Horror Movie Mini-Reviews: The Houses October Built 2 and Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

* The Houses October Built 2

The gang is back and infamous on the internet. Brandy, widely known as Coffin Girl, refuses to go to any more haunts after the Blue Skeleton incident. Jeff, Mikey, Bobby, and Zack want to ride out their wave of fame and continue their haunt tour across the US, but they would earn much more money with Coffin Girl in attendance. They basically bribe her and won’t leave her alone, so Brandy concedes with the caveat that if weird stuff starts happening like last time, she’s out. Will their trip be conventional scary fun or is there something more sinister at work?

I loved the first film despite its flaws because it captured the Halloween spirit, had lovable if a bit annoying characters, and included a discussion on people’s obsession for more and more disturbing haunts in the form of interviews with scare actors and documentary style clips. The cast is back, but the discussion aspect is gone with the entire film being found footage. It’s a lesser rehash of the first film where they go to haunts across the country and weird stuff starts happening. The actual haunts are real and awesome including a huge zombie 5k and a zombie themed escape room among others. That’s the only good thing about the whole movie. The raise in production value does nothing for the film except remove the charm and make it seem more like a conventional film.

The characters aren’t as fun this time around except Brandy. She is traumatized from the events of the last film and doesn’t want to go on this trip at all. Her “friends” don’t care and only want to cash in on her more considerable fame. The ending of the film shows they were lying to her and exploiting her even more severely than on the surface without care for her wellbeing. They figured the bigger payout would be worth the damage which it obviously isn’t to her. The guys are scum and I only took away that these guys are even bigger idiots than they were in the first movie plus having the capacity to be cruel to the woman they previously seemed to care about. I’m disappointed in this movie and all its male characters.

My rating: 2/5 fishmuffins

* Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Meyers

The day before a Halloween 1998, Michael Myers awakens from his coma after ten years to pursue his niece, Jamie, who is cared for by a foster family in Haddonfield. A scarred Dr. Loomis returns to save the girl and subdue Michael once and for all.

The fourth installment of the Halloween series follows the slasher formula well and looks especially amazing next to the convoluted mess of Season of the Witch. Jamie, played by Danielle Harris, is bullied mercilessly at school as its common knowledge that her uncle is Michael Myers. Her family doesn’t do much to help and she has strange dreams of Michael even though she doesn’t know it’s him. Her foster sister Rachel is kind of awful and horrible at a babysitting. She’s a typical teenage girl who would rather be on a date, but she loses track of Jamie when she finds out her scumbag boyfriend was cheating on her. Afterwards, she makes up for it by fighting Michael and trying to protect Jamie the rest of the film.

The biggest difference between this and the first couple movies is the formation of a lynch mob. Before, people thought Laurie screaming for help was a joke and refused to even open their doors. This new Haddonfield rises up and goes after Michael, which was refreshing. The ending is tragic, but not unexpected considering her choice of costume. The film ends as the series began. The only drawback is the new mask. It looks like a cheap imitation of the old one. I’m interested to see what The Curse of Michael Myers will bring. The Return of Michael Myers has a few tricks up its sleeve, but stays firmly in slasher movie tropes.

My rating: 3.5/5 fishmuffins

Into the Drowning Deep

Seven years ago, the Atargatis was found empty after a voyage to make a faux documentary about mermaids, funded by a sci-fi channel Imagine. No one was ever found. Now, in 2022, a new ship is chartered by the same company, much more prepared, with a crew of all different types of (mostly skeptical) marine scientists, a pair of big game hunters, and cutting edge technology to find out what happened. Will they find nothing or something the world has never seen?

Into the Drowning Deep takes place in the near future of 2022 where things are just a little bit different. Advances in medical technology have been made including repairing spinal injuries that would normally leave a person without use of their legs. Self driving cars are a typical sight on the road. Unfortunately, pollution and climate change have taken a small but significant toll on day to day life. Human sympathy and care for animals and the environment is outweighed by indifference at best and greed or flat out ignorance at worst. This sets the stage for what will come later for both a creature relegated to myth and intelligent beings relegated to entertainment and containment. There is a running discussion about marine mammals and how sentient they are. Legislation was passed to improve treatment of marine mammals, but they are continually used selfishly by humans no matter how well meaning.

Seanan McGuire especially excels at getting into the heads of each and every character. Each one of their unique experiences and points of view is showcased without judgment or censorship. The cast of characters is large and diverse with different ethnicities and expressions of sexuality in addition to numerous disabled people. It felt like real life where people aren’t homogenous. My favorite character is Tory, a marine biologist focused on marine sounds, who lost a sister in the Atargatis. Her life’s obsession has been finding out what happened to her, working as a whale watching guide for use of the boat on its off time. Olivia is an unexpected character as a person with autism working as a reporter for Imagine. She copes with intense social situations by exploring the place thoroughly in advance and always being accompanied by her camera man. I love Olivia because she goes against so many stereotypes of people with autism and shows that they aren’t limited to certain industries or activities.

Less sympathetic characters, such as the Australian poacher couple, are given the same treatment. Their hatred of and blatant disregard for animal preservation laws and enthusiasts is on display along with their love of the hunt, the kill, and each other. All of the characters are well rounded no matter their politics or opinions. Jillian Toth has been talking about mermaids for years and knows she’s right. She didn’t want to go on the first voyage because she rightfully had no desire to encounter them. Filled with guilt over the first voyage, she feels obligated to be on the second one, accompanied by Theo, her estranged husband who she still loves but refuses to be around. I loved the inclusion of complex, unconventional relationships. Human emotions and situations are messy and not always easily defined.

The horror elements of the novel are amazing. It’s starts off like a typical horror film with the last footage of the Atargatis. The plot reflects that of Aliens, seen in many horror sub genres, and feels familiar even with the difference in creature and location. The ocean is so unknown that the story feels plausible. The mermaids themselves are slender with fish tails, humanoid upper bodies, and full lips. Other than their basic shape and lips, they are eerily inhuman with bioluminescent fibers like hair on their heads. They masterfully mimic other sounds when hunting and have a sort of sign language to speak to each other. As amphibians, the mermaids can survive out of water for a time, trailing slime to move around more easily and moving with much swifter speed than expected. Their attacks are savage, quick, and incredibly bloody. Their bodies are host to its own ecosystem never before seen that is deadly to humans. While these creatures are deadly and frightening, human shave some culpability for forcing them to the depths of the ocean and invading the only territory they have.  A discussion for their preservation is posed with both sides being argued. One side arguing that they are dangerous and the other arguing that humans should preserve all life, not jus the cute and cuddly.

Into the Drowning Deep is a well researched, engrossing novel that speculates on where we are going as a world. It has everything: an exploitative corporation, science, gore, horror, suspense, dynamic characters, romance, and critique of society. The only small problems I had were in the pacing (but science takes a while to explain) and the fairly abrupt ending. I hope there will be a continuation to the story. In the meantime, I will be reading the short story prequel, Rolling in the Deep.

My rating: 4.5/5 fishmuffins

Horror Movie Mini-Reviews: The Bad Seed and Night of the Hunter

* The Bad Seed

Rhoda Penmark is an angelic, sweet little girl until she doesn't get what she wants. Her mother starts to catch on to her deceptive ways when Claude, a boy at her school, dies in a seemingly tragic accident. I had seen this movie years ago and it's an amazing watch. The entire thing is set up like a stage play and takes place around Rhoda's house and the yard just outside. All of the information is conveyed through conversation between characters, but Rhoda's actions are no less chilling than if they were full view of the audience. Her failure to understand right from wrong and her charming facade make the stories believable. It's even more disturbing that she has so many people under her thrall when she would kill to get what she wants. Patty McCormack does a phenomenal job oscillating between enraged and sweet

Two other women give the film emotional weight: Rhoda's mother Christine and Hortense Daigle, Claude's mother. Christine starts out happy and healthy, but rapidly deteriorates emotionally when she realizes the truth about her child. On one hand, her little girl deserves protection and love and on other, Christine has a responsibility to stop her and save others Rhoda would kill. It tears her up inside, especially when she finds out her parentage isn't what she's been told all her life. Hortense is a complete mess after her son died. Multiple times, she shows up at the Penmark house, sloppily drunk and full of questions and stories. This role could have very easily been overacted or badly acted, but Eileen Heckart makes Hortense's pain heartbreaking. Although the scenes are uncomfortable and outside of social norms, she's doing whatever she can to cope and find out what happened to her son.

The Bad Seed is film that stays with you. This murderous intent and lack of emotions behind an angelic smile are absolutely chilling. The scene that encompasses Rhoda is when she's set fire to Leroy and plays Au Claire de la Lune on the piano faster and louder to drown out the ensuing chaos. For a film entirely dependent on dialogue, the performances are all strong and well done. The weakest part of the film is the ending due to the Hayes Code, which basically didn't allow the true ending of the play. The ending undermines Rhoda's character and the curtain call undermines the tone of the entire film.

My rating: 4.5/5 fishmuffins

* Night of the Hunter

Siblings John and Pearl are shown where the $10,000 their father Ben stole is right before he's carted off to jail to be hanged. Reverend Powell shares a cell with Ben and weasels his way into the family when he gets out to find the money. Night of the Hunter is a realistic movie with dark fairy tale elements from the point of view of children. John is older than Pearl and sees things she doesn't, like the local children singing a cruel song about their father and the danger in Rev. Powell. He has to step in as an adult to protect his sister and himself when no adult will intervene. Rev. Powell is incredibly adept at manipulating adults with his charisma and his shield of religion. He has a relaxed air about him in every situation because he's completely sure things will go his way. John's defiance infuriates him like no other.

The other aspects that make this film memorable are Rachel Cooper and the beautiful cinematography. Rachel is a harsh, stern woman who takes in essentially stray children. She uses religion to strengthn the children's moral compass and bring them in as a family, counter to the reverend. While he would kill a woman for sexual interest in men, Rachel understands one of her oldest and reacts with love. One scene encompasses these difference. When he is stalking them in the night, Rev. Powell sinces the hymn Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. Rachel joins in harmony while she sits vigil with her shotgun to protect her children, singing the same song with very different meaning. The look of the film is gorgeous with deliberate use of shadow and light. The scene where the children's mother is discovered in her car underwater is hauntingly beautiful. The look enhances the fairy tale and horror atmosphere.



Night of the Hunter is a film I didn't expect and will revisit in the future. The view of children was especially unexpected because so often children aren't treated as capable. This film treats children as real people trying to overcome impossible obstacles. The music used also creates and sustains the atmosphere, especially Pearl's lullaby in the journey down the river with her brother. The only weird part of the movie is the almost slapstick quality of physical fighting scenes that are deadly serious. It lightens the mood and perhaps shows that children don't truly know what danger they are in. Highly recommended.

My rating: 4.5/5 fishmuffins

Batman: Nightwalker

Bruce Wayne is a young man with his whole future ahead of him. He has everything he could ever want at his fingertips except the parents killed by a thief when he was a child. While testing out a prototype car, a police chase passes him by involving the notorious Nightwalkers responsible for terrorizing Gotham City. Despite the police telling him repeatedly to stay away, Bruce decides to chase down the Nightwalker car and disable it so the police can catch it. The police give him community service that entails cleaning Arkham Asylum, home to hundreds of the most notorious criminals the city has seen. He's immediately drawn to a young girl named Madeleine imprisoned for murder and working for the Nightwalker gang. She only speaks to him and the police agree to allow him to try to get information from her, but she is more than she seems.

Batman: Nightwalker isn't like any other Batman incarnation because he isn't Batman yet. Bruce is the most innocent and naive you will ever see him. His intentions are pure and he still acutely feels the pain of his parents' absence. Unfortunately, he also is heavily influenced by his own arrogance and the assumption that he knows everything. Even when warned of Madeleine's methods of manipulation and reading people, Bruce assumes that he's just too competent to fool. (Spoiler alert: he wasn't.) He succeeds in feeding her information and making himself look like a fool. His whole attitude around Madeleine frankly disgusted me. He invented an entire senario in his head where she is truly innocent because she's female, young, and attractive. I was doubly disgusted when his sexist theory was correct to a point. The entire narrative only proved to reinforce his arrogant and sexist ideas.

Many plot points in this novel are hard to believe or unnatural feeling. The police having a teen work at Arkham Asylum is like having one work at a maximum security prison. No one would do that because that teen would be at risk. They also wouldn't ask him to do exactly what he was being punished for: interfering in police matters even when he thinks he's helping. It kind of ruins the whole point of his community service. The drones Lucius Fox made seemed more like something out of Robocop than something made today. The whole situation with them was completely predictable. The most egregious part of the novel for me was Madeleine's turnaround from bloodthirsty killer to reluctant criminal in love with Bruce Wayne. The entire time they spoke, she was manipulating him (too much like Sherlock Holmes if you ask me), but somehow she grew to like him? I didn't see it at all and it came out of nowhere.

Batman: Nightwalker did not meet my expectations. The most natural feeling parts of the book are between Bruce and his friends. These parts are unfortunately few and far between. Very little of the book is believable and I found myself exasperated and annoyed most of the short book. Bruce didn't really learn anything by the end of the novel and his arrogance is reinforced. I would not like to see this Batman in the future.

My rating: 2/5 fishmuffins

Haunters: The Art of the Scare

Haunters: The Art of the Scare is a documentary about all types of haunted houses, mazes, and events from traditional to extreme and the passionate people behind them. The beginning goes over the history of haunted houses and the inception of theme park haunts (at Knott's Berry Farm). I thought it was hilarious how many haunted house tropes originated in Christian Hell Houses that took you through horrible sins and their repercussions to get people to turn to faith. The documentary follows a variety of figures and their own endeavors in the scare industry, namely legendary scare actor Shar Mayer, Donald Julson creator of a huge home haunt, and Russ McKamey, creator of the infamous extreme haunt McKamey Manor.

Shar Mayer has been working as a scare actor for 35 years in almost every major scare event incuding traditional haunts, extreme haunts, and hybrid haunts with theater. From a young age, she wanted to scare people and enjoyed her first experience scaring classmates dressed as a skeleton on Halloween. Later on in life, Shar almost leads a double life in October when she works very late, takes time off her day job, and leaves her husband, who doesn't really understand her love of the scare, to take care of their home. Her transformation of mannerism and movement is amazing as she gets into character. The coworkers at the haunt are her family with that dedication and love to scaring people binding them together. I could seriously listen to her stories for hours. She's a fascinating person with a unique point of view.

Donald Julson runs a haunt out of his parents house every Halloween called Nightmare on Loganberry. Every year, he works for over a month, spending a large amount of money, for an event that will only be open for 4 hours on Halloween. It's also offered free of charge. His talent for fabricating props shines in his sets in addition to his and his family's dedication to creating this grand event every year. Unfortunately, his wife isn't as thrilled with his passion and even bans Halloween talk the rest of the year. It seemed like they were going to get a divorce any minute as they refused to compromise or discuss or see each other's side. This event is not far from where I live, so I will definitely check it out next year.

McKamey Manor is the most controversial of the haunts shown and it takes up much of the film mostly because no one has ever covered it before. It's also the most extreme haunt representative of a growing movement. The haunt is harrowing to watch as people are subject to what amounts to torture that they can't choose to leave for hours. There is no safe word or ability to walk out of the room. Russ McKamey has many shady practices including having children victimize patrons and then banning children actors after an adult actor acted inappropriately and gave them drugs and alcohol. This is all in addition to making people eat disgusting things including their own vomit, waterboarding them, and otherwise beating, punching, and shoving them. Russ will not go through his own haunt, self admittedly scared of everything, but videotapes every event, actively mocking and laughing at the patrons. It seems like it might have to come to someone dying or being seriously injured to stop this haunt.

Other scare attractions seen are Knott's Scary Farm, Universal Halloween Horror Nights, Blackout, The 17th Door, LA Haunted Hayride, and Delusion. The creators of these events are interviewed as well as Jason Blum and the Soska Sisters. I wish the sisters would have been interviewed about Hellevator since it was a game show that used a haunt format in a new way. I wish we could have seen more of Blackout and The 17th Door. Blackout is another one that's more extreme, but the creators experience everything themselves and have a safe word. The 17th Door slants more extreme and has a theatrical element. Safe words can be used for individual rooms so you don't have to bow out of the whole event over one thing. Delusion was one that I would love to go to. It's a theatrical haunt that takes inspiration from video game RPGs and has the group accomplishing tasks and completing some sort of quest together. All of the events have something special to bring to the scare event format.

Haunters: The Art of the Scare is a well made documentary that shows all facets of the scare industry. Jon Schnitzer creates an emotional story with the main figures featured where they all experience some sort of heartbreak or hardship, which is resolved or overcome by the end of the film. I discovered many local events that I either hadn't heard of or hadn't been to. The only real criticism I have is that McKamey Manor was maybe too prominent in the documentary, but it's the most infamous event that people would typically be most curious about. The deleted scenes are fully realized features on many of the haunts in the film that just didn't fit in with the narrative. I highly recommend this documentary and I hope Schnitzer might make another documentary or even a TV show featuring different haunts.

My rating: 4.5/5 fishmuffins

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Sabrina Spellman grows up without her parents with her aunts Zelda and Hilda. Her life is far from normal since her aunts along with the rest of her family (except her mother) are all witches. Her cat Salem talks and acts as her familiar. Sabrina doesn't have full fledged witch powers yet and has to partake in a grisly ceremony on her 16th birthday to accept these powers. She balances the magic world and the regular world of her town Greendale and her school. Her father's past actions come back to haunt her in the form of a jilted undead ex-lover dead set on ruining the entire Spellman family.

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is a horror revitalization of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. Instead of light hearted foibles, cheesy jokes, and zany family dynamics, this series has a completely different mood and genre. This is hardcore horror with casual cannibalism, Satan worship, and bloody rituals all grounded in 60's era aesthetics (which is also when the series takes place). These witches are evil and get their power by pledging themselves to Satan. Small references are peppered throughout each comic that include name drops like Dr. Saperstein (the Satan worshipping OBGYN from Rosemary's Baby) and Mrs. Lovett (the human-meat pie baker from Sweeney Todd). Sabrina balances the much darker magic world with the mortal world, shown as she grows up through the 50’s and 60’s.

As a character, Sabrina is a fairly typical teenager. She is torn between the power of Satan and the promise of a future with Harvey, her high school sweetheart. The Witches Council bans relationships between witches and mortals, although Sabrina is the product of one, a point of contention with other witches who call her half breed. Her aunts don’t hestitate to use their magic when their charge is threatened, like conjuring a giant spider to terrorize an arachnophobic classmate of Sabrina’s who made fun of her heritage. My favorite character is Madame Satan, formerly known as Iola. She committed suicide dramatically after Sabrina’s father left her for a mortal and returned after spending years in Gehenna, faceless and tortured. Her revenge on everyone involved isn’t swift or painless and works exceedingly well. I’m honestly kind of rooting for her because she’s so much more entertaining than the other characters.

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is a delightfully dark comic (especially in comparison to the source material). The art is consistent with the era and beautifully done. The only real flaw of the story is the final installment focuses on the backstories of Sabrina and Ambrose’s familiars Salem, Nag, and Nagaina instead of continuing the crazy cliffhanger of the previous story. Other than that, I am excited for the continuation of the series and will be checking out other Archie Horror titles, including Afterlife with Archie, which crosses over with this story.

My rating: 4/5 fishmuffins

Tragedy Girls

* spoilers *

Sadie and McKayla are best friends with a blog called Tragedy Girls that details the murders of their local serial killer. After luring him in with a teen couple making out in a remote area, they succeed in capturing him and imprisoning him. They are free to copy his habits and methods while targeting their own hit list and reporting the growing killing spree on their blog. To the community, Sadie and McKayla are either a nuisance getting in the way or renegade journalists exposing police incompetence. Can they keep the charade going or will they slip up somewhere and be revealed for the murderers they are?

Tragedy Girls is a horror comedy that merges a typical slasher film with the drive for internet fame. Sadie and McKayla strive for as many likes, shares, and comments as possible. Simply covering the murders that fascinate them isn't enough. They also aspire to be serial killers themselves and use the existing one to copy and displace blame. At the beginning of the movie, their blog barely has any attention at all. Over the course of the movie and their exclusive point of view skyrockets their site into internet fame beyond their town. Their exploits have to balance public outcry and fame with keeping anyone from getting close to their secret. Sadie and McKayla are cheerful in their normal lives and even more gleeful in their gruesome work, giving the whole film a lighthearted mood. Neither girl feels guilty or upset about their victims which gives a colder and harder core to their characters underneath their bubbly facades. Their murders are messy and riddled with mistakes, but the local police is incredibly inept.

A couple things threaten to tear the friends apart including a boy and an inbalance of fame. The boy in question is Jordan Welch, the sheriff's son. He edits the Tragedy Girls videos and shares a love for European horror films with Sadie. McKayla treats him like garbage, so he understandably doesn't like her and actively tries to separate them. After saving Jordan from the serial killer, Sadie is much more famous than McKayla with the media clamoring to interview her and it drives an addition fissure in their relationship. I personally didn't like Jordan very much and thought he looked much older than the other actors. His willingness to discredit and condemn her best friend is gross and weird. I got an inkling of racism in with his willingness to absolve Sadie for any wrongdoing and viewing McKayla as the corrupting force. The ending is awesome as it subverts the romantic subplot that felt icky the whole time. The film leaves McKayla and Sadie together in neon masks with the highest body count they could have hoped for.

Tragedy Girls is an odd film because the title characters are shallow murderers. However, they are made to be pretty likeable especially compared to the other idiots in their town. That line between annoying and charming is treaded carefully. The film is hilarious and many of the situations and murders made me laugh out loud. The story is fresh and fun while still including darker, more sinister elements and a healthy dose of gore. Highly recommended.

My rating: 4.5/5