Halloween movies

Okay. A week later and I still haven't done a post on the movies I watched last weekend on Halloween. So this is just a big trash dump of the movies I watched and some brief thoughts. Maybe I'll do better reviews another day when I have time.

Pieces: A sort of slasher flick from 1982. REALLY BAD. But, absolutely hilarious. A young kid chops up his mom and then 20 or so years later (I forget) he starts chopping up women on a campus and taking different body parts. It's utterly ridiculous but I laughed so hard, it was totally worth the watch. If I ever put together a weekly bad movie watching night this would be on this list. I gave it 2 stars, cuz duh, it was terrible, but the experience I'd rate 4 1/2 stars. It's like Troll 2. You can't give it 5 stars, it's awful, but the experience of watching it? Awesome.

In the Mouth of Madness: John Carpenter movie from 1994. Surprisingly good. Really awesome premise. Basically, this popular horror writer discovers that the setting of one of his novels has turned into a real place. I think maybe the premise was more awesome than the execution, but I still quite enjoyed it.

Creepshow: I saw this one when I was younger, but maybe I was too young to get it. I enjoyed it much better the second time. Anything with Adrienne Barbeau being a drunken harpy is just too damn awesome not to like.

Body Double: Okay, not a horror movie, but I was committed to watching a bunch of movies on Netflix Instant Watch, and this one was expiring in a few days, so I watched it. BIG mistake. All of the big twists were telegraphed way too early. Maybe it's just cuz I've seen so many movies now that are like it, but nothing surprised me. I think if I hadn't figured it all out so early, I might have enjoyed it, but still. The ending made me want to throw something at the computer, so I gave it 1 star. ICK.

Ghost Ship: Surprisingly decent. I'd wanted to see this one when I saw previews for it (Nurse Hathaway + Gabriel Bryne? WIN) but then the reviews trashed it so I never did. But it wasn't too bad. Horror movies can never seem to STOP doing a twisty surprise ending even when it's not needed, so I was disappointed in the ending, but oh well. And it wasn't a twist ending, it was just, oh she thought the bad dude was dead and he wasn't. Lame. Sometimes that's scary, like when Hannibal Lecter calls up at the end of Silence of the Lambs, and sometimes it's just lame. But this movie is worth seeing if just for the opening. Truly awesome. Not particularly scary, though. And really, the material was kinda beneath the lovely Julianna Margulies, but still. She is truly awesome. Oh, and Karl Urban is in it and HOTNESS abounds.

Dolls: Another good one. All I have to say is, Watch this one!! It's really good and features a little girl who didn't make me want to smack her! It's really important when a child is the main character in a movie that they not be terrible (think The Sixth Sense vs. The Phantom Menace). This little girl was definitely not of Haley Joel Osment's stature, but she was pretty okay. Watch it!! And watch it again!!

Scarecrows: Dudes hijack a money plane or something and then end up hiding out in the woods where scary scarecrows come to life. Very creepy. But ultimately, kinda meh. I don't think I'd watch it again. There was a final girl and she was quite annoying. Disappointing.

Antichrist: Okay. Not exactly a horror movie, at least not in the horror genre. This is the Lars Von Trier movie with Willem Defoe and Charlotte Gainesburg. I was a bit traumatized after this movie. Even though it wasn't technically a horror movie, it had been in my instant queue for a long time and I really wanted to see it. And it turned out to be the only movie I watched that day. After it I just couldn't face another horror movie. I can't say I enjoyed it. I can't exactly say I liked it. But it was a really good movie. If you've ever seen The Piano Teacher, directed by Michael Haneke, it kind of leaves you with that feeling. Really good and really well done, but, damn, you need a break afterward. Put it in the pile with Leaving Las Vegas and Requiem for a Dream, also really well-done good movies that I NEVER need to see again.