SHOCKTOBER HORROTHON films 28 – 31

28. In The Mouth of Madness (1995, John Carpenter)

A few days ago I got to see John Carpenter live in concert.

It was a dream come true, ‘natch.

One of the unexpected highlights was the set closing rendition of the theme from In The Mouth of Madness, and so of course I got home and popped the movie on.

And it was exactly the surreal, nightmarish HP Lovecraft homage I remembered it to be.

Sam Neill is sent to investigate the disappearance of Sutter Cane, a phenomenally popular horror fiction writer, and discovers that Cane’s work may bring about the apocalypse.

The third in Carpenter’s very loose Apocalypse trilogy (after The Thing and Prince of Darkness), this may be the lesser of the three movies but it’s still damn near top tier Carpenter.

You know, I think I may have to do a top 10 Carpenter movies article. Sometimes you forget just how many great movies that guy has made.

29. Halloween: Resurrection (2002, Rick Rosenthal)

A lot of people dislike Rob Zombie’s Halloween remake and sequel. But where else could the series go after this laughable, idiotic entry in the franchise?

The film opens with a returning Jamie Lee Curtis being dispatched in absurd fashion by a Michael wearing the worst mask the series has yet seen.

No, this still is not upside down, that’s Michael hanging from a booby trap that Laurie set up on the roof of the sanitarium where she has been hiding for 3 years.

It’s just that kind of film.

Anyway, after that the actual movie starts. Mercifully, 70 minutes later it ends.

The film follows a group of teens live streaming a broadcast from the Myers house. It’s 2002, so there are plenty of references to Yahoo chat rooms and close ups of mobile phones. Back then, apparently text messages appeared one letter at a time, which pads the runtime out even further.

The kids are wearing cameras, but luckily we don’t see their footage much, as it tends to look like this…

Oh 2002, what were you thinking?

Did I mention Tyra Banks and Busta Rhymes are in this movie? I wish I didn’t have to.

That said, if you ignore the fact it’s a sequel to one of the greatest horror films ever made, there is some enjoyment to be had for 00’s slasher enthusiasts/masochists. It’s short, there’s plenty of deaths, some nudity, and the climax is okay right up until Busta kills Michael by…

…electrocuting him in the dick.

‘Trick or treat, motherfucker’ says Busta.

But this time, the joke is on us.

30. The Wailing (2016, Na Hong-Jin)

Maybe I’ve come to expect too much from South Korean cinema, but The Wailing didn’t hit me like I had hoped.

A tale of demonic possession in a small Korean town, it’s as adept as usual at juggling comedy, drama, suspense and horror, but it never fully clicked.

As is par for the course in Korean cinema, the film runs over 2 and a half hours, but for once, I think it could stand a few trims here and there.

31. Halloween (1978, John Carpenter)

I finished up with Halloween, naturally. Here’s to next year!