fright club magazine - issue 5

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FeatureRuss GommInvestigates Villains

M A G A Z I NE

Issue 5 March 2011

Content only suitable for those 18 years or older

Scarier than FictionInterview with Director Marc LevitzTOP 10 Devilish character's in movies

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Terms and conditions:1. Open to UK residents aged 18 and over who accurately complete the official entry form and enter before closing date. 2. The Prize is: 1 set of 5 Blu-rays from the Lionsgate Fright Club. Titles are: My Bloody Valentine 3D, Blair Witch Project, Drag Me To Hell, Heartless and Cabin Fever 3. The winner will be drawn by an independent judge on 31/07/11 and notified thereafter via e-mail. No correspondence will be entered into. Judges decision is final. 4. No purchase necessary to enter. 5. Only one entry per natural person. 6. No responsibility will be accepted for entries lost, corrupted or delayed in transmission. 7. This competition is not open to employees of the promoter, associated agents or anyone concerned with this promotion. Bulk entries made from trade, consumer groups or third parties will not be accepted. 8. There are no cash alternatives. 9. Entry into this competition constitutes acceptance of these Terms and Conditions. 10. The Prize is non refundable and non transferable. 11. We reserve the right to (a) award an alternative prize of equal or greater value and (b) in exceptional circumstances to vary, amend or withdraw this competition on reasonable notice. 12. The promoter is Lions Gate Home Entertainment UK Ltd. 2nd Floor, 60 Charlotte Street London, W1T 2NU. Company number 4463427 13. For details of how the promoter will use personal data please see the Fright Club Privacy Policy at http://www.fright-club.co.uk/privacy

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Editor’s Note

Welcome back. This edition is brought to you in association with Jigsaw, as we celebrate the release of Saw: The Final Chapter on DVD. The final instalment of the record breaking horror franchise is yours to own now and, to honour this momentous occasion, we are taking a look at some of the best bits of the series we know and love. Oh Jigsaw, how we’ll miss you and your little puppet friend.

Before we get all misty eyed we’ll move on to something new on the big screen. In cinemas now is the ultra cool Drive Angry in 3D starring Nicolas Cage as a man who has broken out of hell to avenge his

murdered daughter and rescue her kidnapped baby. Hot on his heels is the devil’s right hand man who has been sent to drag him back by any means necessary. We take a look at some of the best devil-may-care movies and compare the hellish goings on.

We’ll also be taking a look at some of the more memorable villains of recent films and see what makes them tick. And as if that isn’t enough, we have an original short story called ‘The Pitch’ which shows just what can happen if inspiration doesn’t strike at just the right moment.

That’s all for now. Don’t forget we’re on Facebook, if you disagree with any of our opinions or just want to tell us what you think of the magazine, drop us a note. Budding writers can get in touch and have their articles/stories included in the magazine – just e-mail [email protected]

Until next time fright fans... Claire

Claire Richardson, Editor


C o ntributors

We want your horror stories! To contribute reviews, stories, images or anything else please contact [email protected]

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© 2011 Lions Gate Home Entertainment UK Ltd.

Mark Bowsher

Russ Gomm

Kevin Richardson


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Villains: I Wouldn’t Last Five Minutes . . . by Russ Gomm

The Devil’s in the Detailby Claire Richardson

Scarier Than Fiction (Director Interview: Marc Levitz)by Claire Richardson

The Best of Sawby Claire Richardson

Bad Valentinesby Kevin Richardson and Claire Richardson

Horror Movie VillainsBy Claire Richardson

The Pitch (Short Story)By Mark Bowsher

Eastbourne – the New Home of Horror?Master and Victim set report. By Mark Bowsher

Top 10 Most Cringe-Worthy Saw Traps by Claire Richardson

Halloween in Popular cultureby Claire Richardson

I sSue #5

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Villains have been a vital aspect of narrative cinema since the beginning. But why? And what actually defines a character as a villain? Do we really perceive villains correctly? And why are they so appealing to us? With all these questions at hand I decided to look further into the ideas of good and bad, of hero and villain, and try to uncover a deeper understanding of just who these ‘bad guys’ are.

There have been some great and memorable film villains over the years of varying kinds; so many that you could go on for pages and pages. To narrow it down I have picked three recent films to look at specifically with regard to villains, but more on this later... I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself so perhaps a good place to begin this piece would be to try and clearly define what a villain actually is.

A villain is commonly known

as the ‘bad guy’ and is the ‘evil’ character in a story. More importantly the villain is usually the ‘antagonist’ and represents an opposition for the ‘protagonist’, that is the main character who the plot revolves around and the audience are intended to relate to the most.

Villains were rife in classic cinema. You could spot them instantly. If you look at the films of Tod Slaughter for example, films such as ‘Sweeney Todd’ and ‘The Face At The Window’ you see the stereotypical view of villains at the time. As much fun as these films are, and as great as it is to see an over the top character

V I L L A I N SI wouLdN’t LASt fIVE mINutES LEAdINg AN outfIt LIkE thAt If I wASN’t AS rottEN AS hELL

By Russ Gomm

Kramer can definitely be seen as a hero


Jigsaw : Villain or Visionary?


whom we can boo and hiss at, the films completely misrepresent real people in cinema. These characters are unscrupulous, mean and menacing and are the true definition of the word villain, but do these villains really exist in any form other than the amusing caricatures that we see in the cinema of old?

Author Ben Bova states, “In the real world there are no villains. No one actually sets out to do evil. Fiction mirrors life. Or, more accurately, fiction serves as a lens to focus what we know of life and bring its realities into sharper, clearer understanding for us.

There are no

villains cackling and rubbing their hands in glee as they contemplate their evil deeds. There are only people with problems, struggling to solve them.”

I think what Bova is saying here is that villainy is actually an exaggeration of a personality in real life. I believe this also translates into the fictional world too. Obviously there are still typical villains in cinema but I

want to look at some of the more complex characters that

have been called villains but in my

opinion are something else.

Vladimir Propp, a Russian scholar of narrative s t r u c t u r e , gives great

...do we find that the villain is really just a tragic hero...

“Tickets Please” 3:10 to Yum

a, subverts Western convention.


understanding to cinematic characters. Some fantastic ideas are raised when looking into his theories, ideas that I will be using for my debates. A villain is seen as the antagonist as I have explained earlier. But surely there can only be an antagonist if there is a protagonist? Does the villain really need a good hero? Can he be balanced without one? Sometimes films have no ‘good’ character and the ‘villain’ is all there is, but do we then perceive the antihero as the replacement for the hero? If we look deeper into characters and uncover more about them do we find that the villain is really just a tragic hero with unfortunate reasons for why they are this way?

Binary opposition is what exists in modern cinema, the basic good vs. evil that we have come to expect, but what if cinema, just like real life, was not so clear cut and more dramatically ambiguous?

‘American Psycho’ is, for me, a wonderful example of how incorrect labelling as a villain can be dangerous. My first question is this. If Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is the villain, then who exactly is the hero? As

I have said above, all villains need an equal and in this film I don’t believe there is one to be found. Interestingly there are many arguments on the actual plot details of the film. I personally follow the idea that what unfolds during the film is purely in Bateman’s head. However if Bateman is the murderer that he is portrayed as, does that even make him a typical villain? With regards to the Bova quote surely not? He is clearly suffering from an illness. If he is not a typical villain then what is he?

If the killings are all in his imagination (which I believe they are) then he certainly is not a villain as he has actually done nothing bad and committed no crime. Everyone has fantasies of how they would deal with certain situations and people. This doesn’t warrant a label of villainy. Good

Everyone has fantasies... This doesn’t warrant a label of villainy.


or Bad, Bateman rationalises why he ‘kills’ and perhaps his reasons could almost brand him a hero? Is he doing it for a good cause? Is he fighting against society itself and waging a one-man war against things he sees wrong with the world? Prostitution, poverty, fake society and of course yuppies! Does this then mean that he is the hero, or more likely, the anti-hero of the film and the rest of the characters are actually his antagonists, the real villains? The film itself shows many more villainous characters than Patrick Bateman, just look at Willem Dafoe’s creepy Detective Kimball.

One of the most popular ‘bad guys’ in cinema today must be John Kramer (Tobin Bell), also known as Jigsaw, in the horror franchise Saw. Every Halloween, eager fans await the next instalment of the bloody saga, discussing the

villainy of Kramer, but really? Is he that bad? For those of us who have actually sat through all seven of the movies it has become a little more obvious that this well drawn character has a lot more depth to him than the typical serial killer he is portrayed as. If you care to look deeper into the series there are a lot of interesting points to be made about people and the society they live in.

Again, the same question as before must be asked. If Kramer is the villain, then who is the hero? There certainly is no hero in the first movie, and during the entire series the closest anyone comes is Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson) [Saw IV-V] but he doesn’t last long enough or see the case through to the end to be the true hero. If he is heroic it’s because he is in opposition to Lt. Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) [Saw III-VII] who is much more of a typical villain than Kramer himself.

During the sequels we find out more about Kramer’s back-story and his unfortunate past and

Prostitution, poverty, fake

society and of course yuppies!


present situations. We begin to understand why he does what he does. Kramer is the character that a u d i e n c e s are made to

relate to, so looking back on our theories: does this make him the protagonist instead of the antagonist? If so does this then make him the hero of the film instead of the villain? I would strongly argue this point. Kramer

can definitely be seen as a hero. But if so, what kind of hero is he? Because of his actions is he an anti-hero? Because of his situation is he a

tragic hero? I would also like to point out that he never actually murders anyone. I believe that he is a character trying to help people through their

problems; he just has an interesting way of

doing it.

In order for Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) to be

a typical villain in the remake of ‘3:10 To Yuma’

he would need a typical hero to oppose him. Although

at first glance Dan Evans (Christian Bale) is a hero to Wade’s villain, it soon becomes

obvious that things are not quite so clear. The characters

are offered to us as hero


and villain, but the two characters begin to take on the opposite traits of what they should. Wade’s characteristics become more heroic, and Evans’ more villainous.

The battle between them for good and evil is almost reversed. We begin to wonder which is which and can see quite clearly the lines being blurred between them. Wade, as the villain, is kind and caring but has a dangerous side to him. Evans, as the hero, is selfish and hurtful, but has a good side to him. Surely this ultimately changes who the villain really is? There is no balance in their characterisation and it shows a true side to human nature where there is no good and bad, just mixed elements of both. Therefore could it be argued that the roles are reversed and Wade is the hero and Evans is the villain? More interestingly perhaps both characters are neither hero or

villain but each contain traits of both, in which case it is not a typical fight for good and evil, but a fight for one characters’ redemption.

From looking at these films, and indeed many others, I feel that we can see a great shift in the characterisation of good and evil in cinema over the years. Early films revelled in the glee of villainy. After World War II there was a definite need for audiences to easily identify the villain, however in modern cinema we realise things are not so clear-cut and characters, like real life people, are far more complex. It seems that with the changing times many characters that are perceived as ‘bad’ are actually suffering from problems and often the case is mental illness. If this is so, the characters are not really responsible for their own actions and as such cannot be guilty of villainy. Are serial killers really just tragic heroes after all?

These are just some of my thoughts on this subject and although there are obviously heroes and villains in the world of cinema I find it interesting to actually look further

Hero and villain to each

other, but which way around?


into characters and see the two blend together. Just to prove that I haven’t just picked three films with characters worthy of study there are plenty more out there. Remember characters like Darth Vader, an assumed clear-cut villain until the very end of ‘Return Of The Jedi’ where he shows his true colours and defines heroism. Hannibal Lector, surely a hero to the true villainy of ‘Buffalo Bill’ in ‘The Silence Of The Lambs’ yet seen as the ‘bad guy’ by many. Not to mention the bizarre character traits of both Tyler Durden and ‘The Narrator’ in ‘Fight Club’, hero and villain to each other, but which way around? And more often than not each of them become both hero and villain at the same time in relation to other characters in the film.

I will fully admit that some villains however simply do not fit my meticulous model. There are some characters out there that are rubbing their hands in glee and cackling away. I have no idea for example what to do with Ming The Merciless… The End?


So, what if your father was the devil and your mother was an angel? Well I imagine you’d be confused too, just like Nicky. Played by Adam Sandler, Nicky is dispatched to Earth when his two evil older brothers escape from their hellish home to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting populace and try to usurp their dad’s position in hell. It’s all up to Nicky to save Earth and his devilish dad, if only he can navigate through a very different world than he’s used to and defeat the older brothers who had been mean to him his entire life.

From around the middle of season 3, the witchy sisters had a big bad enemy to fight as opposed to their usual ‘monster of the week’ fare, when the idea of an underworld leader was introduced – The Source. This, in turn upped the stakes for the stories as the seemingly random evil suddenly had a boss who had a larger game plan than what was seen in the earlier seasons of the show. The cloaked, initially never seen and only spoken about baddie was a literal shadow across the middle season episodes and meant that none of the characters were safe as was seen at the end of season three.

What better way to make the perfect Hollywood Hero than to pitch them against the ultimate antagonist! Especially for the ‘Villains’ issue

Fright Club takes a look at the top ten villains to end all villains.By Claire Richardson

Dev i l’sthE dEVIL’S IN

thE dEtAIL

LIttLE NIcky chArmEd10 9

fright-club.co.uk | 13Dev i l’s

9


dev i l

Here we find more deals being made (as seems to be the way with these things), this time by Brendan Fraser’s character Elliot, who is stuck in a dead end job and has an unrequited crush on one of his co-workers. One day, when he says he would do anything to be with her, the devil appears and offers him 7 wishes in exchange for his soul. In this instance the devil is played by Liz Hurley who eventually seduces him into agreeing to her terms. As expected, his wishes don’t exactly turn out as expected as he is told that he’s not being specific enough, such as when he wishes to be married to his dream girl, but it turns out to be a loveless marriage because he wasn’t specific enough to have her actually love him.

Nicolas Cage once again goes head-to-head with minions from hell in this comic book racing movie where he plays Johnny Blaze, a stunt rider who sells his soul to make his sick father well again, but is then betrayed so that he loses his father anyway. He’s told that one day his debt will come due and he’ll have to pay. Several years later Mephistopheles calls on Johnny to become his Ghost Rider, a bounty hunter who must track down souls who escape from hell and send them back, and his first assignment is to track down Mephistopheles’ son, Blackheart and send him back before he can unleash hell on Earth – so they’re easing him into his first job then.

8bEdAzzLEd7 6ghoSt rIdEr


dev i l

This short lived supernatural comedy series centers on a young man named Sam, who, on his 21st birthday, discovers that his parents sold his soul to the devil before birth and he must now be a bounty hunter until he dies – not exactly the birthday present he was hoping for – it’s hardly a new car or a surprise birthday party is it? Along with his friends, Sam must take on various tarnished souls and send them back where they belong, all the while trying to stay alive, keep his job and hide his secret from the girl of his dreams. In this series, the devil is a business suit wearing charmer, who has moments of real menace when he doesn’t get what he wants or when Sam protests that he just wants a normal life – well in his defence Sam didn’t actually make the deal himself so he’s entitled to being bitter about his situation, right?

This is a new take on the classic Faustian deal story about a young photographer named Jamie ( Jim Sturgess), who is cut off from the world around him because he has a large heart-shaped birth mark on his face. The only way he connects with the world is through the lens of his camera. Living in the East End of London, the people around him live in fear of the violent hooded gangs who, according to news reports, have started wearing demon masks when they attack people. But, one terrible night, Jamie discovers the terrifying truth: the gangs are not wearing masks. They are real demons. And Jamie is forced to fight back when his mother is killed right in front of him and he realises he can no longer hide away. Seeking out their ‘boss’, aka Papa B, Jamie initially sets out to kill him but instead finds his one greatest wish is within his grasp if he is willing to make a deal.

7 6 hEArtLESSrEApEr5


In a world where 99% of the population has been killed by a virus, the survivors have to decide whether they’re on the side of good or evil. Evil in this miniseries is embodied by Randall Flagg, who travels around, looking like a long-haired biker, trying to charm people onto his side by offering them things that they need, in return for their soul. For example in the case of a man who is the only survivor in a locked-down prison, he offers him freedom, food and the chance to be one of his right-hand-men. Not one to take no for an answer, if he is refused, he shows off his true demonic visage and promptly kills his target. Whether he is actually the devil is not specifically stated, but he is definitely the antagonist to Mother Abigail, who is seen to speak out-loud to God, which makes him at the very least, on the side of the devil.

In this film the devil, who also calls himself Mr. Nick (Tom Waits), likes to make bets with mere mortals in order to corrupt them. Centuries ago a man named Doctor Parnassus made a bet with the devil and won immortality. Not one to take this lightly, the devil then made another agreement – he would replace Parnassus’ immortality with youth, if he was promised Parnassus’ son or daughter when they reached the age of sixteen. When Valentina, Doctor Parnassus’ rebellious daughter approaches her sixteenth birthday, Mr. Nick returns to claim his prize, however, feeling a little bored, he decides to change the bet yet again; this time saying the first one of them to charm five souls onto their side, will ultimately win the bet and therefore the claim over Valentina.

4thE StANd3thE ImAgINArIum

of dr pArNASSuS 2

fright-club.co.uk | 173 2SupErNAturAL

The entire fourth season of Supernatural is focused on not letting Lucifer escape from hell. Then season 5 is devoted to the Winchester brothers trying to send him back once he gets free. Stopping the devil is basically the main arc for both of these seasons, and when he does appear, he is played with subtlety by Mark Pellegrino. This devil is a master manipulator but also a villain who waits for his targets to come to

him rather than hunting them down himself, for example, in the way that he tries to convince Sam Winchester to join him by comparing their similar back-stories is devious and just a little bit clever – making it seem like he’s the only one who could understand how Sam has felt his whole life. Also, this depiction of the devil uses the truth to hurt people rather than lying to people to get what he wants.


Nicolas Cage goes all bad-ass as he bursts out of hell in order to avenge his daughter’s murder and rescue her child who has been kidnapped by an evil cult. Hot on his heals is a man known only as The Accountant (William Fichtner), who has been sent to bring him back to hell.

drIVE ANgry 3d1


Scarier than fictionWe’ve all seen horror movies Where a masked killer has terrorised a

group of helpless people, but the one genre that is arguably much

scarier, is true crime. true crime horror movies are based on actual

events and actual people, and the true crime documentary is about as

intense as horror can get. names like bundy, gacy and dahmer bring

about the kind of fear that can’t be matched by fictional horror movie villains. these are the real villains.the documentary i survived b.t.k. takes a look at the aftermath of

one of these villains, dennis rader, aka b.t.k. and What happened to

the surviving family members of his first victims, the otero family.

fright club brings you an intervieW With the director of this film,

marc levitz and asks What made him Want to make a film about some of

the most notorious serial killings in american history and What it Was like to make the film as a first time director.

fright club:What inspired you to make a film about the b.t.k. case?Marc levitz:There were several things that inspired me to make this film,

actually – the unknown, the challenge of doing something I’d never done before, my own situation in my life and where I was both personally and professionally. The fact that I was raised in Kansas also had a lot to do with it and so did a little divine intervention. Artistically, Roman Polanski’s book, Roman by Polanski, was most definitely influential, as were two of Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s

films, Paradise Lost and Brother’s Keeper. fright club:did you always plan for the film to be from the perspective of charlie otero?

Mark levitz: I had planned to start at the beginning of the BTK story

– it was the logical place to begin - and the Oteros were BTK’s first victims, so naturally that’s where we began. After the arrangements were made to interview him in prison, we met Charlie Otero in person and after that interview, I knew I wanted to tell the story the way he was seeing and living it while it was unfolding around us. As for any differences it may have made, I’m not sure. When I started down this road, I knew we had to have a unique point

by Claire Richardson

fright-club.co.uk | 21of view and Charlie’s personality was engaging, to say

the least. Plus, there was so much hoopla and fanfare

surrounding the killer himself and the subsequent

investigation that we felt it was important to give

the victims in this case a voice of sorts. Charlie

Otero became the de facto voice for a lot of those

folks through this film and it was a real honour to

document history through him because it’s so rare for

a filmmaker, especially one with so little experience,

to get an opportunity to tell a story like this from

the inside out. I just hope people see it for what

it is – a snapshot of a man’s life and the story of a

survivor getting a second chance at putting his life

back together. We didn’t try to re-invent the wheel

with this film. We only tried to present a compelling

story through an atypical set of eyes. That’s what,

in my opinion, sets the film apart from other BTK fare.

fright club:

tell us a little bit about your experience of making the film?

Marc levitz:

That would take pages and pages to answer that question,

so I’ll spare you the gory details but it was brutal

and it was beautiful and at times, it flipped my world

and my life upside down. Almost seven years of my life

have gone into this project and along the way I made a

few new friends and lost some old ones and even ended

up with an extra dog. This film was a largely self-

financed endeavour, however low-budget it was, which

proved stressful at times but it taught me a lot about

myself as an individual and made my best and worst

qualities come out, almost simultaneously. Suffice it

to say, I’ve learned a lot from this experience and

I would do it all again in a minute, were I to get the

opportunity.

fright club: how did you go about researching the case?

Marc levitz:

Well, it started when Dateline NBC first aired the

story, right after BTK resurfaced sometime in March

2004. My research began right when that show was

over. Again, being from Kansas and never having heard

that story really lit that match and an hour or so

after the show aired, I was in chat rooms where people

were talking about the case and everyone was on guard

because BTK hadn’t been caught and for all anyone knew,

he was hanging out in the chat rooms with us. Everyone

was on edge. I followed one chat room in particular;

I think the name of it’s changed now – run by a woman

named Wendy. I approached her first and told her who I

was, where I was from and went to school and shared

with her the idea I had for the project. Without

her help I don’t think we’d have been able to get

things going. Along the way we spoke with former

by Claire Richardson

22 | fright-club.co.ukhomicide detectives, an author by the name of Robert

Beattie, whom I now consider a friend, other members

of the media and almost anyone else who’d give me their

time. All told, I think I followed the case on the

sidelines for about three or four months before I knew

we could actually make the film happen.

fright club:

What sets this case apart from other serial killer cases?

Mark levitz:

Well, I’m no expert and there are a lot of serial

killers out there who’ve committed the most heinous

acts imaginable. Gacy, Dahmer, Bundy, Ramirez, Henry

Lee Lucas, Edward Kemper, H.H. Holmes, they’ve all done

horrible things and each one of them had their own M.O.

and their own signature. What I learned about the BTK

case is that Dennis Rader (BTK), had actually aspired

to be a famous serial killer. It was a dream job, of

sorts. The fact that he wrote letters and poems to

the press makes the case similar to the Zodiac case in

San Francisco, as does the period of time when most of

the murders took place. That these killers mostly

appear to be normal citizens on the outside makes all

these cases more frightening. He hid in plain sight,

installed security systems, was a census taker and

even sang in the church choir. To me, they’re all sick

- every one of them. Whether they eat their victims,

dissolve their bodies in acid, or put their mom’s head

on a spike - it doesn’t matter. BTK is just another

nut in the nuthouse - but he was a child killer and

that reserves him a special place in hell, if you want

the truth.

fright club:

indeed. so aside from the subject matter, what was the

most challenging aspect of making this film?

Mark levitz:

Obscurity is a challenging obstacle to overcome and so

is working without a budget. Those are the biggest and

most obvious challenges for all first-time filmmakers,

especially those in the documentary genre. And like

anything, just doing it for the first time presents a

unique set of challenges, as well. The self-doubt

that comes with that type of insecurity - first-time

jitters and what have you, those feelings, they were

hard to deal with at times. On a more personal level,

simply keeping the faith - continuing to believe in

the project and the vision itself, especially when

so many people doubt, hate on or purposely stand in

the way – for me, those were the most challenging

aspects. Getting subjects to fully cooperate is also

challenging, particularly in today’s media climate where

everything is instantaneous and everyone’s an instant

celebrity. When people hear the word, “movie”, they

see dollar signs and that can be distracting. But I’m

fright-club.co.uk | 23thankful for the people who stood by me without ever wavering - my parents, my brother, my closest friends, our sales agents and my attorney. There were also those artists who stepped up when they didn’t have to and had nothing to gain from helping us out, like Peter Hayes from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. He was monumental in the music department and so was Nick Jago, though he’s no longer in the band. Nick introduced me to Peter a few years back and without their interest, we’d have three less bitchin’ songs in the film. To be honest, we’re really stoked about the film’s soundtrack - G.G. Allin, Wesley Willis, BRMC, Dax Riggs - the music is exactly what and how we wanted it to be and even though it took close to two years to clear all of the music rights, the quality of the music was worth waiting for.

fright club: What was the most rewarding aspect of making this film?

Mark levitz: Overcoming every obstacle that was placed in front of the project and getting it to our audience - and knowing that we made an honest, if somewhat imperfect, documentary that might give people hope when they lose faith in themselves or the world around them.

fright club: so what was it like to be in the room during dennis rader’s court case?

Mark levitz: Actually, I wasn’t in the room but if we succeeded in presenting that illusion in the film, then we accomplished our goal. But to answer your question, I got friendly with the Media Coordinator at the DA’s office, and he helped us get all of the media access we needed, especially during the sentencing. Outside of that, being with Charlie up until the moments he went into the courtroom and right when he came out of the courtroom after seeing and hearing from BTK for himself - those were the moments we felt like we (and the viewer) were in there with the killer himself - and that was as close as we needed to be to BTK.

fright club: rader was arrested during filming, so did the premise of the film change because of this?

Mark levitz: Well, that’s a great question.... It had been 30 years since the first murders and the cops were no closer to catching him in 2004 than they were in 1974. And I am convinced that had Rader not made himself visible - out of hubris - they never would have captured him. That said, the original idea of the film was to highlight a then-little-known serial killer mystery through the eyes of those who were left behind in the aftermath

24 | fright-club.co.ukof that serial killer’s actions. I was thinking of

something akin to Capturing the Friedmans, actually, a

more personal look at a family story interwoven with

a darker subtext and to a large extent, that’s what

this film is.

We had planned on following Charlie Otero no matter

what. Whether the killer was caught was irrelevant

at the time because to me, the notion of a killer

without a face and still on the loose would have made

the film compelling in its own right. Documenting the

people most affected in this story was always the plan

and like I said, starting at the beginning of the

story meant starting with the Otero family. With a

documentary, you never know what you’re going to get,

which is half of the battle and half of the beauty of

the process. That BTK was caught in the middle of

production did throw me for a bit - but we rolled with

the direction the story was taking and the film reflects

and documents life the way it happened in that period

of time for those people and that was the whole point

of making the film in the first place.

fright club:so, what’s up next for you?

Mark levitz:

I’d like to make another film one day – maybe another

doc, maybe a splatter film - but honestly, asking me

that question now is like asking me what I’m having

for dinner while I’m still eating breakfast. I’m

still working on ISBTK on some levels and when it’s

all over, I’m sure I’ll know better what’s next for

me. For now, I’m happy that the film’s come this

far - and I’m just grateful for all of the support

we’ve gotten from friends and family and strangers

over these past several years. I wouldn’t be talking

to you right now if it weren’t for everyone else who

helped out along the way.

end.


onDVDnow


EVERY PIECE HAS ITS PUZZLE

Adam on what he remembers before waking up in the bathroom:“I went to bed in my s**thole apart-ment and I woke up in an actual s**thole.”

Jigsaw to Amanda after completing her ‘game’: “Congratulations. You are still alive. Most people are so ungrateful to be alive. But not you. Not anymore.”

Dr. Gordon after realising what the saws are for:“He doesn’t want us to cut through our chains. He wants us to cut through our feet!”

Before John slams the door shut on Adam. First time = classic:

“GAME OVER”

Remember when… The ‘corpse’ in the middle of the room stood up!!!

WE DARE YOU AGAIN

John explaining his motives:“Those who do not appreciate life do not deserve life.”

John describes what will happen to the people in the house: “Oh, yes, there will be blood.”

Kerry, reading the message from the ceiling:“Look closer, De-tective Matthews.”

John’s message, giv-ing a clue: “You all possess the combination to the safe. Think hard. The numbers are in the back of your minds.”

Remember when… “It’s not a live feed.” Gulp!

SUFFERING? YOU HAVEN’T SEEN ANY-

THING YET…

John tells Lynn that this is just the start of the game:“Suffering? You haven’t seen any-thing yet.”

Amanda to Lynn as she tries to save John:“You’d be surprised what tools can save a life.”

John on what he does:“I don’t condone murder and I de-spise murderers.”

Remember when… Jeff forgives but doesn’t forget – followed by circu-lar saw action

YOU THOUGHT IT WAS OVER BUT THE GAMES HAVE JUST

BEGUN

John’s final tape that was found in his stomach:“You think it’s over just because I am dead. It’s not over. The games have just begun.”

Hoffman trying to warn Rigg to con-trol his obsession:“You don’t ever go through an unse-cure door. Ever.”

John tells Jill the motto for the re-hab clinic:““Cherish your life” is the motto this whole organiza-tion is built on. Cherish your life... your life.”

Remember when…Rigg went through an unse-cured door and the ice blocks dropped.

I II III IV t h e b e s t o f


YOU THOUGHT IT WAS OVER BUT THE GAMES HAVE JUST

BEGUN

John’s final tape that was found in his stomach:“You think it’s over just because I am dead. It’s not over. The games have just begun.”

Hoffman trying to warn Rigg to con-trol his obsession:“You don’t ever go through an unse-cure door. Ever.”

John tells Jill the motto for the re-hab clinic:““Cherish your life” is the motto this whole organiza-tion is built on. Cherish your life... your life.”

Remember when…Rigg went through an unse-cured door and the ice blocks dropped.

IN THE END ALL THE PIECES WILL FIT TOGETHER

Jigsaw, on the first tape to his five victims:“Today, five people will become one, with the goal of surviving.”

John, explaining to Hoffman why there is a differ-ence between their philosophies:“Killing is distaste-ful.”

John’s philosophy:“Vengeance chang-es a person. It can make them realize what they’re capa-ble of.”

Remember when… The tape started, Hoffman just smiled and Strahm met a sticky end.

THE GAME COMES FULL CIRCLE

John to William Easton:“You think it’s the living that will have ultimate judg-ment over you, because the dead will have no claim over your soul.”

John to Hoffman:“Do you like the way brutality feels, Mark?”

John, intimidating William Easton. It’s just the way he says it:“Piranha!”

Amanda after the Saw 6 credits:“Remember, don’t trust the one who saves you”

Remember when… “It isn’t my game.” [insert dramatic chord].

THE FINAL CHAPTER

Hoffman to Jill…in her nightmare:“You wanna know the only thing that’s wrong with killing you, Jill? I can only do it once.”

Dr. Gordon mock-ing Bobby Dagan’s support group:“Bravo! To be able to sustain such a traumatic experi-ence and, uh... and yet find a positive in that grizzly act. It’s a remarkable feat, indeed. Re-markable... if not a little perverse.”

Detective Gibson to Jill, telling her that Hoffman won’t be able to find her:“It’s a safe house Jill! Safe. House.”Dr. Gordon – last line (the final line of the final film in the franchise):“Game over.”

Remember when… The reverse bear trap was actually used with devas-tating results.

IV V VI VIIt h e b e s t o f


Whilst the majority of horror movies are set on Halloween or even April Fools Day, you do get the occasional horror nugget set during a usually ‘safe’ holiday. Christmas has had such horror exploits as Black Christmas (both versions), Santa’s Slay and even Gremlins as just a couple of examples, but with the release of My Bloody Valentine 3D Blu-ray we’d like to take a look at a few horror offerings set around the day of love that is more commonly known as Valentine’s Day. We hope your own Valentine’s Day wasn’t anything like any of these horror offerings.

Valentine’s Day is the one day of the year when romance is in full swing for girls and boys alike. Sales of flowers and chocolates place huge but profitable burdens on stores and perhaps the most

important custom, the mystery Valentines Day card appears on desks and through letter boxes across the world.

It is the time when young lads and ladies who are normally too scared to declare their love for someone with whom they are associated leave a card as a token of their affection. They hope they don’t get found out but in reality they secretly want to.

This day is the one day when love is in the air! Not so for everybody however, because it is also the day when the nastier minded think it would be fun to break the heart of their partner and occasionally, so the storywriters and film producers would have us believe, causes the broken hearted partner to wreak vengeance and terror on their former love.

By Kevin Richardson& Claire Richardson

ValentinesB AD


Our first look at Valentine’s day-gone-awry is “My Bloody Valentine 3D”, a remake of the 1980s slasher and starring Supernatural’s Jensen Ackles, former Dawson’s Creek-er Kerr Smith and Jaime King. Here we see a gas-masked killer come out of the mine shafts to attack potential victims in the ironically named mining town, Harmony. ten years earlier an accident left 6six men trapped in the mine and only one of them made it out alive, having killed the others in order to prolong his air supply.

Later, when the survivor is taken to hospital, the locals are shocked to see the aftermath of a grisly and psychotic rampage. The gas masked killer’s weapon of choice is a huge pick-axe which he uses to mutilate his victims in various bloody ways including cutting out hearts, impaling people through the head and eyes – all in all, very grisly stuff, which is made all the more shocking by the fact that this film is 3D horror at its most gruesome and bucket-loads of the red stuff seems to be flying out at you.

“He loves me, he love me not”. We’re guessing the latter . . .


The revenge element of bad Valentines is also evident in the ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ episode, “Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered” when Cordelia dumps Xander on Valentines Day so that she can regain her popularity. Xander takes revenge on Cordelia by blackmailing the local witch, Amy to put a spell on her so that she falls madly in love with him again. His vengeance would be complete when he dumped her thereby making her feel the same pain he has felt. Unfortunately the spell backfires on Xander and all the women in town fall for him, including Amy herself. It becomes even more terrifying for Xander when the female vampires fall for him as well which in turn puts the very evil Angelus on his trail. The irony in this episode is that Cordelia is the only female not to fall under the spell and is in fact the one who saves Xander from the hoards of women chasing after him. In the end however, Cordelia sees

the error of her ways and takes Xander back. So love does find a way!

This storyline takes a slightly light-hearted look at the Valentines Day vengeance, although not from Xander’s point of view. Not so in the ‘Supernatural’ Season four episode “My Bloody Valentine” in which Dean & Sam Winchester arrive in a small town on Valentines Day to find the locals are killing each other for love.

The episode begins with two lovers getting into the romantic mood at the end of their date by taking large bites out of each other and they actually end up eating each other to death. The next incident involves a woman who turns up at her husband’s office because she cannot stand to be apart from him for any amount of time. Her husband’s workmate makes a joke at them and she shoots him. The husband and wife are so obsessed with being together that they kill themselves.

“...and they actually end up eating each other to death”


To begin with it looks like the work of Cupid gone wrong but they soon find out that one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse is responsible. In this case it is Famine working his evil on the town’s lovers making them crave their partner and bringing new meaning to the saying “till death do us part”.

An example from film is a fairly obvious one - the 2001 horror entitled, appropriately enough, “Valentine” which stars Buffy and Angel’s David Boreanaz and Denise Richards in a film about a masked killer who is ‘offing’ a group of young women who spurned him when they were at high school together. Using a very creepy cherub mask this killer leaves morbid valentines for each of his victims before he kills them. With this being directed by Jamie Blanks, who also directed Urban Legend, you can expect a

few creative deaths in this movie. One of the most memorable death scenes here is when one of the girls is locked in a hot tub and then electrocuted. Yikes. The killer also dispatches his victims in morbidly ironic ways, which are similar to their reactions when he asked them each to dance with him when they were kids. The moral of this story is to be polite if you want to decline an invitation to dance by a potential psycho killer...though in most movies that doesn’t help because they’d be pretty p****d off by the rejection either way.

So are we to believe that Valentines Day is the romantic occasion it is made out to be or the perfect time for so called lovers to move on to fresh prey?! Or perhaps it is the time when the desperate souls who have not found love or even those who had it and have lost it. go to extreme lengths to regain

“be polite if you want to decline an invitation to dance by a

potential psycho killer....”


the magic or try to find it for the first time.

The episode of ‘Charmed’ entitled “Animal Pragmatism” is a classic example of this when three young college friends of Phoebe’s, who are desperate for love, buy a book of magic and cast a spell to find themselves a date for Valentines Day eve. The spell, which is meant to transform animals into human males for a day doesn’t work for them because they are not witches, but they record Phoebe saying it and of course it works transforming a serpent, a pig and a rabbit into adult males.

The spell works too well by creating humans but they still have their animal instincts, which leads

them to start threatening and killing innocent people and after a while they turn on each other. The three Halliwell sisters must stop the men before Valentines Day is ruined for everyone. Things go from bad to worse when the three men discover that they will turn back into animals in twenty four hours, which of course they are not happy about.

So with all the possibilities for terror, mayhem, murder and straight up horror it is a wonder that Valentine’s Day is as popular as it is, or perhaps the desire for love is just too overwhelming?

My Bloody Valentine is available now on DVD and is released on real 3D Blu-ray on March 14th

I hate it when all the good ones have gone.


horror movie villains

Some horror movie villains are so memorable that they become a big part of popular culture for the time they were released. It doesn’t mat-ter that some of them were released over 30 years ago, they are still just

as memorable and terrifying today as they were back then. Here are a few memorable villains, past and present that continue to terrify cinema goers

and DVD buyers alike.

John Kramer, aka Jigsaw

Saw seriesMovies: 7

Memorable one liner:

“I wanna play a game.”

Distinguishing feature:

Using a clown doll on a

tricycle to communicate with

his victims.

Ghostface Scream seriesMovies: 4Memorable one liner: “What’s your favourite scary movie?”Distinguishing feature: Having an obsessive knowledge of horror movies and of the other killers on this list.

Jason VorheesFriday the 13th

Movies:12Memorable one liner: He’s not the talking typeDistinguishing feature: Wearing a hockey mask to cover his face.

A Nightmare on Elm StreetMovies: 7

Memorable one liner: “I’m your boyfriend now,

Nancy.”Distinguishing feature:Wearing his knives on his hands

as a glove.

The MinerMy Bloody Valentine

Movies: 2 (80s original and 2009 remake)Memorable liner: Doesn’t say much with the mask on.Distinguishing feature: A deadly aim with a pick axe.

Leatherface

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Movies: 6


He’s not the talking type.


Wearing a previous victim’s face

to hide his own. Eurgh!


A Nightmare on Elm StreetMovies: 7

Memorable one liner: “I’m your boyfriend now,

Nancy.”Distinguishing feature:Wearing his knives on his hands

as a glove.

Michael MyersHalloween

Movies: 10Memorable one liner: He’s not the talking type.

Distinguishing feature:Wearing a mask to cover his

face.

The MinerMy Bloody Valentine

Movies: 2 (80s original and 2009 remake)Memorable liner: Doesn’t say much with the mask on.Distinguishing feature: A deadly aim with a pick axe.

Pinhead, aka The Lead Cenobite

HellraiserMovies: 4

Memorable one liner: “We’ll tear your soul apart!”Distinguishing feature: He has pins in his head.

Leatherface

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Movies: 6


He’s not the talking type.


Wearing a previous victim’s face

to hide his own. Eurgh!

Hannibal LecterThe Silence of the Lambs films

Movies: 4Memorable one liner:

“A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some

fava beans and a nice Chianti.”Distinguishing feature: Having really disturbing

culinary ‘talents’.Leprechaun

Leprechaun seriesHow many movies: 6Memorable one liner:

“This old Lep, he played one. He played pogo on his lung.” Distinguishing feature:

He’s a murderous Leprechaun. Enough said.


Silence had been inflicted on the boardroom. With her straight, shoulder-length black hair, narrow glasses and firmly crossed arms, Ms. Dekcarlia’s sleek form was marching slowly around the pristine glass table. The uncomfortable quiet was gradually being diluted by the increasing heart-rates and heavy breathing of the smartly-dressed men planted around the table in black leather chairs, each of them aching with a painful sense of anticipation.

Ms. Dekcarlia stopped.

“Well…” she barked.

A stab of fear shot through her suit-clad inferiors but none of them budged a millimetre.

“The first pitch please…” came her tired-sounding plea.

She glared around the clinical,

white surroundings at the tidy, sensible hair-cuts and sickeningly unimaginative desk-monkey shirt and tie combinations belonging to the fourteen men who sat around the table. They were the world’s top salesmen, handpicked by Ms. Dekcarlia herself from around the globe for their hard-nosed, fuck-anything-that-produces-high-profits, sell-your-own-grandma-and-chuck- in-the-kids-too attitude to sales. But to her they were all still snivelling children until they proved themselves. They’d probably even put their hands up if they wanted to go to the toilet.

The product was Mrs. Bumble’s New Self-Microwaving Mini-Pizzas. It was a formidable sale. Times were tough. The market was flooded. Scientists said they were dangerous. Nutritionists said they were unhealthy. Microwave manufacturers said they were shit (and they didn’t give you that real

t h E p I t c hA Short Story by Mark Bowsher

Photos by Kevin Richardson

Models: Anthony M

artin, Sarah Martin.


Models: Anthony M

artin, Sarah Martin.


microwave finish, anyway.)

“Come on!” Ms. Dekcarlia was becoming impatient, “I want an award-winning, fly-off-the-shelves, unbeatable pitch for this product! And one of you is going to give it to me within the next five minutes!”

You could see the fear in the room, you could feel it and, in Simon Penton of Somerset Quality Washing Machines’ case, you could smell it.

Phil Danther, former Head of Sales at Highgate’s Custom-Made Aston Martins Showroom, was the first to take a deep breath

and rise to his feet.

“This product is, without a doubt, the most-”

“No!” And she cut his throat just to emphasise her disappointment in his pitch. Danther crumpled onto the floor, left with very little blood and the realisation that his imminent demise would leave a permanent dent on his professional career.

“Okay,” Dekcarlia scanned the room, “who’s next?”

Bharat Kullar, former CEO of Mumbai’s Star Telesales, stood up.


“Are mealtimes a chore?”

A javelin through his chest expressed Dekcarlia’s enthusiasm for his opening. As Kullar lay in an expanding pool of his own blood, he realised that this was exactly the kind of career low-point which is so difficult to brush over on one’s resumé when it is so immediately proceeded by one not being alive.

“Bor-ing!” she clicked her fingers expectantly, “Come on, people!”

An outbreak of nerves infected the room. Eventually, Pierre Poulet, the man who started his career selling wine at AA meetings, slowly took to his feet.

“Delicious, rich, tempting-”

The sonorous swish of sharpened steel blades was the last sound Monsieur Poulet ever heard. With four samurai swords in her hands Dekcarlia cut him into bloody slices. Some have interpreted the way Poulet landed on the floor in a splatter of gory pancakes as his rather swift resignation.

“Tripe!” Dekcarlia exclaimed.

Ed Marsden, once top salesmen for Imperative Group Australia, the company that had sold snow to the Inuits (and charged them 300% interest), was the next brave soul to stand before Dekcarlia.

“Prepare! For! Taste-off!”

“Utter shit!” Dekcarlia shouted as she pulled the chain above her head. A hatch swung open in the ceiling and a wake of buzzards swooped down, pecked out Marsden’s eyes and ripped out his heart. And one of those wicked birds disposed of that beating, bursting, bloody organ in one foul gobble.

As Marsden’s hoarse screams died down, Dekcarlia released the Tasmanian Devils to devour his frightfully mutilated corpse (and to remind any part of him that was still alive of home, of course).

The atmosphere was beyond tense. Those at the front shook uncontrollably, clinging to the table, trying to steady themselves. Those at the back were crying


hysterically, their feet in pools of sweat and urine.

“I’m waiting…” Ms. Dekcarlia was strolling past, tapping her left upper arm with her right index finger.

Guillmero Estavez, the man who sold his family to Indonesian pirates to get a plane ticket to London for the pitch, rose and faced Dekcarlia.

“From the people who brought you Toastie Dunkers-!”

“I don’t think so, sonny!”

She slapped a giant, lidless pastry receptacle onto the table.

“Not the pie!” screeched Estavez, clawing at the wall, the chairs, the water cooler, desperately trying to cling to something as Dekcarlia dragged him back to the table, “Sweet Jesus, anything but the pie!”

Dekcarlia hurled Estavez into the pie. She could have been kind enough to batter him to death by pelting him with carrots, onions

and potatoes more accurately as she chucked them into the pastry casing on top of him, but then she wouldn’t have made her point as clearly. She poured in the scolding gravy while the wide-eyed Spaniard bared his teeth wildly. She sealed the lid on and threw the pie into the furnace at the end of the room, which she kept for stray dogs and stray charity canvassers. The surviving salesmen were forced to listen to the gurgling screams of Estavez as the heat increased. Some glimpsed the horrifying moment he burst through the pastry in a desperate bid for freedom but then collapsed back into the pie as the flesh and blood dripped from his bones. A moment later it was silent.

“Hurry up, children!” her voice made them jump, “Mummy’s hungry.”

At this point all the surviving salesmen were either on the floor having rather fatal-looking heart attacks, jumping out of the windows to their deaths or trying to convince the Tasmanian Devils that they weren’t quite full yet. The latter even cut themselves


into small pieces to make things a bit easier for them.

Pretty soon there was just one man left alive - Simon Penton; the only man who didn’t even have the guts to do himself in.

And so Ms. Dekcarlia approached Penton, whom she had always regarded as God’s failed attempt at creating a grovelling, cowardly, insignificant little creature who, in his most brave, most ambitious of moments, would dream of being something almost half-resembling a man.

The only reason he was there at all was because his colleague Danny Jarvis, who had originally been selected, had been unable to attend. Jarvis had calculated the odds of surviving a sales pitch to the infamous Ms. Dekcarlia, against the odds of surviving a dive off a cliff into alligator-infested waters while sawing his own head off and had found that the odds were stacked in favour of the latter. He had put his theory to the test, which the next day had led his family to write to Ms. Dekcarlia’s assistant to say that

Mr. Jarvis had been forced pull out, on the grounds that he was not very alive anymore. Penton had taken his place at the last minute.

Ms. Dekcarlia stood over him and slowly looked down.

“Next.”

Penton’s brain threw desperate thoughts in every direction except towards his mouth. Dekcarlia’s eyes were still but piercing, just waiting for their prey to make its mistake.

A few nervous syllables stuttered out of his mouth:

“Er..eeer…er…half price…?”

Dekcarlia’s brow furrowed. Penton’s body was tense; waiting for her to strike.

After a few seconds a sly smile slithered across her face.

“You’ll go far in this company, my boy.” She patted the quivering young man on the shoulder and let him off with a severed ear.


Look out for the next issue of Fright Club Magazine, out October 2011. In the mean time check out www.fright-club.co.uk for the latest Lionsgate horror news, reviews and competitions.


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