The Bob White Object

This was featured on the History Channel's UFO Hunters and wanted to see what you thought. Do you believe it or not?



Bob White Object

Freaky Flicks: Coming Soon To A Theater Near You!

I thought it might be neat to put a little upcoming release date blog on here for new freaky flicks soon to be blessing us at the cinemas! Me personally, I'm quickly growing tired of the crap horror movies they keep releasing because usually they are ALL the same. We get more re-make slasher flicks or torture porn flicks these days then classic horror movies. Some of them end up being good, but eh, I don't know, I'm growing tired. But at that rate, some people do enjoy those types of movies. So here are some upcoming spook fests soon to be released in theaters.

Halloween II - Rated R - 1 hour 41 minutes - Releases August 28th, 2009

Personally I will not pay to see this film. Someone will have to pay a pretty penny to get me to see this crap fest. I hated the first Rob Zombie remake, and I will probably hate this one more. Basically it's the continuation from the first film in 2007. This one follows Michael Myers on his deadly pursuit of his sister Laurie Strode. Meanwhile Doctor Loomis still tries to bring Michael down to reality and make him stop his nonsense. (that last part was kind of a joke). Should be another gore fest aka bore fest. Way to trash a classic horror series!

The Final Destination: 3D - Rated R - 1 hour 22 minutes - Releases August 28th, 2009

Again, I am not going to see this probable piece of film sewage. I really enjoyed the first one, but the second one was pretty bad in my eyes. I never cared to see the third, and I will not ever see this one. It basically follows the same exact formula as the rest: a character has a premonition about a horrible tragedy then warns everyone to leave before it happens. He saves his friends lives, only to learn that they cheated death and now Death is on a vengeful tear to kill everyone who was supposed to die. This time they die is extremely ridiculous ways, blah blah blah. I'll pass!

Carriers - Rated PG-13 - Unknown running time - Releases September 4th, 2009

This one is about four young people who speed across the Southwestern U.S. in a desperate attempt to outrun a viral pandemic. Over the course of a few days, tough moral decisions will have to be made if they have any chance at survival. This is one of those doomed PG-13 rated horror flicks. Usually they cut out the gore and language and make for a not so "scary" horror movie. For me though, I don't mind. I feel like it gives more chance to focus on tension and story. However, I don't really know if I will see this one because we've seen this storyline many times before.

Sorority Row - Rated R - 1 hour 41 minutes - Releases September 11th, 2009

This one tells the tale of a group of sorority girls pledge to keep mum on the accidental death of one of their sisters; after graduation, however, they find themselves stalked by a serial killer who seems bent on eliminating anyone who knows their secret. This is another one I'll definitely pass on. It sounds way to much like the I Know What You Did Last Summer series...which was just OK.

Jennifer's Body - Rated R - 1 hour 42 minutes - Releases September 18th, 2009

Gee this looks awesome! It's about a cheerleader at a small Midwestern high school becomes possessed by a demon and sets out to kill off all the guys in town. I was kidding about the awesome part. This movie looks so dumb! For some reason it has a lot of hype, and I think it's mainly because it stars Megan Fox (Transformers series) and all the dudes just love to oogle at her...well...not this dude. I'm skippin' it!

Paranormal Activity - Not Rated at the moment - 1 hour 39 minutes - Tentative release date of September 25th, 2009
There are some rumors floating around online backed up by semi-credible sources that this film is finally getting a release date in 2009! It's been a movie 2 years in the making and is one of the most anticipated horror/ghost flicks in years! It was a movie shown at a horror film festival a few years back and it got RAVE reviews, some people calling it the scariest film ever made. Others said it is this generations The Exorcist. It's about a couple who start to experience strange happenings in their home and so they record the events and what they captured was edited into a 99 minute film. This is a paranormal ghost movie to the max. It is all done with the handheld/digital camera trick. A large movie studio loved this film and bought the rights to it and planned to completely remake it and release it. Now it's been said that they just plan to release the original one. We will see if it actually comes out next month. If it does...I am SO there!

Whiteout - Rated R - 1 hour 41 mintues - Releases September 25th, 2009

This is also a movie I am looking forward to! It's not really a paranormal movie, but it is a "dark" film about a killer on the loose. It's plot: At the McMurdo Station in Antarctica, U.S. Marshal Carrie Stetko (played by Kate Beckinsale) looks to identify and capture a killer before the sun sets for six months. I think it looks pretty interesting, and I love a good crime thriller! I don't know if it will be scary at all...but who knows!

Pandorum - Rated R - Unknown running time - Releases September 25th, 2009

This one falls into our genre of blogging...it's about space and I for one think it sounds kind of neat. Not all that original...but it's something I wouldn't mind seeing in theaters. It's about a pair of crew members aboard a spaceship who wake up with no knowledge of their mission or their identities. I saw the preview, and it looks like a movie that will probably end up being bad but come on it has Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster...it has to be kind of good right??

Zombieland - Rated R - Unknown running time - Releases October 2nd, 2009
OK, this is more of a comedy I know...but hey some people might get freaked out by it. It's a horror-comedy alright?? How can you wrong with Woody Harrelson? Even Bill Murray has a role in the movie! In a world overrun by zombies, a guy described as "the most frightened person on Earth" musters the courage to lead a band of refugees on a cross-country pilgrimage to an amusement park where they think they'll be safe. The preview looks funny! I want to see it! Yeah, it does kind of look like Shaun of the Dead...a lot...which was a great movie...but I don't care, this one still looks pretty cool.

The Stepfather - Rated PG-13 - Unknown running time - Releases October 16th, 2009

Storyline: Michael Harding returns from military school to find his mother living with her new boyfriend. As the two men get to know each other, Michael becomes suspicious of the man in his mother's life: Is he really the man of her dreams, or could David be hiding a dark side? OK first of all this movie sounds identical to a movie that came out earlier this year (The Uninvited...a movie I very much liked...to my surprise). Second of all I don't think it looks close to being as good as Uninvited. This movie looks a bit cheesy I have to say. I probably won't check this one out.

Saw VI - Rated R - Unknown running time - Releases October 23rd, 2009.

I cannot believe that there have been FIVE sequels since the first film!! That blows me away. I have not seen anything past the second one nor will I EVER! This series needs to die already. But I already know that Saw VII is in the works for next year (this is a fact, not sarcasm). These movies are just ridiculous! The first one was awesome...it needed to stop there. These are just torture porn movies now that I have no reason to exist. Here's the stupid plot if you care: Special Agent Strahm is dead, and Detective Hoffman has emerged as the unchallenged successor to Jigsaw's legacy. However, when the FBI draws closer to Hoffman, he is forced to set a game into motion, and Jigsaw's grand scheme is finally understood. Boo!

The Box - Rated PG-13 - 1 hour 55 minutes - Releases November 6th, 2009
For a movie that stars Cameron Diaz and James Marsden...this looks really cheeseball! I watched the preview a few weeks back and the production value looks borderline straight-to-dvd material. It is about a young couple is gifted with a mysterious box that promises them a handsome windfall with deadly consequences. There is a button inside, and once they press it someone on the planet will die (and they don't know who). I don't know...this movie could be somewhat OK, so I may check it out. I just have this feeling though that it's totally corny!

So that is a list of some upcoming freaky-ish flicks that will be coming out for the rest of the year. I'm sorry there are no pictures, there would just be to many for me to add on here...and I'm feeling a tad lazy. But each title is a link to the IMDB page for each film. Hope ya like the blog!

--Mike--

The Dried Roses

Many strange things happened after April, her boyfriend, and her roommates messed with the Ouija board. This incident is just another one. One evening, April was alone in the apartment and reading in her bedroom. Next to her bed on the nightstand was a vase with a dozen dried roses she saved from a special occasion. While trying to read, she kept hearing footsteps in the hallway. The footsteps would not let up and she started hearing other noises as well. It sounded like things were being moved, like furniture sliding across the floor. April yelled out and got no answer. Frightened and unsure of what was going on, she managed to muster up some bravery and went to investigate the noises. She started in the living room, then the kitchen and moved down the hall to the bedrooms. She was yelling “hello” and hoping to get an answer from a roommate, but heard nothing. After checking out her roommates’ bedrooms, she looked in the bathroom and found nothing there as well. The apartment door was locked as well as the sliding glass door, and no one else was in the apartment with her. She went back to the kitchen, got something to drink and headed back to her bedroom. As she got near her door, she saw the dozen dried roses lying in the center of her doorway as if someone put them there. Completely startled and scared, she turned around, got her keys and left the apartment. She called her roommates and told them what happened and to call her when they were headed home. She would wait for them outside and they would all go in together. When she finally got back inside the apartment, the roses were still there in the doorway. After that incident and many other strange occurrences, they decided it was time to move.

This is the last of the stories April told me. I am hoping to get with her soon to hear some more.
~~Julie~~

Freaky Flicks Special: Those Creepy Little Bastards!

So you all know by now that I am a movie guy. I love to write about movies, and this is why I do the Freaky Flicks segments on our blog. Usually I will write about some scary movie or a movie that's at least related to our topics. On occasion I like to write about certain freaky movie aspects and today I am choosing to blog about all those creepy, sinister or downright eerie little kids we have seen so frequently in film over the years! Not all of them are evil per say, some are innocent but still have this freakishness to them. I have selected 10 and here they are in no particular order:

1. Cole Sear from The Sixth Sense
Age: 9
Freaky Level: 4 out of 10
Guilty Of: Just trying to be a kid and trying to fit in with other kids his age. But he is constantly pestered by those damn ghosts he can see that no one else can.
Defining Moment: Helping Malcolm realize who and what he really was.
Evilest Moment: Stealing those church figurines...how dare he! Hehe.
Creepiest Quote: "I see dead people..."

2. Alien children from Village of the Damned
Age: 12ish
Freaky Level: 8 out of 10
Guilty Of: Being alien demon children who brain wash the adults into killing themselves in horrific ways in some kind of plot to dominate the world. Oh yeah...they use their glowing orange eyes to peer into peoples minds. Their white hair does not make them cute in the least.
Defining Moment: When they were all "conceived" at the same time by a weird force that knocked the entire town out and impregnated all the women.
Evilest Moment: Forcing the poor old janitor to jump off the rooftop of the school and driving a broom stick through his chest and landing on the windshield of a car.
Creepiest Quote: "Emotion is irrelevant...it is not our nature."

3. Regan MacNeil from The Exorcist
Age: 11ish
Freaky Level: 10 out of 10
Guilty Of: Letting a demon take over her body and hurl awful obsenities at her elders.
Defining Moment: When the demon finally showed itself through her by cussing out her mother and throwing her across the room. She's probably the creepiest kid in the history of film!
Evilest Moment: When she "masturbated" with the cross and said "F**k me" over and over to the doctors. Or when she tried to get inside Father Karras' head by channeling his dead mother.
Creepiest Quote: "Your mother sucks c**k in hell Karras, you faithless slime" to me...that's just downright evil!

4. Carol Anne Freeling from Poltergeist
Age: 7ish
Freaky Level: 5 out of 10
Guilty Of: Watching way to much TV and sitting way to close to the set! Doesn't she know that can make you blind...AND sucked in by a demonic ghost! She caused so much chaos by having her parents freak out and having them hire ghost experts and mediums to help get her back from the "other side".
Defining Moment: When her mom used her as a prop to slide across the kitchen floor by some unseen force. How nonchalant she was about the whole thing was great. Just defined the kind of little girl she was...cute and innocent.
Evilest Moment: If being a cute, adorable little girl is considered evil...then I don't know what is good in this world!
Creepiest Quote: "They're heeeerrrreee." probably one of the creepiest quotes in horror movie history!

5. Henry Evans from The Good Son
Age: 12
Freaky Level: 9 out of 10
Guilty Of: Being a sadistic, evil, creepy and awful young man who gets thrills out of hurting and even killing animals and people. Killing his baby brother by drowning him. Trying to kill his younger sister by throwing her into thin ice. Trying to kill his own mother! And all the while acting all sweet and innocent while his cousin Mark seems like the crazy one! What a bastard!
Defining Moment: When Mark first realizes something is wrong with Henry. It's when Mark shoots and kills a dog with this home made bolt gun and gets a smile out of it.
Evilest moment: Hmm, maybe it's when he threw Mr. Highway off the bridge and caused a ten car pile up injuring several people. Or how about when he tries to push his own mother off of a cliff?
Creepiest Quote: When Mark slips and almost falls to his death on the treehouse, Henry catches him and says, "If I let you go, do you think you can fly?" and has the creepy smile. What a son of a bitch!

6. Tomas in The Orphanage (El Orfanato)
Age: Unknown
Freaky Level: 7 out of 10
Guilty Of: Messing with and haunting young Simon and leading him to dark places. Eventually preys on Simon's mother Laura.
Defining Moment: When he first made himself known by "communicating" with Simon in the cave on the beach and we assume he picked up all of Simon's "breadcrumbs" and left them nicely on the front door landing.
Creepiest Moment: When he "attacked" Laura in the hallway and in the bathroom. This is when we first "see" Tomas and he's wearing that very creepy sack over his head. He just stands there...and tilts his head a little. It was so freaky!
Creepiest Quote: He does not speak a line in the film.

7. The Grady Twins in The Shining
Age: 6 or 7
Freaky Level: 10 out of 10
Guilty Of: Haunting Danny in the hallways of the Overlook Hotel. Only have but two whole scenes in one of the greatest horror films ever made.
Defining Moment: When Danny turns the corner on his big wheel and they are standing there at the end of the hallway looking very creepy in their cute little dresses.
Evilest Moment: When they start talking to Danny in their little ghostly voices in the hallway scene or when we see brief flashes of their corpses later in the film.
Creepiest Quote: "Hello Danny, come play with us. Come play with us Danny, forever and ever...and ever." Shiver.

8. Samara Morgan from The Ring
Age: 8 or 9
Freaky Level: 8 out of 10
Guilty Of: Having one hell of an awful mother. Her mom smothered her and threw her down a well where she eventually died 7 days later after scratching at the walls. Now she leaves a ghostly life of torment, killing people, 7 days after they watch this mysterious tape. She makes people look downright nasty when she kills them! Just look at their faces!
Defining Moment: When we learn of her life through Rachel's investigation and we see how she was killed and for a moment...we feel for her.
Evilest Moment: When we see her crawl out of that well for the first time and then crawl out of the TV...that was some spooky crap! Not to mention her slew of kills! That is one vengeful bitch!
Creepiest Quote: "Seven days...." over the phone with that creepy whisper.

9. Danny Lloyd from The Shining
Age: 5 or 6
Freaky Level: 5 out of 10
Guilty Of: Having some kind of connection to the "other side" and can see visions and images of the people or things that lurk in the Overlook Hotel. His father eventually goes insane and tries to kill Danny.
Defining Moment: When we first learn of Danny's abilities when he is talking with Mr. Hallorann who also shares some of the same abilities. When we first hear his creepy voice and his finger puppet.
Evilest Moment: Easy. When he walks around chanting "Redrum" in that freaky raspy voice and carves it into the door. Later to reveal "Redrum" is "Murder" backwards.
Creepiest Quote: "Redrum! Redrum! REDRUM!"

10. Voices of "Billy" and "The Princess" and the demon "Simon" from Session 9
Age: Unknown
Freaky Level: 9 out of 10
Guilty Of: Technically these aren't kids we ever see. And the voices are actually coming from an adult who has multiple personalities. But the personalities are of children and the voices sounds like kids. So they are guilty of channeling themselves through this woman in a very creepy way and freaking me the hell out!
Defining Moment: When we first learn of Mary's past through these kiddy voices, explaining how Mary stabbed her brother to death with a very large knife.
Evilest Moment: When they are explaining the murder of Mary's brother. Also when Simon takes over (his voice is more masculine though, not so much a kid).
Creepiest Quote: "Because Mary let me in doc. They always do...they always do."

Well that is my personal top ten. Keep in mind I have actually never seen the original "Omen" nor have I seen movies like "Hide and Seek", "Birth", "Orpah" who all have creepy kids in them.

--Mike--

Fiji Mermaid

I enjoy finding stories about unusual creatures that have been found or people are still on the hunt trying to find. This caught my eye. The Fiji mermaid, or also referred to as Feejee mermaid, was a mummified body that looked half mammal and half fish.

In 1842, Moses Kimball brought the creature to P.T. Barnum’s attention. They formed a written agreement that Barnum would advertise it as a mermaid with Kimball getting $12.50 a week and remain owner of the creature. Barnum called his creature “The Feejee Mermaid” and told all that the mermaid was caught by a Dr. J. Griffin. There were stories of another mermaid called the “Banff Merman”, which was on display at the Indian Trading Post. P.T. Barnum claimed that it was a torso of a monkey sewn to a back half of a fish and had many people believing him.

For several centuries, mermaids have been a part of entertainment shows. It wasn’t until P.T. Barnum’s exhibit of the Fiji mermaid, they became popular with many others putting them in their attractions, even Robert Ripley. Barnum took his little creature all over the United States until the 1860’s when a fire destroyed his museum and his attraction was lost. The exhibit is now housed in the attic of the Harvard University’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.

There have been many claims that P.T. Barnum’s Fiji mermaid was fake with many shows and documentaries trying to prove it so. Whatever the claims are, many believe that Barnum had a mummified body of a real mermaid.

The Fiji mermaid lives on today. It was featured in an episode of The X-files, made into a game by Wizkids and in Rob Zombie’s “House of 1000 Corpses”, one of the characters is killed and turned into the Fiji mermaid through taxidermy.

Tombstone’s Merman
This one I have seen with my own eyes and have the picture to prove it. This creepy looking mummified creature is in a glass box, near the entrance of the Bird Cage Theatre’s display room. Many wonder how a mermaid would be found in the desert, so far from a body of water. The best explanation is that sometime in 1934 someone donated it to the Bird Cage Theatre’s tiny little museum. Whatever it is and however it got there, it is a weird little artifact.

~~Julie~~

Mother Nature's Best

(From National Geographics Best Photos)

Check their website for more: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/

Episode Two: Above the Norm or Below the Norm?

OK I know it's been a long time since I did one of these...but I'm back with it! This is another edition of Above the Norm/Below the Norm...this time with EVP's! A lot of them are from Ghost Hunters, but I also threw in a couple random ones! So what do you think? Real or fake?


1. Some kind of weird chant?



I think this one sounds pretty creepy...to me it sounds legit. I say: Real!

2. "Why Me".



Eh, I don't know. It sounds like it could go either way but for some reason I want to say it's fake.

3. Ghost Hunters famous Stanley Hotel girl EVP.



When I saw this on the live show...it creeped me the hell out!! This has got to be real though!

4. "They call me Gritch..."



I kind of hear the work "prick" at the end. I don't know. I have a hard time believing these random ones, but I think this one sounds kind legit. Call me crazy! I say: real!

5. "He learned a trick..."



I'm not really buying this one. I say: Fake!

6. Ghost Hunters - Princess are you there?



Oh, this one gave me the heebie jeebies! It's so clear!!! I totally say: real!

7. Ghost Hunters - "Leave me alone..."



Doesn't this kind of sound like Jigsaw from the "Saw" movies. Listen I love the Ghost Hunters..but part of me thinks this one sounds like a recording...please don't shoot me! I say: fake.

8. Ghost Hunters - "I like the one with the hat..."



I'm a little concerned by the fact that they actually heard this one. But to me it sounded like an actual person was in there, and didn't really sound like a recording. I say: real!

9. Ghost Hunters - "You're not supposed to be here..."



Yikes, this one sounds super scary! However, to me it sounds like a recording. They hear it twice in this clip...pay attention, both times sound EXACTLY the same. I say: fake.

10. Ghost Hunters - "There is no Jean..."



This EVP said "there is no jean..." and hell, I believed him! I say: real!

Well that's it for now! What do you guys think??

--Mike--

Jerome, Arizona: The Ghost City

Between Flagstaff, and Prescott, Arizona, built on Cleopatra Hill, is the quaint little town of Jerome. This town was once a booming copper mining community and is now a tranquil place where artists live and sell their artwork in houses and stores that they renovated.

History:Jerome is a copper mining town and was founded in 1876. It was made up of many different characteristics of people, seeking riches from the mines below. The international blend of people made life in Jerome thrilling and lively. It began with three prospectors laying claim on the copper deposits they found. They then sold out to a group that formed the United Verde Copper Company in 1883. The mining camp consisted of wood and canvas cabin/shacks and was named after Eugene Jerome, who was the principal backer. Only two years later, the company had to shut down because of the high cost of operations. A new owner took over named William A. Clark. He added a narrow gauge railroad to reduce freight costs. By the 20th century, the United Verde was the largest producing copper mine in the Arizona Territory. The canvas cabins were no longer and replaced by brick and framed buildings. Jerome had churches, schools, theatres, hotels, shops and a civil center making it a place where many wanted to live. In 1912, James S. Douglas, started the Little Daisy Mine. By 1916, Jerome had two mines that had an abundant amount of copper minerals, boasting billions of dollars in profit by investors and financers. Jerome was hit with many fires but was always rebuilt. In 1918, with several fires in the tunnels and dynamiting cracking the buildings and causing the ground to shift, the mines took an enormous beating. The Little Daisy Mine shut down in 1938 and Phelps-Dodge took over the United Verde in 1935. In 1953, with copper prices continuously rising and falling and the loss of profits, Jerome’s copper mines shut down for good.

In 1929 the population peaked at 15,000 and was down to about 50 souls living there by the late 1950’s. Today, this peaceful community is thriving thanks to the writers, artists, musicians, historians and families that call Jerome home.

Ghosts Sightings and Haunts:The Community Center has a ghost of a prostitute that has been seen walking in front of the building.
At The Connor Hotel, a couple with their dog had reported that they had some strange experiences. They said that they experienced a sudden drop in temperature, the coffee pot turning itself off, all their batteries that ran their devices were drained and their dog being spooked by a shadow figure on the wall.
At The Jerome Grand Hotel, a woman in white has been seen roaming the halls and a nurse with a clipboard has been seen in some of the rooms. Late in the night, a ghostly child has been seen running through the bar area looking for his mother. Also, a screaming head and several apparitions have been seen on a regular basis in various areas of the hotel.
The Grand Motel was once a hospital/insane asylum. It has had many different occurrences from the lights turning on with no electricity fueling them and phantom hounds that are five feet high making themselves known to others.
The Ghost City Inn had many uses, including being used as a funeral home. A female spirit has shown herself to visitors in the Cleopatra Room.
The Old Episcopal Church has a white misty figure that appears there.
Inn at Jerome is located on Main Street and boast a phantom cat that roams the halls and sometimes leaves an indention on the bed where it sleeps. Maids have reported seeing objects being moved when nobody was there. The armoire in the Lariat and Lace Room at one time has had its door fly off its hinges.

With all the many people that lived in Jerome's past, it looks like some of their spirits have chosen to stay.

After the Ouija Board: The Mysterious Call

Another evening shortly after April, her boyfriend and two roommates played with an Ouija board, they had another weird and creepy incident happen. It was very late in the night, one of her roommates was sleeping and the other wasn’t home from her night out yet. While April and her boyfriend were also sleeping, her roommate came home. Right after hearing the apartment door shut, April heard her cell phone ringing in the living room. She looked at the clock and noticed it was 3:00 am, and got up thinking that the call could be an emergency. As she was walking down the hall, her roommate came by and said that it was Kelly calling because she saw her name on the phone. Right when April was about to grab the phone, it stopped ringing. She picked it up and checked her missed calls, and saw that Kelly indeed called her at 3:00 am. She immediately called her back and was very worried about why she would call so late. On the other end of the phone she heard a very groggy “hello” from Kelly. April waited for a second for her to explain the call but she just asked April, what was up. April asked, “Why did you call me”. Surprised, Kelly responded with, “You called me”. Completely confused at this time, April decided it would be best to talk about it in the morning. The two girls hung up and right afterwards April could hear her boyfriend calling her name very faintly from the bedroom. When she walked in the room, she saw him sitting up at the end of the bed, pale as a ghost. He told her that a white mist formed in the doorway shortly after she left, and then sudden rushed towards him. He was so scared that he couldn’t move or speak for a few minutes. Then he told her that he felt the mist was evil, like it was the devil, and it lured her out of the room with the phone call. He continued to say that it wanted him to be alone, so it could attack him. April was not sure of what it could have been, but knows that he experienced something extremely frightening. They stayed up the rest of the night, not getting any sleep. The next day, April checked her phone before calling Kelly and noticed that the missed call she saw last night, was no longer there. Both her and her roommate saw Kelly’s name on the phone and under the missed calls, but it was no where on her phone. So why wasn’t it on the phone the next day? Was it the devil making the call to get her out of the room so he could attack her boyfriend? Who knows?

Freaky Flicks: Session 9

Hey readers, Mike here! I regret to say that I have encountered some recent severe writers block with the story I was posting on here. I'm not giving up on it, but I need some time now to think about where I want to go with it. Stay tuned for more soon...I hope.

Session 9

"I live in the weak and the wounded...doc."

In the mean time, I wanted to post an article, another one in my Freaky Flicks series. This time I'm writing about a little known horror-thriller called "Session 9". The movie was given a small limited theatrical release in 2001 but became more of a "hit" through it's DVD rentals and sales, that's how I discovered it. It stars David Caruso, Peter Mullan and Josh Lucas.

The film follows a team of asbestos cleaners who are hired to do a deep cleaning of an abandoned insane asylum that has quite a terrifying past. The mental institution is based off and shot at Danvers State Hospital (which has it's own real history of haunts). It's quite a large building, and this team has only a week to clean up all the asbestos. Peter Mullan plays the team leader, and he may have overshot his finish time of the project, because other teams said it should take over two weeks. He just a had a baby, and from what we gather, he is having some marital problems at home. The rest of his team consists of his long time work partner played by Caruso, his young punk nephew (who has a mullet!), a free spirit gambler (Lucas) and an ex-law student turned asbestos cleaner.

This hospital used to treat patients with severe electro shock therapy, and lobotomy's (gross). The ex-law student tells a story about a girl who went under this kind of therapy to reveal that her family used to sexually abuse her and bring her to cult meetings where they sacrificed babies. The girl sued her own family once these memories were surfaced, only to find out after some tests that the girl was a virgin. The family counter-sues the hospital, and along with some city budget cuts, the hospital loses everything and shuts down. The building lay dormant for over twenty years only to be homes for bums and rebel teenagers.

The team starts their job, and odd things begin to happen. The leader starts to hear strange and creepy voices and he starts to feel a little "lost" mentally speaking. One of the workers suddenly goes missing. One of them ditches the asbestos work, because in the hospital he finds some old recordings of a therapy session from one of the old patients. He listens to them instead of working. The recordings, done in sessions (this is where the title Session 9 comes from) reveals this patient suffers from severe multiple personality disorder. She was locked up for apparently snapping and killing her brother with a knife. Her sessions reveal each personality in different voices. There's the innocent personality, the protective personality,etc. We hear hints of a personality called "Simon" but do not hear this one until the end during the ninth session when things start to go nuts. Eventually chaos ensues, they all start to go a little loopy while working, and things go south real quick.

This movie to this day, is one of the creepiest and most unsettling movies I've seen. The recordings of all the sessions are truly freaky because there are people out there like that. Especially that final session when Simon comes out and the story of the film starts to connect. There's much more to this movie, but I don't really want to spoil it. There is death. There is blood. There aren't really any ghosts per say, this movie is 100% psychological horror and done really really well. There are some moments that are really quiet, particularly a scene where one of the characters is walking down a really dark hallway and he senses someone is there with him.

The final line of the film sums up the movie, and sums up the intentions of one of the main characters, but you have to see it to understand. If you are into psychological horror flicks, please go out and rent this movie. It's on Netflix as well as at Blockbuster for only a dollar! Watch it in the dark, because it will creep you out I think!

--Mike--

After the Ouija Board: The Visitor

One evening, April, her boyfriend and two roommates decided to entertain themselves by messing around with the Ouija Board. After getting drinks and snacks, they went to April’s room and put the board on her bed. Each of them put a finger on the planchette and took turns asking questions. They got movement and some questioned answered. When it got real late, they put the board up and went to bed. The next day, while April was alone, she decided to give their apartment a good cleaning. She spent all day dusting, vacuuming and putting things away. That evening, while one roommate was working and the other was at a friend's, April’s boyfriend came over. At one point in the evening they ended up in April’s room, with the door ajar, playing cards. During that time, they heard the apartment door unlock, open, then shut, someone walking around, and keys being thrown on the counter. Right afterwards they heard a cabinet door open and a sound like a glass was put on the counter. They could hear the water faucet turn on, filling the glass, and then shut off. They sat on the bed and waited for one of her roommates to peek their head in the door and possibly compliment her on how nice the apartment looked. They waited and waited. Finally April decided to yell, “hello”, hoping to get a response, but heard nothing. Now they are starting to wonder what was going on and went in the living and kitchen area to investigate. They noticed the door was locked and there were no keys or glass on the counter. They are extremely puzzled at this point and getting pretty scared as well. The walls of the apartment are thin, but the sounds they heard were coming from inside their apartment. April decided to check each of the roommates’ rooms but found no one inside. She then called each of them finding out that the one was still at work while the other was staying at her friend’s place. Now they are really scared. Who came into the apartment, dropped their keys on the counter and got a glass of water? Who indeed?