The Doctor's Halloween Movie Special!

I know it is late but Happy Halloween everybody! And welcome to The Doctor's Prognosis!

Well it's been too long because I have been extremely busy with filmmaking, school, and even went to Hawaii for a week. I recently finished Batman (1000 Gamer Points) and found a new addiction with Borderlands. More on those two for another time.

As for a Halloween costume, I did dress up. I simply put on black slacks, a nice long-sleeve black dress shirt, nice black dress shoes, and a black shirt with Superman's red symbol. Yup. I was Clark Kent. But I call it "Classy Clark Kent" because of the sexy black. Whenever somebody asked who I was, I dramatically opened up my shirt as if I was staring off into the distance. I know. I'm a nerd. And sorry, I got no pics.

Now Halloween being one of my favorite holidays, and horror films being a pleasure of mine, I make it a habit to watch horror films throughout the month of October. So here are some good scary films I recommend.

HELLRAISER

I had never seen this film from beginning to end. Only bits and pieces as a kid since I could never seem to catch it from the start. Needless to say, the effects may not hold up that well today, but I think practical special effects lends a more visceral feel than CGI, which can be overused nowadays.

But one things that did hold up for this older film was the creepiness factor. When Pinhead shows up with the Cenobites, you cannot help but feel dread for the characters (except for Frank). And Pinhead is very scary when he says he will "tear your soul apart." Well no thanks to that whole process.

"I have such sights to show you.... and maybe a dinner and a movie later?"

The story was also strong because it deals with what feels like real people and a failing marriage. There is a lot of emotion behind these characters and the actors did great jobs. I definitely want to see the sequel now (though I hear I should stop at part II). I highly recommend Hellraiser. Just know that it is pretty gory.

THREE... EXTREMES

This is actually an anthology of 3 films. 1 Korean, 1 Japanese, and 1 from Hong Kong.

Box is the Japanese film. This one is very artistic but creepy too. It contains some great imagery. The cinematography is to be commended. There are different interpretations of what the ending means but I won't spoil that here. Great short.

Box has some great imagery but is a bit creepy as well.

Dumplings (from Hong Kong) was definitely the most unsettling of the 3 films. It deals with an aging actress attempting to regain her use from a mysterious cook who makes these special dumplings. The secret ingredient will disgust you. Apparently, this film became a feature length film. But I think it is fine as is in this anthology. Pretty good if you can stomach it. Ummm... pun not intended. :-P

Baking.... to the EXTREME!!

The last short was Cut from South Korea. From Wikipedia: "A successful film director and his wife are kidnapped by an extra, who forces the director to play his sadistic games. If he fails, his wife's fingers will be chopped off one by one every five minutes." This short had some dark humor in it for sure. While the story in Box is pretty clear depending on which interpretation you take, Cut has a confusing ending. It's not entirely certain what happens in the end but the whole is better than its parts.

"For every sprinkle I find, I shall kill you."

Overall a great anthology to check out for horror fans. Thumbs up.

DRAG ME TO HELL

As a fan of Sam Raimi's Evil Dead and Army of Darkness, I was looking forward to this film and it did not disappoint. I don't think it was quite as hectic as those films were but there was enough in there to satisfy. It thankfully did not take itself too seriously and delivered despite being only PG-13.

The staples are... becoming?

I really hope to see more horror from Raimi in the future (and if you haven't watched the great Bruce Campbell in the Evil Dead series, you need to go watch them now). Drag Me to Hell is one to watch.

Bruce Campbell: Prop Fighter.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY

If you liked Blair Witch Project, you will probably like this one. I thought it was okay. It definitely had some creepiness factor to it though. But you are not missing much if you decide to skip it. I say rent it when it's out on DVD. Would be great to watch at home with surround sound.

This is about 30% of the movie.

GHOSTBUSTERS

No explanation needed. Not really horror but brilliant comedy. I make it a habit to watch this at least once a year. The sequel wasn't great but they are getting closer than ever on a third one. The script is being penned by the writers of The Office so I have some hope that it will be good. If you haven't seen this... what's wrong with you? Go watch it now!

"Anybody remember us? Hello? Jake Kong? HELLO?!"

That's all for today. Hopefully it won't be as long for my next post. I will likely do an Arkham Asylum review soon. And Borderlands is calling for my attention.

See you next time!