American Horror Story? Yes..S1: E:12 Afterbirth

AMERICAN HORROR STORY: S1: E12 AFTERBIRTH:  Ok, so Halloween is over and I have to admit that watching horror movies every night for a month was interesting.  I'm still watching them, but I decided to turn it down a notch and get into an actual show. Resisting the tantalizing ads from American Horror Show daily for about 2 years, my curiosity finally got the better of me and I caved in., 


You what??

This is the first time I review a televised show and I dare say it will be one of the few times, perhaps only times.  I had no intention of reviewing any episodes but Aftermath, the 12th in the first season, is really ground breaking in my eyes as a show.  Note, FX is not paying me, although that would be nice..


Boring, take nap..

Seriously, I don't want to wax poetic about this show so I won't. I tried to watch non horror movies today, stumbling on a few decent documentaries, but I'm still hooked on the adrenaline that watching good horror brings.  The same thing happened last year when I went over 2 months straight.  I know, I know, get on with it..


What is this gibberish?

Long story short, this episode had just about everything you could put into 1 hour of televised programming.  It had the return of the rubber man, the death of Ben, the arrival of a new family, the exit of the new family, a new baby, and last but not least a new serial killer who apparently inherited his dad's pathology.  That's quite a recipe for success there.  I don't think I'm ruining anyone's surprise here since I realize I'm very late into the AHS game, but so what, it's my blog live with it.


Rubber man has fun with the new arrivals.

Leading to this!!



And THIS!!


Nice, although the Redrum effect would have been nice in a mirror..



So and so tries to commit suicide..Ben, that's it.


Hot girl finally gets her baby, for a second..


Hot girl, thinking about something...oh yhea Hayden..

AND...


Hot..err Hayden with a shotgun and a bikini for no apparent reason.

OK, so that last one wasn't in the actual episode but I couldn't help it.  IF this review seems very odd, it's because I haven't been able to sleep for a few days because....drum roll...I keep having really bad night terrors and the nootropic fueled lucid dreams I soooo raved about in one of my previous posts* DO NOT STOP.  


ME at about 3:30 am finally realizing that I Can't shake this nightmare.

Apparently the little "technique" I was experimenting with to coax myself into a nightmare after waking from it worked very well and is still working. Now it just happens.  a lot..

This is what I wanted to happen..



AND this is what I got..



SO back on target, this was a great episode, watch it, or don't watch it.  Most of you are probably already aware of this episode and the show, I'm just sharing here. Let's all step back and enjoy one more gratuitous picture of eye candy from the show while I pop in The Blair Witch Project again for the 5th time.

Sweet Dreams!

The Pact: Bring on the Nightmares!

THE PACT: 2012: --: HORROR:  I had this movie in my cue on Netflix for awhile, but never got around to watching it because I hadn't heard a lot about it.  I'm glad I watched it though because it had some great scares and an interesting plot.  Sure it was about a serial killer and the victims haunting a home (a common theme) but it had some scenes that were done really well and made my skin crawl.


Focus on the scares, not the trite circumstances.

Sometimes when movies don't have recognizable characters/ actors, they become more engaging, almost as though you are watching real events unfold before your eyes.  The camera shots and structuring also enhanced this feeling because they were straight forward, without any fancy parlor tricks or gimmicks.  The Pact is a good movie worth watching and here's why.

The lead actress is easy on the eyes and it doesn't hurt that she is almost entirely in her underwear for the first few segments of the movie.  Sorry ladies, I am a guy after all..She's beautiful and there's nothing wrong with that.  Having a pretty leading lady is common in horror movies and let's face it, the other leading male wasn't hideous, so there, it's a even mix..

  
The two leads were charismatic.

The premise of the movie is simple and it doesn't lead the viewer many things to assume.  There is a serial killer involved in a murder and the leading lady, Caity Lotz is related to him.  One of the victims is harassing her in the afterlife, causing her to seek out a medium played by Haley Hudson.  She has to be one of the most interesting women I have seen in awhile.  She definitely fit the role perfectly.  

  
The medium was very exotic looking and fit the role perfectly.  I enjoyed her performance.

The scares in this movie were pretty effective and actually startled me a few times, which says a lot since I am pretty hardened to horror movies by now.  Currently, it's been 8 days straight, only horror movies, not to mention my 3 month horror movie binge last year, which I'm sure you're all tired of hearing about..


A cup of tea with your blood fest anyone?

One of the best scares is when the medium is in the home, trying to detect the presence and starts repeating the name Judas and gets dragged under the bed by an unseen force.  The music heightened this effect and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed that part.  I was already in the mood because it didn't take long for mysterious forces to plague the lead character in the beginning segments.


When the medium gets pulled under the bed made my skin crawl.

Although I've seen this type of mystery force move people along the way, it was what happened next that really frightened me. Floating on the roof was a dead body and that literally made the hairs on the back of my neck rise; a true sign of a great scare!  Well done Nicholas McCarthy!  Then after that, a trap door is revealed and a severed body appears right before her head turns in an extreme close up.  This freaked me out.  Maybe it was because it was 3 AM and I was alone in the dark but it did. Period.

 
This was a grade A scare based on great timing and music which crescendos perfectly.

The plot line was decent and moved along very well without any periods of downtime.  It was almost too quick and deliberate but it made for a "Quicky" horror movie that you didn't have to invest too much time in.  Plus there were the gratuitous scenes of a half naked girl.  


The female lead was a badass, no doubt about that.

I won't give away too much more of the plot, because it has a semi-interesting and engaging ending, so watch the movie.  The one thing that made my cringe was the music at the end and that displayed the title of the movie.  Why?  Other than that, it's short and sweet and delivers some nice paranormal/ supernatural related scares:  79%


"Only a 79%, lock your doors Damien!"


"Don't mess with me!"


What a great pic for a dating profile!  "Wink ++

Some Thoughts on Dreams and Nightmares

Lately I have been paying close attention to my dreams, many of which have been nightmares due to the fact that I made a plan to watch horror movies exclusively for the next two months, every night, in preparation for Halloween and beyond.  So far it's been over a week non stop!  It's been awesome!



Last year, I did the same thing and binged on horror movies for 3 months straight until I literally couldn't do it anymore.  Not only were they ruining my subsequent movie watching, but they were also effecting me psychologically, which was in essence the purpose of the "experiment".  Too much of a good thing is detrimental so I stopped...for awhile.


Freddy came to visit often, but in other forms..

Never one to shy away from horror movies, I often seek them out as they are my favorite genre of movies.  Last year, I wanted to see how they would affect my dreams if I only watched them, devoid of any other types of movies, television shows, Netflix movies, etc.  It definitely did have an impact.



Some people have a hard time falling asleep and getting the full REM experience where your mind takes over due to lack of physical stimulation and motor response during sleep.  The mind essentially, fills in the gaps.  Some other people simply don't remember their dreams.  Finally, some people dream but haven't mastered the ability to control themselves in the dreams and make them "lucid".



Dreaming is an essential part of self awareness and controlling the way in which you dream is not only possible, but advisable. Anyone can become aware of their own self in a dream but it takes practice. This is the pinnacle of dream weaving and I love it.  Watching horror movies seems to be a catalyst for me because it increases the frequency of dreams, the intensity, and also sparks what I call being "awake" in a dream.



When I say that the binge I undertook last year changed the way I watched movies I mean that the adrenaline that I felt by being scared was hard to match in other movies that weren't in the horror movie genre.  It took me awhile to become engaged in movies again, unless they were excellent movies that I enjoyed or past favorites.  This isn't just an assumption, it is a fact (for me) because I put my self through a 3 month test period.  I was the guinea pig. Over 70% of my dreams were nightmares and over 60% of the time I had "control" in them and they were lucid.  Is it easier to make a nightmare a lucid dream because it frightens the dreamer?



Once I began to develop the skills to control dreams, they became more enjoyable, especially nightmares.  I was the doing the chasing, not the other way around. I was in control and could do what I wanted to do.  They were my escape and I loved them. 

 
Becoming the aggressor in nightmares is a thrilling experience, provided you remember the dream!

Now that I am back to my horror movie binge, I find that my techniques have become more and more fine tuned.  I have also researched some supplements that enhance this ability.  Some, known as nootropics, act to stimulate portions in the brain that govern sleep, length of sleep, deepness of sleep and also enhance visuals (dreaming in color) and almost guarantee the recall of dreams. After all, what good is a dream if you can't remember it?  



Recalling dreams is the first step to controlling them.  Once you remember them, you can think back on them and if you fall asleep immediately after waking from that dream, you can "coax" your brain into returning into that dream by focusing on it while you fall back asleep.  This period between sleep and waking is a great way to initiate a previous dream and start controlling it, making it lucid.  




My favorite supplements are Alpha Lipoic Acid, Ashawanda Root, Valerian Root, Melatonin, Magnesium, 5-HTP, Skull Cap, Passion Flower, Lemon Balm, Tryptophan, Huperzine A, and Vinpocetine. I often include vitamin B6 because it aids in their absorption in the blood brain barrier.  GABA also works well, but it is not known if it passes the BBB.  All of these are safe but check with your doctor before trying these.  In some cases, 80% of them are in one supplement, but they are hard to find and especially hard to find them with the quality, all natural ingredients listed above.  These are two that are pretty good, but you still need to supplement with others.  



Note, this is not an advertisement, I get nothing for mentioning these brand.  Nor do I care if anyone buys them.  I like them and they work for me.  I use these instead of hard pharmaceutical brands that are habit forming and make you essentially a zombie in sleep, unable to remember dreams, let alone control lucid ones. Again, always check with your doctor to make sure that there are no interactions.  Try these instead of Ambien, which is habit forming and has caused people to wake drowsy and even get into car accidents since they are still asleep while awake!  I'd rather not sleep than have that issue.

So in your next dream, try to take control.  It will enhance your life in many ways and could perhaps even provide wisdom and knowledge that you can use in your real life!



BECOME SELF AWARE THROUGH DREAMS.