MOVIE REVIEW: HALLOWEEN

It's been 40 years since Laurie Strode survived a vicious attack from crazed killer Michael Myers on Halloween night. Locked up in an institution, Myers manages to escape when his bus transfer goes horribly wrong. Laurie now faces a terrifying showdown when the masked madman returns to Haddonfield, Ill. -- but this time, she's ready for him.

Director: David Gordon Green

Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Nick Castle, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Virginia Gardner

Release Date: October 19, 2018

Genres: Horror , Thriller

Rated R for horror violence and bloody images, language, brief drug use and nudity

Runtime: 1h 44 min

Review:

David Gordon Green’s Halloween franchise refresh can be considered a success on multiple levels.  Green and Danny McBride wrote the script and their fandom shines through multiple times with specific call backs or camera techniques throughout the efficient but effective film.  Green occasionally flashes some visual flourishes which give the film a stylish look that makes for a better quality film overall.  The main thing they are able to inject into this entry in the franchise is a sense of fun.  There are well timed jump scares and tension throughout the film but there’s also some well placed comedy which keeps the film from being another soul less sequel.  Michael Myers is scary again even if some of the slasher tropes feel a bit goofy here and there.  Jamie Lee Curtis comes back to her cornerstone franchise and plays her part very well thanks in part to an interesting take on her character.  There are a few surprises here and there but ultimately the film goes exactly where you think its going.  Typically this is a major draw back but the film is so lovingly crafted that fans will be hard pressed not to be impressed by a return to form for one of the hallmark horror franchises. 

B+

My 10 favorite horror movies....

Friday, October 30, 2009
My 10 favorite horror movies....
If you feel like watching something creepy on All Hallows Eve, may I recommend one of my 10 favorite Horror movies…....

10. The Ring (2002) Gore Verbinski


Before all the hype more or less killed the scares in this film, remake of the Japanese film Ringu, delivered plenty of atmosphere and scares. At the same time it paid homage to plenty of horror staples like dimension bending TV's, scary little girls, people being marked in photos for death and me being creeped out and loving it.



9. Suspiria (1977) Dario Argento








Dario Argento's Suspiria is the great auteur’s best film. Bloodshed mixed with wonderful use of Techicolor makes the whole thing seem like a nightmarish hallucination. The whole thing may not make perfect sense but it’s horror as high art and the visuals are just so beautifully shot that you can’t help but captivated. A scene involving a girl with very little clothing and a pit of barbed wire still gets me. Not to mention having a blind man get killed by his own seeing eye dog. Disturbing yes, and just a little funny too.



8. 28 Days Later (2002) Danny Boyle







Visceral, unrelenting and extremely effective Not a Zombie movie, according to Danny Boyle, 28 Days Later reinvigorated the long stagnate zombie movie genre. This movie offers some of the best zombie scares around and the director puts you right in the middle of the action, by shooting the whole thing with digital cameras, the tension and immediacy of the predicament is always palpable.



7. A Nightmare on .. (1984) Wes Craven



....



Before Freddy Krueger lost all his fright and became a walking one liner machine in the lesser sequels, he was pretty scary. Wes Craven's first foray into nightmares was a head-trip of a movie that is still effective today; just watch that scene where Freddy is walking down the alley with the super long arms in the dark and tell me it doesn’t freak you out.



6. Poltergeist (1982) Tope Hooper







An underrated, sometimes forgotten, ghost movie that still packs a punch today. Plenty of everyday things are turned sinister in this Tobe Hooper classic. It became very hard to look at clowns, tree branches and especially TV's in the same way after watching this flick.





5. Halloween (1978) John Carpenter







John Carpenter's low budget film slasher is still the standard by which all slasher films should be measured against. Simplistic and precise, it laid all the now recognizable plot points of slasher movies. Jamie Lee Curtis kicks offs off her career in this flick at the tender age of 19. Now a days you'll know what's coming but with such an effective use of atmosphere it can still give you the creeps.



4. Dawn of the Dead (1978) George A. Romero





George A. Romero more or less created the modern zombie horror genre with his groundbreaking film Night of the Living Dead with Dawn of the Dead he perfected it. Now I've never, even as a kid, been a fan of the blue zombies but if you can get past that you have one of the best horror films ever made. Gory, funny and laced with Romero’s social commentary Dawn of the Dead is one of top horror movies ever made.



3. The Thing (1982) John Carpenter







John Carpenter's best film, The Thing, is a marvel of the now lost art of creature effects; and they still hold up today. Carpenter's movie moves at an perfectly deliberate and paranoid pace. When the Thing makes its first and subsequent appearances, it's the stuff of glorious nightmares.



2. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) Tobe Hooper






The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is over 30 years old and still a scary piece of filmmaking. This films effectiveness is directly related to its budget. It feels grimly dirty and real. That's the main reason this film's remake could never live up, it just look to clean and proper, reeking of ..Hollywood.. hokum. One of the favorite and most manic scenes has to be the finale with Marilyn Chambers covered in blood in the back of the pick up screaming her brains out as Leatherface waves around that chainsaw in the dawn sunlight before we cut to the credits.



The Exorcist (1973) William Friedkin





Friedkin's The Exorcist is still the ....Mount.. ..Olympus.... of horror films, for me at least, and too be honest I doubt anyone will ever top this masterpiece. Directed with a detached almost cold point of view, the audience is subjected to subtle jabs then in your face scares that build as the movie processes. The acting in this film is top notch, especially note worthy are Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller and, of course, Linda Blair. The scene with the final exorcism maybe the most effective horror movie climax ever. A movie that's not just about silly scares instead this one get under your skin