My Favorite Things: October
My Favorite Things is a monthly segment where I share my personal and current favorites in seasonal products, health & beauty, food, decor, movies, TV, and more. I hope you enjoy these personal picks!
Movies
Wendell & Wild
Two scheming demons strike a deal with a punk rock-loving teen so they can leave the Underworld and live out their dreams in the Land of the Living.
Once I heard Henry Selick and Jordan Peele were working on this film I knew I was in for a treat. Most of all it has a diverse cast and a Black girl as the main protagonist. I wish I saw that kind of representation in stop-motion films growing up. The film is whimsical and filled with many exciting supernatural elements that make it a great film for the Halloween season. I have always had an appreciation for stop-motion animation as a child and I found the visuals in this film to be amazing! The story is a lot of fun and it’s action-packed from beginning to end. This film is must watch for fans of animated films!
Hocus Pocus 2
Three young women accidentally bring back the Sanderson Sisters to modern day Salem and must figure out how to stop the child-hungry witches from wreaking havoc on the world.
I’ll be honest I was a tiny bit wary going into this sequel because reboots have been a hit or miss (usually a miss lately). Overall I really enjoyed this sequel! I didn’t care for the music choices, but I liked all the other nods to the aspects of the original while it tried to create its own brand-new story in the same setting. Having a new set of characters was a great choice while keeping that humor and wit as the original made it fun to watch. This is a movie I’ll definitely be watching again.
The Night Shift
Horror webtoon writer Ji-woo arrives at a shabby apartment called Grotesque Mansion in search of ideas. The middle-aged caretaker with an expressionless facial expression unravels a bundle of strange events that happened in the apartment, and rooms 504, 708… The more Ji-woo hears the story, the more he becomes obsessed with the Grotesque Mansion.
I went into this movie thinking it would be a cohesive story, but it’s actually an anthology film that features five stories set in a haunted and seemingly desolate apartment building. Each story amps up the scares, but overall I wouldn’t say this film is too scary. I felt like this movie is a stereotypical horror with spooky children and ghosts, but I think the visual scares (special effects and makeup) were the most effective in this anthology. Some of the stories were truly creepy and creative! It would be cool to see a continuation of these stories in the same setting.
The Curse of Bridge Hollow
A man and his daughter must team up to save their town after an ancient and mischievous spirit causes Halloween decorations to come to life and wreak havoc.
More in the campy, not-so-scary of Halloween films this movie was full of pure spooky chaos. It was nice to see one of the Wayans brothers at the head of this film because I haven’t seen them in a film for a while now. It’s light-hearted and fun as the family in the movie has to fight off Halloween decorations that try to take over the town. It’s a very festive Halloween movie that is formulaic but kept me laughing the entire time. I loved the attention to detail for the Halloween animatronics and the setting itself.
Mr. Harrigan’s Phone
A boy and an aging billionaire bond over books — and their first iPhones. But when the older man passes, their mysterious connection refuses to die.
I’ve never read the Stephen King short story this film was based upon, but I did enjoy this film thoroughly. It’s got a “be careful what you wish for” vibe to it as the boy mourns Mr.Harrigans’s death and grieves by calling his cell phone. But when his wishes start to come true he wonders if it’s a hoax or truly something unnatural. This film is long and slow-moving for the first part but kept me engaged throughout the entire film. The film also acts as a coming-of-age film about growing up, grief, and overcoming obstacles.
The Thing
In remote Antarctica, a group of American research scientists are disturbed at their base camp by a helicopter shooting at a sled dog. When they take in the dog, it brutally attacks both human beings and canines in the camp and they discover that the beast can assume the shape of its victims. A resourceful helicopter pilot and the camp doctor lead the camp crew in a desperate, gory battle against the vicious creature before it picks them all off, one by one.
I always have a list of classics for any film genre that I want to watch and John Carpenter’s The Thing is one of those films. I went into this film blind and not knowing much about it, but I’m glad I did so. It only enhanced my viewing experience and made it that much more suspenseful. Though the film is full of jump scares and some terrific special effects the true horror aspects are the quieter moments of the film. The characters become paranoid as the creature can take human form leading to great suspicion in the camp (which also seeps into the audience too). This movie had me on the edge of my seat!
YouTube
The Lost Goosebumps Books
As a long-time Goosebumps fan, I was excited to find this video that takes a deep dive into the ’90s horror series. This is video discusses Goosebumps books that had concept art or a plot but ultimately were lost media and/or never published.
Music
Zombie by Purple Kiss
Halloween season means spooky good tunes and one song I constantly had on repeat was Zombie. It has a fun and playful vibe from the cinematography down to the choreography that mimics creatures of the undead. It’s got a funky groove to its melody that instantly makes you get up and dance.
What are some of your favorite things from October? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
