Happy Halloween!

This is Halloween this is Halloween, pumpkins scream in the dead of night! This is Halloween everybody make a scene trick-or-treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright!

One of my favorite days of the year!

In honor of this wonderful holiday and for my last blog in this 31 Days of Halloween series, I am going to review John Carpenters Halloween (of course).

This was one of my favorite movies as a kid because it always creeped me out so much. There is just something about not seeing the eyes of someone that really freak me out.

Plus this movie has such an iconic theme song to it.

Now for any Star Trek fans out there if the mask of Michael Meyers looks vaguely familiar it is because the props department used a Captain Kirk mask. They painted it white, teased out the hair, and enlarged the eye holes.

Apparently there is a very rare novelization of this movie that delves deeper into Michael's background. Click Here to see it listed on Amazon for $300. If you want to get me something for Christmas, this will do nicely.

I remember seeing the sequel; Halloween II when I was younger and the opening song Mr Sandman creeped me out immensely. There is just something about pairing old time music to a horror movie that is just perfectly creepy.

Oh and look what popped up on my Facebook page courtesy of Bloody-Disgusting.com An alternate opening to the movie! If you'd like to read the full article and see the video (there is no sound on it FYI) click here.

IMDB rates this a 7.9 out of 10 stars and Rotten Tomatoes gives it 94% with an audience approval rating of 85%. I am giving this 4 out of 5 skulls, really great movie, scary and creepy, but could use just a touch more blood.

Well I hope you all enjoyed reading my reviews and that some of them may have piqued your interest to see a new movie or re-watch and old favorite.
Have a fantastic Halloween everyone!

Sleep tight and don't let the zombies bite!
-JD

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Happy Hump Day fellow creepsters,

One more day until Halloween!

So for today's blog I am going to review I Know What You Did Last Summer because I am watching it on ABC Family. Crazy right? Since when did ABC Family start playing horror movies...before this, The Craft was on.

Wow, what a horrible trailer. I would like to say that the movie is better but then I'd be called a liar.

Released in 1997 this movie was directed by Jim Gilliespie and stars the typical brat pack of the 90's: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddy Prinze Jr. and Ryan Pillippe.

It is your typical teen slasher flick where they go out an party then something bad happens they try to hide it and it comes to bite them on the ass.

What a lot of people do not know is that this movie was actually based on Lois Duncan's book called "Who Killed My Daughter" which is about the real life death of her daughter. Duncan has stated that she hates this movie because the film-makers had transformed her book into a slasher film.

Honestly the only tragic death in this movie is when Max, played by the wonderful Johnny Galecki, gets hacked up. Other than that this movie is predictable and repetitive. The music through is great, Type O Negative does a cover of Summer Breeze which is great.

There are two sequels to this movie, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, (Brandy and Jack Black are in that one) and I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (Direct to DVD sequel and doesn't star any of the original cast but still follows the continuing story arc)

IMDB rates this a 5.5 out of 10 stars Rotten Tomatoes rates it 36% and has a 47% audience approval rating. I am giving it two out of five skulls. Nothing impressive, a bit nostalgic for those of us who grew up in the 90's.

One more day! Until then,
Sleep tight and don't let the zombies bite!

-JD

Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan

Well it's Tuesday...only two days until Halloween, can you freaking believe it?  Working in retail kills the holidays because we already have so many Christmas trees out right now that Halloween has fallen to the wayside.

This makes me a very sad panda.

See, told you so.

I honestly didn't know what to review today until I remembered that there was a Friday the 13th marathon going on, on AMC and I had got to watch a little bit of it on my break at work. Then I realized that I have yet to do a review on one of the movies so today I am remedying that. However I am not starting with part one, oh no, I am starting with the movie that started my love affair for not only Jason Voorheese, but for horror movies in general; and that is Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan.

Great trailer right? They just don't make them like they use to.

Released in 1989 and directed by Rob Hedden this movie stars Kane Hodder as Jason (really the only Jason that matters)

"The graduating class of the local high school is going on a luxury cruise with Jason Voorhees as a stowaway. The heroine Rennie Wickham believes she was almost drowned by Jason as a child. Jason eventually sinks the boat and kills many of the students on it, but many of them escape to Manhattan. A long battle with Jason ensues until Jason is washed away in the New York sewers by a midnight flooding of toxic waste." Written by Jason Ihle, taken from IMDB

I remember seeing this movie when I was younger, around 10 I'd say. It was on TV during Halloween and it was the first Friday movie that I had seen. I clearly remember the ending of the movie with Jason in the sewer and became fascinated with the series and wanted to learn more about the movies and his character.

Neat little factoid is that during the diner scene, the guy that Jason throws into the mirror is actually Ken Kirzinger who ended up playing Jason in Freddy Vs. Jason. And according to an interview in Fangoria Magazine (August 1989), Hodder actually threw up on cue by drinking lots of water. Gross.

Unfortunately because this movie performed poorly in the box office, Paramount sold the franchise to New Line Cinema, until the remake. Only two movies were made in between (Jason X and Freddy Vs Jason).

IMDB rates this a 4.2 out of 10 stars, Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 10% with a 42% audience approval rating. I am giving this two skulls and a hand full of teeth for a 2.5 out of 5. There are some great kills and just a touch of humor but it lacks a sensible plot. (Which after it being the 8th movie in the franchise, go figure!)

Two more days you guys! Two more days! If you have any suggestions on what I should write on during November please let me know in a comment!

Until tomorrow,
Sleep tight and don't let the zombies bite,

-JD

I Am Legend

Hello creepsters,

It's Monday...and I am already exhausted. Work was a bit frustrating since I had to stay late and I am currently working on a really bad headache. So today's blog with be blissfully short.

I am going to review I Am Legend, I caught this movie last night on AMC's Fear Fest (sadly this one is not currently on Netflix)

Released in 2007 and directed by Francis Lawrence this movie stars Will Smith who is the sole survivor in Manhattan after a horrific outbreak occurs.

Now they don't refer to the infected people as zombies, but as Darkseekers (because they have a reaction to UV light and only come out at night...a lot like vampires)

This movie is great in the way that it captures your emotional heart strings and rips them out once you realize what is going on...and if you get upset when animals die bring some Kleenex or a pillow to sob into.

Will Smith gives such a fantastic performance in this movie, he really is a talented actor -- it's amazing that he use to play the Fresh Prince.

Yeah you're welcome!

IMDB rates this a 7.1 out of 10 stars and Rotten Tomatoes gives it 70% with a 69% audience approval rating. I am giving it three skulls and a hand full of teeth for a 3.5 out of 5 skulls. It is a great movie if you haven't seen it, but I wish that the ending would have been a bit fuller and that we would have gotten more background information about how everything started.

Can't believe it's the 28th! Only three more days in October. If anyone has any suggestions on what I should blog on throughout the month of November please let me know!

Until tomorrow,
Sleep tight and don't let the zombies bite,

-JD

Young Frankenstein

Happy Sunday fellow creepsters!

I must be honest with you all...yesterday I lied. I never made it out to the corn maze, and never got to use 'Malachi' or 'Outlander'...instead my roller derby BFF and I made pies and got some awesome tattoos...

Yes ladies and germs those are mustache tattoos, and yes they are real. No one seemed to believe that last night at the Halloween derby party. Ainta Bandaid is one of my best friends ever and roller derby is what brought us together and if you follow derby you might have noticed that we're all pretty obsessed with bacon and mustaches. This is just such a beautiful bromance.

Alright, bromancing aside today I am reviewing one of my all time favorite Mel Brooks movies, Young Frankenstein. And ironically enough the Central Wisconsin Area Community Theater is putting on the musical version of Young Frankenstein this weekend!

I remember being about 8 or 9 and asking my mom to buy this movie for me because it was about Frankenstein. I didn't know that it was a Mel Brooks parody, I seriously thought that it was a sequel to Frankenstein and that it was about his younger brother or something. I watched this movie so much that I wore out the VHS which was also the special edition with 10 minutes of outtakes after the movie.

Released in 1974 this movie was directed by Mel Brooks (duh) and stars a lot of amazing people who were mentioned in the trailer...go and watch the trailer...do it...

One of the things that makes this movie great, besides the comedy and shtick is that a lot of the props used were the same props used in the movie Frankenstein.

Blucher!

This movie will appeal to a wide audience, if you like Frankenstein you will like this movie. If you love Mel Brooks you will love this movie. If you're a fan of shtick you will be a fan of this movie. Go ahead, watch this movie and then call me a liar. (Unfortunately this one is not currently on Netflix)

IMDB rates this a solid 8 out of 10 stars and Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 94% with a 90% audience approval rating. I am giving this 5 out of 5 skulls because this movie is just so nostalgic for me and it's just so damn funny.

Until tomorrow fellow creepsters,
Sleep tight and don't let the zombies bite!

-JD

Children of the Corn

Happy Saturday fellow creepsters!

Last night was a blast and Thaddeus (my dolphin puppet) got into some shenanigans.

Oh that dolphin of mine!

Tonight I will be going to a haunted corn maze with some of my friends in roller derby, so in honor of that I have decided to review the movie Children of the Corn.

Released in 1984 this movie was directed by Fritz Kiersch and stars Linda Hamilton, and:

John Franklin as Issac (who really was the creepiest little fucker in this movie)

Courtney Gains as Maaaaaaaaliachi -- This guy was equally creepy but mainly because he is a day walker named Courtney, poor kid, must have been hell going through high school. 

 Now I am not the biggest fan of children, so already this movie is terrifying. Although let's be honest Issac is the creepiest creeper because he looked like such an old man -- granted he was 25 when this movie was released.

The music in this movie is pretty great for being that 80's-creepy-horror-movie-music-that-must-always-use-synthesizers. 

There are two great 'quotes' you can take from this that I will be sure to use tonight at the corn maze and they are:

Maalllllllllllllachi! and "Outlander!"

I was going to post videos on how these two are said because it's all in the inflection of the voice; but they are spoiler alerts so you will just need to hop over to Netflix and watch the movie -- or if you're super lazy go over to Youtube and type in Children of the Corn 1984 Malachi. 

All of the sequls are on Netflix, there are 8 of them, and there was also a remake made in 2011 but I have yet to see it. This movie is a lot like the other 1970s/80s Stephen King books made into movies -- it's okay but in that weird-kind-of-cheesy-even-though-its-not-trying-to-be sort of way. 

IMDB rates this a 5.4 out of 10 stars and Rotten Tomatoes gives it 39% with a 48% audience approval. I am giving this 2 out of 5 skulls it's grate for the creep factor but I was left wanting to punch all these kids in the face and tell them to respect their elders. Oh well.

Until tomorrow!

Sleep tight and don't let the zombies bite,

-JD

Corpse Bride

It's Friday Friday gotta get down on Friday....

Yeah, sorry about that, but hey it is Friday! And Halloween is less than a week away!

Tonight I am going downtown with some friends and will be dressing up as...

Pam Poovey from Archer! So excited!

So tonight I am going to do a very quick review on the movie The Corpse Bride because I have been on a stop motion movie kick as of late. 

Released in 2005 this movie was actually directed by Tim Burton this time! If you are not sure what I mean, go ahead and read my Nightmare Before Christmas blog post. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter both star in this movie as the two lead characters.

Did anyone else get slightly confused as soon as the Nightmare Before Christmas music started playing?

Anyways this movie is really cute although for me gets a bit annoying with some of the voice acting. If you liked Nightmare you will enjoy this movie -- although the music isn't as catchy as Nightmare.

IMDB rates this a 7.5 out of 10 stars and Rotten Tomatoes gives it 83% with a 75% audience approval rating. I am giving it 4 out of 5 skulls, really great movie but for me it just doesn't live up to the magic that is Nightmare Before Christmas.

Until next time,
Sleep tight and don't let the zombies bite!

-JD

Bride of Chucky

Happy Thursday fellow creepsters!

Just think, tomorrow is Friday! (Which is also payday for me woo!)

I apologize for the lateness of this entry (y'know, for those of you who follow and might actually notice this). One of my best friends was getting her first tattoo and I just had to stop by and give her some moral support. She was such a trooper, so proud of her!

Anyways, today I will be reviewing Bride Of Chucky!

I know this movie gets a lot of groans but you have to admit it is a hell of a lot better than Seed of Chucky. I remember dressing up as Tiffany one year for Halloween back in middle school.

This movie isn't as scary as its predecessors, but I think the lovely Jennifer Tilly totally makes up for it....she really does have the voice of an angel. (10 points to those who get this reference)

Released in 1998 and directed by Ronny Yu (Hey isn't that the guy who also directed Freddy Vs Jason? Why yes kids, yes it is!) This movie stars Jennifer Tilly (obviously) Brad Dourif as Chucky (duh) and Alexis Arquette who plays Damien.

But wait JD, isn't Alexis Arquette a woman? Why is she playing a man? Well lovelies, for those of you who do not know, Alexis Arquette is transgender. Born Robert Arquette, she did a lot of acting as a man (if you're a fan of Xena you may remember her playing Caligula credited as Alexis) and then eventually became the fabulous Alexis.

I tried doing some research as to when and if she had male to female surgery and when she came out but there really isn't a whole lot. And in case you were wondering why I keep using feminine pronouns it is because Alexis identifies herself as female, should you find yourself in the situation of meeting or becoming friends with someone who is transgender please ask why personal pronouns they prefer, they will really appreciate you taking the time and addressing them correctly. Okay off my soap box, (can you tell that I have done a lot of work in the LGBTQ community?)

So, if you have not seen this movie and decide to watch it on Netflix or something, pay special attention to the opening scene, there are some horror movie 'Easter eggs' there!

The basic premise of this movie is that Tiffany, an ex-girlfriend of Charles Lee Ray aka Chucky, gets her hands on the remains of the doll and sews him back together. He comes back to life after some VooDoo hoodoo, a lot of people die and Tiffany eventually gets her soul sucked into a doll.

The soundtrack to this movie is amazing...mostly because it's music that I listen to on a daily basis.

Honestly, if you like horror, campy humor and Jennifer Tilly's wonderful angelic voice you will enjoy this movie.

IMDB rates this a 5.2 out of 10 stars, Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 42% with a 49% audience approval.  I am giving this a 3 skulls and a hand full of teeth for a 3.5 out of 5 skulls.

Until tomorrow!
Sleep tight and don't let the zombies bite,

-JD

A Nightmare On Elm Street

Happy Hump-day fellow creepsters,

Today I am reviewing...

A Nightmare on Elm Street, the 1984 original...NOT the 2010 Remake...

I love Freddy Kruger, he is one of my favorite horror movie villains, he can combine humor and death so well without being too campy.

Robert Englund will forever be Freddy Kruger.

Directed by Wes Craven this movie was the first for Johnny Depp.

Oh God! Isn't he just delicious?!

Did you know that New Line Cinema was saved because of this movie? This is why it is sometimes called 'The House That Freddy Built.'

If you don't know the plot of this movie you have been living under a rock. A child killers finally gets his comeuppance by the neighborhood parents and is burned alive. He comes back in the dreams of the local teens and kills them.

This movie is SO bloody that they used over 500 gallons of it!

If you look closely during the scene where Nancy has the TV on is about to fall asleep, the movie she is watching is The Evil Dead...also, if you go ahead and watch The Evil Dead II, Kruger's glove is hanging up in the shack.

There are really only two things that I don't like about this movie: 1) The mom, I hate her character, she is such a fucking idiot and a drunk that I really wish she would have been killed earlier; and 2) The ending, the ending is just crap -- oh so now you don't believe and now Freddy is defeated? Pair that with the weird dream like ending...if you head over to IMDB and check out the trivia, you will see that Craven didn't like the ending, and that it was actually a compromise between two variations.

Other than that this movie is pretty great...I remember watching it late at night as a kid and having to remind myself that it was only a movie and that you can't die from your dreams.

IMDB rates this a 7.5 out of 10 stars, Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 95% with a 79% audience approval rating. I am giving it a 4 out of 5 skulls.
If you haven't seen it, please do, and make sure it's the original and not the remake...

Until tomorrow,
Sleep tight and don't let the zombies bite!

-JD

Mad Monster Party?

Happy Tuesday fellow creepsters!

Today I am reviewing a some what obscure film, it's called Mad Monster Party and was released in 1967 and is a stop motion movie much like Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer and all the other holiday movies of the time.

This movie was directed by Jules Bass and stars Boris Karloff and Phyills Diller.

When Dr Frankenstein decides to retire from the monster-making business, he calls an international roster of monsters to a creepy convention to elect his successor. Everyone is there including Dracula, The Werewolf, The Creature, Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde and many more. But Frankenstein's title is not all that is at stake. The famous doctor has also discovered the secret of total destruction that must not fall into the wrong hands! --- Summary taken from IMDB

What makes this movie great is that all of the classic monsters make an appearance. The stop motion is a bit rough, but you really can't expect much from the period. This movie is on Netflix and would make a great family Halloween night. 

IMDB rates this a 6.4 out of 10 stars Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 67% with a 64% audience approval rating. I am going to give this a 4 out of 5 skulls, really cute movie that is an oldie but a goodie.

Until tomorrow,
Sleep tight and don't let the zombies bite!

-JD

The Toxic Avenger

Happy Monday fellow creepsters

Today I am reviewing The Toxic Avenger!

So knowing that the super hero is from New Jersey it should come as no surprise that this movie is pure crap, this is probably why it has such a cult following.

Released in 1984 this movie is directed by Michael Herz and Loyd Kaufman and stars no one who made it into Hollywood...everyone's career was ruined by this movie....

While they were filming the movie, they had no idea what to call the monster so that is why all the shirts and stuff supporting the monster say 'monster' and not 'Toxie'.

I will say this about the movie, there are some pretty neat special effects but I think that this is over shadowed by the needless cruelty and violence.

If you are intrigued enough to want to watch it, you can catch it on Netflix, complete with its sequel...

IMDB rates this a 5.9 out of 10 stars Rotten Tomatoes gives it a very surprising 63% with a 58% audience approval rating. I don't know guys, I just couldn't get into it, so I'm giving this a one out of five skulls.

Until tomorrow,
Sleep tight and don't let the zombies bite!

-JD

ParaNorman

Happy Sunday Creepsters!

You know, Sundays are one of my favorite days of the week. There is Football (Go Pack Go!) and now, The Walking Dead, and of course another blog.

Today I am reviewing ParaNorman.

This movie is cute and has a surprisingly deep message all the while being creepy.

Norman is such a cool kid, wish I had a zombie alarm clock or a zombie toothbrush!

Released in 2012 this movie was directed by Chris Butler and stars John Goodman, Casey Affleck, and Kodi Smit-McPhee.

The premise of this movie is very simple: Norman will need to use his special gift of talking to ghosts in order to save the town from a 100 year old curse.

One of the great things about this movie is that they have an openly gay character in a kids movie! Of course you don't really know this until the end, and I won't tell you who, but how awesome is that?!

IMDB rates this a 6.9 out of 10 stars. Rotten Tomatoes gives it an 87% with a 73% audience approval rating. I am giving this a 4 out of 5 stars, great movie to watch with the family with a great message at the end. Not a lot of 'horror' movies can do that.

Until tomorrow,
Sleep tight and don't let the zombies bite!

-JD

Dracula 2000

Happy Saturday creepsters!

Today is going to be a great day, you want to know why? Because today is the Monsters Brawl in Appleton. What is this Monsters Brawl you may ask, well it just so happens to combine two very awesome things: Halloween and Roller Derby. That is right my friends, tonight there will be witches and vampires on roller skates beating the shit out of each other -- so excited!

Anyways...today I am doing something a bit unusual and review a movie that is not on Netflix nor in my personal collection, instead this movie was on SyFy's 31 Days of Halloween...hey that is a pretty awesome title for a month long Halloween movie marathon!

Today I will review Dracula 2000, I caught this movie late last night when I couldn't sleep...

Released in 2000 (obviously) this movie was directed by Patrick Lussier and stars a bunch of actors from the late 90's/2000 era teen movies such as Sean Patrick Thomas, Danny Masterson (That 70's Show) and even Colleen Fitzpatrick aka 'Vitamin C'

You might remember her from this:

Or that god awful Graduation song aka 'Friends Forever"

Yeah I'm pretty sure that everyone during the late 90's/early 2000 graduated to this song...gah.

So yes, THAT bright haired fake day walker is in this movie...oh also Gerard Butler, really the ONLY good thing about this movie because at least he is pretty to look at.

Okay, maybe his hair is a bit ridiculous but come on! Soooo handsome!

Oh yeah, that's right the trailer for this movie:

Alright did anyone else find it weird that Wes Craven thought that this movie would be so great that he would "present" it? And also why the hell was it released during Christmas? ...Yikes.

So the basic premise is simple enough, Dracula is now in the 21st century and in New Orleans trying to find the daughter of his arch enemy Van Helsing. Lots of death and blood and really bad fashion choices...

Honestly this movie isn't all that great, but if you're in the mood to see a lot of young people die while Gerard Butler goes around most of the movie without a shirt...then you might really enjoy this!

IMDB gives this a 4.7 out of 10 stars, Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 15% with a 46% audience approval rating. I am giving it 2 out of 5 skulls and those two skulls are purely because Gerard Butler and Nathan Fillion aka Castle are in it (oh did I forget to mention that earlier? Yeah he plays a freaking priest!), otherwise I find that the lead actress is really annoying and the plot is just craptastic.

So there you have it, another one bites the dust! (Pun intended)
Until tomorrow,
Sleep tight and don't let the zombies bite!

-JD

Thir13ten Ghosts

Happy Friday fellow creepsters!

Today I will be keeping with the ghost theme from yesterday and reviewing Thir13en Ghosts.
Sorry guys, this one isn't on Netflix. =(




I will tell you all right now that the only interesting thing about this movie are the 13 ghosts themselves so I am going to be spending a majority of my time talking about them. But first things first:

Released in 2001 this movie was directed by Steve Beck and stars Tony Shalhoub, Shannon Elizabeth, and Matthew Lillard.

Basically this weird guy collects a lot of weird things, including ghosts, and when he dies he leaves his house to his nephew and his family and they move in only to find that the ghosts his uncle had collected are in the house.

Now back that what really matters, the ghosts of the Black Zodiac:

1. The First Born Son


The First Born Son is the ghost of Billy Michaels, a boy who loved cowboy films. One day, a neighbor found a real steel-tipped bow and arrow in his house and challenged Billy to a duel, with Billy using a toy gun. However, his plaything was no match for the arrow, and he died when the neighbor shot it through the back of his head. In death, Billy is in his cowboy suit, holding a tomahawk, with the arrow still protruding from his head. His ghost whispers "I want to play" or "play with me."

2. The Torso


The Torso is the ghost of a gambler called Jimmy "The Gambler" Gambino. One day, he made a deal with a madman, Larry “The Finger” Vitello, and when he bet heavily on a boxing match and lost, he tried to slip out of town. The mob and the winning boxer, to whom he owed money, caught up with Gambino and cut him into several pieces, wrapping them in cellophane and dumping the corpse into the ocean. His ghost is just his torso, trying to walk around on its hands, while his head lies nearby screaming within the cellophane. -- The really cool thing about this one is that they actually had a double amputee play this character and had him wear a green hoodie so they could block out his head. 

3. The Bound Woman 

The Bound Woman is the ghost of Susan LeGrow, a girl with wealthy parents. Susan had a penchant for dating one boy and cheating on him with another. This left a long trail of broken hearts. During her senior year in high school, she dated the star football player Chet Walters. On the night of her school prom, Chet found Susan with another boy. The next morning, the boy was found dead and Susan was missing. Her body was found buried at the 50-yard line of the school football field. Chet was convicted and sentenced to death. Right before his execution he said, “The bitch broke my heart so I broke her neck”. Her ghost is hanging suspended wearing her prom dress with her arms tied.

4. The Withered Lover


The Withered Lover is Jean Kriticos, Arthur's wife. She was burned severely while saving her family from a devastating house fire, and died of her wounds in the hospital. Her ghost initially appears in a hospital gown, hooked up to an IV pole and showing severe burns on her face. However, after the destruction of the machine, her ghost is wearing her normal clothes and her burns have vanished. Unlike the other ghosts, she is not a vengeful spirit and tries to help her family. [The burn make-up is horrible, really she should look like Harvey 'Two-Face' Dent from The Dark Knight]

5. The Torn Prince


The Torn Prince is the ghost of Royce Clayton, a gifted baseball star in high school, albeit with attitude issues and a superiority complex. In 1957, he was challenged by a greaser named Johnny to a drag race, but was killed as his car spun out of control; the cause of the accident was a cut brake line. He was buried in a plot of earth that overlooked his hometown baseball diamond. His ghost carries a baseball bat, and parts of his face and body are torn to shreds from when he was dragged under the car. His ghost uses his bat as a powerful weapon and in his cell, he sits atop the upturned car which ended his life.

6.  The Angry Princess


The Angry Princess is the ghost of Dana Newman, who had the natural beauty of a goddess but the inability to recognize it. By her early 20s, a string of abusive boyfriends led her into a downward spiral of self-loathing. Her desperate search for perfection led her to find employment with a plastic surgeon, where her wage was paid in nose jobs, breast implants and other procedures. One night at the clinic, Dana tried to perform surgery on herself. The unorthodox procedure went horribly wrong and she was left blind in one eye. She committed suicide in the bathtub by slashing herself with a butcher knife until her veins ran dry. When she was discovered, people said she was as beautiful in death as she was in life. Her ghost is naked, holding the same knife she killed herself with, showing all the wounds. Her cell is covered in blood.

7. The Pilgrimess


The Pilgrimess is the ghost of Isabella Smith. In 1675, Isabella sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in search for a warm comfortable home in New England, but the tight-knit townsfolk didn’t trust outsiders and isolated her from the town. The town's livestock began to die mysteriously so the local preacher accused her of witchcraft. As more livestock started to fall ill, the preacher acquired a mysterious illness. The town rallied into a frenzy, cornering Isabella in a barn, which they lit on fire. Isabella miraculously crawled out, still alive without a single burn. So instead, she was sentenced to a slow death in the stocks, where she stayed for weeks on end while children stoned her, women cursed her, and men spat on her. The humiliation grew far worse than the pain, so finally Isabella succumbed to starvation. Her ghost is walking around with her hands still locked in the stocks.

8 & 9. The Great Child and the Dire Mother


The Dire Mother is the ghost of Margaret Shelburne, a shy woman who rose to only a mere three feet in height. She was constantly stared at for her small size but Margaret didn’t care as long as she found some form of acceptance. A carnival barker named Jimbo placed her on display in his freak show. One night, she was raped by a carnival freak called The Tall Man. Her son, Harold, the Great Child, was born as a result, and eventually weighed over 300 pounds. Since infancy, Margaret spoiled Harold, so he remained in diapers his entire life. The two became very close and protective of each other. One day, some circus workers decided to play a cruel joke on Harold by kidnapping his mother. He found that she had died of suffocation in the sack she was kept in. Filled with anger, Harold violently chopped the workers to death with an axe, and placed their remains on display for paying customers to see. When Jimbo found out what Harold had done, he ordered an angry mob to rip and tear Harold apart. Their ghosts are always together and the Great Child still holds his axe.
In the original script, their deaths were different. It's explained in the director's commentary on the DVD that their original deaths were that Harold suffocated on his own vomit and as a result fell onto his mother, thus suffocating her as well. It wasn't until later that this idea was disregarded as the directors felt it was too weak a character background. It is through this story line that explains why Harold has vomit all over his bib, and why his mother is feeding him in their cell.

10. The Hammer


The Hammer is the ghost of a blacksmith, George Markley, who lived in a small town in the 1890s. He was wrongfully accused of stealing, and when threatened with exile, refused to leave town. A gang led by his accuser hanged his wife and children and burned their bodies; in revenge, George used his sledgehammer to beat his accuser and the other culprits to death. He was then subjected to a cruel form of frontier justice by the townsfolk, being chained to a tree and executed by having railroad spikes driven into his body with his own sledgehammer. They cut off his hand and attached the sledgehammer to the wrist where the hand was cut off. His ghost is seen with the railroad spikes protruding from his body and a sledgehammer for a left hand.

11. The Jackal


The Jackal is the ghost of Ryan Kuhn. In 1887, Ryan was born to a prostitute. By his adult years, Ryan developed a sick insatiable taste for females and began attacking prostitutes. Feeling a desperate need of help, he committed himself to an asylum. After years of imprisonment in a padded room, Ryan went insane, scratching at the walls so violently that his nails were torn off. The doctors kept him permanently bound in a straitjacket, tying it tighter when he would act out, causing his limbs to contort horribly. Ryan gnawed right through it so the doctors stuck him in a basement cell and locked his head in a cage. There, he grew to hate all mankind. When a fire broke out in the asylum, everyone but Ryan escaped. His ghost is in his undone straitjacket and his head is still locked in the cage. If he encounters fire, his ghost will disappear.

12. The Juggarnaut


The Juggernaut is the ghost of a serial killer named Horace "Breaker" Mahoney. Standing 7 feet tall, he was of such grotesque height and appearance that everyone ostracized him as a child. His mother abandoned him at birth, so his father raised him, putting him to work in the junkyard crushing old cars. After his father died, Horace was left on his own, and soon went mad. He would pick up female hitchhikers on the road and drive them back to his junkyard, then tear them apart with his bare hands and feed them to his dogs. One day, he picked up an undercover female police officer, who called for backup, bringing a SWAT team to surround the junkyard. The police arrested the giant. However, Horace broke free and three officers lost their lives. Quickly, five SWAT officers took out their guns and brought Horace down in a hail of bullets. When he finally went down, they shot an extra round of ammunition into him "just to be safe." His ghost still shows bullet holes all over his clothing. According to Dennis, Horace killed nine people when he was alive, another thirty-one as a ghost, then many of Cyrus' assistants and, during the film's events, Dennis himself.

13. The Broken Heart
The thirteenth ghost would've been Arthur. He had to be alive to be sacrificed into the Eye of Hell and then die to save his family, but the ghosts threw Cyrus into the Eye of Hell instead, setting all twelve ghosts free and the would-be thirteenth free, too.z
[All of the information was taken from the Wikipedia article about this movie]
See, interesting huh? They don't really talk about the back stories of the ghosts in the movie, but if you buy the DVD you get all the information you could want. 

IMDB rates this movie a 5.3 out of 10 stars, Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 14% with a 56% audience approval rating. I am going to give it a 3 out of 5 skulls. There are glaring plot holes [Like if Aurther is so poor and behind on bill, how the hell can he afford a nanny...and also why is it that everyone can see the dead uncle without the special glasses, but needs the glasses in order to see all the other ghosts?] and the blood is a bit too red for me to believe that it is real in some shots; and really the great thing about this movie are the ghosts. 
So until tomorrow,
Sleep tight and don't let the zombies bite!
-JD

Ghostbusters!

When there is something strange in your neighborhood, who ya gonna call?

Released in 1984 and directed by Ivan Reitman, Ghostbusters has an all star cast; Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Signourney Weaver....just to name a few!

This movie isn't all that scary...unless you are afraid of 300 foot marshmallow men, but it's just such a great classic that I had to watch it. It is really neat seeing a young cast of characters, it is also strange seeing everyone smoking in this movie. Oh how times have changed.

The special effects for the time were really neat, although the whole demon dog leaping from the closet was poorly done. Other than that this movie is really fun to watch and you can catch it on Netflix!

IMDB rates this movie a 7.8 out of 10 stars and Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 92% with an 82% audience approval rating.

Sorry this review is so short, I'm exhausted after a long work week and I still have tomorrow.

Until tomorrow,
Sleep tight and don't let the zombies bite!

-JD

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Hey guess what day it is! Guess what day it is!!! Hump day!!!

Happy hump day everyone, hope you're all having a good one. I sure had an interesting day at work, the blue Icee pump in the back of food avenue pretty much exploded so we had a blue lagoon, and poor Judy who was working was covered head to foot in blue Icee.

During truck we were singing "This is Halloween" from The Nightmare Before Christmas so of course the song got stuck in my head and I just had to get it out by watching it today.

If you have never seen this movie before shame on you! I pity you because your childhood was apparently horrible, so get your ass on Netflix or to the local movie store and buy it! Don't believe me, watch the trailer:

Convinced? Okay now go and buy it...and while you're at it, go buy the soundtrack too the covers are amazing!

Released in 1993 it was directed by Henry Selick and written by Tim Burton with music (and a lot of the characters like Jack Skellington) by Danny Elfman. Tim Burton and Danny Elfman go together like macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and jelly, zombies and brains. Now the only reason why Burton did not direct this movie was because he was pretty busy with directing Batman Returns and Ed Wood.

Apparently in 2001 Disney wanted to do a sequel but thankfully Burton was able to get them to drop the idea to keep the integrity of Nightmare intact.

As a kid I watched this movie a LOT...like a Lot a LOT. Dr. Finklestein always creep-d me out, especially during his close up of him really angry with his lip twitching...eeeewwww.

I am going to keep this short because I keep getting distracted with all the wonderful music. So here are the ratings: IMDB gives it 8 out of 10 stars, Rotten Tomatoes gives it 96% with an 88% audience approval. I am giving it 5 out of 5 skulls because it is a classic and perhaps the only thing that Disney has done right, (besides the Avengers.)

Until next time,
Sleep tight and don't let the zombies bite!

-JD

SE7EN

Oh what a bleak and dreary day it is! Perfect weather for curling up and enjoying a good psychological thriller wouldn't you say? So what a better movie to watch than SE7EN.

Sorry guys, this one is not on Netflix. 

Released in 1995 this movie is directed by David Fincher and has an all star cast including Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kevin Spacey; so already you know this movie is going to be good!

The premise of this movie is simple: two detectives must hunt down a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his modus operandi.

Now for those of you out there who didn't go to Sunday School or were not beaten by nuns with rulers let me explain the Seven deadly sins.
They are:
Lust - an intense desire; most think of this one as excessive sexual want
Gluttony - over indulgence or consumption of anything to the point of waste.
Greed - excessive desire and pursuit of material possessions.
Sloth - both physical and spiritual laziness
Wrath - uncontrollable feelings of anger and hatred
Envy - Discontent over someone traits, status, abilities, or rewards.
Pride -  the desire to be more attractive or important than others (often considered the original and most serious of the seven deadly sins.)

The deaths they have planned for these sins are creative and gruesome. Oh and when they get to Sloth, watch out.

Oh hey, did I mention you could make this movie into a drinking game? Yeah, take a shot every time some says the word 'fuck'. You will be dead by the end of the movie ...you glutton!

IMDB gives this movie an 8.7 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes gives it 84% with a 93% audience approval rating. I am going to give it a well deserved 5 out of 5 skulls. This movie is so original and innovative with its plot and ending that I will guarantee that if you have not yet seen this movie, you will enjoy something about it.

I remember working one morning stocking the shelves and we were all talking about our favorite horror and thriller movies and I said Se7en to which there was a chorus of "What's in the box!? WHAT'S IN THE BOX!!!?!?!?!"

To which I leave you all with this:

Hope you enjoy it.

Until next time,
Sleep tight and don't let the zombies bite!

- JD

6 Souls

Good Monday evening everyone,

Today I will be reviewing a movie that I have never seen before let alone heard of. It stars some pretty awesome actors though and it's on Netflix.

Released in 2013 (although IMDB says that it was 2010, and Rotten Tomatoes and Wikipedia both say 2013) and directed by Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein this movie stars Julianne Moore and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Now I remember Moore the movie Hannibal and wasn't extremely impressed by the movie; and Meyers I fell in love with during The Tudors. Oh did I mention that Dale from The Walking Dead is also in this movie? 

The premise of this movie is that a forensics psychologist discovers that all of the multiple personalities of one of her patients are actually murder victims and needs to figure out what is going on before time is up. 

Now there isn't any trivia...only the fact that Moore also played a Dr. Harding in the movie The Lost World.

This movie is more of a psychological thriller and doesn't have a whole lot of gore; although the whole coughing up dirt seems a bit gruesome to me. Of course there are moments when something jumps out and you jump in your seat, or you see a very decomposed body and you go ick but other than that not a whole lot.

There are a handful of interesting twists, but in the end a lot of them are predictable.  Oh and a fair warning, this movie does get a bit preachy at the end about never losing your faith. 

IMDB rates this movie a 6 out of 10 stars, and Rotten Tomatoes gives it a  whopping 4% with a 44% audience approval rating. I'm going to give this movie a 3 out of 5 skulls, I can see what they were going for but it just felt lack luster.