Halloween Movie Marathon 2011

[Goonie]

Recent viewings in bold:

1. Scarecrow of Romney Marsh Parts I, II, & III
2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
3. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
5. Zombieland
6. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
8. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
10. The Invisible Man (1933)
11. The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
12. The Invisible Woman (1940)
13. Invisible Agent (1942)
14. The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944)
15. An American Werewolf in London
16. The Evil Dead
17. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
18. Garfield's Thanksgiving/Garfield's Halloween Adventure
19. 28 Days Later
20. 28 Weeks Later
21. Werewolf of London (1935)
22. She-Wolf of London (1946)
23. The Wolf Man (1941)
24. Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man (1943)
25. The Wolfman - Unrated Director's Cut (2010)
26. Frankenstein (1931)
27. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
28. Son of Frankenstein (1939)
29. Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)
30. House of Frankenstein (1944)
31. Boo!: A Short Film (1932)

Son of Frankenstein (1935)

The longest movie in the Frankenstein franchise, clocking in at 1 hr 40 mins. It's not bad, but it drags on in a few spots. One plus is that Boris Karloff is back for the last time playing the monster. Basil Rathbone plays the younger Frankenstein heir, and Bela Lugosi plays Ygor, a shepherd turned monster's friend. One thing that I noticed was the set design; in some places it looks like Tim Burton was involved, especially with the interior of the castle. Frankenstein's lab is completely redesigned from the first couple of movies and this time it features a pool of hot sulphur - which is used in the climax (this must be where James Cameron got inspiration for the end of Terminator 2 - it's quite similar). Even tough it drags on in a few bits, it's still quite enjoyable.

Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)

Lon Chaney Jr. takes over the role as the monster, but it's missing Karloff's charm. Chaney makes the monster look more like Herman Munster. Bela Lugosi is back as Ygor. This time, Ygor Persuades Dr. Frankenstein, the son of the original, to transplant Ygor's brain into the monster's body. Slightly weaker, but an alright follow-up.

House of Frankenstein (1944)

Great concept - it's like watching next year's Avengers movie where you got all these iconic characters in the same movie. However, it kinda falls flat. Dracula is kinda wasted in this one and does not spend any screen time with Frankenstein's monster or the Wolf Man. One plus is that Lon Chaney Jr. is reprising his role as Lawrence Talbot/the Wolf Man. Boris Karloff is also back, but this time he's playing the mad scientist. This movie is supposed to be a direct sequel to Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man. Good concept, but could've been made a whole lot better.

Boo!: A Short Film (1932)

This one is included on the Frankenstein Legacy Collection set. It's only about 10 minutes long and comprises scenes from the various Universal Monster movies, including Nosferatu. The narration is hilarious. I had some good laughs. Here it is on Youtube if anyone wants to watch it:

BOO! Short Film by Universal about Early Horror Movies. - YouTube

 

[Goonie]

32. Young Frankenstein
33. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Young Frankenstein

Blücher! What can I say, a Mel Brooks Classic! After seeing the orignals I finally got some of the spoofs, like the one-armed inspector (originally from Son of Frankenstein). The whole cast is great in this one, and we get a young, super-cute Teri Garr. As Peter Boyle blurted out, it's "uuper- duper!" This is one I watch every year. "What knockers!":cool

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Thought I'd wrap-up my Frankenstein viewing this year with the 1994 Kenneth Branagh remake. I really don't know why this movie gets panned. You go to various critic sites and it gets as low as two stars. I think it's well done. May be one of the goriest Frankenstein, but well done. I don't even know if you'd consider this one a remake as it was Columbia's, not Universal. Would be interesting to see Universal do a remake of theirs.

I'm taking a break for a few days as I got guests coming over for the next week. I'll resume my movie watching next weekend, maybe I'll sneak in a viewing of Scary Movie or something.

 

[Goonie]

After a brief hiatus, I continued my viewing with Dracula...

34. Nosferatu (1922)
35. Dracula (1931)
36. Dracula - Spanish Version (1931)
37. Dracula's Daughter (1936)

Nosferatu (1922)

Decided to get into the Dracula portion of my marathon. First time watching this one. Technically not the first Dracula movie as it wasn't lost, but the earliest remaining. For a silent movie, this one is creepy as hell. Count Orlock (Dracula) looks like a demon, which makes it much more terrifying - especially when they just show Max Shreck's silhouette, very effective. Definietly worth checking out, and best of all, you can watch it legally for free online as it is in the public domain.

Dracula (1931)

The Bela Lugosi original. The one that all other pop-culture versions borrowed the look of, like Sesame Street's The Count. Great atmosphere, and one thing that I caught watching it this time around is the touch of humor with the vampire bee leaving it's own coffin near the beginning of the movie. Couldn't figure out what the armadillos were doing there though.

Dracula - Spanish Version (1931)

Shot at the same time as the Bela Lugosi version, and on the same sets. It is interesting to check out, with some creative camera work. However, this one clocks in at an 1 hr and 44 mins - a bit too long. Because of this longer running time, I think I prefer Lugosi's version better. Also, Carlos Villarias's facial expressions make Dracula look more comedic in some scenes.

Dracula's Daughter (1936)

It starts out alright with Edward Van Sloan back as Von Helsing (that's Von, not Van). But then it seems to turn into a mid 1930's chick flick. I might have to give this one a 2nd viewing in the future, maybe give it a 2nd chance.

 

[Goonie]

38. Son of Dracula (1943)
39. House of Dracula (1945)
40. Bram Stocker's Dracula (1992)
41. Young Indiana Jones: Masks of Evil
42. Ghost Ship

Son of Dracula (1943)

With this movie I matched my last year's record of 38 movies. I enjoyed this one better than Dracula's Daughter. However, I didn't buy Lon Chaney Jr. as Dracula. I don't know, he just didn't fit the role. He was better off playing the Wolf Man. One cool thing about this one are the effects for that time, especially when Dracula transforms from bat to human form.

House of Dracula (1945)

I have to say, these monster mash-ups are kinda lame. The most decent one from the early Universal Studios monster movies was Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man. This one was just lame. Stephen Sommers' Van Helsing is much better than this. The only bright part was that Lon Chaney Jr. was back as the Wolf Man for the last time. Between Karloff, Lugosi, and Chaney, Chaney was the only actor of the three to reprise his signature monster character, whenever the Wolf Man made an appearance.

Bram Stocker's Dracula (1992)

Francis Ford Coppola's remake, unfortunately not Universal Studios, but Sony. Fantastic remake though, Plenty of gore, plenty of eroticism, plenty of cool effects. And as a bonus we get to see Monica Bellucci's boobies. Great cast. One of my favourites.

Young Indiana Jones: Masks of Evil

Ok, actually the second part of this one is relevant as it deals with Vlad the Impaler, Dracula's inspiration. Not a bad Young Indy chapter. Actually what made it into the plot of the Transylvania section was stuff that originally was planned for Last Crusade, the whole haunted castle plot. Bob Peck (Jurasssic Park's game warden) played the Vlad charater known as General Targo in this episode. I also watched the accompanying documentary Dracula: Fact and Fiction - worth a look if you get the chance.

I'm gonna watch The Mummy and its sequels next, however, I wanted to take a break and watch something different and watched...

Ghost Ship

This is my second time watching it. Not a bad premise, could've been better though. The best part is the opening sequence witht he demise of the crew and passengers - quite gross.

 

[cayman shen]

A big +1 for trick r treat. Great movie!

Added Friday the 13th part 3 to the list last night.

 

[Goonie]

43. The Goonies

The Goonies

It's Oct 26 - Goonies Day! A few years back over at TheGoonies.org board, my fellow goonies came to the conclusion that the kids set out on their adventure on October 26 in the movie, so we proclaimed Oct 26 Goonies Day. What do we do today? Watch The Goones of course. I love this movie! A childhood favourite, it is still great all these years later. Love the cast. Love Dave Grusin's score. Love the story. I just picked it up on Blu-Ray today as it dropped down to $10. This one is part of my Halloween movie marathon every year. This is definitely a classic all kids growing up should experience. :cool

Now I'm gonna switch over the The Mummy movies.

 

[darthgordon]

I have to say, these monster mash-ups are kinda lame. The most decent one from the early Universal Studios monster movies was Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man. This one was just lame. Stephen Sommers' Van Helsing is much better than this. The only bright part was that Lon Chaney Jr. was back as the Wolf Man for the last time. Between Karloff, Lugosi, and Chaney, Chaney was the only actor of the three to reprise his signature monster character, whenever the Wolf Man made an appearance.

Last night when I got home, Frankenstein Meets The Space Monster was on AMC. You want to talk about lame... With a few drinks I might have been able to watch it and laugh at it. Sober, I couldn't even do that.

 

[Jaedena]

Typically I try to watch either Event Horizon and/or Session 9 on Halloween.

 

[Probe Droid]

So far:
The Wolfman (like it more with every viewing)
Franky Meets the Wolfman (an okay sequel)
House of Franky (pretty bad)
House of Dracula (better but still a B)
Ghost of Franky (complete turd)

Also watched Se7en, which is quite different fare than the above, but still a good, effective, creepy film.

I'm about an hour into Scream 4, which is both good and bad. Very clever in keeping you wondering who the killer is but the characters do too many stupid things to make the story believable.

 

[Goonie]

44. The Mummy (1932)
45. The Mummy's Hand (1940)
46. The Mummy's Tomb (1942)
47. The Mummy's Curse (1944)
48. The Mummy's Ghost (1944)

The Mummy (1932)

A few years ago I found an interesting connection between the original, the 1999 remake, and the area in British Columbia where I lived for the past 12 years. Back in 1910, a guy by the name of William Pratt emigrated from England to Kamloops, in the interior of BC. There he hooked up with a touring stage company and took on the name Boris Karloff. The movie industry was taking off and soon after he headed for Hollywood and became a star, not only getting the lead role in the original Mummy, but also his signature character for which he is known best in Frankenstein. Fast forward to present day and Stephen Sommers' remake of the original Mummy starring Brendan Fraser. Just a two hour drive south of Kamloops where Karloff got his start, is Kelowna where I lived for the past 12 years. What's the connection to Kelowna? Apparently Brendan Fraser's parents live there. I just thought that was a strange little coincidence between the original and the remake. What can I say, I really enjoy the original. The only dowside is it is very slow paced, but that's really my only gripe with this one.

The Mummy's Hand (1940)

This is an interesting departure from the first one. The Mummy switches from Imhotep to Kharis, with a fairly unknown actor in the role of Kharis. Simply put, a high priest brings Kharis back to life to protect the tomb of Princess Ananka, with the eventual goal of resurrecting her. Different from the first one, and the Sommers' remake, the mummy never materializes into human form like Karloff in the original or Arnold Vosloo. The Mummy stays in bandaged form throughout the movie. One big downside to this one is that we really don't get to see the Mummy in action until about the last 20 minutes.

The Mummy's Tomb (1942)
The Mummy's Curse (1944)
The Mummy's Ghost (1944)

The problem with these three is that they all feel like a carbon copy of the 2nd one. They all pretty much have the same plot of The Mummy's Hand. The only cool thing is Lon Chaney Jr. takes over the role of Kharis the Mummy. These have great titles and Universal couldn've done so much more with them, but following pretty much the same story line over 4 movies? C'mon. Kinda feels like today's remake trend in Hollywood doesn't it? At least Stephen Sommers' tried some different things between his first and second, and then Universal tried something even more different with the third by setting it in China.

Next up a little later this evening is the 1959 Hammer Films version starring Count Dooku and Grand Moff Tarkin, and the Universal remakes.

 

[Goonie]

Recent viewings in bold:

44. The Mummy (1932)
45. The Mummy's Hand (1940)
46. The Mummy's Tomb (1942)
47. The Mummy's Curse (1944)
48. The Mummy's Ghost (1944)
49. The Mummy (1959) (Hammer Studios)
50. The Mummy (1999)

Count Dooku takes out Grand Moff Tarkin

The Mummy (1959)

This one by Hammer Studios is not bad. I enjoyed it. Starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Only problem is, again it feels like a re-hash of Mummy 2,3,4 and 5. Again, Kharis is reawakened to avenge the desecration of Princess Ananka's tomb. I liked the sets and costumes.

The Mummy (1999)

Stephen Sommers' big action-packed popcorn flick. It's fun and rips off Indiana Jones in a whole lotta ways. The CGI looks a litle dated though. Can't believe it's already 12 years old. I do like that they went back to Imhotep, rather than using Kharis in this remake. Mmm, Rachel Weisz looked yummy in this one. :cool

Two more Mummy movies to go, then Creature from the Black Lagoon gets some attention.

 

[0neiros]

The Thing - Orig and Carpenter
Poltergeist
The Blob - Orig and 1988
Hostel 1
The Fog - Orig
The Shining - Kubrick
Evil Dead II
Evil Dead AOD
Return of the Living Dead 1 & II

 

[Probe Droid]

Finished Scream 4. Stinker. I can appreciate Craven's commentary on today's celebrity insanity, but the film mostly was dumb. Really fun opener and the first act was clever, but it disintegrated quickly.

 

[darthgordon]

Really? I found Scream 4 to be on par with the first one more than the other two sequels... although the characters did make some pretty stupid mistakes. It's funny, because if I had gone through what Sidney had, I think I'd always be armed.

 

[Probe Droid]

Werewolf of London. This film has grown on me a lot over the years. I like that it approaches the werewolf completely from a scientific perspective forgoing any supernatural elements. Much of the acting is very stagey and melodramatic and the death at the end is laughable. The guy did everything but kick a bucket. Still I find this a fun film.

And I love how short all these old Universal horror films are. 75 minutes and you're done. You can knock out 2 or 3 of them in a sitting no problem.

 

[SSgt Burton]

While not a tradition with me I did find myself watching a few horror/Halloween flicks this week-


"They Live" (my first time watching it since it was released in the theater!)


"Halloween" (1978). You know... I've always seen the edited for television version of this film up until now! Even City Tv back in the 80s used to broadcast the (mild) nudity, but not the extended violence. My first time seeing the unedited film!

Funny- I forgot that Jamie Lee and the kids were watching "The Thing (from Another World)" on tv Halloween night. Then Carpenter goes on to make his remake of The Thing.



"It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown"- Halloween wouldn't be complete without watching this! Found it on dvd in a $5 bin! Money well spent!


And although it's more Christmas than Halloween, I watched Batman Returns last night. Certainly puts me in the costume spirit, as I'll be wearing a killer Robin outfit to a party tonight!



Kevin

 

[Goonie]

Recent viewings in bold:

44. The Mummy (1932)
45. The Mummy's Hand (1940)
46. The Mummy's Tomb (1942)
47. The Mummy's Curse (1944)
48. The Mummy's Ghost (1944)
49. The Mummy (1959) (Hammer Studios)
50. The Mummy (1999)
51. The Mummy Returns
52. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

The Mummy Returns

One of the movies that came out in the summer before the planes hit the towers and the world went haywire. Can't believe this one is ten years old already. Imhotep is back to take on a really bad CGIed Dwayne Johnson. Still a fun popcorn flick, and Rachel Weisz is a yummy mummy in this one.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

No Imotep. No Egypt. No Rachel Weisz. Even though this one changed to a different global location and Rachel Weisz got replaced with Maria Bello it is still a fun popcorn flick, even though the part with the Yetis was a bit much. The CGI of the mummies was definitely better. I did like the Emperor's sound effects, sounded like he was talking into a clay pot. Is there another Mummy movie on they way, set in Peru? Hey why not. I'm up for another Mummy movie.

Time to switch gears to The Creature From the Black Lagoon.

 

[Klwl]

Typically I try to watch either Event Horizon and/or Session 9 on Halloween.

Thanks for reminder! Event Horizon tomorrow after I finish my Aliens marathon

cheers!~

God I love Halloween

 

[Goonie]

53. Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
54. Revenge of the Creature (1955)
55. The Creature Walks Among Us (1956)

Creature is frisky, and he stole my Twinkie.

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

A classic Universal sci-fi! Love the costume in this one. Would love to see them release this one on Blu-Ray and in 3D like the original version.

Again, Creature is Frisky.

Revenge of the Creature (1955)

Clint Eastwood's very first movie! - ok he only gets less than a minute of screen time, playing a not-too-bright lab technician that looks like a young punk. A pretty good sequel. creature is captured and taken to Marine Land in Florida where he's held in a tank. Then he eventually escapes to the Everglades.

Looks like a Luchador in this one.

The Creature Walks Among Us (1956)

The Creature gets captured in the Everglades but gets burnt in the process. It is decided to give him a face-lift like what happened to Michael Jackson during the filming of that Pepsi commercial. The experiment to make him more human is a failed attempt and creature escapes. I wonder if someone has been waiting for a sequel since 1956? Not to worry, a remake of the first movie is is in the works but has been in development hell. An interesting sequel. When they put clothes on the Creature, he looks like a badass Luchador wrestler.

That concludes my classic Universal Studios monster legacy collection. Time for a couple monster mash-ups, Van Helsing and Monster Squad.

 

[Probe Droid]

Horror of Dracula. Lee is terrific as the Big D, but much of the film is slow despite a short running time. Things pick up considerably when Cushing arrives. Minor quibbles, still a fun film.