Hello to everyone who has been following this blog for many years - I'm still blogging, I'm just moving over to https://www.claireheffer.com/blog - please continue to follow and let me take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been kind enough to visit over the years. May the lists continue...
Showing posts with label halloween. Show all posts
Showing posts with label halloween. Show all posts

Sunday, 24 March 2019

FILM 1967: TERRIFIER


FILM 1967: TERRIFIER

TRIVIA: This is a return for Art the Clown, as he was previously used by the same director in the film "All Hallows Eve".

The ambulance that drives past Dawn as she listens to the radio broadcast in the car was unplanned. That was a real ambulance that drove by.

The scene in the pizza restaurant was originally meant to take place in a burger restaurant, but Damien Leone changed this when he realized that both Jenna Kanell and Catherine Corcoran are vegetarian.


Thursday, 3 January 2019

FILM 1917: HALLOWEEN



FILM 1917: HALLOWEEN 

TRIVIA: Jake Gyllenhaal helped convince Jamie Lee Curtis to reprise her role of Laurie Strode for the film. Jake Gyllenhaal is a family friend of Curtis' and is dubbed by her as an unofficial godson.

The role of Allyson, Laurie's granddaughter, became somewhat of a coveted role. Multiple popular actresses including Lucy Hale and Emma Roberts met with Danny McBride to personally talk about the movie. However, the studio decided that they wanted to go back to the roots of the first movie and cast an unknown actress, similar to how Jamie Lee Curtis was cast in the original.

As with the original Halloween (1978), Michael Myers is listed in the credits not as "Michael Myers", but "The Shape".

The film's producer is Malek Akkad, who is the son of Moustapha Akkad, the producer of the original 1978 "Halloween." Moustapha Akkad was murdered, along with his daughter Rima (Malek's sister), in the terrorist bombing of an Amman, Jordan hotel in 2005. Jamie Lee Curtis has recounted how the first person whom she saw when she came to the set for the first day of filming the 2018 film was Malek, whom she remembered as a 7 year-old child visiting the set during production of the original film. She added that seeing Malek for the first time since his father's death immediately brought her to tears.

On the tv, a newscaster can be heard describing the events of the original film as "the babysitter murders". This was originally the title Carpenter wanted for Halloween (1978). It was only changed to Halloween after the producer Irwin Yablans thought up the idea and to release it near Halloween. The rest is history.

While the film ignores all previous sequels and reboots, it pays homage to all Halloween films, as had been intended by co-Writer Danny McBride.

Jamie Lee Curtis revealed to Chris Hardwick on his podcast that she performed the sounds of the baby crying when Michael walks through the house after slaughtering the resident with a hammer and grabbing a butcher's knife from the kitchen.



Saturday, 28 October 2017



ANOTHER TOP FIVE: HORROR MOVIES

I realized when making the last top five that I love horror films so much and there are so many good ones that I couldn’t leave it at one top five so as it’s Halloween and all here’s another list…

1. THE HAUNTING (1963)
The remake of this doesn’t even come close to the original. It’s a truly haunting story of a group taking part in a paranormal experiment in a super creepy house. The scenes with the banging coming from just outside the door make actual hairs stand up on the back of my neck.

2. DEAD OF NIGHT (1945)
The original, and in some ways the best, British anthology horror film. It starts with a man talking about a strange dream, which leads to others in the group to tell their tales of the supernatural, the ventriloquist dummy is the one that stands out here though.

3. HIGH TENSION (2003)
This is a gory entry into the top five, I don’t shy away from gore, I just don’t find it as scary as the kind of horrors that are more understated and uses your own imagination to create the fear. That being said, I was on the edge of my seat watching the seemingly unrelenting dread-fest that was this film. The suspense was immense and the ending was unusually surprising.

4. MISERY (1990)
This is one of those films that I can watch over and over. It’s maybe not classed as a horror by everyone – but the scene with the legs (if you’ve seen it, you know) I think is more horrific that a lot of modern gore-based horror. The psychology behind the character of Annie Wilkes is fascinating and the idea of a kindly sinister psychopath is terrifying.

5. THE EXORIST (1973)
This is a classic, and for a good reason. When I was a kid I was so keen to watch this (and wasn’t allowed to) that I read the book (some of it was a little dull and the film is a lot better). Not only is the film great, with some really ingenious tricks to make the special effects (the documentary of the making of is a really interesting watch), but the added bonus of the stories of the curse surrounding it makes it one of the most famous horror films of all time. Plus a bonus piece of trivia – did you know that a real life murderer was cast as an extra in this film?  See more information here: http://www.blumhouse.com/2017/04/13/did-you-know-theres-a-serial-killer-in-the-exorcist/


Just because I could go on forever I’m going to add more honorable mentions to the list:

PONTYPOOL (2008)
THE CONJURING (2013)
THE STRANGERS (2008)
JU-ON: THE GRUDGE (2002)
THE COLLECTOR (1965)
THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS (1946)
TWISTED NERVE (1968)
DOROTHY MILLS (2008)
BASKET CASE (1982)
EYES WITHOUT A FACE (1960)



Tuesday, 8 December 2015



FILM 1434: THE GUEST

TRIVIA: The day Dan Stevens was cast, he was assigned personal trainers and dietitians to begin his physical transformation for the role. He worked out daily for 2 hours a day, even during shooting eventually putting on 25 pounds of muscle and building six pack abs for his shirtless scene.

When David and Anna are at the Halloween party a guest can be seen wearing the Fox mask worn by one of the home invaders in Adam Wingard and Simon Barret's previous feature: You're Next. The party guest is played by Steve Moore, who composed the score for the film.

The film is intentionally structured as a horror film with the pace of a thriller.

Steve Moore, who composed the score for the movie, used the same type of synthesizers that John Carpenter and Alan Howarth used for composing the score of Halloween 3: Season of the Witch (1982).