Eddie’s 31 Days Of Halloween 2016: Day 8: John Dies At The End (2012)

While the horror world decides on what series they should continue and so on and so forth, there are people that are making films that are a little different than what we are used to. Sure, we have had weird supernatural films before, but none like John Dies At The End, a film that was written and directed by horror legend Don Coscarelli (Phantasm, Bubba Ho-Tep) and is our choice for Eddie’s 31 Days Of Halloween film today. He brings a new element to films that involve other dimensions, weird creatures, and time. The film is about two college dropouts who ingest a new street drug that allows you to see things that no normal human can see. It also allows you to travel to different dimensions while altering time. The only problem is that you may not return to planet earth as a human anymore. So, can Dave (Chase Williamson) and John (Rob Mayes) save the world from this silent, but deadly creatures? The film also stars Paul Giamatti (Private Parts), Glynn Turman (Gremlins), Daniel Roebuck (The Lords of Salem), Clancy Brown (The Shawshank Redemption), and Doug Jones (Hellboy).

The film at times can go all over the place which frustrated me a little bit because we start off with a scene where Dave is chopping someone’s head off and then it cuts to a restaurant where the scene is never to be explained or touched upon again. The rest of the film is self explanatory where he is telling his story to the journalist in hopes that his story will be told. Some of the scenes are cheesy, but overall this was actually a very good film. There’s plenty of freaky looking creatures in the film and some weird happenings to satisfy any horror fan, but do not be mistaken by my words. The film in my opinion was not scary, but an 8 year old might believe that it is. The acting is actually pretty good and if I had to give out an MVP award it would definitely go to Williamson because he carried the film. One of the monsters that is conjured up actually looks like a member of the band GWAR, just take a look to the left. This film is an adaptation of the novel written by Cracked.com journalist David Wong so if you want to check that out, go right ahead. I am going to give the film a B- because it was truly enjoyable.

Eddie’s 31 Days Of Halloween 2014: Day 19: Phantasm (1979)

When I was thinking about what movie I would do next for Eddie’s 31 Days Of Halloween, I looked at the past list of movies and realized that Phantasm wasn’t reviewed before. It’s the 1979 horror/sci-fi classic from Don Coscarelli who wrote, directed, produced, shot, and edited the entire film himself. While hanging out at a cemetery while a funeral was going on, Mike (Michael Baldwin) notices something very strange at the cemetery. When everyone leaves, he notices the undertaker dubbed the Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) take the casket and reload it back into a hearse. Mike discovers that the Tall Man is from another world and that he is taking the bodies of the dead and he is turning them into dwarf slaves that do his evil bidding. Mike along with the help of his brother Jody (Bill Thornbury) and family friend Reggie (Reggie Bannister) will try to stop the Tall Man before he claims anymore of the dead as his slaves in another dimension. The film also stars Lynn Eastman-Rossi (Project X) as Sally, Kenneth V. Jones (Hidden Fears) as the caretaker, Kathy Lester (Phantasm III: Lord Of The Dead) as the lady in lavender, Bill Cone as Tommy, Mary Ellen Shaw (Kenny & Company) as the fortuneteller, and Terrie Kalbus (Kenny & Company) as the fortuneteller’s Grandmother.

The thing that always amazed me about this film is the fact that Don Coscarelli did everything himself when it came to directing, editing, and all the other stuff he did for this film. The DVD that I watched for this film features an introduction by the Tall Man himself Angus Scrimm who speaks very highly about the film that started it all. This was definitely one of the best of the genre as it’s not just a horror film, but it’s psychological as well as it has it’s moments of gore. The imagery in this film is just fantastic and what better setting for a horror film other than a funeral home next to a cemetery. The film also introduced the world famous flying sphere drill that basically drains your body of your blood after it drills into you. I remember when I first watched this film as a kid, I didn’t understand how the dwarfs had the nacho cheese colored blood like the Tall Man, but it makes sense to me now cause it could represent alien blood or even something else. The film has it’s corny moments, but for the most part this was a top notch horror film and one of the better ones to be released around that time. The film did so well that it spawned three more sequels and as of right now Phantasm V: Ravager is currently in Post production according to IMDB.com and it’s the final chapter in the series. Before you venture to check that out, you obviously should watch this film and then work your way up to the fifth one. I am going to give this film an A for a final grade because it makes you think, the imagery is amazing, and the acting is pretty good.