31 Nights of Halloween

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

NIGHT 30:



As we are sadly nearing our end of the Halloween season, we at least have some great movies to go out on. In our second to last night, we delve into the timeless tale or Invasion of the Body Snatchers, based on a novel of the same name.

So, just what is it that makes this story so timeless, to the point of having been "directly" remade 3 times over, while having had countless other films draw heavy inspiration from its plot and subject material? Well, I'd say that the overarching theme of mass paranoia over losing one's individuality and freedom is a fear that many can relate to. This story, as well as that of the remakes deals with alien life forms assuming the roles of people and replacing the role of the person they copy, with the goal of spreading throughout the entire world's population until they are all one. In all but the most recent version, they come in the form of people grown out of plant pods, and as they gradually begin to grow in number and overwhelm the few core characters that drive these stories, leaving them in a hopeless situation, they always seem to try and reason with the  victims that what they are doing is for the better, for their world is one of now war or violence or hatred....but also no need for love or compassion or any emotions whatsoever, even positive ones. It's a stark reminder to all of us that there is no true utopia, as in order for their to be good, there also must exist bad. Without either of them, we cease to keep the very thing that makes us human in the first place.

The original novel and film were excellent commentary on the McCarthy era and his anti-communism campaign which in and of itself was a form of massive and largely unfounded paranoia that put fear into people, and thus limited some from being able to truly express their individuality in fear of being accused that they were an outsider. The film in particular captures that very well through tremendously good writing and acting, and in this regard, it holds up extraordinarily well and arguably better than most breakthrough Sci-Fi and Horror movies from the 1950's, and that era of film in general.

Having said that, the 1978 version deserves special praise for taking the elements of what the original film did, and rather than just copy it scene-for-scene, it did its own thing while staying completely faithful to the original message and still effectively recreating the most iconic scenes from the original, where it really counted. As a message, I do feel that the original film worked a bit better, but as an overall movie experience and one that really captured the intensity of the situation, I do slightly prefer the 1978 remake to the original, but both are absolute masterpieces in my eyes.

As for the other 2 remakes, neither came nearly as close to matching what the first 2 films basically perfected, of at least came close to as perfect as possible with their subject material. The 1993 version, simply titled Body Snatchers, has it's merits, but it's a 90's movie at heart, stuck with many of the tropes of its time, and since the characters feel much more flat and underdeveloped, the movie doesn't come off as timeless as the first few outside of the message itself. As for the 2000's version, given the modernized title of The Invasion, it was simply a pretty badly put together film, despite having some good actors in it. If nothing else, though, it's mere existence does at least highlight how the intent of the original story is still so relevant to this very day.

[Avaitor]

Such an awesome highlight of 50's horror. What can I say though, you nailed everything better than I could.

[Daikun]

This movie was a required viewing for me back in college. It's a great film that reflects the changing times in America during its time period. However, despite popular belief, this movie really isn't about communism. When the class was assigned to write an essay on this movie, comparing this film to communism would result in an automatic "F", since it would be missing the point. The filmmakers and author of the novel have denied any political allegory.

The movie is actually a reflection on American conformity in the 1950s. Following WWII, the U.S. had amassed great wealth and television exploded as a medium. As a result, America had dulled itself into a mental state of punch-clock scheduling, going through the motions of daily routines like zombies without much care or worry. That's what the movie is about.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

The movie is open to different interpretations. It's common for authors and film makers to deny any connections with other real-life things, but whether done consciously or not, when so many film enthusiasts come to that conclusion when analyzing the film, it's still very telling about what may have influenced it. For instance, even if not directly referencing the anti-communism movement, there was still an undeniable theme of losing freedom and individuality as a society in the film, and there's no denying that it was also a prominent issue of that era. That feeds into what my overall point was, anyways, if how regardless of the time, there's still always something in our modern age to connect this story to, which is why it's relevance has persisted for so long, and obviously it couldn't have been referencing future events, but rather it just captures a truthful element of how our society functions that regardless of whether there were intentions to connect it to anything or not, people will still be able to draw parallels.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

HALLOWEEN NIGHT:



And what better way to celebrate the holiday than with the most iconic slasher film of all time, that happens to be named after it. This is yet another John Carpenter masterpiece for this month, and I traditionally re-watch it every October.

I won't lie and say that I think that this is the best horror film of all time, or even the best John Carpenter film, because it's not. That said, it is one of the most iconic movies ever for a reason, and it really does display how to do a good slasher movie and keep the audience in suspense and wanting to see more, rather than showing too much and becoming an utter parody itself like some of the later sequels did.

This, to me, is the perfect film to close out the month with. Happy Halloween, everyone!

[talonmalon333]

Happy Halloween, folks!

Also, before talking about the movie, I just want to say... this was a great thread idea, E-K. Even though there were movies that plenty of us didn't see, I think we all enjoyed this. Here's hoping we get to do it again next October!

Now as for Halloween, this is, and perhaps always will be, my choice as the greatest slasher film. And I love the amount of class it has, in that it puts atmosphere and suspense over gore and blood. Also, I think we should mention that soundtrack. It's one of those soundtracks that, when I hear it outside the movie, I'm pulled right back into scenes from it. It might just be my favorite horror movie soundtrack, and I've had it playing in my house today to commemorate the holiday. Some of the best tracks include...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI0QNdIi508
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFHZS6yH5YQ (This, before even the main theme, is the song that immediately comes to mind when I remember the movie.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCEmdNDDhtI&list=PL22F8B69AA1F54632&index=7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AdK0yl7hrc&list=PL22F8B69AA1F54632&index=8

I also feel that the movie has subtext about Celtic lore. From what I gather, this isn't a widely discussed interpretation on the movie, but Samhain (which is largely where Halloween comes from), is said to be have been when evil spirits would appear and haunt the living. Even Debra Hill has this to say...

...the idea was that you couldn't kill evil, and that was how we came about the story. We went back to the old idea of Samhain, that Halloween was the night where all the souls are let out to wreak havoc on the living, and then came up with the story about the most evil kid who ever lived. And when John came up with this fable of a town with a dark secret of someone who once lived there, and now that evil has come back, that's what made Halloween work.

And of course, Michael Myers is, after all, the Boogeyman. Or rather, the Shape. And if you look at it this way, he essentially is Halloween.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Also, before talking about the movie, I just want to say... this was a great thread idea, E-K. Even though there were movies that plenty of us didn't see, I think we all enjoyed this. Here's hoping we get to do it again next October!

Yeah, we had a lot of interesting discussions on here, and I still plan to get around to the movies on this list which I still haven't seen, Halloween month or not. So, I'm definitely going to be doing this next year. I'm also considering doing something like this for Christmas as well, in December, and perhaps doing different themed movie discussion months next year.

[Daikun]

I love this movie because of how little you see. I love minimalism as an art form, and because of that, this movie captures a sense of dread and mystique better than any other horror film I've seen, IMO. It's the main reason why the sequels falter--they're weaker in atmosphere because they show off way too much.

Frankly, I really wish Halloween was the anthology series they originally had in mind. There would be more creativity and not so many horrible sequels of the same damn thing.

[Avaitor]

I have an idea for a series we can do each month, but it'd be weekly- a director's spotlight, where we pick 5 or so movies from a specific director and discuss them each week.

Although I guess since we've used most of Carpenter's best stuff, we might need to skip over him.

[talonmalon333]

Just as long as we keep most horror films for October.

You know what I like about Halloween? Michael Myers really didn't have that much of a reason to take a special interest in Laurie (sequels aside). She just happened to be the one who he first saw when he returned to Haddonfield, when he saw her drop off a key under the mat to his house. In fact, he didn't just target her. He also targets that small child that she was babysitting, who happened to be with Laurie when he saw her for the very first time. But other than that, he just kills. That's what I like about him. Nothing makes perfect sense. Nothing adds up. He doesn't act with reason. He's just an entity of pure evil.

[gunswordfist]

I'm about to watch Night Of The Creeps. Better late than never since it'll be the only horror movie I've recently watched.

[Avaitor]

Oh, I finally got to see Poltergeist last night. I can see why it was one of the incentives behind the PG-13 rating being made, even if the most graphic stuff comes and goes so quickly.

But it's strong enough, with a strange mix of Speilberg's oft-explored suburban atmosphere and actual terror, which works well here. It also remains pretty entertaining all the way through, which is a big plus.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, it's a solid flick, even if it isn't that scary.

And anyone else can feel free to update this thread with their thoughts on any movies featured in it. Just because October is over doesn't mean that we can't enjoy horror films. I, myself plan to do so when I get around to the movies in my backlog.

[Avaitor]

Sounds fair!

If you guys are interested in the monthly director series, tell me, and I'll try to come up with ideas. I'll wait until January to do it, but there's definitely a few directors worth digging deeper into as a group.