What I'm Watching: December, 2009

Hey, horrorheads!

(Where did I steal that from?  I know I've heard it somewhere.)

Not much of interest, actually.

A few weeks ago, I watched set 16 of the MST3K DVDs, and it was quite the set.  Probably one of my faves of the Shout! Factory era.

Currently I'm working my way through Lost season 5, since that just came in, and the Dharma Initiation Kit limited packaging is freakin' huge and I want it out of my way.  If not for that, I'd be watching the Hunger.  More on that later.

I've been going through DVDs slower than normal due to my writing that book from November still.  I normally watch two or so hours, but with the writing going on, I've cut it back to one hour, unless it's a movie.  So I'm waaay behind.

I'm also still recovering from Blood Freak.  Hoo boy.  But don't worry about upcoming reviews, I have three I'd LIKE to do.  Sadly, I've developed this amazing ability to pick a movie just as it goes out of print, so that's making it a pain to aquire the others I want to do.  But fingers crossed, there will be at least one more review, but I'm really hoping to do even more, to make up for my vacation from November.

More to come!

J

What I'm Watching: November, 2009

Hey horrorheads!

I'm still undead over here.  I've completed the 50k goal in NaNoWriMo, and while I still have a ways to go on the book, I can at least take a break and do some other stuff, like watching and reviewing bad movies.  It always feels good to reach that goal, and I did it in record time for me, this year.

To take my mind off writing, I've been watching the second season of the Canadian detective/vampire series, Blood Ties.  I really love this show, and hate that it never lasted.  It was way better than Moonlight was, and the second set of episodes is much better than the first.  Being Canadian-made it has a little bit of a cheesy look to it, and the effects aren't great, but the writing and acting is pretty rock solid.  Anyone who is a fan of shows like Angel and Forever Knight should absolutely check it out.  Even better, check out the books the series was based on.

I've also just watched the new movie Franklyn, which looked kinda scifi action adventure, with a bit of Dark City flair to it.  It's kinda none of the above.  I'm not going to get into spoilers, but the movie is very much not what it looks like from the trailers, which was a tad disappointing.  It's still a very good, thoughtful movie, just not what I was sitting down to watch.  Still worth checking out.

I've found the movie I wanted to review next at a sane price, I just have to wait for it to get here, so keep your eyes peeled, the reviews will be back soon!

J

Time of the Month

Howdy, horrorheads!

I'm still typing away at my novel, and am at a quarter of the way to the main goal of 50k words.  I always love doing this every year.  I need to write more, I always feel so energized when I do, which is good news for this site.

I am having a bitch of a time finding the movie I want to do next for the site.  I've got plenty of movies to do, that's not the trouble.  I have something very special I want to do when I get back, and it just went out of print, making it difficult or expensive to aquire.  I might just forget it for a later date and plough forward with something else, but for the moment I'm still on plan A.

But my main reason for posting is, the site is just about a month old!  A little bit more, actually, but I was wrapped up in other stuff to get around to this.  For the first month of an unknown site I've only been telling about to my friends and a few others, things have been pretty solid.  Triskaidekafiles has had just over 80 unique visitors, which sounds small.  And yeah, it is.  But just getting started?  That's a good way to start, and I thank everyone who has visited the site, and I hope most of them keep coming back.

There has been a noticable drop off in views the last few days, obviously.  It's been awhile since I posted the Shocker review, and the site has gone dormant while I'm working on my other things.  That's one reason I wanted to post this, to keep some activity bubbling along.  As long as I've got something to say, I'll keep things as active as possible until the reviews are back.

Keep your eyes peeled.  We're not dead yet.

And if we are, we're still ambulatory and developing a taste for brains!

Jason

What I'm Watching: Devil's Night Edition

If you get the reference, you can probably guess what movie I've recently watched.  For those that don't get quite get it; I've rewatched the original Crow movie.

I do this once a year, on October 30th, or as it's known in certain parts of the US, and in the film, as Devil's Night.

The Crow is, flat out, probably my favourite movie.  I remember going to see it with friends in 1994 in the theatres, and I was totally enthralled.  None of the other films ever captured the magic the original did, although the tv series?  Not half bad.

The action, the emotion, the music...it's a really well told film.  It has a few weird moments, some corn, but as a whole, it is a really solid piece of storytelling, that has at it's core a lot of heart, and something to say.

Lately, I've also been rewatching with others the tv miniseries (For lack of a better term), Harper's Island, from earlier this year.  At the time it aired, I thought it was ok, with some cool moments, but rewatching it?  I'm really enjoying it.  The first few episodes are a little slow, but around episode five or six, things really hit the fan, and the show reaches a whole new level.  For those unfamiliar with it, HI was a 13 part series on CBS, that was a murder mystery/thriller about a wedding party that got caught up in a new string of murders on a remote island where the reception and week-long event of the wedding was being planned.  It's got some classic horror tropes, and once it is all said and done, is a very complete story, and the big twists actually hold up and supported by the earlier episodes, so it's not exactly out of nowhere.

And tonight, was a very fun episode of Medium.  Medium's not my fave show, and I probably watch it out of momentum more than anything, but tonight's episode was Halloween themed, with the lead character having frequent dreams based in the original Night of the Living Dead, using copious amounts of footage, with Patricia Arquette edited into the Barbara role.  This was a blast to watch, and if you didn't see it, it might be worth folks catching it on Hulu later.  Or wherever it can be found.

Well, have a safe and happy Halloween everyone, and I'll be around.

J

Shock Treatment

As everyone has probably noticed by now, there's a new review up!  This time out, I reviewed an all time fave of mine, the Wes Craven classic, Shocker

I gotta say, I was a little surprised at how long that went.  I ended up typing a nearly 4500 word essay on a horror movie.  I've made some issue with how long people like Spoony and Nostalgia Critic and the rest make their videos, and I almost feel like I owe them an apology, as I'm learning how hard it can be to sum up.  I hope that even though the reviews are lengthy, that the images help break things up a bit, and I keep things light enough that it's not a chore.  That's one thing I want to work on, unless people like the length.  Since the movie was longer than Popcorn, it's no surprise this time out was longer.  Especially since the plot is actually pretty complex and packed.  Like I said in the review, the first third is nearly an entire movie's worth of plot itself.

While I wish it was shorter, I do like what I wrote, and think it turned out quite well.  A few more images than I had planned, and there's still more I could've slipped in, trust me.  However, I think 10 to 15 images is just about the right amount.  Any less and the paragraphs clump together too much, and any more and it gets to be too many images versus text.

With the site now having more than one review, I've added a feature I wanted to do much earlier, but it seemed silly.  There's a new page linked above called Movie Cover Gallery, and there you can browse through the various reviews via the DVD covers I scan in for each review.  It's a nice visual alternative to find a review, while still keeping the reviews page itself intact.

Now, for a little bit of a warning.  This review came out pretty quickly after the first one, and two weeks seems like a good buffer between reviews, both to not wait too long between reviews, and to give me a break after everything I do for a review.

However, November is going to be light.  Every November for the past seven or eight years, I have participated in the National Novel Writing Month, where the challenge is put forth to try and write a 50,000 word story before the month ends.  That's going to be drawing all my focus, so trying to find the word to watch a movie, take notes, make images, and write up a review will be tough.  Especially with the length I seem to be falling into!

Never fear though, I have looked around, and found a movie that's a real turkey, and would be perfect to try and squeeze in for Thanksgiving time.  So there won't be much reviewing for the next month, but I do have something lined up for the end of November.

And besides that, I'll still be posting the occasional journal entry, so the site won't be completely dead.

I hope you enjoy the review, and I'll see you in a month!

J

What I'm Watching: October, 2009

This is a regular feature I plan to do on occasion.  Since not every horror movie deserves a spot on this site, and I do watch a lot of them, I'd like to at least highlight some other movies that cross my desk from time to time, things that might be of interest to the readers.

I'm currently watching (Literally, I paused the DVD to type this up) Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell.  Raimi is a veteran of the horror genre, one of the great old ones, and this is a true return to form after getting distracted with the Spider-Man movies for awhile.  Alison Lohman is so likable and gorgeous in this movie, that you can't help but root for her.  The movie has some classic scares, both the genuinely frightening kind, the ickily disguting kind, and the loud noise making you jump out of your seat kind.  Raimi is a master at these films, and he knows exactly how to draw out tension and the perfect moment to spirng his trap.  The audience can see these moments coming, and Sam can pace out that scare at the precise right time that it still gets you.  You know it's coming, and just when you can't take the wait anymore, it hits you.  The movie is far from perfect though, and some of the scares come off really cheesy, rather than scary.  Usually when CGI enters into the mix.  The CGI looking out of place and fake doesn't help any.  However, this is a Sam Raimi film, and you almost expect a little cheese, and that's ok.  It just felt so out of place, both in the look of the effects and the overall tone of the film, that there were moments where I was pulled out of the movie.  Overall, an enjoyable gem that harkens back to older times and is one of the better horror movies of the past decade, even if it is flawed.  The DVD is a bit light, sadly.  Oh, and this movie really gets to me because it plays with the simplest thing that is the easiest way to freak me out; creeping shadows.  *shudder*  Raimi knows just how to play with half-seen imagery, just the right sounds (or lack thereof), to really draw a person to the edge of their seat.

Also, earlier this week I watched Trick 'R Treat, which I've made mention to a few times.  I really enjoyed this one, too.  Like Drag, it harkens back to an earlier style of movie.  Whereas that film was shooting more for classic horror stylings, this one goes more for the anthology genre from such films as Creepshow, and Tales from the Darkside.  The film is a bit uneven, and I wish it had been longer to give characters more time to develop and shine, but on the whole, it's pretty good.  It has a few creepy moments, and nothing that's outright scary, but it's a solid anthology movie with Halloween themes, telling stories around the traditions and tropes of the holiday.  While I would have liked some more real scares packed in, I can't complain about what I got.  It's a shame this movie took so long to come out, since the two years of anticipation may have built up unreachable expectations, as well.  I'm sure this film will grow on me over time.  The cast was good almost all around, giving solid performances, and the writing was pretty sharp, and delivered a number of laughs keeping the tone light.  It's an intricate movie, with every segment weaving in and out of every other one, and each one unfolded a wider picture of Halloween in this sleepy midwestern town.  A great way to tell all these stories and still have it seem like a cohesive whole.  Sadly, if the Drag Me to Hell DVD was light?  This one is practically floating.  I would have loved some bonus features beyond the short that was included, especially with all the time the movie took to come out.  It practically screams 'special edition coming soon!' to me.  However, since the movie probably needs support, because it struggled so long to even get this out the gate, I'll more than happily pay now to encourage a better version down the line.

Later today, I'll be catching the sixth of the Saw films, which started off brilliantly with an amazing little independent film that has a lot of flaws but deserves some slack for being a first time film from it's creators.  Sadly, the more recent ones have not lived up to that greatness, but the overall tapestry of the story still intrigues me, and I go to each one every premiere.  My local theatre recently shut down, but I'm not letting that stop me.  Even though they've tended to be disappointing lately, I still enjoy my yearly Saw tradition.

That's about all on the slate for the moment.  The next full review should be done soon, so keep your eyes peeled to the reviews section of the site, and right here for my usual ramblings.

J

Suggestion Box

One of the hardest things about this site is going to be coming up with appropriate movies.  Especially when I'm constantly refining just what constitutes a Triskaidekafiles Film.

I've compiled a list that's ok and a good start, but there's a lot of movies on the list that I feel don't quite fit the mold.  I want to float these past my readers and see what y'all think, and either give them a thumbs up or a veto.

In addition, I am always open to any movie you don't see on the list.  I've got a lot of movies that I'm not going to list here, though.  These are just the maybes, and the whys I'm waffling on them.

• Bubba Ho-Tep.  This one feels too new, but is perfectly in the style I love.
• Idle Hands.  Too deliberately funny?  Not enough horror?  Too new?
• Black Christmas.  Either, both.  Never seen the first so not sure about it.  The remake might be too new.  Although I do like the idea of comparing originals and remakes somewhere down the line.
• Shadow of the Vampire.  Feels like it might be too straight to do, but might be fun.
• Shaun of the Dead.  Too new, and actually too damned good, I think.  But might make a good example of doing things right.
• Dracula: Dead and Loving It.  Too much on the comedy side of the spectrum.
• Dead Snow.  I've not seen this, so hard to judge it.
• Nic Cage's Wicker Man.  Less horror, more horrible.  A good excuse to watch it, but might be a poor fit for Trisk.
• Stay Alive.  Perfectly in the style that feels right, but feels too new?
• Urban Legend, the original one.  Might be too new, and too good.  Hard to tell.
• My Name is Bruce/Man With the Screaming Brain.  We gotta do something with Bruce Campbell at some point.  These fall into the too new category as well though.
• Evil Dead 1 or 2. I'm really torn on these.  They're old, they're cheesy, they're pretty perfect.  But they're also classics.  Can I mock the classics?
• Cry_Wolf.  I'll admit, I really think this movie is quite well done.  It might be too good for us!
• Cthulhu.  The recent movie.  It's corny, but not quite in the way I'm looking for.  I'm not sure if this fits the site at all.
• House on Haunted Hill.  The new version.  The original should end up here someday.  But again, is it too new?
• Pulse.  The American version.  So awful.  But is it our kind of awful?  See other whinging on the newness.
• Slither/Snakes on a Plane.  These two are a lot like Shaun, in that they run with the cheese and over the topness, and would be perfect fits, although they feel almost too new for the site.

So yeah, there's my list of maybes.  The definites I'm keeping to myself to keep some surprises under my trenchcoat.  I'd love to hear what others think out of those I should definitely look at, or what others I don't list.

Also, as a kind of catch-all question; should the site of a cutoff date for which movies don't get reviewed?  Anything newer than 2000 or something like that?  Something about modern movies just don't quite reach the charm of the past few decades, but there's still a few that fit the mold.

Share your thoughts!

J

Survival

Hooray, we made it through the first review!

My love for Popcorn is so huge.  Such a bad movie, but I love it all the same, and that's what this site is all about.  It was a huge thrill rewatching it and sharing it with people.

The responses I've been getting so far have been mostly positive, and folks seem to like what I'm doing.  The length is a bit of an isuse, and yeah I got a little long, so I'll be looking to play around with that next time around and in the future, although at the same time, I'm not sure what I'd remove.

Thanks for everyone who read it, and got back to me what they thought of it.  That response really made this worthwhile.

Also around the website, I added a few more links to other review sites, and they've all been an influence on me and my style.  If not for seeing other people do this, and get people loving it, I likely wouldn't be here.  So if you like what I'm doing, swing by their sites, you'll probably enjoy them more!

And cut.

J

And So it Begins

It's been a long week, but the day is finally here, and I can finally talk about it!

Ok, I could talk about it before, I just chose not to, to build suspense.  Because that's more fun.

Anyone with half a brain should have known that today, October 13TH would be the day I'd post the first review.  That was always the plan, even before I bought the URL.  What other day would this site post its first review?

And what movie did I review?  The very little known film from the early 1990s, Popcorn.  The movie is about a group of film students putting on a marathon to raise money.  And murder ensues.  It looks at films, pokes fun at them, and is such a weird little film, it was perfect to kick things off.  Be sure to click the now-functioning Reviews link to check it out.

But it was not without problems.  The final 20 minutes of my copy of the DVD ground to a halt.  Fortunately I have plenty of other players to use and had that as a backup plan, but it was still supremely frustrating.  It figures my first review would not go smoothly.

I am so glad that this is finally out there, and it was a blast revisiting this movie, and sharing it with everyone.  Let me know what you think of the review, what you like, what you didn't, what you'd like to see.  This is my first one, and if there's room for improvement, I need to hear it in order to change!

J

Showtime!

Finally, the site finally turns up on Google.  Been waiting to see that for a week!  I'm surprised there's actually other sites that use the name Triskaidekafiles to even come up.  But it's my word now, mwahahaha!

That's really the only news for now.  No updates, just finally getting some Google juice.

Oh, and as I type this?  I'm watching a movie.

It's showtime!

J

Website Update V: Updates Take Manhattan

Another day, a few more updates.  Just added a bunch more links to the link page.  Most notably, added a link to Troma Entertainment, creators of the Toxic Avengers, Kabukiman, and some of the most offbeat, low budget horror.

Another couple of links were made to the former MST3K crews' current projects, since watching them late at night, along with other shows, really fostered my love of these sorts of films, even if they are really awful.  I wouldn't be doing this if not for them, at least in part.

That's all for now, keep your eyes out!

J

Sharing Time

Hello again!

Just a small update tonight.  Decided that it would be a nice addition to the site to have a forum, so added SquareSpace's discussion module.  It's basic, but it gets the job done.  I might toss it later, but I think it's a good spot to have feedback and discussion that's not necessarily related to the actual posts I'll make.

So feel free to click on the Triskaidekaforum link at the top of the page, and introduce yourself.  Join the community today!

Current plans are to rewatch the movie tonight, and formulate my thoughts in the next few days.  Keep your eyes open for a real post soon!

J

Coming Soon

I've picked out the first movie I'm going to review, and it's a definite thing.  I was giving thoughts to Trick 'R Treat, but I didn't want to kick things off with a movie that might actually be pretty good!  That would be a poor example of just what the site intends to look at.

That movie is still a big possibility down the road, but it won't be the site's premiere review.  The movie I've picked is a real *ahem* gem, and is utterly perfect for this site.

And no, I am not going to reveal what film.  Where would be the fun in that?

J

Know Your Terms

It's probably worth getting into just what a 'bad' movie is to me, since it is a highly subjective term under the best of times.  Even more so when one is applying the word to movies I sometimes love.

Of course, there's the obvious usage of it.  A movie that's just plain bad.  Everyone can pick those out.  It has no redeeming value whatsoever, and isn't even worth going near.  First movie that comes to mind of that type, that's not even entertaining in a bad way, would be Scifi Channel's The Fallen Ones.  Oh man that was awful.  I couldn't turn away, it just kept getting worse.

And usually it's easy to spot a good movie.  Quality of directing, acting, cinematography, writing, etc.  These are two extremes that everyone can usually point to and agree with.  Although there's always someone who will love or hate anything, going against the usual opinion.

But then there's that really odd space, and that's where this website is going to reside.  A movie that is badly acted, isn't shot very well, has amazing shoddy special effects, or is written with the most absurd plot holes or outlandish plot devices.  And yet...they have a charm.  A joy to them.  Something that makes them fun and makes you want to watch them, even knowing just how bad they are.

Sometimes, that can be deliberate.  A bad movie, but knowingly bad, being done tongue in cheek, with everyone being in on the joke and welcoming the audience in on it as well, so everyone can just have a good laugh.  Slither is my favourite example of this.  It's goofy and silly, and everyone knows it, and can enjoy it on that level.

Other times, it is a complete accident, and probably not the intention of the creators that it was going to turn out bad.  Sometimes, things just happen.  It doesn't have the budget, or the actors, to sustain an otherwise ok script.  But I digress.  There are other films that you love just because they're so awful, and people in it take themselves way too seriously.

In short, even I'm not sure what will end up being considered a 'bad movie' for this site.  I know I want to review even a few good movies, just to keep my sanity, and to highlight stuff that is an example of this genre done right.  Even then, not everything will be horror.  There's surely some thriller movies, some bad action films, and even some scifi films that I'd love to add to the site.  A friend mentioned I Come In Peace, and that would be perfect here.

So yeah, I just spent all these words clearing up absolutely nothing!  But I think we have a general idea.

J

Building Blocks

Another day, another couple of tweaks to the site.

Added an email contact form over there ->

My favourite addition to the site has to be the addition of the favicon, our little crimson 13.  It's one of those personal touches to a website that really makes it mine, and it makes such a great, simple logo.  I have a bit of glee seeing it every time.

Someone reading these might be wondering why I'm posting these updates.  Which is fair enough.  I'm still working out just what all I'm going to do, and how I'll do them, but I want to get into the habit of doing regular updates, and the act of sitting down and banging out a few sentences, even if it's only about the few tweaks I've made to the site over the past few hours, it is still something, and forming good habits.

I'm neck deep in my Fringe season 1 DVDs (Awesome show, check it out if you haven't already!) and once I'm done with that, I'll dive right into my first review.  I think I know exactly what that will be, but I'm going to sit on it for a little longer, so there's something to look forward to.

Seeya on the flipside.

J

Work in Progress

Just a small update as I'm working on the site.  Just a lot of little updates today as I'm hammering out all the details.

Made and added links pages, some links to follow me on other services that you can find over there on the right.  And on the left, you might be able to see Blade from the Puppet Master movies watching over the site.  Full Moon and the Puppet Master movies are a huge influence on me, and reason for this site to exist, so adding him over there felt right, and it added some more visual content to the site.

Added a main page with a brief intro.  Not entirely happy with it, but it works for now, and I can always massage it over time.

And for a complete look at what this site is about, there's now an About Me page that gets into some of that.

There's a few other bits and bobs I've tweaked and added, but nothing major.  Everything is going apace towards the real launch.

J

Things to Come

What you can look forward to in the next few weeks:

• Movie reviews (Duh)
• News of interest.
• Hopefully some photos to go along with the posts, screencaps, packaging, etc.

What movies do I have planned?

• The Puppet Master series
• Lots more Full Moon as my budget allows.
• Trick 'R Treat is very likely, since I'll have it today.
• Scifi Channel Originals have a high probablity.
• I'm open to suggestions!

If there is any movie you'd like to see, please let me know in the comments, and I'll see if I have it, or can get it.  I'm sharing my love, and I want others to share right back.

J

Welcome to Triskaidekafiles!

Hello, ghosts and ghouls!

Welcome to Triskaidekaphiles.com, a project I have wanted to make for a very, very long time.

I have a deep rooted love of bad horror movies, and the late night weekend shows that would show such affection for the genre.  The days of such programming are pretty much gone, but the movies are still here.

Since the television no longer has such programming as USA's Up All Night or TNT's MonsterVision, or Mystery Science Theatre 3000, I wanted to make a site where I could share my own love for these films, and humbly follow in those massive footsteps.

And what better time to start a website devoted to bad horror movies (And even the good ones!) than during the month of October?

I hope to hear from anyone reading these words, since I'm doing it for everyone out there who loves this stuff as much as I do.

Let's tap a vein and see what flows.

Jason Grey