DVD Talk Forum - View Single Post - The 5th Annual "October Horror Movie Challenge" (10/1

Gobear · 09-19-09, 03:19 AM

*=First-Time Viewing
Link to watch online
Oct. 1
1.Wild Card #1 Frankenstein (1910) (Archive.org)--Interesting creation scene shot by burning a paper image and then running the film backwards so it seems like the creature is rising out of the flames.
2. The House That Dripped Blood (1972) (DVD)--An Amicus horror anthology from the early 70s with a terrific cast--Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Ingrid Pitt among others.
3. Children of the Corn (1984) (TV)--The cheesy original that spawned an increasingly inferior raft of sequels. The FX are horribly dated, and the acting generally is terrible; the exception is the actor who plays Isaac, easily one of the creepiest charactwers in 80s horror.
4. Wild Card #2-(DVD) The Paul Lynde Halloween Special (DVD)--Campier than a field full of Boy Scouts, this gem from the 70s epitomizes all that was right and wrong with TV back then. Florence Henderson and Kiss on the same show!

Oct. 2
5. An American Werewolf in London (DVD). When I saw it at the theater in 1981, I loved its blend of full-on horror and comedy, and it still works for me today.
6.The Gorgon (Veoh.com) A you-know-what is turning the young people of the vaguely Central European village of Vandorff to stone, and it's up to Peter Cushing to stop it. Back when TV stations created local programming, many markets had a late-night host who dressed up in character to introduce the films. In my pre-SNL childhood (late 60s, early 70s), the host on WSM Channel 4 out of Nashville was Sir Cecil Creape. The Gorgon was one of the mainstays on his show, and is still just a hoot to watch.

Oct. 3
7. The Legend of Hell House (DVD) TLoHH is a finely crafted little horror film which never actually shows you the ghost, which I prefer because the audience's imagination will conjure up far more frightening images than an FX team can. The movie contains a few jump scenes, but it isn't interested in scaring the audience with Boo! moments as much as it is in creating an atmosphere of dread in which anything can happen to anyone at any time. The only flaw in this otherwise-great film is its ending, which gives a ridiculous pretext for the haunting.
8. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark-(DVD)If you were a kid in the early 70s, you will have this made-for-TV movie etched into your brain. Kim Darby plays a housewife who inadvertently releases demonic goblins from a locked furnace, who in return attempt to kill her and steal her soul. Despite the cheesiness of the era and the creakiness of the effects, this still scares the 10-year-old in me who watched this wide-eyed on a Tuesday night in 1973.
9. Vampire in Brooklyn. TV A clunky relic from the 90s that wastes the talents of Angela Bassett and Eddie Murphy; Kadeem Hardison easily earns the Stepin Fetchit Modern-Day Stereotype Prize.

Oct. 4
10. The Ruins-(TV)The book's ending was much better

Spoiler:

11. Prince of Darkness. (DVD)I'm a sucker for the modern-science-meets-ancient-evil horror subgenre, and John Carpenter really delivers with this film. from my collection.
12. Trick'r Treat-(DVD)I am always puzzled when studios dump excellent movies, as Dimension did with Below a few years ago. Trick'r Treat proved to be a wonderful Halloween-themed surprise. It's an interwoven anthology film, blending 4 stories together that all have awesomely ghoulish payoffs. Definitely add this to your queue!
13. Killdozer! [b](YouTube[/b). Another great old ABC Tuesday Night Movie of the Week classic from my childhood, a construction crew on a tropical island is terrorized by a bulldozer that has been possessed by an malevolent alien intelligence. It stars the late Robert Urich and the smokin' hot Clint Walker. YouTube (link to Part 1 in title)
14. Wild Card #3-Transylvania 6-5000. (DVD) Not to be confused with the crappy 80s Jeff Goldblum movie, this is a Bugs Bunny Halloween classic, with Bugs trying to escape a vampire's clutches. From my collection.

Oct. 5
15. Masters of Horror: Fair-Haired Child-MOH was an uneven series, but this is one of my favorites. Lori Petty's performance as a literal mother from Hell evokes both the tragedy of a bereaved parent and the unbending evil of someone determined to get her way no matter what.
16. Dracula (1931) . Despite the creakiness of the screenplay and Tod Browning's static direction, Bela Lugosi's iconic performance as the immortal Count still resonates with audiences today. I watched this with the Philip Glass score, which added to the film's eerie ambience.

Oct. 6
17. [*REC]
18. Quarantine Of the two films, [*REC] is far scarier and generally a much better film. The director allows the audience time to get to know the characters, and he paced scenes to heighten the terror, whereas Quarantine comes off much frenzied and confusing because characters appear, get turned, and vanish, and thus Quarantine is less frightening by comparison.

Oct. 7
19. Creepshow: I think one would have had to have read EC comics horror titles, like Tale From The Crypt, Tales of Terror, and Shock SuspenStories as a boy to really appreciate the nostalgic qualities of this George Romero/ Stephen King classic. It works just fine as horror (the Adrienne Barbeau segment being the best), but this is also a salute to a long-lost piece of American pop culture, the horror comic.
20. Murder Party (DVD)Equally funny and gross, Murder Party is an absolute must for any fan of Halloween.

Oct. 8
21. Sssssss.Netflix streaming I'm surprised that a major studio like Universal would release this movie, which has a shoestring-budget, second-half-of-a-drive-in-double-feature feel that would make it more suited for American International or New World Pictures. Still, it's an entertaining minor classic from the early 70s "killer critter" genre.
22. Hell House Netflix streaming). This documentary is more frightening than most horror films, as it shows a fundie Christian youth group putting on a "hell house," a collection of Grand Guignol tableaus depicting the fates awaiting unbelievers.
23. Cannibal: The Musical. Made as a student film by Matt Stone and Trey Parker and despite its many flaws (it's a Troma release, after all), this musical tale of Alferd Packer's frontier carnivory shows the spark of talent that would grow to spawn South Park

Oct. 9
24. Curse of the Demon. (DVD)Despite the lurid title, NotD is not so much about the monster in the title, but in the power of belief vs. rationality.
25. Candyman. (DVD)Continuing the same theme, Candyman stars Virginia Madsen as a sociology grad student researching urban legends who discovers that faith is what legends feed on, and the awesome Tony Todd as the eponymous Candyman, a ghost made flesh by the power of belief.

Oct. 10
26. Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural. (DVD)I had never heard of this movie until posters here started raving about it as a lost classic. How have I missed such a good movie for s many years? The comparisons to Night of the Hunter are apt because director and star Richard Blackburn really created a Gothic fairy tale of childhood defiled. Eerie and brilliant, Lemora is a new Halloween favorite.

Oct. 11
27. Dead Mary--Terrible, boring film that plods through a confusing and poorly thought out script. No scares, little gore, just an awful waste of time.

Oct. 12
28. The Brotherhood of Satan. DVDOne of my all-time favorite horror films. Strother Martin's over-the-top performance elevates the film from the usual drive-in product, and a few tweaks in the script would have made this movie great (eliminating the dream sequence, re-editing the opening scene to make it clear that the giant tank is really a toy, hiring children who can act). Even so, there are some scenes in this film that are as frightening as any in better-known movies. DVD from my collection.
29. Black Sunday (La Maschera del Demonio).Hulu Moodily atmospheric and beautifully lit, Mario Bava's first film is a horror masterpiece. Unfortunately, it was acquired for US distribution by schlock studio American-International, which edited the film for the worse and replaced the original soundtrack with one by their house composer. Look for the superior Italian version.
30. Drag Me To Hell. Holy crap, what a great horror film! Sam Raimi's dalliance with big studio franchise films hasn't dulled his instinct for going for the audience's jugular, blending lowbrow comedy relief with intense horror.
31. Return of the Living Dead--Still one of the most gonzo horror-comedies ever made, this is a true 1980s time capsule.

Oct. 13
32. The House on Skull Mountain. A forgettable tale of voodoo and a family curse made at the tail end of the early 70s blaxpoitation wave. For a low-budget movie, this film boasts some well-known faces from 70s TV--Mike Evans, who was the original Lionel on The Jeffersons, plays an early victim of the voodoo cult, and Victor French, who later became part of the cast of Little House on the Prairie.

Oct. 14
33. Mimic. You just gotta love a killer bug movie, especially when it's directed by Guillermo Del Toro, the Federico Fellini of horror. I have no idea why the FX in Mimic weren't nominated for an Oscar because they are really good and still stand up today

Oct. 15
34. Haxan--I'm not sure why I watch this every year because for a documentary on witchcraft Haxan is actually fairly dull.

Oct. 16
35. Night of the Demons-I didn't see this when it was released, so I don't have the rosy haze of nostalgia to disguise this craptastic waste of time. Horny teens die stupid albeit gory deaths, with intervals of bare boob shots.

Oct. 17
36. Frogs. When I was 10, I saw the ads for this on TV and begged my parents to let me go see it, to no avail. Frankly, it wasn't worth the fuss. Apart from Sam Elliott, who is best knownas thr Narrator in The Big Lebowski, the rest of the cast are so unpleasant that I was rooting for the swamp critters to eat them.
37. Phantom of the Opera. DVD. Terrific film. Claude Rains gives the Phantom a soulful quality that compensates for Susanna Foster's wooden acting.
38. House of Wax. The 1953 Vincent Price classic, not the Paris Hilton POS.

Oct. 18
39. The Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow I don't mind brainless low-budget movies, but they should be at least entertaining. The value of this film is that it's a snapshot of 1950s West Coast teen culture filtered through a movie lens. A bunch of wholesome teens who like to restore and race cars find monsters and 50's proto-surf music in a haunted house.
40. The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini. What a sad end to the careers of Basil Rathbone and Boris Karloff. Fun movie, but far beneath their status as actors. The lead actress was the mistress of James Nicholson, one of the managing partners of AIP, who married her after he divorced the wife he was cheating on.
41. The House of the Laughing Windows (La Casa dalle Finestre Che Ridono). I'm not much on gialli, but this is one giallo that I enjoyed. It was never theatrically released in the US, and I found out about it through Eli Roth's recommendation on Trailers From Hell . The film's plot concerns an artist hired to restore a fresco in a church, and the string of murders that follow.

Oct. 19
42. The Mist Iwatched the b/w version--deracinated color is not the equivalent of b/w photography. Still, this is easily the best King adaptation on film after Shawshank.
43. The Halloween Tree Cartoon Network used to show this every Halloween. It's a Ray Bradbury paen to small-town Americana, blended with a lesson on the origins of Halloween traditions.

Oct. 20
44. Freaks. Freaks still retains its power to shock after 77 years, despite Tod Browning's indifferent direction and the almost indecipherable accents of the leading actors. I don't love Freaks like I do other 30s horror movies, but it's still an important film.
45. Mr. Sardonicus William Castle may have been a brilliant showman in his day, but his gimmicks just seem stupid and intrusive. He completely kills the movie's climax for me with the "Punishment Poll", although maybe was attempting to ape Brecht in creating an alienating effect which reminds the viewer that he is an observer and make him question the social realities of the narrative.

Nah.

Oct. 21.
46. The Ferryman-New Zealand, the home of Peter "Dead-Alive" Jackson, has become a horror film powerhouse over the past few years. The Ferryman take a well-worn horror theme, the sinister stranger rescued at sea, and given it a wholly frightening "Body Snatchers" twist. Definitely one of my faves.

Oct. 22.
47. The Comedy of Terrors Vincent Price was sadly underestimated as a comic actor. Peter Lorre's delivery was more deadpan, but he also was richly gifted in comedic talent. Nice turns from Boris Karloff and Basil Rathbone, but this is Price's film.
48. Motel Hell. Blending comedy with horror can be tricky. Sometime you'll get a Shaun of the Dead and sometimes you get this. The movie's script is too crude to hit the right notes, so the comedy falls flat and the horror is just gross. Apart from Rory Calhoun, the rest of the actors are just terrible.
49. Paranormal Activity You know how a friend will show you a Youtube video that details something so horrific you are afraid to think it's real? This is like that.

Oct. 23.
50. Dawn of the Dead (2004) (Hulu)Zach Snyder's re-make of the George Romero classic starts off with a bang--if the rest of the movie were this intense, it would be an instant classic. However, the script has too many characters so it's difficult to care when someone dies, and

Spoiler:

should have been cut entirely. Despite its flaws, this is still one of the best horror films of the past decade.
51. Jekyll + Hyde (DVD). Jekyll and Hyde sing! Yeah, Frank Wildhorn may be the poor man's Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Hasselhoff is a ham actor whose voice strains to hit the right notes, but I still enjoy this show, despite Leslie Bricusse's weak book and Wildhorn's pedestrian tunes. Still, this show has some good songs.

Oct. 24
52.Wild Card #4 Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween Special (Youtube) A relic from the 70s, this is a Halloween special cobbled together Frankenstein-style from clips of Warner Brothers animated shorts.
53. Wild Card #5 It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! (Youtube) "I got a rock!"
54. The Asphyx (Youtube) Terrific film that really deserves to be better known. A 19th-century researcher investigates what happens at the moment of death and finds that a spirit he calls an "asphyx" takes the souls of the dying to the afterlife. So he reasons that if he can stop the asphyx in its mission, he can prolong life indefinitely, and then things go very wrong indeed.
55. Poltergeist (TCM). Still entertaining, but not all that scary--Spielberg movies are too much like Disney rides.
56. The Exorcist. DVD. One of the greatest, not just horror films, but one of the greatest films ever made. The Exorcist transcends its genre to be a brilliant Criterion Collection-level piece of world cinema.
57. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978). DVD I love the 1956 original and I am one of the few who thinks the 1993 version is quite good, but this film sets the bench mark for paranoia in a decade famous for conspiracy films. Even at the beginning of the film, it's clear that some that appear human, really aren't. I've neve been able to trust garbage trucks ever since I saw this when it came out.

Oct. 25
58.Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)--Even though this was a theatrical release, it has a very "Movie of the week" feel to it. William Shatner made a few of these low-budget horror films after between Star Trek and TJ Hooker.
59.End of the Line--This movie made very little snese to me; although I sympathize with the director's distaste for religious fanaticism, I found this movie to be incoherent.

Oct. 26
60. The Manitou (1978) (YouTube)It's hard to believe that this film came out after The Exorcist and Star Wars because the FX are incredibly lame. The book this was adapted from is actually pretty decent pulp horror, but the movie is a mess. Still, despite its utter craptitude, it's still kinda sorta watchable, if one is in the right mood.
61. The Sentinel (1978) (DVD)--On paper this movie must have sounded good--an all-star cast and a script based on a best-selling horror novel. But, oy, is this a terrible, terrible film! It is so over the top and so ineptly directed that the movie is mostly laughable, except for the end. The grotesque decision to have actual deformed people portray damned souls rising out of the portal to Hell, which for some reason is in a New York brownstone, has to be one of the most repulsive exploitation devices in film history.
62. Repo: The Genetic Opera(2008) (DVD)--The story line is a bit rocky, but I really love this movie. Anthony Stewart Head needs to be in many more movie musicals.
63. The Hunger (1983) (DVD)--More style than substance, but this is really a moody 80s vampire film that reflects the MTV-video editing style that took over movies in that era.

Oct. 27
64. The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966) (DVD) Don Knotts does not get his due as a master comic actor. Although most of his films are crap, he's always good in them. This film, however, is not crap. It's a terrific little comedy that also works well as a horror movie. One of my childhood favorites that still makes me laugh today.
65. The Power (1968) (TCM). Hoo boy, was this a waste of time! The film took an interesting idea--an intellectual mutant endowed with superhuman powers-and does nothing with it.

Oct. 28
66. The Beast Must Die (1975) (YouTube). A werewolf movie with a mystery gimmick--a "Werewolf Break" where the audience is invited to guess which character is the werewolf. I'd heard about this film for years and finally found it on YouTube. Entertaining blend of English drawing room mystery novel and horror film.
67. Wild Card #6 The Devil in a Convent (1899) YouTube. A George Melies short that someone mentioned in the discussion thread.
68. The Fog (1980) (DVD). John Carpenter directed this spooky tale of leprous ghosts bent on revenge right after his first hit, Halloween. Carpenter made a true horror film because The Fog gives me the willies every time I watch it.

Oct. 29
69. Sweeney Todd (1982) (DVD--As much as I enjoyed the Tim Burton film, it can't compare to the original Broadway production. Angela Lansbury owns the role of Mrs. Lovett.
70. Hellraiser (1987) (DVD--When Hellraiser came out in the summer of 1987, I was obsessed with it and could not stop telling people to go see it. It is still one of the greatest horror films ever made.
71. Jigoku (1960) (DVD). A very Buddhist conception of hell, Jigoku, despite its gory climax, is a highly intelligent film on suffering and guilt.
72. Carriers (2009) --Another movie that got dumped, this time because its studio had gone out of business. The movie is a post-apocalyptic tale of a carful of people trying to save themselves from a plague that has wiped out 99% of the world's population, forcing its characters to make some heartless, ugly choices to give themselves hope for survival.

Oct. 30
73. Netherbeasts Incorporated (2007) Netflix streaming. A direct-to-video vampire comedy that just doesn't work. Darrell Hammond needs a better agent.
74. MST3K: Revenge of the Creature (1955) (Google Video). A Mike episode. Very good riffing.
75. Vampyr (1932) It's such a pity that Dreyer made so few films; few directors have his grasp of atmosphere and the use of the camera to create an emotional state in the viewer. Vampyr is a brilliantly creepy film.

Halloween!
76. The Wicker Man (1973)--The good one, not the Nic Cage POS.
77. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)--Mandatory viewing.
78. Night of the Living Dead (1968)--Also mandatory viewing
79. Carrie (1976)--I was in high school when this was released--I feel soo old.
80. The Car (1977). One last cheez-tastic piece of fun 70s schlock.
And we're done!

Spoiler:

09-19-09, 03:19 AM	#39
Gobear Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Reston, VA Posts: 422	Re: The 5th Annual "October Horror Movie Challenge" (10/1 - 10/31) **LISTS GO HERE! =First-Time Viewing Link to watch online Oct. 1* 1.Wild Card #1 Frankenstein (1910) (Archive.org)--Interesting creation scene shot by burning a paper image and then running the film backwards so it seems like the creature is rising out of the flames. 2. The House That Dripped Blood (1972) (DVD)--An Amicus horror anthology from the early 70s with a terrific cast--Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Ingrid Pitt among others. 3. Children of the Corn (1984) (TV)--The cheesy original that spawned an increasingly inferior raft of sequels. The FX are horribly dated, and the acting generally is terrible; the exception is the actor who plays Isaac, easily one of the creepiest charactwers in 80s horror. 4. Wild Card #2-(DVD) The Paul Lynde Halloween Special (DVD)--Campier than a field full of Boy Scouts, this gem from the 70s epitomizes all that was right and wrong with TV back then. Florence Henderson and Kiss on the same show! Oct. 2 5. An American Werewolf in London (DVD). When I saw it at the theater in 1981, I loved its blend of full-on horror and comedy, and it still works for me today. 6.The Gorgon (Veoh.com) A you-know-what is turning the young people of the vaguely Central European village of Vandorff to stone, and it's up to Peter Cushing to stop it. Back when TV stations created local programming, many markets had a late-night host who dressed up in character to introduce the films. In my pre-SNL childhood (late 60s, early 70s), the host on WSM Channel 4 out of Nashville was Sir Cecil Creape. The Gorgon was one of the mainstays on his show, and is still just a hoot to watch. Oct. 3 7. The Legend of Hell House (DVD) TLoHH is a finely crafted little horror film which never actually shows you the ghost, which I prefer because the audience's imagination will conjure up far more frightening images than an FX team can. The movie contains a few jump scenes, but it isn't interested in scaring the audience with Boo! moments as much as it is in creating an atmosphere of dread in which anything can happen to anyone at any time. The only flaw in this otherwise-great film is its ending, which gives a ridiculous pretext for the haunting. 8. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark-(DVD)If you were a kid in the early 70s, you will have this made-for-TV movie etched into your brain. Kim Darby plays a housewife who inadvertently releases demonic goblins from a locked furnace, who in return attempt to kill her and steal her soul. Despite the cheesiness of the era and the creakiness of the effects, this still scares the 10-year-old in me who watched this wide-eyed on a Tuesday night in 1973. 9. Vampire in Brooklyn. TV A clunky relic from the 90s that wastes the talents of Angela Bassett and Eddie Murphy; Kadeem Hardison easily earns the Stepin Fetchit Modern-Day Stereotype Prize. Oct. 4 10. The Ruins-(TV)The book's ending was much better Spoiler: because there is no false happy ending--nobody gets away, and all the characters are devoured by the vines on top of the temple. 11. Prince of Darkness. (DVD)I'm a sucker for the modern-science-meets-ancient-evil horror subgenre, and John Carpenter really delivers with this film. from my collection. 12. Trick'r Treat-(DVD)I am always puzzled when studios dump excellent movies, as Dimension did with Below a few years ago. Trick'r Treat proved to be a wonderful Halloween-themed surprise. It's an interwoven anthology film, blending 4 stories together that all have awesomely ghoulish payoffs. Definitely add this to your queue! 13. Killdozer! [b](YouTube[/b). Another great old ABC Tuesday Night Movie of the Week classic from my childhood, a construction crew on a tropical island is terrorized by a bulldozer that has been possessed by an malevolent alien intelligence. It stars the late Robert Urich and the smokin' hot Clint Walker. YouTube (link to Part 1 in title) 14. Wild Card #3-Transylvania 6-5000. (DVD) Not to be confused with the crappy 80s Jeff Goldblum movie, this is a Bugs Bunny Halloween classic, with Bugs trying to escape a vampire's clutches. From my collection. Oct. 5 15. Masters of Horror: Fair-Haired Child-MOH was an uneven series, but this is one of my favorites. Lori Petty's performance as a literal mother from Hell evokes both the tragedy of a bereaved parent and the unbending evil of someone determined to get her way no matter what. 16. Dracula (1931) . Despite the creakiness of the screenplay and Tod Browning's static direction, Bela Lugosi's iconic performance as the immortal Count still resonates with audiences today. I watched this with the Philip Glass score, which added to the film's eerie ambience. Oct. 6 17. *[REC] 18. Quarantine Of the two films, [REC]* is far scarier and generally a much better film. The director allows the audience time to get to know the characters, and he paced scenes to heighten the terror, whereas Quarantine comes off much frenzied and confusing because characters appear, get turned, and vanish, and thus Quarantine is less frightening by comparison. Oct. 7 19. Creepshow: I think one would have had to have read EC comics horror titles, like Tale From The Crypt, Tales of Terror, and Shock SuspenStories as a boy to really appreciate the nostalgic qualities of this George Romero/ Stephen King classic. It works just fine as horror (the Adrienne Barbeau segment being the best), but this is also a salute to a long-lost piece of American pop culture, the horror comic. 20. Murder Party (DVD)Equally funny and gross, Murder Party is an absolute must for any fan of Halloween. Oct. 8 21. Sssssss.Netflix streaming I'm surprised that a major studio like Universal would release this movie, which has a shoestring-budget, second-half-of-a-drive-in-double-feature feel that would make it more suited for American International or New World Pictures. Still, it's an entertaining minor classic from the early 70s "killer critter" genre. 22. Hell House Netflix streaming). This documentary is more frightening than most horror films, as it shows a fundie Christian youth group putting on a "hell house," a collection of Grand Guignol tableaus depicting the fates awaiting unbelievers. 23. Cannibal: The Musical. Made as a student film by Matt Stone and Trey Parker and despite its many flaws (it's a Troma release, after all), this musical tale of Alferd Packer's frontier carnivory shows the spark of talent that would grow to spawn South Park Oct. 9 24. Curse of the Demon. (DVD)Despite the lurid title, NotD is not so much about the monster in the title, but in the power of belief vs. rationality. 25. Candyman. (DVD)Continuing the same theme, Candyman stars Virginia Madsen as a sociology grad student researching urban legends who discovers that faith is what legends feed on, and the awesome Tony Todd as the eponymous Candyman, a ghost made flesh by the power of belief. Oct. 10 26. Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural. (DVD)I had never heard of this movie until posters here started raving about it as a lost classic. How have I missed such a good movie for s many years? The comparisons to Night of the Hunter are apt because director and star Richard Blackburn really created a Gothic fairy tale of childhood defiled. Eerie and brilliant, Lemora is a new Halloween favorite. Oct. 11 27. Dead Mary--Terrible, boring film that plods through a confusing and poorly thought out script. No scares, little gore, just an awful waste of time. Oct. 12 28. The Brotherhood of Satan. DVDOne of my all-time favorite horror films. Strother Martin's over-the-top performance elevates the film from the usual drive-in product, and a few tweaks in the script would have made this movie great (eliminating the dream sequence, re-editing the opening scene to make it clear that the giant tank is really a toy, hiring children who can act). Even so, there are some scenes in this film that are as frightening as any in better-known movies. DVD from my collection. 29. Black Sunday (La Maschera del Demonio).Hulu Moodily atmospheric and beautifully lit, Mario Bava's first film is a horror masterpiece. Unfortunately, it was acquired for US distribution by schlock studio American-International, which edited the film for the worse and replaced the original soundtrack with one by their house composer. Look for the superior Italian version. 30. Drag Me To Hell. Holy crap, what a great horror film! Sam Raimi's dalliance with big studio franchise films hasn't dulled his instinct for going for the audience's jugular, blending lowbrow comedy relief with intense horror. 31. Return of the Living Dead--Still one of the most gonzo horror-comedies ever made, this is a true 1980s time capsule. Oct. 13 32. The House on Skull Mountain. A forgettable tale of voodoo and a family curse made at the tail end of the early 70s blaxpoitation wave. For a low-budget movie, this film boasts some well-known faces from 70s TV--Mike Evans, who was the original Lionel on The Jeffersons, plays an early victim of the voodoo cult, and Victor French, who later became part of the cast of Little House on the Prairie. Oct. 14 33. Mimic. You just gotta love a killer bug movie, especially when it's directed by Guillermo Del Toro, the Federico Fellini of horror. I have no idea why the FX in Mimic weren't nominated for an Oscar because they are really good and still stand up today Oct. 15 34. Haxan--I'm not sure why I watch this every year because for a documentary on witchcraft Haxan is actually fairly dull. Oct. 16 35. Night of the Demons-I didn't see this when it was released, so I don't have the rosy haze of nostalgia to disguise this craptastic waste of time. Horny teens die stupid albeit gory deaths, with intervals of bare boob shots. Oct. 17 36. Frogs. When I was 10, I saw the ads for this on TV and begged my parents to let me go see it, to no avail. Frankly, it wasn't worth the fuss. Apart from Sam Elliott, who is best knownas thr Narrator in The Big Lebowski, the rest of the cast are so unpleasant that I was rooting for the swamp critters to eat them. 37. Phantom of the Opera. DVD. Terrific film. Claude Rains gives the Phantom a soulful quality that compensates for Susanna Foster's wooden acting. 38. House of Wax. The 1953 Vincent Price classic, not the Paris Hilton POS. Oct. 18 39. The Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow I don't mind brainless low-budget movies, but they should be at least entertaining. The value of this film is that it's a snapshot of 1950s West Coast teen culture filtered through a movie lens. A bunch of wholesome teens who like to restore and race cars find monsters and 50's proto-surf music in a haunted house. 40. The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini. What a sad end to the careers of Basil Rathbone and Boris Karloff. Fun movie, but far beneath their status as actors. The lead actress was the mistress of James Nicholson, one of the managing partners of AIP, who married her after he divorced the wife he was cheating on. 41. The House of the Laughing Windows (La Casa dalle Finestre Che Ridono). I'm not much on gialli, but this is one giallo that I enjoyed. It was never theatrically released in the US, and I found out about it through Eli Roth's recommendation on Trailers From Hell . The film's plot concerns an artist hired to restore a fresco in a church, and the string of murders that follow. Oct. 19 42. The Mist Iwatched the b/w version--deracinated color is not the equivalent of b/w photography. Still, this is easily the best King adaptation on film after Shawshank. 43. The Halloween Tree Cartoon Network used to show this every Halloween. It's a Ray Bradbury paen to small-town Americana, blended with a lesson on the origins of Halloween traditions. Oct. 20 44. Freaks. Freaks still retains its power to shock after 77 years, despite Tod Browning's indifferent direction and the almost indecipherable accents of the leading actors. I don't love Freaks like I do other 30s horror movies, but it's still an important film. 45. Mr. Sardonicus William Castle may have been a brilliant showman in his day, but his gimmicks just seem stupid and intrusive. He completely kills the movie's climax for me with the "Punishment Poll", although maybe was attempting to ape Brecht in creating an alienating effect which reminds the viewer that he is an observer and make him question the social realities of the narrative. Nah. Oct. 21. 46. The Ferryman-New Zealand, the home of Peter "Dead-Alive" Jackson, has become a horror film powerhouse over the past few years. The Ferryman take a well-worn horror theme, the sinister stranger rescued at sea, and given it a wholly frightening "Body Snatchers" twist. Definitely one of my faves. Oct. 22. 47. The Comedy of Terrors Vincent Price was sadly underestimated as a comic actor. Peter Lorre's delivery was more deadpan, but he also was richly gifted in comedic talent. Nice turns from Boris Karloff and Basil Rathbone, but this is Price's film. 48. Motel Hell. Blending comedy with horror can be tricky. Sometime you'll get a Shaun of the Dead and sometimes you get this. The movie's script is too crude to hit the right notes, so the comedy falls flat and the horror is just gross. Apart from Rory Calhoun, the rest of the actors are just terrible. 49. Paranormal Activity You know how a friend will show you a Youtube video that details something so horrific you are afraid to think it's real? This is like that. Oct. 23. 50. Dawn of the Dead (2004) (Hulu)Zach Snyder's re-make of the George Romero classic starts off with a bang--if the rest of the movie were this intense, it would be an instant classic. However, the script has too many characters so it's difficult to care when someone dies, and Spoiler: the dog and the zombie baby should have been cut entirely. Despite its flaws, this is still one of the best horror films of the past decade. 51. Jekyll + Hyde (DVD). Jekyll and Hyde sing! Yeah, Frank Wildhorn may be the poor man's Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Hasselhoff is a ham actor whose voice strains to hit the right notes, but I still enjoy this show, despite Leslie Bricusse's weak book and Wildhorn's pedestrian tunes. Still, this show has some good songs. Oct. 24 52.Wild Card #4 Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween Special (Youtube) A relic from the 70s, this is a Halloween special cobbled together Frankenstein-style from clips of Warner Brothers animated shorts. 53. Wild Card #5 It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! (Youtube) "I got a rock!" 54. The Asphyx (Youtube) Terrific film that really deserves to be better known. A 19th-century researcher investigates what happens at the moment of death and finds that a spirit he calls an "asphyx" takes the souls of the dying to the afterlife. So he reasons that if he can stop the asphyx in its mission, he can prolong life indefinitely, and then things go very wrong indeed. 55. Poltergeist (TCM). Still entertaining, but not all that scary--Spielberg movies are too much like Disney rides. 56. The Exorcist. DVD. One of the greatest, not just horror films, but one of the greatest films ever made. The Exorcist transcends its genre to be a brilliant Criterion Collection-level piece of world cinema. 57. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978). DVD I love the 1956 original and I am one of the few who thinks the 1993 version is quite good, but this film sets the bench mark for paranoia in a decade famous for conspiracy films. Even at the beginning of the film, it's clear that some that appear human, really aren't. I've neve been able to trust garbage trucks ever since I saw this when it came out. Oct. 25 58.Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)--Even though this was a theatrical release, it has a very "Movie of the week" feel to it. William Shatner made a few of these low-budget horror films after between Star Trek and TJ Hooker. 59.End of the Line--This movie made very little snese to me; although I sympathize with the director's distaste for religious fanaticism, I found this movie to be incoherent. Oct. 26 60. The Manitou (1978) (YouTube)It's hard to believe that this film came out after The Exorcist and Star Wars because the FX are incredibly lame. The book this was adapted from is actually pretty decent pulp horror, but the movie is a mess. Still, despite its utter craptitude, it's still kinda sorta watchable, if one is in the right mood. 61. The Sentinel (1978) (DVD)--On paper this movie must have sounded good--an all-star cast and a script based on a best-selling horror novel. But, oy, is this a terrible, terrible film! It is so over the top and so ineptly directed that the movie is mostly laughable, except for the end. The grotesque decision to have actual deformed people portray damned souls rising out of the portal to Hell, which for some reason is in a New York brownstone, has to be one of the most repulsive exploitation devices in film history. 62. Repo: The Genetic Opera(2008) (DVD)--The story line is a bit rocky, but I really love this movie. Anthony Stewart Head needs to be in many more movie musicals. 63. The Hunger (1983) (DVD)--More style than substance, but this is really a moody 80s vampire film that reflects the MTV-video editing style that took over movies in that era. Oct. 27 64. The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966) (DVD) Don Knotts does not get his due as a master comic actor. Although most of his films are crap, he's always good in them. This film, however, is not crap. It's a terrific little comedy that also works well as a horror movie. One of my childhood favorites that still makes me laugh today. 65. The Power (1968) (TCM). Hoo boy, was this a waste of time! The film took an interesting idea--an intellectual mutant endowed with superhuman powers-and does nothing with it. Oct. 28 66. The Beast Must Die (1975) (YouTube). A werewolf movie with a mystery gimmick--a "Werewolf Break" where the audience is invited to guess which character is the werewolf. I'd heard about this film for years and finally found it on YouTube. Entertaining blend of English drawing room mystery novel and horror film. 67. Wild Card #6 The Devil in a Convent (1899) YouTube. A George Melies short that someone mentioned in the discussion thread. 68. The Fog (1980) (DVD). John Carpenter directed this spooky tale of leprous ghosts bent on revenge right after his first hit, Halloween. Carpenter made a true horror film because The Fog gives me the willies every time I watch it. Oct. 29 69. Sweeney Todd (1982) (DVD--As much as I enjoyed the Tim Burton film, it can't compare to the original Broadway production. Angela Lansbury owns the role of Mrs. Lovett. 70. Hellraiser (1987) (DVD--When Hellraiser came out in the summer of 1987, I was obsessed with it and could not stop telling people to go see it. It is still one of the greatest horror films ever made. 71. Jigoku (1960) (DVD). A very Buddhist conception of hell, Jigoku, despite its gory climax, is a highly intelligent film on suffering and guilt. 72. Carriers (2009) --Another movie that got dumped, this time because its studio had gone out of business. The movie is a post-apocalyptic tale of a carful of people trying to save themselves from a plague that has wiped out 99% of the world's population, forcing its characters to make some heartless, ugly choices to give themselves hope for survival. Oct. 30 73. Netherbeasts Incorporated (2007) Netflix streaming. A direct-to-video vampire comedy that just doesn't work. Darrell Hammond needs a better agent. 74. MST3K: Revenge of the Creature (1955) (Google Video). A Mike episode. Very good riffing. 75. Vampyr (1932) It's such a pity that Dreyer made so few films; few directors have his grasp of atmosphere and the use of the camera to create an emotional state in the viewer. Vampyr is a brilliantly creepy film. Halloween! 76. The Wicker Man (1973)--The good one, not the Nic Cage POS. 77. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)--Mandatory viewing. 78. Night of the Living Dead (1968)--Also mandatory viewing 79. Carrie (1976)--I was in high school when this was released--I feel soo old. 80. The Car (1977). One last cheez-tastic piece of fun 70s schlock. And we're done! Spoiler: Watch one film from every decade of film history. -X- 1890 - The Devil in a Convent --- 1900 - -X- 1910 - Frankenstein (1910) -X- 1920 - Haxan -X- 1930 - Dracula -X- 1940 - Phantom of the Opera -X- 1950 - Curse of the Demon -X- 1960 - The Gorgon -X- 1970 - The House That Dripped Blood -X- 1980 - Children of the Corn -X- 1990 - Vampire in Brooklyn -X- 2000 - Trick'r Treat Watch a film for each rating: -X- Unrated (pre-MPAA) - Haxan -X- G - Dracula -X- PG - The Gorgon -X- PG-13 - Drag Me To Hell -X- R - An American Werewolf in London --- NC-17 - --- X (not porn; several horror films were rated X) - --- Unrated (post-MPAA) - Watch a film starring: -X- Bela Lugosi - Dracula --- Lon Chaney Sr. - -X- Boris Karloff -The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini --- Lon Chaney Jr. - -X- Vincent Price - House of Wax -X- Peter Cushing - The Gorgon -X- Christopher Lee - The Gorgon --- Robert Englund - --- Bruce Campbell - -X- Jamie Lee Curtis - The Fog Watch films in at least two languages other than English. -X- First language, (Spanish), (*[REC]). -X- Second language, (Italian), The House of the Laughing Windows. Watch a film in each of the following subgenres/types: -X- Vampire - Dracula -X- Frankenstein - Frankenstein (1910) -X- Werewolf - An American Werewolf in London --- Mummy - --- Invisible Man - -X- Ghost/haunting - The Legend of Hell House -X- Witchcraft/satanic/religious - The Brotherhood of Satan -X- Zombie - [Rec]* -X- Slasher/psycho/homicidal maniac - Phantom of the Opera -X- Monster/creature feature/Godzilla - The Gorgon -X- Documentary -Hell House -X- Musical -Cannibal: The Musical -X- Spoof/comedy -The Ghost and Mr. Chicken -X- Revenge - Phantom of the Opera --- Killer/evil doll - -X- Killer/evil animal - Kingdom of the Spiders -X- Killer/evil child - Carriers -X- Giallo - The House of the Laughing Windows -X- J horror - Jigoku -X- MST3K/rifftrax/CT - Experiment 801, Revenge of the Creature -X- film and its remake - *[REC]/Quarantine --- based on a video game - -X- based on a novel - Phantom of the Opera --- directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis or Uwe Boll or Ulli Lommel - -X- won an Academy Award -- An American Werewolf in London-Best Visual Effects -X- silent film - Haxan -X- Criterion version film - Haxan -X- with commentary - Phantom of the Opera --- film and at least two of its sequels - -X- anthology film - The House That Dripped Blood -X- takes place on a holiday - Night of the Demons --- takes place in space - -X- takes place on or under the sea -Revenge of the Creature -X- animated film - The Halloween Tree -X- called "Night of the ..." - Night of the Demons -X- called "Return of the ..." - Return of the Living Dead -X- called "Revenge of the ..." -Revenge of the Creature -X- called "Curse of the ..." - Curse of the Demon -X- with the words "Living Dead" in the title - Return of the Living Dead** (One film could fill multiple items. Example: Dracula would fill one for decade, rating, actor, vampire, based on novel, and maybe others as well.) (Use a * to mark first time viewings.) (Change "---" to "-X-" or some similar mark when you have completed that line item.) __________________ My DVD Profiler 2008 DVDS 2008 Halloween Challenge Last edited by Gobear; 11-01-09 at 11:05 AM.