HALLOWEEN LIST 2012: Werewolves

Artwork: William Lycan

The are werewolf people and there are vampire people.
(http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2012/04/werewolves-or-vampires.html)
The vampire people tend to lean towards aristocracy and the lurking monster in the darkness. The werewolf people tend to lean towards the wild side. The rough. The hidden nature of the beast in us. That's all based on information and research that I just made up. 
I'm a werewolf person. I love 'em. The beast lurking below the surface. The knowledge that there's something dark and bestial under the skin. Just waiting. Ah...good stuff! Here are some fave werewolf movies of mine. Leave a comment if there's something YOU think I should check out! 



The Howling
My top werewolf movie, THE HOWLING has everything. Creepy, deep dark woods moments. Crazies. The sexy beast animal moments we all know. Fun transformations. Half man, half wolf werewolves. And, the in-joke fun of director Joe Dante.  Dee Wallace is a news anchor that's doing a story on a serial killer and she gets a scoop she can't resist - an interview with the man himself.
Trauma ensues, of course, and she survives an attack, but is having strange visions of the man that seem more beast-like than killer. She needs to go work things out with Patrick Macnee at his peaceful, seaside therapy center.  What could possibly go wrong there?
The Howling has some of my favorite werewolf designs and the practical effects work by Rob Bottin still old up well today.  Dante has a lot of fun with the subject matter and it shows. It's playful and scary and works well - putting some recent movie efforts to shame. Just stay away from everything Howling related after it - they never got the magic back.



Dog Soldiers
The fun UK effort has a group of soldier doing training games out in the woods, but the game is really on when they are hunted by a group of deliciously awesome looking werewolves. Will they be able to last the night?
This film is a sneaker hit with me. It resonates in the dialog and action and has a lot of great wolf shots within it. I love a film that's not afraid to show the whole monster and this has some nice shots going for sure. Check it.



Wolfen
It's been a while since I've seen this one, but I remember liking it a lot. The Native American shape shifter stylings of this one really got me. It's a great little eco-horror message film, too. Albert Finney turns in another great Albert Finney performance and the wolves are beauties. No, we're not talking a tradition werewolf film, but I'm tossing it into the mix anyway. So there. :)




Wolf
Two words: Jack Nicholson.  :) The great Mike "The Graduate" Nichols directs this drama about business, mid-life crisis struggles and love with a werewolf twist. The film moves along at a lovely clip and a love triangle between Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer and James Spader is something that just needs to be seen. Not your run-of-the-mill horror effort and one that a wider audience (aka Non-horror lovers) can enjoy as well.






Cursed
You either love Cursedor hate it. That seems to be it. I loved it. It's a "popcorn movie" for sure, but it does entertain and manage to get a good mix of comedic elements and horror elements working well together. Christina Ricci and Jesse Eisenberg play a brother and sister who are attacked by something. (Spoiler: A werewolf ::grin::) and they need to figure out who the werewolf is so they can break the curse. Something along those lines.
The ratings are low on this one, but the entertainment and fun was well worth not only a watch for me, but got me to actually pick it up on DVD - albeit used - for repeat viewing.






The Company of Wolves (1984)
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2010/05/company-of-wolves.html
Fairytale meets nightmare in this strange little film about coming of age, men and women and the dreamlike twisted nature of children's stories and the fairytale in general. I won't do the film justice if I try to sum it up. Let's just say that it manages to take us on a journey through a beautiful landscape and tells us tales of wolves and werewolves in an anthology storybook style.
Neil Jordan of THE CRYING GAME and INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE directs and Angela Lansbury and David Warner star. It's a beautiful film that's packed with stunning visuals.

Ginger Snaps
Another twist on coming of age, high school life and being an outsider comes at us hot and heavy in GINGER SNAPS. Emily Perkins and Katharine Isabelle play sisters with a taste for the dark and disturbing. (The film opens with a fantastic movie they have put together with unique visions of death) When one of the sisters is attacked by a werewolf, the close nit relationship them have is put to the test as the beast takes over.
I was expecting a B list teen horror, but SNAPS delivers a fun and fresh werewolf story that I enjoy.  Sure, it has it's moments of teen drama horrors worked out through wicked horrors, but it works well and doesn't come off as silly. I look at it's 70/100 metascore as a horror film win and it's well worth a viddy!



An American Werewolf in London
Do I REALLY need to mention this one? Yeah....
John Landis in his pre-exile days managed to kick so much ass with this film that I think he still walks with a limp. It's a shame that "the incident" that happened on the set of THE TWILIGHT ZONE movie took Mr. Landis out of the light for many many years. His direction is amazing. The effects work by Rick Baker - again, PRACTICAL effects, not computer effects - are still held up as the ones to beat to this day. The story, pace and acting are spot on and the wolf is grand. 

This film is just brilliant on so many levels that you've probably already seen it and love it or like it a lot. Leave me a comment if you don't - I'd love to hear the reasons why.






The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)
This HAMMER STUDIOS entry into the werewolf realm is one to make note of for sure. Oliver Reed turns in a great performance and the "wolfman" style werewolf is a lot of fun. Heavy on story and character development. Good stuff.






The Wolf Man (1941)
Another über classic, THE WOLF MAN is one you have to watch. You just have to. Lon Chaney Jr.'s performance is spectacular. The classic Hollywood feel is fun and brings back warm memories for me. This is fun for the whole family. It holds a special place in my heart.
For what it's worth, I actually enjoyed the remake WOLFMAN in 2010. It was a stylized and visually interesting film. It did have it's weak spots, but it was well worth a watch. Just remember to breathe when the CGI unleashes it's fury. :)





Bad Moon (1996)
A sister opens her home to her troubled brother. That turns out to be a massive mistake. You see, her brother is more troubled than she knows. A simple movie, but one that packs a punch still. It has some good and sloppy parts for sure.   Whoof!






Silver Bullet
Another adaptation of a King work, Silver Bullet holds up rather well unlike some of Kings writing. The screenplay is strong and the story worked well. In a nutshell, there are attacks being made during the full moon and a wheelchair bound boy figures out what might be shredding his town one townie at a time. It has all the classic kid v. evil elements and some great set pieces.  Oh, and did I mention that Busey is in this as well? Oh yeah, Gary Busey.






Honorable Mention: Waxwork 
Waxwork has some awesome monster scenes in it including a cool little werewolf section. A small group gets invited to a new Waxworks place that seemed to spring up over night. David Warner runs it and invites them in to see the sites. Well, it turns out the waxwork scenes are portals into the real scene they are portraying. When the victim enters, they face the horror that is shown in that scene and when they parish, their soul helps to open the gates of Hell or something to that effect. In short - awesome. This 80s goodness was watched over and over again and it never failed to please. So, check it out.




LIVE PRUDE GIRLS  https://www.youtube.com/user/LivePrudeGirls

HALLOWEEN LIST 2012: Paranormal

This is not a full list of every ghost story I love. That would be far too much to wade through even for the most dedicated of horror fans. :) I tried to do a little cross section of ghosts, paranormal and other worldly films that might have either been missed or that might not have been seen in a long while. The genre is filled with brilliance and real lamers, so it's hard to sift through at times. I hope this list provides a little light at the end of the tunnel when searching.

Go into the liiiiight.  :)






The Innkeepers
Check out the review here.
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-innkeepers-review.html
LOVED this film.







Wake Wood
Wake Wood was held up as HAMMER STUDIOS return to the horror arena and it did not fail to please. The positive buzz was warranted - it was a very strong film with some grand little nuggets within it . Off the radar for a lot of mainstream audiences, this was was a sleeper hit that had horror fans grinning. The story was similar to PET CEMETERY, but the execution was slightly different and the tone was obviously far less "80s".  Great stuff. 




A Tale of Two Sisters (Korea)
Another one we've reviewed before:
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2009/04/movie-tale-of-two-sisters.html

This has to be one of my favorites of all time. A strong story with equally strong acting are topped off with some really shocking and creepy visuals. It's a great tale.






Carved: The Slit Mouthed Woman (Japan)
I tossed this on one night while working on a project and thought that it was just going to be background filler while I worked. Something I'd half glance at when I heard the music ramp up. However, I found myself locked in from the very beginning and thought it held up really well throughout. We have our basic, scary woman story going here. The legend of the Slit Mouth Woman - a horrible lady that killed. Well, this film doesn't pull any punches with that tale. The malicious spirit comes after children and...man...she really goes after them. It's shocking - there are not many magical saves here. And the dark ending is grand.






The Legend of Hell House (1973)
A fantastic haunted house film that follows two psychics, a scientist and his wife as they attempt to "clean away" the spirits that occupy Hill House. Needless to say, they have their work cut out for them.     Read more about the Hill House movies here.




Insidious
I recently re-watched this chilling little story and it's really good. REALLY good. The acting, the story and the execution are all top notch and it makes for a fun watch. It's also a super clean film - well lit and out in the open with it's scares and effects. I was taken aback on my second viewing, honestly. I'm so used to the use of night vision cameras and shadows these days, but James Wan puts it all out there for you. A great ghost story!






House (1986)
This comedy horror nugget was huge "back in the day" around the video store and on the pay cable circuit. :) When it hit cable, I remember watching it a few times and loving it every step of the way. A good and goofy romp and well worth checking out.








House (Hausu Japan 1977)
This film...is fucking crazy. I'm sorry, but that's really the only way to put it out there. I watched this with a few friends and that exact phrase was used several times as we watched color swirl, heads fly and the dark path this film takes it's characters on get more and more odd. It's as if THE WIZARD OF OZ, THE RING and HR PUFNSTUF were all blended and served on a bed of narcotics. It was an wondrous and strange experience. It's truly mind altering. Suggested viewing time: 11:30pm






Below
This film manages to combine two things I love expertly - submarine movies and ghost movies. As if subs were not claustrophobic enough, something seems to be haunting one that picks up survivors from an attack at sea during World War II. An interesting story and some grand acting with a dash of terror.  








House on Haunted Hill (1959 and 1999)
This is one of the rare cases (another one to follow shortly) where I think it is very interesting to watch the original and the remake close together.  I recently watched the original and found myself scratching my head from time to time and wondering what they were thinking with the script. heheh A group of people is invited to stay the night on haunted hill. If they make it, they get a nice payout of cash. But, will they live through the night?
Vincent Price turns in a great performance and the film is a fun, dark old house movie, but it's strange and slow and full of 1950s over-acting that brings more giggles than scares. However, it does have some creepy visuals.
The remake is the same plot, but with more ghosts and a CGI backbone that's a lot of fun.  Geoffrey Rush tries out a John Waters imitation, but it seems more like Price. Either way you take it, it's a win. Fun and light and full of ghosties!

Check out: HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL TOOL Music video 
(The Horror Show/malcojojo.com)





13 Ghosts (1960 and 2001)

13 Ghosts - 1960

Another old and new with the new version tossing effects, violence and REALLY mean ghosts into the mix. I think I'm one of about 37 people that liked 13 Ghosts. The original was a staple of my Saturday afternoon viewing with my mother. We watched as people put on special glasses that allowed you to see ghosts. I believe some hidden cash is involved as well. It's quaint now and filled with nostalgia.

13 Ghosts - 2001

The remake cranks everything up, keeping the glasses gimmick and adding layers of chills, suspense and bloody good scares and violence to round things out nicely. Brilliant? Nope. But, it's a lot of fun!






The Woman in Black
This 2012 remake of the 1989 film (based, of course, on the novel of the same name...) is a great retelling. Daniel "Harry Potter" Radcliffe turns in a non-Potter performance and managed to make me forget he was Potter for so many years. It's a dark and gloomy story in the great gothic tradition and it was a good watch. A mystery unfolds and there is just enough on the effects front to sell it, but not enough to wash it over into the abyss of computer driven dreck.  Above all, it raises the bar for the film, taking it up from the good, yet super dry 1989 film. Great for a rainy night!




Stir of Echoes
I smell bacon. KEVIN Bacon. Sorry.
This was a great film. Bacon was coming back into view and breaking away from being FOOTLOOSE and prancing. Here, he's a guy that gets wrapped up in a mystery after a party trick of sorts goes really wrong. If you like ghostly mysteries, check this out. I think you'll dig it and it's story. 

Gravedancers
I'll file this one under "Guilty Pleasure" film. It's great for what it gives - grim grinning ghosts and over the top effects work. It seems that performing rituals in graveyards really is not a great thing to do. Like, at all. :) A small group manages to release some truly nasty spirits and seek help with putting them back where they belong from some experts in the field. Of course, real world experience is different that assumptions and fact based guesses. The little lady in the picture is one of my favorite bits of evil from a movie. The makeup is just creepy. I love it. Great little popcorn flick.



1408
Again, am I the only one who loved this film? Yes, I read the SHORT SHORT SHORT King story and, yes, stretching the fantastic tale of a skeptical, ghost hunter who spends one night in the VERY haunted Room 1408 into a feature film did seem like madness, but I thought they did an amazing job. John Cusack knocks it out of the park, Mikael Håfström's Direction is spot on and the effects are fun and damned creepy at times. Well worth a watch. If you don't think so, please leave a comment and let me know what you thought. I'd love to hear.



Apartment 143
I'm still wondering why I didn't dislike this film. It had all the earmarks of a "fast forward the stream" movie I'd watch back to back with four other films in a two hour span one night, but I found myself watching and wondering what was going on in Apartment 143. What was going to happen next. Who was in there with the family and the investigators. I think it was the story and acting that carried it.



More on Apt. 143  here: http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2012/10/apartment-143.html




Forget Me Not
Story plays a key role yet again (go figure) in this teen horror film turned horror nugget. I'm not going to say much more than I already said in the full article. If you like ghost stories with a twist, check this one out!  http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2011/12/forget-me-not.html





The Orphanage
Whoa. Just....whoa. Atmosphere, story, acting and dark,  terror filled moments come together perfectly here. I'll lever look at hide and go seek the same way again. Ever. Great film.





The Others
More gothic, story driven haunting in this Nicole Kidman vehicle. A mother and her two photosensitive children try to live out their lives, but strange goings on start to wrap them in more and more mystery and terror. The film was shot really well. The children being light sensitive meant that the majority of the film had to be shot in low levels of light. This makes for a fantastic and spooking old house location that's GREAT for a dark and stormy night.





The Sixth Sense
Ok...it's M. Knight before people hated him. You've seen it or heard about it. Bruce Willis is great in it. Haley Joel Osment "sees dead people". Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know. But, it's SO GOOD. Really, if you have not watched it in a while, give it another look. It still holds up.









The Innocents
Another gothic tale from 1961. Don't bother watching the trailer - it does it absolutely no justice. The studio wanted to make it look like a non-stop thrill ride. It's anything but. It's a dark and beautifully shot tale of ghosts and madness and loneliness that is shot in rich and glorious black and white.
A governess for two children starts hearing and seeing things and starts to believe that the home is haunted. The downward spiral is amazing to behold.




The Shining
You know what the plot is now - man and his family watch a hotel in the off season. Snowed in, things start to go really wrong. Ax, Jack, snow, blood, twins, drinks, showers, mazes, fingers that talk and :::shiver::: Shelley Duvall. Yes, you've seen this. I know. But, just stop and watch it again. Really watch it.  Watch the performances. Watch the camera work. Catch the slow slow fades from one scene to another in the beginning and watch how they change drastically as you make your way to the end. This is a work of art. This film is more than ghosts and scares. It's really disturbing. :)





Session 9
This film is fantastic, but don't watch it if you're in a down state of mind. It'll push you right over into depression. You can feel the atmosphere. Feel the tension and the sorry state of the characters within it. A hazmat crew takes on a job and has to lower the time frame, adding to the pressure that is already on them to complete things. Everything is riding on the job going well. It might be a little easier if the job wasn't cleaning up an abandoned asylum. One with secrets. Man, this film always gets under my skin!





The Fog (1980)
This is a fun film. Just good old John Carpenter doing what he does best. There is something in the fog and the fog is creeping inland just in time for an anniversary celebration the town of Antonio Bay  is having.  Coincidence?
The story is grand and the creep factor is always fun. Outrun the fog or get caught by what's lurking in it. Being born and raised in Marin County California and a current San Francisco resident, the fact that this was shot in Point Reyes (at the lighthouse) , Bolinas and Inverness is fun as well.


And, you have Adrienne Barbeau and Jamie Lee Curtis staring. Mee-YOW! :)
Good fun!

HAPPY HAUNTING!

HALLOWEEN LIST 2012: Scares

This list is more a a general scare list. Films that you might have missed that fulfill the monster, gore or creep factors. Some of these have already been talked about here at the HORROR SHOW, but they are well worth mentioning again. We've linked titles to our reviews if they appear on THE HORROR SHOW. Take a look - you won't be disappointed.




 

TRICK R TREAT
One of my favorite Halloween anthology films. Several stories woven together expertly to create one of the best Halloween movies I know of. A must see in this or any season!







Monster Squad
Kids fighting classic movie monsters. Perfect.
This film has some great comic moments and is fun for...most of the family. No, this is no Charlie Brown Halloween, but the 10 and up set my dig it.







Night of the Comet
Classic 80s horror. When a comet passes by Earth, the lucky survivors are turned to powder while the unlucky ones are made into kill crazy mutants. Two teen girls seem to have dodged both death and becoming mutants, but can they stay out of harms way long enough to get some shopping done? :)





House of the Devil
Ti West brings in another home run with this creepy, "dark old house" chiller. Thick with atmosphere and story, this is a perfect film for a cold winter night.






 
Demons I and II
A personal fave - Demons and Demons II really need to be viewed together. No, the thin plots of the two don't really go together or complete each other. They are both just fun, completely BONKERS,  Italian Horror Gold films. Gore, goo and blood.






Night of the Demons (1988)
The ORIGINAL Night of the Demons is great, strange and a lot of fun to watch - especially with a group. The re-make is fine if you prefer a more modern take on things, but the classic cool of this 80s teen horror is the thing for me. A party at the "creepy old house" goes awry when demons are released. Perfect.




The Beyond (Italy)
More Italian Nightmare Cinema. This film has a bit of everything for everyone. The living dead, blood, dog attacks...it's all in there. This is a celluloid nightmare that works well around midnight, too.





House by the Cemetery (Italy)
Fulci blood, gore and violence. This film is just insane. A disfigured killer picks off folks one by one. Children scream. Bats get caught in hair. Blood is EVERYWHERE! Splatter fan must see.






Wild Zero (Japan)
Oh yes, Alien menace use the dead to attack humans. Rockers have to run for their lives. A transvestite falls in love. And, GUITAR WOLF must do what he can to save the world...with ROCK. This is a strange film, but so much fun. Having a party? Think about showing this. You'll get a bunch of laughs, some WTFs and some bloody goodness. 







Primal
Outback exploration goes wrong when something ancient starts to take people over...making them into something...PRIMAL!  Primal is not a fantastic film, but it definitely has its fun moments and wild visuals. And, some great teeth! CHOMP CHOMP!








 
The Ruins
Ok...this film is just frucking nasty. Body Horror fans need to see this at once. It's chilling and creepy and gross. It made my skin crawl throughout and I was kicking my feel out in front of me at times to bat the creeping menace the HELL away as I giggled and shivered.  Good fun!

Tourists in trouble once again as an adventure turns into a fight for survival. No, not from natives or zombies. No...something that really manages to get under their skin....

Refreshing film!

House by the Cemetery

Wild Zero

DAYWALT HORROR: The Many Doors of Albert Whale

A delicious little tale from the DAYWALT FEAR FACTORY