Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 20, 2010)
culture Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010 the clackamas print 7 to haunt Clackamas nnemane Schulte & Culture Editor lou ever been so afraid of g the hairs on the back of k stood up? ie feeling of honest and fear. Most of us have xperience once or twice, he most part, we can say ! occurrence. However, lay coming to Clackamas to recreate that feeling. Haunting of Grayson written by local play- jreg Forbes, will have premiere at Clackamas ity College this February, is about a manor haunted iwner’s dead-for-twenty- and follows a team of fcntists trying to find the [source of the ghost. With d turns and “hair raising Sects,” this main stage s to be buzzed about. sals have been going on tree weeks now. Director ith-English runs through id tells actors which way id they discuss the set as ly there. Actors go in and iracter in the blink of an h-English directs every- i die speed of their words le of their lines. Forbes he is so impressed at glish’s ability to “breathe die script he wrote, reduction’s main play- James Sharinghousen, > Dr. Moore - the ghost Tara Wentworth, who tly named Miss Graves lusekeeper, and finally /son herself, the manor’s ayed by Heather Ovalle. (the cast includes Hollie jijones, Annie Scharich, ins, David Smith and lith. Jess Sheppard is the director, and Athena Folk e manager. ight Forbes says he owes ’ to his friends and fam- picouraged him to actu áis play down on paper, s, Forbes had the story Hillary Cole Clackamas Print James Sharinghousen(left) and Tara Wentworth(right) rehearse for “The Haunting of Grayson Manor,” local playwright Greg Forbes’ first work. The play is to open at Clackamas on Thursday, Feb. 25. circling around in his mind, and it wasn’t until one night at a winery when he asked his wife and friends what they thought about it that he was encouraged to really take it somewhere. Forbes has a degree ini theater from a Midwest college and has written about two other plays, one of which is the sequel to “The Haunting of Grayson Manor.” It took Forbes about two weeks to write the script after which he began calling around to theaters seeing if they were interested - many were not because of the fact that Forbes’ work has never been performed. Finally it occurred to him to contact a local college. Forbes contacted CCC, and after editing a few things, he got a call from Smith-English, who said he was interested in using the script as the colleges main stage Play. “I was thrilled,” said Forbes. Forbes said the best thing about seeing his play being performed is “seeing the characters come to life,” and he is very much looking forward to opening night, which he will spend with family and friends; a few have already bought tickets. “The Haunting of Grayson Manor” is a world premiere play and definitely one worth seeing at Clackamas. As rehearsals progress and the play becomes closer to being ready to be performed, the buzz of the play will surely circle the college and for good reasons: this play promises to terrify you with its paranormal activity. Vampires don’t sparkle By John Simmons The Clackamas Print Vampires. I’ll bet that upon reading that word your mind immediately jumped to daz zling good looks, cold, hard skin and spariding in the sun light This breed of vampire has been popularized by Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga, which stars an angsty, preppy 110 year- old teenage vampire who drinks only the blood of animals. Many traditionalists complain about how “Twilight” has bastardized the vampire, making it into noth ing more than a model/Olympic athlete with copious amounts of body glitter. Despite this view, it is undeni able that “Twilight” has brought vampires back into popular cul ture. Due to the sudden popularity vampires have, many television series such as “True Blood” and “Vampire Diaries” have been produced, fan-fictions are every where on the Internet, and there are now Twilight-themed trading cards, candies and clothing items. Yes, everyone seems to be going vampire-crazy, especially teenage girls. There are those who want to restore vampires to their fonnal, pre-Meyer glory, and writing and directing duo, Michael and Peter Spierig, are just such people. Their new film, “Daybreakers,” is made for the fans of the traditional vam pire, and they do not disappoint. The Spierigs chose to instill their film with all the trappings of the traditional vampire story. There are stakings, crossbows, violent turning scenes, tangs and, of course, the vampires’ aversion to sunlight. This film takes the latter seriously, showing in the opening scene that vampires burst into flames and disintegrate when exposed to the sun.. Because sun exposure means certain death, the world has become nocturnal, and all cars are equipped with sun light-blocking windows for day light driving. “Daybreakers” takes place in the year 2019, ten years after the first human contracted the vam pirism virus from an infected bat Most of the world’s populations are now vampires, with only five percent still human. The vam pires are quickly running out of a blood supply, and only have enough blood to last the world for another month. Without blood to drink, the vampires turn into bat-like monsters called “Sub-sid- ers,” mindless, blood-thirsty kill ing machines. The title character, named Edward in what is sure to be a jab at “Twilight,” is a scientist trying to find, a blood substitute. His initial attempts fail, and he is running out of time. He then comes in contact with a group of humans on the run from the gov ernment that is hunting them for their blood. They ask him to assist them, and Edward is dragged into a battle against time as he works with them to find a cure and save the human race. Although exciting, there are some issues with the film. Some scenes are not explained and don’t lend much to the story, and some characters are not developed as much as I would have liked. That being said, “Daybreakers” is a ter rific action flick “Daybreakers” is definite ly not a movie for those easily scared or those who don’t like the sight of blood, because this movie is full of bloody encounters and exploding bodies. It is one of the bloodiest movies I’ve seen, right up there with Um Burton’s “Sweeney Todd.” The special effects aren’t any thing spectacular, most, if not all, of the vampires and Sub-sid- ers are just people in costumes, which, at some points, is painful ly obvious. However, the movie more than makes up for it with action sequences, thrilling fight scenes and blood. Lots and lots ofblood. I would suggest this film to those who want to see w hat vampires are really like and what would happen if vampirism were to ever become a reality, as well as those who just love a good scare and a great story.
