So last year, in the midst of our annual 25 days of Christmas, VictorMoranLive’s own Oscar Benitez (also known as the cock & balls) suggested that we should be programming Halloween too and seeing as we’re both cinephiles and horror fans it only made sense that we do so together.
Now the way we did this was fairly simple. Oscar and myself each showed up with a list of 31 movies that we felt should be programed. We then sat in a room and yelled at each other until the now list of 62 was whittled down to 31. After that, over several meetings and emails, we began to shift, move and replace until we reached what we felt was the perfect order to watch them in throughout the month of October for you to have the spookiest of Halloweens.
After all that we decided, “Hey, we should do some commentary tracks”. Well one thing led to another and we ended up doing 7. So under 7 of these movies you will see two links, one that says AUDIO COMMENTARY and another that says VIDEO COMMENTARY. The audio commentary tracks are free for all Lunatics and the videos are a Premium Member Exclusive BUT we’re gonna let you sample 1 of them for free cuz that’s how drugs work. So get your jack o’lantern lit and your puke buckets at the ready cuz VictorMoranLive is programing ALL 31 days of Halloween.
Nosferatu (1922)
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We start your 31 day journey with the FIRST vampire film ever made and possibly the oldest movie on this list but what a way to start. Directed by F.W. Murnau and almost lost to copyright issues from Bram Stoker’s widow, this silent film is actually responsible for creating the myth of the vampire being killed by sunlight. Filled to the brim with Gothic imagery and using every camera trick of the day this movie will leave you creeped out by the creature that is Count Orlok and make you lose any idea that the vampire is a sexy monster.
Fire in the Sky (1993)
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Well, it’s day 2 and me and Oscar thought, fuck it lets puch these motherfuckers in the face. Sorry I guess but this is the scariest alien abduction movie you will ever see. Hell, some years back I found out that the story this is based on turned out to be a hoax and I STILL can’t watch this thing without getting freaked the fuck out. It is essentially every fear of what you think an alien abduction COULD be and it’s gonna leave you jumping at the sound of every random hum and beep your home makes as you try to go to sleep tonight. Good luck.
Oculus (2013)
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It’s day 3 and I know the title of this movie is Oculus but I refer to this movie by it’s proper name… The Big Spooky Mirror. And I call it The Big Spooky Mirror because it’s about a Big Spooky Mirror. Now that may sound silly but let’s face it, most horror movie premises do. So needless to say, I was late to the Big Spooky Mirror party but when a friend suggested I check it out I was delightfully surprised to find out it’s actually pretty awesome and has one of those great endings that you can only pull off in horror.
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
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Well, it’s day 4. We’ve had vampires, aliens and haunted mirrors so it only makes sense that we hit you with some werewolves next and there is no better werewolf movie than American Werewolf in London. It’s funny, it’s scary and displays the first ever ON SCREEN werewolf transformation that holds up to this day. They created a whole new category just to give Rick Baker an Academy Award for the thing and that was back in 82 when it actually meant something. So keep your doors locked and your fingers crossed cuz there’s a full moon rising and an American Werewolf in your neck of the woods.
Drag Me to Hell (2009)
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Yes, we’re reaching day 5 of your spooky season and it’s not a proper spooky season without the curse of an elderly Hungarian gypsy, am I right? Enter Drag Me To Hell, a nonstop supernatural horror flick with enough dark humor sprinkled between the scary bits to keep you from turning the damn thing off. Returning director Sam Raimi back to his filmmaking roots, Drag Me To Hell delivers a knockout punch to start and a widowmaker to the end. What are you waiting for? Get your popcorn going cuz this is the type of horror movie that will leave you feeling evil for having laughed.
Hellraiser (1987)
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Day 6 leads us to the Clive Barker classic that even made Stephen King say damn. Equal parts pain and pleasure Hellraiser left all of us as children thinking that MAYBE the BDSM lifestyle was for us until the inevitable body horror came in. It’s gory, it’s sexual and sure, most of the sequels suck but this one is a perfect blend of erotica and violence, so good that it will be stuck in the deepest bits of your repressed brain for the rest of your life. So steer clear of ancient Rubik’s Cubes and get the lotion ready cuz Pinhead and the Cenobites are gonna leave you with the weirdest boner you’ve ever had.
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
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Day 7 and it’s time for that something’s not right feeling. That eerie sense that there’s a macabre plot focused on you and everyone around you is in on it. Mia Farrow brilliantly plays the titular Rosemary whose baby may or may not be in the utmost danger. What else can I say about this movie other than the fact that I’ve seen it dozens of times and it’s never not creepy. Honestly, I know what’s coming and I know every twist but my skin just crawls through out. So light some candles and get ready to celebrate the birth of a prince cuz Rosemary’s due date is today.
The Wailing (2016)
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Well, you’re 8 days deep and you find yourself in a South Korean village that’s overrun with a strange sickness and though the police department is spinning its wheels the villagers are pointing fingers at the mysterious Japanese man that moved to town the same time it all started. Look, I’d never seen this movie till it got on this list so you can actually hear me watch it for the first time in our audio commentary and premium members can watch it on video but the point is that this movie builds up slowly but the payoff is worth every minute of it’s running time. So prepare to be left wondering what the hell is going on cuz The Wailing is about to exorcise the shit out of your Halloween season.
The VVitch (2015)
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Day 9 brings you a New England folktale of a banished family who leave the village and decide to build a farm just outside a dark forest but something supernatural is plaguing the family and lord knows who will survive. Real talk this is a SLOW burn but it soaks you in atmosphere and you will find yourself in a trance trying to figure out just who or what maybe under a dark spell. It’s bleak, it’s moody, the kids are fucking KILLING it in their performances and if that wasnt enough to get you to press play, the score is haunting and theres goat named Black Phillip. So light a lantern for hope and keep your baby in sight cuz the VVitch might just come take it.
The Conjuring (2013)
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Ok, you’re 10 days in and me and Oscar thought this would be a good time to have Ed and Lorraine take us to 1971 for a good old fashioned haunted house. Yeah there’s been like 17 more in the franchise after this with varying levels of success but THIS ONE is the best. Creepy sounds, demons lurking in the shadows, The Conjuring is not one to disappoint when you’re talking about that classic horror. So get the blanket ready to pull over your face and if you hear a clap run cuz Ed and Loraine are gonna exorcise us some spirits.
Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985)
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Day 11 and it’s time for a trip down to Elm Street… for The Gay Nightmare. See Jesse just moved into town and though Lisa has a thing for Jesse, it’s clear that Jesse has a thing for Grady. Unfortunately Freddy is in Jesse’s head and he’s making it harder than it already is and it was plenty hard to begin with. Will Jesse make it out alive with his sweet dance moves and Grady or will he spend the rest of his days deep in the closet of dreamland with Lisa. Guys, we fucking LOVE this movie, in fact we love this movie SO MUCH that we aren’t just gonna give you the Audio Commentary for free, we’re gonna give you the Video Commentary too. Yes it’s a Premium Exclusive but we feel like the LGBTQ community isn’t giving it enough love so we’re gonna let you have it in the hopes that it will entice you to give this movie the chance it deserves. So throw on your assless chaps and get ready to ship Jady cuz you’ve dreamed your way into The Gay Nightmare.
Day of the Dead (1985)
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It’s the 12th day of spooky and Romero gave to me, an apocalypse and a cute zombie. Yes it’s the third and some say the darkest chapter of George A. Romero’s Dead Trilogy. Most of humanity is almost completely wiped out and a small group of survivors in an underground military facility are at each other’s throats. It’s grim, unapologetic and even famed special effects supervisor Tom Savini says the gore work in the movie is his masterpiece. Complete with a calipso score and a man shouting, “CHOKE ON ‘EM” as a gang of zombies eat his innards, Day of The Dead is a classic that has taken years to gain its status. So prepare to find yourself falling in love with a zombie named Bub cuz the dawn of the apocalypse is over and now it’s time for the day.
The Beyond (1981)
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Day 13 and we’re taking you down to Louisiana to a hotel inherited by a young woman who is about to find out that the ground in which the structure was built on the entrance to FUCKING HELL. Oscar showed me this one a couple years back and it is something special. Armed with inventive gory deaths, haunting visuals and a killer soundtrack that will get your toe tapping while you watch the kills. Believe me this is not one you want to miss this Halloween season. So avoid the girl with the milky eyes and get to running when you hear the baseline cuz The Beyond is about to take you there.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
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For day 14 we answer the questions, what would happen if Francis Ford Coppola and Bram Stoker fucked? The answer is this and don’t give me that Keanu Reeves can’t do an english accent to save his life bullshit, this is CAMP. It’s closer to a Hammer than it is to Lugosi and boy does it does it deliver. Bright red blood, sexy lady vamps and a werewolf fucking a woman in a hedge maze. You didn’t read that wrong, I said a werewolf fucking a woman in a hedge maze. Not to mention Gary Oldman as Dracula and Anthony Hopkins as Van Helsing. What else do I need to say to convince you? Wynona Ryder is in it? So protect your neck and get ready to be seduced by the power of the vampire cuz the count is making his way to town.
Suspiria (1977)
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Welcome to day 15 where the colors are vibrant and the murders are brutal but that could be ANY Dario Argento movie. A young American woman travels to Germany to join the most famous dance academy in Europe and it’s not long before strange goings on start to become the norm. With a haunting score by Goblin and Argento’s visuals this is the only movie where you will see a woman being stabbed directly in her exposed beating heart. No joke, that shit actually happens in this movie and if that doesn’t get you to watch it nothing will. So turn down the lights and bask in the glow of the cinematic kaleidoscope that is Suspiria.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)
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Well, you’ve made it to day 16 which means it’s time for a little trip… to Twin Peaks. Prom queen Laura Palmer isn’t what she appears to be. In fact, she’s a massive shit show fueled by cocaine that apparently spends her free time hooking. Is something wrong at home or are there supernatural forces afoot in the suburban town of Twin Peaks? Fire Walk With Me is David Lynch’s prequel to his hit TV show and follows Sheryl Lee in an AMAZING performance of Laura Palmer’s last week of life. It’s tone is hypnotic, it’s narrative is surreal and it’s story is horrifying. You know, like a David Lynch movie and you can watch it along with us on the Audio Commentary track free. Premium Members of course have the video to watch along with if they choose. Seriously, this movie will fuck you up on a molecular level so heed the words of the Log Lady and DON’T follow Laura to the Pink Room cuz you are in for a terrifying ride and you wont even know why you’re so scared.
HOUSE (1977)
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Day 17 brings you the tale of a schoolgirl and six of her classmates who travel to her aunt’s haunted country home. Inspired by the nightmares of director Nobuhiko Ôbayashi’s young daughter, HOOOOOUUUUUUSE is the most bat shit crazy movie you will EVER see and has been described as an episode of Scooby-Doo on acid. Loaded to the tits with blue screen, weird edits, rotoscoping, animation, matte paintings, odd music choices and a gang of INSANE characters, HOOOOOUUUUUUSE will never cease to surprise you from scene to scene. As you can see it’s a personal favorite of ours and so Oscar and myself HAD to do an Audio Commentary for you all you lunatics to enjoy along with us and you premium members get to watch us. So get ready for the greatest piano solo you’ve ever heard a cat play because NOTHING makes any sense in our auntie’s HOOOOOUUUUUUSE.
Re-Animator (1985)
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Day 18 keeps the insanity going with director Stewart Gordan’s cult classic adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft full of gore, laughs and a scenery chewing performance by Jeffery Combs as Herbert West, a new in town medical student who moves in with a local student who soon finds out that Herbert is doing bizarre experiments involving the reanimation of dead tissue. This movie is SO MUCH fun and you’ll find yourself quoting it for weeks after as it’s lines and visuals are unforgettable and if you don’t think that’s possible, talk to me after you see a decapitated head going down on a woman against her will. So keep your eye on the cat and whatever you do don’t plagiarize Herbert West’s work cuz reanimator is here to give you life.
Creepshow (1982)
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Day 19 gives us an anthology movie directed by George A. Romero and written by Stephen King. It tells five stories based on E.C. horror comic books from the 50’s that might just be one of the greatest comic book movies of all time. With performances by Adrian Barbbeau, Ed Harris, Leslie Nielson, Ted Danson AND MORE, Creepshow is full of flashy comic book imagery and that signature Tom Savini gore that makes every horror fan squeal with delight. OH and Stephen King plays one of the greatest hillbillies in the history of cinema. There, I’m done gushing now so keep your hands off the meteor shit and settle into the spooky cuz Creepshow is here to let you know that Jordy’s mama didn’t raise no idget.
In The Mouth of Madness (1994)
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We’ve gone from H.P. Lovecraft to Stephen King and now on day 20 we have one of John Carpenter’s most underrated movies and the final film in his apocalypse trilogy that is ironically an homage to both King and Lovecraft. Sam Neill plays John Trent, an insurance investigator who is hired by a publishing company to find their best selling horror writer Sutter Cane and along the way starts realizing that the writer’s books seem to be making it’s readers go into murderous rages. People, fuck what you’ve heard about Carpenter’s later movies, this is a gem and the perfect kind of movie to get those Halloween vibes going as you ring in the end of the world asking all of those around you… Do YOU read Sutter Cane?
The Devil’s Rejects (2005)
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Welcome to day 21 where you’ll find yourself rooting for the bad guys in Rob Zombie’s grindhouse sequel to House of 1000 Corpses. Follow the Firefly family on the ultimate road trip as they flee from the vengeful Sheriff Wydell who is looking to instill as much pain on them as they have on others. It’s grimey, dirty and full of more blood, bullets and Groucho Marx easter eggs than you can shake a stick at. Guys, this is arguably Zombie’s best movie and is loaded with killer performances by Bill Moseley, William Forsyth, Leslie Easterbrook, Ken Foree and the late great Sid Haig as the unforgettable Captain Spaulding. Trust me, this isn’t one to miss so put on your human face mask and blast freebird because the rejects are here to do the devil’s work.
Sleepaway Camp (1983)
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For day 22 we thought we’d introduce you to cousins Angela and Ricky who have just been sent to camp but before the fun can begin SOMEBODY starts picking off the campers and staff one by one. Look, I know it may seem like it but this is not your typical 80’s slasher and I’d love to tell you all the ways it’s different but I don’t want to spoil anything for you. What I can say is that it’s full of inventive kills and men in short shorts and crop tops. Hey, it was the 80’s, don’t judge. The second me and Oscar decided it was gonna be on the list we KNEW we were gonna have to do an Audio Commentary for it and as always Premium Members get the exclusive Video Commentary. So be prepared to have your mind blown and dub Ricky the real MVP because I promise that Sleepaway Camp is a movie that you will NEVER forget.
Halloween 3: Season of the Witch (1982)
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It’s day 23 which means there 8 more days till Halloween. I wonder if there’s a way to say that in song for? Oh, that’s right, there is and it’s in this movie and it fucking JAMS. Commonly known as the only Halloween movie that DOESN’T feature Micheal Myers, Season of The Witch is a diamond in the rough that nobody ever gives a chance. Oscar had actually never seen this one so if you listen to the Audio Commentary you can actually hear him watch it for the first time and you Premium Members get to watch him pop his Halloween 3 cherry on the exclusive Video Commentary. Don’t believe the trash people talk about this one as Season of The Witch is suspenceful as fuck with brutal kills, a great lead performance by Tom Atkins and a perfect villain played by Dan O’Herlihy. So put on your Silver Shamrock masks and gather by the TV cuz there’s only 8 more days till Halloween.
Brainscan (1994)
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You’ve made it to day 24 where Edward Furlong (fresh off of T2) stars as Michael, a loner teenage latchkey child with a distant father and a love for video games but when he orders Brainscan, an interactive video game where he kills innocent victims, things seem to start going wrong as the local news is reporting murders that seem eerily close to the ones he committed in the game. This is a little known horror flick that kinda went under the radar and god knows why as it’s got the likes of Frank Langella in a supporting role and T. Ryder Smith as The Trickster. Will Michael make it out alive or is he gonna have to turn himself in for his virtual crimes? Only one way to find out.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
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Well, it’s day 25 so naturally we thought it was time for a massacre of the Texas chainsaw variety. When a group of teens travel to a texas cemetery to check their grandfather’s plot after several stories of grave robbing have been reported in the local news they end up being kidnapped and tortured by a family of psychopathic cannibals and get picked off one by one by the human flesh wearing, chainsaw wielding baby of the family known as Leatherface. One of the first “let’s kill a gang of kids” movies, Tobe Hooper visually asaults you with imagery that almost feels like a documentary and though it shows very little blood it somehow remains fucking terrifying. It’s a classic, it’s unsettling and is still as scary today as it was in 1974.
The Return of the Living (1985)
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So you’ve made it to day 26 which means it’s time for some punk rock nihilism. Freddy just got hired at a medical supply warehouse but when his supervisor starts showing him around they accidentally release a deadly gas into the air, causig the bodies of the nearby cemetery to rise from the grave in search of BRAINS. That’s right, this is the movie that started the whole zombies lore of eating brains. It’s gory, there’s kick ass practical effects and every performance is turned up to 11. Full of characters with names like Spider, Trash, Scuz and Suicide this film is the motion picture equivilent of, “Fuck you dad, I’m my own man!” So strap in and order dispatch to send more paramedics cuz Trash is taking off her clothes again and you’re in for a long night.
Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
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It’s day 27 and we’re starting your final week of spooky with the punch to the throat that is director Ruggero Deodato’s controversial game changer that has sparked years of discussion and created the found footage genre. While on a rescue mission deep in the Amazon, professor Harold Monroe finds the footage of the documentary film crew he is searching for and after viewing it all he’s realized not only what happened to them… but why. Basically imagine the Logan Paul suicide forest video if it ended with the people of Japan justifyably and brutaly killing them all. I’m not gonna lie, this movie is fucking ROUGH and since Oscar and myself hadn’t seen it since our teenage years we decided to do an Audio Commentary track and you can hear our trepidation and Premium Members get to see our terrified faces hitting play in the Video Commentary. Honestly, this movie has a lot to say about society that is painfully still relevant and though many can argue that it is unethically produced art WE think it’s something that needs to be seen. So keep the snacks to a minimum and prepare for an oddly happy ending because the cannibals have you in their sights and you kinda have it coming.
Dead Alive (1992)
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Moving on to day 28 and we’re going gorier than yesterday but this time you’re gonna be laughing. Lionel Crosgove’s overbearing mother Vera has been bitten by a Sumatran rat-monkey causing her to get sick, die and come back to life. Lionel tries to take care of his undead mum but it isn’t long before her appetites lead to missing townsfolk and an outbreak of zombies. Let director Peter Jackson show you how they do gore in New Zealand with a movie that famously used 80 gallons of blood in ONE scene and came with a barf bag on DVD. So stay away from the custard and keep your lawn mower blades sharpened because this movie kicks ass for the lord.
Freaks (1932)
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Day 29 takes us to the circus for the movie that ended director Tod Browning’s career. Leila Hyams gives a perfectly villainess performance as Venus, the beautiful trapeze artists who has caught the eye of Hans (Harry Earles) a wealthy little person who happens to be the leader of the sideshow performers. Venus and Hercules, the circus strong man, devise a plot to marry Hans for his inheritance but when the freaks find out their plans they take matters into their own… well some of them don’t have hands, but you know what I’m saying. This is a PRE Motion Picture Production Code movie which means all the sideshow performers were ACTUALLY disfigured and deformed and they all give great fucking performances. It’s dark, disturbing and if that doesn’t get you to press play, you get to see a man with no arms or legs light a cigarette. This may SOUND like something you wouldn’t like but I bet that by the end of this movie you will be one of us, ONE OF US, ONE OF US, ONE OF US!
Scream (1996)
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It’s day 30 and do I really need to tell you about Scream? It’s SCREAM. The movie that brought back the slasher flick in the mid 90’s after all the other franchises had gone tits up. Directed by horror legend Wes Craven, Scream is violent, yes. Suspenseful, sure but self aware enough to NOT just be another carbon copy of every horror film that came before it which at that point was kind of all us horror fans were getting at the time. Complete with one of the best opening scenes ever, Scream is a masterclass in horror but isn’t so in the pocket that a novice horror fan feels left out. It’s rules are clear and at the center is a legitimate whodunit that will have you saying, “THAT’S the killer!” at least 10 times throughout the movie. So get your stovetop popcorn popping and don’t answer the phone because there’s a killer on the other end and he wants to know what your favorite scary movie is.
Halloween (1978)
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Well you’ve made it. Day 31 and what did you think, we WEREN’T gonna have John Carpenter’s Halloween today? The name of the holiday is in the fucking name of the movie, of course it was gonna end this way and if you’re one these people that says “Oh, an escaped psycho goes around killing teenagers. How original.”, “Oh, it’s the killer’s POV shot, never seen that before.” Well FUCK YOU because the thing you obviously DON’T know is that all the horror clichés you’ll see in this movie weren’t clichés when they did it. This is the movie that did ALL those things first and it did it with NO budget. In fact, this was the highest grossing indie movie of all time for decades and besides all that… it’s fucking awesome! Michael Myers is TERRIFYING, Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode is iconic and Donald Pleasence cannot be matched at Loomis. Without a doubt this is the PERFECT movie to watch on Halloween night and that’s the reason that we have and possibly always will make John Carpenter’s Halloween the final film for your spooky season.
Alright that’s it, 31 days of Halloween programing. So what did you think? Do you like the schedule that Oscar and myself set up for you? Should we keep doing this every year and if so do you have any suggestions for NEXT year. Be sure to let us know on all the main company social media accounts @VictorMoranLive and feel free to send us your thoughts as you watch along with us every day. To subscribe to this RSS feed, click the pumpkin below. We look forward to hearing from you about all these movies and we hope you enjoy the audio and video commentaries as much as we did.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY!
