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Thursday, October 29, 2020
Wednesday, October 28, 2020
Spooky Comedy Watch: Hubie Halloween (2020)
Watched: 10/25/2020
Format: Netflix
Viewing: First
Decade: 2020's
Director: Steve Brill
Look, Adam Sandler movies are not my thing, but we'd been drinking.
This is a perfectly good Halloween comedy, and is more or less exactly what you expect out of a an Adam Sandler comedy, if you like that sort of thing. It is also feels weirdly more like it *understands* Halloween more than almost any film I've seen. It gets what the holiday is, and doesn't need to make the lead *hate* Halloween and be won over by the holiday. And doesn't oversell what happens on Halloween.
While Sandler doesn't exactly light up the critical heavens with each release, he clearly has made his sets somewhere people want to be. The cast on this thing is amazing, including faces I haven't seen since, like, Happy Gilmore. And everyone gets a chance to be funny. It's really generous, cooperative stuff.
Probably safe for 11 and up.
Tuesday, October 27, 2020
PODCAST: "Van Helsing" (2004) - our Halloween 2020 Finale! w/ SimonUK and Ryan
Watched: 10/18/2020
Format: Amazon Streaming
Viewing: Second
Decade: 2000's
Director: Stephen Sommers
YouTube
The Monster Mash - Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Crypt Kickers
Halloween and Horror (everything)
Monday, October 26, 2020
Watch Party Watch: The House That Dripped Blood (1971)
Watched: 10/23/2020
Format: Amazon Streaming Watch Party
Viewing: Second
Decade: 1970's
Director: Peter Duffell
Really, an excuse for me to watch an Ingrid Pitt movie, I subjected friends to The House That Dripped Blood (1971), a horror anthology starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Denholm Elliot and, of course, Ingrid Pitt, all in different sequences.
The budget is modest, but it does have a sort of fun "let's tell spooky stories over the campfire" vibe to it, with four episodes of horror, all in complete different genres. One - a writer conjures the villain from his book to life. Two - a retired actor stumbles upon a wax figurine in a wax works in the village that reminds him of a woman with whom he failed to kindle a relationship, and he becomes obsessed. Third - a man moves into the house with his young daughter, who may be a bit too much like her deceased mother. Fourth - a horror movie star and his much younger girlfriend/ co-star move into the house while he also secures a cape that may really, really get him into the role of a vampire.
It is a silly movie, in many ways, but a darn good one for the Halloween season.
Sunday, October 25, 2020
Hammer Watch: Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)
I actually liked this Dracula a bit more than I expected. We're hitting 1970 by this time, Hammer was loosening up, and the characters feel a bit more three-dimensional around Dracula - which is welcome what with the lack of Peter Cushing.
Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) picks up during the events of the prior Dracula film, with Dracula impaled on a golden cross. A wayward English traveler comes upon the scene at that very moment, and, being an enterprising fellow, collects Dracula's cape, his clasp and his ring after the count is "dead". As well as putting some of his blood in a vial.
Hammer Watch: Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1968)
Watched: 10/22/2020
Format: TCM on DVR
Viewing: First
Decade: 1960's
Director: Terence Fisher
I've watched the few Frankenstein movies from Hammer that I've seen completely out of order. And this is no exception. I think this is the second to last movie, but, really, do not know.
Completely spinning the opposite direction from Universal, Hammer decided the selling point for their Frankenstein films was not the monster, but the good doctor himself. Building on the arrogant sonuvabitch from the novel, this version of Frankenstein is NOT humbled by his first creation, but emboldened by his success, and so the subsequent films are him doing what all good scientists would do - keep working on it.
Friday, October 23, 2020
FRIDAY: Amazon Watch Party - "The House That Dripped Blood" (1970) - an anthology of FRIGHTS
Day: 10/23/2020
Time: 8:30 PM Central
Time: 8:30 PM Central
We've been threatening y'all with this movie for a while now, and it's time to deliver.
No other genre does the "anthology" quite the way horror film embraces the concept. The House That Dripped Blood is a collection of short stories all around a single house in the suburbs that contains TERROR in many forms and guises.
The movie has some big names in it - Cushing, Lee, Denholm Elliot. But it also gives me a chance to share the great Ingrid Pitt with you people.
 |
| I know this doesn't LOOK scary, but this IS a scene from the movie. And that is Ms. Pitt. |
It's not Hammer - it's their poor relation, Amicus Productions. But it's still a perfect bit of horror for a night as we head toward Halloween!
Hammer Watch: The Vampire Lovers (1970)
A few years ago I included The Vampire Lovers (1970) in my list of one of the best movies I'd watched that year, but I don't think I'd actually watched it again since. Maybe in bits on cable, but this year I've been saving another rewatch for Halloween-season. The last few Octobers were obnoxiously busy times for me (in no small part because of baseball, but the Cubs were very bad this year). But, last year I squeezed in a listen to the audiobook of the source material, the novella Carmilla. (I should mention, the novella predates Dracula by about 15 years).
Thursday, October 22, 2020
PODCAST: "The Mummy" (1932) and "The Mummy" (1959) - Universal and Hammer Horror for Halloween 2020! w/ SimonUK and Ryan
Watched: 10/10/2020 and 10/13/2020
Format: BluRay and Amazon Streaming
Viewing: Unknown (a lot) and Third
Decade: 1930's and 1950's
Director: Karl Freund and Terence Fisher
We get wrapped up in some positively ancient horror favorites; two takes on the ancient dudes coming back and causing a lot of problems for colonial pillagers of ancient burial sites! First up is the weirdly undiscussed 1932 Universal feature starring Boris Karloff as a former clergyman who would do anything for love, then we talk the 1959 version starring Christopher Lee in a similar role - but this time opposite Peter Cushing. We'll walk a Nile in their shoes as we dig deep and discuss two horror classics!
YOUTUBE
Music:
The Mummy Opening Titles - Franz Reizenstein, The Mummy OST
King Tut - Steve Martin, 45rpm edition
Halloween 2020 Playlist
Halloween and Horror (everything)
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
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