This Is Halloween: The American Scream

The American Scream - Spirit

SPIRIT

What's American?  Apple pie?  Baseball?  Government shutdowns?  Sure, all these things makes America great, but something has to be missing....what could it be? How about starting your own business, being an entrepreneur?  That's one thing, admittedly, America is good at doing.  In the documentary, "The American Scream," we follow three people taking their obsession to new heights: the art of creating homemade haunted houses.

In the town of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, Halloween is a big deal, as it usually is in a small town.  Sure, you have your houses that only put out a jack-o-lantern or maybe some cobwebs in the windows, but three particular residences in Fairhaven turn their homes into "house haunts."

"The American Scream" follows Victor Bariteau, an office drone who dreams of turning his house haunt into a full time job, the father and son team of Matt and Richard Brodeur, who share an interesting and symbiotic relationship, and finally Manny Souza, a city worker who recently suffered a heart attack and who's house haunt is in danger of not getting done on time.

The documentary begins 31 days before Halloween as all three families are starting to prep for the big day.  What makes this film so interesting is how much the holiday means to each family, but at the same time how it turns them against each other, to a degree.  Victor, who dreams of making this once a year holiday his career, has sacrificed spending Halloween with his family, such as trick-or-treating.  Keeping up on repairs to his house has also suffered, leaving his home a mess.  Manny tries to keep up with Victor, and does a decent job, but with him not being in the best of health has to rely on the kindness of strangers that share his love for the holiday.

"The American Scream" offers a look into a holiday that many retail stores pass over most of the time.  Sure, you have your costume shops like "Spirit of Halloween" and "Halloween Express" but by the time October comes around, Christmas decorations are already up in stores, and aside from sales on candy, Halloween is a holiday that is treated like the bastard child of American holidays.  Hell, Arbor Day gets nearly as much publicity.  It's refreshing to see a small community get behind a holiday like Halloween an give it the respect it deserves.

While some people do get into the holiday spirit, that holiday is usually Christmas.  You have bright lights, shining stars, and who could forget that cute little manger scene that folks are so keen on.  You look at Halloween and you have everything that is anti-Christian; ghosts, goblins, and zombies, but, if you read your Bible, the Good Book is full of things that you might consider evil; Satan, ghosts, and vengeful spirits.  I might be getting a little off-topic here but why is Halloween usually treated with such contempt, while there was plenty of superstitious nonsense going on during Christmas.

Getting back to small towns,  Halloween is a much bigger deal, and it shows in "The American Scream."  It shows that Halloween brings people together and is a much more communal holiday than that of Thanksgiving or Christmas.  I mean you don't let people into your house when you're having Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner, but you will nearly invite people into your home to collect candy or enter a spooky haunted house that takes you months to construct so that it can be enjoyed for just one evening.  That's putting heart into a holiday.

Living in Florida, I weep sometimes when I see what states like Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, and California do to commemorate Halloween.  Sure, we have Halloween Horror Nights, one of the better Halloween-themed attractions in the state, but the costs for Horror Nights have become astronomical and price a lot of true Halloween fans out.  In states like Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, where Halloween still truly lives and breathes, its created by true fans of the holiday who want to share their joy with the masses.  Sure, there is money to be made, but you can't put a price tag on screams and the adrenaline rush you get when a man with a fake ax and a skeleton mask jumps out of the dark to scare you half to death.  That's "The American Scream" right there.

Fun Fact:  According to Haunt World, the best Haunted Attraction in the US in 2013 is The 13th Floor/The Asylum in Denver, CO.

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Simplistic Reviews Presents: Simply Horrifying featuring Tales from the Crypt Ep. 05

Welcome to Hell Muthafu*ka!  Or....just welcome back to another edition of Simply Horrifying as we continue our jaunt down memory lane remembering some of the best episodes of "Tales from the Crypt."  In this episode, which is also one of my favorites, we have two comedians in the starring role, one being the immortal Don Rickles and the other being "Bobcat" Goldthwait, as two ventriloquists in "The Ventriloquist's Dummy."

Directed by Richard Donner, "Dummy" is the story of a retired ventriloquist and a young up-and-coming ventriloquist's attempt to back in big.  Remember a long time ago when ventriloquist's were treated like kings and women threw themselves at them wishing they were the puppets?  Well, neither do I.

This episode offers a pretty good twist and both comedians put out pretty good performances, mainly Rickles who is pretty convincing as the retired performing holding back a dark secret.  All in all, one of the better episodes from Season Two.

Click the link above for the full review, if you dare......

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This Is Halloween: Scream 2

OUTLIER

Scream 2 - Outlier

Certain things sell me on a film, especially a horror film.  The main thing(s) is whether it keeps me interested, engaged, and I'm able to care about a few of the characters.  You wouldn't normally say that a soundtrack for a film is what made you like the film even more.  However, "Scream 2" is that type of film, an outlier where the soundtrack is as good as the film itself.  But of course there is an excellent movie hidden behind the soundtrack.

"Scream 2" the first sequel in the popular "Scream" series is "The Godfather II" of the horror genre.  Not only is Wes Craven back, with Kevin Williamson penning the screenplay again, but Craven ups the ante and creates a sequel that provides more laughs, more tension, and an even hipper cast than the first film, including Raylan Givens.  Once again we start with a sequence that later in the series becomes standard protocol where a famous person(s) that you wouldn't think would get killed, gets killed.  Meanwhile, Sidney Prescott, our heroine in the previous film, has gone off the college where she's followed by Ghostface.  But wait, you might say, "Wait a minute, Ghostface is dead, that was Billy Loomis and his buddy Stu!"  I would rebuttal and say, "You know what would have been cool, if Ghostface Killah played Ghostface!"  I still say we get that petition signed and just cast "Scream 5" with everybody from the Wu-Tang Clan.

While Sidney is trying to adjust to college life, a new boyfriend, and playing Cassandra, her friends are killed one at a time by Ghostface, who just LOVES sequels; they're bloodier, sillier, and have ridiculous plot twists.  While "Scream 2" is all of this and more, the fact that it's self-aware without being fully self-aware works extremely well.  The characters never follow their own advice even though they try to justify their decisions for being the typical horror stereotypes.  Just like the first "Scream" the characters are likable and are typical of the slasher genre, but Craven and Williamson do a great job of expanding the world of Woodsboro from it's small town beginnings in the first film, to a college campus where there is a larger group of suspects in a more condensed, claustrophobic area.

Now, let me get back to the real reason to like this film; the soundtrack.  If you haven't enjoyed the "Scream 2" soundtrack, do yourself a favor and give it a listen.  The tracks range from Master P to Dave Matthews Band, but I still think there should have been some Wu-Tang on the soundtrack, it just seems like a lost opportunity.

Overall, "Scream 2" would have been a great way to end the series, but what would a horror series be without a few more sequels, which we got with the underwhelming "Scream 3" and the underrated "Scream 4."  However, "Scream 2" stands alone as a horror sequel that not only meets a fan's expectations but was so much more than a cooker-cutter sequel to make more money.  While Wes Craven's record as a horror director had been spotty since "A Nightmare on Elm Street," the "Scream" franchise gave him a second lease on life, and "Scream 2" stands as one of his best efforts in a career that spans over 40 years.  An outlier indeed, "Scream 2" gives you what you want, but it gives it in a way where excess isn't required.

Fun Fact:  As if there wasn't enough to like about "Scream 2," Danny Elfman, composer of "Batman," "Spider-man," and former lead singer of Oingo Boingo, took the time to compose the Cassandra theme heard HERE for the film.

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New Release! Gravity

MIND-BLOWING

Gravity - Mind-Blowing

I never start a review this way, until now of course; "Gravity" is amazing, emotional, groundbreaking, revisionist, wonderful, innovative, and of course, mind-blowing. There hasn't been a movie since "2001: A Space Odyssey" that has elicited so many emotions over the course of 90 minutes until "Gravity."  If the genius of Alfonso Cuaron hasn't been noticed yet, this is the film that puts him in the lexicon of Spielberg, Lucas, Kubrick, and other luminaries that have re-defined cinema for a new generation.  Cuaron is this generation's Stanley Kubrick.

"Gravity," at heart, is the tale of survival, redemption, and the power of belief.  Most of Cuaron's films all have an undertone of hope found within utter despair, see "Children of Men as a prime example.  Sandra Bullock and George Clooney star as Ryan Stone and Matt Kowalski, respectively, two astronauts on a routine mission to repair a shuttle.  Before you know it the two are adrift after space debris strikes the shuttle, and a battle for survival begins.

While I was in the theater so many emotions came over me.  Based on the trailers, you know shit is going to hit the fan, but I didn't know the context in how said shit hits the fan. The set pieces are wonders to behold, and while CG is heavily relied upon, I never felt that I had to suspend my disbelief and realize that all I was watching was make believe.  Cuaron has officially blurred the lines between reality and fiction.  I was blown away.  Add in his trademark long takes, the first scene lasting roughly 15 minutes with no cuts, and you are sucked into this vision of space that hasn't been seen since "2001."

While I'm not going to say politics were involved, it's interesting to see three superpowers (USA, Russia, and China) mentioned in a film about space and how one said superpower is to blame for the problems that occur throughout the film.  I'm not saying the Cuaron has an agenda, but it seems clear that he either has a distrust or distaste for the the Space Program, or perhaps his entire allegory in "Gravity" is that the Space Program is dead or needs to die.

There are quite a few references to death and rebirth in "Gravity."  One is pretty clear, where, SPOILER, Bullock enters the International Space Station, strips her suit off, and curls into a fetal position.  After being in the vacuum of space for a long time, she finally has a place to feel safe, and regresses into a child-like position of safety.  Later on in the film we pretty much see the death of the Space Program, with once again, SPOILER, a US, Russian, and Chinese space module destroyed, with the latter plummeting to Earth.  Is Cuaron saying, "Look, space doesn't want us anymore, it's time for us to return to Earth and take care of things domestically before we deal with the vastness of space."  I tend to think this is a very important, and timely, message for people all over the world.

For over 50 years, the world has been obsessed with visiting space, "landing" on the moon, visiting Mars, sending probes to the far recesses of the solar system, while the Earth continues to become over-populated, natural resources are slowly running out. climate change is a creeping death, and pollution chokes us.  Why is the space program a viable option anymore?  Yes, we use satellites for communication and surveillance, but why do we need to keep sending probes into space to hopefully meet E.T?  With NASA finally ending their Space Shuttle Program in 2011, "Gravity" tells us two things; good riddance to the program, and two, lampoons the program with the disaster that you see in the film.

Politics aside, "Gravity" is a technical marvel that lets us experience space from a perspective we've never seen, before in a realistic way.  Should you see it in 3-D?  My answer is always no to 3-D.  People might argue that it puts you INTO the film, but why do you need to be in the film when you can watch the film in
2-D and still feel like Cuaron is holding you hostage for 90 minutes, and that's a compliment to the director.  I haven't felt at the mercy of a director in a long time, where you can't escape what you're experiencing until the director lets you go.  If "Pacific Rim" was the action film you couldn't take your eyes off of, "Gravity" is the mind-blowing, technical marvel that you can't take your eyes off of this year, and maybe the past decade.  "Gravity" pulls you in, literally.

Fun Fact:  Ed Harris, who you might remember as Flight Director Gene Kranz in "Apollo 13," reprises the role, in voice form, of "Houston" in "Gravity."

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Simplistic Reviews Presents: Simply Horrifying featuring Tales from the Crypt Ep. 04

Welcome back fiendish freaks to another edition of Simply Horrifying.

"Cutting Cards" the third episode from Season Three stars Lance Henriksen, who you might remember from "Aliens" and "Pumpkinhead" and Kevin Tighe, who you might remember even better from "Road House" and who played Locke's Daddy in the TV series "Lost," as two high stakes gamblers with a love/hate relationship with each other.

Of course you know how gamblers get once the stakes get high; first you lose some money, then you lose your dignity, next thing you know you're playing Russian Roulette and are starting to lose fingers.  Hey, have you even been to Vegas?

This is Walter Hill's second episode as the director, his first since the show's inaugural episode, "The Man Who Was Death" which starred William Sadler, who also starred in the first "Tales From the Crypt" themed film, "Demon Knight."

While the episode is silly, it's still unnerving because you have to believe that there are plenty of people in the world that really do go this far when it comes to gambling.

Check out the full review above, if you dare.......

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Simplistic Reviews Presents: Simply Horrifying featuring Tales from the Crypt Ep. 03

 Welcome back gore-whores, for another edition of Simply Horrifying.  Leaving season one behind, we now embark into season two of "Tales from the Crypt" where things really start to pick up steam.  Being that the first season only had six episodes, it's pretty jarring to see that the sophomore season had a whopping 18 episodes.  Furthermore, a lot more celebrities (or at least celebrities from the early 90s) were showing up to star in episodes, as well as a few surprise directors, namely, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who directed the episode titled "The Switch."

All in all, season two was a huge jump for the series and set the tone for seasons 3-4 (which I personally think are the two strongest seasons).  Dead Right, starring Demi Moore and the almost unrecognizable, Jeffrey Tambor, is a ghoulish little story about one woman's desire to get rich quick.  The only problem is that she has to marry Charlie Marno, a loud, obnoxious, overweight man who might hold her key to a vast fortune.

Dead Right is a fun episode that ends with a nice twist that you should be used to if you've read the comics or are a veteran of the first season of "Tales."

Click the link above for the full review, if you dare.......

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Simplistic Reviews Presents: Simply Horrifying featuring Tales from the Crypt Ep. 02

As we delve deeper into the "Tales from the Crypt" catalog, I need to make an amendment to the above review.  In the review I state that Mary Harron was the only female to direct a "Tales from the Crypt" episode, and that isn't entirely true.  While there was a disproportionate ratio of male to female directors on the show, there were actually a few females to direct on the show, including Randa Haines, who directed a season two episode entitled, Judy, You're Not Yourself Today.  I just wanted to put that out there.

Now, as we forge a-dead (yes, I will be using puns from time to time), we come to an tale called "Collection Completed" directed by the aforementioned Mary Harron.  The story is fun, and reminds of something that might have been better suited for "Amazing Stories" but there is just enough gore and implication of terror to truly make the story creepy and memorable.

Check out the video companion above and prepare to enter "Tales from the Crypt."  If you dare.......

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Here Comes Halloween: Phantasm II

Phantasm II - Look-a-like

LOOK-A-LIKE

Naturally it would make sense to review the first "Phantasm" before I get to it's sequel, but there is a logical explanation; I simply enjoy "Phantasm II" better than it's predecessor.  An odd way to begin a review, I'm sure, but I just wanted to get the semantics out of the way before I get into this review.  Welcome back to October, and an entire month of scares, frights, masks, blood, gore, inferior sequels, and more blood.

"Phantasm II" is the 1988 sequel to the 1979 cult classic, "Phantasm," written and directed by Don Coscarelli.  If you're unfamiliar with "Phantasm" here is a quick refresher; A kid named Mike begins experiencing strange happenings around his town, with a sinister figure called The Tall Man behind said happenings.  As things begin to reveal themselves Mike finds himself stalked by The Tall Man in nightmarish visions involving corpses, metal flying balls with a taste for blood and a body full of embalming fluid and dwarves created from the reanimated corpses of the town's dead.  Throw in a Bruce Campbell look-a-like named Reggie, and you got yourself "Phantasm."

The sequel picks up right where the original leaves off, so for the purposes of this review, and if you don't want to be spoiled, even though these would be 34, and 23 year old spoilers, respectively, tread lightly.  Mike is about to be taken away by The Tall Man but is rescued by Reggie.  We skip ahead roughly 10 years to an adult Mike who is being released from the local mental hospital.  After tragedy besets Reggie, the two spring into action to track down The Tall Man and end his reign of terror, forever.  Joined by a young girl, named Liz, with a psychic link to Mike, the trio head out to, once again, stop The Tall Man's devious plans, including the creation of more zombie dwarves and to rescue Liz's grandmother.

What I love about "Phantasm II" is the excess.  You can see clearly that the sequel takes a lot of it's cues from another famous cult classic sequel; "Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn."  While the original "Phantasm" relied on real scares and it's tone to convey a feeling of dread, just like "The Evil Dead," it's sequel relies on banter between Mike and Reggie and a lighter tone, which includes a chainsaw fight and the creation of a quadruple shotgun, smells like "Evil Dead II."  Consider the time frame between all the films as well.  "Phantasm" was released two years before "Evil Dead" and you can see some similarities in the tone, but that was also the sign of the times in the late 1970s and 80s.  Fast-forward to 1987, when "Evil Dead II" is released with a more comedic tone, and a year later "Phantasm II" is released with a lighter tone as well.  I'm not saying that "Phantasm" and "Evil Dead" share much with one another, but in comparing the two, you can see where there are similarities and the fact that each franchise borrowed a little from one another.

Now back to the "Phantasm II."  I'm sure purists who love "Phantasm" will kill me for saying the sequel is superior, and I'm not actually saying that, I'm just saying that "Phantasm II" is more accessible for non-fans than the original.  Just as he was in the first film, Angus Scrimm literally stands out, again, as The Tall Man, the series' main antagonist.  While The Tall Man never received the fanfare of Jason, Freddy, or Michael Myers, there was still something very creepy about an old supernatural man who steals corpses to create evil dwarves.  I liken The Tall Man to Henry Kane from the "Poltergeist" series as they both share a similar, skeletal look.

Like most sequels in the late 1980s, there is an extreme case of style-over-substance in "Phantasm II" with more special effects, spotty acting, and plot holes big enough to throw a million of those killer metal balls into.  However, the cheese doesn't take away from the fun.  There are some excellent creature effects, done by a than relatively unknown Greg Nicotero and Robert Kurtzman, now of "The Walking Dead" fame.  And of course, it's no surprise that Nicotero also did effects on "Evil Dead II."  The comparisons continue!

While not exceptional, "Phantasm II" is a fun little sequel that lives in the zeitgeist of horror during the late-1980s.  It's over indulgent, silly, campy, and not as good as it's original.  But, it gives horror and gore fans what they wanted; MORE!

Fun Fact:  For even more The Evil Dead/Phantasm fun, take a look at one of the bags an undertaker is filling up and you might catch the name on the name.  That name being Sam Raimi.  Meta!!!!

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Simplistic Reviews Presents: Simply Horrifying featuring Tales from the Crypt Ep. 01

October is here and now is the time for the creeps and ghouls to infest your web browsers, and I"m not just talking about those adult sites that you frequent when your wife or husband aren't around.  No judgement.  But October is that time of the year where things get a little spooky and Simplistic Reviews welcomes everything creepy with open arms, paws, claws, webbed-feet, anything else that some mythical or murderous creature might have to grab things with.

HBO's "Tales from the Crypt" was a show that paid homage to the EC Comics from the 1950s.  Grisly images, paired with tales of morality which caught the ire of the US Government who went as far as to hold Senate Hearings about how comics were corrupting the nation's youth and driving a hearse straight to Hell.  Sounds like my type of comic books.  William Gaines, creator of the Tales from the Crypt comic line, was a pioneer in the industry and you can call him the Stan Lee of Horror Comics.  Come 1989, the geniuses at HBO decided it was time to pay tribute to EC and create a weekly half-horror horror show every Sunday, aptly named, "Tales from the Crypt."  Running nearly 100 episodes, from 1989 to 1995, "Tales" were comics come to life way before we had the Marvel Comics films.

As this series progresses, your host, Matt, will present his favorite episodes from all seven seasons.  The episodes will not be ranked and will only be classified by the season in which they appeared.  It's like trying to pick your favorite child, unless its the child that cries in public, throws food on the floor, and wets the bed.  That one is a winner!

So, in this first installment, "And All Through the House" is explained away.  There are a lot of cool aspects to this episode, namely, director Robert Zemeckis helmed this episode, and this is the only episode from the series that uses Christmas as the backdrop.

Check out the video companion above and prepare to enter "Tales from the Crypt."  If you dare.......

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