Hey Geeks, Lowdown Brown here to tell you about some awesome Halloween specials you might’ve forgotten about. Or just didn’t know about.
A Disney Halloween
A Disney Halloween is a 90-minute television special that aired in 1983. It combines segments from “Disney’s Halloween Treat” and “Disney’s Greatest Villains”. The opening and closing credits features footage from the 1929 Silly Symphony short “The Skeleton Dance”, as did “Disney’s Halloween Treat”, but the coloring has been changed. It’s full of classic shorts and excerpts from various films. Not Halloween for me until I’ve watched it. For some reason I couldn’t post the link to the entire special, so here’s the intro. Once you’re on you tube, you can find the full length!
Halloween is Grinch Night
The Grinch didn’t just screw with the Who’s on Christmas! This special aired in1977, and is a prequel to “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. This is pretty creepy, and has one segment that is a full blown acid trip. Totally freaked me out as a kid.
Garfield’s Halloween Adventure
This is my second favorite Halloween special. Its a pirate themed ghost story featuring your favorite fat cat. Only instead of stuffing his face with lasagna, it’s candy. Candy candy candy candy candy candy as he says. So have a few good scares with Garfield and Odie.
Witch’s Night Out
This is a Canadian Animated special which aired in 1978, and features the voice talents of Catherine O’Hara and Gilda Radner. This is a really “different” style of animation, and there’s a disco song “Witch Magic”. Gotta see it to believe it.
Ernest Scared Stupid
Not much to say about this one. It’s Ernest, shit’s hilarious. There’s some pretty scary stuff as well, that troll is nasty. Ewwwwwwwwwwww.
Mr. Boogedy
Didn’t come out around Halloween, but it’s a fun ghost story. Featuring the acting talents of Richard Masur and John Astin. Apparently this slab of goofy was good enough to spawn a sequel, The Bride of Boogedy.
The Legend of Sleepy Hallow
This is Disney’s adaptation of Washinton Irving’s classic short story. Originally part of a dual short story collection released in 1949, “The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad”, it was later released individually under the story’s original title. This is probably my favorite adaptation. I mean come on, it’s narrated and voiced by Bing Crosby! The ending scene with the Headless Horseman is pretty freakin’ scary. After all, “You can’t reason with a headless man”.
Mad Monster Party
The Forgotten Rankin Bass special which was released in 1967. Oh yeah, they did more than Christmas specials! This is narrated by Boris Karlof himself!! You get all the Universal Classic Monsters, as well as The Hunchback and a dude with a dangerous split personality. Plus, there’s a surf rock band, composed of skeletons wearing wigs, as the house band. They’re #1 hit is “It’s the Mummy”.
The Halloween Tree
Based on the book of the same name by Ray Bradbury, this made for TV movie was released in 1993. Ray Bardbury himself stated that this is the best adaptation of his work that he’s ever seen. Narrated by Ray Bradbury himself, and featuring the voice talent of Leonard Nimoy!!
There you have it, a few specials to round out your Halloween season. I hope this jogged your memory, or turned you on to a few specials you had no idea existed. Until next time, Join Us Or Die!
Stephen King’s magnum opus, a story that has spanned his entire career, finally has a film adaptation! With a stellar cast, amazing source material, Stephen King and Ron Howard producing, what could go wrong? Well, let me tell you.
The Dark Tower is a series of books that tells of Roland Deschain and his Ka-tet’s journey, as well as tying together several of King’s other novels. The Dark Tower is the nexus of the Stephen King universe. You’d think a story this vast would be told through multiple movies right? After all, the main series contains eight books. Instead, we receive ninety minutes of film that barely scratches the surface.
This movie is like the worst case of blue balls!!!! Giving viewers just a glimpse into the relationship between Roland Deschain (Idris Elba) and Walter Padick (Matthew McConaughey), aka The Man in Black. And with only one other main character, Jake Chambers (Tom Taylor)!! They left out two very important characters, Eddie and Susannah Dean. If you want to know who they are, you’re gonna have to check out the books.
Ka-tet
The series is not a PG-13 rated action packed revenge story. It is a hard R rated Sci-Fi/Horror/Fantasy/Spaghetti Western that is set in a dystopian future. It’s about one man’s destiny, and what he will sacrifice to achieve it. Where he finally reaches his level of the Dark Tower, only to be thrust back to the dessert in which his story began. Our protagonist has been repeating this journey over and over, with no recollection of past events. Though each time he starts, there’s a slight change.
Gunslinger on the beach
Early in the production, it was announced that the movie serves as a sequel to the books. It’s really the only saving grace. Apparently the ending of the last book is the beginning of the movie. Giving us some kind of explanation for the injustice done to this masterful storytelling.
Please don’t judge the REAL Dark Tower by this movie. Read the books, listen to the audio books, SOMETHING!! Don’t miss out on one of the greatest stories ever told.
“The Man in Black fled across the desert and the Gunslinger followed”
Lately Netflix has been dropping a metric f@*k ton of original content, and I couldn’t be happier. For the most part, they’ve been killing it!!
One of the latest series I’m super stoked for is Mindhunter. Partly because it revolves around real life serial killers, and partly because three episodes are directed by David Fincher.
David Fincher’s return to True Crime!! If you haven’t seen his film Zodiac, you’re doing yourself a disservice. It’s recently been dubbed the best true crime film of the 21st century.
In the trailer we see our two main characters, FBI agents John E. Douglas and Robert Ressler, persuing some of the most notorius serial killers of the 1970’s. Most notably we see who appears to be Edmund Kemper, a man that killed his mother and grandparents. As well as abducted and murdered women from 1964-1973. There’s a lot of other grisly details that I won’t go into, just know that he was a real peach.
The trailer for Season 8 of The Walking Dead was released early Friday morning at SDCC! After the “Battle of Alexandria” at the end of Season 7, the prospect of the major story arc, “All Out War”, coming to the screen in season 8 is all the internet has been talking about. Well from the looks of it, we’re gonna get it!!!!
We’re in for a helluva ride during the 16 episode season, it looks huge!!! We see all our favorite characters (Well, the live ones anyway) back, and ready to kick some Saviour ass!
The Walking Dead Season 8 will premiere this October on AMC
Alright, this movie has received great reviews from critics. Mixed to low reviews from regular everyday schmucks like you and me. I get it, I was torn while leaving the theater. Having not seen any of the director’s, Trey Edward Shults, previous work, I wasn’t completely sure what he was going for. I think this is where the problem lies.
The term Horror is subjective, always has been. If viewers wanted a gore fest, this is not for you. A supernatural/demonic film? Not gonna find that here. Want everything wrapped up in a neat little bow? Keep looking. What we do get, and what I believe to be the director’s vision, is a glimpse into the human condition.
The film wastes no time setting the tone, or showing what “It” is. Within the first ten minutes, you find the main characters saying their godbyes to a disease riddled old man. The grandfather. He is being disposed of. The patriarch of the family, Paul (Joel Edgerton), and the 17 year old son Travis (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), carry the old man into the woods in a wheelbarrow. They come to a shallow hole, where the old man is placed. Paul then shoots grandpa in the head, and burns his body. All while Travis is watching. If you haven’t guessed, “It” is the virus. They return home to Sarah (Carmen Ejogo), Paul’s wife/Trevor’s mom, who is mourning the loss of her father.
We see their day to day life. Living under the strict set of rules set by Paul. We are also introduced to the first of many dream sequences. Travis has a series of dreams, which seems to serve two purposes. To show that the isolation, fear, and loss are breaking him down. As well as to let the viewer know that “It” is ever present. Aside from the explanation that people are getting sick, we never get the how and why. Sometimes they forget there own rules. Like wearing their gloves and gas masks whenever they go outside.
Their fear intensifies when there’s a break in one night. A man, Will (Christopher Abbott), looking for suplies to feed his family. Sarah convinces Paul to spare him in hopes of getting information about the world outside. Paul then leaves him tied to a tree until he’s satisfied with what he hears. Paul and Sarah make a deal with Will. He will bring his family, and stay with Paul’s. Bringing all his families supplies with them. That’s always a good idea right? More people in an isolated situation, tension much?
You guessed it. Tensions rise between the two families, under Paul’s authority. See, Paul is the only one who has the key to the door that leads outside. No one leaves unless he lets them. Eventually, Will’s son gets sick. Which leads Paul to rethink his decision. They gotta go. This scene carries us pretty much through the end.
I enjoyed this movie. Seeing Travis slowly fall apart. An isolated seventeen year old who wants to be a normal teenager, but is haunted by the bleak world around him. Watching as Paul’s good intentions slowly turn bad. As he continually succumbs to his fear, he constantly crosses one line after another. To the point that he’s running in pure survival mode. Not weighing the consequences of his actions. Ultimately destroying his family.
