Halloween Entertainment Picks pt. 3

Okay, seven years since the last time I did this. I originally wanted to do this every year when I first did it... like... I don't even remember; the first picks weren't dated. The reason I don't do it every year though is because I don't watch a lot of scary, halloweeny stuff. Just enough to keep me well rounded, I guess. Lol. There's no theme this year or rhyme or reason to my picks. Just good scary and creepy stuff that will make Halloween a little more fun.

Books. Beginning with printed picks as always. I try to keep it to short stories , but a novel usually works its way in.

You Know They've Got A Hell Of A Band, Stephen King
This is a short story by King that I originally saw in his Nightmares And Dreamscapes compilation of shorts. I'd classify it as dark humor. It's taking the Righteous Brother's song about having a hell of a band in rock'n'roll heaven to a twisted level. A couple actually finds Rock'n'Roll Heaven on a road trip. Results are... not what they expected. It's good, creepy, twisted fun.

Never Bet The Devil Your Head, Edgar Allan Poe
Classic Poe. I have to pick a Poe story every time I do this. I would call this dark humor as well, depending on your sense of humor. I found it kind of funny, personally. A boy learns never to bet the Devil his head because apparently the Devil will take this matter quite literally. Always grotesque and disturbing, Poe stories were made for Halloween.

Miss Peregrin's Home For Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs
This past year I read a modern book that is good for Halloween. I didn't find it scary at all; books of the supernatural/horror/thriller genre play to fears I don't have any more as a Christian, but I think some may find it creepy. The vintage photographs inserted throughout add a nice touch of what I think is supposed to be creepy, and there's a nice interview with the author at the end of the book regarding the old photos.
It's a hidden-world story with an X-Men feel only they're not superheros out to save the world... just freaks at war with other freaks with normal people being in danger of becoming collateral damage, but not with an intentional plan as laid out in other hidden-world tales like X-Men or Harry Potter. The author also applies a unique use of time travel so that this story takes place in the modern day and also in war torn Europe of 1940 and future stories can take place in other historical venues, which will add a changing variety to the surroundings.
On the whole it's relatively fast paced... a little lag in the middle and somewhat predictable. Using crass language in descriptive narratives as opposed to dialogue only always gets on my nerves, but it was an enjoyable book and I really liked it which made it easy to overlook the flaws. I'll definitely be looking into the sequels.

Movies. Three classic movies and a bonus, as always. Looks like the three movies do have a theme... they're all from the same year!

Twilight Zone, The Movie (fantasy/horror, 1983)
I don't know why I didn't think of this one years ago. It's always been one of my favorites. Mainly because it keeps horror in the "short story" format which is still the best way to do it in my opinion. The movie takes on four different spooky tales in the spirit of the original series. A couple even have happy endings. My favorite vignette is the one with the old people's home, which shows what a dork I am. But it's great fodder for Halloween night and not overboard with the scary, horror stuff.

The Dead Zone (horror/sci-fi/thriller, 1983)
 Stephen King again in film form. I've outgrown a lot of Stephen King's works because they all seem the same to me anymore, but this movie has always been good. It's a little different than most of his stories. Still scary, still thrilling, but more on a psychological level and not as much in a violent way. A man has an accident and recovers from a long coma with the ability to see the futures of people he touches and he ends up crossing with a corrupt politician that will bring about a devastating nuclear war if he's elected president. I love Christopher Walken. This is one of his best movies that he made before he made the switch to comedies.

Something Wicked This Way Comes. (fantasy/mystery/thriller, 1983)
I'm recommending the movie and not the book? What? In this case yes. The book was impressive, no doubt. But it was also an exercise in English lit, and I think you'd not only have to enjoy the story but enjoy reading in general so as not to get frustrated with the heavy use of metaphor and hyperbole . The movie is fairly true to the book though and it's exciting and fun. Once again, probably scary for younger kids, but not overly graphic either. I always loved it as a kid because the main characters were kids that get into trouble with the haunted carnival that comes to town. And it's set back in olden days, but it's not very clear as to what year... just enough to set the mood. This is a good Halloween movie for sure.

But you still want something a little different? Okay

High Plains Drifter (mystery/western 1973)
This is the most Halloweeny western you'll ever find, I believe. The genius of this movie isn't only in what is shown and said, it's what is left unsaid and unexplained to the audience. Clint Eastwood with a supernatural influence comes to town to take revenge for the death of Marshal Duncan and disappears as mysteriously as he arrived. He's a ghost. Or is he? Very creepy and very intense with outstanding performances by the usual gang of friends (and highly underrated actors, in my opinion) that Eastwood made movies with in his prime. Try it, you'll like it.

Star Trek TNG Conspiracy

This episode was weird and didn't fit in with the Star Trek franchise very well at all.  Not surprisingly it was pushed forward by Roddenberry in spite of protests from the producers and notes from the head office.  They complained it was too dark, and I'm actually in agreement with them on this one, even though darker subject matter would be covered later on.  I find I don't have much to say about this episode.  It was poorly done and definitely not a good representation of the series.  I was just thankful when it was over.  There's actually a lot to be thankful for in this episode.

This episode finishes up the thread started in "Coming of Age."  Like I said, I'm proud that the writers began thinking ahead in this fashion, but the results this time were terrible. Prompted by the mysterious deaths of a captain who was trying to warn Picard of a conspiracy to replace the upper echelon of the Federation with spies, the Enterprise goes to Federation headquarters on Earth to check it out.  Admiral Aaron is back as well as Remmick. 

  

During the episode they try numerous times to get Picard to join their new world order.  Meanwhile Aaron is on board and when Riker discovers something is amiss, he turns violent.  It was an interesting scene, and one of the few that I liked, that demonstrated that the people in on this conspiracy were being controlled by alien influences.  This was supposed to be the introduction of the Borg as a parasitical species that would take control of the Federation.  Thank God for the writer's strike and low budget issues.  This was going to lead up through the next episode and the opening of the second season as an arc.  I think we can all be thankful that it didn't happen that way.  It makes this issue stand awkwardly alone in the history of Star Trek, but it was better left as it was with another oversimplified solution and quietly swept under the rug.

I mean, "yay!" for the influence of Star Trek II again, but also this is an example of them not being able to come up with an original idea.  The Ceti Alpha 5 eels looked better too.  

Unfortunately I can't find any pictures from the episode that show any kind of substance; only the action shots and "gross" stuff.  I guess it's only fitting since it didn't have more depth than that, but it is the first time we get to see Earth and the moon.  After that, there's not much to see.  Headquarters on the outside is dark and poorly designed like all of the other sets to date.

At any rate, they make a predictable fake out with Riker.   You think he's been taken over and is on their side, but he's only pretending in order to help Picard kill them all at the end.  They made it look like they were all eating grub worms in that scene. This whole episode was put on for shock value to try and gross people out.  I'm not the type that whines about violence or is grossed out by much, but I can recognize that this sort of thing is beneath Star Trek.  I'm thankful that they never took this route again when writing the shows.

I will say, however, that I was moved a little with the Remmick angle.  He was obviously in on it, but you didn't know he was leading it until the end and I felt sorry about it because of his attitude at the end of "Coming of Age."  You couldn't help but like and respect him in the last segment of that episode and I admit, I had briefly become attached enough to him to feel sad when he was turned into a monster and killed in this one.  Whatever else there was in these two episodes, that's a small piece of very skillful writing and very good acting on the part of Robert Schenkkan to produce that effect.  It still touches me.

But this is another episode that I wish I could just make go away.  I can only give it a two stars for the effort in writing episode arcs and a couple of interesting scenes.