Editorials
5 Horror Movies To Avoid On Valentine’s Day!!!
Assuming your date or significant other isn’t totally repulsed by the horror genre, a lot of our favorite films around here actually make for decent date movies. Especially suspenseful ones that feature scares and tension over gore. Hearts are racing, blood is pumping – your date may even be clutching your arm tighter than usual. It’s good stuff!
However, there are a few films you don’t EVER want to put on if you’re planning on getting intimate with someone. Movies you don’t show the object of your desire should you want a second date. Some stuff, when viewed within the context of a budding relationship or a romantic evening, just can’t be unseen.
Head below for 5 Horror Movies To Avoid On Valentine’s Day!!!
I dig a lot about director Eric England’s recent body horror homage. In fact, I like most of the films on this list. But that doesn’t mean it’s appropriate date material. IFC gave out condoms at the special screenings, and I guarantee you those are the least used prophylactics in the history of birth control. There’s not a pleasant sexual experience or healthy relationship in the entire film. Plus? Teeth. Cadavers. Maggots. Save it for the 15th.
Tom Six’s incendiary sequel isn’t exactly a study in bad sexuality. But it is a study in the amount of revolting things that can be done to (or with) the human body. I had trouble eating meat for three days after watching this. It features mouth upon anus stitching, diarrhea and rampant bludgeoning- just to get things started. But the film’s coup de grace is a shot of a newborn infant having its head crushed by the accelerator pedal of a car. Don’t watch it before dinner, don’t watch it before making your move, don’t watch it on this day ever.
If you haven’t seen Ben Wheatley’s wonderfully gory and funny comedy, it’s definitely required viewing. But again, not this Friday! There’s a chance your significant other will watch this, stewing the entire time about the mistakes you’ve made in your relationship that echo some of the selfish shenanigans Chris (Steve Oram) subjects Tina (Alice Lowe) to. As the film wears on we find out that Tina’s not exactly as innocent as she appears, but this brilliant depiction of a doomed romance reaches a pleasingly logical conclusion. And if you’ve been less than fair to your loved one, you don’t want them getting inspired.
Roman Polanksi’s 1968 masterpiece is, of course, a wonderful film. But it carries such a palpable sense of violation that I doubt anyone in the room will be in the mood for anything even remotely romantically inclined.
This movie isn’t gross or scary at all. In fact, it features some rather attractive people! But if you show this to someone, they will break up with you. I don’t care how much you like it, the very fact that you’re recommending it is a huge red flag. It doesn’t matter if it’s the first date or if we’re talking about your husband/wife/partner of 50 years. They will rethink the entire relationship and leave you that very night.
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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