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BruceTheBogart
Reviews
Curse of Crom: The Legend of Halloween (2022)
Spooky fun for Halloween season
This is a fun movie that really oozes with Halloween spooky vibes. Lo-fi practical effects are used rather than CGI and really give it a classic 80's or early 90's vibe (along with a sort of Carpenter-esque soundtrack), and the humor is pretty fun.
Keep in mind this isn't a gruesome or terrifying movie, it's more like a scarier Goosebumps episode that you could watch with youngsters and still enjoy yourself. It does have an overall spooky atmosphere and a couple of jump scares, so it's nice to see a kids horror film that's not wall-to-wall humor and silliness.
The main character plays it pretty straight forward, with her friends acting as the wacky and weird sidekicks, and it gave me quite a few laughs. Especially everything to do with the cat.
Highlights:
-Overall Halloween vibes
-The dead cat
-Weird sandwiches
-The practical monster effects
-The Rock lookalike
Think it'll probably make my Halloween rotation.
They Live Inside Us (2020)
Cool Halloween/Ghost Story
"They Live Inside Us" is a great little indie gem, oozing with Halloween atmosphere and terror. The scares work, the jokes work even better, and the soundtrack is phenomenal.
The film's production level is definitely a cut above the average indie and it feels like the classic 80's horror films it openly pays homage to in the films "anthology" segments. But the story manages to remain fresh, with a few great scares and a mythology that slowly reveals itself until the last moment of the film.
The movie does start fairly slow (for me the story really didn't pickup until the 17 min mark, which by all accounts is probably too long for an indie) but this is smoothed over by the fantastic cinematography and musical score. However, stick with it. From the moment the dad turns on the record player, I found myself totally pulled into the characters and the world they inhabit.
It's creepy, atmospheric fun. Definitely worth a watch if you're a fan of Halloween, '80's horror movies, or a well told ghost story. The final twist is fantastic and haunting.