Another Halloween has come and gone and with it, another Horrorthon. We hope you have had a wonderful October and that you’re November brings you much to be thankful for!
And remember, just because you didn’t see the Great Pumpkin this year, doesn’t mean that he won’t be there for you next October. I think Linus can explain it best:
To all of our readers and from all of your friends at the Shattered Lens, thank you.
And with Halloween and the annual horrorthon nearly completed, how about one last AMV for the month of October?
Anime: Another, Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu, Tokyo Ghoul, School Days, Ib Witch House and Mad Father, Shiki, Elfen Lied, Hell Girl. Umineko No Naku Koro Ni, Corpse Party, Happy Sugar Life, Gakkou Gurashi ,Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni, The Promised Neverland, Mononoke
Song: Monster (Meg and Dia)
Creator: グリッチュ
(As always, please consider subscribing to this creator’s YouTube channel!)
Past AMVs of the Day
Well, that’s it! Another horrorthon draws to a close! This was our biggest horror month ever! Thank you to everyone who contributed and a special thank you to everyone who read and commented!
Here’s what I did this week:
Films I Watched:
Television Shows I Watched:
Books I Read:
Music To Which I Listened:
Trailers:
Live Tweets:
News From Last Week:
Links From Last Week:
Links From The Site:
(Yes, this is going to take a while)
More From Us:
Want to check out last week? Click here!
With horrorthon coming to a close for another year, I figured why not allow Conal Cochran to get in a word or two.
This is from Halloween III: Season of the Witch. Playing Conal Cochran, of course, is the great Dan O’Herlihy.
We hope you’ve all had a wonderful Halloween.
Happy Halloween!
Well, October is our biggest month of the year at the Shattered Lens. We spend 30 days waiting for Halloween and then when it arrives, it’s always a little hard to know how to react. I watched several horror movies. Val watched some movies about Arsene Lupin. Leonard reviewed a few movies. Case has got his super cool sick voice going. Jeff watched a documentary on mummies. Erin is watching the World Series.
Here’s a little of what Halloween was like here at the Shattered Lens:
That #704 means that Val has watched nearly a hundred more movies than I have this year I’m running behind! What have I been doing that’s been taking me away from my first love of movies?
Agck!
By this point, I was watching Psycho on TCM.
All in all, it’s been a good October here at the Shattered Lens. So, from our family to yours, Happy Halloween and to all a good night!
Well, with Horrorthon coming to a close, it’s time to share one final episode of Friday the 13th: The Series. Coven of Witches is the final episode of the second season. The third season would see John D. LeMay leave the show and Steven Monarque taking his place as Robey’s main co-star. So, this is perhaps the last classic episode of Friday the 13th: The Series.
I’ve really enjoyed sharing this series here on the Shattered Lens. In November, I’m going to sit down and the binge the entire show. Every episode is on YouTube, for anyone else who may want to catch up on it.
This episode originally aired on June 17th, 1989.
Have you ever wanted to enroll in a private school so that you could investigate a murder and maybe uncover some sort of occult conspiracy? Sure, we all have! Well, don’t worry …. there’s a place for you! Welcome to Salem Academy, an exclusive all-girl’s college where students learn all the basic subjects, along with taking courses in art and human sacrifice!
Salem Academy is overseen by the feared and intimidating Mrs. Williams (Jo Van Fleet), who keeps a close eye on her students and tries to make sure that they aren’t distracted or corrupted by any outside influences. However, not even Mrs. Williams can keep Martha Sayers (Terry Lumley) from fleeing the school and going to her sister’s house in Los Angeles. When Martha’s sister, Elizabeth (Pamela Franklin), returns home, she discovers that Martha has been hanged. The police say that it was suicide. Elizabeth believes that it’s something else.
So, Elizabeth does what any vengeance-seeking sister would do. Using an assumed name, she enrolls in Salem Academy herself. She meets and befriends three other students (played by Kate Jackson, Jamie Smith Jackson, and Cheryl Ladd). She gets to know two rather suspicious teachers, Prof. Delacroix (Lloyd Bochner) and Dr. Clampett (Roy Thinnes). She also manages to raise the concerns of Mrs. Williams, who doesn’t like the fact that the new girl keeps asking so many questions about why so many students at Salem Academy have died recently.
Still, Elizabeth continues to investigate. Perhaps the secret can be found in a mysterious painting that she comes across, one that appears to be of Martha? Perhaps the teachers and the students know more than they’re telling. But who can Elizabeth trust?
A made-for-television film from 1973, Satan’s School For Girls is frequently as silly as its name. Fortunately, the film, which was produced by Aaron Spelling and directed David Lowell Rich, seems to understand just how ludicrous it is and it totally embraces both the melodrama and the silliness of its plot. This film is totally product of the time in which it was made, from the dialogue to the hairstyles to the fashions to the ending that you’ll see coming from a mile away. At the same time, that’s also why this film is a lot of fun. It’s such a product of its time that it doubles as a time capsule. Do you want to go back to 1973? Well, go over to YouTube and watch Satan’s School For Girls. After you’ve watched it, step outside and ask anyone who the president is and they’ll probably say, “Richard Nixon.” And if you ask them who they’re favorite Brady is, they’ll look at you like your crazy because everyone know that Marcia is the best Brady. If you even have to ask, it’s obvious that you don’t really watch the show. After that, you should probably try to find a way to get back to 2021 before you change the future or something. You know how tricky time travel can be.
As for Satan’s School for Girls, it’s just a really fun movie so check it out and be sure not to be late for class!
Today, after I finished up Halloween, I switched over to MeTV and I watched a Halloween episode of that very 70s series, The Love Boat!
Why Was I Watching It?
A special Halloween episode of the silliest television series ever!? And one featuring Vincent Price as an illusionist!? How couldn’t I watch?
What Was It About?
For the ship’s Halloween cruise, the Amazing Alozno (Vincent Price) has been hired to do his act. He’s quite the illusionist. Through a combination of hypnotism and magic, he transforms the ship into a magical wonderland where people turn into donkeys and the pool briefly appears to be a giant ice cream sundae. But will Alonzo also be able to conjure up love or will he continue to ignore his devoted fiancée and instead, only worry about keeping his fans happy?
Meanwhile, a model (Barbara Anderson) who is recovering from a serious car accident has absolutely no use for illusion. She just wants to stay in her cabin but her friend, who also happens to be the cruise director, demands that she enjoy the cruise.
What Worked?
Vincent Price as an illusionist!? Hell yeah! Okay, the illusions were kind of dumb and never really made sense and the show never actually explained how he could turn Gopher and Doc into donkeys but …. well, isn’t the silliness kind of the point? The important thing is that he was Vincent Price and he appeared to be having time of his life. Good for him!
Barbara Anderson actually gave a pretty good dramatic performance as the model. Admittedly, it did feel a little strange to have this extremely dramatic story playing out beside scenes of Vincent Price turning people into donkeys and transforming the ship’s pool into a giant ice cream sundae but again, I guess that was kind of the appeal of the show. It’s all weird and somehow, it works.
The boat, incidentally, looked really nice. I’m going to take a cruise now.
What Did Not Work?
On the Love Boat, everything works!
“Oh my God! Just like me!” Moments
I could relate to the model and before anyone rolls their eyes, allow me to explain. When I was 19, I was in a pretty serious car accident. The car that I was in flipped over and I basically ended up upside down in the driver’s seat, surrounded by broken glass. Later, I was told that, when people saw the damage the car, they assumed that I had to have died. Instead, I only got a few scrapes, bruises, and cuts. I ended up with two permanent scars — a small one on my hand and then another one on the side of my neck. And for years, I was so self-conscious of that scar on my neck, even though it faded quickly and I now realize it was barely noticeable. I obsessed on it, though, both because I disliked having it and also because it reminded me of a traumatic event. All the angst and worrying that I did about it seems kind of silly now.
Lessons Learned
Love won’t have to hurt anymore. It’s an open smile on a friendly shore.
You have to appreciate a movie that does what it’s poster claims.
Halloween Kills might not be the best film in a 40 year old franchise that branched off into 3 separate storylines, a remake (with a sequel) and an Anthology entry in the middle. Still, it’s so much better than 1995’s Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers and Halloween: Resurrection. It brings the carnage in quick, and despite some missteps, it tries to do some good. However, there’s only so much you can bring to the table with a story that’s gone on for this long. I didn’t outright hate it, but I didn’t see myself returning to it in the way I did with Malignant or Dune, even though it’s available to watch on NBC/Universal’s Peacock streaming service.
Much like 1981’s Halloween II, Halloween Kills takes place just a few minutes right after 2018’s Halloween, with the Strode house burning and Michael believed to be stuck in the basement. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is injured and on her way to the hospital with her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter (Andi Matichak). The town of Haddonfield is attempting to recover from yet another Myers incident. You’d think that after 40 years of all this, they’d have an entire Myers Assault Force or something, but we’re not quite there yet. After all, in this continuity change, Haddonfield only has Michael’s childhood incident and the 1978 one. Despite this, the town has finally had enough of Michael’s antics and band together (with Tommy in the lead) to finish him. To quote Laurie, “Evil Dies Tonight!”
They’re so doomed.
Mind you, this isn’t the first time that Haddonfield’s tried to turn the tables on Myers, though it is a first for this particular universe. They tried back in Halloween 4, but it didn’t quite work out. Halloween Kills poses a quiet question of who is worse: The single killer on the loose, or the angry mob that’s after him?
I’ll admit that I enjoyed the return of some familiar faces in Pamela Susan Shoop (the nurse who was with Loomis when Michael stole their station wagon) and Kyle Richards (Lindsay, the little girl who Laurie was babysitting). Tommy Doyle is there as well, but the adult version of him is played by Anthony Michael Hall (The Dark Knight). They even managed to bring back Charles Cyphers as the former Haddonfield Sheriff. I’ll give this version kudos for delivering some fan service with those cameos. By far, the best addition to the cast was a cameo by The Wolf of Snow Hollow‘s Jim Cummings as one of the Haddonfield Police. Having played a cop in both of his previous films, it was a perfect fit here.The film also weaves a bit of Saw-like magic by expanding on the 1978 Halloween Night. While it’s not a perfect fit to the original events, it adds a somewhat fresh coat of paint to the new storyline that’s in effect here. It’s one of the places where the movie actually shines. They can weave a whole new backstory for Michael, and I’m here for it.
The gore levels in Halloween are your typical fare, as this version of Michael is much more vicious than his earlier counterparts. We can chalk that up to the changing times, I imagine. Like every Halloween, there are a few unnecessary kills – random families that are taken out just to up the body count while you may wonder what these individuals have to do with anything. If you don’t have any problems with that, then the film’s definitely worth a watch. At least in Halloween & Halloween II, the murders were connections to Laurie (her friends) or obstacles in Michael’s way (the Hospital Staff). With Halloween Kills, Michael just executes anyone who’s in his vicinity, which was the same problem I had with the film before it.
The other issue is that Laurie sits this fight out for most the film. With her injuries being pretty extensive, she instead takes on the role of harbinger, reminding her children and her Sheriff friend (played by Will Patton) that Michael is coming and has to be stopped. She’s the new Loomis, for the most part. Anyone walking into this film expecting a face off between Laurie and Michael will probably want to hold out for the next installment.
The Carpenters (Cody and his dad, John) do a good job, musically. There’s no complaints there. I also have to admit that the sound quality is also pretty good in this film. Overall, Halloween Kills is a fun film if you’re not expecting too much and you need something to close your night with. With a runtime of about an hour and 50 minutes, it doesn’t lag too much, though it stumbles a little through the town revenge plot. It’s definitely worth it to get to the last 15 minutes or so.
Lucas (Ben Keyworth) is an 11-year-old boy who lives in London and who enjoys watching the neighborhood through his telescope. Because Lucas’s mother is blind, Lucas is concerned that there is a serial killer who is going around and attacking blind women. Lucas is determined to help his father (James Fox), an inspector with Scotland Yard, capture the killer. Lucas starts to sneak out of the house, visiting cemeteries and spying on the same blind women that the killer is stalking. Investigating on his own, Lucas discovers who the killer might be.
Or does he?
Outside of the imaginary world where he spends most of his time, Lucas is a shy boy and his father is not a detective but instead a florist. While Lucas’s mother actually is blind, Lucas himself is starting to lose his eyesight as well. Lucas is scheduled to undergo an experimental surgery. He’s due to go under the knife, just as surely as the victims of the serial killer that he thinks he’s hunting. Meanwhile, his mother is pregnant and the increasingly unstable Lucas is both obsessed with his older stepsister and jealous of all the attention that his new baby sister is already getting.
Afraid of the Dark is a British psychological thriller that deserves to be better known. Intelligently written and directed Mark Peploe, it’s both a poignant and a frightening look at a child who, due to being forced to deal with something that few others can understand, has retreated so far into his own imaginary world (where he can be the hero) that he can no longer tell what is real and what isn’t. Lucas is both frightening and sympathetic and the movie will keep viewers guessing as to what is real and what isn’t. James Fox and Fanny Ardant are perfectly cast as Lucas’s parents and David Thewlis, Paul McGann, and Robert Stephens all make an impression as the men who Lucas investigates in his search for the serial killer. Tense, intelligent, and surprising, Afraid of the Dark is a film that is worth discovering.
Through the Shattered Lens 