31 Days of Halloween: Day 17

Day 17

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)



Ah, claymation. My mother hates it. This is actually one of her least favorite movies...ever. I can't remember if its the claymation she doesn't like...or the story...but every time I mention this movie or watch it, she makes a comment.

Its ok. Having grown up around the time of the Christmas claymation stories (Rudolph, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, The Year Without A Santa, etc) I guess I just grew up liking those kinds of movies. But, I can understand if people don't like them. They can be choppy and unbelievable. Even in Nightmare, you can see the strings of items that they needed to make fly but couldn't do it without the fishing lures.

This is a great movie musical...and I think Danny Elfman does a fantastic job with the music and the lyrics. Creepy and Christmas-y...pretty impressive (no, not traditionally at the same time). You can keep the songs in your head and they are great to sing along to (I have the soundtrack...so trust me on this).

To me, Jack Skellington is a great Disney character. Sure...he's a skeleton, so he's kind of creepy. But he wants to take over Christmas and do it their own way. How cool is that?! He just wants a change in his life. What Disney story doesn't? Look at The Little Mermaid, Aladdin or Beauty and the Beast. Each of these stories have a main character that wants something different for themselves, claiming that there's something bigger and better waiting for them...and they find it.

In Jack's case, he finds it...but is doesn't go the way he would like. He ends up almost ruining Christmas and as Jack's enemy, the Boogie Man, locks Santa away...it looks like Christmas might be gone for good. Can Jack save the day?

Of course....but you can check it out for yourself!!


Similar Movies

The Corpse Bride (2005) (coming so soon...you can taste it!)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Sleepy Hallow (1999)


Up Next

The Corpse Bride (2005)

31 Days of Halloween: Day 16

Day 16

Young Frankenstein (1974)



If you have never seen this classic from Mel Brooks, you are seriously missing out. Its a great parody of and a great tribute to the classic Frankenstein movies.

Gene Wilder is perfect as the eccentric Dr. Frankenstein (pronounced Franc-on-steen). Oh yes, the name is a huge bit in the movie, same with Igor (pronounced eye-gore). Madeline Kahn is a comic genius (check her out in Clue as Mrs. White...brilliant) and Terri Garr made her leading role debut in this movie. Her 'roll in the hay' scene is great.

Mel Brooks' was a smarty when he wrote this script. Naming Frau Blucher the way he did was great, especially when the horses 'nay' every time her name is spoken. For those who don't know, blucher means 'glue'...a sly joke indeed. Cloris Leechman was perfection here.

I have seen the original Frankenstein (1931) as well as Kenneth Branagh's version of the classic story, which released in 1994. Both are great films and I feel that Brooks' interpretation, while funny and farcical, is right up there with them and should never be overlooked when thinking of the story. Even as an ode to the original, it was presented in black and white.

Some of my favorite lines in this movie (please imagine some of these with Eastern European accents...I tried to add them in with spell):

Dr. F: "What knockers!"
Inga: "Oh, sank you Doctor."

Inga: "Put zee candle back!"

Inga: "He must have an enormous van schtucker."
Dr. F: "Well, that goes without saying."
Inga: "Woof."

Frau Blucher: "He vas my boyfriend!"


See it for yourself!! Its a movie I watch year-round as much as I can because its just that fun.


Similar Movies:

Frankenstein (1931)
Frankenstein (1994)
Van Helsing (2004)
Frankenweenie (1984) - they are remaking this, set to release in 2012


Up Next

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

PS...off to Salem, MA today and to a haunted house (yet to be picked)...I'll tell you about it later with pictures and stories a plenty!!

31 Days of Halloween: Day 15

Day 15

Dracula (1992)



There is nothing wrong with vampires (says the girl who's been into vampires since before she can remember....long before Twilight). Vampires can be good and evil. Vampires can be soulless and can care for those around them. Vampires can walk amongst the living during the day and creepy along at night.

Bram Stoker's Dracula, which was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, is a lovely mix between the light and the dark side of vampires and it is done in such a beautiful way, its hard to think of it as a horror film. It is and it isn't all at the same time.

Its a marvelous cast, apart from Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker. Its in his younger days and I don't feel he had outgrown his Bill and Ted ways very much yet. Gary Oldman, who like Johnny Depp, is an acting master. He too has yet to receive an Oscar for his phenomenal skills, but I hope one day he might.

Anthony Hopkins is also a genius and I feel his carefree take of Van Helsing is refreshing (especially after re-watching Van Helsing with Hugh Jackman). And the creepy and insane Renfield (watch the bug scene) is played by Tom Waits. Side note: check out that man's career. I have always been drawn to his musical side, but check out his acting. Quite good in my opinion.

And a quick shout out to Billy Cambell and Cary Elwes who are each in here, much younger, as Lucy's suitors. Those are fairly interesting scenes. Another side note: Richard Grant, who plays Lucy's other suitor, Dr. Seward, is the voice of Lord Barkis Bittern in Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride. I love that character!

Anyway, the overall movie has so much to over: a period setting, great costumes, interesting back story, interwoven story lines, sensuality and a lot of blood. I do enjoy the letters, journal entries and other time keeping dialogue that they employ in the movie. I like it specifically because it is very true to Stoker's original novel (I read it back when I was in high school). If you haven't read it...please do. It can be long, but if you enjoy vampire stories like I do...it's the original! ;-)


Similar Movies:

Interview With A Vampire (1994)
Dracula (1931)
Twilight (2008) - had to put that in ;-)


Up Next

Young Frankenstein (1974)

31 Days of Halloween: Day 14

Day 14

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)



Johnny Depp sings: who knew?! Is that the scary part of the musical? Nope. Its not really a scary movie or even a scary show (as it is based on the Broadway musical of the same name), but it is gory.

Its such a macabre story, about a barber who is sent to prison on a false charge because the judge who sends him away wants his wife for his own. When the barber returns fifteen years later, he discovers his wife poisoned herself years before and he sets out for revenge on those who took his life away. Enter the demon barber part. He kills people in his old barber chair...and the woman who has a pie shop below, Mrs. Lovett, makes meat pies out of the bodies.

Gotta love when Stephen Sondheim's dark story meets Tim Burton in the movie world! Awesome! I love the musical own its own and while the singing isn't extremely strong in the movie, I do appreciate the artistry of it.

The cast is pretty great in this movie. Of course, Depp is Tim Burton's male muse and I love that everything dark, macabre and sinister that is created by Tim involves Johnny in some shape or form (look for Dark Shadows next year!). Helena Bonham Carter is pretty convincing as the worst pies in London maker, Mrs. Lovett and Alan Rickman as the judge is sheer perfection. I mean...does he ever make a bad film or do a bad job at it?!

Check it out!


Similar Movies:

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Sleepy Hallow (1999)


Up Next

Dracula (1992)

31 Days of Halloween: Day 13

Day 13

The Watcher In The Woods (1980)



Ah...Disney's foray into scary movies. They really never fared well in this particular genre. Come on, we are talking the land of fairy tales and talking animals. Horror and suspense: not so much. Having said this, I loved this movie as a kid and as a kid, I did feel it was scary for a young tyke like myself at that age.

A family moves into a home, with the owner living in the cottage next door. Weird things begin to happen to the two daughters and its traced back to an incident 30 years prior, when the owner's own daughter went missing.

One creepy factor: Bette Davis. If those eyes won't get you, her voice, mannerisms and overall look will. She was striking and distinctive as a young woman and she kept that with her as she aged. Another factor: the eldest daughter keeps seeing the daughter in mirrors all over the house and throughout the town. Third factor: the youngest daughter keeps hearing things and saying things and then doesn't remember it. Last factor: check out the pond scene.

One really cool factor that I discovered after re-watching (and purchasing a new DVD) was that there were two alternate endings. I thought that was awesome. Having watched all three endings now, I can say the best ending was used in the theatrical release. The other two consisted of a very different take and then a combination of the original and the different one. They weren't awful by any means, but one of they did have a different scare factor. They were just harder to believe.

I also re-watched the theatrical trailers for the film and the end tagline for each of them was 'it's not a fairy tale.' How fitting for Disney, right? Also, it had a warning stating that while Disney was proud of the movie, the suggested parents screen the movie prior to allowing their children to watch.

Fun facts: the mom in this movie (not Bette Davis) went on to be the mother of the villain in Kindergarten Cop (fantastic role) and the dad is Ducky (the forensic medical examiner) on the television series NCIS.


Similar Movies:

Poltergeist (1982)
13 Ghosts (1960)


Up Next:

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

31 Days of Halloween: Day 12

Day 12

The Exorcist (1978)



Ah, The Exorcist. This is a classic horror movie of the finest quality. Demon possession in its highest form. This movie would become a cult classic, a base of future horror movies and even a platform for some horror farces.

When Regan MacNeil starts to act strangely, her mother, Chris, calls in a set of priests to see what seems to be the problem after doctors have failed to diagnose her. The demon extraction, or exorcism begins.

This movie is home to not only the creepy head spinning scene and the pea-soup vomiting sequence (I say that, because that's what they used for the film to get that particular color) but if you watch the remastered version with never before seen footage, you also get the crab and spider like crawling sequences too.

All of the voices, Linda Blair's banged up face, her body being thrown around like a rag doll created some of the greatest horror movie images and scenes at the time. It actually is one of my favorites, as I have a lot of memories centering around this movie when it was re-released in theatres in 2000. I encourage those who have not seen the movie, to watch it, especially if you are a fan of horror films. You need to see where the current films got there start.


Similar Films:
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
Repossessed (1990)


Up Next:

The Watcher In The Woods (1980)

31 Days of Halloween: Day 11

Day 11

Sleepy Hallow (1999)



This is one of my favorite movies of all time, not just for this season. It was also one of the first DVD's I personally owned. It is also one of my favorite Tim Burton movie's as well (even Johnny Depp); an overall favorite.

Part of the reason is the classic story. I remember reading the infamous Ichabod Crane story while I was in high school and I loved it. And while Johnny doesn't look like the description of Crane (hooked nose, etc) and the fact that he wasn't a school teacher in the movie, I still enjoy his portrayal. Depp actually wanted to do the full look, nose and all, but it was vetoed. Apparently, this movie needed looks as well as acting. :-)

What's also nice about this Burton adaptation is the realism. Sure, the blood is way too red (but that's Tim's MO) and of course the story itself is a bit fantastical (really, a headless horseman?) but everything else is fairly realistic. No odd colors extremely out of place or over the top characters that have no business in the story.

I'm not a fan of Crane's flashbacks in this movie though. I understand why they are there (to build bridges between his character and some of the other characters) but I'm just not a fan of them. In some ways they interrupt the continuity of the movie. What I do like is the fantastic cast of actors that came together for this movie, including Michael Gambon, Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson, Richard Griffiths and of course Johnny Depp. The ensemble cast is actually what brings this movie to life. They play their respective roles extremely well, especially Christopher Walken as the Horseman.

Overall, the movie is great and for those how remember seeing the Disney cartoon of The Adventures of Ichabod Crane that came out originally in the late 40's....this ain't the same movie, so you're in for a shock. Check it out!

Similar Movies:

The Adventures of Ichabod Crane & Mr. Toad (1949)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) (coming soon)
Sweeney Todd (2007) (coming soon)
The Corpse Bride (2005) (coming soon)


Up Next:

THE EXORCIST (1973)