February 22nd

 

Near dark, Hand held tight,

The restless shadow crawling,

Praying for morning.

 

I watched an old favourite horror film of mine “Near Dark”. Didn’t get to bed till after 1am last night (this morning). It’s a road move and a vampire movie, Lance Henriksen is in it and with that timeless lined face, you really do believe he fought in the American Civil war. I say ‘watched’ because the volume was switched off. I was listening to Sinoia Caves at the same time, it gave the film a weird soundtrack. And even without dialogue, it worked. Freaked me out a bit.

A track from Sinoia Caves album The Enchanter Persuaded.

Near dark has fantastic imagery, it was a ground breaking vampire film, took them out of castles, they’d adapted, they lived amongst us, they drove cars. They sucked us in with their confidence tricks. They were drifters. And of course they killed us. Some of the imagery is captured in this video. The actual score for the film was written by Tangerine Dream which gives it a cold electronic edge too. Although a bit dated now, it’s still a great film and groundbreaking in the “vampires in the modern era” genre.

And if you like Sinoia Caves and horror films, then this film sounds like it will be a paranoid psychedelic nightmare. Beyond the Black Rainbow. It’s set in 1983 and Sinoia Caves (Jeremy Schmidt working under an alias, who is the Keyboard Player of Black Mountain) have written the soundtrack. The trailer gives you more questions than answers. Unsettling. And it’s full of the vintage sound of old analogue keyboards. Moogs and Mellotrons aplenty.

Finally, I wrote. I’ve started a blackly comedic (well I think it’s funny) short story in the “Paranormal Romance” genre. The music by Sinoia Caves and the visuals from Near Dark helped it along. I’ve nearly finished the first draft too!

Who says dudes can’t multi-task?