An ingeniously simple setup is cunningly exploited for maximum suspense in “Hours,” a slow-building, consistently engrossing drama set during and immediately after the devastation wrought on New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. Making a most impressive debut as feature helmer, scripter Eric Heisserer graduates from savvy genre fare (“Final Destination 5”) to more mainstream moviemaking with this intense tale of a father’s desperate efforts to keep his prematurely born daughter alive in a hospital abandoned after power is knocked out by flooding.
The Hurricane Katrina drama Hours may not be strictly labelled a horror movie - but tell that to the main character of this movie, Nolan (Paul Walker). Still don't think it's terrifying? Watch the trailer - we'd rather face a zombie attack than change places with this movie's lead.
Too scary for us.
“Cheap Thrills” is a thoroughly nasty piece of work, which doubtless will be the strongest selling point for this worst-case scenario about steadily escalating dares and degradations. Playing like the mutant offspring of Harold Pinter and Quentin Tarantino, yet fueled by its own distinctive strain of darkly comic misanthropy, helmer E.L. Katz’s debut feature was voted audience fave among midnight pics at SXSW, indicating its potential appeal with extreme-taste auds.
So. Have you heard the very, very, VERY horrifying historical facts about her? Newspapers at the time called her, “a demon in the shape of a woman”. You know, the wealthy New Orléans socialite and notorious part-time torturer and murderess of slaves in her ‘employ’ in the 1830s who went by the name of Madame Delphine LaLaurie? No?
Are you SURE you want to?
Even if this ends up not happening, I doubt I’m alone in imagining it likely that Kathy Bates, now officially signed as a Season 3 lead –who will play the most evil character on American Horror Story “ever” according to Ryan Murphy– could end up portraying the vile, cruel, evil actual c-wo woman (who has even made it to a few “top ten evil humans in history” lists, click this link for one of them). The more tiny bits of info on Season Three of American Horror Story are revealed, the more our theory seems to fit.
Before we present our case, though, let me back up a little.
I’ve heard LaLaurie’s name before, mainly because reading about some of the most haunted places in American also gives you some really horrible and blood-curdling historical facts for the back story. On serious sites written by sane, intelligent people, they inform you (along with documentation, usually in the form of news stories and even photos to reference their knowledge) of whatever tragic atrocity or cruel twist of fate—often in the form of mother nature—occurred. One of these back-stories was on the notorious LaLaurie Mansion, still standing, and officially the most haunted building in New Orléans. Think of all the horrifying, miserable things that have happened in the area that go back centuries …and this mansion still managed to make it to the top of a list.
Supposedly, you can see terrified ghostly figures running around in fear, the most well-known was the ghost of a little girl who this awful bitch kept as a slave. When she was brushing Delphine’s hair, she hit a snag by accident. Delphine beat her with a whip until she ran for her life, with Delphine close behind. The little girl ended up on the roof (there’s plenty of photos of the actual site of the death) and either slipped, was pushed, or just jumped off just on instinct to put some distance between she and her attacker. I’m guessing it’s one of the last two. Stories claim on certain nights you can see the poor thing’s apparaition make an appearance by jumping off the roof and hitting the ground. That was about all I learned about the background of the mansion and all the atrocities that took place there, courtesy of Delphine. I would gladly be a servant to Countess Bathory than LaLaurie. Elizabeth Bathory just bled you do death. Still pretty horrible, but what ‘Ms. Bathory’ did almost seems quaint in comparison to the torture and living hell Delphine subjected her slaves to.
I regretted it when I looked for more online, because I found out more than I want to know. If you really want to know, here’s one of the LESS blood-curdling accounts. It’s still upsetting, though; you have officially been warned. What that crazy bitch did to her ‘servants’ she kept in an attic room is shockingly graphic and brutal; I’m linking to it because I don’t want to describe it. It takes a lot to turn my stomach, but this fucking nightmare of a story did it, and would have even if it was presented as fiction. Speaking of nightmares, you may be in for some really bad dreams tonight. If you decide to rifle around on Google for some of the more detailed descriptions, they’re not too hard to research …but again: we warned you.
OK, now we’ve got the actual true-life background. Here’s some reasons why (and a couple why not) Murphy may have cast Bates as LaLaurie, with some hints that Ryan Murphy dropped in January and some recent news…
When dropping hints in January, Murphy said it would be shooting in a specific location in America “where true horror has been” Check and CHECK.
When the story broke that Bates would be featured in Season Three, it reported she was playing an actual ‘true-life’ evil woman, in a story that ‘really happened’. Check.
Reasonable physical resemblance -see above and featured image (though Delphine may have been slightly younger when she was run out of New Orléans, it’s close enough), other than this horrifying wax museum depiction (hope they have enough sense to have that exhibit age-restricted)
As far as Dylan McDermott saying Bates is “perfect” for the part, maybe he’s thinking of Misery, where Bates as Annie Wilkes kept someone against their will and made SURE he didn’t go anywhere (though he was already pretty fucked up below the waist from the car wreck, but she was capable of doing some serious damage… and had planned to kill him after the book was finally finished and she’d read it, at least in the novel …which was much more brutal than the movie.**
Murphy said (also in January) there was going to be (as referenced above) the most evil, horrible female character he’d even written as the villain of the season. Read the story? Can’t argue with the description.
Bates has also been revealed to play first Lange’s “best friend”, who would become her “nemesis”. Lange has been repeatedly described as playing a very glamorous character. Delphine was a very wealthy woman who threw plenty of fancy parties entertaining other wealthy socialites, so the guests here everyone dressed to the nines. No-one else except her husband was privy to the “attic chamber of horrors”, or, I’m guessing, the female slaves she kept chained to the stoves in the kitchen to cook. The other residents of the area did not take the news lightly after the horrifying, graphic report hit the papers, and angry mobs gathered, many ready to burn the mansion to the ground. So, I’m guessing she didn’t have a whole lot of friends left.
Here’s some facts against our theory –though we’re still betting on Delphine being a part of the story AND Kathy Bates playing her…
When E! asked McDermott if he thinks Kathy Bates is “perfect” for the upcoming season, he said, “She really is. All the witches of Salem … there’s plenty of them!” Huh. Well, now we know they’re shooting in N’awlins. Did he maybe confuse magic with voodoo?
Characters in American Horror Story Asylum unlucky enough to be locked up somewhere and against their will were also mangled by a horrible individual, and one of them begged for death. Also, Delphine LaLaurie was married to a doctor. Too much of the same?
Murphy has reassured us this season will be much less dark and depressing (since everyone involved needs a change of pace after Asylum). The events surrounding Delphine were pretty goddamned brutal and I have trouble thinking how they could be played off as ‘campy’. However, we don’t know how large a role Bates will be playing- maybe the torture and atrocities that took place in the Delphine mansion are not the center of the story.
We’ll be adding any ammo we can find to back up our theory (or destroy it) as it develops. Watch this space!
*Here’s another about ‘the hauntings’. Most are probably bullshit. That being said, I’m sure as hell not going near that goddamned place at night even in a tour group. Ever.
**in which she chops off his entire foot with an axe, cauterised it with a blowtorch, and later uses an electric carving knife to cut off his thumb (no real reason other than her being in a bad mood that day) then later made a cake for him and stuck his thumb in calling it a special candle, telling him if he was good and finished the cake, he wouldn’t have to eat the candle. Sounds somewhere in the ballpark of Delphine LaLaurie.
Photograph of copper plate found in St. Louis Cemetery #1 by Eugene Backes in the late 1930s. Text reads: “Madame Lalaurie, nee Marie Delphine Maccarthy, decedee a Paris, le’ 7 decembre, 1842, a l’age de 6 –.” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
"Oh, Kathy's never someone this bad," Ryan Murphy revealed to TVLine with a laugh at PaleyFest Wednesday night, where he was honored with the event's inaugural Icon Award. "Her is a bad, bad woman!"
Well, if you read the 'Breaking News' post that went up a few hours ago, it has now been confirmed that Kathy Bates WILL be the 'Big Bad' for American Horror Story S3. Playing a "true life" character, though? Goddammit, this is going to drive us crazy. So is the fact that the story is based on some horrible historic event. We're working on a theory, though...
I came across the interview with Sarah Paulson on evening of the American Horror Story Asylum finale on The Onion A.V. Club by Todd VanDerWerff (who also impressively reviewed every episode of the season, and I agreed with him the majority of the time). It’s the most in-depth print interview I’ve found with her about Season Two/American Horror Story Asylum, and even though this season is wrapped, I can’t recommend it enough. Click on the big red link below to check it out.
The end of madness has been seen – and the future of American Horror Story has been teased. Last night in Los Angeles, AHS co-creator Ryan Murphy screened the climactic episode (entitled “Madness Ends”) of the FX drama’s sophomore year, subtitled Asylum, which wraps on Jan. 23. In a Q+A with journalists, Murphy discussed the writing of season 2, teased season 3, revealed plans for a horror movie he hopes to shoot this spring, and addressed the issue of screen violence given the current cultural conversation about guns and media influence.
[McDermott] goes as far to admit that portraying the character of Johnny Thredson has begun to “creep him out” in minor, tell-tale ways, left him a tad unnerved and has invaded his own dreams. “It’s funny, because with this particular role you don’t know it when it’s happening, because it’s unconscious,” McDermott offers. “But, yeah, this guy has gotten under my skin a little bit, I have to say.”
Oh, and if you have the hots for him (or even a little crush), there are PLENTY of photos. Again, he sounds like a cool guy – and we wouldn’t mind sitting down with him and talking about our favorite horror movies.
While there has been some talk of a big screen “reinterpretation” of Rosemary’s Baby for several years now, McDermott promises that if a script for a remake of the Polanski classic ever pops up on his desk, he will immediately deposit it where it rightfully belongs – in the trash bin.(Ha-ha! Good for him-HB)
Plus, any actor that knowingly signs up for filming a nude scene while crying and whacking off* at the same time (in broad daylight, as we recall) is pretty goddamned fearless – especially when it’s broadcast on basic cable, rather than a direct-to-DVD limited indie that you’d have to go out of your way to see.
Here’s a link to the entire article for you to sink your teeth into:
On working with Ryan Murphy to develop Johnny’s character:
McDermott does cop to adding one aspect to Thredson’s persona that wasn’t originally scripted for the character. “You see him smoking some crack… I needed him to have an outlet for feelings, and then when I started smoking crack, they started putting it into scenes. That was an important thing. I wanted him to be high, because a lot of these guys are high, and a lot of people do, obviously, terrible things on drugs. It was important for me to have him to be a drug addict as well.”
As this review says, when non-linear formats work in a film, they really work. This is one of those, and we always love to support indie film. The review I’m linking to can do way more justice to this indie gem than I currently can. I’ve finally come out of the grip of an off-and-on (mostly on-I couldn’t even crank the volume up as high as I usually do while watching American Horror Story) and need to catch up on some of things I missed out on Tuesday, Wednesday, and most of the day Thursday before I can post my American Horror Story piece for Episode 11. The movie, which I’ve had on my watch list for months now, is available on Netflix streaming now (if you have HD and your cable service offers the CC service (unless you rent it, which may be better if you have the choice, with the special features) I recommend you use it. The sound quality is fine, but sometimes (and in a couple of key scenes) it’s hard to catch what’s on the other end of a phone conversation.
Also, it’s not for every single mood or horror fan. Nothing spooky or supernatural here, no stalkers/slashers. The reviewer compares is to Requiem For A Dream, and–WAIT! COME BACK! HEAR ME OUT! It’s nowhere near as much a brutal gut-punch of a film (leaving you with the emotional equivalent of being kicked down a flight of steps by Darren Aronofsky) but it does make you realize you know, my life could be a hell of a lot worse, I could be in the wretched life of one of these three main characters. It’s also non-supernatural, more of a dark thriller, and even has an element of a cautionary tale against drug use (never, ever sniff glue, turpentine, paint-thinner, or any other inhalant to get high. It doesn’t matter how bored or desperate you are, it’s not worth it. Even been the least bit tempted? Watch this movie–you’ll know the scene when you see it). Also, if I can follow the fractured narrative (which never seems contrived or gimmicky) with a headache–not to mention ADD- I doubt the average viewer who has seen a movie before with a non-linear format will have much of a problem.
Read the review, and that should help you decide if you’re in the right state of mind to watch it. I didn’t plan to, but was sucked into the movie within 15 minutes, gave up on waiting till tomorrow to watch it and grabbed a couple Advil, and was riveted, especially by several reveals (that come most often when you switch points of view of the three central characters). Scalene is worth your time. Also, Margo Martindale is even more talented than I thought she was… and scarier.
Wanna know what season 3 of American Horror Story will be? Then you'd better tune into tonight's installment of AHS: Asylum, titled "The Name Game." Hidden within the episode is a clue to the plot of the show's next incarnation. Teases co-creator Ryan Murphy, "It’s not done like it was last year. It’s a different kind of clue. You really have to be quick and watch.
"I don't want to ruin it for you, but Spot jumps...."
So does that mean Season 3 will take place in a club w/60s music? A theater company? Club? Venue? Somewhere that puts on a show? I'm still recovering from all the shocks tonight.
Holleeeee shit! By the way, Lana sure can go-go dance!
Bet lots of people started thinking the show had gotten too goofy during that music number in Jude's head, huh? Looks like THOSE people were fucking wrong, though, huh? I almost never use the word "epic" as an adjective, but that was one epic ending. Lily Rave deserves an award along with Jessica Lange. And the featured image (of Sister Mary disrobing down to that red slip in the woods... never in the episode. My jaw dropped when Dr. Nazi started blowing away Raspers right and left in the woods (turned out he only killed three of them, but it seemed like a massacre at the time). Actually, the third one he blew away, the cinematography changed noticably; Cromwell unflinchingly fired right into the camera (well, not directly, but you get the idea). Suddenly it briefly turned into a 90s Guy Ritchie movie (with Vinnie Jones or Jason Statham). Or... a Western? We saw Django Unchained New Year's Eve, and while I certainly don't expect a Spaghetti Western with over-saturated colors, a cool twangy Morricone score, and bad-asses with never-ending supplies of bullets blowing off various villain's knee-caps, limbs, and entire heads (though I'd sure as hell watch that show) for Season Three, maybe it will take place in a Deadwood-type setting and era. OK, we're just trying to cover all possibilities so later we can say we called it, but since Murphy and Falchuck already have a show featuring performers (though this could be an acting troupe that travels around and puts on shows) maybe he'll go with organized crime. Before this semi-mindfuck from Murphy linking "the Season Three secret" to this episode, though, I was thinking a traveling carnival. Maybe it'd involve someone who displays his accuracy with firearms by shooting an apple off someone's head. However, the current consensus among our friends is a travelling carnival ...but it might just be wishful thinking. We do know if American Horror Story never goes with a Southern Gothic season at some point down the line, that'll break our hearts!
We'd love to hear your thoughts, as always!
More to come!
The final four episodes of American Horror Story Asylum are a great jumping off point for our Ten Most Anticipated in 2013 list, and the first of the final four acts (The Name Game) is a matter of days away (January 2nd). So, read on about AHSA’s “final four” coming up next.
In a little more than a month, Briarcliff Manor, Sister Jude, Lana, Bloody Face, Sister Mary-Demon-Eunice, and the rest of the characters we’ve gotten attached to (in some cases, despite ourselves) will have gone the way of The Harmon family and the “Murder House.”
To avoid our explanation of why we cannot wait turning into an novella-length essay, we went with the traditional Horror Boom form when writing about this show: a ten-item list.
1. We’ve gotta know whether that baby inside Grace is human, or something horrifying. Given the fact she was 100% dead when her body was “taken”, and Pepper told Dr. Arden she was full term (and we also saw she was ready to pop at any minute… possibly an unfortunate choice of words), if a 100% normal, human baby is born and Grace’s life is saved, and if all involved get a happy ending, we’ll eat our laptops.
Did the demon in Sister Mary Eunice finally bite off more than it could chew? What if SHE gets pregnant?
2. Sister Jude-arrgh, Judy Martin and Lana Winters are now both on the same side, and they have each been through a living hell (that neither even came close to deserving) and have more or less nothing to lose but their lives, they have potential to be a really entertaining, merciless, and shitbird again?
3. Is Kit dead? Is Dr. Arden going to make it back in time to give him the Pulp-Fiction-style adrenaline shot? As I recall, once he dies, he only has a two to four-minute range before all the oxygen in his brain is depleted, then it’ll be too late to restart Kit and “reverse the effects” of the potassium chloride Dr. Nazi slammed into his heart. How is that going to happen in time? It took Dr. Nazi a minute or so to get to the room with the returned Grace and Pepper. You think ANY person, let alone the morbidly curious sociopath who is conducting this little experiment (even if you factored out Pepper’s weird return) isn’t going to be thrown off and distracted after going to discover by the sudden appearance out of the blue of a patient whose corpse he saw himself and then being taken away by AN ALIEN, now nine months pregnant after two weeks of her death (tops), touch her full-term stomach , then go, “well, this was interesting, but I need to get back to what I was doing with that patient I don’t give two shits about. Hold that thought, we’ll talk later”?
4. The chance that we could get to see either Oliver Thredson or Dr. Nazi get what they deserve, hell, maybe even both of them (we can dream, can’t we?) At this point, if Dr. Nazi was dragged to death under/behind a bus and it went on for twenty minutes before he stopped screaming for help before his head came off, that wouldn’t be enough. Nope, we want Dr. Arden/Gruper to get she Shelley treatment, as slowly and painfully as possible while everyone in the hospital laughs heartily at and makes fun of his unnaturally tiny endowment. Don’t let him die in a comfortable bed at the hands of a mercy killer, either, kick him down a flight of stairs, then drop him off in a giant pile of his victims. And Thredson/Bloody Face? Seeing him being eaten alive by wolves (seen the movie Frozen? Then you know the exact horrible death, possibly the most blood-curdling death in the movie, we are referring to) is too good for him that misogynistic psychopath! No, nothing less than seeing Thredson dying at the hands of Lana Winters will make us satisfied enough to say, “OK, I think they just may be even now” Nothing so quick as having his throat “slit nice and easy” and bleeding out, either, they should spread it out over at least the length of time Lana was tortured emotionally, psychologically, and physically at his hands. What, about…pffft… two-three weeks now she’s been in hell? Four? Start the clock at the stomach-turning “aversion-conversion therapy”. He should get put through what he did to Lana, or in his own personal, scary hell. I’m all for Lana and Kit grabbing a few tools and a textbook or two and skinning him alive …and Wendy not really being dead (don’t ask how, we’ve accidentally just slipped into wish-fulfillment mode here) and coming back to join in would be the icing on that cake.
We realize the content above might make you think we’re too harsh, or make you remind yourself never to piss us off, but a little birdie came to Horror Boom HQ and told us what [redacted for spoilers] to our favorite characters who have already been through more pain and horror than most people are put through in a lifetime. You’ll be right there with us.
5. Pepper is doing something horrible to Dr. Arden-Gruper to avenge what he did to Shelley (as Murphy promised in a tweet quite a few weeks back) could quite actually happen. Hey, she’s ‘come back’ with not only a normal IQ, but a high one. Maybe she’s got the skills to give him exactly what he did to Shelley (and then toss him out in the woods to be ripped into confetti by the pissed-off, hungry raspers he created).
6. Finding out what happened to Ian McShane’s character after he escaped. It’s supposed to be short but sweet.
7. Discovering the ‘tip of the hat’ (McDermott and Murphy have been hinting around about this ) to Ben Harmon, the character McDermott played in Season one. I can think of at least one that would just BLOW the top of everyone’s head off, but I’m sure it’ll be something different.
8. Seeing whatever happens in these scenes *shown in quick flashes) from the preview for “The Name Game” (Episode ten) screen-capped below. Man, that red slip is getting a lot of air time this season!
9. The especially weird dream sequence coming up (or psychosis playing out in someone’s head) that Murphy said consists of Sister Judy dressing in a Dusty Springfield-type mid-60s time period outfit, singing “The Name Game.” Who could have guessed that Lana-Banana nickname in the first few episodes was foreshadowing?
10. Seeing Dylan McDermott as Bloody Face Jr more. McDermott (whom I sometimes wonder if Ryan Murphy gets nervous about, since he’s not exactly 007 when it comes to discussing the plot and upcoming developments) said next, his character and the surrounding Bloody Face Jr. storyline) going to delve deeply into his “Mommy issues”. You know, saying Bloody Face has “Mommy issues” is sorta the equivalent of saying Charles Manson, Tex Watson, and the rest of his Helter Skelter crew were “somewhat off-kilter mentally” and/or had been known to be “involved with mild recreational drug use from time to time”.
And finally, here’s the preview for “The Name Game,” Episode Ten. Enjoy! If we get more info before the episode airs, you’ll know right after we do. Looks like things are going to get ugly even uglier…
I don't think I can handle waiting till late Summer/early Fall to find out where Season 3 of American Horror story is set, and what the scenario is.
