Fear Of The Dark

We got snow out here in Afghanistan- bully for us. It was quite a storm, actually! And I found out the hard way that the turret leaks. This is kind of an involved story, but here goes- I was up in the turret, then took my helmet off and set it down on the gunner's platform- a raised platform between the rear seats (there are four in an MRAP) that the gunner stands on so he can see out the turret. So there I was, scanning my sector, not a care in the world or a heat signature on the thermal, when the midnight chow rolled up- referred to jokingly as the Midnight Meat Train in reference to the Clive Barker story about a serial killer who frequents a late-night subway train, it's a bus that gets loaded with hot food and sent around to the guard towers- we usually meet up with them and eat at night. This may seem strange, but I've found your body will get pretty hungry in any 12 or so hour period. At any rate, I shut the hatch, and left my helmet where it was, then went to eat. I came back to the truck, during which time snow continued to fall with great enthusiasm. It accumulated on the hatch and, since the heat was on in the truck, melted on the roof. And of course the one place I put my helmet was where there was a drip- my helmet filled up with water! I found this out when I reached over to pick it up by the straps and found my hand in icy water up to the wrist! Quite a funny surprise, I found. But luckily I was able to dry it out on a vent, and the helmet itself is Kevlar, with a waterproof coating, so water doesn't actually affect it. The pads are not, however, but really needed to get a run through the washing machine anyway. So that was one fun evening, as always. I'm now as of tonight on the day shift, which is a nice change- it frees up daylight hours to go to the gym- it'll be good to get back on that night-day cycle, I think the proper term is a Circadian rhythm. I'm sure it'll help with the remaining days here in Bagram. I still miss my family, though! Well, that's why I guess we're supposed to be a breed apart- soldiers and military men and women, that is. We're tough because we have to be.
At any rate, snow aside, there are a couple movies I'm looking forwards to seeing. First up is The Devil Within, kind of a takeoff on The Exorcist. Often considered the best demon possession film, I found new levels of creepy seeing it in the theater, with that great Dolby surround sound. So this movie deals with a young gal, as many horror movies do, whose mother is apparently demon-possessed. Not knowing what to do with her, having tried exorcism, which resulted in three murders, the church locks her up in a mental hospital. Very sad, I thought. Her daughter is somewhat estranged, yet fears that since her mother is either suffering from a ripping case of type 2 schizophrenia or actually possessed, that the same fate may be down the road for her. So the resulting non-authorized exorcism (presumably not authorized by the Catholic church), forms the basis of the movie. From the previews I've seen, looks like it runs high on creepy and make-you-jump type scares, somewhat along the lines of Insidious. I think the idea that demons are that interested in humans is an interesting one- the Keys of Solomon indicate that calling up demons is rather like herding cats- unless you have something they want, or are strongly compelled (the latter is the case in the Keys) they really don't give a rat's tail about humans. Presumably the demons that warrant exorcism are either really ticked about being disturbed, or are highly malevolent, seeking to do harm for harm's sake.
Next up is a film coming down the road a bit, but I think worth a look- another 'remake', this one is of the Evil Dead movies. There were two, the second with a somewhat larger budget and a little bit of a different take on the same idea. For those not familiar with them, both feature the incomparable Bruce Campbell as Ash (or Ashley, his full name used exactly once in both movies), a kind of fall guy who gets beleaguered by demons called up by the reading of an ancient Sumerian grimoire. The result is again, demon possession, and Ash fighting to stay sane and in one piece. The second, remade film sets up the premise for Army Of Darkness, and has a trend of occasional slapstick physical comedy and kind of off-color humor. At one point Ash fights his own severed hand (it got demons in it, had to chop it off), with a double-barreled shotgun. His hand sits and drums its fingers, waiting for him to reload, then gets caught in a mousetrap. Ash laughs derisively, and his hand responds by giving him the finger. I thought it was a riot, anyway. The first film, the original Evil Dead, had a much more hopeless and grim tone, as well as much gorier special effects. There's also a lose-your-hand scene in the first one, though much more gruesome than the other. Though the special effects are not as high-budget as the second, relying on prosthetic makeup and a good deal of stop-action Ray Harryhausen-ish effects, this movie remains in a category all by itself.
The remake is not, fortunately, just a rehash of the original premise. This would surely have disaster spelled all over it in big letters. It actually takes the premise of the movie, that is, read from the grimoire and get a bunch of pissed off demons on your case, in an interesting direction. Both the original movies take place in a cabin out in the middle of nowhere, where the original discoverer of the book went to translate it. And of course, read it out loud. Bad idea. At any rate, this new version also deals with an isolated cabin, and a young woman(!) who is a recovering drug addict. She goes to the cabin to detox and attempt to get on with her life, providing an interesting turn on the weird stuff that went on when the demons show up- moving trees, reanimated dead bodies, general craziness. No one believes her, believing she's still suffering some aftereffects of her addiction. After all, who would believe someone who said the trees were moving around, and there are monster dogs out there trying to get you? I think it could be worth a look, though many hardcore fans are unimpressed. If it were just a Nightmare On Elm Street type remake of the original story, I too would be much more cynical. But at any rate, that's my take on the world of cinema so far.
So apart from that, I'm looking forwards to a quiet night of sleep, and maybe catching up on some reading- I'm currently plowing through For Whom The Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway. Though I like Hemingway, it is for some odd reason not an easy read for me. But a good one! So for now, in the words of the late great Frank Zappa, good night Austin, Texas, wherever you are!