Top 5 flicks to watch on Halloween night

[Mikey]

I don't think anyone's mentioned Disney's animated Sleepy Hollow from "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad". When the networks always ran the Disney Halloween special every year, it was always included. It was years before I knew it came from a movie, grouped with the Mr. Toad segment.

I watched it last night! Great stuff.

Chris

I mentioned it way back on page 1-ish and i'm still surprised it wasn't brought up again until now.
That show was a classic Holloween show if there ever was one.
Perhaps the younger guys never seen it because they don't play it anymore on network TV as a Holloween tradition.

[toys2cool]

I don't think anyone's mentioned Disney's animated Sleepy Hollow from "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad". When the networks always ran the Disney Halloween special every year, it was always included. It was years before I knew it came from a movie, grouped with the Mr. Toad segment.

I watched it last night! Great stuff.

Chris

the toad part is boring bit I love the Sleepy Hollow part

[Earth 2 Chris]

I mentioned it way back on page 1-ish and i'm still surprised it wasn't brought up again until now.
That show was a classic Holloween show if there ever was one.
Perhaps the younger guys never seen it because they don't play it anymore on network TV as a Holloween tradition.

Sorry Mike, it's been a while since I looked at the first page.

Anyone recall the live-action TV version with Jeff Goldblum as Ichabod and Dick Butkis as Brom Bones? I think it was part of a short-lived Classic Theater type show in the late 70s/early 80s. I recall seeing it again in syndication in the mid-80s, but never again.

Chris

[darklord1967]

Sorry...but now I just can't take you seriously.

YES!! I repeat: I said "overrated" and "slow paced"!! Honestly. 10 screen minutes wasted on the Nostromo just landing on LV-426 ????

And how about that chest-burster scene: Back in 1979: Very effective. Very Shocking. Admittedly, to a great degree, it is still effective and shocking. However, looking at it with contemporary eyes today, that chest burster is definitely staring to look like an obvious puppet in some shots... especially the way it slowly turns side-to-side to look at the shocked Nostromo crew. I can almost feel the puppetier's arm, just by watching the scene. And how about the way it hisses with that overly simplistic (puppet) mouth movement... And then when it runs off, it moves like something that belongs on Sesame Street... I honestly kinda thought so even back in 1979.

Now examine the chest-burster scene from "Aliens". Even after all these years, it still pack a whallop! The way that poor cocooned woman in the wall snaps her eyes open when Private Deitrict lifts her head... The way she begs the troopers, "P-Please... k-kill me..." right before the creature violently rips out of her chest. Brrrrrrrr!

And look at the Chest-burster creature itself. In "Aliens", it's much more vicious, with an undulating head, and small arms that writhe around after it is blasted with a flame thrower by Sgt. Apone.

Seven years made a real difference between these two films to my eyes.

I also felt like the single full-grown Alien warrior in "Alien" moved WAY TOO SLOWLY. (Re: Note the deaths of Brett, Parker, and Lambert). The Alien is either reclining, or standing around posing while it slobbers. And it's victims just stand around, frozen in place while hypnotized (Brett), or they stand around, frozen in place while screaming with hysterics (Lambert), or they make the bone-headed move of actually charging toward the 7-foot tall, monstrous creature (Parker)... even when armed with a weapon!

Apparently, it doesn't occur to any of these yo-yo's to just run away from the alien. Not too bright. It's kinda like in George Romero's zombie films. The un-dead lumber around looking creepy... but they move oh... so... friggin'... slowly. In order to get bitten by one of these slow pokes, you gotta be a little bit of an idiot.

Now in "Aliens", the creatures are super-FAST and super-AGILE! They're turbo-charged!! They move much-faster than the average human and are therefore a real, viable, realistic threat... INFINITELY more frightening... INFINITELY more intense, if you ask me. Using the "Un-dead" analogy from before, these aliens are more like the fast-moving zombies that we saw in the 2004 re-make of "Dawn of the Dead". Much more vicious. Much more frightening. Much more of a realistic threat without dumbing down the human characters in order to become a zombie victim.

Yeah. You're right. We disagree on virtually everything, Hector. And that's okay. Truth is, I stopped taking you seriously AGES ago, good buddy.

[Meule]

Yeah...but what about you?

I like 'em both

[Hector]

YES!! I repeat: I said "overrated" and "slow paced"!! Honestly. 10 screen minutes wasted on the Nostromo just landing on LV-426 ????

And how about that chest-burster scene: Back in 1979: Very effective. Very Shocking. Admittedly, to a great degree, it is still effective and shocking. However, looking at it with contemporary eyes today, that chest burster is definitely staring to look like an obvious puppet in some shots... especially the way it slowly turns side-to-side to look at the shocked Nostromo crew. I can almost feel the puppetier's arm, just by watching the scene. And how about the way it hisses with that overly simplistic (puppet) mouth movement... And then when it runs off, it moves like something that belongs on Sesame Street... I honestly kinda thought so even back in 1979.

Now examine the chest-burster scene from "Aliens". Even after all these years, it still pack a whallop! The way that poor cocooned woman in the wall snaps her eyes open when Private Deitrict lifts her head... The way she begs the troopers, "P-Please... k-kill me..." right before the creature violently rips out of her chest. Brrrrrrrr!

And look at the Chest-burster creature itself. In "Aliens", it's much more vicious, with an undulating head, and small arms that writhe around after it is blasted with a flame thrower by Sgt. Apone.

Seven years made a real difference between these two films to my eyes.

I also felt like the single full-grown Alien warrior in "Alien" moved WAY TOO SLOWLY. (Re: Note the deaths of Brett, Parker, and Lambert). The Alien is either reclining, or standing around posing while it slobbers. And it's victims just stand around, frozen in place while hypnotized (Brett), or they stand around, frozen in place while screaming with hysterics (Lambert), or they make the bone-headed move of actually charging toward the 7-foot tall, monstrous creature (Parker)... even when armed with a weapon!

Apparently, it doesn't occur to any of these yo-yo's to just run away from the alien. Not too bright. It's kinda like in George Romero's zombie films. The un-dead lumber around looking creepy... but they move oh... so... friggin'... slowly. In order to get bitten by one of these slow pokes, you gotta be a little bit of an idiot.

Now in "Aliens", the creatures are super-FAST and super-AGILE! They're turbo-charged!! They move much-faster than the average human and are therefore a real, viable, realistic threat... INFINITELY more frightening... INFINITELY more intense, if you ask me. Using the "Un-dead" analogy from before, these aliens are more like the fast-moving zombies that we saw in the 2004 re-make of "Dawn of the Dead". Much more vicious. Much more frightening. Much more of a realistic threat without dumbing down the human characters in order to become a zombie victim.

Yeah. You're right. We disagree on virtually everything, Hector. And that's okay. Truth is, I stopped taking you seriously AGES ago, good buddy.

If you have stopped taking me seriously ages ago...then why bother with yet another long-winded post?

I couldn't get past your first sentence.

What did you say again?

[Hector]

YES!! I repeat: I said "overrated" and "slow paced"!! Honestly. 10 screen minutes wasted on the Nostromo just landing on LV-426 ????

Since I somehow managed to go through your first sentence...

ALIEN is all about ambiance and atmosphere...like Silent Running, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Forbidden Planet, The Black Hole, Solaris, Event Horizon, Sunshine, etc...

That's what being in outer space is all about for humans...slow and eerie.

ALIEN is not Star Wars or Star Trek...it's sci-fi with a more realistic approach.

You want a shoot 'em up cowboy flick...I recommend you stick to Westerns.

[darklord1967]

If you have stopped taking me seriously ages ago...then why bother with yet another long-winded post?

I couldn't get past your first sentence.

What did you say again?

Well it wasn't really for your benefit, so much as it was to clarify my stance on the two films for anyone else who might be interested.

Since you do not have the patience to read my "long-winded posts", I knew that changing your mind would never be an option.

There. I kept this one nice and short.

[Hector]

[mego73]

For Halloween fare, it's strictly the old fashioned horror movies which used to populate the local channels with the Universal ones being at the top of the heap. The more modern ones like The Exorcist, Alien (I know they aren't new but they are the early examples of the more graphic, relentlessly grim horror movies) are great but I don't think of them as part of the nostalgic flavor of Halloween which is supposed to have an element of fun with the spookiness.

[bondtoddbond]

The B&W Universal classics are my Halloween favorites:
1. Dracula
2. Frankenstein
3. Bride of Frankenstein
4. The Wolfman
5. The Creature from the Black Lagoon

[Meule]

Since I somehow managed to go through your first sentence...

ALIEN is all about ambiance and atmosphere...like Silent Running, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Forbidden Planet, The Black Hole, Solaris, Event Horizon, Sunshine, etc...

That's what being in outer space is all about for humans...slow and eerie.

ALIEN is not Star Wars or Star Trek...it's sci-fi with a more realistic approach.

You want a shoot 'em up cowboy flick...I recommend you stick to Westerns.

I can agree with most of what you're saying, but 2001: A Space Odyssey is the most boring movie I've ever seen