I’m still getting into the spirit of Halloween with my television viewing. I caught the newest episodes of “The Walking Dead,” and predictably was quite pleased. (I still maintain that the show has returned to fine form for its final episodes.)
I was somewhat less enthusiastic about Marvel’s new special, “Werewolf By Night,” which was too campy and corny for my taste. (I don’t think I am this show’s intended audience … I can hardly remember the eponymous 1970’s horror comics to which it is an homage.)
What I absolutely loved was episode one of “Let the Right One In” — which looks like it might even compete with the new “Interview With the Vampire” as the best new show with the fanged baddies. It’s less like the 2008 Swedish original independent film and more like the 2010 American remake. It’s a grounded, deliberately paced, atmospheric thriller that manages to be scary right from its opening scene. I love it.
I also caught episode 1 of AMC’s new Anne Rice adaptation, “Interview With The Vampire.” It was stylish, detailed and thoughtful and it was brutal at the end — this looks like the start of a great horror series.
Next on the list, of course, will be the resumption of AMC’s “The Walking Dead.”
By the way … . this is what I look like when I haunt your house at night.
Yeah, turns out I was next up on the dance card for this colossal prick of a pathogen. I had a positive reading on an antigen test tonight. (If you haven’t ordered your free tests from the federal government, you should do so. It’s quick and easy.)
Fun fact — did you know that most biologists agree that viruses are not technically “alive?” Sure, they can replicate and adapt to their environment, but they can’t do things like grow, or produce their own energy, or remain internally stable (homeostasis). So they can’t actually pass the basic criteria for what scientists consider “life.”
So, if you think about it, I and my fellow Covid-afflicted Americans are fighting zombies.
Please … do what you can not to catch this and subsequently spread it further. Be a Rick Grimes and not one of The Whisperers.
I do realize the bizarre, preposterously first-world narcissism of bragging online about which TV shows you’ve watched. I’m doing it anyway.
Hey, I’m trying to get into the spirit of Halloween. And it’s my blog, I figure.
This is how I’ve marked the season so far:
“Midnight Mass” (2021). Outstanding!
“The Walking Dead” Season 11 mid-season finale (2021). Predictably quite good.
The start of “Fear the Walking Dead” Season 7 (2021). The sets and special effects are still top-notch — but Episode 1 was disappointingly confusing and weird.
“Suck” (2009). Really funny and surprisingly engaging. Even the music was really good.
The start of “The Walking Dead: World Beyond” Season 2 (2021). Yeesh. It started off confusing — then turned vaguely unexciting. I thought all its unprecedented exposition for this fictional universe would be exciting, but it curiously is not.
The start of “What We Do in the Shadows” Season 3 (2021). Hilarious!
If you’re acquainted with this blog at all, then you’re already aware of the sheer reverence I have for Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” (1982). So I won’t belabor that subject yet again in order to note Rutger Hauer’s passing this past Friday.
Hauer was a prolific actor, and his fans can remember him fondly from any number of roles. Below are the trailers for my three favorites.
The first is 1986’s “The Hitcher,” which might have been the first modern, adult horror film that I truly loved. (This is leaving aside Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 “The Birds” and various monster movies aimed at kids.) I’m a little concerned that the trailer below misrepresents the movie, though. “The Hitcher” aspired to be a serious film, and was truly a great horror-thriller, in my opinion. It was moody, atmospheric, thoughtful and methodically paced (although it didn’t lack blood and violence either). It was far better than the 80’s action-horror boilerplate movie that the trailer seems to depict.
Hauer was terrifying. (If you are wondering, that is indeed C. Thomas Howell and Jennifer Jason Leigh costarring. And if you watch the trailer very closely, you can see Jeffrey DeMunn — who contemporary audiences will recognize as Dale from “The Walking Dead.”)
The second is movie is 1985’s “Ladyhawke,” which saw Hauer co-star with none other than Matthew Broderick and Michelle Pfeiffer. It had far more mainstream appeal, and it reliably kicks up nostalgia every time it’s mentioned on social media. (Seriously, go try it.)
The third is one that far fewer people will remember –1989’s “Blind Fury,” which rode the tail end of the decade’s martial arts craze. It was zany stuff, and it didn’t hold back on the 80’s-era cheese, but it had a lot of heart and was surprisingly earnest. Some of the action sequences were damned impressive too. (And if you were a nut for 80’s ninja movies, you’ll of course recognize Sho Kosugi as the acrobatic villain here.)
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 