Today was my annual Halloween horror movie festival. The theme this year were ghost movies...although there was some drift involved as the night progressed.
Trick R Treat: This has become our new Halloween kick-off film, replacing the original Halloween. It's a fun anthology film, with four interwoven stories. Dylan Baker is a serial killer teaching his kid the trade (hey, it's a ll about family values) before heading out looking for a "date." Anna Paquin is a virgin werewolf, out with her pack sisters looking for her first kill. Samm Todd is an idiot savant who is the victim of a mean practical joke...and who sees her tormentors get their comeuppance at the hands of some very angry revenants. And, finally, Brian Cox is angry old man with a dark secret who is attacked by a demon/pumpkin monster/spirit of Halloween. Good acting, fun stories, creepy effects, tightly shot and plotted...a definite winner.
Ju On: The Grudge: One of the best J-horror flicks, with multiple stories all revolving around a haunted house in Tokyo, one that houses a creepy kid, his evil cat, the kid's homicidal spectral mom and, in the end, his murderous ghostly father makes an appearance. A little confusing at times, since we jump around in time, the characters are not all drawn very distinctly and the "rules" of the ghosts change as the story progresses. Still very creepy with some arresting images - like one scene where a character has the mother ghost show up in her bed and suck her in. The US version (with Sarah Michelle Geller) is a bit more coherent and lays out why the ghosts are haunting the house...and why they are so angry.
The Fog: A classic from John Carpenter. A ghost ship, with a ghost crew to go with it, return to attack a small California town 100 years after the treachery of the town's founders, led to the ship's destruction and the death of the crew. It has a great cast - Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis and Tom Atkins are the highlights - and a creepy atmosphere. While not really scary, it is tense and moody. As long as you don't expect a lot of action and can get into the mood of dread the film is creating, you won't be disappointed.
House On Haunted Hill: It is apt that the main character, played by Geoffrey Rush, builds and runs amusement parks, because that's what this movie is; a roller coaster ride. Like any good ride, it doesn't slow down once it starts and will have you both jumping and laughing as you watch. It has some good gore, imaginative effects and creature designs, funny one liners (particularly from Chris Kattan) and a lot of Famke Janssen.
Diary of the Dead: Not Romero's best, but a neat 'found footage' take on the zombie apocalypse story. The conceit doesn't quite work - like most found footage films there are moments when no sane person would hold a camera - and there are a few moments of humor that are at odds with the grim tone of the film. Romero's main message - about how the media creates the news and how we are so overwhelmed with information that we can't separate the signal from the noise - isn't insightful these days. Still, not bad and you will get your zombie fix. Avoid the follow up, Survival of the Dead, at all costs.
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