October 16th

Once mine and Chef Gregory's kids were finally asleep for the night, it was time for some Halloween fun for the parents.  For this second night of Chef's visit, I put together my traditional weekend trailer disc full of stuff I thought he'd get a kick out of.  Particular hits were the Tucker & Dale vs Evil and Troll Hunter trailers, both of which look like great fun.



Tucker & Dale vs Evil (2010) trailer
Thanksgiving (2007) fake trailer
The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Horror III: Clown Without Pity" (1992)


Zombieland (2009) directed by Ruben Fleischer
Well, I broke one of my Six Weeks of Halloween rules: no repeats.  There are so many horror movies I need to watch, re-watching the same movie a second time during my short 42-day fest doesn't make any sense.  I'd just watched Zombieland with a separate group of friends a few weeks ago.  But, eh, what the hey?  I couldn't deny that it makes for a perfect follow-up to yesterday's Ghostbusters and that it's a zombie movie even our wives would enjoy watching with us.  I knew it was a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, so who am I to stand in the way of pleasing crowds?

I'm pretty sure, in the zombie apocalypse, I'd also be smashing the hell out of minivans and tourist traps.  And looking for the last remaining sugary snacks that will ever be made.  And shooting guns and driving big cars and living in Bill Murray's mansion.  Damn, Tallahassee was right about everything. I sense a post-apocalyptic religion brewing. (8/10)




The Troll Hunter (2010) trailer
Slumber Party Massacre II (1987) trailer
Mime Massacre (2006)


Jacob's Ladder (1990) directed by Adrian Lyne
Somehow, this ended up being a hugely influential movie, even though I rarely hear people talk about it these days.  Konami should be sending Adrian Lyne a royalty check for Silent Hill, for one.  I'd told this to Chef before we started the film and maybe it skewed his expectations.  He was thinking there would be a lot more weirdness in the film.  There's really not a lot; the demons are few and far between (except for mostly normal-looking Jezzie).  This is an excellent decision on the part of the filmmakers.  Wall-to-wall weird stuff in this film would've muted its impact and made it much less memorable.  As it is, the demons are more like the strange things you see out of the corner of your eye in real life.  I've always liked the strange face staring out of the car that almost runs Jacob over in the alley.  He and we only see it for a second, but, man... creepy.  I feel like I've seen similar things myself when walking down the road.

Jacob's Ladder made me forever a Tim Robbins fan.  Lyne gives us plenty of close-ups of Robbins' face because, I think, he knew Robbins could handle displaying just the right level of emotion for them without going overboard.  We can see on Robbins' face the pain of loss or his determination not to die or terror in perfectly believable detail.  Jacob's Ladder made me forever afraid of Elizabeth Peña.  I saw her in Kathryn Bigelow's Blue Steel recently and, even though she was a good person and friend to the main character in that one, I couldn't see her as anything other than a demon.  I know, I know, she's really an angel to Jacob, but she's so seemingly bad for him (inpatient and quick to anger) and cruel (referring to Gabe as "the dead one", burning his photos) that it's hard to view her as helping Jacob let go of his life.

Best re-imagining of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge ever. (9/10)




The Walking Dead (2010) trailer
Werewolves on Wheels (1971) trailer
How To Destroy Angels: "The Space in Between" (2010)


And, at the end of the night, I broke another Six Weeks rule when Chef Gregory and I popped in Black Dynamite.  It's a movie that has nothing to do with horror or Halloween, but the Chef only visits once or twice a year and BD is too damned funny not to share.

Almost makes winter worthwhile.