Halloween Horror Marathon 2013

[Monterey Jack]

That is some SERIOUSLY awful makeup.

[AndyDursin]

That is some SERIOUSLY awful makeup.

I find the movie funny as opposed to scary -- and not in an intentional way. Especially during this sequence:

[Monterey Jack]

Speaking of unintentional amusement...

-Sleepwalkers (1992): 4/10

"COP-KABOB...!"

[Monterey Jack]

The Ring (2002): 8/10



Probably Gore Verbinski's best film...before the success of the first (and only good) Pirates Of The Caribbean made Disney throw all the money in the world at him, resulting in wildly undisciplined, bloated monstrosities that wallowed in grotesque funny/peculiar not funny/ha-ha overkill. This is smart, tense, engrossing and boasts one of Team Zimmer's best scores.

[Monterey Jack]

Feeling better yet, Andy? It'd be nice to have some input from you before the month is out.

[AndyDursin]

I am feeling better! I am trying to wrap up this week's column (which has several horror titles in it) so I will post some thoughts tomorrow.

Also have some liner notes I'm working on, which is a nice change of pace, for a label I haven't written for either!

[Monterey Jack]

Suck (2009): 7.5/10



Megan Draper as a hawt rock n' roll vampire...what's not to like?

[Monterey Jack]

The Lost Boys (1987): 6.5/10



Dig those mullets...!

[Monterey Jack]

Corpse Bride (2005): 9/10

[AndyDursin]

Never was a huge fan of THE LOST BOYS...though Jami Gertz was awfully hot in it!

[Monterey Jack]

This is the first time I've watched The Lost Boys, and like a lot of movies from my formative 80's years I haven't seen up to until recently, it's a real time capsule of the period, and in this case, that's a bad thing. The movie must have been, like, totally radical for 80's teens at the time, but now it's a somewhat laughable MTVampire flick full of all the slick, glittery tackiness that suffused most of the youth-oriented films of the time. It's certainly watchable thanks to the cast (you can see the seeds of Jack Bauer being sown here), and technical credits, but for anyone born after 1990, it would probably seem horribly antiquated.

[AndyDursin]

I never liked THE LOST BOYS, even when I first saw it back in '87. Schumacher's direction, the stylized look of the film -- just too much. I have always been (as you know) much more partial to FRIGHT NIGHT, which is a far superior movie on every count IMO, and also is not nearly as dated by its era.

[Paul MacLean]

The Lost Boys is a guilty pleasure of mine. I was living in California when I first saw it, which is probably why I appreciated it (you can expect to see anything -- even vampires -- in places like Venice or Santa Cruz!).

And no argument about Jami Gertz as a hippie girl!

[Monterey Jack]

Fright Night (1985): 8/10



Fright Night (2011): 7/10



I liked the original more the second time around, and the remake is actually pretty darn entertaining. It had me at "McLovin' as a vampire". Plus, Imogen Poots is lovely.

[AndyDursin]

The FRIGHT NIGHT remake is certainly one of the better ones of its brethren...didn't have the same impact, obviously, and didn't do well commercially, as the original, but it was entertaining and I agree wholeheartedly on Imogene Poots.

Just some quick thoughts on movies I've watched and covered in my column:

THE OTHER
Twilight Time's latest plays somewhat like "The Bad Seed" crossed with "The Waltons." The performances of the Udvarnoky brothers are indeed chilling, and Uta Hagen is superb as the grandmother. The film basically doesn't have anything else acting wise going for it (you have John Ritter in one of his first roles, but that's about it), and I can see why the author of the book, actor Tom Tryon, was disappointed with Robert Mulligan's direction: the film has a workmanlike, uninspired TV-like direction to it, despite fine cinematography by Bruce Surtees. Still, there are memorably disturbing moments, and the transfer is exceptional. Low-key and unsettling, though one wishes they retained the ending of the book instead of the cliched conclusion the film ended up with.

THE UNINVITED
One of the granddaddies of all haunted house/ghost chillers, this is an elegant studio production from Hollywood's Golden Age, with Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey starring as siblings who purchase a haunted abode on the Cornwall coast. Elegant cinematography and a glorious Victor Young score make this a must-view for genre fans. Criterion's Blu-Ray is affordably priced at $20 on top of it right no too.