I swear I had seen this movie. I knew the story, I knew about the stellar performance of Christopher Lee in one of his few turns as a good guy. An intense good guy, but a good guy all the same. So when I sat down to watch it last night imagine my surprise when I realized I had not seen it at all.
I think I was confusing it with another Christopher Lee movie.
In any case The Devil Rides out is fantastic. A nice little battle with the forces of evil.
Hammer based on the book by occult writer Dennis Wheatley. It would not be the last time that Hammer and Christopher Lee would collaborate on a Dennis Wheatley tale, this time putting Lee back in the role of bad guy for To The Devil A Daughter.
The feel to this movie is very much like the book Tanith. In fact the book of The Devil Rides Out was one of the influences on Tanith. Each features a central character named Tanith and also deals with rural England paganism and/or satanism.
There is so much here for a game. Occult secrets, cultists, magical battles. You can also do worse than model your clerics after Lee. Plus I am dying to role up a new witch named Tanith that may or may not be involved in devil worship.
But I always get myself something gaming related for Halloween. Not sure what I am getting myself this year, I got a lot of really cool books at Gen Con that I have barely cracked open.
"If it's in a word or it's in a look, you can't get rid of The Babadook."
Now this is more like it!
A creepy movie monster that remembers that often less is more. From newcomer Jennifer Kent this is a tale of a widow (played wonderfully by Essie Davis) and her son (Noah Wiseman). In some ways this is the "Sixth Sense" except instead of dead people the little boy sees monsters. Trouble is the monsters are not at all real and the little kid is a handful.
One day a mysterious book shows up in their home and the mother reads it. It is the story of Mister Babadook who knocks on your door three times, then bangs on it three times wanting to be let in, "ba ba ba DOOK DOOK DOOK"!
We then follow the mother's descent into madness as she acts out the book. It is quite effective and at points quite scary. For example I was pretty sure I knew what was going to happen to X character only have something else happen entirely. It was a nice change of pace.
I watched this with my youngest son who loved it, but hated the ending. I loved the ending myself because I understood the metaphor. But it is not a movie I would let my youngest or wife watch since I know a few of the scenes would really bother them.
If things that go bump in the night scary you easy then this not the movie for you.
The Babadook himself would be great for any modern supernatural horror game. Not so much D&D since the monster is more of a psychological one. But say for Buffy or Ghosts of Albion he would be great.
If you get the chance see this one. It's not just a great horror movie it is a great movie.
I have had the new Carrie Blu-Ray since it came out but only watched it last night. I enjoyed it, Chloë Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore are pretty much fantastic in everything they do, this was no exception. Julianne Moore gave a stellar performance as Carrie's mother Margaret White, much better than Piper Laurie was in fact.
Chloë Grace Moretz was fantastic of course, but the trouble I have with her in this movie is she is just too good looking. Sure Carrie is supposed to be an outcast, but she is no Sissy Spacek.
The story is what we all know at this point; enjoyable yes but not really needed.
1999's The Sixth Sense was a huge surprise hit. The writer and director, M. Night Shyamalan was all but an unknown at the time. This movie is also the first and best use of what is now known as the "Shyamalan twist". Ignore some of his latter movies (though I will admit to enjoying "The Happening") and enjoy this one for what it is.
I have been wanting to rewatch this one for years. Knowing "the twist" is one thing, seeing the movie in light of that is another. One thing is sure, Shyamalan is a damn fine director. Course the cinematography from the legendary Tak Fujimoto (of Silence of the Lambs fame) so the movie looks good.
Haley Joel Osment is praised for his acting, and it is justified, but let's not forget the stunning performance from Bruce Willis. Casting mega action and comedy star Willis as a ghost who never touches anyone throughout most of the movie was genius. I have liked Bruce Willis since "Moonlighting" and he did not disappoint here. The surprise of the night though came from a young Mischa Barton as the girl killed by her Munchausen syndrome by proxy mother.
I watched this one with my youngest son, who had never seen it. It was great to see his reaction to everything and then the final twist. He loved it.
Almost immediately after seeing this for the first time I wanted to use an adult Cole Sear (Seer, get it! It's a twist name!) in a Cinematic Unisystem game. Make him older and more jaded like Micheal J. Fox's character in the Frighteners.
Still might do that.
Today marks the 64th birthday of Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, better known to the world as Sting.
Growing up (and still now) I was a HUGE fan of the Police. In fact my first folder I kept my character sheets in had the symbols from Ghost in the Machine scribbled on them.
When Synchronicity came out it was such a shift in my thinking that I can barley quantify it. From this I read Jung, which would lead to degrees in psychology (undergrad and graduate). I read Lolita (thanks to "Don't Stand So Close to Me") which lead me to read other literary greats.
(Seriously. Read Lolita. It's dark, messed up, and brilliant.)
When I got married the song playing "for me" was Sting's "Fields of Gold".
So yeah. I am a fan.
Plus he went to St Cuthbert's Grammar School, so how could I *not* associate him with D&D?
But there are a lot of good songs I associate with gaming.
Back when I was working on the Buffy RPG we were working on a series of linked adventures about a Djinn. The first few appeared the core books and my adventure "The Dark Druid" was supposed to be Episode 1. It never quite came together for the reasons these things don't but I wrote a lot for it. Some of those adventures later became part of "The Dragon and the Phoenix" and "Season of the Witch".
"Desert Rose" from Mercury Falling was one of many songs I listened to then to get me in the mood. This video represents that crossover. In both the Djinn arc and Season of the Witch the characters have to find their answers in the desert in the adventure Desert Rose. Plus I love the bits from Algerian Raï singer Cheb Mami. Sounds so cool. Plus is that the same driver from the Duran Duran video "The Chauffeur"? (no I know it's not...but I imprinted in the 80s).
Often with me music will inspire some idea, plot or character. Sting's "Shape of my Heart" from Ten Summoner's Tales is not his most upbeat song. I remember listening to it and thinking of a man who was a gambler decided to deal with fate. He became the instrument of fate, loosing his eyes in the process and everyone he loved. He knows that the fortunes he deals for others are just as much about him and one day he will find what he lost. That character became The Dealer and he can be found in Halfway.
The Soul Cages might be Stings best sounding album from a audiophile perspective, though I also like the vinyl version of Dream of the Blue Turtles. It is also (naturally) a dark album. Lots to do with death and transitions and how fathers die and sons become fathers in turn. Nothing lays the pathos bare better than the song of the same name, "The Soul Cages". I always considered this a "Ravenloft" album.
What do Zenyatta Mondatta, Dream of the Blue Turtles and Bring on the Night all have in common? All have a slightly different version of Sting's own "Shadows in the Rain". The later, jazzy versions don't share the darker edge of the 1980 Police version, but all are still good. This song also was the inspiration for a rather pivotal episode in both the Buffy Djinn arc and later in the Dragon and the Phoenix.
Anytime I want to get in the mood for some Celtic-themed gaming you can do worse than listening to the Chieftains. The Chieftains and Sting together is something rather special. Having them sing "Mo Ghile Mear" is fantastic. I swear I can hear Éire herself singing.
Speaking of hearing Éire. Going back to Ghost in the Machine for a bit, the Police's "Invisible Sun" has haunted me for years. I have wanted to use the imagery from this song for years. It was one of the many influences on my Ghosts of Albion adventure Blight. It is a main part of my current D&D 5 game, Come Endless Darkness. I like the Ghost version best, but here is an extremely gratuitous version with Sting and Bono. No one chews up a stage like Bono.
Going back a bit to movie I first saw years and years (at least 30) ago on KPLR TV out of St. Louis. War of the Gargantuas was a sequel to Frankenstein Conquers the World, though I didn't know that at the time.
All I knew is it freaked the heck out of me. Those giant monsters eating people and spitting out their clothes recall bugged me when I was 10-11. It was one of the sources of the the Gargantua monster I would later create.
The movie this time around was not scary but still fun to watch. It was shorter than I remember and I am sure there were more scenes of Gaira eating people.
Interestingly it stars Russ Tamblyn looking almost exactly like his daughter does now. She is now the same age he was in this movie.
I always wonder when one actor is speaking English and the rest Japanese are we supposed to assume they are all speaking the same language?
In any case I now need to see Frankenstein Conquers the World.
