True to the horror icon's spirit, John Carpenter introduces his "first and last appearance on Funny or Die" with a very special Halloween spoof that combines Charlie Brown and All Hallow’s Eve. Entitled "Charlie Brown: Blockhead's Revenge", Carpenter calls the short "Terrifying, terrifyingly disappointing."
What do I like? Well, Randy pretty much stands in for all us horror/movie fans who are obsessed with the films we watch again and again. And we are all nodding and agreeing with him, for the most part, when he lists his rules. In this scene, the movie not only addresses horror movie cliches, but it also honors the films that have come before.
And hey, the original Halloween is playing on the TV set the entire time!
What's not to love about that?
First off, the acting, writing and directing in this scene is just superb.
All brought their best, and it shows. The dialogue between Norman and Marion is so polite, but also so subtle in its hidden meaning. Norman pretty much spills the truth right here about mother, that she is just like one of his stuffed birds. And he gets riled up at the mention of putting mother in a madhouse. We truly get to see just how unhinged he is. Too bad Marion didn't take the hint and hit the road!
Great Scene #4 is from the beginning of the 1968 George Romero classic,
Night of the Living Dead.
What do I love? Well, the line from Johnny to his sister is a classic, of course: "They're coming to get you, Barbara!" Simple line, but sends shivers down my spine still.
And the fact that the zombie is already there, in the background of the scene, ever so slowly making his way closer and closer to the siblings. Quite creepy!
This zombie is played perfectly, I think. He almost tip-toes on his feet as he stumbles around, like walking is no longer something he does well or with thought. And the way he fights Johnny and attacks the car with Barbara inside. Just not very human-like in his actions, making it unnerving.
We know, from this scene on, that things are never going to be the same in this world.
For the third Great Scene we go to the true classic,
my favorite film, John Carpenter's Halloween.
What do I like? Well, at this point in the film, we know Michael has escaped. Now we meet Laurie, the sweet, innocent teen walking to school and stopping to run a simple errand for her father. We also meet little Tommy, eager about Halloween and nervous about the old Myers house. And we almost see Michael as he watches them, barely hidden. Very creepy!
I love the subtlety here. And how Michael just chooses Laurie and Tommy to stalk because they just happen to be the ones outside his house that morning.
Remember, Laurie wasn't turned into Michael's sister until Part 2!
Here, it is all just random coincidence.
when Laurie and Michael come face-to-face again after so many years.
What do I like here? Well, to start, the tension and suspense is great, with Michael in pursuit of the teens, especially the bit where they are trying to get into the courtyard foyer as Michael slowly advances on them. Molly struggles with the keys and John has been stabbed by Michael, which is quite the homage to the first film, where Laurie had been stabbed and was desperately trying to get back into the Doyle's house as Michael slowly crossed the street.
And then Michael and Laurie come face-to-face,
with just a single pane of glass separating them. Chilling.
The one problem I have is the mask Michael wears in this film. It has too much of an "evil expression" on it. I wish they had gone with a simpler mask, like he wore in parts 1 and 2.
Anyway, a great scene that was much anticipated and which delivered on the tension.
Great Scenes will feature scenes from films I like.
Now, the films they come from might not be Oscar-worthy,
but why hold that against them?
Sometimes, good entertainment is found in strange places.
Anyway, to kick off the first Great Scenes, here is the opening to Jeepers Creepers 2.
Yeah, I know, not the best movie, but it is an okay way to spend some time.
The Creeper is a great horror movie villain, I think, and I'd like to see a part 3, eventually.
What do I love here? Well, to start, the Creeper hiding out in plain sight as a scarecrow? Scary! And then he snatches up the kid and off he goes into the wild, blue... er, gold yonder. Not many mainstream films follow through with something like this, but much like the end of part 1, they don't hold back here. And it sets up the rest of the film, the pursuit of the Creeper by the boy's brother and father. Definitely the better part of the rest of the movie.
Any scenes you'd like to see spotlighted here? Let me know!
I loved the horror movie countdown specials from a few years back that aired on Bravo, The 100 Scariest Movie Moments. It was followed up by 30 Even Scarier Movie Moments and then 13 Scarier Movie Moments. I wish it was airing somewhere this year, but many of these can be found on YouTube.
I also found this special on YouTube, one I had not seen before, which appears to pre-date the US versions. Maybe this was the inspiration for them?
From the UK, this is 100 Greatest Scary Moments, from 2003.
My all-time favorite movie, of any genre, is John Carpenter's Halloween from 1978.
Just love this film, never fails to entertain me, to unnerve me, to impress me.
Instead of writing more on it, I just wanted to share some interesting art I have come across over the years, pieces based on the film, the characters or scenes.
I decided to share some favorite horror movie opening scenes today.
~WARNING~
If you don't care for horror films, skip these!
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
Such a love of Autumn and Halloween here. Just great.
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Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
Effectively creepy recap of the saga up to that point.
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Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later
This is the credit sequence after the opening scene, but I love the fact that this not only captures the essence of the films with the theme, but it recaps the story, the characters and explains what became of Dr. Loomis. Quite an opening!
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Halloween III: Season of the Witch
This opening grabs you from the get-go, telling you this is going to be a different Halloween movie than any you have seen before. And they aren't kidding!
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Spider Baby
Lon Chaney Jr. narrating in a spoken-word style to the opening theme
with the credits and illustrations of the characters. Fun stuff!
