Topic: 2012 October-to-Whenever Marathon: Must-Sees and Nostalgia

[addicted2comics(:P)]

I thought I'd take the liberty to watch all the famous horror movies I can! Chucky, Freddy, Jason, Pinhead, the girls from the Grudge and the Ring ... all right here! I'm really setting the bar for myself, as there are a lot of movies and a lot more gore than what I'm used to, but I'll be sure to push myself. Also, for self-satisfaction, I'm going to be watching Halloween episodes from various series that I loved or if I just thought the episodes themselves were very cool. (Meaning even if I hated a show, ie. Degrassi, I'll still watch a Halloween episode just because it actually turned out awesome. 

I'm still open to suggestions, but I'm planning on being pretty busy this month. Not even sure I'll fit this much in ... but tell me if I missed something major.  [/center]






Movies to watch:

Grudge
Grudge 2
Grudge 3
Carrie
Child's Play
Chucky 2
Chucky 3
Bride of Chucky
Seed of Chucky
Friday the 13th
Friday the 13th 2
Friday the 13th 3
Friday the 13th 4: The Final Chapter
Friday the 13th 5: A New Beginning
Friday the 13th 6: Jason Lives
Friday the 13th 7: The New Blood
Friday the 13th 8: Jason Takes Manhattan
Jason Goes to Hell
A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
Wes Craven's New Nightmare
Freddy vs. Jason
Halloween
Halloween 2
Halloween 3: Season of the Witch
Halloween H2O: 20 Years Later
Halloween: Resurrection
Hellraiser
Hellbound: Hellraiser 2
Hellraiser 3: Hell on Earth
Hellraiser: Bloodline
Hellraiser: Inferno
Hellraiser: Hellseeker
Hellraiser: Hellworld
Hellraiser: Deader
Interview with a Vampire
The Omen
Paranormal Activity
Paranormal Activity 2
Paranormal Activity 3
Paranormal Activity 4
Poltergeist
Poltergeist 2
Poltergeist 3
The Ring
The Ring 2
Saw
Saw 2
Saw 3
Saw 4
Saw 5
Saw 6
Saw: The Final Chapter
Scream
Scream 2
Scream 3
Scream 4
The Shining
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2

Episodes:

Billy & Mandy's Jacked-Up Halloween (The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy)
Bloooo (Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends)
Boo-Haw-Haw (Ed, Edd, n' Eddy)
Bravo-Dooby-Doo (Johny Bravo)
Degrassi of the Dead (Degrassi)
Dude of the Living Dead (6Teen)
Frankenbravo (Johny Bravo)
Ghost Bride (Hey, Arnold!)
Halloween Spectacular of Doom (Invader Zim)
I.M. Vampire (I AM Weasel)
Interview with a Campfire (All Grown Up)
It's the Great Pumpkin, Juniper Lee (The Life and Times of Juniper Lee)
Night of the Day of the Dead (Lizzy McGuire)
Nightmare in Retroville (The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius)
Operation T.R.I.C.K.Y. (Codename: Kids Next Door)
Spooky Tree (Beetlejuice)
Until The Day It Becomes A Pumpkin (Ouran High School Host Club)





Note: The Scare-O-Meter added to these reviews is not a rating of any kind. It's actually a counter of how many times a jumpscare or something got me in that movie.  If I visibly jump or I hear myself gasp (as I never caught myself screaming before), then it's another scared lady on the bottom!

[addicted2comics(:P)]

The Grudge (2004/United States) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer |Wikipedia | Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Director: Takashi Shimizu Writing: Takashi Shimizu (Original Material By), Stephen Susco (Screenwriter) Length: 91 min. Rating: Rated PG-13 : Mature Thematic Material, Disturbing Images/Terror/Violence, and Some Sensuality Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Sarah Michelle Gellar as Karen
Jason Behr as Doug
William Mapother as Matthew
Clea DuVall as Jennifer
Kadee Strickland as Susan
Grace Zabriskie as Emma

Plot:
From filmmaker Sam Raimi (Spider-Man®, Army of Darkness) and acclaimed Japanese director Takashi Shimizu comes a terrifying tale of horror in the tradition of The Ring and 28 Days Later.

Sarah Michelle Gellar (TV’s "Buffy The Vampire Slayer") stars as an American nurse who has come to work in Tokyo. Following a series of horrifying and mysterious deaths, she encounters the vengeful supernatural spirit that possesses its victims, claims their souls, then passes its curse to another person in a spreading chain of horror. Now, she must find a way to break this supernatural spell or become the next victim of an ancient evil that never dies, but forever lives to kill.

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Audio Commentary
• Feature Trailers
• Bonus Trailers
• Featurettes
• DVD-ROM Content
• Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:

I have to say, I was rather looking forward to this! I've seen parodies and sat through the video game walk-through, but never actually saw this. (Hence why it's in the marathon). I walked into this movie knowing the story of the little boy, but the girl - who I deem to be creepier - is someone that just really bugs me in the crackling of her voice and the way she moves to the point where it is the goal of my movie-watching to figure out how the heck she died.  So far all I got was it was around when the boy was killed and I think maybe she fell down the stairs. I can't tell yet. (No judge me! Clues in the story are confusing!! My brain no handle it!!  )

The "scare" quality of it was ok. It only got me by jumpscares a few times - as you can see by the counter - though the first three were within the first half hour, so I guess you can say it kind of declined after that. The Grudge was about as scary as I would suspect and it ended pretty well, though since it's the first of a few movies there wasn't much of a climax. I'm guessing that saved for when people are trying to find a way to break the curse towards the end of the franchise.

Overall, the plot confused me a little but it got me a few times so it's still a cool movie! 

Scare-O-Meter:

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5

[addicted2comics(:P)]

The Grudge 2: Unrated Director's Cut (2006/United States) Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Director: Takashi Shimizu Writing: Takashi Shimizu (Original Characters By), Stephen Susco (Writer) Length: 108 min. Rating: Unrated Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1 Subtitles: English, French

Stars:
Sarah Michelle Gellar as Karen
Amber Tamblyn as Aubrey
Arielle Kebbel as Allison
Takako Fuji as Kayako
Edison Chen as Eason
Sarah Roemer as Lacey

Plot:
Acclaimed producers Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert and Taka Ichise have re-teamed with director Takashi Shimizu and screenwriter Stephen Susco to present this heart-stopping sequel to the smash-hit thriller, The Grudge.

When Aubrey Davis (Amber Tamblyn, TV's "Joan of Arcadia") learns her sister Karen (Sarah Michelle Gellar) has been hospitalized, she immediately flies to Tokyo. Once there, she learns her sister's horrifying story and discovers that the fatal supernatural curse has been unleashed. Now, as the grudge spreads across the world, a new host of unsuspecting victims are about to become infected by the force that can't be stopped – and won't be killed.

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Audio Commentary
• Bonus Trailers
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:

I can't say this is much scarier than the previous movie. More or less, it's a lot like watching the first one over again. The main difference is we get to a complete back-story.

(click to show/hide)

I feel embarrassed to say that the "little girl" is a lot less little than I thought she was.  Turns out the woman from the Grudge was the wife that was killed, mother to the little boy. I didn't think of that...

The main new plot point is the discovery of...well, let's just say there was the bad practice of a mother that may have been another factor in the curse. Part of me thinks it's a cool twist, part of me thinks it just complicates the main aspect that I like: she's angry he husband killed her and wants revenge. There were many new characters introduced, and you see the woman's power to really mess with people's heads. There was really only one jump-scare that got me, but I think I'll chalk that up to having watched it so soon after the first. It can still be pretty creepy. 

Scare-O-Meter:

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5

[addicted2comics(:P)]

The Grudge 3 (2009/United States) Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Director: Toby Wilkins Writing: Brad Keene, Takashi Shimizu (film "Ju-On: The Grudge") Length: 90 min. Rating: R

Stars:
Matthew Knight as Jake
Shawnee Smith as Dr. Sullivan
Mike Straub as Orderly
Aiko Horiuchi as Kayako
Shimba Tsuchiya as Toshio
Emi Ikehata as Naoko

Plot:
A young Japanese woman who holds the key to stopping the evil spirit of Kayako, travels to the haunted Chicago apartment from the sequel, to stop the curse of Kayako once and for all and save a family who are currently being haunted by her malicious spirit.

My Thoughts:

One of my first thoughts watching this movie was that something in the rules of these ghosts changed ... before in the first movie (probably the second too, but I'm not sure) the spirits could only get you if you were in the dark. Once you reach light, they back off. No such rules here, they just seem to come whenever they want. Thought I'd point that out. 

So a lot of people die, and more people try to stop the curse ...that much all the movies had. What's unique here is the Kayako's sister showing up to perform a ceremony to actually get rid of her. As for what occurs there and my thoughts on it I shall leave in the spoilers.

(click to show/hide)

Stupid move #1: Refusing to go through with the ceremony that will get rid of the evil

Stupid move #2: Stopping in the middle of the ceremony because you don't want a little girl to drink what she has to drink to contain the spirit

I cannot stress how absolutely idiotic some parts of the movies are. If something can get rid of evil, do it and don't think twice. If it makes it worse,  deal with it later because stopping in the middle leads to...well, it leads to what happens towards the end. 

Between the three movies there is a fair amount of continuity and no one stands above the other, so I guess that's why it all seems like one big movie to me and why I gave them each the same rating.

Scare-O-Meter:

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5

[Tom]

Also, for self-satisfaction, I'm going to be watching Halloween episodes from various series that I loved or if I just thought the episodes themselves were very cool. (Meaning even if I hated a show, ie. Degrassi, I'll still watch a Halloween episode just because it actually turned out awesome. 

I'm still open to suggestions, but I'm planning on being pretty busy this month. Not even sure I'll fit this much in ... but tell me if I missed something major.[/i]  [/center]

Buffy had some great Halloween episode. Such as the one in second season (called "Halloween" as much as I recall), where everyone turned into what they wore as their costume. Or the one in fourth season called "Fear Itself", which was also fun. "Roseanne" also had some really great Halloween episodes.

[addicted2comics(:P)]

Buffy is a maybe.  I have the Roseanne Halloween DVD, but I probably won't count that for my marathon. I watch it every year since I got it, lolz. Though, you did remind me of some cartoon episodes I forgot, seeing as I also have a few Cartoon Network Halloween DVDs. Thanks!

[samuelrichardscott]

I highly recommend the original Grudge film, Ju-on. It's awesome.

[addicted2comics(:P)]

Yeah, as I said in my movies thread, it all depends on if I can gets my hands on the original and if I ever find the time to look it up if I can't. 

[addicted2comics(:P)]

Until The Day It Becomes A Pumpkin Ouran High School Host Club (Episode 21) Director: Tatsuyuki Nagai Length: 24 min. Rating: Rated PG-13

Stars:
Caitlin Glass as Haruhi Fujioka
Vic Mignogna as Tamaki Suou
J. Michael Tatum as Kyoya Ohtori
Todd Haberkorn as Hikaru Hitachiin
Greg Ayres as Kaoru Hitachiin
Luci Christian as Mitsukuni Haninozuka
Travis Willingham as Takashi Morinozuka

Opening:


Series Summary:
At the ultra prestigious Ouran High School, Haruhi Fujioka looks for a quiet place to read and walks into an unused music room, and accidentally stumbles across the notorious Ouran High School Host Club, a group of boys who entertain the girls of the school for profit. When Haruhi accidentally breaks an expensive vase belonging to the wacky Host Club, she is made to serve under them until her debt is paid off. Haruhi is soon made a Host, but in order to pay off what she owes, she must continue to allow the Host Club's customers to believe she is a boy.

Episode Plot:
Thanks to Renge's outburst, Ouran Academy is hosting a Halloween "Test of Courage" tournament where the first-year class is divided into teams who attempt to scare their opponents into submission. The losers are to be revealed in full cowardice on the school's newspaper! Haruhi was teamed up with the twins, but there is a lovesick coward who may need their assistance more than frights. Even with this new complication, there may also be a few extra players in this contest of fear!

My Thoughts:

This is actually one of my favorite episodes, alongside "The Door the Twins Opened", but I didn't really watch this out of favoritism. With a kind of prolonged start to my Halloween marathon and it being so late at night already, I thought I'd kick it off my getting one last breath of anime before diving into so many movies. 

One of the best things about the episode is that it's possibly one of the funniest episodes in the whole series. Tamaki making a fuss over Haruhi as usual. The new "'fraidy cat" character. An obvious "The Ring" reference, as shown by the chosen screencap. It was just really enjoyable. And while this episode didn't have an emotional backstory on one of the characters - which I kind of always enjoy - Kaoru contemplates the state of the Host Club, their current relationship, and ponders at what point people will start recognizing their feelings and change everything. Hence, turning their "carriage" back into a "pumpkin".

It's those little things that make me really appreciate the way the characters were written.  But that was only a couple scenes, so this episode is mostly just some awesome comic relief.
 

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5

[W0m6at]

That's a pretty "recent" list. No Universal Monsters, no Nosferatu, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde or Salem's Lot. I guess if you're going for scare factor, those don't really produce. An American Werewolf in London and The Howling are probably out too.

For scariness, I'd suggest two films by Neil Marshall - Dog Soldiers and The Descent - they have geniune scares, as well as the jump scares.

Possibly a bit old for you, and not sure how easy it is to get hold of Stateside, I'd recommend the BBC serial Quatermass and the Pit. I've not seen the Hammer remake, so can't comment on that one.

[addicted2comics(:P)]

I've already watched most of your universal monsters.  This marathon are mainly mainstream movies that I've never taken the time to watch. And a movie being old for me? I actually really enjoy Nosferatu! lolz

Actually, the list has grown pretty long. I'm going to stick with what I have because I'm not sure I'll be able to fit even this much in.

[W0m6at]

I've already watched most of your universal monsters. 

You're doing better than me then. 

[addicted2comics(:P)]

Paranormal Activity (2009/United States) Wikipedia |IMDb |Trailer | Paramount Home Entertainment (United States) Director: Oren Peli Writing: Oren Peli (Writer) Length: 86 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1 Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Katie Featherston as Katie
Micah Sloat as Micah
Mark Fredrichs as Psychic
Amber Armstrong as Amber
Ashley Palmer as Girl on Internet

Plot:
YOU DEMANDED IT and now the surprise hit critics call "one of the scariest movies of all time"* can be experienced in the most terrifying place of all... your home.

After a young, middle-class couple moves into what seems like a typical suburban house, they become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be demonic but is certainly most active in the middle of the night. Especially while they sleep.

Paranormal Activity builds suspense night after night all the way to the shocking ending. Roger Ebert calls it "truly scary."** Go ahead, WE DARE YOU TO WATCH IT AT HOME...at least you can leave the lights on.


*bloody-disgusting.com
**Roger Ebert, rogerebert.com, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Bonus Trailers
• Deleted Scenes
• Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:

I got around to watching the first Paranormal Activity movie....and, because I don't watch the horror genre that often, I find myself amazed at some of the people's stupidity. AKA, when a psychic tells you you need a demonologist and even goes so far as to recommend one to you, you freakin' call that demonologist!!! I swear, that is not a time for selfish pride....

Overall, the movie really seemed to drag. My father told me that most films designed to look like home movies like this one usually do, but I just think a little bit more background could have added to the suspense. Take "The St. Francisville Experiment" for example. It was the same design, but the background of pure torture of the spirits there added to the atmosphere. I'm not saying they should have totally copied that motive, but I think more could have done to make it a bit creepier and then maybe it would move a bit faster. There were a few good parts, one concerning a Ouija Board and another with Katie's "sleepwalking", so it was pretty enjoyable.

I took a look at both the theatrical and alternate endings, but I'll go more in-depth on my thoughts on those in the spoiler tags.

(click to show/hide)

The theatrical ending, while more frightening (it had the only jumpscare that earned a spot on the Scare-O-Meter), did not seem as realistic. Ok, I get that Micah's dead. But ... no one knows Katie's whereabouts? What am I expected to believe? She's dead and they never recovered the body? She is totally in the demon-world now? She's prowling around as a demon just randomly killing people? I don't know, I just don't get it....

Now, the alternate ending made more sense. It was less frightening, but made more sense where this type of haunting is concerned. Micah is killed and then the possessed Katie slits her own throat. Yes. Creepy, a little disturbing, and a definite ending (aside from where on earth the demon goes after that). Just think that, while its not as scary, it seems to fit better.

So yeah, both of the endings are worth looking into. Fairly creepy show. 

Scare-O-Meter:

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5

[Tom]

....and, because I don't watch the horror genre that often, I find myself amazed at some of the people's stupidity. AKA, when a psychic tells you you need a demonologist and even goes so far as to recommend one to you, you freakin' call that demonologist!!! I swear, that is not a time for selfish pride....

I haven't seen this movie, so I don't know the context of this, but when a psychic would tell me something in the real world, I wouldn't believe him/her a thing. And if he/she would recommend me a demonologist, I would think he/she is crazy.

[addicted2comics(:P)]

Ehh, I guess it's because I think I had a psychic ability when I was younger and a friend of mine was psychic. I'd definitely believe. Esecially if I was the one who saw enough weird things to call a psychic in the first place.