31 Days of Halloween 2021 Day 28: 'Horror Noire' Explores The Horror of Race in America

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. Might throw in the odd horror related book, comic, or music review as well. I've done this the last few years here and on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. Last year I completely failed and didn't do it at all. I'm optimistic about this year.]

Spinning out of the 2011 book Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films from the 1890s to Present by Robin R. Means Coleman which in turn led to the 2019 documentary HORROR NOIRE: A HISTORY OF BLACK HORROR, we now have the anthology film HORROR NOIRE (no additional subtitle). The film is an anthology of six short horror tales from black filmmakers with primarily black casts, and like many anthologies, the results are a bit hit and miss.

 

“The Lake” is about a teacher apparently coming out of a troubled relationship who takes a job at a new school and moves in to a beautiful lake house. Her caretaker warns her not to go swimming in the lake, though, because it has a tendency to bring out the worst in people. There’s a lot in this segment that goes unexplained that really should have been clarified, and the ending is abrupt and unsatisfying.

31 Days of Halloween 2021 Days 25-27: Capsule Review Catch-Up Part 3

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. Might throw in the odd horror related book, comic, or music review as well. I've done this the last few years here and on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. Last year I completely failed and didn't do it at all. I'm optimistic about this year.]

 

Finally getting caught up to the present today, this time with a batch of comic/graphic novel reviews. So if you only care about the movie reviews, you can skip this one. Hopefully you don't, though.

 

Day 25: ‘Lords of Misery’ Written and illustrated by Eric Powell. While I’m a bit sad that we haven’t gotten a Spook House comic from Eric Powell this year, at least we have an extra special team-up event featuring The Goon and a band of misfit anti-heroes unwillingly recruited to battle an ancient evil. Past incarnations of the Lords have always managed to triumph, but at the cost of their lives.

 

We already know at least The Goon and his sketchy sidekick Franky survived the fight, seeing as this story takes place before the latest issues of their regular ongoing, so it’s a bit anticlimactic. That doesn’t make it any less fun, though. All the usual things that make The Goon a must read title are here – the hard-boiled humor, the aura of supernatural horror, the film noir tough guy anti-heroics, and of course, Powell’s first rate artwork. Pick it up. 3 out of 4 stars.

 

31 Days of Halloween 2021 Days 21-24: Capsule Review Catch-Up Part 2

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. Might throw in the odd horror related book, comic, or music review as well. I've done this the last few years here and on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. Last year I completely failed and didn't do it at all. I'm optimistic about this year.]

 

Once again doing some shorter capsule reviews to get caught up with my Halloween blog-a-thon. So let's get to it.

 

Day 21: FRIED BARRY. Addicted to drugs, a shitty husband and a shitty father, Barry is probably not the kind of guy you’d want to be a representative of humanity to an alien race. Nonetheless he gets abducted by extraterrestrials take control of his body and use him to walk among earthlings as one of them. As it turns out, most folks like this new alien controlled version of Barry better than the real deal, even if he does act even weirder than before.

 

Great visual style and out there ideas from writer/director Ryan Kruger. This is a nutty acid trip of a movie that barely hangs together as a coherent narrative, but that given the main character that feels about right. There’s some social commentary buried under the weirdness somewhere, but mostly this is just messed up fun. Reminded me of movies like THE HIDDEN and THE BORROWER a little bit, but ultimately this is its own weird thing. 3 out of 4.

 

31 Days of Halloween 2021 Days 17-20: Capsule Review Catch-Up Part 1

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. Might throw in the odd horror related book, comic, or music review as well. I've done this the last few years here and on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. Last year I completely failed and didn't do it at all. I'm optimistic about this year.]

 

A number of factors have conspired to keep me from being on top of my Halloween blog-a-thon. Mainly I’ve just been busy, but there’s also the fact that a lot of what I’ve watched either hasn’t been good, or even if it has it just didn’t grab me in a way that made me want to rush out and write about it. But today I find myself with a little extra time, so I’m going to cheat a bit and do short capsule reviews to get caught up. I’ll do another one of these tomorrow and Wednesday, and then hopefully be back on track through to the big day.

Halloween Rocks 2021: John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter, and Daniel Davies - "Unkillable"

At least the music is good.

 

31 Days of Halloween 2021 Day 16: 'Halloween Kills' Brings Back Michael Myers, but

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. Might throw in the odd horror related book, comic, or music review as well. I've done this the last few years here and on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. Last year I completely failed and didn't do it at all. I'm optimistic about this year.]

 

John Carpenter’s 1978 HALLOWEEN remains a classic, a film that despite its vintage (over 40 years old!) still, for the most part, holds up. There are a few cosmetic issues – since the film was shot in California instead of Illinois where it was set, the trees are still green, and the teenage protagonists are all just a bit too old to convincingly play high schoolers. But the script, the performances, the music, Dean Cundey’s cinematography, and most importantly, Carpenter’s direction, are so strong that any flaws the film might have barely matter. It’s damn close to being a perfect movie. The many sequels and remakes the film has spawned… not so much.

 

Still, when acclaimed indie director David Gordon Green rebooted the franchise with 2018’s HALLOWEEN, I was intrigued. First of all, I really like most of Green’s non-HALLOWEEN movies. And though many fans would disagree, I was happy that his sequel jettisoned all of the franchise baggage to serve as a direct sequel to Carpenter’s original. The results, while not perfect, were at least worthwhile.

Halloween Rocks 2021 Day 15: Calabrese "Vampires Don't Exist"

One of my favorite newish horror punk bands singing about vampires.

31 Days of Halloween 2021 Day 15: Vampires Prey on the Downtrodden of New Orleans in 'Black as Night'

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. Might throw in the odd horror related book, comic, or music review as well. I've done this the last few years here and on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. Last year I completely failed and didn't do it at all. I'm optimistic about this year.]

 

Like the works of Anne Rice and Poppy Z. Brite before it, BLACK THE NIGHT makes the case that Transylvania has nothing on New Orleans when it comes to being a stomping ground for vampires. And in a post-Katrina world, the vamps have found plenty of easy prey in the Big Easy among those left behind by the recovery.

 

Teenaged Shawna (Asjha Cooper), along with her dad and brother, has fared better than some. Sadly, the same cannot be said for her mom Denise (Kenneisha Thompson), who has fallen into drug addiction. When Shawna discovers her mom isn’t just an addict but has joined the ranks of the undead, she and her friends Pedro (Fabrizio Guido), Chris (Mason Beauchamp), and Granya (Abbie Gayle) band together to take on the local bloodsuckers under the thrall of Lefrak (Craig Tate) and an immortal former slave named Babineaux (the always welcome Keith David). But can just a small group of teens be any match for the vamps? Hey, it worked for Buffy.  

Halloween Rocks 2021 Day 14: Clan of Xymox "She"

Goth it up with Clan of Xymox, still going strong 40 years on.

31 Days of Halloween 2021 Day 14: It's Horror Heaven in 'Paperbacks From Hell'

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. Might throw in the odd horror related book, comic, or music review as well. I've done this the last few years here and on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. Last year I completely failed and didn't do it at all. I'm optimistic about this year.]

 

Let’s face it, I am exactly the target audience for this book. I grew up in the seventies and eighties, loving the horror genre in all its formats. Movies were my favorite way to get a fright fix, but horror novels were a close second. And man were there a lot of them during those two decades, calling out to me from the shelves of my local bookstore with their lurid covers and enticing taglines.

 

Thanks to Grady Hendrix and his hugely enjoyable book ‘Paperbacks From Hell’, it’s now possible to enjoy the best parts of the literature in question – the aforementioned covers and basic synopses of the batshit crazy plots – without having to invest the time it would take to read in their entirety what were, if we’re being totally honest, mostly mediocre books.

Halloween Rocks 2021 Day 13: Shannon and the Clams "Midnight Wine"

Maybe not quite horror, but this new song from Shannon and the Clams definitely has a dark and creepy vibe. 

 

 

31 Days of Halloween 2021 Day 13: Explore the Roots of a Psycho in 'Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?'

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. Might throw in the odd horror related book, comic, or music review as well. I've done this the last few years here and on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. Last year I completely failed and didn't do it at all. I'm optimistic about this year.]

 

If you know your serial killers, then you’re probably already aware that grave robber and murderer (and possible cannibal) Ed Gein served as an inspiration for PSYCHO, THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, and THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. But his own story is just as interesting as any fictionalized horror film.

 

Writer Harold Schechter has previously told Ed’s story in his book 'Deviant' (1998). Now he has teamed up with one of my favorite comic book artists, Eric Powell, to tell the story in graphic novel form. The results are a bit mixed, but ultimately worthwhile.

31 Days of Halloween 2021 Day 12: Spend a Night in 'Muppets Haunted Mansion'

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. Might throw in the odd horror related book, comic, or music review as well. I've done this the last few years here and on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. Last year I completely failed and didn't do it at all. I'm optimistic about this year.]

 

The Muppets have always embraced their scary side, with various monsters making up a respectable percentage of the cast going back to their TV variety show from the seventies and early eighties, and even further back if you count Sesame Street, where Kermit the Frog got his start. And of course, two of the my favorite episodes of the original Muppet Show were the ones hosted by Vincent Price and Alice Cooper.

 

Now that The Muppets, like nearly everything else in the world of entertainment, are owned by Disney, a crossover with Disney’s Haunted Mansion seems like not a terrible idea. But given the uneven track record of the Muppets since the Mouse House acquired them, one could also be reasonably skeptical.

 

Thankfully, MUPPETS HAUNTED MANSION turns out to be spooky fun for all ages.

Halloween Rocks 2021 Day 11: Ghost "Hunter's Moon"

Who better to write a new song that sounds like something an eighties metal band would have contributed to the soundtrack of the latest slasher movie sequel than Ghost, who did this song for the HALLOWEEN KILLS soundtrack.

 

31 Days of Halloween 2021 Day 11: The Last Matinee Grabs Viewers by the Eyeballs

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. Might throw in the odd horror related book, comic, or music review as well. I've done this the last few years here and on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. Last year I completely failed and didn't do it at all. I'm optimistic about this year.]

 

The distinctive Italian horror/murder mystery hybrid known as the Giallo film has always been more about style than logical storytelling. Director Maximiliano Contenti and his screenwriting partner Manuel Facal definitely get that part right. Their film, like the ones that inspired it, is a glossy, brightly colored bauble in which barely defined characters get offed in gleefully gory set pieces by a black-gloved killer with half-baked motivations. 

 

And let's not forget the eye violence that Italian horror films seem to revel in. Man is there some nasty eye violence in this one.

 

Halloween Rocks 2021 Day 10: Powerwolf "Dancing With the Dead"

The undisputed kings of German werewolf metal return. 

 

 

31 Days of Halloween Day 10: 'WNUF Halloween Special' Captures the Spirit of the 80s and Halloween

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. Might throw in the odd horror related book, comic, or music review as well. I've done this the last few years here and on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. Last year I completely failed and didn't do it at all. I'm optimistic about this year.]

 

This one flew under my radar when it was originally released, but it caught my eye while scrolling through the content available on Shudder. The conceit behind the WNUF HALLOWEEN SPECIAL is that it’s a local TV newscast from Halloween night 1987 that someone recorded on a VHS tape, commercials at all.

 

The film feels authentic, even if the commercials for made up TV shows, movies, and products occasionally spoil the illusion. Not that they don’t feel believable, mind you, it’s just that anyone who knows the era knows the commercials aren’t for real things that actually existed. Younger viewers might not know that, though.

 

31 Days of Halloween Day 9: Rewind to the nineties with 'V/H/S 94'

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. Might throw in the odd horror related book, comic, or music review as well. I've done this the last few years here and on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. Last year I completely failed and didn't do it at all. I'm optimistic about this year.]

 

After a 7-year hiatus, the found footage anthology franchise V/H/S returns with its latest installment, V/H/S 94. Streaming exclusively on Shudder, it’s a grisly but fun collection of bite-size horrors from multiple filmmakers that capture the essence of the era in which they are set (1994, natch) while also tapping into the fears of our present.

 

The framing sequence, Jennifer Reeder’s “Holy Hell”, involves a SWAT raiding the compound of a religious cult involved in distributing an especially nasty narcotic that causes its users to gouge out their own eyes while watching videos. This of course offers up the excuse for watching the other short films.

Halloween Rocks 2021 Day 9: Kill the Hippies "Howl-A-Balloo"

Kent, Ohio's own Kill the Hippies under the pseudonym Vance Midnight and his Swank Bodies turn in this fun sixties style novelty tune. I put together the video, so don't blame them for that.

 

 

Halloween Rocks 2021 Day 8: Phoebe Bridgers "Halloween"

A little more introspective than what I've posted so far, but still pretty dark. And hell, the song is called "Halloween", so that's enough, isn't it?