Movie Stakeout Reviews 17/10/20-23/10/20

All the latest Movieland investigations from detectives Dick japowski and Joey Arizona.

The Arizona Spook Files
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018)
Dracula and his family decide to spend some quality time together, and head out on a cruise. The problem is the ship's captain is the descendant of monster hunter Van Helsing.
Largely this series has been enjoyable, and it's the perfect vehicle for Sandler's brand of the humour. It's also ideal Halloween fodder to watch with a four year old.
First watch: 3 Garlic Gloves

Getting Spooky with Dick Japowski 🎃
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1980)
How do you make a legend even better? That's right, you add Jeff Goldblum as Ichabod Crane and make it a TV movie!
This was a real surprise treat when I learned of this a few years back and it holds up great.
Rewatch: 3.5 Jack O'Lanterns

The Arizona Spook Files
Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993)
Curt's dad is a Colonel at a top secret facility where they're trying to weaponize the undead, and obviously that's ths best placd to take your date. Curt and Julie then witness what they think is someone being brought back from the dead.
Later, for reasons, Curt and Julie decide to runaway to Seattle, but a motorcycle accident stops their travel plans as Julie ends up with a mild case of the 'being deads'. Curt then sneaks the corpse into the base and revives her, and the two head off into the sun....oh, and now Julie likes eating brains.
I wasn't a fan of the first two movies back in the day, but this I loved. It was very different from any zombie movie I'd seen before, or since. The creature effects are also amazing.
Rewatch: 4 Buckets of Brains

The Arizona Spook Files
Santo vs Las Lobas a.k.a. Santo vs the She-wolves (1976)
Mexican wrestling legend Santo takes on a cult of werewolves plaguing the countryside.
So far I've watched Santo fight vampires and an alien blob, so a cult of werewolves wasn't too farfetched, but unlike those previous adventures this was pretty good. Some great artistic flourishes, silhouetted fights and POV shots, and Santo wrestling an Alsatian.
First watch: 3 Supernatural Suplexes

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Black Box (2020)
After being in a near fatal accident, a man signs up for a radical experiment. But we all know that radical experiments can turn bogus pretty quickly!
A reliable informant and former Garbage Pail Kid hipped me to the fact that Blumhouse had dropped four new films on Amazon Prime Video which seemed like a no brainer.. I enjoyed the initial mystery but by the end I was ready to be experimented on. Some creepy imagery and ideas get overtaken by a story that's not as clever as it thinks it is.
First watch: 2.5 Jack O'Lanterns

The Arizona Spook Files
Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (2015)
A young family move into a new home, things go bump on the night, blah blah blah.
I think I'm done with found footage movies, I haven't watched one for quite a while, and I have no desire to watch another one anytime soon, except maybe for rewatching the likes of Cloverfield or 84 Charlie MoPic. They largely don't make sense, there are various points in Ghost Dimension where you can't imagine for moment why the characters would film at these points. It would actually have been much better if it had been done as a traditional movie, and only used the found footage element when they used the CCTV footage or watched the old tapes they found.
First watch: 1.5 Razorblade-filled apples

Getting Spooky with Dick Japowski 🎃
Slender Man (2018)
A group of girls clicking round the internet for a "tender" man instead get themselves a slender man and are taken one by one for creepy pasta.
I'm a little mad at myself for watching the whole film as ten minutes in I knew this wasn't for me and instead is for the teenage sleepover crowd. Slender man is creepy though but for my money the more effective use of him was in a series called marble hornets on YouTube.
This however is currently on Netflix, and might be good for younger horror hounds.
First watch: 1.5 Jack O'Lanterns

The Arizona Spook Files
Eaten Alive (1976)
When Tobe Hooper remakes Psycho...with extra crocs.
First watch: 3 Severed Heads

The Arizona Spook Files
Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974)
A young doctor, and fan of the works of Frankenstein, dabbles with his own research...and like his hero gets sent to a prison for the criminally insane. Wouldn't you know it the facility's resident doctor is Frankenstein himself, after faking his death assuming a new identity. Dr Helder figures out what's going on and insists he be included in Frankenstein's latest experiments.
I think this is probably my favourite Hammer Frankenstein movie, at least of what I've seen thus far. The obsessed Helder starts of as arrogant but becomes softer, more humane as the film progresses, while Frankenstein appears to be the respectable, level-headed one. By the end the roles are very much reversed.
First watch: 4 Severed Heads, shoulders, knees and toes.

Have you witnessed any of the movies we've investigated? What's the verdict? Let us know in the comments below.