Category: Halloween Spooktacular

Day 14

What We Do In Shadows (2014)

Directed (and starring) Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement

What We Do In The Shadows is a movie, and now also a TV show, that is a mockumentary about several vampires living in a New Zealand flat (apartment in American speak) together for environmental and economic reasons. The film is a comedic take on both this group of vampires and also supernatural life(?) as a whole in New Zealand, where we meet the local population of werewolves, witches, and zombies. I’ll be right to the point with this one, What We Do In The Shadows is hysterical, we started laughing in the opening scene and kept laughing straight through the end of the movie, whereupon we seriously considered watching the movie again because that’s how funny it was. The only times when we weren’t laughing were when Waititi and Clement reminded us that this was still in the horror genre during a shockingly tense sequence towards the end of the film.

What makes this movie so funny is how well Waititi and Clement understand vampire lore, and how much they clearly love it. The vampires we meet are all representative of a certain style of vampire which they excellently skewer: Waititi plays Viago Von Dorna Schmarten Scheden Heimburg (né von Blitzenberg), the foppish aristocrat obsessed with order and cleanliness, Clement plays Vladislav the Poker, a tortured vampire with a dark past and mysterious enemy, Jonathan Brugh plays Deacon Brucke, the youngest and coolest of the group, and Ben Fransham plays Petyr, the Noseferatu-like vampire who lives in the basement. All these people have strong personalities which lends itself incredibly well to the way the movie satirizes the mundane aspects of what an immortal life as a vampire would be, as well as connecting that to the experiences that everyday people have. This is a hilarious movie that will especially work for people who are familiar with vampire fiction, and as an added bonus the ending is weirdly upbeat, heartfelt, and hopeful. 100% recommended to anyone who likes horror or comedy.

Day 13

An American Werewolf In London

Directed by John Landis

Firmly established in the canon of horror comedies, An American Werewolf in London is the story of two young American backpackers who encounter a werewolf while traipsing through the English countryside on vacation. The survivor of this brutal attack is sent to London for recovery, where he becomes an American Werewolf…in London. Speaking of the werewolf effects, they were by far our favorite part of the movie, the transformation scenes are incredible and the general look of the werewolf is also really cool. In that same vein, this movie is full of awesome practical gore effects, the kind you don’t really see in movies anymore, which does help the horror aspects of the film. There’s also a pretty neat storyline about the small rural community that seems to know more than they let on about what happened to the two travelers, which adds some intrigue and atmosphere.. Where the movie kind of loses itself for us was in the comedic department.

There are certainly many funny moments, one near the end in a seedy movie theater stands head and shoulders above the rest of the film, but generally we didn’t find the movie that funny. Maybe it’s because we found the character dynamics so weird, we were really confused by the eponymous werewolf in London’s relationship with a nurse he meets at the hospital, and that kind of threw us. We weren’t sure if this nurse falling for a clearly mentally disturbed patient was supposed to be a joke or if this lady just had really bad taste in men. Maybe we’re just not that into 80s comedy? Regardless of that, this is a good movie and one we would recommend to people looking for a more old-school monster movie. It deserves a recommendation for its fun use of songs featuring the word ‘moon’ alone!

Day 12

Stitches (2012)

Directed by Conor McMahon

Who said we were done with clowns? After a birthday clown is heckled to death by a group of unruly young children, he returns 6 years later to exact his revenge from beyond the grave on these now high-school students. What’s great about Stitches is that it is a horror comedy that delivers on both horror and comedy in spades. While not high-brow, the humor kept us laughing throughout the movie, and this was due in no small part to the excellent comedic timing and styles of (insert actor name here), who was perfect for the part. Part of what makes the humor work so well is that it blends well with the horror, as Stitches uses ‘clown logic’ as his main weapon while crafting ironic deaths for the children who tormented him. As a callback to his demise, Stitches kills one of the teens by fashioning a balloon animal out of a kids’ intestines, among other amusing kills. The kids are also very good, especially when the movie highlights how this traumatic event has uniquely changed everyone present. Also, there is an awesome clown mythology to the film, including sequel-bait for a movie that I now desperately want to see.

There are a few problems here. There’s a bit too much of an attempt to be edgy sometimes, specifically there is a scene where a cat is killed and it isn’t funny and doesn’t have any connection to anything, it just makes you feel bad. This may not be a negative for everyone but many scenes, particularly the ones set at high school are full of cringe humor, which is very divisive but works well if you enjoy it. Also the ending is infuriatingly neat and tidy, with an unsatisfying subplot that feels very much like wish fulfillment and consequences that seem non-existent. Still, even though the movie has problems, if you have some drinks and some friends it is a hilarious darkly comic romp that we highly recommend.

Day 12

Tremors (1990)

Directed by Ron Underwood

When a pair of handymen get fed up with their lives in the city of Perfection, Nevada (Population 14), they decide to strike out and achieve greatness, unaware of the giant monsters lurking nearby that will soon complicate their lives. Tremors is a wonderful schlocky monster movie that plays perfectly well as either a straightforward story of a town under siege by monsters or as a campy tongue-in-cheek parody of/tribute to the goofy monster movies of yesteryear. In terms of a straightforward movie, the monster design is awesome and I don’t want to reveal too much about it but it is so simple and clean and sensible and scary and goofy all at once. The people we meet are similarly enjoyable; a collection of mildly quirky folk you’d expect to find living in the desert in the middle of nowhere who are all sympathetic enough so that we care when they start getting eaten.

There’re only two issues that really come to mind when discussing Tremors, the first one is a minor flaw that is the first act of the film is a bit slow. There is a ton of establishing our two heroes and while they are a likeable duo there could have perhaps been a bit trimmed so we could get to the monsters a little quicker. Another issue that may or may not come up for viewers is related to the comedy. The jokes may not connect with everyone’s sense of humor. I thought it was hysterical but my wife did not, so your mileage may vary as far as that goes. Overall though this is a great example of a horror-comedy done right and I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a campy monster movie.

Day 10

Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987)

Directed By Bruce Pittman 

Prom Night II is the story of a young woman in high school, Vicki Carpenter, who accidentally unleashes the spirit of a student who died many years ago at her high school. Free from imprisonment, the spirit of Mary Lou gradually possesses Vicki, changing Vicki to be more like she was in life while also getting revenge on those responsible for her death. And before you ask, no, there is no connection between this movie and the slasher film starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Prom Night. What’s interesting about this movie is that instead of being similar at all to the first Prom Night movie, this film feels highly influenced by a slew of other popular horror movies. Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II feels like someone took Carrie, The Exorcist, and Nightmare On Elm Street, threw them all in a blender and put it on maximum power for an hour and a half. Now this could be good or it could be bad, and I am happy to report that this was good because I really enjoyed Prom Night II!

What makes Prom Night II work is that it isn’t a direct ripoff of any of these movies, and it manages to create its own identity as a darkly comic take on the nightmare of high school. The characters are generally believable and understandable, the setup for the main story is tragic and relevant, and the ghastly kills are imaginative and surreal. By doing all these basic things correctly, Prom Night II sets itself apart from many of the ripoff movies of the era and manages to create a unique and fun mythology for the villain while at the same time dipping its toes into the kind of fun surrealism that I can get behind. It’s a shame that there are many parts of this movie that haven’t aged particularly well. Many of the characters in the movie are real jerks and there are several scenes that feature really uncomfortable sequences that I won’t entirely spoil but you need to know going in that this movie is a bit off-color. If you’re okay with that, and you want something a bit weird and out there, I’d recommend Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II!

Day 8

The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014)

Directed By Adam Robitel

The Taking Of Deborah Logan is a found footage movie (woooooooo!) with a unique premise. A small film crew is shooting a documentary on the effects of rapid onset dementia, so they’re filming what happens to and around Deborah Logan, an elderly woman who is beginning to succumb to the awful disease. Very early into the filming it becomes apparent that something worse than dementia is inflicting Deborah Logan, as she begins exhibiting increasingly strange and erratic behavior. There’s a lot to like about The Taking of Deborah Logan, one of the best things being the acting, which is all around great but the performance that really sells the movie is that of Jill Larson, who plays the eponymous Deborah Logan. Everyone’s performances feel real but Larson manages something truly special, which makes the movie extremely uncomfortable at times, especially for people who have loved ones with some form of dementia.

Additionally, there’s an excellent sense of spooky atmosphere that makes this perfect viewing for this season, particularly in the first half of the film. Where the story ends up going is where our problems with the movie kind of start. No spoilers, but the plot goes to some weird out there places, with plot details that, in my opinion, don’t match up with the original style and tone established in the beginning of this film. I’m sure some people really liked that about this movie but it didn’t work as well for us. Regardless of that, there are a ton of great visuals, and even if the story and pacing threw us a bit, this is still a good movie that we would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a creepy possession movie that isn’t afraid to go to some dark places.

Day 7

The Crucifixion (2017)

Directed By Xavier Gens

The Crucifixion is the story of an American journalist who travels abroad to Romania to investigate a death that occurred during a controversial exorcism. Once she arrives in Romania, the journalist learns that *gasp* not everything is as it appears! Now our journalist friend, who of course is not just an atheist but who is actively anti-religion, must contend with superstition and faith as her own soul is on the line! This movie was aggressively average. The premise is neat, though I am not usually a fan of “based on a true story” premises because I find them exploitative. 

The idea of investigating an event that may be a human crime or super natural is pretty standard but can be executed well, in this case it was watchable but not exciting. This is a movie everyone has pretty much seen before but some of the acting was decent. It was weird that everyone spoke English in deep Romanian country. And the day is saved by the power of faith, so there you go. Overall, this is the most bland movie in this list yet, the only reason we didn’t hate it is because that would require having some kind of emotion and that wasn’t happening.

I would only recommend this movie if it was playing in the background while other things were happening. Maybe at a Halloween party where you don’t want the background noise to distract from the good time you’re having?

Day 6

The Last Exorcism (2010)

Directed by Daniel Stamm

I’ll be honest, movies like The Last Exorcism are why I started this annual marathon, finding great movies I haven’t seen is always awesome. Anyway, this film is a found footage-style mockumentary about an Evangelical pastor who, although he started his career in the church at a young age and has performed countless exorcisms, has lost his faith and now seeks to help shine a light on how exorcisms are performed in modern times and how they may not have any spiritual benefit beyond the placebo effect. The film crew takes us to a rural community in Louisiana where a father is convinced that his daughter is in need of an exorcism, one that our pastor is more than fit to deliver. I’m not a huge fan of possession movies, and I’m even less of a fan of exorcism movies, but The Last Exorcism is a damn fine movie that I’m so happy I watched. If I can pull back for a second, the purpose of these movie marathons was always to find movies that had slipped by me and that’s exactly what The Last Exorcism was, a tense, character driven horror romp that manages to keep its ambiguity just long enough to get you completely hooked before it goes in for the kill.

There’s so much I liked about this movie that it’s hard to articulate everything going on but I will try. The Last Exorcism perfectly takes advantage of the found footage style, giving us a cast of believable and sympathetic characters who all feel like real people in a weird situation, while at the same time being interesting people in their own right. Something this film does amazingly is how it both world-builds and foreshadows, establishing so much and setting up so much without giving it all away off the bat, it’s clever and makes for a rewarding viewing experience that I’m sure will hold up for subsequent viewings. The only thing that gives me pause is the ending. While I like the ending visually and it definitely feels foreshadowed, I can’t help but feel a little weird about the last scene. I can’t say more without spoiling the movie so let me stop there and say that yes, I recommend the movie and even the bits that I wasn’t as fond of make for an interesting discussion. Track this down!

Day 5

Metamorphosis (2019)

Directed by Kim Hong-sun

Metamorphosis is the story of a family forced to relocate because they’re related to a Catholic priest who was recently involved in an exorcism that went terribly wrong. The family is understandably not thrilled about this move, but try to make the best of it, unaware that their new neighbor hides some disturbing secrets that indicate that the demonic presence from earlier may not be done with this poor family. As you may be able to tell, this isn’t the most unique setup for a possession film, but it’s a time tested method of introducing a well-rounded cast of characters with their own hopes, dreams, and flaws. In addition to solid characters, there’s an amazing sense of atmosphere in Metamorphosis, helped by the incredibly creepy and imaginative visual style. There’s one shot in particular of a uniquely decorated cliff face that is seriously haunting.

Unfortunately, Metamorphosis suffers from many of the same problems that other possession films succumb to. As per usual, we have no idea what the demon can do and we both found that terribly distracting. Sometimes it can do whatever it wants, sometimes it is limited in strength, I don’t know why either of these things happen when they happen, and the plot suffers for it. There are also pacing issues where, at 1 hour and 50 minutes Metamorphosis seems a bit overlong, you could probably cut 20 minutes out of this movie and not really change anything. Especially because so much of the great foreshadowing doesn’t really add up to anything in the end. Still though, when it works, Metamorphosis hits hard, bringing great visuals and atmosphere to a familiar genre. If you’re a fan of exorcism or possession movies, we’d recommend giving this one a watch.