'Tis the season.. Halloween movie recommendations

Praise the Lard

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I'm on a DVD kick again, and I need more old horror flicks. Well not necessarily "horror" but anything with a good halloween vibe. I already have a crapload, BUT I NEED MORE! So recommend me some.

I realize in recent years there have been a ton of direct to video releases, almost all of these I've seen have just sucked balls. Anyone find a decent one?

I'll recommend a few:
phantasm2.jpg

Phantasm 2 - As of September 15th, 2009 this gem is finally on Region 1 DVD. Buy it.

hardware.jpg

Hardware - Soon to be re-released 2-disc limited set (and when it comes to movies like this limited usually means something). An awesome flick you've probably never even seen. And look at that cover, the damn beauty.

thegate.jpg

The Gate - You've probably seen this, I've lost count of the times I've seen it on TV. You know the drill: Kids play record backwards, open a hole in the backyard, shit hits fan. A classic, set to be re-released on DVD in a week or so.

puppetmaster2.jpg

Puppet Master 2 - My favorite in the Puppet Master series. This is on DVD but you have to get it in the box set which never made it to store shelves.. Despite that it still isn't hard to find the set.
 

JediKiller

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I've been on a similar hunt this past week or two, fall means scary movies! I rented Clive Barker's Book of Blood which was just released on DVD. Someone told me this had recently been on tv? I missed it, but enjoyed the DVD. They had previews for some other Clive Barker movies, so I hunted those down: Midnight Meat Train, that was ok, Nightbreed...hadn't seen that one in a long time, and I also discovered an old one from Clive: Salome and The Forbidden. Two short films on one DVD, these are from way back well before Hell Raiser, and it was interesting to watch and see how his creativity was forming. (this from a long time reader of Mr Barker's books...)
I also recently rented Mortuary, which was decent, and Knock Knock, which was just stupid. Just came home from the video store with The Shortcut which is a new release, and from the new off shoot of Happy Madison productions: Scary Madison....I'm not expecting much out of it...it's only PG-13, but we'll be watching it tonight.
 

subcons

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I've never understood the Phantasm fandom. Yeah, it's a weird and bizarre premise, but those movies are just beyond awful... and I love horror movies so I'm used to putting up with bad movies.

What's up with that cover for The Gate? I've seen that movie a hundred times, but that doesn't even look like the same movie beyond the little claymation demon guys. Is that a sequel they did or something?

Never seen Hardware. I'll definitely check it out.
 

Taiso

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Movies I feel are 'Halloweeny':

Night Of The Living Dead (Romero version or Savini version.)

Bela Lugosi Dracula.

Boris Karlfoff Frankenstein.

Lon Chaney Wolfman.

An American Werewolf In London

Any of the Hammer horror Dracula flicks wth Cristopher Lee and Peter Cushing.
 

norton9478

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I try to watch Donnie Darko every halloween season.
 

Steve

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Ernest Scared Stupid


Good call. Just love this movie. Awesome Halloween atmosphere splashed all over this film. Imaginative and I remember it being pretty spooky too as a kid back in the early-mid '90s. Definitely gonna watch this, some of the Halloween films, and Trick R Treat this month.

Also, I highly recommend THE MAID, Singapore's 1st horror movie. It's freaking creepy with the surround sound cranked up at 2 AM in the dark. Recently a US remake GHOST MONTH came out, but I heard Ghost Month completely sucks. The Maid is the scariest film I have ever seen. Speaking of Asian horror movies, Mr. Vampire is a classic and I also recommend Tale of Two Sisters, Phone and the first One Missed Call (Japanese)
 

Lagduf

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Good call. Just love this movie. Awesome Halloween atmosphere splashed all over this film. Imaginative and I remember it being pretty spooky too as a kid back in the early-mid '90s. Definitely gonna watch this, some of the Halloween films, and Trick R Treat this month.

Also, I highly recommend THE MAID, Singapore's 1st horror movie. It's freaking creepy with the surround sound cranked up at 2 AM in the dark. Recently a US remake GHOST MONTH came out, but I heard Ghost Month completely sucks. The Maid is the scariest film I have ever seen. Speaking of Asian horror movies, Mr. Vampire is a classic and I also recommend Tale of Two Sisters, Phone and the first One Missed Call (Japanese)

Heh, I was sort of joking with that Ernest film...but really it's great for Kids and has a goofy Halloween vibe going for it.

It's not as good as Ernest Goes to Jail or Summer Camp, but still a fun romp.
 

Praise the Lard

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You know Trick R Treat actually looks pretty good, I was wondering why it keeps showing up on the Amazon "customers who bought this also bought" lists. I thought maybe it was a remake of Trick Or Treat (the one with Ozzy Osbourne and Gene Simmons) for some reason.. You know because they will remake just about friggin anything now'a'days. :P

Here's another thing to check out:
His Name Was Jason - I watched this recently and it's overall very well done, a great watch if you're a fan of the Friday the 13th films.
 

qube

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You know Trick R Treat actually looks pretty good, I was wondering why it keeps showing up on the Amazon "customers who bought this also bought" lists. I thought maybe it was a remake of Trick Or Treat (the one with Ozzy Osbourne and Gene Simmons) for some reason.. You know because they will remake just about friggin anything now'a'days. :P

Here's another thing to check out:
His Name Was Jason - I watched this recently and it's overall very well done, a great watch if you're a fan of the Friday the 13th films.

Seen it, excellent stuff. Savini is the man.
 

TheGreenMachine

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Damn, I would need access to my full VHS/DVD collection to even remember half of what I'm forgetting.

Depends on your tastes(most of these are firmly B Movie grade):

Aliens -
Bad Taste
Night of the Creeps
The Thing

Lovecraft/Lovecraft-ish -
Dagon
From Beyond
In the Mouth of Madness
Re-Animator

Monsters -
Abominable (a recent film but solid old school B movie ethics)

Werewolves -
An American Werewolf in London
Howling
most of the Paul Naschy wolf man films

Zombies-
Brain Dead/Dead Alive
City of the Living Dead/The Gates of Hell
Return of the Living Dead
Return of the Living Dead Part II
The Beyond

That's just a smattering of what I can recall. There are many other Italian horror films and shit loads of other "great" 80's B movie flicks.

- TGM
 

dullbuoy

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Also, I highly recommend THE MAID, Singapore's 1st horror movie. It's freaking creepy with the surround sound cranked up at 2 AM in the dark. The Maid is the scariest film I have ever seen.

The Maid is one of the most boring and least scary asian movies around IMO. your other recommendations are pretty good though. I'd add the original versions of The Eye and Shutter as worth getting. Red Shoes is pretty fun too.

also, À l'intérieur (Inside) is one of the better quality foreign gore flicks.
 

Steve

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About time. I remember seeing a teaser back in 2007!

I'd recommend The Descent.

They've unfortunately made a sequel to this...

Oh yeah. I highly recommend [REC]! [REC] 2 comes out today.


Descent was good. So was [REC].

Just saw Trick R Treat... it's quite a nice little anthology horror piece. A bit like "Goosebumps for adults"... don't expect "hardcore horror" but it's got its moments and is nicely acted.


I highly recommend SPLINTER (2008). It's streaming now on Netflix... awesome little 80 minute creature feature. Just watch it. The acting is great considering it's a low budget direct to DVD release. You actually care for the characters and it's got plenty of cool moments.

Two thumbs way up.

2sae0w2.jpg


trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJndd5Eyz18

But the less seen, the better. Just watch the whole movie without reading anything else. Chances are, you'll at least like it. I loved it. Here's what some critics said:

A.O. Scott, The New York Times
With Splinter, the director Toby Wilkins honors the conventions of the horror genre with skill and enough wit to keep the scares sharp.
3.5/5 stars

Claudia Puig, USA Today
This is classic Halloween fun, with plenty of thrills and chills, surprisingly believable performances, and healthy doses of humor.
3/5 stars

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
A nifty horror movie that doesn't claim to be anything other than a zippy exercise in creature-feature entertainment.
4/5 stars
 
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Praise the Lard

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I did give Splinter a go a week or so ago from the netflix instant watch, it was alright. I was really annoyed by all the shaky cam and quick cut crap whenever stuff you want to see happens. :P I consider that sort of thing a huge flaw. It was a good watch, but not something I'd want to see more than once really.

dragmetohell.jpg


Tonight I finally watched Drag Me To Hell. Originally I passed on seeing this in theaters and instead waited for the DVD release, the main reason being it has been a looong time since old Sam Raimi made the Evil Dead movies and I didn't have total confidence.

From the trailer I thought it would be very serious in nature, but actually there are tons of funny/ridiculous moments in there to lighten the whole thing up. Towards the end of the movie there is a graveyard scene that reminded me a hell of a lot of Army of Darkness.

Totally awesome in my books. I'll definitely be buying it.

... Next up is Trick R Treat which just arrived from Amazon today.
 

genjiglove

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I really want to watch The House of the Devil. I don't know when it comes out on DVD but I can't make myself pay 10-15 bucks to rent it on the 360.
 

qube

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Splinter and Trick R Treat were both top notch. Splinter is an over looked gem for sure.

Got Drag Me to Hell tonight, but haven't watched it yet. Also picked up Audition today since it's finally on Blu-ray.

Pretty sure I won't be watching much besides horror movies this month.
 

Deuce

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Repost from the main movie thread, but since they're both horror, it's relevant.

Trick 'r Treat first. Since this movie was originally slated for a theatrical release, the production values are surprisingly high. It probably would have done fairly well at the box office, but though it had its high points, I wasn't overly fond of it. It tells four separate-but-linked stories (which isn't a spoiler... the opening credits tell you that much), in a bizarre comic-bookish format. In more than a few regards, it's kind of like Creepshow, but instead of having a slightly zany, off-the-wall tone, it takes itself pretty seriously, and it only works about half of the time. One particular segment is very promising at the start, but turns quickly into a series of WTF moments, and not in a good way. I've seen worse, but I've definitely seen a lot better.

The Children, on the other hand, is a delight... if, mind you, you delight in seeing the idea of children become murderers. Children of the Corn, this is not. A British film depicting a family holiday get-together, where one of the kids gets slightly sick at the outset, setting off a slow-building series of events that escalates into some genuinely creepy and disturbing shit by the time everything's firing on all cylinders. This one is pretty gory, though it's mostly done in quick flashes. There's a leg-breaking scene that's sure to make anyone wince. Good acting and pacing, along with some excellent cinematography, combine to make this a keeper. I suspect it's not for most parents, though. Being a foreign film, the taboo on showing children getting killed is nowhere to be found here. The gloves are off pretty much from the outset, and it's a better film for it. Highly recommended.
 

genjiglove

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You should watch Beware, Children at Play. Its a pretty crappy movie but the combination of kids being killed with very low budget effects is pretty funny. You can tell which kill scenes they spent the budget on and which ones they had to skimp on.
 

Deuce

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Oh, one other I watched today.

The Thaw: An interesting flick about a scientific survey team researching global warming and, while studying the melting glaciers, they find a stranded polar bear, scratching at the ice and eating something. Lo and behold, it's a woolly mammoth, and it and the unconscious bear shortly reveal the main antagonist(s) in the film. It's an above average horror movie, but I hesitate to call it "good." It's not exactly subtle in its global warming subtext, and can be downright preachy at times... and that's coming from someone who thinks global warming deniers are right up there with Holocaust deniers in terms of sheer idiocy. While it's executed fairly well, it doesn't do anything remotely new or shocking. It borrows heavily from better movies, such as The Thing. The ending is fairly novel, but if you're one of the aforementioned deniers, you should give it a wide berth. Abasuto should definitely avoid this one. As for a score... 3/5, I'd say.
 
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