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The 20th Annual "October Horror Movie Challenge" (10/1 - 10/31) ***The List Thread***

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BONUS DAY REMINDER: Your viewings from last month's Friday the 13th counts towards your list totals.


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The 20th Annual "October Horror Movie Challenge" (10/1 - 10/31) ***The List Thread***

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Old 09-30-24 | 11:28 PM
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Re: The 20th Annual "October Horror Movie Challenge" (10/1 - 10/31) ***The List Thread***


Check out my list of comic books seen in horror movies.

Totals & Links for My 19 Previous Lists:
Spoiler:
2005 October Horror Movie Challenge List
- 79 (First Time Viewings: 55 = 69.62%)
2006 October Horror Movie Challenge List
- 105 (FTVs: 66 = 62.86%)
2007 October Horror Movie Challenge List
- 159 (FTVs: 88 = 55.35%)
2008 October Horror Movie Challenge List
- 164 (FTVs: 89 = 54.27%)
2009 October Horror Movie Challenge List
- 135 (FTVs: 125 = 92.59%)
2010 October Horror Movie Challenge List
- 111 (FTVs: 108 = 97.30%)
2011 October Horror Movie Challenge List
- 136 (123 Movies + 24 TV Shows & 1 Short Film) (FTVs: 120 = 88.24%)
2012 October Horror Movie Challenge List
- 105 (102 Movies + 6 TV Episodes) (FTVs: 92 = 87.62%)
2013 October Horror Movie Challenge List
- 114 (111 Movies + 6 TV Episodes) (FTVs: 80 = 70.18%)
2014 October Horror Movie Challenge List
- 104 (FTVs: 45 = 43.27%)
2015 October Horror Movie Challenge List
- 118 (FTVs: 103 = 87.29%)
2016 October Horror Movie Challenge List
- 111 (FTVs: 101 = 90.99%)
2017 October Horror Movie Challenge List
- 108 (FTVs: 69 = 63.89%)
2018 October Horror Movie Challenge List
- 106 (FTVs: 84 = 79.25%)
2019 October Horror Movie Challenge List
-102 (FTVs: 59 = 57.84%)
2020 October Horror Movie Challenge List
-145 (FTVs: 131 = 90.34%)
2021 October Horror Movie Challenge List
-134 (FTVs: 109 = 81.34%)
2022 October Horror Movie Challenge List
-119 (FTVs: 109 = 91.6%)
2023 October Horror Movie Challenge List
-127 (FTVs: 102 = 80.3%)

Total watched for all 19 challenges: 2282 (2263 Movies + 36 TV Shows & 1 Short Film) (FTVs: 1735 = 76.03%)

9/30/24 (dusk to midnight)

1) Vamps (2012) [tubi] - Horror comedy about two female vampires in New York City. It was on tubi's "leaving soon" list, so I figured I'd check it out - it wasn't bad.
2) April Fool’s Day (2008) [tubi] - A year after a woman dies at a party, someone starts killing people. This one was also on tubi's "leaving soon" list. I wish I had let it leave unseen.
3) American Cannibal (2018) [OtherWorlds TV] - Three small town girls, celebrating their last night in town before leaving for college, steal a car and end up being held prisoner by a loquacious cannibal. Could've been worse, I guess.

10/1/24

4) Hush (2016) - A deaf-mute author, living alone in the woods, is terrorized by a homicidal intruder. Nothing special.
5) The Portal (2010) [OtherWorlds TV] - An old painting makes people's heads explode. Somehow, the people who made this movie were able to make exploding heads boring.
6) Butchers (2020) [OtherWorlds TV] - After their car breaks down, four random, generic "city kids" wind up as prisoners of a backwoods cannibal family. Could have been an okay movie, if I had cared about a single character in it.
7) The Ghost Snatchers (1986) - Horror comedy about two bumbling security guards and a witch who battle ghosts in a Hong Kong office building.
8) Watcher (2022) - After moving into a new apartment, a woman starts to believe a neighbor is watching her.
9) The Demented (2013) [YouTube] - Six people have their vacation interrupted by a biological weapon attack.

10/2/24

10) Killer Rack (2015) [tubi] - A woman receives a new pair of massive murderous mammaries bent on world domination.
11) Videoverse (Cassex) (2021) [tubi] - A woman digging around in the backyard of her new home finds an old camera and a VHS tape that magically transports people to a porn star's private "sex dimension."
12) Fever Lake (1997) [tubi] - Six college kids spend a weekend at a lake house.
13) The Devil's Candy (2015) - An artist and his family move into a farmhouse.
14) Scream Baby Scream (1969) [tubi] - An artist abducts women and "sculpts" their faces using a mad scientist's experimental plastic surgery techniques.

10/3/24

15) Night of Horror (1981) [tubi] - Two half-brothers slowly travel to Virginia in an RV to visit the rural cabin they inherited from their late father. This wasn't checked on icheckmovies or Letterboxd, but I know I've seen it before.
16) The Butterfly Murders (1979) [tubi] - Martial artists investigate a series of deaths caused by poisonous butterflies.
17) The Beast from the Beginning of Time (1965) [tubi] - Archeologists dig up a perfectly preserved caveman that reanimates during thunderstorms.
18) Host (2020) - People conduct a seance on a Zoom call.

10/4/24

19) A Quiet Place: Day One (2024) - When aliens invade NYC, a woman heads out for some pizza.

10/5/24

20) Baron Blood (1972) [tubi] - A young man goes to Austria to meet his relatives and visit his ancestral home. While there, he reads an incantation that resurrects a homicidal forebearer who goes on a killing spree.
21) Simon, King of the Witches (1971) [tubi] - After he's arrested for vagrancy, a homeless guy who lives in a storm sewer starts moving through the city's hippie community, gaining wealth and power along the way.
22) Erotomaniac (2022) [B-Movie TV] - A strange girl starts stalking a mortuary assistant after he posts a selfie of himself with the mutilated corpse of a C-list celebrity.
23) Creature Features: "Mothman (2010)" [OtherWorlds TV] - A reporter goes back to her hometown to report on it's annual Mothman fest just as the Mothman decides to start killing people again.

10/6/24

24) Beyond Terror (1980) - Three small-time thieves, fleeing a botched diner robbery with two hostages in tow, wind up at an abandoned church, rumored to contain a treasure hidden in its catacombs.
25) Lake Mungo (2008) - Family members are interviewed about a teenage girl who drowned.
26) Devil Monster (1946) [OtherWorlds TV] - A sailor sets out through oceans of stock footage searching for a guy named Jose.
27) HauntedWeen (1991) [tubi] - A college fraternity in need of cash reopens a haunted house attraction that was closed down twenty years earlier following a murder.

10/7/24

28) Terror on Tape (1985) [B-Movie TV] - Video store proprietor Cameron Mitchell shows clips from movies to customers. I had seen it before, but I was looking for something to watch and it was coming on, so I figured I might as well watch it again.
29) Dead Birds (2004) - Six bank robbers hide out in a deserted plantation house after stealing a Confederate gold deposit.
30) The Eerie Midnight Horror Show (Enter the Devil) (1974) [tubi] - An Italian art student becomes possessed by a demonic force after working on an old statue purchased from a deconsecrated church. Watching Terror on Tape last night reminded me that I had never actually watched this, so I did.
31) Hell House LLC (2015) - Five people open a haunted house attraction in an old hotel with a history.
32) V/H/S/Beyond (2024) [YouTube] - Interviewees talk about UFOs, and we see five found footage stories (mostly about aliens). "Stork" - Cops raid a building and battle zombie-like creatures, "Dream Girl" - Two photographers stalk a Bollywood star. "Live and Let Dive" - A skydiver fights to survive after his plane collides with a UFO. "Fur Babies" - A woman who runs a pet-sitting service in her home hides a strange secret in her basement. "Stowaway" - A young woman investigates UFO sightings in the Mojave Desert.

10/8/24

33) Bewitched (1981) - A businessman vacationing in Thailand meets a secretary he mistakes for a prostitute. They spend time together, and she falls in love. After he spurns her, she hires a magician to curse him, causing the man to kill his daughter. When the detective investigating the murder recruits a monk to battle the magician, the magician retaliates by cursing the detective.
34) In a Violent Nature (2024) - A bald guy ambles aimlessly through the woods and occasionally kills somebody.
35) Deadstream (2022) - A YouTuber livestreams as he spends a night in an old, abandoned house. This was surprisingly not terrible.
36) The Green Inferno (2013) - When a group of student activists fly to the rain forest, their plane crashes in the jungle, and they are captured by cannibals.
37) After Hours Cinema: "The Wampus Cat (2024)" [The Monster Channel] - Recent animal attacks may be the work of a cryptid. Whatever it was, it sucked.

10/9/24

38) Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel (2018) - Investigative journalists (who, conveniently for a found footage film, "never stop filming"), and a psychic (with his own "never stop filming" camera guy), go to the hotel to retrieve evidence of the original owner's crimes.
39) Sally, The Zombie Cheerleader School of Horror: "The Ghosts of Johnson Woods (2005)" [The Monster Channel] - Joe Bob's obese, unemployed son, who looks like a fatter, skeevier Dan Schneider, befriends a much younger, self-centered teenage girl, and they decide to make a horror movie together.

10/10/24

40) Skinamarink (2022) - Kids wake up to find their parents gone, so they watch PD cartoons. Are we watching a dream? Is the boy going through some near-death experience after falling down the stairs in the dark? Maybe it's all some sort of a commentary on Gen X (or latchkey kids in general). I don't know what it was supposed to be, but I do know it wasn't entertaining or interesting.
41) Wrong Turn (2021) - Six idjits go hiking the Appalachian Trail and end up hunted by bloodthirsty savages living in the woods.
42) The Curse of Bridge Hollow (2022) - Soon after a family moves to a small town that goes all out for Halloween, the daughter finds an old Jack O' Lantern, which, when lit, brings the town's copious Halloween decorations to life to wreak havoc.
43) Shrooms (2007) [tubi] - Five idjits go to Ireland to hunt for mushrooms.
44) The Greasy Strangler (2016) - A fat goofball lives with his dad who he suspects may be the killer who has been terrorizing the city.

10/11/24

45) The Dark Side of the Womb (2017) [B-Movie TV] - A large woman gives birth to a head, causing her boyfriend to fall and suffer a massive cranial injury. Doctors transplant the head onto his body. After he recovers from the surgery, he becomes a killer clown. Meanwhile, the woman meets a little person, falls in love, and gets married. The killer clown ex-boyfriend tracks her down, and then things somehow manage to get even weirder.

10/12/24

46) The Monster Mash (2022) [Fandango Free With Ads] - Horrror anthology designed to play like an old-school "Creature Features" TV show, complete with a host (Dr. Freudstein) who introduces the three stories while participating in mad doctor shenanigans. "Whispering Hollow Road" - A serial killer, who likes to film his kills with a Super 8 camera, gives a ride to a woman stranded on the side of the road. "The House" - A young couple looking to buy a home go look at a secluded old house owned by a werewolf. "Homebound Horror" - A war vet returns home, is killed by gangsters, has his body resurrected by an alien creature, and goes on a killing spree.
47) The Third Saturday in October (2022) [tubi] - On the eleventh anniversary of his crimes, a spree killer survives his execution and goes on another killing spree.
48) Ghost Stories: Graveyard Thriller (1986) [tubi] - People tell stories in a cemetery. That's it. They just stand (or sit) there talking (until the final moments of the final tale).
49) Zombie Night (2013) - Zombies mildly harass some townspeople.
50) Trick (2019) - A detective becomes obsessed with stopping a masked serial killer who strikes on Halloween.

10/13/24

51) 4 Dead Girls: The Soul Taker (The Rental) (2012) [OWTV Vault] - Four young ladies rent a house, unaware that the landlord is a voyeuristic, soulsucking demon.
52) Beast No More (2019) [OWTV Vault] - To help her cope with the death of her son, an Australian lepidopterist goes camping, looking for bugs, but finds a feral child.
53) Evil Little Things (2019) [OWTV Vault] - A woman takes her son into a collectibles shop to buy him a gift. They meet the proprietor and he proceeds to tell them two stories about dolls in his shop: "Blood for Gold" - On Halloween, a woman finds an ugly leprechaun doll on her front porch and decides to keep it, for some reason. "Be Careful What You Wish For" - A young woman with a facial scar collects disfigured dolls.

10/14/24

54) The Ghost Train (1941) [OWTV Vault] - A motley crew of gits are stranded overnight at an isolated train station where a ghost train is said to haunt the tracks nearby.
55) A Virgin Among the Living Dead (1973) [OtherWorlds TV] - A young woman goes to a castle for the reading of her late father's will, nudity ensues.
56) The Legend of Jack and Jill (Jack and Jill) (2021) [OtherWorlds TV] - A group of young people go hiking and camping in the hills and run into a pair of homicidal siblings.
57) Night of the Demon (The Touch of Satan) (1971) [OtherWorlds TV] - A young man driving around the U.S. stops to eat lunch next to a pond on a random stranger's farm and meets a mysterious young woman who the locals believe is a witch. I have seen this one "riffed" on MST3K a few times, but I don't count that as actually watching a movie.
58) Without a Body (2017) [OtherWorlds TV] - A writer who debunks ghost stories moves into a purportedly haunted farmhouse.
59) The Devil’s Machine (2019) - A man and a woman travel to a manor house to authenticate a reputedly cursed antique automaton.

10/15/24

60) I Saw the TV Glow (2024) - A kid (who's apparently too stupid to program a VCR) becomes obsessed with a TV show.
61) MaXXXine (2024) - Sometime in the 1980s, Maxine, from the first movie, is trying to cross over into legitimate films, but a serial killer is murdering young women in Hollywood, and a sleazy detective is threatening to expose what happened in the first film.
62) Abigail (2024) - Six misfits kidnap a young girl who turns out to be more than they bargained for. The whole crooks trapped in a spooky old house with a
Spoiler:
vampire ballerina

reminded me of
Spoiler:
Livide (Livid) (2011).




63) The Bone Jangler: Halloween Explosion 2018 - Frankestein el vampiro y compañía (Frankenstein, the Vampire and Co. (1962)) [The Monster Channel] - Mexican horror comedy about two goofball deliverymen who run into a mad scientist and a few monsters. Unfortunately, there were no subtitles, so I had to guess at most of what was being said. Fortunately, it wasn't difficult to follow along because they liberally swiped scenes from Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, which I have also seen.
64) Eerie Tales (1919) [YouTube] - After a German bookstore closes for the night, three portraits on the wall come to life and harass the shop owner for a few moments, then they read some stories (which we see acted out on screen). "The Apparition" - A man saves a woman who is being assaulted in a park. They board a train, and she tells him her ex-husband is insane, and that he keeps trying to kill her. They check into a hotel, but the woman disappears during the night. "The Hand" - After one of a woman's two suitors slays the other, the dead man's ghostly hand haunts him. "The Black Cat" - When an abusive drunk suspects his wife is cheating on him, he kills her and seals her up behind a wall in his basement. "The Suicide Club" - A man finds a note someone threw out of a vacant building's window. He goes into the building and meets a group of men who call themselves "The Suicide Club," and they tell him he is now a member of the club, and that he must take a chance and draw a card (like the rest of them) to see if he dies that night at midnight. "The Spectre" - A nobleman romances another gent's wife.

10/16/24

65) Dark Harvest (2023) - Teenage boys compete in a deadly annual hunt for a local boogeyman.
66) Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) - A mysterious carnival appears overnight outside a small town.
67) You Might Be the Killer (2018) - When someone starts killing camp counselors, the guy who runs the camp calls his horror-movie-nerd friend for advice.
68) Cut (2000) [tubi] - A group of Australian film students try to complete an unfinished, cursed 1980's horror film.

10/17/24

69) Hell Night (1981) - Four college kids spend a night in an old house.
70) The Third Saturday in October Part V (2022) [tubi] - "The fourth sequel from 1994." The unstoppable killer returns to kill Alabama football fans.
71) The Collector (2009) - A burglar breaks into a large, isolated house, only to discover that a masked killer has taken the family hostage and booby trapped the building.
72) It's What's Inside (2024) - A group of friends gather before a wedding. This was another film which reminded me of a different film I've seen. That one had the group of friends hooked up to a machine which sent them all into a virtual reality game where they battled zombies (I don't remember the title). It wasn't very good, and I think the memory of that movie kept me from enjoying this one as much as I could have.

10/18/24

73) Possessed II (1984) [B-Movie TV] - After a young couple and their daughter move into a haunted apartment, the woman and the girl are possessed by evil spirits.

10/19/24

74) The Wailing (2016) - Random people in a small village suddenly become violent and murder their families. Police suspect they accidentally ingested hallucinogenic mushrooms, but one policeman suspects a strange man who lives in the nearby forest is responsible.
75) Vampire Trailer Park (1991) [B-Movie TV] - A vampire moves into a trailer park in Florida on the same day the park's owners get an offer for the land from a theme park operator (provided they can get rid of their senior citizen tenants).

10/20/24

76) Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022) - Obnoxious trust fund kids play a party game during a storm.
77) The Slaughterhouse Killer (2020) [OtherWorlds TV] - A slovenly abattoir employee and his trainee start taking their work home with them.
78) Five Nights at Freddy's (2023) - An unemployed loser gets a job as a security guard watching an old pizza arcade populated by haunted animatronic characters.

10/21/24

79) Dracula Exotica (1980) - Dracula travels to America and falls in love.
80) Teen-Age Strangler (1964) [The Monster Channel] - Someone is killing teenage girls. Police investigate. I had seen this before, but IMDb calls it "horror," and I kinda enjoy the way this channel plays old commercials during breaks on their 4:30 Movie (it almost feels like watching movies on local TV back in the early '70s), so I figured, why not?
81) Jeepers Creepers (2001) - Two college kids, driving home on a lonely highway, are harassed by a supernatural killer driving a large, rusty truck.
82) Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003) - I think this takes place right after the first one. The creature from the first movie sabotages a bus, leaving a high school football team stranded, fighting to survive. I thought I had seen this before, but none of it was familiar, so I'm counting it as a first-time watch.

10/22/24

83) Werewolves Within (2021) - A mild-mannered forest ranger starts a new job in a small Northern town populated by a dozen weirdos. One of whom is a werewolf.
84) Compound Fracture (2013) [OtherWorlds TV] - Dude visits his dad... in a haunted house.
85) American Poltergeist (2015) [OtherWorlds TV] - Five vacationing college kids rent rooms... in a haunted house.
86) A Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell (Dark Fortress) (1990) [OtherWorlds TV] - A woman in a fur bikini fights to survive amid stop-motion animated monsters in a lush, post-apocalyptic forest.
87) Jeepers Creepers 3 (2017) - I think this one is a prequel (which makes no sense). The creature is back again, following one of his hibernation periods, and this time he remembered he had a truck in the first movie (which appears to have had a few upgrades, or maybe they were always there, and we just didn't get to see them in the first film).
88) Jeepers Creepers: Reborn (2022) - In this reboot, a young couple go to a horror convention, and become the targets of a group of Creeper cultists who want to feed them to the new low-budget, knock-off Creeper.

10/23/24

89) The Werewolf and the Yeti (Night of the Howling Beast) (1975) [tubi] - Paul Naschy heads to the Himalayas in search of the Abominable Snowman. I had seen at least part of this one before, years ago, so I'll call it a rewatch.
90) Night Fright (E.T.N.: The Extraterrestrial Nastie) (1967) [B-Movie TV] - A NASA rocket crashes to earth, and over aged teenagers start dying. I had seen this one before, but didn't remember much of it other than John Agar, and some of the locations and cars, so, another rewatch.
91) Haunt (2019) - On Halloween, six friends happen upon a haunted house attraction out in the boonies, and decide to check it out. The first in a series of bad decisions.
92) M3GAN (2022) - After her parents die in a vehicle accident, a young girl goes to live with her aunt, who is an electronic toys designer. Pressed for time at work and unable to spend much time with her niece, the aunt gifts the girl with a toy she has been working on, M3GAN, the Model 3 Generative Android, an experimental AI android that looks like a little girl.
93) Naked You Die (1968) [tubi] - Someone is killing people at a girls' school. Police investigate.

10/24/24

94) Porno Holocaust (1981) - People go to an island to investigate reports of huge animals, possibly mutated by radioactivity from atomic bomb testing in the Fifties, and find "a horny, mutant, cannibalistic zombie!"
95) Motel Hell (1980) - Following a motorcycle crash, a young woman winds up living with Farmer Vincent and his sister Ida who run a small motel/farm/smoked meat business.
96) The Devil (1972) - A man named Jakub escapes from a jail during some kind of uprising, goes on the run with a nun, and has odd, sometimes sleazy, sometimes deadly, encounters with assorted nuts.

10/25/24

97) The Wolf Girl (1974) [B-Movie TV] - A woman carrying her newborn twin daughters is frightened by wolves, and falls off a cliff and dies. The two babies survive. One is found and raised by a woman who lives nearby, and the other is raised by the wolves.
98) The Fly (1958) - A bug in a scientist's matter transmitting device brings about a pernicious result.

10/26/24

99) Return of the Fly (1959) - Set fifteen years after the first film, the scientist's son decides to follow in his father's footsteps.
100) B-Movie Enema: The Series: "The Ghost of Flight 401 (1978)" [OtherWorlds TV] - Planes, reusing parts from another plane that crashed in the Everglades, are haunted by the ghost of Ernest Borgnine, who died in the crash.
101) Piranha Part Two: The Spawning (Piranha II: The Spawning) (1982) - Genetically modified flying fish eat people at an island resort.

10/27/24

102) Night of the Sorcerers (1974) - Zoologists, working for a magazine, travel to a generic African jungle, where they encounter vampire leopard women.
103) Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman (2007) - An earthquake awakens a Japanese Urban Legend, allowing her to escape from a closet, seek validation from strangers, and kidnap children.
104) The Ghosts of Kagami Pond (1959) - A shop clerk, who expects the store to be left to him one day, goes on a killing spree after he overhears his boss say he is going to give it to a different clerk instead.

10/28/24

105) The Whispering Man (2019) [OtherWorlds TV] - Hungarian found footage flick about a YouTuber who inherits a cursed painting.
106) The Naked Wytche (1970) [OtherWorlds TV] - A mysterious woman invites a young couple to stay in her castle.
107) Blind Beast vs Dwarf Killer (2001) - Confusing SOV mess involving a detective, a dead girl, a blind killer, and a little person.
108) The Spider Woman Strikes Back (1946) [OtherWorlds TV] - A woman starts her new job as a companion and caretaker for a mysterious blind woman who lives in an isolated old dark house.

10/29/24

109) Creeping Death (2023) [tubi] - Middle aged teenagers tick off a Halloween monster.
110) Night Terror (1989) - A mental patient suffering from recurring nightmares experiences the nightmares of other patients. First, a libertine is seduced by a mysterious woman, then a real estate developer sees the same carnival barker wherever he goes, and finally, three thugs kill a toystore owner during a robbery.
111) Old Mother Riley's Ghosts (1941) - Mother Riley meets a young man in the park, and invites him home for supper, where he meets her lodger, with whom he shares an interest in alternative fuel engines. Eventually, a solicitor shows up and informs her that she has inherited an old castle, so they all go there to work on the engine.
112) B-Movie Enema: The Series: "Island of the Dead (2000)" [B-Movie Enema: The Channel] - People stranded on a small island (used as a potter's field by New York City) are attacked by flies.

10/30/24

113) Orgasmo Nero (1980) - While studying native culture on an island somewhere, Richard Harrison's promiscuous wife becomes very friendly with a young woman, and takes her back home with her.
114) Orphan: First Kill (2022) - A "mutant grifter" escapes from an asylum in Estonia and assumes the identity of a missing American girl, only to have her con discovered and to become part of a larger conspiracy.
115) The Sinister Doctor Orloff (1984) - The son of Orloff kidnaps young women, hoping to use their nude bodies to reanimate his mother.

10/31/24

116) Zombie High (1987) - A young woman is one of the first females to attend a prestigious prep school where faculty members secretly perform mind-altering surgery on the students.
117) Amityville Job Interview (2023) [OtherWorlds TV] - Mediocre music videos are interrupted by scenes of a woman at a job interview, a YouTuber discussing how to get a job, and some bald guy droning on about the music industry. It's another failed film re-released with "Amityville" slapped on it, hoping someone (other than those who worked on it) might watch it.
118) Amityville in Space (2022) [OtherWorlds TV] - The Amityville house is transported into space during an exorcism
119) Amityville Poltergeist (2020) [OtherWorlds TV] - A young man gets a job housesitting a haunted house.
120) Amityville Karen (2022) [OtherWorlds TV] - A city employee steals a bottle of wine from a local winery, drinks some of it, and goes on a killing spree.
121) Death Bitch (2024) [B-Movie TV] - Four San Pedro police detectives are searching for a vigilante and a serial killer who are both killing people in the city.
122) Teen Monster (Big Monster on Campus) (2000) - A high school nerd transplants a killer's brain into a dead classmate, and brings him back to life as Van Wilder.

11/1/24

123) The New Kids (1985) - After their parents are killed, a brother and his sister are sent to live with relatives in a small community in Florida, and end up fighting against a gang of high school bullies.

Total Movies Watched: 123
First Time Viewings: 111 (90.2%)


▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
By decade:
1910s - 1 - 0.81%
1940s - 4 - 3.25%
1950s - 3 - 2.44%
1960s - 6 - 4.88%
1970s -12 - 9.76%
1980s -18 -14.63%
1990s - 4 - 3.25%
2000s -13 -10.57%
2010s -27 -21.95%
2020s -35 -28.46%

Last edited by Dimension X; 11-01-24 at 12:10 AM.
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Old 10-01-24 | 01:21 AM
  #77  
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From: Trencher's Farm
Re: The 20th Annual "October Horror Movie Challenge" (10/1 - 10/31) ***The List Thread***

10-1 Dracula (1931) 4K
10-2 Frankenstein (1931) 4K
10-3 The Mummy (1932) 4K
10-4 The Invisible Man (1933) 4K
10-5 The Black Cat (1934) Blu Ray
Werewolf of London (1935) Blu Ray
10-6 The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) 4K
10-7 Dracula's Daughter (1936) Blu Ray
10-8 Son of Frankenstein (1939) Blu Ray
10-9 The Invisible Man Returns (1940) Blu Ray
10-10 The Invisible Woman (1940) Blu Ray
10-11 The Mummy's Hand (1940) Blu Ray
10-12 The Wolf Man (1941) 4K
10-13 The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) Blu Ray
10-14 Invisible Agent (1942) Blu Ray
10-15 The Mummy's Tomb (1942) Blu Ray
10-16 Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) Blu Ray
10-17 Phantom of the Opera (1943) 4K
10-18 Son of Dracula (1943) Blu Ray
10-19 House of Frankenstein (1944) Blu Ray
10-20 The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944) Blu Ray
10-21 The Mummy's Ghost (1944) Blu Ray
10-22 The Mummy's Curse (1944) Blu Ray
Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) YouTube
Terrifier (2016) 4K
Terrifier 2 (2022) 4K
10-23 House of Dracula (1945) Blu Ray
10-24 Terrifier 3 (2024) Theater
She-Wolf of London (1946) Blu Ray
10-25 Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) Blu Ray
10-26 Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951) Blu Ray
10-27 Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) 4K
10-28 Revenge of the Creature (1955) Blu Ray
10-29 Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955) Blu Ray
10-30 The Creature Walks Among Us (1956) Blu Ray
10-31 Salem's Lot (2024) 4K
Alien: Romulus (2024) 4K
MaXXXine (2024)

38 watched.

Last edited by mike7162; 11-01-24 at 01:35 AM.
Old 10-01-24 | 07:39 AM
  #78  
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Re: The 20th Annual "October Horror Movie Challenge" (10/1 - 10/31) ***The List Thread***

October 1st

1. All Hallows' Eve (2013) (7:35am) *

October 2nd

2. Halloween (2007) (Theatrical Cut) (8:00am)
3. The Mouse Trap (2024) (9:45am) *
4. Hollow Man (2000) (2:45pm)

October 3rd

None Today

October 4th

4. Stay Out of the F**king Attic (2021) (10:30am) *
5. Night of the Comet (1984) (3:50pm)

October 5th - October 8th

None These Days

October 9th

6. The Slumber Party Massacre (1982) (7:30am)
7. You Can't Kill Stephen King (2012) (8:55am) *
8. Psycho (1960) (10:45am)

October 10th

9. WNUF Halloween Special (2013) (10:05am) *

October 11th

10. Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers (1987) (8:05am)

October 12th

11. Hocus Pocus (1993) (4:50am)
12. Swimfan (2002) (6:50am)
13. Terrifier 3 (2024) (7:00pm) *

October 13th

14. Slumber Party Massacre II (1987) (3:40am)
15. The Toxic Avenger (1984) (9:35am)

October 14th - October 15th

None These Days

October 16th

16. Don't Open Till Christmas (1984) (8:15am) *
17. Misery (1990) (10:10am)

October 17th

18. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) (2:20am)
19. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) (3:45am)
20. A Nightmare om Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) (5:20am)
21. Carnival of Souls (1962) (6:45am)

October 18th

None Today

October 19th

22. Planet Terror (2007) (3:20pm)

October 20th - October 22nd

None These Days

October 23

23. The Shining (1980) (8:15am)

October 24th

24. Better Watch Out (2016) (7:45am)
25. Old (2021) (9:25am)

October 25th

26. Ginger Snaps (2000) (4:35pm)

October 26th

27. Rosemary's Baby (1968) (4:05am)
28. Smile 2 (2024) (10:00am) *
29. Hollow Man (2000) (2:45pm)

October 27th

30. Ernest Scared Stupid (1991) (9:30am)

October 28th

None Today

October 29th

31. Night of the Living Dead (1968) (7:30am)

October 30th

32. Urban Legend (1998) (7:30am)
33. Scream 4 (2011) (10:15am)
34. Maniac Cop (1988) (3:05pm)

October 31st

35. Halloween (1978) (7:10am)
36. Halloween II (1981) (7:25pm)

* = First Time Viewing

Last edited by The Monkees; 10-31-24 at 07:32 PM.
Old 10-01-24 | 10:01 AM
  #79  
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Re: The 20th Annual "October Horror Movie Challenge" (10/1 - 10/31) ***The List Thread***

It's been a while since I participated 2006 2007 2010 2011 Goal 31. First Viewing=*

October 1st

Last edited by Edison; 10-01-24 at 10:14 AM. Reason: updated
Old 10-01-24 | 10:56 AM
  #80  
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From: Nilbog
Re: The 20th Annual "October Horror Movie Challenge" (10/1 - 10/31) ***The List Thread***

VINZ CLORTHO'S 2024 OCTOBER HORROR MOVIE CHALLENGE

October 1:
00.25) ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?: S01E01 - The Tale of the Phantom Cab (Ron Oliver | 1992)
00.50) ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?: S01E02 - The Tale of Laughing in the Dark (Ron Oliver | 1992)
00.75) ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?: S01E03 - The Tale of the Lonely Ghost (D.J. MacHale | 1992)
01.00) ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?: S01E04 - The Tale of the Twisted Claw (D.J. MacHale | 1992)

October 2:
01.25) ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?: S01E05 - The Tale of the Hungry Hounds (D.J. MacHale | 1992)

October 3:
01.50) ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?: S01E06 - The Tale of the Super Specs (Ron Oliver| 1992)

-- I unfortunately have to tap out this year. As much as I want, it's just not in the cards. --

Color Key:
Spoiler:
4K UltraHD
Blu-ray
DVD
Streaming

® Rewatch

A note about this year's OHMC:
Spoiler:
I am in the middle of moving. All of my media, except for some recent purchases, is boxed up and in a storage unit. I am going to give the Challenge a shot this year, but will likely need to rely heavily on streaming. Plus, we will be physically moving at the end of the month so I wouldn't be surprised if I fall off the map by the last week or two. Due to this I have no real goal this year. I have some odds and ends I've always meant to watch but haven't due to my love of watching physical media, so we'll see how it goes!


Last edited by Vinz Clortho; 10-09-24 at 09:51 AM.
Old 10-01-24 | 12:25 PM
  #81  
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Re: The 20th Annual "October Horror Movie Challenge" (10/1 - 10/31) ***The List Thread***

Fist o' Doom Jr's 2024 Horror Challenge

Sept. 30
1. Poltergeist (2015) *
2. Friday the 13th: The Series, "The Inheritance", "The Poison Pen"
3. The Mutilator (1984)

Oct. 1
4. Polaroid (2019) *
5. Poltergeist (1982)
6. The Wolfman (2010) *
7. Friday the 13: The Series, "Cupid's Quiver", "A Cup of Time"
8. South of Hell, "Demons Are Forever", "Dinner and a Movie"

Oct. 2
9. Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)
10. Wolf Creek (2005) *
11. 28 Days Later (2002) *
12. 28 Weeks Later (2007) *
13. Friday the 13th: The Series, "Hellowe'en", "The Great Montarro"

Oct. 3
14. Re-Animator (1985)
15. South of Hell, "Judge and Fury", South of the Border"
16. Poltergeist III (1988)

Oct. 4
17. The Amityville Horror (1979)
18. Amityville II: The Possession (1982)
19. South of Hell, "Take Life Now", "The One That Got Away"

Oct. 5
20. Foreclosure 2 (2024) *
21. Haunt (2019) *

Oct. 6
21.5. South of Heaven, "White Noise"
22. Tremors: The Series, "Feeding Frenzy"
23. Amityville 3-D (1983)

Oct. 7
24. Immaculate (2024) *

Oct. 14
25. The Hitcher (1986)
26. It Follows (2015) *

Oct. 18
27. House (1985) *
28. House (1977) *

Oct. 26
29. Us (2019) *

Oct. 27
30. Curve (2015) *

Oct. 28
31. Messengers 2: The Scarecrow (2009) *

Oct. 30
32. The Dentist (1996) *
33. The Dentist 2 (1999) *


* First time viewing (movies only)

Last edited by Fist of Doom Jr; 10-30-24 at 05:26 PM.
Old 10-01-24 | 01:49 PM
  #82  
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From: Sonora, Mexico
Re: The 20th Annual "October Horror Movie Challenge" (10/1 - 10/31) ***The List Thread***

Title in BLACK = From my personal DVD/Blu Ray collection.
Title in RED = Seen on YouTube.
Title in PURPLE = Seen on a streaming service.
Title in BLUE = Seen in movie theater during its current run.
Title in GREEN = Seen during regular broadcast TV programming.

October 1
1. Viy
(1967) Russian folk horror movie, a fantastic ending!
2. Hellboy (2004) Still holds uo even if some of the dialogue is corny as hell, and we have Guillermo del Toro to thank for that because he wrote the screenplay as well as directed.
3. Hellboy: The Crooked Man (2024) Though I appreciate the more serious tone and horror leanings, this movie's just a mess.

October 2
4. Hellboy II: The Golden Army
(2008) The set pieces and design are amazing, the movie looks great. But the story is so clichéd and the dialogue so cringy that it doesn't really hold up.

October 3
5. Hellboy
(2019) A reboot of sorts being at the same time grittier and sillier. I appreciated the inclusion of the Hellboy in Mexico bit at the beginning of the movie.
6. Psycho (1960) Still holds up, but the end scene where the doctor explains Norman Bates' psicosis now seems needless. Seen in a local movie club screening.

October 4
7. Shadow of Fear
(1979) Not horror at all but this Wonderful World of Disney movie has a slight supernatural element. A boy can astral project out of his own body and also into the bodies of animals. He tries to protect a pack of wild dogs from being killed by the game warden.
8. The Innocents (1961) Classic atmospheric ghost story.

October 5
9. The Babadook
(2014) Psychological horror for all it's worth. Great movie and fantastic performances.
10. Apartment 7A (2024) Prequel to Rosemary's Baby, but it pretty much tells the same story. Interesting nonetheless.
11. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (2018) Filmed stage production by Bethany Lutheran College.

October 6
12. Candyman 3: Day of the Dead
(1999) Donna D'Errico's perky boobs carry this whole movie.
13. Nightmare at the End of the Hall (2008) Very low-key ghost story set in a school.

October 7
14. Conjuring: The Book of the Dead
(2020) A slew of C-listers populate this The Ninth Gate rip-off. However, there's a scene with Lysette Anthony in a push-up bra so I'm satisfied.

October 8
15.
Stranger With My Face (2009) Made-for-TV supernatural thriller. Very low-key but hits all the right notes.

October 9
16. The Devil's Rain
(1975) Holy smoke! This satanic movie goes all in even by having real life satanist Anton Lavey as consultant. An all star cast of 70's familiar faces (William Shatner, Ernest Borgnine, Eddy Albert). Cheesy at times but with an element of true evil throughout.

October 10
17. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
(1974) Seen in a local movie club screening.

October 11
18. Trouble Every Day
(2001) An experiment gone awry makes people's sex drive go into cannibalistic mode. Very slow and hard to comprehend at times.
19. The Accursed (2021) An old gypsy curse comes back to haunt a family.
20. Interview with the Vampire, Part II (2024) Episodes: What Can the Damned Really Say to the Damned / Do You Know What It Means to be Loved by Death

October 12
21. Los Sin Nombre (The Nameless Ones) (1999) A cult kidnaps children in an attempt to harness evil itself. Based on a novel by Ramsey Campbell.
22. Interview with the Vampire, Part II (2024) Episodes: No Pain / I Want You More Than Anything in the World.

October 13
23. Interview with the Vampire, Part II (2024) Episodes: Don't Be Afraid, Just Start the Tape / Light the Light by Which God Made the World Before He Made Light
24. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1999) Though released in 1999, this is NOT the version directed by Tim Burton. It's a Hallmark TV movie that really gives the feeling of old New England and sticks much closer to the original story.

October 14
25. Interview with the Vampire, Part II (2024) Episodes: I Could Not Prevent It / And That's the End of It. There's Nothing Else.

October 15
26. The Monster
(2016) A movie as minimalistic as its title but very effective. Excellent performance by the child actor Ella Ballantine.
27. Turistas (2006) From the "don't go to third world countries" genre. A group of young travelers who want to experience the "real" Brazil get more than they bargained for. A simple premise but effectively done with some scenes of real tension. Also, all the women, especially Melissa George, Olivia Wilde and Beau Garret look amazing in skimpy bikinis.
28. The Mummy (2017) Oh what could have been! If only Tom Cruise wasn't in this movie it might have been halfway decent.
29. The Damned AKA These Are The Damned (1962) I had never seen nor even heard of this early Hammer film. A couple stumble upon an island where a government group experiments on children. Oliver Reed co-stars.

October 16
30. Supernatural
(1977) No, not the WB's series but a much classier British series from the 70's drenched in gothic atmosphere. Episodes: Lady Sybill / Mr. Nightingale

October 17
31. Smile 2
(2024) A worthy follow up to the first one. Doesn't try to replicate the first movie beat for beat and puts in some nice twists.

October 18
32. Deep Red
(1975) Giallo thriller directed by Dario Argento. It goes on a bit too long but still pretty damn good.
33. Sometimes They Come Back (1991) Made for TV movie based on a Stephen King Short story. This movie is so pedestrian that it seems an overly long (and boring) episode of Goosebumps.

October 19
34. Le Vourdalak
(2023) Vampire story based on the Aleksey Tolstoy novel. This french film uses a marionette to represent the vampire.

October 20
35. The Hilarious House of Frightenstein
(1971) Episodes 1 & 2. Since I didn't see this when I was a kid there's no nostalgia factor involved and it's pretty hard to take the awful jokes. A standout is Vincent Price doing spooky rhymes years before Michael Jackson's Thriller.
36. Hellraiser: Revelations (2011) Perhaps the lowest point in the Hellraiser series. Thankfully it's only and hour and 15 minutes.

October 21
37. 'Salem's Lot
(2004) Episodes 1 & 2. Hard to believe it's been 20 years since this adaptation which most people have completely forgotten about. Though not excellent, it's not bad either and it has some very good character moments. Also this is one of the very few that manages to capture Stephen King's narrative voice and feel.

October 22
38. Gallows Hill
(2013) A simple premise but done very well. A demon possessed girl found in a secluded house in Colombia. Fighting the demon is not so simple because there is a clever caveat to exactly how it can possess you which makes things much more interesting.
39. Pet Sematary (2019) Worthy remake that is very aware of the original and throws in some twists.

October 23
40. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
(1979) Jeff Goldblum does a good Ichabod Crane and it's always nice to see the beautiful Meg Foster but this version leans more into the uninteresting townie drama and less on the supernatural aspects.

October 24
41. Portal
(2019) Saw this because Heather Langenkamp (Nightmare on Elm Street) is in it, unfortunately she's only in the last part of the movie. The rest of the flick is generic AF.
42. The Wind (2019) Very low-key and sparse folk horror set in the American Old West. Husband and wife settlers inhabit an isolated cabin in the prairie, but when the woman is left alone she encounters strange visions and phenomena that may or may not be in her head. Loved it.
43. The Evil Dead (1981) Seems pretty dated nowadays, but still enjoyable. Seen at a local movie club screening.

October 25
44. X
(2022) A great example of revisiting old tropes and doing something fresh with them. The best of the Mia Goth trilogy.
45. The Eternal AKA Evil Sleeps AKA Trance (1998) An alcoholic couple go to Ireland on family business, there they encounter Christopher Walken (at his most Christopher Walken-iest) who is trying to revive a centuries old witch. The film tries to be very intellectual, but just doesn't hit the mark.

October 26
46. A Return to 'Salem's Lot
(1987) It's just unbelievably bad. That's all I'll say.
47. 'Salem's Lot (2024)Remake that adds nothing. I'll stay with the first two versions.

October 27
48. Children of the Stones
(1977) British TV mini series with some folk horror elements. Episodes: Into the Circle / Circle of Fear / Serpent in the Circle / Narrowing Circle
49. Children of the Stones (1977) Episodes: Charmed Circle / Squaring the Circle / Full Circle
50. WILDCARD 1: Caddo Lake (2024) More of a thriller with some time-travel elements. Pretty good.

October 28
51. Más Negro Que la Noche (Darker than the Night)
(1975) Mexican horror movie that's considered a classic, but it does seem somewhat dated even for 1975. It plays more like a very tame 1940's ghost story. This, along with the two others listed below were written and directed by Carlos Enrique Taboada and are considered classics of Mexican horror.
52. Hasta el Viento Tiene Miedo (1968)
52.25 It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown (1966) A classic that never gets old.
53. The Frightening Pagan History of Halloween (2024) History Channel documentary

October 29
54. El Libro de Piedra
(1969)
55. Más Negro que la Noche (2014) Remake of the 1975 Mexican horror classic. Updates it with annoying characters and modern tropes.
56. Torture Garden (1967) Peter Cushing, Jack Palance and Burgess Meredith among others star in this Amicus anthology film. Two of the four tales are winners, one is filler and the other just OK. Even so, worth it just to see Cushing and Palance chewing scenery like no others.

October 30
57. Flight 7500
(2014) Low-key supernatural thriller that moves along nicely to a twist ending.

October 31
58. Stage Fright
(2013)
58.25 The Legend of Beaver Dam (2010) This 12 minute musical short horror film is included as a bonus disc on the Stage Fright DVD. Kids around the campfire hear the story of Stumpy Sam.
59. Bewitched (1964) Season unknown, Special Halloween episode.
60. Cabin in the Woods (2011) A lot funnier than I remember it being.

Last edited by pagefrance; 11-01-24 at 01:04 PM. Reason: List update
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Old 10-01-24 | 09:27 PM
  #83  
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Re: The 20th Annual "October Horror Movie Challenge" (10/1 - 10/31) ***The List Thread***

01.AZRAEL / Oct. 1 (theatre)
Old 10-01-24 | 11:54 PM
  #84  
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Re: The 20th Annual "October Horror Movie Challenge" (10/1 - 10/31) ***The List Thread***

* Indicates First Time Viewing
Underlined Indicates Seen Theatrically

01) * Us (2019) D: Jordan Peele (10/01)
02) eXistenZ (1999) D: David Cronenberg (10/02)
03) * Eyes Of A Stranger (1981) D: Ken Wiederhorn (10/02)
04)
* Joker: Folie à Deux (2024) D: Todd Phillips (10/03)
05) * The Devil-Doll (1936) D: Tod Browning (10/03)
06) Island Of Lost Souls (1932) D: Erle C. Kenton (10/03)
07) * The Twilight Zone (1959 - 1964) Episodes: "What You Need", "Probe 7, Over and Out", "Third From the Sun"
08) * Butcher's Crossing (2023) D: Gabe Polsky (10/04)
09) Talk To Me (2023) D: Danny and Michael Philippou (10/04)
10) * The Picture Of Dorian Grey (1945) D: Albert Lewin (10/05)
11) * ‘Salem’s Lot (2024) D: Gary Dauberman (10/05)
12) * The Twilight Zone Eps: "The New Exhibit", "A Short Drink From A Certain Fountain", "90 Years Without Slumbering" (10/06)
13) Psycho (1960) D: Alfred Hitchcock (10/06)
14) Psycho (1997) D: Gus Van Sant (10/06)
15) * The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962) D: Joseph Green (10/06)

16) * Single White Female (1992) D: Barbet Schroeder (10/07)
17) * Murders In The Rue Morgue (1932) D: Robert Florey (10/07)
18) * The Walking Dead (1936) D: Michael Curtiz (10/07)
19) * Son Of Godzilla (1967) D: Jan Fukuda (10/08)
20) * Destroy All Monsters (1968) D: Ishirō Honda (10/08)
21) * The Twilight Zone (1959 - 1964) Eps: "Caesar and Me", "A World Of Difference", "The Jeopardy Room" (10/08)
22) * Devil's Due (2014) D: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett (10/09)

23) * The Twilight Zone (1959 - 1964) Eps: "Stop-Over in a Quiet Town", "Long Live Water Jameson", "The Encounter" (10/09)
24)
The Mask (1994) D: Chuck Russell (10/10)
25) * The Twilight Zone (1959 - 1964) Eps: "Nick of Time", "The Howling Man", "A Most Unusual Camera" (10/10)
26) Terrifier 3 (2024) D: Damien Leone (10/11)
27) * The Twilight Zone (1959 - 1964) Eps: "Eye of the Beholder", "The Lateness of the Hour", "Four O'Clock" (10/11)
28) Martin (1977) D: George A. Romero (10/11)
29) Martin DVD Commentary (1977) D: George A. Romero (10/11)
30) * Empire Of Passion (1978) D: Nagisa Ōshima (10/12)
31) Sisters (1972) D: Brian De Palma (10/12)
32) Psycho III (1986) D: Anthony Perkins (10/12)
33) Psycho III DVD Commentary (1986) D: Anthony Perkins (10/12)
34) * Les Affamés (Ravenous) (2017) D: Robin Aubert (10/13)

35) * The Twilight Zone (1959 - 1964) Eps: "Trouble With Templeton", "Back There", "Night of the Meek" (10/14)
36) Ghostbusters (Work Print) (1984) D: Ivan Reitman (10/14)
37) * Friday The 13th (2009) D: Marcus Nispel (10/14)
38) Poltergeist (1982) D: Tober Hooper (10/15)
39) Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986) D: Brian Gibson (10/15)
40) Poltergeist III (1988) D: Gary Sherman (10/15)
41) * The Twilight Zone (1959 - 1964) Ep: "Mr. Dinkle The Strong", "Penny For Your Thoughts", "Dust" (10/16)
42) * Prom Night III: The Last Kiss (1990) D: Ron Oliver, Peter R. Simpson (10/16)
43) Friday The 13th (1980) D: Sean S. Cunningham (10/16)
44) Friday The 13th DVD Commentary (1980) D: Sean S. Cunningham (10/16)
45) Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later (1998) D: Steve Miner (10/17)
46) * Halloween: Resurrection (2002) D: Rick Rosenthal (10/17)
47) Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later DVD Commentary (1998) D: Steve Miner (10/17)
48) * The Devil Bat (1940) D: Jean Yarborough (10/18)
49) It Follows (2015) D: David Robert Mitchell (10/18)
50) Maximum Overdrive (1986) D: Stephen King (10/18)
51) The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror (1990 - 2004) Ep I , V, XXV (10/19)
52) * The Fan (1981) D: Edward Bianchi (10/19)
53) Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter (1985) D: Joseph Zito (10/19)
54) White Zombie (1932) D: Victor Halperin (10/20)
55) Basket Case (1982) D: Frank Henenlotter (10/20)
56) * The Twilight Zone (1959 - 1964) Ep: "The Hitchhiker", "Twenty-Two", "Hocus Pocus and Frisby" (10/20)

57) * Midsommar (2019) D: Ari Aster (10/21)
58) * The Twilight Zone (1959 - 1964) Ep: "Night Call", "Long Distance Call", "The Hunt" (10/21)
59)
* Smile 2 (2024) D: Parker Finn - I disliked the original, but found this one much more engaging and creepy. Strong ending, which I find most horror movies have trouble pulling off. (10/22)
60) * Isle Of The Dead (1945) D: Mark Robson (10/22) - Buried alive is always chilling. (10/22)
61) Halloween III: Season Of The Witch (1982) D: Tommy Lee Wallace - I have to laugh during the experiment scene, where the parents seem to be more horrified by the invading bugs and snakes than they are the death of their child. (10/22)
62) Halloween (1978) D: John Carpenter - I'd like to re-colour all the nighttime scenes to black-and-white as an experiment. The way it is lit, I think it would translate well. (10/23)
63) A Nightmare On Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) D: Jack Sholder - My favorite version of Freddy in the entire series. Most disturbing make-up, completely malevolent and villainous. (10/23)
64) * The Twilight Zone (1959 - 1964) Ep: "Nightmare As A Child", "Little Girl Lost", "Static" - The episode "Little Girl Lost" must have been a huge influence of POLTERGEIST. (10/23)

65) * The Body Snatcher (1945) D: Robert Wise - The rain storm and Karloff's half naked cadaverous body makes for an unforgettable ending. (10/24)
66) A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warrior (1987) D: Chuck Russell - Perfect mid-point of the series, balancing scary Freddy with goofy Freddy. (10/24)
67) A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) D: Renny Harlin - The cockroach dream is the most grotesque sequence in the entire series. The effects throughout are incredible. (10/24)
68) The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror (1991 -1996) Ep II, IV, VII (10/24)
69) * Dr. Crippen (1963) D: Robert Lynn - Pretty restrained story of henpecked husband who murders his wife and runs off with his mistress. For some reason, TCM can never broadcast THE BROOD in Canada, so this was the re-placement for their Creepy Cinema double-feature. (10/25)
70) * Godzilla King Of The Monsters! (1956) D: Terry Morse, Ishirō Honda - Although I find this inferior to the Japanese version, I was impressed by how well Raymond Burr was edited into the movie. (10/25)
71) * Demon Seed (1977) D: Donald Cammell - Pretty dull. Missed opportunity to be a fun bad movie. (10/25)
72) The Lair Of The White Worm (1988) D: Ken Russell - Great performance by Amanda Donohoe, makes the movie. (10/26)
73) * The Twilight Zone (1959 - 1964) Ep: "The Dummy", "Showdown With Rance McGrew", "A Piano In The House" (10/26)
74) The Simpsons Treehouse Of Horror (1992 - 2001) Ep III, VII, X (10/26)
75) A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) D: Renny Harlin - Even though I just watched this the day before, my friend really wanted to watch it, so I took one for the team and watched it again. (10/26)

76) Cat People (1942) D: Jacques Tourneur - The sounds of the high heels clacking down the street during the stalking scene creates intense dread and suspense. (10/27)
77) * The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D (2013) D: John Luessenhop - Biggest waste of time I'll see this year. (10/27)
78) * Maniac (1980) D: William Lustig - Been waiting for years to be in the right mood to watch this. So grimy and vile, I didn't have an appetite for the rest of the night. Joe Spinell's finest hour. (10/27)
79) Cape Fear (1962) D: J. Lee Thompson - Oddly, the original's "wholesome happy ending" feels more honest than the ending of the 1990s remake. (10/28)
80) * Scary Movie 4 (2006) D: David Zucker - Wish they'd parodied more movies instead of focusing on just four. (10/28)
81) 28 Day Later (2002) D: Danny Boyle - Wow, even better than I remember this being 22 years ago. A great film, regardless of genre. (10/28)
82) * The Twilight Zone (1959 - 1964) Ep: "The Gift", "Steel", "The Last Rites Of Jeff Myrtlebank" (10/29)

83) * I Walked With A Zombie (1943) D: Jacques Tourneur - The first trip to the voodoo ceremony is mesmerizing. The visuals and the music work in tandem to create an unforgettable sensation. I can't wait to watch this again. (10/29)
84) The Exorcist (1973) D: William Friedkin - 51 years old, and still ferocious. (10/29)
85) * Val Lewton: The Man In The Shadow (2007) - Documentary about the producer. Interesting to me since I watched about five of his films during this challenge. (10/29)
86) Cat's Eye
(1985) D: Lewis Teague - This was my first exposure to Stephen King, seeing this at the drive-in during the summer of '85 when I was 7. It's such a fun movie. James Woods in his prime. Two of the best adaptations of King's work. (10/29)
87) Horror Of Dracula (1958) D: Terence Fisher - I love Christopher Lee's physicality playing Dracula, from his long, thin body, to the way he springs into action, running, leaping. (10/30)
88) Sleepy Hollow (1999) D: Tim Burton - Incredibly atmospheric. This feels the most "Halloween" of anything I've watched this month. This might be my choice for Tim Burton's finest hour. (10/30)
89) The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow (1949) - Watched this dozens of times as kid. Find the first half doesn't hold up, but the second half remains spooky. (10/30)

90) The Exorcist III (1990) D: William Peter Blatty - I always remembered this as being quite good, but boy has my opinion changed. Despite a couple of great touched here and there, I thought this was a complete mess, and a real slog to get through. (10/30)
91) * The Seventh Victim (1943) D: Mark Robson - Fascinating in that I can't quite point my finger at what made me feel so unnerved watching this, yet I found the movie effective. The Satanists being so milquetoast made the club more disturbing than if they'd been overtly evil. (10/31)
92) The Fog (1980) D: John Carpenter - The opening camp fire ghost story is a great beginning. Certainly Carpenter's classiest film, and I wonder why he decided to give himself a small role in this one. (10/31)
93) Creepshow (1982) D: George A. Romero - Even though it's not officially a Tales From the Crypt adaptation, they capture the look and vibe of those EC comics spectacularly. (10/31)

94) * The Twilight Zone (1959 - 1964) Ep: "The Fugitive", "Person or Persons Unknown", "The Old Man In The Cave"
95) Frankenstein (1931) D: James Whale - I first saw this on the 8 o'clock movie when I was 5 years old, and my life-long fascination with the Frankenstein story commenced. Seemed the perfect choice to close out the holiday. (10/31)

Checklist:
Spoiler:
Select 10 actors: COMPLETED
-X- Adrienne Barbeau - Creepshow (1982)
-X- Nicolas Cage - Butcher's Crossing (2023)
--- Peter Cushing -
--- Larry Fessenden -
-X- George "Buck" Flower - The Fog (1980)
--- Laura Gemser -
-X- Clu Gulager - A Nightmare On Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)
--- Katherine Isabelle -
-X- Boris Karloff - The Walking Dead (1936)
-X- Christopher Lee - Horror Of Dracula (1958)
-X- Bela Lugosi - Island Of Lost Souls (1932)
-X- Derek Mears - Salem's Lot (2024)
-X- Maika Monroe - It Follows (2015)
--- Vincent Price -
--- Julie Strain -
--- Tak Sakaguchi -
--- Christian Slater -
--- Suzzanna -
--- Danny Trejo -
-X- Recently Deceased (Charles Cyphers) - Halloween (1978)

Select 5 directors: ( 2 / 5 )
--- The Adams Family, 2 -
--- Terence Fisher -
--- Riccardo Freda -
-X- Renny Harlin - A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)
--- Lloyd Kaufman -
--- Colin Minihan -
--- Paco Plaza -
--- Jean Rollin -
--- M. Night Shyamalan -
--- Koji Shiraishi -
--- Pete Walker -
--- Watch a Movie Directed By a Female Director, 2, 3 -
-X- Watch a Movie Directed By a Horror Director Icon - Martin (1977) D: George A. Romero

Select 30 of the following sub-genres / types: (33 / 30) COMPLETED
-X- *3-D Film - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D (2013)
--- Aerial Camera Shot -
--- Anthology Film -
--- Appears on 100 Obscure Horror Trash! list -
--- Appears on 1000 Women in Horror -
-X- Appears on Edgar Wright's 1,000 Favorite Movies List - Poltergeist (1982)
-X- Appears on They Shoot Zombies, Don't They - The 1,000 Greatest Horror Films - Murders In The Rue Morgue (1932)
--- Art -
-X- Based on a True Story - Dr. Crippen (1963)
-X- Based on a Novel - The Fan (1981)
--- Blaxploitation -
--- Candy Cinema -
--- Cannibalism -
-X- Cinema Inspired By: Stephen King - Cat's Eye (1985)
--- Cinematic Titanic / Horror Host / MST3K / RiffTrax -
-X- Comedy / Spoof - Prom Night III: The Last Kiss (1990)
--- Coming-of-Age, 2 -
--- Criterion / Masters of Cinema Version Film -
--- Cryptid Cinema -
--- Cult -
-X- Death by: Hanging The Seventh Victim (1943)
-X- Director or Writer Cameo in Own Film / Film Adaptation, Maximum Overdrive (1986)
--- Distributor / Studio: Umbrella Entertainment -
-X- Documentary - Val Lewton: The Man In The Shadows (2007)
--- Dream Horror -
--- Drunk Horror -
--- Euro Horror -
--- Enzo Sciotti Art -
--- Expedition -
--- Extraterrestrial / Takes place in Space -
--- Fake Documentary -
--- Fan Film -
--- Featured In: Horror Films of the 1970s -
-X- Featured In: In Search of Darkness Trilogy - Halloween III: Season Of The Witch (1982)
--- Film From Grampa Presents -
--- Film From Someone Else's 'Best of' List -
--- Film From Shudder October 2024 Schedule -
-X- Film From TCM October 2024 Schedule - The Devil-Doll (1936)
-X- Firearms - The Devil Bat (1940)
--- Fog, 2 -
-X- Folk Horror - Midsommar (2019)
--- From a Basil Gogos Painting -
-X- Found Footage - Devil's Due (2014)
--- Frankenstein -
--- Ghost / Haunting -
--- Giallo -
--- Hagsploitation -
--- Horror-Adjacent, 2 -
--- Hypnosis -
--- In Media Res, 2 -
-X- Investigation - Psycho III (1986)
--- J-Horror -
-X- Kaiju / Giant Monster - Destroy All Monsters (1968)
--- Killer / Evil Animal -
--- Killer / Evil Child -
--- Killer / Evil Doll -
--- LGBT -
--- Liminal Horror -
--- Luchador -
--- Made-for-TV Movie -
-X- Mad Scientist - The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)
--- Mummy -
--- Musical / Rock ‘n Roll Horror
-X- Name In Title - The Picture Of Dorian Grey (1945)
-X- Nation of Origin: Great Britain, 2 - The Lair of the White Worm (1988)
-X- National Film Registry - The Exorcist (1973)
--- Nonlinear Timeline -
--- Nu Metal Cinema -
--- Ouija Board -
--- Painting -
-X- Period Piece - Isle Of The Dead (1945)
--- Phobias -
-X- Prison Horror - Joker: Folie à Deux (2024)
--- Psychological -
-X- Quarantine - 28 Days Later (2002)
--- Random Horror Film -
--- Rape / Revenge -
--- Shot in Los Angeles -
-X- Slasher / Psycho / Homicidal Maniac Terrifier 3 (2024)
-X- Slow Motion - Friday The 13th (1980)
--- Social Media -
-X- Split Personality - Sisters (1972)
--- Suicide -
--- Takes place in or around a lighthouse -
--- Takes place in a bowling alley -
--- Takes place in a haunted house attraction -
--- Takes place on a ranch -
--- Takes place on a marina -
-X- Takes place on or around water - Isle Of The Dead (1945)
--- Three Installments in a Franchise -
-X- Title Spoken By Character, 2 - Cat People (1942)
--- Trailer Compilation -
--- Travelogue -
--- Vampire -
-X- Voice-Over Narration - I Walked With A Zombie (1943)
--- Voyeurism -
--- War -
--- Werewolf -
-X- Witchcraft / Satanic / Religious - The Exorcist III (1990)
--- Wilhelm Scream -
-X- With Commentary - Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later (1998)
--- With Two or More Horror Legends -
-X- Zombie - White Zombie (1932)



Select 2 from the following anniversaries: COMPLETED
--- 15th Anniversary of WB Archive -
-X- 20th Anniversary of Shout / Scream Factory - Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)
--- 35th Anniversary of Tales from the Crypt, 2 -
--- 35th Anniversary of USA Up All Night -
--- 40th Anniversary of The Criterion Collection -
--- 50th Anniversary of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre -
--- 50th Anniversary of Troma Films -
--- 70th Anniversary of Godzilla -
--- 90th Anniversary of Hammer Films -
--- 100th Anniversary of Columbia Pictures, 2, 3 -
-X- 100th Anniversary of Metro-Goldwyn Mayer - Poltergeist III (1988)

Select 4 ratings: COMPLETED
--- G -
-X- PG - Ghostbusters (1984)
-X- PG-13 - The Mask (1994)
-X- R - Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter (1985)
--- NC-17 -
--- X -
-X- Unrated - Maniac (1980)
--- M -
--- GP -

​Select 6 decades of film history: COMPLETED
--- Pre-1930 -
--- 1930 -
--- 1940 -
--- 1950 -
-X- 1960 - Cape Fear (1962)
--- 1970 -
-X- 1980 - Eyes Of A Stranger (1981)
-X- 1990 - eXistenZ (1999)
-X- 2000 - Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
-X- 2010 - Us (2019)
-X- 2020 - Talk To Me (2023)

Watch 1 film with a recently deceased personality:
--- Recently deceased list -

Watch a film shot on 1 of the following:
--- Video ,2 -
--- 8mm (Super 8) -
-X- 16mm - Basket Case (1982)

Watch a movie and its remake or two adaptations of the same source material back to back on the same day COMPLETED
-X- Original - Psycho (1960)
-X- Remake - Psycho (1997)

Watch 1 unseen entry from a horror franchise: COMPLETED
-X- Son Of Godzilla (1968)

Watch films in at least three languages:
-X- First language Empire of Passion (1978) Japanese
-X- Second language Les Affamés (2017) French
--- Third language, (insert language), (insert title).

Watch 2 films with similar plots: COMPLETED
-X- Film #1 - Sleepy Hollow (1999)
-X- Film #2 - The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow (1949)

Watch 3 films that you've never seen before that: COMPLETED
--- Stars a Tilly or Farmiga sister - Jennifer / Meg / Vera / Taissa -
--- Features cats -
-X- Was made in the 1990s - Single White Female (1992)
--- Features a freeze frame ending -
--- Was written by a Master of Horror (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12A, 12B, 13) -
--- Features a music box -
-X- Has a scene in a basement - Scary Movie 4 (2006)
--- Was shot in Big Bear Lake -
--- Is listed in HORROR! The Definitive Companion to the Most Terrifying Movies Ever Made -
--- Takes place in a boiler room -
-X- Death by: Machete, 2 Friday The 13th (2009)
--- Title includes the word horror -

Attend a live or virtual event (convention, play, haunted house, ghost tour, etc.):
-X- (insert event). Performed horror story reading

-X- Listen to a horror movie soundtrack - Prince of Darkness - Music by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth

Venture Into the Literary World:
-X- Read a Horror Novel or Novella The Mouth Is a Coven by Liz Worth
--- Read a Horror Comic Book or Graphic Novel (insert title). OPTIONAL
--- Read a Horror Magazine (insert title). OPTIONAL




Spoiler:

















Last edited by Crocker Jarmen; 11-01-24 at 01:32 AM.
Old 10-02-24 | 06:10 AM
  #85  
pacaway's Avatar
DVD Talk Special Edition
 
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 1,258
Received 76 Likes on 58 Posts
From: Calgary
Re: The 20th Annual "October Horror Movie Challenge" (10/1 - 10/31) ***The List Thread***

s -- indicates a subset film
ss -- indicates a subset film on the correct day

October 01:
01. Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) France, West Germany - German language version - my DVD (Anchor Bay Werner Herzog / Klaus Kinski box set)

October 03:
02. Christine (1983) - my Blu-ray

October 04:
03. Arachnophobia (1990) - my DVD

October 05:
04. Salem's Lot (2024) - Crave
05. Salem's Lot part 1 (1979) - my Blu-ray

October 06:
06. The Substance (2024) - VIP theatre
07. Salem's Lot part 2 (1979) - my Blu-ray

October 07:
s 08. eXistenZ (1999) Canada, UK - owned on DVD but streamed in HD on Crave

October 08:
s 09. Targets (1968) - my DVD

October 10:
10. Abby (1974) - my DVD

October 15:
11. Suspiria (1977) - my 40th Anniversary Blu-ray

October 16:
12. Cold Ground (2017) France - my DVD (Werewolf Attack Pack)

October 18:
13. Terrifier 2 (2022) - Crave

October 19:
14. Caddo Lake (2024) - Crave
15. Smile (2022) - Crave

October 20:
16. Abigail (2022) - Amazon Prime

October 21:
17. Bay Cove (aka Bay Coven) (1987) - TV movie - my DVD (10 American Horror Stories)
18. Cat People (1943) - my DVD (A Val Lewton Horror Double Feature)

October 25:
19. Slumber Party Massacre (1981) - Crave

October 26:
20. Smile 2 (2024) - theatre

October 27:
21. Nosferatu (1922) - Germany - Kanopy

October 28:
s 22. Mute Witness (1995) - UK, Russia, Germany - I own this on DVD but watched on Shudder

October 29:
23. Nekromantik (1988) - West Germany - streamed from Arrow


--

Last edited by pacaway; 10-31-24 at 05:45 AM.
Old 10-03-24 | 11:59 AM
  #86  
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
 
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 9,335
Received 324 Likes on 224 Posts
Re: The 20th Annual "October Horror Movie Challenge" (10/1 - 10/31) ***The List Thread***

Brainee's 2024 DVDTalk Horror Movie Challenge List

Previous challenge totals:
2008: 100
2010: 100
2011: 53
2013: 54
2014: 36
2015: 56
2016: 106
2017: 101.25
2018: 70
2019: 121
2020: 71
2021: 110
2022: 56
2023: 60


Goal: 31
Total: 64
First Time Views: 53

= first time viewing

Movies rated out of 5 stars (*****) based solely on my personal enjoyment.

My Viewing List:
October 2nd
1. All My Friends Are Dead (2020): Shallow and stupid but it kept my attention. Opening with the aftermath was a really good move since I kept watching trying to think how things could possibly get to that point during the party. Without that I may have bailed since the characters were so aggressively horrible (although I liked the missionary and his buddy Jesus). So how many bullets does that gun hold anyway? ***

October 3rd
2. The Boxer's Omen (1983): 30 years ago I probably would've loved this (and would've spend a lot of effort getting a bootleg VHS). Now ... it's kind of tedious. Yeah, it's crazy as all hell but I need something in the way of story. **

3. Longlegs (2024): Probably the best of Oz Perkins' movies ... certainly the most entertaining. This has a great foreboding atmosphere, even if the story got silly. ***1/2

4. In a Violent Nature (2024): I liked this more than I thought I would. A "Jason Walking Simulator" sounded dull, but the movie used the gimmick to make things really tense. And I get why yoga girl didn't run backwards ... but why didn't she even try to run to the sides? ***1/2

October 4th
5. The Spider Labyrinth (1988): I've seen this before, but it's been so long the only thing I remember is the giant spider monster. Fun weird little movie that's a mix between a giallo and Lovecraft. ***1/2

6. Ghost Stories (2017): I missed this one when it was new, but thought it was really good with a powerful kicker. ****

7. Trap (2024): The best parts (with a serial killer dad trying to escape a teenybopper pop concert) was mostly spoiled by the trailers. It just went on and on, getting more laughable by the minute. M Night is on record saying he wanted this to be to his daughter what Purple Rain was to Prince. He did not succeed. **1/2

October 5th
8. Superstition (1982): Cheap looking but manages to be entertaining with lots of surprisingly gory kills. I appreciate when horror movies have the stones to kill kids ... let's you know as a viewer that all bets are off. **1/2

9. The Watchers (2024): Without planning on it, I did back to back nights of an M Night nepo baby movie! I enjoyed this a lot more than most seemed to. It looked good, and there were interesting ideas about mixing in fairies and halflings into a modern horror movie setting. ***1/2

10. Salem's Lot (2024): I thought this was ok, if a bit by-the-numbers (maybe I'm just too familiar with the story, having read the book and watched Tobe Hooper's mini-series multiple times). I liked the glowing crosses and how they seemed to blow away vampires like leaf blowers. King's original ending was a bit anti-climactic, but I'm not sure making it into a giant action set-piece at the Drive-In made things better. Is a hiding place for vampires in car trunks under the sun really the best plan? ***

11. Fatal Games (1984): A mediocre slasher that managed to miss me in the 80s. At first a javelin killer seemed cool, but after a while I was hoping they'd mix it other with other Olympic-themed kills. Shot put ... discus ... archery ... death by curling stone! And how did the swimmer not notice the killer at the bottom of the pool? It's not like it's a murky lake or something. **

October 7th
12. ☼ Ash vs the Evil Dead (2015): S1E01-3.

October 8th
13. Beyond Terror (1980): I thought this could shape into a fun sleazy grindhouse watch. But the characters were all so awful, the story thin, and there just wasn't enough horror payoff to make it worthwhile. *1/2

October 9th
14. The Corruption of Chris Miller (1973): It's nice to still be able to stumble upon 70s Euro horror that I've never seen before. This looks great (didn't know Spain was so rainy) though my attention started to wander when after an opening murder we get over an hour of love-triangle melodrama. And then ... it got my attention again with a couple of really effective horror sequences in the last 30 minutes. ***

15. Arcadian (2024):Nic Cage but in subdued mode (and sadly off-screen for most of the second half). Like A Quiet Place, but not so quiet, much goofier-looking alien monsters, and much more teenage angst. **1/2

October 10th
16. The First Omen (2024): It was very well made, although I found myself caring less as the story got closer to the inevitable lead-in to the original Omen. **1/2

17. Strange Darling (2023): Second new movie I've watched this month (after In a Violent Nature) that takes a creative spin on the familiar serial killer story. Stylistically blew me away (loved the songs!). And very refreshing to follow up a prequel where I knew where everything was going with a movie I was just going along for a wild ride not knowing what was coming next. I want to taste what the old hippie breakfast was like! ****

October 11th
18. V/H/S/Beyond (2024): Another solid entry in this series, with an alien theme. I think my favorites were the last two, which did something different besides "alien(s) run around killing people" with the story. ***

19. Wounds (2019): I had hopes for this since the director's previous movie (Under the Shadow) was so good, and I enjoyed the short story collection from which this was taken. Despite making good use of seedy New Orleans, this was far too vague for its good and a big missed opportunity for what could've been a great creepy cosmic horror story. **

20. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024): While not up to the imaginative level of the first movie, still a lot of fun to revisit this world. Monica Belluci did seem a bit underused though. Great use of a truly terrible hit song (Mcarthur's Park). ***1/2

21. Oddity (2024): A masked killer, a creepy insane asylum, ghosts, curses, psychics, a wooden golem, and a spooky house in the rainy Irish countryside ... what more could you want? I hope the bellboy is going to do more than stand around and wait for someone to give him luggage. ****

22. ☼ Castlevania (2017): S1E1-4.

October 12th
23. Def by Temptation (1990): The early 90s were a vibe, weren't they? Kadeem Hardison usually grates on me, but I thought he was good in this. Weird that he pops up in a Troma horror movie in the middle of his run on A Different World. I didn't care so much for the movie though, which was surprisingly talky. I'm seeing this had a $5 million budget, which I'm not seeing in the movie at all. **

24. You'll Never Find Me (2023): Ultra small scale movies (very limited number of characters in one room) challenge my attention ... while I'm sure they're easy to make, I think they're hard to pull off. This does pretty well, thanks to a great job by the two actors. I liked how you could hear the rain and wind at all times. ***

25. Blackout (2023): A new horror movie by Larry Fessenden, and like the others this isn't going to appeal to a lot of horror fans. His style is indie-drama, and his movies are too slow and talky for many horror fans but too weird and bloody for many indie-drama fans. Having the werewolf look like Lon Chaney Jr.'s (fuzzy face and hands makeup, and generally running around in jeans and a shirt) is a choice. The last name of the actor didn't click until they included an old photo of the character with his father ... William Hurt. ***

October 13th
26. Psycho Cop Returns (1993): Another one that I'm sure I would've loved if I saw this back in the day as a kid. The question is ... who wins: Maniac Cop vs Psycho Cop. I think Robert Z'Dar's Maniac Cop takes it by the jaw. **

27. MaXXXine (2024): Cool how Ti West has made each movie in the trilogy with a different visual style (70's grindhouse, 50's Technicolor, 80's). This was more about the journey than the destination, and I like the giallo vibes it had with the murders. ***1/2

28. Cuckoo (2024): What a great movie to go into blind, since it had me trying to figure out what was going on. ****

October 14th
29. Predator (1987): How did I forget that the "muscle arms" meme came from this movie? This movie is so manly! To quote Blane, watching it makes me feel like a sexual Tyrannosaurus! Then it ends and I'm just me ****1/2

October 15th
30. The Ring (2002): I prefer the Japanese movie, which is less slick and more stream-lined. This is still solid, although it falls well short of the hype of "scariest movie ever". You have to wonder how badly it will date being dependent on VHS technology (which was already on the wane in the early 2000's). ***1/2

October 16th
31. ☼ Castlevania (2018): S2E1-4.

October 17th
32. Night of the Howling Beast (1975): Paul Naschy ... all the women want him ... all the men want to be him! This wasn't good, but I enjoyed watching it in an MST3K kind of way. Paul Naschy movies would've been perfect for that show if not for all the nudity and blood. **1/2

October 18th
33. Blood Games (1990): Rape-revenge horror really isn't my thing, although fortunately this didn't dwell on that aspect as much as it could have. It seemed older than a movie made in 1990 (like a 70s grindhouse movie). Maybe I could've enjoyed this more if they weren't so many people like the guys in this where I live. **

34. Alien: Romulus (2024): It's another alien movie, but this brought 3 new things to the plate: lots of face huggers, specifics about what Weyland-Yutani actually wanted with the xenomorphs, and whatever the hell that thing at the end was. ****

35. Stopmotion (2023): It was pretty clear where this was going, but the creepy stop-motion makes this stand out. ***1/2

October 19th
36. New Life (2023): It's low-key approach to zombie apocalypse (possible) outbreak won't be for everyone (it's halfway through until there's even a sign it's a horror movie). But I liked the thoughtful character-study drama approach. One side note: I know they talked about it in the movie. But seriously ... if you're sending a field agent to stop a zombie apocalypse, do you really send someone with ALS? ***1/2

37. Good Boy (2022): Well, that was something else. Hard to feel too bad for the lead woman. If you don't see your new boyfriend keeping a man dressed as a dog locked in his house as a red flag, then you deserve what's coming to you. ***

38. MadS (2024): Another day 1 zombie apocalypse movie (and I shouldn't complain, but I've wanted to see more of this side the story than when everything's broken down). Really made fresh by the "one take" style which gave the movie a propulsive energy. ****

39. Immaculate (2024): Even though I don't buy Sydney Sweeney as a nun, I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. The "evil" Catholics' plan makes more sense here than in the similar The First Omen. And what a ballsy ending! ***1/2

40. Clock (2023): I should've listen to my gut which said the subject matter of this is not something I want to see a movie about. I sympathize with the message (again the notion that women can only be fullfilled by having babies, an idea we hear way too much about these days) but this was far too heavy handed. **

October 20th
41. Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (2023): A cute movie that's a nice change of pace from all the other things I've been watching this month. ***1/2

42. ☼ Teacup (2024): S1E1-3.

October 21st
43. Humanoids from the Deep (1980): Big fan of this stupid movie. Moves so fast ... kills a kid and a dog in under 10 minutes. Baron the dog deserved better. Jackie the kid had it coming. ***1/2

October 22nd
44. Don't Deliver Us From Evil (1971): Considering all the positive comments I've heard about this, I'm disappointed I didn't like it more. Maybe a mistake to watch this on a weekend night (when I'm tired from work), but aside from a handful of scenes this mostly bored me. **

October 23rd
45. ☼ Castlevania (2018): S2E5-8.

October 24th
46. The New Kids (1985): How did I miss seeing (or even hearing about) this in the 80s? James Spader is such a great slime bag.And I was glad to see Eric Stoltz's character not end up in the friend zone (which I was sure was going to happen early on). ***1/2

October 25th
47. The 'Burbs (1989): Another "how did I not see this before" movie. It's certainly a fun little movie that right in Joe Dante's wheelhouse. ***1/2

48. The Mummy's Tomb (1942): Really lazy sequel that spends the first 20% of the running time with highlight clips from The Mummy's Hand. It does move briskly after that, and I liked how all of the officials and press 100% believe that a murderous mummy is on the lose. **1/2

49. Woman of the Hour (2023): I guess technically you'd have to use a wildcard for it since it's not listed as horror anywhere. But it's a serial killer thriller/drama and is more like a horror movie than many things with that tag I've seen. I'd never heard of the "Dating Game Killer" but that's really creepy. And how could the show let him on when he already did time for rape and assault? **** Wildcard #1

50. Dream Scenario (2023): What an original and damn uncomfortable movie to watch. For the first half you'd be wondering how this is listed as a horror movie ... but it comes. Fantastic performance by Nicholas Cage. People give him grief for his wacky unhinged roles, but when you see things like this you're reminded he still has Oscar-winning level skill in him too. ****

October 26th
51. Jaws 2 (1978): Nowhere near the level of the first one ... but then few movies are. Still far above most of the other monster movies that came out in the wake of Jaws. While they lost Spielberg, keeping a lot of the original cast and getting John Williams to come back for the score is big. ***1/2

52. The Mummy's Ghost (1944): I thought the mummy burned up at the end of the last movie? I guess getting past that is super-easy, barely an inconvenience, when you have more Tana leaves. Pretty standard stuff except a rare downer of an ending for movies from this time period. **1/2

53. Out of Darkness (2022): Setting a movie in the stone age is a great idea. Normal life must've been terrifying then, not to mention what happens when you throw a monster into the mix. About the "monster" ... that's definitely a let-down, and a lot of the earlier parts of the movie don't seem to be consistent with the "reveal". **1/2

54. Exhuma (2024): This was a fun one that mixes mystery with South Korean folklore and mysticism. I'm not sure I followed everything that was happening, but it stayed entertaining through its long running time. ***1/2

October 27th
55. ☼ Teacup (2024): S1E4-5; ☼ Ash vs the Evil Dead (2015): S1E04

56. The Mummy's Curse (1944): "Da devil's on da loose and he's dancin' wit da mummy!" says Goobie, our incredibly offensive racial stereotype. Ho hum, but it does have one fantastic scene when the princess Ananka rises crusty and muddy from the swamp, looking like something out of a much later zombie movie. Sadly, the movie doesn't follow up ... she washes in a pond and her hair and make-up are immediately perfect. **1/2

57. The Mummy (1999): Still a lot of fun, although some of the CGI hasn't aged so well. When we people learn that if you find an ancient Book of the Dead DON'T READ FROM IT!!! ****

October 28th
58. It's What's Inside (2024): Another movie filled with ultra-privileged 20-somethings acting like jerks. Maybe it was my frame of mind, but I just wasn't in the mood for their crap. It's got a clever central concept but the film-making came across as really smug to me. But it has over 70% critic and audience score at Rotten Tomatoes so lots of people like it. It did keep my attention for the 100 minute running time. Although it's listed as horror at several places, it didn't seem like a horror movie to me. **1/2

October 29th
59. Here for Blood (2022): Just a fun and funny low budget horror comedy. Shawn Roberts has an easy-going charisma that makes it easy to root for his character. Would not have realized Dee Snyder was in the movie if not for the credits. ***1/2

October 30th
60. Azrael (2024): I saw Azrael described somewhere like accidentally starting in season 2 for a show you never watched before. So many questions ... so few answers. It was short and moved briskly though, and I didn't see the ending coming. ***

Halloween
61 ☼ Teacup (2024): S1E6; ☼ Ash vs the Evil Dead (2015): S1E05. Wildcard #2

62. ☼ The Substance (2024): Not many movies manage to physically gross me out anymore ... so, well done I guess. ****

63. Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992): I always thought having the "Bram Stoker's" in the title was odd. It's not like he personally was involved in this version as opposed to all the other movies. Still a visual treat and fun to watch. Unfortunately Keanu Reeves' and Winona Ryder's performances (and accents) haven't gotten any better with time. I forgot how much of a blunt asshole Van Helsing was in this. ****

64. Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955): It's Klaris, not Kharis! If you were hoping for "mummy vs mommy" jokes you won't be disappointed. ***


Last edited by brainee; 11-01-24 at 02:31 PM.
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Undeadcow (11-04-24)
Old 10-04-24 | 03:41 PM
  #87  
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Re: The 20th Annual "October Horror Movie Challenge" (10/1 - 10/31) ***The List Thread***

Back for another year.

Oct 1st
1. The Substance (new) - in theater

Oct 3rd
2. The Mummy - digital copy

Oct 4th
3. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (new) - in theater

Oct 5th
4. Smile (new)
5. Tremors

Oct 6th
6. 30 Days of Night
7. Salem's Lot (new) - HBO MAX online
8. Shaun of the Dead
9. Stir of Echoes
10. Paranormal Activity

Oct 7th
11. Margaux (new) - Netflix
12. Tarot (new) - Netflix
​​​​13. Saw

Oct 8th
14. Underwater
15. They (new)

Oct 9th
16. Malevolent (new)
17. Apartment 7A (new) - Paramount+
18. Fright Night
19. Talk to Me

Oct 10th
20. The Craft
21. American Psycho

Oct 11th
22. Infinity Pool (new) - Hulu
23. The Purge
24. The Purge: Anarchy

Oct 12th
25. Wallace & Grommit: Curse of the Were-Rabbi
26. Terrifier (new)
27. The Purge: Election Year
28. Para-Norman - Blu-ray

Oct 13th
29. Return to Oz - digital copy
30. Trap (new) - Amazon Prime rental
31. Lake Placid - Blu-ray
32. Perfect Getaway - Blu-ray

Oct 14th
33. There's Someone Inside Your House (new)
34. Misery
35. Single White Female

Oct 15th
36. You're Next
37. Scream
38. The Descent - digital copy
39. The Descent 2 - digital copy
40. Scream 2

Oct 16th
41. Scream 3
42. Vacancy

Oct 17th
43. Scream 4

Oct 18th
44. Scream (#5)

Oct 19th
45. It Part 1
46. It Part 2
47. Fright Night

Oct 20th
48. Dawn of the Dead
49. The Hitcher
50. Immaculate (new)

Oct 21st
51. The Strangers

Oct 22nd
52. Anaconda

Oct 23rd
53. Thanksgiving

Oct 24th
54. Trick r Treat
55. Countdown (new)

Oct 26th
56. Death Proof
57. First Omen (new)
58. Ghostbusters
59. Final Destination

Oct 27th
60. Grave Encounters
61. Final Destination 2
62. X

Oct 28th
63. Eight Legged Freaks
64. The Wolf-man
65. Gremlins

Oct 29th
66. Urban Legend
67. Drag me to Hell
68. Final Destination 5

Oct 30th
69. Frankenweenie
70. Coraline

Oct 31st
71. Young Frankenstein
72. The Tingler

Last edited by beebs; 11-01-24 at 01:55 AM.
Old 10-05-24 | 10:09 AM
  #88  
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Re: The 20th Annual "October Horror Movie Challenge" (10/1 - 10/31) ***The List Thread***

Well shoot I wasn't sure I'd be in this year but luckily (?) I got sick and laying on the couch lends itself to movie binges!
1. Terrifier*
2. Terrfier 2*
3. The Void
4. Kiss of the Vampire
5. 31*
6. Thanksgiving*
7. Babadook*
8. Barbarian*
9. City of the Dead

Last edited by GoldenWheels; 10-29-24 at 11:07 AM.
Old 10-05-24 | 06:25 PM
  #89  
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Re: The 20th Annual "October Horror Movie Challenge" (10/1 - 10/31) ***The List Thread***

Horror 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023

OBJECTIVES
✓ At least five from my digital library ||||
✓ At least five from my physical library ||||
✓ At least one from each of my paid subscription services |||

MY LIST
  1. 10/02 Dracula
  2. 10/02 Frankenstein
  3. 10/05 Friday the 13th
  4. 10/06 Friday the 13th Part 2
  5. 10/06 Friday the 13th Part III
  6. 10/06 Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
  7. 10/07 Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
  8. 10/07 Friday the 13th, Part VI Jason Lives
  9. 10/08 Friday the 13th Part VII - The New Blood
  10. 10/08 Friday the 13th Part VIII - Jason Takes Manhattan
  11. 10/10 Viy
    10/10 Satan Triumphant
    10/10 The Queen of Spades
    10/10 The Portrait
  12. 10/11 Broken Lizard's Club Dread
    10/12 Broken Lizard's Club Dread Audio Commentary from director/writer/star Jay Chandrasekhar and writer/star Eric Stolhanske
    10/13 Broken Lizard's Club Dread Audio Commentary from writers/stars Steve Lemme, Paul Soter and Kevin Heffernan
  13. 10/17 Dracula
    10/18 The Revamping of Dracula
    10/18 Dracula Feature Commentary with Director John Badham
  14. 10/19 Unmasked Part 25
    10/22 Unmasked Part 25 Audio Commentary by director Anders Palm, moderated by journalist David Flint
    10/22 Unmasked Part 25 Audio Commentary by producer Mark Cutforth, moderated by Peter Kuplowsky and Justin Decloux of Laser Blast Film Society
  15. 10/25 Dario Argento's Dracula 3D
  16. 10/27 Haunting of the Queen Mary
  17. 10/29 The Faculty
  18. 10/30 House
  19. 10/30 What's the Matter with Helen?
  20. 10/31 Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?
  21. 10/31 Mad Monster Party?
CHECKLIST
Spoiler:
2/10 Select 10 actors:
--- Adrienne Barbeau -
--- Nicolas Cage -
--- Peter Cushing -
--- Larry Fessenden -
--- George "Buck" Flower -
--- Laura Gemser -
--- Clu Gulager -
--- Katherine Isabelle -
-X- Boris Karloff - Frankenstein
--- Christopher Lee -
-X- Bela Lugosi - Dracula
--- Derek Mears -
--- Maika Monroe -
--- Vincent Price -
--- Julie Strain -
--- Tak Sakaguchi -
--- Christian Slater -
--- Suzzanna -
--- Danny Trejo -
--- Recently Deceased (insert actor) -

1/5 Select 5 directors:
--- The Adams Family, 2 -
--- Terence Fisher -
--- Riccardo Freda -
--- Renny Harlin -
--- Lloyd Kaufman -
--- Colin Minihan -
--- Paco Plaza -
--- Jean Rollin -
--- M. Night Shyamalan -
--- Koji Shiraishi -
--- Pete Walker -
--- Watch a Movie Directed By a Female Director, 2, 3 -
-X- Watch a Movie Directed By a Horror Director Icon (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ,6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Random) - Dario Argento's Dracula 3D (Dario Argento, obviously)

1/2 Select 2 film composers:
-X- Marco Beltrami - The Faculty
--- Steph Copeland, 2 -
--- Penka Kouneva -
--- Alexander Taylor -

0/2 Select 2 visual effects artists:
--- Daniel Carrasco -
--- Joe Colwell -
--- Denise Cronenberg -
--- Tony Gardner -
--- Steve Johnson -

0/1 Select 2 producers:
--- Jason Constantine, 2 -
--- Peter Block, 2 -
--- Emily Gotto -
--- Head Gear Films, 2 -
--- Tony Tenser -

0/2 Select 2 writers:
--- Jace Anderson -
--- Larry Cohen -
--- Gary Dauberman -
--- Marcus Dunstan -

17/30 Select 30 of the following sub-genres / types:
-X- *3-D Film - Friday the 13th Part III
--- Aerial Camera Shot -
--- Anthology Film -
--- Appears on 100 Obscure Horror Trash! list -
--- Appears on 1000 Women in Horror -
--- Appears on Edgar Wright's 1,000 Favorite Movies List -
-X- Appears on They Shoot Zombies, Don't They - The 1,000 Greatest Horror Films (Random - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) - Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (#863)
--- Art -
--- Based on a True Story -
-X- Based on a Novel - Dracula (1979)
--- Blaxploitation -
--- Candy Cinema -
--- Cannibalism -
--- Cinema Inspired By: Stephen King -
--- Cinematic Titanic / Horror Host / MST3K / RiffTrax -
-X- Comedy / Spoof - Broken Lizard's Club Dread
--- Coming-of-Age, 2 -
-X- Criterion / Masters of Cinema Version Film - House
--- Cryptid Cinema -
--- Cult -
--- Death by: Hanging
--- Director or Writer Cameo in Own Film / Film Adaptation, 2
--- Distributor / Studio: Umbrella Entertainment -
--- Documentary -
--- Dream Horror -
--- Drunk Horror -
--- Euro Horror -
--- Enzo Sciotti Art -
--- Expedition -
-X- Extraterrestrial / Takes place in Space - The Faculty
--- Fake Documentary -
--- Fan Film -
-X- Featured In: Horror Films of the 1970s - Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?
--- Featured In: In Search of Darkness Trilogy -
--- Film From Grampa Presents -
--- Film From Someone Else's 'Best of' List -
-X- Film From Shudder October 2024 Schedule - Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
--- Film From TCM October 2024 Schedule -
--- Firearms -
--- Fog, 2 -
--- Folk Horror -
--- From a Basil Gogos Painting -
--- Found Footage -
-X- Frankenstein - Frankenstein
-X- Ghost / Haunting - Haunting of the Queen Mary
--- Giallo -
-X- Hagsploitation - What's the Matter with Helen?
--- Horror-Adjacent, 2 -
--- Hypnosis -
--- In Media Res, 2 -
--- Investigation -
--- J-Horror -
--- Kaiju / Giant Monster -
--- Killer / Evil Animal -
--- Killer / Evil Child -
--- Killer / Evil Doll -
--- LGBT -
--- Liminal Horror -
--- Luchador -
--- Made-for-TV Movie -
-X- Mad Scientist - Mad Monster Party?
--- Mummy -
--- Musical / Rock ‘n Roll Horror
--- Name In Title -
-X- Nation of Origin: Great Britain, 2 - Unmasked Part 25
--- National Film Registry -
--- Nonlinear Timeline -
--- Nu Metal Cinema -
--- Ouija Board -
--- Painting -
-X- Period Piece -Dario Argento's Dracula 3D
--- Phobias -
--- Prison Horror -
--- Psychological -
--- Quarantine -
--- Random Horror Film -
--- Rape / Revenge -
--- Shot in Los Angeles -
-X- Slasher / Psycho / Homicidal Maniac - Friday the 13th
--- Slow Motion -
--- Social Media -
--- Split Personality -
--- Suicide -
--- Takes place in or around a lighthouse -
--- Takes place in a bowling alley -
--- Takes place in a haunted house attraction -
--- Takes place on a ranch -
--- Takes place on a marina -
-X- Takes place on or around water - Friday the 13th Part 2
-X- Three Installments in a Franchise - Friday the 13th: A New Beginning; Friday the 13th, Part VI Jason Lives; Friday the 13th Part VII - The New Blood
--- Title Spoken By Character, 2 -
--- Trailer Compilation -
--- Travelogue -
-X- Vampire - Dracula
--- Voice-Over Narration -
--- Voyeurism -
--- War -
--- Werewolf -
-X- Witchcraft / Satanic / Religious - Viy
--- Wilhelm Scream -
-X- With Commentary - Broken Lizard's Club Dread Audio Commentary from director/writer/star Jay Chandrasekhar and writer/star Eric Stolhanske
--- With Two or More Horror Legends -
--- Zombie -

0/1 Select 1 from the "Chronological Horror Years Faceoff":
--- 1924 (100th) -
--- 1949 (75th) -
--- 1974 (50th) -
--- 1999 (25th) -

2/2 Select 2 from the following anniversaries:
--- 15th Anniversary of WB Archive -
-X- 20th Anniversary of Shout / Scream Factory - Friday the 13th Part 2
--- 35th Anniversary of Tales from the Crypt, 2 -
-X- 35th Anniversary of USA Up All Night - Friday the 13th
-X- 40th Anniversary of The Criterion Collection - House
--- 50th Anniversary of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre -
--- 50th Anniversary of Troma Films -
--- 70th Anniversary of Godzilla -
--- 90th Anniversary of Hammer Films -
--- 100th Anniversary of Columbia Pictures, 2, 3 -
--- 100th Anniversary of Metro-Goldwyn Mayer -

3/3 Select 3 from the following horror film tropes, 2:
--- The Ankle Drag -
--- The Creepy House -
--- The Cursed Book, 2 -
-X- The Maze / Labyrinth Conundrum - Broken Lizard's Club Dread
--- The Sinister Conspiracy -
-X- Trapped In a Room Together - Viy
-X- The Dangerous Key Fumble - The Faculty
--- The Buried Alive Dilemma -

3/4 Select 4 ratings:
--- G -
--- PG -
-X- PG-13 - Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (2015 re-rating)
-X- R - Friday the 13th
--- NC-17 -
--- X -
-X- Unrated - Dracula
--- M -
--- GP -

​6/6 Select 6 decades of film history:
--- Pre-1930 -
-X- 1930 - Dracula (1931)
--- 1940 -
--- 1950 -
-X- 1960 - Viy (1967)
-X- 1970 - Dracula (1979)
-X- 1980 - Friday the 13th (1980)
-X- 1990 - The Faculty (1998)
-X- 2000 - Broken Lizard's Club Dread (2004)
-X- 2010 - Dario Argento's Dracula 3D (2012)
-X- 2020 - Haunting of the Queen Mary (2023)

0/1 Watch 1 film with a recently deceased personality:
--- Recently deceased list -

0/1 Watch a film shot on 1 of the following:
--- Video ,2 -
--- 8mm (Super 8) -
--- 16mm -

0/1 Watch 1 title from the OHMC "Favorites" list:
--- (insert title).

0/2 Watch a movie and its remake or two adaptations of the same source material back to back on the same day
--- Original -
--- Remake -

1/1 Watch 1 unseen entry from a horror franchise:
-X- Friday the 13th Part III

0/1 Watch 1 film from any Alienploitation or Aquatic Horror movie:
--- (insert title).

3/3 Watch films in at least three formats:
-X- First format, (theatrical viewing), (Dracula)
-X-- Second format, (digital), (Friday the 13th)
-X- Third format, (Blu-ray), (Viy).

3/3 Watch films in at least three languages:
-X- First language, (English), (Dracula).
-X-- Second language, (Russian), (Viy).
-X- Third language, (Japanese), (House).

0/2 Watch 2 films with similar plots:
--- Film #1 -
--- Film #2 -

3/3 Watch 3 films that you've never seen before that:
--- Stars a Tilly or Farmiga sister - Jennifer / Meg / Vera / Taissa -
-X- Features cats - Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood
-X- Was made in the 1990s - The Faculty (1998)
--- Features a freeze frame ending -
--- Was written by a Master of Horror (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12A, 12B, 13) -
-X- Features a music box - House
-X- Has a scene in a basement - Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
--- Was shot in Big Bear Lake -
-X- Is listed in HORROR! The Definitive Companion to the Most Terrifying Movies Ever Made - Viy
-X- Takes place in a boiler room - Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan
-X- Death by: Machete, 2 - Friday the 13th Part III
--- Title includes the word horror -

0/1 Attend a live or virtual event (convention, play, haunted house, ghost tour, etc.):
--- (insert event). OPTIONAL
0/1
--- Listen to a horror movie soundtrack - OPTIONAL

0/3 Venture Into the Literary World:
--- Read a Horror Novel or Novella (insert title). OPTIONAL
--- Read a Horror Comic Book or Graphic Novel (insert title). OPTIONAL
--- Read a Horror Magazine (insert title). OPTIONAL

Last edited by Travis McClain; 11-01-24 at 03:49 AM. Reason: Mad Monster Party?
Old 10-14-24 | 10:49 AM
  #90  
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Re: The 20th Annual "October Horror Movie Challenge" (10/1 - 10/31) ***The List Thread***

LIST FINAL - 238 Films - Subset, Theme, and Checklist minimums completed - 16th year - Thanks everyone
Summary Post
Reviews Part I Here
Reviews Part II (Below)
1st = first time viewing | Theme = theme day related | Subset = subset discussion film
List/Reviews (238 total films):
Favorites: Thale, Bell From Hell, Sea Fever, Hostile Dimensions, Downrange, The Sender, No One Will Save You, Never Let Go, The Substance, The Strange Possession of Mrs Oliver, Hatching, Looker, Totally Killer, Satanic Hispanics
Duds: Dashcam, Kill Her Goats, The Conference, Greasy Strangler, Piranha 3DD, Monster Summer, Hex, Autopsy, Hanky Panky, John & the Hole, Clock, Night Teeth, Sister Death, Umma, Kill Your Lover


Stats & Other Highlights

Spoiler:
Total Watched: 238 films [new personal record] - 375 hours, 44 minutes (94.7 minutes per film average) | 16th year participating | Subset, checklist, & themes completed | 151 First Time Viewings [63% of films watched]
By Decade: 2020s 90 | 2010s 37 | 2000s 17 | 1990s 22 | 1980s 36 | 1970s 25 | 1960s 5 | 1950s 1 | 1940s 3 | 1930s 1 | 1920s 1
By Format: Digital 209 [141 in high definition, 41 in 4K/UHD, 27 in 480p standard definition] | Theatrical 18 [thanks to AMC A-list]| Blu-ray 9 | UHD Disc 2 | DVD 0
Average Film Star (★) Rating: 5.04 stars out of 10 ★★★★★✰✰✰✰✰ [Intended Scale: 5 ★ is average, < 5 is bad and > 5 is good]


Indie Films Worth a Chance [Great Within Limitations]: Mass Hysteria, Everyone Will Burn, Succubus, Last Straw
Most Thought Provoking/Puzzling: Luz, Faceless After Dark
Favorite New Release Films: The Substance, Never Let Go
Guilty Pleasures [Not Good But Still Great]: The Dark Power, The Worm Eaters, Shadows of the Mind, The Velvet Vampire, HauntedWeen
Funniest/Lighthearted: Detention, Totally Killer, Dance of the Dead
Scuzziest/’Feel Bad’ Cinema: The New Kids, 1BR, Amulet
Sleaziest: Psycho Cop Returns, Kill Her Goats, Psychic Killer nurse dance
Gore/Effects Standouts: The Pied Piper, Terrifier 3, The Substance
Delightfully Strangest: Chompy & the Girls, Hatching
Weirdest Creature: The Spider Labyrinth, Tokyo Gore Police, The Wasp Woman (1995)
Best Kill: Fatal Games javelin in pool, Girlhouse tape suffocation, Night Screams grill kill
Most Unique/Original: Hostile Dimensions, Mold, The Wasp Woman (1959)
Acting in a Horror Movie Award: Demi Moore in The Substance, Laura Galán in Piggy
Rocking Soundtracks: Looker, Underworld/Transfigurations [80s cheese] The Iguana With the Tongue of Fire [70s]


Week Four [October 21- October 27]:
Spoiler:
October 21 [RIP Roger Corman Theme Night] (13 hours, 30 minutes watched)
149. The Velvet Vampire (1971, 80 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Dreamy hypnotic soapy burning stuff; emphasis on the velvet less so on the vampire but this style is a personal favorite. Dressed in red she stabs her attacker and cooly washes her hands in the fountain to a blues riff; that's just the first two minutes. It goes on to be flirtatious and tender and sexy and surreal with dessert dream scenes - vampires by way of cactus and Greyhound bus. Diana sits at a one way mirror watching you while you sleep, maybe she is a vampire but if so she is an underhanded dream vampire. Delivering the Carmilla story with a desert americana vibe that works especially in a chase segment but personally I prefer the more brooding eurohorror tellings (Daughters of Darkness is a favorite). Celeste Yarnall gives an intense performance as Dianna. Aside from some leering flesh scenes that feel more tacked on this version lacks a sexual chemistry between the characters that seems essential to these sort of vampire entrapment style of movies; on a sleaze scale this telling seems tame but with a more provocative scene or two. Format: Blu-ray [Scream Factory] 1st Theme
150. The Wasp Woman (1995, 92 minutes) ★★★½✰✰✰✰✰✰ Who among us would not relish seeing kills in a giant fake 'wasp with breasts' costume? Jim Wynorski (legendary b-movie exploitation director most famous for Chopping Mall, reported a pig to the cast here) is back for a bee movie of 'skinamax' caliber; he said "you don't get to make a wacky crazy thing like Wasp Woman all the time" and seems to know what he signed for. The effects are amusingly cheap, campy but fun - anyone going into Wasp Woman (the original was no feat of visuals, made cheaply in 1959 with reused sets) should expect a cheesy fun popcorn film. The acting is off, as it should be / bee-cause this is an unpretentious b movie not art, and it gets a tad repetitive by design (vanity, serum, bee, repeat). If anything it's puzzling that there is so little sleaze for a shameless pulpy movie in the 90s about vanity.Format: Digital [Youtube - Garbage and Gold Cinema] 1st Theme
151. Color Out of Space (2019, 111 minutes) ★★★★★★★✰✰✰ Rural cosmic horror that doesnt skimp on scenic or gnarly body horror gunk. Lightning striking the magenta meteor in the rainy field is a visual that makes you forget some of the obnoxious characters, nevermind the horrors to come. It's not exactly that the characters are obnoxious but that some of the plot is exaggerated/simplified; still by the pink soaked end no one will care. Seeding HP Lovecraft quotes and references is a nice touch sometimes too obvious. Bonus alpaca humor. "A dream you dream alone is just a dream, a dream you dream together is reality." I've never been a big fan of Nicholas Cage's brand of hammy overacting but it fits the material well here, things are off a little until they're off a lot. "It's just a color but it burns..." Format: UHD Disc
152. Carnosaur (1993, 83 minutes) ★★★★½✰✰✰✰✰ Chickens have never seemed so menacing now that they have dinosaurs. A desert nightscape with Clint Howard, trucks, and teens is terrorized by amusingly cheap rubber suit claws and teeth not afraid of gore. "Better a bottle in front or me than a frontal lobotomy." Dianne Ladd gives some fine work as a rogue mad scientist and there is a serious military science overkill vibe. Perfectly captures some of the panic about genetic engineering and even knowingly throws in a Jurassic Park barb. It's a film that knows how dumb it is mixing grave theatrical acting with cheesy fun effects in a premise that is intentionally laughable. Format: Digital [Youtube - HTF Movies] 1st Theme
153. Humanist Vampire Seeks Consenting Suicidal Person (2023, 91 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ A vampire film with heart and dry comedy, just like the heavy stately themes Sasha pumps out on her keyboard. The ‘pure cinema’ touches of a young vampire girl walking down the dark streets at night alone were great. Hinted at from the clown at the beginning HVSCSP has a sly rich visual style. Sara Montpetit is stellar as a humble timid vampire balancing a ‘humanity’ but also not overselling the gimmick. The ironic themes of teenage rebellion in not killing are amusing, but surprisingly less defiant with the lead maintaining her cool reserve. Maybe it is sometimes too cool, a little bleak. One touch I liked was how caring her father was, a wholesomeness that felt refreshing for a horror genre that sometimes basks in fake exaggerated trauma. There were times I wish HCSCSP wasn’t so dry and subtle, melancholy without always embracing it’s edge of humor. The idea of moral superiority in a horror film is also rich; the humanist vampire is a good person and we almost feel like it’s ok she get whatever she needs (when usually we might mentally beg the killer clown to just stop or be killed off by the last girl) – Sasha is the last girl and bad guy together in one. There are some elements that felt cliché, like Sasha going to a support group and even some of the moody elements that reminded me of other movies. “That’s not important because I’m not doing it.” The gradient of living and dying contrasting the humanist vampire and the suicidal person is thoughtful, but sometimes stretching and it's resolution felt a little disappointing on a thematic level. Paul’s campaign of revenge is fun. Format: Digital [Download - Thanks to Meghan] 1st Subset
154. The Pit and the Pendulum (1961, 80 minutes) ★★★★½✰✰✰✰✰ Vincent Price surrounded by gaudy costume doles out details of a death, it’s a suspicious and methodical film. “The most hideous blood chilling scream I have ever heard in my life.” Plot elements end up being a bit convoluted and even familiar from other films. Overall it still works given Vincent Price’s good dramatic timing and immaculate stage presence for a shocker of an ending. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Theme
155. The Queen of Black Magic [Ratu Ilmu Hitam] (1981, 90 minutes) ★½✰ A rural thriller examining the merit of revenge; the mix of evil on evil, human vs magic, and power. Locusts swarm, spellcraft abounds but it's effects are relatively tame in favor of moral ambiguity. It's better for playing it safe with some decent gravity despite a casual corny vibe. "Thankfully I know some spells so I was safe." It's a melodrama with some eye rolling twists. Suzzanna has an intense stare and does the range of victim to queen and inbetween well. Format: Digital [Youtube - Dee Haidra] 1st
155. Don't Deliver Us From Evil (1971, 102 minutes) ★★★★★½✰✰✰✰ A hellion movie that is not messing around. I enjoyed it as a religious and moral farce I think it was intended to be, rather than salacious on it's face (but given true crime origins this might be giving it too much credit). These girls "love Satan." The film dares us with to stare into their adolescent bodies defying sexuality itself (both actresses over 20 at the time but convincingly younger) - it's wrong and the film really piles on the smuck bathing in gleeful rogue petty shocks. The seeds of moral and mental destruction abound. I prefer this brand of rebellious film making over the more modern kids with drugs and guns approach these days and think it's an interesting commentary that sex and dead birds (talk about a metaphor) were the high crimes of 1971 (ok - it's beyond the pale past that), almost a fairy tale by comparison - maybe kids today need more Satan relative to their apparent modern dangers. In fact the girls have an earnest intellectual curiosity that makes them relatable as antiheroes (look how stuffy the clergy, snob parents, and sleazeball neighbor are compared to the baby satanists). The enfeebled adults (like the handyman) give a subtle supernatural feel to things. The shared reality they create has an intimacy and togetherness that feels more enticing that scary, the way it's staged where they seem to platonically long for one another almost sweetly contributing to the rich dark fairy tale vibe. A terror to dolls and weak men. This film was apparently based on the same real life case as Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures; the Parker-Hulme case in New Zealand (1954) about two girls who claimed to reach spiritual enlightenment because of their friendship (and was examples as evidence of burning 'moral decline' in New Zealand). What a perfect conclusion Dont Deliver Us From Evil has. Format: Digital [Download - Thanks to Meghan] 1st Subset
156. Dementia 13 [Director's Cut] (1963, 81 minutes) ★★✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Scenic and slow. Dementia 13 is like an in joke everyone else knows but Luana Anders. "There's something in this house like music in the hallways..." The glory days of scumbag wives it's gold digger extraordinary versus a creepy estates and melodramatic inlaws; a gothic family reunion until the axe. D13's willingness to dismember it's plot is subversive but puzzling break in it's continuity. The Director's Cut has one less axe murder (added later at request of Corman) and missing a 'can you take this' style warning prologue. There are some creative camera angles but I dont find a lot of foundation similar to Francis Ford Coppola's other films. The shadowed axe killer is a nice slasher prototype visual. Just when we might expect D13 to build it lulls and gets aimless stuffy in the last half with the world's oddest 'psychiatrist' and walks down long hallways (it needed the extra axe murder). Ultimately too little too late at the end. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD] 1st Theme

October 22 [Road & Hitchhiker Theme Night] (12 hours, 9 minutes watched)
157. The Hitcher (1986, 98 minutes) ★★★★★★★½✰✰ A far out torrent of unplausible suspense. No one throws Rutger Hauer from their car, and in nowhere during the rain - any murder is sanctioned from there. "Because I cut off his legs, and his arms, and..." I dont understand the passenger ejection movie he uses to throw him, but I think far out questionable touches like that give Hitcher it's hallucinatory feel. Some movies toy at 'cat and mouse chase' but Hitcher is the real deal. The perfect dessert landscape and impossible escalations seem so surreal and beyond belief it has a texmex flavored 'journey through the nine circles of hell' feel. They even manage to shoehorn in a romance subplot. Hitcher is one scenic film that does not stop. I like how it shows a slow hardening C Thomas Howell and ultimately it feels like he is The Hitcher in the end but there's a lot of depth to it. Format: Digital [Download - Thanks to Meghan] Theme Subset
158. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974, 83 minutes) ★★★★★★★✰✰✰ Dragging horror films out of the graveyard and railing against automation, TCM is a classic. The ripe feel of legacy and nostalgia is great. The wheelchair buddy guy sure is over the top but I think some of that is intended to parallel cold silence later. A junkyard aesthetic works wonders on the cheap. TCM turns 'southern hospitality' on it's head. The film has an indie charm to it with unprofessional actors and locations that feel right out of the roadway (the golden hour roadways finale has an aesthetic of rare natural beauty). Gunnar Hansen has an imposing physical presence, sometimes you hardly notice the chainsaw. Eventually some of the hammy overacting undermines a climax but what wild stuff. Ultimately TCM 2 with Bill Mosley takes the overacting and turns it into brilliance. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD] Theme
159. Fender Bender (2016, 91 minutes) ★★★★½✰✰✰✰✰ Clever idea for a horror movie where a killer gets in fender benders to meet and stalk victims. It's a subtle slow burn home invasion of leering down dark modern hallways while potential victims shower (but not in a sleazy way). It takes the 'a stranger' genre beyond 'the call is coming from inside the house' in a smart way but still carries with it the teasing fakeouts and slow paced maybe stalking with cool music, weather lightning effects, and a cheesy mask to balance the kills. It has a shot on video look that softens some of the cinematic qualities but it's got a great beginning and last third. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
160. Appendage (2023, 94 minutes) ★★★½✰✰✰✰✰✰ Appendage doesnt seem original (theres a similar Xfiles episode, etc) but it's creature effects are fun and it's a premise ripe with potential. Here the plot seems serviceable, it's got some elements that are too obvious (a super toxic boss lacking subtlety, etc) but the longer it goes the more unique stuff it tries. Ultimately it hints at themes of identity and mental health that doesnt get fleshed out enough and the plot and visuals dont go wild enough despite a few cool touches. Format: Digital [Hulu HD] 1st
161. Hocus Pocus (1993, 96 minutes) ★★★★½✰✰✰✰✰ Hocus Pocus exists in a magical whimsy of autumn and overacting. The seasonal merriment is great but overstuffed with corny humor. Witches are well overdue a spotlight. I wish HP had more edge to it (calling Anjelica Huston) but it fits the Disney mold. It's a surprise more participants didnt springboard from a large production like HP to bigger careers but the odd slapstick style humor wasn't helping many of them shine. I never thought I'd wish for more singing from Bette Midler, Midler really steals the show here and saves the film to a point I never even realized Sarah Jessica Parker is the cute witch. HP nails broomstick flying and makes black cats cool again. HP is not without family friendly merit but it's recent favorable revival feels like more a force of Disney's marketing machine that it'a cemetery standoffs and dance hall curses. Format: Theatrical
162. Hatching (2022, 91 minutes) ★★★★★★★✰✰✰ Weird film unlike anything else. The creature effects sometimes look fake but are surprisingly serviceable, gruesome even; until suddenly they don't look fake enough. The wholesomeness of the family and the weirdness of Hatching give an urban fairy tale vibe. Naturally an affair is not the only thing off about this family. The kid is a gymnast introducing ideas of perfection and parent appeasement furthering the strain. Its unclear if the horror here is symbolic of the cracks or just a freaky weird plot altogether. In some cases like with the parents and children there is a mimicry that is fascinating and rich. "How can you be so disgusting?" Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
163. Clock (2023, 92 minutes) ★½✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Clock is heavy handed stuff dealing in obvious themes with a presentation overly familiar and message heavy. Pregnancy, child rearing, sex, and all manner of domestic stuff is rich ground for horror but here it crawls out of the everyday and into one of cinema's fakest fake clinics (complete with sensory deprivation tank). There's a scene where the lead "can't" get medical help because the clinic will discharge her if she goes with paramedics after fainting; it's corny engineered stuff where fake injustice is suppose to haunt us. Symbolism here equates to a parallel with a grandfather clock (meaning about what you expect) and they even shoehorn in a holocaust parallel. People, mothers or not, deserve better more relatable horror movies. I want to give Clock credit but it's ambitionless and the more I think about it the more it's off cheap bend to a cool idea offends me. Format: Digital [Hulu HD] 1st
164. Tentacles (2021, 84 minutes) ★★★★½✰✰✰✰✰ We were promised tentacles but this is aimless drama about a photographer and his new girlfriend and a house and their pasts - which shows unexpected promise in the end. I wish I could see the artistic heft at play but it just feels like filler for tooong. I didnt expect much from a film called Tentacles but this exceeded in sinking to the depths below my expectations. No amount of tentacle justifies the moping in a red light dark room stuff here; eventually it remembers it's pulpy promise to us and does some mind messing twistiness with a last fourth finale. Ultimately I cant tell if this is nicely paced to defy expectations in a fresh way or it they just had a cool ending in mind and took too long getting there. "Is there anything more calming than the ocean?" Format: Digital [Hulu HD] 1st

October 23 [Coming of Age Theme Night] (10 hours, 41 minutes watched)
165. Dance of the Dead (2008, 87 minutes) ★★★★★★★✰✰✰ Cartoonish, defiant, and immature in just the right measures. "Is everything a joke to you?" It's got an earnest punk sense of humor and a kinetic optimism ever with zombies. I could watch these zombies launch out of their graves all day. Horror movies aren't really about 'character' and DotD is intentional with stereotypes but still the characters shine - there even feel like long moments of lulls in zombie action but the people here work. Some of the production values seem cheap but the energy is right and it makes up. The earnest comedy, heart, and zombie gore work well together here. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Theme
166. Detention (2011, 93 minutes) ★★★★★★½✰✰✰ Energetic style that sometimes pushes things too much, more comedy minded at expense of anything for some manic cult weirdness. It has a casual sometimes juvenile poetry of connection to it. Detention is the meta film the Scream series aspired to be and 'Cinderhella' is a brilliant fake context and there's even a weird insect subplot which are both tangents in a spray if them. "It was the worst kind of sex. Premarital." Detention doesn't always trust itself, or is overly structured, and has a lot of labels and title cards that might seem condescending but they're handled cartoonishly and it's an ambitious film with a lot of moving pieces, maybe too many. Ultimately I enjoyed the style and weirdness of it. "I have fly blood in my veins, I'm a freak." Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Theme
167. Departing Seniors (2023, 85 minutes) ★★★½✰✰✰✰✰✰ Device heavy psychic horror movie that has an angst weight to it; it sometimes feels too simple with how far out horror movies often are. Sometimes slow, but the nature of the plot conceals that there is a killer for a while. It explores/exploits themes of tolerance and stigma around depression that takes center stage maybe too long. "I'm going to need so kuch therapy." The kills are visceral. There is a point of view aesthetic to the murders that is immersive and cool. Pretense is sometimes cheap but here it doesnt feel like there are enough moving pieces, a simple tale of murder without so much grandstanding. The psychic device is limited enough it doesnt change the character and is maybe too plot bound. The killer's motives dont entirely make sense. "I'll show you a b--ch, a---ole!" Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
168. Succubus (2024, 103 minutes) ★★★★★½✰✰✰✰ In frame social media device heavy commentary on intimacy and fantasy that jumps the shark but hits a sweet spot of weird horror on the way. It's handled in a serious minded way, not too sleazy or humor focused. "This is all too weird." In your head stuff with well executed demon and possession tropes for an insidious and unpredictable ride. The plot seems unassumingly simple but with a lot of small subplots and implied richness (a prologue and inferred backstory, depth of main plot). The longer it goes the better ir gets, away from the dating app premise and into more diabolical horror stuff. Brendan Bradley gives a good performance relatable as a nice guy but also toying with temptation and his performance is ranged. There are some effects that are more cheesy than scary but it fits the vibe of the film. It's not an 'in the shadows' style but more an eerie idea worming into our well lit kitchen tables of every day family life. An epilogue segment feels like it goes on too long taking it into camp. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD] 1st
169. Hanky Panky (2023, 86 minutes) ½✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Cheap seeming at first about a guy with a napkin he hears that seems to have a life of it's own and relishes absorbing fluids. I'm ok with stance, unique, campy, etc but this doesn't seem like they were even trying. It's not scary or funny but very hammy. Eventually it goes past cheap into campy with some plot twists that jump the shark beyond talking napkin but in the stupidest most inane way possible. It gets quickly tiresome. In a remote cabin too many people show up and start to debate what a haberdashery is and other twists. "Tomorrow we will make our sacrifice and we will be rewarded handsomely." I don't want to spoil anything but it does some amateur grade stuff in a cheap way. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
170. Amulet (2020, 99 minutes) ★★★★★½✰✰✰✰ Dreary tale of a disenfranchised refugee, albino bats, and moral ambiguity. It's slow, sometimes boring, going back and forth in time artistically and drab. The twists are cool and unlike much of what we have seen but sometimes delivered too dryly. Some elements feel too cryptic, the sort of thing I might like trying to dissect but maybe it defies explanation, like the symbolism of the amulet itself. Some touches, like the bat, feel either random or with that impenetrable symbolism. Ultimately it's not especially fun or scary or thought provoking but feels timely with an anger that seeps through. It does some things really right with a visual style of storytelling that shows elements more than it tells or explains them, I think with a little more tightening up it could have been even better. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
170. KillHer (2022, 88 minutes) ★★★★★½✰✰✰✰ Brides party at a campgrounds makes for scenic fun girls trip stuff with some black comedy horror embellishments. This is a comedy movie first; with a pretentiousness that is a little creepy but mostly it's a winky joking affair about people who aren't as they seem to be. The actors vary in skill from bad to serviceable. "Just watch out for the raccoon." There is no illusion about who the killer is for the viewer so it's an ironic killer's perspective style; this murderer who gets increasingly more gleeful about the manipulation and murder pranks. "What would Mr Rogers do?" I enjoyed KillHer's unique approach and some of the mean spirited comedy elements. It's fun during it's run time but the trajectory feels weird, it works in a cinematic snapshop but hard to imagine some of the characters existing before or after the movie because of the unreal even obnoxious hammy intensity. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st

October 24 [Global Theme Night] (13 hours, 44 minutes watched)
171. Nightmare Detective (2006, 105 minutes) ★★★★½✰✰✰✰✰ Strange police murder mystery with a cool hook but aside from a cool nightmare fight and a weird introduction doesnt do enough dreamlike with the premise. "I've always wanted to die." The idea is a good one, we can do anything in cinema to no need to confine to reality; but it ends up.being relatively vanilla with it. There are some ok murders but not especially creative either. I expected weirder or more gruesome. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
172. Nightwatch (1994, 107 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Morbid burning thriller with sleazy and macabra subplots. The night morgue setting is rich stuff, easily atmospheric modern and clinical for instant creepy. There is a killer with an interesting twistedness, dark and unexpected. Some of the sex comedy elements seem too aberrant but that helps with a bleed over between the killer and others and segues well into some of the more lurid elements. The psychological bend to the creepy morgue atmosphere is a smart way to ratchet intensity but sometimes seems cheap. I appreciated it still found ways to inject dance humor or other bits to balance the queasy weird vibe Nightwatch excels at. The scene of casual nudity was curious but touches like that made Martin seem vulnerable even when others seem more intense. A gnarly escape scene is the stuff of legend. At the end of it there is an element of simplicity that is elegant but almost disappointing, it beats around the bush of far out but remains respectable. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme Subset
173. Nightwatach: Demons Are Forever (2023, 117 minutes) ★★★★★½✰✰✰✰ Continuation is a mix of neat expansion and undeserved epilogue. Trying to build on the bones of the first leads to some stretching rushed plot points like death in between or trauma that doesnt feel as continuous as other elements (the first ends on a laugh and this picks up on mopey). This requires some drudging and slight retconning. It perfectly captures the feel of the first advancing a mythology that has seemed to close in a way that feels fresh. It has a similar careful pacing to the first. At times it feels too much like a film about the events of the first and doesn't step far enough out of the shadow - which is cool to see as expansion but sometimes too limited. It's like Nightwatch 1.5. Some segments, like a hospital escape, dont work at well but pushing the intense crime minded stuff is part of what Demons Are Forever does best. I think the themes of legacy ultimately work out well but some of the sequel seems cheap. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
174. Piggy (2022, 99 minutes) ★★★★★½✰✰✰✰ Psychological and slasher horror builds on bullying pranksters with an over obvious target in an overweight teen. Her relatable anxiety makes her an antihero in some ways but it's often over the top. Piggy smartly weaves serial killer and psychological elements together. Laura Galán as the lead gives an anchoring performance made strong by how braves she walks around in her underwear for so much of the film as the 'fat girl' (a sly twist to the busty cute stereotypical eye candy we might see in other horror films). Aside from the bloody gore and killer chasing there are some more heavier and noble themes at play. Format: Digital [Hulu HD] 1st Theme
175. John and The Hole (2021, 103 minutes) ★★★½✰✰✰✰✰✰ Allegorical film that is different enough but dry about it. There's a hole they try to explain and a kid whose motives dont make sense, maybe they're trying to use an autism loophole. Once we are on for the ride it does a thoughtful job of walking us through it's thesis without too many shocks in an artistic enough and meditative way. As a thought experiment it spoils itself with some inorganic design, that it exists because it says so then maybe mirrors a reality. It's a neat idea decently executed but the script just isnt trying to go too far with it. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
176. Everyone Will Burn (2021, 125 minutes) ★★★★★½✰✰✰✰ A searing intro sets up a soapy weird diabolic revenge plot. The strange midget at the center of the prophecy kick starts a 'whatever might happen next' eerieness. It's sidetracked in town social circles as the lead actress stands off against the mayor's wife. I wish there was more to march the gnarly prologue but found myself enjoying the petty twists and drama minded horror. The townsfolk rioting against the lead and her midget has a hysterical feel sometimes hard to follow. Maybe I was just in the mood for witchcraft horror but ultimately I liked how it was just different enough and well shot. I saw this with some disappointment because if it had maintained the energy of the first 10 minutes more consistent it might have been one of my favorites but as is it's ambitious and unusual stuff. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
177. Killdozer (1974, 74 minutes) ★✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Straddling classic meteorite scifi and campy exploitation b-movies Killdozer comes from a time when scene chewing thespians did a lot of the heavy lifting. No one could tell the actors here not to give it their strapping best as a no nonsense crew of construction workers. Given the limited horrors of rocks and killdozers there is a lot of chat subplots about things sobriety (a nice change from the usual party drunkenness tropes). Eventually it settles into a pattern of clueless construction workers talking and trying their best to sell the thrill of it. Its family friendly made for tv stuff at that; cutting off any deaths. Format: Digital [Youtube - anythinggoestheather] 1st
178. Little Evil (2017, 94 minutes) ★★★★★★½✰✰✰ A horror comedy that keeps horror at the forefront. I appreciate it for not diving into intentional cheese, slapstick, or bro humor. Adam Scott balances heart needed to stick the landing here but sometimes errors too much towards being a 'nice guy,' but it works since LE stays horror minded. It twists cliche in funny ways taking horror to the water park or exploring acceptance. Directed by Sally Field's son Eli Craig; also the mastermind behind Zombieland and Tucker and Dale. Clancy Brown (always great) and Owen Atlas give stellar performances. The child must die! Format: Digital [Netflix UHD]


October 25 [Joe Bob & Drive-in Theme Night] (8 hours, 5 minutes watched)
179. Blood Sisters (1987, 86 minutes) ★★★½✰✰✰✰✰✰ I've always wanted to see Blood Sisters, it looks like a great mix of lurid and campy. Now that I've seen it, it feels like I've seen it before - I think because it's awfully generic... sorority, pranks out of hand, generic thin characters, etc. Styled similarly to House on Haunted Hills but set in an abandoned brothel there are real scares and intentionally cheesy fake scares or madam sex hauntings and college kid horniness plus maybe a real or fake or supernatural killer. Overall a nice mix of cliche and cheese not intended to take seriously. Format: Digital [Youtube - Jean Shawl] Theme
180. Blood Shack [Including Joe Bob Briggs introduction, Director's Cut] (1971, 61 minutes) ★½✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Obvious low budget stuff but Ghe Chooper is actually a spooky guy, eeriely tall jump scare prone fellow. Spunky lady refuses to take no for an answer in staying in a haunted shack, nevermind the chooper; things for this shack end up ominous. My favorite is a groundskeeper who lectures dead victims, "I told you;" or the owner who only seems to speak in voiceover when she is on screen. Aside from a neat enough typical slasher killer and a rodeo theme there isn't too much to Blood Shack before it's abrupt ending. Format: Digital [Youtube - UrbanXplorerlDaho] 1st Theme
181. The Horror at 37,000 Feet (1973, 73 minutes) ★★★★½✰✰✰✰✰ Eventually creepy with a cool supernatural hook but early on it's like watching a plane fly. Dry airplane setting with a small crew but what actors are here to save the day with some theatrical acting (red haired lady sells it as does the blonde, prime William Shatner). The acting saves the day when the well plotted supernatural ideas arent as visual. "You fool, you'be given them hope for nothing." The ending feels a little abrupt. Format: Digital [Yutube - Juan] 1st
182. My Best Friend's Exorcism (2022, 96 minutes) ★★★★½✰✰✰✰✰ Mid adaptation of an ok book. The 80s vibe feels pandering but is true to source. The movie speeds things up a bit which helps, it's a tighter narrative but also maybe too fast paced cutting out some parent subplot and friendship history but it seeds in the Lemon Brothers subplot better/earlier. This always struck me as a tale of friendship first and demons second so the horror elements feel a little dry; definite but subtle almost token (like the evilness of dunking someone in cold water). The two leads dont have as much chemistry here so the film never basks in the love of best friends (in some ways a soft friendship subplot makes it more serviceable than good). The epilogue hits much harder in the book. Disappointing lack of Phil Collins. Format: Digital [Amazon Prime UHD] 1st
183. Trespassers (2018, 88 minutes) ★★★★★✰✰✰✰✰ Character drama meets home invasion. Sarah is in an abusive relationship and cheated with a friend who had just lost a baby... plus home invasion. "I just want to have some fun and forget the world exists for a bit." Melodrama punctuated by occasionally brilliant moments of gore and twits. It's stylishly shot with a good soundtrack. I didn't 'get' all the subplot elements but there was a bit of implied plot and grist to ponder. Wider. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
184. Last Straw (2023, 81 minutes) ★★★★★★½✰✰✰ Great diner setting with weird mask invaders. Its a creative thriller film about a pregnant free spirited nepo baby Jessica Bellin trying to survive the night. It's shot with an artistic style (camera in car looking out, 'I'm Your Dad' dance segment, etc). Directed with flourish by Alan Scott Neal, a casting associate for Suspiria and Uncut Gems among others. It goes back and forth in time as a thriller with layers. Well executed with twists and a simplicity that works; a cat and mouse chase in a diner with a time device that adds detail and an epilogue that works. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD] 1st

October 26 [John Kenneth Muir Decades Tetralogy Theme Night] (13 hours, 12 minutes watched)
185. Godzilla (1998, 138 minutes) ★★★½✰✰✰✰✰✰ They turned Godzilla into an ethically questionable Jurassic Park clone. Computer generated imagery doesnt hold up well example #104. Showing just footprints then just feet, etc the episodic reveal of Godzilla seems misguided. The crew has a lot of recognizable faces. "That's a lot of fish." Godzilla '95 has some creative shots but the cgi lizard spoils a lot. The true hero here is the epic sound design. The bigger budget seems spread across the cityscape and other settings but the plot feels loose, name actors and large settings but less focus - or there is a weird reproduction plot that starts with a random lizard pregnancy test and includes Immaculate 'Virgin Lizard' jokes. A lot of the 'defender of earth' mysticisms and commentary that elevates the Godzilla mythos is gone. Matthew Brodrick has had some iconic comedic roles but he lacks the gravity a film like this (Jean Reno was right there, sidelined). The best thing about this version is moments of scale when Godzilla walks by building with convincing height, and there is some epic sound engineering. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD]
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186. Looker (1981, 94 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Stylish commentary with clever ideas and nice dated vibe stalled by plot conveniences & pacing issues. Lingerie ladies falling from windows while a mustache guy with giant sunglasses stares down. "Your probably think I'm beautiful Dr Roberts but I'm not, I have lots of defects to fix. I have a list right here." The idea of a plastic surgeon fighting against technology and commerce is sly, concealing if he has personal or social motives. Michael Crichton's original screenplay feels too heavy handed, focused on uncovering some twist of technology rather than plotting out a storyline but it packs a punch judging technology and our use of it with commerce mindedness complicating the exploitation of it all. Albert Finney is top tier here. The LOOKER idea and it's laser are clever - but plot poorly executed. An access badge left sitting unmonitored on a table type of storyline for a cool idea. The ending is better but it takes some time to get there. Embedding fake commercials into the film is neat with the theme and the sort of far out stuff I wish was more consistent. Fun soundtrack. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
187. Autopsy (2009, 84 minutes) ★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Hospital horror that starts in New Orleans then sidetracks to empty dim hospital halls; but the hospital is not a sidetrack it's just a thin often slow feature that leads to a gruesome finale. A location that oozes ominous. Its a little obvious and that contributes to it feeling slow but the intestines scene and others make it worth it. There are occasional far out moments that stand out but it takes it's time and botches a lot of setup. Robert Patrick and Jessica Lowndes play well off one another. "First do harm, after that things get a little blurry." Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
188. From Jennifer (2017, 85 minutes) ★★★½✰✰✰✰✰✰ An actress tries to build her social media as she tries to get revenge. From Jennifer looks cheap and that kept me from checking it out for a while but that works because it's a social media film. Danielle Taddei has a sweet presence that lends itself well the the frame. Some of the staging is hammy and amateurish to a point it's hard to get past despite the forgiving premise. It does some interesting things with point of view camera and low budget. Derek Mears is an imposing presence who seems like a nice guy and somewhat carries the film even when he overacts. Tony Todd in a role not suited to him. From Jennifer spawned three sequels and I'm curious where they go with things now. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
189. The Worm Eaters (1977, 90 minutes) ★★★★½✰✰✰✰✰ Gleefully weird movie with tons of worms; worms in birthday cakes, worms in jars, worms everywhere and a glorious original soundtrack with jingles about worm eating. The ambitious story is brilliantly devil may care. Everyone here knows they're in a worm eating movie with over acting (my favorite is the folks who stand around yelling) and weird script lines. "No body likes me, everybody hates me - guess I'll go eat worms." Sometimes intentionally weird movies can be obnoxious but Worm Eaters somehow works, maybe it's dated age makes it feel more honest or the fact that everyone in it seems to understand it's a worm comedy. There's also a plot about economic development and secret committees and worms. Format: Digital [Youtube - Movies and Films 4 You] 1st
190. Jaws 2 (1978, 116 minutes) ★★★★★½✰✰✰✰ Jaws 2 has a cool beach setting and I am a sucker for aquatic horror movies. I feel like J2 takes too long to simmer (especially for how it ends). Roy Scheider has a great subtle range of emotions but he largely seems too chill for the script and trauma of his character especially when the city council is in full on ignorant mode (in a way everyone is low key on the sharks). Ultimately when Brody sheds the mantle of responsibility (ironic when he was maybe the only responsible one) the film comes more into it's own, out of the shadow of the original classic, and things seem really personal. Cool poison bullet montage, where were those when they were needed. I know the last death is suppose to be the bad guy but no one deserves to go out like that. The next generation subplot here works but none feel developed enough to carry the torch especially in the shadow of Brody. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD] Theme Subset
191. Grave Encounters (2011, 93 minutes) ★★★★★½✰✰✰✰ I'm a wuss about abandoned buildings and Grave Encounters starts there, but with a nice humorous ghost show that lulls us into a false sense of comedy. Grave Encounters was terrifying when I first saw it years ago so I am excited to revisit. The biggest problem is profanity as emotion, like if a character yells f-ck enough might strike fear rather than be annoying but good thing it nails some creepy subtle at first atmosphere I'm. Now I noticed some of the sets look too designed, clean. Ambient nose is intense here. The mix of subtle and lack of subtle still works well. It didnt feels as scary but was a nice blend of knowing humor, cool setting, and action packed haunted house style in your face. Entertaining but cheap. Format: Digital [Vudu HD]
192. Doomwatch (1972, 92 minutes) ★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Scenic location with a folky vibe and a slow buildup. There is an outsider looking into odd behavior of locals resulting in some secret cult type behavior; there are a lot of right pieces that lurk too in the shadows. The gothic elements seem at odds with the science based creature bits and result in some slowness. I didnt notice it was based on a Doomwatch tv show nor am I familiar with it but I did notice a Doomwatch group name dropping seemed odd, not set up well in context, and that some of the characters seemed token (a lot of phone calling). It's an interesting premise buts goes in circles eventually with an ending that hits but takes too long. Format: Digital [Youtube - Flick Vault]
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October 27 [Locations Bronson Canyon / Big Bear Lake / Oakley Court Theme Night] (11 hours, 46 minutes watched)
193. The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu (2009, 78 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ Slacker comedy takes advantage of Lovecraft popularity and dupes us with iffy gore and hammy amateur actors but gets nicely weird. I want to like Last Lovecraft but it's a little too on the nose heavy handed in shoving shallow references at us (the names Cthulhu and Lovecraft are used dozens of times). The staging has a vacancy to it that is off putting but let's the characters center stage, requiring them to sell some humor beyond them. It's a dessert standoff with some filler in the first half, maybe too much filler early on. Martin Starr in a small role. Format: Digital [Vudu HD]
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194. Deadstream (2022, 88 minutes) ★★★★★★★✰✰✰ Social media star in a haunted house with some twists just obvious enough to be ironic funny largely thanks to actor/writer/director Joseph Winter's zany but balanced performance as Shawn. Madeline Stone is also good as fan girl Chrissy and I think some other roles. The ending is just cryptic enough. The eerie abandoned setting (apparently a house also used in Made Men) does a good share of lifting too. The pond waters are still... #TeamCrissy Format: Digital [Vudu HD]
195. Nightmare Man (2006, 89 minutes) ★★★★★½✰✰✰✰ Rolfe Kanefsky cranks out cheap popcorn horror films with a balance of weird, sleazy, and fun. Nightmare Man goes heavy on the cheap, but questionable acting and cheap props arent anything Kanefsky hasn't salvaged before. There is a scene when Blythe Mentz and her boyfriend (who cant act and has a thick European accent) fight in a car out of gas so he walks off for "a few hours" and her phone battery is dead; Kanefsky brand cheap that seems comedic but plays into the plot. Nightmare Man is a fun mix of slasher and sex demon. The lesbian subplot is funny and it has a fake orgasm scene among the best. Arrow in the Head (2009) chose Tiffany Shepis' boobs in this film as #7 in Top Ten Boobs in horror movies. Still for all the innuendo NM isn't as sleazy and captures cabin in the woods nightscape tree stops stuff well, more films should have crossbows. Format: Digital [Vudu HD]
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196. The Strange Possession of Mrs Olivier (1977, 77 minutes) ★★★★★★½✰✰✰ Existential soapy horror; dated and low key but hit the right notes for me. Opens with a burning house of dream sequences and has some interesting existential elements. The rich people domestics get fake scary down to trying on a blouse and looking in a mirror over eerie music with the impeccable Karen Black aghast. The idea of doing everyday stuff with menace and ominous tones is funny and clever segue to more convincing supernatural entrapment. There is a feminist tone to the supernatural here, possession involving going to the bar alone or making your own maternity choices. The beach and even house make unusual sets and feel modern, matching the balance of empowered and troubled. The burning building is a good metaphor/image here. Excellent twist no one could see coming. Format: Digital [Youtube - TVTERRORLAND] 1st
197. Daughters of Darkness (1971, 100 minutes) ★★★★★★★✰✰✰ Daughters of Darkness is a favorite of mine but it might be a hard general recommendation, eurohorror soap at it's best. The mother subplot continues to baffle me, which is genius. The isolated beach hotel is moody (what scale) and perfect elevated by the classical score The efficient cuts and long static lens help with the mood. It's a film more seductive about sadism than literal, drawing out and relishing eerie but I can see how it might seem subtle or slow until it isn't. The violence is thematic and moving from one player to another with a unique blue hued moodiness. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme Subset
198. Dead in Tombstone (2013, 100 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ Costumed western fast paced with action sometimes same-y. Mickey Rouke is cheesy at the devil and Danny Trejo off in western garb. Everyone looks like they're at some sort of biker western convention. The fast paced double crossing narrative keeps things interesting but is sometimes too fast paced for the production values to keep up. Machismo heavy with sometimes corny dialogue. Format: Digital [Vudu HD]
199. 1BR (2019, 90 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ Slow film that skates by on social malaise. Nicole Broom does timid and uneasy well, maybe too well. I appreciate the apartment looks like a real apartment and not some rich overly designed place, 1BR is a populist horror film for the people. Rather it's about the people we can't trust, our neighbors and community. The premise seems good but too unconvincing, mean spirited just for shocks or maybe just pessimistic but that might be necessary for the scale. "We have to be there for each other." Maybe somewhere in here is an allegory about radical acceptance of the life we are dealt but still the cynicism seems like a problem; or maybe I just dont get it. Format: Digital [Vudu HD]
200. The Lost Footage of Leah Sullivan (2018, 84 minutes) ★★★★★½✰✰✰✰ Found footage amateur news caster investigating a crime from 30 years ago. It has a 'campfire story' feel because it has a lot of dramatic overselling talking heads but it works at building and expanding on a folksy mythos. It's not a Christmas movie but some Xmas backgrounds contribute to the homey domestic vibe that gets a twisted in the end. Aside from talking head interviews there are some 'site' footage scenes that are creepy despite some shaky camera and overly dark tricks. Format: Digital [Vudu HD]



Week Five [October 28 - November 1 at Sunrise]:
Spoiler:
October 28 [Investigation Theme Night] (16 hours, 20 minutes watched)
201. Angel Heart (1987, 113 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ New Orleans setting can't save a meandering mess of a plot for a one note master shock that isn't great for the effort. A murky 'gumbo' of voodoo, Satanism, noir, and jazz. I almost didn't recognize Mickey Rouke, he looks so human here. Robert DeNiro we all know but usually director's can coax better performances from him; and if he wasn't already giving it away the egg scene was way on the nose. Angel Heart has a lot of narration scenes and seems to find strange ways to add visuals with location changes, etc. Mickey gets to New Orleans (cool jazz funeral scene) and has sex with an assistant while gives him case details; random legs and breasts for the narration. I was confused when he is in New Orleans then suddenly goes to Coney Island in New York the back to New Orleans; bit the scenery is top notch. For all the Lisa Bonet sex scene hype that is one of the least steamy sex scenes ever. I think drawing out a simple premise with chase heavy narrative and lacing it with somewhat disjointed jazz and cypress trees and chicken dances works better than I'd expect here. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD]
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202. The Devil's Gift (1984, 112 minutes) ★½✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ From Vestron Video, Lionsgate has been reviving these films but I can see now how no one has heard of The Devil's Gift. Dream sequences, a pilfered cymbal monkey, and way too domestic stuff. The toy monkey is lifeless and makes no sense (there is a lack of devil); it's a dull thing too inspired by Monkey Shines. There is a father and son duo without chemistry because the father can't act. It's corny stuff. I wish it was 'so bad if's good' but it's too slow and cheap. Format: Digital [Youtube - m1km4n] 1st
203. The Ring (2002, 115 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Samara is a supremely creepy incarnation of evil and her crawling out of the televsion might make ant movie it's in a 'classic.' Seeing this in theaters was a hogh; but I don't think it's held up well. The intensity of her revenge and it's injustice is legendary, I like that it's not just bump in the night horror but a moral sort of wrongs needing righting. The tape is a clever idea advancing forbidden knowledge tropes to a new medium, information could kill. The tape itself is nightmare fuel, abstract and weird. The tale here is an example of over explainarion, we dont need to know each element of the tape and why it exists - it gets slow and interjects explaination that really doesnt explain anything and where none is needed. The images end up being too literal. The 'investigation' sometimes feels too easy; a few google searches, easy access to medical files, etc. I wish the scares had been more consistently peppered in. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD] ThemeSubset
204. Pet (2016, 94 minutes) ★★★★★½✰✰✰✰ Subversive film that feels too safe for a weirdo kidnapping movie until it goes in another direction. There's no moral ambiguity but the bad guy seems too low key, like he's an average fellow who might even be likeable (good he's not too creepy/corny but they error'ed the other way). The girl is more interesting, she seems jaded and angry beyond being a victim here. The dynamics between them seem stretched as a film but ultimately works as a pulpy fiction of the unexpected. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
205. Dead Silence (2007, 89 minutes) ★★★★½✰✰✰✰✰ It's not a killer doll movie; it's an over baked psychological mystery thriller. Normally I dislike elaborate backstory but here it allows for gleeful macabre without impacting the main plot and builds a creepy tale around the dummy. It veers a little into what feels like overly specific tangents. There grandstanding allows for some twists that work really well. Aside from the plot it has a gritty gothic vibe which seems a little strange for the content but adds a spookiness. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD] Theme
206. Shadows of the Mind (1979, 80 minutes) ★★★½✰✰✰✰✰✰ Low expectations with a public domain title by an infamously question director known for porn. It's not good but it covers some of the shortcomings with a psychological slow film of characters staring into a pond reflecting on the only family they have left or a girl being meditative while being released from the asylum. It doesnt over explain but it's a simple enough tale. The ending, which everything builds to, is generic but contrasts with the quiet first half unexpectedly with a twist and some gore. Format: Digital [Youtube - TheBurialGround5] 1st
207. Abandoned (2022, 102 minutes) ★★★★½✰✰✰✰✰ Couple buys a farm house with a haunted past. It's a cool place and they hang out, mill over dead people photos, and see reflections in windows; eventually the horrors are less subtle but not by much linking in a psychological moodiness. Abandoned has too soft a touch, or is maybe too nuanced. There were times I hooked me in and it avoiding veering to into haunted or mental tropes so walks a tightrope. The lead wears the same clothes the whole film, which is a little disorienting (cheating even as a cinematic device) but fits some of the themes. Format: Digital [Netflix] 1st
208. Downrange (2017, 90 minutes) ★★★★★★★½✰✰ Intense gorey standoff, director Ryûhei Kitamura is not one to mess around. Sniper films can sometimes feel limited but this one was more variety thanks to some dramatic shots and different subplots driving by. There was a moment I wondered where all the blood came from but I appreciated the splatter. While the ending was a little let down the film doesnt hand hold or explain, it just shoots. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
209. Cujo (1993, 93 minutes) ★★★★★★½✰✰✰ Brilliant staging with domestic decay, suburban economic angst, romantic deception, and also a killer dog. The killer dog alone might have seemed cheesy but here it's emblematic if even man's best friend betraying him. In the film you can feel the heat of the stalled car and the panic of the frightened kid. The dog might be the weakest part of the film. Dee Wallace gives a stunning performance. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD]
210. Freaks of Nature (2015, 92 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ The casual mixing of vampires, zombies, humans, and everything but the kitchen sink is awkward and seems pandering. Oddly the best elements are the exaggerated slice of life comedy about high school-ism. Mackenzie Davis is good here as an impressionable teen seduced into fledgling vampirism. There are a lot of recognizable talent here but the script for all it's unique or cute moments doesnt capitalize well on the charms of repurposed horror tropes instead getting distracted by stuff like jokes about riblets. FoN is a fun film that really wants you to like it but despite itself I enjoyed it, a 0% Rotten Tomato rating seems unwarranted. Format: Digital [Vudu HD]


October 29 [Supernatural Theme Night] (11 hours, 22 minutes watched)
211. A House on the Bayou (2021, 89 minutes) ★★★★★★★✰✰✰ Moral minded weirdness in the bayou, it's familiar but unique. The tone is weird starting with an epically casual confrontation about adultery; some of the yuppie setup is too flagrant like discussions about veal - but moves into the core horror stuff all the sooner. Jacob Lofland does creepy naturally with a bumpkin menace. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD] 1st Theme Subset
212. Teke Teke (2009, 70 minutes) ★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Japanese schoolgirls (not sleazy, but probably made for that demographic) investigate disembodied ghosts. The folksy urban horror creatures are eerie and have a funny name but dont go very far and nose dive into cliche. Here it's approached in a way too matter of fact, casually evoked. It's a short film and some of the build up seems cheap or abrupt like a conclusion from a myth that just pops up. There is a gnarly creature shot the film keeps recycling. Format: Digital [Youtube - Horror Movies] 1st Theme
213. Let's Start a Cult (2024, 89 minutes) ★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Raunch petty comedy that takes losering to a new extreme of cult. An outsider gets cut out of a group suicide and looks to recreate the grifter life he enjoyed as part of a death cult. The cult setup seems like a bait and switch because the film uses it only as a lose jusfication embodying a need to belong, a starting place for a film not near as dark as the same implies. "I still like you, but not as much." It's silly and even deliciously pessimistic but end up with a magical optimism. A fast paced slacked comedy with some funny bits, it features a loveable group of aimless losers and the weird world we are all trying to survive. Sometimes cartoonish to a fault. Format: Theatrical 1st[Wildcard]

214. Teke Teke 2 (2009, 73 minutes) ★★½✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Same year same director sequel that retcon tthe original story to mill over a rape maybe as the basis for Teke Teke. This version is slower with more criminal 'intrigue' and schoolgirl social elements, a sort of whodunit of little consequence. As mediocre and generic as Teke Teke is, more supernatural might have helped. There are some deaths but the effects are downright head scrarching. Format: Digital [Youtube - JellySazerc] 1st Theme
215. Your Monster (2024, 104 minutes) ★★★★★★½✰✰✰ Melissa Barrera, here a downtrodden cancer queen scattered from a broken relationship and singing career, but she finds Tommy Dewey as a monster in her house. Your Monster has a bohemian creative energy to it; subdued with a monster that just pops up in Melissa's loneliness magical and small scale simmering. "Trust me, you'll feel better. Stop holding it in." I appreciated the light hearted blend of comedy and horror but it sometimes felt aimless or fake, awash in 'musical theater' antics for a certain crowd - in a comedy about theater and love rather than harassing as much energy from either until it comes together gloriously. Melissa Barrera gives her most ranged performance I've seen from her from mopey to intense to frustrated. Even if the monster is a key subplot there are some creative flourishes that elevate the film, mature twists, and a wonderfully confusing finale. Format: Theatrical 1st
216. Knocking (2021, 78 minutes) ★★★★★✰✰✰✰✰ A slow psychological thriller. Cecilia Milocco gives a darling performance. Its shot with vibrant colors and intimate closeups to lend a surreal feeling to the disoriented plot. The plot seems more complicated than at first glance open to interpretation perhaps intermingling grief and perception. Its a simple talk handled with careful, often slow, pacing with a burning reveal in the end. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
217. The Dark Power (1985, 81 minutes) ★★★★½✰✰✰✰✰ Breezy popcorn horror comedy that delivers on b-movie stupid fun. Lash LaRue, an actor in many westerns, is the horror movie star we didn't know we needed. "There comes that damned Indian again." A native dies sending his house to a group of Indian mystics cutting out his bitter grandson and involving a heroic forest ranger with a whip. This is a film from a different time with implicit and a ballsy racist character. It goes on to study yo mundane lives of new tenants in the natives house including an obnoxious brother. Just when I was ready to write it off as hammy comedy the ghouls arrive; cheese. "Die you corpse." The whip fight must be seen to be believed. Format: Digital [Youtube - Swamp Rainbow] 1st Theme Subset
218. Oddity (2024, 98 minutes) ★★★★★★★★✰✰ Rewatching Oddity, it's an eerie film with a playful style. Carolyn Bracken doing double duty as identical systems does well, each having mannerisms and personalty that feels unique. There are a lot of little references to sight (Olin has one eye, the blind sister, etc) that might just be thematic or a sort of puzzle. Nice use of ambient sounds. The bedroom camera scene is gold. Even knowing what will happen the dramatic timing is impeccable. I like how Oddity mines horror tropes then people die in ways that are unusual even for the genre. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD] Theme Subset

October 30 [Demonic / Witchcraft Theme Night] (13 hours, 41 minutes watched)
219. Abigail (2024, 109 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Abigail is a fun film [third viewing]. The unrelenting splattery blood popping of the second half clashes with the slowness of the first. It's rare studio horror is this visceral. I think the Abigail works best as a homage to Universal Studio tropes; I read it is intended as a remake of Dracula's Daughter. The group of strangers coming together in a near gothic castle seems right out of the playbook, with a ballroom style party scene. Homaging forgives some slowness in the setup. Abigail is a great twist; a fearsome creature of the night with emotional issues deep for her apparent age. Speaking of twists it might overstretch some with turn after turn in the end. Alisha Weir is great for the role but sometimes too sidelined (economy of effects and frights makes sense but this film doesnt shy away from the biting and the gore); and it felt like they tried to make Abigail too ambiguous or even not a bad guy (it starts with her kidnapping). I really like the Kathryn Newton dance scene. The bit at the very end felt odd, and I think it might had been better if the Kristoff subplot proceeded differently. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD] Subset

220. Deliver Us (2023, 102 minutes) ★★★★★✰✰✰✰✰ Stylishly shot with hallucinatory and evil scenes about twins and the biblical battle surrounding and involving them. Starting with a gnarly skin book creation it might depend too much on extremes of startling visuals between small moments in a cabin for a bit but it has some big ideas. "We can make all the pain go away if you agree to help is kill the child." The tensions build nicely and it has an unusal. "The devil may still win because he is not fighting against god he is fighting against us." The ending fits the material and it's big ideas, it's a film of simple philosophy as much as horror. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD] 1st Theme
221. Midnight Peepshow (2022, 94 minutes) ★★★★½✰✰✰✰✰✰ Neon lit love based anthology show more corny that scary but in a pulpy ethereal way. It's got mean spirited but thoughtful tales of sex games out if hand, cheaters getting comeuppance, or a literal 'marry, f-ck, kill' plot. The plots are often weird and interesting but less visual, not as sleazy or visceral but good old fashioned story acting. It sometimes has tacky sexual humor, elements that are exaggerated, but mostly cheesy fun. "Your imagination is your only weapon in war with reality." Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
222. Satanic Hispanics (2022, 103 minutes) ★★★★★★½✰✰✰ Varied anthology film with a hispanic flair and unusual fun segments. My favorite is a vampire story, which jokes about how traditional it is; or the wraparound segment which has a sly social commentary. For the most part the stories were awfully weird uncommon stuff. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
223. The AGFA Horror Trailer Show (2020, 80 minutes) ★★★★★½✰✰✰✰ Spirited trailer compilation with some vintage food advertisements. These tend to be voiceover heavy, fake warning laden, cheap films; even a trailer with Christopher Lee challenging we 'judge for yourself.' It made Fear No Evil look good (it's not). "Enroll now for a higher degree in blood dripping terror, Splatter University." Future Kill looks delightfully cheesy and I am adding a few others to my watchlist. Trailer compilations aren't usually my taste but this one was nice; maybe a choice collection of trailers. Psychotronic stuff here. Some of the trailers seemed cropped, which didnt necessarily hurt the film since they were of an obviously unrestored vintage not intended to be pristine but maybe just nostalgic. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
224. Frankenhooker (1990, 85 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ Must be seen to be believed, then it gets weird. I remember thinking Frankenhooker was hamy stuff then the exploding super drug scene happened and it met a point of brain melting awesome stupidity embracing devil may care camp with a few crazy scenes. It's casually sleazy without being sexy. The second half is stronger than the first. Patty Mullen is sometimes over the top but wonderfully cartoonish and shameless. I really like Director Frank Henenlotter but rewatching Frankenhooker it pales compared to hyper muppet Basket Case films or drug analogy-ish Brain Damage but better than the too oddly toned Bad Biology. Format: Digital [Vudu HD]
225. Luz (2018, 70 minutes) ★★★★★½✰✰✰✰ Luz is an artfully puzzling film that feels worth sitting with and dissecting. Shot on 16mm stock gives it a wonderful vintage film. As a recreation of an accident under hypnosis by a doctor possessed by the demon a girl summoned in her youth there are is a lot of blurred maybe unreliable staging that seems to require careful attention. Characters meld together recreating pasts or becoming another either literally or in representation. This is a slick and economical way of crafting a far reaching tale on the confirms of one room with 4 or so people (and one demon). I tend to be abstract with dialogue suspecting unreliable narration or looking for subtext but I think Luz rewards being more literal; if a character says there was a demon then here there was a demon - otherwise details would be easy to lose grasp of. Writer/director Tilman Singer is clearly talented and I am glad his next feature, Cuckoo, feels more accessible. Luz is a puzzle as cinema should be but requires some patience. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Theme

226. Ninja Zombie (1992, 85 minutes) ★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Obvious cheese but twist that Ninja Zombie is not the weirdest part of it; wait till you see the spider cult and their search for the Urn of Prometheus. I wasn't expecting Bruce Lee but the ninja'ing here is delightfully amateurish. If it wasn't for the Spider cult corniness that betrays a mockery of things there is an earnest quality to ninja zombie to a point one could have confused it for a legit but indie film. Come for the kung fu zombies but stay for the forlorn star crossed lover subplot, the imperiled best friend, the spider cult leader who can't stop, leech torture, Night of the Living Dead homages, and a zombie twist. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
227. Where the Devil Roams (2023, 93 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Traveling road show hacksaw horror with a poetic slant. More experimentally shot than other films from legendary horror family The Adams with vintage filtered black and while or music video style songs. There are a few startling plot twists and it seeds in some foreshadowing nicely. Music is not recognizable names but it has an upbeat indie rock soundtrack. It looks shot on video and that clashes some with the vintage trappings. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme


October 31 [Halloween Theme Night] (13 hours, 14 minutes watched)
228. Scream: Legacy [fan film] (2022, 65 minutes) ★★★★½✰✰✰✰✰ Well produced for a fan film. It's lean 65 minute run time works against character buildup but it introduces the key people. This spin doesnt seem to require too expansive a knowledge of Scream mythos beyond Wes Craven era. I've never been a big Scream fan but appreciated this attempt, it takes some unearned liberties but for a fan film that's a norm and it's handled in a breezy way that oozes homage. Format: Digital [Youtube - Zenhouse Studios] 1st

229. Underworld [aka Transmutations] (1985, 92 minutes) ★★½✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Cliver Barker deserves better. Campy brothel with pink walls has a kidnapping from red eyed humanoids so the bright red hair dyed detective talks to the blue haired madam (played by Ingrid Pitt). In here is an interesting idea of a substance that aids dreams which create physical distortions and a battle between medical and criminal aspects. It feels a little like Nightbreed lite but the execution is way off with campy effects, over acting, and a weird color scheme. Potential for 'so bad it's good' cult stuff and maybe if one could look past a lot of the troubled production elements. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
230. Nightmare on Elm Street (1984, 91 minutes) ★★★★★★★★½✰ NOES is one of my favorite horror movies. It's a cool idea set in an unassuming everyday neighborhood with some epic kills. The dream element is surreal and the soundtrack carries things. Heather Langenkamp is brilliant here (it's puzzling her career didnt take off). The mother Ronee Blakley is an unheralded star here brilliantly aloof and dismissive paired well with John Saxon (who seems miscast for his action background). Wes Craven gets a lot of credit but too much of NOES seems lifted from films like The Slayer, Cat and the Canary, etc that it mars the film a bit. Freddy deserved better; the sequel is a guilty pleasure of mine but then the franchise nose dives into a few cartoonishly creative kills with mythos all over the place from 'bastard son of a thousand maniacs' to an Christianity exorcism thriller. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD]
231. The Sender (1982, 91 minutes) ★★★★★★★✰✰✰ Wild visuals with a methodically paced plot and some twisted psychological horrors done right. It doesnt skim on surreal bloody terrors and the plot is one that smartly makes no sense until it does. Aside from the out of nowhere wildness of the visuals, the family member subplot that is one of it's best parts. Zeljko Ivanek has gone on to be in a lot of roles and he does troubled intensity well, off but still relatable. After Psycho films like this that play with 'in your head' mental hospital type stuff are often corny or sleazy but Sender is on target. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
232. Tales of Halloween (2015, 97 minutes) ★★★★½✰✰✰✰✰ Spirited Halloween tales each featuring trick or treaters or some on the nose Halloween type with a dark twist. The production values are mid, sometimes downright bad, but it doesnt take itself seriously. My favorite segments this time were alien vs slasher and a pumpkin one. ToH isn't top tier, it's cheap but spirited. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Theme

233. Nightbooks (2021, 101 minutes) ★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Nightbooks seemed well made but it felt too young adult for my taste. The defiant struggle against the Natasha, the witch who assigns writing (but delivere the best part in a wraparound story) and the stifled creativity seem uniquely juvenile in a way that might seem off to anyone older than 15. I liked the spider creatures and some of the flourishes but it veered into hammy; maybe I am just being cranky because I appreciate wholesome messaging. It got more energetic in the end but for too long I was thinking 'this witch seems more emo than scary.' Tryhard and Creepshow have a good comradery. Blind boys don't lie? Format: Netflix [Vudu UHD] 1st
234. Under Wraps (2021, 91 minutes) ★½✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Disney Channel original mummy Halloween film is about what one would expect. Unremarkable corny family friendly stuff, it's serviceable enough but no reason to especially seek it out over other stuff. There is a dance subplot I appreciated that gives UW it's best moments and cheers to a Halloween setting. "Split up, look for the mummy with the amulet around his neck." Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme

235. Haunters (2014, 77 minutes) ★★★½✰✰✰✰✰✰ At first it seems like a mundane mediocre haunted house documentary; but it has some subtle elements that make it more interesting. I liked that it wasn't over the top or about anything but a normal seeming family operated haunted house. There are a lot of little subplots - an actor with cancer, competing haunted houses, etc. One moment when people casually complain versus how spirited the workers seem is impactful showing both sides of a passionate crew and how their antics/love may not always hit. The corporate culture of Halloween comes up briefly but seems like a subtext of how haunted houses and the season at large has changed. There were times I might have elaborated on mechanics or characters, which is does more early on but by the end it's a vibe with a lot of moving pieces. More entertainment minded than instructional. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
236. Hell Fest (2018, 89 minutes) ★★★½✰✰✰✰✰✰ Hell Fest, the film seems pandering and cheap lacking the authenticity to be effective - a cool idea so forcefully shoved into existence as a cheap strand or lights here or a rubber mask there without a soul; but the ending is cool. Hell Fest seems like an awfully corporate clone of seasonal merriment, bland and fake - anyone who has gone through a haunted house has probably seem more intense eerie stuff. If you outlaw slasher blades then only outlaws will have slasher blades. I like the premise of Hell Fest but the staging is dubious. The kills seem bland and the killer purposely vague to a fault. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD] Theme


November 1 [Comedy Crossover Theme Night] (2 hours, 35 minutes watched)
237. Chompy & The Girls (2021, 89 minutes) ★★★★★★½✰✰✰ Hell Fest, the film seems pandering and cheap lacking the authenticity to be effective - a cool idea so forcefully shoved into existence as a cheap strand or lights here or a rubber mask there without a soul; but the ending is cool. Hell Fest seems like an awfully corporate clone of seasonal merriment, bland and fake - anyone who has gone through a haunted house has probably seem more intense eerie stuff. If you outlaw slasher blades then only outlaws will have slasher blades. I like the premise of Hell Fest but the staging is dubious. The kills seem bland and the killer purposely vague to a fault. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme

238. Mass Hysteria (2019, 66 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Halloween themed witchcraft vibe heavy comedy. "How can you celebrate knowing that you are going to hell?" Well acted for an indie film and with an unusual plot that I appreciated. "You're confusing the witch trials for the underground railroad." It had a few moments that had me laugh out loud but I might just be in a good mood for the film. It's about as good as a film could be with it's potentially problematic hysteria of a premise. Eventually the ending came and popped the plot in a different less ambiguous direction that seemed necessary but disappointing. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme

Last edited by Undeadcow; 02-26-25 at 10:20 AM.

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