5 posts tagged “horror”
Werewolf vs Freddy ♥ Sheraton Hotel, Minneapolis (11/07/09)
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This year, the merchandise room was reduced to a size of a
large bedroom, so you walk in and out in about a minute. I did manage
to pick up some stuff, but they weren't cheap. Celebrities prints are
costs anywhere from $20-40, we weren't allowed to take pictures (if you
did purchase a print, then taking pictures would cost an extra $5).
Last year, most of the nicer stars let us take pictures for free.
As for merch, the usual bootlegs, toys, horror t-shirts were
there, but because of the smaller room - it feels like there weren't a
lot of choices. Some commonly seen t-shirts were Nightbreed and
Hellraiser, which I thought were cool, since I have always thought
Clive Barker is genius.
Also, this year they had music as part of the show. The person that was supposed to give me a pass to the music area was not at the ticketbooth and I didn't feel like paying extra to see music. Besides, all of the bands seems to be either punk or metal, not really my cup of tea, so I didn't bother to make much effort in getting the pass.
With the disappointing cancellation, incorrect/false information (is
updating a website too much to ask?), the smaller space, and
expensive admission ($30 at the door) - this will be the last year that
my group will attend. 
11/08/2009 02:54:28 ♥ vu (
) ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
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The song is a cover of the classic Cramps (myspace) 1980 song from their album, Songs The Lord Taught Us. As with the original and the cover, they both feature that distinctive guitar riff and, er, campy and moody vocals. I'm not sure what the deal is with the Chico Fellini cover, but there's about 45 seconds of "extra" jewelery box music at the end. I only ask because I had to boost up my volume to catch it.I was a teenage werewolf, braces on my fangs!
Anyway, what the song is ultimately about is "growing pains" of a teenage werewolf, and I'm assuming describes the 50s film (having never seen it myself). The 50s horror film of the same name, starring a young Michael Landon, of Little House on the Prairie fame was so successful that it inspired other films such as "I Was a Teenage Frankenstein", "I was a Teenage Mummy", "I Was a Teenage Serial Killer", and "I Was a Teenage Intellectual", etc.
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As a bonus, here's also the most famous Wizard Rock band, Harry and the Potters (official / myspace) with their song "My Teacher is a Werewolf". In fact, here's even more Werewolfy songs from previous year's entries.
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10/31/2009 18:48:22 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
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Crypticon 2008 ♥ Radisson Hotel - Roseville, Minnesota |
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So what does one do at these conventions ? Usually buying stuff, like 8x10 signed actor portraits and sometime overpriced merchandises. My sister did get a nice deal on the Lost action figures Todd McFarlane put out a few years ago. I contemplated on buying bootleg Hellraiser and Evil Dead stuff, but instead got an autographed Hellboy II. Was disappointed that there were not more obscure horror DVDs and packages for sale (it seems I already own 90% of whatever they were selling).
My brother took most of the photographs, including James Duval (Frank the Bunny), Chris Sarandon (famous for playing Jack Skellington), Doug Jones (Pale "Jazz Hands" Man), and here's a picture with Michael Berryman (that The Hills Have Eyes dude). Berryman, no offense or anything, is such a nice guy, but he's really scary-looking. He even seems like a fanboy as he was collecting autographs from the other attendees!
My complaints and suggestions for future shows is to keep the cost down. $30 per day is really expensive, and adding on additional purchases, you can easily tap out $100. The other problem is that the convention extends for three days - perhaps just keep it to the weekend. I also think that it would've been better to have it in the Summer or perhaps closer to Halloween (but I can understand that October might be too insane to try and organize anything).
Other disappointment was that legendary make-up artist and actor Toni Savini canceled out.
Other than that, it's worth checking out these conventions if you want to meet actors and get more merch. I wouldn't mind attending a Star Trek convention one of these days if they held one closer to home.
Links:
crypticonminneapolis.com
In my final installment of Halloween treats, I'm going to compile some songs about Werewolves. I actually had a lot more Halloween-related posts I wanted to do, but lately I have not been home.
It began with the Greek mythology about Lycaon who was transformed into a wolf from eating human flesh. The term "werewolf" is based on old English, meaning "man-wolf".
In modern pop culture, the definitive portrayal of the Werewolf was by Lon Chaney Jr in "The Wolf Man" (1941).
Some characteristics of the Werewolves (all based on folklore): Once bitten by a Werewolf, that person also becomes a Werewolf. They turn into a Werewolf on a Full Moon. The only way to kill them is with a Silver bullet.
My favorite Werewolf movies are "Ginger Snaps". The first movie is about two teenage girls. It was brilliantly executed, paralleling the transformation to a Werewolf and going through puberty. The second movie does the same thing - only Werewolf/drug addiction. The third movie takes place in the past. All the sequels are very different from each other, in story and theme, but they are all about Werewolves.
Update: I was gonna add this yesterday, thought better of it, but Vu's convinced me... The Ginger Snaps theme, composed Michael Shields and available only on his website for free download. It's hauntingly good! Oh maybe I should also mention that the girl who played Bridget in the movie, Emily Perkins (shorter darked haired one), came to my Uni a couple years ago to give a lecture / q&a session on the show (all 3 of which we got to see free, though I'd seen the first before), then ran off with and married one of the Uni lecturers! And that thing about puberty is exactly what I though, but apparently it is just about lesbians. Who knew. - Christopher.
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My favorite Werewolf song is - hands down - "Werewolf" by Cocorosie. Coco (Bianca Casady) and Rosie (Sierra Casady) are real-life sisters. They have released three albums through Touch and Go Records. I don't know which of the two is singing (probably Coco as her name goes first in their name), but she has this very interesting vocal style. It's like a weird accent, it reminds me a lot of Joanna Newsom[W♥M] |
Warren Zevon has perhaps the best-known song of this group, "Werewolves of London". The song has a comic feel to it and not to be taken too seriously. According to listeners' polls, on the Jeremy Vine show, the first verse is the #1 "Greatest Opening Song Line."
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Running Wild are a German heavy metal band from the 80s. What you probably didn't guess is that this song (and many of their other songs) are in English. "Prowling Werewolf", in particular, is a pretty good song. It's more like a power rock song than metal. An interesting note about Running Wild, is that they became the world's first "Pirate Metal" band. They arrrrr still an active band. |
Speaking of cheesy 80s metal, this song "Werewolf in London" by London, was suggested by This Episode. The song is fairly typical of this genre: loud guitars and the lead singer can really scream. Incidentally, in doing research for this American band, I found out that there is a British band also called London. But they are better suited for this name, seeing as they do live in London... |
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Harry and the Potters was previously mentioned on W♥M. I've never read any of the books, but I get the impression that one of Harry's teacher was turned in a Werewolf? This information is what I've derived from the song. As for Werewolves in Harry Potter, apparently there's only three in the series: Remus Lupin, unnamed character, and Fenrir Greyback. I've deduced that Lupin is the teacher by day and wolf at night. |
I didn't know about Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's "She Said" until Life in Ruins mentioned it. Listening to the lyrics, it's obvious now. The "She" in this song are words spoken by a Gypsy, who warns that the singer is a Werewolf: "you ain't a man no more, you're outta control. These wolf bites gonna find out what its like to lose your soul." |
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Scary Bitches has a song called "Werewolf". Beyond that, I don't really know much about this British band. They seem to have a huge following in Germany, and are drenched in Goth-Rock. |
La Union's song "Lobo Hombre in Paris" is a Spanish song, sent in by Cristina. Since I don't understand Spanish, I just thought of that movie "An American Werewolf in Paris" - the sequel to "An American Werewolf in London". But I am assuming this song pre-date the 1997 film? |
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The Dillinger Escape Plan's "Sunshine the Werewolf" is LOUD. It's too loud and hardcore and screamo for me to really enjoy. I figure if I was ever at one of their live show that I would go deaf instantly. However, before you start to turn down the volume, two minutes into the song and there is a nice break in the song. I still can't figure what the song has to do with Werewolves? |
Cristina also sent in this song "Werewolf on Wheels" by The Born Losers. I had a hell (haha) of a time looking for the album art for this album. It's a various artist album called Halloween Party. I had even a harder time finding any information about The Born Losers. This song is just an instrumental. I guess it's best imagined if you saw a hairy Werewolf on a motorcyle! |
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Metallica's song "Of Wolf and Man" is essentially about a Werewolf. The song is loud and includes a some crazy guitar noodles half way into the song (this part makes me think of hair bands from the 80s!). My favorite line from the song is: "The company we keep/Roaming the land while you sleep". |
The (Motherf******) Browns are a punchy powerpunk band - similar to Blink 182. I thought this song was very poppy/fun band, and as their song title suggests, they really are based in Calgary, Canada. They're currently releasing their music on Meter Records. |
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I have to say that I have rather enjoyed this song by Southern Culture on the Skids (SCOTS). The song simply is called "Werewolf". They kind of remind me of surf rock and has a very 70s feel to it (for a band that's in the mid-80s to 90s). |
Finally, remember that Cat Power song that was requested by a reader so long ago? Guess what? It's about a Werewolf! An interesting note about this song is that it's a cover! Originally written by Michael Hurley. Apparently Chan Marshall is a huge Hurley fan as she's also covered two of his other songs, "Sweedeedee" and "Troubled Water". |
10/31/2007 23:25:14
vu
my♥posts
vu@weheartmusic.com
wikipedia.org/wiki/Werewolf
Continuing with my semi-regular Halloween entries, my theme today is that infamous Jack the Ripper.
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JACK THE RIPPER
I'm not morbid, or anything, but I was a bit fascinated with Jack
the Ripper when I bought my first issue of "From Hell", the comic book
by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell. It's not so much the story of Jack
the Ripper that interested me - but the appendixes at the end of each
issue!
I would often read a few pages and then instantly flip to the appendix to see why the writer decide to portray certain things. Moore is simply a brilliant storyteller, drawing his own conclusions based on actual details.
Here's an example of the appendix:
CHAPTER FIVE, Pages 28&29
written by Alan Moore
(excerpt)
The details of Polly's murder are a fiction, although pieced together from certain facts. It is my belief that Polly Nicholls was killed by strangulation somewhere quite close to Buck's Row and then carried there physically before the body was mutilated. The fact that Polly was dead before the mutilations started would seem to be borne out of the lack of blood around the body, most of it having seeped into Polly's clothing. Arterial blood from a living body does not seep. It spurts, anything up to six or seven feet. Therefore, given the bruising upon Polly's neck and the sides of her face (see Jack the Ripper, A to Z by Begg, Skinner and Fido), I suggest that she was first killed by strangulation or by the more efficient method employed by [William] Gull here, that of squeezing shut the carotid artery. She was then taken to Buck's Row before the mutilations started, since there was no trail of blood leading into the street and I suggested the encounter with her killer and subsequent strangling could not have happened in Buck's Row without causing more noise....
Anyone interested in reading a fictional story based on factual reports on Jack the Ripper, I highly recommend "From Hell" (First Printing, November 1999). The paperback should set you back $35, but I'm sure you can find it used or new at a discounted price. I own all the original First Printing prestige formatted books as well as a collected version from Top Shelf Productions.
So here are some songs called "Jack the Ripper". I've previously mentioned about the Morrissey version, and in my research, I did find these new songs... one by this band called Casey Jones & The Governors. The the Jones song is actually very fun and I love it.
I found out that the song (as most "Jack the Ripper" songs) is actually originally by horror rocker Screaming Lord Sutch. He's very famous in England, but outside of the UK, he's virtually unknown. The weird thing is that in his live performances, he usually dress up as Jack the Ripper. The creepiest thing was that he committed suicide by hanging in 1999, apparently Lord Sutch suffered from clinical depression.
I got The White Stripes's "Jack the Ripper" Peel Session from devin306, I believe all the Peel Sessions were compiled in a bootleg.
The Horrors also covered "Jack the Ripper" as the intro song on their album Strange House (2007).
Other notable mentions:
- LL Cool J has a song called "Got You (Return of Jack The Ripper)", but unfortunately has nothing to do with the killer, so I've decided to not include the song here.
- Link Wray's 1963 "Jack the Ripper" is a surf-instrumental song. You can find out more information about the artist and song on www.linkwraylegend.com. Also, The Raybeats covered Link Wray's "Jack the Ripper", so essentially it sounds like the same song.
There are loads of Jack the Ripper band names, the most popular one is a from Paris, France.
PS, "From Hell" was eventually adapted for a major motion picture in 2001. The movie failed to capture what was interesting about Jack the Ripper (William Gull's character), but instead concentrated on Inspector Frederick George Abberline (played by Johnny Depp).
I wish the movie would've followed the book more closely, however I can understand that it is a movie and is very different from the book it's based on.
10/29/2007 08:05:34
vu
my♥posts
vu@weheartmusic.com
wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_the_Ripper
