Live and Let Die ~ Bondathon Film 8

Time to check in on our eight film of the Bondathon: Live or Let Die

Mentioned in this vlog:

• Live or Let Die stars Roger Moore as James Bond and is directed by Guy Hamilton
• See the original Bondathon post with schedule and film listing, and my introductory vlog about the Bondathon.
• I am starting to notice a theme of the plots of the Bond films being rather forgettable.
• I also notice that the stylings of the films are continuing to be one of my favourite things about films (except the high waisted pants!).
• I mention Yaphet Kotto who is in Live and Let Die as well as Alien & Homicide: Life on the Street.
• I talk a lot about the use of The Tarot in the film, in particular the fact that they switched decks at one point. The decks they use in the film are both The Tarot of the Witches (this is the correct name) as well as The Rider-Waite deck.
• Decks in the Film: The Tarot of the Witches and The Rider-Waite Deck (traditional)
• Decks I Show in the Review: The Yeagar Tarot of Meditation, Arcus Arcanum Tarot Deck and Morgan-Greer Tarot Deck (very traditional); plus a mystery deck! If you recognize it, please share the name!
• See my vlogs for previous films in the Bondathon with Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Diamonds are Forever
• You can also hear my Bondathon reviews as a part of the Movie Moxie Podcast

Up Next for the Bondathon: The Man with the Golden Gun

Live or Let Die Images:


Images of the Tarot Decks show in my video:

Red Lights ~ Movie Passes Giveaway Toronto Screening with Q&A Cillian Murphy and Rodrigo Cortés

Cillian Murphy with RED LIGHTS Director Rodrigo Cortés

Want to see an advance screening of the paranormal thriller Red Lights with director Rodrigo Cortés and actor Cillian Murphy in attendance for a Q&A? You know you do! Here are the film details:

Synopsis: "Two investigators of paranormal hoaxes, the veteran Dr. Margaret Matheson and her young assistant, Tom Buckley, study the most varied metaphysical phenomena with the aim of proving their fraudulent origin.

Simon Silver, a legendary blind psychic, reappears after an enigmatic absence of 30 years to become the greatest international challenge for both orthodox science and professional skeptics.

Tom starts to develop an intense obsession with Silver, whose magnetism becomes stronger with each new manifestation of inexplicable events. As Tom gets closer to Silver, tension mounts, and his worldview is threatened to its core..."

Red Lights stars Cillian Murphy, Robert De Niro, Sigourney Weaver, Elizabeth Olsen and is directed by Rodrigo Cortés. Here are the movie passes giveaway details:

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Toronto Red Lights Screening Details including Q&A with director Rodrigo Cortés and actor Cillian Murphy:
Date: Wednesday June 27, 2012; Showtime: 7:00 PM (Doors: 6:00PM)
Location: TIFF Bell Lightbox at 350 King Street West in Toronto, ON M5V 3X5
Click here for Screening & Enter PIN of 56A 35E B01

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There are a limited number of passes for the screenings, so act quick!

Want to increase your chances for next time? Sign up for any of the Movie Moxie Newsletters as subscribers get first chance at any contests or giveaways. You can sign up here.

Thank you to Alliance Films for the movie passes giveaway!

Red Lights trailer:



Robert De Niro as “Simon Silver” in RED LIGHTS. Photo Courtesy of Alliance Films


Red Lights Poster Courtesy of Alliance Films

Toronto After Dark Film Festival Summer Screening Announced!

Toronto After Dark Film Festival Summer Screenings Announced: Wed June 27 & Wed July 11, 2012


Toronto After Dark Film Festival Summer Screenings Announced!

Does it feel like October is way to far away to enjoy Toronto After Dark goodness? Then you are in luck as the festival recently announced they are heading up 2 nights of double bill mayhem at The Bloor Cinema this summer! On Wednesday June 27, 2012 and Wednesday July 11, 2012 we will have Cuban zombies, haunted houses, slasher comedy and a compilation found-footage film frenzy to enjoy. Sounds like an awesome selection to me! Here are the film and screening details:

Wednesday June 27, 2012: Juan of the Dead (7 pm) and The Pact (9:45 pm)
Cuban zombie film Juan of the Dead / Juan de los Muertos and haunted house flick The Pact

Juan of the Dead / Juan de los Muertos
Writer/Dir: Alejandro Brugués (Personal Belongings)
Cast: Alexis Díaz de Villegas, Jorge Molina, Andrea Duro
Cuba/Spain
trailer, website and IMDb Page

The Pact (2012)
Writer/Dir: Nicholas McCarthy - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Caity Lotz, Casper Van Dien, Agnes Bruckner, Mark Steger, Haley Hudson, Kathleen Rose Perkins, Sam Ball
USA
trailer and IMDb Page

Wednesday July 11, 2012 Detention (7 pm) and V/H/S (9:45 pm)
Slasher comedy Detention and a compilation found-footage film V/H/S from directors including Adam Wingard, Ti West (The Innkeepers) and Glenn McQuaid (I Sell the Dead).

Detention
Dir: Joseph Kahn - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Josh Hutcherson, Shanley Caswell, Spencer Locke, Dane Cook
USA
trailer, website and IMDb Page

V/H/S
Dirs (various): including Adam Wingard, Ti West (The Innkeepers) and Glenn McQuaid (I Sell the Dead)
Cast: Calvin Reeder, Lane Hughes, Adam Wingard, Hannah Fierman, Sophia Takal, Joe Swanberg, Joe Sykes, Drew Sawyer, Jason Yachanin
USA
trailer, website and IMDb Page

And for the filmmakers out there, remember Toronto After Dark Film Festival call for entries is now open! Regular deadline is June 29, 2012, the Final Deadline is July 20, 2012 and the Extended Final Deadline (exclusive to Withoutabox.com users) is July 27, 2012. See more about the call for entries here.

See more information at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival website or Buy Tickets to the Summer Screenings Here.

The Devil Inside

Dir: William Brent Bell (Stay Alive)
Cast: Fernanda Andrade, Isabella Rossi, Simon Quarterman, Evan Helmuth, Ionut Grama, Suzan Crowley
USA, 2012

Seen: January 10, 2012 at the Rainbow

Reason to see: If it's supernatural, I'll see it .

Ah, the first new film seen of the year! We started off this January with only 2 choices for new releases and I chose The Devil Inside over Players (2012) as I have strong pull to supernatural films.The Devil Inside is a supernatural drama that uses the format of creating a documentary to explore personal history including the protagonist Isabella Rossi (Fernanda Andrade) own past as well as her mother Maria’s (Suzan Crowley) who was exorcised years ago.

I know this subject matter can freak people out and it did certainly get the crowd going, so I think in terms of content it’s something people are either interested in, or not. It does have some great scares in it and interesting ideas that build a little on the genre for which January seems to be a popular time for supernatural films as in recent years we’ve had The Rite as well as The Unborn. There were several things that I liked about the film, including that it focused on a female protagonist who was delving into her own family history, I liked the exploration of the journey and the different places and locations of the film. I also liked that it veered off the path a bit in terms of beliefs, as usually exorcism films depict characters that fall quickly into one of two sides: believers and non-believers, with the occasional renewed-believer though scary encounters. The Devil Inside played it more grey and middle ground with people being more open, more risky and more horrifically adventurous than I’ve seen in the past. And it gets another point for providing some pretty good scares.

The biggest challenge of the film is the ‘making a documentary’ format, and while watching I kept wondering if we were suppose to really believe that this is actually happening, and are these real lives & encounters we are seeing? This buying into the documentary format can be done successful, as seen by the recent Norwegian film Trollhunter; but with The Devil Inside I wasn’t buying. I always felt like I was watching actors and that what I was seeing was a story told through film. So in that sense I wish they hadn’t gone with the format because the ideas were interesting but I kept playing the compare game in my head with the similar in concept 2010 film The Last Exorcism which pulls off the idea in a much stronger way. If you go into this film and are just seeing this as a first introduction to the idea, I think they will enjoy it; however if you compare the two films I think viewers will be disappointed. So, it does beg the question of whether or not it’s even fair to compare but in terms of an audience I think most people who like myself are interested in supernatural films are likely to have see both; at which point it’s fair to recognize that is fair to compare. Supernatural films tend to be a genre people either like or don’t, and even further into the genre the mere subject of exorcism isn’t something people are often likely to go outside their comfort zone.

In terms of the viewing experience, I saw it in a pretty small theatre that was quite full and the audience was very vocal yelping at the scares or even shouting out theories or ‘don’t go up there’ comments to the screen. Normally that could grate me, but in this context it was great to ease the tension and laugh or eek alongside folk.

For supernatural film fans, I think there is enough to get something from The Devil Inside, although I think that general horror fans may find it not quite enough to get them going. I did like the characters, the ideas and the scares but I think it could have gone a little deeper on some of the concepts and story lines.

The Devil Inside was released in wide release on January 6, 2012 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

See also my review of The Devil Inside on Episode 57 of the Movie Moxie Podcast:


Shannon's Overall View:
I enjoyed it, but wanted to like it a lot more
I'd watch it again
I'd recommend it to supernatural film fans

© Shannon Ridler, 2012

Movie Moxie Podcast 57: The Devil Inside, Sherlock Holmes 2, Melancholia & More

This week on The Movie Moxie Podcast shannon chats about The Devil Inside,
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, The Darkest Hour and Melancholia in a
spoiler-free fashion as always!

0:00 - 5:45 Intro
5:45 - 11:40 The Devil Inside
11:40 - 14:50 Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
14:50 - 17:00 The Darkest Hour
17:00 - 21:40 Melancholia
21:40 - 26:55 Jan 3, 2012 releases including Don't Be Afraid of the Dark,
The Guard & Shark Night
26:55 - 35:00 Jan 10, 2012 release including Brighton Rock & The Tempest
35:00 - Outro

• I mention Book to Film Club for 2012 has begun and our first selection is The Borrowers
• I mention The Rite (podcast review), The Last Exorcism, The Guard (podcast review), Antichrist and Fish Story / Fisshu sutôrî
• See DVD reviews for films mentioned Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, The Guard, Shark Night, Brighton Rock & The Tempest
  
• See more DVD releases for January 3, 2012 and January 10, 2012
• See recent Film Fan Fridays & DVD Releases Posts
• I mention that the upcoming Mark Walhberg film is directed by Baltasar Kormákur (White Night Wedding / Brúðguminn).
  

Movie Moxie Podcast - A 100% spoiler-free film review podcast
You can also subscribe to the Movie Moxie Podcast here:
Subscribe through iTunes here.

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (DVD Review)

DVD of the creepy horror film Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2011) starring Bailee Madison, Katie Holmes and Guy Pearce.


Image Courtesy of Alliance Films

Dir: Troy Nixey ("Latchkey's Lament")
Cast: Bailee Madison, Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce, Julia Blake, Jack Thompson
USA/Australia/Mexico, 2011

Reason to see: Horror movie

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2011) is a remake of a 1973 film of the same name, and sometimes I can be harsh on remakes but I thought I would give this one a try. We follow a young girl named Sally who comes to stay with her father (Guy Pearce) who is restoring an old mansion. There certainly was a sense of the house being wounded, like patching over worn out pieces over and over until even the patches are threadbare, and this tone floats through the film giving it a creepiness that really works for horror. So I was feeling like we were off to a good start.

I was actually quite looking forward to Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2011), because I'd not seen the original and therefore was looking forward to seeing the story for the first time. That didn’t turn out quite as I had imagined, because I figured out the story pretty early. I know I watch a lot of horror & supernatural films, and lots of film, but it felt too clear to me. Perhaps mystery wasn't the goal. A lot of the scares come across in tone and ideas so there is still that, but even then at times when for really visceral look-away-from-the-screen moments, which wasn’t quite the kind of surprize I was hoping for.

On the flip side, the film definitely had things that I enjoyed. The mansion it is set in is beautiful, it feels so rare to see something of that scale and it has great art direction showing the house in different states of repair and distress. I also loved that it had a young girl as the protagonist and Bailee Madison does a great job at being the sullen Sally. I was also impressed by Katie Holmes, who did a fair amount with a role that wasn't that meaty. I could really feel that her character had a full and complete history and I wanted to know more about it. I also really liked the relationship between their two characters, it felt unique and I really enjoyed that. I’ll look forward to seeing both of their work in the future.

Sadly, the film has more than a few conveniences that are jammed into the story to make later things work, and you can feel they are devices. Horror is a challenge that way, you really need to be able to establish that with subtly because it certainly needs to be there, but it also needs the logic for us to believe it at all times. It also like it wanted to be set in the past not the present but it ...was in the present. Why not just set it in the past? It's already got the nostalgia of the dilapidated house; I could have seen it in the past. Perhaps that would be too much given that it’s a remake. Overall, I liked the idea of the story and the tone that it set, but I didn’t always believe what was happening. From the conveniences to the characters moments, there were too many things that didn’t quite work which is really too bad. A few tweaks here and there would have had us twitching in our seats.

Warnings: Disturbing imagery & ideas and some gore

DVD Extras:
Don't Be Afraid... Documentary of 3 Featurettes:

• The Story (6 minutes) film clips, behind the scenes and interviews with director Troy Nixey, executive producer William Horberg, producer/co-writer Guillermo del Toro and actors Guy Pearce & Katie Holmes on making a classic horror film, bringing the film to life, on the original film and how scary it is, the 15+ year process of bringing the film to life, the crossover of ideas/themes between this film and other del Toro films, the updating of the character of Sally to a more currently believable character, the relatable family dynamic and struggles, the films connection to stories and folk lore.
• Blackwood's Mansion (5 minutes) film clips, behind the scenes, concept art and interviews with director Troy Nixey, production designer Roger Ford, executive producer Stephen Jones, cinematographer Oliver Stapleton and actor Katie Holmes on historical architecture, the design of the Blackwood house, the colour palettes in the film, the contrast between the inside & outside worlds in the film, how they created the house for the film, the choice to work against a 'scary looking' house, the stages construction for the film and the creepy feel texture created for the film.
• The Creatures (9 minutes) concept art, creature sculptures, previsualization, behind the scenes, film clips and interviews with producer/co-writer Guillermo del Toro, visual effects producer Iloura Digital Ineke Majoor, visual effects producer Scott Shapiro, director Troy Nixon, lead VFX supervisor Iloura Digital Glenn Melenhorst, executive producer Stephen Jones on the question of to show or not to show the monster in monster films, the characters of the creatures, what they wanted the creatures to look like and their histories, the visual nod/connection of the creatures to the original film, the inspiration for the movement of the creature, discussion and example of previsualization, the onset filming, mapping & techniques done to incorporate them with the visual effects done; plus young actor Bailee Madison on working with not actually seeing anything.

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2011) is available on DVD as of January 3, 2011. Check it out over at Amazon.ca & Amazon.com

Shannon's Overall View:
I enjoyed it, but wanted to enjoy it more
I'd watch it again
I'd recommend it for people that like drama-centric creepy films

Return to Film Reviews or see more DVD Reviews

© Shannon Ridler, 2011 - 2012
Originally reviewed for Theatrical Release - September 8, 2011


Guy Pearce stars in Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, an Alliance Films release. Photo Credit Carolyn Johns


Bailee Madison stars in Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, an Alliance Films release. Photo Credit Carolyn Johns


Katie Holmes (left) and Bailee Madison (right) star in Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, an Alliance Films release. Photo Credit Carolyn Johns

Saint / Sint (DVD Review)

DVD review of the Dutch supernatural holiday horror film Saint/Sint featuring a less-than-nice Saint Nicholas


Image Courtesy of eOne Films

Writer/Dir: Dick Maas (Do Not Disturb, The Lift, Amsterdamned)
Cast: Huub Stapel, Egbert Jan Weeber, Caro Lenssen, Escha Tanihatu, Madelief Blanken, Bert Luppes
The Netherlands, 2010

Reason to see: Holiday horror - one of the most bizarre subgenres out there, which makes it all the more fun!

I was cautiously curious to enter the world of Saint/Sint, a Dutch horror/comedy that pitches Saint Nick as the villain in a twisted take on a holiday tradition. I watched the trailer many times before deciding if I wanted to take the plunge and watch the film and it was really hard to decide because it had all the ear marks of what could have been a bad horror film (young cast, bizarre/ridiculous and possible one-note concept with lore laid out in the trailer, plus I'd never heard of it), but I kept thinking that maybe, just maybe there would be something there worth watching. And there was. In fact it was all worth watching as I enjoyed every minute of it.

Holiday horror is a wild subgenre that just screams at you that it's stepping on all toes, literally and figuratively. In Saint/Sint we are working with the story of a evil and murderous St. Niklas who appears when there is a full moon on December 5th and goes on a vengeful rampage. And when I say St. Niklas, they actually are going with a Saint (played by Huub Stapel), so that will miff off any religious folks (who probably aren't up for holiday horror) and it's an equal opportunity killer so that will press even more buttons. But I think that it going for pushing buttons is a good thing, because that is where so much of the beauty of the film lies - it's over the top horror in terms many levels from visual with buckets of blood as well as concept as no one is safe. That was part of what I loved about the film was that it was across the board even in it's brutal take on things, it makes you realize that even with horror there are some places that films generally don't go...but with Saint/Sint they do. It easily lives up to the claim in The Making Of which introduces the film as the 'most controversial Dutch movie of the year'.

The film also favours some tried and true storytelling for horror including following a set of partying young folk of Frank (Egbert Jan Weeber), Sophie (Escha Tanihatu) & Natasha (Madelief Blanken) threading through holidays festivities, friendships and relationship drama as well as varying beliefs in celebrating the holiday season. We also have the stringent old timer police officer Goert (Bert Luppes) who files the dual role of resident expert and/or overzealous fool. I like how they give just enough of the characters that you can ease into their stories comfortably and then knocks it out of the park when it comes to the zaniness of the idea of the vengeful St. Niklaus full on with epic music, wild chase sequences and horrific encounters all with the backdrop of beautiful, wintery Amsterdam. It's a wild and wonderful horror film and it a fantastic holiday pick for horror fans and Scrooges alike.

DVD Extras:

• The Making Of Sint (22 minutes) Impressive making of with lots of behind the scenes, extensive film clips and interviews with writer/director Dick Maas, special make up effects Erik & Rob Hillenbrink, stunt coordinators Willem de Beukelaer & Marco Maas, special Harrie Wiessenhaan, second unit Rolf Dekens, director of photography Guido van Gennep, visual effects supervisor Kasper Oerlemans and actors Egbert Jan Weeber, Huub Stapel, Escha Tanihatu & Bert Luppes on the premise of the film, where the idea came from of making a horror film about Saint Nicholas, playing with ideas that people are very familiarity with, the bloody nature of the film, the casting of the late-teen characters, the combination of horror and comedy, the setting & filming in Amsterdam, on the vengeance factor of the characters of Saint, the effects/make up, their characters, plus a time lapse make up for Saint Nicholas and a whole section on the effects from with behind the scenes and interviews with on the creating the effects lots of blood splattering, behind the scenes on the stunt works with wire work, cars, green screens, weather creation, creating the directors vision into reality, how much the actors did of their stunts, animated storyboard and process behind a unique chase scene, behind the scenes with second unit, the process of transferring green screen footage to finished film footage. In Dutch with optional English or French subtitles.

Saint/Sint is available on DVD as of December 20, 2011. Check it out over at Amazon.ca & Amazon.com

Shannon's Overall View:
I enjoyed it, a lot
I'll watch it again
I'd strongly recommend for fans of over the top horror fans and horror comedy fans

Return to Film Reviews or see more DVD Reviews

© Shannon Ridler, 2011


Huub Stapel in SAINT. Image Courtesy of eOne Films.

The Sylvian Experiments / Kyôfu (DVD Review)

DVD review of the Japanese supernatural/medical horror film The Sylvian Experiments / Kyôfu


Image: Courtesy of Alliance Films
Legal Line © 2009 Kyofu Film Partners. All Rights Reserved. Distributed exclusively in Canada by Alliance Films. All Rights Reserved.

Dir: iroshi Takahashi (Sodom the Killer)
Cast: Mina Fujii, Yuri Nakamura, Nagisa Katahira
Japan, 2010

Reason to see: Japanese Horror is always an enthusiastic Yes!

I was really looking forward to The Sylvian Experiments / Kyôfu as it's been a while since I've dove into the world of Japanese Horror, we had quite a boom of it in the early 2000's although it kept going strong it wasn't that available outside festival and DVD releases so it was exciting to get all worked to get all freaked out!

In the film we follow two young women who are linked in a mystery of experience shrouded in sorrow, and there is an amazing tone of loss that comes through the film that resonates on a strong emotional level even when it doesn't get super specific. I liked the mystery elements and the great way that they tell you just enough to ricochet ideas in your mind, but not so much that you get too comfortable. It's a very finessed balance that I think is key to a good horror film and they certainly walk the line so perfectly you might even miss it (which is a good thing.

The Sylvian Experiments / Kyôfu is creepy on both a concept level and a visual level, blending supernatural & medical horror which is sure to cross over many comfort zones and have people squirming in their seats (and in their minds). I liked the fact that I didn't always know where it was going but was really freaked out over the coldness of the characters, adding yet another layer of horror to a virtual mille feuille of the mind.

DVD Extras:
No Extras

The Sylvian Experiments / Kyôfu is available on DVD as of November 29, 2011. Check it out over at Amazon.ca & Amazon.com

Shannon's Overall View:
I enjoyed it
I'll watch it again
I'd easily recommend it horror fans, especially fans of dark supernatural horror

Return to Film Reviews or see more DVD Reviews

© Shannon Ridler, 2011

Being Human Season 1 (North American) DVD Review

DVD Review of the North American TV series Being Human following a vampire, werewolf & ghost roommates.


Image courtesy of Alliance Films
Legal Line © 2010 B.H. Productions (Muse) Inc. All rights reserved.

Dirs: Paolo Barzman, Charles Binamé, Adam Kane, Erik Canuel, Jeremiah S. Chechik, Jerry Ciccoritti
Cast: Sam Witwer, Meaghan Rath, Sam Huntington, Mark Pellegrino, Sarah Allen Gianpaolo Venuta, Kristen Hager, Vincent Leclerc, Angela Galuppo
Canada/USA (source), 2011 (TV)

Reason to see: A vampire, werewolf & ghost as roommate = perfect show for me.

Being Human is a TV series that follows a set of new housemates and their struggles from personal to romantic, professional and cultural all of which are complicated by the fact that they are supernatural beings (a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost) but have chosen to do their best and remain and be human.

I was first in line to check out a show that features a vampire, werewolf and ghost as roommates as I'm a huge fan of paranormal TV and this show brings a nice blend of lore, long-term story arc as well as budding friendships between the trio of vampire Aidan (Sam Witwer), werewolf Josh (Sam Huntington) and ghost Sally (Meaghan Rath) who do their best to deal with their supernatural situations. One of the most interesting dynamics of the series is that each of the three main characters is an underdog or outsider within their own supernatural community, none of them chose their fate and each is effected differently. For example, Josh being a werewolf is only out of control on the full moon, but the weight of his actions at that time can stay with him for the entire lunar cycle. Then Aidan is a long-standing vampire who has chosen to abstain from vampire culture and society but it's a continual and challenging position to be in. Then we have Sally, the ghost who’s transparent to the non-supernatural world and mystified at her own mysterious transition. It's three very different perspectives on dealing with a situation that has been pushed upon you and changed each and every one of their natural, but each choose to be, or at least attempt, to maintain their humanity.

Based on the UK series of the same name, Being Human is in a unique situation of running almost con-currently with its across-the-pond counterpart which has three completed seasons in comparison to this North American version (also referred to as SyFy Being Human or Being Human US even though it's and American/Canadian co-production shot in Montreal). They two versions are very aware of each other and they North American version even has a nod to the UK version with vampire Aidan who is a namesake of the actor Aidan Turner who plays the vampire Mitchell in the original UK version of the show. I really enjoyed the UK version therefore was skepitcal but hopeful about this new version, and I admit I went into the series after already seeing the first two seasons of the UK version and it took me quite some time to decide on how I felt about it. The two versions follow many of the same plot lines and characters, but the North American version also adds new plotlines although it does keep to the heart of the original series. I wouldn't necessarily recommend watching the concurrently, but if you pace out the two from each other it's a highly enjoyable series that pulls at the heart strings, shows the power of friendship, the grand struggle to stand apart from the norms and to take a stand for a greater cause.

I really loved both the comedy and the kindness in the series, the struggles of the characters to maintain their humanity and the challenging choice of whether or not to use there supernatural powers for or against humanity. They wrestle with the question if it's possible to remain neutral, when it's time to take a stand and is it better or worse to succumb to your own nature. And somehow in all of that they manage to go through relationship and romantic entanglements as everyday stresses of workplace and tenant/landlord relationships and challenges.

I did find that the series takes a bit to find it's feet, but it's worth giving it a chance because of the great characters and some stand out performances including reoccurring guest star Mark Pellegrino ('Supernatural') as the vampire power player Bishop and series regular Sam Huntington (Fanboys, Dylan Dog: Dead of Night) as the awkward werewolf Josh. The emotional journeys of all of the characters and interesting and overall I say it's a must-see for any fan of paranormal TV fan. I love the friendships and moral questions it portrays and I truly felt for all of the characters.

It's a great time to hop on the Being Human train and if you've not seen it yet you can easily catch up for it's return in Season 2 which will being to air in January 2012. I'll be waiting with baited breath to see where they go next.

If you want to hear even more about Season 1 of Being Human?
You can listen to reactions from each and every episode over at Hexed: Sisterhood of the Supernatural, the paranormal TV podcast I co-host with my sister Suzie:

• Episode 1: There Goes the Neighbourhood (Part 1)
• Episode 2: There Goes the Neighbourhood (Part 2)
• Episode 3: Someone to Watch Over Me
• Episode 4: Wouldn't it be Nice (If We Were Human)
• Episode 5: The End of the World As We Knew It
• Episode 6: It Takes Two to Make a Thing Go Wrong
• Episode 7: See Your True Colors...and That's Why I Hate You
• Episode 8: Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things
• Episode 9: I Want You Back (From the Dead)
• Episode 10: Dog Eat Dog
• Episode 11: Going Dutch
• Episode 12: You're the One I Haunt
• Episode 13 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Me Killing You

DVD Extras (4-Disc DVD Set):

• The Making of Being Human (47 minutes) behind the scenes, series clips, interviews with co-execuative producer/director Adam Kane, executive producer/writer Jeremy Carver, actors Meaghan Rath, Sam Huntington, Sam Witwer & Mark Pellegrino, VFX supervisor Mario Rachiele, make-up artist Emilie Gauthier, SFX make-up artist Érik Gosselin, on reaction/connection the UK series, what drew them to the series, the interweaving of what's the urban setting and mid-20's journey, the genre elements & themes and the connection to real world scenarios, the unique friendship and connection between Sally, Aidan & Josh including the actors talking not only about their own characters but their perspective on the characters and their intermingled relationships; the monster rules for the show and how they've incorporating the traits from different cultures into the show plus discussing the expectations of genre fans regarding rules; discussing each of the types of supernatural creatures in the show with vampires, ghost and werewolves including the creature attributes, characters journey, challenges and connection to their supernatural world as well as the visual effects & make up application to create the visuals for characters including ghost make up and extensive footage on werewolf design creation & transformation.
• "What Would You Choose" Featurette (3 minutes) show clips & stills from both the North American & UK versions of the shows with actors Meaghan Rath, Sam Huntington, Sam Witwer responding to which supernatural creature they would choose to be plus brief description of the visual effects creation of their characters into their supernatural, plus actor Mark Pelligrino on the deep humanity of the show and his character; as well as response to how much each of the actors watched of the UK version of the show and the connection between the two shows.
• Interviews with Sam Witwer, Meaghan Rath & Sam Huntington (5 minutes) casual interviews with the cast at a premiere/carpet event chatting about season 1, their characters & journeys, speculation to season 2, reactions from fans. This feature has some really funny moments including casual chatting with some Sam Huntington & Sam Witwer chatting about who in their characters would win in a fight & their impressions of Meaghan Rath. Interviews are interspersed with clips from the show.
• Being Human Panel at San Diego Comic-Con (39 minutes) panel with actors Sam Witwer, Meaghan Rath & Sam Huntington, executive producer/writer Jeremy Carver and co-executive producer/writer Anne Fricke responding to questions including on how they came to the show, working together, where they want their characters to in season 2, how the team came together, the characters arcs and lots of love for Season 2 scripts and hints/questions/reactions on Season 2. I was a little disappointed in this feature, it's from pretty far away, the audio is pretty low in comparison to the other features, people constantly walking in front of the camera, there are no titles to indicate who is speaking but I enjoyed the casual nature of the discussions and the enthusiastic camaraderie especially between the members of cast.
• Trailer
  

Being Human Season 1 (North American) is available on DVD as of November 15, 2011. Check it out over at Amazon.ca & Amazon.com

Shannon's Overall View:
I enjoyed it, and grew to love it as the season progressed
I'll watch it again
I'd strongly recommend it to any paranormal TV fan

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Cross posted here at Hexed: Sisterhood of the Supernatural

© Shannon Ridler, 2011