Misc...

This is going to be a hodgepodge of several different thoughts. First, I have a new review in the middle of my blog of the movie 1408. This movie was so good with many, many twist to make it a very entertaining movie. The chills and thrills are definitely in this film. Below is the information Netflix has in their "At a Glance" section on this movie...

No one can explain the strange goings-on in room 1408 of the Dolphin Hotel. In this thriller based on a Stephen King story, writer and paranormal debunker Mike Enslin (John Cusack) is determined to demystify the ghostly events, even though a hotel clerk (Samuel L. Jackson) begs him to rethink his plans. Mike needs to write another book soon, and room 1408 may be his ticket to the top of the best-seller list. But will he survive even one night?

Steven King will always be know as the greatest horror writer of our time. If I could have one wish, it would be to meet him and ask him what causes him to think of these scary, yet awesome stories. We can all dream can't we!

It snowed today :( It was about 4 or 5 inches, but enough is enough!!! Oh Spring, where are you???

As I said in a previous post, there are many different groups you can "join" to express your views on Netflix. The one I started is Fans of Dark Shadows. There is a link to this site below. We only have 4 members so far, but the group is only a few days old. It's fun taking that walk down memory lane when it comes to old shows from your childhood. Check out the site if you want.

http://community.netflix.com/group/fansofdarkshadows

Dark Shadows...

http://community.netflix.com/profile/frankgodbey

I put a video of the introduction of Barnabas Collins in the middle of my blog. This clip changed the history of the show. The show was actually 3 weeks from being canceled when Dan Curtis had the idea of putting a vampire on the show. This clip was from DVD Collection1 Disc 1. I'm currently watching DVD Collection 6 Disc 1... over 70 hours of my favorite show from my childhood. Thank god for Netflix! The link at the top of this post is my Netflix blog. It will link you to another page called "Fans of Dark Shadows". Netflix Community blogs are very interesting and if you have a Netflix account, you ought to look into joining one. If you don't find a group that suits you, you can create your own group... that's what I did with the Dark Shadows group. Also, just a quick bit of trivia for you. Jonathan Frid (Barnabas Collins) was doing theater at the time Dark Shadows began and had told his agent that he was done with acting and was going out west to further his academic career... teaching. He also told his agent that he didn't know when he was coming back to NY. He had been in Florida for two weeks on vacation and went back to his apartment in New York. As he was unlocking his apartment door, the phone rang. Jonathan put his bags down outside his apartment and went in to answer the phone. It was his agent telling him about the Dark Shadows role. Jonathan didn't want to do it because he was going to go to California to teach, but his agent asked if he would do it as a favor and it would only last a few weeks and that Jonathan could use the money to pay for his trip out west. The ONLY reason Jonathan Frid took the role was to pay for his trip to California. The rest is history, Jonathan was on the show almost 5 years. True story. On one of the Dark Shadows DVD's Jonathan Frid is interviewed and recounted that story. Good stuff! Another quick note... The Vampire in my book is named Jonathan Hale. In honor of Jonathan Frid and my best friend growing up, Jimmy Hale... thought you might like to know that.

Snow...

Well it didn't snow as much as it was supposed too yesterday, but we still have a winter total of a little over 115 inches of the white stuff. It has snowed more this winter than it has in 134 years. You have to go back to 1874 when it snowed 120 inches to have a snowier (SP?) winter. Enough is enough I say! Anyway, I put a new review of a segment from the Masters of Horror series from Showtime in my review section. I've seen a lot of the Masters of Horror films and to be quite honest, most of them have been just average. This movie, Wicked Little Things, was very entertaining with an interesting storyline that tied everything in very well. I think most would find it a good movie and you really don't have to be a "Zombie" movie fan to like this one. The Masters of Horror series takes "top" horror directors who have done movies we all know like John Carpenter for instance, and lets them do an hour horror movie for Showtime Movie Channel. Like I said before, most of the have only been average and several have been downright bad. However, this one was a pretty good movie.

New Review and Video...

The new review is of the movie White Noise 2. The first White Noise with Michael Keaton was pretty good, but the second one was really good. It's a sequel, but it has nothing to do with the first one. This movie stands on it's own and has a lot of entertainment value. Read the review and I think you will want to see this one. The new video is a GREAT scene from one of the Hellraiser movies. The writing of this scene is so well done. It takes a very religious theme and puts a totally Pinhead touch (Satanic) to it. I guess some may find it offensive, but it's only a movie... it's not real. Thank god, I would hate to think if I were to play with a toy box that Pinhead would actually come forth to give me pain. There's a ton of horror movies out now and more on DVD. 8 Films to Die for was released last Tuesday and The Mist came out today. The Ruins will be out early April. It didn't seem that long ago that horror movies were few and far between. The 80's were a big horror decade, but it also gave us many campy films. All filled with T&A and not much on plot. To be honest, that's why I'm not a big fan of the Friday the 13th, Halloween, Nightmare, etc... I like the horror characters but the movies lack plot and just don't do it for me. I guess I'm too picky. I like horror movies that are well written, well directed, well acted, and above all scare me. I remember as a kid spending the night at my grandparent's house, going to the basement where the big TV was, turning off the lights and watching horror movies all night. I remember Chiller Theater on Saturday nights and sometimes staying up till 3am watching the classic horror films. Good times!

Tomorrow is the big day...

Tomorrow is my 49th birthday... it seems hard to believe that so much of my life has gone by so swiftly. It really doesn't seem that long ago that I was a little kid growing up in West Virginia. In a way, I miss those days and in other ways I would not want to live those days over again. I guess everyone feels that way. If you could repeat the good times, then yes. As I look out my window at home, all I see is snow. March 23rd and we still have 10 or more feet of snow in our front yard... it may never go away. I put one of my favorite video clips from Hellraiser in the middle of my blog. It is one of the most intense scenes in the movie. Check it out!
I guess if I could have one birthday wish, it would be that whoever keeps looking at my blog from South Carolina would leave a comment. Simple request, I know, but they look at it just about every other day and yet don't comment. So comment please. Well, I promised myself that I would work on my book today so I better get busy. By the way, hope everone has a happy Easter... not a fan of this holiday at all. Go figure, my favorite "holiday" is Halloween and it really isn't a holiday, but it should be!

New Review...

Just a quick update on my book... I finished reading "The Scene Book" that Professor D. suggested and will now begin the process of putting what I have learned to work. I'm making a deadline for myself of June 1st to have the book finished and back to Professor D. Hopefully, the ball will get seriously rolling then! I'm sitting in my Lazy-Boy chair at 10:17am this morning thinking that I need to hit the shower and get ready for work. I close tonight and need to be at work by 11:15am. Retail sucks!;) I'm also listening to one of my favorite CD's, Godsmack's greatest hits. Awesome CD. I saw them about 8 years ago at UNH and they put on an excellent show. I really wasn't a big fan of theirs at that time. A friend of mine liked them and asked if I wanted to go. Staind was an opening act and I love Staind, so I was in! I think it was Systamatic (SP?), Cold, Staind, and Godsmack. I have since becom a big fan of Cold since hearing the CD "A Different Kind of Pain". Great CD! Thank god for BMG Music Group... I've been a member since 2000 and have several hundred CD's. LOVE music!!! All kinds really, not just heavy stuff... big into country as well, Tim McGraw, Hank Jr., Big & Rich to name a few. Any way, need to get ready for work. Check out the review of Whisper in the middle of my blog. Really good movie!

Favorite Horror Movies...

Just a quick post to let all of you know that just below the picture of Pinhead (The greatest horror character of all time) I put a list of my favorite horror movies. These are classified purely as horror and not thrillers per Netflix classifications. They are not listed in the order of my favorite (Hellraiser) first. I also listed Dark Shadows, which is really a TV show, but I'm such a fan of the show I had to list it. Check the list out and by all means, watch them!

Video Bar...

A friend of mine, Elise, has a blog on Netflix (as do I) and she has a GREAT video of one of the best scenes in Hellraiser. It's the scene where twin cops (I know, twins???) are holding guns on Pinhead and telling him they are going to show him some pain if Pinhead doesn't surrender. Pinhead is offended they even use the word pain and begins a great speech on the true meaning of pain. Check it out on her blog... http://community.netflix.com/profile/Elise . Also, check out my video bar of several Hellraiser video's in the middle of my blog. I also put a new review of a really good horror movie called Beneath. The movie is well made and has a lot of good acting as well as a good storyline. Twist and turns keep the pace moving well and the tension is present throughout. Well worth a watch in my opinion.

Greenville, SC...

I was checking out my Statcounter today and was quite pleased with the hits to my blog so far. I was somewhat interested in all the hits from Greenville, SC. To those of you who don't know, I lived just outside of Greenville in the big city of Travelers Rest, SC for almost 20 years before moving to Plymouth, NH in 1999. My kids, parents, grandmother, and my sister's family all live in the area. My son Cory has a great blog you really ought to check out... http://lightnightrains.blogspot.com/. It's awesome and he has some really great drawings, videos, other links of interest on it. OK, I digressed. When I saw all the hits from Greenville, it gave me much happiness to see that more than likely my family was visiting my site. There are reasons that I will not go into as to why it brought me joy... maybe another post... someday. However, I truly wish they would leave a comment and let me know it was them who visited. I realize a lot of people visit a site and check it out and don't leave a comment, but comments are the only way I know what you think of my site and may help me to improve it. So please, anyone who visits, just leave a comment... just say you liked it or didn't like it (maybe why to help me improve it) or even just "Hi." I'm trying everyday to make it a site you will want to come back to, so please visit as often as your schedule allows! By the way, I posted another of my Netflix reviews in the middle of my blog. Thanks for the visit!

New section: My Netflix Reviews...

I have had Netflix for a year or so and must say that I have been pleased with the service. Tina and I watch several movies a week. We LOVE horror movies! Having said that, we love good movies period. A friend of mine who also has Netflix suggested I post some of my reviews on my blog... so here they are. My first review is of the movie The Invasion. A lot of the other reviewers on Netflix were calling this movie a "ripoff" of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I get a little testy when people tend to take themselves to seriously, hence my review started a bit harsh. Nicole Kidman stars in this movie, while I'm not a real fan of hers, she has done some good work. The Interpreter, Cold Mountian, Malice, and Dead Calm to name a few. I take my reviewing seriously and have over 90 reviews on Netflix. I love movies. A good movie allows you to escape from everything and be totally entertained for a couple of hours. I will update the reviews every couple of days. I hope everyone enjoys them and most importantly picks these movies up and watch them. I will keep them to the horror genre. The reviews are in the middle of my blog... scroll down a bit! So please comment and let me know what you think!

30 Days of Night...

I watched this movie the other night. The hype of a great vampire movie from the trailer and commericals made the anticipation of actually seeing it so much more intense for me. The concept of the movie is to survive a month of darkness with blood-sucking vampires killing and terrorizing the small town of Barren, Alaska. The special effects and the makeup for the vampires was awesome! The vampires truly were creepy and quite demonic. There was a good amount of tension in this film, but at times it seemd to drag... not to the extent that it harmed the movie, but it seemed like the director wanted to slow it down to make the intense moments that much more intense. Josh Hartnett is a good actor. He was great in the movies "Lucky Number Slevin " and "Black Hawk Down" and does a fine job in 30 days. My passion for good vampire movies goes beyond the norm... I love the genre and believe it is the most alluring genre in film. I'm a traditionalist when it comes to vampires. I want them to fear sunlight, the crucifix, and water. Basically like Dracula. I don't mind variations in movies like "Underworld", "Blade" (I love all three Blade movies) and others, but it isn't a true representation of the genre. There's no reason to do this in a movie except the writer and director aren't confident in the genre. There aren't many truly great vampire movies out there... some are campy and others make vampires sexual. It is the illusion of sexuality that gives the vampire his romantic appeal. However, it is just an illusion. "30 days of Night" is a REALLY good vampire movie... just not great.