Wonkette Movie Night: Halloween
'It's Halloween. Everyone's entitled to one good scare.'
On October 25, 1978 Michael Myers first slashed his way onto the big screen in John Carpenter’s Halloween. The film starts out by giving us Michael’s origin story as a murderous six year old boy in a clown costume. He uses a very large knife to kill his teenage-sex having sister. Gotta punish that pre-marital shagging! We get but a few minutes into the movie and we are already shown boobs and murder. (Boobs and Murder is the name of my new all ukulele, rap metal band.)
The movie zips forward 15 years in time, where an institutionalized Michael has grown in physical stature but not mental stability. Escaping the psychiatric hospital where he has been held, he goes back to the scene of his original crime. A menacing figure in a stolen mechanic’s overalls and a William Shatner mask he begins stalking 17 year old Laurie Stroud. She notices the creepy dude but can’t convince her friends to take him as threat.
As her babysitting begins on Halloween night she is unaware of the terror that awaits. But we know because we’ve seen this film so many times. Teenagers get harshly punished for sexy times as more boobs are revealed and the bodies pile up. Many people think of this film as a super gory, blood and guts slasher film. But it isn’t as gory as imagined. Michael kills with strangulation as much as when he uses a knife and some of those are not shown on camera. One of the things that make Halloween so damn scary is that killer soundtrack, that music that riles up the senses. Causing a tingling of the spine like a bony hand touching the back of your neck and the need to pick one’s feet up off the floor. Maybe turn on a light because what the hell was that noise in the kitchen!
A safe scare like the ones found in watching films like Halloween can be a lot of fun, especially if you are watching with friends. It can be a stress reliever to face horror in the movies. Since we are about to take down a real life monster in 5 days it’s good to remember that even though Michael kept coming back to life in film after film, in Halloween Ends he finally met his ultimate demise at the hands of a 61 year old woman.
Halloween stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Nancy Kyes, Nick Castle, PJ Soles and Charles Cyphers. Directed and soundtrack by John Carpenter.
Halloween is available with subscription on AMC+ and Philo. For free with ads on Xumo Play, Crackle and Plex. $3.99 in the usual places.
To make requests and see the movie lists and schedules, go to WonkMovie.
The animated short I have for you is from independent artist Caleb Worcester, Under The Thicket.
On Saturday we have a very special movie night event. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐳𝐞𝐲𝐬: 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐑𝐲𝐚𝐧.
“How do we relate this election to something in our history that most will understand and in a way that makes an actual impact? We still have that customer (it’s really more his daughter now that is our customer) who is a living veteran of D-Day. He paid the cost for freeing us from fascism eighty years ago and he has paid it every day since. I think this election lives with him.
That Republican voters are not only throwing away the incredible sacrifice so many Americans made for freedom, but they are condemning us to face those same unbearable costs yet again. It is just too much.
His message of “earn this” is a message for all of us. It’s up to us to make the incredible sacrifices of those who came before us worth something. It is a message America could use to have echo in this moment.” -Bill Penzey
Saving Private Ryan will be starting an hour earlier than our usual movie start time due to its length.
5pm PT / 8pm ET
Available with subscription on Paramount +. With library card on Kanopy and hoopla. $3.99 in the usual places.
Ok, who’s coming over to eat all the leftover candy. Because you need to save me from myself.
We had a mid-sized turnout this year, at least for our small town. About 20 groups in total, most moms with kids in the early afternoon. And invited some new American friends over (they live more remote countryside, so they were excited to help hand out candy) and blabbed about the election for a while over cocktails and pulled pork sliders. It was fun!
And I missed all the excitement about demons visiting Tucky. That boy ain’t right in the head.