Action/Adventure - Oct. 28, 2015

Full version: "Action/Adventure Newsletter (October 28, 2015)" 

Halloween is almost here, and I have been watching horror movies whenever I have enough time to get one watched. Because of the season, I thought that it was perfectly reasonable to use them as a source of inspiration for this newsletter. Action Adventure and Horror have some similarities. Not the least of them is my topic for today: Weapons.



Action and Adventure stories are full of weapons. Guns, sniper rifles, whips, swords, and knives work well most of the time. After all, you cannot craft a good swashbuckler without a blade or two or twenty, right? No assassination tale without a sniper rifle or mobster plot without guns. We also expect to see a heroine jab an attacker in the knee with her car keys.

Honestly though, these are not the only weapons. Horror movies and horror comedies have proven that time and time again. They are packed full of interesting weapons that provide a bit of surprise to both the audience and the characters on screen. Why should horror be the only genre using creativity in this area? If your would-be victim is fumbling around in the kitchen, why must he or she always find a knife? Why not a corkscrew (Friday the 13th part 4) or malt mixer (Toxic Avenger) or boiling pot of water (Sleepaway Camp, among others)?

The unusual is not necessarily unrealistic. All of the kitchen items might be on hand, and if someone gets to one before finding a knife, I'm sure they would use it. No? In fact, there was a real case in my area as a child in which the weapon was a fork. Just a normal table fork. So, to get your creative juices flowing, here are a few unique weapons used in some of my favorite horror movies. Far-fetched as they may be, I'm sure that they will get your gears turning.

stomach pump
beehive
outhouse (drowning)
shadow puppet t-rex
lawn mower
tripod
voodoo doll
plastic wrap
pogo stick
yoyo
garbage truck
tv/radio/toaster/etc + bathtub
acid shampoo
force feeding
soda can
garbage disposal
evil website
videotape
escalator
basketball
popcorn
vice
knitting needles
} kebab
microwave
sleeping bag
crystal figurine
cane
curling iron
tanning bed
weight bench
corn cob

What do you think? Keep in mind that these were used as actual murder weapons. How would you turn, say, popcorn into a weapon? Well, you either get creative or watch Killer Klowns from Outer Space. A sleeping bag can be very dangerous in the wrong hands, just ask Jason Voorhees. I could have listed many more if I had stuck with a few particularly interesting characters who love the bizarre weapons, like Angela Baker from Sleepaway Camp or the leprechaun from The Leprechuan, but I'm all for variety.

Now, some of these are super campy. However, there is some truth in this list as well. Nearly anything could be used as a weapon in a pinch. Sitting on my desk right now, I have a coffee mug, multiple pens, and a bottle of fingernail polish remover that could be used with or without the lighter in my back pocket. All of them could be weapons if I was suddenly attacked, and I would have no problem wielding any of them. Panic makes us resourceful after all... so why doesn't it do the same for our characters?