All posts by Cullen M. M. Waters

Internet humorist, Writer of Speculative Fiction, movie reviewer, and all around good guy
A Month of Horror, Monster Movies

[A MONTH OF HORROR – V] The Vampire

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Taking the wrong pill changes a small town doctor.

I picked this because of its short run time. I got plenty of bonuses to go with it.

First off, this stars Kenneth Tobey, star of The Thing from Another World. He brings a lot to a flick, and this one is no exception. Though, frankly, he’s underused.

Then there was the movie itself. I’d avoided it for years because it’s more Sci Fi than Horror. That was a mistake. This is a entertain film, well made, if questionable in its science (which, thankfully, it doesn’t go into much.) The protagonist (not Tobey) probably should have acted sooner in handling the matter, but I’ll let that slide.

I’ll also let the FX slide. They ain’t primo, just enough to get the job done. But I’ve seen worse.

All in all, I had fun with this one.

Amusingly enough, this is about as much a Werewolf flick as a Vampire one.

3 out of 4

A Month of Horror

[A MONTH OF HORROR – IV] Suspiria (1977)

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A young woman picks the wrong school to learn dancing from.

I watched this one for an earlier Month of Horror, and what I said there remains true.

While I try not to repeat movies, I honestly don’t care if I do. This one felt right, you know? And it had been a while.

I noticed something this time that I hadn’t realized before. This flick moves. It wastes so little time. It builds its moments up nicely.

I will say, though, that I feel Deep Red is the better film, and probably Argento’s best flick

Still 4 out of 4

Stuff Cullen Forgot to Label

[A Month of Horror – III] House on Eden

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A trio of filmmakers go ghost hunting and find something worse.

And here we have year another of the Blair Witch’s prodigy. We get three young people (in this case two girls and a guy) head out to a spooky location, ignore all good sense, and end up… pretty much like everyone else in a found footage flick.

Not a great deal gets explained and some scenes seem there for scene’s sake. But it’s well acted, well shot, and very creep. One of the best in the subgenre, I’d say. I liked it.

3.5 out of 4

A Month of Horror, Monster Movies

[A Month of Horror – II] The White Reindeer

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A herder’s wife transforms into a white reindeer that leads hunters to their doom.

This is a 1952 Finnish Horror flick that frankly makes no sense to me. This young woman seems happily married to a reindeer herder. One day, though, while her husband is away, she heads off to a local wizard. She wants him to make her a love potion that makes her irresistible to men. What happens instead is she periodically transforms into a white reindeer, then leads men off to their doom.

Why she wants this potion is never explained. Why she now transforms into a reindeer is never explained.

You’d think she’d kill the men as a reindeer. Not the case. Instead, she changes into her real form, only with vampire teeth. Which is not explained.

I dunno. Maybe it’s a cultural thing I’m not getting.

What I am getting is a creepy vibe from the proceedings. There’s a expressionistic silent movie vibe to the proceedings. Long shots of empty snowy wilderness. Not a lot of talking–this film made me realize how chatty American movies are.

There’s no special effects to speak of. The murders all take place off screen. This is only noted in passing, and not a note passing judgment.

I don’t know what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it. Not a bad little flick. I rather liked it.

3 out of 4

A Month of Horror, Ghost Movies

[MoH] House on Haunted Hill

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A millionaire holds a party at a haunted house.

I was feeling guilty about starting late this year only to find out I didn’t even finish last year. The tradition has already been blown.

So we start again, shall we?

Tonight’s feature is the classic William Castle flick House on Haunted Hill. I’ve seen this I don’t know how many times. The acting is good, with Vincent Price in fine form. The script… makes no damn sense if you think about it and the end really, really doesn’t make sense. A rewrite here and there might have helped.

And yet tonight, for the first time, this film unnerved me in a way Horror films should. How it did this, I don’t know. Maybe credit Castle for that. He was most known for his showmanship, but he really could direct.

All in all worth my time any yours. If you can ignore the problems with the plot.

And the ending.

3 out of 4

3D Modeling

[3D MODELING] Fiddling With the Island

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I didn’t finish a video today, but I did fiddle around on Blender. I “sculpted” the island more than it was, to make a path up the hill/mountain/thing.

Quick story: I didn’t save my work yesterday. Nothing on the island was changed, but the light house and the buildings weren’t moved.

This proved to be a problem, as light house, island, and water all seemed to be connected. When I tried to move or resize one, they all moved and/or resized. The tricks that should have disconnected the three failed.

What I ended up doing was cut and pasting the island and the light house. I went from the original Blender file and pasted onto a new one. That done, I reversed the process. Problem solved.

Below is the first try with the latest hotness. I have a second angle lit to show the path a little better.

Where I stopped for the day.
Today’s rework, complete with blue water!
Another angle
3D Modeling

[3D MODELING] Relearning the Basics

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A lot of the videos I’m watching now have information I already am familiar with. This is a refresher course as I move towards bigger and better things. Expect another lighthouse, another dungeon and, giggle, another dinosaur.

This time, though, the course promises to be more involved. Like the little extras I added to my last light house is no longer me jazzing but a part of the lesson.

The images below are done in two different rendering engines: Eevee and Cycles. I’m put these up so I have a quick way of referencing the difference between the two. Cycles give better detail, but takes longer to load up.