify your position. Definitely apt. I'm having massive "is this the right thing?" thoughts as we look at houses.