Topic: Danae's 2013 Horror Marathon

[Danae Cassandra]

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
Year of Release: 1966
Directed By: Bill Melendez
Starring: Peter Robbins, Chris Shea, Sally Dryer, Cathy Steinberg, Bill Melendez
Genre: Comedy, Animation

Overview:
Will this Halloween be the one when the Great Pumpkin comes? Long-time believer Linus thinks so – and keeps watch all night in the pumpkin patch to welcome him. Charlie Brown gets into the spooky spirit too, dressing up as a ghost with more eyeholes than needed – but not scaring up the usual kinds of Halloween loot when trick-or-treating. Never fear, World War I fighting ace Snoopy is here to battle the Red Baron – and in doing so, crash Violet's Halloween party and Linus' vigil as well. Your whole family will be glad it crashed this party. Good grief, you can't help but have a Happy Halloween!

My Thoughts:
I'm surprised I don't already have a review for this on site.  This is a classic Halloween cartoon and we watch it every year - this year at a pumpkin carving party at a friend's house.  Charlie Brown is perfect for kids, perfect for grownups; it's fun, funny, and endearing, and for those of us of a certain age very nostalgic.  I remember looking forward to this coming on TV every year when I was a kid back in Edmonson County, and I always get a warm, fuzzy feeling from these old classics.

There's a second Peanuts cartoon on the disc as well, "It's Magic, Charlie Brown" that - while not the classic that Pumpkin is, is still a fun cartoon and it's great to see Charlie Brown finally get to kick the football when he's invisible. 

The blu-ray looks great, so if you don't already own this great cartoon, I give it the highest recommendation. 

Bechdel Test:  Pass

Overall: 5/5

[Danae Cassandra]

Corpse Bride

We watched this last year too.  So you can read that review here.

[Danae Cassandra]

The Creature From the Black Lagoon
Year of Release: 1954
Directed By: Jack Arnold
Starring: Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning
Genre: Horror, Science-Fiction

Overview:
Who knows what undiscovered life forms inhabit the bodies of water on our planet? When scientists exploring the Amazon River stumble on a "missing link" connecting humans and fish, they plan to capture it for later study. But the creature has plans of its own, inspired by the lead scientist's (Richard Carlson) beautiful fianceé, Kay (Julie Adams). This classic thriller is a genuine tribute to imaginative storytelling and an exceptional showcase for the legendary makeup artistry of Bud Westmore.

My Thoughts:
If the hallmark of a great creature feature is when you root for the creature, than this is surely one of the greatest.  Here we have the gill-man, a survivor of an ancient race, whose home is invaded by scientists who wish to capture, or kill him, in the name of furthering human knowledge.  Yet he recognizes that they are more like himself than the other creatures around him, and have a female with them - perhaps the only female that he has encountered close to himself.  It's easy to root for him - especially when the scientists are mostly so arrogant. 

The makeup and prosthetics work is impressive.  The Creature is perhaps the most impressive looking of Universal's classic monsters.  There is so much detail and work that went into him, that the film gets a star simply for the design of The Creature.  Add in the good script, good cinematography, great location shooting, and well done acting, even if the only female character is incredibly one note (the absolute classic damsel in distress), this is a film I would heartily recommend to any lover of monster movies. 

Bechdel Test: Fail

Overall: 3.75/5

[Danae Cassandra]

La rose de fer (The Iron Rose)
Year of Release: 1973
Directed By: Jean Rollin
Starring: Françoise Pascal, Hugues Quester
Genre: Horror

Overview:
THE IRON ROSE is a haunting experience—a macabre tone poem about youth and age, love and nihilism, nostalgia and superstition, and, above all, life and death. Françoise Pascal (There's a Girl in My Soup) and Hugues Quester (Three Colors: Blue) go on a metaphysical, Orpheus-like journey inside an ancient, all-but-abandoned graveyard but, as night falls, they cannot find their way out. As Quester's nihilism crumbles to impatience and terror, Pascal transfers her disappointed passion for him to the cemetery itself and becomes jubilantly (and dangerously) attuned to its dead. Pascal gives a remarkably intuitive performance, at times so spontaneous in spirit, one cannot imagine how parts of it were ever scripted.

The cemetery itself is analogous to Rollin's love for all things antiquarian, including the old train station and the nearly moribund city of Amiens. If Orson Welles was correct when he estimated that a film could only be considered good to the extent it represented the artist who made it, THE IRON ROSE is Jean Rollin's first authentic masterpiece.

My Thoughts:
This is a beautiful, artistic, poetic film.  It's moody and atmospheric, a sort of mediation on life and death, anger and fear, madness and peace.  The visuals are stunning, from the deep, saturated colors worn by the lovers to the deep black of the night, the gray of the tombstones, the fallen autumn leaves contributing to the aura of decay.  In fact, one might say the cemetery is as much the star of the film as the two actors.  It has its own character and its own demands.  It even lures the young woman away from her human lover.  She finds peace and communion with the cemetery (and in fact most of the film would make a great background story for a D&D necromancer, but I digress).  I was very struck by Françoise Pascal's performance as the girl, and her descent into madness was very well done in my opinion.

I enjoyed this film quite a lot, and am interested in seeing more of Rolin's work.  But I can't give it an unqualified recommendation.  If you're looking for a conventional horror film, I would steer clear - there's no blood, no gore, no monsters, and very little nudity.  Don't be fooled by that - this is definitely a horror film, just not the conventional kind.  If you like art films, and are interested in a macabre piece musing on a theme of death, or simply want to see a visually splendid film, I would recommend this film.

Bechdel Test: Fail

Overall:  3.75/5

[Jimmy]

If you like art films, and are interested in a macabre piece musing on a theme of death, or simply want to see a visually splendid film, I would recommend this film.

As I would
Always nice to see someone else than me talking about that genre of cinema here

You can try pretty much everything from Rollin as they all have that beautifull visual and sureal theme. Except for Le lac des morts vivants and his adult films (anyway they aren't available in our continent) the rest of his film répertoire is recommanded.

[Danae Cassandra]

The Nightmare Before Christmas

We watched this last year too.  So you can read that review  here.

[Danae Cassandra]

The Unexplained: Hauntings
Originally Aired: 1997
Directed By: Stacy Twilley
Starring: Peter Stacker
Genre: Documentary

Overview:
Unexplained noises, objects flying across the room, and frightening messages scrawled on the walls. Are these mysterious occurrences the work of spirits from the other world, or are they merely horrifying tricks of the mind.

In this chilling program from THE HISTORY CHANNEL®, meet several families who claim their homes have been the site of some very mysterious and terrifying activity. Find out how these people have dealt with these disturbances - and learn one case in which a family has spent years unsuccessfully trying to get away from the spirits they say haunt their everyday lives.

Interviews with psychologists, parapsychologists, and so-called "ghostbusters" offer up varying explanations for the strange happenings, while video footage of seances and photographs of supposed energy and even ghost-like countenances highlight the lengths people have gone in order to solve the puzzle of these HAUNTINGS.

My Thoughts:
About average for a one hour TV doc.  It profiles 3 families and their experience with ghosts.  It offers both a paranormal explanation and scientific criticism/skepticism for each haunting, and I thought it did a good job of balancing the two.  It's part of a box set Haunted Histories Collection, and there are definitely worse things to watch over dinner.

Bechdel Test: N/A

Overall: 2.5/5

[Danae Cassandra]

Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie
Year of Release: 2005
Directed By: Elliot M. Bour & Saul Andrew Blinkoff
Starring: Jimmy Bennett, Peter Cullen, Jim Cummings, John Fiedler, Ken Sansom, Kyle Stanger
Genre: Comedy, Animation

Overview:
It's a hilariously haunting Halloween in the 100 Acre Wood. Roo's best new pal, Lumpy, is excited to trick-or-treat for the first time...until Tigger warns them about the dreaded Gobloon, who'll turn you into a Jaggedy Lantern if he catches you. But if they catch the Gobloon before it catches them, they get to make a wish!

With Roo by his side, Lumpy knows he can face anything. So when Pooh eats all the Halloween candy, Lumpy and Roo decide to be "brave together, brave forever" and catch the Gobloon so they can wish for more. When the two friends become separated, however, Roo decides to wish for something even more important.

Filled with adventure, unconditional friendship and lots of laughter, Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie is a sweet treat for the whole family.

My Thoughts:
So, this is perhaps the farthest thing from a horror movie that I've reviewed for any Halloween marathon, but my mom remembered we have this in our collection and we haven't watched it since 2009.

This is a cute Halloween cartoon.  It's perfect for little kids, it's perfect for people who like Halloween but are too easily scared by horror movies.  It's kinda like an anthology movie, because there is a story-within-a-story in the film, but it's easy to keep up with, and sweet.  The animation is not up to par with Disney's A-list features, rather keeping up with the best of the sequel level films, but it's an appealing watch if you like this sort of film, or have little kids.  Be warned, though, it's not cool enough for tweens & teens. 

Bechdel Test: Fail

Overall: 2.75/5