Ghost Whisperer (Television Series, 2005)

It's only taken me four years after the series ended, but I finally finished Ghost Whisperer.

I love this show and let me tell you why (because it may surprise you and this is my blog):

• It's very very pretty! Pretty in the everlasting fresh laundry smell, immaculate kitchen, what-money-problems kind of way. This show portrays a beautiful day dream, a desirable life, hopes and wishes come true.
• It's very very ugly! Ugly in the we all have problems, loved ones dying, yes that is madness kind of way. This show portrays a nightmare for everyone, our greatest fears, facing inner demons.

This show simultaneously provided heartwarming entertainment and down-right spooky stuff. *these are a few of my favorite things*

Ghost Whisperer was booted off the air early. I believe Jennifer Love Hewitt's response to this was something to the extent of  "Each episode is about closure, and we didn't have that for the series". Which is very sad! This show should have run its own course. It should have been able to tell the end of the story the way it intended. Not murdered by TV execs in it's prime. I understand that there have been attempts by fans to revive the series, but so far a no go.

But you can still watch every episode on Netflix as of today! I advise you do so stat. 

Here's what I did nearly every Friday night when it was on the air, to prep myself for each episode:

1. Gather lady friends
2. Bottles of wine procured
3. Situate oneself comfortably on the couch
4. Have tissues handy

I'm not kidding here, folks! This stuff was important to me! I complained very loudly on Facebook (and by that I mean all in caps) when I came home one Friday and discovered the show was canceled. My Friday nights have never been the same...

Ghost Whisperer was one of the best things to have ever happened to 30-something year olds at 7:00 PM on Friday nights. I looked forward to my little gatherings (or some times just me on the couch) watching tales unfold about unfinished business with dead loved ones over a bottle of wine and crying my happy eye balls out by the end of the 45 minute episode.

[sigh]

This is not so much of a review as it is me talking about how much I missed those Ghost Whisperer on the air days. I was never properly able to recreate those days when the show became available on Netflix but I believe you can, and you should.

This is a very fun series that asks for nothing more than your heart and attention for 45 minutes at a time. Although I can see where men or women not in touch with their "feminine" side could find the show comical - too girly, but that is also part of why I liked it so much. This show became a little A Room Of One's Own for me, which I believe is and always will be valuable for everyone. This show was at times comical and girly and there is not a damn thing wrong with that.

Good bye for now, Ghost Whisperer, you did a great job with the time you had. Cheers to all those who discover you in the future, you delicious little perfectly home-baked cookie of wonder, sadness and joy, you.

10 Father's Day Horror Movies

Horror-Movies-Ca has provided an excellent list of movies to choose from for this Father's Day! Enjoy :)

Celebrate Fathers day with our newest Top 10 of the most monstrous movie dads http://t.co/1IjRy4EbuJ
— HorrorMovies (@HorrorMovies) June 15, 2014

Friday the 13th Movie Suggestions

So it's Friday the 13th today. You could go out and take your chances in the world, or simply stay in and have a horror movie fest!

I recommend the latter.

I've gone through the horror movie genre list on Netflix and came up with some potentials. Although there are A Lot of movies you can choose from - because  Netflix is awesome that way and there are still so many that I haven't seen yet - below  are my picks based on what I've seen so far. Enjoy!

Spooky, Chilling, Ghostly, May Invoke Sad Emotions:

• Absentia
• The Awakening
• Below
• The Innkeepers
• Ju-on, The Grudge
• The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh
• The Legend of Hell House
• Lovely Molly

Suspenseful, Original, Striking, Requires Some Patience and Thought:

• Absentia
• Carrie
• Candyman
• The Innkeepers
• The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh
• Let The Right One In (2008)
• Lovely Molly
• Monsters
• Night of the Living Dead
• Nosferatu
• Occupant
• Pontypool
• Wake Wood

Thrilling, Scary, Fun, Sometimes A Little Too Over-The-Top:

• The Cabin in the Woods
• Children of the Corn
• Dead End
• Dead Snow
• Grabbers
• Grave Encounters
• The Hole
• Insidious Chapter 2
• The People Under the Stairs
• Pontypool
• Troll Hunter

Vampires:

• Bram Stoker's Dracula
• Fright Night
• From Dusk Till Dawn
• Let the Right One In (2008)
• Nosferatu

Witches:

• Black Death
• Black Sabbath
• Black Sunday
• The Craft
• Hellraiser
• Kill, Baby...Kill
• Rosemary 's Baby

Drink The Night Away Into Hilarious Oblivion:

• The Baby
• C.H.U.D.
• Evil Dead 2
• Grabbers
• House (1986)
• Kill, Baby...Kill
• Leprechaun
• Sharknado

Silly, Light, Classics, Some Okay For Kids:

• Attack of the Crab Monsters
• Believe
• Black Sabbath
• Black Sunday
• Elvira, Mistress of the Dark
• The Hole
• House on Haunted Hill
• The Mummy (1932)
• The People Under the Stairs
• Transylvania 6-5000

Grabbers (2012)

OH HELL YEAH

Grabbers!

I was advised by multiple people, in a bar no less, to watch this fantastic Irish film. They know me so well! 

Things that make this movie absolutely awesome:

• My anti-horror movie fan Husband loved it. Huge points for that.
• It's hysterical
• The story line is so clever I could just pee my pants
• The fast and efficient dialog is some of the wittiest I've heard in a long time
• The monsters were scary
• Lovely scenery

That said, the major element of this film taps (just enough) into a dangerous and dark humored social respect edge:

• This movie is about Irish people drinking excessively

If any other country/culture/society made this film I don't think it would go over well. And yet, Grabbers pulled it off and turned it around to punch a few stereotypes right in the face. This movie is brilliant.

This is a great film for people who love, silly, witty not-overly scary horror movies. This is not. I repeat: Not a good film if you are struggling to abstain from alcohol. Grabbers is a movie about people who survive an alien attack by getting themselves tanked (and loving it). This movie captures complete and total intoxication very well...too well - so if booze is a problem for you then maybe you'll want to give this one a bit of time.

In all, I loved this movie. LOVE IT. It's fun, it's creepy, it's a little gross, and it's very smart.

Grabbers actually brought back a mad rush of fond memories I have of my nights at a local Irish pub down the street. I spent nearly a decade there, saturating my weekends with mighty craic, hefty beer mugs, and having a grand old time laughing, crying my eyes out, solving the mysteries of the universe, dancing dancing dancing, and singing singing singing with friends and family. The place is no longer the same but I will always have treasured memories from this pub that I'll hold tight to my heart for a lifetime.

I dedicate this movie review to my 20s...

Lake Mungo (2008)

About 3:00 AM today I woke up suddenly and for no apparent reason. As you do sometimes.

I tossed and turned for a bit, not quite able to get the comfort level I had when I first crawled into bed. When I finally found the right space, right angle, right amount of pillow fluff I was more awake then I wanted to be.

DANG IT

This is when the brain starts working when it shouldn't. Much like our cats. You mill around in the middle of the night too much and they think it's food time. You must be stealthy about these things or else face the heinous busy brain and hungry cat consequences.

So there I was, brain beginning to do it's gear turning when suddenly Lake Mungo popped into my head.

What the hell?! Where did you come from?

And you know, I don't care for this film being referred to as a "Mockumentary Horror". When I hear mockumentary, I think silly - something that is tongue-in-cheek. That is not the case with this movie, although it's filmed in a Documentary style, so I see where the confusion comes in. Weirdos.

In any case, I do not call this one a mockumentary horror - it's a sad, unnerving, heartbreaking, and spooky horror show. Slow? Yes. Requires full attention? Yes. But at no time whatsoever did I find myself chuckling at it's cleverness.  That said, it is clever - it's just that the pieces only come together at the Very End of the film. So, you must be patient too, my dears.

I actually watched this film nearly a year and a half ago. Long time to finally write a review about it but I figured since it popped into my head at 3:00 in the morning - proceeded to think about it for about an hour - I might as well use that time spent to construct a review from what I remember.

I began to watch the film with a ho-hum and very little expectations, then I got a little confused (yet intrigued) about where this story was going, but by the end I shivered at what I had just seen and clumsily plopped into the nearest chair, perplexed about what I had to process.

Things I actually said: "What Just Happened!?! What in the world was that?"

This is a movie about grief, and the myriad ways in which humans process it. This is also a downright chilling ghost story. And this is also a movie about I Have No Proper Category To Put This one. The characters were believable and sympathetic, the scenery haunting, and the mystery that unfolds therein holds a handsome amount of shock value. I quite enjoyed it.

Why Lake Mungo crawled out of the crevasses of my brain, knock on the back of my eyeballs and then sit and chat with me at a most inopportune time, I have no idea.

But let this be a lesson! Lake Mungo may do the very same to you...

Recommended pairing: Picnic stuff, liquor stolen from your parents locked cabinet.

Twitter

Horror Habit is now on the sometimes fabulous sometimes horror show that is Twitter. Just look for @HorrorHabitBlog (because someone already took @HorrorHabit and has done nothing. Nothing. With it. Jerks.) OR Jolie Bergman.

You are all very welcome.

XO