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 8 - Black Water - October Horror Movie Challenge

BLACK WATER (2007)

 

Three cheeky monkeys sitting in a tree, teasing Mister Crocodile 'You can't catch me!' Along came Mister Crocodile quiet as can be and...SNAP SNAP SNAP...

(There will be major spoilers so skip if you don't want to be spoiled)

Christmas is over and sisters Grace and Lee are headed off with Grace's boyfriend, Adam, on a two week vacation together. There first stop is a crocodile park where we learn that there are a tone of saltwater crocodiles living in Australia and now that there's more humans than ever, it's running into a bit of a problem. But parks like this one keep them in their habitat and make it safe to interact with them.

That night Grace discovers she's pregnant but holds off on telling Adam until the time is right. Lee figures it out right away though. The next day they're headed to do some fishing on the river with a guided tour through Backwater Barrys but they've just missed the last tour. Luckily Jim, an employee, is around and offers to take them out. The group set out onto the river and find a great spot to set up shop and start fishing. Lee notices Jim carrying a gun and questions him about it. He says its just company policy to work against crocodiles but not to worry since the crocodile parks have basically got them all now.

But there's one croc who's still swimming out in the open and this one knocks over their boat, throwing the four of them into the water. Jim is immediately taken by the croc, leaving the rest to scramble up into a tree. But now they're stuck out in the middle of nowhere with an upside down boat just out of a reach and a hungry crocodile circling them. "Someone will come looking for us." "Who Grace? Who? No one saw us leave, no one knows we're here."

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

• Honestly not a whole lot...it was sort of angering me the whole way through and my attention waned quite a bit.
• I liked Grace near the end, at the beginning she sort of drove me nuts based on the decisions she would make. I really liked Adam, who seemed like the only one with his head on his shoulders...until the croc bit it off.
• They used real crocodiles in the making of this film which is pretty bad ass. I don't think I could've acted with those bad boys swimming around. Terrifying shit.

What I didn't love?

• The stupid decisions!!!!!!!!!! The whole time I was just screaming at them to get the fucking boat. Grace was all hell bent on climbing through the trees for some reason and Lee had a complete breakdown. Adam was the only one who was like...lets just flip the boat over and get out of here. And honestly, if they had listened to him right away...I'm sure that plan would've worked. But instead they wait hours and hours and then Adam finally gets in the water and the croc kills him. Probably cause he was starving. They should've just jumped into the boat right away - end of story.
• Lee was hysterical to the point of annoyance. When Grace was screaming at her I blessed her for her patience because I would've been screaming at Lee way earlier.
• It didn't feel scary because of the environment. I'm sure in real life of course it would be scary but as a viewer of a horror film it was a bit silly. The water comes up to their waist and the fucking boat was right there. It's hard to feel scared about that. And the fact that they were on a river with basically land all around...I mean...

Overall?

I didn't love this. I will give it credit though because I got curious and learned a tone about saltwater crocodiles during the movie.

Black Water is based off of "true events"...this case being a story about two teenagers who got stuck up a tree in a flooded river while a crocodile circled the bottom of the tree after killing their friend. If anything I would say "inspired by true events" not based off of.

The movie is pretty impressive for a first timer....it's a tough location to shoot for I'm guessing. The entire film was in a tree in a river filled with crocodiles so mad props to the directors of this film - David Nerlich and Andrew Traucki.

So what did I learn about saltwater crocodiles? Well honestly I didn't even think they ate people. I thought it'd be more of a shark situation but turns out saltwater crocs are pretty viscous and will hunt and eat humans. Most attacks are territorial and there are some areas in Australia where its best to just completely avoid because saltwater crocs will eat the fuck out of you. It's also incredibly hard to survive an attack because they're such powerhouses. They are the largest extant terrestrial and riparian predators in the world! Males range from 11 feet to 18 feet long and on average weigh up to 1,150 pounds. These motherfuckers can take down deer, kangaroos and water buffalo!!

I'll give this movie a low score, but a high score on education! I have a new fear and respect for the saltwater crocodile and will never be stepping foot in a river again.

5/10

Stay spooky!