Tag Archives: horror

Oldies but goldies: Alien (1979, director’s cut)

Director: Ridley Scott, Main Cast:  Sigourney WeaverTom SkerrittJohn HurtIan Holm;

alien

This film is a classic for both sci-fi and horror genres and it stands the test of time splendidly! The director’s cut includes additional footage that gives more insights about some characters and the creature. The lighting, the claustrophobic yet desolate shots, the futuristic design that now seems almost quaint, the little details: from the cigarette’s smoke to eating cereals to workers’ rights, we know it all and saw it a million times but it all appears in this film for the first time and made it a classic. On its way back from a routine trip a freight spaceship intercepts a distress signal from an unknown planet, the crew is awakened and sent to investigate: they will find something unexpected and terribly dangerous that will pick them off one by one! The motion detector is as efficient as John Williams’ two notes in Jaws in being anxiogenic and panic-inducing. One lesson learned from this movie: if there’s a big, human-eating monster up and about don’t go looking for the cat, he will be fine,  it’s your safety you should worry about! Amazing —9/10

 

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Filed under Oldies but goldies, Seen at home

Supernatural: the Animation

Main Cast (voices): Jared PadaleckiAnnakin SlaydJensen AcklesHarry Standjofski

supernatural-anime

If you are looking for a good anime and you like horror and fantasy, well, look no further. The Japanese had a pretty nifty idea, they remade the live-action show Supernatural (created by Eric “evil genius” Kripke) which is awesome to begin with, into 22 animated episodes. So our favorite hunters of all-things-that-go-bump-in-the-dark, Sam and Dean Winchester, take us on the road from case to case; you get classics like vampires, demons and werewolves or stranger stuff based on urban legends and ancient mythology. Like Buffy, most of the episodes are a “monster of the week” type of story but there is also a series arc with a Big Bad.  The different medium allows for a more striking and creative rendering of all that is supernatural compared to live action. The animation itself is top-notch and it doesn’t hurt, at least in my book, that Sam resembles Spike Spiegel (fans of Cowboy Bebop won’t fail to notice it). It is fast-paced, grim and quite dark but still with plenty of funny moments. If you know the live-action show, this series covers roughly the storyline of season 1 and 2, taking a few liberties with background stories and making it more PG13. Furthermore all the characters’ appearance, except for the Winchester bros, are very different so it might take a while to get use to. Lastly, one minor issue, unless you are a hardcore anime fan who watches everything in the original Japanese, the English version has Jared Padalecki (live-action Sam) dubbing Sam but Annakid Slayd dubbing Dean for all but two episodes instead of Jensen Ackles (live-action Dean), which sounds really weird and requires from the viewer a little time to adjust to it. Anyway great anime with gripping story and characters. —7.5/10

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Filed under Animation, TV-shows