2022 Halloween Marathon: Week 4 Reviews

Here are some quick reviews from this week’s movies. Check out the full schedule here.

Watcher (2022) – 4/10 – I can appreciate a slow burn, but only if the plot makes sense. And I feel bad that this is the actress from It Follows, which I hated, because it’s nothing that she is doing. The story is just way more infuriating than it is scary. You think a guy’s watching you. Your husband doesn’t believe you. Make a decision. It’s not that hard. (To be fair, I liked this way more than I liked It Follows.)

Raven’s Hollow (2022) – 2/10 – Well, this looked OK. And that’s about all I can say. The story was such a mess, and I really had no idea what was happening. You can skip this one!

Pacific Heights (1990) – 7.5/10 – Not technically a horror movie, I guess, but the roaches alone justify it being included here for me. Still, like Watcher, at some point you just need to make a decision to walk away. I’m all about a good fight, but I also have better things to do.

2022 Halloween Marathon: Week 3 Reviews

Here are some quick reviews from this week’s movies. Check out the full schedule here.

Hatchet (2006) – 9/10 – It’s always fun to re-visit this one. All we want from our slashers is a fun setup, a good back story that inspires some kind of revenge, and then quick, creative ways of taking characters out. Of course Adam Green always delivers in every way.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022) – 5/10 – This is not nearly as bad as people made it out to be, and I don’t know what more anyone would expect from a TCM sequel in 2022. Sally Hardesty as a Texas Ranger wanna-be Laurie Strode is OK. And while I don’t necessarily love the whole plot that brings the people to Texas in the first place, it really doesn’t matter in the end. They’re here, and Leatherface is inspired to do great things again. Oh, and they’re all idiots. (Question: Have they ever offered Adam Green a TCM sequel? Cause that would be amazing.)

2022 Halloween Marathon: Week 2 Reviews

Here are some quick reviews from this week’s movies. Check out the full schedule here.

The Fog (1980) – 9/10 – A Carpenter classic, with excellent atmosphere, acting, and music, as always. Tom Atkins is great at a lot of things, but talking on the phone may be his best acting move. If I were writing a script, I’d add some phone scenes just to get him to join the cast.

The Fog (2005) – 3/10 – “Well, we finished shooting our remake of The Fog. And although it’s probably almost perfect, I’m worried that it may fall just short of Carpenter’s classic. We need one more thing to put us over the top, something at the very beginning, just to let people know that this isn’t 1980 and Tom Atkins and Jamie Lee Curtis. This is 2005. Wait, I got it! FALL OUT BOY!” I guess?

2022 Halloween Marathon: Week 1 Reviews

Here are some quick reviews from this week’s movies. Check out the full schedule here.

Psycho (1960) – 10/10 – According to this online inflation calculator that I just used, the $40,000 that Marion stole would be $400,000 today. Also, I like that she does the math to discover that $40,000 minus $700 means that she’ll have to pay back $700.

Psycho II (1983) – 8/10 – Such a great sequel. And the diner has it all: good food, great arcade games, and Norman Bates chopping the lettuce.

Psycho III (1986) – 4/10 – Definitely the low point of the franchise (assuming we never mention the 1987 Bates Motel TV movie/pilot, which we won’t). It’s still not completely terrible, and it adds some good bits to the Psycho story.

Psycho IV (1990) – 8/10 – I love a good prequel, so add in Henry Thomas and Olivia Hussey, two of my favorite actors, and I’m in. As someone who listened to a lot of talk radio in the ’80s and ’90s, I really like that aspect of the plot as well. You can see a lot of the Bates Motel TV series’ origins here, which is a lot of fun.

Day Shift (2022) – 6/10 – More action than horror, but it’s fun at times. I found myself wishing it’d taken a little more inspiration from I Am Legend, and then I realized that I could just watch (or read) I Am Legend.

2022 Halloween Horror Movie Marathon

As requested by no one, we’re bringing back the Halloween Horror Movie Marathon for 2022! Beginning this weekend, we’ll be watching and discussing horror movies through Halloween. We have two movies picked for each weekend (with a few exceptions) and will watch a bunch of other stuff in between.

I’ll have weekly posts with quick reviews for each film that we watch, starting at the end of this post for Week 1. I’ll also be around on Facebook and Twitter if anyone wants to discuss any of the movies.

Like last year, a lot of the films we’ve picked will be available on the Shudder streaming service. If you’re a horror fan and aren’t a regular subscriber, I’d recommend adding it, at least for the next couple of months!

Here is the planned schedule.

September 2-4: Psycho (1960), Psycho II (1983), Psycho III (1986), Psycho IV (1990)

September 9-11: The Fog (1980), The Fog (2005)

September 16-18: Hatchet (2006), Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)

September 23-25: Watcher (2022), Raven’s Hollow (2022)

September 30 – October 2: Trick or Treats (1982), Cemetery of Terror (1985)

October 7-9: Midnight Club (2022 – Netflix series)

October 14-16: Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills (2021), Halloween Ends (2022)

October 21-23: The Last Drive-in 2022 Halloween Special (Double Feature TBA – Shudder live event!)

October 28-30: The Monster Squad (1987), He Knows You’re Alone (1980)