KWEENY REVIEWS: Killer Party and talks HHMMM!

Once again the moon is full, the month is October, and I have crawled out of my putrid grave to celebrate! And I'm thinking, let's start off this month of MADNESS with a movie review!

For those of you unawares, I spend the month of October doing a crazy movie watching contest called HALLOWEEN HORROR MOVIE MARATHON MADNESS, or MADNESS for short. It's a Facebook group that is full of nerds like me, who like to use October as an excuse to marathon the shit out of every horror or Halloween themed movie in existence! My team is called Team Killing Joke, after one of my favorite Joker stories. There's a lot of cool events and teams this year, and our theme for movie watching is:

So when I got emailed to do a review of the movie KILLER PARTY, it seemed almost like destiny that I wait and review it at the start of the Horror Marathon! Bring on the crazy clown! *honk*

Killer Party is about a bunch of acting friends get together for a baby shower. Little do they know, this baby shower will turn into a fight for their lives! When some weird phenomenon makes people go completely bonkers, (not quite a zombie outbreak, because people who get sick retain all their normal functions. Which makes them a little scary.) these quirky friends try to survive and find a way out.

It's a simple set up, nothing that hasn't been done before. Except the clown from the party gets sick. And then some of their neighbors. And then some of their friends. The shenanigans the group gets up to doing things like look for food is some funny shit! I laughed so hard during some scenes, but I don't want to spoil it and tell you too many details...

Another thing I loves was the failed actors group. Each one had a unique character they brought to the group, even the ones that seemed like assholes. If they were amateur actors for real, I don't know. But I do think they gave convincing performances. So many times when I watch indie films the acting is th first to go. Glad to say this isn't the case here. I think people just had fun shooting this film, and it comes out. It's not filmed in a special way, but it's decent cinematography. Each character felt like they had a good moment, and a reason to be there. and I have to applaud Mary (Played by Rachael Dummond) for being actually pregnant on set! That belly is real folks! The clown is probably my other favorite character. Just pure evil in bright colors. Does the clown get his comeuppance? Check out Killer Party and find out!

My final verdict is this is one to watch. It's funny, sincere, a little goofy, and somethings unnerving. Need another clown movie to get you full points during the HHMMM? Look for this one.

KWEENY SAYS HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I know I haven't done many blog posts this year, but there is a good reason for that. This year, I needed to focus more on "playing". I usually can balance work and pleasure together during this holiday, but I have been having a really rough year. The blog has suffered for that, and more over, my personal life has suffered the most.

I almost didn't have Halloween at all for many personal reasons I won't get into here. But with the help of my friends who are amazing people who seem to genuinely love that the macabre and horrific make me so very happy. Halloween is a special time of year, and I celebrate all month long. I've been posting on some of my social media sites, so it's not like I haven't done ANYTHING:

For instance, I went to a pumpkin patch with my friend and carved some amazing pumpkins with other friends...

I really love pumpkin carving!

 Made this cute little beast for my girlfriend who's in India! She loves Halloween ALMOST as much as I do. I like that it both looks like a demon and a fox, and has a cute devious quality...just like she does. ;)

And my friend Cass made me a bitchen Punk-thulu! Even left for me as a prezzie to put out with the others! I have a pumpkin patch of my very own!

And my friend Cass made me a bitchen Punk-thulu! Even left for me as a prezzie to put out with the others! 

And dis is mah pumpkin RAWR!

Pumpkin family!

I have a pumpkin patch of my very own!

I also go some awesome gifts, like these sweet Beetlejuice inspired sleep pants, and other amazing stuff..

This should become a tradition! Frighttown is an awesome Haunted house experience! 

HANDMADE JUST FOR ME! 

A little gift for the spiritual side of Samhain.

 

I had a friggen blood bath with my friend Megan for her Carrie White costume. This was her practicing for a party we are going to Saturday Nov 1st.We just got a LITTLE too excited about it:

My first attempt as Billy!

I went to a Birthday party on Devil's night for another dear friend dressed as Billy...

And then I finished my Halloween off right by watching SAW with my husband in theaters. I went to the 10 year anniversary showing of SAW...and it was AWESOME. Not only that, I went as a very familiar face. I think the more I do the make up, the better it becomes. I also literally scared the crap out of folks who saw me, and got huge props from fans who took my picture and talked to me.

I guess I really am a horror cosplayer now. :)

And of course, I spent the month doing the HALLOWEEN HORROR MOVIE MARATHON MADNESS, and my team has been rocking it this year. I named our team Team Suzie, after the doll in the movie May. I love that movie. It holds a special place in my heart because my actual real middle name is May.

We were quite into the theme this year, hence my dressing up as Billy, and we had a lot of fun. I think my team might have had too much fun, because weird shit like this kept happening:

My team and the Head Hauntress...as dolls. Yup, it happened. One of my team members made this and I have to give her credit for making my doll have fangs. ;)

So all things considered, I got A LOT of shit done! LOL! I just focused more on trying to have fun with Halloween, as my year had been so stressful that I just wanted to embrace my inner child and feed her all month long the candy of the spirit of Halloween. I got one more party tomorrow...and then it's done. At least the SEASON is done. Halloween will live on for me throughout the year of course. It's more than a holiday, especially for a horror fan like me. It's a way of life.

My decorations stay up ALL YEAR!

 Hope you all had awesome Halloween adventures too! 

Kweeny Reviews: ANNABELLE

So as part of my visit to Portland and to help my fellow MADNESS participant Nikki get some extra points to her score, we went and saw the new creepy doll movie ANNABELLE. We had a great time, despite some really annoying kids that decided to sneak in to the movie and decided to talk throughout the film, ( I mean WHO DOES THAT? You sneak into a film and TALK? That won't get you caught at all teens!) and we even got free tickets after we complained to the manager about them.

KWEENY REVIEWS ANNABELLE 

MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! 

Now, let's get to the nitty gritty of the film shall we? While I did enjoy it, I wouldn't say it was a new and revolutionary take on the creepy doll trope. They did however do some good things, while also doing some extremely cheesy things that we as the audience were meant to take seriously. Sometimes I wish film makers would understand we aren't stupid, and we would like to be taken seriously while watching their films.

So the story is kind of mediocre as far as creepy doll things are concerned. There is a couple who is all catholic and happy, the wife is preggers and ready to pop anyday. She watches on TV a news program going on about Charles Manson and Helter Skelter, so that way we won't be CONFUSED when an evil cult breaks into the house and fucks with the family.

All the typical "occult" tropes are here. The crazy couple who break in and nearly kill the wife then get killed are Satanic, and of course the doll is now possessed with a demon that wants souls. NEVER SEEN THAT BEFORE.

The actors aren't exceptionally intriguing, the plot is bland, but what is good is how things are shot and the neat tricks they do with the doll. Since throughout the film we are told the doll is a conduit, which means the demon possessing it doesn't make it really come alive per say. It uses the doll to mentally fuck with the mother. There are some really awesome moments where you think they are going to do one creepy doll trope, but instead do something completely different. I liked that, and actually jumped at a few scenes. Jump scares usually piss me off, but the way they did these ones was neat so I let it slide.

They of course did the trope of the wise old lady who just happened to have a bookstore with occult books and was willing to help the mother. I wish they didn't make things so formulaic, because there was so many great scenes with neat scares that didn't make the doll do stereotypical evil doll things. The movie wasn't great, but it had some potential and some really interesting moments I wish were more fleshed out or explored.

Ultimately I think Annabelle was fun, but lazily done. They could have put more effort into things, instead of focusing so much on special effects. It's a movie made up of cool freaky moments, but not really much else interesting to talk about.

We still had a good time, and got a free movie thanks to talking teens, so I'm glad I went. I just think the real story of Annabelle is much more creepier than the movie it's based on.

ADVENTURES IN THE GORY KINGDOM:

Since my start at Living Dead Magazine, my reviewing has been scarce here. Sorry about that. The Halloween season is almost upon us, so I am sure to step up my game then. But I am really proud of my work at Living Dead, and today, I got my first printed mag since I started working there.

It's friggen GORE-GOUS and huge! I know I'm kinda biased when I say this magazine rocks, but it does. The quality of everyone's work inside is amazing. It makes a horror fan proud. Had to show off my pride on Instagram:

See how happy I am about it? I'm biting it. That's how wolves show their affection for things. ;)

*Howls at the moon and scratches the back of her ear, werewolf fangs peaking out of gums*

Anyhoot, I suggest checking it out of you love horror magazines.

In other news, my most popular video on my youtube channel is, "Shit People Say to Women Who Like Horror" and I am pretty stoked about that:

My little channel isn't much, but I got over 40 subscribers! I've been trying to make videos on a regular basis, but my life exploded recently into financial woes. I'm doing my best to keep my head above water. I will be doing Halloween themed stuff and being a Judge in THE HALLOWEEN HORROR MOVIE MARATHON MADNESS, and I have some kind friends sending me Halloween care packages so I cam still enjoy my favorite holiday. You really know how much people love and support you when you tell them your woes and they come out of the woodwork to show you they care. <3

Anyhow, I'm off to do some more writing and other assorted things, so stay spooky beasties!

GORY KINGDOM UPDATES

Hey blade lovers! Long time no chat, I know. Life has been busy, as I have been doing projects outside of my blog at the moment. They have been eating my time here.

One of the things I've been up to is writing for an awesome horror magazine called Living Dead Magazine. I got an excellent article in it on Haunted Objects that you all might find interesting, if you are into that sort of thing. Hoping to write more articles for them in the future, as I love supporting horror. Please help support them, as they are filled with talent from all over! More horror is always good! Check them out on their site and Facebook page!

I've also been working on other people's blog events lately. It's making me miss my blog to be honest. I recently wrote an article for Guts and Grog, one of my blogging buds. He was doing a comedy week which was awesome to be a part of. Hopefully I can get myself organized to do more blog events!

Speaking of blog events, the HALLOWEEN HORROR MOVIE MADNESS PREVIEW is coming up! Guess who is a a judge this year? *smirks*

I've been trying to do a bunch of different hobbies of mine I have put on hold for other things, such as learning to straight razor shave, draw, and paint things.

I'm brainstorming a esty shop to sell some of my creative wears. I am mostly doing bone art there, with real bones from animals. All are found humanely and die from natural causes or are road kill finds. No animals are harmed in their making. But I process and remove the dead flesh myself, and then paint them up and make art or jewelry with them! Hopefully I will have that up, but if you are curious, I tend to post pictures of them on my instagram. I am very active on that stupid thing.

That's all the news for now! Hopefully in the next little while myself or Mad Jester will have posts up for you. In the meantime, shave some faces for me!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

photo credit: http://acid-drinker.deviantart.com/art/Beetlejuice-Happy-Halloween-265575696

It's finally HALLOWEEN! WOO HOOOOO! I managed to watch some movies on Devil's Night (I watched The Walking Dead, Snuff, Eddie the Sleepwalking Cannibal and Elvira: Mistress of the Dark), did some tarot readings, and I look forward to a party later tonight. :) And if I can fit it in, I am totally watching Halloween tonight.

But this is pretty much the end of my Halloween Countdown, and on Sunday The Madness ends. I'm going to end my personal madness tonight, as I have lots going on in the next few days. I have had a wonderful time blogging for you all, and I hope you enjoyed my Beetlejuice-y antics.

So until next year boils and ghouls...Have a great holiday tonight! Thanks for reading, and do come back to visit!

HHMMMADNESS Day 25

I wasn't feeling to well today, so I only got one movie in. But since it is the movie my team in The Madness is named after, I knew I should wait until the last week to watch it.

MARTYRS (99 mins/2008)

Kweeny's Rating: A Harrowing Journey to Martyrdom

Summary: This is one of my favorite extreme movies, and yes, you will get bonus points watching this one. Not the full points for a Video Nasty, but there are are least 4 points in this one for the graphic nature of the film. If you'd like to know a more in depth analysis by yours truly, let me direct you to a post I wrote on my friends blog Guts and Grog. I think it explains how powerful this film is to me. Plus, you might enjoy Guts and Grog's other offerings as well!

As for me, I am going to rest up a bit more so I can watch more craziness tomorrow. I got only two days left until Halloween!

HHMMMADNESS Day 24

I made today a mostly Clive Barker day, but I also watched the new Dethklok Rock Opera episode. So in the most literal meaning of the word, my TV/Movie experience was epic.

Here's the stuff I watched today...

HELLRAISER (94 mins/1987)

Kweeny's Rating: I AM PAIN!

Summary: I'm sure if you are a frequent viewer of the blog, you know I love Clive Barker. He's a big inspiration for me, and it all started for me with a little book he called, "Hellbound Heart." that little book inspired more than I'm sure Clive Barker ever imagined. Lots of awesome things are in Hellraiser, lots of terrible, awesome things. But you need to open your DVD puzzle box and watch it.  Explore the darker regions of desire. 

CANDYMAN (99 mins/1992)

Kweeny's Rating: Be My Victim...

Summary: Another awesome movie by Clive Barker, this time his envisioning of an urban legend. Candyman is a seductive predator, who haunts a woman named Helen when she gets too close to his story. Lots of gore in this one too, as Clive Barker doesn't shy away from the stuff. The wonderful thing about this film though is it's very much a dark, tragic love story. It's reminiscent of Dracula's love story with Mina. 

NIGHTBREED (102 mins/1990)

Kweeny's Rating: Midian's Where The Monsters Live.

Summary: And my last Clive Barker movie of the night. The story of Boone and finding Midian always touched me as a young child when I first watched this. While this movie has some horrific imagery, out of the three I watched it was the most hopeful in it's own strange way. I love the story's spin on making the monsters heroes. They are people who are different and just want to be left alone. Of course we'd have a boring movie if that was what happened.

METALOCALYPSE: THE DOOMSTAR REQUIEM (60 mins/2013)

Kweeny's Rating: Epic Metal Opera!

Summary: This was 60 minutes of pure AWESOME. I think my husband and I sat watching it with our mouth agape most of the time. If watching Dethklok rock out isn't horror or Halloween enough, I think you need your eyes exploded by guitar rifts!

HHMMMADNESS: DAY 19

I decided to catch up on some horror/Halloween-themed shows. I also dyed my hair green for my "Kweenyjuice" look I am creating for this weekend's party. I'm pretty excited. It's kind of weird having green hair. I can't wait to show folks.

Here are some of the shows I watched today...

THE WALKING DEAD (Season 3-3ep. 1hr/2013)

Kweeny's Rating: Undead Jail Drama

Summary: It's been hard to keep up with shows, as I only just recently got basic cable, let alone cable that has shows I would actually watch. So keeping up with The Walking Dead involves waiting for Netflix to get it. I'm liking this season so far, except for Lori who just really needs to die already. UGH.


SOUTH PARK (Nightmare on Facetime and the new Goth Kids episodes/2012-2013)

Kweeny's Rating: South Park Rules!

Summary: A Nightmare on Facetime is an awesome take on The Shining with some fun added extras. It's very much a Halloween episode, and Randy is hilarious in it. As for the 3rd Goth Kids Episode, I think it had horror elements as it was a spinoff of Invasion of the Body Snatchers only the "plants" were turning people into emos. It was so funny I squirted water from my nose while watching it.

AMERICAN HORROR STORY COVEN (1 hr/2013)

Kweeny's Rating: WTF AWESOME!

Summary: This show just gets more weird and awesome. People have told me they are making up for the meh that second season was, but I haven't seen second season yet to have a verdict on it. I am however, LOVING THIS SEASON. It's so damn good. The theme of this season seems to be aging and history never forgets. I just love the creepy stuff going on around these themes.

HHMMMADNESS: DAY 18

I didn't get many movies in today, only one but it was a GOOD one. I love this movie, and love showing it to knew people who enjoy comedy and gore. I take great pleasure listening to them laugh and make grossed out sounds while watching it.

The reason I only got one movie in is I was running errands and baking cookies. Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies! I didn't buy them this time, I actually made them MYSELF. And I didn't burn the house down to do it! Made them from scratch as they say! I know they aren't fancy to look at, but they are AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS.

My cookies bring all the ghouls to the yard.

Today's movie mayhem is...

Gives new meaning to the words "Face Hugger" doesn't it?

DEAD ALIVE (104 mins/1992)

Kweeny's Rating: I kick ass for the LORD!

Summary: Oh man...where do I begin with this one? It's a Peter Jackson film...yes, you heard that right. The same man who made the Lord of the Rings trilogy made this. If you thought the Evil Dead series was over the top, you might want to steer clear of this one. Now if you love hilarious over-acting, gore in the truck loads, creative ways to kill zombies and reanimated organs, then you might love this movie. I can't tell you how many times I have randomly quoted the crazy, kung fu priest in this movie at people, because he really is my favorite character. He's not as interesting once he's zombified, but he does manage to get a zombie nurse pregnant somehow...so that's something.

Are there bonuses Maniacs? Probably. I am still laughing from watching this so hard I can't think though.

HHMMMADNESS: DAY 17

Despite being pretty busy trying to tabulate points for my team, putting together more posts for the blog and stuff, I got a couple movies in today. Some really good ones too in my opinion! So all and all, I think I had a successful day of movie watching.

MAMA (100 mins/2013)

Kweeny's Rating: Don't piss off MAMA!

Summary: This Spanish-Canadian flick was pretty good, even if the effects could have been done better. I enjoyed the story with the feral children, and though there is no bonuses or much blood at all, it has some genuinely creepy moments. If I have learned anything from this film, it's that adults don't listen to children. Ever.

"Slow down daddy!"
"Someone's in the house daddy!"
"There is a friggen scary bitch outside daddy, and thanks to you being cray cray we are stuck with her!"

MANIAC (87 mins/2012)

Kweeny's Rating: Scalping is all the rage!

Summary: If I know anything, it's that Elijah Wood is a creepy mother fucker. Seriously. This movie is based off of a Video Nasty, and though you'll get some bonuses as it is pretty faithful to the original, it won't get you the full 6 ATB. However, I enjoyed the new perspective they took with it, and the POV change was a nice touch. I know some people din't like that gimmick, but I felt like it gave us a chance to be in the skin of the killer. It's a messed up film to be sure, and do see the original as well to not only get points, but to make up your mind about them.

MAY (93 mins/2002)

Kweeny's Rating: He had pretty hands

Summary: I ADORE this movie. It's one of my all time favorites, and it's pretty messed up. She is so broken that she breaks my heart a little every time I watch this, because I feel for her. She has so many moments that are beyond awkward. May is a strange girl with a strange doll for a friend, among other "habits" you'll find out about by watching this. And you'll get bonuses for this one, as there is surgical procedures done while May wears the cutest hand-made dress ever!