I’d have a hard time calling “The Houses October Built” a masterpiece, but I do think it has potential to become an ambience builder for future Halloween parties. I can see people playing this on a constant loop during the really adult and sinister festivities. While that may seem like a jab at the movie, I actually think that’s a compliment, as where “The Houses October Built” lacks in engaging characters, it makes up for in the Halloween mood and an interesting commentary on modern America and the general sentiment toward Halloween.
Tag Archives: Mystery
Rift (2017) [Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival 2017]
A man is receives an odd call from his ex and goes to join him in a remote cabin. As they work through their issues and loneliness, they are haunted by something that may or may not be supernatural in nature.
The Munsters’ Revenge (1981)
Even in 1981, “The Munsters” are still so damn funny. “The Munsters’ Revenge” is the monster family once again getting in to a misadventure and learning how to beat the bad guy with the help of their twisted magic and family unity. I laughed a lot during this TV movie featuring most of the brood from the original sitcom. Sure, the original three monsters are showing a bit of their age here, but the movie feels like an extended episode with sharp comic timing, some hilarious gags, and a great supporting cast. Best of all there’s Sid Caesar and Bob Hastings who derived the most laughs out of me. In fact, the latter had me bursting in to hysterics as uncle Phantom of the Opera.
Addams Family Reunion (1998)
After the sad death of brilliant actor Raul Julia, the “Addams Family” film series was put to rest, despite both films being big commercial hits for their respective years. Almost immediately, Paramount sold the rights to the series to, baffling enough, Saban Entertainment. Saban, of course, is known for producing cheap but popular kids entertainment like “Power Rangers” and “Digimon.” The Saban label at the opening is almost a black mark on the entire movie, as the reboot of the reboot is a bargain basement third entry in to the series with all the cast replaced save for Lurch. The dark and Gothic aesthetic is missing, and comically sinister tone the series perfects is considerably watered down with the film feeling less like Tim Burton, and more like the terrible pilot to a show that never quite took off.
The Addams Family (1991)
Among some of the best adaptations during the odd period in the nineties where every studio was putting sixties shows to film, “The Addams Family” is one of the best. While this isn’t the first time we’ve seen the Addams Family together again after the cult series, Barry Sonnenfeld offers up a unique retelling of the Addams Family that works well. The biggest change to the lore is now Uncle Fester is no longer Morticia’s uncle but an Addams’ and Gomez’s brother. This allows the writers to offer up a pretty fun and unique re-visiting of the family where the primary brood is played by some brilliant actors.
Charismata (2017) [Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival 2017]
With a divorce and house sale pending, a police detective is put on the case of several ritualistic murders being committed her in town. As she investigates and finds clues, she loses more and more of her mind.
Midnighters (2017) [Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2017]
A couple coming back from a New Year’s party hits a man on the highway. As they try to figure out what to do, things take turns for the worse and worse, testing them and their resolve.
Written by Alston Ramsay and directed by Julius Ramsay, Midnighters is a thriller with touches of horror that takes its time to set up the situation and the stress of it before through a wrench into the proceeding and ads extra characters in the story and everything takes a few more turns that are surprising yet still make sense. The writing and directing of the film show that they creators work well together and them being brothers definitely help. Their work is good here and the film is a tightly planned and executed thriller.