Michael Dougherty’s “Trick r Treat” is a contemporary success story that’s enamored horror fans for a long time. Originally in 2007, Michael Dougherty’s horror anthology was kicked around various studios, pushed back, and shelved. When it finally re-emerged, it was pushed to a DVD release on 2009. Once unleashed on the fan base, it began life as a hidden gem, and has grown to become a bonafide horror classic, almost universally praised. To boot, “Trick r Treat’s” mascot, the burlap sack wearing, jagged lollipop adorning Sam has become one of the modern horror icons, whose bred a legion of fans (as well as a slew of merchandise).
Tag Archives: Halloween
Bad Apples (2018)
Truthfully, “Bad Apples” isn’t a terrible movie even when you consider it’s a shameless rip off of “The Strangers.” It just obviously has a paper thin premise and not much else to do but pad the time. The movie is ninety minutes long and for twenty of those minutes it feels like a relationship drama set on Halloween starring Brea Grant and Graham Skipper as married couple Ella and Robert. She’s trying to adjust to her new house, he’s working his new job, and she’s trying to teach at a school run by an overly religious principal, oh the hilarity. Then it decides to dip in to the horror–eventually.
Curious George: A Halloween Boo Fest (2013)
Who else can soak in every bit of fun about Halloween than Curious George and the Man in the Yellow Hat? Branching off from the series of short films, “A Halloween Boo Fest” is a perfect celebration of Halloween and autumn that tells quite the interesting story. The Man in the Big Yellow Hat wants to show George his first ever country Halloween, but George ends up getting in to so much more along the way.
Casper’s Halloween Special (1979)
Also known as “Casper Saves Halloween” and “Casper the Friendly Ghost: He Ain’t Scary, He’s Our Brother,” the titular ghost’s Halloween special is about as rough around the edges as you’d expect from a production from the company from 1979. Around that time Hanna Barbera had absolutely no limits about whom they gave a show to, and Casper took time out of his series “Casper and the Angels” to help save Halloween. As opposed to his short lived series where Casper teamed up with two futuristic space cops. No, really.
Hell Fest (2018)
I should say that I love slasher movies. I adore the sub-genre and long before I fell in love with the genre of horror cinema, slasher movies were my bread and butter. I am all for a resurgence of slasher movies but if Gregory Plotkins’ “Hell Fest” is the attempt at starting a new renaissance of the sub-genre, it’s a horrible step forward. I don’t know how audiences will greet “Hell Fest” in ten years, but save for Tony Todd’s appearance I imagine this will be thought of as another horror groaner banking on the thirst for horror for the season. With five writers, “Hell Fest” never quite rises above utterly abysmal, and at best, would probably make okay background noise at a Halloween party.
Cinema Crazed’s 2018 Halloween Horror Month Has Begun!
Once upon a time, “Halloween Horror Month” was an idea. An idea bred from a goal to look for an excuse celebrate our love for horror for a whole month. In the past we’d post a glut of horror reviews for Halloween and only Halloween, but that didn’t quite feed our appetite. Now we aspire to celebrate not just Halloween, but October, and the horror genre as a whole. For “Halloween Horror Month” we celebrate thirty two days of horror, the occult, and the paranormal. Yes, we count Dio De Los Muertos. For thirty two days we’ll bring you reviews, articles, lists, and a lot more good stuff for what promises to be a very entertaining Halloween season.
We hope you join us for all of October, and to get in the mood, feel free to view some choice Halloween/Horror themed videos below!
Hell Night (1981): Collector’s Edition [Blu-Ray/DVD]
Director Tom De Simone’s “Hell Night” usually gets lumped in together with a lot of the other eighties slashers, but in reality his genre offering is so much more unique than a simple hack and slash. “Hell Night” is a great Halloween horror romp that feels like something pulled out of a haunted house Gothic novel. It’s the perfect fixture for the holiday delivering a relentlessly bleak tone that makes it quite an unnerving experience all the way through. Linda Blair can do these kinds of horror movies in her sleep and she plays final girl Marti quite well, doing her best to battle a deformed monster in its territory.