Category: Halloween Spooktacular

Basket Case (1982)

Directed by Frank Henenlotter

Provocateur Frank Henenlotter is widely known and beloved by fans of exploitation and horror films, despite having only directed a half dozen movies over a 25 year period. That’s a short enough list to marathon in a day (hmm why would I bring that up?) but the influence of Henenlotter’s work can be seen to this day in schlock cinema and Basket Case is a great example of how a movie can be schlocky, goofy, over the top, and still be shocking and stick with you. Basket Case is the tale of a young man named Dwayne who ventures into THE BIG CITY from a small town upstate, carrying only a suspiciously large was of cash and an even more suspicious large wicker basket. After checking into a seedy hotel, Dwayne begins a terrible mission involving some local doctors, a dark and mysterious past, and whatever the hell is in that basket. 

If you haven’t seen Basket Case then I will not spoil what is in the basket, unlike every other summary of the movie you’ll find, but I will say that it does not disappoint. The effects here are pretty good for the time, dated but in a charming way, and there’s plenty of fun gore to make up for the minor hiccups in the visuals. Aside from the visuals there’s a whole Hotel full of weird, colorful characters that make the world a little more out there. Combined with the weird grittiness that peeks out ever so often, this is a neat look at what NYC was like before it got cleaned up. What’s really interesting to me about Basket Case is that when you break down the story to it’s basic parts it’s actually quite serious, particularly the ending which I think is still shocking and uncomfortable. I love that about movies like this, that combination of camp and grit that you don’t see as much anymore. I guess I’m not the only person who likes this movie, because it was restored by MOMA. As in the Museum of Modern Art. And no, that isn’t a joke. If gore and weird plot lines are your thing, give Basket Case a look!

Day 31

The Terror Of Hallow’s Eve (2017)

Directed by Todd Tucker

When bullies push horror loving 15 year-old Caleb Thomas over the edge, he unwittingly summons an ancient spirit of Halloween vengeance to get even with them. His plan works a little too well, and soon Caleb needs to face the monster he unleashed. Halloween horror movies have a special energy, so it’s always good to find filmmakers continuing in that tradition, even if the movies they make are not perfect. The Terror Of Hallow’s Eve is definitely not perfect, but it has a wonderful spooky atmosphere and a lot of heart that shines through in so many areas, particularly the performances. Everyone here is giving their all for this movie and that elevates it a lot, particularly the villainous jester character, played by beloved character actor Doug Jones, who steals every scene he’s in, and Caleb’s mom who is the mommest mom who ever mommed. Bonus points for getting serial B-movie star Eric Roberts to appear on camera without him appearing drunk, and even more bonus points for getting him to do some acting, I really wasn’t used to seeing that.

The pacing is quite quick, this film is only 80 minutes including the credits sequence and sometimes this breakneck speed does feel strange, but I can appreciate the filmmakers keeping 15 minutes of filler sequences out so we can get to the fun bits faster. And the fun bits are quite fun! There are some great spooky revenge sequences and even though the budget was clearly a limitation on what happens, that budget is worked around in clever ways to show you something creepy and fun. The ending is kind of strange, I’m not exactly sure if they were trying to leave it as a sequel bait thing or if they’re aping similar ending sequences they’ve seen other movies do, but it does feel a bit like a misstep, especially after the rest of the movie was so charming. Regardless, The Terror Of Hallow’s Eve may not be a modern classic, but it has enough charm, heart, and fun practical effects monsters to make it a worthwhile Halloween viewing. Recommended!

Day 30

Scare Campaign (2016)

Directed by Cameron Cairnes & Colin Cairnes

When an Australian horror-themed reality show, think Scare Tactics, needs a new surge of viewers to convince the network executive to renew their show for another season, they plan their most over the top setup yet, a fake job interview set up at an abandoned mental hospital. Unfortunately, things end up getting much too real when someone unexpectedly dies on set, and everyone has to deal with the raised stakes. Scare Campaign is a movie we’re kind of split on. It does a lot of things right, particularly the setup, which is fun, creative, and leads to a ton of great character moments where the actors are given a chance to flex their acting muscles. Also, when the slasher bits start the gore is mostly pretty decent. For me, the problems for this movie start when it tries to be twisty, and it is the usual problem that arises where the twist isn’t as good as the writers think it is, and also it leads to a series of predictable plot points.

Part of the problem is that I really liked the initial setup of Scare Campaign. The first twist is good, and if that had been the only major plot development I would have been completely happy with the story. Unfortunately, Scare Campaign dips its toes into a series of tropes that really frustrate me. It would be spoilers to say exactly what these tropes are because they are kind of twists, but suffice to say I find the particular tropes used to be lazy writing which don’t come across as scary as they are intended to be, just kind of an excuse for things to happen. Not everyone will agree with me on this though, and even if the second half let us down a bit, we really enjoyed the first half of the film and would tentatively recommend it if you’re into comedy-horror and slashers. You might get more out of it than we did.

Day 29

Trespassers (2019)

Directed by Orson Oblowitz

When a group of friends(?) head out for a fun weekend of drinking, drugs, and attempts at sex at a rented house, they find their night interrupted by a mysterious stranger of unknown intention. When things go from bad to worse the group finds themselves between a rock and a hard place as they deal with their interpersonal issues – as well as some cartel hitmen. Trespassers is one of the stranger movies on this list because even though I’ve seen it referred to as a slasher movie in several places, that aspect of the movie is such a small part of what is going on. What takes the main stage is the interpersonal drama going on between this motley cast, and although I don’t necessarily like where all the characters ended up, the character premises were pretty neat and unique. The acting is mostly pretty good, with a special shout out to Angela Trimbur, who I know best as Madison “The Dress Bitch” from The Good Place, who plays the lead and does a great job with an emotionally complex role. The problem with Trespassers is, unfortunately, the story.

I like the premise of Trespassers, home invasion slashers can be fun and, if handled correctly, there’s no reason why cartel goons couldn’t be decent villains. The problem is that cartel assassins are, surprise surprise, really good at killing people, so any confrontation between these two groups should be over in seconds, and the movie knows that best we’re over halfway in before the cartel guys really show up and once they do, well, they don’t do all that much. There’s some intrigue and a little fighting, but most of this movie feels like we’re stalling for time because this story does not need to be feature length. There’s a really great short film hidden in here, especially with some of the excellent visuals they managed to get, but Trespassers feels flabby and padded, which sadly kills any tension the filmmakers managed to build.  

Two final things; the first is a minor minor spoiler, but it is also a reminder that, if you are a white person, and someone dies in your house due to an accident or a matter of self-defense, you should call the police immediately, they’ll probably believe you and you’re up shit creek without a paddle if you don’t tell the cops and then they find out later. Secondly, this movie is very similar in both basic plot structure and character setup to a movie that came out this year called The Rental, watch that instead of this.

Day 28 

Dream Home (2010)

Directed by Pang Ho-cheung

Dream Home begins with a young woman, Cheng Lai, on a murderous rampage through a high-end apartment complex in Hong Kong. As her rampage continues we learn via flashbacks why she is killing people, and what this all has to do with modern economics, gentrification, and the real estate bubble of the late 2000s. In a twist on the standard formula, Dream Home is a slasher where the slasher is our protagonist and that works pretty well here because Cheng Lai is, perhaps now even more so than when this first came out, such a relatable protagonist. We spend a lot of time with Cheng Lai, as a child, a young adult, and a working professional, which, even if the plot can get a little confusing at times because you’re switching between timelines, is an effective way to really get in her head and humanize her. They knew they had to do that though, because the kills in this movie, oh boy, are they something to behold.

Dream Home lets you know right up front that this is going to be an intensely violent film and then it never lets up. The kills are graphic, over the top, and on more than one occasion completely cross the line into bad taste. So, as you can tell, I was a pretty big fan of that. There’s some weird dark humor that comes up with some of the kills, particularly late in the movie, and that kind of threw me considering just how graphic the violence in the film is, but it doesn’t detract from those sequences. What I can’t stop thinking about with Dream Home is how depressingly timeless the satire is, it feels so relevant right now and to me, that’s the sign of writing that has a slightly deeper understanding of the broad applications of social commentary. This isn’t for everybody, there’s one scene in particular that will turn a lot of people off, one that reportedly made a few people throw up at screenings of Dream Home, but audiences who enjoy these kinds of movies will get a lot out of it. We’d definitely recommend this!

Day 27

Party Hard Die Young (2018)

Directed by Dominik Hartl

When Julia and her friends, a group of hard partying German teens, head out to a once in a lifetime island-wide celebration, they think it’s all fun and games, that is until their friends start turning up dead. Now Julia has to figure out who is killing her friends, and why, before she’s the only one left. In a lot of ways Party Hard Die Young is very reminiscent of many 80s slasher movies, it’s about teens who like alcohol, drugs and sex with the whodunit elements of having the killer wear an interesting mask. I consider those good things because I am a huge fan of slasher movies in general and 80s slashers will always have a special place in my heart. At its best, Party Hard Die Young feels like a throwback that’s channeling all the fun violence and sleaze that old-school slashers are known for and I was into this for the first half. Not great, not groundbreaking, but fun times that you don’t always get with modern slashers. That is, until the mystery is revealed and the plot is laid out, and everything crumbles.

Credit where credit is due, the twist is foreshadowed quite well and I figured out what was going on about when the movie wanted me too, so that proper structure is there. The problem isn’t the structure but the twist itself, and not even just the twist but how the twist is handled that completely ruins this movie and destroys all the goodwill I had for Party Hard Die Young. I hate spoilers so if you want to know exactly what happened drop a comment down below and I’ll discuss it further there, but suffice it to say, the twist makes nearly all the teens completely irredeemable, which might work in a more nihilistic movie but it just comes across as very strange and misplaced here. It was such a disappointment, especially considering that I was rooting for this movie from scene one and actually enjoying myself quite a bit. Sadly, I do not recommend Party Hard Die Young, if not for one massive misstep I enjoyed the movie but that doesn’t make up for the problems here.

Day 26

Lake Bodom (2016)

Directed by Taneli Mustonen

When a group of teenagers head out to the site of a series of infamous murders, they each have their own mysterious agenda. Once they all arrive, a series of twists happen, leaving the fate of these teenagers as unclear as the fog covering the lake they camped out by. Speaking of that fog, Lake Bodom is incredibly atmospheric! That magnificent fog works wonders for building a spooky atmosphere that is just perfect for this time of year, and the cinematography feels effortlessly beautiful. The rest of the film doesn’t quite live up to the atmosphere but the characters are fine and the kills are effective if a bit uninspired. Where Lake Bodom starts to lose itself is when the twists start.

I don’t want to go into detail on these twists because I hate spoilers, so I’ll just say that there are a couple twists and some are better than others. The middle of the film is kind of dragged down by a weak twist that plays into a lot of unfortunate stereotypes, but the third act brings some life back to the story. The ending isn’t bad and there is a surprising amount of good dark humor in Lake Bodom, so the movie is kind of a mixed bag. Lake Bodom has some problems but overall it’s a stylish and atmospheric slasher film with some interesting concepts, give it a shot if that sounds like your thing! Recommended.

Day 25

The Collector (2009)

Directed by Marcus Dunstan

When down on his luck ex-con Arkin O’Brien needs money to pay off vicious loan sharks, he decides the only way to get the fast cash he needs is to rob the home of a wealthy family he’s doing construction work for. However, when he arrives that night, he finds that he wasn’t the first one to get there, and finds the house rigged with deadly booby-traps that put not only him at danger but also the family he thought had gone away for the weekend. A bit different from other slasher movies we’ll be covering this week, the booby-trap murder methods are what set The Collector apart from other slasher icons and if you always thought that Home Alone would be way better if it had a hard R-rating well then look no further! The sheer excess of violence in this movie is impressive, and the creativity and cruelty of many of these traps help establish a unique ultra-bleak tone that sets The Collector apart from other slashers.

What makes The Collector work for me is the simple but effective character-work and acting. Everyone feels like a real person with understandable wants and needs and it was such a smart decision to avoid the bad slasher trope of intentionally writing characters you want to see die. Sure, some people here are shitty, but they’re shitty in human ways that feel real and Arkin is one of the better horror protagonists I’ve seen in recent years. He’s made some bad decisions but wants to do the right thing and make up for his mistakes and he has a big heart, which is endearing but also gets him into trouble. It certainly sets him apart from The Collector, who is a great villain, a truly disgusting degenerate with a unique look and interesting end goal. It’s good that The Collector’s backstory isn’t over-explained and they actually manage to keep some mystique to him, which was smart. The Collector isn’t a movie for everyone, it certainly will not win any new converts to the slasher movie genre, but if you are up for something weird, bleak, violent, and fast-paced, The Collector may have what you’re looking for. Recommended.