Latest / The K.B. Radio Network / 2025 Halloween Special Part 1 - Found Footage Films/V/H/S Halloween (2025) Movie Review

Transcript

2025 Halloween Special Part 1 - Found Footage Films/V/H/S Halloween (2025) Movie Review · The K.B. Radio Network

0:12
Hello everyone and welcome to Movie
0:16
Goodness where we examine life through cinema here on the KB Radio Network.
0:21
I am your host Kevin Reed and it's that time of the year again.
0:25
This is officially after...
0:29
40 something years of existing i have come to the realization that halloween is my favorite time of the year it isn't because of the spooky ghosts and goblins and all that other good stuff trick or treating and
0:45
haunted houses that that's that doesn't appeal to me per se but it's just something about horror movies that makes this time of the year more special than any other time of the year
1:00
Now,
1:00
don't get me wrong,
1:01
I love all the other holidays.
1:03
I love Christmas.
1:04
I love Thanksgiving.
1:05
I love Easter.
1:06
I love New Year's.
1:07
I love all of that.
1:08
All of that is fine,
1:10
but it's the movie aspect of it all.
1:12
It's the film aspect of it all.
1:15
It's the horror movies that just makes this time of the year super special.
1:22
I mean,
1:22
think about it.
1:23
You probably realize this already,
1:26
a lot of you out there listening.
1:28
but you know
1:30
I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer,
1:32
so I'm a little slow when it comes to things.
1:35
But this came to my realization.
1:37
Just think about it.
1:39
Around Christmas,
1:40
yeah,
1:40
you have your Christmas movies.
1:42
You have some cute little Christmas movies that come out.
1:45
At
1:45
Thanksgiving, you have some family films that come out.
1:49
But around October,
1:53
it starts popping with the horror movies,
1:55
man.
1:55
I mean,
1:56
everything is horror.
1:58
Even when it comes to television shows,
2:00
they do,
2:01
at least back in my day,
2:04
they had sitcoms and they'll have a Halloween episode.
2:07
They'll have,
2:09
you know,
2:09
episodes that focused on stuff like that.
2:12
A spooky little episode on television shows.
2:16
Whether it's a sitcom,
2:17
drama,
2:18
a procedural,
2:20
a police procedural,
2:21
whatever it may be.
2:23
You always find a Halloween special.
2:25
And I just love
2:27
those movies i am a scary cat i can admit that now too i am a big scary cat i hate to be scared but love to be scared all at the same time it must be some type of secret taboo or fetish that i have i don't know what it is but i love to get scared i love scary movies i mean shoot me i grew up on them and i grew up in the era of slashers you
2:52
know with the freddys and the jasons and the Mike Myers and so on and so forth.
2:57
That was my bag.
2:59
I just loved those movies.
3:01
And as I got older,
3:04
I started to realize that around mid-September or late September,
3:11
I started anticipating what horror movies are coming out next month.
3:15
You know,
3:15
what new horror movie will come out next month.
3:18
Some good,
3:19
some bad.
3:20
Even the bad ones.
3:21
This is the only genre of film where it can be bad.
3:26
you know the movie could be bad but you still enjoy it for what it is you know it's hard to review horror movies i've found uh doing this show but for the last few years it's hard to review a horror film because horror
3:42
films are are kind of like critique proof you know it's weird because they know what they are they're not
3:52
In it for awards consideration or by any stretch,
3:55
they just dare to do what it's supposed to do.
3:58
Gross you out,
3:59
scare you,
3:59
and everything else.
4:01
And there are so many different sub-genres in horror nowadays,
4:06
you know?
4:06
It isn't just straight-up horror.
4:08
It isn't straight-up slasher,
4:11
you know?
4:11
The killer running after you with a butcher knife and all this here.
4:15
There's other ones,
4:16
you know?
4:18
it for some strange reason i've been thinking about this all year highly anticipating doing these shows for this month because we're doing four episodes this month four a four-part halloween special and we're
4:35
gonna go over four different sub genres within horror and these aren't like the greatest genres
4:46
you know or my favorites because i love them all these are just the first four that popped in my mind when i was preparing to do these shows and i wanted to talk about them you know and review a film
5:00
out of these sub-genres that we can have some fun with and at the end of the day that's what it's all about having fun you know uh go and go and see a horror movie in the theater it's such a communal thing you know it's so it feels so good to go see a horror film where everybody is reacting to having
5:20
fun with it you know laughing normally when people laugh in a horror film they get scared it's their reaction
5:29
When they're around a group of people,
5:32
it's the laugh instead of a scream.
5:35
And you know it got you when you laugh,
5:38
or giggle,
5:38
or smile,
5:39
or something.
5:40
Some type of emotion will come out of you.
5:43
And so in this first part,
5:45
part one of our 2025 Halloween special,
5:51
we are going to discuss found footage horror films.
5:55
And found footage horror films...
5:58
It isn't new.
6:00
It isn't something that just came along when the Blair Witch Project came out.
6:06
Found footage films has been around since the
6:09
60s.
6:10
But somebody had the bright idea.
6:13
Hey,
6:14
let's make some horror films.
6:17
And it was a brilliant idea.
6:19
Because one,
6:20
it's cheap.
6:22
It's not expensive to make because it's shaky cam.
6:26
And that's another thing.
6:28
I hate shaky cam.
6:29
I can't stand shaky cam when at least when it's not done right.
6:35
There are some filmmakers that knows how to use shaky cam correctly.
6:40
One comes to mind is Paul Greengrass.
6:43
He knows how to use shaky cam.
6:45
He directed
6:46
The Bourne
6:48
Supremacy.
6:50
I forgot which one.
6:51
I think He directed two of the Bourne films.
6:54
But he knows how to use.
6:56
I like.
6:57
the way he uses the camera it really puts you in the action as opposed of shaky cam where they do that technique to kind of hide the stunt work or hide the visual effects or just
7:12
stupid stuff it gives me a headache you know you probably had if you suffer from seizures or something like that you'll probably go crazy watching some of these shaky cam films but if you use
7:26
properly it can work and most not all but most of these horror films that do the final footage that do the shaky cam technique work and it's exciting you know because it actually puts you in the action it puts you in the horror it's like a first person shooter
7:49
game and you can't help but become
7:54
our protagonists or uh hero in the story you know and it just adds an extra level of horror to the films and so in honor or in collaboration with the discussion of found footage horror films we're going to review a film at the end of this episode that
8:16
just came out fresh out the presses and it is vhs halloween which is the eighth
8:23
installment in their franchise uh i mean well we'll get to it but it's it is the perfect film to fit in the discussion that we have today but when you talk about found footage films it's
8:41
most commonly associated with horror you know especially lately but if you really go back if you really go back,
8:49
found footage films they span
8:53
1961 I think was the first found footage film and that was from an experimental director
8:59
Shirley Clark who directed a film The Connection.
9:04
Never seen it but it's a found footage film of sorts.
9:09
In 1969 there was another film coming apart but the one that really broke it open.
9:17
The one that really brought found footage horror films to the forefront.
9:23
was in 1980 and that was
9:26
Cannibal Holocaust.
9:28
If you haven't seen that film it's okay because not too many people have seen that film.
9:35
That film came out in 1980 and it was pretty much banned everywhere because due to the fact of it being a found footage film a lot of people believed it was real it was a an italian horror film and when it was released
9:53
It was the target of a lot of censorship.
9:56
Uh,
9:57
censorship.
9:58
And,
9:59
uh,
10:00
you know,
10:00
not just from people,
10:02
well,
10:02
people,
10:03
but also,
10:04
uh,
10:05
animal activists as well,
10:07
due to the graphic nature of the film.
10:09
It just had tons of graphic gore.
10:13
And the film contains several scenes with sexual violence and general cruelty to animals that just...
10:21
took it completely off the the rails for people in 1980 and probably still today uh the movie is still considered one of the most controversial films ever made uh but due to this notoriety uh cannibal
10:39
holocaust has been marketed as being banned in over 50 countries and um i think in
10:48
19 not 19 in 2006 uh
10:50
It was named as the 20th most controversial film of all time by
10:55
Entertainment Weekly.
10:57
I don't know what the other 19 are,
10:59
but
11:02
I can't imagine these films.
11:05
They're probably stuff that deal with children and stuff like that,
11:07
so I can probably understand.
11:09
But this was very graphic.
11:12
I've never seen the movie,
11:14
but I've seen stills and little clips because they don't show everything.
11:20
It's hard to find a movie.
11:21
I've heard about this movie years ago.
11:24
I tried to search it up,
11:25
tried to find it.
11:27
Can't find it.
11:28
Can't find it nowhere.
11:30
Because I was curious.
11:31
Still is.
11:32
You know,
11:33
I will,
11:33
I will,
11:34
I will,
11:34
ah,
11:35
this is gonna sound crazy,
11:36
but I would love to watch the movie just to see how bad it is.
11:40
I mean,
11:40
it was 1980.
11:42
That's 45 years ago.
11:44
I don't think it was,
11:46
uh...
11:46
Well,
11:47
I don't know.
11:47
I haven't seen it.
11:48
So I'll leave judgment out of it.
11:51
I don't know.
11:53
Probably when I see it,
11:54
it will be completely bonkers.
11:57
Because honestly,
11:57
back then,
11:59
we didn't have the filters that we have now.
12:02
Because I remember,
12:04
and I've seen this movie recently.
12:06
I'm talking about remember like it was
12:08
40 years ago.
12:09
It probably was 40 years ago the first time I watched it.
12:11
But I've just seen this movie maybe...
12:15
a month and a half ago just randomly on hbo or something like that scanners and i remember the first time i saw scanners and it no pun intended blew my mind it messed me up because i was i
12:32
couldn't believe what i was watching on screen i was wondering how they did all of that this This was in the 80s.
12:41
You know,
12:42
I don't think filmmakers today...
12:44
at least not all of them can master that type of body horror you know with head exploding and one scene in particular and this isn't a foul found footage film but it's on you know it's on point with what i'm talking about the
13:01
scene when uh revik first used it on the guy and made his head explode and i watched the youtube video about that and
13:12
they analyzed and broke down that scene and how the head exploded and how the editing was so perfect and so so good and crisp that you can't tell where the cut happened you cannot and they slowed it up frame by frame it was that good of an edit and
13:33
where the head exploded between the real person and the head exploding it makes you wonder did they explode the man head
13:43
for the sake of the film but um yeah but back then you could get away with all that stuff so it it probably isn't as cruel as we think now you know looking at it through 2025 eyes because we've seen so
13:58
much you know uh at least those of us of a certain age we've seen so much uh in film and sadly in real life and so we kind of just
14:12
desensitized in a way when it comes to movies of that ilk but yeah uh cannibal holocaust is probably the first but not probably it is the first found footage horror film to
14:28
be released now to find one that was more mainstream they had some sprinkled in in the 80s maybe four or five I think there was one in
14:40
Japan
14:41
if i'm not mistaken about ufo adoptions i think i i'm i'm probably getting it mixed up but they had one in the 80s with like that in that style it had a maybe a couple of more in the early
14:56
90s but the genre really took off in 1999 that's when stuff really got real and it just broke open the doors in this sub-genre of horror in 1999
15:11
you got the blair witch project and i i was there for it all i remember the marketing for this i remember going to the theater opening weekend to see it and leaving out with a migraine i
15:28
left out with a migraine because i didn't realize that the whole movie was gonna be found footage because i've never seen a movie like that up to this point and i'm like what is
15:41
is the whole movie like you know midway through i'm like there are no lockdown cameras in this movie but everything was was found footage and once again a lot of people believe
15:57
this is i think there are people walking around today they believe this movie is real even though the actors have come out.
16:06
I know for years,
16:08
to keep the...
16:10
The,
16:10
the illusion or kayfabe of it all.
16:14
It was part of their contracts to kind of be incognito for a few years.
16:21
I forgot how long.
16:22
They couldn't do any other movies because the actress in the film,
16:27
can't think of her name right now,
16:28
but she spoke out about it recently,
16:31
about how it kind of ruined her career.
16:33
Even though this movie was what it was,
16:36
it ruined her career because she couldn't take any other roles because she signed this agreement that she...
16:42
had to stay out of the public eye um to keep the illusion that this film was quote unquote real and she she basically i ain't gonna say abandoned hollywood but you know it's like she
16:57
would she she signed her own death warrant literally and it's sad to hear that but to keep it arthetic that's what they had to do the blair witch project came out and and just swept
17:10
the world by storm box office wise filmmaking wise i mean my god box office wise it was bananas it only cost two hundred thousand dollars to make this movie and if you put that in perspective like one scene in
17:27
avengers probably cost them two million dollars that's just for a scene in an avengers film but to make that entire movie the blair witch project two hundred thousand dollars
17:41
the movie went on to gross
17:44
248 million dollars it is one of the most profitable movies of all time of all time uh i would have loved to have been a producer on this movie you
18:01
know this is uh bananas that it made that much money but it was the marketing behind it now does the film hold up now
18:13
I mean it has its moments been a minute since I watched it uh maybe about two years since I've seen that movie probably need to revisit it out because I wanted to watch the other film just
18:26
Blair Witch but uh
18:29
I never got around to do it it popped in my mind randomly because I've only seen it once the one that came out a couple of years ago
18:38
I've only seen it once and I wanted to rewatch it.
18:41
And I also wanted to watch this one.
18:43
Not that Book of Shadows.
18:45
Not Part 2.
18:46
That was...
18:47
I don't know what that was.
18:50
Number one,
18:51
it wasn't a found footage film.
18:53
They didn't keep the same tone as the first film.
18:57
They just went completely off the rails.
18:59
But
19:00
I did want to go back and watch this movie.
19:03
This was...
19:06
I'm not gonna say it scared me.
19:08
It didn't scare me,
19:09
but it disturbed me because the ending was so ambiguous,
19:14
you know,
19:14
it was so open-ended.
19:16
I don't know what happened,
19:19
you know,
19:19
you had more questions than answers,
19:21
but it just made it that much better to me and it's rare that that happens.
19:27
Otherwise,
19:28
I would have been mad.
19:30
I would have been mad.
19:31
I hate when movies do that,
19:33
you know,
19:33
like,
19:33
oh,
19:33
let's make them think.
19:35
I don't mind.
19:35
I don't have a problem with that sometimes,
19:38
but sometimes it's best to put a bow on it.
19:42
It's best to answer the questions,
19:44
and we didn't get it here.
19:46
But once again,
19:48
for this film,
19:49
it just made it that much better,
19:51
and I appreciated it for it.
19:54
Heather,
19:54
that's her name.
19:55
Heather was the name of that.
19:57
Heather
19:58
Donahue, who was the actress in this film.
20:03
But
20:04
Yeah,
20:04
man,
20:07
this is what kicked it all off,
20:09
really.
20:10
That really put fuel on a little flame that was kind of started back in 1980.
20:17
And we were often running in this genre.
20:21
Because after this film,
20:23
in 1999,
20:26
you could pretty much say every year you had a found footage film.
20:30
Every single year.
20:32
There was another found footage film coming out,
20:35
whether it was on television,
20:38
video,
20:38
or in the theater,
20:41
there was always one.
20:42
And not just in the horror genre,
20:45
but in other genres as well.
20:47
They tried to make it work with other genres,
20:50
and it just didn't have that same oomph.
20:54
in staying in the horror genre i would say what about eight years eight years later it got another jolt in the arm another shot of adrenaline in 2007 with paranormal activity and
21:11
that was another film that i was excited for because it looked interesting okay a found footage film in a uh haunted house a ghost
21:24
power footage film that has been done multiple times now but this was like a first for me uh witnessing this on the big screen well no i didn't see this on the big screen i actually i did not go to the theater to see this i uh borrowed
21:40
my friend's uh dvd at the time and it was two versions on it and that's why he wanted me to see it i i wanted to go to the theater something happen i forgot but i never got around to going to see it
21:53
and he let me use it and it was two versions with two endings I should say.
21:59
It was the same movie but it had two endings.
22:02
Now at this point I had already been spoiled with the movie.
22:06
I already knew how the movie ended.
22:07
You know with the theatrical version.
22:10
And the version he got was the original ending.
22:14
And he said watch the original ending.
22:15
I was like okay.
22:17
So
22:18
I watched the whole thing with the original ending.
22:21
And I was like,
22:22
okay,
22:22
I see why they changed.
22:24
Even though I get it.
22:26
And I'm not going to spoil it if you haven't seen it,
22:29
even though the movie is,
22:30
what,
22:32
almost 20 years old?
22:33
18 years old?
22:34
Something like that?
22:35
But I'm not going to spoil it for you.
22:37
But I'll just say this.
22:40
The original ending,
22:41
if they would have kept the original ending,
22:44
we wouldn't have had 50 sequels to this movie.
22:48
And so they...
22:49
They kind of changed that.
22:51
But you want to know who changed it?
22:53
Well,
22:54
the directors changed it,
22:55
of course.
22:55
But you want to know who advised them to change the ending to paranormal activity?
23:02
It was none other than Steven Spielberg.
23:05
Steven Spielberg managed to see a screening or a copy of it or whatever.
23:11
I mean,
23:12
Steven Spielberg,
23:13
he sees everything.
23:15
in hollywood so he contacted the director and told him look the movie's great i enjoyed it but change the ending because if you change the ending you can make this into a franchise and the
23:30
filmmaker being you know is like steven spielberg of course i'm gonna change the ending so he changed the ending and a franchise was born and i like i like the theatrical uh
23:44
ending of the film.
23:47
I like the original but the theatrical one kind of made sense to me.
23:52
And now once again
23:55
I said this is probably one of the most lucrative genres within the genre is the fact that they're cheap.
24:04
Just like the Blair Witch Project this film was actually made get this for $15,000.
24:14
thousand dollars it costs less to make this than it did the blair witch now the reason for this is if this was basically in one room in one house it was in the house that's
24:29
it they didn't have any outside shots there was no nothing else it was just two people well three to be technical in this movie and he only popped in before seeing him popped out and that was it but this movie Eat.
24:43
It was probably the cheapest movie to make.
24:47
Now,
24:48
with post-production and all that,
24:50
it grew to $200,000,
24:53
you know,
24:53
with the reshoots and fitting it on film so it can be shown in theaters and whatnot.
25:00
And so that was all post-production cost.
25:03
But the movie went on to gross close to $200 million worldwide,
25:08
making it a monster success.
25:12
And...
25:13
you know the other films within the franchise i felt was just as great i i love the paranormal activity franchise i almost almost did a whole episode on all the paranormal activity films
25:30
but i decided to wait i'm gonna do that for maybe next year's halloween special that's how much i enjoy the uh paranormal activity films and now now
25:43
Speaking of enjoying,
25:46
enjoying films,
25:49
I'm going to talk about my favorite within the genre so far as of 2025.
25:55
Something else may come along and take that mantle.
25:58
But as of right now,
26:02
this movie came out in 2008 and.
26:07
it just i don't know what it is and even to this day it's it's hard for me to watch it's something about this movie that touches my soul and not in a good way and
26:23
it's a remake it's actually a remake of another found footage horror film uh from spain i believe and it's called wreck or record however you want to uh uh sauce it up
26:37
but it got a an american remake the following year in 2008 quarantine quarantine is my favorite found footage horror film don't ask me why it's
26:52
just something about that movie that resonates with me i just love that movie it is so disturbing
27:03
Not so much for the gore and blood and all that there,
27:07
because it really wasn't all that.
27:10
It was disturbing in the sense of the claustrophobic feel of being trapped in this apartment complex with these infected human beings who are out to destroy you,
27:24
man.
27:24
I mean,
27:25
they are out to rip you apart.
27:28
And the way this film was shot...
27:30
With the found footage cam,
27:32
this is probably the best use of the found footage genre I've seen in a long time.
27:39
Because it is a cameraman.
27:43
It's this news reporter who is shadowing this fire crew.
27:52
And they go respond to this old woman not responding in her hotel,
27:58
in her...
28:00
apartment room because you know firefighters are the first responders they're the first on the scene for every call and so they responded to it first and they're there and the the news reporter and her cameraman is there and they're filming everything you know and the
28:19
woman is infected and the whole building ends up getting infected and the
28:27
The fireman,
28:28
it was just,
28:28
look,
28:29
look,
28:30
look,
28:30
it's hard for me to talk.
28:34
That movie,
28:36
I watched it one night,
28:37
once again,
28:38
didn't go to the theater to see it,
28:40
because I thought it was going to be stupid,
28:42
to be honest with you.
28:43
It looked silly to me,
28:45
and so I didn't go with the trailer,
28:48
so I didn't go see it.
28:50
And
28:51
I end up...
28:52
getting it out of red box when they existed or uh i borrowed it from her i think i borrowed it once again from my boy uh r.i.p to my dog uh he i think it was him i think i i think i got it from him i end up buying it after uh
29:08
believe it or not but i watched it one night by myself in the dark uh watching this movie and it just tore
29:21
be apart no pun intended that movie just ravished me man i was sitting in the house after the movie went off and i didn't move i was scared to move i didn't even want to go down the hall to my bedroom it was that effective
29:39
obi i don't know why i honestly don't know why the only the only knock i have on the film i wish they would have followed the original because i did watch the original Bye.
29:50
Bye.
29:51
the Spanish version,
29:53
not too long after I watched the American version.
29:57
In the Spanish version,
29:59
it is better,
30:00
but
30:01
I guess I connected with the American version more because,
30:04
I don't know,
30:04
I'm American.
30:05
I didn't have to read subtitles while I watched it,
30:08
you know.
30:09
But
30:10
I did enjoy it,
30:11
but they had a demonic element to the original as opposed to the
30:18
American version,
30:19
Quarantine.
30:21
Nonetheless,
30:23
great,
30:23
great movies.
30:26
Wreck had a sequel that came out,
30:28
I think,
30:28
the year after this.
30:29
It was alright.
30:31
It was a continuation of the first film.
30:35
But it didn't have the same as the other one.
30:38
But,
30:39
hey,
30:40
I liked it.
30:42
I liked it regardless.
30:45
After that,
30:45
we got just...
30:48
millions and millions it feels like a final footage horror films in the genre because they're they're fast and cheap you know you can it's a quick investment for investors of the uh of films you know you get your money back pretty quick because it you
31:07
you get your money back opening weekend with these movies no matter where it where it ends up on the top 10
31:14
Even if it makes it in the top 10,
31:16
it's still going to make his money back because you're not spending that much money on these films.
31:22
And it forces filmmakers to get creative,
31:26
you know,
31:26
because you've got to get everything in one shot.
31:29
You know,
31:30
at least not in one shot,
31:31
but in one frame.
31:33
You've got to make sure that you're blocked right.
31:36
You know,
31:37
I would imagine it's harder because you don't have the benefit of a B-roll.
31:43
or getting a cover shot here or close up here where you missed it or you know stuff like that so everything has to be in one shot you know you got to make sure that that little easter egg that you have hanging on the wall is in the shot when you swing the camera around or our
32:03
uh protagonist is running through the hallway or something like that you know so it is hard i would imagine it's much harder.
32:12
to make these movies and to stay under budget.
32:17
With all that being said,
32:18
that leads me to
32:20
2012.
32:22
The year 2012,
32:24
we were introduced to a film that you wouldn't tell me today that we would get eighth.
32:31
We would just see our eighth film in this franchise.
32:34
I thought we were one and done.
32:36
And honestly,
32:38
I am a...
32:38
I've said it many times here on this show.
32:42
I am...
32:42
a giant anthology fan i love anthology films you know films that contain different stories you know a la uh twilight zone the movie and creep show one and two you know movies like that i love anthology films you know because it's it's like you're cheating in a way you know you get you get four
33:04
or five movies in one you know for the price of one it is is a joy you walk away
33:11
feeling like you got your money's worth and so i love anthology films and you give me a good horror anthology film sign me up and now you're gonna add on the element of found footage oh
33:27
man this ought to be interesting and not only found footage but through the lens of a vhs yes vhs came out in 2012 and boy
33:40
it's just you were talking about loving a movie i've watched the first vhs i will say at least five or six times since since i've first seen it i was blown away by it and one
33:57
of the main reasons i love anthologies is the fact that you can have all of these different stories and they don't have to link up together it doesn't you don't need them to link up there
34:09
their their own story and when it came to vhs and you're shooting in like a vhs you know if if you're around my age you know what a vhs camera is videotape and vcrs
34:25
and all this here you know it's kind of archaic it is prehistoric at least it is to my children because they don't know what a vhs is but this this really
34:39
felt like a vhs you know i'm pretty sure it wasn't shot on vhs but it had the vhs feel and all five i think it was five uh short stories that was in this movie all of them hit all
34:54
of them knocked it out the park for me and you had what what appeared it to me or appealed it to me was the fact that you had this main story sprinkled in between each
35:08
that's the only thing that really connected you know but the other stories didn't but they were so good they were so good and i was hooked from that moment on and when they came out with another one uh
35:24
i think
35:25
the next year then in in 2013 yeah that they came out with another one um i was like yeah sign me up for that too and it was all it was all we were off and running all of these now not all of the short stories worked but
35:42
they all had their place if that makes any sense i didn't hate none of them that goes through all of the vhs films uh all eight of them
35:55
eight people yes i'm counting the one that we're about to review in a couple of seconds here but yeah i i enjoyed all of them and it seems like since they started putting them on shutter that streaming service i i it
36:11
looks like they're holding a pattern of releasing them once a year around halloween and i'm here for i'm here for it thank you shutter for uh for these films
36:25
So without further ado,
36:27
that leads us to 2025.
36:30
That leads us to now,
36:32
with the release of
36:34
VHS
36:36
Halloween, which is currently on Shudder.
36:39
It was released on
36:41
October the 3rd,
36:42
and this is the eighth film in the VHS franchise,
36:49
and the first of the franchise to focus solely on...
36:54
Halloween and now you've had a little short uh sprinkled in there throughout the eight films that you know uh take place on Halloween but not the whole uh film in itself and this film has
37:12
six short films that focus on this quote-unquote holiday let me let me just start let me just start love by Zane.
37:22
All of the VHS films are messed up,
37:24
man.
37:26
These are some disturbing movies.
37:29
But this movie here,
37:32
Halloween,
37:33
VHS Halloween,
37:34
is probably the most disturbing of them all.
37:38
For the simple fact,
37:41
you have children in a couple of these shorts.
37:44
Children being mutilated.
37:48
They'll be not off screen.
37:51
These children are being mutilated and it's like wow you know,
37:57
I don't recall
37:58
I don't recall watching a horror film no matter what the sub genre is have children being the focal point bill of not villains but victims of
38:15
These this type of horror.
38:17
Yeah,
38:17
they'll have it
38:18
but it'll be off-screen stuff you'll hear about it in a report or something or you know off camera something like that no no no no not vhs baby we we get we get the full show uh i
38:36
enjoyed all six of these films not uh short films but uh there are a couple of them that fall short but for the most part I enjoyed them all but I do have a
38:48
favorite the list of the uh shorts you have diet phantasma coochie coochie coo uh uh i don't know to pronounce it it's in latin but i don't even want to say it but because of what happens in
39:05
the movie but it's uh what is below or what uh as as above it is also below something like that uh fun size kid print and home haunt
39:19
Out of all of these,
39:21
Coochie Coochie Coo is my favorite.
39:24
Coochie Coochie Coo is the most messed up,
39:31
vile,
39:33
short film you ever want to watch.
39:37
It was so disturbing.
39:39
It was so messed up.
39:40
It will make you look at breast milk in a different way.
39:43
It will make you look at milk,
39:44
period,
39:45
in a different way.
39:47
I don't know when the next time I'm gonna eat cereal because of this.
39:51
Because I don't want milk.
39:53
I'm done with milk.
39:54
I'm done with...
39:56
You don't have to worry about me with milk.
39:59
This is so messed up of a short film.
40:04
And I loved every minute of it because it was meant to be disturbing.
40:08
Everything about it was creepy.
40:10
The way the shadows were used,
40:11
you know,
40:12
looking down dark hallways and...
40:16
uh corridors and uh the rooms and the the uh individuals that are running in front of them but they run real quick you can't you think you saw something but did you see it and all these others it was it was used so
40:31
perfectly and it made it so tense and disturbing and scary
40:39
and you love it you love it the ending of it was so messed up and you love it it was it was everything you would want out of a horror along with the camera work and the direction and the atmosphere the acting is probably the best in this short film than any other of
41:02
the short films but i think that was perfect purposely done on a couple of them
41:09
It was a couple of them where the acting was so bad it makes you want to cry,
41:12
but it fit the tone of that particular story.
41:16
And so at first,
41:18
the first two minutes of it,
41:20
I'm talking about fun size.
41:22
Fun size,
41:23
well,
41:24
you look at the acting there and you're like,
41:27
this is so bad.
41:29
But it's supposed to be.
41:31
It's supposed to be.
41:33
Five minutes in,
41:34
you don't care.
41:35
You're hooked in.
41:37
It was fun.
41:38
It was the fun episode.
41:40
Did it fit the rest of them?
41:41
No.
41:42
It kind of was out of place.
41:44
Out of the other ones.
41:45
You know,
41:45
because they were so dark and disturbing.
41:47
Where this one,
41:48
yeah,
41:48
it was dark.
41:50
And yeah,
41:51
it was disturbing.
41:52
But it was,
41:53
uh,
41:54
it had a fun element to it.
41:57
Hence the title.
41:59
That broke the levity.
42:01
And I guess you kind of needed that because everything else was so moody and dark.
42:07
man and so uh yeah it fit but i love coochie coochie coo kid print was another one that i didn't really i like where did i like the premise but i didn't really jive
42:24
with the whole execution of the story and it it took it away it it kind of threw me out of it because i wanted to like it because of the premise and this was the one kid print
42:37
this was the one with the children you know that that was disturbing it's disturbing you know but it's uh it could have been executed a little better you know what the story it just didn't come together right to me um
42:54
that's the only one that i would pick out and say like ah they could have kept that they could have kept that one even though it had entertaining elements of it all uh
43:06
Househaunt was great.
43:07
I think Househaunt and any other addition to the franchise probably would have been the best.
43:13
But
43:15
Coochie Coochie Coo is still,
43:17
plus I like saying that,
43:19
is still the best in this particular edition of VHS.
43:26
But Househaunt was great,
43:28
man.
43:28
Then you get a cameo in there.
43:30
If you know film,
43:31
you know filmmakers,
43:34
I'm talking behind the...
43:35
behind the scenes people they had a nice cameo in there from rick baker out of all people i immediately recognized him and then immediately was like super proud of myself because
43:51
i know i know who he is you know he's a legendary legendary makeup artist in hollywood i mean he he's given us the werewolves in um
44:05
American Werewolf in London.
44:07
He did creature effects for the
44:10
Men in Black films.
44:12
You know,
44:12
he's done just outstanding work throughout his career.
44:18
Legendary.
44:19
Legendary.
44:20
There's no other way to describe Rick Baker.
44:22
He's legendary.
44:24
And to see him in front of the camera and actually be funny.
44:28
He actually,
44:30
I actually enjoyed his character so much in this film.
44:34
boom it just added to the uh gravitas of this particular short film uh but the short film itself was great man you had some great moments here once again another disturbing uh edition where you saw children get mutilated on
44:51
screen it was it is crazy this was a crazy crazy film and i loved every minute of it and i can't wait to go back and watch it again
45:03
get.
45:04
I plan to before it's all said and done,
45:08
I plan to sit down and just watch all eight of these films back to back to back to back to back to back to back.
45:15
It's going to be one weekend where the fam is away because they don't rock the horror films.
45:25
So I got to pick a weekend where I'm by myself.
45:27
I can just sit down and watch all of these films.
45:30
But as for
45:33
vhs halloween i give it a letter grade of a b plus yeah i enjoyed it man i i enjoyed uh diving back into the world of vhs i i hope they keep this up but i hope also hope they give us uh some fresh new visions here and that's what that's what this uh franchise has done you know ty west has come out of this uh film franchise uh adam wingard has come out of this
46:02
franchise uh garrett evans has come out of this franchise they have all you know countless others uh other directors who now currently make mainstream films in hollywood
46:15
Started off with the,
46:16
well,
46:17
probably didn't start off per se,
46:19
but were a part of this franchise at one point,
46:21
you know,
46:22
or got their start here.
46:25
And so
46:26
I hope that these filmmakers get a shot at it because this was some great filmmaking here.
46:33
Like I said earlier,
46:34
you know,
46:34
you have to be innovative,
46:36
you have to be smart,
46:39
a hard worker and willing to sacrifice a lot.
46:42
when you make a found footage horror film because it's harder man it is harder words cannot express i know those outside of the know uh just a normal layman who just go to the films to watch the films and don't know about the making of and how how the sausage is made don't
47:05
care but those of us who really are into film and know that it's
47:12
It's not just turn the camera on and action.
47:16
It's more to it than that.
47:18
You know,
47:18
move the camera here and move it there.
47:20
It's so much more to it.
47:22
And in this particular genre,
47:25
you don't have that luxury,
47:26
man.
47:27
You can't,
47:28
okay,
47:28
oh,
47:29
the sun is pointing this direction,
47:30
so we got to move the camera this way or move it back this way.
47:33
No,
47:34
you got to get it all.
47:35
And get it all in one or two good takes and long takes at that.
47:41
So there's a lot of pressure on the actors as well.
47:44
And so that's why I have a lot of respect for found footage films.
47:47
I really do.
47:48
Not just horror,
47:49
but also in other genres as well.
47:51
So
47:53
I've grown to respect it.
47:56
You know,
47:57
at first,
47:58
wasn't a big found footage guy.
48:00
You know,
48:00
you remember when Cloverfield came out and everybody was up in arms about it?
48:07
I enjoyed it.
48:08
The first time I watched it,
48:09
I didn't.
48:10
But...
48:11
When I seen it at home,
48:13
it was better.
48:14
Seeing it on the big screen just made me nauseous.
48:17
I actually had to get up out the theater and go stand outside for a minute because the shakiness of it all,
48:25
it was making me nauseous.
48:27
So I had to walk out of the theater.
48:29
But when I watched it at home,
48:30
it was a different effect,
48:32
and I grew to appreciate that film.
48:35
But I do recognize the hard work that goes into it.
48:39
But that's just...
48:41
the end of part one of our halloween special i hope you enjoyed it as we dived a little bit into the found footage genre of horror uh part two will come out next week and part two we're
48:58
gonna dive into the big daddy of them all the universal monster movies we're gonna talk about frankenstein monster we're gonna talk about uh
49:10
uh the bride and dracula and wolfman and creature from the black lagoon and all that other good stuff we're going back in time man and the challenge for that episode was re-watching all
49:28
of those movies and i'm not finished yet i'm in i'm not 100 certain that i will finish before it's all said and done but i had to uh
49:39
really carve out some time and go back one number one find these movies and re-watch them for the show and uh take note you know and try to erase what
49:53
60 70 years of knowing everything because the reason i went back and re-watched them i really didn't re-watch them i watched them because a lot of these movies i did not watch when i was younger and so
50:09
I wanted to be honest and fair when I talked about it,
50:12
so
50:13
I went back and re-watched a few of these films and grew a greater appreciation and currently sitting back and wondering why we haven't gotten some real good adaptations to these films to
50:32
date.
50:33
But it doesn't need to hear it or dare.
50:36
But to go along with that,
50:37
just to let you know,
50:39
to go along with the discussion of Universal Monster Pictures,
50:45
we're going to review a film that is so near and dear to my heart that
50:52
I'm currently shaking right now when I'm about to tell you the name of it.
50:56
Because
50:58
I have such a love for this movie.
51:00
It's one of my guilty pleasures,
51:01
I guess you could say.
51:03
One of my favorite films.
51:04
When I was a kid.
51:06
And
51:08
I can still quote this movie.
51:10
Almost line for line.
51:12
To date.
51:13
And it is none other than the Monster Squad.
51:16
That will be our review.
51:19
For that episode.
51:20
So stay tuned to it.
51:22
But until then.
51:24
You can email the show.
51:26
KBRadioPodcast.com You can also search for the show.
51:30
On all social media platforms.
51:32
Just search for the KBRadio.
51:34
network.
51:35
Don't forget to subscribe.
51:37
to the youtube channel ladies and gentlemen the kb radio network channel like this video share this video show l show your love if you don't mind please don't forget about the five stars the reviews and sharing this show if you're listening on apple podcast spotify iheart radio wherever you are currently listening to movie goodness here on the kb radio network everybody thank you for joining me as we
52:06
dove into our 2025 halloween special part one found footage horror films want you all to know that i love you continue to love everyone and until we speak again you
52:21
all be blessed