Halloween Favorites

Horror scholar David J. Skal has a new book coming out this fall, just in time for Halloween, entitled Fright Favorites: 31 Movies to Haunt Your Halloween and Beyond. Presented by Turner Classic Movies, Skal takes on 31 films ranging from the silent era, hitting a few titles from each decade through the ’80s, and a few beyond that. Most of these everyone will agree are classics, with a few comedies listed in the later day titles. The description in Amazon says they are “family-friendly” but not sure The Exorcist (1973) and The Thing (1982) are ones I would be screening for 8-year old Timmy!

The Shape of Oscar

So…I’m sure we’ve all heard the Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water got 13 Oscar nominations, in just about every category, except for a couple. But we’ll get to that in a minute.

First of all, I’m thrilled and so happy for del Toro and the rest of the creators of this film to see them get the recognition they so richly deserve. I mean, to have this film beat out Universal’s The Mummy in nominations is just incredible! Oh wait…I don’t remember seeing that title anywhere. Maybe I’m thinking the Razzies. I wonder if the heads of Universal are re-thinking their decisions. Maybe they’ll realize that they need to let creative filmmakers do what they do best and leave them alone to do it!

Soundtrack Review: Get Out

Get Out
Released by Back Lot Music, 2017
43 Tracks, with a Total Running Time of 60 min.
Music By Michael Abels

This is a very different type of score than what we’re used to listening to. Right from the second track, Sikiliza Kwa Wahenga (Main Title), we hear some vocals that start to create a creepy feeling. But even though Abels stated that he asked by the director to incorporate “distinctly African-American elements without relying on stereotypes”, there are other pieces of music that just are beautiful, no matter what the influences, such as in track 3, Chris & Rose (Love Theme), with a quiet and soothing sounds of (I think) a cello, with some notes and sounds  coming through in the background. Same goes for track 27, Educational Video, which is another quiet and peaceful piece of music.