31 Nights (& Days) of Halloween: 2020!

[Jared]

October 14th. 28 - Errementari: The Blacksmith and the Devil (2017). 29 - Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic (2010).

Double dip into Hell!



A Spanish language movie on Netflix, based on Basque legend. In the mid 19th Century an orphaned little girl discovers the local hermit is keeping an unusual prisoner. It struck me as a blend of Sleepy Hollow and Pan's Labyrinth. I enjoyed it.




Adult animated action/horror Based on a videogame I didn't play, inspired by the classic poem I never fully read but have read about. A knight returns from the Crusades to find his innocent beloved being abducted by Lucifer. Guided by the spirit of Virgil, he chases them through the infernal gates to hack and slash his way through the Nine Circles of Hell and confront his own sinful past. Each circle has a different director and art style. The voice work is quite good, featuring Graham McTavish, Mark Hamill and a collection of voice acting specialists.

Anger and Violence being separate circles strikes me as redundant. Ditto for Fraud and Treachery.

If you like Netflix's Castlevania series you will probably like this.

[CellarDweller]

01. Friday the 13th (1980)
02. Friday the 13th Part II
03. Friday the 13th Part III
04. Friday the 13th Part IV (The Final Chapter)
05. Friday the 13th Part V (A New Begining)
06. Friday the 13th Part VI (Jason Lives)
07. Amityville Horror (1979)
08. The Conjuring
09. Insidious
10. The Exorcist
11. The Shining
12. The Crazies (2010)
13. Trick R Treat
14. Ghost Ship
15. 13 Ghosts
16. House on Haunted Hill
17. The Changeling
18. Pumpkinhead
19. Nightmare on Elm Street


20. Oculus (2013) The film takes place in two different times: the present and 11 years earlier. The two plot lines are told in parallel through flashbacks.

In 2002, software engineer Alan Russell moves into a new house with his wife Marie, 10-year-old son Tim, and 12-year-old daughter Kaylie. Alan purchases an antique mirror to decorate his office. Unbeknownst to them, the mirror supernaturally induces hallucinations. Marie is haunted by visions of her own body decaying, while Alan is seduced by a ghostly woman named Marisol, who has mirrors in place of eyes.

Over time, the parents become psychotic; Alan isolates himself in his office, and Marie becomes withdrawn and paranoid. All of the plants in the house die, and the family dog disappears after being shut in the office with the mirror. After Kaylie sees Alan with Marisol, she tells her mother, and the parents fight. One night, Marie goes insane and attempts to kill her children, but Alan locks her away. When the family runs out of food, the children realize that their father is under the influence of the mirror, so Kaylie goes to seek help from their mother, and finds her chained to the wall, acting like an animal. Kaylie and Tim try going to their neighbors for help, but the neighbors disbelieve their stories. When Kaylie attempts to use the phone, she discovers that all of her phone calls are answered by the same man.

One night, Alan unchains Marie, and both parents attack the children. Marie briefly comes to her senses, only to be shot dead by Alan. The children try to destroy the mirror but it tricks them, making them believe they are hitting the mirror when they are actually hitting the wall. Alan also experiences a moment of lucidity and kills himself by forcing Tim to pull the trigger of the gun and shoot him, causing a small crack in the corner of the mirror in the process. Before dying, he begs the children to run, but Marisol and other victims of the mirror appear as horrific ghosts. The police arrive and take Tim into custody. Before the siblings are separated, they promise to reunite as adults and destroy the mirror. As Tim is taken away, he sees the ghosts of his parents watching him from the house.

[Alan2099]

This is one of those movie covers that legitimately disturbed me when I was a little kid. I never watched it, but just looking at the cover scared me.

Tonight I finally watched it. I'm not disappointed at all. It's not a scary movie, but it's a fun one. It starts out with a DOUBLE fakeout opening and an 80s music video before we even get to see out main characters and they are dressed in some wonderfully awful 80s fashion, and from there it goes to frat pranks and a bunch of naked girls in a hot tub before finally settling in on a fantastic cheesy 80s slasher territory.

[CJStriker]

1.) Nosferatu (1922)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
2.) The Phantom of the Opera (1925)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
3.) Dracula (1931)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
4.) Frankenstein (1931)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
5.) The Mummy (1932)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
6.) The Invisible Man (1933)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
7.) Bride of Frankenstein (1935)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
8.) Werewolf of London (1935)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
9.) Dracula's Daughter (1936)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
10.) Son of Frankenstein (1939)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
11.) Mark of the Vampire (1935)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
12.) The Mummy's Hand (1940)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
13.) The Wolf Man (1941)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
14.) The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
15.) The Mummy's Tomb (1942)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!

16.) Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) (1943)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035899/


Before the MCU made it commonplace for big character crossovers, the Monsters of the 1930's and 40's of Universal Pictures set the standard and it was a treat watching this for the 1st time. The Stories of both worlds fit nicely with each other and really felt epic seeing both worlds of Frankenstein and the Wolf Man come together. The story from the 1st wolfman flows well into this one feeling like a true sequel while the Frankenstein mythos shore of flows from the last movie (The Ghost of Frankenstein). The crossover still feels epic, liked this one.

[Jared]

October 15. 30 - Demon City Jinkuku (1988). 31 - Necropolis (1986).



Anime flick. A demon worshipping sorcerer has turned central Tokyo into an Earthquake ravaged, monster-riddled wasteland. A young guy with mystical/chi warriors powers, whose father was slain by the villain ten years ago, gets hastily recruited by a sage and a politician's innocent daughter to go save the world. That's pretty much it. It's short, the characters are thin, the story is boilerplate. The action scenes and the animation are OK but the music is dull. This was dubbed version on Amazon Prime and the voice work was flat.



Necropolis is about a reincarnated Satanic witch killing people in NYC and running afoul of three people she knew in her past life centuries ago. Super cheap and bad.

[CJStriker]

1.) Nosferatu (1922)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
2.) The Phantom of the Opera (1925)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
3.) Dracula (1931)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
4.) Frankenstein (1931)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
5.) The Mummy (1932)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
6.) The Invisible Man (1933)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
7.) Bride of Frankenstein (1935)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
8.) Werewolf of London (1935)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
9.) Dracula's Daughter (1936)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
10.) Son of Frankenstein (1939)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
11.) Mark of the Vampire (1935)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
12.) The Mummy's Hand (1940)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
13.) The Wolf Man (1941)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
14.) The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
15.) The Mummy's Tomb (1942)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
16.) Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) (1943)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!

17.) Phantom of the Opera (1943)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036261/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_6

This Truly felt like the Golden Era of Hollywood style movie with the Big style movie with the glory of sound and color splashed on the screen so nicely. Ontop of that a Picture this Big and Nice looking was made during the hight of World War II so that is impressive on Hollywoods part. This one followed more of a lighter hearted comedy/love story at times but you did get allot more backstory to the Phantom this time Named Erique Claudin who was Brilliantly Played by Claude Rains(The Invisible Man)!

Honestly I have now seen 2 Claude Rains lead movies and he so far was been My Favorite actor in the Movies I have seen!

Claude Rains plays a more wronged and sympothic Phantom that you feel the pain and why he turned into the phantom and his motives and heartbreak. It is more complex of a take on the Phantom and deeper then the original. But still his deeds for a movie like this are still pretty dark and shows just how much just one bad day can turn a once good man wronged into such horror.

While not the the overall darkest in my list so far this year, it gives weight to the Monster Erique Claudin becomes and it is a sight of a movie to behold as a love letter to the Opera. Indeed I Really Enjoyed this one!

[Astral Disaster]

35. Alien (1979) Ridley Scott's sci-fi/horror masterpiece, I know a lot of people prefer James Cameron's followup, Aliens, which I also love, but I'm way more a fan of horror than action and view the original as superior. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(film)

[Joker]

and view the original as superior.

They're both just masterfully done. If they weren't, they wouldn't work together. Aliens is a masterpiece of an action movie. Alien is a masterpiece of a horror movie. They both set a standard that most have failed to live up to. I love them both, and I've never understood the debate between which is better, because they're both amazing, but very different films.

[CJStriker]

1.) Nosferatu (1922)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
2.) The Phantom of the Opera (1925)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
3.) Dracula (1931)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
4.) Frankenstein (1931)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
5.) The Mummy (1932)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
6.) The Invisible Man (1933)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
7.) Bride of Frankenstein (1935)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
8.) Werewolf of London (1935)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
9.) Dracula's Daughter (1936)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
10.) Son of Frankenstein (1939)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
11.) Mark of the Vampire (1935)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
12.) The Mummy's Hand (1940)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
13.) The Wolf Man (1941)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
14.) The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
15.) The Mummy's Tomb (1942)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
16.) Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) (1943)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!
17.) Phantom of the Opera (1943)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!

18.) Song at Midnight (1937)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206442/

This is indeed the idea of a movie starting off slow and then getting better as it goes along. The 1st near 30mins is very dark cause of it's era and took some time for the story to get going. But once we got the Phantom's Backstory then the story go me engaged and it honest was better then I thought it would be.

Not Bad for what is said to be China's 1st Horror Movie!

[Sean Whitmore]

This movie is awful, but there are so many hilariously bad scenes it still manages to be entertaining, the first time I saw the corn stabbing I could couldn't stop laughing.

Yeah, a few more kills like that would have at least increased the movie's rewatch value.

The Phantom of the Opera (1925)! ~~ Amazon PRIME Video!

I've really gotta get around to watching that. I've had it in the Universal Monsters box set for years, but every time I dip into it I end up choosing something else.


1. Body Bags (1993)
2. The Hitcher (1986)
3a. Child's Play (2019)
3b. The Haunted Palace (1963)
4a. Cult of Chucky (2017)
4b. Night of the Demons (1988)
4c. The Gate II (1990)
5. Vampires vs The Bronx (2020)
6a. Ghost Ship (2002)
6b. The Guest (2014)
7. The Fly (1958)
8. Village of the Damned (1960)
9a. Children of the Damned (1964)
9b. Hand of Death (1962)
9c. Friday the 13th (1980)
10. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
11a. Ice Cream Man (1995)
11b. Child's Play (1988)
12a. Child's Play 2 (1990)
12b. Child's Play 3 (1991)
13. Peeping Tom (1960)
14. Sleepwalkers (1992)

15. The Dark Half (1993)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Half_(film)

I didn't go double-Stephen King on purpose, just happened to work out that way. This was pretty good, didn't go exactly where I was expecting. I'm glad to finally have some context for the dozens upon dozens of comic ads I saw for this movie that year. Now I've just gotta see Dead Calm and Dr. Giggles, and my unfinished nostalgic demons will be put to rest.

[Moon Ronin]

1. The Curse of Buckout Road (2017) on Tubi
2. Winchester (2018) on Netflix
3. The Curse of La Lorena (2019) on HBO MAX
4. Doctor Sleep (2019) on HBO Max
5. The Frighteners (1996) on HBO MAX
6. You're Next (2013) on Peacock
7. I Spit On Your Grave (2010) on Amazon Prime
8. Halloween (1978) on AMC
9. Halloween II (1981) on Vudu
10. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) on AMC
11. Fright Night (1985) on Amazon Prime
12. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1995) on AMC
13. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) on AMC
14. Halloween H20: 20 Years later (1998) on AMC
15. Halloween: Resurrection ( 2002)on AMC

Quote: Jenna Danzig: This must be where the demon was conceived.

[Scott Taylor]

Last night it was The Sound of Horror, a Spanish horror film from 1966. It reminded me a lot of Tremors, actually. The pacing was a little terrible, but a decent flick otherwise with a genuinely terrifying monster.

And, on the left in the promotional still below - a very young Ingrid Pitt!

[Astral Disaster]

They're both just masterfully done. If they weren't, they wouldn't work together. Aliens is a masterpiece of an action movie. Alien is a masterpiece of a horror movie. They both set a standard that most have failed to live up to. I love them both, and I've never understood the debate between which is better, because they're both amazing, but very different films.

True, just for me, the original edges out the sequel. Of course, speaking of which...

36. Aliens (1986) James Cameron's follow up to Scott's first film in the franchise, the two really do pair up perfectly, and for a lot of fans these remain the only relevant entries in the entire series. There are a couple of nods to the "haunted house in space" aesthetic of the original, but then considerably amps up the action. A very close second for me from the Alien movies, I tend to mostly enjoy all those that follow, but beyond the first two don't rank them in any particular order. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliens_(film)

[Joker]

It’s interesting that both are actually worse in their directors cut form.

I maintain that Alien 3, the workprint version is a fine film.

[Astral Disaster]

I generally like 3, my biggest complaint would be the use of CGI, I think, even in the form we got, it would have been better regarded if practical effects had been used throughout the film, though there will be those who can never forgive the offscreen deaths of Newt and Hicks. Anyway, on with the countdown...

37. Halloween (1978) Another of my all time favorites, which I have no problem watching multiple times, especially around Halloween. One thing I'll point out which I don't see mentioned very often, if you're a stickler for details, the early scenes in daylight will likely drive you nuts, as the time of day and atmospheric conditions shift wildly over the course of just a few short minutes, at one point it appears to be late afternoon/evening with the sun low in the sky, then it immediately cuts to bright midday sunlight, followed shortly thereafter by overcast skies with everything damp from rain, then back to a clear, dry and sunny afternoon. The entire segment was obviously filmed at different times, and possibly on completely different days, then pieced together afterwards, but on casual viewing it can impart a rather unsettling, surrealistic effect, the feeling things aren't quite right.