31 Days of Halloween (2022)
- Thread starter Sean Whitmore
- Start date
I am not a fan of the Spanish Dracula. It does benefit from the editing sticking to the script instead of sticking it in a blender like the English version, and some scenes really are more lively.
But I can't. The acting is just too goofy. There is just no replacing Lugosi's acting. He's the best actor in either version. He makes a smile look threatening. And there's a few moments where the livelier directing and editing backfires. Like Dracula attacking the mirror. Lugosi pounces so fast that he has no time to realize what he's just done in front of everybody until he's already done it. Spanish Dracula lingers way too long. The resulting scene is, again, goofy.
But I can't. The acting is just too goofy. There is just no replacing Lugosi's acting. He's the best actor in either version. He makes a smile look threatening. And there's a few moments where the livelier directing and editing backfires. Like Dracula attacking the mirror. Lugosi pounces so fast that he has no time to realize what he's just done in front of everybody until he's already done it. Spanish Dracula lingers way too long. The resulting scene is, again, goofy.
Day 9. The Plague of the Zombies (1966)
This is one I've been meaning to get to for quite a while. It's from Hammer, and must have been one of the last movies to feature the classic voodoo-type zombies before Romero's undead flesh-eaters came along. Although, funnily enough, this movie DID feature undead zombies. They're still mind-controlled servants, but they have to be killed and resurrected first, and they certainly do look it.
Not quite as classic as any of the Cushing/Lee films, but still a really solid Hammer entry.
This is one I've been meaning to get to for quite a while. It's from Hammer, and must have been one of the last movies to feature the classic voodoo-type zombies before Romero's undead flesh-eaters came along. Although, funnily enough, this movie DID feature undead zombies. They're still mind-controlled servants, but they have to be killed and resurrected first, and they certainly do look it.
Not quite as classic as any of the Cushing/Lee films, but still a really solid Hammer entry.
Day 10. Deadly Friend (1986)
I never heard of this movie till recently, although I've certainly seen the basketball head explosion out of context a few times.
A kid with the worst luck in the world loses both his robot best friend (yeah, he built a robot, the movie just expects you to roll with it) and his girlfriend in a short period of time. The robot is destroyed for trespassing on a gun-toting neighbor's property, and the girlfriend (played by a young Kristy Swanson) is killed by her own abusive father. The kid tries to cure two birds with one stone, and implants the robot's artificial intelligence chip (it was the 80s) into Swanson's brain-dead body to restore her mental functions. It works, but the result is a traumatized teenage girl mixed with a traumatized overprotective robot, and the two of them go on a rampage of revenge.
Wes Craven apparently imagined this as less of a slasher and more of a bizarre, tragic love story. But the studio apparently thought, "No, none of that shit. Explode that old woman's head with a basketball." And they did, and I'm glad they did, but the tones clash, and the absence of removed content is pretty apparent. Still, fun enough.
I never heard of this movie till recently, although I've certainly seen the basketball head explosion out of context a few times.
A kid with the worst luck in the world loses both his robot best friend (yeah, he built a robot, the movie just expects you to roll with it) and his girlfriend in a short period of time. The robot is destroyed for trespassing on a gun-toting neighbor's property, and the girlfriend (played by a young Kristy Swanson) is killed by her own abusive father. The kid tries to cure two birds with one stone, and implants the robot's artificial intelligence chip (it was the 80s) into Swanson's brain-dead body to restore her mental functions. It works, but the result is a traumatized teenage girl mixed with a traumatized overprotective robot, and the two of them go on a rampage of revenge.
Wes Craven apparently imagined this as less of a slasher and more of a bizarre, tragic love story. But the studio apparently thought, "No, none of that shit. Explode that old woman's head with a basketball." And they did, and I'm glad they did, but the tones clash, and the absence of removed content is pretty apparent. Still, fun enough.
Day 11. Braindead / Dead Alive (1992)
This is a horror-comedy by Peter Jackson, and damned if it isn't the bloodiest, goriest thing I've ever ever seen. Evil Dead-level gore with Shaun of the Dead sensibilities (though a lot more blunt than Shaun's fantastic subtle humor). And with the budget this movie had, I cannot imagine how they pulled that off. The amount of fake blood and body parts alone should have bankrupted them, never mind all the monsters and stop motion and people being torn in half.
I've wanted to see this for years, but it never seemed to be streaming anywhere, and the DVD was always a little too expensive to buy sight unseen. (If there'd ever been a real nice, remastered, uncut collector's edition on blu-ray with a bunch of extras, I'd have seen it long before now) But surprise surprise...it's currently available on Youtube! A number of movies I've been wanting to see are, I've suddenly noticed.
This is a horror-comedy by Peter Jackson, and damned if it isn't the bloodiest, goriest thing I've ever ever seen. Evil Dead-level gore with Shaun of the Dead sensibilities (though a lot more blunt than Shaun's fantastic subtle humor). And with the budget this movie had, I cannot imagine how they pulled that off. The amount of fake blood and body parts alone should have bankrupted them, never mind all the monsters and stop motion and people being torn in half.
I've wanted to see this for years, but it never seemed to be streaming anywhere, and the DVD was always a little too expensive to buy sight unseen. (If there'd ever been a real nice, remastered, uncut collector's edition on blu-ray with a bunch of extras, I'd have seen it long before now) But surprise surprise...it's currently available on Youtube! A number of movies I've been wanting to see are, I've suddenly noticed.
Since the beginning of Halloween month, I've only seen two new-to-me horror movies:
No One Gets Out Alive: Actually pretty satisfying Netflix horror movie. Undocumented immigrant deals with creepy goings-on at boarding house. Ended pretty much how I thought it would, and I was OK giving this film 1.5 hours of my time.
The Manor: Amazon Prime horror movie. Barbara Hershey plays a 70-year-old, checked into a elder manor. Creepy goings-on ensue, and no one in her family believes her. This did NOT end how I thought it would, and I was equally OK giving this 1.5 hours of my time.
No One Gets Out Alive: Actually pretty satisfying Netflix horror movie. Undocumented immigrant deals with creepy goings-on at boarding house. Ended pretty much how I thought it would, and I was OK giving this film 1.5 hours of my time.
The Manor: Amazon Prime horror movie. Barbara Hershey plays a 70-year-old, checked into a elder manor. Creepy goings-on ensue, and no one in her family believes her. This did NOT end how I thought it would, and I was equally OK giving this 1.5 hours of my time.
I don't think I've seen anything that's completely new to me, Nosferatu I only saw once before seeing it again this month, ditto Bela Lugosi Dracul. It's also my first time reading the Dracula novel (past the first chapter).
I don't usually care for vampire stories as much as, say, werewolves. But Konami Castlevania Advance Classics Collection came out and...well I'm sure you can see the correlation.
I don't usually care for vampire stories as much as, say, werewolves. But Konami Castlevania Advance Classics Collection came out and...well I'm sure you can see the correlation.
Saw Truth or Dare last night. Typical "college kids in haunted house, and now the unseen monster in the house is making them play a deadly game of truth or dare" offering. BUT! It has Heather Langenkamp in a cameo! And Guillermo from "What We Do in the Shadows" is in it! The last 15 minutes were pretty shocking for what felt like a largely PG-13 movie.
I wonder what Guillermo's last name is? Buillermo?
I wonder what Guillermo's last name is? Buillermo?
You want horror just watch some kids stuff like Disney's Pinocchio or The Witches (1990), there's a scene in each that still traumatises adults to this day: namely the boys becoming donkeys in the former and the girl trapped in the painting in the latter.
While following up on the subject I was introduced to a short film from 2009 called Alma, worth a watch and it's on Youtube:
While following up on the subject I was introduced to a short film from 2009 called Alma, worth a watch and it's on Youtube:
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Return to Oz scared the hell out of me as a kid. It was disturbing overall, but particularly the woman with the interchangeable heads! I had nightmares.
Also Winnie the Pooh with the Hephelumps and Woozels gave me nightmares. Someone must have been on acid!
Also Winnie the Pooh with the Hephelumps and Woozels gave me nightmares. Someone must have been on acid!
Secret of NIMH for me. Not even anything in particular, the movie's whole general vibe always used to put me on edge.
Don Bluth films in general used to be like that. I don't know why some movies affect me one way or another. Return to Oz and Secret on Nimh both had their scary moments. But for some reason Secret of Nimh was scary in a way that made me want to watch it again and again whereas Return to Oz just gave me nightmares and I don't ever want to watch it again to this day.
I've been wanting to rewatch Return to Oz for a while now, but haven't. When a Family Video down the road from me was closing down and selling all of their stock, I picked up a copy on DVD, only to find that it's completely unplayable starting about 15 minutes in.
Don Bluth's stuff is scary in a different way. Everyone talks about the nightmare imagery, but there's an undercurrent to it that keeps you uneasy. No matter how cute the characters and how hard things lean into fantasy, the fantasy stops when it comes to the consequences of the characters' actions. If they fail they will die. No silly Shadow Realm metaphor and no magical death ray because magical violence apparently doesn't count. It'll be death by a specific bloody wound or drowning or whatever actual thing. They will die and leave behind people who are sad about it.
I finished reading Dracula just now. Looking back on the thread, I started reading it (minus a bit of chapter 1 that I had read long before but dropped off afterwards), on the 2nd of October. It is now the 13th. Did I truly read that entire book in the span of 11 days?
I may have to read it again some time. After getting past the tedium of. the first chapter, it surprised me just how hard it was to put down, though I may never be able to watch the movies the same way again.
I may have to read it again some time. After getting past the tedium of. the first chapter, it surprised me just how hard it was to put down, though I may never be able to watch the movies the same way again.
Day 14. Halloween Kills (2021)
If you liked the 2018 movie, you're gonna like this one. I am very glad I decided to rewatch the 2018 one right before this; not that there's any danger of losing the "plot" if you don't, but since this one picks up literally minutes later, there are a lot of little things to appreciate if you've got it fresh in your memory.
My thoughts are mixed on it, just because I tend to overthink nonsense like this. As a Halloween sequel specifically, it's great, one of the best. As a slasher horror movie in general, I think it's still very good. It does all the things a slasher film is supposed to do, but doesn't reinvent the wheel doing it.
As a movie-movie, as pretentious as that distinction may sound...it's definitely competent, but too fanservice-y to leave much of an impression when viewed outside of an "another installment in the franchise" lens. Michael Meyers in the 2018 movie was treated like someone who's been killing and escaping death off and on for the past 40 years, not someone who killed 3 teenagers 40 years ago. And this movie REALLY doubles down on that. Every time someone picks up a kitchen knife, it's shot with the importance of someone firing up a light saber, and I can't help but think, "That's just what he used in the first movie because it's what he had access to."
The TL;DR version is, I enjoyed it, but I'm predisposed to. If slashers aren't your thing, or even if Meyers specifically doesn't do it for you, there's nothing here I can point at to change your mind.
If you liked the 2018 movie, you're gonna like this one. I am very glad I decided to rewatch the 2018 one right before this; not that there's any danger of losing the "plot" if you don't, but since this one picks up literally minutes later, there are a lot of little things to appreciate if you've got it fresh in your memory.
My thoughts are mixed on it, just because I tend to overthink nonsense like this. As a Halloween sequel specifically, it's great, one of the best. As a slasher horror movie in general, I think it's still very good. It does all the things a slasher film is supposed to do, but doesn't reinvent the wheel doing it.
As a movie-movie, as pretentious as that distinction may sound...it's definitely competent, but too fanservice-y to leave much of an impression when viewed outside of an "another installment in the franchise" lens. Michael Meyers in the 2018 movie was treated like someone who's been killing and escaping death off and on for the past 40 years, not someone who killed 3 teenagers 40 years ago. And this movie REALLY doubles down on that. Every time someone picks up a kitchen knife, it's shot with the importance of someone firing up a light saber, and I can't help but think, "That's just what he used in the first movie because it's what he had access to."
The TL;DR version is, I enjoyed it, but I'm predisposed to. If slashers aren't your thing, or even if Meyers specifically doesn't do it for you, there's nothing here I can point at to change your mind.
Just watched this, great ending.
Saw Halloween Kills too. I didn't much like it but mostly because of the mob scene and the Evil Dies Tonight. Sheesh.
And there wasn't any consequence to hospital fatality?
And there wasn't any consequence to hospital fatality?