Tag: death

Movies

Top 6 Horror Movies

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Do not worry, there will not be any spoilers in this post! There will only be brief descriptions of the movies, so maybe you can discover some you never heard about.

The Human Centipede / Saw

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I put them in the same category because both are part of the period during which the horror movie industry focused on torture. When watching those movies, your feelings may be hurt, but if you are also an empathetic person, you may also have the impression that you actually feel what those people are feeling, and this is… well, quite terrifying.

            There are seven Saw movies, originally titled Saw (2004), Saw 2 (2005) and so on, until the last one Saw 3D: Final Chapter (2010). After seven years of inactivity, another Saw film appeared called Jigsaw (2017). The question is, were Saw movies good enough so their comeback would revive the public’s interest? The answer is that yes, it was, but even though many people went to see it, maybe the producers should have left it with the unforgettable Saw 6 (2009). Anyway, all of these are definitely worth seeing if ever you like this genre, and most interesting is that these movies raise the question: what are we willing to do to save our lives?

            As for the Human Centipede, I will not even describe it, or give the link to a trailer, because these three movies are too horrible. And I think that the previous sentence says it all, but I could not omit to mention it in the list, so here it is.

The Descent

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There are two of those, The Descent (2005) and The Descent 2 (2009), and they are both terrifying, even though in my opinion, the first one is better. If you are claustrophobic, avoid watching this movie. At first sight, the first movie does not even look like it is going to be a horror movie as it is actually quite funny. But obviously, everything changes when all six girl friends go down in a dark cave, somewhere in the middle of the Appalachian Massif. No need to say that the movie happens in an extremely confined and dark place. And most evidently, they are not alone in that cave. I would like to tell you a little bit about the second movie, but there is no way I could do this without revealing the end of the first one, so it is for you to see!

A Quiet Place (2018)

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So, A Quiet Place is quite recent and very, very good. The title gives a clue about how the movie will take place: mostly in silence. Sure, the characters will talk to each other, but quietly and rarely. Why is that so? The creatures in this movie are blind, but as the movie ad says, “if they hear you, they hunt you”, meaning that their hearing is excessively well developed. So briefly, the world has been taken over by those creatures, and a family of four built their own little life somewhere in an isolated place, but they obviously had to adapt to the new life conditions in order to stay alive. From what I wrote, it seems like we saw this same pattern a million times already, but I swear, this one is really good, and I cannot tell more than that for if I do, I may spoil some important events.

Paranormal Activity

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I could not list some great horror movies without mentioning one with ghosts, right? So here it is. Paranormal Activity is once again a series of films with a total of six movies. The first one was released in 2007, and the last one, Paranormal Activity: Ghost Dimension, in 2015. It is a classic ghost series with possessed people, demons and scary paranormal activity. But who does not appreciate classics once in a while?

Scary Movie

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Finally, well, the five movies in that series are not really frightening, but still some people die. However, they are parodies of many horror movies; for example, there is always that stereotypical blond-haired and slightly dumb girl, as well as the stupid teen group of friends. Of course, like every other parody, these films are exaggerated; that is what makes them funny. The first one was out in the theatres in 2000 and the last one, Scary Movie 5, in 2013. I think that the two first ones are the best. I hope you will have a great time!

That is it for the best horror movies, but I mean, these are just a few of them. There are so many more out there. I tried to make a list with various genres, so everyone could find one that he or she likes among these. Have fun! 😊

DelphineC

Movies

Most Frightening Horror Movie Characters

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What elements make a horror movie a “good” horror movie? There are obviously many of them, but an important one is the monster(s) in it. We must admit that sometimes, a horror movie is not even that good, but the monster in it is really interesting, either because it is intellectually superior, or just because it is unbelievably scary. In both cases, I thought it would be interesting to mention some of the scariest movie monsters I know about, as well as the movies they are presented in, so we can all be scared together! There are some of them that are quite popular; others may be less known…

Freddy Krueger
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The first one I will mention is Freddy Krueger. Freddy’s character is quite complex to explain, mainly because so many movies were made with him as the principal villain. In fact, there are seven movies, which are A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984), A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989), Freddy’s Dead – The Final Nightmare (1991), New Nightmare (1994)and Freddy Vs. Jason (2003). There is even a remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010). The story of Freddy, in short, is that he was killed with exposition to a deleterious gas, which explains why he looks like this. He was executed because he was a serial killer, with a tendency to prey on children. But he came back from the dead… unfortunate, isn’t it? So, he went on killing children, often while they were asleep, which, in my opinion, makes it even more terrifying.

Jason Voorhees
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            The second one is Jason Voorhees. Jason is also a serial killer, but unlike Freddy, he does not kill because he “enjoys” it. Indeed, his motivations can be considered as more “valuable”. Jason suffers from severe physical deformities and presumably mental disabilities. For these reasons, he was persecuted in his childhood, most precisely at a summer camp called Camp Crystal Lake, where his mother used to work as a cook. Briefly, Jason killed for revenge, and to respect his dead mother’s wish for the camp to stay closed. Does it justify his killing people? Probably not. But for a reason or another, it does seem less troubling than Freddy’s motivations, right? In case you would want to watch them, here is the series of films in which Jason is: Friday the 13th (1980), Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981), Friday the 13th Part III (1982), Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984), Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985), Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986), Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988), Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989), Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993), Jason X (2001) and Freddy vs. Jason (2003).

Hannibal Lecter in the movie “The Silence of the Lambs”
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            Ok, now let’s talk about Hannibal Lecter. Yes, there are movies about this monster, but obviously, the books are better, and there are four of them. Anyway, the point is to talk about the killer. Hannibal likes to eat humans. Isn’t this a disturbing fact in itself? The most terrifying thing about Lecter is that he is incredibly intelligent. I mean, everyone is afraid of a serial killer, but if the serial killer is more intelligent than the vast majority of the population… It is better not to think too much about it. Another disturbing thing is that Lecter can actually be a gentleman, that is, a polite and kind man, as long as you entertain him. Yes, you read well. As soon as he will be bored with you, you may end up in his dinner plate. If ever his character would interest you, you may find him in: The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Hannibal (2001), Red Dragon (2002) and Hannibal Rising (2007).

One of the three brothers in the movies “Wrong Turn”
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            Finally, the last monsters I want to talk about are three brothers. Indeed, it is possibly a reference to Hannibal Lecter, because these three brothers are cannibal. We do not know much about them, except that they were presumably patients in an asylum which is now abandoned, and for some reason, they are still in that asylum. Since we do not know the characters very well, the reason I mention them is because if you like trashy horror movies, then you will surely like these ones, and once again, there are many of these: Wrong Turn (2003), Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007), Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead (2009), Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings (2011), Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines (2012) and Wrong Turn 6: Last Resort (2014). I personally had my hands covering my eyes for at least half of each movie. 😊

This is not a long list of monsters, but it is certainly a long list of movies involving these terrifying monsters. Have fun! 😊

DelphineC

Movies

Seize Your Moment

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Recently, I watched the new animation movie titled Coco. This gothic animation piece revolves around the theme of death, but especially the death of family members. I really appreciated this movie because, even through animation and humour, the producer was able to convey an important moral. This movie teaches the kids that they need to follow their dreams even if there are many obstacles that prevent them of doing so. Furthermore, the movie puts emphasis on the expression “seize your moment”, which teaches the kids to wait for the right moment, and when it comes to take advantage of it.

Also, through the adventures of Miguel, the main character of the movie, the author of the movie show the dilemma that some people might have concerning the realization of their dreams as opposed to the family values. For instance, at the beginning of the movie, Miguel wants to realize his dream and become a renowned musician; but because his entire family banned music from their lives, he cannot achieve it. During the whole film, we could see Miguel go through different obstacles that make him realize a lot of things, like the fact that he could both achieve his desire to become a musician as well as being good and helpful to his family.

The psychological evolution of the different characters involved in Miguel’s quest of music is an aspect that I really loved in this animation movie. In general, his whole family really changes psychologically during the course of the movie. At first, they are all “afraid” of music because they think it is the reason for the break up of their entire family, but then, they realize that music could have benefits for them. We could interpret this as a paradox because instead of being the source of all the problems of the family over multiple generations, music is actually what reconciliates the family.

Besides the moral and familial aspects of the film, I was able to observe some elements that correspond to gothic art and literature. First of all, the main theme is certainly death, which corresponds to one of the main gothic elements. Next, the elements of monster and terror are also found in this movie. For instance, I considered De la Cruz, the international singer, to be the monster in this story, since at the end, we learned that he was the cause of the family break up and that he had killed his own best friend. On the other hand, the aspect of horror is mostly represented when Miguel arrives in the afterlife and realizes that dead people are talking to him and that he is not in the real world anymore. Also, there are supernatural elements in this story, like the presence of different colorful animals with superpowers, like the giant panther with the wings. We generally don’t see this in our lives! 😉

For all these reasons, I think that the movie Coco is a surprisingly good movie. Even though it might seem only dedicated to a young audience, it also reaches an older audience. Even if it is meant to entertain the kids, this film still contains gothic elements that make it, in my opinion, a gothic animation movie. If you’ve never watched it, I sincerely suggest you do so.

P.S: I almost cried at the end of the movie. Another reason to take the time to watch it haha!

Rosalie

Books

The House of Night

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The book series “The House of Night”
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Who does not like vampires? We must admit that they always are a good distraction; we pretty much never get tired of the stories or movies of which they are used as principal “creatures” to create some fear and suspense. However, there are two types of vampires; indeed, there is the terrifying one known as the one who sucks all the blood from human necks (in other words, the killer vampire), and there is the cheesy vampire known as the one who lives in harmony with humans. Which one do we prefer? Are we actually obligated to have a preference? I would say we do not, and that is the reason why I want to share this series of novels I discovered 3 years ago.

Written by Phyllis Christine Cast and Kristin Cast, the first volume of a series called the House of Night was published in March 2009 and was titled “Marked” (just so it is said, the last volume, “Lost” was published recently, in July 2018). The 18 volumes of this series (yes, indeed, 18 volumes!) contain all of what is necessary to entertain anyone who is interested in fantasy, love, magic, mystery, action and of course, vampires. I assure you, we can find them all in the same series! Isn’t it simply amazing?

You must wonder: Ok well, but what is this about? Overall, this is the story of Zoey Redbird, a 16-year old girl who is Marked to become a vampire and complete her Change, or die. The story mostly takes place in Tulsa, in the state of Oklahoma in the United States (yes, I know, another American fantasy, but I swear, it is a good one). The issue from which the story starts is that she does not have the same mark as other vampires do; indeed, she has been marked as special by the vampire Goddess Nyx and it is for you to discover why.

In brief, here are some reasons why you should take the time to read this series:

  1. There are some vampires (this reason by itself is enough to convince you, right?).

Well, if you need some more…

2. There is a love triangle (oh yes, you’ve read well!).

3. There is suspense (sometimes, you just won’t be able to stop reading, I can testify).

4. There is death.

An extra one for you: you do not need to wait for the next episode to be released (you know what I’m referring to, don’t you?), once you finished one tome, you can start the next one right away!

Good luck and have fun in the vampire world!

DelphineC