[Numes]

Numes' 2009 October Horror Movie Challenge List
Attention: I've done the best to minimize the spoilers in my comments, but there may be spoilers just by virtue of discussing the movie.
*** LIST COMPLETE ***

Total Watched: 39
Total Commentaries: 22
Total First Time Viewings: 32
Total Checklist [22/74]

October 1st:
1. Halloween [1978] new! imdb Blu-Ray
"He's gone from here! The evil is gone! "
- Wow. I can't believe it's taken me this long to watch this movie. Movies that are based in reality and don't have any fantastic element are the movies that scare me the most. I was definitely on the edge of my seat the whole movie. John Carpenter just did a wonderful job directing. I really love the music too, I've always been a fan of 70's synthesizer music.

● Halloween commentary [1978] new! imdb Blu-Ray
- John Carpenter, Debra Hill, and Jamie Lee Curtis in separate recordings. I have always loved John Carpenter tracks, too bad Kurt Russell didn't make a cameo in this one. Is it just me, or did I have NO idea that the mask used by "the shape" was a Captain Kirk mask? That mask is completely freaky that I sure hope no one used it as a Star Trek mask.

2. Cube [1997] imdb DVD
"It's the old Rennester!"
- More in the 31 movies in 31 days thread.

October 2nd:
3. Cube Zero [2004] imdb DVD
"It's the old Rennester!"
- An excellent "prequel" to Cube. The plot of the movie is very interesting and it is really fun to see what is happening outside of the cube, but we know everything may not be what it seems. The character of Mr. Jacks was brilliant.

● Cube commentary [1997] imdb DVD
- This commentary features the writer/director of the movie. I fine commentary. A lot of details about the making of the movie, how the movie got made, etc... A must listen for any Cube fans.[/size]

4. Cube 2: Hypercube [2002] imdb DVD
- I know that some are not big fans of this movie, but I quite like it. It may be because it has a decent amount of sci-fi elements to it. I really enjoyed the ending.

October 3rd:
5. Halloween II [1981] new! imdb DVD
- A decent sequel to Halloween. As John Carpenter said in the Halloween commentary, they really only did the sequel to get paid for what they did in the original. Not quite as scary as the original. I think it's because there was a lot more killing, so it didn't keep you as tense. The scene where the police car runs into the kid and there is an explosion is quite quite silly. I'm guessing they couldn't figure out how to bring up the plot point of not being sure if Michael Myers was dead or not, so it ended up being a bit forced.

6. Halloween III: Season of the Witch [1981] new! imdb DVD
- Wow. What can I say? This movie was actually a bit interesting for the first half of the movie or so. The idea of the town that all goes to bed early and you don't know exactly what is going on is always a bit creepy. Spoier Alert coming up. However, they pretty much give away that the guys are robots (robots?!?) about at the halfway point. After they get into the factory it just goes all to hell. Horrible and silly last half of the movie, including the ending. I will say, though, that Tom Atkins did the best he could. I've always liked him in his roles.

● Cube Zero commentary [2004] imdb DVD

7. The Prophecy [1995] imdb DVD
- I love this movie. A great cast with Eric Stoltz, Christopher Walken, and Viggo Mortensen as a wonderful Satan. I am a sucker for any religious mythology movie like this. I always learn something because I am not what you would consider a religious person.

8. The Prophecy II [1995] new! imdb DVD
- A solid follow-up to the original. Christopher Walken reprises his role as Gabriel and does another excellent job. I really enjoy the humans that the angels force to stay alive so they can drive the angels places or do their bidding. hehe, it's just a nice ongoing story plot that the angels can't drive.

9. The Prophecy 3: The Ascent [2000] new! imdb HDNet Movies
- A nice finale of the first 3 prophecy arc. I was really excited to see Brad Dourif in the opening credits because he really is one of the best character actors out there and really steals the show in whatever movie/TV show he is in. It's too bad he wasn't in more of the movie. The idea that Gabriel was human was entertaining and it worked, but it was so nice to see Gabriel as a bad guy that you kind of liked.

10. The X-Files - "Home" [1996] WC! imdb DVD
- Probably the creepiest X-Files episode ever. The song they use at the end of the show just really makes it extra weird/creepy. The deleted scene is also interesting (listen to the commentary too) to find out why they couldn't show it originally on TV.

October 4th:
11. The Prophecy: Uprising [2005] new! imdb DVD
- A decent beginning to a new Prophecy arc. They keep almost all the mythology/rules of the first 3 movies and simply put it in a different place and a different story line. Well done. John Light is awesome. Kari Wuher is always a-ok in my book

12. The Prophecy: Forsaken [2005] new! imdb DVD
- This was filmed at the same time as Uprising and is a nice finale of this story. Tony Todd is usually solid in his roles and doesn't disappoint here. The story isn't quite as good as it could have been, but entertaining.

● Cube 2: Hypercube commentary[2002] imdb DVD

13. Darkman [1990] imdb HDNet Movies
- I remember enjoying this movie a lot more when I saw it 10? years ago or so. This was directed by Sam Raimi and I saw a lot of Evil Dead type effects/elements. These elements worked for the 3 Evil Dead movies, but for a bigger budget movie like this it just didn't work for me. For the most part, I try to not pick apart movies too much, especially if they have good stories, but I just have always had a problem with believability of people being made up to look like other people. There are just so many things that wouldn't work it bothers me.

14. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers [1988] new! imdb DVD
- Thank god we're back to a Michael Myers story. I was quite surprised to see Donald Pleasance in the opening credits for obvious reasons from Halloween II. I am happy that they really tried to keep with the story ideas/characters from the original movie and not become too crazy in the story. Obviously the more sequels you have, the more people believe you have to "add" elements to the story. I think they found a good middle ground for this movie. Oh, and how awesome was the ending?!? Completely surprised (I probably should have seen it coming) but I didn't.

October 5th:
● The Prophecy: Uprising commentary [2005] new! imdb DVD

15. Halloween 5 [1989] new! imdb DVD
- Continues basically right after Halloween 4 and then moves to a year later. Definitely not as good as 5, but still enjoyable. The ending wasn't quite what I was expecting. I don't think they really had a plan when they wrote the ending to this, I wish it would have been a little more thought out.

16. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers [1995] new! imdb DVD
- We've started to get into silly time. Probably the best part of this movie was being able to watch Marianne Hagan . Paul Rudd was interesting in his role as Tommy. I think it was his first movie, but it's kind of hard to see him in a different role than he plays now. The whole symbol on Michael Myers and the burning of the symbol on the hay was pretty weak. I'm not quite sure what to say about the ending. I know Donald Pleasence died in '95, did they add that ending because of that? The IMDB trivia eludes to that, but doesn't say it for sure. I may have to find that "alternate" version of this movie out there.

October 6th:
● The Prophecy: Forsaken commentary [2005] new! imdb DVD

October 7th:
17. Halloween H20 new! DVD
We definitely now have some vibes of a modest budget 90’s horror flick here, but when you have actors like Jamie Lee Curtis and Adam Arkin in it, it takes a bit away from the teenage "I’m trying too hard for a scream fest" that a lot of the movies around this time (and even now) had. I thought it worked quite well. Jamie Lee was excellent as her original character, and I didn’t mind at all that they basically threw out the storyline from 4-6. The ending was really good here, although it baffles me a bit why she would drive the car off the cliff and everything just happened to work out perfectly to trap Michael. P.S. No Donald Pleasence in this one, I didn’t know until I checked IMDB that Halloween 6 was his last movie.
18. Halloween Resurrection new! DVD
- What a big turd. Busta Rhymes was absolutely TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE, and I don’t even want to talk about it anymore.

October 8th:
● Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers cast commentary [1988] new! imdb DVD
● Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers writers commentary [1988] new! imdb DVD

October 9th:
19. Hellraiser [1987] new! imdb Blu-Ray
20. Hellbound: Hellraiser II [1988] new! imdb DVD
"We have eternity to know your flesh."

October 10th:
21. Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth [1992] new! imdb DVD
22. Hellraiser: Bloodline [1996] new! imdb DVD
"I am so exquisitely empty"
● Halloween 5 commentary [1989] new! imdb DVD

October 11th:
23. Hellraiser: Inferno [2000] new! imdb DVD
24. Hellraiser: Hellseeker [2002] new! imdb DVD
25. Cemetery Man [1994] new! imdb DVD
"No, please don't! He's only eating me!"
- More in the 31 movies thread.

● Halloween Resurrection commentary new! DVD

October 12th:
26. Hellraiser: Deader [2005] new! imdb DVD
27. Hellraiser: Hellworld [2005] new! imdb DVD
● Hellraiser commentary 1 [1987] new! imdb DVD

October 13th:
28. Death Bed: The Bed That Eats [1997] new! imdb DVD
- More in the 31 movies thread.
● Hellraiser commentary 2 [1987] new! imdb DVD

October 14th:
● Hellbound: Hellraiser II commentary 1 [1988] new! imdb DVD

October 15th:
● Hellbound: Hellraiser II commentary 2 [1988] new! imdb DVD

October 19th:
● Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth commentary [1992] new! imdb DVD

October 20th:
● Hellraiser: Hellseeker commentary [2002] new! imdb DVD

29. Dawn of the Dead (Extended Edition) [1978] new! imdb DVD
"When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth."
- I don't think I'll be viewing the extended edition again anytime soon. This version is the "Cannes" version that Romero kind of scrambled to cut so it could be shown at Cannes. Really it was just longer versions of many scenes in the movie and didn't really add anything.

October 21st:
● Hellraiser: Deader commentary 1 [2005] new! imdb DVD

30. Dawn of the Dead [2004] imdb DVD
"The plan is you drink a nice tall glass of Shut The Fuck Up!"
- More in the 31 movie subset thread.

October 22nd:
● Hellraiser: Deader commentary 2 [2005] new! imdb DVD

October 23rd:
● Hellraiser: Hellworld commentary [2005] new! imdb DVD
31. Night Watch [2004] new! imdb Blu-Ray
32. Day Watch [2005] new! imdb Blu-Ray
- This and Night Watch were really one big movie combined. Day Watch was ok, not great, but together with Night Watch, it made it very enjoyable. There were a lot of unique aspects of this movie that I haven't seen before in a movie like this. It touched on some religious aspects as well as vampires, but with unique story plots about being balanced between good/evil and really the Night Watch being the ones in control. The connections between the main character and the Day Watch. I really liked the ending too.

October 24th:
● Dawn of the Dead (Extended Edition) commentary [1978] new! imdb DVD
-A really insightful commentary on the background and making of the movie with the producer. A lot of information on his relationship with George Romero after the movie too.

October 25th:
● Dawn of the Dead commentary [2004] imdb DVD

October 26th:
33. An American Werewolf in London [1981] new! imdb HD DVD
- More in the 31 movies thread.

October 27th:
● An American Werewolf in London commentary [1981] new! imdb HD DVD

October 28th:
34. Flashforward - "Scary Monsters and Super Creeps" [2009] new! WC! imdb
- Took place on Halloween day and a lot of references to Halloween. This is my new favorite show. I love Sonya Walger from LOST and all the other characters are just about right for this show. It's kind of like a poor man's LOST because it isn't as confusing, but has just the right amount of intrigue to keep me going every week and wanting more.

October 29th:
35. Community- "Introduction to Statistics" [2009] new! WC! imdb
- The ONLY reason I started watching this was because The Soup is one of my favorite TV shows and I think Joel McHale is hilarious. I have been pleasantly surprised by this show. Abed is hilarious and I can't decide which girl I am in love with more, Alison Brie or Gillian Jacobs. I will continue to watch as long as it's on.

36. Parks and Recreation - "Greg Pikitis" [2009] new! WC! imdb
- I've watched every episode. It is better than it was last season, but can we please get more Aziz Ansari?? He is really the funniest part of the show and he only has a few throwaway lines every episode. If I had my pick, I would rather Human Giant still be on there air, that show was hilarious.[/b]

37. The Office - "Koi Pond" [2009] new! WC! imdb
- I know only the beginning was Halloween related, but it was so funny. Michael dressing up as Dick in a Box and then hanging himself and telling kids not to commit suicide was classic Michael.[/b]

38. 30 Rock - "Stone Mountain" [2009] new! WC! imdb
- 30 Rock has stayed consistently good for the past 3 seasons. This wasn't my favorite episode, but the Tracy Jordan call to Bette White was hilarious.[/b]

October 31st:
39. The Ninth Gate [1999] new! imdb DVD
- I didn't really mean to have this be the last movie I watched for the challenge. In fact, I meant to watch 4-5 movies on Halloween day, but I was so hung over from Friday and the adrenaline was running pretty high from the Hawks win over the Hoosiers that I couldn't really concentrate and sit down and watch a whole lot of movies. Next year, dammit!!!

Legend:
DVD - Viewed on DVD
Blu-Ray - Viewed on Blu-Ray
Television - Viewed on television
new! - First time viewing
WC! - Wildcard
commentary - Viewed with commentary

Total Time Watched: 56 Hours and 1 Minute
Average Time Watched Per Day: 1 Hour and 48 Minutes

Checklist:

Spoiler:

Watch one film from every decade of film history:
--- 1890 -
--- 1900 -
--- 1910 -
--- 1920 -
--- 1930 -
--- 1940 -
--- 1950 -
--- 1960 -
-X- 1970 - Halloween
-X- 1980 - Halloween II
-X- 1990 - Cube
-X- 2000 - Cube Zero

Watch a film for each rating:
--- Unrated (pre-MPAA) -
--- G -
--- PG -
--- PG-13 -
-X- R - Halloween
--- NC-17 -
--- X -
-X- Unrated (post-MPAA) - Death Bed: The Bed that Eats

Watch films in at least three formats (DVD, BD, HD DVD, Laserdisc, TV, online, UMD, theater, iPod, etc):
-X- First format - Blu-Ray - Halloween
-X- Second format - DVD - Cube
-X- Third format - TV - Darkman

Watch a film starring:
--- Bela Lugosi -
--- Lon Chaney Sr. -
--- Boris Karloff -
--- Lon Chaney Jr. -
--- Vincent Price -
--- Peter Cushing -
--- Christopher Lee -
--- Robert Englund -
--- Bruce Campbell -
-X- Jamie Lee Curtis - Halloween

Watch films in at least two languages other than English:
-X- First language - Russian - Night Watch
--- Second language -

Watch a film in each of the following subgenres/types:
-X- Vampire - Night Watch
--- Frankenstein -
-X- Werewolf - An American Werewolf in London
--- Mummy -
--- Invisible Man -
--- Ghost/haunting -
-X- Witchcraft/satanic/religious - The Prophecy
-X- Zombie - Cemetery Man
-X- Slasher/psycho/homicidal maniac - Halloween
--- Monster/creature feature/Godzilla -
--- Documentary -
--- Musical -
--- Spoof/comedy -
--- Revenge -
--- Killer/evil doll -
--- Killer/evil animal -
--- Killer/evil child -
--- Giallo -
--- J horror -
--- MST3K/rifftrax/CT -
-X- film and its remake - Dawn of the Dead 1978/2004
--- based on a video game -
-X- based on a novel - The Ninth Gate
--- directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis or Uwe Boll or Ulli Lommel -
-X- won an Academy Award - An American Werewolf in London
--- silent film -
--- Criterion version film -
-X- with commentary - Halloween
-X- film and at least two of its sequels - Halloween, Halloween II, Halloween III
--- anthology film -
-X- takes place on a holiday - Halloween
--- takes place in space -
--- takes place on or under the sea -
--- animated film -
--- called "Night of the ..." -
--- called "Return of the ..." -
--- called "Revenge of the ..." -
--- called "Attack of the ..." -
--- with the words "Living Dead" in the title -

Special thanks to Beebs for many of the formatting ideas!