October fun: 31 days of Horror, Blood, Guts and Gore! (and zombies, too....) - Page 69

Lookin good! Good luck in the contest!

October 20th: Todd Browning double-feature

* Freaks (1932) - Still creepy after all these years!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022913/


* Dracula (1931) - We watched it with the Phillip Glass score. It was nice.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021814/

I might as well throw my list out the window, I keep getting side tracked by the movies you guys are posting. This time it was the mention of "Sleepway Camp". Decided to watch the 'trilogy'.


Oct. 20th -

60. "Sleepaway Camp" - "Slightly disturbed and painfully shy Angela Baker is sent away to summer camp with her cousin. Not long after Angela's arrival, things start to go horribly wrong for anyone with sinister or less than honorable intentions."

This is so bad it's good! There is so much wrong in this movie that I wouldn't know where to start. Great fun though, I'd like to meet the head of wardrobe and ask them "What were you thinking?"

3.5 for being so bad but yet so good.

61. "Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers" - "Angela Baker has undergone years of therapy, electro-shock and sexual reassignment surgeries, and finally landed herself a job in the last place she should be working - camp rolling hills. She has an old fashioned approach as to how camp should be, and an old familiar deadly way of making sure that those who don't follow her rules don't get to come back next summer."

This is really bad and not in a good way. Doesn't have the campiness of "Sleepaway Camp" but it does have a lot more T&A!!!

2

I'll never forget my first experience with Freaks. In my early high school years, my buddies and I had a little tradition where we would go to a local video store on weekends and try to pick out the worst movie that we could find based solely on the cover art and description. The goal was to find movies that were so bad, they were funny. One of our little adventures led us to Freaks and over time it became somewhat of a legend with us. We must have rented it a half dozen times over the course of that year. Even into our college years, it wouldn't be uncommon for someone to randomly bust out one of the many laughable lines from that movie.... Ahhh, the memories.

Its been 20+ years since I've seen it. Perhaps another watch (as a mature adult this time ) is warranted at some point.

The wifey finally left the house for a short time this afternoon and i got a chance to watch a second movie today. Watched REST STOP.

I like this movie. Pretty simple, a girl gets stranded at a rest stop and is terrorized by someone. But everything isnt always as real as it appears. Well done for what obviously is a low-budget movie. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

2011 October Ratings - 5 Star Scale
01- Return of the Swamp Thing - 2.5
02- Hostel - 5
03- Event Horizon - 3.5
04- Resident Evil: Apocalypse - 4.25
05- Sphere - 3.75
06- Wrong Turn 3 - 3
07- The Human Centipede - 3
08- Berlin Undead - 3
09- House of 1000 Corpses - 4.5
10- The Midnight Meat Train - 3.75
11- The Human Centipede II - 1.5
12- Aliens - 5
13- Grotesque - 4
14- The Cave - 1
15- The Thing (2011) - 4
16- Mutants - 4
17- Saw 7 (Saw 3D) - 5
18- [REC]2 - 3.5
19- Cloverfield - 4.25
20- Frontier(s) - 5
21- Rest Stop - 3

The climax is based on your interpretation of the ending; it being an apocalypse film and all. First time I saw it , I thought it was only "good." Keep it on your roster, because it's just one of those films that takes a couple viewings to really see the potential and greatness. Easily better than 80% of all horror films.

21. The Unborn (2003) (first-time viewing)
Uninvolving "long hair over the face" Asian horror mystery. I've seen too many good Asian horror movies to know this one isn't even close in quality to any of them. This movie suffers from a complete lack of sympathetic characters--not sure who we were supposed to root for when everyone was unlikeable. In addition to an extremely annoyingly-voiced "best friend" character, this movies subtitles are atrocious, full of errors, misspellings and outright omissions (at one point the error message #NAME? came up in the middle of the subtitles, so obviously no one gave a damn about quality control in that department). Stay away from this movie!

Bob's A-Z 2011 Horror Movie Marathon
1. Antichrist
2. Burning Bright
3. The Crimson Cult
4. Dead of Night
5. Evil Dead 2
6. Frontier(s)
7. The Ghoul
8. Hidden (2009)
9. I Can See You
10. The Janitor
11. Kill Theory
12. The Last Exorcism
13. Midnight Meat Train
14. Night of the Living Dead
15. The Old Dark House
16. Popcorn
17. Queen of Blood
18. Rabid
19. Stake Land
20. Tales that Witness Madness
21. The Unborn

Wow. I am totally emotionally drained. I just finished watching THE MIST. Even though i have seen it before, this is so powerful and the ending is so emotional, it totally drained me. While i could pick a few things i would like better in this movie, i can not rate this anything but a 5-star movie, this is something special.

2011 October Ratings - 5 Star Scale
01- Return of the Swamp Thing - 2.5
02- Hostel - 5
03- Event Horizon - 3.5
04- Resident Evil: Apocalypse - 4.25
05- Sphere - 3.75
06- Wrong Turn 3 - 3
07- The Human Centipede - 3
08- Berlin Undead - 3
09- House of 1000 Corpses - 4.5
10- The Midnight Meat Train - 3.75
11- The Human Centipede II - 1.5
12- Aliens - 5
13- Grotesque - 4
14- The Cave - 1
15- The Thing (2011) - 4
16- Mutants - 4
17- Saw 7 (Saw 3D) - 5
18- [REC]2 - 3.5
19- Cloverfield - 4.25
20- Frontier(s) - 5
21- Rest Stop - 3
22- The Mist - 5

I loved The Mist. The acting, the pacing, the music - fantastic! Life really IS that bleak and hopeless sometimes.


October 21st: A Larry Cohen triple-feature

* It's Alive (1974)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071675/

It was fun. The creature was done by Rick Baker. You don't see much of it, which is probably for the best considering the budget. The highlight for me was seeing actor John P. Ryan, the father, as a sympathetic character. He usually played the meanest baddies in his career. His performance lifts this up. The great theme music was done by legendary Bernard Herrmann. There is apparently a re-make, which I haven't seen.


* It Lives again! (1978)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077756/

Really lame sequel. It still has John P. Ryan, but the main lead is a listless Frederic Forrest. Ol' Fred is often very good, but not in this. He seemed bored and annoyed the whole time in this. I used the FF feature liberally.


* It's Alive 3: Island of the Alive (1987)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093286/

This one is a hoot. One thing you can say for Michael Moriarty is that he will throw himself int a role. I'm convinced that half of his lines were ad-libbed. On the way to the island, he breaks out into a song from Pirates of Penzance (or some other G&S show). His co-actors crack up and then join in. (No - it's not like the snoozefest boat trip to Skull Island in Peter Jackson's King Kong.)

It co-stars another dependable horror performer, Karen Black.

Director Cohen wraps thing up nicely. There are explanations and retributions. The ending is somewhat open, but mostly complete.



On another note, how do you guys hook up the title of the movies to the links? I only how how to do it separately.

24. Clive Barker's Nightbreed. Great film that had much more potential that what could be seen on the screen. I beg anyone who likes it to read Cabal, which flushes out things much better. Clive had to make some notorious cuts to make the producers happy, along with tacking on an odd ending that destroys elements of the book. I'm still trying to get ahold of Clive and ask him about Narcisse, and how he turned Nightbreed. The only option, is that he must have been bit before. 7/10.

Oct. 21st -

62. "Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland" - "Angela is back, in the form of an angry inner-city camper on the hunt for blood. Camp New Horizons, on the recycled grounds of the former murders, intends to pair high class teens with underclass counterparts. Angela, however, has a different plan."

More of the same as in "Sleepaway Camp II", not nearly as good (or should I say as bad) as "Sleepaway Camp".

2

63. "Family Plot" - Not sure if this is the correct name but it's the name AMC had listed as the movie that was playing. The only thing I can find on IMDB is the Hitchcock movie Family Plot and this is not that movie. This movie is about a family (mother, father and son) that inheritance a funeral home/crematory but they must live in it and keep the business open for six years before they can sell it. The father is a writer and talks the wife into agreeing to live in and run the business for the required six years. Of course not long after moving in strange things start to happen. A lot that happens is very similar to the "The Shining" (too bad the movie is nowhere near as good). The father sits in the basement insistantly typing away on his 'novel' while ghosts speak to him. The son is visited by ghosts and a red ball which rolls down the stairs or across the room, etc, etc.

Don't waste your time, very boring and not scary at all.

1.5

Last 3 movies from Thurs and Fri..........

18. Insidious (2010)- {3.5/5} Blu-ray My wife is a bigger fan of this movie than I am. She was thinking a 4 rating while I was leaning toward 3.25. Split the difference and rounded down to 3.5. The sound effects in this movie are outstanding and many of the scary images work extremely well. In fact, the first half of this movie is well done in all aspects. Its the second half that kind of ruins it for me. When Lin Shaye's character comes into play and she begins going into her long-winded, soap box commentary detailing the truth behind the mysterious events, my interest began to wane. The loud, unexpected sounds to elicit cheap scares also became slightly annoying as the movie progressed. Ending was fairly solid, but as a whole this movie could definitely have been better regardless of what my wife thinks.

19. Devil (2010)- {4/5} HBO This movie is surprisingly well-done considering how crappy recent Shyamalan projects have been. Keeping him out of the director's chair might have been the key here. The cinematography and haunting score were very well done and the build up of tension throughout the movie was very effective. Solid performances by the cast and a creepy story made this a very enjoyable movie to watch. The security guard's story about the devil was a little lame, but it did not affect my overall enjoyment. Well done.

20. Halloween (1978)- {4/5} DVD Its been a long time coming. Can't even remember the last time I watched this all the way through. This movie is filled with good scares, great visuals of Myers blurred out in the distance and a legendary score that has admirably stood the test of time. Each of which effectively create a dark atmosphere throughout the movie. Hopefully I don't get voted out of the community for this but I don't consider this to be at the top of the horror genre despite the great job that Carpenter did with this. There are alot of aspects that could have been improved upon. I plan to watch Zombie's version soon to do a little comparison. One thing I recall enjoying about the Zombie version was the added detail behind Michael's descent into evil.

Been a little behind on posting. I've had 2 sick kids, one with a cold and the other with a cold and an ear infection. Also celebrated 10 years since I met Mrs. Kenobi on a blind date so we were away for the night down in Carmel with a nice ocean view room. A romantic get-away but of course we still watched our horror film for the night

It's go time for the desk decor so I will be slowly putting it together this week. Also looking forward to the final week of horror films for this October as I've saved some of my favorites for last... go out on a high note! btw - The Thing (1982) makes 32 films for me so far this month!

October 21st:
The Serpent and the Rainbow: 4 stars - I remember seeing this for the first time when it was originally in theaters when I was a young teen and it scared the hell out of me. Really a well done film that is almost ruined by a terrible "boss fight" cheese-ball ending. It did enough right in the rest of the film to be rounded up to a 4 star. The dream sequence in the beach house is still a fantastically creepy scene too!

October 22nd:
Creepshow: 4 stars - Campy, classic, and original, love this one! The meteor story with King is the only one I don't really care for. Crate monster FTW!

The Thing (1982): 5 stars - One of the best horror films ever made IMO. A great example of Carpenter at his best and an art of creature creation that I would love to see recovered and reinvented in the current CGI Hollywood world.

[/end 80's HORROR WEEK]

Just watched THE DEVILS REJECTS. What a fantastic movie. In the past i always thought that House of a Thousand Corpses was better, but this year i have changed my opinion and i actually like Devils Rejects better. They are both spectacular, and my rating of 4.5 on HOATC might be low, this is a 5 Star combo that can match up against any other horror combo ever IMHO.

This gets 5 stars from me.

2011 October Ratings - 5 Star Scale
01- Return of the Swamp Thing - 2.5
02- Hostel - 5
03- Event Horizon - 3.5
04- Resident Evil: Apocalypse - 4.25
05- Sphere - 3.75
06- Wrong Turn 3 - 3
07- The Human Centipede - 3
08- Berlin Undead - 3
09- House of 1000 Corpses - 4.5
10- The Midnight Meat Train - 3.75
11- The Human Centipede II - 1.5
12- Aliens - 5
13- Grotesque - 4
14- The Cave - 1
15- The Thing (2011) - 4
16- Mutants - 4
17- Saw 7 (Saw 3D) - 5
18- [REC]2 - 3.5
19- Cloverfield - 4.25
20- Frontier(s) - 5
21- Rest Stop - 3
22- The Mist - 5
23- The Devils Rejects - 5

October 22: A "Movies the DH (Dear Husband) Doesn't Like" Night

The hubby was out so I got to watch a couple of movies he doesn't like.

* The Descent - I consider this a somewhat above-average horror film. It is quite atmospheric and has a few good scenes. The biggest drawback for me was that all the women looked alike. Only one was annoying enough that you wanted her to get killed right away. The rest were meh.

* Event Horizon - I really like this one. It has tons of atmosphere. I love the gothic design of the ship, especially that ringed machine. Yeah, it's like a blend of Hellraiser, Alien and a bit of Solaris. But it is fun and the characters are interesting. Lots o' gore, too.

We were all set to go to Asbury Park yesterday but at the last minute I decided to have food poisoning and wasn't up for the 3 hour drive. Next year for sure though,

And nice pics. You guys do your own makeup?

I probably should have just gone anyways. The actual vomit would have added that extra realism my costume needed. My kid was really disappointed we couldn't go and I feel bad for him.

Wiz, that event looks super!!! I wish we had something like that here. Enjoy!!!!

Think I will give the classic film 'they live' a showing. Good and cheesy. The way I like horror to be.

Wizzack, I'm jealous. We don't have anything cool like that here on Altair 4. We don't get trick-or-treaters, let alone Zombieeeeees.

wizzack - that effn rawks man! I'd really love to do that some day. I know there is a zombie train that goes from Sac to Folsom every year and the undead then visit some local bars. Would love to do it one of these days.

October 23rd:
Dawn of the Dead (2004): 4 stars - Funny thing is when this came out I probably would have only given it 2.5 or 3 stars but as many horror films do with me it has aged well. I do prefer slow moving zombies but Ving Rhames + Sarah Polley + great gore + a dash of J. Cash = way too much fun! I guess when the zombie apocalypse comes a mall isn't a bad place to hold up but I think I'd aim for Cabela's had I the choice

Finally finished up the new BD of Mimic (aka GDT's hommage to Cameron's Aliens).

Some good scares, but was a little plodding at times.

Considering it is something of a modestly budgeted movie, the quality of the BD was very good....most definitely worth the price.
No complaints regarding PQ/SQ from me.

I'm hangin' in. Managed to watch the original "The Hills Have Eyes" BD and "Survival of the Dead" BD. I'm behind, but every movie I've watched this month has been a horror movie.

larry

22. The Valley of Gwangi (1969) (first-time viewing)
Cowboys and dinosaurs! This is a very entertaining monster film featuring some of Ray Harryhausen's best stop-animation work. A scientist and a circus vie to capture a creature from an isolated Mexican valley where dinosaurs never went extinct. Makers of lazy CGI films should be required to watch the amazing special effects in this movie, which were surely the best anyone had seen to date in 1969. Things take a little while to start moving, but much like "Might Joe Young", once they do, they never take the gas off the pedal until the end credits.

23. The Wolfman (2010) (first-time viewing)
There's something missing from this remake of the original classic movie from Universal, but it's hard to say what. The movie looks and sounds fantastic, they have done an excellent job of portraying both the look and feel of 19th century England. The special effects are very good, and the violence level is high. Despite having a great cast, I think this movie is miscast. Benicio del Toro, despite his naturally lupine appearance, seems too effeminate and sulky to carry the lead, and while Anthony Hopkins has done many great characters over the years, this is not one of them. This felt like a high-budget B-picture.

Bob's A-Z 2011 Horror Movie Marathon
1. Antichrist
2. Burning Bright
3. The Crimson Cult
4. Dead of Night
5. Evil Dead 2
6. Frontier(s)
7. The Ghoul
8. Hidden (2009)
9. I Can See You
10. The Janitor
11. Kill Theory
12. The Last Exorcism
13. Midnight Meat Train
14. Night of the Living Dead
15. The Old Dark House
16. Popcorn
17. Queen of Blood
18. Rabid
19. Stake Land
20. Tales that Witness Madness
21. The Unborn
22. The Valley of Gwangi
23. The Wolfman (2010)

A real powerful movie today, i just finished MARTYRS. Brutal, rough movie, with an ending thats up to interpretation. This has quite a concept, and this is not your average horror film. Not for the squeamish!!!

I really like this movie, i will give it a 4.5 out of 5 star rating.

2011 October Ratings - 5 Star Scale
01- Return of the Swamp Thing - 2.5
02- Hostel - 5
03- Event Horizon - 3.5
04- Resident Evil: Apocalypse - 4.25
05- Sphere - 3.75
06- Wrong Turn 3 - 3
07- The Human Centipede - 3
08- Berlin Undead - 3
09- House of 1000 Corpses - 4.5
10- The Midnight Meat Train - 3.75
11- The Human Centipede II - 1.5
12- Aliens - 5
13- Grotesque - 4
14- The Cave - 1
15- The Thing (2011) - 4
16- Mutants - 4
17- Saw 7 (Saw 3D) - 5
18- [REC]2 - 3.5
19- Cloverfield - 4.25
20- Frontier(s) - 5
21- Rest Stop - 3
22- The Mist - 5
23- The Devils Rejects - 5
24- Martyrs - 4.5

I saw the new theatrical "The Thing" but I'm not going to post a review of it yet since it will throw off my alphabetical order of my main list! I know, I am weird that way. But I will say I really liked it, it beat my expectations!