Horror Blog Of The Month: BRANDON C. SITES

Let's welcome a hot August with another hot horror blog!!

"BIG DADDY HORROR REVIEWS"  BRANDON C. SITES - CRITIC OF MODERN DAY HORROR, the fabulous and well-known blog from "Big Daddy" Brandon, a nice guy and huge horror fan from Virginia.

Through his blog (and social networks) he continiuously provides us with reviews for new and old horror movies, interviews with horror-related actors and directors, articles, box office reports, and all kinds of horror news and gossip.

In addition, he's also the creator of the highly popular "30 Day Horror Challenge".

With Brandon, you're always up to date and well-informed!

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Maynard:

Hi Brandon! Who are you?

I'm Brandon Sites, creator and founder of www.brandoncsites.com and the now defunct www.bigdaddyhorrorreviews.com.
I am a lifelong horror fan and enthusiast who at the urging of his boss decided to claim in his stake in the online horror world. It had been a cumulative thing though, I have had people telling me I should be doing this for over ten years now. I just finally listened to someone. 

I got started initially just writing little snippet style reviews like you would find in a video movie guide in March 2010. That's what initially sparked my interest in horror movie reviewing as a kid. However, I started to dabble into doing interviews with people associated in the world of indie horror in August 2010 which lead to my decision to start covering horror news and interviews on a more full time basis in October 2010. This has also lead to me co-hosting a weekly radio show for Dollar Bin Horror, producing my very own horror film production, and doing misc. tasks for various horror films.

Why do you blog?

To conquer the world of horror, of course! Mwwhahaha!
I wanted a site that would cover a wide range of horror from films not just the latest blockbuster releases. I cover films that are no budget to big budget. I cover the world of straight horror films alongside horror films that come from the LGBT community. I try my best to cover TV series that interest me. Sometimes that is something mainstream like MTV's Teen Wolf or it is something local like Michigan based horror series, Lee Martin's The Midnight Hour. 

I wanted a site that could be all inclusive in covering all sorts of races, genders, sexual orientations and film budgets in regards to my covering horror news, reviews and interviews in the world of US and Canadian modern horror.

Which movie made you a horror fan (and why)?

The horror film that got me initially hooked into the world of horror was "A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge". I was five years old when the film came out to VHS.
My mom, grandmother and myself had just moved from the country part of Culpeper, VA to the town part so that my mom could be closer to her job. It was the first time I had ever stepped foot in a video store. I can still remember being enamored with it all. Anyway, my mom was friend's with the clerk there. She had been holding a copy of the film for her. So later on that night after we got home, my mom and I watched the film after my grandmother had went to sleep. I was completely blown away by the film and it's creativity and ingenuity.  I had never seen anything like that. I was immediately hooked.

Who is your favorite horror director (and why)?

My favorite horror film director is Katt Shea. She directed "Stripped to Kill 1 & 2", "Dance of the Damned", "The Rage: Carrie II" and "Poison Ivy".

I think her work has influenced my style of how I go about writing a horror film script more so then anyone else. There is something that is so haunting about a Katt Shea film that I can't shake them from my head no matter how hard I try. I like how with each film she greys the idea of who is the protagonist and who the antagonist is. The characters feel real through and through in her films. The dialogue is frank and honest. The environments that she creates in her films feel tangible. Each and every film she has done has been ahead of its time. There is such a complexity to her films, that you can sit there and watch them over and over again and still get something new out of them each time. 

She is a female equivalent to Quentin Tarantino only she was around before him. I feel she has the respect of her peers, but I hope one day that horror fans can see what I see in her work that feels so special to me.

With each of her films, she has an uncanny ability to get the best out of her actors, sometimes far better then they thought they had to give. I asked her about this and she said that she always works at her highest level and other people aspire to get there themselves. I really took that to heart and it has inspired how I have been doing things in my own personal life. I couldn't agree with her more.

Your all time horror movie favorites are... (at least 5)

My five favorite horror films of all time in order:

-Bram Stoker's Dracula

-Night Warning (aka Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker)

-Carrie (1976)

-The Howling
-Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl O Rama -- While I can't technically label it an all time favorite, this is the horror film I have revisited the most from since I was a kid to now.

What's the worst horror movie you've seen so far?

The five horror films that would round out the bottom five for me are (in no order):

-I Spit On Your Grave (Remake)

-Halloween III: Season of the Witch
-Silent Night, Deadly Night

-The Texas Chainsaw Massacre II
-The Last House on the Left (1972)

Most of my friends don't like horror films. How about your friends?

My friends love horror films! Can't say that about my family, but my friends do. I guess being around me, people can see my passion, professionalism and dedication for what I do. If they are not a horror fan to begin with, it starts to pike their curiosity being around me. 

My ex-roommate hated horror when I moved in with her. This year we went to go see Scream 4 and Insidious in theaters. Give me a month and I can turn them into a horror fan. Outside of her though, whenever anyone in my community sees me, they want the latest scoop on the latest horror film or my opinion on such and such horror film.

Choose: Freddy? Jason? Leatherface? Michael? The Tall Man? Other?

Overall, I would pick Freddy. This is an iconic horror film character that everyone around the world knows about. He has been featured in some of the most clever and innovative horror set pieces of all time. He was completely unlike anything else out there. Robert Englund brought such great energy to his performances in this series. Freddy was unlike anything else the horror world had seen up to the point. The character went against the grain and broke the mold.

I have to give props to John Carpenter's take on Michael Myers in the original Halloween. A killer that kills without motive, without fear, without remorse, without any sort of feeling to them what so ever. A person that is pretty much a blank canvas that just kills people for no reason what so ever. Too bad they cheapened the character with the subsequent sequels.

Choose: US horror? European horror? Asian horror? Other?

I would go with US horror.
US horror has done more for the business of horror and the innovation that we have seen in the field over the decades then all of the other countries combined. A lot of people are going, well Asian or European horror has been putting out such strong films. The thing is, we are getting a skewed picture of that countries output has been. Distributors are going to try to bring what they consider to be the best output or most marketable output that they can find from those countries, because they have to get over that initial hurdle of the film being foreign. We aren't getting a complete picture since not every foreign horror film gets released here in the US. Also, the US has far more output so its easier to see a crap movie here.

Do you prefer watching horror at home or at the theater?

I prefer watching a horror film at a theater.
Nothing can top the rush of seeing a horror movie with a packed audience and being able to experience those emotions with other people.

What music do you like?

In all honesty, I like all genres of music just about. Like watching a film, I look at the story that the song is telling and how I am able to relate to it personally and the emotions that it makes me feel. That's why at one moment I can be listening to a song like 'Firework' at one moment and then a song like 'I Will Always Love You' the next and then even a song like 'Fancy' later on. It's not about the genre for me. It's about the story and the emotion.

What do you read?

In all honesty, most of my reading time is consumed with reading press releases, info into a horror film production, reading interviews after they have been transcribed for me or proof reading myself. 

When I do get time for myself, I generally like reading video movie guide books and other blogs. I like reading what other people thought of such and such horror film other then myself. I always consider myself to be learning about horror films and their history so I like absorbing as much info as possible. I do like to occasionally read horror themed children's books so that I can keep in touch with my inner kid and to take a break from the seriousness of the adult world.

Tell me the first 3 things that come to your mind when you think about Austria?

When I think of Austria, I think of skiing, coffee houses and pastries. 

If I ever visited your country, I would be a lot fatter then I am now with all that temptation around me.

Anything else you wanna tell us?

Thanks for wanting to know more about me! I hope that I didn't bore you. 

Make sure to check out www.brandoncsites.com and to listen to me on the airwaves every Wednesday at 8PM Eastern time at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ericdescent. Each week's show is also achieved, so it is available to listen to at any time. Thanks again.

Thank you, Brandon!

www.brandoncsites.com

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