The Strange, Disturbing and Horror Themed Music Videos - Screen Drafts (Home Version) 21

V here, taking over D's blog to tell you about a little draft we did a while back. I'm a big music person and love the creativity that can be seen in music videos so I decided to deviate from movies for my draft pick. 
I worried it would be over too quickly if we only did a single 16 draft, so I decided we'd play 2 games--one draft would be more horror related, while the second would be more strange/disturbing. I was curious how things would get separated since things could easily overlap.
The players were myself (who was player A), D (who was player B), Nick (who was player C) and Scott (who was player D). 

(Note: I'm kind of a nerd so sometimes I included facts that I found while looking up some of these music videos)

First up we tackled horror. 

16.) MONUMENT OF MISANTHROPY - A Nice Beheading For MoM

Played by me as my first pick, which I guess I went too hard, too fast. A great part of this draft was that while we were playing we could each grab our phone and watch the video that was played right then if we needed a reminder or had missed watching it. I said I was impressed by the actor who played Ed Kemper and how far they took things. This was vetoed by Scott who had a lot of reactions while watching it at the table. Both Nick and Scott said their picks were tamer and this shouldn't be below those choices. "Balls to the wall to start!" Nick exclaimed saying he was clutching his pearls. This gave me the giggles, "I like that I came out swinging and you guys were like, 'Ahh!'" 

My alternate choice was Dir en grey - Zan

I said I felt like this band was a great example for this draft because they're like avant-garde horror. Plus there was a creepy kid and nothing freaks me out like a damn creepy kid. 

Nick said he ended up really liking this band after hearing some of their songs for the draft. 

15.) Ice Nine Kills - Hip To Be Scared ft. Jacoby Shaddix 

This was played by Scott who loved the American Psycho of it all. 

14.) Ice Nine Kills - Rainy Day

Nick was hesitant to play another I9K song, but we all agreed there wouldn't be anything else by this band played on the list so it wouldn't oversaturate the list. He loved the makeup and effects. He said he has a thing for office horror like The Belko Horror Experiment and the coworkers turning into zombies and having to kill them with office supplies scratches an itch for him. 

13.) Fields of the Nephilim - Blue Water

This was played by Dennis. D's a fan of Richard Stanley and he wondered if it inspired or related to the eventual movie he did called "Dust Devil". 

12.) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Y Control 

This was played by me. Again, creepy kids. It reminded me of movies like "Children of the Corn" and "Village of the Damned". Kids carry around bats, axes and other weapons. One carries the body of a dead dog. They write "We are all going to hell" on the wall and a boy asks a girl, "Will you chop off my hand?" 

Once again I was vetoed, this time by Dennis who didn't think it was a horror video and thought it was "standard". He said he thought I could do better. 
Nick mentioned how kids will already do dangerous, unhinged things because they don't censure themselves or know better and this is like they go full permission without any supervision. He was mildly tempted to override, but let it go. 

 
My next alternate pick was: Polkadot Cadaver - Chloroform Girl

I said one of the things that made me love this video as much as I did was that the singer has such a cute, almost innocent look while singing about keeping a woman captive as he casually plays his guitar. 

Scott said it was a vibe. Dennis said it was a better choice and Nick also approved. We discussed how hard it was to sometimes separate the lyrics with the video since some went better together than others. 

11.) Milla Jovovich - Gentleman Who Fell 

This was played by Dennis who thought it should be played higher, but didn't think anyone else would play it (he was right about that). It was inspired by the movie "Vampyr" and had a silent film vibe. 

10.) Cults - Onions

This was played by Scott. Directed by Alice Fassi, an average housewife isn't what she seems. A nice mix of satire and horror. Dennis joked that he finds onions horrific anyway so wouldn't veto the choice.  

9.) Lady Gaga - The Dead Dance

This was played by Nick. Directed by Tim Burton. He thought this felt like an homage to old voodoo zombie movies. Scott said it was actually his next pick so they were aligned. 

8.) Sabrina Carpenter - Taste

This was played by Scott. It was then that I realized that my tastes on this draft was running a bit darker than everyone else's. 

7.) The Cure - Lullaby

This was played by Nick who enjoyed the claymation and thought the spider villain was terrifying. I said I would never argue with The Cure and that Robert Smith is a god. Scott had quite a reaction to being covered in spiderwebs. 

6.) Alice Cooper - How You Gonna See Me Now

This was played by Dennis. Alice Cooper is locked in an institution and writing letters to his wife and Dennis liked how there were parts where he wasn't in his usual character. 

5.) Kiki Rockwell - Vampyr

This was played by me. I'm a huge fan of Kiki Rockwell and her videos are always well done in my opinion. I loved the idea of a woman scorned and coming back for vengeance and instead of holding a grudge against the other woman, they end up running off after killing the guy. 
I was originally going to go a bit darker with my choice, but went with this instead. Nick vetoed this because he thought it was tame for how high we were on the list, but Scott used an override. He wanted to make sure Kiki Rockwell was on the list.  

4.) Wolf Alice - You're A Germ

Scott's last pick for this list. The band is a big fan of horror movies and it shows in this video. A nice mix of different types of horror movies, a group trapped in a cabin dealing with various types of killers. Everyone agreed with the choice and it was an alternate choice of mine. 

3.) Xiu Xiu - House Sparrow 

This was played by Nick. A very visceral video with news footage showing a candlelight vigil and the eventual finding of a kidnapped child's body. It reminded me of a real case that was in the news around this time. 

2.) Debbie Harry - Now I Know You Know

This was played by Dennis. The music video is by H.R. Giger and his style is very prominent. 

1.) Forced Gender Reassignment-Cattle Decapitation

horrorsociety.com/2015/10/06/nsfw-midnight-metal-massacre-cattle-decapitations-forced-gender-reassignment-official-video/

The final pick was mine and to see it you'll have to go to the website listed above because it's pretty much always banned. Warning: It is VERY brutal. 

Again, I probably went a little too hard and looking back I kind of regret that I didn't bring back Monument For Misanthropy's "A Nice Beheading for MoM".  Dennis wondered why this wasn't being played in the strange and disturbing draft instead. It was vetoed by Scott who also thought it was on the wrong list, but Nick used an override. He pointed out extreme horror and the imagery. 
A hooded man kidnaps anti-gay protesters and then they're put through very brutal torture and forced gender reassignment. "Fear breeds contempt in the heart of man. One has to question this common trait--Why do we hate what we don't understand" was one of the lyrics I pointed out. 

An interesting interview with the band had this:

One of the fan favorite tracks, “Forced Gender Reassignment” was given a video that many saw as a bit over the top. Ryan explains the controversy that followed its release. “I want to hear the best or most extreme thing. I assume that goes with visuals and people who are into horror movies and stuff too. We aren’t ones to just do something for the sake of gore. The ‘Forced Gender’ video was just an experiment. It was meant to be mean, cruel, and totally fucked up. A lot of people accused us of being over the top just for the sake of it. What people should have realized is, what if Cannibal Corpse did a video for ‘Entrails Ripped from a Virgin’s Cunt’ or ‘Necropedophile?’ That was 1993. Twenty years later and people are freaking the fuck out about this video...In this experiment we discovered that people don’t want the ugly truth.”

Some of the discussion afterward included the lack of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and nothing by Rob Zombie played. 

Moving on we started The Strange & Disturbing draft. 

16.)  Mastodon - Asleep In The Deep

This was played by me. A cat is given milk to drink by strange creatures and goes on a trip as a puppet version of itself. Some great Alice in Wonderland vibes. 
"This concept was birthed out of my curiosity about what a cat really does at night while we are asleep," said Skinner in a press release. "Where do they go? Cats have a very mysterious myth to them and I thought it would be cool to explore that, as little nocturnal heroes. I decided to put a sort of Joseph Campbell hero myth spin on it and add some Jodorowsky phychedelia as well." 

15.) Tame Impala - Dracula

This was played by Scott. Finding solace in darkness. Western Australian's rave and bush dude culture. We joked that Scott doesn't like semi trucks or anything out of the ordinary. 

14.) Panic! At The Disco: Build God, Then We'll Talk

This was played by Nick. A crazy concept of a mime who ends up fighting...no one? A mime act with very pornographic moves. 

13.) King Missile - Detachable Penis

This was played by Dennis. Scott joked it was a vibe. We all laughed and enjoyed this man's journey to find his lost penis and acknowledged how catchy it was.

12.) Björk - Pagan Poetry (uncensored)

This was played by me. Nick has been open about his dislike of Bjork so I didn't know if this pick would make it, but I think the facts I'd found about it helped. I also mentioned how heartbreaking her expressions are as she repeats, "I love him, I love him". I also called it "beautifully disturbing". 
The director of this said, "It was one of the most difficult things I've ever filmed because I felt like I was on the verge of throwing up. I liked to actually only watch it by the video monitor rather than with my eyes as it were because it was just too much." Bjork pierced her own ear and the others were cast girls. It's said to feature highly blurred and stylized images of explicit sex from Bjork's personal footage. 

11.) Shock Therapy - I can't let go

This was played by Dennis. You get these scenes of a normal couple and then see how things have completely crumbled and gotten very dark. I said the clown had Gacy vibes. 

10.) Aldous Harding - The Barrel

This was played by Scott. A glammed up pilgrim with a creepy reveal at the end involving her hat and what's underneath. Nick also pointed out the way she moves in the video. 

9.) Pearl Jam - Do the Evolution

This was played by Nick. This video shows the evolution of humanity including the earliest forms of mankind and the darkest snippets of history. 

8.) Florence + The Machine - Everybody Scream

This was played by Scott. The beautiful and talented Florence wears a red dress while running through an eerie landscape alongside a group of four screaming women in black coats and hats. They seem to cause the inhabitants of a building to become possessed and shake uncontrollably and ends with Florence and the women outside on a wooden platform, with the women grabbing her by the throat and causing her to scream. 

7.) The Killers - Bones

This was played by Nick. Dennis said it was an alternate pick for his horror list. Nick said it feels like a celebration for letting someone see your deeper, inner self. 

6.) David Lynch - Crazy Clown Time

This was played by Dennis. What Nick was going to play if we vetoed his previous choice. A pick that didn't surprise me at all and we had even sang it to our dog, Ava changing the lyrics to, "Ava wore a red shirt" randomly. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. It's a video that D and I will randomly put on if we need a lift/laugh and I highly recommend you check it out if you haven't seen it. 

5.) Dir En Grey - OBSCURE

This was played by me. I said the tentacle mouth thing that happens made this go more towards the weird/disturbing list than the horror list and how fitting it was to have this band on both lists. Scott said it reminded him of the movie "Ichi the Killer". 

We had a discussion about how what is disturbing or weird can vary from each person with Scott making a nice point, "One man's weird is another man's norm." 

4.) Bat For Lashes - What's a Girl to Do? 

This was played by Scott. I whooped at this choice. I ended up LOVING this song and it immediately got added to my playlist. He said there was something creepy about teens riding around at night on bikes with animal masks up to no good. 

This was vetoed by Nick who liked the song, but didn't think there was enough. Looking back I wish I had overridden this veto because even though I also struggled if there was enough weird for me, I think we missed out not having it on here. 

Scott's replacement pick was: Chappell Roan - The Subway

Nick liked this choice better saying it was definitely weird. 

3.) TOOL - Sober

This was played by Nick. He joked he was playing a song that was opposite of how he was feeling at the moment. It was disturbing, but also hit him in the feels. I said I was glad to see them on the list because there are multiple videos of theirs that could fit on here. 

2.) The Residents - Hello Skinny

This was played by Dennis. He said he had to have a video by this band on this list. Sewer fires, cyber punk, William Burroughs face and Nazi's are just some of the things in this video. We laughed at Scott's expressions as he watched the video. "So many eyeballs!" He exclaimed. "Oh my god more eyeballs." Him being afraid of semi trucks was again joked about. 
The thing about Scott is that he is very expressive and has a sense of humor that is infectious. 

When Nick, Scott and Dennis are around, I know that I am in for a lot of laughs as well as really good conversation and I treasure the times I've had with this rowdy bunch. 

1.) Aphex Twin - Come To Daddy (Director's Cut)

The final pick was mine again. Children with the same man's face running and chasing an elderly woman while destroying stuff along the way.  A tall, creepy skeletal dude screams and spits in her face. 

It features lyrics like "I will eat your soul. Come to daddy". This was on pretty much every list when I looked up weird/disturbing music videos. Scott said the distorted face on the TV freaked him out more than the kids. Nick said he liked this choice. 
Supposedly Bjork said this video was "funny". A comment I found online said, "Thank god he chose music as his outlet and not bringing people into his basement." Filmed in a location that Stanley Kubrick used in "Clockwork Orange".  

So there we go.

Another draft with three of my favorite people. I know it was a crazy ride and I appreciate all of them going down the rabbit hole with me to explore the darker, weirder side of music. Every time we do a draft, I'm always full of regrets thinking of what I would have done better or changed if I could, but the chaotic nature is part of the fun in some ways. 

As I write this, my turn is next and I'm debating what I'm going to put them through (I mean this in the most loving way, of course--😂). 

Writing this has definitely given me more appreciation for all of the work my amazing husband does for his write ups on our drafts. I'm beyond grateful to have these to look back on this journey of ours. 

We left the game with 1 veto and 1 override each.