My Top 20 Halloween Favorites: From The Depths

To be honest,
I haven't yet decided which version of Clash I like better:
the original 1981 version, which always held a sentimental spot in my movie-viewing heart,
or this new 2010 update, which adds a lot of the coolness factor into the creatures and effects that we wished for back when such technology wasn't so available, but also doesn't contain the heart or charm the the original did.
So for now, I'll lean more towards the remake basically for that one scene that every special effects fan has been looking forward to since this modern version was announced: "Release the kraken!"

Growing up with the first three Star Wars movies that made up the original Trilogy, I, of course, was not a big fan of the later films. But, I was still able to enjoy the visuals of these new millennium flix, particularly, the diversity of kick-ass looking aliens and otherworldy creatures (my favorite aspect of the franchise, actually). And in Phantom Menace we have a brief appearance by one such creature, the monstrous, sea-dwelling Opee. Which, for me, despite it's short screen time, looks ferocious enough to fulfill the requirements of this list.

Of all the from-the-depth horrors listed on this list, is there any that is as unfeeling, as unmoving, as cold as an iceberg?
Remember, the part of an iceberg that we see is just a small part of a massive structure that lies many depths beneath the water line. In other words, the part that's above water is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.
The dangerous part is the massive, jagged body that lies beneath. That's the part that can make even the most unsinkable oceanliner sinkable.
This movie, Titanic, is the movie that made me develope a lifelong hatred towards icebergs.
And just because the name ends with "berg", that does not make me, in any way, anti-Semetic.

When you look at all the destruction and chaos that Zeus & Co. release down on our humble planet just outta petty jealousy and pride, it really reveals the truth behind the old saying, "The gods must be crazy".
While I'm not usually a big fan of movie remakes,
for me, the original Clash, is an excellent example of a classic that would greatly benefit from today's special effects technology.
I'd really like to see a lot of these old stop-motion flicks of yesteryear get the updated treatment that many of us as children could only dream of back when these films were first released.
But even with that said,
it doesn't change the fact that, as cheeseball as they were,
most of these ultra-fantasy originals will always hold a special place in my heart, basically just b'cuz they were a part of my childhood.
:o)

TBH, I found the first chapter of the Narnia film series to be much more entertaining and engaging than I expected, especially for a nonfan such as myself. However, by the time of the sequels came out, I did find them to be a bit overbearing with their messages of Divine Superiority.
However, Dawn-Treader had some redeemable moments that allowed me to endure the bits that bothered me.
One of those moments was, of course the really cool giant Sea Serpent segment.
From what I understand, it was much more fearsome than the source material. I don't know how or if that may have translated to the sensibilities of the hardcore fans, but for me, I just thought it was pure kick-ass.

As a comicbook fan, I'm living on cloud 9 as I see just how much comicbook based movies have dominated the film industry. It excites even more now that we see the Hollywood is movie passed the standards like Superman, Spider-Man and Batman, and now aiming their sights at the not-so-higher tier characters for some entertainment and box office credibility. Like Aquaman. And while I like that the Aquaman movie can stand on it's own two, uh...fins...and a film franchise, what I'm looking forward to is for the super-powered King of The Seven Seas to go mano a mano (or, again, fin to fin), against a badass superpowered ocean-themed badguy.
And the fact that this little indie thriller features just the kind of fathom frenzied nemesis that I'm talkin' about shows that modern movie makers have the eye and the skill to make just said "wet" fantasies of a nerd come true.
I mean, can you picture it,
Aquaman 2: The Sea Faring Savagery of the Sweetheart.
That's box office gold, right there.

While it may seem that ever since Jaws splashed into the blockbusting record books back in the mid 70s, that the concept of nasty beasties coming outta the water is a brand we tend to see coming mostly outta the U.S., it becoming quite apparent that the international waters are now throwing their nets into the pool to see what they can haul up. So far, it looks like the Aussies are the ones who seem to have been able to fish up the most catch (Rogue, Black Water, etc), but there are other countries, like South Korea (The Host) who appear to be hookin' their lines with some successful bait. With this film, Ireland is showing that they too are now grabbing their fair share of underwater nasties who are surfacing with their own brand of ire towards those from the land.

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A crockydile has become large enough and clever enough that it has decided to go all rogue an' shit.
Soon, on the fresh waters of the Northern Territory, a small group of river riding tourists find themselves trapped on a island of mud, and then terrorized by this carnivorous, cravenous, clever killer croc.
Crikey.

There was once a time in Hollywood when B-movies was a way to describe cheaply made bad movies. One of the last ones was a sequel film called Piranha II:The Spawning from 1982 (which featured, at the time, an aspiring director who would eventually end up making films of titanic proportions).
Fast forward to 2010, and we have Piranha 3D, which is a modern day B-movie that struggles to remain at the level of a B-movie due to it's not so miniscule budget, more than reliable cast (Adam Scott, Ving Rhames, Jerry O'Connell, and 80's film icons, Elizabeth Shue and Christopher Lloyd) and overall high production value. But bad movie purists need not worry, despite all these hurdles of high quality that swarm all around it, in the end, Piranha 3D succeed in it's B-movie status with it's premise of prehistic pirahns coming to surface and it's high and silly death body count which includes not just the demise of various beautiful spring breaking teens, but also a few Final Destination style "off"-erings. Not to mention that's it's all topped with an Eli Roth cameo splattered into the miasma of blood red, swirling lake waters.
While making over the top, low budget animals attack style cinema isn't near as prevalent as it once was in previous decades, P3D is an an excellent example this particular basement brand of movie making isn't completely dead in the water.

In certain spanish countries, this movie was called "Tiburones Muerden Buzos".
Which, literally, in english language, translates into "Sharks Bite Divers".
Which in shark language probably translates simply into something like "Om Nom Nom".

I'm sure I don't have to explain who this creature is.
I mean, let's be honest here,
has there ever been a slimy public figure who was more of a bigger meme sensation on the world wide web than Cthulhu?
Oh,
okay,
maybe Chuck Norris.
But still,
no matter how much Mr. Norris likes to brag that he can kick anybody's ass, we all know that he wouldn't stand a chance against this guy.
Hell, even as an actor, Cthully can swim circles against the ol' Chuckster. And Cthulhu is just a stop-motion effect.
The truth is, no matter how much martial arts training Chuck-No has had, at the end of the day,
brass testicles just don't stand a chance against mass tentacles.

A movie with a story involving a sinking boat with Billy Zane as a villainous villain who terrorizes another man's woman.
And yeah, while that may sound like a familiar plotline for a disaster at sea flick, the fact that the boat in question is no bigger than a tool shed and with no iceberg in sight, it becomes quite obvious that this is a film that was not directed by James Cameron.



And yeah, while there are bigger sea creatures on the other entries on this list, still, can you think of anything more creepier than fishing Mr. Zane out of the water?

The film adaptation of Captain Nemo and his legendary underwater ship, the Nautilus, finally comes to shore in a very fitting manner, as the very first film ever to be shot in Cinescope.



For me, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a movie that if it were just any sci-fi movie, would still be one the best sci-fi movies of it's time. But the fact that it was made by Disney, and comprising some of the typical "Disney conventions" (which I have to admit, I'm not a big fan of), makes it an even remarkable achievement for a classical pre-steam punk thriller.

Getting trapped and trying to survive in the flooding confines of a basement during a raging hurricane can easily be the heart of any modern day diaster flick. But let's be honest here, we're heading into the second decade of the new millenium, and that means that, now, the stakes are higher, the bars are raised, and that the expectations of modern movie goers are at a category 5!
And therefore, if you were to ask any of these movie goers what would they like to see in a huuricane-based disater movie to make it better, they would probably respond with like "uh... more cowbell?" Then, after calling that first movie goer a smartass, you would move on to the next guyand ask him the same thing. To which they's might say "uh... more tits and ass?" At which point, you'd probably would just finally resign yourself and answer the question yourself and say "Crocidiles, you idiots! We need to throw in some crocidiles!"

Hey, check it out,
if you look at the Australians movies released in the year 2007,
you'll notice that there's wasn't just one Aussie movie about a boating vacationeers being terrorized by a big ol' crazed, man-eating killer croc,
but two in the same year.
Seriously, think about it.
What are the odds....?



Actually, I liked this croc flick better than Rogue. Although I figure that the production costs of Rogue probably didn't break the bank, it's formula did follow along the lines of those that we see in the more big-budgeted type of films (including the idea of going a bit over the top with the croc's behavior).
On the other side of the river, Black Water's plot went more towards the kind that we find in more smaller budgeted horror films. Y'know, where the premise relies more on instilling claustrophobic fears that result from entrapment (like the protagonists were here, in the low-hung tree branches over the water).
And those are the type of scares that I much tend to prefer.

 Fair warning, I'm gonna embark with the oceanic metaphors right off the start of this voyage by sayin that, when you look over the expansive sea of horror movies being fished outta Hollywood these days, it's a great feeling when you're able spot over the starboard bow a film that manages to hoist it's sails above that of all the others. One of the main reasons I like  Sea Fever is because, after watching this briny deep jaunt of jeopardy, it puts me in a certain perspective when it comes to our current cinema. It's makes me think about the special effects technology that the movie industry has available today, in which it's possible to make any horror creature look it look a viable lifeform on the modern theater screen. And yet, I am still often surprised how many times the fear industry can't seem to match the tech with the theme of a horror flick. Fever is one that takes its central concept out into the water, presents it with the deserted desperation that results from being stuck in the middle of the vast ocean, and then, it breaks the water's surface with a fluorescent fathomed sea-creature that works coincidentally well into the current anxiety that is our worldwide pandemic situation. Now, by sheer chance, at the time of this writing, I had recently watched two other sea-themed horror flix, one called Sweetheart and the other, The Beach House. And while those two aren't bad, of the three, Fever, IMO, floats with the best bouyancy.

Chemicals get dumped into the Han River,
and several years later,
the result of man's disregard for the aquatic ecological balance surfaces in the form of a....a...
well, in this film they call it a host.
I say, it's more of a giant walking catfish with Olympic level gymnastic skills.
Whatever you wanna call it,
it's payback time for all the centuries that humans have been hoisting waterbreathing critters outta the water since back when we first learned how to bait a hook.
And as far as the Host is concerned, this is a case in which the law of catch and release does not apply.

Okay, let's get the obvious part out of the way:
This sequel does not and never stood a chance of being comparable to the original.
However as far as sequels go (particularly at the time it was made, when most blockbuster follow-ups were rarely any good at all),
Jaws 2 didn't pretty well with what it had.
Suspenseful, thrilling, and a story that explained the coming of a second shark in manner that didn't insult the viewer's intelligence.
It may have not kept as many people out of the water as much as the first film, but with that lack of big backing from Spielberg that it had, it kept it's fair share of beach-goers dry.

A group of scientists go out on a South American expedition in search of a missing link to help them fill in the void of evolution.
However, once they find it,
the no longer missing link begins on his own quest, in search of a mate to help fill in the void within his heart.
Or maybe his dorsal-finned butt is just horny.
Either way,
the female crew member of this expedition ends up getting wet and screaming a lot.

Okay, let's be honest here....



at some point in life,
we're ALL gonna need a bigger boat.