DaveyJoe

I actually liked it a lot. The original had some gritty charm, but it the narration and awkward comedic relief kind of hurt it. The new one is much more consistent in quality. I thought it was influenced by Scream with the whodunit nature of it, and the references to the original. The characters actually meet with the son of the director of the original movie to get to the bottom of the mystery. Pretty interesting approach to a sequel.

numbercrunch

Watching Curse of the Werewolf makes me realize just what a damn fine actor Oliver Reed is and what a shame Hammer didnt turn the Wolfman into a series like Dracula, Frankenstein and the Mummy. I wonder why ?

DaveyJoe

I think it's time to launch a new werewolf series that is relevant to modern socioeconomic themes.

jacob_b

Just curious, why would you think skipping the checklist would make your numbers go higher? Would it just make watching movies easier without having limitations?


That makes sense. There is some charm in the characters, but I could see how some of the stories fall flat without much meaning. And it's easily something that could be pitched while high.

Good point about Saw. It's why a lot of horror films, to me, I can't watch over and over again because it is supposed to be about suspense and twists and turns. At least with a drama film that has twists, the acting can set it apart. With horror, there isn't a lot of amazing actors and actresses compared to some other genres.

Having watched the streaming on Hulu, not sure which version I got, but what I did see was a LOT of T&A and blood. Be surprised if they cut a lot out of that edition.

arw6040

Ahh I see for me the characters weren't compelling in any way for me to care (I have enjoyed slashers that don't have the greatest characters as they aren't known for that anyways but here I just got bored) but glad you got enjoyment out of it.

numbercrunch

watched the new blu ray of IT (stephen king). the movie is entertaining enough but not enough meat to the story to support a 3 hour run time.

DaveyJoe

Chad

He's on there. If not, you have the slightly less challenging incomplete version that's excluding these:



EDIT: It's films that graced the cover of Famous Monsters of Filmland. And that's unfortunately the best link that could be found.

Thanks for sharing. I recently picked up The Mask Blu-ray, and still have a few of those I need to catch. Canada is longer overdue for a theme nights return.

The MPAA really did a number with this one. Some fun gore scenes that were cut for the usual inexplicable reasons. Too bad they couldn't reincorporate them back in, but the old DVD and new SF release have it all in the deleted scenes and workprint cut.

Chad

Hex was batshit crazy, but not the usual batshit crazy you come to expect from Shaw Bros. And the ending was a bit of a letdown. Still, best exorcism scene ever!

Dick Laurent

Watched Criterion's BD of I Married a Witch for the first time, and it was quite captivating. Part of the film's description from the Criterion website:

"Many centuries after cursing the male descendants of the Salem puritan who sent her to the stake, this blonde bombshell with a broomstick finds herself drawn to one of them..."

But even with this movie fitting the theme 100%, and with witchcraft and probably the biggest exorcism book I've seen, it really can't be classified as a horror film (IMDb says Comedy, Fantasy). I struggle with films like this because I think I should use a wildcard for it, but then it does fit today's theme perfectly. And definitely has moments of horror that outmatch other horror "comedies" of the past.

Excellent movie by the way, no matter how I count it.

jacob_b

And surprising, at least on the DVD, of no bonus features if I remember correctly. Is that changed on the blu-ray?

Where can I watch this?

Chad

Everything but that brief scene of Veronica Lake singing.

Don't think it's streaming anywhere. I have the 88 Films Region B Blu-ray. They do have Black Magic on YouTube from their Shaw Brothers Universe site for $1.99, which is a buck cheaper than Amazon.

numbercrunch

i unfortunately have both the old dvd and the blu ray. only special feature is the audio commentary - same for both

Trevor

So I took a gamble and subscribed to HorrorPack for a month. It's one of those monthly subscription boxes, four horror blurays for $20. Given my extensive horror library, I wasn't expecting much, but was hoping they would do something special for October.

I'm pretty happy overall, two duds and two pretty cool items, hopefully. The duds, only because I own them or better versions already, were the barebones Midnight Madness edition of Children of the Corn, and the BD/DVD/digital multipack of Purge.

Then I got what appears to be a limited release Indy called Dolly Deadly. The case is signed by the director.
https://www.amazon.com/Dolly-Deadly-...s=Dolly+deadly

And then a HorrorPack exclusive (different cover art ?) of Late Night Double Feature, which I think is also a month and a half before general release, at least according to Amazon. This looks perfect for anthology theme day.
https://www.amazon.com/Late-Night-Do...double+feature

malazar

I received my Prize Pack today which is great timing since one of the movies is the subset pick for tomorrow. Thanks again Golden Wheels!

I watched that a few years ago during the Horror Challenge and struggled with whether or not to count it, but ultimately I did because of the general themes and how people count Halloween episodes of non-horror shows.

shadokitty

I hope tonight's horror marathon doesn't get called on account of weather. We have almost gale force winds tonight and I half expect us to lose power.

coyoteblue

Yes, unfortunately quite a few of Shaws "supernatural" horror/comedy horror films went for the cop out ending. There are exceptions, though, like Black Magic (1975), Black Magic 2 (1976), Boxer's Omen (1983), Seeding of a Ghost (1983), or Bewitched (1981).

Now if you're looking for some non-Shaw horror in a similar vein, you can look up The Seventh Curse (1986) or Devil Fetus (1983) and for something lighter Haunted Cop Shop (1987).

Watched "The Seeds of Doom", the last of Philip Hinchcliffe's gothic-horror inspired Doctor Who serials, earlier this evening. Interesting structure, in that the first two episodes are heavily influenced by The Thing From Another World (1951) while the other four episodes veer off in other directions. There's plenty of body horror and gruesome deaths. Also got in the newest MST3K box so I plugged in The Horror of Party Beach (1964). A nice all-around teen exploitation drive-in fodder, practically a text book example. The riffing didn't hurt, though. Going to try to catch The Curse of the Living Corpse (1964), by the same director.

Julie Walker

It's a fun entertaining movie and well done for what it is. The sense of humor and offbeat nature of it helps a lot I think. It's easily the best sequel in my opinion(part 5, the one in the castle is also pretty good from what I recall, but I haven't seen it since the 90's on TV).

I'm not even at 10 films yet this month. So I'm falling behind, since work and life in general is hogging up all my time. I'm off for the next two days, so I'll try to get some viewings in.

Gobear

It's got witches so it counts. It's a comedy with a supernatural theme, just like Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

exharrison

That is exactly what I was trying to ask in my own ineffectual manner. Thanks, Chad. Now that I understand the link in context of the checklist, I'll give it a looksee. Thanks!

Dick Laurent

Thank you to those that offered opinion on I Married a Witch. Good points made.

WillieMLF

Taking a break from Extraterrestrial 2014 to say that I'm rooting for the aliens all the way.

clckworang

I've been subscribed for a few months now. I have received a few repeats, not many. I'm actually surprised I haven't received more. I like the opportunity to see some off the beaten path titles as well.

I actually watched Dolly Deadly last night. It's not great, but it has its moments as far as practical effects go. There are some nice ideas in it, but it's obviously very low budget. I thought the lead boy was actually pretty good, but the other child actors were really rough. I've had much worse viewing experiences during past challenges.

I haven't watched the Late Night Double Feature one. I also got another signed disc in a previous month, one called Gut, and a couple other "exclusives." I have them pulled but haven't watched any of them yet. I hope to start branching out a bit more in the homestretch once I complete the checklist and daily subset. Oh so close on that checklist.

I went back and checked. I watched it in the 2012 challenge and didn't use a wild card. It has been a few years, but I could swear that it had a horror tag back when I watched it. There's obviously not one now. Maybe the DirecTV guide had it listed that way. I think this was before the Blu-ray release; I watched it from a Turner Classics recording on the DVR. Definitely count it. If you feel the need, use a wild card, but I don't think you need to.

Dick Laurent

I suddenly feel like I'm the only one who hadn't seen this movie...! I had bought it on a "whim" with the last Criterion sale. I subscribe to TCM's monthly magazine/guide and I seem to hoard old films like Martin Scorsese (well not like that at all, first name that came to mind). This one seems to have slipped by me. Anyway, I'm in the know now!

clckworang

It looks like I'm two movies away from completing the minimum requirements for the checklist. I'm happy I haven't allowed myself to lose sight of it too much over the month. I suppose it helps that some of our subset films and many of my recent purchases qualified for many of the people who are listed. One less thing for me to worry about. Despite it being late, I'm going to try to push through one last film before going to sleep. That way, I can pretty much guarantee finishing the checklist tomorrow.

As for daily subset films, I'm down to 10 to go. I'm placing an order now for a couple of the selections. I probably won't get them all watched until next weekend because of that, but I'm hoping to get in at least two more subset films tomorrow. That should put me in good shape.