Today is officially day four of the 36 Days of Halloween marathon, so I'm three movies in right now. I'm going to try to do mini reviews of each film as I watch it, but here's the backlog so far:
1979 - Alien The crew of the commercial ship Nostromo are brought out of stasis nine months early when the ship detects a signal of unknown origin on a previously uncharted planet. The crew sets down to investigate, unsure of what awaits them. Hint: it's an alien.
Despite being 36 years old, Alien is still an incredibly fresh movie. Without exaggeration, I can safely say that this is my favorite horror movie of all time. Ridley Scott's take on horror is brilliantly paced, packed with an incredible amount of subtle characterization that gives a real sense of who these people are, and filled with practical special effects that keep (most of) the film from looking dated, despite being nearly four decades old. I could, and many people have, write pages and pages of analysis about Alien. Needless to say, this was a really good way to start the Halloween season.
1980 - The Changeling A man grieves the loss of his wife and child in a terrible accident, and moves to the other side of the country to start a new life. When he takes over an old house that has been unused for years, he gets more than he bargained for.
This film is on Scorsese's list of scariest movies ever made, apparently. While this won't make my "scariest movies ever made" list, it did provide a suitably creepy haunted house story a little different from the norm. While there isn't much by way of outright scares, the moody atmosphere and the tragic backstory that is slowly unraveled do provide a very unsettling experience.
1981 - Dead and Buried Sheriff Dan Gillis (James Farentino) finds himself struggling to make sense of what has become of his hometown when a series of bizarre murders strike the small the town. As more people turn up dead, the bodies disappear, and Gillis has a disturbing accident, everyone becomes a suspect.
This low-budget, Twilight Zone-esque flick from the writing team behind Alien is exactly the kind of movie that begs for a dark room, an abundance of beer, and two or three friends. Despite the absurdity of the plot and modest production values, it's hard not to enjoy this one. While it's definitely on the schlocky side, there's less gore and a more misdirection in the writing than you'd expect. Definitely worth checking out (especially, again, with good friends and plenty of booze).
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