HF: Happy Halloween!

I watched almost everything I wanted to watch this year. The only major miss that I wanted to revisit was 1994's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. As for my 1999 retrospective, I added 17 more titles through HF. I couldn't get The Rage: Carrie 2 or End of Days. I wasn't going to re-watch Virus, and I watched Idle Hands and Ravenous in previous years. I will be watching Jawbreaker again before the end of the year. Can now safely say I've seen all the horrors of 1999. There were also five 2024 titles I had wanted to include: Late Night With the Devil, In a Violent Nature, Oddity, Exhuma, and The Substance. I'll get around to them. Saving anniversary watches of Black Christmas and Gremlins for the holidays.

ABIGAIL

(Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett, 2024)

This was my Halloween night viewing. I saw this back in April and enjoyed it, and figured it would be a good film for Halloween night. Funnily enough, despite my horror obsession, I don't typically watch a movie on Halloween night. Usually only if the holiday falls on the weekend. A group of strangers is hired to kidnap the ballerina daughter of a high profile criminal and hold her hostage in a desolate manor. Unbeknownst to them, the girl has some secrets of her own. Fun, bloody, with a terrific ensemble playing well of each other, it's closer in tone to the directors' Ready or Not than their Scream films. The final act does run a little long, but there is a perfectly cast cameo at the end. With Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, and Alisha Weir. GRADE: B+

THE BEAST WITHIN

(Alexander J. Farrell, 2024)

A young girl finds the reason her family lives in an isolated area in the middle of the English wilds has to do with her father and his monstrous transformation that occurs at night. Uninvolving yawn of a take on the werewolf lore, hopefully the upcoming Wolf Man is a fresher spin because this had very little new to offer. Kit Harrington was almost naked, so there's at least that. Very little else. GRADE: C-

THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI

(Robert Wiene, 1920)

This replaces Metropolis as the earliest movie I've ever seen. From a design perspective, this has more inventive production design than most modern movies. It feels like its own world, but you can see the influence among a handful of modern filmmakers. A man tells the story of how he encountered a doctor and his somnambulist which led to the murder of his friend. (I did not know what a somnambulist prior to this.) Twists abound, but I was a bit taken aback by the score. I watched the version with a 2014 score, and it sounded a little too jazzy. I expected something a bit more ominous and foreboding. That threw me off a little, but I definitely want to check out more German Expressionist cinema. GRADE: B+

CUCKOO

(Tillman Singer, 2024)

A teenager (Hunter Schafer) takes a job at a resort in the German Alps where here father and stepfamily are staying. At night, she becomes entangled in the sinister goings-on in the isolated area. The reveals of the film's second half go to deranged places though I felt some of it didn't entirely work. The scene with Gretchen riding her bike at night was intense, so Singer does know how to stage some thrilling sequences. Did we need a shootout, though? Schafer and the supporting cast - including Dan Stevens, Jessica Henwick, and Marton Csokas - are good. GRADE: B-

DIABOLIQUE

(Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1955)

French shocker about the wife and mistress of a boarding school headmaster who team up to kill him. A detective shows up to figure out what happened putting the wife's fragile heart in jeopardy. I saw the remake of this back in '96 and was surprised how much I remembered of it. That was almost a beat by beat remake up until the ending. Simone Signoret and Véra Clouzot play well off of each other, the former being stylishly iconic and oozing sex appeal. Kinda eerie the latter died of a heart attack five years after this came out. With Paul Meurisse. GRADE: B+

I SAW THE DEVIL

(Kim Jee-woon, 2011)

After the murder of his wife, a secret agent plays a bloody game of cat and mouse with a sadistic serial killer. Their violent confrontations grow increasingly out of control. A very different take on the hunt-for-the-killer movie in which the good guy gets the bad guy but then deliberately lets him go to wear him down. Stylish directing and great cinematography, it'll please fans of both standard serial killer thrillers and the hardcore gorehounds. Ultimately, it does run a little too long, but watching Lee Byung-hun (so hot!) and Choi Min-sik spar is a sick, twisted pleasure. GRADE: B+

OPERA

(Dario Argento, 1987)

After the leading lady is hit by a car, a young woman becomes the new, acclaimed lead of a production of Verdi's "MacBeth" just as a killer goes on a rampage. I figured this would involve a more supernatural storyline, but it was a fairly straight forward slasher. Plus, ravens! The film's needles-keeping-the-eyes-open bit the killer does was pretty cool. I don't think any other film has ever replicated that. It seems like something another film would've copied. The kills are good, and the production design was top notch. Was I the only one thinking about Sound of Music during the last scene? That had to be intentional, right? With Cristina Marsillach and Ian Charleson. GRADE: B+

TWO EVIL EYES

(Dario Argento & George Romero, 1991)

Horror legends teamed up for this duology that pays tribute to several short stories by Edgar Allen Poe. Romero directed the first story; Adrienne Barbeau plays a former flight attendant attempting to bilk an old rich man out of his estate before his death with the help of a swarthy lawyer (Ramy Zada, so hot!). Argento does the second story where Harvey Keitel plays a seedy photographer who has an unhealthy hatred of his girlfriend's black cat. I preferred the first story, but neither fully works. Good performances, but the stories are just a little too slight even each only running about an hour. I did enjoy the various references to Poe. GRADE: C+

WISHMASTER

(Robert Kurtzman, 1997)

Another "Wes Craven presents...", but in this one he's actually credited as an executive producer. Saw this when it came to VHS in the late 90's and haven't seen it since. I think it the sequels are on PlutoTV. I had intended to watch the franchise this year, but didn't get around to the sequels. Enjoyed this when I first saw it, but figured it would be another "well, this actually sucked". Turns out I still kinda like it. It's not good, exactly, but it is fun with some good makeup effects and lots of cameos by horror icons. A djinn is unleashed in Los Angeles and it's up to a gemologist to stop him. Straight forward "Be careful what you wish for!" horror/fantasy with creative kills, though I wish Andrew Divoff as the titular genie gave a bit of a stronger performance. It's crazy how much he looks like the Creeper from Jeepers Creepers. With Tammy Lauren and Robert Englund. Jenny O'Hara is an absolute hoot as a folklore professor. GRADE: B-

Some anniversary re-watches...

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

(Wes Craven, 1984)

Happy 40th! I don't actually recall when I first saw this, in fact I think I may have seen New Nightmare before it. The film that saved New Line and gave horror audiences one of its most beloved icons, it still works four decades later. Heather Langenkamp plays Nancy, a high school student who begins having nightmares about a burnt maniac named Fred. When Fred kills you in your sleep, he kills you for real. I was born the year before this came out, and it's hard to tell young audiences just how massive Freddy was back in the day. Sequels, parodies, pop culture references, Will Smith songs, and a perennial costume for youngsters, Freddy owned the mid-late 80's/early 90's. The original holds up thanks to Craven's skill, a relatable final girl, Johnny Depp looking like a dream, the memorable kills, and of course Robert Englund's performance. Worth noting that the film is situated firmly in Craven's oeuvre between the themes of dissolution of the American family and the line between reality and fantasy blurring. GRADE: A-

WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE

(Wes Craven, 1994)

Craven never blurred the line between reality and fantasy as much as he did with his meta-reimagining of the franchise he started. Heather Langenkamp plays herself, an actress facing earthquakes, a stalker, and a child who is battling nightmares. When a new Nightmare on Elm Street is put in development at New Line, she's forced to face Freddy Krueger in the real world. I'm not sure this was the first meta horror film, but even after 30 years it's still the most. People involved in the production of the original film - both in front of the camera and behind it - appear as themselves. The film probably runs about 10 minutes too long, but it delivers some splendid sequences. Can we also just acknowledge that Heather was an absolute smokeshow in this? GRADE: B+

The last of the 1999 stuff...

THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT

(Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sánchez)

The other seminal horror film released in the summer of '99, Blair wasn't the first found footage horror movie but it was the one that helped reinvent the genre. It was the also the first film to really use the internet as a way to market a film. Three film students go missing in 1994 in the deep woods of Maryland while investigating a local legend involving a witch. A year later, their footage is discovered. 

We watch as three stereotypical Gen X-ers smoke, swear, argue, get lost, start to lose their sanity, and ultimately vanish with only the footage as the trace of what happened. It's probably the most divisive film in horror - or even non-horror - history, but I was always on its side. I grew up going camping, and staying in cabins deeeep in the wilderness and know how unsettling those environs can be particularly at night. I also love how much it utilizes folklore - even completely made up - to tell its story. With Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Michael C. Williams. GRADE: A-

SLEEPY HOLLOW

(Tim Burton)

Johnny Depp stars as Ichabod Crane, who in 1799 is sent to the small town of Sleepy Hollow to investigate the beheadings of several people rumored to be caused by the ghostly legend The Headless Horseman. This is a jaw dropper of a gorgeous film. It might be one of the ultimate Fall Vibes movies. The cinematography, costumes, and production design (all Oscar-nominated, the art direction won) are some of the best of the era. The script, however, needed some work. I think it should also be acknowledged the industry never really took proper advantage of the talents of Miranda Richardson, even with two Oscar nominations earlier in the decade. With Christina Ricci, Christopher Walken, and Casper Van Dien. GRADE: B

And a Happy 50th to...

THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE

(Tobe Hooper, 1974)

What a journey this film has had. It started as independent movie sensation, was banned in certain countries, became a Video Nasty, found new life as a teenage rite of passage in the VHS era, and ultimately over the last several decades became the respected horror masterpiece it always deserved to be. Variety just named it the best horror film of all time. I remember in elementary school hearing the title and imagining the most gruesome movie possible. As is always pointed out, it's not really that violent. But the heat of the Texas sun bears down on us, the grimy smells of the slaughterhouse surround us, and that atmosphere of raw horror consumes us. That cinematography, that sound! A young woman and her friends on a road trip through Texas to check on the gravestone of her grandfather come face to face with a clan of redneck cannibals. I just realized watching this that both this and Night of the Living Dead start with a trip to the graveyard and end up in a farmhouse. I would say that film and this one are easily the two best horror films ever, two of the best independent films, two startlingly vicious portrait of America of the Vietnam era, and two of my all-time favorites. With Marilyn Burns and Gunnar Hansen. GRADE: A