31 Days & Nights of Halloween: 2018 Edition

[Sean Whitmore]

1. Tourist Trap (1979)
2. Poltergeist II (1986)
3a. Frankenstein (1931)
3b. Sleepaway Camp (1983)
4. Isle of the Dead (1945)
5a. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
5b. Venom (2018)
6a. Son of Frankenstein (1939)
6b. Rabid (1977)
7a. The Prowler (1981)
7b. Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (1988)
8. Daughters of Darkness (1971)
9. Fiend Without a Face (1958)
10. [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056875/]Blood Feast (1963)[/url]



This movie is 100% awful, but that's almost beside the point. It's notable for being the first "gore film", and the director, Herschell Gordon Lewis, is credited with creating the splatter subgenre. I don't know how deserved that is, but I will say this is the earliest movie I've seen to feature scenes of eyes and tongues being cut out. There's a long, slow pan of a dead woman's bloody corpse at the end of the movie that is so jarring and unnecessary that it feels like a parody of a genre that didn't even exist yet.

The only worthwhile way to watch this is with Joe Bob Briggs, who tells behind-the-scenes stories about Lewis. The guy knew he was a businessman, not a filmmaker, and was shameless about it. Think John Goodman's character from "Trumbo". Hilariously, Lewis made more money in the junk-mail business than he did making movies.

[Jared]

Christpher Lee marathon on TCM tonight.
First up is The Devil's Bride aka The Devil Rides Out. It'll be new to me.

[Sean Whitmore]

That's a good one, though it was weird for me to see the narrator from Rocky Horror Picture Show play a satanic cult leader.

(I know he was Blofeld once, but I never saw it)

[Tazirai]

Too sleepy from work and I gotta be up at 6am.
So here's a Halloween Quickie folks.+

[Jared]

October 1st. 1- Suspiria (1977)
October 2nd. 2- Nosferatu: The Vampyre (1979)
October 3rd. 3- Halloween (1978)
October 4th. 4- The Ritual (2018) 5- Phantasm (1979)
October 5th. 6- V/H/S/2 (2013)
October 6th. 7- Sleepaway Camp (1983)
October 7th. 8- The Shining (1980)
October 8th. 9- City of the Dead (1960) 10- Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf (1985) 11- Venom (2018)
October 9th. 12- The Devil Rides Out (1968) 12-Horror of Dracula (1958)



So, in America this was titled "The Devil's Bride" so it wouldn't be mistaken for a Western. And I have to say, they were on to something. Because I've heard of this movie before...and always assumed it was a supernatural Western. But 'Rides Out is a way cooler title.

After Howling II, seeing Christopher Lee as the hero again is a remarkable trend. I wish we learned more about his character, a brave, two-fisted European noble who has a remarkable amount of knowledge of the occult, specifically how to fight black magic. With his goatee, imposing height, and jet black hair, you might at first glance expect him to be the baddie...but those Satanists are going to learn the hard way.

I thought the first half of the movie was better than the second. An event that should probably have been saved for the climax happens early, and nothing really tops it. I also thought the ending was a little too neat and tidy for everyone.

That's a good one, though it was weird for me to see the narrator from Rocky Horror Picture Show play a satanic cult leader.

(I know he was Blofeld once, but I never saw it)

Heh, he's always the Bloefeld from Diamonds are Forever to me. Though he also had a small role in a prior Bond movie.




Horror of Dracula was Lee's first foray as the infamous count. He and Cushing are fun to watch, but sadly never get to really exchange much dialogue. A conversation between these two would over a game of chess would be remarkable.

Something I didn't much care for in the Hammer Dracula series when I watched them all a few years ago was just how ineffective the vampires usually were. Just keep a cross on and they're pretty well thwarted.

Not my favorite version of Dracula, but a solid entry. Just on a film vs film basis, influence aside, I think it's better than the Bela Lugosi one. But the Frank Langella movie is perhaps the best, seconded by Francis Ford Coppala's which is a rollercoaster of great elements alternated with terrible ones.

[Vegan Daddy]

I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole of horror cinema.

Atman (1975)

[Jared]

October 1st. 1- Suspiria (1977)
October 2nd. 2- Nosferatu: The Vampyre (1979)
October 3rd. 3- Halloween (1978)
October 4th. 4- The Ritual (2018) 5- Phantasm (1979)
October 5th. 6- V/H/S/2 (2013)
October 6th. 7- Sleepaway Camp (1983)
October 7th. 8- The Shining (1980)
October 8th. 9- City of the Dead (1960) 10- Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf (1985) 11- Venom (2018)
October 9th. 12- The Devil Rides Out (1968) 13- Horror of of Dracula (1958) 14- Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)



Christopher Lee returns for the first of many times. It's ten* years later and Dracula's loyal servant ghoul has prepared to revive him, all he needs is some unsuspecting English tourists to foolishly agree to stay the night in the castle. Lee doesn't actually speak any dialogue in this one. Maybe getting resurrected from dust after many years results in some laryngitis. The 'van helsing' of this movie is a bishop who isn't nearly as interesting as Cushing, and he's absent from the whole middle of the movie. His views about vampireism seems to do a complete reversal between his appearances, as well. I wasn't a fan of him. And the manner of Dracula's demise this time around is most undignified.

*or 20 years later according to a gravestone shown in the next movie.

[Jared]

October 1st. 1- Suspiria (1977)
October 2nd. 2- Nosferatu: The Vampyre (1979)
October 3rd. 3- Halloween (1978)
October 4th. 4- The Ritual (2018) 5- Phantasm (1979)
October 5th. 6- V/H/S/2 (2013)
October 6th. 7- Sleepaway Camp (1983)
October 7th. 8- The Shining (1980)
October 8th. 9- City of the Dead (1960) 10- Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf (1985) 11- Venom (2018)
October 9th. 12- The Devil Rides Out (1968) 13-Horror of Dracula (1958) 14- Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)
October 10th. 15- Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988)



Light, semi-comical slasher sequel. This one actually has some production value and decent-for-the-genre acting. There's a missed opportunity in going full comedy with a killer who is kind of bumbling. For instance, there's a scene where a chainsaw is out of gas so the attack is called off, there could have been more stuff like that. As it is, the movie wastes no time on buildup, from the start we know who is killing and why.

There is a notable scene where two kids dressed as Freddy and Jason meet their maker.

BTW, The killer is played by Bruce Springsteen's little sister, and the main heroine is the sister of Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen.

[Sean Whitmore]

1. Tourist Trap (1979)
2. Poltergeist II (1986)
3a. Frankenstein (1931)
3b. Sleepaway Camp (1983)
4. Isle of the Dead (1945)
5a. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
5b. Venom (2018)
6a. Son of Frankenstein (1939)
6b. Rabid (1977)
7a. The Prowler (1981)
7b. Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (1988)
8. Daughters of Darkness (1971)
9. Fiend Without a Face (1958)
10. Blood Feast (1963)
11a. The Black Cat (1934)



Bela Lugosi plays a recently-released prisoner from an infamous Siberian prison camp. He seeks out his former friend played by Boris Karloff, a satanic cult leader who betrayed him during the war and stole his life. Caught between their hate is a young couple on their honeymoon, who Lugosi befriends on the way to Karloff's home.

What does any of this have to do with the Poe story? Absolutely nothing. Less than nothing. But a good movie, nonetheless.


11b. The Monster Squad (1987)



I don't think anyone needs me to explain this one. Group of precocious 80s kids fight updated versions of the classic Universal Monsters. Co-written by Shane Black, who worked on both the best and the worst Predator movies. Pretty fun.


11c. Basket Case (1982)



I used to see commercials for this movie at midnight on TNT or USA or whoever was showing late-night schlock at the time. Scared the hell out of a 10-year old. Of course, so did Chucky, so maybe my phobia was tiny things that really shouldn't have the upper-body strength necessary to do you harm.

For anyone who doesn't know, this is about a young man and his once-conjoined twin seeking revenge on the doctors who separated them. it hit right around the time that home video rentals were becoming a thing, so its weird premise made it a cult classic.

[Tazirai]

AKA Burn Witch Burn. I LOVE this film. I kinda wish I had seen it in the theatre back in the day.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1vsbvo

[CJStriker]

1.) Big Trouble in Little China (1986)! ~~ Blu-Ray DVD
2.) Shin Godzilla (2016)! - Blu-Ray DVD ~ English Dub
3.) Stigmata (1999)! ~ Regular DVD
4.) Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! (1978)! ~~ Blu-Ray DVD
5.) The War of the Worlds (1953)! ~~ DVD
6.) The Seventh Sign (1988)! ~~ Blu-Ray DVD
7.) Deep Rising (1998)! ~~ HULU


8.) End of Days (1999)! ~~ DVD

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0146675/

9.)Constantine (2005)! ~~ NETFLIXS


https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0360486/

10.)The Prophecy (1995)! ~~ HULU

"I Meet The Devil Tonight!"


https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114194/

[Jared]

I love Viggo's portrayal of Satan in The Prophecy. Not much screentime, but he's memorable.

Co-written by Shane Black, who worked on both the best and the worst Predator movies.

Hey! Shane didn't work on Aliens vs Predator: Requiem


October 1st. 1- Suspiria (1977)
October 2nd. 2- Nosferatu: The Vampyre (1979)
October 3rd. 3- Halloween (1978)
October 4th. 4- The Ritual (2018) 5- Phantasm (1979)
October 5th. 6- V/H/S/2 (2013)
October 6th. 7- Sleepaway Camp (1983)
October 7th. 8- The Shining (1980)
October 8th. 9- City of the Dead (1960) 10- Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf (1985) 11- Venom (2018)
October 9th. 12- The Devil Rides Out (1968) 13-Horror of Dracula (1958) 14- Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)
October 10th. 15- Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988) 16- Truth or Dare (2017)



There are several movies with this title. This one is SyFy channel original from 2017 starring Cassie Scerbo of Sharknado fame. This is made as more of a legit movie than those were. Teens play truth or dare in a spooky abandoned house find that a sadistic force is making them play according to its own rules. The game escalates too quickly for the story's good, I felt.

It's meh-OK, but probably didn't need to be feature length. If a show like Master's of Horror or Twilight Zone was currently around, this could make a fine episode.

[comicscollector]

1-Hush (2016).
2-Rings (2017).
3-The Omen (1976).
4-1922. (2017).
5-The Wolfman.(2010)

6-Paranormal Activity 2.(2010) A Horror movie that is a combination of Poltergeist and The Blair Witch Project should be a great horror movie,right?
Wrong.This movie is way boring,and just because it have a few scary scenes does not make it a good horror movie by far.4.0

[Sean Whitmore]

1. Tourist Trap (1979)
2. Poltergeist II (1986)
3a. Frankenstein (1931)
3b. Sleepaway Camp (1983)
4. Isle of the Dead (1945)
5a. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
5b. Venom (2018)
6a. Son of Frankenstein (1939)
6b. Rabid (1977)
7a. The Prowler (1981)
7b. Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (1988)
8. Daughters of Darkness (1971)
9. Fiend Without a Face (1958)
10. Blood Feast (1963)
11a. The Black Cat (1934)
11b. The Monster Squad (1987)
11c. Basket Case (1982)
12. Phantasm (1979)



Next to Hellraiser (which I first saw last year), this was probably the best-known horror series of the era that I'd never seen before. It was a lot more...independent than I expected, with only a small handful of characters and locations. It certainly didn't waste any time, either; the first killing happens straight away, the older brother believes the younger brother about the spooky happenings after his first encounter with the Tall Man, etc.

It was fun enough, had a few legit spooks. It's the kind of movie where the sum of its parts is actually less than its individual pieces. I can certainly see how it influenced things like Nightmare on Elm Street (with dream imagery and that fakeout ending) and the Supernatural series (couple brothers in jeans and jackets driving a muscle car and fighting evil with shotguns).

[AdamFTF]

Not a movie, but I discovered a new kids' horror anthology show on Netflix. It's called Creeped Out. Every episode starts with a creepy masked kid called The Curious preparing to collect another strange tale and a souvenir from said story then transitions into the actual story. It's actually a legit creepy show in spots. For comparison, let's say it's a bit more serious than your average R.L. Stine stuff like Goosebumps or The Haunting Hour. It works the suspense a bit better than Are You Afraid of the Dark?. Of course, the show is British and they tend to push stuff for kids a bit more than American and Canadian shows.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cg40XTWmcI