Category: Retrospective

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HAUNTED HOUSE MONTH: Week 4

When it comes to slow burns, filmmaker Ti West knows what he’s doing. Following in the same low-key, suspense-building footsteps as his previous film, The House of the Devil, 2011’s THE INNKEEPERS features a young woman, Claire (Sara Paxton), who, along with her coworker, Luke (Pat Healy), are the only remaining employees of the closing, supposedly haunted Yankee Pedlar Inn. Not knowing what to do next with her life, Claire joins Luke in his quest to catch a ghost on camera, specifically the spirit of Madeline O’Malley, a woman who killed herself in the hotel decades earlier.

As with House of the Devil, The Innkeepers focuses most of its attention on the characters, especially Claire who’s very relatable and someone we want to see succeed and not be harmed. Claire is also a great juxtaposition to Luke, who’s very somber and cranky. At one point, Claire is more excited about her ghostly recordings than Luke, whose ghost-hunting website she’s volunteering her time to. Claire is the bright spot in a film filled with negative people and manipulative spirits. Her pleasant, somewhat naive personality is what ultimately victimizes her. A good film with terrific characters and a chilling finale.

The 2018 French NIGHT SHOT offers up found footage thrills. Nathalie (Nathalie Couturier), the host of a YouTube-type series of urban exploration videos, along with her cameraman (director Hugo König), hike to an abandoned hospital in the middle of the forest to film a new episode. Once inside the massive dwelling Nathalie tells of the place’s unsavory history, particularly the story of a certain doctor who performed fiendish experiments on pregnant women. It isn’t long until she and the cameraman are trapping inside the building’s sinister walls while being pursued by unseen supernatural forces.

Much like The Blair Witch Project, Night Shot uses its claustrophobic environment to disorient its characters and trap them in an unexplained time loop. The “gimmick” of the film is that it’s shot in one, unedited take. It’s also filmed in B&W, which adds to the creepiness of the atmosphere. As with many FF flicks, the story unfolds as a slow burn but it’s never uninteresting; quite the contrary, with the labyrinthine, decaying hospital being a character itself. It builds to a lurid, genuinely unsettling conclusion.

Believe it or not, at one point in time the Amityville story was taken seriously. But, as with most successful horror movies, the story became sequelized to death and the franchise eventually lost the plot completely. In the last few decades, the films have essentially become a marketing gimmick for any kind of low-budget haunted house flick – look at the 2011 Amityville Haunting, which is nothing more than a lifeless Paranormal Activity rip-off that has nothing to do with the original Amityville story at all. (And let’s not even get into Amityville in Space.)

Exception should be given to 1996’s overtly silly but undeniably entertaining AMITYVILLE: DOLLHOUSE. After a divorced father, Bill (Robin Thomas), and his new wife, Claire (Starr Andreeff), move their family – comprised of his and her kids from previous marriages – into a newly-built house, they begin to experience bizarre mood swings and supernatural occurrences. Bill has dreams of a demonic-like figure, Claire begins lusting after hunky teen stepson, Todd (Allen Cutler), and Claire’s young son, Jimmy (Jarrett Lennon), begins talking to the decaying, manipulative ghost of his deceased dad. Does all this have something to do with the weird dollhouse found in the backyard shed, one that is modeled after the infamous Long Island dwelling?

The foolish tie-in with the Amityville universe aside, Dollhouse is a surprisingly inventive little movie that’s much better made than you’d think. The plot is beyond ludicrous and the characters don’t seem to live in a reality where logic exists, yet the family is likable enough that you end up caring about their plight, even when they do incredibly stupid things – Todd’s sound system mysteriously cranks to top volume yet instead of simply removing his headphones from his head he fumbles with the wires while making a panicky face. In the end, the movie is so inherently dumb and giddy in its campy excesses it becomes a sight to see, especially during its batshit crazy climax. The Innkeepers: B+ Night Shot and Amityville: B

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HAUNTED HOUSE MONTH: Week 3

When it comes to remakes 1999’s cheesy HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL ranks as one of the more entertaining ones. Giving his best Vincent Price, distinguished actor Geoffrey Rush stars as theme park king, Stephen Price (get it?), who invites five guests to the abandoned cliff-side Vannacutt Institute for the Criminally Insane for his venomous wife’s (Famke Janssen) birthday party. Price offers the guests $1 million if they can survive the night inside the maze-like structure and retrofits the place with tricks and pranks, unaware that the place is actually haunted by the demented Dr. Vannacutt (Jeffrey Combs) and his patients who died from his hideous experiments.

Director William Malone (Feardotcom) doesn’t shy away from the ghosts and ghouls that William Castle hinted at in the 1959 original, with the film offering up several creep monster FX, including one of the first of the fast-moving, head-shaking ghost that has become almost a staple in most of today’s haunted house flicks. The plot is complete hokum but the cast has fun with the material, especially Janssen and Rush who seem to relish going at each other’s throats.

At first sight, 2009’s handsomely photographed THE UNINVITED sounds like a retelling of the classic Ray Milland film of the same title from 1944, but is in fact a remake of an overrated 2003 South Korean movie called A Tale of Two Sisters. After being institutionalized for a suicide attempt, teenager Anna (Emily Browning) goes back home to find her father (David Strathairn) has become romantically involved with her deceased mother’s nurse, Rachel (Elizabeth Banks). While Anna and her sister, Alex (Arielle Kebbel), try to figure out the mysterious fire that killed their sick mother, Anna begins seeing ghostly visions and questioning not only Rachel’s true motivations but also her own sanity.

While the film looks great and its beautiful Maine setting could be a character itself, the screenplay is littered with too many red herrings and relies too heavily on Anna’s “is it real?” psychosis. The film also builds up a false narrative and presents a twist ending that is neither convincing nor credible. Banks gives a cold, tense performance as the “wicked stepmother” but Browning, whose shoulders the entire story rests on, is vacant and unsympathetic.

A superior ghost tale is the 2000 Robert Zemeckis-helmed WHAT LIES BENEATH. Michelle Pfeiffer is perfectly cast as Claire, a mother who a year after surviving a car accident comes to believe her newly renovated lake-side home is haunted. At first she thinks it might be the ghost of the missing wife of her brutish new neighbor (James Remar), but when things intensify Claire realizes her husband, Norman (Harrison Ford), may be connected.

While not perfect, What Lies Beneath is a terrific example of visual storytelling. The plot isn’t anything we haven’t seen before, but Zemeckis wisely presents it with an obvious love and understand of classic filmmaking, especially in the tradition of Hitchcock. The film unfolds as a mystery and slowly builds the tension, keeping you on your toes almost the whole time. Pfeiffer is extremely likable and warm, and her scenes with best friend Diana Scarwid are some of the strongest in the movie. And unlike a lesser movie like The Uninvited, What Lies Beneath doesn’t rely on a wobbly narrative that barely supports a “shock” ending, but instead cares more about strong characters and a simple but effective premise. House on Haunted Hill: B The Uninvited: C– What Lies Beneath: B+

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HAUNTED HOUSE MONTH: Week 2

Sort of the Blumhouse of the early ’00s, Dark Castle was a well known but short-lived production company that specialized in cheesy but entertaining horror. One of their offerings was 2002’s GHOST SHIP, a visually impressive haunted house variant about a ship salvage crew who stumble upon a luxury cruise liner that disappeared in 1962. Once aboard, they find a cargo full of gold, as well as the vengeful spirits of the ship’s previous passengers, all of whom died horrible deaths and are mad as hell.

Shot in the same frenzied vein as the House on Haunted Hill remake, Death Ship looks great, but its plot is paper-thin and relies too much on a rather uninteresting subplot that tries to function as a mystery. That aside, the cast is good – Julianna Margulies, Gabriel Byrne, and Karl Urban! – and the action moves at a brisk pace. The bloodthirsty ghosts are essentially the same breed as the murderous spirits from House on Haunted Hill and Thirteen Ghosts, offering up nothing new or exciting.

Considered a modern horror classic, Hideo Nakata’s bleak 1998 chiller, RING, is a ghost story for the digital age. While investigating the mysterious deaths of her niece and two other high schoolers, reporter Reiko (Nanako Matsushima) discovers a silly urban legend might be all too real: a cursed videotape that will kill anyone a week after they’ve watched it. Based on a popular novel, the brilliance of the story is its use of technology as a weapon. The curse of the vengeful spirit being transmitted through a VHS tape might seem dated, but the release of the film corresponded perfectly with the rise of the internet and the digital revolution. How can you stop a supernatural virus that’s spread through wires?

A masterwork in minimalist horror, Ring was massively influential – the 2002 remake unleashed a wave of Asian horror revamps in Hollywood – and a clear inspiration for the Ju-on series and a host of similar “long hair ghost” movies. While the J-horror subgenre has plenty of fun titles (2003’s One Missed Call is an effective Ring rip-off), those movies don’t have the elegant subtlety of Nakata’s film, which relies mostly on atmosphere and suggestion rather than visceral scares, except, of course, for the famous twist ending.

Speaking of Japanese films, 2005’s DARK WATER was one of many remakes that came in the wake of the American The Ring. Recently divorced, fragile Dahlia (Jennifer Connelly) and her young daughter, Ceci (Ariel Gabe), move into a dank, leaking apartment on New York’s Roosevelt Island. Soon after, the daughter begins talking to an imaginary friend, and strange noises are heard from an unoccupied apartment upstairs where something sinister happened to the previous tenants. When Dahlia’s mental health unravels she must try to solve the mystery before Ceci is taken away from her.

A moody ghost story with good characters, a terrific cast, Dark Water is handsomely directed by Brazilian filmmaker Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries), but those expecting a traditional scare show like The Grudge might be disappointed with the movie’s slow pace and lack of showy special effects. That aside, this is a solid film with strong performances and a gripping mother-daughter relationship. Ring: A– Dark Water: B Ghost Ship: C+

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HAUNTED HOUSE MONTH: Week 1

This month I’ve decided to dive into haunted house/supernatural invasion movies, and to kick things off I watched the 1980 classic, THE CHANGELING. An old-fashioned ghost story, The Changeling stars the always good George C. Scott as a music professor who, after the death of his wife and child in a car accident, seeks a change of scenery by moving into a large house in Seattle. It isn’t long until he begins hearing strange noises coming from the attic, and eventually uncovers a murder mystery and decades-old secret.

The Changeling is an interesting film because it’s not your typical modern haunted house flick. Sandwiched between the visceral FX of Amityville Horror and Poltergeist, The Changeling seems like an idea that came from the 1940s, when ghost stories were more subtle and less about the “boo” moments. 

The screenplay (written by William Gray and Diana Maddox) flows as more of a mystery, and director Peter Medak keeps the attention on character development and story structure over visual supernatural activity. That’s not to say the movie doesn’t have its share of creepy moments – its rich atmosphere could be a character itself, with shadows playing a big part in the narrative’s otherworldly reality. 

On the complete opposite end of the cinematic spectrum is Lucio Fulci’s gory answer to Amityville, 1981’s THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY. Set in the same altered reality as Fulci’s gruesome twosome, City of the Living Dead and The Beyond, House features a small family who leave New York and move into dusty old “Oak Mansion” outside Boston. There, the dad (Paolo Malco) plans to continue the research his ex-colleague was performing before he committed suicide. Along with his wife (Catriona MacColl), who’s in a constant state of upset, and flop-top son (Giovanni Frezza), Dad discovers their new house harbors a deadly secret: the zombified Dr. Freudstein, a madman who performed diabolical experiments in the house 100 years earlier – and who needs fresh body parts to remain reanimated.

An example of excessive Italian horror at its hysterical best, House by the Cemetery is Fulci firing on all cylinders. The movie might appear to be just another run-of-the-mill Amityville/Shining wannabe – there’s a subplot involving the son’s (unexplained) psychic link with the spirit of Freudstein’s young daughter (Silvia Collatina) – yet Fulci’s unique style and eye for detail makes the movie work wonderfully. Fulci’s hallmarks are all over this, including extreme close-ups of maggot-infested body parts, a beautiful but nonsensical narrative, heavy atmosphere, and the always hilariously bad dubbing. Where else will you see a blood-drenched, two-minute bat attack?

Plugging into the then-popularity of Nightmare on Elm Street, the THE HORROR SHOW is a 1989 entry in the “Is it a dream?” sub-subgenre. Detective McCarthy (Lance Henriksen) is haunted by dreams of deranged serial killer, Max Jenke (Brion James), who he helped capture and witnessed executed in the electric chair. But Jenke, whose spirit has invaded McCarthy’s home through some form of electric phenomena, won’t stay dead and terrorizes the family by slashing up their friends and framing McCarthy for the murders. 

Originally planned (and released overseas) as House III, this seems to have been an attempt at creating another Freddy Krueger, but it takes itself way too seriously and just comes off just a dumb rip-off. Henriksen gives the film more credit than it deserves and James is pure ham, but this does predate the similarly themed Shocker by several months. The Changeling and House by the Cemetery: B+ Horror Show: C  

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SLASHER Spotlight: SCREAM 1-4

SCREAM (1996) d: Wes Craven. c: Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard, Skeet Ulrich, Rose McGowan, Jamie Kennedy, Drew Barrymore. Scream is the movie that revived the horror genre at a time when it had stalled with endless direct-to-video sequels. This smart little flick was a love letter to the fans that grew up on ’80s horror, and wisely injected its knowledge of the era into its story. When a teenager (Barrymore) and her boyfriend are viciously slaughtered, a small town is plunged into panic as a masked killer begins picking off high schoolers who all had a connection to the first victims. Does final girl, Sidney (Campbell), and her traumatic past have anything to do with the crimes? Both funny and scary, the movie works mostly thanks to its likable cast and relatable characters – for some of us, we were these characters. From its intense opening to its surprise ending, Scream is a landmark slasher movie, because it both spoofs and respects its subject matter, something later films would fail to understand. A–

SCREAM 2 (1997) d: Wes Craven. c: Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Jamie Kennedy, Timothy Olyphant, Elise Neal, Liev Schreiber, Laurie Metcalf. The first sequel picks up two years after the events of the first film, with Campbell and Kennedy attending college and once again targeted by a killer who, this time, is copying the murders from Part 1. Surprisingly this sequel managed to bring fresh ideas to the table. Not only doesn’t it regurgitate the first movie, it steps up the suspense, especially during a terrific car crash sequence that ends in a white-knuckle getaway. It runs a bit long and a lot of the characters feel like they were created just to be red herrings, but this is still a worthy sequel and with one of the best killer reveals in the series. B+

SCREAM 3 (2000) d: Wes Craven. c: Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Parker Posey, Liev Schreiber, Patrick Dempsey, Scott, Foley, Emily Mortimer, Lance Henrisken. Another copycat killer begins picking off the cast and crew of the third movie (“Stab 3“) based on the events of the first two Screams, dragging past survivors Campbell, Cox, and Arquette into the limelight. Although this meta-take lacks the wit and suspense of its predecessors (Kevin Williamson didn’t return and was replaced by Ehren Kruger as writer), Scream 3 is unfairly named the black sheep of the series; the new characters aren’t as sympathetic or punchy as the three leads, and there’s a muddled retcon revealed in the final act. However, this is an entertaining (and often hilarious) and harmless threequel. Posey steals all of her scenes as an attention-needy actor portraying Cox’s bitchy journalist. B

SCREAM 4 (2011) d: Wes Craven. c: Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Hayden Panettiere, Emma Roberts, Marley Shelton, Rory Culkin, Anthony Anderson. Ten years after the bloodbath that would leave her and her friends celebrities, Sidney (Campbell) returns to her hometown – the original scene of the crimes – to promote a book about her experiences, coming face-to-face with yet another Ghost Face maniac. Kevin Williamson returns as writer (apparently Ehren Kruger was brought in for rewrites) and the story is given a somewhat refreshing makeover after Scream 3 failed to live up to expectations, resulting in a movie that feels more like it belongs in the Scream cannon. Campbell, Cox, and Panettiere, as a new version of Randy, are good, but Roberts as Sidney’s cousin is completely lifeless. The screenplay is a bit too concerned with trying to get back to the roots of the series, sometimes coming off as a shell of itself, and with a rather listless explanation for the murders, resulting in a lackluster climax. Still, this is an undeniably entertaining entry and proved the series still had life in it. B–

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REVIEWS: American Gothic, Monsieur Verdoux, and Witchfinder General

AMERICAN GOTHIC (1987) When their propeller plane is forced to make an emergency landing, a group of friends find themselves stranded on a remote island in the pacific northwest that’s home to a religious zealot (Steiger), his wife (De Carlo), and their demented children, middle aged adults who dress and act like kids. A slow-burn that starts off feeling like a typical slasher flick but transforms into an oddball but amusing mishmash of family drama and cult chiller, and ultimately becomes a satisfying revenge thriller, highlighted by a terrific Wright as “12-year-old” Fanny. B d: John Hough. c: Rod Steiger, Yvonne De Carlo, Janet Wright, Sarah Torgov, Michael J. Pollard, Mark Erickson, Mark Lindsay Chapman, William Hootkins

MONSIEUR VERDOUX (1947) In order to support his wheelchair-bound wife and child after getting laid off, a bank clerk (Chaplin) marries several wealthy women and murders them for their money. A terrific black comedy written and director by star Chaplin and filled with wonderful set pieces and genuine hilarity, including the scene where Caplin tries, and fails, to murder ditzy wife Raye in a rowboat. The film was undoubtably ahead of its time in its use of blending comedy and horror, as well as moments of surprising compassion, but audiences weren’t ready to see the Tramp as a serial killer and the film was panned upon its initial release. This has since become a classic, and deservedly so. B+ d: Charles Chaplin. c: Charles Chaplin, Mady Correll, Robert Lewis, Martha Raye, Marilyn Nash

WITCHFINDER GENERAL (1968) During the English Civil War in 1654, a young soldier (Ogilvy) seeks revenge against the infamous Matthew Hopkins (Price), a dreaded witch-finder who raped his wife (Hilary Heath) and murdered her uncle he branded a satanist. One of the defining European horror films of the ’60s, this handsome production was one of the first of the “folk horror” subgenre and delivers a powerful tale of crippled morality and a first-rate, dramatic performance from the usually scene-chewing Price. The ending rings both bleak and honest. B d: Michael Reeves. c: Vincent Price, Ian Ogilvy, Hilary Heath, Robert Russell, Rupert Davies

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VERSUS – Black Christmas ’74

Welcome to a new feature on Matt’s Horror Addiction: VERSUS. Versus takes one film and presents two opposing opinions in head-to-head reviews with my friend and horror movie aficionado, Frank Pittarese. We’ll explain why we loved and hated the same movie, and you can decide who’s right!

Plot

As Christmas break gets underway, a mysterious someone stalks the women of a sorority house, secretly killing them one by one. At the center of the storm is the troubled Jess, who might be closer to the killer than she even suspects. While her friends vanish (and the body count rises), Jess begins to feel more and more targeted. Can she survive the night, even as the police try to protect her?  

Matt’s Opinion

From the opening shot of the colorful light-strewn sorority house accompanied by a quiet rendition of “Silent Night”, to the surprisingly bleak ending, Bob Clark’s Black Christmas is one of those movies that always casts a spell whenever I watch it. It’s a special kind of horror film. It can appeal to the traditionally non-horror viewer with its murder mystery angle, but it also appeals to the horror fan because it’s clever and scary and knows how to get under your skin. It successfully takes the bright and cheery feel of the holiday season and turns it on its head.

Right after the opening scene, establishing the looming sorority house as the center of the impending doom, we get a startling POV shot of the killer. Although Silent Night, Bloody Night used a similar POV gimmick two years earlier, here it feels more embedded into the plot: the identity of the killer is of no importance to the story and the less we see of the character (and through his eyes) and creepier the set-up. What is important, and what Clark wisely sets up quickly, is the cast of characters, all of whom are smart, likable, and have vastly different personalities, something later slasher flicks would ignore. The characters include Barb (Margot Kidder), the sexually empowered loudmouth, Phyl (Andrea Martin), the mousy best friend, Mrs. Mac (Marian Waldman), the house mother and functioning alcoholic, Peter (Keir Dullea), the high-strung boyfriend, and Jess (Olivia Hussey), the headstrong (and non-virginal) final girl. As with the best of horror, we sympathize and relate to these characters and want to see them survive.

What screenwriter Roy Moore understood (and what many later horror movies never grasped) is that it’s well-written, sympathetic characters that fuels the suspense. Sure, it’s fun to watch dumb teens and hunky frat guys getting their throats ripped to shreds. What makes it scary is when we don’t want to see them get hurt. While thrilling, and often funny, the script also deals with heavy issues not usually found in horror movies during its time of release. And, although not the first movie to feature the “killer is in the house” urban legend, it is the first to utilize the scenario to its fullest effect. Grade: A–

Frank’s Opinion

Okay, I know I’m supposed to love this movie. EVERYONE loves this movie. It ticks all the right boxes: It’s a slasher film! It inspired Halloween! It’s Christmas horror! It’s directed by Bob Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things Clark! But I just don’t love it. To be fair, I don’t hate it — it’s just that too many things keep me from connecting with it.

The spine of of the film is solid. There IS a good story there. It’s shocking, at times, and the last ten minutes are exciting. The cast is (mostly) terrific. Marian Waldman as housemother Mrs. Mac steals every scene she’s in, Margot Kidder stands out as the brash Barb, and Andrea Martin’s Phyl is just plain endearing. But…BUT…then there’s Olivia Hussey.

The whole movie rests on Hussey’s shoulders. Her character, Jess, is the one around which all the action flows, but she’s distractingly bad in this (full disclosure: I think she’s distractingly bad in everything). Her performance creates a blockade between me and the enjoyment of this film. It’s compounded by the character having legit, dramatic scenes where Hussey’s flaws are even more pronounced. I can’t worry about Jess if what I really want is for her to be killed off so other characters can shine.

Cutaways to the police investigation stall every hint of suspense and drag out the film’s already slow-moving pace. The prolonged tracing of obscene/threatening phone calls is a torturous interruption, as we shift focus away from the house — and the danger — time and time again. Too much footage is devoted to the development of a red herring, one which might make sense for the characters, but which is implausible for the audience, all for the sake of a final act shocker. These things drain the film’s energy. I get impatient.

This was my third viewing in six years’ time. I keep hoping it’ll click, but it doesn’t. Again, there IS a good story in there, somewhere — but the execution leaves me wanting more. Grade: C

Versus will return in 2022!

Frank Pittarese is a Brooklyn comic book editor and horror movie buff. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter.

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Mini-Reviews: ALONE IN THE DARK, THE CAR, COLD PREY, and THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES

Alone in the Dark (1982) A terrific mash-up of the slasher subgenre about three psychopaths (Jack Palace, Martin Landau, and Erland van Lidth) who escape from a mental facility and terrorize the hospital’s new doctor (Dwight Schultz) and his family. Suspenseful and more complex than the typical slasher flick of the time, this is infused with dark, witty humor, good acting, and some impressive, and brutal, death sequences. Poking fun of and embracing its material, Alone in the Dark is an ’80s gem. B+

The Car (1977) A goofy crossbreed of The Exorcist and Jaws, this features a small desert town under siege by a seemingly driverless, possessed killer car. James Brolin gives the movie an air of respectability but the whole thing is so silly and unconvincing you won’t take any of it seriously; as with most movies of this caliber, you can’t help be entertained by its goofy charms. C+

Cold Prey (2006) Thrilling Norwegian slasher about a group of snowboarders who take shelter inside an abandoned ski resort after one of the party breaks their leg. The group slowly comes to realize they’re not alone when a mystery person starts picking them off one-by-one. A beautiful snowy landscape and genuinely enjoyable characters heighten the story above its genericness, as does director Roar Uthaug’s eye for detail, creating an atmosphere of suspense and scares. A must-see. B+

The Mothman Prophecies (2002) Based on real case files dating back to the 1960s about a series of unexplained events surrounding the small town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, in which a group of people claim to have seen or interacted with a large, winged humanoid that predicted several major catastrophes. When a Washington Post reporter (Richard Gere) investigates the mysterious death of his wife it leads him to Point Pleasant and the sinister workings of the mothman. More of a psychological mystery than an outright horror film, this has a surprisingly good cast and a serious take on the subject matter, making the story seem much more credible than it probably deserves. C+

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Mini-Reviews: BLACK WATER, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, BROTHERHOOD OF SATAN, and OLD

Black Water (2007) Intense Australian low-budgeter about a small group of friends who find themselves trapped in a watery nightmare when their motorboat capsizes and they’re hunted by a large, bloodthirsty crocodile. The characters are all basically cardboard cutouts, but it’s the screenplay (by directors Andrew Traucki and David Nerlich) that makes the film work, utilizing the dire situation to its fullest effect by creating moments of true suspense and genuine surprises, right up until the end. B+

The Blair Witch Project (1999) The game changer that single-handedly created a new subgenre, this zero-budget scare show took horror to a new level at a time when the genre was becoming stale with countless Scream wannabes and soulless teen vehicles. Crafting its story around the structure of home videos, Blair Witch smartly uses bare-bones visual trickery by elevating the simple plot – three friends making a school video project about a mythical forest witch – into an atmospheric, dense, incredible suspenseful piece of filmmaking. Realistic characters and raw emotions help fuel the intensity, as do the moments of sheer horror, including the infamous, white-knuckle ending. A

The Brotherhood of Satan (1971) A well-made response to Rosemary’s Baby about a small town under the influence of a satanic cult that’s using the town’s children for sinister reasons. Moody and unpredictable, this mostly works because of its surreal, dream-like structure and surprising violence. The only thing keeping this from achieving cult classic status is its lackluster, disappointing ending. C+

Old (2021) A misguided adaptation of Frederik Peeters and Pierre Oscar Lévy’s acclaimed graphic novel, Sandcastle, about several groups of beachgoers who are effected by an unknown, supernatural event that rapidly speeds up their aging process. Director/writer M. Night Shyamalan’s screenplay is littered with plot holes and story inconsistencies, while the characters are vapid and unsympathetic. The biggest sin the film makes is explaining the mystery with a bumbling happy ending that essentially pulls the rug out from underneath itself. A genuine turkey. D

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Horror Movie Alternatives for Halloween Night

If you’re not in the mood for Michael Myers or paranormal activities this Halloween you might want to check out these equally creepy flicks that’ll make your holiday night just as heart-pumping. With the help of my friends and fellow horror nerds, Frank Pittarese and Aaron Reid, I’ve compiled a list of horror movie alternatives for your All Hallow’s Eve viewing pleasure!

Bad Ronald (1974) Ronald Wilby, teen misfit and social pariah, accidentally kills a young girl — so his overprotective mother (Kim Hunter) hides him in a secret room in their home. But when his mother dies, a new family moves into the house, unaware that an unhinged Ronald lurks within their walls. This made-for-TV thriller is one of my all-time favorites. They pack a lot into the 74 minute running time, giving Ronald a whole arc — from loser to lunatic — and we almost get two movies in one: the Ronald/Mom story, then the Ronald/Wood Family story. There’s a constant, underlying eerie discomfort in watching Ronald grow into a dangerous stalker, and Scott Jacoby runs the gamut from pitiful to creepy. You almost feel for the little weirdo. The climax is a bit abrupt, like they were holding back from doing something intense, but that (aside from an unintentionally comedic death) is my only minor gripe. -Frank Pittarese

Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (1978) After their dog dies in an “accident,” the Barry family adopts a German Shepard puppy. What they don’t know is that the pup was bred by Satan himself, as a demonic creature, which soon takes possession of the family, starting with the children. This made-for-TV horror flick is most memorable for the kids. Co-stars Kim Richards (yep, the one from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills) and Ike Eisenmann shared the big screen together twice before in Disney’s Escape/Return to Witch Mountain. Here, the wholesome pair head into new territory, becoming a couple of evil brats. Richard Crenna stars as their dad, forced to believe the unbelievable after the Satanic dog starts killing people (and after his wife starts slutting it up with Cliff Barnes from Dallas). While slow-paced, and suffering from some terrible special effects, this one is still enjoyable, if not thrilling. As a kid, the dog’s demonic form actually scared me, but I was a pushover like that. -FP

Drag Me to Hell (2009) “A dark spirit has come upon you.” Christine aspires to get the Assistant Manager promotion at the bank and is willing to make difficult choices to get her coveted job, including foreclosing on an elderly woman rather than granting one more extension. She soon regrets her heartless handling of the matter when she finds herself cursed. Inexplicable omens and visions of demons torment her until there is no denying she’s hexed. I decided to rewatch the unrated director’s cut of this cursed affair – the additional gore and extended scenes enhanced an already worthy horror. The impressive cast, creepy score, and beautiful cinematography amount to a classic story with personality. The pacing is flawless right up until the shocking ending. As Christine learns, be careful who you wrong in life because you just might be dragged to… Well, you know. “You will burn in Hell.” -Aaron Reid

Ghost Ship (2002) “We’re not the first people to board this ship.” A salvage crew discovers the lost MS Antonia Graza at sea, a mysterious luxury vessel that’s been missing for forty years. They board the ship to claim the riches inside, but the ghosts haunting this deadly cruise liner have other plans for their guests. I rewatched this haunted movie and returned to the ill-fated cruise ship for its final voyage. The opening sequence detailing what happened to the doomed passengers is still one of the most memorable and horrific scenes, to say the least. This haunted movie has an impressive ensemble cast coupled with creepy moments and a complicated storyline, making this horror a worthy rewatch contender, especially in October. The cliffhanger ending is a nice touch, wrapping up this haunting with a wink. If you‘ve never watched or it’s been a while, add this one to your list.  “We’re all trapped here.” -AR

Hell Night (1981) One of the better ’80s slashers, this creepy nightmare features Linda Blair as a new sorority pledge who along with a fellow pledge sister (Suki Goodwin), a horny frat hunk (Vincent Van Patton), and a frat gentleman (Peter Barton), are forced to spend the night in old Garth Manor, a gothic, abandoned mansion that is rumored to be haunted. The ghosts are tricks played on them by their school chums, but the murders are very real and the product of a deformed ancestor who still calls the manor home. Likable characters, a moody, Halloween-costume atmosphere, and some actual suspense make this terrific nighttime viewing. -Matt Dalton

House of Dark Shadows (1970) The first movie adaptation of the classic TV series, Dark Shadows, this is essentially a retelling one of the show’s most popular plots, that of 200-year-old vampire, Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid), as he awakens within his coffin in modern day Collinsport, Maine, and feasts on the blood of his living relatives. This is a crisp, handsome production with excellent acting from Frid and the rest of the Dark Shadows ensemble, including cast regulars Nancy Barrett and Joan Bennett. It also happens to be one of the most effective vampire flicks of the ’70s. -MD

The Norliss Tapes (1973) Roy Thinnes stars as David Norliss, an occult investigator, called into action by Ellen Cort (Angie Dickenson), who was attacked in the night by her walking dead husband. As the body count rises, it becomes apparent that there’s a sinister secret behind James Cort’s resurrection — something demonic. Made for TV, this Dan Curtis production feels a whole lot like The Night Stalker, Curtis’s very successful pilot film that aired the previous year. That movie got a sequel and a TV series. The Norliss Tapes did not. But the structure is the same. We have a supernatural creature, an investigation, occasional cutaways to some poor soul getting murdered, and an overarching narration from the lead character. In this case, the narration comes from tapes, recorded by Norliss. Had this gone to series, that would have been the monster-of-the-week format. Unlike The Night Stalker, this is mostly humorless, and the opening ten minutes that set up the “tapes” premise is incredibly dull. But from then on, turn off the lights and soak it in, because this is Dan Curtis doing what he does best: death, crypts, and shock-value storytelling. -FP

Session 9 (2001) Although it doesn’t contain the typical horror movie tropes or slasher cliches, Session 9 is so unnerving and suspenseful that it’ll keep you on the edge of your seat while you down your popcorn and candy corn. Taking place almost entirely within the walls of a former sanitarium, the film follows a small asbestos removal team as they try to clean the place before the week is over. Tensions builds among the coworkers as personalities butt and ulterior motives are brought to light. Although its paranoia subplot seems to have been borrowed from The Thing, this is a smart movie with interesting characters and an overwhelmingly bleak environment that adds to the plot’s intensity. It all leads to a genuinely disturbing ending. -MD

Sleepy Hollow (1999) Tim Burton’s atmosphere-drenched adaptation of the famous Washington Irving story was a return to form for the director after the lunacy of Mars Attacks! with a perfectly cast Johnny Depp as the nervous Ichabod Crane who’s sent to the small village of the title to investigate a series of bizarre murders. The chilly, woodsy setting along with the visually rich set decorations of jack-o-lanterns, scarecrows, and the Headless Horseman ring true for a dazzling Halloween viewing. -MD

Frank Pittarese has been an editor of comic books for 30 years. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter. A Massachusetts native, Aaron Reid is also on Instagram and writes movie reviews for Letterboxd.