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10/29/22

A Nightmare on Elm Street – Wes Craven, 1984

The boyfriend went to a party tonight, so with the house to myself, I decided to watch an old classic. I've already covered Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers this year, I couldn't leave Freddy Kreuger out of the mix. I think Freddy might be my favorite of the three, at least because of his campiness. All three of the big villains have spawned truly terrible franchises spanning decades, but Freddy has the most personality of them all. Robert Englund is truly a wonder, and I'm glad he got the opportunity to bring such an iconic villain to life. I can't imagine anyone better suited for the job.

I know I've gone on and on about the special effects in these movies from the seventies and eighties, but look, they're very good! I especially like the oatmeal stairs, even if Wes Craven didn't. And the blood pouring out of the bed is iconic for a reason. It's incredibly visually arresting, and the effects for the nightmares and the deaths brought the horror to a new level. This movie is so scary because you never know whether what you're watching is a dream or reality. It messed me up when I first saw it. Now I can appreciate it for what it is, which is a very good movie that is perfect for the Halloween season.

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10/22/22

Halloweentown – Duwayne Dunham, 1998

We took a little bit of a break between movies this week, and jumped back in with an indisputable classic. This is a movie that has been on my list to watch forever, because I know how much everyone loves it. As it was slightly before my time, this was never part of my yearly repertoire, but now it might be. To be completely honest, I didn't love it. But thinking back on it, I can understand why it's popular. And the fact that it is so beloved makes me like it more and see the good in it. At the very least, the kids are all adorable, and Debbie Reynolds is the best grandma anyone could wish for.

One big point for this movie is the effects. This was before computer-generated effects were so widely used to create entire environments and creatures, so things had to be done practically. Plus, as a made-for-TV movie, I doubt they had the budget for that. The makeup to create all the creatures of the town was very successful, although I can see how it could be too creepy for kids. The magic looks a little silly at times, but it adds to the charm. I didn't pay the closest attention, and as a result, I was a little lost. But thankfully I was able to slip back into the story pretty easily by the end. It is a movie for kids, after all. It can't be that complex.

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10/17/22

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit – Steve Box and Nick Park, 2005

We took a break from the serious and the gross for some wholesome, G-rated spooks today. It was most definitely the right choice. The Wallace and Gromit movies are all extremely enjoyable, and this, of course, is no exception. The visual style of these characters is so pleasing to my eyes, I'm not sure why. The rabbits in the movie are peak character design, and I found myself frequently smiling whenever they were around just because I liked looking at them so much. The movie in general is pleasant and enjoyable, which was exactly what I needed.

I have seen this movie before, but I did not remember many important things about it. For example, the identity of the were-rabbit was a complete surprise to me, as was the ending. I truly did not recall how our characters got out of their sticky situation, and I was drawn in all over again. It's entirely possible that I have not actually seen this movie, but just saw the trailer. It's one of my boyfriend's favorites, and he insists he remembers watching it with me, so I'll believe him for now. Anyway, this movie is great. It's not very scary, but fits the bill for Halloween whimsy, with a light smattering of spooks.

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10/16/22

Malevolent – Olaf de Fleur Johannesson, 2018

This was another surprise addition to our Halloween movie list, featuring a surprise Florence Pugh! She is always a delight and makes any movie better by being in it. This movie is far from a classic, which was the original point of the movie marathon. It has clearly devolved a bit since we started. None of the movies on the list seemed appealing, so we went a different direction. This was also appealing because it was available on Netflix, which houses a wide range of horror movies of debatable quality that no one has ever heard of. This movie, of course, was one of them.

It started off with an interesting enough premise – a sibling duo pretends to be able to communicate with ghosts and scam people by faking ghost encounters. Except it turns out the sister actually can see ghosts, and so could their mother. And then they go to a house that's actually haunted, and everything goes wrong. My biggest issue is that they all should have died a few times over, but only a couple of people from their scamming crew actually die from their injuries. The ending was also a little disappointing, and everything moved pretty slowly. There were too many shots of Florence Pugh walking from here to there, seemingly only to draw out the runtime. This is an unfortunate case of a cool story failing in execution.

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10/15/22

Halloween Ends – David Gordon Green, 2022

This certainly was a movie. The only one this month we plan to see in theaters and the latest installment in one of our favorite horror series, this was something I was really looking forward to. After the forgettable Halloween Kills, I was hoping this movie would save the new Halloween trilogy. While things definitely went in a different direction, it felt a little separated from the rest. If you want a story about Laurie Strode and Michael Myers, you will be disappointed. Which is strange, because those are the two characters this series is supposed to be based on. This movie made an interesting choice to center a completely different character.

Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy this movie. I enjoy most movies I see in theaters, so that's not the most accurate gauge. But I liked the commentary on evil and goodness, and I thought the trajectory of misunderstood kid who accidentally murdered someone to an active killer was interesting. I thought the ending of the story between Laurie and Michael was extremely lackluster and disappointing. Laurie did have a few badass moments that I appreciated and thought were fun, and the deaths were surprisingly gory. It wraps up the plot introduced in Halloween (2018) well enough, if it is a little strange. It was weird, but not necessarily bad.

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10/13/22

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark – André Øvredal, 2019

I didn't have any expectations for this movie. It was a last-minute addition to our catalog based purely on the fact that it was spooky and available on Netflix. I was very pleasantly surprised! This movie was excellent. It was genuinely scary, and the stories from the original book were translated faithfully to the screen. I remember reading the book when I was younger and having the illustrations haunt me. Seeing those put onscreen directly from the page was something I didn't think this movie could do, but it did. Despite not knowing what to expect, this movie was better than I could have hoped.

The characters don't have a lot of depth, but they don't need to. They exist to service the story, and the vague character traits they do have play nicely with the stories that are set to kill them. I was attached to them enough to feel sad when they got caught by their nightmares. I think Harvey the scarecrow was probably the best part. It was satisfying to see a bully get what they deserve, and the design of the scarecrow was delightfully creepy. This movie was better than it had any right to be and it went pretty under the radar as far as I know. The ending teased a sequel, and I would be happy to see more of these movies in the future.

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10/13/22

Spirit Halloween: The Movie – David Poag, 2022

I believe I've mentioned before that I used to work at a Spirit Halloween store. I was only there for one season, around eight weeks, but I can say without a doubt that this is the job I talk about the most. I cannot tell you why I liked this job so much. I think it was partly because the store manager was my high school best friend, and partly because it was during the pandemic, and even working retail was more desirable to me than staying locked down. With this context, I think it is understandable that I was extremely excited about this movie, and went out of my way to watch it as soon as it was available to stream.

Is this a good movie? No. It is solidly average. I mean, it's basically a 90-minute commercial for the store. The child acting was fine, the plot was derivative and ridiculous, and Rachael Leigh Cook was there to do nothing (except presumably to get the film funded). The highlight was the spirit of Christopher Lloyd possessing different animatronics around the store to try to chase down the kids. Yes, that was as hilarious as it sounds. As someone who has spent time in a Spirit Halloween after hours, I can confirm it is creepy, and I think it is a decent setting for a horror/comedy. Unfortunately, this movie takes itself a little too seriously to fit that bill. If you don't have any personal connection to the Spirit company, you can definitely skip this. But I had a great time.

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10/10/22

Strangely, I don't have much to say about this movie on rewatch. I wasn't paying the best attention, only looking up from my phone to laugh at appropriate moments. There were several moments of physical comedy that got a genuine chuckle out of me, as well as the clever grammar jokes that I think should be more commonplace in comedies these days. I honestly feel bad about not giving this movie its proper attention. It's a great movie for the Halloween season. It's goofy and there's murder, what more can you ask for?

9/27/19

Clue – Jonathan Lynn, 1985

As an antidote to The Silence of the Lambs, we went for Clue as a palate cleanser. Truly, the two could not be further removed. A murder comedy is hard to pull off, due to the subject matter, but this film somehow makes it work. With comedy legends like Tim Curry and Madeline Kahn heading the cast, this movie was sure to be a good time. And the gimmick of having alternate endings is a brilliant way to keep the audience guessing, and leave room for interpretation.

Having a large ensemble is also quite difficult to manage, but again, that is an area where this movie shines. The film never feels crowded, and every character gets their due. Everyone manages to be multifaceted without taking away from the others, and they all work together to bring their unique jokes to the screen. I had a lot of fun watching this movie, and guessing right along with the guests who the murderer was. My personal favorite ending is C, by the way, no matter how unrealistic it might be. 

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10/8/22

I love this movie. It is absolutely, unironically, my favorite scary movie. It's become somewhat of a comfort film for me, despite the subject matter. As a film person myself, this movie is meta in all the right ways and speaks to me on a personal level. I am someone who has always tried to force my life to conform to the rules of a specific genre. Films about film will always have a special place in my heart. There is something about this first movie in the Scream series that perfectly strikes the balance between commentary and killings. Future movies in the series really struggle with recapturing that magic, but this one did it exactly right.

10/20/20

Scream – Wes Craven, 1996

Ironically, when someone recently asked me what my favorite scary movie is, I picked Scream. I forgot that that question was a big part of the opening scene, so maybe it’s not my favorite scary movie after all. This was only my second time watching it, and I enjoyed it just as much the second time as I did the first. Killing big star Drew Barrymore right out of the gate is a bold move, making you feel like no one is truly safe in this movie. And while this is not the first movie to subvert horror movie expectations, or to be set in a world where horror movies exist, I think this film does it best. Specifically this film though, not necessarily the sequels. But we’ll get to those when I watch them.

Something this film does exceptionally well is make it seem like anyone could be a suspect. That makes the reveal of discount Johnny Depp here as the killer more exciting, and after he seemingly gets stabbed no less. Having two killers was an innovative choice for this movie as well, making it that much harder to predict who the murderer was. It also helped to explain how Ghostface could move so fast or be in two places at once, again demystifying and subverting horror tropes. Now, this movie is gory and disturbing. My mom has told me that watching this when it came out is one of her biggest regrets. But it is still such a clever take on the genre that I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys such things. 

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10/7/22

The Rocky Horror Picture Show — Jim Sharman, 1975

This is one of those movies that I can't believe I haven't seen all the way through. For some reason, we had it on in the background of an overnight lock-in I did with my high school book club. I've seen random parts of this before, and what I saw I really enjoyed. Part of the reason I can't believe I hadn't seen it is that I was a theater kid raised by theater kids. I have musicals in my blood. I'm not gay, though, so maybe that was the problem. This is an unabashedly camp, queer, and sex-positive movie, and it's a grand old time.

Now I will mention that it doesn't necessarily make a lot of sense. I did not understand who Eddie was, why he was in a freezer, or why he was played by Meatloaf. I'm sure all of those things would have made sense if I had paid slightly better attention. I am willing to take the blame and not put it on the movie. I still had a lot of fun though! This movie is colorful and silly, and the music is very fun. It's clear that this had a pretty low budget, which also made it more fun for me. I love movies that are held together with duct tape. I completely understand the appeal and the cult following. I won't be attending any midnight screenings anytime soon (I'm too shy) but I love that for other people.

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10/6/22

It's been three years since I watched this with my boyfriend, and guess what? I still love him, and he still loves this movie. I liked it well enough this time around. It was much bloodier than I remember, and as a result, I did not enjoy it as much this second time around. I also like Tim Burton a lot less than I once did, which negatively impacted my viewing of the film. It's very gray and dreary, and the villain gives a great monologue at the end expositing her evil plan. The mystery is compelling enough, and the spooky atmosphere is perfect for fall. It's a good movie! I just don't think I was in the right mood for it tonight. I stand by what I said in my previous review. If gothic mysteries are your jam, you'll love this.

10/31/19

Sleepy Hollow – Tim Burton, 1999

Happy Halloween everyone! In order to celebrate this holiday (and also our anniversary) my boyfriend and I decided to watch a nice spooky movie on this fine evening. And we picked a good one! Sleepy Hollow is very Tim Burton, with the costumes and the spooky themes and, you know, Johnny Depp. This one stands out from his other films because it is rated R, and it really delivers on pretty realistic gore to make that rating deserved. In this version of the tale, the Headless Horseman keeps his victim’s heads in the roots of a tree. How nice.

Speaking of the Headless Horseman, seeing Christopher Walken show up was something I didn’t know I needed from this movie, but it was definitely something I got. He did an excellent job, despite having no lines. And the fact that Ray Park played the Horseman after his accident was also really cool. He is a very talented stuntman and has a particular menacing physicality that really lent itself nicely to the role. I also really enjoyed the mystery-solving aspect of this movie. I was engaged and wanting to know what happened, waiting to find out whodunit. I think this was an excellent retelling of a classic story.

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10/5/22

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre — Tobe Hooper, 1974

I had the house to myself tonight, so I decided to watch a movie that was not originally on our list of 31 Halloween movies. I do not recommend eating before, during, or after this film, which probably goes without saying, but I thought I would be safe for the first few minutes at least. Boy, was I wrong. This movie is less scary and more gross than anything else, and I instantly regretted my decision to make dinner with this in the background. I knew it was a slasher flick, but I can usually handle gore. However, this movie includes discussions of slaughterhouses, how to make headcheese, and a surprising lack of blood that somehow makes things more unpleasant.

This movie is one that I've had on my list for a while. It's a low-budget horror classic from the '70s, one of my favorite niches. But I found this film surprisingly upsetting. My big issue was that for the entire dinner scene (and much of the running around before and after), Sally does not stop screaming. It got to the point where I was considering skipping ahead because of how badly the sound was grating on me. I really liked a lot of aspects of this, from Leatherface dancing around with his chainsaw to the way each character got drawn to the house as though they couldn't help but be drawn to their demise. I loved the low-budget vibes the most. But it got hard to watch at a point. That point is when horror stops being fun for me, and unfortunately, the dinner scene in this film did it for me. I'm glad I saw it, and I will not be revisiting it.

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10/4/22

Friday the 13th — Sean S. Cunningham, 1980

This is one of those movies that I can't believe I'd never seen before. It's not exactly Halloweeny, since it does take place in summer, but it is a horror classic. To be honest, I really just wanted an excuse to watch this. Horror movies in the '70s and '80s are something special. Low budgets from studios who barely believed in the projects. Young actors who are either about to shoot into stardom or fade into obscurity forever. Gory practical effects that hold up well to this day. This is where modern horror got its start. Without films like this, we would not have many of the tropes and clichés we love to make fun of today.

As you may have guessed, I enjoyed this. It takes place at a summer camp, a favorite locale of my own childhood, and features a classic crew of teens ready to get picked off one by one. I particularly enjoy the creativity of the murders in this film, as well as how much we get to see of them. An axe in the face and an arrow shoved through a bed and Kevin Bacon's neck are notable standouts. I highly recommend watching the Movies that Made Us episode about the film for more insight into the production, which only makes me like it more. It was originally meant to be a blatant rip-off of Halloween, but managed to spawn a franchise all its own. This movie has nothing to do with the hockey mask-wearing Jason, by the way. I actually like it better that way.

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10/3/22

I swear I'm not watching movies in the same order as I did two years ago on purpose. We've been rolling dice to determine which film from our list of 31 we will be watching on each day, and yesterday and today happened to line up perfectly. I enjoyed this film as I always do. I'm noticing that a lot of films that are mainstays in pop culture have a certain element of camp, which I very much appreciate. Especially if you look at the movies that are featured the most in Spirit Halloween stores (which I use as my main point of reference). The goofy element of Halloween is one that is often overlooked. It's not just about being spooky, scary, or gross. We can do those things year-round. But to be a truly Halloween movie, there needs to be a touch of whimsy. Beetlejuice certainly has that and then some.

10/3/20

Beetlejuice – Tim Burton, 1988

I’m not sure why, but the only time I’ve seen this movie was on a plane. I think I saw an opportunity and wasn’t sure when I’d get it again, but the problem is that watching things on planes means I don’t remember them super well. Luckily, my boyfriend owns this movie, so we went ahead and had some spooky fun times with this one. I must say I enjoyed it much more on a big screen. Tim Burton really let himself go full camp with this one, and it was such a good time. Michael Keaton’s Betelgeuse is deliciously disgusting, and Winona Rider is precocious as always. The concept is so creative as well – hire a ghost to get the humans out of your house! The world created in this film is so enjoyable and has surprising depth.

I really like the stop-motion effects as well. They’re sort of Tim Burton’s trademark. The film is very clearly in his aesthetic, but the stop-motion animated creatures are what push it over the edge for me and make it clearly a Tim Burton film. The creativity involved in the world-building opened the door for some really cool special effects. The makeup is very fun, with the different monster faces that the ghosts pull, as well as the various corpses we see in all sorts of states (the guy who was run over by a car comes to mind, but the shrunken-head guy is another example of some super cool special effects in action). This movie is surprisingly lighthearted for being about death, and I think it’s nice to see a story that doesn’t get too mired down in the philosophical nature of dying. Instead, dying is merely a plot device that leads to farcical shenanigans, and that is awesome. 

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10/2/22

Hocus Pocus 2 — Anne Fletcher, 2022

Yes, my boyfriend and I did a Hocus Pocus double feature. Honestly? I would not recommend this as a method of watching these movies. Unfortunately, watching this and its predecessor back-to-back made comparison inevitable, and this movie came out on the bottom. Of course a sequel will (almost) never be as good as the original, but this was still on the disappointing side. There was nothing really wrong besides the fact that it felt forced, and sort of lackluster as a result. I'm trying not to be cynical, and it was very apparent that everyone loved coming back to their old roles. For that reason alone, I am choosing to look at this movie as a labor of love as opposed to a cash grab. We're in the age of standalone movies receiving sequels over a decade after they first came out, and I've accepted that and am choosing to look on the bright side.

There were a few moments that genuinely made me laugh. I loved Mary riding the Roombas (as seen on the poster). I found the actresses playing the young Sanderson sisters to be absolutely precious with the way they copied the older actresses' mannerisms. I also loved the casual diversity, the new bare minimum we can expect from films these days. The flippant lines about the patriarchy and the attitudes of the main girls felt like blatant catering to naysayers, but we don't come to Disney for subtlety. There was a male character who I actually really liked – he wasn't a typical bully, he was mean by accident because he was literally too dumb to understand how to make conversation. This movie was objectively pretty "meh", but I choose to override my cringe with nostalgia. If you decide to watch, I suggest you do the same.

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10/2/22

Would you look at that! Two years to the day have passed since I saw this movie for the first time. Must be something about this movie that makes you want to watch it on exactly the same day every year, just like the Sanderson sisters coming back from the dead exactly 300 years after their deaths. Anyway, I had a great time with this. I appreciate camp much more than I used to, and that describes this movie perfectly. In retrospect, a lot of things haven't aged well, but in a way that makes it a charming time capsule. Irreverent humor, way more sexual undertones than you would expect from a Disney flick, and of course the child acting. It is a perfect movie to put on in the background to get into the autumn spirit while doing something else. It's simple, sugary, and comforting, just like Halloween candy.

10/2/20

Hocus Pocus – Kenny Ortega, 1993

I was born just a little too late to have Hocus Pocus be in the usual rotation of Halloween movies. I have somehow managed to make it this far in my life and not see this film until now. Since I work in a Halloween store now, I figured it was my duty to start in on the spooky fare as soon as we got into October, so my friends and I decided to watch this for the first time together. I enjoyed it quite a lot, not least because I feel like I’m part of a cool in-crowd now. I appreciate the Hocus Pocus section of our store so much more now that I know who Billy Butcherson is (he is the best character in the film, a zombie played by Doug Jones who never asked to be a part of this). 

Was it a little weird? Yes, very much so. It is incredibly nineties, and the requisite guys who bully the main character simply do not act like human beings. For me, this added to the charm. I mean, look at these ladies. You should not expect a serious drama going into this movie. It embraces the ridiculousness, and I think that makes it very fun. Plus I do love Kenny Ortega, director of many a fine Disney musical. It’s a cult classic for a reason. Nostalgia is definitely a part of it, but it’s also because people like silly movies sometimes. It’s nice to have a Halloween movie that’s not overly scary or gross. There’s more than one way to enjoy things. If you want Halloween to be creepy, maybe go watch The Conjuring instead. If you want it to be fun and full of costumes and candy, then this movie captures that spirit. 

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10/1/22

Over the Garden Wall — Nate Cash, 2014

Starting the month off strong with something that is not technically a movie, but an absolutely delightful start to spooky season nonetheless. I think pretty much everyone considers Over the Garden Wall to be one piece of media that happens to be split into ten chapters. Since each episode is only ten minutes long, when put together in one sitting it amounts to a feature film of reasonable length. I have somehow made it this far in life without having seen this, something that is so up my alley it might as well be inside my house. Needless to say, I loved this.

Over the Garden Wall is one of those stories that is perfect for young and old alike. It reminds me of Miyazaki's films, in that it features a childish visual style while dealing with darker themes that are more easily unraveled by adults. Also, I would die for Greg. I was prepared for him to be annoying, as younger brothers tend to be, but somehow his personality only got more endearing as time went on. I was not expecting to be quite as charmed by this as I was. Going into popular things I have yet to experience, I tend to assume they are overrated. This, in my opinion, was not. It is a quintessential Halloween watch.

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