2023 Halloween Month

Starting this month with one of the great Italian directors. After his heyday. Though, this is far from the apex of his career, its also not the nadir either. Asia is not a great actress but she isn't at her worst. She is still stiff and awkward but the Argento and the rest of the cast manages to cover for her pretty well. And there are flashes of greatness from the director, like the scene at the end where she is confronted and her body is cast in shadow, but also what would be his abuse of CGI that won't age well, like the pill swallowing and gunshot scene. Which is kind of the problem with this movie, the good is constantly negated with the bad. The story is an interesting twist on the giallo, but is hampered by revealing the killer too soon. The use of art is an interesting hook in the start, but its all but abandoned by the end. Its a constant back and forth that never takes off or crashes.

What did I just get done saying? Noroi is one of my favorite movies of all time but the follow up in the trilogy Occult, while not a bad movie itself, showed signs of bad habits. And here they are again. My big complaint about Occult was the CG effects that looked cheap and took away from the realism. And here, they are really cheap and and unrealistic. There are moments where they are decent, not for being realistic but at the very least stylish, but then there are the dancing worms. The story is very simplistic, which has its merits for a found footage movie, and I can't say I was bored. In fact, I kind of dug some of the characters. While its definitely the weakest of the three, I can say this movie left some impression.

And a very early Bava movie, this one is better than you'd expect. Caltiki, a blob monster, is not that great a monster. But then, The Blob was not a bit bleh itself. But as I've seen earlier this year, it can always be worse. It could be an invisible dinosaur. It looks like rags, which it mostly is along with tripe, but at least they're gooey rags. But the miniatures are pretty nice. They look very similar to the house so those scenes in particular are very convincing and who doesn't love seeing toy tanks roll up? But what really caught my attention, this movie has some really good gore. The scene of them removing the one man's dive goggles to show his face is nothing more than bone, a couple strips of flesh, and eyeballs really sticks with you. As does when they reveal the other man's melted arm, this movie has some stuff. Of course, much of it is very talkative drama between super sciences as it is the 50s, but its a pretty good movie if you are a fan of the era.

Alberto de Martin described this movie as a little film of no importance. Boy was he right and this is starting out a mediocre October. Its a mystery story without any real mystery, it comes down to two men and one is the obvious red herring. Its adequately acted with little frills or flaws, which makes it a bit of a bore. No special effects or even on screen murders, it just exists. The mat painting is nice, and the set sets a very isolated mood. And that's really all you could say about this movie. It exists in a void, never striving for anything or achieving anything, a film of no importance.

Damn, that ending. I had never heard of this movie, it was listed in a poster of the 100 best horror movies that included Alien and Possession, great movies, as well as Raw and Trouble Every Day, utter trash. With such a discrepancy, I was a little unsure of this movie's chances and considering the best movie I saw so far featured a killer wash cloth, I needed something good. And it nailed it out of the park. The lead, who died shortly after from his diet of meth for this movie, is great and we lost a promising talent that day. His bulky physique makes him an imposing character when he needs to be but his musical prowess gives great contrast. And that ending visual is so striking, it really put this movie over the edge. A truly deserving film that should be talked about more.

Man, that first act. Then man, that second act onward. This movie feels like the big problem with 90s horror movies and onward. It started with a creepy premise and some really unsettling moments, the first time the three ghosts show up was well done and set a good escalation. The EVPs and static images are actually pretty scary around this point. But then the movie needed something for him to do and they sacrificed all that tension for a superhero plot where he uses them as premonitions to save people. And while it successfully overanalyzed what was good to the point it no longer worked properly, it somehow underdeveloped the rest of the plot. The revelation about his wife's death was completely unearned, I don't even know what the bookstore woman's plan was taking medication with wine, and the leaps in logic for him to decide when people are doomed are as bewildering as they are inaccurate. They had something and then they lost it to chase after the blonde in the skimpy red dress.

I thought this was the third in the trilogy, it certainly stands atop the other two films. While City of the Dead lacked variety and House by the Cemetery quantity, The Beyond delivers on the gruesome gore in spades. In fact, it could double as Fulci's highlight reel as no one is safe in this movie. It would almost be farcical if it wasn't so masterful. Those who are faint of heart are definitely not the target audience as each death tops the last in blood and puss. The story is very lose and the sets are confounding, its difficult to tell where any characters are at a given time if they aren't in the basement or hospital. But this does play into the movie's intent well, it has a dream like quality where there is no continuity and any room can be drastically different at a second glance. This is a movie I would recommend whole heartedly.

As a kid, I never could take this movie seriously because of Dracula's butt wig. Its a very good movie, wigs aside, but has some troubles. Namely Keanu, he was very much a late bloomer. He cannot do accents, his attempt to do an English accent only sounds like Ted in an English suit. He puts it to fatigue. But the effects are top notch and almost timeless. The practical effects like the women rising up from the bed is especially good and the in camera effects still hold up. If it weren't for the green screen fall and the blue fires that are never adequately addressed, they would have been better than most modern CGI fests. The movie does feel long and dare I say, could use some tightening up. Its still a pretty great film but still has some flaws.

This is an underrated gem and maybe Carradine's best performance. Everything he does works perfectly, the glare of his eyes, the stiffness of his arms as he removes his cravat, it all really drives home the mad compulsion he has to kill. The rest of the cast is pretty good as well. The sister is a startlingly strong character for the period and portrayed well by Teala Loring. But there are some failings, the plot relies a bit too much on coincidence at the end. But the middle is really well done, building tension as Loring gradually tries to uncover Carradine's identity, building tension as we know what will happen when she does. Its not perfect by any means but still a wonderful movie.

I was unaware that Sonny Chiba passed away in 2021, which means every actor I recognized in this movie is dead. That is depressing. I liked this movie a lot. Its a bit long and at times I waivered but it always managed to bring my attention back. The constant escalations and setbacks are handled very well, from the threat of the virus and then nuclear annihilation, it encapsulates a lot of the fears of the era that are still relevant today. Maybe even more so. The sets are great, I particularly liked seeing the Washington DC set as it was reclaimed by nature. And the acting was top notch. I only wish we could have actually gotten a Rifleman vs Street Fighter fight. This was a very good, albeit unintentionally sobering, film.

Still feeling bummed from realizing everyone I knew in the last movie being dead, I of course follow it up with a movie where everyone is certainly dead. The first horror movie*, if you don't count Italy's Dante's Inferno which predates it by two years, is a feet in itself. Understandably, its pretty bare bones but there is some innovative trickery. It innovated the duplication trick and used it to effect, though its not as impressive as Dante's Inferno which had a bit more wiggle room with its narrative. Some more cue cards may have helped to give a bit more direction as to what was going on but what was given was poetic and pleasing to read. Its a great milestone for German film making but it wasn't exactly something I would go out of my way to watch now.

A massive step down from the original, Hideki is a jumbled mess of horrible people being terrible with brief instances of brilliance. The best thing about the movie is Hideki, the ever present child spirit that is constantly watching. I especially loved the fight in the apartment where the static on the TV starts to form his face. The movie is gory but its not the blood and guts that's repulsive. The sexual context is uncomfortable and effective. But the movie is hard to follow. They imply important details but there are a lot of threads that are never quite finished. The male lead's story just ends and he keeps popping up as a prop, which just reminds me that his story never quite went anywhere. While the protagonist's story is clearly implied, it takes a bit too long to explain why she kills so it just comes across as gratuitous. While the movie ultimately makes sense, it feels so disjointed that the movie is just not a fun watch.

Three stories that have nothing to do with each other, have very unfulfilling conclusions, and tied together by a non story. These are not the makings of a good anthology. While they don't need a thread, the transition between the first two stories makes you unsure that the first story was over and simultaneously hoping that wasn't how it was supposed to end. And this is kind of an issue with the framing story, four friends telling three stories while a fifth guy just exists is a bit underwhelming. The "twist" at the end is especially unwarranted as there wasn't really a compelling reason for them to exist in the first place. Of the three stories, none really stuck out to me and the fallback of headless ghosts doesn't have legs after the first one. I would say the second story was the weakest, the twist makes no sense and really feels like a thumb to the audience. Its a pretty bad experience in all, not the worst but not very good.

Jessica Walter, man. She was a hell of an actress. She is the big reason this movie is so good. She plays crazy like it was her second nature, casting red flags like an honest ref at a Raiders game. While there are not many deaths in this movie, it feels like they are always inevitable she will hack someone to death. Clint did well himself, both on camera and behind it, getting some good shots for a director's first film. The end was a bit silly though, you keep getting stabbed by someone who then flees to the next room, grab a damn weapon already. It hurts the finale in a way as it makes his punch look silly. This was a fantastic movie well worth hunting down.

There is one thing that holds this movie together. The acting is pretty mediocre. The story is not really something to write home about. And the composition is pretty flat and uninteresting. If it were not for how adorable Benny is, this movie would be utterly forgettable. The killer doll has so much personality that it makes up for everything else. The fact he could kill a man with a giggle but gets scared watching a horror movie might be the highlight of this film. He is perfectly genuine in his affections, but is too psychotic to tell what is and is not appropriate. Even the bobbing way he moves, hovering over the ground like a doll being made to walk by a little kid flopping him around, is a delight. In a movie that is so lacking, Benny makes everything enjoyable.

Apparently John Titor had something to do with this according to the Youtube translator. The follow up of Shake Rattle and Roll, shocking I know, is a general step up from the previous. At least the other two stories hold up their end better. The first is alright, an evil gynecologist ghost is different but not so odd that its ineffective, like the rape fridge. Its a little bare bones but its a decent enough start. The second is a comedy with a lot of slapstick about a patient being pursued by a love scorned witch doctor. Its a little dumb but inoffensive humor, mostly pratfalls and references to Superman. The monsters are cheap but I suspect there wasn't a massive budget. The third is the centerpiece but unfortunately doesn't hold up to the benchmark of the first. That isn't too big a knock against it as its being compared to the best siege story I've seen. Again, some of the monsters are cheap but the big bad is sufficiently imposing. The tusks pare well with his big body make him look capable of snapping someone in half with a Canadian back breaker. Its a very good Filipino anthology for anyone able to look past the Filipino budget.

This plays very much like a stage play. A good stage play, but still not what would be expected of a film. Scenes are disconnected between multiple sets with no establishment. Instead they rely on transitions to leap from place to place. But this causes the film to feel very choppy and Faust wishy washy. The sets are very nice and the camerawork cosmetically pleasing. Seeing his lab from between the test tubes and vials in the foreground helps represent it with what little they have on hand. The acting is very Shakespearian, with flowery speech that is delivered well. If you are into plays this might be up your alley but as a movie its a hard sell. At least until you see a young Elizabeth Taylor.

Can't say this is my favorite movie. Sound would certainly have been a plus. I don't mean dialogue, just some sort of score to build off of. Its also doesn't help its a "talky" silent movie. Thee are a lot of scenes of people talking but with no cue cards, making me curious as to what is being said. Comically so at times. The story itself is a little boring, its pretty much a young woman who can't feel emotions rebelling against her adoptive father. Quietly. She flirts around and shows she has no emotions, and then she does. The conclusion feels drawn out, her plan is a bit long winded. Its a vintage movie that just didn't hit well.

I was not expecting this, a setting of new standard in kung fu horror. There was mention that this is a Hong Kong giallo, that is not an accurate assessment. There is no mystery here, you know the killer's identity from the start. But that is not a notch against it. Knowing why he is killing these women does well to color the conversations between Lung and Chun-Fang and build suspense. The costume is very well done as well, gelling well with Chun-Fang's animalistic fighting style. Like an evil undead monkey, his agility and brutality make him a force to be reckoned with a design to match. But what really makes the movie is the production value. They spared no expense on this, and there aren't any cheesy moments like Dracula showing up. Its a serious attempt to mix horror and martial arts. For a combination of genres that seem so contradictory, this movie manages to make them work perfectly.

Conspiracy movies were hot in the 70s, and seeing that this dropped in '82, its obvious why it went cold. There are some good ideas, the method with which the killer kills his victims is novel. But there is no variety, and some of them look cheap. The mystery is good, but they could have played with the POV shots more to flesh out the killer. And the environmental message is misplaced and scattered. They name drop being anti nuclear power and make a big deal of the hero's environmental ideals, but its kind of irrelevant. His expertise is in technology, you'd think they would focus more on that. But what really does the movie in is the nature of the conspiracy. Like hearing Neil DeGrasse Tyson ramble about Big Beauty, its really hard to buy into Big Telephone. Maybe if they played up a more government supported conspiracy it would have worked, but the idea that the phone company itself is the entirety of the conspiracy because "corporations" just makes the movie look stupid. While I miss the genre of film, I really can't recommend this one.

A Hitchcock director tackling HP Lovecraft? And its this damn good!? And those stupid mothers didn't make this into its own television series!!?? Of all the things irreparably wrong in this world. While its not a Lovecraft story, there is no denying its influence in the killer's Sumerian deities and idols. But what steals the show is none other than Frank Drebin himself. Leslie Nielson in his prime is a treat. The man is witty and likeable even then, having no end to his chirps and witticisms. And he is in phenomenal shape as well, posing a very capable hero that can throw down just as well as use his mind. The costumes are great, from the killers misshaped body to Nielson's wardrobe shifts whenever he needs to speak to the police. The only problem is that the movie is just that short. There is not enough time to flesh out anything and its over just as you feel invested. This was a blast and the fact we never got more is the truest disappointment.

I wish they had the gumption to kill off Tom Hanks. At least then he would have been in more scenes. This movie is terrible, it has nothing going on. The opening kill is alright but everything after that is soulless and boring. When compared to other low budget slashers like The Prowler, it falls short in pretty much every category. The killer is uninteresting to the point that even his body language is little more than a block of wood. They try to make him seem methodical by having him stalk the girl but he looks like a generic cardboard display wherever he goes. And when he does act, they cut away. The one time he is used well is the theater scene in the beginning, where he stalks the girl in the bathroom, who neither wipes or washes her hands, and kills her in a crowded theater. He doesn't even keep up his modus operandi of killing women before their weddings and kills seemingly at random for no reason. When he kills the dress maker, he doesn't even bother to find out where she lives from her dress. This movie was a chore after the first five minutes and the only reason I can see it being ranked as high as it is is because of Tom Hanks.

I will reiterate what a lot of people get wrong about this movie; this is NOT Haiti. This is the fictional island of San Christopher in the Caribbean and the term voodoo is being used as a catchall term for black magic. That being said, this movie was great, very atmospheric with a strong connotation of being trapped by an insurmountable force. The natives are a constant and ever present threat, even when there are lulls in the conflict between them and the Perez family you are aware of how tenuous the peace is. Fay Wray is a treat in this, and it would be her last outing as the original scream queen as she would do no more horror films after this. But the subject matter would be an issue in modern audiences, particularly the white and black dichotomy between the heroes and the natives. Even the sole black hero, Lunch, is very stereotypical of the era. If you are willing to put modern day politics aside, this is a very good film.

Anime horror movies are a bit touchy. While Perfect Blue is a work of art, most are more action oriented than they should be. And that is kind of the issue here. The villain's monster design seems far more under produced than the hero's which takes a lot of influence from eastern masks. The hero looks a lot like a cross between the gauruda and Hanuman masks I own and he shows tremendous power, perhaps too much for this to be really taken seriously as a horror movie. Especially when the villain is only a mouth with tentacles in the torso of an old man. At no point do they feel like they are fighting from underneath, even when they finally dispatch the underling it feels like they could have done it at any time. But the movie isn't without its charm. The violence and gore are pretty good to keep you entertained. In all its not one of the all time best anime movies but its enough to keep you entertained for an hour or so.

This is the dumbest thing I've seen this year. Five minutes in, I'm giggling like a school boy. Her name is Boobra for god's sake. I am not going to lie, the comedy is mostly a miss. There are a few humorous lines thrown here and there but most are cringey enough to make your teeth hurt. But its a nudie cutie, the softest of softcore, this that's pretty par for the course. What isn't, and this is going to sound perverted, is the cinematography. Yes there are flat shots of naked girls dancing, but on the more intimate scenes there are some interesting angles. And that is to be expected from Lazlo Kovaks, who would move on from porn to do Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The man knows how to get good shots of Uranus. The sets are bare bones and cheap to the point that its adorable. The door might be plywood and I'm pretty sure the walls ae cardboard. The mat painting might have been made by the director's kids. Its a softcore porn where the horror elements are cameos by classic monsters and its pretty much everything you'd expect it to be.