May 13, 2014
There are horror films and shows that make you cringe because they’re so predictably bad, roll your eyes at their reliance on cheap “boo” moments, laugh because they’re campy, and make even the most hardcore horror fan squee with delight at their sophisticated creepiness. “Penny Dreadful” falls into the latter category. In spades.
(Here come the spoilers.)
Where does one begin with such delicious and stylish horror? Well, style I suppose. You can’t go wrong with Victorian London for a time frame loaded with lush wardrobe and sets, although thankfully they keep it pretty raw here and not too pretty. But there is definitely plenty of substance to this exercise in style, as well.
First of all, to be able to weave together so many elements of classic horror stories — and some Jack the Ripper for good measure — is a feat in itself. Yet, most of the pilot retained a refreshing originality in the writing, except I did sense a bit of homage to “The Last Samurai” in the introduction of Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) as a drunken performer putting on wild west sideshows. And you can see where the vampire styling references “Nosferatu,” although these vampires are a hell of a lot scarier — one has to wonder if the creators were inspired by “30 Days of Night,” which starred Hartnett.
Do not expect anything sexy here. Or glittery, thank god.
(more…)
Aug 21, 2013
On Tuesday’s episode of “Face Off,” teams of three had to create a modern take on Frankenstein and his bride, with some super cool results. And a few misses, of course. But this time they mixed up the veterans and the newbies to even things out a bit, although one power team stood out above the rest.
This week the challenge tied to a promotion of the upcoming film, “I, Frankenstein.” The great thing this week, though, was the writer and producer of the movie — who also wrote and created the “Underworld” series — was the guest judge. Better yet, I discovered Kevin Grevioux was also the actor who played the very big, intimidating werewolf in the first film. And best of all, that’s really how his voice sounds.
Who knew? (Well, probably everyone but me, but it was news to me.)
Not surprisingly, the team that seemed to work best together was Team Estrogen, with Laura, Alana, and rookie Laney collaborating. They all seem to have a similar theme in their aesthetics… that sort of glamorous horror. And it served them well here with a “beautiful” bride — by horror standards, anyway — despite dealing with a mold crack.
“Keep calm and fill up that crack” should be the motto of every makeup artist.
Another team that had molding issues was Miranda, Samantha, and Eddie. Miranda wasn’t quite so calm when there were problems with the nose getting stuck in one mold, and was less than thrilled about working with two rookies on her team, but kept her cool with her teammates. But they did get called to task for the obvious “Borg” references by Grevioux, and I thought the bride was sort of reminiscent of an old Bob Fosse number. But not in a good way.
Tate, Lyma, and RJ didn’t get angry with each other despite artistic differences but definitely didn’t work together well. Naturally, newbies want to project confidence and stand up for their work, but when you’re working with someone as insanely talented as Tate, you need to be listening to his advice. When he tells you aren’t painting correctly, you ain’t painting correctly, sister.
But Lyma insisted on doing her very unrealistic airbrush painting. To his credit, Tate was as calm and direct as he could be, especially when she started painting on his Frankenstein cowl.
“Let’s stop that, please. I mean, I love you girl, but I think we got different philosophies about paint.” And when she returned to her own bride cowl, he chimed in a bit later to let her know she was painting too dark, which she immediately brushed off. “My eyes work, it’s dark… it’s black.”
And then he dropped it and let her hear it from the judges later, namely Ve Neill. Sometimes you just have to let people hang themselves and focus on yourself, even in a team effort. Wise decision.
Rookies Scott and Adolfo butted heads, but veteran Roy held the team together, with another strong look, although Glenn Hetrick was pretty tough on them, criticizing Roy’s Frankenstein for being “top heavy,” although it looked pretty good to everyone else. He’s tough, that one.
For top looks tonight, the judges decided only one team qualified: Laura, Alana, and Laney. And since Alana sculpted the bride’s face they loved so much, she was the overall winner.
Samantha made the bottom three for the “bulbous” design of her team’s bride head cowl that “didn’t make any sense, according to Hetrick. Also for not painting the hands correctly or finishing the tubing going into them.
Veteran Eric found himself in the bottom because of the eye sculpting that made him look “bewildered” per Hetrick, and not finishing his part of applying rivets to the forehead.
And Lyma made the bottom for not listening to Tate and doing that off-strip, Vegas-show airbrush job. “Are you primarily a body painter?” asked Neill. “It s very evident in this makeup. It doesn’t look organic, it looks blown on.”
In the end, Samantha had too many mistakes and had to pack up her makeup kit. So far the veterans are still there, but how long will they last? And who do you think will be the first to fall?
“Face Off” airs Tuesday nights on Syfy.
Jul 18, 2013
The new character posters for “I Frankenstein.”
If the director for the upcoming “I, Frankenstein” is as tasteful as the graphic designer, we should be in for at least a visual wonder when the film is released in January 2014. But then, whenever you have the producers of “Underworld” involved, you can pretty much presume horror eye candy is about to be unleashed.
Yes, new posters for “I, Frankenstein” were released at Comic-Con, so feast your eyes on them above.
Now, maybe I’m a little confused, but the last time I read Mary Shelley — you know, like… the book — I don’t remember any demons or gargoyles. Nor do I remember the monster being named Adam (no, that’s not a heavy-handed Biblical reference… not at all.) Of course, I don’t exactly remember him having six pack abs either, so, jaded old snooty horror fan I am, I’m going to try to go with it. Especially with Aaron Eckhart starring, and the always delightfully-evil Bill Nighy as that demon-thingy.
Sweet.
Speaking of sweet and those six pack abs, check out this still:
(Am I the only one who sees this and gets that Color Me Badd song “I Wanna Sex You Up… ” in my head?)
That’s for you, ladies, and a few of you guys, too. We believe in equal opportunity lechery around here, regardless of sexual orientation. We’re trailblazers that way.
