Music: It sets the proper tone and yes,you could pull out that Motley Crue CD and Shout at the Devil,but why not try something completely different? The group Fantomas,headed by Mike Patton of Faith No More,Mr.Bungle and most recently,Peeping Tom,has a album full of twisted takes on classic film soundtracks called The Director's Cut. TDC pays tributes to films like The Godfather and Night of the Hunter but has many horror movie themes such as Rosemary's Baby,Henry:Portrait of a Serial Killer and The Omen. Fantomas is not an easy listening band by any means(Little Sister,who is a fan of their work,proudly calls some of it"zoo noises")but they do justice to the music and TDC will get any party started off with a bang.
Television:A while ago,Fox had on a daughter of the Devil series called Point Pleasant,starring Elisabeth Harnois as Christina,who washed up in a sleepy New Jersey town(insert obvious NJ joke here)not knowing that she's meant to start up the whole Armageddon deal. It had a good concept but not enough follow thru,which is a shame since the show also had Grant Show as Lucas Boyd,the other mysterious stranger in town who,of course,works for Christina's real daddy and is intent on pushing her down the dark path to Hellspawnville. Show was one of the highlights of PP,he really enjoyed his part and played it to the hilt. Marti Noxon,one of the writer/producer of Buffy,was the big kahuna here and also wrote a few of the episodes.
Alas,the ratings were lethal and Point Pleasant only lasted about 13 episodes on the air. The series is available on DVD,with five shows that were never broadcast. Definately worth a look at,if only to savor the flavor of Grant Show.
Another Fox series that dealt with Satan was Brimstone,which had Peter Horton as deceased cop Ezekiel Stone,released from Hell to track down 113 escaped souls. His bargain with the Devil(played wonderfully evil by a pre-Smallville John Glover)is that if Stone gets them all,he gets a shot at redemptation. Most of the AWOL souls had special powers gained from their stay in Hades which made confronting them rather risky. Brimstone was fun,due to the chemistry between Glover and Horton and the mix at times of dark humor and pathos.
It too was canceled after 13 episodes(more sinister numbers)but it is not out on DVD. Occasionally The Sci-Fi channel puts it on and there's gotta be a download somewhere. Keep your eyes open for it.
Books:One of the best and funniest collaborations in print,Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman is a neat take on the whole AntiChrist story. It's about an angel and a demon who decide to interfere with the upbringing of the son of Satan only the kid they're watching is not the one. The real bad seed was misplaced and has no clue that he's supposed to do anything but be a regular middle class English boy. Eventually,The Four Horsemen arrive as bikers,ready to rock and roll with the Apocalypse and wackiness ensues. A must read any time of the year.
This book may be hard to find but you'll be glad you did-The M.D. by Thomas Disch has been highly praised by the likes of Stephen King and Dean Koontz. It's the story of Billy,who is visited by the god Mercury at age six and given a caduceus that lets Billy "cure" people in pretty nasty ways,such as having his grandmother's teeth all fall out and making his aunt nauseous at the very taste of alcohol. Things get even more dicey when Billy grows up and becomes a doctor with deadly abilities to remake the world. Disch may not be a household name but he deserves to be.
Movies:Sure,there are plenty to choose from at the video store relating to this subject but here's a couple of suggestions that might make your pick easier:
The Devil's Advocate,starring Keanu Reeves as Kevin,a young John Grisham type of lawyer who gets recruited into Al Pacino's Hell On Earth big league law firm. Charlize Theron plays Kevin's wife who winds up losing her mind due to gruesome visions of the devil's minions amongst their new friends and surroundings. Pacino gives one of his better over-the-top performances here(Reeves actually has to tell him to turn it down a notch at one point!)and the only drawback to the film is the removal of background artwork displayed in Pacino's office, which is part of the big F/X climax,due to the artist threatening to sue the studio,claiming he was "mislead" about the film's contents(that didn't stop him from cashing the check they gave him tho). A juicy little horror flick with plenty of thrills and chills.
Little Nicky is your usual Adam Sandler goofy movie but there are some hits along with the misses,jokewise. I particularly love Rhys Ifans as the more clever and cruelest of Satan's boys,who enjoys schnapps with his pizza and cameos from Quentin Tarantino and Ozzy Osbourne. Also,Harvey Keitel as Poppa Satan and Rodney Dangerfield as Grandpa Lucifer are pretty damn funny(not to mention what gets done to Hitler as a daily punishment).
It's not a great film by any means(too many damn product placement bits for Popeye's chicken shoved in there)but it has a good share of laughs and how can you resist the sons of the Devil battling for the fate of the world with a pillow fight? Plus,you get a pre-Medium Patricia Arquette as Nicky's love interest and a heavenly bit with Reese Witherspoon. Tempting,no?
Well,whatever you do today,be of good cheer and remember to pack lightly when you're traveling down the Highway to Hell.
1 comment:
I caught the quick blurb about the show Brimstone. I am always happy to see someone talk about this great show. I was on of the people involved with the Brimstone campaign to get it back on the air. I will be writing up a blog about the show in a bit. I just received an excellent dvd set of the show in great quality.
Nice work!
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