100 Plus One

It's tiny. It's creepy. It's so cute!

For the 100th post at Gruesome Details, I will be sharing a new purchase with the readers.

Recently, I acquired a copy of 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die, and the following films are listed as the horror films you must see before you perish.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919)

The Golem (1920)

Häxan (1922)

Nosferatu (1922)

The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

Dracula (1931)

M (1931)

Frankenstein (1931)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)

Vampyr (1932)

Freaks (1932)

White Zombie (1932)

The Old Dark House (1932)

Island of Lost Souls (1932)

King Kong (1933)

The Black Cat (1934)

The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

The Wolf Man (1941)

Cat People (1942)

I Walked with a Zombie (1943)

Diabolique (1955)

The Bad Seed (1956)

The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

The Horror of Dracula (1958)

The Tingler (1959)

Eyes Without a Face (1959)

Peeping Tom (1960)

Mask of the Demon (1960)

Psycho (1960)

The Innocents (1961)

Carnival of Souls (1962)

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

The Haunting (1963)

The Birds (1963)

Onibaba (1964)

The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

Repulsion (1965)

Viy (1967)

Hour of the Wolf (1968)

The Devil Rides Out (1968)

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970)

The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)

Daughters of Darkness (1971)

Blacula (1972)

The Last House on the Left (1972)

The Exorcist (1973)

The Wicker Man (1973)

Don’t Look Now (1973)

Deathdream (1974)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Deep Red (1975)

Jaws (1975)

The Omen (1976)

Carrie (1976)

Eraserhead (1977)

Suspiria (1977)

The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

Halloween (1978)

Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)

Phantasm (1979)

The Brood (1979)

Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

Dressed to Kill (1980)

Friday the 13th (1980)

The Shining (1980)

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

The Howling (1981)

The Beyond (1981)

Poltergeist (1982)

The Hunger (1983)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Re-Animator (1985)

The Fly (1986)

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)

A Chinese Ghost Story (1987)

Hellraiser (1987)

Evil Dead 2 (1987)

The Vanishing (1988)

Jacob’s Ladder (1990)

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Man Bites Dog (1991)

Candyman (1992)

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

Cemetery Man (1994)

Scream (1996)

Ringu (1998)

Audition (1999)

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

The Sixth Sense (1999)

The Devil’s Backbone (2001)

The Others (2001)

28 Days Later (2002)

A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)

High Tension (2003)

Ju-on (2003)

Saw (2004)

The Descent (2005)

The Orphanage (2007)

Horrifying Femme Fatale – Amanda Young

Jigsaw’s chosen protegé to continue his legacy.

Amanda Young is first introduced as the only surviving victim of the Jigsaw Killer in Saw.

Jigsaw targets her because she is a drug addict. Amanda admits that he helped her.

Not only does Jigsaw help her, but he acts as a father figure. Amanda is his apprentice, claiming that his test saved her life and agreeing to join Jigsaw.

However, Amanda does not allow her victims to learn from their tests, ignoring Jigsaw’s M.O. Jigsaw tests her once again, but Amanda fails to learn from his teachings.

Memorable Quotes

What is the cure for Cancer, Eric? The cure for death itself. The answer is immortality. By creating a legacy, by living a life worth remembering, you become immortal. So now we find the tables are turned. It is I who will carry on John’s work after he dies, and you are my first test subject. Now you are locked away, helpless and alone. – Saw II (2005)

Take it. Please, it’s yours. Come on. I go for the neck, but I’m not the brain surgeon. Just do it quietly so John doesn’t hear me die. Otherwise, he is likely to get upset, rip off his heart rate monitor – boom! Then, you just have to find the sensor and disarm it so you can walk more than thirty feet out that door without the collar detonating. Or, you could try and take the collar off yourself. But that could be tricky. The slightest knock in the wrong place could trigger it. I should know. I built it. – Saw III (2006)

So when’s your test, Detective? – Saw VI (2009)

Amanda is a layered character, first shown as a lost soul and a victim and later shown as a smart-mouthed protegé with a chip on her shoulder. She goes through such a transformation through the Saw films, her back story integrated into the storyline behind Jigsaw’s games.

Her part in the film franchise is irreplaceable; Amanda has been a drug addict, a victim, a survivor, a pseudo final girl, and a villain. Amanda is as essential to the Saw films as Jigsaw himself.

The Death of the Little Hen

For some time the little hen and the little rooster travel to nut hill, agreeing to share nuts regardless of whoever found it.

Then the little hen finds a large, large nut. But the little hen intends to eat the kernel herself, saying nothing to the little rooster.

However, the kernel is so big that she chokes on it. Crying for help from the little rooster, she asks for some water from the well or she will surely choke to death.

The little rooster runs to the well, explaining the situation to the well. But the well asks him to run to the bride and retrieve some red silk from her.

The little rooster runs to the bride, explaining the situation to the bride. But once again the rooster is asked to retrieve something else before being helped; the bride asks him to retrieve her veil.

So the little rooster retrieves the bride’s veil, and the bride gives him some red silk in return. The little rooster gives the red silk to the well, which gives him some water.

But when the little rooster arrives, the little hen is dead.

The little rooster is so upset that he cries aloud, bringing the death of the little hen to the other animal’s attention. Six mice build a carriage to carry the little hen to her grave.

With the finished carriage, the little rooster drives and on the way meets a fox. Explaining the situation, the fox accompanies the little rooster.

Then the wolf, the bear, the elk, the lion, and all the animals in the forest join the journey to the little hen’s grave until they come to a brook.

A straw offers to be driven over, but the six mice step on the straw and slip in the water, drowning.

They do not know what to do until a coal arrives and offers to be driven over. Unfortunately when the coal touches the water, it hisses and goes out; it was dead.

A stone comes to help the little rooster, laying down in the water. The little rooster pulls the carriage himself; but with all the animals’ weight in the back, the carriage rolls back. They all fall into the water and drown.

Now the little rooster is all alone with the dead little hen. He digs a grave for her, grieving over her grave so long that he dies. And then everyone is dead.

Death is a prominent element in Grimm fairytales, whether it is the cause of the stories or the ending of the stories; it is a life lesson shown in numerous fairytales. But I am simply troubled that the little rooster never once questioned the little hen about the large, large nut and why she did not share it.

Fear Itself – The Spirit Box

The Spirit Box is another ghost story from Fear Itself.

Two friends in high school, Shelby and Becca, create a homemade Ouija-board known as a Spirit Box. It’s all fun and games on Halloween night until the two friends are contacted by a recently deceased classmate.

The classmate died from an apparent suicide, but Shelby and Becca receive a message from the Spirit Box that points toward murder. The two friends start investigating the death of their classmate, Emily, encountering her ghost at school.

A witch and an angel walk into a bar...

Contacting Emily once again with the Spirit Box, Shelby and Becca receive a message that spells the name of the gym teacher at school.

Shelby investigates his home with Becca outside in the safety of her car, breaking and entering.

He finds Shelby and she comes on to him, telling him that she cannot stop thinking about him. Believing that he had a relationship with Emily, Shelby uses that to her advantage and he gives in to her advances.

Shelby uses a taser on him, resulting in him falling down the stairs and dying. All of the evidence points to the gym teacher as the murderer of Emily, but not everything is what it seems.

This murder mystery ghost story was slightly predictable but good, Becca is utterly manipulative and Shelby is the bleeding heart that she uses to destroy the man she loved.

In the end of The Spirit Box, Becca gets what she deserves.

Horrifying Femme Fatale – Pamela Voorhees

Devoted mother. Violent killer.

Though Jason took the mantle of violent killer through the film franchise, Mrs. Voorhees is the original killer in Friday the 13th.

Pamela is a former camp cook at the beloved Camp Crystal Lake and the mother of Jason Voorhees.

She is the villain, seeking revenge and retribution for her son’s death through murder. Hunting down the two camp counselors she believed responsible, Pamela brutally murders them.

Pamela successfully closes down Camp Crystal Lake with the murders until the new owner arrives with seven young camp counselors. Enraged and deranged, she goes on a killing spree.

Memorable Quotes

You see, Jason was my son, and today is his birthday… – Friday the 13th (1980)

[high voice] Kill her, Mommy! Kill her! Don’t let her get away, Mommy! Don’t let her live!
[normal voice] I won’t, Jason. I won’t! – Friday the 13th (1980)

She can’t hide; no place to hide. – Friday the 13th (1980)

Mrs. Voorhees began the killing; without her, there wouldn’t be Jason. She was an overprotective mother who lost her only child, tumbling over the edge of sanity due to her loss. And Pamela delivered some of the most ruthless kills in her debut in Friday the 13th, her rage and her delusions enabled her to kill six camp counselors and the new owner.

It is quite a shame that she is nearly forgotten when her dear boy continued with the film franchise, earning an enormous body count and the fame. But Mrs. Voorhees is the original villain of Friday the 13th, delivering revenge and death to all who oppose her and remind her about her dear boy’s death.

Meet the Horror Bloggers Spotlight

Nearly two months ago, I contacted John Cozzoli a.k.a. ILozZoc of Zombos’ Closet of Horror about The League of Tana Tea Drinkers. It was during our correspondence that he asked me to tell about myself and my blog for a Meet the Horror Bloggers post. 

I was more than thrilled to talk about how I embraced the horror genre or rather how I fought it a bit living in a family who utterly adored the genre. It’s all about me and my (now) undying love for anything and everything horror!

I had a lot of fun writing the spotlight, and I realized that it was completely inevitable that I would embrace the horror genre.

Thanks to John for making me a part of this weekly spotlight, which I always check out. It is an honor and a privilege, sir!

CONTACT Review

Directed by Jeremiah Kipp

Contact tells the story of a young woman who runs away from suburbia, engaging in the mad bohemian art-drug scene.

Nothing prepared me for how the film would play out, I am certainly not a connoisseur of short films. And Contact is the first horror genre short film that I have had the pleasure of viewing.

The nameless young woman and her lover take a strange drug, which makes them fall down the rabbit hole. However, they certainly do not land in Wonderland.

The atmosphere and the accompanying music was quite chilling during the young woman’s drug trip. It was haunting!

Her drug trip was certainly a nightmare, losing herself in the drugs and losing herself in her relationship with her lover. Her parents didn’t know where she was or if she would return.

It had a clear ending, and even though she returns to suburbia, she can’t forget her nightmarish trip.

Horrifying Femme Fatale – Ellen Ripley

Alien, the science fiction/horror film, introduces us to Ellen Ripley, an iron-willed woman destined to battle the galaxy’s ultimate creature.

Focusing on her interactions from Alien, Ripley is antagonized by other crew members, such as Parker and Brett.

Later, the crew members must answer to her when Ripley becomes the commanding officer following the death of Dallas.

Singlehandedly surviving the onslaught of the Nostromo, Ripley is the nonstop protagonist of Alien.

She is a warrior woman of sorts, fighting for her life and the life of others. Ripley cares deeply for others, protecting them as best as she can even when fear consumes her. But Ripley is first and foremost a survivor.

Ripley continues her journey through two sequels before sacrificing herself to destroy a queen alien embryo inside of her. Introducing a clone of Ripley in Alien Resurrection, she is more violent and aloof than the original.

Memorable Quotes

Final report of the commercial starship Nostromo, third officer reporting. The other members of the crew, Kane, Lambert, Parker, Brett, Ash and Captain Dallas, are dead. Cargo and ship destroyed. I should reach the frontier in about six weeks. With a little luck, the network will pick me up. This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off. – Alien (1979)

Get away from her, you *bitch!* – Aliens (1986)

When they first heard about this thing, it was “crew expendable”. The next time they sent in marines – they were expendable too. What makes you think they’re gonna care about a bunch of lifers who found God at the ass-end of space? You really think they’re gonna let you interfere with their plans for this thing? They think we’re – we’re crud. And they don’t give a fuck about one friend of yours that’s – that’s died. Not one. – Alien3 (1992)

Though Ripley was introduced in Alien, a film that I consider both science fiction and horror. The Alien franchise went more science fiction with elements of action in the following sequels, considerably in Aliens with the Marines being sent in alongside Ripley.

However, Ripley remains a female character in both horror and science fiction that represents strength and survival. Easily one of my favorite femme fatales of the genre, Ripley is empowering, showing that not only strength, emotional and physical, is needed to survive but intelligence and drive.

Remember that in space, no one can hear you scream.

Grimm’s Grimmest – The Willful Child

Once upon a time there was a child who was willful and who would not do what her mother wished.

For this reason, God had no pleasure in her, and she grew considerably ill.

No doctor could do her any good, and she soon lay on her death-bed.

When she was buried in the ground, the earth spread over her, her little arm came out and reached up. Her little arm refused to be buried even after being pushed back in the ground.

The arm always came out again. Then her mother was asked to come to the grave and strike the arm with a rod.

When the mother had done that, the arm was drawn in, and at last the child could rest.

The Willful Child is the shortest of the Grimm fairytales in the collection that I own: straightforward and concise. Even in death, the little girl was awaiting for punishment by her mother’s hand.

It could be the little girl knew that she was willful and stubborn, and she knew what her punishment should be. She was just awaiting for her mother to deliver it before she could rest in peace.

Vote And A Note

First and foremost, I want everyone to head over to Bloody-Disgusting to cast your vote on your favorite horror blog, whether it is Gruesome Details or any other of the amazing blogs nominated.

There is a stipulation, you must be a registered user on the site to cast your vote. However, do not be spurned away by that requirement.

Click on the image and check out the other amazing horror blogs that are nominees of Bloody-Disgusting’s Horror Blogger Awards.

On another note, this February is the first Women in Horror recognition month. Check out WiH Month online, the brain child of Hannah Neurotica who is the creator and editor of Ax Wound: Gender & The Horror Genre.

Some of my fellow female horror bloggers are contirbuting to the celebration and recognition of women in horror, including Chris from Fascination With Fear, Rhonny Reaper from Dollar Bin Horror, BJ-C from Day of the Woman, and Sarah from Fatally-Yours just to name a few.

Gruesome Details is participating in this month-long event, which I mentioned in the New Year’s Eve post. Profiling some of the amazing female characters from the horror genre by yours truly, gruesome little me.

Debating, researching, and discussing these femme fatales of the horror genre, I will be profiling at least two amazing female characters each week, ranging from the easily forgotten to the scream queens of the ages. Look for these along with regular updates and weekly Grimm fairytales on Sunday in February!