Halloween is Coming!

Been battling a cold the last few days, so haven't been very inspired to write. 

For today, I will take a cue from my banner above,

and share what I have been reading, writing, watching, listening to or doing lately.

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Reading:

Currently reading the novelization of Halloween, by Curtis Richards.

Most of the book follows the movie plot, but there are some differences,

and some of them are jarring. I will do a post on how the book differs in the future.

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Writing:

The only writing I have been doing is the blog posts for the Halloween Countdown.

Not sure I will participate in this year's NaNoWriMo.

Busy couple of months ahead and not sure I can fit that in, too.

Are you going to take part?

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Watching:

I have been watching lots of horror films and Halloween specials

Some of the movies I have seen recently include:

Always great and always disturbing.

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A very early slasher film, to me.

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Fun and silly and wonderful.

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Never watched til this year and I loved it!

Fun and funny!

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Been watching this on Syfy and enjoying it.

Love seeing the weird items he comes across.

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Of course, most of my time is spent with AMC's FearFest.

Watched the Friday the 13th and Halloween marathons,

always like watching these, reminds me of when the films

were on TV and you had a sort of shared experience.

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Listening:

Mostly listening to the movies as they play,

but I also have spent some time listening to my huge

Halloween playlist on iTunes.

One version of John Carpenter's classic Halloween theme I enjoy



Love the child's voice-over of the Halloween season poem!
If you love the theme, listen to this version and tell me what you think.

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Doing:

Besides fighting a cold/flu illness this week,

I have been working on some Halloween plastic canvas crafts.

Working a pair of eyeballs that I will post when finished.

Also doing some Jason Voorhees items for a commission.

Woohoo!

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So, what have you been up to?

Halloween Re-Release Trailer

As you may or may not know,

John Carpenter's Halloween is being re-released

in theaters for a brief run at the end of October.

A trailer for this event debuted yesterday. Enjoy!

I am still hoping a theater nearby decides to take part,

I so want to see this on the big screen again, and the documentary as well!

To see if this is playing near you, go here: Screenvision - Halloween

60 Second Halloween Remake

From Dread Central:

"In response to a radio station film festival,

Darren Jones went out and spent four days acting, filming, directing,

composing and doing everything necessary to create a 60 second version of

John Carpenter's iconic film, Halloween. Check it out."

Looks like the voting is closed for now, but click over to

 Vancouver's Virgin Radio 95.3's Fake Film Festival website

When Carpenter Met Brown

How awesome is this?

Charlie Brown: Blockhead's Revenge from Dylan OBrien

From Bloody Disgusting:

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."

Great Scenes #3 - Halloween

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.

Very scary.

Halloween (1978) - Watch Now!

Had to post this right now!

John Carpenter's Halloween - the classic - is available to watch right now on Hulu - for free!

And I am embedding it below. Not sure how long it will be up, so watch while you can.

My favorite movie airing here on my little blog? Awesome!

Enjoy!

Halloween/Michael Myers Art

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.

Enjoy!

Nathan Thomas Milliner

Nathan Thomas Milliner

Nathan Thomas Milliner

Dirty Ape Laurie Strode

~slave2moonlight

Nik Holmes

Nik Holmes

*Montygog

Dave Lowe - ParaAbnormal

Sean Hartter

If anyone knows the artist or site for any pic I have no credit for,

please let me know in the comments.

Halloween Month Begins!

Today is October 1st - The beginning of Halloween Month!

I am taking part in The Countdown to Halloween. Go to the site to see the many great blogs participating with their own Halloween-themed content all month long!

I will be posting Halloween or horror posts each day. At least, that's the plan!

So, enjoy, have a great Autumn and a Happy Halloween season!

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The video below is supposedly real audio from a 1978 showing of Halloween, when the movie first came out, synced up with the scenes from the end of the film.

Now, I don't know if that is real or not. But it does seem to be the type of reaction the audience would have had to the film, regardless.



And hell, I still get chills watching this. Unlike almost any other, I have never been desensitized to this movie. It gets me now like it did way back when. True classic.

Day 31: Favorite horror movie of all

Halloween.

Was there ever any doubt?

Was a fun challenge!
Hope you enjoyed it, too!

Day 25: Excellent use of soundtrack

Always back the great Halloween.



The music adds so much to this film. Empty hallways and deserted staircases take on a whole new level of eeriness when the Halloween music is playing.

Halloween: The Inside Story Previews

Halloween Addict.com has a great interview up with Phil Nobile, the writer/director behind the upcoming Biography Channel special Halloween: The Inside Story.

Halloween Addict also mentioned some preview videos for the special available to watch on the Biography Channel site. Here are the links for those previews:

Halloween: Inside Story - Preview

Halloween: Inside Story - The Sequels

Halloween: Inside Story - Halloween II

Halloween: Inside Story - The Pitch

Halloween: The Inside Story airs on Bio, The Biography Channel
on October 25th at 9PM ET/8PM CT/10PM PT

Sorry for the lack of embedded videos, but Blogger seems to be suffering some sort of malady in that regard.

Day Two: Favorite Movie

Day Two: Favorite Movie

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Halloween (1978)



I love this movie, can watch it again and again and afterwards, I still feel unsettled and creeped out.

I wrote a longer piece on it during Halloween Month here, so please click there for more on why Halloween is my favorite movie.

new H2 pic... hmmm

Okay, so I haven't been excited about "Rob Zombie's H2: Halloween 2" or whatever it is being called. His "Halloween" remake didn't thrill me, it was too much. Too much back story, which I didn't think we really needed. Too much "kid Michael Myers". And too much gore. And believe me, I have enjoyed plenty of gory films, but it just didn't seem needed in a "Halloween" film.

Recently there has been talk of Michael going mask-less for much of the movie, mainly due to the shot of a bearded Tyler Mane sans mask that looked to be a scene from the film.

But, Zombie has said "Well, the truth is the movie is just now being edited so the exact percentage of mask wearing is unclear at this point. But fear not, Michael is seen wearing the mask as much if not more than you've ever seen him wearing a mask in any Halloween film. As seen below. Enjoy."

He also just released the following pic:



I like this one. Michael looks beaten and battered, yet still standing and damn creepy. The hood might seem kind of emo, but if the mask is so badly ruined (not to mention his head wounds), then it makes sense to cover it to draw less attention to himself. Although, that might be a moot point cause, really, look at him!

Anyway... I keep thinking maybe I am too much of a fan of the original film that my judgement is clouded on Zombie's take on the whole thing. "John Carpenter's Halloween" is my all-time favorite movie, and I guess it is just hard to see something that is, to me, the polar-opposite.

I will give his new film a chance, though. And before I see it, I will rewatch his "Halloween" again. Maybe a fresh look will let me see it differently.