Siren

You know I am happy to see that Chiller is starting to gain ground. While it's older sibling station SyFy , still gets all of the good shows Chiller is beginning to become more than a Rerun network.

They have had quite a few "Original Films" in the past couple of years that have the quality to make up for them taking away our Fearnet but I know that was not their fault. On top of that Universal is still a high quality studio that still produces quality content for genre fans... That and they are buying all the rights to the good films. 

I am willing to assume that Universal Acquired the rights to the V/H/S franchise with the recent release of Siren which... I am honestly still trying to figure out where this flick lies, Prequel, or Spinoff but it definetly takes place before v/h/s.  As many of you are aware I am a great supporter of v/h/s as I am a fan of the Found Footage subgenre as well, 

Now for those of you that aren't aware the v/h/s franchise is a Found Footage series that began in 2012 featuring the works of various genre directors and producers ranging from veterans as well as up and comers. 

One of the most popular entries was the short film Amateur Night in which a group of young men decide to make their own hidden camera porn video and attract the attention of a mousy young woman named Lilly and after taking her back to their motel room find out that they bit off far more than they could chew. In Lilly;s case well...That was not a problem. 

Well Kiddies that brings us to Siren,   

This flick is what you get when you cross From Dusk Till Dawn with Hostel. Basically in the opening we see the result of a satanic conjuring gone wrong and when an "Expert" is brought in to investigate he finds a young Demon with a taste for Human Flesh...Well as you probably thought The Demon is none other than our old friend Lilly the Succubus from v/h/s. 

Well the flick soon skips ahead for a few years and we are introduced to a small group of friends looking for a good time at the Bachelor party where after locating a subpar strip club soon and deciding to invest Shrooms catch the attention of a local who leads them to another club where as you may have guessed one of the feature entertainers is Lilly among others and as you have probably guessed chaos ensues. 

Now first off there has been some changes to our girl, who is once again played by Hannah Fierman. In this flick she has a singing voice that is used to hypnotize her victims which was cleverly utilized in the flick. 

Another interesting fact about Siren is that, Yes Lilly is the "monster" in the flick but the "Villains of the Story" are in fact the humans that seek to exploit her abilities and use their influence to their advantage. 

The Flick also utilized POV shots to reference The Found Footage origins of this character and flick. There is also some great psychedelic camera work as well as sound to give us the victim's perspective in not just a POV camera style. 

Now I admit that this is the UnRated cut and not the version that I am sure will be airing on the Chiller Network. So don't be surprised if some of the things I describe in this review aren't in the flick. I however will always recommend the Blu-Ray/DVD Release of any flick.

18 Dead Bodies

6 Breasts

1 Beast

Tail to the Throat

Anal Rape with Demon Tail

Throat Ripping

Throat Slashing

Groin Ripping

Groin Slashing

Crowbar to the Knee

Fecal Bathing

3 Stars 

Check it Out  

The Return of The Blair Witch

Let's face it you all knew that I was not going to pass this one up did you kiddies. 

This one was not about to get past me and I knew that someone was going to have to be a defender of not just the flick but the franchise and the subgenre as well. 

A couple of years ago I wrote an entry here on the Video Creep titled The Rise and Fall of The Blair Witch which had a great reaction. In said article I spoke about the media sensation on the flick as well as the sequel and the backlash that it received. 

In 2014 I had the honor of meeting the cast of the original 1999 film and thanked them for the influence and was able to record a QnA where they speak candidly about the events both during and after the film was produced.

I have stated many times the influence that the Blair Witch Project had on my own career and the times that I. Have tried to pay tribute. Especially with HauntShooter.

I even made it a point to tell this to Heather, Joshua and Michael, to which Heather apologized which I have to admit that I am in a state of confusion as to weather she was joking or if she was truly bitter about the direction that everything had gone for her after the film. 

I have to admit that I thought that it was all over for this franchise but I was wrong. It seems with the recent trends in the genre we have the return of myths and legends in the main stream as well as the technology which has led to "Found Footage" becoming a mainstay in theaters and home media it was inevitable that The Blair Witch would make a curtain call.

It was announced at Comic Con this year that a film titled The Woods was actually a Blair Witch Sequel and the reaction was instant with fans rejoicing at the return. This is the time for a film like this and while the 2000 sequel focused on the hype surrounding the 1999 ground breaker this flick is a direct sequel. 

Naturally on opening weekend I was off to The Alamo where they were all ready with the themes and photo pops and a few Stick figures for us all to see. However would the film live up to this. 

I have to say that I am surprised about the direction of this flick and Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez are back as producers however the flick is helmed by You're Next's Adam Wingard and  written by frequent collaborator Simon Barrett. 

Returning to the Found Footage format the flick follows James Donahue, the brother of Heather from the first flick who after viewing a online video of an encounter with The Blair Witch thinks that he sees his sister 15 years after her disappearance and gathers a small group of friends and naturally they decide to film the entire event using as much of the modern technology as they can. 

Soon hooking up with the couple that made the video of Heather they are off to the Woods to investigate and the group's inexperience begins to show it's self and soon they find themselves not only having to deal with each other but strange developments with the woods as well. 

I felt that the flick was missing a few elements. While covering events in the Blair Witch Mythos that was explored in the special features of the original flick I felt that this flick could have explored them for more but failed to do so to which is.a disappointment for me. 

I liked the time displacement in this entry and the more references to Rustin Parr and other areas that were not explored in previous films but in Special features like Curse of the Blair Witch on The Sci-Fi Channel which allows them to remain as canon for the franchise. 

Now while I like some elements I however also feel that more could have been done with the filmmaking techniques. It was nice to have the actors all wearing cameras to explain the cutaways which is explained today with GoPros but I feel that more could have been done with the Drone camera that was highly Hyped in the film but I felt was not utilized to it's full potential. 

Like the original film the film features much "Shaky footage" which leaves many audience members with the strong nausea and some were leaving the theater due to this but there is also much loudness which adds t the disorientation and I have to ask weather this was deliberate and I have to think that it was and while audience members were complaining I felt that it added to the film. 

I felt that the film could have done more as the franchise was one of the pioneers of this subgenre and had the potential to add to it, comes across as nothing more than following the trends that it started.  

For Blair Witch and Found Footage fans it is worth a look... For those of you that aren't videographers take your nausea mess. 

6 Dead Bodies

0 Breasts

0 Beasts

8 Stick Figures

4 Broken Bones

1 Claustrophobic tunnel

Lens striking 

Camper Fu

Woods Fu

2 1/2 Stars 

Check it out 

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Now I know that I am also late on this one but once again I have to wait for the Blu-Ray Release if I am going to continue to be a champion of the BluRay and DVD media.

Now I did see this flick in the theater as a matter of fact I was there naturally at the Alamo in Dallas with my trusty Canon Camera covering the festivities. Enjoy the video.

Now I have been waiting for this flick all of my life and I have to address some issues here. 

First off to all of you haters that cheered when the movie was announced at Comic Con International and then turned on the flick when Ben Affleck was announced in the Batman role I say GET OVER IT!

 I honestly think myself and Kevin Smith were the only Affleck supporters and I will continue to be a supporter and as far as you go Haters can't be choosers. On that note I think he did great in the role as both Bruce Wayne, Batman and the man in between. 

Now is the part where you all come in and tell me in the comments section that you don't care about what I say and you will continue to hate him and I say that is your right and If you really don't care what I have to say I have to ask you...Why are you reading this? 

Now for those of you that are bitching on the Darker aspects of Superman, This is where I address the fact that the character has been a darker character since 1992 in the comics and this is only the second time that aspect of the character has been seen on the screen. Zach Snyder has always been trying to keep it as loyal to the Comics as he can so he is going to go that direction and this especially holds true to the current climate that we all see playing out in Our society and the real world. 

I feel the need to point out in the Comics that Lex Luthor ran for president and won in the comics and people said that would never happen in the real world. Well look out there and see that we have a Billionare running for office and has the nomination. 

Just think about it and also look at the other side of the ticket as well. 

If Superman did appear in our world today he would receive the same reception and that would be taxing on his image and outlook. 

Now let me move on to my own questions about the flick. 

I know what this flick's true purpose is and that was to announce the creation of the DC Cinematic Universe establishing Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash, Green Lantern, and Cyborg in the same universe. Similar to Marvel and I am all for it and Excited. 

Besides this flick is far more for introducing Batman and essentially making this film his movie.

Now many of you are asking why did batman not get an establishing movie all to his own...This is when I say there has been 7 of them if you haven't noticed. 

Wonder Woman has her own flick coming out as do others and there is an upcoming Justice League flick in production as I type these words. 

Now my biggest question is WHEN IN THE HELL did Metropolis and Gotham become neighboring Cities. I would have liked a little more distance there but by the looks of it there is only a Bay between them and it doesn't look like that big of a Bay to begin with. 

Now I know that both cities are supposed to be New York but I am just saying. 

Also did Lex Luthor know about Superman's Identity all along and does he know about Batman's there is a slight plot hole there and I am not happy about that. 

THose were my only real issues with the flick. I know that some were complaining about Batman using a gun and having that military sequence but I have to remind all of you that it was a dream sequence that would be enough to scare The Dark Knight into taking down The Man of Steel. 

I liked the references to many of the comic greats from the obvious references to The Dark Knight Returns as well as The Death of Superman with Doomsday and Superman's sacrifice in a role reversal with Batman at the end of DKR. 

I also liked the costume departments for this film especially for Clark Kent and Lex Luthor for their characters. 

The Ultimate Edition honestly Isn't something to make too big of a deal about as it mostly deals with subplots however there is some good character development between Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne and some scenes with Lex Luthor which explains his motives. 

There are some great Special Features in this release. Ranging from documentaries about individual characters and this film's interpretation for this universe. And the talks of the future DC Cinematic Universe, As well as well done documentaries of The Bat Cave and The Batmobile. 

All in All The flick while not the best Batman or Superman flick as there are some tough acts to follow it is also not the worst as there are come bad ones in both franchises. This flick is what it is and there was no way the movie could live up to the hype and I still enjoyed it and had a great time watching it. Haters are going to Hate and Fans are going to love.

Check it out 

Dallas is MY CITY!

This marks a new era for The Video Creep. Recent events and situations have placed me in a position where I don't even know how much longer I am going to be in existence on this planet let alone have a Blog as well as a career. 

I feel that it is strange that I made the decision to live more positive and have a better outlook at the world and to stay away from the ones that cause me problems and soon there after I am diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer that has taken the sight from my left eye and rendered me currently unable to drive while I receive Chemo and Radiation therapy. 

Now I have to admit that I have decided that this cancer is not going to kill me because my body and mind are fighting this illness with all that we have and I have one of the best support teams that you can ask for. 

What bothers me is what is happening in the country that I love and now in the state that I have always called my home. 

It is no secret that I am recieving my treatment in Downtown Dallas where I have also had to take on the position of Observer over the past couple of days while reporters flock to all areas of My City in light of the recent tragedy involving the Dallas Police Department.

Yes I said My City, Like Gotham is to Batman Dallas and I have a love hate relationship as I will fight for her but she sometimes forgets that I am here for her. I will always shed a tear when she is hurting.

Now I have had issues with Racism and Religion in the past few years and I want to take this time to address some of these events. 

Let me start with race and then I will talk about religion in a later edition of the Video Creep. 

I want to start with these racial issues because of the recent events in MY CITY and how angry I am that I feel that Dallas again has to awnser for the sins of this Great Nation's Black Sheep. 

I have seen My City wear a 50 plus year wound that we will never fully live down as we are famous for 3 things. A sometimes great Football Team, A fictional hard drinking Evil Oilman, and the Assassination of a United States President. 

It was after Kennedy that the city was labeled "The City of Hate" because of the so called political atmosphere within it's limits with everyone thinking that we were all Bible Thumping Bigots. 

Nothing can be farther from the truth Yes we do have are fair share of Psycho conservatives but there are plenty of them everywhere you go it's just that here in Dallas the crazy conservatives all have Big Mouths and are loud and will try to make you listen to their opinions, but the truth is that we are ignoring them because We all Have big mouths here...Honestly I can't give some a hard time about this because I am one of the bigger mouths in the city. 

Racism does exist in My City and I have fought to keep it out. I have stood up to old relatives who spout their racist views as well as put the fear into young men who think they are being funny.

I have stated time after time that Dallas is not the villain that we are always made out to be and if Texas is the reddest state in the union it is because we are our own shade. Now many of you will ask what makes me such an expert? That is the part where I say I live here. 

I listen to fellow filmmakers on their Podcasts bashing The Lone Star State and how much they wish that we would succeed from the Union and I have faced the prejudices that come with having pride in my home. Granted I wear a cowboy hat when appropriate as well as my boots. I feel those are the only typecasts that I do indeed have. 

I am supportive of the rights of all citizens in regards to who they want to marry.  I believe that a woman has a right to choose weather or not she wants to terminate a pregnancy. I feel that what a couple choose to do in their bedrooms are in fact their own business and everyone else needs to mind their own. 

A business should have the right to choose who they refuse service to...That being said if you refuse service to someone due to race, religion, or sexual orientation you are nothing more than an ASS!

In regards to guns I am all for a private citizen's right to carry a gun and I am also pro open carry. Now granted do we really reed to carry assault rifles because some of the individuals that I have encountered that are carrying the rifles I have to ask what they are over compensating for. Personally I prefer to carry a 9mm and a rifle with a lower caliber because the kickback is annoying.

When it comes to Race, It follows me like a Black Cloud. I have encountered racism here in Dallas however I have also encountered it far more in other places in the Deep South. 

Now the racist individuals that I encounter I quickly put them in their places because I will not tolerate it in My City. I have come to notice that the "Young Racists" are cowardly. Let me tell you a story.

I was at a convention a couple of years ago hanging out with one of the celebrity guests in the hotel bar and yes having my fanboy moment. There was a African American man sitting at the bar having a beer and looking at us. The look on his face was one of I really want to talk to the Celebrity guest but he was too nervous to approach. 

I soon went to the bar to order my final round of tequila for myself and my crew before I Tab out. And had a brief conversation with the individual and it was a pleasant conversation about the good time that he was having at the event. At this point I began a conversation with one of my regular customers that was sitting in a different part of the bar. 

This was when 4 police officers entered the bar and approached this man telling him that they had reports that he was giving the "Evil Eye" to people in the bar. 

What I saw on this man's face was nothing but Fear and naturally he was defensive and myself and my customer watched as the situation unfolded in front of us.

Now there are those that choose not to get involved and I am not one of those but I also know all to well what happens when you try to get involved in these situations, So first off I went to Laura and told her that I was going to have some words with these officers, Laura I modestly became frightened as she has seen me get into it with the Lake Dallas Police on occasion and her and other members of my crew tried to talk me out of it saying that the situation was not racist. 

Eventually after the officers stepped out of the bar I followed them to "Have some Words" and this was when we saw the officers talking with the man who actually called them. A man who refused to be in the bar to face the man that he was accusing because he had no guts and he was in the middle of a rant about "Those People" that is when my Assistant looked at me and said "Now That was Racist" and we all watched as the officers laid into this man for calling them and using them as his "Weapon" for his bigoted beliefs. They even told him that they might even arrest him while they were running his ID for wasting their time. 

By that point we had all ran back to the bar and I bought the man that was harassed a beer. 

These police officers were just doing their job with information that they were given and when they pieced together the facts they dealt with the situation in the best way they could. It was horrible that they were used like that. 

There are two lessons here, The first is that cops aren't the villains and they are human and they do make errors, 

The Second is the fact is that racism in our country still exists and it does exist on both sides and I feel a great deal of pity for the poor individuals that have so much Hate that it destroys them the way it does. 

We did have that incident in McKinney at the Pool Party but I honestly didn't;t consider that relevant  because McKinney is just a bunch of Snooty Jackasses who think they are better than EVERYONE else and the situation escalated to something that should NOT have happened and  I'm just happy that nobody was killed or seriously injured there and hopefully everyone can move on with their lives. 

That brings me to the events of last week.

What bothers me is that this was a peaceful protest in which the police were involved to protect the piece. This was also a protest for the events in other cities in other states. Yet someone decided to shoot our Police Officers because of the shootings across the nation and the lack of accountability that the police have seemed to avoid. Again THIS WAS NOT DALLAS!

Here you saw these Officers put their lives on the line to protect and serve people who were protesting against them and these people were also on the line and have come to the side of their fallen finest.

 This was a senseless act of violence but the police did their jobs with magnificent valor and showed the nation just who in the hell They Are. 

We May Rise and Fall but in the end we Will Meet our Fate together. We are all in this together and we need to stick together. Dallas was never the City of Hate as there is too much to Love here. 

I ask Why did this happen. We May Never Know. One thing that we will know is that This City, MY CITY, OUR CITY will endure and we will prevail. 

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

There are some of us that have spent more time in a "Galaxy Far Far Away" than others. For all of us the big question after the bonfire celebration at the end of Return of the Jedi is where do we go from here?

This is where that direction goes with the licencing. The Saga continued in novel form with The Truce at Bakura where the rebel alliance continues their battle against the remains of the Empire and as the novels continue Han and Leia marry and have children and we are shown the formation of the New Republic and the new Jedi Order under the guidance of Luke Skywalker and his wife Myra Jade.  

In comic book form the Dark Empire trilogy The Emperor resurfaces and Luke briefly joins him as his new apprentice though he overcomes the temptation of the Darkside 

They were not all Happy Endings. 

In 1999 readers mourned with out familiar cast of heroes the death of Chewbacca who sacrificed his life to save Han's youngest son and the turning to the Darkside of Han and Leia's son Jacen after killing Luke's wife. 

It was still a fun time to be a Star Wars fan 

In theatres audiences saw the prequels and the origins of Darth Vader which while not well received by loyal fans the films still kept the fan experience alive.

After all there has been a few missteps in the Galaxy such as the Holiday Special and the Ewoks Movies.

At least the Holiday Special gave us Bobba Fett.

I personally liked The Force Unleashed Video Game...Part 2 not so much.

2008 viewers got to finally see the often discussed Clone Wars and the continuing origin of the saga. 

When we least expected a change it was announced in 2012 that Lucasfilms was sold to Disney and that there was going to be a new trilogy produced and that Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill were all on board. Peter Mahew, Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker were also announced to be reprising their Roles. 

When Star Trek Director JJ Abrams was announced at the Helm of the new feature fans rejoiced, 

The Hype of the flick was definetly building but there was not without it's issues as it was announced that with the exception of Clone Wars and the saga all other areas of Star Wars were no longer considered to be Canon and have been wiped out of existence. 

Now we were also treated to Star Wars Rebels which debuted in 2014 which takes place between Episode III and IV and follows a small band that opposes the Empire and we are shown the formation of the Rebel Alliance, 

A continuation of Clone Wars Rebels features the return of Voice Actors as well as characters from it's predecessor and reprisals of classic Characters and the actors that played them including Billy Dee Williams appearing as Lando Calrisian, Frank Oz as Yoda and James Earl Jones returning to voice Darth Vader. 

Naturally when Episode VII now called The Force Awakens finally arrived in Theaters, Yours Truly was at the Alamo Drafthouse along with the Dallas chapter of the 501st as well as some of the classic cosplayers and Chelsea Davis from CBS 11 and I was armed with my trusty camera to cover the event and the Alamo was nice enough to give me some food vouchers and I enjoyed some of the Star Wars themed cuisines that were available. I definetly liked the Wookie Cookies. 

I'm Glad everyone knew I was there because I ended up appearing on CBS 11 filming the screening. 

I admit that I have been waiting for reviewing the flick because I decided to wait for BluRay and see what special features were to come. 

I also felt that I could not talk about the flick without spoilers so I decided to be respectful to the fans that have yet to see the film. 

It is no secret that This film is the first chapter of a new trilogy and a new expanded universe but this is the chapter that while following a new cast of characters in Ray, Finn, Poe and BB8 we are continuing the saga of our returning favorites with Luke, Leia, Chewbacca, C-3P0 and R2-D2, Now that brings us to Han Solo, 

The famous Smuggler is featured prominently in the film alongside as his trusty sidekick Chewy we are shown his end at the hands of his own son Ben AK Kylo Ren. 

Granted I saw this death coming when Han stepped out on that bridge to try to reason to his son, because frankly this is the first chapter in a new trilogy and if it was the third I would see Ren returning to who he was but here is our primary villain having his big defining moment for the Saga. 

He will be always be remembered as the man who killed Han Solo and where will this take the characters. 

Believe me I was in the crowded theater during this scene where members of the audiences gasped and there were many WTFs and then silence. 

I am sure that Harrison Ford requested that his character die as that is what he wanted for Jedi and they did do the character justice in a franchise that is infamous for giving popular characters bad deaths. 

That brings us to Luke Skywalker as I know that many were complaining that Luke pops up at only the end and essentially has one shot in the flick and I actually liked that as this was the plot of the whole flick was the search for the last Jedi Knight. 

My intirpration of the ending was that Luke had some kind of connection to R2-D2 who was remaining in Low Power mode and had remained in hiding. 

When Han was killed it sent a great disturbance in the force as we saw Leia reacting, I'm sure Luke felt it as well and sent a signal activating R2-D2 to provide the last part of the map informing them of his location. 

Like Yoda Luke is in exile and seems reluctant to take Rey on as a apprentice. 

Personally I like the character of Rey and and the character of Poe and I am looking forward to seeing where these characters go in the next entries. 

The BluRay release features a multipart documentary that followed the production as well as features showcasing the music, the effects, and a special about the Table Read for the film. 

All in All This flick is a Buy and I recommend as far as BluRay waiting for a Box Set of all of the flicks when it is completed.