Suffice to say that I haven’t been this entertained by a Batman animated movie since “Gotham by Gaslight.” Chris Palmer’s animated production of the 13-issue limited comic series by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale has been a masterful, absolutely mesmerizing amalgam of a murder mystery, mob thriller, relationship drama, and action thriller pairing Batman and his unlikely partner Catwoman against increasingly impossible odds.
Tag Archives: Halloween
Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One (2021) [Blu-Ray/Digital]
I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve never actually read Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s “The Long Halloween” before, so I was very interested in seeing what the movie would bring fans. Even as a non-Batman fan, “The Long Halloween” is probably one of the best animated Batman movies I’ve seen in a long time. While most of the previous Batman animated movies have zeroed in on non stop action and little story, “The Long Halloween” is very much about Batman being a detective.
Haunt (2019) [Blu-Ray]
Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ horror film is like one big Halloween treat that comes at just the right time. It’s a novelty, it’s occasionally silly, but it’s also extra creepy in that it takes much of its menace from the inherent dangers of Halloween that lurk in every corner of the holiday. “Haunt” isn’t particularly original, but when you get down to the meat and potatoes, it’s surely a lot of fun and garners shockingly empathetic protagonists, all of whom are never let off the hook from the moment they enter the danger of this enigmatic haunt.
Stay Home, Watch Horror for Peacock-tober
Peacock is giving streamers something to scream about with over 20 hand-curated horror collections including “Horror Stans” for cinephiles and “Hauntings & Possessions” with content that is guaranteed to keep viewers up at night.
These collections contain hundreds of titles and feature Universal monster classics like Dracula and Frankenstein, cult classics like Videodrome and It Follows, and modern psychological horrors like Kevin Bacon’s You Should Have Left. There is even a collection devoted to the master of suspense himself: Alfred Hitchcock – his legendary thriller Psycho is streaming exclusively on Peacock as it celebrates its 60th anniversary, and fans can watch interviews with surviving cast and crew members in the newly added documentary The Making of ‘Psycho’.
You can find more at https://www.peacocktv.com/holiday/halloween
Scooby Doo! Pirates Ahoy! (2006)
2006’s “Pirates Ahoy!” is one of the more clever animated sequels to come from the aughts when the “Scooby Doo” movie series was pretty much stale. By this time they’d given up fighting real monsters, and reverted back to criminals and goons with fancy costumes and illusions. It’s surprising how much talent these direct to DVD movies always attract, and the cast compliments what is a pretty nifty mystery, altogether.
Transylvania 6-5000 (1985)
Director Rudy De Luca amassed a career working with and writing for Mel Brooks, so it’s likely intentional that “Transylvania 6-5000” feels like an attempted companion piece to “Young Frankenstein.” It seems to aspire to do so more times than the viewer would like. “Transylvania 6-5000” feels like a pseudo or spiritual sequel to “Young Frankenstein” which is a good element in some instances and works to its detriment in other instances.
Stay Tuned (1992)
Peter Hyams’ horror comedy was way ahead of its time in 1992, and it’s a film that warrants so much more examination, mainly because of its prophetic view of television. Back in 1992 television was humongous and low income houses were finally getting access to cable television, so naturally there was a lot of ballyhoo about its addictive nature. Speaking as a television junky, “Stay Tuned” was a great bit of satire that also dabbled in to the arena of “So Bad it’s Good.” It’s not laugh out loud funny, but it’s often very clever, and never misses a chance to deliver some kind of word horror oriented pun.