The Old Dark House/Satan's Little Helper/Halloween III: Season of the Witch
Now that Halloween is here to bring Scary Movie Month to a close, I figured I might as well go all out. Every day this month I've watched a new-to-me movie, so today it's two of those plus a perennial Halloween favorite.
I started with The Old Dark House because it ain't Halloween without a bit of Karloff and because Horror-Hound Hollywood Heath Holland recommended it earlier this month. It was great, and I have no idea why people seem to have forgotten it. It's gothic horror with the same light touch that director James Whale brought to The Bride of Frankenstein. Also, this was the first Hollywood film of Charles Laughton, who would go on to direct one of my favorite movies of all time, The Night of the Hunter (another great Scary Movie Month choice if you haven't seen it).
It leans more toward comedy than horror, but the gloomy atmosphere lends itself nicely to the Halloween season. Elspeth Dudgeon (a woman) is particularly memorable as the 100+ year old patriarch of the crazed family living in the titular house. There's no mistaking her for a man, but her performance somehow works anyway and it is, as they say, a hoot.
On to Satan's Little Helper. I had to watch it because Adam Riske said some things that made me curious. He said that it's not better than John Carpenter's Halloween, but he'd sooner rewatch it than Halloween. Those are strong words, and while I absolutely understand the concept of respecting or even loving a movie without necessarily wanting to revisit it, my brain still cannot process what he said.
That being said, this isn't a bad movie! I'm not sure if "amiable" is the right word for a movie about a small child befriending a serial killer and becoming his unwitting accomplice, but that's what this movie is. It's an unabashedly goofy little movie that never takes itself too seriously and it's a fun watch. It's all very cheap and silly (and it appears to have been shot with a cell phone) but that's part of the charm. Also, it was a nice surprise to see a cameo from Lisa G of The Howard Stern Show (era).
While I really enjoyed it, there were a lot of things that didn't work, the most egregious of which was the old horror movie trope where somebody kills a masked person only to pull off the mask to find a completely different person than they expected underneath. This happens multiple times in this movie to the same character, to the point where you're left wondering if they have a learning disability. Problems aside, it's still a fun & entertaining movie, even if I can't imagine anyone on the planet choosing to watch it over Halloween. Sorry, Adam!
Finally, we have Halloween III: Season of the Witch, a movie I watch every year on Halloween. It's a movie made by an insane person, possibly a team made up of nothing but insane people, and I love every batshit crazy second of it. It's had a terrible reputation for years because the plot has no connection to the plot of the first two Halloweens, but it's by far my favorite of the sequels (I also like Halloween 4 a lot and I appreciate what H20 was trying to do, but that's pretty much it for the rest of the series). This is a movie unafraid to commit to a crazy premise and that goes a long way with me. If you haven't seen it, forget about the number in the title, it's completely standalone. Watch it and bask in the glory of Tom Atkins' mustache facing off against a diabolical mask-maker and his robot minions who are plotting to wreak havoc on Halloween night with lasers made out of pieces of Stonehenge. No, really.
All in all, it's been a great Scary Movie Month, even with all the crappy movies I sat through. I'm still glad to have the opportunity to see so many new horror movies and chat about them with everyone over at F This Movie! and on Twitter. I appreciate everyone who's read these (especially those who have offered feedback) and I hope everyone's having a safe and fun Halloween! Don't forget to be in front of your TV at 9pm for the big giveaway. Put your mask on and listen for the Silver Shamrock jingle. Happy happy Halloween!
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