4th Annual N&G 31 Days* of Halloween (2022)

MOVIE #39
The Omen (1976)
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First time watching this classic. It's definitely a slow-burn, but an effective one. Richard Donner directs and gives the film a quiet, sophisticated atmosphere that makes the violent, disturbing moments that much more shocking. I was surprised Damien took up very little actual screentime, from this movie's reputation you'd expect him to be in a lot more of it, but it's really more about Gregory Peck's character than anything else. Overall, it was enjoyable, and I can only imagine how many religious parents got the shit scared out of them by this back in 1976.

Rating: 💀💀💀💀

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A ★★★★ review of The Omen (1976)

Every Halloween season, I try to make the time to finally give some of the horror classics I've neglected a watch, and this is certainly one I was interested in checking out for the first time. An old-school 70s slow-burn through and through, Richard Donner's The Omen poses the question, "What...
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Oof, well that was a gut puncher.

Kids at an isolated apartment complex begin to discover their own supernatural abilities and push the limits of how they put them to the test.

Won't say much else about this other than it's super heavy and commits to its premise. The Innocents is currently on Shudder.

💀💀💀💀

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I just got a new beastly center channel speaker so decided to break it in a bit last night with the new 4k of this one.. It without question looks better then ever and the sax man has never sounded more electric! This is a straight up classic that I couldn't give less then 5 from just the nostalgia alone. It reminded me that I haven't been to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in awhileeee and might have to change that soon!

🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇

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Berberian Sound Studio (2012)

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Man, I have almost watched this one countless times over the last decade but for some reason just finally watched it last night. What an incredibly well done movie from the cinematography and sound design aspects especially though! It kind of gave me Argento Suspiria vibes which is a pretty massive compliment since Suspiria is hands down my favorite film score of all time. It had a Meta approach where i'd say Scream is to slashers as this film is to Giallo's. Since I have just barely gotten my feet wet in the massive Giallo genre especially with all the additional sub genres I probably missed a ton of references i'm guessing as someone that hasn't watched many slashers would after seeing Scream. I'd be interested if anyone that has seen a good amount and also seen this film has any opinion on it?

This is a really tough one to grade or even really recommend as I have no doubt many will love it and many will also likely dislike it due to it not really wrapping anything up or fully explaining much while being a slow burn. I need to let it sink in a bit more and i'll absolutely be giving it another watch down the road a bit once I get a decent amount more Giallo's watched. The sound design is just fucking top notch on this one though and that alone is worth the price of admission on top of great performances. There's a scene where the power goes out so the Sound Engineer entertains the rest of the crew by making a UFO sound effect that was cool as hell. This is a movie where every sound needs to be heard and paid attention to as the visuals could be very misleading.

💀💀💀💀
This is a film where my score will very likely alter up or down a bit after another watch.​
 
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D Jilla said:
7. Housebound (2014)
💀 💀 💀 💀

Very enjoyable haunted house/whodunit/comedy from New Zealand. I'd say it operates mostly as a comedy (with a very Kiwi-esque style), but it definitely ramps up the intensity and danger and gets serious when it needs to. The characters are enjoyable. I definitely recommend this one if you haven't seen it - available free on Tubi.

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Day 42.

I wanted something in the horror comedy genre for tonight so went with this one on Tubi after @D Jilla 's recommendation. It satisfied!

💀 💀 💀 🦴
 
MOVIE #40
Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)
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With the original and the reboot fresh in my mind, I decided to watch this sequel for the first time. This is probably as far as I go in this series, though, since I already have two franchises starting with the letter H I need to finish this season and I feel like I shouldn't risk sullying my love for the original by subjecting myself to a glut of direct-to-video Hellraiser movies. That said, I enjoyed this continuation. There's a lot of demented, imaginative special effects on display and it fleshes out the Cenobites a bit, including showing more of their origins. I feel about it similar to how I felt about Halloween II earlier this season; the original was a great standalone story, but if you had to make a follow-up, this is probably about as good as you could hope for.

Rating: 💀💀💀💀

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A ★★★★ review of Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)

"And to think... I hesitated." Hellbound: Hellraiser II is one of the more fascinating horror sequels I've seen. I think it goes without saying that it doesn't surpass the original, but that's not for a lack of trying. The sheer imagination and craftsmanship going on in the last half-hour alone...
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I've fallen a few days behind in posting, so in the interest of getting caught up, I'll probably try to keep the next few posts more brief and to the point.

MOVIE #41
Howling V: The Rebirth (1989)
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Dull but inoffensive. I thought it was better than the last two, at least, even though the actual werewolves still get barely any screentime. I think this is a case where the people making the movie spent a lot of money on a really cool set (I do really like the snowed-in castle setting of this one), and then didn't have the budget left to do much else. It's passable for what it is, but like with most of these direct-to-video Howling sequels, it just feels like they pasted the name of a franchise onto a random movie for a quick buck.

Rating: 💀💀🦴

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A ★★½ review of Howling V: The Rebirth (1989)

The fifth installment in the Howling franchise is neither a bizarre incomprehensible mess like Philippe Mora's entries or a cheap rip-off like The Original Nightmare. Instead, it's a bland but serviceable direct-to-video werewolf movie that, you guessed it, barely features any werewolves in it...
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MOVIE #42
The Exorcist (1973)
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One of the undisputed greatest movies of all time. I know there will always be people ready to dismiss it as boring or not that scary, but not me. This is a classic deserving of the upmost respect. Not only does it feature groundbreaking special effects, but it has a great story about a scared, frustrated mother and a worn-out, faith-tested priest whose paths cross under the most unfortunate set of circumstances possible. I like that these characters feel very real, they don't pull all of the answers out of nowhere, they're simply trying to fight back against something they don't understand the only ways they know how. It shows them trying to deal with things rationally at first, but as the problem escalates, so does their desperation to fix it. The movie makes you feel like this is something that could happen to anyone for seemingly no reason, and that's a terrifying thought. It's regarded by many as one of the scariest films ever made for good reason, and I see it as nothing less than a masterpiece.

Rating: 💀💀💀💀💀

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A ★★★★★ review of The Exorcist (1973)

A provocative masterpiece, William Friedkin's The Exorcist is a powerful, punishing tale of exhausting everything you have to face an enemy beyond your comprehension when all other options have failed. I know these days people like to downplay it and act like it's not all that scary, but...
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MOVIE #43
Alien (1979)
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Another defining work of 70s horror. To me, there's certain movie moments that everyone has burned into their brains from the moment they first see them, and one such scene is the first iconic chestburster attack in Alien. It's a fantastic sequence, because nobody expects it their first time seeing the movie, but even on a rewatch when you know it's coming, the suspense of seeing these characters huddled around a table unaware of what's about to unfold is palpable. I've heard that apparently much of the cast didn't know what exactly was going to happen before they shot the scene, and I believe it, as their reactions seem genuine. This scene is just one of many reasons to love Ridley Scott's cerebral sci-fi slasher. The effects and production design are unparalleled, not just for 1979, but even by today's standards. How many movies are this engrossing just showing off their environments? Of course, you also have Sigourney Weaver's first appearance as Ripley, the symbolism of the Xenomorph, and the always-timely plot point of corporations taking advantage of their employees for their own personal gain. It's such a rich film, both thematically and visually, and I find myself fully immersed into its world each time I revisit it.

Rating: 💀💀💀💀💀

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A ★★★★★ review of Alien (1979)

Ridley Scott's spellbinding 1979 masterwork Alien is the most claustrophobic film about the cold vastness of space you will ever see. So much thematic richness confined within these two hours; from the Xenomorph's deeply violating and predatory methods of reproduction being represented by some...
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MOVIE #44
Howling VI: The Freaks (1991)
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Wanted to knock out the next two films in the Howling franchise before finally resuming the Michael Myers Marathon™. Shockingly, this one was actually not terrible. The production value is still nonexistent (the make-up department clearly wasn't accounting for the invention of high definition video), but I'm a sucker for a good carnival backdrop and this didn't bore me to death or make me question my own sanity while watching it, which already puts it above most other Howling sequels.

Rating: 💀💀💀🦴

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A ★★★½ review of Howling VI: The Freaks (1991)

"Satan's work will not go unpunished." A diamond in the rough? Not quite, but for my money, this was by far the most consistently entertaining film in the Howling franchise since at least the second one. As if to apologize for the pitiful werewolf showings in the last two installments, this one...
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MOVIE #45
Howling: New Moon Rising (1995)
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@EvanBenner, you dodged a (silver) bullet with this one.

With no exaggeration, one of the worst movies I've ever seen, and calling it a movie is being generous. You'd have as much fun flipping between CMT and the Syfy channel for 90 minutes. Atrocious.

Rating: 🦴

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A ½ review of Howling: New Moon Rising (1995)

Well, it's not everyday you watch one of the worst pieces of crap you've ever seen in your life. Nobody going into this after seeing the last six Howling movies would've had high expectations to begin with, but this is just pathetic. Even trying to review it feels dumb, because the problems here...
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MOVIE #46
Halloween (2018)
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I wish I liked this one as much as other people do. I actually saw it opening weekend, but I didn't remember much from seeing in the theater outside of the opening scene in the courtyard. It started coming back to me as I rewatched it, but I still don't feel like it's a very memorable movie. It's technically well-made and it's awesome to see Jamie Lee Curtis come back and kick Michael's ass, I just find it a bit underwhelming.

Rating: 💀💀💀

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A ★★★ review of Halloween (2018)

Perfectly watchable, but I don't know, it just doesn't really grab me like past installments have. There's not much original, memorable or exciting here, outside of a couple decent kills, like when Michael stomps on a guy's head. It feels like they really put all their chips on getting Jamie Lee...
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I doubt it....at least it's really not that big of a difference.

Ends starts 4 years after Kills....is this a spoiler??...I think it is well known info.



And Ends is now up to watch on Peacock.
 
LeeVing said:
I doubt it....at least it's really not that big of a difference.

Ends starts 4 years after Kills.



And Ends is now up to watch on Peacock.
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Thanks for the info! I'm gonna go with the extended cut for now then. Excited to check it out regardless.
 
My prompt for today was "Anthology," so I made it one more deep into the V/H/S series.

I liked the first entry well enough, and this one was better overall. Adam Windgard's segment was predictably funny. There's a pretty standard zombie segment but with a fun POV execution. I also had no idea going into this that Gareth Evans and Timo Tjahjanto collabed on a segment, and it was the best of the bunch.

📼 📼 📼


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MOVIE #47
Halloween Kills (2021)
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I really liked this. I found it to be a lot more entertaining than the last one, probably because they really upped Michael's presence this time. His kills are brutal here and they actually made him feel somewhat intimidating again. The movie really goes out of its way to show what a chaotic nightmare he's turned Haddonfield into overnight, and the lengths it's citizens are willing to go to get their closure. It's not perfect (a lot of the dialogue sounds like it was written for a trailer, which gets old after a while), but it was thoroughly enjoyable and a pleasant surprise I wasn't expecting in the midst of this Michael Myers Marathon™.

Rating: 💀💀💀💀

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A ★★★★ review of Halloween Kills (2021)

"Evil can't win." I actually thought this was a pretty big improvement over the first Green film. It's still got some cheesy moments, but the Michael Myers violence has a lot more bite to it in this one and that's really what I come to a Halloween movie for. It's largely a story about the pain...
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