Rating the Halloween Franchise (2018 Edition)

This post is an updated and reworded version my original Rating the Halloween Franchise post from October 2008.

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Rating the Halloween Franchise

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Halloween
1978, Compass International Pictures

What can be said about this movie that hasn’t been said already? Though not the first slasher movie, Halloween is the movie that spawned the entire horror sub-genre that blew up during the 1980s. The film’s score is amazing. Right up there with Star Wars, and the atmosphere throughout the film is tense, as are the film’s closing moments. It’s my favorite horror move and one of the my favorite movies period. You can’t call yourself a fan of horror movies if you’ve never seen this one.

out of 5

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Halloween II
1981, Universal Pictures

The sequel is a classic in its own right, but a lot of horror fans and film critics don’t agree with me. The movie takes place immediately after the events of Halloween, and director Rick Rosenthal (John Carpenter passed on directing but did co-write & co-produce) hoped to create a similar atmosphere for this movie. The final product of Halloween II ended up being far more violent and gory than its predecessor. This is thanks to the fact that Universal and/or John Carpenter felt the movie needed to be able to compete with other slasher movies of the day and new kill scenes were filmed (supposedly with Carpenter as director).

Yes, the movie is harsher and features a slightly different tone than the original movie because of that, but both movies are a fantastic 1-2 punch. Just as Halloween III: Season of the Witch has grown in stature over the years, it’s high time Halloween II starts getting the credit it deserves. It’s one of the best slasher movies of all time, but it has the misfortune of being the follow up to THE best slasher movie of all time.

 out of 5

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Blood Rage [Movie Review]

Blood Rage (1987)
Film Concept Group/Film Limited Partnership
Buy the movie

Until about two months ago, I’m not sure if I had ever heard of the late ’80s slasher horror movie Blood Rage. I know for a fact that I had never seen it. I thought I knew of pretty much every ’80s slasher movie by this point even if I hadn’t seen them all. If I came across it on my own while browsing Amazon Video (where it is free to stream for Amazon Prime members as of this writing) I am not sure if I would have pressed ‘play’. However, I did watch a video review of it from Eric over at his MountainTop9 YouTube channel and thought it sounded interesting.

Here’s the synopsis that I totally stole from Amazon’s description:

During their childhoods, Todd is institutionalized for a murder whilst his twin goes free. 10 years later, on Thanksgiving, Todd escapes and a killing spree begins in his neighborhood.

1987 Prism Entertainment VHS Cover Art

Filmed in 1983 but not released until 1987, Blood Rage was given a limited theatrical release under the title of Nightmare at Shadow Woods. Later in 1987, the movie was re-titled Blood Rage for its VHS release. The movie apparently aired on cable television too in an edited form, again titled Nightmare at Shadow Woods,

There’s good reasons why this film went under my radar and is a fairly obscure slasher movie– it’s quirky and weird. Some of the scenes and actors are just odd. Whether intentional or because of a mish-mash of poor dialogue, editing, and acting, some scenes come across as fairly awkward. But, given the low budget nature of this trashy slasher, all of that kind of comes with the territory.

This movie does have three things going for it: a fantastic little synth score, lead actor Mark Soper, and some wonderful special effects when it comes to the gore.

Firstly, the synth score by Richard Einhorn is a true standout from ’80s horror. Einhorn is still active to this day (mostly composing for documentaries) but worked in the ’80s on more horror movies such as The Prowler, Don’t Go in the House, Eyes of a Stranger, and two episode of the Tales from the Darkside television series. It’s amazing this didn’t lead to higher profile work for Richard Einhorn but now it makes me want to check out his other works to hear what else he has done.

Mark Soper is easily the best actor in the entire movie. He pulls double duty here as twins Todd and Terry Simmons. Todd and Teddy are two totally different characters and Soper seems to have no problem portraying the swaggering, cunning & psychotic Todd and just as effortlessly assumes the role of the naive, simple & shell-shocked Terry.

Thirdly, while I’m certainly not a gore-hound, I have to give this movie kudos for the special effects in this movie. Special effects artist Ed French did a really good job here. He worked on tons of horror movies in the ’80s. For a movie that probably didn’t have much in the way of budget beyond a bag of Doritos Cool Ranch, the work put in here is most impressive.

Blood Rage was remastered and released on Blu-ray awhile back by the UK-based Arrow Video and I’m sure that’s the print being using by Amazon Video because it looks very nice and clean. If you haven’t seen this movie, and you’re a fan of cheesy and trashy ’80s horror movies, this is one you should definitely check out. It isn’t amazing, but it’s an interesting and decent use of 87 minutes for people who are into this genre of horror.

Movie of the Day: The Prowler

The Prowler is a decent slasher movie that was released in1981. I had been wanting to see this one for years but at the time I first heard of it, I think it was already out of print from its initial DVD pressing from 2002. It has since been re-released on DVD, so if you wanna see this one, don’t worry. Funny enough, it is that 2002 release that Netflix sent to me.

From the very first kill scene, I knew the awesome effects were Savini-esque… And I was right! I had totally forgotten Tom Savini had done the effects for this movie. The movie was directed by Joseph Zito, who would later go on to direct Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (again, Savini doing make-up effects) and two Chuck Norris films– Missing In Action and Invasion USA.

As I was watching this movie, I was instantly reminded of the original My Bloody Valentine (also released in 1981): small town, unsolved murders from decades ago during a special event, town relents and lets special event take place again and the murders start up again.

If I’m remembering what I’ve read about this movie, some of the kill scenes and gore were pretty controversial for the time and the theatrical cut took most of that out (same thing happened to My Blood Valentine), but luckily, the DVD edition is the unrated cut.

The acting is decent for the genre but the story is so-so with not a lot of explanation as to why some characters are doing certain things and there’s plenty of jump cuts and poor editing. So it wasn’t what I was expecting it to be, but I’m still glad I watched it. If nothing else, I can now say “yes, I have seen The Prowler“. If you’re a die hard slasher fan, this is a recommend but anyone else may be a bit bored with it.

Horror Movie of the Day: He Knows You’re Alone

I didn’t know much about this movie before watching it other than it is one of the earlier slasher films that tried to cash in on the success of Halloween and Friday the 13th. Really, that was all I needed to know because I enjoy early ’80s low budget slashers. Just like any good slasher movie, this one focuses on a special occasion/holiday — weddings. Makes me think of the Alice Cooper song “Roses on White Lace” (knowing Alice, that song very well may have been based on this movie!).

As far as most slashers go, this one was actually pretty mild on the violence and gore. Sure, you may see a knife going into a person or about to cut someone, but there was no follow through with a blood & guts visual. Usually screams replaced the actual violence and I think the only blood you actually see is one someone’s hands when they’ve checked the body. Suspense & dread was more what this movie was about as the lead character is stalked seemingly forever and you’re left wondering when the killer is FINALLY going to strike. Just stab her already !!! ;-)

Still, I wasn’t bored with this one at all. The characters were likeable and there weren’t any cringe-worthy actors here either (Don Scardin and Caitlin O’Meady carried the film well). Speaking of actors, this film had quite a cast of supporting characters: Tom Hanks (in his film debut), James Rebhorn and Paul Gleason. Even Steve James (American Ninja) has a brief role. Rumor has it Tom Hanks’ character was initially scripted to be killed off, but the producers like Tom so much, they allowed him to live. Awwwww…

This is by no means an under appreciated classics, but it’s surprisingly good and I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before we get a remake of this one (hey, if someone is willing to make freakin’ Prom Night and My Bloody Valentine…).

Two severed thumbs up from me and it was the perfect movie for me to watch on this cold, wet dreary Fall evening!

Horror movies I need to watch in October

So with the official start of fall rapidly approaching, and Halloween not too far behind, my mind now shifts into horror movie mode. Sure, I have a fairly large collected that was amassed during my video store years (at a nice discount, to boot), but I need some fresh… blood this year.

Here’s what I’m thinking about picking up…

Monster Squad – I’ve YET to ever see this movie. It had been flying under my radar until about 2 years ago. I can’t believe I’ve missed it, sounds like something I’d love.
Halloween II – I don’t care what anyone says, the sequel is almost as good as the first one.
Diary of the Dead – Haven’t seen, I’ve heard mixed review, but Romero + zombies = me buying it.
28 Weeks Later – I loved 28 Days Later and I’ve heard this was just as good, if not better, another no brainer…
Chopping Mall – 80s horror cult classic cheesefest from what I’m told– sounds good to me!
The Prowler – I’m trying to pick up the lesser known (or at least lesser grossing) 80s slashers, this is just another on my list but probably the most prolific of what’s left for me to track down.
Pumpkinhead – A classic that I’ve never owned and there’s a new DVD edition coming out, so why not?

FEARnet ranks the ‘Friday the 13th’ movies

Good. Now I don’t have to do it myself. :)

 http://www.fearnet.com/MCNewsDetailPage.aspx?catid=30&mid=14703

I really have no qulams with the list other than thinking Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday is easily the worst of the lot, and thus deserves the #10 slot. I could go for Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives being ranked a bit higher as well. Jason Takes Manhattan is a personal fave of mine, but I know it doesn’t hold up to the high quality of some of the other movies.

Good job though, from one of my favorite OnDemand channels (I just watched Night of the Creeps yesterday! YEAH!)