Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Happy November! Tell Me What You Want to See!

Hello again, ghosts and ghouls. Can you believe that October has come and gone, and we're now moving into the final months of 2015?

With that, October was a super busy month for me. Within the month, I wrote quite a few articles on my moviepilot because Halloween was on its way, I wrote a few posts here, and I moved my vlog to a new outlet, my YouTube page!

But with such big things happening, I feel like I have been neglecting my readers. If you have been here from the beginning, you know that this blog is usually where I do my reviews, but now that I've been moving my outlets to multiple places, I want to change it up. With that being said, I'm sure that I've asked this in a post before, but I want to know what you, my loyal, fabulous readers, want to see.

If you're enjoying everything that's going on so far, let me know! If you have a film you'd like me to review, feel free to leave me a comment. If you want me to review a book, I do those too! I'm down to try a little of anything, so don't hold back.

Feel free to contact me with any specific comments, questions or concerns at taylorterriblehorror@gmail.com, or find me on Facebook (I usually respond really quickly to Facebook messages).

Alright, loves! Welcome to November at TTTC...I can't wait to get creepy with you!

Until next time, stay spooky <3
Taylor Terrible

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

All Hallows' Eve Review

When you think of Halloween, what's the first thing that comes to mind? For me, it's trick-or-treating in costume while the wind rustles the leaves on the trees as you walk down the street, your costume shoes stomping on the leaves that have already fallen and you hear that satisfying crunch...-sigh-

Naturally, I love all films that revolve around October 31st. Trick 'r Treat is classic, and is in my top 5 favorite horror films of all time. Halloween doesn't get much more iconic. So when I heard about All Hallows' Eve (2013), I said "oh, I'm probably going to love this one!"

                                            photo from screamhorrormag.com


All Hallows' Eve tells the story of a babysitter and the two bratty kids she's watching after their Halloween festivities. They've been trick-or-treating and the night is rapidly coming to a close. The children are sitting around watching movies when Sarah (the babysitter) ushers them to bed. But the bratty brother finds a VHS tape in his trick-or-treat bag (uh...what?) and insists on playing it. After thoroughly disturbing themselves by watching a psychotic clown named Art become the ringleader to the "terror" on the tape, Sarah is left in the house alone while the children sleep. Is someone there with her?

Okay, you guys. I'm not going to lie, I went into this film with insanely high expectations because you all know how much I love, love, LOVE killer clowns. Pennywise is my man, Twisty is my BFF...any evil clown I can find, I will watch and devour with my eyeballs. I'm not scared of clowns, I just adore them. Don't ask me why.

Anyway, I'd heard about this one before, and I saw Art and thought "alright, this is right up my alley, let's go for it!" and then never got around to watching it. Cut to last night, and I was jumping for joy when I found out my friend had it on DVD. Popped it in, and I let the excitement commence...

Except it never came. This actually may be one of the worst films I've ever watched. There's no plot, and what the film lacks in plot, it only slightly makes up for it in gore. Sort of.

You get to see a baby cut out of a woman, and there are "creepy" aliens with noodle arms, but the whole process of getting to the points that are supposed to scare you are unnecessary, kind of annoying, drawn out, and really boring. The VHS itself is cool, it's almost like an anthology but it doesn't make any sense and it never comes together at the end, but nonetheless, it's the easiest part of the film to watch, besides Art.

Art is AWESOME. He's weird, disturbing, and he's very present. He's never lurking in the shadows, he's right in your face (except for the "second film" where he's kind of just a painting).

If you're looking for a good, classic Halloween film, skip over this one and move on to something more sophisticated like Trick 'r Treat. It's essentially the same, but done better.

This one gets a 3.5/10. Womp womp.

Do you guys have any great film suggestions for me? Let me know! Email me at taylorterriblehorror@gmail.com!

Alright guys, tomorrow is my birthday so I'm taking a trip to Sleepy Hollow. I'll let you know how it goes!!

Until next time, stay spooky <3
Taylor Terrible

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

American Horror Story: Hotel...WHAT WAS THAT?!

Hello again, my ghosts and ghouls.
Today, I'd like to talk to you all about the first episode of American Horror Story: Hotel, because I feel like some images from this season are permanently burned into my brain and I will never be able to unsee them.



I know a ton of people are disappointed that the fabulous Jessica Lange did not return to star in this season (I specifically say "did not return to star" because there are talks of her potentially taking on a small role at some point in the season, though it's not confirmed). HOWEVER, from the looks of this first episode, this cast looks pretty stellar.
I'm not going to lie, I loved Kathy Bates because she's amazing and calm as always, but Dennis O'Hare completely stole the show as Elizabeth Taylor. Werk, honey.
I'm also not going to lie: I'm not convinced on Lady Gaga's character. I'm not sure if it's intentional or not that she's entirely monotonous and predictable. Part of me feels slightly biased because I typically don't enjoy her in general, but her character annoyed me and I found myself wishing her off-screen.

Other than the weirdness that is this crazy cast, can we talk about the insanity that was this storyline?Spoilers ahead! If you haven't seen it yet, don't be mad!

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Re-Animator (1985) Review

I need to preface this review by saying: the fact that none of you have suggested this film to me is actually slightly offensive. I'm actually bitter about the fact that no one has ever said "you should probably watch Re-Animator" to me. I'm so disappointed in you all. -sigh-


Now that my sentiments are out in the open...I went into this film totally blind. I've heard people talk about it, but as some of you know, I'm typically the last to jump on the bandwagon when it comes to "classic" horror films, for some reason. Most of the films that I fall in love with are the ones I'm the last to know about. I don't know why it happens that way, but it does...and I think I'm okay with it.

Anyway, all I knew about this film was that it's based on a story by H.P. Lovecraft (insert swoon here), and that Jeffery Combs is a psychotic medical student that brings dead things back to life. For those of you that have never seen the film, there's the synopsis for you! To be honest, I would typically give a little more, but there are so many things about this film that I don't want to give away by giving you a full play-by-play of how the film goes. You really just need to watch it for yourself.

I'm truly a gore-hound. I am in love with watching people get torn apart. I think it's awesome when someone's head explodes. Re-Animator does not skimp on the pure beauty that is insane amounts of gore.

It also does not skimp on attractive men. Herbert West, will you marry me?

This is also one of the strangest films I think I've ever seen. Once you get past the fact that the film is paying homage to the horror classic Psycho by using the same music, and you get past the fact that it's a cheesy 80's horror, it's really strange, disturbing, and actually pretty gross. There are some scenes that made me cringe big-time (and you'll cringe through the whole film if you don't like needles), and there are copious amounts of laughable weirdness.

While the film is noticeably 80's (it's fun, campy, and the VFX are slightly derpy), the storyline is great and really doesn't leave much to be desired. As far as rewatchability goes for this film, I would watch it again tomorrow! It's AWESOME. So much awesome.

As for a number rating, I give this one an 7/10! I'd watch it again (see above), it fills my requirements for a good horror film (slightly cringeworthy, good story, fun characters and gross deaths), the only change I would make would be some of the actors. At times they were just totally not believable.

Have YOU seen Re-Animator? What did you think?

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

The Green Inferno: Review

I wanted to post this earlier, but I'm trying to keep my Tuesday posting schedule straight...but I was given the opportunity to see The Green Inferno on September 21st, and it was CRAZY, you guys.
Here's the trailer if you haven't already seen it:


I got the invite through Moviepilot.com, so I had the chance to go in as press, which was awesome in itself. We were checked in and sent up to the top floor of the Regal theater on Broadway in Union Square- the final stop on the Green Inferno fan appreciation tour.

Upon arrival, we were greeted with wine, soda, beers...the whole ordeal was kind of surreal. I felt like a modern-day-creepy-female-Gatsby. I was handed a glass of white wine and I was excited to mingle around with other horror lovers...and then Eli Roth walked out.

Roth and Lorenza Izzo (the star of the film) sat at a table to sign posters for fans and screeners. Naturally, I made a fool out of myself by standing there and staring, and making a joke about how the Red Band trailer made me need to stop eating my bacon, egg and cheese on a bagel. But really, if your film can stop me from eating, it's intense. I eat a lot.

We were slowly filtered into the theater, and once everyone was seated, we were introduced to Eli and Lorenza again, along with the producer of the film, Nicolás López.
The film was deliciously disgusting, incredibly gory, and at one point I felt the wine roiling in my stomach, trying to make its way back out of my throat. BUT I persevered and held it down, and from the particular scene (eye-gauging, tongue-extracting and bone-cutting) on, I was okay. Mostly.
I did have to tell myself to breathe quite a few times because I caught myself holding my breath. I also started craving chicken tenders at one point, so I don't know what kind of person that makes me.

It's incredibly graphic, though. Roth told us at the beginning of the screening that he was trying to make the most violent film ever created. I think he succeeded...and surpassed anything that will be made for a long, long time. 
Also, fun fact, the tribe that he filmed with had no idea what electricity was, so the crew brought a television and a generator and showed the tribe Cannibal Holocaust and they though it was some kind of hilarious joke, and that's when they agreed to portray greedy, crazy cannibal people. 

Anyway, I don't want to give too much away, but the film is insane and beautiful and awesome. I highly, highly suggest it for anyone looking to be grossed out, thrilled, horrified, or all of the above.

Giving this film a rating out of 10, I give it an 8.5!! Make sure you check it out; it'll be in theaters on September 25th!



Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Burnt Scrolls: A Review

Over the past year, I've had the pleasure of coming in contact with some really incredible people in horror. I won a giveaway and met Zach Bohannon who is now one of my good friends, and through him, I was put in touch with Shannon of Nightmarish Conjurings. Afterwards, I followed someone on Instagram, and it turns out he's a really, really amazing writer...Mr. Jeremy Megargee.
Now, I've reviewed Jeremy's work here before. You may remember me reviewing his novel Dirt Lullabies and totally fangirling over it. His descriptive language is impeccable. His storytelling is beautiful. So when I got a message asking if I'd like a copy of his newest creation, Burnt Scrolls, I almost fell out of my chair, but "calmly" responded "oh yeah sure cool thanks!"
I just recently moved out of my house (a little over a week, when you all read this) so I ran home to pick up a few things (a Harley Quinn costume, a tea infuser...the essentials), and I had a package! I shredded the thing apart when I saw who it was from. I held the book up to the ceiling Lion King-style, and smiled. My book of short stories and poetry was here!! And it had the sweetest note inside!
I took Burnt Scrolls to work with me. I hoped it would be slow. It was. So I sat and I read, and as usual, I blew through another one of Megargee's books in 48 hours.

There's something about the way he writes; it's like a fine wine. You marvel in its beauty with each sip you take, and eventually you're so consumed by its delectable flavor that you drink and drink and drink until you're incoherently drunk. That's the best description I can give of what happens when I read his work- I become drunk on literature, and I can't consume enough.
This book is a little different than anything he's written before- it's much more personal. "Cathartic", as he puts it. It's a book of short stories and poems, and for those of you that have read his other works, you're in for a treat! The short stories (3 of the 4) are "prequels" and stories of characters from his other novels. The poems are a journey; some are horrific and creepy and others are personal and sweet.

Let's talk about a few of my favorites:
All of the short stories are totally consuming, but I'll talk about my top 2 as to not give away much more than I need to.
Welcome to Rust Valley takes place ten years after the events in Dirt Lullabies. As always, it's beautifully written, and the descriptions of the cave that Benjamin travels into...it practically had my mouth watering, it was so stunning. The characters, as usual, are fun to connect with and although the story is short, you find yourself rooting for them.
Black Rose Petals tells the story of my girl Thorny Rose from Dirt Lullabies. Before I go any further talking about this story, let me tell you a little something about myself: I have the tendency to fall in love with certain characters, specifically the underdog of most stories. Now, when I read Dirt Lullabies and I learned about Thorny Rose, I started doing my makeup the way she was described, I wanted to be her friend, I wanted her to come over and drink tea with me. SO when I saw that she got her own short story, I nearly fainted. Okay, maybe not literally, but I was way too excited. Her story is sad, believable, and tragic. She's every Halloween-lover's dream. I can't get enough of her. She's amazing and this story is amazing. Yes.

As far as the poetry goes, it's all very personal. You can tell that the topics are from a deep place within Jeremy's soul, so reading it is like sitting down across a table from him while he tells you about the deepest, darkest places of his mind. It's really an experience that I wasn't expecting, but I was deeply thrilled by the end of the book.
A specific poem in particular really touched me: The Stray. I wont' tell you what it's about, but what I will tell you is that I messaged Jeremy to let him know that I was sitting at work crying like a fool because of it.

All in all, this book is a solid read. Like I said, you can blow through it with the intensity of the stories- they reel you in and don't let go until you hit the poetry, which then takes you on such an intense roller coaster ride that you may end up crying. I don't know, maybe it's just me.
However, I highly suggest it! If any of you guys pick it up and read it, let me know! I'll link the page where you can buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/Burnt-Scrolls-Collection-Tales-Poems/dp/1515352250/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

You can follow Jeremy on Facebook and on instagram at @xbadmoonrising!

Until next time, ghosts and ghouls, stay spooky!
Taylor Terrible <3

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Welcome to the Toy Chest!

Hi, my creepy ghosts and ghouls!

I'm noticing lots of new traffic to my blog, and I assume it's because many of you have seen my new web show, titled after my blog!

This is such a huge deal for me- I'm so excited that I have all of you here as part of the Terrible Toy Chest, and I'm glad you liked the video enough to make your way over here!

For those of you that are readers but didn't know that I had a webshow, follow the link here!
The show will also be posted on YouTube on the Lucky Six Productions page.

For those of you that are viewers that are just stumbling across this page now- hello! I'm so happy you're here, and I love you already!

Some things will be cross-posted- sometimes I'll be doing videos of my posts, and sometimes I'll be doing posts related to my videos. But most of the time, I'll just be doing my thing, talking about horror and loving every second of it...regardless of where I'm doing it!

Alright, creeps, this was just a quick post to get you all acquainted with each other...and with me! I'll be posting again on Tuesday, so I'll see you then.

Until next time, stay spooky!
Taylor Terrible <3