Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)

I feel like it's a really fun fact to know that Paul Rudd's big screen debut was in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, also known as Halloween 6 and Halloween 666.  But instead of being known for the premiere of Paul Rudd's sexiness (he would follow this movie up with the much-more-popular Clueless) the sixth installment of the Halloween franchise was plagued with reshoots, horrible editing, and everyone hating everyone by the end of the production.

The first crappy decision I noticed about this movie is that someone else is playing THE Jamie Lloyd, not Danielle Harris.  Apparently they refused to pay her the $5K she asked for the movie, so they replaced her with J.C. Brandy.  NOT COOL.  Basically, it's several years after Jamie Lloyd's disappearance with Michael, and she has been impregnated, and is giving birth in some sketchy basement.  She attempts escape, running to a bus station and calling a local radio station (?!?!) begging Doctor Loomis for help.  Hmmm, a deserted bus station...probably not the best place to be safe from Michael Myers. Anddd, adios Jamie.  If you were Danielle Harris, maybe you would have lived.

Meanwhile, a new family has moved into the old Myers house.  Tommy Doyle (Paul Rudd!), the kid that Laurie babysat in the original Halloween, is living across the street, and is a little crazypants.  He is convinced that Michael still walks the earth, and is quite excited when he hears Jamie Lloyd on the radio.  This compels him to track her to the bus station, where apparently no one has noticed that there is BLOOD EVERYWHERE, and a baby in a closet in the bathroom.  No worries, though, because Tommy will just take care of the baby.

The woman that lives in the Myers house with her mean parents is Kara, and she has a creepy kid named Daniel.  When her mom finds out that they are living in the Myers house so close to Halloween, she flips and moves out.  The dad just gets drunk.  Kara takes her kid and holes up with Tommy.  Dr. Loomis tries to help, but his involvement is a bit choppy.  Apparently much of this is due to the fact that the director of this installment found Donald Pleasance's scenes "boring" and cut a lot of them.

Surrounding this story is a druid-like cult, who are apparently somehow involved with Michael Myers, and some associated children.  They also perform surgeries.  The cult part really confused me and I was having a hard time keeping track with what was going on with that.  The standard Michael-stalking-and-people-dying ensues, and we're set up for another sequel, because, come on, we can't wrap up the Halloween franchise without the return of Jamie Lee, and the addition of Tyra Banks and LL Cool J. 

Raw Meat (1972)

Snore, snore.....zzzzzzzzz.  I really, really tried to like this movie, but it was just really hard to do so.  I was excited to see a pre-Halloween Donald Pleasance, but the movie was mostly him talking and not much else.  I wish this movie was more about cannibalism and less about two London detectives wandering around, interrogating people over and over, and rudely demanding tea. 

Raw Meat follows a young couple, Patricia and Alex, who, when leaving the subway late at night, see a man collapsed on the stairs.  Although Alex wishes to ignore the man and go about with their evening, Patricia fears he may be hurt or dying.

They involve police, who return to the spot and find the man missing.  Detectives soon discern that not only is the man a prominent civil servant, but also that there have been several other strange disappearances from this particular subway station.  A little digging reveals that 100 years prior, men and women working on the subway were trapped alive when a tunnel collapsed.  But little did they know that these individuals lived for decades, reproducing and feasting on human flesh.

However, now only one man remains, after the death of his pregnant companion.  The man appears to by dying himself, having contracted a disease after living amongst filth and vermin.  The man eventually becomes desperate for food and companionship, and takes more severe measures.

You would think that this would make for quite the salacious story but it was just SO slow and boring.  The action (or lack thereof) just plodded along at a glacial pace until it got all Hills Have Eyes during the last few scenes.  I see that this has gotten a lot of good reviews and has been considered to have achieved cult status, but I just wasn't feeling it.  Sorry, Brits.