Cold As A Corpse!

Hi, North East America, enjoying the weather?! Whilst you were getting ready preparing for Halloween, Mother Nature decided to spring a blast of Winter on you early, so now you’re enjoying or rueing the snow! But don’t fret, there are plenty of Winter-themed scary films out there, so you can stay inside, cozy-up in front of that roaring… um, jack o’lantern, and check out some of these for your traditional Halloween night…

Black Christmas (1974)
Usually reserved for Christmas Eve, there’s no reason why the sight of Margot Kidder being slaughtered by a psychotic escaped mental patient (who is hiding up in the attic of a college Sorority House) in front of an audience of creepy glass unicorns whilst a choir of children sweetly serenade Olivia Hussey with their rendition of Silent Night won’t fit in perfectly on your snowy Halloween night. Just be sure you stay away from the 2006 remake at all costs.

Jack Frost (1996)
By no means as creepy and frightful as my last suggestion, this film is still a slasher flick about a serial killer on the loose at Christmas… the twist is, he’s a snowman. A foul-mouthed, perverted mutant-snowman! Yet with the most innovative ways of torture I’ve seen since Charles Lee Ray was reincarnated as Chucky the Good Guy doll! And yes, that is Shannon Elizabeth – check out the Psycho reference during her death scene! Again, be sure to stay away from the 1998 film of the same name – you will just be left very confused.

Let the Right One In (2008)
This film will sit right with you on a blizzardy Halloween, as the cold country of Sweden plays host to this story about a child vampire who is befriended by a lonely, bullied boy. Based on the novel, Låt den rätte komma in, this is more of a slow-paced horror, building up to a bloody finale. Ultimately, it’s quite a sweet tale, perhaps one you can watch in the company of a dear friend and not be left too traumatised – as long as you, say it with me, stay away from the remake! I don’t care for it, as it relies too heavily on CGI effects and (gasp) fake snow! Read my full review, written after my first viewing of Let The Right One In at the 10th Leeds Young People’s Film Festival.

The Thing
Whatever I was saying about staying away from remakes, forget it, as this is a story that has survived two remakes, and continues to stand strong. My favourite is John Carpenter’s 1982 incarnation – but that’s simply because I haven’t seen any of the others! If you get the chance, go see the version released in cinemas soon, as it acts as both a prequel and a remake (I don’t know how that works, but I’ll tell you after I see it next week). Still horror, but with a sci-fi edge, as a group of scientists in the Antarctic begin to doubt each other when it becomes apparent an Alien has infiltrated their base by murdering and imitating one or more of their group…

Forgive me for not including The Nightmare Before Christmas, but I do really think that is more of a Christmas-themed film and not a horror in any sense of the word despite its connections to the celebration of Halloween. Still, if you want, you can always watch that instead of those I just recommended. Whatever you do, have a Happy Halloween!

Welcome to The New Layout!

I’ve spent countless hours (including a solid non-stop twelve hours, today) working on the first new look of tomsbrain since I joined wordpress in 2008. This theme has an interactive drop-down menu above, as well as eye-catching links to my most important social networking profiles.

A New Lease of Life!

On somewhat of a whim last night, I decided to permanantly change this very website from tomsbrain2ya.wordpress.com to the rather more simple (and I don’t know why I didn’t think of this three years ago) thomasmcnab.wordpress.com – it is after all MY NAME!

I’m considering more changes, and have been working on uploading a lot of new pages. Despite being over seven years old, you can now finally read my Sims 2 fictional series The Caliente Affairs over at My Fiction. There are currently five episodes of Season One uploaded, which unravel the complicated lives of the Pleasantview residents. If you aren’t familiar with the history of The Sims 2, then all you need to know about my series is that it’s basically like an animated version of Desperate Housewives. Click below to read the episodes I’ve posted…