*** Official 11th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge 2010 *** (1 Viewer)

[Bob McLaughlin]

I was hoping for Dark Night of the Scarecrow for my first movie, but it looks like Netflix is not going to cooperate, a lot of people must have the same idea.

So if that doesn't happen I will watch either "Severance" or "Happy Birthday to Me".

 

[Radioman970]

Your wife must love you at Halloween. Hehe I've kept myself away from most of the trailers and whatnot so not too much is given away. In fact, your "standing by the bed" thing is the biggest spoiler I've had. So I'm hoping to get my butt scared off!

I'd love to rely on Netflix to get me some movies when I want them but I know that's impossible. I ordered Dark Night of the Scarecrow. That's another I'm looking forward to. I bought Severance used last year. I liked The Cottage better, another comedy with jarring horror elements. Both are great fun.


My most looking forward to is Poltergeist on Blu ray. I ordered it weeks ago and still waiting. DD will replace it if it doesn't come in a few days. But it figures that's the one that gets lost. I got a couple of floaters from them too but they only had small scratches so I'm letting it go if they don't skip.

 

[Brook K]

11th Annual HTF Scary Movie Challenge List


1. [Rec] (2007, Jaume Balaguero & Paco Plaza) (DVD Rent) - B+

2. Martyrs (2008, Pascal Laugier) (DVD Rent) - B+

 

[Jason Roer]

Ah yes - Severance. Love it. Actually saw it at Fantastic Fest the same year as Hatchet. James (writer) was there for Severance; Adam (writer/director) for Hatchet. We were all there peddling our wares, I guess you could say. Great group that year. And of course, Harry Knowles was kicking around - we all had so much fun. Closing night party was awesome. Aronofsky came - he screened The Fountain on closing night before the party. Then most of us were off to other festivals. What a whirlwind that month was. But great fun.


Is it Friday yet?


Cheers,


Jason

 

[Ockeghem]

Count me in.

 

[Pete Battista]

Title: Trick 'r Treat
Year: 2008
Director: Michael Dougherty
Rating: R
Length: 82 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish


Stars:
Dylan Baker
Rochelle Aytes
Quinn Lord
Lauren Lee Smith
Moneca Delain
Tahmoh Penikett

Plot:
A creepy, darkly comic celebration of the scariest night of the year from producer BRYAN SINGER (director of X-Men and Superman Returns) and writer-director MICHAEL DOUGHERTY (co-scripter of X2 and Superman Returns ). Trick 'R Treat takes the Creepshow/Tales from the Crypt approach to nefarious new depths with four interwoven tales set on Halloween night: a high school principal (DYLAN BAKER) moonlights as a vicious serial killer; the quest of a young virgin (ANNA PAQUIN) for that special someone takes a gruesome turn; a group of teens carries out a cruel prank with disastrous consequences; and a cantankerous old man (BRIAN COX) battles a mischievous trick-or-treating demon.

Extras:
Scene Access
Bonus Trailers
Animated Short: Season's Greetings with Optional Commentary

My Thoughts:
This is one of the ones I was really looking forward to seeing... as I always loved anthology horrors. While it is technically an anthology horror... it isn't the way I know anthologies at least. Instead of having 3 or 4 separate short stories along with a wraparound storyline... this one is done more like a regular movie with all the stories intertwined with each other. While not bad... I prefer the traditional format of an anthology. Now with that said... I did enjoy all the stories in it... even though I did have some of the stories figured out ahead of time. I liked the one with the girls finding dates. That storyline has Anna Paquin in it... who I find adorable. I have enjoyed her since I first saw her as Sookie in True Blood. I normally don't go for blondes... but in the case of Anna Paquin I think she looks better as a blonde. Over all I enjoyed it quite a bit. Think it was a good start to my marathon.


My Rating: 4/5


Count:
Movie Count: 1
TV Ep. Count: 0
Other Count: 0
Time Started: 12am

 

[Pete Battista]

Title: The Wolfman: Unrated Director's Cut
Year: 2010
Director: Joe Johnston
Rating: Unrated
Length: 119 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Audio Descriptive: Dolby Digital: 5.1
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish


Stars:
Simon Merrells
Cemma Whelan
Emily Blunt
Benicio Del Toro
Mario Marin-Borquez
Asa Butterfield

Plot:
Academy Award® winners Anthony Hopkins* (The Silence of the Lambs) and Benicio Del Toro** (Traffic) tear up the screen in this action-packed thriller. Lawrence Talbot (Del Toro) is lured back to his family estate to investigate the savage murder of his brother by a bloodthirsty beast. There, Talbot must confront his childhood demons, his estranged father (Hopkins), his brother's grieving fiancée (Emily Blunt, The Devil Wears Prada) and a suspicious Scotland Yard Inspector (Hugo Weaving, The Matrix Trilogy). When Talbot is bitten by the creature, he becomes eternally cursed and soon discovers a fate far worse than death.

Inspired by the classic Universal film that launched a legacy of horror, The Wolfman brings the myth of a cursed man back to its iconic origins.

*1991 Best Actor, The Silence of the Lambs
**2000 Best Supporting Actor, Traffic

Extras:
Scene Access
Bonus Trailers
Deleted Scenes

My Thoughts:
The 1941 Wolf Man has always been one of my classic horror movies. So when I first found out they were remaking it I felt a mixture of excitement and apprehension. I always though the trick to a good remake was to change enough to give us a new take on the story... but at the same time make it similar enough to do the original version justice. Which can be very hard to get the right balance. In the case of The Wolf Man I think they did a pretty good job at achieving this balance. Even though there was some things changed in the story that I didn't care for... but there were some things that I also did care for as well. One thing I am thrilled about is they kept the classic look of the Wolf Man. Over-all I enjoyed it quite a bit and glad I finally have it in my collection.

My Rating: 4/5


Count:
Movie Count: 2
TV Ep. Count: 0
Other Count: 0
Time Started: 3am

 

[Radioman970]

Trick r Trick is kind of a Pulp Fiction of horror. I love the story about the school bus. That one gets real spooky with loads of atmosphere.

I'm jealous Pete that you could start at 12am. That's awesome. You're like a jackrabbit on the rest of us turtles here.

*rents a Porshe with turtle-shaped bucket seats*

 

[John Stell]

[COLOR= #303030]The candy bowls have been filled, the mini-fridge stocked with Coca-Cola, and the man-cave appropriately adorned. The wait is over!![/COLOR]


[COLOR= #303030]01) 10/01/2010 BluR The Crazies (2010)

1/2[/COLOR]


[COLOR= #303030]Some of the citizens of a small Iowa town are acting out their worst homicidal impulses. Does it have anything to do with the military plane that crashed into the lake recently? As it's been so long since I've seen George A. Romero's original, I cannot really compare the two. But this is a pretty solid thriller with likable characters and intelligent scripting. The only thing working against it is that the filmmakers don't really come up with anything new to offer in the "human zombie" subgenre.[/COLOR]


[COLOR= #303030]02) 10/01/2010 DVD Black Sheep (2006)

1/2[/COLOR]


[COLOR= #303030]This outlandish New Zealand horror comedy recalls the early work of Peter Jackson. In fact WETA did the effects. The owner of a sheep farm has been conducting experiments to create the perfect breed. But one of the failed experiments gets loose and infects his fellow sheep, turning them into carnivorous beasts! Worse, if a human survives an attack he or she turns into a sheep! Not as funny as it could have been and the characters are more like caricatures. But there's still fun to be had here thanks to quick pacing, some well-timed scares, and gory effects. And dear Lord is there a truly shocking comeuppance for the villain at the end. Guys will know EXACTLY what scene I'm referring to.[/COLOR]


[COLOR= #303030]Not a bad start at all, I think.[/COLOR]

 

[Mario Gauci]

Regrettably, I'm going to have to do a "George C. Scott" and decline to particpate in this year's 'Scary Movie Challenge'. Consequently, my original Post #9 has been replaced accordingly.


It has nothing to do with my winning last year and, therefore, I've nothing more to gain. Or that this year's rules have been changed to partially discount short movies and, therefore, I can't hope to best my own 2009 record. Actually, I had already listed most of the unwatched horror movies in my collection, gathered them in one place for easy reference and was going through them to select this year's potential candidates. Needless to say I had hundreds of titles to choose from and that - knowing that I would have to discard far more stuff than actually watch it! - in itself was already a huge frustration!


Even so, the determining factors that have made me decide to go (mostly) horror-free this Halloween are the following:


a) my father has just been hospitalized for the 3rd time this year

b) the deaths of Arthur Penn and Tony Curtis (I have lots of 1st viewing material of the latter, especially, to go through)

c) I've been requested to give a series of talks on Luis Bunuel throughout November at the Hispano-Maltese Cultural Centre; to prepare myself for it, I plan to watch all 32 movies he directed, 3 on which he served as assistant director, a few which I know he was a great admirer of and those made by his son Juan Luis and daughter-in-law Joyce; furthermore, I need to read 2 books on him (including his celebrated autobiography) that I purchased several years ago while vacationing in London

d) I've managed to make contact with 2 emerging Italian film-makers (incidentally, aged 34 like myself) and a local film-maker and have been requested to show them the stuff that I've written (scripts, treatments, plots) with a view to collaborating together on turning them, hopefully, into short movies or features; with this in mind, I hope to get several worthwhile shorts under my belt in the coming weeks as well


Quite a tall order, wouldn't you say?


I'm still disappointed that I won't be participating in this year's Challenge; the Fantasy genre is my favorite of all and always will be. I also hate to let down fellow HTFers with whom I've interacted with (in these threads or elsewhere) in the past and have come to consider as friends, namely (in alphabetical order) Michael Elliott, Joe Karlosi, Brook K, Martin Teller and Pete York. Nevertheless, I'll be avidly following this year's Halloween thread and, schedule permitting, I'll be pitching in with pertinent comments on the movies reviewed over here.


So, let the Horror Picture Show start...and may the Best Ghoul win!

 

[Pete Battista]

Originally Posted by Radioman970 /forum/thread/304373/official-11th-annual-htf-october-scary-movie-challenge-2010#post_3734755

 

[Radioman970]

The tally above is incorrect Mario. I watched 12 more than you did, total 122. So you'd better stay in.


Seriously, sorry to hear about your dad. Both my folks are getting very old and I hardly get to see them. And good luck with all those things you got going.

 

[Radioman970]

Originally Posted by Pete Battista

I did that with Walmart yesterday. They actually have 2 more I wanna go back and get. But mid month I'll do a food run and grab them then.

I haven't even watched my first yet. Stupid work! I could watch half a flick in the morning and the other half at lunch... but I plan not to do any cutting up... so to speak. heheh!

 

[Bob McLaughlin]

It's going to be nearly another 9 hours or so before I even get started...job and family getting in the way again!

 

[Mario Gauci]

Originally Posted by Radioman970 !

 

[Pete Battista]

Title: Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak on a Plane: Unrated
Year: 2007
Director: Scott Thomas
Rating: Unrated
Length: 94 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: DTS ES: 6.1 (Discrete), English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English, Spanish


Stars:
David Chisum
Kristen Kerr
Kevin J. O'Connor
Richard Tyson
Erick Avari
Derek Webster

Plot:
Unholy terror is unleashed in the skies when a deadly, genetically engineered virus is released onboard a transatlantic flight to Paris in this heart-stopping thrill-ride of terror!

When a scientist on the run from the CIA manages to smuggle a contaminated body onto a commercial overseas flight, the plane becomes an incubator for a quickly growing army of the undead. With a zombie invasion spreading through the cabin, only a handful of passengers remains to fight off their fellow travelers and land the plane before it's too late.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Bonus Trailers
Outtakes/Bloopers
DVD-ROM Content
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
Even when I decided to get this one... I knew it would be one that I couldn't expect much from. So I went into this with very low expectations. And I think it was a pretty good idea I went into it with such low expectations. This is not what I would call a good movie. I was able to enjoy some scenes... but over-all I found it to be a bit lackluster. It really took quite a bit of time to get going. And most of the characters I just couldn't get myself to care about. Also... while I can't put my finger on it... the zombies felt a little off to me. But once this movie got going it had some decent zombie action/gore. But over all it is just an average zombie flick. I can see myself watching it again... but not as often as some in my collection.

My Rating: 2.5/5


Count:
Movie Count: 3
TV Ep. Count: 0
Other Count: 0
Time Started: 12pm

 

[Ockeghem]

Well, I watched one film last night, and will watch what amounts to three television shows and another film tonight that are horror-related. Unfortunately, I still haven't been able to get my hands on that "Horror 250 Movie Pack." Even the web sites and various outlets that say they have it in stock actually do not carry it any longer. I knew I should have purchased this collection last year!

 

[TravisR]

1. Devil


I know this movie hasn't been getting alot love but up until the ending, I thought it was a fairly solid thriller. I won't get into spoilers but the ending came off as anti-climacitc to me. On the plus side, the movie moves along at a good clip so things never get boring (which is pobably a real danger when you have a movie where the bulk of the action is in an elevator). Overall, it's worth watching on cable or as a rental but I couldn't help but feel like I wanted more from the end.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

1.) Devil (2010) **1/2


Travis, it looks like you and I had the same plan today about starting this year's challenge off with DEVIL!

In this M. Night Shyamalan story, five people are left stranded in an elevator between floors of a tall skyscraper. Each one of them has something not quite kosher about them, and strange things begin to happen to them. A detective who's dealing with his own personal demons surveys their problem through the surveilance camera and tries to work out exactly what is occuring between them. I thought DEVIL was a minor film, not overly good but not bad - certainly Above Average. It does play very much like a television episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE, and these days with overblown horror films being what they are, I don't think that's a bad thing at all. I liked the religious significance in it, and it does not overstay its welcome. I thought the actor who played the detective (his name escapes me at the moment) was very strong. The show moved along nicely and kept me guessing who the killer/devil might be right up til the end, and the reveal was interesting.

 

[Pete Battista]

Title: Darkness: Unrated Version
Year: 2002
Director: Jaume Balagueró
Rating: Unrated
Length: 102 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish


Stars:
Anna Paquin
Lena Olin
Iain Glen
Giancarlo Giannini
Fele Martínez
Stephan Enquist

Plot:
This extended unrated version of the hit thriller Darkness teams award winner Anna Paquin (X-Men ) with Lena Olin (Hollywood Homicide, Chocolat) and Iain Glen (Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider) as a family whose life forever changes when they move into a new home with an ancient secret! Not long after Regina (Paquin) begins living in her family's remote country estate, she learns that there's something horribly disturbing about the old place. Even as her parents dismiss her concerns, strange things begin to happen whenever the lights go out. Soon Regina realizes that a series of escalating supernatural events will unleash the full evil that resides in their house...and once it's released you'll experience it like never before in this scarier, more shocking unrated version!

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Bonus Trailers
Featurettes
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
While looking through my unwatched DVDs... I spotted this movie. Another one I never seen with the adorable Anna Paquin (Sookie on True Blood). This one also has another familiar face with Lena Olin who was in a good handful of episodes of Alias. This one tries hard to make a good atmospheric movie... unfortunately it fell short for me. While not a terrible movie as it does have it's moments... I found myself watching the clock almost as much as I was watching the movie.

My Rating: 2.5/5


Count:
Movie Count: 4
TV Ep. Count: 0
Other Count: 0
Time Started: 4pm