The Slam Dunk Halloween Thread-a-Palooza

[CitizenOfVerona]

For the...8 or 9 of you who still pop in from time to time, it's time to get to brass tacks, give the most obscene gesture to 2020 imaginable, and get spooky. That's right, it's ya boi making another Halloween for no better reason because I always do.

So at this point you know the score, this thread is for talking about anything related to this time of year. Watched a scary movie? Write about that shit. Played a game? Ditto. Doing any fun activities? I wanna hear about that. Saw a leaf that wasn't green? Son, you better believe that's post worthy.

So I know what you're thinking, "COV, my man, what have you been up to?" Well shiiet, I got a head start this year. A few friends have been doing a weekly movie night. So far we watched the original Nightmare on Elm Street and Night of the Creeps. If you haven't seen either, then you best fixed that. Night of the Creeps is my go to crowd pleaser. It's got everything you need: zombies, rubber suit aliens, gore, needless but appreciated nudity, comedy, romance, Dick Miller being typecasted, one liners, and a shotgun/flamethrower tag team.

I also played Silent Hill 2 which still remains one of the most engrossing games I've ever played. Currently, I'm played The Ghostbusters game that was remastered last year. It can be jank and some fights are way too dragged out, but it's still a good time. Having new Ghostbusters material with the original cast is pretty great.

Last night I watched Scooby Doo on Zombie Island. It's the first movie and it's actually pretty damn good. The story is pretty well told and well paced, and the use of colours and black shadows reminds me of EC Comics like Tales from the Crypt.

Hmmm, maybe not so much as I thought. Granted, the comedy scenes with Shaggy and Scoob were the low points, probably because I'm not a kid. I'm not an adult, but not a kid either. Either way, I haven't seen it since I was younger, so it was a nice nostalgic spook.

I plan on playing Little Nightmares as well. Also feeling The Evil Within and probably Silent Hill 3. I think the next two movies we have for movie night is Beetlejuice and Little Shop of Horrors. I do plan on watching Ghostbusters and Coraline myself at some point.

What with the world being an actual horror show at the moment, it's unsure if there will be a Halloween party this year. My neck of the woods is doing really good, we only have 2 or 3 active cases and we went weeks at a time without cases at all. So it's a wait and see. If there isn't a few of us will probably have another movie night or some shit.

So what's up TNE. Let's rap for awhile.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Spoiler

For ET

 

[Juegos]

I just started replaying Amnesia: The Dark Descent this afternoon. It's still pretty spooky. I'm hoping to also play Observer, the Blair Witch, Prey, and A Plague Tale throughout the month.

In terms of books, I'm re-reading Frankenstein (hadn't read it since High School), and I'm going to push myself to finally get into Bram Stoker's Dracula (I never got farther than some 50 pages in).

I have a lot of movies to watch but nothing I'm immediately excited about. I guess a notable one would be the Howling, which I've never seen. I had a whole bunch of werewolf movies on my hard drive but the data got corrupted so that's the only one that survived. Train to Busan is another one I've meant to watch so I finally will. Plus a lot of stuff on my Criterion Channel account, including some Gojira sequels.

Also I'm going to rewatch Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust because it's been over a decade since I last saw it. I'm hoping it's still as fantastic as I remember it being.

 

[mattavelle1]

IM LIVIN IN 2020 AND ITS SCARY AF!!!!!

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

I just started replaying Amnesia: The Dark Descent this afternoon. It's still pretty spooky. I'm hoping to also play Observer, the Blair Witch, Prey, and A Plague Tale throughout the month.

In terms of books, I'm re-reading Frankenstein (hadn't read it since High School), and I'm going to push myself to finally get into Bram Stoker's Dracula (I never got farther than some 50 pages in).

I have a lot of movies to watch but nothing I'm immediately excited about. I guess a notable one would be the Howling, which I've never seen. I had a whole bunch of werewolf movies on my hard drive but the data got corrupted so that's the only one that survived. Train to Busan is another one I've meant to watch so I finally will. Plus a lot of stuff on my Criterion Channel account, including some Gojira sequels.

Also I'm going to rewatch Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust because it's been over a decade since I last saw it. I'm hoping it's still as fantastic as I remember it being.

I'm the opposite. Dracula is one of my favorite books, but Frankenstein took me over a year of reading a bit, stopping, picking it up for a chapter, stopping, etc. Whenever it focused on the monster it was great, but the doctor? Dull.

I never finished Amnesia, barely sunk any time into it.

 

[mattavelle1]

I really wish I had away to play to OG Dead Space on the Switch. Seems like with EA bringing some games this would be a no brainer, but you know EA..........NO BRAINS IN OCTOBER HUH HUH AMIRTE??!!

(probs play DooM2016 instead sometime this month). Also Freddy and the Nightmare on Elm Streets are the best 80s / 90s slasher flicks

 

[sjmartin79]

So, last night we watched "Host" on Shudder. It's filmed entirely on Zoom, and deals with doing a séance over the internet and how that can go terribly wrong.
It's barely an hour. Plot is tight. Jump scares are good. I was impressed.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

I finished up the Ghostbusters game. It was my first time playing through it and minus 3 or 4 encounters, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was nice basically having a Ghostbusters 3. Since it is a game that came out decades after 2, it's part fan service part direct sequel to 1. The opening level is the hotel where you end up fighting Stay Puft, but it's all in good fun.

And fun it is. Using all the gadgets was pretty great. It also makes me feel almost nostalgic for the PS360 era of games. It's a relatively standard over the shoulder 3rd person shooter but obviously in the Ghostbusters skin. Everything from linear levels to the occasional janky physics where you can bust open barrels or debris by simply walking into it. I know during the 7th gen people grew sick of linear shooters, but after a gen of cookie cutter open world games and Live Service microtransaction fests, playing a straight forward 8 hour shooter is all lovely in my eyes.

Give it a go if you enjoy the movies. Its on Switch as well.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

@mattavelle1
I'm kinda surprised EA doesn't do remasters/re-releases. You'd think, being EA, they'd be down for a quick buck re-selling fan favorites. I wasn't super hot on 2, but shit if Dead Space ain't fantastic. If my PS3 didn't bite the dust I'd seriously consider giving it another go.

@sjmartin79
Having a movie on Zoom is pretty unique. I'm a bit of a wuss when it comes to haunted house movies, I guess watching Poltergeist at a young age would do that to anyone. I was way to young for that clown and watching a man rip his own face off.

 

[sjmartin79]

I finished up the Ghostbusters game. It was my first time playing through it and minus 3 or 4 encounters, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was nice basically having a Ghostbusters 3. Since it is a game that came out decades after 2, it's part fan service part direct sequel to 1. The opening level is the hotel where you end up fighting Stay Puft, but it's all in good fun.

And fun it is. Using all the gadgets was pretty great. It also makes me feel almost nostalgic for the PS360 era of games. It's a relatively standard over the shoulder 3rd person shooter but obviously in the Ghostbusters skin. Everything from linear levels to the occasional janky physics where you can bust open barrels or debris by simply walking into it. I know during the 7th gen people grew sick of linear shooters, but after a gen of cookie cutter open world games and Live Service microtransaction fests, playing a straight forward 8 hour shooter is all lovely in my eyes.

Give it a go if you enjoy the movies. Its on Switch as well.

I played it on Wii, and I absolutely loved it. Was it perfect? No. But the nostalgia and the fun of it outweighed any issues for me.
I thought about getting it on Switch to play again.

 

[sjmartin79]

This weekend, we did a lot of horror movies. But I won't dump them all on you at once.

First up, was "The Owners" on Hulu.

I thought it might be like "Don't Breathe", which I loved, but this movie was uniquely its own.
Just when I thought I had an idea where it was going or what kind of movie it was, it would change on me.

 

[Karkashan]

I've been playing a lot of Dead By Daylight, if that counts.

Also tried out Phasmophobia, a cooperative ghost hunter game (I'm limited in my options since I'm mute but I still had a scary fun time). Ghosts don't believe in socially distanced jump scares and it shook me.

 

[sjmartin79]

Over the weekend, we also watched "The Wretched" on Hulu. Hulu has a lot of great horror movies.

This one was okay. It's a fun "body snatcher"/head game movie. Won't ever win any awards, but it's not bad at all.
Acting was good. And though it combined things from other horror movies before it, it did feel original enough to stand on its own.

 

[sjmartin79]

Hello again!

This week on my podcast "A Lifetime of Happiness on the Suncoast" - where we usually talk about all the great things going on in our area of FL - we take a deep dive into the 1978 slasher "Halloween", which happens to be my favorite horror movie.

We do a deep dive into the mythology, the sequels, Final Girls, the representation of evil, and our own personal memories of the movie series.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/735197/5777158-a-lifetime-of-halloween

 

[sjmartin79]

So we watched "Color Out of Space" on Shudder. (I love Shudder)

After a meteorite lands in the front yard of their farm, Nathan Gardner and his family find themselves battling a mutant extraterrestrial organism that infects their minds and bodies, transforming their quiet rural life into a technicolor nightmare.

There were parts of it that were excellent - especially the cinematography. But there were parts that were not good and cringy.
A good bit of that I blame on Nick Cage.
In the end, I'm glad we watched it, but I doubt it will ever be a repeat viewing.

 

[sjmartin79]

Next up was "1BR" (meaning 1 Bedroom)

New to Los Angeles, a woman moves into a seemingly perfect apartment complex, and soon finds out that there are consequences for breaking the rules.

This one I liked a lot. There are some squeamish parts that tend toward the "torture porn" genre of horror. But the acting was excellent, and the story made you think. What would you be willing to accept to live in a "utopia"? I enjoy movies that dive into moralistic questions without being preachy about it.

 

[sjmartin79]

Last night was all about feel-good Halloween, and that meant it was "Happy Halloween Scooby Doo!"

It combines 3 of my favorite things - Halloween, Scooby Doo, and Elvira - Mistress of the Dark!
I've always been a fan of Scooby, going back to "Scooby Doo, Where Are You?", and that love has continued.
Also, I love my some Elvira. She's campy, snarky, and just wonderful.

This was a lot of fun, and definitely put a smile on my face.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Started playing Little Nightmares. So far it's pretty good but some sections are pretty trial and error-y. Sometimes you can hide in a dark corner, sometimes you can't. Sometimes it's a bit hard to determine if it's a set piece or an actual threat. One section has you holding onto meat hooks as they move about the environment, the enemies spot you and try to grab you but their arms are too short to actually do so. In the next room the conveyor system goes slightly into the background, but depth perception is a bit of a problem in this game, so I thought the whole ride would be "look how frustrated these monsters are as you make your escape", but nah he grabbed me. Nothing frustrating most of the times though.

Also started my re-read of Dracula. For a book written in 1897, it gets away with a lot. I remember hearing how the Universal movies in the 1930's had to be censored because of a scene of someone drugging Frankenstein's monster with a needle. That scene had to be cut. Meanwhile here's Bram Stoker writing about Dracula throwing his brides a bag with a child in it so they can feed on it, then the mother getting torn apart by wolves. Jaysus.

It's a great book though. The suspense, the characters, and in this age where everyone knows what vampires are, the dramatic irony. Characters say something as en expression, which turns out is true but they don't know it yet. Still one of if not my absolute favorite book.

 

[sjmartin79]

We've been absolutely in love with "Lovecraft Country" on HBO.

It blends the sci-fi with civil rights America in the 1960s and includes real life people and events from that time.
The storytelling is compelling. The acting is superb, and the special effects are great.
If you have an HBO account, this is a must watch.
Definitely has surpassed True Blood in the gore and blood department.

 

[sjmartin79]

Last night was "The Rental"

Two couples on an oceanside getaway grow suspicious that the host of their seemingly perfect rental house may be spying on them. Before long, what should have been a celebratory weekend trip turns into something far more sinister.

This is a movie I'm conflicted on. The acting was good. But most of the characters were not that likeable. And it seemed like more of the trouble was interpersonal and pre-existing and had very little to do with the AirBnB host. So, while it had it's good parts and good story beats, I almost think it had too much going on to be as cohesive as it needed to be.

 

[EvilTw1n]

I've been (finally) watching season one of American Horror Story. It's been pretty darn good...up to the Halloween episode. It kinda shifted at that point to a "I'm more interested in making you dislike this character instead of telling you a ghost story"-thing. Still good, but just not as strong. Three episodes left, so I'll see if they stick the landing.

Watched some cult horror movies on Tubi (free streaming app). I have no idea how "Madman" ever got the word "classic" associated with, but...what do I know? "Black Christmas" (the original) shows promise, but I keep falling asleep before I finish it.

"Train to Busan" is pretty great...as far as zombie movies go, at least.

Next up was "1BR" (meaning 1 Bedroom)

New to Los Angeles, a woman moves into a seemingly perfect apartment complex, and soon finds out that there are consequences for breaking the rules.

This one I liked a lot. There are some squeamish parts that tend toward the "torture porn" genre of horror. But the acting was excellent, and the story made you think. What would you be willing to accept to live in a "utopia"? I enjoy movies that dive into moralistic questions without being preachy about it.

I dug this one, but it was not at all what I expected.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Watched some cult horror movies on Tubi (free streaming app). I have no idea how "Madman" ever got the word "classic" associated with, but...what do I know? .

Madman is only a classic in the same way Friday Part 8 is a classic, if you really like fun garbage

 

[Juegos]

I haven't had time to watch movies (other than Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, which is still phenomenal) because I've been on a Frictional Games binge.

At first I had only intended to replay Amnesia but when I found out that a third game in the series, Amnesia: Rebirth, was coming out this month (this next Tuesday 20th) I decided to also replay the two Penumbra games I had played back in my early PC days. Then that led me to play the third Penumbra game as well as a fan sequel, Penumbra: Necrologue, which uses the Amnesia engine. Then I figured I might as well finish Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, and also replay Soma. Some quick notes on all these, ordered by their release date:

Penumbra: Overture - This might seem like an inconsequential "pre-Amnesia" horror game if you're only looking at the series within the context of the developers body of work, but actually what makes it notable is that it's an early example of the now-abundant stealth-horror genre. Looking around briefly, the only other stealth-horror games I could find that predate Penumbra are Call of Cthulhu (2005), Haunting Ground (2005), and a Korean game called White Day (2001). Even among those, Penumbra stands out due to the interactivity possible with the environment, a cue likely taken from Half-Life 2. This includes having to physically open doors and shelves, operate levers, lift rocks, push boxes, and so on. In addition, this game also features many puzzle-filled maze-like levels where enemies roam, a staple of all their future games and part of what makes their games scary, as you are forced to keep moving in order to solve puzzles while trying to avoid enemies.

Penumbra: Black Plague - this basically works as the second half of the Penumbra storyline. The gameplay is also a little different by totally removing the player's ability to fight using melee weapons while also introducing a new enemy that actively looks for you and gives chase at full speed, reinforcing the necessity for using stealth and distractions. Both of these games only make sense when played together. Playing without playing the other is totally like playing only half of a normal game, in the sense that you're not only experiencing half a story, but half the mechanics and characters. It's not a case of 1 + 1 = 2, but rather 0.5 + 0.5 = 1.

Penumbra: Requiem - This is an expansion to Black Plague that consists entirely of physics-based puzzles. Completely skippable and adds nothing of worth to the series.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent - This is the one that put Frictional Games on the map, together with a number of now-popular Twitch streamers. The thing is, on a first playthrough, this game really is absolutely terrifying. It doesn't really do much that's new compared to the Penumbra games, mechanically, but I believe it was carried to notoriety by Frictional Games' improved storytelling and ability to weave many of our fears, like fear of darkness, closed spaces, insanity, etc, into the gameplay.

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs - This one is actually not made by Frictional Games, rather by The Chinese Room, makers of Dear Esther. As such, it lacks most of the actual gameplay mechanics of those made by Frictional Games, but maintains the lore and general aesthetic of the previous Amnesia. I hadn't finished it because I had been disappointed by the lack of gameplay when it was first released, but when I restarted it again last week I loved it immediately. I think because I already knew what to expect, I was able to focus on the aesthetic and the narrative and found that the game is actually quite good at that.

It will take me a little longer to write about Soma but hopefully I'll have done that tomorrow.

 

[mattavelle1]

Thinkin bout this since I read another user add it to there list.

Would y’all consider Bayonetta to be a “Halloween” game or a “spooky” game. Speakin about the Witch / Angels / Demon aspects?

 

[Juegos]

Thinkin bout this since I read another user add it to there list.

Would y’all consider Bayonetta to be a “Halloween” game or a “spooky” game. Speakin about the Witch / Angels / Demon aspects?

Totally imo. It's not a scary game but neither is Halloween. But it's got the sexy witches and the costumes, and that's really all you need. We should have been getting Bayo 3 this month if Platinum Games was ready.

 

[mattavelle1]

Totally imo. It's not a scary game but neither is Halloween. But it's got the sexy witches and the costumes, and that's really all you need. We should have been getting Bayo 3 this month if Platinum Games was ready.

Yeah I’m feelin this post fo sho!

 

[sjmartin79]

This weekend, we watched "The Villains"

This is a fun movie. Not a great one, but a fun one. One of those that doesn't go where you think it will.
Kyra Sedgwick chews the scenery in the best way. Her performance is spectacularly over-the-top.

We also watched "The Sandman" starring Haley Duff. The less said about that, the better.

 

[Karkashan]

Playing so much Dead by Daylight put me in the mood to watch Halloween 1 and 2. Good movies but good lord they stretch the buildup almost to the breaking point.

edit: Thought why the hell not and watched Remake and 2018 as well. Remake is a bit too gory (yes, I know, slasher) and the side characters/victims are a bit too cartoony and don't feel real. 2018 is pretty good and had good production values but I think I prefer the original sequel.

also didn't plan it that way but the 19th was Myer's Birthday, it turns out lol.

 

[sjmartin79]

Last night, we also watched "Halloween", but the 2018 sequel. We watched the original 1978 one last week before we did our podcast on the Halloween franchise. (It's my favorite)

I love the 2018 version so much. It finally gives a look at PTSD for the Final Girl, how one horribly traumatic event can mess someone up for life. Michael was brutal in this film, but stayed very true to who Michael is. Though Laurie was a shell of her former self, she still had the original Laurie in there, like when commenting that she too was in the National Honor Society. Laurie was a girl that was on her way to being valedictorian with a bright future before that fateful night.

The acting and direction were great. One thing I love about this versus the RZ remakes is that the teens feel like real teens, and they are still teens you root for and are mostly sad to see die. In the RZ remakes, all the people are horrible with zero redeeming qualities, even Laurie.

Can't wait for Halloween Kills next year!

 

[Karkashan]

Last night, we also watched "Halloween", but the 2018 sequel. We watched the original 1978 one last week before we did our podcast on the Halloween franchise. (It's my favorite)



I love the 2018 version so much. It finally gives a look at PTSD for the Final Girl, how one horribly traumatic event can mess someone up for life. Michael was brutal in this film, but stayed very true to who Michael is. Though Laurie was a shell of her former self, she still had the original Laurie in there, like when commenting that she too was in the National Honor Society. Laurie was a girl that was on her way to being valedictorian with a bright future before that fateful night.

The acting and direction were great. One thing I love about this versus the RZ remakes is that the teens feel like real teens, and they are still teens you root for and are mostly sad to see die. In the RZ remakes, all the people are horrible with zero redeeming qualities, even Laurie.

Can't wait for Halloween Kills next year!

I think H20 did that as well but I've only ever since that on TV, and that was over a decade ago.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

I watched Halloween in theater last night. I believe I saw it last year in theater too, but either way it's still great. It's the only one I ever seen. I'm not a fan of RZ so I have no interest in those. I am curious about the 2018 one though.

I also finished Dracula last week. I still love it, but there's a few things that jumped out at me. Spoilers for a 123 year old novel I suppose. A big section of the book deals with Lucy slowly dying from Dracula, so they document how she dies, i.e. growing more pale, sleeps a lot, etc. So when the same thing happens to Mina, no one bats an eye. They even know early on that Dracula owns the house literally next door, and the insane patient Renfield even goes there and shouts out "lord and master". But later on they act surprise that Dracula talks to him, and even more shocked when they find him in Mina's room. It's not a huge deal, but still.

There's also a few too many scenes where someone says something, so everyone starts crying. Gets a bit tiring. Lastly, it is a bit confusing how vampirism works. Dracula feeds off Mina a few times, and gets her to drink his own blood, but when they make him flee London they say once Mina dies for whatever reason, she'll become a vampire. Fast forward a few weeks and she slowly becomes one anyways.

Again, nothing major, but I guess it's just little things you can't help but pick up on after a third read.

 

[sjmartin79]

I think H20 did that as well but I've only ever since that on TV, and that was over a decade ago.

Agreed. H20 did it really well also. They went with the "Trauma has made me an alcoholic neurotic". I loved that version of her as well. Super over-protective.

 

[sjmartin79]

This weekend, we watched the remake of "The Witches".

I enjoy the original, because Angelica Houston was outstanding. But I feel this new one was the superior film. The pacing was better. While there is no denying that Jim Henson's practical effects in the original are wonderful, the special effects in this made it better. Anne Hathaway made the character her own. The acting overall was better in the new one as well.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Finished up Little Nightmares after stopping for awhile. It's mostly good and I recommend it. Sometimes things can be a bit unclear or the rules change. One enemy for example is blind and can usually hear or smell you as you get close. One section you need to walk on cloth to muffle your foot steps, take one step on the wooden floor and he'll come running. Fast forward a few rooms and suddenly you can walk on the wooden floor no sweat and now you have to avoid chunks of coal that break under your feet. I don't think he can even smell you this time.

So while it can be a bit trial and error-y, it's still a good time overall. I sort lump it together with games like Alice: Madness Returns where it's worth checking out for the art style and design more than anything. As a game it's a puzzle platformer with some physics based gameplay. Your character is no Mario in their weight and jump height. The puzzles are intelligent without being too cryptic so it made me feel like a smart boy-o sometimes.

This complete edition also came with the three DLC levels, which I think I enjoyed more than the base game.

There's a sequel coming out in February that I was gonna wait on as well, then I watched the newest trailer that came out a few day ago and hot shit it looks so good.

 

[sjmartin79]

Last night we watched "The Craft", because I want to watch the quasi sequel "The Craft: Legacy" this weekend.

After 20+ years, The Craft is still a fun movie. I'll always be shocked that Fairuza Balk never became a bigger star.
The weakest actress in the group is the lead, Robin Tunney. In some places she's great, but in others she feels flat and affected.

We also watched "Trick 'r Treat", which is one of my favorite Halloween movies. I love the way they weave all the stories together. Beautifully done. Well-acted. The aesthetics of the whole thing are spot-on.

We watch horror movies a lot on a regular basis, so this trend will continue after Halloween is over.

Tonight, I have to finish the last touches for my costume for work tomorrow.

 

[EvilTw1n]

-Finished American Horror Story (season one). Pretty good. One twist I didn't see coming, at least. I want to like the ending (because it really does work), but it seems a little too neat for me.

-Host is...ok? As a proof of concept, it's impressive. I think it's probably a little too Blair Witch; I can't imagine it standing up well on repeat viewings.

Last night, we also watched "Halloween", but the 2018 sequel. We watched the original 1978 one last week before we did our podcast on the Halloween franchise. (It's my favorite)

I love the 2018 version so much. It finally gives a look at PTSD for the Final Girl, how one horribly traumatic event can mess someone up for life. Michael was brutal in this film, but stayed very true to who Michael is. Though Laurie was a shell of her former self, she still had the original Laurie in there, like when commenting that she too was in the National Honor Society. Laurie was a girl that was on her way to being valedictorian with a bright future before that fateful night.

The acting and direction were great. One thing I love about this versus the RZ remakes is that the teens feel like real teens, and they are still teens you root for and are mostly sad to see die. In the RZ remakes, all the people are horrible with zero redeeming qualities, even Laurie.

Can't wait for Halloween Kills next year!

I agreed to watch this two nights ago, and I was stunned. It's damn near perfect. Keeps the gore to a minimum, and ups the suspense at all the right places.

i avoided this one because I was kinda pissed that they retconned every other sequel out of continuity, but...when it's *this* much better than the rest? (Part 2 and H20, aside.) Sign me up. We'll need a 2021 Halloween thread here just to discuss the next one.