October Halloween Issue
SKYFALL & BEATLES SPECIAL
THIS MONTH IN
!
Vibe FEATURES Britain 2012 p8
Bond Special p4-7
Advice Centre p12-13
50 years Beatles p10-11
A reveiw of an exciting year to live in Britain... Written by Sian Holmes Want to know about the new SU advice centre? Written by Natalie Tomlinson
TV Going Stateside p1415 Our great TV shows are all going American... Written by Patrick Foster
50 years of Bond & it’s never been better to be a Bond fan... Written by Alex Chandler 50 years ago the most influential band in history started Written by Georgina Cooper
The Corprate Elections p16-17
American elections are in full swing.. Written by Jack Unwin
Vibe Halloween History of Halloween p20-21
See Saw p29
10 Spooky Music Videos p22-23
Halloween Howlers p9
The spookiest music videos ever! Written by Sofi Haigh
A few jokes to keep your spirits up this scary time of year Written by Daniel Lindsay
Horror Gaming p24-28
Switch Review p31
Where did Halloween come from? Written by Emily Seddon
Doom, Resident Evil your thing? You’ll love this Written by Dean Morris
How Saw changed the game Written by Daniel Seddon
The new ITV2 show Written by Amy Harrison
Editor’s Intro Welcome to the first Vibe of 2012/13, due to the launch of VibeMedia (www.vibemedia.co) where you can read the most up to date reviews and current news, the magazine has changed from last year, moving to more featured based editions. In this issue you’ll find articles about 50 years of the Beatles and Bond, then a special Haloween section at the end. Enjoy...
0 1 E G A P
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LIC T
D N BO AL I C SPE
CENSE TO THRILL Written By Alex Chandler
Fifty years of fighting bad guys, dry
martinis, sharp suits and even sharper one liners is enough to make anybody start to feel, and look, a little old. As Bond reaches his 50th year anniversary I take a look at the Bonds, the bad guys and the girls to see how the international man of mystery has charmed his way through the 20th Century and what might lie ahead into the 21st. Ian Fleming’s sixth book in his Bond series, Dr No, was published on March 31st 1958. Four years later the book was adapted and made in to the first film of the Bond franchise Dr No 1962. Bond has been lighting up our screens with explosive action, smooth moves and wicked wit ever since, all in a day’s work on Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Dr No stars Shaun Connery as the notorious 007 agent James Bond. An instant hit Connery’s smooth accent and irresistible charm helped establish Bond as the international man of action not to mention lady killer. As well as Connery’s instantly cool Bond, the film is most remembered for Honey Ryder (played by the beautiful Ursula Andress) and her captivating emergence from the sea, curves glistening in a now classic white bikini. The first of six actors over the course of 23 films to play the secret agent,
Connery was replaced in 1969 by George Lazenby for the sixth installment of the franchise. On Her Majesties Secret Service was Lazenby’s only appearance as Bond and he was replaced by Connery in 1971 for his sixth and Bonds seventh film Diamonds Are Forever. This was however Connery’s last stint as the charismatic spy. The following seven Bond films over a period of 12 years starred the ever charming and chillingly methodical Roger Moore. Moore’s Bond exploits included The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) coming up against Christopher Lee’s deadly accurate Scaramanga, The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) clashing with the metal mouthed spy munching Jaws (Richard Kiel), and the massive blockbuster hit Moonraker (1979) grossing a Bond highest $210,308,099 worldwide. The next actor to take up the numeric mantle of 007 was Timothy Dalton, a classically trained Shakespearian actor, having starred in amongst other things a TV adaptation of Anthony and Cleopatra and a TV mini-series of Jayne Eyre his appointment as Bond was seen by some as a risky move.
Despite the relative box office success of Daltons two Bond movies (The Living Daylights 1987 and License to Kill 1989) some people still see the two movies as a hiatus from the classics of Moore and Connery. Although it could also be noted that Dalton’s role in License to kill shows Bond in a new more personal, tougher role as he turns renegade from MI6 on a personal mission to help a friend. This could be seen as a pre curser to the more violent, darker Bond movies that were to follow. Pierce Brosnan made four Bond movies from 1995 to 2002 and this new penchant for violence surfaces throughout, Brosnan raking up a kill count of no less than 76 bad guys. Quite astonishing given Connery’s 51 kills in 6 films, Moore’s 51 in 7, Dalton’s 11 in 2 and Lazenby’s 6 in his only film (Daniel Craig has 25 and counting). As well as proving the most lethal, Brosnan helped bring the Bond series its then highest-ever box office takings in 1995 when he starred in Goldeneye. His following two films however, Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and The World Is Not Enough (1999), failed to match the suc-
cess of the first. Brosnan returned in 2002 for his final installment with more success again breaking the box office Bond record taking $431,971,116 for Die Another Day. The film that saw Halle Berry repeat the bikini scene made famous by Ursula Andress in the first ever Bond Dr No. The extra sense of ferocity that Brosnan managed to imbibe into his four films was taken one step further in 2006 with the introduction of the somewhat controversial blonde haired Daniel Craig. Craig was a provocative choice for the usually dark haired Bond, but managed to seize the role with both hands dragging 007, kicking, screaming and bloodied into the 21st Century. Casino Royale saw a distinct change in theme for Bond providing the franchise with a chiseled, more intimidat-
BOND TRIVIA Sean Connery wears a toupee in all the James Bond movies he appears in. Maurice Binder designed the gun barrel opening at the last minute, by pointing a pinhole camera through a real gun barrel. The actor in the sequence is not Sean Connery, but stuntman Bob Simmons. Connery didn’t film the sequence himself until Thunderball. Roger Moore’s Bond never once ordered a vodka martini, “shaken not stirred”.
ing serious style. Craig’s two films to date Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008) both grossed massive box office takings and it seemed the new look Bond was and continues to be a hit with fans. With the launch of Skyfall Craig’s latest outing as our favorite spy set to be a major hit, it seems likely that our fascination with Ian Fleming’s infamous character is still alive and strong. So it’s Brosnan so far who may have been the most deadly with his gun but it is the charming Roger Moore that wins with the ladies. Roger Moore racked up a heart pulsing 20 kisses over the course of his seven Bond films. Including on-screen kisses with the seductively named Mary Goodnight (Britt Ekland) in The Man with the Golden Gun, and the little more brazenly named, Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles) in Moonraker. This compared to Connery’s 18 kisses in 6 films, Brosnan’s 12 in 4, Dalton’s 4 in 2 and Lazenby’s 3 in his only film (Daniel Craig has 4 and counting). Miss Good-
George Lazenby is famous as the man who only played Bond once. But that isn’t quite true. He reprised the role in an 80s TV film, The Return of the Man from UNCLE – although for legal reasons his character was only referred to as “JB”. According to Ian Fleming, James Bond’s parents were called Andrew Bond and Monique Delacroix. The first James Bond film to ever be released on DVD was Goldeneye.
head wasn’t the first or even the last Bond girl to be blessed with such a suggestive name, Bond girls were often walking double entendres, Plenty O’Toole (Lana Wood), Xenia Onatopp (Famke Jensson) and of course Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman) being the most famous. Not just a pretty face Bond girls often brought an attractive sophistication as well as a deadly femme fetal presence to the movies. Their on-screen manifestation was more than eye candy and they often gave Bond a good run for his money. As Bond moves into the 21st Century Bond Girls are becoming Bond Women and we can see a conscious choice by directors who are trying to give the Bond girls a stronger screen presence. However I can’t help feeling that this over sensitive attempt to masculinize these women has the opposite effect. Once empowered with the sexual and thus physical control, despite their sometimes tongue-in-cheek names, the leading Bond girls oozed confidence and were certainly not to be taken lightly. But as seen in modern versions entering into a male dominated world the new Bond girls are left un-easy, lost and ultimately looking vulnerable. There is nothing wrong with a little tongue in cheek flirting and sexuality sometimes, and you try telling Honey Ryder that she is a weak portrayal of a feminine character when she’s got that dagger up against your neck.
The first Bond movie, Dr. No, was made for just under a million dollars. In the screenplay, Jaws is revealed to be Polish and his real name is Zbigniew Krycsiwiki.
................................
Fifty years, 23 films and six Bonds later debates rage
on: Who’s the best Bond? The best Baddie? The hottest Bond Girl? The best film? Who should or could replace Craig? Thankfully and with a journalistic impartiality I will refrain from leaving you my opinions on those questions. Maybe that’s because we all know deep down that nobody ever quite managed to beat Connery’s charisma, coolness and coldblooded efficiency along with Ursula Andress’ deadly beauty and Dr No’s steel fisted menace in the original and still the best Bond movie ever Dr No.
BRITANNIA RULES
Wow! Hasn’t this year been amazing for
Great Britain? We have had the Diamond Jubilee, the Olympics and Paralympics also some football along the line somewhere. I’m saying this as if you haven’t noticed, I’m sure you all have. So what is in store for Great Britain next year, I hear you ask? Well, compared to this year, it’s a bit quieter and relaxed. You thought the Olympics was over. Think again. 28th August 2013 starts the ‘Special Olympic GB: National Summer Games’, which will be held in Bath. ‘Special Olympic GB’ is a charity set out to help those who want to compete in a sport from all ages and disabilities no matter what their ability is. In other sport news, we have the ‘UEFA Championship’ for female footballers and the ‘UEFA Championship’ for female ‘Under 19’ footballers. In Cardiff is the ‘Rugby league World Cup’ which will start on October 26th and the tennis will be back with
Written By Sian Holmes
Great Britain hosting Russia in the ‘Davis Cup’ for the 2nd round. The Festivals are also back, with many of you already raving about Glastonbury which sold out in minutes. For the science geeks of us out there we have a Lena Penumbral on May 25th next year. This is where the Suns light is blocked by the earth and therefore doesn’t hit the moon, which means the moon disappears for a few hours. And last but not least for television viewers, well we have Red Nose Day, March 3rd so you need to get your thinking hats on about fundraising and also Children In Need in November, as for your soaps, dramas, crimes etc… well that is all secret and under wraps.
n e e w o l Hal
HOWLERS
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test? n o c y beaut n o t e l ske e h t n wo Q.Who DY BO A.NO Q: Why do you always find ghouls A: BECAUS an E DEMONS ARE A GHO d UL’S
Q: What do you get when you cross Bambi with a ghost? A: BAMBOO.
Top Ten Reasons Trick-or-Treating Than Sex.
is
Better
10. You’re guaranteed to get a little something in the sack. 9. The uglier you are, the easier it is to get some. 8. It doesn’t matter if the kids hear you moaning & groaning. 7. Less guilt the morning after. 6. It doesn’t matter if they fantasize you’re somebody else, because you are. 5. Forty years from now, you’ll still enjoy sweets. 4. If you don’t get what you want, you can always go next door. 3. If you get tired, you can wait 10 minutes and go again. 2. You don’t have to compliment the person who gives you some.
1. You can do the whole street!
Written By Georgina Cooper
On 5th October many fans came
together to show their love for The Beatles. Going back 50 years to 5th October 1962, saw the first release of the group ‘Love Me Do’. Although their first single only reached 17th in the U.K. charts, the four-man band continued their success and hit the U.K by storm with an amazing 17 number one hits throughout their eight-year career as a band. To celebrate their amazing achievement, Beatles fans gathered at Pier Head Liverpool exactly 50 years later from the release of the single, in a hope to break the world record for ‘singing around’. Thousands of fans gathered to partake and watch the event take place. With the previous record having 897 singers it was thought to be tough competition. But, not surprisingly, was completely blown out of the water with a phenomenal 1631 dedicated Beatles fans singing ‘Love me Do’. Many more activities carried
on throughout the weekend in dedication to the British Legends of music, including The Cavern Club that held The Beatles: 50 Years of Love Me Do, a celebration of their career and the amazing songs they shared with the world. The cavern club have had an array of tributes to the band with Beatles related events since August. Such events saw ’50 years Anniversary of the fab Four’s First gig at the cavern’ which marked the Anniversary where Ringo Starr joined the other members for the first time, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison as the drummer of the band. The weekend of the anniversary saw many events on the Albert dock filled with fans listening to live music in tribute to the band. The weekend was a great event for Beatles fan to come and show their support for band that changed the culture of music.
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Steve Redgrave, Phillip Schofield , Jimmy White, P Ball, hill Jupitus, Mich ael Neil Morrissey, Ja ck Dee, Ralph Fi ennes, Jim Carrey , Eddie Izzard, Sh erYears top sellin g Album (UK) Elvis Presley - G.I.
Blues
Advice Centre Written by Natalie Tomlinson
The start of October marked a big step for
Edge Hill’s Students’ Union with the opening of the all-new Advice Centre. The launch of this brand new service at Edge Hill means students now have access to help and support with all sorts of issues. The team over at the Students’ Union are eager to see students and fill in where previously there has been a void. The Advice Team’s mission is to provide students with well-considered, impartial advice, independent of the university. This means that you can be sure the team have your best interests at heart, as students are at ‘the core’ of all the work they do. The Centre is currently run by Coordinators, Janice Barnes and Helen Long and also has a full time Student Adviser, Phil Jones, all of whom are friendly, approachable and bursting with the resources to answer your questions and queries. They are also currently in the process of recruiting another member of staff, thus making possible more appointments and time to see students. However, the current staff are more than equipped to deal with any problems or questions you may have. Phil is available all week to advise students on academic problems, such as appeals, course issues/complaints and disciplinary issues, as well as having a wealth of knowledge regarding any housing concerns you may have. Jan and Helen are also avail-
able to talk to students about finances,benefits and housing whatever the query may be. Moreover, on top of all this, the Advice Centre is home to a local solicitor one Wednesday of every month, for anyone seeking any kind of legal advice, and are currently in the process of setting up links with the Citizens Advice Bureau for students with any concerns about debt. All conversations between students and advisers are obviously, confidential. However the great thing about the new Advice Centre is that all information and data you give is recorded and consequently, the team will be able to report on trends identified through the data collected during interviews. Information collected in this way can be used to really make an impact by showing the university, anonymously, that a trend is occurring within a particular area, thus allowing it to be investigated and the problem solved. For this reason, the SU are urging students not to be scared or anxious about going to the Advice Centre with their problems, as they really can make all the difference. The SU Advice Team are dedicated and enthusiastic about taking on your questions and working with you until the issue is resolved. Fundamentally, staff in the Advice Centre are case workers, willing to see you again and again until the case is resolved. The important thing to remember about the Advice Centre is that they’re there for you, whether your problem is legal, financial, academic or even personal. The Centre work tirelessly to achieve their aims of helping both individually and influencing change at a national level. It seems, therefore, that with a Students Union so willing to get involved and help, there really is no need for students to suffer in silence any longer.
.............. The Advice Centre is located in the Students’ Union, upstairs in The Hub. Appointments are available every day to speak to an adviser, and drop-in sessions are held 10am-midday on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday every week. Students can make an appointment through SU Reception, by phone on 01695 657301, or by emailing suadvice@edgehill. ac.uk .
TV going statESIDE Written By Patrick Foster
As you may or may not have heard
‘Gavin and Stacey’ has been given the go ahead for a US remake, following in the footsteps of other appreciated British shows such as ‘Misfits’, ‘Rev’ and ‘Only Fools and Horses’ which are all currently in the process of being given American counterparts. Over the past few years adaptations of British shows have become quite frequent across the ocean, some have proved to be both faithful and successful such as the ‘The Office’ and ‘Shameless’, but others have not such as ‘MTV’s’ adaptation of ‘Skins’ which proved to be disastrous as it was cancelled after the first season following falling ratings and accusations of child pornography, ‘MTV’ are now hoping to recover with a remake of “The Inbetweeners’ which is already looking as if it would follow in the footsteps of ‘Skins’ considering the hostilities towards the casting and the trailer. As a fan of many of current shows being produced in Britain I along with others has become quite annoyed with the new fondness American networks have with British television as many of the remakes feel unnecessary and that they are just attempts to feed of the success of the original, but now it has turned into a curiosity as why after so many failed pilots and cancelled
first series are they still making them? Many of the most popular shows currently being aired in America aren’t revamps of foreign shows but instead original programmes, surely this would mean that the networks will look to follow more original tv shows such as ‘The Walking Dead’ which recently managed to break the record for most watched episode on cable in it’s season three premiere, but the remakes just continue to come. It has been argued that it’s because American audiences wouldn’t understand or like having less familiar British actors speaking with their native accents, but after the success and popularity in America of the very British ‘Downton Abbey’, it shows us how foreign accents are not off putting to the general American viewer. It is because of the success of shows like ‘Downton Abbey’ and ‘The Walking Dead’ which prove that the remakes are no fault of the American viewing public. I do hope that instead of trying to feed off the success of shows but instead the networks could instead be hoping to draw on British shows to help start a new era in American tv as currently British and American television in particular comedies are in fact very different, the only thing many of them have in common is the same language, British shows tend to focus more on real life situations and the amusing but same time dark situations that result from them, while
American shows are more focused on the gags and one liners. The networks though could be trying to introduce this new type of drama and comedy for the average American viewer and this could be for the good of American television as shows such as ‘The Inbetweeners’ and ‘Skins’ have managed to spearhead a new breed of television shows in Britain by breaking many taboos such as having it’s underage characters discuss and experience subjects which they are not supposed to, perhaps it is too early for this taboo to become accepted by a mainstream American audience, as many of these subjects are less popular and frequent as it is over here but perhaps this taboo could be soon broken and a new generation of American television could begin and change television for the better but at the moment all we can do is hope that this new generation will do no further damage to previous and beloved ones over here.
E
THE CORPO E The late Gore Vidal once quipped that ‘There is only
one party in the United States, the property party, and it has two wings, Republican and Democrat’. This has always been a truism, but events of the past few years have brought this fact into the open. This election year Barack Obama should go over $1 billion in campaign funding while his opponent Mitt Romney is a paid up member of the corporate class. In this election, the people will go to the polls, but this is an illusion, the elections are really for the corporate interests and the public relations industry. In the 2008 elections Obama was the corporate choice. His campaign raised around $750 million, this coming from the usual suspects (Goldman Sachs gave $1,013,091, JPMorgan Chase & Co $808,799, Citigroup $736, 771). He repaid these interests by refusing to prosecute a single person from Wall Street, where fraud and manipulation is prevalent and fines are often. To give just one example, Goldman Sachs agreed to pay $550 million when it was revealed that they, to quote Businessweek ‘peddled mortgage related securities to its clients while failing to disclose that the firm had bet those instruments would lose value’, the US justice department in August 2012 refused to prosecute the group for this obvious fraud. Many would also point to the Supreme Court decision Citizens United vs Federal Electoral Commission, which allowed corporations to directly contribute to campaign spending. The New York Times said that ‘With a single, disastrous 5 to 4 ruling, the Supreme Court has thrust politics back to the robber baron era of the 19th century’. This view is misleading as it suggests that it was only with this decision that corporations can begin to run the show. Glenn Greenwald summarized the opposing view best: “I’m also quite skeptical of the apocalyptic claims about how this decision will radically transform and subvert our democracy by empowering
ORATE ELECTIONS
Written By Jack Unwin
corporate control over the political process. My skepticism is due to one principal fact: I really don’t see how things can get much worse in that regard. The reality is that our political institutions are already completely beholden to and controlled by large corporate interests. Corporations find endless ways to circumvent current restrictions — their armies of PACs, lobbyists, media control, and revolving-door rewards flood Washington and currently ensure their stranglehold — and while this decision will make things marginally worse, I can’t imagine how it could worsen fundamentally.” As for elections being massive public relations exercises, consider this: the 2008 Obama campaign won two awards at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Awards. Also consider the very little substance in election campaigns. The Obama campaign was successful in 2008 because it had so little detail, simple slogans like ‘hope’ and ‘change’ do not mean anything at all (what they have actually meant is ‘more’ and ‘of the same’). Noam Chomsky wrote recently that the real aim of elections for the public relations industry is to create ‘uninformed consumers who will make irrational choices’. In this respect they have succeeded. Many will vote Republican because they have been led to believe that Obama is a foreign policy wimp and a socialist. Whilst others will vote Democrat for the lame reason that Obama is the ‘lesser evil’. So as we come to the end of a tedious campaign (lightened only by repeated gaffes by Romney and fellow Republicans) ask yourself about the differences between the Romney and Obama campaign. Both want to destroy the remaining social welfare programmes, both worship at the altar of neo-liberalism, both advocate similar foreign policies, the destruction of Iran by sanctions or by military force being the top priority. The election is an absolute sham.
Hallo
f o y r o Hist In recent years Halloween has become a huge phe-
nomenon, particularly in America. In fact, Halloween is the second highest grossing holiday, losing only narrowly to Christmas. It’s that time of the year where children throughout the western world (in particular) will don their witch, devil or other such demonic costume in an attempt to become the most fearsome and malevolently dressed monster that a child can be. It is the one time of the year when children can; acceptably threaten to ‘trick’ elderly people, eat so many sweets that they almost throw up, tell ghost stories which will almost certainly give them night-
mares, or hold parties where they can do ‘bobbing’ for apples and other pointless games, but has this always been the case? Despite America’s famed interest in Halloween, it is the Celts of Ireland, Britain and Northern France to whom we must first look. 2000 years ago, Samhain was celebrated by the Celts on November 1st, they believed this to be their New Year. This date would mark the end of the summer harvest and the beginning of a cold and hard winter, for many this would be a death sentence, and so, this date was very strongly associated with death. It is from this belief, that our modern version of halloween would stem. On October 31st the Celts believed that the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead thinned, making it easier for spirits to return through the earth. With the return of these spirits, many believed that priests could make more accurate ‘spiritual’ predictions. For those fearing death in the year to come, this would have been a huge reassurance that their lives weren’t in immediate danger. The Celts would wear masks out on a night in attempt to remain unrecognised by these spirits, and so out of harms way. The tradition of receiving sweets comes from the poor begging for food on this night, they would be given ‘soul cakes’ by the rich and in exchange they would offer to pray for that families decease. Over the next 400 years two main festivals began to combine. These were; Feralia, a ceremony in which the Romans would commemorate the passing of their dead, and the second, a day to honour Pomona (goddess of fruit trees - this bit does have importance!). Pomona is symbolised by an apple, if we merge this with the Samhain celebrations, this is most likely where the tradition of ‘bobbing’ for apples comes from.
oween Written by Emily Seddon
By 1000AD, November 2nd had been made ‘All Souls Day’ or ‘All Hallows Eve’ by the western church, maybe in an attempt to replace the Celtic’s ‘Feast of the Dead’. All Souls Day would have been celebrated very closely to how Samhain was, there would have been parades, fancy dress (angels and devils) and bonfires. Interestingly, as the country moved towards protestantism in the Middle Ages, their was a move against Catholicism generally. In particular the infamous Guy Fawkes (with extreme Catholic views), many Halloween rituals such as bonfires and parades, are associated to the celebrations of his capture and execution. The date of this celebration was moved to November 5th, not even a week later, where children and adults alike gather to burn their ‘replica’ Guy Fawkes. Over time, Halloween became the holiday we know it as today, it is now on October 31st and is very much commercialised rather than religious. Halloween has moved from people dressing up to avoid spirits, to children dressing up as any creature that scare them. It has moved from the poor begging for the food they desperately need, to children ‘trick or treating’. Finally, it has moved from the fear of death from the winter season, to a holiday where the only fear that is felt is from the costumes and stories we are told. As you can see, witches, which are so strongly associated with halloween, really weren’t involved in the original Halloween rituals; Wiccan women used to be viewed as ‘wise women’ and certainly not something to be afraid of, over time this interpretation has changed. Witches have been recently incorporated dramatically into Halloween, along with Dracula, Frankenstein, skeletons and other Hollywood creatures. Halloween really is unrecognisable in comparison to how it use to be, it’s up to you decide, is that a good thing? Or are we losing touch with our ancestry?
P . I . R g n i t n au
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Michael Jackson - Thriller (1984)– An obvious choice, but you can’t deny that for its time it was definitely one of the more ‘thrilling’ videos (excuse the pun). Its excellent narration by Vincent Pryce makes it all the more spooky and you can probably memorise the zombie shoulder shake, handclap routine off by heart now.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Y control (2004) – Seriously, if you like dogs and children, do not watch this, its very disturbing. Children harm the innocent dogs, ask to chop each others arms off and pull out their intestines, all whilst giving the viewer the middle finger throughout the video… yeah.
Alice Cooper with Slash (2008) –”Along Came A Spider”. The video features 3 songs including, ‘Vengeance Is Mine’, ‘(In Touch With Your) Feminine Side’, and ‘Killed By Love’. This revolves around a serial killer named Spider who kills women and collects a leg from each to create his own spider, things get complicated when he falls in love with his eighth victim though.
Sisters of Mercy – This Corrosion (1987) – Ok so the video isn’t that creepy, and it is quite corny but the ten minute version of the song is definitely one to listen to, it sends chills up your spine, - especially the first few minutes before the guitar riff kicks in, with the intro consisting of a chilling female voice choir and haunting synths. Although it seems quite a niche song, it didn’t fair too badly in the charts and managed to reach number 7.
Gnarls Barkley – Who Cares (2006) – A tongue – in - cheek spin off of Dracula, with a hip hop influence. In this video, It gives the impression of Draculas evening out, with him trying to pick up the ladies – slash – meal and not doing too brilliantly, he ends up biting a man instead, and the video ends with the poor guy tending to his neck wounds whilst watching TV with Dracula, as you do.
Prick – Animal (1995) – In this video, a guy is swinging on a massive bird perch in a prison cell adorned in black feathers (I presume he’s portraying a raven) whilst in succession, animals (tigers, hawks, deer, panther, snakes and occasionally the guitarist, flash up on screen (in the cell). Where do people get these ideas?
Metric – Monster Hospital (2006): Metric’s rock chick, Emily Haines plays the hunted heroine in this video, containing all conventions of a horror movie: wandering hands, band mates turned into zombies and bleeding bathroom sinks and yet she still manages to look awesome amongst all this chaos.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Skeletons (2010): another one from the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, though clearly not nearly as graphic as ‘Y Control’. This video is set in a graveyard and the video contains ghosts, coffins and, well skeletons. Creepy, haunting and simple yes, but also manages to be eerily beautifully done.
Madonna – Frozen (1998) (Maverick) : The queen of pop goes gothic in this video, filmed in the Mojave desert in California, Apparently the character she portrays is based on the Morrígan,, an ethereal Gothic witch-like persona. She shapeshifts into a flock of crows and a Doberman, and like the legend of the Morrígan, presents herself as a trinity of sisters representing aspects of the same being.
The Horrors – She is the New Thing (2007) – done in an illustrative style, this video takes a new meaning to the term ‘motion picture’ Although not done with real people, it still manages to be very disturbing indeed. With skeletons and stick men sawing each other’s heads off… lovely.
w o l l a H
This time of year we all like to watch our fa-
vourite horror movies. Whether it involves a guy butchering teenagers whilst wearing an inside-out William Shatner mask or have it be a guy recording his girlfriend being thrown around the house like a rag-doll, we all want that feeling of fear. Some of us even crave it. Horror movies can provide that but horror gaming on the other hand, rewards us with an even richer experience. As I write this, RESIDENT EVIL 6 is sat on top of shelves in stores worldwide and people are hard at work, bringing DEAD SPACE 3 to us. It’s been a long ride to get to where we are now, where old masters of the genre like John Carpenter come to spread their creative wings. It’s easy to sit back today with our big TVs and our powerful consoles and live the dream, but it was a long road. In an ever-changing world our love for horror is a constant, but our means of experiencing and enjoying terror are making leaps and bounds forward, and it’s exciting. We can share the experience with other fans the world over without moving from our chair, we can be the guy behind the gun with only a few
Gam bullets left and a horde of the hungry undead hot on our heels. We can band together and fight off mutants, and take on beasts in worlds so fully realised they make some of the finest real life architecture look half assed. I grew up with the early gaming systems, and watched the story unfold as games that today’s generation would deem laughable, filled us with nightmares and fuelled our imaginations for hours. Put us in a dimly lit room with a twenty minute loading time, some monotone bleeps for a soundtrack to back up unrecognisable graphics, and in our heads, we were there. The magical moment when horror and video games first locked eyes, took place 30 years ago when HAUNTED HOUSE(1982) was released. Bats, ghosts, monsters and more all provided kids in the dark ages with plenty of spooky fun. Sure, there was little to be afraid of, but this was the moment that horrors sensibilities and gaming were to meet, and in the years that followed things just got better. As arcades began to grow across the globe and kids moved away from the playgrounds, and into the brightly lit wonderland of the arcade, horror influenced games were rapidly becoming more and more popular. By 1985, home computers were already a fixture in most households, and while Dad bought you the thing for your school studies, the only thing we had in mind was to get our hands on the latest arcade conversion coming down the pipe. The year saw the release of GHOSTS N GOBLINS(1985), a plat-
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Written By Dean Morris
form based side scroller that took the world by storm in one fell swoop as kids wiled away the hours trying to save the princess bride from the clutches of Beelzebub himself. They battled zombies, ravens, sea monsters, gargoyles, possessed trees and much more as they made their way toward the devil and the damsel in distress. It was also so difficult that it’s become a rite of passage for gamers nowadays to complete the thing. The release of DOOM(1993) was a landmark in gaming history, and introduced the world to the first person shooter. DOOM essentially put the player in the eyes of the games character, pitching them in a fully real time 3D environment battling endless waves of demonic enemies. The game was renowned for its tense game play, dynamic lighting, contained hostile environments and a propensity for gore and mayhem that was unheard of at the time. The game soon found worldwide fame as gamers across the planet got their first real taste of where horror gaming would be heading in the future. It’s perfect mix of action and scares have secured its legacy and its influence has been felt for many years since. While many of these earlier games were barely horror in terms of scares, the content provided us fans with a new means to enjoy our number one interest, and for many kids, these games were their introduction into the genre. After all, most upstanding parents were monitoring their child’s viewing on TV, but how many parents had any idea there perfect offspring was spending their nights blasting the hordes of hell a new
hole? Few, I would think, and bless the Gods of horror for those small favours. These things may seem small nowadays, but this was important stuff to a seven or eight year old back then. Trust me. And if we’d known what was coming next, our heads may have exploded there and then. A huge step forward in horror gaming was taken with the birth of ‘Survival Horror’. This is where gaming and horror truly became one. The survival horror sub-genre utilised elements directly from horror cinema and aimed to place the player into environments and situations designed simply to scare the hell out of them. It’s the point where horror gaming became every bit as terrifying as horror cinema, and often more so. The barrier of the big screen no longer existed. The first game to be labeled ‘Survival Horror’ was the zombie epic, RESIDENT EVIL(1996). A game so absolutely committed to instilling dread in the player it was ruthless. Remember that first encounter with the dead? You make your way down a dark and dingy corridor to find a man seemingly
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collapsed on the floor, only to then realize he’s devouring the flesh of a dead body, and alerted by your presence he stops, and slowly turns to you, revealing what was once a man. It’s pale face, dead eyes and blood drenched rotten teeth sent nerve shattering shivers down a million spines. This was the moment you dropped your controller and left the room in a flash, frightened of what was to come. This was the moment when everything changed. Action and fast paced gunplay was gone, as was any kind of incidental horror imagery for the sake of gothic nuance. No, this was a fully-fledged horror movie in which you were the star. The player was now inside the movie. There was no guarantee of safety. None, and it was glorious. Suddenly the possibilities seemed endless, and time has proven that this was exactly the case. The influence of not only horror imagery, but the essence of what made horror so powerful was implicit here. Your character was extremely vulnerable, held limited ammo, and was trapped within a claustrophobic dimly lit environment where horror’s lurked around every corner, and it was often a far better strate-
Gam gy to flee rather than fight. Among its strengths were its atmospheric music, explicit gore, effective jump scares and a very strong plot line. The next step in Survival Horror came with the release of SILENT HILL(1999), a game that took all the strengths that made the RE series so effective and added the element of psychological horror into the mix. SH combined brutal and disturbing imagery with a surreal and disorienting atmosphere that deeply affected players on visceral and an intellectual level. The game played like an interactive nightmare. Whereas RE was heavily influenced by western horror, SH drew its inspiration from Eastern fright films and art house horror. It was a great success and its first sequel, SH2(2001) is still considered by many as the peak of the survival horror era, and one of the scariest games ever created. For many, survival horror’s descent was the equal of its rise. After the tidal wave of hits that pushed gaming in such exciting new directions, came the inevitable calm. The purity of intent that led developers to embrace the influence of horror remained, yet like in its cinematic counterparts, horror gaming was to become a much less cerebral affair and take on a more action oriented guise. RE4(2005) ditched many of the elements that made its predecessors so powerful. Gone were the sparse encounters with lurching zombies and while the game retained plenty of what fans cherished about the originals (limited inventory, strong gore), its focus was moving more towards action rather than
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suspense. Sometimes during playing RE4 I half expected the Indiana Jones theme tune to even kick in. Another game of note that appeared the next year was DEAD RISING, a title that raised a lot of eyebrows on release. For many it was a heaven sent work of art, and for many, it was symbolic of the direction horror gaming was taking, and not in a good way. The game was set in a huge shopping mall during a zombie apocalypse, (sound familiar Romero fans?) and placed the gamer amidst literally hundreds of our flesh eating pals. It looked beautiful, and there was never a game that featured more zombie slaughter. Almost every object in the mall could be used as a weapon to disembowel, behead and even ridicule your undead chums. It was a lot of fun, but the games comic tone and lack of suspense was frowned upon by many. Fears abounded that the survival horror was becoming a parody of itself, but all fears that the genre was in freefall were soon cast aside, as the second golden age was soon to follow. 2008 saw the release of two titles that pushed the element of fear, tension and survival back into the forefront of gamers minds. And while vastly different in content, both games have garnered acclaim for pushing the envelope in bold new directions. DEAD SPACE took RE4’s immersive game play to its logical next step. The full 3D world was still there, as was the action, but the reliance on suspense and fear elevated the title far above what had come before. DS
blended elements of science fiction with familiar cinematic influences and used stunning lighting, and innovative sound design to bolster its scares. Once more, weaponry was scarce, fight or flight became a deadly choice, the tone was serious and the sense of danger was always present. There have been few games before or since that transported a player so vividly into the world of science fiction and horror. In the same year, players were treated to what has become one of the most popular online gaming experiences before or since, LEFT4DEAD. L4D put four players together in a world overrun by the undead, and left them simply to get from point A to B. The genius here was that it was impossible to survive the game without teamwork. On single player, the game was bland, yet online with three other players it became a fierce co-operative struggle for survival. Players had to protect each other, heal each other, and act as one, communicating online constantly to get more than a few feet. The antagonists charge at the hapless survivors with murder on their minds, allowing for frenetic battles without ever
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Gaming losing sight of the fear factor. In another stroke of genius, the game utilised hardware that essentially acted as a ‘Director’. The action onscreen was constantly changing, offering huge replay value and a sense of unpredictability that no other game could muster. On one play through, a lonely car park would be just that, and on another play through, the same scene would see you swarmed. If you were playing too well, and things were looking too easy for you, the games in-built A.I would soon put you in your place, and throw hell at you. In short, it was, and remains, brilliance. A horror fans wet dream. This kept us gore hounds smiling until the next great title came along to blow our minds. Another episode based horror game, which demands your attention is The Walking Dead (2012). With its incredible story telling and believable characters it will leave you feeling cold. You become so involved that you forget that it isn’t real. Although it has splendid moments of gore, its at its most gut wrenching when your well thought out decisions affect the story in ways you wish it hadn’t, making the game re-playable multiple times. That is where the horror comes from here; great story telling, something that is mostly missing from the world of horror gaming and cinema. AMNESIA: THE DARK DESCENT(2010) is a game that has you wake up in a castle with no memory and tasks you with making your way through the environment that is haunted by many things that go bump in the night. What’s the aim of the game you ask? The answer is run and hide because you have no way of fighting back but make sure
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to keep out of the dark or you risk going insane, in-game and out. Along with its impressive sound design that is used against you, it is the most terrifying experience I have ever had playing a game. It has come to the point where I refuse to play without having someone in the room with me. You’re probably thinking “Grow a pair” but if you don’t believe me then try it yourself or watch one of the hundreds of reaction videos roaming around on youtube. With these more recent triumphs, the genre, despite its trip ups, continues to grow in popularity, and all is well in the horror fans world. And that brings us full circle to where we find ourselves today. The disappointing RE6 stands on the shelf alongside the incredible DS2, and the John Carpenter directed FEAR3, and the public are eating them up whole. It’s a very exciting time to be a gamer, and an even more exciting time to be a horror fan. The merging of formats to create experiences in terror is an enticing event. And while horror has often had its peaks and valleys, both cinematically and in the gaming world, it holds on tight and refuses to go down. Where the next generation of horror gaming takes us is anyone’s guess, but as long as there are people who believe in the genre as much as we do, the possibilities are endless.
The year 2004 was a landmark in contemporary
horror movies; the release of James Wan’s independent hit Saw catapulted the subgenre of ‘torture porn’ into the global limelight. A rather revealing and questionable term penned by critics over the last 8 years, which basically acknowledges the excessive use of gore and sadistic narratives. “I want to play a game” has become an internationally known quote from the film, brought to bone-shivering reality by The Jigsaw Killer in the franchise; it signals the commencement of one of the killer’s life threatening games. Up until this point in modern horror, material was quite limited with the likes of Final Destination, Jeepers Creepers, Cabin Fever, Resident Evil and The Ring; only Wes Craven appeared to be challenging the weary horror blueprint; his Scream franchise is still considered to be a significant advancement on the genre. Saw was about to change the industry in ways nobody dreamed to imagine; the concept of this groundbreaking film consisted of an elusive serial killer who trapped individuals within isolated locations and tested them with his twisted, murderous games. The outcome of these ‘games’ was to challenge the prisoner’s willingness and appreciation of their lives; evoking several philosophical undertones, usually uncommon within this particular genre. This brought a whole new character archetype to the genre, Jigsaw was an intellectual, mysterious man who didn’t infact murder his victims; he merely introduced death to them, allowing these people to choose whether they survive or not, be it by losing a limb or two (incorporation of torture-porn) A year passes and director Eli Roth (director of Cabin Fever) decided to throw his hat into the ‘torture porn’ ring with Hostel, a story that was influenced by the ideas brought forth within Saw. With obvious inspiration shown through setting and narrative; Hostel appealed to the audience of Saw and also extended the new subgenre’s international
Written By Daniel Seddon
reach, bringing this gory technique to a vast population of the world. Hostel itself has spawned two sequels and has since cemented Roth as a true force in the Horror genre. Soon enough this controversial franchise was going to influence European filmmakers and within the space of 6 years, a certain Dutch film named The Human Centipede was released, attracting international attention for its gruesome scenes, use of gore and bodily harm. Taking deep inspiration from the ideologies illustrated within the Jigsaw Killer’s killing methods; The Human Centipede featured a psychopathic surgeon who kidnaps some dim witted tourists and biologically attaches them together, hence the title. Excessive as it was, The Human Centipede is arguably the most memorable horror film of the past few years and the franchise is rumoured to continue; keeping the horror audience in anticipatory unease. The overall success of the formidable Saw franchise (Earning over $873 million to make it the most successful Horror franchise ever) paved the way for classic horrors such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th to be remade for a fresh audience. This wave of remakes proved to be incredibly successful, many of them have also even been rumoured to receive sequels due to the overwhelming revenue achieved; yet again proving that horror fans are always willing to give reinterpretations a chance. Coincidentally, there has been whisper that the producers of Saw have a few rotating ideas that would include rebooting the franchise, or infact adding more sequels; either way I think the horror community will have much more to look forward to as Jigsaw isn’t quite done yet.
Written By Amy Harrison 15th October saw the first broadcast of ITV2’s new paranormal television show ‘Switch’, about four young witches living in the North of London. The show follows the girls living their relatively normal lives, apart from the fact they are witches and cast spells. The six part drama follows four witches, Stella (played by ex-eastender Lacey Turner), Hannah (played by Hannah Tointon), Jude (played by Nina Toussaint-White) and Grace (played by Phoebe Fox) who come together as the four elements to cast spells by saying ‘Switch’ and a following spell. Stella, who is the element Earth, works in an advertising company. The first episode sees the girls helping Stella out with her evil boss after she accidently kills her cat. Hannah is the element air. She is a keen traveller and always leaving the group by going off to different parts of the world, resulting in the girls not being able to perform spells as all the elements need to come together for a spell to work. Jude – the rebellious one works in retail and is the element fire and finally Grace – the baby of the group, the one who needs looking after the most is a physiotherapist and is the element water. The first episode sees the introduction to her over-protective mother, who reveals she too is a witch. The cliff-hanger of the first episode saw the girls being ‘hexed’ – meaning they had lost their powers – by the witches of Kensington. Monday’s episode will see the aftermath of this and I am intrigued to see how this story will unfold. The first episode was interesting and I am excited to see how the series develops over the next five weeks. The show has potential and it is a breath of fresh air to see a paranormal television show that isn’t about vampires or ghosts.
......................................... . Her “EastEnders” character Stacey Branning became the 21st woman on the soap opera to give birth. Stacey had a daughter Lily (played by an unknown baby), born on 23 June 2010.
. Did television commercials when she was younger, including one advertising Haribo sweets.
. Her screen idols are Martine McCutcheon and Denise Van Outen.
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