Old Movies Dying Out?

I have noticed that as generations come and go, the old classic movies are losing more and more relevance and respect. In there time, old movies such as:  Prom Night, The Exorcist, The Night of The Living Dead, It, Chucky, Carrie, and The Classic Monsters were staples of their time. People flocked from all over town to their local theatre to indulge in them. They were the entertainment of their day. Now, I find it much too often that some have not even heard of these films.

Everyone has seen ancient art, or read classic literature, both of which art pure masterpieces and art in their own rights. I see movies as the same, and they need to be treated and studied in the same aspect.  They are planned for years, dozens and dozens of people pour their heart and souls into creating them, and in the end a masterpiece is created. Some in the world is proud of every single movie that has even been made. Whether it be a bootleg, low budget,home made film, or a top of the line million dollar budget production, every movie deserves attention and respect. I touched on this subject on a previous blog that you can find here.

Movies need to be remembered, they need to be passed down through out families and brought along through out the years. Not just horror either, any movie ever created. If it once meant something to you, pass it down and keep it alive. Now a days it is all about the remakes. If someone has heard about the movie The Evil Dead for example, then it is probably the 2013 remake that they are referring to instead of the trilogy that began in 1981. While this is good, that a movie is being represented, it often doesn't lead to knowledge of the previous. Also, a remake is a completely different movie. Besides the obvious, such as new characters, settings, or plot twists, a remake is a completely different creation. The directors, actors and everyone involved has a new ideal for the movie, and a different passion. It is amazing how much this shines through in a film.

Movies need to be remembered, it is as simple as that. They are works of art just like anything else that is remembered and studied, and they need to be given the same respects.

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Halloween Horror Nights Annual Speculation

As the holidays pass, the new year comes and winter begins to fade away, the fun begins. The hunt and challenge of discovering the Halloween Horror Nights properties for the year beings. Us horror nerds never stop thinking about it, no matter the season. Christmas day? Lets watch Halloween. You get the point. Well as October comes closer and closer speculation really starts to begin.

Each year around the end of January, John Murdy The Creative Director of Halloween Horror Nights starts to release what he calls "code names." They are basically extremely challenging hints that could lead to the property that will be featured at HHN.

Well here is the catch, he's a self proclaimed carny, and these hints are deviously tricky. Each layer of them is nearly impossible to decode. Even if you find a property that does match these codes, well that doesn't mean it is it. Each and every code could make sense for a variety of films. Some of the hints could directly relate to a movie, but not everything matches up in the end. There could be dozens of films, games, albums, or original ideas that could match up to each and every hint that he gives.

Here is an example of the very first code name that John Murdy released this year. This that you could figure out what property it is based off of these hints?
The name that we refer to for this code name is...
Post Punk:
The hint that relates to the theme of the maze can be found in a song title of a band initially associated with the post punk musical movement. The genre included bands that would later be labeled as new wave, no wave, new romantic, goth, industrial, etc. The first hint given was that one of the key members of this group shares one of John Murdy's names (that includes his two middle names that not everyone knows.) The second hint was that one of the words in the song titl;e is something that modern technology has pretty much killed, it might even be extinct one day. The third hint is that the song may not be as obscure as it seems to be. It was originally released as a single. Also, one of these three hints may be fake.

These are the hints that we have to work with. Any given year we usually receive around 6-7 code names, and we must decode them all the same. How do we do this? Well it isn't just about guessing a movie and seeing if the hints fit, it is knowing the genre, knowing how HHN works, and how Murdy would think. Not every property has HHN potential, so that cuts the list down a bit. It has to have many unique characters and scenes, and it also typically needs a strong awareness (so the general public that attends will recognize the property.) We can also look at the films that Murdy has mentioned he would be interested in doing, and we can also think about new releases, or movies that will soon has a remake.

With all of these key elements, we usually decode every code name each year, and can discover what properties we can expect at HHN that year. Then comes the waiting for the announcements. Around July of every year Murdy begins to announce what each of these code names are. They usually are not too big of a surprise by that time, but sometimes, it can be. After months of research and hard work to decode the information, it finally becomes worth the wait as the properties are released. Then all that is left is waiting until opening night of Halloween Horror Nights and walking through each and every maze that we had speculated on for so long.

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Horror Movie Makeup Part 2

I previously made a post about horror movie makeups. You can check that out right here. I'd like to change it up a little bit and talk about movies that are a little more recent than the Classic Universal Movie Monsters that I mentioned before. While those are great considering the overall limited experience that the world had with horror movie makeup in films, things really started to pick up once more advanced techniques popped up.

An American Werewolf In London

Have you ever seen a movie and just been so impressed by the detail that it on that character? Well so have I and one of my favorites is..

An American Werewolf In London

An American Werewolf in London. Not only was this one of the first films that used robotics to show a human to wolf transformation, but the make up was on point. They threaded tons of individual hairs and applied direct makeup onto the actor and the robotic. This is an older movie, but has always been one of my favorite because for its time, it is greatly advanced.

The Exorcist

Another classic movie with great makeup is the exorcist. Even if you're not familiar with the movie, there are few people who have not seen the iconic image of Reagan, the girl who becomes possessed in the film. Again, like AAWIL, this film was ahead of its time. It came out in 1973, and if I was around then, i'm sure I would have been amazed by the detail. Compared to what we have now, I understand why people see older movies as "low budget" but they are all amazing. The makeup artists of these movies used the most high end techniques of their time, and as a result created an iconic, unique, and memorable character. Here is one of my favorite older characters...




You may or may not agree that the above makeup works are great quality, but the matter of the fact is that for their time, these movies were great. They brought immense fear to the public, and were highly technical and advanced for their time also. Even though they are old, does not mean that they should be forgotten due to newer advancements.

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