La Santa Muerta (Saint Death) Documentary

“Trailer for the documentary La Santa Muerte (Saint Death), directed and produced by Eva Aridjis, narrated by Gael García Bernal, distributed by Seventh Art Releasing. Film synopsis: In Mexico there is a cult that is rapidly growing- the cult of Saint Death. This female grim reaper, considered a saint by followers but Satanic by the Catholic Church, is worshiped by people whose lives are filled with danger and/or violence- criminals, gang members, transvestites, sick people, drug addicts, and families living in rough neighborhoods. “La Santa Muerte” examines the origins of the cult and takes us on a tour of the altars, jails, and neighborhoods in Mexico where the saint’s most devoted followers can be found.”

Whoa… the DVD was only officially released on October 7th, but quickly checking Amazon, I see the distributor’s already run out of stock! Hopefully they’ll have it back in, soon.

The FAM: Halloween Double Feature 2010

It’s almost Halloween which mean it’s time to hunker down and finish off putting all those razorblades in the candied apples you bought if you’re going to have them finished in time for the trick-or-treaters. While you’re doing that, you sick, sick bastard, enjoy a few hours of macabre tales on film.

First up we have Eyes Without a Face (Les yeux sans visage) from 1960, directed by Georges Franju and based on the novel by Jean Redon. Eyes Without a Face tells the story of one Doctor Génessier, a surgeon looking to restore the face of his daughter Christiane, disfigured in a automobile accident. To this end the doctor, with the help of his assistant Louise, abduct young women in order to provide a face for transplant. For a film made in 1960 Eyes Without a Face contains what must have been a shocking amount of gore. The scene in which Génessier slowly removes the face of Edna Gruber is still effective in grossing out the squeamish and the slow degeneration of the transplant as Christiane’s body rejects it follows right on its heels. If you only watch one of these films I urge you to watch this one. Wonderfully shot by Eugen Shuftan, alternating between the serene and the grotesque, it’s an under-appreciated classic.

Next is 1977’s Suspiria directed by the one and only Dario Argento. Suzy Bannion, a ballerina from New York, travels to Freiburg to attend a famous ballet school only to discover that it actually houses a coven of murderous witches. What follows is a surreal hallucination of horror movie. Argento’s world is downright insane and his signature use of anamorphic lenses is in full effect. Also present is his pointed use of incredibly vivid primary colors, particularly red which is so bright here that the blood is almost fluorescent. The effect was achieved using the imbibition process utilized by Technicolor, the same process used in movies like The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind. In fact, as well as featuring Udo Kier, Suspiria is also known for being the last film processed using this method. Udo Kier alone should be reason enough to watch this one.

And there it is ladies and gentlemen, your Halloween flavored FAM. Enjoy the holiday and make sure you don’t eat those special, candied apples. They’re for the kids.

Alex Heller Does Creep Cover With Dolls

Made popular by the trailers for The Social Network, the Scala & Kolacny Brothers’ Choir’s cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” gets a suitably disturbing video by Alex Heller. Using a Nikon D60 to take 1554 pictures, Miss Heller gives us the story of four, malevolent Barbies and the chubby outsider who wants more than anything to be just like them.

Via Kuriositas : The Daily What

Giant Gummy Worm: Ribbed For Your Pleasure

What’s 26 inches long, weighs three pounds, and would be immensely fun to lube up and brandish menacingly at pumpkin-smashing, house-egging Halloween vandals, preferably while wearing a bloodstained chicken suit? Why, the World’s Largest Gummy Worm, that’s what!

The precocious online shop Vat19 is currently sold out of all five dual flavors of this 4000 calorie candy, but never fear– they’ll be back in stock very soon. Meantime, there’s always The World’s Largest Gummy Bear.

The Vagina Power Halloween Special

It was many years ago when I first discovered the awesomeness that is Vagina Power, an Atlanta-based public access show hosted by the inimitable Alexyss K. Tylor and her often shocked and bewildered mother. Few have done more to empower women than Tylor, a woman whose unique voice shines through in the heated battle betwixt the genitals.

In this particular episode, she uses the holiday of Halloween to focus on a woman’s duty to police her vagina, a valiant call to arms, meant to tame the lawless land below the waists of the Second Sex. In doing so she also explores the wedding ring’s role in binding both the Penis and the Nuts. It is not quite as stupendous as when she explained that “dick’ll make you slap somebody”, but it is classic Alexyss K. Tylor nonetheless.

Limited-Edition Halloween Prints from Zoetica

Just in time for Goth Christmas™, Zo has released two gorgeous prints, available over at her site, Biorequiem. Featured are the Snake Charmer illustration from Issue 04, as well as the ravishing Mommy-Four-Legs, originally created for Travis Louie’s group art show, titled “Monster?” The artworks are available for a limited time as  8.5 x 11 prints on velvet photo rag paper, and can be purchased separately or together for a special price. Details here.

Performance

Graham Annable (previously featured on Coilhouse) presents his new short, “Performance”, an incredible recreation of Meredith Yayanos’s stage show in his signature, animated style.

Issue 06 Merch Order Shipping Status

Guys, we’ve gotten a few emails along the lines of: “yo, where’s the merch I ordered from you a couple of weeks ago? It is taking forever to ship!” We’d like to clear up the confusion about the shipping dates of these merch items, because we’ve never gotten such a large number of emails inquiring about shipping times before.

When we put up the original merch announcement post, we wrote, “This round of merch is Pre-Order: meaning, you buy it, we get it manufactured, and you get your shipment about 3 weeks from now.” Unfortunately, this text was in the fifth paragraph down, so we’re thinking that a lot of people missed it. Next time, we’ll be sure to make the shipping time bold and at the top of the post, so that it’s impossible to miss; though generally, we’ll avoid doing Pre-Orders in favor of having items up-front, because we like to be able to ship things to you faster. Technically, the post should have said “3 weeks from the date that Pre-Order closes on Wednesday, October 12th,” which was five days later. We apologize for that oversight, and other than those five days, we’re still on track to ship out the merch in a timely fashion within the stated 3-week turnaround.

Thank you again for your support, everyone. We’ve never done Pre-Order before, and it’s definitely been a learning experience. We’re working around the clock to make sure that the items reach you as fast as possible once we receive them, and we’ll keep you posted on when we receive all the items and begin shipping them. We hope you love your merch, and as always, we are grateful for your patronage and support. If you have any more questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Gretta at Coilhouse Shipping. Thank you!

Monica Cook’s Beautifully Disturbing Short Film, “Deuce”

Previously featured by Zo on Coilhouse, Monica Cook‘s art is consistently visceral, textural, and… juicy.


Via Wurzeltumblr.

Conceived and animated by Cook, with music by Martín Capella, the short film, Deuce, “portrays an awkward encounter between a man and a woman that triggers their individual fantasies.” As usual, Cook succeeds in presenting a putrescent sensuality that’s simultaneously off-putting and mesmerizing.

Owen Pallett in the Rain

Owen Pallett, formerly performing as Final Fantasy, is on tour right now. Though the American leg is over, there are plenty of Canadian, European and Asian dates to look forward to. This is valuable information for lovers of string music, peculiar lyrics and minimal, yet mesmerizing performances.

Since 2002, Pallett has contributed violins and arrangements to over thirty albums by other artists, in addition to recording three albums of his own, two under his old, video-game-inspired moniker. Like the wonderful Zoe Keating, repeatedly featured here and in Coilhouse 05, he plays over loops he records live. He also sings, plays keyboards, quips and manages to entrance fans whether he’s playing in a dive bar or a massive theater. Below, a funny [and strangely moving] video from a performance last year at the Live at the Hillside festival in Guelph, where a drenched Owen Pallett plays against a wall of rain, and against the wishes of festival security.

There are two official music videos below the jump, where you can hear how Pallett sounds in less adverse conditions. Neither does his live act justice, though both are neat-o.