Sunday 18 February 2018

TENEBRAPHOBIA




Finally unleashed today, this five song EP is a project that Bowie (my incredibly multi-talented partner) and I have been working on for many months. At times, its creation has been a process as frustrating as it's been fun, but we're both really stoked with the end result.

TENEBRAPHOBIA is a tribute to the throbbing synth scores that are the defining signature of so many '70s and '80s Italian and North American horror films. Scores by the likes of Goblin, John Carpenter and Fabio Frizzi.

Bowie's take on the genre is gnarly. Horror synth as filtered through a punk attitude. These tunes rock.

All tracks/recording/mixing by Ms. Raffan. Concept/titles, logo/design, and grumpy muse: your's truly.

Enjoy, share, but whatever you do, turn it the fuck UP!








Wednesday 14 February 2018

FEB 14


Maybe I'll just post this every Valentine's Day, because why the fuck not?







Sunday 4 February 2018

Decade of Decay: MARTYRS / INSIDE




Has it really been 10 and 11 years respectively since MARTYRS and INSIDE turned the world of horror cinema, kicking and screaming, on its head? And 9 years since I was gushing and ranting about both films on this blog? Unbelievably, the answer to both questions is yes.

In that time we've seen the watered-down, sanitised US remakes come and go (into much deserved obscurity), as the careers of Pascal Laugier and Maury/Bustillo have sadly failed to live up to the promise of their early masterpieces (but I'm still rooting for Laugier's new one, GHOSTLAND).

Regardless of those negative observations, the impact of these two modern classics hasn't diminished a bit. In the decade since they were unleashed on the world, have we even seen another truly comparable film? Their blend of feminism and arthouse sensibilities, colliding head on with pitch black, extreme gore was, and still is, pretty unique.

To celebrate the occasion, here's a pulpy Spanish one-sheet for INSIDE that I don't think I've ever seen (above), and some nice MARTYRS tributes from Gary Pullin (top), Nathan Thomas Milliner (middle) and Trevor Henderson (bottom).