Scary Halloween Movies

In the spirit of Halloween, Saturday night was spent at the home of our friends, Emily and Josh, watching two scary movies.

[REC] (2007)

IMDB synopsis:

"REC" turns on a young TV reporter and her cameraman who cover the night shift at the local fire station. Receiving a call from an old lady trapped in her house, they reach her building to hear horrifying screams -- which begin a long nightmare and a uniquely dramatic TV report.

A Spanish zombie movie! The group generally agreed that the movie was not entirely original as the filming style was reminiscent of Cloverfield.  It’s a short film but starts out slow and lags a bit in the middle, but has an intriguing ending.  For a scary Halloween movie or to round out one’s list of zombie films, I’d certainly recommend it.

I just discovered that there is a sequel – REC 2 – but I don’t think I’ll be able to watch it.  Also, [REC] was remade in the US under the title Quarantine (2008).

I’m not including any images because all the ones I found are pretty disturbing.

They Live (1988)

IMDB synopsis:

A drifter discovers a pair of sunglasses that allow him to wake up to the fact that aliens have taken over the Earth.

This John Carpenter film was an interesting bit of social commentary on consumerism, classism, and corporate culture.  If you go into it expecting camp and bad acting (the protagonist is an ex-wrestler), it’s very watchable.  I had never heard of it but it should be a cult classic.  A Variety review has a good summary:

Conceived on 1950s B-movie sci-fi terms, They Live is a fantastically subversive film, a nifty little confection pitting us vs them, the haves vs the have-nots.