Editorials
2010 BLACK FRIDAY CHOPPING LIST: MUSIC
While the horror genre is most closely tied to the medium of film, it also sometimes manifests itself in the musical realm, with some acts being more aboveboard with their horror-movie references (i.e. White Zombie, The Misfits) and others merely hinting at a subtle menace threatening to rise up at any moment. Which you prefer really depends on how you like your blood and guts served – fresh off the grill or slipped quietly into your dinnertime soup (or maybe it just depends on what you’re in the mood for). In the “Music” section of B-D’s Black Friday Chopping List we focus a little bit on both types, featuring new releases from artists both classic and contemporary that are firmly entrenched – either overtly or subtly – in the horror tradition.
COMICS & BOOKS | FILMS | MUSIC | TOYS | GAMES
List Price: $99.98 (Ultimate Edition)/$29.98 (Deluxe Edition)
Released in 1990, Cowboys From Hell was Pantera’s breakthrough album and also the official debut of their most famous lineup, namely singer Phil Anselmo, guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, drummer Vinnie Paul and bassist Rex Brown. This three-disc ultimate edition, which marks Cowboys‘ 20th anniversary, includes a newly remastered copy of the original album as well as rare live tracks, demos and several pieces of merchandise including a t-shirt designed by “Dimebag” Darrell, a “Cowboys From Hell Fucking Hostile” button, and flyer reproductions from their `90/’91 tour. Also featured is “The Will to Survive”, a previously unreleased song that was recorded during the Cowboys sessions. For those on a budget there’s also the earlier-released “Deluxe” edition, which includes all three discs but not the extra items that come with the Ultimate set.
List Price: $69.98
In summer 2010, the “Big Four” of ’80s trash metal – Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax – shared a stage for the first time in history on seven special tour dates with the traveling Sonisphere Festival around Europe. Due to pent-up demand from fans who’d been waiting over 20 years for the lineup to coalesce, the June 22nd show in Sofia, Bulgaria was beamed live via satellite to over 1,000 movie theaters across the globe to satiate the appetities of those who couldn’t be there. Now that show is available on a special 5 CD 2 DVD set, which also comes with a 24-page booklet, poster, photos of each band, and a “Big 4” guitar pick.
List Price: $199.98
The Vinyl Conflict collects (on vinyl, duh) all ten of Slayer’s albums since 1986 (starting with Reign in Blood and up to last year’s World Painted Blood) in one limited-edition box set – just in time to screw up the holidays. Each album has been meticulously remastered from the original “flat master tapes” and then pressed onto the highest-quality vinyl for your macabre listening pleasure. The set also includes reproductions of all artwork from the original LPs, encased in “heavyweight, litho-wrapped chip jackets”. In other words, it’s a big deal for any hardcore Slayer fan (aka Satanists).
List Price: $243.98
Release Date: November 30, 2010
This UK-only import is a little pricey, but if you can afford to buy it for that beloved Sabbath-freak in your life this holiday season, The Ozzy Years: Complete Albums box set is definitely worth the money. The 13-disc compilation, the first of its kind, comes deliciously encased in a large black cross and collects all nine remastered Ozzy-era Sabbath albums, three radio documentaries on the band, a 100-page illustrated booklet, a guitar pick set, and a special poster. You could wait for the American version of this (hello, Warner Bros.?) and save a little cash I guess, but I’ll bet the person you’re thinking of buying this for wouldn’t want you to.
List Price: $10.98 (CD)
Overseen by Trent Reznor himself, this Pretty Hate Machine remaster (also available on vinyl) has been a long time coming for hardcore NIN fans. After completing the score for The Social Network earlier this year, Reznor ollaborated with engineer Tom Baker to digitally remaster all ten of the album’s original tracks, including breakthrough singles “Sin”, “Down In It”, and “Head Like a Hole”, from the original master tapes. The disc also includes a cover of Queen’s “Get Down Make Love”, which ws the B-side to the original “Sin” single but has since become unabailable. The iconic cover art has also been slightly re-conceptualized by NIN’s longtime art director Rob Sheridan. A great gift for both NIN-heads and naive young’ns who weren’t around during Reznor’s early heyday and currently spend far too much time listening to Justin Bieber.
List Price: $18.98
Four years after their 2006 hit The Black Parade, which not only went platinum but surprisingly managed to win over most critics, My Chemical Romance have returned with Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, which according to the band was supposed to be a bit more “stripped-down” than their last album, though judging from the overproduced first single “Na Na Na…” that doesn’t appear to be the case. The band has at least as many detractors as fans, though the rising cries of “emo!” from certain sectors don’t appear to have dampened the enthusiasm of the band’s core fanbase (who in all fairness likely buy their music specifically because of that emo label). Regardless of how you feel about MCR this will probably be one of the biggest pop/rock albums of the year, so buy it for that person on your list whose tastes run a little more toward the mainstream.
List Price: $13.98
If you’ve never heard of Clinic before, now’s your chance to discover one of the best under-the-radar bands of the last ten years (you can thank me later). A good place to start would be their 2002 classic Walking With Thee, which is kind of like the soundtrack to some lost, bizarro art/horror film. Their latest release, Bubblegum, was released just last month to typically positive reviews, with a more melodic sound than some of their previous albums but with the unsettling art-punk/folk vibe from their previous albums still intact. Indeed, it is this vague air of paranoia bubbling just beneath the surface that is the surgery mask-wearing band’s stock in trade. Get it for someone you love who enjoys searching out undiscovered musical gems.
List Price: $18.98
Extreme metal band Cradle of Filth are back with their ninth studio album, Darkly Darkly Venus Aversa, which sees the long-running virtuosos at their most brutally intense. The concept here basically revolves around “Lilith” (aka the “Venus Aversa”), who according to Jewish mythology left Adam to conceive demon spawn with the Biblical Serpent. Fans of the group will no doubt be satisfied with this release, which features frontman Dani Filth’s trademark growling vocals, insane guitar-playing from Paul Allender and James McEllroy, and a tight focus that carries the listener forward on a wave of punishing, maniacal forward momentum. Also includes a bonus disc with four extra tracks and working demos.
List Price: $39.95
This 2-disc collection, the first in a series of retrospective compilations of the industrial/dance group who became known for using horror movie imagery in their lyrics, remixes twelve of their best tracks from the Wax Trax Records era, including a previously unreleased song entitled “Satana Rising!” recorded during the same time period. Also included is a bonus disc consisting of live tracks from a typically theatrical 1990 concert in San Antonio, Texas. When it comes down to it, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult has always been a silly, gimmicky band, but nevertheless they managed to craft some undeniably catchy tracks in their day that are still fun to blast though your car stereo as you drive down the highway at unreasonable speeds.
List Price: $19.98 (Deluxe Edition)/$16.98 (Standard Edition)
Still a bad-ass after all these years, Nick Cave’s current side project Grinderman (made up completely of members from the Bad Seeds) just released their second album of dark, off-kilter, down-n-dirty rock three years after their raw, propulsive debut. This album is a bit more polished than their last but never less than gripping, as Cave’s vocals become unhinged on funky, threatening tracks like “Heathen Child”, “Bellringer Blues”, and “Worm Tamer”. Do yourself a favor and give it a spin, then buy it for someone you know who can truly appreciate the joys of wildly unpredictable rock `n’ roll. The Deluxe Edition also comes with an expanded 56-page booklet and poster.
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In this day and age, the word “troll” is often used to describe various online nuisances. Yet as abundant and irksome as the modern troll can be, they aren’t usually as fearsome as their mythological counterparts. I’m not talking about the small and gentler versions that have become more common to see in media. No, there are much bigger and scarier trolls out there—and André Øvredal’s movie Troll Hunter is one of the best places to find them.
It doesn’t take long for Troll Hunter (or Trolljegeren) to dump the Blair Witch Project-esque setup and aim for something a lot fresher. The trajectory of the story is augmented by Otto Jespersen’s character Hans, the titular Troll Hunter. The second he comes barreling out of the deep, dark woods and shouts “troll” at the camera, this movie takes a turn into what feels like uncharted territory. Not only subject-wise, but also conceptually.
For fantastical and made-up subject matter in cinema, found footage is a fast way to add a guise of believability. After all, what we accept to be the most crucial aspect of documentaries—the truth—rubs off on pseudo-documentaries, despite our understanding of the pretense involved. That is what Øvredal delivered with Troll Hunter: a movie so convincing that some viewers wondered if trolls really do exist. So, had this been straightforwardly made, it likely wouldn’t have been as effective. Conventional narratives would be more inclined to treat something like trolls as flat out unreal, and never try to convince the audience to think otherwise.
Hans petrifies the three-headed Tusseladd troll.
The viewers, like the characters trailing Hans, are quickly thrown into the deeper end of that extraordinary story. They have to process all this new information while staying on the go. So, although there is no significant amount of meandering, narratively or physically, there is still a good amount of atmosphere, not to mention tension building. It’s never anything frightful, but then again, Troll Hunter isn’t your standard offering of horror; it’s more on the low end of the dark fantasy spectrum. We aren’t ever spirited away to a faraway world—we stay in rather familiar surroundings, as well as dip into those less so. The outcome is a movie where you’re constantly more in awe than in terror.
As fantasy fiction might do, Troll Hunter prefers not to deal with incredulity. There is no time to waste on doubt, as interviewer Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud), soundperson Johanna (Johanna Mørck), and cameraman Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen) all follow Hans around, recording whatever this character is willing to reveal about his bizarre job. Of course, the Troll Hunter himself is not an open book; in that respect, the diegetic documentary fails to fully capture and unpack the more interesting of its two subjects. Yes, all those giant, monstrous trolls are indeed incredible, but understandably, your mind wanders to their pursuer. What kind of person signs up for this gig and then chooses to stick with it for so long?
Reviews have called out Troll Hunter for its lack of character development. In regard to Thomas and his fellow documentarians, that criticism is valid, but bear in mind, they aren’t the focus of the story, either. Meanwhile, Hans is a well-crafted character. At least better than first realized. Before he was introduced, Hans had already grown tired of the troll grind. Fed up with that low compensation for his services, resentful of the bureaucracy, and wanting to expose his employer on a large scale, Hans’ discontent is glaring.
Then there are those finer details about the Troll Hunter, such as that indifference to both the natural splendor of his everyday surroundings and the affections of an obviously smitten colleague, that also suggest some level of despondency. So it is fair to say this movie doesn’t feature any sizable growth for its characters; however, the namesake isn’t underwritten. No doubt, putting a real-life character like Otto Jespersen in that role is partly why Hans is so fascinating—maybe even relatable.
Otto Jespersen as Hans the Troll Hunter.
There is always a small risk whenever using the term “mockumentary” to describe a found-footage movie, as the word could imply humor where there is none. In the case of Troll Hunter, the term’s usage is appropriate. Some folks have claimed the English-dubbed version has the more comedic tone, however, the Norwegian cut isn’t exactly humorless. Apart from the trolls’ absurd appearances, this is a movie where the characters nearly choke on the monsters’ farts, and Christians are like walking targets. Hans’ complete apathy towards everything is another cause of laughter. Overall, the comedy is intentionally dry and inconsistent. Unfunny, though? Absolutely not.
In a movie where endemic creatures are maltreated, as well as disavowed from living freely and peacefully, it’s hard not to notice the ecological message buried beneath the story. In addition to that is the unmistakable political satire. There is this whole business about intrusive and unsightly power lines—like trolls, they’re big blemishes on the land—that leads to what is perhaps the movie’s funniest moment. The scene in question is that one where certain electric lines, the ones secretly being used to keep the trolls at bay, go in a loop and don’t actually send power to any residents. Yet the monitors of said lines don’t find this at all weird. So it stands to reason that Øvredal was having a go at those who accept the government’s doings without question.
Looking past the fact that trolls aren’t actually real, this movie is an enlightening source of information. And not just for international audiences; Norwegians, too, get schooled about their homeland’s own mythology. It’s also evident from everything on screen that Øvredal and his crew were enthusiastic about the topic. The creature designs are the most indicative of that zeal; those imaginative yet myth-accurate manifestations are equally amusing and grotesque. One second you’re laughing at their phallic noses, the next you’re white-knuckling during a hairy sequence. Most surprisingly is how well the trolls’ visual effects hold up after fifteen years. It’s not all spotless, but on the whole, they remain impressive.
Vouching for a mockumentary about trolls isn’t easy, but those who do come around and give it a shot will more than likely be grateful for the recommendation. For Troll Hunter is a real find in that vast and varied genre we call “found footage“.
A bridge troll reaches up for food and finds Hans decked out in armor.
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