Mao

Goal - our usual 31! We are focusing on movies we haven't done in our previous 8 Challenges. It begins...


September 30:
1) The Row (2018)
2) The Void (2016)

October 1:
3) Dementia 13 (2017)

October 2:
4) The First Purge (2018)
5) From Beyond (1986)

October 3:
6) Demons (1985)
7) Demons 2 (1986)

October 4:
8) The End? (2017)

October 5:
9) The Babysitter (2017)

October 6:
10) Nightmares (1983)

October 7:
11) Jigsaw (2017)

October 8:
12) Unfriended: Dark Web (2018)
13) The Old Dark House (1932)

October 9:
14) Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)

October 11:
15) House Of 1000 Corpses (2003)

October 13:
16) Priest (2011)

October 14:
17) The Open House (2018)
18) The Devil's Candy (2015)

October 16:
19) Body Snatchers (1993)

October 18:
20) Hell Fest (2018)
21) Winchester (2018)

October 19:
22) Halloween (2018)

October 20:
23) The Nun (2018)

October 21:
24) Slender Man (2018)

October 23:
25) Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018)

October 25:
26) Little Evil (2017)

October 26:
27) The Entity (1982)

October 28:
28) The Sentinel (1977)
29) Fun Size (2012)

October 30:
30) Hocus Pocus (1993)

October 31:
31) Halloween (1978)


Mission Accomplished!

mrcellophane

*= first time viewing
blue= personal BluRay
purple= personal DVD
green= streaming
orange= borrowed or rented BD/DVD
dark red= theatrical presentation

September 30th
01. Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (Benjamin Christensen, 1922 / Sweden & Denmark / kanopy)* --- Theme Film
Christensen's "documentary" is a lurid look at the history of witchcraft and the persecution of "witches" by the church. His thesis is that supposed witches could be suffering from the early 1900s conception of "hysteria".

02. Dressed to Kill (Brian De Palma, 1980 / United States / Hulu)* --- Subset Film
Kate Miller, a troubled woman, is savagely murdered with a straight razor on an elevator, and the murderer goes after the only witness. I haven't watched much of De Palma's filmography, but I love the few that I've seen and this is no exception.

03. The Mad Magician (John Brahm, 1954 / United States)*
Vincent Price plays a wannabe magician who's thwarted by his greedy, conniving employer. Unfortunately, the theft of his newest illusion drives him to murder which begat another murder and so on. Price is good (as is Eva Gabor in a few scenes), but the film feels pretty tame compared to his other work.

October 1st
04. The Screaming Woman (Jack Smight, 1972 / United States / YouTube)*
Olivia de Havilland plays a woman who happens upon a woman who's been buried alive. Unable to dig the woman out, she tries to convince her family, neighbors, and the police but is thwarted because of a mental breakdown she recently suffered. Based on a Ray Bradbury short story.

05. Strangler of the Swamp (Frank Wisbar, 1946/ United States / AmazonPrime)*
Years ago, the male denizens of a swamp town lynch an innocent man for murder, and his vengeful spirit is picking them off one-by-one. A young woman who takes over the ferry is physically accosted by a drunken man who apologizes when another man punches him. So toxic masculinity is the real culprit!

06. Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (Werner Herzog, 1979 / Germany / DVD)
Klaus Kinski plays the melancholic Count Dracula who drives an entire town into madness when he shows up with thousands of rats in tow. Herzog has sad, weird take on the familiar story, and I love the atmosphere with which he imbues the film.

07. Baba Yaga a.k.a. The Devil Witch (Corrado Farina, 1973 / Italy & France)*
Surreal accidents and events happen to a photographer after she encounters an enigmatic woman named Baba Yaga. I blind bought this from Hamilton Books, and I'm so glad that I did. It's quite a trip even before you get to the creepy doll in dominatrix gear.

October 2nd
08. The Horror at 37,000 Feet (David Lowell Rich, 1973 / United States / YouTube)*
A bunch of stereotypes get onto a plane transporting an old abbey. Evil spirits take control of the plane and menace the passengers and crew with icy wind and pea soup. As the passengers descend into bickering and madness, William Shatner wonders if humanity isn't the real destructive force. (It's dumb.)

09. The Black Cat a.k.a. The House of Doom (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1934 / United States) --- Theme Film
A young couple spending their honeymoon in Hungary (as American couples do) get pulled into a revenge and the occult when they encounter Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. This film holds a special place in my heart; it was the first film I watched with my weekly Movie Night group.

10. The Raven (Louis Friedlander, 1935 / United States)*
After a retired surgeon saves a beautiful dancer, he becomes infatuated with her. Madness follows, and he sets about using torture devices based on Poe stories and a deformed Karloff to enact his revenge. Fun zaniness!

October 3rd
11. Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo (Stuart Hagmann, 1977 / United States / YouTube)* --- Theme Film
A plane infested with deadly tarantulas crashes near a small farming town. They carve a path of destruction to a warehouse full of oranges and anger the town's mayor who fears for the town's economy. It's Jaws but boring and with spiders!

12. Daphne & Velma (Suzi Yoonessi, 2018 / United States / Hulu)*
Pre-Mystery Machine, Daphne and Velma investigate mysterious brain-drains at thier technologically advanced high school. The two leads are enthusiastic and give it their all, which makes up for some juvenile humor and silly dialogue. As a fan of Scooby-Doo, it was fun to see these interpretations.

13. Repulsion (Roman Polanski, 1965 / United Kingdom / DVD)*
A young woman descends into hallucinations and madness when left alone by her sister. She's preyed on by a couple of men which makes things worse. As a person with mental health issues, I really connected with the main character, and the surreal bleakness played on all my fears.

October 4th
14. Killdozer (Jerry London, 1974 / United States / YouTube)*
A meteorite infects a bulldozer that starts killing off the construction crew working on a small island. My favorite image is of the bulldozer hiding in tall grass bordering the workers' camp. As sill as the film is, they managed to make the equipment seem like an animal.

15. Scream of the Wolf (Dan Curtis, 1974 / United States / AmazonPrime)*
A small town is plagued by mysterious deaths that may be werewolf attacks, and Peter Graves in on the case! He tries to get his old friend Clint Walker to help hunt the animal, but he's too interested in pontificating about death and the stupidity of most humans. It's some Dan Curtis silliness.

16. Thriller: 21. "The Merriweather File" / 22. "The Fingers of Fear" (1961 / United States)*
Two episodes focused on murder mysteries. First, a dead body shows up in a philandering husband's trunk after an attempt on his wife's life. Next, a serial child-murderer is on the loose, and the police may have collared the wrong man.

October 5th
17. Transformations a.k.a. Alien Transformations (Jay Kamen 1988 / United States)*
The pilot of a spaceship has sex with an alien and then crashes on a prison planet. He seems to be spreading a plague though sexual encounters. I bought this for a few dollars since it's a Kino Lorber release, and I'm not sure it's worth that.

October 6th
18. Monster House (Gil Kenan, 2006 / United States)
Somehow, I hadn't shown this to my parents and remedied this oversight. Children are menaced by a possessed house and the old man who lives there. I've got a soft spot for this film since I followed it's development through one of the concept artists.

19. Repo! The Genetic Opera (Darren Lynn Bousman, 2008 / United States / DVD)*
In the future, everything is operatic and gothic and gritty. A young girl finds herself drawn into the world of a corporation that sells organs and elective surgeries but sends the dreaded Repo Man if you can't pay. Campy and wonderful!

October 7th
20. The Invisible Ray (Lambert Hillyer, 1936 / United States)*
Karloff and Lugosi square off as competing scientists on the hunt for a new element in Africa. Unfortunately, Karloff turning murderous and decides to get revenge after his young wife falls for another man. These 1930s films are a crazy quilt of plots.

21. Commentary*: The Fog (John Carpenter, 1980 / United States)
Featuring John Carpenter & Debra Hill. Both participants contribute a lot of stories and production details about the film. I'm a big fan of the film and enjoyed learning more about it. One highlight is the game of "who's your old girl/boyfriend" that Carpenter and Hill play.

22. Black Christmas (Bob Clark, 1974 / United States / kanopy)*
A crazed killer stalks the denizens of a sorority house during Christmas. While not a particularly inventive slasher (outside a couple of scenes), I liked it, perhaps because of its extremely overqualified cast which includes Margot Kidder as the resident alcoholic bitch.

October 8th
23. The Haunted (Robert Mandel, 1991 / United States / YouTube)*
A nice Catholic family is totally haunted by demons after moving into a new place. They call in the totally credible Warrens to help them exorcise the demons. When the media gets involved, the family wonders if they are worse than demons! Sally Kirkman gives a fun, hysterical performance.

24. Mystery Science Theater 3000: 9.8, "The Touch of Satan (1971)" (1998 / United States)*
With Pearl away, a babysitter makes sure Mike and the Bots are forced to watch a very stupid movie about a traveler falling for a witch with a psychotic relative running about and killing people. The movie is really bad, but the jokes in this one really landed with me.

25. Black Friday (Arthur Lubin, 1940 / United States)*
To save a friend, Boris Karloff does a little partial brain swapping, creating a man that is part passive professor, part murderous gangster. This is by far the weakest of the quartet of Karloff/Lugosi film in the box set I purchases last month. Still, it's a fun ride.

October 9th
26. Satan's School for Girls (David Lowell Rich, 1973 / United States / YouTube)*
After her sister's death, our intrepid protagonist enrolls in her sister's school to investigate. She finds bland satanists. It's a silly movie that takes itself very seriously. Bonus: it features two Charlie's Angels - Cheryl Ladd and Kate Jackson.

27. Satan's School for Girls (Christopher Leitch, 2000 / United States / YouTube)*
This remake of the 1973 movie is so 2000! The story is largely the same but with an added beefcake love interest and a couple more twists to the plot. The camp factor is heightened (including some closeups of hot-dude-torsos), but it still wants you to take it seriously. Bonus: it features Taraji P. Henson!

28. The Mothman Prophecies (Mark Pellington, 2002 / United States / DVD)*
After a personal tragedy, a reporter finds himself drawn to a some town in West Virginia. There he finds that people are seeing the fabled Mothman and have prophecies about upcoming disasters. This felt like it was striking the same horror/drama formula as The Sixth Sense but doesn't quite land either aspect.

October 10th
29. The Vampire Bat (Frank R. Strayer, 1933 / United States / YouTube)
A small town is plagued by horrible murders, and the townsfolk believe a vampire is on the loose. There's an obvious scapegoat and a romance and a comedic aunt and a suspicious doctor running about. It's one of my favorite 1930s horror flicks.

30. The Innkeepers (Ti West, 2011 / United States)*
Two employees of a closing inn investigate the spirits that supposedly haunt the place. An actress-turned-psychic and an elderly man turn up, and the duo get in over their heads. It's a low-key haunting story that I really enjoyed.

31. The Beast Must Die (Paul Annett, 1974 / United Kingdom)*
An eccentric hunter invites a host of people to his palatial estate and informed the group that one among them is a werewolf. Chaos ensues. It's a weird mix of blaxploitation, mystery, Peter Cushing, and horror that manages to be a bit boring.

October 11th
32. The Legend of Lizzie Borden (Paul Wendkos, 1975 / United States / Dailymotion)*
Elizabeth Montgomery plays alleged murderess Lizzie Borden as a stern, disagreeable woman. After her father and stepmother are murdered, Lizzie is put on trial, and we get glimpses of her life through flashbacks. Montgomery is excellent.

33. Afflicted (Derek Lee & Clif Prowse, 2013 / Canada / AmazonPrime)*
Two friends decide to go on a trip around the world despite one of them being ill. When the ill man is attacked by a woman in Paris, he starts developing strange conditions. It's effective found footage, and I really enjoyed it.

October 13th
34. The Whip and the Body (Mario Bava, 1963 / Italy / English dub / kanopy)*
Christopher Lee returns to his family's drafty castle to terrorize his relations and reignite a sadomasochistic relationship with his brother's betrothed. It's moody and gothic and over-the-top. I watched the English version on kanopy and really want to see the remastered Italian one.

October 14th
35. The Being (Jackie Kong, 1983 / United States / AmazonPrime)*
A radioactive mutant is running around a small town and dissolving people. A lot of older actors presumably get paychecks, and the main character cannot act. It's really, really bad. There's a few comedic moments that feel like they were added when the filmmakers realized how bad it was.

36. The Man Who Turned to Stone (László Kardos, 1957 / United States)*
The people running a women's prison keep using the inmates to prolong their own lives by absorbing their life essence. A prison employee and doctor are on the case to save the inmates and stop the leeches. Or course, it made me think of the privatization of our prison system.

37. And Now the Screaming Starts! (Roy Ward Baker, 1973 / United Kingdom)*
Two newlyweds take up residence in the husband's rambling estate. Unfortunately, the wife is menaced by a bloody ghost that kills anyone who tries to tell her the old family secret. It's Gothic and downbeat and garish and enjoyed by me.

October 15th
38. The Initiation of Sarah (Stuart Gillard, 2006 / United States / YouTube)*
Two sisters find out that two competing sororities have supernatural secrets and become pawns in a bid for power. This is a lot of mid-2000's fun, and Tessa Thompson shows up as a bad-ass witch.

39. Psychomania a.k.a. The Death Wheelers (Don Sharp, 1973 / United Kingdom)
A gang of bikers make a deal with dark powers and come back after committing suicide as undead psychos. George Sanders plays the main character's butler who seems to be an agent of darkness. There's a lot of frog motifs and zany suicides.

40. The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (Michael Carreras, 1964 / United Kingdom)
Hammer gives the Universal The Mummy a bit of a makeover and adds a greedy American businessman to the mix. This features one of my favorite cinematic mummy attacks when the creature simply bursts through a pair for French doors to get at his victim.

October 16th
41. The Devil Bat (Jean Yarbrough, 1940 / United States / YouTube)*
Bela Lugosi plays a chemist with a vendetta against the founding families of the company for which he works. I really thought I'd seen this one before, but I somehow missed it despite haunting public domain channels on YouTube. It's pretty good.

42. Burnt Offerings (Dan Curtis, 1976 / United States / AmazonPrime)*
A family moves into a creepy old house that ends up being too good to be true. Odd things start happening and the parents seem to be possessed by the house. I thought this was an effective slowburn of a ghost story. I really enjoyed Bette Davis as the old aunt whose vitality is leeched by the house.

43. The Gorgon (Terrence Fisher, 1964 / United Kingdom)
After a young man is wrongfully convicted of the murder of his pregnant girlfriend, his father and then his brother investigate a series of murders in which people are turned to stone. Cushing plays the repressed doctor trying to keep secrets, and Lee plays the robust professor assisting the investigation.

October 17th
44. The Woman in Black (Herbert Wise, 1989 / United Kingdom / YouTube)*
A young lawyer runs afoul of an evil specter while attempting to settle a deceased client's estate. Members of the community attempt to hinder his quest to figure out what the hell is happening. I found this made-for-television movie really compelling.

45. The Ring (Gore Verbinski, 2002 / United States / DVD)*
Naomi Watts has kid who has cranked his haunted precociousness to 11. She investigates a spooky VHS tape that kills you if you watch it. Her kid acts like no human child has ever acted. There's a ghost.

46. Scanners (David Cronenberg, 1981 / United States)*
To combat an super-powered assassin, a corporation enlists the help of a super-powered man who cannot act. Instead of getting acting lessons, he attempts to infiltrate a group of rogue Scanners and happens upon several evil plans. I loved it!

October 18th
47. Bloodlust! (Ralph Brooke, 1961 / United States / YouTube)*
A group of teenagers visit a seemingly deserted island and fall into the trap of a crazy hunter reenacting The Most Dangerous Game with even more camp. It's a bunch of silliness, but I liked it well enough.

48. The Oblong Box (Gordon Hessler, 1969 / United Kingdom / AmazonPrime)*
Two brothers return from Africa after one is mutilated by natives in retribution for a crime. A witch doctor and crooked lawyer fake the mutilated brother's death - then the murders start. Vincent Price it good, but the rest is kinda forgettable.

49. The Awful Dr. Orlof (Jesús Franco, 1962 / Spain / kanopy)*
Women are disappearing, victims of a crazed doctor trying to repair the damage to his daughter's face. This is my first Franco film, and I really liked the Gothic aesthetic. I'll have to check out more of his work.

50. The Old Dark House (William Castle, 1963 / United States)
I don't know. Something draws me back to this film every year. It's stupid and inferior to the original, yet I watch it. I guess Castle has his charms.

October 19th
51. Night of Terror (Benjamin Stoloff, 1933 / United States / YouTube)*

52. Hocus Pocus (Kenny Ortega, 1993 / United States / DVD)

October 20th
53. Curse of the Crimson Altar a.k.a. The Crimson Cult (Vernon Sewell, 1968 / United Kingdom)
A man investigates the disappearance of his brother and keeps company with Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee. He starts having dreams of evil rites around a witch who was lynched in the town's past. While it's a bit dull and plodding, I'm a fan of this, mostly for Karloff and Lee.

54. Terror Firmer (Lloyd Kaufman, 1999 / United States / director's cut / DVD)*
A mysterious murderer is killing their way through the cast and crew of a low-budget horror film. The director is blind. The lead actress is slutty. And the production assistant is caught in a love triangle. It's Troma trash!

55. City of the Living Dead (Lucio Fulci, 1980 / Italy / AmazonPrime)*
A priest kills himself. The dead rise from the grave to dispatch random people. A quartet of people investigate. Honestly, this felt like several movies cut up and smashed into one incomprehensible fever dream. Maybe I need to try another Fulci.

October 21st
56. Humanoids from the Deep (Barbara Peeters & Jimmy T. Murakami, 1980 / United States / AmazonPrime)*
A small coastal town is terrorized by horrifying mutant fish-people who kill men and rape women. Roger Corman produced this schlock, and there's the inevitable boobs and blood. The monsters look interesting, but there's too much icky overtones for my taste.

October 22nd
57. Buzzfeed Unsolved - Supernatural: 4.5, "The Unexplained Phoenix Lights Phenomenon" / 4.6, "The Spirits of Moon River Brewing" / 4.7, "The Horrifying Sorrel-Weed Haunted Mansion" / 4.8, "The Mystical Villa Montezuma Mansion" (2018 / United States / Hulu)*

58. Asylum (Roy Ward Baker, 1972 / United Kingdom)*

59. Horror Express (Eugenio Martin, 1972 / United Kingdom & Spain)

60. Caltiki, the Immortal Monster (Riccardo Freda & Mario Bava, 1959 / Italy & United States / AmazonPrime)*

October 23rd
61. The Amityville Horror (Stuart Rosenberg, 1979 / United States / Hulu)*

October 24th
62. Invaders from Mars (Tobe Hooper, 1986 / United States)

63. Candyman (Bernard Rose, 1992 / United States / DVD)*

64. Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (Takao Okawara, 1995 / Japan)*

65. The Mummy (Karl Freund, 1932 / United States)

October 25th
66. Poltergeist II: The Other Side (Brian Gibson, 1986 / United States / AmazonPrime)*

67. Poltergeist III (Gary Sherman, 1988 / United States / AmazonPrime)*

68. It (Andy Muschietti, 2017 / United States / HBO Go)*

October 26th
69. Q (Larry Cohen, 1982 / United States / AmazonPrime)*

70. The Believers (John Schlesiner, 1987 / United States)*

71. Carnival of Souls (Herk Harvey, 1962 / United States)

72. Dorm (Songyos Sugmakana, 2006 / Thailand / kanopy)*

October 27th
73. The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell: 1.1, "Snacks for Strays" / 1.2, "Gifts for Nosy Neighbors" / 1.3, "The Dinner Date" / 1.4, "A Spirited Tea Party" (2018 / United States / Netflix)*

74. The Man from Planet X (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1951 / United States)

75. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Ana Lily Amirpour, 2014 / United States / BD)*

October 28th
76. The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell: 1.5, "A Cake for Rose" / 1.6, "Halloween Tricks & Treats"
76. Your Worst Nightmare: 3.2, "Cabin in the Woods" (2016 / United States / Hulu)*

77. Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931 / United States)

78. Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale, 1935 / United States)

79. Lifeforce (Tobe Hooper, 1985 / United States / AmazonPrime)*

October 29th
80. The Haunting of Helen Walker (Tom McLoughlin, 1995 / United Kingdom / YouTube)*

81. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: 1.1, "October Country" / 1.2, "The Dark Baptism" (2018 / United States / Netflix)*

October 30th
82. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: 1.3, "The Trial of Sabrina Spellman" / 1.4, "Witch Academy" (2018 / United States / Netflix)*

October 31st
83. A Very Wicked Halloween: Celebrating 15 Years on Broadway (2018 / United States / Hulu)*
83. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: 1.5, "Dreams in a Witch House" (2018 / United States / Netflix)*

84. The Innocents (Jack Clayton, 1961 / United Kingdom)

Checklist & Statistics

Numes

10/10:
0.25 The Twilight Zone: S1E1 "Where is Everybody?"

10/13:
0.50 The Twilight Zone: S1E1 "Where is Everybody?" - Original cut with Rod Serling Introduction
1. The Walking Dead: S8E7
1.5 The Walking Dead: S8E8

10/14:
2. The Walking Dead: S8E9
2.5. The Walking Dead: S8E10

10/15:
3. The Walking Dead: S8E11
3.5. The Walking Dead: S8E12

10/16:
4. The Walking Dead: S8E13
4.5. The Walking Dead: S8E14

10/17:
5. The Walking Dead: S8E15
5.5. The Walking Dead: S8E16

josepotato

Horror Month 2018!
First time viewings are bolded.
Goal:

10/03:
1) The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

10/06:
2) The Boy (2016)

10/07:
3) Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)

10/14:
4) Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)

10/28:
5) Troll 2 (1990)

Not a big list this year, I had a lot going on unfortunately but I did enjoy checking out everyone's lists and comments, till next year. Cheers

TheManInBlack

Blu-ray
DVD
Streaming

09/30 - Beginning at Dusk
001. El espinazo del diablo (The Devil's Backbone) (2001, Guillermo del Toro, 108 min.)
10/01
002. Night of the Living Dead (1968, George A. Romero, 97 min.)
003. The Lords of Salem (Shudder) (2012, Rob Zombie, 100 min.)
003.5. Channel Zero: Candle Cove - Episode 1: You Have to Go Inside (Shudder)
004.5. Body Melt (1993, Philip Brophy, 83 min.)
005.5. American Fright Fest (Prime) (2018, Ante Novakovic, 90 min.)
006.5. Night of Something Strange (Shudder) (2016, Jonathan Straiton, 97 min.)
10/02
007. Channel Zero: Candle Cove - Episode 2: I'll Hold Your Hand (Shudder)
008. Dead of Night (Shudder) (1977, Dan Curtis, 73 min.)
009. We Are Still Here (Shudder) (2015, Ted Geoghegan, 83 min.)
009.5. Channel Zero: Candle Cove - Episode 3: Want to See Something Cool? (Shudder)
010.5. Still/Born (Shudder) (2017, Brandon Christensen, 86 min.)
011.5. Creep (Netflix) (2014, Patrick Brice, 77 min.)
012.5. Creep 2 (Netflix) (2017, Patrick Brice, 80 min.)
10/03
013. Channel Zero: Candle Cove - Episode 4: Protect the Ship! (Shudder)
013.5. Channel Zero: Candle Cove - Episode 5: Guest of Honor (Shudder)
014. Channel Zero: Candle Cove - Episode 6: Welcome Home (Shudder)
015. Hell House LLC (Shudder) (2015, Stephen Cognetti, 91 min.)
016. Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel (Shudder) (2018, Stephen Cognetti, 89 min.)
017. Dead Shack (Shudder) (2017, Peter Ricq, 81 min.)
018. Mayhem (Shudder) (2017, Joe Lynch, 87 min.)
10/04
019. Friend Request (Netflix) (2016, Simon Verhoeven, 92 min.)
020. The Ritual (Netflix) (2017, David Bruckner, 94 min.)
020.5. Channel Zero: No-End House - Episode 1: This Isn't Real (Shudder)
021.5. Ginger Snaps (2000, John Fawcett, 108 min.)
022.5. Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed (2004, Brett Sullivan, 93 min.)
023. Channel Zero: No-End House - Episode 2: Nice Neighborhood (Shudder)
10/05
024. Malevolent (Netflix) (2018, Olaf de Fleur, 88 min.)
025. Into the Dark: The Body (Hulu) (2018, Paul Davis, )
025.5. Huluween Film Fest - The Rizzle/Carved/The Hug/Urn/Lippy/Haunting, Horrifying Sounds from Beyond the Grave/The Gillymuck/The Box (Hulu) (combined 41 min.)
026.5. Re-Animator (1985, Stuart Gordon, 86 min.)
10/06
027.5. Bride of Re-Animator (1989, Brian Yuzna, 97 min.)
028. Channel Zero: No-End House - Episode 3: Beware the Cannibals (Shudder)
10/07
029. Intruder (1989, Scott Spiegel, 88 min.)
10/08

acubfaninmd

Blu-ray/Streaming/Cable

September 30
1.)Terrifier
2.)Rings

October 7
3.)Annabelle

October 9
4.)Jigsaw

October 10
5.)Hell House LLC

October 21
6.)Resident Evil

October 22
7.)Strangers: Prey at Night

El Narbo

October Horror Movie Challenge 2018

1. Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)
2. Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992)
3. Dressed to Kill (1980)
4. Alone in the Dark (1982)
5. Night of the Demons (1988)
6. Deadly Friend (1986)
7. A Bay of Blood (1971)
8. The Toolbox Murders (1978)
9. The Slayer (1982)

mrm1138

* = first time viewing

Sunday, September 30
1. What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
2. Mandy (2018)*

Monday, October 1
3. Haunters: The Art of the Scare (2018)*

Tuesday, October 2
4. Castle of Blood (1964)*

Wednesday, October 3
4.5. Halloween Wars - Season 8, Episode 1: "The Road to Halloween Wars" (2018)
5. Halloween Wars - Season 8, Episode 2: "The Boogeyman's Nightmare" (2018)

Saturday, October 6
6. The Endless (2017)*
7. Murder Party (2007)*

Sunday, October 7
8. Blade (1998)
9. Hocus Pocus (1993)
10. The House on Willow Street (2016)*

Monday, October 8
10.5. Halloween Wars - Season 8, Episode 3: "When Pumpkins Fight Back" (2018)*

Tuesday, October 9
11.5. Prom Night (1980)*

Tuesday, October 16
12. Halloween Wars - Season 8, Episode 4: "Witch Gets a New Ride" (2018)*
12.5. The Haunting of Hill House - Episode 1: "Steven Sees a Ghost" (2018)*

Wednesday, October 17
13. The Haunting of Hill House - Episode 2: "Open Casket" (2018)*
13.5. The Haunting of Hill House - Episode 3: "Touch" (2018)*

Thursday, October 18
14. The Haunting of Hill House - Episode 4: "The Twin Thing" (2018)*

Friday, October 19
14.5. The Haunting of Hill House - Episode 5: "The Bent-Neck Lady" (2018)*

Saturday, October 20
15. The Haunting of Hill House - Episode 6: "Two Storms" (2018)*
15.5. The Haunting of Hill House - Episode 7: "Eulogy" (2018)*
16. The Haunting of Hill House - Episode 8: "Witness Marks" (2018)*
16.5. The Haunting of Hill House - Episode 9: "Screaming Meemies" (2018)*
17. The Haunting of Hill House - Episode 10: "Silence Lay Steadily" (2018)*

Sunday, October 21
17.5. Bloodsucking Bastards (2015)*
18.5. The Mummy's Hand (1940)
19.5. Tales from the Hood 2 (2018)*
20.5. In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
21.5. Ruin Me (2017)*
22.5. Apostle (2018)*

Monday, October 22
23. Halloween Wars - Season 8, Episode 5: "Halloween Time Travel" (2018)*

Tuesday, October 23
24. The Ritual (2017)*

Wednesday, October 24
25. Blade II (2002)

Thursday, October 25
26. Suspiria (2018)*

Sunday, October 28
27. Verónica (2017)*
28. The Body (2018)*
29. Under the Shadow (2016)*
30. Tales from the Crypt (1972)*

Tuesday, October 30
30. Hell House LLC (2015)*

Wednesday, October 31
31. Trick 'r Treat (2007)

advdfreak

OCTOBER 1st
The 50th Anniversary of Night of the Living Dead
1. Night of the Living Dead (1968) Blu-ray

OCTOBER 2nd
Studies in Terror
2. Carrie (1976) Blu-ray

OCTOBER 3rd
Jawsploitation
3. Shark Night (2011) Blu-ray

OCTOBER 4th
Elevator Horrors
4. Devil (2010) Blu-ray

OCTOBER 5th
Horror Anthologies
5. Tales From The Darkside (1985) VUDU

OCTOBER 6th
Zombies
6. Day of the Dead: Bloodline (2018) VUDU
7. Zombieland (2009) VUDU
8. Shaun of the Dead (2004) VUDU

OCTOBER 7th
Universal Monster Movies
9. Dracula (1931) VUDU

OCTOBER 8th
Atmospheric Horror Films
10. Cat People (1942) VUDU
11. The Strangers (2008) VUDU
12. The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018) Itunes

OCTOBER 9th
Cheesy '80s Horror Flicks
13. Maximum Overdrive (1986) VUDU

OCTOBER 10th
Bloody Birthday Parties
14. Happy Death Day (2017) VUDU

OCTOBER 11th
Dogs / Bogs / & Logs
15. Cujo (1983) VUDU

OCTOBER 12th
Apocalyptic Horror
16. A Quiet Place (2018) 4K UHD Blu-ray

OCTOBER 13th
The European Passport to Terror
17. Demons (1985) VUDU

OCTOBER 14th
Rocktober Blood - The 100 Greatest Horror Film Soundtracks
18. Suspiria (1977) Blu-ray

OCTOBER 15th
IMDB Highest Rated Horror
19. The Shining (1980) VUDU

OCTOBER 16th
Slashers / Giallos / Serial Killers
20. Club Dread (2004) VUDU

OCTOBER 17th
Blood on the Beach
21. Piranha (2010) VUDU

OCTOBER 18th
Modern Horror Films
22. Revenge (2018) Itunes

OCTOBER 19th
The Horrors of USA Up All Night
23. Howling II (1986) VUDU

OCTOBER 20th
1980s Video Companies Spotlight: Prism Entertainment
24. Willard (1971) VUDU

25. Halloween (1978) 4K UHD Blu-ray
26. Halloween (2018) Theater

OCTOBER 21st
Vampires
27. The Lost Boys (1987) VUDU

OCTOBER 22nd
1943 (Diamond) Vs. 1968 (Gold) Vs. 1993 (Silver)
28. Rosemary's Baby (1968) VUDU

OCTOBER 23rd
Horrorspondents: You're On The Air!
29. Quarantine (2008) VUDU

OCTOBER 24th
30. The Haunting of Hill House (2018) Netflix
EP 1: Steven Sees a Ghost / EP 2: Open Casket

OCTOBER 25th
31. The Haunting of Hill House (2018) Netflix
EP 3: Touch / EP 4: The Twin Thing

OCTOBER 26th
32. The Haunting of Hill House (2018) Netflix
EP 5: The Bent-Neck Lady / EP 6: Two Storms

OCTOBER 27th
33. The Haunting of Hill House (2018) Netflix
EP 7: Eulogy / EP 8: Witness Marks

OCTOBER 28th
Supernatural / Quiet/Soft / Seances
34. The Haunting of Hill House (2018) Netflix
EP 9: Screaming Meemies / EP 10: Silence Lay Steadily
35. Slender Man (2018) Itunes

Camp Blood

October Horror Movie Challenge 2018

* = First Time Viewing
BLU-RAY
DVD
Theater
Streaming

Oct 1
1. Phenomena (1985)
2. Twitch of the Death Nerve (A Bay of Blood) (1971)
3. A Blade in the Dark (1983)
4. Nightmare Beach (1989) *
5. Friday the 13th (1980)

Oct 2
6. Jaws (1975)
7. Piranha (1978)
8. Piranha 3D (2010)
9. Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)

Oct 3
10. Friday the 13th Part 3 (1982)
11. The Predator (2018) [WILD CARD] *
12. Tales from the Dark Side S1 (Trick or Treat/ The New Man/ I'll Give You a Million/ Pain Killer) (1984) *

Oct 4
13. The Mummy (1932)
14. The Mummy's Hand (1940) *
15. The Mummy's Tomb (1942) *
16. Friday the 13th Part 4: The Final Chapter (1984)

Oct 5
17. It Comes at Night (2017) *
18. Winchester (2018) *
19. Friday the 13th Part 5: A New Beginning (1985)

Oct 6
20. The Ring (2002)
21. Rings (2017) *
22. Friday the 13th Part 6: Jason Lives (1986)

Oct 7
23. Hobgoblins (MST3K) (1988) *
24. The Horror of Party Beach (MST3K) (1964) *
25. Beginning of the End (MST3K) (1957) *
26. Friday the 13th Part 7: The New Blood (1988)

Oct 8
27. The Invisible Agent (1942) *
28. The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944) *
29. Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951) *
30. Friday the 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)

Oct 9
31. Jeepers Creepers (2001)
32. Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003)
33. Jeepers Creepers 3 (2017) *
34. Jason Goes to Hell (1993)

Oct 10
35. Tales from the Dark Side S1 (The Odds/ Mookie and Pookie/ Slippage/ Inside the Closet) (1984) *
36. Deliver Us from Evil (2014) *
37. Jason X (2001)

Oct 11
38. Friday the 13th (2009)
39. Tales from the Dark Side S1 (The Word Processor of the Gods/ A Case of the Stubborns/ Djinn, No Chaser/ All a Clone by the Telephone) (1985) *
40. The Call (2013) *

Oct 12
41. Anaconda (1997) *
42. Lake Placid (1999) *
43. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Oct 13
44. Touch of Death (1991) *
45. Because of the Cats (1973) *
46. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)

Oct 14
47. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
48. Don't Go in the House (1979) *
49. Monster (Humanoids from the Deep) (1980) *
50. Insidious: The Last Key (2018) *

Oct 15
51. A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)
52. Saw (2004)
53. Saw II(2005)
54. Saw III(2006)
55. Saw IV(2007)
56. Venom (2018) [WILD CARD] *

Oct 16
57. A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)
58. Late Fee (2009) *
59. Annabelle: Creation (2017) *
60. Tales from the Dark Side S1 (In the Cards/ Anniversary Dinner/ Snip, Snip/ Answer Me) (1985) *

Oct 17
61. The Hidden (1987) *
62. Hardware (1990) *
63. Duel (1971)
64. Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

Oct 18
65. Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes (1989) *
66. The Amityville Curse (1990) *
67. Amityville: It's About Time (1992) *
68. Amityville: A New Generation (1993) *
69. Amityville Dollhouse (1996) *

Oct 19
70. New Nightmare (1994)
71. Freddy Vs Jason (2003)
72. Halloween (1978)
73. Halloween (2018) *

Oct 20
74. Leatherface (2017) *
75. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
76. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)

Oct 21
77. Evils of the Night (1985) *
78. Retro Puppet Master (1999) *
79. Nightmare Sisters (1988) *

Oct 22
80. Deep Blue Sea (1999) *
81. The Blob (1988)
82. Braindead (1990) *

Oct 23
83. The Haunting of Hill House (Steven Sees a Ghost/ Open Casket) (2018) *
84. The Haunting of Hill House (Touch/ The Twin Thing) (2018) *
85. The Haunting of Hill House (The Bent-Neck Lady/ Two Storms) (2018) *
86. The Haunting of Hill House (Eulogy/ Witness Marks) (2018) *
87. The Haunting of Hill House (Screaming Meemies/ Silence Lay Steadily) (2018) *

Oct 24
88. Saw V (2008)
89. Saw VI (2009)
90. Saw: Final Chapter (2010)
91. Jigsaw (2017) *

Oct 25
92. Tales from the Darkside S1 (The Tear Collector/ Madness Room/ If the Shoes Fit.../ Levitation) (1985) *
93. Silver Bullet (1985) *
94. The Hunger (1983) *

Oct 26
95. Trick or Treat (1986) *
96. Evilspeak (1981) *
97. Stormswept (1995) *

Oct 27
98. GhostHouse (1988) *
99. Witchery (1988) *
100. Happy Death Day (2017) *

Oct 28
101. Tales from the Darkside S1 (It All Comes Out in the Wash/ Bigalow's Last Smoke/ Grandma's Last Wish/ The False Prophet) (1985) *
102. Death Spa (1989) *
103. Dead Ringers (1988) *

Oct 29
104. Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993)
105. Evil Dead 2 (1987)
106. The Boy (2016) *
107. The Initiation (1984) *

Oct 30
108. Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988) *
109. The Prowler (1981)
110. Society (1989) *
111. Nightmare City (1980) *

Oct 31
112. Re-Animator (1985)
113. Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)
114. Terrorvision (1986)
115. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)


2017: 105
2016: 117
2015: 101
2014: 105
2013: 101
2012: 101
2011: 52
2010: 100
2009: 80
2008: 64
2007: 62
2006: 39

ViewAskewbian

DUSK
1. Monster Squad (1987)
2. Monster Squad Forever (2007)
3. House (1986)

OCTOBER 1st:
4. House II: The Second Story (1987)
5. Evil Dead
6. Evil Dead II
7. Army of Darkness

OCTOBER 2nd:
8. Ash Vs Evil Dead: "El Jefe" / "Bait" / "Books from Beyond"
9. Ash Vs Evil Dead: "Brujo" / "The Host" / "The Killer of Killers" / "Fire in the Hole"

OCTOBER 3rd:
10. Ash Vs Evil Dead: "Ashes to Ashes" / "Bound in Flesh" / "The Dark One" / "Home"*
11. Ash Vs Evil Dead: "The Morgue"* / "DUI"* / "Confinement"* / "Trapped Inside"*
12. Ash Vs Evil Dead: "Delusion"* / "Ashy Slashy"* / "Home Again"* / "Second Coming"*

OCTOBER 4th:
13: Ash Vs Evil Dead: "Family"* / "Booth Three"* / "Apparently Dead"* / "Unfinished Business"*
14: Ash Vs Evil Dead: "Baby Proof"* / "Tales from the Rift"* / "Twist and Shout"* / "Rifting Apart"*
15: Ash Vs Evil Dead:"Judgement Day"* / "The Mettle of Man"* / The Gore the Merrier - The Making of Evil Dead 2 / Ash vs Evil Dead featurettes*

OCTOBER 5th:
16: The Skeleton Dance (1929) {WILD CARD}
17. Garfield in Disguise (1985) {WILD CARD}

OCTOBER 6th:
18. When Worlds Collide (1951)*
19. Killer Legends (2014)
20. The Horror of It All (1983)*

OCTOBER 7th:
21. Tarantula (1955)
22. Event Horizon (1997)*
23. The Black Cat (1934)
24. Fear in the Dark (1991)*

OCTOBER 8th:
25. What We Do In The Shadows (2014)
26. The Final Girls (2015)
27. Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015)*

OCTOBER 9th:
28. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
29. Return of the Living Dead (1985)
30. Venom (2018)*
31. The Gorgon (1964)*

OCTOBER 10th:
32. The Howling (1981)*
33. Dead & Buried (1981)
34. Ghost Stories (2017*)
35. The Unnamable (1988)*

OCTOBER 11th:
36. Riding the Bullet (2004)*
37. The Screaming Woman (1972)*
38. Wolf Blood - A Tale of the Forest (1925)*
39. The Monster Walks (1932)*
40. Man Made Monster (1941)*
41. Incubus (1966)*

OCTOBER 12th:
42. The Fog (1980) (Commentary by John Carpenter and Deborah Hill)
43. Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland (1989)
44. One Missed Call (2008)*
45. Haunters: The Art of the Scare (2017)*

OCTOBER 13th:
46. Mystery Science Theatre 3000 - Yongary*
47. Beyond the Gates (2016)*
48. Cloverfield (2008)
49. 10 Cloverfield Lane

OCTOBER 14th:
50. The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)*
51. The Pharoe's Curse (1957)*
52. Orca (1977)*
53. Carry on Screaming! (1966)*

OCTOBER 15th:
54. Sweet Kill (1972)*
55. Creepozoids (1987)*
56. Burn, Witch, Burn (1962)*
57. The Plague of the Zombies (1966)*
58. Jigsaw (2017)*

OCTOBER 16th:
59. Cult of Chucky (2017)
60. Hide and Go Shriek (1988)*
61. Frankenstein (1931) (Commentary)
62. Horror Island (1941)*
63. The Undying Monster (1942)*

OCTOBER 17th:
64. Revenge of the Zombies (1943)*
65. A Hatchet for the Honeymoon (1970)*
66(6). The Haunted Strangler (1958)*
67. The Babysitter (2017)*
68. Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1992)*

OCTOBER 18th:
69. Dance of the Dead (2008)*
70. Hard Rock Zombies (1985)*
71. Bigfoot: The Mysterious Monster (1975)*
72. The Beast with Five Fingers (1946)*

OCTOBER 19th:
73. Curse of the Blue Lights (1988)*
74. Scared to Death (1980)*
75. ParaNorman (2012)

OCTOBER 20th:
76. Holidays (2016)*
77. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
78. The Confessions of Thomas Quick (2015)*

OCTOBER 21st:
79. Errementari: The Blacksmith and the Devil (2017)*
80. Little Evil (2017)*
81. The Food of the Gods (1976)
82. Aenigma (1987)

OCTOBER 22nd:
83. Slave of the Cannibal God (1978)*
84. Shadows of the Mind (1980)*
85. The Bat (1959)*
86. God Told Me To (1976)*
87. Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)*

October 23rd:
88. Happy Death Day (2017)*
89. Demon House (2018)*
90. The Houses October Built (2014)*
91. Transylvania Twist (1989)*

OCTOBER 24th:
92. The Doll Master (2004)*
93. Freaks (1932) (Commentary)
94. Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI (1986)
95. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
96. My Boyfriend's Back (1993)*

OCTOBER 25th:
97. Blade (1998)*
98. Blade II (2002)*
99. Blade: Trinity (2004)*
100. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966) (WILD CARD #3)
101. WolfCop (2014)*

OCTOBER 26th:
102. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979)
103. Nightmare Sisters (1988)*
104. Captive Wild Woman (1943)*
105. Don't Open Till Christmas (1984)*
106. Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

OCTOBER 27th:
107. Death Note (2017)*
108. Cabin in the Woods (2012)

OCTOBER 28th:
109. The Lost Boys (1987)

OCTOBER 29th:
110. Halloween H20 (1998) (Commentary)*
111. The Haunted (1991)*
112. Night of the Creeps (1986) (Commentary)*
113. Cujo (1983)
114. Stephanie (2017)*

OCTOBER 30th:
115. The Nesting (1981)*
116. Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018)*
117. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
118. Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein (1999)*
119. The Headless Eyes (1971)*

OCTOBER 31st:
120. Tales of Halloween (2015)
121. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) - Producers cut*
120. Halloween (1978)
121. Halloween (2018)*
122. Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)



*=First Time Viewing

TerrorTerror

.
The 14th Annual October Horror Movie Challenge

══════════════════════════════════

• Personal Goal: 31 films in 31 days
• Ratings: ★★★★★
• So Bad It's Good: ☠
• First time viewing: ☼

══════════════════════════════════
.

OCTOBER 01
∙∙∙•◉ The 50th Anniversary of Night of the Living Dead ◉•∙∙∙
...01. Night of the Living Dead (1968/2004, Colorized) ★★★★

OCTOBER 02
∙∙∙•◉ Studies in Terror ◉•∙∙∙
...02. Onibaba (Japan, 1964) ★★★½ ☼

OCTOBER 03
∙∙∙•◉ Jawsploitation ◉•∙∙∙
...03. Shark Attack 3: Megalodon (2002) ★★★★½ ☠ ☼
...04. Mega Shark vs. Kolossus (2015) ★★★★ ☠ ☼
...BONUS: Nazi Sharks (2014, 5 min.) ★★ ☠ ☼

OCTOBER 04
∙∙∙•◉ Elevator Horrors ◉•∙∙∙
...05. Trauma (Italy/USA, 1993) ½

OCTOBER 05
∙∙∙•◉ Horror Anthologies ◉•∙∙∙
...06. Rampo Noir (Japan, 2005) ★★★★★ ☼

OCTOBER 06
∙∙∙•◉ Zombies ◉•∙∙∙
...07. Train to Busan (South Korea, 2015) ★★★★ ☼

OCTOBER 07
∙∙∙•◉ Universal Monster Movies ◉•∙∙∙
...08. The Man Who Laughs (1928) ★★★★ ☼

OCTOBER 08
∙∙∙•◉ Atmospheric Horror Films ◉•∙∙∙
...09. The Wailing (South Korea, 2016) ★★★½ ☼

OCTOBER 09
∙∙∙•◉ Cheesy '80s Horror ◉•∙∙∙
...10. Night of the Creeps (1986) ★★★★ ☠ ☼

OCTOBER 10
∙∙∙•◉ Bloody Birthday Parties ◉•∙∙∙
...11. Stitches (2012) ★★★★ ☼

OCTOBER 11
∙∙∙•◉ Dogs / Bogs / & Logs ◉•∙∙∙
...12. Bog (1979) ★★★★ ☠ ☼

OCTOBER 12
∙∙∙•◉ Apocalyptic Horror ◉•∙∙∙
...13. Creepozoids (1987) ★ ☼

OCTOBER 13
∙∙∙•◉ The European Passport to Terror ◉•∙∙∙
...14. Satan's Slaves (Indonesia/South Korea, 2017) ★★ ☼
...15. Viy (Soviet Union, 1967) ★★★½ ☼

OCTOBER 14
∙∙∙•◉ Rocktober Blood - The 100 Greatest Horror Soundtracks ◉•∙∙∙
...16. The Blood on Satan's Claw (UK, 1971) ★★★ ☼

OCTOBER 15
∙∙∙•◉ IMDB Highest Rated Horror ◉•∙∙∙
...17. A Quiet Place (2018) ★ ☼

OCTOBER 16
∙∙∙•◉ Slashers / Giallos / Serial Killers ◉•∙∙∙
...18. Cat o' Nine Tails (Italy, 1971)) ★★★ ☼

OCTOBER 17
∙∙∙•◉ Blood on the Beach ◉•∙∙∙
...19. There's Nothing Out There (1991) ★★★ ☠ ☼

OCTOBER 18∙∙∙•◉ Modern Horror Films ◉•∙∙∙
...20. Hereditary (2018) ★★★★★ ☼
...21. [Rec]² (Spain, 2009) ★★★ ☼

OCTOBER 19
∙∙∙•◉ The Horrors of USA Up All Night ◉•∙∙∙
...22. Nomads (1986) ★★ ☼

∙∙∙•◉ BONUS ◉•∙∙∙
...23. Suspiria (Italy, 1977; 2017 4K Restored Version) ★★★★★ ☼
...24. The Haunting of Hill House - Season 1: Episodes 1 & 2 (2018–present) ★★★ ☼

OCTOBER 20
∙∙∙•◉ 1980s Video Companies Spotlight: Prism Entertainment / Video Stores ◉•∙∙∙
...25. Eaten Alive (1976) ★★★★ ☠ ☼

OCTOBER 21
∙∙∙•◉ Vampires ◉•∙∙∙
...26. Rigor Mortis (Hong Kong, 2013) ★★½

OCTOBER 22
∙∙∙•◉ 1943 (Diamond) Vs. 1968 (Gold) Vs. 1993 (Silver) ◉•∙∙∙
...27. Body Snatchers (1993) ★★ ☼

OCTOBER 23
∙∙∙•◉ Horrorspondents: You're On The Air! ◉•∙∙∙
...28. Class of 1999 (1990) ★★ ☼

OCTOBER 24
∙∙∙•◉ Werewolves / Were-Creatures On A Full Moon ◉•∙∙∙
...29. Ginger Snaps (2000) ★★★½

OCTOBER 25
∙∙∙•◉ Video Nasties 35th Anniversary ◉•∙∙∙
...30. Possession (France/West Germany, 1981) ★★★★½ ☼
...31. The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell - Season 1: Episodes 1-6 (2018–) ★★★★★ ☼

OCTOBER 26
∙∙∙•◉ Frankenstein / Mad Doctors ◉•∙∙∙
...32. Santo vs. hija de Frankestein (Mexico, 1972) ★ ☼

OCTOBER 27
∙∙∙•◉ They Live! The Return of Joe Bob Briggs & Fangoria Magazine ◉•∙∙∙
...33. The Night of the Demons (1988) ★★★★ ☠ ☼

OCTOBER 28
∙∙∙•◉ Supernatural / Quiet/Soft / Seances ◉•∙∙∙
...34. The Woman in Black (UK, 1989) ★★★★ ☼
...35. Halloween (2018) ★★★½ ☼

OCTOBER 29
∙∙∙•◉ Live or Die? Make Your Choice - Mind Games ◉•∙∙∙
...36. Stir of Echoes (1999) ★★ ☼

OCTOBER 30
∙∙∙•◉ Devil's Night Debauchery: Demonic Possession / Satanic / Witchcraft / Hell ◉•∙∙∙
...37. Errementari: The Blacksmith and the Devil (Spain/France, 2017) ★★★★½ ☼
...38. The Haunting of Hill House - Season 1: Episodes 3 & 4 (2018–present) ★★★½ ☼

OCTOBER 31
∙∙∙•◉ All Hallows Eve Horrifically Hideous Hellfest / Samhain: An Evening of Celtic Horror ◉•∙∙∙
...39. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) ★★ ☼

_________________________

2017 • DVD Talk October Horror Movie Challenge by Chad

On Letterboxd:

2017 • Cult Movie Challenge
2017 • Horror Movie Challenge

♦️Part 1♦️ The Video Nasties Challenge: Section 2 Successfully Prosecuted films
♦️Part 2♦️ The Video Nasties Challenge: Section 2 Non-prosecuted films
♦️Part 3♦️ The Video Nasties Challenge: Supplementary Section 3 Video Nasties
♦️Part 4♦️ The Video Nasties Challenge: Banned by the BBFC, but not classed as Video Nasties
♦️Part 5♦️ The Video Nasties Challenge: Films seized by the police, but not classed as Video Nasties

So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films Vol. 1 1963–1973
So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films Vol. 2 1974–2013
So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films Vol. 1 1963–1973 - BORDERLINE GIALLI

Ghostface180

*=First Time Viewing
Wildcard
TV/Shorts

TOTAL: 46

List on Letterboxd

MAIN LIST


September 30:
1. Hausu (Nobuhiko Ôbayashi / 1977 / Japan / 88 mins) B+ Blu-Ray The Criterion Collection Crossover

October 1:
2. Cat People (Jacques Tourneur / 1942 / USA / 73 mins) A Blu-Ray
*3. Assassination Nation (Sam Levinson / 2018 / 110 mins) C+ Theatrical Any Theatrical Horror Showing

October 2:
*4. Dawn of the Dead (European Cut) (George Romero / 1978 / USA / 119 mins) A- DVD
5. The Changeling (Peter Medak / 1980 / 107 mins) B+ Theatrical

October 6:
6. Black Christmas (Bob Clark / 1974 / 98 mins) A Theatrical
7. Halloween (John Carpenter / 1978 / 91 mins) A- Theatrical
*8. Halloween (David Gordon Green / 2018 / USA / 109 mins) C- Theatrical

October 7:
9. All the Colors of the Dark (Sergio Martino / 1972 / Italy / 95 mins) B+ Theatrical
10. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (Tommy Lee Wallace / 1982 / USA / 99 mins) B+ Blu-Ray

October 8:
11. Hereditary (Ari Aster / 2018 / USA / 127 mins) B DVD Atmospheric Horror
12. Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (Sergio Martino / 1972 / Italy / 96 mins) B+ Blu-Ray

October 9:
15. The Black Cat (Lucio Fulci / 1981 / Italy / 91 mins) C+ Blu-Ray Cheesy 80s
16. Phantom of the Paradise (Brian De Palma / 1974 / USA / 92 mins) B Blu-Ray

October 10:
*17. Alien vs. Predator (Unrated) (Paul W.S. Anderson / 2004 / USA / 109 mins) C Blu-Ray
*18. Alien vs. Predator: Requiem (Unrated) (Colin & Greg Strause / 2007 / USA / 101 mins) D+ Blu-Ray

October 11:
*19. The Void (Jeremy Gillespie & Steven Kostanski / 2016 / Canada / 90 mins) C+ Netflix

October 12:
*20. Apostle (Gareth Evans / 2018 / UK / 129 mins) B Netflix

October 13:
*21. Screamfest Shorts Block 1 (120 mins) Theatrical
*22. Screamfest Shorts Block 2 (120 mins) Theatrical
23. A Cure For Wellness (Gore Verbinski / 2017 / USA / 146 mins) B+ Blu-Ray

October 14:
*24. Screamfest Shorts Block 4 (120 mins) Theatrical
*25. Screamfest Shorts Block 5 (120 mins) Theatrical
*26. Screamfest Shorts Block 6 (120 mins) Theatrical

October 15:
*27. Evil Dead Trap (Toshiharu Ikeda / 1988 / Japan / 102 mins) C+ DVD

October 16-19:
*28-30. Channel Zero: No End House (60 mins) Shudder

October 19-21:
*31-35. The Haunting of Hill House (60 mins) Netflix

October 21:
*36. Boo! (Luke Jaden / 2018 / USA / 91 mins) B Theatrical

October 22:
*37. Suspiria (Luca Guadagnino / 2018 / USA / 152 mins) A- Theatrical

October 23:
38. Fragile (Jaime Balagueró / 2005 / Spain/UK / 101 mins) C DVD

October 24:
39. The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (Alan Rafkin / 1966 / USA / 90 mins) B+ Blu-Ray

October 25:
*40. Spider (Zirneklis) (Vasili Mass / 1991 / Latvia / 98 mins) B Blu-Ray

October 27:
41. Black Sunday (Mario Bava / 1960 / Italy / 87 mins) A Blu-Ray

October 28:
42. House on Haunted Hill (William Castle / 1959 / USA / 75 mins) A- DVD
43. Black Sabbath (Mario Bava / 1963 / Italy / 95 mins) A Blu-Ray

October 29:
44. The Fog (John Carpenter / 1980 / USA / 89 mins) B+ Blu-Ray

October 30:
45. City of the Living Dead (Lucio Fulci / 1980 / Italy / 93 mins) A Blu-Ray

October 31:
46. Halloween II (Rick Rosenthal / 1981 / USA / 92 mins) B+ Blu-Ray

fiver

Blue=Blu-Ray
Red=DVD
Purple=Streaming/Files

September 30th: Simone Simon

NapTimeSleeper

October 1st:
1. The Blair Witch Project - 4/5
2. Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 - 3/5

October 2nd:
3. Return of the Living Dead - 4/5

October 7th
4. Night of the Living Dead - 4/5

October 18th
5. Night of the Demons - 3/5

October 21st
6. Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein - 4/5

October 23rd
7. Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich - 2/5

October 31st
8. He's Out There - 2/5

mike7162

1-Dracula (1931)
2-Dracula - Spanish (1931)
3-Dracula's Daughter (1936)
4-Frankenstein (1931)
5-The Old Dark House (1932)
6-Halloween (2018)
7-The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
8-Psycho (1960)
9-Halloween 4 - The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
10-The Son of Frankenstein (1939)

ross_r

Goal 31 movies.
1) Saw (2004, VHS) 09/30/2018
2) The Lords of Salem (2012, VUDU) - 10/01/2018
3) Wolfen * (1981, VUDU) 10/02/2018
4) You're Next * (2011, VUDU) 10/03/2018
5) Deep Red * (1975, VUDU) 10/04/2018
6) Boogeyman (2005, VUDU) 10/06/2018
7) Silent House * (2011, DVD) 10/07/2018
8) Dolls * (1987, VUDU) 10/07/2018
9) Hellraiser (1987, VHS) 10/09/2018
10) Hellraiser II: Hellbound (1988, VHS) 10/10/2018
11) Hellraiser III: Hell On Earth (1992, DVD) 10/11/2018
12) Ghostbusters * (2016, VUDU) 10/13/2018
13) Hellraiser IV: Bloodline * (1996, DVD) 10/14/2018
14) When A Stranger Calls * (2006, VUDU) 10/15/2018
15) Hellraiser V: Inferno * (2000, DVD) 10/17/2018
16) Hellraiser VI: Hellseeker * (2002, DVD) 10/18/2018
17) Freaks of Nature * (2015, VUDU) 10/20/2018
18) Hellraiser VII: Deader * (2005, DVD) 10/21/2018
19) Wicker Man 10/23/2018 * (1971, DVD) 10/23/2018
20) Hellraiser VIII: Hellworld * (2005, DVD) 10/25/2018
21) Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995, VUDU) 10/26/2018
22) Mummy Lives * (1993, VUDU) 10/27/2018
23) Critters (1986, VUDU) 10/27/2018
24) Hellraiser IX: Revelations * (2011, VUDU) 10/31/2018
25) Hellraiser X: Judgement * (2018, VUDU) 10/31/2018

* = First Time Viewing

The Monkees

2005: 30
2006: 78
2007: 87
2008: 104
2009: 56
2010: 26
2011: 22
2012: 56
2013: 42
2014: 38
2015: 32
2016: 71
2017: 71


September 30th

1. The Hills Have Eyes (1977) (7:25pm)
2. The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1984) (8:55pm)
3. The Amityville Horror (1979) (10:25pm)

October 1st]

4. Student Bodies (1981) (1:00am)
5. The Blair Witch Project (1999) (1:45pm)
6. Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) (3:15pm)

October 2nd

7. American Psycho (2000) (6:25pm)
8. American Psycho 2 (2002) (8:15pm)

October 3rd

9. The Evil Dead (1981) (7:20pm)

October 4th

10. The Fly (1986) (2:30pm)
11. The Rage: Carrie 2 (1998) (5:05pm)
12. Sleepaway Camp (1983) (8:00pm)

October 5th

None Today

October 6th

13. Amityville II: The Possession (1982) (1:00am)
14. House of Wax (1953) (1:40pm)
15. Night of the Demons (1988) (3:20pm)
16. Thirteen Ghosts (2001) (6:55pm)
17. Evil Dead II (1987) (8:25pm)
18. Army of Darkness (1992) (9:45pm)

October 7th

19. Cat People (1942) (5:05pm)
20. Ernest Scared Stupid (1991) (6:20pm)
21. The Return of the Living Dead (1985) (8:15pm)
22. Night of the Demons 2 (1994) (9:45pm)
23. When a Stranger Calls (1979) (11:20pm)

October 8th

24. Chopping Mall (1986) (6:15pm)
25. The Toxic Avenger (1985) (7:35pm)

October 9th

26. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) (6:00pm)
27. Splatter University (1984) (7:15pm)
28. House on Haunted Hill (1959) (9:25pm)

October 10th

29. Tales From the Darkside: The Movie (1990) (1:10am) *
30. The Toxic Avenger Part II (1989) (2:00pm)
31. Happy Death Day (2017) (5:55pm)
32. Sorority House Massacre (1986) (8:20pm)

October 11th

33. Pet Sematary (1989) (2:00pm)
34. Carrie (2013) (7:55pm)
35. Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018) (10:00pm) *

October 12th

36. Psycho (1960) (4:10pm)
37. Halloween (1978) (7:45pm)
38. The Slumber Party Massacre (1982) (9:50pm)

October 13th

39. The Hills Have Eyes (2006) (12:30am)

October 14th

40. Tales From the Hood (1995) (3:30pm) *
41. Halloween II (1981) (5:25pm)
42. Psycho II (1983) (7:15pm)
43. Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) (9:35pm)
44. Hocus Pocus (1993) (11:00pm)

October 15th

45. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) (1:30pm)
46. Class of Nuke Em High (1986) (8:25pm)
47. Class of Nuke Em High Part II: Subhumanoid Meltdown (1991) (9:50pm) *
48. Slumber Party Massacre II (1987) (11:40pm)

October 16th

49. Black Christmas (1974) (1:20pm)
50. Re-Animator (1985) (3:55pm)
51. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) (8:50pm)
52. Psycho III (1986) (11:50pm)

October 17th

53. Microwave Massacre (1983) (6:50pm)
54. Jack Frost (1997) (8:10pm) *
55. Halloween II (2009) (11:00pm)

October 18th

56. The Psycho Legacy (2010) (1:10am)
57. Psycho (1998) (1:00pm)
58. Final Destination (2000) (2:55pm)
59. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) (6:15pm)
60. Halloween (2018) (9:45pm) *

October 19th

61. The Others (2001) (1:00pm)

October 20th

62. The Last House on the Left (1972) (1:00am)
63. Friday the 13th (2009) (10:30pm)

October 21st

64. The Last House on the Left (2009) (10:25pm)

October 22nd

65. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966) (12:15am)
66. The David S. Pumpkins Halloween Special (2017) (12:45am)
67. The Prowler (1981) (1:05am)
68. King Kong (1933) (6:50pm)
69. Better Watch Out (2016) (8:40pm)
70. Zombie (1979) (10:10pm) *
71. House on Haunted Hill (1999) (11:40pm)

October 23rd

72. Return to House on Haunted Hill (2007) (4:25pm)
73. Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987) (5:45pm)
74. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) (7:50pm)
75. Little Shop of Horrors (1986) (9:35pm)

October 24th

76. Night of the Living Dead (1968) (7:00pm) 50th Anniversary Screening

October 25th

77. Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990) (12:10am)
78. Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988) (7:55pm)
79. The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) (9:50pm) *
80. The Exorcist (1973) (11:05pm)

October 26th

81. Happy Birthday to Me (1981) (5:10pm)

October 27th

82. Creepshow (1982) (1:30am)
83. Creepshow 2 (1987) (11:00pm)

October 28th

84. Nosferatu (1922) (1:25am)
85. Rosemary's Baby (1968) (3:20pm)
86. Dawn of the Dead (1978) (6:25pm)
87. The Howling (1981) (8:40pm)
88. Halloween: Resurrection (2002) (10:10pm)

October 29th

89. Shadow of the Vampire (2000) (6:25pm)
90. I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) (11:15pm)

October 30th

91. Dr. Giggles (1992) (1:15pm)
92. Deadly Friend (1986) (4:35pm)
93. Popcorn (1991) (6:30pm)

October 31st HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

94. He Knows You're Alone (1980) (4:40pm)
95. The Dentist (1996) (6:50pm)
96. The Dentist 2 (1998) (8:45pm)


* = First Time Viewing

CHECKLIST

rbrown498

This Year's Stats

This year marks my 9th Challenge.

Goal: 31 Total Watched: 55

Theme nights, 31 film subset, and Checklist completed.

First Time Viewings: 36 (65%)

Formats Watched:

22 Streaming (Google Drive, Showtime [via Hulu], Amazon Prime, Netflix, Shudder, Hulu) – 40%
19 DVD – 34%
10 Blu-ray - 18%
2 DVD-R – 4%
1 Blu-ray 3D – 2%
1 Theatrical showing – 2%

Decades:

1940s: 3 (5%)
1950s: 2 (4%)
1960s: 5 (9%)
1970s: 8 (15%)
1980s: 15 (27%)
1990s: 6 (11%)
2000s: 5 (9%)
2010s: 11 (20%)

Longest Film Viewed: Kwaidan (183 minutes)
Shortest Film Viewed: Gargoyles (74 minutes)

New favorites: Dave Made a Maze, I Saw the Devil, Peeping Tom, Happy Death Day

Will never watch again: Brainscan, Demon Wind, Succubus, Repo! The Genetic Opera

--------------------

Orange Title - Denotes first-time-ever viewing

Caution: Spoilers may follow!

Last year's tally: 41 films; 23 first-time viewings

This year's goals: watch a minimum of 31 films, with at least 20 first-time viewings; if I have time, attempt to complete Theme Nights and Subset lists, and take a shot at the Checklist


9/30/2018

Note: This film is not counted in my totals, as it was watched outside the actual month of October. I consider it to be a sort of pre-Challenge warm up.

XX Dressed to Kill (1980) (DVD) - A call girl sees a woman murdered in an elevator, and now the killer's after her. This twisty film from Brian De Palma was a huge hit, despite (or because of?) the controversy it generated. For De Palma neophytes, it's a good starting point into his body of work.


10/1/2018

1. Lifeforce (1985) (Streaming--Google Drive [Alyxstarr's link]) - The crew of a spaceship investigating Halley's Comet finds a derelict spacecraft in the comet's tail and three humanoid creatures in the spacecraft. The crew brings the creatures back to earth, only to find out that they're space vampires. All hell breaks loose, Tobe Hooper loses control of the narrative, and it all eventually ends. I saw this in its theatrical run, and I hated it then. As it turns out, I still dislike it a whole lot. The only thing that perked me up this go 'round was spotting a Prefab Sprout poster in the background of one of the scenes near the end. It's just an awful film.


10/2/2018

2. Blue Sunshine (1977) (DVD) - Jeff Lieberman's follow-up to the flawed but interesting Squirm concerns a rash of murders committed by bald people. What do the words "blue sunshine" have to do with the killers, and how is a political candidate involved? This film ultimately has more questions than answers, and the end is rather anticlimactic. Otherwise, it's a fun little thriller that would make a great basis for a cable TV show along the lines of The Following or True Detective.


10/3/2018

3. Blood Beach (1980) (Streaming--Google Drive [Alyxstarr's link]) - A giant worm-like creature is killing people on a California beach, sucking them down through the sand. John Saxon is the police chief who's in charge of finding and stopping the monster. Burt Young's character and that of the shopping cart lady are EXTREMELY annoying. Fairly clever low-budget nonsense is fun, but it was bested ten years later by Tremors.


10/4/2018

4. Down (The Shaft) (2001) (Streaming--Showtime via Hulu) - Down is a dumb yet entertaining movie about a killer elevator. I suppose that if one is dead-set on making a film about a killer elevator, this is probably the best anybody could expect. It's doubly-strange that this is, in fact, a remake of the director's own 1983 film, The Lift. Let's be honest--isn't one killer elevator film enough? For more madness from director Dick Maas, check out his Saint (aka Saint Nick), the most mean-spirited Christmas movie that you'll ever see.

5. The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) (Streaming--Showtime via Hulu) - The body of an unidentified young woman found at the scene of a mass murder is brought to a coroner’s office for a routine autopsy to determine who she was and what caused her death. As the coroner soon finds out, the autopsy is anything but routine. I’d heard good things about this film, and it didn’t disappoint me. I figured out a few of the film’s twists before they occurred, but that didn’t detract from its entertainment value. From the director of Trollhunter.


10/5/2018

6. Kwaidan (1964) (Blu-ray) - I really hate it when I’m out of step with a film’s critical reception. It makes me feel like I’m just not “getting” what others are getting. Case in point: Kwaidan. Because I’m rather fond of Japanese cinema, I figured that I’d love Kwaidan, so I put it in, expecting to be blown away by its sheer awesomeness. The first story was rather lackluster, but the cinematography and art direction were great, so I felt that I could cut it a little slack. I mean, it’s an anthology film, and anthology films tend to build, right? So the second tale commenced, and I really quite liked it—again, great cinematography, art direction, etc. And then the story ended and left me hanging. It was like I’d been treated to the first two acts of a play, and then the third one had been forgotten. Still, I enjoyed it, even if it felt unfinished. And then came the third story, “Hoichi the Earless,” which should have been a separate film due to its length. It just went on, and on, and on, and I thought that I was going to lose my mind if it didn’t end soon, but it didn’t, and Hoichi just kept on singing and playing his biwa, and it just wouldn’t end until, finally, FINALLY, of course, it did. The last story added insult to injury, in that it was based on an incomplete tale. Why would you make one of four stories in your over-three-hours-long anthology film an INCOMPLETE one, of all things? I didn’t even want to start watching it, since I knew that whatever I invested in it would be tossed out with the abrupt non-ending. So, I really didn’t like Kwaidan, but I can appreciate it for its cinematography and art direction.


10/6/2018

7. Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror (1981) (DVD) - A bunch of people spending the weekend at a house in the countryside get eaten by zombies. This Italian film was an unauthorized sequel to Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2 (aka Zombie in the US), which was, of course, an unauthorized sequel to George Romero's Dawn of the Dead, which was known as Zombi in Italy. Burial Ground is one of the more idiotic zombie films from that era, but it's lively and has some of the most grotesque-looking zombies ever to (dis)grace the screen. Not only are they grotesque, they've also mastered the art of using tools. One of them is even able to throw a metal spike with astounding accuracy from a distance of at least thirty or forty feet, which is definitely something one doesn't see in most other zombie films. It's not a good film, but it sure is enjoyable.

8. Nightmare City (1980) (DVD) - I first saw this film on Continental's VHS, which had been retitled City of the Walking Dead to cash in on the zombie craze of the early '80s. Prior to tonight's viewing, I remembered practically nothing about it...possibly because I never actually finished watching the tape. Still, to be fair, I'll count this as previous watch. As to the plot, an unidentified airplane makes an unscheduled stop at an airport, and radioactive zombies spill out of the plane, killing everyone on the tarmac. They then run amok in the city, creating more zombies. Can our hero Hugo Stiglitz save the day, or at least save himself and his wife? This is the type of film that's great to put on when you've had a rough day at work and don't want to think too hard.


10/7/2018

9. Dr. Cyclops (1940) (DVD) - It's kind of hard for me to believe that I've never seen this film, but I hadn't until tonight. Albert Dekker plays a scientist who has discovered the secret to shrinking people and animals. He works in the middle of the jungle so that others won't know what he's up to, but he's also there because he's found a plentiful supply of uranium, which he needs for his shrinking process. Unfortunately, his eyesight is bad, so he sends for some experts to help him, but he ends up shrinking them when they get all up in his business. Fun film from Paramount is notable for being the first horror/science fiction film to be shot in three-strip Technicolor. From the director of King Kong.

10. It Came from Outer Space (1953) (Blu-ray 3D) - I watched It Came from Outer Space in 3D for the first time tonight, and it’s totally changed my opinion of the film. In the times that I’ve watched the movie flat, I found it to be fairly boring. In 3D, though, it’s a thing of beauty, with more depth than probably any 3D film that I’ve ever seen. There are very few pop-out moments, but the astonishing depth more than makes up for it. From now on, I’ll only watch this in 3D.


10/8/2018

11. Hereditary (2018) (DVD) - Here’s another film that a rewatch under different circumstances has caused my opinion to change. I saw this opening weekend early this summer, and I found it to be underwhelming and more than a bit confusing. Over the last few weeks, I’ve read a lot about it and seen some explanatory YouTube videos about it, and I think that those have helped me to understand the film better and appreciate it a lot more. Maybe watching it at home helped as well; since it’s such an intimate film, the more intimate viewing experience might have a lot to do with my increased enjoyment of it. Then again, maybe it’s one of those films that just takes multiple viewings to catch everything that’s been layered into it. Whatever the reason, I count myself as a fan now. Better late than never, I suppose.

12. The Messengers (2007) (Blu-ray) - A family moves from the big city to a farm in North Dakota to raise sunflowers. Once there, the oldest child (Kristen Stewart) starts seeing ghosts. The Pang brothers (of The Eye fame) direct their first English-language film, but the PG-13 rating that the film was saddled with keeps things fairly mild. There are an awful lot of jump scares, however.


10/9/2018

13. The Zero Boys (1986) (Streaming--Amazon Prime) - A paintball team and their assorted girlfriends go to the woods to celebrate a paintball victory. On the way out, one of the girls (Kelli Maroney, who really should look into buying a good bra) sees a woman running in the distance. When they get to where she saw her, there’s no sign of her…but there is a recently-deserted cabin. Being lunkheads, they decide to party there for a while. Unfortunately, the folks who had left the cabin come back, and the paintballers et al. find themselves fighting for their lives. Not bad for its budget, The Zero Boys is a fun trip back to the mid-eighties, but it’s no classic. The ending is particularly unsatisfying, but that’s the way they ended movies back then.

14. Forbidden World (1982) (Streaming--Amazon Prime) - A space cowboy “fixer” gets called to a distant planet to help out some scientists in a research station. You see, they’ve created a new life form, and it’s escaped, and it’s constantly morphing into other forms and killing them, one by one. This may be the most blatant Alien rip-off that I’ve ever seen, but it’s mindless fun by virtue of the fact that it’s a blatant Alien rip-off. So in addition to the often gooey monster, we’ve also got two good-looking women scientists who walk around the science labs in high heels and aren’t afraid to get nekkid (both individually and together) AND we’ve got a fairly icky way of destroying the monster, which you’ll just have to see for yourself. It’s only 77 minutes long.


10/10/2018

15. Happy Death Day (2017) (Blu-ray) - I’d heard good things about this film, and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s essentially a remake of Groundhog Day with a slasher twist. It’s not even remotely frightening, but it IS pretty funny in parts. The bitchy sorority sister Danielle (Rachel Matthews) has one of the funniest lines I’ve heard in a long while. I laughed so hard that I had to pause the disc to pull myself back together. I loved it, and I can’t wait for the sequel that should be out next year.

16. You'll Find Out (1940) (DVD) - This film has a lot going for it: a trio of the world’s biggest (at the time) horror stars—Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, and Peter Lorre; a secluded, mysterious mansion; a raging thunderstorm that knocks the only bridge to the house out, effectively stranding everyone there; and séances. It also has Kay Kyser and his band and Ish Kabibble, which may or may not be a selling point. Personally, I love seeing radio stars of the ‘30s and ‘40s in movies, so I enjoyed this a lot. However, a little bit of Kay and Ish goes a long, long way…and it’s essentially their movie (and not Bela, Boris, and Peter’s), since it’s a sequel of sorts to That’s Right—You’re Wrong, the Kay Kyser Band’s first starring feature. The plot has to do with Kay and his band performing at a birthday party at the aforementioned secluded, mysterious mansion, with the birthday girl seemingly the target of a killer…or SOME killers, as the case may be. If you’re not put off by Kay and Ish and all the singing, you can have a pretty good time with this lightweight film.

17. It Lives Again (1978) (DVD) - As the ads said, the It’s Alive baby is back…only this time there are three of them. If you’ve seen the first film, this is more of the same from Larry Cohen. I didn’t like the first one very much, but this one went down a lot easier, probably because the rubber mutant babies weren’t shown nearly as much in this one as they were in the original film. If you liked the first one, you should definitely give this one a shot.


10/11/2018

18. Cujo (1983) (Streaming--Google Drive [Alyxstarr's link]) - Pretty good adapatation of Stephen King’s novel about a loveable Saint Bernard who gets bitten by a rabid bat and turns into a killer. It’s pretty odd that I’d never seen this film before, but I’d heard so much about it that I never really felt the need to watch it. The performances are all really, really good, but the dog actor was GREAT. I wasn’t particularly fond of the freeze-frame ending, however. I’m surprised that this hasn’t been remade yet.


10/12/2018

19. A Quiet Place (2018) (Blu-ray) - Taking place a few years in the future, A Quiet Place focuses on a family’s day-to-day struggle against creatures that kill and devour anything that makes noise. After a pre-title sequence wherein the youngest member of the family gets killed by these creatures, the film skips ahead almost a year and settles into showing how the family copes with having to be quiet all the time. And that’s the whole setup. Of course, they DO make noise, and of course the creatures hunt them, and of course there are heroic gestures on all of the family members’ parts…but I was left strangely uninvolved for the entire movie. It's kind of like when you meet a new person and you take an immediate dislike to them for no discernible reason--that's the way that I feel about this film. This was my second viewing, and I've felt the same way about it both times. I really, really can't put my finger on why I don't like it...but I don't like it.


10/13/2018

20. Inside (2007) (DVD) - Wow, but this film is intense! Part of the wave of French films that came out in the late aughts that were hyper-gory and nihilistic, Inside is the tale of a pregnant woman who’s attacked in her house by a woman who wants to steal her unborn baby. And, really, about 90% of the film takes place in her home, with her trying to defend herself from this crazy woman. I normally don’t have a problem with gore in films, but this one is the rare exception that made me squirm. It’s exceptionally well-made, but I can’t really say that it’s enjoyable. I’m glad that I’ve seen it, but I’m probably never, ever going to watch it again. I’m not prone to nightmares, but I won’t be surprised if this one rears its bloody head in my dreams tonight.

21. Succubus (1969) (DVD) - This is, as far as I can tell, only the second Jess Franco film that I’ve ever seen (Kiss Me, Monster, also starring Janine Reynaud, is the other one). I’ve read that this is pretty atypical for Franco, and it’s certainly quite different from Kiss Me, Monster, so I don’t want to judge Franco’s entire output on two films…but so far, I’m not a fan. Succubus is the longest 76 minutes that I’ve spent in years; I tried and tried, but I couldn’t for the life of me discern a plot anywhere in the film. It was originally rated X, but unless the copy I saw was heavily edited, I didn’t notice anything that really should have earned it that rating...but then again, I didn’t think that Midnight Cowboy deserved an X either, so maybe I’m not the best judge. Succubus is easily the worst first-time viewing that I’ve experienced for the Challenge this year. Unless you’ve got a major jones for Reynaud and/or are a big Franco fan, you’d probably be best off doing a load of laundry instead of watching this film.

22. Blood and Black Lace (watched with Tim Lucas commentary track) (1964) (Blu-ray) - This is probably my favorite Mario Bava film as a whole (although my favorite thing that Bava ever did is the “The Drop of Water” segment from Black Sabbath). I love the camerawork; I love the music; I love the gel lighting that obviously influenced Dario Argento’s Suspiria—in fact, the whole film is eye candy. This watch, I listened to Tim Lucas’s commentary while I watched it. Tim certainly knows his Bava, and his commentary track is filled with insights--some revelatory, some obvious, and a few quite far-fetched. Still, it’s an entertaining listen—my only gripe is the terribly affected way that he pronounces “Los Angeles.” Puh-leeze.

23. Veronica (2017) (Streaming--Netflix) - Pretty good Spanish horror film from one of the directors of Rec doesn’t break any new ground, but it’s often quite spooky, and it never gets boring. Veronica has made the mistake of playing with a Ouija board with some friends, and now something that they made contact with has followed her home and is endangering her and her family. My favorite character by far is Sister Death.


10/14/2018

24. The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) (Streaming--Amazon Prime) - One day while plowing a field, a guy unearths some bones, including a human-like skull with some skin and an eyeball still intact. After reporting it, he brings the local magistrate to show him the find, but it’s disappeared. Soon after, people in his village start dying, and it all seems to point to one of the local girls. It’s a pretty good film that falls chronologically and ideologically between Witchfinder General and The Wicker Man, but the film that it most closely resembles, at least in my eyes, is Cry of the Banshee. Take that as you will.

25. The House by the Cemetery (1981) (DVD) - I first saw this three years ago as part of the 2015 Challenge. It’s yet another Lucio Fulci gorefest that doesn’t make a lick of sense. A professor-type guy moves his family into the Freudstein (!) house to finish some research started by a colleague who committed suicide. Once there, they slowly come to realize that maybe the whole thing was a bad idea. It’s quite bloody, but it’s also impossible to take any of it seriously.


10/15/2018

26. Peeping Tom (1960) (DVD) - A lonely man who works at a film studio has a strange hobby—using a 16mm camera, he films women as he kills them, then enjoys watching the films later as he relives the murders. A young woman who lives with her blind mother in the apartment below his strikes up a friendship with him, and she slowly finds out his secrets. Peeping Tom has been sitting on my shelf for years, but this is the first time that I’ve gotten around to watching it, and I’m glad that I did. It’s an excellent film that was critically reviled at the time of its release (and ruined director Michael Powell’s career in the process), but thanks to its being championed by Martin Scorsese and others, it’s now seen as the masterpiece that it is. It’s required viewing for any serious student of the horror film.

27. I Saw the Devil (2010) (Blu-ray) - I’d heard a lot of good things about this supercharged revenge film from South Korea, but nothing I’d heard led me to expect the sheer ferocity of this film. A detective’s fiancée is killed, and he vows to find the killer and make him suffer like his fiancée did. Unfortunately, the killer proves to be much more resourceful and twisted than the detective ever imagined. One of my favorite first-time views of the Challenge so far, but, like Inside, it’s got some truly repugnant content.


10/16/2018

28. Terrifier (2017) (Streaming--Netflix) - A silent, psychotic clown goes on a killing spree on Halloween night. There’s nothing here that you haven’t seen dozens of times before. It’s low-budget, but competently made and worth checking out if you’ve got an hour and a half to spare.


10/17/2018

29. Who Can Kill a Child? (1976) (DVD) - This Spanish horror film, later remade as Come Out and Play, tells the story of a married couple who rent a boat to go to an island off the coast of Spain for a few hours. Once they get to the island, they realize that there are very few adults around, and there’s something weird about all the children that they see. Chaos ensues. It’s sort of like a sunny, travelogue version of Children of the Corn. I dug it pretty hard, and it made me wish once again that more horror films could take place in broad daylight like this one does.


10/18/2018

30. Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) (Streaming--Shudder via Amazon Prime) - Oh, but I was dreading watching this film. You see, I watched The Devil’s Carnival, its sequel, for the Challenge several years ago and hated, hated, hated it. So naturally I was not looking forward to watching this. I made it through it, and it wasn’t nearly as bad as The Devil’s Carnival, but that doesn’t mean that it was any good, either. My problem with the film wasn’t that all of the dialogue was sung; I mean, that’s what operas DO. My problem was that the songs were so awful—there wasn’t one memorable melody in the entire film. I’ve seen it compared to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but at least with that film, I left the theater humming “Time Warp”; with Repo!, I just wanted it all to end. The way I see it, if your musical doesn’t have at least one song that sticks in the audience members’ heads, it’s a failure. Repo!, then, in my estimation, is an abject failure.


10/19/2018

31. The Toxic Avenger (1984) (Streaming--Amazon Prime) - Wow, but this movie is bad. A janitor at a health club who’s picked on by everybody ends up submerged in a barrel of toxic waste, which turns him into a superhero of sorts. There must have been some colossal lapse of cinematic taste when this came out, because it made enough money for Troma to make a few sequels to it and base their entire output on its formula of lowest-common-denominator filmmaking. If one were to cut out all of the reaction shots in this film, it’d probably run about thirty minutes. It’s just awful, with no saving graces whatsoever.


10/20/2018

32. Evil Toons (1992) (Streaming--Google Drive [Alyxstarr's link]) - And the third stinker of a subset film in a row rears its ugly head. God bless Fred Olen Ray; his heart is in the right place, but I’ve never seen a film of his that was even remotely any good. This one is no exception, as four women are left at a house for the weekend to clean it up for its new owners. As luck would have it, they summon up a cartoon demon who possesses one of them and causes her and almost everyone else’s deaths. This film would have no reason for existing at all if all four of the women didn’t get topless at regular intervals. David Carradine, Dick Miller, and Arte Johnson show up for extended cameos, and Michelle Bauer shows up (and I am NOT kidding about this) long enough to get topless, then disappears again. The film’s title is misleading; there’s only ONE animated demon, and he’s in the film for two minutes, tops.

33. Halloween (2018) (Theatrical showing) - I had very high hopes going into this, mainly due to the incredible amount of publicity that it’s received. It seems that I couldn’t open a web page without there being another exclusive interview about it with Jamie Lee Curtis, and all of the reviews that I read for it were pretty glowing, so it HAD to be great, right? JLC wouldn’t waste her time talking up the film so much if it were bad, would she? Well, she might. As it turns out, she’s an executive producer of the film and is getting profit participation in it, which stands to make her a nice wad of cash if it turns out to be a big hit. So, yeah, she’s pimping it for all it's worth, because it’s worth a lot to her. I found the film to be one of the better follow-ups to the original, but it still doesn’t hold a candle to John Carpenter’s film. My two main issues with the film are that it has very little atmosphere, and it’s just not scary. After seeing the first one forty years ago, I saw The Shape lurking on every darkened porch and behind every hedge on my way home from the theater, and even though it was shot in the spring, the original very much captured the feel of fall, right down to Dean Cundey’s remarkable ability to somehow mimic that indefinable quality of autumnal light. While the new one is certainly serviceable, it never really clicked for me like I hoped that it would. Whether it’s truly very ordinary or whether my expectations were so high that the film could never possibly fulfil them, for me, it ends up being just another sequel.


10/21/2018

34. The Lost Boys (1987) (Streaming--Google Drive [Alyxstarr's link]) - After her divorce, a mom and her two sons move in with her father, who lives in a little coastal town in California named Santa Clara. The older son falls in with a group of troublemakers, while the younger son becomes friends with two brothers whose parents own a comic book store. As it turns out, the troublemakers are actually a pack of vampires, and the younger son’s friends are vampire hunters. Kinda convenient, huh? The film was directed by Joel Schumacher, who is probably the worst high-profile director to have made films in the ‘80s and ‘90s. I’ve never liked the film, mainly due to its last line. If the character who says it had just said it at the beginning of the film, it would have saved all of the characters a LOT of trouble. It also had one of the worst advertising slogans ever: “It’s fun to be a vampire.” Ugh. The one thing that the film has going for it (besides Jami Gertz in her prime—hubba!) is a truly great soundtrack.

35. Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995) (Streaming--Amazon Prime) - This sequel to one of the better horror films of the 1990s keeps a lot of what made the first one work, except this time it’s set in New Orleans instead of Chicago. A young teacher discovers that the Candyman was a blood relative, and her life gets turned upside down as a result. It’s not as surreal as the original, but this follow-up merits a watch if you liked the first one.

36. Willard (1971) (Streaming--Showtime via Hulu) - Bruce Davison stars as Willard, a socially awkward mama’s boy who develops a weird relationship with the rats that live in and around the house he shares with his mother. Ernest Borgnine plays Willard’s boss, his deceased father’s former business partner, who has taken it upon himself to pretty much destroy Willard’s life. When Willard and his newfound vermin pals decide to return the favor, things get interesting. From Bing Crosby Productions.


10/22/2018

37. Son of Dracula (1943) (Blu-ray) - Lon Chaney, Jr. (minus the Jr. in the credits) plays Count Alucard, a none-too-clever alias. He shows up at a plantation house in Louisiana at the invitation of one of the sisters who lives there. Once there, he marries her and turns her into a vampire, much to the consternation of her fiancée. Even though this is a Universal horror sequel, it has the feel of the films that Val Lewton was producing at RKO at the time. It’s also notable in that there’s another vampire in the film besides the titular one. Chaney, although horribly miscast, still manages to muster an air of menace as the Count.

38. Welcome to the Jungle (2007) (DVD) - The Blair Witch Project meets Cannibal Holocaust. A foursome of incredibly annoying people decide that they’re going to go find out what happened to Michael Rockefeller, who disappeared in New Guinea forty-five years ago. They almost succeed. Although this is only an 83-minute film, it still feels excessively padded. Maybe if the characters had been better written and/or acted, the film wouldn’t feel like the slog that it does. Recommended only for cannibal movie completists.


10/23/2018

39. Tenebre (1982) (Blu-ray) - Tony Franciosa stars as Peter Neal, an American novelist who goes to Rome for a publicity junket for his latest book. Right after he arrives, someone kills a woman and stuffs her mouth with pages of the book. When other murders follow, he starts doing his own investigation into who might be doing the killing. The narrative gets a little jumbled along the way, but the film contains enough bravura moments to earn it a strong recommendation.


10/24/2018

40. Silver Bullet (1985) (DVD) - How weird is it that Corey Haim shows up in two of the subset picks this month? For some reason, I’d successfully avoided this film until this Challenge. I don’t really have a reason for having done so, except that I had heard that this wasn’t that good of a film. It turns out that I found the film to be a pleasant surprise. It wasn’t anywhere near as awful as I expected it to be; in fact, I’d have to put it in the upper tier of King adaptations. I’m not saying that it’s a classic by any means, but I found it to be quite enjoyable, if not exactly scary.

41. The Day Time Ended (1979) (DVD) - Gonzo film from Charles Band Productions (back when Chuck wasn’t churning out endless Puppet Master sequels) makes no sense at all…and I kind of liked it for that. I don’t think that anyone would ever mistake this for a good movie, but it does have a certain naïve charm to its tale of a house that comes under attack by UFOs and aliens and dinosaur-like beasts and pyramids. The small cast led by Jim Davis (Jock Ewing from TV’s Dallas) really doesn’t have much to do except react to all the weird crap that’s going on around them. I found it to be non-demanding stupid fun.


10/25/2018

42. Anthropophagus (1980) (DVD) - This film, retitled The Grim Reaper when released in America by Film Ventures in 1981, tries to marry the very Italian cannibal subgenre to the very American slasher film, with noticeably lacking results. A group of tourists go to a nearly-deserted island, where they soon find themselves being picked off by a crazed cannibal. If you can stay awake during the long, long stretches where characters walk around and look at stuff, you’ll be rewarded with a few fairly icky kills (and one truly audacious scene). Those familiar with the work of director Joe D’Amato will know what to expect.


10/26/2018

43. Dr. Caligari (1989) (DVD-R recorded from VHS) - There are mainstream movies, there are independent movies, and then there are movies like Dr. Caligari (and Eraserhead, and Liquid Sky) which defy any kind of rational description. The people that made this film were behind two of the weirdest pornographic movies ever, Night Dreams and Café Flesh, which became minor causes célèbres at the dawn of the video age. In addition to sharing crew members, all three films have a shared aesthetic that is decidedly far left of center. At first, the highly-stylized look of the film is off-putting, but as the film skitters along, it becomes more tolerable. The artifice of the film is, in part, an homage to the film to which it acts as a sequel, as the original The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was also made up largely of painted flats and odd camera angles. The plot doesn’t really matter; just watch it for the weirdness. TRIGGER ALERT: If your idea of an odd movie is Edward Scissorhands, you should probably avoid Dr. Caligari.

44. Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) (Blu-ray) - The fifth in Hammer’s Frankenstein series is probably my favorite of the bunch. Peter Cushing as Baron Frankenstein is up to his old tricks again, except that he seems to be getting more and more ruthless in trying to achieve his goals. This time around, he’s working on brain transplants, which is a logical progression from the previous film, Frankenstein Created Woman. At least this time he’s not creating gender dysphoria with his experiments. The film's first sequence is a stand-out, as is the one involving a burst water main.

45. Frankenstein's Daughter (1958) (DVD) - Okay, let’s get this out of the way: even though one character calls another character “Frankenstein’s daughter,” the Frankenstein character in the film is actually the original Dr. Frankenstein’s grandson, and he has no actual daughter. Frankenstein’s female creature is being metaphorically referred to as his daughter, so don’t think that this is going to be like a ‘50s version of Lady Frankenstein…because it’s not. Instead, we get a lower-budgeted take on I Was a Teenage Frankenstein and I Was a Teenage Werewolf, combining aspects of both into a totally forgettable film. Still, if you like the sort of film that AIP was churning out in the late ‘50s (as I do), then you’ll probably find something to enjoy here.

46. Gargoyles (1972) (DVD) - In one of the more memorable made-for-TV movies of the 1970s, living gargoyles attack a writer and his daughter in the American southwest. Cornel Wilde, Jennifer Salt, and Scott Glenn star, and Grayson Hall from Dark Shadows shows up as well. The creature makeup by Stan Winston is pretty nifty.

47. Ghost Actress (1996)(a.k.a. Don't Look Up) (DVD-R recorded from Sundance Channel) - The cast and crew shooting a film on old soundstages encounter the ghost of a former actress. The second horror film from Hideo Nakata (but his first to be released theatrically), Ghost Actress shows promise, but it was his next theatrical movie that really pushed Asian horror to the preeminent position it occupied for the first decade or so of this millennium. Still, Ghost Actress is not without its charms. It has a couple of goosebump-inducing scenes, although it never really lets loose, relying more on mood and half-glimpsed images than trafficking in in-your-face horror. The shot right before the end credits is deliciously creepy.


10/27/2018

48. Maximum Overdrive (1986) (Streaming--Amazon Prime Rental) - Although Stephen King promised in the TV spots for this, the only movie he’s yet directed, to “scare the hell outta” us, I don’t think that anybody was actually scared by it. It’s a goofy movie in which, due to a comet and/or aliens, all the machines in the world suddenly gain the ability to move on their own and start attacking any humans they come across. It’s dumb, but it’s enjoyably dumb. Stephen King’s cameo at the beginning is the most amusing scene in the film. Music by AC/DC.


10/28/2018

49. Marrowbone (2017) (Streaming--Hulu) - Sort of like a dark twin to Where the Lilies Bloom, Marrowbone is also about some children keeping a parent’s death a secret so that they’re not split up into foster homes, but it adds a supernatural element and disturbing family secrets to the proceedings. It’s not a bad film, but you’ve seen many of the plot elements in other films, and the elliptical storytelling may be a little off-putting for some. The somewhat odd-looking Anya Taylor-Joy, from The Witch and Split, plays the oldest son’s love interest. “Marrowbone” is the family’s assumed last name, in case you were wondering.

50. Impulse (1974) (DVD) - Although he wouldn’t agree, this may be William Shatner’s most entertaining role. Yes, I’ve found a new favorite bad movie in Impulse. The Shat plays Matt Stone, a psychopath who woos women, steals their money, and kills them. He’s got his sights set on a pretty widow, but her annoying pre-teen daughter Tina might thwart his plans. There’s so much to admire here—Shatner’s usual over-emoting, some incredibly bad mid-‘70s fashions, Harold “Odd Job” Sakata’s attempt at intelligible dialogue (which reminded me somewhat of Tor Johnson’s attempt to act in Plan 9 from Outer Space), and perhaps the funniest chase scene that I’ve ever seen. It all comes together in a movie that’s absolutely awful but hypnotically watchable.

51. We Are Still Here (2015) (Streaming--Amazon Prime) - A couple grieving the death of their college-aged son in a fatal car crash move from the city to a house on the outskirts of a small town. Almost immediately, the wife (Barbara Crampton) feels the dead son’s presence in the house…but the presence she feels turns out to be far more diabolical then she could ever imagine. This is the first film of this year’s Challenge to give me gooseflesh; admittedly, it was just a fleeting moment of creepiness, but it’s better than none at all. I love the look of the ghosts in this movie; they’re the victims of a fire, and when they touch things, little sparks can be seen flying from them, like those from a fireplace log. The film’s plot isn’t particularly novel, but any film with ghosts as creepy as these and a guest-star turn from Larry Fessenden gets my seal of approval.

52. Intruders (2015) (Streaming--Amazon Prime) - After the brother she’s been caring for dies of pancreatic cancer, an agoraphobic woman is the victim of a home invasion…but she’s more resourceful than the interlopers think she is. There’s an interesting twist about midway through the film, but it’s not enough to make this film terribly notable. It’s worth a watch if you’ve got time to kill, but I don’t see Intruders being remembered very fondly (or, probably, at all) twenty years from now.


10/29/2018

53. Brainscan (1994) (Streaming--Amazon Prime Rental) - Edward Furlong stars as a kid who gets a new computer game that causes him to commit murder while playing it yet leaves him with no memories of the events…so basically it’s a slightly more dangerous, electronic form of Ambien®. A character in the game, The Trickster, starts showing up and hanging out with Eddie, even when he’s not actually playing the game. Mind games of the dumbest sort ensue. You can tell that the producers of this nonsense were hoping that The Trickster would become the new Freddy Krueger; that he didn’t is a testament to exactly how bad this film is. Frank Langella, as a detective, has nothing to do in this except frown really hard; he looks as if he’s in the film because he lost a bet. The ending of the film either doesn’t make any sense, or it proves that Furlong’s character is psychotic. Perhaps both are true.


10/30/2018

54. Demon Wind (1990) (Streaming--Amazon Prime) - This impoverished production tells the tale of a guy and his girlfriend (and six other assorted, expendable friends) who visit his father’s childhood home to find out why his grandparents abandoned his father sixty years earlier. Short answer: demons. This film should be lots of fun, but it’s not of the “so bad it’s entertaining” ilk; it’s just boring (and badly acted and plotted). If I had to put a percentage to it, I’d guess that about 80% of this film’s budget went into making demon dental prosthetics, with at least 10% more going to the line item that read “Stuff for actors to drool out of their mouths when becoming possessed.” And what’s up with that diner? It’s not only not on a major highway, it’s not even on an actual road. It looks like it’s on more of a cow trail, really. Just awful.


10/31/2018

55. Sleepy Hollow (1999) (Blu-ray) - In 1799, Ichabod Crane is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate some murders that the locals attribute to a headless Hessian horseman. Scoffing at this idea, Crane looks for a live killer, but soon finds himself believing the townspeople when he has a run-in with the phantom. I love the look of this film; it has a wonderful autumnal countryside ambiance to it that’s both lovely and creepy. Johnny Depp is enjoyable as the rather easily-spooked constable; he once referred to his character as “Ichabod Crane, Girl Detective.” I can’t think of much about the film that I didn’t enjoy, although I could have lived without the “Large Marge” moment with the witch in the cave. Overall, though, I find Sleepy Hollow to be hugely entertaining.


11/1/2018

Note: This film is not counted in my totals, as it was watched outside the actual month of October. I consider it to be a sort of post-Challenge footnote.

XX Dave Made a Maze (2017) (Streaming--Hulu) - Well, it’s really more of a labyrinth. Annie comes home from a weekend trip to find her boyfriend Dave has built a cardboard maze in their living room. When she tries to get him to come out, he says that he can’t—he’s lost in the maze and can’t find his way out. When she starts to tear down the maze, he begs her to stop because she’s endangering his life. He tells her that the maze is a lot bigger on the inside than the waist-high cardboard construction in the living room, and he asks her to call a friend to help, which soon leads to an apartment full of people trying to figure out how to get him out. He repeatedly begs them not to come in to get him, as he’s also built booby traps into the maze. Eventually, they decide, against his advice, to go in after him. This endlessly inventive film really caught me off guard; even though it wound up on several “Best of” lists for 2017, I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. It’s delightfully surreal; it reminds me a bit of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in that there’s something strange and vaguely dangerous around every corner. It’s easily my favorite film of the Challenge, and it’s now firmly in place as one of my favorite films of 2017.



Theme Nights -- Completed



31 Films Subset -- Completed



The Checklist -- Completed

brainee

Brainee's 2018 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

Goal: 50
Total: 70
First Time Views: 56

☼ = first time viewing

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

September 30th (after dusk)

1. ☼ Veronica (2017): There's nothing new here, but what it does it does very well. ****

2. ☼ The Ritual (2017): Having just read a collection of stories by Laird Barron, it struck me how much like one of his stories this movie was. A group of people in an isolated wilderness ... a gradual shift from one kind of story to another ... an escalation of weirdness and violence ... a reveal of god-like cosmic horror. Now I'm intrigued by the author of the novel that this was based on (Adam Nevill), since I never heard of him and he seems to have a number of interesting things written. ****

3. ☼ The Devonsville Terror (1983): Ulli Lommel had an odd career with three distinct phases: an artistically respectable beginning associating with the likes of Reiner Fassbinder and Andy Warhol; a "video nasty" period in the 80's where he made some reasonably popular horror movies; and a "comeback" period in the 2000's where he made some of the worst movies ever made. This from the second period. I had heard some decent things about this movie from horror fans, but I didn't get much out of it. It did do a nice job of creating a desolate small-town atmosphere. Donald Pleasance has little to do (except plucking worms from his skin), though the lead actress was pleasant enough (the director's wife, DuPont heiress, and presumably a source of money to make these movies). But it was a slow moving 80 minutes, whose big finale (a rip-off of the melting Nazi from Raiders of the Lost Ark) was too little too late. **

October 1st

4. ☼ BrainDead (2016): S01E1, S01E02.

5. Cronos (1993): I remember being underwhelmed by this when it first came out ... probably because by the time it hit home video it was hyped as the next, big thing in vampire movies. It's much better when considered as a weird, kind-of sad and touching, dark fantasy story. ****

6. ☼ Dark Shadows (1969): E792-795.

October 2nd

7. ☼ Alone in the Dark (1982): How did I never see this before?!? A golden age slasher with Martin Landau and Jack Palance as the killers (with Donald Pleasance thrown in for good measure as a touchy-feely psychiatrist). I don't agree with calling this a flat-out comedy (as my cable listing did), but it's hard not to smile with the trio of veteran actors (literally) going nuts. ***1/2

October 3rd

8. ☼ Dark Shadows (1969): E796-799.

October 5th

9. ☼ Hellraiser: Inferno (2000): I had avoided the direct-to-video Hellraiser movies up until now. This movie makes me think I should've let them be. "Bad Lieutenant directed by Uwe Boll" is the title of one imdb review, and that pretty much sums it up. I didn't really have a problem that it wasn't much of a Hellraiser movie. My problem was that it felt tedious, derivative, cheap, and had a completely unengaging lead. I find all the rave reviews on imdb somewhat mystifying. The director has gone on to make some really good movies though (like Sinister and Doctor Strange). *1/2

10. ☼ Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002): This wasn't bad though. Still cheap, but it's got a much better lead in Mr. Mayhem himself (and good continuity with the original Hellraiser). And it had some decent ideas and a good twist. **1/2

11. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939): I know it's not really a horror movie, but it's listed as one in many places (like imdb) and contains monster movie tropes (with a "monster" causing mayhem because being smitten with a beautiful girl). Really amazing production and sets (at the time this was one of the most expensive movies ever made). And of course a top-notch cast. When I saw "Fritz Leiber" in the credits I thought must've been some guy with the same name as the horror/sci-fi/fantasy author. And looking it up ... it was his father (with the author appearing uncredited in the movie). ****1/2

12. ☼ Dark Shadows (1969): E800-803

October 6th

13. ☼ Before I Wake (2016): Mike Flanagan keeps cranking out quality horror movies. And of course people on imdb are crapping on it because it's not horror enough. ***1/2

14. ☼ The Transfiguration (2016): Another movie that seems to anger some viewers because it dares to not give them exactly what they expected. I really liked this. It's obvious about it's influences ... kind of an urban spin on Martin and Let the Right One In. But with no supernatural element, it plays more as an indie coming-of-age story. ****

15. ☼ Creep 2 (2017): A quick enjoyable watch. While it had the same black comedic tone as the first movie, it smartly didn't just recycle the plot (instead going in a Behind the Mask direction). ***1/2

16. ☼ BrainDead (2016): S01E3; ☼ Dark Shadows (1969): E804-805.

October 7th

17. ☼ Mandy (2018): Man, I really wanted to like this more than I did. The reviews were so overwhelmingly positive, and despite its flaws I enjoyed Beyond the Black Rainbow. This was just so glacially slow in the first half that I was literally struggling not to fall asleep. The "revenge" second half had enough gonzo goings-on to keep me entertained, but still came across as a rather empty exercise of style over substance. I think the one Rotten Tomatoes reviewer was spot on in saying there's probably a great 90 minute movie in these 2 hours. **1/2

18. Demon Seed (1977): I thought I recorded Wes Craven's Swamp Thing from TCMHD, but my DVR gave me this instead. I was going to delete it, then figured ... what the hell What a weird movie, especially for a major studio production. Could imdb's trivia note be right that this was intended to be a comedy, but retooled to be a thriller at the last minute? I don't buy that. Despite the preposterous nature of the story, this is oddly captivating. ***1/2

19. ☼ BrainDead (2016): S01E4; ☼ Dark Shadows (1969): E807-808.

October 8th

20. ☼ Two Pigeons (2017): Uncomfortable, sick and unpleasant ... but I mean that in a good way. In a way, what this movie has behind unexplained "bumps in the night" in the house is probably a lot worse than a ghost. ***1/2

21. ☼ The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015): I went into this pretty blind (only reading the synopsis and seeing it got solid reviews), which can be a blessing or a curse for this movie. It takes its time getting where its going, with no apparent "horror" until the last 30 minutes or so. I think if you have the patience, can handle a non-linear story, and can get into the lonely cold atmosphere that it is ultimately rewarding. And compared to the pace of writer/director Oz Perkins' followup I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, this was a barn-burner! It did annoy that some critical lines were mumbled, that I didn't piece together until reading the summary on wikipedia: ***

October 9th

22. ☼ The Monster Project (2017): Do you like shaky-cam? How about artificial video "glitches" that make it hard to see what's going on? Does a movie where one of the actors is channeling Chris Tucker at his most annoying sound good? How about where half the movie is shot in green and white "night vision"? Then have I got the movie for you! *1/2

23. ☼ Dark Shadows (1969): E809-812.

October 10th

24. ☼ BrainDead (2016): S01E5; ☼ Dark Shadows (1969): E813-814.

October 12th

25. ☼ Annabelle: Creation (2017): I never saw the first Annabelle movie (reviews were generally bad), but this "origins" story was much better received (kind of like Ouija). This was solid ... while the story was very familiar, I liked the rural 50's atmosphere (though I had to shake my head at the twenty-somethings still being in an orphanage). Like a lot of modern horror movies, over-reliance on jump scares annoys the crap out of me. I'm guessing the last few minutes of this were tying into the first Annabelle movie since it didn't make any sense to me. ***

26. ☼ The Limehouse Golem (2016): I'm a sucker for Victorian London settings, especially in a movie with great production values and cast. While the gore and nudity don't quite fit in, I can see why many tout this as a "throwback" (in the style of Hammer). Perhaps more a detective/mystery (those looking for slasher horror are in the wrong place), but there are certainly enough horror elements for it to count. I enjoyed the inclusion of real-life historical figures: a couple of which I hadn't heard of until this movie, proving that horror can be educational! ****

27. ☼ Dark Shadows (1969): E815-818.

October 13th

28. ☼ BrainDead (2016): S01E6, S01E7.

29. Santa Sangre (1989): I favorite of time that I love! I have yet to dig into all of the hours of extras on the Severin Blu Ray. And with me always feeling like I need to maximize my viewing time towards list-counting in the Horror Challenge, I will continue to ignore those extras (for now). *****

30. ☼ The Redeemer: Son of Satan! (1978): After 20 minutes, I thought this was going to be Manos levels of bad (without the help of mocking robots). Though once the killing starting it developed an effectively creepy and unsettling tone, making me see why some hold this highly. Not the movies fault, but Amazon Prime's awful interlacing artifacts knocked my enjoyment down a peg. **1/2

31. ☼ Mausoleum (1983): I hope I'm not missing out on a good print for my first time view, because for the second movie in a row Amazon Prime gave me a bad audiovisual experience (no interlacing, thank god, but very scratchy print and annoying audio hiss throughout). While no classic, this has its cheesy charms: a hot lead who frequently gets naked, lots of gore (this was a title seized in the "video nasty" craze of the 80's), over-the-top monster effects (with my favorite being the demon muppet breasts that starting eating some poor guy caught in an embrace). And there's a jaw-dropping comic relief scene with a black maid which manages to cross off just about every negative racial stereotype in a handful of minutes. Though to be fair, she ultimately shows herself to probably be the most sensible person in the entire movie. When she notices weird green mist coming from a bedroom, she doesn't investigate. Instead, she immediately packs up all her shit, leaves the house, and we never see her again! ***

October 14th

32. ☼ Ravenous (2017): While I'm just about burned out on zombie movies, this was well-made and brought a few new things to the table. These are 28 Days Later zombies in that they don't appear to be actually dead (just infected people). But instead of the "zombies" just running around angry all of the time (though they do plenty of that), they show some odd behavior ... like standing still and staring, gathering in quiet groups, and building gigantic mountains of chairs (not making that up). The isolated Canadian forest setting was an effective one for a horror movie (especially when it was foggy). Not much of a story, no real answers or explanations or resolution, but probably worth watching by horror fans. ***

33. Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror (1981): A rewatch, and this was just as good as I remembered. Well, it's a stretch to say this movie is "good" using standard movie review criteria. But it's a helluva entertaining movie, that's almost non-stop zombies, gore, and freaky perversions. I learned that the makeup guy is the same one from Fulci's Zombie and it shows (with the maggoty goopey wormy crusty monsters truly being stomach turning). ***1/2

34. ☼ Dark Shadows (1969): E819-822.

October 16th

35. ☼ BrainDead (2016): S01E8, S01E9

36. ☼ Dark Shadows (1969): E823-827.

October 19th

37. ☼ Dark Shadows (1969): E828-831.

38. ☼ Mayhem (2017): Nothing new, and it's social commentary is pretty obvious. But this is a fun ride, and Stephen Yeun (Glenn!) and Samara Weaving (who I recognized from The Babysitter) were engaging leads. ***1/2

39. ☼ Tragedy Girls (2017): I didn't realize the lead was Deadpool's Negasonic Teenage Warhead until after looking things up on IMDb (she looks very different with longer blonde hair playing a cheerleader type). I didn't have as much fun with this as the movie as I hoped. The main characters were just relentlessly unpleasant, and the "message" about social media is nowhere near as clever as the filmmakers think. The boyfriend character was distracting by being noticeably a decade older than he was supposed to be. It was fun seeing Darryl from The Office though, playing a ladies man fireman. ***

40. ☼ Hounds of Love (2016): I started watching with hesitation since the set-up suggested this could end up being a feel-bad torture movie. And I was happy to get an excruciating suspenseful thriller that didn't sink to being gratuitous. Very well-made, and I enjoyed the twisted psychology behind the husband-and-wife serial killers. ****1/2

October 20th

41. ☼ BrainDead (2016): S01E10, S01E11.

42. ☼ Apostle (2018): Maybe a bit too long, but I ultimately enjoyed this. Gareth Evans shows a much more measured hand than in movies like The Raid, but ultimately busts out some nasty stuff. I liked the twist on the standard story with a mysterious violent cult and their "god": ***1/2

43. ☼ Phobia 2 (2009): Watched on the basis of recommendations from the Challenge thread. And they were good recommendations The anthology format ensured nothing went longer than needed. And the quality was good for all of the stories (a problem many anthologies with different directors have). ***1/2

44. ☼ Dark Shadows (1969): E832-E835.

October 21st

45. ☼ The Evil (1978): Generally a fun movie with a solid cast (with the exception being perhaps the most poorly cast "Satan" I've ever seen). Note to self: if I ever see a door in a creepy old house sealed with a giant cross, it's probably best to leave things alone. ***

46. Evilspeak (1981): I don't think I've seen this since it first hit premium cable in the early 80's. I can understand new viewers not being impressed ... the plot is a low-grade Carrie and the computer aspects are horribly dated. But I have a soft spot for it. It's easy to see how the gore got this movie in trouble at the time, being way beyond the level of what mainstream horror was allowed to show then. ***1/2

47. ☼ Dark Shadows (1969): E836-E839.

October 22nd

48. ☼ The Simpsons (2018): "Treehouse of Horror XXIX"; ☼ Dark Shadows (1969): E840-E842.

October 23rd

49. ☼ BrainDead (2016): S01E12, S01E13.

50. ☼ American Horror Story: Apocalypse (2018): S8E01, S8E02.

October 24th

51. ☼ Dark Shadows (1969): E843-E846.

October 25th

52. ☼ American Horror Story: Apocalypse (2018): S8E03, S8E04.

October 26th

53. ☼ The Night Visitor (1971): Interesting to see Ingmar Bergman regulars von Sydow and Ullmann in a (sort-of) horror movie. And this has the location and chilly atmosphere of a Bergman movie. I'm still not sure how plausible the actions of the "killer" were. And since the movie made an odd choice of pretty much laying out the entire plot early on I found my attention drifting in the middle third. But there were certainly some clever bits, even if nothing was particularly frightening. ***

54. Motel Hell (1980): I remember when this was new how creepy the concept seemed (of cannibals kidnapping people, cutting their vocal cords, "planting" them in a garden, and harvesting them for food). And then when I got to see it I was pissed because it was much less slasher horror and more goofball comedy. It's easier now to appreciate this for what it is (cult black comedy) in retrospect. ***

55. ☼ Dark Shadows (1969): E847-E850.

October 27th

56. Dreamscape (1984): Bad blue screen effects and terribly dated soundtrack (sounding straight out of a NES game) make this not as good as I remembered when first seeing. Though it's still an entertaining movie. ***

57. ☼ As Above, So Below (2014): One of the better found-footage horror movies of recent years, thanks in part to a great location (the catacombs of Paris). Plus, with its Tomb Raider influence it doesn't take itself that seriously. Still, this would've been better if shot "straight" (instead of shaky-cam found-footage). ***1/2

58. ☼ Stephanie (2017): This was a pleasant surprise that I'm glad I caught (so many recent horror movies show up on Netflix that it's easy to lose track). It's a movie best gone into with as little prior knowledge as possible. Especially the twist at the end: ****

59. ☼ Sugar Hill (1974): Never caught this as a kid (probably because the title doesn't sound like a horror movie). But it is a horror movie ... and a fun funky one at that. It's not particularly scary ... but I don't think it was meant to be (even at its time). All the sympathy lies with the voodoo masters, and it's hard not to like Sugar Hill (especially as she gets her revenge on all of the "honkies") and Baron Samedi (both character and actor seem to be having a blast). ***1/2

60. ☼ Dark Shadows (1969): E851-E854.

October 28th

61. House of Dark Shadows (1971): I'm sure not how non Dark Shadows fans would've received this, but as someone very familiar with the series it's a lot of fun to watch this whirlwind abbreviated alternate-history version of the key early story lines about the vampire Barnabas Collins. Though as someone currently still making my way through the original series, it's a bit disorienting. ***1/2

62. Night of Dark Shadows (1971): Apparently I haven't gotten to the part of the series that this is spun off from. Apart from having Quentin Collins and Angelique as characters (both of whom seem nothing like they are in the series) and taking place at Collinwood (which looks nothing like it does in the series), this doesn't feel like Dark Shadows at all. Taken on its own though, it's a well-made low-key supernatural horror/drama. Apparently last minute cuts of more than 30 minutes hurt the movie. While it's hard to imagine this movie with a running time of 2+ hours, I can see how removing the original climax hurts (as it stands, this movie just kind of ends). ***

October 29th

63. Nosferatu (1922): I haven't seen this in ages (and I'm sure the last viewing didn't have a print that looked this nice). So many iconic scenes and images ... Murnau's use of shadows is still amazing. In that scene where Orlock is approaching Ellen's room and the shadow weirdly stretches out to grab the doorknob, it's almost like a CGI effect (though of course that was impossible in the 20's). Unless ... Max Shreck really was a vampire!!! ****1/2

64. ☼ Dark Shadows (1969): E855-E858

October 30th

65. The Beast with Five Fingers (1946): Hands down, the best killer hand movie! Bits involving Robert Alda's con-man character and J. Carrol Naish's comic relief detective are pretty disposable. But the mystery/horror storyline, great atmosphere and noir photography, and the fantastic Peter Lorre (my favorite performance of his) are aces. ****

66. ☼ The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters (1954): I thought I saw this before, but nothing struck me as familiar so I'm considering it a first-time view. Even as a kid, the Bowery Boys weren't my thing ... they seemed a low-rate Abbott and Costello (with a dash of Three Stooges). This wasn't bad though. I got some chuckles out of Slip's malaprops and the Gravesend family's repeated attempts at dealing with the Boys' idiocy. There's so much of The Addams Family here that I have to think the original cartoons were an inspiration (even though the tv series was a decade away). ***

Halloween

67. ☼ Demon Wind (1990): Great poster ... not so great movie. I would've turned this off after 30 minutes if not for the challenge. Things did get more interesting in the last 30 minutes, but not enough to salvage things. Pretty decent demon makeup (for a low budget movie) was wasted by an utterly unconvincing and incompetent cast (even by the standards of low budget horror). **

68. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982): What a weird-ass concept for a movie ... I'm guessing only the backing of John Carpenter got this made. I still don't get the end game for the main villain. Steal Stonehenge => make magically booby-trapped masks that kill millions => ????? => Profit???***

69. Carnival of Souls (1962): Wanted to (almost) finish my October with a classic. Even though this has a very deliberate pace, it still struck me when I saw it first as a kid. The "zombies" are so creepy and the whole movie has this relentless atmosphere of unease. ****

70. ☼ Dark Shadows (1969): E859-862.

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