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[JohnIan101]

Past Tense - Hope Is All But Forlorn Once You Mess With The Reaper Part II


Those numbers do not include worldwide tallies and home video receipts. It is a strong franchise. I'm surprised this hasn't happened yet. This is one of those things that should be annual, every Halloween.

Granted number five didn't do so well, but I blame four - it was so far from canon that fans were ticked off. It was like the filmmakers decided to make a movie without seeing the other features first. Seriously WTF?



Not gonna go into the story; most people have seen the first movie, repeatedly. No joking - it has become a modern classic. Events shown made audiences ponder what they would do in that situation; fight or surrender?

Indeed.

By the way, I still stand by my idea made years ago from "Final Destination 2". William Bludworth (Tony Todd) told Kimberly (A.J. Cook) the truth: only a new life can break the chain. A new life, that was never meant to exist. A new life, CREATED by two people who should already be dead.

This new life is not on Death's List, an anomaly. The solution; reboot the program (as it were) to accommodate the new entry - chain broken. Fate becomes unknown to the survivors once again, their lives returned. Something I had forgotten or perhaps it just lingered in my subconscious. It DID happen!

There was a setup in the first film that was axed. In one of the deleted scenes; Clear took a pregnancy test and found out she was pregnant with Alex's child. Had the two survived the birth of their child, reboot. Yeah, that's a spoiler.

It was on the table, but dropped.

Anyhow, my ranking best to worst...

"Final Destination 2"
"Final Destination"
"Final Destination 3"
"Final Destination 5"
"The Final Destination"

YES, I feel the second film is superior to the first. It explored the mythology and had strong characters that we were quite sympathetic. Plus it followed the events from the last film to a logical conclusion. It made sense and wasn't disrespectful to fans.

Plus the disaster was quite reality based. I've seen that on the road, a big rig hauling logs. Didn't think too much about it then, now I'm very conscience of what might happen.... the traffic disaster.

*snap*

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Tangent.

Too sexy!!! The next wave of attention getting Halloween costumes for your inspiration.



These two are both creative and accent femininity without being too slutty... well just the right participation.

For your delight - "Sexy Peanut". Heels and cane not included. Simple and yet quite iconic in easy recognition. Though she is missing one piece - a monocle. Would be cool if there was purse that looked like a jar of peanut butter, that would complete the costume.

Next is "Cruella Intentions". Oh yes, it's sexy "Cruella De Vil" - taking a page from the "Batman" legacy, Two-Face. You get everything here minus the wig, boots and stockings. This 'puppy' is nearly a hundred dollars. Like with the other, it's missing a handbag; need a plush dalmatian... gutted into a purse. How cruel. And yes, those fishnet stockings and wig are a must.

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Recommendations.

History repeats, but with a twist. This time out I'm only showcasing four Halloween suggestions for three weeks. I may give two for week four since it hits four days before Halloween. You should already know what to watch.

As expected most can be found in your local video rental shops (if they still exist, my store closed this year due to the...). Few can be found in stores. The best bet is to find them online, cheaply, through Ebay or Amazon's resellers marketplace, purchase used/new DVDs or BDs. Or pawn shops or even second hand stores - good hunting.

Some are on Netflix and such streaming services. And YouTube too. *wink*

"Howl" (2015)
The red eye train from London to Eastborough (England) comes to a halt due to an impact with a deer, leaving the train's fuel line damaged. The conductor leave the engine to assess the damage - he never came back. Joe Griffin wasn't suppose to be onboard the Alpha Trax train; he was forced into a double shift. He and the tea-trolley girl, Ellen are the only company staff left, it was a skeleton crew. What starts off as a light mystery and inconvenience turns into a bloody nightmare. The radio is busted, the antenna torn off - miles away from Eastborough in the rain, isolated in the woods. The passengers and crew are being stalked by werewolves. It's up to their collective resources to last the night if they can stop bickering. To make matters worse, one of the passengers has been bit - and it's a full moon. The film was originally shot in 3D, but the home video release (DVD) is 2D. In a way, it feels like a reimagining of "Night Of The Living Dead" (1968), the good way.
Our Alchemy, LLC - 2016 - NR

"Let's Be Evil" (2016)
Jennifer Ryan is running out of funds to care for her ailing mother. She is pleased to be accepted as a chaperone, a high paid job for "The Prosperity Project". Her task is nothing more than a glorified baby sitter for a group of gifted children for a few weeks. The location to her surprise is far underground, below city hall in Los Angeles. Jennifer finds two more chaperones, Tiggs and Darby. The complex in near pitch black. It is the use of VR goggles that illuminates the surroundings which comes with an A.I. assistant, Ariel. Paranoia slowly grows as Jennifer experiences glitches with her goggles. An increasing number of discontinuities that lead to a violent conclusion, the children have gone rogue - homicidal. She and her friends attempt to leave the bunker. This is available on DVD and BD+DVD combo. Spoiler... since the ending is repeatedly misunderstood. Those glasses illuminate what's there AND (hacked) allow only what is wished to be seen; rendered invisible right in front of you. Understand?
Shout! Factory LLC - 2016 - NR

"The McPherson Tape: UFO Abduction" (1989)
This title was listed in "Limited Edition Horror" 2017 as 'find where you can' - the situation has changed. Now there is a limited edition official DVD. Thought to be lost in a warehouse fire, it has been found and remastered. This is the original found footage alien abduction film - shot on cassette. The Connecticut family here is the Van Heeses, NOT McPherson - that is the name of the family in the 1998 remake; aired on UPN (January 18th, 1998); both produced by Dean Alioto. In short, a family who lives out in the sticks has a 'Fourth Kind' encounter in the worst possible way. No help is coming because of their isolated home. You can cut the dread in this flick. Excellent stuff.
POV Horror - 2019 - NR

"The Shallows" (2016)
One of the few films that can be said in the same breath as "Jaws" (1975). Medical student Nancy Adams has gone to Mexico to surf the beach her mom did when she was pregnant with her. It was an effort to find the elusive location, but she is successful. She went into medicine to help her ailing mother, but lost her to cancer. Surfing this secluded beach is her way to honor her memory. But it becomes the single worst decision in Adams' life. Not long into her activity she is attacked by a great white shark, nearly killing her. She swims onto an exposed rock ledge above the waterline. Her adversary does not give up easy - two hundred yards from salvation, the shore - might as well be two hundred miles. Her sanctuary is vanishing - the tide is rising; soon the shark will be able to gobble her. Injured and losing blood, Nancy attempts to reach a nearby buoy which becomes her last stand against the ferocious beast. It is a tense, determined, one on one drama; human vs. nature.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment - 2016 - R

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Just Because.



Many guys (myself included) and some gals were wooed the lovely Ms. Ali Larter. She's what you expect the 'girl next door' to look like - your friend first and something more if mutual. Plus she has this hippy chick vibe going on, a free spirit. You have no idea how much work was done for that image.

The original image had so many 'issues'. Cleaned it up, did restorations and modded the colors and contrast. Still not happy, but it's much better here.

Shaken? No? Well... there more chills coming next week - "Limited Edition Horror" presses on, mowing over - aiming at your direction like a rabid critter with laser focus. It wants to greet you - with distress in a missing limbs kind of way. See you then.