The Movies

CANDYMAN

SCOOBY-DOO ON ZOMBIE ISLAND

QUEENS OF THE DEAD

Vampires can't be confined to just one day! Buffy may be the vampire slayer, but Count Dracula is the vampire layer. We're talking Christopher Lee in Terence Fisher's DRACULA, released in 1958.This is part of Hammer Studios' revitalizing of the classic Universal Monsters. But now, we have color popping, we have blood spurting, cleavage bursting. In the words of Wooderson: "Alright, alright, alright." This is a more lurid, sensual take on the Universal Monsters; I must imagine audiences at the time responded to these takes as their own kind of exploitation films.But when you've got powerhouse actors such as Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in the mix, there's no way you can dismiss these movies as mere "exploitation." This movie, streamlined by Jimmy Sangster's adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel, carries itself lean and mean, full of vampires and hunters who don't fuck around. It's a classic for a reason.---Follow The Movies on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Throw a couple dollars in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tip jar!

When the calendar flips to October 1st, I feel a tingle in my sweet tooth. The 31 Days of Halloween have arrived! That means a whole month dedicated to horror (as if this podcast were deprived of it).As I started last year's series with DRACULA (1931), I figured I'd keep the vampire theme and kick off 2026 with 1992's BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, directed by Fran Rubel Kuzui.This predates Sarah Michelle Gellar, Willow and Spike, writer Joss Whedon's first bite at the apple. While the series would adopt a darker blend of horror, comedy and teenage drama, the movie is more decidedly a comedy, a choice Kuzui made to both Whedon and 20th Century Fox's chagrin.However, this approach, for me, works. Kristy Swanson's Valley Girl Buffy clashes hilariously with Donald Sutherland's devoted, if still a tad unhinged, vampire-slaying mentor Merrick. Gimme the neon highlighter costuming blended with saturated Hammer-style gothic vampirism. Gimme montages where Buffy clumsily, yet passionately learns how to spar, climb ropes, flip and kick. (The amount of tumbling in this joint puts GYMKATA to shame.)Add in Rutger Hauer as a violin-playing mustachioed vampire king and Paul Ruebens (deliberately resembling his mugshot after an incident of indecent exposure at a Sarasota movie theater) delivering the greatest mockery of a death scene ever put to film and I get a movie that's difficult to take seriously but never as so to love.---Follow The Movies on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Throw a couple dollars in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tip jar!

How else could I end this series? Seriously, how? What spooky season is complete without a rewatch of John Carpenter's "absolute classic" HALLOWEEN?Leave it to a master to skewer the myth of suburban safety. Horror isn't relegated to the cannibal-owned homes of rural Texas nor the decaying castles of Eastern Europe. Michael Myers came from a suburban American family, raised in a community resembling many of ours. Same schools, same culture. Michael Myers is one of us. He IS us.This wasn't a bullied revenger nor a teenage Manson acolyte. He was a first-grader.And yet, he stabbed his sister to death with a kitchen knife. Why? The movie never says. And even if Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasance) spent the opening car ride to the sanitarium dictating a thesis to the nurse, would we really accept his clean-cut answer? When schoolchildren are gunned down, do we believe the reasons told to us by the news? I don't ask if we understand them. Do we believe them?I think evil is something primal, locked away in the recesses of our consciousness, unable to be fully understood. As much as humanity would like to have a grip on its impulses and provide explanations for every behavior, we're simply not there yet. And what Michael Myers reveals is the harrowing truth: evil is baked in. Any one of us has the capacity for terrible things. It's foolhardy and dangerous to walk around the Earth as if it isn't true. The great storytellers tell us the truth, as difficult as it may be to hear. John Carpenter and Debra Hill are two of the greats.---Follow The Movies on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Throw a couple dollars in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tip jar!

TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID is set in Mexico, its characters directly impacted by cartel violence. Writer-director Issa López doesn't shy away from the truth: her leads are children and they are not impervious to such violence.A shocking---Follow The Movies on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Throw a couple dollars in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tip jar!

Seriously, how could I possibly wrap up this 2025 edition of the 31 Days of Halloween without talking about 2025's DEFINING horror flick? To have a filmography that includes FRUITVALE STATION, CREED and BLACK PANTHER and have SINNERS still be the best work is a testament to how gifted a director Ryan Coogler is.Vampires, blues, sweaty sexy bodies, the endlessly frustrating phenomenon of trying to create something that betters one's community within a social stratification designed to belittle and oppress. What fucking more could you ask for in a movie?---Follow The Movies on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Throw a couple dollars in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tip jar!

ↃL⊥\\Ↄ—\\ᘰ: •ↃↃ ᒕ•Ω⨀, ⊥L ⨪LL---Follow The Movies on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Throw a couple dollars in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tip jar!

RED ROOMS is not about a child murderer. RED ROOMS is not about his trial, wherein I learn he livestreamed these murders on the dark web for money. RED ROOMS isn't even about the wailing of one of the victims' mothers, who runs out of the room after video evidence is shown to the jury.RED ROOMS is about a young woman with no connection to the killer, the victims nor their families. She's nobody and somehow, everybody: a groupie, an investigator, a bystander, a protege?Kelly-Anne (Juliette Gariépy) is a woman who longs for the New Wild West of digital life. Beyond the post-"dot com" bubble and tech oligarchy lies the unrestricted promises of cryptocurrency, decentralized servers, hacking so sophisticated that no information nor content lies out of reach. Digital life is the ultimate power fantasy, free of the constraints of time and resources.---Follow The Movies on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Throw a couple dollars in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tip jar!