Finally had a bit of time for a film and from my list chose Tucker and Dale vs Evil. A nice horror comedy as two backswoods yokels travelling to their 'fixer-upper' holiday home run into a bunch of college kids. The kids mistake our eponymous heroes for red-neck psychos and various misunderstandings and bloody accidents reinforce their mistake whilst poor old Tucker and Dale wonder why college kids are 'committing suicide' on their property. Cliches are turned upside down, but become cliches themselves by the end of the film with the rather obvious 'appearances can be decieving' 'look for the beauty within' smaltz thankfully subsumed by irreverent humour and gory deaths.

6/10

October 24th
 

The Witch (2015)

"Wouldst thou like to live deliciously"

No plot points or spoilers of any kind of this 17th century set film that takes it's cue from New England folk tales.

I truly cannot rate this film highly enough. Superbly performed with brilliant and authentic use of olde-English language and terrific sound design and an often lingering camera technique all come together to create the most unnerving, bordering on frightening, horror film i can remember seeing.

This was my fourth viewing of The VVitch and it loses none of it's haunting power. Absolutely outstanding.

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)

The best of what is now a stand alone sequel trilogy which pits Donald Pleasence's Dr Loomis against his old foe Michael Myers. Gorier than the original but not as chilling, although this is still a fine slasher film in it's own right. A good supporting cast - Ellie Cornell, Danielle Harris - of strong females help.

Pacy and above all fun. I like this a lot.

Two very different films but both excellent for differing reasons. I must have seen Halloween 4 a dozen times at least and it never loses it's feelgood factor whilst The Witch is about as feelgood as a dose of the Clap but it remains one hell of a film.

The Witches 1966.

A new school teacher takes on a new job in the small English village and uncovers a conven of witches.

I watched this last year and gave it a bad run (thanks to the horror channel).Wiith a second viewing and reading the book again I'm changing my opinion, give the movie a chance and can be enjoyable. It does have it's tense moments and a little bit of the dabble before the climatic end. Hammer did a decent thing and portray witches in modern times.

The Evil 1978.

A doctor rents a house to use as a clinic, soon himself and his friends are besieged by a malevolent force.

Well crafted and suspenseful dark gothic haunted house film, Richard Crenna (First Blood) plays the doctor who wants the old house but it's a fixer upper when things get moved about something inside awakens. Done on a cheap budget and does have good effects and Victor Buono is a decent devil player. Recommended.

Mermaid Chronicles part 1: She-creature 2001.

A travelling freak show owner is shown a real Mermaid, he hatches a plan to steal it with some workers. When the robbery goes wrong they steal the mermaid and head to America but there is concerns about the mermaid on-board the ship.

This was a bit of a slow burner and does get interesting as it goes on, may seem confusing but does make a lot of sense as it does clear up a lot. Stan Winston was able to create great make up and effects of the mermaid. Rufus Sewell is the main carny man entertaining and hoping to make a lit of money. Very dark atmospheric and best viewed in the dark.

The Wicker Man (The Final Cut) 1973.

A police sergeant travels from the main land to Sommerisle after a girl is reported missing. He believes that foul play is involved and disagrees with the religion practices.

I'm not going to stretch this out, I'm sure we have all seen it and shared our thoughts so all I'm gonna say one of the best British chiller/horror movies made and the remake can live long and suck it.

October 26th
 

Halloween (2018)

Supposedly following on forty years later from John Carpenter's original Halloween and ignoring every other sequel in a complete series reboot...except it doesn't.

David Gordon Green's Blumhouse production basically steals key scenes from every other Halloween sequel (I include Rob Zombie's films here too), especially Halloween 4 The Return of Michael Myers and throws them into this frankly piss poor effort.

People visit Myers in his sanitarium prison under supervision of a Malcolm McDowell caricature. (Halloween (2007)) Myers escapes from custody when his prison bus crashes and he kills the rest of the occupants (Halloween 4 The Return of Michael Myers). Michael then steals a set of car keys from someone locked in a toilet cubicle (Halloween H20), he then kills the occupants of a garage / petrol station (Halloween 4 The Return of Michael Myers), kills two cops in a car (Halloween 5 The Revenge of Michael Myers). There's no point me going on as it will get as dull as the film itself.

The film lacks any sort of atmosphere and fails to be remotely scary or even tense. What it does manage is to be as politically correct as it can be, so much so that it's painful,"I'm so going to dry f*ck you" announces one girl to her beau, whilst introducing all sorts if diverse characters (Which in itself isn't a problem) but then not having a clue how to give them life or give them anything to do. Even Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie Strode who has seemingly been tortured by grief and guilt for forty years - but somehow turns her house basement into a fortified bunker complete with revolving kitchen unit entrance, you know the sort of thing Terminator's Sarah Connor might do - comes across as so one dimensional you'll be begging to see her play a more sympathetic and convincing version of the same tortured soul in Halloween H20. The whole thing is just so Blumhouse ironic .

If Disney made a Halloween film then this would be it.

And do you know what disappointed the most? The fact i really wanted to fall in love with this film..

I'm disappointed that you didn't love it too :( It's such a divisive film though, I think it's all in for either end of the spectrum and no inbetween.

Another thing i found odd was the soundtrack. I'd been listening to the cd all week and think it's superb yet i barely noticed it during the film itself.

The soundtrack is such a big part of the Halloween films, especially the original so to not really notice it was also disappointing.