The pretty, the silly, and the downright ugly....

2008-11-02T16:43:31Z

It's so cold here. I realise that it's probably cold everywhere but it seems particularly cold today, right here, in my Ugg boots. Seems like a good reason to indulge in some pretty things to cheer us all up and remind ourselves that not everything is as grey as the sky. :)

Interior Design prettiness

The Domino Book of Decorating. I haven't read the book yet; it's one of my Christmas wishes, but don't you just love the cover? Their website is very happy-making.

aaaaaaaand if that fails to impress then surely Captain Jack Harkness and his (too sexy for his) coat will do the job. I've uploaded a recent Torchwood audio episode called Lost Souls, and the Torchwood soundtrack, which is all kinds of good.

Torchwood goodies for elegaer and anyone else who wants them...
After downloading, change the extension, .zzz, to .zip and extract.

Torchwood: Lost Souls (Afternoon play on Radio 4)
hxxp://www.mediafire.com/?xteqc5fpm24

Torchwood: The Score by Ben Foster and Murray Gold
hxxp://www.megaupload.com/?d=J0J5W3PG

In the spirit of Halloween (did you see what I did then? Eh? Eh? Heeee...) I thought I'd make a little Halloween post about some of my favourite films which I like to watch at this time of year. I'm currently re-reading the ghost stories of M.R. James and just love A Warning to the Curious and Lost Hearts. The BBC did some excellent adaptation of these stories in the 70s and they're incredibly creepy. If you like Ghost Stories, I implore you to watch these films, they're not too long and in many ways, I think they improve upon the original story.

Lost Hearts (part 1/5) - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=1IM0y3PrhBI
A Warning to the Curious (part 1/5) - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VFKt5TxTTg4

Also worth watching is another M.R. James, Whistle and I'll come to you, my lad (who would have thought a bed sheet was so scary?) and The Signal-Man, based on the story by Charles Dickens.

Now, here is a bit of a confessional; I'm a huge fan of 70s Horror films. My youth was spent watching films from Hammer, Amicus and the like, on a tiny b&w TV in my bedroom. I like scary mixed with an element of the stupid, the tacky, bad acting, tomato soup blood, and an incredibly small budget. Here is my top 3 list of camp cult horror films, complete with youtube links:

1. The Abominable Dr. Phibes, 1971. (trailer)
Possibly my favourite film ever, as in, I can watch it over and over again...and yes, I know that's very strange. Why is it so good? Well, it's got Vincent Price, it's very Deco, has an awesome soundtrack, a Wurlitzer and a nifty, mute assistant named Vulnavia.
The story is about a certain theologian/organist who happens to be undead called, Dr. Phibes. He blames a group of medical staff for the death of his beloved wife and finds lots of ingenious ways of murdering them, their deaths being based on the plagues in the Book of Exodus. It's like Phantom of the Opera gone very, very wrong. They made a sequel called Dr. Phibes Rises Again! but it wasn't anywhere near as good as the original. It's fantastic and silly but every so often it's quite touching. Awwww....

2. The Tales from the Crypt, 1972.
My favourite type of Horror films are ones made up of individual little stories, like Asylum, The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Dr. Terror's House of Horror, The House that Dripped Blood, and this one. Notable for Joan Collins appearing the story "All through the House" (which you can watch here; it's only 10 minutes long, you won't regret watching it) which is great to watch at Christmas, or indeed, at any time of year. Some of the stories in this film are seriously quite scary, but the tomato soup blood (which is apparently very easy to remove from a white shag-pile carpet) keeps the whole thing quite lighthearted. That, and the bad acting.

3. Psychomania,1971 (Some good soul has uploaded the whole film, starting here)
IMHO, this is the funniest horror film ever made. It's unbelievably bad, quintessentially British and because of that, it has a cult following. It's one of two films which make me cry with laughter due to it's sheer badness, this and Vampire Circus.
This story is about a shoddy group of Hell's Angels who make a pact with the Devil (and a toad, strangely) to live forever, and one by one commit suicide only to return as the undead. With their undead bikes they terrorise the citizens of the local shopping centre by knocking over many cardboard boxes and causing havoc in the supermarket. The best scene is when they bury the main character (who committed suicide by driving his bike into a river). The deceased's Hell's Angel chums strum a little ditty on a guitar and make daisy chains while the rest of them bury the body, which is sitting on a motorbike. Watch the scene here, PLEASE! *wheeeze* The scariest thing about this film is George Sanders (yay!) and the tightness of Nicky Henson's trousers.
And people wonder what happened to the British Film Industry?

Locked.

2007-04-01T18:22:34Z

My posts are locked but new friends are welcome and encouraged. Please comment if you'd like to add and be added.

My icon/art journal is haunted_teacosy

LOVE IN THE ASYLUM

The pretty, the silly, and the downright ugly....

Locked.