Bear

Continued on my folk-horror journey and re-watched three films, as well as seen a new one. The re-watch of the two found-footage films was very interesting. Hollow - I used to like this a lot, but it wasn't quite as good or effective this time around. The film's setting, to the rural English country side, is very nice and the ancient evil is very cool. But sadly the ancient evil, the folklore, isn't given much time on screen at all. Instead the film focus on our two couples and their problems, which would've been fine if it wasn't for the fact that they are all massive, unlikeable douchebags and you just want them to die as soon as possible. Went from an 8 to a 6. The Borderlands - Another low-budget found footage flick, but this one does more or less everything right. The setting is really nice and you can't but think of The Wicker Man and similar films. But what truly makes this film what it is is the fact that director Elliot Goldner blends horror and comedy in a truly magnificent way. Neither ever gets in way of each other. And the film itself is as intelligent as its characters. Really enjoyable, and close to one of the best found footage films ever. Went from a 6 to 8,5. Almost a modern classic! Wake Wood - A modern classic! The setting makes it hard not to think of films like The Wicker Man and Don't Look Now, but Wake Wood is no copy and it stands firmly rooted on its own two feets. Nice, old-school folk-horror based upon atmosphere rather than regular scares, and it works really well. The mysticism of it all really makes it into something different. Superb film! Black Death - Well, this isn't exactly a horror film, but it's so deeply rooted in horror that I think it's fair to take it in this film. Black Death came a year later than the overlooked gem that is Solomon Kane, and delivers much of the same fun as the mentioned film. With a strong cast, a great visual style and a superb story Black Death delivers both brutal violence, characters and story depth and strong performances. Great atmosphere all around. Highly recommended folk-horror adventure. Blair Witch - Adam Wingard, seen as the new hope of low-budget films just years before this film, completely lost it. Holy fuck, this is bad. He just completely missed what the original was about, and he completely misses what makes a horror film frightening. This is complete and utter trash. Demon Wind - Decent enough horror-chesse that was pretty fun up until the climax, a climax that was nothing short of god-awful. It was so long it felt like it took a forever to end, and it was cheap, silly and stupid as fuck. Didn't like anything about the climax. But the first 3/4th of the film were fairly enjoyable. But the climax really took me out of the film's atmosphere. Such a shame.

Am I the only one who find it hilarious when people bash western VK bands for being generic, yet 98% of the VK bands they listen to themselves are just as generic?

Saw Mortiis live yesterday and it was magnificent. I did not know what to expect from the gig, but the re-interpretation of Ånden som gjorde opprør was really good. He managed to capture that old school dungeon synth feeling with it, even though there was some differences from the original recording. It was nice, and it worked much better live than I would have imagined. Incredible atmosphere! 6/6 Thought Svartsinn did well to, though he does not belong in this thread. Was a big amount of people from other European countries at this gig to. Heard a lot of Germans. Which is cool. Going from Germany to Norway to experience Mortiis live at a small place like Good Omens.

So both Arnold and David Hasselhoff are confirmed for the King Fury sequel. How fucking cool is that? Cannot wait for this to happen!

A Ghost Story - A slow, romantic ghost story about love, loss and existence. This is a ghost story but it's far from being horror. It's a drama with elements of romance and fantasy. It is very slow, but also very soothing and nice. It's not for everyone, but if you enjoy artsy film this might be for you. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation - As a new film was announced if I realized I had not seen this yet. Rogue Nation is more of the same as Mission Impossible goes, as like with every single film in the series with the exception of the second one, it's better than its predecessor. Mission Impossible is something as a accessible, mainstream blockbuster series that just gets better and better with each film. Can't wait for the next one! American Satan - Watched this with some friends as we got drunk before a concert, and what an embarrassing film. The reason we watched it was because it was said to be a very "metal film" produced by a big metal label who wanted to produce films for metal people. But there's nothing metal about this. The artists in the lead roles are from shitty bands like Black Veil Brides and Asking Alexandria. And this film was just as bad as those bands are. John Bradley and Malcolm McDowell are good enough in their roles, but neither able to save this from getting the worst possible score from me, namely a 2/10. Complete and utter garbage made for human trash only. Fuck off! Thor: Ragnarok - I've said it before and I can say it again: Marvel just keeps getting better and better. From a bumpy start with lots of mediocre films that were all more or less the same, they've started taking chances and taking the different characters into different paths. Ever since the release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier they've just been taking chances, and films like Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange and now this just offers something different in the world of superheroes. You could also add Agent Carter, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and The Punisher to that list. Thor: Ragnarok is one hell of a hilarious film, but aside from being hilarious it also adds a lot more depth than previous films. Both to the story, the world and the characters itself. Good film and on par with with mentioned films and series. Wolf Warrior - The cover features a quote from a review saying "breathtaking martial arts" and it has Scott Adkins in it, so I thought to myself that this just had be something amazing. Well, it wasn't. It features some decent action scenes, especially sniper scenes early on, but for most part it's a really bad film. Super patriotic Chinese film which is all about CHINA RULEZ, EVERYONE ELSE SUCK!!!. There's barely any martial arts in it, and the little that is ain't more than mediocre at best. It also features some of the worst CGI ever seen. Them wolfs, man. Holy cow! Heard that the sequel is supposed to be a billion times better, so looking forward to that one anyway.

The Creep Behind the Camera - The Creep Behind the Camera tells the real-life story of Art Nelson, best known as Vic Savage in the 60's when he went to Hollywood to make the biggest and best monster movie ever made, namely The Creeping Terror, a film which claimed a status as a cult film after MST3k spoofed it in 93. Well, it didn't really go as planned. This film, half documentary, half bio-pic, paints Art Nelson as one of the biggest con artist to ever enter Hollywood. A real sleazy scumbag who beats his wife, invites other girls, as well as prostitutes into their bed, gets addicted to drugs, as well as being involved in pedophilia and kiddie porn. I don't know how much of this story is real, but even if only 50%is real then Art Nelson was a proper fucking scumbag. I really enjoyed this flick. Dark, gritty and very, very interesting. Even more so since I really enjoy The Creeping Terror as a beer, friends & pizza-film.

New Visigoth is good, but it doesn't live up to the debut at all. But maybe it's a proper grower. Anyway, talking about epic/true heavy/power metal, I discovered Legendry yesterday. A lot more similar to Manilla Road than Visigoth, with dungeon- and mist-like atmosphere over it all. Rough productions and a poor, albeit cool as fuck, vocalist over cool riffs. I really enjoy these guys! https://legendry.bandcamp.com/album/initiation-rituals

In Hell - Fun enough Van Damme film from 2003, but it's not very good and it's super disappointing for being a Ringo Lam film. He does act decent in this film though. Does a good enough job as an actor, and not a martial artist. Murder on the Orient Express - I had high expectations to this as the story is superb and the cast was impressive to say the least, but I ended up slightly disappointed. It looks beautiful and is superbly acted throughout, but I feel as if Kenneth Branagh fails to add anything of his own to it. It felt a bit bland to be honest. It lacked something unique of its own. So I'll simply take the original Murder on the Orient Express (1974) 7 days a week ahead of this. Looking forward to Death on the Nile and I am very open for a new Poirot cinematic universe with a shitload of films, but I won't expect anything to be close to the original films. But I am open for it, and I hope they go for it. Accident Man - This Scott Adkins film is based on a comic book I have not read, but as an action-comedy it works really, really well. THe entire film plays much like a old, classic Guy Ritchie film and Scott Adkins is a bit like a Jason Statham-light, just a million times cooler of course. In fact Scott Adkins does his best job as an actor in this. Does really well! The film itself was real fun. Lots of cool violence and fun humor, lots of comic book bloodshed/gore and such. Really, really liked this! Also, it looks a million bucks, despite being low-budget. The Foreigner - Political action-thriller with Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan cast in atypical roles, and both gives their best performance ever acting-wise. I am of course a huge fan of Jackie Chan, but I did not know he had this kind of depth to his acting. The film itself is a bit like Rambo meets Taken meets Patriot Games. Really enjoyable and cool film. Seeing Jackie Chan deliver such a strong performance almost made me tear up. He plays a heartbroken man who looses his daughter in a bombing. This is not your typical happy-go-lucky Jackie. Daaayum! The Protector - As I wait for Triple Threat I am (re-)watching films with stars such as Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White and Yanin Vismitananda. The Protector is one of Tony Jaa's greater films. The story is a bit shabby, but it offers and incredible amount of brilliant action scene with innovative fighting and great performances all around. There's also some brilliant CGI-work that most people will struggle to see is CGI, even though there's one scene most people will notice. But as a martial arts film this is excellent! The Protector 2 - Slightly disappointing sequel, but mostly because of it's use of CGI, which is very easy to see in scenes made for 3D. You can see every single scene made for 3D really well, and they all stand out like a sore thumb. They're not the type of 3D made to give the movie any extra depth or anything, just shit that comes flying at you. But the film tones down this in the second half and the entire film turns a lot better as they tone it down. The fighting is good and all, but the film lack that one superb scene that stands out. Like the long take from the first film. Hounds of Love - Nice, bleak and grim crime-drama from Australia. It's slow as fuck, but the grim atmosphere and its bleak content is just top stuff really. It's not very violent or anything, but its brutality is yet immense as fuck. Really enjoyed this! Btw, you know there's a Black Dynamite 2 coming, right? Holy shit I am excited!

Just decided to watch a few folk-horror short films after watching The Ritual. Just had to have more folk-horror but didn't have any available. Salthouse Marshes - 8 minute long ghost story with a very dream-like quality to it. I got a strong Vampyr (1932) feeling of it. Liked it a lot, just wish it was longer. The Ash Tree - An old 33 minute short film made for TV back in the mid-70's, adapted from M.R. James short story of the same name. Mad as a part of Lawrence Gordon Clark's "A Ghost Story for Christmas", which consisted of a film a year from 71-78. It's very minimalistic and bears resemblance to other folk-horror films of the time, such as Witchfinder General. It's got this nice, occult feeling to it, mixing it with a gothic ghost story that really stands our. Just excellent tbh! I need to watch all the films in this series, as well as some other films connected to it according to wikipedia.

Probably my favourite film of 2017. Gorgeous folk-horror clearly inspired by classic 60's and 70's British folk-horror like The Wicker Man, The Blood on Satan's Claw, The Devil Rides Out, Cry of the Banshee and so on, as well as newer films like The Blair Witch Project, Ben Wheatley's Kill Lisand A Field in England, Robert Eggers' The VVitch: A New-England Folktale and more. Fantastic film!

Bomb City - A crime-drama about a bunch of Texas punk rockers who has this "feud" with some jocks, and how it ended for musician Brian Theodore Deneke. It takes a look at the lifestyle of these guys, and also take a close look at the harassment and bullying of these punks by the jocks and society around them. How they are treated like shit simply for looking different and having other interests. It's a good film and well-worth a look. It also takes a proper look on how fucking fucked up the american justice system is. Dolemite - Classic Blaxploitation sporting lines such as "I'm gonna let 'em know that Dolemite is my name, and fuckin' up motherfuckers is my game!", " I got your boy hangin,' you no-business, born insecure, jock-jawed, mothafuckas!", and the line "Can you dig it?"" repeated a shitload of times. If that is not enough to make you wanna see this classic piece of black cinema, I don't know what is. Superb film! Hardcore Henry - What is the fuzz about? The entire film is based upon one single gimmick and nothing else, and after 30 minutes that gimmick is already dated as fuck. The characters are uninteresting, the plot is boring and the action sequences are really, really, really repetitive and boring. Meh, next. Sidekicks - Super silly martial arts films about a weakling kid who fantasizes about being Chuck Norris' sidekick. Silly and stupid, but decent entertainment. The Ultimate Warrior - Old school post-apocalyptic action that offers plenty fun. The lead role was supposed to go to my hero Gordon Liu, but ended up at Yul Brynner who does a really good job, and in a big supporting role you find Max von Sydow. It's nothing groundbreaking or original, but it's a fun little film.

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight - The latest animated feature to be added to the ever-growing list of DC's animated films is a Batman film based on the Elseworlds comics by the same name, set to the Victorian era with Jack the Ripper causing distress in the streets. The setting alone is more than enough to make me drool, but the writing, direction, animation and voice-acting turns this into one of the very best Batman films ever. This is a notch above the other animated Batman films Batman: Under the Red Hood, Batman: Assault on Arkham, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 & 2 og Batman vs. Robin, and I am sure I will place it a bit above Tim Burton's two Batman films and the original, 60's Batman film as well. This Batman film is a whodunit horror with a strong Hammer Horror-vibe and it clearly owes much to the British whodunit horror/thrillers of the 50's and 60's. An absolute masterpiece! The Being - A complete shitfest I just can't dislike. I really enjoy the look of the monster, but that's about the only positive thing about this film. But still I was entertained as hell throughout the film. Much like I am by 99.9% of all horror films made before the 90's that I've seen. Cool little flick!

Cool. I actually downloaded that movie earlier today. Looking forward to watching it.

Forget about Ranger, Vulture and the boring hyper-modern sounding Evil Invaders (can't believe these guys are actually popular, but I get the impression they are?), Stälker are the new speed metal heroes. Shadow of the Sword is just too good, and one of the very best albums of 2017. The riffs and solos, vocals, drumming, production, cover art and hell, even music video is cool as fuck. This is as 80's as metal can get in 2017. The entire album is close to perfection and they have a really near cover of Death's Evil Dead.

I thought as much, because Forbidden Planet is a classic old school sci-fi flick. Recommended btw! Forbidden World, alongside Creature, Galaxy of Terror, Inseminoid and Alien Contamination are all great examples of fun early-mid 80's Alien rip offs.

The Abyss started that short-lived trend. Big blockbuster by a huge name. Though the others aimed more towards horror, while The Abyss is more sci-fi drama. Which Forbidden Plant? What yeat is it from? It was made a few really cool Alien rip offs during the 80's. None as good, but several great nonetheless.

Sigh - Desolation Sigh - Tragedies Sigh - Tragedies (repress) Tape: Abigail - Ultimate Unholy Death Noctiferum - Serenades Of The Empire Urfaust - Verräterischer, Nichtswürdiger Geist Vinyl: Abigail - Eastern Force of Evil: Abigail's Tribute to Sigh Abigail ‎- Intercourse And Lust Sigh / Kawir ‎– Suicidogenic/Sinn Morrigan/Abigail ‎– A Celtic / Japanese Alliance Abigail / Morbid Upheaval split Abigail / Unholy Grave - Tribute to Acid – Acidiehardmaniaxe Far East EP Abigail / Sigh - Evilized Japan That was yesterday's purchase. So happy to finally own those Sigh tapes after searching for 10-15 years. That feeling!

Ooooooh fucking yeah!

Chastity Bites - Decent feminist horror-comedy that is never amazing, but keeps steady on decent cheesy and campy fun. Very 80's in many ways, and it's got a strong Mean Girls-feeling to it. Lots of funny one-liners and cheese. Not amazing, but well worth a watch if you've watched 1000+ horror films already.

Victor Crowley - The fourth entry to the Hatchet-franchise, and Adam Green hits bulls eye once more. A lovely mix of traditional slasher, splatter and comedy. It's got silly jokes, over the top performances and lots of blood and gore. Do you need anything else when it comes to a film like this? Nah, not really. But add a badass villain and you've got it all. Great film! May there be ten more Hatchet films!

Don't care if a band got all its original members or none as long as they are able to produce good music.

It's always hard to say what they'll do next. But considering he's learnt to play flute and shit I would not be surprised if there's a more prog rock-esque approach this time. More classic prog in the sound or something. The full list of what I am buing: Abigail - Ultimate Unholy Death Noctiferum - Serenades Of The Empire Sigh - Tragedies (Wild Rags Records) Sigh - Tragedies Sigh - Desolation Urfaust - Verräterischer, Nichtswürdiger Geist Abigail - Eastern Force Of Evil - Abigail's Tribute to Sigh Abigail ‎- Intercourse And Lust Sigh/Kawir ‎– Suicidogenic/Sinn Morrigan/Abigail ‎– A Celtic / Japanese Alliance Abigail / Morbid Upheaval split Abigail/Unholy Grave split Abigail/Sigh split The stuff in bold are Japanese, and the italic stuff are tapes. Verräterischer, Nichtswürdiger Geist, Eastern Force of Evil - Abigail's Tribute to Sigh and Intercourse And Lust are different versions to those I already got, and Sigh/Kawir and Abigail/Sigh splits are the same. Not sure why I bought them. Probably because I got them for more or less free.

It shouldn't be too long until the new Sigh album is out now. Anyone got any expectations? They had one last rehearsal before going into the studio on the 27th of January, so they're slowly getting there. On other news. I was browsing a Norwegian auction site late last night and suddenly saw a man in my town selling Sigh's Desolation and both versions of Tragedies for a very, very good price. Sent him a mail and woke up to "all yours", which means 10 years of intense searching is over. I've talked to people who've had these for sale over the years, but the prices have been too high. The last time I found Desolation the guy was asking for $125 which is a bit more than I am willing to pay. This time however I get all three tapes along with one Abigail, Urfaust and Noctiferum for about $160. Which is a very decent price tbh. He also had other Abigail and Sigh releases, so I asked about them. Will get Abigail's Eastern Force Of Evil and Intercourse And Lust if they are different versions than those I've already got. Might get another copy of Sigh/Kawi split just for the hell of it. Anyway, can't wait to go and get Tragedies x2 and Desolation. Holy fuckity fuck!

Some interesting news regarding Sodom is that Tom Angelripper kicked both the guitarist (1996-2018) and drummer (2010-2018) and got himself three new members. Frank Blackfire who played on Expurse of Sodomy, Persecution Mania and Agent Orange (as well as Kreator's Coma of Souls) is back on guitar, Tormentor/Husky from Desaster is in on drums and some random guy from a random band is also in on guitar. I haven't liked a Sodom album in ages, but with these guys I can see the band taking a 180 and go more old school and less melodic again. Liked their new band pictures too, albeit I get a bit trend-feeling of it all. But that's OK. Looks very old school and very thrash metal, and judging from the pictures I wouldn't be surprised if there's elements of black metal in an upcoming album.

New track from the upcoming album. Catchy stuff. Very Dissection-esque, but that's very fine with me.