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Wet Tie Affair
May 8, 2008

P-I-Z-Z-A

21. Midsommar (2019) (Netflix DVD) :spooky: Super Samhain Challenge #8 - Happy Holidays! :spooky:



"As Harga takes, so Harga also gives." - Siv

Hereditary was my favorite movie of 2018, so this was one of the movies I was most looking forward to watching for this challenge.

I'm still not sure how I feel about this movie, and may need to watch it a second time. I liked it, but the way things are set up it's more like the audience is meant to root for the cult community and as result don't really care if the main characters live or die. Or maybe that's just how it seemed to me. Dani may seem like she gets somewhat of a happy ending based on her smile, but the ending of the movie reminds me of the "triumphant" ending of Hereditary.

Although Midsommar is quite long, the time doesn't feel wasted, and after reading about them some of the deleted scenes would have been nice to see.

3.5/5


22. The Noonday Witch (2016) (Shudder) :spooky: Super Samhain Challenge #5 - Tourist Trap (Czech Republic) :spooky:



This was probably the hardest challenge for me this year as I have intentionally sought out a lot of international horror movies in the past. I also almost watched this movie a few months ago, so I'm glad I didn't.

Another horror movie that takes place primarily during the day. I don't have much to say about this one, but it's another film that would make a good companion film to The Babadook.

3/5

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Random Stranger
Nov 27, 2009



First off, to every goon who succeeded in their challenge, congratulations on surviving. Just remember to pump two more rounds into it to make sure it stays down. To all the goons who did not, you are of the damned. Your condemned soul will wander eternally, desperately seeking out films to conclude your challenge but finding only rom-coms in Hell's own Blockbuster. And not good rom-coms, either.

Every year I set out on a journey of thirty-one days and thirty-one new to me movies and every year brings something new and interesting. I've always worried about running low on good movies to watch but there's always something else to find. This year the twist for me (well besides taking on two challenges) was the box set. That was kind of neat for me since I had all virtually the movies I was going to watch for the month in hand at the beginning and it was just a matter of organizing them. I think I might wind up doing something similar next year; I found myself eyeing some horror box sets at a thrift store and thinking "Maybe I should get that for next year so I can watch all six Wrong Turn movies in one shot." I've gone a bit box set mad since I've picked up the Universal Monsters bluray and I box set with all of the Marx Brothers movies in it this week (well, the Marx Brothers was actually two box sets stuck inside each other). I have a lot of fun movies to watch going into November.

So now the moment you've all nobody has been waiting for, picking the winners and losers of the month. And for this year's rankings, I'm going to pick a winner from each box set and from the Challenge list.

Best Surprise
Hammer: Nightmare made me think it was Hammer doing a cheap knock off. Then it took a turn at the halfway mark that made it a very different movie.
Blumhouse: Found footage? Ugh. Shyamalan? Uh-oh. And yet I enjoyed The Visit a lot.
Cult Horror: Memorial Valley Massacre was not a good movie, but it was a crazy one and that made it a more enjoyable viewing experience.
Challenges: I watched Suspiria out of a sense of needing to experience it as a popular horror film despite my dislike of other Argento movies. Then it turns out I kind of liked it.

Movie I Want to Rewatch
Hammer: I thought Night Creatures was going to be a weaker entry in Hammer's catalog. Despite not a lot of horror elements, this was a fun movie with a great Cushing performance that I want to see again.
Blumhouse:
Cult Horror: Kill Baby Kill gave me the impression that there was an interesting film here but the crappy presentation in this box set was disrupting it. I want to give it a fair shot.
Challenges: Godzilla vs. Biollante takes this one, not because I want to watch it immediately but because I want to sit down and do watch through of the entire Heisei era of Godzilla starting with 1984.

Worst Movie
Hammer: The Curse of the Werewolf had the problem that it just wasn't engaging as a werewolf story. A great final five minutes don't make up for the turgid rest of the film.
Blumhouse: Unfriended presented me with a universe where I hated everyone involved and made the movie annoying to watch with its gimmick.
Cult Horror: A wealth of options here, but Night of Bloody Horror was just annoying to watch.
Challenges: Baskin was the worst aspects of a style of horror that I already hate, only presented in a worse way.

Best Movie
Hammer: It's a tough call since there were several that were on this level, but The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll was a really fun adaptation with some great performances.
Blumhouse: It's not even a challenge. Get Out is one of the two best movies I've watched this month
Cult Horror: Not to get all recency bias, but Horror Rises from the Grave is a movie that could have been pretty good with a bit more effort. That puts it above many of the films in this box.
Challenges: Perfect Blue is an exceptional movie and a real classic.

Best Box Set:
The Hammer collection takes it for me. While the Blumhouse box had higher highs, the lows were much lower.

And that takes me to the end. It was a pretty good month over all. Thanks Franchescanado for organizing this!

Flying Zamboni
May 7, 2007

but, uh... well, there it is

11) The Old Dark House (1932)



I thought I was done earlier but managed to squeeze this one in this afternoon. Several people get stranded at a big spooky mansion during during a storm and get caught up in the bizarre family drama of its residents.

As with Bride of Frankenstein, James Whale shows some surprisingly modern sensibilities here. The dialogue is much snappier than what you might expect from a movie made in 1932 and the few action scenes are also pretty well choreographed and edited.

The plot is a little meandering but the strangeness of the family living in the house keeps things entertaining and the last act is pretty engaging.

Have a potato.

Wet Tie Affair
May 8, 2008

P-I-Z-Z-A

23. Deadbeat at Dawn (1988) (Shudder) :spooky: Super Samhain Challenge #10 - Navel Gazing :spooky:



"I am the best motherfucker you ever saw, man!" - Bonecrusher

I had never heard of this movie or Jim Van Bebber but I'm glad I picked this to watch.

Low budget but with a lot of heart, Deadbeat at Dawn showcases a grimy city and grimier individuals. It seems like everyone is on drugs or in a gang in this movie. I appreciated Goose's reaction to his girlfriend dying is to pull a Frank Reynold's and throw her in the trash.

3/5


24. Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013) - Rewatch (DVD)



"In my line of work things tend to happen when it gets dark." - Elise Rainier

Insidious is a direct continuation of the first movie, but also somewhat of a prequel as it delves into the backstory of Patrick Wilson's character Josh and the spirit that continues to haunt him.

It's okay, but I'm of the opinion that the least interesting parts of horror sequels is where everything is given an origin or explained in detail.

On a second watch of both this year, I think I like this one a little more than the first as it's a little faster paced.

3/5

Wet Tie Affair
May 8, 2008

P-I-Z-Z-A

25. Us (2019) (Netflix DVD) :spooky: Super Samhain Challenge #3 - Horror Noire :spooky:



"...the shadow hated the girl so much for so long until one day the shadow realized she was being tested by God." - Red

I liked Get Out, so I was definitely on board to check out Jordan Peele's follow up.

Us oozes style. Much more so than Get Out, and that excites me to see what Peele puts out in the future. The character design, visuals and references are very impressive.

Unfortunately the movie's central conceit doesn't make any sense - no matter how much effort is put into comprehending it (which is probably why the exposition is very brief).

Still, I look forward to watching this one again.

3.5/5


26. Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991) - Rewatch (DVD)



"Every town has an Elm Street!" - Freddy Krueger

Once again Freddy attempts to expand his soul gathering, this time through his previously unmentioned child.

This movie features Freddy at his wackiest, but also has some of the best death scenes.

3.5/5

Behind Maslow
Apr 11, 2008


#27. Night of the Demons (1988)
(Rewatch)

Demons possess and kill a bunch of people having a Halloween party at an old funeral home.

So many amazing lines in this. I can nearly recite this whole movie. Beyond that we get lipstick gags, eye gouging, and a tongue bitten off. The soundtrack shreds too, with some original songs written by the director. This is prime Halloween viewing with me. Now it's on to part 2.

Shankel Magnus
Jul 4, 2007

Goodness no, now that wouldn't do at all!


:spooky:SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #6: Sometimes They Come Back:spooky:

19. The Blob


This is one of those VHS boxes that freaked me out whenever I happened to stray into the horror section of the video rental store when I was younger. I just somehow never got around to watching it until this month. This movie is 80s to the core, right down to the hair metal song during the end credits. It did decent job of trying to show the town itself with some character as a down on its luck ski town.

As far as the Blob itself, I wasn’t expecting it to be so fast moving. At points this almost felt like The Blob by way of John Carpenter’s The Thing. I thought the leading man kill/fakeout at the beginning was great and helped create an air where no one really felt “safe.” (except the final girl of course) There were so many good kills during this movie. The phone booth kill was loving awesome!

Shower thought: So was the Blob supposed to be the good guy? I mean it kills a date rapist, a guy talking in a movie theater, a corrupt government official, and a macho mustached cop.

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

Ok, next up, its time to finish my incredibly daunting 3 year 100 Years challenge. What film I would save for last kind of changed up a few times but ultimately over the last week going through the Universal Monster Mashes and realizing how much I’ve grown to really love that era of film over this month and was genuinely sad to be finishing up, I decided the only really appropriate way to end my Years would be with one last Monster Mash.


59 (77). Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Watched on DVD.

The two classic bubbling fellas end up caught up in a dastardly and monstrous scheme when a new mad scientist Dr. Mornay teams up with Count Dracula to try and heal Frankenstein’s Monster and replace his brain with the more controllable brain of Costello’s Wilbur. And the only person who seems to know what’s going on or can help is Larry Talbot.

Absolutely delightful. The absolute correct film for me to leave until last. That was a bit of a last minute decision with me debating leaving Creature from the Black Lagoon as the last of the Universal Monsters or Hands of Count Orlac as some bookending with starting with Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. There were probably other ideas but I finally settled on this “swan song” for the “big three” of Universal Monsters when I learned that Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney, Jr. were in it reprising their classic roles. Seeing Bela play Dracula again alone was worth it and Chaney remains the same likable, if redundant poor sap in Talbot but having him deal with Abbott and Costello certainly mixed up the formula a bit. And for the first time Universal managed to do one of these monster mash films with all the monsters being part of the same plotline! Its not the best story in the world and Bela could have been given a bit more to do but all in all its a really fun and fitting goodbye to these classic monsters. The only thing that really could have improved it would have been Karloff.

Oh and the Vincent Price Invisible Man cameo at the end was absolutely the cherry on top.

I’m not really sure why Boris Karloff wasn’t part of the movie and it reads like no one else is either. Sounds like a bunch of ideas like ”he didn’t want to make light of the Monster” or “didn’t want to work with Abbott & Costello” were thrown around but easily debunked because Karloff did those things anyway. And it sounds like Karloff was even part of some of the advertising for the movie. So I don’t know why he wasn’t there. Maybe he just felt he wasn’t physically up to playing the Monster and didn’t want to play a secondary row? Maybe he had passed the torch to Glenn Strange? Maybe they just didn’t know how to find a place for him (although he probably would have been great as Mr. MacDougal). Either way its a little sad missing element but just a small one.

Despite that wish its still a really great and fun watch and a great way for me to finally after a long month say goodbye to these wonderful, classic monsters that I’ve grown to love so much and take so much joy from. The Universal Monsters will be the big takeaway from this challenge for me so I’m very happy I ended up finishing it this way and on a high note.

And with that I’ve done it. ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF HORROR!


If I dare say so myself, a herculean task. Started on a whim three years ago its opened up my knowledge of horror and willingness to get outside my zone, filled in a ton of necessary blanks, and given me my first real tastes and understandings of such important horror periods, genres, and franchises such as The Universal Monsters, Hammer films, German Expressionism, giallo, Friday the 13th, Vincent Price, Lon Chaney, Stuart Gordon, and probably more I’m forgetting. Not every film I watched was a classic or essential. There was shallow years, years I couldn’t find much available, years I just planned poorly, or years I actually had seen all the big ones. But so many of the movies I saw WERE essentials and classics and so many others were watched in connection to this challenge in one way or another.

This year was probably my favorite of the bunch, even if it was the hardest. The Universal Monsters were always such a glaring hole in my viewing and I spent a year anticipating doing this. It was nervous about them living up or me getting bored but in the end I really wish I had more time, had worked in more of them, and am sad to be mostly finished forming new memories with those classics.

I consider myself a more knowledgeable and fuller horror fan than I was 3 years ago and I owe that to these challenges and you folks. Thank you, and I have absolutely no idea what I’m going to do next year.

But Halloween isn't over and I still have one movie left...

Lumbermouth
Mar 6, 2008

GREG IS BIG NOW


My fondest memory of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is Bela Lugosi throwing full ceramic flower pots around. It’s such an absurd visual, I love it so much.

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

Now I know where Peter Cushing and the Hammer Draculas got that move from.

CopywrightMMXI
Jun 1, 2011

One time a guy stole some downhill skis out of my jeep and I was so mad I punched a mailbox. I'm against crime, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
I didn’t watch anything new tonight, so it’s a total of 33 first time watches this year, which may be my personal best.

My list is:

Brightburn
Tales from the Hood
Pet Semetary 2
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
One Cut of the Dead
Leatherface (1990)
Summer of 84
Viy
Mandy
In the Tall Grass
Street Trash
See No Evil
Haunt
Idle Hands
Horror Noire
Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night 2
Doom Asylum
Eaten Alive
The Craft
The Wolfman (2010)
3 from hell
The Most Powerful Witch 1&2
Zombieland 2
Eli
Return of the Living Dead 3
Psycho (1998)
Monster Mash: The Movie
Evil Ed
Countdown
Prom Night (2008)
The Dead Zone
The Willies
Assimilate

I would have to say the best movie I saw was Henry:Portrait of a serial Killer. It’s so disturbing and well-made, but nothing I really want to rewatch anytime soon.

The Best Surprise was Tales from the Hood. I always thought it was just some low budget anthology but it turned out to be really great.

The Worst movie was the Monster Mash. I truly cannot express how poorly made this was. Had you said it was a rejected Full House episode I would’ve believed you.

Overall I enjoyed most of what I saw this year, but there aren’t too many in eager to see again. I’ll be adding a few to my collection for sure, but most of these movies are one and done for me.

I also want to thank Fran for running this and for everyone who contributed to the Samhain challenges. I managed to complete all of them and it was very difficult to meet some of these challenges. It really pushed me out of my comfort zone for a few choices as well.

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

Its honestly the greatest action sequence in Universal history.





A more fitting end I can not imagine. Except, you know. KARLOFF.

Lumbermouth
Mar 6, 2008

GREG IS BIG NOW


Like last year, I tried to do all of my movie selections in thematic pairs, which made this whole thing VERY DIFFICULT. But I succeeded in both hitting my goal and all of the Super Samhain Challenges! So here's my list for this year:

Mario Bava Double Feature
1. Black Sunday
2. Blood and Black Lace

80s Mall Horror
3. Night of the Comet
4. Chopping Mall

Lesser Known Giallo
5. Five Dolls For An August Moon
6. The Case of the Bloody Iris

Media vs Reality
7. In the Mouth of Madness
8. Videodrome (Super Samhain Challenge #1)

Lighthearted Horror
9. Happy Death Day
10. One Cut of the Dead

Invasions Home and Abroad
11. You're Next
12. Green Room

Trippy Woods Movies
13. The Ritual
14. Mandy

Haunted House Movies
15. Hell House LLC
16. Prince of Darkness (Super Samhain Challenge #2)

Ancient Mystical Nonsense
17. Halloween III: Season of the Witch
18. Tales From The Crypt Presents: Demon Knight (Super Samhain Challenge #3)

Kids Not Being Believed
19. The Babysitter
20. Phantasm

Supernatural Detectives
21. Lord of Illusions
22. The Exorcist III

Mad Musicians
23. Phantom of the Paradise (Super Samhain Challenge #4)
24. The Abominable Dr. Phibes

Theatrical Giallo
25. Stage Fright
26. Suspiria

Sequels To Challenge Movies
27. Happy Death Day 2U (Super Samhain Challenge #6)
28. Dr. Phibes Rises Again

British Horror Anthologies
29. Dead of Night (Super Samhain Challenge #8)
30. Doctor Terror's House of Horrors (Super Samhain Challenge #7)

The Dead Rise From The Grave
31. Reanimator (Super Samhain Challenge #11)
32. Versus (Super Samhain Challenge #13)

Mortuary Horror
33. Body Bags (Super Samhain Challenge #12)
34. The Autopsy of Jane Doe (Super Samhain Challenge #10)

Stuart Gordon Lovecraft
35. From Beyond (Super Samhain Challenge #9)
36. Dagon (Super Samhain Challenge #5)

I'll talk my favorites and surprises and such tomorrow, I'm super spent.

Shankel Magnus
Jul 4, 2007

Goodness no, now that wouldn't do at all!
:spooky:SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #9: Hackers:spooky:



20. Videodrome


I was working my way through Cronenberg’s filmography, but I decided to skip the Brood so I could do this challenge. Cronenberg definitely feels like he’s found his footing with his trademark squishy gore. The writing and the pacing felt stronger as a whole compared to his earlier films. There was just enough mystery about what was going on to keep me intrigued. It’s just a shame that this movie didn’t deliver at the box office.

I’m sure a lot of other people have already made this observation but the film in a way predicted the SA Forums – “soon we will all have special names.” :v: It was an interesting examination of how violence or depraved content can desensitize someone and lead them to seek out even more depraved content. My mind kept hearing Tool’s Stinkfist as I was watching this, “soon you will not want me any other way.” After watching this movie, I also realized where Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad came up with the song title, “All Hail the New Flesh.”

Trash Boat
Dec 28, 2012

VROOM VROOM

:woop: :spooky: CHALLENGE COMPLETE AND SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGES COMPLETE :spooky: :woop:

:siren: SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #12: Cavalcade of Creepiness :siren:

Tales From the Hood: This movie is the poo poo. This is straight up black Tales From the Crypt, and totally leans into that conceit and the racial allegory potential that it provides. This movie deals with some real heavy subject matter (the child/spousal abuse in the second segment in particular getting real hard to watch at points), but balances it out with the humour and catharsis that I've come to expect from the anthology genre. I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention the fun stop motion work in the third segment, as well as Clarence Williams III just chewing the scenery in the best possible way throughout all of the wraparound segments.

:siren: SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #7: Monster Mash-up :siren:

The Monster Squad: Was looking for something light and fun while I was resting off a cold the other night, and this fit the bill nicely. The inventive premise definitely isn't explored as richly as it could have been, with The Mummy and Gill-Man in particular getting the short end of the stick, but the core cast dynamic is still fun enough that I found myself enjoying it regardless.

:siren: SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #11: All Hail The King :siren:

Re-Animator: For the most part, I really liked this one. At it's best, it basically feels like an exercise in contrast, creating a sharp dichotomy between its subtle and often downplayed humour and characterization, versus its over-the-top violence and gore effects. It manages to succeed not just at landing both ends of the spectrum in their own rights, but bringing both ends together into a perfect blend of pitch black comedy. Unfortunately, I also can't talk about this movie without addressing the enormous elephant in the room that is the infamous sexual assault scene, which honestly just feels super gross and mean spirited in a way that feels incongruous to the rest of the shock value that the film presents. I otherwise enjoyed the movie enough that it didn't ruin if for me or anything, but it definitely left a sour taste in my mouth going into the climax, and is a scene that I see myself skipping on future rewatches, especially with how easily excised it is.

:siren: SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #5: Tourist Trap :siren:

Train to Busan: In which my being an uncultured swine finally pays off. Anyway, this movie rules. Yeah, it's another zombie movie, but it sets itself apart through extremely strong characterization from the human cast, as well as through really committing to and fully utilizing the unique railway setting to create scenarios which haven't already been done to death within the genre.

:siren: SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #13: Maniac :siren:

Final Destination 3: While I'd hesitate to call this a great movie by any stretch, it is one that I have a nostalgic attachment to by sheer virtue of it being one of my first real gateways into horror movies, by way channel surfing one night in early high school sometime about a year or two after it came out. (Full disclosure, I was born in '93 and imagine I'm a good deal younger than the vast majority of people here.) Watching it again in full for the first time since then, the invisible Rube Goldberg slasher conceit/pacing was still fun enough to keep me entertained throughout, and I was actually surprised to see the film handle the themes of grief and survivor's guilt better than I expected it to.

That being said, hoo boy did I somehow forget about that brief but incredibly tasteless 9/11 reference in the middle of it, just over four years after it happened no less. :stare:

Movies Watched (31): Stereo, Crimes of the Future, Perfect Blue (Challenge #1), Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Event Horizon, Ernest Scared Stupid, The Invisible Man, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, 10 Cloverfield Lane, The Thing (1982), Godzilla (1954), Godzilla vs. Biollante, Creature From the Black Lagoon (Challenge #2), Godzilla 2000, Shin Godzilla, Overlord (Challenge #3), Krampus (Challenge #4), Zombieland: Double Tap, Ghostwatch, Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (Challenge #6), Horror Noire, Joker, House of the Dead (Challenge #9), One Cut of the Dead (Challenge # 10), The Lighthouse, Ghostbusters II (Challenge # 8), Tales From the Hood (Challenge # 12), The Monster Squad (Challenge # 7), Re-Animator (Challenge # 11), Train to Busan (Challenge # 5), Final Destination 3 (Challenge # 13)

Samhain Challenges Completed: 13/13

Anyway, that's the challenge for me! I'mma cap off Halloween with a rewatch of Alien and maybe starting up Luigi's Mansion 3 if I have enough time afterwards. Cheers again to Fran for continually running these challenges twice a year! :cheers:

Trash Boat fucked around with this message at 04:12 on Nov 1, 2019

Shankel Magnus
Jul 4, 2007

Goodness no, now that wouldn't do at all!
21. Rocky Horror Picture Show

Saw this one at an Alamo Drafthouse movie party. The audience was encouraged to do shout outs during the film, but because there were no live actors the crowd was fairly subdued. (for a Rocky Horror crowd). I kind of wish that the Goon who said he didn’t have a good time at his live showing could have seen this one. There were just enough call outs to make it a special event and add some extra laughs without getting obnoxious. It’s been a few days already and I’m still catching myself singing lines from it. I love it. It’s something everyone should do at least once before they die.

deety
Aug 2, 2004

zombies + sharks = fun



33. Slugs (1988)

This is one of those movies I watch every year, so I was a little surprised at how lukewarm its reviews have been so far. It’s beautifully goopy, with tons of scenes of tromping through muck as well as generous splashes of gore. The story drags just a bit at towards the end, and the actors are hardly amazing. But the thing that makes Slugs so great is something I don’t see mentioned much: it’s funny as hell.

It’s got that kind of dry humor that’s probably tempting to write off as bad writing or direction, but it’s hard for me to believe that Juan Piquer Simón, the guy that made something as bonkers as Pieces, didn’t hit exactly what he was going for here. I mean, it starts out with a scene of a guy being dragged off a boat by the tips of his toes as they trail in the water. The slugs move in a pack whenever it isn’t more dramatic for one to hide in a head of lettuce, squirm into a garden glove, or menace our hero’s finger with it’s ridiculously tiny teeth. And when the brave civil servants fighting off this infestation realize that their plan will endanger the town they just shrug, decide it’s worth trying anyway, and don’t warn anyone, even their friends or families, that they’re about to blow up the sewer. There are so many little funny touches even apart from that scene in the greenhouse, or the time when the health inspector is told he doesn’t have the authority to declare Happy Birthday in this town.

One of the kills is a little mean-spirited for my taste (though there’s nothing as squicky as there is in Pieces), and the movie doesn’t push the reckless development angle quite hard enough. My sense of the acting also isn’t helped by some of the dubbing. But I love Slugs despite its flaws, and it’s always seemed like a shame to me that Pieces is the movie that Simón is more often remembered for.


:siren: SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #13: Maniac:siren:



34. Halloween II (1981)

I picked Halloween II as my guilty pleasure because it feels like the orphan of the series, and even plenty of horror nerds see it as pointless at best. But the influence of Halloween II is all over everything that follows thanks to that whole hidden Myers sibling thing. It’s the movie that sets up the idea that Michael wants to kill the rest of his family, and it also helps establish Loomis as an increasingly unstable nutjob who cares more about containing Michael than any collateral damage he inflicts along the way. Halloween 2018 ditches this one along with the sillier cult stuff of later episodes, which is fine given that it doesn't follow the family route. But that does cut out some of Loomis's memorable moments. While it’s not as frequently panned as part 6 or Resurrection, Halloween II is still often described as skippable.

Maybe it’s partly the nostalgia talking, but I always enjoy it. There are some solid kills, and a few scenes, like the shots of Myers wandering through suburban streets and houses, seemed echoed in Halloween 2018. It’s also got a couple of good laughs for this style of slasher.

The Laurie/Michael connection is a bit clumsy in the way it’s handled, and the movie could have done more to ramp up the tension in its final scenes. But it does a good job of showing the chaos in the wake of Michael’s first attack, and it’s always a good time. I think that being a sequel to one of the best horror movies of its time means it’s judged more harshly than standalone films of a similar (or lesser) quality. I’ll definitely keep revisiting it every couple of years though.


:siren: That's my full 31 movies finished as well as all 13 challenges. :siren:

I'll do a wrap-up post at some point tomorrow.


Watched: 1. Burn, Witch, Burn (1962); 2. TerrorVision (1986); 3. Evilspeak (1981) - Challenge #1; 4. Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971); 5. The City of the Dead (1960); 6. The Witches (1966); 7. The Crimson Cult (1968); 8. A Return to Salem’s Lot (1987) - Challenge #2; 9. Next of Kin (1982); 10. The Ritual (2017); 11. Def by Temptation (1990) - Challenge #3; 12. Halloween III (1982); 13. House by the Cemetery (1981); 14. The Dorm That Dripped Blood (1982); 15. Phenomena (1985); 16. Color Me Blood Red (1965) - Challenge #4; 17. Girls With Balls (2018); 18. Tarot (2009) - Challenge #5; 19. Jug Face (2013); 20. Wake Wood (2009); 21. Happy Death Day (2017); 22. Poltergeist II (1986) - Challenge #6; 23. Wolfman’s Got Nards (2018); 24. Spookies (1986); 25. The Midnight Hour (1985) - Challenge #7; 26. P2 (2007) Challenge #8; 27. Dan Curtis’s Dracula (1973); 28. Interface (1985) - Challenge #9; 29. Occult (2009) - Challenge #10; 30. Pet Sematary (2019) - Challenge #11; 31. From a Whisper to a Scream (1987) - Challenge #12; 32. The She-Creature (1956); 33. Slugs (1988); 34. Halloween II (1981) - Challenge #13

Anonymous Robot
Jun 1, 2007

Lost his leg in Robo War I
:siren:SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #13: MANIAC:siren:



#31
Trick ‘R Treat
12
2007
Prime (Paid rental)

Returning to a favorite of mine, and what better picture for Halloween night? One of the best things about this movie is that, on top of taking place on Halloween, it captures the mix of silly, kitschy, and scary that characterizes the season. And, for an anthology film, it looks pretty great. In particular, I love the inventive werewolf transformation sequence.

No story drags, though the “schoolbus” short lacks the surprises that delight with the others. The decision to interlace the shorts with one another was really wise; not only does it help with the pacing, it gives the sense that Halloween is a truly special time where sinister and otherworldly things are happening around every corner.

This is just a great Halloween movie. There’s nothing about it that’s all that unique or memorable about it, but it’s a perfect seasonal confection, with fun stories, technical competence, and some standout performances (the murder dad rules.)

4/5

With that, I’ve completed all 13 challenges, and my 31 movie quota! I’ll return this weekend with some final observations. Until then, Happy Halloween!

Shankel Magnus
Jul 4, 2007

Goodness no, now that wouldn't do at all!


22. Demon Knight

This one kicked off the 4 horror movie marathon at the Alamo Drafthouse called, Dismember the Alamo. This was my first rewatch of the challenge and coincidentally it would be my pick if someone asked me to give them a recommendation for an intro to horror. Billy Zanes knocks it out of the park as the collector. The script was solid with great humor and one liners. The bigger budget allowed the movie to really go all out with practical creature effects and gore. It’s just a good time all the way through.

My only really minor complaint is that I seem to remember most of the Tales from the Crypt TV shows had twisted endings where the hero almost never survived or is messed up in some way. I was a little surprised when I watched this the first time and that wasn’t really the case. Not a deal-breaker at all.

blood_dot_biz
Feb 24, 2013
And one for good luck.

#32 Occult (2009)


Took a few hours to cook dinner and bake a pumpkin pie before sitting back down to watch what I think is probably my last film of the month. I could still fit in one more (or two if they were really short), but I really like the idea of taking the last few hours of the month to do something non-movie related.

I think this was a fitting final watch. I enjoyed myself the whole way through and although I wouldn't describe this movie as scary, it does have a creep factor and there are some pretty effectively unsettling moments. I thought the plot developed pretty naturally, with the real subject of the documentary being "discovered" as things went along rather than known from the start. I was very engaged in the central mystery, and the constant potential for "miracles" kept me very focused. I almost wish they hadn't highlighted the phenomena quite as much as they did, just because I think it would've been fun to have had to hunt a bit more actively.

I particularly liked the section that takes place surrounding a mountain. Kiyoshi Kurosawa's cameo was pretty delightful, but even ignoring that I think it was the most effective part of the movie for me. There was a really nice balance between what they implied and what they showed. I think some of the later portions of the movie suffered a bit in that regard, though in general they did a really nice job dealing with what I assume must've been a very limited budget.

I'll have to go back and re-read the previous few reviews of this, but I imagine the ending is something that's pretty divisive for people. I personally kind of loved it and thought it was a smart way of working within their technical constraints, but I can imagine it not landing for some.

After this and Noroi, I'm curious to dive a little deeper into the other stuff Koji Shiraishi's made.

--

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Watched (32/31): #1 Gozu (2003), #2 Spider Baby or, the Maddest Story Ever Told (1967), #3 Viy (1967), #4 Mondo Cane (1962), #5 Dark Water (2002), #6 Blood and Black Lace (1964), #7 Daughters of Darkness (1971), #8 Sliders of Ghost Town: Origins (2016), #9 One Cut of the Dead (2017), #10 Possum (2018), #11 EGG. (2005), #12 Adventures of Electric Rod Boy (1987), #13 House of 1000 Corpses (2003), #14 Ganja and Hess (1973), #15 Q (1982), #16 Hungry Stones (1960), #17 The Ruins (2008), #18 The Lighthouse (2019), #19 Pulgasari (1985), #20 Halloween (2018), #21 Freddy vs. Jason (2003), #22 The Phantom Carriage (1921), #23 Resident Evil (2002), #24 The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires (1974), #25 It (2017), #26 Tales from the Hood (1995), #26b Tokyo Gore Police (2008), #27 The Oily Maniac (1976), #28 The Boxer's Omen (1983), #29 Cremator (1969), #30 Anguish (1987), #31 Lake Mungo (2008), #32 Occult (2009)
Challenges (13/13): #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13

Hot Dog Day #89
Mar 17, 2004
[img]https://forumimages.somethingawful.com/images/newbie.gif[/img]

Morbid Hound

Death Proof, 2007

It's Halloween in America and I plan to just watch movies and gulp down beer until I pass out or puke all over my self. Whatever comes first, I hope to get at least four movies done before that happens. I'm Starting off with this thriller.

I remember Grindhouse from 2007, but missed seeing it in theaters, so I didn't get the experience with the double feature and all the fake grindhouse trailers (some which went on to become real movies down the line). It was set up to give that 70s grindhouse feel with grainy footage and all that with the double feature being Planet Terror and Death Proof back to back. Planet Terror is a great gorefest and probable a better choice for this marathon in terms of it being a straight up horror comedy, but I feel it was too big scale and over the top to be a grindhouse film. Death Proof may be more of a thriller with few horror elements, but with its more simple premise, it feels and looks like a grindhouse film from the 70s. Sure, they got cellphones and there's modern cars driving around, but apart from that, I could by this as a low budget 70s thriller. Its made by Quentin Tarantino, and holy poo poo is it a Quentin Tarantino movie through and through. So much of it is just characters sitting around talking bullshit and shots of girls feet. It even opens with shots of girls feet. The horror is minimal. It takes over 40 min before anything happens, where we get the serial killer of the movie making his strike. He is an old stuntman driver and uses his car to kill. That's the basic stuff I expect from an old grindhouse movie. And it's great. I think you could trim off a lot off the scenes of people talking, but I wasn't bored by any of it and didn't mind. It adds to the feel of the film, and it is so worth it to see some of the best stunt driving and action scenes ever towards the end. If you hate Tarantino, you'll hate Death Proof, but if you are looking for an old school thriller, then loving watch it. Its great.

Opopanax
Aug 8, 2007

I HEX YE!!!


33: You’re Next
ABCs: Y


Definitely one of the better home invader movies out there. This is a wild ride with a bomb rear end final girl that turns it into fatal Home Alone. Lots of fun, inventive kills, a few decent twists, just an all around good time. It’s fairly thin so I can’t say much without giving things away, but if you like these kinds of movies at all definitely seek this one out.


34: Zodiac
ABCs: Z



As you all know, when you sit down to do a month of horror, you’re going to have a real bad signal to noise ratio. There’s a lot of garbage horror out there; now, bad horror is still better than bad comedy or bad drama, but you still have to sit through some lunkers, so I was really happy to get around to something genuinely really really good. Like not just fun or spooky but an actual good film.

This is top tier Fincher. The visuals are amazing, it really looks like he just went back to the 70s and filmed on site, and the cast is pretty phenomenal; it’s one of those casts where even the small parts with a handful of lines are recognizable.

The only thing that kind of drags it down is that it’s based in a true story. This leads to some heartbreak as you’re really rooting for these guys to catch the killer, and you watch them all destroy their lives to do it, and know it’s not going to have a satisfying resolution. Likewise there are a couple of what should be very tense scenes that are completely undercut by this; there’s one scene of Graysmith in a menacing situation with a possible killer that would be a scary moment in another film, but here there’s no tension since you know he’s alive and that the “killer” isn’t the zodiac at all.

It’s a crazy long movie, coming in just under 3 hours, but there’s really nothing I’d say you could cut and it never really drags. I’ve got a few movies in my list that are 2 hours+ that I can never commit to and this is one (it sat on my pvr for a good 4 years), so I’m glad the challenge was here to force me to get around to it.


And that’s it, thank Satan. All challenges and goals complete for me, I’ll put something more coherent together tomorrow.

TheBizzness
Oct 5, 2004

Reign on me.
34. Trick ‘r Treat Super Samhain Challenge 12

The perfect Halloween night post Trick Or Treating movie.

For the first two stories I wasn’t sure this was going to land for me. Despite the adult content, something about it felt very “Are You Afraid of the Dark?”. Which is a show I love but not what I was in the mood for.

The last two completely won me over though. I was not at all prepared for the werewolves and it might have featured my new favorite transition scene when the older sister just starts ripping her skin off.

The last story highlighted the biggest problem with the movie which is simply that it needs more Sam. I know he’s present here and there but I preferred when he was the focus. Sam rules. The movie also does a nice job pulling everything together at the end.


And that’s it! :siren: :siren: :siren: It took me 3 years but I finally finished all the movies and the write ups!

Behind Maslow
Apr 11, 2008


#28. Night of the Demons 2 (1994)
(Rewatch)

Years after the first movie Angela's sister is in a Catholic school for troubled youth. A group of kids go to Hull house for a Halloween party and demons begin to possess ans kill them.

A fun sequel. Not as good at the first, but misses the mark just slightly. More gore and goo in this by a long shot though. Holy water filled ballons and super soakers give acid like results to demons. Half melted bodies with spasming limbs are good times.

I'm done with the challenge now. I hope everyone had a happy Halloween.

Egbert Souse
Nov 6, 2008

Oct 30, 2019:



53. Night of the Living Dead (1968, George A. Romero)
Criterion Blu-ray

One of the most iconic horror movies, but still remains fresh. Despite being made by people who had never made a real narrative feature before and with only the slimmest resources, the rawness actually make it what it is. Relentless, nihilistic, and nightmarish.

4.5/5

Oct 31, 2019:



54. The Haunted Strangler (1958, Robert Day)
55. Corridors of Blood (1958, Robert Day)
Criterion Channel

Decided to finish up with two "madmen" films starring Boris Karloff, made in England. The Haunted Strangler has a hell of a twist, then it goes into some bizarre directions. Karloff is great in this, doing some amazing work just with his face and body. Kind of reminded me of the weird noir So Dark the Night.

Corridors of Blood is a better film and sort of a horror take on similar themes Preston Sturges covered in his sole non-comedy The Great Moment. Except it's about addiction and aging. There's also a few scenes where Karloff shares the screen with Christopher Lee (who has the best character name I've seen in a while - Resurrection Jim).

3/5, 3.5/5

And that's it until next here. Here's a recap of this season...

The Tingler - rewatch
13 Ghosts
The Phantom of the Opera (1925) - rewatch
Homicidal
Mr. Sardonicus
Sisters
Dressed to Kill
The Old Dark House (1963)
Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story (plus ZOTZ! and The Candy Web)
The Last Warning
Night of the Demon (1958)
Fiend Without a Face
Dead of Night
The Tomb of Ligiea
The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre
The Mask (1961)
The Maze (1953)
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Viy
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) - rewatch
Dr. Phibes Rises Again
Kiki's Delivery Service
10 Rillington Place
Psychos in Love
Blood Feast
The Addiction
Innocent Blood
The Last Man on Earth
Shutter Island [didn't count since it's not really horror]
Herschell Gordon Lewis: Godfather of Gore
Body Snatchers
A Bucket of Blood
The Thing from Another World - rewatch
Haxan - rewatch
Color Me Blood Red
Two Thousand Maniacs!
Night of the Living Dead
The Haunted Strangler
Corridors of Blood

and also made it through most of the main classic Universal monsters films...

Dracula (1931) - rewatch
Frankenstein (1931) - rewatch
The Mummy (1932) - rewatch
The Invisible Man (1933) - rewatch
The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) - rewatch
Dracula's Daughter - rewatch
Son of Frankenstein - rewatch
The Invisible Man Returns
The Mummy's Hand
The Wolf Man - rewatch
The Ghost of Frankenstein - rewatch
The Mummy's Tomb
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man - rewatch
Son of Dracula - rewatch
The Invisible Man's Revenge
The Mummy's Ghost
The Mummy's Curse
House of Frankenstein - rewatch
House of Dracula - rewatch

(Omitted: Werewolf of London, The Invisible Woman, Invisible Agent, Phantom of the Opera '43, She-Wolf of London, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Revenge of the Creature, and The Creature Walks Among Us - planning to watch the Creature trilogy as part of a franchise catchup before the year is out)

Managed to watch 30 Blu-rays I had been sitting on plus most of the Universal big box, plus seven Criterion Channel films. Was hoping more non-English titles (only Kiki's Delivery Service, Haxan, and Viy) and at least one theatrical, but that's how it goes.

ReapersTouch
Nov 25, 2004

Goodness no, now that wouldn't do at all!
Got all 31 this year. I'll be posting them tomorrow morning though.

Class3KillStorm
Feb 17, 2011



Ended up watching way more on Halloween than I intended to. Part 1 of reviews below, since I had a little Frankenstein marathon at work.


#40. Frankenstein (1931) (Amazon Prime)

A scientist creates a monster out of dead bodies and brings it to life. It's Frankenstein, you know the story already.

The original Frankenstein is good, not great. There's something missing, but I'm not sure what - Colin Clive, Dwight Frye and Edward Van Sloan are all great in this movie; the Monster design is iconic; and the script can be fairly witty and clever at times. It just feels a little overlong once the Monster gets on the loose, and the ending in the windmill is kinda perfunctory. It's iconic and well worth seeking out, but it's not my favorite Universal Monsters movie.

:ghost::ghost::ghost:/5



#41. Bride of Frankenstein (Amazon Prime)

The Monster survived the fire at the windmill from the last movie, and is roaming the countryside again. He meets Dr. Pretorious, a friend and colleague of Henry Frankenstein, and they persuade Henry to build the Monster a mate.

Bride is probably more iconic than its predecessor, and casts a fairly wide shadow over pop culture. Unfortunately, I don't think the humor elements that they added work all that well, and a scene where Pretorious shows off some of his creations stops the movie dead. It's mildly funny how the movie just... stops at the end, with the Monster pulling a convenient "blow up the castle" lever and everything more or less jumping right to the end credits. It's fine, though I think it's actually the weakest of the Frankenstein trilogy.

:ghost::ghost::ghost:/5


#42. Son of Frankenstein (Amazon Prime)

After his father dies, Henry Frankenstein's son Wolf returns to take control of the family estate. There, he meets Ygor, a hunchback with a broken neck and a vendetta against the men who hanged him, who convinces Wolf to help revive the Monster.

Ah, here we go... my favorite of the Universal Monsters movies. Son has it all - a fantastic cast, a great story, and some of the best set design of the whole Universal stable. Basil Rathbone fits into these films so easily it's kinda surprising he didn't appear in any others, and this is easily Bela Lugosi's best role in the whole Universal pantheon. The movie just works so well, it's no wonder that it basically formed the skeleton for Young Frankenstein decades later. Seek it out if you've somehow never seen it before.

:ghost::ghost::ghost::ghost::ghost:/5

Watched so far: The Curse of Frankenstein, Villains, Horror of Dracula, You're Next, House on Haunted Hill (1959), Halloween 4, Army of Darkness, A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), The Fly (1986), Joker, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Beyond the Gates, The First Purge, Rodan, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Halloween II (1981), The Addams Family (2019), The Mummy (1932), Jason X, It Stains the Sands Red, The Invisible Man (1933), Zombieland, Terrified, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3, Chopping Mall, Halloween 6, Thirteen Ghosts (2001), The Wolf Man (1941), Brainscan, The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Pet Sematary (2019), Insidious, Wounds, Body Bags, House of Dracula, The Seventh Curse, Child's Play 3, Silent Night, Deadly Night 3, Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein

UltimoDragonQuest
Oct 5, 2011



21) It! The Terror from Beyond Space
The script is not very good but I love the absurd 1958 view of space. A giant galaxy is visible from the Martian surface. There's an automatic airlock that's just a regular door controlled by a very visible fishing line. The monster is a dude in a suit and he doesn't even act like anything else.
🚀🚀

22) Countdown (Challenge #9 a spoooky app and a hacker)
A fantastic bad movie. This is a dumb movie with a goofy premise. You know what you're getting and it's your own fault if you end up disappointed. The middle drags a little but it's consistently amusing. If this was a WB production the smoking priest who eats communion wafers as a snack would get a spin-off.
📱📱📱

23) The Lighthouse
Dafoe channels Karloff and Pattinson his many foils in a gorgeous film. There comes a point where the movie is intentionally disorienting and it's not a feeling I enjoy. Eggers is fantastic director and a writer I mostly tolerate. The front lit interior shots are incredible. This movie constantly justifies the use of B&W film stock and doesn't look washed out like so many half-assed attempts at modern B&W. The only flaws in cinematography are the wide outdoor tracking shots where the sky and rain wash out the image and detail.
💦💦💦

24) Tigers Are Not Afraid
The kids are great and there are some really strong scenes but the movie feels like less than its parts. My biggest complaint is that it's more depressing than scary. It's a good take on a violent cartel story but not my favorite dark fairy tale. The Pan's Labyrinth comparison does this movie doing no favors other than setting expectations of the type of horror and tone.
🐅 🐅

25) Little Monsters
The rarest of zombie comedies that is just as enjoyable in the ~20 minutes before zombies show up. The tractor loving boy and his deadbeat uncle would make a fine comedy on their own. Josh Gad is fine but his subplot isn't nearly strong enough to justify the tired trope of the salty children's TV star. There are a lot of suspiciously out-of-frame decapitations for an R-rated movie. Effects work is hard, I guess.
🚜🚜🚜🚜

26) Lake of the Dead
Ok psychological thriller. It's probably better presented as a crime drama than horror. There's something here but the pacing is off and I don't really like mystery stories.
🏞️🏞️

27) Possession (Challenge #5 a movie filmed in West Germany)
Unbelievably good. One of the few movies to perfectly blend grounded, domestic horror and monster poo poo. The camera is constantly moving and tilted to find terror in simple arguments inside a kitchen. Neill is always good but Adjani gives an incredible physical performance and manages two play 2 roles as distinct people beyond a wig swap.
⛵⛵⛵⛵⛵

28) Dead Hooker in a Trunk
Student films should come with a warning label. This isn't good and the Soska sisters are not at a point where
their formative work is a worthwhile artifact.
💊

29) Ganja & Hess
I love the introduction but the movie inches forward at an unbearable pace. Vampirism as addiction and oppression is an interesting take. The mix of art-house editing with poorly shot and barely audible scenes is baffling.
🔪🔪

30) Neon Maniacs (Challenge #10 a thread recommendation)
Very goofy monster movie with a crazy score. The teen protags are fine and all the monster stuff is shot in a fun way. The scariest part was when I realized the heroes were armed with pre-Super Soaker squirt guns.
🔫🔫🔫

31) Creepshow 2 (Challenge #12 an anthology)
The stories are way too long and the tone is weird. This is not a good one. The hitchhiker story almost redeems the movie. The animated sequences are hideous. Draw a few rotoscoped comic book pages from film frames. I don't need animation!
👍👍


10/10 decades since 1920.
8/13 Challenges

Justin Godscock
Oct 12, 2004

Listen here, funnyman!
:siren:I DID IT!:siren:

Not only did I break my initial goal of 31 movies but I achieved a new personal best with 45 films watched for the challenge!

Thank you all for the motivation and especially to Fran for running it again this year. I hope you all had fun doing it as well and happy horror!

44. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)



I love this film. I loved it when I was a kid and it still holds up. The stop motion is groundbreaking and the imagination that fueled its creative use is unparalleled. The soundtrack is still a favorite of mine. Just a classic, I can’t say anything more here.

:spooky::spooky::spooky::spooky::spooky:/5

45. Evil Dead II (1987)



This one is great. It’s such a pinnacle of horror-comedy with so many moments that are hilarious as they are gratuitous. There is no way something like this would have worked without Bruce Campbell because every line and moment he gets he nails it. Great story, characters and development in such a classic of the splatter horror-comedy genre. I’m really amazed at Sam Raimi’s direction because even with no budget and obvious models used he makes it all work in such a uniquely creative package.

:spooky::spooky::spooky::spooky::spooky:/5

Total: 1. One Cut of the Dead (2017), 2. Chopping Mall (1986), 3. All the Creatures Were Stirring (2018), 4. Creepshow 2 (1987), 5. Black Christmas (1974), 6. Dracula (1931), 7. Frankenstein (1931), 8. The Monster Squad (1987), 9. All Hallow’s Eve (2013), 10. The Addams Family (1991), 11. Grizzly (1976), 12. The Mummy (1932), 13. See No Evil (2006), 14. The Invisible Man (1933), 15. Why Horror? (2014), 16. Bad Moon (1996), 17. Head Count (2018), 18. The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), 19. House of 1000 Corpses, 20. The Wolfman (1941), 21. Body Bags (1993). 22. Us (2019), 23. The Craft (1996), 24. Thankskilling (2008), 25. Beetlejuice (1988), 26. Psycho (1960), 27. Gacy (2003), 28. Malevolent (2018), 29, Day of the Animals (1977), 30. Overlord (2018), 31. Train to Busan (2016), 32. Brightburn (2019), 33. Mayhem (2017), 34. 3 From Hell (2019), 35. Scream (1996), 36. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986), 37. Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman (1943), 38. Christmas Evil (1980), 39. Resident Evil: Extinction (2007), 40. The Phantom Carriage (1921), 41. In the Tall Grass (2018), 42. Deadtime Stories (1986), 43. Saw VI (2009), 44. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), 45. Evil Dead 2 (1987)

Super Samhain Challenges: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Justin Godscock fucked around with this message at 06:53 on Nov 1, 2019

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

And last, but most certainly not least, the movie I’ve been waiting all October to watch…


60 (78). Halloween (2018)
Watched on HBO.

Forget everything you know about Halloween. Forget the cults, the family stuff, and any ghost horses. Micheal attacked 40 years ago, Laurie survived, the end. Now Loomis is dead, Micheal has been in a prison hospital all this time, and Laurie is a completely traumatized prepper who has destroyed her life preparing for the day when Micheal comes back. That day is now here and Laurie is ready.

I loving loved that. I actually had to catch my breath when it was over. Literally. I didn’t even realize how tense and engrossed I was but the second that ending theme played it was like something opening up.

By far my favorite part of it is the total reversal of dynamics. I don’t really have strong feelings one way or another about Laurie being Micheal’s sister but its amazing what erases that does here. Laurie isn’t Micheal’s sister so Micheal doesn’t really seem to give a poo poo about her. He’s not after her, her daughter, her granddaughter, her 17-year-old son, his orphaned niece, or his weird 3rd cousin. He’s just doing his thing killing who he feels like and finding some more teenage girls. Its Laurie who is hunting him, its Laurie obsessed, and that shot late of Laurie coming out of the shadows behind Micheal is amazing. This Laurie is everything H20 Laurie kind of vaguely hints at but does all half assed. And what that one Resurrection scene kind of teases. She’s vulnerable, traumatized, and in her own words “a basket case” but she’s also tough as hell, a fighter, and ready.

I’m a little iffy on New Loomis but I think I’m ok with him because he serves a purpose of steering Micheal towards the Strodes. Similarly I found the sleazy podcasters kind of clumsy but I get their purpose to catch us up. And I liked that opening scene. And at least there was some karmic retribution when Micheal finally responded to them.

I also really liked Vicky. That’s another difference from the original in that Laurie’s friends were kind of assholes but Vicky actually seemed cool. That changes how I engage.

That’s the thing of it. This film really has the spirit and tone of the original but its still a very different film. Less lurking in shadows, more poo poo happening. Laurie hunting Micheal. Even like the fact that Laurie’s granddaughter actually had a collection of concerned neighbors around her when she screamed for help felt so different from the original where Laurie is running down a suburb block screaming and neighbors are literally ignoring her. Its a different story but it belongs with the original. And Micheal isn't trying to kill his family or reunite his family or rape his family or do a cult's bidding or following a ghost's orders. He's just the Boogeyman again.

Danny McBride wrote this? The gently caress? I guess I can kind of see it with that loser friend scene.

I also quite enjoyed Laurie’s family. Andi Matichak is a very good successor to Jamie Lee Curtis and kick rear end granddaughter for Laurie. Judy Greer as Laurie’s daughter pushing back so hard against all her mom’s psychotic paranoia and trauma is an interesting addition. I’m a little bummed they didn’t go with Jamie/Danielle Harris there since I don’t see any real reason why she couldn’t have played the same role, but I suppose that’s stunt casting and fan service and maybe they wanted to just keep the table clean of Jamie stuff. And Toby Huss is the daddiest dad. They’re an interesting addition who go from cynics to targets to kind of bait. And I loved the ending of the Strode women fighting Micheal together. Imagine if it was Curtis, new girl, and Danielle Harris...

Just an absolutely great viewing experience, everything I wanted from the film (except maybe Harris), and a great ending for the challenge and Halloween 2019.

And since we did the franchise and because Micheal is better than Jason I guess I gotta do the thing.

1. Halloween ’78
2. Halloween ’18
3. Halloween II ’09
4. Halloween II ’81
5. Halloween ’07
6. Halloween 4: The Return of Micheal Myers
7. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Micheal Myers
8. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (if you insist)
9. Halloween: The Curse of Micheal Myers*
10. Halloween: H20
11. Halloween: Resurrection

’18 barely beats out ’09 because I just prefer Micheal as the Boogeyman to all the family story stuff, but its close and Zombie does a real good job finally making that family stuff pay off. I know most have Curse down lower and I totally get why. The cult stuff is bad. But I put it there with an asterisk on the grounds that the original cut really tried to be a Halloween movie and just failed bad trying something different. H20 and Resurrection aren’t even Halloween movies. One is every other Kevin Williamson film (or as Basebf put it, a Scream sequel) and the other is just a rejected Friday the 13th script. I’ll still narrowly slot III over Curse even though I don’t really like it or consider it a Halloween movie but at least when it tried something different it did a better job than Curse.

That’s it. My Halloween done. Final tally, thoughts, and recommendations to come.

STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 07:01 on Nov 1, 2019

Justin Godscock
Oct 12, 2004

Listen here, funnyman!
I'll post my tally, thoughts and recommendations tomorrow as well.

I will say though that working night shifts for most of October really helped me achieve a new personal best. At one point I was watching two movies a shift. With hockey season starting up the same month it became a bit of a challenge but I managed to do it. I have no idea if I'll try for a new personal best next year because it really does require unique circumstances at work.

Hot Dog Day #89
Mar 17, 2004
[img]https://forumimages.somethingawful.com/images/newbie.gif[/img]

Morbid Hound

Intruder, 1989

The second movie of the night is one of my favorite underrated slashers of all time. Most slashers got a douchebag cast you want to see killed, this one takes its time to build up a cast you can sort of give a poo poo about. You can feel sympathetic with them. But this being a slasher, you kind of want to see the gruesome ways they'll die. The plot takes place in a convenience store after closing time. All the staff got to work overtime to half price everything as the store has been sold and is to close down permanently, so they are stuck there for the evening. And it being a slasher, they get picked off one by one. I never worked in one, but I've been in the back of one, and there's a big press to crush cardboard boxes. You can bet your rear end it will be used to kill someone. And it got its own butchery, with a saw to cut up chunks of meat. Again, you know there's a brutal kill there. All the posters brag about Bruce Campbell, but he just show up as a cop a few seconds at the very end, so don't expect to him beyond that. But if you want a top quality slasher that got some great kills besides some stabbings, loving watch Intruder.

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

Final Tally
September Pre-Game Tally - New (Total)
1. NOS4A2 (2019); - (2). Splice (2009); - (3). Drive Angry (2011); 2 (4). The Twilight Zone (2019); - (5). Event Horizon (1997); - (6). BrainDead (2016); 3 (7). The Dark Tower (2017); 4 (8). The Collector (2009); 5 (9). The Bad Batch (2016); - (10). Rose Red (2002); - (11). Salem’s Lot (1979)
October Tally - New (Total)
1. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920); 2. Nightmare Cinema (2018); 3. Dead of Night (1945); The Queen of Spades (1949); 5. Tragedy Girls (2017); 6. House of Wax (1953); SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #1: The Best Month: 7. The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016); 8. In the Tall Grass (2019); 9. The Night of the Hunter (1955); 10. The Thing (1951); - (11). The Thing (1982); 11 (12). The Thing (2011); - (13). Halloween (1978); 12 (14). Dracula (1931); SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #2: Dead & Buried: 13 (15). Q (1982); 14 (16). The Black Cat (1934); 15 (17). The Unknown (1927); - (18). Halloween II (1981); 16 (19). The Seventh Victim (1943); 17 (20). The Beast With Five Fingers (1946); 18 (21). The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923); 19 (22). The Curse of the Cat People (1944); - (23). George A. Romero's Land of the Dead (2005); SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #3: Horror Noire: 20 (24). Ganja & Hess (1973); 21 (25). Drácula (1931); 22 (26). Universal Horror (1998); - (27). Happy Death Day (2017); 23 (28). The Phantom of the Opera (1925); - (29). Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982); SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #4: Inktober: 24 (30). Velvet Buzzsaw (2018); - (31). Frankenstein (1931); 25 (32). The Mummy (1932); 26 (33). The Raven (1935); - (34). Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988); 27 (35). The Man Who Laughs (1928); 28 (36). The Invisible Man (1933); - (37). Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989); 29 (38). The Black Castle (1952); 30 (39). Faust (1926); - (40). Halloween: The Curse of Micheal Myers (1995); - (41). The Bride of Frankenstein (1935); 31 (42). Dracula’s Daughter (1936); SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #5: Tourist Trap: 32 (43). The Golem (2019); SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #6: Sometimes They Come Back: 33 (44). Nightmare on Elm Street (2010); 34 (45). Happy Death Day 2U (2019); 35 (46). The Phantom Carriage (1921); 36 (47). The Invisible Man Returns (1940); SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #7: Monster Mash-up: 37 (48). Blood Fest (2018); - (49). Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998); 38 (50). The Wolf Man (1941); 39 (51). Halloween: Resurrection (2002); SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #8: Happy Holidays!: 40 (52). Holidays (2016); SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #9: Hackers: 41 (53). Stay Alive (2006); 42 (54). The Fall of the House of Usher (1950); 43 (55). Son of Frankenstein (1939); 44 (56). The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942); 45 (57). Alraune (1930); 46 (58). Frankenstein Meets Wolf Man (1943); SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #10: Navel Gazing: 47 (59). Bug (2006); 48 (60). The Red House (1947); 49 (61). Seven Footprints to Satan (1929); 50 (62). House of Frankenstein (1944); SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #11: All Hail The King: 51 (63). Gerald’s Game (2017); 52 (64). The Black Doll (1938); SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #12: Cavalcade of Creepiness: 53 (65). XX (2017); 54 (66). House of Dracula (1945); - (67). Halloween (2007); 54 (68). Haxan (1922); 55 (69). Song At Midnight (1937); 56 (70). Halloween II (2009); 57 (71). The Hands of Orlac (1924); 58 (72). Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954); - (73). House of 1000 Corpses (2003); - (74). The House of the Devil (2009); - (75). Southbound (2015); SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #13: Maniac: - (76). Quicksilver Highway (1997); 59 (77). Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948); 60 (78). Halloween (2018)




Recommendations:
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) - I wasn’t the biggest fan of German Expressionism during this run but of the films I saw this was the standout. Its the horror that started it all and lives up to the hype in a lot of ways with a strong mad scientist, a proto Frankenstein, very nightmarish imagery, a very Poe-esque story, and a lot of the elements and twists that would be the foundation of the genre for the next 100 years. Its a film every horror fan should see and you shouldn’t wait as long as I did.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)/The Phantom of the Opera (1925)/The Unknown (1927) - Lon Chaney was just a revelation to me and the proof that I didn’t just dislike silent films. Hunchback isn’t purely horror and is a bit long but Chaney’s performance is pretty amazing and its an absolute spectacle of a film even nearly a century later. The Phantom is also a really great performance that clearly inspired a lot of mad man villains of horror’s future. And the Unknown is a much lesser known film but the one where Chaney really blew me away including spending an entire film using his feet as hands. Lon Chaney was every bit the legend his reputation grants him.

Seven Footprints to Satan (1929) - An unexpected and fun silent film that is just kind of completely bonkers and insane, short, and available for free on Youtube.

Dracula (1931)/Drácula (1931)/Frankenstein (1931)/The Mummy (1932)/The Invisible Man (1933)/The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)/The Wolf Man (1941)/Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)/Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) - Just the classic stable of Universal Monsters that I went forever not seeing but that completely and totally lived up to the hype and made my October a ton of fun. There’s varying quality. Bride would be my favorite, Mummy would be my least, but I think they all bring something to the table and are good watches. They’re also all mostly short and easy watches. The Spanish Dracula is also a good one to remember. While it doesn’t compare to the performances of Bela Lugosi and others in the film but there’s a tremendous performance from Lupita Tavor and a lot of really creative directorial decisions from George Melford who basically watched the other film get made and set his mind to one up it. Just all in all films you gotta watch and are a ton of fun.

Dead of Night (1945) - A very good anthology with a couple of standout stories, but the real strength is that it has one of the best wraparounds and cohesive narrative of the stories of any anthology I’ve seen. Its less a collection of random stories and more one story with a number of mini stories within it. Really kind of unique and a stand out for me,

The Night of the Hunter (1955) - A remarkable performance for Robert Mitchum as a deeply sinister villain that is the basis of many of the villains or anti-hero tropes that we know today. It was surprising how many things I recognize as just parts of the genre or society as a whole originated in this somewhat obscure film. Its also absolutely beautifully shot with some breathtaking images. A very, very worthwhile film to seek out.

Ganja & Hess (1973) - A very different, very complicated movie that has a lot of subtext and subtle themes going on. Its a film I didn’t feel like I fully got on the first viewing and I definitely need to give another look some time. Also notable for starring Duane Jones, star of Night of the Living Dead, which in and of itself drew me in. Its a difficult film in a lot of ways but its unique and interesting.

Halloween (1978)/The Thing (1982) - Two absolute classics from the guy I consider to be the greatest Horror maker of all time John Carpenter. Two films I’ve seen tons of times and will keep rewatching as long as I’m around because they’re just that good and films all fans should see and know.

Quicksilver Highway (1997) - A Mick Garris failed pilot for another anthology which is pretty similar to a lot of Mick Garris stuff, but its on Youtube and the second segment is really fun and Matt Frewer just goes totally crazy. Definitely worth watching.

Bug (2006) - A mind blowing and intimate back and forth between Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon where both put it all out there and put in stellar performances with a simple story that goes incredible places while also being completely suffocating. Just really something to experience.

Halloween II (2009) - An unexpectedly great film that even comes close to rivaling Carpenter’s original. Unlike Zombie’s remake his sequel really embraces Zombie’s unique vision for the characters and tells a really great and different story that also manages to do a few things the OG franchise stumbled on better. Definitely worth a watch for fans of the original, Zombie, or slashers, even if you don’t feel like watching the first one. I mean, the first one is ok so you might as well but the second is the payoff for whatever Zombie had cooking. Also a great performance from Scout Taylor-Compton that gives the original 3 named Laurie a run for her money.

The House of the Devil (2009) - A very nice little throwback “slow burn” film with a strong performance and fun final act from a director who seemed to have a lot of potential but appears to sadly might have ditched the genre or maybe lost his position to make them.

The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) - A surprisingly deep but also minimalist story with two strong actors carrying most of the film in a closed setting and some very well down creepiness. Easy to dismiss as one of many modern films that kind of look the same in passing but worth consideration.

Happy Death Day (2017)/Happy Death Day 2U (2019) - A light, really fun couple of films that aren’t the greatest horror films you’ll see (and the second is even questionably horror and more sci-fi) but which are carried by what should be an absolutely star making performance for Jessica Rothe. Just really fun times.

Gerald’s Game (2017) - Probably one of the best King adaptions in years, one of Mike Flanagan’s best films, and a great performance from Carla Gugino that is unnerving and uncomfortable but completely captivating.

Halloween (2018) - The best sequel to Carpenter’s classic and the truest in tone to the original. Quite possibly my favorite movie of the month. Had a lot of buildup, but came through on it. A standout performance for Jamie Lee Curtis and a solid scream queen debut from Andi Matichak.



100 Years of Horror




Final Thoughts
This was both my hardest, and my favorite Challenge with you folks exploring the true history of the genre and experience a ton of great classics for the first time. Not so many modern films and not a lot of standouts among them, but that’s to be expected given the task. I set out for more films than usual both to fill the “100 Years” number but also to finally revisit the Halloween franchise as I have wanted to do for a few years now but it all worked out and made for a great October. And for the first time in a couple of years I have absolutely no plan for next October and I guess that means 11 months of no instinct to save a film for some purpose.

As always I throw out a huge Thank You to Franchescanado for running this thing as well as so many of the big contributors and participants whose reviews I love to read, sometimes argue about, and keep adding films to my ever growing list that has no hope of ever being finished before I die. T3hRen3gade, blood_dot_biz, Random Stranger, Gripweed, Friends Are Evil, Lumbermouth, Darthemed, Basebf555, M_Sinistrari, Sir Kodiak, TheBizzness, gey muckle mowser, and countless others I’m forgetting. Also this year Fran personally turned one of my favorites The Ruins into a thread favorite and that made my month. Your power is great and beneficial.

And a Get Well Soon to Timby and Choco who were definitely missed this month.

And now a break from horror. Maybe. At least no obligations and the freedom to watch other stuff, but I’m actually not feeling burned out this year. I think the relative lack of modern stuff and films off my curated lists has me still kind of anxious to watch films that I absolutely intended to watch 31 days ago and just never got a chance to. So I think there’s gonna be a fair bit of horror in November. And I really think I’m gonna do 12 Days of Horror for Christmas. I just have to work up an advent calendar image and get up the nerve to start a thread.

But until then, Happy Halloween and thanks for a great time, everyone!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CafQsKXVb-w&t=18s

Lhet
Apr 2, 2008

bloop


Hit 31 movies tonight with Hausu! Will write more tomorrow but wanted to be sure to check in. Its amazing as always and I'm always noticing something new. Still an absolute favorite halloween movie.

25 New Movies - 1: K-12 2: Gozu 3: The Wailing 4: Phantom of the Paradise 5: Viy (SC1) 6: One Cut of the Dead 7: Happiness of the Katakuris 8: Little Monsters 9: Shadow of the Vampire 10: Bone Tomahawk (SC2) 11: Ichi the Killer 12: The Witch 13: Hereditary 14: Tammy and the T-Rex (SC4) 15: The Purge: Anarchy (SC6) 16: Boa vs. Python (SC7) 17: Black Christmas (SC8) 18: Lawnmower Man (SC9) 19: Demon Knight (SC3) 20: Tales From The Darkside: The Movie (SC12) 21: Children of the Corn (SC11) 22: Occult (SC10) 23:Naani (SC5) 24: The Autopsy of Jane Doe 25: Repo! The Genetic Opera
6 Rewatches - Event Horizon, In the Mouth of Madness, The Cell, Cabin in the Woods (SC13), One Cut of the Dead, Hausu

Maxwell Lord
Dec 12, 2008

I am drowning.
There is no sign of land.
You are coming down with me, hand in unlovable hand.

And I hope you die.

I hope we both die.


:smith:

Grimey Drawer

Shankel Magnus posted:

Shower thought: So was the Blob supposed to be the good guy? I mean it kills a date rapist, a guy talking in a movie theater, a corrupt government official, and a macho mustached cop.

Never fully bought into the first, because Yeah it kills the date rapist and also the girl he was molesting.

T3hRen3gade
Jun 7, 2007

Look in my eye,
what do you see?
I have no real plan this year in terms of how many movies I intend to watch, I'm just going to post about the things I end up watching. I did 44 movies last year and there is no way I'm going to top that, so my only rule this time around is to watch things I've never seen before. I'm starting with:

#1: Scare Me (2020)


I reinstated my Shudder account last month because I figured it would come in handy as October rolled in, and this was the first thing that caught my eye today. It stars Josh Ruben and Aya Cash, who I immediately recognized while scrolling through the Shudder thumbnails as Stormfront from the current season of The Boys, and the description labeled it as a horror comedy. I haven't seen Aya Cash before her current role in The Boys, so I wanted to check this out. Basically I wanted to see her as something other than a super-powered racist piece of poo poo. I was not disappointed.

Ruben plays Fred, an introverted self-proclaimed writer/producer/actor who arrives at a secluded upstate New York cabin so he can "work" on his story ideas. He meets Fanny (Cash) while jogging, and finds out she is actually a successful horror author who is staying in the cabin across the street and is basically there to do the same thing. A storm rolls in and knocks out their power, so Fanny comes over and challenges Fred to a game of telling scary stories to each other. What ensues is a crazy funny and entertaining series of actual performances by both actors who literally act out the stories they are telling. There are no cuts to fictionalized versions of their stories; they literally act them out, with sound effects, in their cabin. And it's a lot of fun to watch.

More things happen {including the inclusion of a pizza guy who joins in on the fun) but the entire movie has, literally, four characters in total. I won't spoil the ending [spoiler]it doesn't end well for Fred[/spoler] but this movie was a blast. The dialogue is snappy and fun, and both of the main characters literally carry the movie on the strength of their charisma alone. Definite recommend.

4/5

Watched: Scare Me

T3hRen3gade fucked around with this message at 05:49 on Oct 2, 2020

Sir Kodiak
May 14, 2007


#30 Death Proof (2007)

Rewatch. The beginning is a little slow with the first group of girls, who aren’t quite as compelling as the second, but things accelerate from there and the ending chase is fantastic.

https://i.imgur.com/HiMSUjm.mp4

#31 The Perfection (2018)

Dueling cellists are just the start. The sheer pace of the twists and turns makes this one work with an increasing intensity, and the two leads are both compelling. Very good for a Netflix thriller.

#32 White Chamber (2018)

A less compelling Netflix thriller. A series of pointless torturous experiments in a scientific facility, which is unfortunately ill-defined enough to run past a point about how war makes monsters of us all to a seeming full-on rejection of political belief.

#33 From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

Rewatch. Harvey Keitel is good in this, but the vampire stuff kinda sucks, and the faux-Tarantino before it isn’t much better.

https://i.imgur.com/2NoH58j.mp4

#34 Child’s Play (2019)

Franchescanado posted:

SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #6: Sometimes They Come Back
:ghost: Watch a horror remake you haven't seen.

I was very surprised to like this one more than the original. I liked that one, but the sci-fi/capitalist-satire aspect of this one is pretty neat, the kid crew is a fun addition, and Mark Hamill works as a replacement for Brad Dourif given that he also needs to do the non-evil version of the doll.

https://i.imgur.com/SrVpkBT.mp4

#35 Pooka (2018)

Franchescanado posted:

SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #8: Happy Holidays!
:ohdearsass: Watch a horror film that you haven't seen that takes place on a holiday that isn't Halloween, All Hallow's Eve, Samhain, (edit) Dia De Los Muertos, etc.

Christmas! Didn’t much care for this. The Pooka costume/doll itself is a nice piece of design, and scene-to-scene it’s frequently well-made, but it didn’t really come together for me. I get why, in terms of the overall whatever that is happening, that it jumps into the craziness stuff immediately, but it means the movie sort of idles in middle gear for the first two-thirds rather than ramping things up.

#36 Underworld (2003)
#37 Underworld 2 (2006)

Franchescanado posted:

SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #13: Maniac
:ohdear: Watch your “guilty pleasure” horror film.

Rewatch, of course. God knows I can’t claim that these are good, but as someone with nostalgia for everything they’re borrowing from I can’t help but enjoy them, though the first far more so than the second, which spends too little time on the Matrix / White Wolf / hidden city stuff to do monster poo poo.

https://i.imgur.com/NWxDYqb.mp4

#38 Westworld (1973)

Franchescanado posted:

SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #9: Hackers
:awesomelon: Watch a horror movie you haven't seen about CYBERSPACE/computers/haunted technology/etc.

Accomplishes more in an hour and a half than the show has in two seasons of standing around staring at things. A fun first draft on Jurassic Park that leans into Michael Crichton’s clinical verisimilitude, with a delightful villain performance by Yul Brynner.

https://i.imgur.com/ff8b714.mp4

#39 Monster Squad (1987)

Franchescanado posted:

SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #7: Monster Mash-up
:ghost: Watch a horror film that you haven't seen that features two different monsters.

Godawful.

#40 Ghost Stories (2017)

Franchescanado posted:

SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #12: Cavalcade of Creepiness
:hb: Watch an anthology film you haven’t seen.*

The actual anthology stories aren’t particularly good or scary, but the wraparound sequence is really fun.

#41 Castle Freak (1995)

Franchescanado posted:

SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #11: All Hail The King
:cthulhu: Watch an H.P. Lovecraft adaptation you haven't seen

Really enjoyed this. The two leads and the titular freak are all great. It’s my second Stuart Gordon film and I’m really enjoying the way he presents the wild gore in a way that’s relatively un-stylized.

https://i.imgur.com/QNlpnYt.mp4

#42 Bone Tomahawk (2015)

Franchescanado posted:

SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #2: Dead & Buried
:ghost: Watch a horror film featuring an actor who has passed away since last October.

Well-made and impressively gory, but there’s this retrograde vibe to its treatment of the natives, women, it’s worship of strong but civilized men, that makes it hard to love, which makes it hard to fully enjoy it when it so clearly is in love with itself. Wish Sid Haig was in this more, both for his performance and because he's the reason I watched it.

#43 Gremlins 2 (1990)

Franchescanado posted:

Super Samhain Challenge #1: The Best Month
For the first challenge, you must watch a qualifying film that's been a CineD Movie of the Month that is new to you!

Delightful.

https://i.imgur.com/yGMmHRu.mp4

New (29): #1 The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016), #3 Escape Room (2019), #4 Aniara (2018), #6 Overlord (2018), #7 Replicas (2018), #8 Antiviral (2012), #9 Higher Power (2018), #10 A Simple Favor (2018), #11 What Still Remains (2018), #12 Joker (2019), #13 Bad Samaritan (2018), #16 In the Shadow of the Moon (2019), #17 Fractured (2019), #19 Suspiria (1977), #20 Happy Death Day 2 U (2019), #22 Ma (2019), #24 In the Tall Grass (2019), #26 Phantasm (1979), #29 Personal Shopper (2016), #31 The Perfection (2018), #32 White Chamber (2018), #34 Child’s Play (2019), #35 Pooka (2018), #38 Westworld (1973), #39 Monster Squad (1987), #40 Ghost Stories (2017), #41 Castle Freak (1995), #42 Bone Tomahawk (2015), #43 Gremlins 2 (1990)
Rewatches (14): #2 Brightburn (2019), #5 Cloverfield (2008), #14 Constantine (2005), #15 Chronicle (2012), #18 Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), #21 Predators (2010), #23 The Predator (2018), #25 Us (2019), #27 Triangle (2009), #28 Glass (2019), #30 Death Proof (2007), #33 From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), #36 Underworld (2003), #37 Underworld 2 (2006)
Super Samhain Challenges (10/13): (#1 The Best Month) Gremlins 2 (1990), (#2 Dead & Buried) Bone Tomahawk (2015), (#4 Inktober) Personal Shopper (2016), (#6 Sometimes They Come Back) Child’s Play (2019), (#7 Monster Mash-up) Monster Squad (1987), (#8 Happy Holidays!) Pooka (2018), (#9 Hackers) Westworld (1973), (#11 All Hail The King) Castle Freak (1995), (#12 Cavalcade of Creepiness) Ghost Stories (2017), (#13 Maniac) Underworld (2003)

Sir Kodiak fucked around with this message at 10:04 on Nov 1, 2019

Maxwell Lord
Dec 12, 2008

I am drowning.
There is no sign of land.
You are coming down with me, hand in unlovable hand.

And I hope you die.

I hope we both die.


:smith:

Grimey Drawer
:spooky:Super Samhain Challenge #2: Dead & Buried:spooky:

35. Spider Baby

Hot drat this is fun. The opening credits alone make this a perfect kick-off to Halloween. Lon Chaney Jr. is the caretaker of a family cursed by genetics with a kind of brain regression, turning them into dangerous, violent children. The titular "Spider Baby" likes trapping people and stinging them with knives, and there are worse in the cellar. People show up wanting to resolve the family's estate, not knowing just how dangerous they are, and carnage ensues. A crazy, ahead-of-its-time mix of horror and black comedy. The late Sid Haig isn't the star but he makes a great impression as the childlike Ralph, a performance that's like a twisted parody of Harpo Marx. Chaney gives one of his better performances, very soulful and sincere. And this time around I was particularly amused by Quinn Redeker as the male lead, who is comically friendly and welcoming and unaware of just what he's in for until it's almost too late.


36. In The Mouth of Madness

This is one I've been meaning to see for a while, and finally rented from Amazon. Glad I finally took the plunge because this is genuinely pretty horrific. Sam Neill is sent to find Sutter Cane, a famed horror author who's gone missing before delivering his latest book. Cane's work seems to be driving people mad, and he's got something genuinely apocalyptic cooked up now. This is easily the most surreal and hallucinatory of John Carpenter's films, reminiscent of Videodrome in a way, but the "media's influence on people" and drug narrative elements are mixed with healthy doses of Lovecraftian nihilism and a few nods to Stephen King. A couple of plot points are maybe underdeveloped, but the overall effect is brutal. While this has a stacked cast (Jurgen Prochnow! Bernie Casey! John Glover! David Freaking Warner!) it's really Sam Neill's show; he starts wonderfully glib and sarcastic, and his descent into madness is extremely well handled. This may be the best "cosmic horror" has ever been done on film.

37. The Evil Dead

I gotta fit this in every year. While each film in the Raimi trilogy has its unique merits, this one stands out to me for a certain campfire story brutality, its commitment to the story of ancient demons possessing people's bodies to commit horrid acts. It's also got a good "student film" quality, Sam Raimi throwing in all sorts of stylistic touches just to increase the madness and, frankly, show off that he and his crew can do this. The title is so fitting- while your average zombie just wants a little nosh, the demons here take a horrific glee in tormenting their victims. Just a good spooky time.

38. The Thing From Another World

The one drawback to people finally coming around on John Carpenter's The Thing is that the original kinda gets overshadowed- it's not as intense, not as faithful to the original story, etc. But it's honestly still pretty classic. Directed by Christian Nyby (but with Howard Hawks watching over his shoulder the whole time, from all accounts), this is the first true "hostile alien invader" movie and a well-executed one at that. It's very much a picture of its time- the parallels to the blooming Cold War are pretty clear, with the plantlike Thing being described as brilliant but unfeeling, the ultimate "Godless Commie" stereotype. The scientists in this besieged Arctic base are shown as giving the creature too much leeway in the name of discovery, but then, the military makes plenty of mistakes on its side, and perhaps the ultimate contrast is between a flawed, warm-blooded humanity and a cold, relentless predator. Margaret Sheridan is a very Hawksian female counterpart to the male lead, and there's plenty of overlapping dialogue and sharp banter (particularly from Scotty, the reporter who is arguably the film's real protagonist- he starts and ends the movie after all.) The monster himself- well, they couldn't afford to have it change shape or anything, so they cast the extremely tall James Arness, put some makeup on him, and just try not to show him clearly very often. It works better than you'd think (as with the remake, credit to whoever came up with the sound effects.) This movie actually shows up in Carpenter's Halloween and the monster was clearly an influence on many movie slashers. A sharp, sophisticated, and surprisingly nuanced thriller.


And that's it, one movie for every year I've been alive, I'll write up the totals in another post.

Evil Vin
Jun 14, 2006

♪ Sing everybody "Deutsche Deutsche"
Vaya con dios amigos! ♪


Fallen Rib

Evil Vin posted:

Yikes I really let this get away from me since I was on vacation. Anyways heres a huge dump of em.

15. Dude Bro Party Massacre III (2015) - SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #4 Inktober Mindless
I chose mindless for this because due bros are mindless. Duh of course. This was a rollercoaster for me between enjoying it and thinking the joke was dead. Ups and downs. In the end it was dumb fun so lets just say I enjoyed it. 4/5

16. Pet Sematary (2019) SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE # 11 Hail to the King
This felt like nothing to me. It just kind of happens and feels like everything thats extra from the book was just removed to keep it going. What was the deal weird kid procession? Theyre just dropped and never really mentioned again other than it was creepy. And then really didnt add anything either being the only new part to the story really. 2/5

17. Xtro (1982)
I watched this one after seeing Red Letter Media's Best of the Worst go on about it, I think I had to high expectations. Yes theres some nuts crazy effects that go on but theres really not much else to this. 2.5/5

18. Doom Annihilation (2019) SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #9 Hackers
On the opposite end I went in with super low expectations of this one and enjoyed it. It was dumb but had enough game references/lore to keep me going. I'd say its on the level of a good SyFy Channel original film. 3.5/5

19. Predators (2010)
This wasn't too bad either. Everyone is an action movie stereotype and it almost feels like a parody done serious because it's dialed up so high, they make good fodder though. 3.5/5

20. Rogue (2007)
This never bit into me, I just kind of tuned out instantly. Something something big croc terrorizes people for a bit over an hour and a half. 2/5

21. The House at the End of Time (2013) SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #5 TOURIST TRAPS
This movie is Venezuela, I don't think I can name another film from Venezuela. It's hard to talk about this one without out spoiling anything. The whole time travel thing works perfectly. Every bit of the movie feels like a gear that make another part work it's way to end In the end I liked this a lot. 4/5

22. April Fools Day (1986) SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #8 HAPPY HOLIDAYS
Slasher movies live and die by how fun their kills are and none of the kills are on screen [spoiler]due them not happening.[/b] 2.5/5

23. Halloween 4 (1988) SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #6 SOMETIMES THEY COME BACK
This felt a lot more like the original than 2 did. Mike Myers is a hulking force of nature and less of a slasher here. 3.5/5

24. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #12 CAVALCADE OF CREEPINESS
Ack. This onehad an awful overarching plot did added nothing to the movie; it was just Final Destination Lite. Also VIETNAM ITS THE 60s GUYS. All your favorite weird drawings show up from the book. 2.5/5

25. The Hunger (1983) SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #10 NAVAL GAZING
I had never heard of this one before seeing it posted in the thread, David Bowie and vampires sounded cool, too bad he disappears after awhile and thats it for him. Man I wanted to like this one sooooo much, but it just hurt to watch after awhile. I would have loved it if there was a little more of Susan Saradon's character actually doing some investigation and maybe having some agency before succumbing. And what was the deal with the cop he just kind of shows up twice. 3/5

26. Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla II (1993) SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #7 MONSTER MASH
Hey human defense force having a robot godzilla sounds awesome lets bog down the whole middle with kid godzilla that the scientist want to protect. gently caress that. At least MechaGodzilla was pretty cool when it actually got to fight at the beginning and end. 2.5/5


Watched:
1. Halloween 2 (1981) 3/5 2. Belladonna of Sadness (1973) 3/5 3. Boar (2018) 3.5/5 4. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Part 2 (1986)2/5 5. Dead Snow(2009) 3/5 6. Ghost Stories (2018)3/5 7. SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #1: The Best Month:Evilspeak (1981) 1/5 8. One Cut of the Dead (2017)4/5 9. The Grudge (2004) 3.5/5 10. Joker (2019) 3.5/5 11. Annabelle: Creation (2017) 3/5 12. SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #2: Dead and Buried: House of 1000 Corpses (2003) 3.5/5 13. The Devil's Rejects (2005)2.5/5 SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #3. Horror Noire : 14. The People Under The Stairs (1991) 4/5
BONUS: Halloween (1978)


SUPER SAMHAINS DONE: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12


I'll make a proper post later today but I wanted to make sure to log my last few movies.


27. Incarnate
28. The First purge
29. Halloween 5
Bonus: Phantasm (via Shudders Last Drive Thru) - Super Samhain 13
30. Spookies
31. Hell Fest

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Maxwell Lord
Dec 12, 2008

I am drowning.
There is no sign of land.
You are coming down with me, hand in unlovable hand.

And I hope you die.

I hope we both die.


:smith:

Grimey Drawer
Here is the Full List:

1. Mutant (1985)
2. Chopping Mall
3. Return of the Living Dead
4. Exorcist II: The Heretic
5. Freaks
6. One Cut of the Dead
7. The Beast From Haunted Cave
8. Circus of Horrors
9. Burial Ground (aka The Nights of Terror)
10. Ganja & Hess (Super Samhain Challenge #3: Horror Noire)
11. The Blood-Spattered Bride
12. Shriek of the Mutilated
13. The Black Sleep
14. The Haunting (1963)
15. Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things
16. The Fog (1980)
17. Under the Skin
18. Transylvania 6-5000
19. The Witch Who Came From The Sea
20. Centipede Horror
21. Lifeforce
22. Society
23. The Thing (1982)
24. Bride of the Monster
25. The Gate (Super Samhain Challenge #7: Monster Mash-Up)
26. A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
27. Demons 2 (Super Samhain Challenge #6: Sometimes They Come Back)
28. Screamtime (Super Samhain Challenge #12: Cavalcade of Creepiness)
29. Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster
30. The Lighthouse
31. The Neon Demon
32. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
33. Viy (Super Samhain Challenge #1: The Best Month)
34. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Meyers
35. Spider Baby (Super Samhain Challenge #2: Dead & Buried)
36. In The Mouth of Madness
37. The Evil Dead (1981)
38. The Thing From Another World (1951)

Best Movie That Was New To Me: One Cut of the Dead
Best Movie Overall: The Haunting
Worst Movie: Transylvania 6-5000
Most Pleasant Surprises: One Cut of the Dead, Lifeforce
Biggest Disappointment: The Neon Demon
Scariest Movie: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Conclusion:

I like them spooky movies! No seriously, I love this whole thing, not just an excuse to watch more movies than I do regularly, but to talk about them with you guys, without the contention that sometimes some new releases bring, and to know that people are sorta paying attention (someone watched Beast From Haunted Cave because of me!) It's fun to write about movies, it turns out! Something about the way this thread works just brings out good conversation and good reading.

And I'm not sick of horror yet! Like I'll finally make some time for other stuff now, but as I said earlier I kinda want to explore the doldrums of the Halloween franchise and maybe a few other weird avenues of horror. (Though there are a few things I wanna save for next year.) I'm still comfortable with the "31 minimum", I've gotten further this year than last but who knows how busy I'll be in the future.

Hope you all had a splendid Halloween! I'm ready to sleep for a little while.

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