Posts Tagged Horror
Archive
November 1, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
In Praise of John Carpenter
By the time I first became aware of John Carpenter I’d already seen a few of his movies. I’d seen Big Trouble In Little China, certainly and most of They Live and of course Christine – which I really just watched as “a Stephen King film”, paying no attention to who made it. But the […]Archive
October 29, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
RNZ Feature: The Music and Movies of John Carpenter
About once a month or so I have a long chat on RNZ about a particular musical artist or genre or a theme – for their regular Tuesday music features. This week I chose to talk about the music (and movies) of John Carpenter. Carpenter has been a favourite for me since, well, forever. And I’ve spent […]Archive
October 15, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
In Praise of The “Final Girl” Trope
The “Final Girl” is a trope in horror films – the term was coined by academic, Carol Jeanne Clover in her 1992 book, Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film. A brilliant examination of the slasher boom across the mid-70s and 1980s. The “Final Girl” trope is something I’ve been aware of […]Archive
October 4, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Cassandra Peterson: Yours Cruelly, Elvira
Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark Cassandra Peterson Hachette Books Growing up, Elvira: Mistress of The Dark was everywhere. We played the video game, we watched the movie. She popped up in pro-wrestling (Wrestlemania II) and was a fan of, and tagged alongside, horror movies and heavy metal. What wasn’t to […]Archive
August 30, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Ben Living: The Haddonfield Recordings
Ben Living The Haddonfield Recordings Earthship Records Drummer, producer, remixer – sonic prankster – Ben Living gets to combine his clever skills with his deep love of horror films here on a project that takes samples of the Halloween film and score and bends them into the shape of what you might once have expected […]Archive
August 14, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Poem: Scores
I like to live life on the edge but I take precisely no risks. So my idea of the correct level of surface tension is to soundtrack my life with the scores from horror films and thrillers, big stabs of sound. It provides the right jolt – or the very wrong one sometimes. Which is […]Archive
August 5, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Movies of My Life # 23: Misery
I first saw Misery when it came out on VHS tape. I remember it vividly. If it wasn’t the first Stephen King adaptation I saw, it was the first to have real impact. I was in Gisborne, summer holidays. A small bunch of us staying at a friend’s house, watching Return of the Living Dead […]Archive
July 26, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Asking For Horror Fiction Recommendations
I’ve had horror on the brain since I was about 11 or 12 years old. That’s when I ‘cured’ myself from getting freaked out by silly, weak b-grade horror flicks. That’s when I got right into the A Nightmare On Elm Street series of movies. And a year or so after that – along with […]Archive
July 13, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
V/A: The Way of Darkness – A Tribute to John Carpenter
Various Artists: The Way of Darkness: A Tribute to John Carpenter Rustblade John Carpenter – not only an influential filmmaker but a hugely influential musician. In fact, in the horror genre it’s really him on the top of a synth-mountain. With Tangerine Dream perhaps scaling the final peak just behind eh…Archive
July 7, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Poem: Case Study In Genius Branding
Most of the Friday the 13th movies don’t take place on Friday. It isn’t the 13th. And Jason is not the killer to begin with – he also doesn’t find his look until the third film. That’s when he gets his hockey mask. Later in the series they will blast him into other bodies – […]Archive
July 5, 2021 by Simon Sweetman