RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Media recommended movies for Halloween

I saw Creepshow for the first time in about 30 years a few nights ago on TV. Not one of my favorites, but a tribute by Stephen King and Bernie Wrightson to the EC pre-code horror comics. Others I saw again were bits and pieces of The Dead Zone (great movie), Christine (also good), the 1976 and 2013 versions of Carrie (less impressed by either), and others.

John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) was another I saw again recently. A good atmospheric Halloween movie, but less impressive than when I saw it on its release at age 15.
Halloween 3: Season of the Witch is another I saw recently that I enjoyed. I enjoy the mixture of the occult and corporate conspiracy elements, admittedly low budget, but an interesting departure from the other Halloween movies.

One of my favorites is Ed Wood, that is atmospheric, very fun, quirky, and with a lot of humor explores the love of storytelling and of making horror movies, even by those who aren't especially well-funded or good at it. With great performances by Johnny Depp, Martin Landau and others. A very under-appreciated movie.

My favorite by John Carpenter is his 1982 version of The Thing, which was something of a career-ender for John Carpenter in 1982 due to its overwhelming negative reviews, and low performance at the box office. But I loved it from its first release, and very rare for me, I watched it multiple times in the theatre. Critical reviews later turned in favor of it, but I thought it was fantastic from the start. I actually had a client who works on the film production crew side of Hollywood, and he gave me some stories into what it was like to work on the movie. He said they worked on an ice-cold set, and then (in L.A.) would go outside, and the constant extreme change in temperatures got a lot of crew and cast-members sick. Part of it, the outdoor scenes, were also filmed on mountain landscapes of British Columbia.

Those are some I've seen recently, and a few of my favorites. What are some of your favorites ?

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Someone collected all the movie posters for the Creepshow movie. There are quite a few that are very impactful and Halloween-festive.

https://www.thehorrorsofhalloween.com/2017/09/creepshow-1982-artwork-posters.html

Harry Potter. They were playing Sorcerer's Stone on the vaccination center the whole day when I went there for my schedule. It's just that one movie on loop, the whole afternoon. I learned how to cast spells right around the 3rd run of the film.

I've actually never seen any of the Harry Potter movies, I'll take that under advisement.
I can see where that would be Halloween-festive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_(film_series)

I think author J.K. Rolling is an attractive lady, I saw her interviewed a while back. She's well on her way to becoming a billionaire on that franchise, if not already.
On the books alone, and certainly far more on the movies, and whatever other licensing stems from those two.

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A very fun Halloween move (that I didn't see run anywhere this year) is From Dusk Till Dawn
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Dusk_till_Dawn

A mexican strip club full of vampires, with hints that it runs back to ancient evil from an Aztec pyramid the strip club was built on, a nice mixture of humor and action.
And the icing on the cake for me, a snake charmer Salma Hayek doing a seductive dance. And some rocking music to top it off.

One of the few movies I've ever liked George Clooney in. (Others for me including The Peacemaker, and Three Kings.)

And the ever-sexy Juliette Lewis. Something about that girl really gets the testosterone flowing.

I've noticed a tendency in recent years of channels doing marathons of the dozen or so Halloween movies, the Scream movie series, the Child's Play/"Chucky" movies, the god-awful Leprachaun movies, Friday the 13th movies, and such. Very few of which do a whole lot for me.

The first Halloween (1978) was a nice breakout movie for director John Carpenter, but beyond that mostly cheap thrills, mostly unspectacular.
Although as I said, while arguably not great, I like the Halloween III: Season Of The Witch movie.

There are so many other great supernatural and atmospheric Halloween movies, I kind of hate to see all that air-time monopolized by these questionably good movies.




Another I see fill up a lot of air-time are the collected adaptations of Stephen King in movies. While he has a few really good movies, such as the above listed The Dead Zone, or The Green Mile, most of King's movies are truly cheap, unimaginative and awful. Creepshow, anyone? Just awful. Catseye, Firestarter, Pet Semetary and its sequels, Children of the Corn, Maximum Overdrive, It, all cheaply done and truly awful.
Carrie (all three versions) are not spectacular either.

One I enjoy and think is well done is Needful Things, a darkly playful story about the devil coming to a small town and opening a curiosity shop, where he gives each resident what they can't afford but most desire, asking one obligatory favor from each to allow them to purchase what they want, and in doing so, turns the whole town into rioting and chaos, consumed with grudges and hatred, killing each other. And toward the end, showing how the devil does this in cities, towns, nations all over the world, to stir up violence and wars.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Needful_Things_(film)

For reasons I don't understand, The Mist film is highly acclaimed, despite that I found it functional at best, with a lot of dialogue that was pure torture to watch, and third-rate special effects, but the critics for some reason gave it high reviews.

I guess for a lot of people, Stephen King is "Mr Halloween", the great master of horror. I find King's work hit and miss, and far more often miss.
But for reasons that escape me, critics are overly kind to his work.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_adaptations_of_works_by_Stephen_King

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To me, director Tim Burton is "Mr Halloween" .

And has a high hit ratio of Halloween-fare movies that appeal on a lot of levels, from serious horror, to just creating a mysterious atmosphere, and peppered with a lot of quirky humor. Oddly, I didn't see any Tim Burton movies played this year, but Burton has a lot of movies on my favorites list.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Burton#Filmography

Topping the list for me of Burton's movies is Sleepy Hollow
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleepy_Hollow_(film)

But right up there near the top are also Beetlejuice, Burton's 1989 Batman movie, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Mars Attacks, Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd, Frankenweenie, and (hilarious, but also very Halloween-atmospheric) Dark Shadows, and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

For me, Burton's biggest duds were Planet of the Apes, and Charlie And The Chocolate Factory.

Regrettably, the only one I saw get any air time this year was Beetlejuice. Among so many worthy of a Tim Burton Halloween marathon.

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One I re-watched for this year was The Abominable Dr. Phibes with Vincent Price.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Abominable_Dr._Phibes


One critic said that of all Vencent Price's movies "this one is the Vincent Priciest".
I agree, there a very fun style to it, an Edgar Allan Poe "Cask of Amontillado" level of visceral revenge, unleashing biblical plagues on his victims, his vast hidden lair, fits of vigorous pipe-organ playing, his clockwork-mechanized jazz band, and beautiful but silent and murderous female assistant, together almost raise his Dr. Phibes character to the level of a Bond villain. There is eeriness and style to it, but also dark humor, and for all its sophisticatedness, a bit of deliberate schlock that makes it very fun.

There is also a sequel, Dr. Phibes Rises Again.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Phibes_Rises_Again

That I also enjoyed, but not quite as much as the first. But rowing away at the end in his coffin, in a vast torch-lit underground canal, provided a memorable final visual. To possibly rise again for a third film. But I guess the point was made well enough with two.

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I saw The Adams Family movie was on several times across multiple channels, and while I thought it was well done, I didn't watch it again. But I hought it was a well-done movie, and have previously seen it a few times.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Addams_Family_(1991_film)

The sequel to it, Addams Family Values was also atmospheric and fun, about equally good.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addams_Family_Values

I love the original series, growing up I loved it. Bu as an adult, I actually prefer The Munsters series, which I got on a series DVD right before Halloween one year, close to 20 years ago. Beatniks, a haunted house, surf music, and a ton of other 1960's nostalgia in this series. Love the hot-rod hearse family car, and the show's groovin' opening credits and theme song.
The Munsters and the Addams Family are similarly themed shows, each great in its own way.

While Fred Gwynne will forever be Herman Munster, I also get a kick out of seeing him in a much different role decades later as the court judge in My Cousin Vinny.