Those of you curious as to why posts on The DLB have been so infrequent in recent months, please meet the reason: The Dark Prince Bunnykins! The past several months have been taken up serving this little fledgling Monster Kid on hand and foot, as well as his beloved mother. I am planning to ramp up posting, when time (and sanity) allows.
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4
Starring Kathryn Newton, Matt Shively and Katie Featherston
Directed by Ariel Schulman & Henry Joost
Written by Christopher Landon
Paramount
Rue Morgue Magazine received a lot of incredulous feedback when they published my review of the first Paranormal Activity film. I had written that it was the scariest filmgoing experience I had ever had; that was misinterpreted as “Paranormal Activity is the scariest movie ever made.”
It is true: the Paranormal Activity films are best experienced in a movie theatre, which is why Paramount uses night vision footage of screaming preview audiences to hype each new film.
So it will be interesting to see how audiences react to PA4. The guy to my left at last night’s screening was talking, checking his email and texting throughout, and said, “Thank God that’s over” at the end, while the four teen guys to my right were vocal about their enthusiasm for each set piece. (“Bitch got owned!” greeted the death of one character.)
The Toronto After Dark Film Festival returns to the newly renovated Bloor Hot Docs Cinema this year, opening with two highly anticipated entries, the Irish horror comedy Grabbers, screening at 6:45, and The Soska Sisters’ blackly comic American Mary (as seen above).
As I’m about to head out the door to see Paranormal Activity 4 (review tomorrow), The DLB will have to cut and paste each summary:
British extreme metal act Cradle of Filth revealed the artwork for their upcoming tenth album today. Nuclear Blast Records will release The Manticore and Other Horrors October 30th.
Wait, October 30 is close to some special day, isn’t it? Can’t quite remember…
Beloved punk-porn princess and entrepreneur Joanna Angel is set to release a XXX web-only Frankenstein parody on her website this, um, coming Monday. Go to www.JoannaAngel.com on Halloween. For a preview teaser of Fuckenstein, which stars Joanna Angel with James Deen as Dr. Frankenstein and Spanish performer Ramon Nomar as Frankenstein, visit: http://xoxojoannaangel.com/2011/10/fuckenstein-free-teaser-and-pictures/.
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3
Starring Christopher Nicholas Smith, Laura Bittner and Chloe Csengery
Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman
Written by Christopher B. Landon
At this point in the life (afterlife?) of the Paranormal Activity franchise, it’s virtually impossible to judge the films based on their artistic merits. Instead one has to go by the visceral reactions of the audience. Did they jump? Did they scream? That is what sells these films, not whether or not they are good or even scary.
The fact that it was a dark and stormy night the evening I ventured onto a sketchy stretch of Toronto’s Queen Street East to find the secret locale in which was being staged Eldritch Theatre’s newest production, Doc Wuthergloom’s Haunted Medicine Show, only added to the sense of anticipation and apprehension I felt as I approached the venue, gave the secret knock, and whispered the password to gain entrance.
Concocted by local dark-minded theatrical scallywag Erick Woolfe (Madhouse Variations, Sideshow of the Damned), this one-man show (save for the pre- and post-show hawking of Doc Wuthergloom’s Home Exorcism Almanac by the Doc’s lovely and persistent assistant) finds Woolfe himself in top form and top hat in the role of Doctor Pretorius Wuthergloom. A skeleton-faced carnie-cum-trickster with a deep knowledge of the arcane, Wuthergloom uses puppets and simple props to tell spooky stories of madness, lost love, and revenge from beyond the grave. Woolfe – or Wuthergloom – is also an accomplished magician, and his card tricks and sleights of hand are all in aid of selling us his almanac (only a measly five dollars)… all for our own protection, of course, against the malevolent forces being called upon this evening.
The fact that Wolfe can make us shiver as well as shake with laughter is a testament to not only the strength of his writing, which calls upon the spirit of H.P. Lovecraft and his ideas of old gods and revenge from beyond the grave, but also to the power of lighting, sound and suggestion. Doc Wuthergloom’s Haunted Medicine Show is a fine-tuned little theatrical engine best seen in a small venue like this where Wuthergloom himself can reach out and pluck you from the audience – if you are female that is.
Doc Wuthergloom’s Haunted Medicine Show runs until November 6. Tickets are available for sale online at www.eldritchtheatre.ca, and the location of the show is only revealed to those brave enough to buy a ticket. Be brave.
Rating: 4.5/5
Sex toy company Fleshlight is getting into the Halloween spirit with the release of their Fleshlight Freaks series. Available in five different models — The Cyborg, The Alien, The Drac,The Frankenstein and The Zombie — the Fleshlights and Fleshjacks are certain to raise your spirits this holiday season.
