31 Demonic Days and Nightmarish Nights of Halloween: 2023 Edition!

[Moon Ronin]

No. 10: In the Tall Grass (2019) on Netflix



After hearing a child screaming for help from the green depths of a vast field of tall grass, Becky, a pregnant woman, and Cal, her brother, park their car near a mysterious abandoned church and recklessly enter the field, discovering that they are not alone and because of some reason they are unable of escaping a completely inextricable vegetable labyrinth.

In this lawn of the dead thriller Patrick Wilson falls in love with a rock and it breaks the hearts of women everywhere... he is so dreamy am I right. Anyway the moral of this story I do believe is that if you do not do regular yard maintenance it could end up breaking the laws of time and space

[Sean Whitmore]

1a. Dracula 2000 (2000)
1b. Dracula II: Ascension (2003)
1c. Dracula III: Legacy (2005)
2.The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
3. House on Haunted Hill (1959)
4a. Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005)
4b. Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)
5a. Isle of the Dead (1945)
5b. The Night Flier (1997)
6a. Happy Death Day (2017)
6b. Happy Death Day 2U (2019)
7. The Old Dark House (1932)
8. El Conde (2023)
9. Silver Bullet (1985)
10a. Totally Killer (2023)
10b. Dracula (1931)

11. Transylvania 6-5000 (1985) - Amazon Prime

Jeff Goldblum and Ed Begley Jr. as tabloid reporters chasing down a modern-day Frankenstein sighting in Transylvania. It's not gonna make anyone's top 10 list of horror-comedy classics, but it's got a great cast (Joseph Bologna, Carol Kane, John Byner, Michael Richards) and a few solid laughs.

[Scott Taylor]

12. We Are The Night (2010). A young woman gets chosen to become part of an all female vampire coven, but struggles with her new identity because the vampire coven is kind of lame. In fact, they are possibly the most boring group of vampires I have ever seen - literally all they do is party, complain, fight with each other, get all emotional about whatever and occasionally make condescending comments about men. LOL. For a film that seems to be marketing sex, it was extraordinarily unsexy. For a vampire film, the violence was pretty tame, and all the main points were covered much better by films like Interview with a Vampire, Lost Boys and Twilight. Looked good and had a soundtrack with a good beat, though, for whatever that is worth. And sure the acting was decent. For the record, I watched the dubbed version (the movie is German) so its possible the movie is better in the original language.

[Astral Disaster]

38. Ed Wood (1994) Dramatized biography of the cult sci fi/horror filmmaker set in the 1950s, during the production of his most well known movies, directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp as the lead, with Martin Landau giving a fantastic performance in a supporting role as Bela Lugosi. I remember when the movie came out and having reservations, I enjoyed Burton's previous films, but at first glance, Ed Wood seemed to be quite a departure from what he had done to that point, so I was more than a little skeptical of what I saw as a "biographic documentary" of a fringe director I had little knowledge of at the time. I went into the theater seeing it for the first time with low expectations and ended up loving it.

39. From Hell (2001) - From IMDB: "In Victorian-era London, a troubled clairvoyant police detective investigates the murders of Jack the Ripper." Loosely based on the From Hell graphic novel by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell.

40. A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) - From IMDb: "The monstrous spirit of a slain child murderer seeks revenge by invading the dreams of teenagers whose parents were responsible for his untimely death." The movie which, for better or worse (depending upon which sequel we're talking about) introduced the supernatural slasher icon Freddy Krueger to the world, and both kept New Line Cinema out or bankruptcy and revitalized Wes Craven's career.

[Moon Ronin]

No. 11: Mercy (2014) on Peacock



A single mom and her two boys help take care of their grandmother with mystical powers.

I watched this, it was boring, I'll never watch it again. this is the end of my review

[Astral Disaster]

41. Phantasm (1979) A disjointed, surrealistic, everything-AND-the-kitchen-sink horror (with a pinch of sci-fi) classic. I probably like the idea of the movie more than the movie itself, it's still a fun ride though, and it gave the world the iconic Tall Man and flying death sphere.

[Jared]

October 1st. 1- The Necronomicon: Book of the Dead (2023)
October 2nd. 2- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
October 3rd. 3- Warlock (1989). 4- Warlock: The Armageddon (1993). 5- Warlock: The End of Innocence (1999)
October 4th. 6- Isle of the Dead (1945)
October 5th. 7- Doppelganger (1993)
October 6th. 8- Dracula in Instanbul (1953)
October 7th. 9- Children of the Night (2023)
October 8th. 10- We Are the Night (2010)
October 9th. 11- Justice League Dark (2017). 12- Constantine: City of Demons (2018). 13a- Constantine: House of Mystery (2022). 13b- The Spectre (2010)
October 10th. 14- The Devil Rides Out (1968)



Also known as The Devil's Bride. Often considered one of Hammer's best, and I don't disagree. I've seen it before but this time I watched with the commentary track featuring Sir Christopher Lee. Of course he knew author Dennis Wheatley, and of course, he had done some of his own research into the occult before even taking the role! He thinks this is the Hammer film that would be best suited to a remake, and such a project has been bandied about before. Again, I can agree. Lee also notes that himself, Peter Cushing, Basil Rathbone, Vincent Price, Bela Lugosi, and Boris Karloff all disliked the word "horror" as the name for their hallmark genre. I seem to recall Price saying he thought of them as "macabre dramas". But horror is what stuck.

[Sean Whitmore]

1a. Dracula 2000 (2000)
1b. Dracula II: Ascension (2003)
1c. Dracula III: Legacy (2005)
2.The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
3. House on Haunted Hill (1959)
4a. Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005)
4b. Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)
5a. Isle of the Dead (1945)
5b. The Night Flier (1997)
6a. Happy Death Day (2017)
6b. Happy Death Day 2U (2019)
7. The Old Dark House (1932)
8. El Conde (2023)
9. Silver Bullet (1985)
10a. Totally Killer (2023)
10b. Dracula (1931)
11. Transylvania 6-5000 (1985)

12. Young Frankenstein (1974) - HBO Max

Not much time today, so I threw on a classic. Don't have to pay attention too hard, don't have to write very much about it because what's left to say?

[Jared]

October 1st. 1- The Necronomicon: Book of the Dead (2023)
October 2nd. 2- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
October 3rd. 3- Warlock (1989). 4- Warlock: The Armageddon (1993). 5- Warlock: The End of Innocence (1999)
October 4th. 6- Isle of the Dead (1945)
October 5th. 7- Doppelganger (1993)
October 6th. 8- Dracula in Instanbul (1953)
October 7th. 9- Children of the Night (2023)
October 8th. 10- We Are the Night (2010)
October 9th. 11- Justice League Dark (2017). 12- Constantine: City of Demons (2018). 13a- Constantine: House of Mystery (2022). 13b- The Spectre (2010)
October 10th. 14- The Devil Rides Out (1968)
October 11th. 15- The Video Dead (1987)



Cheap crap. A pair of teen-30somethings move into a a new house, where a cursed TV let's loose a group of murdering zombies from a movie. That's pretty much it. There's hardly enough story for an ep of Tales From the Crypt. There's not much done with the TV part of the premise. Most of the acting is very amateur hour. The zombies look OK, I guess. Not worth watching.

[Astral Disaster]

42. Return Of The Living Dead (1985) - Basically a sequel to the original Night Of The Living Dead, but departs from the more straight and serious tone and effectively mixes in an element of dark humor. This is the movie which introduced the idea that zombies eat brains, also fast, rather than slow, shambling reanimated corpses. Still holds up amazingly well after nearly four decades, one of the all time great zombie flicks.

43. The Shining (1980) - The classic Stanley Kubrick adaptation of the Stephen King novel. Struggling writer and alcoholic Jack Torrance takes a job as the winter caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, slowly succumbing to the forces within, and terrorizing his family along the way. Famously hated by King himself.

[Sean Whitmore]

1a. Dracula 2000 (2000)
1b. Dracula II: Ascension (2003)
1c. Dracula III: Legacy (2005)
2.The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
3. House on Haunted Hill (1959)
4a. Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005)
4b. Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)
5a. Isle of the Dead (1945)
5b. The Night Flier (1997)
6a. Happy Death Day (2017)
6b. Happy Death Day 2U (2019)
7. The Old Dark House (1932)
8. El Conde (2023)
9. Silver Bullet (1985)
10a. Totally Killer (2023)
10b. Dracula (1931)
11. Transylvania 6-5000 (1985)
12. Young Frankenstein (1974)

13a. Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
13b. Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
13c. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)

Man, that different naming conventions for those sequel titles bugs me.

Friday the 13th has never been my favorite franchise, but why not, y'know. The whole series seems to be on HBO Max.

Part 6 is the only one I completely like all the way through. The rest just have moments, and some more than others. The first one has the fewest, so I skipped it this time around. Part 2 feels more like a "movie" movie than the other two, but it's not MUCH of a movie, so that works to its detriment. By 3 and 4 we're in full schlock, and 4 wins that competition simply by having slightly better characters.

[Astral Disaster]

44. Hellboy (2019) - Basically watched because it was leaving Tubi in a couple of days and I had yet to see it. While I've been familiar with the character a long time, I've never read any of the comics, so I have no idea how well it utilizes the source material, though doing a quick synopsis skim of the stories it drew from, I get the impression it might be a questionable mashup along the lines of X-Men: The Last Stand. As for the movie itself, I thought it was fine up until around 45 minutes in, the remainder felt rushed, disjointed, and kind of like it was slapped together under a tight deadline, and/or the result of studio mandates and interference. Anyway, I thought David Harbour did a great job in the title role, and Milla Jovovich did her best with what she was given. The CGI was, unfortunately, inconsistent, sometimes blending in well, while other times looking awful and half-completed, but that often seems to be the case with a lot of movies these days.

45. Doctor Sleep (2019) - Sequel to The Shining, and the second production involving Stephen King attempting to undo certain aspects of Kibrick's film, which King famously hated. From Wikipedia: "In the film, Dan Torrance, now an adult, must protect a young girl with similar powers from a cult known as the True Knot, whose members prey on children who possess the shining to extend their own lives." Like most people, I found roughly the first two thirds of the movie to be pretty decent, the material was definitely strong enough to stand on its own without having to try recreating Kubrick's Shining and shoe horn it into the film. A lot of the final act looked more like a video game preview, introducing the boss for each level, which was a huge letdown, way too much unnecessarily nostalgic fan service. I think the Overlook scenes could have worked a lot better with a less is more approach, I didn't mind the searching through the deserted and decaying hallways and rooms, but having the ghouls make such solidly tangible appearances and reenacting scenes from the 1980 film came off as jokey more often than not. Still feel the same on my third viewing, I'm fine with everything up to Roses's demise and the Overlook spirits attacking Danny immediately afterwards, but the ending should have taken a different direction.

[Astral Disaster]

Friday the 13th has never been my favorite franchise, but why not, y'know. The whole series seems to be on HBO Max.

I considered at least watching the original Friday the 13th yesterday, but I feel the same, never been much of a fan of the franchise, and there's only so much time this month and still way too many other movies I still want to watch.

[Jared]

October 1st. 1- The Necronomicon: Book of the Dead (2023)
October 2nd. 2- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
October 3rd. 3- Warlock (1989). 4- Warlock: The Armageddon (1993). 5- Warlock: The End of Innocence (1999)
October 4th. 6- Isle of the Dead (1945)
October 5th. 7- Doppelganger (1993)
October 6th. 8- Dracula in Instanbul (1953)
October 7th. 9- Children of the Night (2023)
October 8th. 10- We Are the Night (2010)
October 9th. 11- Justice League Dark (2017). 12- Constantine: City of Demons (2018). 13a- Constantine: House of Mystery (2022). 13b- The Spectre (2010)
October 10th. 14- The Devil Rides Out (1968)
October 11th. 15- The Video Dead (1987)
October 12th. 16- Hell Target (1987). 17- Sorority Babes in the Slime-Bowl-O-Rama (1988)



It wasn't Animation Monday, but I needed something with short runtime to fit around Thursday night football. I picked this anime OVA. It's an Alien ripoff by way of Galaxy of Terror. A forgettable crew goes to an ominously named planet to investigate something, and gets picked off by an ill-defined threat. A couple of the sequences look OK.





A pledge prank goes awry when college students are trapped in a mall with a demonic imp released from a bowling trophy. Decent enough for a low budget horror comedy. I've seen a multiple movies directed by David Decoteau, and this shows more effort and competence than most. The "wisecracking" imp didn't really catch on a a villain, and I can see why. Leprechaun would kindcof do the same idea better, and Leprechaun wasn't great by any means. One thing I think the movie wishes it had was some more creative kills onscreen. They obviously didn't have a Tom Savinini on this

There isn't really any slime in the movie, surprisingly.

[Jared]

October 1st. 1- The Necronomicon: Book of the Dead (2023)
October 2nd. 2- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
October 3rd. 3- Warlock (1989). 4- Warlock: The Armageddon (1993). 5- Warlock: The End of Innocence (1999)
October 4th. 6- Isle of the Dead (1945)
October 5th. 7- Doppelganger (1993)
October 6th. 8- Dracula in Instanbul (1953)
October 7th. 9- Children of the Night (2023)
October 8th. 10- We Are the Night (2010)
October 9th. 11- Justice League Dark (2017). 12- Constantine: City of Demons (2018). 13a- Constantine: House of Mystery (2022). 13b- The Spectre (2010)
October 10th. 14- The Devil Rides Out (1968)
October 11th. 15- The Video Dead (1987)
October 12th. 16- Hell Target (1987). 17- Sorority Babes in the Slime-Bowl-O-Rama (1988)
October 13th. 18- Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)




It *should* have part IV in the title, as "Final chapter" is even more of a joke for its inaccuracy at this point than "Jason Takes Manhattan" .

Anyway, we get good kills, competent filmmaking, a well lonely score, a pair of siblings whose survival one can root for. It's definitely one of thr netter entries in the series. The thing is, this series is never *great*. But it might be the most consistent of the the horror franchises from its era.

Shout to Crispin Glover for his weird performance. It's not just his crazy dance, everything he's doing just seems off, but in a deliberate way. His scenes are never boring.

Since 2-4 all happen consecutively, and it was Friday the 13th in 2, I think it's got to Tuesday or Wednesday by now.

This film introduces the only recurring protagonist in the series. Which is a shame, because Creighton Duke was cool.