Inspired by Michael Dougherty’s short horror film “Season’s Greetings,” our favorite trick or treater Sam returns to remind us of the further tricks he has up his sleeve as Dougherty introduces a film comprised of interwoven sub-plots a la “Go” (where everyone is out for the occasion but only a select few experience the true heinous clutch of Halloween evil) along with the comic book format in the vein of “Creepshow” where we’re bombarded with comic panels of what’s to come .
Season's Greetings (1996)
Back in the late nineties to early millennium there was a series on the Science Fiction channel here in America called “Exposure,” it was a fantastic take on a mini film festival by taking experienced indie directors and showing off some of the best and worst short films they could dole out to the audience. In the meantime we also were able to see early works from legendary filmmakers in Hollywood. “Season’s Greetings” was one of the best I’ve ever seen.
Upstairs (2006)
Writer-Director Mark Howell’s short is one of the finest examples of short horror cinema I’ve seen in a while. He wastes no time in explaining his characters to us, leaves our experience completely ambiguous and also leaves me wanting a sequel. When a young couple happen upon a house being sold in a seemingly mundane neighborhood, they decide to buy it under the house’s value and are talked in to the purchase by a content realtor who seems to know the house’s ins and outs as the new buyers prepare to move.
The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (2009)
I’m one of the many people in the film community who has had nothing but contempt for the practices Rob Zombie has exorcised since his venturing in to filmmaking. Beside “Devil’s Rejects,” Zombie is a man who is nothing but a studio tool who injects his own brand of trailer trash chic in everything he does, even polluting the origin of Michael Myers with it. Zombie is 100 percent Grade A hack and a complete studio stooge who knows how to be a horror fan but doesn’t know what horror fans want, nor will he ever try to find out.
Liberty's Kids: The Complete Series (DVD)
Like every bit of American history, it’s good to know that “Liberty’s Kids” tells its core audience only one part of the story and never the full details on what, when, and why. For one thing, the series focuses on only a quarter of American history with a sometimes artful dodging of aspects like slavery, illness, and the bloody events that were the wars. However there is a considerable acknowledging of slavery as one of our main characters, an African American, battles on the forefront of the Civil War in order to escape slavery. Sadly, the episode that focuses on the Native American experience only depicts us as inadvertent dominators of the land, not the evil villainous barons who strong armed a race out of their motherland.
Superman Batman: Public Enemies Two Disc Special Edition (DVD)
Granted the short run time doesn’t leave much time to emphasize more of the ins and outs of the graphic novels but it does take the time to dig in to the DCAU and continue the violent xenophobia that left off from the original Justice League and character Amanda Waller. “Public Enemies” though the movie is noticeably short, the crew behind the adaptation are able to balance their story enough to keep it focused on Batman and Superman, two rogues now on the run from the government after being accused of standing in the way of President Lex Luthor and defying all of his authority he’s used as a key in to world domination and deceive his followers in to believing what was nothing but smoke and mirrors that transformed in to an all out manhunt for Batman and Superman.
The Wizard of Oz (1939) (70th Anniversary Two-Disc Special Edition) (DVD)
“The Wizard of Oz” remained a favorite of mine all through my childhood and after so much advancement in special effects, it’s still a marvel to watch. Fleming and Warner’s partnering was a match made in heaven as Fleming took the L. Frank Baum beloved novel and gave us a fantasy epic that’s been mimicked and beloved since its initial release. Years after wearing down my old VHS copy I’ve managed to view the Victor Fleming masterpiece as one of the weirdest films ever made. Watching it from the view of a child differs from when you see it as an adult and watching it on the restored 70th Anniversary edition has brought to mind some images that seemed normal then that are surprisingly surreal today.