Friday the 13th – One scary “holiday”!

Friday the 13th, the first of two this year, is upon us and what is better on this day, than to watch a little Jason Voorhees-action? I can’t think of anything, actually.

But I thought that I should take this opportunity to talk a bit about my favorite movie-slashers. Yeah, I know it’s been done to death (pun intended), but I feel that it is a necessary thing to do at this point… even though I probably won’t be throwing any curve balls your way.

Anywho, ever since I saw one of the Elm Street-films as a kid (I think it was the 2nd one when I was around 5 or 6) I’ve always loved scary movies, and I’ve always had a penchant for slasher-films, but who is my favorite slasher of them all? This, and a few assorted trivia’s surrounding them, is what I’m going to talk about today! So here you go, my top 3 favorite slashers ranked from the Top!

1. Jason Voorhees – The disfigured son of Camp Crystal Lake. This is the baddest of the bad. You can drown him, electrocute him, blow him up, it doesn’t matter, he’ll still be on your ass like white on rice. We have seen Jason wreak havoc in the woods, in cabins, on boats,  in Manhattan And in outer space, so he brings the saying; ‘You can run but you can’t hide’ to the utmost extreme. And now, thanks to the 2009-remake, he’s a master of jungle warfare to boot.
   
   But not only is he a complete badass from top to bottom, he is also one of the scariest characters I have ever seen in a horror-film. Yeah sure, not in all of the movies, of course,  but thanks to Kane Hodder (The New Blood, Takes Manhattan, The Final Friday, Jason X) and Derek Mears (2009 remake), he is cemented for all eternity as the greatest of all time! 
   
   (note; The top-photo does NOT depict Hodder as Jason, as he did not portray Jason at the sack-wearing times.)
   A litte fun Trivia for you Jason-fans out there. The actor who played Jason in Freddy vs Jason from 2003, actually got murdered by Hodders Jason in pt. VIII – Takes Manhattan!
2. Chucky – The psychotic Hell-doll with a Fuck-You-attitude from the Child’s Play-series. If you look at these movies from a more serious perspective, it just seems silly and tame for a slasher-franchise, and if you haven’t grown up with them, you’ll probably just laugh it off as a waste of time, but as it now is for me, Chucky was a Huge part of my childhood and I adore the crap out of that little ginger! Sure, the original story is pretty basic for that era (a time where dolls and puppets where still hauntingly evil in movies) but the one thing that makes it all work is Brad Dourif the guy that plays Charles Lee Ray (and later gives the voice to Chucky), the serial-killer who transfers his soul into the doll. Dourif’s voice is so amazing for this part and everytime he laughs, it sends shivers all through my body. This voice, accompanied by the laugh and the fact that, at first, he’s just a small nice-looking doll, are the reasons I never slept with my feet outside the covers for my entire childhood (and sometimes even to date). A strong #2 on my Top-slashers list, all thanks to Brad Dourif!
   
   Chucky have appeared in 5 films and Brad Dourif have been the voice of Chucky all through it all, keeping the legacy of Chucky as menacing as it should be. I am also Very excited to see Chucky again in the upcoming ‘Curse of Chucky, where, I’m delighted to say, Dourif will once again be the voice behind this evil that is Chucky!
   
3. Last, but not at all least, we have our final Top-slasher, Freddy Krueger, the Elm Street dream-slasher with a quirky attitude. Freddy is probably most notable for his “fingers” but he has a certain…. yeah, I’m saying it… charm, that goes extremely well with his witty, sarcastic nature in between all the killings. Although he was a perverted swine when he was alive, as a dream-killer in the afterlife, Freddy is a lovable character in his own way and one can’t find a reason NOT to like him. With that said, he is, without the shred of a doubt, one of the most gruesome slayers out there. With his custom-made ‘knife-glove’, he wreaks havoc in teenagers dreams, killing of the children of the people who burned him alive.
   Freddy Krueger have been given his immortality cemented as one of the Horror-greats through the incredible acting of none other than Robert Englund, who plays Freddy in all Freddy-movies from the first one ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ in 1984 to Freddy vs. Jason in 2003. But sadly, I think, they had to do a remake of the original, so as of 2010, we now have a new Freddy, this time portrayed by Jackie Earle Haley as the villainous hell-spawn. This time around, I feel that they stripped him of his much-needed sarcastic attitude and made him (to me) a sad copy of Englund’s original. so Haley’s Freddy is not really on this list, he just get’s an honorable mention.
   

There you have it, my Top-3 favorite Slashers of all time! This was actually a pretty hard post to do, for there are so many other slashers out there who just barely didn’t make the list, so I’m gonna give you a few of’em listed as honorable mentions, just to be safe!
(note; These won’t be listed in any kind of ranking system what so ever.)

• Michael Myers – Halloween-series (original)
• Michael Myers – Rob Zombie’s Halloween
• Victor Crowley – Hatchet-series
• Freddy Krueger – The Haley-version
• Leatherface – Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original)
• Ghostface – Scream
• Norman Bates – Psycho (1960)

There you go, ladies and germs, the honorable’s that didn’t quite make the cut!
Well how’s that for a Friday 13th-treat for ya’? Not bad if I say so myself! But now, I’m actually gonna go watch the 2009-remake of Friday the 13th, followed by the four Jason-flicks starring Kane Hodder, VIII – X.

Stay tuned this weekend for the continuation of my MoS-series. But until then…. Peace!

Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel pt.1 – Quick thoughts

As it has been a while since it premiered, I figured it’s time to do a post about it. But… As Superman (in all his variations) have been a magnificent joy throughout my entire life, I find it hard to do just the one post on his latest incarnation, so I’ll be giving you a series of posts about the movie, the Man of Steel himself, and all other things relevant to it, starting with some quick thoughts for you, right here!

First of all, I have to mention my reaction right after seeing it in the theater. As I had watched all previous movies from Reeve’s cult-classic Superman-series from 1978 – 87 spanning through 4 movies, Superman Returns from 2006 as well as the entire Smallville-series, my feelings toward Man of Steel was, as they say, a mixed bag. As I pondered on and watched it a second time, I’ve come to the conclusion that I like it, a lot. It has the Tango’s Stamp of Approval (thanks, Mario.. I’m stealing that one!) But there is still some things that bothers me about it, and here are a few things that bothered me the most.

The first thing I felt they could have changed, was the costumes, specifically the ones Zod and his crew donned. They felt like they were hand-me-downs from the Necromongers in Chronicles of Riddick. Too much, too soon!

Second, the Fortress of Solitude, or rather, the lack of one. People keep telling me that it was the ship that served as the Fortress but I don’t buy it, not for one bit. I’m still hoping that they’ll redeem themselves and gives us a ginormous ice castle in the middle of nowhere in the sequels to come.

Third, the Sci-Fi of it all. The ships, it made it too much. This, along with the suits, no… all I could think about was Star Trek, Star Wars, Farscape, Andromeda…. It was just TOO MUCH Sci-Fi for me to accept it in a Superman-universe.

Fourth, and foremost….. The destruction! What the Chris?! I know Superman haven’t really been the one to hold back the destruction when he does his thing, but come on people! And the World Engine?! Dude, that was the most badass thing I have ever seen in a movie!! But it didn’t fit in the story at all, it just rendered Zod and co’s powers obsolete. They didn’t need’em, the World Engine did the job for them.

Well, I’m actually getting a bit aggravated thinking about it, so I am going to leave you with some final words.
Don’t think that I am against the movie now, when I’m obviously sitting here ragging on it, I actually love it. And you’ll find out why in the next installment of Tango’s Thoughts ‘Man of Steel’-series!

But until then…. I will feed you other stuff as well. Bye bye, now!

John Rambo-series, Sylvester Stallone reprising?

Ok, ehm… heheh *nervous laughs*

First off, the news of Entertainment One’s developing of a Rambo-series was (not without some minds blown, I must say), as a true Stallone-fan, confusing. Especially when it’s said that Stallone himself, is in talks to reprise his role?

Ofcourse, as a fan of both Stallone And the Rambo-series (I personally wouldn’t categorize it as a franchise), I could think of pretty much Nothing more BADASS than a Rambo-series on TV, especially if it’s successful with (AT LEAST) four seasons, with a Two-season starter! But that’s just me, probably?

Well, anyway.. If this was something that could even be considered successful, they would need a fantastic writer (hopefully S. Stallone himself), a fan-producer and a director (for at least half of the first season) that cares as much about the CHARACTER that both me and Stallone does. And that is just for starters. In addition, they would need a co-cast that cares equally about the character in question as the developers and not just someone who thinks that this will be a fast-train to stardom. If they can bring all these factors together, I actually think they could have something great at hand here. BUT…. and this is a pretty Big But…  the only way they could come through with it is, if S. Stallone has a majority-say in the production. Without him, it’s a non-starter all together!

That’s what I think about the project, or, what I think about it production-wise. But how about Stallone reprising his role? Well, that’s actually a question of script, as I see it. If they choose to do a series based solely on the source-material (David Morrell’s First Blood, first published in 1972), they could just as easily ruin it as they could revive it.. and I can not, for the life of me, see a 2013-Stallone do a good -70s- Vietnam-vet (John Rambo), no matter what type of drug I put in my system. However, if they choose to go another path, say, one based around flashbacks from an aging John Rambo (as seen in the 2008 movie Rambo), and then build it continuously from there, I would most definitely give them my support. I would even donate every penny I have left, in order to make it happen!

John Rambo, an iconic action-character to date, who withstands all and everything, whether it’s a dumb-ass American lawman or a Russian army, who have seen himself spoofed and tributed time and time again, yet he stands tall and proud, cowling his even more iconic red head-band and bulging muscles, truly an inspiration to every kid in the neighborhood. But who is he really? Well, all I can say on that subject is… Read the God damn book. Or watch the movie!!

So… until next time… Goodnight, and whathooh!!