Halloween (2018)

Horror fans. At heart, we're easily pleased, according to some anyway. And we're an optimistic lot, at least when it comes to films that aren't cynical remakes. Time and time again, we have been given assurances about remakes and reboots. This time they're going to get things right. It's going back to the spirit of the original. This will be a film for the fans. And that's what we were told with Halloween. Indeed, early word on the film was fantastic, and a lot of fans are very happy with it. I am just not too sure what they have seen in it that I have missed.

Here's the plot. When a couple of true-crime podcasters get to visit Michael Myers in the sanitarium that has been his home for forty years they do their best to get a reaction from him, seemingly to no avail. The podcasters then go to visit Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis returning to her iconic role), now living a sheltered existence, staying locked inside her own home, to the detriment of her relationship with her daughter (Karen, played by Judy Greer) and her granddaughter (Allyson, played by Andi Matichak). And it's only a short while from then until Michael *gasp* escapes and *shock* heads to find Laurie once again.

Okay, there's something off about Halloween that I can't put my finger on. Something to do with the way that those involved insisted it would work as a sequel to the original film, while ignoring all of the other movies that came along after it, yet not quite nailing a consistent tone throughout, not seeming to handle the manners of Michael correctly, and not managing to give fans a finale worthy of the wait. What should have been a potential last hurrah ends up instead being a bit of an eye-roll and a shrug.

Director David Gordon Green doesn't do a bad job when he allows himself time away from the main characters and plotting. That one tracking shot, shown in preview clips that were used to advertise the movie, is pretty great, allowing us to watch Michael mingle with unwitting trick or treaters as he wanders around and commits a couple of impressively short 'n' sharp kills. And there's a decent sequence that features a scared child and a babysitter who assumes that it's all down to imaginary terrors. Unfortunately, Green does worse with a number of scenes that seem to warp the characters for the sake of a fresh start in the series. The script, co-written by the director with Jeff Fradley and Danny McBride, has just as many silly moments as many of the other sequels it is so desperate to erase from the canon, and, worst of all, it doesn't do justice to the characters that deserve better treatment. Those characters would fare a lot worse if they weren't played by such good actors. And did I mention that everything is kicked off this time by true-crime podcasters? Yes, it may lack Busta Rhymes and webcams, but let's not pretend that this isn't as gimmicky and mistakingly attempting to be trendy in the same way as, oh, Halloween: Resurrection was. Things lift up when scenes don't feel like they're either reacting to trends or dishing up fan-service but, sadly, most of the film seems to be stuck in those two camps.

The cast help immensely, and it goes without saying that Curtis gives another great performance. Greer is good, although playing the overly-tense character that she's been stuck with many times before, and Matichak is a likeable younger potential final girl who could easily carry on the Strode legacy, as far as I'm concerned. The wonderful Will Patton is . . . wonderful, if sorely underused, in the role of Officer Hawkins, and Haluk Bilginer tries to fill a Loomis-shaped gap, but is let down by the writing in the second half. Virginia Gardner, Dylan Arnold, Miles Robbins, and Drew Scheid all do well as teens who may find themselves in peril, and Jefferson Hall and Rhian Rees are those pesky podcasters.

Is this a bad horror movie? No. There are some good kills, and an attempt to craft some iconic Myers moments. It just isn't a masterpiece, not in comparison to many other horror movies and not even in comparison to the preceding films that those involved view as lesser instalments in the series. A lot of the characters here do typically dumb stuff to get themselves in a position to be picked off, a number of moments feel like they bring the luggage of the other movies that have been ignored/discarded, and the ending doesn't feel true to the characters.

But that doesn't matter whenever Michael grasps hat knife handle and starts walking towards his next victim while that classic music plays. Because us horror fans, well, we're easily pleased sometimes. I know I am.

6/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can get it here.

The American Scream (2012)

Halloween has always been a much bigger holiday over in America than it has been here in the UK, which is something I have always found a great shame. Thankfully, I do my bit when I can. October is a month for me to watch as many horror movies as possible, I try to watch Trick 'r' Treat or Halloween or one of its many sequels on the big night itself and I've recently started another tradition (I hope) of making things a bit spooky for my daughter and me to eat sweets, tell stories and have some horror-themed fun. It's a time for flickering candles, scary stories, scary movies and sometimes even a bit of fancy dress. The American Scream is a documentary about people who put me to shame with their Halloween activities. These people plan ahead and put a hell of a lot of work in to turn their homes into a "Haunted Home" for the evening, a place where neighbours and friends and trick or treaters come to test their nerves.

Victor Bariteau is the man to beat when it comes to Halloween experiences. He's a perfectionist and a talented craftsman and technician. That quest for perfection, however, causes him a lot of extra stress as Halloween draws ever closer. It's hard work and he demands a lot of himself, and others, but anyone who has ever been through one of Victor's Haunted Homes will probably say that it's all worth it in the end. Once they've recovered. Manny Souza is a man who stays not too far along from Victor and became infected with the Halloween Haunted Home bug a little while ago. He's not a perfectionist, but he tries to put quantity over quantity in an attempt to make it a great experience. Then there is Matthew Brodeur and his father, Richard. They don't make things with quite the same level of professionalism, but they have their heart in the right place.

Director Michael Stephenson makes this all seem to come together effortlessly, mainly because he's gifted with such good participants. Whether they aim for perfection or just some ramshackle fun, the people in front of the camera have an affection for Halloween that's infectious. It's a testament to how everyone is presented that viewers will soon stop wondering just why they put so much time and energy (and, often, money) into something so temporary.

If you're like me, and I know many people who are (thankfully), then you will enjoy spending some time with other people who set out to entertain and scare others for very little reward, save the satisfaction that comes from being "the best Haunted Home on the block."

It's not a documentary up there with the very best, it's just a bit too insubstantial and also fails to hold interest during scenes that show Bariteau attending seminars and considering how to turn his passion into a living, but it's a lot of fun and, of course, full of the Halloween spirit.

Oh, and be sure to check out Ghoulie Manor, if you're in the area.

7/10

http://www.amazon.com/The-American-Scream/dp/B009Y1DHPQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365481762&sr=8-1&keywords=the+american+scream

Ghostwatch (1992)

Forget Cannibal Holocaust . . . . . . . . . THIS was the show that surely impressed the Blair Witch boys. Watching Ghostwatch now is a rich, rewarding experience. Quite an eye-opener considering what followed in the faux-reality horrors of the next ten years or so (and on, of course, but the 90s and turn of the 21^st century arguably saw the biggest impact made by this particular sub-genre). But to review Ghostwatch I really have to go back to it’s initial airing on the BBC on Halloween night, 1992.

I was 16 (turning 17 in a couple of months) so you’d think that I would be beyond being really scared by anything on TV at that point. But nothing had been on TV that had quite the impact of Ghostwatch. On that particular Halloween night I was babysitting. On my own. The child was asleep so that was that, it was just me and the TV in the corner. Ghostwatch was due to start and I was intrigued, not expecting too much. Michael Parkinson was hosting, a reliable and trusted face from British television and there were other familiar, comforting TV stalwarts – Craig Charles, Mike Smith and Sarah Greene. Apparently, many people in the UK had read in advance about Ghostwatch and knew that it wasn’t real. I hadn’t. Apparently, many people didn’t switch the thing off as soon as it appeared to end and so could read the end credits. I didn’t. This means that the 90 minutes I spent watching Ghostwatch, on my own at the age of 16, were the most terrifying 90 minutes I have ever experienced in the company of the British Broadcasting Corporation.

A recent viewing of Ghostwatch (almost 20 years after it’s original airing) actually left me feeling pleased that it stood up quite well and I felt I had every right to be terrified all those years ago.

The basic premise is a one-off “ghostwatch”, obviously enough, by the BBC. Michael Parkinson is sitting in a studio with a Dr. Lin Pascoe (Gillian Bevan), the phone lines are open and information is being passed along via Mike Smith while Craig Charles and Sarah Greene hope to capture the action on location. That location is a house in a standard English street that has been the scene of much paranormal activity, most of it centred around two young girls (Suzanne and Kim Early, played by Michelle Wesson and Cherise Wesson). The girls are pretty traumatised while the mother (Pamela Early, played by Brid Brennan) is worn out. Will the cameras actually catch anything on film while details are revealed about the history of the ghost, named “Pipes” by the mother who initially tried to appease her daughters by telling them that the strange noises they had been hearing were caused by the pipes.

What’s so effective about Ghostwatch is just how realistic and believable it is during the first hour. The stories being aired, the banter between presenters, the sleek BBC presentation of everything – it all feels just as a programme of this kind would/should feel.

Not all of the actors are up to the task of carrying the thing off (though I never noticed back when I thought it was all real anyway and was too busy trying not to soil my underwear) but most of them do a good enough job and a few do very well indeed. In fact, Sarah Greene deserves particular credit for portraying a version of herself that remains quite believable even as things get decidedly spooky.

The direction by Lesley Manning, and script by Stephen Volk, keeps everything finely balanced. The first hour is a slow burn in many ways but still has one or two big frights in there. What it does so expertly, however, is to throw in tiny details that mess with your perceived view of events and to foreshadow stuff that you forget has been foreshadowed even as it’s scaring the bejesus out of you, in a final 20-30 minutes that still raises goosebumps on my arms to this day.

Based largely on “The Enfield Poltergeist”, Ghostwatch retains an authenticity about it that fans of real-life paranormal studies should appreciate. It also remains an intelligent and thrilling experience and deserves to be seen by all horror fans, if only to see how the BBC aired such a curious Halloween treat that became Britain’s answer to that old Orson Welles “War Of The Worlds” interpretation.

9/10

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