Hallowe'en movies

[CDarklock]

So it's the season when I actually feel not-so-weird...

I'm chomping at the bit for the next Saw movie. It's a tradition. Next year's seventh installment is supposed to be the last... I'm a little sad about that... but regardless.

What are your favourite Hallowe'en movies? Being the media slut I am, I have a massive list, but you can boil it down to these:

The Saw series
The Hellraiser series
House of a Thousand Corpses
Tokyo Gore Police
Infection

Anyone have more to add?

[Patrician]

Eraserhead
The Exorcist
Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me
The old Dracula with Bela Lugosi
The Legend of Hellhouse (version with Julie Harris - actually called 'The Haunting')
Night of the Living Dead
Village of the Damned
The 6 o'clock News (joking(?))

Check out this new website that shows old classic horror movies on your PC

http://www.ghoul.tv/

[Jason_V]

As a horror movie enthusiast thanks for this thread.

I also agree with the Saw series, but unlike most other Saw fans, I actually thought the first one was the worst one.

If you like the Saw franchise you'd probably like the Hostel films as well.
Wrong Turn
Children of the Corn
28 Days Later
Blair Witch Project
The Hills Have Eyes (Both versions I prefer the new one more but they're both good in their own way)
The Wicker Man (The original much better than the remake)
The Last House on The Left (The original is very graphic not for the faint of heart. Unfortunately, I haven't seen the remake yet, so will see that soon)
Signs
The Happening (a lot of people didn't like it, but it's kind of a freaky "what if" I liked it.)
13 Ghosts
Session 9 (Very freaky, but not well known horror movie from 2001)
The Mist
The Omen (Both versions are good.)
Event Horizon
Ghostship (The most gory opening scene I think I've ever seen)

[KimW]

I prefer the old school horror.
You know, wehre the fear builds up and the tension makes syour skin crawl.
Peopl now equate blood guts and gore to horror.
Not the same.

[Jason_V]

Originally Posted by KimW

I prefer the old school horror.
You know, wehre the fear builds up and the tension makes syour skin crawl.
Peopl now equate blood guts and gore to horror.
Not the same.

In that case, of the movies I suggested you should watch, if you haven't already:

Signs
The Happening
Blair Witch Project
The Wicker Man (The old one, as the new one is horrible compared to it)
The Omen (Either version. If I had to pick, I'd say check out the newer one)

There is very little blood and guts in the above mentioned movies. They are more suspense than gore.

[check_itjess]

hi there...

my favorite halloween movies are twilight, van helsing, underworld, blood; the last vampire, the saw, the chainsaw massacre.

[KimW]

Jason, thanks for the suggestions, but we have different tastes.
For example, I think The Happening was terrible.
I think The Blair Witch Project was a joke.
Signs was so-so.
The Wicker Man, well, I only know of one version,the one with Nicholas Cage, and again, it was so-so.
I don't think ( I'm not sure) if I have seen either Omen.
Now,28 Days was great, 28 Weeks Later was ok.
Ghost Ship was good
13 Ghost was good ( both versions)
The Last House On The Left I think you have confused,the orginal had most of the violence implied,while the recent remake was very very graphic and gory.
Call me dumb, but I didn't "get" Event Horizon. I have watched it 3 different times to see what everyone raves about, and I still don't "get" it.

[Steven Wagenheim]

I cannot believe that not ONE person so far has named the all time classic
Halloween B horror flick.

Shame, shame, shame, shame, shame.

And I'm not even going to print the title as it's so obvious that no title
needs to be said.

So a YouTube video will do nicely.

YouTube - Halloween - Main Theme

[CDarklock]

Originally Posted by KimW

I prefer the old school horror.
You know, wehre the fear builds up and the tension makes syour skin crawl.

You want to see Session 9.

"Funny" story: one of my teachers in school was told to get Watcher in the Woods for us to watch the last day of school before Hallowe'en. I think I was in fourth grade. For reasons I'll never quite grasp... probably alliteration... she instead got Last House on the Left.

When the big day arrived, she started the video, and left the room. About halfway through the movie, she came back to check on the (admittedly very quiet) class... during the scene where they're stabbing the girl to death by the lake.

The rest of the day was abject chaos. Most of the class was effectively in shock. I mean, the movie's full of drugs and sex and cruelty and torture. It's a pretty sick movie for adults, and they showed it to a room full of pre-teens.

I'm pretty sure that's related to what's wrong with me today.

[KimW]

If it was your 4th grade, it was the orginal. While I said earlier it was more implied than graphic, I have to say it was graphic but in a different way than todays.
Now the new version was just downright sick, and not in a good way. I could barely watch it.

[CDarklock]

There's a good one that hasn't been mentioned: Cabin Fever.

PANCAKES!

[KimW]

I think I have heard of that one, but haven't seen it,might put it on my list!

[eshera]

Gosh....I just got done going through the thread about great books...which reminded me of Cujo and I see THIS...

Keep in mind, CDarklock, I have to blame you now, dang it, I live alone by the woods...thanks a lot!

Anyway, I have to mention:

Jaws - my friends had to take swimming lessons at the time and I was already drawn into the music of movies at that time.
Silence of the Lambs - no need to explain
The Birds
The Omen
The Hitcher
(What is with the "The"...)
The Fly
Poltergeist
"Friday the 13th's" - only really fun watching with other people.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre - same viewing requirements as above.

[KimW]

Interesting enough ,The Omen ( the remake) was on last night and I watched it. Not too bad!

[Frank Donovan]

Suspiria (Dario Argento - the master of er..classy gore)
The Exorcist
The Wicker Man (only the Christopher Lee version)
Psycho (Hitchcock, obviously)
The Innocents




Frank

[TeddyP]

Too early to mention Paranormal Activity?

[KimW]

Originally Posted by TeddyP

Too early to mention Paranormal Activity?

How can it be one of your favorite Halloween movies when it hasn't been released yet?

[CDarklock]

Originally Posted by Frank Donovan

Suspiria (Dario Argento - the master of er..classy gore)

One of my favourites, but a little esoteric. I've seen pretty much everything Argento's ever done. For truly disturbing, however, I have to side with his Masters of Horror production "Jenifer" - which was about as messed up as you can get.

[KimW]

One I haven't seen but a lot of people at other forums are recommending is Trick Or Treat......

[CDarklock]

I'd guess the 1986 version, since the others aren't so good. There are a lot of movies named Trick or Treat.

[Frank Donovan]

Originally Posted by CDarklock

One of my favourites, but a little esoteric. I've seen pretty much everything Argento's ever done. For truly disturbing, however, I have to side with his Masters of Horror production "Jenifer" - which was about as messed up as you can get.

Yeah, I guess Jenifer was just a little OTT.

I've been following Argento ever since I noticed his name (together with Bertolucci's) on the screenplay credits for Leone's peerless "Once Upon A Time In The West" - I would have said Suspiria is fairly accessible, though.

One of the other notable things about that movie was the music; IMO, one of the best of all horror movie soundtracks and the main claim to fame of an otherwise obscure Italian prog rock band called Goblin.

And where would an Off Topic thread be without a music vid:

YouTube - Suspiria Theme

Frank

[KimW]

Actually I got the name wrong, it's Trick 'R Treat.

[CDarklock]

Originally Posted by Frank Donovan

the main claim to fame of an otherwise obscure Italian prog rock band called Goblin.

I'd argue that was their soundtrack to Romero's Dawn of the Dead (co-produced by Argento), actually. Suspiria was their first notable work, though.

They used to be "The Cherry Five."

[ngseosept]

Here are three movies to add on the list: House of Wax, The Grudge and Sixth Sense!

[John Rogers]

I don't watch horror flicks much these days. Some of my old favorites are the original Halloween, original Night of the Living Dead, and The Evil Dead.

I do break out From Dusk Till Dawn out every once in awhile. Not scary, but way cool.

John

[Sequential_Marketing]

Originally Posted by TeddyP

Too early to mention Paranormal Activity?

I keep being told that I need to see this movie.

[KimW]

Originally Posted by John Rogers

I don't watch horror flicks much these days. Some of my old favorites are the original Halloween, original Night of the Living Dead, and The Evil Dead.

I do break out From Dusk Till Dawn out every once in awhile. Not scary, but way cool.

John

Actually, unless I missed it, I'm surprised Evil Dead wasn't mentioned earlier...classic movie.

[Scot Standke]

Originally Posted by KimW

How can it be one of your favorite Halloween movies when it hasn't been released yet?

Actually, it's been out for a few weeks on a limited basis, mostly college towns.

There are some massive petitions to release it on a grander scale, some of the reviews I've seen have said it's damn scary.

It's being shown here, have not seen it yet myself though, waiting for a true review by someone I trust, not the hypey sources that usually recommend almost anything lol

Scot

[KimW]

Are you sure? Sunday was the first time I even heard about it, and it was an article that clearly stated it was being released soon ( Though I do know that a lot of movies are released in limited runs noowadays)
As far as it being released on a massive scale, that's already scheduled, and thats what I had heard about, here's their website with more info:
Paranormal Activity (2009) | Official Movie Site & Trailer

Apparently its a very very low budget movie that the producer made in one week shot in one location ,an apartment, that they expect to make a heck of a lot of money.

[Scot Standke]

Here are our local listings:

Paranormal Activity

Limited release review

Looks like a much wider release is coming in a few days.

It was filmed 2 years ago at a cost of just $11,000

Someone is going to make a killing, no pun intended.

Scot

[Jason_V]

I haven't seen it, but Paranormal Activity has made $35,139,664 from 9/25-10/19

The shocking thing is it opened at only 12 theaters.

Now it's at 760 theaters.

Paranormal Activity (2009) - Box Office Mojo

@Scot

When it comes to movie reviews I don't know if you know about rottentomatoes or not. I put my trust fully into rotten tomatoes. They have very rarely ever let me down. My tastes are usually right in line with the majority of the critics there. If the movie is rated fresh, I usually find it is pretty good movie. If it is rated rotten it usually isn't that good to me. They loved Paranormal Activity.

ROTTEN TOMATOES: Movies - New Movie Reviews and Previews!

[HeySal]

Halloween isn't Halloween without some oldies.

Poltergeist
Omen (where I first saw a Rottweiler and fell in love)
Halloween or Friday the 13th -- I can't sit through more than one of those.
The House on Haunted Hill

And then, of course, the best of the Mind Twisters:
The 6th Sense
The Others
The Hellraiser Series - really gory but at least has an awesome story with the gore
unlike the usual slasher crap.

Then of course.........who can OFFICIALLY have Halloween until you've watched:
PEANUTS - Charlie Brown, the Pumpkin Patch, and the Great Pumpkin

[KimW]

Originally Posted by Scot Standke

It was filmed 2 years ago at a cost of just $11,000

Someone is going to make a killing, no pun intended.

Scot

Scot,
Can you direct me to where you got that figure? That is MUCH lower than the one I read. I can't remember the exact figure, but what I read was much closer to 50k.
But even at 50k, that is an extremely low budget film for todays market.

[Scot Standke]

Originally Posted by KimW

Scot,
Can you direct me to where you got that figure? That is MUCH lower than the one I read. I can't remember the exact figure, but what I read was much closer to 50k.
But even at 50k, that is an extremely low budget film for todays market.

Hey Kim,

It's right here in this review:

PA

Scot

[KimW]

Originally Posted by Scot Standke

Hey Kim,

It's right here in this review:

PA

Scot

Thanks Scot.
I can't remember what magazine I saw it in, But I'm guessing your article is probably correct. At least I put more faith in Time than I do the gossip mags,which is where I saw the information.

[Scot Standke]

Either way, it makes you want to drag out the ole camcorder don't it

Or purchase a really big helium balloon

Scot

[KimW]

Yes sir, I bet two or 3 of us could scrape together 11K and make a movie
How about: The Internet Markerting Nightmare On Elm Street?

[LinearChaos]

Jason's my man, super excited when they started the remakes!

Here's a great site for all you horror genre fans

[John Rogers]

Originally Posted by KimW

Actually, unless I missed it, I'm surprised Evil Dead wasn't mentioned earlier...classic movie.

Scared the piss outta me when it first came out and I saw it in the theater. It's the last one I remember that really did that to me.

I do have high hopes for Paranormal Activity. Blair Witch didn't do it for me.

John

[Patrician]

Once in a while I watch movies with subtitles on the Sundance channel, and I have to say that the Asian horror flicks are way scary. They have much surrealism and they are really shocking in the way the usually evil 'spirits' are worked in.

Right now I can't remember any names but if you ever see something that says it is Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese and then says horror, I guarantee you will experience 'spine tingling' if you are in the mood for subtitles.

Another surprising thing is on Turner Classics they have movies back as far as 1918. It is amazing that even in those days of low tech, they had real skill at special effects - for example superimposing one scene on another to make it look like another realm (like ghosts etc).

Again I can't think of any except the original Dracula, but again if you have Turner Classic Movies on your Digital or other Cable try to catch usually Sundays when they have silent movies. I am sure especially in this month of shock and horror they will have some radical old scary films.

[John Rogers]

Originally Posted by CDarklock

For truly disturbing, however, I have to side with his Masters of Horror production "Jenifer" - which was about as messed up as you can get.

I just snatched the DVD up on ebay. Looks like a good one.

John

[Michael Motley]

The scariest movies i've ever seen were night of the living dead, and dawn of the dead. Of course i was about 12 years old, but i was terririfed.

[natscash]

Ringu – re-made into The Ring
Ju-On – re-made into The Grudge
The Original Japanese versions are much scarier

[KimW]

"For truly disturbing, "
These 3 words made me think of this horror movie, which once you've seen, you will wish you hadn't.
The Audition.

YouTube - Audition - #11 in Bravo's 100 Scariest...

[Michael Oksa]

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

I'm shivering just thinking about it.

~M~

[CDarklock]

Originally Posted by KimW

These 3 words made me think of this horror movie, which once you've seen, you will wish you hadn't.

I had to search for that one a long time, but it was so worth it. Absolutely one of the creepiest movies ever.

Patrician, the movie Infection I mentioned in the OP is a Japanese film, sometimes known as Kansen. (I don't know the kanji for it, sorry.) Worth a look. I saw a Korean film some time ago called Cello which was pretty good. And I can't rave enough about Tokyo Gore Police.

[parzlou]

Although I am not a huge fan of horror ,I do recall a movie from my youth called.....
" Children shouldn't play with dead things"

[davidjames42973]

My wife and I are horror movie freaks. Every year, for the month of October, we watch one horror film a day. Here are some of them we've watched this month:

Troll (awful film)
Blood Drinkers (campy and fun film)
Gremlins (not really a horror film, but my wife never seen it until recently)
Survival of The Dead (Romero's new film premiered in Los Angeles a week ago)
Slaughter High
Maniac Cop 3
Hillside Strangler
Evil Dead 2
Drag Me To Hell
Bollywood's version of Nightmare on Elm Street (campy, fun and weird)

[Patrician]

Originally Posted by davidjames42973

My wife and I are horror movie freaks. Every year, for the month of October, we watch one horror film a day. Here are some of them we've watched this month:

Troll (awful film)
Blood Drinkers (campy and fun film)
Gremlins (not really a horror film, but my wife never seen it until recently)
Survival of The Dead (Romero's new film premiered in Los Angeles a week ago)
Slaughter High
Maniac Cop 3
Hillside Strangler
Evil Dead 2
Drag Me To Hell
Bollywood's version of Nightmare on Elm Street (campy, fun and weird)

You guys might really appreciate this site - it has old, old classics


Welcome to GHOUL.TV

[Jason_V]

Originally Posted by KimW

"For truly disturbing, "
These 3 words made me think of this horror movie, which once you've seen, you will wish you hadn't.
The Audition.

YouTube - Audition - #11 in Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments

I think what they said in that clip was pretty accurate. The only "real" horror films being made these days, with a few noted exceptions, are coming from Japan.

I haven't seen it but I found it at the site that was mentioned above by LinearChaos. I think this looks very interesting. Kind of like Lord of the Flies but much worse:

UHM - Upcoming Horror Movies | Review | Battle Royale (2000)

Battle Royale

Rating #:
10/10


Director:
Kinji Fukasaku


Runtime:
114


Cast:
Takeshi Kitano, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Taro Yamamoto, Chiaki Kuriyama, Sosuke Takaoka, Takashi Tsukamoto, Yukihiro Kotani, Eri Ishikawa, Sayaka Kamiya, Aki Inoue, Takayo Mimura




Based on the controversial novel by Koushun Takami; legendary Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku brings the pages to the big screen to further shock audiences, but didn't shock'em enough to not see it. In fact, it was #1 at the Japanese box office for three weeks, and rightfully-so. In my opinion this has to be one of the best films I've ever seen. I've even heard that director Quentin Tarantino has even said it was one of his favorite films, and even featured one of the stars (Chiaki Kuriyama) to play in Kill Bill Vol. 1 as the deadly GoGo. The movie is just entertaining from start to finish. I liked how it tackled things like trust, friendship and love when put in dire situations with fellow peers.

For those who haven't read the novel, (now available in the US) troubled teens have practically taken over the schools, mocking teachers and adults alike. In order to regain some sort of stability in a once adult-dominated society, they've formed a new law where students are forced into a live-action game of kill or be killed in what the government has dubbed the BR Act or Battle Royale. Specifically, the teens are put on a deserted island where each one has to fend off against each other, with the hopes of being the last one standing and receive their ticket home. So, essentially there are two ways to leave the island -- kill everyone (including friends) or be killed by them, and they've got three days to do it.

So, you may wonder, why not try to leave the island or just hide until the three days are up. Well, each one of them has a metal collar, which is basically a means to keep them moving and if any of them get out of line or if the three days are up... BOOM! That's right, it blows up. There are "danger zones" that are activated over a certain period of time, and if you're caught in one the collar will explode, so hangin' out in the bushes isn’t gonna be safe for too long. Now judging from the plot it's safe to say that there's a lot of death and violence, and the fact that these are real teenagers playing these characters makes it as controversial as the book. Although, I'm told the book is a lot more violent. One of the most interesting aspects of the film would be to see how each one of these students would find a way to kill themselves or others. We've got the love-struck suicides to the badass gung-ho-type that takes on five at-a-time. Another great aspect is how they had to work with what they got. Before they went into the "field" each student received a backpack full of supplies that would last them the three days they had. Some were lucky to have guns while others weren't as lucky and had object likes a trash lid and binoculars (suckers!).

Considering most of these actors are newcomers it's a surprise to see that they do a pretty good job. If you're lookin' to check this flick out you might have some trouble finding it. It was once thought that a movie like this would be too "controversial" to come to the states, but in fact the production company Toei refuses to sell the rights to a distributor for one reason or another. However, there are places around the US that'll sell imports and I know Netflix carries a copy for rental. A year after the film's release director Kinji Fukasaku actually went back and re-shot some additional scenes (added up to around 10-minutes) to add to a director's cut edition. I personally have the very limited special edition tin version, which I'm quite proud of.

Overall Thoughts:

This is one of the best films I've ever seen and ranks high in my favorite films of all time. It's very innovative, controversial, and highly entertaining. You have got to see this.