31 Days of Halloween (2022)

[Sean Whitmore]

I always meant to do this before the crash, and...well, actually, as far as anyone knows, I did. There's no proof, we can be the writers of our own histories now.

A catch-all thread for people who like to think of Halloween as a month, not a day. To talk about horror movies (old favorites and ones you've just seen), TV specials, other horror-themed media, costumes, Spirit Halloween stores popping up around town like locusts, toys and decorations, parties (for those brave enough to still go outside), traditions, nostalgia, etc, etc.

To kick things off, a recent acquisition from NECA:

 

[Donocropolis]

I always meant to do this before the crash, and...well, actually, as far as anyone knows, I did. There's no proof, we can be the writers of our own histories now.

On the old boards, I was always witty and insightful. Also, rich and attractive. And I had a pony.

Love that Quint figure.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Still one of the best movies ever made. I never get tired of it.

 

[ChessPieceFace]

That's a fun cartoon Quint, but it bothers me a bit that his costume and accessories don't really match any particular scene. I know when he's chomped he's wearing a bandanna, gloves, and a jacket. Did he ever hold a harpoon (not the harpoon gun, or Hooper's injection pole)? Did he ever wear the shirt and hat without the jacket?

 

[CoffeeHorse]

He wears the shirt and hat without the jacket at night, briefly. His outfit changes a lot. On the final day the hat is gone and he has the bandana. At some point he loses the bandana. Then the jacket and bandana return.

 

[ChessPieceFace]

Ah, the USS Indianapolis scene starts with the hat and shirt... I can picture that now.

I've seen JAWS probably a couple dozen times myself, most recently last summer. It's a perfect movie.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

I have it but I still watch it every time it's on TV just in case any of the deleted scenes make a comeback.

I still dream that Universal will release a set with theatrical and extended cuts. Other companies do this. Why can't Universal?

 

[Paladin]

As of this year, "The Simpsons" has been running long enough to have a "Treehouse of Horror" for every day in October.

 

[Caldwin]

I've tried actually reading Dracula twice before but never got past the first chapter.

Third time trying here, but instead of trying to start again from the beginning, I'm picking up where my Kindle highlight says I left off.

It really picked up after that first chapter. I'm actually enjoying it.

 

[Sean Whitmore]

He wears the shirt and hat without the jacket at night, briefly. His outfit changes a lot. On the final day the hat is gone and he has the bandana. At some point he loses the bandana. Then the jacket and bandana return.

The best option for Quint is the 8" retro cloth toy. Removable clothes, swappable heads with bandana, and better accessories: beer cans.

 

[Sean Whitmore]

I've tried actually reading Dracula twice before but never got past the first chapter.

Third time trying here, but instead of trying to start again from the beginning, I'm picking up where my Kindle highlight says I left off.

It really picked up after that first chapter. I'm actually enjoying it.

Dracula put me off for years, but after I switched to audio books I got through the whole story, and I absolutely loved it. I've re-"read" it several times since then.

The whole beginning segment in Castle Dracula is my favorite, and I think it's a shame that it's full of great little moments that are the first to be excised in any adaptation. I especially love how Jonathan comes to realize he's a prisoner, and Dracula knows he knows, but neither of them ever come out and say it, and so their every interaction has this absurd veneer of politeness.

 

[Caldwin]

I've only just started chapter VIII (right after the part of the Demeter). What's struck me is just how incredibly long these chapters are. Every single chapter could probably be at least a half-hour episode in itself. Like, going by Kindle's reckoning, I'm on page 68 out of 281. Just what I've read so far is just so dense, if anyone really wanted to make a 100% faithful adaptation of this, they'd probably have to do it as one long mini-series instead of a movie. I'm so surprised by just how dense this is.

Also, yes, I absolutely love the beginning part between Jonathan and Dracula. I've watched Bram Stokers Dracula and Nosferatu. I also watched Bela Lugosi's Dracula once a long time ago (as in, barely remember much of it). But it was fun going through it and being like: that was in the movie, that wasn't, that was but it was different.

Now I'm disappointed that Bram Stokers Dracula had the part where Dracula gives his three wives that baby to eat, but left out the part where its mother comes by demanding to know what Dracula did with her baby. That feels like having one part of the novel added just for the sake of making the movie brutal, but then choosing to take out the pay-off.

I can also understand why most movies would minimize the part with the Demeter in order to get on with the "more important stuff." Even Bram Stokers Dracula cut that chapter waaaaaay down to barely a mention. So much happened with the Demeter.

All in all, I'm glad I'm finally reading this, but it's truly surprising just how much the movies tend to cut out.

 

[Sean Whitmore]

I love the Coppola movie, but it’s weird to talk about its merits as an adaptation. It somehow manages to be the most faithful while simultaneously being built around a story element that was completely original.

(Well, I say “original”, but what I should say is “taken from the Dan Curtis adaptation”)

 

[Caldwin]

Yeah, I know what you mean. I mean, I'm only so far as just past the Demeter, and I've only seen three movie versions (if you count Nosferatu).

But Coppola did seem to put more things from the book actually into the movie. Yet the love story between Dracula and Mina, Lucy being...flirty at best, promiscuous would not be a stretch. It just "wasn't what was in the book." It also felt very style over substance. But boy oh boy, you can't deny the style.

Lugosi was honestly better than I thought it would be. But it did deviate a lot as well. And while I truly do have an appreciation for classic cinema, I just couldn't help laugh rather than tremble at the 1930's effects and sensibilities.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

The 1931 film has exactly two things going for it.

1: Bela Lugosi was actually a good actor and it's a hugging tragedy that he tends to be more remembered for distorted parodies of his performance than for his actual performance.

2: Bela and Lugosi and Edward Van Sloan (Van Helsing) played alongside each other in the stage version, and they were absolutely unable to hide it. Watching the film you can just tell they know each other. That makes their rivalry a lot more fun. The film's action is very small and boring, but their familiarity with each other makes it seem like a much longer game of cat and mouse finally coming to a head.

 

[Sean Whitmore]

I love old movies and it's generally not an issue at all for me to judge them based on the times, but Dracula really pushes it. When you get to shots like Jonathan pointing off-screen and saying, "Hey, look, it's a wolf!", it's hard not to laugh.

 

[Caldwin]

I found these today at Barnes and Noble.

Now, I already read Carmilla on my Kindle app. I'm also in the process of reading Dracula on Kindle. But I have to say, there is just something about having a physical hardback copy to hold, flip through and display.

 

[Noip]

I love my Kindle, and it is insanely more convienient, but there are some books like Lord of the Rings that I just really want a physical copy of.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

I love old movies and it's generally not an issue at all for me to judge them based on the times, but Dracula really pushes it. When you get to shots like Jonathan pointing off-screen and saying, "Hey, look, it's a wolf!", it's hard not to laugh.

I don't know what happened. Both versions of the stage play were more ambitious.

 

[Sean Whitmore]

Now, I already read Carmilla on my Kindle app. I'm also in the process of reading Dracula on Kindle. But I have to say, there is just something about having a physical hardback copy to hold, flip through and display.

Ha, I hear you. I picked this one up:

I don't actually have any room to display it anywhere at the moment, but, y'know, hope springs eternal.

I also want to get a nice physical copy of Phantom of the Opera someday, but that one will take a bit of research. Apparently, the quality of the translation vary from edition to edition, and not many stores seem to specify which edition they're selling.