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James Finnegan looks at some of the movies on TV this Halloween weekend…
Greeting ghosties and ghoulies on this Halloween weekend. Let’s see what scary delights are coming our way.
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (Saturday 6.35pm RTE1) is a good entertaining family Halloween treat, although perhaps the very small smallies should not watch it on their own.
Two youngsters, Sarah and Sam are trying to start up a cleanup business. They are called to an abandoned house (is there any other kind at this time of year, especially in the film world?).
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They find a locked manuscript, which, of course they open. This in turn releases all manner of monsters including a ventriloquist doll named Slappy the Dummy.
Normally the sequel is a quick attempt to cash in on the success of the previous film. However, these films are based on a whole series of children’s horror book series called strangely enough “Goosebumps” by R.L. Stine, so there is plenty of fresh content to be used.
The Marvel films are now a well structured regular series of superhero action flicks. Thor: Ragnarok (Saturday 9.00pm RTE2) is the third solo outing for the God of Thunder, and is a definite change of tone from the first two films centred around this character.
Thor finds himself in a duel to the death prison on the other side of the Universe. However, he is in a desperate race against time to save his home world Asgard from his half sister Hela. Fortunately he meets up with a “friend from work” – the Hulk.
A very colourful, quirky and funny story enhanced with excellent performances from an all star cast, who have the confidence and talent to riff on their normally staid roles.
Kudos to Director Taika Waititi for bringing his unique style to the Marvel template.
The cast include Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Cate Blanchett (Hela), Jeff Goldblum (Grandmaster), Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie) Karl Urban (Skurge) and Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk. There is also quite an eclectic soundtrack to enjoy.
You have probably been worried about the lack of Clint Eastwood mentions in recent weeks. Fear not, he is back this weekend in glorious form in Escape from Alcatraz (Saturday 11.05 TG4).
Clint plays Frank Morris, a regular escapee from other prisons, is sent to the maximum security prison on Alcatraz Island.
The warden (a great performance from Patrick McGoohan whom you may remember from the Sixties television series “The Prisoner”) takes delight in telling Frank of Alcatraz’s exceptional high security record and that no inmate has successfully escaped.
So begins a classic challenge to escape with some of his fellow prisoner. Keep an eye out for Danny Glover in his screen debut.
There is a little gem of a documentary film The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years (Sunday 11.15pm TG4) directed by Ron Howard all about the Beatles career on the road from the performances at the Cavern Club in 1962 to their final concert in San Francisco in 1966.
Enjoy, stay safe and enjoy your trick or treating!
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