31 Days of Halloween '17 - Day 8 - "The Ring"

The Ring (2002)

The only other film I can think of that had the sort of notoriety of this film was The Blair Witch Project, and that's because there's this weird video element to it at the time of release. People thought Blair Witch was real and, with this film, the terror came from a video cassette at the time when VHS tapes were still rented out. It added to the horror and made it even more terrifying.

Before I get into the actual film, I should probably let everyone know that I saw this film a grand total of one time, way back in Middle School. That's right. I had an annual Halloween party and at the first one, when I was only able to show R movies that were taped off of AMC, we watched PG-13 rated, The Ring. I honestly didn't remember much of it outside of the final few minutes but dammit did I recognize nearly everything due to a childhood obsession with Scary Movie 3. I made sure to separate the two as I watched but that didn't prevent me from laughing a few times as I thought of the parodied scene.

But you know what? This movie is fucking good.

I was actually kind of shocked how enthralled I was, since the storyline had permeated pop culture so much in the 2000's but still, I loved it. Naomi Watts delivers a great, if not ridiculously written performance. Seriously, this JOURNALIST has no problem showing the father of her child, the tape that she watched that is supposed to kill you in 7 days (which happened to do just that to her niece). So she's effectively okay with orphaning her child. You do you, girl.

One thing that shocked me was just how little Samara was used. I thought for sure that she had more screentime but, hell, the younger non-demon form has triple the screentime. Scary Samara doesn't even show up until the final few minutes. But dammit does she make an impression. I bought the film in a double pack with the second (which I've never seen all of) so I may end up giving that film a shot but I fear it'll ruin my enjoyment of the first, and I think I want to bask in that a little longer.

Next Up: Infestation

31 Days of Halloween '17 - Day 7 - "Get Out"

Get Out (2017)

If it hadn't been for the cataclysmic success of IT, this would have easily been the success story of the year for the horror genre. But instead, this just gets to play runner-up.

After not seeing the film until the late Spring, I was worried that this movie would become overhyped for me. I knew that there was no way the extreme positive feedback could have possibly lived up but dammit... it totally did. I loved it. I loved every aspect of this crazy little movie. As I've said before, I love "journey" films where you really feel like you've been on this crazy rollercoaster with the main characters. This is 100% one of those films.

There's already been so many positives thrown out about this movie that I don't feel the need to repeat them, just know that you need to see this movie as soon as possible. Especially in today's political climate. Hey, some reviews are better than others. This is not one of those reviews.

Next Up: The Ring

31 Days of Halloween '17 - Day 6 - "Backcountry"

Backcountry (2014)

Bears are fucking terrifying. I'm not sure if you're aware of that fact or if you still view them as the cute and cuddley creatures that Disney has turned them into but I promise you, they are frightening. Any movie about a bear terrorizing people will immediately get my interest because of how much that scares me in real life.

After "Man Vs" I was really wanting a more grounded "survival in nature" kind of horror movie and this film did a better job delivering. I still don't understand why these films insist on adding all of these extra elements to somehow up the stakes even more. Is there any reason to have it be anything more than "backpackers get attacked by a bear and must survive in the wilderness"?

I thought it was hilarious when the lead guy got super defensive and mad when a fisherman came across their camp. He went into full blown macho mode and I couldn't believe how absurd it came across. Like...why would you be so suspicious of Eric Balfour's character when he's literally just another guy trying to get by in the woods. If anything there should be some sort of camaraderie. But no, instead it's very "Stay away from my woman!"

Next Up: Get Out

31 Days of Halloween '17 - Day 5 - "Man Vs"

Man vs. (2015)

The concept of this movie is absolutely fascinating: What if a Bear Grylls type was documenting an expedition when something attacks him. I've been fascinated by this ever since stumbling across it on Netflix and I can probably thank Joe Rogan for that. Nature fascinates me in a way that it never really did before. For years I was often left turned off by movies that were set in a more nature-like setting just because I viewed them as boring. Never again.

The idea of being out, alone, in nature is pants-shittingly-horrifying to me. I definitely don't think that the film fully took advantage of this idea but I also think it's a hard one to pull off. The main thing is that our lead feels so in charge of the situation from the get-go that it's hard to be worried about him. He's so confident in himself that they had to throw in some crazy supernatural/alien element to really test him.

I didn't understand this.

You have the concept of a man being alone in wilderness, being hunted and toyed with, and yet you have to go some completely unbelievable route? Seemed odd to me. The intelligence of the creature is what lost me. I would have preferred a pure force of nature that is pissed off that this guy is in his territory. I thought that was more of what we'd be getting but instead, it was more of a guy being fucked with by some mysterious, intelligent beast.

Next Up: Backcountry

31 Days of Halloween '17 - Day 4 - "Cult of Chucky"

Cult of Chucky (2017)

Yesterday saw the release of the latest film in one of my favorite franchises so of course that's what's on the agenda. It's a little sad that Child's Play, a series that has taken a big upturn in quality, is forced to DTV-fare. It's unfortunate given just how much the series deserves a theatrical release to fully take advantage of the horror audience that is chomping at the bit to see their favorite horror icons on the big screen again. After seeing this latest film, maybe staying out of theaters was the right idea.

Now this is going to contain some spoilers so make sure you turn back now if you want to go in fresh.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad movie, but I'm a big fan of the series and it felt like more of a spinoff than an actual entry. At least it tried to remain original, despite some of the twists being spotted from a mile away. I liked that there were multiple Chucky's, although the execution left some to be desired, especially when there were three in one scene. Came off very unnaturally in how Dourif interacts with himself. Maybe it could have been fixed in the mix.

It's crazy (no pun intended) that the entire staff fails to react with any severity to the deaths. As soon as someone dies, they just kind of get the body out of there and move on. It got to the point where I wondered if they were doing that on purpose, especially with the nurse up and quitting after one death. But that eventually led to downright nothing at all but a screwy death.

The kills were pretty great, if not a little more brutal than I expected. They really went all out and it may be the goriest yet. There was one point where the death was so outrageous that I laughed aloud. There was also a death that made my jaw drop at how beautiful it was. You'll know it when you see it but this contrast was pleasant, if not a tad out of place for a Chucky film. Which kind of sums up this movie as a whole.

While it's still a fun movie, and the Chucky bits are great, I wasn't as into the story as I was in Curse. This equated to a much less exciting movie overall but it was still fun. It was especially nice to see the Andy Barclay character back (and clearly set up for a sequel). Overall, it was a fun continuation but nowhere near most of its predecessors. 

Next Up: Man Vs

31 Days of Halloween '17 - Day 3 - "Stephen King's It"

IT (1990)

There are few movies that I refused to watch when growing up but the TV Movie "IT" was definitely one of them. Something about Curry's performance saw me changing the channel rapidly whenever it would come on Sci-Fi. By the time I finally watched it all the way from start to finish, I was terrified by Pennywise but unimpressed with other aspects of the film. Thankfully, that viewpoint has changed...

I'm so glad I gave this movie another rewatch because it left a much bigger impression on me than it had before, mainly because this viewing was after listening to the audiobook. I think this really helped me to appreciate just how much the TV movie deals with. And while I don't think that Curry is the same type of terrifying presence that Skarsgard's Pennywise brought to the table, he's still creepy in an interesting way.

I think one of the aspects that sells Curry's Pennywise so well is the reaction of the adults to him. They are all terrified and act like he is the most bone-chilling thing they've ever been unfortunate enough to witness. It can be a little over the top at times but having all the actors treat him as such a threat really presented him as such, even without him really doing such horrendous things on camera (most the deaths are off-screen/done by the deadlights).

The biggest issue with the film, and one that makes me a little worried about Chapter 2, is that the story drags a lot when it comes to being with the adults. That side of the story just isn't as interesting to me and the confrontation with Pennywise isn't nearly as satisfying. It just makes me even happier that they didn't try to do it for the new film.

Next Up: Cult of Chucky

31 Days of Halloween '17 - Day 2 - "Alien: Covenant"

Alien: Covenant (2017)

I hated this movie. I hate it with such a passion that it took me four times to finally get all the way through it. I can't stress enough how rare it is for that type of thing to happen to me. Did I mention I hated this movie?

Okay, now that we've got that out the way... I'm not sure how this movie was made. Hell, easily the worst film in the franchise, I'm not sure how this even got past the scripting stage. The film is shlock full of actors and then proceeds to not even utilize them to their full potential.

This entire crew is on a colonization mission and yet, throughout the movie, the crew that is in charge of keeping those pods of people alive constantly puts them in danger. Danny McBride, after assuming command of the ship since the Captain is below on the planets surface (with his wife) decides to go on a suicide mission to save his wife (who is actually dead so he'd be saving no one). It's asinine.

One common defense regarding the movie was that "at least they used a 'man in a suit' for the Xenomorph" and to that I say... did you even watch the movie? 100% of the time there is movement we are treated to a CGI alien. At no point does the creature look real or anything more than a really quick and physics-defying cartoon. Argh!!! This has made me so angry!

I'll end this here before I go off on a tangent about how Ridley Scott hasn't made a good movie since Gladiator... too late.

Next up: Stephen King's IT

31 Days of Halloween '17 - Day 1 - "It"

IT (2017)

What better way to start this off than by watching the biggest movie September has ever seen. I still am in a state of disbelief concerning the film's opening weekend of $123 Million as I just never thought I'd be alive to see such a thing for a horror film. As s-omeone that absolutely adores the genre, I am so happy to see such success. I can only imagine what this will spur going forward. I know my expectations are high. Speaking of high expectations...

Everything about this movie was satisfying but in order to properly give everything its fair due, I'll try and separate them into different sections. Simply makes things easier.

Most of the kids absolutely knock it out of the park. Beverly, Richie, and Bill in particular are three actors that are going to go very far. The only performance I wasn't a huge fan of was the actor playing Stanley. His squeaky voice may have just translated to an awkward performance so I'll hold out hope that it becomes less noticeable with repeat viewings.

Bill Skarsgaard's Pennywise is perfect. Everything that It was in the book comes through in Bill's performance. There have been inevitable comparisons to Curry's performance but I don't see them even in the same ballpark. Sure, Curry's is creepy and works well for the time, but its confined by the restrictions of television. Bill's version is fully realized and terrifying. It's hard to deny the presence of death that surrounds Pennywise.

One of the gripes that, while I understand it, I don't necessarily condone it, the poor use of CGI. I understood its intentions and it never really bothered me but there were a few moments I would have liked to have just had Skarsgaard's performance to inform the terror rather than shaky cam/CGI teeth. I'm sure the director's intentions were for higher budget effects, and I'm sure with the success of this one, we'll be getting that for Chapter 2.

The phenomenon of IT is alive and well. I knew when it was announced that this would be an "event" film but I had no idea it would blow up as it did. Getting to live through the release of the highest grossing horror film ever was truly something to behold and I'm still riding high off of it. Here's hoping Chapter 2 is just as satisfying.

Next Up: Alien Covenant