Phantom of the Paradise by Brian De Palma.
A perfect reimagining of Leroux's 1910 novel.
This is a deranged, romantic, and quirky comedy horror with a perfect soundtrack.
Satanism and Witchcraft: The Classic Study of Medieval Superstition by Jules Michelet.
Originally published in Paris as "La Sorcière ("The Sorceress"): The Witch of the Middle Ages" in 1862.
A turning point on the 19th century politics and perception surrounding witchcraft.
Apparently, the ancient Greeks had their own take on the werewolf legend.
On the slopes of Mount Lykaion, worshipers of Zeus-Lykaois (Zeus-the-Wolf) would conduct a ritual in his honor. A ritual that supposedly involved cannibalism and human sacrifice. Inspired by the well-known myth where King Lycaon kills his own son Nyctimus and tries to trick Zeus into eating his flesh only to be found out and transformed into a wolf, the ritual attendance would gather once every nine years in the dead of night and make their sacrifice consisting of a human volunteer and an animal. And after the deed was done, a portion of the volunteer's intestine would be mixed with the animal's entrails. The cult members would then each take a morsel of meat and whoever wound up eating the human flesh was transformed into a wolf.
The kicker is they would be stuck in their wolf form for nine years and the only way to be transformed back would be to abstain from eating human flesh that entire time. Not an easy task for a wolf.
Brazil by Terry Gilliam.
A good film, one that I felt was made exclusively for me. I was transformed upon first watching this. Brazil is an amazing masterpiece of a movie. Is it better than Blade Runner? ...Close.
Uncanny vibes, everything about it is freaky, every character in the film feels like they have this sinister agenda underneath this goofy facade, and it has an ending that's horrifyingly hopeless and really upset me upon first viewing. I was like, "Please, that is not the way it ended. Please no..." But I'm SO glad it ended like that, because apparently there was an alternate version where it ended happily. Forget that. It would not be as nearly as impactful if it didn't have that.
I should note that Terry Gilliam does this thing with fisheye lenses where he makes certain things in frame feel all the more close and intrusive to your personal space. The way he distorts the screen...say someone has a screwdriver or a syringe in their hand. It can really just bend around to really feel like it's about to get you. There's just something really intrusive about some of the visuals in this film.
Fun Fact:
God of War's Grýla was based on a real giantess from Norse mythology.
In myth, she's not actually related to Angerboda at all, but the game got a lot of other things right. Like how she's enormous, absolutely disgusting and she did still have a cauldron you didn't want to end up in. Sagas from 13th century Iceland describe Grýla as a parasitic beggar woman who wanders around town, asking peasant farmers to give her their disobedient children. The parents could easily turn her away, but if their kid had been a real tachrán lately, they might just give him/her up. When Grýla was given a child, she'd throw them in a sack attached to one of her 15 tails, then take them home, toss them in the cauldron and get a stew going. Legend says that the naughtier the kid, the better the stew tasted and that she never ever had a shortage of food.
In God of War, she's not exactly nice to Angerboda, but she's never so horrible as to try and eat her. Instead, she uses her cauldron to harvest the souls of animals she traps around Jotunheim.
Compared to her mythology, her God of War counterpart is actually kind of nice...
An anime/manga I highly recommend...
Battle Angel Alita (titled Gunnm in Japanese).
Coco by Lee Unkrich.
Viva la Coco!! ^^
It's beautiful.
¡Feliz Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)!
"Anything to vary this detestable monotony."
- Charles Dickens, Bleak House
20s. A young tachrán who has dedicated his life to becoming a filmmaker and comic artist/writer. This website is a mystery to me...
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