October Horror Movie Viewing

This has been a lazy October for me watching festive films. In the past, I've gone bonkers with horror movies during Halloween month (even achieving a movie per day one year), but this year I just couldn't muster the energy or interest to compile a decent list of flicks and to watch very many frightful pictures. Well, I did write down some titles, but it was a half-hearted attempt. Then again, I found it really hard to decide on things I wanted to see that I hadn't already watched dozens of times already. As I pored over my hundreds of horror DVDs and Blu-rays, I realized I'd sort of reached my saturation point with these movies. As good as they are, they don't command the same attention they used to; I think I just need to wait a few years, then I'll be good to revisit my personal video collection again. 

So this year, I jumped around from Netflix to Youtube and even bought a couple of videos. Thankfully, most of those viewings were pretty satisfying. 

Dinner is served... a la carte, in Deranged

I kicked off the month with the Netflix production of Gerald's Game, a taut and briefly gruesome adaptation from the Stephen King novel (which I read and enjoyed several years ago). I recommend this one for its somewhat restrained approach... and its contemplation on psychological horrors. 

Don't Kill It is a low-budgeter starring Dolph Ludgren as a modern day demon hunter. Silly and fun. Don't expect anything groundbreaking; just sit back with the popcorn and yuk it up.

Deranged is an early 1970's telling of the Ed Gein serial killer story. We've had many movies since this one that were based either loosely or more loosely on the exploits of the real-life Butcher of Plainfield. Deranged precedes them all, including Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the various Hannibal films. This is a gritty bargain-basement flick that is kind of creepy and effective despite the weak journalist narrator style. It seemed a bit tame at first, but descended into some rather disturbing images as the tale progressed.

Sometimes They Come Back was an early 90's Stephen King adaptation. It works fairly well, maintaining that vibe that made 80's King films so watchable, even the bad ones. The story didn't lean too hard on the supernatural, instead working with its solid cast and dramatic story. 

TerrorVision was a pretty ridiculous effort. I enjoyed a good (?) chunk of the movie in spite of its silliness. But maybe it was the irreverence that made it appealing. An 80's movie that is simply so "of its time" that you can excuse the weirdness and badness and just go along for the ride. Pretty out there...

Just give us a little kiss, luv... from the grim Maniac

Dig Two Graves, on Netflix, knocked my socks off. An atmospheric thriller, this one was dark and grim and so effective that even as I watched, I knew I'd want to see it again sometime. Great layered story enhanced by fine performances.

The first of my new home video acquisitions was the recently released Alien: Covenant. I had missed this in the theatres, but did rent it online a bit later. Not exactly a hit, this entry in the Alien universe still captures the essence of this now-classic franchise and wasn't an utter disappointment. In fact, upon re-viewing, I enjoyed it even more. Lean on character development but fully stocked on creature effects and guts'n'gore scenes. Fassbender is the real star here, as he was in Prometheus, this time playing two roles. No spoilers... just go watch it. Pretty fun, if a weak link in the series.

Maniac is grainy, murky 1980 serial killer story. A mentally disturbed dude with a thing for mannequins is knocking off various folks, mostly women, in the dark corners of NYC. Once you discover why he does this, you'll either be riveted or repulsed... or both. This excursion explores the mind of the psychotic character.

1922 is yet another Netflix production of a Stephen King tale. Not bad at all, 1922 gives us good old Thomas Jane in the lead role as a man who goes to unpleasant lengths to keep his piece of farmland. Another examination of a gradually unhinging mind, this film was a bit of a surprise with its gruesome bits and themes. 

The Babysitter, while not quite a horror per se, does contain horrific elements and scenes. Those aside, though, this is a fun comedy, if you have the ability to laugh at dark and awful bloody messes. The story became progressively crazier and nearly lost me, but thankfully, the film-makers reined things in just enough to succeed with this formula. 

I'm not sure where I'll go from here up until the evening of October 31st, but I have some ideas... like Raw Meat (on Youtube), a nasty story of a cannibal living in the subway tunnels of London, England. As icky as the subject matter is, it's a compelling bit of 70's horror. 

I'm more than halfway through the newly-released season two of Stranger Things, one of the coolest Netflix shows I've ever seen. A sort of sci-fi/supernatural/conspiracy story in the spirit of Spielberg's 80's movies. 

There's a good chance I'll put on one of the classic Universal monster movies on Halloween night, possibly The Wolf Man from 1941... the most re-watchable of the oldies and my favourite of the bunch. But I'll re-assess my rough little viewing schedule and try to spruce it up for the few nights left 'til All Hallow's Eve.

Happy haunting!

Fright Films For The Halloween Season

Ever since I can remember, I've been fascinated by scary movies. And even as I grew out of childhood, I still enjoyed the oldies, as well as the modern films, if not for their scariness, then at least for the eerie atmosphere and compelling (and disturbing) stories.

I don't dwell exclusively on horror movies, but that is the genre that I've been drawn to again and again, and certainly comprises the bulk of my home video collection. So the attraction has always been strong, even as I explored genres as widespread as westerns, film noir, foreign and art house films, comedies, dramas, thrillers, action, and some animation. Science fiction, for me, can often overlap with horror.... fantasy, too. That's why I separate out those three categories in my "fantastical genre" on my movie shelves. The classic Alien from '79, for instance, isn't strictly sci-fi, and it isn't strictly horror, either. Well, you - or I - could certainly call it a horror movie... in a sci-fi setting. I think it may work best that way. And something like Pan's Labyrinth (2006), while rather horrific at several points, is more a dark fantasy. Director Guillermo del Toro is notorious for taking things a bit too far, in a good way, I guess, and his work on Pan's Labyrinth is no exception.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) captured my imagination as a kid

I like to look back on key horror movies in my life, ones that made a distinct impression and helped me retain a strong interest in the weird and morbid in cinema. As a young kid, the old child-friendly Abbott and Costello monster movies on TV were both fun and just a little spooky. My favourite was, and still is, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. It is in this picture that the famed comedy duo come up against the three most popular of the Universal studio monsters: Dracula, Frankenstein monster, and Wolf Man. The guys united with more of the "monsters" and horror characters in subsequent flicks: there was the Invisible Man, the Mummy, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. All similar in tone... silly yet imbued with the visual attributes of the Universal fright flicks. Daytime viewing that's safe for the kiddies.

And from there, I moved on to the actual Universal monsters, Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolf Man, the Mummy, Creature From the Black Lagoon, and everything in between. These often achieved a dark and grim essence, though the film-makers, writers, and actors nearly always injected moments of humour (dark or light) as relief from the tension. 

The sci-fi horrors of the 50's impressed me as I got a bit older. The Thing From Another World and Invasion of the Body Snatchers were two of my favourites from that era, and they are still high on my list of all-timers. The otherworldly aspect sets things up, while the gripping terror builds and builds. Tense and exciting.

A bit older, maybe around age 12 or 13, I discovered the Hammer studio films on late-night TV. Hammer began by re-booting the classic monsters of yore, werewolves, vampires, mummies, and Franken-creatures. These were definitely more modern and grown-up, with either suggested or mild sexuality, and more realistic violence and gore. Yet there was a classiness that came alongside the lurid subject matter. The Hammer crew were adept at churning out dozens of horror films that looked great... the studio became known for its use of rich colours in sets and locations, and cinematography that effectively captured that visual quality. And the music was always first-rate, thrilling and moody, by composers such as James Bernard, Don Banks, David Whitaker, and Christopher Gunning. I mustn't forget to mention the terrific string of actors who appeared in Hammer productions: big names like Chris Lee and Peter Cushing... but also the smaller "stars" (who were often more fun to watch) who became regulars in the Hammer film realm. It was always a treat to see familiar names in the opening credits and familiar faces onscreen... like Hazel Court, Michael Gough, Veronica Carlson, and Michael Ripper (what a name!). This Hammer horror experience set me up for the next phase.

One of the many gems from Hammer film studios

I'd been reading some Stephen King novels as a young teen in the 70's, and as soon as I could get into theatres to see film adaptations, I did that without hesitation. I remember seeing Carrie, The Dead Zone, The Shining, and Christine back in those early days of King stories on the silver screen. Bloody and creepy and disturbing, and almost always with an underlying religious theme. And a bit of humour, dark or otherwise, found its way in there, too.

In parallel with the King movie adaptations, there were other notoriously scary films making their mark: I immediately think of the original Alien and how that shaped my movie fan sensibility. That outer space creature remains the most original and terrifying in all of cinema. I didn't have access to some of the notable movies of the 70's until I was a bit older... things like The Exorcist, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Black Christmas. I did, however, get to see The Omen on its theatrical release... and Jaws, too. 

Into the 80's, I lapped up the supernatural, maniacal, and otherworldly with no constraints. The Thing, An American Werewolf in London, The Fly, and The Howling were among my faves of that decade. With the popularity of home video at the time, I was able to rent and catch up on a whole lot of horror of past and present. Hellraiser and House were another couple of great ones that opened up some doors. Again, I had to play catch-up now and then via videotape rentals.

Christopher Walken in early eerie outing The Dead Zone

I found that the fantasy "monster"-type movies were less prevalent in the 90's, as things took a turn toward slightly more real-world horrors... like Silence of the Lambs, Stir of Echoes, and Jacob's Ladder. We still got some primo retro-style stuff like Bram Stoker's Dracula, Candyman, Cemetary Man, and the bizarre twist on the vampire tale, Cronos. 

The 2000's saw some franchises of questionable quality... Saw, Hostel, Human Centipede, and the like were dubbed splatter and gore films, of which I'm not much of a fan. The excess of blood, violence, and nudity took over while often sacrificing story and atmosphere. I admit I've seen something worthwhile in the odd one of those, but no standouts. 

During this same decade, we did get some entertaining cinema, though: The Descent, Let The Right One In, Jeepers Creepers, and 30 Days of Night. I think we had to look a bit harder for the good ones, but they were there among all of the Scream sequels.

Black Swan is a winner in my books... unsettling, arresting, and weird

While the 2000's were a bit disappointing in output, the 2010's saw a bit of a renaissance; a variety of great terror films were to be found amid the increasing flood of straight-to-video B-grade horrors. Some of the best are: It Follows, The Conjuring, The Babadook, The Witch, You're Next, Don't Breathe, Black Swan, Sinister, The Guest, Bone Tomahawk (not a horror per se, but quite horrific at times), and Under the Skin. While Black Swan works so well on so many levels (jarring, unsettling, psychological thriller) and is perhaps my favourite of this decade so far, it was The Conjuring that I found the scariest. I've got a vivid imagination... and that movie really got under my skin and haunted my nights for a while. The Witch is also a contender, yet in a very different way; the film is artistically perfect, nailing the atmosphere of dread while depicting a highly believable period piece. And Bone Tomahawk takes home the award for most disturbing.... I simply could not get that scene (you know the one, if you've seen this) from my mind for weeks. Whew!

So I think that as long as we are on this roll of extremely good horrific movies, I'll be happy. Maybe a bit sleepless, since some of these flicks creep into my subconscious and emerge as dreams. But hell, it's all in the name of a good scare, right?

Tom Petty - A Legend Is Lost

Early this week, the music world... no, the world as a whole... lost one of rock'n'roll's greatest artists, Tom Petty. I still recall hearing his music for the first time back in October of 1979: it was the song Refugee off the newly-released Damn The Torpedoes album. I was eating breakfast and getting ready for school, with the radio tuned to Toronto's Q107. I remember hearing Roxanne by The Police shortly before that. When Refugee kicked in, I was impressed... those guitar hooks, Tom's impassioned vocals, that vibrant signature keyboard sound. Hard to forget. 



Fast forward to September of this year of 2017: a friend gave me his old stereo turntable. I immediately began compiling a list of records I wanted to get right off the bat. Damn The Torpedoes was in my top five. So just to be clear, I was not jumping on any bandwagon to get a Petty album after his untimely death. No, I began searching for the Torpedoes LP more than a month before the event. And I happily found a nice copy the other day... well, it's on its way in the mail right now. 

I confess I haven't owned many Tom Petty albums in my life, but since his music has been prevalent for so many decades, I never really felt the need. Flip on the radio, there's Tom. Go to a party, there's Tom on the stereo. Go to a bar, there's Tom on the playlist. I did buy Full Moon Fever when it hit store shelves back in spring of '89. Massive, massive album... nearly every song was a radio hit. All terrific music. A few years later, I felt I should at least own a CD of Petty's hits... and lo' and behold, a great compilation was released. And back to Full Moon Fever... when my CD copy failed to play for me about a year ago, I immediately bought a new one. No hesitation. 

By all rights, I should have owned Damn The Torpedoes as far back as the 80's. Even through my metal and prog-rock years back then, I still enjoyed straight-up rock'n'roll, and Petty's tunes were no exception. An oversight, to say the least. Well, better late than never. I've heard pretty much the whole album over the years, one way or another. Now I'll be able to hear it in its entirety on glorious vinyl, as I feel it should be.

So long, Tom... keep on singing and strumming in the next world.