MY THOUGHTS ON TRUE BLOOD SEASON 4 EPISODE 1

  Now that is a great season premiere of True Blood, and the previews for the upcoming episodes look awesome, but let me not get ahead of myself. Speaking of getting ahead, the tone for this episode and the season is set when we find out that this episode takes places just over a year from where season 3 leaves off. This episode gives us a few hints at what has happened over the last year, but also leaves plenty of unanswered questions. So here are my thoughts on what happened on True Blood season 4 episode 1.

  Season 3 ends with Sookie being taken away by Claudine, and season 4 begins with Sookie and Claudine arriving in fairyland. I know the fairy thing turns off some people so I can’t imagine they would be excited seeing the season open with fairies. Then there is mention of Claudine being Sookie’s “godmother,” and I was thinking that is weak. Just when I was getting worried about this opening, fairy world turned upside down. Along with those that hate the fairy thing, I was happy to see the fairies turn into these zombie/troll looking creatures. That is more like it. Now I just want to know where I can get one of those electric exploding balls.

  When Jason comes in the house dressed as a cop I was surprised. I didn’t think he would last as a cop, and was even more surprised that he lasted a year doing it. With what we got to see of Jason in this episode, it looks like he is a little more responsible. I was really hoping for one of his great stupid lines, but never got one. What we did get is an almost immediate reaction from Bill and Eric that Sookie is home. It is good to see that they will continue their fight for her. Too bad my money is still on Alcide, who we didn’t get to see in this episode.  

  While watching Bill talk to Sookie, I kept wondering what happened to that fight between Bill and the Queen. I was really intrigue by that at the end of last season, and was looking forward to seeing it. Just like that epic werewolf vs. vampire fight that I never got, we never got to see what transpired between Bill and the Queen. We are only left to see that Bill obviously won that fight because he is standing in front of Sookie, and seems to have power over Eric. Unlike the unseen epic battle, I think we will see this fight at some point, or you will be hearing about this from me again.

  True Blood fans know that this season is going to be heavy on witches, and we got our first taste of it when Jesus takes Lafayette to this witch cult. One crazy old woman named Marnie is leading it. She is definitely going to be up to no good after seeing her use the group to bring that bird back to life. When we got to see Holly there, I instantly remembered why I didn’t like her. It actually isn’t too surprising to see her there because I always thought she was bad. She gets my early vote for person I want to see killed this season. Poor Lafayette, I think he is about to get in over his head. I still think it would be interesting to see him have a good witch, bad witch battle with Jesus at some point.

  If you read my thoughts from last years episodes, you will not only remember how I went on and on about wanting an epic werewolf vs. vampire fight, but I also had a favorite line of the night. Well, I am going to continue with my favorite line of the night, and the first winner of season 4 goes to Terry. My favorite line is when he says; “When I was a kid I used to put squirrel heads on lizard bodies.” Maybe it isn’t as funny when you first hear it, but imagine that for a second. A squirrel head on a lizard body is freaky, but might be pretty funny to see in person. Ok, a better image is seeing that Arlene has her baby. She is still concerned about it being evil, but I am happy that witch Holly didn’t get rid of her baby. Now that I think about, Holly could have done something to make the baby evil. Again, I can’t wait to see her gone!

  Tara, Tara, Tara, what can I say. She had a rough go at it last season. When it ended, we saw her sleeping with yet another bad choice for a boyfriend, Sam, before taking off. I really hoped she could find a good man, but it looks like she has been so scared that she has changed teams. It would be nice to see that work out for her, but she is not off to a good start lying to her new girlfriend. It was cool seeing her in a UFC type fight. She has plenty of frustration to work through. I’m sure I will be saying, “Tara, Tara, Tara” again while shaking my head, as I was when she was rolling around in bed with her new girlfriend.

  So I wonder what the over/under is on Jessica and Hoyt’s relationship lasting? That is quite an argument, almost like they are already married. If Hoyt is so worried about eating, he should have stayed with Summer, who made him biscuits. Yes, I remember those biscuits, hmmm! And what is Hoyt doing taking her to Fangtasia. I’m not surprised by her reaction. She is still a young vampire, and it is just a matter of time before she screws up again (key word being “again”).

  That is pretty smooth how Sookie points out that Sam is still an ass. I don’t know how you feel about Sam, but I kind of enjoy Sam acting like an ass. He was close to shifting into one. A slight change from horse to donkey is all it would take. How ridiculous is it that they all turned into horses, and went for a run? Speaking of Sam, what in the hell is his brother doing with Hoyt’s mother? We already have werewolves, and panthers, do we really need cougars too?

  I really like how they show both Bill and Eric giving speeches at the same time. It kind of shows where they are a year later, and how they have basically switched lives. Bill is now the man in charge, while Eric seems to be a little more focused on Sookie. The end of the episode is awesome with Eric showing up in “his house.” I guess they decided not to make us wait long to find out who bought her house. I’m curious to see what both Eric’s and Bill’s plans for Sookie are now.

  Like I said, this is a great season premiere for True Blood. Fast-forwarding a year opens up a lot of directions for them to go in. New doors have opened for many of the characters. It is almost like a fresh start. On the other hand, hopefully they will fill in some of the blanks from the year that past as well. They barely mentioned anything about Crystal, will we see the King return, what did the humans do after the King killed the news reporter, and where is Alcide? Waiting sucked, but now we are off and rolling!

  HorrO

T-SHIRT BORDELLO

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  Great pictures right? Well, they aren’t just regular pictures they are t-shirts! There are plenty more to choose from all at T-Shirt Bordello . For us horror fans, they have funny shirts based off horror and sci-fi movies, and some zombie themed shirts as well. They have men’s and women’s shirts in all sizes, and colors that fit perfectly with the picture. Also, they have mugs, glasses, caps, and posters like this one:

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  When you visit them online, be sure to check out the their “New Products” section for the latest shirts, and the “Specials” section for some great deals. Also, be on the look out for them at the next convention you attend, as they try to attend as many conventions as they can. The shirts aren’t expensive at all. It is really worth it when you get your friends talking about how great your shirt is. Trust me, I know. Here are some of the shirts that I have:

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  HorrO 

SUPER 8 REVIEW

  One of the reasons I wanted to see J. J. Abrams’ Cloverfield so much was obviously the mystery that the previews created. The city is apparently under attack, but by what? Add the found footage angle, and they had me hooked. Now Abrams brings us Super 8, with some of that same mystery. Knowing little about the movie, it seemed like there was going to be another creature, but with the possibility of some weird stuff happening, such as the previews showing floating objects. Again, they had me hooked, but is the pay off worth it the second time around?

  A few months after losing his mother, a young boy, Joe Lamb, tries to take his mind off his loss by helping his best friend Charles make a zombie movie. One night, Joe, Charles, and some friends sneak out to film part of the movie by some train tracks. While their camera is rolling, Joe sees the train about to crash, and warns his friends just in time to make a run for it. It turns out that the crash isn’t an accident, and whatever is on that train is about to change the boy’s lives and town’s history forever.

  As I was watching the story unfold, one movie kept popping up in my mind. No it wasn’t E.T., The Goonies, or any other Spielberg movie, but it was Stand By Me. Yes, for those that can remember more specifics about E.T. and The Goonies than me, I’m sure you could point out the similarities, and I’m sure they are there. However, as I watched these young boys go on this adventure, I kept thinking about the young boys in Stand By Me, and their adventure. The boys in Stand By Me are on a journey to find a dead body, as the audience gets to learn a little about each boy and the friendship that bonds them. The boys in Super 8 start off on a mission to film a movie, but end up trying to save a girl while their town is being turned upside down. While the audience gets to know some of the boys better than others, again they get to see the bonds of friendship, and how the boys do a little bit of growing up.

  What does all this rambling about boys, journeys, and friendship mean? It means this movie turns out to be more about the boys than the big secret that everyone has been waiting to see. As I stated in the opening, that is the reason I went to see this movie. I wanted to see a monster/creature, and to know all about it. Without giving the secret away, let me just say it turns out to be a little disappointing. While the secret is out there causing strange things to happen, again it really isn’t the focus of the film. They hide it for most of the film, and then it is gone before getting to see what it really can do. They do a good job of explaining a lot of things about the secret, but I would have liked to see more of it.

  Don’t get me wrong; the boys are very entertaining to watch. They are in the mist of shooting their own zombie film, which is extremely cool on its own. Hell, it kind of made me jealous that I never thought of shooting a zombie film at that age. At certain times in the movie, I kept thinking, “what about the zombie movie?” Well, during the credits they show the entire short film so be sure to catch it. Also, pay attention to the name of the company they mention in the video, but now back to the boys.

  The movie does a good job of getting the audience to root for them, especially Joe. Times have been rough for him as it has only been a few months since his mother died, he is struggling coming to terms with her death, and his father is struggling just as much in his newfound role as a single dad. To complicate matters, he develops feelings for the girl whose father happens to be partially responsible for his mother’s death. How could you not feel for him? The boys have an entertaining dynamic while both filming their movie, and figuring out what is going on. I think Cary is the funniest because he likes to blow stuff up, and takes pride in always carrying around a bookbag full of fireworks. They also have serious moments, such as when Joe and Charles have an argument about liking Alice. The movie really tries different angles to get the audience to relate to the boys in some manner.

  Besides the big secret being a let down, there are a couple of other things that I noticed, and want to point out. There is a scene where a water tower is acting like a magnet and lifting all kinds of metal objects towards it. There is a soldier whose gun starts to lift off taking him with it until he lets go. As the scene goes on, there is another soldier standing in almost the same spot, and is still holding his gun. Well, why one soldier’s gun and not the other?

  Something that really bothers me is the father’s role. For the first half of the movie he is an important character. The audience sees him struggle to deal, or not deal with Joe, grieve for his late wife, investigate the military, and become acting sheriff. Then there comes a point when the military locks him up, and the audience doesn’t see him for an extended period of time. I almost forgot Joe had a father. And when he escapes, they give the impression he is going to do something meaningful, but that never happens. How do you go from being so important in the beginning to so insignificant by the end?

  Then there is the train crash, which is one of the better scenes in the movie. It is very realistic looking, and full of great explosions. However, I find it hard to believe those kids could be running through the middle of that disaster, and come out just with some dirt on themselves. All kinds of debris are falling from the sky, and it manages to hit none of them. I know you don’t want to hurt the kids, but come on! How about a few scratches, or something? Also, it is here that they reveal these interesting looking cubes. When Joe takes one as a souvenir, I was thinking this might be a big clue as to what was happening, but it really wasn’t. This kind of thing makes me wonder if the movie was written first to focus on the secret, but at some point changed to focus on the boys.

  Oh well, getting suckered into seeing this movie wasn’t all bad. Yes, I’m extremely disappointed that the movie didn’t focus enough on the secret (maybe we can blame that on Spielberg, and not Abrams), but it is still a good enough movie. Instead of really being a sci-fi movie, it turns out to be more of a coming of age movie, which barely seems right to review on a horror site. Basically the movie comes down to whether or not you can relate to the boys. If you can, then you might like it. If you can’t, then chances are this movie might not be for you. Mostly because the secret is a big let down for me, I give this movie 2.5 pools of blood.

  HorrO