We love nothing more than watching forgotten gems, B-movies and blood & guts cult classics as well as the occasional new release that quenches our collective thirst for the occult, like the newly released Halloween as remade by Rob Zombie. Also this week: Death Wish…

Considering he has previously only directed two movies – House Of A Thousand Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects – Rob Zombie did a tip-top job of reimagining Halloween, a true horror milestone with a much needed expansion on the troubled past of the anti-hero Micheal Myers. We love the grimy quality of the movie and, of course, the classic rock ‘n roll soundtrack featuring Blue Oyster Cult which inspired a visit to iTunes.

We were particularly impressed with the way the young actor Daeg Faerch handled the mask-wearing nutter – torturing small animals, killing his family and descending into madness whilst in the Smith’s Grove Sanitarium with no-one in his life expect Dr Loomis (Malcom McDowell) and kindly Guard (Danny Trejo – You’ll know him when you see him). Years pass and the now massive and silent serial killer escapes and, wouldn’t you know it, come Halloween night, Michael has one thing on his mind and heads back to his old stomping ground to open a can of whoop ass.

In our humble opinion the ultimate night of terror would be to watch this new version of the film until Mikey does a runner, then pop in the John Carpenter original for the best possible version of the movie, but Mr. Zombie’s version does do the trick on its own. Perhaps we are just a little too geeky for our own good!

It is worth mentioning that if you fancy picking up the original Halloween you should try and track down the recently released Blu-Ray version as it features a good quality transfer and commentary from the director and leading lady Jamie Lee Curtis.

We have heard some rumours lately that the 1974 vigilante thriller Death Wish directed by Micheal ‘Calm Down Dear’ Winner is going to be remade soon featuring Sly Stallone in the lead role as made famous by Charles Bronson. What better time, then, to enjoy the original and groove along to the jazzy Herbie Hancock soundtrack and admire the kitsch 70s fashion and interior decoration. By the way, look out for a very young Jeff Goldblum, who looks about twelve, making a nuisance of himself at the supermarket.

The story is pretty straightforward, what would an everyman do if his family where killed by some street punks? The answer is just as straightforward – Chuck goes about grey and rainy New York city handing out some street justice with nothing but a sock full of coins and a revolver.

Out of the 20-year-life of the Death Wish franchise, this is the best movie and is far superior to the four sequels that followed. It easily qualifies as a forgotten gem, so get yourself a copy as soon as possible, or we’ll hunt you down and kill you.

[story by Simon Woodley]