Horror Hunks - Final Guys, Bad Guys And So On

It's Halloween 🎃 and the end of the month. I've indulged in plenty of horror movies this month. For my final blog, I thought I'd do something a little different. Here's a rundown of some of my favourite guys in the genre. Enjoy.

Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) - Psycho (1960-1990)

He might be an unstable mama's boy but who can resist the unhinged motel owner? Or at the very least the gorgeous Anthony Perkins.

Dewey Riley (David Arquette) - Scream series (1996-2022)

Every franchise needs it's sensible and collected player and for five movies in the franchise, we had everyday hero Dewey Riley. Still not happy about his death.

Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman/John Shepherd/Thom Mathews) - Friday The 13th series (1984-1986)

Tommy Jarvis was the closest to a proper foil that Jason Voorhees had in this franchise and any future revival should absolutely cast a fourth actor in the role. Best character in that franchise outside of Jason and his mommy.

Jesse Walsh (Mark Patton) - A Nightmare On Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)

The guy can scream louder than anyone should, even in in distress but Jesse Walsh is one of the iconic Final Boys. In a movie that's pretty explicitly gay coded throughout.

Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves) - Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) 

Dodgy attempts of an English accent to one side, there's something very delectable about Keanu Reeves in arguably the most thankless role in the bestest live action adaptation of this classic tale. He's a dreamboat here.

Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) - Halloween Ends (2022)

I don't care what other fans of the franchise say. Not only did I genuinely last year's conclusion to the Blumhouse trilogy but Corey Cunningham was one of the best new characters introduced to the franchise.

Andrew (Ben Aldridge) - Knock At The Cabin (2023)

The faithless human rights lawyer turned sort of action man and unwitting husband killer. The guy went through a fricking lot in one movie. Hot guy though.

Eddie (Dylan Fergus) - Hellbent (2004)

I know this might be a niche, given that's it's a movie only a small audience has heard but I had to include a character from it. The good boy desk cop who copped off with a hunky bad boy while surviving a hunky killer felt like the right choice.

Jerry Dandrige (Chris Sarandon) - Fright Night (1985)

It wouldn't be a Horror Hunks list without at least one vampire in the mix. My choice would be the bad boy next door neighbor who had too much fun in tormenting Charley Brewster and seducing his girlfriend. 

Caleb Danvers (Steven Strait) - The Covenant (2006)

Oftentimes I refer to this movie as the boy version of The Craft as it's largely the same plot/similar enough. Now I love Sebastian Stan's sexy bad boy in it but Steven Strait's equally sexy good boy is also a delight too. 

Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan) - Gremlins series (1984-1990, 2023)

Yes, this might be more light-hearted family friendly horror compared to some of the others on here, but it still counts. I always liked Billy Peltzer as a character and found him rather sexy moreso in the underrated sequel to this franchise.

Philip Morgan (Farley Granger) - Rope (1948)

There's many a fascinating performance and character in this Alfred Hitchcock classic. None more than Farley Granger's eternally twitchy posh boy killer, Philip Morgan. Oh and he can tinkle the old ivories pretty well too.

John Constantine (Matt Ryan) - Constantine/Legends Of Tomorrow/DCAU (2014-2022)

Saving the best for last. There was no way I was going to do this type of blog and not include the best horror male. Of course I had to specifically reference Matt Ryan's sublime version of John Constantine. The man set the gold standard and is the ultimate horror hunk for me.

Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. Agree/disagree, let me know, lol. Oh and Happy Halloween 🎃

My Review of Halloween Ends (2022)

 

Written by Paul Brad Logan & Chris Bernier & Danny McBride & David Gordon Green

Directed by David Gordon Green

Corey (to Laurie): "What are you gonna do when Michael comes back for you? Because he is coming."

Trilogies are a difficult beast to get right, aren't they? Sometimes they can end on a whimper. Rarely do you get them all right from start to finish and in other cases, they can wildly deviate from where they were expected to go. Halloween Ends definitely fell into the latter category.

Following the events of Haddonfield dealing with the boogeyman over the course of two movies set in 2018, this third installment took place a year later where nerdy babysitter Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) found his life being torn apart following the accidental death of Jeremy (Jaxon Goldberg) while under his watch.

Three years later, Jeremy's grieving parents separated, abandoned their former home and Corey became something of a town pariah while working for his uncle and being antagonised by a bunch of annoying teenagers. Then Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) came into Corey's life and soon a blossoming romance with Allyson (Andi Matichak) also followed. In some respects, perhaps things were about to look up for Corey.

Expect not really. The town still largely hated him, those teenagers tried to kill him and then ending up in the sewers led to Corey experiencing something of a life changing encounter.  Yup, before you thought this movie was all about Corey Cunningham (which it mostly was), there was the fact that Michael Myers (Nick Castle/James Jude Courtney) was still alive, in pretty rough shape and for some reason instead of killing Corey on the spot, Michael ended up sparing him with some interesting consequences.

For months this movie has been compared to John Carpenter's Christine but instead of a corrupted motor, merely looking deep into Michael's eyes managed to set Corey on something of a killing spree and he certainly didn't waste time going from nerdy bloke to bad boy as his relationship with Allyson intensified and Laurie realised that Corey was another threat to her family's safety.

The scenes between Corey and Laurie are fantastic, both offering a contrast to the impact that Michael Myers made on their lives. Of course while this movie finally did what previous ones considered but balked at with the copycat killer storyline then gets somewhat nixed with a return to status quo of sorts. I think this movie made a misstep with not leaving Corey's overall fate ambiguous. 

However, the audience wanted a final confrontation with Michael and Laurie and this movie gave a hell of a showdown between the pair of them. Arguably the best one within the trilogy itself with a conclusion that for this timeline that made sense here. Michael got the ending he deserved, while both Laurie and Allyson (the latter not best served here compared to the previous two movies) got their own respective closures. 

- Both Nick Castle and James Jude Courtney appeared in other roles in this movie besides sharing Michael that connected with Corey as well.

- There were loads of lovely nods to the first movie as well as Halloween III: Season Of The Witch with the opening title sequence. 

- Laurie was writing a memoir for most of the movie, Allyson worked as a nurse, Frank wanted to visit Japan with Laurie and Lindsey read tarot cards and worked at a bar. We also learned that Sondra survived the previous movie and saw both her and Julian at the junkyard scene.

- Corey killed the majority of people here while Michael had the lowest body count in a film he's appeared in. Terry also killed Corey's uncle by accident. 

- Standout music: The score music naturally, especially the Corey And Michael bit. 

- Chronology: Halloween 2019 at the beginning before we moved into 2022.

For better or worse, Halloween Ends certainly lived up to it's title by providing a definite ending to this specific timeline. Is it a perfect ending? Nope. Does this mean we'll never get another Michael Myers movie ever again? I doubt it somehow but it's an interesting way to end this particular with. The Corey storyline might have felt a bit late in the game but it worked far better than expected and this movie will definitely a fanbase because of the interesting choices made with it. 

Rating: 8 out of 10

Halloween Ends - Official Trailer Released, Character Spoiler/Speculation And More

Needless to say this is a spoiler/speculation blog post concerning the forthcoming movie, Halloween Ends. You have been warned.

On Wednesday, Universal released the first trailer for the final saga between Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney/Nick Castle). Unlike trailers for the previous two movies, this one was a little over a minute long, created a tense atmosphere while at the same time, it also did it's best to reveal as little as possible. However an official synopsis was also released, which gave us some indication as to where this final installment from Blumhouse would be going. Notably with the addition of new blood into this saga's conclusion.

The new blood in question being a young man named Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell). In the synopsis, it's revealed that Corey was a babysitter responsible for the death of a young boy as well as being a new boyfriend for Allyson Nelson (Andi Matichak). The more interesting or perhaps polarising rumour making the rounds about the newcomer turns out that he might be a copy cat/someone who potentially succeeds Michael Myers in becoming a major threat to the residents of Haddonfield, There are definitely scenes in the trailer that indicate a connection between Corey and Michael as well as two killers clearly at play. I'm not sure how I feel about this particular development. It definitely feels like something that could go down badly with audiences if mishandled. Let's hope they get this right if this rumour happens to be true. 

As for the rest of the synopsis, four years has passed since the events of the 2018 Halloween movie and Halloween Kills and Laurie and Allyson are not only living together and getting on with their lives but Laurie has finished a memoir and following a cascade of terror and violence, Laurie will be forced to finally confront the evil she cannot control. Other returning characters for the movie include Lindsey Wallace (Kyle Richards), Frank Hawkins (Will Patton) and Sheriff Barker (Omar Dorsey) while another new character, Dr Mathis (Michael O'Leary) will factor into this conclusion of the Blumhouse trilogy. 

As for the future of this franchise - will Halloween Ends actually be the end? Truthfully, I doubt it. It's undoubtedly the end of Blumhouse's involvement with the series but regardless of what this movie winds up doing with both Michael Myers and Laurie Strode, I cannot see the 50th anniversary looming in 2028 passing by without another big screen outing. That's speculation on my part though. For now though we are getting a conclusion of sorts and hopefully, it'll be a good one.

Halloween Ends will be in theatres from October 14th.

Halloween - 2 sequels due for 2020 and 2021

You didn't really think Michael Myers was done that easily, huh? After the 2018 version of Halloween grossed $255 million, a sequel was inevitable. Scratch that, we're getting two of them.

Announced yesterday by Jason Blum and John Carpenter, Michael Myers reign of terror will continue into two movies, titled Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends, due in October 2020 and October 2021 respectively. Both films will see Jamie Lee Curtis reprise her role as the long suffering Laurie Strode while Judy Greer and Andi Matichak will also appear in both films as Karen Nelson and Allyson Nelson respectively, having survived the events of the previous movie.

Halloween Kills will be written by Danny McBride, David Gordon Green and Scott Teems while Halloween Ends will be written by Danny McBride, David Gordon Green Paul Brad Logan and Chris Bernier. Both films will be directed by Green and produced by Jason Blum and John Carpenter for Blumhouse productions.

Now comes the trepidation part. Sequels in this franchise have been ropy at best and some of them have been outright disasters, especially the ones that have followed more successful sequels, so I'm hoping that both movies planned for 2020 and 2021 don't share the same fate here. Still though, last year's movie was one of the best entries we've had and gave the franchise a much needed shot in the arm, so hopefully these sequels can do that as well, though I feel Laurie will probably lose a family member during her next encounter with Michael Myers.

Press Announcement: https://twitter.com/jamieleecurtis/status/1152271317682364416

Halloween Kills will be released in cinemas from October 16th 2020 while Halloween Ends will be released from October 15th 2021. Filming back to back for both movies will commence later this year.