PODCAST 331: Halloween [Re-quil Edition]

This week the Horror Duo bring their classic Vs remake series to an end with the finale that is a perfect one for the Halloween holiday. The pair made a trip to the local cinema to take in the new Halloween sequel, titled Halloween... And for some reason the it has the same name as the original...? But it's okay - Cory has a theory about that.

CONTINUE READING

Tales of Halloween (2015)

It's almost that time of the year again, when kids dress up for Trick-or-treat, eat too much candy and get sick, and I spend/waste my time watching cheap horror movies like Tales of Halloween.

It is a comedy horror anthology of ten stories directed by more than 10 different directors and they go as follows: Sweet Tooth, a kid kills his babysitter and her boyfriend because they ate his candy. The Night Billy Raised Hell, a kid dressed like a devil throw an egg at the house of a man who is the devil and teaches the boy a lesson. Trick, A group of friends are terrorised by a group of kids. The Weak and the Wicked, a teenager takes revenge on his bullies. Grim Grinning Ghost, a woman is haunted by a ghost. Ding Dong, a man learns that his wife is a witch eating kids and tries to stop her. This Means War, a man battles his neighbour to death for the best Halloween decorations. Friday the 31st, a serial killer confronts an alien. The Ransom of Rusty Rex, two men kidnap the kid of a rich man only to discover that the child is a monster. Bad Seed, a detective hunts down a man-eating pumpkin.

The problem is that they are uneven except for one thing, being nothing more than segments, they all go straight to their point without wasting any time. Another nice thing about that is that they are interconnected which makes the film a little bit more fun and entertaining. Although overall is rather boring. 

But back to the stories now. There sure is a great variety of stories (basically it's impossible to dislike all of them), but not all of them work. Some have creative and interesting monsters, like Sweet Tooth and Bad Seed (my favourite); some have a nice concept but were poorly executed, like the boring This Means War; some are neither funny nor scary, they only have some gore, like Friday the 31st; some are just terrible, like Ding Dong.

Bottom lime, Tales of Halloween was not my cup of tea. There's plenty of gore (which is good in this kind of movie) but the effects are kinda cheap and the acting is mediocre, to say the least (there are some exceptions though, like John Landis). Still, the movie is watchable. 

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

Genre

Horror

Director

Rachel Talalay

Country

USA

Cast

Robert Englund, Lisa Zane, Shon Greenblatt, Lezlie Deane, Breckin Meyer, Ricky Dean Logan, Yaphet Kotto, Tobe Sexton, Cassandra Rachel Frei, Lindsey Fields, Johnny Depp, Tom Arnold, Roseanne Barr, Alice Cooper

Storyline

Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) returns once again to haunt both the dreams of the last surviving teenager (Shon Greenblatt) and those of a woman (Lisa Zane) with a deep connection to him.

Opinion

If "A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child" was awful, I don't know what "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare" is. Other than a ridiculous nightmare and an unwatchable film.

Unlike the previous entry, this film actually had some potential with Freddy's backstory. It could have been good. No, it should have been good. But the filmmakers decided to throw that potential away and write instead a story that is stupid, confused and so boring it makes you wish to be the one dying instead of Freddy.

As if that wasn't enough, that thing resembling a plot moves so fast you don't have time to process what just happened that something else happens. But don't worry, it's not important, after all nothing happens but stupid killings - trying to kill someone with a cotton bud? What's next? Brushing someone's teeth to death? - and Freddy still trying so hard to be a comedian.

And just like the other times, he doesn't succeed. He is just an idiotic joker who can't pull off a single joke, and that isn't scary at all. In other words, Krueger is the film's biggest (and only) joke.

Completing this pathetic film there are utterly annoying, irritating characters that are light years away from character development, atrocious acting and horrible effects.

Basically it's a great horror. In a different, bad way though.

Cockneys vs Zombies (2012)

Genre

Comedy | Horror

Director

Matthias Hoene

Country

UK

Cast

Rasmus Hardiker, Harry Treadaway, Michelle Ryan, Alan Ford, Georgia King, Jack Doolan, Ashley Thomas, Tony Gardner, Tony Shelby, Georgina Hale, Dudley Sutton, Richard Briers, Honor Blackman, Elizabeth Webster

Storyline

A gang of bank robbers fight their way out of a zombie-infested London.

Opinion

I've learnt about the existence of this film only recently and the title caught my attention as soon as I saw it. Unfortuntately, other than a very catchy title, "Cockneys vs Zombies" doesn't have a lot to offer.

Even though it doesn't sound half bad - actually it pretty much sounds like "Shaun of the Dead" which is good because I loved it -, the storyline is quite boring and the two "acts", the bank robbery and the rescue mission, don't seem to work well together.

Another issue with the film is that it's hard to get attached and care for the characters. Whether the attacks were successful or a failure, I just didn't care.

Also it lacks those clever elements that made "Shaun of the Dead" such a great zombie comedy, probably because the filmmakers put more effort into the title than they did for the rest of the film.

However, the film is actually well (and fast) paced, it does have nice killings, zombies make their way into the film early on and some scenes are a great fun to watch - like the slow paced "fight" between old men and zombies, or the zombie hooligans. And the humour, strictly British, is decent.

Halloween Films 2

When I first started this blog, my second post was a list of Halloween Films. They were almost all comedies. Since then I have watched some scarier (to me) films that I would like to share with you:

The Leopard Man (1943) - another Val Lewton/Jacques Tourneur classic, this one came out the year after the more well-known cult-film Cat People (1942). Set in New Mexico, it features Lewton's signature shadows and sounds, and even the same panther!

That moment when you show up to a party in a killer dress and with a panther

><><><

The Uninvited (1944) - starring Ray Milland and Gail Russell, this haunting film is a must-watch. Milland and his sister (Ruth Hussey) buy a cheap mansion that happens to be haunted. At night they hear a woman moaning but no one can ever be found. Gail Russell is a neighbor who lived there as a child - until her mother fell, or jumped, of the nearby cliff. When Russell comes to visit her new neighbors she falls into a trance. 

A séance is always a good idea.

><><><

The Innocents (1961) - a classic starring Deborah Kerr, a governess who is convinced that the two children in her charge are possessed by a couple that died there. I only watched a little bit of it on TCM, but I plan to watch the whole film soon.

 

Have a Happy Halloween!

Frankenweenie (2012)

Genre

Animation | Comedy | Fantasy | Horror

Director

Tim Burton

Country

USA

Voice Cast

Charlie Tahan, Martin Short, Catherine O'Hara, Martin Landau, Winona Ryder, Frank Welker, Dee Bradley Baker, Atticus Shaffer, Robert Capron, Conchata Ferrell, James Hiroyuki, Tom Kenny, Christopher Lee

Storyline

Young Victor (Charlie Tahan) conducts a science experiment to bring his beloved dog Sparky back to life, only to face unintended, sometimes monstrous, consequences.

Opinion

I am a Tim Burton fan, I really am, but I fail to see why others claim this to be one of his best - if not the best - works. Actually I don't really see anything special about it. Why is that? Because "Frankenweenie" essentially is just an average Tim Burton movie that doesn't have that something to stand out from the others.

Even if you haven't seen Burton's 1984 short on which the film is based on, I'm positive the story will sound familiar to anyone because it is an adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic "Frankenstein", only having a boy resurrecting his dog instead of a scientist resurrecting a dead body. And it's a great way to go if you want to introduce a classic to kids. But then Disney stepped in, and ruined everything.

I am not saying Disney can't make good films, but I just don't think Disney and horror make a great pair. They are more family comedy oriented that horror oriented, and the story - especially the ending - suffered from that. Who is to be blamed? Tim Burton, of course. He should have never signed with Disney in the first place.

The film also suffers from the lack of character development, not to mention that it is supposed to be a comedy but there is little to laugh at as the humour is quite mild.

However, despite everything, I have to admit that the story is quite well paced and has some genuine suspense that keeps you watching the film. Some other positive notes are the use of black and white instead of colours, the stop-motion animation, obviously, and the voice cast who overall does a good job.

Lights Out (2016)

Genre

Horror

Director

David F. Sandberg

Country

USA

Cast

Teresa Palmer, Gabriel Bateman, Maria Bello, Alexander DiPersia, Billy Burke, Alicia Vela-Bailey, Lotta Losten, Andi Osho, Amiah Miller, EMily Alyn Lind, Ava Cantrell

Storyline

When her little brother (Gabriel Bateman) experiences the same events that once tested her sanity, Rebecca (Teresa Palmer) works to unlock the truth behind the terror, which brings her face to face with an entity that has an attachment to their mother (Maria Bello).

Opinion

Even though I wasn't very intrigued by it, I kind of was looking forward to this film because it was described as one of the best horrors of recent years. I guess it's not my thing because there wasn't anything in "Lights Out" to make me consider it as such.

First of all I don't understand the reason to turn the director's original short film into a full length film, because, let's be honest, whether good or not, when a 3 minutes story is stretched to 1 hour and 20 minutes chances are it loses something, and this film definitely suffered from major losses.

In fact the creepy and unsettling story of the short has been transformed into a quite boring story that isn't very effective because it gives away too many details and furthermore it's filled with clichés of the genre, like people constantly wandering on their own. Haven't they learn anything for horrors?

Another problem is Sandberg's direction. All he does is building some solid tension but only in one scene. Maybe, probably, a different director would have made something better, something capable to deliver genuine fear and scares. Which is totally not okay since he also directed and wrote the short.

Neither the acting is the film's strongest suit. The actors indeed are the stronger horror element in the film.

However, the film is a little bit scary - but just a tiny bit - and the credits go to the dark photography and the sound effects that provide some jump scares.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)

Genre

Fantasy | Horror

Director

Stephen Hopkins

Country

USA

Cast

Robert Englund, Lisa Wilcox, Beatrice Boepple, Whit Hertford, Kelly Jo Minter, Danny Hassel, Erika Anderson, Nicholas Mele, Joe Seely, Valorie Armstrong, Burr DeBenning, Clarence Felder

Storyline

Hoping to be reborn into the real world, Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) strikes through the sleeping mind of the unborn child of Alice (Lisa Wilcox), a girl that has survived Krueger's nightmares.

Opinion

After several ups and downs it looks like the series has decided to stay down and "A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child" is the proof of that. With nothing but nice special effects, the film is a really bad sequel and an insult to Wes Craven. Basically it's like a really bad dream.

Once again we have a story that follows the events of the previous film, but there's not a point in doing so because, as stupid as it gets, the plot involves Freddy using an unborn child to resurrect himself. In the process the film also tries to be an origin flick as it shows how Amanda Krueger conceived her sweet son.

In addition to having a lame, utterly ridiculous plot, "The Dream Child" manages to be extremely boring mainly because the kills are also boring, unoriginal, quite predictable and not even funny.

I know it's weird to say "funny" when talking about a horror film, but this film deserves it considering the turn the franchise seems to have taken since the previous entry. Instead of being creepy and frightening, Freddy Krueger is still making attempts at comedy, and still failing miserably. Oh, and he has learnt a new word - bitch - and he loves it so much he basically says it all film long.

The ultimate weakness of the film is the acting. While I wasn't expecting anything from the majority of the cast and they proved me right, I thought Robert Englund would have still done a good job as Freddy. Wrong, he gives a very weak performance, just like everybody else.

PODCAST 227: Halloween & Halloween 2 [Re-Imagining Edition]

The Horror Duo rekindle the long standing tradition of talking Halloween in time for Halloween. This time it's Rob Zombie's Halloween remake, as well as it's sequel Halloween 2. Are Rob Zombie's Halloween films as bad as you've heard? Well the Horror Duo get to the bottom of the entire hill-billy ordeal.

CONTINUE READING

Halloween in Hollywood

        

Frances Dee, 1931

 

         

Shirley Temple

 

Jane Withers, 1936

Carole Lombard

Myrna Loy

 

Jean Arthur

 

The Three Stooges

Paulette Goddard

Clifton Webb, Marlene Dietrich, & Elizabeth Allan at Basil Rathbone's Halloween party

Esther Williams

Ruth Roman

 

       

Debbie Reynolds

 

Vera-Ellen

 

                  

Janet Leigh

 

Ava Gardner

Jane Russell

 

Doris Day

Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis

Gloria Swanson

 

    

Alfred Hitchcock

 

Basil Rathbone, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, & Vincent Price

Suzanne Pleshette

Deborah Walley

 

Shirley MacLaine, Artists and Models (1955)

 

All images found via Pinterest. Check out last year's post here.