Despite the snow, I just know that spring is in the air. One of my favorite movies to watch whenever the weather starts getting warm is Pee Wee's Big Adventure. In honor of this colorful fun movie that I'll be watching this weekend while snowed it (...) I decided to whip up some tasty cocktails based off the 1985 cult classic.
Chuck's drink-o-rama.
2 ounces vodka
3 ounces coconut cream or half and half
1 ounce white chocolate liqueur
1 ounce Amaretto
Crushed ice
For the rim, coat with honey, and roll with colorful sprinkles.
Who would I choose to play the adults in the next IT movie.
Today the official trailer to the upcoming IT remake was released and for the most part fans all over breathed a very loud sigh of relief, seeing that the beloved Stephen King novel was being told the way it should be.
Dark.
I'm sure I'm speaking for many people my age saying that the original mini series made in 1990 was a huge part of our childhood with Tim Curry's flawless performance as Pennywise. IT hands down goes in my top 5 favorite King novels, and after re-reading it yet again this summer, I'm pretty excited to see what this re-telling will be like. I've followed the production pretty closely over the last few months, and even stood back in wonder when I saw they shift the timeline to the 1980's instead of the 1950's to bring it up to date 27 years later to present times. I love the mini series for what it was even though I feel the fact it was made for television you weren't able to truly capture how frightening and graphic the novel was. Still, the original lucky 7 will always have a special place in my heart, but I am beyond excited and 100% on board for this new movie which will be released this up coming September. I think it's a very wise idea to make it into two movies, having the first one just focus on them as adults. Rumors have been flying high on who should play the adults in the remake. I thought of actors in their late 30's to early 40's. Actors who not only would match up pretty good with the new cast of children, but people who I feel would capture the characters in the book the best. Here are my choices.
Bill - Ethan Embry
When I think Bill, I see him originaly played as a child by the late Johathan Brandis in the original mini series. Nothing against Richard Thomas, who I think did a great job, but he wasn't who I saw as the adult version of Bill. King talks about his red hair, how he's going bald, and how he even in age still has the presence of a natural leader. Ethan has made quite the comeback in the last decade in the film roles he's taken and I feel an actor as intense as Ethan would be the perfect choice.
Ben - Chris Pratt
This idea came from a friend of mine. I think Chris would be the perfect choice for Ben since he's a guy who dropped weight and honestly is attractive and likable at any size. We all know him as the star lord or in the recent Jurassic Park movie, but I think Chris playing a darker role would really spice up his career. I can see him as the successful blue collar man who is honestly the heart of the group. Would be awesome seeing him play an older Ben.
Mike - Chiwetel Ejiofor
There were several other actors I thought would play a great Mike, all of which were a little younger than Chiwetel. I adored Chiwetel in 12 years a slave and I think he would play the perfect keeper of the town Derry, the one who stayed behind while everyone else found success. The one who stayed behind, making sure they all kept the promise. Chiwetel is one HELL of an actor, and has broken my heart in some of the roles he's played. I think he would play the perfect Mike who is the one who gathers the lucky 7 all back together again.
Richie - Kris Lemche
I'm sure a few of you are going huh? Hear me out. Mr. Lemche is known for playing very sarcastic characters in the past. I think that dry wit is what will make Lemche the perfect adult Richie. The jokester, the one who physically isn't the strongest, but the one who will add a little humor to the group while still being one of the most passionate members of the group when the lucky 7 begins to fall apart. Watch this guy in interviews and you'll know exactly what I mean.
Eddie - Jay Baruchel
Try to get past his roles in Knocked Up and This Is The End. Jay is actually a pretty likable actor and I could see if done right would play a great Eddie. If they follow him closer to the book, he's physically weak, but another huge part of the core heart of the group. I could see showing him running his limo company, and marrying a woman who's physically just like her controlling mother. I feel Baruchel would play great against Lemche, and show the innocence behind this character and how he never truly got over what happened all those years ago.
Stan - Mark Duplass
Mark is an odd choice but again hear me out. Not only do I think this guy someday would play the perfect Sam Raimi, but I think he would capture how on edge Stan was. The neat and tidy wealthy man who loved his wife, yet sadly could never give her children. Stan's end is tragic, but I feel casting a slightly older actor would be wise showing how the events that happened when he was younger left him touched somehow. If you ever read the novel you'll see that Bill, Bev, and Stan were the only ones as children who believed they didn't get IT when they originally did. Something about Mark strikes me as a haunted man, and would be amazing to see him play a brief yet serious role.
Beverly - Jessica Chastain
I think this is everyone's bet on who will play Bev as an adult in the next movie. It makes sense since she has worked with the director before. I'm not the biggest fan of Jessica and even liked a friend's idea of Bryce Dallas Howard instead. Still, yet again there's just something about Jessica. Dye her hair a darker red and I think you got a perfect Bev. A woman who basically married her father who's physically and mentaly abusive. Jessica I think is strong enough actress who would play great against these men.
I can't think of any better way to kick off yet another sensational summer than to spend a fun filled evening watching short films, visiting awesome vendor tables, entering raffles and silent auctions, and being able to drink with fellow horror fans. Here one can watch as the two hour worth of short films are judged with special guests, as well as a live Q&A.
This event is being held at Chunkys Cinema and pub in Haverhill Massachusetts. The doors open at 5:30, where guests will be able to partake in the special events lined up, as well as voting for the films that will be screened.
I personally plan on attending this event since it seems like the breath of fresh air Massachusetts needs. I mean for horror fans, we get what? Rock & Shock and Scare A Con now. Bothe vents only once a year, and pretty far apart from each other. I myself am totally for more horror themed events that not only embrace filmmakers, but the fans who support them. Contact George James Fraser via Facebook for any questions!
Here is a list of my top ten personal favorite vampire movies. Films that captured one of the oldest and most classic movie monsters, spinning a visually striking new twist to them.
1) Near Dark
- A young man living in the Mid-West meets a beautiful mysterious girl one night who begins to panic after they lose track of time, and she sees that the sun is slowly coming up. In a moment of pure passion and impulse, she accidentally bites the man, only to run away. As the man heads man, he begins to notice how badly his skin hurts now that the sun is up and shinning down above him. That's when an RV pulls up beside him, and a group of people kidnap him. When he comes to, he sees the same girl he met earlier that morning, and several other members of her "family" it appears they are vampires, traveling the back desert highways, and he's the newest member.
2) The Lost Boys
- A group of teenage brothers have just recently moved to what appears to be a fun beach side costal town with their divorced mother. It isn't long before they hear that this very same town has a huge murder rate as well as hundreds of unsolved missing person cases. It's there that the oldest brother meets a gang of teenage bikers who want him to join in on their sleep all day, party all night way of life. It's here that he discovers that these teens are actually vampires who are currently recruiting.
3) Fright Night
- Charlie is a young teenage boy who is obsessed with horror movies. One night he happens to look out his window and notice that his new next door neighbor is carrying a coffin with his roommate into the basement. A few nights later he sees a hooker arrive at the house around sunset, only to hear a blood curdling scream in the middle of the night and the very same woman shown as a missing person on the news a few days later. It isn't until he stays up late, that he sees his neighbor with a new woman with large fangs ready to bite the woman's neck. When the local police, his mother, and even his own girlfriend and best friend don't believe his claims, he turns to his hero, a late night horror host to help him stop his neighbor before it's too late.
4) Let The Right One In
- A shy withdrawn young boy meets a strange little girl who has just moved in next door one winter. It's here a strange connection and friendship forms between the two when he discovers that the man this girl lives with isn't her father. In fact, she's an ancient vampire who gives the young boy the advice he finally needs to stand up against the bullies who are constantly bothering him. Hit back...hard.
5) Interview With The Vampire
- A young reporter one night is invited to interview a young man who claims he's a vampire who was first turned in 1791. Here he tells his tragic life story after he became a creature of the night. Staring with the man who turned him, a young innocent but dangerous girl, and the violent ending they all met as he was forced to wander the world alone.
6) From Dusk Till Dawn
- Two outlaw brothers kidnap a single father and his two teenage children in order to cross the boarder. Deciding to stop at a wild club that's open from dusk till dawn for truckers, and bikers, they discover the terrible secret behind this business and have to fight to survive until dawn.
7) Tale Of A Vampire
- A modern re-telling of Edgar Allen Poe's classic poem of Annabel Lee, shows a lonely vampire, and the man who wants revenge on him after hundreds of years as he meets who he believes is his long lost love that died hundreds of years ago.
8) 30 Days Of Night
- A mysterious stranger arrives to a small isolated town in Alaska where the town people prepare for a month long stretch of darkness. Here the man claims "They are coming" It isn't long before the local sheriff begins to notice that someone is making sure this town is completely cut off. Between all of the sled dogs being slaughtered, any capable means of transportation wrecked, and all radios, and phones destroyed. Here a group of blood thirsty vampires begin to attack the town, slowly closing in on the few survivors left.
9) The Hunger
- A pair of vampire lovers who have been hunting together for hundreds of years meet a tragic ending when the man suddenly sees that blood isn't stopping his aging. In fact, it's speeding up X100. In a panic, he begins to transform into a living corpse in which his lover is forced to drag his nearly lifeless body upstairs to her apartment's attic where she hides his now trapped body in a coffin. In fact, this isn't the first time she's done this. Over the many years she's been alive, lovers have come and done, and she's built quite the collection. Now this beautiful killer might have met her match. A stunning, young doctor who might actually be able to stop her.
10) Fright Night Part II
- Five years have passed, and Charlie has begun to convince himself that everything that happened was all in his mind. When he finally believes he's moved on, a mysterious beautiful woman arrives at his college dorm. A woman who wants revenge on blood he spilled long ago.
I think it's clear that I sorta "like" the third entry in The Final Destination franchise. In fact, I actually really do enjoy all five films that have spanned form the years 2000 to 2011. For me this along with the Saw movies were our modern day slashers which sequel after sequel was cranked out with more and more creative deaths. This is my generation's Nightmare On Elm Street films where the deaths became more crazier and larger than life with each installment. To celebrate these movies and maybe possibly a 6th installment "fingers crossed!" in the near future, here are my personal ten favorite deaths out of all 5 films!
Spoilers!!!
10) Carter - Sign hitting him in Paris.
- I knew him best as Jack from Dawson's Creek. In this movie he was the ultimate asshole, and hands down made the ending shot in the original movie beyond epic. For pure shock value, the first Destination movie was filled with surprises. This final scene in Paris shows the survivors, believing that death's chain reaction had finally been stopped, only to be shown that it had been waiting for them all along. This final scene shows Carter being skipped yet again, as does Clear and Alex, only to have it come back again as a giant steel sign comes fucking swinging into frame out of nowhere and right before hitting him, having it cut to black. WHAT AN ENDING! For those who have seen the BEYOND cheesy alternate ending, this is a MILLION times better!!!
9) Kat - Airbag/pipe.
- I'm not the biggest FD2 fan. I will admit, this is the movie responsible for making basically everyone afraid to drive behind trucks with logs on it. One of the most shocking, and gory deaths from the first sequel goes to sassy business woman Kat. After an accident leaves her trapped in her car, she awaits as the paramedics and firemen use the jaws of life to free her from her car. "Can you use the quiet setting?" This moment happens to fast you'll miss it if you blink. Due to the men working on the car, the airbag goes off, causing Kat's head to snap backwards into a pipe that went through the back of the car impairing her right through the skull. Talk about a headache!
8) Lori - Escalator
- Even though this is an alternate death that doesn't actually happen, it still sends chills down my spine. I'm sure I speak for everyone who's ever stepped on an escalator fearful that their shoestrings might get caught resulting in you getting skinned alive. I still jump from the last step like a complete asshole whenever I ride one of these at the mall. This death happens when Nick desperately tries to save Lori as the escalator they are trapped on begins to collapse. Here we watch as Lori gets swallowed up by the gears, getting torn completely apart. Nightmare fuel for days.
7) Terry - Bus
- Whenever I ask people to name a total WTF that came out of nowhere scene from a movie, this believe it or not gets brought up a lot. I still remember screaming when this moment happened. Sadly this little trick has been reused over and over again, even in the later sequels, but for the original it worked like a charm. When all of the survivors are gathered together on the street, Terry has had enough with her boyfriend Carter's bullshit, she steps into the street announcing that she's moving on, and if he doesn't like it he can just drop dead. Cue a speeding bus coming out of nowhere and hitting Terry, spraying her blood on the other survivor's stunned faces. Absolutely love this.
6) Olivia - Eye surgery.
- This death is why these movies five me complete panic attacks. As someone who can't see without contacts or glasses, I've always fooled around with the idea of getting this surgery done...well that is before I say this movie. Even though as most of these deaths, it's a one in a billion shot of happening...there's that one precent that could still happen. Makes me cringe overtime as poor Olivia is blinded, and then falls to her death with her eye ball rolling away. G-r-o-s-s.
5) Ian - Cherry picker/sign falling.
- This of course makes the list seeing that I have a tattoo of the very character on me now. Part 3 has always been my favorite of mine and you'll see two more famous deaths from this very movie to come. Ian's death is filmed beautifully as fireworks are going off in the background, making it look like some sort of creepy modern day Hitchcock film. Ian of course shouts while pointing "It's you Wendy! You're dead! Only to have a giant steel sign with his name on it (same as the town) come crashing down, splitting him in half. What makes it even better is how even in death Ian is angry with his middle finger stuck up and twitching. Classic.
4) Ms. Lewton - Legit everything that could happen...happens to her.
Poor, poor, poor Ms. Lewton. If those who have seen the short lived series The Others will remember this same actress as the red eyed demon who keeps asking what the cast wants. Well, here she is again as a poor woman who's riddled with guilt after getting off the plane which soon afterwards crashes. With plans on moving, the audience watches her alone in her house, slowly packing up, reflecting on old memories while a chain of events cause her to die a very slow and painful death. We get a cracked mug to drip causing her computer screen to explode (that scene forever still freaks me out) causing her to stumble to the kitchen, throat bleeding, as her house slowly catches on fire. As if the poor woman hasn't been through enough, knifes fall from the counter onto her, before finally her house explodes, putting the poor woman out of her misery. See guys, being a teacher is really hard!
3) Ashley and Ashlynn - Tanning beds.
Ah, the mid 2000's. They were the best of times...they were the worst of times. Tanning was very in at the time and I myself am guilty of trying to get as tanned or as orange as possible in high school. Here Ashley and Ashlynn perfectly capture teenage girls at that time as they go tanning to honor the students who were tragically killed in the roller coaster accident who won't have a graduation. (Not even lying, this is what the two characters say) As they strip down, and lay back listening to Rollercoaster Of Love = Ha, get it? We watch as a giant slurpie drips to the heating unit, causing the machines to crank up and yet again a series of one in a million changes, have the two girls trapped inside these man made coffins as they get fried alive. A very uncomfortable scene, that makes you feel every blister and bubble as the girls cook, screaming in agony. This scene is legendary and is a huge reason along with not wanting to look like a leather hand bag to make me stop tanning.
2) Candice - Gymnast accident.
- If any scene in the series had me on the edge of my seat, hands sweating, stomach turning...basically ready to vomit. Besides the twist ending of part 5 which was beyond clever, this really is an entry that doesn't do anything for me. I for one love 1,3,and 4 the best. Still, this is a very enjoyable sequel, and every time I drive over a bridge I wonder when it's going to collapse. (What only me?) This scene shows Candice as she practices going gymnastics. Between the screw on the balance board, the live wire sparking on the floor, and the suspense building the entire time, you wonder how she's going to get it. Here we see Candice do a flip mid air, and lands legit backwards, snapping her in half. This always turns my stomach, and I still remember the screams in the audience when it happened.
1) Erin - Nail gun to the head.
- I still remember as if it was yesterday. High School, 2006 and how the weekend after this was released everyone in the lunch room was talking about this gory shocking, and very awesome death. Final Destination 3 in my eyes is the best entry in the series, and the entire hardware store scene shows really how dangerous places like that are. After a bunch of shit falls from the shelfs, poor Erin, Ian's goth girlfriend gets a cloud of sawdust in the face before falling backwards. Here her head goes back on the giant nail gun used earlier to scare off birds, in which the trigger keeps going off over and over as giant nails go through Erin's skull, face, and hands. Hands down the best effect in the entire series. Still blows my mind this was a dummy. I love the attention to detail as Erin's sinus open from the blood and you hear her death sigh before going still. Beyond unsettling, and beyond gory. Deserves to be number 1!
There are tons of classic films featuring werewolves. Mythical classic creatures who's legends go back thousands of years. Today we're breaking down the top 10 modern werewolf movies and why they rock.
1) An Anmeircan Werewolf In London
- Two college students traveling through the countryside of Europe make a fatal mistake of moving off the road one night and are attacked by a wild animal. One boy is left wounded, the other dead. In the following weeks, the surviving boy is left to recover in a private hospital in London, when suddenly he begins seeing his dead friend, mangled, and slowly rotting away warning him that the animal that attacked them was in fact a werewolf and by the next full moon he himself will change and be an unstoppable killing machine.
2) The Howling
- A young news reporter is used as bait to trap a local serial killer/stalker. When the plan goes wrong, the woman is left traumatized by what happened. A few weeks later in order to start putting the pieces of her life together, she takes up the advice of a local doctor and goes up to a coastal retreat with her husband to get over the shock of what happened. It isn't long before she hears strange noises in the woods at night, and that the locals aren't exactly as they seem.
3) Ginger Snaps
- Ginger and Bridgett are sisters who have a strange fassination with death, and anything grim and dark. In their neighborhood, a series of brutal animal slayings have plagued the area, and one night when Ginger finally gets her first period, the wild animal who's been causing all this choas attacks Ginger, biting her before getting run down in the street. In the following days, Bridgett watches as Ginger slowly begins to change from a shy withdrawn teenager, to a sexual awakened bold young woman who starts not only to carve sex...but to rip anything she sees to pieces.
4) The Company Of Wolves.
- A beautiful re-telling of the classic fairytale of Little Red Riding Hood, shows a beautiful young girl hear several stories by her grandmother one snowy night all about wolves.
5) Silver Bullet
- Based off Stephen King's short story "Cycle Of The Werewolf." tells the story of a young teenage girl and her wheelchair bound brother and the series of brutal murders that plague the small town that they live in over the course of a year. One night while her brother is outside playing with fireworks, the beast who's responsible for these deaths, attacks him only to get a bottle rocket in one of it's eyes. Here, the two siblings turn to their uncle to try and find the one person in town who now has one eye, believing that every full moon, they transform into a blood thirsty wolf.
6) Trick R Treat
- In classic tradition of horror anthologies, Trick R Treat takes place on Halloween night where several stories connect, including a group of young beautiful women who are searching for the perfect dates for a party in the woods.
7) The Howling The Original Nightmare
- A re-telling of the original film, leaning closer to the novel shows a young woman dealing with the aftermath of a massive nervous breakdown. Going up to a cabin to spend time with her husband, and rebuild her relationship, she notices the small village they are staying at isn't what it seems. Every night she hears strange noises, and begins to suspect someone is watching her.
8) Dog Soldiers
- A military exercise in the middle of the woods turns dangerous for a squad when man eating beasts appear.
9) The Howling The Freaks
- A mysterious drifter comes to a small town and goes to work for the local preacher and his daughter to help re-build the town chapel. After a month or so, he plans on moving on when a traveling carnival comes into town with a group of freaks who all seem to know him. Here it's discovered that this stranger has been hiding a terrible secret, one he's been struggling to control for as long as he can remember.
10) Wolf.
- A successful publisher is attacked one night while driving through the countryside by an animal. It isn't long when he begins to notice changes, including one coming from his rival.
David - What are you doing? Me - Trying to look like a werewolf. David - Oh...that's nice.
