In October 1963, the Brazilian movie writer, director, and actor José Mojica Marins was having trouble with a movie he was working on, and fell asleep at the dinner table. He dreamed of being dragged to a cemetery by a creature in black, who showed Marins his own tomb stone, with the dates of his birth and death (YT: 9 min). That dream lead to the creation of Zé do Caixão (anglicized as Coffin Joe), the main character in Brazil's first horror movie, and Marins' first big movie success: À Meia-Noite Levarei Sua Alma (YT: 1hr 22min w/English subs) (At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul). This was one of the up-ticks in a life of some ups and lots of downs for the South American Roger Corman or Ed Wood (NYT), and the birth of a character who would become Marins public persona. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Oct 28, 2011 - 11 comments

Cultural differences (via) is a video created by National Geographic which documents the culture shock (no not that kind) experienced by Sudanese immigrants to the United States. Though in a country with such strife, this may come as no surprise. [more inside]
posted by Wyatt on Apr 6, 2011 - 33 comments

Drag Me To Hell As Remembered By Bunny and Coco Armed with the actual props and actual locations and actual stand-ins, Mefi's own Max Sparber (Astro Zombie) recreates Sam Raimi's spook-machine Drag Me To Hell from memory. [via mefi projects] [more inside]
posted by The Whelk on Feb 6, 2011 - 28 comments

It feels best at 220 volts. But with the provided replacement plugs, the Vilcus can also be used at 110 volts. Makes a great gift for those special friends. (from the people who brought you the LCD keyboard)
posted by klausness on Feb 17, 2010 - 54 comments

Taser use in law enforcement has been under increased scrutiny in recent years, especially following the death of Robert Dziekanski in a Vancouver airport last year after being Tasered by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (previously). Now the CBC and Canadian Press have sifted through over 5,000 incident reports to create a RCMP Taser use database, tracking use of tasers by Canada's federal law enforcement by province, incident, year or stuns used. [more inside]
posted by Shepherd on Apr 9, 2009 - 36 comments

You can't tase me bro, no, seriously, you can't. The Thor Shield is handy for all your not getting electrocuted needs.
posted by Smedleyman on Oct 10, 2008 - 31 comments

"I've hidden myself and covered myself for too long. Now I want to show myself fearlessly, even though I know my body arouses repugnance. I want to recover because I love life and the riches of the universe. I want to show young people how dangerous this illness is." French Comedienne Isabelle Caro, 27, an anorexic who weighs just 68 pounds, was displayed on Milan billboards (NSFW) for fashion designer Nolita as the city celebrated fashion week. The prevalence of eating disorders within the fashion industry have only recently been addressed officially, however Georgio Armani has complained that since Caro isn't a model herself it proves "even people who take no notice of fashion get anorexic."
posted by miss lynnster on Sep 30, 2007 - 116 comments

shock doctrine at work
Fisk documents the dismantling of Iraqi culture - Klein exposes the history behind the destruction.
posted by specialk420 on Sep 17, 2007 - 40 comments

Weather shock horror! Survivors live to tell the tale!
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Jul 12, 2007 - 11 comments

Guess who we're having for dinner? Danish shock artist Marco Evaristti lippoed some of his belly fat, fried meatballs in it and served it, partaking himself. He also canned some of the Polpette al grasso di Marco and sold at least two cans for $23,200 each. Cannibalism? Extreme autophagy? Trenchant comment on plastic surgery, taboos and consumerism? Or just really really gross?
posted by CunningLinguist on Jan 17, 2007 - 70 comments

Had he not died in 1971, Tor Johnson would be 103 today. Who could forget his face? Or that it makes a great mask? Don't we often think back fondly on his remarkable filmography? He made a great partner for Bela Lugosi! Who could forget that he tended to break toilet seats when he sat on them, and so would often steal them?
posted by Astro Zombie on Oct 19, 2006 - 12 comments

Pay to shock a man, or to prevent him from being shocked. MeFi's own bleucube wears an electric dog collar for a study in...well...shocking a man, or preventing him from being shocked. Shall good or evil prevail - charity or malice? It's all on the line. And by "on the line," I mean "available for $1-4 a pop." 10% of the proceeds go to charity. The other 90% go to being awesome. Via Projects.
posted by Sticherbeast on Jul 5, 2006 - 50 comments

These are the toy tanks and they shock the people.
posted by hughbot on Dec 2, 2004 - 48 comments

At last! A superhero costume for the masses!
posted by titboy on May 22, 2003 - 20 comments

"Shock and Awe" is the concept behind the Pentagon's planned, "Hiroshima like" attack on Baghdad. "Carpet bombing" was the concept's name in the old days, and was responsible for 125,000 civilian deaths in Dresden. Precision carpet bombing - condonable strategy?
posted by RichLyon on Jan 27, 2003 - 100 comments

"Put your hand in the box." A fun loving duo from Germany has created a version of the classic arcade game Pong that lets you punish your opponent's hand with sensations such as heat, punches and electroshocks of varying duration delivered through a "Pain Execution Unit". Remember: Fear is the mind-killer. (from Wired)
posted by Stuart_R on Mar 22, 2002 - 12 comments

Tributes bordering on art... I stumbled across this when I was looking for a zine I used to read back in college... Hasn't moved me like the piece from testpilotcollective has but it's definitely both shocking and beautiful.
posted by dincognito on Sep 13, 2001 - 3 comments