Favorite Scene Friday! Ghostbusters 2: The Ghost Train

Ghostbusters is getting a lot of love lately, what with its 30th anniversary celebration, those Krispy Kreme donuts, and talk of the fabled third movie. You know what's not getting a lot of love? Ghostbusters 2.

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Ask me about Ghostbusters 2 and I'll tell ya what I think. Go ahead...ask. G'head.

Well I'll tell ya, internet. It's actually really scary compared to the first one, which was pretty much just a comedy (one of the greatest comedies of all time, sure) with ghosts, save for a scene or two. It's really not uncommon for a sequel to go darker. Think Temple of Doom or The Empire Strikes Back. It was just kinda the thing to do in the '80s and Ghostbusters 2 was no exception. Think about it. Vigo the Carpathian's scary-ass self. The subterranean river of evil, pink slime. That bathtub nose monster. The scene where the guys almost get murdered with fire in their darkroom whilst developing scary Polaroids. I could go on and on. Oh wait, I have to go on!

Yes, our scene is the creepy (but still very funny) ghost train sequence. Picture it. You're down under the streets of New York. Like, under the subway deep. You're in the dark. You're searching for the source of crazy levels of paranormal activity. Then this happens.



Poor Winston! He just wanted to hear his echo like the other guys, but he never gets to have any fun. Instead he gets run over by a ghost train. Aside from being a funny concept, there is something genuinely terrifying about hearing your own echo replaced by a deep, booming, soul-piercing voice bellowing your name. And aren't those disembodied heads frickin' gruesome (why the hell did the guys not bring their proton packs with them to begin with???)? Compare that shit to the first film, where we don't get anything nearly as terrifying. Hell, the Ghost Librarian was originally scarier but they replaced the effect with something a little less terrifying.

Some of the comedy's a little broad in this scene (the guys tip-toe around like they're in a Scooby Doo episode or something and Egon's question about the number on the locomotive, while funny, is a little cliche) but Ernie Hudson's performance as Winston (the way his scream dies out is hilarious) and the horror more than makes up for it. So if you need a great horror comedy that doesn't skimp on the horror this Halloween season, think of Ghostbusters 2.

What's your favorite scene from Ghostbusters 2?

Batch o’ Hatch: The Walking Dead at Sun-Ray Cinema, The Florida Film Festival, and The Warren Files

The Walking Dead at Sun-Ray Cinema

We’ve written about Sun-Ray Cinema before and we’ve written about The Walking Dead before, but now we’re writing about both at the same time? Man, what next? That’s right, on Sunday, February 12^th at 9:00 p.m., Jacksonville’s Sun-Ray Cinema is screening The Walking Dead season 2.5 premiere, and they’re screening it for free. I’m there. 

TWD has had a weird run so far. The first season was incredibly hyped and then – for me anyway – failed to deliver. Then the writing staff was fired and Frank Darabont left the scene, only for the second season – again, in my humble opinion – to actually turn out pretty good so far. I’m excited to check out Rick, Daryl, and the rest of the gang split some zombie skulls on a big screen.

The Florida Film Festival

In other news, the Florida Film Festival is creeping back up. I went last year – this was before The Hatch opened, mind you – and caught Troll Hunter, Hesher, and Super. I ended up reviewing all three of those and they were some of the first reviews I ever posted on the blog.

Films for the fest – which is April 13^th-22^nd in Orlando – will be announced on March 21^st and I’m hoping for some gems. I had a good time last year, and I’m really hoping the rest of the EH Team can join me for a little family vacation.  

The Warren Files

So last week I read on JoBlo that Insidious 2 is indeed happening. Writer Leigh Whannell is returning but director James Wan isn’t locked in yet. This could be because he’s set to direct a flick called The Warren Files, formerly The Conjuring. According to various articles from JoBlo and Arrow in the Head (hey, here’s one now), the film will revolve around real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren and their investigation into supernatural happenings at the Perron family home in Rhode Island in the 1970s.

So I did a little research of my own. What I found very interesting – and what isn't mentioned in the JoBlo and Arrow in the Head articles – is that Ed and Lorraine Warren are the very same duo that investigated the real-life Amityville Horror case. 

Wikipedia

Holy shit. For a while there I thought that maybe The Warren Files was going to be some quasi reboot (again) of The Amityville Horror, but the family at the center of the AH case was the Lutz, not the Perrons, and the Amityville house was in New York, not Rhode Island. I searched for the Perron family to try and get some more information and what I found was quite the creepy tale. From the Burrillville, Rhode Island Wikipedia page:

“From the Throat of the World Mountain area of Burrillville comes a very well known New England legend of a witch named Bethesda Sherman who, according to the legend, sacrificed her infant child as an offering to Dovahkiin (???), then hung herself in her barn. The story says that prior to her hanging Bethesda, a known practicing witch, placed a curse on anyone that would take her land/farm. More than two dozen mysterious deaths took place on the lands since the purported curse was made. In the 1970's a family named Perron moved into the Sherman farmhouse. There are numerous reports and eyewitness accounts of supernatural phenomenon that took place while the Perron's lived in the home, physical attacks by the spirit of the witch on the Perron family and an attempted demonic possession of the mother, Carolyn Perron, by the spirit of the witch. Famed paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren investigated the case and aided the Perron family in their fight against this demonic entity.”

Spooky, no? And this story isn’t even listed on the Warren’s Wikipedia page. A few others are, however, and I’m wondering if Wan – who’s clearly a fan of sequels – has half a mind to make a franchise out of the Warren’s adventures. Hopefully we at least get the story about the werewolf demon…

Batch o’ Hatch: Wisdom Teeth Removal Isn’t Very Smart, Plus Three Mini Reviews

Wisdom Teeth!

I recently had five teeth removed – four wisdom teeth and a bum molar (this would explain why you’ve been missing my insightful, entertaining posts – or not). The first few days were a blur, but shortly after that I was in some of the worst pain of my life. Here’s a list of films that I watched that helped me through:

1. Dracula 2000 - Barely remember this one, thanks to the meds. Not worth it.
2. Blade Runner – Still an awesome classic. Very interested in Ridley Scott’s sequel/reboot. 
3. Aliens – I wonder how Prometheus is going to do…
4. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 – Inferior sequel but still pretty good. The underlying “gay” themes are …interesting.
5. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 – The best Nightmare sequel. And the only one with nudity?
6. The Mummy – One of my favorite horror films and one of the few films I could probably watch every single day. What a horrible set of sequels, though.
7. Evil Dead II – What a gem. Of course there’s a reboot coming.
8. Leprechaun - Slept through most of this – but wow what a cheesy flick.
9. The Monster Squad – I never saw this as a kid and in fact only first saw it a few years ago. It’s growing on me.
10. The Thing – In my top five in terms of horror. Word is the prequel just won’t have the same magic.
11. The Fog – Underrated horror flick! Carpenter is a horror god.
12. Poltergeist – The only true family/horror genre mashup?
13. Minority Report – Probably the best futuristic film ever made. Spielberg put together a team that worked out how every aspect of our lives will change in the future. Or close to it.
14. Ghostbusters 2 – Just not the same as the original. Would have watched that but I want to save it for October.
15.  The Reef – An intense shark attack film. Thanks to Nick for the suggestion.
16. The Beach – I slept through this for the most part – I would wake up during the strangest scenes.
17. The Hunt for Red October – Fell asleep. Still haven’t really seen this.
18. Phantoms – This one scared me when I was a kid. Liev Schreiber is a creep.
19. Mimic – This really isn’t as good as I want it to be. Del Toro is still an awesome director. Hurry up with At The Mountains of Madness!
20. Tangled – What? I grew up with Disney films. I’m a sucker for a good rousing cartoon.

So anyway, if you’re thinking of getting your wisdom teeth out but they’re not bothering you – leave ‘em in! Unless you want to watch a ton of movies and eat mounds of applesauce and cottage cheese.

On to the mini reviews! They’re all of found footage films.

Mini Review #1: Grave Encounters

We’ve talked about Grave Encounters before – it’s a found footage horror film about a Ghost Hunters–esque team of TV paranormal investigators that travel to an abandoned psychiatric hospital. Once they’re locked in, real ghosts come out to play.

Grave Encounters didn’t raise the bar for horror or found footage, but I think for me it takes its place next to The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity in the hall of great FF films. It was done competently and there are plenty of scares. The horror builds and builds until it’s relentless. The ending seemed a bit unnecessary. Directed by…The Vicious Brothers. Interesting name.

Mini Review #2: Apollo 18

A big question popped into my head shortly into this film – what are we as an audience willing to put up with in terms of quality in a found footage film? The video from Apollo 18 - a film about three astronauts on a secret mission to the moon that run into trouble – is so grainy and blurry at times that it was a pain to watch. The footage is supposed to be from the ‘70s, so there’s a reason for it, but I couldn’t help but be annoyed.

The film was generally a let down. I favor a film where the scares are built up to, where the filmmakers invest in scaring you and there’s a general sense of creepiness. 18 definitely had a creepy factor, but most of the scares were “gotcha” scares. There’s a subplot in the film that I wish had been the film’s main plot. The whole movie was a bit of a missed opportunity.

Mini Review #3: REC 2

If you liked the original REC, a film set in Spain about a news crew and some firefighters that get stuck in an apartment while an infection breaks out around them, you might not like the sequel. It’s sort of the Alien/Aliens rule here – the original film follows a generally regular group of people fighting some sort of danger, while the sequel features a law enforcement/military group fighting that same danger.

 A swat team goes into the same infected building after the events of the first film and discover that – SPOILER – the “infection” in the original has turned out to be demonic possession. This revelation didn’t really bother me, however, the fact that this sequel sort of re-explained events that happened in the original to fit the new plot did. What’s obvious is that the “infected” folks in the apartment are actually possessed, but another detail is that the night vision that was used in the first film actually reveals the supernatural that you can’t see with the naked eye. This is all a stretch from the first film obviously, but despite that and slightly odd pacing/storytelling I enjoyed the film. It had some great scares. If you’ve seen the ending of the original you’ll know what I mean. There are two sequels coming, so get to watching this film and it’s prequel.

A Peek Through the Hatch: Grave Encounters and Ghost Hunters

Grave Encounters, a found footage horror film about a crew of TV paranormal investigators who get trapped in a genuinely haunted psychiatric hospital, spooks its way onto VOD, iTunes and Amazon this Thursday, August 25^th. Check out the film's website right here.

The trailer below looks sufficiently creepy. Hopefully this flick can balance its story with its scares, unlike another recent found footage horror I could mention (okay, it’s Atrocious).

 

And if Grave Encounters alone can’t satisfy your ghost jones this week, it turns out that the new season of SyFy’s Ghost Hunters - which is essentially a real-life version of Grave Encounters - will go bump in the night on Wednesday at 9:00 EST. Coincidence? Or is Grave Encounters trying to ride the Ghost Hunters wave? Read up on the show at its website right he - what’s this? An official Ghost Hunters Haunted House Finder app??? You know I’m gonna download that.

 So break out your EMF meter this week and give Ghost Hunters and Grave Encounters a chance. And then use your Ghost Hunters app and meet me at that haunted bar down the street.