Friday Links: Scanner Cop, Monolord, and Vegetable Existence

Here's what happened in horror last week to ease you into the weekend:

• Go to the House of Indulgence and get an in-depth analysis of the 1990's classic Scanner Cop: "The explanation as to why the rest of the film is so darned compelling can be summed up with these six simple words... (Wait, let me guess: Darlanne Fluegel in a pleated skirt.) Hmmm, I was going to going to say: Help! Deformed baby heads are protruding from my Dad's forehead. But since that's not even close to being six words, I'm going to have to say, yes, the reason this film is so darned compelling is because To Live and Die in L.A.'s Darlanne Fluegel wears a pleated skirt in one scene."
• Terrorphoria reviewed Monolord's album Vænir: "Doom metal is really popular right now. Like, maybe even a little, TOO popular. The term gets bandied about and applied to a lot of heavy music releases that don't quite fit the bill. Monolord is NOT in this group. These guys are the real deal."
  
• Nev Murray scored a great, confession-style interview with author John Connolly at Confessions of a Reviewer!!.  This one's a video interview and a must-watch.
• Bob Pastorella reviewed Skullcrack City at This Is Horror: "With great bizarro comes great accessibility. Writer’s of the genre are like circus jugglers, hoisting plot, characterisation, pacing, and the weird and strange all in the air, while refusing to water any of it down to make it easier to swallow. The weird and strange is heavy-duty in Skullcrack City, fostered by a solid mythology that makes the Illuminati seem tame by comparison. There are doomsday cults using ancient voodoo mojo, mixing science and religion and strange weaponry to send intended targets to otherworld dimensions; a reality TV show centred around the most extreme body modifications conceived; mad scientists enslaved to their methods creating human/gorilla hybrids capable of biting through human skulls; hex-addicted tweekers on the front line, sedating the world one mind-trip at a time; evil corporations corrupt from the inside financing the end of the world."
• Sean Eaton at his incisively trenchant R'lyeh Tribune delved into the philosophy of vegetable existence: "Other interesting notions are considered.  What sort of intelligence or psychology would evolve in an advanced form of vegetation?  What would motivate a highly intelligent plant?  Burlingame hypothesizes that vegetable life is motivated by necessity whereas animal life is motivated by desire.  Awareness and individuality are shared by Oscar and his kind, (“We are all Osca.r”), who reproduce asexually via aerial spores."
• At Ginger Nuts of Horror, Joe Young interviewed legendary actress Françoise Pascal: "In 'Bloodsuckers' as we know it, I did not work with these wonderful actors, they brought me in to supply excitement to the film as it turned out to be a very dull film. I was working with extras and made a good addition to the film, sadly the film got panned from the critics and I ended up without a credit. I knew Peter Cushing, Edward Woodward and Patrick Mower as colleagues in the business. I did work with Patrick on a show called Cluedo and Give us a Clue too."
• Here, I reviewed the movie Noah and pointed you to my Ginger Nuts review of Troy Aaron Ratliff's Do I Bother You at Night?.  For those more politically inclined, I also updated my Liberty Island blog with a piece about white, straight men in publishing.