Phillydude's 31 Days Of Halloween

3096   8.3   8.6 

Day 1 - Psycho

"A boy's best friend is his Mother" - Norman Bates

I thought I would start off with a classic
Psycho was the father of the modern horror movie and
Norman was the father of the modern horror movie villain - so it is appropriate that it leads off my list -
there isn't much more to say about Psycho that hasn't already been said, except that it gets better every time I see it and it is one movie I really would have liked to have seen in a theater - there was a rule that nobody could enter the theater after Psycho had stared, what a great idea -
I wish there was a rule like that in place for every movie.

portlander's rating:

164   6.4   6.2 

Day 2 - Psycho II

"I'm becoming confused again, aren't I?" - Norman Bates

Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the shower - Norman Bates is coming home. The odds were long against a sequel to Psycho working, but Psycho II succeeds mostly on the strength of the story, the haunting score and the performance of Anthony Perkins. Norman is more likable in this movie than he was in the original - he is quirky, funny and a little sad. Unlike Psycho, I did see Psycho II in the theater which added to the experience - I remember it as being one of the most fun movie going experiences that I have had - I liked the twist at the end, which made for a satisfying conclusion and that is where the story should have ended - but as usual Hollywood went a sequel to far and made Psycho III, which was just awful.

portlander's rating:

2420   7.3   7.7 

Day 3 - Zombieland

"I survive because I play it safe and follow the rules, my rules." - Columbus

I never would have thought about seeing this movie if I hadn't read such good reviews about it on Listal, but I am glad that I watched it - I enjoy horror movies that combine humor and horror and this movie has both, which is why Zombieland has instantly become one of my favorites.
I loved the Bill Murray scene - Lesson 1 of horror movies -
If the world has been taken over by Zombies -
don't sneak up on someone Pretending to be a Zombie -
it will end badly - even if you are Bill F***ing Murray.

portlander's rating:

2006   5.2   5.5 

Day 4 - I Know What You Did Last Summer

"We made a pact and we're keeping it." - Barry

If I ever make a list of best movie titles - this will be on it.
A good creepy story, I like that they base The Fisherman on the old campfire story about the man with the hook
and it was fun to see Sarah Michelle Gellar pre Buffy.
The down side to the movie - Buffy dies which sucks,
but more importantly, the dude who was actually driving the car that hit The Fisherman and caused all the trouble
gets away basically scot-free And gets the girl to boot -
I would have thought he'd be the first person the Fisherman would have wanted to hook.

portlander's rating:

402   5.8   5.9 

Day 5 - Cujo

" F*** you, dog." - Donna Trenton

Lesson 2 of horror movies -
if your dog begins to act a little unhinged after getting bitten by a bat - take him to the Vet for a rabies shot posthaste before he decides you look like a can of Alpo.
I don't think I have seen Cujo since I saw it in the theater, so I was wondering if it would still stand up - it does -
the first half is a little slow, but the 2nd half - Holy Crap - that is one seriously disturbed Pooch -
One of the most memorable Stephen King adaptions -
to this day the name Cujo has become part of the lexicon as way to describe an overly aggressive person or animal.

portlander's rating:

2049   7   7.4 

Day 6 - Carrie

"They're all gonna laugh at you." - Margaret White

Before now I had only seen the clip of the pigs blood scene, this is the fist time I saw Carrie in its entirety and it was well worth the wait. As with Cujo, the first half is a slow build which could have come out of any number of high school teen angst movies - but then the pigs blood hits the fan and what follows is off the hook - the last 30 minutes of Carrie ranks among the best endings to a horror movie I've ever seen. I knew all about the final scene, it has been copied and parodied many times (most notably in Addams Family Values) so it didn't scare me as much as it would have if I hadn't known - but it was great to see it for my self and I'm glad I finally got to see Carrie - the ultimate payback is a bitch movie.

portlander's rating:

2229   7.4   7.8 

Day 7 - The Birds

"Doesn't it seem odd that they'd wait all that time to start a war against humanity?" - Mrs. Bundy

The movie that did for birds what Cujo did for dogs, Jaws did for sharks and Psycho did for showers. The Birds is my favorite Hitchcock movie after Psycho - I like how there is almost no dialog in the last 20 minutes of the movie - just the sounds of the birds. Melanie gets the stupid horror movie character award for going up the stairs in the dark and opening the bedroom door when she heard flapping sounds - What exactly did she think she was going to find behind the door - A room full of puppies? - Idiot. The last shot of the car driving away with birds covering the ground as far as the eye could see is so haunting - and makes you wonder if humans might not be as dominate of a species on the planet as we like to think

portlander's rating:

442   6.9   7.2 

Day 8 - The Hitcher

"My mother told me to never do this." - Jim Halsey

Lesson 3 of Horror movies - Listen to your Mother -
If you want to teach your children about the dangers of picking up hitch hikers - you don't have to plead or lecture
- just show them this movie - they will never even Think about picking up a hitch hiker again.
Saw The Hitcher in the theater and avoided seeing it again until now - mostly because of the truck stop scene -
it made me cringe just as much this time around -
Rutger Hauer was great as the sadistic Hitcher John Ryder - The screen writer said he got the idea for the movie from The Doors song 'Riders On The Storm' - which is a great song, and it would have been fitting if they had used it for the opening or closing credits.

portlander's rating:

329   7.5   7.7 

Day 9 - Duel

"I'd like to report a truck driver who's been endangering my life." - David Mann

That is putting it mildly -
Duel has to be the first road rage movie and is also the first movie directed by my favorite director Steven Spielberg - and for some inexplicable reason I had not seen it up until now - amazing that it is a TV movie, it has the look and feel of a big screen movie -
Spielberg builds the tension masterfully - I was right there with Dennis Weaver the whole way yelling at my TV telling him what to do next (I love audience participation movies) - if it had been me, the first time the truck started to play games I would have done a 180 and hauled ass in the opposite direction - I've always been afraid of trucks on the road and of some maniac driver targeting me, so this movie is my worst nightmare - Spielberg knows what scares us, as he proved again with Jaws - I'm glad that I finally got to see his first effort at directing - It was terrific -
Thanks to The Giraffe for the recommendation

portlander's rating:

1282   6.9   7.3 

Day 10 - Cape Fear

"You're gonna learn about loss." - Max Cady

Cape Fear is one of those remakes that I think was actually better than the original - Robert DeNiro is brilliant as Max Cady - Cady doesn't have the charm of a Hannibal Lecter or the vulnerability of a Norman Bates - he is just a demented, ruthless Psychopath - but DeNiro is so good that he pulled me in as much as I wanted to look away.
Cady did have a point about Bowden being a rotten lawyer - but geez, chill out and sue the guy like a normal person.
Great movie with a terrific cast -
I thought it was a nice touch to have Robert Mitchum and Gregory Peck from the original Cape Fear in the remake.

portlander's rating:

3497   8   8.5 

Day 11 - Alien

"Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility." - Ash

Another horror classic of the 70's movie that I waited way to long to see - I thought I had watched parts of it, but
I was thinking of Aliens, this was my first viewing of Alien.
It did not disappoint - the alien 'birth' scene was as creepy as I expected it to be, although I couldn't help but think of the funny Spaceballs parody of it.
My only quibble with the movie was that the final battle between Ripley and the Alien was over a little to quickly
but on the whole Alien is a terrific blend of Sci-fi and horror.

portlander's rating:

2580   7.8   8.5 

Day 12 - Aliens

"You're going out there to destroy them, right? Not to study, not to bring back - But to wipe them out." - Ripley

Proof that sometimes bigger is indeed better -
More Aliens, lots of soldiers fighting them, more guns and more action made this an even better movie than the first one. I also liked the final battle between Ripley and the alien more than in the first movie
(you'd really think Ripley would have remembered to check for stowaways after what happened the first time)
I liked Alien a lot - I liked Aliens even more -
it is the rare sequel that improves on the original.

portlander's rating:

1041   5.3   5.7 

Day 13 - Freddy vs. Jason

"Being dead wasn't a problem, but being forgotten, now that's a Bitch" - Freddy Krueger

I wasn't a fan of either the Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday The 13th movies - but I have to say that Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees teaming up together in the same movie and then, after inevitably getting on each others nerves, engaging in a steel cage death match- was pure off the chart horror movie awesomeness -
the only thing better would have been if Michael Myers had joined in to make it triple threat match. Freddy vs. Jason seemed a natural pick for my Day 13 selection.

portlander's rating:

3655   7.2   8.2 

Day 14 - Jaws

"You're gonna need a bigger boat." - Martin Brody

As I said in my 30 days of movies list,
I chickened out during the summer of 1975 when everyone was going to see Jaws, and always regretted not seeing it in a theater - but once I did see Jaws it instantly became one of my favorites - I've made a tradition of watching it every Memorial Day weekend to open up the summer movie season - fitting since it was the first summer blockbuster. As many times as I have seen Jaws, I still notice little things that I didn't notice before - this time it was when the towns people caught the tiger shark, somebody had shot it with a bow and arrow - that cracked me up - also during the scene when the shark attacked at night, a shooting star went over the boat as Brody was loading his revolver - a nice Spielbergian touch - Jaws is Steven Spielberg at his best.

portlander's rating:

3628   6.4   7.1 

Day 15 - The Ring

"What about the person we show it to? What happens to them?" - Aidan Keller

Death by Television - something very 21st century about that - I saw this movie in the theater and it really creeped me out - it didn't scare me as much seeing it again,
but the idea of someone crawling out of the TV
and trying to kill you is inherently unsettling - the girl coming out of the well and then crawling out of the TV remains one of my all time creepiest horror movie moments.
Lesson 4 of Horror movies -
If you hear that there is a tape that causes you to be killed 7 days after you watch it - Don't Watch It -
and if you do watch it - don't show it to anybody else unless you really, really don't like the person.

portlander's rating:

1299   7.9   8 

Day 16 - Night Of The Living Dead

"They're coming to get you, Barbara, there's one of them now." - Johnny

It is the first time I've seen Night Of The Living Dead - and even though it was obviously shot on a shoestring budget - it is very well done. As with other movies I've watched this month, it starts off slowly - I liked the beginning in the cemetery, but once they get to the house, there was to much time arguing about whether going upstairs or downstairs was the best thing to do and to much time watching the TV and listening to the radio - (I know it was to explain what was going on but it slowed the movie down - it would have been better if the newsroom had been attacked by the zombies)- The action really picked up in the last 30 minutes though as the zombies attack the house -
I thought all the characters were varying degrees of annoying - so I was kind of rooting for the Zombies -
I started off thinking Harry was the biggest douchebag - and he was a cowardly little weasel - however in the end he was the one who was right - the basement Was the best place to hide after all - and while Ben initially looked like the hero - he ended up getting everyone else in the house killed with his ideas - and then after Ben shoots Harry for trying to force everyone to go down into the basement - he ends up taking refuge in the basement himself - which is what Harry wanted to do all along - so it's an open question to me which character was actually the biggest douchebag.
It is always a fun time when a movie gets me yelling at the screen as much as this one did, it usually takes me a couple viewings to fully appreciate a black & white movie - but I liked this one right away (in fact I've already watched it twice) - and I've added Night Of The Living Dead to my favorite movies of the 60's list - It's the quintessential zombie movie.

portlander's rating:

500   7.5   7.9 

Day 17 - Invasion Of The Body Snatchers

1956 version

"I'd hate to wake up some morning and find out that you weren't you" - Miles Bennell

1978 version

"People are being duplicated. And once it happens to you, you're part of this thing" - Elizabeth Driscoll

I watched both the 1956 and 1978 versions of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers for the first time and they both had their strengths an weaknesses - The 1978 version had a great cast - I love Jeff Goldblum and Donald Sutherland in about everything they do and it was a treat to see Leonard Nimoy outside of Star Trek - The production values and special effects were naturally better in the the newer movie however the story was more complicated and harder to follow - I didn't understand everything until I watched the 1956 version which told the story in a more straight forward and easier to follow way. The ending to the '56 version was good but the ending to the '78 version was better - and while I found both versions entertaining - I sensed an undercurrent of cold war politics in the '56 version which wasn't in the newer version. I didn't find either version particularly scary, maybe because the idea of the world being replaced by pod people is to far fetched to be believed - on the other hand - it sure would explain a lot.

portlander's rating:

2773   6.5   7.2 

Day 18 - Scream

"Now Sid, don't you blame the movies - movies don't create psychos, movies make psychos more creative" - Billy

Do you like scary movies?
I had forgotten how great a movie Scream is -
it works both as a scary horror movie and a funny satire of the horror genre - the opening with Drew Barrymore might just be the best horror movie opening ever - the best part was the killer playing horror movie trivia with Casey -
it is a good thing I have been catching up on my horror movies this month in case that should ever happen to me.
I liked the discussion of the rules of horror movies, -
the chief ones being don't have sex, don't drink or do drugs and never say 'I'll be right back' - all so true -
and I loved all the nods and references to every horror movie from Nightmare on Elm Street to Psycho to Carrie and especially to Halloween, which played in the background for the whole last segment of the movie and even played a role in the ending - an ending which was just as epic as the beginning - Scream is everything a great horror movie should be - scary, funny and immensely entertaining.

portlander's rating:

524   6.7   6.8 

Day 19 - The Fog

"Things seem to happen to me - I'm bad luck"
- Elizabeth Solley

Yeah, when Jamie Lee Curtis and Janet Leigh are together in a movie - it pretty much guarantees something bad is going to happen - and sure enough something does.
First time I have seen The Fog and thought it was a really spooky movie - the scariest part might have been John Houseman telling a story in the beginning which set up what was to follow - I thought the ghost zombies could have caused more damage and chaos than they did, but on the whole I think The Fog was a good ghost story with lots of bumps in the night - literally - Lesson 5 of horror movies
if the fog roles in and you hear a knock on the door -
Don't answer it.

portlander's rating:

665   5.1   5.4 

Day 20 - Halloween H2O

"It's Halloween - I guess everyone's entitled to one good scare." - Norma Watson

Again Jamie Lee Curtis and Janet Leigh are together in a movie and again bad things happen as Michael Myers returns. Halloween H2O is my favorite Halloween sequel -
and upon seeing it again - I liked it even more than I did before. Michael Myers is as scary as ever - no screen villain can make me jump like he can - and the story of his continued murderous vendetta against his sister Laurie, while Laurie is in hiding trying to live a normal life, is a good one - the smack down between them is really well done and the ending is almost... touching - well as touching as a horror movie involving Michael Myers can be anyway -
I really wish they had ended the series with this movie,
but I knew they weren't going to.

portlander's rating:

308   7   6.8 

Day 21 - House On Haunted Hill

"It's almost time to lock up the house and then your party will really begin" - Frederick Loren

I will be focusing on haunted house movies for the next three days - the first is House on Haunted Hill
which I saw for the first time - the movie starred the great Vincent Price - I have seen him do The narration of Thriller, and in various TV guest spots - most notably as Egghead in the Batman series "eggsactly" - but this is the first time I saw him in a movie and he did not disappoint - that is one creepy dude, and inside a spooky old house he is even creepier - loved that he gave each of the guests a gun inside of a coffin and the byplay between him and his wife was priceless - pun intended :) - House On Haunted Hill was an entertaining story that kept me guessing on what was happening until the very end - I thoroughly enjoyed it.

portlander's rating:

423   6   6 

Day 22 - The Amityville Horror

"GET OUT!" - The House

Lesson number 6 of horror movies and this really can't be stressed enough - If you move into a creepy old house where the last occupants were murdered and a disembodied voice tells you to Get Out - Get the heck out before the walls start to bleed - Why that family wanted to move into a house where a murder occurred is beyond me -
and even more unexplainable is why they continued to to stay in the house after learning it was on a Hell mouth -
I would have been out of there like a rocket after that.
The House is the star of the movie - it is one of the creepiest looking homes in all of moviedom -
you couldn't have payed me enough to live in that place.
Although I think the religious subplot slowed the movie down and there were some questions that were left unanswered - I think The Amityville Horror really works well as a good old fashioned haunted house story.

portlander's rating:

5055   8.2   8.5 

Day 23 - The Shining

"Heeere's Johnny!" - Jack Torrance

Movie number three in my haunted house trilogy is The Shining and it might be the best haunted house movie ever - The Overlook hotel is gargantuan in size but claustrophobic at the same time - which was a neat trick by the film makers - Jack Nicholson is brilliant in what I think was his best role - Jack Torrance's dissent into madness is truly frightening - "Give me the bat Wendy", "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" and "Here's Johnny" are three of my most memorable horror movie moments ever
I still don't fully understand what exactly 'The Shining' was, after all Hallorann could 'shine' but it didn't keep him from getting an axe in the chest but no matter, what ever it's flaws The Shining is a tremendous movie that works on so many levels - the ending chase through the maze still gives me chills - It is one of my favorite Stephen King adaptions.

portlander's rating:

647   6.4   6.8 

Day 24 - Fatal Attraction

"You're afraid aren't you? - you gutless, heartless, spineless, F***ing son of a bitch - I hate you, you deserve everything you get." - Alex Forrest

I have some of my all time favorite male horror movie villains on the list, so I think it only fair to add a couple of my favorite female villains - the first is Alex Forrest,
who introduced the term bunny boiler to the lexicon.
The way Alex's insanity and obsession builds from minor harassment, to one of the all time epic rants on the tape she sent to Dan, to boiling bunny rabbits, to kidnapping and finally to full out Jason Vorhees territory was well done.
I think the movie is so frightening because it is something that really could happen to anybody. Of course Dan wasn't completely blameless - he was a cheating louse who contributed to pushing Alex over the edge. Fatal Attraction started the psycho stalker genre in the 80's - it was also a cautionary tale to men who were thinking about cheating on their wives and it probably did more to prevent adultery in America than a thousand church sermons could have.

portlander's rating:

1529   7.5   7.8 

Day 25 - Misery

"I thought you were good Paul, but you're not good -
You're just another lying ol' dirty birdy." - Annie Wilkes

The movie that brought a whole new meaning to the phrase 'I'm your number one fan'. It is amazing that while Misery only a has few characters and is shot mainly in one room - it is completely spellbinding . Annie Wilkes is up there with Norman Bates and Hannibal Lecter on my top 3 favorite movie villains of all time list - Annie is scary, funny and completely insane, the sledgehammer scene is another of my most memorable horror movies moments and the topper was the 'God I love you' line when she was finished -
There are so many memorable moments and lines in the movie - Misery is the fourth Stephen King adaption on my Halloween list and my personal favorite.

portlander's rating:

1582   7.1   7.5 

Day 26 - The Fly

"The computer got confused - there weren't supposed to be two separate genetic patterns - and it decided to splice us together. It mated us, me and the fly." - Seth Brundle

These teleporter accidents never happened on Star Trek,
oh wait, yes they did - those things Never worked right.
First time I have seen The Fly in a while and my opinion of it has gone up - I really liked it - some nasty scenes as Brundle transformers into the fly that still make me cringe -
but the story is so good that I overlooked that this time -
one thing I didn't like the obnoxious ex-boyfriend not only lives but he saves the day - characters like him Always get killed off in horror movies - at least he got maimed a bit. -
Jeff Goldblum was the perfect choice to play the lead -
great actor and he actually does resemble a fly.
Lesson 7 of Horror moves -
If you are going to try to teleport yourself -
be sure to spray the trasmitter pod with Raid first.

portlander's rating:

768   7.6   8 

Day 27 - Frankenstein

"You have created a monster, and it will destroy you."
- Dr. Waldman

It was nice to finally see the full context of where the phrase 'you've created a monster' comes from.
First time I have watched Frankenstein - Amazing that a movie made in 1931 could hold up so well today, but it really does - the quintessential monster movie complete with torch bearing villagers - the scene with the girl and the monster was interesting I had heard various variations on how he kills her over the years - each story more gruesome than the one before - which is one of the reasons it took me so long to watch the movie - in actuality her death looked to be accidental - how was the monster to know she couldn't swim? Now what the monster did to the girl's parents in The Bride Of Frankenstein - that wasn't so accidental I couldn't help but think of Young Frankenstein as I was watching and will now have to give that movie another look - some of the jokes make a lot more sense to me now.

portlander's rating:

637   7.3   7.6 

Day 28 - Dracula

"I am Dracula" - Count Dracula

Yes he most certainly is - Nobody has done Dracula better than Bela Lugosi. This was my first viewing of the original Dracula and it was not exactly what I was expecting -
first, I was surprised how short the movie was, most horror movies are short, but this is barely an hour long. I loved all the scenes is Transylvania - Dracula in his creepy castle saying 'good evening' is the Dracula I know and love, but when he moved to England I thought the movie got weaker - it was odd seeing Count Dracula walking around the streets of London - you would think he would always want home field advantage. Also, the other characters were not all that interesting, and given how short the movie was, to much time was wasted on them, I wanted more of The Count. I did like seeing all the rules of Vampires coming into play - only coming out at night, turning into bats, no reflection in the mirror, killed with a stake through the heart - this movie originated those rules - Dracula set the standard for by which all other Vampire movies are judged.

portlander's rating:

234   6.5   6.3 

Day 29 - The Blob

"I wouldn't give much for our chances, us running around in the middle of the night, looking for something that if we found it, it might kill us." - Steve Andrews

The Blob is the first horror movie that I remember watching and liking as a kid, so I have always had a soft spot for it even though I haven't seen the movie in years -
I am glad this horror fest gave me the opportunity to watch it again. It looks a bit dated now - I was amused at how a big slow blob of goo kept cornering people, the people in that town were not very nimble, and Steve McQueen is clearly the only good actor in the cast - but I still enjoyed watching it just as much as I did when I was young -
I mean seriously, what other horror movie comes complete with its own theme song?

The Blob is is good cheesy, campy 50's horror movie fun.

portlander's rating:

4425   7.1   7.8 

Day 30 - Mischief Night

Since tonight is mischief night I selected five of my favorite Halloween season comedies.

The Addams Family

"Don't torture yourself, Gomez - That's my job." - Morticia

What's Halloween without The Addams family?
I liked the TV show, but the movies are even better - Christina Ricci steals the show as the morbid and wonderfully macabre Wednesday Addams.

Young Frankenstein

"Stand back for the love of God - He has a rotten brain!" - Fredric Frankenstein

It's always helpful when watching a parody to have watched the movie or movies that are being parodied -
now than I have seen two of the Frankenstein movies -
my opinion of Young Frankestein has gone up - I still don't think it is Mel Brook's best, but it's a very funny movie.

Little Shop Of Horrors (1986 version)

"I'm just a mean green mother from outer space and I'm bad!" - Audrey II

A musical comedy Horror movie - you don't see those every day - but this movie works on all three levels. -
it is funny ,the songs are great and there are two great villains - Steve Martin as the sadistic dentist and the Audrye II gets the prize as the best plant villain ever.

Gremlins

"I warned you, with mogwai comes much responsibility -
but you didn't listen." - The Grandfather

Keep them out away from bright light, don't get them wet and never feed them after midnight - sound like simple rules to follow - but Nooooo - Gremlins works both as a funny Halloween movie and a warped Christmas movie.

Ghostbusters

"Ray, If someone asks if you are a God - you say Yes!" - Winston

One of the funniest comedies of all time on top of being a great ghost story - I liked Slimer and Gozer, but the highlight was the Stay Puft Marshmallowman.
Bill Murray is at his sardonic, bemused, cynical best in this movie and the rest of the cast is great as well - Ghostbusters is one of the best movies of the 80's and one of my all time favorites - I have made a tradition of watching it every Halloween.

portlander's rating:

3157   7.4   8 

Day 31 - Halloween - Part 1

5 Horror movies I have watched once - and only once.

The Exorcist

I actually liked this movie when I saw it,
however, I am afraid if I ever rented it my DVD player would burst into flames - and as for adding it to my DVD collection - forget about it.

The Omen

See The Exorcist

A Nightmare On Elm Street

Movies about dreams tend to unnerve me no matter
what they are about - but a movie where
your dreams can actually Kill you? - I don't think so.

Halloween III: Season Of The Witch

The only scene I remember from this movie is the one where the kid collapsed with the mask on and Snakes and Cockroaches came out of his head - if I live the rest of my life and never see that scene again, it is OK by me
Besides, What's a Halloween movie without Michael Myers?

Final Destination

This movie freaked me out so much that I slept with the light on for a month after seeing it - and honestly now for the life of me I can't even remember what freaked me out so much - but I am not going to watch it again to find out.

portlander's rating:

1778   7.4   7.9 

Day 31 - Halloween - Part 2

My 5 All Time Favorite Horror Movies

Poltergeist

"They're here." - Carol Anne

Steven Spielberg's counterpoint to E.T. in 1982 -
instead of a benevolent alien invading suburbia,
it is a bunch of really ticked off Poltergeists -
a brilliant idea, and very well executed -
I love Poltergeist and have seen it countless times -
but will never understand why the Freelings stayed in that house another night after it was 'cleaned' - they were smart however to toss the TV out of the hotel room at the end - the characters in The Ring should have thought of that.

An American Werewolf In London

"Stay on the road - Keep clear of the moors." - Dart Player

Seen American Werewolf many times and it never gets old - love the combination of humor and horror -
along with fantastic special effects - especially for a movie made 30 years ago - and one of my favorite soundtracks - Great movie.

The Lost Boys

"One thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach - all the damn vampires." - Grandpa

As with American Werewolf, I love the combination of humor and horror in this movie - and Kiefer Sutherland makes a kick ass Vampire - The Lost Boys is my favorite Vampire movie and one of my favorite movies of the 80's

The Silence Of The Lambs

"A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti." - Hannibal Lecter

Hannibal Lecter is one of my all time favorite screen villains - for a psychopathic serial killing Cannibal, he is surprisingly charming and likeable - I hated the sequels and prequels - but Silence Of The Lambs is a masterpiece.

Halloween

"I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply - evil." - Sam Loomis

My all time favorite Halloween movie and still the scariest movie I ever saw - I remember watching it at a friends house one Halloween night and sprinting to my car afterward - and I made sure to check the back seat for the boogeyman before I drove home - this movie will have me looking over my shoulder, even if I am alone in a locked room in the middle of the day - I watch it every Halloween and this year finally felt secure enough to add it to my DVD collection without getting the willies.

portlander's rating: