adventures in disaster

slasher films

I used to love slasher films. At first I loved the being terrified part. Anyone who is old enough to remember Karen Black being chased around her house by a tiny African kewpie doll with monstrous teeth and a tiny spear can get the holy shit that's scary thing. The it devolved into teenagers having sex is evil so they all must die thing. That was pretty scary too but more gory really. The focus became how can these evil sex crazed teenagers die ? How about scissors and axes? Then came Freddy.
I saw Nightmare On Elm Street and honestly I went right off scary movies. That movie was too scary. Everyone has had a funky, scary nightmare that stayed with them for days. The idea that you could die during that nightmare was too close to the reality of your feelings.
That movie has stayed with me. I never watched the sequels. It was unnecessary. I got the idea the first time and was sufficiently terrified, for a lifetime.

Tonight I broke my rule about slashers and scary movies. I watched House of Wax and I am a better human being for it. I did cheer out loud when Paris got the spear in the head. It was unavoidable, almost a reflexive response. The acting was terrible, the girls weren't all that pretty and the bad guys weren't remotely scary. But the idea of a remote abandoned little hamlet of wax people? That was great. The special effects were pretty cool. Seeing a melting house of wax and good guys and bad guys slipping and sinking was great.
I also enjoyed yelling at the TV. I talk to the people on my TV a lot. Mostly it's Wolf and Lou and foul language and name calling but with this movie I just yelled directions and instructions..like turn left you fool and holy shit start running already and duck! It was fun. I felt powerful, like I had real answers to a life threatening problem..and no one listened to damn word as usual.


An update on Darfur..a tentative bullshit peace plan that doesn't involve the janjaweed at all.
Wikipedia can give you a good introduction to the history of the janjaweed and their beginnings in Chad and Libya. The Sudanese government is helpless to control them and the fact that Sudan signed a peace deal means nothing. I believe the so called rebel groups should hold on until Musa Hilal the suspected leader of the janjaweed is brought to the table. Hopefully they will lope off Musas' head and that should make a decent start to peace.
I believe that the only solution is a little reverse ethnic cleansing here. There is no place in the world for the janjaweed, they are evil and must be exterminated like vermin. Once they are gone a real effort can begin to try and fix the broken borders, the hard feelings, the economic mess..people can go home again and rebuild.
There can be no peace until the janjaweed are gone. Meaning all dead, every last one of you raping, murdering bastards. You can count yourself lucky if your children survive you but I shudder to think what a janjaweed would spawn. Evil begets evil one should think, let's all hope I am wrong and we wont repeat this horror fifteen years from now when their spawn is old enough to rape and hold a gun.
Maybe we will get lucky and a stable, responsible government will be in Chad and the Sudan, smart and aware enough to thwart any attempts to overthrow their work.

Maybe I will win the lotto too. I'm not holding my breath.

posted by adventures in disaster @ 10:32 PM