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Franchescanado
Feb 23, 2013

If it wasn't for disappointment
I wouldn't have any appointment

Grimey Drawer
This thread... It knows we're here.





The Three Mandatory Rules
:ghost: Watch a movie appropriate to the challenge*
:ghost: Write a review
:ghost: Don't be a dick.

:witch: THE CHALLENGE BEGINS TODAY, APRIL 30TH, @ 12PM EST:witch:

:spooky: THE CHALLENGE ENDS ON THE 1ST OF JUNE, @ 12PM EST :spooky:
You will have to have logged your final movie at this point. Final remarks and totals can be posted after 12PM, but new movies to add to your total will not be counted.


:cthulhu:Personal Goals & Challenges:cthulhu:

The most common goal among participants is 13 movies, but there is no mandatory amount of films. You can participate with as much or as little enthusiasm as you want. You can watch as many movies as possible (We've had people literally watch hundreds! It was nuts.) However, people that meet the 13 film goal are eligible for rewards.

You can create any personal goals for yourself. Many use the challenge to catch up on movies that have been released through-out the year. Some use it to finally watch that classic horror movie. You can use the challenge to watch all the films of a horror director, or an entire horror series you've missed. You can concentrate on specific sub-genres like Creature Features or Giallos or Hammer-produced films. You can watch films that are only new to you, or only rewatches. The possibilities are endless!

The only requirement is to watch a horror movie and then write about it. You can write a review, a list of thoughts you had while watching it, an analysis, essay or interpretation. You can post GIFs and screen grabs. The whole intention of this thread is to share what we've watched and our thoughts and experiences. Have an anecdote about the story? Tell it! Wanna share a personal history you've had with the genre? Share it!

Watching movies is the easy part. It's finding something to say about them that gets difficult. That's why it's a challenge!

You can always ask for a wildcard or recommendation.



What Movies Can I Watch?
movies, for the sake of this challenge, are considered anything longer than 60 minutes
:ghost: Horror Movies
:ghost: Thrillers
:ghost: Horror Comedies (Tucker & Dale vs. Evil)
:ghost: Horror Musicals (Rocky Horror, Phantom of the Paradise)
:ghost: Movies Set During or Around Halloween (Hocus Pocus, The Guest)
:ghost: Documentaries
- about Halloween (The American Scream)
- about the supernatural
- about the horror genre (Horror Noire)
- about horror movies (Never Sleep Again)
-about a subject that is justifiably horror-related (The Act of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes, Cropsey)
:ghost: Family Friendly movies that meet the above requirements (Alvin & The Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein)

:siren: Any film featured as a contender in the Spook-A-Doodle Movie Club & Bracketology Tournament '21 thread is eligible, regardless of it's genre. If it made it into the tournament, there was enough deliberation for it's inclusion there for it to be justified here.:siren:

(If you have questions about whether or not a movie counts, feel free to ask me.)

What DOESN'T Count
:ghost: TV Shows (This is CineD, not TVIV)
:ghost: mini-series
:ghost: Masters of Horror episodes
:ghost: MST3k episodes (you must watch the actual, unedited movie)

These is a big grey area of what's considered "fair", and it gets exhausting trying to pick and choose what is justifiable. I love Stephen King's The Storm of the Century, and Twin Peaks The Return, but the mini-series format is wildly inconsistent in length. It's a little unfair for someone to watch a 45 minute episode of Masters of Horror and it counts the same as Never Sleep Again, which is a four hour investment. It also creates the grey area of "Is ____ show a mini-series? Technically season one is self-contained." Let's just avoid it altogether. Please just watch something else. Keep in mind, this is a FILM forum, and this is a MOVIE challenge.

There will be the inevitable naysayer who posts "I don't care what the rules say, I'm going to count Netflix's The Haunting of Bly Manor." Just play nice and watch a movie instead. I probably won't call you out, but it will be ignored when it comes to tallying results for surprises. I've also been known to give out avatars and red texts for failure to comply. Consider this a warning. (It's all in good fun!)


:iiam: There will be secret challenges announced for those that want to be pushed outside of their comfort zones. These are called "Fran Challenges", because I am a egomaniac. Think of them as a scavenger hunt for the horror aficionado.


If you are working from a Letterboxd list, feel free to share it.

CineD has a Discord, and there is a horror-specific thread. Right now it is currently called "The Horror Director Tournament" based off Horror Director Tournament Thread (which I highly recommend reading). It will get a name change when the tournament is over to "October Challenge". Feel free to talk about this challenge thread in that channel before the name change.
The Horror Thread has its own Discord where group watches of horror movies are regularly scheduled

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Franchescanado
Feb 23, 2013

If it wasn't for disappointment
I wouldn't have any appointment

Grimey Drawer
https://twitter.com/HalloweenCounts/status/1388148200499032071?s=20


:iiam: Fran Challenges :iiam:


Fran Challenges are going to be different this May.

Instead of the standard "few prompts a week" system, you're getting them all up-front. The first week was for everyone to watch whatever they wanted. Now you have three weeks left to work through these:


1. Short Cuts



Watch 60+ minutes worth of horror short films and review them.


2. Sometimes They Come Back



Watch a film that has had a remake. Either watch the original, or watch the remake. Whichever you watch, it must be new to you. No rewatches.


3. Camp BLOOD



Watch a horror movie that takes place at a summer camp.


4. Movie of the Month



Watch a horror movie that has been featured as a CineD Movie of the Month. Try to watch one that's new to you, but if you've seen them all, pick one that you've seen the least.


5. Cinco



Watch a Mexican horror film. Must be new-to-you.


6. Playing With Power



Watch a horror film that has had a tie-in video game. OR Watch a horror film adaptation of a video game. (Note: While it's not mandatory, it would be really fun to provide pictures or footage from the video game.)


7. Mother's Day



Watch a film that takes place on Mother's Day. OR Watch a film that emphasizes motherhood, themes of being a mother, or features a killer mom.


8. Dead & Buried



Watch a film featuring a cast member who has passed away since October. It can be an actor, composer, director, producer, etc. Must be new-to-you.


9. Scream, Queen!



Watch a horror movie directed by an LGBQT+ filmmaker. OR Watch a horror movie that has been embraced by the LGBQT+ community. OR Watch a horror movie with themes and/or subjects that directly relate to the LGBQT+ community. OR Watch Scream, Queen! My Nightmare On Elm Street documentary if you haven't seen it yet


10. Behind the Mask



Watch a documentary about a horror director. OR Watch a documentary about a horror film. OR Watch a film inspired by non-fiction accounts of a film or filmmaker. (For this challenge, you can step out of the strict horror/thriller guidelines, since this leans into bio-pics like Ed Wood.) OR Watch a film about a group of people making a horror film.


11. Myths & Legends



Watch a horror film heavily featuring mythical creatures (killer mermaids, killer minotaur, killer unicorn, etc.) OR Watch a horror film heavily featuring real cryptids. (Not one invented for the film.) OR Watch a film that heavily features real urban legends.


12. Cavalcade of Creepiness



Watch an anthology film that's new to you.


13. Horrible Holidays



Watch a horror film that heavily features any holiday. (The holiday does not need to be throughout the movie; a major holiday scene counts, as long as it's prominent. ie Easter in Critters 2.)


:siren: Another twist to these challenges. FILMS CAN RETROACTIVELY COUNT. This is only for the May Challenge; don't expect such leniency come October.


Spatulater bro! posted:

What length is considered to be a short film for the purposes of Fran Challenge #1?

You must include all of the short films in a single post labeled with Fran Challenge "Short Cuts". For easy reference, the short films can't be spread across multiple posts until the requirement is met.

Each short film must be written about just like a full-length film.

Include a link to the short film, or a link to the short film's Letterboxd or imdb page.

If you have written about short films in this thread already, they can't be included in this post.

"What short films qualify?"
If it tonally would qualify for the challenge, it's probably okay.

Student Films,
professional short films,
YouTube films
Halloween short films,
scary/horror short films
Thriller shorts that err on the side of horror
Horror comedy
Live action
Animated

Just make sure it's actually a short film and not, say, a Halloween special, like the Paul Lynde Halloween Special.

Music videos are a weird in-between. I'm fine with something like The Monster gently caress, because while it's more of a skit, it's got enough going on in it, and it's short enough, that I would say it counts. Thriller technically counts; it even has a Letterboxd entry as a short film. However, use these sparingly. Don't just do a write-up about 70 minutes of music videos with slightly spooky imagery. I'd rather you watch and write about a 21 year old's first attempt at a horror movie about a killer doll than a write-up about Haddaway's What Is Love music video.

"Are there short films that don't qualify?"
Really long short films defeats the point. Don't watch Host or a Masters of Horror episode and then a 5 minute long short film to push you over the 60+ minute requirement. I'd rather you watch ten 6 minute long films than one 55 minute and one 6 minute short.

However, something like Halloween Is Grinch Night, at 26 minutes long, is okay.

Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 22:08 on May 10, 2021

Spatulater bro!
Aug 19, 2003

Punch! Punch! Punch!

FYI, I did The Cremator for the May MotM. An essential horror movie.

dorium
Nov 5, 2009

If it gets in your eyes
Just look into mine
Just look into dreams
and you'll be alright
I'll be alright




I've got my list ready https://letterboxd.com/dorium/list/may-horror-month-of-out-doing-last-april/

That's a good start, so we'll see how quickly I can get through the list in May. It's also a birthday month for me so I may take some PTO this month and really binge out for a couple days.

MacheteZombie
Feb 4, 2007
In for at least 15. Mostly giallo and bracket thread films.

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

The greatest sensual pleasure there is is to know the desires of another!

Fun Shoe
I'm in for at least 13, probably more. Gotta hurry up and watch The Leopard Man and Curse of the Cat People tonight because for some reason Shudder's losing them after only a month.

married but discreet
May 7, 2005


Taco Defender
I'll do 13+, just keeping with my Bracketology schedule.

twernt
Mar 11, 2003

Whoa whoa wait, time out.
I'm in and I'm excited. My tentative list: https://letterboxd.com/twernt/list/spooky-may-2021/

The challenge I'm setting for myself is to start in 1960 and watch one movie per year that I haven't seen already.

TheBizzness
Oct 5, 2004

Reign on me.
I’ll shoot for a minimum of 13 while also completing Fran Challenges.

bitterandtwisted
Sep 4, 2006




I'll commit to a minimum of 13 including Fran Challenges

Right off the bat I have a question about whether a movie "counts": Gods and Monsters, the James Whale biopic.
Is that horror-relevant enough? I've been curious to watch it for a while

Franchescanado
Feb 23, 2013

If it wasn't for disappointment
I wouldn't have any appointment

Grimey Drawer

bitterandtwisted posted:

I'll commit to a minimum of 13 including Fran Challenges

Right off the bat I have a question about whether a movie "counts": Gods and Monsters, the James Whale biopic.
Is that horror-relevant enough? I've been curious to watch it for a while

I'm gonna go ahead and say yes. The May Challenge is a little more casual, so I think a film about a horror director's life after directing is good enough, especially for someone as important to the genre as Whale was.

If you watch it and feel like it's not appropriate for the challenge, I'll leave that decision up to you.

Opopanax
Aug 8, 2007

I HEX YE!!!


I'm going to try for 13, bit busy right now but there's always time for schlock

I don't have a list but I'll probably re-up shudder for the month

Opopanax fucked around with this message at 17:41 on Apr 30, 2021

Chris James 2
Aug 9, 2012


I'm in for minimum 13. Almost everything's gonna be random/spur-of-the-moment except for The New York Ripper, which I committed to in the main horror thread as being my first for the challenge because it's a Fulci film I haven't seen and I'm excited to have finally got it recently :woop:

Spatulater bro!
Aug 19, 2003

Punch! Punch! Punch!

My plan is to watch one movie per day, working my way in order through the They Shoot Zombies Don't They entries I haven't seen, plus the Fran Challenges. The stricter I am on myself, the more fun these challenge threads are.

Shaman Tank Spec
Dec 26, 2003

*blep*



My 13 (to begin with, we'll see how it goes):



Halloween 2
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3
The Haunting
The Legend of Hell House
Under the Shadow
Tremors
Sleepaway Camp
The Innkeepers
Hausu
It Follows
Final Girls
From Beyond
Tombs of the Blind Dead

All first watchings.

MacheteZombie
Feb 4, 2007

Shaman Tank Spec posted:

My 13 (to begin with, we'll see how it goes):



Halloween 2
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3
The Haunting
The Legend of Hell House
Under the Shadow
Tremors
Sleepaway Camp
The Innkeepers
Hausu
It Follows
Final Girls
From Beyond
Tombs of the Blind Dead

All first watchings.

drat that's a solid list of firsts. I haven't seen Under the Shadow or Legend of Hell House, though I've heard the latter is a solid classic. Everything else there is pretty much horror gold in the exception of Final Girls, which I enjoyed but I know it wasn't the most popular flick around these parts.

Shaman Tank Spec
Dec 26, 2003

*blep*



I may have to take a mulligan on Tombs of the Blind Dead. The only copy I could find is dubbed in English, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a very bad thing. If it proves to be an awful thing, I may watch The Hallows or The Banishing instead.

graventy
Jul 28, 2006

Fun Shoe
I'm in for 13 and the challenges. I never make a list in advance, but I hope to tackle some of my quarantine purchases that I still haven't seen.

Iron Crowned
May 6, 2003

by Hand Knit
I'm going to shoot at 13 this go round

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

My movie watching has ticked down late so I'm probably over reaching, but I've had my heart set on 2 challenge ideas for this and I can't resist Fran's challenges so I'm gonna try...

🌻🎈Spook-A-Doodle Half-Way-To-Halloween ’21: Return of the Fallen & King Spring🎈🌻

Slightly amended to fit Fran's draconian, fascist, horrific, completely reasonable and understandable "no mini series" rule because it turns out if you build a list of Stephen King stuff that includes quite a few miniseries. The idea is to do 13 Stephen King films I haven't seen and one film from each of my conveniently exactly 13 fallen Bracketology teams. I'm probably gonna lose some more teams as I go so I might throw bonus films in there. And there's a bunch of King minis I want to watch so I might throw the in and just not count them here. And Fran's challengers. Or I might burn out entirely after Bracketology and spend all my time watching baseball and NBA playoffs. Dunno. Its in the air.


Count Thrashula
Jun 1, 2003

Peak Performance.

Buglord
I've got a list of 31 movies I haven't seen from the TSZDT top 100. I'm hoping to get 13 of them done, but if I go above and beyond, great!

https://letterboxd.com/count_thrashula/list/may-2021-halfoween-horror-challenge/



Shaman Tank Spec
Dec 26, 2003

*blep*



Well I accidentally got an early start. I was trying to figure out my PS5's surround sound settings and ended up watching Evil Dead 2. Unlike the rest of my movies, this one I have seen before, but it must have been 20 or 25 years since my last viewing. Weird, as this was one of my favourite movies as a young, fresh-faced teen.

It still holds up magnificently, and the 4K Blu-ray looks and sounds god drat amazing. While I did remember the overall story and the big set pieces, turns out I'd forgotten a lot over the years, including just how fun and playful the movie is. Sam Raimi loves him some inventive shots and transitions, and so do I. How can you not love a fade to black with Ash shoving a decapitated head (which is biting his hand) into the camera lens?

The special effects are also drat impressive and spooky. A lot of them are done with stop motion, which gives the monsters this jerky, not quite moving at the right speed look that is god drat unnerving. Especially the scene with Ash's surprisingly quickly decomposed girlfriend dancing in the forest was genuinely creepy to look at.

The movie is just full of tiny details I still love, like the weird squeaky growling of Ash's possessed hand, or the obvious way they dubbed over Bruce Campbell's dialogue during the fight scenes. It just gives the movie this wonderful charming and silly quality.

It's so nice to return to an old favourite and discover that it hasn't lost a bit of its shine in over two decades. Great way to kick off this spooky marathon :)

:ghost::ghost::ghost::ghost::ghost: / :ghost::ghost::ghost::ghost::ghost:

E: Gave it a score as well.

Shaman Tank Spec fucked around with this message at 18:19 on May 1, 2021

Class3KillStorm
Feb 17, 2011



It's the second most wonderful time of the year!

I'm in for 13, with the goal of them all being new to me. I never plan these things out, so we'll see if I can keep to that goal.

Spatulater bro!
Aug 19, 2003

Punch! Punch! Punch!

It's very easy to accidently watch Evil Dead II.

E.G.G.S.
Apr 15, 2006

I think I’ll start this challenge with Winterbeast.

The Berzerker
Feb 24, 2006

treat me like a dog


Here's my (very much still a work in progress) list for the challenge. I usually dump stuff onto a letterboxd list and pick and choose depending on how I'm feeling, so I'll shuffle this around and add/remove as I go, especially as new weeks are announced over in the bracketology thread. I already have too many movies on the list as it is.

My two 'must complete' goals are to hit 31 first-time watches and to complete the top 100 of the TSZDT list (I only have two films left). Secondary goals include the Fran Challenges and finishing the top 50 of indiewire's top 100 horror films (which is around a half dozen movies). We'll see how those go.

Shaman Tank Spec
Dec 26, 2003

*blep*



Spatulater bro! posted:

It's very easy to accidently watch Evil Dead II.

Well you put in a Blu-ray you've owned for a while and tinker around with the settings and hey the surround sound is working now and man this credit sequence is rad and ... well why couldn't I just watch the entire movie? Who's stopping me?

Nobody, it turns out.

Iron Crowned
May 6, 2003

by Hand Knit

E.G.G.S. posted:

I think I’ll start this challenge with Winterbeast.

Lucky, FedEx still hasn't delivered my latest VinSyn drop, USPS did much better

WeaponX
Jul 28, 2008



Going for 13, making a list never works for me so I’m winging it with a mix of catching up on stuff I haven’t seen and revisiting some comfort food classics. Bring on the challenges because it’s much easier when someone narrows things down for me...

Debbie Does Dagon
Jul 8, 2005



I have 68 films on my list, but I'm going to aim for 13 solid write-ups. All of my chosen films are new to me, and have been selected from the 🌈Pride: A Chronological History of Queer Interest & LGBTQ+ Cinema list.

E.G.G.S.
Apr 15, 2006

Iron Crowned posted:

Lucky, FedEx still hasn't delivered my latest VinSyn drop, USPS did much better

You’re the lucky one, Canadian orders haven’t even shipped yet so I’m watching it via YouTube.

I’m going to shoot for 13 titles, and they’re all gonna be whatever pops up in the pile.

twernt
Mar 11, 2003

Whoa whoa wait, time out.


1. 1960. Jigoku

Jigoku (literally Hell in Japanese) is a morality tale about taking responsibility for your transgressions, lest you become the center of a snowballing storm of death and despair.

At first, it plays out like some kind of noir thriller. A young man named Shiro and his creepy friend Tamura accidentally run over a Yakuza boss, but don’t turn themselves in. Of course, things start to spiral out of control as the bodies pile up.



Eventually, our hero ends up in the titular hell and things get very interesting. All kind of torment and torture is doled out to sinners as Enma, the Lord of Hell, narrates and Shiro tries to find a way out.



To me, the most surprising thing about hell is how much shouting there is. Everyone is just shouting all the time!



All in all I thought Jigoku was very good, but not quite great. In spite of some of the subpar acting it has a lot going for it and it's definitely worth seeing.

twernt fucked around with this message at 17:04 on May 1, 2021

graventy
Jul 28, 2006

Fun Shoe
Um, did you like it?

Irony.or.Death
Apr 1, 2009


I'm going to try for 13 + any extra I need to hit all the Fran Challenges, but I'm expecting to fail this year because it is a year for failure

twernt
Mar 11, 2003

Whoa whoa wait, time out.

graventy posted:

Um, did you like it?

I did! I should amend my post because I never actually said one way or the other.

The Berzerker
Feb 24, 2006

treat me like a dog


Let's go.


1. The Roost (Ti West, 2005)
I watched this for the Bracketology Tournament thread (which I highly recommend to anyone looking to find some stuff to watch for their challenge). It's clearly low budget, so they lean into it. Tom Noonan opens as a sort of fright-night TV host introducing us to the movie itself. Four people on their way to a wedding have bat-related car trouble, so they go searching for help. Instead, they find more bats, and anyone who gets bitten by a bat turns into a *checks notes* ... zombie? Look, I don't know, it's not very clear. The important thing is that West does a lot with a little - good use of shadow, you never know what is hiding in corners, especially since the threats can come from any direction. Jeff Grace composed this super oppressive, string-heavy score that kept making me jump and get mad at myself. Larry Fessenden shows up to play a Larry Fessenden character. I thought the ending was a bit weak, but that gets flipped on its head by having Noonan jump back in and pull a Funny Games-esque 'I don't like that, let's rewind and try something else' move, although the second ending wasn't much better, and the way the wrap-around concludes was also a bit of a letdown. Overall this was better than I expected, and if you're OK with rough quality, you can find it on Youtube.

:ghost: 3/5


2. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Ana Lily Amirpour, 2014)
I've been 'saving' this one for a while, and I'm glad I finally watched it because it was fantastic. So stylish, I love the shots of the deserted Bad City, a place pulled out of a western (if westerns had skateboarding vampires). Everything feels dreamy and floating (the vampirism? the heroin?) and I didn't mind the slow pace at all because it felt right for the story that was unfolding. It's quite romantic, for a film about a vigilante vampire who preys on men that commit gender-based violence. Sheila Vand (as the vampire) says a lot with her eyes, especially in scenes with Arash. The music is perfect - the scene with "Death" by White Lies in particular was my favorite. I'll be thinking about this one for a while.

:ghost: 4.5/5

Challenge Count: 2/31

EL BROMANCE
Jun 10, 2006

COWABUNGA DUDES!
🥷🐢😬



In for 13 or so, lots of hockey on at the moment so that's more realistic than 31 again.

https://letterboxd.com/jayx/list/something-awful-may-horror-challenge-2021/

Boo that I'm not a Letterboxd Pro person anymore so can't duplicate my list as needed, but this is the remains of my pool I didn't get around to last season with a chunk of new additions.

Sono
Apr 9, 2008




I've been meaning to jump into the silent era since the October challenge, so 13 there, plus any challenge that I can't tie into that.

gey muckle mowser
Aug 5, 2003

Do you know anything about...
witches?



Buglord
Didn’t think this would start until tomorrow! Setting a goal of 31 movies, and will be trying to wrap up a couple of Top 100 lists I’m close to completing. My posts might be shorter than usual at first because my PC is on the fritz and typing out anything more than a few sentences on a phone or tablet sucks.

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Tarnop
Nov 25, 2013

Pull me out

The Berzerker posted:

The music is perfect - the scene with "Death" by White Lies in particular was my favorite. I'll be thinking about this one for a while.

I get goosebumps just thinking about that scene

Oh yeah, the challenge. I'll do 31 including the Fran Challenges since I don't have much else to do this month. It's going to be a combination of Bracketology films and stuff from TSZDT

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