In 1993, Disney released a Halloween movie so fantastic, that every channel on TV plays it before Halloween. I am of course writing about Hocus Pocus.
The plot of this movie is very simple. There is a teenaged virgin named Max (Omri Katz) who moves from California to Salem, Massachusetts. He does not want to live there, and is less than a fan of Halloween as a celebration. His younger sister, however, loves it!
I have two things to say before I delve into this article. Number one, I love Halloween. I love the spooky creatures, the crisp air, the jack-o-lanterns, the candy. Number two, I hate horror films. I really, really do. I was one of those kids that had nightmares from anything scarier than a Goosebumps book. Even in adulthood, the films are either too scary and the images haunt me for months, or too cheesy which just bores me. I’m the weirdo watching the History Channel specials about werewolves or reading Dracula for the 254,235th time. (A brief side note: if they ever decide to make a decent film adaptation of the Bram Stoker novel, I would most likely love it.)
This movie is awesome and totally lives up to all the 80’s/90’s stereotypes. First off the main character’s father is definitely a high-ranking official in the town’s police department, its in a super small town where everyone apparently knows everyone, all the kids have access to weapons and metallurgy tools, and there also all kinds of sweet school yard bullying.
Continue reading #7 – Countdown to Halloween: THE MONSTER SQUAD
Slither is a fun ’80s throwback gross-out horror flick starring Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, and Michael Rooker. It was written and directed by James Gunn (Super, Lollipop Chainsaw). The story is about a malevolent alien parasite that crash lands in the town of Woodsville. Grant (Rooker) gets infected while romping in the bushes with Brenda (Brenda James) and then begins eating local pets like it’s going out of style while slowly changing into a hideous slug monster.
White Zombie was produced in 1932. It stars horror legend Bela Lugosi as ‘Murder’ Legrande, an evil voodoo master. It is considered the first feature-length zombie film. And these are proper voodoo zombies, not the flesh-eating modern varieties – which aren’t really zombies at all.
RECAP: Halloween II begins on the night of Halloween… beginning exactly where the original Halloween left off.
Michael is shot by Dr. Sam Loomis six times, and still somehow manages to get up and walk away, left to terrorize the neighborhood. He gets into a neighbor’s home, and steals a butcher knife, leaving behind only a sample of his blood.
He soon after uses that knife to kill an unsuspecting teenager who is home alone.
Continue reading #10 – Countdown to Halloween: HALLOWEEN II (1981)
Grizzly Bomb 