Sunday, February 08, 2009

Link proliferation: I'm telling her every lie that you know that I never did.


You're not from around here


B-Sol of VoH, nationally and internationally known as the hardest working man in the list making business, has posted a ranking of the best foreign horror flicks of all time.

Here's the bottom 10. The number one is a bit of a truly unexpected upset.

10. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) – Germany
11. Audition (1999) – Japan
12. The Host (2006) – South Korea
13. Zombi 2 (1979) – Italy
14. Dead Alive (1992) – New Zealand
15. Ringu (1998) – Japan
16. Inside (2007) – France
17. [REC] (2007) – Spain
18. Shaun of the Dead (2004) – United Kingdom
19. Wolf Creek (2005) – Australia
20. The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) – United Kingdom

Not even a nice place to visit


Foreign Policy follows up with a completely different kind of list. Here's the worst prisons in the world, including Israel's Camp 1391, the officially non-existent "Gitmo" of Israel, and Equatorial Guinea's Black Beach prison, where, according to Amnesty International, incarceration is essentially "a slow, lingering death sentence."

Oddly, one of the worst prisons in the world can be found in Paris. Here's FP's description of France's La Santé prison: a little slice of Hell nestled right in the City of Lights.

The last remaining prison in Paris -- it's located near the Montparnasse area -- was established in 1867 and has housed everyone from surrealist poet Guillaume Apollinaire to legendary assassin Carlos the Jackal. The prison's name, which means "health," might seem ironic considering the conditions inside. Mattresses are infested with lice, and because prisoners are only allowed two cold showers per week, skin diseases are common. Overcrowded cells, rat infestations, rape, and the humiliation of prisoners' families were also common.

In 1999 there were 124 suicide attempts in La Santé, almost five times as many as in California's entire prison system during the same period. These facts only became available in 2000 when the head surgeon of the prison, Véronique Vasseur, published a bestselling book chronicling abuses in the prison. The book caused an uproar and a celebrity campaign to improve prisons throughout France, but little in the way of progress. France's prison conditions were condemned by the U.N. Human Rights Committee and the country's own minister of justice in 2008.


Satan is real



The music blog Aquarium Drunkard had is offering a free mp3 of the Louvin Brothers' famous tune "Satan is Real," from the cult album of the same name. From AD's intro:

The Louvin Brothers’ album Satan Is Real is without a doubt the Rosetta stone of fire and brimstone country gospel. Released in 1960, wrapped up in quite possibly the greatest iconic album cover of all time, the LP pulled no punches.

I like that polyester look

This has crap all to do with horror, but since we're talking music, the 20th anniversary (yes, you're that old) remastered edition of the Beastie Boy's Paul's Boutique is now available for listening enjoyment. And that's awesome.

Here's the video for "Hey Ladies."



Grandpa Jason walkers his way back to Crystal Lake




The Old Gray Lady takes on the George Burns of horror icons in a NY Times fluff piece about the F13 reboot. Most telling line:

“There’s a tremendous benefit to staying in the same genre and producing movies for the same amount of money over and over,” said Mr. Fuller, “because you really learn who your key players are and how best to work with them.”

"Over and over" indeed.

Recently, a reviewer praising the My Bloody Valentine remake ended his positive review with the line: "Sure more can always be asked for, but more shouldn’t be expected." That should become the official tagline of the slasher film revival.

All praise to Doug Savage, artist behind the Savage Chickens web comic.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Come for the horror, stay for the brass monkey..

CRwM said...

Or at least the(b-boy) bouillabaisse.

spacejack said...

Hmm, I think I almost would've reversed the positions of Let the Right One In and Heavenly Creatures.

CRwM said...

Screamin' Spacey,

I don't know that I would put Creatures on top, but I too am a wee bit baffled by Right One sitting in the catbird seat.