Grisliness

Rob Zombie’s remake (or re-imagining, if that’s more appropriate) of John Carpenter’s Halloween re-aligns the focus back to the issue of remakes of classic seventies films, though we’ll save that topic for a later date.

Halloween is certainly not a movie that needs an intro, although in Zombie’s interview in the August issue of Rue Morgue magazine, the writer/director/composer admits he was surprised at how many people had never seen the film, including actor Malcolm McDowell, who plays as Dr. Loomis.

Originally played by Donald Pleasance in the original and subsequent sequels, John Carpenter’s 1978 film was given the deluxe treatment by Anchor Bay in a 2-disc 25th Anniversary edition, sporting a high definition Divimax transfer and loads of extras. To tie-in to the Zombie remake, Anchor Bay / Stars Home Entertainment have reissued the original 1999 THX mastered single disc release at a more economical price, with a flashy new O-sleeve.

Also from the label are the latest pair of Masters of Horror episodes: Mick Garris’ own adaptation of a Clive Barker story, “Valerie on the Stairs,” and Tom Holland’s E.C. comics tribute, “We All Scream for Ice Cream,” based on a short story by John Farris.

In less than 2 weeks, The Toronto International Film Festival [TIFF] will begin, as will its’ interconnected Midnight Madness festival, which will include the latest film by the current masters of British Bleakness, Adam Mason and Simon Boyes.

Midnight Madness bigwig Colin Geddes gives a concise rundown of the duo’s latest film, The Devil’s Chair, and for those curious about their prior work, we have a review of Broken, probably one of the most cruel but gripping portraits of a sadistic relationship between an egomaniacal abductor and his ordinary, literally off-the-street victim. There’s bleak, and then there’s British Bleak, going back to Michael Reeve’s brilliant yet despairing Witchfinder General (aka The Conqueror Worm, itself slated to finally hit North American shelves as a special edition DVD on September 11th).

Coming next: more film music, and some stellar documentaries.


- MRH

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