Month in Review: October 2010

In our month-long run-up to Halloween, we’re going a little goth all over.

Science fiction, horror, monsters, B-movie scares, and more. Not quite a traditional wedding, we’ve got a bit of the old, new, borrowed, black-and-blue.

Presto! Hacker Renders’ list of highlights for October 2010, a list of five: favourites, surprises, disappointments, and least-liked, as well as the movie I’d most like to see, reviewed by that special someone who keeps the Halloween going all year.

Favourite Film:
Carrie (1976)

“I think it’s safe to say that few movies are able to approximate this poignant combination of bitter and sweet. John Hughes comes to mind, though his works have less at stake.

“And if you’re not in a particularly touchy-feely mood, just think Matilda Goes Rambo.”

Greatest Surprise:
Devil Bat (1940)

“This horror chestnut is infinitely less scary than amusing. For what it is, it’s perfect. In fact it reminded me a great deal of a later Roger Corman production, Wasp Woman, which also featured a cosmetics concern with a dangerous secret ingredient. Pair it with Devil Bat and you’d have a great double bill. Ed Wood fans would certainly find it alluring. After all, when you’ve got that mad scientist Bela in a suit, a hat, and a cane, what else do you need?”

Most Disappointing:
The Spirit (2008)

“In a latter year of university, I was required to study various television series, and to identify those elements commonly found in their “average” episodes. This movie feels like a labour based on the results of such a study, one which mimics so many sources so mechanically it has become an empty parody of itself . . . There is far less entertainment than exercise here. The Spirit is sound and fury signifying meh.”

Least-Liked:
The Frighteners (1996)

“After a movie like this one, I feel a kind of sadness, a mourning for time I will soon lose, returning to its world, exploring it thoroughly, examining it critically, and generally squandering all of those things that could be better spent. In this case I genuinely wanted to enjoy myself but, ultimately, I was faced with the most unpleasant piece to date in the history of this site.”

Dishonourable Mentions:
Event Horizon (1997)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Show Me:
Fido (2006)

“Fido was clearly ahead of its time. This terrific Canadian film drags lurching zombies into a 1950s suburban cul-de-sac. Featuring a stellar cast including Carrie-Ann Moss, Billy Connolly and Dylan Baker, this biting social satire takes the viewer into a world of 1950 gender politics, corporate profiteering and zombies.”