Monster Scholar

Yours truly is going to be a monster scholar with an official title if all goes well at my masters comps this Friday. I decided to get a pass-through masters but the downside is I have to take the exams. I have three hours to complete two essays on several literature readings (too bad it’s not horror films). You can read more about it here . As a result you will be seeing less of me this week, but as always I’ll be back. Wish me luck!

Roman Polanski, the visionary director of such films as Rosemary's Baby and Repulsion was arrested in Switzerland when he visited the country to receive lifetime achievement award at the Zurich film festival. Some are outraged by the action of the Swiss government against Polanski who has had a house in the country for over twelve years. There has been speculation that the arrest was the result of a sinister plot between the US and Switzerland: Polanski in exchange for leniency in cases of US tax fraud involving Swiss banks. As I mentioned in my comments on Pax Romano’s blog ( Where'd You Get them Eyes? ) there is a sexual double standard being applied Polanski’s crime versus the very similar case of Victor Salva, who was also accused of molesting an underage child. The crucial difference between the two indiscretions lies in the gender of the victim. Polanski drugged and raped a 14-year-old girl while Salva molested a 12-year-old boy on video tape. I find it odd that people...

With Zombieland set to hit theaters this weekend, I figure it’s time for one last hurrah of Zombie Kill of the week. So I have something special planned, the top Zombie Kills via YouTube in no particular order. Enjoy. Tom Savini simulationeously pistol whips and shoots a zombie Crowbars are good for all sorts of things. Did anyone order a screwdriver? The party's just started. Bitch isn’t standing now. There’s a girl in the garden

A strange plague has overtaken the college campus where I live and work. The half groans, stifled coughs and bleary eyes of thousands of sick college students have crescendoed into something akin to zombie hysteria! Almost everyone I know has succumbed to flu-like symptoms and I am tempted to teach class in a hazmat suit. I'm actually washing my hands on a regular basis and not indulging in the five second rule (yes, I have eaten food off the floor before--but it was a triple-decker fudge brownie!). So wash your hands, cover your cough and for goodness sakes, please don't touch me! (for anyone who got that last reference to famous horror musical, kudos to you).

Monster Land has received the coveted HZA award for excellence in horror blogging! This prestigious award comes from the master of mayhem himself, Pax Romano at Billy Loves Stu . Here is what Pax had to say about yours truly: The Best Damn Written Blog That's So Good, It Puts Everyone Else to Shame ... award goes to th e Monster Scholar, Jeanette , and her labor of love, MONSTER LAND . Well executed, painf ully res earched, and often witty, Jeanette brings some much needed class to the horror blogging community. I feel a bit like Kristin Chenoweth when she won the Emmy for best supporting actress in a comedy. "This is heavy...::squeak::"

I went to a showing of Sorority Row at my local Movie Tavern expecting the usual from a modern remake of yet another 80s slasher. I leaned back in my seat and prepared for an hour and a half screaming bimbos being pursued by a masked killer with a pimped out tire iron. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised by a film that critiques the sorority system as one that revolves around male stereotypes of women and argues that female solidarity can only exist outside such an oppressive system. To give a broad synopsis of the film, five sorority sisters are stalked by a vengeful killer after a prank ends in the death of their friend Megan. They are Cassidy, the hold-out; Ellie, the nerd; Chugs, the alcoholic; Jessica the queen bee and Claire. In on the secret is Garrett, the one technically responsible for killing Megan. Looking first at the hooded killer, it is obvious that he represents a patriarchal threat much like the psycho paterfamilias in the original Stepfather , the remake of which is ...

I was on MySpace when a Zombieland promo popped up with Woody Harrelson and that kid from Juno giving tips on how to survive a zombie apocalypse. This bit of fun seguewayed into the trailer and I was about to click off when I noticed the zombie stripper that chases the Asian businessman out of the nudie club (an image that has stuck with me since my first viewing of the redband trailer) was now wearing a digital bikini top! Check out the regular and restricted trailers at the Zombieland website to witness the hilarity.