'Saw'

Once I started college, I felt less motivated to celebrate the holidays. I'm not entirely sure of the reason why, but when I do feel that the festivities bit me and gave me a three-day fever, I try not to fight it. So while I have no plans to embrace the spooky on the 31st this year, I can admit that I did embrace some of the feelings Halloween inspires.

For example, I finally watched Saw.

Yep. I watched it. Willingly.

I - Fangirl, Mel, Astrid, or whoever people know me as online - who has denounced the torture porn genre without hesitation, watched Saw.

Even my real life friends and parents didn't believe me when I said it.

I watched the grandfather of the torture porn genre's popularity in the first decade of the 2000s.

And I liked it.

Yes, I am dead serious. I like Saw 1.

And yes, since I am an opinionated bitch who has never failed to completely stop voicing her thoughts on something she feels strongly about, I will explain myself. Spoilers ahead, if you dare.

Of Bad Anime, Facebook, Band Break-ups, and Squees

... ... *stares at date of this post*

Let me know when we have a cure for PTSD.

...

So... cute... @///_///@

Anywho, to get my mind off finishing the Mass Effect 2 review and planning for Persona 4 Golden, I have done other things in my time. When I'm not procrastinating for a test, reading books for class, or writing papers, I hang out on Crunchyroll, Youtube, and/or TV Tropes. Some anime caught my eye, and I've found some music I haven't heard in years.

I opened the floodgates of my mind and vomited whatever had time to escape. So lets see what Fangirl's been up to.

I Won the Lottery...

Oh, I sure do wish. It doesn't help that BOTH of my parents buy tickets occasionally. It's just so out of character for them, but then again, the economy has sucked since 2007. After six years of this mess, I'd consider spending twenty bucks a ticket to win superior being(s) know(s) how many millions of dollars. Graduation from college is gonna suck.

Anywho, onto more positive things.

That was me in real life yesterday... seriously.

I finally found a Gamestop that wasn't trying to rip my limbs off. The selection of new and used games was much larger than I was used to. That meant a greater possibility of finding games I once claimed "rare". And boy, my day was made.

Bacterial Contamination... and bugs O_O

I've been trying to get into J-pop and J-rock, sure, but Hatsune Miku? Eh. I haven't touched that bandwagon. But a friend shared this video on his Tumblr and told me to check it out. At the least, it's visually awesome.

Happy early Halloween. :)

May/June Update: Holy Crap Exams Are Almost DONE!!

Thank goodness I graduate in a few days, because I'm at the end of my rope. While I was finishing up last-minute projects, I spent hours on TV Tropes, hoping I could get a jumpstart into a story I wanted to write for years, and sat on my ass playing video games and reading manga. Most of my time has been... unproductive... to a degree.

As some of my dear readers may know, I suffer from ADHD when it comes to blogging about my meager existence. One month I squee like a fangirl over a new album I just discovered, then I'll jump onto movie reviews, and then without warning video games pop up out of the blue. Inconsistent, but hopefully refreshing.

Anywho...

Other than school, my brain has been exposed to such a crap-load of information that it's on the verge of frying. My dad asked what I wanted for a graduation gift, even if it was a video game console. This was not long after I heard about Sonic Generations, and I finally had the incentive to reeducate myself on the video game world. (I stayed comfortably under a rock with my Playstation 2 and Gamecube.) After months of browsing console libraries, interviewing my peers, visiting various stores, and watching Youtube videos, I finally settled with the PS3. I know that new consoles are coming up in the next year or two, but at least for me, I can get a bunch of games under $60. Sure, I'll need a job to keep my expensive hobby going, but I can survive.

Yes, Link talks.
No, his dialogue doesn't suck.

While still in the similar realm of video games, I recently discovered a series of manga adaptations of various games from The Legend of Zelda. I plowed through them within hours and squealed for days. With no updates on the series I read (looking at you, Dengeki Daisy!), I needed something to nom on. Maybe when I do get that miracle job that will help make my wallet grow, I might buy a box set.

"Du bist hier im meinem Land"

And my other loves have not been ignored! I recently got Rammstein's Made in Germany greatest hits album and love every second of it. Dark Adrenaline still plays often on my iPod, and Apoptygma Berserk's You and Me Against the World is fantastic as well. A few other albums have been on my mind and I wish to check them out as soon as possible.

Movies, however, have been very hit-or-miss. Cabin in the Woods was pretty campy but badass for a horror film, touched by the awesomeness of Joss Whedon. Dark Shadows was a billion times better than the terrible Alice and Wonderland, but it's still in the lameness that Tim Burton has been trapped in. The Avengers... ... maybe I should review that one later. Ever since my violent vomit episode, I need something else to talk about.

So much potential wasted...

The past several months have been me trying to enjoy everything I can while I'm still a spoiled little kid. I'll be in college, I'm gonna have to find work, I'm going to take care of myself soon. It's a series of spiked and flaming hoops that I have to jump through. I am all for going through it not just because I have to, but because I hope that something fun and rewarding is on the other side.

In the meantime, this blog still exists and I will continue to update it... on a not-so-regular basis. 

I'm baaaaaack! XD

Why Are You Guys Reading These?!

Despite my lack of posts so far this year, I still keep a decent eye on what you guys read and how often. Everyone who provides some sort of entertainment has to do it every once in a while in order to see what people like. What I have found makes me chuckle, not because some of my posts were destined to get attention, but because I have no clue how some obtained so many views.

On one hand I am happy to see that more and more people all around the world are finding and reading my blog. I have no impressive following by any stretch of the imagination, but I love that my blog is not as deserted as it was when I began. Even with my lack of activity people still read my posts! Even if only one to three people ever comment, I still like that some people care.

With that nauseating optimism out of the way, let me respond to the feedback I received via some of my most viewed posts on my blog! By doing this, these popular guys will get even MORE views... I guess I should pop their egos a bit... What really makes me laugh is the huge rift between the top three with everything else. It's so weird.


1. 'The Open Door' with 2,290 views

People love my bitching about Evanescence.

I'm not completely surprised that this would get a lot of hits, given how popular and mainstream the act is at least by name. But like with nearly everything I put up here, this was something I had to get off my chest. Evanescence used to be my favorite band of all time. I still respect them because they were my gateway into the general genre of rock music.

I have outgrown them and matured... but I still have some beef with how outrageously popular they are. I have always struggled with accepting that some things are popular than others because of accessibility or money. In this case, Evanescence is just easier on the ears for casual music listeners in comparison to more enthusiastic music fans - especially of alternative rock and gothic metal.

Hopefully time will ease my rage. Or Evanescence can make better music.


2. Eat Me, Drink Me with 1,190 views

Wow, my old reviews really sucked. Not that I'm so much better NOW, but still... rereading it was not fun.

Anywho.

To this day, I still don't care for Eat Me, Drink Me as a whole but I think it has to do more with Marilyn Manson himself. I have listened to Mechanical Animals, Holy Wood, and The Golden Age of Grotesque and even those albums don't impress me much. Don't get me wrong, they have far more interesting songs, but the albums don't satisfy me enough. It seems that the man himself is far more interesting and entertaining than the music he makes. That's really a shame.

I still plan to get his new album later this year, but I doubt I'll really, really like it. Maybe there will be two or four songs that I will really love.


3. Vampire Knight with 930 views

One of my less painful old reviews, I guess.

The last time I checked up on the series, Vampire Knight was even more convoluted and terrible. If I were to review the series as a whole again, I would more than likely give it a 1 out of 5. It's sad that it was the first anime and manga series I found about vampires. Now I have Hellsing Ultimate and it's freaking a masterpiece in comparison.

But on the bright side, Vampire Knight is superior to Twilight. Zero has a better reason to be an angsty jerk than Edward or Jacob at their most melodramatic.

4. And More Impatient Fans Leave... with 400 views

Another Evanescence rant.

This was stuck in my chest for years and I'm glad I got it out. I did check Wikipedia some time before their latest album was released and I blushed in embarrassment. They went on hiatus because Amy had to set back and redefine Evanescence after the huge successes of The Open Door and Fallen. Having to step back, rest, and examine your out-of-nowhere success because you feel like you're running into an identity crisis is somewhat reasonable.

But I think my biggest issue - and many fans may agree with me - is the fact that there was a serious lack of communication from everyone. Other than firing the drummer and guitarist, no one knew what the hell was going on for several years. Even Ville Valo of HIM - who are as of this post on a "break" to find a new record deal - came out in a Kerrang! article around Valentine's Day telling everyone that he and the boys are still alive!

It just... frustrates me.

5. Shadow the Hedgehog with 390 views

Hahahaha... I'm in the process of writing a follow-up to this very brief and generalized review. I still love this game a lot, but man it has it's issues. Whether it's a good or bad game is pretty much up to anyone who can tolerate some of the stuff in this controversial mixed bag. The response to this game was one of the biggest reasons why the Sonic fanbase, especially the more psychotic fanboys, fangirls, and furries (not all of them but the worst cases), scares the living crap out of me.

To put it briefly, I can tolerate the guns, the missions, the music, and the slightly less annoying voice acting from the 4Kids crew. But I can't defend the writing, dialogue, some plot points, and "Almost Dead." Damn, Powerman 5000 might not be a horrible band - I hope - but I hate that song.

I may do the very rare, small wishes to review a video game in the future... just if I actually plan my points a lot better. It's not as easy as taking on an album or movie...

6. Higurashi: When They Cry with 230 views

This has been getting more views recently and I can't complain. It's a series I wish was more known.

I finished the series months ago and I really need to review the second season. Now that I look back on it, Higurashi is probably one of the best horror stories I have ever experienced. After this, all horror is bland and boring. Thank you, Higurashi for making me feel jaded.

The story is far from perfect and it does not have much value in re-watching it, but I sure had a blast while the mystery was building up. Some scenes still bug me though...


7. Death Note with 220 views

I'm surprised I didn't get trolled for typing such blasphemy.

No, I never finished this series. Maybe when I'm extremely bored, I might consider it, but it's just... urgh...

But I won't go back on my point that this is a decent start for anyone who wants to get into anime. This is one of the most striking in terms of production and presentation. I may think that most of the stuff Studio Madhouse made are overrated, the company still makes great quality work. And of course the voice acting is fantastic in both English and Japanese.

I'm not surprised this got a lot of views due to it's popularity. Though my opinion on it is rather negative, I won't discourage anyone who wants to check it out. By all means, watch it! It's just not my cup of tea.


Keep enjoying what you read... even if I never completely understand why you like it...

Happy Halloween!!

Once again, I am still not fully in the dark, creepy spirit of Halloween. (It doesn't help that we got over five inches of snow on Saturday...) Call me lazy, but after I tried with movies, I simply said "screw it!" and gave up. Oh well. :P

However I decided to provide some stuff slightly related to things spooky. Enjoy the trick or ignore the treat. Pick your poison. :)

And, you know what, MM? Sadie's cover blows yours out the water. Sorry! >:)

'Rabbit Doubt'

The Birthday Massacre should totally sponsor this!

Rabbit Doubt is a game where among a group of "rabbits" hides one "wolf," who deceives and "eats" everyone until someone can identify and stop him/her. Six people, Yuu, Mitsuki, Rei, Eiji, Haruka, and Haijime, decide to play the game for fun until they are abducted and the game comes to life. There is a wolf among them killing everyone off one by one...

Man! That sounds like great fun! So, who wants to play Rabbit Doubt?

Too bad the experience of reading it was nowhere near as fun as it should have been.

Hope y'all got your rabies shots!

As far as psychological horror goes, this sure hits rock bottom. Maybe the manga is only twenty chapters long and not much content can be covered in four volumes, but there are short stories that can be described as epic poems of old compared to this. The characters are pictures of stereotypes plastered on some cardboard: it may be thicker than before, but it's still flat. And as I mentioned with Paranoia Agent: if your characters are dull as crap, why should we care about their problems? Why care if they are dancing on the razor's edge and at the point of falling into the abyss of death? If a pile of roses can't make a pile of feces look nice, then no intellectual theory from a college psychology textbook can make Mr. John McBland Smith likable.

Smart. Peppy. Normal. Spoiled. Jerk. Slut.
Name all the horror films of late that have such characters.

Let's see... Yuu is the normal and kind young man. Mitsuki is the cheerful straight-laced good girl seen in far too many anime. Eiji is a delinquent asshole. Haruka is a slut. Rei is the lolita with a sweet, sad soul asking for love and attention. Haijime is the smart one with black hair and glasses. I'm sorry, did I spoil too much? Guess which one is a hypnotist and how relevant they will be. Now THAT is a spoiler!

That's the problem with most horror stories and films to date. The characters and plot are absolute crap.

On a less cynical note, the art style is really good. The character designs are nothing too noteworthy, but their clothes and hair are fairly realistic and nicely drawn. The environment of the abandoned building is very detailed, dark, and eerie. The rabbit masks are especially creepy, often seen worn, torn, or bloody. At the very least the manga does have an okay atmosphere with several relatively creepy images of the murders that occur.

Pretty darn detailed. Mangaka earns a cookie.

Despite the premise sounding interesting, it is definitely not a slasher or torture porn unlike some films. *cSoAuWgShEcRoIuEgSh* Rabbit Doubt is bloody, but not gory (the most graphic is a severed hand holding a cellphone.) That being said however, the horror is handled very weakly. There is an amazing lack of suspense from start to finish. No "scare" is built up in any way and the end result might look good, but only out of context. The scariest panel will be so bland that you can go to bed and sleep like a baby. I did.

Predictable plot with a bullshit twist ending. Boring characters with no likability. Terrible executions of horror. This manga is pretty darn pretentious to have the "psychological" label slapped on its bloody head. At least the art is pretty.

You're better off with Higurashi or Paranoia Agent, both of which are far more intriguing and not as predictable. Yes, Satoshi Kon's "masterpiece" is better than this premature shonen one shot. Avoid unless you have nothing else to read.

Final Verdict: 0.8 out of 5

Yet Another Update

Holy crap, I almost forgot my blog exists! I have little to no ideas...

For the past few days my stress levels have been a little higher than I had wanted. Currently I'm in the middle of finishing up some essays for a college application that I have panicked over for months. Even though school continues to destroy every chance I have to harvest positive energy, thankfully almost everything else in that process is finished. Hopefully I get in. Or I'll cry.

As far as being possessed by some spirit, so far Halloween has not phased me! I really do want to watch some scary stuff, but so far the one "horror" film I watched was mediocre to the point I laughed at the climax. (Me smells a potential review? o_O) However, thanks to thatguywiththeglasses.com, a few attempts to bring Halloween to my stubborn soul have found some success.

The best example was Lanipator's Let's Play of Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Roaming around a decaying castle, creepy Silent Hill-esque monsters stalking the halls. Sanity meters. Lovecraftian horror elements. Pretty freaky stuff. If I played it, I might wet myself and have nightmares for months. Thankfully Lani's cynical remarks and jokes lightened the tension... but not enough to take away too much of the rich atmosphere.

So what mood could possibly be taking over the wonderfully spooky and dark spirit that is hypocritically accepted more often during this time of year?

See the next post... :P

I Won't Die THAT Easily!!

Last Halloween, there was an ongoing joke with my friends that I would be one of the first people to be attacked or die in a horror film. Sure, I was bouncing off the walls with all the chocolate and cookies that refused to leave my field of vision, but how dare they compare me to the cliched blond being the first to go!

To those jerks, I shall shove this in their faces:

Thanks, Tenebris for teh link! :)

'Paranoia Agent'

(CREDIT: to the late Satoshi Kon and all who helped him.)

Rank: 1.8 out of 5 <-- so much wasted potential

An elementary school kid dubbed with the title "shounen bat" or "lil slugger" has been going around attacking people with his bent, golden bat. Now, two detectives are investigating so they can stop this kid from making any more attacks, but they will find out soon enough... that this case is much more than they expected.

(From Anime News Network)

Once again, my opinionated, cynical self cannot agree with the majority. This must be my destiny.

No matter where I went, everyone said nothing but full praise for this series and all for the same reasons: Satoshi Kon, the music, the animation, the maturely intricate plot etc. Everyone said that this show is for all anime fans to watch and be marveled by such a masterpiece. Everyone said how scary and shocking Paranoia Agent is because of its relatable themes.

13 episodes later. ... ... ... was that the best this "psychological horror" anime can do?

Fine, maybe Higurashi had so much show and bravado that this is bland and thumbed down in comparison. But despite how more realistic it was, almost nothing about Paranoia Agent scared me... or shocked me. Maybe it's wrong to compare two different series, one based on an amateur visual/sound novel and another made by a late "genius." Pardon my rudeness.

Well, I only found one critical review that had fairly reasonable arguments. That's a plus.

One of the biggest flaws with this show is the cast with many bland and irrelevant characters. Some of them appear for one episode and add nothing to the progression of the story; others appear frequently but never get much development or relevance ever again. Furthermore, they lack depth or at least one trait that can contribute to the greater part of the story. Fans say that the series derails from episode 9 to 11; however, I can call bullshit and say that things derailed by halfway of episode 6. The cast is so big, yet so pointless that this makes every character in most shonen anime (like Naruto and Bleach) look complex.

Plus, if you have characters this shallow and bland, the psychological twists they go through look silly, boring, or just ridiculous. Again, I hate to bring it up BUT... Higurashi had developing characters go through slow psychological torture before they went batshit crazy. Paranoia Agent just assumes we care and makes crap happen... far... too... quickly.

The final verdict for the plot? Average. Nothing was shocking - not even the ending, which was just more random than anything else. Potentially good ideas were provided but never went through. Possibly good characters were wasted. There were no plot holes, but there were lots of dead ends.

Might I also add that the plot is fill of "scrapped" ideas Satoshi Kon wanted to use for movies but never made it. Well, it shows.

However, to the show's credit, the animation is very good and character designs are very realistic, rather than going by typical anime designs. The opening theme, as stated earlier, is hauntingly creepy and yet beautiful; I am almost tempted to download it. Paranoia Agent might have been really random at times, but some issues were covered in a decent manner: mass hysteria, coincidental misunderstandings (one innocent kid was thought to be Lil' Slugger), split personalities, and escapism. It's only a shame that these highlights could not make a sloppy story get a high score from me.

I'm sorry, fellow anime fans. I tried to like this show, but it took far too long for me to get interested - no, I had to force myself to watch every single episode. Paranoia Agent did an awful job at "sucking me in." I'm sorry. But yet, I do not regret watching this show. This is something any anime fan should try out at least once and see what he/she thinks. BUT as sad as it is that it is out of print, I will not recommend trying to buy it at all. I quite frankly don't think I can watch this show ever again. At least I tried...

Creepiness Galore...

First it was Higurashi's opening theme, now it's Paranoia Agent's. But in terms of the show itself, Paranoia Agent is far less entertaining... for now. I hope the show gets much better over time, but so far, only this opening song is impressive.

Very... psychotic... o_O

'Higurashi: When They Cry'

(CREDIT: to the creators of the video games and the anime)

Rank: 4.5 out of 5 <-- cute people scare me... o_O

"Please, uncover the truth. This is my only wish."

- Keiichi Maebara, "Spirited Away by the Demon, Part 4"

The picture above is my way of showing my frustration of the lack of Keiichi representation in any Higurashi product. *grumbles*

For some reason, no matter how scary a movie or show is, I get over my few hours of self-inflicting torture within a few days and move on. But Higurashi no Naku Koro ni? It's been nearly a week, and I'm still paranoid. Too many late-night viewings...

Without spoiling too much of the story, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (literally titled When the Cicadas Cry) is set in June of 1983 when Keiichi Maebara moved to the small town of Hinamizawa. While settling in during the warming summer, he befriends four girls: blue-haired Rika, mischievous Satako, bold and mature Mion, and Rena, the chick who puts her face on every single advertisement space for this show (must be that damned trademark weapon of hers.) ANYWHO. In each arc a series of various events occur that force these five kids to dive into the mysteries of Hinamizawa as a particular June festival arives.

Vague? Well, sorry. I don't want to say too much or I'll spoil some of the more important or interesting plot points or character development. But to say the very least, the story is not told in chronological order; to be blunt, everyone is in a time loop. Each arc begins at the start of June, covers the festival, unveils a mystery, and ends in late June. The next arc will go back to the beginning of June and follow the same formula. Once one gets used to this awkward way of storytelling, one can appreciate the various scenarios that play out for different characters. But the most helpful aspect of this is how everything is separated by "question arcs," telling a series of events, and "answer arcs," clarifying some concepts not well explained before.

To describe the show, first and foremost Higurashi is psychological horror. In each arc, one of the main characters plays a lead role and becomes a "victim" or a "villain" to his or her friends depending on the circumstances. It brings a unique experience to the character as us viewers can learn more about him/her by how the act, behave, and adapt to the world and people around them. Although each of the five characters get screwed at least once. Hell, I forgot how many times Rika and Keiichi die or how often Mion gets manipulated.

But what is so scary about teenagers becoming paranoid, killing people, or killing themselves? Atmosphere, buildup, and execution, ladies and gentlemen. This show knows how to lure you in with the thickening plot, great interactions, over-the-top yet natural reactions, and the intense scenes... gorgeous. It might be disturbing that I call the gory and graphic scenes of murder and torture beautiful, but there are no mindless insane slasher killers like Jason, Freddy, or Michael Myers. This is gore done well: realistic, but not in your face; sleek, yet messy - duh; and disturbing - obviously. These scenes become moments and do not dominate the show at all. But when they do appear, believe me, it is hard to forget them.

The anime art is average overall, but the facial expressions made during reveals and climaxes are superb. The voice acting in Japanese is... eh. I really prefer Keiichi's voice in the English dub. Normally I don't care if I watch an anime with subtitles or voices in English, but I enjoyed the story in my mother tongue more. By my ears, everyone - except Rena - sounds great, but maybe I'm deaf next to the rest of the world.

Drawbacks? I love just about every character... except Rena. I know, what a shock. I found her to be almost useless because she is a combination of Rika's quietness and Satako's happy personality... just armed with a cleaver/hatchet/billhook/thingamabob. Despite having the best weapon out of everyone else (except the epic metal baseball bat,) I guess I just found her pretty useless overall. Another problem is that the Higurashi anime has two seasons: When They Cry and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai (When They Cry Solutions.) Season one has four question arcs and two answer arcs while season two has the rest of the answer arcs to complete the story. At this point, I am on episode 5 of season two, and God, it feels like season four of Buffy...

Despite one needing to watch a total of 50 episodes to get the completed story behind this strange town, Higurashi is an anime I highly recommend to any horror, psychological, and mystery fan. Anime fans, check this out too. But if you get fearful easily over at least the sight of blood, save your soul and turn away.

I have on last request: check out the music to the show too. The opening and ending songs are heartbreakingly haunting and beautiful. I got them on my iPod after watching the show for three days. lol

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, in my opinion, strongly deserves a 4.5 out of 5. Great story, great atmosphere, great horror, great music, great f'ed up but lovable characters. You can't beat it.

Let's see how long it will take for me to get over myself... but cute people... *screams and hides under bed*

Creeped Out Fangirl Is Creeped Out (o_O)

Looks like the eerie end of the world still hasn't arrived. Well, if the Bible only has one truth, it would be that no one will ever truly know when the apocalypse shall come. And until I die, I will laugh at such unfulfilled predictions. Besides, it would be more likely for me to get run over by a bus tomorrow.

Despite that, however, I have had my rarely high dose of creepy for the past few days.

Higurashi: When They Cry. That is all.

I guess my morbid fascination for horror will never die. heh... heh... 0_o

'The Rite'

(CREDIT: to the owner. by now, you should know it's not moi.)

Rank: 2.5/5 <- stuck in limbo

Two scary movies in a row? Maybe I need to go back to light-hearted fairy tales of sugar and bubblegum. ...NAH.

As of now, I have to question what makes a horror movie good? In fact what makes any story great? How did Inception blow away so many people last summer? How did Aeris's death in Final Fantasy VII become one of the most shocking scenes in video game history? How has Shakespeare's works become literature that every living being in civilized culture must learn about? Why did Star Trek have a humongous, continuous cult following after the cheesy show went off the air decades ago? How can some subjective ideals be more universally agreed upon than others? And why are there some things one can either love or hate, with no middle ground? Like the meaning of life itself, maybe there is no absolute and definite answer.

"Why sound so philosophical, Fangirl," you may ask? Well, I do overanalyze things or I babble on and on to the point you want to hit me with a metal baseball bat. Once again I might be over-thinking this movie and wondering why I gave it this rating.

As far as horror films go, The Rite is by no means a god-awful film, but it sure as hell isn't great. Of course it doesn't suck because Anthony Hopkins is in it, and he is fantastic; but the other actors didn't impress me much. The plot brings some bits of stupidity: a young man in the seminary who suffers with a crisis of faith and goes to the Vatican to study exorcisms. As a skeptic I found myself arching my eyebrow every time people pushed the man in that direction. Either the man has issues that surpass his eyeballs, or he is a big pushover. Actually with him being surrounded by so many Christians I'm surprised he hasn't complained about the emphasis on faith IN THE VATICAN. (It's bad enough with me being in a CATHOLIC SCHOOL.)

Basically, every character, except Hopkins', has little to no personality. However, they have more personality than those of the cast of Twilight.

This shouldn't taint your idea of seeing or avoiding this film, but as a doubter of almost any religion, I was a bit turned off by the black-and-white logic presented here. It basically spelled this out to me: "If you believe in the one, true Christian God, you have power to cast the Devil away. If you are a doubter or an atheist, the Devil has deceived you and has lead you into his grasp." I do appreciate that the movie highlights the importance of not just citing words for the fun of it, but that mindset is extremely myopic and not an objective truth.

Regardless, there are far better scary films with exorcisms to see, but this film isn't horrible. I don't really care what you want to do with this. Besides, my mom and I saw it mostly because of Anthony Hopkins, who didn't disappoint us, and without him, the film might have sucked. Sometimes execution is key. :)

Because this and Silent Hill are getting to me, I think I should avoid horror films for now. On the other hand, I should avoid romances too. *sigh* [For the most part] I hate February...

'Silent Hill'

(CREDIT: to the creator. I do not own this pic or the movie.)

Rank: 3 out of 5

Yeah, yeah, this movie is a few years old, but don't give me grief. I review albums that are a few years old anyway!

Quite frankly, I'm not the most avid fan of the genre, but I love having a horror film to creep me out and scare me every now and then. The Last Exorcism, The Grudge, One Missed Call (the superior Japanese 2004 film,) The Uninvited, and Carrie are some of my favorites. Unfortunately, the horror film genre can be plagued by really terrible, corny fests of excretion (The Unborn, The Messengers, and the American lame-ass version of One Missed Call.) It seems that scary movies can be loved or hated, depending on the person.

Now as for Silent Hill...

Thankfully I did A LOT of research on the universe of Silent Hill, so know that I am aware of it's concept. From reading Translated Memories and SilentPyramid's analyses, watching Dena's videos in Game Den, and watching several Let's Plays on thatguywiththeglasses.com and Youtube, it took me almost two months to know a decent amount of information. Fortunately, a friend just let me borrow her copy of the film as well as the Playstation 2 version of Silent Hill 2. I am no longer sitting on my butt and watching videos: I finally have the chance to experience the universe.

But now about the film... OBVIOUSLY.

In my research I have heard many complaints about it, especially adding the "sexy nurse" monsters, the cockroaches (I think? o_O), and Pyramid Head without stating any relevance for their existences. The Silent Hill games always had various monsters as portrayals of an aspect in the life of the main character or the creators once living in the accursed town. For example in SH2,Pyramid Head symbolizes punishment, hinting at the fact that James can't forgive himself for the crimes he committed, and bears a resemblance to the executioner found in a painting somewhere in the town. Because fans know this, several feel confused as to why would a monster of punishment would be in the movie when Rose has no known desire to punish herself.

The bottom line is simple: Silent Hill is a cursed town, shaped by the subconsciousness of the souls who set foot there. Monsters representing their dark feelings come alive to haunt the weary traveler who was led there. The town has a dark history of people who believe in a dark cult, wanting to bring the birth of their god by filling the Mother with hatred. It is a hell one cannot leave until the main character comes to terms with the feelings within them. Silent Hill is a survival horror game with plenty of symbolism, complex characters, deformed but creative monsters, and tortured solitude.

The film creatively took the spirit of the games and captured the imagery beautifully, however, the concepts were shaky. The plot wasn't terrible, but its aspects strayed too far from the source material. Technically, it's almost exactly like the plot of the first game with edits:

Game:

- Harry Mason is looking for his missing daughter Cheryl

- Silent Hill has either very few to no residents left

- Alessa was burned in an attempt to bring the birth of the cult's God

- Alessa is 14

- Dahlia is the head of the cult

Movie:

- Rose Di Silva is looking for her sick daughter Sharon

- several people, who follow the cult, live there in a purgatory-like state

- a coal fire burned down the town and the residents

- Alessa, who was burned for being a witch, is at least 37

- Christabella (where the hell did she come from?!) is the head of the cult

I could go on forever on this, but I don't want to confuse you all too much.

Overall, I don't think this film was terrible as many fans say it is. Silent Hill made numerous changes to the characters and the plot, but the execution was pretty good. The monsters weren't too corny since they are all humanoid to begin with, so there's not too much crazy or stupid CGI. And, because there were almost no male characters for some reason, the actresses all did excellent jobs. Could it have been better? Of course: the symbolism was severely lacking. But Silent Hill is one hell of a fun movie.

At least, that's what I think, especially when I don't call myself a fan...