It (2017) rated R for violence/horror, bloody images, and language

If you haven't read the novel and/or haven't watched the original miniseries then this post has spoilers.

In the 1980s a group of seven 11 year olds are drawn together by mysterious and horrible events in their hometown of Derry Maine to fight an ancient evil in the form of Pennywise the Clown (played by Bill Skarsgard).

The child actors were mostly great.  Bill Skarsgard did an excellent job playing Pennywise.  I confess that when this movie was announced I was nervous that whoever played Pennywise might try to replicate Tim Curry's perfect performance.  I didn't know who Bill Skarsgard was but, being familiar with his family, I had hope that he would do well.  He didn't disappoint.  He did such a great job of putting his own spin on the character while giving the impression of giving respect to the original.

Overall the movie was ok and, after reading the novel, I would say that it's more accurate to say that this movie was inspired by the original novel as opposed to being an accurate screen adaptation of the novel.  Just because they got the most basic gist of the story doesn't make this an actual screen adaptation of the novel.  It isn't simply that the novel is so big that it can't be done fully by just two movies.  They full on made fundamental changes that completely miss the mark of the novel and the original miniseries.  It's all well and good to make slight adjustments (see the original miniseries to better understand) but many of the changes that were made took away rather than added to the movie.  It was disappointing because the novel is so good that it should have been easier to make a great movie.  All of the writing was done for them in the novel, all they had to do was figure out how to bring it to the big screen.  They failed on so many levels.

They did do well on jump scares.  This film has quite a bit of jump scares that are for the most part good. 

If you haven't already, read the novel (I know it looks big but it is so well written that you won't notice) and watch the original miniseries.

This movie shouldn't necessarily be avoided but just know that they got it wrong.

Brightburn rated R for horror violence/bloody images, brief nudity, and language

Brightburn is Superman as a horror movie or evil Superman.  It stars Elizabeth Banks as Tory Breyer, Jackson A. Dunn as Brendan Breyer and David Denman as Kyle Breyer.  The title of  the movie isn't the name of the main character but rather references the town closest to where he lands on Earth.  Essentially this is an origin story although, as far as I know, it wasn't based off of an actual comic at the time that it was written and/or filmed. 

Don't think that because this comes from the producers of Guardians of the Galaxy that this is anything like either of those movies other than being inspired by comic books i.e. Superman.  If you go in expecting that you're in for a rude awakening.

The violence and bloody images could be a bit much for younger audiences and/or people who don't like viewing that sort of thing.  There is a very brief background image of full frontal nudity on a woman.

It is a very good movie as an alternate and very dark take on comics.

Garfield's Halloween Adventure aka Garfield in Disguise Not Rated

In this lesser known gem for all ages, Garfield enlists Odie's assistance in trick-or-treating in order to get more candy for himself.  Both get more than they bargained for when they end up on an island that may be haunted by the ghosts of pirates. 


I grew up watching this movie and I loved it.  However I would use caution and common sense if showing this to young children.  For a kid's movie this film has brief "frightening" images that might scare younger children.  Still, this beloved classic is so worth watching. 

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Not rated

Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts go trick-or-treating and to a Halloween party on Halloween night while Linus and Sally wait in the pumpkin patch for The Great Pumpkin.  While all of this goes on, Snoopy as "The Great World War I Flying Ace" works to shoot down the Red Baron. 

This is a wonderful classic that never gets old and is great for the whole family.  It's also a nice sweet break from the horror movies.  If you've never seen it, you should. 

Hereditary (2018) rated R for horror violence, disturbing images, language, drug use, and brief graphic nudity *contains spoilers*

After her mother dies, Annie (played by Toni Collette) and her daughter Charlie (played by Milly Shapiro) try to cope and heal while Annie's husband Steve (played by Gabriel Byrne) and her son Peter (played by Alex Wolff) carry on with life as usual.  After a horrific accident claims the life of Charlie, the rest of the family struggles to pick up the pieces while seemingly supernatural phenomena start to occur particularly around Annie and Peter.  Annie races to save her family but will she succeed?





Honestly I allowed myself to have high expectations after noticing that the cover hailed this film as "This generation's The Exorcist..."  If you've read my entry on The Exorcist then you know how I feel about the movie.  If not suffice it to say that I didn't and still don't think that it's the scariest movie of all time although it deserves its recognition for being ground-breaking.

  I think that it's great that the writer/director took a chance and made his vision come to life but the film felt a little pretentious.

 I was so confused by the title of this movie and the sort of explanation given in the behind the scenes.  My friend who lent me her copy had to explain everything to me.  She confessed that she herself had to look up videos to explain the film.  Once I heard her explanation, I could somewhat appreciate the horror of the movie a bit more. 

The fact that the movie didn't succeed in conveying my friend's explanation made me not like this movie.  Lots of people did like this movie so it might just be me.  I would recommend this movie if you are curious but if you aren't I don't think that you'll miss anything.

Halloween (2018) rated R for horror violence and bloody images, language, brief drug use, and nudity *contains spoilers*

40 years after the events in the first Halloween movie, Laurie Strode (played by Jamie Lee Curtis) has a "final" confrontation with Michael Myers/The Shape (played by Nick Castle and James Jude Courtney). 




















A good ending (hopefully) to the franchise.  I was very happy to see that John Carpenter came back for this one.  I had issue with one of the deaths because it made no sense.  If you like the original franchise, you'll probably like this one.  Good job everyone who worked on this picture.

Halloween (2007) rated R for strong brutal bloody violence and terror throughout, sexual content, graphic nudity, and language *contains spoilers*

In this Halloween, the audience gets a backstory on Michael Myers as a  ten-year old child (played by Daeg Faerch) and his home life.  He seems to be sweet to his baby sister Laurie and his beloved mother Deborah Myers (played by Sheri Moon Zombie).  His step dad Ronnie White (played by William Forsythe) is a jerk at best who doesn't really seem to like anyone.  Deborah Myers struggles to work as a stripper while being a good mother to her children and a pretty good wife to her jerky husband/boyfriend.  After murdering his step dad, Michael is committed to a psychiatric hospital into the care of Dr. Loomis (played by Malcolm McDowell). 

Ten years later, the audience catches up with teenage Laurie Stode (played by Scout Taylor-Compton).  She's a "typical" teenager and seems pretty happy with her loving adoptive parents.
Meanwhile Michael Myers has escaped from the hospital and is on his way to Haddonfield with Dr. Loomis in close pursuit. 




I wasn't sure about this movie because while I like Rob Zombie's music I'm (so far) not as much a fan of his movies.  His films aren't bad.  I just can't relate to the characters at all so that I don't care about them.  This film is probably great to others.  Also I have the idea (for some reason) that Rob Zombie does/did in fact like the original Halloween movie.  I don't think that he meant any disrespect to the original. 

Part of my issue with this film was the "white trash" way that the characters conducted themselves whether its the Myers' and/or the Strodes.  For example, I can't imagine joking with my parents the way that Laurie jokes with hers when we first meet her.  Why does Michael Myers' family have to be dysfunctional at all?  Part of the "horror" of the original was that the events happened to typical, "normal" people.  There was no reason for Michael Myers to have ever started killing much less kill the people that he did kill. 

Fun fact:  Danielle Harris, who played Jamie Lloyd, in Halloween 4 and 5 returned to the franchise as Laurie's friend Annie


Worth watching if you are curious.