The Loved Ones (2009)

There's too few demented female murderesses in horror. We (of course) all know and love some of the real, historical, mad women like Lizzy Borden and the great Elizabeth Bathory. What about our fictitious vilenesses though?

Mrs. Voorhees - Friday The 13th

In one of those fun, movie twists, turns out the REAL killer in Friday the 13th is Jason's mother, Mrs. Voorhees. She's apparently a tough old broad who can stab a man through a mattress, is skilled in archery, and can wield an ax like a lumberjack. A murderous lumberjack, anyway. She butchers a lively bunch of teenagers before finally being beheaded by one.

Angela - Sleepaway Camp

Horror, in real life AND in fiction, teaches us to watch the fuck out for the quiet ones. Oh. That girl over there is shy and awkward and doesn't talk much? We shouldn't piss her off. Unfortunately for the typically awful teens in Sleepaway Camp they do piss off the quiet girl who goes on a murder spree. Again in twist fashion, this one may not count as she turns out to be a boy. I'd try to explain that one to you, but you'll really just have to watch the movie.

Asami - Audition

J-horror fans will tell you this little minx is one to look out for. She's no spirt, no wraith, nothing in the supernatural family. She is a cold-blooded, obsessive, torture machine. Needles in the eye? Yup. Amputation with piano wire? Oh yes. And why? Because the man she loves ALSO has love for his son, and she can't stand to share.

Baby - House of 1000 Corpses / The Devil's Rejects

Easily my favorite of the list so far, Baby is this whirlwind of whitetrash, redneck, rockstar who just gets all frisky when she thinks about murder. I tend to think of her as inspired by Mallory from Natural Born Killers. Both broads are down and dirty killers who you don't want to fuck with - even while you're kind of thinking you'd just like to fuck...

Now, this certainly isn't a complete list AND it absolutely ignores female killers of the supernatural variety (think here Ginger Snaps or Jennifer's Body or Lair of the White Worm) and where does it leave us? With Lola in The Loved Ones.

The $.25 version of the plot

Socially awkward teenage girl has a disconcertingly close relationship with her father. Before you run off thinking he's a dirty old man, let me assure you that our leading lady is the sick one. In searching for a more suitably aged companion, she methodically kidnaps and tortures the boys in her class. Lucky for them, her father has mastered Bundy's art of zombification (drill a hole in the head, pour in the boiling water, and out comes a drooling, placid doll) and taking a page out of The People Under The Stairs playbook, she keeps the zombified boys in a pit in her basement.

One such victim doesn't become quite so malleable and fights his way to freedom in a slew of the most unbelievable plot twists ever conceived. Somewhere along the way between creating the elevator pitch for this movie and actually fleshing out the details, the writing just fell down a flight of stairs and tried to go on all concussed and whatnot. So to say, the plot sort of jumps the shark and becomes asinine.

I am sort of a fan of the actress portraying our villainess. She went on, after this movie, to star in Hell on Wheels as the whore with the tattooed face who wouldn't take any shit from anyone.

Not a great movie overall but, I will count Lola alongside the other killer women of horror. Props to you, Lola.

Check out the Loved Ones trailer here:

Rebuttal: 17 Disturbing Horror Movies You Will Never Watch Again

When I'm not watching movies, I'm reading about movies. I stumble across all kinds of articles, blog posts, book excerpts, etc. in my quest to absorb as much movie knowledge as possible.

Now, I'm snotty and loud-mouthed and opinionated but I'd never begrudge another human their opinion. Seriously. You're absolutely welcome to have any opinion about any thing you want. However, I must warn you, if I think your opinion is stupid, I'm absolutely going to say so.

I've recently stumbled on an article completely brimming with so many idiotic opinions that I'm actually compelled to craft a response.

Here's the gist of the original article: there are some horror movies out there that are so disturbing, you'll only ever want to watch them once. I've have taken her original list and refuted her claims without pulling her entire article over. You can read the original article here.

Let's start at the beginning, with her opening statement:
"Hor…

But The Flesh Is Weak: Cronenberg's Body Horrors

Body horror; something that effects each one of us as we are made of squishy, fallible, and finite flesh. Tackled many times in many ways throughout the years, body horror will stick with us until we finally learn to lose these weak, human bodies and begin existing in some other form.

There are many lenses through which to view body horror, lets talk about a few quickly before talking about some specific films in this genre.

Science and Technology
We depend on technology, especially in regards to our flimsy, fleshy bodies. Hip replacements, new hearts, brain surgery, iron lungs, cheek implants, etc. We have limited abilities and a limited lifespan, so we lean on technology to increase both. But what happens when we take that melding of mechanical and organic too far? Horror and scifi have taught us that going too far can lead to frighteningly devastating consequences and monstrous creations. (Species, Robocop, Frankenstein, etc.)

Gender
Much of body horror is related to or revolves arou…

The Invitation (2015)

You know the drill - there's ALWAYS spoilers. Don't want the movie ruined for you? Come back after you've seen it.

And - I'm still without an editor - typos and bad grammar await you! Enjoy!

The Invitation is about an LA dinner party gone terribly wrong. Six couples pile into an extravagant house tucked away in the LA hills – as the night progresses suspicion, fake smiles, and traumatic memories turn their conversation from friendly to incredibly tense. Through flashbacks and terse snippets of character interaction we discover the ties binding each character to the others; one couple (Will and Eden) lost a child and some of the group have joined a self-help group that sounds like a cult. Hidden sexual desires are exposed and everyone is made to feel uncomfortable. In the end, folks become murderous and we realize that no amount of red velvet cake can make up for the loss of a child or combat years of brainwashing.
The Invitation falls within the sub-genre of... killer…

i'm kael's ghost

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