Halloween Movie Night #28 - Saw 6

Don't read this unless you've seen the first 5 Saw movies.

This is another one of my favorites in the Saw series. First of all, the story is well crafted and once again, as in Saw 3, the twist is cleverly hidden through misdirection. Second, who hasn't wanted to put an insurance adjuster through a horrific game like this?! Does this make me a bad person? Probably.

In Saw 6, an insurance adjuster who has denied the claims of dying people is put to the test in a grisly game - one of the final ones designed by the original Jigsaw. Hoffman is still trying to carry on John Kramer's legacy, but as with his copycat trap where he killed his sisters murderer, he is sloppy. He just doesn't have John Kramer's brilliance - which might speak about Kramer's intelligence given that he picked him (and Amanda). I guess even genuises make mistakes.

William Easton is an executive at an insurance company and he proudly tells John Kramer in flashbacks that he created a formula now used to deny or approve claims based on the candidates' probability for costing the company money. Liabilities are denied, of course.

"So basically," John sumarrizes, "You choose who lives or dies." Sound familiar?

William's test is less about him and more about people around him. As before with the father who's son was hit by a drunk driver, William must make choices with an eerie connection to his own proudly touted formula. People like his secretary, a young exec at the firm, the six people who pour through claims looking for errors, etc. Mean while, a mother and her son are in a cell watching, along with a reporter who has been covering (and some would suggest sensationalizing) John Kramer's legacy. How all of these people are connected isn't certain, except that they are all somehow related to William Easton.

Meanwhile, Mark Hoffman is starting to unravel. His sloppiness is beginning to get noticed by the FBI agents and it seems as though his framing of Peter Straum (the detective Hoffman killed at the end of 5) isn't working as planned.

We also find out more about John Kramer's story, especially through his wife. We find out what was in the box that John willed her after his death. We find out how much she actually knew about what John was doing. We even find out a little bit more about Amanda and what was in that letter she found shortly before dying in #3.

Yet, there is still so much left unanswered and I am excited to watch Saw 3D.

At the same time, I'm a little disappointed. 3D movies cost $5 more to see and since I've been reading that Saw 3D just isn't worth the extra money, I was planning to see it in traditional 2D, but there is only one theater showing it and it's too far to justify going by bus. I have been struggling with whether or not to see Saw 3D in theaters or just wait for it on DVD. I don't appreciate the producers of this movie forcing another $5 out of me for an already over-priced ticket.

Still, watching all the past movies this week, I am too excited about seeing the final chapter. I guess I have to make a choice, right? Live or die!..... er.....um.... rather.... See it in theaters or wait for Dvd...

Halloween Movie Night #27 - It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's a Halloween classic! What more can be said?

...I got a rock!

Halloween Movie Night #26 - Saw 5

Don't read this unless you have seen the first four.

Saw 5 is an entertaining movie, but it is all about Agent Hoffmann, the man who was revealed as Jigsaw's third helper at the end of the last chapter. Very little information is given about John Kramer, Amanda or Jill Tuck, Kramer's ex-wife. This chapter focused on Hoffmann's involvement in the entire story.

The backstory here reveals that Hoffmann was a partner with Jigsaw from almost the beginning. Seeking revenge for the death of his sister, Hoffmann sets up her killer and ex-boyfriend in a Jigsaw copycat device. Hoffmann's ability to make the crime scene look like a Jigsaw killing fools the police, but the sloppiness of the device pisses off Jigsaw and he confronts the vengeful brother. All of this is revealed through flashbacks while FBI agent Stramm unravels the truth about Hoffmann's involvement.

Meanwhile five victims are being tested in one of the last games of Jigsaw's design before his death. They are told at the beginning that they are all linked and discovering that link will help them win the game. This idea harkens back to the 2nd movie in more ways than one.

While I appreciated the explanations of how Hoffmann fit into the entire story, the lack of any more details about Jigsaw sends this chapter lower on the list for me. The twist is clever, but not nearly as much as the others were. We already know who the accomplice is, so there really isn't much of a surprise there, though there is a really clever twist, nonetheless.

Halloween Movie Night #25 - Saw 4

Don't read this unless you've seen the first three.

Jigsaw is dead. Amanda is dead. Yet, the story continues on. Someone is still out there trying to carry on Jigsaw's work. Apparently, Jigsaw knew that Amanda was going to blow it.

The great thing about this chapter in the Saw story is that we get a LOT more background on the villain himself. Before the cancer, before the suicide attempt, before his mission to teach people how to value their lives by putting them in horrific games, Jigsaw was in love. She was only hinted at in the last chapter, but now we found out more about John Kramer's wife. There is yet another layer of sadness in that story that drives John Kramer to don the mission of Jigsaw. We even witness his first ever game.

Saw 4 begins with an autopsy of John Kramer that is just as realistic and disturbing as the makeshift surgery in the last movie. When the check the contents of his stomach, a wax-covered mini tape is discovered and Detective Hoffmann is called in to hear it. Hoffmann is that character that was merely hinted at in the previous film.

The focus of this chapter, however, is on Lieutenant Rigg. He has been all the movies before, but in this one he takes center stage. Everyone around him is dying and he is now on a personal mission to hunt whomever is continuing the gruesome legacy that Jigsaw has left behind; even if it means ignoring protocol. The new Jigsaw sets up an elaborate game for Rigg, one that closely resembles the game from the last movie in that the player's choice effects the lives of other players.

Two new characters appear in this: two FBI agents are now on the case and they are convinced that Rigg is being recruited to continue Jigsaw's morbid legacy. All the evidence points to the fact that Rigg always seems to have a connection to the current list of victims. Is that a coincidence?

We also learn the fate of Detective Matthews who plays a more prominent role in this film again. He and Hoffman are set up in Rigg's game as well.

Though not one of my favorite chapters in the series, Saw 4 does offer some fascinating insight into John Kramer's past and introduces a more prominent figure for future chapters: his wife. It is never clear if she is an accomplice or merely an ex-wife as she claims. For me, this was the meatier part of the story.

Halloween Movie Night #24 - Saw 3

Don't read this if you haven't seen the first two Saw movies.

Story-wise, I think Saw 3 is one of my favorites of the Saw movies. It is a chilling character story and it answers a lot of questions all while raising even more. It also has one of the greatest misdirects ever in a movie!

At the end of Saw 2, we learned that Amanda is Jigsaw's protegee. She helped him orchestrate not only the game from that movie, but she also helped him set up the game from the first one. This chapter explains a lot more about her involvement in the Jigsaw story. He wants her to carry on his life's work.

But we quickly learn that John Kramer (aka Jigsaw) is always testing people, even those we think he may trust.

Saw 3 starts by giving us more information about Detective Matthews from Saw 2. At the end of that movie we saw him chained to a pipe in that fateful bathroom. This movie starts right where #2 left off. From there we are taken to another Jigsaw crime scene being investigated by detectives. Kerry, the confirmed expert on Jigsaw, is called to the scene and she worries that it's Matthews who is still missing. After finding out that the victim isn't him, she begins to realize that this "game" doesn't match Jigsaw's others. Thus far, his games have been escapable - Amanda is proof of that. But this latest test was performed behind a door that had been welded shut. There was no way for the victim to escape even if he had passed the test.

We also meet a new character: Mark Hoffmann. His screen time is short here, but his importance to the story will be huge later.

Later, Kerry is at home reviewing the tape from this latest victim when she herself is abducted and put in a trap. She is... well, I better not ruin what happens to her...

The story shifts to the focus characters of this movie. We a meet a doctor named Lynn and a man named Jeff. We learn that Jeff is still mourning the death of his son who was killed by a drunk driver. Jeff's test is one of forgiveness because he will soon face a witness to the accident who ran instead of testifying. He will face the judge who only sentenced the drunk driver to 6 months. Finally, he will face the drunk driver himself. In all the cases, those people's lives are in his hands. Can he find a way to forgive them and save them from the horrible deaths?

During all of this, the doctor is assigned with keeping a VERY ill John Kramer (Jigsaw) alive during Jeff's game. She is fitted with a gruesome collar that will blow her head off if Jigsaw's heart monitor flat lines. Using only crude tools, she has to perform an operation on his skull to relieve pressure on the brain. This is one of the most realistic surgeries ever performed on film, hands down.

Amanda is in this one, too. As the movie progresses, she gets more unhinged. Jealousy and anger still rule her life as though she has learned nothing from Jigsaw's tests. She clearly loves him, but these bitter emotions still get the best of her. She is there to keep Lynn in check, but at the same time, it's as though Amanda needs to be kept in check, too.

All of this builds to a pretty amazing conclusion and another twist... Well, more a series of twists. One of them relates to the misdirect that I mentioned earlier.

For all the horrific torturing these movies depict, there is quite a story being told. I'm probably a sick man for loving these movies as much as I do, but I swear it's all about the story! Much like a guy flipping through a porn magazine for the articles. I SWEAR!

Halloween Movie Night #23 - Jennifer's Body

Okay, I'm just going to say it: I really don't see the appeal of Megan Fox. I know straight guys really dig her. Apparently she's...I don't know...hot, or something? Whatever. I guess it's a straight guy thing and I just wouldn't understand. Although, I have found women attractive before (not that I wanted to have sex with them) and I just don't see the same qualities in Megan Fox that I have seen in those other women.

Maybe she's not my type?

I'm not that fond of her as an actress, either, though that's probably because the only other movies I've seen her in were the Transformers movies, the second of which was a waste of every living (and non-living) resource on this earth.

I hadn't heard anything good about Jennifer's Body. The reviews hadn't been favorable and a quick look at it on IMDB.com showed that it barely has a 50% rating. That's a failing grade in school and it's even worse for movies. When I saw that it was playing on HBO, though, I decided to have Tivo record it. So, I lose nearly two hours of my life. It's better than paying for a rental and THEN losing nearly two hours of my life.

I ended up liking the movie, though. First, it was written by Diablo Cody who also wrote Juno. People tend to either REALLY hate her stuff or REALLY like her stuff. I am definately the latter. This dark comedy shifts so quickly between witty dialogue and horiffic scenes that you almost catch yourself laughing at something truly gruesome. As with Juno, the success of Jennifer's Body lies with Cody's acerbic wit. For example, shortly after being run through the stomach by an oar, a character looks up and asks, "Got a tampon?"

Jennifer, (Megan Fox) is the victim of a sacrifice to Satan by a struggling indie-rock band. Unfortunately, they mistake her for a virgin and apparently when such a mistake is made, the result is demonic possession rather than hit records (though the band tends to do pretty well following the attempted sacrifice). Jennifer becomes a boy-devouring undead girl, preying on anything with two legs and a penis.

For me, the better performance in the movie came from Amanda Seyfried who sang her way through Mama Mia! but to me will always be the girl from Mean Girls who "like, must have ESPN or something!" One reviewer I read said she has eyes as big as an alien from Avatar and that is no joke! Frankly, I think she's much prettier (gorgeous, even) than Megan Fox. She's also a better actress.

Playing the boyfriend to Amanda's nerdy girl is Johnny Simmons who is pretty damn adorable. He was in the movie Hotel for Dogs and more recently in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Though none of the boys in the movie are given any real depth of character, Simmons' Chip at least has some. This movie, though, is all about the ladies. Thankfully, they at least gave this cutie some shirtless scenes.

Jennifer's Body was a pleasant surprise (and I gotta say that I never thought I'd say something like that).

Halloween Movie Night #22 - Saw 2

Part two of the horrific trilogy begins with a guy strapped into a venus-fly-trap-contraption set to snap shut on his head in 60 seconds unless he can dig the key out from behind his eye in time. This began the pattern of opening the movie with a death game, only this one was unrelated to the story.

Saw 2 tells the story of several people who wake up in a mysterious house that is leaking poisonous gas into their lungs. The antidotes are hidden around the house and each is hidden behind a different game - each one relating to a particular character's specific sin in life. One of the "players" in Jigsaw's twisted game is the son of a police detective who discovers his son's participation while trying to arrest Jigsaw. We discover that this is also a game for the detective - all he has to do is sit and talk to Jigsaw, while his son continues to breathe in the toxic poison. If he does this, Jigsaw promises that the boy will be found in a safe location, but can we really believe the promise of a serial killer?

Except Jigsaw isn't really a killer and one of his specific traits is that he doesn't lie.

Also interesting in this sequel is the promotion of a minor character from the first one - a drug addict named Amanda. She is the only known survivor of one of Jigsaw's games and she is back. Apparently she didn't learn her lesson the first time around, so she is one of the victims in the poison-infested house.

We don't really learn much more about Jigsaw in this movie, other than the fact that his cancer is really dragging him down. He's still as wry as ever, though. Still one has to wonder how exactly he's able to acomplish everything he does in his declining state...

One last joy for me about this film is the fact that Beverly Mitchell is in it. She played darling Lucy Camden on the hit TV show 7th Heaven and though there really isn't much for her to do in this - and she often just seems like Lucy Camden dying of poison - it was still cool to see her in this.

As with the previous installment, there is a twist that is pretty damn cool.

Halloween Movie Night #21 - Saw

I realize that most people in this world do not like the Saw movies. Yes, they are very gory, sick and twisted, but even my co-worker who loves that kind of stuff is sick of these movies. The reason I really like the Saw franchise is that they are really damn clever. The story that they keep telling with each new installment just keeps getting better and better. Even when the particular movie you're watching isn't the best in the series, it still has something to add to the overall story. For someone like me who is a writer, that's really fun.

Another thing I really like about the Saw movies is the villian Jigsaw. This villian will go down in history as one of the best. Much like the Ed Harris character from The Rock, Jigsaw has good intentions. Yes, he sets up these horrific "games" which are little more than glorified torture devices and forces his unwilling players to torture themselves in order to play. But there is one thing in common that all of Jigsaw's victims have in common: they are bad people. Jigsaw picks people who need to learn lessons about life - usually lessons about the values of life. As a man dying of cancer, John Kramer has learned to value life and by putting his victims in these horrible situations, he is trying to teach them to value theres. Or they die trying.

As they say repeatedly in the Saw movies, John Kramer (aka Jigsaw) never once kills anybody. He offers them a choice: live or die.

This first Saw movie finds two man (Dr. Lawrence Gordon and Adam) chained to pipes in a grungy bathroom. They soon learn that they must trust each other to figure out how to survive this game that has been thrust upon them. Through flashbacks, more information is given about Jigsaw, the man who is forcing them to play. Also, information is given about the two men and the lives they lead. We soon find out exactly why Jigsaw has chosen them to play his morbid game.

Soon into the game they find hacksaws and they figure they are to use them to cut through the chains. They realize, however, that the idea isn't to cut through the chains, but rather their feet. People assume that the hacksaws are what gave the movie its name. More accurately, I think the title Saw refers to the fact that the victims are always being watched. Jigsaw is always watching the game.

This is one sick movie, but if you can look past the gore, there's a really cool story being told. There is one hell of a twist that had everyone in the theater gasping once it was revealed. I still get excited when I get to that point in the movie. All the movies in the franchise have a "twist" to the plot revealed at the end, but few of them have had the impact as that first one.

I am re-watching all of these Saw movies this week because on Friday Saw 7 (yes, Saw #7) is hitting theaters in the 3D format. They actually filmed it in 3D, too... they didn't film it and then reformat it later - a trend that I find more disgusting than the gore in the Saw movies. I can't wait to see Saw 7 and my excitement grows with each Saw movie that I rewatch!

Halloween Movie Night #20 - Mostly Ghostly

I started to watch The Last House on the Left (a remake of a Wes Craven movie) today, but turned it off when it got to the brutal rape scene. It wasn't so much the rape scene that made me stop watching as it was the stupid story. There seemed to be no point to anything that any of the characters did, including the rape. I read the plot outline on wikipedia and discovered that the rape was merely a plot point to encourage revenge in the girl's parents. Revenge movies are not very original any more. So I stopped the movie, deleted it from Tivo and looked for another movie to watch.

Mostly Ghostly ended up being quite the opposite of the movie I started watching. It was funny at times and corny at others. Two kids named Nicky and Tara suddenly discover that no one is listening to them or can see them. They are, in fact, now ghosts. They encounter a boy named Max who is now living in their house. Max is a wannabe magician, despite the fact that his father would rather he be more into sports.

The three eventually discover that an evil ghost named Phear plans to release a bunch of evil spirits on the town and they are the only ones who can stop him. Nicky and Tara's parents tried before, but failed - though how they failed is never explained. Of course, Max will be able to succeed, so Nicky and Tara enlist him for the job.

So, while Mostly Ghostly won't win any awards for plot development or even for special effects or acting, it was a much better choice than the movie I started watching!

Halloween Movie Night #19 - The Covenant

The Covenant really did not get very good reviews. I happened to see it playing on FX and was able to record it, but as I looked at the wikipedia page, I began to wonder if I wanted to waste my time with it. What kept me interested in it was the concept of vulnerability bestowed on the warlocks in the story.

Four guys have been living in a Massachuttes town, so close that they are like brothers. Their families are direct descendents of witches that were around during the times of the Salem witch trials, so to protect themselves, they form a covenant to keep their powers hidden; though you wouldn't know it from the way the four boys use their powers in front of everybody!

What I liked about this idea was the fact that with the blessing of the powers also comes a curse: use the powers too much and you age prematurely. The powers are addictive and it is too easy to use them too much and age yourself too quickly. I love this idea! Vulerability among witches - at least like this - isn't something you see often in movies.

The conflict comes in the story comes from the revelation that there is a fifth family whose power is long-though gone since the Salem witch trials. Of course, we soon find out differently when a fifth warlock comes on the scene and challenges Caleb to his powers.

While The Covenant isn't a spectacular movie, it is definately of a better quality than say... certain movies and books about a vampire/wherewolf'/human girl love triangle. The acting is MUCH better, too. There are problems with the movie, but it's entertaining and offers an interesting angle on the magical powers of witches theme.

Halloween Movie Night #18 - Button, Button

Last year, Cameron Diaz and James Marsden were in a movie called The Box. It wasn't very successful, but it did draw attention to this long-forgotten (except by me) episode from the 80's version of the Twilight Zone. When I first saw the story back in the 80's called Button, Button it scared the crap out of me and the whole concept behind the story has stayed with me all these years.

A white trash couple, clearly desperate for money, are one day given a box with a glass dome on top of it. Inside the glass dome is a red button and accompanying the box is a note promising that a visitor will arrive the next day to explain things to them. An odd-looking man does indeed show up and explains to the wife that should they choose to push the button two things will happen. First, someone whom they do not know will die. Second, he will give them $200,000, tax free.

For days they agonize about what to do until finally the wife announces "I'm going to push it!" and she does. As promised, the strange man shows up with a briefcase full of money and...

As much as I am dying to spoil the ending, I just can't. It is much more effective when you watch the whole thing and experience it for yourself. Therefore, I will include the two parts of the episode for you to enjoy. You're welcome!





Okay, how AWESOME was that ending?

As for the 2009 expansion of this story, it was okay. The entire events of the TV episode happen within the first 30 minutes or so of the film. The rest of the film is dedicated to explaining who the man is and why he makes them the offer. It is full of special effects and creepy moments, but it is severely lacking in story and purpose. For me, the creepiest aspect to the story (and any horror movie, for that matter) is the NOT knowing and the movie completely ruins that.

This story isn't about why the strange man makes them the offer. The story is about why the couple makes the decision they do. Of course, the chilling last line of the TV episode is the perfect place to end the story. I am a firm believer in making the audience wonder and the TV show (as well as the Richard Matheson short story) does just that by not explaining anything beyond the stranger saying that he's going to give the box to another couple and give them the same offer - and it'll be someone that they don't know! How scary is that?!

Halloween Movie Night #17 - Hocus Pocus

I put a spell on you! For movie night #17 (Oh yes, I know I am severely behind schedule...) I watched Hocus Pocus while on a field trip. This is one of those movies that I just have to see every year. Between Bette Midler belting out the best version of "I put a Spell on you" to ever be recorded (though sadly never released as a single or on a soundtrack) to Kathy Najimy flying around town on a vacuum cleaner to Sarah Jessica Parker jumping up and down giggling "amok, amok, amok, amok" Hocus Pocus is just plain fun! The three actresses play the Sanderson sisters, a trio of witches who suck the lives from children to maintain a youthful appearance - think of a rather morbid fountain of youth. Sarah lures the children into the woods with a siren song, Mary gathers the ingredients for the potion and Winnie... er... um... reads the ingredients out of her beloved book. Well, Winnie is the leader so why should she have to do any work? After killing his sister, the witches face off against a boy named Thackery Binx who is cursed to live forever as a cat - forget about nine lives, this feline boy gets infinity - shortly before they are gathered by the townspeople and hanged. At the hanging, however Winnie cackles out a spell that promises to bring them back should a virgin ever light the black flame candle. Enter Max, the skeptic, played by the adorable Omri Katz. Believing the legends to be "Hocus Pocus" he lights the candle and summons the witches and chaos ensues. The sisters have one night to suck the lives from all the children or forever be ashes to ashes and dust to dust. The movie didn't do well when it first hit theaters, but it's become a cult classic since being released on DVD. Odds are you know someone who loves this movie... or that person is you! I definitely can't make it through October without hearing Better Midler singing the show-stopping musical number midway through the film.

Halloween Movie Night #16 - Rocky Horror Picture Show

Let's do the Time Warp again! I can't believe that this movie is only a couple months older than me! For its 35th Anniversary, The Rocky Horror Picture Show got a pretty decent face lift onto the high def blu ray format. I wish I looked as good. Is Rocky Horror the best movie ever made? No. It's campy fun that has developed into a cult hit phenomenon. Though it was a bomb at the box office when it first appeared in 1975, it found a new audience at midnight screenings and soon was developed the traditions of yelling things back at the screen, throwing props and people dressing up as the characters and performing up front right along with the movie. Though I have never actually been to a physical screening (Rocky Horror enthusiasts would call me a virgin), I know all about what goes on. I ended up buying the blu ray because they loaded it with a ton of campy extras. One thing missing from the blu ray (and the reason why I will keep my DVD copy) is the audio track featuring a recorded session of a midnight showing, complete with all the lines that have been traditionally excepted as Rocky Horror Picture Show viewing lines. The blu ray has a similar subtitle track with scripted lines you can shout, but it just isn't the same. Also included is a "prop box" with props you can select at the appropriate time - the digital ones promise to "save your plasma TV from getting ruined by messy props". Also, they auditioned performers who were filmed performing as characters which was made into a picture-in-picture option on the blu ray. As for the movie itself, it features Tim Curry as Frank 'n' Furter, a host to a stranded couple named Brad and Janet (Barry Bostwick and Susan Surandon). He has created a monster for himself, the title character Rocky. Frank is a little odd and so is the night that Brad and Janet are about to face. Rocky Horror is a campy musical horror film that is a LOT of fun to watch!

Halloween Movie Night #15 - The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

I decided to watch the classic Disney version of this Washington Irving story Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Has anyone else had difficulty finding a sympathetic character in this story? Ichabod is little more than a mooch who only dreams of marrying Katrina because she is rich and he wants the fortune she'll inherit. Brawn is little more than a bully who pushes his way into situations and self-appoints himself as the leader of a group. The object of their offection, Katrina, is a snobby rich girl who uses her looks and wealth to get whatever she wants.

Frankly, I wish the Headless Horseman would just get rid of all three of them.

Still, this is a classic tale and it's a fun tradition, despite the awful characters. I confess that I didn't watch the Mr. Toad portion of the 60-minute film and I'm probably missing out. If I have time, I'll watch it and blog about it, too.

Halloween Movie Night #14 - Frozen

I learned about the movie Frozen while looking up info about a writer/director that I like named Adam Green. He came on the scene with the incredible horror flick called Hatchet (a movie I just bought on DVD and plan to watch again very soon) and another one called Spiral - both movies that I very much enjoyed. When I saw that he had also made this one, I immediately wanted to get it and see it. Thankfully, I remembered that a co-worker mentioned having it so the next day I begged her to lend it to me.

The premise is simple, yet really scary: three college students spend a Sunday on the ski slopes and convince the ski lift operator to let them go up right before closing to get one last trip down the slopes. Naturally, they are overlooked as the crew shuts down the lift and they are left hanging in the middle of it.

Already it's pretty scary. I wouldn't call this a horror flick, really, yet it is pretty horrific to think about being left out on a ski lift over night - or two or three nights. I really can't say any more about the plot without giving things away, though I will say that elements of horror to pop up.

After watching the movie I found some reviews where people claimed that this movie does for skiing what Jaws did for swimming. Then I read another review which revised that claim and compared this more to Open Water than to Jaws. I'd have to agree more with the second observation. This movie is all about being stranded and alone and the feelings of hoplessness that surround that situation.

While I didn't find Frozen to be more exciting than Hatchet (which is a gruesome slasher movie that I can't wait to see again) Frozen does work. The characters are likable and you really care about them - that's the only way a movie like this can even begin to work. The performances were fantastic. Kevin Zegers came from the Air Bud movies and another fantastic movie called Trans America with one of my favorite actresses Felicity Huffman (and he was naked in that one!).

Emma Bell as Parker does a great job with her character - moving away from the "poor me" aspect typical of characters in this type of situation. Yet at the same time, she does a great job of making you worry about her and care about her outcome.

Throughout frozen, though, I kept getting distracted by how much Shawn Ashmore looks like Eric Dane, McSteamy from Grey's Anatomy. They must be related somehow!

I really did enjoy this movie. It moves a bit more slowly than some people may be able to take, but it's a good movie from a really great writer/director.

Halloween Movie Night #13 - Elvira: Mistress of the Dark

I decided to take a break from the gore and violence and watched Elvira: Mistress of the Dark tonight. I had planned on watching this before watching Night of the Living Dead on Elvira's revived TV show and was a little leary given how little I thought of her comments during that movie.

Make no mistake, Cassandra Peterson's film debut as her macabre character is campy, silly, riddled with sexual inuendo and it is a LOT of fun! I found myself laughing a lot more than rolling my eyes. Some of Elvira's one-liners were actually pretty good, even if the delivery was mostly cheesy.

The highlight of the film was Edie McClurg as the purity-driven leader of the town's mob that eventually gets poor Elvira burning at the stake. McClurg is the bubbly actress that I first remember seeing on the 80's show The Hogan Family as the... well... bubbly and often annoying neighbor Mrs. Poole. My favorite moment from that show (well, at least the one I remember with the most fondness) was a little cheer she once did: "Don't be a fool, dial P for Poole! Uh Huh! Uh Huh!" Cheesy, I know, but that's the kinda thing that usually gets me laughing. She was also in my favorite scene from Planes, Trains and Automobiles as the Marathon clerk with the priceless line to Steve Martin: "You're fucked!" Let's face it, the woman has done a LOT!

So tonight's movie was a lot of fun and a welcome break from the gore I've been watching lately. There is a sequel called Elvira's Haunted Hills which I hope to get and watch during my run of macabre Halloween movies.

Halloween Movie Night #12 - The Evil Dead

The Evil Dead is a creepy zombie movie that has a pretty strong cult following. Most of the reviews I read call it a classic and by all rights, it probably deserves that title.

Five college students end up at a decrepit cottage in the middle of nowhere and find themselves surrounded by trees that apparently really want them all dead. They find a book made from human skin and written with human blood and the journal tapes of its author who took his wife to the cabin to study...something.

One of the three women gets drawn out into the woods where she is stripped and raped by trees. No, I'm not kidding. This leads to her becoming possessed and attacking the other four college students. One by one they are attacked and transformed into possessed demons, though one of them ends up looking like a little girl who got into mommy's makeup.

It was pretty interesting that the three women were the first to transform and start harrassing the others. The two men are left trying to figure out what is going on and what to do about it. Some might make the claim that this movie is all about women being the weaker sex and therefore easier to possess, but I'm not going to try and read too much into this.

There were some creepy and extremely gory moments in the movie and, while I will probably check out its sequels and the movie I am Bruce, I probably won't be rushing to watch this original any time soon.

Halloween Movie Night #11 - The Hills Have Eyes 2

The Hills Have Eyes 2 is one of those sequels that was probably rushed into production after the success of the first one. It didn't add anything to the original story because none of the characters from the first film are even in it. What we have in this film is a weak plot and even weaker characters.

The movie opens with a massacre of scientists who are studying the area. Nothing is told about the survivors of the family from the first film. I guess we are just to assume that they are the reason that the scientists are there at all. One by one they are killed by the canibal mutants in the area.

My first big question about this movie was where in the hell did these mutants come from? All of the main mutants were killed in the first one. I guess this fact was an issue for the mutants from the sequel becuase they're whole point seems to be to rape women who happen on the remote area and force them to birth new mutants after which the women are killed.

We are barely introduced to the "Bad News Bears" version of a military unit who are assigned the mission of bringing supplies (I think) to the scientists. Naturally, they find that everyone is dead and soon, they start dying, too. The canibalistic nature of the mutants isn't addressed as much in this one. This time, they seem content on just throwing the men around in an effort to get to the two women that they want to rape.

I'd spoil more of the movie, but I doubt anyone should actually see it anyway. While the first film was extremely violent and gory, at least the story was interesting and the victims were given enough character traits to make their deaths of more concern. The military people in this sequel are so two-demensional that I doubt even re-releasing this in the 3D format would be enough to make them interesting. Oh crap, I'm giving them ideas, aren't I?

Halloween Movie Night #10 - Night of the Living Dead

I watched Night of the Living Dead as part of an 80's icon comeback. Remember Elvira? She is apparently making a return to her TV show Elvira's Movie Macabre and Night of the Living Dead was the first movie to be showcased.

I have seen Night of the Living Dead before and though it is responsible for the whole idea of zombies as we know it today, it's a pretty cheesy movie. I still don't know what the useless blond Debbie's whole point of being in the movie was. While Ben (Elvira calls him a "young Barack Obama") is busy boarding up windows and doors, Debbie just sits on the couch in a daze. When other characters enter the picture and start arguing, Debbie just sits on the couch in a daze. Every time someone notices her, they give her an odd look until someone explains "her brother died" as though that excuses her pointless existence. She even fades into the story with no real resolution to her character, though by that point I didn't really care.

I realize that Night of the Living Dead is a classic and I shouldn't be so hard on it since it was made in the 60's. Still, even Psycho, also made in the 60's manages to capture my attention more.

What may have ruined this viewing of the film for me was Elvira. She would pop on the screen every now and then with a Mystery-Science-Theater-style comment. At one point, Debbie picks up the phone to see if it's working and a bubble popped up with Elvira pretending to be on the other line. The gag was as unfunny and pointless as Debbie's existence in the movie.

Bookending the commercial breaks was a weak storyline about Elvira returning her basement studio to the look of a lair. While holding a can of dust, she explains that she's "dusting." She goes through a box of old props and makes stupid comments about things she pulls out. I'm guessing that since I never saw her show back in the 80's, I'm missing the point of her character. I did see her live show once at Knott's Scary Farm and I remember her jokes being funnier. For example, she commented that the rollercoaster Corkscrew was going to be removed from the park. Her insight was that "there would be no more screwing around at Knott's." It's cheesy, but it's funny and I still remember that joke to this day. Another joke I still remember was when she called her tits "Lethal Weapon 1 and Lethal Weapon 2".

Halloween Movie Night #9 - The Hills Have Eyes

Oh, man...

The Hills Have Eyes was sick on SO many levels! I probably should have watched this one during the day rather than at night.

A family is traveling through the desert in an SUV and a camper. They stop for gas at this creepy station and are given directions for a shortcut by the proprietor. Of course, this leads them to a dead end, a crashed vehicle and a menagorie of deformed cannibals.

The less said about this one the better.

I also have the sequel, but I'm not sure if I'm going to delve into that one. Several reviews of it indicate that it's pointless and not very good. This one was interesting, but MAN was it gory. I think my next Halloween movie will have to be a cute Disney one again! Seriously! Maybe I should start getting into the Halloweentown series.

Halloween Movie Night #8 - Where the wild Things Are

I have been wanting to see Where the Wild Things Are for awhile now. I didn't see it in theaters. I've actually never even read the book. I was trying to figure out how make it fit into my "Halloween movies" theme, hoping that the fact that the wild things looked like monsters would be enough to justify it.

So, it's not a horror movie with disemboweling crazies ripping people apart or a manic killer massacring people on a grand scale. It's not even about Halloween. But I think it fits anyway, because it's about wrestling with your inner demons. Max is a kid with a lot of anger issues and this adventure that he goes on in the movie shows him how distructive that kind of behavoir can be to the ones you love.

Besides, aren't inner demons just as scary as any of the ones dreamt up by Stephen King or Dean Koontz or Wes Craven? I just took a moment to speak to my inner demons and they informed me that I should not fear them, that they are my friends. I think that just reinforces my theory.

I enjoyed Where the Wild Things Are. It's not a splashy movie with explosions, nudity or car chases, but it's got a great message and cast and it was fun to watch.

I did a little research about Maurice Sendak, the author of the book and was excited to discover that he wrote and illustrated one of my favorite books from childhood: In the Night Kitchen. That is apparently one of the top banned books of all time because the kid in that is nude (with frontal shots) for much of the book.

As I read more about Sendak, I also learned that he came out of the closet in a 2008 article. Maybe that's why I was so into the book In the Night Kitchen when I was a kid. I keep hearing Maurice Sendak's name a lot during the holidays, too, because he disigned the costumes and sets for the local Pacific Northwest Ballet's annual Nutcracker Suite production. I still have never seen that either...maybe this year I'll check it out.

Halloween Movie Night #7 - A Nightmare on Elm Street

I don't think this one really needs an introduction. We all know Freddy Kruger. Tonight I watched the 1984 Wes Craven classic A Nightmare on Elm Street. It's not hard to understand why this movie has stood the test of time. Even by today's standards, the special effects they accomplished back then are pretty amazing. Did they even have CGI back then? I'm guessing most of what they did was practical by necessity.

Legendary Robert Englund brought to life one of cinemas scariest villians. It's a shame that they decided to "reboot" this series with a re-imagining of the story this year. A new actor took on the role of Freddy and, while I've read he did a good job, he just wasn't Englund. I think it would be like someone else playing Forrest Gump instead of Tom Hanks. I tried to rent the remake through Netflix, but they are required to put a month-long hold on the movie which means I won't be able to rent it until after Halloween. BOO!

Oh well, the classic is enough for me. You've got horror master Wes Craven, one hell of a creepy bad guy and.... ah yes.... Johnny Depp! *sigh*

Halloween Movie Night #6 - Trick 'r Treat

Tonight's Halloween movie was Trick 'r Treat. A friend who is reading my blog suggested a list of Halloween movies and specials and this one was on it. I happened to see it at Best Buy for $10 on blu ray and after reading some reviews (and seeing that True Blood's Anna Pacquin is in it) I ended up buying it. Thank you, Ryan! This movie was awesome!

So far the movies I have blogged about have been Disney fare, cute Halloween movies and specials that really pose not much of a threat. But Trick 'r Treat? This is the EXACT opposite of anything Disney (unless you count the horror or Eisner's last years, which come pretty close).

The film involves four stories with no real link except a kid wearing a burlap sack over his head and an orange jumpsuit. We never learn his name, but Wikipedia told me he is Sam. Okie dokie.

I can't even begin to explain the stories. Saying anything about them gives away the fun of experiencing them as they happen. Just know that they are sick, twisted, terrible and REALLY awesome! They are laid out in such a way that characters major to one story are shown in the background for others, to help establish the timeline. I love this kind of story telling where you see the same story from different vantage points.

On the blu ray's cover, there was a promise that this movie is "The best horror anthology in years." If it isn't, I don't know what is.

Halloween Movie Night #5 - Mickey's House of Villians

Tonight's Halloween special is Mickey's House of Villians and comes from the early 2000's when Disney had the show Disney's House of Mouse. The concept of the show was a showcase for Disney cartoon shorts, both old and new, with a small story-line running between them at Mickey's happening club, The House of Mouse. For those of you who were growing up in California, it was a lot like The KCAL Kids, which featured three kids running around Disneyland having adventures in between Disney cartoon shorts, only Disney's House of Mouse was all animated and featured newly produced shorts.

For this halloween dvd, Disney's villians take center stage and take over Mickey's club at midnight. Of course Mickey, with help from Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy, foil their plans, all while showing some classic and new halloween-themed cartoon shorts.

What I love about the House of Mouse concept was that people who are fans of lesser-shown Disney-animated characters might have a chance to glimpse them because Mickey's Club is popular with all of Disney's animated characters and Disney tried to show as many as they could during wide-angle shots.

I also love the classic cartoons shown in this Halloween DVD - Trick or Treat (featuring Witch Hazel who helps Huey, Duey and Louie trick back Uncle Donald in a spooky way) and the classic Lonesome Ghosts (where ghost hunter Mickey, Donald and Goofy are summoned to a haunted house to deal with some mischevous ghosts). There are also a couple newly produced cartoon shorts, including one that sounds like it was written by Dr. Seuss in which Mickey deals with a mechanical house of horrors! Another called "How to Haunt a House" shows "dearly departed" Goofy trying his best to teach the audience how to be a haunt, only Donald won't cooperate. I love this return to the classic "how to" Goofy cartoons. Also enjoyable, is the fun little song that the villians sing as they take over Mickey's club.

Halloween Movie Night #4 - SNL Halloween Special

Tonight's halloween special was a look back at the years when Saturday Night Live was fun to watch. Okay, that's not fair - it's sometimes fun to watch current episodes (I have higher than normal hopes for Jane Lynch hosting this weekend), but these sketches all came from the years better SNL years.

Hosting the special were Wayne and Garth, bookending the special with top ten lists. The skits varried from spoofs on The Twilight Zone to a gay vampire starring John Travolta. Like a typical SNL show, the skits were hit and miss - and they often ran too long past the initial joke.

Chris Farley made an appearance as the motivational speaker Mike (you know, the guy who lives in a VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER!) trying to teach a couple of unruly teens how inappropriate it is to pull Halloween pranks.

Another classic was Anna Gasteyer as Martha Stewart, giving advice on how to fashionably toilet paper and ex husband's house. Hilarious. And of corse, the opening skit featured Landshark, the classic bit where Gilda Radner is afraid to open the door as 2am on Halloween Night. "Unicef man? Oh, well that's different!" LANDSHARK!!

For me, the worst skit of the special was Adam Sandler (as himself) with halloween costume ideas. With such ideas as "crazy man with a pickle for an arm" or "crazy eye man" it's hard to understand why the audience was actually laughing. It's probably just me. I've never really been a fan of Adam Sandler's humor. I know most everyone thinks that he is hilarious, but is it really comedy when the funniest line in the skit is at the end when Kevin Neelon takes out a cigar, holds it up to his chin and says "Hey! I'm crazy cigar-chin guy" and Sandler says "Once again you topped me again, Neelon!" It just isn't very funny to me.

Halloween Movie Night #3 - Pornography: A Thriller

Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking: is this movie really about what the title suggests?

Yep. It is.

It was one of those odd movies that was suggested to me on Netflix; one of those "based on your interest in these movies, we think you'll like..." kind of suggestions. It arrived in my mailbox on Saturday and since the word "thriller" was in the title, I figured it would work in my Halloween tradition.

Pornography: A Thriller (2009) is told in three acts.

The first part deals with the last days of a gay porn star who disappears around the time that he's trying to get out of the business. He is offered a private "job" for $40,000 and he realizes that this may be his last chance to get out of pornography for good, so he takes it.

Fourteen years later, the second part of the movie continues. Michael is a writer who is working on a book about the history of gay porn. In his research he comes across the name of Mark Anton (the gay porn star from the first act) and little by little, he starts to learn more about the horrible truth surrounding Mark's disappearance.

The third act deals with a porn star named Matt, who looks an awful lot like Sylar from the TV show Heroes. He apparently dreams the first two acts and hammers out a script for a "thriller porn" that he wants to direct. He takes the idea to his porn company and they agree to let him direct if he stars in it. As he begins the process of filming, he finds out that there really was a porn star named Mark and he gets finds himself getting deeper into the mystery.

Reviews I read compared this movie to something by David Lynch and it basically is. The story is confusing, the ending is bizarre and the reality in the movie is ridiculous. Also, there is a lot of male nudity.

I'm not sure I fully understood what the movie is about or, for that matter, what really happened. The events at the end really don't clear anything up - much like a David Lynch movie. The production value of the movie is far superior to other low-budget movies I've seen, but it carries with it the stink of pretentiousness.

Halloween Movie Night #2 - Mr. Boogedy

For Halloween Movie night #2, I take a nostalgic look back on my childhood. Back in 1986, Michael Eisner revitalized the Disney movie night by hosting original made-for-TV Disney movies on (if I remember correctly) Sunday nights.

One of my favorite of those movie events involved a movie called Mr. Boogedy (1986). Eisner's introduction to the movie showcased the wizards of special effects and I remember several items from his desk floating up into the air.

Well, I was doing some exploring on the internet yesterday and discovered that someone had made a torrent file of a DVD they made of not only Mr. Boogedy, but its sequel, Bride of Boogedy. Naturally I was VERY excited, since I hadn't seen the movie in years. After 12 long hours, I had the complete file downloaded and was able to burn a copy of the DVD.

Tonight I had a rare Saturday field trip (the pay for Saturday trips is overtime pay, so they are a literal gold mine!) so I took my laptop with me so I could recapture a small piece of my childhood. For some reason, I remember Mr. Boogedy being a longer movie, but it only clocked in at around 45 minutes.

The story tells of a family moving to a creepy old house in a very devilishly named town. Soon, they are hearing evil laughing, creeky steps and... someone sneezing. Despite a not-so-subtle warning from their Realtor, they stay in the house and are soon

There are some surprisingly big names in this movie. John Astin (best known for playing Gomez Addams on the Addams Family TV show) has little more than a cameo in the movie (But OH what a role it is!) and some funny, if not corny, moments.

80's teen star Kristy Swanson stars as the family's oldest child and she delivers some dated pop culture lines such as "I bet nobody hear has even heard of Bruce Springsteen!".

As the youngest child in the family is Benji Gregory, best known for his role as the son on the TV show ALF. As I remembered from watching this as a kid, he was pretty adorable.

The biggest surprise that hit me tonight as I watched Mr. Boogedy was the fact that the middle son was played by none other than a VERY young David Faustino best known for his role as Buck on the TV show Married With Children. I never realized that until tonight - probably because we weren't allowed to watch Married with Children when we were kids. Oh, how deprived we were!

Mr. Boogedy provides some VERY corny, but great Halloween fun. If you are lucky enough to find a copy of it, enjoy!

Halloween Movie Night #1 - The Scream Team

It has become a tradition for me to watch a Halloween or Horror movie every night during October, but this will be my first year blogging about it.

For Night #1, I chose a movie called The Scream Team (2002). I had recorded the movie on Tivo last year, but never watched it, so I killed two birds with one viewing - I watched the movie and made room on my usually full Tivo.

There were some well-known actors in the movie, my favorite being Kathy Najimy from Sister Act fame. Her part wasn't huge in the movie, but she was, as always, funny. Eric Idle played an aging ghost (is that even possible?) and comedian Tommy Davidson played his sidekick.

The story involves a brother and sister who arrive at a town plagued by a pyromaniac ghost who died 300 years ago. Their grandfather has recently passed away and they quickly discover that his spirit hasn't moved on. Worse still, their grandfather is kidnapped by this pyromaniac ghost and his soul is used to help fuel the revenge the pyromaniac ghost is seeking for his sullied bad name in the town.

It was a goofy yet very cute movie.