October 5th to October 15th:
#8: Final Girl (2015)
I watched this because I thought I had seen a lot of discussion about it this month in various forums. Of course when it was over I realized it was
the wrong film and I was instead looking for "
The Final Girl
s" And I was not surprised to learn it was the wrong film since it was basically garbage. How Wes Bentley gets as much work as he does I will never know. Pass.
#9: Area 51 (2014)
Mediocre found footage film about, you guessed it, Area 51. There's about one fairly tense scene and a whole lot of nothing, undermined even more by a poor, predictable ending and some shaky effects.
#10: Hidden (2015)
Stars the delightful Andrea Riseborough, the acceptable Alexander Skaarsgard, and a not-terrible child actress. Mostly a post-apocalyptic bomb-shelter dwelling sort of film but with a few twists along the way. Not a strong recommendation, but pretty good for a movie that ends with "Directed by The [insert name] Brothers."
#11: The Haunting (1963)
Classic haunted house movie which succeeds more through the focus on its protagonist's psychology rather than the house itself. Great direction-wise and production-wise, but not particularly scary for my part. Not that that's a problem. I'll probably rewatch it next year since I don't think I was in a receptive enough frame of mind this time around.
#12: Ouija (2014)
Do not bother. There are no redeeming qualities to this film. Big fan of Olivia Cooke? Still avoid.
#13: Horror Express (1972)
Pretty neat little train horror movie. Stars Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, pursuing a creature/being that has escaped and begun murdering passengers. Then in the last third Telly Savalas shows up and is completely amazing. Very pleasantly surprised by this film (which I had never heard of 'til it aired on TCM).
#14: Mad Love (1935)
Peter Lorre is a mad doctor in love, and nothing is going to stand in his way! It's the kind of film where a guy has lost his hand and gets it replaced with, perhaps, a
hand of pure evil. Very well made overall but not my favorite of the genre.
#15: The Beast With Five Fingers (1946)
Another Peter Lorre "Hand" movie, and I liked this one a bit more. Alan Alda's dad is a charming rogue but Lorre comes to dominate. Solid watch.
#16: Unfriended (2014)
Similar in presentation to The Den (which is a better film in most respects), but despite some obnoxious tendencies
Unfriended didn't lose me by the end. It's not without its substantial flaws, but it's good at what it's going for. Will probably be a polarizing choice.
#17: The Final Girls (2015)
This movie has received a decent amount of praise around here, and while I think there are a number of good qualities herein, I can't say it was a slam dunk for me. Too much mother-daughter melodrama weighs down an otherwise fun horror-comedy. I did enjoy many of the performances but I was left wanting more.
Interestingly, the main girl's love interest (Ragnar's son on Vikings) was also the co-star of the movie Final Girl, reviewed above. I wonder if he made the same mistake as me!
#18: It Follows (2014)
Came in based on a lot of other people's high recommendations, but I tried to keep my own expectations in check. I wound up liking it, quite a bit in fact, but I wouldn't hype it up so much to others. Very solid all around (very good photography, performances, soundtrack, etc), but not an instant favorite of mine.
#19: Black Christmas (1971)
What a fucking classic. Does everything a good slasher film can do, and did it in 1974. Not to mention that it masters the "When a Stranger Calls" phone concept to build suspense five years before WaSC even came out. Genuinely creepy, great atmosphere. And then it's director did A Christmas Story (1983). Awesome guy.
#20 - Always Watching: A Marble Hornets Story (2015)
In the 2 weeks leading into this October I finally checked out the webseries Marble Hornets. I knew practically nothing about it except that it may have something to do with the Slenderman mythos, something I had never followed. I marathoned videos for about 3 hours every night before finishing it, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. So much so that I even checked out a few of the other webseries similar to it / crossing over with it (Everymanhybrid, TribeTwelve, and Dark Harvest). They weren't quite as good but it was a great experience overall. Marathoning that sort of thing had a genuinely strong of horror effect on me. I was actually afraid to be in an empty house after finishing videos for the night.
So it was natural that I'd check out the semi-related Marble Hornets sidestory movie. And to be clear, the movie isn't at all similar in tone to the webseries. That's not to say it's all bad. It's decent and has a few good cast members, but it's not particularly impressive. Pretty light on scares, but people who haven't already seen Marble Hornets might be a little more impressed.
#21: SIlent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
Many if not most here will be familiar with this film's sequel for its legendary "Garbage Day" scene, but the original is a slightly more restrained affair. It spends nearly half of its runtime as a psychological study of how someone might grow up to be a cheesy '80s slasher santa claus, and the remainder is dedicated to said slashing. Is carried somewhat by a classic 80s aesthetic. Overall not strongly recommended.
#22: Frankenhooker (1990)
"Oh no, the Devil's music!!"
This movie takes a while to get good, but once it does you will be treated to several very fine moments of cinematic distinction. Ultimately a bit shorter and shallower than I'd have hoped for, but you can gather why it's considered a cult classic.
I rate it two robotic sidekicks.
