Halloween 2020 - Retribution and Redemption
It was hard for me to imagine that anything could be worse than the sub-zero temperatures that dropped on the eve of Halloween last year. Exhausted from a flight delay that got me home at 2 a.m. and wrestling cables from the icy grip of an early snow, I suggested to my partner in scare that maybe we just skip it that year. You can read about all about our Nightmare Before Christmas here, but skip it we did not. I owe that to my husband and to the hundreds of visitors who make our Halloween world go around. Thank you all.
Imagination blown – who could have predicted 2020?
It has been hypothesized that the train wreck we call 2020, and the ridiculous suggestion that the world cancel Halloween, can only be retribution for the Allmans nearly giving up in a moment of weakness last year. I still don’t recognize that version of myself so balance must be restored and challenge accepted. Grab your masks . . . please . . . and join us in performing an exorcism on this shitshow of a year in the only way we know how. Bring on the horror.
I know better than to mess with fate – especially this year – so the season starts as it always has and always will - with the original Halloween (1978). I added some perennial favorites because I think our redemption demands it. Trick ‘r Treat, The Shining, and The Conjuring. And what global exorcism would be complete with Ouija or The Exorcist? Let’s not forget those.
New releases for 2020 include a few movies that made it to theaters before pandemania took them out: The Invisible Man, Fantasy Island, and The Turning. The Rental actually managed a theatrical release in the summer by using a California drive-in as its socially distanced medium before immediately moving to streaming. There are a few more new releases from 2020 that didn’t make it to the planned Moviefest list – we will save them for extra credit. I had to make room the long awaited follow up to The Haunting of Hill House and that is The Haunting of Bly Manor. There are 9 episodes that I expect to be a two-day binge at most, but I have given you three days because it’s an endurance sport and not everyone is up for it. If you get through Bly Manor early, you can grab I’m Thinking of Ending Things. The movie is a COVID casualty that was picked up by Netflix so you won’t even have to change platforms.
Speaking of long-awaited follow ups, Michael Ballif’s full-length film, They Live Inside Us, premiers on streaming media October 6. The creator is a local talent who brilliantly captured the Halloween atmosphere of my childhood in his five-part anthology, The Witching Season. Each episode is based on a sub-genre of horror so let’s see if he weaved that into the film. And if you are looking for music to create your Halloween atmosphere, Ballif has made two volumes of music available on YouTube. Check them out when you subscribe to Witching Season Films.
The terribly titled You Should Have Left is a new film that premiered on streaming media starring Kevin Bacon. You should definitely check it out - if for no other reason than to see how damn good he looks. It is a decent horror flick with an ending I didn’t see coming – a pretty good trick in today’s horror hellscape. Mickey Rourke didn’t age quite as gracefully as his screen brother, but it does him well in his role as The Projectionist in the horror anthology, Nightmare Cinema. I do love me a good anthology.
New to the Horrorfest are a couple of classics that I somehow missed before, Carrie and Nightmare on Elm Street - the original movies and not their sequels. Ew. And because this year has just been crap all around, I added three comedy horrors to lighten the mood. Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil and Zombieland. If you’re an over achiever, grab a double feature with Wes Craven’s New Nightmare or Zombieland: Double Tap. An extra film or two can only improve our chances for recovery.
Three movies from last year that are available on streaming for the Moviefest include Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Black Christmas (a decent remake), and Doctor Sleep – arguably the best movie of 2019.
I included a few more favorites just because Halloween is a good excuse to watch Scream, The Cabin in the Woods and Ghost Ship. My good friend Annabelle makes another appearance on the Moviefest because she is in my living room and it would be wrong not to pay tribute . . . just in case.
I plan to close out the season with Tales of Halloween because I love a good anthology. Which is why I will start my extra credit with a Hulu’s new horror anthology, Monsterland. This new bundle of horror joy was announced just as I was finishing up the Moviefest lineup and I think it is the universe talking back.
It is time for redemption so let’s put on our Halloween masks get things back on track with an epic Halloween that sends this year straight back to Hell. Are you with me?