31 Days of Halloween (October 1st through 31st)

[Sean Whitmore]

October 1 - The Body Snatcher (1945)
October 2 - Isle of the Dead (1945)
October 3 - Dead Men Walk (1943)
October 4 - Cat People (1942)
October 5 - An American Werewolf in London (1981)

This one gets a play almost every October, because there aren't a lot of great werewolf movies. But even if there were, this one would continue to stand out because of Rick Baker's effects.

Another interesting thing about this one is how it sits between the two worlds of 70s and 80s horror. The locals at the pub, the doctor, the nurse, they all feel like they could have stepped directly out of a Hammer production. And then in come these Americans with their movie references and sarcasm, and they're kind of like the precursors to the standard 80s teen hero with the Aurora model kits.

October 6 - Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932)

The movie Legosi made instead of Frankenstein. This one was okay, and Lugosi's great in it, but I think it was a bit too ambitious for the time to feature a gorilla as the monster. The cutting back and forth between a man in an ape suit and closeups of a chimp in the zoo really serve to undercut the great, moody atmosphere of the rest of the film.

[Jared]

October 1. The Crooked Man (2016)
October 2. Creature (1985)
October 3. Twins of Evil. (1971)
October 4. The Vampire Lovers (1970)

October 5. Lust for a Vampire (1971)



By far the weakest of the Karnstein Trilogy, Lust for a Vampire serves as a reminder that shitty vampire romance plots with unlikeable protagonists long predated Twilight. It's weakly written and directed, with a story that just doesn't really do anything interesting. One would think that putting a lusty vampiress in a girls' finishing school would result in more fun than this. It takes place 40 years after the events of The Vampire Lovers. The Countess and her mysterious man in black (Count Karstein, I presume?) return to the family castle and resurrect one of their relatives as a vampire, an 18th century beauty named Carmilla who will go by the alias, Mircalla. In the previous movie, the vampiress from the 15th century named Mircalla used Carmilla as an alias, and here it's explained that nobles of the time were fond of using anagrams of their relatives. One might think this would be a tradition to be dropped when periodically terrorizing a region by feasting on the peasantry, but these Karsteins are really set in their ways. This was worth watching for completeness sake, and it's not the worst Hammer vampire flick I've seen, but it's far from the best.

^^^ they could never remake a Hammer vampire movie nowaday. Nothing in the last 15 years as shown me that the movie industry in the current shape could. Unless Fincher took a ...stab at it?

I think Tim Burton could. Sleepy Hollow has that kind of vibe. David Fincher could just make an awesome, dark and brooding vampire flick, period. But his stuff is always very slick and modern feeling.

[simbob4000]

October 6 - The Possession(2012)



We plunge head-first into post millenium haunted people/house/object movie. I have no interest in this genre, as you see even the posters are all the same but I'm a Jeffrey Dean Morgan fan and he rarely does motion pictures so it was my "in" into the movie.

The movie was...solid. It was well made, the girl get possessed via a box that she opens. Wasn't very scary(maybe younger people would find it scary, who knows). I had a good time watching it though. The cinematography was great and JDM and the girl was good. I'll forget about this movie in a week, I bet.

Oh, this is funny.

October 6 - Possession (1981)





I think it was during the two main characters fight in the restaurant that that particular Spinal Tap quote popped into my head. There's a mad melodramatic energy to this film that's pretty interesting at times, but as this movie goes along fourth and fourth, I feel like that line was crossed a few too many times.

At a current point I was just kind of wishing the movie would get into the why of why everyone else was as crazy a Isabelle Adjani. This movie is a little over two hours long and during all that time it never really feels like it gets into the why of the characters in any kind of deeper way. Mostly it just kind of made me thing of crazy soap opera **** only done really well, kind of like Twin Peaks without the senses of parody...and mixed with Hellraiser.



That cool poster might give too much of the movie away. But it's also the only version without nipples in it.

[Siddon]

31 Days 31 Monsters
October 5th - Reptilicus (1961)

reptil11.jpg





Pseudo science, stock footage and puppets...what more could you ask for? Reptilicus is a so bad it's good in a charming low budget sort of way. The story is actually good, an oil driller picks up some strange flesh sends it to Holland to study and the monster is made. Eventually the monster gets free and it's up to the army, navy, and airforce to try and kill Reptilicus. The minature work is pretty terrible, his face doesn't emote or move in any way shape or form.

October 1st - Daimajin: Monster of Terror (1966) ****1/2 stars
October 2nd - Tarantula (1955) ***1/2 stars
October 3rd - The Living Skeleton (1968) ***
October 4th - Son of Frankenstein (1939) **
October 5th - Reptilicus (1961) **

[Siddon]

31 Days 31 Monsters
October 6th - The Undying Monster (1942)








An absolute gem of a film, 1942's "The Undying Monster" is very short (only an hour long), but it looks fantastic. It's the story of a cursed family, an attack and a house full of shady characters. As you can see from the screen shots everything is lit really well that adds to the atmosphere. The reveal of the monster is a bit silly, but it's more of a whodunit than a get away from it. I won't spoil what the monster is but it's one of the best uses of this particular style of creature. Definately check this one out, five stars.

October 1st - Daimajin: Monster of Terror (1966) ****1/2 stars
October 2nd - Tarantula (1955) ***1/2 stars
October 3rd - The Living Skeleton (1968) ***
October 4th - Son of Frankenstein (1939) **
October 5th - Reptilicus (1961) **
October 6th - The Undying Monster (1942) *****

Next up, back to the 50's for another atomic age one

[Da Boat]

October 1. The Crooked Man (2016)
October 2. Creature (1985)
October 3. Twins of Evil. (1971)
October 4. The Vampire Lovers (1970)

October 5. Lust for a Vampire (1971)


By far the weakest of the Karnstein Trilogy, Lust for a Vampire serves as a reminder that shitty vampire romance plots with unlikeable protagonists long predated Twilight. It's weakly written and directed, with a story that just doesn't really do anything interesting. One would think that putting a lusty vampiress in a girls' finishing school would result in more fun than this. It takes place 40 years after the events of The Vampire Lovers. The Countess and her mysterious man in black (Count Karstein, I presume?) return to the family castle and resurrect one of their relatives as a vampire, an 18th century beauty named Carmilla who will go by the alias, Mircalla. In the previous movie, the vampiress from the 15th century named Mircalla used Carmilla as an alias, and here it's explained that nobles of the time were fond of using anagrams of their relatives. One might think this would be a tradition to be dropped when periodically terrorizing a region by feasting on the peasantry, but these Karsteins are really set in their ways. This was worth watching for completeness sake, and it's not the worst Hammer vampire flick I've seen, but it's far from the best.




I think Tim Burton could. Sleepy Hollow has that kind of vibe. David Fincher could just make an awesome, dark and brooding vampire flick, period. But his stuff is always very slick and modern feeling.

But see Sleep Hollow was his idea of what a Hammer movie was but it was too funny or ironic to really be an Hammer movie. I think the Barber movie was a little closer to Hammer.

31 Days 31 Monsters
October 6th - The Undying Monster (1942)








An absolute gem of a film, 1942's "The Undying Monster" is very short (only an hour long), but it looks fantastic. It's the story of a cursed family, an attack and a house full of shady characters. As you can see from the screen shots everything is lit really well that adds to the atmosphere. The reveal of the monster is a bit silly, but it's more of a whodunit than a get away from it. I won't spoil what the monster is but it's one of the best uses of this particular style of creature. Definately check this one out, five stars.

October 1st - Daimajin: Monster of Terror (1966) ****1/2 stars
October 2nd - Tarantula (1955) ***1/2 stars
October 3rd - The Living Skeleton (1968) ***
October 4th - Son of Frankenstein (1939) **
October 5th - Reptilicus (1961) **
October 6th - The Undying Monster (1942) *****

Next up, back to the 50's for another atomic age one

When I thought all had been said about this particular monster around that time, I discovered this movie just a few years ago. I was shocked this existed. It's really great and it's another that people don't talk about. The effects were better than more popular movies of the same genre.

[Da Boat]

Oh, this is funny.

October 6 - Possession (1981)





I think it was during the two main characters fight in the restaurant that that particular Spinal Tap quote popped into my head. There's a mad melodramatic energy to this film that's pretty interesting at times, but as this movie goes along fourth and fourth, I feel like that line was crossed a few too many times.

At a current point I was just kind of wishing the movie would get into the why of why everyone else was as crazy a Isabelle Adjani. This movie is a little over two hours long and during all that time it never really feels like it gets into the why of the characters in any kind of deeper way. Mostly it just kind of made me thing of crazy soap opera **** only done really well, kind of like Twin Peaks without the senses of parody...and mixed with Hellraiser.



That cool poster might give too much of the movie away. But it's also the only version without nipples in it.

Prime Isabelle Adjani? I'm there. Gorgeous woman and great actress. I saw her naked when I was a kid in the movie "L'Été Meurtier"(Murderious Summer?) and I had a crush on her ever since.

But there must be a ban on movies calling themselves Possession or the Possession. I mean really. The Exorcist would have bombed if it had that title.

[simbob4000]

In the case of the '81 movie, there's a double meaning to the title.

Yeah, Isabelle Adjani is gorgeous, and she's pretty hot in Possession. You even get two versions of her there. They even basically make her the sexy version of Carries mom at a certain point in the movie; now her being the sexy version of that does basically just amount to her already being sexy, but still.

[Da Boat]

October 7 - Labyrinth(1986)



Heeeeello creepy Bowie!

For years it's a film that I meant to watch and I should have watched when I was younger, I would have appreciated more. But as it stands, even if I like Connely, Bowie and Jim Hansen, there wasn't much to it. It's a shame cause there were good elements there, particularly the inventiveness of the puppets-making by Hansen and the film looks good. If only there was a good meaty story there with genuine scares. I cannot stand when there's much budget allowed for the effects and not much attention paid to the script, it's a waste of time for everybody. Watch Neverending Story and Legend instead.

[simbob4000]

October 7 - Labyrinth(1986)



Heeeeello creepy Bowie!

For years it's a film that I meant to watch and I should have watched when I was younger, I would have appreciated more. But as it stands, even if I like Connely, Bowie and Jim Hansen, there wasn't much to it. It's a shame cause there were good elements there, particularly the inventiveness of the puppets-making by Hansen and the film looks good. If only there was a good meaty story there with genuine scares. I cannot stand when there's much budget allowed for the effects and not much attention paid to the script, it's a waste of time for everybody. Watch Neverending Story and Legend instead.

Well, Labyrinth isn't really a horror movie. Never even kind of thought of it as even kind of a horror movie, even when I was little.

Oh man, Labyrinth is way better than Legend. Legend is fucking balls. For anyone that likes balls, being balls isn't a good thing. Lanyrinth is kind of weird in that today I'm pretty sure you couldn't get away with a mud butt swamp of farting assholes. Some of the stuff also remind me of thing that would later show up in Final Fantasy and some other JRPGs.

Ended up missing seeing any horror movies for the 7th. Well, I guess I saw most of The Beast with a Million EyEs that day.

[Da Boat]

Well, Labyrinth isn't really a horror movie. Never even kind of thought of it as even kind of a horror movie, even when I was little.

Oh man, Labyrinth is way better than Legend. Legend is fucking balls. For anyone that likes balls, being balls isn't a good thing. Lanyrinth is kind of weird in that today I'm pretty sure you couldn't get away with a mud butt swamp of farting assholes. Some of the stuff also remind me of thing that would later show up in Final Fantasy and some other JRPGs.

Ended up missing seeing any horror movies for the 7th. Well, I guess I saw most of The Beast with a Million EyEs that day.

Here's the thing, when I watched Labyrinth yesterday, I had no idea it was this "safe". When I saw the trailers back in the 80s, It seemed like there were scary elements in it and weird innuendos with Bowie. Like some dark fantasy. So that is why I chose this flick. But in the movie there was none. I was hoping they would concentrate on Bowie and the kid, like maybe he wanted to sacrifice the baby or something. But there was never a time when the girl was in jeopardy. There was a situation where they almost went into a scenario where she would marry Bowie to save the baby. And it seemed like they were going there but it was cut from the script. This movie was so non-threatening and devoided of suspense.

Legend had flaws, both movies have garbage scripts but at least with Legend you actually have a movie made by Ridley Scott and the telling of the tale is unique, so are the set designs. Tim Curry was sublime as the representation of the Devil. The music by Vangelis is a threat in itself. In Labyrinth, it all went into the puppets and nothing else. Even Mia Sarah is better than Jennifer Connely in the film(and I'm a big fan of Connely). Bowie is good but he has nothing to work with. His performance pales in comparison to Curry. Labyrinth is a kiddie show not only in term of story but as far as production value compared to Legend. And I always thought Legend was only eye candy. So you can imagine how low Labyrinth is.

[Siddon]

31 Days 31 Monsters
October 7th - Them!(1954)






New Mexico State Police Sergeant Ben Peterson (James Whitmore) and Trooper Ed Blackburn (Chris Drake) discover a little girl in shock wandering the desert near Alamogordo, New Mexico. They retrace her steps to a mobile home owned by an FBI Special Agent named Ellinson on vacation with his family. The trailer side is ripped open from the outside; no trace is found of the rest of the family. Only a single, unidentifiable footprint is left behind. A strange, pulsating high-pitched noise comes on the desert wind, and the little girl briefly reacts to it, but no one around her notices.

The giant ant's look great, the story moves along well enough and all the characters are well defined. I liked Tarantula a bit more as it had a bit more of a sophisticated story, but this was a very good movie.




October 1st - Daimajin: Monster of Terror (1966) ****1/2 stars
October 2nd - Tarantula (1955) ***1/2 stars
October 3rd - The Living Skeleton (1968) ***
October 4th - Son of Frankenstein (1939) **
October 5th - Reptilicus (1961) **
October 6th - The Undying Monster (1942) *****
October 7th - Them!(1954) ***1/2

[Da Boat]

October 6 - Ten To Midnight(1983)



Serial killer movie with Bronson in its path. I saw this as a kid on TV and all I remember was saying a serial killer killing people while naked and running on a road. Never knew Bronson was in this but all I know is it left an image in my mind as someone that was nuts to the extreme. I always felt that once a guy strip naked to commit his murders, his left innibutions aside and there's nothing he cannot do. lol

This is a guy that murders women after they rejects him. The thing is, he is enough good-looking, Hell they probably cast him cause he had a good body, a good physique but he is so creepy that women rejects him and he kill them because of it. There's a time in the flick where there's a girl that could have gone out with him but he almost willingly acts stupid so she thinks he's a moron and she want him to get away and he plans for her to be his next victim. Also he only kills women that are doing him wrong. Like at some point in the movie he kills a woman by mistake and it screws him up psychologicaly, he doesn't know what to do. So it's interesting psychology. But at the same time I wish stuff like that would have been explored better. If course it's a B-movie and they won't bother but it would have far better if a girl would indeed have liked him and she does all the right things and she's nice but then at the end she does something that he doesn't like and he kills her. Maybe he could have had a connection with Bronson's daughter for example.

The main interest is the killer's connection with Bronson and how it becomes personal. Sort of like every old man cop movie since Eastwood did it in the 70s. It's the best part of the movie and the reason it happens it's cause Bronson does something against the law which make the killer pissed off and it also allows the killer to go free. Then the game is on. The guy playing the killer is very memorable, I'm surprised he didn't show up in another movies after that. The whole concept of the character is great even though it could have been explored more.

[Jared]

October 1. The Crooked Man (2016)
October 2. Creature (1985)
October 3. Twins of Evil. (1971)
October 4. The Vampire Lovers (1970)
October 5. Lust for a Vampire (1971)

October 6. Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974)
October 7.
October 8. Corpse Bride. (2005)





Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter is a movie where the execution sadly doesn't live up to the promise of the idea. It borrows elements of detective stories and westerns in its tale of a European war vet and his hunchbacked professor sidekick who battle undead evil wherever it lurks. With some better direction and a better score, I think this could have really become a cult hit. It's still a fun premise and a great title, I hope someone does something with it some day. More so than even Lust for a Vampire, I think this is one movie could really benefit from a do-over.

There is a pretty good swordfight at the end, which was a pleasant surprise because earlier action scenes were so lackluster.

Also, this movie runs heavily with the concept that there are many different types of vampires, with different traits and weaknesses. I'm not sure if that implies a larger connection enabling all the Hammer vampire films to share one canon, but it seems more plausible now. Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires also used such an idea, although there it was only drawing a distinction between European and Chinese vamps.



Wasn't able to fit one in on the 7th because I was at the NY ComicCon. So as far as excuses go that's a pretty good one. I got see Stan Lee get a day proclaimed for him in his hometown, so there.



Tim Burton's Corpse Bride is a very Tim Burtony stop motion animated film. It's very Tim Burton-y in tone, and of course has his regular players in the voice cast. I'd never seen it yet. It's a cute little movie, about a clutzy fiance who accidentally finds himself wed to a dead woman in the underworld after a misunderstanding when he practiced his vows. As someone who liked but didn't love A Nightmare Before Christmas, I was would say that this is about on par with that. I'm sure every minute of a movie like this is expensive, but this could have really been a little bit longer to flesh out (no pun intended) some characters.

Legend had flaws, both movies have garbage scripts but at least with Legend you actually have a movie made by Ridley Scott and the telling of the tale is unique, so are the set designs. Tim Curry was sublime as the representation of the Devil. The music by Vangelis is a threat in itself. In Labyrinth, it all went into the puppets and nothing else. Even Mia Sarah is better than Jennifer Connely in the film(and I'm a big fan of Connely). Bowie is good but he has nothing to work with. His performance pales in comparison to Curry. Labyrinth is a kiddie show not only in term of story but as far as production value compared to Legend. And I always thought Legend was only eye candy. So you can imagine how low Labyrinth is.

Legend's theatrical soundtrack was by Tangerine Dream. The extended cut is someone else, and it's more orchestral. The extended version is a more coherent movie than what I remember of the original, but I know some people prefer the earlier soundtrack.

In Connelly's defense, Labyrinth was her first movie, she had to act mostly against puppets and a weird British rock star, and she was younger than Mia Sara was in Legend.

[simbob4000]

October 1. The Crooked Man (2016)
October 2. Creature (1985)
October 3. Twins of Evil. (1971)
October 4. The Vampire Lovers (1970)
October 5. Lust for a Vampire (1971)

October 6. Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974)
October 7.
October 8. Corpse Bride. (2005)





Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter is a movie where the execution sadly doesn't live up to the promise of the idea. It borrows elements of detective stories and westerns in its tale of a European war vet and his hunchbacked professor sidekick who battle undead evil wherever it lurks. With some better direction and a better score, I think this could have really become a cult hit. It's still a fun premise and a great title, I hope someone does something with it some day. More so than even Lust for a Vampire, I think this is one movie could really benefit from a do-over.

There is a pretty good swordfight at the end, which was a pleasant surprise because earlier action scenes were so lackluster.

Also, this movie runs heavily with the concept that there are many different types of vampires, with different traits and weaknesses. I'm not sure if that implies a larger connection enabling all the Hammer vampire films to share one canon, but it seems more plausible now. Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires also used such an idea, although there it was only drawing a distinction between European and Chinese vamps.




Wasn't able to fit one in on the 7th because I was at the NY ComicCon. So as far as excuses go that's a pretty good one. I got see Stan Lee get a day proclaimed for him in his hometown, so there.



Tim Burton's Corpse Bride is a very Tim Burtony stop motion animated film. It's very Tim Burton-y in tone, and of course has his regular players in the voice cast. I'd never seen it yet. It's a cute little movie, about a clutzy fiance who accidentally finds himself wed to a dead woman in the underworld after a misunderstanding when he practiced his vows. As someone who liked but didn't love A Nightmare Before Christmas, I was would say that this is about on par with that. I'm sure every minute of a movie like this is expensive, but this could have really been a little bit longer to flesh out (no pun intended) some characters.






Legend's theatrical soundtrack was by Tangerine Dream. The extended cut is someone else, and it's more orchestral. The extended version is a more coherent movie than what I remember of the original, but I know some people prefer the earlier soundtrack.

In Connelly's defense, Labyrinth was her first movie, she had to act mostly against puppets and a weird British rock star, and she was younger than Mia Sara was in Legend.

Labyrinth was not her first movie, she was previously in Once Upon a Time in America and Phenomena.