Bookmonkey vs Hack/Slash: Day One

A Brief Definition of Slasher Films

"What's the Point?  They're all the same. Some stupid killer stalking some big-breasted girl who can't act, who is always running up the stairs when she should be running out the front door. It's Insulting." - Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) in the motion picture Scream (1996)

Cover of Issue #1

Since the early days of cinema, the horror film has always been a standard of the medium.  The first film adaption of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was released in cinemas in 1910, and from the earliest days forward horror films have become a successful staple of the medium; after all, they're often cheap to make, and kids always want to see movies about monsters.  

Beginning in the late 70s, a sub-genre of horror, the Slasher film, called "Daed Teenager Movies" by film critic Roger Ebert and defined as " Generic term for any movie primarily concerned with killing teenagers, without regard for logic, plot, performance, humor, etc. Often imitated; never worse than the "Friday the 13th" sequels," (Ebert, 1985) would largely dominate the horror genre from the late '70s to the early '90s.  Villains with names like Freddy Krueger, Michael Meyers, and Jason Vorhees gained their own infamy during this period and for the generation of kids who grew up with these films, a certain degree of celebrity as well.

This year I'll be spending my October looking at the comic book series Hack/Slash,  written by Tim Seeley and currently published by Image Comics.  The series focuses on a young woman named Cassie Hack, who having survived her own personal slasher story, decides to travel the world hunting down these slashers before they can do too much harm.  As a series it crosses over with horror film characters, comic book characters (both print and web-based), and works to turn many of the tropes of the Slasher genre sideways as Cassie works to make the world a safer place for those the Slashers would target.

A quick note: the series is definitely aimed at adults, with significant violence and many suggested scenes of sexuality throughout.  Although the series often works to satirize the Slasher sub-genre of Horror, it also works as a Slasher story itself.

WORKS CITED
Ebert, R. (1985) "Dead Teenager Movie" in Ebert's Guide to Practical Filmgoing: A Glossary of Terms for the Cinema of the '80s.  Retrieved online from http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/eberts-guide-to-practical-filmgoing-a-glossary-of-terms-for-the-cinema-of-the-80s

IMAGES USED
Hack/Slash Issue #1 Cover, retrieved online from http://www.newkadia.com/?HackSlash_The_Series_Comic-Book-Covers=1111127128

Movie Review: The Cabin in the Woods

Seven months after it was released in theatres, my wife I and finally got a copy of the 2012 horror film The Cabin in the Woods, and wow, was this movie right up my alley.

About fifteen minutes into the film, my wife turns to me and say, "So, obviously you're going to be buying this" and she was absolutely right.  The movie is a bizarre twist/homage to the classic slasher film that I grew up on (Roger Ebert uses the phrase Dead Teenager Movies which I love, but didn't hear until I was an adult) and unfortunately there isn't much I can say about it without giving away major plot points.

Lets say that on the simplest level it is about five friends who go on a weekend trip to a cabin in the woods and end up involved in something pretty terrifying.

The movie is a lot of fun, made me think of Tucker and Dale vs. Evil and Night of the Creeps a lot in how it plays with the standard concepts and plots of slasher films and director Drew Goddard has come up with something truly unique in the horror genre.

Thing’s I’ve Noticed: Movie Adaptations can be a lot of fun

On my anniversary this year, my wife and I went to see the film Cloud Atlas, and I totally loved it.  The six intertwining stories taking place across hundreds of years (circa 1849 AD to “106 years after the fall”), and involve multiple characters, many of them played by the same actors playing different ethnicities and genders throughout.  The film was ambitious, definitely something to be seen on the big screen and in turns funny, action-packed, horrifying, romantic and hopeful.

I totally loved it.

Now, going back a few years I actually read the 2004 David Mitchell novel for one of my book clubs, and honestly – it wasn’t really my thing.  At the time I enjoyed the two stories set in the future, and the story entitled “The Ghastly ordeal of Timothy Cavendish” was also pretty funny, but overall the novel just wasn’t for me.  

Unfortunately the book club member who chose the title was unable to attend the book club meeting and the three of us who made it found the book less than great, so we didn’t really have anyone to “champion” the selection.

So when I heard they were adapting the novel into a film, I honestly had very little interest in checking it out.  But, after a pretty amazing trailer, a glowing review from my favourite movie reviewer and the fact that my wife loves to see every movie Tom Hanks is in, we decided to check it out.

Totally worth it, lots of fun, and honestly – it kind of makes me want to revisit the novel.