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.

Did you like it then, Nordy?

I've only seen it once, and I was planning a rewatch this Halloween season but I'm actually nervous in case it's not as good as I thought. I certainally can't remember the music featuring prominantly though. I think that I already decided over the past few days that I'm going to watch H20 instead.

I'm afraid to answer :skull:

Yeah i did :behindsofa::behindsofa:

Leprechaun Returns
25 years after the events of the first film, the daughter of Tory returns to the house, the leprechaun returbs and goes about killing folk.
This was more fun than it should be, the only thing is I kept visioning Danny DeVito as the leprechaun for some reason. The characters deserved what they got. For me a surprising watch.
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I dont think i have seen any of these films.

They're definitely not the best, but there's something fun about them.

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Might try get the first one at some point.

The first one on musicmagpie is £1.99

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I presume you two either don't often watch parts 4-6 or don't care that the new one was just a cut and paste job of scenes from these films thrown together to come up with a new one.

I liked the new Halloween too, got it lined up to watch on Thursday after Carpenters original, first time watching the pair to see how the work together :nod:

I have only seen each of those films once each back years ago so maybe if i revisit them my opinion will change i can't remember much about them to be honest.

Wow. That surprises me.:shocked:

Maybe thats why they wanted us to ignore the sequels so they could rip them off :skull:

I will watch them next Saturday and report back.

Exactly. It steals from the movies it's supposedly ignoring.

The more i think about it the more i hate it!

If this was not the case do you think you may have liked it i know its hard to say after the fact.

My guess is they don't.

Forty years is a hell of a gap between films. But then again it must take Laurie a fair while to turn her basement into something Vin Diesel and Jason Statham would admire.

H20 works far better as a sequel.

Another issue was the writing out of Halloween II. It's said by one character that five people were killed that night, and he's basically incredulous that Strode could still be so traumatized by events forty years on despite the fact she didn't witness any of the deaths anyway.

Now if they'd allowed II to be canon than it would have been much more believable as she was involved in a hospital killing spree.

Probably but it would also make it a completely different film so who knows.

The rest of it is still deeply flawed with characters poorly or under written.

I’ve only seen 4 and 5 once each, I’ve seen 6 more times than it deserves haha.

I’ll rewatch them some time soon and before I watch Halloween 2018 again.

Your turning me against the film already with your logic :skull:

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/...4MzQ@._V1_.jpg

This film probably isn't as good as how much I like it! I really like it, maybe the old nostalgia goggles in play. I saw this in the cinema, in fact it's the only from the whole franchise I saw in the cinema! I like the 90s teen drama cast, I like the Kevin Williamson-esque dialogue, I like the 90s jukebox soundtrack! I think the worst parts of the film are down to Jamie Lee Curtis and her hysteria, although I do love that bit where she orders a glass of wine and chugs down a whole untouched glass before the replacement arrives and then she pretends like she's just taking a sip from the new one :lol:

Reminds me of this famous pap shot :lol:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BmxUysoCAAEYkZ6.jpg

October 25th
 

Night of the Demon (1957)

Happier times and films from Friday evening. Even though i watched the 14 minute shorter American cut of the film with the on screen title Curse of the Demon i really didn't notice that much difference between the two prints.

Superb in, well, pretty much everything really. Atmospheric, suspenseful and wonderfully acted. Occultist Niall MacGinnis (and his beard) ensure this will be a classic horror film until the end of time.

Tourneur might have hated it but that demon is so iconic it hurts.

One of my very favourites. :nod:

How eloquent sir. I thought twas pond SCUM. Women ... Know Your Limits!!! :skull:
Ahem.

Itsy Bitsy 2019.

Kara a single mum of two takes a job as private nurse to a elderly man who collects antiques, his new aqquirement has a history with a tribe who worship a god that takes on the form of a spider.

This was actually a decent movie, it's not perfect like Arachnophobia, it does come with its good jump scares, it will start off a bit slow and does get better. There is some suspense scenes that are built up decently. Bruce Davidson character builds up the legend of the tribe not sure if it was the right part for him, Denise Crosby (who has aged well) doesn't seem to have a big enough part, she is good as the sheriff. Worth a watch but keep a open mind.(extra scene after the credits)

30 Days Of Unseen Horror

Day 27

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Boring pointless trash complete waste of time.

Happy Death Day 2017

College student Teresa 'Tree' has to relive the same day of her murder till she is able to solve it.

This was the first time seeing this and thoroughly enjoyed it, may not be great and Groundhog Day meets horror, it is a murder thriller type with a lot of murders on one person and a added element of comedy. There was a small build up to the twist element to the story that wasn't expected with its 90s cliche teen tongue in cheek horror vibe.

The Last Broadcast
A filmmaker sets out to discover the truth behind the murders of a cable show crew where the only suspect is a psychic.
Still an interesting watch, cited as being the predecessor to The Blair Witch Project. There is some dodgy acting throughout the course of the film but it was low budget so you can't really complain.
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Happy Death Day 2U 2019.

After wakening up Tree is happy to have a normal day, when Carter's roommate begins to feel De Ja Vu, Tree ends up going back to square one and tries to find why it's happening to her again.

This was a bit different to the first and adds in a bit of science fiction in a way, and adds in the comedy, this time it's a whole new ball game for Tree. The extra characters do have their moments of being entertaining and each time trying to figure out the math puzzles. Somehow the first one felt like it could have been a stand alone film without a sequel but it was enjoyable to watch.

Was really surprised by the first one i have yet to watch this i always felt why and how could they pull off a sequel but it sounds decent.

October 27th
 

Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)

Probably my favourite Hammer vampire film. Gone are the subtle sexual subtexts, this is a revenge horror film where the sins of the father might be far greater than the sins of the vampire.

Night of the Demons 2 (1994)

Brian Trenchard-Smith's film is more of the same really. College kids go to eerie mansion for their Halloween party and find it's the lair of Angela and her demonic minions. Superior to the first because the group of teens are better.

I think my main issue with these films is that Angela (Amelia Kinkade) looks far too much like a forty year old woman i used to date when i was in my mid twenties... even in demon form.