Lost and delirious...

When I bought my first HDTV back in 2007 the first thing on my mind was how great Suspiria was going to look on it. Yeah…four years later, I’m still waiting to find that out. Can you tell all I want for Christmas is a U.S. Blu-ray?

I finally managed to buy The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) Blu-ray for a decent price. Ever since that thing went out of print, I’ve had a hell of a time finding it. At least for a price I was willing to pay. Whew. *wipes brow* I can rest easy now.

If a highway is just a method of getting from one place to another, maybe your existence is just as meaningless as the asphalt beneath your wheels.

Do you ever, for lack of a more eloquent description, just not realize you like a certain film until one day you get this completely random urge to watch it again that sends you on a mission to find a copy of it at all costs? Because that’s what happened to me today. The film in question: Sam Raimi’s 1981 classic The Evil Dead.

Long ago, before I pawned off every DVD I owned to get cash for alcohol (college kids do stupid things), I once owned a copy of this little gem. It, along with Lamberto Bava’s Demons, was among my first go-to films to put on when my friends were over. Some horror films, while great in their own right, just don’t go over so well with groups. No one wants to be sitting there getting drunk to something like Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. You want something fun, not too serious, and preferably campy yet unknown to most mainstream horror fans (which is why the Friday the 13th films, while great “party films”, usually stayed on the shelf). Enter The Evil Dead to fit the bill. Oh, the fun my friends and I had with this one. Every time I’d show it to a new group, they’d laugh hysterically at the “vine scene” in the woods, as we came to call it, and the “reading cards” scene, among other greats. The film was always a hit at parties, with a terrific knack for pulling in even the most skeptical viewers who would look at me like I was crazy after telling them the title of the film we were about to be watching. Indeed, putting this film on at parties is what first earned me the trust of picking out nearly every movie at subsequent gatherings.

Nothing makes me feel more warm and cozy inside than to see a group of people enjoying a cult horror film they knew nothing about and knowing it was me that introduced them to it. I still have fond memories of the time I played Sleepaway Camp 2 and my friends proceeded to quote the film for months afterward (“Uncle John’s gonna hear about this!” became an inside joke we used to the point of abuse one year). Nothing is more rewarding than seeing everyone enjoy a movie you picked out, except besides being the one who made it, and to see them quote the film or reference it for months or years to come is the highest honor and a testament to your taste.

But crowd-pleasing qualities aside, the odd thing was I just never really cared for The Evil Dead. I liked it, but I liked it in the “this would be great to show my friends” way. I seldom, if ever, watched the movie alone. It stayed on my DVD shelf until a group of people came over, much like Demons. So needless to say, it came as a great surprise to me today when I was suddenly overcome with an intense desire to watch it. I’ve experienced this sensation before and know it’s best not to fight it. If the urge to watch a certain film I don’t own suddenly hits me, nothing short of holding the physical disc in my hands will abate the feeling and I’ll go to great lengths just to snag a copy. So what did I do when I got this urge? Hopped in the car and drove to the nearest movie retailer with the intention of making my wallet $20 lighter. But as I walked into Best Buy fully expecting to be let down (I usually have to search 3-4 stores before ordering on-line because no one carries the damn movie I want), not only did they have it in stock, but it was on sale for $9.99. Score.

I’m not a Blu-ray only kind of guy, but I will admit I get a geekish thrill at the prospect of seeing an old cult film in high definition for the first time. I about ripped the sleeve on my Blu-ray copy of Halloween when I first got it in a mad rush to pop it into the player. So it is with equal excitement that I sit down tonight to watch The Evil Dead on Blu-ray for the first time—a film I once sold for several bottles of vodka and a film I never even knew I liked that much until I realized I didn’t own it any more. I guess the moral of the story is don’t sell your movies, even if you think you won’t be watching them any more, or no matter how much you want to go out and get wasted. Just remember, you never know what movie you’re going to be in the mood for.

I’m on a mission to discover new music tonight to replace the songs on my iPod that I’ve been listening to for the past two years. But I have a feeling these drinks I’m consuming are only going to taint my judgment and I’ll just wake up tomorrow wondering WTF I put on my iPod.

Itching to run to the liquor store for provisions tonight. I’m the only person I know that drinks expensive champagne while watching crappy, low-budget horror movies.