For a long time, “Halloween” has been a lot about the inexplicable evil that arose in Haddonfield. But what Danny McBride and director David Gordon Green attempt to do is explain that Michael Myers is only symptomatic of what resides at Haddonfield. Like everywhere in humanity, there always has to be a scapegoat for to pit hatred and fear on to something, and Michael Myers was for a long time the epicenter of it in Haddonfield. “Halloween Ends” explores more the idea of evil as an amorphous entity rather than a maniac in a mask. While Michael Myers was every bit as evil and a force of darkness as we saw in “Halloween,” the final film in the new trilogy takes a step back to look deeper in to the darkness.
Tag Archives: Revenge
“Mask of the Phantasm” is Still the Best Batman Movie Ever Made
We can get argue about Batman in the movies all day long but when it comes down to it the best Batman movie I’ve ever seen is “Mask of the Phantasm.” It’s shocking that the movie initially didn’t do well at the box office since Batman was still a hot property in the 1990’s. Back in 1989 when “Batman” was unleashed, wearing his symbol on a button or t shirt or hat was like a fashion statement, while in 1992 Michelle Pfeiffer just made wave portraying Catwoman in “Batman Returns.”
Black Pumpkin (2018)
I could definitely picture re-watching Ryan McGonagle’s “Black Pumpkin” down the line. If anything it’s so bathed in Halloween ephemera that it’s a decent bit of background sounds for the respective Halloween geek. What holds it back though is that there seems to be so much behind the narrative that we’re not informed on, thus there feels like a big chunk of the intend narrative is either cut out or missing. That’s due to the fact that “Black Pumpkin” is technically a sequel to the 2016 movie “Bloody Bobby,” later-released in 2021 as “The Legend of Fall Creek.”
So, it’s a sequel—kind of. But not really…?
Pumpkins (2018)
Director Maria Lee Metheringham’s “Pumpkins” is a film that would have worked so much better as a short form segment in an anthology horror film. As a feature length film, it falls painfully flat. Everything that needs to be resolved about the narrative is literally resolved in the first half hour. Everything else is merely filler that transforms what could have been an interesting revenge tale in to another slasher film.
Bring it On: Cheer or Die (2022)
There’s a horror sequel to “Bring it On.” Repeat: There is a horror sequel (part seven!) to “Bring it On.” The cheerleading sports teen comedy that birthed a series of cheerleading sports teen comedies actually has a sequel that is a full on horror movie. That’s kind of like a sequel to “Mission Impossible” that’s a full on slasher film or something. It’s kind of amazing. It’s too bad “Cheer or Die” just isn’t.
Hellraiser (1987) [LA&M Film Fetish Forum]
“What is your pleasure, sir?”
Clive Barker’s “Hellraiser” is a purely body horror tale about hedonism in its purest and most raw essence. Even today it’s a very erotic, but gruesome tale about the pursuit of pleasures of the flesh and how it links to a breed of entities that may or may not be pure evil. “Demons to some, Angels to others” Pinhead (technically named “Hellpriest”) proclaims is a representation of the how the cenobites reach deep down in to the pits of sexuality and kink. And no human can ever really be prepared to see what the practices of this otherworld army has in store for them.
Headless Horseman (2022)
Take two cups of “Ghost Rider,” one cup of “Spawn,” a dash of “The Crow,” mix it up with only a fraction of the budget, and you have Jose Prendes’ “Headless Horseman.” The Asylum’s newest mockbuster watches like an off brand comic book movie from the late nineties. It feels like something from a studio that couldn’t afford Marvel’s “Ghost Rider,” so they opted for a character from an obscure indie label. If it seems like I’m just mocking “Headless Horseman,” I’m truly not. I was surprised at how much I didn’t hate it, as while the movie borrows from the aforementioned series’ wholesale, it amounts to some cheesy, charming fun.