October fun: 31 days of Horror, Blood, Guts and Gore! (and zombies, too....) - Page 6

Good to know, thanks for the info. I may add Mother of Tears and check that out. Agree with you on Saw... did not care for #2 but really enjoyed #1 & #3.

Count me in again. I had a blast last year and managed to watch 32 movies! It was hard on some days, particularly weekends where I would already watch 3 hours of football, but I did it.

I don't have a list ready. Last year I strayed from my list a lot, so this year I might just build one as I go along. However, one of my goals is to watch as many of the "101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die". I have already seen 83 of them but I think I can do better than that!

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919)
The Golem (1920)
Häxan (1922)
Nosferatu (1922)
The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
Dracula (1931)
M (1931)
Frankenstein (1931)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
Vampyr (1932)
Freaks (1932)
White Zombie (1932)
The Old Dark House (1932)
Island of Lost Souls (1932)
King Kong (1933)
The Black Cat (1934)
The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
The Wolf Man (1941)
Cat People (1942)
I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
Diabolique (1955)
The Bad Seed (1956)
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
The Horror of Dracula (1958)
The Tingler (1959)
Eyes Without a Face (1959)
Peeping Tom (1960)
Black Sunday (1960)
Psycho (1960)
The Innocents (1961)
Carnival of Souls (1962)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
The Haunting (1963)
The Birds (1963)
Onibaba (1964)
The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
Repulsion (1965)
Viy (1967)
Hour of the Wolf (1968)
The Devil Rides Out (1968)
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970)
The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
Daughters of Darkness (1971)
Blacula (1972)
The Last House on the Left (1972)
The Exorcist (1973)
The Wicker Man (1973)
Don't Look Now (1973)
Deathdream (1974)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Deep Red (1975)
Jaws (1975)
The Omen (1976)
Carrie (1976)
Eraserhead (1977)
Suspiria (1977)
The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
Halloween (1978)
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
Phantasm (1979)
The Brood (1979)
Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
Dressed to Kill (1980)
Friday the 13th (1980)
The Shining (1980)
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
The Howling (1981)
The Beyond (1981)
Poltergeist (1982)
The Hunger (1983)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Re-Animator (1985)
The Fly (1986)
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
A Chinese Ghost Story (1987)
Hellraiser (1987)
Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987)
The Vanishing (1988)
Jacob's Ladder (1990)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Man Bites Dog (1991)
Candyman (1992)
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
Cemetery Man (1994)
Scream (1996)
Ringu (1998)
Audition (1999)
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
The Devil's Backbone (2001)
The Others (2001)
28 Days Later (2002)
A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
High Tension (2003)
Ju-on (2003)
Saw (2004)
The Descent (2005)
The Orphanage (2007)

October 1st, and I started the morning by watching number 1 on my list, Hostel II. By number 1, I dont mean its the best movie, I just created a list from memory in no order, just as i thought about what i wanted to see. Anyway, it was a great way to start October.

1) Hostel II - A much maligned movie thats better than people give it credit for. It didnt do great at the box office, I think a lot of the people knocking the movie didnt see it, they are just knocking the "torture-porn" label put on this movie. Yes, there are some brutal scenes, yes there is some torture, yes there is some nudity, it pushes the envelope at times. However, Tarrantino (who i am not always a fan of) does a masterfull job at keeping you on edge, even through quite a few periods of nothing really bad happening you just never relax watching it. A twist here and there are good too. What gives this movie a shot in the arm too is as you are watching it, you are thinking that something similar to this could really be happening in real life. If you havent seen this but are a horror fan and can handle a lot of gore, give this a shot. Its a fine stand-alone movie, you dont have to see the first Hostel to enjoy this one, its not a continuation, just a similar movie with the same basic theme. I loved it.

What was Tarantino's involvement in Hostel II, besides being one of the exective producers? The film was both written and directed by Eli Roth, right? just curious.

Agreed, great list Bob. Love the chronological order!

I was hoping to get home early enough last night to watch The Hills Run Red but no luck, it was 11:30 and I was beat so I'll get on it tonight.

Started at midnight and watched "The Hills Run Red", "100 Feet", "Frostbiten" and “Friday the 13th (2009) (then took a nap ).

Oct 1st -

1. "The Hills Run Red" - "When they hear there's a complete print of their favorite slasher movie hidden in their hometown's backwoods, a group of horror movie buffs heads out in search of the celluloid treasure.
Predictable yet entertaining cliché ridden slasher/horror flix in the vein of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Devil's Rejects, The Hills Have Eyes , etc., etc., etc. Plenty of T&A, a couple of plot twists and some not so bad "kills"/gore but it doesn't quite live up to the hype. THRR kept me entertained though out and overall wasn't a bad movie. Worth a rent.

BTW, don't press 'eject' when the credits start to roll or you'll miss the twist at the end.


2. "100 Feet" - "A young woman, Marnie Watson, is granted early release from her prison sentence for manslaughter (killing her husband - a violent NYC cop - in self defense) on condition she wear an electronic ankle bracelet and remain within her home, effectively under house arrest, for the remainder of her sentence. Her late husband's partner keeps tabs on her from a patrol car parked across the street, hoping she'll violate probation and he can send her back to prison. But the 100-foot radius her ankle bracelet allows isn't the worst of her problems. Her dead husband --now a malevolent ghost--is still in the house, where he died -- intent on savage revenge."

"100 Feet" started out with lots of promise but fell short before reaching the finish line (the ending was really lame). This could have been an excellent 'ghost' story, especially with 'Famke Janssen' as Marnie Watson if it had not been for the HUGH plot holes, sorry CGI "ghost" and a couple of cheap scares. Not a complete waste of time though, there were moments that had me 'on the edge of my seat' but they were too few and too far apart. Worth a rent.

3. "Frostbiten" - Vampires terrorize a city in Norrbotten. "After Annika, a medical doctor, gets work at the local hospital, she and her 17-year old daughter Saga move to a small town in northern Sweden. Annika is keen to work with her idol, geneticist Professor Gerhard Beckert. However Beckert's sinister past in the Waffen-SS soon catches up with him when a couple of pill-popping interns mistake an experimental vaccine for party drugs. Mayhem ensues as the town's teenagers succumb one by one to the mysterious virus."

A Swedish, tongue in cheek, vampire movie with pretty good SFX but unfortunately not so good direction and acting. Worth a rent.

4. "Friday the 13th (2009)" - "Wade, Ritchie, Amanda, Mike and Whitney travel to Crystal Lake to camp, but Wade and Ritchie have found a plantation of weed and intend to raise some money selling the dope. However, the group is brutally attacked by Jason Voorhees. Six weeks later, Clay is seeking out his sister Whitney in Crystal Lake, distributing a missing poster with her picture to the locals. In a gas station, he stumbles into the arrogant Trent that has invited his friends Jenna, Lawrence, Chewie, Nolan, Chelsea and Bree to spend the weekend in the cottage of his wealthy family. Jenna teams up with Clay in his quest and they discover that Jason is killing her friends. They run back to the cottage to warn her friends of the dangerous situation while Jason kills each one of them."

Been there, seen that - at least one of the 'hot chicks' had real breasts!

Okay... Here's my list, in no particular order... I'm starting tonight with Texas Chainsaw Massacre (that Blu-ray thread got me teased, and I need a pre-enhanced Jessica fix)

01 The Ring
02 Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
03 Wrong Turn
04 The Exorcist
05 Halloween (Rob Zombie's)
06 Orphan
07 The Hills Have Eyes (remake)
08 Mirrors
09 The Others
10 The Cell
11 Silence Of The Lambs
12 Hannibal
13 Bram Stoker's Dracula
14 Seven
15 Interview With The Vampire
16 Alien
17 Darkness
18 The Others
19 Dark Water
20 Ghost Ship
21 The Skeleton Key
22 Stir Of Echoes
23 Nosferatu (Murnau's)
24 LifeForce
25 The Hills Run Red
26 Shadow Of The Vampire
27 Session 9
28 American Psycho
29 Resident Evil 1 (for Milla…)
30 Resident Evil 2 (for Milla Milla…)
31 Resident Evil 3 (for Milla Milla Milla...)

I've purposedly avoided to watch any Saw movies, I like the franchise, and see #6 at the theater, but my list is for home viewing only. And 6 Saw in the same month? I don't know, too much entrails all over the place


[edit]Guys you made me want to check The Hills Run Red... I'm getting rid of The Grudge...

She was the best part of the movie

Thanks for the feedback on Hills Run Red, sounds entertaining at least and should make for a good start to the marathon! 4 movies in a row... man you are a savage!

Morpheo - Good call on Skeleton Key... what a creepy movie that was.

If you are going to give a "review" of a movie, please start a thread. If more than one person is going to watch and comment on a movie doing, it all in one thread will turn into a mess and not help others down the road when searching. Most people just search in thread titles when looking for movie discussions. And some of the movies that will be watched will already have threads for people to add their comments. Thanks.

larry

I assume everyone will be using the approved list method from last year, where you edit a single post throughout the month? This will cut down on thread searching and will allow everyone to continue their regular dialog. This is also what makes viewing previous years' lists much easier.

As per mods request, let's keep any "reviewing" to a minimum and start a new thread if a particular movie really warrants a full discussion.

I will watch my movies in silence.

To me, those of us participating in this thread are reading every post, and therefore if you dont make a list, but do a mini review as you watch each movie, its interesting to read, and you dont have to go back to a single post and look at a list of a bunch of movies and try to find the latest review you havent read yet. If you keep up with this thread, you dont have to worry about helping people down the road, they should just be active members of this thread reading it as it goes along like i do, and i am interested in everything everybody posts. To me, the more posts (and reviews in those posts) to read, the better. I love an active thread.

But thats just my opinion, and i will abide by the moderators wish.

I agree.
This thread is focused on several horror movies and will only really be active this month and a few days after. As Larry said most people search thread titles for reviews so the few short lines written on movies in this thread should be moot.

If possible I'd appreciate the mods allowing this thread to continue as it is.

Oct 1st continued -

5. "Book of Blood" - "The story centers on a paranormal expert who, while investigating a gruesome slaying, finds a house that is at the intersection of "highways" transporting souls to the afterlife.

Based on the wraparound story penned by Clive Barker in the author's "Books of Blood" collection, a psychic researcher, Mary Florescu, has employs medium Simon McNeal to investigate a haunted house. McNeal, at first, begins to fake his visions, but then real ghosts present themselves. They attack him and carve words in his flesh, and these words, claims the narrator, form the rest of the stories, stories written on a literal, living Book of Blood."

"Book of Blood" starts off very promising. The first 10 to 15 minutes are really good, especially the scene where Unfortunately everything slows down after that and it gets very boring with only one or two interesting parts for the rest of the movie. At least the CGI ghost are depicted in a decent manner.

Wait for it to play on cable or sat.

I went and saw Pandorum...seems like I've seen that movie before ...oh wait! that's because they hacked up several previous horror movies and pieced it together with a catchy title .
Anyhoo..on to my list next up is Altered.

Oct 1st continued -

6. "Cookers" - "After stealing a huge stash of drugs, speed freaks Hector (Brad Hunt) and Darena (Cyia Batten) plan to cook up an enormous batch of crystal meth and get rich quick. Hectors old buddy Merle (Patrick McGaw) has the perfect hideout / meth lab, an old abandoned farmhouse in the woods where no one will ever find them. Unfortunately, no one will here their screams either. Turns out. they may not be alone after all. It seems the farmhouse is the site of a horrific urban legend. Paranoid and tormented by demons and terrifying visions, they fall prey to their descending spiral of drug use and mysterious horrifying hallucinations causing the scared and frightened trio to ultimately turn deadly against each other."

Can't believe I have not seen nor heard of this excellent 2001 horror/drama before. More spooky than scary 'Cookers' takes it's time and builds the suspense little by little until it's almost unbearable. Brad Hunt and Cyia Batten give two of the best performances I've seen since 'Ashley Judd' and 'Michael Shannon' in "Bug".

This is a dark, depressing film dealing with drugs and their consequences therefore it may not be for everyone. This film drew me in and held me there until the end (except for the occasional mic slip in the scene). The taunt atmosphere kept me glued to the screen while Brad and Cyia's performances were wonderful to watch. Although the ending was a little weak, as the credits rolled I hit the eject button very satisfied and not disappointed.

For a low budget flix "Cookers" has outstanding acting, writing and direction. If you enjoy watching great performances see this movie.

Sounds right up my alley, thanks for the rec... I feel a list modification coming on

wizzack - c'mon, you know Rawhead deserves his own thread

*edit - Ok, watched Saw and Hils Run Red tonight. My wife had never seen Saw and can only handle certain horror flicks and not nearly as often as me. She actually really liked it after getting over how disturbing she thought it was.
The Hills Run Red was pretty entertaining... some cheap thrills and kind of a low expectations start but the last 30min was pretty good and the plot twists probably saved it from being less than mediocre. I agree with Airboss on this... worth a rent.

Oct 1st continued -

7. "The Shaft (Down)" - "When the express elevators in the Millennium Building, one of New York's most famous landmarks, start to malfunction and behave in erratic ways, elevator mechanic Mark Newman is sent out to find the cause of the problems. His investigation meets unexpected resistance and not everybody seems to be happy with his involvement. After a gruesome and deadly incident, in which a blind man falls into the shaft and a security guard is decapitated, the police start an investigation."

Finished this late last night, last movie of the day. Unfortuneately after watching "The Shaft" you will feel like you've been given 'the shaft'. The only reason to watch this mess is to see the wonderful Naomi Watts in one of her earlier roles.

Oct 2nd, and i just watched my second movie. HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES. I really enjoyed this one, its an older movie and most of the time i dont care for the older horror movies, they seem dated to me, and they have bad gore and effects when you watch them nowadays, but this one holds up fine. I think it holds up due to a few reasons, the totally unique style Rob Zombie used in filming/directing it, a really great dysfunctional family, and some superb characters, particularly Captain Spaulding. This is a horror movie with fun in it, and i thorouly enjoyed it. You just gotta let yourself go and get into the totally different style of it, I could see where some people might not like the style in which its done, but i sure do.

Oct 2nd -

8. "Bone Daddy" - "Doctor Palmer, a former pathologist, wrote a fictional book based on his real cases. In the book, the madman gets caught, but in reality he is still uncaught. After the book is released, Palmer's editor is kidnapped. Palmer soon is sent a present containing a page of his book, and a bone from his editor. Together with the police, Palmer tries to find his editor, who might still be alive. In addition, his own son becomes one of the main suspects."

Well today is not starting out very good. "Bone Daddy" is listed as a Horror/Slasher film. Well in actuality it's not horror it's just horrible!

Rutger Hauer is horrible, the acting is horrible, the score is horrible, Babara Williams is horrible, everything about this is horrible! Stay away from this dog.

LugNutX's Frightfest 2009 Movie List
As was the case last year, I will continue to edit this post throughout the month and save new posts for discussion.

October 1:
1. The Hills Run Red - 2 stars (out of 4)
Seems like everyone kicked off the month with this one. I found it enjoyable until the last 15-20 minutes. I liked the build-up and the legend behind it all, but the last part of the movie felt rushed to me. No need in posting a synopsis, but I agree with everyone that it was definitely worthy of a rent and a nice movie to begin the festivities.

October 2:
2. Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed - 2 stars (out of 4)
Not as good as its predecessor, but certainly not bad for a sequel. If you were a fan of the original and haven't seen the follow-up, it's worth a rental, just for continuity. This movie is focused primarily on Bridgette, but Ginger does make a few appearances.

October 4:
3. The Haunting in Connecticut - 2 stars (out of 4)
Ghost stories are my least favorite - I feel like they rely too much on the "bumps" and "jumps" and cheap thrills rather than actual horror. That said, this was still an enjoyable movie that would be worth adding to your monthly queue. The plot follows the typical ghost storyline - haunting starts, people think protagonist is crazy, then discover something terrible happened long ago - but it had some eerie moments.

October 5:
4. The Unborn - 1 stars (out of 4)
My least favorite viewing so far, this is another typical ghost story, although not as well done. Maybe it was just because I watched a ghost film the previous night, but I found the acting and plot to be fairly cheesy. I would recommend that most folks skip this one.

October 7:
5. Wicked Little Things - 2 stars (out of 4)
This is one of those films from the Afterdark Horrorfest from a few years ago. It was a little slow to start, but mildly entertaining in the second half. If you think about the premise too much, it will make you chuckle a bit, but I prefer to take these types of movies at face value. One thing to note - this movie was VERY dark. It doesn't help that most of the scenes take place at night (go figure), but even in a light-controlled room, it was occasionally difficult to make out details.

October 8:
6. The Marsh - 1 stars (out of 4)
Rented this on a recommendation from Bloody Disgusting. Standard ghost story (my third this month! why do I keep renting them?) with a bad script and a uninteresting plot. It's disappointing because the potential was there - how often do you get an Oscar winner (Forest Whitaker) in your horror movie? - but never executed. From a technical standpoint, the video and sound were excellent. Skip it, you won't miss anything.

October 11:
7. Trick 'R Treat - 3 stars (out of 4)
This movie was a refreshing change from some of the stuff I've seen this month. I was never really horrified at anything happening on screen, but it kept me entertained on a level that the rest did not. I enjoyed the interwoven storylines and unique take on cliched themes.

October 12:
8. Silk - 3 stars (out of 4)
Wow! Back-to-back three-star movies! I really enjoyed this one, though it did follow some of the typical themes in Asian horror. This had more story and feeling to it than anything I've watched so far, which was a bit of a relief. Production values were high, except for one CGI scene that made me chuckle - this movie had both a DTS and Dolby Digital track. I would recommend this to anyone that doesn't mind subtitles.

October 14:
9. The Children - 2 stars (out of 4)
Movie started out very slow, but picked up in the second half. It was relatively short, which was a plus on this particular night. I probably would not watch again, but it was worth a single viewing. Movies with creepy kids always freak me out.

October 15:
10. Midnight Movie - 1 stars (out of 4)
Finally hit ten movies, my schedule has been a little hectic lately, so it's nice to finally hit this milestone. Unfortunately, this was not a particularly good movie to celebrate the occasion. The movie started off decent enough, but then fell apart with a ridiculous premise. I'm not typically a fan of movies that try to mix horror genres, especially slasher and supernatural. It just doesn't work. Oh, and the acting was fairly horrid. Skip it.

October 17:
11. Paranormal Activity - 3 stars (out of 4)
We are in the process of moving, so we decided to visit a prospective neighborhood on Saturday. Naturally, I wanted to check out the neighborhood theater that evening, so I was excited to find Paranormal Activity was playing. While I didn't find it to be the revelation that most reviews label it, it was definitely creepy and entertaining. I can't help but think that it might have been even more effective at home. If you want to venture out to the theaters, this is the movie to see right now.

October 18:
12. The Burrowers - 2 stars (out of 4)
I wanted this to be so much better than it was. I enjoyed the western setting, but not much else. The movie seemed to drag in some parts and topped out at over 2 hours. The story was not particularly original, the FX were passable, but not up to my standards, and the ending felt like it was conceived in 5 minutes. Borderline 2-star movie on my list.

October 19:
13. Seventh Moon - 3 stars (out of 4)
Despite the ridiculously over-the-top shaky cam work, I enjoyed this movie. It didn't particularly bring anything new to the table, but it was never really boring either. I felt like it kept me on the edge of my seat and there was never really a dull moment. Worth a rental this month!

October 20:
14. Darkness - 2 stars (out of 4)
This movie has been sitting on my shelf since last Halloween, but I finally decided to give it a viewing. This one had me on the fence, as I felt it did a lot very well, but also missed the boat on some things. This was definitely not the Anna Paquin we've seen most recently in True Blood, but the acting was decent enough. My biggest issue was how the story seemed to fall apart as the movie progressed.
--------------------
Film Rankings (in order viewed)

4 Stars:
N/A

3 Stars:
-Trick 'R Treat
-Silk
-Paranormal Activity
-Seventh Moon

2 Stars:
-The Hills Run Red
-Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed
-The Haunting in Connecticut
-Wicked Little Things
-The Children
-The Burrowers
-Darkness

1 Star:
-The Unborn
-The Marsh
-Midnight Movie

Bob McLaughlin's 2009 Horror Movie Marathon List

1. The Golem (1920) (first time viewing)
This story was supposedly the source of inspiration for Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein". While no one is going to be frightened by this movie any more, it's easy to see why this is a horror classic. It has scorcery, evil spirits, sex, and an indestructable monster with a weird Beatles haircut. Some of the Jewish stereotyping is cringe-worthy (what's with all the witch-hats?), but the Golem was a heroic figure for the Jewish people. An interesting piece of history.

2. Onibaba (first time viewing)
I really liked this one. My favorite horror is not always necessarily supernatural, or it is left vague enough that you're not sure. An eerie sense of menace pervades throughout. Also, the mask is supposedly the inspiration for the demon face seen briefly in The Exorcist. Great stuff!

3. Fire in the Sky
When I saw this back in the early 90's, the movie packed a lot more punch. However, now it seemed slower-paced and not as riveting. I knew what was going to happen so the cat was out of the bag, and the movie suffered for it. However, the last scene involving the alien medical exam is still scary as heck! Nowadays it would all be CGI, so there's something creepy about those "real" aliens.

4. Abbott & Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll & Mr Hyde (first-time viewing)
A great matchup of the classic comedy duo and horror legend Boris Karloff in the titular role(s). If you've seen one Abbot & Costello movie, you've seen them all, but the focus here is on fun and a few tame scares. Hard to believe that back in the day, the UK rated this movie as an "X" due to the supposedly too-scary Mr. Hyde transformation scenes! My 4-year old daughter enjoyed this movie, how times have changed!

5. Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer (first-time viewing)
I wanted to like this low-budget monster movie, but I was put off by awkward scenes (such as the hero repeatedly going to see a counselor), annoying Canadian accents ("soarry" "aboat" that), and generally it just took too long to get to the actual monster slaying. If your movie has the phrase "monster slayer" in the title, then don't just throw that part in the last 15 minutes of the movie. A more accurate title would have been "weird teacher, angry plumber" but I guess that wouldn't encourage many rentals.

6. Ju-On (first-time viewing)
As a device to scare, this was quite effective. The movie never let me relax and was very effective at creeping me out. However, as a movie, it was not as effective. It was very repetitive in its methods--basically the same type of scare was used over and over for 92 minutes. It was kind of like being tickled in the same spot for too long--after a while it doesn't work. Also, I had a very hard time making sense of it all. Still, I would recommend this for anyone who wants to see something that can actually scare them!

7. The Fearless Vampire Killers
With Roman Polanski back in the headlines again for all the wrong reasons, I thought I'd give this one another spin. This movie has a great, fairy-tale look to it. The snow-covered sets and countryside are amazing. Sharon Tate is drop-dead gorgeous. A fun little vampire movie!

8. The Girl Next Door (2007) (first-time viewing)
Rough, rough, rough stuff. Very grim, and I have a pretty high tolerance for 'difficult' movies. Nothing supernatural, no jump-scares, just real human monsters and the evil that people are capable of. Frightening to think this was based on a true story. Amazing performance by Blanche Baker, who has bravely secured herself a place as one of cinema's worst villains.

9. Deep Red (first time viewing)
Dario Argento delivers the goods as usual. More of a mystery/thriller with horrific elements sprinkled throughout, "Deep Red" kept me guessing--I was sure I figured out who the killer was, but I was wrong. It was cool to see a post "Blow-Up" David Hemmings, once again playing the role of man who isn't quite sure what he's really seen. And of course, since this is an Argento movie, there is a lot of very red blood and over-the-top violence! One annoyance was the movie couldn't decide whether to be in English or Italian with English subtitles, it kept switching back and forth. I know that was the director's intent but it kept taking me out of the movie. That aside, I enjoyed it.

10. Deadgirl (first time viewing)
Feels like sloppy seconds at this point, but it's my turn to jump on the Deadgirl bandwagon! (Bad joke, I know.) Sick and twisted but always interesting. I'm a big fan of any movie that shows people exploiting the supernatural, because let's face it, exploitation is what really would happen if people encountered something supernatural! Well maybe not exactly this way, but there are some sick people out there, right? Also a few good creepy scares and jumps, particularly in the first half.

11. Frightmare (first-time viewing)
Ah, the family that slays together, stays together. I didn't know much about this movie but I just bought the British Horror Quadruple Feature box set, which is actually a collection of 4 movies by the same British director, Pete Walker. This movie was interesting in that the "bad guy" is an elderly British woman! This was probably a nice slap in the face to the youth movement of the 60's and 70's, and the movie still holds up. A decent body count and some effective gore, but also many good interesting characters.

12. Zombieland (first-time viewing)
Wow! This movie was so fun, and kicked so much ass! This may represent the pinnacle of the modern zombie comedy. Great characters, great everything. I laughed, I applauded, I even shed a tear. I will not spoil anything by mentioning specifics--just go see it!

13. Paranormal Activity (first-time viewing)
You know, Blair Witch didn't work for me, and this one didn't either. (I really wanted to like both). Not enough story to keep me involved, and the scares just weren't working for me. The audience seemed split on this one--about half were saying "That's it?" when it was over (some even laughed in exasperation), but the other half seemed very scared by the movie. Unfortunately I fell into the former and not the latter group. Go see for yourself and decide.

14. The Nightmare Before Christmas
I've always liked this movie and now that I have kids, I guess I'm going to watch it every year. Not really horror but definitely has its place on a pre-Halloween viewing list!

15. Deathdream (aka Dead of Night) (first-time viewing)
It's low-budget and the acting is a little bit "TV-movie-ish", but this isn't a bad little slice of 70's Americana. If you're familiar with the short story "The Monkey's Paw", you'll get the setup for this movie. A mother refuses to accept that her son has died in Vietnam, and sure enough, he shows up at their doorstep--but he's different now. Required viewing for fans of Tom Savini, who contributed some frightfully effective makeup for this movie.

16. Trick 'r Treat (first-time viewing)
What a fun movie! Also a very good movie to get you into the Halloween mood! I liked the intertwining stories and creepy atmosphere. Tales of suburban paranoia never felt so good! At times the movie felt a little constrained by its low budget but that is a minor gripe. The emphasis was on dark humor and lots of tricks!

17. Mother of Tears (first-time viewing)
A worthy entry in Argento's "Three Mothers" trilogy. Very over-the-top at times (how about that meat cleaver to the face?) but always watchable and interesting. Lots of gratuitous blood and nudity and violence--hurray! Asia Argento's acting is probably the film's weakest element, given that she is in just about every scene, I wish they had gone with someone else.

18. A Tale of Two Sisters (first-time viewing)
I'm surprised I hadn't heard about this movie sooner, it is that good. I was a bit lost through a lot of the movie, but it made a lot more sense by the ending. I really want to see this one again now that I've put together a lot of things. A good mystery and very scary too!

19. Dance of the Dead
I first saw this one during last year's horror marathon; I believe Airboss recommended it and he hasn't steered me wrong yet. Very fun and funny! It held up well to a second viewing and I suspect I will continue to watch this for years to come.

20. Nightmare (first-time viewing)
I had to work in some Hammer Horror to my viewing list. This was a half-decent early 60's Hammer film. A little short on sympathetic or interesting characters but sometimes effectively creepy, but not enough of the time. We've seen all the standard elements of a these kind of psychological horror thrillers before: creepy house, woman doubting her sanity, a conspiracy, etc. so there's not much new here.

21. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) (first-time viewing)
It's easy to see why this is considered superior to the 1941 version of the movie. This movie brings to light Dr. Jekyll's real motivations for doing what he does: his sex drive! This movie features, among other things, a barely covered naked woman in a bed kissing the doctor, probably a movie first at the time. No wonder the man's hormones raged out of control! Mr. Hyde's manner is mostly comical to our modern eyes, what with his ape-like twitchiness, but some of the transformation scenes are still creepy.

22. Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (first-time viewing)
Alternately strange and a delight, this 1970 Czech movie barely qualifies as horror, despite the presence of mysterious cloaked vampires, magic earrings, lecherous rapist priests and a woman being burned at the stake. It's presented in such a glowing beautiful way, it's more like a daydream than a nightmare. Don't bother trying to make sense of this one, though, that would be an exercise in frustration. Just sit back and enjoy the scenery.

23. Blacula (first-time viewing)
Not nearly as bad as I was anticipating, but certainly not in danger of becoming a classic. I was expecting deliberate camp and comedy, but for the most part they play this straight. The movie's more hokey qualities came from the usual 70s blaxploitation cliches and some stereotyped depictions of gays. The jive-talkin' and club music make this kinda fun at times (not to mention William Marshall's titular performance), but it's hard to understand why this was included on the "101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die" list.

24. Them (aka Ils) (first-time Viewing)
Who knew the French could put together an effective little horror thriller? If you fear bumps in the night and creaky houses, this has it in spades. Probably the most effective home-invasion movie scene since "Straw Dogs". The plot is a little thin and the movie is mostly one-note, but it's one note played very well. Entertaining and scary!

25. Hour of the Wolf (first-time viewing)
For Ingmar Bergman fans only. Bergman's only true horror film is maddening, nightmarish, frustrating and of course full of those brilliant Bergman moments that make the difficult viewing worthwhile. Things pick up in the final third when the movie takes a turn for the surreal. Also, it was interesting to see where the R.E.M. video "Losing My Religion" stole some of its imagery from. Don't watch this unless you have some experience with inpenetrable art films.

26. Silk (first-time viewing)
Very cool movie! It had ghosts, mystery, science fiction, and thrills. I liked the characters too, they were interesting and varied. This reminded me of some of the movies of the 80's that combined pseudo-science and metaphysics, such as "Brainstorm", "Altered States", "Dreamscape", but it was definitely up-to-date in its execution.

27. Phantom of the Opera (first-time viewing)
This version of Phantom isn't all bad: I liked the down-and-dirty version of London that is presented here, with roving bands of hags, a rat-catcher (of course the rats get loose) and lots of brackish dirty water. But there is much that is unsatisfying about this version: the Phantom doesn't do much himself, he has an "Igor"/"Quasimodo" assistant do most of his bidding, and the bad guy director doesn't get much of a come-uppance at the end. Watch the original silent instead.

28. Blue Sunshine (first-time viewing)
This movie preyed on the worst fears of the post-hippie generation. Remember that bad acid you did back in the late 60's? (I don't either, I was only a baby). Well, it comes back to haunt you 10 years later, making you lose your hair and turning you into a murderous maniac! Not really scary but a couple of disturbing scenes, the movie is more thriller than horror, but it's hard to take the movie as seriously as it seems to want us to.

29. Opera (first-time viewing)
Another stylish entry from Argento. That's 3 Argentos this month so far! Opera shows the director at his most confident. The camera whizzes pleasingly around the opera house and other settings. This hits on all the usual Argento images and does it well, but also with a lot of energy and even humor. My only complaint is the Netflix DVD I received was a terrible transfer.

30. Wizard of Gore (first-time viewing)
This was an impressive, sleazy and stylish movie that I am surprised I haven't heard more about. Don't expect subtlety--the movie is very "in your face" and doesn't let you forget you're watching a show, but the dark film noir-ish qualities and twisty/turny plot kept me fascinated. Things got a little bogged down in the film's final act and left me wondering what the heck just happened. A must-see for fans of weirdo actor Crispin Glover, who puts on a bravura performance as Montag the Magnificent.

31. Daughters of Darkness (first-time viewing)
A European newlywed couple (looking much like the blonde half of ABBA) go to a summer resort in the winter, wanting solitude. Instead they encounter a mysterious Countess and her hottie "assistant" who seem to have a strong appetite for human blood. A little slow going at times, but beautifully atmospheric and modern-feeling despite being a 1971 movie.

32. Fear(s) of the Dark (first-time viewing)
Great little creepy animated feature! Six different French animators explore dark themes in stark black and white. Don't expect big, broad "Hollywood" type scares. Rather, sit back and soak up the dread, the discomfort, and the atmosphere. One of the segments truly didn't belong--an angsty philosphical piece that didn't seem to fit the overall theme--but aside from that, I was entranced. The final segment is required viewing for those of us lucky enough to have total blackout home theaters.

33. Halloween
The first and best of the "Halloween" movies, I know it's a bit of a cliche to watch this on Halloween night, but what the heck. Still effective after dozens of viewings. Donald Pleasence really raises this to something more than just a teen slasher. Strange to see Jamie Lee Curtis so young.

Since my list is pretty mainstream and almost everyone has seen them, I'll just go with doing ratings over reviews. I thought I start out with a 'mild' one:

#1 of 31 - Silence of the Lambs (blu ray, *Lionsgate/Alliance Canada* [known for crappy releases]):


"It puts the lotion in the basket... PUT THE LOTION IN THE BASKET!"



PS: I wonder if we should just re-edit our original lists with our reviews/comments, instead of a new post for each... ?

IT PUTS THE LOTION IN THE BASKET......

One of my alltime favorite movie quotes. My assistant and I used to say that all the time at work. We had a guy who used to come in and sell us things that looked just like the guy who said that in the movie, and once when he was standing at my desk, i looked at my assistant, and said, IT PUTS THE LOTION IN THE BASKET, and she cracked up. Unfortunetly the guy must have know he looks like the guy and known what i was referring too, and he never came in again, he always sent his brother in.

As to editing our original lists, we seem to be split on that. Some like doing that, others (like me) love the individual posts, it makes for a real active thread which is great IMHO.

*girl voice* "Yes precious she will get the hose again"

...Ted Levine is a grear actor btw.