Category — Movies

It’s Devil’s Night, one more day until Halloween, and I have one last list of scary movies to recommend. The horror of the demonic is quite a popular sub-genre of film. These movies focus on how evil lurks beneath the surface (demonic possession) or how evil manifests itself in the form of actual demons walking the earth.

Nicholas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now is a quintessential example of dark forces scaring a couple to death. Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie play a couple who move to Venice after the death of their child. They meet two elderly sisters who have something sinister about them. The film is based on the Daphne Du Maurier story.

Other classic examples are of the horror of demonic from the 1960s and 1970s (funny how they all clustered in that time period):

Rosemary’s Baby (1967)

The Exorcist (1973) - I love me some vintage Ellen Burstyn.

Demon Seed (1977) - yay, more Julie Christie! But poor her, a scientist has impregnated her with a horrible evil entity.

One of my favorite Denzel Washington movies is Fallen from 1998. He plays Detective John Hobbes, a determined homicide detective that notices a trend of similar serial killings that could only be committed by a man that was executed. Somehow the killer’s spirit can move from body to body, which makes him an exceptionally hard to catch criminal!

And most people didn’t like Constantine, starring Keanu Reeves, Tilda Swinton, and Rachel Weisz, but I really liked it. The story was intriguing, altho some of the dialogue could use some work. Nevertheless I think director Francis Lawrence’s did a good job of keeping you fascinated by balancing special f/x with a story of the anti-hero John Constantine.

Happy Devil’s Night, party safe by watching scary movies in the safety of your home and put those finishing touches on your halloween costume.

Here’s the international trailer for the next movie in the Harry Potter film series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Trailer Check:

This trailer is way more action packed than the last trailer. They’re focusing less on the mystery of Voldemort and the prince angle, and more on the looming battle to come. Sheesh, I can’t believe I’ve got to wait eight more months for this movie to come out! July 2009, hurry up already!

Source: Pajiba

Witches (and Warlocks) have been depicted in art, then fiction and non-fiction books, and then movies and television. The definition of a witch is basically: any individuals with supernatural powers (i.e. people who cast spells, read minds, cackle and all that jazz). Sometimes, they are depicted as demonic witches who are inhuman and use magic to torture, murder, or control people (i.e. like the witch killing those people in The Blair Witch Project).

Here’s a rundown of my favorite scary movies featuring witchcraft and the occult:

Dario Argento’s Suspiria is a classic horror movie that doesn’t skimp on the creepy or fright factor. Whenever I remember this movie, I think about the soundtrack and that final scene. That coven of witches gave me some serious shivers. Plus, bonus points for featuring a young Udo Keir as a psychiatrist who believes in the existence of witches.

Julian Sands in Warlock may seem a bit cheesy and over the top when I watch this flick again, but as a kid this movie scared the crap outta me! However, I did become aware of the silly factor in the sequel, Warlock: The Armageddon.

Cast a Deadly Spell with Julianne Moore and Fred Ward from 1991.

And an old movie called Necromancy (1972) with Orson Welles (!!!!) that I stumbled upon on the Arcane Film Archive listed at The Witching.

After looking at this list of horror films, I wonder where how these classic witch costumes featuring purple, green, and pink are so popular.

They don’t remotely eflect any witch character from any movie I’ve seen except maybe Wizard of Oz.

Bonus witch movie that’s awesomely bad, directed by the king of empty style, Renny Harlin and is about male witches: The Covenant starring Steven Strait and Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights).  Pajiba kindly reviewed this movie that year and took a bullet for the rest of us. It’s strictly late-night cable television viewing only.

Let the Right One In has been getting rave reviews overseas and at various film festivals. So much so there’s a US remake already on tap for 2010! And this movie doesn’t open in NY/LA until this Friday, October 24th. Let the Right One In is based on the bestselling Swedish novel of the same name by John Ajvide Lindqvist.

Oskar and Eli in Let the Right One In

It follows the travails of Oskar, a shy and meek twelve year old boy who is bullied at school. Things change when he meets Eli, the girl next door, who is a bit strange but Oskar can’t put his finger on why (it’s probably because she is a vampire). Oskar is curious of Eli and the two begin a touching (altho a bit morbid) friendship.  It’s sorta like My Girl but trade the bees for vampirism and set the movie in snowy Sweden. It is a horror movie (i.e. there are scenes with blood) but it’s all done artfully and with purpose. Even if you’re not a big horror fan, but have an appreciation for good movies, you should tough this one out.

Trailer Check:

I saw it at a screening yesterday and can confirm that it definitely meets the hype. I get that Americans are too lazy to read subtitles, but a remake really does the source material and this film an injustice. The subtly of the cinematography, the setting and the time period (not to mention the fantastic child actors) coalesce perfectly. Why mess that up Hollywood?

Find listings of when the Let the Right One In premieres in US theaters at /Film.

After threatening to hit “Samberg in the nose”, Mark Wahlberg made an appearance on SNL this past Saturday.

And if you ask me, his sketch was 10x better than the cold open with Sarah Palin or the Amy doing the Palin Rap. But you what the funniest thing is about this Wahlberg vs. Samberg business? Max Payne defied all expectations and was the number one movie at the box office! It made $18 million bucks! I think Wahlberg’s laughing all the way to the bank about the whole situation now. Who knew an off the wall SNL skit could actually boost the ticket sales on what I’ve heard is a nother mediocre movie based on a video game?

Source: Pajiba Box Office Round-up - Max Payne Talks to Animals