Horror is like a serpent; always shedding its skin, always changing. And it will always come back. It can’t be hidden away like the guilty secrets we try to keep in our subconscious. ~ Dario Argento

So we’ve come to my third Happy Halloween Movies – Part 3, in case you missed them remember to check out part 1 and part 2.

Candyman (1992) – This is another movie that I thought I had seen but apparently I never had. We all know the Candyman story, like Bloody Mary, say his name five times in the mirror and he appears behind you to do you in. But Candyman, unlike the first film of most horror series is actually an origin story. Well acted, well written and a pretty decent story, of course you do have to overlook a whole lot of urban culture stereotypes, but all in all a good ride.

30 Days of Night (2007) – And yet another movie that I was sure I had seen, I knew the plot, vampires invade Barrow, Alaska during their 30 days of nights where the sun isn’t out. And this is one of those movies you just have to lay back and enjoy it, best not to think too much. Meaning there are a lot of flaws if you look deeper, the way they represent Barrow, the Alaskan winter and the film really doesn’t feel at all like it covers 30 days. But let all of that go and it’s a really fun vampire movie.

Possession (2012) – It’s the pretty standard demonic possession movie with a Jewish twist, we learn about dybbuk boxes and the evil spirits within. I gave it a run because it stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan, whose character Negan was simply one of the most terrifying characters ever on television. Plus he’s just a really nice guy and a good actor, it also stars Kyra Sedgwick who I also like a lot. It’s an interesting film, if you’re in the mood for a horror film it’s not a terrible option, but there are better ones.

An American Werewolf in London (1981) – This is one of my favorite movies, another one that I was lucky enough to see in the theater originally. It’s not what I would consider a scary movie, it certainly has it’s moments and it’s the first movie I ever remember doing the dream within a dream sequence. All in all a great and fun movie and I highly recommend it.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers, all of them

So I decided to do one more scifi/horror film, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and like Halloween, saw it was on the AMC horror month offering so I DVR’d it. Turned out to be the 1993 remake that I had never seen before. I’m most familiar with the 1978 version and I thought gee I want to watch that now. Then I thought, well heck, should watch the original that I’ve never seen and then realized there was a 2007 remake as well, so I did them all. And my thoughts in reverse chronological order.

The Invasion (2007) – This most recent version stars Nicole Kidman (as a psychiatrist, the versions love changing the occupation of the lead) and has the happiest ending of all four versions. It also has the prettiest people in it and the most big name stars, very happy to see that they had Veroncia Cartwright make an appearance as she was also in the 1978 version and has a great career of supporting roles in science fiction films. She also plays hysterical better than most actors. One thing I really don’t like about this version is that they get rid of the pods. Sure, the whole pod thing is a bit campy, but we’re talking about space pods, copying entire people, the creepiest thing about these movies are the damn half-developed pod people copies. In this version, they try and tighten up the science in this version and by doing so, basically turn this into just another pandemic movie.

Body Snatchers (1993) – This version features a young Gabrielle Anwar, an actress I’ve always found to be incredibly beautiful and intriguing. This version changes the occupation of the person who discovers the problem to an EPA investigator, Gabrielle’s father in the film. This time the story is not set in a city but on a military base and this is their big innovation. It allows them to stuff in some typical horror film plots, pretty young people, a budding love story and they get to go a little Wolverines at the end. It’s a watchable film, but not great, not scary at all and really very little suspense.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) – I saw this version in the theater, as a teenage science fiction nerd this was a big deal. This time the twist is that the film goes to the big city, San Francisco. Donald Sutherland is a city health inspector who with the help of a colleague discover the invasion. This is a really well done film. Good acting, solid suspense and the pod people in this film are by far the creepiest of all of the films. I love this film and it’s a heavy hitter in the science fiction/horror film genre, definitely worth a watch.

This film also features one of the most ridiculously funny moments in any science fiction film, it involves a dog and will definitely scramble your brain for a second.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) – I’d never seen the original and expected that a movie nearly seventy years-old would be pretty campy and not real interesting. I was completely wrong, this is a great movie! In fact I would say the original is just as good as the 1978 remake. The lead is Kevin McCarthy, a local doctor in a made up California small town. He comes back from a medical conference and things just aren’t right. His former love has just returned from Europe and the familiar pairing of a couple on the run that will carry through to every version. The pods are ridiculous, but this is 1950’s special effects so there wasn’t much available to them. They make great use of quick glimpses of developing pod people and it’s a really suspenseful film. I imagine in terrified young audiences in the 50’s.