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Revenge of Iris. Gamera is back, the Gyaos have returned in greater numbers than before and once again they threaten all life in Japan. But this time they’re not alone. Iris, an old mythological monster – a legend, is awoken as a young girl discovers an egg in an ancient cave. The egg hatches and brings the baby Iris to life. Soon, however, it has grown to a gigantic size and threatens the world as...
Monster is Kiss’ last studio album. Unless if they don’t decide to make a comeback. But I doubt it. Three years before Kiss releases the excellent album Sonic Boom. It was an album that I found to be unexpectedly good and had catchy melodies. The expectations for this album were thus high. Surely the guys (who may not be guys anymore, at least not Gene and Paul) could deliver an album of the same caliber...
12 Angry Men is one of those films that is set in very few locations, or even just only one. They demand far more tension than other films. 12 Angry Men takes place almost entirely in a single room. I say “almost” because the beginning and the end don’t quite happen there. The film begins with a trial that has just concluded, and the jury is given its instructions. They are to gather in a...
8 Million Way to Die centers around Matthew Scudder portrayed by Jeff Bridges. He is a former cop who, due to his alcoholism, now has no real home, no wife, and no job. He’s enrolled in AA and is trying to put his life back on track. Out of nowhere, he’s approached by a high-end sex worker who asks for his help. She wants to quit but is terrified of her pimp—at least, that’s her...
Living Dark: The Story of Ted the Caver is a long title. It’s too long to repeat really. Therefore, I will refer to it simply as Living Dark from now on. Apparently, Ted the Carver is some kind of urban legend that I never heard about. When I read about it briefly I find that it originates from the early 2000s and is a text about someone exploring a cave. The further into it he...
Metal Pilgrim is essentially a YouTube channel that I have followed for a long time. Or at least that’s what I thought it was. I can tell you that it’s so much more. If it’s just this guy – Vlad Stadnyk, running the whole show is uncertain. I don’t know, but I think he’s at least the main part of the channel’s success. I want to include a disclaimer here since I don’t want to...
The Most Dangerous Game is indeed a classic story. I think I first came in contact with it in a book aimed at teens when I was a kid. Of course, I can’t remember the exact story, I’m way too old to remember that. But at least it was similar and I remember liking it pretty much. The story itself was first published in 1924 and was written by Richard Connell. I imagine the topic...
Terrifier 3 was a very anticipated film for me. The first two movies were such effective splatter-horror movies. They used the element of humor but was still pretty terrifying. I had high hopes for the third part, to say the least. And believe me, it’s brutal! But it also doesn’t make any sense. In the two first movies, there was still a believable story. There was something more than just gore- and splatter scenes. In...
Beetlejuice 2 is one of those sequels made way too many years after the original film premiered. It means that it becomes a difficult balancing act between being an original sequel and having enough nostalgia connected to the original film. There are other examples out there that struggled with the same dilemma. The most recent I’ve seen is probably Axel F which managed the balance pretty well. Also, the latest installment of Ghostbusters comes to...
We Need to Talk About Kevin is a really powerful movie, difficult to watch for sure. Right from the start we see this dreamlike imagery that we can’t make real sense of. Still, it sucks us in as we urge for the chance to see a glimpse of what it’s all about. It’s cleverly filmed, and Tilda Swinton does a fantastic job in the lead role! The essential story is about a mother trying her...
, Writer’s Block is something I suffer from time to time. It’s nothing I can predict in any way. I can go long periods of time when I write every day, and since I’ve writing this on Active Context you know what kind of texts I’m talking about. Here it’s all about haveing opinions on music, films or books. Ok, so I don’t write that much about books, but it has happened, and it will...
Virus of Violence is, as I understand it, the only full-length studio album by the Dutch band Desensitised. Of course, I never heard about them before. That makes the best kind of listening experience don’t you think? While doing a fast search there also seems to be an American band with the same name. This band allegedly changed its name to på Murder Syndicate in 2008. I haven’t heard anything about them either and I...
Melissa is the first album by Danish Heavy Metal band Mercyful Fate. They were in the foreground of the movement which would later be Black Metal—at least lyric-wise. If you compare this to the Norwegian Black Metal scene, Mercyful Fate seems pretty “un-extreme”. On the other hand, there’s no sound philosophy the same as that of Norwegian bands. Bot that Melissa sounds good, it’s not a well-produced album when you listen to it today. But...
