31 Days of Scream-O-Ween! - The Amityville Horror Trilogy

By Adam Ruhl

Happy Halloween Scream fans! Tonight is the night for dressing up, getting candy, drinking (for the adults), and watching scary movies with your loved ones. For many of you, it’s your favorite night of the year, as it is for us too and we’re going out with a bang. Thank you for following us on this strange and terrifying journey through a lot of great horror films (and, with all due love to Scream Factory, a couple of appalling bad ones). We’ve covered 30 Scream Factory films and now it’s time for the grand finale, our review of the Scream Factory’s The Amityville Horror Trilogy. This film has been a household name for almost 35 years; it has spawned numerous sequels and remakes and continues to scare the hell out of us. Did it really happen? Was it faked? Only the people involved know for sure, but one thing is certain, it captivated us and chilled us to the bone and continues to do so. Fire up the Jack-O-Lanterns and turn out the lights as we explore review 31, The Amityville Horror Trilogy.

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31 Days of Scream-O-Ween! - Halloween III

By David Massey

 

One of the more baffling choices made in 1980’s Hollywood was to release a movie about witch toymakers combining computers with pieces of Stonehenge as a weapon to kill children under the title ‘Halloween 3’. Sure, from one perspective, associating this one-off horror flick with a tried and true franchise must have seemed like easy money but the deception reviled audiences and, regardless of the films many qualities, it was a total flop. Now, 30 years later, the film has finally found its cult and Scream Factory has given the unique ‘Halloween 3 – Season of the Witch’ the stand-alone credit it deserves in a 30^th Anniversary “Silver Shamrock” Edition Blu-Ray.

 

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31 Days of Scream-O-Ween! - Halloween II

By Adam Ruhl

John Carpenter’s Halloween is a classic among the genre. It routinely tops number one lists and is generally credited with getting the ball rolling on the franchise monsters of the 80’s. Halloween 2 is lesser known, but should not be confused with any of the other sequels (certainly not Halloween 3 where Michael Myers doesn’t even appear). Unlike the later installments, Halloween 2 was written by Carpenter to form the second half of a larger story with his original.  There’s something charming and offbeat about this follow up that distinguishes it from its predecessor and over the years it’s become a guilty pleasure favorite of mine. I am tickled orange to be reviewing Scream Factory’s Halloween II Blu-ray Collector’s Edition. Let’s dive right in.

 

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31 Days of Scream-O-Ween! - Scanners 2 & 3 Double Feature

By David Massey

Telekinesis is the subject of today’s double-feature Blu-ray release from Scream Factory. ‘Scanners 2: The New Order’ & ‘Scanners 3: The Takeover’ are more stand-alone interpretations of the themes and scenarios introduced by Cronenberg’s 1981 classic than actual sequels. By all rights, it’s no surprise that few have seen these; they are oozing with an early-1990’s, straight-to-video feel but, as a couple, there is some genuine weight here and both films definitely have their merits.

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31 Days of Scream-O-Ween! - Dead Souls

By Garon Cockrell

Scream Factory isn’t just about the classics.  They’ve also brought us some more contemporary titles.    Well two so far.  The first of which is a film that first aired on Chiller called Dead Souls.    Don’t let that scare you off (like it almost did me) though.

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31 Days of Scream-O-Ween! - Lifeforce

By Garon Cockrell

Space….Vampires.  Those two words should be enough to sell you on this movie but if they aren’t here are two more:  Tobe Hooper.  He of Funhouse (another Scream Factory title), Poltergeist, Invaders from Mars, and a little movie called The Texas Chainsaw Massacre fame.

This is another of those horror titles I missed; in fact, I’d never heard of this one, which made me all the more thrilled for it to be a Collector’s Edition.  Even better?  A longer, director approved cut.

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31 Days of Scream-O-Ween! - The Howling

By Adam Ruhl

 

There’s no chance you haven’t already seen The Howling. If you enjoy horror films enough to read a month’s worth of reviews and somehow missed this movie stop right now, add it to your bucket list, and get to it. While that one reader watches the film (hopefully an older version so they have a good basis of comparison), we’ll proceed to talk about Joe Dante’s classic 1981 horror film that Scream Factory has brought screaming ‘howling’ back to life with their new Collector’s Edition Blu-ray release.

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31 Days of Scream-O-Ween! - Cockneys vs. Zombies

By Adam Ruhl

 

Today’s film is the newest of all the Scream Factory offerings we’re reviewing and it’s also the most British, East London British to be precise. Cockneys vs. Zombies is the greatest English Horror-Comedy zombie movie since Shaun of the Dead and manages to completely distinguish itself from similar films. I first saw it a year ago at Fantastic Fest 2012 where it was a festival darling and now Scream Factory has given it the royal treatment and brought it to America.

 

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31 Days of Scream-O-Ween! - Psycho 3

By David Massey

 

For those of you that thought making a sequel to ‘Psycho’ was a disastrous, shark-jumping moment in cinema history, you ain’t seen nothing’ yet. On Valentine’s Day, 1986, first-time director, Anthony Perkins (Norman Bates himself), released ‘Psycho 3’ and, at the time, no one cared. It’s a shame because, unlike ‘Psycho 2’ – which spent a lot of time and energy reproducing and imitating Hitchcock - this is a totally new and much darker take on a scenario that we already know quite well. Scream Factory’s Collector’s Edition Blu-ray puts it all in perspective and garnishes the film with a hefty ensemble of bizarre features.

  

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31 Days of Scream-O-Ween! - Psycho 2

By David Massey

 

 

‘Blasphemy’ must have been the first word that came to mind for any discerning cinema-goer when Universal announced they were making a sequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s incomparable ‘Psycho’. Now, 30-some-odd years later, the film is little more than a blip lost in the blur of the 1980’s horror extravaganza. It’s easy to forget that ‘Psycho 2’ was one of the most successful summer blockbusters of 1983 (opening the same weekend as ‘Return of the Jedi’) and Scream Factory’s Blu-ray Collector’s Edition is here to remind us why this ambitious thriller deserves to be remembered.

 

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31 Days of Scream-O-Ween! - They Live

By Adam Ruhl

I’m a huge John Carpenter fan; I make no secret of that fact. They Live holds a very special place in my heart. This is one of the most creative science fiction/horror movies of the 80’s, possibly of all time. John Carpenter was at the top of his game when he made They Live, but like many of his better films the reception was soft on release and its reputation had to grow over time. Grow it has and it is now a cinema classic. In fact, this Collector’s Edition of John Carpenter’s They Live was what first turned me on to Scream Factory and I saw the serious treatment they were willing to give their titles.

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31 Days of Scream-O-Ween! - The Incredible Melting Man

by Garon Cockrell

There isn’t much that can be said about a movie called The Incredible Melting Man.  Except maybe that the title is describing the effects of this movie.

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31 Days of Scream-O-Ween! - X-ray / Schizoid Double Feature

By Adam Ruhl

Scream Factory has done a brilliant job of releasing overlooked horror films on Blu-ray discs loaded with features. Many of these films are well known classics and cult favorites sporting special collector’s editions with original art on the cover. Scream Factory has also put out a wholly different but equally compelling type of release; one that again takes me back to the old independent video store horror shelf. This Blu-ray/DVD combo is a Scream Factory Double Feature with the films X-Ray and Schizoid, two films that to be honest I had never heard of and frankly had difficulty finding solid information about. Please forgive my ignorance if you are a hardcore fan of these titles as I will be assessing them as a first time viewer with a new find.  

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31 Days of Scream-O-Ween! - Prison

By Garon Cockrell

Another film in the Scream Factory line up that I hadn’t heard of.  This one’s from A Nightmare on Elm Street part 4 director Renny Harlin.   Prison is a gory supernatural horror flick about a vengeful prisoner seeking his post death revenge.

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31 Days of Scream-O-Ween! - Dark Angel (AKA I Come in Peace)

By David Massey

 

 

I know it’s not my job to convince you that any of the genre films given the ‘Criterion’ treatment by Scream Factory’s Blu-ray line are cinema genius or, even, classic camp but it is a very thin line between ‘Dark Angel’ and films like ‘The Terminator’ or ‘RoboCop’. That ‘line’, more often than not, comes largely down to budget. ‘Dark Angel’ (or ‘I Come in Peace’ as it will always be to me) is no more far-fetched in story than the films it aspires to be and manages to make up for its small budget with enough pyrotechnic absurdity to make Michael Bay blush and one-liners that could give Arnie a run for his money.

 

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31 Days of Scream-O-Ween! - Prince of Darkness

By Adam Ruhl

Almost all of John Carpenter’s films after Halloween have met with tepid critical reaction on release and often only so-so box office. The real judge of a John Carpenter movie is time. In the decades since their release, films like Big Trouble in Little China and They Live have become popular genre films embraced by a generation. The Thing, much like Blade Runner, has become a smash hit years after it was first in theaters (fun fact: they opened the same day). Other films, like The Fog and Prince of Darkness continue to wait for a cult following to really embrace them. Perhaps that will happen now with this wonderful new Scream Factory Collector’s Edition of Prince of Darkness, let’s take a look.

 

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31 Days of Scream-O-Ween! - Day of the Dead

By David Massey

 

Though they’ve lost their fear factor for me, zombie films are my favorite junk food; I just can’t get enough of them and ‘Day of the Dead’ is the peanut-butter-filled Twinkie of the lot. Romero’s original Living Dead trilogy set the standard for American zombie movies and this is the walking dead equivalent to ‘Return of the Jedi’. Scream Factory has presented the film in its most vivid form to date.

 

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31 Days of Scream-O-Ween! - The Funhouse

By Adam Ruhl

The Funhouse, that accidental video nasty, a 1981 horror film that only recently seems to be getting the respect it so rightly deserves. While it begins with tongue in cheek parodies of both Halloween and Psycho, within its frames it contains so much more. It contains the other unforgettable performance of Amadeus’ wife Elizabeth Berridge and a tale from the Director who taught us the value of good, prime meat. So without further ado, come with me and experience the long lost wonders in Scream Factory’s Collector’s Edition of Tobe Hooper’s The Funhouse.

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31 Days of Scream-O-Ween! - The Nest

By Adam Ruhl

At face value The Nest might not seem like much; a more or less direct-to-video 1988 film that I had never heard of before now. The Nest falls into that not-so-respected horror sub-genre of “Swarms of something” attacks small isolated town. Since Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’ it’s been tried with every kind of animal from spiders to snakes to worms. The Nest presents us with swarms of cockroaches, as made clear by the cover art which features a six-foot-tall roach attacking a woman in her underwear. The question I found myself asking up front was why would Scream Factory want to reintroduce such a title to the world in High-Def? What I found when I sat down and watched the movie was that they had found a lovely little would-be, could-be cult horror film gem in The Nest.

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31 Days of Scream-O-Ween! - Deadly Blessing

by Garon Cockrell

Before Wes Craven unleashed Freddy Krueger upon the world he gave us the story of vengeful amish/Mennonites in the super creepy, super shocking, Deadly Blessing.  Ernest Borgnine is worth the price alone.

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