Flashback Friday

Flashback Friday!

Hey! Happy Halloween to everyone! I hope everyone has a fabulous time this year. Tonight, I dressed up as a skeleton, which was awesome, but my favourite part of tonight was going to the mall and scaring the crap out of a bunch of people. As you all know, Halloween is my ultimate favourite time of year, so that's why I'd like to make the Flashback Friday all about a scary movie; The Ring.

This movie really isn't that old, but it was one of the first I ever watched and one I will never forget. 

Movie Information:

In The Ring, reporter Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) is intrigued by a story about a cursed videotape and manages to track it down. The video, filled with terrifying imagery and an eerie young girl, curses the viewer. The viewer receives a phone call, warning them they have seven days left to live and ultimately they die. After watching the video herself, Rachel realizes that she needs to solve the mystery of the creepy video before the week is over, if she wants to save herself and her family.

My Review:

When I watched this the first time, I was probably about 8 and it scared me to death! I refused to watch it ever again, until about two years ago. When I watched it the second time, it really wasn't as scary, but it was still pretty creepy. The fact that The Ring is also based around an urban legend, just makes it so much cooler, though I don't think I'll ever have the guts to watch the Japanese version - they are always much scarier. In any case, this movie might not be the best in history, but it's definitely one I would recommend. It doesn't have much gore, but it has a lot of CREEPY, so it's worth the watch!

What did you guys do for Halloween? What are your favourite scary movies?

~The Elf

Insidious (2010)

Insidious (2010)

Creepy Ghost #1

Movie Information:
Insidious is a supernatural horror film, the first in the series, which revolves around a couple's son - who enters into an unexplained coma. Due to the coma (some how) he becomes an in between for some creepy ghosts/demons (for example, the one to the right).

Plot Summary:
"The teacher Josh Lambert and his wife Renai move with their three children, the boys Dalton and Foster and the baby Cali, to a big house. When Dalton is exploring the attic, he falls from the ladder and hits the head on the floor. On the next morning, Dalton does not wake up and stays in coma, but the doctors are not able to diagnose his problem. Three months later, weird things happen in the house and Renai sees apparitions. She is sure that the house is haunted and convinces Josh to move to another house. Sooner Renai sees ghosts in the new house and Josh does not believe in his wife. But his mother Lorraine tells him that she had also had a vision of a fiend in Dalton's room. They invite the medium and Lorraine's old friend Elise Rainier, who brings her team of ghost hunters Specs and Tucker to investigate the supernatural phenomenon. Elise explains that Dalton is a traveler with the ability of leaving his physical body and travel in astral projection. Now his spiritual body is lost in a place called Further that is not for the living and entities are gathered trying to get inside his empty physical body. Among these entities there is a demon that needs Dalton's body to cause pain to the others. Further, Lorraine discloses that Josh is also a gifted traveler and must seek out Dalton in Further and bring him back."- Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil http://www.imdb.com/
Our Review:
This movie was... well, strange. The movie itself was great, well directed and brilliant for jump scares, but it takes watching it twice to fully understand what the hell is happening. We loved watching this movie, mainly because we both have a habit of becoming completely immersed in whatever we're watching. We are both people who are not scared easily, but we were screaming at almost every jump scare. This film has a way of getting under your skin, making you look over your shoulder constantly, which is one of its best features.
We watched this movie with the Dwarf, but she fell asleep half way through, so we ended up practically lying on top of her on the ground - which she was not pleased about. Our group get together to watch scary movies quite often and Insidious is, and will forever be, one of our favourite ones.
We can't wait for Chapter 3 to come out next year!
~The Elf and <Merlin>  

Flashback Friday

Flashback Friday!

This Flashback Friday goes waaaay back. Published in 1903, The Call of the Wild is a classic novel by Jack London. The story is set in the Yukon territory of Canada, during the Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890s. The main character of the novel, a St. Bernard-Scotch Collie named Buck, was once a domestic dog, but through the events of the novel reverts back to his primal instincts and becomes 'the Ghost Dog of the Northland Legend.'

This is a summary of the story:
Buck was just a normal every day dog, until the gardener's assistant, from the estate he had been living on, shipped him off to dog traders. Through cruelty, they taught him to obey and soon shipped him off to Klondike to become a sled dog. Working for two mail carriers who worked for the Canadian Government, Francois and Perrault, he began to adjust to the life of a sled dog. He learnt to fight, scavenge and sleep under the snow, eventually becoming the leader of his sled team.
After going through a few other masters, Buck fell into the hands of John Thornton. Buck becomes loyal to Thornton, however, he is conflicted by the urge to go back into the wild. Later on, Thornton is killed by Yeehat Indians, leading to Buck deciding to follow 'the call of the wild,' where he takes revenge against the Yeehats for Thornton. After, he meets a pack of wolves - which he eventually becomes the leader of - and becomes a legendary figure, a Ghost Dog. He lead the pack, fathered countless pups and inspired fear in the Yeehats, but every year he still returned to the place that Thornton died to mourn him.

My review:
I absolutely loved this book, when I read it a few years ago. Jack London was a brilliant author, the first I've ever read that made the main character an animal. It's a huge adventure that you go through with Buck, seeing how he changes and the things he learns. You stay on the edge of you're seat as he fights for survival in many different situations, until he finally seems to find a balance between his loyalty to John Thornton and his wilder instincts. 

Then you watch as it's all ripped away.
It's a very well told story with ups and downs from the get-go. By the end of the novel you're cheering for Buck to finally get the happy ending he deserves, but this is a story that definitely gives off the idea that there is no going back. Buck can't go back to being a normal domestic dog, he has no choice but to follow his instincts and enter the wild, becoming a powerful leader of a pack of wolves... And yet, even at the end, you still catch a glimpse of his loyalty and his domestication when he goes to mourn Thornton.

If you haven't read this book already, I definitely think it's a must read!
~The Elf

Thinking Out Loud - Ed Sheeran

Song of the Month!

Thinking Out Loud

By Ed Sheeran

I don't even know why exactly this is my favourite song right now, it just is. It's beautiful, it's cute and I love it. The part where he goes, "And the crowds don't remember my name," I immediately just like died a little inside, but in a good way (is there a good way? I dunno). I just love his voice so much and he always writes such amazing songs. I hope everyone checks this song out, like right now. It's just so beautiful. 

Not to mention the video is adorable and the dancing. The dancing. I just... I can not even begin to explain how happy this video made me. They're literally just dancing around, but I just love it so, so much. This makes me so happy, I hope it does the same for you. It's brilliant, so I really hope you listen to the song, watch the video and spread the word like wild fire. It's so amazing.

Anyway, that's all I've got, really. Hope you enjoyed. Now, what did you all think?
~The Elf