Topic: Month Long Horror/Halloween Marathon: 2009

[Achim]

Have I mentioned Being Human before, Pete? It's a comedy-drama about a vampire and a werewolf sharing a house with a ghost. The emphasis though is on trying to make the three as believable as possible. It leans more toward drama and is frequently decent, with a reasonable amount of gore (absolutely nowhere near Dead Set though!). I haven't seen all of it, but enjoyed it.

I just recently watched Being Human and thought it was great show. A vampire, a werewolf and a ghost trying to be "normal" and fit in. I originally expected this to be a comedy but quickly enjoyed the dramatic twists and turns. It's six full hour episodes!

[addicted2dvd]

Title: Dead Birds
Movie Count:  11
TV Ep. Count:  3
Other Count:  2
Time Started:  4:30pm

Plot:
When a group of criminals on the run after a bank robbery take refuge in an abandoned house they have no idea what evil they have come upon. Isolated and presumed deserted, the house is anything but safe...

As the night wears on and a thunderstorm grows outside, each member of the group begins to have visions of the atrocities that occurred within the house, haunting it forever. Voices in the well, visions of mangled bodies and clawing under the stairs plague their waking hours. As the fear in the group begins to grow and the supernatural forces in the house start to manifest themselves, they begin to turn on each other and exact the wrath of the souls trapped within the walls.

My Thoughts:
I bought Dead Birds for last year's Halloween marathon. I haven't watched it since... but I remembered I enjoyed it the first time around. So I was eager to give it another go. This one I liked a lot! I felt it was very well done... it had a good atmosphere... a few good jump scenes... and a bit of gore all mixed together. And it worked well for it.  I will definitely be willing to recommend this one to friends and family.

My Rating
Out of a Possible 5

[addicted2dvd]

Today is already the 5th and so far I only watched...

Movie Count:  11
TV Ep. Count:  3
Other Count:  2

At this rate I will never beat my personal best. Unfortunately real life is really getting in the way this year. It has been something pretty much every day (though yesterday was a pretty good day). And today I have to take my mother to the hospital for some out patient surgery to remove a lump she found. We will be leaving here in about an hour. And no idea how long we will be. Then Friday we will be going back for a follow-up.  Hopefully I will be able to get at least a couple good days this week.

[addicted2dvd]

Title: The Haunted Mansion
Movie Count:  12
TV Ep. Count:  3
Other Count:  2
Time Started:  1:30pm

Plot:
From the studio that brought you Pirates Of The Caribbean...here's the fright-filled comedy adventure loaded with hair-raising laughs and eye-popping special effects! Eddie Murphy (Daddy Day Care) stars as a real estate agent whose family comes face to face with 999 grim, grinning ghosts in the creepy old Gracey Manor! Now, with the help of supernatural psychic Madame Leota (Jennifer Tilly - Liar, Liar), they must hilariously battle to break the mansion of its age-old curse...and do it before the clock strikes 13!

My Thoughts:
I felt in the mood for something more lighthearted and fun today (usually the case after seeing mother's doctor). I decided to pick The Haunted Mansion since it has been a long time since I seen it. It is definitely not the best ghost movie I ever seen... but what it is... is a fun way to spend 90min. If you are looking for scares you need to look elsewhere. But it is a good movie for the whole family to watch.

My Rating
Out of a Possible 5

[addicted2dvd]

Title: The Haunting in Connecticut
Movie Count:  13
TV Ep. Count:  3
Other Count:  2
Time Started:  5:30

Plot:
Based on a chilling true story, Lionsgate's THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT charts one family's terrifying, real-life encounter with the dark forces of the supernatural. When the Campbell family moves to upstate Connecticut, they soon learn that their charming Victorian home has a disturbing history: not only was the house a transformed funeral parlor where inconceivable acts occurred, but the owner's clairvoyant son Jonah served as a demonic messenger, providing a gateway for spiritual entities to crossover.

Now unspeakable terror awaits, when Jonah, the boy who communicated with the powerful dark forces of the supernatural, returns to unleash a new kind of horror on the innocent and unsuspecting family.

My Thoughts:
I been waiting to see this movie every since I heard it was being made. This movie is based on a "True Story"... and I have the documentary on this case on DVD as it was one of the Pilot movies for the TV series A Haunting. The story is very good. So hoping it transferred to movie well. I wanted to not have too high of hopes going into this one... but I am afraid I failed at that. I have heard both good and bad about this movie... and thankfully I have to agree with those that liked it. Sure some of the stuff I seen in many ghost stories... but there was also stuff I seen in this movie for the very first time. There was a couple things that did bother me about the story. But over all I really enjoyed this one. The actor playing the ill son looked very familiar to me... but I just couldn't place where I knew him from... so after the movie I checked his filmography. Turns out I knew him from 2 different shows. He played Beaver on Veronica Mars and he also played Bart Allen (The Flash) on a couple episodes of Smallville. I would recommend this movie to anyone that enjoys ghost stories.

My Rating
Out of a Possible 5

[addicted2dvd]

Title: Black Sunday
Movie Count:  14
TV Ep. Count:  3
Other Count:  2
Time Started:  8am

Plot:
Mario Bava’s 1960 directorial debut stands alone as one of the most influential and startling chillers of all time. British actress Barbara Steele became an international icon in this über-gothic fever dream pulsing with stunning cinematography and landmark special effects — both by Bava himself — in which the conventional trappings of the horror genre were indelibly impaled upon perverse sexuality and graphic sadism. It remains a masterpiece of the macabre that changed the face of cinema forever. This presentation of Bava’s uncut and uncensored International Version features the original Italian score and English dubbing.

My Thoughts:
This is a movie that was given to me by our good friend Roger. I have heard a lot of good things about this movie in the past and been wanting to see it for a long time now. You don't know how disappointed I was when this movie arrived the day after my abstaining from horror began. That means it was sitting on my unwatched shelf for 3 whole months before I was allowed to finally watch it. Barbara Steele has a great presence in this movie. It is no wonder she became as famous as she has. I absolutely loved the scene in the beginning of the movie with the mask. While I did enjoy this movie... I feel it lost a little something as it went on. The middle/end portions off the movie just didn't hold up to the beginning. Not that it is a bad movie... I am glad I finally got to see this one... and glad it was added to my collection.

My Rating
Out of a Possible 5

[addicted2dvd]

Unfortunately I have a sick daughter at home today... so I promised her I would watch some show and movies with her today. So expect some more family friendly selections. Starting with some episodes of Goosebumps.

[Achim]

Starting with some episodes of Goosebumps.

My best regards to Brittany and I hope she gets well soon.

[addicted2dvd]

Thanks Achim... she will be fine... just a good cold I think.

[richierich]

A Halloween present for you Pete......

(click to show/hide)

OCTOBER FULL MOON!!!!!!!

[addicted2dvd]

Title: Goosebumps: Attack of the Jack-O-Lanterns
Movie Count:  14
TV Ep. Count:  6
Other Count:  2
Time Started:  11am

Plot:
ATTACK OF THE JACK-O-LANTERNS
Every Halloween, Lee and Tabby scare the daylights out of their pals. So this year, four of them plot to out-spook their spookers. It's a good plan, except that now everyone's in for a Halloween scare!

VAMPIRE BREATH
One night, Freddy and Cara Renfield discover a secret door in their house leading to an underground cavern - and a shocking discovery. Turns out they live with bats. Vampire bats!

LET'S GET INVISIBLE
Max and Noah discover a mysterious mirror that holds the power to make them invisible! But when they start to experiment with it, they find that they can't always control the effect...and that this very spooky mirror is not what it appears - or disappears - to be!

My Thoughts:
ATTACK OF THE JACK-O-LANTERNS
This is a cute little Halloween themed episode. And I liked the ending twist... was fun

VAMPIRE BREATH
Being a Vampire fan as I am... I enjoyed this one quite a bit. It is a fun little story for all.

LET'S GET INVISIBLE
This is my least favorite of the episodes on this disc. I would say it is fair at best. It barely kept my interest. Even my teen (early teens) daughter felt this one was only average.

My Rating
Out of a Possible 5
ATTACK OF THE JACK-O-LANTERNS


VAMPIRE BREATH


LET'S GET INVISIBLE

[addicted2dvd]

A Halloween present for you Pete......

(click to show/hide)

OCTOBER FULL MOON!!!!!!!

Now that is scary! 

[Najemikon]

...I absolutely loved the scene in the beginning of the movie with the mask. While I did enjoy this movie... I feel it lost a little something as it went on. The middle/end portions off the movie just didn't hold up to the beginning. Not that it is a bad movie... I am glad I finally got to see this one... and glad it was added to my collection.

Just what I thought too. If Bava could have kept up the pace of that opening scene, I'd have loved it more. Did you see the marathon Jimmy started, Pete?

[addicted2dvd]

The Bava marathon? yeah I read it at the time anyway.

[addicted2dvd]

Title: Creepshow
Movie Count:  15
TV Ep. Count:  6
Other Count:  2
Time Started:  4pm

Plot:
Two macabre masters — writer Stephen King and director George A. Romero — conjure up five shocking yarns, each a virtuoso exercise in ghouls-and-gags style of classic '50s horror comics.  A murdered man emerges from the grave for Father's Day cake.  A meteor's ooze makes everything...grow.  A professor selects his wife as a snack for a crated creature.  A scheming husband plants two lovers up to their necks in terror.  A malevolent millionaire with an insect phobia becomes the prey of a cockroach army.  Add the spirited performances of a fine cast (Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, Leslie Nielsen, Ted Danson, E.G. Marshal and King himself) and the ghoulish makeup wizardry of Tom Savini.  Let the Creepshow begin!

My Thoughts:
This is one of my favorite anthology movies. Sure... some of it is right silly but... even so for the most part all the segments are just fun to watch. I think my favorite segment was the one where "A scheming husband plants two lovers up to their necks in terror."... this was the one where Leslie Neilson buried the couple to their necks in the sand on the beach... waiting for the high tide to come.  That one then followed closely by the "crated creature" Fluffy.  My least favorite has to be the last segment... the one about the bugs. I mean it was ok... just nothing special. But of course I enjoyed all the segments. Normally it is the wrap around story that loses my attention. But this is one of the few that I actually enjoy.

My Rating
Out of a Possible 5