31 Days of Halloween movies, 2017

[redrunner97]

That is a solid list! Three I really like, two I've been wanting to see, and Ginger Snaps.

Thanks!

Also, I watched CULT OF CHUCKY earlier (loved it btw), but it's not my official movie for today. I still haven't decided what I'll be watching tonight yet, but there are a couple titles on my shelf that have been jumping out at me lately.

Tomorrow's is pretty set in stone though. I'm catching a double feature of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET and SCREAM at my local revival house. Can't wait!

[Sean Whitmore]

October 1 - Frankenstein 1970 (1958)
October 2 - Nothing But The Night (1973)
October 3 - Hellraiser (1987)
October 4 - Dead of Night (1945)
October 5 - Alias John Preston (1955) / What We Do in Shadows (2014)
October 6 - Blood From the Mummy's Tomb (1971)
October 7 - Gerald’s Game (2017)



Probably a stretch to call this one horror, but I’m visiting my parents for the week, so pickings are gonna be a little slim. Still, a suspenseful little film, with some imagery that borders on the horrific. Based on the Stephen King novel, this is about a woman who ends up alone and handcuffed to a bed in the middle of nowhere when her husband dies of a heart attack in the middle of an erotic game. She has to survive dehydration, a hungry wild dog, and even a Twin Peaks alumnus. A little slow in places, as you might expect, but like Za Waldo said on his list, overall a decent watch.

[Vakanai]

I loved The Wolf Man when I was like 5 & 6, but it's another one of those things where on a rewatch a few years ago I found I didn't like it. Lon Chaney Jr. is totally miscast in that role, nothing about him makes sense as that type of character, and it brings the whole movie down. Everything else is great, but he ruins the whole thing; he's not there because he's right, he's just there because who his father is.

I can kind of get that, he's too big and happy go lucky almost to play this awkward guy that is early Larry Talbot. He's a bit cheesy in the role, and parts of the film do suffer because he is painfully playing against type...but he plays it so heart-feltedly (not a word, but still...) and emotionally that the basic tragic elements still work brilliantly despite his earlier not-good-at-playing-awkward awkwardness. That said where Chaney really comes into his own and shines is in the sequel, Frankenstein meets the Wolf Man. When he's just playing the pure tragedy and agony angle of the curse, it really shines through. A whole movie in 1930's/40's black and white about a man desperately seeking a means to his own suicide could easily fall prey to either camp or overbearing 'woe is me'-ness, but when Chaney did it it was just human. Of course that's just my take on it, but I think Chaney really grew into the role after the first film, and even in the first he really showed a lot of his strength in the characterization towards the end. It's really only his attempt at playing a romantic lead that is painful to watch, but as a tragic character his talents more naturally shines through.

I'll post my list of films so far later this week. Mostly B-movies I caught on Comet (a local sci-fi channel I guess).

[GrifterWC]

1. Contracted (2013)
2. The Cave (2005)
3. Pandorum (2009)
4. The Babadook (2014)
5. Doom (2005)

Space Marines are sent to investigate strange events at a research facility on Mars but find themselves at the mercy of genetically enhanced killing machines.



Based on the video game, the Rock leads a group of Space Marines to find missing scientists but run across mutated monsters instead. Nothing new here, but for a video game movie it was not that bad. Action and story were decent enough to be an enjoyable movie.

[GrifterWC]

1. Contracted (2013)
2. The Cave (2005)
3. Pandorum (2009)
4. The Babadook (2014)
5. Doom (2005)
6. The Windmill (2016)

Jennifer is an Australian girl on the run from her past who washes up in Amsterdam. In a desperate attempt to stay one step ahead of the authorities, she joins a coach-load of tourists embarking on a tour of Holland's world famous windmills. When the bus breaks down in the middle of nowhere, she and the other tourists are forced to seek shelter in a disused shed beside a sinister windmill where, legend has it, a Devil-worshiping miller once ground the bones of locals instead of grain.



A group of tourists go on a Windmill site seeing tour. Their bus breaks down where they seek shelter in an abandoned shed. The driver tells the group that the Windmill used to belong to a Miller that supposedly made a deal with the Devil and was eventually killed by the villagers when they locked him into his mill and burnt it down. One by the one the tourist begin to be murdered. This was a nice little movie. Had a pretty decent story for a slasher film.

[Jared]

1. The Return of the Vampire. (1943)
2. The Lost Boys. (1987)
3. Deathgasm. (2015).
4. Little Evil. (2017)
5. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. (1980)
6. Little Dead Rotting Hood. (2016)
7. The Craft. (1996)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLSjSn2ZCvM

October 6 and 7th ended up with back to back
supernatural girl power flicks. One of them was a real movie, but the first was an entry from Asylum studios; Little Dead Rotting Hood. In a slight change of pace for them, this doesn't seem to be based on any particular movie, and only inspired by the fairy tale in a vague sense. I will say for the first 30 to 40 minutes I was actually kind of engaged with it, sure it's a B (being generous)movie but at least it was being done competently, with some real actors. An attack by wolves was mostly reliant on actual dogs rather than subpar CG. But then we start getting more of the story explained, some characters just show up or go away without much reason, and the action scenes all descend into tedium of guys firing guns at targets out of frame or the heroine getting (literally) bitch-slapped. The gist of the story is that the titular "rotting hood", though he's never called that, is the latest in a line of women who basically becomes a feral revenant in order to guard the forest against evil werewolves. She's basically Buffy the Wolf Slayer, except she's technically undead. But more to the movie's detriment, she's also not really fleshed out enough. She doesn't get nearly enough time to kick ass on screen, most of the movie follows the local sheriff.

For whatever reason, it's just much harder to find genuinely good movies about werewolves than it is vampires, zombies, witches, or ghosts. But I guess the lycanthropes are still ahead of mummies, so that's something. And lagoon creatures are the poor red-headed stepchild of the classic monster archetypes.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoM4OXQVCcE

The Craft was the movie that every Goth girl I knew from 8th through 12th grade was obsessed with. It may have been their Titanic. The movie is so 90s is has Skeet Ulrich, that's how 90s it is. I had only ever seen the last couple minutes previously. I don't feel like I missed out much. It's not that the movie is bad, per say, it just isn't for me. With a little stronger script and a more exciting finale I might be more enthused. Still, at various times it's fun to watch the girls do their voodoo. I noticed that the movie and trailer prominently feature the same song that would be used in the opening credits for the show, Charmed. Given how successful this movie was, I'm surprised there hasn't been any sequel and/or remake already, only rumors of projects that never got out of early development.

[BaneBreaker]

We've managed to follow our schedule that we put in place, here's the rest of the week:

Monday: Dawn of the Dead (2004)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363547/

Tuesday: Feeding Grounds

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816497/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Wednesday: Wicked Little Things

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470000/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Thursday: Stake Land

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1464580/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Friday: Dark Ride

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433963/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Saturday: The Chair

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3400932/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

[Vegan Daddy]

The Innocents(1961)

[thwhtGuardian]

Vampyr

Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer
1932

I've seen this film in a few different versions through the years but I recently got my hands on the new Criterion edition which is a new transfer from a restored original German print which makes it the first time I've seen the film in it's unedited glory. What I've always loved about the film was Dreyer's, soft, spooky atmosphere and his knack for creating some truly unsettling images with out resorting to shock or gore. In particular, there is a scene where the doctor "drowns" in a wave of flower:

It's unique, dark and it's use of a regular household item as a means of death is wildly disquieting. On another level I enjoy this movie because it is an adaptation of the short story Carmilla from one of my favorite gothic writers Sheridan Le Fanu, which isn't only a haunting story but in itself is important as it was a leading inspiration for Stoker's Dracula.With that in mind watching it with looking for parallels to Dracula makes for a fun experience.

[Za Waldo]

I can kind of get that, he's too big and happy go lucky almost to play this awkward guy that is early Larry Talbot. He's a bit cheesy in the role, and parts of the film do suffer because he is painfully playing against type...but he plays it so heart-feltedly (not a word, but still...) and emotionally that the basic tragic elements still work brilliantly despite his earlier not-good-at-playing-awkward awkwardness. That said where Chaney really comes into his own and shines is in the sequel, Frankenstein meets the Wolf Man. When he's just playing the pure tragedy and agony angle of the curse, it really shines through. A whole movie in 1930's/40's black and white about a man desperately seeking a means to his own suicide could easily fall prey to either camp or overbearing 'woe is me'-ness, but when Chaney did it it was just human. Of course that's just my take on it, but I think Chaney really grew into the role after the first film, and even in the first he really showed a lot of his strength in the characterization towards the end. It's really only his attempt at playing a romantic lead that is painful to watch, but as a tragic character his talents more naturally shines through.

I'll post my list of films so far later this week. Mostly B-movies I caught on Comet (a local sci-fi channel I guess).

No, Comet is one of those national sub-channels that started popping up after the switch to digital. They almost all seem to be owned by MGM and SONY. Think Comet is all MGM like ThisTV. ThisTV usually had some good stuff in October.

[Sean Whitmore]

October 1 - Frankenstein 1970 (1958)
October 2 - Nothing But The Night (1973)
October 3 - Hellraiser (1987)
October 4 - Dead of Night (1945)
October 5 - Alias John Preston (1955) / What We Do in Shadows (2014)
October 6 - Blood From the Mummy's Tomb (1971)
October 7 - Gerald’s Game (2017)
October 8 - Curse of Chucky (2013)



Took a while to get around to this one, but I’m glad I finally did. A refreshing back-to-basics approach for a franchise, blending the best of the more “serious” first 3 and the less-so next 2. I actually laughed out loud at the scene referencing Chucky’s facial stitches.

[Sean Whitmore]

October 1 - Frankenstein 1970 (1958)
October 2 - Nothing But The Night (1973)
October 3 - Hellraiser (1987)
October 4 - Dead of Night (1945)
October 5 - Alias John Preston (1955) / What We Do in Shadows (2014)
October 6 - Blood From the Mummy's Tomb (1971)
October 7 - Gerald’s Game (2017)
October 8 - Curse of Chucky (2013)
October 9 - Cult of Chucky (2017)



I’m as surprised as anyone that this franchise is a going concern again. I might have liked this one even more than the previous installment; the plot is batshit crazy and the continuity porn is on-point.

Damballa Must be the God of Vagueness, because you can apparently invoke his name to do anything at this point.

[Joker]

Missed Saturday, and fell asleep watching last night's feature, so I'm going to finish it up today.

The Innocents(1961)

A wonderfully creepy movie. I usually watch that once a year.

[Panfoot]

1. Halloween
2. Halloween II
3. Halloween III: Season of the Witch
4. Halloween 4: The Return of Micheal Myers
5. Land of the Dead
6. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Micheal Myers
7. Halloween 6: The Curse of Micheal Myers (Theatrical Cut)
8. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later

Gonna get through Halloween: Resurrection tonight and then take a little break with maybe The People Under the Stairs or The Blair Witch Project before watching the 2 Rob Zombie Halloween movies.

[Joker]

1. The Shining.
2. The Woman in Black.
3. The Conjuring.
4.The Conjuring 2.
5. At The Devil's Door.
6. Dog Soldiers.
7. Treehouse of Horror 1.

8. The VVitch.

Missed a day, and I'm sure it won't be the last, but back on the plan with The VVitch and boy was this excellent. I missed this when it came out last year.

If you haven't seen this, I suggest giving it a go. I'd suggest knowing nothing about it before you watch it, too. No trailers. This is how I like to watch movies anyway, but I think it'll improve the experience here.

This is probably my favorite horror movie in recent years. This one did it perfectly. I don't know how I'll follow this one up.