Saturday, October 31, 2009

Kiwi is a fruit best served delicious...

Ah The Locals...why do I love ye so, The Locals? Here's a movie from New Zealand that strangely has not been fondled by Peter Jackson. It's the story of two city boys who get lost late at night in the country, get their car stuck, and then find themselves running from murderous country folk. It sounds familiar but The Locals has a pretty fresh storyline, taking it in unexpected directions at times. I think what makes it work for me is how much I just really like the main characters. They come off as genuine and real, and you can't help but feel empathy for their plight. Dude, this is the only horror movie that makes me cry. What's up with that?!

Surprisingly, The Locals has a shockingly low score on the old IMDB. Maybe that shouldn't be shocking considering it was a majority vote that passed Measure 8 in California last year...just sayin'. Anyway, check it out and let me know what you think!

Oh, the horror...

If you are a fan of Hammer Horror, then Horror of Dracula is where it's at. Even us die hards have to admit that our British friends knew how to put out a snoozer from time to time, but Horror is a glowing example of how good Hammer could be when they were in top form. This movie is basically another re-telling of Bram Stoker's source material but here we have Christopher Lee as Dracula and Peter Cushing playing Van Helsing. Both actors have taken on these roles multiple times but it's here that they bust out some serious performances. Halloween Movie Fest, check. Giant bowl of candy, check. Sweet gothic horror, check!

"Hey, these things don't leak, do they?"

The Return of the Living Dead is in full effect! As far as I know, this might be the first movie where zombies moved from eating flesh and intestines to focusing on delicious human brains. Make that BRAAAAIIIINNNSSS!! And what's up with the creepy torso zombie lady they interrogate? Not only does she talk (what?!) but she gives some interesting insight into why zombies need to eat. Return supposedly picks up where Night left off more than 25 years earlier when a zombie in a sealed military tank is accidentally let out and all hell breaks loose. This has definitely got to be one of my favorite movies of all time. It has a fun punk soundtrack, zombies, a Nazi mortician, some pretty awesome zombies, and it never takes itself too seriously.

"Send. more. paramedics."

Kristy Swanson killed Mama Fratelli

Halloween Movie Fest kicks off with Wes Craven's Deadly Friend, an underrated little gem from 1986. Albert Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie puts his robot's motherboard into Kristy Swanson's freshly dead brain in hopes to bring her back. Nothing could possibly go wrong with this scenario, right? Heads explode, bodies fly, and Joe Bob Briggs once said Deadly Friend is A Breakfast Club version of Bride of Frankenstein which for me makes it a no-brainer. Or a crazy robot-brainer.

Halloween Movie Fest!!

I'll be kicking off my Halloween Movie Fest in a little over an hour. The plan is to pack in as many horror films as I can on this frightful Halloween day/night, all while blogging, tweeting, and facebooking it up. Good thing we turn the clocks back at 2 AM, all the more spooky screen time for Citizen Irene! Stay tuned...


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