SWH: 2005 (28)

Halloweentown (1998)
Good kid show; wanted to see more of the actual town than anything else. (7/10)

The Wolf Man (1941)
Purer than Werewolf of London, and therefore more memorable. (8/10)

Monster by Moonlight: The Immortal Sage of the Wolf Man (1999)
Just fine, except it was hosted by John "Killer" Landis. (7/10)

The Real Ghostbusters,: "Citizen Ghost" (1986)
One of my favorites from childhood and I still think the ghost Ghostbusters look spooky. (8/10)

Tales from the Crypt: "The Switch" (1990)
It was directed by the Governator... good nuff. (7/10)

City of the Living Dead (1980)
Great thing to watch while sleepy; cool zombies. (7/10)

Rob Zombie: "Dragula" (1998)
Head-banging devils in the Munster's car = gold. (9/10)

Rob Zombie: "Living Dead Girl" (1999)
I'll take Sheri over Caesar any day. (8/10)

Rob Zombie: "Super Beast" (1999)
Sheri versus sci-fi ninja is too cool not to applaud. (8/10)

Rob Zombie: "Never Gonna Stop (The Red Red Kroovy)" (2001)
Was that Tom Towles as a guard? (8/10)

Rob Zombie: "Feel So Numb" (2001)
Band playing their instruments type, but the crowd has some interesting people in it. (7/10)

Rob Zombie: "Demonoid Phenomenon" (2003)
Great song, crappy video. (6/10)

Rob Zombie: "Return of the Phantom Stranger" (2003)
Band playing their instruments, but at least there's zombies. (7/10)

Rob Zombie: "Spookshow Baby" (2003)
Band playing their instruments some more, but cut with energy. (7/10)

Halloween (1978)
#7: Evil pervades even a small town, but is ignored until too late. (10/10)

SWH: 2005 (27)

Son of Frankenstein (1939)
Excellent set design, but a massive step down from Bride in all other ways. (6/10)

Hard Rock Zombies (1984)
For once, the awesomeness of the title lives up to the radicalness of the movie. (8/10)

The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Horror 14-1: Reaper Madness" (2003)
Mmm... blasphemous. (8/10)
[watched with P]

The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Horror 14-2: Frinkenstein" (2003)
"He's right! It all checks out." (7/10)
[watched with P]

The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Horror 14-3: Stop the World, I Want to Goof Off" (2003)
Hard to beat a good "watch that stops time" tale, especially when Bart gets to screw around. (8/10)
[watched with P]

The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
Price is a good voice choice, but the plot is faily boring. (6/10)

The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Horror 15-1: The Ned Zone" (2004)
I like the multiple shocks before the blast best. (8/10)
[watched with P]

The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Horror 15-1: In the Belly of the Boss" (2004)
I like Marge's disintegrating costume best. (8/10)
[watched with P]

The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Horror 15-1: Four Beheadings and a Funeral" (2004)
I like the idea of mutton chops best. (7/10)
[watched with P]

Scarecrow (2003)
The worst flaw is uninspired, boring slasher kills; strangely great daylight photography. (6/10)

The Mummy's Hand (1940)
Better than the first with funny characters and a real mummy with fricking cool eyes. (7/10)

The Invisible Woman (1940)
Screwball comedy with a drunk, naked invisible woman running around half the time. (7/10)

SWH: 2005 (26)

Merrie Melodies: "Claws for Alarm" (1954)
Not quite as good as "Scaredy Cat"; not sure why the mice wanted to kill Porky, anyway. (7/10)
[watched with P]

Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
The blood sprays, not many slow spots and Freddy and Jason really do beat the hell out of eachother. (8/10)
[watched with P]

Tales from the Crypt: "Collection Completed" (1989)
Utterly predictable but with some fairly fun performances. (6/10)
[watched with C]

Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
Two more days 'til Halloween, Halloween... Silver Shamrock! (8/10)
[watched with C]

The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Horror 05-1: The Shinning" (1994)
Still the masterpiece of the Simpsons Halloween shorts. (9/10)
[watched with C]

Tales from the Crypt: "Dead Right" (1990)
Pretty standard, by great Jeffrey Tambor performance. (7/10)
[watched with C]

Dracula's Daughter (1936)
Love the implied lesbianism; too bad Whale didn't direct. (7/10)

SWH: 2005 (25)

The Paul Lynde Halloween Special (1976)
Doesn't get much more Halloween than Paul Lynde as a trucker fighting to marry a woman. (7/10)

Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
A masterpiece with depth of emotion, depth of story and a heapin' helping of comedy to boot. (9/10)

She's Alive! Creating the Bride of Frankenstein (1999)
Finally, Universal grows a pair and mentions Whale's homosexuality as an important aspect of the film. (8/10)

Werewolf of London (1935)
A mad botanist and especially his moonlight lamp are particularly unique. (7/10)

SWH: 2005 (24)

The Mummy (1932)
Karloff is fascinated, but this is a clone of Dracula without much Mummy. (7/10)

Mummy Dearest: A Horror Tradition Unearthed (1999)
Great stories about Zita Johann. (8/10)

The Invisible Man (1933)
Maniacal, muderous mayhem from Raines and Whale; all great fun. (8/10)

Now You See Him: The Invisible Man Revealed! (1999)
Covers the Invisible Man phenomenon pretty well. (7/10)

SWH: 2005 (23)

May (2002)
Undoubtably appeals to misfit teen girls everywhere; still fairly unique and fairly well-made. (7/10)

Dracula (1931)
Chops the story into an almost incomprehensible mash, but Bela is the frickin' man. (7/10)

The Road to Dracula (1999)
Carla Laemmle is a treasure; documentary is what its title implies. (8/10)

Frankenstein (1931)
Excellent actors and a genius director combine to make the first intelligent horror movie. (8/10)

The Frankenstein Files: How Hollywood Made a Monster (1999)
Could've used more on Colin Clive, but otherwise a nice documentary. (7/10)

Boo (1932)
Frightfully unfunny; Nosferatu footage instead of Universal's own Dracula? (4/10)

Yuzna (2004)

2004 - Rottweiler - I was very surprised by this movie. The title, the DVD cover art and the plot description all make this sound like an impossibly cheezy movie; the sort of thing you watch half-drunk on cable in the middle of the night. Instead, I found it to be quite good. A man escapes from prison in some slightly futuristic, fascist Spain to search for the woman he loves as he tries to piece together what happened to her on the last night her saw her. He also happens to be chased by a robot dog (hence the title). I love the unelaborated future. There's no "It is the year 2525" subtitle, no explanation of how the dog was resurrected as a cyborg, no description of why Spain's borders are guarded so ferociously. Instead, we glean bits of information here and there, which is always more fun. I like the locations. The countryside reminded me -- fondly -- of spaghetti westerns. The industrial buildings in the city were a great backdrop. To my American eyes, they definitely looked alien/futuristic (I have no idea if they're really just a common design over in Spain). The music was quite good, as well. Mixed in with traditional Spanish guitars, I detected hints of Near Dark and Carnivàle's scores in there, setting a nice mood for the film.

(comment in the main post)

Gordon (2003)

2003 - King of the Ants - A bit of a change of pace for Gordon, without a killer doll, giant robot or even a magic suit in sight. As a film that meditates on violence, it is overshadowed in my mind by my recent viewing of the vastly superior A History of Violence. In both, violence is a sort of disease that infects a person and never goes away. In Sean, it's difficult at first until the infection is literally beat into his head. I can’t decide if it’s a flaw or an asset, but both the protagonist and the antagonists are complete idiots. Sean is a bumbling wannabe spy without an ounce of common sense; his enemies are rinky-dink construction mobsters whose idea of a good plan is to try to beat someone into retardation. On the one hand, this makes for a unique movie populated with interesting characters. On the other, there isn't really anyone to identify with.

(comment in the main post)

SWH: 2005 (22)

King of the Ants (2003)
Both the protagonist and antagonists were idiots, which was both a flaw and of interest. (7/10)

Rottweiler (2004)
Surprisingly good for a movie with a robot dog. (8/10)

Yuzna (2003)

2003 - Beyond Re-Animator - There was a lot of good stuff in this film. Jeffrey Combs eases back into Herbert West's skin like no time has passed. It is always entertaining to watch the unfailingly scientific, though psychotically tainted, Herbert start some mayhem. I always wondered what would happen to a living person injected with the reagent and now I know. Punishing criminal by hanging them and then giving them eternal life was very clever. Having the main "good guy" cut the head off of his girlfriend in a spray of blood was nicely messed up. The "nano-plasm" was a great way to keep the Frankenstein theme alive, with it as a modern, interesting substitute for the lightning in the original story. Unfortunately, all of this good stuff hangs on the skeleton of movie that doesn't quite work. The story sort of lumbers along; the riot wasn't one tenth as scary as in Natural Born Killers. Like the Looney Tunes-style iris-out on the cackling Feinstone in The Dentist 2, a few things in this film were far too silly for my taste. Yes, Re-Animator movies are supposed to be horror-comedies, but the style of some of the comedy in this sequel wasn't right at all. Yes, a rat fighting a re-animated penis is funny... but it's not Re-Animator funny. The same applies to the warden suddenly growing rat-shaped incisors because of a little rat energy injection. Still, I hope the rumored House of Re-Animator will see fruition. Comb's West is reason enough to watch, not matter what.

(comment in the main post)

Gordon (2001)

2001 - Dagon - Better than Re-Animator. There. I said it. Dagon is the best horror movie I've seen come out in this entire millennial half-decade. I am utterly mystified as to why I never see anyone singing its praises on horror websites or in horror magazines. Excellent location, excellent cinematography, excellent sound design, with a perfect horror-comedy mix. I love Paul Marsh's everyman geek-hero, armed with cellphone and Swiss Army knife, who struggles to screw a cheap lock on a broken door and doesn't really know how to hotwire a car properly. Ezra Godden is excellent in his role as a Paul and I can't wait to see him in Gordon's Masters of Horror episode. The Dagon-ites were original horror movie monsters; I can't recall any other movie with a cult of fish people. I love their voices, their random mutations, the odd way they stare at humans. Like Lovecraft himself, I hate the slimy things that live underwater, so they work as monsters for me. I love the story of the town: how they threw out one religion for another that actually produced results. I am not ashamed to admit that the tentacle girl is hot just the way she is. The way she says it, eternal life underwater doesn't sound so bad. The flaws are minor: some brief shots that contain weak CGI, and Captain Cambarro's true face is a tad latex-y. The best compliment I can pay Stuart Gordon for this movie: it inspired me to go out and read some Lovecraft stories.

(comment in the main post)

SWH: 2005 (21)

Dagon (2001)
I'm utterly mystified why no one else seems to love this movie. (9/10)

Beyond Re-Animator (2003)
Lots of good parts hanging on a weak skeleton. (7/10)

Yuzna (1998-2000)

1998 - The Dentist 2 - Breaks the unwritten rule of horror sequels that calls for a higher body count. In fact, this film more much subdued than its predecessor in general; it takes a while for Feinstone to truly snap. The journey to that point has the absurdly fun tension that only a horror movie can have. I *know* the good doctor will go nuts at the end and start mutilating mouths. I wince when he snaps at his banker friend or accuses Jamie of being in love with Robbie. I wince not because I'm afraid he's going to go "dental" on them, but because he's endangering his new life in Paradise. Once again, Corbin Bernsen does an excellent job of portraying the arrogant, psychotic Dr. Feinstone. Until the very lost shot, this is a solid slasher film. The last shot, however, leaves a sour taste: it's far too silly for to match with the preceding movie.

2000 - Faust: Love of the Damned - The first half of the movie is quite good. Nice shots, nice music, interesting plot, interesting characters. As soon as Faust appears, dressed in his rubbery, wiggle-horned suit, things go downhill. His Ichi-style slaughtering of people was fun, but the character itself just looked and acted a bit goofy. Seems clear from what was on screen and what I've read that there just wasn't enough money to create what the script/comic called for. Jeffrey Comb's character's inexplicable 180 near the end, as well as Jade falling instantly in love with John, suggests a lot of character development was left in the editing room or was unwritten. As Yuzna was also creating the Fantastic Factory studio at the same time, the film's shortcomings are understandable. Extra bonus point for Screaming Mad George's excellent transformation of Clair into -- literally -- pure "TNA".

(comment in the main post)

Gordon (1998)

1998 - Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show: "Honey, Let's Trick or Treat" - Halloween episodes of sitcoms are always fun. All the requisite ingredients are here: kids trick-or-treating and attending costume parties, adults dressed up and handing out candy, extreme seasonal decoration of the town, and spooky goings on. Nice to see Michael Berryman working outside of the 1970s. I have no idea why Disney refused to re-run this episode. It's not something that I would think would bother young children; even Berryman's hook-arm character is pretty benign. Consequently, this episode is a pain in the butt to locate these days. Stuart Gordon's good at directing children's horror stories. I think he should do more of it.

(comment in the main post)

SWH: 2005 (20)

The Dentist 2 (1998)
Slower and with less dental trauma than the first and marred by a really goofy final shot. (7/10)

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show: "Honey, Let's Trick or Treat" (1998)
Halloween episodes are always fun. (7/10)

Faust: Love of the Damned (2000)
Great first half with average, if not slightly cheesy, second half. (7/10)

SWH: 2005 (19)

Tales from the Crypt: "Lover Come Hack to Me" (1989)
Boring and uninteresting. (4/10)
[watched with C]

Man Bites Dog (1992)
Funny and well-acted, but the concept is, unfortunately, old hat at this point. (7/10)
[watched with C]

Pagan Invasion: Volume I: Halloween: Trick or Treat? (1991)
I thought it'd be ultra-Jesusy and funny, but it sucked. (3/10)
[watched with C]

Yuzna (1998)

1998 - Progeny - More medical horror, but unfortunately nowhere near The Dentist's league (though Dr. Burton's hospital seems to have acquired two of Dr. Feinstone's staff). The film desperately wants to be a sort of Communion-Rosemary's Baby hybrid. Its Communion segments are, for the most part, pretty cool. I like the design of the alien's first form and I like the fact that Yuzna shies away from showing them clearly. Jillian McWhirter's extended nudity in those scenes is both welcome and realistic. The details are nicely accurate to "true" accounts of alien abductions I've read. However, those scenes just weren't eerie in the way Communion and Fire in the Sky were. I'm not sure what the difference is. The Rosemary's Baby stuff was mostly boring due to predictability. The ending, in which the aliens effectively kill Sherry with missing time while husband Craig has her open on the operating table, was very creative. The film should've stopped there. Instead, we get an unnecessary dream-abduction-jailhouse coda. Overshadowing all of this, however, was Arnold Vosloo's utterly wretched acting. He sleepwalks through his lines without a hint of emotion; it's a shame character actor god Brad Dourif had to share scenes with him.

(comment in the main post)

Gordon (1998)

1998 - The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit - A cute, happy little movie. Edward James Olmos steals the show as the homeless Vamanos and is endlessly entertaining to watch. Gordon effectively creates tension over the rather silly idea of not wanting to see a white suit get stained. The movie was a little too "play-y" for my taste. You can tell the screenplay was based on the play, rather than Bradbury's actual story; the characters tend to talk in that yappy stage play manner. That style of dialogue is something I don't particularly like, but I have never been a fan of stage acting. Not exactly my cup of tea, but a nice movie nevertheless.

(comment in the main post)

SWH: 2005 (18)

The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (1998)
Fun little movie, but a little to play-y for my tastes. (7/10)

Progeny (1998)
Some nice alien and medical horror, but marred by wretched acting. (6/10)

SWH: 2005 (17)

The American Nightmare (2000)
Weaves images from the news of the era with the horror films with thought. (8/10)

Rob Zombie: "Spookshow Baby" (2003)
Kinetic, but mostly just the band on a stage. (6/10)