Samhain Project #16 "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark". (1973)

   

     This nifty little made for TV number is exactly what 70's TV horror was all about, minus any involvement from Dan Curtis.  This one was so loved by Guillermo Del Toro that he produced a remake directed by Troy Nixey with Guy Pearce and Katie Holmes starring.  Not a box office smash by any means, as the film lacked punch.  Not that the '73 version is a cacophony of horror, but I get why Del Toro has feelings for it. 

     It seems the grandmother of Kim Darby (The little girl who enlists the aid of Rooster Cogburn in True Grit, makes sentient desserts that terrorize John Cusack in Better off Dead, and even gets murdered by Michael Myers in Halloween 6) has left her a sizable abode that she and her cranky-ass husband played by Jim Hutton (who couldn't outact his son Timothy no matter what the stakes may be).  They do the old school horror movie chestnut of ignoring warnings from old dudes.  Several times, for God's sake.

     The house has issues, and of course they're deadly, (and freaky little fuckers to boot).  The effects are more passable than some of the size work for the Hobbits in The Lord of the Rings, and the cast is okay with a lightweight script.  A burn-on-demand Warner Archive DVD is the only way to get this flick at this point, and be prepared to turn your TV up to 90 because there's not a subtitle or closed caption to be found.  Somehow a director's commentary was made available, though.  Which is kind of ironic.  

     As far as it goes, it's fun, nostalgic, worth more than a few chuckles, and the tiny antagonists are freaky enough to at least make you feel like leaving the lights on is a good idea for a couple nights.  Plus, Darby drives a Chrysler that I believe doubled as a submarine in World War II.  All around enjoyable.

Samhain Project #15: "Near Dark"

     

    And the Halloween viewing continues......

  Near Dark is regarded as a classic of the genre, a vampire film that creates its own mythology.  It's also a noir-western with special effects that are better than the era's low budget films, and a good cast.  The first film from Hurt Locker and Point Break director Kathryn Bigelow, it's still a confident movie.

     Aside from veteran Adrian Pasdar (the era's Top Gun, Solarbabies, Vital Signs, and in the future, the heralded series Profit), the principal cast is made up of a chunk of the crew from Aliens (Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, Jenete Goldstein) which shouldn't surprise, as Bigelow ended up married to the director of that film, James Cameron.  As a matter of fact, when our merry vampire band is crossing in front of a theater marquee, Aliens happens to be the feature.  Near Dark also features genre veteran and still a hero of mine because of his ridiculous banter with Sylvester Stallone in the even more ridiculous Rhinestone, and his performances as Jack Deth in the Full Moon Trancers series, Master Tim Thomerson.

     Near Dark was released in 1987 (which coincides nicely with Aliens (1986) on the marquee), but still holds up due to its dark and sad romance between Pasdar and Jenny Wright (of I, Madman fame), who is responsible for turning the naive and over-eager kid.  Also, our cult of vampire renegades who somehow manage to be hideous and hold your attention at the same time. They all have weird quirks, which make them unique among movie vampires. 

     There's no Lugosi, no Lee, no Langella, and certainly no Barlow here; these are street thugs that happen to drink blood.  

     I recommend seeking out Anchor Bay's 2-Disc edition which is long out of print, but available all over eBay.  It's worth it.

     Hey!  There's James LeGros!!!!

     

Samhain Project #14 "Who Can Kill a Child?"

      

      The storyline to Who Can Kill a Child? lies in its title.  The opening few minutes gives us a refresher on how awful history, with its war, tyranny, and famine has been to the world's kids.  And then it gives us an answer to the question by creating a scenario that is so nightmarish, it's hard to fathom.  

      Our two principals, on vacation on the coast of Spain, take a trip to a small island that isn't even on a map, 4 hours off the coast.  Once on the island, they've seen the villagers have disappeared, but the kids are everywhere, running...

     and giggling.

     One can see how Stephen King may have seen this 1975 film before laying pen to paper on Children of the Corn.   Cinematically, killing kids has been an unwritten no-no, pretty much broken only by a handful of filmmakers.  But what if they're the antagonists, the murderers?  This is a Spanish production revived by Dark Sky video about 12 years ago, and given a big mention by Eli Roth on his History of Horror series, Season 2.  I'm sure he feels it needs reappraisal, as it is dark, creepy, and effective.

     In the past we've seen The Bad Seed, The Exorcist, The Children, The Omen, et al, but this feels realistic in its visuals and its set up.  Something unnatural is spawning this event, but what it is, is not clear.  It's not sociopathy, the devil, chemicals, or he who walks behind the rows, but folks, it ain't right. 

     Recommended, and as I always suggest, the original Spanish with subtitles. 

Samhain Project #13: "Halloween Kills"

     

     Since 1980, I've grown up with Halloween being part of my October rituals as evidenced by this and this.   I wasn't terribly skeptical when 2 years ago, I saw David Gordon Green's 40 years later direct sequel, because I trust him as a filmmaker going way back.  He is a true renaissance man in filmmaking respect.  And it turns out I couldn't have been more right as he and Danny McBride, the gents behind scripting and directing the revival, have shown they have nothing but love and respect for the original. 

     This one picks up where the last one left off, Halloween, 2018.  The story grows from there, with Green and McBride bringing in elements of the 1978 original straight into the story with some more performers from the original to play their characters 40 years later.  Green and McBride show guts even going back to 1978's timeline on screen and flawlessly, using modern technology and seamless casting.   As my kid told me this morning, (You can check out the youngster's writing here, here, and here, for opinions on everything from George A. Romero, to Billy Jack, to the criminally underrated Midnight Movie) McBride said they'd pay homage to the sequels while skipping over them, and so far they've held to that in both films, in a way that will bring grins to a true Halloween fanatic's face.

     Of course this was executive produced by John Carpenter, the genius behind the original, along with Debra Hill, and he is the composer along with his son Cody, and Daniel Davies.  It feels like home to have the maestro involved.  The score is one of the films many strong points, to boot.  Green and McBride lay down a possible story sword so that it can be wielded more strongly in the finale of the trilogy, but bring out homages to Frankenstein and as my kid mentioned, 1989's Halloween 4 as they do so.  

     Halloween Kills joins its many partners in the series as one to be referred to this time of the year for spookytime viewing, but for my bottom dollar, you can't beat starting with the original, and then cutting to 2018's sequel, and then Kills, until Halloween Ends comes out next fall to drop the final bomb.

Samhain Project #12: Overlord

      

     There's no question of the existence of the horrors of war.  I've had anecdotes shared with me by many veterans over the years, but is war horror a movie genre?   One could argue with the existence of movies as far back as 1919's  J'accuse,  and more recent fare like Deathwatch, Below, and others, that it is, and today's entry just adds to that theory.       

     Operation Overlord was the dropping of allied soldiers behind enemy lines on the eve of D-Day.  This movie takes that to the next level, mixing in elements that are steeped in theories that Hitler was up to some no good schiesse beyond just what we're aware of. 

     Jovan Adepo (Emmy nominee for TV's Watchmen and The Leftovers) and Wyatt Russell (Lodge 49,  Blaze, and a hilarious exasperated turn on Black Mirror) are two of a handful of unlucky souls that drop into a french village to knock out a communications-jamming tower before the beaches of Normandy get stormed. What they find is an attempt to put meat behind the phrase "a thousand year reich requires thousand year soldiers".

     Julius Avery directs a great cast of fresh faces, who do well with the material, a pretty fresh concept.  In the past, we have seen Peter Cushing doing some nazi zombie shenanigans in 1977's Shock Waves, and Richard Raaphorst attempted the ultimate nazi zombie movie about 12 years ago with the never completed Worst Case Scenario, (he did make Frankenstein's Army) and there's also Tommy Wikola's Dead Snow. There's a bit more here than all that. More than just undead Fuhrer Flunkies. The entitled hatred of the nazi regime is put fully into the frame, lest ye forget. There's a great snappy, and at times,  funny script by Billy Ray, and the special effects work is gruesome and well done. 

     The idea of war and horror don't seem to get merged together much, despite the fact that, in all actuality, they're married to one another.  This movie plays it straight, and outside of the smartass dialogue isn't going for chuckles.  Recommended.

     

     

Samhain Project #11: "The Lodge"

      

     “Movies don't scare me. Real life scares me”.  - John Carpenter

     The Lodge is vaguely reminiscent of Hereditary in the sense that a family is ripped apart by an unspeakable tragedy that the audience doesn't see coming and is left with the aftermath.  In this film, it has nothing to do with the paranormal, however.  Although it's not spelled out for you immediately.   If anything, this is a horror film about consequences of actions, religion, and anger.

     One of my favorite young actors is Jaeden Martell (Midnight Special (one of my recent favorite films), both IT films, Apple's Defending Jacob) and he is absolutely heartbreaking here, along with the girl who plays his younger sister, Lia McHugh.  Their stepmother is channeled by Riley Keough who many will know from Mad Max: Fury Road, It Comes at Night, and the unexplainable Hold the Dark, and she carries the film straight into the bowels of hell.   Veteran screen presences Richard Armitage and Alicia Silverstone are here in small doses as the kids' parents.

     Make no mistake, this is dark, disturbing, and challenging horror that some mettle is required for.  I'm not saying it's Salo or Cannibal Holocaust, it is not that kind of horror.  This is the kind of genre film that seeps in, soaks, and stays.  It doesn't like you at all.  Elements of The Shining and The Thing (a movie the kids watch with their stepmom) are definitely present here, as The titular lodge is snow bound on the east coast, and the 3 principals are stuck with each other, but this movie wants you to know that evil spirits and aliens aren't necessary for a horror film.  

They need not apply here.   Bravo to all involved, including writer/directors Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz, who get painful, sordid performances out of everyone.  There must be a hurt manual with a chapter on the creep factor they used for research.   This isn't for everyone.  It's a slow burn, but there will be times you want to step on the fuse.

Samhain Project #10 : Black Christmas (1974)

      

       Long before Halloween launched seasonal horror, there was Bob Clark's Black Christmas.  Believe it or not, Bob Clark is the mind behind holiday family great, A Christmas Story and 60's teenagers on hormone overdrive flick, Porky's.   I will say this for Black Christmas.

      It's effective as hell. 

     So, you got a group of college girls in their sorority house prepping for the holidays. This doesn't go where you think it will.  There's no naughty naked hijinks in this one.  You have actresses who will go on to great future successes (Olivia Hussey, Andrea Martin, Margot Kidder) playing frightened gals receiving disturbing (and I mean disturbing) phone calls.  The reaction shots are effective.  The phone calls lead to much worse.  Murderous behavior kicks in.  Poor Ms. Hussey has a musician boyfriend with major issues, and you have a house mother with a drinking problem and a lack of understanding of her job.

     At least John Saxon is there to try to save the day.  It's 1974, so, of course he is. 

     Despite Christmas in the title, this works as a creepy, disturbing little venture into the horror genre and Halloween collection, that pending comparisons otherwise, it's not a true slasher film. Gore is at a minimum, and performances are solid to very good for the genre we're in here.    

     So, um, Happy Holidays, I guess.  Hey! It's Art Hindle and Keir Dullea!!!