Totally agree with this. I know this is a sore spot but here goes...I never have agreed with including them. It's one of the reasons I took a break in the challenge soon after it got started. If you want to watch something non-horror related (even the beloved and often discussed Charlie Brown Halloween Special), watch it on your own time.

Watching stuff that is non-horror in a horror challenge and then counting it is just stupid. It's called padding your numbers. Again, watch stuff on your own time. It seems that some people want to try to count each and every little thing that they are using their limited time on. You want to watch some non-horror then wait until November like I did and quit trying to count bullshit.

Drop the term "movie" from the challenge name and just call it a horror challenge.

One thing I loved was having all the 31 recommended films and review threads all ready and available day one. That was great since you may not be able to watch the movie on the day of and you don't have to wait until posting your review on it.

By the way, I really love the reviews on these films and enjoy reading people's various thoughts. I just wish more people would post reviews. But then again, that's why we lost the weekly/bi-weekly horror challenge, wasn't it? Lack of participation.

I hope your opinion is the minority. I don't want to participate in an October challenge that doesn't allow me to count the Charlie Brown Halloween Special.

Yeah, I could come around to the idea of no wildcards, but Halloween content absolutely has to count.

I wholeheartedly agree that Halloween content should count

I am 100% against wildcards, but do fell like Halloween specials and shows should count.

The current name has a good rhythm to it, and a fine bit of tradition.


I thought the whole purpose of Wild Cards in the first place was to be able to count Halloween shows and shorts? Now that we can combine TV and shorts to make an entry, there really doesn't seem to be a point to have WCs anymore (despite what I stated in my drug-induced ramblings a few posts back).

Like I said before, I watch more legit horror movies to make up for my WCs anyway. The only reason I use them is because they're in the rules.

if you're including TV shows and/or documentaries and/or commentaries, don't call it a "horror movie" challenge. Call it a "horror" challenge.

You two might want to check out the title of this thread.

I agree. I like Halloween content being able to count, but I don't mind dropping the wildcards. In the last few years, the only wildcards I can recall using are 42nd Street Forever and when I went to go see Evil Dead: The Musical.

Whether the word "movie" is in the title or not doesn't make a bit of difference to me. The heart and soul of the challenge is horror films but there is an absolute ton of quality horror tv that needs to be able to be included every year. Horror and Halloween go hand in hand so Halloween programming should be included to. I don't think wild cards are needed with TV and short films being able to be added up to full entries and with the checklist having optional spots for live events. So what if that haunted house, or play, or convention, or whatever doesn't add in 1 more entry to your list. Wild cards are just an excuse for drama these days.

Me too.

I also concur that if the subset titles were more easily available for free (we have Amazon Prime but not NetFlix) I would have watched all of them (time permitting).

Not sure if it can possibly be addressed, but I would have participated a LOT more if I'd had any spare time in between watching so many films!

Using the suggestion earlier that finding an item listed somewhere as 'horror' is good enough, I can't believe that anything Halloween-y couldn't be found listed as Horror somewhere.

Call it the "Horror* Challenge."




*and Halloween


Or make the 31st's theme "Halloween," maybe?

Oh, and my main comments/feedback was a slight annoyance that some of the "stars" were so obscure (and, at least as far as I found, in a couple of cases stars only of a very few terrible films) and thus a little restrictive. I found a checklist from a previous year that had Karloff and Lugosi and Bruce Campbell (et al.) on it, and thought that was much more accurate... at the same time, I appreciate and like the variation. Wishy washy, I know!

Also, the long list of types/genres seemed in a couple of instances to also refer only to a very few films - I think underwater was one I struggled with briefly - which could maybe benefit from being a "25/35" type thing.*


*Not that I wouldn't try to do them all anyway, but...!

Halloween has always been the theme on the 31st.

The problem with some of the names you mentioned was that those used to be the same names every year on the checklist. After doing that a few times, people got tired of just those big names and wanted variation. I will agree that the choices seem to be getting increasingly obscure, though. I can see it being hard to come up with fresh names year after year. I think I argued against the actor and director thing one year because of that reason.

Of course it is. ...then what was the problem?!

Yes, I guessed it was something like that, but wanted to just mention it.

A couple of extra thoughts I had about potential items to add*, alter or definitely retain - I think some of these are already on the checklist - including:

A Universal Monster movie
A Universal Monster sequel movie
A Hammer Horror film
A Hammer Horror film sequel
An Amicus production
A movie starring Dracula... without 'Dracula' in the title
...set in the present
...based on Dracula by Stoker
...in which he calls himself "Alucard"
A movie starring Frankenstein's Monster... without 'Frankenstein' in the title
...set in the present
...based on Frankenstein by Shelley
...in which the monster doesn't talk
...in which the monster does talk
Two adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe tales/poems
A movie starring TWO Horror Greats (Bela, Boris, Cushing, Lee, etc.)
A movie starring THREE Horror Greats


*N.B. I know some of these won't make it on, because they would need someone to watch half a dozen Dracula/Frankenstein films. Which is a lot!





Also, I know most participants were already quite good about this, and I'm not even sure whether it's worth mentioning, but... maybe there should be a rule about counting a single item for more than two checks on the checklist? (Maybe even a short list requiring discrete items for each check and a longer list that can be doubled up..? Would that be over complicated?)

I just don't see a need for wildcards when Halloween-related content is able to count.

I, too, felt this years' selections were very restrictive and obscure. In general it felt like the checklist choices were somewhat skewed towards more "modern" horror titles. Not that that's bad, just a more difficult arena. Especially so for those of us who prefer more "classic" horror (i.e. 60's and earlier).

I'd suggest putting 3 or more names from different eras on a single checklist item with a "select one" mandate. Rotate through the "classic" stars so as to not become stagnant. That would let the "classic" names co-exist with the obscure and provide more choice. I appreciate those checklists with such a choice as I'll look up the stars whose work I'm unfamiliar with and decide if the films they've made are worth a viewing (typically a purchase for me). That way if I don't find anything "new" I'd like to see I can fall back on familiar territory. I know the checklist is designed to help you branch out beyond your comfort zone but it also needs to be accessible to the more casual viewer too.

Counting a film for more than one checklist item can be a fun diversion. Many here will attempt to find a single film that can count for *many* items to see just how many can be "done in one". Others pride themselves on completing the checklist with *no* duplicates. Completing the checklist can be quite a daunting task. IMHO adding further complications/restrictions would only suffice to deter people from the attempt.

Maybe expand the checklist even more but then have different levels of completion? The higher rank/level you accomplish could then earn you another prize entry or a wild card*. Something like:

Bronze: Complete 50% of the checklist, dupes allowed.

Silver: Complete 75% of the checklist, dupes allowed.

Gold: Complete 100% of the checklist, dupes allowed.

Platinum: Complete 100% of the checklist with no dupes and every item** completed.

*At the same time, revamp wild cards so that they don't count for everything like they do now. Instead, by completing a rank/level in the checklist, you earn your first wild card that way which can then only be used on something which may not be horror but is something you haven't checked off on the checklist. Off the top of my head, this would mainly count for actors/actresses/directors/producers/distributors. It'll narrow down the ability for someone to use a wild card for something like Transformers but still be somewhat related to the challenge.

**We've had some groupings of certain things, like actors, and this would mean checking off every item within each of these groups and not just one of them.

You might want to check the name of the challenge you participated in this year.

To diversify the checklist it would be good to use theme from previous years and insert then into the checklist. For example this year's medical horror or campfire tales could become checklist items. There's been enough theme nights over the years that there should be plenty to chose from.

Did I mention that wildcards are great for preventing nitpicky arguments and keeping things fun by allowing Halloween tradition viewings that people might not agree are horror or Halloween related?

All of this talk of dropping the word "Movie" from the challenge title is just ignorant. Horror TV and shorts CANNOT be counted in the current and past rules of the challenge. This challenge is not a running tally like the Holiday challenge.

The ONLY WAY TV and shorts can count is to have a combined running time of 90 - 120 minutes (with various sub-rules I will not bother to list here).

Therefore, the "challenge" is to watch only feature films or TV and shorts that combine to match the time allotment of a feature film. It wouldn't be much of a challenge if you drop the word "Movie" and just list everything you watch.

Also when I see OHMC I know what to expect. When I see OHC I think is that a medical center or something?

Fair points.