// Category Archive for: Horror

Assemblog: September 7, 2012

Lord Of Tears

New this week on Popshifter: I have mixed but positive feelings about the new Weep release, Alate and suggest that you check out Blind Benny’s great new EP, No Honor, while Cait adores the reissues of 20/20’s self titled debut and Look Out! (and not-so-secretly wants them to get back together).

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FanExpo Canada 2012: In Pictures

By Less Lee Moore

We came, we saw, we Fan Expo’d.

Click on each thumbnail for a larger image and a description!. We’ll have more coverage of some of these happenings in the upcoming weeks.

Assemblog: August 17, 2012

Cold Blooded, 2012
Still from Bloody Disgusting

New this week on Popshifter: Chelsea describes the main mystery man of documentary Searching For Sugar Man as a “kind of rock and roll Harry Lime”; Cait assures us that Ignition—the new album from Shoes—proves “they’re still as fresh, vital, and engaging as they were when Jimmy Carter was swatting at swamp rabbits” and extols the virtues of the “gorgeous, melodic” tunes on Bad Lucy’s self-titled EP.

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The Entity

By Less Lee Moore

As The Entity begins, we watch a single mother named Carla Moran waiting for her shift as a receptionist to end. Then, she rushes off to night school and enters her typing class after it has already begun. Frustrated, she makes a few errors on the machine. Much later, she comes home to her modest house in the suburbs, where the lights are out. There are dirty dishes on the table, which she proceeds to wash. Her younger daughters are already asleep, but she argues with her teenaged son about the mess. Soon she is getting ready for bed. A mundane start to a horror movie? Perhaps, until we soon realize that we are not the only ones watching Carla Moran.

The unseen voyeur makes itself known with a slap to Carla’s face. Stunned by the blood and the pain, she is soon shoved onto her bed, pillow over her face, and sexually violated by this malevolent, invisible being.

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Assemblog: July 27, 2012

Jack and Diane, 2012

New this week on Popshifter: Jemiah explains why Laetitia Sadier’s Silencio is worth your time; I take critics to task on The Dark Knight Rises (again!); Chelsea chats with Glenn di Benedetto of Boston’s Parlour Bells; and Paul recommends The Very Best of Wes Montgomery. (more…)

Twilight and The Problem With Modern Horror

By Paul Casey

When I saw Takashi Miike’s Audition, I did not know that the sub-genre of “torture porn” existed in horror. As such I did not approach it as an exercise in sadomasochism. (It is not, anyway). As I became aware of creators like Eli Roth, and a rather embarrassing discussion on how he had GONE TOO FAR (!!!! etc.), it was clear that there was still a burgeoning market for transgressive horror pictures. The Last House on the Left, I Spit On Your Grave, The Hitcher, the work of Lucio Fulci all caused similar bother upon their release. Some of the above were innovative, exciting examples of the independent creative spirit existent in 1970s American cinema. Others were not.

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Assemblog: July 6, 2012

Citadel still from Bloody Disgusting

New on Popshifter this week: Part two of our continuing series on THE BAND’s discography (The Band); and a review of Ernie Kovacs: The ABC Specials on DVD.

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Assemblog: June 29, 2012

Image from The Art Of The Title

New this week on Popshifter: an attempt to answer the question regarding sex, violence, and horror in movies: Are we short-charging the teens?; reviews of new releases by Jesca Hoop, DIIV, Ty Segall Band, and Neneh Cherry & The Thing; in praise of singer/songwriter Gillian Welch; and a look at a 1974 John Lee Hooker concert now on DVD.

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Sex, Violence, and Horror: Are We Short-Charging The Teens?

By Charlie M.

They say you always remember your first.

I certainly do.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula, 1992

I mean (of course) the first adult-rated film a person watches, be it at home, creeping downstairs to the TV, at a friend’s house with a DVD purloined from an older sibling, or even sneaking into a dark cinema when you’re under the age of 18. In my case, it was Bram Stoker’s Dracula, or, as the movie moguls described it, Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula. Or, as in my underage head, Gary Oldman’s Dracula. Who knows what it is about teenage girls and their erotic fascination with vampires? It’s an equation where even the innuendos have been bled dry (apologies).
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Assemblog: June 22, 2012

Image from V/H/S, 2012

New this week on Popshifter: Thoughts On: THE BAND, Music From Big Pink; reviews of Silver Jews, Early Times and Harry Howard and The Near Death Experience; new Robyn Hitchcock song “There Goes The Ice;” Theresa Andersson in Cambridge MA; an interview with author A. Jay Lee; and that burning question: Are The Originals The Best?

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