Ghost Stories (2017)
Skeptical professor Phillip Goodman embarks on a trip to the terrifying after being given a file with details of three unexplained cases of apparitions.
Thoughts: The fact that these stories are first-hand experiences told in flashback defuses much of the stakes – until the final “twist”, which proves to be the big screen equivalent of the “It was all a dream”writing cliche. In the end, it’s hard to muster up much retroactive horror.
3/5
Hell House LLC (2015)
Five years after the unexplained deaths of 15 tour-goers and staff on the opening night of a Halloween haunted house tour, a documentary crew travels back to the scene of the tragedy to find out what really happened.
Thoughts: Some questionable logic (and the fact it borrows a little too heavily from Blair Witch in its closing scene) aside, this one is an effective entry in the found footage sub-genre. Does a great job of ratcheting up the tension on its way to its chaotically creepy climax.
4/5
In Fabric (2019)
A haunting ghost story set against the backdrop of a busy winter sales period in a department store that follows the life of a cursed dress as it passes from person to person, with devastating consequences.
Thoughts: At its best when it’s leaning into its dark humor; much less so when it’s seemingly embracing weirdness for weirdness’ sake. Loved the soundscape and visual nods to giallo.
4/5
Today’s Yes/No…
Cricket Ramen? Yes/No
Waiter, there’re 100 crickets in my soup! We try make-it-yourself Cricket Ramen【Taste Test】 https://t.co/TrjPvcORbA via @RocketNews24En— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) August 1, 2022
Hmm, I prefer udon to ramen, hold the crickets. I haven’t watched anything scary lately, I’m trying to keep to comedy and cozy mysteries, real life is relelntlessly awful so I’m looking for soothing telly. I’m enjyoing the new season of Grantchester and Virgin River, I’m also enjoying Paris Blues with Paul Newman and Sydney Poitier playing streetwise jazz musicians who say “man” and “cat” every other word it is sublime even before Dizzy Gillespie shows up for a fifteen minutes jam session.
I made chorizo meatballs with carrots, red peppers and chimichurri last night and it was even beter with breakfast. So naturally lunch was a veggie salad with butter lettuce, carrots and pecans, very simple to clear a path for more chorizo at dinner. I got two containers of Badia Chimichurri so I will chimichurring everything for the next few months.
I wished I could’ve won the Mega Millions and pour it all into inventing a time machine, but I’m settling for watching the time traveilng in Palm Springs and Paper Girls.
Cricket ramen … hmm … Good protein! LOL.
In southern Mexico there a specific grasshoppers that live in alfalfa fields. They’re caught with nets and sautéed in olive oil with garlic and onion. Children sell them out of baskets to folks siting at sidewalk cafes. My husband and a friend of ours nearly came to (jokingly friendly) blows over the last of them. Chapulines are a must whenever we visit the region.