In Case You're Curious...

VACANCY rules!!! :D

VACANCY is what I watched today (Tuesday, still, for me), along with a handful of MEDIUM: Season 3 eps.

I think VACANCY's theatrical release was hurt by the other horror movies that came out around the same time. The way I remember it, it looked like a classy movie, and who can NOT love Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson?!! But when you offer me a movie with ghosts or other supernatural monsters or a movie with sick humans doing sick things to other humans, I'm going with the supernatural horror flick.

Plus, the threat of the movie is extremely brutal psychos, and I suspect a lot of the people who go to see movies about extremely (or, XTreme, bra') brutal psychos probably go for the gore.

But this flick isn't really an exploitation film, per se. It's a REAL movie.

AND IT'S REALLY SCARY!!! :D

Yesterday, Brian and I watched a made-for-TV adaptation of Stephen King's DESPERATION, and it was okay. It was directed by Mick Garris, who's filmography reads like an abreveated list of King's bibliography, lol: DESPERATION (2006), RIDING THE BULLET (2004), STEPHEN KING'S THE SHINING (1997), THE STAND (1994) and SLEEPWALKERS (1992).

Actually, that's a very abreveated list. For some reason I was thinking he had directed more than that. Still, I think he's directed more King adaptations than anyone else so far.

Blah.

Anyway, DESPERATION was okay. I wouldn't call it scary, but I would call it watchable.

After that I watched RIDING THE BULLET, and that was pretty good visually.

I like the novella a great deal better, though. The novella creates this mood, like a classy horror story kind of mood! The movie is SURPRISINGLY faithful to the original text (MUCH to Garris's credit!!!) but it has a sort of tongue-in-cheek mood.

Not my brand of horror.

Although, I have to give Garris credit for having directed PSYCHO IV: THE BEGINNING! For some reason, I really like the Psycho franchise, even though most would argue that there should never have been a 2nd, much less a 3rd or a 4rth. But I don't know... something about the character of Norman Bates and the location just keeps me coming back!

And the theme music!

I'm not talking about the famous REE-REE-REE-REE theme you think about when you think of PSYCHO. I'm talking about the VERY HAUNTING and beautiful themes created by jerry Goldsmith for PSYCHO II and Carter Burwell's haunting and beautiful themes for PSYCHO III.

In case you don't recognize the name second... I didn't either. I had to look him up. I've seen about 22 of the movies he's scored, but the only 2 scores that jump out at me are A GOOFY MOVIE and PSYCHO III. But if you follow the link to his IMDb entry, you'll find that he's done A LOT of composing for The Coen Brothers. Since the beginning, actually.

So that's got to give him some filmmaking "street cred".

But like I say, I prefer his themes from PSYCHO III.

I guess maybe the Psycho movies are a guilty pleasure of mine, hee-hee. :)

IN FACT... I'd almost forgotten this, but I've actually read all 3 of Robert Bloch's novels!

No kidding!

There's the first one, written as a pulp novel in 1959. The famous 1960 Hitchcock movie is really quite faithful to it. But the big difference that I can remember is that Norman Bates is middle-aged, pudgy and bespectacled in the novels.

Then in 1982, I'm guessing it's about the time that Universal Studios (and, presumably, Anthony Perkins -- since he spent a large chunk of his career haunted by the character) Bloch wrote his PSYCHO II, which the studio hated. It takes place on the set of a film made about Norman Bate's life and crimes (though NOT, if I remember correctly, the Hitchcock movie; like, some alternate-reality movie about Bates).

The book and the movie both did well, so Bloch wrote PSYCHO HOUSE in 1990. I remember liking that a little bit better. Probably because it went back to the original location. (A lonely motel off a forgotten highway in the middle of the desert.)

But the novel sequels veer way away from the movies, the way recall them, in that it's not about the continuing saga of Norman and his struggle with sanity. I don't mean to spoiler them for anyone, but I want to say Norman didn't do it in the last 2.

I was too young to appreciate them when I read them, but I'm guessing they were Bloch's social commentary on society, NOT a horror series.

I should do some research, come to think of it. I no longer own any of the books. But I'd like to have my memory jogged about just how things went down.

Blah.

Anyway...

Well, it's getting time for my baby to be headed to work, which means it's about time for me to head to bed and call this weekend "complete".

Not a bad weekend, really! :) I watched a bunch of flicks, a few REALLY GOOD! Got a text from my sweety! (My phone ran out of juice, and when I turned it back on after recharging it, so I lost it. :( But I remember getting one!)

Not bad! :D

Hope you have AN EXCELLENT day!!! :D

(And My genius Friend Dave, I hope you're getting LOT'S of PERSONAL work done, sir!)

(And My Gnomey Goddess, I LOVE YOU & MISS YOU!!! xoxoxo)