Halloween Team 2018: The End

We settled at Casa Mikols for Kendra's pick, Scream.  Yikes.  It was pretty brutal.  I'm not a fan of slasher movies so a lot of the spoof was lost on me.  I didn't particularly enjoy the movie, though there were a few good turns.  Interesting to see Henry Winkler play off-type.

I give it 2 Beer Bottles.

Before the movie we watched Halloween episodes of Boy Meets World and Community.  I had seen both before, but it was fun watching them again.

Overall, I'd say the worst movie was Wolf, the scariest was Ghost Stories and my favorite was Fright Night.  I also really enjoyed The Thing and I wouldn't have watched it outside of our group.

I have no idea what I'll pick next year.

Halloween Movie Review: Rifftrax Live presents Manos Hands of Fate

     This year, Steve, Sarah, Hilary and I settled in to watch the Rifftrax Live version of Manos: Hands of Fate.  Hilary and I had seen the original MST3K version many times and were excited to see this new take.  The movie is crap.  We all know this.  But it's worth taking note of just how bad.  It appears to be made up of completely unrelated outtakes of film with dubbed dialogue and a nonsensical aesthetic.  Here's the thing though.  The plot, which takes up about 10 minutes of the whole movie, is actually very dark, and even scary.  Torgo wants to keep the wife as his love slave and Manos wants to keep the wife and daughter as his zombie brides.  It ends on a deeply disturbing note.  Of course it's hard to be effected by it since the movie is so laughably bad, but the darkness is there.
     Now, the Riff.  It's impossible not to compare it to the original MST3K version, so I'm going to lean in to that.  I'm typically not a fan of the MST3K host segments, but in Manos they actually come in quite handy.  You need a break from that movie.  This is a Joel episode (though Mike Nelson is great as Torgo delivering pizzas), and I think that's for the best.  Joel's nonchalant zingers play best in a movie like Manos.  Overall, I'd say the original is better, but the Rifftrax version is a worthy follow-up.  The conversational style of this crew helps get you through the monotony, but they also have to avoid making the same jokes as the earlier version.  I think sometimes that leads them down some odd paths.  There were certainly laugh out loud moments and I don't think we were bored, but if ever I have to rewatch Manos, I will reach for the MST3K version.
     As is usual with Rifftrax Live events, this was preceded a by a few educational shorts.  Norman was right up there with the best of them, but Cylinders was just okay.

I give it 3 Goat Legs.

Bonus!  The following week Steve and I got together and watched What Lies Beneath.  This has long been a favorite of mine and was actually Hilary's pick for Halloween Team 2016.  Beat for beat this movie is just on it.  It has some great red herrings and unexpected turns.  Harrison Ford nails his only role of this kind and Michelle Pfeiffer plays the hot mess expertly. They have great chemistry too.  I find the movie to be genuinely scary in all the right ways.  Hats of to Clark Gregg for the great script and Robert Zemeckis for stylish direction. If you haven't seen it, check it out.

I give it 5 Braids.

Halloween Team 2018: The Gunning Picks

For four years now the Gunnings, Mikols and Jacoby-Murphys have been taking turns picking Halloween movies.  I covered our first batch for 2018 in my last post.  Here are some more.

Next up was Hilary's turn.  This year she chose Ghost Stories with Martin Freeman.  It was basically a series of vignettes following a man trying to debunk ghost stories that convinced other skeptics.  The real success of this movie, was the buildup.  In each section, the main characters would move through a series of escalating events with plenty of time in between each jump.  It was the anticipation that really amped up the scares.  Up through the penultimate theme we were feeling like this was the scariest movie we'd watched.   And I think in some ways that is true.  BUT.  The ending really knocked the legs out from under it.  I don't know where I wanted the story to go, but I think the end retroactively made even earlier good parts a little less good.  Still, worth the watch and a very good pick.

I give it 80% of the movie 4 faulty flashlights, with the final bit getting 1 goat man.

Now... our next pick. I don't think it's really important to say who chose it. That's not even the point.  It's a mistake anyone could make. I don't think the selector should be held accountable. Anyway, at the appointed time we gathered and began the mid-90s horror, comedy, drama, thriller  movie Wolf starring Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer and James Spader (for some reason).  I guess if I have to give one compliment, it is pretty impressive that the team behind Wolf manged to get such wooden, confusing performances out of Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer and James Spader (for some reason.)  I would expect more from any of those people and was actually pretty excited to see Nicholson and Pfeiffer together. Look, this movie sucked. It was the worst.  Let me see if I can stitch together the plot.  Spader is gunning for Nicholson's job as managing editor of... something.  A publishing house?  Michelle Pfeiffer is the sullen daughter of the new owner of the publishing house (?).  For some reason she likes Nicholson.  For some reason Spader likes Nicholson's wife.  Oh and also, several people are werewolves.  I give up. This is more like a super hero movie for middle aged people, and an unsuccessful one at that.  There are no silver linings here and I'm too bored to make some sort of silver bullet joke. Whoever picked it would like to apologize to the group.

I give this 1 full moon.

Halloween Team 2018: The Eric and Sally Picks

This tradition has legs!  (Spooky, spindly spider legs, but still.)  We've been doing this for four years now and the hits keep on coming. With Sally and Sarah in North Carolina, we've had to get a little more technical to keep the tradition undead, but so far so good.

Kendra used some black magic to set the order and Eric was up first. I always look forward to the Eric pick. (With the exception of Eight Legged Freaks, of course.)  This year he chose Fright Night, the 2011 remake of the 80s cult classic.  This one starred Anton Yelchin and Colin Farrel and just hit the mark at every turn. It was spooky and actually scary here and there, but it was the general weirdness that really sold it for me.  David Tenant pops up and delivered as usual. Finding the balance in a movie like this is tough, but I felt like this walked the line well.  It made me want to check out the original.  We watched this at Eric and Kendra's with the movie on one screen and Sally and Sarah on the other. It was great when it worked.

I give it 4 McLovins.

The following week was the Jacoby-Murphy pick.  Sally and Sarah were actually in town for this one.  So after Sally, Eric and I recorded the annual Halloween episode of the podcast we settled at our house for the movie. Every year I'm terrified that Sally's going to go off-book and pick something that will live in my brain forever, but she relented and they ultimately settled on John Carpenter's The Thing.  I was actually all in for this movie. The feel was absolutely right. It's grim and unsettling in places, but Kurt Russell sells it. It was scary enough and a fun movie to talk through with a group of friends.  I'd kinda like to see the updated version now.

I give it 4 Spider Dog Alien People.

Bonus!  After the movie we watched the original David S. Pumpkins skit from SNL.  Still hilarious.  I don't know why it works, but it does.  Tom Hanks is just so game.  Then we rolled right in to the David S. Pumpkins Halloween Special.  Making this was not a good idea and it definitely doesn't deliver on the same level as the original brief skit.  BUT.  I like it. There are enough laughs to get you through and it does maintain the same offbeat vibe.  I wish it was more kid friendly so I could show my son, but I can see this being the kind of thing that gets funnier the more you watch it.  Maybe not.  Time will tell.

I give it 3 Beat Boys.

Final Entries for Halloween Team 2017

Kendra's pick was Get Out.  This wins for being the most intense movie we watched.  Without giving too much away, a guy goes to meet his girlfriend's family and things get bonkers.  I hadn't really seen trailers and new almost nothing about this, which definitely played in my favor.  I had no idea what to expect.  Every curve ball that came my way was a shock. There was some over the top violence, but overall I found it more enthralling than scary.  It was a great pick though.  We were all on the edge of our seats. I rate this 4 Tea Cups!

Hilary brought things to a close with Crimson Peak.  This was one we'd wanted to see when it was in theaters but it looked to scary so we never did.  She was having trouble finding something right and Crimson Peak just clicked.  None of us had seen it, so that was cool.  We all really liked it.  This had some jump scenes and some pretty upsetting violence, but was more mysterious than scary.  It definitely worked for Halloween.  Ghosts, spooky houses, menacing elements.  It was just right. Coincidentally, I also give this 4 Tea Cups!

Final thoughts, I think I had the most fun watching Firestarter.  Get Out was the most intense.  Crimson Peak was the best.  Beetlejuice was long overdue and did not disappoint.  Eight-Legged Freaks was the only stinker of the bunch, and that's just personal taste.  (Sorry Pickles.)

Now for some bonuses.
Eric, Kendra, Hilary and I watched the Rob Lowe 'Salem's Lot miniseries.  We had low expectations but were pleasantly surprised.  The actors were all in and it stayed pretty true to the book.  Like the novel it suffers from too many characters, but they were easier to keep track of on screen.  3 Stakes.

Hilary, Sally, Westy and I watched Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie.  This was spookier than we realized and Westy was white knuckling the arm rests the whole time.  There's a Heffalump frame story and some classic Pooh shorts are highlighted.  Pretty good over all.  3 Hunny Pots.

Hilary, Borch, Ishtar and I settled in with beef stew for Ghost Story based on the novel by Peter Straub.  The movie was pretty good, and definitely scary at places.  We were really in to the plot and were all confused by the out of place nudity.  I guess they figured they had and R, so they might as well.  The ending was chilling and satisfying.  4 overflowing sinks!

Halloween Team 2017: Firestarter

What do you get when you combine Stephen King, Marty Sheen, a mondo creepy George C. Scott plus a little post-E.T. Drew Barrymore? A hot time in the old town tonight, that's what!  My pick was Stephen Kings retro classic(?) Firestarter!

I don't know, this movie was a kinda bad.  But, it was bad in just the right way. Everyone involved was 100% committed and I was pretty curious as to where things were heading.  It was not scary.  It was not thrilling.  But it had a certain something.  And things got real crazy towards the end.  I liked it.  It was perfect for a do-it-yourself MST3K night.  I kinda wanna read the book now.  I also feel compelled to watch the TV sequel.

I give this 3 flames.

You can find my review of the book here.

For more on Stephen King tune in to this special episode of my podcast!

Halloween Team 2017: Beetlejuice

For movie #2 we went to Sally's place. She chose Beetlejuice!  Oddly enough I've never this movie despite the fact that I loved the cartoon as a kid and am a life long Michael Keaton fan.  It did not disappoint. Though, as with Batman Returns, when the credits rolled it I couldn't help but notice that Michael Keaton wasn't in it that much.  I suppose that's a smart move.  That's a tough character to build a movie around, but as a supporting antagonist (?) in small, but potent doses, he's pretty great.  That first shot of him doing a commercial for his services in the style of a used car salesmen was  priceless.  He's just all energy and charisma.  Keaton does a great job of taking an unlikable character and making you kinda root for him.  The rest of the cast is strong too. Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin are fun to watch and Catherine O'Hara nails the Day-o number.  Little goth Winona Rider was just right. All in all this was a clever, pleasant movie.  I give this 3 out of 3 Beetlejuices.

Halloween Team 2017: Eight-Legged Freaks

Without meaning to, we are mimicking the same order we did last year.  Eric began, then Sally with me slated for the third spot. 
Eric's streak of picking oddball, humor/horror hybrids continues.  I've liked the ones from previous years, but I couldn't muster interest in this years pick, Eight-Legged Freaks.  David Arquette always strikes me like an awkward cousin who was the funniest guy in middle school. It's not charming in an adult.  It's weird and confusing, like this movie.  I couldn't settle in to it.  I didn't find it funny or scary.  I still don't get what it was going for. It comes close to so-bad-it's-good territory, but falls short. The Halloween Team is fun, so I had fun, but I hated that movie.

Halloween Team 2016 Debrief

Just like last year the gang assembled to do Halloween right.  We each took a turn picking a Halloween movie to show the rest of the team.  The results were fun and eclectic.

Eric, dubbed the King of Halloween, ended us right last year with his pick, What We Do in the Shadows.  He had the honor of starting this year.  His pick, The Frighteners (1996) featuring Michael J. Fox in his last live action starring role to date.  I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this.  It was much more slapstick and goofy than I expected and yet it was scary at times.  Some of the humor flopped and Jeffrey Combs' character was completely unnecessary, but overall it's weird tone and unexpected turns won us over.  We all agreed we were never bored and it did capture that elusive Halloween feel.  Solid Pick.

Next was Sally's turn.  Last year, she showed us Psycho which I don't think anyone had seen.  It was great.  This year, she stuck with the Hitchock vibe and showed us Shia LaBoef's take on Rear Window, Disturbia (2007).  This was a weird, 90's-esque teen thriller and we all got in to it.  (Sometimes for it's badness and sometimes for it's nail-biting sequences.)  I'm sure if Sally had her way she would have shown us a truly terrifying movie, but some of us (#me) can't handle that.  I remember wanting to see this movie back when it came out, so it was nice to finally do it.  It wins points for it's truly spooky climax.

It was my turn next.  Last year I went classic with The Wolf-Man.  I went slightly more contemporary with Nicole Kidman & Daniel Craig in the most recent update of Jack Finney's Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Just dubbed Invasion (2007), this plays as a moody, low-key Zombie movie.  I like it because it does a good job of updating the story while staying true to the original.  It's slow march to destruction is tense and well-paced.  It was more Halloweeny than I expected, even having scenes set on Halloween.  It loses points for Daniel Craig's unfortunate and beguiling hairdo.

Kendra's pick was a movie I've long wanted to see, Murder By Death (1976).  This has been on my list of to-watch, mostly because of my love for Peter Falk & Neil Simon.  Unfortunately they didn't deliver. It had funny moments, but it mostly came across as dated and trying to hard.  This movie falls into that category of "things you loved as a kid, but should never revisit in adulthood."  We've all felt the sting of that.  (I'm looking at your Helen Slater's Supergirl.)  Regardless, I'm glad we watched it because now I can strike it off my list.  Plus, it was nice to experience every cringe-worthy thing Peter Sellers did surround by squirming friends.

We ended on one of my favorite spooky movies.  Hilary's pick was the Harrison Ford/Michelle Pfeiffer supernatural thriller, What Lies Beneath (2000).  Hilary and I first watched this together when we were dating and neither of us had seen it in over a decade so we'd forgotten most of the twists and turns. To me this is the perfect Halloween movie.  It is just exactly the right amount of scary. Eric was reluctant to watch this because the trailer spooked him back when he was watching the first X-men movie, but he came around.

All in all, it was a pretty successful run.  I have no idea what to pick next year.  Maybe Primal Fear...

(As a bonus you can tune in to All the Books Show to hear Eric, Sally and me discussing all things Halloween.)

Halloween Team 2015 ends with a bang

I'd say our little trek though Halloween movies has been pretty successful.  We got a nice of classics and newer stuff and quite a variety in genre.  My last post ended with Hilary's pick on the horizon, so we'll start there.

Hilary's Pick: Identity starring John Cusack, Ray Liotta and Amanda Peet
     This is the only movie in the bunch that I'd actually seen before.  Because a lot of the suspense hangs on the resolution, I wasn't particularly thrilled to watch it again.  I ended up being pleasantly surprised because even on a rewatch it still managed to hold some tension.  I didn't remember the particulars so I still ended up being a little surprised.  John Cusack is always fun to watch.  It was nice having him as a centerpiece.  The violence was a little more than I usually like, but not enough to ruin the experience.  I found it to be a taut, twisty thriller that managed to stay original.  Good pick.

Bonus Pick: She-Wolf of London starring June Lockhart (of Lassie/Lost in Space fame)
    This was another feature in my Wolf-Man Legacy set.  We popped it in one night while doing laundry and ended up getting sucked in.  This was interesting because all of the major players were female.  This had more of a mystery/thriller vibe than that of horror.  Still it was compelling and suspenseful, much better than Werewolf of London. Definitely worth a watch.

Bonus Pick: Dracula Untold starring Luke Evans
    Hilary and I had been wanting to see this since it came out.  The reviews have been awful so our expectations were low.  Eric and Kendra ended up joining us.  I didn't find this to be a particularly good movie, but it was enjoyable enough to keep my attention.  I think there were a lot of elements there that could have made for a very good movie, but those took a bad seat to stilted story telling and puzzling fight scenes.  The epilogue was awful.  There was a talk of this starting a updated monster movie series, but I think that has been abandoned.  Don't watch this for a movie, but it's a fun popcorn movie for a Saturday night.

Sally's Pick: Psycho directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins
    This movie has been on my list for years.  (We had actually planned to watch this last year, but it didn't work out that way.)  I thought this was very good. I know Hitchcock is an icon, but I've found that the films I've watched have been very hit or miss for me.  Psycho was definitely a hit.  It managed to feel both timeless and modern at the same time.  The surprises were good and they acting was great.  I always like Janet Leigh and she was definitely on point here.  Anthony Perkins managed to pull off charming and sympathetic which is tough to do when playing a deranged killer.  This was a great Halloween pick.  Good work, Sally

Eric's (aka The King of Halloween) Pick: What We Do in the Shadows written, directed by and starring Jermaine Clement
    This was straight up hilarious.  This takes the form of a documentary about Vampires preparing for a big annual event.  The comedy was just right.  I think one of the keys to this sort of movie is that everyone has to play it straight.  It doesn't work to mug for laughs or act like you're doing slapstick.  I loved the interchanges between the vampires.  The werewolves cracked me up too.  This was a great one to end on and is definitely worth watching.

Next up, Christmas Movies?

Halloween Team 2015 Catch-Up

     It was about halfway through Secret Window that the thought came to me.  I don't want to do this.  I hate scary things.  But I'm in it and there's no going back.  I'm a little behind in my Halloween movie blogging, so here's a quick catch up.

Kendra's Pick: Secret Window starring Johnny Depp, based on a story by Stephen King.

     I've actually wanted to see Secret Window since it came out forever ago.  It seemed like the right kind of spooky for me, and for the most part it was.  I'm going to spoil this movie, so skip the paragraph if you care.  First of all, I KNEW that dog was going to die.  I knew it.  I hated that.  I actually didn't guess the big twist.  Hilary did.  She said something that alluded to it and it put me on the trail.  I'm not sure when it would have occurred to me if she hadn't given me a hint.  It's a good twist.  My only complaint was that there weren't more bread crumbs along the way.  There were a few instances of an internal monologue, but I think layering that in better would have made a stronger film.  I was  most fascinated when Mort (Johnny Depp) externalized his conscience and tried to stop crazy Mort from killing more.   That bit was too small to really sell it and I think more should have been done with it.  I also feel the movie went on one scene to long.  The whole thing is that "Shooter" wants the story to end right.  Mort with shovel, repeating that final line was it.  The epilogue felt tagged on and only served to belabor a point that we already got.  All in all, a good thriller with some minor missteps.  Also, does Timothy Hutton ever play a nice guy?

Bonus Pick: Werewolf of London, the precursor to the Lon Chaney classic

    My pick was the The Wolf Man so I picked up the legacy set from Barnes & Noble.  It comes with a whole bunch of other films so Hilary and I decided to check out the first of Universal's werewolf movies.  This movie follows botanist Wilfred Glendon and felt more Jekyll and Hyde than Wolf Man.  It wasn't terrible, but you can see why the Lon Chaney version gets all the love.  It's a decent suspense movie, but I prefer the Warren Zevon song.

Bonus Pick:  The Visit by M. Night Shymalan

     Eric and I took advantage of a conference in Painted Post by first popping in to a matinee of M. Night's latest film.  Now there was a time when you'd see his name and get excited.  Now it's like when your friend decides he wants to give stand-up comedy a try so you go to be supportive and spend the whole time cringing, waiting for the clock to run out.  This film was not the next Signs, but it also wasn't the next Lady in the Water. Or the next The Last Airbender. Instead it was... OR the next After Earth.  Sorry. Instead it was somewhere in the middle.  It's scary.  It's suspenseful.  It's about to get spoiled so skip the paragraph if you care.  You come to expect the M. Night twist.  This was a letdown.  Crazy people.  That's it.  Crazy people pretending to be Grandpa and Grandma.  I don't know.  They make such a big deal about 9:30.  It's even on the poster.  They get crazier after dark.  That's all.  They sundown.  Because they are crazy.  Plus there was a lot of rapping.  It was an entertaining movie, but very forgettable.

Nic's Pick:  The Wolf Man starring Lon Chaney, Jr.

     From what I've seen of the Universal Monster Movies, I like them.  I enjoyed the whole run of Mummy movies and so far the Wolves are pretty good.  The Wolf-Man was much better than it's predecessor.  I liked the gypsy connection (featuring a cameo from Bela Lugosi). I liked the pentagram showing up on the next victim.  You never really knew how it was going to go.  Having him kill the werewolf with a silver cane, then having the cops just find a dead gypsy was a cool start.  The whole movie had a fun, menacing drive that Werewolf of London lacked.  We plan to watch more in the set.  

Hilary is up next.

    

Halloween Movie Review: Dragonfly

       I guess it's kind of a stretch to call this a Halloween movie; it only had two mildly spooky scenes.  I think it's a mistake to classify it as a supernatural thriller too. There were supernatural elements, but it wasn't particularly thrilling.  Really, it was a series of missed opportunities.  The premise, and even the resolution, could have been worked into a good movie.  Instead they just have KCos running around pestering sick kids and chilling with Kathy Bates.  

       The title is a misleading.  Dragonfly.  It implies that that is somehow important or relevant to the story.  It is not.  His wife liked dragonflies, so early on, after her death, a rolling dragonfly paperweight helped to convince him that she is trying to communicate from beyond the grave.  That's it.  You've probably seen the poster so you're thinking what about that abstract drawing of a dragonfly that reoccurs.  Nope.  It's a (spoiler alert) waterfall.  No connection is ever made between the fact that she loved dragonflies and this recurring image that she is using to communicate strongly resembles a dragonfly.  It's like the writers didn't even notice the similarity.  That's a serious missed opportunity and one that would have helped the film immensely.  (Notice I didn't say it would have saved the film.)   It could have been the connecting thread.  They could have set it up like: KCos sees the dragonfly image, knows it's her and wonders what she's trying to tell him with the dragonfly.  It would still have worked for it to be the waterfall of her accident.  The dragonfly represents the waterfall!  But no.  It doesn't.  It's just a map image of a waterfall.  Any similarities to the dragonfly are unintentional.  The titular dragonfly is completely irrelevant.  

(Also, why is the waterfall significant?  He always knew where the crash was.  He went there early on in the film.  The location of the crash wasn't a mystery, they just never found the bodies.  Never mind.)

 

     I was okay with the resolution.  He finds his baby.  That's nice.  The setup for that was pretty heavy handed early on, but it still made for a happy end.  I didn't hate the movie; it just wasn't very good.  

(Also, I think Kathy Bates was a lesbian.  But it was subtle.)