Whoah. I had ear-marked this Perturbator collaboration with LA-based Health sometime a week or so ago and then promptly forgot about it. Listening to it last night while writing, it made a strong impression. Which led to me checking out Health's 2015 album Death Magic (great title). Fantastic stuff. Reminiscent of Crystal Castles at times, very melodic and killer electronics.
31 Days of Horror rounded the final lap last night with attempts to watch two other movies as well. The first was Beetlejuice, which I rented from Amazon and which dropped out and sent me back to the start twice before I gave up. The second was Tod Browning's 1931 Dracula with Bela Lugosi, but by then it was pass out time, so I only made it 2/3 of the way through. Ugh.
31 Days of Horror
10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle
10/15) Phantom of the Paradise
10/16) Candyman
10/17) Ghoulies
10/18) John Carpenter's Halloween
10/24) Halloween III: Season of the Witch
10/25) Ghost Stories
10/26) John Carpenter's The Fog
10/27) Suspiria (2018)
10/28) Suspiria (1977)
Playlist from 10/28:
Various Artists - Halloween playlist
Skeletal Family - Singles Plus One
Health/Perturbator - Body/Prison
Health - Death Magic
Ennio Morricone - Black Belly of the Tarantula
A little Siouxsie and the Banshees in honor of Susie Bannion and the fact that we have now entered the final stretch toward Halloween. I still have quite a few movies I want to watch, so I'm going to start working some into the daylight, in the background. This is something I purposely never do, as a way to maintain the sacred reverence I try to hold for movies. That said, I'll look at it as a recreation of discovering horror on television as a kid. I have the original Suspiria on while I'm writing this, just as a counter point to Luca Guadagnino's version we saw last night. How was the new Suspiria?
Not an easy question, as there's a lot to unpack.
Guadagnino's iteration of Dario Argento's classic is not so much a horror movie, as it is a Film that happens to center around horrific events and characters; it's a horror movie in the same way Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is a horror movie, that is to say not beholden to genre tropes and mores. I know some folks who would say my evening saying that is pretentious, but here's why I disagree.
Before Jaws, Star Wars, and Raiders of the Lost Ark, Hollywood didn't manufacture blockbusters. With the European influence that came in to take the place of the drift that set in after the studio paradigm died, Directors became revered as Auteurs. Films were made with artistic intentions, and this was not considered a bad or pretentious thing. It goes to show how corporatized we are as a society now, with the number of people who roll their eyes to my oft-preached delineation between what constitutes a Movie and what constitutes a Film.
During this Auteur period, the box office was topped by films that got people talking. Think Chinatown, a movie that would most likely never be made by a major studio today. This championing of the Director as Auteur ended after Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate disaster bankrupted United Artists. From that point on, studios began to take control back from Directors, and simultaneously began looking for 'sure-things'.
Jaws, Star Wars, and Raiders provided the template for this.
I liken Guadagnino's Suspiria to the Auteur era; it's artistic yes, but not without purpose. One interesting note, without going into spoiler territory, is that Dario Argento's Suspiria takes place in 1977 Germany, and that makes the setting Divided Germany. This never factors into Argento's film, though. That's not a criticism, just an observation, and one that only ever occurred to me now because the new film hinges on this fact. As Susie Bannion's story plays out in the foreground, the background of the film is set against the climax of the Baader-Meinhoff kidnapping, and this too factors in, as does WWII, for Lutz Ebersdorf's character.
In the end? I thought Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria was an excellent film. Will it garner the fun, cult following the original has? No. Will it incite the same kind of celebratory, rewatch fervor Argento's film does? No. That doesn't mean you shouldn't see it, you definitely should. In a theatre if you can. But it does mean a lot of horror fans who hold the original Suspiria dear need to step around their expectations and keep an open mind.
31 Days of Horror
10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle
10/15) Phantom of the Paradise
10/16) Candyman
10/17) Ghoulies
10/18) John Carpenter's Halloween
10/24) Halloween III: Season of the Witch
10/25) Ghost Stories
10/26) John Carpenter's The Fog
10/27) Suspiria (2018)
After the movie, K and I drove around Hollywood a bit, windows down, marine layer in the air. Closest thing I can remember to Autumn in Los Angeles in some time. The cool, moist air added a certain electricity to the evening that was only amplified when we arrived at the Horror Writer's Assoc. party. Robert Payne Cabeen and his wonderful wife Cecile put on a hell of a shindig - the entire front of the house was lavished with decorations that fit the season, music blared from the inside, and people in costumes strolled around the grounds. It was marvelous.
Incidentally, I finally procured a copy of Robert Cabeen's Stoker-aware winning novel Cold Cuts, so I'll be starting that shortly. I had been picking at short stories for the last week or so because despite beginning Neil Gaiman's much-lauded novel The Graveyard Book, I just cannot get into it at the moment. The plan is to move to Cold Cuts next and then go back to Gaiman.
Completely forgot to post here that the newest episode of The Horror Vision went up last Wednesday. Su nioj for Anthony, Chris, Ray, and my own picks for must-watch Halloween season movies. On Apple Podcasts and The Horror Vision.comnow.
Playlist from yesterday was literally only my Halloween Playlist, which you can find on Apple Music if you follow me there. Cities of Dust is on it, as are a lot of other awesome tracks hand-picked to accentuate the Autumn mood I have to manufacture most days here in LaLaLand.
Halloween Playlist:
1) Black No. 1 - Type O Negative
2) Bela Lugosi's Dead - Bauhaus
3) Cities in Dust - Siouxsie & The Banshees
4) Park Around the Corner - Ritual Howls
5) The Monk Song - Miranda Sex Garden
6) The Days of Swine & Roses - My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult
7) Dead Man's Party - Oingo Boingo
8) Graveyard Girl - M83
9) A Dance for the Saints - The Final Cut
10) Mask - Bauhaus
11) Tear You Apart - She Wants Revenge
12) Skin of the Night - M83
13) Zemmoa - Ritual Howls
14) Everyday is Halloween - Ministry
Card of the day:
From the Grimoire, "Balance. Nine = Collected; stable. Cups = Emotion"
New Finn Andrews track! I love everything about this man's music. In the past two years, I've gone to so many concerts, that I've made a little oath to lay off in 2019, in an attempt to start saving some of the money I spend at shows. The two exceptions to this are The Veils, who I've only been into since David Lynch introduced them to me on Twin Peaks, and Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats. Well, I procured Uncle Acid tickets this past Wednesday, so that only leaves The Veils. Would Finn Andrews solo suffice? Of course.
31 Days of Horror was supposed to continue last night with Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, however between decorating for Halloween and baking Zombie cookies, K and I didn't think a 2+ hour film was realistic, so we went with John Carpenter's The Fog, a film I love but hadn't watched since Mr. Brown and I viewed it back in, oh, probably 2003. Jesus, time flies.
Tonight's film is already set in stone - Suspiria, at the Arclight in Hollywood. Excited does not even begin to describe my mindset. I believe this film will not be a remake at all, but a totally new and different film that will sit alongside the original as another fantastic piece of horror cinema.
31 Days of Horror
10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle
10/15) Phantom of the Paradise
10/16) Candyman
10/17) Ghoulies
10/18) John Carpenter's Halloween
10/24) Halloween III: Season of the Witch
10/25) Ghost Stories
10/26) John Carpenter's The Fog
On a bit of a paperback kick right now, and finding that August Derleth's Cthulhu cycle stuff is not nearly as bad as I remembered it being (I say I remembered them being bad, but regardless I've always loved what I've read, just wondered about going back to it, which has been rewarding thus far).
Playlist from 10/26:
Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses (Digipak)
The Teardrop Explodes - Kilimanjaro
The Knife - Silent Shout
Fantômas - Director's Cut
Jóhann Jóhannson - Mandy OST
Card of the day:
From the Grimoire, "Culmination." Good, lots of spinning plates and I believe I just implemented something to streamline their results. Ten is also Malkuth, the world, and I guess, in a way, I'm announcing myself to the world today.
Taken from the album I'm mainlining this morning thanks to my good friend Sonny's edition of The Joup Friday Album. I found Julian Cope and the Teardrop Explodes late - like 8 or 9 years ago - and I was FLOORED I had never heard them before. This was the first song I heard, and it's probably still my favorite.
I've kind of fallen off the Protomartyr hysteria that 2014's Under Color of Official Right stirred in me. In fact, while I liked 2015's The Agent Intellect, 2017's Relatives in the Desert left zero impression on me. Granted, I only gave it one listen, so I'll go back to it eventually, but in the year or so since that album's release I've kind of ignored the band. Yesterday I received a message through Band in Town (best app) alerting me to the fact that Protomartyr and Preoccupations are releasing a split 7" in November, with Protomartyr covering Preoccupations' Forbidden, and Preoccupations covering Pontiac 87, one of my favorite tracks from The Agent Intellect. I'm pretty psyched.
You can pre-order the split HERE; below are the original tracks.
Last night K and I watched Ghost Stories. Pretty solid flick, and scary as hell at points. Like, legitimately scary. Not jump scares, but real, sustained fear-inducing tension. Loved that; didn't love the ending. But maybe you will. Worth a watch and it just popped up on HULU.
31 Days of Horror
10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle
10/15) Phantom of the Paradise
10/16) Candyman
10/17) Ghoulies
10/18) John Carpenter's Halloween
10/24) Halloween III: Season of the Witch
10/25) Ghost Stories
Playlist from 10/25:
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Your Funeral... My Trial
Bauhaus - In the Flat Field
Miranda Sex Garden - Carnival of Souls
Grinderman - Grinderman 2
Windhand - Eternal Return
The Knife - Silent Shout
No card today. Happy Halloween weekend everybody!!!
I've read this video is awesome, however until the entire album is released, I'm playing it safe and not indulging in the any new songs from The Ocean Collective in five years (they had a split E.P. with Mono in 2015).
Last night's movie - Halloween III: Season of the Witch. SO good. Tom Atkins for president.
31 Days of Horror
10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle
10/15) Phantom of the Paradise
10/16) Candyman
10/17) Ghoulies
10/18) John Carpenter's Halloween
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - B-Sides and Rarities Vol. III
Jóhann Jóhannsson - Mandy OST
Card of the day:
This one again, eh? Lately, when I do these readings I'm rushed, so I never really dig into the meanings. Emotionally honed intelligence? Twice in three days? To get a court card like this twice in such close proximity obviously indicates something largely than happenstance, larger than the normal nuts and bolts of things. Contemplating it now I believe it may be recommending I kickstart something I keep telling myself I'm going to and don't, namely meditating. I've been very splintered, distracted to the point of anxiety. I know I can get ahold on this if I meditate, so I believe I'll begin today.
I fell pretty hard into this Minsk record last night. Several of the guys in the band were in the Chris Connelly-fronted The High Confessions back in 2012, and I'd been meaning to check them out ever since.
31 Days of Horror continued last night with Jacob's Ladder. Such an underrated film. So damn creepy, and especially interesting when looked at as an extrapolation of the old, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge."
31 Days of Horror
10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle
10/15) Phantom of the Paradise
10/16) Candyman
10/17) Ghoulies
10/18) John Carpenter's Halloween
My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult - Confessions of a Knife
John Carpenter - Anthology (movie themes 1974-1998
Sisters of Mercy - Floodland
Miranda Sex Garden - Carnival of Souls
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - B-Sides and Rarities Vol. 3
Windhand - Eternal Return
Minsk -The Crash and the Draw
Legs Occult - Dark Rituals
Card of the day:
The ups and downs of life, fate, whatever you want to call it. Definitely feeling that right now. Relationships strain, others wane, others reform. I try to keep an even keel, regardless. If I know you and I speak to you in any form outside of my work life, I probably love you.
From the B-Sides and Rarities Box set released back in the early 00s. Such a strange track; Cave definitely has a sense of humor - anyone that doesn't agree needs to absorb the entire And No More Shall We Part record - but rarely does it come off like this... not even sure how to describe it, other than it's awesome!
My friend Kristen Renee Gorlitz is the upcoming Drinking w/ Comics guest on Friday, November 9th at 9:00 PM. She also just launched a Kickstarter for the continuation of her comic The Empties. Best freakin' tagline EVER, "There are many ways to ruin a relationship. Turning into a zombie is one of them..."
Brilliant! Check out the trailer below and support her Kickstarter HERE
31 Days of Horror is quickly coming to the final stretch and I still have a handful of 'must-watch' movies left. Last night crossed off a big one. Regardless of a setting that, while being visually stunning, feels more ridiculous every time I watch it, Flatliners will always be one of my favorite movies, especially around this time of year. I love EVERYTHING about this one. And watching this last night means we have to watch Jacob's Ladder tonight, which although not standard Halloween fare, compliments Flatliners as part of a late 80s/early 90s sub genre that really only exists in my mind. Angel Heart and Serpent and the Rainbow would also fall into this same category.
31 Days of Horror
10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle
10/15) Phantom of the Paradise
10/16) Candyman
10/17) Ghoulies
10/18) John Carpenter's Halloween
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Rarities and B-Sides Vol. 1
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Good Son
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Let Love In
New Order - Power, Corruption, and Lies
Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Wasteland
The Jesus and Mary Chain - Automatic
Alice in Chains - Rainier Fog
Killing Joke - Nighttime
Card of the day:
Emotion honed by intellect. This perfectly describes last night. Perfectly! For today, I'm looking at applying that same intellect to the emotional deluge I've felt of late in editing the first two parts of the novel for continuity, which is really difficult at the moment.
