The Witch (2016)

Tonight's Halloween Month Movie Marathon film is The VVitch.

In Colonial America, a family is excommunicated from the local village and has to build an isolated farm out in the woods. But there is an evil prescence in the woods that torments them, turning them on one another and testing this Christian family's faith in God.

One of my favorite things about this film is how accurately they tried to portray it. It was made using written legends and folklore of the early 1600s, so everything about this film is as accurate to the time period (1630) as possible, right down to the dialogue and dialect. Even the title is spelled with two "v" letters, as Colonial Americans didn't yet have a "w" letter.

This isn't a traditional horror film. You spend most of the film engaged in the lives of these people and how they deal with the unknown, with very little actual horror going on. You're on the edge of your seat, waiting for the next unexpected surprise to hit, but not sure when or if you'll see something confirming the evil the family suspects. So if you're looking for a slasher/survival film, this is not the film for you. However, if you're interested to see a period film that tells folklore of witches roughly 60 years prior to the Salem Witch Trials, then like me, you might really enjoy this.

Freaks of Nature (2015)

Happy Halloween Month Movie Marathon! I'm back with another review... Freaks of Nature.

This film takes place in a world where humans, vampires, and zombies all coexist peacefully. Or they did, until an alien spaceship turned up and sent the town into a panic. Now it's up to a human boy, vampire girl, and zombie nerd to team up and overcome this invading alien force!

This horror/comedy is highly entertaining to watch. It's a very creative spin on the classic zombie/vampire/alien tropes and has plenty of humor to inject between all the blood and gore. It's a well put together story and I would highly recommend it for viewing!

Oculus (2014)

Tonight's Halloween Month Movie Marathon pick is Oculus.

A man is released from a psychiatric hospital after being locked up for 11 years. He believed that a haunted mirror possessed his parents, causing them to attack him and his sister when they were children. He now believes his mind was playing tricks on him, but his now-adult sister is anxious for him to return so they can together prove to the world that the mirror truly is haunted.

This is one of those movies that plays mind games with you. You don't know what's real and what's fake, and you don't know if the characters are really fighting a possessed mirror or just losing their own minds. It definitely keeps you on your toes.

It also bounces back and forth between the past and present, slowly revealing what happened in their childhood while at the same time, having the characters remember and re-live that horrible night.

The premise was excellent and the movie was great... until the end. I won't spoil anything, but let's just say that the ending was not satisfying for me personally and I felt it ruined the film. I've heard lots of praise for this film and was anxious to watch it, but the ending really turned me off to it. If you like psychological horror/thrillers, though, this may be the movie for you.

The Shining (1980)

Welcome back for your daily Halloween Month Movie Marathon! Tonight I'll be watching The Shining.

Jack Torrence (played by Jack Nicholson) is hired to manage an isolated hotel over the winter and he brings his family along, as they'll be snowed in for the season. However, the hotel has a haunting presence that slowly corrupts Jack's mind, turning him on his family. Meanwhile, his young boy learns he has a psychic ability and uses it to see horrific visions of past and future events.

I'm actually posting this review before seeing the movie, as my wife and I are going to be seeing a very late-night screening of it at our local theatre and I didn't want to post tonight's review tomorrow morning. But I've seen it many times before, so if anything of interest happens that I didn't remember, I'll add it to the comments below.

This film was made by the insane director, Stanley Kubrick. The guy was so OCD, he would re-shoot scenes a hundred times over until he felt it was perfect. As such, a lot of his works are considered important pieces of art in the film industry. However, Stephen King didn't like this movie version of his book.

The Shining also introduces "shining," a trope in Stephen King novels that describes psychic abilities. It would be revealed in other novels of his that random characters also have the shining. And it would even play a part in his magnum opus work, The Dark Tower series, which is a collection of novels that tie the various works of his other novels together into one massive multiverse.

Personally, I'm with Stephen King on this movie. I'm not a huge fan. It takes forever to build up to anything, and it feels like little happens throughout most of the film. And when things do happen, it's confusing and not quite explained. If you know the source material, it's easier to understand what's going on. Kubrick was always more interested in the art of filmmaking than making a coherent plot.

Stephen King made his own version of The Shining in 1997 as a 3-part TV miniseries. It was more true to his book than the Stanley Kubrick version, and in my opinion, the better of the two. In 2020, a sequel to The Shining is due to be released, starting Ewan McGregor as an adult Danny Torrence, Jack's boy from this old movie. It will be called Doctor Sleep, based on the 2013 novel of the same name. I'm interested to see how it plays out on the big screen.

Little Evil (2017)

Tonight's Halloween Month Movie Marathon pick is Little Evil.

This horror/comedy follows a newly-married man named Gary (Adam Scott), who learns his new wife's (Evangeline Lilly) 5-yr old son just might be the actual Antichrist. He has to decide whether to be a supportive husband and father, or throw it all away to save the world from the End Times.

This is a good movie for new or expecting parents to watch, as it takes the "my child is the antichrist" mentality to its utmost extreme. When you feel like you're in over your head, do you give up on the child, or buckle down and attempt to be a loving, supporting parent no matter what? It was highly entertaining and I'd recommend it!

Life After Beth (2014)

Tonight's Halloween Month Movie Marathon pick... Life After Beth.

Zach (Dan DeHaan) is mourning the death of his girlfriend, Beth (Aubrey Plaza) after she was bitten by a venomous snake while hiking. But soon after her funeral, she turns up at home totally fine, minus a hazy memory. Zach is so relieved to have his girlfriend back! Until she starts acting strangely violent... and hungry.

I really enjoyed this film. I don't like how it just kind of opens with people in mourning and you have to spend a while slowly piecing together what happened. But once it gets going, it gets interesting. You get to see a man in love, given a second chance to say all the things he wanted to say to his woman before she died. And it's heart-breaking when he has to come to terms with the fact that the Beth that's returned is not quite the same Beth who left.

This is a horror film for people who hate horror films. You get to watch a supernatural love story without fear of jump scares. You can just sit back, relax, and enjoy the story as it unfolds before you. Definitely a unique type of horror, but one I can appreciate.

It (2017)

Next on the Halloween Month Movie Marathon... IT.

IT is a Stephen King classic about a shape-shifting creature living under the town of Derry, Maine. When IT awakens, children start to go missing. A band of kids who call themselves the Loser's Club decide to stand up to IT... or else they might go missing themselves...

There are actually two movies based on this novel. Stephen King's IT (1990) was a 3-hour made-for TV movie that brought the horrifying novel to life. Last year, IT (2017) was released, being only chapter one. The second and final chapter will release in Sept 2019. Unlike the original movie, which bounces back and forth between the characters as kids and 30 years later as adults, the new film tells the children's tale, while its sequel will take place 27 years later.

I watch a lot of horror movies (can you tell?) so I've become very desensitized to horror. But I saw this movie in theaters and I have to say, this is the first movie in over a decade that has actually frightened me. I daresay this is my all-time favorite horror movie. The original 1990s film is like a comedy flick compared to this. (Seriously - Tim Curry's Pennywise the Clown is hilarious to watch!)

If you want a truly terrifying experience, you can't miss this movie. And keep an eye out for its sequel a year from now!