Part V - Husband and Knife: A Horror-ble October - October 29th - 31st

This Week’s Scariest Movie: Halloween

This Week’s Best Movie: Halloween

Turns out we didn’t watch that many really scary movies…

Top 3 Scariest Movies of the Entire Month:

3.  The Babadook (3.25 out of 5 screams)

2.  The Conjuring (4 out of 5 screams)

1.  The Descent (5 out of 5 screams)

Top 3 Best Movies of the Entire Month:

3. The Monster Squad (4.83 out of 5)

2. Young Frankenstein (4.875 out of 5)

1. The Orphanage (5 out of 5)

October 29th – Housebound

Plot Synopsis: A girl gets put on house arrest in her childhood home, which may be haunted.

Kyle:  I really wanted to like this one.  Ellen and I had discussed cutting this from the list, but decided to keep it, hoping to find a hidden gem.  We did not succeed.  Housebound is a New Zealand horror-comedy.  The last one of those I saw was What We Do in the Shadows, which is one of my favorite comedies ever.  Housebound is just forgettable.  It has a haunted house subplot that it twists away from into a serial killer plot for about an hour, then back to the haunted house, which added a twist that did not land well at all for me.  The comedy is also hit or miss, not prolonged enough to leave a substantial impact on the rest of the lackluster film.  Not horrible, but nothing special at all, Housebound is one of the rare movies on this list that I do not recommend.

                    Scare Rating: 0.5 out of 5 screams

                    Movie Rating: 2 out of 5 dentures

Ellen: Housebound has been on our watch list since long before we decided to write this blog. Reddit and Rotten Tomatoes both love the movie, and we were really excited to watch a film out of New Zealand that was described as a horror-comedy. However, this movie fell really flat for me. A young woman is sent on house arrest to live with her mother and step-father for eight months, and apparently there is ghostly activity, or so they think, in their house. This sounds like a good concept, but unfortunately the plot was bungled and didn’t seem to stick to the ghostly activity until it was clear that ghosts were really an issue at all. There were some points that were genuinely funny and well-written, but overall the film was slow and took too long to develop the storyline. I think the film meant well, but it just didn’t focus enough to keep me interested.

                        Scare Rating: 0.5 out of 5 screams

                        Movie Rating: 2 out of 5 dentures

Average Scare Rating: 0.5 out of 5 screams

Average Movie Rating: 2 out of 5 dentures

October 30th – Re-Animator

Plot Synopsis:  A medical student creates a serum that reanimates dead tissue, but his experiment begins to backfire.

Kyle:  This is one of Kyle’s classic B-movies.  It is a movie that is gratuitously bloody and over the top.  So over the top that it can easily turn people away.  Re-Animator is a horror movie that turns the cheese up to 11.  It has some great dark humor and some cringe-worthy scenes where you just can’t seem to tear your eyes away from the screen.  Jeffrey Combs is the perfect casting choice for this role, playing a modern Dr. Frankenstein.  This film is basically a much bloodier version of Frankenstein with an added zombie element.  With all this being said, like most B-movies, they are only truly enjoyable with a group that is as into the movie as you are.  Not to spoil Ellen’s review, I’ll just say that I did not have that audience.  Not being able to laugh with people at the absurdity that is unfolding makes this movie a lot less enjoyable.  I also have not met a single female who has enjoyed this one, if you’re out there though, I’d love to hear about why you like it.  Normally I would give this movie a 4 out of 5, but because of the viewing audience and the film’s divisiveness, it is hard to recommend, so my review is…

                    Scare Rating:  1 out of 5 screams

                    Movie Rating: 3 out of 5 cats

Ellen: Oh boy. I was told before I even watched this movie that I probably wouldn’t like it, and that prediction was definitely correct. I hated Re-Animator because it didn’t make me laugh like I thought it would and I felt that the violence and gore was often too over-the-top. I am not completely opposed to seeing gore, especially when it is either done really well or super silly. The Descent and Tucker and Dale vs. Evil are both very bloody, but I think they both used it to really help the plot, rather than just be bloody for the heck of it. I also did not like a particular scene that involves a girl almost being raped by a detached head… yeah, not for me at all. I know I am probably one of the few people who dislikes Re-Animator, but I just can’t get behind it. I will take Young Frankenstein any day over this one.

                        Scare Rating: 1 out of 5 screams

                        Movie Rating: 0.5 out of 5 cats

Average Scare Rating: 1 out of 5 screams

Average Movie Rating: 1.75 out of 5 cats

October 31st – Halloween

Plot Synopsis: A man escapes an asylum and stalks a young woman and her friends.

Kyle:  Halloween is the ultimate slasher flick and still holds up today.  Once again, John Carpenter shows that he is a master of horror and presents viewers with a terrifying force.  His villain is evil incarnate, he does not speak a word, only breathes loudly, adding to his mystery and the terror he brings.  It is easy to see why so many movies went on to follow in Halloween’s footsteps.  It features a few jump scares, but does not rely on them, rather relies on slow building suspense.  Knowing that Myers is always around and capable of horrific things leaves an overlying sense of dread over the entire film.  You know he’s coming, you just don’t know when.  I also found it interesting to see Carpenter feature a clip from the original The Thing, which as you know he went on to remake and make better.  One small gripe I had with this film was the repetition of the soundtrack.  The main Myers theme being replayed was fine with me, it was as if it was his Jaws theme.  However, on top of the repetition of that track, there is another one that is repeated often, which can be a bit wearing.  Nevertheless, Halloween is an influential staple in the horror genre that everyone should see.

                    Scare Rating: 2.5 out of 5 screams

                    Movie Rating: 4.5 out of 5 gravestones

Ellen: You cannot get a more quintessential classic horror film than Halloween. It is pretty amazing to see a movie that created horror movie tropes that modern horror has followed for decades. Like most horror movies from the ‘70s, it doesn’t have particularly great dialogue and the “teenagers” all look like they are in their thirties, but that is me being nit-picky. Overall, I really like this film for its simplicity and the straight-forward plot. There are no twists or turns, just solid scares and the perfect slasher villain.

                        Scare Rating: 2.5 out of 5 screams

                        Movie Rating: 4 out of 5 gravestones

Average Scare Rating: 2.5 out of 5 screams

Average Movie Rating: 4.25 out of 5 gravestones