well, that's nice

I thought I would let you know that Final Girl has been nominated for a Rondo Award in the Best Blog category. 'Tis indeed an honor to be nominated, and I am grateful.


However. Reading that blurb in the graphic- you know, the part about how the awards honor "The best in classic horror research, creativity and film presentation"? Well, as cool as those little statues are and as much as I'd like one so I could put a little wig on it...that blurb, man. That ain't Final Girl, even on its (my) best day. However, that's Frankensteinia to a T. Pierre Fournier's inimitable site dedicated to The Monster is also nominated in the best blog category, and if you're going to vote, I urge you to vote for him. Click here for the ballot!

Again, I'm thrilled to be nominated, as the Rondos are the awards for us horror-types. I just think it should go to the most deserving, and in my humble opinion, that's Pierre.

Also, what's the "T" in "to a T"? I have no idea.

a few things on a fine tuesday

Let's do this...bullet point style!

• The fine folks at Dead Lantern have seen fit to nominate Final Girl in the "Best Horror Blog or Website Category" for their 4th Annual Splatcademy Awards. Voting is open until mid-February...you can get your vote on by clicking here. They's good people, them Dead Lanternites.
• If you peruse the nominees list, you'll see that each category is presented by one of the Splattercast's fellow podcasts...and one of those podcasts happens to be The Scare-ening. As I mentioned yesterday, Heidi and I will be back from our long hiatus next week- next Wednesday, to be exact. Next Wednesday at 8pm PST to be even more exact. Woo!
• From the Desk of You May Not Give a Crap: yesterday I launched Jill Sandwich, a blog about video games. I love them, and I wanted somewhere I could shout said love from time to time, because that's what people do in This Modern Age.

• I don't know, y'all. I feel all...mmm...maybe a little bored with horror at the moment. There, I said it. The horror blog / website market is so saturated at this point, I feel like (most) everyone is talking about the same things over and over. I can't just review movies every day- that's never been what I've done or wanted to do, and I simply don't have time. I'm tired of watching movies that are only okay, even though "only okay" movies likely compose 88% of every film genre. It's like I've been married to horror for 25 years and things are a bit stale...we need a date night or something. What should we do, horror and I? Something romantic, but not expensive.
  

Did you know...?

...that Jovanka Vuckovic was going to provide one of my SHOCKtober Special Guest Top 20 lists, but then she went and hogged it all to herself for her own blog at the website for her short film The Captured Bird? It's true. She hogged it and expanded the list to a countdown of 31 films and whatever, it's a good list. Check out the four parts and see for yourself:

• Films 1-7
• Films 8-15
• Films 16-23
• Films 24-31

What's weird is that she sent me her list before she posted it on her site, and her original list of faves was heavy on the I Know What You Did Last Summer series and- this threw me for a loop- she apparently loves the remakes of Black Christmas Xmas, The Fog and One Missed Call. Now suddenly those movies aren't on her "official" list. Peer pressure? Dunno. But I say, if you love these movies, why hide it? Who cares what people think?

...that Lars von Trier's The Kingdom, which came in at #284, is now available on frickin' Hulu.com?! Which means you can watch the whole thing for frickin' free! I'm gonna bust out my DVDs and get on it. This I swear! Here's the new trailer for the Hulu launch:


...that as part of their October madness, AMC has the Fearfest Awards happening on their website? These are awards for which you can vote! Vote with the power of mouse-clicking! I had a hand in choosing the nominees, but not in creating the category names- the Palme d'Gore? I never would have come up with that. I'm no damn good at horror puns.

...that Ludlow will be screening at the Somerville Theatre on Tuesday the 26th? It will! They promise, this time.

...that the wings of a honeybee flap about 11,000 times per minute? I bet Michael Caine knew that.

Don't be a Halloweenie!

"But Stacie," you ask, "How can I prevent myself from becoming a Halloweenie? I feel hopeless."

Don't feel hopeless, friends! All you have to do is head over to AMC's website. Seriously, that's it. Remember when I used to write for them? Well, they're resurrecting my crusty old corpse for a few pieces this month- it's Fearfest time and all- and the first has appeared. It involves voting, and I know how much you love that sort of thing.

Voting for what? To decide who's better: Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers. No matter what, we're ALL winners!

People, get votin'!

A reminder so you remember: Sunday is the last day to get your Top 20 horror movies list to me, so if you haven't done it yet, click this to read the skinny and then DO IT! September is almost out the door, and you know what that means. Ohhhh yeah! The month of all the months arrives in full force...although I think October is slowly edging September out of the picture all together, which is fine by me. I would love an 8-week October.

There are "candles of DOOM" for sale at my grocery store. Siiiiigh...oh Halloween, you're so dreamy.

Now go VOTE while I go figure out what to do with all your responses. Don't worry! This is is how I feel about the whole list thing in my heart and loins.

Make yer voice heard!

Yeah, I'm talking to you...and even you! Here's the deal, folks: I have decided to engage in a kooky social experiment scheme- one that I may or may not come to regret later- and I need your help. Don't worry, it's easy: all you have to do is email me a list of your top 20 favorite horror films. That's it. The 20 horror films you like the best. You can comment here, if you like ("Ahh, if Night of the Whatever Whatever doesn't make the list you're all jerks and I'll kill myself!"), but email me the complete list. I'm leaving this open until September 26th, and then something magical will happen in October SHOCKTOBER.

Yes, it's that time of the year again and I'm so excited I could...well, you know. Something.

Email your list to: stacieponder (at) gmail (dot) (c)(o)(m). Put LIST or MY LIST or LIST-O or something like that in the subject line.

Getcher vote on and let's see what comes of it, shall we? Besides me pulling my hair and wondering why I'm doing it, I mean. YEAH HORROR MOVIES!

EDITED TO ADD: Unless you indicate otherwise, I will assume you mean the original versions of all films and not the remakes...so if you mean, say, Snyder's Dawn of the Dead and not Romero's Dawn of the Dead, be sure to include the year or director name. If you just say "Dawn of the Dead" with no indicators, I'll assume it's the 1978 version.

EDITED AGAIN TO ADD: The order doesn't matter, as the results won't be weighted- it's strictly numbers. You don't have to provide commentary or justification, unless you want to give me something entertaining to read- these are your choices. Your favorites! You might know that Movie Whatever technically sucks but you love it and it's your number one favorite- and that's totally fine. You don't have to pick "classics" or esteemed films- just your 20 favorites.

If you feel like clicking something...

...then why don't you click the big green VOTE button at this link and vote for my friend Bridget? She's entered an audition video in the hopes of winning her own show on Oprah's new network. And yes, I mean Oprah Winfrey, not Oprah Goldblum.

Voting is super easy; you don't have to sign up for anything or create a profile- you just have to click. You can click as many times as you want! Not only is it good karma, but you Final Girl regulars can pay her back for the enjoyment you got watching Bridget in many episodes of Ghostella's Haunted Tomb as well as the trailer for Deadly Dress 4: Never a Bride. If you didn't get enjoyment out of those experiences, well, that's probably my fault, not hers. So click a few times, won't ya? Who can turn down this face? She oughta be on the teevee!

i'll probably regret this...

...but why not start SOMETHING ELSE?

You see, I was rummagin' around in mah drawers and what did I find?

I should note right now that I mean drawers drawers, not undies drawers. I hope that if I go rummagin' around in there I won't find any surprises whatsoever.

Anyway, I found pages from a couple of stick figure comic books I started many moons ago but never finished. One is not horror, but one is. It's called Birthday of Blood, and here's the deal: many MANY moons ago- like, moons before Final Girl started (yes, there was a time when this blog did not exist! Weird.)- I wrote a stupid short script for a slasher movie called...umm, Birthday of Blood. I intended to shoot it totally as a laugh, really for no one to see save the people involved. Now, when I say "a slasher movie" I mean "a slasher movie", like taking all the elements of the slasher flick formula and plugging them in Mad Libs-style. There's the Joker, the Slut, the Crazy Townsperson, etc etc. All your favorite archetypes and tropes in 20 not great pages!

Well, we shot some footage, including the [uh, SPOILER ALERT] exciting death of the Crazy Townsperson and the film's climax. We shot quite a bit, actually, but circumstances ultimately led to an unfinished movie. I don't even have the footage anymore, to the best of my knowledge...although who knows, maybe I'll find it someday during another rummage session.

I've thought many times about starting over with it, but...mehhhhhh. Not worth the effort. It's really not very good, and in the years since Birthday of Blood I've written other things that are better, that are worth the effort. But! To the point of all this, that Birthday of Blood stick figure comic I started. I guess I thought that stick figures might add a little something zesty to Birthday. Or maybe I was drunk. At any rate, I did a page or two, then quit when something more pressing came along. I shoved it in a drawer, blah blah blah, here we are today.

So, I'm gonna post up page one, and then I'm postin' up a poll. Should I continue this comic? If I do, I'll post one page a week, on Fridays, here at Final Girl. I'm not sure why anybody would say no- I mean, all you have to do in this endeavor is read it. Or not. But anyway, I'm torn...so I put it in your hands, which, again...I'll probably regret! As always, clicken ze big big.

poll by twiigs.com

easy like monday mornin'

A few things of note!

- I almost forgot...this is the last week to vote in the Rondo Awards! Voting closes April 3rd. The ballot is daunting and it generally serves to remind me how many movies I have not seen in the last year; however, you don't have to vote in every category. Final Girl is nominated in category 15, Best Horror Blog. I think that's neat and I'm thrilled to be nominated.


- Magnet has snagged US distribution rights to [REC] 2 and...gasp...they're planning an early July theatrical release for the film. THEATRICAL! RELEASE! THEATRICAL! I can't wait.


- This week on The Scare-ening, Heidi and I will be welcoming Joe Bob Briggs as our special guest. Joe Bob Briggs! Yes, of Drive-In Theater and MonsterVision. Yes, that Joe Bob Briggs. Yes, it's very exciting, and yes, you should call in to talk to him.


- I realize that there is an abundance of exclamation marks and a dearth of pictures in this post. Well, 1) there are many exciting things happening in this post and as such exclamation marks are appropriate (though, yes, overused)...and 2) Blogger is being a cooch swell.

from the ME files

Friends, enemies, and people who are just sort of hanging around: guess what? Final Girl was nominated for a "Best Blog" Rondo Award! This link (will take you to the massive ballot where you can get your vote on...it's truly an honor to be nominated again this year. Congrats to all the nominees!

Wow. So very harsh. Always so very harsh. I mean, my mom might care! It's not as if I'm going to go on and on about it, I just thought I'd throw it out there and acknowledge the fact that I was nominated because the Rondos are pretty fucking cool. That's all!

In other Are You Sick of Me Yet, Because I Am news, there's an interview with moi running today over at Fatally Yours as part of Sarah Jahier's month-long series honoring women in horror for...umm...Women in Horror Month. I have a vagina and a horror blog, so I qualify. READ! my thoughts on gender in horror! MARVEL! at the ways I feel torn on the issues! SEE! Charles Nelson Reilly continue to keep it real! THANKS! to Sarah for including me!

If you are anywhere near Athens, Georgia this weekend, then perhaps you should consider checking out the Women in Horror Film Festival. Andrew Shearer of the mighty Gonzoriffic is hosting a night of horror shorts by womenfolk as his contribution to WiH Month, which is pretty damn cool of him. I've seen many of the movies that will be screening, and they're pretty fucking rad. Also included will be my very own Taste of Flesh, Taste of Fear...and Lip Stick, which I co-directed with Shannon Lark. I really wish I could be there for a night of horror movies and, like, communing and stuff. I haven't even seen Lip Stick yet, so if any of you go, let me know how it is, will ya?

on pizza, voting, and the undead

So, Round 1 of the Home Run Inn horror movie contest ends tomorrow, and a Top 10 spot doesn't seem to be in the cards, which means no Round 2 for ol' Final Girl and Company. That's fine, because that means I don't have to talk about it every day. Thanks SO MUCH to everyone who voted for my silly little movie. It was fun to make, although the pizza was not necessarily fun to eat: words I never thought I'd say.

I just wanted to raise the point that many people have gotten in touch with me about: the website's wonkiness, and the difficulty in voting 15 times per day, or sometimes voting at all. Check out these comments left on the HRI site, my Facebook page, etc:

• "The site doesn't work very well at all. It's hard to share and I'm very uncertain that my vote counted."
• "It doesn't allow me to vote for you more than once!"
• "Only let me vote 8 times."
• "I went there and it immediately told me 'Thanks, vote again tomorrow.'"
• "Today, after only voting ONE time, I got the 'thank you for voting, please come back tomorrow.'"
• "Today the link isn't going anywhere..."
• "I've tried registering with three different emails. Two never even got the confirmation message you have to get before you can proceed (not in spam either). The third did, but when I tried to then set up a password (the next mandatory step), the site crashed. And now it won't let me complete that account set-up either."

Umm...I think the site is buggy. I have no problem losing this contest or any other for whatever reason, but the site needs to work so people can vote so I have a fair shot. I entered a couple of weeks after it began, so I know I had a lot of ground to make up and thanks to you, I did. Still, as someone pointed out elsewhere, I wonder how I can be so far ahead in terms of votes- I'm ranked number one with about 27,000 views while the entry ranked number two- the leader in terms of votes- has less than half that. I'm a girl so I don't really get math, but I have to say, that doesn't really compute with me. Their site sucks.

I called the tech support number a few times to try to say as much- it's the only way to get in touch with them- and it just rang. Even their tech support sucks! For the record, this isn't sour grapes, believe me. Just noting the site's wonkiness, and that I tried to tell them.

Well, at least I made a 2-minute zombie movie about pizza with my friends, because creativity is never a waste. And at least many of you awesome peeps clicked away as often as you could. For all of you who are commenting about Mr. Zombie and how adorable and fantastic he is...you're right, he is! His name is Pete Loughran and he's a killer musician working on a new CD; I've gotten a sneak listen and it's gonna rock your face off. Give him some love!

they're coming to eat you, pizza...

Dear my bitches,

We're at crunch time for Round 1 in the Home Run Inn contest. I've gotten squeezed out of the Top 10! Round 1 ends Sunday...I'd love to make it to Round 2, so I need yer votes, all 15 per day. Tell everyone you know, and click click click all weekend! THANK YOU!

Wednesday is made for lovers

I don't know what that title really means. Autumn has finally officially arrived in Los Angeles- everyone's talking about the fact that it's RAINING!- and Halloween fast approaches. However, everyone knows that northern New England is the best place to be when fall rolls around, so I've been thinking about that and missing it...especially Vermont, which made me think of the ubiquitous bumper stickers claiming that "Vermont is for lovers". However, I totally remembered those bumper stickers wrong: in fact, they say "I LoVermont", and the more I reflect on it, the more I'm inclined to think that it's actually Virginia that claims to be for lovers, so none of this makes any sense, really.

Isn't that a fascinating glimpse into my mind? By the way, IT'S RAINING!

The point of this post is really to draw your attention to my AMC column this week, which is all about horror movie guilty pleasures. I'm not particularly fond of the term "guilty pleasure", because if you like something then by all means, like it. Still, there are some movies that you love even though no one else does...in fact, sometime people hate movie you love, and you find yourself:

1) defending the film against an onslaught of insults from angry horror nerds

2) thinking you may be crazy for liking said film

3) keeping your mouth shut to avoid #1

It's okay- we've all got 'em. I listed five in my column, but there are plenty more rattling around in my head (Mommy, anyone?). Looking back on what I wrote, I don't know...I can't be the only one who loves The Craft. And really, I refuse to feel guilty about anything starring Brittany Murphy. Wait, I take that back...I'm a bit horrified to admit that I fucking sat through Uptown Girls. But at least I'm admitting it, which is the first step to something or other.

By the way, get your 15 clicks in! I thank you fiercely.

of note

Hey! Did you know that AMC is a channel on the tee vee?? It is!


Shocking, but true- it's more than just a place where I post a weekly column. Now, they haven't let me take over the programming for their annual FEARFEST (yet! mua ha ha...eh, who am I kidding?), but that doesn't mean there's not some great stuff coming up to watch. Here's some of the lo-down on what you can expect this month (I LOVE OCTOBER!!!):

~~~

This month, AMC presents AMC FEARFEST, the most highly anticipated horror movie marathon of the Halloween season. A celebration of the best in contemporary and classic horror films, AMC FEARFEST features over 50 horror titles, three AMC CELEBRATES events, and interviews with some of Hollywood’s most renowned horror filmmakers. The eight-day marathon airs from October 23 until Halloween Day, October 31 from 7:30am-midnight.

Headlining AMC FEARFEST is a star-studded lineup of acclaimed filmmakers, who will host and introduce the presented films and offer insight on what creates a great horror flick. Among the AMC FEARFEST hosts are on-screen legend Cloris Leachman (Young Frankenstein), actress Margot Kidder (Amityville Horror), award-winning writer/director, George Romero (Night of the Living Dead), actor Lance Henriksen (Aliens and Aliens 3) and special effects producer, Shane Mahan (SFX Creature Effects Aliens).

AMC FEARFEST will also feature three AMC CELEBRATES events, honoring the milestone anniversaries of some of horror’s greatest movies :

· AMC Celebrates Alien 30^th Anniversary – Airing Friday, October 23 at 8pm ET.

· AMC Celebrates Young Frankenstein 35^th Anniversary – Airing Friday, October 30 at 8pm ET.

· AMC Celebrates The Amityville Horror 30^th Anniversary – Airing Friday, October 30 at 10 :30pm ET.

In addition, AMC FEARFEST will include film classics by directors such as Stanley Kubrick, Ridley Scott, Stephen King, James Cameron, John Carpenter, Joss Whedon, Peter Jackson and Brian De Palma, as well as a special Halloween Day Marathon featuring the world premiere of the digitally restored and re-mastered Night of the Living Dead, airing at 6pm ET.

As part of the network’s online promotions of AMC FEARFEST, amctv.com will feature extended video interviews with Romero, Mahan and Henriksen. Also, available will be countless horror-focused trivia quizzes about such classic movie franchises as Alien, Dracula, The Exorcist, Ghostbusters, and Halloween. In addition, online will feature horror-related tournaments, including battles between the ‘Brides of Horror,’ ‘Evil Children,’ ‘Sinister Satans,’ and much more. Finally, the website will also be adding two new fright flicks to its ever-growing online B-Movie catalogue: Werewolves on Wheels and Fiend without a Face.

~~~

Neat, huh? I'm psyched to see Margot Kidder getting some love, although all of those "30th Anniversaries" are making me feel wicked wicked OLD.

Here's another startling news fact for you: women make horror movies! Yes, they do! You can catch two of them this weekend at the LA Femme Film Festival:

• The Commune, written and directed by Elisabeth Fies, is showing Saturday, 10/17 at 4pm
• The Intervention, co-written and directed by Shannon Hile, is showing Friday, 10/16 at 4pm. It's also playing at Fangoria's Trinity of Terror in Las Vegas over Halloween weekend.

And you can take a peek at Haunting Kira, the forthcoming directorial debut from FX mistress Teresa Fahs, by checking out the teaser trailer.

Speaking of women who make horror movies, yes...I'm still plugging away at Ludlow, tweaking it here and there and getting feedback from respected sources. It's amazing- sometimes shaving off only a few seconds in a shot can make a huge difference in the big picture. I'm also cobbling together some behind the scenes goodies...and when it's all complete, I need to figure out what I'm gonna do with the damn thing. I'll be sure to let you know, as I know you've been wringing your hands in anticipation for what seems like forever! To help tide you over, I quickly threw together a wee poster- that's a still from the movie, y'all!


Speaking of me and the things I've directed...did you vote for They Won't Stay Fed! 15 times today? Thanks-a-plenty.



I HATE VOTING-BASED CONTESTS! There, I said it.

Tease: I've also got another mock trailer in the works, which I'm hoping to post up by Halloween...and that's all I'm gonna say about that. Wait, no it's not: for once, I may actually use it as the basis for a feature film. Gasp, shock, awe, etc. etc.

SHOCKTOBER poll time: YOU decide!

Hey, I know I've been talking about voting for zombie movies a lot lately, and now I'm going to talk about voting for zombie movies some more. But don't worry- this isn't about They Won't Stay Fed! (go vote now!). Nope...this is all about Final Girl's SHOCKTOBER shenanigans. See, I've got a bunch of old, non-American zombie flicks I've never seen before sitting around, and I'd like to review one of 'em on Wednesday...so I'm asking for your help in deciding which one! The nominees are:

City of the Living Dead (1980, dir. Lucio Fulci)

Hell of the Living Dead (1980; dir. Bruno Mattei)

Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974; dir. Jorge Grau)

Nightmare City (1980; dir. Umberto Lenzi)

Yes folks, 1980 was a fucking great year for Italian zombies. And yes, the covers for City & Hell of the Living Dead are remarkably similar. Awesome!

So what's it gonna be? Make your voices heard and I'll make it happen. No matter the final result, I know I'm in for some nonsensical grossosity that's going to creep me out no matter what. Yay!

poll by twiigs.com

Hooray!

Hooray for yet ANOTHER reminder to put in your 15 clicks! Please consider voting for They Won't Stay Fed! by clicking the big purple button here, or voting in the widget below. Tell your friends! Tell your family! Tell yourself to vote everyday! If you won't do it for me, then do it for the cute. You don't want to disappoint the kitten, do you? Of course not.

Movin' on up...

...to the east side! That's right, kids...and by "east side", of course, I mean the Top Ten in the Home Run Inn Pizza Horror Movie Spectaculanza! It's all thanks to you and your 15 daily clicks of that big purple button- or the little green link in the widget. No matter how you do it, please consider voting for They Won't Stay Fed!- you'll make George and Weezie proud.

There comes a time when we heed a certain call...

...when the world must come together as one and CLICK THE BIG PURPLE BUTTON MULTIPLE TIMES to vote for my zombie/pizza mashup movie, They Won't Stay Fed!.

Thanks for the response so far...we're really gaining ground! Just think, someday this will all be over and you won't have to toil away like some sort of cyber Sisyphus, and I won't have to come up with a new and exciting way to ask for your votes every day. Won't that be awesome? In the meantime, please consider getting your 15 daily clicks on!

Did you vote today?

I did! And you know who else would if she could? Briefcase Woman. Yup, she'd click that big purple button and she'd be so excited about it!


Sorry to be obnoxious about this trawling for votes thing, but I'm really far behind all the people who entered weeks ago...so my obnoxiousness, I'm afraid, is going to continue. It's gross, I know. It'll be over when SHOCKTOBER is over, although...is that ever really over?

Thanks if you've voted for They Won't Stay Fed! already- and please consider making it one of your daily habits...you know, like brushing your teeth or watching Midwest Obsession (sorry, is that just me?). Click the big purple button...it'll take a second or three for your vote to register. Keep an eye on the vote tally just above the big purple button...then repeat until the big purple button tells you to come back tomorrow. It'll take you a minute, but you can vote 15 times in a row. Tell your friends! Tell your family! Tell strangers on the street, so long as they're obviously over the age of 18! Let's turn my so far behind in the polls status into a magnificent comeback, worthy of a crappy lite comedy!

*EDITED TO ADD: You can vote 15 times per day on their website AND on the widget here at FG, meaning 30 votes per day, per person. That's some serious clicking!

WATCH and VOTE!

So, I made a goofy little zombie movie and entered a contest. I NEED YOUR VOTES, especially since I'm running about 2 weeks behind in the process...but I have faith! YES WE CAN! Or something.



Folks need to create an account to vote, which is a pain, I know. BUT! You can vote 15 TIMES IN A ROW EVERY DAY. I'm going to harass anyone and everyone I know to vote as often as possible, so expect me to post about this A LOT. It's for a good cause, after all: winning. If I win, the prize money will be used to make another feature, so really, it's a gift that keeps on giving!

Spread the word and VOTE VOTE VOTE! Thank you, and good day.

*edited to add* Apparently if you're on Facebook, you can login with your Facebook info so you don't have to create an account. Hooray!