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Nosferatu Review

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  Nosferatu (2024) is a remake of the 1922 F.W. Murau’s film of the same name. This time at the helm is Robert Eggers. He’s the director of The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman, and now… The Nosferatu. He typically does folk horror, but with The Northman he branched out to an epic viking saga whilst maintaining this atmosphere of religious superstitions that Nordic people would’ve held. Now he tackles the Germanic interpretation of Dram Stoker’s Dracula in Nosferatu. When asked what the difference between Nosferatu and Dracula is, the answer usually lies in atmosphere. Dracula is usually a more horror approach while Nosferatu is more of a gothic, dreadful take on the same story.  1922’s Nosferatu is by all means a cult classic that practically gave us what horror is today. Max Schreck’s performance and design as Count Orlok is still such a striking presence when watching. The long fingers, how pale he is, the sharp teeth, the wide eyes, the pointed ears, how rigid he is w...
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An Ode to David Lynch

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  On January 15th, legendary filmmaker and artist David Lynch had passed away at age 78. Actors, entertainers, and artists alike die everyday, and this is one of those deaths that really set some pain in my heart. I haven’t seen all of his films. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I must be honest. Haven’t even finished Twin Peaks. I definitely plan to now. The guilt is waaaayyyyy too real.   I was in high school and began to sprout my horizons on film and media in general; going back to classic silent films of the 20’s and 30’s, the more dirty realism of the 70’s, and an overall surrealism and avant garde take on storytelling. And if you ever take a creative route, you will more than likely be recommended David Lynch’s filmography. I read some reviews on Eraserhead and Blue Velvet, but didn’t think I was ready for them when I was a teenager.  When people say Lynchian, they’re usually referring to the surreal, dream-like (or nightmarish) mood with storytelling usually ...
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No Resolutions

  2025. It'll definitely be a year. Whether or not it’ll be a good one has yet to be seen. Regardless, I’m here and have to keep moving forward. The last few months of 2024 was one of the most challenging and mentally-taxed months of my life and if things went more south, I probably would’ve been a shattered form of myself.  But I’m still here, bitches . Things have gotten better for now, but I have this odd belief that if I celebrate anything big or small, some form of the universe will count that as arrogance and swiftly punish me for such thinking. So there’ll be no celebrating from me. In addition to that, instead of reflecting on the past year, I’ll focus on the present ignoring too what the future holds, because fuck me, does it depress me.  When that over-sized disco ball hit 0 to welcome the new year, I didn’t celebrate. I didn’t even write down any resolutions for 2025. The main goal is survival, me thinks. I got to thinking on that… and I still feel that ...
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It’s Not Too Late to Start that New Endeavor

  *As a little preface note, this is blog post is either for people just approaching 30 or approaching 40, but I think everyone can take a little something from this one.  I finished up my last paper for college - a proposal essay on how adults should go after making some new hobbies. I won’t be posting that essay here because I totally phoned it in. I only got an A because I just followed the rubric closely. But that’s just my theory. Maybe I will. You know, for the CONTENT.  But the subject sticks with me. Especially since next year I’ll be 30. A big year if you’re younger than 30 since it’s the first indicator of ‘the end.’ Which isn’t true by the way, since 30 is still so damn young. You place just about any achievement with “… at age 30,” and suddenly it becomes exceptional. “Wrote a book at 30,” “Died at the age of 30,” “Became President of the United States at age 30.” You look at those possible headlines at figure, “Damn! That person was young!” Yeah, because 30...
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Mala Sangre - Mata Mata (Review)

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  Mala Sangre are a hardcore punk band from Erie, Pennsylvania. They’re also most likely your favorite local band’s favorite local band.  Consisting of Carlos Rivera (guitar/vocals), Eliezer Rivera (bass/vocals), and Mike Lozano (drums), they’re a powerhouse trio and their shows are an onslaught of energy, speed, and vigor with a healthy amount of ball busting to go around. And last month they put out their sixth album, Mata Mata.  For a little background, Mala was one of the bands Massive Denial opened for when we had our first show as a group, which was also my first show in six years after a sabbatical from performing music live. It was them, us, Maniacial Device, Requiem for Oblivion during a particularly hot July day in 2021 where I performed a good portion of my gigs - Basement Transmissions. I get off the stage and up comes Mala Sangre.  The only thing I’d known about them at that point was that they’re an old school hardcore punk band and their guitarist/l...
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Myconaut “Headload” - Review

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Myconaut are a progressive rock/metal band from Meadville that’ve picking up steam in the Erie scene. They’re a band that if you didn’t know who they were, you definitely knew them after their set. They’re cut from the same cloth as Tool, Sabbath, Kyuss, and all that good, jammy  stoner/desert rock with flares of metal mixed in.  I’ll briefly delve into how I became familiar with their work. Spoiler: I’m totally biased here, but I’ve been waiting for this record for a long time. That and I felt compelled to write this because I missed their release show, and this is a sin in the cardinal rule of fellow progressive dorks and must be rectified on my part.  It was the summer of ‘23 and my band Massive Denial was invited to the reinstated Metal Massacre Festival. Many, many sweaty metal heads crammed in a barn with nonstop music playing throughout the weekend. And if you were a local metal/rock band, then it felt like the big leagues. So, I get there early to check out (nea...
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Turning Public Domain Children’s Media into Horror Films Sucks

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Popeye, the Slayer Man Winnie the Pooh Blood and Honey (I and II)  Pinocchio: Unstrung  Bambi: The Reckoning  Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare  The movies listed above, and they are actual movies that’ve been released or are soon to be released, are from the mind of Rhys Frake-Waterfield and the Twisted Childhood Universe with the exception of the Popeye movie. Given the name, the idea is that you have children’s IP and turn a horror spin on them. Bonus points if it’s media where the copyright has expired and they’re now in the public domain.  The first slew of these movies was Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey in 2023. I thought the idea was a little cheeky and it tickled me that Winnie the Pooh’s copyright expired and some indie director decided to twist it into a horror direction. I’m all up for reimaginings, so why not? The end product, however, ended up as a gore slog with very little imagination. It’s a movie that just has some burly guys in masks vaguely lo...
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