October fun: 31 days of Horror, Blood, Guts and Gore! (and zombies, too....)

Not a bad idea, but I don't have the time for one a day.

larry

Yeah, I did this challenge a few times on Home Theater Forum. I did the 13 horror film challenge instead of the full 31. It's a blast. You can't repeat films from year to year and you have to watch a certain number of new horror flicks that you haven't personally seen before. Everyone provides their lists along with their own synopses and reviews.

Sounds like fun. I wouldn't be able to keep up with the pace of one-a-day, but I like the idea of an organized way to view movies I haven't seen before. I look forward to seeing some folks lists of horror movies.

Cary

Wouldn't watching that many horror movies in a row turn you into either a scaredy-cat coward or an ax murderer?

That being said, here's one I'd recommend for your list,

Candyman

That movie bummed me out like no horror movies has.

As for watching horror movies for 31 days. That would either grind me down and bum me out, or at the end, I'd just be laughing when someone got their head cut off with a chainsaw, and the shocks and gore wouldn't affect me anymore.

I'd be down for a movie a day for 13 days here. One movie I recommend is 1408. I love this movie. I only wish it was rated R.

31 days would be rough. I don't think I've even watched 31 movies of any kind within a month.
13 might be possible as well.

No Ta, I have enough horror in my life without going out of my way to watch it....

Seggers

I always try to watch as many as possible during october, drives my wife nuts cuz I make her watch them with me, heh.

Over the past 24 months I've averaged 45 movies a month (low was 18, high was 80 in Dec 2007) so 31 movies in a month should be no problem.

December 2007 (80)
My ratings are based on 1-5 stars

1st - Bastard Out of South Carolina **
Transformers HD ***
This is England ***
Innocence ***

2nd - Stardust ****

3rd - Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills **
Thing That Hang from Trees **
Your Mommy Kills Animals **1/2

4th - Diary ***
Paranoid Park ***1/2
Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door ***3/4
Dark Mind *

5th - Once ****
Control ***

7th - Into the Wild ****
The Flock **
Cocaine Cowboys ***

8th - The Insurgents **
These Foolish Things **
The Deaths of Ian Stone **
Guy X **
The Lives of Others ****
Final Destination 3 **

9th - The Brave One **
Lust Caution ****1/2

10th - Things We Lost In the Fire ****
Butterfly On a Wheel (Shattered) ***

11th - Johnny Got His Gun *****
Angst ***

12th - Day Zero **
White Light, Black Rain **1/2
Blood Car *

13th - I'm Not Here ****1/2
Trade ***

14th - A Sound of Thunder **
Awake **
Elizabeth: The Golden Age ***1/2

15th - Just Like Heaven **
Michael Clayton ****
La Mome (La Vie En Rose) *****
Bourne Ultimatum ***
Live Free and Die Hard ***

16th - Lions for Lambs *

17th - The Kingdom (2007) ***

18th - Driftwood *
Invasion (2005 - Infection) *
Army in Shadows ***

19th - Before the Devil Knows Your Dead ****
Shoot Em Up **

20th - Shopgirl ***
When a Stranger Calls *
Kite Runner ****

21st - I Am Legend ****
Gone Baby Gone ****

22nd - Deck the Halls *
PU 235 **
Timerider *
The Bucket List ***

23rd - Practical Magic **
Atonement *****
The Great Debaters ***

24th - Loose Change Final Cut ***
The Guardian **
For Your Consideration **
Wristcutters: A Love Story **
It's a Free World **

25th - December Boys **
National Treasure: Book of Secrets **
2 Days in Paris **

26th - Worlds Fastest Indian ***

27th - Out of Season **
Joshua **

28th - Zeitgeist ****
Gattaca ****

30th - My Life Without Me ***
Charlie Wilson's War **

31st - O Brother, Where Art Thou? ***
Enchanted ***1/2
Shortbus ***
May 18 **

To clarify/correct some comments I made earlier: The 13 movie challenge does not necessarily have to occur in 13 days. Just as long as you watch 13 horror films at some point within the month, you're good to go. And in regards to the comment about the "rules", movies CAN be repeated from year to year but there was a minimum number of first-time viewings that you had to incorporate into the mix.

I'm definitely in if enough people show interest.

Like I said, I'm in. I love horror so this should be easy.

I can probably swing 13 and there's sure to be a lot I haven't seen before.

Cary

I've attempted this every year for many years since I am a huge Halloween and horror fan. What I try to do is something horror-related each day during October. This can be watching a movie, reading a horror story, or just going out to look at Halloween decorations or merchandise. There are so many short old horror movies (80 minutes and less!) that the movie challenge might be do-able. Usually I end up falling back on reading a chapter of a Stephen King book for some of the days.

We pick which movies we want to watch or does everyone watch the same movies?

I always try for the first week or so in October and then reality gets in the way. Darn that reality!

You can watch whatever you want. There is likely to be differing opinions on what is or is not horror, however. If I remember correctly, some people were watching movies that would probably be better classified as thrillers.

BTW, for the last 2 years I have watched House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects on Halloween Night.

Too bad Halloween isn't in mid-summer, when there's absolutely nothing on TV. I'd easily do 31 films in a month then. With; fall programming, football, and basketball ramping up, plus one of the best months of gaming for all consoles, movies are at the tailend of a very, very looooonnnggg list right now.

Good luck to those of you that accept this challenge.

Recommends:

The Cottage
The Descent
Identity
Wrong Turn
Quarantine*
The Mist
Scanners
What Lies Beneath
The Hills Have Eyes 2
Wolf Creek

*You'll have to get out of the house to see this one.

Unless you've already seen "[Rec]" - looks like it may be a direct frame by frame remake!

All good recommendations spyder.

I think I may start with the orginal "The Haunting" followed by the 1999 DTS remake; that should give my new dual MFW-15's a good work out!!.

Yeah, I'd like to have included [Rec] on my list, but I've never seen it...looked for it, but never found the damn thing. When you mentioned The Haunting, it reminded me that both House on Haunted Hillmovies are must-see as well. Score the 2nd of the two (Return to HH) on BD and spend a whole month just on bonus features!

I notice you list the sequel but not the original (i.e. remake). I caught the first half of that one on cable and had absolutely NO desire to see anything else from that movie as a result. It was rather disturbing, but not in a "good" way.

What about the 2nd makes it better?

Spyder listed some good suggestions above, to which I'll add:

Session 9

Great suggestions all around. Here's my schedule, I'm gonna go for the whole enchilada! I have a wife and 2 young kids but most nights I can be in front of the big screen by 8:45 PM. I scheduled movies with longer running times for weekends, and shorter movies for weeknights. I tried to mix it up a bit so I have different types of horror: classics, newer stuff, heavy, light, quality, shlock, mainstream, independent. I had a hard time narrowing it down to 31 movies, and there are a lot of great titles I left off the list because I've seen them too recently or don't own them.

Date Title
10/1/2008 The Black Cat (1934)
10/2/2008 An American Werewolf in London
10/3/2008 Creepshow
10/4/2008 Rosemary's Baby
10/5/2008 The Others
10/6/2008 Dracula A.D. 1972
10/7/2008 House on Haunted Hill (1958)
10/8/2008 Black Sabbath
10/9/2008 Spider Baby
10/10/2008 Burnt Offerings
10/11/2008 The Exorcist
10/12/2008 Haxan (Witchcraft Through the Ages)
10/13/2008 The Fly
10/14/2008 Evil Dead 2
10/15/2008 The Last House on the Left
10/16/2008 Freaks
10/17/2008 The Thing (1982)
10/18/2008 Jacob's Ladder
10/19/2008 Dead Alive
10/20/2008 Something Wicked This Way Comes
10/21/2008 House of 1000 Corpses
10/22/2008 The Leopard Man
10/23/2008 The Nightmare Before Christmas
10/24/2008 The Fearless Vampire Killers
10/25/2008 Don't Look Now
10/26/2008 Night of the Living Dead
10/27/2008 Phantasm
10/28/2008 Ernest Scared Stupid
10/29/2008 Halloween
10/30/2008 The Changeling
10/31/2008 Sleepy Hollow

I may make last-minute substitutions depending on my mood or if something interesting arrives from Netflix or I buy something new. Also I am going to try to squeeze in viewing a horror miniseries or two (Stephen King's "It" for starters) during my lunch breaks using my portable DVD player, so I can get the full overdose of horror!

I haven't seen either of these yet so they're on my list. Thanks.

Thanks for posting your list as well Bob. Lots on there I haven't seen (I might skip on "Ernest Scared Stupid" though)

Cary

The Hills Have Eyes 2 (Remake, thanks for the reminder, Irmo) should be seen, if for no other reason, than it stands as a shining monument to the quality one can still achieve on SD DVD. The PQ is ridiculously outstanding, particularly for a "low-budget" horror film. Craven taught his son well!

Also, I'd like to add that if you want something disturbingly horrifying rather than just gory or "scary" in the traditional sense, Funny Games will linger on in the mind longer than any of the ones I listed previously. To me, that's a true "horror" movie, as opposed to what we often misinterpret for "horror"...what is truly more likely to fill the "terror" genre. If you're not overtly horrified at what happens in that film, you're not human.

This should help, especially if you don't have a title, just DVR it and watch it later (some great movies coming up)!

Turner Classic Movies - October 2008 Schedule of Qualifying Titles:

October 1
3:00 PM - Most Dangerous Game (1932)
1:15 AM - King Kong (1933)

October 11
4:00 PM - The Haunting (1963)

October 12
4:15 AM - 13 Ghosts (1960)

October 17
10:30 PM - The Stepford Wives (1975)
12:30 AM - The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976)
2:15 AM - Wicked, Wicked (1973)

October 19
12:00 PM - Village Of The Damned (1960)
1:30 PM - House Of Usher (1960)
2:00 AM - Eyes Without a Face (1960)
3:45 AM - The Mystery Of The Wax Museum (1933)

October 20
6:00 AM - Kongo (1932)
7:45 AM - The Ghost Ship (1943)
9:00 Am - The Seventh Victim (1943)
10:15 AM - The Return Of Doctor X (1939)
11:30 AM - The Mysterious Doctor (1943)
12:30 PM - The Woman In White (1948)
2:30 Pm - The Haunting (1963)

October 22
8:00 PM - The Hunchback Of Notre Dame(1939)
1:45 Am - Cat People (1942)
3:00 Am - I Walked With A Zombie (1943)
4:15 Am - Isle of the Dead (1945)

October 23
5:30 AM - The Body Snatcher (1945)

October 24
2:00 Am - Carnival of Souls (1962)
3:30 Am - Spider Baby (1968)

October 25
6:00 Am - The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
8:00 PM - Psycho (1960)
10:00 PM - Peeping Tom (1960)
12:00 AM - Strait-Jacket (1964)
3:45 AM - Homicidal (1961)

October 26
2:00 PM - The Birds (1963)
1:30 AM - The Unknown (1927)
2:30 AM - Vampyr - Der Traum des Allan Grey (1932)
3:45 AM - The Black Room (1935)

October 27
5:00 AM - Before I Hang (1940)

October 29
6:00 AM - The Spiral Staircase (1945)

October 30
4:45 PM - The Thing From Another World (1951)
6:15 PM - Mad Love (1935)
7:30 PM - The Beast With Five Fingers (1946)
9:00 PM - I Walked With A Zombie (1943)
10:15 PM - Curse of the Demon (1958)
12:00 PM - The Gorgon (1964)
1:30 PM - Mr. Sardonicus (1961)
3:15 PM - The Tomb Of Ligeia (1964)
5:00 PM - The Tingler (1959)
6:30 PM - House Of Usher (1960)
8:00 PM - Dead of Night (1945)
10:00 PM - Torture Garden (1967)
11:45 PM - Twice-Told Tales (1963)
2:00 AM - Kwaidan (1964)

October 31
4:45 AM - Spirits of the Dead (1969)
7:30 AM - Cat People (1942)
9:00 AM - Freaks (1932)
10:15 AM - The Devil Doll (1936)
11:45 AM - Mark Of The Vampire (1935)
1:00 PM - The Devil Bat (1940)
2:15 PM - White Zombie (1932)
3:30 PM - The Body Snatcher (1945)
5:00 PM - Bedlam (1946)
6:30 PM - The Ghoul (1933)
8:00 PM - The Haunted Palace (1963)
9:30 PM - Die, Monster, Die ! (1965)
11:00 PM - The Shuttered Room (1966)
12:45 AM - The Dunwich Horror (1970)
2:30 AM - Blood Feast (1963)
3:45 AM - Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964)

Another option: Amazon.com has several "Horror Collection" DVD sets which contain early horror classics at very resonable prices.

Do a search on Amazon.com for "Horror Collections" or "Horror Classics" and you will find many very good selections.

Here's one of the largest:

Horror Collection - 250 Movies (2007) - $49.97 plus free 2nd day air for Prime members

Run Time : 313 Hours 6 Minutes
On 60 Double Sided DVD's

Synopsis: The Horror 250 Movie Pack gathers an amazing collection of classic and contemporary chillers including Nosferatu, Phantom of the Opera, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Little Shop of Horrors, House on Haunted Hill, Bad Taste, Mama Dracula and Night Train to Terror. Stars found in this amazing collection include Bela Lugosi, Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Barbara Steele, Keenan Wynn, David Janssen, Louise Fletcher and many more. Never before have so many movies been offered in one amazing collection and packaged in a stunning foil collectors box.

Below follows a list of all the 250 Titles.
===============================
Alien Contamination (1981)
Alien Species (1996)
All the Kind Strangers (1974)
Alpha Incident, The (1977)
Amazing Mr. X, The (1948)
Amazing Transparent Man, The (1960)
Anatomy of a Psycho (1961)
Ape Man, The (1943)
Ape, The (1940)
Assignment: Outer Space (1960)
Astral Factor, The (1976)
Atlas in the Land of the Cyclops (1961)
Atom Age Vampire (1960)
Atomic Brain, The (1964)
Atomic Rulers of the World (1964)
Attack From Space (1964)
Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959)
Attack of the Monsters (1969)
Bat, The (1959)
Bat, The (Silent) (1926)
Beast of the Yellow Night (1971)
Beast of Yucca Flats, The (1961)
Black Dragons (1942)
Blood Tide (1982)
Bloodlust (1959)
Bloody Pit of Horror (1965)
Bluebeard (1944)
Bowery at Midnight (1942)
Brain Machine, The (1977)
Brain That Wouldn't Die, The (1962)
Bride of the Gorilla (1951)
Buried Alive (1939)
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The (1920)
Carnage (1983)
Carnival of Souls (1962)
Chloe, Love is Calling You (1934)
City of Missing Girls (1941)
Cold Room, The (1984)
Colossus and the Amazon Queen (1960)
Colossus and the Headhunters (1960)
Condemned to Live (1935)
Corpse Vanishes, The (1942)
Cosmos: War of the Planets (1977)
Counterblast (1948)
Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961)
Crimes at the Dark House (1940)
Crimes of Stephen Hawke, The (1936)
Crooked Circle, The (1932)
Crypt of the Living Dead (1973)
Curse of the Headless Horseman (1974)
Daughter of the Tong (1939)
Day the Sky Exploded, The (1958)
Dead Men Walk (1943)
Death Warmed Up (1984)
Dementia 13 (1963)
Destroy All Planets (1968)
Devil Bat, The (1941)
Devil Monster (1946)
Devil's Daughter, The (1939)
Devil's Messenger, The (1962)
Devil's Partner (1962)
Devil's Sleep, The (1949)
Disappearance of Flight 412, The (1974)
Doomed to Die (1940)
Doomsday Machine, The (1972)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)
Drums of Africa (1941)
Dungeon of Harrow, The (1962)
Eegah (1962)
Embalmer, The (1965)
Embryo (1976)
End of the World, The (1977)
Eternal Evil (1985)
Evil Brain from Outer Space (1956)
Face at the Window, The (1939)
Face in the Fog, A (1936)
Fatal Hour, The (1940)
Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules (1962)
First Spaceship on Venus (1960)
Frankenstein 80 (1972)
Frozen Alive (1966)
Fury of the Wolf Man (1972)
Galaxy Invader, The (1985)
Gamera the Invincible (1966)
Ghost and the Guest, The (1943)
Ghost Walks, The (1934)
Ghosts on the Loose (1943)
Giant Gila Monster, The (1959)
Giants of Rome (1964)
Goliath and the Dragon (1960)
Good Against Evil (1977)
Gorilla, The (1939)
Grave of the Vampire (1972)
Green Eyes (1934)
Hands of Steel (1986)
Head, The (1959)
Hercules Against the Moon Men (1964)
Hercules and the Captive Women (1961)
Hercules and the Masked Rider (1963)
Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon (1964)
Hercules Unchained (1959)
Horrors of Spider Island (1962)
House of Danger (1934)
House of Mystery (1934)
House of Secrets (1936)
House of the Dead (1978)
House of the Living Dead (1973)
House on Haunted Hill, The (1959)
How Awful About Allan (1970)
Hunchback of Notre Dame, The (1923)
I Killed That Man (1941)
Idaho Transfer (1973)
Incredible Petrified World, The (1957)
Indestructible Man (1956)
Invisible Ghost, The (1941)
Invisible Killer, The (1941)
Island Monster, The (1954)
Killer Shrews, The (1959)
Killers From Space (1954)
Killers of the Sea (1937)
King of the Zombies (1941)
Kiss Me Kill Me (1971)
Kong Island (1968)
Laser Mission (1990)
Last Man on Earth, The (1960)
Last Woman on Earth (1960)
Lion Man, The (1936)
Little Shop of Horrors, The (1960)
Long Hair of Death, The (1964)
Lost City, The (Part 1 and Part 2) (1935)
Lost Jungle, The (1934)
Lost World, The (1925)
Lucifer Complex, The (1978)
Maciste in Hell (1925)
Mad Monster, The (1942)
Man with Two Lives, The (1942)
Manfish (1956)
Maniac (1934)
Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966)
Manster, The (1962)
Mesa of Lost Women (1953)
Metropolis (1927)
Midnight Phantom (1935)
Midnight Shadow (1939)
Midnight Warning, The (1932)
Mistress of Atlantis, The (1932)
Mole Men against the Son of Hercules (1961)
Monster from a Prehistoric Planet (1967)
Monster Maker, The (1944)
Monster Walks, The (1932)
Moon of the Wolf (1972)
Murder at Midnight (1931)
Murder in the Red Barn (1935)
Nabonga (1944)
Never Too Late (1937)
Night America Trembled (1957)
Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave, The (1971)
Night Fright (1968)
Night of the Blood Beast (1958)
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Night Tide (1961)
Nightmare Castle (1965)
Nightmare Never Ends, The (1980)
Nosferatu (1922)
One Body Too Many (1944)
One Frightened Night (1935)
One Step Beyond - Peter Hurkos Story, The (Part 1) (1960)
One Step Beyond - Peter Hurkos Story, The (Part 2) (1960)
Panic (1976)
Passenger to Bali, A (1950)
Phantom Creeps, The (1939)
Phantom Express, The (1932)
Phantom from 10,000 Leagues, The (1956)
Phantom From Space (1953)
Phantom of 42nd Street, The (1936)
Phantom of Soho, The (1964)
Phantom of the Opera, The (1925)
Phantom Planet, The (1961)
Phantom, The (1931)
Piranha, Piranha (1972)
Planet Outlaws (1953)
Prehistoric Women (1950)
Prisoners of the Lost Universe (1984)
Purple Death from Outer Space (1940)
Queen of the Amazons (1947)
Radio Ranch (1940)
Return of Dr. Mabuse, The (1961)
Revolt of the Zombies (1936)
Ring of Terror (1962)
Robot Pilot (1941)
Rocky Jones, Space Ranger: Crash of the Moons (1954)
Rocky Jones, Space Ranger: Menace from Outer Space (1956)
Rogues Tavern, The (1936)
Sadist, The (1963)
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)
Savage Girl, The (1932)
Scared to Death (1946)
Scream in the Night, A (1935)
Screaming Skull, The (1958)
Shadow of Chinatown (1936)
Shadow of Silk Lennox, The (1935)
She Gods of Shark Reef (1958)
She-Beast, The (1966)
Shock (1946)
Shot in the Dark, A (1935)
Shriek in the Night, A (1933)
Sisters of Death (1977)
Snow Creature, The (1954)
Snowbeast (1977)
Son of Hercules: The Land of Darkness (1963)
Son of Ingagi (1940)
Sound of Horror (1964)
Star Odyssey (1979)
Strange Adventure, A (1956)
Strangers of the Evening (1932)
Swamp Women (1955)
Tales of Frankenstein (1958)
Teenage Zombies (1959)
Teenagers From Outer Space (1959)
Tell-Tale Heart, the (1960)
Terror at the Red Wolf Inn (1972)
Terror Creatures from the Grave (1965)
Terror, The (1963)
They (1974)
They Came From Beyond Space (1967)
Thirteenth Guest, The (1932)
This is not a Test (1962)
Ticket of Leave Man, The (1937)
Tormented (1960)
Torture Ship (1939)
UFO: Target Earth (1974)
Unknown World (1951)
Vampire Bat, The (1933)
Vampire's Night Orgy (1973)
Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968)
Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965)
Vulcan, Son of Jupiter (1961)
Walking Nightmare, A (1942)
Wanted: Babysitter (1975)
War of the Robots (1978)
Warning From Space (1956)
Warriors of the Wasteland (1983)
Wasp Woman, The (1960)
Werewolf of Washington, The (1973)
Werewolf Woman (1976)
White Gorilla, The (1945)
White Pongo (1945)
White Zombie (1932)
Wild Women of Wongo (1958)
World Gone Mad, The (1933)

Airboss, have you seen the documentary "Cinemania"? This is not horror but when I saw that you actually watched 6 movies in one day, I thought of this movie. These people are film-obsessed!

(My personal record is 5 movies in one day...but I was immobilized at home with a foot injury!)

Bob, no I haven't but it's at the top of my NetFlix cue. Should arrive in time for a weekend viewing, thanks for the heads up.

The most movies I've viewed in one day was 8 (actually on several occassions). Weekdays I will watch at least one, sometimes two. On weekends I'll squeeze in 3 to 8 movies. I watched the 383 minute director's cut of "The Best of Youth" (Meglio gioventù, La) in one sitting. I also watched the 280 min director's cut of "Until the End of the World" (Bis ans Ende der Welt) in one sitting. Certainly didn't hurt that both are great movies.

Ever since purchasing a region free DVD player and setting up my home theater I've been addicted to movies. The region free player opened up a whole new world of film previously unknown to me and now I can't get enough.

I know I should get a life but until I move away from my present location I will continue my viewing habits.

I live in a military town with a population of over 70,000 people and the average age is 22.9 years.

From Wilipedia:
"Jacksonville, NC is the youngest city in the United States with an average age of 22.9 years old. The low age can be attributed to the large military presence."

Everything in this town is geared around the 23 year old male Marine so there isn't much for individuals my age to do. I watch movies and bide my time until I can retire and move back to my hometown of Memphis (where my family is located); once there I can rejoin the real world and I'm sure my movie viewing will drop off some.

BTW, Barton Fink is one of my favorite movies!