i'm kael's ghost

I've been ignoring Bug for years - which is silly because it's directed by  William Friedkin  (best known for directing  The French Connection  and  The Exorcist  in the 70's). Perhaps it's the cover:  It looks like some super-low budget, "independent movie" about some kind of giant cockroach infestation. (Like that segment in Creepshow , "They're creeping up on you!" where the germ-o-phobic old man's apartment is flooded with bugs - classic!) Now, I'm not scared of bugs, per se, but I'm just not excited about bug movies. Side note: Way back in college, I remember reading an article about why humans hate swarms of things (written from a sociology perspective) and why we thus feel frightened by subcultures and minorities. Great article - wish I could remember the details so I could write more about it here. You'll have to rely on your own Google-fu to track down this terrific piece of writing. So recently (and I use "...

There's something weird about Canada. It's not that they speak French or wear plaid. It's not even their freezing cold winters or their socialized health care. On second thought, their socialized health care may actually have something to do with it. Take a look back at "Death Takes A Holiday, Sort Of" where Vickie Goldberg examines the "nearness of death to life" and how that affects the portrayal of death in media; the gist being that a lower mortality rate in life means a higher mortality rate in media. Perhaps available health care for Canadian citizens has bred the wealth of extreme body-horror movies that Canada produces. Let me segue from that thought into today's movie adventure: Antiviral. Written and directed by Brandon Cronenberg (son of the legendary David Cronenberg ). The movie fared well on the festival circuit but hasn't quite reach the popularity of any of his father's works. (And I'm sure that's an unfair com...

Spoiler Alert: I'm about to write things that you probably don't want to read.  Also, I'm going to give away a number of plot points to "Martyrs". I love " Rue Morgue ". It's - quite literally - the only magazine that I read. For the past few years, when asked by my mother what I want for my birthday, I can only respond, "renew my subscription to 'Rue Morgue'." And she does. God bless that woman! Luckily for me, I've fallen in love with a man who, although not so much as myself, loves horror.  When RM arrives, I dive into it immediately. Once I've made my way through it, I'm magnanimous enough to let him read it. Recently, he's been combing the movie reviews and renting the movies he reads about. Thanks to this new found hobby, we have seen some real gems. A few days ago, while hiding out from tornadoes, we sat down to watch " Martyrs ". Not 100% convinced that I would be wowed (being as jaded ...