Vincent Price's Laugh

So, you may be thinking: Elbee, this is the Christmas episode of VPL. Why in the Peace-on-Earth-and-Goodwill-Towards-Men are you talking about a most-decidedly un-Christmas movie like Crimson Peak?

I’ll tell you! There is a long-standing – however, partially forgotten – tradition of telling ghost stories on Christmas Eve – dating as far back as the 16th century. The image of friends and loved ones gathered around a warm fire telling chilling tales to frighten one another isn’t just for Halloween! From Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol in 1843 to Washington Irving’s “Old Christmas” in 1886 to even as modern as the BBC’s A Ghost Story For Christmas series in the 1970s, ghosts and Christmas just mix.

And, Crimson Peak is one of those perfect ghost stories. It’s a beautiful gothic romance – a straight throwback to a work along the same caliber of a Wuthering Heights or a Jane Eyre – a story of melancholy and loss, with the ghosts serving as a scary reminder of past transgressions. And guided by Guillermo del Toro’s incomparable vision, the film achieves every goal it set out to.

Check out what we thought about Crimson Peak and learn a bit more about Christmas ghosts on this week’s episode! As always, thank you for listening, and don’t forget to like, rate, subscribe, and review! Have a lovely holiday, everyone!

The post CRIMSON PEAK by Elbee Bargeron appeared first on Ouch My Ego! - Music, Art, & Culture Blog of the Rio Grande Valley.

This week, we’re talking about a couple of short films. We didn’t plan on it when we discussed which ones we should include in this episode, but turns out the ones we chose have a bit of a similar theme. They both have to do with how society perceives the mentally ill.

Up first is Fatal Pictures production, Heir.

This film has been making its way around the world festival circuit this year, and has been generating some deserved buzz. Written and directed by Richard Powell, the film aims to raise questions about some rather dark-natured things. We didn’t quite know what to expect, given all that we really knew about it going in was that it featured some considerably gooey practical effects, and it was designed to make the viewer uncomfortable.

The forcefulness of this film is that it causes you to confront certain assumptions you may have concerning sexual predators, the cycle of abuse, and the humanity (or lack thereof) of abusers. We typically think of these kinds of perpetrators as sick, mentally ill, or even less than human. What Heir does is challenge viewers to contemplate whether these characters can be sympathetic – and what happens when they are? Are they any less monstrous?

Next is the TV short, The Burkittsville 7.

Html code here! Replace this with any non empty text and that's it.

Broadcast by Showtime in the year 2000, The Burkittsville 7 was a short film followup to The Blair Witch Project. Ben Rock, the man behind the film, worked as production designer on BWP (Want to know who to credit for creating the iconic Blair Witch stick-men? It’s Ben Rock.). The idea was to further the Blair Witch story by focusing on the murders of the seven Burkittsville children, allegedly performed by Rustin Parr. Cleverly, the film utilizes a faux-documentary style where we meet a Blair Witch historian who has an unorthodox opinion on what really happened out in the woods back in 1940. Not to give too much away, but there seems to have been an eighth Burkittsville child – a boy named Kyle Brody – whose sociopathic tendencies led him to manipulate Parr into killing his peers.

From there we see faux documentary-within-a-faux documentary footage of Kyle Brody as an adult, living in a mental institution. We see interviews with historians, experts, and family members discussing Brody’s mental capacities and possible occult interest (or even possession). We see how Brody is treated within the institution, how he is demeaned by the authority figures on the inside. It’s quite a chilling reminder of the dehumanization many patients have experienced while staying in these types of facilities.

Please take a look at the short interview writer/director/producer/champion Ben Rock was so kind to provide us!

We hope you enjoy this episode, and we hope you’ll seek out these films, as they do tackle some important topics. As always, thanks for listening, and if you would like to support us, please take a quick moment to like us on our social media sites (Facebook, Twitter), and remember to rate and review us on iTunes. You can also become a patron here, or buy some cool merch designed by our very own Andrew Gimetzco at these various places (RedBubble, Society 6, Tee Public, Threadless).

The post HEIR / BURKITTSVILLE 7 by Elbee Bargeron appeared first on Ouch My Ego! - Music, Art, & Culture Blog of the Rio Grande Valley.

Happy soon-to-be-Thanksgiving, creepazoids and monster kids! On this episode, we take a look at a hidden gem of a slasher film, 1987’s Blood Rage.

Although we watch them, we’re not the biggest slasher fans. Honestly, we’d rather cozy up with a nice old fashioned ghost story or creature feature than subject ourselves to crazy gore and “kills”. But we watch them nonetheless just to try and find a good one and Blood Rage is surprisingly quite enjoyable!

The story centers around a couple of twin brothers, who, as children, accompany their mom and her beau to the local drive-in theater. One of the brothers takes a turn toward the deranged, and massacres some movie-goers with a hatchet he pulls out of a truck bed. He then puts the deadly instrument in his shocked brother’s hand and calls out that he did it! The wrongly accused twin is so out of it that he doesn’t remember being set up, and he is sent to live in a mental institution. As he grows into adulthood, he begins to remember that he’s not the evil twin, and escapes the asylum to spend Thanksgiving home with his family. And you can only imagine the mayhem that ensues!

This film is very interesting, and weird, and dare we say, delightful. The lead actors (Mark Soper, Louise Lasser) both command their performances in a way that keep you really wanting to know what’s going to happen next.

Click below to hear our full review of Blood Rage, and remember, “that’s not cranberry sauce!”

While you’re at it, leave a comment, rating, or review – Subscribe to Vincent Price’s Laugh on iTunes, and leave us a rating or review! Follow us on Twitter or Facebook!

The post BLOOD RAGE by Elbee Bargeron appeared first on Ouch My Ego! - Music, Art, & Culture Blog of the Rio Grande Valley.

More than 30 years ago, power trio Tommy Lee Wallace, Debra Hill, and John Carpenter set out to change the game when it came to Halloween movies. They envisioned a franchise that would be an anthology of sorts, birthed out of the story of Michael Myers, but not limited to it. Each year a new, different Halloween-themed movie would be released, giving the viewing public something fresh to thrill them in theaters. What a great and exciting idea!

Except, Universal Studios and executive producer Moustapha Akkad didn’t quite think so. Riding high on the success of Halloween (1978), Akkad insisted that a continuation of the Myers story go into production immediately. So, 1981 gave us Halloween II – a mostly lackluster, not-as-creepy, unnecessarily gory propagation of Michael Myers mythos that was only relatively successful in the box-office. Afterwards, Wallace, Hill, and Carpenter secured the chance to go ahead with their dream anthology project. And from that came Halloween III: Season of the Witch. Wallace wrote and directed the film, with Hill and Carpenter producing.

Although it made a meager profit, the success of the film was sub-par. Critics in 1982 were none too kind to the film. Even Roger Ebert called it “half-baked” and “assembled out of familiar parts from other, better movies.” Audiences, of course, were confused and dejected by the lack of Michael Myers, and the movie just kind of fizzled out. Six years later, Akkad, the driving force behind the heedless sequels, virtually slapped Wallace and Co. in the face with the aptly named Halloween IV: The Return of Michael Myers.

Don’t miss Elbee’s featured presentation chronicling the histories of some of the most popular costume and mask makers, including the great Don Post, Sr., pictured here!

For many years, Halloween III struggled to find its home among fans and critics alike. In the last decade, the film has steadily gained momentum. Some even regard it as the best in the series. With its stirring combination of horror, science fiction, and (at times) comedy, the film is a noteworthy example of something ahead of its time.

Click below and find out why we love Halloween III. While you’re at it, leave a comment, rating, or review – Subscribe to Vincent Price’s Laugh on iTunes! Follow us on Twitter or Facebook!

The post HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH by Elbee Bargeron appeared first on Ouch My Ego! - Music, Art, & Culture Blog of the Rio Grande Valley.

How’s everyone’s October going? We hope it’s extra spoooooooky! For this episode, we wanted to talk about a couple of our most favorite Halloween specials. No, not the Paul Lynde Halloween Special, but that’s a close third.

Friends, this week we are talking about Ghostwatch and the WNUF Halloween Special.

GHOSTWATCH (1992)

Held as one of the most infamous pieces of British television history, Ghostwatch still incites fear and frustration in countless women and men across the UK. Aired on Halloween night, this scandalous program caused Brits to go into a public panic – a reaction so massively excitable that terrified folks didn’t know how to handle what was being presented to them. Ghostwatch was a live TV broadcast that invited the audience into the lives of a family tormented by a brutish spirit by the name of Mr. Pipes. The story is not dissimilar to the notorious Enfield Haunting; as a matter of fact, you could even say it was influenced by it. What takes place over the course of the evening is horrifying, shocking, creepy, and oh so genuine. Except…well, we won’t spoil it here.

WNUF HALLOWEEN SPECIAL (2013)

WNUF Halloween Special was a bit hard to get ahold of for a while. Some bootleg copies of this local news broadcast from Halloween 1987 were floating around VHS conventions across the Northeast for a bit, but it seems horror enthusiasts and just generally curious people have been copying and distributing the video more widely around the nation. And, we’re pretty sure you can even catch it on Shudder these days. The video is definitely a blast from the past: not only do you get to see commercials advertising things that are so decidedly ’80s (CD box set compilations and telephone hotlines, anyone?), but it takes you back to a time when local news affiliates would do crazy things like broadcast a live séance on Halloween night. Word of caution, though, we don’t think the crew of this station knew what form of bedevilment was coming to them.

Check out what we thought of these two frightening Halloween specials by clicking below! And as always, thanks for listening!

Subscribe to Vincent Price’s Laugh on iTunes, and leave us a rating or review! Follow us on Twitter or Facebook!

The post GHOSTWATCH / WNUF HALLOWEEN SPECIAL by Elbee Bargeron appeared first on Ouch My Ego! - Music, Art, & Culture Blog of the Rio Grande Valley.

Lately we’ve been encountering a few lost souls who seem to think the horror genre didn’t start until 1970. An “old” scary movie to them is The Exorcist, or Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or Lord have mercy, even Friday the 13th. It’s probably a generational thing, and we understand that when you were born in 1997, a film from 1973 probably seems very…old. But, this week we are here to encourage the young’uns to go back a little further – to delve a little deeper – and explore the indisputably old horror films, such as this week’s feature, 1959’s House on Haunted Hill.

We open on darkness. We hear distinctly terrifying, blood-curdling screams against the black screen. After 40 seconds, the disembodied head of Watson Pritchard appears, warning us that “the ghosts are moving tonight.” He goes on to tell us of his family home, the “only really haunted house in the world.” We hear the tale of seven murders that have occurred in the house, including that of his brother. Shortly thereafter, another head appears – it’s Frederick Loren, the host of the night’s soiree, tempting us with a generous reward if we dare to spend the night in the foreboding house, and of course, if we make it out alive.

Filled with mystery, revenge, murderous “party favors,” a goofy skeleton, a ghoulish woman named Mrs. Slydes, screams, chills, and thrills, the suspenseful mayhem of House on Haunted Hill is lauded to this day as a standout horror picture from a bygone era. And Vincent Price in this? We can’t think of any role that is more well-suited for him.

Part of the reason we know these old, rather, classic films get overlooked by newer generations is that they always seem corny in comparison to our modern sensibilities. Mostly, the scare moments are laughable instead of terrifying, and the use of archaic language or effects can be trying to some. But these old films are the films that influenced your favorite filmmakers of today, who will in turn influence your favorite filmmakers of tomorrow. If not for William Castle, there may not have been Joe Dante. Without Joe Dante, there’s no modern era of horror-comedy – namely, no Gremlins. Do you really want to live in a world with no Gremlins?

Click below to hear how much we enjoy 1959’s House on Haunted Hill, and stick around for a little bit on its lackluster 1999 remake. While you’re at it, leave us a rating or review, and subscribe on your favorite podcast app! As always, check us out on Twitter and Facebook! Thanks for listening!

The post HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL by Elbee Bargeron appeared first on Ouch My Ego! - Music, Art, & Culture Blog of the Rio Grande Valley.

On this episode, we tackle the Ariel Award-winning Spanish-language film, Kilometro 31!

This film showed up on our radar a couple of years after its initial Mexican release. We saw it sometime around 2008 or 2009, and were impressed by its visual style. When we moved to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas last year, we knew this was a film worthy of a revisit.

The story centers around a pair of twin sisters, Catalina and Agata. Nearly killed after a freak traffic accident, Agata is confined to the hospital in a coma. Fearing that her sister’s soul is trapped in limbo, Catalina investigates the strange occurrences along the stretch of road around the Km31 marker. What she and her friends find leaves them all a bit shaken, to say the least.

Km31 functions as a hodgepodge of several ideas, ranging from a psychic twins story to traditional Mexican folklore. The characters themselves are interesting enough, but the plot gets a little muddled with all that’s going on. However, director Rigoberto Castañeda (also known for his film Blackout) has a good handle on ambiance, and this film does have some very creepy moments.

Upon release in 2006, Km31 was the first mainstream horror picture to come out of Mexico since Guillermo del Toro made Cronos in 1992. Distributed by Spanish company Filmax,  the film was a total success in Mexico, grossing almost three times its estimated budget of 2 million Euros. Because of its popularity, a sequel (or segundo parte) is in the works. The new film is also under the direction of Castañeda. Km31 Sin Retorno is slated for release in Mexico in late September 2016. We’re hoping that it may make its way a few miles across the border as well.

This episode includes a featurette telling the story of the Southwest’s most famous ghost, La Llorona.

Click below to hear our take on Km31! While you’re at it, subscribe on iTunes (or your favorite podcast app), and leave us a rating or review. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter!

The post KM31 by Elbee Bargeron appeared first on Ouch My Ego! - Music, Art, & Culture Blog of the Rio Grande Valley.

What can we say about the Evil Dead series that hasn’t already been said? The films have been discussed and re-discussed ad nauseum. But hey, because we love you, we’re going to do it anyway!

Sam Raimi has always been “The Little Filmmaker Who Could.” He and a group of his long-time pals got together with a meager $350,000 budget, and through ingenuity and a DIY-spirit, produced one of the all-time most-heralded motion pictures in the horror genre.  Raimi utilized innovative camerawork and practical special effects – splashed with unexpected use of comic timing – to make his first film standout among the more mainstream horror films of its time.

While Evil Dead was a hit (making back more than three times its budget at the box office), Raimi decided he’d like to take another stab at the film. Is it strange to want to remake your own film only a few years after its successful release? Kinda, but whatever! Maybe due to the crew’s relative lack of experience in filmmaking the first go-round, and (more probably) the dramatic surge in budget ($3.5 million this time), Raimi wanted to remake his story with a different approach.

The Evil Dead II version of the story kicks off the same way: four friends spend their Spring Break in a cabin in the woods, and are attacked by demonic forces. However, the more traditional spooky story elements from the first film are replaced by cartoonish violence and sticky gore. It’s a fun film – funny, even – and gives Bruce Campbell the first opportunity to really shine in his character.

Like saying you “like a little coffee in your cream,” the third installment in the Evil Dead series puts a little horror in its comedy. In Army of Darkness, our hero Ash is transported into the Middle Ages, and has to use his bravado to get himself home.

The film is downright silly at times, but altogether enjoyable – especially if you see it when you’re 13. Army of Darkness is the kind of film that, if you see it at a young age, will help shape your sensibilities forever.

Raimi and actor Bruce Campbell produced this remake of the 1981 film, in hopes to give the series a scarier reboot. The film, directed by Fede Alvarez, may get a bum rap from Evil Dead purists, but we think Alvarez’s slant offers a deeper perspective on the story. The sillier elements are stripped away from this version, which provides for very little levity in this serious horror film. All in all, though, it’s a worthwhile remake.

Side note: you may have heard Alvarez’s name recently because he is the director behind the critically-acclaimed summer 2016 genre smash hit, Don’t Breathe.

Now here’s where things get dicey. Ash vs. Evil Dead was originally set to be a follow-up film to the 2013 effort, bringing back Campbell as Ash and possibly teaming him up with our lone heroine (pun intended), Mia. However, it was decided that a TV series should be made that seems to have ignored the reboot/sequel, as well as the events of Army of Darkness (due to issues with the film rights).

Well, the good news is Bruce Campbell is indeed back! And the odd news is it’s not exactly a follow-up to the 2013 story. Rather, it picks up sometime after the events of Evil Dead II. The story centers on Ash as an aging Lothario who, again, battles evil and cracks wise. And he has two new sidekicks by way of a couple of coworkers (Dana DeLorenzo & Ray Santiago) from his not-S-Mart-but-similar job. It’s possibly a zanier follow up than Army of Darkness, and it is definitely not scary-horror. But, when it works, it works.

Check out what Elbee and Andrew thought of these films and more by tuning in every other Monday for Vincent Price’s Laugh! Subscribe on iTunes (or your favorite podcast app), and leave us a rating or review. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter!

The post THE EVIL DEAD SERIES by Elbee Bargeron appeared first on Ouch My Ego! - Music, Art, & Culture Blog of the Rio Grande Valley.

Here we go with another two-fer, folks!

The two films discussed in this episode of Vincent Price’s Laugh are remarkably similar, however retaining distinct differences. They’re both “siege” films in their own ways, both involve the confrontation of an unknown entity, and both pose pseudo-philosophical questions about the very nature of good and evil.

We’re talking about Let Us Prey and John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness.

LET US PREY (2014)

Set in a small town in Scotland, Let Us Prey tells the suspenseful, compelling, and sometimes gory story of a young woman’s (Pollyanna McIntosh) first night on the job of the local police force. Something spooky is going on in the town, as evident by the, well, lack of people in the town: The gas station attendant is missing; the pub is empty. It seems as though the only people around are those gathered in the small police station. Added to the eeriness is the presence of a mysterious stranger (Liam Cunningham) who has been locked up for questioning, but does most of the actual questioning himself. Who is this man, and is he somehow pulling the strings of all the night’s events? One thing is for sure: he is in the business of dealing souls, and is most interested in that of our heroine.

Let Us Prey is the first feature directed by Irish filmmaker Brian O’Malley. With a smart script by Fiona Watson and David Cairns, the film is one of the most satisfying lower-budget horror movies to be released in recent years. We’re looking forward to O’Malley’s next project, The Lost Station, a ghost story set in the London Underground.

PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1987)

Prince of Darkness is the middle episode in John Carpenter’s “Apocalypse Trilogy,” the other two being The Thing and In the Mouth of Madness. What makes this film distinct from the other two is a lack of “creatures”; rather, any monster seen is in human form, be they shrouded in darkness or puppeted like a voodoo zombie. As mentioned above, this film explores the nature of evil, via science and philosophy (by way of a catholic priest and a college professor and his students).

It’s a slow burn for sure, but when it hits its stride, it glides – almost rushes – to its conclusion, which is bound to make you want to re-watch the film lest you missed something. Most likely you did miss something. Or, Carpenter did…someone did. But this is a film of atmosphere and philosophy. A hint of Lovecraft, a smattering of Christian concepts of the devil – all seen through Carpenter’s ambitious lens.

Check out what Elbee and Andrew thought of these films and more by tuning in every other Monday for Vincent Price’s Laugh! Subscribe on iTunes (or your favorite podcast app), and leave us a rating or review. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter!

The post LET US PREY / PRINCE OF DARKNESS by Elbee Bargeron appeared first on Ouch My Ego! - Music, Art, & Culture Blog of the Rio Grande Valley.

2005’s The Descent features both of those dilemmas. A group of women – friends reunited after tragedy has struck one of them a year ago – embark on what seems like an ordinary spelunking adventure, one that’s supposed to be as therapeutic as it is fun. However, the ambition of one member of the group leads them off course, and that, listeners, is where the monsters come in. We watch as these women endure violence, filth, darkness, claustrophobia, and all-around terror as they fight their way out of the uncharted cave tunnels.

What we really like about The Descent is that it isn’t your average “strong female characters” film. The characters are indeed strong, but they are presented in an organic way – the audience is shown they are strong, rather than told they are strong. The women are real, and thus real to each other. Frankly, the story design and character development in The Descent should be standard reference in how to write modern women: start with a strong character first, then decide she’s a woman.

Check out our full review in the podcast below! In this episode, we also explore the possibility of mutant/feral humans, leading us to a segment on the infamous Fugate family – otherwise known as “The Blue People of Kentucky.”

The post THE DESCENT by Elbee Bargeron appeared first on Ouch My Ego! - Music, Art, & Culture Blog of the Rio Grande Valley.