Now Playing: Dreaming

By Colin Stetson, from the HEREDITARY soundtrack.

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Or click here for youtube.

Halloween III Screening With LIVE Music

Live music by Alan Howarth, that is.  At the Colonial Theater in Phoenixville.

Man, last night was quite the evening.  We had the amazing pleasure of watching Halloween III:  Season of the Witch on the big screen, as composer Alan Howarth augmented his and Carpenter's brilliant score, playing along on stage.  It was bliss.  

After the movie, he spoke about his insanely interesting life and then fielded questions from the crowd.  After that, he did a little guitar playing to cues he put together from his film scores.  It was ludicrous.  What a night.

Some photos below, with two short videos at the bottom.

Now Playing: Sleep Now

By Hughes Hall.

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Now Playing: The Mothman Prophecies

Click below for my favorite track from this awesome film...

Now Playing: The Dead Walk

By John Harrison, from the Day of the Dead soundtrack.

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Now Playing: Reborn

By Colin Stetson.

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Now Playing: The Way To Darkness

A Tribute to John Carpenter.

So many great tracks on this album.

Click each below to hear three of them.

And click here to go to the album (spotify).

Now Playing: Trioxin Theme

It's July 3rd... The Return of the Living Dead Day.

Though there's no excuse needed to play one of the coolest themes from the 80s.

Click below...

Now Playing: Ghosts Of Mars

Click below for the main titles scene featuring John Carpenter's terrific score...

Smile

Watched SMILE last night and have to admit it was really fun and absolutely an effective horror film.  Sure, there were things I wish were done differently, but overall it was a really fun ride with loads of atmosphere.  And it had the most brilliant horror score since 2021's CANDYMAN.

Click below for the soundtrack...

Now Playing: Suspiria

Witches abound, apparently...

Great version of the Suspiria main theme by Alexander Taylor.

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Now Playing: Remember

By Jamin Winans.

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Now Playing: Bedside Manor

By Adam Janota Bzowski.

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Halloween Ends

The saga ends.  The end of a franchise. We'll never see Michael Myers ever again (until the reboot).  

I've been pretty vocal about my dislike of the last two HALLOWEEN films.  I still feel like they were soulless cash grabs.  Unnecessarily violent, and just bizarre in the way they rearranged/rewrote/ignored the canon timeline.  And SURE most of those old HALLOWEEN sequels were horrid, but that should never be used as a reason why we should be ok with the latest films.  Or less demanding.  Or softer in our reviews of them.  I told myself the last two were just expensive fan films so my brain could live trauma-free.  I love Michael Myers, and as a fan it has not been easy watching him endure so many odd situations since 1988 (I loved HALLOWEEN 4).

Since "Horror Films" were on our October checklist when my friend Wren was visiting, we knew we had to see this recent trilogy off in style.  

(Pumpkin wine is exceptionally good.  Not too sweet, and incredibly light [and it has nothing to do with this review]).

Periodically throughout the entire film, we'd look over at each other and say, "I don't hate it yet!"  The movie was GOOD.  Despite everything I was hearing online from disappointed and confused fans.  The same fans who relentlessly trashed on my beloved CANDY MAN were now saying things like "They tried something different, but it didn't work.  It was weird."  I figured it was going to be a real stinker.  It wasn't.  Like not at all.  

The best way I can describe it is that it felt like a Halloween anthology film that took place in the HALLOWEEN FILM universe (kind of like what they were planning to do back when they made HALLOWEEN III:  SEASON OF THE WITCH).  It was Michael Myers-adjacent.  And it was original.

Laurie's character felt more believable.  The town felt more sincere and logical.  And the main protagonist was one of the most interesting and sympathetic characters I can recall in recent horror film history.  No spoilers here, but if you watched the other two and figured this would be more of the same (for better or worse), you definitely need to give this one a shot (with or without wine).  

Strangely, the trailers that were released were wildly misleading and portrayed a movie that never was.  I think the folks promoting this thing panicked and tried to sell it as a big showdown between Michael and Laurie.  "The Saga Ends," as I recall.  

John Carpenter's score was perfect too.   So I'll end this review with a track from the soundtrack (which happens to be to the neatest scene).  And with a simple statement:  We really dug it.

Click below...

Now Playing: Chariots Of Pumpkins

New version by John Carpenter and the boys.

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Now Playing: The Junk Yard

Pretty sweet track off of the Halloween Ends soundtrack from John Carpenter and the boys.

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Now Watching: The Film Symphony Orchestra

Live performance of a favorite score by James Newton Howard.

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Now Playing: Halloween Theme - Film Version

Significantly different than the theme that appears on the official soundtrack release from 1978.  Previously mentioned on this blog, a "marching" beat was added for the release which doesn't appear in the film.  A beat which, to this Halloween purist, detracts greatly from the theme.  Both are amazing, of course, but I prefer the film version.

Click below to hear the film version...

And click here for the soundtrack version...

Now Playing: Blade Runner 1982 (Enzo Margaglio Remix)

This is exceptionally primo.

Click below...

Now Playing: Let Me Sleep

By David Julyan.

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