Editorials
The 13 Most Disturbing Horror Movie Moments of 2016!
Breaking an Arm – Green Room
Jeremy Saulnier’s follow-up to Blue Ruin is a wild thrill ride that never stops. After a punk rock band witnesses a murder in a dive bar owned by a bunch of Nazis (led by Patrick Stewart), they hole themselves up in the films titular location and try to survive. One of those attempts goes horribly awry when they crack open the door during a conversation with Stewart’s villain. This turns out to be a terrible decision, as Pat (the late Anton Yelchin) has his arm severed at the wrist. As if that visual wasn’t bad enough, the snapping sound another character’s arm makes when it is broken is even worse.
Sophie’s Choice – The Other Side of the Door
The Other Side of the Door came and wend without any fanfare back in March, and while it isn’t a great film, it’s a serviceable supernatural thriller with one of the most idiotic protagonists ever put in film. That being said, the film’s first act contains a harrowing flashback scene in which the Maria (The Walking Dead‘s Sarah Wayne Callies) drives her car into a body of water with her son and daughter strapped in the back seat. With no time to save both of her children, she chooses to save her daughter before she is pulled out of the water. She must then watch her car sink with her son still trapped inside. It’s a breathtaking sequence that is scarier than any of the ghouls that pop up later in the film.
Not that Kind of Baby Shower – Bite
Word to the wise: don’t watch Bite while you’re eating. In the film, Casey (Elma Begovic) returns home from a bachelorette party in Costa Rica with a strange bite on her leg. In the days that follow she slowly begins to become more and more bug-like. The below scene is actually a dream sequence, but it doesn’t stop it from being any less gross. As Casey walks into a surprise baby shower, hundreds of orange bug eggs fall out of her vagina and pile onto the floor. It’s very gooey.
The Rules of Real Estate – I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House
“I have heard myself say that house with a death in it can never again be bought or sold by the living. It can only be borrowed from the ghosts who have stayed behind.” So says Lily (Ruth Wilson) who we learn will not make it to the end of the film alive. The opening sequence in Osgood (son of Anthony) Perkins’s I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives In the House is not disturbing so much as it is haunting. Lily’s chilling monologue goes on for over two minutes as a ghostly figure slowly moves across the pitch black screen. It sets the tone for the rest of the film and, in its simplicity, sends a chill down the spine.
Up Next: A Turkey Baster, a Demon and One Dead Baby
Editorials
‘The Vampire Lestat’ Concert Event Launches New Season With The Ultimate Expression Of Fandom
There are thousands of passionate fans decked out in gothic chic and champing at the bit like feral creatures. They’re screaming for Lestat, a legendary vampire-turned-rock star, as if the entire crowd has been glamored into submission.
The entire experience is magic, but not because some supernatural thrall has been activated. What’s going on is even more special. It’s the power of the effusive fandom that’s been authentically assembled by AMC’s sublime Immortal Universe, namely Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, now, The Vampire Lestat.
The Vampire Lestat is far from the first Anne Rice adaptation, and it’s not as if there’s been a lack of erotic vampire material for audiences to sink their teeth into. On June 2nd, during a one-night-only spectacle, New York City’s prestigious Beacon Theatre shook from Sam Reid’s bravado performance and an audience full of adoring fans who had already memorized Lestat’s songs.
It’s clear that The Vampire Lestat just hits differently than its predecessors. It’s become more than just a TV series at this point, and this opulent display of ego, swagger, and pure sex is the perfect way to premiere the new season and give back to the fans who helped make Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat such a breakout success. It’s exactly the sort of hyperbolized hedonism that would make Lestat cackle.
For all intents and purposes, AMC has successfully created the illusion that this concert/premiere is just one of the many destinations on Lestat and his band’s 54-stop tour that is simultaneously playing out on this season of television. It’s such a sophisticated and thorough level of interactive fan engagement that the audience doesn’t just understand, but also manages to accentuate through its involvement.
It’s a level of seamless synergy that’s not unlike the give-and-take relationship of vampire and victim.
Before the concert started, “LeStans” were sitting in the Beacon and flipping through a fake Rolling Stone issue with Lestat emblazoned on the cover, complete with interviews with the undead frontman inside. Other fans were admiring the vinyl pressing of Lestat’s EP as they walked past a section of undead band merch. Fandom and fantasy blur together, and it all becomes this elaborate, immersive experience. Fan celebration, erotic gothic fantasy, and a lavish rock concert transform into one beautiful thing.
To this point, AMC Global Media’s Chief Content Officer and President of AMC Studios, Dan McDermott, introduced the event by reiterating to fans, “You are the heartbeat of the series.” That’s abundantly clear on nights like this as that heartbeat collectively pulses to this performance. In terms of how AMC engages with The Vampire Lestat’s fans, it’s as bold a reinvention as the season itself.
This intuitive gamble speaks to AMC’s creativity in this department and a fandom that is eager to seize such opportunities. It’s the same innovation that led to zombie walks for The Walking Dead and real-life Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant pop-ups from Breaking Bad. It’s a great way to pump up the audience for The Vampire Lestat and then maintain that enthusiasm for the whole season.
For most series, a rock ‘n’ roll concert just doesn’t make any sense as a promotional tool. The Vampire Lestat finds itself in a very unique position where it can deliver an excellent concert at an iconic theater, but also use it to showcase The Vampire Lestat’s music by Daniel Hart (who was shredding on stage alongside Reid and the rest of their band) and, more than anything, Sam Reid’s endless charisma.
The way in which Reid feeds off of the crowd’s energy, modulating his performance and giving different sections of the Beacon life, is a perfect distillation of the series’ thoughtful relationship with its audience and how it’s become such a breakout success for AMC. AMC Studios President Dan McDermott emphasized that the fans are the reason that the show is still here and why an event like this is even possible. It’s rare to see a series in which every single cog in the machine is so perfectly attuned to its fans. Reid’s fans already cheer whenever they see him, so why not translate that to a concert setting?
It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.
Now bring on the encore and get this show on the road!
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