Woman In Black!

Well next Jan is already looking good!

XJigsawX

Yokai Attack!: The Japanese Monster Survival Guide

I came across this book awhile ago due to my convention going and attending an Japanese inspired horror panel which was both fun, silly and informative. So instead of doing reviews on movies I've seen recently or Lollipop Chainsaw I decided to do one on this fun book.

It's always interesting to compare different parts of the world's cultures to one another and see how different things are. Super natural and the occult are no different, it could spout from which religion is most dominate in a country or the lifestyle and history of a county.

I mean our UK history is very different, we have so many medieval castles seeped in spooky stories, stories of being taken over by the devil, the hounds of baskervile, the legend of bodmin moore.. and then Scotland's lockness monster. Mexico has it's Chupacabra and theres so much more in every corner and crack of the globe.

So it really is cool to find out about other places folklore's and supernatural and I have to admit Japan has some awesome ones.  The way they live their lives and what they believe in is very heavily hinted in their supernatural tales such as unclean bathrooms bringing monsters.

Also the taboo subject of the repression of woman in the nation. Many movies have shown this SHUTTER, RING, JU-ON and DARK WATER along with many others. There is a reason why alot of these horror stories are based on an angry female spirit.

There are alot of female based ghouls in the Japanese folktales and this book goes into the old, the gross and the mighty fine.

So on to the book!

While informing us of the demons and nasties it has a very comical approach to things and a light hearted read about things that might otherwise be pretty creepy to the average viewer. Now YOKAI is what they call these spirits like we call things.. ghosts.

The book isn't hefty but has alot of different monsters in it and in sections. One which will focus on silly spirits such as a 'Mokumoku Ren' which is simply a paper wall with eyes on it then the more well known ones such as Onibaba and Kappa's and as I said..  a whole section on angry woman spirits such as a jealous woman who would drown those she saw in a happy relationship... woman.. pft.

The pages are set out like fact files which are interesting and gets to the basics, their Japanese name, what it means, what it basically is. I mean there is an invisible wall for a bad spirit in one section, it has some crazy things in it!

After the fact page it goes into more depth of the nasty. Each creature gets about three pages on it so it's not just a skimming read on the spirit but a pretty good story telling piece. Back stories, history and some more.

Each one has a picture, some are nicer to look at then others and some pictures look abit armature and blah but if your not a fussy art person [X-men comics have spoilt me for good art..] then you won't mind at all.

Now along with the silly ghosts and funny laid back style of the book along side some rather goofy pictures you will get a taste of Japanese culture and why some of these things come to be. Also some of these spirts sound messed up and make me feel glad to not be in Japan!

My only real moan about this book is 95% of it is in colour for me and then the last few ghosts it was like their budget for colour ran out and they just gave up on it.. or maybe that's just my copy? either way it's a very sloppy end to an other wise awesome little piece and view into another worlds supernatural realms.

It really is nice seeing how different other peoples darker worlds are. I would love to do more reading on Yokai's and see what other cultures have to offer me!

The book retails brand new for  £10 I think it was which isn't bad! and if you want another look into this book they have an official website here. YOKAI ATTACK!

Info: 4.5/5

Length: 3.5/5

Art: 2.5/5

Scares: 0/5

Overall read: 5/5

XJIGSAWX

Horror For Your Home

On my bored days online I found this bitching piece of working art for the home.

The people who make these awesome items are Evil Robot Designs they take toys, modles and even their own talent in sculpting to build one of a kind items. But as awesome as these items are they are going to set you back ALOT. I asked about something like the one above and I was looking at £750 so if you have the money it's worth it.

If not, then admire from afar like me -grabby hands-

XJigsawX

The Pact

My friend said "Lets go see The Pact!" "It'll be good!" she said "It can't be that bad" she said.

Sure, ok... not DEVIL INSIDE bad but I wanted to break out my newly bought THE WALKING DEAD issue 16 to keep me from dying of boredom when nothing 'scary' was going on. I hear it was a good movie... I think I went into a different movie.

So yeah, not as bad as DEVIL INSIDE and had a better plot then allot of supernatural movies I've seen in awhile [Woman In Black aside, that shit's awesome] so yeah shall we go into the movie I was forced to see? good, good.

(2012)

The Pact starts with a woman in her dead mothers house where she and her sister grew up and odd shit happens, allot of tension and atmosphere for sure, that was done well but every jump was easy to see, alas paint by numbers for horror once more.

So Nicole is in the house and creepy things happen wooooo and then she gets eaten by the closet cus I hear closet in houses full of shitty pro God and Jesus tat plastered over the place is bound to be full of evil right? sure!

Every time anyone was about to die or get eaten by the monster closet of shitty wallpaper and three coat hangers there would be some prick with a chello and a heavy bass sound so it sounded like the killer was a few pissed off members of an under paid orchestra who like to announce their presence like an awkward teenager trying to stand out.

So picture this.. woman walking down dark hall, things fall off walls... dark flickers as light dims and bulbs go.. cold chilling pacing.. then DOOOOOOMM! chelllllooooo I cracked up each time.. I mean what? the scary bits would have been more scary if they didn't have the same HEY SHITS GOING TO HAPPEN! cue all the freakin' time.

Maybe she was made to watch the movie too which would explain the look of utter distain and 'I'mma kill you in yo sleep' look.

So mother Nicole baaaws to her sister Annie who swears she will never ever go to that house EVER AGAIN but later goes in many, many times, way to keep up your resolve sweetheart. Her sister Nicole goes missing [The child is with a woman called Liz being baby sat or something] and Annie goes to the house and finds no trace of her sister and decides she's more then likely just fucked off which she seems to do allot of... hmm ok sounds like a great person to be a mother.

Annie stays in the spooky house and spooky shit goes on, more lights flicking, more things breaking.. including a jar of pickles and cheese! FUCKING CLOSET MONSTER EATING MY PICKLES!! ASSHOLE!

This movie was so fun to snark I died haha

So everyone goes to the mothers funeral including Liz who is looking after.. child with a name that's not important and every ones like WHERE NICOLE? sick of looking after her shitty kid. Then they decide to stay in creepy dead mothers house.

And DOOOOM chellllooooo and Liz gets eaten by the closet and Annie runs out like a mother fucker then forgets she left the child in the house.. kinda like David Cameron but unlike him she remembered in time and went and got the screaming brat.. I'd have left her to the closet. Oh and she gets chucked around by an unseen force and flung about, your average ghost shit.

From then on she looks after child and things happen in the house and she tells the police who are pretty much LOL CRAZY and make her take them to the house and due to it looking like a struggle and a nice knife chucked into the wall people start to think some things going on... that she might be to blame and she's not allowed to leave town.

Also they find a hidden room that has holes to every room in the house with neither the girls knew about.. what's going on?

She's soon haunted by dreams of this woman in a flowery dress who often comes to her as this headless body and pained looking head, her phone even gets locked onto an address which she GLOBAL searches [complete with I'm feeling lucky! and same colour/font] and see's it on GLOBAL maps. We see a creepy photo of headless lady and the plot thickens..

I'm so high right now

Annie then gets help from a very creepy out of it goth girl from high school to come to the house and see what the ef is up with it and to tell her what the ghost [headless woman] wants from her. The goth girls home seems to be full of black market shady Xbox 360 game trades..

For real.

One guy hands a shifty looking man a wad of cash for a pile of games and they both look all shifty eyed.. What are these black market Xbox dealings? and did he buy anything good? In the other room where goth girl is they are playing a really shitty FPS game.. like oldschool DOOM or something or maybe something made just for movie like GLOBAL.

So goth girl and her angry friend go to the house, Goth girl see's things and realizes the woman who was killed there blah blah back story some plot goth girl being chucked around a room and dragged about screaming, headless womens body just floating about as they do.

She gets taken away by Mr angry asshole and Annie never finds out much more.. Meanwhile the cop dealing with her case gets killed and that's the last of him, oh well no one noticed or cared..

She calls the goth girl days later and she tells Annie what to do and of course in yummy yummy cliche goodness..

NOTHING BAD COULD EVER HAPPEN RIGHT?

So she contacts dead woman who tells her she was killed.. and oh yeah something about her mother having a brother who was the JUDAS killer and the last victim was the headless woman who's in the mothers house and bugging her.. that plot thing happened somewhere but half way through I felt myself not caring and was too busy being annoyed at the asshole behind me who tipped their ice cream all over the fucking floor where I was sitting..

Rambleramble..

Brother is still alive, killed that woman, killed the copper.. been hiding under the floorboards and in this room they'd not known about, their mother had kept him hidden and safe.. He also killed Liz and Nicole.. the ghost of the killed lady was really just trying to help people by getting them out the house.. suddenly turns into adult Casper or something.

Annie also gets caught but manages to defend herself with a coat hanger, cuts herself free and shoots the horrid killer dude with help of dead chick... END OF MOVIE EVERYONE IS HAPPY.

Close up of a hole made by JUDAS killer uncle person.. and an eye appears WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

Shitty The Pact 2 is what it means.

My face this movie

Scares: 3/5

Plot: 2.5/5

Acting: 2.5/5

Pacing: 3/5

Gore: 1/5

Overall enjoyment: 2/5

XJigsawX

Nerd Pride

Well I recently bought a large cut out from a mag of Battle Royale when it came out like 12 years ago, best £1 I ever spent and it's framed and looking mo-foing fly in my hall way.

XJigsawX

Horror News!

London Film and Comic Con

This event will be held from Friday 6th of July to Sunday 8th of July held in Olympia grand hall in London and it has some horror guests! [they seem pretty rare here in the UK to be honest]

Norman Reedus

Who plays Daryl in 'The Walking Dead'

Shepard in Pandorum

Tom Skerritt

Dallas from 'Alien'

Danielle Harris

Who has been in such horror franchise's as 'Halloween' 'Hatchet' and 'Fear Clinic'

Elise & Electra Avellan

From movies such as 'Machet' 'Planet Terror' 'Grindhouse' and 'Death Proff'

For more info: http://www.londonfilmandcomiccon.com/

Me and my facehugger will hopefully see you there.

X6XJigsawX6X

Atmosfear!

Also known in the past as 'Nightmare' a boardgame all thew way from Aussieland where all the most awesome things come from [Rolf Harris, Fosters and Crocodile Dundee etc etc] made in 1991. I played this game when I was very young back when it was VHS and had other versions like you played against the 'Witch' instead of the Gamekeeper.

Now we have the DVD version which I snapped up right away and thought this with alot of drink would make for great adult fun and boy oh boy was I right.

Biggest change I noticed right away was in the old game the Gatekeeper would start off young and get older and older as the time ticked away and his attitude would change as it went on and for a young kid, man oh man was that guy scary.

I wasn't told the DVD wasn't PAL so I had to play it on my laptop instead of the hella awesome huge screen my partner owns, sad times.

If you have not ever heard of this or played it the aim of the game is pretty much this.

The object of the games is to collect six different coloured "Keystones" and thus beat the host. For most games in the series, the "Gatekeeper" is the host but other characters have "stepped in" and taken his place. To beat the host, the players must face their worst fear. If none of the players is able to win the game within the time limit, the host is the winner. A videotape or in later games a DVD^[ is included with the game and acts as a game clock. The video stars the host of the game, who appears throughout the tape giving instructions to players. When a player has collected the Keystones, they can win the game by facing their earlier expressed "greatest fear"; if they are successful they win the game. If none of players is able to win the game within the set time limit, the host is the winner.^{[From wiki]}

So who do YOU play as? up to six people can play and the cast are..

Gevaudan the werewolf

Anne de Chantraine the witch

Khufu the mummy

Hellin the poltergeist

And the ones we didn't play as

Baron Samedi the zombie

Elizabeth Bathory, the vampire

So what you do first is you all have to note down on a small slip of paper what your biggest fear is and then place it into the WELL OF FEARS which is the aim of your game, you need to find your fear when you manage to get to the well of fears which is alot harder then you think.

FATE and TIME cards are given out whenever you land on the stones or if you are called on by the Gatekeeper either by it bring your turn or a number that you have on your key rack. FATE can lead to doing things for keys such as duelling or something silly and TIME cards have events on them that you have to do at the right time, some give you keys, some let you steal etc.

Now we have what I think is a new feather to the game and that is a stone that says DUEL and you and your chosen rival who must also have a key to duel. Both role a dice and highest number gets to pick a key from the other but without seeing what colour they get... this is a sneaky way of giving someone the BLACK key.

Yeah the black key is a pain in the ass. It can be given to you or you can accidentally 'win' it in a duel and there is a stone you fall on and can be given it. So yeah, and as long as you have the black key you can't win.

Now I mentioned the Gate Keeper being different.. meaning he doesn't start off young like he used to and the fear part of the game has been removed, back in the old one it used to be dark and gritty and some bits made you really jump.. I might be saying that as like an 8 year old but still it was different.

The Gate Keeper is much more sarcastic and picking on you.

So yes our very energetic Gate Keeper likes to pick on you and make you do silly things. One point he tells the CHOSEN ONE to leave the room then makes them feel paranoid when they come back, it's a great interactive play and I'm pretty sure being the DVD version each time you play is different.. I have no idea if this is true yet but hey many more times to play it in the future. That's one thing it has up on the VHS.

My poor friend having to act like a Zombie much lols.

Also Facehuggers aren't very good at the game.

It says on the box that it should be played when it's dark and with a spooky atmosphere and so we shut the curtains waited till it dulled down a little and then I lit some cheap candles I got in the day and lit some up which really added to the game but sadly much later it was hard to even see the board but it looked ace.

Friends enjoying/looking bored.

So it was a very tense and rather hard game to win but with one second on the clock we JUST about beat the bastard, there was much screams, yells, drunken slurs and dice being thrown around like weapons it was madness but it was such a laugh.

So after the game these were mine... I had them all and then some but alas I had been given the black key so I had no chance of winning.

Oh and have a bonus picture..

When drunk and in a silly mood why not smush a cupcake into your laptop screen?

Interactive: 4/5

Scares: 0/5

Re-play value: 3.5/5

Over all enjoyment: 4/5

So it is very worth it's money and everyone should ahve a silly night in with it. BUY IT HERE

XJigsawX

Are YOU zombie enough?

Remember my post on The Real Zombie Shopping Mall Experience ? well the awesome people who have set this up are now looking for people to play as zombies for one of their events their 'Zombie Manor' event!

The talent show for the next best zombies will take place:

2:30pm-5:30pm on Thursday 28th June 2012
Pineapple Dance Studios, Covent Garden, London

Read more about Zombie Talent Search | Pineapple Studios, 28 June 2012 |

For more info go to their page! APPLY for job of a lifetime

XJigsawX

2:30pm-5:30pm on Thursday 28th June 2012
Pineapple Dance Studios, Covent Garden, London

Read more about Zombie Talent Search | Pineapple Studios, 28 June 2012 | Wish.co.uk

Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

FZ: Here we have our first horror related games review from 

Drikanyx so please enjoy!

-------------------------------------------

Most people who have a good knowledge of video games have at least heard rumours of Amnesia: The Dark Descent. It’s supposedly one of the scariest horror survivals out there; you can’t fight back against the monsters, you can’t run away, you can only hide. For many game connoisseurs like myself, it wasn’t the first horror game I have played, nor will it be the last; but what drew me to it was its supposedly unique game-play.

 

 

Frictional Games’ "Amnesia" wasn’t their first, but is probably their most memorable title. And with a sequel being released for the game next year, now could not be a better time to pick up the game which is now considered a cult classic among fans of the survival horror genre.

 

 

"Amnesia: The Dark Descent" is set in Prussia, in 1839. The protagonist, a young man named Daniel, finds himself alone in Brennenburg Castle, with no memory of his past apart from his name and his hometown of London, Mayfair. The castle around him is decrepit and abandoned, falling further into disrepair with every step you take. Strange bellowing noises can be heard from within the bowels of the castle, and the building itself is far from normal. This is the world of Amnesia.

First impressions of the game certainly don’t strike me as "pants-shitting" scary, as such. The game however, tries its very hardest to lull you into a false sense of security at almost every turn, and before you know it, you are assailed by screams, bellows, and noises that will put a lesser human being on the very edge of their seat. At one point in the game you are witness to the pleading screams of what sounds like a young girl. Later on, you hear her die.

Stay out of the water, god-damn it. They bite.

There is one part early game that was the closest I came to actual fear. You are locked in a winding corridor, which is knee-deep with water. Step in the water, and you are chased by some unknown creature – the Kaernk - that thrashes and roars until it makes you its dinner. The mechanics of the game here actually give a sense of urgency and it feels like an actual risk to make that short dash across the water-logged floor. For the first half of this puzzle, you have boxes that keep you just out of the water monster’s reach. A few sections require you to distract the monster with whatever you can grab; books, rocks, human flesh; so you can dash through the water safely.

 

 

And then finally, the real challenge. No boxes. No ledges. No distractions. Just a full-pelt sprint down several very long, blocked corridors to get away from it. Nail-biting stuff, especially when posed with a closed door. I’ll talk about why this makes it much scarier in a moment.

The Steam Engine puzzle. I enjoy these kinds of "challenges".

As things go, this is as scared as I have become in the game so far. I’ve jumped a few times at the sudden appearance of the lovable Corpsey - or the Servant Grunt as he is properly known – or at his attempts at breaking down the door whenever I get too close whilst searching for pieces to complete the rather fun puzzles Amnesia throws at you.

 

 

People have called this game "difficult" to the point that they could no longer continue playing. I wouldn’t call it that, at all. Most of the puzzles I have so far encountered at about a third of the way through the game have been pretty simple if you followed the clues conveniently placed at every turn. The only thing that makes them difficult is fear. Fear of the monsters, fear of the noises, fears of Daniel’s sudden decision to drop to the ground once his sanity falls too low.

 

 

For me, after the initial shock of encountering our friendly neighbourhood Gatherer, it was more of an annoyance having to run and hide in a dark corner until Corpsey decided I wasn’t an adequate meal. And even when the unsettling music stopped, that wasn’t a given that he had left you alone.

 

 

That slack-jawed menace could just be waiting in the next room for the hug he oh-so craves; hugs that hurt if he gets too close. Ouch. Those iron claws were not built for friendly gestures.

 

 

And so we’ll move on to one of my favourite mechanics within the game. Interacting with objects has never felt so immersive in any other game I’ve played. Doors and levers actually feel heavy, and almost seem to require effort to move and open by dragging the mouse in the correct direction and manner. This is one of the reasons why the flight from the Kaernk was so urgent. Damn doors, you actually have to stand back, stop, pull on them until they open, and then start legging it again.

 

 

This mechanic isn’t for everyone, but in this sort of game, it works very, very well. Things actually feel difficult, and less super-human. Daniel can’t lift large rocks, but he can shunt them out of the way with a little work. Doors (apart from area transitions) don’t open on a single click. Frail objects break when you throw them against a wall or to the floor, and weak walls or windows shatter when a heavier object is thrown. This is what I really like to see in a horror game. It’s somewhere where realism actually works. I threw a small rock at a pot of explosives. The pot subsequently began to fizzle and pop. I legged it, and from behind me – BANG. That was one of the key, "real-feeling" moments.

 

 

So now, for my opinionated conclusions on the game. It’s good. I’m not just saying that to appease my fan-boy friends who absolutely jizzed all over the title, pardon my French. I am genuinely enjoying the game so far. I look forward to Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs which will be hitting our shelves next year, and I hope the Dear Esther crew can do this series justice. I may not be finding it as scary or as difficult as many of the fan-base do, but it doesn’t stop it being a genuinely enjoyable title to play. The mechanics, immersive story, and innovative style certainly makes me want to play more. If I wasn’t writing this article, or being pestered by friends to play Team Fortress 2 right now, I would be playing a bit more.

 

 

I’ll continue to delve deeper into the world of Amnesia looking for a scare, and I would recommend any gamer worth his salt to do so, too. Even if it doesn’t scare the shit from your bowels, if you appreciate puzzles, you’re bound to enjoy parts of the game. Just don’t be like me, moaning whenever Corpsey decides to visit, because you can’t carry on with that engine you were just trying to fix.

Drikanyx

Battle Royale 2: Requiem

IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN BATTLE ROYALE ONE DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW. SPOILERS LIKE MAD.

(2003)

Battle Royale was such an amazing movie and novel and a squeal was no doubt what every fan was looking forward to... or dreading. When I first watched BR 1 and then found out there was a second? I leaped at the chance to watch it.

Sadly it was so.... nothing compared to it.

The books ending was so beautiful and well done that the start of BR2 makes no sense and ruins it. And also Shuya becoming a terrorist? hmm it seems abit taboo and but hurty. I didn't like the new game. In the book and first movie it was about how Japan was going into melt down and the youth of that generation was out of control and something needed to be done to stop it.

Thus the BR act.

But this time the 42 unlucky kids are not so much as 'randomly picked' as 'Hey these kids are shit and in a shit kids school.. no one will miss them if they die, they are just in the way anyway' attitude.

The set up to the game is rough and like a bull in a china shop compared to the well structured and paced opening scene of the first. Also it seems BR2 is so far clutching at the coattails of it's older brother so far. They have a 'touching class scene' where everyone signs a rugby ball, not that unseemlier from the photo of Noriko, Shuya and Nobu in the first.

Second when they are in the game intro room they have a similar 'Nobu Shuya' moment but with kids no one could care about as so far they all have the personalty of a bag of bricks.

The new teacher is also annoying as fuck, least Kitano was lonely and you felt something for him the whole way through but god, this? Also Kitano's kid has joined in the fun of BR2 cus you can sign up for it online... hm.

So this time it's not 42 students have to off each other in a three day time frame but 42 students are paired up [Boy 1 is with Girl 1 for example] and have to take on Shuya and his terrorist gang. The random factor of weapons chosen is out as they want these no good kids to do their war for them.

If your partner dies then you die via the collar system or if they are 500 meters away [I believe?] they also die.  They still have the thing with if you are in a forbidden zone when your not meant to be, you also get your head exploded.. and the three day time frame remains.

The action starts right away and they are shipped to the island where Shuya and co are and they manage to blow up a dingy full of students already... so there goes alot with no care what so ever. Least in the first one you got a small glimpse into most the students ways of dying or something but no, not this one.

So int he first 3 mins of the game we go from 40 to 28...

The 'Tag Team' element is new and must such for people as you need your partner to not be a douchebag, selfish or useless so that part is new and a .. little interesting but I feel it's too little to keep this movie ins the 'fresh' or 'good' mind set.

Like is your doing well at the game and your partner decides to be a div and run away from you... yeah your dead too. I'm not sure if this was a try at a clever and new spin on the plot or a way of knocking down alot of cast as not to pay them as much or to avoid needing to write so much in..

Don't get me wrong there are some touching bits of the movie where bonds of friendship are there bust as I said before, almost everyone personality is that of a bag of bricks. hard to feel for anyone really.

The cheerful announcements of the dead are also once again used to tell everyone who has died but it seems a pointless thing since they are pretty much all bundled together with the same mission but hey what do I know?

There is also a diabetic girl running low on insulin so sucks to be her partner.

So with 14 people left and me with hour and thirty mins left to endure. Kitano's kid leads the charge, more people die and they rush Shuya's hobo tower to try and end it while there are still some of them left.

They rush camp Shuya and get surrounded and as contemplation of peace comes up someone opens their big mouth and more shooting and pointless death. Kitano's girl is fully up for revenge on Shuya even though in the first movie it seemed like she hated her father. She is badass and often leads the charge and won't give up which puts everyone else up shit creek.

And Shuya looks like a gay jedi these days.

Alot of collars then start to make noises and Shuya who this can only bring up bad memories for gets his gang to use their EMP device and stops the collars from blowing up saving the doomed partners of people who just got fucked up and also losing the signal to everyone the government and teacher who's popping pills like mad for some reason send in the real troops to sort things out.

Annnnnd half way through it becomes more of a war story then anything else and I've already lost interest by that point but I carry on anyway. My point is it's just not the first movie and there isn't enough ties to the first to save it.

Our main hero always pulls a face and looks really bug eyed, I think the casting could maybe have been abit better but then again I know shit all about who is big in Japan and who isn't.. but the bug eyes took away any drama there could have been cus that's all you can focus on haha

So..

Gore:  3/5

Story: 1.5/5

Casting: 2/5

Over all enjoyment: 1/5

XJigsawX