What We Watched This Halloween Season - 2014

We have a tradition every October. We try to squeeze in as many horror movies as possible before the end of the scary movie season. This year we took it up a notch and even had a Monster Movie Marathon the weekend of Halloween.

To make the rating game easy, I decided to rate the movies on a 1 through 5 scale; 1 being the worst and 5 being the best. But of course, do not let my ratings keep you from watching any of these gems next horror season or any season. Happy Watching!

(In the order in which we watched them...)

You're Next (2011)
   A family comes under attack during an anniversary party by a group of masked murderers. Unfortunately for them, one of the guests is better at killing than they are.
   You're Next was not that bad. Gory? Yes. Fun to watch? Yes. It was well written and even decently acted, for a slasher flick. 4/5

Tormented (2011)
   Daigo has become withdrawn and has formed a strong attachment to a stuffed rabbit. His sister, Kiriko, can't talk and is having trouble trying to convince her father to help. Kiriko has to enter a dangerous dream world when Daigo goes missing in order to discover the truth about her life.
   Tormented was a little out there for me. I can see how fans of Japanese horror films would dig on this. In fact my husband enjoyed it more than I, but I had a hard time getting into it. 3/5

The Initiation (1984)
   College student Kelly is to be initiated into the Delta Ro Kai sorority. While performing the prank in order to get into the sorority, a killer begins picking all the initiates off one by one.
   A classic '80s horror film, that's for sure. It had it all; the hair, the boobs, the gratuitous sex. It was very predictable but fun to watch. But I'm a sucker for the classics. 3/5

Big Ass Spider (2013)
   The military creates a killer spider (what?!?!) that grows bigger every time it eats. Eventually it grows so big that even the military can't kill it. It is up to a handful of scientists, and one exterminator, to take it down.
   One word, Jose. The banter of the two main characters, Alex and Jose, was what made this movie worth watching. They were hilarious. 3/5

The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)
   Loosely based on a true story, a Texas Ranger hunts down a serial killer who was terrorizing residents in Texarkana, Texas in 1946.
   If you ever get a chance to read up on the true story, it is pretty fascinating. 4/5

13 Sins (2014)
   Preying on those who have fallen on desperate times, a game show host calls Elliot and gives him tasks to complete, each with an increasing monetary reward. Each task gets more and more gruesome until Elliot is under threat of incarceration until he finishes the game. And earns the big pay out.
   Very good and original idea. It was well written, well acted, and well directed. In fact we shared this one with friends at our Monster Movie Marathon. 5/5

The House of the Devil (2009)
   College student Samantha takes a babysitting job at a large and isolated house during a total lunar eclipse. As the night wears on, she begins to realize that her clients are devil worshipers and she has been lured there as a sacrifice.
   This was very slow to develop. Very slow. But if you happen to watch it, you may recognize an actor from You're Next. 2/5

ATM (2012)
   Three people are trapped in an ATM kiosk overnight by a deranged killer.
   I saw about twenty plot holes in this movie, but it was still fun to watch. Plus I was pissed at not ever finding out the killer's motives! I hate that! 1/5

Haunt (2013)
   A family moves into a house where a tragedy had befallen the previous tenants. The teen-aged boy of the family befriends the girl next door. They start fooling around with a radio that can communicate with the dead and strange things start happening in the house.
   I thought it moved too slowly and was too predictable in its jumps and scares. Plus I had the ending figured out way ahead of time. But overall still an enjoyable watch. 2/5

Dead Silence (2007)
   After his wife is murdered, Jamie returns home for the funeral. The killer is later linked to the ghost of a ventriloquist that hails from his hometown. As he digs into his wife's murder, he discovers a grisly folktale that centers around Mary Shaw, a murdered ventriloquist with a vendetta against his family.
   Dead Silence was a really unique story. It was a little far fetched, but it was made nearly believable by the way it was written, directed and performed. 3/5

Bruiser (2000)
   After years of being treated badly by his boss, his wife, his friends, his coworker and even his dog, a man wakes up one day with a blank white mask as a face. He uses this anonymity to get revenge on those who have wronged him.
   This is a George A. Romero film. Though I don't know that it is technically a horror film, it still has its fair share of blood and sex. He is, after all, a masked killer. 4/5

New Year's Evil  (1980)
   While hosting a Punk Rock New Year's Eve television show, Diane Sullivan gets a call saying that someone will die when New Year's strikes in each time zone, ending with her.
   Again, pure 80's cheese, but I love it. 3/5

Tamara (2005)
   Tamara is the nerdy, unattractive girl that doesn't quite fit in. But no one knows that she is a witch. When she dies in a bizarre accident she comes back, sexy and ready to kill.
   It's like the Carrie for witch lovers. And actually not too bad. 3/5

Hellgate (2011)
   After a terrible accident in which he lost his wife and son, Jeff is now living in the shadow world between life and death. He has frightening visions in which he sees demons and ghosts. Now he has to make the choice to live in the world of the living or join the world of the dead.
   I enjoyed the different view Hellgate took on the underworld. Another very slow moving movie.3/5

Donovan's Brain (1953)
   Dr. Patrick Cory and his wife have been experimenting with brains. When they are unable to save the life of millionaire, Mr. Donovan, they keep his brain to experiment on it as well. Donovan's brain establishes a link with Dr. Cory's brain and uses Cory to seek revenge on his enemies.
   A classic movie from the 1950's, Donovan's Brain was fun to watch. What I didn't like was the surprise ending. I felt like I had the carpet pulled out from under me. I like to have some hint at what is going on. 3/5

House of Whipcord (1974)
   Young, beautiful girls are lured to an isolated mansion by a handsome young man, Mark E. Desade. Once there, they are forbidden to leave, charged with ludicrous crimes and told they are going to be rehabilitated. In truth they are tortured and some are even killed.
   House of Whipcord was an interesting film. I can definitely see how people were disturbed by it in 1974. 3/5

Chillerama (2011)
   It's closing night at the last drive-in in America and four movies are on the reels to be shown: Wadzilla, I was a Teenage Werebear, The Diary of Anne Frankenstein and Zom-B-Movie. All promising to be in very bad taste.
   And they did not disappoint! I cringed and squirmed my way through the first three, but I turned it off at the start of the fourth and final short film. Too gross. And I can put up with a lot. 2/5

Humanoids From the Deep (1980)
   Half-men, half-fish monsters terrorize a small fishing town.
   Total camp and fun. Horny half-fish-men? One of my husband's favorites and if I don't give it a five, I'll never hear the end of it. So let's compromise and say 4.5/5

Satan's Little Helper (2004)
   A little boy accidentally helps a serial killer, who is dressed up like a character from his favorite video game, on Halloween.
   Satan's Little Helper is pretty silly, but it was actually a good idea. All kids (and some adults I know) would totally geek out if they met their video game idol. It was an easy, mindless watch. 4/5

Grave Secrets (1989)
   A professor of psychic phenomena helps a woman investigate the unusual occurrences surrounding the bed and breakfast she owns.
   This was a decent ghost story. It was interesting enough that the lack of scares kept me watching. 3/5

Gildersleeve's Ghost (1944)
   Throckmorton Gildersleeve is running for public office so who better to help him out than the ghosts of his ancestors? Except idea of helping is to get him involved with a mad scientist, a giant gorilla, and a (sometimes) invisible woman.
   My kids and I watched this movie together and laughed the whole way through. It was basically just good clean fun. 4/5

The Smiling Ghost (1941)
   Elinor Bentley Fairchild is one unlucky woman. All of her previous beaus have met a tragic and untimely end due to the Smiling Ghost. Now the Fairchild family has hired "Lucky" Downing to pretend to be her latest fiancee to get to the bottom of this mystery.
   Another oldie but a goody, The Smiling Ghost was funny with a touch of mystery. 4/5

Maximum Overdrive (1986)
   Based on the Stephen King story, Trucks, the movie is about what happens when a mysterious comet allows machines to come to life and terrorize the people of Earth. A group of survivors try to wait it out in a tiny truck stop.
   Another of my husband's favorites, Maximum Overdrive is not necessarily a Halloween movie because there are no monsters in the traditional sense, but rather it is scary because the terror comes from objects we take for granted. 4.5/5

The Fog (1980)
   Ghosts in a killer fog come seeking their revenge on the 100th anniversary of the night of their ship wreck. They won't rest until they claim their quota of soles.
   The Fog is a good campfire story. That's the feel behind this movie for me. When you can cuddle up and watch a scary story that has lasted through the years, you know you have something good. 4/5

Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010)
   Tucker and Dale are two hillbillies trying to get some work done on their vacation home out in the middle of the woods. After a misunderstanding with some college kids, the bodies start piling up.
   This is one of our favorites and it kicked off our Monster Movie Marathon. 5/5

Cockneys vs Zombies (2012)
   A group of bank robbers have to fight through waves of zombies in East London in order to get back to their grandfather's retirement home and save him.
   Another of our annual favorites. 5/5

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
   An alien and his robot land on Earth with a message of peace to give the world leaders. But the alien is wounded so he decides to try a different approach.
   This is the movie that brought us Klaatu Barada Nikto. What more do you want? 4/5

World War Z (2013)
   A world wide zombie epidemic has broken out. Gerry Lane is on a mission to help find the cure.
   I know some people didn't like the fast moving zombies of WWZ, but I did. I think it made them even more frightening. I haven't read this book by Max Brooks, yet, but I did enjoy this film. 4/5

Strippers vs Werewolves (2012)
   The head of a local werewolf pack is killed in a strip club, giving the strippers until the next full moon to prepare for their revenge.
   Um, it was a lot better than I thought it would be. The dialogue was actually pretty funny and very tongue in cheek. I could have lived without some of the choices in cinematography and music, but otherwise, eh. 2/5

Halloween (1978)
   Michael Meyers escapes from an asylum and terrorizes the babysitters of Haddonfield on Halloween night.
   Another classic! 5/5

Halloween 2 (1981)
   Laurie has been hospitalized from the injuries she sustained by Michael Meyers. Meanwhile, the hunt for the killer continues.
   Too bad the series was never better after this. 4/5

Hell Comes to Frog Town (1988)
   Much of the world has been rendered infertile after a nuclear war. Sam Hell, a prisoner, has been tasked with the terrible duty of mating with the few remaining fertile females. However, he and his sexy escorts need to rescue them from Frog Town first.
   This was nothing but pure 80's camp and cheese. The only scary thing here was the fact that we actually enjoyed watching this B movie. 2/5

Poltergeist (1982)
   A family's home becomes haunted by ghosts. They appear harmless at first but eventually become more aggressive and kidnap their young daughter.
   This was the movie that ended our Monster Movie Marathon. The perfect ending to a perfect horror movie season. 5/5

Life According to Sam (2013)

Progeria is known as the "premature aging" disease. It is a rare genetic condition that is caused by a mutation in one of our genes. In Life According to Sam, we get to know the Berns family and their life with Progeria. Sam is the son of doctors Leslie Gordon and Scott Berns. His parents refused to accept the grim diagnosis given them and the Progeria Research Foundation was born.

The Premise

Life According to Sam takes us through the not so ordinary lives of the Berns family. Sam is a teenager living with Progeria. His parents, both doctors, have dedicated their lives to healing others and have now poured that same passion into finding treatments and a cure for Progeria. This illuminating documentary shows what it is like to endure a child's illness, and the heart break and triumph that go along with it.

My Take

Sam is an an incredibly inspiring young man. His optimism and honesty are contagious. When facing the possibility of a short life, Sam still has the motivation to make plans for the future and that speaks volumes about his character. His parents are ever present in his life and help make sure that he has every opportunity to succeed. As a result, he is an honor student and a member of his high school's marching band. I can think of very few people that are equally as encouraging as young Sam.

Dr. Leslie Gordon is Sam's mother and is the Medical Director of the Progeria Research Foundation (PRF). When Leslie and Dr. Scott Berns, Sam's father, got the diagnosis that their only son had Progeria they quickly realized that there was a lack of information out there for other families as well as a lack of research being done for the medical community. They were able to form the PRF to help children affected with Progeria in hopes to raise awareness, educate families and the public, find the cause, find a treatment and one day find a cure for Progeria.

During the course of the documentary, we follow the Berns family, as well as other families, as they participate in the first ever human drug trial for a treatment for Progeria. We experience first hand the difficulty these kids experience as their little bodies are aging and their minds stay young. Their bones become brittle, their hearing and sight change, and their arteries harden and narrow, too. In fact most of these children will die of heart attack or stroke. And anyone that knows me knows that stroke is near and dear to my heart, having suffered a stroke at a young age myself due to a heart defect.

The Verdict

Life According to Sam made me cry probably half a dozen times. It tugged at my heart in ways that few documentaries have. It made me laugh, too. This film is not about trying to make you feel bad or feel sorry for the kids that were featured. In fact, it made we wish I knew them. They were all so brave and so beautiful and so full of life. I give Life According to Sam 17/17 years, because that is how old Sam is today.

Please visit the Progeria Research Foundation Website by clicking here.

First Cousin Once Removed (2012)

First Cousin Once Removed is the most recent documentary from director Alan Berliner. It is no secret that Alzheimer's Disease is a terrible illness that is affecting an untold number of people around the world. First Cousin is a very personal documentary that takes a look inside of the mind of poet Edwin Honig as he lost his memory to Alzheimer's Disease.

The Premise

Acclaimed poet, translator and professor, Edwin Honig has given his cousin, Alan Berlinger, permission to film him has he struggles with memory loss due to Alzheimer's Disease. First Cousin Once Removed is filmed over the course of five years and shows, with compassionate honesty, the emotional and physical toll that memory loss takes on the Edwin, his friends and his family.

My Take

There was a moment, in the very beginning of the film, in which Edwin's sister stated that she was afraid this project would be demeaning. She didn't approve that her brother would be shown deteriorating and in such a helpless state. Later, she realized that her brother had in fact given his permission, when he was still lucid, for this project to proceed. She then came to appreciate the impact that such a documentary could make. Edwin Honig was an accomplished poet and respected professor. He wanted to help his cousin, Alan, make a film that would make a difference.

First Cousin was filmed over the course of five years. I can't even begin to imagine the editing process involved in a project this size. I have trouble editing my daughter's Barbie videos. The common theme of this documentary were the memories of Edwin's past. What did he remember about different events/people/times from his past? His responses were edited together to show the lapses in his memory. At different times he could remember different details or sometimes nothing at all. These edits also showed how Alzheimer's affected him physically. As the disease took over his mind, his body began fail. First Cousin illustrated this without ever telling us directly.

There were some wonderful emotional moments as well; good ones as well as sad ones. Edwin had a play-date with Alan's son. They connected through music. Music is very powerful. Musical memories are some of the last to go. They played the piano, hummed, banged, played a harmonica and sang. Unfortunately, Edwin's relationship with his own sons was strained. That was one of the more difficult moments. His memories of them became hazy. That was bittersweet because he didn't remember that they no longer spoke.

Are there memories that we are best off not remembering? Are there things we want to remember forever?
What happens when a creator becomes trapped in his own mind and can no longer create? Can no longer express? Can no longer openly display the ideas that are surely still running through addled brains?

The Verdict

First Cousin Once Removed was a documentary about a very smart a creative man named Edwin Honig, who happened to have Alzheimer's Disease. This film treated him with the dignity and respect that all memory impaired loved ones deserve. It was beautifully filmed and executed  by someone who loved him and set out to make a statement.

If I were to have any critiques, it would be that the typewriter sound effects got old after the first thirty minutes. I understood the point of keeping them in for so long, but I grew tired of the clacking. I give First Cousin Once Removed 9/10 stanzas.


For more information about Alzheimer's Disease click here