Day 1: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

1. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Dir: Robert Wiene
Cast: Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Feher

Starting things off we go to where feature length horror films were arguably first conceived, the heartland of Germany. Rising out of the "German Expressionism" era of the 1910s, a new genre would be born and forever become a staple of cinema. I begin my Horror film countdown with one of the most influential pieces of the silent era, Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari a German film released in 1920.

Detailing the story of a series of murders committed by a deranged Doctor (Werner Krauss), along with his faithful somnambulist (sleepwalker) servant Cesare (Played by a young Conrad Veidt) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is unique not only for it's early use of a "frame story", that meaning that it's presented in flashbacks from a central character, but as well for it's legendary gothic presentation and unsettling atmosphere. Sets are twisted, deformed, and abstracted giving the viewer a cold and isolated feeling while the story presented in both a very brooding and dark manner, a special framework that would influence horror filmmakers for years to come.



What I love about Dr. Caligari is how much it stands out from other films of that era or even today. It truly is a surreal looking picture and a beautiful piece of art. Though you can't count out the great story that unfolds in this dreamlike picture. A suspenseful story of murder and mystery with plenty of great twists and turns, they certainly broke the mold when they made this.

Fright Fact: Legendary for it's complex and abstract look, most of the sets were actually just made out of paper with shadows simply painted on.

Horror Highlight: I wanted to include Youtube clips for my favorite scenes from each movie. It was kind of tough finding a scene from Caligari that didn't have somebody's personal lame music playing over it, so i just settled for any clip. Here's a scene where Caligari reveals Cesare, not much to it, just Conrad Veidt acting all creepy.

31 Days of Otteniween

just wanted to tell anyone who may read my blog that they'll be a whole slew of posts this month. I felt like doing something special this October so I decided on reviewing 31 horror movies for every day of October. Yes that's 31 days of Otteniween! Thus I'll select some of my favorite horror films and some of the most influential. Naturally I can only cover so many films on this list, it wasn't easy to organize, but I'll do my best to bring you what I consider an appropriate timeline of the most memorable horror movies.

Gallop in Puyallup

This is about a week late, so try to put yourself back in time by about a week or so to get the full effect. Every other year or so my family likes to attend the Puyallup Fair for it's rides, food, exhibits and of course silly merchandise and this year's trip, was yet again another triumph. Setting out at about 2ish, because Paul had school; myself, my brother Paul, my mom, step-dad Eric, my sister's Tiana and Colleen and Tiana's husband Ken hit the road for a grand family outing.

The trip there was peaceful enough, though I've been getting over various illnesses not to mention Paul was doing Geometry homework on my lap, but the traffic was light and arriving in Puyallup was no problem regarding crowds or parking. My mom surprisngly handed everone about hundred dollars or so to spend for the day's activites, as it was then planned we'd all split up. I of course would be spending the day wth Paul, who got in free, jerk... Though I was worried that his would mean it was my responsibility for him and myself having a fun day, I being the older brother thus being the responsible one, so we immediately set out to find various activities.

For our first stop we went to get some chow. In past years we'd always remembered getting cheeseburgers with Wallla Walla sweet onions that were pretty tasty, unfortunately the one's we got were less than stellar. The onions weren't sweet at all and the burger was pretty basic. It came with curly fries but they were just generic fries in bizarre shapes, I guess we must of went to the wrong stand, but either way it still managed to fill us up.

Later on we went roaming around all the merchandise stands, I wanted to walk away with a silly souvenir so we went near and far looking for something memorable. Most of the stands sold lame t-shirts and generic hats but soon our attention came to a wrestling stand. They sold totally sweet Mexican wrestler masks that me and Paul were just about to buy until we found out that all the good ones were surprisingly overpriced, I walked away in disgust.... Then Paul got an oversized slushy.

After that we checked out some of the exhibit halls, which were mostly guys selling really lame cleaning products. It seemed like you couldn't go very far without hearing someone talk about "the ultimate stain remover". Soon enough we found out this really wasn't the place for us and went to look at the animals. They were cute and what not but what really caught my attention was a stable of zebras as the exotic animals seemed out of place with all the cows, goats and sheep.

We continued to browse the fair grounds contemplating going on some amusement rides, but decided we'd wait for the monsterous crowds to die down. Paul was already getting hungry again and went over to a stand to get some funnel cake. I would of too had it not been for my grueling sore throat. His sugary treat was topped with strawberries and whipped cream and looked pretty good, I actually managed to take a bite or two risking the pain, and was pretty impressed.

It was at this point that the sun started beating down so I decided to finally go get a hat. So we made our way to a quaint shop that sold all sorts of exotic paraphenalia. Stuff like boomerangs, African necklaces, smocks but what really caught my attention was one of those cyndrical Vietnamese hats we've all seen, you know like Raiden in Mortal Kombat. This was an oppotunity that I couldn't ignore and bought it in a heartbeat. The only problem now was, "How I'm I gonna take this on any rides?" To cope with the sun I wore my garish hat that most people just couldn't stop staring at, it was embarrasing but I decided to keep truckin' on. Paul and I entered another exhibition hall where Paul looked for the supidest sunglasses he could. He came upon a light pair of sky blue shades with no frames that looked like something Peter Fonda would wear in the future. He liked them for awhile until he realized they were welded very poorly and thus wobbly.

Sometime in the late afternoon the family all met up just to see how everything was going. Tiana and Ken had told me that they'd seen a monkey show... Whatever that is I'm not sure, but I hear it had Baboons. Everyone seemed to like my Raiden hat so that was a plus, and it was funny to hear that no one had yet gone on a ride but everyone had bought silly souvenirs and eaten plenty. We decided we'd all meet up again at about 9:00pm and once we'd all told of our exploits, split up once again.

So Paul and I finally bought some overpriced tickets and stumbled into the ride section of the fair. We walked around forever looking for a ride with a reasonably small line so we started with the spook house. We'd gone on this ride in past years and were never thrilled, hopefully this year would be different, but it wasn't. After that we decided to tough it out in an unruly line for the "Enterprise". It's tough to explain but it was kind like a bunch of small of little carts that would spin around fast sideways and upside down. We waited for 20 or so minutes and than went aboard, it looked promising though me and Paul did have to sit in a umm funny looking position. Anyways the ride turned out to be a blast and one of the highlights of the whole evening. We followed this by some ride called the "Matterhorn" and then some other less than stellar rides. It was all still in good fun though.

A little while later Paul and I split an onion blossom and then just hung out. Frankie Valli was the musical performer that night so you couldn't go anywhere in the park without hearing his trademark falsetto. We had to wait awhile before everyone eventually met up at about 9:15pm where everyone returned with glowing toys and wands, mys sister Colleen had an annoying but shiny lite up wand and my mom had bought a plush alien. Though I couldn't believe my sister Tiana had gotten a Raiden hat. Just totally ripping me off, I guess I really set the mold or something. Though it did seem kind of funny that the two youngest fairgoers in out group, that being myself and my brother, walked away with the least amount of silly children's toys and what not, but you know everyone has their own way to take in the experience, Otteni out.

To Hell and Back

It's been awhile since I wrote a post, so I thought I'd whip something up real quick. So I was pretty much as sick as a guy who's really sick yesterday and strangely enough laid back and watched all the Evil Dead movies with all the special features, I guess I'm already in the Halloween spirit. I think I've even found a new found respect for Raimi's debut film, I mean it may have a weak story and forgettable cast, aside from Bruce Campbell, but the gore is really something else. From stop motion, to claymation, to using creamed corn as guts... It's pretty impressive for a low budget movie and can you believe out of 41 reviews, it has 100% on Rotten Tomoatoes? Anymore and I'm sure it would start to go down, I don't mind but I've always preferred the sequel, which only has a 98%, I guess Raimi nows how to deliver entertainment.

On to the main point of this post, I was reading up on Sam Raimi to see what projects he has lined up and was quite surprised to see he's making his return to horror with the film Drag Me to Hell. With all the big budgets Sam works with today, I was looking forward to a return to his roots and this sounds intriguing. From what I've pieced together, the basic plot is that of a L.A. loan officer (Alison Lohman) who becomes cursed by an old lady that she refuses a loan, the old woman curses the loan officer and starts to ruin her life in terrifying ways and I guess Justin Long is in there somewhere as well. So there isn't a lot to work off of right now, but there has been some reassurring news unfortunately followed by some talk that already worries me, let me lay it out.

Pros
- The script is being written by Ivan and Sam Raimi, who although aren't perfect, they recently wrote Spider-Man 3 together, they've still written some good stuff such as Darkman and Army of Darkness. I mean I'd rather the Raimi's generate something from their own twisted imagination when it comes to horror, than hire someone else.
- Altough horror, Raimi promises some dark humor, which is always good to hear.
- Raimi's working with a smaller budget, some off his old school gross out makeup, and as he says "limited CGI".
- It's coming out relatively soon, May 29, 2009 to be exact, my 20th birthday.

Cons
- When Raimi was asked in an interview at Comic Con "Will it be extra gory?" his reply was "No it's extra clean." stating the suspense would be the main draw. Hmm I smell a PG-13 and is that what we want in Raimi's return to horror?
- Bruce Campbell unfortunately couldn't participate, even in a cameo, due to his commitments to his show Burn Notice nobody working on the film's fault, just a shame to hear.
- Hmm, I guess that's it so far... but that gore one is a big one.

So though I don't know too much about the specifics, I'm still generally interested. Plus it'll be good to have a horror movie out next year by a seasoned professional. That reminds me, I saw a trailer for next April's Wolf Man that some filmed on his camera at the San Diego Comic Con and I must say, it looks pretty sweet. Well that's enough for know see you in the funny papers

D-Day

Happy David Duchovny's birthday, for as of August 7th he's 48 years old. Looks like I'm gonna have to watch some X-Files or one of his triumphant cinematic accomplishments like Evolution or House of D but seriously I'm sure he's done a couple good movies. I very much enjoy The TV Set in which he stars and I hear Things we Lost in the Fire is fine despite it's title being written in Dr. Seuss font. IMDb had that article where David said, he still thinks The Simpsons could cameo on the X-Files so let's see what happens there despite The X-Files ending 6 years ago.

Jack Attack

Not that it's that thrilling for anyone who wasn't there, but I was surfin' the web and found this performance from the Hippiefest music event that I attended. Here we have Jack grooving out on "Sunshine Of Your Love" and "Sitting On Top Of The World" on his infamous CRB fretless bass. I was in the eighth row and I can actually hear my dad making loud howling sounds near the end, you can also see Jack talking about some guy trying to steal his water near the end. Looking back it sure was an impressive performance and seeing this again is pretty neat.

Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out

Here I am back with a midsummer post about something I should of wrote about a few weeks ago enjoy. Today, I'll be reporting back to you my evaluation of my first concert of the summer with an in depth analysis of "Hippiefest 2008" an annual tour which I along with my dad, his friend Dick and Dick's wife Chris attended at the Chateau Ste Michelle in Woodinville. Normally this wouldn't be the kind of event that would spark my interest, but after my dad told me that Jack Bruce of Cream and Joey Molland of 70s Power Pop band Badfinger would be on the bill, I decided to give this a shot.

Cut to July 12th at about 5:00pm, about an hour before the show. Walking in I saw exactly what I knew but dreaded seeing, people in tie-dye. Yeah I understand these people are just trying to have fun with their psychedelic patterns and flowers in their hair but today, it just comes off as kind of superficial and annoying. Which brings me to the event's name "Hippiefest" what did this concert even have to do with the 60s? Badfinger, Jonathan Edwards and Janis Ian were all prominent 70s acts and they made up half the bill, seemed like lazy promotion. All in all this was mostly presented as more of a nostalgia trip than anything else. Not being from the era I'll admit I felt a little out of place, now I know how my dad fees when he attends concerts like Franz Ferdinand and The Killers today. Anyhow here's my input on the show which actually turned out to be pretty fun.


Jonathan Edwards
Starting it off was 70s singer/songwriter Jonathan Edwards. Probably an artist that most wouldn't recognize by name, I'm sure just about everyone has heard Mr. Edwards anti-war anthem "Sunshine". You know "Sunshine go away today, I don't feel much like dancing", it was in some Jeep commercials recently. Mixing a gentle balance of folk, blues, and pop, Jonathan Edwards brought a light, upbeat sound that isn't hard too appreciate. His guitar work was certainly a fine call to old fashioned blues playing and his strong harmonica playing created a nice down home blend. Probably the only part of his set that tuned me out, was the incredibly wimpy acapella piece "This Island Earth" one of those kind of "We can change the world if we try" themed songs that came off as an uninspired, corn-ball morality lesson. Overall Jonathan Edwards was pleasant enough for his styling of music, but not necessarily the kind of music I like to listen to.

Set list
People Get Ready/Train Of Glory
Sunshine
Shanty
This Island Earth


Joey Molland
One of the key artists that brought me out to this event, Joey Molland brought an almost eccentric and optimistic presence that really spread a bright enthusiasm on to the audience. Accompanied by the house band Joey, going with the theme of the concert, basically went up to bang out Badfinger's hits, and even though it was brief it was still an entertaining experience. I'll admit it was strange and a little depressing seeing Joey play songs that he didn't even write, I would of liked to see him do some of his own stuff, but I still considered it a treat to see the last surviving member of one of my favorite 70s bands. He appeared to have a good time and so did I.

Set list
Baby Blue
Come and Get It
Day After Day
No Matter What


Janis Ian
Known in the 60s and mostly 70s for her brand of bittersweet folk, Janis Ian going out with nothing more than an acoustic guitar brought a nice touch of class to this at times cheesy event. I had trouble getting into her music but I still found aspects to enjoy. Her guitar work was quite proficient and her voice has certainly held up pretty nicely over the years. I enjoyed seeing the sweet and tender ballad "At Seventeen" but aside from that it was probably the artist I was least looking forward to.

Set list
Jesse
Society's Child
My Autobiography
At Seventeen


The Turtles Featuring Flo & Eddie
: Next was the wacky antics of Flo and Eddie backed by The Turtles. For anyone who isn't familiar with Flo and Eddie, they are the two lead singers from the memorable 60s group. The audience seemed to respond pretty enthusiastically to their bouncy pop/rock stylings and with their "Yeah we've become a nostalgia group" attitude it was hard not to enjoy them. Utilizing a lot of audience participation and an optimistic energy, The Turtles delivered their memorable hits like "It Ain't Me Babe" and "Happy Together" with a strong stage presence and some quite proficient musicianship. Though probably the group I was least looking forward to, I ended up really enjoying their set.

Set list
You Baby
It Ain't Me Babe
She'd Rather Be With Me
Elenore
Happy Together


Jack Bruce
: Coming to the highlight of the show, who else but the very talented bass aficionado Jack Bruce, formerly of Cream. Being the headlining act and the only artist with T-shirts available it was strange to see Jack go on before Eric Burdon, but I guess he wanted to go first in order to leave early. Jack opened with a solo acoustic rendition of "As You Said" from the 1968 album Wheels of Fire which was probably the most blatant defying of not just playing "Their Hits". Though it was a little disappointing seeing Jack only play Cream material, he still did it with a positive attitude, a lot of energy and some very skilled bass work. It was as well a breath of fresh air to see an artist go up there and mess with the songs that made them famous through skilled jamming and impressive improvisation. This was without a doubt the best part of the show and an artist I'd like to view again sometime in the future.

Set list
As You Said
Sunshine of Your Love
Sitting on Top of the World
I Feel Free
Were Going Wrong
N.S.U
White Room


Eric Burdon and The Animals
Taking the stage to the tune of "We've Gotta Get Out of This Place", was the energetic Eric Burdon and The Animals who were alright but as well one of my least favorite acts. Where Flo and Eddie were very aware of being a nostalgia band, I got the impression that The Animals were taking themselves too seriously, and it translated to a very dry and cheesy performance. Playing mostly blues standards, Eric Burdon himself gave a nice touch of energy while as a whole the group was similar to something you might see on a hokey PBS special. Hardly an act to follow Jack, and kind of anticlimactic but they were still watchable and I still liked them to some extent.

Set list
We've Gotta Get Out of This Place
Sky Pilot
When I Was Young
Boom Boom
Mona
House Of The Rising Sun

So surprisingly, Hippiefest was fun despite the tacky nostalgia aspect. I'd go again if there was an artist like Jack headlining , but even there wasn't I could probably still enjoy it, peace out man.

P.S. I don't know why it says "Melanie" on the poster, I have no idea who that is.