the jaded viewer

There was a time when shocking horror movies were cloaked with an avante garde artsy feel. Clearly it could be taken as a mish mash of shock and awe. Either you were disgusted and repulsed or could find the inner meaning and theme of this short by Nacho Cerda.

All in all, it was a must see for it's content that few dared to take on. The early 90s indie horror scene went beyond depravity, it was a measure of undiluted filmmaking with creating something raw. Can a viewer from 2013 know that a short like this was one of the Holy Grails of underground horror?

Probably not.

These days, it's easily accessible, point and click. But can it still strike emotion? Disgust? Pure horror?

That's for you to decide. Go ahead and watch Nacho Cerda's infamous short. Are you jaded or are you shocked?

Labels: aftermath, horror short, nacho cerda, short film, spanish horror, the shortround

Posted by the jaded viewer at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

In the early days of this blog, I would every now and then get an e-mail about a trailer/screener for non horror movies. I would take a look at the trailer and see if it was worth a watch. I'm an avid supporter of indie cinema and when I saw Dan Eberle's The Local (full review here) I really dug an authentic NYC underbelly. The NYC grime and crime you can only get from independent cinema. Later, Eberle returned with Prayer to a Vengeful God (full review here) which was more experimental and raw. I gave both movies 3 spinkicks and realized NYC's indie scene is still powerful and refreshing than I ever imagined.

Eberle is back with a new movie called Cut to Black. Here be the plot.

Bill Ivers, a disgraced ex-cop, is hired by a wealthy former friend to rid his estranged daughter, Jessica, of a petty a stalker. Soon, Bill finds himself interceding in Jessica's increasingly complicated life: caught between the crushing debt of a dangerous loan shark, and the specter of her father's shadowy past. 

Cut to Black is a story of desperate people living in the wake of bad choices, trying to make the most of what's left of their time in this world. Nobody gets away clean in this tough story of love, loyalty, and the inevitable conclusion we're all headed for.

Color me excited except this film is in black and white it seems. I love Eberle's NYC, the characters he's created and the seemingly rawness of his stories. Looking forward to this one.

Check out the trailer.

    More info here's some linkage: IMDB Facebook Twitter

Labels: crime thriller, independent cinema, indie film, new york city, nyc movie

Posted by the jaded viewer at 9:01 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

I've blogged about the world of horror for well over 10 years. I've watched every inconceivable paranormal, poltergeist and ghost movie probably ever made but I've never actually done any ghost hunting IRL. In less than a month, I'll be doing just that for the first time.

With some fellow Survivors, were all going to venture to The Shanley Hotel, a supposed haunted inn with a very dark past. Equipped with EVPs and recording devices, we shall see if we can hear and see the sights and sounds of the past. Part of me wants to bring a PKE meter, Tobin's Spirit Guide and a proton pack but I would need some help obtaining those items.

I've only done one other "ghost tour" and that was in New Orleans....during the day. If you look at those pictures, I'm not even sure I took a picture of a orb or ghost though they claimed there was a 90% chance I would.

Hence my tone of skepticism. I've seen and loved both Paranormal Activity and The Innkeepers. But that's movie magic and you're guaranteed to see bumps in the night. Who knows what will happen when I go on May 25th.

But here's the deal where believer and skeptic become a debate in your own head. I believe there is intelligent life in the universe. I believe there is unknown species we have yet to discover on this planet called Earth. But believing in something and wanting to believe are two different things.

I want to believe in Bigfoot and Loch Ness Monster. I want to believe extrasensory perception and time travel. I also want to believe in the paranormal. And so we put that to the test first. Because that is worth exploring. As Q in ST: TNG said once, it's "charting the unknown possibilities of existence".

Do you believe in ghosts? Have you gone on a mini investigation of our own to a supposed haunted place?
Let me know and share some advice with me.

Here be some linkage:

• Official Site
• Facebook
•  Twitter

Labels: ghost hunting, ghost stories, ghosts, haunted house, paranormal activity, real life haunts

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Evil Dead (2013)

Evil Dead (2013)

Directed by Fede Alvarez 

Groovy.

Hollywood keeps churning out the remake machine. And we all keep eating it. Sometimes when you haven't eaten that cake you haven't had in a while, it tastes different, has more flavors and it's actually still damn yummy.

Welcome to the Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell approved Evil Dead sequel? remake? re imagining?

If you hold tried and true to the principles of what made Raimi's cabin in the woods film all so awesome, you won't fuck it up. Even when you add some Diablo Cody and some director you've never heard of, it will still work if you go with the old school makeup and gore effects and slip in a run down Oldsmobile. What you come up with is what I tweeted after seeing the flick:

We got our Ash-ish final girl Mia, David the older bro who borders on final guy, the nerdy tinkerer who unleashes the evil, the black tough girl and the ditzy blonde girlfriend. And yup they die waaaay over the top deaths. Our hipster has balls of fuckin steel but we'll get to that in a moment.

4.) No Plot?

It's the same old plot so pretty much no plot.

5.) Kills by our slasher that make you go "Fuck yeah!"

Our resident deadite does go all kill happy in a variety of ways. Needle trauma, brain smashing trauma, nail gun trauma, shotgun trauma, hammer time trauma.

6.) Gore, lots of it. Like serious decapitation, dismemberment, impalement, hatchet frenzy steroid rages and blood shooting out at various penetration wounds, limbs a flailing and mindless splatter and mayhem? 

We get a version of happy molesting tree, some evil hand infection and some Ash-ing it up montage moments. Blood mayhem goes old school and I deeply appreciated it. You could tell the makeup and buckets of blood being used gave it that old timey horror glaze that we all love.


7.) Geeky leader who takes charge of the hapless group as they try to escape who befriends the hot girl who knows about the "legend" (there's always a legend no one believes)

Our nerdy hippy who unleashed the evil dead sure can take a beating. He was stabbed, nail gunned, crowbared and beaten senseless and he kept breathing. Kudos to you dude.You must have been on meth or something.

8.) Funny yet ill timed dialogue but also various quips and one liners that are funny only the first time around (yet somehow funny again when you buy the DVD and only when you're stoned)

If you laughed it was probably a Cody-ism. Thank the old gods there wasn't a hamburger phone.

9.) Gratuitous cameos of horror legends (a famous man of the box, classic Universal monsters, Kubrick tweens) that make you flash a metal sign and do the Beavis and Butthead pseudo head nodding.
 
You saw the Oldsmobile Delta 88 and the end credits scene. A few of the Raimi trademarks also show up.

10.) Wildly ambiguous ending that can be used to warrant a sequel?

Somebody will find the goddamn Necronimicon. They always do.

I'm not going to say Evil Dead is a perfect film, but it does its job well. It's 90 minutes of furious hellish fun that takes the cabin in the woods formula and gets all creative. I mean ever since Whedon's masterpiece, I've been scarred by the cliched woods film. But Alvarez seems to genuinely care about the source material, does his fair share of homaging and actually creates his own version that shines. Is it a sequel? a remake? a chapter?

Who the hell knows. We should be glad we got this installment of the franchise and be happy.

Groovy indeed.

Rating:
 

Check out the trailer. 

Labels: bruce campbell, deadite, demons, evil dead, horror remakes, sam raimi

Posted by the jaded viewer at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

I received an early press release from a NYC theater group that is about to launch a new interactive experience in NYC. It seems the interactive horror may have gone mainstream as it's similar to the other haunts I've reviewed in the past.

Check out the press release.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Stalker: Be the stalker or be the prey, a new interactive horror experience comes to NYC

Renegade Productions is proud to introduce a new interactive experience that will be unleashed to the people of New York City this summer. What would it be like to act as a serial killer stalking your prey? What would it be like to be the prey being stalked by a serial killer? In the world of Stalker, those questions will be answered as 2 willing participants face off head to head in a battle of wills straight out of a horror movie.

"The best way to describe it is Silence of the Lambs role playing. We hope people become fully invested in acting out their fantasies and in doing so trying to outsmart the person they are going against," says Jay Appleton, co-creator of Stalker.  Participants will have to sign a waiver, give personal details of where they live and work, their social media accounts, phone number and e-mail. From this information a "stalker" will be able to taunt their prey in a variety of ways.

On the other end of the spectrum, the "prey" will also be able to piece clues to who his/her stalker is as a faux FBI dossier/profile will be given. Based upon this information, the person will have to work on finding out who this "stalker" is and prepare a way to survive and ultimately eliminate him or her. The winner will be the person who is able to outsmart, out think and out play their opponent in this real life cat and mouse horror scenario. "We think people will enjoy playing out a fantasy on the city streets where paranoia and thrills running high for a week," says Cassidy James, the other co-creator of Stalker.

Stalker will start this summer in NYC. More details are coming soon including price and ticket availability.

Welcome to the ultimate game of cat and mouse.

Stalker is designed and created by Jay Appleton and Cassidy James. They are the creators of Renegade Productions, a theater group based out of NYC.

For more information:
http://www.xxxxxxx.com
https://www.facebook.com/xxxxxxx
http://twitter.com/xxxxxx

For media information please contact XXXXXXXX at XXXXXXX, XXXXXXX.

Labels: haunted house, interactive horror movie, new york city, nyc horror, play, slasher films, slashers, stalker, theater

Posted by the jaded viewer at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Back before the world of torrents and megaupload, an industry thrived on getting the most bang for your buck when it came to maximixing your cable and movie viewing. I may be dating myself, but I lived in a time when there were only 7 fuckin channels (CBS, NBC, Fox, ABC, your local channels and PBS). When cable came along it was a warped up version of TV. But still we had to figure out ways to buck the system because...who the fuck wants to pay extra right?

So I'm going to take you on a journey of how life was fuckin hard back in the day....when it came to getting free premium channels and well you know porn. Some of you may have done the same. It's a bit of nostalgia for all of us then so let's reminisce shall we?

1.) Stealing HBO (circa the 80s)

Even before Time Warner and Cablevision cornered the market, there was a way to get HBO for free before the world of Cable TV. You just had to have an antenna and box. HBO back in the day broadcasted via signal and so to get the Tyson fights you had to use an antenna stick that could be pointed in a certain direction and get the signal. It came with an old radio box to fine tune the signal. As a kid I would have to go on the roof to fine tune the signal. My dad really wanted to watch Tyson knock out somebody.

2.) The Black Box (the 80s and 90s)

If you're old enough, you remember the black box. The black box was a cable box (all different makes and models) that was reset to allow the box the accept all signals (including premium channels, PPVs and especially porn). It had other names such as cable descrambler but in essence it was set to be in test mode so all channels were accessable. The story usually went a friend of a friend who worked at the cable company could get you one for $100-$150. The drawback was the cable company could "zap" your box and reset it rendering it useless. It was risky proposition but if it remained viable, you'd get your moneys worth. One of your friends had one and stealing cable seemed like no big deal. Of course you could always have the cable guy activate your box for a fee.

3.)  DirecTV and H cards (circa the 90s)

The Internet was just in its infancy and the signal pirates were stealing serious loot. Thanks to DirecTV. All you needed was to purchase a satellite dish, a satellite receiver and a hacked H card. The dish and receiver were legit. The H card was the tricky part. eBay was a haven for purchasing hacked H cards. The card controlled what you were allowed to see. It was an actual card you inserted into your receiver and if you could manipulate it, you had all the channels. This all ended when the dish companies got smart and started zapping the illegal cards. Fun times ended by corporate greedy bastards.

4.) Napster and Limewire (circa the 00s)

I won't rehash Napster lore but Limewire was one of many P2P bit torrent programs to get the same content we wanted from the 80s. Everybody remembers their first download and the classic clips. I mean where did you watch the night vision Paris Hilton sex tape?

5.) The Torrent (present day)

Shhhh. It's still around despite what people say. I mean how you gonna watch Game of Thrones right?


So I hope that history lesson helped you understand that no matter how hard the television and movie industry try, the underground will find a way to get around it. People are willing to pay for the shows and movies they watch, be it we get what we paid for. Technology will always have loopholes. And where there are loopholes, the pirates will be.

All we want is to watch is some motherfuckin Game of motherfuckin Thrones. Why make it so hard?

Labels: directv, the black box, the jaded viewer, torrents

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Sorry I've been MIA. My TV was fucked up for a few weeks and I couldn't review any movies. But that lead me to watching more Internet videos then I care to admit. Surprisingly, it seems there are quite a lot of cannibal trailers, clips and ENTIRE full length flicks on YouTube.

I've already given you my Top 5 Cannibal Movies of All Time as well as 5 Things I Learned from Cannibal Movies. So I've watched my fair share of these flicks but the Cannibal Holocaust is without a doubt just the most fucked up movie in my movie watching history.

If you're a noob who's self teaching yourself the skid row junkie world of exploitation, it'd be best to view this on an empty stomach.

What a world we live in that you can watch a most fucked up movie on your computer instead of a 4th generation dubbed VHS tape. You kids have it fuckin easy.

Enjoy!

Here are some fun facts for you after you watch the film! How about some FAQ too!

Labels: cannibal films, cannibal holocaust, cannibal scalping, cannibals, exploitation, exploitation film, ruggero deodato, top 5 cannibal movies, ultimo mondo canibale

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I was reading this review of the ultra fucked up Japanese nihilism film All Night Long and I came upon this section of the entry.

Prior to it receiving a DVD release with English subtitles it was heavily distributed on the Video Tape exchange circuit. The film gained a cult status amongst fans due to the films over-the-top violence and disturbing nature.

Ahhh the Video Tape Exchange circuit. Seems so fancy when you say it that way. Basically in other words, it was called horror trading. And people exchanged lists where you would trade your badly dubbed horror movies with their badly dubbed horror movies. I've documented this before.

As one of the sites that inspired this one, Gore Maggot Video was one of my go to guys to trade. Sure I know his real name, but to me and Insano Steve, he'll always be GoreMaggot. And his reviews on his list are legen....wait for it....dary.

We would trade up to 7 movies over postal mail with this guy. Insano Steve would head to Chinatown, get some VCDs, dub them and make trades. It was the ONLY way to see cult and crazy fucked up movies in the late 90s and early 00's. This died down when torrenting became crazy prevalent as well as YouTube but I still have a collection of VHS tapes from my horror trading days. Alas the irony is I have no VHS player to ever watch them again.

Maggot Video reviews sold themselves. I've collected a few below for you to enjoy but first check out. Enjoy!

I CAN DO D.V.D.'s NOW!!!!!!!!....Same prices as the videos,so let me know what you want.all titles are from international source, from one collector to another, no rights implied or given.I'm always getting new cool stuff so check back every couple of months.Thank you.

all titles come in clam-shell case with cover-art and printed disc's(with only a few exceptions).If you don't care about the color cover & case, I'll sell you as many as you want for only 8.00 $ each!

videos and D.V.D.'s are  recorded  in  SP  mode on high quality tapes & D.V.D.R's for best picture and sound quality

$10.00 per title (plus shipping, please see shipping rates)
get any 10 flicks for 80 bucks postage paid!
 
Great reviews of "Extreem" films. The spelling errors were part of the charm in my opinion.

DAS KOMABRUTALE  DUELL--WOW!!!!!! This is one sick puppy! I just got this in not too long ago ,once again ,its in German with no subs....but who gives a fuck!!!this shit rocks. This flick ranks right up there with PREMUTOS for unrelenting ultre gore and insanity.They use more fake blood in this than any flick I've seen in a long time(Maby the most ever) definatly one of the goriest flicks on this site. There is a scene where a guy sneaks up on a pregnant woman sitting on a bench in a park(I think its the broad from the picture below),he comences to kill her very brutally...then he cuts out her twin fetuses...throws them down and does a tatter masher stomp on them.This movie is sick.  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR SICKO'S

Great reviews of Takashi Miike films. 

CITY OF LOST SOULS--Yet another kick ass flick by Takashi Miike(VISITOR Q) This one is an action flick on the same lines as Time & Tide but alot bloodier,plus he had a 4 million doller budget for this one and the F/X are awsome!You gotta see the CGI kung fu cock fight,it's like a MATRIX chicken fight.CRAZY!!!
 
GRAVEYARD OF HONOR—Cool Takashi Miike flick with lots of Yakuza violence ,abused women and drug induced insanity.

VISITOR Q--This is a very fucked up flick by Takashi Miike (Fudoh: A New Generation,Audition)This is his answer to GUMMO & REQUIEM FOR A DREAM.Lets just say this is the disfunctional family flick to top them all,This is way sicker than those other flicks though.If you are currently happy with your family situation,DONT! let your wife see this movie(or any of the guinea pigs for that matter 

Sometimes, you don't know the titles.

DEAD BABY DOLL (DONT KNOW THE TITLE FOR THIS ONE SO I MADE UP THIS )

I've seen this film and I agree.

DR.LAMB--Sick!sick!sick!cat.3(serial killer flick)

Sometimes he didn't have subs on his movies.

EROTIC NIGHTMARE—H/K Cat. 3 with Anthony Wong (Untold Story ,Ebola Syndrom) chinese language only. Sorry. 

MU ZAN E---THIS GROUP OF FLICKS STARTING WITH THE RED ROOM ARE PART OF A NEW LINE OF TOTALLY FUCKED UP FETISH/GORE FLICKS COMEING OUT OF JAPAN.SAID TO BE "THE NEW GUINEA PIGS" THESE FLICKS ARE WAY OVER THE TOP FUCKED UP.ALOT OF MENSTRAL FETISH SHIT IN THESE FOR SOME REASON(LIKE SUCKING A MOUTHFULL OUT & SPITTING IT OUT ALL OVER THE PLACE. SICK! THESE FLICKS ARE ABOUT AN HOUR EACH ,IN JAP. WITH NO SUBS,SORRY....PRETTY EASY TO FOLLOW THOUGH.

He used the "kick ass" alot in his reviews Which is how that phrase ended up in my reviews. 

FEMALE CONVICT SCOROION: JAILHOUSE 41----Kick ass,good quality,letterboxed,English subs(these flicks are cool,they look like they came from the same era as the babycart flicks,70's for sure.Beautifully shot..nice and violent and exploitational)

Some of his movies weren't for kids and he'd let you know. 

GAMERA 3,THE REVENGE OF IRIS--AWSOME!AWSOME1AWSOME1not for kids,blew me away!
GAMERA,GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE--TOTALLY AWSOME!NOT FOR LITTLE KID'S 

We horror trader bootleggers suffered from copying the same dubbed copy over and over again and trading that shit.

ICHI THE KILLER--SUPER ULTRA GORY TAKASHI MIIKE FLICK! KILLER CGI GORE F/X ,TWISTED STORY. THE QUALITY ISNT THE BEST,BUT ITS WATCHABLE.THIS IS THE PRINT THATS GOING AROUND,IF YOU KNOW OF A BETTER PRINT THAT LET ME KNOW. HIGHLY RECOMENDED. 


Sometimes movies only needed one word reviews.
 
THE RAPE MAN- cool!
 
 And sometimes he gave you a fuckin screenplay for a review.

PSYCHO: THE SNUFF REELS aka. TUMBLING DOLL OF FLESH--Thomas Takanawa, Richard Fujimoto and Harold Akira are three lonely Japanese teens bored of their middle-classed existence. But before you can say American Pie, Bettie Hirohito enters the picture. She is young and effervescent; a robust example of youth and vivacity. “Hey guys!,” exclaims Thomas. “I’ve got my dad’s video camera. Let’s make a movie!” “What kind of movie?,” ponders Bettie. “A porn, of course,” shout all three males in unison; their wistful synchronicity and pleading eyes eventually persuading a begrudging Bettie. Harold, being the most endowed of the three plunders Betties hirsute vagina while the other boys shout words of encouragement and film the act. However, everyone knows that promiscuity and pornography lead young strays like our protagonists down a menacing path of illicit deeds and murder. And thusly, Yellow Love turns into the Slant-Eyed Slaughter. Bettie is tied down and forced to endure a bizarre mélange of physically sexual depravities. Bettie is chopped, diced and pureed into a mishmash of pulverized flesh and splintered bone. Psycho delivers a deluge of spilled blood and butchered flesh; its undertaking is another sick, but pointless endeavour where flesh is pitted against sharpened steel and as always, comes up short. While the film takes far too long to finally bombard you with some wonderfully vile acts, Psycho: The Snuff Reels is a hilarious romp that eschews typical pornography and gore motifs by combining the two styles; Psycho is a tumor rooted in Guinea Pig/Flowers Of Flesh And Blood and August Underground Mordum. It is an exciting Japanese gornography epic with a modicum of verisimilitude hindered only by annoying genital fogging.SICK!!SICK!!SICK!! Japanese language only. 


 I'll do a second part if you enjoyed this one. So who traded horror back in the day? Sound off if you did. 

Labels: gore, horror trades, horror trading lists, ichi the killer, muzane, rapeman, splatter, takashi miike

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Coming off the high from my previous off season haunted house experience, it didn't take long for me to get my fix ASAP. The Raven and the Black Cat offered me the opportunity to check out a haunted attraction that wasn't on my radar but definitely made me a follower for years to come. Welcome to Nightmare Dark Valentine.

So with "Special K" and TRATBC in tow, we mini roadtripped out to Passaic, NJ to check out their off season Valentine's Day haunt and it definitely didn't disappoint.

It's not often I trek across the river, but I'm willing to get my haunt on anytime and any place. The place being Brighton Asylum, a location in itself that's spooky as hell. The thing that separates about haunts in Jersey seems to be the massive space they get to occupy compared to their NYC counterparts. Nightmares Dark Valentine, which has previously offered Halloween and Christmas variants seems to take full advantage of this location.

Entering through a massive warehouse, I saw a clear Valentine's Day theme going. Balloons, hearts and a miner.Wait a miner? Say what?  It seems the Dark Valentine theme here was inspired by the movie My Bloody Valentine 3D. On display were photo ops with "The Miner" (part of a contest on their Facebook page) as well as wardrobe attire from the movie Warm Bodies. It's always good to have a haunt align themselves with the horror flicks that are currently out.

As Special K and RATBC enter the haunt, it's a pitch darkness within a maze of darkened corridors that gets you a bit uneasy. In one dark hallway, I bumped into a figure I think may have been an actual human being OR a mannequin. I still don't know. You start to put your hand in front of you to figure out what direction to go to. It seems the total blackout effect is a lost art in haunted houses and here, they've brought in back and it works damn well.

Each of the rooms has it's own personality. Some of the rooms have hanging electrical wire, others with corpses and others with who knows what. The "jump scares" where actors seem to BOO! you out of nowhere were very well designed appearing via window slots and from the corner of a dark room.

And they don't just shout a quick scare and let you go. No no no. Some of our "miner" slashers decided to follow us across rooms. I had a very curious miner complete with a jumpsuit and gas mask follow me around as I pushed hanging dead corpses at him. It's kind of fun to see how they'll react.

Another room that stood out was a bench that gave you a different angle on seeing some dead bodies. It was quite inventive and I haven't been thrilled like that in a long time at a traditional haunted house. A few more rooms had some pesky silent but deadly children as well as a woman looking for blood donations.

All in all, the ending was not as jump-tastic as I would hoped but the most surprising thing I encountered was that Special K, The Raven and the Black Cat and I went through the entire 40 minute or so haunt all my ourselves. We never ran into the group in front of us and the group behind us never snuck up and crowded us. It was timed well and flowed brilliantly.

Nightmare Dark Valentine was the rare haunted house that takes a theme and embraces it. They paced the groups so that everybody was able to have their alone time with the haunt, the pitch black corridors added a level of terror I haven't seen in a long time and the creativity was new and exciting.

If this is the effort they put in an off season haunt, I can't wait to check out what they do during Halloween. Hopefully they won't wait that long and we'll see a few off season events to bridge the gap.

The Vitals...

• Brighton Asylum is located at 2 Brighton Ave Passaic, NJ 07055 Exit 154 off Garden state Pkwy South (located on Clifton border)
• Check out the official site
• Check out the Facebook page
• Follow their Twitter page

Labels: haunted house, my bloody valentine 3D, new jersey, valentine's day

Posted by the jaded viewer at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

"You know what's fun? Watching a great horror movie. You know what's more fun? Being in one courtesy of Blackout Haunted House."

-tweet from The Jaded Viewer after experiencing the off season haunt.

I immediately tweeted that out after experiencing my 6th Blackout haunt. I don't know what you want to call me at this point. A Blackout hardcore enthusiast? A haunted house veteran? A deranged and certifiable lunatic?

Probably all of the above I guess.

But I'm drawn to taking my horror-fandom to the next level. I love horror movies and this here blog is a tribute to the genre. But rarely does one get a chance to experience the genre in a new way. How does one cosplay as a horror final boy/girl? Horror conventions? Fuck that.

I want the real deal. Where can you act out being a protagonist in your own horror movie? I'm not a professional actor. I was once in a zombie short film in college. But sometimes you want to play the hero. You sometimes ask yourself what you would do in the same situation you see cliched horror film characters in.

And Blackout Haunted House lets me do just that.

You may have gone to their October/Hallowen haunt in NYC or in Los Angeles. But LA, I'm sorry you received a "best hits" compilation. Stuff I did in 2010 and 2011. NYC got the cutting edge experiment which in itself was awesomely fun. But let me tell you fellow jaded viewers, the 2013 off season winter haunt in NYC was clearly the pinnacle of this production. Everything hit on all cylinders, like a well oiled machine. From the opening scene to the wild ending, all were pieces to a puzzle that don't actually make sense until days later (and with the help of some fellow Survivors). It's a clear evolutionary jump of what they have been doing. The Blackout madness has spread nationally and is now far from it's NYC underground whispers. It's blown up big time, a mushroom cloud of pure, undiluted interactive terror.

And here's where I disappoint you all. I'm not giving a walkthrough of this haunt. Well not yet hopefully. What makes Blackout unique is the DUH! Not knowing what will happen. And the team at Blackout has made it clear of what's to come via a post on their Facebook page.

hey NYC - thank you to all the people who came out for this week's first off-season adventure. we had an amazing time with each and every one of you and appreciate your support. of course we won't confirm anything, but it's possible other people may get the chance to experience this specific show so please keep the details to yourself and off this page. feel free to share your thoughts, feelings, reviews, etc - but please, no spoilers.

So it might be coming to a city near you. And why would I want to spoil what only  80 or so brave people have enjoyed so far. And possibly what you can enjoy in the near future. But I will tell you my thoughts on this interactive theater performance. First the rules and factoids.

You did have to go through this alone.
It was somewhere in NYC's East Village.
It lasted about 45 minutes.
You did have to sign a waiver.
There was a safety word. It was "SAFETY".
It was open to the public for the first time this year.

What happened over those 45 minutes is the most brilliant piece of storytelling, WTF-ness and pure exhilarating and thrilling  moments I've had in my life. The moment it begins, it's fuckin on. Instructions are given and it's all reflex. You're a loyal soldier of Blackout. The first 10 minutes are eerie and actually only make sense after you actually complete this game to the end. What the 2013 haunt gives is pure cinematic visuals, sets that resemble a "hot" Hollywood set and acting that pushes the boundaries of extreme theater.

The beauty of it is you, and you alone are the lone audience for this masterpiece. And you alone are the star. And you dictate the reactions of what's to come and what can be said. It's interactive theater taken beyond your wildest imaginations. You get a personalized experience all your own. Horror and theater fans alike will come away with a unique experience all to themselves. Your dialogue is etched in stone. Your memories become permanent markers of clearly something that has never been done before. It is surreal theater for the demented and the delusional. And it's fuckin fun.

Many elements of the past Blackout experience are present. But new ones are thrown in. I got a sense of a lull before the storm, becoming panic stricken moving from place to place and darkness became the dread that keeps on giving everytime I go to a Blackout haunt. What Blackout does so effectively is amplify your senses into overdrive. Sight is not just one sense they play with, they also go with sound, smell and touch. You start to realize your comfort zone is realizing you won't have one and dealing with it.

Blackout has been all about the fear and they challenge you to overcome a variety of general fears we all have. Like going through a psychologist's list of ailments, they chose a few that many probably secretly have but dare not tell anybody. You'll need to overcome these fears quickly in order to move on. Sure you can call SAFETY, but that's not in my fuckin vocabulary. It's quite a sense of accomplishment when you can be victimized mentally and physically but get through it unscathed. I will say there are some levels of abuse or what you can call pseudo torture. But more so it's clearly all in your head. The mind makes it real.

In terms of the performances, I will say they were slow burn and meticulously fantastic. To be able to spend quality time with these charaters for longer than 2 minutes (compared to the October haunts) is why the off season is worth every penny. Each character you are introduced to is unique and central to what is going on. They talk to you and you can respond when prompted. They are there to push the agenda, the story and to make you realize you are there because you want to be there.

Which brings us to the story. I've mentioned this before,  Blackout is like being a final girl/guy in your own horror movie. And in this off season haunt, you will become one and follow a linear story with the twist being you're part of it. What you will slowly realize is Blackout is part of the story too and they will make you pay wickedly for the time you spend there.

Blackout Haunted House 2013 Off Season NYC Winter haunt is without a doubt the apex of the Blackout experience. There were many moments of uncomfortableness and humiliation that many people will run away from to avoid. What do I do? I pay a ticket to experience it. I have longed to be part of theater, a wannabe actor in my mind who believed I could be the ultimate survivor.

But I'm probably just a crazed loon who should be in a mental hospital, locked up in the dark with a surgical mask on. The doctors saying all you need to say is "safety" and we'll let you out. And what do I do, I start shaking my head.

"No, I will never ever say it....never...never....ever."

Blackout Haunted House NYC 2013 Off Season Haunt Testimonials

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

Blackout Haunted House Reviews and Walkthroughs

• Blackout Haunted House Walkthrough and Spoilers (2012)
• Special K's Blackout Haunted House Walkthrough and Spoilers (2012)
• Blackout Haunted House Review (2012)
• Blackout Haunted House Walkthrough and Spoilers (2011) 
• Blackout Haunted House Review (2011)  
• Vortex Theater's NYC Halloween Haunted House Walkthrough and Spoilers (2010)
• Vortex Theater's NYC Halloween Haunted House Review (2010)

Blackout Haunted House Invite Only, Off Season Spring Haunt Reviews and Walkthroughs

• Blackout Haunted House: Spring Edition (2012)
• Vortex Theater's NYC Halloween Haunted House (Spring Edition) Walkthrough Review (2011)

Leave any comments/questions on The Jaded Viewer Facebook Page or on Twitter

Labels: blackout, blackout haunted house, haunted house, new york city, nyc halloween haunted house, nyc haunted house, theater, vortex theater

Posted by the jaded viewer at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Here is Part 4 of the Blackout Survivors testimonials. In this edition, Special K (who wrote a wallkthrough of the 2012 October Haunt) gives us her thoughts about partaking for a second time into their off season haunt. Theater can make quite an impact, and Special K discusses her trials and tribulations in the testimonial below.

Oh what we do for a free t-shirt.

This is the last Survivor review. I'll be posting my own review of Blackout Haunted House's NYC Off Season Winter Haunt at the end of this week.

(I believe it's necessary you get different perspectives of the others who attended well. Collected below and in the upcoming days are reviews and testimonials of some of the brave "Survivors" who dared to go where only a few decided to tread. You'll hear from men and women who decided to attain glorious bragging rights to the horror interactive theater production that is Blackout. Some are hardcore veterans while others are semi new. But all are bizarrely addicted to the adrenaline rush of being the protagonist of their own horror movie.)


When off season tickets opened up to Blackout's nearly 10,000 strong fan base this year, I was slightly worried.  I should have known better.  In hindsight it was a brilliant move; we, the fans, had to rely on each other like never before in order to reserve an appointment.  And without divulging our secrets I will say this: the morning tickets went on sale, the game had already started. And it wouldn't be over until Blackout decided it should be, and well, (spoiler): it never is...  

Were you one of the lucky Survivors? Want to share your thoughts to the world. Facebook or tweet me your review (no spoilers please).


Blackout Haunted House NYC 2013 Off Season Haunt Testimonials

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

Blackout Haunted House Reviews and Walkthroughs

• Blackout Haunted House Walkthrough and Spoilers (2012)
• Special K's Blackout Haunted House Walkthrough and Spoilers (2012)
• Blackout Haunted House Review (2012)
• Blackout Haunted House Walkthrough and Spoilers (2011) 
• Blackout Haunted House Review (2011)  
• Vortex Theater's NYC Halloween Haunted House Walkthrough and Spoilers (2010)
• Vortex Theater's NYC Halloween Haunted House Review (2010)

Blackout Haunted House Invite Only, Off Season Spring Haunt Reviews and Walkthroughs

• Blackout Haunted House: Spring Edition (2012)
• Vortex Theater's NYC Halloween Haunted House (Spring Edition) Walkthrough Review (2011)

Leave any comments/questions on The Jaded Viewer Facebook Page or on Twitter

Labels: blackout, blackout haunted house, haunted house, new york city, nyc halloween haunted house, nyc horror, play, theater, vortex theater

Posted by the jaded viewer at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

For Part 3, I have treat for you. Survivor "Wrapped in Plastic" discusses HER thoughts about the infamous off season Winter experience. Men and Women alike attended this haunt and it left a crater sized mind fuck in our heads.

Seriously, the shit we did for this goddamn free t-shirt was insane.

Before I post my own review of Blackout Haunted House's NYC Off Season Winter Haunt, I believe it's necessary you get different perspectives of the others who attended well. Collected below and in the upcoming days are reviews and testimonials of some of the brave "Survivors" who dared to go where only a few decided to tread. You'll hear from men and women who decided to attain glorious bragging rights to the horror interactive theater production that is Blackout. Some are hardcore veterans while others are semi new. But all are bizarrely addicted to the adrenaline rush of being the protagonist of their own horror movie.

Check back at midnight over the next few weeks as you hear from the brave souls who survived.


For the first time in four events, I left Blackout laughing. Granted, it was a wild-eyed, shell-shocked, half-hysterical kind of laughter, but the experience left me giddy. Over the span of 45 (sometimes too-long, sometimes too-short) minutes, I had faced up to my greatest fears, performed in acts that left me tearful and delighted, and left trembling and transcendent from the heady rush of adrenaline that Blackout produces so well.

More so than in the past, a clearly defined narrative dictates the overall structure of this show. This is the first time I've felt Blackout move definitively past the realm of walk-through haunted house and into being an act of immersive psychological theater. There's no doubt that this is a play, but a play unlike any you've ever seen before, made that much more effective by your involvement as the ostensible protagonist of the story. The caliber of performances and aesthetics of the set design are on par with any traditional staged play I've seen and certain themes echo throughout that remind you that this is still theatre, only evolved. 

The rooms are almost elegant in their simplicity. Even those that you immediately recognize as places of horror are carefully arranged so as to frame you and the actors in such a way that you can't forget that You Are Here and that you are a part of this and that really, you only have yourself to blame for it. The actors move as wolves around you, the sacrificial lamb cut off from your flock, always with a reservation of energy and an underlying threat of violence liable to explode at any moment. And it will. And it does.

These images, yellowed flashbulb snaps of me and them and us together and even rooms of no one at all, are still as vivid to me as though they'd just occurred - mental Polaroids that cut through the rush of adrenaline that is at times deafening. In the past the constant movement through the scenes tended to make everything that happens to you a blur in recollection, but the stayed hand you see exercising careful control over each moment creates an experience that will lingers vivid long after the emotion settles out.

Subtlety is a key word. By comparison, Blackout's Halloween events are a 30-minute long roller-coaster ride in which you're jerked from one startling encounter to the next. This time, however, the limited number of scenes and increased length of performance this time gives ample room to settle into the moment.
 
Considering I'd spent the previous several days in an increasingly panicked build-up to the event, being left with my own thoughts is a devious way to let my imagination get the best of me. The mind fills in the blanks that are left, and when you're already familiar with the experiences that Blackout can deliver, those blanks aren't going to be filled with warm fuzzies. At one point I became so wrapped up in my own paranoid delusions that I started to physically tremble, shaking uncontrollably under the weight of my own anticipation. The scene in question involved no one but myself.

But don't let any of this reserve lull you into a sense of security - it's only the deafening, dreadful quiet that comes between cracks of thunder. This is the most confrontational Blackout that I've experienced. Certainly Spring 2012 was challenging (who's comfortable getting naked in front of strangers? me, apparently) but the psychological games that this performance plays go far deeper. As a pervasive theme that amplified in Halloween 2012, Blackout continues to toe a very fine line between sexuality and violence. They push their own boundaries to create scenarios that all at once repulse and arouse, horrify and titillate. The scenes are visceral blows, senses assaulted by a barrage of smells, sights, touches, and sounds that shake you out of your day-to-day mind and pull you deep into the experience. Your body responds without your mind being able to catch up as each sense is overwhelmed in turn.

And if you think you're unafraid of anything, give it time. Blackout will find what disturbs you, and there's nothing quite like when they find what sets off those reptile-brain reactions and you forget all rationality. You will know that they know when they've found it, and that's almost as scary as actually experiencing it. It's through this give-and-take that personally, I've realized that maybe my greatest fear (when forced to either face it or quit outright) maybe isn't my greatest fear anymore, and though I couldn't call that experience pleasant, it's a bit of a revelation to realize how much Blackout has shaped my reactions to things that frighten me. Old fears seem less scary when you've survived them, but new ones emerge to take their place when you experience them for the first time.

When I fled from the location, I ran into another Survivor who came to meet me. She asked me what thought and the first thing I shouted, laughing, was "It was beautiful." Blackout has outdone themselves. Their voice has been evolving since this all began, and this time, I feel like they've nailed it. The lingering tones of faith and fanaticism, sex and violence, beauty and filth have never been as clear as they were this time around, from the looking-glass opening until the final shocking end. They've raised the bar not only for their eager audience but for themselves as well. I'm proud beyond description to witness this evolution and to be a part of Blackout. And after being so changed by these experiences, I'm even more proud that Blackout has become a part of me.

Were you one of the lucky Survivors? Want to share your thoughts to the world. Facebook or tweet me your review (no spoilers please).


Blackout Haunted House NYC 2013 Off Season Haunt Testimonials

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

Blackout Haunted House Reviews and Walkthroughs

• Blackout Haunted House Walkthrough and Spoilers (2012)
• Special K's Blackout Haunted House Walkthrough and Spoilers (2012)
• Blackout Haunted House Review (2012)
• Blackout Haunted House Walkthrough and Spoilers (2011) 
• Blackout Haunted House Review (2011)  
• Vortex Theater's NYC Halloween Haunted House Walkthrough and Spoilers (2010)
• Vortex Theater's NYC Halloween Haunted House Review (2010)

Blackout Haunted House Invite Only, Off Season Spring Haunt Reviews and Walkthroughs

• Blackout Haunted House: Spring Edition (2012)
• Vortex Theater's NYC Halloween Haunted House (Spring Edition) Walkthrough Review (2011)

Leave any comments/questions on The Jaded Viewer Facebook Page or on Twitter

Labels: blackout, blackout haunted house, haunted house, l, new york city, nyc halloween haunted house, play, theater, torture porn, vortex theater

Posted by the jaded viewer at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

And the testimonials continue....

More Survivors explaining why they endured for 45 minutes for that damn free t-shirt.

Before I post my own review of Blackout Haunted House's NYC Off Season Winter Haunt, I believe it's necessary you get different perspectives of the others who attended well. Collected below and in the upcoming days are reviews and testimonials of some of the brave "Survivors" who dared to go where only a few decided to tread. You'll hear from men and women who decided to attain glorious bragging rights to the horror interactive theater production that is Blackout. Some are hardcore veterans while others are semi new. But all are bizarrely addicted to the adrenaline rush of being the protagonist of their own horror movie.

Check back at midnight over the next few weeks as you hear from the brave souls who survived.


"America. Our entertainment is generic. Boring. Mass produced. Safe. TV, movies, food, fashion, even mainstream PG13 horror - it all has to fit inside the boundaries of the lowest common denominators. Blackout actively seeks out your boundaries so it can explode through them and snuggle up close to all of the fears, secrets and desires you'd rather not share with anyone. Blackout is not generic. Blackout is very much not safe. Blackout Haunted House - the name is a little misleading. There are no clowns with chainsaws. There are no vampires or zombies. The "house" isn't the thing that's haunted. Once Blackout is through with you, you're the thing that's haunted."




"This is the first off season that I've had the pleasure of experiencing. Having gone through Halloween 2012 twice I had a small grasp on how Blackout operated. Also armed with the reviews of the Jaded Viewer I felt I had enough working knowledge to take on an off-season show. I'll follow up that statement with this: That's not something you prepare for.... this is the kind of shit that you see someone for after surviving it.

The show starts and it's calm, almost hypnotic as I'm transported to the world of Blackout. It's a strange feeling to know that you've bought a ticket to a show....only to realize that it's about you. They take their time to set the mood, and really immerse you in this experience. Everything else around you melts away and you're left in their world....they're in control now.

Blackout as a whole is a mentally and physically challenging experience that aims to push you to your furthest limits, then wave as they go flying by. It's an incredible shock to the senses, as they toy with many aspects of our normal lives, make you take a step back and see how devoted you are to an ideology, or the significance you place in it. They force you into situations where your choices dictate your outcome, determining if you'll continue on.

After that night, I was left with more questions than an episode of 'Lost'. It left me bewildered, a little confused, a little neglected. On the ride home I used the time to reflect, not only on what I had just been through, but myself as well. The show, of course is a dramatization of real life events that could feasibly happen to anyone.....on the unluckiest day of their life. It's still rooted in “real life” though and it kept me up for a quite a while. What would I actually do in those situations? How would I react? Would I shut down, or fight back? It gave me a new found respect for the characters and stories I love so much in my favorite movies. To be given just a taste of what “the last survivor” is going through in the final scenes, or being thrown into the climax of a movie.....it brings things into perspective as I sit here tonight armchair quarterbacking the horror movie playing in the background.

As dumbfounded as I was wandering NYC after that show, I was proud. I rose to the challenge and took on Winter Blackout. I made it through- I survived."


Were you one of the lucky Survivors? Want to share your thoughts to the world. Facebook or tweet me your review (no spoilers please).



Blackout Haunted House NYC 2013 Off Season Haunt Testimonials

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

Blackout Haunted House Reviews and Walkthroughs

• Blackout Haunted House Walkthrough and Spoilers (2012)
• Special K's Blackout Haunted House Walkthrough and Spoilers (2012)
• Blackout Haunted House Review (2012)
• Blackout Haunted House Walkthrough and Spoilers (2011) 
• Blackout Haunted House Review (2011)  
• Vortex Theater's NYC Halloween Haunted House Walkthrough and Spoilers (2010)
• Vortex Theater's NYC Halloween Haunted House Review (2010)

Blackout Haunted House Invite Only, Off Season Spring Haunt Reviews and Walkthroughs

• Blackout Haunted House: Spring Edition (2012)
• Vortex Theater's NYC Halloween Haunted House (Spring Edition) Walkthrough Review (2011)

Leave any comments/questions on The Jaded Viewer Facebook Page or on Twitter

Labels: blackout, blackout haunted house, final girl, haunted house, new york city, nyc halloween haunted house, nyc haunted house, play, surviving evil, theater, vortex theater

Posted by the jaded viewer at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post