Horror movies you will watch between now and Halloween?

[Gregg]

I watch mostly the old B&W "horror" movies. And some of the Hammer Studios movies.

I really enjoy the movie "Trick r Treat" movie from 2007

I forgot about Trick R Treat. That is a fun Halloween movie. Thanks for the reminder. Mrs. Gregg and I watched it last night and had fun with it.

[Teenwolf]

I've been binging horror movies, on a sober October (weed tolerance break, longest in 8 years or so).

Malignant - newest film from James Wan (Aquaman, Fast & Furious). It's gotten a lot of hype because of the bonkers plot twist. Maybe the hype elevated my expectations too much. I thought it was mediocre. The hype for the twist was justified, but it happens way too late into the movie, the opening 90 minutes was too plodding and generally dumb to really care.

Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors - Probably the most critically adored film of the franchise. The lead actress is Patricia Arquette, who does a great job, but I never noticed what a bad actress Heather Langenkamp is until this viewing. She stood out as terrible, which is bad for such a crucial character in the overall series. My fave is Wes Craven's New Nightmare, for the meta look at the movies from a fake documentary perspective. This was only decent.

Candyman (2021) Holy shit, the Candyman remake was great. I loved the original growing up, but this is better. Co-written and produced by Jordan Peele, and directed by a Black woman (first Black director of the 4th movie in the series), it shows interesting perspectives. Seeing the Black characters look into a dark room and say "nope", and walk away was endlessly enjoyable, as well as the depictions of police and the importance of gentrification. The twisting of the title figure from a pure villain into something with more nuance was really incredible. I hope they make more in the series, but I think it flopped at the box office, so I'm not sure if we'll get more.

Friday the 13th Part 4: The Final Chapter - This will always be the best in the series, for my money. Lawrence Monoson from The Last American Virgin is great here, goofing around with Crispin Glover. Glover is hilarious throughout, and so is 13 year old Corey Feldman. The final showdown is also one of the best in the series, and one of the only times we see a character weaponize personal info about Jason to take him down. Jason Goes To Hell is my 2nd fave of the dozen films.

Don't Breathe 2 - I love the first film, and the sequel was great too. Weird to see the blind badass shift into the hero role, but ultimately the only redeemable character is a dog. So it gets a bit depraved, but still an enjoyable ride.

The Faculty - I don't think I'd seen this since the theater in '97, but I thought it held up really well. Jon Stewart's appearance was super fun.

That's all for horror so far this spooky season.

[Gregg]

Glad to read your comments on the Candyman remake. We have passed on it several evenings.

I will see if Mrs. Gregg will give it a whirl.

[Teenwolf]

Halloween Kills - I've had some ups and downs with this franchise. I like the original as a 7/10, but it's not even in my top 5 John Carpenter films. Hated the Rob Zombie ones, and I only thought the last one was okay, despite wide critical acclaim. I like David Gordon Green's direction, and found a stronger connection to this movie than the last one. It's such an interesting analogue to anti-vaxers and anti-maskers. All of the survivors, still living in this town, decide they're going to hunt down Michael Myers themselves, and it's pretty ludicrous for these characters to be out with baseball bats and bravado. But it really felt like they saw death staring them in the face, and put themselves at risk/had a deathwish. I loved it. This is the 2nd film of a trilogy, with the next one to be titled "Halloween Ends", I'm really excited to see how it plays out. I might watch the whole thing in sequence knowing there's just one more.

Sleepaway Camp - I listened to a 3 hour podcast about this one, so I was quite familiar going in. I thought it was going to be "so bad it's good", but I thought it was just plain good. A couple of disturbing child predator plotlines are really creepy, but still play out hilariously. It's known for being extremely transphobic, but I really saw it as an outdated plot device, so clumsy in its execution that our understanding of trans people nearly 40 years later makes it play like a Reefer Madness style comedy. Really well shot, and some hammy performances that all work. Great kills. Here's the full movie on youtube if anybody is interested.

[Teenwolf]

Possessor - I was really excited to watch this Brandon Cronenberg movie because I love his debut from 2012, Antiviral. This one is even more disturbing, which is a high bar. It's about a tech company that hires people to possess others and perform assassinations, and the extremely graphic kills were pretty intense. Incredible movie, but I did not sleep at all that night. It's a lot less easy breezy than Quantum Leap.

[Teenwolf]

Glad to read your comments on the Candyman remake. We have passed on it several evenings.

I will see if Mrs. Gregg will give it a whirl.

If you enjoy the dynamics of race playing a central role in the plot, like with Get Out, or Us, then you'll enjoy it. I think it's as good as both of those.

[Sour Masher]

Halloween Kills - I've had some ups and downs with this franchise. I like the original as a 7/10, but it's not even in my top 5 John Carpenter films. Hated the Rob Zombie ones, and I only thought the last one was okay, despite wide critical acclaim. I like David Gordon Green's direction, and found a stronger connection to this movie than the last one. It's such an interesting analogue to anti-vaxers and anti-maskers. All of the survivors, still living in this town, decide they're going to hunt down Michael Myers themselves, and it's pretty ludicrous for these characters to be out with baseball bats and bravado. But it really felt like they saw death staring them in the face, and put themselves at risk/had a deathwish. I loved it. This is the 2nd film of a trilogy, with the next one to be titled "Halloween Ends", I'm really excited to see how it plays out. I might watch the whole thing in sequence knowing there's just one more.

Sleepaway Camp - I listened to a 3 hour podcast about this one, so I was quite familiar going in. I thought it was going to be "so bad it's good", but I thought it was just plain good. A couple of disturbing child predator plotlines are really creepy, but still play out hilariously. It's known for being extremely transphobic, but I really saw it as an outdated plot device, so clumsy in its execution that our understanding of trans people nearly 40 years later makes it play like a Reefer Madness style comedy. Really well shot, and some hammy performances that all work. Great kills. Here's the full movie on youtube if anybody is interested.

I recall seeing this entirely too young. (My uncle would make me watch movies like this and Evil Dead when I was just like 4-8 years old). I remember the basic plot, but just remember how horrified I was at the "big reveal" at the very end of the movie with the full frontal and gore. I didn't realize they made more of these. When I watched Evil Dead as an adult, I was amazed at how something that horrified me so much as a child played out as comedic to me. I wonder if Sleep Away would have the same affect. I haven't seen it since the 80s.

[Gregg]

I was very disappointed in Halloween Kills. Didn't seem to know what it wants to be. Not very scary, not very funny, acting was sub par. Jaimie Lee seemed to mail it in for a paycheck. In the past movies she acted as if it was real. In this one she seemed to be play acting. She was not believable. Daughters were worse. Mob scenes reminded me of hillbilly versions of the Young Frankenstein mob. The YF mob was meant to be funny. HK was not.

I commented to my wife, well they have left the door open for 12 more, I am done with it.

[Mithrandir]

Dracula's Daughter
The Mummy's Hand

Great old B&W flicks!!

[Teenwolf]

I was very disappointed in Halloween Kills. Didn't seem to know what it wants to be. Not very scary, not very funny, acting was sub par. Jaimie Lee seemed to mail it in for a paycheck. In the past movies she acted as if it was real. In this one she seemed to be play acting. She was not believable. Daughters were worse. Mob scenes reminded me of hillbilly versions of the Young Frankenstein mob. The YF mob was meant to be funny. HK was not.

I commented to my wife, well they have left the door open for 12 more, I am done with it.

Interesting.

I thought they were pretty clearly lining it up to be the end of the series, that is the end of Jamie Lee Curtis' run. This trilogy takes place directly after the 2nd film, which is the 2nd time they're doing that, but everyone is super old now. Curtis is almost 63 now, and she mentions in the movie that Myers is in his 60's too, so it feels like Halloween Ends should be the final one with the original players. Someone could attempt a re-boot a decade later, like what happened after the Rob Zombie ones, but Curtis will be written out. Nobody is casting 70+ year old leads anymore except Clint Eastwood, and only because he's casting himself.

I thought the duo of Little John and Big John ( including Michael McDonald of Mad TV) was funny. I thought the mob rule scene was really cool. Just some of the townsfolk hunting Myers scenes stretched believability.

[Gregg]

If you enjoy the dynamics of race playing a central role in the plot, like with Get Out, or Us, then you'll enjoy it. I think it's as good as both of those.

As long as it is germane to the story. I do not seek out movies specifically for race plot (especially horror movies).

We did enjoy this movie. I agree with you that it is as good as Get Out or Us. Certainly the Chicago backdrop and Cabrini Green added to uneasy vibe of the film.

[Teenwolf]

I was very disappointed in Halloween Kills. Didn't seem to know what it wants to be. Not very scary, not very funny, acting was sub par. Jaimie Lee seemed to mail it in for a paycheck. In the past movies she acted as if it was real. In this one she seemed to be play acting. She was not believable. Daughters were worse. Mob scenes reminded me of hillbilly versions of the Young Frankenstein mob. The YF mob was meant to be funny. HK was not.

I commented to my wife, well they have left the door open for 12 more, I am done with it.

Okay, I watched the first 8 Halloween movies. First one is extremely slow and tame, only interesting for the John Carpenter score. 2nd one was great. 3rd one with no Michael Myers was probably the best and most insane. 4th was pretty good, but started overusing the Halloween score. 5th and 6th were trash. H20 and Resurrection tried to be like Scream. H20 was watchable, but Resurrection was terrible.

Everybody seems to hate Halloween Kills, so you're not alone. I admit it's poorly acted and incredibly repetitive, and doesn't have a ton of payoff. I just liked very specific plot lines, like the element of seeking out death and the Covid thing, and thought it looked good. Interestingly, I read that the next Halloween movie will be incorporating the Covid plot lines that I saw as an undercurrent in this film. Very curious to see what they do with that.

[Teenwolf]

I watched a bunch more, but 1 standout I hadn't previously seen is Jennifer's Body from 2009. Really smart and funny, but also gross and gory, like a modernized American Werewolf in London.

[Gregg]

It is that time of year again folks!

There was a lot to like about this one. I cut and pasted as it does a good job without spoilers. I hope you enjoy it.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is a 2010 Finnish fantasy action horror film written and directed by Jalmari Helander about people living near Korvatunturi who discover the secret behind Santa Claus.

[ironfist]

We watched The Black Phone last night - pretty intense, creepy, and suspenseful. Solid flick.