31 Horrid Nights of Halloween: 2022!

[Nods]

the-spiral-staircase-1975-696x392.jpg

October 4th The Spiral Staircase (1975)

Helen Mallory is a beautiful young woman who has been unable to speak a word since seeing her husband and daughter die in a fire. She visits the home of her elderly, invalid grandmother and meets her uncle, Joe Sherman, a respected psychiatrist. The visit turns into a nightmare as she encounters Joe's brash brother Steven, as well as a pretentious Southern belle named Blanche and other mysterious characters in a house where everyone's life seems to be in grave danger. This is a remake of another version and it's pretty bad it tries to be a Giallo but fails.

October 1st The Canterville Ghost (1944)
October 2nd The Smiling Ghost(1941)
October 3th Ghosts, Italian Style (1964)
October 4th The Spiral Staircase (1975)

[caj]

10/01 - Poltergeist (1982) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poltergeist_(1982_film)
10/02 - Silence of the Lambs (1991) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Si...e_Lambs_(film)
10/03 - Psycho (1960) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_(1960_film)
10/04 - Insidious (2010) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insidious_(film)

[CJStriker]

1.) Killer Klowns from Outer Space! (1988)~ Amazon PRIME!
2.)The Vampire Bat (1933) ~ Amazon PRIME
3.) The Devil Bat (1940) ~ Amazon PRIME!


4.)Dracula in Istanbul (1953) ~ You Tube!

Even thought it is hard to make out at times with the Film being so grainy & the subtitles being off seemingly abit, it still was a nice & interesting Turkish interpitation of Bram Stoker's Classic Story!

5.)Planet of the Vampires (1965) ~ Amazon PRIME!

6.)Queen of Blood (1966) ~ Amazon PRIME!

Staring Young Dennis Hopper & John Saxon! =)

Way Cool to see their Earlier Work!

[Astral Disaster]

9. Beyond Re-Animator (2003) - I've always read/heard people say skip this one, it's a waste of time, and to just stick to the original and Bride Of Re-Animator, so this was the first time viewimg, and imo, not quite as bad as everyone says, especially if you're a fan of the first two. If nothing else it's just fun watching Jeffery Combs reprise his role as Dr. Herbert West, and, like Robert Englund and Doug Bradley as Freddy Krueger and Pinhead respectively, he absolutely epitomizes the character and is the standout in the film. I think where the movie gets demerits is in dubbing the voices of most of the Spanish cast, some pretty ropey looking CGI, and some really over-the-top ridiculousness in the final act, but it's still pretty impressive what they did with a reported 3 million dollar budget. The only other thing I had an issue with was the utter sadisticness of the prison warden, it just didn't fit at all with the supposedly US setting, though given it was filmed in Spain and the writers are Spanish it makes some sense as the country is still dealing with the after effects of the Franco regime nearly half a century after the fascist dictator's death.

10. Frankenstein (1931) - Even though it only very loosely follows Mary Shelley's 1818 novel, it's the version of the story most people on the planet for the last several decades are familiar with, Boris Karloff's monster has been an iconic presence in horror cinema for nearly a century and has become the de-facto representation of the character. Not much I can say that will add anything to the substantial legacy of the film. I particulary love all the shadowy, cavernous interior scences. and the nightime graveyard and windmill scenes, all which just perfectly frame the tone of the story.

[Moon Ronin]

Still swinging that Hammer

#4: Frankenstein Created Woman (1976)
NOW FRANKENSTEIN HAS CREATED A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN WITH THE SOUL OF THE DEVIL!
A deformed tormented girl drowns herself after her lover is framed for murder and guillotined. Baron Frankenstein, experimenting with the transfer of souls, places the boy’s soul into her body, bringing Christina back to life. Driven by revenge, she carries out a violent retribution on those responsible for both deaths.


#5: Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969)
THE MOST FRIGHTENING FRANKENSTEIN MOVIE EVER!
Blackmailing a young couple to assist with his horrific experiments the Baron, desperate for vital medical data, abducts a man from an insane asylum. On route the abductee dies and the Baron and his assistant transplant his brain into a corpse. The creature is tormented by a trapped soul in an alien shell and, after a visit to his wife who violently rejects his monstrous form, the creature wreaks his revenge on the perpetrator of his misery: Baron Frankenstein.


#6 The Horror of Frankenstein (1970)
NEW THRILLS! NEW FACES! NEW HORROR!
Tongue-in-cheek chiller about a ruthlessly sadistic student who will stop at nothing in pursuit of advancing his shocking scientific experiments. Young Victor Frankenstein murders his own father in order to inherit his title and fortune, and drops out of school to concentrate on his unholy attempts to resurrect dead creatures.

[Scott Taylor]

04. An American Werewolf in London (1981) - An oldie but a goodie, I've not watched the film uncut in quite some time so this was a treat. Surprising just how well it has held up after all these years, the story, the effects and the OMG Jenny Agutter is still a babe. The film has one great idea after another in it, and it leaves you frankly disappointed that there wasn't a lot more of it. Which is just about the right place to be for a great movie to be, imho. Plus its just a complete cult movie at this point, with its quirky dream sequences and its undead guys haunting the werewolf. Great stuff, a must see for anyone.

[Moon Ronin]

04. An American Werewolf in London (1981) - An oldie but a goodie, I've not watched the film uncut in quite some time so this was a treat. Surprising just how well it has held up after all these years, the story, the effects and the OMG Jenny Agutter is still a babe. The film has one great idea after another in it, and it leaves you frankly disappointed that there wasn't a lot more of it. Which is just about the right place to be for a great movie to be, imho. Plus its just a complete cult movie at this point, with its quirky dream sequences and its undead guys haunting the werewolf. Great stuff, a must see for anyone.

I remember watching this for the the first time, the wolf was traumatizing at that age.

[Jared]

October 1st. 1- Psycho (1960)
October 2nd. 2- Morbius (2022)
October 3rd. 3- Tales of Terror (1962)
October 4th. 4- Maniac (1980)



I thought it was going to be a slasher, but it's a grimy serial killer movie. The titular maniac has rather cliche mommy issues, but the actor is pretty good. Unfortunately he's the only real character in the whole movie. There are some fairly gnarly kill effects by Tom Savini.

I do like seeing that 70s-80s gritty New York City in a movie. Where it looks like it could have a Batman, Punisher, and Charles Bronson yet still be a crime ridden cesspool. But overall, this isn't my kind of movie.

Also, I didn't buy for one second that Caroline Munroe would be into that guy.

[Sean Whitmore]

1a. The Mummy (1932) - Theater
1b. Bride of Frankenstein (1935) - Theater
1c. Dark Glasses (2022) - Shudder
2. Odd Thomas (2013) - Amazon Prime
3. Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981) - Shudder
4. Night of the Living Dead (1990) - BBC America

5. Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990) - Tubi

The Texas Chainsaw series is a lot like the Halloween one; both started out with bona fide classics, got progressively worse, and each one has had weird outliers with cult following and remakes with mixed opinions.

TCM 3 is smack-dab in the "okay" territory. A very decent slasher that's not as groundbreaking as the original or as weird and funny as the sequel. I love Ken Foree, and the cannibal family were enjoyable. Viggo Mortensen's Tex is no Chop Top, but he and his brothers got the job done. The lack of gore is a shame, though. Where the first movie avoided it by choice, this one definitely wanted to be a bloodbath, and was just edited to death.

I'd rank it up there with Halloween 4/5. Not great, but completely watchable.

[ZuLuLu]

01. Hocus Pocus (1993)
02. Hocus Pocus 2 (2022)
03. Orphan: First Kill (2022)

04. Moloch (2022)
Betriek lives at the edge of a peat bog in the North of the Netherlands. When she and her family are attacked by a random stranger one night, Betriek sets out to find an explanation. The more she digs, the more she becomes convinced that she is being hunted by something ancient.


Okay, I went into this movie without any idea what it was going to be about, no trailer, no synopsis, I just clicked on it because I decided that I might just go through Shudder's catalog for the rest of this event and I have to admit it left me with heebie-jeebies, it doesn't help that I watched this on a cold stormy night, Lol.

Overall, I thought it was a really good movie while it may be a bit slow pace for some I thought it did a good job balancing character-driven drama with horror. It does have some formulaic elements, however, there is enough originality with the use of Dutch folklore to keep it feeling fresh and interesting.

[Sean Whitmore]

1a. The Mummy (1932) - Theater
1b. Bride of Frankenstein (1935) - Theater
1c. Dark Glasses (2022) - Shudder
2. Odd Thomas (2013) - Amazon Prime
3. Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981) - Shudder
4. Night of the Living Dead (1990) - BBC America
5a. Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990) - Tubi

5b. Magic (1978) - Tubi

Stayed on Tubi after TCM3 and watched this excellent little psychological thriller. Plot-wise, it's every "crazy ventriloquist" story you've ever seen, but a young(er) Anthony Hopkins acts the absolute HELL out of it. Burgess Meredith was great too.

[Astral Disaster]

11. Bride Of Frankenstein (1935) - Immediate sequel to 1931's Frankenstein. I know many people consider Bride to be superior to the original, but I think the more sparse, stripped down and direct story of the 1931 film is more fitting, BoF feels more disjointed and while watching I noticed things just conveniently happened when they needed to without much reason. Of course, it could just be I need to watch it again at some point when I'm not feeling tired.

12. Zombieland: Double Tap (2019) - Sequel to the original 2009 Zombieland, reuniting the main cast from the first film. I recall hearing more than a few negative reviews/comments about the movie when it was released, which is why it's taken three years for me to finally get around to watching it, but I thought it was a decent follow-up. It really didn't break any new ground, and recycled ideas from the first movie, but that's not unique to Zombieland DT, still entertaining and enjoyable, and worth at least one viewing if you've seen the first.

13. Teeth (2007) - Horror/comedy exploring the theme of vagina dentata, not recommended for anyone suffering a fear of castration.

[Jared]

October 1st. 1- Psycho (1960)
October 2nd. 2- Morbius (2022)
October 3rd. 3- Tales of Terror (1962)
October 4th. 4- Maniac (1980)
October 5th. 5- Cronos (1993). 6- Chopping Mall (1986)



Cronos is Guillermo Del Toro's first film. A grandfather in Mexico City finds an artifact that prolongs life in his antiques shop, and a sickly old rich guy wants it. It has a lot of the spirit and atmosphere you might expect from Del Toro, but I feel like there's a lot missing in the story. The key relationship is between the antiques dealer and his granddaughter, but we don't get much before he finds the thing. It's also not clear why the evil old rich guy and his henchman/nephew (Ron Perleman) don't think to just threaten the guy's wife and granddaughter to get what they want. The premise of the movie is a really good one, though. I'd like to see Del Toro revisit it someday, via a preque/spinoff/loose sequel, whatever he prefers. Worth a look, but The Devil's Backbone was much more impressive for his early work.




"I guess I'm not used to being chased through a mall in the middle of the night by killer robots." That pretty much sums up Chopping Mall, also known as Killbots. It's short, it's silly, I've seen it before, a fine "film" to leave on while folding laundry or what-have-you. I watched it via Amazon but it always seems to be on YouTube, also. Barbara Crampton and Dick Miller are both in this, I'm not sure any Halloween is complete without them somewhere.

11.
12. Zombieland: Double Tap (2019) - Sequel to the original 2009 Zombieland, reuniting the main cast from the first film. I recall hearing more than a few negative reviews/comments about the movie when it was released, which is why it's taken three years for me to finally get around to watching it, but I thought it was a decent follow-up. It really didn't break any new ground, and recycled ideas from the first movie, but that's not unique to Zombieland DT, still entertaining and enjoyable, and worth at least one viewing if you've seen the first.

My only real problem is that it was ten years later when it should have been two or three. It even feels like the script was originally written to take place much sooner after the first.

[Scott Taylor]

I remember watching this for the the first time, the wolf was traumatizing at that age.

The wolf haunted me in the same way as the shark from Jaws did. The subway station sequence especially. That poor guy never stood a chance.

Tonight's movie was:

05. Frankenstein (1931) - Boris Karloff steals the show as the monster, walking that iconic walk, growling that iconic growl and staring with that iconic sad expression. I think the only other Frankenstein's monster I really like as much is Fred Gwynne's Herman Munster. The areas in which this movie captures the book pretty well are in the creation of the monster, the involvement of Frankenstein's friends, colleagues and lover, and then the drowning of the little girl. But the rest of the movie deviates, making the monster into a one note villain that kind of runs around causing havok seemingly accidentally or by just pure stupidity. I miss the fairly intelligent monster of the book who learned to speak, felt he never belonged and continually searched for meaning to his life. Its so teen angst. But this movie version is so iconic that its well worth a view.

[Astral Disaster]

12. Zombieland: Double Tap (2019) - Sequel to the original 2009 Zombieland, reuniting the main cast from the first film. I recall hearing more than a few negative reviews/comments about the movie when it was released, which is why it's taken three years for me to finally get around to watching it, but I thought it was a decent follow-up. It really didn't break any new ground, and recycled ideas from the first movie, but that's not unique to Zombieland DT, still entertaining and enjoyable, and worth at least one viewing if you've seen the first.

My only real problem is that it was ten years later when it should have been two or three. It even feels like the script was originally written to take place much sooner after the first.

Yeah, though 'in universe" it's supposed to take place 6 years later, according to the wikipedia entry.