***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

i'd be up to try another genre challenge. not sure how many I have, and some giant monster stuff might get played in the Sci-fi, but still.

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

oh, I guess I agree with Michael too, about the shorts and such. my first year in the challenge I didn't include Twilight Zone. I included the Masters Of Horror and Nightmare And Dreamscapes this year, mainly due because they are single story anthologies about 60 minutes long. I wouldn't include shows like buffy and that, unless i fit in a whole season and counted it as one. And despite us all agreeing to count drive in fair like the cormans and that, I just couldn't watch "Big Bad Momma" and include it. So I watched other stuff instead.

the only title on my list I would scratch was the one I had for those 2 shorts that pissed me off XD

And all that said, the rules are fine I think. As stated many times and every year, there's no prize, especially since the "winner" gets to baby sit all of us next year. I'm pretty happy coming in 3rd or so, however the standings play out. And really, should any of us be all that proud to say we can watch 100 plus movies in a month? I base this on telling people how I was doing in the challenge.

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

James, did you ever post your totals? I don't think I have them and can't seem to find a list of your films.

BIG BAD MAMA is a fun film but the real campy fun comes with BIG BAD MAMA 2, which was one of my favorites growing up.

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

I have roughly 78 Horror titles on my "To Watch" list for the months of November and December...can I count these with my October Halloween tally, too?

72 + 78 = 150

which would enable me to nab the top spot...er...earn the right to brag...yadda, yadda, yadda!

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

Since I haven't seen Nightmares And Dreamscapes, I can only speak to Masters Of Horror which I consider 'movies'. I think what makes them count as movies is that there is a movie director shooting his own distinct episodes. While many movie directors cross over into TV, they're shooting episodes in a series while MOH allows them to make the script they want and not have to adhere to a series' established style or storyline or characters.

I'm happy that I live in a world where there's words like sexploitation, Naziploitation, nunsploitation and drugploitation.

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

We could always have a ---ploitation month, although I'm not sure watching REEFER MADNESS type films all month would be healthy.

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

Now that would feel like being trapped on the Satellite of Love.

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

Here's my tally:


First Time Viewings
Dead Men Walk
Cult of the Cobra
Tales from the Crypt (1972?)
The Host
Dr. Cyclops
Vault of Horror
The Land Unknown
Feast
13 Ghosts
Jenifer
The Leech Woman
The Raven (Karloff Lugosi)
It Came from Beneath the Sea
The Fog (2005)
The Mummy (1955)
Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film
Invisible Ray
Black Friday
The Creature Walks Among Us
(total: 19)

Repeat Viewings
Frankenstein
The Mummy
Murders in the Rue Morgue
Deadly Mantis
Mummy's Hand
The Black Cat
Mummy's Tomb
Creature from the Black Lagoon
Revenge of the Creature
Mummy's Ghost
Mummy's Curse
(total: 11)

Total Movies: 30

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

There seems to be a little interest, so maybe at least Sci-Fi and Gangster challenges are in order. I figured I could start them, beginning with Gangster in January. Sci-Fi is a little too close to the challenge that already happened. No doubt, plenty of movies fit in both. I figured it also makes sense to wait a while, and until after the holidays.

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

I posted waaaaay back in the thread to see if anyone was interested in any other "challenges"--no one was then--good to see that some are interested now.

As for the mild grousing about the rules, when I'm watching a movie, I'm watching a movie. I don't answer the phone, I'm not sending messages or on the internet. Anything less is tantamount to not really watching the film to me personally. If someone comes over to my house claiming they want to watch a movie and proceeds to answer their text messages every five seconds or makes a bunch of phone calls, the movie's getting turned off. I will never understand the desire to constantly be involved in inane communication all day long, but again, that's just me. Of course I take breaks, fall asleep, etc...I don't "count" anything until I finish watching it. Of course I'll put stuff on in the background while I'm housecleaning, on the computer, on the phone, etc, but mostly commentaries and stuff I've seen a lot. I would never watch a movie for the first time with a lot of distractions.

But the competition aspect of these threads is way down the list of what makes it fun to me. I just like seeing the sheer variety of what people watch and their reactions to it. That's all that really matters. Great to see so many participating this year.

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

It was interesting reading the various comments during this horror challenge. Though I had no interest myself in participating, horror being my least favourite genre, I'd certainly be interested in Sci-fi and to a lesser extent gangsters. So bring on the new challenges. Jan or Feb sounds just about right.

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

Alright, as long as nobody else really wants to do it, I'll start a Gangster challenge in January, and post a warning sometime in early December. Then a Sci-Fi one could go in March or April. I really think a Historical/Costume Drama one would be good, because I don't think many people here see many of those and the whole idea of these challenges is to see new stuff.

This is what I was thinking, at least with the Gangster one, the movies would be fairly wide ranging, including the whole Cops, Robbers, Noir, Gangster and Espionage range. I was thinking of having one main limitation, which is nobody can count the same movie twice in a one year period, or two consecutive challenges of the same subject. For example, if you count Blade Runner for the Gangster challenge as a Noir, you can't count it again for Sci-Fi or next year's Gangster challenge (if there is one), even if you watch it again. We will be on the honor system.

What do you think?

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

I was thinking of a way to do these "challenges" within the Track thread for personal habits. A couple years ago I used March as a foreign month and I might try this again. Perhaps a silent month, a current films month and a few others because I've got so many unwatched movies sitting around (not to mention my TCM films).

Perhaps the Sci-Fi and Horror challenges could be six months apart from one another.

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

OK, here are all the results that I have so if anyone is left out then let me know. The first number is the total films with new viewings in the ().


Travis R 123 (29)
Russell G 119 (99)
Michael Elliott 103 (65)
James Perry 82 (?)
Martin T 82 (31)
John Stell 80 (9)
Mario Gauci 72 (69)
Jason Roer 58 (48)
Rick Spruill 46 (26)
Steve Gon 45 (34)
Michael GH 45 (34)
Joe Karlosi 42 (5)
Christopher B 40 (28)
Bob Turnbull 34 (31)
John Rice 33 (19)
Brian Kissinger 31 (29)
Jeff Reis 31 (27)
Marc Fedderman 31 (25)
Chucky P 31 (7)
Brook K 30 (24)
Sandro 30 (22)
Eric Schulz 30 (19)
Malcolm R 25 (13)
Jacob McCraw 20 (13)
Tim Tucker 17 (12)
Peter Fitzgerald 14 (8)

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

Wow! I'd have to double check but it looks like a way bigger turn out then we last years. tons of stuff watched. I still can't believe I broke a hundred movies.

And speaking of horror... I was at a friends place tonight and we watched an MTV series called ROOM 409. Basically it's PUNK'D, but with a horror angle (arms cut off, ghost stuff..) Not really my thing, but some of you horror heads might get a kick out of it.

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

Hey, I did win in a way...with the largest percentage of first vieiwngs! Unfortunately, this entailed that the overall quality of my viewings was wildly erratic and generally average.

Actually, I did purposefully put this limitation on myself i.e. to concentrate on first viewings rather than the same old faves and only managed 3 obvious revists - since I was going to watch THE FLY sequels, I had to watch the original; THE EROTIC RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN is inextricably linked with DRACULA, PRISONER OF FRANKENSTEIN; THE MONSTER SQUAD is a companion piece (of sorts) to THE LOST BOYS.

As for the 3 proposed Challenges - Gangster, Epic and Sci-Fi - I'm all for them...provided they're evenly spaced out throughout the year. I suggest, for example, the following schedule (which can be debated between ourselves):

January: Gangster
April: Epics (to coincide with Good Friday)
July: Sci-Fi
October: Horror

Other candidates could be Westerns (since I have a shitload of those) and comedies (another fave genre). Besides, I'd love to fit in a Foreign and a Silents month but I fear my eyes won't take the strain of following all those subtitles - unless I concentrate exclusively on Italian movies! As for current films month, I personally have no interest in that at all (sorry Mike!)...

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

Too bad you weren't a critic back in 1935 because you probably would have voted BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN as the worst film of the year.

I'm not sure how many people would do these challenges but we can try. The majority of the ones I talked above were just personal challenges that I was going to do in the other thread. These public challenges push me into watching things but I know for certain that I wouldn't watch this many films in any other genre within such a short frame.

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

there's no way I would watch as many movies either, I just flat out don't have as many titles in my collection to watch in other genres as I do the ones that fit Scary Movie Challenge.

I'd stil give it a shot, I have some Noirs set aside. I was going to wattch them in august when I should have a new noir set from WArners XD

and foreign movie month would be a good excuse to finally watch all those Zatoichis

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

I think it is about the same. Last year I watched 57 and tied for 9th place. This year 57 would have given me sole 9th place.

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

January's Gangster/Crime Challenge sounds good to me.

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

Me too. I'm not going spending every waking hour of the month watching movies (like I did here ) but I'll watch a couple.

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

The Gangster/Noir Challenge sounds good. I still have all three Warner Film Noir collections on my shelf still shrinkwrapped.

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

Sorry I'm late to the party with an update. I ultimately got to watch far more than the 14 films I'm currently credited with, but far less than I intended to watch (things got busy around here in Oct, and I had to work on Halloween night, as well.

Ratings:

**** Excellent
*** Good
** Fair
* Poor
BOMB The Pits

Fun Factor - an additional rating, for films rated below ***, when overall entertainment value trumps their obvious shortcomings.

First-time viewings in bold.

Final tally, 60 films/26 first-time viewings (with viewing dates added, something I forgot to do at the beginning of this event):

10/01 01. THE EARTH DIES SCREAMING (1964) DVD **1/2
10/01 02. DR. CYCLOPS (1940) DVD ***
10/01 03. CULT OF THE COBRA (1955) DVD **1/2 (Fun Factor: ***)
10/01 04. CHOSEN SURVIVORS (1974) DVD *1/2 (Fun Factor: ***)
10/02 05. YONGARY, MONSTER FROM THE DEEP (1967) DVD BOMB (Fun Factor: ***)
10/03 06. THE PHARAOH'S CURSE (1956) DVR **
10/05 07. MAN MADE MONSTER (1941) DVD ***
10/05 08. THE BLACK CAT (1941) DVD ** (Fun Factor: **1/2)
10/05 09. HORROR ISLAND (1941) DVD ***
10/05 10. GRINDHOUSE: PLANET TERROR (2007) DVD ***1/2
10/05 11. THE PHANTOM FROM 10,00 LEAGUES (1955) DVD *1/2 (Fun Factor: **1/2)
10/07 12. THE BEAST WITH A MILLION EYES (1955) DVD **1/2 (Fun Factor: ***)
10/07 13. 28 DAYS LATER (2002) DVD ****
10/07 14. 28 WEEKS LATER (2007) DVD ***1/2
10/09 15. KONGA (1961) DVD BOMB (Fun Factor: ***1/2)
10/09 16. THE FURY (1978) DVD ***
10/10 17. NIGHT MONSTER (1942) DVD ***
10/10 18. CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN (1943) DVD **1/2 (Fun Factor: ***)
10/10 19. WITCHCRAFT (1964) DVD ***
10/10 20. JOY RIDE (2001) DVD ***1/2
10/10 21. BERSERK (1967) DVR *1/2 (Fun Factor: **1/2)
10/11 22. THE DEADLY MANTIS (1957) DVD ** (Fun Factor: **1/2)
10/11 23. THE LAND UNKNOWN (1957) DVD **1/2 (Fun Factor: ***)
10/11 24. THE LEECH WOMAN (1960) DVD *1/2 (Fun Factor: **)
10/11 25. DEVILS OF DARKNESS (1965) DVD ***
10/11 26. THE CLAIRVOYANT (1934) DVR ***
10/11 27. A PLACE OF ONE'S OWN (1945) DVR **1/2
10/11 28. CORRUPTION (1967) DVR **
10/12 29. FRANKENSTEIN VS. BARAGON (1965) DVD **1/2 (Fun Factor: ***1/2)
10/13 30. THE REAPING (2007) DVD *1/2
10/15 31. NEAR DARK (1987) DVD ***1/2
10/15 32. BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY'S TOMB (1971) DVD ***
10/16 33. MANEATER OF HYDRA (1967) DVD * (Fun Factor: ***)
10/17 34. MR. VAMPIRE (1985) DVD ***1/2
10/17 35. THE VAMPIRE (1957) DVD ***
10/17 36. THE RETURN OF DRACULA (1958) DVD ***
10/17 37. GOLIATH AND THE VAMPIRES (1961) DVD ** (Fun Factor: ***)
10/17 38. POLTERGEIST (1982) DVD ***1/2
10/17 39. THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED (1970) DVD **1/2
10/20 40. SOMETHING EVIL (1972) DVR ***
10/21 41. ALLIGATOR (1980) DVD ***
10/22 42. TALES FROM THE CRYPT (1972) DVD ***
10/23 43. THE GIANT CLAW (1957) DVD BOMB (Fun Factor: ***1/2)
10/24 44. CREATURE WITH THE ATOM BRAIN (1955) DVD ** (Fun Factor: ***1/2)
10/24 45. THE LOST WORLD (1960) DVD BOMB (Fun Factor: ***)
10/24 46. VAULT OF HORROR (1973) DVD **1/2
10/25 47. THE FLY (1958) DVD ***
10/26 48. PHANTASM (1978) DVD ***
10/26 49. THE UNDYING MONSTER (1942) DVD **1/2
10/26 50. ZOMBIES OF MORA TAU (1957) DVD ** (Fun Factor: ***)
10/26 51. THE WEREWOLF (1956) DVD ***
10/27 52. CURSE OF THE LIVING CORPSE (1963) DVR **1/2
10/28 53. MY SON, THE VAMPIRE (1952) DVR *
10/28 54. EVIL DEAD II: DEAD BY DAWN (1987) DVD ****
10/29 55. ARMY OF DARKNESS (1993) DVD ****
10/29 56. FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE (1973) DVD ***
10/30 57. CUJO (1983) DVD ***1/2
10/30 58. SOUL OF A MONSTER (1944) DVR **1/2
10/30 59. THE FLESH EATERS (1962) DVR ***
10/31 60. THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953) DVD ****

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

No problem Peter.

Updated:


Travis R 123 (29)
Russell G 119 (99)
Michael Elliott 103 (65)
James Perry 82 (?)
Martin T 82 (31)
John Stell 80 (9)
Mario Gauci 72 (69)
Peter Fitzgerald 60 (26)
Jason Roer 58 (48)
Rick Spruill 46 (26)
Steve Gon 45 (34)
Michael GH 45 (34)
Garrett Lundy 42 (32)
Joe Karlosi 42 (5)
Christopher B 40 (28)
Bob Turnbull 34 (31)
John Rice 33 (19)
Brian Kissinger 31 (29)
Jeff Reis 31 (27)
Marc Fedderman 31 (25)
Chucky P 31 (7)
Brook K 30 (24)
Sandro 30 (22)
Eric Schulz 30 (19)
Malcolm R 25 (13)
Jacob McCraw 20 (13)
Tim Tucker 17 (12)

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

Thanks much, Mike.

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

Argh! I'm invisible!

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

Garrett has been added to the list.

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

Danke sehen Dr. Acula.

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

Peter, why so bashful with your siganture? Maybe a few more lists.

You might consult the HTF signature rules. I'm pretty sure you've obliterated them.

Re: ***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge***

Wait, that's his sig?