Category: Other

J-Horror Films And What Do I Think About Them?

Published August 4, 2022

I’ve spoken at great length about my love for horror films on this blog but, considering my adoration for Japanese media, I partially surprised myself recently when I realised that I hadn’t spoken about Japanese Horror, also known as J-Horror, films. There are several reasons for this but I thought now is a good time to discuss what they are, a bit of their history and, ultimately, what I think about them.

As with the production of media in any country, J-Horror draws a lot of its influences from within their own culture and history. Yokai, given their prevalence in Japanese mythology as well as their variety, play quite an important role while the use of nuclear weaponry during World War II has also played a factor in the development of body horror and kaiju films. While J-Horror has a long history within Japanese cinema, the Western world only began to take note of this genre around the 1990s with the release of such films as Tetsuo: The Iron Man, Ring and Audition.

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How I Discovered The Wonderful World Of Horror Films

Published July 18, 2022

As many of you might be aware by now, I am a massive fan of horror films. I’ve recently written some articles about some of my first experiences with anime and manga and I thought it would be interesting to provide the same type of anecdote about horror. Therefore, I’ve decided to share my story about how I discovered the wonderful world of horror films.

Around the time that I was in secondary school, I had begun to develop an increased interest in films with the intention to not only experience and enjoy but to also help develop more conversation topics for when I talked to people. I bought a book, now quite outdated, called “1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die”. As I perused the book, looking at all of the films that I had never heard of, I came across a particular image that instantly grabbed my attention.

A picture of Leatherface from the 1974 film “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre”.

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The Spectacular Horror Legend That Is Clive Barker

Published July 4, 2022

Try as I might, I can’t remember the first time that I heard the name “Clive Barker”. If I had to guess it was probably through Hellraiser but I can’t say this with any certainty. Nonetheless, his works have been truly spectacular and Clive Barker deserves to be more well-known as a horror legend. Therefore, I thought it might be interesting, as a horror fan, to take a look at the man himself, the media that he’s worked on and why I admire him so much.

Born in Liverpool in 1952, he notably witnessed the death of Léo Valentin, a famous Frenchman who died in 1956 in Liverpool after a skydiving stunt went wrong. As he grew up, he became involved in the theatre at Quarry Bank High School and, after studying English and Philosophy at the University of Liverpool, he co-founded a theatrical group called “The Dog Company” which would go on to produce several plays as well as bring in future collaborators such as Doug Bradley and Peter Atkins.

“Clive Barker” by Steven Friederich, licensed under CC BY 2.0.

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An Overview Of The Unusual Cuphead Franchise

Published June 30, 2022

The new DLC for Cuphead, amusingly called “The Delicious Last Course“, is coming out and, considering how much I enjoyed the original game, I’m very excited. However, Cuphead has become a surprisingly large series with many aspects that I wasn’t even aware of prior to writing this article and, given my excitement for the DLC, I thought it would be interesting to provide an overview of this unusual franchise.

Of course, we have to start where it all began, the original game. Released on the 29th of September, 2017, and developed by Studio MDHR which is a company set up by brothers Chad and Jared Moldenhauer, the game proved to be an instant critical and commercial success and has sold 6 million copies as of 2020. Cuphead is a run and gun game about Cuphead and Mugman who end up having to work for the Devil in order to pay back their debts. This consists of fighting various debtors to the Devil and getting their soul contracts while also doing some platforming levels as well. The game’s graphics resemble a 1930s cartoon and makes use of Jazz and Big Band music as well. I really enjoyed Cuphead when it came out originally in 2017 and enjoyed the challenge that it offered as well.

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My Frustration With The BBFC

Published June 27, 2022

As someone who loves to collect physical media, as well as the fact that I live in Ireland and get most of my DVDs and Blu-rays from Britain, it’s a fact that I’m going to encounter the ratings given by the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification). However, I’ve come across my share of frustration with regards to the BBFC and so I thought it worth sharing these frustrations by writing an article.

Considering that you’re only likely to encounter the BBFC in any major way by living in either the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland, I think I should begin by explaining who they are. As you can imagine from the name, they are the organisation that is responsible for watching and classifying all film and TV media in Britain. However, one of the more notable things about the BBFC in contrast to similar organisations in other countries is that the ratings provided by the BBFC are mandatory to be distributed. This, of course, has led to several aspects of the BBFC becoming frustrating to me.

The logo and motto for the BBFC.

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The Interesting Format Of Vertical Scrolling Comics

Published June 20, 2022

As a fan of Osamu Tezuka, you can imagine that I was quite interested to hear that a comic remake of Dororo is being done as a South Korea-Japan coproduction. However, there was a term that I found surprising given that I had never heard of it before, “Vertical Comic”. As you might imagine, I was immediately intrigued and began to search for information relating to these vertical comics. Therefore, I thought it might be interesting to share what I learned about the format of vertical scrolling comics and, amusingly, why I was unaware of it before.

Let’s start by explaining what a vertical scrolling comic is. Basically, the format developed as a way to display comics effectively on the screen of mobile devices and consists of panels stacked atop each other that you scroll through. If you’re familiar with me and my tastes, you will quickly understand why it was that I was unfamiliar with this format. I primarily consume my media in physical formats and vertical scrolling comics are very heavily associated with webcomics. It makes sense then why I wouldn’t have heard of it before.

The cover for the first volume of Tower of God.

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What Are Animation Cels And Their Surprising Value

Published June 16, 2022

When I was writing a recent article called “A Look At Early Japanese Animation“, I briefly mentioned animation cels and it occurred to me that there may be people who might be unfamiliar with what animation cels are since I’ve yet to write an article covering the topic. Therefore, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at what animation cels are, how they were used in the animation process and their surprising value to collectors.

First, it’s important to note that the term “Cel” is shorthand for celluloid and refers to the material that animation was drawn onto before the advent of digital animation. This material is made from cellulose, nitrogen-based chemical compounds and other additives to form a sheet of thin and flexible plastic. Drawings would be drawn on various cels and then these would be laid atop each other over a background to create the complete image. A light is placed behind these cels and a picture is then taken. By running these images together at a framerate, for instance 24 frames per second, you create the illusion of movement.

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What Is Kabuki And Why You Should Know About It

Published June 13, 2022

The more media that you consume from a particular country, the more and more likely that you will begin to spot references to more obscure aspects of their culture. I’ve seen this with Henshin Heroes and I’ve seen this with admiration for Western literature. Seeing that an Osamu Tezuka manga is being adapted into Kabuki, I thought it would be worth taking a look at Kabuki and why you should know about it.

Let’s start by explaining what Kabuki is. Kabuki is written as 歌舞伎 in Japanese with the characters meaning sing, dance and skill respectively. A form of Japanese theatre, actors sing and dance in stylised performances while wearing elaborate costumes and wearing heavy makeup.

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The Incredible Films Of The New French Extremity

Published June 2, 2022

As an avid enthusiast of the horror genre, I’m always on the hunt for new types of horror films to entertain myself. Around the time that I got back into horror films around 2020, I had heard of a new movement of films from France called “New French Extremity” which were known for being unlike many other horror films. I decided to give them a try and have quickly become enthusiastic about these films and, while I haven’t seen as many as I would like due to lack of availability, I thought it would be worth taking a look at the incredible films of the New French Extremity.

The New French Extremity is a relatively recent development in French cinema, having developed around the beginning of the 2000s. However, these films draw upon a wide range of influences from both within and without French culture with the intention of being transgressive. These films typically portray their content quite realistically with little to no supernatural elements, something that can make the violence and sex depicted in these movies quite hard to watch, and push the limits of the human body in their suffering. Notably, these films have been compared to the rise of the American splatter film or “torture porn” around the same time but director Pascal Laugier, director of Martyrs, rejected this comparison stating “The film deals with human pain, the meaning of it, which is something completely different.”

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My Ranking Of The Child’s Play Franchise

Published May 23, 2022

I’ve recently been on a little bit of a horror binge, looking at franchises that I haven’t seen all of and seeking out the remaining movies. I did this with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise and I decided that I should check out the other films of the Child’s Play franchise since I’d only seen the first film previously. Having finally watched all eight Child’s Play movies, I thought I’d do a ranking of the franchise, sharing my thoughts on each film and how they compare to each other.

8. Curse of Chucky

I really enjoyed the more comedic stylings of Bride of Chucky and Seed of Chucky and so I found the return to straightforward horror more than a little jarring. That’s not to say that there aren’t good parts to this film. There are a couple of cool story twists, although one of them seems a little too far-fetched for my liking, and Fiona Dourif is great as new protagonist Nica Pierce. However, I found myself wishing that we saw more of Chucky’s personality and really found myself missing Tiffany. However, I do want to point out that it is rather telling about the Child’s Play franchise’s consistency that my least favourite Child’s Play film is better than my four least favourite Texas Chainsaw Massacre films.

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