Trick 'r' Treat PTSD

A rerun of a post from last Halloween for a Halloween-themed movie:

Here’s a movie that has been long awaited, so long it is almost impossible to live up to its hype. Trick ‘r Treat was originally scheduled to be released in October 2007, then October 2008, finally came out on DVD in October 2009. As I said, nothing could live up to the hype, but this is a pretty good movie for Halloween.

The film occurs on a Halloween night in a small town that takes Halloween very seriously, with a street party, lots of decorations, and almost everyone joining in. This eliminates the South from location consideration. It is an anthology film, consisting of four related stories, although it eschews the traditional let-me-tell-you-a-story chronological order approach. Instead, the four stories interlock, relating to each other in ways big or small, and characters from one thread will pop up in another, either as background or minor players in another storyline. Occasionally, you see the same incident from a different point of view. The stories do not maintain a strict chronological order, so sometimes you see a character pop up after you’ve already seen their death.

There is a really nasty undertone to the town, as apparently, decades before, parents had paid a bus driver to kill all the mentally handicapped children in town out at the old quarry. This sin is the main motivation for two of the stories, and overshadows them all. There are also all the old horror tropes, with a vampire apparently roaming the crowds, werewolves, ghosts/zombies risen from the dead, and Little Red Riding Hood. Interlaced throughout is a small pumpkin-headed figure that grows more malevolent as the movie progresses.

The cast includes Anna Paquin (the X-Men movies, True Blood), Brian Cox (X-Men 2, Manhunter) and Dylan Baker. Known and unknown the cast does a good job with their roles. The direction by Michael Dougherty, who also wrote the screenplay, is also well done.

Probably the best feature of the film is its look. It is beautifully photographed, and really looks like Halloween, from the fog filled quarry to the carved pumpkin strewn streets. It’s not really scary, or wouldn’t be to most, but what is, these days? I think it is sure to please anyone who is a fan of the holiday, and I recommend it to you.
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Some Over-Looked (Maybe) Horror Films PTSD

Another repeat, here is a list of movies that I feel are somewhat overlooked, yet deserving of a look. This reflects only my own opinion, of course. The movies are in no particular order. Not exactly sure how I chose The Thing as being over-looked, but I do live in meth country, so maybe I had a problem I don't remember.

Stir Of Echoes (1999) – This came out a month after The Sixth Sense, and suffered at the box office due to its similar theme, but I think it is better. Kevin Bacon is especially good.

From Beyond (1986) – The true follow-up to Re-Animator, this features most of the same cast and crew.

Frailty (2001) – Really creepy movie that turns out not to be what you expected.

The Uninvited (1944) – Nice ghost story set in Cornwall. Somewhat hard to find.

Anatomie (2000) – German movie with Franke Potente about fiendish goings-on in a medical school. One inferior sequel.

Cemetery Man (Dellamorte Dellamore, 1994) – A very odd Italian zombie movie with Rupert Everett. The zombies are more of a plot device to examine the human condition.

Ginger Snaps (2000) - A Canadian film using lycanthropy as a metaphor for female puberty (It’s much better than that description sounds). A sequel and a prequel, both decent.

The Thing (1982) – Probably not really overlooked any more, included here because it was such an enormous box-office bomb on its release. My favorite horror film, I saw it when it came out at the theater as a double-bill with Annie, possibly the strangest double bill in history.

Ravenous (1999) – Guy Pearce deals with cannibalism in the Old West.

The Ninth Configuration (1980) - Directed by William Peter Blatty from his novel Twinkle Twinkle Killer Kane, this is one of the all-time great American movies, even though few have seen it. A surrealistic drama set in a Vietnam-era military insane asylum. Considered by the author to be the true sequel to The Exorcist (there is a key character shared by the two stories).

Deep Rising (1998) – A lot of people hate this because they hate Stephen Sommers, but how can a movie about sea monsters be bad?
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10 Movies For Halloween PTSD

A repeat of a classic (well, by my weak standards) post.

Halloween season is upon us . Since it falls on a weekend this year, you’ve rented an old dark house way back in the woods for you and your friends to hold a weekend retreat. You’ve gone to the trouble of lugging in that enormous 180 inch plasma screen TV, now you need some fright flicks to show your guests. That’s why you are here. Here are ten recommendations for that spooky weekend which will get even with those who have tormented you entertain your loved ones.

Usual disclaimers: This is not a ten best, they are presented in no particular order, the opinions are my own, gimme a break. Spoilers may appear, so you’ve been warned. You know it’s one of my stupid lists because there’s an exclamation point in the title.

1. The Thing (1982) – John Carpenter’s ice-bound gory paranoia masterpiece is perfect to watch with a large crowd of friends, particularly on a cold night. For added fun, once the tension mounts, excuse yourself briefly, and come back with a glassy expression and project a sense that there is something wrong. Your friends won’t know whether to sit next to you or hose you down with a flamethrower. If it is the second option, you don’t need the rest of the list.

2. The Blair Witch Project (1999) – Hype drove the movie to an amazing box office, and is also responsible for a considerable backlash. Putting all that aside, it remains a creepy, effective little low budget film that works well with a small group of friends watching with the lights out. For an added bonus, you’ll get conversation afterwards, as you try to figure out what the ending meant.

3. Night of the Living Dead (1968) – The one that started the zombie craze, it is constantly imitated, never surpassed. You’ll have to ask those friends that won’t watch a black & white movie to wait outside.

4. The Mist (2007) – You’re isolated with those so-called friends of yours, so this movie about people isolated by hideous creatures should hit home. You don’t have to wait until the weatherman reports heavy fog rolling in, but it would be a nice touch. Be prepared for a lot of bitching about the ending, though.

5. R-Point (2004) – You probably have at least one cineaste in your circle of friends, and they always insist that movies with subtitles are better, so show them this Korean ghost story set in the Vietnam War.

6. Re-Animator (1985) – It’s nice to include at least one romantic film for the ladies.

7. 30 Days of Night (2007) – There’s also going to be at least one Twilight fan in the group. Show them this one so they will know what Edward looks like when he’s not primping for the cameras.

8. Evil Dead 2 (1987) – For a little comedy mixed with the horror, this innovative film is essentially the first Evil Dead remade with a bigger budget.

9. The Call of Cthulhu (2005) – Remember those friends who pitched a fit and stood in the hallway during #3 because it was in black & white? Gig them again with this one, in black & white and silent to boot.

10. Halloween (1978) – You didn’t think I was going to skip this one, did you? John Carpenter’s second film on the list set the template for a thousand inferior imitations to follow. It goes without saying, watch this one on Halloween night.
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Halloween Cartoon #2 PTSD

Dark Harvest PTSD

Here's a reprint of my review (originally on-line November 13, 2008, just in time to miss Halloween 2008) of one of the best, maybe the very best, Halloween books. Dark Harvest has just been published in a mass-market paperback, so if you haven't read it, you have 28 days.

Norman Partridge has been touted as one of the rising stars of the horror field, and now that I’ve read Dark Harvest, I have to disagree. He is not rising; he has already risen. Dark Harvest is a wonderful, mature work of horror fiction that places Partridge among the elite of the profession.

This is a lean, spare story, clocking in at just over 160 pages, and readers should be warned: It won’t take that long to read, but you can’t stop once you start. It is set in a small town in 1963, where every year, a pumpkin-headed October Boy rises in a field just outside of town. A resident is there to carve a face in his head, he is stuffed full of candy, and given a butcher knife. He then takes off, with the goal of reaching the church in the center of town. Standing in his way is every boy in town between sixteen and eighteen, armed with clubs and knives, and determined to kill him before he reaches his goal. Each of the boys has been starved for five days to make them “hungry” for the kill. The boy who kills the October Boy gets to leave town (the only way out) and his family receives rewards.

There are many secrets about this ritual, and they are revealed one by one. This is one of the great works of dark fantasy, and the perfect book for Halloween. There are a few anachronisms in the 1963 setting, but that is a very minor quibble. The novel is available as an inexpensive Tor trade paperback.

You should also check out Norman Patridge’s website. Essays there reveal he is one of the few people to share my love of the Universal horror movies of the 30s and 40s, and there is free on-line fiction, too.
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Welcome to Blogtober

Who gets tired of puns? Oh? Really? Sorry, I won’t do it again.

October is a special month for most horror fans, as it culminates in the most important event on the horror geeks calendar, variously celebrated as either Halloween or my birthday. In recognition of this, I will try to amp up the posting for October, with new content, and reprints of past material I think worth a second look (mostly lists and anything else that might relate directly to Halloween) whenever I get lazy. I needed a tag to delineate these reprints from new material, so I searched for an appropriate term for reliving an experience you’ve already worked through once, and naturally came up with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. So if I reprint a list like the 10 Best Horror Novels of All Time or 3 Things to Do in Huntsville When You’re Bored, it will be followed by and tagged with PTSD. That way, those of you rabid readers who have already memorized all the content on the site will know what to skip.

So sit back enjoy the site as much as possible, and welcome to Bl…October.
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