The Viscera Film Fest Comes to Boston

It's no secret that Boston doesn't have the most public horror following out there. Horror events seem few and far between and when they do happen they're often masked in Independent Film Fests or Sci-Fi events. However, thanks to my buddies Chris and Mike of All Things Horror, this has been steadily changing. Every 1st Wednesday of month Chris and Mike showcase independent horror films at the Somerville Theater. It's an amazing opportunity to see some films made by people who truly love horror.

Going to these screenings has always been something I look forward which is why I am so tremendously excited to tell you about what's happening this weekend....This weekend All Things Horror and The Horror Digest proudly bring the Viscera Film Festival to Boston.

The Viscera Film Festival was started by Shannon Lark and Heidi Honeycutt and is dedicated to expanding opportunities for female filmmakers and educating the public on the changing roles for women in the film industry. Viscera comes full circle every summer where an amazing film festival is put on in LA showcasing horror films made by women. It's an event that always makes me sad to live on the east coast.

This will all change this weekend however when Viscera comes to Boston! So if you're in the mood to watch some truly mind-blowing and spectacular films, come to the Somerville Theater this Friday and Sunday.

The line up is as follows...

Friday, September 23

8 pm – Program of Viscera Selection of Short Films

Adventure Girls by Dara Jade Moats and Don Deitcher
Aftershock by Lori Bowen
Mockingbird by Marichelle Daywalt
Nursery Crimes by Laura Whyte
The Ghost and Us by Emily Carmichael
Candy by Sage Hall
Bon Apetit by Kate Shenton
The Many Doors of Albert Whale by Marichelle Daywalt
The Bride by Ana Almeida
The Key to Annabel Lee by Staci Layne Wilson
Belle Nouveau by Cassandra Sechler
Box by Nikki Wall
The Party’s Over by Gigi Romero

10 pm – Screening of Maude Michaud’s “Bloody Breasts” Documentary and Shorts (Director in Attendance)

Sunday, September 25

5 pm – The Short Films of Izabel Grondin

7 pm – Program 2 of Viscera Selection of Short Films

I’m a Little Teapot by Sallie Smith
Barbee Butcher by Sophie Lagues
The Date by Jennifer Gigantino and Natasia Schibinger
Blood Bunny by Molly Madfis
I was a Tranny Werewolf by Lola Rock’n Rolla
Belated by Valentines Lover Ruby La Rocca
7/28/1989 by Mae Catt
12/15/1996 by Mae Catt
Doll Parts by Karen Lam
Gasp by Thomai Hatsios
A Fever and a River by Rachael Deacon

9:15 pm – Screening of Karen Lam’s Feature Film “Stained”

Ticket prices are $8 in advance or $10 at the door.

$15 gives you access to a special "double feature" either Friday or Sunday

and $25 gives you access to all the screenings.

Buy tickets or get more information here

So honestly, how can you want to miss this? If you're in the Boston area and you're a horror fan, I'd better see you in attendance at the wonderful Somerville Theater. If not then we may have some difficulty continuing to be friends.

The Ward: Broke My Computer

The Ward is not a very good movie. In fact, it's a terrible movie as evidenced by the fact that once I was done watching it, my water bottle, acting out of its own free will, decided to douse my Macbook with water and destroy it. Now because of The Ward, I have no computer and am forced to use Emmy Doomas' Dell which likes to randomly highlight things and also the keys are too close together so I'm typing like a 4th grader or a really really old person. Seriously, thanks a lot The Ward. Thanks.

In all honesty, I knew that John Carpenter's long awaited return to horror in the form of The Ward, was not met with a lot of happiness. I however like to give things a chance and therefore I decided that before I refused to ever hang out with The Ward, it would do me good to get to know it on my own terms. My own terms have now been achieved and the verdict is of course that The Ward totally stinks. Here is why.

The Ward centers around Kristen, a girl who gets picked up by police after burning down a house. She has no idea why she did it and has no memories of anything prior to the house. She gets put in a mental institution with other girls and soon finds out that a mean corpsey ghost is haunting the ward and killing off the girls one by one. Who is this corpsey ghost and wait a minute, aren't we supposed to be finding out why Kristen is there?

See, that's one of the main reasons The Ward does not work for me. We are set up thinking that we are watching a movie where little by little we come to find out the truth of our heroine's past. This however gets immediately shoved to the side by the existence of a ridiculous and stupid "ghost". Suddenly, The Ward falls from being an eerie psychological thriller, to an Asian movie with a ghost. This is forgive me for saying, stupid.

Stupid because the parts with the ghosts AKA the entire movie are centered around the very idea of cop outs. There is NOTHING scary about The Ward and we know this because the "scares' are represented by jumps and things that force us to be scared. Instead of building up the creepy atmosphere of the ward, the corpsey hands and stupid face of the ghosts are crammed down our throats. It's so disappointing. Any movie that completely wastes the atmosphere of a creepy mental institution is an asshole in my book.

Additionally, the acting is entirely unconvincing, complete with lines like "No! Noooo! Not that!" really awful stuff. The ghost also apparently studied torture at the school of nonsense because honestly--why is a ghost taking the time to strap someone down and use various forms of psychotherapy to kill them? It doesn't make sense.

Which brings to my final point---The Ward does not make any sense. Once the twist is revealed, the Ward becomes one of those movies that suddenly loses all of its creditability. It almost seems to come as a sort of disrespect for the audience in a way--to completely negate every single thing they have just watched. It's so ridiculous that it makes you laugh out loud. If you want to talk ridiculous involving the plot twist, do so in the comments section and I will join you.

So in closing---The Ward is horrible. Please do not watch it unless you want to waste an hour and 30 minutes of your life. And since The Ward is so sucky and because it destroyed my computer, you can expect posting to be minimal until payday when I can buy a new computer. I'm not sure how much more of this Dell I can take...............

Google Doodles: Freddie Mercury and Horror Character Anthems

I know I've been slacking on my newly launched Google Doodle posts but it's not my fault that Google only decides to put them up when I'm having a super lazy day right? That's what I thought. In any case, once I found out what today's Google Doodle was, there was no way I could pass up an opportunity to talk about it.

Today marks what would have been the 65th birthday of Freddie Mercury. Here is a heart warming story for you in regards to why I feel I have a special love of all things Freddie. Back sometime in the wonderful decade of the 1990s, my Dad brought home our very first CD player. Yes, yes all you oldies can pish posh all you want, but in my day CD players were a big deal. The first CD my Dad bought along with our brand new CD player was Classic Queen. A CD that I would play nonstop and dance to by my lonesome in the living room. It is due to this I think and the fact that Queen was one of the only CDs my Dad played in the car---that I love them.

Therefore in order to pay tribute to who was perhaps one of the greatest musicians of all time, I am going to dedicate a few of Queens greatest hits to some of the greatest horror characters and movies of all time.

Somebody to Love

Frankenstein's Monster in...

Bride of Frankenstein

Defining Lyrics:

Everyday, I try and I try and I try

But everybody wants to put me down

They say I'm goin' crazy

They say I got a lot of water in my brain

Got no common sense

I got nobody left to believe

A Kind of Magic

Corky and Fats in...

Magic

Defining Lyrics:

It's a kind of magic,

A kind of magic,

One dream, one soul, one prize,

One goal, one golden glance of what should be

I'm Going Slightly Mad

Miss Giddens in...

The Innocents

Defining Lyrics:

I'm going slightly mad

I'm going slightly mad

It finally happened - happened

It finally happened - ooh oh

It finally happened - I'm slightly mad

Oh dear

Under Pressure

Robert Thorn in...

Soylent Green

Defining Lyrics:

It's the terror of knowing

What this world is about

Watching some good friends

Screaming let me out

Pray tomorrow - gets me higher

Pressure on people - people on streets

I Want It All

Herbert West in...

Re-animator

Defining Lyrics:

I´m a man with a one track mind,

So much to do in one life time(people do you hear me)

Not a man for compromise and where´s and why´s and

living lies

So I´m living it all, yes I´m living at all,

And I´m giving it all, and I´m giving it all,

I want it all, I want it all,

I want it all, and I want it now

I Want To Break Free

Rosemary Woodhouse in...

Rosemary's Baby

Defining Lyrics:

I want to break free

I want to break free

I want to break free from your lies

You're so self satisfied I don't need you

I've got to break free

God knows, God knows I want to break free

Bohemian Rhapsody

David in...

An American Werewolf in London

Defining Lyrics:

Too late, my time has come,

Sends shivers down my spine, body's aching all

the time

Goodbye, ev'rybody, I've got to go,

Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth