#halloweenathon

So today we are looking at a movie that I had I had watched....Cept it turns out I never saw the ending before

In this 1932 film Edward Parker (Richard Arlen ) finds himself on the island of Dr Moreau (Charles Laughton ) who has been turning animals into people through surgery and is keeping Parker to mate him with a Panther woman ,Lota (Kathleen Burke )

OK first ,I just wanna say this poster is a LIE ,as it makes the movie seem like it is aboust the Panther Woman seducing and killing people ,when in accuality,Lota is a sympathetic character and the villain is Dr Moreau

So this is a pre code classic and I say a true horror film.The Beast men are scary (Peops to makeup man Wally Westmore ) ,dealing with vivisections ,and Charles Laughton is an effective villain,a calm yet morally bankrupt mad scientist with a god complex and a whip Besides LAughton you also get some great performances by Kathleen Burke as Lota the PAnther woman and Bela Lugosi in a small but memorable role as The Sayer of The Law,the leader of the Beast Men (He is also the most qoutable character"ARE WE NOT MEN!").ALso love the climax that is awesome

Like many a horror film though the weak aspect is the main leads,who are fine but just not interesting and the ending is kind of unintentionally funny

Overall its a good flick do reccomend

We have another Sthephen King adaptation this one directed by legendary filmmaker George A Romero

In this 1993 film author Thad Beaumont (Timothy Hutton ) decides to retire his pen name,George Stark,which he uses to write darker low brow books.....George however isnt going to die without a fight

George Romero is one of the great horror directors ,and has been attatched to or involved with amy a King project,most notably Creepshow.I will say of the King films I have seen this feels the most King:Odd characters ,weird lines and a supernatural element that doesnt make a whole lotta sense .My main issue with the film is it feels like the orgin for George is way to complicated:Hes an evil double of THad who represents the darker side of Thad who has been given physical form ,but hes not exactly a split personality because he has taken over the remains of Thas absorbed twin,but he isnt the twin,the twin is a vessell--and its just complicasted when it coulda been simplified and that and the abrupt ending are my big issues with the film

George Romero gives the film a great sense fof style and color ,I like the fun characters (Specifically Julie Harris as a friend of Thads,and Royal Dano in his last role as a grave digger),Michael Rooker is recurring King character Sheriff Pangborn and Rooker is always excellent .

The star of the film really is the duel performance of Tomthy Hutton as both the writer hero Thad and the murderous villain George .I applaud how diffrent both characters feel

It aint perfect but I hads a fun time

So for this Halloweenathon I wantred to read some early issues of a horror superhero,the choices were Swamp Thing,Hellboy and Werewolf by Night and the winner was Hellboy ,so I read the first arc of Hellboy

So in this 1994 comic arc we meet Hellboy a demon summoned to Earth during WWII,who is now investigating the circumstances that lead to the death of his adopted father Professor Broom joined by pyrokinetic Liz Sherman and fishman Abe Sapien

So as someone mostly familiar with the film version of Hellboy done by Guillermo Del Torrothis was really surreal cause there are segments of this story are adpted fairly close in the movie the movie ....And others are so diffrent.Like the FRogmen in this comic become the monster Sammeal but the biggest surprise is Professor Broom DIES very early in the story .Also am impressed how damn close Del Torro kept the visuals of ther movie to the comic

Hellboy is an interesting protag a basically blue collar monster slayer ,Mike Mignolas art is breathtaking (And I havd never noticed before but very Jack Kirby esque ),the FRogmen are creepy monsters and I actually find Rasputin a scarier villain in the comic then in the film

Overall good story,ton of fun

SO I stumbled upon this Vincent Price lead Halloween special and I gotta discuss it

In this 1979 special a vampire (Vincent Price )tells excerpts of The Ghost Who Belonged to Me,The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and The House with a Clock in its Walls

So this is an odd special ,but charming .The best way to describe this special is it is Vincent Prices book club .He will tell a bit of the story but then will be like "Well you gotta read the book to get EVERYTHING".Vincent Price makes for a magnificent horror host,whish he did more stuff like this .Theres some good performance by Severin Darden as the enigmatic wizard Johnathan in House With a Clock In its Walls and a perferctly berillaint performance by Rene Auberjunois as Ichabod Crane in Legend of Sleepy Hollow ,though the rest of the acting is just OK .GHost that Belonged To Me was the weakest segment but both Sleepy Hollow and House with a Clock In Its Walls are a ton of fun.I do wish the special was longer but it does its job:It makes me want to read Ghost That Belongs To Me and HOuse With a Clock in Its Walls or at least see other adaptations (I have already read Sleepy Hollow )

This is fun and a good spooky starter pack for kids,though I like the idea of it more then the finished project

Today we are looking at something controvercial,aBBC TV movie....That people thought was real

In this 1992 movie we hold witness to a BBC Halloween special,where various presenters investigate a supposedly haunted house

The strength of Ghostwatch is also why it was so controvercial :It is grounded in reality,the entire thing is presented like a real live TV Special ,with the cast consisting of actual presenters,personaltiess the British public would be familiar with playing themselves like Michael Parkinson,Sarah Greene,Mike Smith and Craig Charles (Who I will admit as an American/sci fi dork is the only one I know due to Red Dwarf ),and it is all in the confines of this special format,so when the horror amps up it feels very visceral and real....In fact a lot of people thought it was.....It is not.This is what we would call a mockumentary,it was done by the BBC's drama department ,but much like Orson Welles Halloween broadcast of War of the Worlds back in the 30's a lot of folks got fooled ,and that caused it to become controvercial

Now I am of course an American watching this 30 years later and while it doesnt have the same impact on me as it did on audiences then.....I still think this is an effective scary movie ,especially the ending .Also props to the presenters who give really realistic performances

Overall an effectively scary mockumentary that I highly reccomend

SO doing something diffrent today ,we are looking at a recently released musical ,Nerdy Prudes Must Die

In this 2023 musical ,in a prank gone wrong ,school bully Max Jaggerman (Will Branner) is accidently killed but vows all "Nerdy Prudes Must Die "

So I am a fan of Team Starkid albiet a casual one..They have made many a musical ,recently venturing into the horror comedy realm with the Hatchetfield series which consists of the musicals The Guy Who Didnt Like Musicals ,Black Friday ,and the webseries Nightmare Time (The latter I havent seen but the former two I quite enjoyed ) .Nerdy Prudes is the third musical in the series ......And I quite liked it

The songs are quite good ,and I enjoyed the performances of Joey Richter and Mariah Rose Faith ,but Will Branner stole the show as the villanious Max.II also enjoyed the callbacks in this one a lot more then the call backs in Black Friday (One character showing up near the end was both fun and made sense ) .I also like how each one of the Hatchetfield musicals is a diffrent type of horror ,Guy Who Didnt Like Musicals being sci fi,Black Friday being cosmic ,while this is bit more of a supernatural slasher

I do have issues,mainly I didnt enjoy all the characters,Grace Chasity in particular got on my nerves and the ending twist was just OK not as effective as the previous two musicals

Overalll though I did enjoy this.Its on youtube,so give it a watch

(Note before I start the review,I used to see the cover of this in the video store as a kid and it creeped me out )

So I am a fan of the Chucky series ,and Ihave seen all the movies.....EXCEPT for the topic of this review Bride of Chucky,and having seen it,I have now seen all the movies....Still need to see the show .....Onto review

In this 1998 film Chucky(Brad Douriff) is back with his old flame Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly ) ,seeking to regain human form with the help of an amulet ,going on a road trip with an unsuspecting young couple ,Jade (Katherine Heigel ) and Jesse (Nick Stabile )

Childs Play is an interesting franchise cause it is one of the few series where every installment is solid and its not afraid to mix things up.This is the 4th installment in the series and its changes a lot of things

1.NO Andy Barclay .See Andy was the main character of the first three films and he wont come back till a few installments down the line

2.More of an emphasis on humor .This film is first and foremost a dark comedy

3.We have a new figure in the form of another villain Chuckys girlfriend Tiffany .Tiffany is a major player in the franchise and has definately has place in the hearts of many a horror fan

4......Chucky is the lead .Yeah we do have the human couple but the film is all about the relationship between Chucky and Tiffany

As for what I think of the film itself :This is fun with good jokes and over the top kills .What makes the film is the two villains ,which are really protrayed brillaintly by both the effects tema and the vocal performances of Brad Douriff and Jennifer Tilly .I also admire the performances of John Ritter (Playing against type as Jades controling policeman uncle ),Alexis Arquette and Gordon Michael Woolvet ,and I admire the direction of Ronny Yu

The main problem with the film.....I dont give a damn about Jade and Jesse ,which is weird cause this series has some really likable heroes,but these two are just kind of there

Overall I had a fun time with this film,Id have to do a marathon to know where this would place on the series as a whole ,but on its own its fun

So I was exploring the Arthouse horror playlist on the Criterion channel and decided to check out this film by Ingmar Bergman and...Hoo boy

In this 1968 film Alma Borg (Liv Ullmann) recounts the events that lead to the disappearance of her husband Johan (Max Von Sydow )

I dunno who needs to hear this but here I go:One can like a movie and not get it ,you dont have to be able to fully understand a film to like it.....I say this cause I think this is a good movie even if I dont understand all of it

The horror of the movie for me comes from how uneasy and uncomfortable it is .Oh you have some standard horror imagery (Woman putting her eyes into a glass and a man walking up the wall and onto the cieling stand out ) but the most freaky scene for me was a dinner party scene,where there was so many conversations and the way the camera moved I felt unnerved .ITs an affecting mood piece

If you are into a more abstract form of horror I reccomend this film