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TALKS ABOUT THE
SCARIEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

POE:
Listen to the House

Le'Rue Delashay
MUSIC FOR HAUNTED HOUSES

HAUNTED HOUSE OF
LINGERIE

MARRS MEDIA INC.

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CAN $6.95 US$5.95

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OCTOBER 27
blairwitch.com

IODEON
films
AN ALLIANCE ATLANTIS COMPANY
 HALLOWEEN #1
The Official Comic Book.
ITEM# UTH10
Written by Phil Nutman. Illustrated by David

Brewer, inked by Curtis Arnold. Photo cover.

For the first time ever, the origin of Michael

Myers is revealed in Halloween #1. On

Halloween night, 1963, 6-year-old Michael
Myers slaughtered his sister and was sent
to the Smith’s Grove Mental Hospital. In

1978 Michael escaped and, adopting the

identity of The Shape (aka The Bogeyman)
returned to his home town of Haddonfield

and committed more murders before

mysteriously disappearing. In Halloween

#1, Michael returns to Haddonfield to

’
carve out another gruesome chapter in

^" his bloody

Michael's
saga.

early
What happened
years in
in

Smith's
' Grave? he a psychotic
y '
is killer or a

> supernatural monster? Now readers

will go behind the mask and

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Based on the original hit horror

motion picture, Halloween.
Published by tbe number one name in Horror comics, Chaos! Comics
 Jfprrpr in ’ @u//wr A ^n/rr/ninmtn/

THE FEARFUL SYMMETRY OF note from underground 6

HOUSE OF LEAVES 10 Halloween... again.

You 've heard about it. you've read alxiut it. And now post-mortem 7
here it is: the definitive interview with author Mark Z
Letters from fans, readers and weirtl people.
Danielewski on the book that has everyone scared of the

needful things 8
Strange trinkets from our bazaar of the bizarre.

POE: LISTEN TO THE HOUSE 13 terror has big eyes! 26

Poi> singer Poe shows us a side of House of Leaves that Anime runs red with Dark Cal. Ninja Scroll & mot
did not make it to her brother Mark's hook.
By Gregorius Chant dreadlines 31
Halloween comics. Savini goes to school: more.

THE OLD DARK HOUSES 17 the gore-met 38

A guided lour of over 65 years of Hollywood’s most Menu: Vampyres and The Blood Spattered Bride.
notorious liuunted houses. From I932's The Old Dark
House to the recent remake of House on Haunted Hill, cinemacabre 40
there is a place for everybody. Plus: Rue Morgue's
Godzilla 21X10. Hollow Man. Carnosaur Trilogy, m
favourite haunts!
by Michael W. Walt
blood in four colours 63
The horror comic book gospel.
THE SOUND OF MUSICK 24
Only a character like Le'Rue Delasliay could make the ninth circle 67
music for haunted bouses. Forget the rock stars : this is New Stephen King, Bttffy, Apocalypse Culture c£ m
audio drome 71
Hollow Man, music front Halloween & lots mote.
THE HAUNTED HOUSE
play dead 83
OF LINGERIE 29 Warning: your gaming system is possessed!
Artist Rich Larson combines monsters with scantily clad
girls to show us how sexy the macabre can be. For adults classic cut 84
only, naturally. Peter Medak 's The Changeling.
Bv Emma Anderson
Halloween 2000 #17

HORROR IN CULTURE Si ENTERTAINMENT

MARRS MEDIA INC.

1666 St. Clair Ave. West, 2nd Floor
Toronto ON - M6N 1 H8 CANADA
PH: 416-651-9675
416-651-6085
FX:
E-Mail: info@rue-morgue.com
Web: www.rue-morgue.com

Editor-in-Chief
ROD GUDINO
Associate Editor
MARY-BETH HOLLYER
Art Director
LL while ago I read that in the symbol language of dreams, painting your face is GARY PULLIN
[ \a sign of dishonesty. I didn’t necessarily have a problem with the interpreta- Contributors
'
tion, but I couldn’t help notice that it cast a less than positive light on my BRAD ABRAHAM
favourite holiday: Halloween.
EMMA ANDERSON
JOHN W. BOWEN
In a way, though, it fits.
ROLAND BROWN
Dreaming of painting your face may mean that you are trying to hide some- GARY BUTLER
thing; on Halloween, face paint is just primer to costumes and rubber masks, AMOS CARLEN
because hiding your identity is an integral part of the night’s festivities. Still, GREGORIUS CHANT
there’s nothing really dishonest about Halloween.
TOM DRAGOMIR
THE GORE-MET
Dishonesty involves a very specific kind of hiding - one that suggests secrecy,
WES JOHNSON
transgression, sin perhaps. Maybe even
evil. In any case, the hiding in dishonesty AARON LUPTON
is of a singularly dark and not unusually also a complicated sort, since it
sort, SCOT MCCLELLAND
most frequently masks things beyond mere facts and figures, Dishonesty is a spe- JOSEPH O’BRIEN
cial kind of mantle, one that can cloak attitudes, emotions, and sometimes even
MARCO PECOTA
JOYCELYN POON
entire personalities.
MICHAEL ROWE
If we are to follow the symbolism of dreams, then Halloween is an especially DONALD SIMMONS
dark festival; the implication is that we are in fact celebrating the lies we use to ERIC SPARLING
keep things from each other, perhaps even from ourselves. DALE L. SPROULE
As we all know, the festival of Halloween is Pagan and Christian (Halloween is
MICHAEL WATT
VULNAVIA WRICK
named after All Saints Day and literally means “sanctified evening” in reference
to the day which follows it). Today, however, Halloween is better known as a
Advertising Manager
JODY INFURNARI
commercial monster, second only to Christmas. Just like pretty much everything
else in our commodity driven culture, Halloween is about buying and selling. Operations Assistant
Pumpkins. Candy. Costumes. Trick or treat bags.
JOHN VAN RIJS

Even so, Halloween remains the last culturally recognized holiday that bears Rue Morgue Online
Come October 31, on kids dress up, put paint
SURREALTY CORP.
traces of a primitive social ritual.
their faces and take to the night air them with sweets and send
where adults greet RUE MORGUE #1 7 would not have
been possible without the valuable
them back into the night. Halloween do together, not
is the holiday that strangers
assistance of: Rodney Boda,
that people who know each other do in the privacy of their own homes. Greg Fizzard, Al McMullan,
Sure, Halloween has become as sanitized and commercialized as a McDonald’s Sean Plummer, David B. Silva,
Ragna Stamm'ler, Video Vibez.
Happy Meal, but the signifters are still there - the night, the people, the masks
Cover: House of Leaves
and costumes and everywhere the theme of wickedness, of evil, of things dark
Original painting by Scot McClelland.
and hidden. Design by Gary Pullin.
Halloween today may be a far cry from the ancient rituals at its root, but it still
retains the festival flavour ofwhat it once was, and that’s doubly significant when unsolicited manuscripts, photos! art or other materials.
Freelance submissions accompanied by S.A.S.E. will
you consider that we live in a no-touch culture where everyone pretty much
minds their own business, holiday or no holiday. Maybe our dreams are right; we RUE MORGUE MAGAZINE #17.
have something to hide, and Halloween is about more than rubber masks and ISSN 1481-1103
Agreement No. 1529498
candy. But even if they aren’t and it isn’t won’t change the fact that it’s still the
Entire contents copyright
beautiful time, especially for people like you and me. Rod Gudino - 2000.
-RG All rights reserved.
rod @ rue-morgue, com PRINTED IN CANADA
6 Rue Morgue
 Fxnrcfst and Fxnrcist Ml A Pal! Over BlacK Meta!
In twenty-two years of watching horror I was rather appalled at the way Aaron Lupton
movies, I have never seen a movie that has described black metal in his article on Agatho-
been as dreadful and life-changing as The Exor- daimon, saying that such an incredible form of
cist. Needless to say I thought your coverage on art is "stagnant and impervious to experimental-

The Exorcists its sequels was very well ism" shows what a lack of knowledge the writer

done, in-depth and timely. has in this area of music and art. Look only to

Rhonda Parks bands such as Arcturus, Dodheimsgard, Emper-

Vancouver BC or, Mayhem and Dimmu Borgir and you will see
that this scene is far from becoming boring in
Here's a heartfelt THANK YOU for your
the least. These bands have incorporated every-
detailed coverage of Exorcist III, which is one of
thing from industrial to classical to opera to cre-
the best and most overlooked horror films ever.
ate something unlike anything you have ever
You don't know how happy it makes me to see a
heard. And these are only a few of hundreds of
horror magazine that concentrates on quality
bands pushing the limits of what I consider to be
movies! If you ever run out, you can contact me;
“gothic." How about some interviews with some
I have a HUGE collection of great horror films.
of the aforementioned bands? Your readers
Best,
should know that there is a whole world of
Nick Ward
dark/experimental music delving into the true
New York NY
dark art of horror. Not to mention Tristania, Sins
R.I.P. of Thy Beloved, etc., etc.
TV Terror Revisited
Issue #16 July/August 7000 Lord Shaden Knight
Dug your top twenty two list of horror tv Toronto ON
shows. Man that brought some memories back.
El Independent Cinema. This film was released
You guys ever hear of a show called The FeaP Greetings From South America
in January of 2000 and has been copyrighted. I

I think it was British or something but I could be

am not writing this letter to stir up any shit but I Hi there Rue Morgud. My name is Marco and
wrong. Anyway, thanks for the memories, I'm
needed to let the world know if this film is I'm from Ecuador in South America! I would just
glad I bought your mag and you keep covering
if
released under that name, mine was the first like to say that Rue Morgue is a great extreme
the Italian splatter guys may even subscribe.
I

and if you've seen my film I don't think you horror magazine with a different edge and ideas.
Andy Shephard
could argue about which film is the real Necro- I would like to say thank you very much to my
Oklahoma
maniac. If you would like more information on friends Edward and Stephanie Peralta from New
RE: TV Terror. Your ranking ScoobyDoo and my film, e-mail me at atkinscutthroatfaol.com. Jersey because they just sent me this fucking
The Munstersms pretty high, but for the most Sincerely, bloody mandatory magazine that is so hard to
part I thought you covered the main shows Ron Atkins find in my country. would I also like you to know
worth remembering. I'd probably reshuffle your Las Vegas, Nevada that Rue Morgue has fans from South America.
top seven a bit too but you covered all the I am waiting for a Movie Maniacs 3 report and if

bases so I'm not complaining. Cool website too. Dead Again possible, an all-Fulci issue.

Dale Logins Long life to Rue Morgud.

First of all your magazine is freaking bad ass.
Columbus Ohio Marco Granja
In your January/February 2000 issue y'all had
Ecuador
an article on The Dead Hate the Living! and I'm
Is The Wnrld Big Enough For a big zombie fan, so when is the movie coming

Twn Necrnmaniacs? out and where can I get it?

LFTTERS POLICY
Hate the living, love the dead, We encourage readers to send their com-
I am writing in reply to your last issue about a
ments via mail or e-mail. Letters may be
Matthew R. Light
film you mentioned in the What's Brooding sec-
edited for length and/or content. Please
Lampasas, Texas
tion that's in production called Necromaniac. I
send to info @rue-morgue, com or: POST
would like to set the story straight. I am a film- The Dead Hate the Living! should be available MORTEM c/o Rue Morgue Magazine 1 666
maker myself and have already completed a film at your local video store or through www.futi- St. Clair Avenue West, 2nd Floor, Toronto
called Necromaniac that is being distributed by moon.com. See review in RMH16. ON, M6N 1H8- CANADA
Rue Morgue 7
 GREETINGS FROM CHAOS! COMICS
CAN $7.50 US /pack of six
SI 0.80

Those of you who, like me, have lamented the lack of horrific

greeting cards on the market can look for this colourful line of

Halloween greetings from Chaosl. These are the guys who

brought you an entire pantheon of horror
comics like Lady Death, Evil Ernie, Chastity

and Smiley The Psychotic Button. Whether

you're a fan of the comics or not doesn't
really matter; the cards are colourful and
ghastly, with gruesome Halloween motifs like
grinning skulls and pumpkins, zombies,
witches and the like.

_ I've never been a fan of the bullshit sentiments

that greeting card manufacturers place in their

cards, which is why was doubly

I thrilled to see
that Chaos! leaves their Twisted Inspirations
water?).
blank on the inside. For those of you who take
In any case, Weiner has released a line of specialty
the time to say Happy Halloween, this is the
horror makeup products, including a tri-coloured mon-
way to do it.

ster makeup kit, vampire fangs, blood, setting powder,

Available from www.chaosstore.com
black and crimson nail polish and a How-To book. You
can get the entire kit in a cool looking Holographic
Lunch Box, decorated with cobwebs and glowing
skulls.

Mary knows her craft; the powder prevents the

makeup from wearing off, even if you’re sweating, and
her How To book is really helpful in getting a certain

look, whether it's a monster, scars, bulletholes or sim-

ply the look of death, I've always said that making
yourself up is a lot cheaper and impressive than rent-

ing an $80 costume. If you’re of the same mind but

have a hard time landing a dependable makeup kit,

then Bloody Mary may be your one stop Halloween

shop. Non-toxic and FDA approved.
Order directly from 858-454-0757 or
www.dearbloodymary.com.

While we're on the topic, those of you

with a lighter taste for Victor

Frankenstein’s macabre cre-

ation may want to take a

glimpse at this 24" tall monster
Pozer. Done up as a carica-

ture of the Universal monster

turns, this little/big guy sports a
roto-cast head, hands and feet, allowing

you to bring him to life with a series of

amusing poses. Franky Pozerts basi-

cally a colossal and poseable version

of the Little Big Heads you may
have seen in this column before.

Again, the emphasis here is on

cute; if cuddle horror is your shtick,
then you may want a new friend
to help you through the
November blahs.

8 Rue Morgue
An RPG as Vasfaas Legend Itself.

"...one of the
biggest RPGs ever!
ION. PC
 1

THE
tzARfbL
mm ,
,

terary architect
DANIELEWSKI talks
about the making of a
different kind of
Haunted House.

Ino human eye can isolate the unhappy

Jcoincidence of line and place which sug-
Igests evil in the face of a house, and
yet somehow a manic juxtaposition, a
Bbadly turned angle some chance meeting
lof roof and sky, turned Hill House into
|a place of despair...
The Haunting of Hill House
Shirley Jacksonl

— rom The Haunting of Hill House to The Cabinet of Dr. Cali -

gari, impossible architecture has always indicated things!

|~~l
F beyond perception;
drive the
a thing that could,
human mind to

with geometry gone bad - angles beyond the Euclidean

1
when contemplated,!
madness. H.P. Lovecraft, a pio-l
neer in horror fiction, frequently built his haunted houses!
that sug-|
Igested places and dimensions beyond our own. 1
The bad architectural principle has recently been rediscovered byl
BAmerican author Mark Z. Danielewski whose first novel, House ojI
WLeaves, is founded on bad geometry.' Strange mathematics makel
BDanielewski’s house a quarter of an inch larger on the inside than!
Joutside, but like many uncanny 1
houses, this one is also more thanl
a house; an unearthly energy gives it a semblance of a deeper.l
Bsinister personality.
 " 11 [
1

"I think the book

without a doubt is
very threatening .

-Mark Z. Danielewski

What is your background?

(Bom in New York city, father

was an avant-garde filmmaker,

so we were moving around con-
stantly, especially in the early

days. I lived in Africa, India, in

Spain for two years, England, in Switzer- thought it was - like that quarter of an inch!
land. We always kept coming back to the fairly insignificant. And then it dawned on I
States, travelling a great deal around the te a little later that this was, in fact, whereB
States. I've been a writer my whole life. I my characters lived, this was their estab-B
was writing stories when
was four or five I lished setting. And this was a way of alsol
and I wrote my first novel when I incorporating all the theoretical and philo-f
made a New Year’s resolution that I would sophical questions that 1 had been phrasingB
write a page a day and my parents would out. My subconscious had produced thisB
laugh but at the end of the year I had a 365 answer from its dark basement. Then 1
Originally posted in some obscure comer!
Ipage book which was called The Hellhole worked on it for a solid two years and then 1
|of the world wide web". House of Leaves\
about a wealthy kid who becomes a cocaine actually threw the whole thing out. I thenB
eventually purchased and, after several!
addict who beats up a cop and goes tc wrote a sixty page outline, and then, basedl
years, finally published as a book.’ Flipping]
pages, one can find ample rea-
prison. My parents were beautifully horri- that outline, I could then go back to whatB
I through its
fied; my mother didn’t know how to respond 1 had written, incorporate that as well a
for its complicated history; essays.l
|and my father felt that I had written incorporating additional material.
footnotes, crossed out passages, exhaustive!
immoral book so that kind of drove
lists, transcripts and fragments of letters| Did the outline include the two narrative |
underground for quite a while!
befuddle the eye with the authenticity of i voices of Johnny Truant and Zampano?
Johnny was was main-1
I archaeological find. there, but the outline
Since its publication earlier this year, Iy about The Navidson Record. I was mak-B

House of Leaves has been the focus of con- ing sure that the story was as tight as possi-|
siderable attention - both good and bad - ble. Again, I knew that I was going to incor
from its growing readership. Some find it to morale the material that I’d been working oi

be an incomprehensible pastiche of literary in the previous three years. I was writingB

techniques; others find a story of profound that after having written the Johnny parts, so|
horror within its pages. Whatever your take, knew how that would come along. It w
When did you write House of Leaves and
there is no question that House of Leaves has|
I
|very complicated weave. A couple of years
is it actually circulating on the internet for^
touched a nerve that few books do.
| a while?
Rue Morgue spoke to Mark Danielewski |
started writing the book almost right <
in July.
[college. I graduated in 1988 and in 1989 1

6. Since lost. The official [had a sense that I was going to write this big,|
House of Leaves website can 1 [somewhat dark I —
didn’t recognize yet!
found at www.houseofleaves.co
[how dark - novel. And I began writing!
Published by Random House,
709 pp; US $19.95 CAN $29.95. [sketches, developing characters and I

la series of theoretical essays of how the!

[techniques of cinema could be applied to!
[text as a way of amplifying the reading!
[experience. This went on for about three!
I years and then in 1993 my father died and 1

I moved toLos Angeles. Shortly after his I

[death I had this idea of a house that
[quarter of an inch bigger on the inside than|
[the outside, and I didn’t know what i

lhad no idea how to place it; I actually!

 What It’s About
THE-MAVIP5QM RECORD a docu-
=

mentary made by a photo jour-

nalist who discovers that the
new house that he and his
wife and their two kids have
moved into is actually bigger
on the inside than on the
outside. The discrepancy is
almost insignificant (a quar-
ter of an inch) but enough to
gnaw at Will Navidson and his
wife Karen's fragile rela-
tionship. One day, they dis-
cover a new door in their
house, one that leads into a
cold, lightless corridor.
Will decides to explore it,
along with his estranged
brother and three other men. later, in 1998 or 1999 I posted the whole camera. And so a lot of people talk about
Armed with flashlights and thing on the 'net. the distancing effect in the narrative and
walkie talkies, they venture without a doubt,
there is that element to it
into a colossal labyrinth of That was laid out as it is now laid out in
but it also begins to draw you in a little clos-
obsidian walls and spiralling book form?
er because you’re really uncertain about
staircases, and the unearthly Pretty much. The labyrinth chapter with the
who is going to make it through this experi-
growl of something wandering boxes - that did not exist yet, it was indi-
its corridors.’ cated. I knew that it was going to happen,

but I had written the whole thing out in / actually didn ‘t want to mention The Blair
Word and knew that I would have to move
I
Witch Project, but obviously there are simi-
into Quark and some other software to do larities between it and House of Leaves.
Buouib aq oq AgxxBnb Axs.xBq that. That chapter actually became more Did Blair Witch in fact figure in any way in
oq« auios 'a~[doad go squaui complex in its final stage. the writing of your book?
-Berg pus spua peap 'saxxoqs [laughs] Actually, the real question I'd like
You mentioned cinema earlier. I understand
paqaoqe saxBuiqqBxu punog
'

know
that the book visually resembles a movie, to is whether the book figured in the
-ord go qquxaAqBx AaBxaqxx
but that doesn 't explain to me the mocku- production of the movie! I think the book
B ST S3AB37 JO BSHOH (UMOp
'

mentary style that you chose to adopt, or actually purchased before the Blair
-apxs-dn 'sABMspxs sp jbm
'

does Am I missing Witch was even writ-

-rog 'spjBMspBq) axAqs x®uotq it?

-uaAUOOun AxqBxq b ut uaqqtJM something ? ten. Now it's really

that important a
•Apoq aqq aptsaq punog araM It's a great question
qBqq s^xbuj «bxo snoxasqsAui that gets to the heart of question for me,
aqq puxqaq Buxqx aqq asduixxB a lot of it. There is a because I do feel that

oq qfinoua uogqBxxg s.ouBdurez sense that we want to

there is a legitimate

go sqqdap aqq squmxd Auuqof see our stories in cine- Zeitgeist out there. I

•saxAoui auioq s.uospxABN XITM ma and read our stories mean, there's no
qqx« uoxssasqo s,ubui pxo aqq in book form in a doubt that I was
go qaroas x n 3 MB sqq xaqdxoap tized way because raised on those mock-
oq suxBaq oqM 'dxaqs pooM are protected by the documentaries; In
-Axxoh aqq 30 pbuiou b 'quanaj, author's voice. There is Search of Bigfoot and
Auuqor Aq paqstrdojddB ars something very haunt- Nova - all that stuff
asaqx -saouaquas go squauifiBrg there. There is
ing, for example, about
puB saouaquas uaqqxam ssq aq also an increas-
The Blair Witch Project
qoxqM uo 'xadsd go saoaxd go ing nostalgia - with
and it's the fact that the
spuBsnoqq qqxM paxaqqnxo Axx® the presence of video
person who is handling
-raqxx quauiqxBds Auxq sxq ux - for old documen-
Asp auo saxp AxsnoxraqsAui oq« the camera could in
tary footage, like the
'
ouBdurez paursu ubui puxxq b Aq fact perish. When you
seeing crane shots and swooping heli- Munich Olympics when the Israeli team
pxoq sb prooau uospxABN aqx start

copter shots, you know there a crew out was assassinated, for example. There was a
go Aroqs aqq :S3AV3T J<5" SSflOH is

there that is safely outside of all the action, quality not only to those actions but also to

and they’re going to be alright. So it dis- that footage that had a resonance which just
jnoqy tances you more, ironically enough, than in sort of permeated everywhere. Add to that

a documentary, where you actually have a the fact that there is the technology avail-

s.JI 1BMAV8 much closer connection to that first person able and everyone is taking videos of their

12 Rue Morgue
children and so we’re constantly bombarded
now, not with photo albums but with people
sitting us down on their couches and saying
“look at this, what my family did on their
vacation." It's becoming more of our visual
idiom. I think that was definitely working
with The Blair Witch Project and working
with House of Leaves.

At the heart of your hook we have the

labyrinth of darkness, emptiness and physical
annihilation, which I understood as a very
particular existential kind of horror. Is this
how you understand it yourself?
There are certain things that 1 will not com-
ment on concerning the book. One vow I

made is that I wouldn't compromise the per-

sonal experience of a particular reader's dis-
covery, whereby they’re reading along and
suddenly something comes together that no
one else has seen and it's theirs. It's an excit-
ing moment of discovery and it's personal
and it's a victory. For me to get into those
aspects is to destroy that. That said, I think
there's no doubt that the heart of the book is

very personal but it's personal in a way that is

specific, not so much to me but to the reader.

Everyone’s experience of that darkness is dif-

ferent, and the book is consciously aware of

that. It's attempting to create a very specific
screen, a very specific movie theatre, on Avant-garde pop singer Poe
which each reader can project their version of
the film. When I was touring around, people shows us a different side of
would come up to me and tell me how certain
partsmade them feel, and then connect that
anxiety to personal experiences they had,
House of Leaves
whether it was being caught in a field during
a lightning storm to actual parental molesta- It’s a rare thing when two people come togeth- Is to It - questions that tend to circle the dark."

tion. One woman told me a story that after er to pull an idea in two completely different - but Having resided at one time or another in New
this horrendous thing happened, she continu- complimentary - directions. That's the case with York city, Utah, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Africa,

ally had dreams that there were extra rooms Mark Danielewski and his sister Annie, better Europe and India, Poe's only constants through-
and corridors in her own house. So everyone known as Poe, a nickname that stuck one Hal- out her youth were her family and her imagination.
brings to that darkness; the reader is at the loween night when, at the age of eight, she decid- While Mark immersed himself in fiction, Poe was
heart of that darkness. .
ed to dress up as a character from an Edgar Allan smitten by what she refers to as a “musical obses-

Poe story. sion." Interestingly, their respective loves brought

/ guess I came to the idea of annihilation not
It’s been a while since anyone heard or saw of them to places that - while not quite macabre -
only through the labyrinth but through the
Poe. Her first single, Trigger Happy Jack ("You betrayed an affinity for the strange and unusual.
people that surround The Navidson Record,
can’t talk to a psycho like a normal human being!") Poe’s first album, simply titled Hello, was marked
notably Johnny and his friends - the anony-
blew holes into alternative radio a few years back, by its schizophrenic ability to alternate sentiments
mous people from the underbelly of Holly-
and introduced her to the world as a pop singer from sweet and comforting to disturbing and twist-
wood whose addictions and pursuits continu-
who had a penchant for playing in the dark. ed.
ally evoke a kind of psychological and emo-
That darkness can be glimpsed in earnest on “I think it started early on," she explains. ‘There
tional emptiness.
her upcoming album called Haunted { in stores in were certain events from our childhood that really
I think you’re touching on something that is
September), which explores the spaces and dis- affected Mark and I, but at the same time made us
very close to my heart, which is that these
tances of a house remarkably like that which her really good friends for because we earned
people - who are very, very real - seem to be
life,

brother has constructed. each others' trust in these difficult situations as

the ones who are frequently more in contact
“Hauntedis not actually based on Mark's book younsters and really protected each other. In a
with that darkness and that threat of annihila-
at all," she says over the telephone from Los weird way, my dad really lived with the terror of
tion. What makes them almost heroic to me,
Angeles where she is just putting the finishing World War II, and he had this unbelieveable pow-
is that we’re all close to that threat. But
touches on the album. •“It's more like a parallel erful way of communicating and insulating himself
because of circumstances, because of a cer-
view of a shared history. There are things in our that I somehow think was passed down to us.
tain perspicuity on their part, they are driven
past that brought up ideas very early on of what There were horrific things in his history that were
to look more closely at it, instead of just
mortality is, what violence is, what our relationship not discussed and very difficult to get at or under-
denying it and saying “oh yeah, everything’s

Rue Morgue 13
 "I've always felt that
great horror is always
counterpointed by an
almost equal quotient
of sorrow."
fine.'’ I have some very good friends who on your part or is it something else? Is it

have gone through all sorts of hell, and even important?

some of them have not gone to college and Absolutely, very important. I think there I

I stand, so there was this enormous distance many

are swept up in all sorts of addictions and arc things that cun be looked at ii

I between us and him. For a long time, I think we've

self-destructive behaviour. But they are humorous way. but that's never (he mi
I been inclined to work those spaces and get inside incredibly smart, incredibly reason. The whole question of the book
facile with I

those terrors and understand them."

| ideas, the movement of language and sto- within the book is a very important, com-
Logically, the symbol ot a home - the house - ries and incredible memories. The obvious plicated one. It not only relates to Johnny's
I became important, as did a preoccupation with
juxtaposition of highbrow intellectual gar- encounter with his own book existing I

I spaces and dimensions. Poe, however, developed ble and lowbrow oral storytelling in the within the context of a larger book, but also
I them in different ways, using geometric Inconsis- Nuvidson
book is meant to bring to light that intelli- to Will in the heart of the house |

I tencies as metaphors for the emotional distance

gence cannot be denoted by collegiate reading and burning a book which is appar-
I between members of the family.
ently called House of Leaves. don't really
degrees. I

'All those things lend to derive from the lad that

want to give it away, other than to say that
I Mark and are referencing the same material," she / was intrigued and equally horrified hut
I
we all. at some point, recognize that the
was the also saddened by Johnny 's story.
I says. "Five and A Half Minute Hallway title
story that we’ve been living in our o
I of a chapter he had developed but before the chap-
I've always fell that great horror is always
lives may suddenly become a book that we I

I ter had even been fleshed out, went off and wrote counterpointed by an almost equal quotient
I
are reading that is contained within c
1 the song. Probably pieces of the song found their of sorrow. If you would take any horror
life. So what we have externally experi-
I way into his writing as well - a completely sym-
story you have seen, even The Texas
it's
enced we can in a Hash, in a night, after
1 biotic thing. The things that have had the most
Chainsaw Massacre, and if you change the
maybe decades, suddenly internalize into a
I Impact on us over the last ten years have been the time you're looking at it - perhaps you are
story we are reading which in turn begins
I same divorce that was unexplica-
thinking back on it and what not - there’s a
things: a horrific
to influence our external life. And a r
ble and bizarre and the death of our father, who sadness there that people have failed, have
| life. I think, is full of shelf loads of internal |

ts such an unbelievably powerful voice that could

died, have vanished. There's a certain sad-
books.
I be at times inspiring or completely paralyzing. Mark
ness as a result of perspective.

I and have been attached these apoca-

/ have to tell you that the reason I asked I
I in little
Johnny eventually finds the hook House of
about that is because I got a chill when I
1 lypses of ours." Leaves and reads it. Without getting you to
Like House of Leaves Haunted is a story with
read that part of the book. It occurred li
go hack on your decision not to comment
I many obscure comers. Whispered words and frag- me that if Johnny found the book and I
on certain pans of the book: is that humour
I ments of telephone conversations form an unset-
begins reading it and I'm reading it, then
[

I tling backdrop to the music, itself like a house with

1 many rooms and sounds; rock (Walk The Walk, I'm

I Not a Virgin Anymore), pop (Haunted, Wild),

I melancholic set pieces (Terrified Heart, Dear John-
1 ny, House of Leaves) and stuff that could only come
I from the spaces in between.

Where Haunted does not resemble House ot

I Leaves is in the singer's propensity to name
I names, specifically that of her late father Tad,

I whose sampled, disembodied voice is the album's

I equivalent of Zampano and, clearty, also its ghost.

"I actually did sample my dad," she says, "which

I is why the album is called Haunted. It Isn't a mem-

I oir by any stretch of the imagination, but the images
1 to me are so unbelieveably personal - even the

I house that's bigger on the outside than on the

I inside. It’s almost impossible for me not to make

I that subjective and understand it as my own
| house.” $ Evidence #001280: Sketches provided by Johnny Truant indicate an obsession with
-Gregorius Chant the geometry and measurements ol corridors and staircases.

14 Rue Morgue
maybe I'm in the book loo.

Not maybe, you absolutely are in the book!

And I guess that darkness, that annihila-

tion applies to me too. In a way that’s the
most frightening part of House of Leaves
for me. What is the most frightening part of

the book for you?

I think what’s most frightening is the
nature of denial throughout the book,
where people deny the existence of a threat
only to be threatened by it. I realize that is

a very cold, intellectual response, but if

you start to inhabit that idea it begins to

have all sorts of terrifying ramifications
which involve everything from the
Pekinese story to the growl to the fact that

the kids are wandering down that hallway

one day unnoticed by their parents.

Does it irk you to hear people call House

of Leaves a horror novel?
I’m not going to deny its roots, I'm going
to expand its roots! I think most people
who read horror are enthused about it. but
I think people hate the way even readers
get pigeonholed in that genre. very part of House of Leaves. not want to wish for. It was this chilling

story where this creature that was dead was

It's one of the worst for that kind of thing, The mark ofa good book is that it is loved as
coming tolife, and yet it was also a superb
besides porno maybe. much as it is reviled, and House of Leaves
philosophical dilemma and it was also
[laughs] It's a funny thing; the book just has definitely lived up to both opinions. Why
beautifully rooted in Greek myth, particu-
got released in England and the reviews do you think people have reacted so fiercely
larly the myth of Thesonius who wishes for
have been really good. And what's great is either for or against it?
immortality but forgets to wish for the
that they're more alert to that phenomenon I think sonic people are very resistant to a
appearance of youth so he withers away
of horror books in America than Ameri- new experience. Some people hear that there
into nothing. So here's a simple folk story
cans are. in that they realize the dark mat- is a scary story and they immediately dial up
rooted in an ancient myth. And it also
ter origins of the genre are rooted in Emily certain expectations; the way a story should
scared the bejesus out of me.
Dickinson. Hawthorne. Poe and Melville, unfold, the kind of chills it should deliver,
who are, of course, considered to be the the way horror should be described. When Mark, what are you working on for the
progenitors of American literature. they discover it is something else they are future?
irked by it. I think the book without a doubt We're working on a very little project and
House of Leaves is a haunted house book
is very threatening. I’ve always said that the somewhat unique of pub-
in the tradition
with lots ofpoints of reference to the Goth-
root of all anger is fear, so whenever anyone lishing as far as I know. We're releasing
ic novel. I couldn V resist thinking of it as a
is angry it means they are afraid. They’re The Whalestoe Letters, which are the let-
post post-modern version of the Gothic
afraid their going to be hurt, they're afraid ters from Johnny's mother, in October.
novel in some way. Would you agree?
that their psychological idea of themselves is There are some letters that weren't includ-
I think you could write a book on the mode
going to be compromised - it’s an evolu- ed that I am going to include in this edition.
of Gothic horror in House of Leaves. It’s
tionary survival skill; we're afraid, we get It's going to be cheaper and it’s geared for
something I was very conscious of all the
angry. When people get really angry at this people who are interested in House of
way through, from its inception to its fin-
book, there has to be a level of feur. I find Leaves but maybe a little too intimidated to
ish. Again, it’s in the tradition of the first
some people think they're just loo stupid to take on the whole thing. I'm excited about
ghostly American authors - I wouldn't
get it and that makes them angry because it because it shows that books can also be
even think to deny that. But how it mani-
they feel bad about themselves, which is sold in intriguing ways, that there could be
fests itself is different, so you may be right
something I don't want to have happen. So some creativity in the way books are mar-
in saying that it is a kind of post-modern
the levels of irritation in response to the keted. I think it’s very important because
example of what we have viewed until now
book are very telling, and of course there are it's about getting people to read more, and
as a Gothic novel. I think the question of
also a bunch of reactions which 1 have no anything that promotes books is something
the haunted house is fascinating. If you
examine the word “haunted" you find that
idea where they come from! that I am in favour of. S

at its roots is the meaning of "home," so When was your last great literary scare?
"haunting” is that which is reminiscent of Ican definitely think of some of my first
or figurative or a threat of home. So a ones. I remember being terrified as a child
haunted house is a house that is haunted by when I heard The Monkey's Paw. It was so
a home and that I think is very much part simple and yet so compelling; that marvel-
of the Gothic idea and that is definitely lous notion that what we wish for we may

Rue Morgue 15
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16 Rue Morgue
 by Michael Watt

ome houses are born bad," is the caveat relieved audiences to venture back to their English cottage with a history. The former
offered by Shirley Jackson in her clas- own homes, secure in the knowledge that owner’s young granddaughter (the treacly
sic novel The Haunting of Hill House. ghosts did not exist. (As much a “cheat” as Gail Russell) has an unhealthy fascination

S It is a warning that is also whispered by

the eerie narration of the classic
based on that book: Robert Wise's The
movie
these films were,
censors
adults-only
at the
“H”
it

time
didn't stop the British

from awarding the

certificate to the 1939 ver-
with the home, and it is later

her mother killed herself there, by Hinging

herself from the cliff to the rocks below, an
revealed that

Haunting. The familiar trappings: ancient sions of both The Cat and the Canary and act Russell’s character attempts to duplicate
towering houses, brooding even in sunlight; The Gorilla, though both films are terribly later in the film.

doors opening and closing by themselves; tame by today's standards.) There are genuine ghosts in The Uninvit-
half-glimpsed figures appearing at the end Such "old dark house” stories dominated ed', a pair of them. One is heard just before
of dim hallways; mysterious sounds coming the cinema of the thirties, with the serious dawn each night, weeping and wailing until
from nowhere and everywhere at once; ghost story, popularized by Poe and deMau- the sun’s rays break through. They are felt
objects moving by their own accord. The passant, left unfilmed. The attitude, at a time by the new owners, room thut suddenly
in a

simple ingredients for a haunted house tale, when sound and picture were finally mar- depresses all it. The spirits are
that enter
tried and true, but laughable while the sun is ried. was that movies were now more realis- noticed by pets that refuse to mount the
out. But when the lights go down in the the- tic, and that audiences would find the idea of staircase to the second floor. Mostly, howev-
atre, or during that dark night watching at the ghostly spectre laughable, or worse, in er, the ghosts are talked about (Allen had his
home alone, these elements become all too bad taste for such a modern era. Other hor- ghosts tiptoe into the movie, so as not to call
sinister, as even the most jaded viewer can rors were present, of course. Bela Lugosi in attention to the potentially silly too quickly).
tell you. his cape, Boris Karloff in his size-nineteen But the audiences bought it, and were quite
Since the silent era, decrepit mansions shoe, wolf men, mummies; whole mon-
the frightened by the dramatic unveiling of the
filled with malevolent dread have figured strous family. But the creaky house on the house’s misty mistress near the end. Though
prominently in the Hollywood fright film, haunted hill was just. well, silly. The Uninvited is almost intolerably light at

often us characters in their own right. For Then came World War II, and death was a points, in 1944, was fresh and new. And
it

the most part, these haunted tales fell mere- grim reality, particularly in Europe during scary. And successful. So successful, in fact,
ly into the category of “old dark house" the early days of the war. Horror was an that Allen reunited with Russell a year later
movies, a phrase coined by scholars after everyday part of life for most of the world. to produce The Unseen, with co-star Joel
the 1932 sound classic The Old Dark Film companies in both Hollywood and McCrea.
House, starring Boris Karloff, which was Great Britain struggled to make sense of the The reign of the haunted house movie,
following a pattern established by such ear- war for its citizens, and created fantasies for however, was short lived, as the atomic '50s
lier films as The Cat and the Canary and its stunned populace. But while the English took over, and teenagers thrilled to giant
The Gorilla (both 1927). These films were made thoughtful, philosophical fantasies, in
typified by a group of unlikely adventurers such films as Thunder Rock, Hollywood
trapped in the titular house, menaced by turned out A Guy Named Joe, showing the
lurking horrors, only to discover the mon- dead heroes undamaged in the afterlife, to
sters were jewel thieves or criminals. This soften the blow of death for those left

device has been called the “Scooby-Doo" behind. Ghosts were returning to the silver
ending in more recent years, but was a pop- screen, if only in an overly-sentimental,
ular formula in pre-World War II Holly- though comforting, way.
wood. Indeed, the first sound horror movie, This audience acceptance of ghosts
now believed lost, was The Terror, a 1928 opened the door for a “new” type of ghost
old dark house programmer starring May story, with the 1944 The Uninvited.
film.
MacAvoy. These films always gave the Directed by Lewis Allen, adapted from
audience an “out,” explaining away the Dorothy Macardle's novel by the team of
creaks and groans and mysterious shadows Dodie Smith and Frank Partos, The Uninvit-
as the machinations of amoral humans. The ed tells the tale of a brother and sister (Ray The Cat and the Canary (1927): A
supernatural was a joke, allowing the Milland, Ruth Hussey) who buy a cliffside haunted house of jewel thieves.

Rue Morgue 17
 with the aforementioned skeleton nothing on Henry James' ghost story The Turn of the
more than a puppet rising out of a bubbling Screw, and the gothic tale. Wuthering
pool of acid located in the house's basement Heights). Something - some force - inhabit-
(doesn't your house have a bubbling pool of ed the house, and both the visitors and the
acid?). But the movie is fun, and worth the audience, were subjected to the fury of this
rental if only to hear the wonderful banter force.
between the hateful married couple, Price Released by MGM Studios, The Haunting
and Ohmart, as written by Castle and Robb has excellent credentials, front its superb
White, at their best. When the direction by Robert Wise - whose work for
movie opened in 1958, kids lined the horror master, Val Lewton, on such films
up around the block - mostly to as The Body Snatcher, were the proving
experience "Emergo.” The House grounds for his magnificent hundling of the
on Haunted Hill was a hit. picture - and more importantly, it was based
Castle offered up another ghost- on Shirley Jackson's wonderful, chilling
ly cast in I960. In 13 Ghosts, he 1959 novel, The Haunting of Hill House, a
pulls out all the stops and discards novel that holds up even by today's terror
Original Haunts: scenes ol
terror Irom The Haunting the “old dark house" plot (though standards. And the same can be said of the
(above), and House on Haunted Hill (inset). not entirely, as there is a hidden fortune in film.

the haunted castle, and a bad guy who yearns "Hill House had stood for ninety years and
insects and bug-eyed saucer men. The hill- for it) in favour of actual supernatural enti- might stand for ninety more... Silence lay
top houses were left virtually forgotten, ties. The thirteen ghosts of the title include a wood and stone of Hill
steadily against the
except for a few Bowery Boys "old dark floating head, a flaming skeleton, a lion, and House, and whatever walked there, walked
house" yams, and the charming The Ghost a husband and wife tcum of spectres, one of alone.”
and Mrs. Muir, which hardly qualifies. which decapitates the other. Thus begins The Haunting, a story of a
It wasn't until the 1958 gimmick film The The gimmick of 13 Ghosts was "Illusion- psychic researcher. Dr. Markway (smugly
House on Haunted Hill that the haunted O." The film was originally printed in black played by Richard Johnson), who picks a
house story received a huge boost. More of and white, with the ghost tinted in red on the team of people, unknown to each other, to
a showcase for “Emergo," one of William film. Each patron was given a “ghost-view- spend the night in the only "legitimately
Castle'smore famous gimmicks (in which er" atthe theatre, which consisted of two haunted" house he has ever been able to
an oversized plastic skeleton on a string strips of clear plastic, one red, one blue. If find. The three members of the team consist
"emerged" from the screen during the final you wanted to see the ghosts clearly, you of Theodora (Claire Bloom), a free-spirited
climax, and either returned safely to the pro- looked through the blue section, and the bohemian with psychic sensitivity; Luke
jection booth or fell onto the heads of the ghosts would appear on the screen. If you (Russ Tamblyn). nephew of the house’s cur-
audience members below). The House on were a coward, you looked through the red rent owners, who will someday inherit the
Haunted Hill tells the now-classic (if only strip, and no evil emanations would dare house himself and goes along mostly to
for its camp value) story about the wealthy bother you. (Sadly, all existing video prints appraise his future property, and Eleanor
Frederick Loren (Vincent Price at his most of 13 Ghosts are in black and white only, and (played to shrill perfection by Julie Harris),
charming), who throws his wife, Annabelle the ghosts are present throughout.) While a woman who’s life has been spent in the
(the wonderfully catty Carol Ohmart), a terribly silly, 13 Ghosts made no bones service of her invalid mother, and who secs
party at a mansion, inviting a group of about the poltergeists being real. There was her stay at Hill House as a chance to finally
strangers to spend the night in exchange for no trick, no plot. The supernatural was in live. Eleanor, called “Nell" by the others, is

$10,000. The mansion is owned by a ner- full-force, with the castle's inheritors caught the heart of the story. Emotionally disturbed
vous and squirrelly man played to the hilt by in the middle. and neurotic from her years of service as a
Elisha Cook, Jr., who first appears in a pre- Then, in 1963, a studio film was released slave to her mother, she succumbs easily to
credits sequence as a disembodied head, that has since redefined the "haunted house" Hill House's wants and desires, and is soon
accompanied by ghostly moans and wails. genre. was not an "old dark house” plot,
It connected to the forces that dwell inside its

He tells the audience that seven murders nor was there any hint that one existed. It did walls and spires.
have taken place in the house, and the spirits not attempt to imply madness on the parts of Dr. Markway establishes that not a single
of the dead are vengeful, angry. And that the protagonists to explain away the super- square comer was used in the construction
there’s always room in the house for a few natural events (a popular of Hill House. As a result, the doors
more victims.
 “The haunted house story is the base

human fear that the dark is alive

mantle-pieces. A “logical solution" right off half-glimpsed mist in a long shot, but the
the bat. And that night, the house begins its spirits are there, all around us, as we have
assault on the individual
utilizing a chill that grips
rooms of the team,
each person in
entered the house too. At a time in Holly-
wood where special effects were always
PRESENTS
their beds, accompanied by pounding on the employed to get an audience’s attention (and
walls. This assault continues night after oh-so unlike the tradition of today), The Over 70 years of
night, the pounding, the cold, until it Haunting never resorts to cheap optical
becomes The only
clear
house are mostly interested
that the forces inside the
in Eleanor.
effects to get the chills across.
unusual effect is a subtle on-stage trick exe-
GREAT
During the most terrifying sequence of the
film, Eleanor and Theodora, sharing a room
out of fear, are assaulted yet again by the
cuted during the assault on Nell’s room,
where the door seems
made of rubber. But
to bend inward, as if
this effect is done
HOUYVM
unearthly and deafening pounding. The quickly, and sparingly. It fits in perfectly
camera stays focused on Nell’s wide-eyed
terror, cutting back and forth between her

face and the ornate door across from her

bed, where some-
with the rest of the scene, never feeling
uncharacteristic or out of place.
With The Haunting setting the standard,
other films rushed to
HAUNTS
thing on the other copy it over the years,
1927 The Cat and the Canary
side is trying to get though none as suc- 1932 The Old Dark House
in. Nell is narruting cessfully. As the ’60s
the scene in her rolled into the '70s,
1944 The Uninvited
mind, too scared to the era of the “splatter 1959 House on Haunted Hill
say out loud that effect" was born, and
Theo is holding her so died the notion of 1961 The Innocents
hand too hard. subtlety and the quiet
1963 The Haunting
Soon her terror is shudder in the dark.
accompanied by Dark and brooding 1971 Let's Scare Jessica to Death
intense pain, as houses were more
1973 The Legend of Hell House
Theo is surely frequently employed
breaking her hand. as settings for grisly 1976 Burnt Offerings
Suddenly, the serial killings perpe-
The Legend of Hell House: a 1976 The Haunting of Julia
pounding on the dead versus the living.
of the trated by psychopaths
door, the rattling of as the slasher film 1979 The Amityville Horror
the doorknob, all abruptly stop. And Nell came into fashion. There are, however, a few
looks down to find her hand empty. And diamonds in the rough that stand out beyond
1979 The Changeling
Theodora sitting bolt upright in her own the others more typical of this era. 1980 The Shining
bed. Across the room. The first of these is the 1973 film, The
What works in The Haunting's favor is Legend of Hell House based on the novel
,
1980 Death Ship
that it takes all the trappings of the "old dark Hell House by Richard Matheson. Directed
1982 Amityville II:
house” stories and uses them against them- by John Hough, Hell House is similar to The
The Possession
selves. The pounding on the doors, the oth- Haunting in that it involves psychic investi-
erworldly moans, are all invoked by the gators in a house with a reputation for mur- 1 982 Poltergeist
chilling soundtrack. Wise keeps the camera der and misery. But while The Haunting
close on his actors’ faces, their features
1986 House
fill- concerned itself with subtlety, Matheson
ing the frame in canted angles, while in the wants you to know that the house was, as he 1 995 Castle Freak
reverse cut, the camera creeps along the said in an interview "damn well haunted!” In
sconces and carvings in the door. The door- the film, the investigators are thrown about,
1995 Haunted
knob looms huge on the screen, turning attacked, murdered and, in one instance, 1997 Event Horizon
back and forth as the force tries to enter raped. It's the dead versus the living in this
Eleanor’s room. We never see so much as a tale, and the viewer is left almost as shaken 1999 Stir of Echoes

Rue Morgue 19
 as the characters by the end. house), the movie delivers, though not sub-
Significantly, The Legend of Hell House tly by any stretch of the imagination. What
was released in the shadow of a horror- worked was the fact that the family home
defining film at the time, namely The Exor- was not a dark brooding house, but one like

cist. And in the wake of such a brutal cine- every other in a very normal housing plant.
matic assault, Hell House was deemed “too This was one of the first instances where the
tame,” though it is a minor classic in its own message was driven home: no one is safe.
right and deserves rediscovering on video. Even your quaint, undistinguished home
1979 was a good year for haunted houses, was haunted. Ghosts are attracted to people,
a year that saw the release of The Amltyville not structures. Poltergeist has lost much of
Horror. Directed by Stuart Rosenberg, The its impact over the years, ruined chiefly by
Amltyville Horror is based on the supposed- the smull-screen presentation of home video
ly true story about a family that moves into and a slew of cheap-jack sequels, but at the
RENNOVATIONS a house where a gruesome murder had taken time, it was the reigning king of the haunted
Hollywood Remakes the Haunted House place, and are one by one set upon by the house movies.
The summer of 1999 saw the release of two spirits who still dwell there, restless and The theory behind the most successful
films with very familiar titles: The House on angry. In fact, some of the story is true. On haunted house movies is the idea that we are

Haunted Hilland The Haunting. As is often the November 13, 1974, Ronald DeFeo, Jr„ a unsafe in our own homes. That we, the cur-

case with remakes, however, these new edi- young man in Amityville, Long Island, mur- rent tenants, have to answer to the sins of the

tions were hardly home improvements. dered his entire family with a rifle. But the previous tenants. There are unseen forces at

Of the two, The House on Haunted Hill,

Lutz family, who moved into the house work, waiting to touch us with ice-cold

retooled by director William Malone and afterward and were forced to flee within 28 hands while we sleep. Lights flicker, floors

screenwriter Dick Beebe, comes off the best. days, later admitted to having made up the creak, doors slum, the wind howls, and we
It isn't offensive to the source material, mainly entire haunting in order to save themselves are alone, in the dark, with something that

because Castle had originally created a cheap from bankruptcy. surrounds us. The haunted house story is the

story. Fans faced facts: Haunted Hill was Also in 1979 came a cult favourite. The base human fear: that the dark is alive and
remembered for Vincent Price's performance, Changeling (see Classic Cut. page 84). wants to hurt us. Maybe that is why simple

and the cheesy skeleton at the end. What Directed by Peter Medak, the always-enter- cinematic tricks of shadow and misdirection

they got was a cheesy little guilty pleasure. taining George C. Scott plays a composer can, if done right, scare the pants off of the

With Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush filling in

who moves into an old mansion inhabited heartiest filmgoer. The opposite is true when
(almost perfectly) as an ersatz Price, the by the spirit of a child who was murdered in the filmmakers want to show off their
remake assures there is no harm done. All in
his tub by his own politician father years expensive computer systems at the expense

all, this Haunted Hi/iis actually fun, as much a before. Until the last twenty minutes. The of the tiny things that make you shudder.

thrill-ride as the original was for young audi- Changeling could actually serve as a tem- Let’s just pray that the future ghosts that

ences in the 1950s. Nothing great was plate for haunted house movies, building emerge from Hollywood's computers live up
expected, and a few chills were delivered to slowly, methodically. Your hair is standing to our secret terrors, and that the houses will

the undemanding. on end before the first "scare" has occurred. still be bom bad. 5
On the flip side is the horror fan’s cinematic Even niftier is that the mansion has a very
equivalent of the defacing of the Mona Lisa. warm feeling throughout the first hour. It's a

This version of The Haunting, perpetrated by place you wouldn't mind living. Then, sud- Classics of the Horror Film by William K.

subtle-as-a-groin-kick director Jan deBont denly, you're screaming for Scott to get the Everson. (1974 Citadel Press).

and screenwriter David Self left audiences hell out of there. Nightwalkers: Gothic Horror Movies - The

snoozing in their seats. The changes from the Then, in 1982, Hollywood God Steven Modem Era by Bruce Lanier Wright. (1995

original film are questionable at best and the Spielberg teamed up with Tobe (The Tex , Taylor Publishing Company).

departures from Jackson's novel are not only Chainsaw Massacre) Hooper t produce

confusing, they're downright insulting.

(and co-directed, it is

Liam Neeson and Catherine Zeta-Jones rumored) a very nifty and

head the largely embarrassed-looking cast entertaining shocker called
Poltergeist. Centering on an
who are plagued by ugly, impractical statuary
that exists for no other reason than to come upper-middle class family

suddenly to life and attack the protagonists and, more specifically, their

and rooms collapse in on themselves without five-year-old daughter, Carol

affecting the structure of the rest of the house. Ann (played by the late child

The Haunting ( 1999) evinces not an ounce actress, Heather O'Roarke),

of style, not a moment of suspense, not a chill.
Poltergeist is a roller-coaster

Perhaps the attitude behind this was “if you ride, filled with chills and

can't improve upon a film, destroy all memory genuine scares. Though its

of both." If The Haunting (1999) represents central set piece is one stolen

the threat of all that is supernatural, you could from Richard Matheson’s Twi-
desecrate cemeteries to your heart’s content, light Zone episode called Lit-
all that would come after you would be a few tle Girl Lost (in which Carol

knick-knacks and some ill-designed statuary. Ann is sucked into the wall of
her closet by the spirits of the
-Mike Watt Poltergeist: Steven Spielberg's

20 RueMorgut
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 BEING A MELODY IN TWO MOVEMENTS WHEREIN
LE’RUE DELASHAY SINGS US THE SONGS OF THE PIANOMANSIONS

“I orchestrate fear

as opposed to just atmosphere.

T write songs for Haunted Houses."

^vJj^aunted. Possessed. Unsane. Call it other-worldly instrumental work,

vi' 1/ what you want, but understand this and it should come as no surprise
much: Hill House is alive. Alive, I tell you, to find that this particular tinkler’s

alive! Hill House is alive with the sound of chosen genre is every bit as unique
musick!! and imaginative as his name.
Ah, but I'm postgressing. My story begins “I orchestrate fear,” he claims,
in Chicago, at the turn of the last century, “as opposed to just atmosphere."

as a metalhead partial to gothic archetypes - More specifically: “I write songs

not to mention typefaces - discovers a side for haunted houses."

of himself that he never knew existed. (Not A pin drops, and a heart stops.
to mention a Chaucerian propensity for He’s right, you see - and he’s
ending the word "music" with a silent K.) arguably the best there is at what
Le'rue Delashay is a strange man with a he does.
strange name. Over the phone from the Sing us the songs of the
2000 Milwaukee Metalfest, the loco legend pianomansions, then. Walpurgis-
speaks of an artiste-in-waiting whose nacht: The Haunting
chance encounter with an escaped lunatic (1996). The Court Com-
resulted in that artiste's rechristening, possi- poser (1998). Musick in
bly rebirth: Theory and Practice
arts company called Outrageous
“It was during the earth's downward (1999). These are a few
of my new favorite Media - a company that designs
cycle that I had decided to undergo a
scare-installations for carnival
lengthy surrealistic Death-trip," Delashay recordings.
rides.
remembers acronymically. “I found myself Whether the walls in
Thematic, epic, filmic -
in conversation with an elder who stated he Le'rue Delashay's
Delashay's melodies are both sim-
was the alpha and the omega, the progeni- house do indeed have
ple and compelling, oftentimes
tor of the species of man, and a divine ears is irrelevant; in
him, they have clearly found a voice. Self-
floating on clouds of child-like inno-
being of many forms. He named me anew.”
produced and independently released
cence, always carrying in their wake a pro-
Make of Le'rue Delashay's god-given
through the Minnesota-based Root of All
found sense of tragedy and loss. His style
name what you will (and for those of you
Evil label (www.rootofallevil.com),
combines the careful, structured repetition
who are bilingual, don't be afraid to experi-
of Philip Glass with the ambient grandeur
ment with phonetics), but the man himself Delashay's three recordings to date are
of Brian Eno, but the hearts of his melodies
will you that, for mortal purposes, it has
tell strikingly original works that, on a primary
reside with the traditionalists - Eric Satie
no specific meaning; it's really less a nom- and truly primal level, knock on every door
in neighborhoods long gone to hell.
and Modest Mussorgsky in particular. He
de-plume than a raison-d'etre.
points out that his “Midgard” roots are in
“It has superceded that of my tawdry, “If not for horror, to what would we have
black metal, “which is heavilyderivative of
mortal self to the point of becoming the to compare our own 'good' and 'proper'
the great composers. Metal fans appreciate
self,” he states. “It is its own meaning.” ways, if not ourselves, or those akin to us?”
elements of both the horrific and the classi-
Fair enough; because to be sure, the he says. “Horror has always played a part
cal.”
Le'rue Delashay experience is about spirit, in our society, hence in its folk tales, hence
Haunted. Possessed. Unsane. Call him
not character, though the man clearly has in its musick, hence directly into its homes,
haunted or no.” what you want, but understand this much:
plenty of the latter. Moreover, a musickian
Le’rue Delashay is alive. Alive with the
should be measured by his musick, not his Delashay has good reason to be literal

musings. In the grand scheme, Delashay
essentially the conduit for
24 Rue Morgue
about his sounds and their descriptions: sound of musick!! And heaven help us,
is
Walpurgisnacht: The Haunting was the fruit
because he's hellagood. £
one keyboardist’s
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 1

TERRS# has Rig EJfES

^j^RECENfCT RECEIVED ANIME by Donald Simmons

good story and visuals (especially Goku

GOKU MIDNIGHT EYE using his staff to vault from rooftops), with
Urban Video dark, realistic character designs, without
60 minules/English Language "big eyes.” Its biggest flaw is the jarringly
Urban
Irban Vision copy linked to supercomputers. Now. any poor depiction of women, who arc either

C3t U "T nts to be on a information lie wants, he receives instantly: sex objects (Goku's clients), victims (the

(
---

MIDNIGHT
5?
'
i
_

•
i

'
Tk

‘i‘i
,

m,
• “
,

I
*
mission
ision to re-dub,

release
re-dub. re
kage. and re-
all the late
:ase all lute
re- anything with a microchip, he can control,
He could even trigger defence computers to
WWIII if lie likes. Armed with his
start
only female cop on the case), or weapons (a
cybernetic stripper with motorcycle handle-
bars on her back and a laser cannon in her
;
s/early ’90s
'H()s/early '90s filni-
film- new edge and an extendable metal stuff, he mouth). Just keep in mind when you watch,
.. noirr horror unime takes the fight baek to the had guys, that actually living in this world would be a
everr produced. But Midniglu Eye (like Wicked City) has a Bad Thing for anybody.
I'm not complaining
Mtor-
MASTER OF MOSQUITON - V
AD Vision
k Goku Midiiiglu Eye
Two 30-minule cpisocles/English Lai
" — Goku's your typica
In the first

series,
volume of
1920s adventurer Imiho Hilomebore
this six-episode cope
c
mids,
n
with vanishing pyra-
Mosquilon's 300
/'’fflnutji*

"'jW'i’flfc He F
uncovered the dusty remains of a vampire. year-old
y vampire girlfriend [,'

brought it back to life with a drop of her (who

( can't seem to keep V
_

blood, and turned him into her boy- her clothes on), and the
|i

toy/manservunl. Not being the vampire he mastermind

r of the forces
once was (being dead does that to you). opposing
c them: the mad i

Mosquiton and his two pel shape-shifting monk

r Rasputin. And they
demons have had no choice but to go along may
r well be falling for
with Inalio on a search for the legendary each
c other.
"O-Parts." which will grant their holder Yes. it's low comedy, hut sometimes
eternal life. there's
I nothing better if you're in the mood
DARK CAT Volume 2 of this entertaining horror/com- for
f it. The animation features attention to
edy from Akahori Satoru ( Sorcerer t
detail and a real sense of the 1920s. with
Kitty Films
Haulers. Campus Guanlress) continues to bcttcr-thun-averugc
t dubbing. The final vol-
45 Minutes
deliver the laughs and the thrills. Idaho's ume
i promises a showdown on the Moon,
English Subtitled
quest takes her and her unwilling (and even
c though gelling there is going to be a
Now and again you watch
undead) helpers from a luxury cruise ship problem ("But I can't fly THAT high!"
something that leaves you won- |

to London, fingland. where they have to “Not even for nieeeee'?")

dering what people were think-
ing when they made it, if they NINJA SCROLL
were thinking at all, Maybe it
Manga Video
looked better on paper.
94 Minules/English Language/En|
Dark Cal starts with promise,
when young girls start literally dropping out of
Ninja Scroll is one of tile reasons to watch light the Demons, Jubei soon y \ V
unime in the first place. It is un absolute finds that his own past is
V '^' '
'

sight on crowded streets, leaving little craters

-
•
>
behind, but quickly gets bogged down in a con-
top-notch, action-packed, blood-spraying, involved in this new struggle. T’’-' v.
'
ventional plot regarding a schoolgirl in love
limb-sevcrint l i| n i tc It t extrava- Five minutes into Ninja ?.• „ -
with a schoolboy in love with another girl, and ganza. Jubei is a maslerless ninja in feudal Scroll, you know you're /
"
pjj
-
V;_-
’
Japan, willing to take on the had guys for watching something special. * 1

how all the repressed emotions feed evil spirits

and pretty soon there's blood on the walls. only modest fees. But he may have come up All-out fight movies arc a iu •
\ /

Hyoi and against more than he can handle after he dime-a-dozen. but very few
Thank goodness for our heroes
crosses paths with Kagero. a cursed ninja have the impact of this film, due to the hril
Ryoi, two cats who can turn into pointed-eared
humans humans who turn into cats,
woman fighting a monster somehow liantly fluid and detailed animation, which
(or it’s
involved in the destruction of one of her leaves you believing that people can actual
never made clear). They apparently wander the
world getting adopted by cute girls and fighting clan's village. ly make 20 foot leaps through the Ireetops
That monster is just one of the Eight while keeping the characters - especially
the goofy-looking evil spirits that are always
Demons of Kinon. servants of the Shogun Jubei and Kagero - very real. Add to the
turning up in Japanese schools.
About as appealing Dark of the Dark, a shadowy force out to topple mix bad guys you love to hate, more than
as cold pancakes,
the government and seize control of Japan. few surprises, and action scenes .let Li
Cal has nothing in it that rises above the ordi-
nary; story, visuals, characters, it’s all pretty
Blackmailed by a government ugent (who couldn't pull off. You don't want to miss

run-of-the-mill,
may have his own plans) into helping them Ninja Scroll.

26 Rue Morgue
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15062

Pa.

Monessen,

Street

7th

130
Welcome to a place where the girls are so

beautiful, that even half-dead zombies are smitten

with desire. Where damsels clad only in frilly panties

frolic with half-decaying ghouls.

show off their underwear. Welcome

Where the undead

to...
OF

by
Rod
Legendary Lingerie: Three views from Mike
Gudino Hoffman (left) and Rich Larson (above and
and Amos Carlen below - toned by Steve Fastner),

icture it: you're driving

through a stormy night, head-
lights barely cutting through the Quartuccio Publications, the fine
rain when a bright flash of minds behind The Haunted House of

P lightning illuminates a crooked

mansion perched precariously
Lingerie,
featuring an
among other attractions,
odd mix of undead crea-
all

on a hilltop. You pull over, make tures and women who are very
your way up the waterlogged steps much alive, but as it happens,
and knock firmly on the door. Anx- not much dressed beyond
ious, you listen as the bolts slide their underwear.
back, the door is unlocked and "We’re labeling them more
opened with a deafening groan. It’s as fantasy art type books,
Igor, beckoning you inside with a where it’s really focussing on
wry smile and a twinkle in his eye. the art and focussing on the
Behind him, Frankenstein’s monster different illustrators,” says
plays strip Scrabble with a half Quartuccio. “The books are
naked brunette and a beautiful erotic, not pornographic;
blonde frolics with a decapitated they’re cute, they’re sexy, and
head. Even Death has no use for his it’s very very entertaining to
sickle in this monster paradise; see what the artist comes up
with given that particular sub-
instead he holds out a flower to his
fgssa
buxom cutie, herself a young ject matter. We let the artist
damsel in frilly underpanlies. use his imagination and create
Welcome to the world of Sal full-page illustrations that lit-
 */,

"THE BOOKS ABE EROTIC, NOT

pornographic; they're cute, they're
SEYY, AND IT'S VERY, VERY
ENTERTAINING TO SEE WHAT
THE ARTIST COMES UP WITH GIVEN
THAT PARTICULAR SUBJECT MATTER."

erally tells a story.” of Gallery Girl books in

With a collection of over 40 books of their possession.
illustrations to their credit, SQP has “We loved the spontaneity
made a fine living peddling their wares and the excitement of that
and underwears to lovers of comic initial time when
book macabre, styl- the pencil hits the
ized erotica, or both. page before it gets
Their first title. Crim- ink and colour and
son Embrace, intro- all that," remarks
duced vampires early Quartuccio on the
on, a topic they would attraction of his
revisit later with books. “It’s very
Daughter of Darkness. entertaining to see the pencil
"When we started doing The Haunted
Then came Pirate Girls, on its own."
House of Lingerie, my partner Bob
Mermaids and Drag- With a stable of artists
Keenan decided that he would write lit-
ontails, as well as a spanning the globe - Europe,
tle captions as titles for each piece, and
graphic novel called South America. US and
it just fit," says Quartuccio. “It really
Demon Baby - Hell On Mexico - SQP's erotic fan-
worked, and suddenly, it became funnier
Heels. Before they knew tasy books are well represented by tal-
than it was originally."
it, the company had an enviable library ent around the world.None compares,
Not surprisingly, Quartuccio's roster
however, to the company’s hotshot,
of publications have drawn (no pun
American artist Rich Larson, the mind
intended) a committed crowd of goths,
behind The Haunted House of Lingerie
collectors of erotica and just plain thrill
series (he's expected to finish the third
seekers. The people he says “just like
volume by early next year). Demon
seeing naked girls running around in
Baby Hell On Heels, and a staple in
-
different situations."
other horror books, like Crimson
“I think there's also a fourth group
Embrace and Eternal Temptation.
who loves the idea of seeing how an
"Rich is truly one of the great talented
artist lays down in pencil,” he adds. “I
guys around, the stuff just comes out of
think it really is a tutorial in a way -
him so easy," says Quartuccio. “He's so
really educational for up-and-coming
creative: his pencils are beautiful, his
artists. You don't usually see pencils in
girls are gorgeous, and he comes up
comics; you don't see pencils even in
with these great situations."
art books. By seeing an down
artist lay
Larson's pencils are indeed the
in pencil you get a feeling of how the
genuine article. His meticulously
artist works."
rendered drawings are as gor-
Why didn't anyone ever bring these in
geous as the girls who populate
in art school? $
them. Beyond that, Larson's output
is singular for his unique grasp of
sex. horror and humour, like the
portrait of the girl who finds a
grotesque reflection of her lover in
the morning mirror (I Don’t
Remember), or the two girls whose
date, literally, loses his head (The
Worst Date Ever).

Sexy lingerie is always a head turner, even in

Transylvania. Pencil art by Mike Hodman.
 ^renMines.
‘ly J.. t ii'!
^ .' n t i

Halloween comic looKs into

Michael Myer’s early history
Halloween. John Carpenter's genre-defin- sales for a floundering industry.

ing masterpiece, will officially become a “This is good for us and good for the

comic book this October, twenty-two years industry as a whole,” commented Chaos!
after the fateful Halloween night "HE came president Brian Pulido. "We are seeing new
home" for the first lime. Written by Bram audiences exposed to
Stoker Award-winning author Phil Nutman comics that wouldn't
and published by Chaos! Comics, Hal- otherwise know about
loween: Belli nd the Mask will be the first in them and that's what
a series of comic books to expand on the it’s going to lake to
original movie and its sequels. Described as grow in this industry."
a mix of “both modern and gothic influ- Chaos! will publish
ences,'* the comic will plumb the whys of three editions of Hal-

Michael's bloody saga and reveal the secret loween: Behind the
behind the Myers family curse. The first Mast, the first in tradi-
installment in the series will detail a young tional comic book for-

Michael's days at Smith's Grove Mental mat. the second with a

Hospital, which followed the brutal slaying special-edition glow-
of his sister on Halloween night 1963. in-the-dark cover and the third with an
Chaos! Comics' decision to attain licens- extremely limited-edition (2.500) chromium
ing of Halloween was apparently motivated
by the success of Insane Clown
their recent Check out the Chaos! website at
Halloween: Michael Myers comes to
Posse comic book, which has revitalized www.chaoscomics.com for more details.
comics lor the first time.

BacK to school with Tom Savini

Makeup effects guru Tom Savini will be dormitory-style rooms on the third and
passing on the tricks of his trade at the Dou- fourth floors.
glas School of Business in a special sixteen As part of the diploma program, the Dou-
month diploma course starting this October glas School will incorporate classes in Psy-
(see page 28 for full details). Located in chology, Anatomy and Anthropology with
Monessen, Pennsylvania, the school has ren- specialized classes in Makeup Special
ovated an entire building solely for the Wiz- Effects, Sculpture and Remote Controlled
ard of Gore’s program. The facility will Creatures. To prepare students for the real
include everything from casting and mixing world, Savini will personally oversee and
rooms to a state-of-the-art photography stu- review graduate portfolios. The student who Tom Savini on set ol Two Evil Eyes.
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Rue Morgue 31
^reablmee.
Blair Witch promoter
launches new horror site
Media mogul John Hegeman has resur- place where fans will always find something
faced again with possibly the most ambi- new and left of the dial." Hegeman said.

tious website devoted to horror, sci-fi, fanta- “It’s a platform from which we'll unleash
sy and cult entertainment. Hegeman is the creations into film, television, licensing and
man responsible for the Internet hype sur- publishing that will stay in the folds of our
rounding The Blair Witch Project, and again minds for years to come."
he is proving himself to be the master of Distant Comers invites visitors to submit
cyber-space marketing with his new digital genre-related ideas and finished products

creation called Distant Corners. The site which they will then test on the site. If they
was launched on July 26 and features a visu- receive a positive response, DC will then

al feast of flash and streamed video with consider marketing a concept or product
eery music, original animation and eight beyond the borders of cyber-space.

exclusive channels with news, reviews, "We're looking for the next Kevin Smith
games, merchandise and more. (director of Clerks)" Marketing Manager and merchandise.
“DistantCorners.com is an interactive and Katie Martin told Rue Morgue. She says the Check it out for yourself at www.distant-
immersive environment where creators can virtual company is expressing interest in corners.com, and do yourself a favour and
reully push their vision to the edge and a genre-related film, television, publishing use a broadband internet connection.

Dresden resurrection for SKinny Puppy

Fans of the proto-industrial angst pop of "Everybody wanted him to be involved," I Know What You Did Last Summer. He want-
Canadian cult legends Skinny Puppy may said Key. "But he probably thinks there are ed to add some of my more devil-like quali-
have been hearing whisperings about the bigger groups to be involved with, rather ties to his style."

band's one-off reunion. The event happened than reliving Skinny Puppy, which 1 find to Fans of devil music rejoice.

at named Doomsday Festival in

(he aptly be a bit weird, considering a large part of his -Dale L. Sproule
Dresden. East Germany this past August 20. fan base know him primarily as part of our
No need to sulk any further in case you band."
missed it - the show was captured in all its Appropriately enough, both Key and Ogre
gory glory and will be released in the as-yet have recently taken up hanging out with
unspecified future in both live album CD Famous Monsters of Filmland founder For-
and DVD formats. Ackerman (see RM#7). The friendship
rest

Although long-time Puppy alumnus David developed out of a deep respect for Acker-
Ogilvie was a no-show, Dwayne Rudolf man, whose classic monster magazine pro-
Goettel - who died of a heroin overdose - vided the inspiration for Skinny Puppy's
joined members cEvin Key and Ogre unusual soundscape.
Magic Hill resumes
onstage in spirit if not in body. Goettel’s sta- "We both grew up with that stuff,” says
tion remained empty throughout the show, Key. "It was our common ground. Through October haunting
but Key told us that his "energy" was cap- all the Skinny Puppy albums you'll find Ontario’s most notorious Halloween
tured and reproduced as part of the perfor- samples from just about every classic horror thrill, The Magic Hill Haunted Adventure,
mance. film ever made. Part of the fun of Skinny is back with a vengeance for its ninth sea-

"I'm sure he would approve of the virtual Puppy is that people know where the sam- son. In addition to the Haunted Hayride
Dwayne we created," Key told Rue Morgue. ples came from. Figuring it out was part of and Haunted Bam, creators have added
The Skinny Puppy reunion show was a the game." two new fearsome features this year: the
massive effort, which took Key and fellow Currently, Key is the busiest of Puppy's Black Cavern (narrow hallways leading
Puppy inmate Nivek Ogre six months to former members, with half a dozen related through a maze of terrifying displays), and
coordinate. Original crewmembers like Greg projects in tow. He just finished two new the Terror Trail Trek (an escort over hills,

Reely and Ken "Hi-Watt" Marshall on live albums for Nettwerk, Download's Effector, through dark mine shafts and pits with

sound and production and preparation, and Tear Garden's Crystal Mass', as well as actors lying in wait to scare the bejesus out

respectively also returned to a re-charged his second solo album called Ghost of Each of you). A total of 120 new slimy ghouls
atmosphere that recalled the band’s heyday. Room (out on Metropolis). will be lingering in and around the com-
"Getting together with Ogre to do this has "And I did the End of Days soundtrack pound to put the “ee” back in Halloween!
made me feel... I dunno... whole again!" too!" he adds. "That was probably one of the Magic Hill is located 30 minutes from
commented an ecstatic Key. highlights of my career being able to collab- Toronto and is open weekends between
As for Ogilvie, no word was heard from orate with a guy as talented as John Debney. September 29 and October 29. For more
him before, during or after the performance. He's done everything from Scooby Doo to / information, call 905-640-2347.

32 Rue Morgue
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 REPRINT FOR GAIMAN/COOPER COMIC Neil Gaiman’s out-of-print
trade comic, Alice Cooper's Last Temptation, will once again be
available this November from Dark Horse Comics. Originally pub-
lished in the early '90s by Marvel Music. The Last Temptation was
the result of a collaboration between Gaiman and Alice Cooper
which was initially supposed to span three concept albums with The Show Must Go On: Dark Horse reprints Gaiman/Cooper comic .

accompanying comic books. Apparently, the Master of Shock Rock trade paperback will feature sepia-coloured ink on cream paper to
lost interest at some point, but Gaiman stuck to his end of the bar- better represent Zulli's duoshade artwork.
gain to finish the story.
BENCHLEY REPENTS Believe it or not. author Peter Benchley
The Last Temptation revolves around a young boy named Steven
(Jaws), the man who gave sharks a bad name, has joined WildAid in
who is ufraid of everything until he meets the mysterious Showman
its ongoing effort to protect the toothy menace from extinction. To
(Cooper) and his Theatre of the Real. Steven attends the show on a
kick off the recent celebration for the anniversary of Jaws the movie,
dare only to find that leaving it isn't as easy as he expected. Through
Benchley stepped up to the environmental podium in Hong Kong
his experiences with the strange host. Steven learns what it means to
and said, "In the 25 years since Jaws was first released, sharks have
be truly afraid.
experienced an unprecedented and uncontrolled attack. Some shark
Teamed up with illustrator Michael Zulli, Gaiman created what
has been described as a "durk and brooding morality tale."
species have been reduced by 90 percent.... We must not allow just
The new
one generation of humanity to needlessly eradicate 400 million
years of evolution."Though Benchley's book and the subsequent
movie cleared ocean-side beaches for nearly a decade, it didn’t stop

Alternative people from eating the razor-toothed little buggers. Benchley

^INEMANEW m INDIE
R E L
thought
an
Hong Kong, the world’s largest exporter of shark fins, was
ideal locale to

cious soup.
begin his appeal. Apparently the fins make a deli-

LICENSING LUGOSI After decades of disagreement, Bela Lugosi's

son and the consumer products division of Universal Studios have

III] finally reached an agreement which will see the likeness of Bela
Lugosi immortalized in merchandising heaven. Throughout the

l 4->jL Ess negotiations. Universal resorted to licensing a generic

Dracula. but Lugosi’s lawyer said it wasn't selling. Lugosi was
image of

happy to finally end the dispute. "My father's character as portrayed

in Universal Studio's films will live on through this licensing agree-
ment," he said. Last year, Lugosi, Jr. and Universal hacked out a
similar agreement for theme park usage of Lugosi Sr.'s image.

NEWS FROM HELL According to several online reports, the makers

of the film From Hell, currently in production in the Czech Repub-
lic. have made some casting changes. Reportedly, Ian Holm will
replace Nigel Hawthorne, who is not well and has bowed out of the
project. Holm will play a Scotland’ Yard sleuth in charge of solving
the Jack the Ripper murders. The movie is based on the 10-part Alan
Moore comics series, which introduced Jack the Ripper to such curi-
ous characters as Oscar Wilde, the Elephant Man and Adolf Hiller.

YEAR 2000 catalog l

The film adaptation, written by Terry Hughes, will star Hollywood
darlings Johnny Depp and Heather Graham.

THQ and Iron Studios are currently developing a new

DEAD AGAIN
PC game based on the Evil Dead series, a follow up to the recently
released game Ashes 2 Ashes. Titled Evil Dead: Hail to the King, the
game will be set eight years after the events in Army of Darkness
and will feature the voice of Evil Dead superstar Bruce Campbell.

34 Rue Morgue
mlj

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 Do You Know
Any Good
Urban Legends?
E-mail YOUR favourite COUNTING CR0WS...1, 2, 4, 3 Funny how Hollywood works, or rather,

urban legend to: doesn't work. Reportedly, Dimension Films is launching a fourth
feature film in the Crow series, even though they haven’t managed
info@rue-morgue.com to release the third installment. Dimension has already signed on the

and WIN a free pass for two requisite rapper,

go
DMX,
into production later this year.
to star in The Crow: Lazarus, which should

to see FRANKENSTEIN'S DEFENSE? The screenplay of the unusual comic

Wolff <£ Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre is currently being prepped

Urban Legends: Final Cut for production under Norwegian commercial director Harald Zwart.
The long-running comic, written and illustrated by Batton Lash, fol-
(Subject to Classification. Contest valid in Canada only).
lows the adventures of lawyers who represent ghouls and monsters
in court.Marti Noxon, the producer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer,

courtesy of wrote the most recent draft of the script. Reportedly the makers of
the film have canned the running title Supernatural Law in favour of
the comic's original title. Wolff & Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre
begin production early next year.
phoenix^ is set to
Jjjgjlj gjfcOMoEr HORROR ARTISTS WANTED The Horror Writers Association has
new program that will showcase the art of some of their
started a
members in its new web gallery. The Art of Horror. Webmaster Dan
Keohanc is hoping the new service will "become a central link
where editors, artists and general purveyors of dark art can experi-
ence some of the finestwork being offered." The site will also offer
links to other galleries on the web. To join the Gallery, you must be
an HWA member (active, affiliate or associate) in good standing.
Send an e-mail to webmastcr@horror.org with your name and/or
name of your gallery, its URL and a brief description to be included
with your link, as well as a thumbnail to accompany your entry
(optional). To view the Gallery see www.horror.org/gallery.htm.

MISSING STUDENT FILMMAKER FOUND Joshua Leonard, who played

(you guessed it) Joshua Leonard in The Blair Witch Project is mov-
ing on to bigger budget productions. Reportedly, he will star in an
Australian film called Cubbyhouse, a horror movie no less. The
movie deals with an American family that moves to Australia's Gold
Coast, only to discover that their children’s playhouse is possessed.
The production is currently underway in Queensland and we’re very
happy that one of the underpaid Blair Witch actors has moved on to
other things.

JASON, JASON There's more false rumours about the upcoming

Freddy Vs. Jason flick than we could conceivably print. Without
adding to the morass, we’re obliged to report that we heard from
several insider sources (including the man, Kane Hodder himself)
that New Line Cinema has actually settled on a script for Fvs.J. No
word on the details of how the two villains will meet, but we’ve got
a couple of ideas: maybe Jason will crashland his spaceship on an
asteroid inhabited by Freddy. The two will have to put their differ-
ences aside and team up to blow up the asteroid to save earth so they
In Theatres September 22nd can duke it out in New York City. S

36 Rue Morgue
COLLECTIBLE BACK ISSUES FROM
Postage <fi Handling: One magazine: $3. Twi
magazines: $7. Six or more mags: $10.

Total {plus postage & handling) $

Send cash, cheque or money order to:

MARRS MEDIA INC.

Street Address 1666 ST. CLAIR AVE. WEST, 2ND FLOOR
TORONTO ON M6N 1H8 - CANADA
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A UNIQUE MAGAZINE FOR A UNIQUE CULTURE

 Th<s erotic vompiro film enjoyed its heyday in the '70s, from the
demure Hammer offerings to the hardcore excesses of their continental
cousins. Anchor Bay, in it’s recent deluge of Euro offerings, dropped
two of the best titles from this era on a ravenous public. This issue we
slipbetween the sheets and get intimate with this double D double bill.

Vampyres starring Marianne Morris, Anulka

Dziubinska and Murray Brown; directed by Josd
Ramon Larraz; written by D. Daubeney.
Anchor Bay Entertainment Vampyres: a heady mix ot erotica and brutal violence.

Vampyres opens with a scene that sets the delirious man the two vampires have been also do not apply and, quite frankly, it just
tone for the rest film, raising tantalizing toying with briefly escapes his captivity doesn't matter. Vampyres is a heady mix of
questions that arc never fully answered. and stumbles on to their camper. The erotica and brutal violence that will please
Morris and Dziubinska enjoy a lesbian inevitable confrontation between humans fans yearning for adult fare
tryst, their homoerotic rupture abruptly and vampires culminates in an ambiguous in a subgenre that has been
ends when an unseen assailant guns them and strangely sad ending, putting this mas- consigned to sleazy, shot-
down in the act of making love. They reap- terful film in a realm all its own. on-video hell. Digitally
pear on the side of a quaint English country A big complaint levelled at a lot of Euro- remastered and presented at
lane, clad in flowing gowns, luring lone pean films is that the plots arc often dis- the original 1.85:1 aspect
male travellers back to their English manse jointed and full of holes, but in Vampyres ratio, this release comes
for fine wine, sex, and vampiric ravish- this merely heightens the hypnotic and with the highest of recom-
ment. The hapless victims are then found dream-like atmosphere. Little is revealed of mendations. Also included
dead at the side of the road in apparent car the genesis of the vampires; a few allusions are the US and international
accidents. A vacationing English couple hint at an Eastern European origin, but this theatrical trailers. Oh la la!
camp on the edge of the estate, getting is not necessary in this decidedly uncon-
drawn into the mayhem when a weak and ventional film. The standard vampire rules

Ths Blood Spattered Bride starring Simon Andreu, Maribel Martin and Alexandra
Bastedo; directed by Vicente Aranda; written by Vicente Aranda and Matthew Lewis.
Anchor Bay Entertainment
The Blood Spattered Bride tasy and reality eerily co-mingle, casting an her but it is soon apparent that there is only
{La novia ensangrentada) is unsettling and surreal pall over the film. one solution to Susan's suffering.
another adaptation of Sheri- Leaving the hotel without staying, they This new release restores nearly twenty
dan Le Fanu's famous novel- journey to their final destination, Andreu's minutes cut from previous releases, the
la Camilla, a work that con- family estate. Their new life together is most significant scene restored being a par-
tinues to inspire legions of blissful at first, Susan joyous at her sexual ticularly gory heart removal. Vampiric vio-
vampire films. This version awakening. But Andreu’s sexual overtones lence is emphasized over eroticism, with a
begins with a wealthy become increasingly sinister, frightening few scenes that genuinely shock and glee-
Spaniard (Andreu) and his virginal wife Susan, and she becomes obsessed with an fully shatter some cinematic taboos. Of
Susan (Martin) arriving at a hotel on their ancestral wedding night tragedy. A mysteri- particular note is the gorgeous cinematog-
wedding night. While Andreu, his character ous blonde woman named Mircalla, previ- raphy, an essential element of this stunning
nameless, parks their car and organizes ously lurking on the periphery of their exis- and unique horror film. The Blood Spat-
their luggage, Susan retires to their suite. tence, begins visiting Susan at night, seduc- tered Bride is presented in its original
Alone in the room, she is raped by a man ing her, urging Susan to kill her husband aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and has been digitally
in a stocking mask who bears an uncanny with an antique dagger. Susan's sanity dete- remastered, making for one handsome
resemblance to her husband. Or isshe? For riorates and she becomes erratic and hyster- addition to your collection.
this scene is the first of many in which fan- ical. Her husband tries everything to save

38 Rue Morgue
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 Year of the Dragon The Madness of
Godzilla 2000/Millennium
Paul Verhoeven
Starring Godzilla, Takeshiro Murata and Hiroshi Abe Hollow Man
Directed by Takao Okawara Starring Kevin Bacon, Elisabeth Shue and
Written by Hiroshi Kashiwabara & Wataru Mimura Josh Brolin
Columbia Tri-Star/Toho Directed by Paul Verhoeven
Written by Andrew W. Marlowe
Columbia Pictures

I saw James Whale’s The Invisible Man

for the second time a few years back and,
call me crazy but - cliches of its time uside
- the film still held its own. Most people, I
think, remember Whale's movie from the
effects which - though unquestionably dated
- must have looked pretty convincing to the
average twelve-year-old viewer (which is

when I suspect most of you saw it for the

first time). The second time was a charm on
the moral corruption of its protagonist, as
consummate a mad scientist as ever hit the
sickly blue rays of late-night television.
Without getting into how dismal the
remakes have been (and John Carpenter’s
"take-off’ with, cough, Chevy Chase), Paul
Verhoeven’s efforts to bring mad science
Godzilla 2000 with loe who looks suspiciously like the Emmerich-Deviin iguana.
into the 21st century are what you probably
“It is integral to the underlying harmony his fire-breathing glory. expected.
of the Universe that Godzilla be a man in a But what's Godzilla without a decent He trucks out Kevin Bacon in the role of
suit. Anyone who tells you different is in opponent? In addition to the usual barrage of Sebastian Caine, a mad scientist who applies
dire need of a good smack." tanks and fighter planes, he must contend the secret of invisibility on himself with bad
-Brad Abraham with Ogra, a 200 foot mass of pure ugly spit results. Not only does Caine underestimate
Irony alert: just two years after their uni- out of a 60 million-year-old flying saucer his ability to become visible again, but it

versally-reviled "update," Tri-Star’s import- discovered on the bottom of the ocean (in seems that his new found power has awak-
ed the latest version of the real King of the what can alternately be interpreted as either ened the Mr. Hyde in his soul, such that he
Monsters straight from the source. Unbe- respectful tribute or cross-cultural bitch decides to get up to all sorts of tomfoolery,
knownst to most viewers on this side of the slap, one of the shapeshifting creature's like rape and murder.
Pacific, Toho has been producing new, state- forms bears a striking resemblance to the Unlike H.G. Welles’ novel. Hollow Man
of-the-art installments of the Big G’s adven- Emmerich-Devlin iguana). Much destruc- doesn’t even try to touch on the "science” of
tures since 1984. These films were never tion of property follows (is it possible to get invisibility (in that book, Welles’ protago-
released theatrically in North America, but insurance covering “Act of Godzilla"?). nist underwent a clinically gruesome return
have appeared in recent years on video. Human drama - an integral aspect to all the to visibility since the food he ingested would
The green behemoth finally bought it big latter-day films - is provided in the form of remain visible). Instead, Verhoeven turns his
time in I995’s Destoroyah, so this new film duelling scientists Murata and Abe: one camera on what mad scientist movies are
(originally entitled Millennium) represents a wishes to learn from Godzilla, the other to really about; jealousy, revenge, egomania
reinvention of sorts. Fortunately director destroy him. and a heaping of gore with every murder
Okawara (who also directed G vs. Moihra, Ignore the atrocious dubbing (robbing (there’s a fine overture in which a mouse is
vs. MechaGodzilla and v.s. Destoroyah ) has many potentially strong moments of their tom to bloody bits in the mouth of an invis-
a strong grasp of what makes these things power) and enjoy the destruction. ible gorilla - probably the best scene in the

tick. The new-model Godzilla is a bit lean-

-Joseph O'Brien entire film, come to think of it).
er and nastier, but he’s still Godzilla in all But unfortunately, Paul Verhoeven is not a

40 Rue Morgue
 never really gets going.
And now we have Scary Movie, which
isn’t very scary, and not much of a movie. It
is quite funny, in a fart joke kind of way (and
I love a good fart joke as much as the next
shameless Troma addict). There is at least
one scene, featuring the character of “Ms.
Mann” (Jayne Trcka) and the contents of
her(?) underwear, that will either have you
laughing until you're puking, or merely puk-
ing; another, involving one teen’s
long-delayed orgasm, had me wondering
how the film got away with an “R” rating.

Suffice to say those looking for an insightful

autocritique and subsequent amusing inver-
sion of genre conventions would best be
advised to spend their eleven bucks else-
where.
It's worth noting that the film's original
(and arguably funnier) title was Scream If
You Know What I Did Last Halloween. In an
act that is either cleverly ironic or stupidly
Hollow, Man: Kevin Bacon is Sebastian Cain, a scientist who... blunders.
post-modern, the title Scary Movie was bor-
director of subtle flourishes and clever over- as successful as their intended targets; the rowed from an earlier Dimension film that
statement. In fact, he's the very opposite; a discerning horror fan knows full well that,
was ultimately released as Scream, which is,
fellow who thinks nothing of throwing out when seeking the height of hilarity, one not surprisingly, Scary Movie's prime target.
what little brains his film has to submerge it
need look no further than Friday the 13th The plot, such as it is, follows Scream's
in a pool of impressive effects shite, but Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan for an almost scene for scene, with occasional side-
shite nonetheless. No sooner does he set up evening of non-stop belly-laughs. After trips into / Know What You Did Last Sum-
his premise and some characters, than he watching Jason punch a guy's head off and mer, The Sixth Sense and The Blair Witch
decides to use them to parade every horror send it flying into a nearby dumpster, is
Project.
film clichd imaginable. (There's even a pro- there really a point in making a slasher A mysterious ghostfaced assassin is

tracted last-minute action sequence in which satire?

killing off all of Cindy Campbell's (Faris)
Bacon’s mad genius refuses to die... over Nonetheless, we are still occasionally friends; it might have something to do with
and over again! Like some guy said in treated to attempts to mock a sub-genre that
that guy they all accidentally killed a year
another movie: “I’ll buy that for a dollar!") had sunk into absurd self-parody and cliche ago. Then again, it might not. Is it Ray
Hollow Man is wired from the
Ultimately, years before Scream appeared to examine (Shawn Wayans), the football player who’s a
same hardware as Verhoeven's previous: (and inadvertently rejuvenate) it.The prob- little loo excited to get into the shower with

notably RoboCop, Total Recall and Starship lem is that there just isn't that much left to his fellow teammates? Is it Doofy (Dave
Troopers. But if we could agree that the say; Student Bodies runs out of steam about Sheridan), the, uh, challenged police deputy
order of the films just happens to coincide halfway through and Unmasked: Part 25 with the unhealthy attraction to his vacuum
with their worth, then you should have a
good idea of what we thought of Hollow
Man.
-Emma Anderson

I'm Gonna Git You

Slasha!
Scary Movie
Starring Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans
and Anna Faris
Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans
Written by Shawn Wayans, Marlon
Wayans, Buddy Johnson, Phil Beauman,
Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer
Dimension Films

“There’s a fine line between clever and stu-

-Nigel Tufhel
Horror-comedy hybrids are a dodgy
endeavor at best; for every Return of the Liv-
ing Dead there are thirty-seven million
Ghoulies. And out-and-out spoofs are rarely Scary Movie: The post-modern satire on post-modern slasher films.

Rue Morgue 41
cleaner? Does it really matter? Well... no.
Director Keenen Ivory Wayans has tread-
ed this sort of water before in the superior
blaxploitation comedy I’m Gonna Git You
Sucka, but the humour here is much less

pointed, which, as noted, probably has to do

with the lacklustre source material. The fact
is. there really isn’t that much ground to

cover: hence the movie dips into other wells

for much of its humour: The Matrix The ,

Usual Suspects, Amistad and those “Whas-

ssssup!” Budweiser guys among them.
Weirdly, the film has more nudity than all
three Scream films combined, and, consider-
ing that much of that nudity is of the male
full-frontal variety, its actually more subver-
sive than its model. Sadly, considering that
the filmmakers and a large percentage of the
cast are black - in a genre where people of
colour traditionally do not fare well - the
lack of jokes in this area represent a major What Lies Beneath: Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer and a bad script.
missed opportunity (apart from a great gag presence is dwelling in their home. Norman Mars Attacks! and Fright Night, among
involving a film crew from BET: “White (Ford) thinks his wife is going round the others. Behind Lantieri was a virtual who’s
folks are dyin'! We’re getting’ the fuck bend, no doubt a result of the car accident who of creature features including the pro-
outta here!"). she was in a year prior. In addition, we have ducers ofDeep Blue Sea, co-writer Hans
Still, for all its flaws, it gets points for pure a couple of red herrings residing next door; Bauer of Anaconda fame and komodo
shameless rudeness. It's rare you can sit in a the repeated use of water imagery all but design/CG by Phil Tippett, notable for his
mainstream multiplex these days and get the points to a soggy climax in bright neon let- work on Dragonheart, the original Star
sense that you’re doing something illegal, ters; the surgical drug that induces paralysis; Wars trilogy, and ed-209 sequences from
and that alone is cause for celebration. the cell phone that only works when RoboCop.
at the mid-point of the nearby bridge You’d figure the recipe
-Joe O’Brien
- What Lies Beneath is a jigsaw of for box office success
only five pieces. One could gripe would be as simple as “add
Bad Dream House about the way this film casually lifts water and stir.” So what
What Lie? Beneath from The Shining, and The Haunt- went wrong with Komodo ?
Starring Harrison Ford, Michelle Pfeiffer ing, but the end result is a film that The short answer is noth-
and Joe Morton telegraphs every plot point so far in ing, really. The movie itself
Directed by Robert Zemeckis advance that you’re forced to sit isn’t half bad, but I’m sure
Written by Clark Gregg there, bored, waiting for a payoff the studio knew pretty early
DreamWorks Pictures that never happens. The plot twists )n that with only a reported
and turns become so ludicrous, the 516 mil budget, any hype or
Oh boy... where to begin with this one? It
audience I saw it with eventually iretence of marketing this as
had the potential to be good, even great. An
gave up even trying to care about he next Jurassic Park would
Academy Award-winning director, two
the proceedings, and the supposedly tense seal its fate as a serious big screen flop.
Oscar-nominated actors, one of which has
climax resulted in more laughs than So now, after a very limited theatrical
been the box office star of the past twenty
screams. So I’d safely say you can give this release, Komodo has surfaced where it
years. Unfortunately, What Lies Beneath is
one a miss... I wish I had. probably belonged all the while, on a local
everything an effective thriller shouldn’t be
-Brad Abraham video store shelf near you. And on that
- predictable. What begins as a Rear Win-
level, I wholeheartedly recommend it.
dow rip-off, progresses through Ghost Story
Edmonton’s Hennessey stars as a psy-
territory, to end as another rip-off of Hitch- Leafin' Lizards! Jill

chologist who brings an adolescent boy

cock's Suspicion. Oh, I’m sorry, the correct
Komodo back to his old summer home in an attempt
word for this is supposed to be homage. No,
Starring Billy Burke, Jillian Hennessy and to uncover the boy’s repressed memory of
wait - rip-off is more appropriate. What is Kevin Zegers the events surrounding his parents’ grisly
inappropriate is that people will be suckered
Directed by Michael Lantieri death. After about two minutes on the
into seeing this mess strictly because of its
Written by Hans Bauer and Craig Mitchell island they discover it’s infested with giant
star-powered pedigree. But take the star
Lion’s Gate Films man-eating komodo dragons. Mystery of
power off this little “gem” and the end
A year or two ago recall a bit of a buzz parents’ death no longer a mystery; now it’s
results would be barely acceptable as I

new monster time to run!

direct-to- video. within the industry about a
thriller involving some sort of killer komo-
I wouldn’t call Komodo formulaic per se;
The Spencers are a supposedly happily
do dragon. Big things were anticipated there’s no real heart pounding lead-up or
married couple. Their grown daughter is off
climactic finale, but the titular dragons look
to University, and it isn’t long before Claire from the directorial debut from Michael
Lantieri, FX guru behind Jurassic Park, remarkable (having never actually seen a
(Pfeiffer) becomes convinced that a ghostly

42 Rue Morgue
 SPAWN. COMPASSION

Sure, Edward Scissorhands, King Kong. Shaft and The Fly are angry. That's why they're Movie Maniacs.

But they're tragic characters as well, which is why they make such beautiful and compelling action figures.

Go to Spawn.com to see these and the other 120-plus figures McFarlane Toys is producing in 2000.
SPAWN.COM: A PLACE CALLED HOME FOR THE MISUNDERSTOOD.

SPAUUN.COM
toys movies tv video games comic books sports

ralHHl All Rights ReseivcO KING KO McFARLANE TOYS

I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO HEARS YOUR CRIES. AM THE ONLY I

ONE WHO FEELS YOUR PAIN. YOU WILL FEEL MINE.

"An excellent debut to an impressive series of Blair Witch

games from Gathering of Developers." - Gamespot

"A frighteningly cerebral gaming experience." -eUniverse

"Don't play Blair Witch with the lights off, for when you are finished
you will be loo scared to leave your seat." - JustAdventure.com

"Best use of a franchise." - GameSpy.com

THREE GAMES, THREE DEVELOPERS, ONE MYTHOLOGY

Gal lie ring of Developers proudly announces a three-game series based on the rich mythology behind the
1

blockbuster film 'The Blair Witch Project .'" Haxan Films has granted unprecedented access to its wealth
of intricate folklore, providing developers Terminal Reality, Human Head and Ritual Entertainment with

ample fodder for detailed and compelling storylines. These chilling narratives are powered by the awe-
inspiring Nocturne engine, for masterful and blood-curdling realism.

Blair Witch Volume I: Rustin Parr Blair Witch Volume II: The Legend Blair Witch Volume HI: The Elly
of Coffin Rock Kcdward Talc
Rustin Parr combines adventure Human Head Studios The Elly Kedward Tale is geared
clcmcnis such as research, exploration infuses the power of Nocturne " techno-1

toward action sequences anti will feature a

and puzzle-solving with heart-
game
logy with Resident Evil-style
play, making The Legend of Coffin
spell-based combat system that draws
from three distinct disciplines ol magic.
the Blair Witch, series
pounding action to create a rightening
f

gaming experience. Rock a uniquely

salislying romp through hell oil Earth.

September 2000 October 2000 November 2000

 -

real komodo, I’m willing to trust Mr. Tip-

The Sucking Continues all. The Hunger Collection
pett.) And the bloodthirsty lizards pack
is a short series (as far as I
enough punch to distract you from the over The Hunger: Vampires
know there are only two
simplified plot about a ruthless oil tycoon Starring Terence Stamp
entrees) that spins off the
desperate to cover up the killings. Directed by Various
Bowie film, and offers
Overall, Komodo confirms what we all Written by Various
further proof that it’s
already knew about monster movies. A York Entertainment/
going to take a lot of
good script is like frosting on an ice cream Maverick Entertainment
effort for a successful res-
cake - it adds flavour but not essential to
With the exception of John Carpenter’s urrection of the blood
enjoyment. That said, Komodo should look
recent entree, the '90s haven’t been agood sucking horror icon.
pretty tastyon your video store shelf next decade for the vampire. At least not as far Vampires chronicles .

to just about any direct-to-video fare, or

as horror buffs are concerned. Sure we've four separate tales of the
even Roland Emmerich's Godzilla. But of
course, we know that’s redundant.
seen a lot of Anne Rice drivel, but it’s been vampire, each intro- |
liAhNHS
a long time since I’ve see anything like the duced by a massively
-Tom Dragomir class of the Hammer films, or for that mat- Stamp who does
pretentious Terence his
ter, anything interesting best to make sense. The first chapter is a

involving vampires at redemption tale/soft porn in which a young

Short Sharp Shock

Divided Into Zero
Starring Phillipe Daoust, Max Firatli and Griffith Brewer
Written, produced, photographed, edited, directed (and most
likely catered) by Mitch Davis
Infliction Films (www.inflictionfilms.com)

tion; guaranteed not to Divided is primarily a film of images (we

disturb, frighten, involve don’t hear a human voice until nearly ten
or entertain. minutes in). As the result of a botched C-
Fortunately there are section, our protagonist (played at separate
still guys out there like points in his life by Daoust, Firatli and
Mitch Davis, grindhouse Brewer) has grown up with "a fascination
aficionados who have for bleeding fine cuts”; said fetish first

grown into filmmakers manifests itself in acts of self-mutilation.

in their own right. Guys Later, this desire is directed outward.
who knew who Lucio Filmed primarily in grainy, blown-oi
Fulci was before Super 8 and 16mm, Davis juxtaposes shots
Quentin Tarantino “dis- of seeming innocence (swing sets and lad-
Divided Into Zero: "a bleak glimpse at a disturbed mind.
covered” The Beyond, ders) directly against more shocking
Every so often there comes a point when and have taken the next step, continuing the footage (small children, faces covered in
you’ve just got to wonder if there's any tradition of their influences without resort- blood), only to return to those earlier shots,
point in watching horror films anymore. ing to the kind of obnoxious drink-your- now seemingly corrupted by what has come
The days of the truly subversive exploita- own-piss subreferencing popularized by the before.
tion movie seem long gone, supplanted by aforementioned where-is-he-now and RM's These disparate moments slowly cohese
an endless parade of retarded retreads and personal favourite whipping boy Kevin and gain context as the film carries forward,
pointless remakes of old TV shows. Sure, Williamson. No sir, the only piss-drinking building downhill momentum to deliver a
The Blair Witch Project was scary, but there that goes on in Davis’ Divided Into Zero is powerful gut punch. It is a combination that
was precious little subtext beyond the of the entirely literal sort. takes the movie out of the realm of shock-
“boo” factor, and now even its small Make no mistake, this is a visceral and for-shock-alone and into that of the truly
charms have been knocked aside by the uncompromising film, horror in all its bleed- transgressive.
PTB to make way for a sequel that no one ing, corpse-mutilating, 1 0-year-old-girl Needless to say, only the strong of mental
wants or needs. nailed-to-a-wall-with-razor-blades-stuffed- and intestinal fortitude need apply; Davis
Face it, we’re a long way from the days in-her-mouth glory. In its scant 32 minutes didn't intend this to be his calling card t<

of Last House on the Left or The Texas you'll discover more eye-damaging, emo- Hollywood studios looking to offer him a
Chain Saw Massacre, when audiences left tionally-undermining, mind-terrorizing three-picture deal and a chance to direct
theaters feeling like they'd been clobbered mania than is to be found in the entire Chuck Norris in back-to-back sequels t

with the business end of a coal shovel and Dimension Films catalogue. It prods and Top Dog. This reviewer certainly hopes that
wondering where they'd lost that sense of provokes the viewer in a lot of psychologi- he’ll continue to press forward with this
personal safety they’d come in with. Horror cally vulnerable spots. It is the cinematic kind of daring, independent and truly sub-
movies today are vacuum-sealed under equivalent of The Bad Touch. versive horror cinema, and can't wait until
childproof caps, artificially flavoured, plas- A bleak glimpse into a disturbed mind, he makes the leap to feature-length.
tic wrapped and sanitized for your protec- told in a fractured, non-narrative form, -Joseph O'Brien

46 Rue Morgue
 LEGENDS
FINAL CUT
.sony.com/urbanlegends

IN THEATRES SOON
 Celebrate the seasmi wit-h ’these
spooky treats from Vff^se Shrabande

^ KUm:K I Cyv. >hliK I

WHAT r THENGHT
LIES
BENEATH

nHiJJu','/aajj'3 sa

liiujii-iU’
woman makes a deal with the dark side, some sort of life lesson, but it all seems too (hat the entire human race should be
cursing herself for all eternity. If you're contrived. Really, all these films have in murdered and sodomized (in that

wondering what that has to do with vam- common is that they are low-budget soft order - I guess the
pires, you’re not the only one. Chapter two porn affairs with no heart, made by people recipients are less like-
is a silly comedy in which vampirism is with no apparent interest in vampire lore ly to object that way).
used as a metaphor for a young man whatsoever. More importantly, Vampires Despite crappy pro-
attempting to lose his virginity. While seri- furthers my belief that Fright Night has yet duction values and a
ously lacking in the chills department, this to be replaced as the best vampire film of
episode does succeed in providing some all time. hell, maybe even
light horror through TV-sitcom style come- -Aaron Lupton because of them -
dy. The third episode provides an honest Schizophreniac func-
attempt at straight-up horror, in a tale of a Misanthropathon: tioned remarkably
man following his lust straight to a suitably well if only as a
gruesome and twisted demise. While not a
The Sequel wake up call to peo-
breakthrough in modern storytelling, this ple who mistakenly
Necromaniac
chapter would make a decent episode of thought they'd seen
John Giancaspro and Ron Atkins
Starring
Tales From the Crypt with the addition of
,
it all. I have to include myself here;
Written, directed, produced, edited,
plenty o’ soft porn, of course. The final it’s probably the closest I've ever
scored, catered, beaten, raped and dis-
story could serve as a definition for anti-cli- come to feeling guilty about a guilty
emboweled by Ron Atkins
mactic; a tale of a female vampire travel- pleasure.
El Independent Cinema
ling through France satisfying her hunger Our Ron has certainly been a busy
for foreign food (i.e. the red stuff) provides My, my. It seems like just last fall I beaver, cranking out this sequel less
plenty of T&A but not much else. The sur- reviewed Ron Atkins’ straight-to-vid splat- than a year after the original was
prise twist has our vampire friend settling ter opus Schizophreniac: The Whore Man- released. Once again, Harry Russo is

down for a life of vegetarianism. Nice. gier, a flick that pretty much lived up to its stalking the streets of Las Vegas and
Terence Stamp attempts to hold these title and then some and then a bit more. It gleefully shredding anyone and every-
episodes together, preaching about the dif- starred the inimitable John Giancaspro as one who gets in his way, still getting
ferent sort of ‘hungers' we all experience, drug-crazed cross-dressing serial killer his orders from Rubberhead, a ventril-

and that each story is supposed to provide Harry Russo, a misguided soul convinced oquist dummy - like Dylan said, you

Don' Go In Da Hood

Starring Eminem, Killah Priest and Rah Digga

Written and directed by Dale Resteghini
A-Pix Entertainment

Someone, or something, is terrorizing the I found myself passing

mean streets of New
York City and today's away much viewing time
I hottest hip hop commodities better beware. by debating which is

I But is it all an elaborate publicity scam worse, enduring yet

I designed to boost rap artist sales? One another unfortunate take
reporter, a rag-tag bunch on The Blair Witch Pro-
of suburban whities and ject or having to
their trusty dog Pug are acknowledge another
determined to find out. pointless sub-genre. I

Unfortunately, we don’t didn’t want to have to do

really learn much about this to you, but behold:
the Hip Hop Witch by the Urban Thriller.
way of an endless bar- DHHW has all the staple
rage of first person testi- lens flares, jump-cuts and
monial from artists like soft focus you'd expect
Mobb Deep, Ja Rule and from a glorified ’90 minute hip hop video way. Writer/director Dale Resteghini gets
Vitamin C who all come but falls seriously flat as a coherent movie. props for working a concept with serious
to the same conclusion A handful of cute moments, a sly reference crossover potential, certain to rake in scads
(your guess is as good or two and a fitting wink-wink climax are as of straight-to-video dollars from suburban
as mine). This much we know for sure - close as the movie ever comes to finding teens who’ll think it’s “the shit." But I c;

a witch, probably black, may have a itself. see the average RM reader buying into this
bad weave, and seems to have a bit of a Only one rap all-star actually bites the dust as either a legitimate horror flick or even a
thing for anal probing. Just ask Eminem (off-screen no less) and the subplots are so real parody. You’ll probably think it’s shit,

and Spliff Star about her six foot long fin- painfully spreud out the movie loses any period.
gers.... momentum it manages to gather along the -Tom Dragomir

Rue Morgue 49
gotta serve somebody. If you’re expecting sion. Writer/director Robert Sydney’s mother provide a
~ ew twists to the plot.. .well, don’t, ‘cause Larkin's vision (or lack thereof) few chuckles (when it’s dis-
there ain’t none to be had. However, we're unfortunately neglects the ele- covered that Sydney has
treated to a bit of insight into Harry's tor- ments of sharp social satire that unknowingly slaughtered his
tured past - an abusive childhood? Damn, I made Orwell’s story a modern infected Uncle Greg, Mom
didn’t see that coming! We’re also privy to classic. snaps, giving the trio of killers
more of his hallucinations this time, includ- For instance, the government’s a stem talking to).

ing one priceless sequence in the desert dur- mandate in Viral Assassins hus Of course the Troma addicts
ing which Harry gets beaten up by Jesus. nothing to do with assimilation will check this out based on the
(Christ, coincidentally, is played by Atkins - or totalitarian intimidation - it label alone. But if you want to
someone is taking this whole director-as- just happens to be cheaper to spare yourself the ninety min-
god thing too far.) kill than paying for healthcare. utes it took to unveil a last-sec-
Like its predecessor, Necomaniac is essen- The acting is commendable for ond plot twist Stevie Wonder
tially a one-man show and the feral Gian- a cast of twelve, but simplistic could have seen coming, I'd
caspro once again proves more than equal to thinking fuels this go-nowhere plot that advise skipping out on this turkey.
the task. His energy level is downright affords grand revelations such as money
-
-Tom Dragomir
astonishing I don’t know what this guy talks, and that governments may be - brace
does for a day job, but you can bet it proba- yourself now - corrupt!
bly doesn’t involve sitting behind a desk for Viral Assassins redeems itself slightly in

long periods. Ever wonder what Leatherface the final third when Larkin seems to stop
would be like on PCP? I used to, taking things too seri-
but not any more. ously. A Turuntino-
Needless to say, Necronumiac
is not for everyone. But the a surprise visit from
jaded among us (are you listen-

ing, Gore-met?) really owe it to

themselves to shove this one into
the VCR at the earliest conve-
nience, as it’s probably the most
offensive thing I've seen in years.
After all, even the most dubious
achievement is an achievement
nonetheless.

-John W. Bowen

Gonna Party I've never considered suns which has never known darkness.
myself an aficionado of After an archaeological excavation
Like It's 1984 the realm of the great uncovers evidence of an ancient
Viral Assassins beyond. I hate Star Trek and all its annoy- strophe panic plagues the community
Starring Jim Gordon, Ray Kelly and ing spin-offs. I've never been to a con- as Aeon approaches the darkness of
Steve Gatschet vention or been abducted, and I’m pretty their first ever nightfall. Scientists from
Written and directed by Robert Larkin sure the Man From U.N.C.L.E. is just the University attempt to prove the
Troma Team Video some guy who's related to one of my par- existence of a rare solar eclipse brought
ents. So now that most of you sci-fi fans on once every thousand years. The
A low rent version of Orwell’s 1984, Viral
have stopped reading this, let me tell you cult-like clan of Watchers try to prove
Assassins is almost as dull as its unimagina-
what I really think. Science fiction's it's a sign of God's vengeful wrath
tive title. Set sometime in the future (we're
greatest strength, and much of its appeal, atoning for scientific heresy. Caught in
never told exactly when) the movie's only
has to be found in its ability to present the middle of the madness are Illyra
discernible plotline involves Billy, Bobby
universal human themes coyly disguised and Metron, daughter of the scientists’
and Sydney, three members of a government
in larger than life personas and fantastic leader and a disaffected Watcher with
agency responsible for "eliminating" those
scenarios. The rational verses the intu- telekinetic powers.
afflicted with a fatal disease. We're also
itive, science versus religion, Luke versus Roger Corman’s track record aside,
never informed exactly what the virus is, but
Darth. These seemingly simple fables of this is a global, big-budget concept that
we're assured that it makes cancer look like
good and evil or triumph through perse- could have truly realized the story’s
the sniffles. Mind you, from what I could
verance offer profound observation and potential with just a few less cut-cor-
tell, the virus looks a lot more like a bad case
comment on the human condition lacking ners. But even without all the fancy
of acne than the by-product of a debilitating
in most horror. production values that the movie really
epidemic.
Which brings us to Nightfall, voted the deserved, Nightfall is straightforward
And while the idea of three gun toting exe-
cutioners wiping out pizza faced citizens
greatest sci-fi story of all time by the Sci- and profound all the same. Now that's
ence Fiction Writers of America. Isaac science fiction.
sounds cool, the execution of this dialogue-

heavy snoozer keeps the pace crawling slug-

Asimov's classic tale of the planet Aeon, -Tom Dragomir
a world in a complex orbit around six
gishly toward the movie's foregone conclu-

50 Rue Morgue
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 The Truth Is Out There
Communion DVD
Starring Christopher Walken, Lindsay Crouse and Basil
Hoffman
Directed by Philippe Mora
Written by Whitley Strieber
Elite Entertainment

Communion creat- Strieber took a lot of flak for his public

ed quite astir when it “confession," but whether he's nuts, a liar or
was released in 1988. just telling it like it is, doesn't change the
Written by Whitley fact that Communion is a very good film.

(The Wolfeit) Strieber, The dialogue is powerful and offers a realis-

it was an account of the alien abductions that tic portrayal of a New York writer (with all

apparently befell the author during his life. the cynicism that entails) coming to terms
For So adamant was Strieber about the with his own mental breakdown and subse-
real.

truthfulness of his experience, that he took it quent belief in aliens.

Not So Fulsome Fulci
upon himself to author the screenplay for the Walken, of course, plays Walken - and Ihfillflw York Ri p per DVD
movie and also co-produce. rules the film! His intensity and complete Starring Jack Hedley, Antonella
Communion is a dramatized account of absorption in the part adds a lot of chills to Interlenghi, Howard Ross and Alexandra
what Strieber claims happened; Christopher Communion's ongoing atmosphere of Delli Colli

Walken plays a successful author who, over “something menacing going on." Scenes Directed by Lucio Fulci
the courseof the film, comes to believe that involving short, latex-masked aliens which Written by Gianfranco Clerici, Lucio Fulci,
he has been abducted by aliens. Some of his could have been laughable with another Vincenzo Mannino and Dardano Sacchetti
friends also experience strange phenomena, actor, are rendered surreal and disturbing Anchor Bay Entertainment
and his son starts talking about the “little largely because of Walken's emotional com-
The New York Ripper (Lo squartatore di
blue men" who come to him in his sleep. On mitment to the part.
New York) is the most notorious film in the
the insistence of his wife, he undergoes ther- Director Philippe Mora ditches cynicism
Fulci canon, its violent sexuality and cynical
apy and begins to uncover some pretty trou- and starry eyed credulity to make a disturb-
world view dividing opinions among even
bling memories, including one where he is ing picture. At no point does he commit one
the most ardent Fulciphiles. Half giallo, half
anally probed by aliens who look like way or the other and let us know definitive-
slasher, and all sleaze. Ripper is Fulci’s
squashed goblins. ly whether these abductions arc taking place,
attempt to out-maniac Maniac.
or if Strieber is suffering a psychotic
A painfully contrived duck quacking
episode. Drawing heavily on depictions of
stalker slices and dices assorted young
madness and helplessness, Mora also uses
women, while playing cat and mouse with
Allan Zavod's amazing score to keep the
aging cop Fred Williams (Hedley). Williams
goings-on very ambiguous and make things
seeks aid in catching the killer from psy-
genuinely frightening.
chologist Dr. Paul Davis (House By the
This DVD re-release offers the obligatory
Cemetery Malco), who spews
star ludicrous
outtakes which provide a lot of insight into
psychobabble while playing computer chess.
the director's filming strategy. Of interest is
Most of the sleaze content is provided by Dr.
that a well-padded budget allowed him to
Butcher, M.D. alumnus Alexandra Delli
shoot a huge amount of footage for the
Colli, here a wealthy nymphomaniac who
dreamlike abduction scenes and hand-pick
tape records her perverse sexual encounters
the three or four seconds he felt were com-
for her dysfunctional husband to enjoy.
pletely convincing. Interestingly, all of the
After a foot/vagina encounter in a low rent
effects for Communion were done the old
pool hall, fully restored in this release, she
way (“in-camera” as opposed to post-pro-
meets her gruesome end following a sadistic
duction), a technique that lends a lot of cred-
sexual encounter with main red herring
ibility to the final look.
Mickey Scellenda, a hulking menace who
Speaking of credibility, Chris Carter
never utters a single line of dialogue.
should be sending royalty cheques to
All of the characters in this film have dark
Philippe Mora and Whitley Strieber. Not
secrets, but are so poorly drawn out and
only is Communion an obvious source for
unlikeable that they seem to have been
the X-Files ; it is a fine example of what the
inserted at random between the gory mur-
show came close to being in its best
ders.
episodes.
-Eric Sparling continued on page 56
A composite of the alien in question.

52 Rue Morgue
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 A Real Horror Story
Shock Ie m tam ws.pt the Wolves
-

Starring Daria Nicolodi and John Steiner Starring Kurt Raab, Jeff Roden and Wolf-
Directed by Mario Bava gang Schenk
Written by Dardano Sachetti, Lamberto Bava, Francesco Barbieri & Paolo Brigenti Directed by Ulli Lommel
Anchor Bay Entertainment Written by Kurt Raab
Anchor Bay Entertainment
Italian genre maestro Mario Bava left us a film than some of his earlier efforts. Lam-
rich legacy of imaginative, fantastic cinema, berto Bava, Murio's son (and later a fine Fritz Haarman was one of the more noto-
from his debut feature as director, the gothic director in his own right) claims he and rious serial killers of the last century, a petty
La Maschera del tlenionio ( Black Sunday - co-scripter Sachetti were influenced by the thief, con man. black marketeer and police
1960) to the SF/horror hybrid Terrore ncllo works of Stephen King. informant who preyed on desperate young
spazio ( Planet of the Vampires - 1965) to the Frequent Argento collaborator Nicolodi men in post-World War I Germany. With
colourful comic book adapta- ( Deep Red) stars as Dora, promises of food, money and employment.
tion Diaholik ( Danger: Dia- who, along with her young Haarman would lure victims to his flat,

holik - 1968). His dynamic son Marco and new husband where he would ply them with food and
visual flair, moody atmos- Bruno (Steiner, who also liquor before attacking them, chewing
phere and intricate camera- appeared with Nicolodi in through their necks in an orgy of lust until
work have influenced dozens Tenebre), has just moved back they were nearly decapitated. Aided by his
of filmmakers. Tim Burton into the home she once shared partner in love and crime, homosexual pros-
has admitted that Sleepy Hol- with Marco’s father, a heroin titute Hans Grans, the pair would butcher
low and Batman owe enor- addict who committed suicide the bodies and sell the meat as pork on the
mous debt to Black Sunday some years before. Things get black market. Ultimately he was caught, and
and Diabolik, respectively. freaky when HI* Marco starts after writing a graphic confession detailing
The fogbound Planet of the acting a little too much like the sexual pleasure he derived from the
Vampires and its long-dead his dear old dead dad, Dora murders, was publicly beheaded. These
but still treacherous inhabitants were an starts a slow but steady descent towards a crimes were the inspiration for Fritz Lang's
obvious influence on Alien. Sei dilute per nervous breakdown and the furniture starts 1931 film M. the film that made Peter Lorre
I'assassinO (Blood and Black Lace - 1964) moving around all by itself. an international star.

virtually invented the giallo cycle, and the Bava takes this fairly standard setup and The crimes were also the inspiration for
makers of Friday the I3tli and its immediate transforms it into a truly frightening talc Zflrtlichkeit der WOlfe (Tenderness of the
sequels stole so much from Reazione a cate- with the unmistakable visual panache that Wolves), a more factual account of Haar-
na ( A Bay of Blood -1971) that one can only characterized all his films. He conjures a man's crimes written by and starring Kurt
wonder why a plagiarism suit didn't arise dreamlike mood, punctuated by increasingly Raab, and directed by Ulli Lommel (The
from it. nightmurish setpieces, cli- Boogeyman). Shot for little money
Yet despite this, the bulk of Bava’s fil- maxing in the Mother of all in just three weeks, this film is a
mography (like many of his contemporaries) popcorn shots (do yourself a chilling and disturbing document
either failed to gain wide release or appreci- favour - watch the trailers and of Haarman's rampage.
ation in North America, or. when it did, it supplements on the DVD Raab portrays Haarman not as a
was in a severely truncated form relegated to after you see the movie, as monster, but as a sick, yet very
"b"-featurc status in the late night drive-in they all blow this great human, being. These were desper-
movie circuit. Thankfully, due in large part jump-out-of-y our- pants ate times for a country poverty
Video
to the efforts of preservationists like moment; trust me. you'll stricken after the war, and Haar-
Watchdog’s Tim Lucas, Image Entertain- know it when you see it) and man exploited this despair to fill

ment and Anchor Bay, much of his work is ending with a nicely twisted his wallet and feed his homicidal
now seeing the light of day, fully restored twist that gives modern pictures like Fight al desires - all too human traits.

and digitally remastered. The past six Club and The Sixth Sense a run for their There are only two graphic depictions of
months alone have seen the release of Black money. murders, but this film has an ever-pervading
Sunday, Baron Blood, Lisa and The Devil, Anchor Buy has packaged their DVD sense of doom, much like Henry, Portrait of
with many others on the way. beautifully, with a gorgeous new transfer a Serial Killer, with which it has a lot in
Shock (originally released as Beyond the direct from the original negative materials common. Taut performances and a convinc-
Door II - erroneously sequelizing a film it and both the English and Italiun-languagc ing period atmosphere belie the lack of bud-
bears no relation to), the latest Bava film to audio tracks. One couldn't ask for a better get, and while the strong gay theme may
grace the DVD market, was also the direc- farewell from one of the genre giants. turn off the less mature, this is a horror film
tor’s last. Made three years prior to his death well worth seeing.
-Joseph O’Brien
in 1980, Shock is a more "traditional" horror -The Gore-met

54 Rue Morgue
 I Don't Know If It's Art, But (I Think) I Like It
I •
Possession (Director’s Cut)
prowling, restless camera that simultaneous- which this reviewer is more than | I
Starring Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani
ly distances and captivates the viewer. happy to indulge it in.
Written and directed by Andrzej Zulawski
Zulawski calls Possession autobiographi- Sadly, as is too often the case with Euro-
Anchor Bay Entertainment
cal, written during a period when his own pean horror, the original North American
Folks, I have a confession to make: I
marriage was coming apart; in this it shares release of Possession was shorn of more than
haven't got a clue what's going on in this
some creative kinship with The Brood , the forty minutes of its running time. Fortunate-
film. I’ve watched it three times; I’ve lis-
film it most closely resembles. In fact, it ly, the heroes at Anchor Bay have once again
tened to the director’s commentary track: I
could be viewed almost as a merging of Cro- restored it to its original length. The addi-
killed last Saturday watching the thing in
nenberg’s visceral "body horror" aesthetic tional material may not add much in the way
reverse slow motion and I still can’t make and the disjointed nightmure logic of David of clarity to the storyline, but at least the
heads or tails of it. And what’s worse... I
Lynch. As you might imagine, it’s not to all viewer now has the opportunity to view the
think I like it this way. - whether they
tastes, but it does have a haunting, lyrical film as the director intended
On the surface it seems
quality that demands multiple viewings.., understand it or not.
deceptively simple: Anna -Joseph O Brien
(Adjani, in an award-win-
ning performance, who
would later refer to the film
Giallo Alla Fulci emerges as a condemnation of the sexual
repression, self-righteousness und
as "psychological pornog- Don't Torture a Duckling
hypocrisy that characterizes the townspeo-
Mark (Neill, in
raphy”) and Starring Florinda Balkan and Barbara ple as the hunt for the mystery killer among
Malcolm McDowell mode) Bouchet them intensifies.
are suffering a severe mar- Directed by Lucio Fulci
As Stephen Thrower notes in his Beyond
ital breakdown that neither Written by Lucio Fulci, Roberto Gianti & Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci. Duckling
seems able to properly articulate. Mark Gianfranco Clerici
is most notable for its inversion of many
assumes he’s gotten to the bottom of Anna's Anchor Bay Entertainment conventions common to the giallo genre.
increasingly unsettling behaviour when he Despite no mere
Those familiar with Lucio Fulci only its title, it is
uncovers an affair she's had with effeminate carbon copy of Argento's
through his "big three" - Zombie, City of
German weirdo Heinrich (Heinz Bennent.
the Living Dead and The Beyond - will be animal-themed gialli that
masterfully chewing scenery). But
when he were then popular (and
somewhat surprised, possibly even disap-
confronts Heinrich and realizes that the affair much-imitated) at the time;
pointed by the luck of outrageous bloodlet-
ended some time ago, both men are driven to Fulci abandons urban set-
ting in this, the latest entry in Anchor
uncover Anna’s other secret life. Said life tings for a rural one, and
Bay’s “Lucio Fulci Collection." Converse-
involves an apartment she’s rented, where makes target of his
ly. those critics dismissive of Fulci as noth- the
she wiles away the hours having sex with the unseen exclusively
ing more than a goremongering hack may killer
slimy, tentacled monstrosity she sponta- pre-teen boys instead of the
find themselves at a loss to explain this
neously gave birth to in a subway station standard contingent of sexy
stylish and genuinely unsettling giallo,
some months back and brutally murdering
young women. There a strong clement of
probably the strongest of his non-supernat- is

anyone who drops by to take a look. Along sexuality, and even eroticism, work here
ural films, and indeed, Fulci’s own person- at
theway Mark meets Helen (also Adjani), his (focusing primarily on Bouchet’s
al favourite.
son's teacher, who, in a Vferrigo-esque turn, fish-out-of-water city girl), but purpose
Beautifully photographed by cinematog- its
looks almost identical to Anna. Strangely, no to drive the dark undercurrent of the story
rapher Sergio D'Offizi ( Cannibal Holo- is
one seems to find this peculiar, including the and to sharply contrast the conservatism of
caust). Duckling is a film of powerful con-
film, which so full of narrative ellipses, non the villagers, rather than to simply titillate
trasts: it opens with a series of disturbing
sequitur subplots, ambiguous characters and the viewer before the next big
images - a baby’s skeleton unearthed by an kill.
leaps of logic it would send even Dario Although Don't Torture A Duckling
unseen figure on a hillside, a boy mali-
Argenlo into a screaming fit.
remains a lesser-known piece of Fulci’s
ciously slingshotting stones at a lizard
And yet, despite all of this (perhaps overall filmography, its renewed life via
basking on a nearby rock - juxtaposed
because of it), it works - and makes sense - video greatly welcomed. With the recent
against the lush countryside (the film was is
on a purely emotional level (and really, appearance of City of the Living Dead and
shot around Monte Sant'Angelo in the
shouldn't all horror films aspire to this?). the much-anticipated The DVD release of
South of Italy) and the seemingly-idyllic
Images of division permeate the movie, with Beyond on the horizon, it’s a safe bet that
village in which the story takes place. It
characters constantly separated by vertical we'll be seeing alot more of Lucio for a
perfectly sets the mood of the piece, an
lines and objects within the director’s metic- long time to come. Viva Fulci!!
unconventional thriller which begins with
ulously-composed frames. The whole thing
a series of child murders and ultimately -Joseph O’Brien
unfolds in a series of long takes shot with a

Rue Morgue 55
 continued from page 52 Gone Kampin' none other than multiple Oscar winner Rick
Baker, with whom Landis would later col-
Schlock laborate on American Werewolf and more.
As a giallo this film is confusing to say the
Starring Eliza Garrett, Saul Kahan and
least, the duck angle quickly explained in a
John Landis
-John W. Bowen
wholly unsatisfying ending that comes right
Written and directed by John Landis
out of left field. But as a slasher, this movie
provides some of the most nasty, gore-
Englewood Entertainment An Obscure Lesson
drenched scenes set to film, the most Landis maintains that his first feature
I nstitute Ben amenta
j

heinous gag seeing a woman tied to a bed “should have a little card saying. "Made for Starring Mark Rylance, Gottfried John
being sliced through a nipple and eyeball S60.000 in twelve days by a 2 -year-old'."
1
and Alice Krige
w ith a razor blade. The man responsible for An Directed by The Brothers Quay
Fulci. who cameos as the chief American Werewolf in London Written by Alan Passes and
of police, was branded a misog- is much too modest - this The Brothers Quay
ynist after this film was released, near-forgotten cheapie is a Zeitgeist Films/Kino Video
accusations he fought off the rest campy gem that's long overdue
I'm always a little apprehensive at review-
of his career, Released in u for a revival.
ing a film I don't understand, and this is defi-
washed out. poorly cropped and Schlock owes more to Warn-
nitely the case with Institute Benjamenta. The
slightly cut version by Vidmork er Brothers cartoons than to
film was originally released in 1995 by the
in the '80s. this digitally remas- classic horror; despite the sub-
enigmatic Quay Brothers ( Street of Croco-
tered releuse restores The New ject matter, rnuny of the sight
diles see RM#I0), those two incomprehensi-
York Ripper to its original gags seem to anticipate Landis'
ble British auteurs who've nabbed awards for
anamorphic aspect ratio of blockbusters Animal House
and The Blues Brothers. Miss-
straining the limits of obscurity in cinema.
2.35:1 and includes the theatri-
Institute Benjamenta is the Quay's first live
cal trailer. Despite the criticisms ing link Schlockthropus (Lan-
action feature, but the brothers don't seem to
presented here, this film is a gory sleazefest dis in a gorilla suit) thaws out after 20-odd
make much of the fact; the movie still plays
that delivers on its decidedly lowbrow aspi- million years and embarks on u killing spree
out like a long, lugubrious sequence of
rations and will please some fans. in a small California town, only to be
strange images and stranger situations, Some-
thwarted Kong-style by his love for a beau-
-The Gore-met where in all of this, you may even be able to
tiful girl (Katherine Ross look-alike Gar-
eke out some kind of story.
rett).

Trivia: Landis directed the entire film

It concerns Jakob, a quiet guy who enrols in
wearing (he gorilla makeup since it look continued on pane 60

pic," says the surly camp director right laterwith The Howling and the screenplay
,

before his young churges become a lake was penned by John {Lone Star) Saylcs.
full of chunky soup in the 1978 classic But as is made clear in the commentary that
Piranha. For those who haven't seen this accompanies this DVD re-release, the crew
Roger Cortnan classic, it's all about how was still learning and the budget was tight.
the military industrial complex unleashes Whether intentional or not. there's noth-
horror on the defenceless public by getting ing quite like watching what these soon-to-
up to their usual shenanigans. It turns out be-talents came up with: the dialogue and
they’ve been experimenting with breeding costumes arc vintage seventies and the per-
an intelligent and libidinous super piranha formances. for the most part, arc pretty bad
An unfortunate victim of the Piranha
that is impervious to salt water. The toothy (Dillman went on to work on Falcon Crest
menace squirms its way out of its pond and and apparently used this film to practise). A beneath brought warmth to my twisted
starts chewin' up a froth of red river water. slow-mo medley of boat crushes/police cars heart. One of many highlights; the evil
The bad news is that Piranha smells as grinding to a halt and pyrotechnics going colonel pushing bathers back into the river
fishy as the clichd I just used to describe it. off looked like something out of The Can- to be eaten rather than allowing them to
The good news is that the actors know it; in nonball Run. crowd his boat. How can you go wrong
every one of these 8 1 minutes you can see Sayles' writing, however, is occasionally with a scene like that?
that they are only one smirk away from very funny and the sight of dozens of kid-
-Eric Sparling
bursting into peals of laughter. dies on inner tubes being munched from

56 Rue Morgue
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Rue Morgue 57
 The CARNOSAUR
D!NO FEAST! Trilogy Comes to DVD

issue K-Mart cammics) forced to deal

with marauding bands of dinosaurs, in
Carnosaur
the form of monster suits still in one
Starring Diane Ladd, Raphael Sbarge and Jennifer Runyon
piece after the first two films. Brandish-
Written and directed by Adam Simon
ing a facial expression that suggests that
Carnosaur 2 someone in his proximity cut a smelly
Starring John Savage, Cliff De Young and Rick Dean one, Valentine bounces from encounter
Directed by Louis Morneau to encounter, losing more and more
Written by Michael Palmer members of his crack team to his stellar
leadership, lacking the gore of the first
Carnosaur 3: Primal Species
film, and the zanincss of the second.
Starring Scott Valentine, Rick Dean and Anthony Peck
Carnosaur 3 is pretty tedious, but much
Directed by Jonathan Winfrey
like watching a train wreck in progress -
Written by Rob Kerchner
you want to turn away, but
New Horizons Pictures
somehow find it impossible.
Abandoning the desert
What was 1 thinking when I took this as the French say. rip-off) to first two films.
loculcs of the
little assignment on? With a combined James Cameron's (a gradu- Carnosaur 3 lakes place
running time of 251 minutes (slightly ate of the Corman studio) largely in a warehouse
more than lour hours), the Carnosaur Aliens. Shamelessly so, in somewhere near Long
Trilogy one hell of a way to
is kill an fact, that the joys to be Beach, and then shifts
afternoon. However. I managed to sur- found in Carnosaur 2 arc (rather inexplicably) to a
vive. and my recommendation for reliant on just how identical large boat for the climactic
undertaking this somewhat Herculean those two films are, Every battle.
task is to watch these films in one plot point, every situation, The Carnosaur films
marathon sitting as I did. aided by copi- every major character don’t intend to be high art.

ous amounts of alcohol. found within has a direct counterpart in its They don't even pretend to be particular-
Carnosaur (1993) was released in an obvious source of inspiration. Instead of ly good. But I just can't hate a movie (or
attempt to ride the coattails of another Oscar-nominatcd Sigourney Weaver, we in this case, movies) that tries this hard to
dinosaurs-run-amok flick whose title have Oscar-nominated John Savage, a long entertain. Gel a group of friends togeth-
escapes me. While substantially bloodi- way from The Deer Hunter. Instead of a er. chill the beer and plaster your ass to
er than its bigger budgeted brethren, the planetary colony, we have a power plant the couch for four hours.
most prominent sccncry-chcwcr at located in (you guessed it) the deserts of -Brad Abraham
work is Diane Ladd (Wild at Heart) por- California. Wisely ignoring the virux plot
traying the mad Dr. Triptcc. the device that dominated the proceedings of the
deranged geneticist plot- first film (along with every-
ting to rcpopulatc the thing else), Carnosaur 2 is eas-
world with dinosaurs, for ily the best installment in the
reasons left vague. Uti- series. Not a brain in its head

lizing chicken DNA and and fully aware of that fact,

hapless, sparsely clothed this film's prime entertainment
women, it isn't long value comes with the gleeful
before the resurrected anticipation that another rip-off
dinosaurs are gobbling (sorry, homage) is ubout to lake
down the cust, and laying place.
waste to a stretch of Cal- Carnosaur 3: Primal Species
CHkiiibHui
ifornia desert. Ladd gets (1995) answers the question
to shamelessly overact, that has been plaguing millions
and the rest of the cast of io-names get for years - whatever happened to Scott
to be lunch for the massive special Valentine who played Mallory's boyfriend
effect that is the carnosaur itself (and Nick in Family Ties'? The answer; he has
believe me, it's special indeed). become Col. Ranee Higgins, leader of an
Carnosaur 2 (1994) is a homage (or anti-terrorist force (complete with standard

58 Rue Morgue
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Rue Morgue 59
 mMrii
Weird Dream: the mysterious Lady Benjamenta.
continued from page 56

a weird, dilapidated school when; students train to

become servants by being taught the same lesson

over and over again. Presiding over this haunting rit-

ual is Lisa Benjamenta (Kirge) a teacher who rules

the academy with a stony face and a magical goat's
foot. The film seems to take as much interest in the
school's dingy interior us in Jakob's burgeoning love affair with lady
Benjamenta. but I wasn't loo sure either way.
I tried to like this film, but ultimately found its scroll of smudgy
images not enough of a payoff. Maybe I wasn't looking hard enough.
That said, it's obvious Institute Benjamenta is no boiler room effort:
its overdose of shady melancholy has been charitably, perhaps
unavoidably compared to Lynch's Eraserliead, and directors like
Terry Gilliam can't stop praising it enough. All the same. Institute
Benjamenta (which is subtitled This Dream People Cull Human Life)
seems more of a fever dream of images than an actual story. If you like
the look of horror but not necessarily the content, then give it a try.
Everyone else should probably stay away.
-Emma Anderson
Gazing Into the Abysmal

StarringJohn Carradine and Lon Chaney Jr.

Directed by David L. Hewitt
Written by D. Prentiss and Gary R. Heathcock
Englewood Entertainment

Horror fans suffering from insomnia don't count

sheep - they count bad films John Carradine starred
in. My pick for his worst remains Dracula's Castle.
but l gotta admit Gallery of Horrors - a.k.a. Return
From the Past, Dr. Terror's Gallery of Horrors,
Alien Massacre, The Blood Drinkers and The Blood
Suckers - is a very close second.
Standing in front of a really bad painting like a shrivelled, dodder-
ing Rod Serling. Carradine introduces an anthology of five half-assed
horror quickies and finds time to star in two of them. Chaney turns up
playing a scientist, although he looks more like a burnt-out has-been
spending his last days sleepwalking through Z-movies and drowning
in booze... well, that's how he looks, anyway.
But the real star here is the script; the English language is impover-
ished for adjectives to describe how wretched these stories are. ft's
almost like the writers sat down and compiled a list: "Stale ideas?
Check! Crappy dialogue? Check! Disjointed storylines? Check!"
Why the hell was this even reissued? It's cool to sec that so many
distributors are taking an interest in reviving cult classics and over-
looked masterpieces, but garbage like this makes me wonder who's
been put in charge of quality control, and why.
-John W. Bowen
60 Rue Morgue
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 Carnival of Souls 1962
Starring Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist and Sidney Berger
Directed by Herk Harvey
Written by John Clifford
The Criterion Collection DVD Director Herk Harvey as a strange apparition
In many cases, great films almost always its time, the night- in his surreal masterpiece. Carnival ol Souls
happen by accident. There rarely is any marish atmosphere
method to the madness of making them. The and surreal plateau inhabited by sundry green
best stuff creeps up and surprises you and the sequences made dinosaurs. A low budget quickie even by
things you meticulously plan rarely work out Carnival of Souls 19SI standards, this sci-fi/fantasy story
the way you’d expect. an oddity, and sub- owes greatly to Arthur Conan Doyle’s Lost
Carnival of Souls was a film I had heard sequently sealed World, if only conceptually. Production and
much about, but had never actually seen. It is its fate as a cult storyline are clearly secondary elements
arguably one of the most influential horror classic. sewn together around the claymation dino
films of the past forty years. Night of the Liv- This excellent sequences. Romero and Hugh Beaumont
ing Dead, The Shining - even last year's DVD includes two pristine versions of the salvage some uninspired dialogue along the
mega-hit The Sixth Sense - owe much to this film - the theatrical release and Harvey's way, and genre mainstay John Hoyt has
effective picture, filmed in Lawrence, Kansas restored cut - as well as trailers, retrospective some amusing moments as the black sheep
by Herk Harvey and many of the employees documentaries, a look at the locations today of the crew, (What does it take for an Amer-
at Centron, an outfit responsible for produc- and cast and crew bios (no surprise that Car- icanized Soviet to get a little respect in post
ing "mental hygiene” films. nival is the only major credit for all involved). Nazi Germany anyway?) But
Filmed on a shoestring. Carnival of Souls is If, like me, you've never seen Carnival of what really keeps Lost Conti-
distinguished from similar films of the peri- Souls, this DVD set should give you all the nent from rising above filler

od, by favouring mood and atmosphere over incentive you need. status are the interminable rock
effects. Drawing equal inspiration from F.W. -Brad Abraham climbing sequences, which
Mumau and the 1940s films of Val Lewton, kept me wondering why direc-
Carnival became the template for many sub- Rock Climbing 101 tor Newfield couldn't have
sequent low-budget horror films, getting filled that half-hour block by
Lost Continent 1951
maximum mileage for minimum cash. giving the native girl
Staring Cesar Romero, John Hoyt and
Church organist Mary Henry (Hilligoss) is (Acquanetta) more than three
Hugh Beaumont
the sole survivor of a drag race accident, and lines of dialogue.
Directed by Samuel Newfield
to put the incident behind her takes a job in Features on this reissue
Written by Richard H. Landau
Salt Lake City. But en route, a bizarre appari- include extra previews and the restored
Englewood Entertainment
tion (director Harvey), beckoning her to an green sepia tint of the plateau sequence.
abandoned amusement park, haunts her. When an experimental atomic powered Aside from that, there's not much else to
Mary's sanity comes into question and she rocket crashes on an island in the South separate this version from the one that
soon comes to realize that there is more to Pacific, Major Joe Nolan (Romero) must you've probably flipped past a hundred
these circumstances than meets the eye. lead an expedition to the crash site to recov- times on TV at four in the morning.
The twist ending isn't really a twist - the er important information. One problem: the
outcome is actually fairly predictable. But for rocket crash lands on top of a mountainous
-Tom Dragomir

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GOT BLOOD?
DO! plus obscure, rare, uncut, imported
horror, Godzilla, sci-fi, Giallos, XXX,

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62 Rue Morgue
 :

'" ,r •• •

W THIS ISSUE...
D in
COLOUM} I FEEL SICK #1 8. #2
by Jhonen Vasquez
SlavjeLabor Graphics
t<

Comics ® ’

by Roland Brown STEAMPUW #3

by Joe Kelly and Chris Bachalo.
Ciffhanger! r '
f .

spawn: dark ages #ts

V by Steve Niles and Nat Jones. \ -

O
who
little
ne really must admire
Vasquez’s gleeful sense of
and absurdity. The tortured outsiders
inhabit the dark and blatantly insane
universe that began with Johnny the
Jhonen
mayhem
the

haps a
Hell
humorous and

little

strip.
the horrific very effec-
tively-borrowing to a certain extent from
Edward Gorey. and Tim Burton, and
from Matt Groening's Life
However. Vasquez takes these
per-

in
..

y Alim Grant and

Image Comics

BATMAN L060
Simon Bisfcy
*
v

\
']

Homicidal Maniac (followed up with influences in an entirely new direction,

Squee! in 1997) might tempt your average creating in each book a charming slice of

writer to deal with them insanity all his own.

The genius of In terms of format as well as visually. /
seriously. else's fight - that is. until Absinthe literally
Vasquez' books is that
Feel Sick is somewhat of a departure from
rips out his heart (and apparently not for the
they enlighten us to the the style of the two previous series in that it
first time).
fact that such things as is presented in colour, and as one continuous
Steampunk has been slated as a "difficult"
homicidal mania and story rather than the series of vignettes and
read. While it is definitely it e challenging
childhood terror need independent stories that made up the previ-
than the typical
not be all doom and ous books. If you've never read a Vasquez
Cliffhanger! book, there I

gloom, and that the hor- book before, you don't know what a perfect
is nothing about it that I

rors of everyday exis- mix horror and hilarity can actually make.
doesn't make sense, and I

tence. explored in the Here's your chance to find out.

it appears to be a well I

right direction might just I was initially very skeptical of thought-out project that
make you shit yourself
book based on the fact that
this it was named will reward the patient
laughing rather than screaming. - somewhat presumptuously I thought - reader - something pre-
I Feel Sick reprises the role of Devi, a sup- after an entire sub-genre of SF. Traditional- cious and rare in an
porting character from JHM (readers of the ly a steampunk tale is a story of alternate industry plagued by half-
original series will remember her ill-fated history that imports some of the anarchic or baked ideas. Steampunk
date with the title character, and with the technology-based themes of the cyberpunk may not be redefining the
guy who uttered that now unforgettable line.
tradition into a historical setting. But con- sub-genre from which it

“Oh my god!! Somebody put shit in my sider the potential for translating these ideas extracted its name, but it is

pants!"). into medium comics). The tion to

a visual (i.e. it.

Devi is a delightfully cynical goth chick results are truly impressive. Steampunk is a
and tortured artist who loses her sanity due very richly-envisioned book, looking like Wifi, fhe savings
to creative frustration with her newfound part video game, part City of Lost Children,
job as a commercial artist and her rnd at times even approaches you gef by inenf ioning
confrontation with her own per- the kind of ultra-imaginative
sonal work: a painting containing sci-fi visions found in the fhis ad, we couldn't
an evil little demon-thing that’s
best issues of Heavy Metal
trying to take over her life by magazine.
afford a bigger ad.
destroying her work ethic. But The story concerns Cole
this is

tion
no heavy-handed disserta-
on the subject of an
inner turmoil. / Feel Sick
artist’s

is
Blaquesmith, a steam-pow-
ered cyborg who finds himself
mysteriously transplanted into any comic
15 % oQQ in fne sf«re.
missing none of the charm that industrial squalor of a
the
made its predecessors so great dystopic London in the grip of
- it's packed with truly the sadistic Lord Absinthe, and
inspired examples of mad comic at the bottom end of a brewing
genius from cover to cover - such as Devi's revolution-under the guidance of Sir Robert
voyage through the psychic fat of an obese Peel himself. Everyone seems to think that
lady who gets wedged in a hallway. (I
Cole is destined to lead the revolution, but
swear, he comes up with this shit on every Cole is the traditional reluctant hero - much
page.) more interested in understanding what's
Vasquez has a unique art style that blends happened to him than joining someone (4 1 6 974-92
) 1 1

Rue Morgue 63
 The most unfortunate thing rally, he becomes an outcast. How does he artist, Simon Bisley). And Bisley? Plainly

about the whole Spawn mythology is the respond to this tragic turn of events? He put (because it will be obvious to anyone
constant repetition. It seems as if
takes off into the solitude of who’s seen his work), he’s nitroglycerine on
the woods, breaking stuff and crack. This is not a typical crossover.
the writers are working under
limitations as to what they’re screaming “Why?!” in true When Scarface hires Lobo to kill the
allowed to do with their charac-
adherence to the old misun- Joker, the Joker convinces Lobo to take a
derstood monster archetype. second contract: S10 million dollars to see
ters and to what extent they're
allowed to “flesh out" the
He then confronts the Batman “discredited, humiliated and
Cogliostro character, and in destroyed.” Should the contract be fulfilled,
mythology surrounding them.
The result is that, while stories a heated discourse on how Joker claims he can die

may seem different on the sur- one should deal with being a a happy man. thus
Spawn, finds him to be (sur- allowing Lobo to keep
face, they are in fact very familiar

ideas repackaged with one or two prise!) cryptic in his his good name by ful-
answers. filling his contract with
token variables thrown in for good
measure. The plan seems to be to A number of writers (Neil Scarface. Undoubtedly,

tell (and sell) as many different Spawn sto-

Gaiman, for example) have proved it possi- chaos ensues. The
ries as possible by creating characters and ble to tell very successful stories within the story moves along at a

situations which are ultimately of little or no limitations placed upon the Spawn mytholo- manic pace, featuring
gy, but the result, as in the case of Dark Ages hordes of lobotomized
consequence to the Spawn world.
is usually far less satisfying. mental patients, end-
Covenant, the main character of Dark
less gratuitous gunplay
Ages, is a victim of this. He is Spawn tai- Obviously, in today’s comics
(see an anus double as
lored for the Sword and Sorcery crowd, and climate, character crossover books are a
an exit wound, kids!), more wholesale bodi-
while he made a nice looking action figure, dime a dozen. But it's also worth keeping in
he's essentially no different from his Man- ly mutilation than you can shake a stick at.
mind that not all crossovers arc created
hattan counterpart. His experiences offer
and many a snappy one-liner. In case you
lit- equal. For those of you who don't know,
tle in the way of anything new. He rules over
were wondering, this is an Elseworlds tale,
writer Alan Grant is a veteran of this type of
a small group of villagers of whom he
which means it doesn't take place within the
is crossover, and has a history of making them
quite fond (standing in for A1 Simmons' DC universe's continuity. Some people
great (just check out his excellent
homeless friends), but then one day he know how to tell cool stories without screw-
Batman/Judge Dredd crossovers - one of
blacks out and kills a bunch of them. Natu- ing up their mythology. 5
which was a collaboration with this book's

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64 Rue Morgue
 Buffy the Vampire Slayer #26
Angel #12

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Giles

uffy the Vampire Slayer: Spike and Dru #3

OCTOBER 2J100
www.darkhorse.com
www.buffy.com

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 King Shares His Secrets
Humanity’s Slimy Underside
Buffy’s Monster Mash

On Writing more revealingly, about his later dependen- Apocalypse Culture II

cy on alcohol und cocaine and of writing
Stephen King Adam Parfrey, ed.
The Tommyknockers with tissue paper
Scribner Feral House/
stuffed up his nose to stop the bleeding.
Blue collar writing - words banged out on The core of the book, however, is devoted Publishers Group West
cheap parchment with plebeian precision - to the craft of writing; a concise but leisure-
Ambivalence - it's the last thing a review-

reached its peak in the work of Stephen ly discussion on ideas, grammar, language, er wants to experience, but thanks to Adam
King. His novels and short stories - mostly structure, setting, characterization and how Parfrey I'm up to my ass in ambivalence

about vampires and werewolves and nasty right now. Like its predecessor, Apocalypse
they all contribute to the literary experience.
things in the attic - have made him the most King does a good job of balancing the blue Culture II is a compendium of essays, pho-

commercially successful living writer in the collar ethic of successful writing (skilled tos, artwork and news items from humani-

history of the craft. Think about fingers kept busy), with the magic of a story ty's slimy underside. Topics include ped-
it.

A book on writing is not only the cliche well told. Written during the much publi-
erasty, cannibalism, Satanism, serial murder
that King must have been doing his best to cized accident which nearly claimed his life
and a group advocating the resurrection of

avoid (apparently his fans had been dogging (retold in gruelling detail at the book's con-
Jesus through cloning; contributors and

him do God knows when) - now most revealing when he interview subjects include serial killer
to it since clusion), King is

that it's out, its inherent worth is indis- recounts how he returned to the manuscript Bobby Beausoleil, would-be presidential
As King assassin and Jodie Foster fan John Hinklev.
putable. himself notes in his intro- just five weeks after his accident.
duction; "someone who has sold as many Great writing, he says, is genetic. If you and a seemingly inexhaustible chorus of

books on fiction as I have must have some- don't have the genes, then you may become conspiracy theorists. An arresting read’

thing worthwhile to say about writing it." good (not great) by devouring words for a Damn straight, especially in that familiar

No argument there. living and committing to producing a steady let’s-slow-down-and-check-out-this-car-

On Writing is a little different from your stream of words as part of your daily rou- accident sense. Or at least it would be if not

average How To book. King begins his tine. King does his best to give up his for some maddening tactics on the part of

essay (little under three hundred words secrets, but he is ultimately bested by his
editor Adam Parfrey.

total) with a synopsis of his childhood; early own opinion that talent - maybe even genius The accompanying press release main-

- can hardly tains that “Parfrey refuses to provide easy

years with mother, absent father, brother explain itself. It merely is.

David and an insurmountable desire to get

moral lessons." Well, I beg to differ. What
-Rod Gudino he does is lurk in the bushes feigning impar-
published. Along the way, he kisses and tells
a little about Carrie and The Stand, and tiality when he has nothing to say, then busts

Rue Morgue 67
 NEW STORIES BY
Robert Boyczuk Michael Marano
XL. Bryers David Nickle
Douglas Clegg Joseph O'Brien
Gemma Files Ron Oliver
/lichael Thomas Ford David Quinn
Brian Hodge Thomas S. Roche
Caitlin R. Kiernan Becky N, Southwell

Nancy Kilpatrick C. Mark Umland

William J, Mann Edo van Belkom

Edited, with an Introduction, and a new story

by MICHAEL ROWE

OCTOBER
Arsenal Pulp Press
www.arsenalpulp.com
in like a one-man editorial SWAT team. Tir-

ing off platitudes. To make matters worse,

he can't seem to get comfy with a single atti-

tude; his schtick waffles between left-wing

alarmist, right-wing blowhard and carnival
barker. He seems to be uncomfortable with
the idea that most of his audience will con-
sist of fairly apolitical thrill seekers, which
is a shame since he's an undeniably talented
writer and commentator.
Apocalypse Culture II reads like a post-
modern (and considerably more literate)

True Detective magazine, and only a few of

us are honest enough to admit that the idea
has a certain nasty allure - nothing a plain
brown wrapper wouldn't fix. And while this
may sound self-contradictory. I swear it's

not: if you can ignore Parfrey’s smugness,

you're hound to enjoy his work.

-John W. Bowen

Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

The Monster Book
Christopher Golden, Stephen R.
Bissette and Thomas E. Sniegoski
Pocket Books
With u cover banner declaring this The
Official Guide to the Hit Show, this book is
Making ot a Monster one ol the many party tricks to be found in Butty 's Monster Book
obviously targeted at fans of the series.
Nothing wrong with that, but it means that movies and Twilight Zone episodes. Enter- of untrammeled depravity. And that he has

many people will never realize what they're taining. witty, rich and thorough, this book noticed you and your children.

missing. The Monster Book is not only an w ill not only please Buffy fans, but is a fine With skillful, spare prose, each plot point

excellent companion to the popular teles i-

resource for horror readers, writers and fans a knife-cut, the novel manages to be an
sion series, it's also a comprehensive history of all persuasions. affecting portrait of working-class British
-Dale L. Sproule life, and the struggles of a divorced woman
of "monsters” in folklore and the media.
The book is divided into sections about in the face of a hostile community. Camp-
Demons, Vampires, Ghosts, Magic Users Silent Children bell, the author of more than twenty books,

(witches etc.), Primals (werewolves and Ramsey Campbell is a sure-footed guide through the dialogue

shape-shifters). The Walking Dead, Boogey- Tor/Forge and dialects of working-class London. Per-
mcn and human monsters. Each section cat- Ramsey Campbell's new novel Silent
haps inadvertently, his introduction into the
alogues the monsters and villains of that novel of an American horror writer proves a
Children is proof of the mutability of horror
type who appeared on the TV com- kind foil for North American
series, fiction, and of its ability to
plete with lots of photographs from Buffy straddle genres under the
readers who might be working
and snippets of dialogue, to follow the accents and
like: hand of a masterful writer.
WILLOW (proudly): Oz is a werewolf. phraseology of the other charac-
Part horror novel, part
BUFFY: Long story ters. Through the character of
thriller, the story revolves
OZ: Got bit. around a divorced mother Jack Lamb. American readers
BUFFY: Apparently can find themselves, and there-
not that long. Leslie, who, with her son,
Each Buffy-specific section is followed by moves into a suburban tract
by lose themselves into a terri-

a long and detailed description of (A PAR- fying story.

house in a London suburb
TICULAR MONSTER) in Folklore and which was the scene of one As clichld as it may sound,
Popular Culture. For instance, the ghost sec- in a series of gruesome child
Ramsey Campbell is a master of
examines "ghosts" through various cul- the genre, one of the writers
tion murders. The killer. Hector
tures and mythologies from cavemen Woollie. long presumed most worth buying in hardcov-

through Christianity. This is followed by a dead, in fact faked his own death. Waiting
er. Silent Children disturbs and
history of ghosts in literature from Homer's frightens, but reading it is also like catching
for an opportune moment to stage a come-
Odyssey through The Turn of the Screw. back, Hector crosses the path of Leslie and up with a wonderful old friend, one who can
Ghosts are traced through comic books, her son. The result is a sophisticated novel
make you laugh, or scream with terror, just
stage productions, radio, television and film. because he knows you well enough to do it
that bypasses supernatural tropes, and reach-
Much more surely and flawlessly.
than just a list of titles, this sec- es, instead, for modem society’s most primal
tion goes into details including writers, fear: the inability to distinguish that the ordi- -Michael Rowe
actors, directors and even synopses of nary-looking man in the street is a monster

Rue Morgue 69
 The Bottoms
Something Dark From Joe R. Lonsdale
17 New Writers Mysterious Press

Baron's successor. Now, faced with a The newest offering from Joe R. Lansdale

hunger for blood and powerful beyond (see interview. RM#13) is a dark, nostalgic

human comprehension, he struggles tale set during the Great Depression. Young
against his nature and tries to keep to the
Harry Crane and his younger sister Tom find
themselves lost along the banks of the river
beliefs he had as a mortal man, and suc-
bordering their home,
ceeds... most of the time. This story is not
only to discover a grue-
an anxiety-inducing page-turner, but as I
some site - a mutilated
was all out of valium, the slower pace was
welcome and conquered my short atten- woman lashed to a tree
with barbed wire. The
tion span with its moody storytelling.
Considering that the book was written fact that the woman is

coloured, and this

by seventeen different writers, each sec-
being East Texas circa
tion having been written by one or two of
them, it is a surprisingly consistent piece 1932, many of the
locals figure its another
of fiction. There is no chapter or poem I

enjoyed fur above another, and if I didn't

case of "coloreds

know that there were so many pens pul to killing coloreds" and of

the task. 1 would have been none the no consequence. But it

Tales From The Dark isn't long before more

Tower And I am happy to say that the book is

bodies turn up, and
Harry's father Jacob, the town constable,
J. Vargo and C. Filipak, eds. illustrated. This is no reflection on my
maturity level I am sure, but on my artis-
vows to catch the killer.
Monolith Graphics But Harry knows, or believes he knows,
tic appreciation of dark, haunting pictures
Tales From The Dark Tower is a Gothic of the hero, his beauties, and grotesqueries the real culprit. The creature that was stalk-

account of a vampire's melancholy exis- thatabound in the book. With Tales From ing him and Tom on the night in question...

tence in a Keep outside a small Romanian The Dark Tower, illustrator, co-editor and the mythic Goat-Man rumored to live in "the

village. The righteous Lord Brom. a cru- co-writer Joseph Vargo, and sixteen oth- Bottoms" of the local river.

sading knight, sets to slay an evil Baron Lansdale has said in the past that his
ers, have brought us a full-blooded piece
who plagues the countryside from his omi- worthy of your time. favourite novel is To Kill A Mockingbird.
nous residence, but fate has him as the -Nina Mouzitchka and the influence of Harper Lee’s seminal
tale runs throughout The Bottoms. From the
young hero and his younger sister to the
The Year’s Best and very weird mood pieces. There is even
decent father, dealings with racial prejudice,
an Avengers story that disguises itself slight-
Fantasy and Horror: and a Boo Radley in the form of the myste-
ly by changing the name of the protagonists
13th Annual Collection ("Is this horror?" you may find yourself ask-
rious Goat-Man, Lansdale’s story reflects

Ellen Datlow and Lee’s in many ways. But much of the tale's
ing).
gruesome scenes take a back seat to its
Terri Windling, eds. On the other hand, the essay is Douglas E.
eleven-year-old protagonist - a young boy
St. Martin's Griffin Winter's The Pathos of Genre - an incisive
who learns that everything he thinks he
examination of the current state of horror
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror does- understands - friends, family, murder - is
fiction that should be required reading for
n’t give horror readers the usual bang for not what it seems. “Coming of age” is a
anyone interested in the field. The weird
their buck, but that in itself may be u valid phrase that is used frequently as a literary
pieces include Denise Lee's incredibly
comment on the slate of device, but The Bottoms works best as that
creepy and vivid Sailing The Painted Ocean
the genre. As always, type of story - in which u young boy comes
and the volume contains a number of truly
this anthology contains to learn that the world he lives in is a damn
masterful stories like Michael Marshall
something for almost frightening place.
Smith’s bizarre and very amusing What You
every taste. But when it I got an eerie sense of ddja vu reading The
Make It; Tim Lebbon's chilling end-of-the-
comes right down to it, Bottoms, until I realized that an earlier,
world novella White; and Gemma Files’
there is precious little shorter novella of this story, Mad-Dog Sum-
brilliantly macabre The Emperor’s Old
genuinely scary fiction mer, appeared in the anthology 999
this time out. Only 17 (RM#I 1), and it is interesting to see how
You may quibble with some of the selec-
of the 48 pieces in the Lansdale has expanded on that story to cre-
tions. You may feel that the fantasy portion
volume are Datlow's ate one of his finest works to date. That
of the collection overwhelms the horror. But
selections. They seem shorter version, while effective, left me
by anyone’s reckoning, the 13th Annual Col-
dedicated to demon- wanting more. That is why it’s such a treat to
lection still contains some of the very best
strating how far the def- have a newer, more extensive version of this
work produced in the field in 1999 and for
inition of horror can be stretched, including, mythic tale.
that reason, it remains indispensable.
as they do, a rather toothless murder mys- -Brad Abraham
tery, an essay, a poem and a couple of short -Dale L. Sproule

70 Rue Morgue
 Gale. All things told. The History of to mind a decade of chilling and
Horror is remarkably complete, occasionally cheesy movies). A his-
with enough to satiate the hardened tory of horror wouldn't be complete
horror fan ( Godzilla. Peeping Tom. without the staples of course: Chris
Suspiria ) along with those who just Young's boomy Hellraiser theme,
dig the more popular themes ( Hal- those demonic kids on Poltergeist's
loween. , Dracula, Alien). Good theme, a six minute excerpt from
movies of course, do not good Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells (from
music make, but that also works the The Exorcist), Faust Ballet from The
other way round. Freddy has long Phantom of the Opera, plus The
become a clown of the horror set, Omen, The Devil Rides Out, The
but the music for the original Night- Thing and many, many more. Two
mare On Elm Street is not only hard discs and still too short, but more
to get. it’s creepy as hell (Charles than worth the buy for The Shining
Bernstein's theme manages to call alone. -GC SSSSS

MORE MUSIC FROM THE NIGHT

man-bom
scoring
Salter was responsible for
Son of Dracula (1943).
HALLOWEEN
John Carpenter
HE CAME HOME!
Black Friday ( 1 940). Man Made
Monster (1941) and the later
Frankenstein films, umong them The
Ghost of Frankenstein (1942). con-
sidered one of Hollywood's most
HALLOWEEN: THE CURSE
OF MICHAEL MYERS
chilling scores during its time.
Alan Howarth
Selections from all four scores are
Varese Sarabande
included (with the exception of
Ghost, which is included in its Every horror buff with an ounce of
HOLLOW MAN entirety); the Slovak Radio Sympho- self respect has availed him/herself

Jerry Goldsmith ny Orchestra dutifully plows of a copy of John Carpenter's origi-

Varese Sarabande through the sets of some of the most nal score for his classic Halloween.

With scores for Alien, four Star Trek memorable classic monster music Sure. I bet half of you are lovingly

films. The Mummy. Total Recull und around. American born caressing those old
the original Twilight Zone under his Frank Skinner's Sherlock vinyls as you read this,
belt, there's no denying that Jerry
Holmes and the Voice of but there's more to the CD
Goldsmith is a master of the genre. Terror is also included, an revolution than games and .

Although much of his most recent overall more dynamic This being the seuson for ghosts,
score. To be lion goblins and the time when the hills
output has not risen above the func-
tional (ie. to make your viewing found some of this music run red with the blood of children, it's

experience much to be a bit loo incidental, prudent to tukc a good look at those old records and ask
that more
thrilling), Goldsmith continues to be but you can't argue with yourself whether listening to old recordings on cassette still

a fave with directors because he the classic materiul und

knows what suspense sounds like. the quality. The re-record- Halloween presents us with John Carpenter and Alan
That said, there's nothing on the ings are great and the extensive liner Howarth's original classic music. It's an amazing score that we should all
Hollow Man score that has the stamp notes and photos really do justice to bow to, etc. but I've said it before and I'll say it again; it doesn't make for
of fluff classic on it. even if the the item. Vintage horror film buffs the most dynamic listen in album format. Carpenter and Howarth string

movie has what it takes to be consid- rejoice. -GC SSS 1/2 four themes through eleven selections; great us they may be. it's enough to

ered as such a few years from now. hear half of these tracks to get the whole picture. That
With a full orchestra at his finger- said, there's no excuse not to own a complete copy of this
tips. Goldsmith manages u couple of album, so if you don't have it you should go out and buy
good goosebumps but never a strong
theme with which to remember the Halloween 5 starts out a little disconcertingly, sounding

film. -GC SSS like a collection of forgotten AM

from the 1980s, The hits
whole first "side" is a smattering of crappy synth-laden
hits from a time when The Thomson Twins were consid-

ered hip - forgotten tunes from bands named Becca, DV8,

Churchill. Rhythm Tribe and Diggy (has anyone even
heard of these people before?). But skip past the first five
tracks and land yourself deep in Haddonfield, Illinois around the time the
leaves start turning. Co-composer Alan Howarth is trying hard to progress
A HISTORY OF HORROR his and Carpenter's original theme beyond the same old thing and he suc-
Various ceeds (for the most part) by padding old tunes with new sound effects. It s
Silva America/Koch far from revolutionary, but it's okay as progress goes..

My lifelong quest to secure the Alan Howarth continues his reinvention/bastardization of Halloween
opening credit music to The Shining music in Halloween: The Curse of Miclmel Myers. Amazingly, some of it
has finally been fulfilled! Here at works really well, including the opening theme done with electric guitar,
THE GHOST OF long last is a digitally remastered, drums and synth. This is admitedly a significant departure from the music-
FRANKENSTEIN heartpoundingly chilling ingrained in our collective Skull, but the changes arc wel-
Various recording of Wendy Carlos come of the original movie's minimalist
in the context
Marco Polo and Rachel Elkind's omi- score. In a way. Halloween The Curse of Michael Myers
The music of Hans Salter and Frank nous overture to Stanley best represents the movie's classic themes in album form.
Skinner is showcased in The Ghost Kubrick's masterpiece. found I could listen to it and not feel like was hearing
I I

of Frankenstein, a collection bring-
ing together some of the best horror
movie scores penned by the two
composers. Considered the "Master
of Terror and Suspense." the Ger-
Ytkes! Those two minutes thesame song over and over again. Some moody synths
and fifty-four seconds justi- round out the sequel's expansion of the Celtic subplot. -RG
fy the whole 65-minute Halloween SSSSS
opus of horror music from Halloween 5 SSI/2
Nosferatu to The Ninth Halloween: The Curse of Mi ael Myers SSSS

Rue Morgue 7
 invasions, superheros, time travel,
journeys into space and destruction
from the sky. -GC SSS

WHAT
LIES
BENEATH

SPACE 3: BEYOND THE

FINAL FRONTIER MIDNIGHT SYNDICATE THE SPECTRES
Various Realm of Shadows Rubber Room Rock
Silva America/Koch Entity Productions My Checkbook Records
the Reverend Horton Heat went
I've heard enough sci-fi compila- WHAT LIES BENEATH Those of you eyeing the cover of this If

disc and bracing yourself for a metal on a thirty-three hour horror movie
tions to last me a lifetime, maybe Alan Silvestri
even three if you take into account Varese Sarabande review will be pleased to know that marathon, he might come out sound-
how many times these things show- Clark Gregg wrote this story and it
Midnight Syndicate is anything but. ing like The Spectres. There is no

Call it gothic fantasy or eerie sound- denying this trio's fount of inspira-
was tackled for the big screen by
how many scape, Realm of Shadows is as far tion: like the Reverend, they blow
counl on two hands times Robert ( Tales From the Crypt
removed from power chords as hot-rod rock'n’roll with three pis-
I've got excerpts from Aliens, Star Zemeckis, the man who also brought
Transylvania is from Tijuana. Co- tons (a bass fiddle, a guitar and
Trek and RoboCop. Space 3 Beyond to life Carl Sagan's Contact.
creators Gavin Goszka and Edward drums). Lead miscreant Jesse James
the Final Frontieris the latest such Described as a romantic thriller, it
Douglas work with a pair of synths takes his band through a dependable
compilation, a two disc combo of concerns a woman (Pfeiffer) who
woman who and the occasional ominous chant to dose of big guitar refried rock with a
themes you will have heard before has strange visions of a
riff off of the glowering gothic art- wicked glint in his eye. Songs
(besides the aforementioned, we may or may not be a ghost. Compos-
have Back To The Future, Star Wars er Alan Silvestri, who has worked work of Joseph Varga. The result is include Rockabilly Macabre. Tomb-
music that is true to the horror of a stone Boogie, The Chainsaw Song
and Armageddon ). and a couple you alongside Zemeckis for each of the
cursed medieval village in the black- and Hot Rod To Hell. If Halloween
may be missing ( Strange Invaders, director's film projects, has written a
est plague-ridden hour of the dark means hair gel, tattoos, rock'n'roll
Judge Dredd and Silent Running). score that by turns soothing and
is

Oddly enough, one of the things this jarring. Mounting suspense. Hitch-
ages, -GC ***** devilry and moonshine, then you’ll
want to trick-or-treat yourself with
disc has going for it is history - cock style, is heard on every one of
excerpts from the pre- 2001 sci-fi these nine selections - a listen that is
The Spectres. Yeehaw! -GC **££
Come. It Came
epics like Things To ultimately more unnerving than you
From Outer Space and The Time might expect. I haven't witnessed
Machine. Also includes bytes from What Lies Beneath first hand, but if
The Matrix, Deep Impact and The these sounds are any indication, it's

Last Starfighter, among other worth checking out. Music that goes
themes from films showcasing alien bump in the night. -GC *£££

The Ultimate Horror Party Root!

MIDNIGHT FEVER
Dave Miller Pillow Scenes Soundworks
LaserLight Digital Thinkbox FAHRENHEIT 4SI
I don't know' what forsaken delete bin from Mark Lalibcrtc is a multimedia artist The Gothic Years And After
cheese hell this stuff came from, but - and I
and has been performing his project Cleopatra
can't believe I'm writing this - it's actually Pillow Scenes for six years now. The True to form. Fahrenheit 45 were a 1

great! mean, how can you miss with a title

I
show involves a series of pho- true tragedy on the history of the

like Midnight Fever: The Ultimate Horror tographs depicting various sleeping Goth movement. Beginning in an
Party Rock ! Forget Rob Zombie and The models, each accompanied by a old meat locker in New Jersey (what
unique recording emanating from a is it with horror rock bands and NJ?)
Misfits: pop this sucker in and bask in the
pillow located at floor level. The these quintuplets of darkness threw
shadows of party rock done like elevator
music: ultra lite beat, some grooves that could have come from a synth photos are eerie to say the least, con- art rock and new wave into the caul-

with the word "Maticl" written on it. und the occasional howl to add the centrating on dark shadows, the sur- dron to brew up their own brand of
real, and often, the grotesque. Yet for black broth, a unique contribution in
spook factor. No doubt about it. Midnight Fever is one of roughly a mil-
lion "horror" CDs that flood corner stores in and around Halloween time.
the concern of this review section. a feast of Bauhaus-esque gloomi-
Laliberte's collection of soundscapes ness. Yet with stiff competition and
Like most of them, this one is worth the exchange rale on a dollur. and so
bloody awful il's priceless. -GC ***** are bizarre and disturbingly haunt- the Goth movement all but done for,
ing: 24 tracks of whispering repeti- F45I never achieved anything
SOUNDS OF HORROR tion, ranging from noise to sampling beyond a minor cult status. That's
Dave Miller and sometimes, even music. Lalib- too bad because I discovered some-
erte's CD won't be played on your thing on this previously unreleased
LaserLight Digital
Sounds of Honor is a little more traditional car stereo, but then again, it wasn't EP (and other goodies) that I hadn't

and less ambitious than its sisler CD. but it meant to be. Definitely for the fringe experienced in Goth music before.
docs offer more than its share of genuine culture, Pillowscenes is reactionary F451 didn't just brood in darkness,
art against the mainstream, voluntar- nor did they simply embrace it. They
"parly rock" cheese. What we have here is
essentially the same kind of thing as Mid-
ily joining the ranks of comic books, took all those murky emotions and
horror movies and punk music as a they celebrated. Songs like Flowers
night Fever only these tunes are done up a
little more tactfully in horror garb, emphasis
new historical artifact of the bizarre, Melt Away and Zombies are
on "a little." A drum machine rules a selection of synth lite programming -AL SSS* 1/2 anthems of the macabre, post-dating
with the occasional Lugosi moment of horror shmaltz. About as fright- punk in a sense not unlike Change
ening as an episode of Emeril Live. Sounds of Horror is not as beautiful- Today-era TSOL. Band members
split off and joined groups like the
ly atrocious us Midnight Fever, but it's halfway up (or down) the tier,
depending on how you look at it. -GC SSS Undead and Spahn Ranch, leaving

72 Rue Morgi
BO* SET INCLUDES:
+ full l*e -Mastered •
t a S e booklet
Cp's available for featuring never
tr»e first in before Sben r^o-
years. foS fro»*N the
bands repsonal
* unreleaseJ tracks collection
• UnfeleaSed i rage • fc-*cluSiye video
Sa^hain co*r\ic book cassette of
unreleased
• Rouble Live CP

In Movvj
behind a sound that has remained six you're considering giving this band
feet under until now. It's really too a try. -GC SSSS
bad about Fahrenheit 45 1 . but when
you think about il. it makes sense.
Horror's greatest claim to fame has
almost always been in its cull status.
-ALSSSS'

IMPALER
Rise of the Mutants &
If We Had Brains...
SUBOUT We d Be Dangerous
Various Root of All Evil Records
Metropolis
I was in the back of a hearse (he first
LITTLE EVIL THINGS
Hopefully Rue Morgue has been suc- Vol. 4
lime I heurd Impalcr. No joke. Some
cessful in pointing out that horror and
fellow high-school friends and I
Frank Macchia &
KEVORKIAN darkness arc indeed prevalent in
were on a roadtrip in a local Goth
Tracy London
DEATH CYCLE music, covering many genres. Elec-
kid's vehicle of choice, when
Little Evil Things
Collection For Injection tronic industrial angst has made
Impalcr came on during some col- The cubic and inlcmel era has
Metropolis Records appearances in this section on several
lege radio show, I thought they were done us much us il cun hi kill
Ihated Kevorkian Death Cycle's last occasions. While few of these groups
cool, but didn't give them much uudio ihcatre. bui thunks lo u
album (see RM#I2) but Collection demonstrate an obvious dedication to
more thought. Thai's loo bad. precious few. this once popular
For Injection is deFmitely more like the darkside. it would be foolish to
because it was an obviously symbol- unform is still recharging the air-
what I was expecting the First time pass off their work as unrelated to this
ic moment in this horror-kid's life. waves of lale nighl/wcckend
around. Long out of print, this is magazine. Bands like Front Line
Impalcr s legacy of blood, guts, and
actually the band's First effort - a Assembly. Diary of Dreams, and
gore has spanned over 16 years, and Two people in particular, part-
hungrier, angrier overture for the Oomph! are musical journeys into
while they constantly profess their ners Frunk Macchia und Tracy
stuff that came alter. Grating vocals, realms of dark fantasy and science
undying dedication to metal, these London, have devoted (heir lives
heavy keys and industrial beats and fiction. Tins particular collection
ghouls show much stronger inclina- 10 Little Evil Things, bile-sized
textures call to mind KMFDM. admittedly gives way on a few occa-
tions toward Motorhcad and the tulcs of terror along the lines of
Front Line Assembly. NIN. etc., but sions to blatantly generic pop music,
KDC manage to cloud the mind with but overall this compilation is a great
Stooges than Iron Maiden or Judas the Titles Emm the Crypt. Haunt
Priest. This album showcases of Fear and Vault of Terror
their special politically motivated way to cast a candle light glow on the
Impalcr in their First rise from the comics. The two have kepi failh-
gloom. This is the album lo get if dance floor. -AL til
grave, and tracks like Shock Rock lul lo heir Halloween release
l

and Blood Bath tell you exactly schedule most recently with the
BLfK'ISCST IK'flfiT MfDIfl where they came from. But if you fourth volume in the scries.
think the terror ends there, you're For those of you who have
HORROR SLEAZE wrong because this gem also con-
tains demo material sure to make
heard the previous three (sec
RMttl I ). Utile Evil Things Vol. 4
EXPLOITATION you Wake Up Screaming. So for slays true lo the formula: here,
those of you who rock with Sgt. you will Find short, gruesome
Kahukiman. Gwar. and Talcs From
VIDEOS-DVD’S-BOOKS stories narrated over the undulat-
the Crypt, we pollute you! ing music of the Moscow Sym-
MAGAZ,NESSOUNDTRACK: -AL lilt! phony Orchestra. Among this
year's entries are the story of a
man who goes to hell (Lost), a
guy who Finds the new-found
mole on his arm is getting bigger
(Infection), und a man whose
grey hairs growing inside
start

his head ( In Your Head). A belat-

ed move to drumu us opposed lo
straight narrative - the Fifteen
plus minute Violin's Curse is

definitely u standout - is hope-

fully a sign of things to come.
Despite the occasional gross
DARK TRANQUILITY out. Utile Evil Things will prob-
Haven ably he a hit with kids, even suit-
SEND $3.00 FOR Century Media ed for family sildowns. Think of
could sit here and describe in great as Hullowccn punch for the
OUR GIANT I

music of Dark Tranquility,

11

CATALOG!
detail the curs. -GC SSSS
their Iron Maidonisms and mclodic
BLACKEST HEART MEDIA approach to black/death metal, but
honestly, how interested would any

PO BOX 3376 of you really be? Dark Tranquility

are a moody yet unusually energetic
and uplifting metal group that makes
ANTIOCH CA 94531-3376 smooth transitions from black metal
to near-modern rock. Of more con-

I (925) 753-0169 cern to us. these guys are about as

dark ns their name suggests, but they
www.blackestheart.com seem more preoccupied with person-
al and philosophical themes than

74 Rue Morgue
H’JNNa the explosive debut album

OrtE
hear it
MSnUTE
at virginmusic.ca/sunna
SCIENCE
blood and guls or paving the way for tic hell. Convinced yet? If not, those quality. What Diary Of Dreams may counterparts. The band departed
the coming of the Antichrist. Dark of you into the more philosophical lack in originality, however, they from the realm of extreme metal
Tranquility are the ‘80s pop of black side of things may find inspiration in make up for in sheer atmospheric early in their career, and have since
metal (if you can believe that) so Somnus' lyrical excursions into fun, especially when they are at their progressed steadily toward a harsh
they may appeal to those of you paganism and polytheism. Okay, most harmonious. The band's place form of rock (with the exception of
turned off by the extremities of most they're still death metal, but Somnus in the dread division is made evident last year's dismal Same Difference)
European metal. Just remember, the has enough style and enough inky through references to the restless combining blues, punk, and modern
cheese factor is high, as always. black sensibilities to create an dead. John Carpenter, and a spot on metal into a graveyard sound that is
-AL SS* atmosphere of chaos, fear, and the soundtrack for Vampire: The all their own. This year's Uprising

impending doom. And if nothing Masquerade. The title of this album marks the final culmination of
else. I think it's safe to say that Som- seemingly refers to the legend in Entombed's death rock efforts and
nus is the scariest thing to come out which 18 angels are sacrificed in succeeds in getting their decaying
of Cleveland. Ohio. -AL SS* 1/2 order to make way for Satan's return heads above the rest of the zombie
to Earth. The serious goth may find hordes. The strong, yet pitch-black.
Diary Of Dreams a bit outdated, but Motorhead-on-steroids sound even
casual patrons of dark music may givesway to keyboard fueled atmos-
experience a few restless nights. phere in the vein of a Lucio Fulci
-AL***l/2 soundtrack (i.e. Goblin) on the
album's closing track (In The Flesh).
Entombed's approach to horror is

not of the ordinary, however, using

horror archetypes such as zombies
SOMNUS as metaphors for real life nightmares
Awakening The Crown
instead. Purists who find disappoint-
Root of All Evil Records
ment in Entombed's lyrical efforts
Yeah, Yeah. I know what you’re
DIARY OF DREAMS may find solace in the upcoming
thinking. How many more death
video for Seeing Red. directed by
metal bands cun we cram into the One of 8 Angels 1

Mr. Lloyd Kaufman himself, and

pages of the Audio Drome before we Metropolis
featuring Toxic and the other Troma
admit that (heir contributions to the A hybrid concoction of Bauhaus and
regulars. Because if there’s anyone
genre (horror, not music t are essen- Nine Inch Nails circa Pretty Hale
ENTOMBED who knows how to make a rock'n'
tially the same. But I think I can Machine summons up the inky drea-
roll horror movie, it's Lloyd, right
honestly say that Somnus go beyond riness of DiaryOf Dreams, a slowly Uprising
Mr. Bowen? -AL *****
sheer brutality and make a genuine growing cult favourite in the world Music For Nations
maze of musical terror. Bleak land- of goth/new wave. Visceral piano When it comes to death rock... very

scapes are decorated with desolate melodies and symphonic composi- few names come to mind. But of the
musical iconography creating a tions soothe a typical '80s goth few. Entombed still hold that banner
nightmarish symphony of apocalyp- sound and sentiments of the blackest high above their brutal death metal

76 Rue Morgue
Glenn Benton and Co.
present
INSINERATEHYMN
and prove that they are
still the leaders
in Death Metal!

The legendary
KING DIAMOND
returns with yet another
powerful and aggressive
release ‘HOUSE OF GOD’!
 DARGAARD SIEBENBURGEN W.A.S.P. CROCODILE SHOP
In Nomine Aeternitatis Delictum The Best of the Best Order - Joy
Draenor Productions Napalm Records Snapper Music Inc. Metropolis Records
While the '80s new wave showed its For the curious. Siebenburgen is the No matterhow many grinning skulls It's a good thing these guys are from
darker side with Goth music. Goth old European name for Transylvania. they put on their CD covers. WASP Berlin, because only Germans could
music has gone to a whole new So it shouldn't come as much of a sur- can't hide the fact that they were attempt to get away with making this
world altogether to spawn dark prise that these guys are vumpiric spawned out of that insufferable hybrid of techno/industrial/synth/
wave. It seems black metal should black metal. Very Goth but uncom- wave of cock rock anthem metal metal/retro/goth/drum 'n' bass. Seri-
be held primarily responsible for the promising in the sheer insanity of the from the mid-’80s. Thus, it's impos- ously. Something tells me I've heard
trend,what with recent side projects black metal genre. While the band sible to listen to many of these tunes this all before. But not in a cool deja-
from Mortis, Charmond Grimloch admits that black metal is generally - Animal (Fuck Like A Beast). I vu sort of way either. Listening from
(sonof), and now Tharen (formerly about Satanism and does not tend to Wanna Be Somebody, L.O.V.E. track to track is like tipping cocktails
of Abigor) and his experimental lend itself toward any kind of roman- Machine - without envisioning with a morose schizophrenic eager
darkness. Dargaard. Picture Gregori- ticism, Siebcnburgen's sound is more Blackie Lawless with teased hair for attention. While it all comes out
an Chant with high-pitched mystical than many of their black and spandex doing his best Gene of the same body, there's no sense of
ephemeral female vocals, switching metal counterparts, and shows a Simmons impersonation. To make self. At best. Order - Joy plays like a

occasionally to refreshing bursts of strong appreciation for true horror. matters worse, this stuff has hardly one hour musical battle royal
black metal screeching. The empha- Vampires, ghosts, and death are all aged well. Listening to it, I was between Marilyn Manson.
sis here is on neo-classical, medieval lyrical staples of the band, as espe- transported to one of those late night Kraftwerk, Rammstein. Prick, Rob
themes, not that we could tell cially noted on Thy Sister Thee Crim- infommercials for those crappy '80s Zombie. Einsturzcnde Neubaten and
though. In Nomine Aeternitatis is a son Wed and Thou Blessed Be By tease metal compilations. Unless Peter Murphy. For the record, the
landscape of roughly dark music, but Night. Overall. Siebenburgen are a you happen to really dig WASP, this match ends in a time limit draw. Not
seems better suited to a King Anhur great middle ground between the Best Of amounts to nothing more necessarily exciting, but pretty much
soundtrack than your Halloween extremities and the murkiness of than a belated nail in the coffin. whal you'd expect. A good CD to
party. -AL ** black metal. -AL SSJ* -GC DOA slap in your $30,000 Blaupunkt

y^ttiiw/Jirist
ROTTING CHRIST BORKNAGAR f—
Khronos Quintessence
The Greek legends have created a An anthem of elaborate melodic black metal
timeless masterpiece Ilia! brings forth with perplexed keyboatds and striking vocal
tire lurlous blapshemla of their early days. arrangements: produced by Petet Tagtgren
Khronos is the colossal amalgam that
vA drives black metal to new standards!
(Hypocrisy. Dlmnru Borgin

CVHviiii
KRISIUN OLD MAN’S CHILD

m
eAifSfc
Conquerors Revelation 666:
•
\ T Y Of Armageddon The Curse Of Damnation
fiercely, unrelenting death metal at
Striking Norwegian black metal triumph
and most brutal, produced
Its fastest
by Morbid Angel/Hale Eternal teeming with scathing vocals, ripping guitars amt
chaotic keyboards. Produced by Peter Tagtgren
guitarist Erik Rutan.

coming Oct. 31 from Century Media:

CRYPTOPSY • And Then You’ll Beq
CENTURY MEDIA RECORDS

78 Rue Morgue
 W

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THE UNQUIEX CRAV E 2000 a tritutec

fco •nine
|*n~h ftailsS!

wW W COVERED IH HftllS

THE UNQUIET CRAVE 2000 TRIBUTE TO NINE INCH N.

 stereo while cruising the Autobahn
for German hookers with lederhosen
on your head. Watch for Croc Shop
in support of David Hasselfhoff at a

city nowhere near you.

-TD *

DIO
Magica
Spitfire Records
I lost touch with Dio shortly after
Holy Diver, so was a little disori-
in hard to find
I

Specializing ented trying on his latest incarnation

- a concept album no less - called
import horror, exploitation, GRABESMOND Magica. But my anxieties were in
Xeneglossie sain. turns out that the new mil-
smut, s&m, bondage, XXX,
It
Napalm Records lennium has changed the diminutive
Grabesmond are another transitional
once-vocalist of Black Sabbath.
films, fully uncut. experiment from black metal to clas-
sical/dark wave, originally founded
Rainbow and Elf little and none. I
didn't know what to expect; what I
by Peter and Protector, also of Aus-
got was long ominous intros giving
Send $3 to:
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82 Rue Morgue
 Nightmare Creatures II

Konaml and Kalisto

(Dreamcast)
Nightmare Creatures //is a game for you if you're
looking for over-fhe-top gore - gut spilling, bowel tearing,
head wrenching - in your gaming experience. You play
a Trent Resnor lookalike who's been tortured and
maimed, and is trying to break out of an insane asylum
gone bad. You're given an axe and great movement, so
I'll leave it up to your imagination what a typical scene
ends up looking like. Intense and fun (with a great
soundtrack), Nightmare Creatures //is made to be
played in the dark.

Playability: Xmas
Graphics: Halloween
Shivers: Xmas

Carrier
Jaleco
(Dreamcast)
Here's another zombie killing game that just isn't unique enough to
make it stand out, In fact, I'd say Carrions a pretty blatant rip-off of

Resident Evil, sans the blood and guts. To its credit, however, the
game does offer ease of playing though with fast weapon changes,
but it's also got this manga look and corny dialogue that always made
me push through the cinematic bits. The basis of the game is that your
character, basically a special operations soldier, has to check out an
Aircraft Carrier that seems to have gone “ghost ship." Once on board
you kill zombies. TA DA!

Playability: Halloween
Graphics: Xmas
Shivers: Easter

MediEvil li
Koudelka
Sony (Playstation)
SNK and Infogamcs
Okay, okay, so you're a long dead knight from the crusades, resurrected (Playstation / RPG)
in 18th century England to combat evil forces of undead men, women and
Koudeika is a gothic horror
creatures. You’ve just dropped into MediEvil It, the first expansion to the
role-playing game set in the late
popular game MediEvil. It's a tongue-in-cheek twist on the zombie story,
19th century regarding an epic
with a pretty basic klll-what-you-see plot. Good, smooth attack moves allow
tale of murder, mystery and
to cut your way with sword through the flesh of the undead. The fact
mayhem. There's a kind of a
Ill you’re undead too is kind of an afterthought. Action and gore. Yup, this
D&Dvioe happening here; your
e delivers.
main character carries guns,
Playability: Halloween
hand-held weapons and uses
Graphics: Xmas magic against all sorts of
Shivers: Easter
hideous monsters and over-
grown bugs. Despite the con-
Zombi Revenge
stant combat, there isn't a lot of
Sega
blood but there are great cine-
(Dreamcast)
matic and panoramic views of
Spouting blood and dismemberment is part of every kill and of
the surrounding area and the old
course what you’re killing are bio-engineered zombies. Hence the
decrepit manor in which the
name. The hand-to-hand attacks are quick and cool with some
adventure takes place. Koudetka
great floor kicks. Of course your heroes also come equipped with
is ultimately an action/adventure
the latest in firearms as well. It's set in a destroyed city with the
horror game but the stop-and-go
players view mainly from behind the character. Not too much scary
sequences for attacks and
atmosphere and a little too much corny dialogue but overall a fun
movement really kill the sus-
shoot 'em up game.
pense.
Playability: Xmas
Graphics: Xmas Playability: Xmas
Shivers: Xmas Graphics: Halloween
Shivers: Easter

Rue Morgue 83
 'ZerA-j/b
r*//

The Changeling
1979 - Canada
Starring George C. Scott. Trish Van De Vere and Melvyn Douglas
Directed by Peter Medak
Written by William Greay and Diana Maddox

f j\*y J / ilh the arguable exceptions of The Shining

( J §m //m1 // ( 1980) and Poltergeist (1982). The Changeling

remuins probably the last great haunted house
§/ m/ film to date. Spawned during the dawn of big-scale
¥ y special effects
after ultra-violent splatter
and entering the fray only a few years
became dc rigeur for most
horror films, this Canadian effort flew in the face of con-
temporary tastes and became the very model of u sleeper hit.

In sharp contrast to its peers. The Changeling unfolds very slow- affection for the material is quite evident, giving The Changeling u

ly and deliberately as we are introduced to John Russell (Scott), a kind of understated dignity that has all but disappeared from big-
music professor and composer who has recently lost his wife and budget horror films in recent years.

daughter in a car accident. He moves into a huge, rambling house That's not to say that The Changeling's many enduring charms
outside Seattle (admittedly an odd plan of action given his circum- prevent it from being a child of its time. The corrupt politician sub-

stances) and almost immediately becomes acutely aware that he's plot (involving a Republican, of course) is a motif of countless
not alone. Instead of trying to drive Russell out. however, the films from the post-Watergate era. every bit as symptomatic of

house's restless spirit - that of a sickly young boy murdered by his late-twentieth century lost innocence as Vietnam or the Manson
father some fifty years earlier - is seeking his murders. However, the inclusion of Melvyn
help. Russell embarks on a quest to expose the Douglus' villuinous character never seems
guilty parties and in the process finds some like a gratuitous attempt at political grand-
much-needed closure for his own recent standing. as he turns out to be a pivotal fig-

tragedy. JWH ure in the mystery that fuels the film.

It's not that Hungarian-born director Peter L
&/ .
a Lust year saw the releases of The Haunt-
Medak (whose best works include The Krays ing and The House on Haunted Hill, two
and Romeo Is Bleeding ) throws any startling disastrously miscalculated remakes of clas-

curves a potentially tired premise; on the

‘
sic haunted house films. Atmospherics were
at ,

J®.
contrary, he seems to revel in haunted house scrapped in favour of huge effects and ludi-
cliches like the Disembodied Voice, the Self- E - crously elaborate set design - further evi-
Slamming Door, the Hidden Room and the dcnce that whenever studio executives try

ever-popular Stance Gone Awry. At various self-consciously to exploit a tried-and-true

intervals. The Changeling tips its hat to just archetype these days, they invariably miss
about all of its ancestors and brethren, from the point altogether. One happy exception
||
The Haunting to The Legend of Hell House to would be Stir of Echoes, a fine film whose
The Innocents to Suspiria. and yet these horn- only real failing is that it perhaps bears too
mages - assuming, of course, that they're intentional - never ren- close a resemblance to - whut else? - The Changeling.

der the film stale or predictable. In fact, viewing it again after all The haunted house film isn't necessarily doomed to extinction

these years I was very surprised at the number of images I still yet; as popular horror motifs go, it still has considerably more
found genuinely creepy and jarring (especially that rubber ball that potential left than the werewolf, the zombie or the vampire, cer-
refuses to stop bouncing back into the mom. as well as the spectre tainly the most redundant theme in our beloved genre today. But
of the drowned boy slowly rising up through the floor). Here again until the next truly memorable entry comes along - and it could be
is proof positive of a tenet horror fans hold dear; it doesn't have to a long wait - fans may have to continue revisiting old haunts like

be innovative, it just has to be done well. Medak isn't exactly

known as a horror film director - nor for that matter has his name
ever been married to any particular genre - but his respect and

84 Rue Morgt
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