I’m still waiting for someone to deliver on an epic fantasy horror movie where teddy bears defend their masters against monsters under the bed, or from the closet. Tyler Novo’s two minute short comes painfully close to the premise and I’d love to see more of it down the road.
“Look I don’t want to be rude, but you sad losers should go suck somewhere else.”
Like every other hardcore Simpsons fan, I was a bit surprised that the series decided to not go with “Treehouse of Horror” this year. But FOX publicists assured fans that the following week would bring a new “Treehouse of Horror.” Even the characters address it in the first few minutes, as Homer has to appease Flanders, who asks why Halloween isn’t being celebrated in a treehouse this year. Thankfully “Halloween of Horror” is an experiment, and a damn good one. In all of the twenty seven seasons of “The Simpsons,” there were Christmas and Thanksgiving episodes, but Halloween was a special event with standalone non-canon horror stories meant to pay tribute to everything from Stephen King to Edgar Allen Poe. This year, the series treats us to two Halloween based episodes! Thankfully, “Halloween of Horror” is quite great and reminded me of a time where “The Simpsons were hilarious.
Maybe it’s because I’ve been spoiled by Will Vinton’s Christmas special, but “Comedy of Horrors” just wasn’t my favorite from the man. It’s likely because the narrative he gives audiences just doesn’t fit thirty minutes as a whole. I think this special should have had various segments rather than just one solid story. The story at the center is just never as engaging as I would have loved it to be, and in the end I was kind of disappointed. “Claymation Comedy of Horrors” is filled with a ton of horror references both obscure and mainstream, and I dug the Easter Eggs he included.
The nineties were filled with superheroes created by lab accidents or green ooze, and Toxie was one of the better ones. You figure turning one of the most gruesome cult movies of all time in to a PG rated cartoon would be disastrous, but “Toxic Crusaders” actually works well. It’s a fun and funny take on the original source material that embraces all the madness and absurdity of the Troma movie series, and I find it to be a great little companion piece to the original film.
The mythical Doctor Frankenstein spent years perfecting his monster which was tragically chased in to the maniacal doctor’s castle for all eternity. Hoping to escape the hatred from the villagers, the doctor travels to Hollywood in hopes of finding a way to perfect a formula. They accidentally cross paths with Alvin and the Chipmunks who are performing at a theme park very similar to Universal and Disney. While there they accidentally interrupt the Doctor who is performing experiments on his monster.
No better way to celebrate Halloween than with David, Alvin, Simon and Theodore. As usual, the Chipmunks dynasty is always on point to celebrate any occasion. This time out they celebrate Halloween with five Halloween and horror themed animated shorts that I had a really good time with. It’s tough to dislike the Chipmunks, and even in modern times there’s just something about their misadventures and brotherly dynamic that makes them charming and entertaining. Alvin is still Alvin, and his family is still the lovable characters that either put up with his antics, or match wits with him.
I honestly don’t want to dislike anything with an association with George Romero, but when sub-par independent filmmakers unleash a sub-par remake of Romero’s 1968 “Night of the Living Dead,” you just have to call a spade a spade. It’s irritating that there are still filmmakers that think they can perfect the formula better than Romero did. The rush of “Night” remakes doesn’t seem to be stopping any time soon, either. Which is unfortunate, because time can be better spent on films that aren’t glorified fan fiction. “Darkest Dawn” is essentially “Night of the Living Dead” all over again. Except this time, “Night” is set in modern times, and in a city.