Mount Hood

Scream yourself silly

Darien Campo | Designer

I am an avid fan of horror-comedy, but I can be picky about this genre. Usually because most films turn out to be little more than “comedies with gore” (e.g. Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil.) In this list, I’ve put together what I think are the five best films that perfectly straddle the line between shocking terror and gut-wrenching laughter.

  1. The Frighteners

Just five years before Fellowship of the Ring hit theatres, Peter Jackson directed “The Frighteners;” a film starring Michael J. Fox as Frank Bannister, a conman who uses his ability to communicate with ghosts to trick people into thinking he’s an exorcist. “The Frighteners” is an enthralling mystery that weaves Bannister’s con artistry, his uncertain past, a terrifying mass murder and a mysterious string of deaths caused by an unknown assailant.

  1. Cabin in the Woods

Drew Goddard, writer of “Cloverfield,” “The Martian,” and the upcoming “Deadpool 2” made his directorial debut with “Cabin in the Woods” — a film he wrote with nerd-culture icon Joss Whedon. “Cabin in the Woods” is a great deconstruction of all the horror tropes and characters we know so well. It subverts the genre in surprising ways, while still paying homage to and celebrating the gory heritage we all know and love. “Cabin in the Woods” is frighteningly original and shockingly funny.

  1. American Psycho

Bret Easton Ellis’s novel of the same name can be a difficult read. Those not used to such violent fiction can easily see it as a fetishization of murder and sexual violence, but the decision to have the film helmed by female director Mary Harron helped turn it into a violently hilarious parody of 1980’s greed and narcissism. Christian Bale delivers one of his finest performances as the utterly psychotic Patrick Bateman: a self-obsessed desperate-to-impress yuppie by day, deranged serial killer pop-music aficionado by night.

  1. Bubba Ho-Tep

B-movie king Bruce Campbell stars as Elvis Presley, years after he faked his death and now resides in a nursing home with a black man who claims to be John F. Kennedy. Together the two must face off against an ancient Egyptian mummy that is now feeding off the souls of the weak retirement home residents. Based on a novel by Joe R. Lansdale and directed by Don Coscarelli  (“Phantasm,” “John Dies at the End”). “Bubba Ho-Tep” is – well, I don’t even know what else to say, if that all doesn’t reel you in then you’re a lost cause.

  1.  Evil Dead II

While the original “Evil Dead” is a campy misstep of a horror film by a group of novice filmmakers, and “Army of Darkness” is a straight-up comedy, the middle film “Evil Dead II” is the movie that I believe perfectly strikes a balance between fear and farce. “Evil Dead II” is a film that is equally inspired by the gore and horror of “Friday the 13th,” as it is by the outrageous slapstick of The Three Stooges. Bruce Campbell is at his peak as Ash Williams, S-Mart housewares clerk and demon-slayer. This movie is fast, fun and full of atmosphere. If you’re a fan of the recent Showtime series or terrific reboot, it’s well worth checking out the franchise’s roots here. It’s one of my favorite films, and I cannot recommend it enough.

Contact the author at dcampo13@wou.edu

Review: “Little Nightmares”

Jade Rayner | Copy Editor

If you’ve ever wondered what it would look like to combine the style of Tim Burton with the adventure and covert horror of Hayao Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away” — “Little Nightmares” is here to deliver.

“Little Nightmares,” a side-scroller suspense-adventure game by Tarsier Studios, was released on April 27 and is perfect for getting in a spooky mindset for Halloween. The game centers around Six, a small child trying to find their way out of The Maw, a cruise ship full of large, grotesque characters that will eat Six if they get the chance.

Much like the “Amnesia” games, the monsters must be ran from rather than fought, with a few exceptions. “Little Nightmares” also shares similarities with Playdead’s “Limbo” in that they are both side-scrollers which focus on a child protagonist, and puzzle-solving is needed to travel through the game.

I would say a big pro and con for this game is how accessible it is for a wide range of gamers and non-gamers alike. Being one of the worst gamers I know, I obviously died at least 40 times over the course of this fairly-short game, and I’m sure that is missing a good handful of them. However, for those well seasoned at gaming, it might not pose the same challenge that “Limbo” would. Although the beginning sets the scene differently, most of the game is well-lit and the monsters aren’t very difficult to escape, especially if you died once and have been able to see their movements. The first level is by far the most difficult, but you will be rewarded if you choose to make it throught the whole game.

There’s something for everyone within The Maw. Childlike playfulness and imagination is encouraged while the player learns to navigate the mouse-sized Six around the massive rooms in The Maw. Once the monsters come out, horror fans are presented with fast-paced suspense, but it’s never too much to handle. For those sticklers like myself who demand an aesthetically pleasing design in their entertainment, there are no disappointments. I cannot stress enough how beautiful and unique a world Tarsier Studios created.

My recommendation is this: drop whatever game, Netflix series or memoir you’re working on, and do yourself a favor by immersing yourself in the world of “Little Nightmares.” It’s not a big time commitment considering it only took me — a “noob” of a gamer  — a total of four or five hours to complete. Throughout the journey of completing this game, I felt both emotionally and physically frustrated, angry, excited, sad and in love for a variety of reasons. No other game has ever sparked as visceral of a response from me as “Little Nightmares,” and if that doesn’t intrigue you, nothing will.

“Little Nightmares” is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows through Steam.

 

Contact the author at journalcopy@wou.edu

Nightmare Factory back in business

Stephanie Blair | Editor-in-Chief

Those seeking an experience manufactured to scare even the bravest of heart need look no further than the Nightmare Factory at Oregon School for the Deaf. For the last three decades, the Factory has been spooking its victims with ghouls, zombies, monsters and clowns.

In particular, one clown has stood out: Mr. Booger. Each year, Mr. Booger straps those brave enough into a wheelchair and takes them for a “Wild Ride” through his funhouse. The Nightmare Factory website advertises that “this insane ride of your life includes many years of terrifying flashbacks! Great birthday gift for that special someone! Not for the faint of heart or people with weak knee syndrome!”

For those eager for a thrill, but not thrilled by the prospect of being wheeled around by a clown, there is another option to enhance the experience of the Nightmare Factory: Z-Tag. For $10 in addition to admission, haunt-goers can purchase an “infection detector” which will allow them to partake in a modified version of tag.

As explained on the Nightmare Factory website, “Human players start out with a green tag and must survive by avoiding zombies and finding health kits or a healer … Zombies have red tags  and seek out humans, Infection happens when a zombie player’s badge gets within 3 feet of a human player’s badge.”

The infected human must then find a health kit within a certain amount of time or they, too, will become a zombie. Tags are for the players to keep, and they can re-enter the haunt to play again for a reduced price.

For those seeking to be scared to death or who just want to make it out alive, the Nightmare Factory offers intensity levels for everyone.

However, for those with heart conditions, seizures and asthma the Nightmare Factory has a special warning; “Fog machines, strobe lights, specialty lights and high startles in use!”

For more details or to purchase tickets, visit nightmarefactorysalem.com or call 503-378-3825.

Regular admission tickets are $15, VIP tickets — which reduce wait time on busy nights — are $25 and tickets for Mr. Booger’s Wild Ride are $40. Tickets for the Wild Ride must be purchased in advance.

 

Contact the author at journaleditor@wou.edu

Review: “Beautiful Trauma”

Zoë Strickland | Managing Editor

Alecia Moore, more commonly known as P!nk, released her new album on Oct. 13. “Beautiful Trauma” is the artist’s first record in five years.

In true P!nk fashion, “Beautiful Trauma” is a tête-à-tête between upbeat pop songs and serious ballads. Her lyrics are deep and personal; like you’re sitting down with Moore and having the world’s most exciting conversation.

The first four tracks are a 16 minute romp, including “Revenge,” which features Eminem. “Revenge” is repetitive in the best way, and has lyrics with a feel reminiscent of Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” infused with a bit up rap and pop.

The bops transform into a two-song slow jam with “But We Lost It” and “Barbies.” Both tracks represent the softer, more honest side of P!nk. They’re a representation of my favorite strain of P!nk’s music — stripped down vocals paired with a singular instrument. Moore’s voice was made for slow ballads, her soulful cantor and impactful lyrics weight every line.

The bulk of the album contains fun tracks that make you want to belt out every lyric. The songs are sell-able and make perfect singles, while still bringing the lyrical depth that’s hidden under the surface of P!nk’s songs.

The album ends opposite of how it begins, completing the story of the album. The rocky relationship found in the lyrics of the titular track comes full-circle with “You Get My Love,” a slow tune in which P!nk turns the anger displayed in the first song into acceptance and openness.  

In recent years, P!nk’s discography has been caught up with the same general sound. She’s been circulating around heavy beats with an essence of EDM and a touch of one-instrument ballads for her past three albums. “Beautiful Trauma” wasn’t anything new to P!nk’s repertoire.

 

Contact the author at journalmanaging@wou.edu

Review: “How to Murder Your Life”

Alexandra Martin | Entertainment Editor

Life is just too hard. Well, it can be. As we attempt to trudge through all that is “existence” in modern society, what with our social envy, serial relationships, crippling college debt and picturesque meals littering Instagram. All the while waiting to be buried or burned by yet more debt, steep mortgages and praying that somehow we can say, “I lived a good life” at the end of it all before we take a dirt nap or we fade into some vaporous eternity.

For some, we disguise the everlasting embers of pain and anger, feelings that we can’t choose, with hard exteriors and “resting b—- face.” Maybe taking any hard-earned cash and blowing it all on a barely-there ensemble to exemplify just how barely-there our mind is during the hours of lectures wondering, “what good is this information?” Others, we turn to intoxicants, spending endless hours at cheap apartment parties with underage peers or local karaoke nights at surrounding businesses coveting the bitter water of death and lusting for the misty moment when it floods us from head-to-toe.

“How to Murder Your Life” is 350-plus vainglorious pages of raw, dizzying dazzle written by a petulant privileged American girl, Cat Marnell. This literature, if you can even call it that, is a memoir peppered with such a blatant lack of self-pity that a person almost finds themselves sympathizing with the writer. Almost.

Marnell memorializes her existence beginning with the shining and always memorable teen years. She writes about her academic life attending a posh private school and how her father, a budding psychiatrist, gave her that first bottle of ADHD medication beginning the long descent down the deepest of drug-addled rabbit holes.

A tourist of her own life, Marnell finds herself with a bottomless dependence on any and all flavors of second hand pick me ups, detailing accounts of abusive relationships and recollections of nights spent in New York City smoking crack at a rooftop party. She describes the demented thrills of the uppers and the ghastly downs that follow a thrill seeker.

This memoir is a stimulating account of an “existence” that is all too familiar for many readers. “How to Murder Your Life” is just as riveting as it is frustrating.

 

Contact the author at journalentertainment@wou.edu

Review: “Blade Runner 2049”

Alexandra Martin | Entertainment Editor

It is the year 2049; do you know where Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford are? Gosling, otherwise known as “K,” is spending his time working for the LAPD as a “blade runner.” Gosling’s main purpose is to hunt his own kind, other bioengineered humans, and “retire,” which is a nice way of killing, his rogue brethren. Harrison Ford plays a straight-shooting egotist and former blade runner by the name of Rick Deckard.  

Ford was also featured in the predecessor to this year’s “Blade Runner 2049,” the 1982 film “Blade Runner.”

If you’ve never seen the original, which I hadn’t until recently, this year’s adaptation is bound to leave something to be desired if you go in blind. Typically, I don’t put too much concern into understanding the plot or what I may be missing when a movie is based on a book or is a remake, or maybe a sequel that has taken 20 years to come to fruition. This time, I am earnestly grateful that I heeded the recommendation of my significant other to give it a go and educate myself prior to attending the movie.

“Blade Runner 2049,” was a quality film. Aside from the stellar acting and incredible cinematography, the story in and of itself was impeccably told. It is deeply philosophical and retains just enough of the original “Blade Runner” to weave the two movies together with ease, allowing the viewer to be able to experience the movie, not just watch it.

 

Contact the author at journalentertainment@wou.edu

Something for everyone this fall

Alexandra Martin | Entertainment Editor

Fall in the Pacific Northwest usually means one thing to the community: long, cold, rainy days spent inside. An exorbitant amount of time can pass simply daydreaming of dead fall leaves crunching underfoot, sipping on hot apple cider and reminiscing of those days that seem like yesterday that were devoted to complaining about the sweaty, smoky and unforgiving summer season.

Well, fall is here; the autumnal breeze rips through campus like a hot knife through butter, but that doesn’t mean we have to give up on outdoor activities. Airlie Hills Harvest Festival is in full swing until the end of October, and while the list of goings-on isn’t endless, at least it’s something other than binge-watching Netflix and moping.

First thing’s first: the corn maze. If you were lucky enough to grow up in an area that had a corn maze during the fall, then you know what I’m talking about. Why is wandering around a bunch of corn and getting lost so enjoyable? Is it the riddles scattered along the way, dropping hints of which direction to go? Maybe it’s the glow-sticks? I’m not sure. There is no science to answer that question. Trust me, I googled it. But one thing I do know without having to turn to the internet for answers: the Airlie Hills corn maze is awesome.

Next, the pumpkin patch. With over 30 different varieties of pumpkins, this is the place to find the perfect gourd to carve up and shove a tea light candle inside, in the name of Halloween. Maybe pumpkin carving isn’t your thing — that’s okay. There are little hay bales, miniature pumpkins, ornamental corn and mums to add a little pizzazz to your dorm room.

Still not turned on by the corn maze or décor? Well, there are indoor slides, a full menu of food and beverage items, pedal-karts and farm animals; this place actually has something for everyone.

Airlie Hills Harvest Festival is open Thursday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. until the end of October. After that, it’s back indoors until summer.

 

Contact the author at journalentertainment@wou.edu

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