by Miller C. Lashbrook
YES!! This Halloween Special from Marvel was the perfect second course for the Halloween season this year. This special is all classic horror, all camp, and all fun. Great acting, great directing, great effects, and of course great music. I really think this special will be a gateway for a lot of folks who may not have otherwise watched some classic horror movies this month. This special also could act as a great taste for tween and teen Marvel fans of whether they are ready for scarier movies and television.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Character wise this special does such a great job setting up three characters who I would love to see come back in future MCU installments: Elsa Bloodstone (Laura Donnelly), Jack Russel a.k.a. Werewolf by Night (Gael Garcia Bernal), and Ted a.k.a. Man-Thing (Carey Jones). All three of these characters make quite the impression and I think could be come some fan-favorite characters the more they pop up in other projects; and all three would clearly fit well in another horror themed project like Agatha: Coven of Chaos or Blade.
This special balances camp, horror, suspense, and heart perfectly to create a unique fun tone that belongs in the pantheon of family friendly Halloween content like Beetlejuice, Addams Family, and Hocus Pocus. The choice to have the special be mostly in black and white was such an atmospheric choice, that really allowed director/composer Michael Giacchino to play with shadow and let the audience’s imagination paint a scary picture. Speaking of the composer, you can really tell that a composer directed this special, because the music and visuals are timed so well, and multiple times music appears in the scene.
I will definitely be watching this again this October and probably in future Halloween seasons to come.
5/5 Bloodstones 🩸💎
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