TOP 10: HALLOWEEN EDITION

Well, Dear Readers, I’m suffering from the best problem a COMIC BOOK MOVIE blogger could have: I have way too much news and no time to blog about it.

Chances are you already heard about the big Phase 3 announcements from Marvel this Tuesday, but if you haven’t, click on wired.com to get a good overview of the announcements. I’ll try my best to do a blog post about the Phase 3 movies – at least the ones that look the most interesting.

But this one is all about Halloween, boys and girls. So sit back and check out my list of the best COMIC BOOK MOVIES to watch this Halloween!

10. SPAWN (1997)

Hey, I didn’t say these were the BEST movies to watch on Halloween, just the best COMIC BOOK MOVIES. If you’ve seen SPAWN, then you already know that it’s a pretty bad movie over all. But it is pretty damn Halloweeny!

Michael Jai White plays Al Simmons, a mercenary who gets double-crossed and killed by Martin Sheen (Yes, that Martin Sheen) Simmons goes to hell and comes back as a soldier of the devil. The makeup in SPAWN is really good – John Leguizamo is especially impressive as Clown, one of the devil’s helpers – but the computer generated effects look like they came out of a video game – a really bad one.

SPAWN doesn’t come close to living up to the comic book by Todd McFarlane but it’s fun to watch, and fun to make fun of.

9. BLADE (1998)

Wesley Snipes plays Blade, a half-man half-vampire whose mission in life is to slay vampires.  Stephen Dorf plays a powerful young vampire and… well, you can guess the rest.

This one surprised me. I thought BLADE was going to be one long cheesy action sequence, but it’s actually very stylish, fast-paced and it left me wanting more. BLADE was Marvel’s first successful film, but definitely not its last. I recommend this one to any Marvel fan or fans of good vampire movies.

8. BATMAN RETURNS (1992)

This one is a bit of an odd choice since it takes place during Christmas, but Catwoman, the Penguin, and Tim Burton are all just so damn Halloween, how could I not include it on this list?

Granted, BATMAN RETURNS is not as strong in the story department as its predecessor, but it does have an incredible look to it, and Danny Devito is so memorable as the top hatted mutant whose parents abandoned him as a child. Not to mention Michelle Pfieffer as Catwoman. Several characters have taken on the role of Catwoman over the decades – most recently, Anne Hathaway/ most terribly, Halle Berry – but Pfieffer’s version is my favorite by far. Oh yeah, and Michael Keaton is pretty damn good, too!

 

7. THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)

What can I say about this movie that hasn’t already been said? I know you’ve seen it already so just watch it again. You already have? Good. 

6. HELLBOY 2: THE GOLDEN ARMY (2008)

Guillermo Del Toro is a master of the horror genre. Scratch that, he’s just a master. What fanboy didn’t love PACIFIC RIM? Who wasn’t moved by PAN’S LABYRINTH? And THE STRAIN!? In other words, the guy is awesome.

THE DARK KNIGHT crushed this movie at the box office, but HELLBOY 2 felt like a big improvement over the first one. The story is more interesting, the characters are cooler, there’s more special effects (the good kind), and more Ron Perlman as Hellboy. This movie sees Hellboy take on an Elf Prince as he plots to start a war between the mystical world and our world. I swear it’s much cooler than that sounds.

5. THE ADDAMS FAMILY (1991)

Before this was a movie, it was a TV show, and before that it was a cartoon published in newspapers like The New Yorker starting in the late 40s. THE ADDAMS FAMILY is a group of wealthy oddballs who share a strange obsession with all things macabre, occult, and horror, but they have no idea that they’re not normal – perfect light fare for Halloween. 

4. FROM HELL

This one is definitely not light fare. Loosely based on the graphic novel From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, this movie explores a conspiracy behind the Jack the Ripper murders. Johnny Depp plays a Whitechapel Police Inspector and Heather Graham plays a local prostitute who aids in his investigation.

3. Alien Vs. Predator

This franchise crossover sees two vicious alien species going head to head to see who can sell more movie tickets. Dark Horse published AVP as a comic just before PREDATOR 2 came out in 1990. At the end of that film, an Alien skull on one of the Predator’s trophy wall hinted at a movie crossover but it would take some time. In 1993, Alien Vs. Predator came out for SNES but it would take another 11 years before fans would see the two evil aliens duke it out on screen.  

Both PREDATOR and ALIEN were great movies – especially the latter. AVP… no so much. But it is a lot of fun.

2. 30 DAYS OF NIGHT (2007)

This is one of my favorite vampire movies. 30 DAYS OF NIGHT is directed by David Slade and is based on a 3-issue comic book miniseries written by Steve Niles.

The story takes place in Barrow, Alaska, a small town so far north that the sun goes down for an entire month once a year. There’s no sunlight. There’s no way in or out. Josh Hartnett plays the local sheriff who finds out too late that a group of vampires are planning to invade the town and take advantage of the darkness.

30 DAYS stands out amongst the mediocre vampire movies of late. I love the icy, isolated setting and the vampires have a very creepy stylized look. Slade strikes a good balance between action, horror, and thriller. And Hartnett, Ben Foster, and Danny Huston give great performances. Definitely one worth seeing.

1. CREEPSHOW (1982)

This one is a cheat. CREEPSHOW is not based on a comic book but it is heavily influenced by old pulpy horror comics that string many different stories together. It’s directed by George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead) and written by Stephen King. Those two names are enough for any horror fan to run out and see this movie.

CREEPSHOW is actually 5 short stories in one. An opening sequence shows a young boy's cruel father throw the boy's comic book in the trash.  The rest of the movie dives into the comic, appropriately titled Creepshow, and presents live-action macabre stories with short animated segues between stories, turning scenes from the movie into comic art. 

“Something to Tide You Over” involves a jilted husband with an elaborate plan to get revenge on his wife and her lover. “The Crate” has a university professor – with a nightmare of a wife – discover a long lost find from Antarctica under a stairwell.  And “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill” stars Stephen King himself as a dimwitted hick who finds a meteor in his backyard. CREEPSHOW is half horror, half comedy, and so much fun to watch – especially on Halloween night. 

    

What are your favourite movies to watch on Halloween? Comment!