Topic: Addicted2DVD's Month Long Horror/Halloween Marathon

[addicted2dvd]

With Halloween being my all-time favorite holiday... I like to celebrate it all month long. So every year at this time I have a month long horror / Halloween marathon. I normally set a goal for myself... but I just can't do that this year... as i have so much to do at this time. But I do still plan on watching both horror movies as well as horror and Halloween themed TV Show episodes.

I just hope I get a chance to watch a nice selection!

“Bloody Mary... Bloody Mary... Bloody Mary."

[addicted2dvd]

Initiation of Sarah (1978/United States) IMDb |Trailer | Director: Robert Day Writing: Don Ingalls (teleplay), Carol Saraceno (teleplay)) Length: 98 min. Rating: Rated NR Video: Full Screen 1.33:1

Stars:
Kay Lenz as Sarah
Shelley Winters as Mrs. Erica Hunter
Tony Bill as Paul Yates
Kathryn Grant as Mrs. Goodwin
Morgan Fairchild as Jennifer Lawrence
Morgan Brittany as Patty Goodwin

Plot:
Sarah's (Kay Lenz) a shy co-ed with a shocking secret. While her outgoing sister (Morgan Brittany) easily gains entry into the most popular sorority, Sarah is cruelly rejected, soon finding a place for herself in one of the college's more bizarre sororities. When the facts are revealed about Sarah's frightening gifts, she must use her own dark powers to save herself.

My Thoughts:

This is a TV Movie from 1978 that I found early this morning on On-Demand to start off my yearly Month Long Horror Marathon. I have found that I really enjoy the TV Movies from the '70s... and have several in my DVD collection. This one is obviously a rip off of Carrie... only instead of set at a high school prom it is set in a college sorority during Hell Week. I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Would love to add it to my collection... but unfortunately this one was never released on DVD (though the remake with Summer Glau was). Though I do hope to eventually add it (as well as the remake) to my collection eventually.

While this is an obvious rip-off of Carrie (girl with psychic and telekinetic powers)... they did change it up a little... and I am not just talking about the change from high school to college. But they also added the Shelley Winters character who plays the house mother for Sarah's sorority who also happens to be a witch. Anyway... this is one I definitely recommend. Especially if you are like me and enjoy the older TV Movies.

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5

[Jimmy]

Would love to add it to my collection... but unfortunately this one was never released on DVD (though the remake with Summer Glau was). Though I do hope to eventually add it (as well as the remake) to my collection eventually.

Look what I've found for you Pete

Scream Factory TV Terrors (The Initiation of Sarah & Are You in the House Alone?)

[addicted2dvd]

Believe it or not I searched Amazon and couldn't find it for some reason.

[addicted2dvd]

Roseanne: Halloween Edtion Most TV shows celebrate the holiday season with warm & fuzzy Christmas specials. But for the cast, crew and creators of ROSEANNE, the year's best celebrations always belonged to Halloween. In these seven classic episodes, the Conners unleash tricks and treats on one of the greatest sitcoms In television history: BOO! - In this Emmy®-nominated fan favorite, the Conners kick off a family tradition with a night of increasingly outrageous pranks. TRICK OR TREAT - When Roseanne wears a lumberjack costume, she learns a few hilarious lessons about 'real' men. TRICK ME UP, TRICK ME DOWN - Jackie flirts with a moose, Roseanne pranks the new neighbors and George Clooney guest stars. HALLOWEEN IV - Having lost her holiday spirit, Roseanne is visited by the ghosts of Halloween past, present and future. HALLOWEEN V - It’s Halloween night at the diner, but the real shocks are about to come from some very unexpected places. SKELETON IN THE CLOSET - A Halloween party at The Lunch Box brings out Leon’s gay friends as well as Bev’s hair-raising secret. HALLOWEEN: THE FINAL CHAPTER - Ed McMahon and Sarah Chalke guest star when Roseanne’s ouija board delivers the most unexpected news of all.

Stars:
Roseanne as Roseanne Conner
John Goodman as Dan Conner
Laurie Metcalf as Jackie Harris
Michael Fishman as D.J. Conner
Sara Gilbert as Darlene Conner

My Thoughts:

It is strange... some reason this has every Halloween episode except one on it. The only one missing is where they did the whole Rosemary's Baby thing concerning Darlene's baby. I believe that was the last season. Maybe Roseanne was still airing when this disc was released? Anyway this is a very good disc. I like having a lot of the Halloween episodes all in one place. I always liked this series and the Halloween episodes were always my favorite of the series. You can tell they really had a lot of fun making these episodes. Highly Recommended!

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5

[addicted2dvd]

The Hollow (2004/United States) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer | First Look Home Entertainment Director: Kyle Newman Writing: Hans Rodionoff (Writer) Length: 83 min. Rating: Rated R : Some Scary Images and Sexuality Video: Widescreen 1.78:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo Subtitles:

Stars:
Kevin Zegers as Ian
Kaley Cuoco as Karen
Nick Carter as Brody
Ben Scott as The Headless Horseman
Stacy Keach as Claus Von Ripper
Judge Reinhold as Carl

Plot:
Restless spirits stir this Hollow's Eve, beckoning Ian Cranston (Kevin Zegers, Dawn of the Dead), the last blood relative of Ichabod Crane, back to Sleepy Hollow. Thundering hooves unleash a wave of bone-chilling screams as the ghost of the Headless Horseman rides again! Ian must try to save the town and his girlfriend, Karen (Karley Cuoco, "8 Simple Rules") and determine wheather the sword-wielding stalker is their clownish classmate, Brody (Nick Carter, Backstreet Boys) in costume, or the dark rider himself. If it's truly the Headless Horseman...how do you kill what's already dead?

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Feature Trailers
• Bonus Trailers
• Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:

I got this DVD 6 years ago mainly because it stars Kaley Cuoco (Penny on The Big Bang Theory)... and I enjoyed this film so much that I have watched it every year for my October marathon since getting it! Well to be fair... I always enjoyed the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. And the fact that it has someone I know from weekly TV series is always a bonus. In this particular film the movie takes place in present day... which is nice change of pace for the story (well we do have the TV Series now.. but...). Recommended!

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5

[Dragonfire]

I got this last year but haven't watched it yet.  I need to watch it this year.

[addicted2dvd]

Ginger Snaps (2000/) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer | Director: John Fawcett Writing: Karen Walton (Original Material By), John Fawcett (Original Material By), Karen Walton (Screenwriter) Length: 108 min. Rating: Rated NR : Graphic Violence and Adult Situations Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo Subtitles: None

Stars:
Emily Perkins as Brigitte
Katharine Isabelle as Ginger
Kris Lemche as Sam
Jesse Moss as Jason
Danielle Hampton as Trina
Peter Keleghan as Mr. Wayne

Plot:
Ginger and Brigitte, two sisters trapped in suburbia, are obsessed with mayhem, torture and death until they get a taste of the real thing. Bitten by wild animal, Ginger begins to mutate into a sexy, uncontrolled woman, with some nasty canine tendencies. Is it virus? Is it a curse? Or the first step towards becoming a vicious werewolf!

Intelligent, inspired and truly terrifying, this award-winning horror film makes you look at raging teenage hormones in a shocking new way!

Extras:

• Feature Trailers

My Thoughts:

I originally heard of the Ginger Snaps movies when a good friend of mine started raving about them to me. I told her I couldn't wait to check them out and the next thing I knew she had given me all three of them for my birthday that year. It is one of those independent movies that you go into it not expecting too much but then you are pretty much blown away by it. Sure... some of the effects aren't as great as they could be if this movie had the budget of a blockbuster movie... but it looks like they did a very good job with what they had. It looks like they used the bulk of the effects budget for the end of the movie... using effects sparingly until then... which really seemed to work well for them. This movie also don't follow all the rules of Werewolves that Hollywood put into place. Of course there is nothing wrong with that. There is one downside... that is the portrayal of the sisters mother played by Mimi Rogers. Which is surprising to me as I normally like her in the things I have seen her in. But this time... not so much. But it could have been more the character then her performance. As she seemed more annoying then anything. But over-all this is a very good movie. Definitely recommend checking it out.

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5

[addicted2dvd]

   
The Big Bang Theory

The Middle Earth Paradigm
Leonard discovers "hobbit" is the wrong costume to wear to Penny's Halloween party when her ex-boyfriend shows up. Also, Sheldon is not a zebra.

The Good Guy Fluctuation
Scares are everywhere as Leonard admits to Priya that he's attracted to someone else, and Sheldon pulls a slew of Halloween pranks on his friends.

The Holographic Excitation
The gang celebrates Halloween at Stuart’s comic book store. Meanwhile, Leonard seduces Penny with science.

My Thoughts:

I just finished watching all three Halloween episodes of The Big Bang Theory. I thought they were all a lot of fun. It is really hard to pick a favorite out of the three. But if I had to... I would probably go with the first one. It is a shame that there isn't more Halloween episodes for this series.

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5

[addicted2dvd]

The Monster Squad: Two-Disc 20th Anniversary Edition (1987/United States) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer | Lions Gate Entertainment Director: Fred Dekker Writing: Shane Black (Writer), Fred Dekker (Writer) Length: 82 min. Rating: PG-13 Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
André Gower as Sean
Robbie Kiger as Patrick
Stephen Macht as Del
Duncan Regehr as Count Dracula
Tom Noonan as Frankenstein
Brent Chalem as Horace

Plot:
You know who to call when you have ghosts, but who do you call about monsters? Whether it's a bat in your belfry or a mummy in your microwave, THE MONSTER SQUAD ain't afraid of no ghouls!

Count Dracula has until midnight to retrieve an ancient amulet that will give him final control over the delicate balance between good and evil in the world. To help him, the creepy count calls on some old friends: the weird Wolfman, grotesque Gill-Man, mildewed Mummy and freaky Frankenstein. As the ghoulish group gets closer to the amulet, it's up to THE MONSTER SQUAD, headquartered in the local tree house, to pool its questionable resources and stop the monster mayhem!

Extras:

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

My Thoughts:

I felt like watching something that is just plain fun next. So I pulled out The Monster Squad. This one is an old favorite of mine. Always good for a few laughs... the lines "the Wolfman has nards!" and "Well Steve... but he doesn't count!" gets me laughing every time I watch this movie. I like how they have most all the classic monsters in this movie. They made the story fun and interesting at the same time. This movie would make a good introduction for kids that are curios about horror movies. If by chance you never seen this movie I would definitely recommend it to all.

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5

[Achim]

Ginger Snaps (2000/)

My Thoughts:

I originally heard of the Ginger Snaps movies when a good friend of mine started raving about them to me. I told her I couldn't wait to check them out and the next thing I knew she had given me all three of them for my birthday that year. It is one of those independent movies that you go into it not expecting too much but then you are pretty much blown away by it. Sure... some of the effects aren't as great as they could be if this movie had the budget of a blockbuster movie... but it looks like they did a very good job with what they had. It looks like they used the bulk of the effects budget for the end of the movie... using effects sparingly until then... which really seemed to work well for them. This movie also don't follow all the rules of Werewolves that Hollywood put into place. Of course there is nothing wrong with that. There is one downside... that is the portrayal of the sisters mother played by Mimi Rogers. Which is surprising to me as I normally like her in the things I have seen her in. But this time... not so much. But it could have been more the character then her performance. As she seemed more annoying then anything. But over-all this is a very good movie. Definitely recommend checking it out.

I caught Ginger Snaps by chance on TV one night and was blown away. It's an awesome film, which makes us realize very slowly that we are actually watching a werewolf flick (it could almost be considered a spoiler to say that...?). It's obviously a story about puberty, just that we are used to see this kind of films with boys, not girls.

I have never seen the sequels, are they worth seeking out? I wish there'd be a Blu-ray, so now I am not sure if I should wait or go for the DVD

[Jimmy]

I have never seen the sequels, are they worth seeking out?

Yes they are. It's one of the rare case where the three films in a trilogy are as good.

One advice, go for the french canadian releases as they are loaded with extras (I could even suggest to you to douple dip of the first one, but the special edition is costly). Don't worry they are english friendly, but there is no english subtitles or captions.

Ginger Snaps 1, 2 and 3.

I highly doubt they will be release on blu-ray soon, Lion's Gate own them and they don't really care about their movie catalogue.

[addicted2dvd]

As Jimmy said... definitely recommend all three.

[Achim]

There is a release for the Trilogy available on Amazon UK, which is apparently cheaper (£13.99) than if I get even just 2 and 3 from Canada. It says Special 3-Disc Collector's Edition on the cover and according the rating logo it's not a UK release (maybe Ireland, maybe somewhere else). Here's a link.

EDIT:
According DVD profiler it's a Dutch release...?

[Jimmy]

The price is lower but you'll miss all the extras. This a comparaison between the canadian and dutch version.