10 Of My Must Watch Spooky Season Movies

 

It's spooky season! Besides the decorations, carved pumpkins, and lot's and lot's of candy. Spooky season always brings us to catching up on horror favorites or checking out a new horror movie. For this blog I decided to share my ten Halloween movies I must find the time to watch, every year.

10. Vampire In Brooklyn

I love a good vampire movie, and despite what critics and haters may say Vampire In Brooklyn is a very good vampire movie. Argue with your mother if you feel otherwise, but it serves it's purpose. It may not be Eddie Murphy's best work, but it was a perfect blend of comedy and horror. The make up for Eddie's character Max was top notch, and the story touched upon and left a goldmine of an idea on the table. Black Caribbean Vampires and Max trying to preserve his race, perfect fodder for a legacy sequel. 

9. Beetlejuice

Not sure if it's Michael Keaton's performance, or the rendition of Harry Belafonte's Jump In The Line, Shake Senora that make the movie infectious. Either way it just is, it has comedy, world building with how the undead operate and is surprisingly timeless. The film has spawned a cartoon, broadway musical, and just released last month a sequel. Which highlights the movie is a classic and must be watched every year.

8. Monster House

I was twenty years old when Monster House released, I enjoyed it then and I enjoy it now. I really think if I was a kid when it released, you couldn't tell me it's not the greatest movie ever. It has the tropes of the old creepy neighbor, neighborhood rumors, and that house. Oh man something is up with that house, and the legends behind it are believable. It's a great movie for kid's with just enough scares but nothing gruesome, and adult's will enjoy it too. Hench why I watch it every year.

7. Zombieland

I'll admit I've never gotten into zombies, even when The Walking Dead was probably the most popular show on earth I didn't watch it. Zombieland however is one good funny ass movie, starring Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin. The movie is part road trip, part survival movie as the quartet hit the road in hopes of reaching a city free of zombies. It's hilarious and the few action scenes don't disappoint. When it's on, I take a break from whatever I'm doing and watch it.

6. Final Destination

The original Final Destination released in 2000 was legitimately the last movie, for a good 10 plus years that had me on the edge of my seat and scared (The Conjuring released in 2013 took that spot).  The story and as a result the murders in the movie were very unique and a bit believable. The sequels are hit or miss in my opinion, but 20 plus years later I watch this every year like it's my first time seeing it.

5. Fright Night

1985's Fright Night is an unapologetic 80's movie, a true product of it's time. It's campy as well, and has some undertones that leave you not sure if the filmmakers intended to have it that way or not. Outside of that it's a damn good vampire movie, about a horror film obsessed young man who suspects things are not quite right with his new neighbor.

4. People Under The Stairs

Wes Craven's 1991 film The People Under The Stairs is his best work outside of the original Nightmare on Elm Street and hell that is debatable in my opinion. The film stars Brandon Adams as a young boy through some mishaps, finds himself trapped inside the house of some psychotic occupants. He set's out to escape and save those trapped in the house done wrong. I didn't realize until I got older the movie has a strong socio-political message about racism, the effects of certain economic policies on lower-income citizens, and gentrification among others. It's really a dope movie with a dope message. 

3. Killer Klowns From Outer Space 

Sure it's campy, the plot quite absurd and the production low budget, but damnit the film works. Alien clowns come to earth and wreck havoc on a small town. What could embrace the spooky and wildness of spooky season than that? The movie actually has some very creative death scenes due to the nature of the  villains. It's campy, it's B-movie grade, and it works. 

2. Ghostbusters I and II

This maybe considered cheating, cause it's two films but oh well. The original Ghostbusters film and it's sequel I can watch year round all the time. However during spooky season both are getting multiple views from me like I've never seen them before. Besides the films themselves, you can't miss the theme song during this time of year. It has a stranglehold on pop culture 40 years later for a reason.

1. The Lost Boys 

Let's be honest some vampire movies may have better plots or special effects, or gore. It's just one problem, none of those films are The Lost Boys. To me  The Lost Boys is the epitome of  a cool ass film, let alone a Vampire film. Keifer Sutherland as head vampire David oozes a charming but vicious demeanor. The rock and rap medley of the late 80's is in force here, and the beach front town provides a different aesthetic from other vampire movies of the time. I can quote the film like it's second nature, and the third act at the house is still one of the better horror film third acts.

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We Deserve Vampire In Brooklyn 2

 

Today marks 25 years since Vampire In Brooklyn was released in theaters, the film stars Eddie Murphy and Angela Bassett and was directed by Horror Icon Wes Craven. During the time of it's release Eddie was just waddling along having fallen from the height of his career in the 80's and not yet experiencing the resurgence of his career that he would just a year later. If you've been reading my blogs lately you can tell that I am a huge Vampire movie fan, and this film is another one I must watch during spooky season.

The movie is a horror/comedy and at the time of it's release reception was mixed and it only grossed $19 million at the box office. As the years have passed, the film has come to be beloved and while watching it recently I wondered...where the hell is our sequel?

One of my favorite parts about the film (besides the hilarious John Witherspoon) was the idea of Black Vampires and their backstory. Eddie Murphys character Maximillian was a smooth ass dude from an unknown Carribean island where it's suggested they existed in abundance at one time and were very wealthy. Max's mission was to get Angela Bassetts character Rita a Dhampir to fall in love with him to sustain their race with time ticking.

Maxmillian displayed traditional vampire powers such as enhanced strength, flying capability, beast like ferocity, and  abundance of thirst while never growing old. He also had additional powers such as metamorphsis and telepathic powers, leading me to wonder does one have to be a vampire for a certain amount of time to gain those additional powers? He also had a ghoul named Julius by his side, who was slowly deteriorating. What was the end game with the ghoul?

At the end of the film the door was left open for a sequel, when Julius becomes a vampire after putting on Max's ring. Which begs the question does one become a vampire in the traditional sense or is a piece of vampire created jewerly all thats needed to become a vampire and have the powers of a vampire? 

    

A sequel could have answered all these burning questions that I have. It could go one of two ways following the ring and a new unsuspecting victim putting it on, learning the ways of being a vampire in modern day Brooklyn. Or following a new vampire going to the Carribean island and learning about their culture. Touch on where Rita and Justice have been all these years later. Is Julius still a vampire or has he been staked for being a damn fool? How does voodoo play a role in defeating these vampires? Why do these batch of vampires dress so immaculate? 

Throw in some comedy, gore and possibly a love story and it would be another B-movie horror classic. We also need more Black horror vampires and vampire hunters.  As the streaming wars grow, these studios have to dig in the vaults to revisit old tales. Besides all that Damnit we deserve A Vampire In Brooklyn 2!

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B's Remake Series-Blacula

What does Grace Jones, Aaliyah, Thandie Newton, Michad Brooks, Adina Porter, Rutina Wesley. Kat Graham, Edi Gathegi, Wesley Snipes, and Eddie Murphy all have in common? They've all played vampires on the big and small screen. The film they have to thank for making that possible is 1972's Blacula.

Starring William Marshall as the smooth laid-back title character. Blacula sparked an series of horror films within the blaxplotation genre during the '70's. The gist of the story is African Prince Maulade is working to free his people from slavery in 1780, but get's transformed into a vampire by Dracula and imprionsed in a crypt. Fast forward to 1972 and he's inadvertently released and comes across a woman named Tina played by Vonetta Mcgee, he believes to be the reincarnation of the wife he left behind.

Making his way around town with the fashion statement of his cape strapped to his back. He makes attempts to woo Tina while wrecking havoc on the town to survive, and keep who he really is a secret. This movie is prime for a reboot.

With the increased focus and embracing of Black culture, and the horror genre overdue for a new Black vampire. Blacula could be the horror film we didn't know we need. 

Maintain the African Prince character and make his personality that of a smooth lothario. Have him awaken in the 2020's unsure of where the hell he is, which has a clear Rip Van Winkle influence and could be used for some comedic effect. One thing the original film didn't address was how awakening centuries later affected Blacula as a person. He just went with the flow and instantly knew how use his new powers as a vampire.

A reboot should focus on the mental psyche of a vampire awakeing alone to a unfamiliar world, a vampire who was of royalty as a man, and show the growing pains of his new life. Keep the love story component of him just wanting to reunite with his true love, because people love a good love story. Throw in some gory bad ass vampire scenes and special effects of how they move, add in classic vampire lore and we have a new Blacula that a new generation can love.

Casting the role, as I mentioned earlier in the blog Blacula is one smooth guy, should a reboot ever occur a smooth fella like Idris Elba would have to play the part. There is an abundance of talented female actresses who could play his love interest so a reboot couldn't go wrong there.

Watching this film it was clear to me Eddie Murphy used it as inspiration when he crafted Vampire In Brooklyn. Maxmillian is the pinnacle of Black vampires for my generation, just as Blacula was for Eddie's generation. The film is by no means perfect but it sparked a sequel Scream Blacula Scream, so it certainly has a legacy. The DNA is there for a rebooted Blacula to be a success, let's hope someone realizes it and inspires a new generation of Black vampires and Black vampire fans.

 

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