The Horror Of...Pumpkinhead, In Short

Perhaps it's time to resurrect another 80's movie monster? Not one of those that has stayed with people over the decades since. But something that hasn't really traveled well since. (Okay, it's sequel came out in the 90's. AND 2 SyFy channel movies were made several years ago...But, come on, we all block out the last two.) I, of course, am speaking of...

Pumpkinhead

Now doesn't that sound like a choice movie for Halloween?

Pumpkinhead is a late 80's horror movie that centers on the issues of revenge and justice. Earl, played by fan favorite Lance Henriksen, is a local shop owner. He tries to live right, be kind, and raise his young son the best he can.

One day some city folk come through. While he's away from his store, they unintentionally fatally injure his son, while playing around on motorbikes. The one who hit the child flees, afraid of getting into trouble. But the rest do stay. But what do you say when you're standing over the dying child of a man?

Earl scoops up his son and takes him home. He tries his best, but the boy dies.

Distraught he seeks a remedy for his pain. He wants those that killed his boy to suffer. So he goes to the local old lady with all the magic. And she has him engage in a long series of rituals.

The result of this is that Pumpkinhead is risen.

And now that it's up, it's out to enact it's bloody vengence on all that were involved in the death of the boy.

It's an interesting creature. And deadly. Can any of it's intended victims survive it? Is there a way to stop Pumpkinhead? And, when Earl realizes that what he's done now means he will see and feel every death that the creature brings about, how will that change him?

 This is such an interesting movie. And if you want to see where Earl's pain and sense of injustice takes him, and those stalked by Pumpkinhead, you'll have to check this movie out.

The Horror Of...ParaNorman, In Short

I hate to admit it, but I nearly forgot to suggest this movie for Halloween. It's a relatively new movie, but it came and went from the theater faster than I could get to it. So I finally saw it when the disc came out. But it was worth the wait. A 2012 cartoon (and definitely NOT Hotel Transylvania) it gave a family friendly tale, yet dealt with the strain of being a different and ostracized child and facing the dead rising and marching into town. While it has it's dark moments, and it has it's scary moments, it very nicely balances this with humor, camaraderie, and hope. It's the must watch...

ParaNorman

The story centers a young boy named Norman. Like many young kids, he loves a good scary story. Also, he's dealing with issues like every child does.

You know, having to navigate the spirits of the dead on the way to school. Trying to remember all the ghosts names so he can say hello, and not be rude. Have visions of looming doomsdays. You know, the regular stuff.






And it does result in a hard experience. He's shunned at school, by students and teachers. And at home his parents don't know what to make of him. No one else sees what he does, so they think he's got a powerful imagination, or troubled.

Thankfully he has a loyal friend, who is always ready to listen. Neil. He's also bullied at school. But he keeps up a bright demeanor.

But what will he do when he has a vision of a coming doom. A witch will rise. Zombies will walk. And the town will be doomed.

Can Norman save everyone? Will anyone believe him? Is the curse or the witch what people say? How does it all tie to the gifts that Norman has?

To find out, I suggest you check out ParaNorman, and have an entertaining night.

And along the way we are reminded of how unfair and dangerous it is to judge and make assumptions about people.

Paranormal Unreality

From the movie Evil Thing.

Paranormal reality shows.

Off and on they've made their way into the mainstream. For years, before cable made it possible to have a legion of shows chasing ghosts and telling ghost stories, we had the one off specials (about ghosts, Noah's Ark, Bigfoot, Nostradamus, faith healers, etc.) on the big 3 channels that would come and go. And then there were the syndicated shows like In Search Of (with Leonard Nimoy).

And for a while, several years ago, we had Most Haunted, a British series, that was creating ripples. I honestly thought that when it faded, and most of the copycat shows on American cable came and went, that would be it. How naive.

No. These series still persist and seem secure for the foreseeable future. They are cheap to make. You send out a small crew, with no celebrities to cater to. Head to small towns (though sometimes a big city) and film with some low cost night vision. Add in some cheap suspense music, and some quickly shot reenactments, and you have the standard fare of Paranormal Reality TV.

We can add to this that the paranormal is a booming lucrative field now. There are courses to teach on chasing ghosts, conventions to front, books to put out,  spirit hunting tech to get orders for, and t-shirts to peddle. And there is NOTHING wrong with consumerism. When you pursue a hobby or field you are passionate about, funding it is fine. But the fact is that this is a profitable field to be in. You can get rich off of it.

And audiences do love their scares,whether they are taking these shows serious, or not. It's just that they are not a good source of learning. I think it was put very well on an episode of the Atheist Experience many months back:

Matt Dillahunty: "... You know those shows say, 'Will they find the Loch Ness Monster this week?'. No! Because it was filmed 6 months ago and if there was anything real to it, it would have been news everywhere. We wouldn't have had to wait for the advertisement for this show. And there wouldn't be 93 Ghost Hunter/Medium shows, none of which seem to apply for the million dollar prize. TV is not the source for good information for all sorts of things." 

Martin Wagner: "It's TV, an entertainment industry."

And like the old 1-900 numbers for psychics (that say/suggest it's all for entertainment purposes only), people can take these shows too seriously, use them as final proof.

So what can you do? People will watch what they do. Trashy reality shows. Tedious sitcoms. Stuff that is so bad that it's good. It's all a matter of taste.

At a minimum, we can all try and make people more aware and conscious consumers of reality TV and the paranormal. It is worth trying to express just how reality TV works. The tried and true tricks of TV. The assumptions they try and make us make.

So I'll occasionally look at some shows on the paranormal, past or present, and try to draw out the oddities of the worldview/logic/perspective it tries to weave into reality, and the tricks of TV.

It is possible that ghosts, goblins, wendigos, water spirits, mothmen, and Zak Bagans are real (It's just so exceedingly unlikely, that there is no sound reason to act as if they are real. It would be like carefully walking to avoid the chance of stepping on invisible ferrets. Nothing is proven, just assumed to be true.). But if somehow they are real, these shows are usually a horrible way to show it.


____

More on the money making industry.

It has been interesting to watch the paranormal field interact. If you listen to shows (podcast and radio shows) you hear how much of it connects together. And if you listened for awhile, as the business side started growing, you saw how shiny new tools on the TV shows became the hot new item you could order.

Some people will continue to make their names making K2 meters, or whatever the next generation of must have tool is. Also you have conventions where you can pay and be able to go out with your favorite paranormal investigator to some, possibly, haunted house. It can be rare chance, and a pricey one. Then you have all the sites (alien landing/haunted) open to visits. The people who own them, or run tours of them go on the various radio shows/podcasts and talk about the things seen. And that helps drive interest in visiting. There is a very good reason so many of these shows end up on The Travel Channel. It is about tourism. And that is about money. It all is about money.

Same thing happens with comics and gaming, and the conventions that are put on. Difference is that you are buying comic books and checking out video games, while at paranormal conventions...? (But if you believe, I assume, you probably see the value.)

The Horror Of...Critters, In Short

How about some more monsters? We all need some monsters in our lives. Even some little ones. Some...

Critters

This 1986 movie introduced us to an odd set. Brad and Charlie. No! I do mean the Critters. They are little terrors. All teeth and fuzz.

But while they are small, they are also voracious in their hunger. They strike with a furor. And then you have when they have numbers on their side. They use their instincts to stalk, trap, and weaken.

And when they want to start moving, they curl up into balls and shoot off across the ground. Yes. These are psychotic tribbles.

And if that isn't enough they have quills, which they project and use to disable their prey (humans). And once we are down, we are chow...I am watching too much 80's dialogue.


So how do we end up with these tiny terrors? Aliens. ...No, some other ones.

At some penal colony...IN SPACE, the Critters are imprisoned. They are deemed a grand threat. But then they escape. And to recover them, 2 bounty hunters are sent to Earth.

Shape shifting bounty hunters.

So they head to Earth. where a small town has found itself hosting the Crites, or Critters.

As a result some will live and some will die. But will any on the family farm, where the bulk of the Critters hide be among the living? And can these monsters be contained?

You'll just have to find out.

The Horror Of...Scream of Fear, In Short

Now for something a bit more classic. When people bring up Hammer Horror, people often jump to mental images of bright red blood and lots of cleavage. But Hammer did have other horror to share. And among those movies is...

Scream of Fear

This 1961 movie stars...

Susan Strasberg as Penny Appleby. She's the paralyzed daughter of a wealthy man, who she has been estranged from since childhood.

Christopher Lee (This is a Hammer Horror movie.) plays Dr. Pierre Gerrard. He's the physician of Penny's father, and a confidante to her stepmom.

And as her stepmom, Jane Appleby, we have Ann Todd.

The family chauffeur, Robert, is played by Ronald Lewis.

And then there is her father, played by Fred Johnson. Though is he really there?

The movie opens on a sad scene. The recovery of a young woman from a lake.

Following this death, we find Susan traveling to her father's home. They've long been estranged, but now he's asked her to come to his home and reconcile with him. It has been a long time in coming. And she is uncertain. Also she is still dealing with the death. The dead girl was her lifelong companion and friend who met had a tragic accident.

We quickly see she is in a wheelchair, and learn that she's been in it her whole life. She is nervous to be here, she is in a place alien to her now. Also, she knows that her father has a new wife, and wonders what she will be like. But even her father is a stranger to her after so long.

She is met at the airport by Robert the chauffeur who is friendly to her, but he also has little information on what the family has been up to. She has no idea what fate awaits her.

And as they drive we see they follow step cliffs, so easy to veer off of...

And at the mansion that her father resides at, she learns that he is gone. He suddenly left for a trip and no one knows where he is, or when he will return.

So she meets her stepmother, who is considerate to her. Also, she meets Dr. Gerrard, who is visiting.

As she tries to settle in, she looks around the house. In the back there is a lovely pool, but for her it could mean her death.

And passed the pool is the sweeping and quite steep overview of the sea, with those jagged rocks far far below. So much danger.

And so many questions that no one can answer.

And as she frets, her father begins appearing to her, and disappearing before anyone else can witness the visitations. Is she loosing her mind? Is her father attempting to warn her of some danger? Is someone attempting a deadly jest with her? Is someone close by plotting her end?

And, does death await Susan at the cliff's edge?


This is an excellently made film which leaves you guessing at what everyone is playing at...until it's too late. The only way to see what happens, or if anything I've said is true, will be to watch and listen for the Scream of Fear.

The Horror Of...Fright Night (1985), In Short

Now what is a fun movie to watch on the weekend, for some horror fun? Something a but 80's. Something a but terrifying. Something with a generous portion of Roddy McDowall.

Welcome to...

Fright Night

While we've since seen some remakes of this movie, we are talking about the original.

It gives us William Ragsdale as Charley Brewster. Our pissy and freaked out teen hero.

Amy Peterson, the put upon girlfriend, is played by Amanda Bearse.

Evil Ed, Charley's annoying yet honest friend, is played by Stephen Geoffreys.

And, then the Great Peter Vincent, vampire hunter...of old movies, played by Roddy McDowall. In the original, Peter Vincent was an actor turned Horror Host, which is just adds to the pertinence of this movie.

Then we have our frights. This is lead by Jerry Dandrige (Who could be afraid of a Jerry?), played by Chris Sarandon. He is great in this movie.

 And then there's his lackey, Billy Cole, played by Jonathan Stark. Every vampire should have a lackey on hand. Not sure why they often don't have them.

The movie shows on that Charley, while eager to have sex and be a man, is an avid fan of horror and in a particular Horror Host show, Fright Night. ...I can't relate at all... At this time he also sees that the house next door has a new owner.

And he also notices that women keep coming to the house, and not leaving.

When he starts investigating what his neighbor is up to, he thinks he has an answer.

Jerry's a vampire! But who is going to believe that? It sounds crazy!

But worse than discovering a vampire next door? The vampire discovering you!

What will Charley do? And who will fall prey to Jerry!


You'll just have to see for yourself. Can you survive Fright Night?

The Horror Of...Tremors 2, In Short

We often say it's a bad sign when a sequel is coming out. Often they are cash grabs or contractually obliged work or just stretching an already flimsy ideas stretched beyond capacity. But sometimes they there is more story to tell, sometimes their is any interesting take on the material to be had.

And sometimes it's just a fun idea.

Tremors 2

I know I should just point to the original. It's a good movie. But this, to me, is the more fun movie. 

The movie is a continuation of the ongoing resurgence of an ancient predator, who people call Graboids. Last time they had thought they'd wiped out the threat. But they are appearing elsewhere in the world.

In this movie, it is in Mexico. You get the drinks. I'll get some sugar free gum. We are going on a road trip!

Many of the characters from the last movie are missing from this movie. Some have moved on in their lives, and others are waiting for another sequel for their turn.

But the focus for this sequel is on Earl Bassett, played by Fred Ward. 

As well, Burt Gummer, played Michael Gross, is returned with more firepower.

New to the series is Grady Hoover, played by Christopher Gartin. He's Earl's new sidekick, who manages to not annoy, and actually prove an enjoyable addition to the series.

 Kate Reilly, played by Helen Shaver, is a geologist helping to analyze the Graboid and their environment. Another character you actually like, and aren't hoping to see get devoured.

The movie opens showing that the Graboids have emerged in Mexico, in a major oil field. This leads the company to seek out help in getting rid of the threat. And that means heading to Perfection, Nevada, the place a small group survived and wiped out a similar Graboid blight.

And soon enough, we find ourselves with Earl, who is disturbed by the news. He is also uninterested in getting killed fighting the creatures again.

Grady, who drove the taxi with the Oil Representative, jumps in and coaxes Earl to try, for a second chance to actually profit from his experiences. And then Grady gets himself involved in the danger, and money.

Soon the pair are down in Mexico, and meeting the team of people that are still on the oil field, who will be supporting them as they work.

And quick enough they are out hunting.

But while they have a strategy for killing graboids, they are utterly unaware that the graboids are far more complicated, waiting to metamorphose into a completely new danger. One that may sweep out across the continent.

Will the team survive the new threat? You'll have to check the movie out and find out this Halloween.