Ghoulish Guilty Pleasures

Ignore the little shits posting fireworks through your letter box. Turn a blind eye to that woman’s arse hanging out of her “sexy” ladybird costume. Air the house out from your pumpkin carving stink. Turn on the telly, put your feet up and enjoy Film Fry Up’s top three guilty pleasure Halloween movies.

 Let’s face it, with the clocks going back and a new storm forecast every week, staying inside has never seemed like a better option. Finding the perfect popcorn movie can be a hard thing though. You don’t want to it melt your brain like Inception, you don’t want it to run too long like Django Unchained and you certainly don’t want to watch anything too graphic like The Last House on the Left.  So let Film Fry Up make the call. Seen as it’s the Halloween season, let’s keep in the spirit of all things ghastly, ghoulish and altogether guilty pleasure-y!

3: Idle Hands (1999)

Back when The Offspring were cool (well, if they ever got close to being cool) Devon Sawa and Jessica Alba starred in a film about a stoner whose hand gets possessed by the devil. Get it? Idle hands make the devils work and all that jazz. Its camp, gory and a little bit crap but can be genuinely funny in places and will make you wish for the times when MTV only played music videos.

2: Halloween: H2O (1998)

I said these were guilty pleasures, right? Because when it comes to bad, very bad (and when I mean bad, I mean in a good/bad way) teen slasher movies you really can’t beat Halloween H2O.Josh Hartnett with  dire hair cut, the slutty one from Dawson's Creek, The kid from Jumanji all grown up (Well a little grown up), LL Cool J. Never has a movie call sheet read like H2O's. This is genuinely where it’s going. And it’s an enjoyable ride all the way. Tacky, fun and bringing Jamie Lee Curtis back to proper scream queen status, wrapped up in 85 perfect minutes, there’s not much else you could really ask for from the Halloween franchise (it was the reigning champ in Halloween sequels, that was until Rob Zombie released his) Oh and did I mention Josh Hartnett is in it?!

1: Hocus Pocus (1993)

Film Fry up couldn’t really write a blog about Halloween Movies and NOT mention Hocus Pocus. Getting its annual dust down off the shelves of our D.V.D collection is the children’s movies starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and 90’s teen heartthrob (ahhhhhhh!!!) Omri Katz. It really has all the elements for the perfect Halloween movie. Made in 1993 it’s aged quite well and remains a firm favourite in Film Fry Up HQ. Touching, light-hearted and a little creepy in parts you can never go wrong with a little Hocus Pocus. 

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Relocation, relocation, relocation

Well it has been awhile, hasn’t it? Film Fry up has had a change of location, to an old renovated convent. And yes like all good horror films that’s normally the start of something bad. As long as our kitchen isn’t sitting atop an ancient Indian burial ground I think we might just be fine for the time being. But enough about all that Amityville Horror shtick, let’s get down to brass tacks and fill all you lovely readers (yes the two of you) in on what’s been occupying Film Fry-Ups brain cells and ocular  devices for our brief hiatus.

Starting things off is the Way Way Back (2013), a run of the mill coming of age story with all the charms and quirks that is normally involved in a Fox Searchlight picture. Steve Carrell and Sam Rockwell, a firm Film Fry Up favourite (try saying that five times fast), switch their usual typecasting roles of Mr Nice and Asshole and it works a treat. This film won’t change your life but it’s full of witty, heartfelt moments that help push it over the standard indie movie fare.

Probably the biggest shock over the past few months came from The Good Doctor (2011). No the film isn’t good but gawd Orlando Bloom is. Who knew? Almost always wooden, I’ve become used to seeing better acting performances from my cat, but he knocks it out of the park in The Good Doctor.  Telling the story of a doctor who makes malpractice an art form, the film never really escalates to where it should be heading but Bloom’s performance is enough to keep the viewer entertained for its trim 93 minutes running time.

Trim running time is something that Denis Villeneuve should have taken on board when editing Prisoners (2013). Every once in a while a movie like this hits the talky picture shows. The one that gets praise and amazing reviews and with a stellar cast including Jake Gyllenhaal and Paul Dano, Film Fry Up went into their screening with high hopes. Fast forward a very long, drawn out three hours and one numb backside and an empty pick a mix later, wondering what movie these other reviewers had been to see? Because it certainly wasn’t this bloated, unintelligent, uninspired, B-grade Criminal Minds, snooze fest, Film Fry Up went to see. Biggest disappointment in a while.

And rounding up this little catch up is a recommendation for all you docu buffs out there, if you haven’t seen it already that is. West of Memphis (2012) is probably the most complete and comprehensive documentary made on the West Memphis Three case to date. Shocking, uplifting, thought provoking and thoroughly entertaining, it’s a must whether you know everything or nothing about the lives of the WM3 men.

Well that’s about it my dear friend. Let’s not leave it this long in the future, eh? Don’t be a stranger.

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