Why I Believe Everyone Should Check Out the BBC's LUTHER, Starring Idris Elba!

When it comes to my favourite shows, my all time favourites have come out of the States/Canada!  We're talking The X Files, LOST, Twin Peaks, V, My So-Called Life, Felicity, Family Guy, American Dad and most recently Sons of Anarchy and Justified!  The UK has had some belters over time, including Spaced, The Inbetweeners and Skins.  None however even hold a torch to the downright fucking awesomeness of the BBC's Luther!  A show that I have been getting more and more of my American friends to check out and one that they're all coming back to me thanking me for introducing them to it!  The reason why they all come back to thank me is because the show is fucking perfect!  It is one of those shows that leaves you craving more and when it ends you kind of feel sick that you have no more to look forward to for another year!  And oh how that year passes painstakingly slowly!

So what makes Luther different from your other bog standard crime dramas??  Two words...IDRIS ELBA!!!  Combine that with amazing writing and direction as well as a great support cast and you have a top notch show, and one to rival any of the best of the best of zee Yankee Doodle Dandy shows!

The character of DCI John Luther is a horribly complex one, this is an incredibly disturbed man, one with about as many inner demons as the people he sets out to catch!  This however is what makes him such an amazing detective.  Where other detectives would fail to understand the inner psychosis of criminals, Luther gets in there nice and deep like...I'm talking 'bout balls deep...haha!  This is an intense show and despite the seasons being criminally short, each episode packs more into it than many shows do in several episodes.  And what is hard to believe, as amazing as Season 1 is...Season 2 is even better!  The show is intelligent and brutal to a point that you think, holy crap, the BBC are actually airing this at 9pm!?!!

With some brilliant supporting females, this show has the girl power kick too which I always love!  Ruth Wilson as the wonderfully macabre, twisted and scarily intelligent Alice Morgan (pictured above) is always a pleasure to watch.  And the introduction of Aimee-Ffion Edwards as teenage runaway Jenny Jones (pictured below) in Season 2 gave us yet another great female character that was not only fantastic in her own right, she also gave us further insight into Luther as a character and a detective as well.

One thing that I hadn't even thought about but after reading blogs and articles online in relation to the show realised, it's a rarity for a show such as this to have a black detective in the lead.  I've been so compelled with the show, and love Idris Elba so much that I hadn't even thought about that.  It's a good point, however when you have an actor of such caliber as Elba, you don't even think about colour...and neither you should.

So yes, for those of you out there who still need to get the Luther bug, I urge you to do so NOW!  I don't want to give away too much about the show so it's best you just check it out for yourself.  I promise you won't regret it...and if you do you have my permission to slap me!  That's how sure I am that you will find it awesome! ;)  If you want to check out previous blogs I've done on the show you can find them here, here and here!

Jeremy Renner Gets His Comic Book Geek On with The Avengers!

Okay so to say that I am excited about the forthcoming Avengers movie is a bit of an understatement to say the least.  I mean for one, the fact that Joss Whedon is at the helm is a definite plus, the man has shown time and time again what a wicked director he is, he is indeed a nerds friend and that is always comforting!  That cast that has gradually been building up since Iron Man is nothing short of fucking amazing!  The recent adaptations of Thor and Captain America have been getting the appetites of comic book geeks giddy with anticipation.  Reviews of Captain America, which has just come out and which I 'm totally psyched to see tomorrow, are all coming out really quite positive.  Many are saying this is Chris Evans best performance to date.

So yes, as a comic book fan AND a girl with an, ummm, slight *cough*obessive*cough* love with Jeremy Renner, my geekgasm has went into hyperdrive!  Mr Renner is playing Clint Barton/Hawkeye in the movie, a role that fans were given a tiny sneak peek tease of in Thor!

More geekgasms were supplied at last weeks Comic-Con when fans were given the treat of some freakin' awesome Avengers posters!  AND as zee lovely Adam Barnick messaged me the other day after seeing Captain America, the Avengers trailer is attached to the end of the film!  Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!  As I said, I'm off to see it tomorrow and I CAN NOT WAIT! :)  Next summer is going to be a comic cook bundle of freakin' geeky awesome cooooooooooooo!!!! <3

Charlie Hunnam AND Idris Elba Plus Robots, Monsters and Guillermo del Toro - A Fangirl's Dream!!!

Pacific Rim, the movie that Guillermo del Toro is making instead of The Hobbit.  It features monsters, robots...and two of the FINEST (in every sense of the word!  Sorry but I do have girl hormones, haha) actors that have ever graced our screens.  And that would be Sons of Anarchy's Jax, a.k.a. Mr Charlie Hunnam and The Wire's Stringer Bell/BBC's LUTHER, Idris Elba!  Two incredible actors who both so happen to be English as well...eat that America, ha!  Anyhoo, to say that I have a bit of a boner for this project already is no freakin' joke!  However, the geekgasms continued with the Legendary Pictures panel at Comic-Con, which you can see below...the Pacific Rim part is first after meeting the men behind Legendary Pictures.  

Legendary Pictures were kind enough to give us geeks a taste of the LOGO and badge that my boys shall be sporting as part of their uniform in the movie which I'm pretty sure y'all will agree is pretty darn cool...anyhoo see below for pic! :)  

And yesss, below, the two sexiest men on TV plus, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Charlie Day (need to check out this show now) as well as director del Toro and writer Travis Beacham.  

This movie is going to be a fangirl/fanboy DREAM and 2013 can not come soon enough dammit!!! <3

20 Years Today Since Jeffrey Dahmer was Caught!

Today marks the 20th Anniversary of the day that Jeffrey Dahmer was arrested...ending a 13 year killing spree that had started when Jeff was only 18 years old.  By the time he was caught he had killed 17 men.  Had the police officer that had stopped a drunken 18 year old Jeff with the body of Steven Hicks in his car actually looked in the bin bags in the back of the car that Jeff claimed to be clippings from the garden, he might still be alive today.  As would 16 other men!  And I'm pretty sure that officer would be able to live his life with a clearer conscious.

Dahmer was an incredibly troubled young man, and one that slipped through the eyes of the authorities on so many occasions.  People may deem my fascination with Dahmer to be a strange one, but I have always been weirdly fascinated with this man.  After the death of Steven Hicks it would be another nine years before Dahmer would kill again.  Ashamed of the fact that he was gay, he always said that he believed the trigger for the  four year killing spree that led to his imminent arrest, came when a man slipped him a note whilst he was sitting in the library offering him oral sex.  Soon after, after one of his drinking binges, he awoke the next day with the bruised and battered to death body of Steven Tuomi lying next to him.  He had no recollection of the murder and stuffed the body into a suitcase before disposing of it.  

After this Dahmer went on a sporadic killing spree where he would kill another 15 men, including 14 year old Konerak Sinphasomphone, the brother of a boy he had been arrested for molesting.  The twisted thing about Konerak is that he escaped whilst Dahmer was out, naked, bleeding and bruised though the cops ended up taking the word of the charming Jeff over two African American women who rightfully claimed Konerak was trying to escape from Jeff.  Jeff said he was his boyfriend and that they had just been drinking and had too much too drink.  They took Konerak back to Jeff's apartment, leaving him to his fate at the hand of the disturbed Jeff.  The even more disturbing part about this was that the funky smell that filled their nostrils was the decomposing body of another of Jeff's victims...lying in HIS BEDROOM!!!  This was just another example of how crap the police in Wisconsin actually were.  

It was on the 22nd of July 1991 that Tracy Edwards escaped from Dahmer and brought the police back to his apartment, where they FINALLY clicked on to what was going on.  By that time Jeff had killed 17 men.  At the end of the day though, all he wanted was to be loved.  To find a partner who wouldn't leave him.  He wanted to create a zombie, and attempted on several occasions by drilling a hole in his victims head and pouring acid into it to keep the body 'alive'.  When everything came to trial it wasn't a case of whether or not Jeff was guilty, it was whether he was sane or not!  And at the end of the day the body count was reduced to 15 as they couldn't find evidence of two of the men.  Dahmer was determined sane and got 15 life sentences, which totaled 957 years!  

On the 28th November 1994, fellow inmate Christopher Scarver beat him to death with a broom handle...or at least pretty much to death...Dahmer died from severe head injuries whilst on his way to the hospital.  Christopher Scarver said that God had told him to do it, although whether that is actually true, I doubt we'll ever know. 

At the end of the day this is a tragic story, one that ended in the most horrific of ways.  He was a truly sick man, and unfortunately like so many he, slipped through the cracks of a broken system.  

Fascinated by the story of Jeff, X Files creator Chris Carter (A.K.A. GOD!!!) did an episode based on Jeff entitled Irresistible.  When he submitted the script to the FOX executives they rejected the idea of the Jeff character Donnie Pfaster being a necrophiliac as it was unacceptable for broadcast standards.  The character was then changed to a death fetishist.  Irresistible is one of my all time favourite episodes and it is embodied in Dahmerisms! <3  

For example, Tracy Edwards told police that it was almost like Dahmer shape shifted in some sense, that his face changed....like there was an inner lurking evil behind those eyes.  The character of Donnie Pfaster shape shifted to an image of the devil when he had poor Scully captured.  The cop that is assisting Mulder with the investigation mentions Dahmer - 

People wondered why it took them so long to catch this kid in Milwaukee. Thought someone should have noticed he was killing all those young boys. The truth is, no one ever believed it could happen.

Another story I've heard was that when Nick Chinlund who played Donnie Pfaster (pictured above in character), when he was about to leave his car/trailer or whatever to start filming Irresistible, he heard on the radio that Dahmer had just died.  I so badly want this to be true.  How perfect would that be?  At least if you're a Jeffrey Dahmer/X Files geekazoid!  It is also noted that this episode actually inspired Chris Carter's spin-off show, Millennium!  Again something I would LOVE to be true!   (Edited to add that I spoke to Nick Chinlund about this, and it was indeed true.) 

I Just Got Nominated for an Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award! The Question is...Who Will I Choose!?!

Why big thank yous to Sean Thompson over at Spooky Sean's Sinful Bloggery for nominating me for The Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award!  Mmmmm, look at all those strawberries, nom nom nommmmms, I do like strawberries I do. ;)  And donuts (see pic below, haha!)  So anyhoo, on with the show...

Here are the rules:
1) Thank and link to the person who nominated you.
2) Share 7 random facts about yourself.
3) Pass the award to 12 of your blogging buddies.
4) Notify the recipients

7 Random Facts about moi! - 


1. I am completely 100% obsessed with Beagles!!!

2. The first girl I ever had a crush on was a girl that I worked with on an archaeological dig when I was 16, her name was Rosie and she was 23.  She was amazing and not only did she introduce me to Portishead and the awesomeness of Lavender.  She was a Vegetarian who taught my already opinionated self that being true to yourself was what was important.  I lost contact with her but have never forgotten her, she is truly awesome! <3

3. I have an overactive imagination and used to think I was a lizard.  I was convinced I'd bleed green.  Sneakily watching V as a child probably wasn't the best thing for me, haha.  

4. If I had been a boy my name would have been David, after the Rangers player Davie Cooper.  He was my Dad's favourite player and he wanted a boy so he could name him after him.  But hahaha, unfortunately for Daddy, he got 5 girls, lol!  The more amusing point to this story is that his twin brother Neil got 5 boys!!!

5. My favourite character out of the Batman comics is the Scarecrow.  I love Jonathan Crane.  I love the fact that he's completely insane and that insanity came from being horribly mistreated as a child.  He is incredibly intelligent and he uses that intelligence and downright madness to fuck people up.   Hallucinogenics and opening up a person's mind to the darkness that is inside is in my humble opinion the best way to mess with a person.  It is utterly terrifying and who knows just how bonkers you might just make them turn! :) 

6. I've been into Wicca since my teens and always thought that if there was a "religion" for me then that would be it.  I'm not so active with it nowadays but really want to get back into it.  I'm a very earthy person and am all about the tree people.  One thing I did learn though is that you never do something that your heart is not truly into, even if you think it is at the time.  You know how they say things come back threefold on you in The Craft...trust me, they do!


7. One talent that I have that lay undiscovered for years is how good I am at painting minatures!  I was playing loads of role playing board games at the time and decided that I wanted my own Orc army.  Just because.  So my boyfriend got me one of the Warhammer 40k Orcs with his nice big tank and stuff for my Christmas one year.  He offered to paint it for me and I though, what the hey, why don't I try this myself!  So I did, and it turned out I was actually really good at it.  Much to his frustration I was actually a better painter than him, haha.  It was a lovely surprise to me to know I had this awesome talent that I didn't even know I had.  I'm really proud of my painting and am happy to have randomly discovered that I had such a quirky talent!


Right, so now that I have got my 7 random facts out of the way, on to the awesomeness of my favourite blogging buddies!!!

The Bloggage of Miss Lianne Spiderbaby - Lianne is my gorgeous, intelligent, wonderfully amazing in every way, Canadian girlfriend!  Not only is this girl too beautiful for words, she is one heck of a writer!  Along with her blog, she also writes for Fangoria and has her own super fab webseries, Fright Bytes.  Her articles are insightful and interesting and you always come away with a wonderful newfound knowledge after reading them.  Following this girl is a MUST! <3

Penny Dreadful Diary - Or should I say, Jen and Sylviaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!  That would be Soska of course!  Jen and Sylvia ROCK, as does their blog!  On top of following news of their movie work, for example the downright wicked Dead Hooker in a Trunk, to news of their new feature American Mary. These girls are taking the horror world by storm with their deliciously macabre sense of humour, intelligence, and talent in every way.  Hell, they even make awesome stunt girls!  Too cool for words, as is their blog!

Margeretbird/FORTYFPS - CJ Wallis is a fucking star!  He proved to us how fab he could be as an actor with his brilliant turn in Dead Hooker in a Trunk, but not only that, this guy makes one bloody amazing director!  The third part of the Soska Triangle, CJ has done some amazing work both with and for the girls, and on top of that, he is now an award winning music video director!  Pretty fab if you ask me! His video for Sarah Slean's The Rose won the Best Music Video of 2010 at the Leo Awards.  All of his amazing videos are on his blog, as well as articles and information on all the fab stuff he's up to!  He might be a boy but he is definitely a feminist's best friend! :)

A Safer Injection - Joel 'Ratty' Wells, the man behind A Safer Injection is one of the coolest, worldliest, downright freakin' amazing guys you could ever have the pleasure of knowing.  This guy has literally seen it all, and survived to tell the tale!  When most people would give up on life, this guys keep striding on, all with a ton of amazing humour and wonderful stories.  He is the kind of spirit that the world would benefit from having more of.  Ratty is a real inspiration and a wonderful friend...and a wicked writer to boot!  Reading his blog always puts a big smile on my face and I think it will do the same to you too!  So yes, all hail the Ratty! :P

Kid Sis in Hollywood - The bloggage of Miss Elisabeth Fies, the wonderful woman behind The Commune and I Hate L.A.  Lis is also responsible for getting the work of so many amazing women out there with her monthly film festival in L.A. - Bleedfest!  If ever there were a woman who could call herself a wonderful feminist, it's Lis!  She is an amazing actress as well, and her writing is somewhat fab!  As you can see for yourself at her blog.  She's not updated in a while so me thinks that we should be encouraging her to share more of her thoughts and awesomeness.  I do [heart] this woman a whole heck of a lot!  I can't wait to finally get to meet her in October as well, along with her ever so fab sister Brenda (pictured above with Lis and Lance freakin' Henriksen!!)!  The Fies sisters are a duo to be reckoned with and all the women in the horror industry would be good to be friends with these girls.  And the boys too.  Everyone in zee whole wide world should support Team Fies, yup yup yup!!! :P

All Good Things - All Good Things is indeed a bloggage of plenty of good things!  The blog of one of my total geeklings in crime, Monty Hawes not only talks about all things nerdtastic, comic bookeee and modern, he pays tribute to ye films of old!  What drew me to his blog in the first place was his classic movie actor polls.  Which FYI, Cary Grant won, WOOT WOOT!!!  Anyone who loves Cary Grant as much as me is always pretty darn cool in my book!  So yes, as a huge fan of the golden age of movies, Monty's blog is always plentiful of the stuff I love and relish!  We share a major love of Idris Elba and the fact that his favourite movie of all time is His Girl Friday just makes me love him all the more!  So yes, check out his blog NOW, there is loads of great reading for everyone. :) 

Back To Frank Black - Why should you follow the Back to Frank Black blog...because we need a Millenium movie NOW dammit!!!  The Back to Frank Black campaign is also followed by the man himself, Mr Lance Henriksen...how freakin' cool is that??  The blog is now basically going to be run on the Back to Frank Black website but this blog has plenty of awesome posts and information on this AWESOME campaign!  Personally, more Frank Black and Peter Watts with the ultimate GOD's at the helm, that would be Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz...it just sounds like a match made in heaven!  It WAS a match made in heaven, which is why we need more Frank Black dammit!  So yes, join the campaign and help us pimp this Frank out!  And Peter...we can't forget Peter Watts...[LOVE]

Quirk Films - One of my favourite feminist horror chickadee's, the morbidly macabre, snuff movie fascinated Maude Michaud!  :)  With her super awesome webseries Bloody Breasts, Maude is educating the world to the way of GIRL POWER!  She realises just how many amazing women are out there kicking arse in horror and Bloody Breasts is her way of documenting all of this awesome!  Maude is also a wicked filmmaker and her shorts Hollywood Skin, The Portrait and Snuff are major proof of this.  I expect big things from this Canadian filmmaker - Hollywood LOOK OUT!!! 

The Clumsy Eater - Jennifer Pasquill, my GORGEOUS foodie Sons of Anarchy, Jax loving partner in crime!  This woman is like a chef from heaven...just looking at her food pictures has my mouth watering and me wishing I could apparate to Florida to be with her and stuff my face with her yummy cooking!  Her blog not only features articles by Miss Pasquill herself, but also guest posts from peeps she deems perfectly wonderful and totally suited to her blog, and she does pick them well I'll have you know!  She is hot, she can damn well cook...AND she has great taste in movies and music....pretty damn perfect if you ask me!  Oh yeah AND she's a total witchy chick with an awesome name, therefore it equals TRUE LOVE!  Yup, yup, yup!

Viewer Discretion Advised - Viewer Discretion Advised's Heather Seebach (above with Kane Hodder), gorgeous, geeky and a GREAT writer to boot!  This isn't technically a blog but in my eyes it kind of is too...plus, this is my list so I can choose whoever I want, haha!  Heather is a MASSIVE horror nerd and trust me, this girl knows her stuff!  This is a site to keep yourself up to date with up and coming horror/geek movies as well as to read Heather's ramblings about the films she loves.  So yes, check out her site NOW...just don't tell the parents! ;)

The Spooky Vegan - What could be more awesome than another horror nerd who's a Vegan as well?  Sarah Jahier is the owner/founder of website Fatally Yours which is this excellent horror review site!  Her blog, The Spooky Vegan blog is super quantities of fab, you get great reviews and interviews and all the kinds of things that make a spooky vegan nerdoid most happy!

Freddy in Space - Last but by far not least, how I could I forget to mention Freddy in Space!?!  This is a great blog run a supernerd who's geekiness could be seen all the way out in space by the Killer Klowns...he's THAT nerdy!  That nerdtastic man that I'm talking about is Mr John Squires and his blog is an essential read for all ye horror devoted geeks out there!  Here you'll find loads of entertaining articles, cool shit to win and general all-round fabness and tomfoolery!  

Hollyoaks Hitting the Nail on the Head with their Rape Storyline - Every Woman is Vulnerable, Even the Jackie McQueen's of the World!

I know that I usually cover horror and what not, and I guess in a way this truly is horror...even if it is on Hollyoaks.  Rape is a touchy subject no matter where it is covered and it is with that in mind that I have to applaud the Hollyoaks writers and the way that they have dealt with the Jackie/Gilly rape storyline.  Having spent a day in a secondary school with first years discussing mental health, I am perfectly aware of the fact that many youngsters in the UK today learn a lot of what they know from Hollyoaks.  Some may deem this tacky, and others might berate the soap, but when it comes to raising awareness around difficult topics, a number of them have been done particularly well.  The rape storyline in particular really got to me.

Jackie is a character that I never really had any time for until now, she wears the most hideous clothes (even Claire Cooper who plays Jackie has laughed saying that no normal person would dress the way she does!), is a total chav and on occasion has been more than just a little bit annoying.  She is a strong character, one who never let anyone get to her, she always bounced back from everything that was thrown at her, and she does have a reputation for sleeping around a bit! It is these characteristics though that made her such a great character for a rape storyline.  I mean let's face it, how many people do you know who would turn around and say "she deserved to get raped" and words to that effect?!!  It is a sick world that we live in and more often than not these are the sorts of words you will hear on a daily basis.  However, at the end of the day, NOBODY deserves to get raped.  No matter how horrid they might have been to others in the past!  When Hollyoaks had a week of the show dedicated to "the trial" between Jackie and Gilly, both characters gave their statements.  Others were character witnesses.  On the whole the majority of other characters thought that she made it up, that she had slept with her boyfriend's best friend and that because it took her a couple of days to report it to the police, it was her way making an excuse for what she had done.

First of all, just because someone doesn't report a rape to the police as soon as it happens, doesn't mean that they're making it up!  That is the most absurd statement I've ever heard.  A person in this situation is going to be vulnerable, they will feel dirty and that it is all their fault.  This is exactly how Jackie is portrayed afterwards.  That just because she is who she is, that she somehow brought it on herself.  The final decision was made up by fans of the show and they deemed Gilly, not guilty!

After the trial both characters went away for a bit, with Jackie coming back and eventually getting married to her boyfriend at the time, Rhys...Gilly's best friend.  The storyline with Jackie has continued though, with her afraid to have sex with Rhys, now her husband.  Her behaviour is becoming more and more erratic, Claire Cooper has done an amazing job with portraying her declining mental state.  When Nancy, another of the characters, one who didn't believe she had been raped in the first place but who had started to notice that she truly wasn't well, when she gave Rhys rape crisis leaflets to give to Jackie thinking it might help, Jackie went mental, screaming she didn't need help, when she clearly did!  It all came to a heads up this past week with her truly having a nervous breakdown and disappearing for a couple of days.  With a serial killer (a Granddad serial killer as well, another storyline that has been quite shocking - that's to do with internet safety and that do we truly know who we are talking to online) on the loose and a piece of her lovely hideous dress found in the woods where two bodies have been dumped, everyone feared the worse.  Eventually, Rhys clicked where she might be...out in the middle of nowhere he found her.  She was truly broken and in desperate need of help.  For a show such as this to have such a strong character so broken is a testament to good writing.  Say what you want about Hollyoaks but sometimes they do just get it right.  Just because a woman has been promiscuous in the past, does not mean that she will say yes to every man...it does not give a man the right to have sex with her.  No means no and a vulnerable woman is a vulnerable woman, end of!  

So yes, mock me all you want for my love of Hollyoaks but I truly think that they have hit the nail on the head with this storyline.  Even the strongest of women, the most promiscuous, and even those who can be a downright pain in the ass sometimes...everyone is vulnerable to rape and it is a serious subject that should not be mocked.  No woman deserves this, it is every woman's right to say no.  Even the Jackie McQueen's of the world.  So yes, kudos to Claire Cooper for truly putting in an amazing performance....you have indeed gained a fan in me and I commend you for your wonderful performance.  And just an extra note, in real life without all the hideous Jackie make-up, Claire is actually a very pretty girl! :)

Fright Bytes Episode 6 - Fangoria Darling Lianne Spiderbaby Teams up with Rue Morgue's Tomb Dragomir and the Two Meet the LEGEND that is Sid Haig!

So Fright Bytes Episode 6 sees my wonderful girlfriend Ms Spiderbaby, who of course writes for Fangoria magazine, team up with Rue Morgue magazines Tomb Dragomir to prove to the world that the two get on like peas in a pod (heehee!)!  This episode looks at new movie The Unleashed before taking a look at the legend that is Sid Haig and his career to date...before meeting the most awesome man himself!  Find out what his favourite Jack Hill movie is (see picture below of Haig in Jack Hill's Spider Baby and picture to right of Haig as Captain Spaulding in Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses/Devil's Rejects), plus the one director, okay three (he cheats!) directors who he would work for again at the drop of a hat!

An Interview with Ron Purtree - A Man Who Lives in Serial Killer Central and is Working on a Web Anthology Entitled The Social Media Massacre! Awesomeness!

One of the first things that I thought when Ron contacted me about The Social Media Massacre, was the fact that he is a Wisconsin based director.  Straight away the “serial killer country” alarm bells start ding a linging, causing a big smile to appear on my ever so nerdtastic face!  Wisconsin is the home to some of the ultimate serial killers, even though one of them only killed two people (some argue he killed more but I don’t believe that!), he still gets that title.  That man would be Ed Gein, the legend behind some of the greatest horror icons of all time, including Norman Bates, Leatherface and the Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs.  Wisconsin is also the home to my ultimate favourite serial killer, a man whom some would say my obsession with, is more than just a little bit disturbing.  Of course I am talking about the one and only Jeffrey Dahmer!  Now this colourful history with some of the quirkier serial killers has got to have an impact on the more imaginative Wisconsonites…right?  How much do you find the stories on your own doorstep influence you as a filmmaker?

I think that Wisconsin has a really deep seeded history of just vile and despicable acts that really needs to be addressed in film the right way. I really, really wish I could say that it's what keeps me coming up with stories as a filmmaker. 

The serial killer nerd in me has got to ask, have you done the tour of all ye olde macabre murder sites?  I know it’s only a vacant lot now but one day I shall visit the scene of 924 North 25th Street, Milwaukee.  And when I win the lottery, I totally intend on buying Jeffrey Dahmer’s childhood home!  The Jeremy Renner movie Dahmer (see picture to the right of Jeremy Renner as Dahmer) is one of my all time favourite films.  I also would love to purchase Ed Gein’s property and build some sort of funhouse, haha. 

If I remember correctly, they are having a hard time selling Gein's property so you better hit a number quick. I haven't toured even the vacant lot. That being said I wouldn't be against a quick trip there to see where it all went down.

Have you ever considerd actually filming at one of the Wisconsin’s murderesque scenes?  If so which one would you pick and why? You’ve said that you live pretty darn close to the where it all went down with Mr Dahmer, that’s so freakin’ cool, you have no idea how jealous I am of you.  Have you ever thought about doing a Jeffrey Dahmer and the Chocolate Factory short?  Actually to understand my reference there, you have to answer my next question first!  (Pictured right - the most handsome Jeffrey Dahmer) 

I have not tried filming there but it would have to be at the Gein property (see picture below - although house no longer stands, it's just the land), just because I don't think I'd run into as much trouble as I would filming where Dahmer was, and no I have not thought about that short haha.

Have you heard the Macabre album Dahmer??  If not, look it up now, it is a work of awesome genius! ;)  Once you have heard it you will want to share with all your friends too, trust me!

I know what you are talking about, but I haven't gotten around to listening to it.

What/Who inspired you to become a filmmaker and just how early did you catch the movie making bug?

Very early. I remember seeing Return of the Jedi when I was little and I totally wanted to know how they did that when I was still very young. Who inspired me to actually take up the camera was John Carpenter and Halloween. It inspired me to do it, but then George A Romero and Robert Rodriguez taught me that it was possible to work on a nothing budget. 

Are you any other genres or is horror where you find yourself most comfortable?  I mean, I love all sorts of films but I always find myself automatically levitating towards horror, be it in a rental store, a DVD shop, online on things like Love Film/Netflix…I just always go for horror first!  Are you the same?

I do find more comfort in horror, sure. It's like home for me. However, I'm not against doing other genre's at all. I really think I have my "Leaving Las Vegas" in me somewhere. 

What was the first short you did for The Social Media Massacre?  The first one I watched was A Hollywood Ending which I totally dug!  The guy was really cute too! :P  I find the premise fascinating, I mean after the whole German cannibal incident where he advertised for someone to eat online, it opened up this whole new medium for serial killers and murderers!  The same goes for all these people that meet someone online and then end up getting the chop chop!  What is it about this that fascinates you so much?

That was the first short that we filmed for Social Media Massacre. It was actually more inspired by William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily". If you aren't familiar with that story I highly suggest you read it. You'll see the parallels right away. 

Okay so from speaking to you, I have found out that the cute guy I was just referring too from A Hollywood Ending is Shaun, a character that you want to build on.  Do you want to tell us a little bit about this character and the way forward you’d like to go with him?

The actor in A Hollywood Ending is Charlie Bussian. There is a feature somewhere at some point that we are going to do based on that episode, but there are scheduling conflicts that keep us from getting it done.  I really can't go into too much detail about whats going to happen, safe to say it will be VERY unsettling. 

Have you ever seen the movie Serial Killing 101 or Serial Killing for Dummies (depends what country you are in, they like to change the name!)?  In this movie, for some class in school our protagonist has to tell the teacher what he wants to be when he grows up…it’s some sort of class essay/project.  Anyhoo, he says that he wants to be a serial killer and goes about deciding how his is going to take up this profession, haha.  He even gets this chick (the adorable Lisa Loeb) proposing to be his first victim!  What it turns out though, is there is actually a real life serial killer roaming the town killing people and he has to find out who it is.  I personally love the film, it’s super quirky and has some great parts in it, including a hardware store clerk played by Corey Feldman who helps our main guy pick out all sorts of awesome killing devices! ;)

This is actually the first time that I have heard of it, but now I have to see it. MTV made me have a crush on Lisa Loeb. And to address her, I will stay....

So anyway, the question I was originally going to ask before going on my Serial Killing 101 rant was that when you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?  And how close are you to that profession now!

I always wanted to entertain people. In one form or another. I think I'm pretty damn close to that now. 

What is the most shocking movie that you have ever seen?  What one really got under your skin and refused to budge?  Mine was Martyrs.  I don’t know what it is about that movie, perhaps I was hormonal at the time, fuck knows!  There was just something about it; I just wanted it to end!  And it wasn’t because it was bad, it wasn’t, it was amazing.  It’s the kind of thing I’d usually love but I can’t say I’m in a hurry to watch it again!  So yes, as a maker of movies that you fully intend to get under peoples skins, what really freaks you out?

ALIEN PREY. It just got under my skin in the kind of way that wasn't scary, it was just THAT bad. In doing research about the film I found out that they did things to the actors that would make Hitchcock and John Ford blush. I wouldn't put anyone through what they went through to make such a HORRIBLE movie. 

 

And lastly, you’ve got the feature film of The Social Media Massacre to do, is there anything else that you are working on right now?  What can we expect to see from wicked creeptastic self in the near future?

Yes! I have a few shorts that I am working on in one fashion or another that aren't related to Social Media Massacre. There are more episodes coming out that I'm not directing, so it's freeing me up to boost the creep factor in other areas. I'm currently in what you would call pre-production on a short called "Just Keep Running" which is a focus on how no matter what we do, we can't outrun our fates. For the most part though, folks can find out whats going on with me at Twitter. I'm @ronpurtee ;)

You can also follow Ron on Facebook.