This is a nice little chiller that sags a bit in a middle, and there are a few touches that raise questions that are never answered, but it otherwise fairly well done. (It was based on a two-sentence story, which I will post below... but don't read it until after you've watched the film.)
Also--and I never thought I'd say this--but it's refreshing to see this sort of story NOT feature a young hottie in her undies and/or nightie. Maybe I've watched waaaay too many of these short-shorts over the past few years?
Knock Knock (2014)
Starring: Akansha Sukhija
Director: Simrat Sandhu
Rating: Six of Ten Stars
And the two sentence story the film is based on: "I woke up to hear knocking on glass. At first, I thought it was the window until I heard it come from the mirror again."
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
31 Nights of Halloween: Sleepwalker
Here's a great example of "less is more" when it comes to horror films!
Sleepwalker (2017)
Starring: Isabelle Goddard and Aimee Piere
Directors: Sean Loch and Sammi Price
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars
Sleepwalker (2017)
Starring: Isabelle Goddard and Aimee Piere
Directors: Sean Loch and Sammi Price
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
31 Nights of Halloween: Selfie Pride
Today's film is a cautionary tale about stupid online challenges.
(The creators of this 2017 film are are unknown, and I don't recognized the star, but I give "Selfie Pride" Eight of Ten Stars for making me chuckle in the way "Tales from the Crypt" comics used to make make chuckle.)
Monday, October 15, 2018
31 Nights of Halloween: Shall Not
I just realized that this is the first "Babysitter in Trouble" film during this year's 31 Nights of Halloween. That's a major change from some past years where it seeme like every other film I thought worthy had the sitter menanced by ghosts, mad slashers, monsters, or the ghosts of mad slashers who were monsters. Maybe they're all dead?
As far as tonight's selection goes, what litte dialogue there is in ths film could have been a lot better scripted, and I wish the director had made the effort to give a sense that more time passed than just the five minutes it takes to watch the film--because from the basic events it's obvious that hours do pass, but it doesn't feel that way while watching. I also would have liked a better set-up of the main character. Despite its flaws, however, "Shall Not" is an atmospheric, creepy little movie that's worthy of your time this Halloween Season!
Shall Not (2015)
Starring: Jessica Martinez, Jason Martinez, Cindy Schindewolf, and Elija Schindewolf
Director: Robert Newman
Rating: Six of Ten Stars
As far as tonight's selection goes, what litte dialogue there is in ths film could have been a lot better scripted, and I wish the director had made the effort to give a sense that more time passed than just the five minutes it takes to watch the film--because from the basic events it's obvious that hours do pass, but it doesn't feel that way while watching. I also would have liked a better set-up of the main character. Despite its flaws, however, "Shall Not" is an atmospheric, creepy little movie that's worthy of your time this Halloween Season!
Shall Not (2015)
Starring: Jessica Martinez, Jason Martinez, Cindy Schindewolf, and Elija Schindewolf
Director: Robert Newman
Rating: Six of Ten Stars
Musical Monday: Don't Fear the Reaper by The Alice Band
It's Monday... and it brings a song in celebration of the 31 Nights of Halloween.
Sunday, October 14, 2018
31 Nights of Halloween: The Clapper
Anything has the potential to be haunted, especially during the 31 Nights of Halloween. Although sometimes the seemingly supernatural has a perfectly mundane explanation. What will it turn out to be in the story of Rachel, a young woman who just wants to make her life easier with The Clapper as she recovers from a broken leg?
This straight-to-the-point chiller will have you thinking twice before deciding to play around with old gadgets you find laying about (or even those sent to you by Mom).
The Clapper (2017)
Starring: Aubree Bowen, Neil Stevens, and Lindsay Garvey
Director: Neil Stevens
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars
This straight-to-the-point chiller will have you thinking twice before deciding to play around with old gadgets you find laying about (or even those sent to you by Mom).
The Clapper (2017)
Starring: Aubree Bowen, Neil Stevens, and Lindsay Garvey
Director: Neil Stevens
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars
Saturday, October 13, 2018
31 Nights of Halloween: Ghosting
Tonight's offering is an excellent modernization of the gothic ghost story.
Ghosting (2015)
Starring: Allison Miller, Chase Williamson, and Lilan Boden
Director: Kim Sherman
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars
Ghosting (2015)
Starring: Allison Miller, Chase Williamson, and Lilan Boden
Director: Kim Sherman
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars
Saturday Scream Queen: Allison Miller
Born in 1985, Allison Miller studied acting, music, and dance in High School, and after dropping out of college, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. Since her first professional job in 2006, she has stayed with a variety of roles on television series, and in films that have run the gamut from soap operas to mind-wrenching terror flicks.
Miller is perhaps best known for her roles as Skye on the sci-fi television series "Terra Nova" (2011), and as Laura on the sci-fi thriller series "Incorporated" (2016).
Miller's first horror role was co-starring in "Blood: The Last Vampire" (2009). Other horror films on her resume include "Betwixt" (2010), "Devil's Due" (2014), and the horror comedy "Strange Calls" (2016).
She currently part of the ensemble cast on the ABC series "A Million Little Things."
Friday, October 12, 2018
31 Nights of Halloween: Unboxing
If I were to make a list of the many things I don't get the appeal of, "unboxing videos" would probably be somewhere near the top. Although that's an element of today's horror short, I got the scary parts here. The film also reminds of an episode of the "Hammer House of Horror" television series that sticks with me to this day and the featured actress here is really good. I hope you enjoy today's selection (even if, apparently, the writer/director has decided to stop making short films).
Unboxing (2018)
Starring: Alana Wallace
Director: Veemsen Lama
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars
Unboxing (2018)
Starring: Alana Wallace
Director: Veemsen Lama
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars
Fear-filled Phantasms: Emanuele Taglietti
Here's another gallery of chilling paintings from Italian artist Emanuele Taglietti, selected to encourage some Halloween spirit as the Big Night draws ever closer!
Thursday, October 11, 2018
31 Nights of Halloween: Friend Request
You gotta be careful accepting Friend Requests from total strangers... especially during the 31 Nights of Halloween!
Friend Request (2013)
Starring: Emily Sandifer
Director: Nicholas Acosta
Rating: Ten of Ten Stars
This film gets everything right--even the jump scares! It's rating of Ten is well-deserved. (BTW, if you want to Friend me, you should probably do it via this blog and G+. My Facebook page is mostly rants, roleplaying talk, and repostings of goofy memes.But please let me know if you're a vengeful ghost first!)
Friend Request (2013)
Starring: Emily Sandifer
Director: Nicholas Acosta
Rating: Ten of Ten Stars
This film gets everything right--even the jump scares! It's rating of Ten is well-deserved. (BTW, if you want to Friend me, you should probably do it via this blog and G+. My Facebook page is mostly rants, roleplaying talk, and repostings of goofy memes.But please let me know if you're a vengeful ghost first!)
The Halloween Canon (according to me)
It's been 40 years since John Carpenter, for better or worse, changed horror movies forever when he crystalized the tropes of the slasher genre with the first two "Halloween" movies.
There's a new "Halloween" movie coming out soon--not a remake, but another sequel to the original 1978 film. It seems to be positioning itself as THE sequel, since plot summaries imply that Michael Myers has been locked up in an asylum for the past four decades.
Will it be any good? Time will tell, but it can't be any worse than that wretched Rob Zombie remake from 2007.
However it turns out, now seems like the perfect time to produce the ultimate Terror Titans Halloween round-up post: Reviews of the ONLY Halloween movies you should watch. These four films make up a complete story, and everything else that claims to feature Michael Myers or Laurie Strode should be ignored. (Unless the film that comes out on 10/18/2018 is so good it changes my mind...)
Halloween (1978)
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasance
Director: John Carpenter
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars
Michael Myer, who has been confined to a mental institution since committing several brutal murders as a young child, escapes and returns to his hometown to kill his last remaining relative, his sister. While his psychiatrist Dr. Loomis (Pleasance) tries to get the local sheriff to clear the streets of Halloween trick-or-treaters to protect them from a killer who the doctor believes to literally be possessed by evil spirits, Michael is cutting his way through the population of Haddonfield, getting ever closer to his actual goal, his sister, Laurie (Curtis).
"Halloween" was the first of this type of movie--an unspeakably violent, hands-on killer butchers his way through hapless victims until one girl faces him alone--and it still remains the best. The gore may be mild compared to the countless slasher flicks that follow, but the tension and terror flowing from the screen remains unmatched.
All actors featured in “Halloween” turn in great performances, with Curtis’ portrayal of the terror-stricken, yet scrappy, Laurie being particularly impressive. Horror movie veteran Pleasance also turns in a great performance as the stressed-beyond-stressed-out, gun-toting mental health professional bent on stopping a man who is “pure evil” before he murders again. Even the actor playing the masked, silent Michael Myer is wonderful—he has an animal-like way of cocking his head that is very creepy.
Other strong aspects that really make “Halloween” stand out is the camera-work, lighting, and set-dressing. All of these combine to turn typical small-town America into a creepy and threatening environment that is as much a character in the film as the principle actors. Much of the tension that is built in the early parts of the film grows from the curiously unsettling aura throughout the town of Haddonfield.
Finally, the soundtrack score of "Halloween" needs to be singled out for praise. Performed completely on synthesizers by director Carpenter, it stands as not only one of the creepiest horror movie scores but also as one of the best works of electronica ever composed. Plus, no other horror movie has a theme as memorable as "Halloween." (Only "The Exorcist" comes close, and the theme from it wasn't originally composed for the movie.)
Halloween II (1981)
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasance
Director: Rick Rosenthal
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars
'Halloween II" is a direct sequel to the original movie, picking up pretty much exactly where it left off. After narrowly escaping death at the knife-wielding hands of her insane brother, Laurie is taken to the local hospital while an apparently dead Michael Myers is taken to the morgue in its basement. It quickly becomes apparent that someone was a bit hasty in declaring Myers dead—a natural mistake since Dr. Loomis had shot him six times in the chest--and soon he is stalking through the darkened hospital and sending everyone on the graveyard shift to the graveyard. Maybe Laurie won’t live to see the sun come up on November 1st after all.
The film takes place almost entirely within the Haddonfield hospital. Director Rick Rosenthal. Rosenthal successfully uses the empty, darkened hallways to evoke suspense and horror, and to eventually emphasize the isolation of Laurie as she for the second time in one night is the object of her brother’s murderous intentions.
On the acting front, we’ve got Curtis and Pleasance reprising their roles from the original “Halloween”, and they are just as good as they were before. Curtis once again strikes a perfect balance between strength and terror, and Pleasance once again excels as a man obsessed with putting an end to what he views as evil given form on Earth.
The only weakness that prevents this film from being as good as the original “Halloween” is, curiously, the script. Although Carpenter and Hill wrote both, the story for “Halloween II” never really seems to build up quite the same momentum as the original movie. The middle is actually downright dull at times.
“Halloween II” is still worth watching, but a tighter script would have made it so much better.
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
Starring: Donald Pleasance, Ellie Cornell, Danielle Harris, and Michael Pataki
Director: Dwight H. Little
Rating: Six of Ten Stars
Ten years after Michael Myers brought real terror and bloodshed to Halloween night in the small town of Haddonfield, he escapes while being transferred between two asylums. He returns to his old stalking grounds, but finds that his sister, Laurie is now out of his reach. However, his young niece Jamie (Harris) is not so lucky. Soon, the bodies start to pile up, and Jamie and her teenaged protector (Cornell) may not survive the night, even though Dr. Loomis (Pleasance) is once again stalk Michael as he stalks them.
With “Halloween 4,” Myers joins the ranks (whether he is elevated or if he falls depends on your point of view) of all the other indestructible psycho-killers, since he was burned to a crisp on camera at the end of “Halloween II.” However, Dr. Loomis, is also back (and he didn’t fare much better than Myers in that fire), so he is probably the only slasher-flick hero who is as indestructible as killer himself!
Unfortunately, this film is another step down from the heights where it all began. Like “Halloween II” was an inferior film when compared to the original, so is “Halloween 4” weaker than both its predecessors. The greatest flaw is the setting of Haddonfield. Where Carpenter and his crew managed to infuse the town itself with a sense of dreadful anticipation, the director of this film just conveys that it is like any other little town. Because of this, the movie doesn’t seem quite as suspenseful as those that came before. Yes, there are plenty of shocks, and Myers is now conducting himself as we have come to expect from a man in his like of work (like Jason, and Freddy, and dozens and dozens of other cinema maniacs that appeared in the decade since Myer first cocked his head at Laurie Strode), but the same level of tension is never quite reached.
Acting-wise, however, the performances are as good as they were in the first pair of movies. Curtis isn’t in the film—her character reportedly died in a car accident shortly after she gave birth to a daughter—but instead we have Danielle Harris, a very talented child actress playing Jamie, Myers new target. Cornell also puts on a good show as the stubborn teenaged girl trying to keep herself and Jamie alive as Myers is killing people all around them. At first blush, Pleasance’s performance seems to be a bit much, but if one considers that Dr. Loomis has shot Myers in the chest six times, in the face twice, and burned him alive, and still the human monster fails to die, then it would make sense that the character has gone completely nuts. In that light, his performance is perfect.
Like “Halloween II”, this installment suffers from script problems. In this case, the script isn’t ponderous, but instead is burdened with some useless and annoying subplots (such as one involving brave rednecks hopping in their truck to go kick Michael-ass). I suppose the filmmakers sensed the other problem with the film’s storyline—that Myers was starting to no longer be scary. We saw all his tricks in the first two films, and all we had now was the same as before, except he was so monstrous that he would go after a very young child.
This problem with Michael Myers is what let to some truly stupid missteps in the three movies that followed. Someone, somewhere, decided to take Dr. Loomis at his word. Soon, the series was burdened with bizarre Satanic cultists. It's almost a shame that "Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers" marks the point at which the series tips over the edge of the abyss and plummets into the Bottomless Depths of Truly Crappy, because it has what I've always thought to be the most striking poster/home-video cover image of the entire series--Michael holding his trademarked butcher knife with the blade fading into an image of a young girl in a harlequin costume. Harris and Cornell are also both back with excellent performances. It’s a shame the overall movie isn’t have been better. (That's the illo at the tip of this post, by the way.)
The final word on “Halloween 4” is that it’s worth seeing if you like your slasher-flicks with some good acting.
Halloween: H20 (1998)
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Josh Hartnett, Adam Arkin, Michelle Williams, and LL Cool J
Director: Steve Miner
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars
Keri Tate (Curtis) has spent the past twenty years trying to put a single night horror behind her. Her successful career as an educator has helped, as has the love of her now-teenaged son (Hartnett) and the fact that she faked her death and changed her name when she became pregnant with him. But now, the past is coming back with a vengeance... Keri will no longer be able to deny that she is Laurie Strode. Michael Myers is back, and he still wants her.
"Halloween: H20" is the only entry in the series since "The Return of Michael Myers" that is worth your time. In fact, it's one of the best slasher movies to emerge from the late 1990s when the genre enjoyed a bit of a revival, because it doesn't engage in self-mockery and remains true to the tone and mood of the original "Halloween" films while presenting a slasher story with a slightly different structure than what we're used to.
Also like the original "Halloween", this film does not rely on body count and gory, creative butchering of characters. Instead, it relies on the fact that the audience actually cares about what happens to the characters in the film. With its well-written script, solid cast--Curtis in particular is fabulous as a broken Laurie Strode who suddenly finds the strength to fight not only for herself but for the life of her son--and a highly underrated director at the helm, the audience is drawn into the action and terror as it builds and unfolds.
(I feel Miner is underrated, because this and other horror films he's done shows that he understands that there needs to be a pay-off to any build-up of suspense, and that the key to making a horror movie truly scary is that the characters in the film need to be human and sympathetic. Both of these facts seem to be lost on many modern horror film directors who believe that one fake scare after another and flat characters surrounded by CGI monsters is all that's needed.)
"Halloween: H20" was a great way to celebrate twenty years of Michael Myers striking fear into the hearts of audiences around the world--it almost managed to reach the great heights achieved by Carpenter and Company in the original film. As of this writing, it remains the last worthwhile entry in the series.
Actually the "Nightdance" graphic novel from ten years ago is also good enough to be "canon." The rest of it... it never happened.
There's a new "Halloween" movie coming out soon--not a remake, but another sequel to the original 1978 film. It seems to be positioning itself as THE sequel, since plot summaries imply that Michael Myers has been locked up in an asylum for the past four decades.
Will it be any good? Time will tell, but it can't be any worse than that wretched Rob Zombie remake from 2007.
However it turns out, now seems like the perfect time to produce the ultimate Terror Titans Halloween round-up post: Reviews of the ONLY Halloween movies you should watch. These four films make up a complete story, and everything else that claims to feature Michael Myers or Laurie Strode should be ignored. (Unless the film that comes out on 10/18/2018 is so good it changes my mind...)
Halloween (1978)
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasance
Director: John Carpenter
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars
Michael Myer, who has been confined to a mental institution since committing several brutal murders as a young child, escapes and returns to his hometown to kill his last remaining relative, his sister. While his psychiatrist Dr. Loomis (Pleasance) tries to get the local sheriff to clear the streets of Halloween trick-or-treaters to protect them from a killer who the doctor believes to literally be possessed by evil spirits, Michael is cutting his way through the population of Haddonfield, getting ever closer to his actual goal, his sister, Laurie (Curtis).
"Halloween" was the first of this type of movie--an unspeakably violent, hands-on killer butchers his way through hapless victims until one girl faces him alone--and it still remains the best. The gore may be mild compared to the countless slasher flicks that follow, but the tension and terror flowing from the screen remains unmatched.
All actors featured in “Halloween” turn in great performances, with Curtis’ portrayal of the terror-stricken, yet scrappy, Laurie being particularly impressive. Horror movie veteran Pleasance also turns in a great performance as the stressed-beyond-stressed-out, gun-toting mental health professional bent on stopping a man who is “pure evil” before he murders again. Even the actor playing the masked, silent Michael Myer is wonderful—he has an animal-like way of cocking his head that is very creepy.
Other strong aspects that really make “Halloween” stand out is the camera-work, lighting, and set-dressing. All of these combine to turn typical small-town America into a creepy and threatening environment that is as much a character in the film as the principle actors. Much of the tension that is built in the early parts of the film grows from the curiously unsettling aura throughout the town of Haddonfield.
Finally, the soundtrack score of "Halloween" needs to be singled out for praise. Performed completely on synthesizers by director Carpenter, it stands as not only one of the creepiest horror movie scores but also as one of the best works of electronica ever composed. Plus, no other horror movie has a theme as memorable as "Halloween." (Only "The Exorcist" comes close, and the theme from it wasn't originally composed for the movie.)
Halloween II (1981)
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasance
Director: Rick Rosenthal
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars
'Halloween II" is a direct sequel to the original movie, picking up pretty much exactly where it left off. After narrowly escaping death at the knife-wielding hands of her insane brother, Laurie is taken to the local hospital while an apparently dead Michael Myers is taken to the morgue in its basement. It quickly becomes apparent that someone was a bit hasty in declaring Myers dead—a natural mistake since Dr. Loomis had shot him six times in the chest--and soon he is stalking through the darkened hospital and sending everyone on the graveyard shift to the graveyard. Maybe Laurie won’t live to see the sun come up on November 1st after all.
The film takes place almost entirely within the Haddonfield hospital. Director Rick Rosenthal. Rosenthal successfully uses the empty, darkened hallways to evoke suspense and horror, and to eventually emphasize the isolation of Laurie as she for the second time in one night is the object of her brother’s murderous intentions.
On the acting front, we’ve got Curtis and Pleasance reprising their roles from the original “Halloween”, and they are just as good as they were before. Curtis once again strikes a perfect balance between strength and terror, and Pleasance once again excels as a man obsessed with putting an end to what he views as evil given form on Earth.
The only weakness that prevents this film from being as good as the original “Halloween” is, curiously, the script. Although Carpenter and Hill wrote both, the story for “Halloween II” never really seems to build up quite the same momentum as the original movie. The middle is actually downright dull at times.
“Halloween II” is still worth watching, but a tighter script would have made it so much better.
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
Starring: Donald Pleasance, Ellie Cornell, Danielle Harris, and Michael Pataki
Director: Dwight H. Little
Rating: Six of Ten Stars
Ten years after Michael Myers brought real terror and bloodshed to Halloween night in the small town of Haddonfield, he escapes while being transferred between two asylums. He returns to his old stalking grounds, but finds that his sister, Laurie is now out of his reach. However, his young niece Jamie (Harris) is not so lucky. Soon, the bodies start to pile up, and Jamie and her teenaged protector (Cornell) may not survive the night, even though Dr. Loomis (Pleasance) is once again stalk Michael as he stalks them.
With “Halloween 4,” Myers joins the ranks (whether he is elevated or if he falls depends on your point of view) of all the other indestructible psycho-killers, since he was burned to a crisp on camera at the end of “Halloween II.” However, Dr. Loomis, is also back (and he didn’t fare much better than Myers in that fire), so he is probably the only slasher-flick hero who is as indestructible as killer himself!
Unfortunately, this film is another step down from the heights where it all began. Like “Halloween II” was an inferior film when compared to the original, so is “Halloween 4” weaker than both its predecessors. The greatest flaw is the setting of Haddonfield. Where Carpenter and his crew managed to infuse the town itself with a sense of dreadful anticipation, the director of this film just conveys that it is like any other little town. Because of this, the movie doesn’t seem quite as suspenseful as those that came before. Yes, there are plenty of shocks, and Myers is now conducting himself as we have come to expect from a man in his like of work (like Jason, and Freddy, and dozens and dozens of other cinema maniacs that appeared in the decade since Myer first cocked his head at Laurie Strode), but the same level of tension is never quite reached.
Acting-wise, however, the performances are as good as they were in the first pair of movies. Curtis isn’t in the film—her character reportedly died in a car accident shortly after she gave birth to a daughter—but instead we have Danielle Harris, a very talented child actress playing Jamie, Myers new target. Cornell also puts on a good show as the stubborn teenaged girl trying to keep herself and Jamie alive as Myers is killing people all around them. At first blush, Pleasance’s performance seems to be a bit much, but if one considers that Dr. Loomis has shot Myers in the chest six times, in the face twice, and burned him alive, and still the human monster fails to die, then it would make sense that the character has gone completely nuts. In that light, his performance is perfect.
Like “Halloween II”, this installment suffers from script problems. In this case, the script isn’t ponderous, but instead is burdened with some useless and annoying subplots (such as one involving brave rednecks hopping in their truck to go kick Michael-ass). I suppose the filmmakers sensed the other problem with the film’s storyline—that Myers was starting to no longer be scary. We saw all his tricks in the first two films, and all we had now was the same as before, except he was so monstrous that he would go after a very young child.
This problem with Michael Myers is what let to some truly stupid missteps in the three movies that followed. Someone, somewhere, decided to take Dr. Loomis at his word. Soon, the series was burdened with bizarre Satanic cultists. It's almost a shame that "Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers" marks the point at which the series tips over the edge of the abyss and plummets into the Bottomless Depths of Truly Crappy, because it has what I've always thought to be the most striking poster/home-video cover image of the entire series--Michael holding his trademarked butcher knife with the blade fading into an image of a young girl in a harlequin costume. Harris and Cornell are also both back with excellent performances. It’s a shame the overall movie isn’t have been better. (That's the illo at the tip of this post, by the way.)
The final word on “Halloween 4” is that it’s worth seeing if you like your slasher-flicks with some good acting.
Halloween: H20 (1998)
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Josh Hartnett, Adam Arkin, Michelle Williams, and LL Cool J
Director: Steve Miner
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars
Keri Tate (Curtis) has spent the past twenty years trying to put a single night horror behind her. Her successful career as an educator has helped, as has the love of her now-teenaged son (Hartnett) and the fact that she faked her death and changed her name when she became pregnant with him. But now, the past is coming back with a vengeance... Keri will no longer be able to deny that she is Laurie Strode. Michael Myers is back, and he still wants her.
"Halloween: H20" is the only entry in the series since "The Return of Michael Myers" that is worth your time. In fact, it's one of the best slasher movies to emerge from the late 1990s when the genre enjoyed a bit of a revival, because it doesn't engage in self-mockery and remains true to the tone and mood of the original "Halloween" films while presenting a slasher story with a slightly different structure than what we're used to.
Also like the original "Halloween", this film does not rely on body count and gory, creative butchering of characters. Instead, it relies on the fact that the audience actually cares about what happens to the characters in the film. With its well-written script, solid cast--Curtis in particular is fabulous as a broken Laurie Strode who suddenly finds the strength to fight not only for herself but for the life of her son--and a highly underrated director at the helm, the audience is drawn into the action and terror as it builds and unfolds.
(I feel Miner is underrated, because this and other horror films he's done shows that he understands that there needs to be a pay-off to any build-up of suspense, and that the key to making a horror movie truly scary is that the characters in the film need to be human and sympathetic. Both of these facts seem to be lost on many modern horror film directors who believe that one fake scare after another and flat characters surrounded by CGI monsters is all that's needed.)
"Halloween: H20" was a great way to celebrate twenty years of Michael Myers striking fear into the hearts of audiences around the world--it almost managed to reach the great heights achieved by Carpenter and Company in the original film. As of this writing, it remains the last worthwhile entry in the series.
Actually the "Nightdance" graphic novel from ten years ago is also good enough to be "canon." The rest of it... it never happened.
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
31 Nights of Halloween: The Quiet Zone
The Quiet Zone (2015)
Starring: Jessica Bayly and Kasey Iliana Sfetsios
Director: Andrew Ionides
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars
The only complaint I have about this film is that ending doesn't quite work for me, because it strays into "hitting the viewer over the head with a hammer" territory. Everything else about it I love (even if I'm as squemish as ever when it comes to graphic violence (of which there is a little).
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