SHERDOG MOVIE CLUB: Week 77 Discussion - Halloween

[Cubo de Sangre]

I'm just fucking with you. Though I did think it was interesting that you said you weren't interested in watching Halloween again while at the same time you seem to like it a lot.

Right on.

Movies can be great and me still not want to revisit.

My first experience with Halloween was when it made its network debut on Halloween way back in the day. My sister and I got about 20 minutes in before we were too freaked out to continue. Never seen a slasher flick and it scared the shit out of me. Wasn't until Friday the 13th pt. 2 on cable that I ever sat through one. Then saw Halloween 2 and loved it. Went back to the first one and enjoyed it. Like a heroine user trying to recapture that first high, every Halloween movie after that has been less than exhilarating.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

Aww shit, two of the houses used in Halloween 4 are within walking distance of my apartment.

Pics or GTFO.

 

[Guestx]

Pics or GTFO.

I found a list of locations used in the film and I legit could go take pics of two of the houses and one monument right now and it wouldn't take me more than a few minutes.

I live in a neighborhood called the Avenues and apparently they filmed a lot around here.

The Carruther house, Meeker house and the location for Ted Hollister's death are all within probably half a mile of my apartment building. That's cool.

http://www.thennowmovielocations.com/2014/04/halloween-4-return-of-michael-myers.html?m=1

 

[Andersons Foot]

Not sure if you guys are interested in this type of thing, but this is the house John Carpenter grew up in on the campus of Western Kentucky University:

I've mentioned it before but I pass it almost every day and it never gets old. It's pretty neat living in this area and coming across things that he put into Halloween.

Smiths Grove is a city about 15 miles from where he grew up. That name is used a few times throughout the series. My friend was actually married there in July.

There are even road names used in H1 and H2 that I recognize. Probably not a big deal to most but I find it fascinating.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

Not sure if you guys are interested in this type of thing, but this is the house John Carpenter grew up in on the campus of Western Kentucky University:

Couldn't have grown up too poor if he was living in Abe Lincoln's old place. Looking at the grounds though, could clearly use an influx of Mexicans to the area.

 

[Guestx]

Not sure if you guys are interested in this type of thing, but this is the house John Carpenter grew up in on the campus of Western Kentucky University:

I've mentioned it before but I pass it almost every day and it never gets old. It's pretty neat living in this area and coming across things that he put into Halloween.

Smiths Grove is a city about 15 miles from where he grew up. That name is used a few times throughout the series. My friend was actually married there in July.

There are even road names used in H1 and H2 that I recognize. Probably not a big deal to most but I find it fascinating.

Damn, that house almost looks like some 19th century cabin kind of shit.

 

[Andersons Foot]

Couldn't have grown up too poor if he was living in Abe Lincoln's old place. Looking at the grounds though, could clearly use an influx of Mexicans to the area.

His dad was a music professor or something like that at WKU, that house was reserved for staff. It's right next to one of the dorms.

Also, Abe Lincoln's birthplace isn't too far from here either. It's a pretty sweet place to visit.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

His dad was a music professor or something like that at WKU, that house was reserved for staff. It's right next to one of the dorms.

Also, Abe Lincoln's birthplace isn't too far from here either. It's a pretty sweet place to visit.

Based on Evil Dead, I'd have guessed that to be Sam Raimi's childhood residence.

 

[Andersons Foot]

Based on Evil Dead, I'd have guessed that to be Sam Raimi's childhood residence.

Does look pretty similar.

 

[Guestx]

Well @jeicex I think it's official, you now have the most successful thread in Club history, at least in terms of number of posts.

 

[TheRuthlessOne]

Well @jeicex I think it's official, you now have the most successful thread in Club history, at least in terms of number of posts.

I just deleted all my posts

 

[BisexualMMA]

I like Halloween and Nightmare probably equally, although I thought Nightmare’s ending was a tad weak.

It’s peculiar to me that you call Halloween slow, but then you like Texas Chainsaw Massacre more. I think TCM moves like a snail until they finally come across the Sawyer house. Plus, the protagonists are not interesting at all. TCM 2 is where it’s at.

To each their own though.

I wouldn't call the early going of Texas Chainsaw brisk by any means, but I felt like the payoff with that weird family and its strange rituals was worth it.

Like I said, I like Halloween. But I think Carpenter was still developing the art and skills that would soon lead to The Thing.

 

[the muntjac]

Since reading through this thread, I saw Season of the Witch pop up, and I recently watched this again after 17-20 years have gone by, and I still can’t dig this one.

The problem I have with it is it’s built to be a mystery story, so you get little clues as to what’s going on up in the factory throughout the movie, but when time comes for the payoff, it all feels lazily put together. The motives for things are half-baked explained, and even one thing is explained as, “You won’t believe how we did this,” and that’s the end of it. There’s also a nonsensical “shocking” twist towards the end that I hated.

I wanted to like it this go around, I really did. It starts out decent enough and carries the mystery angle momentum well enough until that third act hits, and then it all falls apart for me.

Sorry Halloween 3, bros. I wanted to be one of you, but I can’t.

 

[JayPettryMMA]

Well @jeicex I think it's official, you now have the most successful thread in Club history, at least in terms of number of posts.

And I want next week's discussion to break that record. I love people talking in these threads discussing our movies, it made me sad when I saw good films like blood simple go almost undiscussed.

 

[Guestx]

And I want next week's discussion to break that record. I love people talking in these threads discussing our movies, it made me sad when I saw good films like blood simple go almost undiscussed.

Blood Simple hurt me, too. I was really rooting for that one and glad it won and then the discussion pretty much tanked at the box office . . . so to speak.

 

[TheRuthlessOne]

And I want next week's discussion to break that record. I love people talking in these threads discussing our movies, it made me sad when I saw good films like blood simple go almost undiscussed.

Lets be real

The reason Halloween broke the record is cause I decided Halloween was going to break the record

 

[sickc0d3r]

Couldn't have grown up too poor if he was living in Abe Lincoln's old place. Looking at the grounds though, could clearly use an influx of Mexicans to the area.

Underrated post.

 

[Guestx]

Well, I watched Halloween 4.

It was okay, I guess, but nothing more than that. I did not find it to be scary at all or even particularly creepy or suspenseful. Mostly it was just a kinda sorta entertaining but ultimately bland sequel.

One of the biggest problems is that Michael Myers is just not very cool in this one. For one, let's talk about the mask. Here's what he looks like in Halloween:

And here's what he looks like in Halloween 4:

It ain't the same. They may look similar, but it's not the same shit and the mask in the first film was a lot creepier. Not only that, but Michael doesn't move the same in this film as he does in the first. He kind of moves like a retard.

On the positive side, Halloween 4 does a better job of capturing the feel of the season and the holiday. The opening effectively conveys a sense of the fall and of a community that is ready for October 31.





The acting is solid enough all around. Donald Pleasence is back. The young girl who plays Michael's niece does a legitimately good job and is not annoying at all, as child actors sometimes are. The movie also has a more modern feel than the original, which I thought was positive on some level.

More than anything though, what was cool for me was watching the movie and seeing houses and other things that were shot really close to my apartment. That part was pretty awesome.

All in all, it's maybe a 6/10 on a good day? It could've been a lot better but it also could've been a lot worse.

P.S. I didn't really get the ending. It was kind of cool to see the callback to the first film with the girl killing her foster mother much in the way that Michael killed his sister, but why did she do it? Just because she touched him for a brief moment? Did he pass some bad juju onto her? While it was kind of a cool and surprising moment in the film, there's no logical reason for it.

 

[Guestx]

I'm going to recommend this one more time. I watched the whole thing and found it very interesting and well done.

It's mostly focused on the making of the first film, but briefly covers the rest of the franchise at the end.

 

[Andersons Foot]

Well, I watched Halloween 4.

It was okay, I guess, but nothing more than that. I did not find it to be scary at all or even particularly creepy or suspenseful. Mostly it was just a kinda sorta entertaining but ultimately bland sequel.

One of the biggest problems is that Michael Myers is just not very cool in this one. For one, let's talk about the mask. Here's what he looks like in Halloween:

And here's what he looks like in Halloween 4:

It ain't the same. They may look similar, but it's not the same shit and the mask in the first film was a lot creepier. Not only that, but Michael doesn't move the same in this film as he does in the first. He kind of moves like a retard.

On the positive side, Halloween 4 does a better job of capturing the feel of the season and the holiday. The opening effectively conveys a sense of the fall and of a community that is ready for October 31.





The acting is solid enough all around. Donald Pleasence is back. The young girl who plays Michael's niece does a legitimately good job and is not annoying at all, as child actors sometimes are. The movie also has a more modern feel than the original, which I thought was positive on some level.

More than anything though, for me, was watching the movie and seeing houses and other things that were shot really close to my house. That part was pretty awesome.

All in all, it's maybe a 6/10 on a good day? It could've been a lot better but it also could've been a lot worse.

P.S. I didn't really get the ending. It was kind of cool to see the callback to the first film with the girl killing her foster mother much in the way that Michael killed his sister, but why did she do it? Just because she touched him for a brief moment? Did he pass some bad juju onto her? While it was kind of a cool and surprising moment in the film, there's no logical reason for it.

iirc the foster mom doesn't actually die from the stabbing. And in part 5 we're told that Jamie has some kind of weird mental connection with Michael. She knows where he is and when someone else is in danger, but she can't speak for most of the movie so she struggles to let people know.