Halloween is approaching and now is the time to pick up some new and classic horror flicks like Juan of the Dead, Cauldron of Blood, Jennifer, and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. If you’re looking for something a little more superhero-y, the week’s big release is X-Men: Days of Future Past, which brought together the X-Men casts of films past and present. One of the most anticipated releases of the week is the Steven Spielberg Collection Blu-ray box set which includes favorites Jaws, E.T the Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park and new to Blu titles 1941 (theatrical and extended versions!), Duel, The Sugarland Express and Always. The set includes hours of extras and a 58 page book. There are more interesting titles released on October 14, so have a look at our alphabetical shopper’s guide to see the week’s highlights.

2013 was a pretty good year at the movies. Of the 37 films I saw this year (and I still have to see some biggies like 12 Years a Slave and The Wolf of Wall Street), I’ve only got a handful that go in the “Worst” column … and mostly because they were major titles that ended up being pretty disappointing. Most of the films I saw fall into the “Good” category, so to determine the “Best” films of the year, I chose the ones that I would definitely want to see again.

Topping the list as my favorite movie of the year is David O. Russell’s American Hustle. The 70s period piece that uses a real operation – Abscam – to create a fictional story is perfectly cast with great actors, dressed and coiffed to perfection, with a twisty, turny script that will have you alternately disgusted by and empathetic with the characters. By the end, good guys are villains and villains are (somewhat) redeemed, and through it all Russell keeps his camera moving fluidly through each scene. It’s simply master filmmaking at its best, and many are calling it the best Scorsese film he never made (and there is a major nod to Scorsese late in the film).

The other “usual suspects” (i.e. Oscar bait movies) are on the list as well. Saving Mr. Banks is practically perfect as a movie, even if its storytelling is a bit too Disneyfied. Emma Thompson, however, deserves all the accolades she’s getting for playing the difficult author of the classic Mary Poppins books (and the audio tapes played during the film’s credits demonstrate that her performance is not far off from the real thing). Tom Hanks gives us a too-genial Walt Disney, but it’s still a good performance. Like American Hustle, the period production design is impeccable, the rest of the cast is excellent (I loved the relationship between Thompson’s P.L. Travers and her driver Ralph, played by Paul Giamatti), but the ending is as far from reality as you can get. Despite that, this is Thompson’s movie and is well worth seeing.

August: Osage County is playing in limited release to qualify for Oscar consideration and will open in wide release on January 10. (Our full review will be available on January 10.) This is the kind of movie that you think “these actors took these roles to win an award,” and true or not, it certainly brings out the best in everyone to have this kind of material. Based on the Tony Award winning Broadway play (also Pulitzer Prize winner for Drama), the movie focuses on the Weston family who gather back at the parental home in Osage County following a death. Meryl Streep stars as the pill-addled, chain-smoking mother (who also has mouth cancer) who knows everyone’s dirty little secrets and isn’t shy about revealing them, usually at the dinner table. Julia Roberts is the daughter who was the apple of her daddy’s eye and has the worst relationship with her mother. Fireworks fly as these two forces of nature collide, and their verbal (and physical) sparring is amazing to witness. The rest of the cast has their moments to shine, but they wisely stay out of the way when Streep and Roberts go at it. It’s a movie filled with laughter and tears and should live up to all the awards chatter.

Gravity was a high-concept story executed perfectly by director Alfonso Cuarón with a stellar (no pun intended) performance from Sandra Bullock who has to basically carry the entire film after a disaster in space leaves her alone and stranded with very limited time and resources to try to get home. The film was originally touted for its realist depiction of what it would be like orbiting the earth, but most of those things have turned out to be little more than fantasy (famously debunked by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson). The film hinges completely on Bullock’s performance and she pulls it off with aplomb (comparisons to Tom Hanks in Cast Away are inevitable). And points to Cuarón for keeping space a silent void, even if someone at Warner Brothers got a little over-zealous with the sound effects in the trailer. It’s a white-knuckle ride from start to finish, and is served extremely well by the IMAX and 3D process.

Disney hits another one out of the park with the animated “princess movie” Frozen. The story seems typical with two princesses and the men who are apparently there to save one, the other, or both of them (and let’s not forget the wacky reindeer and animated snowman sidekicks, thankfully used sparingly and to great comic effect), but the story has a deeper twist as it truly becomes about family and trusting in the love that comes with it even when events transpire to tear that family apart (yes, this is a Disney movie so the parents must die early in the film). The snow-covered landscapes are rendered gorgeously in CG and the film is also served extremely well by 3D. And as a bonus, the film starts with a brand new Mickey Mouse short that looks like a classic cartoon but becomes an eye-popping experience in 3D. Frozen is definitely a film for all ages.

Also on my list of favorite movies of the year that may or may not garner much award consideration includes The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, the much, much better follow-up to the first Hobbit movie. Where that one dragged interminably, this one moves at a crisp pace, interweaving several storylines, and keeping things moving without resorting to “look what we can do” scenes of CGI battles and singing trolls and dwarfs. Martin Freeman again gives a terrific performance as Bilbo Bagging, but this chapter of the story belongs to Richard Armitage as Thorin, who finally steps up as the leader of the group of travelers. Director Peter Jackson indulges himself with a terrifying giant spider attack and a comical escape scene with dwarfs in barrels, but he saves the best for the last act as we finally get to encounter the dragon Smaug. Voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch with a honeyed gravelly growl, he makes it all worth the wait to get to that point. And unlike the first movie, this two-and-three-quarter hours actually flies by, leaving us with a huge cliffhanger that will make you want more.

(This post contains 4 pages. Please visit the website to continue reading. Thank you.)

So I asked myself:

“Self? What’s a horror trilogy without all three films that make up the trilogy?”

A few years ago this very month, I gushed strange and unsettling love on one of my all-time favorite films, the classic that started it all, Night Of The Living Dead.

A few weeks later, I gushed about its worthy successor made 10 years later, Dawn Of The Dead.

Fast forward two Halloweens to the present day: I’m finally completing my little circle of creepy love with the endpiece to Romero’s trilogy, Day Of The Dead.

This 1985 film falls somewhere after the events of Dawn Of The Dead with the remnants of society, government and the military overrun by the undead and struggling to locate survivors while seeking a solution to what caused the zombie outbreak. A collection of scientists and members of the Army are holed up in an underground base experimenting in an effort to reverse the effects of zombification. Several scientists have seen limited success with their experiments — one in particular, Dr. Matthew “Frankenstein” Logan, houses a prized specimen of the undead (“Bub”) who retains some of his past and a few memories, dense and stupified though he might be.

Of course, things go awry. Tensions mount, tempers flare, the military gets itchy around the scientists and all their undead charges, the close quarters crowd in on everyone and the inevitable happens: All hell breaks loose.

DotD isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but it has its moments. Key to the film is the experimentation that goes on with the ghouls, especially in the case of Bub the zombie. He’s a kick and a half and loveable as all get out. (As loveable as a reanimated corpse can be, at least.)

Romero had big plans for the DotD, not the least of which was his dream of releasing it unrated. That’s just a shade this side of a death knell for a film as you can imagine. (The result of that decision was the reduction of its budget from $7 million to $3.5 million. Zoinks!) Throw in the fact there were equipment complications, prop flaps and all sorts of other problems and it’s a wonder the film was completed.

But completed is was. And, somehow, with all its foibles, it managed to garner a coveted Saturn Award for its make-up effects master Tom Savini who was of course instrumental in the first two films as well.

(One of the more interesting things about DotD was one actor in particular: Private Johnson. Johnson was played by none other than Gregory Nicotero. Yep … the same Greg Nicotero responsible for the effects, direction and production of a little program you might know by the name of The Walking Dead.)

As stated, DotD isn’t an elite film by any stretch of the imagination … but it is a nifty little corner piece to Romero’s legacy of original standard-setting films.

Now … how ’bout a little Bub for your Halloween dining and dancing pleasure … ???

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ioE4DZvAlM

[easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B00005B1YC” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Q5UTsEsrL._SL160_.jpg” width=”112″] [easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B000UR9QIK” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51u5sGqoYqL._SL160_.jpg” width=”125″] [easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B000UR9QGC” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51tKCb28y5L._SL160_.jpg” width=”125″]

Halloween is fast approaching and I can’t think of a better way to spend the holiday than watching some good old-fashioned haunted house movies. Slasher flicks are more modern fare for Halloween, but the season is really about ghosts and spirits and that sort of thing. The only problem is … it’s hard to find a good old-fashioned haunted house movie these days that doesn’t have to rely on cheap scare tactics — over loud music or sound effects cues, a cat jumping through a window — to give the viewer chills up and down their spine.

Most of the great haunted house movies came about between the 40s and 70s with films like The Uninvited, The Innocents, and The Haunting being among the best. The fear of possession and the Devil manifesting himself on earth took hold in films like Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist and The Omen, but the early 80s saw a return to ghost stories with the excellent The Changeling, the all-star Ghost Story and, of course, Poltergeist. Where most of these haunting movies relied on atmosphere and restraint, using the “less is more” approach to spooking an audience, Poltergeist set the stage for special effects extravaganzas taking over for imagination. The most egregious offender was the horrendous remake of The Haunting which starred Lili Taylor.

Haunted house movies have come back into vogue thanks to the “found footage” craze that began with The Blair Witch Project and has continued through a series of Paranormal Activity movies, but finding a good, scripted haunted house movie — and no, The Haunted Mansion does not count — has been difficult when blood and gore are the order of the day. Director James Wan stumbled upon some success with Insidious, a haunted house movie that used physical effects and actors in makeup to provide some chills, but still relied a bit too heavily on the overly loud music to produce a jump. Many of his visuals were chilling enough without that artificial prodding and that knocked the movie down a peg in my book. So it was with some apprehension that I went into The Conjuring, worried that Wan would stick to his old tricks.

Thankfully, that was not the case. Wan was able to convey terror within the Perron home without resorting to fake scares and overblown CGI. Most of the chilling moments come from clever edits augmented with sound effects and a subtly disturbing score (the use of horns to evoke that mood is genius). I reviewed the film upon its initial release, but watching it a second time I had an even greater appreciation for what Wan accomplished by keeping things low-key. Ghosts appear and disappear within a single shot or in cleverly edited sequences. Doors opening on their own accord, balls bouncing by themselves, clocks stopping at the same time every night, hands appearing out of the darkness … these are things that can make your hair stand on end all by themselves. That’s not to say Wan completely stays away from loud sound effects — there is an obvious homage to The Haunting at one point that includes a loud pounding sound — but he uses his set and physical effects team to great advantage.

Adding to the realism of the story is Wan’s excellent cast. Patrick Wilson, fresh off of Insidious (and back for Insidious: Chapter 2), plays the stalwart Ed Warren who believes it is his mission in life to help those who are experiencing paranormal events by either proving or debunking the claims. Vera Farmiga is his wife, Lorraine, a medium who can see and feel the spirits tormenting her clients. The Warrens are a real couple and The Conjuring is based on a real case, so knowing this adds to the authenticity of the film. Ron Livingston plays Roger Perron, the home owner, and Lili Taylor returns to haunted house territory as Carolyn Perron, the wife and mother tormented most by the evil inhabiting their new home. The couple also have five daughters who become targets of the spirit tormenting their mother. While Taylor wasn’t responsible for the mess that was Jan de Bont’s The Haunting, she makes up for that choice very nicely here.

Warner Home Video’s new Blu-ray release of The Conjuring serves up the film with all of its spookiness intact. The image looks beautiful, never breaking down in many of the dark scenes (and a lot of the film takes place at night or in very dark areas of the house). The sound is also excellent. The surround speakers are used very subtly throughout the film, but when they need to kick in, they will kick in. The Blu-ray also includes a DVD that looks almost as good, especially by keeping the blacks a very solid black. The picture may not be as sharp as the Blu-ray, but if you’re watching on a standard definition monitor, it will look just fine. The audio is also comparable.

As much as I was looking forward to the Blu-ray release, I have to say that I am very let down by the extras included on the disk. There are a total of three featurettes and no audio commentary. The bonus material consists of:

• Featurette: The Conjuring: Face-To-Face with Terror (6:39) – A (too) short visit with the actual Perron family who discuss their encounters that inspired the film.
• Featurette: A Life in Demonology (15:39) – A short biography of Ed and Lorraine Warren, featuring Lorraine and several of their devotees.
• Behind the Scenes: Scaring the ‘@$*%’ Out of You (8:04) – James Wan and the production team and cast members discuss what goes into making a good haunted house movie.

Gathering the entire Perron family together just begs for a more in-depth look at the real story behind the movie. Carolyn Perron is still obviously affected by the events that transpired, so much so that she refuses to even see the movie, but it would have been great to have seen a full-length documentary about their experience, perhaps with the participation of Lorraine Warren. Including some of the data from the investigation — photos, film, recordings — would certainly help sell skeptics on the story. The profile of the Warrens could have also been beefed up a bit. They have a treasure trove of artifacts and records from their career — Lorraine is still working! — that some of those things could have been included in the shorts to beef them up. All we really get are a series of talking heads praising the Warrens. I really wanted more. The behind the scenes short also just whets your appetite for more on how the film was made, so real movie buffs will be disappointed but at least James Wan does manage to cram a lot of information into the short piece.

Overall, I can’t not recommend the home video release of The Conjuring, because as a movie it’s pretty terrific at delivering the scares. The Blu-ray looks and sounds great, so there’s no arguing with the quality of the feature presentation. For those who like to delve more into their movie viewing experience, the Blu-ray’s lack of extra features will leave you wanting more. It almost makes you wonder if there is a deluxe version coming at some point. For now, though, The Conjuring stands right up there with The Haunting as a fine example of the haunted house movie.

Warner Home Video generously provided CliqueClack with a Blu-ray/DVD combo package for reviewing purposes.

[easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B00BEIYMAG” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51x2STHlJeL._SL160_.jpg” width=”136″] [easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B00BEIYMIS” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51tIg1jhn4L._SL160_.jpg” width=”127″] [easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B00FEX2ZFG” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51AGFa6pR-L._SL160_.jpg” width=”113″] [easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B004LWZW2E” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51G8fu-8lPL._SL160_.jpg” width=”123″]

[easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B00DBNLBAQ” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51%2BtapD8KKL._SL160_.jpg” width=”137″] [easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B00DZP1C9K” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41LBjLpyMjL._SL160_.jpg” width=”113″] [easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B00DZP1C8Q” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51yasLezzHL._SL160_.jpg” width=”129″] [easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B0009X75EC” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51KR5FDM5ZL._SL160_.jpg” width=”113″]

[easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”0783116926″ locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41rVmfJDvbL._SL160_.jpg” width=”121″] [easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B008MPQ0G8″ locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41drKWKrBBL._SL160_.jpg” width=”129″] [easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B00023P4TM” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/517MK99QY1L._SL160_.jpg” width=”112″] [easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B003O97W5K” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51405kCiCdL._SL160_.jpg” width=”126″]