Book Giveaway: Tales of Woe by John Reed

A couple weeks back, I posted a review on Tales of Woe and an interview with the author John Reed. The book is a collection of true stories that encompasses the depravity in society. It is available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble for purchase, but it can be yours for free if you enter and win this exclusive giveaway. All you have to do is leave a comment below that your are interested and/or please follow my new blog page on Facebook for double entries. Then three lucky winners will be selected through a random drawing.

Entry comments must be left by 9pm on Friday 9/10/10 and winners will be announced on Monday 9/13/10. Good luck!

The Last Exorcism (2010)

The Last Exorcism continues on the tails of the recent horror, found-footage hybrid craze, in this tale of a Louisiana preacher who brings a documentary film crew with him to a random exorcism. When he arrives to his client’s farmhouse in a small town deep within New Orleans to perform the service, he learns that this possession might be legitimate after all thus threatening his mortality.

Patrick Fabian is perfectly cast as Cotton Marcus, the preacher whose personal experiences with his family have softened his faith in religion. He now views his preaching as a cash cow to fund the medical bills for his young son, but he just might need to re-discover his faith soon in order to save himself and the film crew.

Before being thrusted into the scary following acts, we are shown Cotton working in his ministry and given a sympathetic yet somewhat comical character study as someone who really wants to help people even though he has to stage these exorcisms for monetary compensation. Cotton is like most of us, trying to survive given our lot in life and working to support a family. The strength of the character originates in Fabian's portrayal of Cotton with such a high likability factor, whether you believe in the justifications of his exorcism roadshows or not.

Another strong performance is delivered by Ashley Bell who plays the might or might-not-be demon host Nell Sweetzer. The camera is the audience’s point of view perspective, so when she looks at the camera and is basically looking at “us”, her gaze burns right through you. She also provides some of the film’s great scares catching the audience off-guard by flipping from sweet Nell to raging demon-mode in an eye blink.

The less said about this film, the better, but the ending is a subject of great debate. A knee-jerk reaction can leave someone shocked at first until reflecting on the obvious foreshadowing cast throughout the film. The ending confirms a lot of questions that were presented and is ultimately effective.

Any unfair comparisons to The Exorcism and The Blair Witch Project should be eliminated right away, even though the film does contain some moments similiar to Blair Witch that will not be spoiled. Those two flicks and Exorcism are totally different films even though they look extremely similar on the surface and those comparisons should rightfully end there. The only negative factors for this film would be some creepy scenes missing that were presented in the trailer and the use of music during this supposed documentary. The music is very haunting and does help drive the film, so it receives a pass, and the missing scenes will be in the DVD for sure.

There are some good films floating around the cinema this weekend and this is definitely one of them. Even if you are not satisfied with the ending or some other dynamics in this film, you will be more than pleased with the breakout performances of Fabian and Bell.

Verdict: Highly Recommended

Check out some of the viral marketing that Lionsgate used to promote this film:

http://mashable.com/2010/08/19/last-exorcism-viral/ - link to article on Chatroulette prank vids. Hilarious!!

http://churchofstmarks.com/ - Reverend Cotton Marcus and ministry website

http://twitter.com/cottonmarcus - Twitter account for Reverend Cotton Marcus

info@churchofstmarks.com - E-mail address for ministry

Monster-Mania Day 2: The Revenge

"Waugie's Chicken! You kill 'em, we chill 'em!"

Day 2 started by grabbing Krisy Jett for an interview at the Fright Rags table. I planned on interviewing at least three bloggers for ETMC by asking some goofy questions. (Due ot my travel this week and the need for editing them, the interviews won't be posted for another couple weeks). Kristy was a real great sport by participating in my first ever live video interview for this site and some really hilarious answers to my ridiculous questions.

Following the interview, we had our most disappointing experience at the show. Dan and I got into line to meet the Boondock Saints' Sean Patrick Flannery, Norman Reedus and David Della Rocco because the wait was nowhere near as long as last night. After waiting about 20 minutes without moving, I was told by one of the staff that I could not take a picture with any of the actors. However, if I paid for their autographs and came back later that night at 6, I could wait in a huge line again to take a posed picture with all of them. Oh and I had to drag my autographs back down to present as proof. I was waiting to be asked for a blood sample next. The idea of waiting in line for over an hour, being $60 poorer and then having to wait for over two more hours just to get a posed picture with these guys turned me off meeting them altogether. I don't know where the idea for that format originated, but I hope they do not employ that tactic for future signings and pictures.

Instead of dealing with the Boondock mis-management, we got in line for John Carpenter and waited for just under two hours to meet him because we were in line when he went to lunch. While we waited in Carpenter's room, I heard a familiar voice angrily asking for coffee. It was none other than Erin Gray who played Wilma Deering on the Buck Rogers series I loved as a kid. After about 10 minutes, she started to get a little testy demanding for some more coffee. Another 10 minutes passed before she got up from the table and walked across the room with coffee pot in hand loudly complaining that she asked for coffee over an hour ago (an hour? que paso?) and wanted some more. Two things crossed my mind: why was Erin fiending for coffee so much and what the hell was she doing signing in John Carpenter's room to begin with? I told Dan, "Wow she loves coffee more than I love Diet Dr. Pepper." It definitely kept us amused until we went face-to-face with JC.

At first, he looked salty as all hell (maybe he was fiending for coffee too?), but then I remembered he wasn't a young buck anymore. In truth, he was actually very nice. After complimenting my OBEY Fright Rags tee, I asked him about the They Live remake rumors. He replied that it was probably going to happen, so I asked him what his contribution would be to the project. He said, "I'm going to stick out my open hand and receive a very, very large check for an enormous amount of money." I said, "Hey that's American way. I wish someone would do that for me when I reached out my hand." He laughed and posed with me. I admit to being totally geeked out at this point. Look at my expression...

One brief victory dance later, we met up with Johnny and Jen again before heading to one of the autograph halls. As we were going in, Johnny got stopped by Jay Amabile of the uber cool The Sexy Armpit. Jay didn't recognize me at first, which was pretty funny. Thanks to the long Carpenter wait and Jay's short time at the show, I missed my window to have a beer with the man and interview him. Next time Gadget! Next time! Either way, it was good to meet him in person albeit for a few minutes.

Next, we got met Felissa Rose from Sleepaway Camp. Long story short, I never get scared of horror films but I watched SC when I was way too young and that final shot of her creepy ass face scarred my brain until about two years ago when she friended me on Facebook. With no alcohol in my system, I was getting pretty creeped out in line until it was time to meet her. For those of you who do not knOw, she is hawt! At first I told her about how she scared the living crap out of me until I realized I might be acting like a complete tool. My cool guy persona finally kicked in and I told her that everything is ok now because she absolutely beautiful and stunning in person. She said, "Oh stop...you're making me blush!" And no BS, I totally made her blush. She gripped me up for our pic before I returned back to geekville.

Let me just mention briefly that I met William Forsythe because I promised my wife Jules years ago that if I ever had a chance to meet him in person, I would tell him of a running joke we had with each other when we were going out. I told him that we used to intimate his character from Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigalo who kept dropping his pants and asking what the spots were on his peter. He asked me if I was going to drop my trousers like his character did and I told him I'd only do that for Felissa Rose. I thought he was going to deck me, but I think he appreciated when I spoke of his better roles. The best thing about him was is that he is the bad ass in real life that I always imagined him to be and it was great!

That was my last interaction with any celebs (only three total). I wanted to save my money for some wishful deals at vendor booths on Sunday, so we all had drinks in the bar. Dan and I went to Joel Robinson's Boondock Saints raffle and lost, but it was for a good cause and that's all that matters. After we all got more of our booze on, we caught half of the Pet Semetary Q&A .

I used my mini digital camera to take some short vids of Denise Crosby, who drinks the blood of the young, talking about Fred Gwynne and Andrew Hubatsek speaking in his creepy ass Zelda voice. Check them out:

The best part of the night happened when I finally coerced Johnny to do the mock interview with me. My idea was to conduct the interview in the style of Inside the Actors Studio with me doing a horrible impression of James Lipton minus the accent. We both had quite a few drinks in us at this point in and the result was hilarious. Dan and Jen took turns shooting the interview and random conversations him and I had. The funny thing about it was that the interviews did not play out as Geof meets Johnny, but rather Enter The Man-Cave meets Freddy in Space. I even threw on a t-shirt from my local watering hole for this special and intimate interview instead of wearing a suit or something snazzy like that. Like Kristy's interview, this one needs to be edited for time, so look for this sometime in the next couple weeks.

After saying our goodbyes to Johnny, his family and Jen the next morning, we went to the ATM machine to see that it was out of order...for the rest of the day. So that plan for a Sunday spree blew up in my face. With only $30 bucks left in my pocket, I skipped the bootlegs and Dexter slides to buy way better goodies instead. I bought my second Fright Rags shirt of Return of the Living Dead and sadly bid farewell to the legendary Kristy Jett. Sniff, sniff! Check out the rag:

And my last purchase was a smaller version of Joel Robinson's incredible piece of The Boondock Saints. If I had more money, I probably would have bought at least two more pieces to display all over the Man-Cave. There's always his site or the next con. But for now, check this out:

Just like that, Monster-Mania came to an end. I am typing this post up on a Tuesday night wondering how two days have passed since the event ended. Once again, it was cool to see celebs and get some neat gifts for myself, but the best highlights that made this event worthwhile were hanging with friends. We had so much fun with Johnny, Jen and Kristy plus we met a whole lot of cool new people. The only thing I have left to say is: how many more days until the next one?

For another take on the weekend's festivities, including more Dan Petrucci antics, check out Johnny's blog and click here. Yes we used a lot of the same photos in our posts as I just leanred by reading his blog, but hey, our personal photographer was on vacation. ;) But make sure to also check out his site for many more going ons at the convention that I did not cover here, like some of the cool stuff he picked up in the dealers' room.

Monster-Mania Day 1 recap

"Denise Crosby has those things right on the table."

Back in March, I wound up having such a great time at Monster-Mania, that I decided to stay the weekend instead of just attending on Saturday only like in the past. My friend Dan and I checked in early Friday morning before the festivities took place and we were ready for the weekend to start.

First we ran into Kristy Jett (of Fright Rags, writer for many top notch sites and too much greatness to list here in one short statement), who I briefly met in person at the last event, but began a cyber-friendship with over the past several months. We both laughed because I showed her I was texting her just as she came up behind me. It was really great to speak with her again in person and she was nice enough to introduce me to a few people, like the dudes at Fright Rags as well as actresses Kelly Jo Minter and Tiffany Helm, who were passing through. The latter I didn't recognize at first until Kristy did the funky dance from F-13 A New Beginning. The coolest moment of our first encounter happened when I was distracted speaking with artist Joel Robinson and she passed me her phone. I thought she was kidding at first, but soon I realized that she called Brian Solomon, the talented writer from The Vault of Horror. I have only spoken to him through Twitter and blog comments, so it was nice to finally meet him albeit electronically. Hopefully I will get to officially meet him in person one day.

When the events opened up around 5, we met up with Johnny (from Freddy in Space) and his awesome girlfriend Jen, who we had a great time with at March's show. Dan and I had been really looking forward to seeing these two again since our previous encounter was cut short due to inclement weather, but things picked right back up where they left off last time.



We all checked out the halls and dealers' room, as I planned out how I was going to spend a lot of my money over the next few days. I did buy some raffle chances to win a Boondock Saints piece of artwork by the very talented Joel Robinson that was signed by the original film's three stars with proceeds going to a charity.

I eyed up some bootlegs, artwork from Joel and a replica of Dexter's blood slides with the case (way too heavily priced but still drooled over). Knowing that were going to be many guests I wanted to meet and hoping for some deals on Sunday, I hesitated getting anything on the first night.

The rest of the time was spent kicking back and gearing up for the next day's activities. We all also got to see what it would be like if Freddy Krueger ever got into text messaging...

Dan and I kept running into several of the celebs walking around that day, but the funniest was when Denise Crosby (Pet Semetary and Star Trek: TNG) got on the elevator with us. I recognized her right away, but Dan engaged her in a conversation about one of the attendees who brought several pizzas on the elevator with us, which gave off a potent yet delicious aroma. He had no idea who he was talking to and was just being friendly. After we got off the elevator, I told Dan who he just spoke with and his face plus reaction was priceless. Dan's not really an uber horror fan, so it is always good to see him have a good time when he comes to these things with me. We were both in shock about how amazing she looked in person, coming right from the gym no less, all these years later.

It was great hanging with Kristy, John and Jen during the first night, but things definitely picked up on Saturday. In the next installment, I tackle John Carpenter, disappointment concerning the Boondocks Saints autograph protocol, my moral struggle on buying bootlegs, Felissa Rose and scars from childhood, Zelda from Pet Semetary, Erin Gray's battle to get a cup of coffee and the mystery of why she was signing in John Carpenter's room, William Forsythe getting a chuckle out of my weird story, and the tale of the broken ATM machine. Stay Tuned...

Interview with The Darkness Within director Dom Portalla

Yesterday I posted a review on indie flick The Darkness Within by director Dom Portalla. This was a psychological thriller that scored some seriously high points with ETMC. If you have not read the review on that film, click here.

My guest on today's edition of ETMC is a talented young man who directed his first short My Suburban Hell at age 17 in high school and produced his next short Be Kind Rewind while studying broadcasting at The New England Institute of Art. Upon graduation, Dom Portalla went on to write, direct and produce his first full length feature Duality. Several directed shorts later, Dom created the film that we are going to discuss today.

So without further ado, please welcome to The Man-Cave, Dom Portalla.





ETMC: Hi Dom and thanks for stopping by. Do you like how I introduced as if you were coming onto a late night talk show?

Dom: Genius, sir. Naturally, I’d be the guy who trips and faceplants as I walk to shake the host’s hand, so this actually works out better and spares me the embarrassment.


ETMC: Ok so Dom. I absolutely loved The Darkness Within. I won't give anything away, but it certainly was not what I expected and I mean that with the highest flattery. A real brain tickler that I thought about well after I popped it out of my DVD player. So I want to ask you where the idea for this film came from?

Dom: When I was in college, I had been working on a modern re-imagining of a classic Edgar Allen Poe short story. The idea was to make a short film, probably only 20-30 minutes long, which would take place mostly in one apartment and focus mainly on voyeurism. I had about half of a script written and a ton of notes before I ended up putting it on the shelf to work on Duality, which became my first feature. A few years later, I’m standing outside my apartment talking to my neighbor. In the midst of making small talk, he drops this really creepy comment on me about always seeing me through my windows (I was living in a basement apartment at the time). It immediately triggered a bunch of ideas and made me revisit some of the material I had written previously. From that, The Darkness Within was born.


ETMC: I watched some of your shorts in the Special Features section on the DVD and noticed a lot of same players in those shorts also starred in TDW. How long have you and certain cast members been working together?

Dom: I met both Ken Flott and Jimmy Scanlon during the audition process for “Duality”. Jimmy has since been in several of my short flicks and they're just really easy and fun guys to work with. After shooting together so often with both of them, we’ve developed a strong shorthand and we can pretty much speak to each other in half-formed sentences and still know exactly what we’re asking of one another, which works great in fast-moving, guerilla-filmmaking circumstances.





Sean Pierce also auditioned for Duality and ended up with a small role that was unfortunately cut out of the film. I’ve kept in touch with him ever since, hoping to work with him again. He’s one of the funniest and most unpretentious people I’ve ever met who is shaping up into a really great actor and a great stand-up comedian as well.

Michelle Romano actually worked as an extra on Duality during a nightclub scene. She was passed the Darkness script from a mutual acquaintance and was a big fan of the “Ashley” role. She’s an incredibly hard-working actress and puts a lot of herself into the characters she’s played.

Stephanie Maheu was someone I met for the first time during the Darkness auditions. In the script, when we’re introduced to the Jordan Shelby character she’s described as “a tiny, sonic-boom” which is a pretty fitting description of Steph in real life. She’s incredibly raw and funny and has brought a high level of energy to everything I’ve worked with her on.

David Wilson came in as one of the first people to audition for the Detective Winters role and we knew immediately he was the right guy for it. He’s one of those actors who just has a great voice. We shot all of his scenes in one day, but he’s definitely someone I’d like to work with again in the future. He actually went on to do a great indie grindhouse flick called Nun Of That, which you should try and get your hands on if you can.


ETMC: I am a film tech geek and wanted to compliment you on your fantastic cinematography. How did you create the look of your film? That blue-ish, dream-like appearance for a majority of your shots.





Dom: Thanks very much. There are several scenes in the film that I call the "blue scenes”, because they take place at night and are completely lit with 85 watt blue floodlights. The idea is since you can’t shoot in total darkness, the “blue” effect is supposed to give you the feeling that you’re in an unlit space late at night. I’ve seen it done in movies before and I sort of wanted those scenes in particular to have a very surreal, dream-like quality to them.

There are a few other scenes where the levels have been adjusted in post to give the films color palate a slightly washed-out shift towards blue. It felt like it would be instep with the tone of the movie and just with the genre in general. Ironically, I just read this article on Cracked.com the other day about the unspoken rule that horror films should all look blue and laughed my ass off at how bang-on it was (http://bit.ly/duGPYr).

In terms of the cinematography in general, the one thing I really tried to do was give the film a documentary feel to it. There’s a lot of handheld camerawork that always seems to be drifting and finding its focus. So much of the movie is also shot in extreme close-up with the intention of making a majority of the shots feel claustrophobic. I wanted the audience to constantly feel like the walls were closing in on these characters.

ETMC: What was the most difficult aspect to completing this film?

Dom: Well, in an ideal situation the film would have been scheduled for something like 25-28 days of shooting that would all be done consecutively. When you’re making a movie for $3,000 and no one is being paid, everyone has to hold down a job and shooting then has to be adjusted to multiple rotating schedules. That sort of interrupts momentum. Also, we had an incredibly small crew. Most days it was just Rohn Cinelli (who recorded sound and acted as the grip) and myself behind the camera. If we were lucky we’d have one or two additional people there to maybe mark shots and stay on book. Being that the film is mostly shot in such tight confines, it lent itself to those kinds of conditions. However, when your sound guy has to light & mark a shot and the sole camera operator has to balance DP responsibilities with directing and working with the actors, it all ends up being a pretty big juggling act.


ETMC: I read somewhere that most of this was filmed in your current apartment complex. Is that true? And if so, is there really a spider infestation problem?

Dom: Yeah, the film was shot in the apartment I was living in at the time. I’ve since moved. The spider infestation was absolutely based in reality (in fact, Chad’s “spider-warrior” methods were not all dissimilar from my own). The idea of the spiders was always supposed to be a metaphor for the invasion of privacy that is taking place, but a lot of the comedic elements from that came directly from real life situations my girlfriend and I were dealing with in that house.


ETMC: Nowadays it seems that filmmakers love to shoot multiple endings. Did you film any additional endings or just the one in your released version?





Dom: I’ll tread lightly here. The ending of the film was always conceptualized the way it is seen in the flick. However, in the writing process there were different versions with minor variations of how we got there. Earlier drafts had gorier details, which I opted to tone down. I’m a big believer in implying horror where you can. There is a jump cut in the last act between a line of dialogue and an action that I think is the scariest part of the movie and it’s only effective because of what you don’t see.

The biggest compliments I’ve gotten on the film have come in the form of theories about the ending. One of my favorite films of all time (and one of the biggest inspirations for Darkness is The Shining. The last shot of that movie is so ambiguous and I’ve always admired how it leaves the audience with more questions then answers. In our script, there is one additional shot in the ending scene (that we purposely opted not to shoot that day) which would’ve tied the movie up with a tighter bow. As it stands, I think the flick ends on a pretty ominous note and can be interpreted differently, which is something I’m really proud of.


ETMC: What is the current status for distribution? Are people going to be able to purchase their copy soon?

Dom: Right now, we’re currently waiting to hear back from several festivals on the status of our submission. Regardless of how those turn out, though, we do plan on producing a short run of Special Edition DVD’s which will be available to purchase on our website. We’re hoping to have these out by mid to late November.


ETMC: Anything in the pipeline, Dom? Any projects coming out you want to discuss? Maybe a sequel?

Dom: I’m actually just about finished with the first draft of a feature comedy called Saint Joey, which we’ll be trying to raise funding for at some point early next year. This is the big project on the decks right now because it is going to require a much larger budget and crew then we’ve ever worked with and is something we believe could be a much more commercial then what we’ve done in the past. In between it's financing and pre-production, we’re also planning on producing a short film called Nicky, which is based on a short story by Ken Flott (Mr. Reed). Ken wrote this story back in 2006 and it’s a very haunting piece about a guy who’s never been able to deal with the abduction of his young brother. I personally think the source material is so strong that it deserves a feature film in its own right, but as a short flick it's something we can do quickly and even more inexpensively then what Darkness was produced for. So please keep a look out for updates on both of these projects over the upcoming year.


ETMC: Well I am looking forward to checking those out when they happen. Thanks for visiting The Man-Cave, Dom, and hope you come back whenever you have another project you want to promote.

Dom: Thanks very much for the opportunity and for taking an interest in our film!


If you are lucky enough to get your hands on a copy of Dom Portalla's The Darkness Within, you will really enjoy an example of blockbuster storytelling that can come from a low budget film. And you will have a great chance to do just that when ETMC holds a giveaway starting tomorrow where readers can win a copy of The Darkness Within. So make sure to check back in tomorrow for your chance to enter and win.

The Darkness Within (2010)

I have always thought that the worst mental prison for anyone is to be a victim of paranoia. Paranoid delusions blur the lines between reality and whatever world is being constructed in a paranoid person's mind. This affliction can cause a sense of constant stress, discomfort when interacting within crowds, distrust of everyone including loved ones, and worst of all, mentally detaching yourself from the real world into a realm of cold and darkness.

This brings me to my review of The Darkness Within, an indie flick screener I received last week. I read some spoiler-free reviews of this over the past month, so I was really looking forward to seeing this flick.

The Pitch
Recently engaged couple Chad and Ashley (Jimmy Scanlon and Michelle Romano) move into an apartment complex somewhere in the Northeast. Their new apartment brings its own minor terrors in the form of crammed living space and a large spider infestation, but the main concern Chad has is with his creepy yet hard ass neighbor Mr. Reed (Ken Flott).



After a strange encounter with him during his first night at the apartment, Chad catches Mr. Reed pulling the good ole' peeping tom job on him while he is urinating late at night. Of course, Reed disputes this fact, even when Chad goes to the police for help.

Chad's landlord, or should I say landlord's daughter, Jordan (Stephanie Maheu) doesn't know much about Reed, so there is no assistance that can be offered from the owner of the complex. Without any hard evidence or with no one to turn to for help, Chad must figure out the mystery behind Reed and his peeping ways before he loses grips on his own sanity and shatter his relationship with Ashley.

Meat and Potatoes
First and foremost, this is not a horror film, but more of a thriller-mystery-suspense kinda film. If you are looking for shotgun blasts, zombie rampages and buckets of gore, please look for another film. However, before you decide to pass this one up, let me explain a little about why you should take this one in if you can get your hands on it.

The Darkness Within is a slow-paced film. The first 15 minutes or so needs some adjustment and patience from the audience because soon you learn that you are being paced for a reason. There is not a great deal of action and the film is dialogue heavy. As the film keeps moving along. a sense of dread and despair starts to form for our protagonist. You begin to feel the claustrophobic frustration he experiences within his own living area, which is normally always a person's safe haven in life.

From an antagonist standpoint, Reed brings an unusual sense of fear that you might not be used to experiencing. Reed isn't your average frail, shy and "creepy dude" character that you normally see in films. Instead, he physically looks pretty intimidating and has a brash confidence. If you confront him, he will look you in the eye and subtly warn you that he is no pushover and will not back down.



The Darkness Within a low budget affair which means it is shot on a meager budget and is not going to have the greatest thespians in the world at your disposal. That should never be an excuse for lack of effort or asking for a sympathy card from your audience. You make a film to entertain people and you should always give it your all whether your budget is $1 or $1 billion.

Director Dom Portalla knows what he is working with and delivers his feature with extreme confidence. You can tell it in his cinematography, lighting and editing. In fact, at one point it's like he says, "hell yeah I'm using multiple jump cuts", so the film school rulebook is happily out the window.And the lighting configuration is simply otherworldly.

He also seems to pull the most he can out of his cast. After viewing the special features, it seems as though most of them have been working with him for some time and the fluidity between them is certainly existent. So besides containing a great story, these are other aesthetic reasons why I liked this film.



If I have to throw a negative, I'll throw it at a low velocity. The web of despair for our lead is interrupted by his several visits to Jordan and her on-and-off again roommate upstairs. I understand that their scenes play out important aspects to the plot later on, but it does disrupt the mood and flow of the film. That aside, I did enjoy those Shelby and her roommate's presence and interactions with Chad on their own separate from the context of the film.

Those two characters, especially the Jordan character, need to have her own film. Seriously, while the actress playing Ashley is very attractive, Stephanie Maheu as Jordan had the ETMC babe pulse beating at a serious high. She is definitely a cutie with some attitude and I enjoyed seeing her every on screen appearance. So big thanks to Portalla for supplying the chick factor to Darkness.




Final Act
Very rarely do I get duped and cannot figure out an ending to a film at about the midway point, but let me tell you that this whole movie is a set of quick jabs and the final act throws a nasty right hook that knocked me to the mat. An intriguing ending that I have to give high praise to the director for pulling off in a believable manner..

If you can understand that you are witnessing a psychological thriller and not a full blown horror film with a major gore factor, then you are in for a helluva ride. Hopefully this one gets a distribution deal soon so that the masses can see it. It is leaps and bounds better than some of the crap that is currently on the video store shelves. And trust me and my "Amateur Hour" installments when I say I know so.

This Week at ETMC: 8/23-9/5

Monster-Mania has come and gone, so ETMC is back online with some more great happenings this week.




8/23 - The Darkness Within film review





8/24 - Interview with Dom Portalla, director of The Darkness Within





8/25- Monster-Mania recap #1



8
/26 - Monster-Mania recap #2



8/27 - Eastbound and Down season 2 coming in September

ETMC Offline for the weekend: Monster-Mania

Just wanted to give a heads up to my friends and readers that by the time you are reading this, I will be on the show floor at Monster-Mania and taking in all the fun.

I might be shooting some Twitter updates in case anything major happens, so follow me @gcap2719.

When I get back, I promise to release a series of posts dedicated to the event for those who could not attend.

And if you are going to Monster-Mania, contact me and let's have a drink: etmcrules@gmail.com

Have a good weekend everyone!

Flash Gordon 2: Ming at Home and in the Hospital

While I am at Monster-Mania this weekend, please enjoy some funny clips! See you all when I get back...

Well this is probably the closest we will ever get to a Flash Gordon (1980) sequel. Thanks to TS Hendrik from the hilarious The Non-Review, I found these sketches from Britain's show Big Train. They feature Ming when he is off-duty. Good stuff if you like Flash Gordon and/or British humor.

Hail Ming...at home





Hail Ming at the Hospital...and his sister is hot!!

The Boondock Saints (1999)

Yo check out my chest hair aka My Spider!


"And Shepherds we shall be

For thee, my Lord, for thee.

Power hath descended forth from Thy hand

Our feet may swiftly carry out Thy commands.

So we shall flow a river forth to Thee

And teeming with souls shall it ever be.

In Nomeni Patri Et Fili Spiritus Sancti."

Ok let's get serious. In preparation for this weekend's horror-con event Monster-Mania, I wanted to write a review on one of my favorite films, The Boondock Saints. Some of the actors from the original are going to be signing at the event and pretty much have my money in their pocket already because I am hellbent on meeting them. Now onto the review, which is spoiler-free even though it is over ten years old:



Plot in a few sentences
In the city of Boston, MacManus Brothers Connor and Murphy (Sean Patrick Flannery and Norman Reedus) kill two mobsters in self defense after getting into a bar fight with them the night before. An FBI agent Paul Smecker, who specializes in mob related homicides (Willem Dafoe), is brought in to work with local law enforcement to solve this crime. In the meantime, the MacManus brothers decide to use their strong pulse on religious divinity to rid their neighborhood of all mob activity above the law and on their own while Smecker and the cops are on their tail.

Meat and Potatoes
If you have not seen this film, please stop reading this review immediately and go track it down. This is considered to be a cult classic and hit on video, but the truth is that it is one of the most underrated films I have ever been directed to see. Its lack of marketing at the cinema was due to the unfortunate and coincidental news events of that year (more on that in the ETMC Extras below).

I remember when a friend back in 2004 gave this to me to watch. It sat on my shelf for close to 2 months before I attempted to give it back without watching it. The reasons were that I never heard about, just simply had no desire to see an action film that was (as he put it) kinda sorta like Pulp Fiction and was two hours long. Even with all those negatives stacked against it, my friend implored me to watch it, so I did...I could not thank him enough for his persistence. This was one flick that seems very cliche on the outer layer, but has a cool and original concept and underlying themes that made me an instant fan.

Besides the cool storyline and religious undertones, the acting in this film is incredible. Willem Dafoe is an amazing actor who I highly respect and his portrayal of Paul Smecker might be one of my favorite roles. Smecker is an agent who reconstructs the murders using classic music and his keen wit. More importantly, he is a non-traditional character that shatters the typical mold of law enforcement model cliches you are used to seeing. For example, you would never guess the direction his role winds up taking around the midway point and he is a homosexual who calls other homosexuals very derogatory terms. The latter really throws you a shock when it first happens.



Flannery and Reedus have great chemistry and look to having a blast (no pun intended) in their roles as the brothers of justice. At first, Flannery's hardcore Irish accent is hard to make out, but it sounds legitimate as hell and adds to his performance. David Della Rocco, playing mob low man Rocco, provides some great comic relief as the ever-so intense, foul mouthed companion to the brothers. His inside mob intelligence allows the brothers to plan their target eliminations accordingly. The local detectives (Brian Mahoney, David Ferry and Bob Marley - no not the "No Woman, No Cry" Marley, smart asses) are also great supporting characters that have excellent dialogue with Dafoe which help to sell their scenes together. Their added presence is a nice relief opposed to having their scenes depend on the veteran Dafoe to carry them alone. And Billy Connolly as II Duce is the ultimate in bad ass! Until I saw this film, I always remembered him as the guy who pulled mop up duty on the show Head of the Class when Howard Hesseman left shortly before cancellation. Now this is the role for which I will always remember him and it is one outside the norm of what he usually plays.



The dialogue is engaging and the swearing at a maximum (which doesn't bother me a bit). In fact, the use of the F-bomb and its several variations are spoken 246 times. That is double the the running time in minutes.

The direction is solid for first-timer Troy Duffy, especially in moments when scenes are shot out-of-sequence. It might seem very Tarantino-esque on paper, but Duffy puts an interesting spin on this technique and makes it his own. And let there be no denying Duffy's intention for the film in being subtly comedic and having ridiculously over-the-top situations in conjunction with the serious tone in usage of action and violence. It's a symphony of themes that mix well together to make this film what it is.



Never has an ending left me yearning for another two hours or praying for a sequel to be shot and released. This flick leaves you on the same type of energy wave it started you off on in the beginning and not many low budget flicks can successfully make that claim. The Boondock Saints is an ETMC favorite and I hope to hear some feedback good or bad regarding it.

ETMC Extras

- This film was given a one-week theatrical run in only five theaters due to the Columbine Massacre of '99, the same year as the film's release. It pretty much went straight-to-video where it gained its huge fan base.

- The documentary film Overnight (2003) is the story of writer-director Duffy's sale of the Boondock Saints script to Miramax and the "purported" negative attitude he gained and burnt bridges in the industry he created after the film's release. I haven't seen Overnight and have not met Duffy so I cannot comment, but I do need to see this film at some point.

Toucan Sam vs. Dig 'Em in a Battle to the Death!

Powdered Toast Man of Just The Cheese is in round 3 of his cereal icon battles that really are some hilarious reads. This round pits the big nosed uppity Toucan Sam of Fruit Loops fame versus Dig 'Em, the little street hip-hopper (I couldn't resist) from Honey Smacks. And the best part is that you decide which one lives to see another cereal box cover. Two men enter, one man leaves...


Just The Cheese: Cereal Icon Death Battle!

An Interview with Tales of Woe author John Reed

Yesterday I posted a review on a very unique and engaging book called Tales of Woe (MTV Press) by author John Reed. If you have not read the review yet, I invite you to do so by clicking here.

Reed presents his readers with several independent stories of pain, suffering and heartache. All of which are completely uninvited and undeserved from each tale's affected victims. Rarely does reality ever let anyone live happily ever after or fulfill their lifelong dreams. Happy endings for everyone only exist in Hollywood movies, fairy tales and literary works, Except for this one. Sin, suffering, pain, dread, and depravity are all the overlying themes of Tales of Woe.

John Reed is the son artist David Reed and earned his MFA in Creative Writing at Columbia University. He is the author of the books Still Small Voice, The Whole, the SPD bestseller Snowball's Chance, and All the World's a Grave: A New Play by William Shakespeare.

Today it is my privilege to welcome John Reed into The Man-Cave to discuss his latest work Tales of Woe.





ETMC: John, thank you for taking some time to stop by my site and discuss your book, which I must say was an interesting work to digest.

John: Thanks. I'm still feeling queasy.

ETMC: I did warn you that cooking is very touch-and-go, and today was more go than others. This is a very general opening question, but an important one. Where did the idea for this book come from?





John: You know it was just a desperate author having lunch with an editor. I pitched hundreds of ideas in breathless spurts and shoveling food in my mouth when I had the chance. The editor happened to hear the right idea exactly when the plateful of roasted garlic arrives, and said "that's a book!"

That was the beginning of the book--of working with Jacob to figure out what it was, and how to make it happen.

Almost all of the stories we see in popular culture -- advertising, movies, television, even the news -- are modeled on sin, suffering, redemption. The presumption is that people who suffer have done something to deserve it, and that if they haven't, their suffering is somehow for the best. But that's bullshit. That just makes it easier for us to ignore suffering and makes us easier to control. The sin, suffering, redemption model is powerful, and not an accident. It's the Christian story, as approved by Rome when Rome wanted a religion to control everyone. In Tales of Woe, I was trying to take all that Rome and Vatican stuff out.

ETMC: You told me that these stories are 100% true. So a great deal of research must have gone into collecting so many of these tales. What method of research did you use to compile these stories?





John: I had someone help me, but I mostly looked myself. Local newspapers, as much as possible. At that time, news sources were still working pretty well, so I was able to subscribe to those. Now, of course, they don't work as well; you'd have to look up the stories individually on the individual newspaper sites, which individually require subscriptions. Not a good thing.

After that, it was me on the telephone, talking to people. Very old-fashioned.

ETMC: How many total stories are in Tales of Woe?

John: I'm pretty sure 25. We originally planned to have 50, but the stories we found were so awful, they ended up longer than we thought.

ETMC: How many crazy tales did not make the final cut?





John: Three. Two were sort of not horrible enough, and one was far, far, far too horrible. We swore we wouldn't censor ourselves, but in this case, we did.

ETMC: Was it taxing to translate others' tragedies onto paper? Did it ever get to be too much at any point and if so, did you need to perform some type of desensitization?





John: I wish I'd found a way to desensitize myself. When I was pitching the book, I assumed it'd get easier. It didn't. The work got more and more difficult and emotionally taxing. But I did become a better father--I'd go home and want to hug the kids. And I think I became a better person--my petty bullshit seems much more like petty bullshit.

Getting back to original idea of the book. The Greek notion of catharsis: you watch someone suffer, and go home feeling better for it. The Hollywood notion of catharsis has the hero overcome a sin, or overcome an obstacle and achieve redemption--or a mix of the two. And that is not a realistic or healthy narrative to apply to one's own life. Justice, as a presumption, can only lead to unhappiness.

ETMC: Any tale in particular that you enjoyed writing the most? Was there one that had the most impact on you?

John: Momma's little Angel was the 14th story I worked on. Exactly the middle. Zeke was very near the age of my own children. That story killed me. And I knew I had 14 more to go.

Any I enjoyed? Not really. But I did talk to some really interesting people in the course of the Tyke story. The people at PETA were amazing, and put me in touch with amazing experts. And many of them--I google everyone--were extremely attractive.

ETMC: One of the great bonuses I liked about the book was the impressive artwork. Who submitted these and which one was your favorite?





John: We looked at no fewer than 3000 artists. We wanted the illustrations to serve the stories, very much in keeping with the pre-Comics Code pulp journals. We'd have a monster guy do the monster stories, a pin-ups person do the pin-ups, etc--that way we could implicate more of pop culture, manga, horror, underground comix, news ...

ETMC: Well the choices are truly breathtaking. What's next for you, John? Anything currently in the pipeline?

John: Working on a bunch of things. But Shitty Mickey comes to mind. A web comic I've put together with Michele Witchipoo, one of the Tales of Woe artists. ShittyMickey.com We're on the fourth episode. It's too salacious and provocative for anyone to pubish.

ETMC: Will we see a More Tales of Woe?

John: I personally think it would be a good idea.

ETMC: Me too. Would love to read another installment. Anything else we have not discussed that you would like to mention about the book?

John: TWO SARAH PALIN PIN-UPS!





ETMC: Haha, well there you go , John. You ask you receive! Thanks again for coming by ETMC to discuss your book and hope you will come back some time.

John: As you know, I haunt ETMC, and if you lift the restraining order I'll start dropping by the house again.

ETMC: That's another discussion for another day.

Tales of Woe by the incredibly talented John Reed is available now. So everyone please stop by your local Barnes & Noble or visit Amazon to pick up your copy for something interesting and definitely out of the norm.