I came across this on the interwebs when it described this musical as THE LITTLE MERMAID meets NINE INCH NAILS…..Honestly, they had me at NINE INCH NAILS.
According to what I’ve read, this bizarre musical is about two mermaid sisters that are adopted by a cabaret. While one is looking for love, the other is looking for dinner.
I LOVE this spin on mermaids! Well…I shouldn’t say that it is a “spin” because that’s originally what mermaids were. They are technically monsters that lure (see what I did there?) stupid sailors to an early watery grave and feast on their bodies. It’s nice to see a monster actually being a monster instead of a rebellious teen who wants to change her body after meeting a guy ONCE.
Anyway, I can’t wait to get my hands on this! I wonder when the soundtrack will be available…
It’s probably a little early to announce this but it’s time for the Women in Horror Film Festival!
That’s right! This festival is all about the ladies and their dedication to the horror genre. This will be an awesome film festival where artists from every avenue like make-up, directing, writing, producing, acting, and music can come together and show that they can keep up with the best of them.
So if you have a film or a screenplay that you want to share with the world, please go to the website HERE and follow the instructions. The submissions to the festival are open! Don’t waste an opportunity to show us what you got.
There will also be awards given out which include Best Horror Documentary, Best International Horror Film, Best LGBTQ Horror Film, and many more!
I’d rather you all check out the website HERE and get your questions answered or go to their Twitter HERE.
I’ll write about this again as we get closer to the festival’s date in September.
How many of you are planning on going? Any of you going to take the plunge and submit your work? Let me know what you think!
The wait is over! The Devil Carnival: Alleluia! is finally on it’s way to a city near you! Well…most cities. I looked up the tour dates and sadly it’s not coming to my town and I can’t travel to another city to watch it. I guess I’ll have to wait for the DVD. But that’s OK, I’m a patient woman.
The tour for Alleluia! started yesterday(August 11th) in Los Angeles and will be touring all over the country like New York, Tuscon, Chicago, etc.
Anyways, if you have’t seen the first movie then I highly recommend that you do. You’ll love the music, the make up, the plot, etc. I’ll probably say this until I die, Terrance Zdunich is a freaking genius!! So check out the websites below and buy your tickets now. Bring a friend, go by yourself, I don’t care how you get there. Just go and enjoy yourself!
Fa la la! It’s off to Hell we go! Stick a needle in your eye, it’s off to Hell we go!
P.S.
The Devil’s Carnival: Alleluia! soundtrack is now available on itunes! I know what I’m buying!
This iconic scene from the movie, Cannibal Holocaust (1979) was so troubling to Italian authorities, the director, Ruggero Deodato was forced to prove the images were fictitious in court and explain to law enforcement that he hadn’t actually killed anyone.
I’m not reviewing Cannibal Holocaust (1979). That’s been done to death and also I just don’t feel like referencing the faux outrage and calls for censorship of Eli Roth’s upcoming remake, Green Inferno (2015). My review today is about the soundtrack from Ruggero Deodato’s Cannibal Holocaust (1979) composed by the great Riz Ortolani.
But since I’m on the topic of Eli Roth’s new movie, here’s what I’ll say about it for now. When I see it, I’ll compare it against Deodato’s version and write up a gratuitous review for your enjoyment. Trailer below:
Do I think Eli Roth’s movie should be banned? Do I think a movie about white, social justice warriors getting brutally massacred by brown people is offensive? Ha. What do you think? More often in horror movies, brown and black characters are slaughtered without dignity for white entertainment. Our bodies are still first to be jeopardized onscreen and off…so am I supposed to wave torches and pitchforks over fictionalized, reversed-racial horror? You’ll find out when I watch Green Inferno.
But I digress. Let’s listen to the maestro, shall we?
What made Cannibal Holocaust so great was the off-kilter soundtrack. I use “off-kilter” ironically, because in truth, there is nothing off-kilter about it. It’s fucking beautiful. I adore horror movies with a full orchestral score and my absolute favorite composer for that sort of thing is Bernard Herrmann. However Riz Ortalani’s score is a must for any horror movie buff, too. Not only is the soundtrack beautiful, but when combined with scenes from the movie, the result is a strange, horrifying cognitive dissonance. Modern horror filmmakers alert audiences to the horror with music that is meant to frighten us. But Riz doesn’t do that, here. Instead, he uses sweeping violins, folksy guitar, and funkadelic pops of the synthesizer. By listening to the soundtrack alone, you would never know it accompanied such a gory, controversial movie.
There are 10 tracks in all but my favorites are Adultress’s Punishment (the infamous impaling scene) and Savage Rite. If you write horror, I strongly recommend you try listening to the Cannibal Holocaust soundtrack to get you in the right mood.
Have you watched Cannibal Holocaust? Green Inferno will come out September 25, 2015. Place your bets which one will be better. Whadduya think, fam? Should we all be outraged?
Got a horror project you want to spread the word about? Is it a new film? New book? Or something completely glorious that will drive horror nerds nuts? Let us know! We are open to guest post articles, signal boosts, submission calls, and tips. We want to hear from you. The indie horror community is important to us, Damsels, and without cooperation and support from you our little blog can’t work. Thank you all for continuing to follow us! 🙂
If you’d like to submit an article (be it a review, self-promo, or interview, or whatever!) don’t hesitate to email us at:
damselswithchainsaws@gmail.com OR vicycross@gmail.com
OR send us a request via tweet at @DWCHorror or down below in the comments.
Make sure your guest post relates to the horror genre and is edited and is under 500 words. If we like it we’ll post it. It’s that easy. This is a “for the love” and “honor system” we have going here, guys, okay? So please, no spam or icky stuff.
So this week we’ve talked about The Devil’s Carnival and how much we enjoyed it. I just ordered it so you all know what I’m going to be watching this weekend.
Anyway, I’d like to talk about this interesting fellow. His story begins as a storyboard artist for numerous films including Into the Wild, Bedazzled, and (my favorite cartoons as a kid) Max Steel and Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles.
But was that enough? Absolutely not! He collaborated Darren Smith, to put on 10 minute operas across LA. The Necro-
Merchant’s Debt was so well liked that they went ahead and made it the cult classic that it is today…Repo! The Genetic Opera. After Repo!, he went back to his illustrator roots and created a 12 part graphic novel series called The Molting which was named Best Horror Comic Series (2010). This series is about a dysfunctional American family in a decaying Anaheim, CA during the ’90s. Yet another thing on my to-do list to check out. Where does he come up with this stuff?! Let’s move on to 2012. Sadly, Repo! didn’t get the sequel we all wanted so what is an artist to do? Make another musical! His next creation was The Devil’s Carnival. We’ve already gone over the film and soundtrack so check those posts out HERE.
His imagination, in my opinion, is fun and outrageous at the same time. He is one of the few people on Earth that I can call a true artist. He composes music, he sings, he’s a illustrator, and he’s not afraid to put his crazy idea on paper. His art just grabs your attention. I can’t describe is any other way. I just think his art is beautiful. I hope you all can check him out and enjoy it!
Here’s a tidbit from the upcoming The Devil’s Carnival: Alleluia!
Starrring: Sean Patrick Flanery, Briana Evigan, Jessica Lowndes
If you’re familiar with “Repo! The Genetic Opera” then “The Devil’s Carnival” is a bit like it’s obscure, younger cousin. Comparing the two musicals side-by-side, I think I like Devil’s Carnival better. The singing is better, it’s just the right length (run time is just under an hour) and it doesn’t try as hard as Repo! did to be a feature film. Repo! lost steam somewhere around the middle for me but Devil’s Carnival kept its zany momentum and was fun to watch all the way through.
Trailer:
Devil’s Carnival is a MUSICAL. The story follows a thief, a suicidal father, and abused girl through purgatory; a radioactive-colored carnival populated by crazy clowns, living dolls (as played by the incomparable Emilie Autumn), and burlesque dancers. As Lucifer reads Aesop’s Fables, the doomed trio act out the mistakes that led them to Hell in the first place. It’s an entertaining romp with gorgeous special effect makeup and creative sets, which is all you’re going to get when you watch this film, too. If you like musicals with a morbid twist, Devil’s Carnival is for you. If you’re expecting a feature film that can stand on its own without performance art, look elsewhere.
My favorite song/scene was the climax when the suicidal father acts out the five stages of grief and finally goes to heaven. It’s an emotional scene and one of the few moments in the film when the devil, Terrance Zdunich sings.
Second favorite scene is the tale of the scorpion and the frog, when the abused girl is “stung” for foolishly trusting a man she shouldn’t.
I think I already posted about Repo! The Genetic Opera and how insanely brilliant it was. Well, imagine my surprise and joy that Terrance Zdunich, who wrote Repo!, has pulled another gem out of his imagination.
I’m talking about The Devil’s Carnival. For this post I’m doing something different. Instead of reviewing the movie (Damsel Cannibal will take care of that) I’m reviewing the soundtrack. I haven’t seen the movie yet so listening to the soundtrack first gives a little something extra, don’t you think?
Anyways, from what I gather it’s about three people who go to Hell which is fashioned like a carnival. For being Hell, I thought these demons were hilariously upbeat. It’s like it gives the damned souls a false sense of security. Carnivals are supposed to be fun…that is until you’re tricked into repeating your mistakes over and over. And while these damned souls are navigating their way through Hell, the Devil is reading stories we’ve all heard like “The Scorpion and the Frog” or “The Dog and Her Reflection” to point out why they’re in Hell in the first place. By the end of it, The Devil comes up with a brilliant plan of putting Heaven out of business by offering “Grace For Sale”.
Fun facts about this, Zdunich plays the role of The Devil. You’ll also get to enjoy sequels to The Devil’s Carnival. The rock opera is going to be in three parts. From what I’ve heard, The Devil’s Carnival: Alleluia is going to focused on Heaven. So let’s see how well God takes The Devil selling redemption to lost souls.
I really enjoyed the music because it was fun. For example, check out these lyrics!
Track 11: Trust me, trust me, honeydew. Just like I trust you.
Track 16: Fa la la! It’s off to Hell we go. Cross your heart and hope to die, it’s off to Hell we go!
Those are just a couple. If I type anymore I’m just going put the complete lyrics up. I absolutely loved the whole thing but, of course, I have my favorites. Track 3 In All My Dreams I Drown, Track 8 Beautiful Stranger, Track 9 A Penny For a Tale, Track 11 Trust Me, and Track 15 Grace For Sale. I have a playlist below so take a listen and enjoy!
Just in case you all weren’t aware, We Damsels have our own Twitter account!
Normally I, Damsel Bruja, am the one who likes to fiddle with the Twitter account. The reason is I have my own personal account strictly for personal use. However Damsel Cannibal has another Twitter account where she likes to talk to anyone and everyone in the Indie Horror circuit.
Feel free to follow us and comment on our posts. Or if you just want to talk about some randomness in the Horror genre then by all means send us a message.
I’d also like to take this moment to say that I’ll be using the Damsels with Chainsaws twitter to live tweet during Penny Dreadful. So far this is my favorite show on TV that has to do with horror and I’m hoping there are other Dreadfuls out there who like it too.
Send us a tweet and keep an eye on some live tweet action!
Odessa (2015) won Grand Jury Award for Best Short Film at the Gasparilla International Film Awards.
This taut, gripping, short film horrified me more for its relevant, real-word authenticity than its well-written suspense. Odessa (2015) won Grand Jury Award for Best Short Film at the Gasparilla International Film Awards in Tampa. It’s only 13min long but packs a powerful punch. The submission came rather mysteriously, but I’m hopeful for everyone involved that a possible TV series comes from this.
Starring: Ricky Wayne (The Walking Dead), Grace Santos (Dhoom 3),Will Haze (Banshee), and Anthony Escobar (Prison Break).
Trailer:
Odessa (2015) will also be showing at Cannes’ Short Film Corner this May 2015, along with two other of Grace Santos’ productions: A Tricky Treat (directed by Patricia Chica) and Election Night (directed by Tessa Blake).
The story is about a desperate young mother’s harrowing escape across the Texas border after the Texas Secession. There’s not a lot of dialogue, which adds to the film’s suspense and nail-biting claustrophobia. We watch her sneak onto an army base and steal gasoline. We don’t know why she’s doing this, but her leg is bleeding and her eyes are sharp with fear. By the time we see the Texas border fence, the situation becomes clear and we fear even more for the woman as she crawls on her hands and knees as Texas Republic border patrol officers shoot guns at her, killing her companion. In the final minutes of the film, the audience is shown what the perilous border crossing and gasoline was all for. I won’t spoil it for you, but my god, it’s heartbreaking.
Once the credits rolled by I found myself stewing in contemplative silence for several long minutes. I live in Texas. I realized it could happen here. That it does happen here. And I appreciated Odessa’s exquisite speculative slant on border town issues.
Damsels With Chainsaws 