Of Demon Possessions, Gothic Babes, and Smoking

It's the first of November, Saturday... might as well start my late afternoon with a blog. I have nothing intelligent to say because I just woke up and haven't taken a bath yet (and have no plans of doing so). I'll just stay in bed and read my new kick-ass book until I get sleepy and abide in the void.

Anyway, before I end this senseless rambling, I just want to mention that I organized a Halloween get together last night. I volunteered a friend's house because they have a big screen TV. We ordered Chinese and rented a couple of horror movies--one classic, one contemporary.

The Exorcist rules as one of the best in the horror genre. I've seen it a couple of times before but it still gave me goosebumps everytime the young Linda Blair turn her head like a wind vane, puke on priests, lacerate her genital using a Cross, talk dirty to her mother, and blurt out cuss words that would make a sailor squirm.

Another thing I noticed in the movie was that smoking was really that "in" during the 70's. The doctors smoke in front of patients, the women smoke, and man, the sunglasses are as big as my head. There goes the 70's for you. I can only imagine how the audiences reacted to this ground-breaking film when it was shown in 1973. Maybe that's why I couldn't remember most of the good scenes because they were edited out. The prominent value systems during that generation were not ready for blasphemy. But thanks to the digital (and social) revolution, this movie can now be appreciated in its uncut and digitally re-mastered version.

The Queen of the Damned is a cool artsy movie but it lacked the power-punch to go down as a classic. The gothic theme, no matter how sensual and alluring, is so detached from everyday "reality." It was more like watching a sci-fi movie with metrosexual vampires and hot gothic babes than a horror film. It was still good though. Kudos to Anne Rice for creating a world for a subculture that wants to have an alternate version of reality. But most of all, Aaliyah's graceful serpent-like movements will now be etched forever in my mind. What a tragic loss.

As a side note, my other friends were so mesmerized by the vampire world that they wish they were vampires. It think vampires are cool, but I prefer to be Blade.