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Showing posts from May, 2012

Dark Shadows OR A Study in Awkwardness

Let it be known - there's probably going to be spoilers in this one. Read on at your own risk. I love Tim Burton . His style is somehow richly colorful while often being very dark and beautifully spooky. He also has this great comic sensibility that few other directors pull off as endearingly. I love that he seems to live in some lovely fantasy world of his own, dropping into our's occasionally to share a slice of what he sees. I also love and respect how he's continually giving great horror actors roles (some times their last.) His appreciation for these aging stars (like  Vincent Price , Christopher Lee , and  Jonathan Frid ) is both charming and inspiring; I wish more directors made such an effort. Now, this is not to say that I've loved everything Burton's ever done. I have some definite favorites: Beetlejuice , Edward Scissorhands , Sleepy Hollow , Sweeney Todd , Batman Returns , and Big Fish . I'd actually go so far as to write that Beetlejuice i

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark - Another Lesson in Not Letting Homeownership Drive You Mad

There's a great history of horror films with "don't" in their titles Don't Go In the Woods  (1981) Don't Go In The House  (1980) Don't Look In The Basement  (1973) Don't Answer The Phone  (1980) Don't Open The Door  (1975) Don't Open The Window  (1974) Don't Go Near The Park  (1981) Etc. These titles suggest horror audiences aren't bright enough to realize the movies they are watching are warnings (premarital sex will make masked slashers target you, mess with nature and you'll end up with an uncontrollable monster, play your heavy metal records backwards and demons will come out of your lawn, etc.) But they also offer sound advise within the context of each film; not following these warnings will get you killed. Then there's  Don't Be Afraid of The Dark , where the oposite seems to be true. The title doesn't actually read as a warning, although the warning is implied there. It actually reads as a wheedlin