31 Nights of Halloween

[Avaitor]

Just watch it over and over again each year. You'll grow more appreciation for it. Trust me, the true classics never seem as great as they are hyped up to be on a first viewing. I could go into every little detail that I love about this movie that I never noticed on a first viewing, but that'd be moot unless you experienced it for yourself.

Oh, definitely. That's how I feel about the first two Alien films and Casablanca. They get better with every viewing!

Hey guys, I don't have as much time as I want to participate every night (but I'll try to catch Evil Dead II when that happens, since it's on Netflix and I've been meaning to rewatch anyway), but I just wanted to say that it's so true that Casablanca deserves to be watched more than once.

[Foggle]

I actually loved The Thing immediately on my first viewing. It's a masterpiece.

Hey guys, I don't have as much time as I want to participate every night (but I'll try to catch Evil Dead II when that happens, since it's on Netflix and I've been meaning to rewatch anyway), but I just wanted to say that it's so true that Casablanca deserves to be watched more than once.

One of the top 5 film scripts ever written, easily. Gets so much better every time I re-watch it.

[talonmalon333]

So with An American Werewolf in London, I was thinking about what are my favorite werewolf movies. This is obviously first. Ginger Snaps, which I only just saw recently, would be #2. But I can't think of a movie to round out my top 3. I could pick The Wolf Man, but I don't know. I like that movie very much, but I don't want to pick it. I feel like I have to be forgetting something.

The fact that the movie that released twenty years later has considerably worse special effects deserve particular mention in itself.

That's nothing special. CGI became big at that time, so of course the effects would be worse.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Just watch it over and over again each year. You'll grow more appreciation for it. Trust me, the true classics never seem as great as they are hyped up to be on a first viewing. I could go into every little detail that I love about this movie that I never noticed on a first viewing, but that'd be moot unless you experienced it for yourself.

Oh, definitely. That's how I feel about the first two Alien films and Casablanca. They get better with every viewing!

Hey guys, I don't have as much time as I want to participate every night (but I'll try to catch Evil Dead II when that happens, since it's on Netflix and I've been meaning to rewatch anyway), but I just wanted to say that it's so true that Casablanca deserves to be watched more than once.

Who watches Casablanca only once?

There's some good films nominated, so I hope you can catch some of the ones you've never seen. I've never seen The Fog, for instance, but I found a copy cheap and I've always wanted to see it, so this is a good excuse.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

The fact that the movie that released twenty years later has considerably worse special effects deserves particular mention in itself.

Now just compare that to the picture that Talon posted, and any notions that the original werewolf design didn't look like all that will immediately fade away.

[Foggle]

We should also talk about the sequel, An American Werewolf in Paris! ... Right, guys? ... Huh, guys?

It's a good example to bring up when talking about the genre as a whole.

The first movie is everything good about the genre and is a classic. The second is everything wrong with the genre and one of the worst movies I've ever seen. It's an amazing feat for two films to be so far apart from each other that have so many similarities.

The fact that the movie that released twenty years later has considerably worse special effects deserves particular mention in itself.

Both American Werewolf films pale in comparison to this masterpiece, though:

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I actually loved The Thing immediately on my first viewing. It's a masterpiece.

Well, we're not all as awesome as you, apparently.

But I still know from experience, since most people I show it to don't get why I praise the fuck out of it so much. As far as pure horror films go, this is probably my favorite, though The Shining also gives it a run for its money.

[talonmalon333]

The fact that the movie that released twenty years later has considerably worse special effects deserves particular mention in itself.

Now just compare that to the picture that Talon posted, and any notions that the original werewolf design didn't look like all that will immediately fade away.

Oh man, it looks even worse than I remember.

We should also talk about the sequel, An American Werewolf in Paris! ... Right, guys? ... Huh, guys?

It's a good example to bring up when talking about the genre as a whole.

The first movie is everything good about the genre and is a classic. The second is everything wrong with the genre and one of the worst movies I've ever seen. It's an amazing feat for two films to be so far apart from each other that have so many similarities.

The fact that the movie that released twenty years later has considerably worse special effects deserves particular mention in itself.

Both American Werewolf films pale in comparison to this masterpiece, though:

I agree.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Paris is an awful movie. If you want to appreciate the original more, I suggest watching it.

I actually loved The Thing immediately on my first viewing. It's a masterpiece.

Well, we're not all as awesome as you, apparently.

But I still know from experience, since most people I show it to don't get why I praise the fuck out of it so much. As far as pure horror films go, this is probably my favorite, though The Shining also gives it a run for its money.

Did you ever see the newer remake of The Thing?

It's not good. 

[Avaitor]

I didn't dislike the recent remake as much as I thought I would, but it's not very good.

If we do this next year, I'd like to nominated the original Thing From Another World, though. I do think that Carpenter's is stronger, but the original still has some cool elements in it that deserve another look.

[talonmalon333]

I see October 3rd came early.

[Avaitor]

Oh, I won't be able to get a chance to rewatch An American Werewolf in London tonight, but I can say that I do definitely like it. You guys have said everything that I could much better, though.

[Spark Of Spirit]

One thing I wanted to say for London is that the beginning of the movie is really well done. I also liked the real subtle use of horror rules at the beginning. That being, the victim has to choose their fate out of ignorance of the situation or willful disobedience of a given rule.

It looks just like two guys having a normal backpacking trip, but throughout the introduction they are repeatedly told to stay on the road and stay off the moors. They leave the road the first time after being warned and reach the Slaughtered Lamb where they are not given a warm welcoming and told once again to not go into the moors. The second time they still don't listen and it begins to rain as if warning them off, but not only do they not turn back, they start singing as if they had already forgotten what they were told. Then the howling starts and they finally realize they made a mistake.

But it's too late.

Excellent set-up.

Not to mention that early throwaway line, "Just remember, David, if anything happens, it's your fault." A line that seems to haunt the rest of the film especially considering the first thing he does when trouble strikes is to run away and leave Jack for dead. These early decisions influence everything that comes later. It's pretty great stuff.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I didn't dislike the recent remake as much as I thought I would, but it's not very good.

If we do this next year, I'd like to nominated the original Thing From Another World, though. I do think that Carpenter's is stronger, but the original still has some cool elements in it that deserve another look.

I thought it was a prequel rather than a remake. That of course makes it's title all the more stupid, since why the fuck would you give a prequel the exact same title as the first movie if it's not a remake? Way to confuse audiences everywhere.

As for the film, no, I haven't seen it, and I don't plan to. The original was as close to perfect as possible. It's a proven masterpiece just like An American Werewolf in London, and also just like that film, it never needed a sequel, prequel, or spin-off.  In my eyes, nothing else that would come out of the franchise directly relating to John Carpenter's iteration of The Thing could be considered canon to it, so if anything, they would have probably been better off doing a remake than a prequel. I actually may have checked it out, then.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

One thing I wanted to say for London is that the beginning of the movie is really well done. I also liked the real subtle use of horror rules at the beginning. That being, the victim has to choose their fate out of ignorance of the situation or willful disobedience of a given rule.

Yeah, the opening of the film is brilliant:

TSL People: "Stick to the roads."

David and Jack: "Pshhh....fuck that!"

**And then they get attacked by a Werewolf**

Genius.

Not to mention that early throwaway line, "Just remember, David, if anything happens, it's your fault." A line that seems to haunt the rest of the film especially considering the first thing he does when trouble strikes is to run away and leave Jack for dead. These early decisions influence everything that comes later. It's pretty great stuff.

That's one of the many great details about this movie that I was talking about appreciating on repeat viewings. A lot of what's going to happen is telegraphed pretty early on in the film in retrospect which you'll notice on repeat viewings if you pay attention, much like in one of the Cornetto movies, except this one did it first.