31 Days of Horror 2025 Day 11 Fun Size

 

TITLE-Fun Size

SOURCE-Paramount Blu Ray

Last year in October it was laundry day and I wanted something to watch while doing laundry. Checked and TUBI thought I would enjoy Fun Size. Looked it up "Ok Nickelodeon movie that is rated pg13." Bit over 90 minutes later and I was looking to see if this had a home media release.

It is Halloween night our lead Wren,played by Victoria Justice, is ready to go out for Halloween. Having been talked into going to a big party by her best friend,who is played by Jane Levy. Then right after making her Dorthey costume from Wizard of Oz Wren learns her mother is going out to a party that night and Wren has to take her lil brother trick or treating.

Now the brother hasn't talked since their father has died. And the kid is a bit odd. Going out with the kid in a Spiderman costume,Wren and Jane,who is dressed as slutty catgirl ,are having fun. Until the brother gets lost. So the rest of the film is these 2 ,teaming up with two guys they goto school with,trying to find the missing little brother.  

Sounds like a simple plot. One you could see in many films aimed at kids and young teens. What made this one stand out is it being PG 13. Early on Wren mistakes another kid in a Spidey outfit for her brother, the kid refuses to go with her and pulls down his mask. Calls Wren a bitch and runs off. Then you got her friend who is just uber horny. Or the scene where a metal giant rooster falls on a car and proceeds to hump the car.

Ya while Nick was known as the kids network that pushed the envelope some, think You cant do that on TV or Ren and Stimpy,this goes way past those. It kind of feels like a 80s teen comedy that got cut enough to get a pg 13.

Seems this bombed badly. The reviews I have found online for it are mostly parent complaining cause their kid heard some cussing. It's a PG 13 movie folks. I enjoyed it. And am gonna add it to the normal October rotation.

Fun Size gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2020 Day 31 Hubie Halloween

 

TITLE-Hubie Halloween

SOURCE-Netflix

Yea the newest Adam Sandler flick. Made for Netflix. I've seen a handful of his made for Netflix films,and until this one they were all pure shit. Like you had a dozen Krystals and an order of chili cheese fries the day before.

So I kept seeing reviews for this. Lots of them calling it "good" or "worth seeing". Ok yea lets give this a shot.

Sandler is Hubie. He lives with his mom and he loves Halloween. Living in Salem Massachusetts well yea Halloween is a huge deal. Hubie is just trying to be sure everyone has a safe and fun Halloween. But Hubie also gets scared easily.The rest of the cast is made up of Sandler film regulars. 

Early on we learn an escaped lunatic from the nearby mental hospital has escaped. Hubie's new neighbor,played by the BEST ACTOR EVER STEVE BUSCEMI,is acting odd. And everyone in town besides Julie Bowen picks on Hubie all the damn time. But no matter what Hubie keeps helping out and being nice to everyone.

Then about halfway through the film the main people that fuck with Hubie start disappearing. Of course I'm thinking the escaped lunatic is doing this. "Hey maybe this will morph into a slasher?" NOPE!

The lunatic escaped to come get Steve Buscemi to come back to the hospital. LOL yea and the lunatic is Rob Schnider. Who is actually funny in this role. Yea I was shocked.

So who is grabbing the people that fuck with Hubie? Well his mother of course. She is gonna burn them at the stake on Halloween night. The cops show up,Kevin James is great as a fat mullet having bearded cop with Keenan Thompson as the other cop. Hubie's mother manages to get away. Hubie ends up with Julie Bowen. And it skips ahead a year.

Now Hubie is married to Julie. He is also mayor of the town. But still rides his bike around. Yea forgot to mention that. Like The Water Boy,Hubie don't drive. He rides a bike everywhere. And always has a thermos on him. Which is loaded with gadgets like he is Inspector Fucking Gadget. 

But back to the flash forward. Hubie is riding his bike to his office and now the gang of kids on bikes that were terrorizing him earlier in the film,they wave and are nice to Hubie. And we learn the lead kid's name is O'Doyle!

This feels like Sandler kinda wanting to not only connect most of his previous films but also shut the door on that universe. It's not bad. Better than any of the other Netflix made ones so far.

Hubie Halloween gets a C+.

31 Days of Horror 2016 Day 22 Halloween Resurrection

Title-Halloween Resurrection
Source-DVD

Yeah I know this movie sucks. But if you have been reading my blog everyday this month you will know I dedicated this years 31 Days of Horror to Brandon Lee,no not the actor. Brandon was the biggest fan of this entry in the long running Halloween franchise I have ever met. And earlier this year he asked me to include it in my annual October horror movie reviews. So Brandon sir,this one is for you.

At the end of H20 Jamie Lee has killed Micheal,by cutting off his head. Well seems that isn't what happened. Somehow Micheal switched places with someone and Jamie killed an innocent man. Not long after this film starts Micheal comes and after 7 entries in his part of this franchise manages to kill his sister.

After that Micheal heads back to Haddonfield. And some stupid TV producer has gotten the amazing idea to set a reality show in the Myers old home.So we get Micheal stalking and killing the annoying types you see on most reality tv shows.

Hell the only reason I own this film is to complete the franchise. I have only watched it 4 times now. The first time was not long after I bought the DVD. Then watched it a second time cause it had a commentary,which is decent. About 2 years ago Brandon asked me to watch it again,and to keep in  mind all the things he loved about the film. I did and still didn't care for the movie. And the final time was so I could do this review. The acting ranges from horrible to OK at best. The FX work is pretty good. Hell it is the best thing about the film.And while I am not a huge fan of the Halloween franchise,honestly I enjoy the first,3rd and 4th films.But I don't hold them in as high a regard as lots of the horror community.

Well Brandon you got me to watch this horrible film again sir. No idea if you even know I wrote this review. But if you do I hope you enjoyed it. You are missed sir.

Halloween Resurrection gets a D-.

31 Days of Horror 2016 Day 19 Nickelodeon Frightfest

Title-Nickelodeon Frightfest
Source-VHS rip

Recently got a pack of various animated horror/Halloween related specials. Never heard of this VHS before.But after googling the cover and seeing it had 3 cartoons I enjoyed on it I threw it in to watch.

Up first was Rugrats. Never seen this episode before,in it Angela is telling the babies about Halloween and how they can get Reptar candy bars. The Pickles have set up a tent in their backyard. And trick or treaters go into it to get candy. So the babies see this and of course misunderstand it. Overall it was a pretty entertaining episode.

The second cartoon was Doug.Which is one of the Nicktoons I watched every episode of. In this one Skeeter and Doug go trick or treating. Then end up at a haunted house attraction. Overall the episode was neat but nothing special.

To wrap it up we get the episode of Ren and STimpy with the haunted house. Pretty sure this is one of the last episodes before John K got kicked off the show. And for me it is one of the worst of the run with him at the helm.

Now if this tape was just those three episodes I wouldn't bother tracking it down. But inbetween each episode we get to see lots of horror/Halloween based Nick Bumpers. Most of which I haven't seen since the early 90s.

Nickelodeon Frightfest gets a B+.

31 Days of Horror 2015 Day 10 Halloween 2 remake

Halloween 2 director's cut
Source-Unrated Director's cut DVD

I skipped this one when it hit theaters. At the time my local theater hadn't remodeled and was horrible. Bad projection,bad sound and they charged way too much for a ticket. Then everyone I talked to that saw it hated it. I haven't seen the horror community throw out this much hate since the backlash about 2 months after Blair Witch came out.

Then one night I was in town looking for something to watch. The DVD of this film had been marked down to $5 so I grabbed it.

First off it should be known that I do not like the original Halloween 2. To me the first Halloween film was as close as we got to an American giallo film. Then Halloween 2 was pretty much a paint by numbers 80s slasher.

I sat down to watch this,thinking well if everyone hates it I am sure it has to be horrible. After the film was over I wondered why it was so hated. I even asked quite a few people why they hated it and it was always tiny nitpicky things like "Why did Zombie have to cast his wife in this one too? ","Michael barely wears the mask in it!" and other whiny fanboy reasons.

Now as for me. I enjoy the movie. I like seeing how what happened in the first film has effected Annie and Laurie. I like how Dr Loomis has used his new fame to become a money hungry media whore. And yes I even like the Sherri Moon Zombie and White Horse dream sequences.

The DVD like the first films is loaded with fun extras. The commentary being the best of the extras. But the others are worth a look.

Halloween 2 remake gets a C.

31 Days of Horror 2015 Day 09 Halloween remake

Halloween remake
Source-Unrated Director's cut DVD

This film came out at a time when I wasn't going to theaters to see anything. So I didn't see it until I bought the DVD over a year later. But everyone I knew that saw this remake at least liked it. With a few people saying it was better than the original. Then around 2008 I started posting at a forum for a horror podcast. And wow the hate this film got there. You would think that Rob Zombie had dug up the podcast host's dead grandmothers. Then defiled the corpse in front of them  while burning all their autographed pictures.

As for me,I do enjoy this film. Do I think it is better than the original? Nah. But it is the best Halloween film since part 5. And better than the original part 2,H2O and the one with Busta Rhymes.

I like how we get a back story as to why Michael did what he did that one Halloween night. I like how Laurie isn't a perfect angel in this film,and yes I do remember in the original the scene where she smokes a joint with her friend. I like how they explained where Michael's mask came from. Really my only complaint about this film is Sherri Moon Zombie isn't the best choice to play Michael's mother. She tries her best but just isn't the right person for the role.

Now I know there is 3 versions of this film. There is a workprint that leaked right before it hit theaters.There is the theatrical cut and then there is the director's cut. All I have ever seen is the director's cut.

The DVD is fairly loaded with decent extras. The commentary is worth a listen. And the documentary on the making of the film is great.

Halloween remake gets a B.

31 days of horror Year 3 Halloween Night extra

Halloween series overview

Released in 1978,the original Halloween was for many many years the biggest independent money making film.It is considered by some fans to be the first film in the slasher genre. But I don't think it is. You had films like Black Christmas,Texas Chain Saw Massacre,and all the Italian giallos that came before this one. Bob Clark,the creator of Black Christmas,has said that he had an idea for a Black X-mas sequel set at Halloween. And that he had told John Carpenter this idea.

Halloween-For a slasher film this has very little gore. And is way more stylish than most slasher films.We get a decent killer in Michael Myers. And Jamie Lee Curtis who is called the original scream queen. Now I do enjoy the film ,but think it is somewhat over-rated by most horror fans.B-.

Halloween 2-Made 3 years after the original was such a huge hit. This film isn't nearly as stylish as the original and the gore factor is raised. We get the return of Jamie Lee,who wears an awful wig and Donald Pleasence.I have always hated this entry and find it to be pretty disappointing over all. D+.

Halloween 3:Season of the witch-John Carpenter's original idea was that each year to release a film with the title Halloween ,with each film being a separate film. Kind of a horror anthology ,with each year being a new storyline. When this was first released the fans hated it. Cause it didn't have Michael in it.But we get a great film,that has some good FX. And one of the catchiest jingles I have ever heard.B.

Halloween 4:the return of Michael Myers-5 year after the disastrous showing of Season of the witch,we get a proper sequel to Halloween 2. This is the film that started Danielle Harris's career as a scream queen. And it is a great entry in the series. B.

Halloween 5:the Revenge of Michael Myers-2 years after part 4,we get a new Halloween movie. Sadly it isn't as good as part 4. But we still get a decent slasher film. Besides the crappy ending the overall film is fun to watch. C.

Halloween :The curse of Michael Myers-After the failure of part 5 it was quite a few years before we got the next entry. We get a strange film that tries to hard to explain the origin of Michael. C-.

Halloween 666:the producer's cut-This is only out  there as a bootleg. And is very different from what was officially released. We get a better story. And more explanations to the whole Thorn storyline. Sadly it looks like this cut will never get a legit release. B.

Halloween:H20 twenty years later-This entry ignores parts 3-6 and is a direct sequel to part 2. Too bad it isn't that good. We get a few OK kills. But the storyline isn't that good. C-.

Halloween:Resurrection-This film seems like a quickly made money grab after H20 made a decent amount of money at the box office. We get a super shitty storyline,some bad acting.And the worst of all Busta Rhymes kung fu fighting Michael. The only real highlight to me is a small appearance by Katee Sackhoff.F+.

Halloween remake-After part 8 bombed,we got a remake instead of another sequel.Now this one is the film that divides the fan base. Lots of people hate  it. I am not really sure why. The first half,which deals with Michael's childhood,is entertaining and does a better job explaining why Michael did what he did,than the entire Thorn storyline. The gore FX is well done. And I am sure I will catch shit for this,but I like Scout Taylor Compton better as Laurie than Jamie Lee Curtis. B-.

Halloween 2 remake-This seems to be one of the most hated recent horror films. I have only watched it once,and that time I saw the director's cut. I can see why people don't care for it. But I still think it is better than the original part 2. C-.

31 days of horror Year 3 day 06

Return of the Living Dead 3
1993
Lionsgate 4 film pack
R rated cut

Since seeing the first Return of the Living Dead opening night I have been a fan of the series. Part II came out and I was very disappointed in how it was mainly lame ass comedy. Well part III never played a theater near me so I didn't see it till sometime in 1994 on VHS. And I loved it. For years I had a great poster of Melinda Clarke all pierced up on the back of my bedroom door for years. And I have been wanting to get it on DVD. But for some unknown reason the R rated cut was the only version they released. Plus I got the unrated VHS and held onto it. But then sometime last year I found a 4 pack with Return of the Living Dead III and IV,plus 2 other films. I had been wanting to see part IV so I bought the 4 pack.

Return of the Living  Dead is the story of a son of a military guy. Well his dad tells him he is being moved soon,and the son doesn't want to move and lose his girlfriend. And since she is played by Melinda Clarke who can blame him. So the two of them run away. They break into the facility that the father works at and see that the military is using the trioxen gas to reanimate dead bodies. The plan is to use them as the ultimate weapon. Well they head out,and he ends up having an accident on his bike which kills Melinda Clarke. In his state of shock he takes her dead body back to the military facility and exposes her to the Trioxen gas. She comes back to life. But is slowly turning into a zombie.Very quickly she finds out   that by causing herself pain she can keep herself from craving human flesh. Finally she ends up piercing 80% of her body and the two of them in up in the sewer system.

Now this was the first time I have ever seen the R rated cut. And I am not sure how much shorter this version is,but I did notice that most of the gore scenes are way shorter. Even in this edited version the gore is very well done. And it doesn't hurt that Melinda Clarke is a very beautiful woman. The story is a departure from the first 2 films in this series. But it is way better than the horrible part 2. Return of the Living Dead 3 gets a B+. The unrated cut gets a A.

The Tick Big Halloween Special 2000

The Tick-Big Halloween Special 2000

Back in 2000 the Tick started up a series of one shots. Each one based around a holiday. This issue was written by Clay and Susan Griffith. And art from Dave Garcia. The story starts off with Tick and Arthur at a pumpkin patch. They are picking out a pumpkin to carve for Halloween. Well all of the sudden a pumpkin attacks the Tick. Well this startles the two heroes. And they start to fight off the evil animated pumpkins. Then outta nowhere Extension Agent of the USDA appears. He helps the two guys fight off the pumpkins. And then tells them that the evil pumpkins are caused by a mistake made by a scientist. He was suppose to be adding something to the pumpkins that would cause them to have faces. This way people wouldn't have to carve a face. But instead of adding the chemicals for this,the scientist accidentally adds Puma genes. Next we see the pumpkins attacking various people. And the hero the Spectacle sees this going on. So he goes and joins up with the other three to help fight off the evil pumpkins. This is a great example of the type of humor I expect from the various Tick comics.The Tick Halloween Special 2000 gets a A-.