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Category Archives: Giallo
Only Darkness 1999 Review
Only Darkness 1999
Directed by: Mitchell Morgan
Starring: Nicole Streak, Crispin Manson, Edmund Dehn
Review by Luisjo González
The two films I get asked about most here on a Slash above are Legend of Moated Manor and Only Darkness as they're both on my my A-Z slasher list. I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that I've lost count of the amount of emails I've received from you guys and gals about that double. Well I'm finally going to post a review of one of them and I hope that it answers some of your questions. Britain doesn't have a great reputation with it's output within the slasher genre, so there's certainly a gap in the market for a decent entry from those shores. Only Darkness came out hot on the heels of Scream, but a traditional slasher movie, it's definitely not. In fact, it's barely a slasher movie at all, but it's more like a giallo and even that doesn't really describe it.
Paul Salem is a horror author who writes screenplays for slasher movies. Salem wants to write in other genres and move away from the horror stereotype, but his agent tries to convince him otherwise. One evening, whilst he is driving home, he comes across a young girl who is fleeing an assailant. The young girl moves in temporarily to the author's house, but the maniac is closing in on her…
Out of Darkness is certainly a strange creature and it defies traditional description. It definitely does belong on this page, but it's not a duplicate of either Halloween or Scream. I prefer silent antagonists that kill without being given a characterisation, but the assassin here has basic dialogue. Another strange thing about OD is that the antagonist flees from the hero, which totally dilutes his fear factor. This is all explained in the big revelation, but what could have been an extremely authentic twist doesn't end up making a lick of sense. Whilst trying not to give anything away, one murder is explained in the conclusion, but the slaughter of the doctor? What about that? I've always said that guns don't belong in a slasher movie because you can't 'slash' with a pistol, but the nutjob here uses a beretta to murder one victim and it disappointed me. One way that Michell Morgan's screenplay really succeeds is that it plays with the roles of the 'final girl' and the 'maniac'. I can't really say much more without giving away the twist, but the open ending leaves interesting questions. I thought it was a supremely intelligent idea to play with the rules that way, but as I said above, the screenwriter made a clear error.
This was shot on video in the late nineties when British SOV flicks were not just a rarity, they totally didn't exist. It's IMDB page has zero reviews and no one has even ranked it. What is interesting is that the VHS I own is not in a typical British video case, it's one of the types of covers used in the American rental market, which begs the question was this only released stateside? A Google search reveals minimal information on this feature and it is completely obscure. It's all put together in a fairly basic manner and the performances are competent, but not exceptional. I've never been able to understand how two directors are able to work on one feature film, but we get a duo in the hot seat(s) here. The pair released two more movies that actually have rankings on the IMDB, but their last effort was over twelve years ago. I didn't particularly like any of the characters, but I didn't hate them either, so I was intrigued to find out how it would all conclude. One thing that I loved about ther movie was that every character is seen smoking cigarettes. I miss the old days when people were real in movies. I smoked for many years, but it wasn't cinema that made me do it. Nowadays, every person in filmland is woke, doesn't smoke, drink too much or do drugs. Give me Wolf Of Wall Street anyday over Many Saints of Newark. In real life, people I meet smoke crack, snort coke, puff on cigarillos and I've met hundreds of racists at work or in clubs. I've received racism myself. Producers consider their audiences idiots, but most people don't want to view fairytales.
There's not much more that I can tell you about Only Darkness, because it's the type of film where too much information will ruin it for viewers. It's a giallo with a pretty small body count, but it's not a whodunit. There is a revelation in the final scene, but it's not what you're used to seeing. I've never viewed a movie similar to this and I guess I must praise that.
Gore:
Final Girl:√
Posted in Giallo
Tags: 1999, cheap as chips, England, Rare Slasher, Unique
Masacre en Rio Grande 1984 Review
Masacre En Rio Grande 1984
aka Massacre in Rio Grande, Chacal 2, Caceria de un Criminal
Directed by: Pedro Galindo III
Starring: Mario Almada, Fernando Almada, Cristina Molina
Review by Luis Joaquín González
So this is the sequel to La Muerte Del Chacal, which I reviewed a week back and gave an impressive four star rating. Many sites have both films listed as being released in 1984, which I think is slightly inaccurate (Chacal was 83), but either way, it shows that the producers were keen to maintain the intrigue that the first entry had generated and get a follow-up out as soon as possible. In order to keep up with the pace that they set, I decided to post a write-up of Masacre now, so you could enjoy full coverage of the series.
Chacal's synopsis included a twist that had a huge impact on the way I perceived the feature and its follow-up continues to run with the ramifications of that revelation. So as not to ruin the surprise if you haven't yet seen part 1, I'm going to refer to the killer as The Jackal (El Chacal). I strongly recommend that you don't watch this one first even if it is, unfortunately, much easier to find. I'm so glad that I bought both on VHS together many years back and was able to see them in order.
Following from the events of the last picture, The Jackal survived the confrontation with Sheriff Bob and is picked up in the sea clinging to a buoy by a passing fishing vessel. Once on-board, he (gorily) makes quick work of the two crewmen and mutilates then dumps one of their corpses so that the authorities will believe that he's truly deceased. He heads back to the abandoned boat that he calls home, befriending a generous vagabond called Old Joe that feeds and shelters him. Before long he's back up to his old tricks and slashing anyone that he comes across. It's left up to Bob to put a stop to him once and for all…
As I stated in my review, I think La Muerte Del Chacal is a solid slasher and much like Halloween, I knew would that it would be tough to extend that level of panache into a franchise. That doesn't mean that Masacre is a bad movie, it's just that it's enjoyable in a different, somewhat cheesier, kind of way. The first instalment worked because of the subtle rivalry between the goaded Sheriff and the deadly killer. It's logical that the screenwriter had run the emotional aspect dry and the attempt to rekindle it here just isn't as effective. We get to meet Bob's alcoholic mother who I guess was supposed to fill the void of the authentic bond that we saw with Muerte. Despite the fact that she's actually quite an enjoyable character and plays a key part in latter events, she's no substitute for what we had last time and they try a bit too hard for the same undercurrent of intrigue.
Another thing that doesn't work is that Sheriff Bob refuses to believe that El Chacal is still alive and spends the entire movie aggressively confronting anyone that levels that hypothesis. It could be argued that psychologically he just couldn't accept that truth, which would make sense, but in that case he should have been removed from the investigation by his superiors. This would have opened up a far more palatable plot pathway that we could have digested convincingly. Throughout Muerte Del Chacal, we had sympathised with Bob's despair because he was such a genuine and moral protagonist. Watching him deflect clear evidence here and behave like a bimbo from a more basic slasher premise minimises the semblance of heroism that made him so popular. It's kind of like Rick Rosenthal turning Laurie Stroud into a brother-adoring slut for Halloween II. It just wouldn't have been the person that we remembered.
Despite these limitations, Masacre is still an entertaining stalk and slasher. Obviously aware that the level of quality had slipped a bar, to compensate, Galindo ups the gore factor with some audacious kill scenes. One guy gets power-drilled through the cranium and there's a fast-paced triple machete slaughter of three English-speaking models. Their initial introduction leads to an absolutely mind-bending cheese-fest of a sequence, within which a group of six males break dance on stage in a strip club to a synthesiser monstrosity that sounds like it was helmed by an inebriated Jan Hammer. In fact, Nacho Mendez gave us many different shades of musical accompaniment for this movie that consistently interchange as the runtime lengthens. Juxtaposed together, they create a strange aura, because one moment we're in the realms of Paul Zaza and then in the next it sounds like a clip from a seventies kids show.
The Jackal, who's given a bit more screen time here, dresses in military fatigues and murders pretty much everyone that he comes in contact with. He doesn't even spare the few that attempt to help him, which further demonstrates his malevolence. It would have been nice to understand his true motivations and maybe get an explanation as to why he feels the need to kill, because overall he ends up looking a little aimless. It's hinted that his rage is genetic, because we learn that his dad was also a bit of a loon, but I still felt like something was missing. Sure, we know he wants to murder Sheriff Bob, but he gets various opportunities to do so and waits until the final stand-off to try. When a screenplay lacks the imagination to conceal the fact it's been structured to fit, well, a screenplay, it can be a bit disheartening. I'm sure that the fact that it had to be written extremely quickly didn't make things easier. With Chacal, it didn't matter that victims weren't given much of an introduction, whereas here, perhaps because of the lesser story elements, it's a lot more visible that they're rolled out only to be dispatched. This does remove a level of unpredictability from the overall package and dampens the shock factor.
I was speaking recently about Mexican slashers with Haydn Watkins and they're an untouched pool that I really need to spend more time investigating. Aside from the obvious entries that are out and out stalk and slash, there are many Crime/Thrillers that include deranged maniacs (A Garrote Limpio/Atrapado con el Asesino etc). Masacre plays like one of those, because it has a drug bust and a lot of elements that were surely included to pad out the runtime. There were moments whilst watching when I felt disappointed with the quality comparison between this and it's predecessor, but the totally freaky ending redeemed things and left me feeling satisfied. Taken as a stand-alone, Masacre en Rio Grande is a cheesy (and momentarily gory) eighties slasher. It's putting the two together though that makes them a SLASH above the rest.
Además, si lees mi página y vives en México, me gustaría hablar contigo sobre la posibilidad de escribir reseñas o ayudarme para encontrar películas de allá. Obviamente yo os voy a pagar todo lo que puedo o podéis escribir algo en a SLASH above. Mándame un correo si estás interesado y nos vamos a hablar. Saludos
Gore:√√√
Final Girl:√√
Posted in Giallo, Pure Eighties Cheese, Slasher
Tags: a SLASH above exclusive, cheesy wotsit, Giallo, Mexico, Rare Slasher, Slasher
La Muerte del Chacal Review 1983
La Muerte Del Chacal 1983
aka The Death of the Jackal
Starring: Mario Almada, Fernando Almada, Christina Molina
My review of Bosque De Muerte from a couple of weeks ago got me thinking. There's no doubting that the best overall slasher films are from the United States. However, because America has also unleashed so many 'challenging' entries, like Curse of Halloween, Angus Valley Farms and Fever Lake, the quality percentage on average of their entire output has taken something of a battering. It's unfair of course to compare a country that's not far from quadruple figures with a country with only a hundred or so releases. My point is that Mexican slashers, in general, are pretty damn good. The few that I've reviewed on a SLASH above (Bosque, Trampa Infernal, Dimensiones Ocultas and Ladrones de Tumbas) are all well worth a watch; and La Muerte del Chacal is yet another.
Directed by prolific horror (and slasher) craftsman Pedro Galindo III, Chacal was arguably the first Mexican entry to truly show signs of a John Carpenter influence. Like many of its hermanas from south of the US border, it was unfortunate not to have garnered a subtitled global distribution deal and therefore remains barely seen. I noticed that there has been a recent DVD release, but from the listing I found on Amazon, it doesn't look to have been dubbed or translated in any way, which I thought was a shame.
A psychopathic killer in traditional Giallo garb is stalking the local port and murdering anyone unfortunate enough to wander close to an abandoned ship where he resides. Sherif Bob is struggling to uncover any clues to the maniac's identity and so he enlists his brother Roy to help him capture the maniacal assassin. Before long Bob become the target for the boogeyman and decides to set a trap to stop him once and for all…
I feel really bad for saying this, because I understand that the majority of my readers don't speak Spanish. Well, start writing emails to Anchor Bay and the like right now demanding an accessible copy, because Chacal is an outstanding slice of eighties entertainment. Like many European and South American titles of the peak years (Mil Gritos Tiene La Noche/Shock Diversão Diabolica), director Galindo either didn't recognise or care to display the subtle differences between the Giallo and the Slasher. The killer's guise, shadowy presence and the in-depth investigation that follows him are all elements lifted from the Bava/Argento school of murderous motion pictures. On the other hand, the utilisation of the 'have sex and die' rule, heavy breath POVs and the inclusion of a lone female as the final target are trademarks of the Stalk and Slasher. In fairness to Galindo though, his addition also adds a few of its own unique ingredients.
I'm not going to tell you the identity of the boogeyman because it comes as a shock, even though it's revealed quite early in the runtime. It was essential for Gilberto de Anda's script to unmask its antagonist prematurely, because the twist adds a unique level of emotional involvement to the final stretch toward the finishing line. Galindo ups the ante by including a speed boat chase, an asylum break-out and a fair few murders that may lack graphic gore but are still smartly conveyed. Some structured camera placement makes the killer's lair (an abandoned boat), seem creepily isolated and the fact that he is accompanied by a trio of vicious Doberman Pinchers makes him seem all the more indestructible. A few set-pieces deliver sharp shades of suspense and there's no better example of this than the slaughter of a female and her mother in a spacious living room. Nacho Mendez's score is at times reminiscent of the best of Paul Zaza's work and when he's not ruining it by incorporating weird sci/fi-alike tweaks, he compliments the overall atmosphere superbly.
Chacal was filmed in Brownsville, Texas and it's interesting that the characters all boast English-language names, such as: Roy, Bob, Joan, Sally and Jack. With that in mind, it seems strange that producer Santiago Galindo didn't explore a wider release plan with dialogue translations because the film could have been popular on external shores. Still, they must have achieved a modicum of success because a sequel was released within twelve-months that continued the saga. I'm sitting looking at a copy right now and thinking that I need to pencil a review for you all shortly. In fact, it's being inserted into my VCR as I type.
I guess the hardest question for me to answer for you is, should you watch Chacal in Spanish if you don't understand the dialogue? To be honest, I would say, no. It's not that you won't be scared by some of the stalking sequences and kept on the edge of your seat when the killer strikes. It's just that de Anda's script has invested heavily in adding an authentic undercurrent of shock, rivalry, despair, shame and sorrow to the synopsis that would be ruined without understanding the concept. I am cautious of making the movie sound better than it truly is, but I really bought into the idea of a hero that's been thrust into a situation that demands so much more than personal sacrifice. It's also worth nothing that Mario Almada does a superb job of bringing that persona to life. I'm so convinced of its quality that I've placed Chacal in my top 50.
Get writing those emails peeps. The power of the slasher fanbase got us My Bloody Valentine uncut, so let's do the same here (I'm available to provide translations if the price fits ;)) haha
Killer Guise:√√
Gore:√√
Final Girl:√√√
Posted in Giallo, Slasher, Top 50 Slashers
Tags: a SLASH above exclusive, Giallo, hidden gem, La Muerte Del Chacal, Mexico, Rare Slasher, Slasher, The Death of the Jackal, Whodunit?
Massacre 1989 Review
Massacro 1989
Directed by: Andrea Bianchi
Starring: Gino Concari, Patrizia Falcone, Silvia Conti
It's somewhat ironic that Lucio Fulci supervised this belated entry to the giallo catalogue. Despite being two years his elder, Andrea Bianchi's work has always made him look like something of a protégé of the notorious craftsman. There are many Fulci trademarks to be found in the works of Bianchi. Most notably the extreme use of gratuitous gore and a taste for barely logical plot points. Over the years many have labeled Fulci as an inept filmmaker that hid his directorial shortcomings behind the talent of his special effects team. But titles like Don't Torture a Duckling and Zombi 2 have pretty much taken the gust out of that argument. If these critics truly believe that Fulci was an incompetent director, then gawd only knows what they'd make of Bianchi. His most famous movie – the notorious Burial Ground – is great fun if you love blood and guts. But if you judge it on it's merits as a motion picture, then it fails in just about every department. The acting was diabolical, the direction non-existent and I don't even think that it was filmed from a script. I hoped that Massacre would keep the gratuitous exploitation edge, but I was also looking for a little more credibility from Bianchi this time around.
Massacre kicks off with a gruesome murder that was re-used by Fulci along with other gore scenes in the bemusing Nightmare Concert. A guy wearing red gloves, shades and a beanie hat is seen cruising along a lengthy stretch of road. He pulls up beside a young woman in a skimpy dress who greets him with the classic line, "Hey cutie wanna make love mmmm!" Unfortunately, 'making love' isn't exactly what this guy had in mind, and he proceeds to chop off the woman's hand and then decapitate her with an axe. Next up we meet a film crew that are shooting a zombie flick in the area called Dirty Blood. There's a whole heap of tension on the set because it doesn't look like any of the employees seem to get along with one another. The lead actress Jennifer (Patrizia Falcone) is dating a Local Police Captain called Walter (Gino Concarni). We soon learn from him that this maniacal killer has already murdered four other victims, and the authorities don't have a clue to his identity. Things really get nasty after the producer calls in a medium to hold a séance and teach his cast and crew the ways of the supernatural. The circle is broken when an evil spirit invades the sitting and forces the Medium to end the seance. Only hours later an unseen maniac begins slaughtering his way through the cast list one by one. Will any of them survive…?
Surprisingly, Massacre is not as bad as I had initially expected. Silvano Tessicini did a credible job with the photography and the director even managed to build suspense in places. No really. As this is a Bianchi joint, the exploitation is spread thick and fast, and there's more female nudity than an Electric Blue omnibus. Look out for the scene where a victim flees the marauding killer with only a short skirt covering her modesty! The gory murders reveal a great flair for the macabre from the filmmaker and there's a body count to rival an Arnold Schwarzenegger machine gun frenzy. You probably won't solve the twist and turn mystery with ease, plus the boathouse massacre is a tremendous piece of mayhem, which deserves a second look. Massacre also boasts some wacky pre-politically correct dialogue, which will make even the most sinister viewer smile. It's also worth noting the amount of American stalk and slash clichés that have been incorporated with the more typical native giallo platitudes. At one point a fornicating couple are slaughtered whilst parked in the woods – an indisputable trademark of the USA teen slasher.
But still this is far too bizarrely structured to be anything other than good in a bad way. As was the case with Burial Ground, there's just too much inadvertent humour to allow this to join the giallo elite. The murders certainly could have benefited with a little more directorial flourish and the musical accompaniment was continuously monotonous to the point of frustration. Bianchi certainly has an eye for a beautiful actress, and he always tries to include everything from lesbian proposals to soft-core pornography. Only problem is that he seems to prioritize acting ability way below bra size. It's a flaw that's only too evident from the start.
The net result is a film that will satisfy forgiving fans that aren't expecting anything along the lines of Tenebrae or even Eyeball. To put it another way, if you could sit through Burial Ground without cringing at the screen then you'll probably enjoy this.
Final Girl: √
Posted in Giallo, Slasher
Tags: 1989, Andrea Bianchi, Giallo, Hot Chicas, Italy, Lucio Fulci, Massacre, Massacro, Rare Slasher, Whodunit?
Dead End 1999 Review
Dead End 1999
Directed by: Iren Koster
Starring: William Snow, Victoria Hill, Matthew Dyktynski
Not to be confused with Jean Andrea's Dead End from 2003, this Australian picture is barely acknowledged by fans, despite the fact that it received global distribution. I picked it up many years ago on VHS and it's one of those that I've wanted to cover for a while, but my VCR Machine has seen better days and I haven't had the time to pick up a new one. Recently though, I came across a shiny DVD whilst on vacation down-under and watched it on the flight back.
It tells the tale of a former detective turned author named Todd Russell that becomes involved in a spate of brutal murders. They are extremely similar to the last case that he worked on before retiring from the Force, called the Evergreen killings. The fact that he had so much knowledge of the original slayings makes him the key suspect and as the evidence and bodies begin to pile up, he is forced to get involved for a second time. Could it be that Todd Russell has lost his mind and moral compass?
I guess that the first question to answer with this feature is whether it qualifies as a stalk and slash flick or is it a thriller? Well whilst it doesn't follow the traditional path of stranded teens against a malevolent force, it includes many Giallo trademarks, such as brutal slayings committed by a masked assailant, so for me it's definitely on the right website here. Before watching it, I had sat through 1988's Out of the Dark, which is generally considered a slasher and is almost interchangeable in terms of plot content and delivery. I would go as far as to say that this is even grislier in terms of its murders and therefore underlines the horror categorisation. Amongst those murders, whether intentional or not, we get a rehash of Al Filo Del Hacha's car wash set-piece, only this time the killer strikes with a hook rather than axe. Later, we see the menace stalk a young girl in an elevator, which was similar in many ways to a scene from Mil Gritos Tiene La Noche. The assailant even looks the same in a dark fedora and mask and it made me wonder, was director Iren Koster a fan of Spanish slashers? That could well be the case.
Dead End's biggest strengths can be found in its accomplished dramatics and ability to wrap viewers up in the enigma of its storyline. I did work out early on who was behind everything, but I was never 100% sure. There are numerous twists that pop up throughout the picture, which help to keep us engaged and the intelligent pacing works to sustain the tone of intrigue.
Perhaps the only thing missing was a bit more development into the choice of victims. One murder sees a girl literally walk on to the screen before she's shot, so we really don't know enough about any of them to care what happens. I would have hoped for at least one tense chase sequence, but there's still a whole heap of suspense to be found in the complexity of the puzzle. The revelation part is handled well enough and I was amused by the survival techniques of one soon-to-be victim. Without giving too much away, I'll just say that if all else fails and you look like Victoria Hill, then remove your underwear 😉
A film so driven by its characters needed good performers in order to succeed. Snow and Hill rarely have a weak moment and they are given a few tough scenes to work with. The star of the show is Iren Koster though, because he directs with an energy that keeps us on the edge of our seats. Aside from the obvious, filmmaking is mainly about placement, blocking, length of shots and location. In all of these, he did a sterling job. He has another horror movie under his belt that I haven't got around to seeing, but I'll definitely be checking it out soon.
Without hesitation, I would give Dead End a thumbs up. Whilst it may not be slashertastic enough to rival Friday the 13th or its brothers, there is loads here to warrant a viewing. I haven't seen it reviewed anywhere else, so therefore it is yet another a SLASH above exclusive 🙂
Gore: √
Final Girl: √√√
Tags: 1999, Dead End, Giallo, masked killer, Rare Slasher, Slasher, Whodunit?
American Nightmare 1981 Review
American Nightmare 1981
Directed by: Don McBrearty
Starring: Michael Ironside, Lawrence Day, Lora Stanley
This is the earlier of two slasher movies in circulation that have the title American Nightmare. The more recent one was unleashed amongst the mass of Scream imitators and disappeared fairly quickly, whilst this entry from the golden years looks to have suffered a similar fate. With a score from Paul Zaza and a cast that included (then) up and coming talents like Michael Ironside, Lora Stanley and Lenore Zann it came as a surprise to me that it didn't grab any of the buzz that served its compatriots like My Bloody Valentine and Terror Train so well.
The son of a wealthy local businessman returns to his hometown after receiving a letter from his younger sister that begs for help. Upon arrival, he learns that his sibling has disappeared (brutally murdered in the pre-credits) and asks a stripper to help to locate her. Unbeknownst to them, her murder was the first at the hands of a vicious psychopath that is butchering local hookers.
I have been collecting slasher movies for longer than I care to remember and as the list on a Slash above shows clearly, I've worked hard to uncover a share of the hidden 'gems'. I didn't know that this even existed until fairly recently and I was quite surprised that I'd never come across it before. American Nightmare is a misleading title in more ways than one, because the film was actually a Canadian production that was shot in Toronto and it plays like a European Giallo. It has very little in common with Slashers from the US and this is most obvious in the disguise for the killer and characterisation of the key players. We do have a final girl, but she's no Laurie Strode. In fact, she's a stripper, which is an unusual touch for a film of this style.
Another way that it feels more closely aligned to its European counterparts is in its excessive use of sexual psychology as a backbone for the story. The victims are all degenerates of the kinky variety and the motive is one that you're more likely to find from the films of Southern Europe. McBrearty tries hard to develop a sustainably sleazy tone, but he goes about it the wrong way and the runtime instead becomes needlessly repetitive and in all truth, slightly tedious.
The majority of the female victims are killed whilst in a state of undress and in between there are a lot of scenes that take place at a seedy strip bar. Whilst it makes sense to use this location in order to develop the atmosphere, the director includes long sequences from nude dancers as a form of padding. Now padding, much like ice in a vodka and coke, is something that looks like, feels like and smells like what it is – unnecessary. It doesn't help that these parts are flatly directed and dull, and whilst I appreciate that bare skin is part of the exploitation package, the choreography was mind-numbing and the girls were not the hottest. At first, I wanted to acknowledge the realism, because let's face it; bottom-dollar prostitutes are not going to be as beautiful as roses. Needless to say, if you are going to pack your feature with overlong set pieces of chicks whipping off their kit, it may be an idea to at least make them worth watching.
It was also a struggle to relate to the story as neither of the key players shine in any way at all. Staley is fine as the heroine, but she is given very little that makes us want to bond with her, whilst Lawrence Day is colourless and weak in the lead. The majority of the picture is shot with the creativity of a soap opera and lacks any va-va-voom, so the pace remains stagnant for extended periods. This changes drastically when the shadowed psycho gets to work and the killings are surprisingly well executed and mix an unnerving level of brutality with a superb, but sadly underused score from Paul Zaza. One of the later murders is almost unwatchable due to the visible suffering of the victim and at times it almost feels like these parts are too good to be have been shot by the same guy that has bored us rigid during the development of the characters and the mystery.
I didn't manage to work out the identity of the maniac, but this is one of those films where I did think it may well be her, but then I kept changing my mind as the plot unravelled. I am not sure if this can really be credited as great screenwriting though, as it was hardly a shock once the big unmasking scene came around. I remained eager to see who the sadistic slayer was though and I guess that's what matters most.
What American Nightmare does brilliantly is give depth and a face to a horror film cliché. Think about titles like Maniac, The Burning, Close your eyes and prey and, well, I could go on but the list is endless. Prostitutes in these films are always introduced as lowlifes that can be killed without anyone batting an eyelid, whereas here we are given more of a look into their lifestyles. Some, (but not all surprisingly), want to leave the game behind and they work the streets out of desperation, which makes a refreshing change from the norm. Our hero even gets a scene where he realises his error in pre-judgement and I liked this concept very much.
To be honest though I'm not quite sure what to rate this one. It has some really unique, sharp and brilliant moments, but struggles with the basics a bit too often to be a classic. I think it could be so much better if it were twenty minutes shorter, but at just shy of an hour and a half, it's hardly Dances with Wolves. It's a shame, because there's stuff here that is worthy of Argento, but it's the little bits, you know, those that aren't so much fun to film, where we lose that momentum and focus. I'm reminded of my review of Grim Weekend, where I mentioned that the trailer had me fooled into believing that I was in for a good time. It feels here like McBrearty was only interested in the parts that were setup to convey horror and although he does well to build suspense and trepidation at the hardest of times, he strolls through the rest of the movie in first gear like it doesn't matter.
If you haven't seen American Nightmare then you should track it down. I get disappointed when something comes within smelling distance of greatness, but throws it all away in the midriff. With better lighting and pacing, it could have given Curtains a run for its money. As it stands, it sits alongside Evil Judgement as an obscure Canadian picture that hits the right switches, but only on the odd occasion
Tags: 1981, 1983, American Nightmare, boobies, Rare Slasher, Slasher, Whodunit?
Satanic Attraction 1990 Review
Atração Satânica 1990
aka Satanic Attraction
Directed by: Fauzi Mansur
Starring: Emilia Mazur, Gabriela Toscano, Ênio Gonçalves
Completely off topic, but Brazil can boast a peerless reputation for producing some of the greatest soccer idols that mankind has ever known. Pele, Kaka, Ronaldo, Bebeto, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and the magnificent Romario are just some of the football legends that have worn the fluorescent yellow shirt of their five-time world cup winning country. Being a massive football fan and former player means that I have the greatest respect for my Latin cousins from across the pond and whenever I go out in central London, the hottest parties are those at my favourite Brazilian club on the Charing Cross road.
With their notorious flamboyant lust for life and excellent titles such as City of God already very popular amongst critics, I wasn't really sure what to expect from this late addition to the slasher cycle. Shock Diversao Diabolica was an interesting entry from 1982, but nowhere near good enough to rival the key players from the US during the boom years. But Spain, France and Italy – three other great football nations – can boast slasher output that is nearly as good as their World Cup winning squads, which made the initial signs look promising for Satanic Attraction.
It kicks off in traditional satanic fashion in the midst of a crowded ritual. A masked figure makes his way through a pack of dancers and heads down some underground stairs to host a bizarre black mass in front of a crowd of hooded revellers. The strange cult leader picks up a huge dagger and heads over to a pair of blonde beaming twin children. The mysterious stranger then slices the wrists of the youngsters and pushes their arms together, presumably to link the pair with a bond of blood. The crowd look on in anticipation as the twins grin sadistically.
Sometime later we meet Fernanda, a radio announcer who hosts a controversial show on which she tells creepy stories to a captivated nationwide audience. Some listeners believe that her ramblings are dangerous and could result in violent consequences, while others are just happy to see so many people turning to radio for their source of entertainment. Her latest tale concerns a dark figure roaming the town and murdering young women with various gruesome weapons. The killer then uses the victim's blood to reanimate his deceased sister in her beachside grave. After dismembered bodies begin turning up around the local town, Fernanda realises that her stories are somehow connected to identical murderous events that are taking place at exactly the same time as she speaks on air. What connection does she share with the ritualistic psycho and what links the killings to the hapless DJ?
Satanic Attraction looks to have been produced on a fairly decent budget and it's immediately apparent that director Fauzi Mansur didn't scrape the barrel for the effects that he decided would make his movie a hit. A few of the murders are extremely gory: meat cleaver through the head, dismemberment, gooey throat lashing's and a spear pushed through a love making couple a la Friday the 13th II. The killer is seen mainly from behind and dresses in traditional Giallo-like black psycho-garb. Although part of the plot concerns searching for the maniac's identity, the whodunit aspect is mostly left simmering on the backburner. Even though things stick closely to the typical Giallo/slasher rulebook, Mansur manages to mix in a share of supernatural elements that are both interesting and utterly confusing in equal measures.
As this is a Brazilian production, the original vocal soundtrack is in Portuguese and the producers didn't opt for subtitles to export the feature to English speaking nations. Instead the movie has been dubbed by a gang of wooden planks, sorry, students from America and the United Kingdom. Obviously it's impossible to tell what these guys were studying, but one thing's for certain; they definitely weren't considering a career in drama. This has to rank along with Samurai Reincarnation as the worst dubbing in cinema history. But that's not Satanic Attraction's only problem. The movie is nearly two hours long and a huge majority of this time is spent listening to the aforementioned 'actors' warble their way through a poorly translated script, with characters popping up all over the place without any rhyme or reason. The net result is an overlong, dreary feature that takes an hour and a half to finally shift into gear as the killer goes on an excellent maniacal spree. When we reach the film's conclusion, it just gets silly as one twist that was easy to predict gives way to yet another.
Unfortunately, Satanic Attraction is a major let down in every respect. It's hardly worth tracking down for the excessive gore and all that's left is a long corridor of confusion and horrendous acting. Put it this way, I think even Jag Mundhra's Open House, which also incorporates a DJ could be better – seriously!
I'll stick to watching Brazilian football for now…
Killer Guise:√
Tags: 1990, Atracao Satanica, Brazil, gore, Hot Chicas, porn directors that go slasher, Rare Slasher, Slasher
Nightmare Beach 1988 Review
Nightmare Beach 1988
aka Welcome to Spring Break
Directed by: Harry Kirkpatrick
Starring: Nicholas De Toth, Sarah Buxton, John Saxon
Along with Ruggero Deodato's Bodycount, Joe D'Amato's Absurd, Claudio Fragrasso's Night Killer and Michele Soavi's Stagefright, Nightmare Beach is a mostly Italian produced slasher film that avoids its native trappings and overtly Americanises its backdrop. Shot in 1988, one of the most prolific years on the slasher timeline, it never came close in terms of popularity to those others that I mentioned and in effect is rarely noted by enthusiasts.
As time has gone by, it has become wrapped in something of a mystery as to who it was directed by. Check the IMDB and you'll see that it is credited to Umberto Lenzi, but it was released as the work of an unknown by the name of Harry Kirkpatrick. It is not unusual for European exploitation directors to have a list of aliases as long as a desert highway and Joe D'Amato, Jesus Franco and Bruno Mattei would regularly churn out films under 'Americanised' names to assist with exposure to wider global audiences. (Franco used them because he would make two, sometimes three features from one production budget). It was believed for many years that Nightmare Beach was just Umberto operating under an assumed identity, but he recently said in an interview that Harry Kirkpatrick DID in fact exist and that the majority of this feature was shot by him with Lenzi only assisting in places.
Learning this information only raised more questions than it did answers and so I immediately began to try and find out a bit more about Mr Kirkpatrick. A quick browse on the IMDB brought up three people that have used that name. The first and most popular is Alec Baldwin, who adopted it as a pseudonym when he was displeased with the way that his directorial début 'Shortcut to Happiness' was cut during post production. Baldwin does like to reinvent himself every now and then, but shooting a cheesy slasher movie at the peak of his eighties prowess? No way – he definitely didn't direct Nightmare Beach. (Even if it would have been an amazing twist if he had;)). Next up, we have Signor Lenzi, the guy that logic dictates would be the most likely 'Kirkpatrick'. According to his own words though, he was barely involved with the actual development of this picture, so unless he isn't being honest, we can cross him from our list. The third and last that appears on the IMDB search is James Justice, who has only two cinema credits, and one of those is as the screenwriter of Nightmare Beach.
So armed with that information, I did some further research and discovered the truth of the matter. Lenzi was hired by his Italian counterparts as the ideal lead for this project. Unfortunately, he had a huge falling out with the US-based producers and threatened to walk off set after only three weeks. The only friend that he had from the U.S. side of the crew was the aforementioned writer of the screenplay, James Justice. Justice used his bond with Lenzi to keep him on set as a consultant and with the film having to be completed quickly, Justice took over the alongside the experienced Italian. So 'Harry Kirkpatrick' turned out to be two people. And that my friends is the mystery solved.
So with that out the way, we can concentrate on the film, which launches seeing a guy get strapped to an electric chair. Eduardo 'Diablo' Santor, the leader of a gang of vicious bikers, has been accused of murder by the over zealous Police chief, John Strycher. The victim's younger sister, Gail, is in the stands to watch him fry. As the executioner prepares to flick the switch, Diablo shouts that he has been set up and swears vengeance from beyond the grave. Sometime after, a killer dressed in motorcycle leathers with a tinted helmet begins stalking the local beach and slaughtering random teenagers. When the friend of one of the fatalities begins searching for clues, the maniac begins to target him and Gail…
Nightmare Beach is another title that I reviewed around ten years ago, but wanted to check out again to see what I would make of it after a second viewing. My post today is not so much an update as a total re-write of my thoughts on the movie, but there's one thing that I said then that I still agree with: The best way that I can describe this flick to you is like an episode of Baywatch with a hooded killer running amok in the background. The action takes place around a beautiful Florida beach and the runtime is packed to the brim with bikinis, bad hair, muscle bound jocks, stupid pranks and metal music. They even manage to chuck in a wet T-shirt contest just for the hell of it! The 'metal music' that I mentioned is arguably the only rock slasher playlist, which didn't make me want to turn down the volume to avoid a headache. The bands (including Rough Cutt) are pretty decent and were obviously captured on Los Angeles' Sunset Strip, where glam and sleaze was hot stuff in 1988. It's more Faster Pussycat than Slipknot, which is cool by me.
The bright photography and audacious sets do a grand job of making this look like a slickly produced feature, but it's surprising that it shows literally *zero* signs of its Italian heritage. The music by Claudio Simonetti of the Goblin fame is unrecognisable from his previous work, there are no renowned European cast members and the humour remains exclusively American. Put it this way, if you hadn't read somewhere that Lenzi and co were involved, you'd never guess that to be the case, although I must tell you about the one interesting reference that I noticed. A gang of bikers that play a huge part in the delivery of the plot, call themselves 'The Demons'. In a not so sly nod to Lamberto Bava's film of the same title, the troupe have the name embroidered across the back of their leather jackets using the distinctive logo of that feature.
On top of those nuisance motorcyclists, who at one point raid a Police station to rescue their leader in a scene that was obviously inspired by John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13, we get our motorcycle helmet sporting killer. His method of slaughter is electrocution and he works his way through a large number of the aforementioned bit-part characters. He rides around on a Harley that has an 'electric chair' contraption on the back, but funnily enough he only uses it once or twice. The effects from Gary Bentley are cheesy as hell, but gory; and some of the murders are fairly brutal. I liked the death of the Police Chief the best, because he gets tied to the back of a motorbike and dragged off at high-speed. It reminded me of something that we might see in Mad Max, and to make it even better, John Saxon was playing the unfortunate cop. I have been a fan since I saw him in Enter the Dragon when I was a young child, but always thought that he was wasted in titles like Baby Doll Murders, Beyond Evil and Blood Salvage. It could be argued that he was a fan of B-movies, because he did in fact direct his own one, Zombie Death House in 1987.
With so much going on, you won't fall asleep whilst watching Beach, but in honesty it does feel somewhat disjointed. I'm not sure if this was due to the problems behind the scenes? The characters are well written and with a cast that includes Lance LeGault, Michael Parks AND John Saxon, you'd think that the dramatics wouldn't be an issue. The effort from everyone seems to be somewhat lacklustre though and the runtime is limp because of it. The two leads have absolutely no chemistry and Nichols De Toth is useless as the hero. He's totally boring and doesn't drink, rejects advances from a busty eighteen-year-old and does literally nothing of note throughout the whole film. I much preferred his friend, Ronnie, and his constant quips about nailing hotties and being on 'beaver patrol'. He died far too early in the story and even if, admittedly, it was a pretty cool gore scene, his presence was missed when we were left with only Señor Tedium carrying the rest of the story.
There's not really much suspense in any of the killings, the mystery is far too easy to figure out and it also makes literally no sense when it is revealed. With that said though, Nightmare Beach is a fun slasher flick with eighties action as bright as the photography of the sun kissed sandy beaches. It falls someway short of being a good addition to the category, but it's worth watching all the same. Killers in motorcycle helmets have been here since Strip Nude for your Killer and I personally quite like the guise. Terror Eyes from 1981 also used it, but my favourite would have to be the wonderful duck-taped goofball maniac from Nail Gun Massacre. If you've seen it, you'll know what I mean.
Something of an overlooked entry, I say give it a shot.
Gore: √√
Final Girl: √√
Tags: boobies, cheesy wotsit, Hot Chicas, masked killer, Nightmare Beach, Whodunit?
Corpse Mania 1981 Review
Si Yiu 1981
aka Corpse Mania
Directed by: Kuei Chich-Lung
Starring: Piao Chin, Yung Chung, Ni Tien
I can tell by the messages I receive that you peeps who read my site are extremely knowledgeable on all things stalk and slash. You are well aware that 1981 was the rock and roll year of the category, but over the next few weeks, I'm going to feature a couple of films here on a SLASH above that you may not yet be aware of. No, really.
First up, we have Si Yiu, a Giallo/Slasher hybrid that chucks in only a few of the stereotypical trademarks of eighties Chinese horror. It's from the legendary Shaw Brothers studio, which was basically the Warner Bros. or Paramount of Hong Kong movies. (They even copied the Warner logo!). From their distribution plant in Singapore, they supplied countless classic Martial Arts and Action features and continue to be involved in the broadcast industry to this day.
Director Kuei Chih-Hung worked exclusively for Shaw and left a legacy of exploitation films before his retirement in 1984, including a few horror titles throughout the early eighties. He co-directed the brilliant Fen Nu Qing Nian with Chang Cheh; – a movie, which quite obviously influenced the later work and successes of John Woo. His horror output was fairly diverse, but there's little doubt that Si Yiu is by far the most superior of his terror filmography; both technically and in terms of logical plotting.
After a corpse is discovered in a house on a quiet street, the Police become concerned when the autopsy reports signs of necrophilia. As more bodies turn up, it seems a serial killer is on the loose. The Inspector is sure that he has his prime suspect in a husband who had been previously imprisoned for abuse of a corpse. His ability to avoid detection however is proving too much for the force and it's left up to one man to track him down.
It is not unusual to see sequences and soundtracks from American Cinema copied and reproduced in Chinese flicks from this period. 1982's Devil Returns has become notorious for literally duplicating numerous scenes from John Carpenter's Halloween and if it had been released globally, I'm sure Moustspha Akkad would have sued. Kuei seems confident enough in his own ability not to tread that path and Si Yiu has some stand out moments of credibility. Hsin Yeh Li's cinematography is absolutely breathtaking throughout and the use of pulsing crane shots mixed with superb lighting creates some decent tension and stylish visuals. The extravagant blend of rich colours and signature environments help to make the screen come alive and the action flows at times like an elegant carrack upon the ocean.
Whilst there's no doubting that the Giallos of Argento and Bava seem to be the key sources of inspiration, Kuei also chucks in a wealth of slasher movie references. There's a rehash of the age-old 'killer in the backseat' chestnut and the psycho mimics Michael Myers movement to superb effect. There's a neat slo-mo stalking sequence, where the darkness of a secluded alley is brightened only by the odd street lamp reflecting from the maniac's huge kitchen knife and one exceptional jump scare is built from a highly tense set piece that sees him hide underneath a victim's bed. Whilst Kuei films have always incorporated lush photography, Si Yiu feels like the fruition of all that hard work. Some parts, like the one where a character powders down the corpse of his wife before committing the 'evil deed', are bordering on cinematic abstract art.
As this is a Kuei joint, you would be right to expect a lava of goo; and in this aspect, the film doesn't disappoint. Paint red crimson is sprayed everywhere on numerous occasions and there's a cool decapitation, a brutal stabbing, a slashed throat and a graphic image of a hugely disfigured face. If you think that sounds fairly outrageous, then watch out for the corpse shots that show two naked women covered in bundles of worms and wiggling maggots. I am guessing that they used dummies for these effects, but if they were actually performed by stunt women, then all due respect. It made my skin crawl just looking at it. They even find the space for a brief kung-fu fight, just to add a flash of self-culture awareness.
Because we are knee-deep in Giallo territory, we would be hoping for a good puzzle with numerous red-herrings. Well, the conclusion is very well staged and totally unexpected and refreshingly not in an audience cheating way. You must keep in mind that this is a Chinese version of an Italian sub-genre and not only that, but it's from one of the most daring (dare I say maddest) director's of the entire Shaw catalogue. This means that it doesn't strictly play by the rules and I guess whether you enjoy it as much as I did will mostly come down to your experience and in effect acceptance of Hong Kong cinema.
I totally loved watching Si Yiu and it turned out to be much better than I had expected. Even fans of cheese will get a kick as the dialogue in some places is absolutely hilarious. My Mandarin is only very basic, but I knew that at times, what I was seeing in the subtitles was not what they were saying on the screen. I also liked the fact that the Inspector's 'official car' was a London Black Taxi! It all adds up to a rarely mentioned slasher from the peak year that should be sitting on your shelf. My VCD was hard to come by, however I understand that it was released on DVD quite recently, so shouldn't be too tough to track down.
Final Girl:
Tags: a SLASH above exclusive, Corpse Mania, Global slash, masked killer, Rare Slasher, Shaw Brothers, Si Liu, Whodunit?
The Icebox Murders 1982 Review
The Icebox Murders 1982
aka El Cepo
Directed by: Francisco Rodríguez Gordillo
Starring: Jack Taylor, Mira Miller, Manuela Jiménez
A lot of people assume that the slasher boom of the early eighties was mainly populated by the American and Canadian movie industries. Although in terms of major investment and quality of output, they're right, but some of the craziest examples of low budget fun were also found in the most unlikely of places. 'The slasher plague' was a global cinematic epidemic and if you search hard enough, then you get to uncover titles such as Fen Ku Lou that were really unique and interesting.
Spain's contribution to the genre is often overlooked, even though we were equally responsible for our fair share of output. The first offering to grace the category from España was Jesus Franco's Bloody Moon, which found notoriety after achieving the cult status in the United Kingdom of joining the infamous 'video nasty' list. Hot on the heels of Franco's effort was the equally bloody Pieces and the decade closed with Jose Larraz's fairly decent slasher/mystery, Edge of the Axe. However, there was a film from that ever so fruitful period that slipped by completely unnoticed by completists and critics alike, which was called, El Cepo or The Icebox Murders.
It originally secured a small release on the long defunct Mogul label, which also gave life to slashers Satan's Blade and Lucifer aka Goodnight Godbless. It never found an audience outside its country of origin and like so many of its less fortunate cousins from around that time, it soon vanished from existence. Eventually it became one of those rare gems that sell for big bucks to die hard collectors on Internet video-search agencies and eBay, due to their impossible to locate status.
Admittedly, the fact that it had become so obscure only helped to evoke my curiosities about the picture and an impressive and intriguing title also led me to begin a mission to track down a copy. After months of hearing absolutely nothing, finally, I stumbled across a VHS on show in a charity shop window (!) and simply couldn't believe my luck. I picked it up and immediately headed home. On the way, I gazed longingly at the cover and hoped to discover if my patience could be rewarded with the bonus that I'd found an all but forgotten slasher masterpiece.
They say that when a film disappears, it's never without good reason and they're usually right with that assumption. But this time I kept my opinions open, because every now and then I've uncovered a rarity that's turned out to be a whole lot more than I ever expected. The audacious cover artwork and blurb that offered so much, only heightened my spirits, so I slipped the cassette into my much-overused VCR and cracked open a chilled bottle of Smirnoff for the journey.
Despite the fact this was a Spanish production, the movie's actually set in Paris, France. It kicks off with a girl running down a dimly lighted corridor. She's fleeing a slow stalking camera shy maniac, who eventually catches her and puts his hands around her throat. She screams and then the shot ends. Cut to a news report, which helpfully informs us that she's the sixth woman to be butchered by this unseen menace and it looks as if he has a taste for slashing beautiful young ladies and leaving their corpses in public places.
Next up we meet a prostitute called Chantelle who boasts that she's found a goldmine in a man who buys her presents without wanting anything in return. If this generous gent (played by cult favourite Jack Taylor no less) isn't an over-zealous advertisement for a could-be psychotic killer, then I don't know what on earth is. He walks with a cane and his dress sense amounts to a pitch-black suit with dark glasses. This makes him look like a peculiar cross between a secret service agent and an especially morbid undertaker. The hooker pops round to his apartment and he informs her that he doesn't like the way she dresses so provocatively. He tells her that she should give up that 'ridiculous profession' and he wants to whisk her away somewhere and 'help regain her youth' (Awesome chat-up line!). She agrees to the vacation as long as she can bring her friend Sylvia along. That night, Sylvia has a dream that 'the undertaker' has some murderous ambitions up his sleeve and the next day she remains wary of his true intentions. Soon we learn that he isn't actually a grave-filler or secret agent by trade, but he's actually a doctor – unfortunately.
They arrive at a mansion that's conveniently secluded miles from civilisation and we meet another suspicious character that shares the spacious abode. John the twitchy caretaker takes an interest in the young ladies' appearance, but is warned off by the solemn doctor, who beats him with the aforementioned cane. The peaceful serenity gets a bit depressing for the spirited girls and they head out to the local discotheque, where we meet yet another possible suspect – a smooth talking local that tries to engage in flirtatious conversation with the moody Sylvia. When they return later that night, she sees two silhouettes carrying a suspicious shape into the icebox. Could it have been a dead body? Do fish swim in the sea? Not a lot happens from here on out, it's mostly just a whole heap of talking, which is painfully dragged out and mind-numbingly boring.
Eventually things liven up a little, when poor old John gets gunned down by an unseen sniper and Sylvie spies 'someone' with a decapitated head in his tool shed. Of course no one believes what she saw, and on inspection, it mysteriously disappears. Some time later, Chantelle discovers a collection of human trophies in a cleverly concealed cupboard. This results in the killer having to reveal himself and the traditional fight for survival ensues…
Right that's it. Finally I've learned my lesson. Never again will I be enticed by a movie that has (rightly) been banished from wise-minded collections, thinking that it was just an unfortunate twist of fate. The Icebox Murders is as rancid as a geriatric sewer rat – and just as stinky! Even the title and the tag-lines are outright lies to trick unsuspecting victims (such as myself) into believing this could be an impressive premise for a slasher flick. The cover says that a maniac murders women and stores their bodies in a freezer. Total BS!! There's just two on-screen killings in the whole film and the only corpse that's found in the said icebox belongs to an animal – no fair! This isn't even really a slasher flick, seeing how the second murder is committed with a gun, so I urge all genre collectors not to bother adding this one to your collection. There's truly nothing here that would warrant even the most adamant fan to hunt it down, no matter how much you want to own every genre piece that was ever transferred to cheap videotape.
Let's get this straight, now. This isn't just a painfully long and irritating epic of nonsensical dribble with the oomph of a squished slug. Oh no, it's flawed in just about every respect that a motion picture possibly can be. It looks to have been edited by someone using a seven year old's 'my first stationary' kit, the theme-music plays randomly, with no apparent acknowledgement of the scene it's accompanying and it boasts the directorial flair of gibbon holding an iPhone. By far the worst aspect of this monstrosity is the abysmal quality of the acting, which is best described as the dramatic equivalent of a Desperate Housewives blooper real. – Yes it is that bad. They could have packed the whole story in about twenty-five minutes of screen-time, which probably would have made a fairly watchable short. Instead it drags on – like a two-legged camel – for an hour and a half, as we watch a pair of marginally interesting females continually express their distaste at being cooped up in a mansion that they could have left whenever they felt the need to. Sadly, they were too dumb to work that out, so we have to look on as they (slowly) come to the conclusion that they're heading for a slashing if they hang around the cane-clenching weirdo for much longer.
In fairness, it's actually meant to be more of a character study or a slow paced Giallo and I guess it's not really the fault of the film-makers that Mogul packaged it as a piece of slasher trash called The Icebox Murders. It's Spanish title is El Cepo, which means 'stocks' that you put your legs in (picture to the left ). I am guessing the Spanish filmmakers were trying to call the film 'the trap' in English. Trampa means trap in my mother tongue (Spanish), so I am not sure what they meant by the English language appellation, Icebox murders. Is it because they were stuck in that house with an icebox? I have no idea. I bet Mogul imagined that title. It must've been an ambitious marketing ploy from the distributor and an attempt to give the film more of an allure aimed towards the stalk and slash audience. In my review of The Ghostkeeper, I mentioned that the UK box art had absolutely *nothing* to do with the film inside and Mogul have done a similar thing here. They've taken everything that would appeal to the slasher genre and put it on the cover of a title that's basically the equivalent of a boring and poorly produced TV movie. Even the music sucks. Another interesting thing is that I saw a VHS copy of this for sale on Amazon for $180 and a couple of days later it was gone. $180 for this is really quite an amazing price. If it's become a collectors item, then maybe it makes sense, but if it was bought by someone hoping to find a forgotten splatter classic. Well, I would pay to see their reaction when the final credits rolled. It would have been a darn site more dramatic than anything that happened here.
As I've already said, this is not much of a slasher movie, which begs the question, why did I post a review of it? Well due to the aforementioned misguided marketing, chances are most collectors have already come across it or will do soon. I wanted to stop you from making the mistake that I made. Little remains to be said, except steer well clear of this misinterpreted, misguided and mis-advertised waste of a production budget. There's really only very little to be salvaged from this sabotaged slasher, unless you enjoy watching how terrible Spanish fashion sense was in the early eighties. I was born and lived there back then, so I could smirk, but I doubt that any of you will. Especially not for $180…
I cannot warn you harshly enough about the dangers of mis-judging what lurks within the cover of The Icebox Murders. It's as unforgiving as an ex-partner that you ruthlessly dumped – and you'll want to avoid it just the same! Be afraid… Be very afraid…
Posted in Giallo, Slasher, Viva España!
Tags: 1982, a SLASH above exclusive, Rare Slasher, The Icebox Murders, Whodunit?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Gil Penalosa: We believe the citizens are the experts
Gil Penalosa founded the non-profit organisation 8 80 Cities in 2007 with a simple but powerful philosophy: if you create a great city for an 8-year-old and an 80-year-old, you will create a successful city for all people. Hence how the name 8 80 Cities came to life.
Since then his organisation has worked with over 250 communities of 6 continents and on more than 100 engagement projects partnering with stakeholders from public health, transportation, parks and recreation and urban design.
Penalosa is also very active on social media, and he has almost 14,000 followers on Twitter alone. He uses his Twitter feed to get his voice heard about how urban spaces are used and designed, and to promote the active use of these spaces and active transport. He has also been a Tedx speaker, stretching his advocacy efforts further.
But face-to-face interaction is still essential to contemporary advocacy and activation, Penalosa explains.
"We use social media as a complement (not instead of) to in-person meetings engaging the community. We believe the citizens are the experts, and not just the loudest, but all, especially the silent majority: the children, the older adults and the poor. We must make sure to have reached as many stakeholders as possible before making a decision, and social media provides a tool to reach some specific segments," he says.
Now also the chair of World Urban Parks, Penalosa will bring a wealth of international experience to the MOVEment Spaces plenary session and the opening Creative Conversation between all keynote speakers from the sessions on 5 October.
You won't want to miss it – there is still time to register
[gdlr_button href="https://www.movecongress.com/register-2017″ target="_self" size="medium" background="#000000″ color="#ffffff"]Register now[/gdlr_button]
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MOVE Congress day pass offer for UK particip


SOUTHERN UTAH – These are the preliminary and unofficial results for cities in Southern Utah holding municipal primary elections. These numbers are subject to change as absentee and provisional ballots are counted.
Candidates moving on to the general election in November are highlighted in red.
Ed. Note: Some of the numbers were initially mismatched to certain candidates. This has been corrected.


The world's best cheese, Cornish Kern, is a cow's milk cheese from Southwest England.
Cornish Kern beat over 3,000 other entrants from 35 countries.
The cheese is described by its makers, Lynher Dairies, as "buttery with caramel notes and a deep savoury aroma."
Cornish Kern finished with a score of 75 out of a possible 80.
Cheese lovers, rejoice — if you want to try the world's best fromage, there's no need to hop over to France. The world's best cheese has officially been crowned and it's… British.
Cornish Kern, a dark-rind, cow-milk Cornish cheese from the Southwest of England took the top spot at The World Cheese Awards in London. The competition, now in its 30th year, sees 250 judges annually select their favourite pressed curd and this year, it received over 3000 entries from 35 countries.
Produced by Lynher Dairies, the medium-hard cheese is matured for around 16 months and is described as "buttery with caramel notes and a deep savoury aroma." It is said to be a "flaky and almost dry" in texture and one judge, Whole Foods cheese buyer, Cathy Strange, even called it "visually stunning."
Scoring 75 points out of a possible 80, the makers were predictably thrilled by the result. Sarah Barnes, technical manager at Lynher Dairies, said: "I'm on top of the cheese world! Throughout the course of the day our Kern went through so many layers of judging, going from 3,001 to 66, to the top 16 and then World Champion and the judges said some wonderful things about our cheese."
"Cornish Kern is a new concept so to see it come to this is so exciting for the company, and a great start for this cheese's career."
An Italian Blu Di Bufala made by Quattro Portoni Caseificio had previously been the runner-up in 2012 but scored second place this year with 69 points. Third place was a tie between an Austrian Capellaro from Almenland Stollenkaese and a South African Dalewood Huguenot created by Dalewood Fromage. Both cheeses scored 67 points each.
Two things we're fairly certain of; Cornish Kern will now be top of the Christmas cheese board list for most of the UK and those runners up will be getting a serious look in too.


Karas, D, Scoping for potential wildlife crossings for koalas and marsupial gliders in the Sutherland Shire and Campbelltown regions of New South Wales, Australia, BEnviSci Hons, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, 2018.
Arboreal, or "tree-dwelling", species such as koalas and marsupial gliders may potentially be more vulnerable to the effects of roads, habitat loss and habitat fragmentation due to their high specialisation. The emerging concept of road ecology attempts to reduce the effects of animals on roads and identifies wildlife mitigation structures, including wildlife crossings and exclusion fencing, as the best methods to combat the issue of habitat fragmentation. The Sutherland Shire and Campbelltown regions of Sydney, Australia are of particular interest due to the populations of koalas and various glider species. These regions also have several major roadways present that can impact on species movement and have the potential to disrupt population dynamics and reduce population numbers from animal-vehicle collisions. Crossing structures and other mitigation measures have been used extensively in Australia and worldwide with various levels of success.
Spatial analysis of New South Wales BioNet Atlas data was undertaken using GIS software to find areas of high species presence, or "hotspots". Within the koala dataset, several hotspots were found which mainly existed along the forested and cleared land edge of Campbelltown that is separated by roads. An area of concern was found on a 3.8km segment of Appin Road whereby 12 koalas roadkills were on record, 10 of which coincided with the previous hotspot analysis. Within the marsupial gliders dataset, two main hotspots of species presence were identified. A basic cost surface was also created to generate a suitability and traversability index within the study area. While both of these methods were effective, some issues with data biases and areas with incomplete data were present. Overall, a range of criteria needs to be utilised in order to effectively determine if a mitigation structure is required at a specific location. It is recommended that this study be used as a foundation for future research.


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Global mistrust for Trump grows, and even Russia questions his ability [TWEETS]
Wilson Belshaw
In our regular TrumpWatch section, we look at another week of Donald Trump's America. This week, Trump's relations with Russia have soured. But that hasn't led to him getting along better with any other countries.
This is how his fifth week played out.
18 February – Accountability
Vice President Mike Pence said that the US stands with NATO. He also promised that Russia will be held "accountable" for Ukraine. But he also repeated Trump's stance that the US may not support NATO countries that do not contribute enough to defence.
A report leaked saying that the intelligence community was withholding information from Trump. Trump allegedly yelled at CIA director Mike Pompeo over these claims. The CIA and White House denied that this incident took place.
The FBI is pursuing at least three probes relating to Russian hacking during the election.
19 February – Last night in Sweden
Trump held a campaign-style rally in Florida. Presidents usually stop campaigning after they've won the presidency, so this was unusual. During the event, he appeared to refer to a terrorist incident which had happened in Sweden the previous evening. But no such incident had taken place. Trump later claimed he'd heard about it on Fox News:
My statement as to what's happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants & Sweden.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 19, 2017
The Republican senator and former presidential nominee John McCain criticised Trump's branding of the media as 'enemies of the people'. He said that attitude was: "how dictators get started". Trump's defence secretary James 'Mad Dog' Mattis also distanced himself from Trump's statement.
20 February – Oil
General H.R. McMaster replaced General Flynn as the National Security Adviser (NSA). Flynn resigned after misleading the Vice President over phone calls he'd made to Russia. Prominent Trump critic John McCain holds McMaster in high regard.
Defence secretary James Mattis contradicted Trump on Iraq. He said: "we're not in Iraq to seize anybody's oil". Since taking office, however, Trump has said: "we should have kept the oil. Maybe we'll have another chance."
Media outlets reported that Russia is compiling a psychological dossier on Trump for Putin. The preliminary conclusion is that Trump is a naive risk-taker.
21 February – Cooking the books
Trump publicly denounced antisemitism. It was in response to increasing threats against Jewish institutions. The Anne Frank Centre, however, dismissed Trump's speech. Furthermore, it said his "sudden acknowledgement is a Band-Aid on the cancer of antisemitism that has infected his own Administration".
It was revealed that the Trump's transition team had ordered [paywall] the Council of Economic Advisers to misleadingly fill their models to predict 3%-3.5% growth.
Also revealed was that Steve Bannon had told Germany's ambassador to Washington that the EU was flawed. He also allegedly said that the US would prefer to deal with EU countries directly rather than as a full bloc. This is at odds with how the EU operates, and contradicted the message Pence would later give.
The Washington Post's analysis of Trump's first month showed he had spent [paywall] four times as much time playing golf as having security briefings. People consequently drew attention to Trump's previous criticisms of Obama:
Trump defeated and deflated
Can you believe that,with all of the problems and difficulties facing the U.S., President Obama spent the day playing golf.Worse than Carter
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2014
22 February – Rights
Trump rescinded the protections for transgender students which meant they could use bathrooms that corresponded with their gender identity.
A former campaign staffer spoke of how they babied candidate Trump to prevent him losing his temper.
A Republican senator called for ex-NSA Mike Flynn to testify on his Russian ties before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
23 February – Deconstruction
It was reported that the White House asked the FBI to publicly dismiss claims that Trump's associates had communicated with Russian officials during the presidential campaign. The FBI rejected this request.
Speaking at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Trump's key adviser and former Breitbart boss Steve Bannon described Trump's agenda as: "deconstruction of the administrative state".
Trump 'clarified' his position on nuclear weapons: "It would be wonderful, a dream would be that no country would have nukes, but if countries are going to have nukes, we're going to be at the top of the pack".
24 February – Enemies of the people
Speaking at the CPAC, Trump doubled down on the claim he'd made days before about certain media outlets being the "enemy of the American People".
– Read more TrumpWatch articles.
– You can also visit our Facebook and Twitter pages for more independent international coverage.
Featured image via Pixabay
Ralph Underhill , 20th January 2021
The Canary , 20th January 2021
Trumpism didn't come out of a vacuum. It has been brewing for a long time.
Peter Bolton , 14th January 2021
Donald Trump is trying a move from Hitler's playbook, and the media gifted it to him [OPINION]
As everyone talks about the Oscars, one British film is being silenced [VIDEO]


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Q: How to get Project.Web BaseDirectory On Project.Test? I am running my test specs on Project.Test and I can find this project directory :
var path = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory;

But I want to find Project.Web directory on Test project , I tried like this example but it doesn't work :(
BaseDirectory = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.GetAssemblies().Where(s => s.GetType().Namespace.ToLower() == "system.web.mvc").Single().Location;

Do you have any Ideas ?

A: I solved my problem with this code :
string webDir = ((FileSystemInfo)(Directory.GetParent(AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory).Parent.Parent.GetDirectories("Project.Web", SearchOption.AllDirectories)[0])).FullName;

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


0305_Letter to Bill (Armstrong): It's War _ by John Andrews February 2018 _Left declares war on Christian higher Ed _ Bill Armstrong bio, funeral, memorial, etc.
2018-02-06_John Andrews sent out in an email: Left declares War on Christian Higher Ed_Letter to Bill (by John Andrews).
The late president of Colorado Christian University, Bill Armstrong, was my friend and political comrade for 40 years. We lost him on Independence Day two summers ago, ending an illustrious career as a senator, businessman, evangelist, educator, and Christian statesman.
Armstrong's last big play was helping CCU's public policy guy, Jeff Hunt, land candidate Donald Trump to keynote the 2016 Western Conservative Summit — the annual rally on the right that I launched after Bill dreamed it up.
Ever the dreamer, he was, and what a force. I sure miss the guy. Sometimes, to clear my head when things get intense, I imagine writing him a letter. Here's the latest one.
PragerU has published a video about Sir Winston Churchill. He was the right man at the right moment in history.
In May 1940, Adolf Hitler and his Nazi war machine were sweeping across the European continent.
The future of the free world hung in the balance.
An isolationist-leaning United States was an ocean away. There was one man who stood between Hitler's seemingly invincible army and crushing defeat.
That one man was Winston Churchill.
On February 8, 2018, Representative Tim Leonard sent out an email in which he shared his latest bill.
For decades there has been a game played saying that school board candidates were not partisan. The fact is, some candidates are strongly partisan, but want to hide their party affiliation from the public.
That has been used as a tool, especially by the democrat party, to hide from the public who the republicans are, and to pretend they are themselves are above politics.
"Transparency" is a word I keep hearing as I visit with constituents in our district.
In particular, transparency in elections is an important component to our representative government.
Just this last election cycle, I was asked over and over again about candidates for school board.
People were wondering why slates of candidates were running together as Republicans and Democrats, yet no party information was available for them.
0301_ Cliven Bundy cleared of federal charges and set free after 700 days of false imprisonment_ The whole story is now told by one of Bundy's attorneys, Joel Hansen.
Other blogs on Cliven Bundy and LaVoy: 0315 and 0316.
To: Subject: ? A Win for the Good Guys!
Many Eagle Forum members rejoiced when Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy was cleared of all federal charges on December 20, 2017, and walked free after 700 days of false imprisonment. The whole story is now told by one of Bundy's attorneys, Joel Hansen. It proves that government, made up of "mortal men," is prone to abuse if left unchecked by courageous citizens like the Bundys who peacefully stood firm on their Constitutional rights.
Cliven Bundy's ancestors on his mother's side came, as pioneers, to the Gold Butte area of the southern Nevada desert in 1877 and began ranching from scratch. In doing this they established grazing rights and water rights — preemptive legal rights under Nevada law which gave them permanent rights to graze cattle on that land. Those legal rights were passed down through the years to Cliven Bundy and his family. In 1934, the Taylor Grazing Act was passed by Congress, an act designed to assist ranchers, especially in the arid American West, to raise cattle for the benefit of Americans — by putting delicious and nutritious beef on their tables. The Bundy ranch is located about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, near the town of Bunkerville.
These pioneers conquered this hostile, arid land and made it into a productive ranch by making water and feed available to their cattle and learning how to manage the cows so that they could survive in such an arid place, an area mostly covered by sagebrush and creosote bushes. Because of the water and increased food made available by the ranchers' efforts, wildlife flourished. The most numerous animal wildlife in the area is the desert tortoise. The tortoises flourished because the cows eat woody bushes which are above the level the tortoises can reach, and then they leave a delicacy for the tortoises on the ground where they can reach it. The tortoises' main course and dessert is cow pies, which contain all of the nutrients and moisture the tortoises need for survival.
From: Donna Garner [mailto:donnaggarner@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, February 2, 2018 12:23 PM To: Donna Garner <wgarner1@hot.rr.com> Subject: BREAKING: #MEMO RELEASED – BY DONNA GARNER — 2.2.18, 11:34 A. M.
2.2.18 – 11:34 A. M.
#MemoReleased – Thankfully the forgotten men and women of America have been heard! President Trump released the memo without redactions!
When I (and many other grassroots citizens) started tweeting and posting #ReleaseTheMemo on 1.18.18, Zuckerberg/Facebook immediately blocked my account. This stayed blocked until a Congressman came to my rescue. After so many of his constituents piqued his interest with #ReleaseTheMemo, he decided to read the memo for himself in the secured facility. He was appalled by its contents, contacted me, and successfully put pressure on Zuckerberg/Facebook to unblock my account.
Six days ago Sean Hannity had his Twitter account blocked for a period of time. Sean Hannity, Sara Carter, John Solomon, Gregg Jarrett, Sebastian Gorka, Jay Sekulow, Rep. Devin Nunes, and other courageous patriots have worked tirelessly for over a year to reveal the corruption at the highest levels of the Dept. of Justice and FBI.
President Trump began his 2018 State of the Union Address by sharing acts of heroism that were revealed in times of crisis in our country this past year. Several heroes were in the gallery with the First Lady.
Unemployment claims are at a 45-year low. African American and Hispanic American unemployment is at lowest rate every recorded.


Women today face a multitude of challenges. Many are in need of spiritual rest and authentic community to shoulder one another's cares. Others struggle with insecurity, broken relationships, guilt and loneliness. Countless women have found peace, comfort, hope, security and answers to life's big questions as they uncover the truth of God in the Bible in the safety of real relationships within our BSF classes.


YouTube Changed the Related Videos Parameter | Search Commander, Inc.
Up until a few weeks ago, there was an option inside of YouTube to embed a video on your website without showing related videos at the end, which were often from competitors. The process was somewhat hidden, but at least it was an available option.
When you went to get the embed code, there was a link to "Show advanced options" and then you could select the checkboxes that you wanted.
After selecting those boxes, the embed code would have the parameters added that you had selected, and when viewers got to the end of your video, they simply saw the play button again.
This summer, Google announced that a change would take place on September 25th, that they were going to change the behavior of the rel (related videos) parameter, and they also said that they would "ignore" the showinfo parameter entirely.
Titles, channel information, and related videos are an important part of YouTube's core user experience, and these changes help to make the YouTube viewing experience consistent across different platforms.
The fact that there's no more checkbox available doesn't mean that you can't still prevent competitor videos from showing on your website.
Google must have decided there would be too much public outcry if they started just ignoring that parameter. Instead, they explain that the "behavior change" means those that currently use the "Do not show related videos" parameter will instead show related videos from that same channel.
So what do you think of this change?
Well I'm glad you posted this! I couldn't find anything else updated. Thank you!! as for the change, stupid.
Thanks for sharing the updated info. I've been searching for it. I don't like that they removed the option to turn of the suggested videos, but I'm super glad you shared the info about updating it to videos from the same playlist. That is so helpful!
I have one Youtube channel and I uploaded videos on my channel but since few days I face some issue in it. I am looking for this type of information those solve my issues. After reading this blog I am able to solve my problem so thank you so much for sharing this genuine information it is very helpful for me.
I figured that one out as soon as I needed to suppress the related videos not coming from my channel. So, I made sure that all of my training videos have a nice branded slate as the postage stamp image and now users will see only those postage stamps at the end of my videos.
These are embedded on Wordpress in an iFrame.
Until the next crazy change they come up with for some reason.
This will show videos from your channel, not related videos based on your viewers' recent activity.
Or use Wistia, the best video embedding on the Web.
Thanks for sharing this. I was referred by a friend.
It never stops. YouTube and Google trying to take over more and more of your attention and time bit by bit. And now it even expands to trying to take over your viewers attention.
Looks like any YouTube video you embed on your site is going to be funneling people back to YouTube. But at least, you can keep them on your channel, and try to direct them from your channel back to your own websites and properties.


text:
September 3, 2013 report
Is mathematics an effective way to describe the world?
by Lisa Zyga , Phys.org
Math has the illusion of being effective when we focus on the successful examples, Abbott argues. But there are many more cases where math is ineffective than where it is effective. Credit: Derek Abbott. ©2013 IEEE
Mathematics has been called the language of the universe. Scientists and engineers often speak of the elegance of mathematics when describing physical reality, citing examples such as π, E=mc2, and even something as simple as using abstract integers to count real-world objects. Yet while these examples demonstrate how useful math can be for us, does it mean that the physical world naturally follows the rules of mathematics as its "mother tongue," and that this mathematics has its own existence that is out there waiting to be discovered? This point of view on the nature of the relationship between mathematics and the physical world is called Platonism, but not everyone agrees with it.
Derek Abbott, Professor of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at The University of Adelaide in Australia, has written a perspective piece to be published in the Proceedings of the IEEE in which he argues that mathematical Platonism is an inaccurate view of reality. Instead, he argues for the opposing viewpoint, the non-Platonist notion that mathematics is a product of the human imagination that we tailor to describe reality.
This argument is not new. In fact, Abbott estimates (through his own experiences, in an admittedly non-scientific survey) that while 80% of mathematicians lean toward a Platonist view, engineers by and large are non-Platonist. Physicists tend to be "closeted non-Platonists," he says, meaning they often appear Platonist in public. But when pressed in private, he says he can "often extract a non-Platonist confession."
So if mathematicians, engineers, and physicists can all manage to perform their work despite differences in opinion on this philosophical subject, why does the true nature of mathematics in its relation to the physical world really matter?
The reason, Abbott says, is that because when you recognize that math is just a mental construct—just an approximation of reality that has its frailties and limitations and that will break down at some point because perfect mathematical forms do not exist in the physical universe—then you can see how ineffective math is.
And that is Abbott's main point (and most controversial one): that mathematics is not exceptionally good at describing reality, and definitely not the "miracle" that some scientists have marveled at. Einstein, a mathematical non-Platonist, was one scientist who marveled at the power of mathematics. He asked, "How can it be that mathematics, being after all a product of human thought which is independent of experience, is so admirably appropriate to the objects of reality?"
In 1959, the physicist and mathematician Eugene Wigner described this problem as "the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics." In response, Abbott's paper is called "The Reasonable Ineffectiveness of Mathematics." Both viewpoints are based on the non-Platonist idea that math is a human invention. But whereas Wigner and Einstein might be considered mathematical optimists who noticed all the ways that mathematics closely describes reality, Abbott pessimistically points out that these mathematical models almost always fall short.
What exactly does "effective mathematics" look like? Abbott explains that effective mathematics provides compact, idealized representations of the inherently noisy physical world.
"Analytical mathematical expressions are a way making compact descriptions of our observations," he told Phys.org. "As humans, we search for this 'compression' that math gives us because we have limited brain power. Maths is effective when it delivers simple, compact expressions that we can apply with regularity to many situations. It is ineffective when it fails to deliver that elegant compactness. It is that compactness that makes it useful/practical ... if we can get that compression without sacrificing too much precision.
"I argue that there are many more cases where math is ineffective (non-compact) than when it is effective (compact). Math only has the illusion of being effective when we focus on the successful examples. But our successful examples perhaps only apply to a tiny portion of all the possible questions we could ask about the universe."
Some of the arguments in Abbott's paper are based on the ideas of the mathematician Richard W. Hamming, who in 1980 identified four reasons why mathematics should not be as effective as it seems. Although Hamming resigned himself to the idea that mathematics is unreasonably effective, Abbott shows that Hamming's reasons actually support non-Platonism given a reduced level of mathematical effectiveness.
Here are a few of Abbott's reasons for why mathematics is reasonably ineffective, which are largely based on the non-Platonist viewpoint that math is a human invention:
•	Mathematics appears to be successful because we cherry-pick the problems for which we have found a way to apply mathematics. There have likely been millions of failed mathematical models, but nobody pays attention to them. ("A genius," Abbott writes, "is merely one who has a great idea, but has the common sense to keep quiet about his other thousand insane thoughts.")
•	Our application of mathematics changes at different scales. For example, in the 1970s when transistor lengths were on the order of micrometers, engineers could describe transistor behavior using elegant equations. Today's submicrometer transistors involve complicated effects that the earlier models neglected, so engineers have turned to computer simulation software to model smaller transistors. A more effective formula would describe transistors at all scales, but such a compact formula does not exist.
•	Although our models appear to apply to all timescales, we perhaps create descriptions biased by the length of our human lifespans. For example, we see the Sun as an energy source for our planet, but if the human lifespan were as long as the universe, perhaps the Sun would appear to be a short-lived fluctuation that rapidly brings our planet into thermal equilibrium with itself as it "blasts" into a red giant. From this perspective, the Earth is not extracting useful net energy from the Sun.
•	Even counting has its limits. When counting bananas, for example, at some point the number of bananas will be so large that the gravitational pull of all the bananas draws them into a black hole. At some point, we can no longer rely on numbers to count.
•	And what about the concept of integers in the first place? That is, where does one banana end and the next begin? While we think we know visually, we do not have a formal mathematical definition. To take this to its logical extreme, if humans were not solid but gaseous and lived in the clouds, counting discrete objects would not be so obvious. Thus axioms based on the notion of simple counting are not innate to our universe, but are a human construct. There is then no guarantee that the mathematical descriptions we create will be universally applicable.
For Abbott, these points and many others that he makes in his paper show that mathematics is not a miraculous discovery that fits reality with incomprehensible regularity. In the end, mathematics is a human invention that is useful, limited, and works about as well as expected.
For those who seek something more practical out of such a discussion, Abbott explains that this understanding can allow for greater freedom of thought. One example is an improvement of vector operations. The current method involves dot and cross products, "a rather clunky" tool that does not generalize to higher dimensions. Lately there has been a renewed interest in an alternative approach called geometric algebra, which overcomes many of the limitations of dot and cross products and can be extended to higher dimensions. Abbott is currently working on a tutorial paper on geometric algebra for electrical engineers to be published in the near future.
Belgian wins Norway's $1 million Abel math prize
More information: More information: Derek Abbott. "The Reasonable Ineffectiveness of Mathematics." Proceedings of the IEEE. To be published. DOI: 10.1109/JPROC.2013.2274907
Journal information: Proceedings of the IEEE
Citation: Is mathematics an effective way to describe the world? (2013, September 3) retrieved 17 January 2020 from https://phys.org/news/2013-09-mathematics-effective-world.html
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