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   Daigo has become withdrawn and has formed a strong attachment to a stuffed rabbit.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

Banshee {Season 1} (2013-?)

If you missed out on Banshee, like I almost did, then you missed out on what is quite possibly the best new show on cable. Unbeknownst to me, it premiered in January of this year on Cinemax. The very first episode had me hooked. It had it all. Action, mystery, violence, sex, and most importantly, characters I want to watch.

My husband and I are always searching for new shows we can watch together, especially ones we can watch after the kids go to bed. I found Banshee on our On Demand feature and thought it would be something we could watch to pass the time until Sons of Anarchy returns in September. It only took one episode and we were hooked.

The Premise is Brilliant

An ex-con gets out of prison and the first thing he does is search for the woman he loves, who is also his former partner. Through less than legal channels, he finds her living under an assumed name in the town of Banshee. Through an unfortunate turn of events, he assumes the identity of the new sheriff in the corrupt Amish town, bringing all his demons with him. He discovers a family he didn't know he had. The man he stole millions worth in diamonds from hasn't forgotten him. And he still has a penchant for criminal activity.

My Take

The ex-con (we never learn his real name) ends up in a small bar where some serious shit goes down and he witnesses the death of the sheriff. Turns out, this was a new sheriff (that no one had yet met) who had been brought in by the Mayor to clean up the corrupt town. One of the most corrupt towns an ex-con could have possibly ended up in. Perfect! The ex-con becomes Sheriff Lucas Hood and the insanity begins.

Did I mention the town is corrupt because of a shunned Amish mob boss? As much as Antony Starr is perfect playing the ex-con pretending to be a sheriff, Ulrich Thomsen is perfect as Kai Proctor, the shunned Amish boss that runs the town of Banshee. Neither of these characters are traditional "good guys", but you find yourself rooting for Hood and wishing pain on Proctor. Thomsen has a way of maintaining a perfectly calm demeanor that makes you hate his character even more. It's beautiful. And Matthew Rauch, who plays his accountant-like body guard, is the perfect compliment.

I love the women on this show as well. We learn a lot about Carrie Hopewell. She is Lucas Hood's former girlfriend and partner. Played by Ivana Milicevic, Carrie is a well written and extremely well acted character. She has a criminal past that she has been hiding from her family that, by all appearances, she did flawlessly until Lucas found her. As he stirs up old feelings, he stirs up a past that she had hidden so well she had nearly forgotten about it herself. A character I want to learn more about is Deputy Siobhan Kelly. She seems like there is a lot more to her than just a stereotype of a woman that joined the police force. Trieste Kelly Dunn plays her with, what I think, is just the right amount of strength and vulnerability. There are moments when we see Siobhan want to say or do so much more than she does. I feel that there is hidden story about her we may see in future episodes. Now for who my husband thinks is the sexiest woman on the show, if not on television right now, Lili Simmons, who plays Rebecca. Poor Rebecca. She seems to be following in the same footsteps as her Uncle Kai. She has been shunned by the Amish for her wild ways and her generous Uncle Kai has now taken her under his wing. As long as she quits sleeping with the sheriff.

Banshee is one if those shows that has a little bit for everybody. It has mafia ties, motorcycle gangs, corruption, violence, sex, prejudice, mystery, kidnapping, family issues, adultery, murder, rednecks, justice, lies, and the best cross dressing Asian I have ever seen. Seriously. Hoon Lee's character, Job, is not to missed. Or messed with.

I cannot wait for season two to begin. There are so many unanswered questions. Where is Rabbit (Ben Cross)? Will Gordon forgive Carrie for all her lies? Why did Lucas steal that painting? What does Jason need with his dad? What does the combination in the opening credits open? Will Rebecca be able to return to the Amish? Who hasn't had sex with Lucas? How come no one ever gets pregnant? Will the Moody boys get their revenge? Will Deva find out who her dad is? What is wrong with Max's lung? What will the fall out be from the YouTube video? Can I be on the show?

Ugh! I can't wait! Film faster, cast of Banshee! Film faster!

The Verdict

I love this show and it is so versatile that I think that there is truly something for everyone. It is not for children, though, so beware! I give Banshee 5/5 Amish Bonnets. Keep it up!