Ah, in that case, I don't know what else to suggest... if you don't mind buying the game a 2nd time, sometimes it can be better than trying to spend a lifetime to make the version you have playable...

Yest, it's connected to the Still Life series. I've yet to play those sadly, they still belong in my shame-pile!

It's not niche niche (everyone should play it except maybe small children), but it doesn't really match GOG's idea of prestige gaming (it's in java ffs). Still great tho.

Up to Friday the 13th Part 6: Jason Lives. This is my favorite of the series. It starts off with some nice imagery inspired by Universal horror, and then the opening credits start with a zoom into Jason's iris, which transitions to a Bond-like "gun barrel" sequence in which Jason walks in from right to left and then turns and swings his machete, causing blood to pour down the screen. I think it's hilarious.

The movie just looks and flows better than any other film in the series. I'm also a fan of the development that has, for the first time in the franchise, little kids actually staying at the summer camp, so there's something at stake beyond the lives of stupid counselors. It's also the first movie in which Jason feels like a completed character. Admittedly, he basically just comes off like a backwoods Terminator, but previous portrayals always seemed to waver on just how much mind he actually has and what his body language should be.

Thom Matthews is now playing Tommy Jarvis. Despite the film numbering, it's somewhat unclear if the events of part V even happened at all, despite subtle touches like Tommy driving Pam's pick-up truck. Matthews is actually a good pick for Tommy because he's got a heroic aspect to him but he's also whiny and kind of pathetic, which is appropriate since the events of the movie are entirely his fault and he has to spend the whole story striving to clean up his mess.

My main criticisms are that the movie uses a lot of self-referential and arch humor that it doesn't necessarily need - just a little would go a long way - and it feels like the movie is holding back on the kills. Apparently it was the first movie in the series that didn't need to be edited down from an X rating because of gore. There's a cartooniness to it.

Yesterday I watched Terrorvision. It's... well, it's about a mutaded alien monster coming out of a TV and eating an incredibly unlikeable family of 80s cliches in human form, and some other people, like a guy who was probably kicked out of the Wyld Stallyns for being too stupid. It's actually kind of fun. It's utterly ridiculous, but that's kind of the point. It doesn't nearly have the charm and brilliance of something like Evil Dead 2, but it's still a decen sci-fi horror comedy. I think the best thing about it is how it never goes quite the way you think it will.

I just watched Tales from the Crypt (1972). It's a decent family-friendly(?) horror anthology, which packs a few very memorable scenes. Overall it was like watching a Halloween-themed "A Christmas Carol". Check it out if you're into classics.

Phantasm is one of my favorite Horror movie series, hence for a while I considered whether I should:

a) ignore this post

b) find out where you live, wrap your house in toilet paper, put ants in your underwear drawer and stuff your boots with doggy poop

... Ultimately I decided it would be more constructive to try to enlighten you, and any other visitors to this thread, so here's a little Phantasm Noob 101.

Phantasm I -- Clearly a ( very ) low budget production and one of Don Coscarelli's earliest works. Recommended for those who can appreciate the low-budget, 70s/80s retro Horror movie charm, and those who plan to watch the entire series.

Phantasm II -- Very different from the first, significantly bigger budget, and overall the most "mainstream" and straight-forward entry in the series. It's darker, it's scarier, and it shows that they had a lot more resources to work with. Generally the most popular Phantasm film, and a good entry point for those new to the series. It's a little strange, because it's the only Phantasm film without A. Michael Baldwin playing the role of Mike.

Phantasm III -- Similar to the second one, but with a much lighter, more comedic tone. Has some great characters and scenes, and arguably the best performance of Angus Scrimm as the "Tall Man". A few scenes here might be confusing for people who haven't seen part I & II.

Phantasm IV -- This one goes back to the roots: Very small budget and scope again, and many weird scenes and symbolism, which might be hard to understand without watching the rest of the series first. You kinda need to be a fan of the series to understand and appreciate part IV. At first I didn't like it either, but after watching the entire series, and also the audio commentary of part IV, I came to realize that certain parts of this film are actually quite brilliant and unique.

Phantasm V -- Heard mixed things about it, and still haven't watched it. I'm fairly happy with part IV as the ending to the series, but I'll probably check out V sooner or later.

---

As for your comments on Phantasm I, I agree that the acting isn't as good as in the rest of the series, however I really liked A. Michael Baldwin's performance as young Mike. I thought he did a great job, considering his age at the time. As for the film's success, I think there are various factors: It was ( and is ) a highly original concept for a Horror film. It's not just another random slasher clone, or generic monster/zombie flick. It's kinda weird and dream-like, but it's full of interesting ideas. Also, I think many young viewers back then liked Mike as the protagonist. He is clever, brave and a fun character, and many kids back then probably could identify with him or wanted to be like him.

If you feel like giving it another chance, I recommend you watch it with the audio commentary, by Don Coscarelli, Angus Scrimm and several of the other main cast actors. It's hard not to fall in love with the series and the people behind it, once you learn some more about it. It's also fun to learn more about the way they created some of the special effects of the first film.

If you don't feel like watching the first one again, I think you might still enjoy the second one, since it is all around a very different film.

Once again, The Onion nails irony. XD

I liked it, but man, it's actually a really sad movie. And it will whip between the Phantasm 3 style and these quietly depressing bits with regularity.

Besides that, my only issues are that some of the effects are a little iffy, and that the camera work can be a little amateur at times, but honestly those didn't bother me much.

Well that was a quick halloween this time.
3 Years ago i started handing out candy in those nice little coffins.
30 coffins did i make, but those didn't last very long.
All gone after merely an hour, to many ghost&gouls,notice to myself next year make 40 coffins :).

Well this got awkward :D

Seriously though, if it works for you - power to you, but I don't see any redeeming qualities to it. I'll admit the premise is rather original, but they do pretty much nothing with it. It's just evil Jawas jumping at people and a creepy-but-not-nearly-as-creepy-as-they-apparently-think guy walking in slow motion, sometimes throwing spiky balls at people (fun fact, the polish title translates back into english as "killer balls"). Maybe it's one of those "you had to be there" kind of things, and it worked way better in 1979, but I was really just bored out of my skull. Sorry, but there's no way I'm watching it again, and really doubt I'll ever feel like watching the sequels either.

Instead, today for Halloween I watched Roger Corman's The House of Usher. Actually, I was going to watch The Abyss, but while trying to research with Google whether to watch the theatrical or the special cut, I realised it's not a halloween movie at all. For whatever reason I was sure it's a sci-fi horror, but apparently it's not really a horror at all. So I instead went with the Ushers. And I'm glad I did, though I kinda did things out of order, watching the parody of sorts (House of Long Shadows) before the real thing. Still, it's a pretty great movie. It actually starts rather slow, and the fact the protagonist is a really bland, one-note character doesn't help, but Vincent Price is splendid, and once things get creepy, they get Really. Creepy. As. Fuck. The messed up portraits of the family, Price speaking of the house itself being evil, and then one of the best nightmare sequences I've seen build a superb spooky atmosphere. There's no monsters here, no ghosts, but it's still a great gothic horror, maybe actually all the better for it.

At least Halloween seems to be over now...had about a dozen groups of kids (some very small) come and gave them chocolate bars...thankfully they were generally well-behaved and didn't cause any trouble.

One horror movie I actually liked is "Without warning" (1980):
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081764/

It's about an alien hunting humans (sort of like the Predator)...pretty enjoyable imo.

As far as I know it's the last film Angus Scrimm worked on, so that gives it a somewhat bitter taste by default. Good to hear the film itself isn't bad, though. I'm sure I'll decide to watch it, sooner or later.
Oh wow, that's such a fun idea! Halloween isn't much of a thing around here, so it's nice to see when people put in so much effort and celebrate it!

I'm not surprised they were gone quickly. Gotta keep in mind that the little buggers remember where they got the cool goodies the year before, and they probably told their friends too! :D

What's Maoam "Bloxx" though? I think I'm no longer up to date, when it comes to candy. Is it just the old stuff with a new name?

In this part of town the kids come in groups acompanied most of the time with their parent, and i'm happy that
they celebrate it, and not just going to the "Karneval". :)

And yeah Maoam Bloxx is still the same stuff as it ever was, looks feels and tastes the same,
dunno why they rebranded it.

And the last horror movie i watched this halloween was Horror Express from 1972 and it was really a nice movie.
Ok it has Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Telly Savalas in it so by definition it can't be bad.
Story was for a horror movie passable not some "oh no when will humanity learn" or "oh no Atomic...".
The Effects and the boogedy boogedy boo monster had the right amount of screentime.
A few twists and turn in the movie keept me watching it to the end, and not like others as a white noise in
the background.

So what did you guys do for Halloween? There are no noteworthy parties in my area, but I got myself some good food & some fancy beer and watched the original Evil Dead ( 1981 ), followed by the first few episodes of the Evil Dead series which I hadn't seen until now.

The original Evil Dead is still fun. Some of the effects give away its age and low budget, and sometimes the acting/ behavior of the characters seems off. ( In general, they don't seem nearly as freaked out as one would expect them to be, given the situation. ) That aside, it's still an effective and intense Horror film, which proves that you don't need a huge production budget -- only a skilled director, some creative ideas and a good actor or two. Bruce Campbell is at his best during the last 30 minutes or so of the film, once things go batshit insane. In a way Evil Dead 1 feels like the "Alpha Version" for Evil Dead 2, where they focused on the strongest elements of the first film, and cranked the insanity up to 11. One thing I like about the film is how the atmosphere is creepy and intense right from the start. Most Horror movies have a long and slow build-up, up to the climax during the last 15 minutes or so, but Evil Dead gets going during the first few minutes, and they maintain and increase that pace for the entire duration. Some very creative and effective sound design & camera work, as well.

As for the Evil Dead series, I don't want to judge its quality until I've seen the whole 1st season, but so far it seems to deliver everything one would expect as a fan of the old movies. It has the gore, the insanity, the witty one-liners and some scenes literally had me "lol", as in laughing out loudly.
That looks interesting. I only knew about the Tales from the Crypt movies and series from the 80s/90s.
I just ordered Part 6! Might get the modern Friday 13th movie next, once I've watched this one.

Watched The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, my favorite Don Knotts movie. Just a very silly movie stuffed with amusing characters. Most movies would take the perspective of making Don Knotts the only funny guy and surrounding him with straight men but in this movie everyone is weird in their own way, except the bad guys. You don't see that much anymore outside of stuff like the Coen Bros. movies.

On Halloween we watched the original Halloween. My wife likes to make a tradition of it and I'm always up for watching a John Carpenter movie. It holds up really well. It works on suspense rather than gore and has great widescreen composition.

Didn't have many trick-or-treaters. I don't know if it's just our neighborhood but this place has always been dead on Halloween. When I was a kid, there would be an army of costumed, mostly unsupervised kids roaming the entire neighborhood from about 6 to 9 but nowadays it's more like you get a few scattered groups that always have at least one adult per kid. I wonder if the concept of "trick or treat" just doesn't mesh with the modern "helicopter parenting" thing.