Friday Choice Cuts: Haunted House season!

The House of Shock (New Orleans) from NOLA.com

When I was a young kid I always wanted to go to the haunted houses or whatever there was going on during the season.  The few times I did get taken to them I made it to the first scare and from then on had to be carried through while I hid my face in a family member's shoulder.  I liked the idea of being scared but wasn't able to grasp the concept of these ghouls will not harm me.

As I got older though I still kept an interest every October when you'd see signs for corn mazes or haunted hayrides or whatever.  As a young adult it was worth it to get a group of friends together and see who would get scared and who wouldn't.  Hell, even as an older adult I still love going with a group of people and watching them get scared.

While I've matured quite a bit from the crying child clinging to someone's neck, I learned to love a good scare.  I don't react to most things in haunted houses now.  In fact, a lot of times I'm the person that will walk up to an actor and just say "do you need a hug," but I've learned that these scares are controlled.  It's still worth it though, come every October, to go through the cobwebs and fake blood even if it's just for the laughs.

From fire departments, to community organizations, to full blown haunted house companies, there has to be something going on somewhere for you to go to.  So go have fun!

Don't Kill It (2016) 1h 23m

I really like Dolph Lundgren as an actor.  I don't think he's one of the best actors in the world, but he has done a great combination of iconic and really fun roles.  Frank Castle in the original Punisher movie, Ivan Drago in the Rocky Films, the street preacher in Johnny Mnemonic, all favorites of mine.

Don't Kill It is a really good take on demonic possession films.  The demon jumps from host to host when someone kills the possessed.  The killer then becomes the then new vessel for the demon.  It gets explained that this is a specific type of demon and that others move through humans in different ways.  After a deer hunter happens across a container that once held the demon, a small town in Mississippi is plagued with a string of murders.  Jebediah Woodley (Dolph Lundgren) is a demon hunter that catches wind of the killings and sets out to contain the presence.

If I had to describe this film in a single word, then it would be "fun."  It's completely aware of what it is and doesn't try to make any kind of award winning cinema.  Instead it's an entertaining horror movie with strong comedic elements, some decent lore (which does have one thing I wish become expanded upon more), an excellent use of practical effects with some CGI, and probably the best delivery of a "what the fuck?" I have ever heard.  In all honesty, I would be okay of Jebediah would return for a series of demon hunting films, so long as they stay with this quality.

I give Don't Kill It a solid 3 net guns out of 5: