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31 Days of Horror 5 |OT| The October Movie Marathon

Well, I've exceeded my count from last year, and there are still a couple of days left.

#49 - Shiryô no wana (Evil Dead Trap)

God, where do I even begin? Well, I guess I should begin by saying it's completely unrelated to Sam Raimi's Evil Dead trilogy. It starts as a trashy, low-budget exploitation slasher with some pretty creative, giallo-style kills. There's even an eyeball scene that gives Fulci a run for his money, and some elaborate trap-based deaths. Then...it goes off the rails. Way off the rails. You might think you know the twist early on, but believe me, you don't. It's quite an experience. I recommend avoiding plot summaries because I just saw the one on IMDb after watching it and it ruins the twist.


#50 - Saw

So I thought I'd follow up Evil Dead Trap with a kind of similarly themed movie. At least, it's kind of similar to the first half of Evil Dead Trap. I didn't really like or dislike this one. It just kind of happened. There were some clever ideas but the execution left a lot to be desired. The two leads give some pretty poor and unconvincing performances, especially Leigh Whannell. As you may be able to tell by my reactions to the films I've discussed so far, good acting isn't always particularly important to me, but this film takes itself pretty seriously and so I expect the performances to sell it, and unfortunately they don't. Also the fast-forward bits with the metal music are just silly, and a lot of the cuts and flashbacks are unnecessary, like the film is trying to hold your hand and carefully walk you through the plot when it's really not that complex. Jigsaw's motive is an eyeroller. Oh, and
when the phone is out of reach? Just turn the fucking box over, dude. It's not that hard. Dumbass.
Twist was kind of cool though. And you can't go wrong with Danny Glover.


#51 - The Burning

It's like the Battle of Amon Hen but with dumb horny teenagers. Better than Friday the 13th, but not as good as Sleepaway Camp. It takes a surprisingly long time to get going, which I don't mind, but when shit starts going down Savini puts in excellent work as usual. But ultimately it doesn't have a whole lot going on, aside from the impressive raft massacre. Oh, and...something something Jason Alexander, or whatever.
 
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#29: Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010)

Neat little horror documentary. Very watchable for 4 hours. I've only recently seen the whole Nightmare on Elm Street series, so I don't have the kind of affection for it as I've got for other major horror franchises like Halloween and Friday the 13th, but several ANoES entries are growing on me and this doc did a good job of reminding me of the qualities I appreciated the most (+ made me want to re-visit a few of the films I had been less impressed with).

A little sad to see to see the late great Wes Craven for the first time since his passing. RIP.


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#30: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

I forgot to watch this during the first half of the month, but here were are!

As I am a bad person I still find it hard to keep my attention fully engaged when watching silent films. But I did give at least 80% of the movie a good shot. Some of the imagery was very striking and it was cool to see Conrad Veidt in his early days. Interestingly, they nailed down the basic plot twist you'll see in an endless number of psychological horror films to this day, and they did it 95 years ago!
 
Halloween 3
For the shittiest Halloween, it actually has really great production value. Minus the legends and the opening credits. It actually feels like a solid continuation of Halloween 2.
 
Part 1
Part 2:
Chilling Visions: 5 Senses of Fear (2013) - 2/5
Goosebumps (2015) - 3/5
The Circle (2015) - 4/5

The Monster Squad
Wolfman has nards. This was a cute movie overall. It was interesting to see all the monsters come to life and all the language they could have gotten away with in the 80's. I give it a low 3/5.

John Dies at the End
Hard to explain, but I liked this one. A drug called Soy Sauce is the focus of the plot. Lots of surrealist humor and such. You have to wonder what is real and what is illusion during the movie. If you like surrealism, I suggest giving it a watch. If not, then avoid. I laughed a good bit at how odd everything was. I give it 3 shots in the chest out of 5
 
22. The Last Man on Earth "KOKW calling. I'm on international frequency. Come in."

The "last man on Earth tries to survive against the undead" story isn't new to me, having seen The Simpsons Treehouse piece "The Homega Man" and, more relevantly, the 2007 movie I Am Legend, which I've drawn a lot of comparisons to. Vincent Price is in this, playing a doctor who cleans up the town and maintains supplies by day while trying to stay sane, and barricades his house against vampires by night. The big difference between this and I Am Legend is that I Am Legend showed interspersed flashbacks, while this does it in one segment. Dr. Morgan also doesn't own a dog. The ending isn't as bright either. It's good, watch it for Vincent Price, and if you're interested in the story.

Full list
 
Ridley327 said:
Of the pre-"fuck it, we're embracing the cheese" era of the films that started with Part 6, Part 3 isn't very good, but it's worth it just for it being the first film where Jason dons the goalie mask and the unintentional awkwardness of all the shots intended for 3D. Part 4 is in the running for being the best in the series, thanks to having a fairly solid plot, a fun cast of characters including a memorable role for Crispin Glover, and some of the nastiest kills in the series, including one of the finest things that Savini has ever done for special effects makeup. Part 5 tries to do something new, kinda fails tremendously at it, and isn't worth your time beyond the awesome surprise of how the first kill goes down.
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Yeah, looking it into a bit it seems like IV and VI get the most praise.
 
29 – The House By The Cemetery

“You shouldn’t have come Bob.”

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Fulci fans, tell me this: what the fuck was up with that bat?

This was my least enjoyable Gates of Hell experience; less rampantly gruesome than City of the Living Dead and less crazy fun than The Beyond. The cast were uniformly terrible - even Catriona MacColl, who was fine in the previous movies, but completely wooden here – and the ‘story’ was a disaster which had its boring characters constantly doing nonsensical things for no apparent reason. I wouldn’t have minded so much if this had lead to a ton of awesome gore, but even that seemed toned down and half-hearted compared to previous efforts. I’m also pretty sure poor old Bob’s hairdo alone would have been enough put this on the Video Nasty list.

Verdict: I wish I’d just watched the bat scene on repeat for 90 minutes and skipped the rest of the movie. I’ll be checking out other Fulci films in the future, but even Ania Pieroni’s incredible eyes won’t be enough to make me revisit this one.
 
31 Days of Horror
Pre-31 Days of Horror 1 - Behind the Mask
Pre-31 Days of Horror 2 - Unfriended
Day 1 - The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
Day 2 - The Thing (1982)
Day 3 - The Cabinet of Dr. Calagari
Day 3 Double Feature - Dead Silence
Day 4 - Black Death
Day 5 - Maniac Cop
Day 6 - The Omen (1976)
Day 7 - Creep (2014)
Day 8 - The Taking of Deborah Logan
Day 9 - The Return of the Living Dead
Day 10 - ATM
Day 10 Double Feature - From Dusk Till Dawn
Day 11 - The People Under the Stairs
Day 11 Double Feature - The Strangers
Day 12 - Stake Land
Day 13 - Fright Night (2011)
Day 14 - The Ward
Day 15 - Tales from the Darkside: The Movie
Day 16 - Cube
Day 17 - Dark Skies
Day 18 - The Theatre Bizarre
Day 19 - The Monster Squad
Day 20 - Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead
Day 21 - Night of the Demons
Day 22 - Suspiria
Day 23 - Friday the 13th Part III
Day 24 - Black Christmas (1974)
Day 25 - Kill List
Day 26 - Ravenous
Day 27 - 30 Days of Night
Day 28 - We Are Still Here

We Are Still Here
A decent take on a modern day 70s/80s style horror. The story was simple and straightforward and the scares were good. The acting on the other hand could have used some work. It brought down the movie a peg or two for me, but overall I enjoyed the movie. Also...the cover/poster isn't a good representation of the movie.

Rating: Watch
 
It's a shame Argento didn't make Mother of Tears back in his heyday with Pieroni. I have yet to actually watch it because I've only ever heard that it sucks. In fact, the most recent Argento film I've seen is Opera. I should probably watch at least a few more but whatever.
 
Steamlord said:
It's a shame Argento didn't make Mother of Tears back in his heyday with Pieroni. I have yet to actually watch it because I've only ever heard that it sucks. In fact, the most recent Argento film I've seen is Opera. I should probably watch at least a few more but whatever.
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It seemed like it wasn't going to happen anyway since he wanted to move back into more traditional giallo. I mean, the whole point of having Pieroni in Tenebre was to definitively kibosh the idea of a third installment of the Three Mothers.

But yeah, a third film back then could have just been nothing but Pieroni staring at people and watching them get eaten by dogs and it would have been much better than Mother of Tears.
 
Of course, then he went the opposite direction and did Phenomena. But I love Tenebre and Phenomena so I can't complain.

lordxar said:
Hmm sounds like I need to watch Inferno tonight.
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Don't expect it to be quite the audiovisual experience that Suspiria is, but I still think it's a worthy followup with a lot of memorable moments.
 
I've decided that instead of hogging every page of this thread with reviews, I'm just going to be brief and post them in groups.

15. Little Shop of Horrors

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"That guy sure looks like plant food to me!"

I have a new favorite horror musical, sorry Rocky Horror. The songs were great and the movie has an awesome cast. From Rick Moranis to Bill freaking Murray, the cast was hilarious despite how dark the story got. Speaking of which, I watched the director's cut and man it was dark. I absolutely loved the ending though, and it seemed like a very fitting and memorable conclusion to the story that was told. Is it better than the theatrical? I'm not really sure, but I'm a fan of dark endings. I couldn't imagine seeing the movie without the effects showcase at the end either, damn fine work. I guess I should expect that with the talent involved.

8.5/10

16. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)

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"I'll show you what horror means..."

It's crazy to think that despite my love of the Universal Monsters that I never got around to Paramount's own classic monster movie. Fredric March straight up owned it as Jekyll/Hyde and even won an Oscar for his portrayal. The transformation scenes were simple but very well done, especially for the time the film was made. This came out in the same year as Dracula, and the difference between them is like night and day. Dracula has this looks like it was filmed as a straight stage adaptation, while the camera movement in Jekyll & Hyde is dynamic. There are many shots that looks like the director and cinematographer were experimenting, and as a result the film stays exciting. The last thing I'll mention is that the film got away with a lot of sexual and violent content. I believe this was pre-hayes code, but it's still shocking to see a 1931 film allude to rape. Great movie, and very effective for its time. It trumps many of Universal's efforts and fans of the genre should check it out.

17. Tremors 5

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"Sure as hell ain't Mickey Mouse."

I wasn't going to watch this initially but I was looking for something a little more fun for this slot, something kind of like Tremors 1. While I didn't get that, Tremors 5 isn't that bad, but it's not that good either. Michael Gross plays everyone's favorite worm hunter that isn't Kevin Bacon or Fred Ward, as you can imagine he's the highlight of the movie. His sidekick is played by Jamie Kennedy, and I'm not sure about you guys but I can't stand Jamie Kennedy. The only time he hasn't ever annoyed me was in the first Scream picture. I've got nothing against him, he just comes across as very forced and unfunny to me. That being said, he wasn't too bad in Tremors 5, which was kind of the biggest surprise in the movie for me. What didn't surprise me is what route the effects work for the creatures went in this installment. Of course it's basically all done in some notsogreat cgi, and loses much of it's charm by doing so. I got reminded of Jurassic World which did the same thing, but luckily had a huge ass budget to make their creatures look great. I also wasn't to thrilled about some of the redesigns. All in all, there are worse ways to spend an hour and half.

5.5/10

18. Housebound

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"You cannot punch ectoplasm."

A decent take on the haunted house genre that has enough twist and turns to make the long runtime worth it. I was expecting a funnier movie to be honest, but the humor was a little more subtle, it's well done though. I wouldn't say it delivers in the "scares" department but that's not really a necessity in horror for me. I'm a big fan of atmosphere and there is plenty to be had in this one. I hear there is an American remake coming, why? What's wrong with the film that was made? Too British for Americans maybe?

8/10

19. Trick r' Treat

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"You know, there are rules, you should be more careful. You might upset someone."

There is probably not much I can add that hasn't already been said about this one. No other film has captured the fun macabre feeling that Halloween has to offer better than Trick r' Treat has. It still blows my mind on each viewing how many kid's get offed. It's like 80% of the body count at least. If you're one of the few who haven't seen this yet, you're missing out on one of the better horror anthologies out there!

PS: Bring on Krampus!

9/10
 
39. Don't Torture A Duckling (1972) To me, this is by far Fulci's finest Giallo. The story is good, and the ways the film throws you off the real killer's path is very entertaining. The only slight problem I had were with some of the effects. Granted, this was 1972. However, the ending of this has some laughably bad effects. Not to mention, the killer's motives were pretty questionable. 8/10.
 
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#26 - Planet of the Vampires (1965)
Not really all that horrific, but still quite entertaining. Actually somewhat of a silly low budget sci-fi movie. It looks great, as expected with Bava movies (although not much of his other charms were present in this movie). Huge influence on both Alien and Prometheus in terms of worldbuilding and visual style. 6/10
 
28) Grave Encounters 2

The first one was better, and at first I thought they were being to blatant and quick with stuff happening, but then they tie it into the first one and it becomes interesting for a bit, but then never pulls it together in the end. It was nice how they tried to claim the first movie was real.
 
Day 19: The Last House on the Left (1972)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W9KPhmYYtg

A Wes Craven classic (RIP), this is a disturbing film. If you haven't heard of this one, its an exploitation flick about two teenage girls who wanted to get high but are brutally raped and murdered by a group of a mad people, then the parents of one of the teens enact revenge on the group.

Never seen this before but you always hear about horror fans talk about this film,i can say that this is a very grisly film. It's low budget feel, with a very weird soundtrack makes this very distinctive. The ending is a bit lacklustre with no great pay off i feel, especially with how the rest of the film plays out.

Overall: 4/10

Day 20: It Follows (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaRx7iR9kXg

This unique film breathes a bit of fresh air into the modern horror genre, but unfortunately I didn't connect with it very much, and at times, felt it was trying too much to tell us a deep story.

The film is about a strange being that persistently follows you and the only way to prevent it from killing you is to have sex. the concept of the film is quite unique, as with the style, with a very slow. melodramatic pacing to it, very reminiscent to the old slasher flicks.

What I really didn't like about the film was how it really tried to emphasis the issue on sex, teenage sex in particular, but also the metaphors that surround that topic. The whole film reminded me of 'Slenderman', which has been a modern horror craze lately where a faceless guy follows you around wherever you go. I think the acting is a bit wooden, i didn't connect much with the characters, thought some scenes were a bit too long and drawn out, and character actions were a bit over the top at times.

It's a unique take on horror for today's standards but thought there was too much style and not enough substance.

Overall: 5.5/10
 
23. The City of the Dead "Leave Whitewood tonight! I beg of you! Leave before it is too late!"

My third movie recommended by Monster Madness this year. Whitewood is the quintessential Town With A Dark Secret, with shifty locals and fog everywhere. The movie really starts to pick up in the second half, when the investigation into Nan's disappearance happens. I'd say it's a nice movie.

Full list
 
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#27 - Lizard in a Woman's Skin (1971)
Straight up giallo by Fulci. And by straight up I mean it has hallucinogenic lesbian acid trips, doped up hippies and psychoanalysis. What more could you want? 7/10
 
Alright, 6 reviews to catch up on! *cracks knuckles*

But first...

Ridley327 said:
October 27
Tombs of the Blind Dead
Return of the Blind Dead

October 28
The Ghost Galleon
The Night of the Seagulls
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Heh, I thought I was reading a massive copy/paste error when I started o the Seagulls review. Nice meta commentary on the stock footage usage. Glad to see I wasn't the only one that liked the 2nd movie either. Most people seem to prefer the first and I can't wrap my head around that.

No review for Mansion of the Living Dead?

Violence Jack said:
39. Don't Torture A Duckling (1972) To me, this is by far Fulci's finest Giallo. The story is good, and the ways the film throws you off the real killer's path is very entertaining. The only slight problem I had were with some of the effects. Granted, this was 1972. However, the ending of this has some laughably bad effects. Not to mention, the killer's motives were pretty questionable. 8/10.
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I think those effects would have been considered pretty poor in 1972 as well. What was with the sparks?

Divius said:
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#27 - Lizard in a Woman's Skin (1971)
Straight up giallo by Fulci. And by straight up I mean it has hallucinogenic lesbian acid trips, doped up hippies and psychoanalysis. What more could you want? 7/10
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A higher body count :(
 
ThirstyFly said:
Heh, I thought I was reading a massive copy/paste error when I started o the Seagulls review. Nice meta commentary on the stock footage usage. Glad to see I wasn't the only one that liked the 2nd movie either. Most people seem to prefer the first and I can't wrap my head around that.

No review for Mansion of the Living Dead?
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I guess people like the novelty of the first film more? I mean, you kinda see that with the Friday the 13th series, with most casual fans far preferring the first one, even if there are better entries out there, starting with its immediate sequel.
 
28) The Omen - It's been about 10 years since I last saw this and I still think it's a really great film. It definitely has it's fair share of iconic scenes (even in the mainstream) and it's just a fun story overall. Parents not wanting to believe their child is something other than an innocent baby while others are trying to warn them that it's pure evil. What fun! 7/10

29) Damien: The Omen II - This one could've been pretty great but it suffers from sequel syndrome. I like that Damien is a bit older and how they progressed things since the first film but it's the same damn film. People trying to warn Damien's new family (his aunt and uncle now) that he's evil and they don't want to believe it. Something a bit more original would've been nice. 5/10

30) Exorcist III - This is a pretty interesting sequel as it doesn't feel like a cash cow which Exorcist 2 was (didn't see it but I'm assuming). Although it is a bit of an unnecessary story, it's still pretty engaging and it's nice to see them bring back a few characters from the original film. Also, having William Peter Blatty on board as writer and director was a good choice. I liked how half the film was pretty much a slasher picture and the other half was what you'd expect from an exorcist sequel. Not a bad film. 6/10
 
Batch reviews time! I'm going to try to keep these a little shorter, so I won't be going into the story unless necessary.

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24) Housebound (2014) (Oct 25)

I went into this one totally blind after seeing some random praise in the horror OT and it did not disappoint. I was really surprised by how clever the humor and plot were. It's full of unexpected turns and definitely did not go in the direction I was expecting. Great characters too. The mother was amazing.

Really, really enjoyed this.

Rating:
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out of 5 Michaels from Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror.


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25) Graduation Day (1981) (Oct 25)

A surprisingly enjoyable whodunit style slasher. Sure, it's cheesy, badly acted, full of time filler subplots that go nowhere and needed the red herrings to be handled better, but it still somehow manages to be fun.

If you watch only one movie featuring Vanna White this month, make it Graduation Day.

Rating:
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out of 5 Michaels from Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror.


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[BONUS] Tales from the Crypt (TV, 1989)

s01e03 - Dig That Cat... He's Real Gone - This one was directed by Richard Donner and he was obviously having some fun with it, along with the cast. It's way more over the top and comicbook-y than the previous episodes and that results in it being more fun.
 
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26) Ginger Snaps (2000) (Oct 26)

I had a bit of trouble getting into Ginger Snaps at first. The majority of the characters are flat-out unlikeable, including the leads Brigitte and Ginger and everyone is completely oblivious to their surroundings. The stupidity is absurd, even by horror movie standards. It's like everyone walks around with horse blinders on.

After getting past the grueling high school nonsense in the front of the movie it does pick up though and really gets going. Thankfully the characters begin to soften up as well. Brigitte begins to grow as a character, Sam (easily the most likable character) gets into the plot and Ginger, well, Ginger snaps. Everything with the Jason character is horrible and comes off way too goofy for the movie.

At 108 minutes it's just too long though. This really should have been trimmed down to brisk 90 minutes, but the strong 3rd act won me over.

Rating:
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out of 5 Michaels from Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror.

That
tail
reveal though? IIIIIIICCCCCCCCCKKKKKKK.


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27) Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers (1988) (Oct 27)

Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers delivers exactly what it promises – chainsaw wielding hookers in Hollywood. Part private eye spoof, part campy horror movie, part Fred Olen Ray boob flick and at only 75 minutes it doesn't really have to time to become dull. The actors are clearly having fun and the dialogue is actually more clever than you'd expect with some genuine laughs.

It's hard to score something like this though. You should know what to expect as soon as you've read the title, so if you're the type of person who would sit down to watch a movie called “Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers” and expect a good time, add an extra Michael to my score. If you're not, subtract a Michael.

Rating:
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out of 5 Michaels from Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror.

I'm still waiting on Student Chainsaw Nurses, Fred.


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28) The Hills Have Eyes (1977) (Oct 28)

My last Wes Wednesday, I saved what I had hoped to be the best for last and since I had already seen the remake, I knew what to expect with The Hills Have Eyes.

This turned out quite a bit better than I had expected and a huge improvement over Craven's The Last House on the Left. Thankfully this didn't suffer from any of the weird comedy that Last House did. I didn't care for the abrupt ending though.

Rating:
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out of 5 Michaels from Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror.


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29) A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) (Oct 29)

Another one I went into blind after seeing some praise for it in the horror OT, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is another high point for the month.

A little too slow at times and perhaps a little aimless, you can definitely make an argument that it's more style over substance but I enjoyed it. I loved the use of sound/music and the shot compositions. Fans of Let the Right One In should check this out.

Rating:
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out of 5 Michaels from Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror.
 
ThirstyFly said:
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26) Ginger Snaps (2000) (Oct 26)

I had a bit of trouble getting into Ginger Snaps at first. The majority of the characters are flat-out unlikeable, including the leads Brigitte and Ginger and everyone is completely oblivious to their surroundings. The stupidity is absurd, even by horror movie standards. It's like everyone walks around with horse blinders on.

After getting past the grueling high school nonsense in the front of the movie it does pick up though and really gets going. Thankfully the characters begin to soften up as well. Brigitte begins to grow as a character, Sam (easily the most likable character) gets into the plot and Ginger, well, Ginger snaps. Everything with the Jason character is horrible and comes off way too goofy for the movie.

At 108 minutes it's just too long though. This really should have been trimmed down to brisk 90 minutes, but the strong 3rd act won me over.

Rating:
eWJPExR.png

out of 5 Michaels from Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror.

That
tail
reveal though? IIIIIIICCCCCCCCCKKKKKKK.
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Regarding the silliness and stupidity, it's supposed to be a horror comedy, though it does tend to emphasize the horror so the silly parts can seem out of place. You might like Ginger Snaps 2. It's shorter and gets to the point faster. First movie spoilers:
2 doesn't have the whole sisterly bond thing going on, of course, but it's still a really enjoyable werewolf thriller.
Feel free to skip Ginger Snaps Back though unless you're really curious.
 
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#28 - The Whip and the Body (1963)
Incredibly atmospheric Gothic horror. What made it work for me was the intriguing story and interesting characters but above all the amazing cinematography with some gorgeous lighting and use or color. One of Bava's most beautifully composed movies. Christopher Lee had great screen presence. I had some issues with the plot as it felt a bit slow at the start and could've used more depth overall. Still an amazing movie. 7.5/10
 
No time for movies on Friday, probably. That leaves me with watching 3 movies on Saturday, lol. I doubt I can do that, but I'll try.

Häxan [1922]
The Black Cat [1934]
Mad Love [1935]
Hour of the Wolf [1968]
Santa Sangre [1989]
Kuroneko [1968]
Honogurai mizu no soko kara AKA Dark Water [2002]
Tutti i colori del buio AKA All the Colors of the Dark [1972]
Let's Scare Jessica to Death [1971]
Shadow of the Vampire [2000]
American Mary [2012]
Vampyros Lesbos [1971]
Silent Night, Bloody Night [1974]
The Other [1972]
Dead of Night [1945]
The Uninvited [1944]
The Changeling [1980]
The Call of Cthulhu [2005]

Which 3 should I watch?

The others will be carried onto next year.
 
pitcairn55 said:
29 – The House By The Cemetery

“You shouldn’t have come Bob.”

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Fulci fans, tell me this: what the fuck was up with that bat?

This was my least enjoyable Gates of Hell experience; less rampantly gruesome than City of the Living Dead and less crazy fun than The Beyond. The cast were uniformly terrible - even Catriona MacColl, who was fine in the previous movies, but completely wooden here – and the ‘story’ was a disaster which had its boring characters constantly doing nonsensical things for no apparent reason. I wouldn’t have minded so much if this had lead to a ton of awesome gore, but even that seemed toned down and half-hearted compared to previous efforts. I’m also pretty sure poor old Bob’s hairdo alone would have been enough put this on the Video Nasty list.

Verdict: I wish I’d just watched the bat scene on repeat for 90 minutes and skipped the rest of the movie. I’ll be checking out other Fulci films in the future, but even Ania Pieroni’s incredible eyes won’t be enough to make me revisit this one.
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I think House is the least coherent of his movies but also one of the most consistent ones thematically. I always see this movie from the perspective of Bob (which in a way is abused or traumatized with all the events around him), which is why things don't add it. For me it basically takes place inside Bob's imagination. Because of this I think it is either a love it or hate it film, more so than other Fulci movies.

Divius said:
No time for movies on Friday, probably. That leaves me with watching 3 movies on Saturday, lol. I doubt I can do that, but I'll try.

Häxan [1922]
The Black Cat [1934]
Mad Love [1935]
Hour of the Wolf [1968]
Santa Sangre [1989]
Kuroneko [1968]
Honogurai mizu no soko kara AKA Dark Water [2002]
Tutti i colori del buio AKA All the Colors of the Dark [1972]
Let's Scare Jessica to Death [1971]
Shadow of the Vampire [2000]
American Mary [2012]
Vampyros Lesbos [1971]
Silent Night, Bloody Night [1974]
The Other [1972]
Dead of Night [1945]
The Uninvited [1944]
The Changeling [1980]
The Call of Cthulhu [2005]

Which 3 should I watch?
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You should definitely at least do Santa Sangre. I am pretty ambivelant to the other movies you listed.
 
Divius said:
No time for movies on Friday, probably. That leaves me with watching 3 movies on Saturday, lol. I doubt I can do that, but I'll try.

Tutti i colori del buio AKA All the Colors of the Dark [1972]
American Mary [2012]
Vampyros Lesbos [1971]

Which 3 should I watch?

The others will be carried onto next year.
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Those are the only 3 I've seen from that list. Edwige Fenech's eyes command you to watch All the Colors of the Dark.
 
#28 - Creep (2014)
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I just could buy Duplass as the character he played, and the co-writer playing Aaron was also kind of stiff. I laughed when
he turned on the lights in his home, grabbed the knife, and said something like, "Who's there?"
Maybe I would have gotten more out of this had I focused on the humor. As a horror/thriller, I just didn't really care for Creep. It was okay.

viewing list
 
Inferno was kind of weird. At first I liked it more than Suspiria but then it kind of fell to the same level. I need to rewatch these some day, I feel like I'm missing something. Three and a half burned out buildings.
 
October 29
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What else can really be said about Halloween at this point? While it's not my favorite of Carpenter's horror films, I still recognize it as one of the most efficient and masterfully controlled horror films of all time, doling out suspense and terror at an almost ideal pace, and finding so much fantastic use of both its widescreen compositions and relentless yet graceful camerawork, making every shot feel pregnant with menace and having you look in every corner that the characters don't know they should be looking in. The level of technical proficiency has been so rarely equaled that even after 37 years, it really doesn't feel that dated beyond the general 70s fashion choices. Seeing it in a dark theater at long last has certainly improved my opinion of it overall, and I do suggest anyone with the ability to see it in such a setting to do so without any delay.

Film for October 30: FINALLY, the delays are behind us and our copy is finally secured: we're getting around to watching The Wicker Man in its intended form. Better late than never this month!
 
#29 - 30 Days of Night [2007]
9G75nIZ.jpg

Great movie and these vampires are the best in the genre. The vampires are quick and brutal, toying with their prey one minute and stalking another the next while having their own unique language. The setting of a small Alaskan town during a month long nightfall is perfect for a vampire bloodbath. With that said it does have some very lame cliches with the whole lovers coming back together during a time of crisis and the "man" committing a suicidal act to save his friends and family. Still even with that a must watch for any horror movie fan. 8/10
Click to expand...
 
ThirstyFly said:
28) The Hills Have Eyes (1977) (Oct 28)

My last Wes Wednesday, I saved what I had hoped to be the best for last and since I had already seen the remake, I knew what to expect with The Hills Have Eyes.

This turned out quite a bit better than I had expected and a huge improvement over Craven's The Last House on the Left. Thankfully this didn't suffer from any of the weird comedy that Last House did. I didn't care for the abrupt ending though.

Rating:
eO0dtIH.png

out of 5 Michaels from Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror.
Click to expand...

I know right? It's like they ran out of money or Wes was like, "eh, we're done here."

Divius said:
No time for movies on Friday, probably. That leaves me with watching 3 movies on Saturday, lol. I doubt I can do that, but I'll try.

Häxan [1922]
The Black Cat [1934]
Mad Love [1935]
Hour of the Wolf [1968]
Santa Sangre [1989]
Kuroneko [1968]
Honogurai mizu no soko kara AKA Dark Water [2002]
Tutti i colori del buio AKA All the Colors of the Dark [1972]
Let's Scare Jessica to Death [1971]
Shadow of the Vampire [2000]
American Mary [2012]
Vampyros Lesbos [1971]
Silent Night, Bloody Night [1974]
The Other [1972]
Dead of Night [1945]
The Uninvited [1944]
The Changeling [1980]
The Call of Cthulhu [2005]

Which 3 should I watch?

The others will be carried onto next year.
Click to expand...

Shadow of the Vampire and The Changeling are both good stuff. If you're a fan of Nosferatu go for the former and if you're into classic ghost stories you can't go wrong with the later.

If you're looking for something that's decent but also short, The Call of Cthulhu is a neat throwback and it would be an easy watch to get caught up with your list. I think it's only around 50 minutes long.

Ridley327 said:
October 29

Film for October 30: FINALLY, the delays are behind us and our copy is finally secured: we're getting around to watching The Wicker Man in its intended form. Better late than never this month!
Click to expand...

I really need to get around to watching The Wicker Man. It's one of those films that I've never saw due to knowing how it ends. Another one is Don't Look Now.

I have to admit, it's a bit silly not watching those films for that reason. I'm going to throw them on the list for next year, they both seem to be the the type of films that live up to their very high reputation.
 
#29 - The Sentinel (1977)
k783lFx.jpg


As far as demonic or Satanic movies go, this one's not as good as The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby, The Omen, etc. but I enjoyed it. A New York apartment is basically a gateway to hell, and a fashion model has been selected to become the next Sentinel, like a sentry. Shit gets crazier and builds up to a pretty entertaining climax. There's just something about that 70s aesthetic that works really well for horror movies. Plus, there's a birthday party with cats wearing party hats.

viewing list
 
Divius said:
No time for movies on Friday, probably. That leaves me with watching 3 movies on Saturday, lol. I doubt I can do that, but I'll try.

Häxan [1922]
The Black Cat [1934]
Mad Love [1935]
Hour of the Wolf [1968]
Santa Sangre [1989]
Kuroneko [1968]
Honogurai mizu no soko kara AKA Dark Water [2002]
Tutti i colori del buio AKA All the Colors of the Dark [1972]
Let's Scare Jessica to Death [1971]
Shadow of the Vampire [2000]
American Mary [2012]
Vampyros Lesbos [1971]
Silent Night, Bloody Night [1974]
The Other [1972]
Dead of Night [1945]
The Uninvited [1944]
The Changeling [1980]
The Call of Cthulhu [2005]

Which 3 should I watch?

The others will be carried onto next year.
Click to expand...

For reference, I've seen all of these except All the Colors of the Dark, Vampyros Lesbos, Silent Night, Bloody Night, and The Other.

That's a tough list to whittle down, because I don't dislike any of them. But if I were to whittle it down as much as possible, my personal favorites would be:

Häxan
The Black Cat
Hour of the Wolf
Santa Sangre
Kuroneko
Shadow of the Vampire (assuming you've seen Nosferatu; that's kind of imperative. It also helps if you enjoyed it)
 
* indicates a re-watch

October 26:

The Skin I Live In (2011) - Good god damn this film is a trip, probably the most demented and scary of all the new films I've seen this month.
I was expecting a Oldboy style twist where the daughter was turned into the dead wife but nope it's a rape revenge story taken to the even more extreme.
October 27:

Saw (2004) * - It was never going to be as good as the first time I watched it but it is still a tense and exciting film, nowhere near as gory as I remember, pretty tame especially for a film labeled torture porn. The narrative and the ridiculous use of flashbacks is way too convoluted, it's makes the story confusing and at times very silly, it works best when it doesn't shift from two men locked in a room. For a first time director making a 1.2 million dollar film it's pretty damn impressive, sure it is missing a certain amount of finesse when it comes to the script but the visually it's great, it's creatively filmed that you don't feel how low the budget actually was.

October 28:

Saw II (2005) * - Giant step down from the last one from a direction and writing standpoint, the film somehow looks and seems cheaper than the last despite the higher budget, but at least the use of flashbacks are toned down. Average but enjoyable.

Saw III (2006) * - Not quite jumping the shark yet but it's another step down from the last and most definitely from the first, funnily enough I remember this as my favorite of the 4 (I had stopped after that one). The flashbacks are back with a vengeance, what the hell is with this franchise and confusing flashbacks? They ruin any sort of tension the film creates and drag down the narrative. Well I probably won't continue with the 4th Saw film and so on, everything was wrapped up poorly but at least it cuts the ties from the previous films enough that there won't be a need to continue watching the others, sure there was a cliffhanger of sorts that I don't remember how it got resolved but I already watched two unnecessary sequels, no need to watch 4 more.

I was going to watch 28 Day Later, it would have been a better use of my time but I've seen it six or seven times already and I had remembered Saw II & III being as good as the first.

October 29:

Honeymoon (2014) - Pretty good, has a nice build up, the two lead characters have great chemistry with each other and it improves what could have easily been a throw away film.
The plot line goes to some really dark places, it's like the directer watched The Evil Dead Tree Rape Scene and decided to make a alien abduction film centered around the deep coincidences of that.
 
26. An American Werewolf in London (watched 10/26/15) - I hadn't seen this movie in a while (not since 2011, I think, which is when I first got it on Blu Ray) and wasn't really in the mood to watch anything on Netflix so I decided to watch it. All in all I still like the movie (especially Rick Baker's werewolf effects) and decided to finally check out the in depth documentary (a whole nother movie of it's own) that was included on the Blu Ray's special features called "Beware the Moon:Remembering An American Werewolf in London".

27. Evil Dead, 2013 (watched 10/27/15) - I was originally going to watch Evil Dead 2, but was so tired that I didn't want to get up and put it in the Blu Ray player. Since I own the 2013 "remake" both digitally & physically (I bought the Blu Ray Digital combo pack) I decided to just launch the VuDu app and watch it. Overall I still enjoyed the "remake" even though the post credits scene/cameo now kinda pisses me off as I think it could have been done way better and way earlier in the movie.

After 27 consecutive days of horror movies (29 movies total) I decided to take a break from horror movies on the 28th.

28. Evil Dead 2 (watched on 10/29/15) - Decided to watch this classic movie since I was too lazy to watch it on the day I intended to and what else can I say other than I love this watching this movie enough to watch it multiple time over the course of a year.
 
Steamlord said:
Regarding the silliness and stupidity, it's supposed to be a horror comedy, though it does tend to emphasize the horror so the silly parts can seem out of place. You might like Ginger Snaps 2. It's shorter and gets to the point faster. First movie spoilers:
2 doesn't have the whole sisterly bond thing going on, of course, but it's still a really enjoyable werewolf thriller.
Feel free to skip Ginger Snaps Back though unless you're really curious.
Click to expand...

I get what they were trying to do with some of the humor, like how puberty affects boys and girls differently in regards to
Jason's pimply transformation
, but man, they really did not handle it well and I didn't find any of it funny. And then there was stuff like the
dead dog on the field hockey field that no one seemed to notice until Brigitte had her face buried in it.
Yeesh. I don't mean to sound like I'm shitting on it though, I did enjoy it in the end.

I'll probably check out the sequels at some point, but I doubt I'll be using a day during the marathon to watch them. Hell, if I can get through 8 Hellraiser sequels I'm sure I can handle 2 more movies with Katharine Isabelle.

mariachi507 said:
I know right? It's like they ran out of money or Wes was like, "eh, we're done here."
Click to expand...

According to IMDb's trivia section, there was additional footage filmed for the ending, but never used in favor of making the ending more "shocking and bleak". So that means Wes actually sat down (most likely with other people) and decided "Yeah, this works." Oh, Wes...
 
ThirstyFly said:
According to IMDb's trivia section, there was additional footage filmed for the ending, but never used in favor of making the ending more "shocking and bleak". So that means Wes actually sat down (most likely with other people) and decided "Yeah, this works." Oh, Wes...
Click to expand...

Haha. Awesome.
 
1. Hotel Transylvania 2 - It was a fun movie and I always had a smile on my face. :) 7.5/10

2. Crimson Peak - It was okay beautiful looking film but the story was so so and I found out the twist pretty early on. 6.5/10

3. Starry eyes - I fucking hate this movie, I heard people on here like it so I gave it a watch and man half the movie was interesting then it got incredibly stupid. 3/10

4. Last Shift - Once again this movie did nothing for me, I appreciate what they did with the small budget but it got repetitive quickly on. 5.5/10

5. The Taking of Deborah Logan - It has an interesting premise and starts off strong but really falls into boredom after 30 minutes and got tiring. 5/10

6. The Den - Man this was a pretty good film, overall one of the best found footage films I've seen. The ending is a bit of a buzz kill but the rest of the film man was great! 8/10

7. Knock Knock - I wanted to like this but it was just dumb and nothing really intense ever happen, it was just meh. 5.5/10

8. Goodnight Mommy - This movie was fucked up, like really messed up. The first half is a slow burn but the last 30 minutes damn. I also thought the twist was way into your face that you knew it coming. 7/10

9. Trick r Treat - Love this movie watched it last year and it's a new classic to me. It's just amazing story telling and fun to watch. 9/10

10. Tales of Halloween- Similar to trick r treat but not even close to being as good. They had two to three stories I liked the rest were pretty shitty. 5/10

11.Vacancy - Once again it was just alright, I thought the characters were okay and the movie moved at an okay pace. 6/10

12. Hostel - Weird movie, first half was pretty dumb but by the end I enjoyed it for what it was. 6/10

13. Pandorum - I love this film, it really reminds me of dead space and the atmosphere is amazing I would recommend this in a heartbeat!. 8.5/10

14. Cooties - It was decent, the acting was fine but the ending felt so rushed and it literally ends right away where I sitting like oh it's done. 6/10

15.The Visit - watched this with the girlfriend and I enjoyed this a lot, it was just a well done film that didn't take itself seriously but had fun. 7/10

16.The Woman in Black - For what it was it was okay but never scared me or have tension it was bleh. 5.5/10

Those are my movies so far :)
 
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