Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Frankenstein's Idiot

I just received some information about a new horror release from Anchor Bay that I'm eager to see. It's called Freak Out and appears to be a spoof horror film, somewhat in the style of Scary Movie. However, this one promises to be a more solid cross-over, mixing the absurd with slasher in a way that has garnered some pre-DVD release attention and accolades.

I have to admit, while initially skeptical, I have rather enjoyed Anchor Bay's recent horror releases. I was watching The Garden recently and quite enjoyed not only the chills, but the masterful way that the story unfolded. Lance Henriksen (a brilliant under-used actor) plays the devil living on a ranch in a remote farming community. The story is the basic good against evil show-down, and the struggle is paralleled rather nicely in a chess match between Henriksen's character and the young Sam, who suffers from terrible nightmares, self-mutilation and instinctively knows there is something evil about this rancher who so kindly takes him and his father in when they become stranded after an accident.



Freak Out, with the pitch-line, "Trained to kill . . . by idiots" looks promising. It almost strikes me as a sort of "Trailer Park Boys" master plan gone horribly wrong. Given that my own horror writing tends to contain elements of dark humour, and I enjoyed the strange clip from the film that I have previewed (see below), I'm rather curious to see how well this indy film can actually chill.



Yes, I'll admit, every year when the annual Simpson's Halloween episode airs, I get a little creeped out. Of course, there are scenes in Disney's Sleeping Beauty that still give me nightmares.

But then again, I'm just one big 'fraidy cat.

1 comment:

lecram sinun said...

Disney is the true master of horror... Snow White and Darby O'Gill and the Little People truamatized me as a kid... and still haunts my nightmares.

Though, I do have a soft and special spot for the old Hammer horror movies.