The Devil's Rejects

In a previous post, I hit on the topic of Rob Zombie. Now I would like to take the time to specifically talk about one of his most popular films, The Devil's Rejects. 

First, let's discuss the characters. The films revolves around the Firefly family. They are a group of seriously demented individuals who bond over killing. You can also follow their story in a film titles The House of 1000 Corpses. 

I am a huge Rob Zombie fan, and was actually introduce to this movie before any other piece of his. This is not a movie to watch if you scare easily, or if harsh things bother you easily. This film oversteps all boundaries. In my opinion, this is a good thing.

It creates an entirely unique horror film, which I am always a fan of. There are also a variety of different characters, which are personally my favorite aspect. They all have amazing character development throughout the two movies, and each have their own distinct sick traits. While they all have the same common goal, they all have their own way of doing it. Here they are...
Mother Firefly

Captain Spaulding

Tiny

 Otis B. Driftwood

Baby

These are just some of the main characters in this film. Some issues in movies are that you can tell that the actors do not connect in the way that they should. This movie does not have this characteristic. Since they have worked together for many years while producing both this film and House of  1000 Corpses. 

As I said before, don't watch this film if you are easily shocked, or offended. This movie will for sure cause that, as well as most of Rob Zombies work. 

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Real Life Horror? Hate and Discrimination

Now normally I post things such as horror reviews, my favorite Halloween events, etc. I'd like to take the time and space on my blog to speak about a truly terrifying thing. The effects of discrimination that this country holds.

Many times a year, we hear about deaths. Deaths of young black men, LGBT individuals who fall from murder or suicide, people all over the world being killed for who they are, or their beliefs. Does this not make anyone else sick?

Just by simply taking a look at the news, we see these horrible tragedies every single day. With an even closer look, you can see just the magnitude in which these incidents occur. Many people close themselves off, and ignore the fact that we live in a society structured around tearing one another down.  It can be so filled with hate. And this is the issue, instead of recognizing the issue, we ignore it. Instead of taking a stand and preventing deaths, we continue to spread hate.

We all hear about Michael Brown and Leelah Alcorn, yet the "n-word" and "faggot" are still echoed through the schools.

Take a stand.

A law in Indiana was just overruled. This law allowed companies to deny service to anyone of the LGBT community. Just like in the time of the Jim Crown laws. We honestly came that close to taking a step back to the 60's.  Yeah it was overruled, but the fact that it was even proposed in the first place is astounding.

This is a major flaw in our world. Where people are killed, bullied, assaulted, and pushed to suicide. Where the hate is so strongly engrained in peoples mentalities, that they see no issue with their actions. We're all humans, and I'm tired of people being treated any other way.

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Insidious

Insidious is a well know horror movie produced by BlumeHouse. As soon as it was released, it instantly became popular. Now a days, the majority of the movies released into theaters are remakes, or the typical cliche films. The first thing that I liked about Insidious was that this was neither of the two.

To many, this could however, be seen as a typical paranormal film. This is untrue. Most people would describe a typical paranormal film as a family who movies into a house, or buys an object, and events slowly unfold to reveal that there is a haunting. The father doesn't believe, until the very worst events happen, and by then it is too late. I bet you've seen dozens of movies like this right? Here is where the Insidious differs.

Yes, when the film, begins it is perceived that it is as a generic movie. But then we realize that it isn't a normal haunting, it is in fact a lot deeper. The movie transforms into an entirely new world or dimension (the further.) A world filled with brilliant characters and environments. This was my favorite part of the whole movie. The scene when the further is first revealed.
Here are some examples.


My next personal favorite element is all of the different characters. Besides the main human characters, there is a wide variety of different villains who really capture the essence of what the movie is all about. In many paranormal films, the "spirit" is not even displayed. This to me is a flaw, because what really signifies a series is a unique and remember-able character. For example, would you remember Halloween, Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street without the iconic Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, or Freddy Krueger?  Most likely not. So following that, here are many characters that set Insidious apart.

Long Haired Fiend

Lip Stick Demon

Bride In Black

My next favorite aspect of the film is the depth. The first movie alone, does well of this. However, there is a second installment. The second movie, weaves itself into the first film, and answers questions that you didn't even know that you had! On June 5th of this year, a 3rd Insidious will be released. Check out the first two and wait for the third, you won't regret it.

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La Llorona

La Llorona is a Mexican myth that has been told for generations. There are numerous version of the tale, all of which depict a weeping woman in a dress. Much like our American boogeyman, La Llorona is implemented in order to scare children into doing what they are told.  One story that I have been told about this comes from my Brother's Girlfriend. Born and raised in San Diego, California, her grandparents passed this story along.

She has told me many accounts of the pure fear that was struck into her, because of this tale. She would watch her back, as she walked home, or run in fear as her parents said "La Llorona is coming." As I stated above, there are many different versions. Here is the story that she told me. La Llorona was a mother of two young children. A boy and a girl. She met a man, who she had all of the hope of marrying. She dreamed of a perfect family, having more kids, and being the perfect wife. However, the man was found cheating, this broke her heart, and she could not forgive him. She plummeted into depression after losing the love of her life, and decided to take hers. She made the decision of taking both of her children down to the river, and drowning them both, followed by herself. Now it is said that she wanders around endlessly searching for her children. In the hopes of getting her "perfect" family.

Now this is just the tale that I was told. There are endless variations. There are even some that portray her as a large demon like creature that eats her children. As this image below shows.

I was first exposed to this at Halloween Horror Nights. Where they created a maze based off of this legend. The creative director John Murdy brought in a man named Diego Luna, and together, they incorporated many of the variations that are told to children every day. This experience started my interest in the subject, and I found many good movies, books, and even shows that are based off of it. It is really a great story, that has the power to cause both fear and curiosity. It is a story that sticks to children even into their adulthood. Even as an adult, they may still find themselves watching their back for La Llorona.

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Eli Roth's Clown

Recently I decided to watch a movie called Clown. I saw the previews a few months ago, and was instantly intrigued. I took note that it was created by Eli Roth. A director best known for his work in the Hostel franchise. You can check him out here. This sealed the deal for me.

I knew from the start that this was going to be a different film to watch, as most of Roth's titles are. In the past I have known him for gore, strange plots, and just an all around unique film. However, there is always a special feature that always sticks out for me. This movie was no different. 

The film got right to the point, no beating around the bush, or dragging on the character introductions. It begins with a young boys birthday party. Much like many parties, a clown was expected to be there. However, the plans falls flat, and the boy's father is left with the challenge of producing a clown in time for his boy's party. He just so happens to stumble upon an old clown costume, and decides that he will be the clown. You soon find out that the costume will not come off at all. The father slowly begins to morph into this clown, and soon develops the characteristics of a serial killer. 

Normally a movie as cheesy as this would be a little off setting for me, but this movie was different. I loved how they put a big twist on the classical clown movie. Instead of having the usual killer clown, this film presents it as a demon. A dark creature who embodies this costume and takes over anyone who inhabits it. This was a major plus for me. 

Next off, I enjoyed how the clown looked during its final transformation from the father to the demon. It was composed of amazing make up and digital technology. It was far from what was expected, and created a unique and memorable character. 

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Wolfman Makeup and Animation

I've recently made two posts about new and old horror movie makeup, that you can find here and right here. While I will also extend on that, now as I continue to progress over the years of horror, id like to touch on the newest form of creating a movie. Animations. And I will do so by giving examples from one of my favorite films. Graphic designers can do amazing things. In my personal life I have seen amazing works of art created digitally from my lovely girlfriend, as well as many other examples. I have also seen step by step process of how horror movies are created digitally.


One of my all time favorite digital creations is The Wolfman from the 2010 remake. This movie blew me away. It is jam packed with detail both made by a computer and a makeup artist. Adding hairs in graphic design is one of the hardest things to do. Yet these designers managed to cover an entire man in hairs from head to toe. They took a digital copy of the actor, Del Toro, and they began their process. In the end they ended up with this image to the left. That is days and days of work. In the end, the animated version was able to actually move with Del Toro and accomplish scenes that normally, before this technology, would not have been plausible.

Here is an image of the step by step creation of Del Toro into the character of The Wolfman...

Step one of the transformation

Lastly on the animated aspect of things, is of course, the transformation from human to werewolf. This has been done many times in numerous different films. However, this one has really stuck to me. It starts off with a lot f yelling on Del Toro's part and then changes into a full blown hairy monster. Here are some pictures that I think represent the transformation.

If you would like more detail, click here for an awesome technical breakdown of the transformation, including all of the aspects. 

Step two of the transformation

Step three of the transformation

Now onto the physical makeup that was actually applied to Del Toro for all of the other remaining scenes. The techniques used in this are amazing, and top of the line. They have managed to completely transform this man into a screen ready creature of the night. Check out this video to see some footage of the transformation.

As you can see in the video, it is ridiculously detailed. Through their makeup you can really see all of the emotions, which Del Toro also does a great job of expressing. Every single one of those hairs was put in by hand, just as it was digitally. Hours and hours of tedious processes were put together to create this, just like any other piece of art. I have a great respect for this.

Not only did the artists have a difficult job, but Del Toro also did. In order to get that "wolf" stance, he had to wear these specialized stilts. They took a lot of training to learn how to walk in them.


In the image to the left you can see what they looked like. They extended his legs, and gave a sharper, more animal like curve to them. In the film, this produced an amazing visual to the character.                                  

All around this movie is stellar. It encases everything that I could look for in a good movie. Seeing the animations and makeup broken down step by step has truly given me more respect for the film also. If you haven't seen tis film before, and actually seen these creations brought to life, then for sure check this on out.

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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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