Thursday Movie Picks - TV Edition: Horror
1) The Haunted Mask
This is kind of the crowned jewel of the Goosebumps TV show, in my opinion. It translated perfectly to screen, the mask WAS legitimately creepy and Carly Beth was always a character I found very relatable. They even did a "part 2" of this in a later season that still somehow managed to work even though it was repetitive.
2) Stay Out of the Basement
This was one of my favorite books from the series as well, and I remember the dad being almost exactly as I pictured him when I read.
3) Night of the Living Dummy
This was another one where I really liked the lead character, Amy. And anything with a living dummy/doll already has that uncanny valley creepiness to it.
I never watched the show but my niece loved reading the books.
ReplyDeleteThey were great!
DeleteI feel so old reading this. My kids were into this show while I watched the odd episode, here and there. I remember seeing that last one, but I didn't retain enough about any of them to remember if I liked them. My general reaction to them was, meh.
ReplyDeleteDon't feel old. The 90's weren't that long ago, right? RIGHT?!
DeleteWhen I managed a book store Goosebumps was such a popular series and my nephew loved them but I was never interested and didn't realize there was a show which I suppose makes it obvious I never saw any of these!
ReplyDeleteThank goodness these Halloween themed weeks are over! I struggled all but one week and this one was even more difficult because I misread the theme and thought it had to be TV holiday horror. I came up with three that I'd seen long ago but only the first one is worth anything at all.
Home for the Holidays (1972)-Wealthy autocratic Benjamin Morgan (Walter Brennan), frail and seriously ill, insists his four daughters-Alex (Eleanor Parker), Freddie (Jessica Walter), Jo (Jill Haworth) and Chris (Sally Field) (he had wanted boys)-come home for Christmas to his enormous but isolated mansion. Estranged over their shared belief that Benjamin drove their mother to suicide they reluctantly return to be informed by their father that he suspects his second wife, Elizabeth (Julie Harris) is now trying to kill him. Shortly afterwards the girls learn that their stepmother was accused of killing her first husband and they begin to fall prey to a killer dressed in a yellow rain slicker!
What would normally be a rather standard, though well directed, scare flick is elevated by the fact that the cast is ridiculously overqualified for this sort of endeavor-Sally Field (2 Oscars), Walter Brennan (3 Oscars), Julie Harris (5 Tonys and 2 Oscar nominations), Eleanor Parker (3 Oscar nominations) and TV stalwart Jessica Walter (a handful of Emmy nominations and a win)!
A Vacation in Hell (1979)-When their excursion boat sinks four women including Marcia Brady (Maureen McCormick) and Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon) and a man (Michael Brandon) who have been holidaying at an exotic vacation resort must fight for survival after they become lost in a remote jungle while being stalked by a murderous native tribe. Terrible Movie of the Week incredibly was directed by the same guy who helmed Roots!
The Midnight Hour (1985)-In the New England town of Pitchfork Cove a group of rather stupid teens (though the actors playing them are at minimum in their mid to late 20’s) pinch some costumes and artifacts from the local museum on Halloween and chant in the graveyard calling forth all manner of ghosts, zombies and other ghouls who they spend the rest of the movie running away from like the idiots they are.
I haven't seen any of your picks this week, or even heard of them. lol. Halloween is such a bust this year, that I don't mind leaving the horror themes behind for once either.
DeleteHome for the Holidays is on YouTube. Here's the link:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9OqwXY7AII
It's worth seeing for the cast if nothing else, though it's an okay film as TV scare flicks go. Sally is SO young in it, well maybe not Gidget young but in her early 20's.
Count yourself lucky that you haven't clapped eyes on those other two. They stink.
Nice! Thank you :)
DeleteI'd love to tell you all about how much I loved this show as a kid, but I was in my late 20s and married when this debuted on television.
ReplyDeleteYou can enjoy Goosebumps at any age!
DeleteAwesome list! I remembered watching this show all the time when I was little and the Living Dummy always stood out to me!
ReplyDeleteIt's a very memorable one, though I sometimes get him and Zeebo the Clown from Are You Afraid of the Dark mixed up.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen any of these shows though that last one looks like stupid fun.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure they're all stupid fun at this point since they're geared towards kids lol
DeleteLove this theme! I don't think I've seen any of the show but I read so many of the books when I was a kid.
ReplyDeleteReally like the new colour scheme by the way, I keep forgetting to mention!
Thank you so much! I felt I needed a bit of a change.
DeleteFabulous blog
ReplyDeleteI didn't even know there was a Goosebumps TV series.
ReplyDeleteThey sure did. Gotta love the 90's.
DeleteHaven't seen the show but this is a nice idea! I figured to do something similar to Supernatural's episodes because some of those were quite scary! :D
ReplyDeleteAnd there's plenty to choose from there!
DeleteI didn't read Goosebumps (I was more into Fear Street) so I didn't watch the Goosebumps TV series instead I watched Are You Afraid of the Dark.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of Fear Street but I also watched Are You Afraid of the Dark quite a bit.
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