"HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2"........2005Oct 17 '05 Write an essay on this topic.
Popular Products in Blu-ray and DVD Players
The Bottom Line I already gave them. Otherwise for a few hours pretend your not Roger Ebert, and just enjoy the movies.
The Sequel.....Hey with all the bleeping sequels Hollywood spews out, I might as well have my own. I was planning on writing a 10 best horror list every year, but I missed last year. I know in most lists people see the same old movies, but hopefully my lists will contain at least 1 or 2 movies that mabey, have not been seen by the majority of people. Lets face it most of the newer horror films are remakes. Most recently "The Fog" Or just recycled stories with a little bit different plot to them. So it makes it tough to put up an original list. Unless you put up a list of foreign horror films, which 99.9% of those I hate. Onward with the 2005 list.... The following lists of movies will be put in order from newest to oldest......... 1) (DAWN OF THE DEAD) (2004) Of course this is the remake of the original classic, and I have to admit I enjoyed it more. I liked the faster pacing and the additional characters. The slick F/X doesn't hurt either. The story line is the same with the main characters being holed up in a shopping mall surrounded by thousands of zombies with the munchies. I thought this version had just the right amount of humor to it while still being able to maintain a tense level of who's going to get eaten next. Not only a great zombie film, but also an entertaining action film ooozing with gore. 2) (PITCH BLACK) (2001) For the few who haven't seen this one, this is a horror film in the ALIENS movie vein. Vin Diesel plays an intimidating convict aboard a spacecraft that crash lands on a planet with 9 other survivors. Only problem is Diesels character (Reddick) isn't the only one the survivors have to worry about killing them. The planet they crash on just happens to be occupied by flying creatures that devour humans. Not only that, but the planet they land on is about to be consumed in complete darkness, which is what allows the creatures to come out of hiding, for feeding time. For an Alien monster film, the movie adds some original twists that make it interesting and suspenseful to watch 3) (RELIC) (1997) This is a Peter Hyams film starring, (Penelope Ann Miller, Tom Sizemore, Linda Hunt and James Whitmore.) Fans of old Sci-fi films will remember James Whitmore as the head cop in the movie "THEM" The movie starts off with 2 crates being sent to a museum from Brazil containing leaves, and a smashed relic. Penelope Ann Miller and James Whitmore are evolutionary biologist who discover a fungus on the leaves, but don't discover the evilness behind the Fungus nor the relic before it evolves into a killing machine. Tom Sizemore plays a superstitious Police LT. assigned to the case that leads him to the museum to solve the mystery behind the current rash of decapitations in Chicago. "RELIC" plays like a haunted house movie as dozens of people are trapped inside the museum with the creature. They fight for there lives to escape the museum as the creature plucks them off 1 by 1. The movie contains very good special effects courtesy of Oscar Winner Stan Winston (Jurassic Park,Aliens,Terminator and many other outstanding films) The movie is a very well made suspense thriller, horror flick. Audrey Lindley(Mrs Roper) of "Threes Company" fame, plays a wise cracking coroner who delivers the best line in the movie when she tells Tom Sizemore, "7 decapitations in 1 week, don't you just hate someone who only takes head, but never gives it." 4) (ARACHNOPHOBIA) (1990) If you have a fear of spiders this is probably not the movie for you. Since this movie is pre-CGI effects, the spiders are real. This is a great movie to run your fingers across someones shoulder during the spider scenes. I promise you they will they jump. I proved this in the theater, when I made a friend of mine who unwisely sat in front of me during the movie, scream like a little school girl. (Sorry Rick) Movie takes place in a small town where (Jeff Daniels) becomes promoted to Town doctor after the previous one dies from a spider bite. Dr. Ross Jennings (Daniels) suffers terribly from arachnophobia (fear of spiders). Something he developed as a toddler. His family purchases a large old house that has a barn out back. The barn unfortunately ends up being ground zero from where the killer spiders are hatched. The movie is not only tense and thrilling, but very amusing. Once the spiders go on there rampage watch out, because they kill everything in there path. Not only great performances from the actors, but getting the spiders to perform the way they did in the movie was amazing. 5) (THE ENTITY) (1983) Starring Barbara Hershey and Ron Silver. This movie is supposedly based on a true story about a woman who was repeatedly....gulp...raped by a ghost. Yes I know it sounds silly, but the movie is quite effective on the chills level. I have to admit movies based on true stories involving ghosts, always make a movie more interesting. The movie is greatly helped by a strong performance from Barbara Hershey who plays a single mom with 3 kids. Her character Carla Moran is attacked several times by a ghost that she cannot see, but can feel. She is beaten, slapped, and raped by the Entity. Unfortunately for Carla no one believes her story, even though her body is covered in bruises. Ron Silver who also gives a solid performance as a skeptical psychologist, tries to understand and help Carla deal with her supposed attacker. Of course he feels that everything she is experiencing is in her head. And he suggests that she enlist the aid of Tom Cruise, and try taking some vitamins and exercising....lol sorry I couldn't resist. Ok that part didn't happen, but he does think the supernatural phenomenon is all in her mind. Carla than turns to parapsychologist for help, and fortunately for her, they are able to record evidence of the entity in her home, and agrees to help her. The movie is an interesting horror/thriller. It's strength lies in its story and 2 lead actors. 6) (SCANNERS) (1981) Directed by the "King of Squeam" David Cronenberg. Stars (Jennifer O'neill, Stephen Lack, and Michael Ironside). Story is about a group of humans with telekinetic powers that have the ability to get into other peoples minds, and make there heads explode. literally. (Ironside) of course plays the bad scanner who uses his power to murder people and other scanners. A young scanner played by (Lack) is recruited to hunt down Ironside and end his violent tirade. For a 1981 movie, the FX are very impressive and very gory. You can't help but cringe as you watch victims shake in agony as there bodies are being manipulated by scanners. The famous head exploding scene still looks remarkably realistic. 7) (DRESSED TO KILL) (1980) I consider myself a Brian De Palma fan, and it's safe to say this is one of his best. Starring (Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson and Nancy Allen). Angie Dickinson plays a frustrated woman looking for love in all the wrong places. Michael Caine plays her therapist. And Nancy Allen as the Beaver...ahem I mean a hooker. I guess the best way to describe the movie is, it's a slasher film with class. The opening scene with Dickinson in the shower is classic. De Palma shocks his audience with scenes of violence and sex in some interesting places. The two lead women in the movie are stalked by a psychotic killer. (Nancy Allens) character teams up with (Dickinsons) son played by (Keith Gordon) of "CHRISTINE" fame, to catch the killer. Sometimes slowly paced, but never boring easily one of the top thrillers from the 80's 8) (INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS) (1978) This of course is the remake of the 1956 classic. Starring (Donald Sutherland,Brooke Adams,Leonard Nimoy, Veronica Cartwright) and a very young (Jeff Goldblum). Not quite as good as the original, but definitely worth a look if you never seen it before. This time the invasion takes place in San Francisco where (Sutherland) who plays a health inspector named Mathew slowly discovers all is not well in Frisco. Seeds that have drifted from outer space have landed in San Fran, and are duplicating the living while they sleep. Once the seed-pods have fully developed, the human body dies, and the body grown from the pod takes over. The new life form is an identical twin in form, but has no human emotions. This is what separates them from being completely human. There not looking to exist with humans, but to completely take over our world, exterminating all humans. Unlike most remakes, this one takes on original twists and turns. The movie has a nice mix of chills, and humor to put you in the halloween mood. 9) (RACE WITH THE DEVIL) (1975) This movie finally was released on DVD this year (2005). Easily one of my most favorite low-budget movies. The movie stars (Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, Loretta Swit, Lara Parker, and R.G. Armstrong). Story starts off with 2 couples going on vacation in there 32 foot RV. They pull off the road near a small river to sleep for the night. While there wives are getting ready for sleep, Frank and Roger (Oates and Fonda) sit outside the RV drinking there beers. While reminiscing, they spot a large fire up on a hill a couple of hundred yards away, and go and investigate. There they see a group of people dancing around in the nude and chanting. Frank and Roger find this amusing, until a girl is held up in the air by 4 people in the group, and has a knife plunged into her chest. Frank and Roger are spotted by the cult when Franks wife Alice (Swift) steps out of the RV yelling out there names to come inside. The cult members hear her, and the chase begins. No CGI of course back in 1975 so all the car stunts are real in the chase scenes. The couples RV becomes a fortress pummelled constantly by attacks from cult members as they relentlessly pursue them from town to town. Every time the couple seems to be breaking away from the cults clutches, they seem to only end up getting deeper and deeper into there web. The movie is low budget, but still offers suspenseful chase scenes, and a creepy atmosphere. And, oh by the way the the remake of this movie comes out next year. (2006) Same title. 10) (THE NIGHT THAT PANICKED AMERICA) (1975) This was a made for TV movie back in "75 that once in awhile gets replayed on cable right around Halloween. No DVD of it has been made in the states yet, but I was able to purchase one from Canada off Ebay. It stars a rather large cast of recognizable names and faces including, (Vic Morrow,Eileen Brennan,Meredith Baxter,Tom Bosley,John Ritter) and Paul Shenar who plays Orson Welles in the movie. The movie is a recreation of the actual 1938 broadcast of the "War Of The Worlds" radio show. Of course this is the broadcast that was performed by a young Orson Welles, who for a few hours terrified millions of Americans and Canadian listeners into believing that we were being invaded/attacked by Mars. Is the movie scary? No of course not. But it is fun as hell to watch the actors recreate that night and watch how people reacted in fear and panic to a radio show. (Paul Shenar) plays a terrific young Orson Wells. The entire cast that recreated the Mercury Theater actors all give top notch performances. For the average viewer this movie may seem silly in how people could have believed the Martian invasion. But considering that radio was there quickest source for news and information, and with WW2 starting in Europe it's understandable. I imagine they had the same fear I had during 9/11 watching the Twin Towers come down on TV, and not knowing why, or if, and when the terror was going to come to an end. I imagine not being able to see what was going on, was probably even a more terrifying experience for them. Only being able to hear your country is being attacked by an unstoppable force, and relying on a voice from the radio to relay information to you makes the actions of the people back in 1938 very understandable. If your looking for blood, killings, and gore you won't find it in this film. If your looking for great acting, a great script and a fascinating true story, than you'll enjoy this movie. Well there it is, hours of typing for 5 minutes of reading. Next year keep an eye out for the next installment, Actually next year is going to be, what my 2004 list was supposed to be, and that was.............. "THE LIGHTER SIDE OF HALLOWEEN" It will be a list of movies that blend comedy with horror. And no, "Ghost Busters" and "Young Frankenstein" won't be on it. They're a little to obvious. But, that kind of gives you an idea of what direction my list will be heading. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  |
| Read all comments (1)|Write your own comment |
|
Ads by Google
|
