Well, Halloween 2015 has come and gone and while I didn't get to every movie I wanted to see (which would have been impossible anyway) I did better than most Octobers I can remember! Well over 31 movies viewed and I had a great time. Good thing that "Everyday is Halloween" here at the World of the Weird Monster Show because I'm still in that Halloween mood!
To see my original list (which I veered quite a bit from) look HERE
To see Update #1 go HERE
Update #2 is HERE
Update #3 is HERE
To get on to the last update scroll down or click on "Read More"
CRIMSON PEAK
I'd been waiting to see this movie for a long time and it did not disappoint. Especially on the IMAX screen. I love me some gothic horror and this was GOTHIC in all caps. Just incredibly beautiful to look at and dripping in atmosphere. You can tell Guilermo Del Toro was in love with every shot, every detail. The main house is gorgeous...they built the set for the movie and it shows. The costumes are great. And the story holds up. All too often the story doesn't match the visuals in a movie like this. And while the script isn't the most amazing thing ever, it does the job and does it well....enhanced by the great performances. I like that it doesn't try to hide it's plot and make it a huge mystery. I mean, there is a bit of a mystery but much of the character's intentions---good and bad---are all laid out from the get go. The script doesn't try to lead you on or hide some big twist. It's pretty clear most of what is going on, you don't even need to guess, and personally, I think that's a huge strength. And when you do find out every little detail, it's twisted enough to fit the tone of the film. Let me put it simply....the house sits on a massive deposit of rare red clay and is slowly sinking into it. The clay oozes through the floors and walls as if the old house is bleeding. And when it snows, the clay bleeds through the snow to make it look as if it is covered in blood, hence the name "Crimson Peak" for the property. If you think that sounds melodramatically amazing...then this movie is for you, just as it was for me.
GHOSTWATCH (BBC)
I love this. It's a show that aired on the BBC on Halloween night, 1992. It was a scripted show, and pre-taped, but the format of the program was that of a live broadcast on Halloween night....kind of like a Geraldo Rivera at Al Capone's Vault kinda deal...but with a haunted house. It starred real BBC personalities as well. It would be as if Dan Rather hosted it here, with Katie Couric covering from inside the "haunted house." This was before reality TV boomed and even though they made no overt attempt to make people think it was real, thousands of people thought just that. It was basically a Orson Welles War of the Worlds kind of deal. It's made very well, and genuinely scary...and I kind of get it, at that point in time, you wouldn't expect Dan Rather, for example, to be on a show that wasn't real and lie to you. This show (and Nigel Kneale's THE STONE TAPE, also from the BBC, one of their Christmas Ghost Stories) was the main reason I bought a region free DVD player years and years ago. Once I heard about it, I had to see it. And it did not disappoint. After watching so many horror movies, not too many give me the chills, but this one does. It's so great. Also...I want that ghost painting on the set in the picture above. I'm not doing the story full justice, to read more about it, click HERE
GARFIELD'S HALLOWEEN ADVENTURE
Okay, this is actually kind of terrifying. I mean, it's Garfield, so not really...but sort of. You see that picture? That's from this cartoon and it is messed up. This cartoon special had been a staple of my wife's Halloweens and I'm always up for a new Halloween special so we gave it a watch. I guess it used to air back to back with The Great Pumpkin when it first came out. It's funny and cool, and Garfield and Odie become pirates and set out on Halloween night....and then the animated style jarringly switches to this more realistic style and this crazed, wrinkled, 110 year old man tells them that dead pirates are coming to kill them all. Seriously. Whenever it cuts to this guy, it's like it's all of a sudden a different cartoon, one that frankly, to me, looks like an animated Texas Chainsaw Massacre dinner scene. Now, yes, it's not that disturbing and it is a Garfield cartoon....but I gotta tell you, it was weird. Like really weird when all of a sudden this guy showed up. He for sure does not look like John, Garfield and Odie's owner.
THE RAVEN by Vincent Price
This is not a full movie, in fact it's probably about 15 minutes long. But Vincent Price, in that wardrobe, on that set, performing THE RAVEN...it doesn't get much more Halloween than that. Look it up on youtube.
IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN
What can I say? It's the best. I loved this and the Christmas special as a kid. But as a monster kid I especially love the Great Pumpkin. Way before DVRs and VCRs and even boom boxes, I put my tape recorder next to the cabinet TV on the floor of our family room one year and I recorded the audio of this show onto tape. And I listened to that tape year round, over and over. From the colors, to the story, to the music....it's perfect.
THE OLD DARK HOUSE
Such a great, fun movie. I'll admit, it also makes me very tired. I mean, for some reason whenever I want to watch this it's like 2am or something and it usually makes me fall asleep in the middle. But that doesn't mean it isn't good...just that I'm tired. It's the definition of wickedly funny with some very spooky parts as well. Great Universal Horror from James Whale.
EVIL DEAD
I wanted to rewatch all the Evil Dead films before the new TV series. I've always loved these movies. In today's modern age of slashers and saw style movies, we don't get enough good old 80's occult filled demon movies. (Now it's all ghost stories....which is a favorite of mine, but give me a pentagram on the floor with candles and people messing with things they shouldn't be and maybe a John Constantine style Occult PI anyday--but I'm off topic.) Anyway, the first one I ever saw was EVIL DEAD 2...and I'm sure that's the one most people saw first. When I first watched this one years ago, I didn't like it as much because it's not EVIL DEAD 2. And while objectively, it's not maybe as good a movie as 2--not as kinetic, fresh, wild and unhinged--it's almost the one I'd rather watch. It's just such a great, pretty hard core, horror flick that really pushes the audience. It's great. And I think one of the keys to the series longevity (besides the main one, Bruce Campbell) is that the series, which now has so much comedy in it, has at its heart, unrelenting terror.
EVIL DEAD 2: DEAD BY DAWN
Nothing beats seeing this movie for the first time. I still love in, dozens of viewings later, but I remember when I first saw it, it was unlike any horror movie I had ever seen. Over the top, slapstick (splatstick as they called it) horror that was gross and also funny and with super brilliant camera work and direction. It was just the best. And it still is. Such a great movie and so much fun and....Bruce Campbell.
ARMY OF DARKNESS
If only Sam Raimi would have been able to actually call it Medieval Dead. The third is of course many people's favorite. It's got humor and one liners to spare. It's probably my least favorite...but it's still awesome. And so much fun.
ASH VS EVIL DEAD
I'd been waiting for this show since they announced it (and even before had always secretly hoped Raimi, Campbell and the rest would reunite to make some sort of new EVIL DEAD.) And it lived up to the wait. I've seen the first three episodes of ten (and a second season has already been announced) and it's fantastic. I can't wait to see where the story goes. But it's like my favorite thing on TV now. And the pilot airing on Halloween night was a perfect way to celebrate the best holiday ever!
That's it! 49 viewings over the 31 days which I think is a record for me. It was a great October and I can't wait for next year.
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