Vince Stadon
by Vince Stadon “Oh, no. Capricorn's ruled by Saturn.” – Pam I always thought ‘chainsaw’ was one word, and that all the chainsaws came from Texas. I don’t think I ever witnessed one in the wilds of England till I watched a guy from the Forestry Commission cut
Vince Stadon
by Vince Stadon “Just one more day...” - Reiko Asakawa If you watch the disturbing, unlabelled video tape, your phone will ring… and when you answer, an evil ghost woman will tell you that you are going to die. Within a week you’re dead—terrified to such a degree
Vince Stadon
by Vince Stadon “I see why you like this video camera so much… It’s not quite reality. It’s like a totally filtered reality… it’s like you can pretend everything’s not quite the way it is.” – Josh If made today, The Blair Witch Project would end with
Vince Stadon
by Vince Stadon “You see, everybody in this room is part of my dream. Everybody.” – Walter Craig Walter wakes up. Dr Van Straaten breaks his spectacles. July 1969: The Beatles are working on their final album. Paul McCartney is sat at a piano in Abbey Road Studio 2 picking out
A Personal History of Horror Films in 101 Quirky Objects
by Vince Stadon “I'd rather see you dead than meddling with Black Magic!” – Duc de Richleau It’s England in 1929. George V sits on the throne. Stern-jawed, stiff-upper-lip Englishmen are racing fast cars—and single-handedly flying light aircraft—around the leafy, sun-kissed countryside, speeding from one impressive
A Personal History of Horror Films in 101 Quirky Objects
by Vince Stadon I read The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson back-to-back with The Shining by Stephen King. I was fourteen. In both cases, I wondered how filmmakers had made Hill House and the Overlook Hotel as scary and unnerving and as alive as they are depicted so
A Personal History of Horror Films in 101 Quirky Objects
by Vince Stadon “Have you never wanted to do anything that was dangerous?” – Henry Frankenstein Henry Frankenstein is an asshole. He’s not the worst asshole in Frankenstein, a film populated by assholes, but he’s up there near the top. Before we look at this gallery of jerks, I’
A Personal History of Horror Films in 101 Quirky Objects
by Vince Stadon “Remember, I'll be watching for you on the big screen.” – Irene I don’t know what Mulholland Dr. is about. I’ve watched it dozens of times—always thrilled by it, always seduced by it, always perplexed by it. Sometimes I wonder if the next
Vince Stadon
by Vince Stadon “Suzy, do you know anything about... witches?” – Sara Simms I’ve always found it a bit odd that, given it’s a medium of moving images, cinema—particularly Western cinema—favours storytelling above all else. Weird films with little regard to narrative are the preserve of the
Vince Stadon
by Vince Stadon “What else am I good for?” – Håkan It’s 1982 and Oskar is a weedy, lonely, twelve-year-old blond boy who is being relentlessly bullied at school. His dad is an alcoholic who would rather drink with friends he brings home than be with his boy. Each day,
Vince Stadon
by Vince Stadon “Would you believe me if I told you there was something inside of that rock we found tonight? Something that could wipe out this whole town?” – Steve Andrews In the ‘50s, the UK didn’t have hot rod racers, the atom bomb, or Steve McQueen. We had
Vince Stadon
by Vince Stadon “Now I'm gonna do what any rational human being would do, and that is to get the fuck outta here.” – Joel Irony. It was everywhere in the ‘90s – the culture was steeped in it. Back then, it wasn’t cool to just like things: you