Thursday The 12th: Halloween Night 2019

It's that time of year again. Time for my annual Halloween viewing post. Feel free to go back to previous years to see more and discover the origins (involving a cinema and an all-night horror fest).

This year was a little different. I usually like to try and watch three horror or Halloween-themed movies but this year time just wasn't on my side. I did watch one movie for the first time, which I'll discuss later, but also three or four other pieces of Halloween entertainment from the ridiculous to the sublime. Let's start with the first thing I watched...

NOT GOING OUT - HALLOWEEN SPECIAL

This actually aired on the night of the 30th but I honestly didn't know it existed until checking Twitter later that night. As such I watched it on BBC iPlayer as the very first thing in my traditional Halloween viewing night. I'll be honest I was less than impressed. For a supposed comedy it seemed like it forgot to be funny, and for an extended 45 minute runtime the lack of any discernible humor was very noticeable. There was literally one decent gag and it was in the first two minutes. Following this comment from main character Lee regarding taking the kids trick-or-treating;

I did have a slight chortle at wife Lucy's response; "don't worry, next week we'll be back to wholesome British traditions like celebrating a terrorist plot to overthrow government by burning a scarecrow".

A lot of the episode seemed like it was trying to build tension and act as a possible audition to make & direct a future horror movie, like someone saw Edgar Wright go from a horror sequence in Spaced to making Shaun of the Dead and desperately wanted to copy him. There are some good horror worthy angles and shots but naturally in a comedy they just seem out of place here without careful handling.

Overall, the costumes were cool. And there's a certain charm in the effort here. But this is not something I'll ever want to revisit and don't feel especially glad to have watched, sadly.

*1/2 (1.5/5)

CELEBRITY JUICE - HALLOWEEN SPECIAL 2019

I was always told that if you have nothing nice to say then not to say anything at all, so this may be brief. In all seriousness though Leigh Francis (aka Keith Lemon) always brings a real effort to Halloween costumes, and that was evident again here. It was especially cool to already see a cosplay of Harley Quinn from a Birds of Prey movie that's only released a trailer and isn't out for several months. It was clear that effort had gone into the games, from the make-up and props to the locations used being transformed into a horror maze. It was clear that everyone involved was having fun and the atmosphere was probably great, but in the end it just felt like watching a Halloween party that someone filmed which you weren't invited to. Like the zombies that were peppered throughout the episode this show has gone rather lifeless and needs to be put out of it's misery I think.

** (2/5)

AHS: 1984 - THE LADY IN WHITE

Thankfully it got better. I watched a decent episode of Modern Family (their last Halloween episode in this final season). It was great but not especially noteworthy for longer reviewing. And so I turned to the latest episode of the current season of American Horror Story.

Full disclosure; I have been watching these every Thursday anyway but it was still pretty fortuitous that an episode fell on Halloween. I'm loving this season. Unashamedly ripping off 80s slasher films like Friday the 13th (made super blatant in this episode) but doing it with reverence, style and some brilliant acting!

Special mention has to go to franchise veteran Lily Rabe who makes her return for a guest spot in this installment which turns out to be crucial. She is essentially playing the Mrs. Voorhees of this show, but with more tragedy, pathos, menace, emotional impact and significance. I can't praise this highly enough.

The entire cast are great here and it's hard to single anyone else out; the characterizations range from camp to classical but everyone is doing their part absolute justice. One last special mention to occasional AHS star John Carroll Lynch who steps up an already great performance to genuinely make you feel for what could have easily been a soulless monster cliche.

Slightly less successful is the storyline with Brooke & "Donna" encountering yet another killer; another franchise returnee in Dylan McDermott, who doesn't acquit himself as well. It pushes believability too far but gets away with it (just) by seemingly being a cool play on Thelma & Louise used to boost our protagonist up to the "final girl" role with enough feminine strength & smarts to actually seem like she might survive this.

In my opinion this has been the best season of AHS in a long while, and easily my favourite since Freak Show. There are some sillier moments that threaten to undercut the reality but the 80s setting covers them well enough for me. The story has also been genuinely engaging and interesting. Whilst I'm sad there are only two episodes left I'm truly excited to see what happens next.

****1/2 (4.5/5)

There was one more thing I watched but I'd like to devote more time and review it separately tomorrow. There is a lot to say and that has been said about what I watched. I'm pretty shocked I haven't seen it before because I've certainly heard about it. So until tomorrow; don't have nightmares...