Day 31 - Halloween - Horror Movie Challenge

HALLOWEEN (2007)

Inside every one us, there exists a dark side. Most people rise above it, but some are consumed by it. Until there is nothing left, but pure evil. 

It's Halloween in Haddonfield and young Michael is living inside an abusive home and being picked on at school. But today he's had enough. After murdering one of his bullies in the woods he goes home to trick or treat. Unfortunately his sister Judith isn't interested in taking him, his mom Deb is at work at the strip club and Deb's boyfriend is drunk and in a wheelchair. Michael heads out by himself but it isn't the same. When he gets home, Ronnie, Deb's boyfriend taunts Michael until he kills him by taping him up and slitting his throat. Next up is Judith's boyfriend, and then Judith, who he stabs 17 times.

Deb arrives home to find her son sitting outside covered in blood and holding his baby sister in his arms, who he didn't harm.

Michael is of course found guilty but placed into Smith's Grove Sanitarium under the care of Dr. Samuel Loomis. Michael doesn't remember anything from Halloween night and works with Dr. Loomis, but soon slips into his own mind. His Mom visits him every week but as Michael gets worse and worse and stops speaking and becomes obsessed with making and wearing masks, his Mom and Dr. Loomis are giving up. Then one day Michael kills a nurse violently and Deb can't take it anymore, she goes home and commits suicide, leaving her youngest daughter behind.

Over the next 15 years Michael lives in the Sanitarium making masks quietly. Loomis attempts multiple times over the years to reach him but it never works. Then one day Michael snaps after being tormented by a guard and his drunk cousin and kills them. He's able to escape and heads home, which is now an abandoned house that local residents are scared of.

His baby sister who was left orphaned has been taken in by the Strodes who live down the street and renamed Laurie. She's got a good life now but little does she know that her murderous brother has returned home and is watching her.

Alright...what did I love about this movie?

• Daeg Faerch puts on a powerhouse of a performance as young Michael Myers and Tyler Mane makes Michael even more terrifying as an adult, if that's even possible. At 6'9" he's a horrific slowly walking force.
• Amazing soundtrack, but that's usually to be expected from Rob Zombie.
• Sheri Moon Zombie can honestly do no wrong in my eyes and she's best in these strong but beaten down women type roles.
• The backstory on Michael is a refreshing touch on the series, seeing what made him into the psycho he is, and seeing how his Mother was left to deal with the aftermath of it all.
• Malcolm McDowell is so fucking great as Loomis.

What didn't I love?

• Waaaay too long. Slasher flicks have no business being over 2 hours.

Overall?

Firstly, ya'll know I'm a big Rob Zombie fan so I'm not here for your hate. Secondly, every year I always end the horror movie challenge with Halloween so this year I thought I'd shake it up with the remake.

I love the remake. I think Zombie did a great job putting his touch on it, like I mentioned above I love the backstory, the depth of Michael Myers. I get why it can be scarier to have no idea why he snapped at 10 years old and stalk Laurie for 100 movies. BUT I do love that we also have this option to watch to learn more about why he did what he did. We get to learn about the mask - why it's so important to Michael and why he hides behind it, such a devastating concept. And our hearts break watching Deb's horrific life and devastating ending.

Is this a Rob Zombie film? Yes. You can feel it in every conversation, every scene, every actor choice etc. But is it a good Rob Zombie film? Yes! It's a slasher flick with 17 violent kills and lots of spooky moments, but it's also a think piece with the prequel part of the film.

I adore this remake and believe it can sit side by side with the original series. Is it better than the original? Of course not! But there's room for both.

9/10

I've got two days left of my vacation and then I'm headed home! Highlight of this week so far? Getting to fly to the waterfall used in Jurassic Park in a helicopter! It's on protected land and can only be reached by helicopter and you have to wear protective booties on your shoes to protect the environment. It's absolutely beautiful and was honestly the coolest thing that's ever happened to me.

And here's a pic! Don't judge me for my fanny pack and safety vest wrapped around my waist:

Day 30 - Halloween III: Season of the Witch - October Horror Movie Challenge

HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH (1982)

 Halloween... the festival of Samhain! The last great one took place three thousand years ago, when the hills ran red... with the blood of animals and children. 

It's October 23rd and a man is taken into emergency, Dr. Dan Challis looks over him but that night a mysterious man appears and kills the sick man. When the doctor runs outside to try and catch him, the madman sets himself on fire.

On October 24th, the dead guys' daughter Ellie arrives and speaks to Dan. The two of them agree something isn't right about the way her father died and set out to investigate. They track back the last few days of her father's life which leads them to a small town called Santa Mira. The company Silver Shamrock Novelties has a factory there where they create awesome Halloween masks that all the kids are buying up this year.

A woman staying in the room next to them is suspicious of the masks and finds a microchip in the one she's studying. It kills her and while Dan and Ellie are trying to help, they're pushed away by a strange group of men dressed in lab coats.

The two realize that the Silver Shamrock has something to do with all this and go on a tour of the factory. But what they find in the factory is shocking and may destroy the entire world on Halloween night.

Alright...what did I love about this movie?

• The awesome music by John Carpenter that plays throughout the whole movie.
• Halloween plays twice on the TV in this film...SO META...
• The annoying Silver Shamrock tune is amazing and constantly stuck in my head. Remind me to play that over and over during the last week of Halloween next year.
• There's a fight scene and the fake punch noises are so bad that they are amazing.

What didn't I love?

• Mostly just the logic of this movie....
• How did the car explode? Homeboy lit himself on fire and then the car exploded. I mean...what kind of dramatic nonsense?
• Ellie and Dan start hooking up immediately? Like okay, let's track down your dead dads last days...so romantic?
• When Dan first sees what happens to the kids wearing the masks....how do the giant snakes happen? Like how does a mask create giant snakes?
• SO MANY QUESTIONS

 Overall?

Obviously this film is famous purely for not having Michael Myers in it at all but still being a part of the Halloween franchise. It's easier just to watch this one as a random Halloween plot to kill everyone movie and forget you're watching the third installment of a slasher franchise. In fact it takes another six years for Michael to even return, in the fourth movie - Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers.

It's not even really horror - it's more of a sci-fi, folk lore type tale what with all the lasers and robots. It does have a decent amount of gore though. Particularly the scene at the beginning where the Shamrock robot dude thing just shoves his fingers through Ellie's Dad's eyes. Also...you know...violence against children which, if you read this blog, you know I'm always a big supporter of in horror movies.

When it was first released critics and fans alike hated this flick, but overtime we've all learned to appreciate it for what it is. Just your basic 80's horror/sci-fi movie trying to take a stand on large corporations and the mass consumerism of America.

This little nugget was directed by Tommy Lee Wallace and was his first film, previously he had worked on the Halloween series but as a production designer and art director. He then went on to direct the amazing miniseries It, released in 1990.

Really it's just a great little Halloween flick that does what it set out to do and is a fun watch.

7/10

Still at it over here in Kauai! I have one more review to post and then the October horror movie challenge is done and OVER WITH. I have a giant list of blog posts I need to write after that but I'll save those for when I get home. SO MANY THINGS TO TALK ABOUT YA'LL!

Yesterday I got to explore a creepy ass cave that reminded me of The Descent so much I freaked myself out.

Stay Spooky!

Day 29 - An American Werewolf in London - October Horror Movie Challenge

AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981)

The undead surround me. Have you ever talked to a corpse? It's boring! I'm lonely! Kill yourself, David, before you kill others.

David and Jack are two college kids from America who have decided to backpack across the moors. They find a pub called The Slaughtered Lamb filled with unfriendly locals and a pentagram on the wall. Jack decides to ask them about the pentagram but it instantly turns the locals even more hostile and the boys leave after being warned to stay off the moors and beware the moon. Out on the moors (because these are two american students who don't listen) they are quickly attacked by a large wolf-like animal and Jack is killed.

David wakes up in a London hospital three weeks later not remembering what happened and a police inspector tells him he was attacked by an escape lunatic who was then shot by the locals. But David is sure he was attacked by a wolf and the scratches on his body make sense with this memory. Then suddenly Jack appears to David as a corpse and tells him that David is about to turn into a werewolf and to just kill himself before the full moon.

As the full moon quickly approaches, is London in danger? Is David really going to turn into a werewolf or is he losing his mind? And what are the locals hiding?

Alright...what did I love about this movie?

• The scene where the boys enter the pub for the first time and everyone turns and stares at them. I have totally experienced this in small pubs in England. It's intense.  
• The transformation of course is ground breaking and still stunning when watched this day.
• I loved Nurse Alex, played by Jenny Agutter.
• Really great soundtrack!

What didn't I love?

• This is advertised as a horror comedy, but I totally missed the comedy element. Sure there were some great British dry moments but other than that I kept forgetting it was supposed to be a comedy. 
• I liked Jack way more than David and was bummed when Jack died so quickly.
  

Overall?

First time watching this movie and I kind of wish I'd watched it earlier when I was younger. I didn't fall in love with it like I'd hoped. I get why this is a classic and I mean, that transformation scene....goddamn. In fact the makeup in this film won the first ever Oscar for Best Makeup.

It's a great little flick and mad props to John Landis for writing and directing it and even bigger props to the special effects done by Rick Baker.

I'm thinking the more I watch this film the more it will grow on me. It probably didn't help I watched this for the first time on a plane which isn't reallllly the best place to watch horror movies which I keep learning.

I will re-watch for sure.

7/10

I'm here in Kauai! I've had an amazing time so far so apologies for the delay of the last three movie reviews but they are coming, I promise. I also watched Stitches yesterday when I had some down time and I want to talk about that one!

So far here I've been stung by a jelly fish, found a creepy house and secret river, saw dolphins out in the wild and seen a lot of gorgeous land. Also today I visited a crumbled temple where locals back in the day used to speak to the Gods.

Stay spooky!