Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)

Halloween Month may be over, but the Movie Marathon continues! Because there are too many great horror films to squeeze into 30 days. (Also because I'm bed-ridden for the week while my leg heals and have nothing better to do)

I enjoyed the novel version of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, but I was a little nervous about a movie version. I was afraid it would be a lot like the novel; the original text for the most part with some zombie scenes and dialogue worked in between the regular plot. But they did a great job making a terrifyingly immersive apocalyptic 19th century world.

I'm bored of "scientifically-accurate" zombies, so having supernatural zombies come back (in a unique time period to boot!) makes for some thrilling story. I've read Pride and Prejudice and seen several movie versions of it over the years and it's a great classic tale. But this was just the spooky twist I needed to see. I highly recommend this film!

The Top 11 Gravity Falls Episodes (Nostalgia Critic)

The Nostalgia Critic just did a review of The Top 11 Episodes of Gravity Falls. They're mostly spoiler-free, if you want a sample of the awesomeness that is this show. The Nostalgia Critic show's Halloween intro this year is basically a live-action remake of the Gravity Falls intro.

I'm almost done watching Gravity Falls. This show started out cute and interesting, but it's gotten serious and dark in later episodes. So many conspiracies and mysteries to unravel... this is my kinda show!

Gravity Falls (2012)

I haven't been making Halloween Month Movie Marathon posts lately because I've been burning through Gravity Falls episodes. I thought it'd be easy, being that it ended after only 2 seasons. But it's apparently 40 episodes! Whew...

Gravity Falls is about two twin kids, Dipper and Mabel, forced to spend their summer living with their great uncle Stan (a.k.a. Gruncle Stan) in the spooky town of Gravity Falls. During their stay, they discover the town is shrouded in all sorts of supernatural mystery.

Weird Science (1985)

I decided to take a day off from watching Halloween-themed movies and switch to a John Hughes marathon. Did you know I've never seen Weird Science? I thought I did years ago, but I don't recall any of this film.

I've also watched The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off today. Next up is Sixteen Candles.

I've been terrible about posting updates, but the last couple days, I watched two alien-themed movies: The Watch and Paul. They're more comedy than horror, but I think the Halloween season needs a good balance of both.

Rose Red (2002)

Tonight, I finished Stephen King's Rose Red. I had to start it yesterday because it's a 3-episode mini-series and each episode is an hour-and-a-half long. Whew!

This film is about a psychology professor who organizes a group of psychics to spend a weekend in a haunted mansion. She hopes that their psychic energy will bring the house alive and legitimize her research into paranormal phenomenon.

I watched this mini-series the day(s) it was first broadcast on TV. I was glued to the TV the 3 days it aired and I've always been fascinated with it. Most Stephen King movies turn out cheesy and campy, but this mini-series actually turned out really good. And being the length of 3 movies, it has plenty of time to flesh out an excellent story and still have room for scary edge-of-your-seat moments.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016)

For tonight's Halloween Month Movie Marathon, I decided to go out and see something more recent.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children actually surprised me with how good it was. I was expecting a movie centering on a rag-tag team of gifted kids with no real development beyond their one special ability; à la League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or Mystery Men. But they did a good job of fleshing out the world they live in and making you care about the characters and their plight. There were also elements of time travel involved, which is always fascinating for me.

It was also nice to see Eva Green show a little emotion. She's been typecast as a stone-faced cold-hearted bitch so much, I didn't expect much from her, but she did a good job expressing emotion when needed. All in all, a great film. I highly recommend it.

Jack the Bear (1993)

Continuing my Halloween Month Movie Marathon, I watched Jack the Bear, as recommended by [Facebook friend]. It was not quite what I expected; instead of thrilling horror, it instead tells of real-world drama.

It's about the host of a late-night horror show (Danny DeVito) who battles depression and alcoholism after losing his wife. After butting heads with the neo-nazi across the street, he finds himself fighting to protect his two young boys.

Halloween is Grinch Night (1977)/Ghoulies (1984)

Tonight I decided to watch an old classic that most have seen, yet forgotten exists. Halloween is Grinch Night is a sequel to How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It's only 25 mins long, so I've linked to the entire video on YouTube, in case you want to see it yourself.

I forgot to post yesterday, but I watched Ghoulies, an old 80s horror film about a guy who finds old cult books and tools in his mansion basement and becomes obsessed with the idea of summoning demons. It was a very low-budget film with not much plot, but it was apparently good enough to warrant 3 sequels.

The Reaping (2007)

Tonight's horror film is The Reaping. It's an excellent film about a former Christian missionary who actively seeks to disprove religious miracles. She's invited to a small town out in the bayou that's experiencing all the biblical plagues, one after another. And the town is blaming them on a 12-year old girl running wild in the woods.

This film is a fantastic science vs. religion film, with a bit of supernatural horror mixed in. It's fun to see the main character try to explain away all the supernatural events with real science. Keeps you on your toes; is this a real biblical event? Or just scientifically feasible occurrences? You won't know for sure until the end...

Ernest Scared Stupid (1991)

Halloween Month Movie Marathon continues! Tonight, I'm watching Ernest Scared Stupid, a guilty pleasure of mine during this season.

These kids movies have been a good warm-up for the Halloween season. Tomorrow I'm gonna start watching some real horror films.

ParaNorman (2012)

Halloween Month Movie Marathon! Since I've watched a few claymation films already, I decided keep up the trend with ParaNorman. It was a surprisingly good film with some great twists.

Random trivia: this is probably the first kids movie to have an openly gay character in it.

Monster House (2006)

Continuing my Halloween Month Movie Marathon, I watched Monster House last night. Very creative film that takes place on Halloween night. I'd highly recommend it.

Coraline (2009)

I'm continuing my Halloween month movie marathon. Last night, I watched Coraline. Great film! Very unique story.

The Post That Started It All

Starting off the Halloween month with a Hannibal marathon. I love these movies; I need to re-read the books again.

7 Dec 2019 EDIT: Today I'm starting this blog to collect all my previous Facebook movie reviews in one convenient location. Everything leading up to today's date is copied from Facebook. I will continue to post reviews on Facebook, but I will also drop them here to archive.