Welcome back to my Home Movies! This week, there aren’t a ton of notable releases coming out, but things are led by V/H/S/Halloween, which keeps the franchise on trucking. Today also features a new Criterion Collection title, alongside some other films worth at least considering. Which of these movies are hitting shelves? Read on to find out…
Joey’s Top Pick
V/H/S/ Halloween
Death, taxes, and a new V/H/S installment. Luckily, the horror anthology series is currently in one of its more consistent stretches. V/H/S/Halloween isn’t the best of the lot, to be fair, but the film is doing what it does fairly well. If you’re looking for a gory movie to enjoy right now, you could do a hell of a lot worse. My latest franchise review here began like so:
Once again, it’s nice to see the V/H/S franchise continue to string together several strong entries in a row. Previously, we’ve seen the series swing back and forth in terms of quality over the years. Initially, it was a solid if never spectacular anthology outing, one that seemed to have its time come and go a while ago. Then, perhaps unexpectedly, V/H/S/94 gave the property new life four years ago. Three years ago, V/H/S/99 moved forward in time, if somewhat of a step back in quality. Two years ago, we had something new in V/H/S/85, which was in the upper tier, overall, as well as being the first to have no bad segments. Last year, we had V/H/S/Beyond, which again didn’t really have a lowlight, while also featuring a genre shift of sorts that really gave it a fresh feeling. Now, we have V/H/S/Halloween, which is maybe the goriest one yet, in some ways, while having fun with the entire film being centered on the spookiest of holidays. Is it doing anything totally new? No. Is the movie effectively fun and gross? Very much so.
V/H/S/Halloween starts off with a few longer segments, but once it hits its stride, it’s a very consistent entry. I actually think the Halloween aspect ties it all together in a way that the previous entries have struggled to achieve. Plus, the franchise has more or less dispensed with the wraparound device having to set up the segments. Now, it’s almost like a mean little bonus, which I do appreciate.
Also Available This Week
Carlito’s Way (4K)
The Deer Hunter (4K)
Mercy
My Neighbor Adolf (Blu-ray)
Peacock
The Thief of Bagdad (Blu-ray)
Criterion Corner
Gilda
From The Criterion Collection: ““Gilda, are you decent?” Rita Hayworth tosses her hair back and slyly responds, “Me?” in one of the great star entrances in movie history. Gilda, directed by Charles Vidor, features a sultry Hayworth in her most iconic role, as the much-lusted-after wife of a criminal kingpin (George Macready), as well as the former flame of his bitter henchman (Glenn Ford), and she drives them both mad with desire and jealousy. An ever-shifting battle of the sexes set on a Buenos Aires casino’s glittering floor and in its shadowy back rooms, Gilda is among the most sensual of all Hollywood noirs.”
Stay tuned for more next week…
