The Michael Alarm

ARTICLE: "The shocking Victorian murder that showed Charles Dickens how to finish off poor Nancy"

2009-06-04T08:30:00.000-07:00

This article from The Guardian discusses the real-life grisly murder case that inspired Dickens to write Nancy's fictitious grisly murder in Oliver Twist.

The murder victim was one poetically named Eliza Grimwood, whose murder is described thusly:

"The evidence is compelling that Dickens had Grimwood in mind. Eliza, like Nancy, was half-dressed in bed, and both were forced to their knees by their killers. Eliza's murder was horrible in a different way - her throat was slashed before the killer stabbed her in the womb and breast areas and then attempted to chop her head off.

In both cases the killer brutalised the corpse. In both cases there is evidence to suggest the victim knew her killer. Neither screamed for help. In both cases the bloody aftermath is horrible. In Oliver Twist there is even blood on Sikes's dog, while Grimwood's squalid bedroom became a bloodbath."

They suspect that the killer was her pimp/lover/cousin, Hubbard, although that wasn't ever proven conclusively.

The point, however, was that Dickens wasn't being as outlandishly melodramatic with Nancy's death as he has often been accused of being. He in fact toned down the murder a bit. Imagine if he pulled a CSI-type move and made it more like Grimwood's. Oh, the shock!

[READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE]

VIDEO OF THE DAY: Workplace Safety

2009-04-23T15:37:00.000-07:00

It's important to take precautions when working around heavy machinery, right? Or, like a bunch of these guys, you can try basically shoving your arm straight in.

I seriously think these five minutes have as many ridiculous casualties as any really good slasher film, with just as much (if not more) splattering fake blood. Maybe it's just me, but I think this is really funny. I mean, unfortunate in the sense that such things actually happen, but really funny in the dramatic re-enactment department. Plus, most of these get no real explanation or background, so it's kind of like watching a string of non-sequiter B-movie deaths.

[FOUND HERE AT MENTAL_FLOSS, which also features a German forklift video and another (completely bloodless) workplace video.]

ARTICLE: "The Neuropsychology of Zombies" by Christopher Shea

2009-04-15T09:33:00.000-07:00

Well, you missed it, but on Monday night, Science on the Screen at the Coolidge Corner Theatre was showing Night of the Living Dead, preceded by a talk by Dr. Steven Schlozman, a psychiatry professor/zombie nut.

The gist of the talk centers on the ways in which Romero (and his fellow zombie filmmakers*) show their understanding of the workings of the human brain.

Anyway, the article brings up some interesting observations:

"And that's the crux of one of Schlozman's arguments: The story changes as the situation grows grimmer. Here, the professor draws on "mirror neuron" theory, which holds that humans are hard-wired to reflect the psychological states of the people around them. (Show a test subject a short film of a face displaying disgust, or pleasure, and regions of the brain associated with those feelings activate in the subject.)"

It almost convinces me that I could understand neuropsychology. But, of course, only if there are zombies involved.

[READ THE ARTICLE HERE.]

*These are--sadly--filmmakers who make films about zombies, not filmmakers who are themselves undead.

VIDEO OF THE DAY: Jason Voorhees, Benny Hill style

2009-04-15T09:21:00.000-07:00

So here's a bit of Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning sped up a bit and set to the Benny Hill theme. (Did you know that the song's actual title is "Yakety Sax?" Yeah, neither did I. But now we both do.)

I have a sneaking suspicion that people running around at high-speed to this music will always be okay by me. Especially since Jason Voorhees is borderline slapstick himself. You know, if you squint and replace the rubber chickens and pies with a machete.

MOVIE NEWS: Weird Al to be in Rob Zombie's "Halloween" Sequel

2009-04-14T21:54:00.000-07:00

So we know Rob is making a sequel to his remake of Halloween. That's no new news. What is, however, is the impending presence of Weird Al Yankovic. Read about it HERE at WorstPreviews.

(Click the image to enlarge it.)

POSTERS: Two Pretty Sweet Posters

2009-04-14T10:28:00.000-07:00

Firstly, this poster for an art show features some pretty awesome conjoined babies:

I love the watercolor painting (at least, I assume that's watercolor, because it sure looks like it), and the old-school carnival freak show look. Like a sircus poster meets tattoo art. Plus, you know, babies stitched together. Generally a pretty sweet poster.
[POSTER FOUND HERE.]

Secondly, this poster from the Phone Booth Gallery:

Maybe I like the old-school seventies-style look, vaguely punk rock, vaguely B-movie. Maybe I just love the phrase "Artwork & No Play," because sometimes puns are actually pretty great. Or maybe I just really, really want to go to an art show dedicated to The Shining.

ARTICLE: "Don't Fear the Reaper" by James Parker

2009-04-13T20:34:00.000-07:00

James Parker wrote an article for The Atlantic that explores the recent renaissance of the slasher genre, entitled "Don't Fear the Reaper." Which, okay, is arguably the most overused classic rock reference in the horror genre, but I guess if it ain't broke . . .

Anyway. He talks about the enduring appeal of the slasher film, etc, etc.

"Slasher films, as a consequence, have always done rather well. The classic slasher flick is produced at high speed, on a squeaker of a budget, and bows briefly for an anointing of critical scorn before going on to make piles of money. With a bit of luck, that critical scorn will be amplified into cultural censure—1980’s rape-revenge slasher, I Spit on Your Grave, for instance, was widely and windily reviled, to the enduring profit of its makers."

He then goes on to mention the fact that there's a remake of I Spit on Your Grave in the works, which begs a whole post unto itself. (How does one even try to remake that film? How are we expected to "update" it for today's audience? Because, honestly, updating is expected. Really, we could begin an endless discussion about remakes in general here . . .)

Maybe, as is suggested, the slasher genre endures because of its ability to pull in money. Maybe not. (He also touches on the Hostel and Saw franchises, bringing up the idea of "torture porn." Which, as you'll soon realize, isn't really my brand of movie. Give me Jason Voorhees over Jigsaw almost any day of the week.)

Parker's article is, however, definitely worth a read, doing homage to the guys this blog is more or less dedicated to:

"Your hockey-masked machete artists, your chain-saw assassins, are cinematic iterations of an ancient and venerated principle. If they unsettle, if they horrify, if they augur the end of the Western world, they’re only doing their job. They are a company, a guild. Leatherface, Jason, Michael Myers, Freddy, Jigsaw, and the sportsmen of Elite Hunting—traditionalists to a man."

[READ THE ARTICLE HERE.]