5th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge (1 Viewer)

[Angel Pagan]

In!

Will try to better last years total of 17 and join the exclusive 31+ club.

1. Evilspeak :star::star::star:
2. Fright Night :star::star::star:

Movies in bold are new discoveries.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Count me In! I'm sorry I wasn't around last year for this. I'm a horror movie fan first and foremost, and I'm looking forward to getting started!

 

[Justin_S]

Definitely in. I too have more time than I did last year, as I work less hours, and am also not as tired. I stay up quite late these days. I'll watch my first entry after midnight, possibly one of the Hellraiser films since my Lament Configuration set arrived today.

 

[Nick Sievers]

I just revisited the first Hellraiser film last week, man I love that film. I've never seen any of the sequels how do they hold up compared to the original? Since their is a Pinhead in space installment I assume it goes down the toilet.

 

[Justin_S]

The Hellraiser films are actually my favorite of the horror franchises. The second one, Hellbound, is even better than the first if you ask me, and adds even more great ideas to the mythology. The fourth one is the one set in space, and its easily the weakest of the series. It still has some good ideas though. Its just too much of a clusterfuck.

 

[Bob Turnbull]

This sounds like a whole mess of fun. My first HTF Challenge...

If I had thought about this challenge a few months ago, I would have saved up some of the films I've watched since then:

Ju-On: The Grudge
The Eye - Not great, but creepy enough. Brook, any more specifics about why you gave it the thumbs down?
Audition - "Kiri, kiri, kiri..."
The Haunting - The Robert Wise one.
Candyman
May
Below
Ringu
Cure (Kyua)


I'd like to try to see if I can make all my selections first time viewings. Some initial thoughts I have on what I'm going to try to squeeze in for the challenge:

Cabin Fever
Don't Look Now
Evil Dead
Evil Dead II
The Freighteners
Frenzy
Fright Night
Ju-On: The Curse
My Little Eye
Night Of The Living Dead
Versus
The Wicker Man

Don't think I'll be able to start until Tuesday though because of some plans this weekend and a current stack of rentals (one of them is Hitchcock's Strangers On A Train. Could that count? ).

 

[Scott Weinberg]

I'm about to dig in to my first horror movie of October: Orca! I love this movie!

Oh, and I also started up an old-school-style horror movie tournament in the Polls forum. Check it out here.

Happy October!

 

[Matt Stone]

I just finished my first film of the challenge...28 Days Later. What a terrific film. I know some have complained that it stole too much from Day of the Dead, but I think it was much more successful at conveying what Day hinted at. One of the real strong aspects of 28 Days Later is it's score. It's especially strong during the end sequence when Jim leads the attack on the compound. It slowly gains power and climaxes when Jim is taking out the last soldier.

A great way to open up the month.


2004 Scary Movie List
1. 28 Days Later (4.5/5)

 

[Jim_K]

I thought 28 Days Later was more of a knockoff of Day of the Triffids & Matheson's I Am Legend. Even so I agree it's a very good Horror film.

My first is a revisit out of my collection.

Deliverance :star: :star: :star: :star:
There's nothing scarrier than being hunted through the wilderness by a bunch a randy hillbillies. An American Horror Masterpiece.

 

[Jordan_E]

Dang! I started a day early, watching the SE of Christine last night! As far as trying new movies, I think I'll get around to the various sequels to Hellraiser, as I haven't watched any of them.

 

[Matt Stone]

My copy of Christine SE should arrive shortly from DDD. I'm dying to hear the Carpenter commentary.

I'll try and get a couple movies in tonight before I head up to South Bend tomorrow.

 

[Martin_T]

Count me in for this! I will be looking forward to joining the 31+ Club this year.

I watched Species 3 this morning before bed, so that will be the start of my list.

(movies in red have been viewed for the first time)

01. Species 3

 

[Matt Stone]

Just watched Maniac for the first time. Wow. It felt like Taxi Driver crossed with May, with a good bit of Ed Gein stuff thrown in. I think the structure is pretty similar to May, but everything is much more over the top. Fantastic gore from Tom Savini, and a hell of a performance Joe Spinell. I'll look at him differently in Rocky from now on.


2004 Scary Movie List
1. 28 Days Later (4.5/5)
2. Maniac (4.5/5)

 

[Michael Elliott]

MANIAC is the greatest horror movie of the decade IMO. At first I thought the film was nothing more than a very gory slasher but on repeat viewings I've come to respect the film as a serious movie dealing with the effects of child abuse. Spinell was wonderful in the movie and gave it a lot of credit. The FX by Savini are among the best of his career especially the one with his own cameo. A very disturbing film that rises above the others in the decade.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

[c]Scott's 2004 Horror Challenge Movie List[/c]

1. Orca (1977)[/list=1]

 

[Jeff Adams]

I have never done this before but count me in too! I LOVE Halloween time and love horror movies. I will go for 31 this month.
In fact I am trying to find Maniac right now. I have Best Buy on the phone looking it up, Circuit City did not have it. Oh! Nothing at BB or Circuit City. Oh well. Maybe I'll start with one of the movies I have not opened. I have been wanting to watch The Others.

 

[Matt Stone]

If you're willing to buy it online, Maniac is only $12 at Deep Discount DVD.

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=ABD011653

 

[Michael Elliott]

10/01/04

This day really sucked since I went to working expecting an 8 hour day only to have to end up staying 12 hours. Last night I got a cold, which is really killing my head so this was a bad way to start off this little game but I managed to get three Dracula films in.


Dracula’s Daughter (1936) :star::star::star:

Sequel to Lugosi’s 1931 film has Gloria Holden playing his daughter out seeking a cure for her curse. While I enjoy this film a lot more than the Browning movie, I’m still not too crazy about this. The film is rather dry and doesn’t contain too much excitement but the atmosphere keeps the thing alive. Edward Van Sloan returns but sadly doesn’t get too much screen time.

Son of Dracula (1942) :star::star::star:

Lon Chaney, Jr. plays Count Alucard (Dracula spelt backwards) in this third film from Universal’s Dracula series. Chaney is horribly miscast in the role but he still manages to be quite good especially during the very exciting ending. The atmosphere, like the previous film, is the main ingredient even with all the slow stretches.

Nosferatu (1922) :star::star::star::star:

Max Schreck is absolutely wonderful as Count Dracula in this silent masterpiece from director F.W. Murnau. This was my first time viewing the film properly windowboxed as well as using the original title cards, including calling the characters by the names in Stoker’s novel. Seeing the words Count Dracula used added more charm to the film. The film itself is an all-time classic for atmosphere, which it is full of as well as sheer creepiness including the unforgettable scene of Dracula rising out of his coffin (completely viewable in this version).



Now, it's time for bed due to sickness or I'd try to get another one on.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Gloria Swanson? (Just playing with ya).

10/01/04
Well, I started today with a silent horror film I'd never seen before:

1.) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) :star: :star:

I admit I'm not that big on silent films (though I loved the 1925 PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and 1931's CITY LIGHTS - and I still believe no "talking" PHANTOM flick has ever beaten Chaney's version), but I didn't think much of the John Barrymore version here. Barrymore is perfect as Jekyll, but I thought he was (unintentionally) funny in his first crucial transformation into Hyde. The facial contortions were an accidental laugh riot. The film felt long and slow, and had only fleeting moments of interest (the famed "spider" scene, and a good ending). I thought the girl chosen for the dancer was quite homely for such a part, and the key character of Millicent, Jekyll's fiance, had little to do but mope. This can't hold a candle to the great Fredric March classic (****) or even the Spencer Tracy version (***).

 

[Angel Pagan]

1. Evilspeak :star::star::star: (watched 10/1)
2. Fright Night :star::star::star: (watched 10/1)

Movies in bold are new discoveries.