A Watch List: All Hallow's Eve

AS I should have posted this earlier (yes I am lazy I know I know) I figured I would give a short list of movies I like to enjoy on this festive day. Now I have a lot of horror movies I am fond of but strangely I only have a hand full I actually like that have anything to do with the day itself.

Halloween (1978)

Don't get me wrong the remake is something I enjoy in its own right but its just not the original. Something about the wonders of this low budget movie for hire and the magic its creators stumbled upon while trying to make a simple story about babysitters being murdered just simply cant be duplicated again.





Halloween II (1981)

Now I know what you are thinking. "Nekko if you are simply going to list the whole Halloween series why not just save us some time and just say so?" Well dear reader thats easy to answer. These are the only two I would want to watch on Halloween honestly. I have seen all the series (minus Zombie's versions of one and two) more times than I can count. This one picks up right where the original stops and if you only had to watch two of the series you could watch this one and leave feeling completely satisfied. Again I think these two are the best in the series and probably will for the remainder of my fandom.

Night of the Demons (1988)

Purely and simply a cheese-fest. Bad acting. Nothing special about the story, just a bunch of kids getting trashed and happen to piss off the spirits of demons in the house that possess them. Yatta yatta yatta. So why bother with this one? Its so horrible its fantastic thats why. the story in itself is actually a pretty good idea if not a simple one. Bunch of kids get invited by the weird girl in school to a halloween party at a supposedly haunted house where she plans to freak them out. Things go horribly wrong and they get taken over one by one in some pretty entertaining ways. Strangely to me it feels like this movie is great in spite of itself. If you haven't seen it at least once before and you call yourself a horror fan then shame on you. Clear your mind and enjoy the movie for all the cheesy fun it brings. Heck maybe even some of the things in it will give you a chill here and there. Does have its moments.

Trick R Treat (2008)

Ah now this is new to my list. Just came out on DVD this year after a few years of being put on the shelf for other "better" horror movies. Now the pleading of those longing to see this gem have finally been heard and I personally couldn't have been happier. Its an anthology but not in the typical sense of horror anthologies like Creepshow. All the tales are happening at the same time in non-linear fashion weaving in and out of each other. This isn't a gore fest. There isn't one particular baddie to be terrified of. Instead this movie is pretty much trying to capture the spirit of the season in all is ghoulish glory and I must admit it put a nice smile on my face.

Well there they are. Now its your turn. What movies are your favorites for the holiday? Share. Maybe we can get a new list going together eh?

'Tis The Season to be Scary

I have a much better post for when I not so sleepy so enjoy this in the meantime. One od my all time favorite clips I associate with Halloween.

Diary of the Dead

The thought of the dead rising and well basically taking over honestly terrifies me. Always has from the the moment I first stumbled upon Night of the Living Dead as a much much younger Nekko. I told myself the fear was simply because I live near all the major graveyards in my hometown but now I know better. Its the fear of not being able to win. You can't very well beat death after all, be it by old age, car accident, or stalking corpses. Its been a long long time since i felt that primal fear when i watched a movie. Suppose its fitting that George A. Romero, who sparked that fear in me oh so long ago, would be the one to give it back to me in all its heart pounding glory.

The movie itself its done in a documentary style and I suppose that is probably the reason I see so many borderline reviews of this work of gory art. The horror audience has been spoiled with fast paced "zombies" hyped up on PCP or some junk that chase down their victims like a pack of damn wolves. Oh course I could be the odd one out and simply think a slow stalking terror is just much more terrifying that the instant gratification the others give. Diary of the Dead isn't top dollar horror. The effects aren't that great, the CG is late 90s quality at best, but honestly that is about the only gripe I have with the production. The script is compelling drawing you into the decline of civilization showing the moral standard decaying just as fast as the dead roaming the street. You follow several film students trying to make heads or tales of just whats going on and get home and one student decides he wants to film everything that happens so whoever is left will know what really happened. Diary doesn't really fall into the cannon of the rest of the Living Dead series and probably could even be viewed as Romero's take on what Night of the Living Dead would be if he made it in the 2000s instead of the 60s, right down to the low budget.

I could go on and on about the movie but that would require spoilers and well this is a movie I don't believe needs to be tainted with a detailed review. Its not a movie for gore hounds. Its not a film for somebody looking for the typical high budget Hollywood thriller. What it is, is simply another gritty view of the decline of society in a disaster with zombies as the filter done only the way Romero knows how. Check it out with an open mind and you should enjoy it, hopefully as much as I did.

4.5/5 stars

What Halloween Means to Me

I have reviews I want to get around to but here is a lovely treat in the spirit of the season. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.