Mastodawn

#slanderoidHalloween #Halloween #SpookySeason #horror #movies

2d ago

"Pet Sematary" (1989) (Movie)

- The cat and kid are fine but no mention of the wendigo 😐
- The story is still pretty strong after moving to film 👍

I'm not a fan of Stephen King's movies. They almost never survive the transition to the silver screen. (The recent "It" remakes are an exception to that rule.) So, I wasn't exactly dying to see this one. (Har har!) I didn't start to love the cast until the second half, even if Jud was great the whole time. And, why is the sun always in the wrong place? It's out at night, or disappears at odd times... But, I (and my wife) feel that the story is still impactful, even if it chops out all the wendigo stuff. It's not as good as the book - which was one of my favorites from last year - but, if you just want the jist of the story, it's passable

#slanderoidHalloween #Halloween #SpookySeason #horror #movies

4d ago

"The Grudge" (Movie)

- The monsters are better than I remember 👍👍
- Slow and uninteresting story 👎

I thought this movie was going to be kind of awful. The last time I saw it was twenty years ago and I didn't really remember anything about it... Thankfully, I was sort of wrong. The story is presented in a series of vignettes about the people who are getting killed by the ghost, which is a cool presentation. Unfortunately, most of them don't move the plot forward other than "another person died" until close to the end. But, the monsters were waaay less cringe than I thought they would be with some cool special effects and designs. The cast is pretty stacked and the sets and lighting were pretty good too. A solid C+

#slanderoidHalloween #Halloween #SpookySeason #horror #books

6d ago

"Loop" by Koji Suzuki (Book)

- Sadako doesn't even show up until the end 👎
- Interesting but poorly paced story 😐

Yikes. I thought I'd have better things to say about this book (the third book of the "Ring" series) when I went to write this but, now that I think back on it, I kind of wish it had been completely different. There is no "horror" in this book. It is almost purely a sci-fi story. That's okay! I think it's cool to switch genres mid-series. It's kind of interesting and recontextualizes the first two books in the series... but it does so with a plodding story that tends to meander. I really think it should have been whittled down to a novella or taken a different approach altogether. It won't stop me from reading the next books in the series but, after disliking the last one, I have started to wonder what I'm doing with my life.

#slanderoidHalloween #Halloween #SpookySeason #horror #movies

"Get Out" (Movie)

- There aren't really any monsters except body swapped people 😐
- The story is full of awesome characters and tense moments 👍👍

I tried watching this movie several years ago... But I fell asleep in the middle and never tried it again. That might be for the best - I don't know if I would have appreciated it as much then as I do now. (Between this and "Late Night with the Devil", I'm starting to think that horror movies with hypnosis really freak me out!) Jordan Peele pulls out all the stops for his directorial debut, putting together a bizarre story that is equally entertaining and truly disturbing. While it's light on action, it's constantly engaging. The cast does a phenomenal job bringing this story to life. It's a must watch if you haven't seen it!

#slanderoidHalloween #Halloween #SpookySeason #horror #movies

"Freaky" (Movie)

- The killer is a little lame... but gets better when he swaps bodies 👍
- The story is good but is held back a bit 👍

This one was a lot of fun! (My wife didn't like it as much as Bodies Bodies Bodies, though.) The kills were graphic and fun, the story wasn't half bad, and the cast does a great job. There were some nitpicky things I had about the direction/writing that affected the scares. And, as a guy, I'm not sure how well Vince Vaughn did playing a teenage girl... My wife said he was fine, though. Regardless, this one is entertaining and probably worth a watch!

#slanderoidHalloween #Halloween #SpookySeason #horror #movies

"Bodies Bodies Bodies" (Movie)

- The killer is hard to rate but I'll give them one point for the ending 👍
- The story is fine, I guess 😐

This is a pretty standard slasher movie. In fact, I didn't think any of the kills were that spectacular and I didn't find any of the characters to be likeable tonight enough to cheer them on. The best part is the last five minutes of the movie, which came as a huge surprise to me. I don't know if I'd recommend it unless you have nothing else to watch. However, my wife liked this one much more than I did, so your mileage may vary.

#slanderoidHalloween #Halloween #SpookySeason #horror #movies

"The Wolf House" (Movie)

- A couple of really strange creatures but I don't think they're monsters 👍👍
- A deep story hiding in a simple story 👍👍

I bought this Blu-ray because I couldn't find this movie on streaming platforms last year... I'm glad I did! The most amazing part of this movie isn't the horror (which is disturbing) or the story (which is a powerful account of an authoritarian cult thing in Chile) but the presentation itself. This is a stop motion movie that defies description and challenged what I thought stop motion was. This is a beautiful work of art and anyone who can find a way to watch it should do just that! 🎃

#slanderoidHalloween #Halloween #SpookySeason #horror #books #series

"Infidel" by Jose Villarrubia and Aaron Campbell (Comic)

- Freakish monsters that will stick with me 👍
- A strong story with a good message 👍

This comic series always comes up when I search for good horror comics. Luckily, I found it at the local library sale and got to read it this year! I thought the monster was really scary, with its hideous design and the way its actions are behind some of the misconceptions that lead some people to embrace xenophobic ideologies. This was an excellent read and I definitely recommend it!