Blogcritics Author: hauntedreport

Fiendish Friday Interview: Larry Silverman of Discovery Channel's A Haunting

hauntedreport — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:11:54 EDT

Listen to an interview with Larry Silverman of the Discovery Channel.
It's October, which means it is time for an interview. Today we interview Larry Silverman from The Discovery Channel's hit cable TV show and one of the only scary shows on TV, A Haunting. Earlier this month I had a chance to sit down with Larry and talk to him about "A Haunting". If you didn't know, A Haunting is one of the...

Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

DVD Review: The Pit and the Pendulum

hauntedreport — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 07:29:03 EDT

By Iloz Zoc"I was sick, sick unto death, with that long agony, and when they at length unbound me, and I was permitted to sit, I felt that my senses were leaving me." -- Edgar Allen Poe, The Pit and the PendulumHaving grown up on TV shows like Davey and Goliath and Gumby, stop motion animation is an enjoyable form of storytelling for me. From the simplicity and witty fun of Gumby, to the richness of design found in The Nightmare Before Christmas, the stories are often magical and the characters always imaginative. Stop motion techniques can be used with clay, puppets, and realistic-looking articulated models like Willis O'Brien's emotive King Kong or Ray Harryhausen's creepy fighting skeletons in Jason and the Argonauts.Stop motion has been skillfully and shoddily used with many traditional and avant-garde horror and science-fiction films since around 1908, and lends itself to the short subject rather well, especially when the setting is simple, and the actions straightforward. Marc Lougee's stop motion adaptation of Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum is a good example of this. Poe's story is a straightforward narrative of despair, desperation, and horror. The anonymity of the villains, the delirium of the victim, and the increasingly horrific situations he confronts is ripe for a short film that captures this singular time frame of struggle against increasingly dire odds.While Poe's story is required reading for many college kids, this visualization of the torments suffered by the unnamed prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition would be a welcome addition to the curriculum. While a bit of license is used for dramatic visual effect (the prisoner doesn't have a metal helmet locked around his head in the original story), the short seven-minute film adheres to and captures the essence of terror with vivid detail in its CG-enhanced miniature sets and stylized puppets. There's an exaggerated character movement inherent to stop motion. It can either breathe dramatic life into the actions of its diminutive characters, or create a cartoonish effect that hinders more serious storylines. Poe is deadly serious here, and animators Weiss and Fairley create movement that conveys much of the drama and tension without whimsical or absurd motions. The robed tribunal members, murmuring and motioning with their heads and hands in a condemning way, and the prisoner's halting steps, exhausted posture, and fearful exploration of the dungeon, visually portray the literary tone of the short story with their painstaking and time-consuming attention to detail. Dwayne Hill narrates the inner thoughts and feelings of the confused and fearful prisoner, condemned to the dark dungeons without maudlin overtones. His voice is that of a rational man in irrational circumstances; a man trying to reason through his predicament in hopes of finding an escape from his tormentors, and their fiendish instruments of torture and death.One ray of hope and beauty written into the film, and not in Poe's gloomy tale, is the entrance of a brightly-colored bird fluttering around the solitary window of the cell, high up out of reach. The cheerful scene contrasts with the somber browns and blacks of the walls and floor. It is a nice foreshadowing of hope as the prisoner looks up toward the feeble light, entering through the bars, illuminating the red feathers of the bird flying about carefree. It fortifies the visual storytelling in a simple but majestic manner.Though not based on historical accuracy, the fictional pit and pendulum of the story heighten the fearsome depravity and inhumanity of the prisoner's death sentence. In true horror story fashion, death is not the worst part, but getting there is. While reason keeps the prisoner from succumbing to the razor-sharp blade of the pendulum, it can't stop the heated iron walls of his cell from forcing him ever closer to that infernal pit in the middle of the room. What horrors await should he fall down into the deep darkness?It's hard to capture Poe's narrative detail, the rush of terror-filled thoughts overwhelming the long-suffering prisoner in his final moments before succumbing to the foul-smelling pit, especially in a six-to-seven minute film. But the climax here, with its carefully framed arm darting down to rescue him as he descends into oblivion, pulling him back to sanity and safety, is thrillingly done.The Pit and the Pendulum's stop motion artistry proves that old techniques, when combined with creativity and a touch of new technology, still have much to offer.

iamlegend is the full time chief editor and blogger for several blogs, but confesses that The Haunted Report is his favorite. It covers the haunted house/horror market. Basically, if it tries to scare the crap out of you... we cover it.

Fiendish Friday Interviews: Pigman's Lair

hauntedreport — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 10:43:18 EDT

This is a series of interviews we do with people who are changing the face of the haunted attractions and horror industry. This week we interview Chip of Pigman's Liar Haunted Attractions. Why did you first become interested in the haunted house/horror business?Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve been into it to some degree. I loved scaring people, monsters, masks, and all the cool special effects stuff. Like most haunters, I would build haunted houses in my basement, and set up elaborate yard displays. As far as the business end of it, 1999 was my first venture into the professional side of it.What previous jobs have you had?My entire working background since high school and college has been restaurant management related. I also briefly worked in customer/sales service at a carton manufacturing company in North Carolina.What job do you do right now? Is the haunted house/horror job your full time gig?I have been working for Potbelly Sandwich Works for the past four years. I am a general manager at the Arborland location in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I would LOVE for the haunting business to be full-time… maybe someday!How long have you been in the business?Eight years, professionally.How did you start?I went to the first North Carolina gathering of haunters, put together by Leonard Pickel of Haunted Attraction Magazine. It was located at Morris Costumes, where he was in the process of designing and building their haunted attraction/showroom. This gathering would eventually evolve into the now well-attended HauntCon. I met Eddie McLaurin from Woods of Terror there. Working one year with Woods of Terror, I helped with some of the promotional and marketing stuff, as well as several prop and scene constructions. I also helped with the set-up and teardown, and helped revamp several scenes. After that, I typed up a business plan and proposition with the Winston-Salem Jaycees, and opened my first show the next year. (I had accumulated several years of props and costumes by that point). They were great to work with, and that was the birth of the “Pigman’s Lair” theme.What’s the scariest haunted house you ever attended?My own -- Pigman’s Lair! The scariest that I remember was the Niles haunted house out on Bell Rd, in Niles, Michigan. This was well before they turned into the huge operation and screampark they are now. It was much scarier back then -- but I was much younger as well. I don’t get scared a whole lot… startled, yes! I’ve been known to shriek here and there, but as far as scary, it’s real hard to creep me out. Some of the best I’ve attended, as far as actors and detailing go include: Netherworld in Atlanta, Dream Reapers in Chicago, Woods of Terror in North Carolina, Erebus and Realm of Darkness in Pontiac, The Haunting in Adrian, The Haunt in Grand Rapids, and the Terrorfied Forest in Pinckney. I’ve heard great stuff about Terror on the Fox, Bates Motel, The Darkness, and I’ve always wanted to go to Deadly Intentions in Warren. That’s one haunt I’d love to check out, and it probably will creep me out, which is totally fine with me!Do you still find time to attend Haunted Houses?Yes, whenever I can. I wish I could see more. All the conventions I attend have haunt tours, and that’s great, but I’d really love to take a whole year off, and hit about a hundred (and not pay!). Being so close to the haunt capital of Detroit, and being open only on Fridays and Saturdays, I should be able to.What inspires you to create?The reactions I get from my customers. The look on the face of my wife after I’ve made something really creepy looking. The fact that I know that people will come through my haunt, and will not be able to recognize any corny “store-bought” props. Going through other haunts inspires me too. If I see a really cool idea, I’ll try to expand on it and make it better, without stealing it. If I go through a haunt, and they are doing the same old tricks you see at haunt after haunt, and they’re using the same boring props, that also inspires me to be more unique in my show.Do you ever get scared anymore?Yes. More so when thinking about family, and their safety and mortality -- things like that.What does scare you?Outside of the answer from the above question, really big, fast moving scares that come real close to me. Erebus had a giant ape-looking thing (very similar to the Gore Galore over-sized products). This creature was lurking in a corner, and the actor was fast and very loud -- it was a great scare! Something that big and that fast made me jump. Seeing something appear from nowhere, like in a window. Anything that glides, darts, or floats quickly into and out of my field of vision -- like I’ll be looking out a window, and a ghost or something will just shoot by real quick. Or I’ll be looking down a long hallway, and a little kid or something will fly across the hallway from one room into another. Also, the imagination. We try to use that in our haunt. What you THINK is out there, and what REALLY is out there are two totally different things. If I have time to psych myself up, I’ll get scared. That’s what I need to tell my customers who come in. Don’t come in with a hard-ass attitude, and act all tough in front of your friends -- you will not have fun! If you try to believe in what you’re seeing and hearing, even if for only 20-30 minutes, it will be the best time of your life, and your haunting experience will be so much better!Do you believe in real haunted houses and ghosts?Yes. I’ve seen some things that make me believe, but it doesn’t bother me.What is fear?Fear is your brain and imagination telling you that what you are experiencing is not right, could hurt you, could cause you great pain, and you’ll never get out.Who’s your average customer?18-25 year old students are our average customer.What are your five-year goals?To continue to increase attendance, quality, and efficiency of our show. To make it THE haunted house in Michigan to attend, in addition to the other great haunts. To be five years closer to making the haunt industry my full-time gig. I would love more than anything to spend my career designing, building, managing, and acting in my own haunted house. I know of people who do it. It just takes a lot of time, money, patience, and even more passion. I’ve got three out of the four. Hopefully after this season, I’ll have four out of the four!

DVD Review: Primeval

hauntedreport — Tue, 3 Jul 2007 22:25:22 EDT

By Iloz ZocDirector Michael Katleman's Primeval is a film filled with monsters. There's Gustave, the four-legged, very hungry kind, and Little Gustave, among the two-legged and also very hungry - for power - kind. But that doesn't make Primeval a good horror film. In fact, as both monsters vie for who's the baddest of the bad, the story's tension, and any hope of scary shocks, is lost as the film flip-flops between social commentary, which demands lingering, thoughtful scenes, and horror, which requires the exact opposite.Based on the real-life crocodile that's been attacking people along the Rusizi River in Burundi, Africa, you'd think the story would pretty much write itself: the largest man-eating crocodile in history, born out of the genocidal civil war raging in Burundi. With so many bodies floating around in the river, it's no wonder Gustave developed a taste for human flesh. Yet, Katleman's film misses the real horror of this human tragedy, and instead focuses on characters and situations that neatly fall into the usual square pegs, square holes.One reluctant news reporter (Dominic Purcell), and one determined to become more than just a fluff, cute story animal reporter (Brooke Langton), square off and head to Burundi. Along with them for the ride is the hip, inner-city camera man (Orlando Jones). And, not to miss out on any of the clichés, they meet up with the herpetologist who wants to capture the man-eater alive — so you know what's going to happen to him, right? — and the savvy African hunter (Jurgen Prochnow), whose vendetta with the crocodile makes him itching to blow it up with a grenade or two. Complicating matters is the genocidal war raging in Burundi, and Little Gustave, the warlord who controls the part of the country our intrepid crocodile hunters must travel through. It's these two seemingly complementary themes of evil and monstrosity, from both Gustaves, that work badly together. When the hunt for Gustave becomes the struggle to run from Gustave and Little Gustave, the interweaving of both is handled with uninspired dialog and predictable events that fail to build or even sustain tension.Another vexing addition to this film is the annoying soundtrack. The music jars against the action on screen with its loud rock rhythms. There's no hint of "primeval" in the modernistic score, leaving me wondering if John Frizzell actually watched the movie before composing it.The use of a homing dart and a hand-held locater, indicating how close Gustave is with its slow or rapid beeping, is a too convenient plot device, and I'm not sure how realistic it is, either. While it's used to lead the unwitting warlord to potential doom, after he captures the news reporters with intent to kill them, it removes the uncertainty where the crocodile could be, or when it will attack.Uncertainty is not a technique used in this film. From the placement of the steel cage to trap Gustave, to the camera man stumbling upon, then filming, the warlord's men killing a local family, the story is certainly predictable in every frame of its ninety-four minute running time. And when the would-be hunters find themselves in a rickety hut out in the water, with a very fragile looking wooden walkway connecting it to land, and the locator starts beeping, we're quite certain what will happen next, just as they are. Note to herpetologists here: don't stand on rickety wooden walkways when hunting man-eating crocodiles during a heavy rainstorm. Yet, Primeval shows high production values and skillful, viciously gory — if a bit too fast — CGI-rendered chomping that's well-orchestrated, especially when Gustave crunches down, as to be expected, on one particular fellow's noggin, splattering it like a grape. The acting is good, even if the roles are shallow, and the cinematography and direction are more than adequate. What doesn't pass muster here is the too straightforward story and, even worse, the unimaginative dialog. Both fail to involve us emotionally in either the predatory horrors of the ongoing genocide or Gustave's eating habits, leaving us surprisingly unattached from the events depicted, given their morbid subject matter.Reinforcing that uninvolvment are relationships that could potentially bristle with sparks, but, instead, merely languish undeveloped. Prochnow's seasoned hunter, unlike Quint in Jaws, is one-dimensional and shows little of his supposed vendetta against the crocodile, or his frustration with the herpetologist who wants to capture it alive. The two news reporters squabble just a bit, with Purcell too quick to acquiesce. Langton's character is the worst of the lot; if I never see another oh I've got to rescue that mangy dog in danger, even though I may be horribly eaten alive for it moment, it will be too soon. What also doesn't work well is her wardrobe. Another of my pet peeves regarding women and what they wear in horror films is how mismatched the two usually are. You would think she'd wear something more conservative and functional than a tight-fitting, midriff-baring top, and bum-tight pants while crocodile hunting. Come on guys, grow up. Real adults watch horror films, too.Primeval is a disappointing exercise in horror; not terribly disappointing, but what it doesn't do with the real-life horrors it attempts to fictionalize is more of a surprise than a crushing disappointment.

A Year in the Life of a Haunted House Owner: June Is Tough

hauntedreport — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 14:19:42 EDT

Norm Glenn of the Mansion of Terror will be chronicling his 2007 haunted attraction season. From buying props, to speaking at HauntCON, and finding a location, you will get to see how the industry works from the inside. So stay tuned as we hear more and more from Norm throughout his 2007 season. It's now June 13. Too bad it's not Friday also. Last night we had our final meeting before build-out begins 30 days from now. All new theming is finished. All rooms are finished. The pneumatics crew is on schedule for the pneumatics we're building for this year. We purchased eight new pneumatics also that will be tested by the pneumatics crew before we start. Our static props crew is working on all non-pneumatic props or large set pieces for this year. They're on schedule too, so that's great.They had a large 4 x 8 vacuform table added to their "To-Do" list. That will be exciting to get to use. They've actually already started welding the frame for it. We're starting on getting permits, utilities, insurance, and the works for our leased space. On the marketing front, the website and Myspace pages are under a complete redesign as we speak. We're also securing media sources for all of our other marketing events and starting to speak with sponsors. Our new pneumatic props have been arriving on schedule so far. That's a good thing. We're doing some custom work with Grave Robber Studios also. What an amazing company! I'm glad we plan ahead on everything. It really pays off when it comes to build-out time. It lets everyone breathe a little easier and enjoy the build-out more, rather than running around like headless chickens. One thing that amazes me -- each year we say that our goal is to top the year before.Also each year, at the end of the season, we ask ourselves, How in the world are we going to top that? Here we are again and we have so many new, fresh ideas added to the show that we will definitely top last year. I have the entire crew to thank for that! I'm really fortunate to work with such a variety of talented and creative men and women. I love our planning meetings where I can pose a problem to the group -- maybe it's a new idea or new prop -- and I lay down the gauntlet and say, "Can we do that?" I love it because I never get just one answer back. I get several and all are usually equally as creative but from different approaches. It's those little moments that fuel my passion for haunted houses!

Fiendish Friday Interview: Netherworld Haunted House

hauntedreport — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 22:07:38 EDT

This is a series of interviews we do with the people who are changing the face of the haunted attractions and horror industry. This week we interview the folks from NETHERWORLD haunted house. They build some of the sickest sets you have ever seen.Why did you first become interested in the haunted house/horror business?It seems like I have loved scary stuff all my life. I did a haunted house at my elementary school and got hooked scaring people at a very young age! I had all the classic monster models, read Famous Monsters Magazine -- the whole nine yards!What previous jobs have you had?After college, I worked at TV stations in Tallahassee, Florida and Atlanta, Georgia for 18 years. During those years I mainly worked on the production of news shows, running camera, audio, directing and such. I also shot and edited commercials, was a lighting and set designer, produced special events like telethons and parades, and eventually moved into management. But the interesting thing that was horror related was my TV show Tales From 6 Feet Under, a local hosted horror show. Every week I would run old horror movies with crazy skits during the commercial breaks.What job do you do right now? Is the haunted house/horror job your full-time gig?I still do occasional special event related projects, but NETHERWORLD is my primary focus.How long have you been in the business?Since I was ten years old! No, really I would say three years of actually designing and running real charity haunts in conjunction with my TV show, three years with a professional haunted house chain (Silo X) and 11 years of NETHERWORLD, so pretty much about 17 years.How did you start?Well, I was doing the hosted horror show as the bizarre Dr. Speculo, and after working closely with the Muscular Dystrophy Association for years on the local telethon coverage we decided that a haunted house would be a great fund raiser. Using my collection of horror props, the TV station, and my actor friends who helped with the show, we hooked up with the charity and did our first show, “Dr. Speculo’s Trail of Terror!” After the memory of how hard it was wore off, I guess I was hooked!What’s the scariest haunted house you ever attended?Wow, that’s a tough one! It might have been some of the Jaycee haunts I went to as a kid, probably because I was a kid, but I still remember them as being pretty good. I think the scariest haunt sort of thing I remember is exploring an old abandoned Spanish fort when I was in elementary school. That sort of stuck with me, so haunts or scenes with an dark, old, realistic abandoned feel are the creepiest for me. I can still get startled in haunts, usually by a good actor, or by a falling wall or pit, but that only lasts for a second. Now there are some scary haunts I have seen that look really dangerous from a safety aspect, but that’s another thing entirely!Do you still find time to attend haunted houses?Absolutely! I almost never get out during the season, but I travel to as many haunts as I can usually during trade shows and such. I got to see the legendary Rocky Point in depth at their final Fright Nights this year, and I have also seen such great haunts as Burial Chamber, Terror on the Fox, Dreamreapers, Realm of Darkness, and the massive EREBUS in 2007 already.What inspires you to create?Personally I find ancient, mythological, historical, and literary elements to be more inspiring than most mass-marketed horror movies. The direction video games have taken with survival horror and complex storylines is much more to my taste than standard slasher fare. When I visit haunted houses I am impressed by producers who try new things, rather than the same old hockey masks. But on the flip side you always need to be aware of what your audience wants, and give it to them. When I see a lot of love and effort in a haunt, be it in an elaborate presentation, engineering marvels, innovative ideas, or a tight operation, that’s what inspires me! And also to quote the late great Lance Pope referring to his patrons, “Give them a good show… they deserve it!” That’s the real reason to create -- to give your guests a great show.Do you ever get scared anymore?I do get startled on occasion, but haunts don’t really scare me. The feeling of suspense you get before the drop on a rollercoster, and certain peak moments in good haunts or during a good horror movie come close, but real scares are limited to real dangers like driving in Atlanta!What does scare you?Bad weather and having my slider pads slip when I am sliding in our parking lot. Ouch!Do you believe in real haunted houses or ghosts?I don’t believe in them per se, but I think something interesting is going on. Hopefully the continued application of science to odd events will eventually shed more light on them.What is fear?Real fear is something you inspire once in a while in guests, and it is not always a good thing. When they think they are really going to die and completely lose it, it means that you have pushed too far. I really dislike haunts who market making guests lose control of bodily functions, even though we see it a lot. It’s generally not a good experience for the guest, and I think glorifying it is crude and unprofessional. My favorite reaction is a huge startle, followed by a shock release where they sort of slump or lose balance, followed by laughter or smiling. You got ‘em good, they are having a great time, and they leave happy. If you terrorize a patron to the next level they will leave traumatized and will probably never go to another haunted house again. That is bad for them and bad for the industry. But the reputation that you are that scary is actually an advantage when marketing, so you are always trying to ride that line.Who’s your average customer?Everyone! We have huge crowds in all shapes and sizes. But the most common type I would say is young adults in pairs or groups looking to have a good time, and we try to give it to them. What are your five-year goals?I love this line of work! I want to keep doing it till they pry my screw gun from my cold dead fingers! Really my goal is to run a safe, fun, impressive show that is always evolving and always taking it to the next level. You just go year by year and do the best you can. I am also excited about getting my kids into the business as they grow older and seeing where they can take it in the future. What more could you want?

DVD Review: Hannibal Rising

hauntedreport — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 10:43:58 EDT

By Iloz Zoc Please allow me to introduce myselfI'm a man of wealth and taste...If you meet me, have some courtesyHave some sympathy, and some tasteUse all your well-learned politesseOr I'll lay your soul to waste... -- The Rolling StonesHow does one give sympathy to the devil? That's the challenge Thomas Harris faced when writing his background story on the birth of one of the most riveting fictional human monsters, Hannibal Lecter.Of course, the first question to ask is why do it? Giving tea and sympathy to a consummately evil character that sends shivers down your spine with just that look and just that smile is quite an accomplishment. Why ruin it? When the Borg where humanized in Star Trek: The Next Generation, the franchise lost a perfectly frightening bunch of monsters with no redeeming social values, and future stories lacked the visceral fear of being assimilated without remorse, of losing all that you hold dear in the wink of an eye and there was nothing you could do about it. Bad call there.Thomas Harris made a bad call here, too. Not only does he try to explain why Hannibal is a cannibal, but he chooses to do it prosaically. His characters speak with flowery-mouth intensity appropriate for literature, not screen dialog. And for a laconic character that's short on words but long on cuisine, that's not a good thing; a known unknown evil is more worrisome and scary than a known known evil, definitely.Director Peter Webber also makes a bad call by ponderously posing every scene with self-conscious importance. This slows the pacing throughout the movie, and scenes of visceral intensity, where Hannibal begins to succumb to his guilt and insanity, are held back because of it. And don't get me started on those James A. Michener-styled background tableaux. With near-risible martial arts aunt, offerings to ancestral samurai, and a poorly thought through revelatory exposition that is capped by Hannibal crying "You ate my sister!" I imagine lots of popcorn bounced off theater screens everywhere as audiences chuckled and shifted uneasily in their seats -- for all the wrong reasons.Adding to this undercooked cinematic souffle, Gaspard Ulliel postures a lot, as if doing a Vogue layout for Hannibal Lecter fashions. His ominous leering and malicious grinning doesn't evoke any of the uncanny calmness of Anthony Hopkins later, more menacing portrayal. It appears the look of the film was far more important than the substance.Great care is taken to preserve that look, and visually, the film is beautiful when it should be ugly. Hannibal's growing insanity, growing thirst for revenge looks so beautiful, but it has no life of its own, no building tension buzzes around him.It's Word War II, and young Hannibal, and his younger sister, are fleeing the Nazis. Their parents thought they had a safe haven in the woods, but that turns out to be a magnet for the war's atrocities. Before they're settled in, tragedy strikes and both his parents are killed. He and his sister must now face the long, cold winter alone in a hostile environment.More of the war's chaos walks into their home in the form of mercenaries looking for food and a warm place to stay. Food. Where to find it? Starvation sets in, and more and more those hungry eyes stray toward the children. Eventually the hunger is too much, and it's now a quick cheek pinch here, an arm tug there to find which, boy or girl, has more meat on their bones. Hannibal's sister loses. He's helpless as she's brought outside to be slaughtered.It's now eight years later. Hannibal has lost everything, including his dignity, as his home is converted into an orphanage for bully-boys that grow tired of his nightly screams while he dreams. Soon he's off to Paris, to look up his aunt (Gong Li). She's Lady Murasaki Shikibu, who prays to her ancestor's samurai-suited shrine, and teaches Hannibal the fine art of hitting each other with a stick while wearing copious padding. Hannibal, of course, takes a fancy to her long and sharp katana, and enjoys rubbing it with clove oil to keep it sparkling.An encounter with a fat butcher at the local market sets him off down the non-vegetarian road of self-destruction. He takes time away from his medical school training to return to his crumbling home to retrieve the dog tags of the vile men that ruined his life and ate his little sister. He begins tracking them down one by one, dispensing his unique brand of justice; and cooking up a tasty treat of cheeks and mushrooms -- Emeril Lagasse take note!As the body count piles up, along with Hannibal's growing culinary prowess, Inspector Popil is hot on his trail. With insightful observations like "It's vanilla. He reacts to nothing. It's monstrous," when viewing Hannibal's polygraph test, and "What is he now? There’s not a word for it yet. For lack of a better word, we’ll call him a monster," I had no doubt the inspector would not get his man.Hannibal eventually tracks down the men who ate his little sister, Mischa. Either beheading them, or drowning them, or munching on them, there's little revulsion generated by the whole mess. There is no tension, no suspense, and amazingly, no hint of that complex web of genius and madness shown in the adult Hannibal.In the climactic confrontation between the man who led the others in their hunger-driven madness to consume Hannibal's little sister, and the revenge-consumed Hannibal himself, the resolution is oddly passionless. Even when we find out why Hannibal is guilt-ridden also, the revelation is drowned in the good-looking but empathy-lacking scene. His cry of "you ate my sister," didn't help that scene much either.Even the extra featurettes on the DVD are glossy-nice to look at, but lack real bite. For the hardcore horror fan, they offer no insight and no interesting background information. They're brochure-quality promotion pieces, not in-depth discussions of the film.Hannibal Rising is like one of those plastic fake food displays that look so mouth-watering good. Just don't shove one of them in your mouth expecting a great taste and texture experience, and don't watch Hannibal Rising expecting a shuddering, emotive experience either. Plastic is just plastic.

Fiendish Friday Interviews: Jeremy from Midnight Fire

hauntedreport — Sat, 9 Jun 2007 10:11:49 EDT

This is the weekly series of interviews we do with people changing the face of the Haunted Attractions and Horror Industry. This week we interview Jeremy of Midnight Fire Attractions. They build custom attractions, sets and props for the themed entertainment industryWhy did you first become interested in the Haunted House/Horror Business?It all started when I was 13, pretty much by accident. It was about a month before Halloween, and I just happened to mention to a friend that I was bored and needed a project to work on. He said, "why don't you do a haunted house?" I barely even knew what a haunted house was, and had certainly never been to one. But I was intrigued, and together we came up with $90 and put on a little show in my parents' basement. I was hooked from that moment on.What Previous jobs have you had?I guess the first real job I ever had was re-shelving books at the local library. That was not fun. Since then, I've worked as a graphic designer, video editor, and musician, in addition to my themed attraction work.What job do you have now?I now run a company called Midnight Fire Attractions, and we build custom attractions, sets, and props for the themed entertainment industry. For anyone who's interested in learning more about us and the work we do, there's a lot more information available on our website MidnightFireAttractions.How Long Have you Been in business?We officially incorporated the business in 2004, although we had been working on attractions for several years before that.How Did You Start?It all just grew out of my fascination (and, I guess you could say, obsession) with running that little haunted house when I was a teenager. I know that a lot of people in this business started out the same way. And then one day, it hits you that if this is what you love to do, you should try to see if you can make a living doing it.What's the scariest Haunted House you ever been to?I remember this very vividly. I must have been about 16, and I'm on vacation with my family near Niagara Falls. We're in a mall in the tourist area near the falls, and there's a haunted house in there called "Screamers." My two younger brothers and I are extremely apprehensive about going in, so we convince our dad to join us.Now to put it mildly, this was not the most creative attraction in the world. Most of the experience (and we were warned of this ahead of time) consisted simply of total darkness. Little red LEDs were placed throughout, and we were told to walk toward the lights.So we start down the first hallway, walking toward the first little LED... and we’re totally on edge, in anticipation of what's going to happen. It's pitch dark, and we can't see an inch in front of us. Then out of nowhere, an actor slams himself into the wall directly in front of where we're walking. We instantly do a 180 and run out screaming. We return to the ticket counter and, unfortunately, are informed that we won't be getting our money back.What Inspires you to create ?I create because I want to evoke some sort of emotional response in an audience. I want to make people feel something... whether it's fear, or excitement, or laughter. I think that's what it's all about. Try to give people an experience they've never had before, so when they leave, they want to tell people they know that they "have to come see this." When that happens, I feel like I've accomplished what I set out to do.Do you ever get scared anymore?Do I ever! I get scared very easily. I remember a couple years back, I fell for one of those internet video tricks where they have you watching some song lyrics on the screen, or whatever, and then a photo of the Exorcist pops up. I had trouble sleeping for weeks after that.Do you believe in real haunted houses?No, I don't. I'm very skeptical when it comes to stuff like that. But I'm a big believer in the potential of the whole concept to create some really powerful entertainment.What is Fear ?I think fear is our universal reaction to the unknown. We get afraid because we don't know what will happen, when it will happen, or if it will happen. And a good haunted attraction knows how to use this to its advantage. You get people to let their guard down, and then you hit them with something big. Or you set up a scare that just comes completely out of nowhere. That's why that "Exorcist" video on the web is so effective.Who's your competition and why ?Well, there are several companies out there that build attractions. But I try to make my own company stand out through the quality and attention to detail that my staff and I put into our work.What Is your 5 year goal ?I have some big plans for the next five years, and I have to say I'm very excited. In addition to growing my business, I've been working on a concept for a really innovative haunted attraction. I think it will be a "new breed" of haunted house, something that people have never seen before. I really have no interest in doing what's already been done, my goal is always to innovate. Honestly, I think this will be so different, that at the beginning, people won't even know what to think about it. We've all gotten so used to the "standard" haunted house stuff (actors growling at us, chainsaws, etc.) that an attraction that goes in a completely opposite direction might be hard to wrap your mind around at first. But I think once it catches on, it could be very big. I hope, anyway.

DVD Review: Murder-Set-Pieces

hauntedreport — Tue, 5 Jun 2007 14:08:19 EDT

by Iloz Zoc Around two-thirds into Murder-Set-Pieces I looked at my watch. I don't do that often when watching a film. In this case, though, I looked at it twice. I really wanted to get it over with, and, unlike some reviewers less meticulous (or masochistic) than I, I always watch the whole movie just to make sure I don't miss anything that remotely resembles art, or scares, or anything that stands out as a memorable horror-moment. I was disappointed that I didn't find anything like that here.At the end of the movie I sighed with relief and wondered what I ever did to the staff at The Haunted Report to warrant them sending me this emotionless and tensionless excursion into the mind and actions of a one-dimensional, neo-Nazi, muscle-bound serial killing photographer prowling Las Vegas for his next torture-gig photo shoot. America's Top Model has more tension. Maybe I should send the staff a fruit basket for the holidays. Then maybe they'd send me the A stuff.While many of the reviews for Murder-Set-Pieces mercilessly castigate director Nick Palumbo as a misogynistic this or racist that, that's not quite the vibe I picked up. He's just doing what any director does -- telling his unsavory story through the camera lens. I actually thought Palumbo did a solid job of direction, but just made some questionable choices with the material, like his confusing use of ill-placed, tinkling music, flashbacks and shock-montages into the fractured mind of the nutbag photographer, or the spin-art overuse of blood on everything in sight. Then there's the bordering-on-comic way he'd cut to the photographer driving in his Mustang, again and again, prowling night-time Las Vegas for more nudie-cutie opportunities, with the same overused audio of the car's engine racing and sputtering.But the most important directorial misstep here is the lack of tension-building suspense and the pedestrian way in which each murder-set-piece is handled. At no time are any of the tortures or murders the least bit shocking, the least bit emotionally draining. We follow the photographer around, as he bounces off the padded walls of his mind, as if we're carrying his equipment bag and nothing more. And when he whips out that straight razor, there's no fearful whimper from us, no gasps. Perhaps I'd have been more drawn in with the uncut version of the film, but Anchor Bay's R-rated DVD only implies defilement and torture, and cuts away from the chainsaw-through-head type of chunky violence gore-hounds love. So gore-hounds be warned: look for the uncut version if you are so inclined. As for me, I'd rather have more meat and less sauce.Which brings us to the storyline itself, which is less meaty and less filling than a horror movie should be. Due in large part to Sven Garrett's lifeless performance as the photographer with too much killing time on his hands. Even though he suffers from manic bouts of shouting in German, and nose-bleeds as he flashbacks in weird vignettes with him as a boy walking train tracks while a flirtatious blonde parades in front of him, while his look is right, that's where his energy for the role ends. When he pumps iron, all sweaty and gritty, he still doesn't pump enough energy to light a diode, let alone a performance that cries out for psychotic, balls-to the-wall-abandon. His torture and killing sprees are monotone, with the only lively color coming from the blood all around him. So what if he likes to eat his meat raw and bloody? Without the gusto, it's just undercooked.Even the cameos with Gunnar Hansen and Tony Todd do nothing to fortify the film. Hansen, playing another neo-Nazi crazy, sells the photographer a gun, and Todd, who manages an Adult Video store, tries to throw him out after he asks for a snuff film called Nutbag (an in-joke reference to Palumbo's other film).The hidden torture-death playroom he uses to humiliate and terrorize his victims is a caricature of a hidden torture-death playroom, and doesn't generate an atmosphere of dread anticipation and fear. Way too much red blood is spattered over everything, making it more of a demonic Pee Wee Herman's acid-trip induced idea of what a playroom should be. While it does reflect a bit of a 1970s gleefully repellent grindhouse sensibility, with naked, hanging upside down and chair-bound women, it fails to elicit feelings of disgust or shocks of horror. Palumbo and Garrett show no finesse in the fine art of building and sustaining tension, even when the chainsaw comes out for some head-scratching the hard way.The plot motivations also lead to some head-scratching. When the photographer's girlfriend pines away for him after he breaks off the relationship, he's such a lifeless kind of guy, you wonder where her tears are coming from. Even her little sister knows the guy's a creep and good riddance. Even after the break-up, he's still stalking the kid, watching her from his Mustang. When the kid complains, her big sister doesn't want to hear it; so she steals the spare, creepy-freaky guy's house key, begs a total stranger to drive her to his house, and lets herself in -- to do what, exactly? Why didn't she just go to the police? What, the Vegas cops too busy to follow up on one more psycho? Especially when they've got a trail of dead bimbos across the strip? That's when I looked at my watch a second time.The ensuing encounter between her and him, as he's all bloodied-up from playing with another hapless victim, is devoid of terror and suspense. There was no build-up leading to this encounter, so when it comes, it plays out without fanfare or intensity. When she hides under his bed -- apparently the kid has never seen a horror film -- I rolled my eyes in disbelief, and when she runs back to the playroom to hide -- you know, the no-exit, basement torture-chamber soaked in wall to wall blood and nicely decorated with his recent kills -- I doubted Palumbo ran his script through the reality-checker first.The ending leaves the photographer with a headache and a sequelization antic that could spawn another film, and the blood-spattered, and hopefully wiser kid, walking down the highway in shock.She wasn't the only one.

Fiendish Friday Interview: The Chainsaw Mafia

hauntedreport — Sat, 26 May 2007 12:17:21 EDT

This is part of an ongoing series of interviews we do every Friday with someone changing the face of the horror/Halloween industry. This week we interview Shannon Lark of the Chainsaw Mafia. Talk about your horror performance art!What is the Chainsaw Mafia?The Chainsaw Mafia is my horror production company which specializes in horror film and splatter theater. TCM is also a networking board online designed to help independent horror filmmakers get support for their productions. It’s kind of like a Craigslist for the low budget filmmaker.TCM’s motto is “Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter,” which indicates the need and request for more women in the horror genre.Who are the Living Dead Girlz?The Living Dead Girlz is a zombie dance troupe based in San Francisco. The director, Amber Steele, is the choreographing genius behind all of our moves. We always tell a new story with our shows, and specialize in non-commercial jazz, sock hop, cha cha, chair dancing, tango/waltz, and a little bit of burlesque (although we are not a burlesque dance troupe).We also eat brains, disembowel, and rip hearts out of people. We spray about five gallons of blood at our “wet” shows but can adapt our shows to venues that need to stay dryer.There are seven of us total, although four or five of us travel to perform for away shows.What is the show about?The storylines always change with every new show we do. We just performed a new show where we attack a threesome of pretentious Goths at a party. We chair danced to Nelly Furtado. The very first show we did, called “Meet the Living Dead Girlz,” takes place in a morgue. The Doctor injects herself and is reanimated. She injects all of us, and we come back to dance to the Pussycat Dolls and NIN. In this show we have our individual personae. Ghetto-Fab Zombie, Swat Team Zombie, Voodoo Zombie, etc.We try to mix it up and not have shows that have similar choreography, costumes, or storylines. It takes about two months to create one show, and the piece is about ten minutes long.Who usually hires you to perform?Oh boy! Clubs, wrestling events, b-day parties, film festivals, and other horror-esque events. We just signed up with the Bay Area Derby Girls and have even gotten requests to perform at weddings!Fangoria has hired us for a slew of their conventions as well.What's the worst show you ever performed?For me personally, it had to of been Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors in San Jose. I was coming down with something and felt like I couldn’t keep up with the moves or was about to fall over. It was pretty awesome!What's the best?A show we did recently at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco. That’s really our home venue, and we had so many supporters. Even though I did hurt my back from playing too rough in the blood, it was so so so much fun!How did you find the ladies of LDG?I shot this short horror film called “What Ever Happened to the Zombie Killers?” Amber Steele did all the zombies’ choreography in the film and played one of the zombie Killers with myself. I think it might have been Amber who said she would like to direct a zombie dance troupe someday. I pestered her for about one or two years until she gave in.How did you get into the horror business?Once I decided it was what I wanted to do, I would land parts on films and follow the director and the crew around relentlessly, asking questions. I read books and picked up a camera and taught myself. I also took out a loan and did independent film study at the Film Arts Foundation.Is this your full time gig?It is my full time gig, but I still have to work to pay the bills. I get up at around 7 a.m. to start working on my passion. I have a job that remains flexible with me running off to where I need to go. I usually get done around 2:30 a.m. Then I wake up and do it all over again.Are you into haunted houses at all? Favorites?Totally! I think the best haunted house I have ever heard of is Hell House by the insane Christian fanatics. What they are doing is truly frightening.What is fear?Adrenaline pumped quickly into your blood stream. It’s really great!Do you get scared anymore?No. Not when dealing with horror films. I have nightmares all the time but experience them as surges of creativity.I do get scared sometimes of the thought of walking by someone with an umbrella and getting my eye ripped out by one of the spokes. I duck a lot in San Francisco.