Undeadcow

***LIST FINAL - 14th year, 186 films; checklist, theme, & subsets complete***Gems: The Free Fall, Christmas Presence, Lost Footage of Leah Sullivan, We're All Going to the World's Fair, Slumber Party Massacre (2021), After Midnight, Jakob's Wife, Storm Warning, Torn Hearts, Glourious, Dawn Breaks Behind The Eyes, Barbarian, Unearth, Wolf of Snow Hollow
Disappointments: The Swarm, Versus, All the Colors of the Dark, Byleth, You Should Have Left, Scared to Death, Bunshinsaba / Ouija Board, Halloween Ends, Spirit Halloween, Sharks of the Corn, Godmonster of Indian Flats, Bodies Bodies Bodies, Crimes of the Future, Beverly Hills Vamp
More Highlights & Stats:




September 5: DVDTalk 'Out of This World Moon Giveaway' [Thanks to IBJoel! - Pre-challenge / Sept 5 so not counted]
00. Dracula (1992, 127 minutes) ★★★★★★★✰✰✰ Well paced with ghastly practical effects. Gary Oldman is a master who brings a humanity to Dracula. I don't usually like backstory but here Dracula as a 'Christian warrior' adds a lot more richness to the character and I liked the day walking aspect. The production values were refreshingly high but sometimes bordered on unintentionally funny camp cheesiness (stabbing a stone cross to drink random blood, etc). Format: Digital [Vudu UHD] [not in stats]

September30[From Dusk, 7:30pm Texas time] [Arthouse Crossover] (2 hours, 53 minutes watched)
01. We're All Going to the World's Fair (2021, 86 minutes) ★★★★★★★˝✰✰ A novel film balancing quiet leering shots with surreal slow burn. Smart use of social media videos for narrative framework and sky commentary with a conscious twist. Newcomer Anna Cobbs gives a great performance. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
02. Untitled Horror Movie (2021, 87 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ A clever fast paced meta horror comedy overcoming talking squares quarantine film making with well paced editing and rapid upbeat dialogue. Sometimes hammy with simple effects but always in a fun knowing wink. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme

October 1 [Christopher Lee 100th Birthday Year Theme Night] (8 hours, 56 minutes watched)
03. Scars of Dracula (1970, 95 minutes) ★★˝✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Gratuitous motor bats and weirdo henchmen. The maligned film suffers from a dip in production value and an increase in filler with quiet a random end, Christopher Lee is rightly quoted as saying he plays a pantomime villain. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
04. Count Dracula (1970, 95 minutes) ★★★★★˝✰✰✰✰ Featuring a more dapped ranger Christopher Lee vampire. Director Franco zooms or pans in near every shot but nails a great muted fever dream eurohorror faithful to source. It is funny how much Franco focuses on himself as the valet in some scenes creating a sort of weird silent character who seems more emphasized that his role, at first I thought he was a surprise henchmen. Soledad Miranda is too striking as Lucy but Kinski wasted. The taxidermy scene is unintentionally funny; way overkill on the stuffed creatures. The colors were muted but that seemed to be a gritty artistic choice. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme Subset
05. The Free Fall (2021, 82 minutes) ★★★★★★★✰✰✰ A trippy fast paced mind tease that doesn't stop pushing out surreal gorey visuals without explanation until it lands and what an ending. Clever film with an interesting structure. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
06. The Creeping Flesh (1973, 92 minutes) ★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰✰ An imposing inanimate creature, cheesy but gnarly, at the center of plot schism between fake science and gendered drama. It swerves, overindulging in subplots, towards a 'too long in the making' great (but familiar feeling) final chapter payoff. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Theme
07. Crypt of the Vampire (1964, 85 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Supremely atmospheric turn plagued by some early meandering and peppered confusing dream sequences. Sweeping sets, poetic compositions, and it's a clear influence of future eurohorror films. Format: Digital [Youtube SD - Hosted by The Mysterious Domain] 1st Theme
08. Prey (2021, 87 minutes) ★★★★★★˝✰✰✰ A scenic film alternatingly intense and melancholy with forlorn screaming silence tension. Cleverly plays with convention. A few too many subplots hold it down. Format: Digital [Netflix UHD] 1st Theme

October 2 [Flashback Theme Night] (8 hours, 52 minutes watched)
09. Last Night in Soho (2021, 116 minutes) ★★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰ LNiS is my least favorite in Edgar Wright's stellar career. The vibrant neon pop of fashion and music is a highlight but at times feels pretentious pastiche. The time travel gimmick is too random; a plot device in search of a narrative and takes what could be psychological dashing any ambiguity and makes it literal. The presentation seems to be in the time before all men were sleazebags and all women exploited and it lacks subtlety; it's popcorn nihilism and there aren't many relatable characters. There's too clear a divide between 'young' and 'old' it results in cartoonish extremes rather than universals. There's a clever inversion of some horror elements in neon pop rather than foggy darkness and with the conclusion but so much forcing for it to work; everyone is a shade of evil. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD] 1st Theme Subset
10. Backtrack: Nazi Regression [aka War is Hell] (2014, 97 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ The 1st past life regression horror film I'm aware of balanced subtle comedy, torture, flashbacks, and convenient mysticism - an artistically shot novel premise sometimes slow paced and it's regression theme doesn't always work providing some motive but not enough to justify the plot landing short of rationale. A quirky unusual b-movie. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
[H.P. Lovecraft Double Feature]
11. Monster Portal [aka The Offering] (2022, 80 minutes) ★★★★★✰✰✰✰✰ Cyrptic cosmic fantasy we need more of. A small scale film worth seeing with an open mind and tolerance for budget effects and overacting. Ambience, otherworldly tone, & convincing gore rule with twists that land once the pacing evens. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
12. The Deep Ones (2020, 83 minutes) ★★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰ On a Lovecraft kick; fast paced & scenic with lean pacing trailing slime in it's wake but a little more talky sometimes. Ethos is slow and some characters are too awkward aiding a paranoid shades of Rosemary's Baby cult vibe just strange enough to stand out. Neat effects. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
13. The Swarm [Extended Laserdisc/DVD Cut] (1978, 156 minutes) ˝✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Hallucinatory bees and off screen deaths in way slow 70s disaster movie. Helicopters and uniformed stooges standing around; where are the bees? I would rewatch the few bee scenes in slow mo. Now with extra footage of driving and talking. Zzzzz. Cue random buzzing. My daughter reminded me that we had seen The Swarm when she was younger and that it was dull them too, but I suppose I had forgotten it. Format: Digital [Vudu HD]

October 3 [Psychological Horror Theme Night] (9 hours, 19 minutes watched)
14. Let Her Out (2016, 89 minutes) ★★★★★˝✰✰✰✰ A vibrant well edited mind bender without pretense bolstered by strong music and Alanna Levierge as a one woman powerhouse. Abstract conflict within oneself is a ripe theme made visceral here. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
15. Closet Monster (2015, 90 minutes) ★★★★★★★˝✰✰ An amazing angst filled coming of age film complete with talking hamster balancing melodrama and magical realism. Relatable and emotional; seems like as much about growing up as coming out. Slow burn. [Using a [i]WILDCARD, although labelled as 'Horror' on Vudu it's not horror but does have an extended Vampire metaphor and simmering rage] Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
16. Saint Bernard (2013, 97 minutes) ★★★★★★˝✰✰✰ Alternating between hypnotic and tiresome this surreal odyssey is unlike anything I've seen before with apparent non-sequiturs all over the place - seemingly brilliant commentary on addiction and anxiety then from parapalegics to parashooting turkeys. Detailed fill and uncomfortable enough to seem refreshing and worth revisiting but veers towards pretentious. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
17. Phobias (2021, 86 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ Odd premise that is more slickly produced and straight than I expected but struggles to overcome the streched attempt as forcing a far out story into a sort of allegory. The segments are straight forward tales of injustice that mostly work. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
18. Daniel Isn't Real (2015, 90 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Surprised me with moody hopeless conflict more robust than I had expected at first glance. Beyond the obvious cool premise the surprised made it better as seeded themes/context developed & plot morphed with runtime, within and far out. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
19. Beast (2017, 107 minutes) ★★★★★★★★˝✰ methodically paced with a detailed and ambiguous performance from Jessie Buckley. I love the ending and the interplay in who is the real 'beast.' It's a slow burn that will stay with you and an amazing character piece. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] ThemeSubset

October 4 [Folk Horror Theme Night] (7 hours, 33 minutes watched)
20. Candyman (2021, 91 minutes) ★★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰ Time seems right for another Candyman film with it's racially conscious themes. Some of the mythos advancement feels more important thematically then it contributes to an engaging horror story so the film feels more like an intellectual exercise than a horror film and takes some liberties that don't feel continuous from the franchise. Horror is a medium for social commentary but I wish there was more visceral gore and smut to move the literal along. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD] 1st Theme
21. Tilbury (1987, 57 minutes) ★★˝✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ This seems like the sort of allegory with a lot of political subtext that might escape me but be more seething about Britian and Iceland if I knew more the history. The Tilbury myth is an awkward one suggesting an obsession with dairy that feels out of it's time even for the 1941 setting of the movie - and the controller's motive appears to be perhaps intentionally superficial creating a more cartoonish dreamlike feel. I think Tilbury had a lot of potential and the bookends intro and ending show it but there is a lot of dull filler in the middle. Format: Digital[Shudder HD] 1st Theme Subset
22-23. Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror (2021, 194 minutes) ★★★★★★★˝✰✰ Fantastic documentary that covers a lot of themes and content. Some of the examples aren't straight from horror and for a bit it seems to focus more on British television, but makes a convincing case of that being foundational for the genre . I managed to jot to a number of films to look more into. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
24. The Cursed (2021, 111 minutes) ★★★★★★˝✰✰✰ Supremely atmospheric and excels at period horror. The silver fang imagery and scarecrow scene are examples of the brilliant imagery showing the best The Cursed has to offer. The wartime cold open is a sweeping epic that kicks off a lean efficient pacing. Some of the CGI was distracting, like the vines, in large part because it conflicted with the otherwise well established tone and epic scenery. The Cursed is different enough to stand out but at times it feels like someone threw a few extra puzzle pieces into the box than were necessary creating an overly elaborate canon with some un-necessary stretching going on, even if it's well painted over with excellent sets and directing.Format: Digital[Vudu HD] 1st Theme Subset

October 5 [Writers Theme Night] (7 hours, 55 minutes watched)
25. I Spit On Your Grave (1978, 101 minutes) ★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰✰ I Spit on Your Grave is one dirty seemingly mean spirited movie. I remember Joe Bob Briggs commentary on the DVD being really illuminating about how necessary the violence was for thematic purposes and that it was one of the best commentaries I've heard. IPoYG has a clever structure of having a killer's perspective awash in daylight with abbreviated but gory kills segments and elongated justification scenes. IPoYG staggers between being exploitation and empowerment in a fascinating way but ultimately I don't think it ends up being as feminist as some have suggested because it was written/directed by a man, depends on visceral over exaggeration, & seems to suggest violence is an understandable necessary response for real world gender dynamics and issues. The Matthew character is so over acted it takes away from the movie but introduces ripe themes of agency/responsibility for the nasty proceedings. ISoYG might work as an attempt at commentary but surface level it's quite unpleasant.Format: Digital[Vudu UHD] Theme Subset
26. It's Gradiva Who is Calling You (2006, 113 minutes) ★★★★★˝✰✰✰✰ Hallucinatory sleaze with a art scholar obsessing over a phantom woman accompanied by libertines. Surreal vibes as he stumbles around scenery inhabited by scantily clad women often recreating seemingly iconic artistic postures like a filmed painting. "The dream world is as real as the conscious world" is a line hinting at the weird interplay between apparent dreams/visions and conscious reality that often feels blurry here. Gradiva has what might be the least coherent murder but feels rich with imagery and mystery alternatingly incoherent and moody. Format: Digital[Vudu SD] 1st Theme
27. The Honeymoon Phase (2019, 89 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Scifi romance about a couple pretending to be marry in a futuristic research study about relationships; well acted. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st 1st Theme
28. Lucky (2020, 83 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Makes no attempt to directly explain the oddball plot which is more of a reaction than a storyline and Brea Grant carries the film that makes no attempt to spoon feed or overexplain expertly letting the visuals speak for themselves. Some of the production is pedestrian but shouldn't distract from an otherwise good film. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Theme
29. I Madman (2019, 89 minutes) ★★★★★★˝✰✰✰ Pastiche in the best possible way I Madman is one zany film that perfectly balances horror and comedy. Its a gimmick in search of a plot but feels like an honest laugh, haunted house style popcorn fun. The soundtrack goes a long way in balancing horror and cartoonish vibes. Odd to make a film metaphor for for how absorbing books can be but I suppose that shows progress of entertainment mediums. Randall William Cook, who is apparently primarily a visual effects artist, does a great job as the villain whose appearance evolves with each murder. There are some brilliantly deadpan subtle comedy moments. Format: Blu-ray [Scream Factory] Subset Theme

October 6 [Synch Music Theme Night] (8 hours, 19 minutes watched)
30. Mandy (2018, 121 minutes) ★★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰ Ultimately I enjoyed Mandy more that I did not. I love the experimental and creative elements here but some of it seems so overbaked to the point of distraction. It staggers between nicely over the top weirdness and pretentiousness. The tone and energy in many scenes is rich but too consistently high key, there's no attempt at build up or thematic composition - it's in your face burn from the go. Mandy feels hollow, the world probably needs more chainsaw fight films but, elements land as more cosmetic than thematic which is strange for a film so much about mysticism - "you're just meat without a soul without a brain without anything" seems right (not sure if those lines from the cult leader are knowing self parody). Mandy feels like it either pulls a lot of punches or is too sheepish to be intellectually challenging - odd for a film otherwise about sensationalism religious skepticism and other subtext here seems so well disguised or unintentional it lacks provocation. The action oriented last third is the best part and the set-up the least compelling. Some of it's bravado is unearned with rationale introduced unconvincingly and sort of disintegrates away with token resolution lacking catharsis. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Subset Theme
31. Prevenge (2016, 88 minutes) ★★★★★˝✰✰✰✰ Alice Lowe shines as writer, director, star as a personality vibrant and chilling with gleeful abandon - a delicious mix of murder and angry triumph. It's got a weird premise complete with eerie cool voice narration and indie charm to spare. Format: Digital[Vudu HD] 1st Theme
32. All the Colors of the Dark (1972, 95 minutes) ★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰✰ Stylish but slow and cryptic an obvious spawn of Rosemary's Baby with a sort of Satanic cult math to it's plot that doesn't feel natural. Edwige Fenech and George Hamilton may be stylish but they are not charismatic enough to carry their role in the film (no Mia Farrows here). There is a psychoanalytic hint in the film that might be it's best feature tying in to a paranoia vibe that only occasionally lands - that maybe there's some how Jungian metaphor under the dull vaneer. Format: Digital [Vudu HD]
33. Absurd (1981, 93 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ Better than I can describe but in a bad movie way - a low effort seeming slasher with Miko the Greek who has a back story much cooler sounding than the film ever demonstrates. There are a few cool gore effects. There are more than a few shots of a tv showing a football game and a restrained party that drag in the middle. It's got some pieces that are a bit convenient and one of the weirdest seeming female victims. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
34. Come True (2020, 105 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Bizarre blue hued dream film with haunting visuals and a who cares about the plot strange vibe that permeates through the film; the ending is out of nowhere which is perfect for the film. Format: Digital[Vudu HD] 1st Theme
35. WarHunt (2022, 93 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰ A joyless routine waste. Excellent idea and war themed period horror is too scarce but needs more theatrical gravity and dramatic buildup to better sell the Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme

October 7 [Found Footage Theme Night] (8 hours, 50 minutes watched)
36. Bad Ben (2016, 86 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Admirable indie horror starring a quirky likeable fellow. Shot with leering long found footage shots that carry a quiet tension. It's an impressive feat for a small group and low budge. It feels like a lot of implied story elements handled with subtlety in addition to the more obvious plot devices. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
37. Bad Ben: Steelmanville Road (2017, 94 minutes) ★★★★★˝✰✰✰✰ Faster paced less cryptic prequel with a couple that elevates banter/drama, like a 'creepypasta' sometimes indelicate with simple horrors while ratcheting up tension. Occasional wooden acting or iffy effects that only add to the indie charm and gutsy strange tale. Great continuity from the first but some overly elaborate explanation that doesn't quite jive with the first (for example a doll seems thrown in as an afterthought). Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
38. Badder Ben - The Final Chapter (2017, 85 minutes) ★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰✰ Neat continuation from the first film but some of the backstory in the second film made a return to the mysterious less convincing. A film crew angle gives some meta elements. The crew actors feel more amateur but give Nigel Bach's Tom better moments for loudmouth character humor (there is a 'joke' of him cursing all the time). More humor that is mostly hit or miss. The switch from stationary security camera angles to handheld detracts from some of what made the first charming and effective. At this point people are watching because they've enjoyed the first two so there's an pre-established audience but it doesn't really fit as cleanly with the first two; I'm checking IMDB ratings to see if I should continue with the series (ratings are largely decent) but will give it another film or so. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
39. Bad Ben: The Mandela Effect (2018, 67 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ Creative twist to the franchise but a bit aimless fun; repeating the same plot with twists seems ripe with potential and here it's serviceable but I think watching so many Bad Ben movies in a row has taken a toll on me and they're become less curious and annoyances more clear. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
40. The Lost Footage of Leah Sullivan (2018, 87 minutes) ★★★★★★★★✰✰ Home run of a film with that scared me and my kids. The anchors are likeable and charismatic. The less you know before watching the better but a sleeper hit of a horror film. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
41. Scream (1996, 111 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ I've always found the 'meta' elements of Scream more annoying than funny. It's introduction is iconic but the justification and staging laborious with kills that are relatively tame, stab stab stab. Jamie Kennedy is great. My son has been strangely obsessed with the Scream films (he is Halloween’ing as Ghostface this year) and it was fun to re-watch this with him and he was about to point out how the killer has a distinctive style so you can see who it is with each kill; and that's a brilliant level of detail I had never noticed before so maybe I had been too dismissive of Scream. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD] Theme

October 8 [Zombie Theme Night] (8 hours, 5 minutes watched)
42. The Sadness (2021, 99 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ I loved the vague up in the air aspects and the intense violence in much of the film along with the bookend romance. There was political subtext but it seemed so universally condemning it was hard to get a read on. Zombie movies should be awash in blood soaked hallways but some was excessive and pointless. Rare that the talking zombies said anything that elevated the film and often distracted from the visuals which were enough to speak for themselves. Great to see so much of the effects are practical effects.Format: Digital [Shudder HD] Subset 1st Theme
43. Wyrmwood: Apocalypse (2021, 88 minutes) ★★★★★★★✰✰✰ Excellent blend of cartoonish and zombie gore in a post-apocalyptic setting. There is an especially cool zombie twist and it's a relentlessly fun movie more refreshingly interested in high energy than scares or grossness. Great practical effects with occasionally iffy CGI.
The hybrid subplot of a unique twist to zombie tropes. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
44. Versus (2000, 119 minutes) ★★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰ Hammy overacting and gangster subplot drag clashing against the heights of choregraphed zombie fighting and historic flashbacks. I wish more of Versus occurred in the other times. Versus has a legendary reputation that seems unwarranted, it has some epically cool features but it's so inconsistent.Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
45. The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014, 90 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ Overall cool film that tries some bold things. The Alzheimer's angle seems ripe but also shameless in capitalizing on a painful ailment affecting many people. Watched this with my son after my mom had to move.in due to dementia and we found it cathartic and humor in it. I hate how laborious the backstory is and I think it over explains to a point is takes away from the visuals and metaphor. It's awfully specific and doesn't let viewer's mind add as much of their own interpretation. Even the cool switchboard imagery is over explained repeatedly. This seems to undermine the film and defeat the real life parallels to Alzheimer's and brilliant potential for metaphor. Chilling imagery far out but still convincing.Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Subset 1st Theme
46. Better Watch Out (2016, 89 minutes) ★★★★★✰✰✰✰✰ My daughter suggested this film then said she wasn't going to watch all of it so I got stuck with it and in the past I've found it a pointlessly mean spirited film that is only watchable because it is so unexpectedly mean. This time I could admire more of the acting, smart contracts to holiday cheer, and gutsy narrative twists. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme

October 9 [Werewolf Theme Night] (8 hours, 40 minutes watched)
47. Werewolves Within (2021, 97 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Eccentric film abuzz with personalities and a rich whodunit atmosphere. I didn’t realize this was 'based on a video game' but can't hold that against it. It handled the assortment of characters well and Sam Richardson had a perfect subdued comedic presence. It was nice to find a film more upbeat and zany. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
48. Werewolf By Night (2022, 52 minutes) ★★★★★✰✰✰✰✰ Polished film with an underdeveloped story about a monster hunting competition that feels overly long at times and introduces some cool Marvel comics characters that deserve better. The turn in the last half was refreshing and marks the type of energy and pacing that saves the film. Format: Digital [Disney+ UHD] 1st Theme
49. The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2080, 83 minutes) ★★★★★★★✰✰ A mystery filled with snappy dialogue surrounded by grisly wolf murders. Character acting anchors what smartly uses the wolf as a background to the bittersweet zing of real life's punchs (but still there's gore). Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
50. Wolf (2019, 85 minutes) ★★★★★✰✰✰✰✰ Historic horror film with good detail to costume design and a smart incorporation of werewolves into history. There's some neat details about soldier formations and European conquests. It makes good use of a small ensemble cast and what is likely a limited budget to hint at more than it shows. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
51. Unfriended (2014, 83 minutes) ★★★★˝✰✰✰✰ My daughter says this is her favorite horror movie so we watched it (again). It's a mean film that shamelessly exploits real life examples of teen suicide but seems necessary commentary about cyber bullying and esteem issues in teens; as a parent I felt this opened me up for more parental discussion with the youth about unintentional bullying and it's impact - it's a gory, explicit, mean public service announcement. Format: Digital [Vudu HD]
52. Scream 2 (1997, 120 minutes) ★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰✰ Pointless sequel that continues the 'meta' commentary about sequels and has some kills better than the first but ultimately feels too routine (by design because knowing parody but to it's fault). Troubling sign when Jamie Kennedy is a highlight of the film. It's commitment to a Scream mythos is admirable even if that elevates thin characters and an oddball unconvincing backstory less than dramatic. The theater dance scene, which my son pointed out, is the best part of the film - hallucinatory and weird in an otherwise vanilla effort. The format Scream uses and the commitment to it is ambitious. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD] 1st

October 10 [Holiday Theme Night] (8 hours, 58 minutes watched)
53. Massacre on Isle 12 (2016, 83 minutes) ★★˝✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Corny comedy with gore over the top but with a spirited devil may care approach to lampooning nihilism of today and workplace culture. It's biggest strength is that it doesn't take itself seriously. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
54. Flight 7500 (2014, 80 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ A too little too late twist of a familiar sort does little to save the otherwise dull mess that rarely shows a coherent threat. The airplane ambience is the best part but a little overlong and mis-paced for the content. It's not bold enough to stand out but I'm a sucker for these sort of films about passages and incorporating horror into travel. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
55. Christmas Presence (2018, 85 minutes) ★★★★★★★˝✰✰ Outstanding surprise with solid ensemble cast and unexpected twists. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
56. Pitch Black [Unrated] (2000, 111 minutes) ★★★★★★★˝✰✰ Scifi horror is an undermined subgenre. Pitch Black has aged a lot but strong with subtle moral conflict and character moments especially late in the film. Vin Diesel (even his name) displays machismo that feels unearned and even distracting, he sulks around looking self important from go but the visually blind gag is a good one and this lends nicely to an action vibe that never quite materializes. The spiritual questions are a nice touch. Evils that are vague and not understood can be powerful but here it's too far from clear what the threat is, evils in the night like bats abound without a nucleus - possibly the worse creature effects. Format: Digital [Vudu HD]
57. Nightmare Before Christmas (1993, 76 minutes) ★★★★★★★★✰✰ Great looking in 4K highlighting the creativity and details modeled. Every time I see Nightmare Before Christmas I notice little details; this year we joked about how glad we were Jack Skeleton didn't go through the sure to be bland Thanksgiving door and I learned the dog is named Zero. A classic of tone and subtle comedy. Format: Digital [Disney+ UHD] 1st Theme
58. The Day of the Beast (1995, 103 minutes) ★★★★★★★★˝✰ The brilliant premise of a 'righteous man so committed to charity he must become evil and condemn himself to save mankind from that evil' is a bright one ripe with moral questioning that outshines the film itself - ambiguous with subtle and thoughtful dark comedy. Some elements are aimless which is sometimes thematic and maybe to a point some of it feels over my head but other examples feel just nonchalant and senseless. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Subset 1st Theme

October 11 [Pizza/Reality Show/Park/Skyscraper Theme Night] (8 hours, 42 minutes watched)
59. Dark Show (2016, 79 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ Low budget film with a reality show hook that I enjoyed more than I expected but has long moments of dark castle scenery where not enough happens. It's different and cliché at once ultimately not trending much new group but doing what is does efficiently enough. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
60. Body at Brighton Rock (2019, 87 minutes) ★★★★★˝✰✰✰✰ National park based about being lost in the wildness with a dead body is a novel theme and actress Karina Fontes helms effectively. A chilling examination of fear with some haunting psychological scenes. Films about people stranded are my least favorite type of 'horror' because they are so much more literal than fantastic but BaBR worked. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
61. The Vineyard (1989, 95 minutes) ★★˝✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Strange to a fault, but James Hong is great as a weird villain - more films should take these sort of risks but if they do I'd hope they have better pacing and be more focused on their premise. A theme of balance that applies to the horror and a more superficial wine making element.Format: Digital [Vudu SD] 1st
62. Land of the Dead [Unrated] (2005, 98 minutes) ★★★★★˝✰✰✰✰ An evolution in Romero's canon that is much more polished seeming than previous films and suffers some for it with zombies on a more wholescale societal level veering more into unrelatable scifi exaggeration when Romero's small groups of humans have always been a strength, but ultimately lands some excellent character drama notes. The societal elements at time feel more superficial of haves vs have nots but eventually bring up some interesting questions especially with some of the final comments on how to respond to the zombies and disenfranchised. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Theme
63. Slumber Party Massacre (1982, 77 minutes) ★★★★★✰✰✰✰✰ Unapologetically cryptic killer with a gnarly weapon and a simple presentation that deserves a cult favorite status but oddly seems catered to the male gaze to a point sometimes sleazy with a few interesting kills. A film of subtle tone and atmosphere. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Theme
64. Slumber Party Massacre (2021, 86 minutes) ★★★★★★★★✰✰ Subversive and smart but at times a little silly in twisting convention; it's not shy on gore and fun spirited. There is a knowing wink to a lot of it enjoyable on a meta level but also visceral enough for a gut impact. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme

October 12 [Regional Horror Theme Night] (4 hours, 25 minutes watched)
65. Mardi Gras Massacre (1978, 98 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Interesting as a continuation in some of the gory, wooden, sleazy style and themes from H.G. Lewis's Bloodfest (to whatever degree there is merit). Dated but stylish and sleazy with some effects that don't hold up but an interesting near remake. Found it to be a cheap poor to defend guilty pleasure with awkward melodrama and police procedural elements that work because they don't work. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
66. Night Killer (1990, 90 minutes) ★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Memorable fake mask, serial killer whodunit with death obsessed women and sleazy oddballs; overacting abounds with dead ends and cheese. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
67. Winterbeast (1992, 77 minutes) ★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ It's hard to judge Winterbeast by traditional standards because it's got a lot of heart with some cool but indie stop motion effects and a gnarly creature even if its not much fun. I doubt I could make a better movie. I'd love to see the movie the film makers had in their head before this came out. Less is more; some of the leering forest shots are more effective than than the creatures. The wordless soundless standoff at the end is hypnotic. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Subset 1stTheme

October 13 [Giallo Theme Night] (11 hours, 25 minutes watched)
68. Footprints on the Moon (1975, 96 minutes) ★★★★★˝✰✰✰✰ I enjoyed Footprints. What a supremely cryptic and great hook with a psychedelic title. Ultimately it's handled with so much cold formality it ends up being a mood in search of a plot. There are chilling and effective elements here like the strange child, out of nowhere astronauts, or Florinda Bolkan's sheepish chilling bewilderment but on a rhythm cycling back again and again rather than any advancement for so long. Its the sort of film that might have a lot of details easy to overlook but comes off as a gimmick with a few cool visuals. I love that they don't too much try to explain the ending because it's not a film about answers. Format: Digital [Shudder HD] Subset 1st Theme
69. Censor (2021, 84 minutes) ★★★★★★˝✰✰✰ Censor is a slick film with cool visuals paralleling film and reality. The sly history and political lampoon works well. There are times it is implausibly bleak, I double the UK censorship office is that dimmly lit and dark or that some many people in one room are side eyeing in unison, but Censor excells at projecting the sad guilt riddled emotions of the heroine onto the screen. I think it's a little on the nose with sarcasm about censorship. Overall it's strange and experimental enough that it stands out. I see it as a film about fantasy from people who dislike fantasy. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Subset 1stTheme
[Dark Felines Double Feature]
70. The Black Cat (1981, 92 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ Atmospheric in spots but with a script probably necessarily awkward to offer enough justification for death. Black Cat imagery is creepy and there is a graveyard and a crypt, etc that bleeds atmosphere. Format: Digital [Youtube SD from Mogwai Gremlin]
71. The Black Cat (1989, 89 minutes) ★★★★★˝✰✰✰✰ Knowing homages to giallo and eurohorror are fun but sometimes too on the nose (how many times can they reference Suspiria) and the 'film within a film' angle well balances comedy and horror but not well acted. The vibe is full neon rock ballad late 80s with unashamed gore. There's no comparison to Argento's Three Mother films and funny of them to try to make an unofficial conclusion. Format: Digital [Youtube SD from 42nd Street Films Grindhouse] 1st
72. Found Footage (2016, 100 minutes) ★★★★★★★✰✰✰ Meta and silly without being too silly focusing mostly on a 'making of' framework with crew drama and subtle supernatural elements narrated with the 'film within a film' segments that explain intent and tropes of the 'within film' 'film makers.' The crew is likeable in the right places and obnoxious in the right places so that empathy works and it's hangout chill feeling with love triangles and creative angst and a splash of unexplained. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
73. Extremity (2018, 103 minutes) ★★★★★˝✰✰✰✰ Surprisingly complicated haunt film more psychological character drama than 'extreme' scares - at times a stretch but overall I was surprised and drawn into what I expected to be a generic gimmic. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
74. Hellraiser (2022, 121 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Less visceral and more moody filled with more elaborate technical details about the box that had escaped me in the other films, which was interesting. This installment seems more literal when other films felt more phantasmagorical. Format: Digital [Hulu HD] 1st

October 14 [Sleaze Theme Night] (8 hours, 53 minutes watched)
75. X (2022, 105 minutes) ★★★★★★˝✰✰✰ I think X has a lot of depth and probably the sort of film that deserves to get more thought. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre homages have got to be intentional and X works best as a winking reference exploring taboos of sex and possessiveness with a framework of what has historically been taboo in horror. Some of the characters are so one dimensional its cartoonish and distracting. The more subdued camera man's girlfriend stands out because she is not aggressively obnoxious. Mia Goth gives an amazing performance but still Maxine is so vapid and works best as a compliment to Pearl rather than standalone (Maxine has the fewest lines). At times X struggles with balancing dark humor and thrills. Some character so odd it both makes the film but also undermines it by over exaggerating a thin implausible premise created by the character elements. I like that there's no traditional 'bad guy.' Some of the makeup is so off looking it comes across as comedic; but I cant tell if that's intentional. There's some brilliant thematic foreshadowing and interesting subtext. Im curious to see how Pearl and Maxxxine develop the themes/subtext. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Subset 1stTheme
76. Byleth: Demon of Incest (1972, 71 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ Odd period horror with a demonic premise that is efficient when it's not hamstrung by strange themes of incest and unfocused nudity; the visuals don't end up working together very well because a lot of it seems generic and not well anchored with a plot that is unrelatable. It's scenic to watch the final scenes in the ruins and with the horse metaphor but that's too little too late. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
77. Trouble Every Day (2001, 101 minutes) ★★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰ Doesnt hand hold or even always make sense but it is artistically shot and interestingly structured. The cinematic quality of showing whatever we see adds a lot of depth and room for interpretation. Is the bloodletting a disease or metaphor for unsatisfied love? Why is Shame so interested in Dr Seamenymeaux? Maybe it doesn’t matter. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Subset 1stTheme
78. Siren (2016, 86 minutes) ★★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰ Occult elements are the best part of this creature feature where love is the problem rather than murder twisting convention. The creature wears a distracting fake nude body suit and some of the acting is cartoonish which makes Siren feel more low key than horrifying. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Theme
79. SX_Tape (2013, 82 minutes) ★★★★★✰✰✰✰✰ Better than I expected but I'm a sucker for abandoned building and found footage with raunchy characters and low hanging possession abandoned building horrors that I enjoyed even though it risks being too generic and isn't especially inspired. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
80. PussyCake (2021, 88 minutes) ★★★★★˝✰✰✰✰ Upbeat scifi splatter horror worth watching with a comedic abundance of blood and vomit and neon soaked gruesome practical effects in a story that's just a little too odd sometimes. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st

October 15 [Wizard Video + Video Stores Theme Night] (8 hours, 32 minutes watched)
81. Video Violence 2 (1987, 75 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ Video Violence is stupid filth, but in the best way possible. Its crass and disguising but over the top enough to be fun like with more than it's fair share of implausible twists. I think political correctness is important but it's nice to see a gleefully unashamed lampoon here with commentary by gore. Video Violence 2 is an unexpectedly smart film but also crass and too much. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Subset
82. Microwave Massacre (1983, 82 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Microwave Massacre is the right kind of dumb everyman humor and Jackie Vernon has great comedic presence. It's stupid and sarcastic but also the kind of casual viewing that doesn't take itself too seriously or require much from the viewer. The comedy is over the top and rarely laugh out loud but black and breezy enough to standout although sometimes a bit corny. I'm not sure I'd call this 'bad' but just the right kind of beer and popcorn silly. Ha, remember the glory days of cooking everything in the microwave - a joke that might be the least clever part of Microwave Massacre. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Subset Theme
83. Anything for Jackson (2020, 97 minutes) ★★★★★★★✰✰✰ Efficient scares, creepy acting, and unashamed occult background make AfJ dark and scary. There is a priest character who makes what works best fall apart near the end, it's best in the middle, but brings about necessary plot resolution. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
84. The Passenger (2020, 90 minutes) ★★★★★★˝✰✰✰ Nocturnal horror odyssey with the right mix of tensions and surreal. Takes body snatcher tropes and mixes character fueled mix of quirky drama and surreal. Quirky tone, gut punch twists, and a great ending. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
85. Plank Face (2016, 91 minutes) ★★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰ Moody psychological horror film with a wordless primitive plot. Unusual, dark, and explicit. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
86. Bag Boy Lover Boy (2014, 77 minutes) ★★★★★˝✰✰✰✰ Lurid and sleazy murder film that depends on the idiocy of the main character so comes across a tad mean spirited with the prospective of a lead who is unrelatable in being too fantastically dumb. A sort of art based slacker comedy with better than average sight gags and a cool street vendor urban atmosphere. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st

October 16 [Ghost / Monsters / Exploitation Theme Night] (7 hours, 23 minutes watched)
87. Unearth (2020, 94 minutes) ★★★★★★˝✰✰✰ Burning quiet rural horror seers in with unassuming socioeconomic drama, slow musical cues, and gnarly incendiary conclusion figurative and slimy. Scenic country vibe and weirdness - what a pairing. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
88. Child's Play (1988, 87 minutes) ★★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰ I've never been an especially big fan of 'Chucky' but it's a brilliant premise of our toys and even commercialism itself being the true evil. Bringing the ghouls out of the shadows and into the city might be one of the best trends in 80s horror but at the risk of more generic characters. The long stretch of un-necessary dramatic irony in the first third is a bit slow but ultimately simmers well with the chilling fireplace reveal scene. The doll point of view scenes are clever avoiding disclosing the real evil here then seeding larger glimpses in a comedic way; for the most part Childs Play is well shot. A few murders are unintentionally funny in overacting or outlandish effects. This was from a time when cops would still be seen as heroic or at least helpful. The car scene is my favorite part of the movie. My daughter pointed out that interesting that the kid takes on a good role to contrast the evil doll role; a contrast. Everyone forgetting a pivotal plot point at the end is a bit silly with some of the most obvious fake endings ever. My daughter gave is a 4.5 out of 10 and I agree. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Subset
89. Z (2019, 83 minutes) ★★★★★★★✰✰✰ Takes a familiar tale of imaginary friends and childhood angst efficiently paced with strobe light flinches of horror; its the dark that scares here and the works wonderfully. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
90. Flesh for Frankenstein (1973, 95 minutes) ★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰✰ Flesh for Frankenstein is a weird film with a strange mix of humor, pageantry, and gore. The acting is some of the worst especially 'the wife' which must have been intentional and fits with how homoerotic is seems (that the wife is just a set piece to gave upon her male companions). The organ special effects were great and some of the obvious 3D staging added a lot (especially the heart at the end). A lot about FFF felt like it might have gone over my head. I liked the implied circle at the end with the children and their parents. FFF is a film that seems more interesting than good. Format: Digital HD [Thanks to Meghan] Subset Theme
91. After Midnight (2019, 83 minutes) ★★★★★★★★✰✰ Nails the longing sting of love and unsatiated desire in monster movie form. What a cool, emotional, tense, and bloody film. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
92. The Haunting at Silver Falls (2013, 96 minutes) ★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰✰ A haunted ring has some promising ideas under questionable acting & ’meh' production values. I was tuning out when its cheap but unrelenting haunt stuck with me. I can still see it in the corner of my eye. Wooden but eerie. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme

October 17 [1922 (Platinum) Vs. 1947 (Diamond) Vs. 1972 (Gold) Vs. 1997 (Silver) Theme Night] (10 hours, 5 minutes watched)
93. Mimic [Director's Cut] (1997, 111 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ The narrative structure made Mimic a bit hard for me to get into because so much happens in prologue - virus, roaches, genetic engineering, kids finding bugs, etc but once it gets to the railcar scene is shines more. The gritty underworld feel is great and the creatures show a lot of promise when they're no marred by the limitations of CGI. This might be my least favorite Del Toro film because it's not as well paced or fantasy minded but still better than a lot. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Subset Theme
94. Salome (1922, 74 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ This felt more like theatrical tragedy than horror to me - but the lurid request at the end is shocking. The costume and set design were grand and admirable. It was fun to watch a silent film with the animated overacting and body language. I looked up the production and it seems like producer/star Alla Nazimova was famously bisexual and may have advocated that more of the actors here be gay - which suggests 1920s culture must have been a lot more open to homosexuality. Interesting from a historical perspective but not especially fun. Format: Digital [Digital HD - Thanks to Meghan] Subset 1stTheme
95. Scared to Death (1947, 65 minutes) ★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Ensemble character mystery that is meandering with visuals not far out enough to engage and a frustratingly odd premise related to stage magicians told in long winded dialogue that makes waste of Bela Lugiosi who often seems to be upstaged by a midget and silly in a brimmed hat and cape. It takes a long time for everything to come to an abrupt tidy end. Format: Digital [Youtube SD - Cult Classics Cinema] Subset 1stTheme
96. Tomb of the Blind Dead (1972, 101 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Creepy abandoned ruins are a supreme setting for a horror movie and go a long way to make TotBD work along with the gnarly blind dead visuals. Blind zombie templars is a great hook handled in a somber moody way with a keen eye for visuals and tone. The choral music accompanying the rise of the knights as they approach the flickers of a campfire is high pulp and haunting. There are times when the effects work falters (like with limp plastic hands) but the swarming knights and invisible expressionless faces usually work well. It's confusing that the knights aren't more iconic, these Blind Dead films feel like the best kept secret in eurohorror. Format: Digital [Youtube - 'Movie Matinee'] Subset Theme
97. Santo and Blue Demon Versus the Monsters (1970, 85 minutes) ★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰✰ Cartoonish and silly with a creative fun energy moving from wrestling ring to dance hall to all out rumble. Not that anyone watched for the effects they were probably better off being more than painted faces and general costumes. Santo and Blue Demon both have a serious theatrical presence often lending to the comedy, it felt like a cross between Scooby Doo and Paul Naschy. Format: Digital [Youtube SD] 1st
98. The Black Sleep (1953, 82 minutes) ★˝✰ Slow in spots with an plot that is more focused on overly elaborate pseudoscience explanation than visuals until the end and reminds of other films (Island of Lost Souls with more filler?). Basil Rathbone has a theatrical presence that anchors the film. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
99. Uktena the Horned Monstrosity (2021, 87 minutes) ★★✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Startlingly bad and choppy to a point it feels like a cheap docudrama but not in a charming funny or so bad it's good way. Obvious stock footage cut in between three guys standing in a field then cut to a CGI monster. It seems like a waste of a real life Native American 'horned serpent' monster myth. When I watched it I might have been in the right mood for it and found it a refreshing braindead film not requiring any investment and it's unashamed cheapness unique blend of headscratching and admirably cheap. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st

October 18 [Supernatural Theme Night] (7 hours, 42 minutes watched)
100. The Scary of Sixty-First (2021, 81 minutes) ★★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰ Shameless capitalizes on the conspiracies and gossip surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and often on the nose about what happened but despite that, and maybe in part because of it, I ended up liking it. Rather than there being an elaborate backstory about fictitious characters it calls on pop culture news. It's got a gritty film stock feel and unexpectedly lurid in parts with a good mix of cheesy and in your face. There is a boyfriend character who is much worse an actor than others and that's distracting. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Theme
101. Night Train to Terror [Hysteria Continues commentary](1985, 93 minutes) ★★˝✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ I watched the commentary with The Hysteria Continues because I remember finding Night Train to Terror boring. Revisiting NTtT is a bit disjointed but if there’s anything great about it we will find it in the cheesy random oddity of it. The commentary has a lot of banter but more than a few references to finding info on IMDB; commentary helps point out some of background as different unfinished films then reshot and edited into whatever we see here. I think NTtT is a brilliant illustration of shamelessness and perhaps the cheats behind ‘movie magic’ but the dance scenes are infectious and fun. Not much of a hook to start with the weakest story; the third story is the best with it’s psychological demonic vibe and cheesy creepy demons but second story is the saved a bit by the exploding sting of the stop motion bug. Par for the course but I’d like to say the framing scene and dances don’t make sense because it clashes with the story segments – but the story segments clash with themselves. Format: Digital [Thanks to Meghan] Subset Theme
102. The Whip & The Body (1963, 93 minutes) ★★★★★★★˝✰✰ The Whip & The Body is supremely atmospheric with eerie music and sound cues. The long shots down hallways rich in shadow and quiet anticipation elevated by gushing wind with haunting melodies are outstanding. The opening love triangle necessary to justify the plot is a stretch and perhaps the melodrama is W&B's weakest aspect. Despite the dubbing Christopher Lee has a commanding presence & Daliah Lavi is excellent but she seem sometimes seems fickle and caught up in limitations to women roles in the 60s. I love the way it closes. Format: Digital [Thanks to Meghan] Subset Theme
103. Hell High (1989, 84 minutes) ★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰✰ Hell High takes some time to get going but the ‘toxic masculinity’ exiled football player setup has more depth than some slashers. Interesting for the kids to dress up as monsters – bringing old school horror tropes into the slasher era. There’s no pretense and we have full access to the unmasked killer and her childhood traumas (naked in more ways than one). I wish there was more slashing earlier in the film and despite the setup the horror seems like an incredible leap. The conclusion seems open conclusion ripe with lots of opportunity for reinterpreting the film; which overall feels like there's more depth to it than originally lets on even if that doesn't cater as much to slasher/horror scares and gore. The wide shots often at high or low angles gave Hell High a crisp well produced look (maybe Arrow’s transfer is a credit). Format: Digital [Thanks to Meghan] 1st Subset
104. Malignant (2021, 111 minutes) ★★★★★★˝✰✰✰ Familiar seeming plot with some gruesome pulpy twists and gnarly visuals that made Malignant stand out, the less you know... Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme

October 19 [Telephone Theme Night] (8 hours, 58 minutes watched)
105. The 'Burbs (1989, 102 minutes) ★★★★★★★˝✰✰ There is a subtle increasingly simmering shift from relatable picket fences suburbia with more and more zany comedy towards a conclusion where the neighborhood is dark and unrecognizable. Joe Dante is a master of tone here. The aimless plot with hysteria building on hysteria filled with false bravado and mistaken insinuation is great. Jerry Goldstein’s score is a home run making so much of this work. Great cast. Rick Ducommun (Art) does well and seems prolific but surprisingly less known out of the crew. I remember renting The Burbs on VHS as a kid (I was 8 when it came out) and really enjoying it; I was glad to revisit it enjoyed it today. Format: Digital [Thanks to Meghan] Subset
106. Close Calls (2017, 129 minutes) ★★★★★★˝✰✰✰ Tracking shots are effective and add a sense of pace and energy, it's creatively filmed. The soundtrack is stellar and adapts with the storyline to become more classical as the film goes on until the end. A constant water dripping rhythm of tension from within and outside the house. The camera is not shy and makes the wardrobe a lot more lurid but that seems to relate to some of the themes here; the horror of the obscene caller. The leering shots of the dead mother set up the framing premise of the film. The mysterious grandmother in the attic is a nice bit of subtle relatable horror uncertainty - the setting is far out with tarantulas and candles and cobwebs but the conversation is so queasy and medical riff with loneliness and need (the fear of caretaking). It seems to align with maternal themes that I can see but might be over my head. After some time the film gets much more literal with home invasion elements and murder rather than the abstract leering haunting stairs. Some of the acting is questionable in spots (especially the dad) but altogether Jordan Phipps does well and carried the film. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Subset Theme
107. You Should Have Left (2020, 93 minutes) ★★˝✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried are nearly the only inhabitants of the film in a generic house and plain field with not too much happening. Kevin has a sensational backstory but that never invades much on the pale happenings here where plot twists occur by journal entries and text messages. People talk in a kitchen, cut to a foggy tree in the field and cue a brief musical cue the go back to a kitchen sink. Meh. When does the film start? Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
108. Rent-A-Pal (2020, 108 minutes) ★★★★★★˝✰✰✰ Obnoxiously retro but Will Wheaton is good and it oozes creepy. Some of the themes that might have seemed relatable like neediness or longing are handled to such an extreme it feels off putting and cartoonish; this film is a freak show we mock but don't empathize with. The actors do well and it's got a simmering burn but part of that is knowing it could only end the way it does. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
109. The Invisible Mother (2018, 106 minutes) ★★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰ Quirky film that has a light comedy feel but doesn't push the weird enough so it comes across as a subdued indie comedy with eccentric horror elements. It's never scary but more campy and whimsical. I never heard the term 'invisible mother' (from photography before) but googling it suggests the film made it up (?). Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme

October 20 [Vampire & Werewolf Theme Night] (8 hours, 32 minutes watched)
110. Jakob's Wife (2021, 98 minutes) ★★★★★★★˝✰✰ Barbara Crampton and Larry Fassenden are usually hallmarks of a good horror film and here is no difference. Vampire tropes are suspenseful and have a crafty modern application to relationship/gender/religious themes mixing the familiar old world and new modern comedy. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Subset Theme
111. Mark of the Vampire (1935, 61 minutes) ★★★★★★˝✰✰✰ Personally some of these vampire movies tend to feel formulaic to me but MotV did well at subverting those by making a sly film. Bela Lugosi is in top form as a cryptic vampire and his female companion - this version is nicely dreamlike and surreal and the hypnosis subplot worked well in hand with the conclusion. It might be interesting to revisit MotV knowing some of the details. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Subset Theme
112. Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970, 91 minutes) ★★★★★✰✰✰✰✰ Gaudy period vampire version starting with a outlandish brothel scene and follows a bunch of creeps getting comeuppance where there are no relatable characters. Neat to see Dracula play more of a backstory role here and the resurrection subplot is cool. It is interesting how they have contorted a plot to somewhat parallel the Lucy character from Bram Stoker's original story. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Subset Theme
113. Aaron's Blood (2016, 81 minutes) ★★★★★★˝✰✰✰ Modern vampire film with medical backstory and lots of twists. I liked the parent child subplot and supporting vampire hunter characters. Weighty and full of moral iffy-iness. Some of the effects are cheap but it's got heart. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Subset Theme
114. A Werewolf in England (2021, 86 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ Admirable effort at period horror but the werewolf costumes look super cheap and some of the 'humor' is distractingly crass. There is a fun zany vibe where the film is light hearted enough to cover some of it's short comings and it's got a kinetic energy, it could be fun if you don't take it too seriously. Some of the set design is impressive. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
115. Psycho Goreman (2020, 95 minutes) ★★★★★★˝✰✰✰ Campy and gorey like an adult Power Rangers with enough cosmic touches and over the top elements for it to be animated fun. Psycho Goreman is a memorable character, cheesy and over the top. Whatever effort of a plot is easily overlooked because the Goreman creature is interesting enough. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme

October 21 [Joe Bob Briggs Night] (11 hours, 13 minutes watched)
116. Fried Barry (2020, 99 minutes) ★★★★★˝✰✰✰✰ Aimless and well shot. I think the slacker vibe here is cool but it's a bit strange for things like women just throwing themself at Barry that make him less convincing as a 'loser.' It's a weird enough film I enjoyed the distraction of it and I appreciated it's less scripted approach even if it 'tried too hard' to be weird in spots. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
117. Communion (1989, 109 minutes) ★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Full of domestic humor including lines like “you want to fool around… old ball & chain” the most unlikeable yuppie family subjects you to corny household humor that makes Christopher Walken seem hammy. If there is any truth to Whitney Strieber’s supposedly true account this film undermines it. Some of the later visuals are weird but also cheap to a point the impact is blunted. Walken makes a convincing transformation throughout the film. As a weird kid I use to listen/watch alien documentaries where I first heard about this account and I found the movie to be a disappointment as much focused on the writer as anything that might be 'realistic.' Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
118. After Chernobyl [aka Ghosts of Chernobyl] (2021, 81 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ Cool Chernobyl setting is convincing which is the most interesting part of the film - did they somehow film on site or find urban ruins to use as a stand-in? There are a few effective scares but most of the ghoulish effects are generic overly familiar Halloween store style, occasionally distracting CGI. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
119. Of Unknown Origin (1983, 89 minutes) ★★★★★★˝✰✰✰ Apparently one of Stephen King's favorite horror films, dated fashion amuses and Peter Weller shines. A surprising gem of psychological slow burn with an alarming amount of facts about rats to bring the queasy even during slow spots. Veers too much towards the quiet uncertainty in horror and stalls in spots with creature effects that questionable at times. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
120. Theater of Blood (1973, 104 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Prime Vincent Price with intentionally hammy Shakesphere overacting and devious creative murders. It's as silly as it is bloody. I remember the first time I saw this on MonsterVision; the dog scene is still my favorite kill. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Theme
121. Beverly Hills Vamp (1989, 88 minutes) ★★˝✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ The worst Fred Olen Ray film I've seen yet; usually his films are dumb but fun and here it was just sort of a cartoonish half idea that went nowhere. Eddie Deezen is famous for his scratch 'know it all' voice is shrill as a lead here. The version I saw seemed oddly censored but was for the right run time so maybe this is Fred Olen Ray's at his most tame (before her went on to direct Lifetime films?). Format: Digital [Vudu SD] 1st
122. Black Phone (2021, 103 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Creatively structured with a nonsense plot to justify the cool use of a random seeming phone that pulls in gorey visuals and surreal plot devices. I liked more for doing something experimental than as a film. Ethan Hawke is effective here and the period sets are fun. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD] 1st

October 22 [Slashers / Killers Theme Night] (6 hours, 4 minutes watched)
123. Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022, 94 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ Setup with no payoff in a film most standout for it's visuals and 'Generation Z' vibes. I loved the hurricane party set-up with it's upbeat hangout feel but felt like the social commentary was mostly low hanging fruit of obvious stereotypes. Apparently each character uses a different light source to represent their personality - one their phone, another the light of others, etc - it's creative but superficial. I wanted to like Bx3 more than I did; but occasionally felt it's vibes. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD] 1st Theme
124. Paul Dood's Deadly Lunch Break (2021, 95 minutes) ★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰✰ Setup here is overly long and obvious with some of the most overexaggerated obnoxious supporting characters/situations belabored in their inefficiencies but Tom Meeten as the title character balanced the humor and drama better than the script deserved. The 'talent contest' framework feels cheap and uninspired but there was a subtle British humor that kept me interested even if the ending is a bit disappointing. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
125. Billy Club (2013, 94 minutes) ★★★★★˝✰✰✰✰ Inspired indie horror whodunit with inspired commitment to baseball tropes about a group of now adults reunited at a campground where they are being spiked bat murdered. The camera rushes through the trees and elaborate flashbacks pepper at the right rhythm it overcomes some of the acting and budget limitations. The script takes more chances with the characters - willing to dismantle tropes or lure us into unexpected character twists. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
126. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022, 81 minutes) ★★★★★★˝✰✰✰ Giving this extra points for how it provides a burning epilogue from the first film and cool chainsaw fu even if those elements are stretched and pandering. The deserted town (way too deserted, stage like even) being salvaged by yuppies script is ripe with pointless setup and unrelatable characters who might die but rarely in a way of comeuppance and glee (we are to empathize with them); maybe this is a decent turn of moral ambiguity turning the victims into cattle to fit the theme. Format: Digital [Netflix UHD] 1st Theme

October 23 [Star Trek Cast Theme Night] (9 hours, 35 minutes watched)
127. Lord of Illusion (1995, 109 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Lord of Illusions is under rated pulp. I love the weird climatic standoff at the opening, what a hook. Clive Barker can write occult horror like no other. LoI has the feel and scope of an epic but it's best parts are the beginning and end. I first saw LoI as a VHS tape I bought from Blockbuster - it now looks quite good in HD. I remember finding it a little hard to follow. Nix overshadows Butterfield then the film focuses on an under developed Butterfield - both disappearing for long part of the middle. I now feel some of the mysticism gets tiresome/cheesy and some overacting is unintentionally funny. It seems like a missed opportunity for subtext in a film about illusion in performance and hidden reality; ideas ripe with meta commentary on constructed reality and perception in everyday life but it's more sensation minded than deep. The noir vibe is rich. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Subset Theme
128. Alligator 2: The Mutation (1991, 94 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ Like the amusement park surrounding the film A2 is an empty calorie film with a few cheap looking fun alligator effects and a very corny plot to justify it. It's a Saturday Morning Cartoon horror movie but fun enough in the right mindset, I enjoyed it more than I expected to. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
129. Love in the Time of Monsters (2014, 97 minutes) ★★✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Theme park rubber suit bigfoot actors become toxic zombies in a cheap but gonzo comedy featuring Kane Hodder doing things he's never done in horror before in the worse way possible. LiTToM has heart and a creative energy it can't quite seem to afford to pull off but to a point I feel bad I could not enjoy it more; maybe if I was feeling less up tight. There was too few shades of brilliant comedy peaking out most at the end. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
130. Prom Night IV: Deliver Us From Evil (1991, 92 minutes) ★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Evil priest horror slasher that is watchable but unmemorable, James Carver is gonzo enough as the priest with a maniac glee that is the best part of the movie. Format: Digital [Vudu SD - 'Free With Ads'] Theme
131. The Bay (2012, 84 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Fish gore fake documentary with the sort of aquatic horror that gets under my skin. It's an ambitious film loaded with implied commentary about ecology, politics, etc but also works on a horrifying medical basis. It's awash in beach celebration and masterful dramatic irony of bits like kids swimming in death. Since the adversary is abstract the film is less concerned with conflict and just stews in aftermath and sidelines - a film more about failed community and unheard science than the evils on screen. Format: Digital [Vudu HD]
132. Nekrotronic (2018, 99 minutes) ★★★★★★˝✰✰✰ Kinetic mix of Ghostbusters and Matrix vibes but output unlike anything else. It's weird an fun and well constructed with breakneck pacing and odd twists. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st

October 24 [Global Theme Night] (8 hours, 37 minutes watched)
133. Hiruko the Goblin (1991, 89 minutes) ★★★★★★★★✰✰The amber glow of the early film, mimicking a sunset magic hour vibe is great – Hiruko has convincing atmosphere. Night is one thing but that magic hour shine is engrossing here as do other scenes with windy ambience and immersive design. I don't know if Cinematography is the right term (because it overly simple) but something about the package and tone here excels. The professor’s silly make believe seeming gadgets work best because they clash with the blood splattering gore pulling his overacting from obnoxiously corny to perfect for the absurd dread. Great mix of eerie and funny. Not just eerie but a bizarre envelope pushing uniqueness in horror, even if more common in mythology in cinema. Blending the ethereal with the familiar is magical realism at it's best and gives the impression of depth and metaphor (are they fighting fiends or society, and where does one end and the other begin). The girl’s siren song is standout visual. There is at least one odd plot device of unexplained mysticism perfect for the strangeness of the film. Format: Digital [Thanks to Meghan] Subset 1st Theme
134. Dawn Breaks Behind The Eyes (2021, 76 minutes) ★★★★★★★˝✰✰ Leering shadows in the corner of the eye, an image out of time in the mirror or behind a chest. From an empty manor to a rekindled memory of passion – two clean cut formal people enter the desecrated past. “You’re a flower in the bush and that’s all you’ll ever be”; then there's an intense mid-way pivot towards modern comedy both halves strange and knowingly pretentious until another twist and another and it becomes as much a meditation on reality (with trendy and mod trappings) as a film. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
135. Bunshinsaba [aka Ouija Board, Witch Board] (2004, 93 minutes) ★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Awfully cliche film about a cliche ghost with cliche Japanese school girls doing cliche bullying and a cliche curse with a cliche hidden background and a chiche clueless police investigation; it's ok and there are some gruesome deaths more lurid by suggestion of them than visual (burning though). Comes across as a too safe not willing enough to take chances (except one more gorey scene) and most obsessed with it's own mystery. Oh look a long haired emo girl ghost and eerie whispering. Maybe go watch The Eye or Ringu again instead if you want films with elaborate justification. There was a bittersweet subplot that ties together the 'horror.' Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this today. Format: Digital [Youtube - hosted by Camille Kalalo] 1st Theme
136. A Record of Sweet Murder (2014, 86 minutes) ★★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰ Meandering at time with a lurid premise underminded by a frazzled confused murderer (the killer seems more like a kitten) without as much element of terror except for a very random seeming assualt. The film broadcasts that it's shot in a single take but since this is a largely small scale film with limited cast that's less impressive. If not for a colorful twist at the end I would have been less impressed but that comes at the cost of tension and character. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD] 1st Theme
137. The Haunting (1963, 102 minutes) ★★★★★★★˝✰✰ What a manor; the setting alone is rich with an otherworldly vibe. The subtle insistence on fear works well. The heartbeat thumbing within of the house eerie. All the actors do well but I agree Eleanor's voiceover narration, sweet and frail, makes the film thematically and as an experience. There is a gradual neat elevation beyond bumps in the night marrying horror and psychology in subtle and open to interpretation ways - near seduction from lust to entrapment. I wonder how they did the wobbly staircase scene; too bad this was a time before 'making of' featurettes. Format: Digital [Movies Anywhere HD]
138. Frankenstein (1931, 71 minutes) ★★★★★★★✰✰✰ Honestly I have never been able to appreciate the early Universal Studios monster films as the classics they are. They have a clear place in history but I'm still not sure 100 years later we can experience them for what they once were. Revisiting Frankenstein this time I enjoyed it (again) but less as a narrative experience (the plot is a bit simple) but as a flash of stages of life and death across the screen clashing - the youthful girl, a wedding, drunken revelry, formal dining, grief, law, etc clashing against death itself and the undying trying to relive (Frankenstein). It's a beautiful theme better for not having as much structure. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD]

October 25 [Product Placement Theme Night] (9 hours, 39 minutes watched)
139. Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990, 81 minutes) ★★★★★✰✰✰✰✰ Serviceable slasher style horror with TCM trademark degenerates and twists to spare. Enshrined in homage to the original it's am amusement park of oddities around a simple redundant premise. Some of the stretching they do to justify a third film feels groan worthy and the second one way far better at standing out as something unique; here the retread is strong. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
140. Odd Thomas (2013, 100 minutes) ★★★★★★˝✰✰✰ Fast paced mystery with whispers of apocalyptic carnage on an epic scale that propel the plot without as much need to go gory or super dark so it remains energetic, bright, and cartoonish - one of the best PG-13 horror movies I've seen lately. The film feels like it's better than the plot deserves (psychic guy senses problems) and Anton Yelchin is charming as Odd Thomas and Willem Dafoe seems out of character. This might end up being one of my favorite films by Stephen Sommers. My wife recommended this movie years ago, glad I finally got around to it. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
141. Friday the 13th: Rose Blood [Fan Film](2021, 92 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ A fan film continuation of F13 Part VII (with psychic Tina Shepard) that suffers from a lot of fan film limitations with over acting, small scale, and production (vanilla sets/costumes) but stretches for a delicious quirky branch of F13's strangest film. The first half has so much standing around talking with bravado and too obvious irony. "It's phase 2, there's nothing you can do... we have a go with Project Manifest..." Format: Digital [Youtube - hosted by Peter Anthony Productions Inc] 1st
142. Doom: Annihilation (2019, 96 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Aside from Mario Bros, Doom (1993, when I was 12) was a pivotal game in my video gaming interests so I have a soft spot for this sequel because it captures the feel and style of the games about as well as I'd expect. There are some painstaking efforts to recreate elements of the game from the keycards to the maps to the landing site, even an 'Ultra Nightmare' (difficult) reference, etc - some questionable like the scientific teleporter being transcribed with evil looking ruins (because science). There is a segment in the middle that isn't scary or as gory as it could be but emulates the corridor shooting style from the game. A little slow in spots but nails the ending. Format: Digital [Movies Anywhere HD] 1st Theme
143. Day Shift (2022, 113 minutes) ★★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰ Best parts of combine urban sprawl and family angst with vampires (this is perfectly captured with Jamie Foxx's Hawaiian shirt) and there is an upbeat energy that's infectious which is fortunate because that goes a long way in covering for a generic plot with meh style vampires (about as vanilla as it gets) - and the computer imagery doesn't help. There is a 'vampire hunters union' subplot that doesn't seem to add much but a small dash of mostly off mark workplace/bureaucratic comedy. It's a serviceable time waster but not strong enough on humor or horror. Format: Digital [Netflix UHD] 1st Theme
144. Return of the Living Dead III (1993, 97 minutes) ★★★★★★★˝✰✰ RotLD3 is one film that spurred my early interest in horror movies and I think RotLD3 is a classic buoyed by gruesome creative effects, a devil may care rebellious subplot, and Mandy Clark who is empathetic even when she is mutilating. Re-watching it this time I could see a lot of parallels to Re-animator (1985, Re-ani being a stronger film produced by same Yunza who directs RotLD3). Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st

October 26 [Body Horror Theme Night] (9 hours, 35 minutes watched)
145. Crimes of the Future (2022, 107 minutes) ★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰✰ Unapologetically strange from go; which is the point of cinema but here it was hard to grasp a narrative thread a first. The various weird scenic backgrounds contributed to an unusual vibe. Extremes of personal essence / creativity versus control seem so universal and foundational of art that CotF sometimes feels impersonal and general outside of it's style. 'It sounds sexier so it's easier to get funding' seems like a hallmark of the film; the grotesque is made to seem sexy but it often rings hollow like subjective fashion. This is probably a movie I need to sit more with to digest and consider but at first view I wasn't a big fan. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD] Subset 1st Theme
146. The Incredible Melting Man (1977, 86 minutes) ★★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰ A gruesome tale of Steve, as much an image in search of a plot. Effects that won't stop with a crazy melting man image and an interesting premise of a mutated no longer man as much a confused victim himself. I can still hear the sticking feet splash away from the ground as Steve walks. Some of the production is obviously dated and even cheap seeming but they didn't skim on the melt, where it counts. Note to self - don't watch the Sun through the Rings of Saturn. Now to rewind to the best melting segments. Format: Digital [Amazon Prime HD] 1st Theme
147. '42nd St Grindhouse Trailers' (2022?, 106 minutes) ★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Diverse assortment of trailers - there were a lot I recognized from Scream Factory, Code Red, and Scorpion releases but a few I took memos to look up more (Die Sister Die, Embryo, The Boogeyman, etc). I've never been a big fan of trailer compilations but it was interesting to see the marketing and overexaggerated voiceovers with a parade of often dated fashions. I think Werewolf Vs Vampire Woman was my favorite. I would have liked to see more horror movies because near the end there were several Lee Marvin and Roger Moore helmed films that did not seem very grindhouse. Format: Digital [Youtube - hosted by VTC Media, compiled by (?) 1st
148. The Night Brings Charlie (1990, 75 minutes) ★★★★★✰✰✰✰✰ Hill-billie giallo with red plaid sleeves and yard saws rather than black gloves and a stiletto. It's a low budget seeming shot on tape feature but it had efficient musical background and camera pans, shot with some artistry. (Not unlike some giallos) There is a police focus that gives it a sort of formal docudrama feel (it's not just careless kids; kind of like a budget Town That Dreaded Sundown). Some times it was frustrating because the killer is just out of view but there is a mid-film reveal that dispenses with some of the mystery which had started to stall by that point. Overall better than I expected and splashes of blood were effective murder effects. Format: Digital [Youtube SD - hosted by TheBurialGround5] 1st
149. House of Wax (2005, 113 minutes) ★★★★★˝✰ Jumps the shark a lot in turning a relatively good slasher movie into wax house trappings and weird subplot with torture porn trappings. It ends up benefiting for the visuals but rarely makes sense. The original film fit a lot better because it's motives were more clear in the creative and commercial frustrations of a wax sculptor but here it's all so random seeming, but I could watch gruesome wax melt all day and some of the tension scenes work decently.Format: Digital [Movies Anywhere HD] 1st
150. Burned at the Stake [aka The Coming] (1982, 88 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Really enjoyed this in part because it has a nostalgic zeitgeist with approachable docudrama feel about a girl in the 80s who is haunted by visuals and details of the witch trials creating a sort of empathetic historical lesson (if not factually accurate it does well at creating empathy for the accused and the accusers). There are a few subplots that are really weird but give a more cartoonish energy like a man out of time or a modern witch, they're far out but work well with the looking back and forward at people like those in the trials. Format: Digital [Youtube SD - hosted by Mr Hyde's Pop Culture Express] 1st

October 27 [Cosmic Theme Night] (10 hours, 35 minutes watched)
151. Deep Rising (1998, 106 minutes) ★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰✰ The CGI monster might be the most convincing thing about this film. Its fun and upbeat but not fun or upbeat enough that it just feels generic rather than taking many necessary chances. I do wish the effects had been better and the creature more of a presence. Director Stephen Sommers usually takes lazy concepts with low hanging fruit ideas and turns them into semi-serious popcorn films - it's a shame Deep Rising isnt the ballsy Lovecraft action epic we need. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Subset 1st Theme
152. Glorious (2022, 79 minutes) ★★★★★★★˝✰✰ Amazing low scale film with a surreal and unexpected storyline. JK Simmons rarely fails and is excellent here. It's cosmic and far out, but maybe sometimes to a point of making it's own rules that stretch willingness to accept - at it's best it lives in an abstract divide between psychological/plausible and so extreme it's unlikely anything else. Format: Digital [Shudder HD] 1st Theme
153. Witch House (2021, 82 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ Plot parades along in the absence of plausible (starting with a girl preferring to move into the attic seemingly just because) but creates a cool visuals and a abstract strange plotline once we accept it's setup. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD] 1st Theme
154. Project Gemini (2022, 98 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ I was expecting to suffer an iffy CGI lukewarm mess but it's a sleek climate apocalypse scifi thriller with a meandering and overly familiar plot and a too little adversary so it ends up with a long of standing around epic spaceship corridors. There is a familiar yet cool twist at the end. The poor English dub is hard to watch. Some scenes had obvious Christian imagery but it never felt preaching and did not seem to have too much obvious religious subtext. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
155. The Spine of Night (2021, 92 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ I am a sucker for the animated format here and it's a creative cosmic journey. The content is envelope pushing but sometimes obnoxiously so (so much animated breasts and splatter). That's a surreal and far out story the likes of which we need more of but at times struggles to maintain ethos in the parade of colorful animated characters. It has a good scope across time and feels like an odyssey. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD] 1st
156. Flight 666 (2018, 89 minutes) ★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰✰ Peaking out of an overly grey often slow film are moments of effective horror and a great idea that has lukewarm execution - there are too limited teases or horror and long swaths of filler then suddenly an intense effective scene of terror. It might be worth watching but could have been so much better. Format: Digital [Youtube HD - hosted by Movie Central] 1st
157. The Godmonster of Indian Flats (1973, 89 minutes) ★✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Horror film with a really quirky creature; the main plot is more of a racial seeming standoff and the more promising Godmonster is a strange comedic relief style subplot when it's the only good part of the film. If you've seen a trailer/excerpt then you've probably seen all there is to see. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st

October 28 [Anthology Theme Night] (13 hours, 41 minutes watched)
158. V/H/S/99 (2022, 109 minutes) ★★★★★˝✰✰✰✰ Feels less provocative but sloppier than earlier installments (the sloppiness being part of the campy random retro humor) - production values seem less convincing but in a knowing retro way. '99 is the first time I've noticed an attempt to be specifically tied to that timeframe (maybe other V/H/S films or at least '94 were more subtle) - here there are Blockbuster, Radioshack, and Macintosh desktop references. My favorite segment was the 'girl next door' one (gutsy twist) and least favorite was the kids game show one (too must setup). Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1stTheme
159. Galaxy of Horrors (2017, 107 minutes) ★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Random collection of short films cobbled together with a framing story - often they are simple tales without as much of the gutsy far out oddity that the best of anthologies stretch for (one segment was more so but seemed too on the nose with social commentary it was more eye rolling than gut punching). My favorite segment was Kingz and my least favorite was the framing story. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
160. Tales From the Darkside: The Movie (1990, 93 minutes) ★★★★★˝✰✰✰✰ I found it to be refreshing and a bit more intense/gorey than other tv anthology movies I have seen, each story having a good hook/visual but with long stretches of drama/filler. The third segment (with cool visuals and domestic parallels, even if it's conclusion didn't make sense) was my favorite but I appreciated the more gorey approach to Poe tropes and also though the first was fun. The wraparound segment was a clever twist on the ripe domestic home life image pointing out how most of the tales had a good way of seeming relatable but twisted.Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1stTheme
161. Smile (2022, 115 minutes) ★★★★★˝✰✰✰✰ A brilliantly abstract concept (smiles as a precursor to terror - contrasting the happy and the horrifying). It had some effective imagery and more than a few top tier jump scares. However pacing was marred by too many iffy subplots and it devolved from a great idea into something far too specific and familiar; creeping more and more towards a generic state at the end. Format: Theatrical 1st
162. Tales of Frankenstein (2018, 118 minutes) ★★★★★✰✰✰✰✰ The indie production values and gothic tone clashed with the familiar in a way that was hard to tell if they meant it to be serious or knowingly comedic, it ends up coming across hammy in many scenes but if you can tolerate that it's a fun imperfect anthology film. My favorite segment was the last one. Seemed to have an eye towards fun with tales that were often more predictable and ironic that twisty or abstract. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1stTheme
163. Barbarian (2022, 102 minutes) ★★★★★★★★✰✰ An unexpected film with a cool premise and far out twists. There are a few bits of chancy computer imagery but it's wonderfully far out. The pacing is interested chopping the film into segments that complement one another. Justin Long gives a good performance. Format: Digital [HBO Max HD] 1st
164. Spirit Halloween: The Movie (2022, 82 minutes) ★★˝✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ Starting watching this with my 10 year old son but even he seemed to lose interest. It's probably about as good a horror movie as once about a real life retail establishment could be but marred by the obvious need of product placement and to sell the store, ends up feeling like they hired Christopher Lloyd to voiceover their creepies animatronics. The production values are good and the young actors do their best with the material but it needs more investment in horror beyond displaying expensive home goods. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
165. Wicked Wicked (1975, 95 minutes) ★★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰ The dual screens is a great concept we need more of where one side shows what is happening from one view and the other side another, even sometimes showing fantasy and psychological background rather than reality. I enjoyed the Phantom of the Opera tropes but it's a film that shows it's age and the version I saw had some cropping. Format: DVD 1st

October 29 [Psychotic Women Theme Night] (9 hours, 20 minutes watched)
[Mermaid Double Feature 166-167]
166. Mermaid Down (2019, 91 minutes) ★★★★★˝✰✰✰✰ A fantasy thriller with lots of overbaked elements involving a mermaid whose tail is shredded and she is placed in a haunted psychiatric residence. It's hammy and often poorly acted but somehow better than it's parts pushing the odd just enough to be unique and engaging even if I don't funny understand how. The lead actress has a bewildered look that works well and it takes the right chances. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1stTheme
167. Blue My Mind (2017, 97 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Gritty coming of age body horror that slow burns into one of the more memorable endings. It's predictable but like watching a car crash coming towards you in large part because of how filled with teen angst and melodrama the lead is. There are a few upbeat party segments that clash with the slow burn eerie magical realism ripe with empathy. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1stTheme
168. Superhosts (2021, 84 minutes) ★★★★★˝✰✰✰✰ Social media comedy mixed with a the penetrating presence of Gracie Gillam that creeps into a more and more intense setup. Maybe intentional but the female youtube host is a bit too unlikeable and icy but that adds a rich element of conflict between the couple beyond any horror and adds an eye towards relatable drama. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1stTheme
169. Torn Hearts (2022, 97 minutes) ★★★★★★★˝✰✰ Comedic tale of country music with enough blood splatter and ego - it's just strange enough then curves a few times with solid acting. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1stTheme
170. Sharks of the Corn (2021, 105 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ I like (director) Tim Ritter but I did not like Sharks of the Corn; there are some funny weird concepts and spirited indie production but often feels like a miss more than a hit but maybe I was being too uptight. I got it, then I didn't. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
171. The Strangers [Theatrical Cut] (2008, 86 minutes) ★★★★★★˝✰✰✰ My wife and I watch The Strangers many Halloween seasons, it has been a favorite of ours over the years. It's a bleak film grounded in tragedy of a failed romance and the unexpected. The human killers are mysterious and the setting claustrophobic. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Theme

October 30 [Demon/Witchcraft/Hell Theme Night] (10 hours, 28 minutes watched)
172. Along Came the Devil (2018, 89 minutes) ★★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰ Exorcist lite made better but a twisted ending often feeling too tame but with some devil imagery and family angsts that props its it up. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
173. Along Came the Devil II (2019, 87 minutes) ★★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰ Continuous sequel that follows some of the same elements and has a more aggressive vibe. I liked the ‘based on a true story’ angle with the first and here it’s clearly a fiction. There is apparently going to be a third film and I’ll be curious to see how it goes. The Bruce Davidson priest is a highlight to the films. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme
174. Freddy Vs Jason (2003, 97 minutes) ★★★★✰✰✰✰✰✰ My son wanted to watch a movie so we chose this one and had a good time making fun of how randomly and frequently the character fall asleep to justify Freddy’s involvement; in the middle of a party, etc. FvJ feels like a betrayal since liberties with Freddy and Jason make the characters feel like parodies of themselves rather than the true conflict of ages. There’s some fun in the final third but the script spends half the time trying to justify itself. Format: Digital [Vudu HD]
175. A Dark Song (2016, 100 minutes) ★★★★★★★˝✰✰ The artful gradual buildup is rich and the two leads excel. Takes a far out supernatural premise and makes for a relatable downright reasonable ethos. Dark Song is a tragedy but does not gets lost in bloodshed or 'darkness' and has a refreshing arch. I enjoyed the serious black humor. We need more mystical seeming horror and the ritual plot add a supreme atmosphere to the film. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] Subset 1st Theme
176. Jason X (2001, 93 minutes) ★★★★★★✰✰✰✰ Far out scifi horror with a who cares plot hampered by some iffy comedy elements. My son started watching this but seemed to not return to it, it’s possible some of the humor is reaching expiration (scifi tropes being less mainstream). The cryogenic kill might be one of the best in the franchise. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
177. Storm Warning (2007, 87 minutes) ★★★★★★★˝✰✰ From the director of Urban Legends and the writer of Road Games (Everett De Roche is one talented guy) comes an atmospheric torrential thriller with a yuppie couple against the odds. It’s well paced and taut with the feel of a slow paced standoff palatable in feeling confined. The lead actress (Nadia Farčs) doesn’t seem like she’s done enough and her work here is good. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
178. Attack of the Demons (2019, 75 minutes) ★★★★★✰✰✰✰✰ A papercraft style cartoon movie with body horror style demons that is serviceable and ultimately feels a little too routine, trapped in knowing parody of better films without having as much fun as it’s own film. The demons have a queasy design that I love but the characters and plot feels less epic than it should be. Hard to place it but I expected more. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st Theme

October 31 [Halloween/Samhain Theme Night] (11 hours, 35 minutes watched)
179. Halloween Ends (2022, 151 minutes) ★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰✰ The wtf brutal cold open is great because it's so unexpected and complicated - but its the start to what ultimately ends up feeling like a series of disconnected vignettes with a few cool moments. Aside from the corny talking through a book she is writing voiceover narration (suicide or cherry blossoms?) Laurie had surprisingly few lines to the point she is set dressing rather than a character for so much of the film. There are too many tangents; like a belabored lose muffler subplot. I love the idea of Myers being an shape and ever more abstract presence than an individual to the point he is a psychological specter rather than a single killer. Some of the Meyers sympathetic town folk add a lot more depth to the story and are great parallels to our 'two sides' modern times when everything is misrepresented as subjective. ...Then the film just betrays itself by bringing Meyers in intermitted and in inconsistent 'shape' to stage a cheap discontinuous fanservice ending. Format: Digital [Peacock TV] Subset 1st Theme
180. Malicious (2018, 90 minutes) ★★★★˝✰ Blind paranormal parapsychology professor Delroy Lindo is a case of evil baby fever; it’s got some old hags and disembodied baby cries – Lisa Jr serves up a decent enough time waster offering little new. Format: Digital [Amazon Prime HD] 1st
181. WNUF Halloween Special (2013, 83 minutes) ★★★★★★˝✰✰✰ A casual mood piece. It's commitment to the gimmick is impressive but at times it is too on the nose that is feels as manufactured as it is. The television hosts were the best part and they helped extend the veil of suspense when nothing happens for so much of the run time (and is constantly interrupted by advertisements). I think their attempt to keep it seeming like a retro tv show was both the best part of it (retro humor) and the worse part (refraining from pushing the envelope, distracted by 'humor'). Fun twist at the end. Format: Digital [Thanks to Meghan] Subset 1st Theme
182. 10/31 (2017, 93 minutes) ★★★★★★★✰✰✰ I have a weakness for indie horror and this anthology film capitalizes on the short story format that allows for questionable stories that are too far out or gimmicky to fit perfectly into a small timeframe. It ended up being a perfect complement to pre-Halloween slouching around. My favorite segment was the roller skating ring one filled with spaghetti western style staring and buildup before an weird ending or the unsettlingly odd Christmas segment. The films were cheap enough to mock but served up ballsy tales enough to overcome any limitations. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
183. 10/31 Part II (2019, 94 minutes) ★★★★★★★✰✰✰ Reuniting with Malvolia: the Queen of Screams (apparently a web series personality) this complements the first installment well with no real decline in quality. The small segments worth well marathoning both films together. I enjoyed the babysitter segment (wraparound?) most of all. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
184. Torment (2013, 82 minutes) ★★★˝✰✰✰✰✰✰ Disappointment of a cliffhanger that just when it started to offer up something that seemed more interesting and unique just stops mid-way but not in a cool sustained ambiguity way, in a way that felt cheap and dashes some of it’s potential. My wife likes home invasion movies but seemed to quickly bore of this one, it’s similar to other others but has a cool vibe of the invaders masking themselves in children’s stuffed animal heads (giving it a near fairy tale quality). Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st
185. The House that Dripped Blood (1971, 102 minutes) ★★★★★★★★˝✰ I love HtDB and it was a good end to the season. The tales are cartoonish (maybe the British 70s origins make them feel just gentle enough) but there is always a bit to them. Format: Digital [Vudu HD] 1st

November 1 [Comedy Crossover Theme Night, until Dawn] (1 hours, 25 minutes watched)
186. The Evil Dead (1981, 85 minutes) ★★★★★★★★★✰ The Evil Dead is as old as I am and helped ignite my love of horror (when a library let me rent the tape as a kid, ha – loophole). It looks great in ultra high definition. The best part of Evil Dead is how it makes little effort to explain the eerie which just happens and at such fast pace, the whole feel we are left reacting to whatever zany thing happens next and there’s no belabored dramatic irony or slow lulls. Format: Digital [Vudu UHD] Theme
Checklist [Minimums Completed]:




[Theme Nights [100% - 33/33 Completed]:




Subset Films [100% Completed, 40/40]:

exharrison

Checklist





List

Surfinhank

davidh777

List

9/30
1. Scream 2022*

10/5
2. Prey 2022*

10/7
3. Fitestarter 2032*

10/12
Thw Black Phone*

10/17
5. Escape Room Tournament of Champions*

10/18
6. Halloween 2018*

10/24
7. Halloween 2 Rob Zombie*

10/25
8. Halloween Kills*

10/26
9. Buffy the Vampire Slayer s7 ep14*

10/27
10. A House on the Bayou*

10/31
11. Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse*
12, Barbarian*
13. it’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

11/1
The Unholy

Darkgod

The 2022 Horror Challenge
Total Viewed: 136.5
Pace: 136.5
AFWPD: (Average FIlm Watched Per Day): 4.29
New Watched (denotes new): 17\29 59%

2007: 61
2008: 62
2009: 122
2010: 107
2011: 108
2012: 153
2013: 128
2014: 115.25
2015: 166.25
2016: 104
2017: 105
2018: 100.75
2019: 109
2020: 207
2021: 141.25
2022: 136.5

100 Movies Completed
31 Films Completed
Subset Completed
Complete Checklist
Goals: 100 (Bronze) Silver(141.5) Gold(200)

New Checks at Icheck: 27



September 30th
1. Mosquito (Jones, 1994) 4/10
2. The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (Grau, 1974) 6.5/10
3. Alligator (Teauge, 1980) 6/10
October 1st
4. Count Dracula (Franco, 1970)
5. Trick or Treats (Graver, 1980) 4.5/10
6. Halloween (Carpenter, 1978) 9/10
7. WNUF Halloween Special (LaMartina, 2013) 7/10
8. House (Miner, 1986) 6/10
9. My Bloody Valentine (Mihalka, 1981) 7/10
10. Little Shop of Horrors (Oz, 1986)
11. Hocus Pocus (Ortega, 1993) 5.5/10
12. Hocus Pocus 2 (Fletcher, 2022) 5/10
13. Death Spa (Fischa, 1988)5/10
October 2nd
14. Antlers (Cooper, 2021) 6/10
15. Last Night in Soho (Wright, 2021) 7.5/10
16. The Fog (Wainwright, 2005) 3/10
17. The fog (Carpenter, 1980) 6.5/10
18. Frightmare (Vane, 1983) 5/10
19. Killer klowns from outer space (Chiodo, 1988) 6.5/10
20. Graduation Day (Freed, 1981) 4.5/10
October 3rd
21. Beast (Pearce, 2017) 6/10
22. A Blade in the Dark (Bava, 1983) 6/10
23. Frankenweeinie (Burton, 2012) 6/10
24. The Maze(Shimek, 2010) 4/10
October 4th
25. Ammityville 1992: It's About Time (Randel, 1992) 5/10
26. Sole Survivor (Eberhardt, 1984) 5.5/10
27. Prom Night 2: Hello Mary Lou (Pittman, 1987) 6/10
28. Tilbury (Vikingsson, 1987) 3/10
29. Invitation to hell (Craven, 1985) 5/10
October 5th
30. Ghost Ship (Beck, 2002) 6/10
31. The Haunting (Wise, 1963) 7/10
32. I, Madman (Takacs, 1989) 4/10
33. Dark Night of the Scarecrow (Del Felitta, 1981) 6.5/10
October 6th
34. Mandy (Cosmatos, 2018) 5/10
35. It Came from Outer Space (Arnold, 1953) 6/10
36. The Raven (Landers, 1935) 7/10
37. Night Monster (Beebe, 1942) 6/10
October 7th
38. The Taking of Deborah Logan (Robitel, 2014) 6/10
39. Amityville: Dollhouse
40. Hellraiser
41. Alligator 2: The Mutation
October 8th
42. The Sadness
43. The Freakmaker
44. The Mist
October 9th
45. It
46. The Cursed
47. The Devil's Own
48. Chopping Mall
49. Lurking Fear
October 10th
50. The Omen
51. Smile
52. 5 Million Years to Earth (Baker, 1967) 6.5/10
53. The Day of the Beast (Igleasia, 1995) 7/10
October 11th
54. the Burbs (dante, 1989) 6.5/10
55. The Faculty (Rodriguez, 1998) 6/10
October 12th
56. Winterbeast (Thies, 1992) 4.5/10
57. Opera (Argento, 1987) 7/10
58. Ticks (Randel, 1993) 5.5/10
59. Deadstream (Winter, 2022) 6/10
October 13th
60. Censor ( Bailey-Bond, 2021) 6/10
61. Grimmcutty (Ross, 2022) 5.5/10
62. Pennywise: The Story of It (Campopiano, 2021) 7/10
63. Dark Glasses (Argento, 2022) 5/10
October 14th
64. Halloween Ends (Green, 2022) 5/10
65. Nothing But Trouble (Akroyd, 1991) 5.5/10
66. Trouble Every day
October 15th
67. The Unnamable (oulette, 1988) 6/10
68. Village of the Danmed (Rilla, 1960) 7/10
69. Spirit Halloween: the Movie (Poag, 2022) 5/10
70. Friday the 13th * Monstervision w/ Joe Bob Briggs Version (Cunningham, 1980) 6/10
71. Video Violence 2 (Cohen, 1988) 5/10
72. I spit on your Grave (Zarchi, 1978) 6/10
73. The Munsters (Zombie, 2022) 4/10
October 16th
74. Resident Evil (Anderson, 2002) 6/10
75. Piranha (Aja, 2910) 6/10
76. The Boy (Bell, 2016) 6/10
77. The Haunting of Bridge Hollow (Wadlow, 2022) 5/10
78. Microwave Massacre (Berwick, 1979) 5/10
79. The Whip and the Body (bava, 1963) 6.5/10
October 17th
80. Salome (Bryant, 1922) 5/10
81. Video Violence (Cohen, 1987) 5/10
82. Scared to Death (Cabanne, 1947) 5/10
83. Mimic ( Del Torro, 1997) 5.5/10
84. Offseason (Keating, 2021) 6/10
October 18th
85. Night Train to Terror (Carr, 1985) 5/10
86. The Unholy Three (Browning, 1925) 6/10
87. Faust ( Marnau, 1923 6/10
88. The Beyond ( Fulci, 1981) 6.5/10
October 19th
89. Last Laugh ( Berg, 2020) 3/10
90. A nightmare on Elm Street (Craven, 1984) 9/10
91. Close Calls (Stringham, 2017) 4/10
92. Legacy of Blood (Milligan, 1971) 4/10
93. Tombs of the Blind Dead (Ossorio, 1972) 6/10
October 20th
94. Whiskey mountain (Grefe, 1977) 5/10
95. Sting of death (Grefe, 1966) 3/10
96. Mark of the Vampire (Browning, 1935)
October 21st
97. Annaconda (llosa, 1997) 5.5/10
98. Hell High (Grossman, 1989) 5/10
99. Elvira's Haunted Hills (Irvin, 2001) 5/10
100. Popcorn (Herrier, 1991) 5/10
October 22nd
101. Creepshow 2 (Gornick, 1987) 6/10
102. X (West, 2022) 8/10
October 23rd
103. Cabin the Woods (Goddard, 2011) 8/10
104. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 (Sholder, 1985) 6/10
105. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 (Russel, 1987) 9/10
106. Pookah Lives! (Brujues, 2020) 5/10
October 24th
107. Children of the Damned (leader, 1964) 6/10
108. Hirukulo the Goblin (Tsukamoto, 1991) 6/10
109. the Grudge (Shimizu, 2004) 6/10
October 25th
110. House of Wax (Collet-Serra, 2005) 5.5/10
111. The Last Circus (Inglesia, 2010) 7/10
112. Barbarian (Cregger, 2022) 8/10
113. Silent Madness (Nuchtern, 1984) 5/10
114. Child's Play (Holland, 1988) 6/10
October 26th
115. Crimes of the Future (Cronenberg, 2022) 5/10
116. New York Ripper ( Fulci, 1982) 6/10
October 27th
117. Pearl (west, 2022) 7/10
118. Bodies Bodies Bodies (reijn, 2022) 6/10
119. Deep Rising (Sommers, 1998) 6/10
October 28th
120. The Requin (Kiet, 2022) 2/10
121. Flesh for Frankenstein (Morrisey, 1973)
122. Invaders from Mars (Hooper, 1986) 6/10
October 29th
123. Child's Play 2 (Lafia, 1990) 6/10
124. Child's Play 3 (Bender, 1991) 5/10
125. the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
126. Footprints on the Moon (Bazzoni, 1975) 4/10
October 30th
127. Student Body (Kurr, 2022) 4/10
128. Gremlins (Dante, 1984) 6.5/10
129. Where the Scary things are (Smith, 2022) 3.5/10
130. A Dark Song (Gavin, 2016) 5/10
October 31st
131. Terrifier 2 (Leone, 2022) 7/10
132, Jeeper's Creepers:Reborn (Vuorensolo, 2022) 1/10
133. Mad God (Tippett, 2021) 7/10
134. Nope (Peele, 2022) 6/10
135. Halloween 2 (rosenthal, 1981) 6/10
Television:
Ghosts - " Halloween 2"
The 3 Stooges " Creeps"

Checklist





Theme Nights





Subset Picks

BobO'Link

18th Annual
October Horror Movie Challenge

☼ - First time viewing
▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲ - Rating on a 1 to 10 scale

List complete
42 First time viewings
133 total viewings

Pre-Challenge random movie:
0 - Halloween

September 30th
1. The Black Cat (1934)
2. The Raven (1935)

October 1st
3. The Invisible Ray (1936)
4. Black Friday (1940)
5. Daughters of Satan (1972)☼
6. Dementia 13 (1963) - The Director's Cut☼
7. The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
8. The City of the Dead (1960)
9. Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
10. The Night Stalker (1972)☼
11. The Night Strangler (1973)☼

October 2nd
12. Doctor Sleep (2019) - Theatrical cut
13. Invisible Invaders (1959)
14. The Amazing Mr. X (1948)
15. I Bury the Living (1958)

October 3rd
16. The Crimson Cult (1967)☼
17. White Zombie (1932)

October 4th
18. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
19. Man Made Monster (1941)

October 5th
20. Tower of London (1939)
21. The Black Cat (1941)
22. Horror Island (1941)
23. The Brain from Planet Arous (1957)

October 6th
24. I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958)
25. Alligator (1980) - Theatrical version☼
26. The Gorgon (1964)

October 7th
27. The Old Dark House (1963)
28. Black Sunday (aka The Mask of Satan) (1960) - Original Italian cut
29. Event Horizon (1997)
30. Homicidal (1961)

October 8th
31. Mr. Sardonicus (1961)
32. Annihilation (2018)
33. The Thing From Another World (1951)
34. The Thing (2011)
35. The Thing (1982)

October 9th
36. The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (1972) - English/US version☼
37. La notte che Evelyn uscě dalla tomba (1971) - Italian version☼
38. I'm Dangerous Tonight (1990)☼
39. Hocus Pocus (1993)
40. The Maze (1953)☼
41. Baron Blood (1972)
42. The Signal (2007)☼
43. The Devil's Men (1976)☼

October 10th
44. Monster on the Campus (1958)
45. The Frighteners (1996) - Theatrical☼
46. The Screaming Skull (1958)
47. Land of the Minotaur (1976)

October 11th
48. The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959)
49. The Skull (1965)

October 12th
50. The Deadly Mantis (1957)
51. I Sell the Dead (2008)☼
52. Scars of Dracula (1970)
53. It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)

October 13th
54. Saturn 3 (1980)
55. Night Key (1957)
56. Night Monster (1942)

October 14th
57. Darkman (1990)
58. Isle of the Dead (1945)
59. Superbeast (1972)☼
60. Love at First Bite (1979)

October 15th
51. Once Bitten (1985)
52. Black Sabbath (1963) - Italian version
53. Ash vs Evil Dead (2015): S1E1, S1E2, S1E3☼
54. DeepStar Six (1989)
55. Ash vs Evil Dead (2015): S1E4, S1E5, S1E6☼

October 16th
56. The Climax (1944)
57. Ash vs Evil Dead (2015): S1E7, S1E8, S1E9☼
58. The Last Days on Mars (2013)☼
59. Mad Love (1935)
60. The Ape (1940)
61. The Devil's Kiss (1976)☼
62. Werewolves Within (2021)☼
63. Trick 'r Treat (2007)☼
64. Journey to the Seventh planet (1962)
65. House of Horrors (1946)

October 17th
66. Ash vs Evil Dead (2015): S1E19, S2E1, S2E2☼
67. Ash vs Evil Dead (2015): S2E3, S2E4, S2E5☼
68. Doctor Blood's Coffin (1961)

October 18th
69. The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964)
70. The Vampire (1957)
71. These Are the Damned (1962)

October 19th
72. The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960)
71. Ash vs Evil Dead (2015): S2E6, S2E7, S2E8☼
72. Island of Lost Souls (1932)

October 20th
73. Lisa and the Devil (1974)
74. The House of Exorcism (1975)
75. The Plague of the Zombies (1963)

October 21st
76. Chandu the Magician (1932)☼
77. The Mad Magician (1954)
78. The Tingler (1959)
79. The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966)

October 22nd
80. The Void (2016)
81. The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues (1955)
82. The Devil's Wedding Night (1973)
83. Hocus Pocus 2 (2022)☼
84. Challenge the Devil (1963)☼
85. The Blob (1958)

October 23rd
85. The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (1972)☼
86. Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee: Relics from the Crypt (various)☼
87. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
88. Planet of the Vampires (1965)
89. Hysteria (1997)☼
90. Frankenstein Created Woman (1967)
91. Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) - US Version
92. Re-Animator (1985)

October 24th
93. Ash vs Evil Dead (2015): S2E9, S2E10, S3E1☼
94. Ash vs Evil Dead (2015): S3E2, S3E3, S3E4☼
95. The Giant Claw (1957)

October 25th
96. The Werewolf (1956)
97. Children of the Damned (1964)
98. Bride of Re-Animator (1990) - Unrated☼
99. Murders in the Zoo (1933)

October 26h
100. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)
101. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
102. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)

October 27th
103. Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971)
104. Mad Doctor of Market Street (1942)
105. Strange Case of Doctor Rx (1942)

October 28th
106. The Mad Ghoul (1943)
107. Darkman II: The Return of Durant (1995)
108. Darkman III: Die Darkman Die (1996)
109. Beyond Re-Animator (2003)
110. The Monster and the Girl (1941)☼

October 29th
111. Captive Wild Woman (1943)
112. Jungle Woman (1944)☼
113. The Jungle Captive (1945)☼
114. Dagon (2001)☼
115. Color out of Space (2019)
116. The Body Snatcher (1945)
117. Tarantula (1955)
118. Doctor X (1932)
119. Ash vs Evil Dead (2015): S3E5, S3E6, S3E7☼
120. Ash vs Evil Dead (2015): S3E8, S3E9, S3E10☼

October 30th
121. The Ghost Ship (1943)
122. Bedlam (1946)
123. Bad Moon (1996)
124. The Castle of the Living Dead (1964)
125. The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism (1967)☼
126. Crypt of the Vampire (1964)☼
127. The Mask (1961)☼
128. The Black Castle (1952)

October 31st
129. The Thing that Couldn't Die (1958)☼
130. The Reptile (1966)
131. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1976)
132. Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)
133. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)

lrend

List Complete
First time viewings: 92
Total Viewings: 118

☼- First time viewing
▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲ - Rating on a 1 to 10 scale

September 30
1. Black Sunday (1960)▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 1
2. Horror Express (1972) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
3. The Munsters (2022)☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
4. Hocus Pocus 2 (2022) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 2
5. Morbius (2022) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
6. The Boy (2016) ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
7. The Town that Dreaded Sundown (2014) ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
8. Sissy (2022) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
9. The Lords of Salem (2012) ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 3
10. Event Horizon (1997) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
11. The Tall Man (2012) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
12. V/H/S (2012)▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 4
13. Eyes of Fire (1983) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
14. Dr. Renault's Secret (1942) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
15. Random Acts of Violence (2019) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 5
16. Incident in a Ghostland (2018) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
17. There's Someone Inside Your House (2021) ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 6
18. Into the Dark: Down (2019) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
19. House of the Long Shadows (1983) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
20. The Spiral Staircase (1946) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
21. House on Haunted Hill (1959) ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 7
22. The McPherson Tape (1989) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
23. Hellraiser (2022) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
24. Deadstream (2022) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 8
25. Old (2021)☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
26. The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs: Tourist Trap (2018)☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
27. The Queen of Black Magic (2019) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
28. The Old Ways (2020) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
29. No One Gets Out Alive (2021) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
30. The Dead Don't Die (2019) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
31. Last Night in Soho (2021) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
32. Hell House LLC (2015) ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 9
33. Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel (2018)▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
34. Werewolves Within (2021) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
35. The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs: The Prowler (2018) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
36. Werewolf by Night (2022) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 10
37. Come to Daddy (2019) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
38. The Cat and the Canary (1939) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
39. The Ghost Breakers (1940) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 11
40. Maniac (1963)☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
41. Scream of Fear (1961)☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
42. Satanic Panic (2019)☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 12
43. The Burning (1981)☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
44. The Convent (2000)☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
45. The 101 Scariest Movie Moments of All Time S1.E1 & S1.E2 (2022) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 13
46. What Have You Done to Solange? (1972)☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
47. The Curse of La Llorona (2019) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 14
48. Halloween (2018)▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
49. Trouble Every Day (2001)☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
50. Halloween Kills (2021)▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
51. Halloween Ends (2022) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 15
52. The 101 Scariest Movie Moments of All Time S1.E3 & S1.E4 (2022) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
53. Carnival of Blood (1970) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
54. Ouija (2014) ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
55. The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
56. Paranormal Activity (2007) ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
57. Paranormal Activity 2 (2010) ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
58. Paranormal Activity 3 (2011) ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
59. Paranormal Activity 4 (2012) ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
60. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2014) ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
61. Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (2015) ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 16
62. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
63. Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
64. She Will (2021) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
65. Watcher (2022) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
66. The 101 Scariest Movie Moments of All Time S1.E5 & S1.E6 (2022) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
67. The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs S7.E17: Hellbound: Hellraiser II (2020) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 17
68. Nosferatu (1922) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
69. Scared to Death (1947) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
70. Baron Blood (1972) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
71. Campfire Tales (1997) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 18
72. Hellbender (2021) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
73. The Beyond (1981) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 19
74. The Turning (2020) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 20
75. The Kiss of the Vampire (1963)☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
76. Paranoic (1963) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
77. Next of Kin (1982) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 21
78. Uninvited (1987) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
79. Halloween II (1981) ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
80. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
81. Terror Train (2022) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 22
82. Scream (2022) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
83. Goodnight Mommy (2022) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
84. The Purge (2013) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
85. Caveat (2020) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
86. Terror Trips (2021) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
87. I'm Dangerous Tonight (1990) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
88. Coming Home in the Dark (2021) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
89. The Zero Boys (1986) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
90. Popcorn (1991) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 23
91. Leprechaun 5: In the Hood (2000) ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
92. The Slumber Party Massacre (1982) ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
93. The Stylist (2020) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 24
94. Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary (1975) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
95. The Crazies (1973) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
96. Extracurricular (2018) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 25
97. The Eye (2008) ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
98. Fear No Evil (1969) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
99. The Final Rose (2022) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 26
100. Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲


October 27
101. Hellraiser: Deader (2005) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
102. Die! Die! My Darling! (1965) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
103. The Ritual (2017) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 28
104. Trick ‘r Treat (2007) ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
105. Cursed (2005) ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
106. Darling (2015) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 29
107. American Gothic (1987) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
108. Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities E1: Lot 36 (2022) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
109. Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities E2: Graveyard Rats (2022) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
110. The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here! (1972) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
111. The 101 Scariest Movie Moments of All Time S1.E7 & S1.E8 (2022) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 30
112. Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin (2021) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
113. The Descent (2005) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
114. Damien: Omen II (1978) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
115. The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs S11.E7: Ginger Snaps (2021) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

October 31
116. I Sell the Dead (2008) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
117. Halloween (1978)▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
118. The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs S1.E8: Basket Case (2018) ☼ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

Theme Nights:




Checklist: