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Horror Movie Review – Grave Encounters (2011)

Title: Grave Encounters
Genre: Horror, Found Footage
Director: The Vicious Brothers
Writers: The Vicious Brothers

NO SPOILERS

Plot Summary: (from imdb) For their ghost hunting reality show, a production crew locks themselves inside an abandoned mental hospital that’s supposedly haunted – and it might prove to be all too true.

How do much do I love watching “found footage” horror movies? I don’t know why…it’s a strange addiction indeed. Something about the first person perspective, the shaky cam and the odd angles appeal to me.

As a huge fan of those ghost hunter shows – I’m looking at you Ghost Adventures and Ghost Brothers – I was especially eager to see this film. Cynical “ghost hunters” who will pay people to say they’ve seen a ghost? Check. “Haunted” insane asylum? Check. Found footage? Whooo, baby! We got ourselves a movie!

Do not come to this movie expecting high art, a never-before seen twist or some other movie technique that will blow you out of the water. This movie is a horror movie, designed to scare you. It’s like those live haunted house experiences. You know something is going to jump out at you, it’s just a matter of when and how gross it’s going to look.

The plot is basic. Ghost hunters lock themselves in overnight to experience all that a haunted asylum has to offer. And boy, do they so get what they think they’re looking for. The movie begins with a producer explaining the found footage and how it mysteriously appeared, blah blah. You know the whole set up….now let’s get to the haunting!!

Don’t expect much from film angles and the like. This is found footage and surveillance camera footage. Most of it is in glowy black and white and shaky cam. However, when I compare it to other found footage movies, it’s pretty good! The jump scares aren’t over-done and there’s some serious creepy stuff going on.

For a good fright, watch this with the lights off and with no distractions. Being a scaredy-cat, I had to watch it in the morning, but I was still scared.

Don’t think too much about the how and why of the movie. Just let go and enjoy the ride!

I am not posting the trailer as I usually do, because it gives far too much of the movie away. Just watch it!

Blogtoberfest – My Bloody Vampire Sangria

Hello again! So glad to see y’all along with me for the ride Halloween blogging, or, as I call it……BLOGTOBERFEST……..

Today’s recipe is not a mocktail, but a straight up liquor fest. It was a choice between this and chocolate martinis. I chose this because it looks like fruit punch. (What, me drinking? Nah, this is fruit punch.) And I love sangria.

You can find the basic recipe here, but I added my own twist.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

1 (750 ml bottle of red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Rioja reds, Zinfandel, Shiraz)
1 Lemon cut into wedges
1 Orange cut into wedges
Strawberry or Kiwi slices
3 Tbsp sugar
2 shots brandy
1 shot gin
2 cups ginger ale or club soda

Preparation:

Pour wine in the pitcher and squeeze the juice wedges from the lemon and orange into the wine. Toss in the fruit wedges (leaving out seeds if possible) and add sugar and brandy. Chill overnight. Add ginger ale or club soda just before serving.

If you’d like to serve right away, use chilled red wine and serve over lots of ice.

Blogtoberfest – Five Scary Movies – Mya Lairis

My top five scary movies are:

1. Trilogy of Terror– is my all time scary movie. There is just something about that damn doll, like maybe it gnawed my ankles off in a past life or something but I have only watched this film once. Trying to get up the nerve to do it again, but…that doll!

2. Squirm– I have no issue with snakes, at all…they are tasty in fact but earthworms, shrieking, no-eyes having, able to be cut into pieces and still live, burrowing under the skin…Hell naw.

3. Event Horizon– When I first saw this film it scared the crap out of me. Dimensional terrors usually hit home with the terror mark in me and that the space ship had breached the dimension to Hell and was inescapable…yeah. I have been able to watch this a few times however and still, its a shitty deal for those on board.

4. Evil Dead Remake– This was an excellent remake and one that I winced a couple of times at but enjoyed all the same. That razor blade though….

5. Beloved– Yup, actually now that I think about it, this could be one of the scariest films I’ve ever seen. The notion of slavery is frightening enough but this film did emotional damage to me as it made me question the notions of anger, vengeance, and self. Creatures are scary and all but the human psyche can be far worse.

Bio: Mya Lairis is a monster and kaiju fanatic who writes paranormal romance and erotica but who reads mostly extreme horror and heart racing cyber punk sci fi.

Website: www.myalairis.com

Horror Movie Review – The Vault

Title: The Vault

Summary:
Two estranged sisters are forced to rob a bank in order to save their brother. But this is no ordinary bank. (from imdb.com)

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Opinion

To say this was a pleasant surprise is an understatement. I didn’t expect much. I didn’t realize James Franco was in it until halfway through. This means that I kept looking at this guy and thinking that I know him from some movie. Like I said, it was only mid-movie that I said to myself “That’s James Franco! What’s he doing in this movie.”

My silly epiphany aside, The Vault was an interesting movie. It started out as one thing, then after a cliche line, it turned into something else, which I was completely fine with. I won’t go any further with the plot. Suffice it to say, the movie held my attention all the way through. I wasn’t tempted to look away, except for the bloody parts, and the acting was quite good for the genre.

While there is nothing new under the sun for me, having seen a huge amount of movies, I always relax and let the movie entertain me. Unless the movie is completely terrible, I try to let it roll out like the writers meant it to be. By doing this, I tend to enjoy a lot more movies.
Yes. The setup of The Vault has been done many times before. However, the actors were good, the special effects very effective and the back story scary and convincing.

Rating – B

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Blogtoberfest – Recipes – Cinnamon Sugar Spider Webs

Total Time: 40 min

Prep: 10 min
Cook: 30 min

Yield: about 30 webs

Ingredients

Vegetable oil, for frying
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon fine salt
3/4 cup milk
1 large egg
1 tablespoon maple syrup, plus 1/4 cup for brushing
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
Jelly spiders, orange or black nonpareils, for garnish, optional

Directions

Pour enough oil in a large skillet so it’s about 1 inch deep. Heat oil over medium-high heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers between 280 to 300 degree F.

Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center; add the milk, egg, and 1 tablespoon maple syrup. Whisk the dry and wet ingredients together until smooth.

Transfer batter into a large size pastry bag with a # 3 or 4 open tip. Carefully squeeze batter in a circular pattern and then back and forth into the oil, to make a free form spider web-like design, about 3 to 4 inches in diameter. Cook until bottoms are golden, about 2 minutes. Using tongs or slotted spoon, turn fritters over and cook until golden on other side, about 1 minute more. Transfer the fritters to paper towels to drain briefly. Brush lightly with maple syrup and dust with confectioners’ sugar. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve warm or at room temperature alone or with the garnishes.

*You may use a zip bag instead of a pastry bag. Snip a corner to the appropriate size and you’re good.

Courtesy of the Food Network