i'm kael's ghost

Have you guys missed my direct to video picks? I let them die off a while back but thought I'd try to resurrect them for the summer. I also thought I'd try something a bit different and combine two of my previous endeavors into one: direct to video picks and made for TV horror . With that, I give you a sampling of Stephen King stories brought to life for the small screen. Now, you're probably wondering if I'm going to compare these film versions to the original books and I have to confess that I'm not - mostly because I'm not a huge fan of Stephen King as an author so I actually haven't read all of these. To be more precise, I've hardly read any  of them! I'm also not as "qualified" to write about literature as I am movies and so I'll leave that task to others more skilled than myself. I do invite any King fans out there to share your thoughts and feelings on how these stories were translated into movies. (Successfully? Faithfu...

Zombies . Regardless of their origin (evil ancient gods, government experiments, comets, voodoo curses, etc.) zombies have always been an easy metaphor for humanity's propensity for mindless behavior. And although zombies are so VERY overdone right now, this month's direct to video picks are all zombie movies. Despite the overwhelming, shall we call it, "popularity" of zombies, I want to remind people that there are still some great zombie movies out there. And there are some 'okay' and 'interesting' zombie movies still being made. After my last foray into video picks got a little unwieldy, I've decided to keep these movie descriptions a bit short so I can tackle three of them. Boy Eats Girl (2005) The Skinny A teenage boy dies, his mother brings him back to life, and a zombie rampage follows. Ah, high school... Type of zombie(s) Good old voodoo. Usually this origin is reserved for tropical island dwellers so it's inter...

Blood River (2009) Spoilers ahead. Of course. The skinny Young couple takes a long drive through the desert only to meet a drifter who changes their lives forever. So, I keep seeing Blood River classified as a "slasher" and "serial killer" film but, that doesn't really get to the heart of it for me. When I think about "slasher movies" I think about  Prom Night  or  My Bloody Valentine , something with  excessive  gore for gore's sake alone. I think of a killer who is roaming around, mindlessly wielding a weapon. And if we're going to talk about serial killer movies I expect a killer who is smart and savvy, killing in some creative ways ( Kiss the Girls  or  Silence of the Lambs  style). I'd be more apt to classify Blood River as a "supernatural thriller" and by that I mean a "thriller" with supernatural elements. And I'm okay with that. Our killer,  Andrew Howard  (Joseph), isn't some mindless sla...

Just the other day I was lamenting my apparent loss of passion for horror movies. When I was younger (middle school through college), I would gleefully watch any horror movie that landed on our video store's shelves. As I've gotten older, and the market more and move over saturated, I've started skipping the crap and desperately re-watching the horror I know is great. I know this makes me a little, old, curmudgeon. I know this means I'm stagnating and my horror skills will begin to atrophy if I don't get the hell over myself and start watching more new horror. On that note (plus a suggestion from a good friend) I've decided to embark on a new project: monthly direct-to-video horror suggestions (otherwise known as, "I didn't hate it.") In order to make this work, I'm fairly certain I have to lower the bar on my expectations and dig deep within myself to find the gentle, compassionate, forgiving film critic I know I can be. ...what have I...