***Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge*** - Page 10

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

Is that what the joke was supposed to be? It didn't even make any sense to me but by that point I had stopped caring. It goes from a reasonably serious horror movie to a comedy for 15 minutes and then a scathing indictment of George Bush for 10 seconds? God, I hated that episode.

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

028) 10/10/07 Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Minimalist, documentary style classic about the night the dead get hungry. Duane Jones is excellent as the leader of several survivors trapped in a rural home. The film starts building the tension in the first few minutes and never lets up. The ending is especially devastating. My favorite by far of director George A Romero's "dead' films.

029) 10/10/07 Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Another group of people are on the run from the living dead and escape to a deserted mall. But they must continue to battle lurking zombies, possible human threats from outside, and each other. The film has many great moments and insights (as well as some satirical swipes) but the film gets repetitious during its midsection which hurts it. But the gore effects are effective, and the finale is especially brutal. Has a more upbeat ending than Night of the Living Dead.

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

I hear ya. I gotta have a tire fixed. But I'm going to try and get in 5 today...somehow.

Maybe The Last supper is more popular than I thought. Another forum I posted my Horrorthon on (rottentomatoes.com) people said the same thing.

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

I've been adding my reviews to a FACEBOOK application (when they have the titles selectable, you would be surprised what's missing. :S) and people are wondering if I'm actually watching "this shit." XD

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

As always, I'm not a critic- I just know what I like but I'm not very good at articulating it.

10/11/07
I watched Eyes Of A Stranger today. I haven't seen this since I caught it on MonsterVision with Joe Bob Briggs a decade or so ago. As a fan of slasher movies, I enjoyed this one alot (and if you hate slasher movies, you'll hate this one too). There's a couple of good jump scares, some decent gore, no jokiness, it isn't super cheap looking and it was made in 1981 so all those elements add up to a good slasher movie for me.

EDIT:
I watched The Hand which I think I've seen once since catching it in the TNT MonsterVision days. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie. It's a little slow but Michael Caine delivers a decent performance and there's an interesting psychological angle to the movie. Keep your eyes peeled for Oliver Stone as a bum. The Hand is obviously not in the league of Platoon or JFK but it's not too bad either.

My list so far...
(new titles in bold)
01. Dracula (1931)
02. Dracula (Spanish language)
03. Frankenstein (1931)
04. The Mummy (1932)
05. The Invisible Man
06. Bride Of Frankenstein
07. Werewolf Of London
08. Dracula's Daughter
09. Son Of Frankenstein
10. The Invisible Man Returns
11. The Mummy's Hand
12. Invisible Woman
13. The Wolf Man (1941)
14. The Ghost Of Frankenstein
15. Invisible Agent
16. The Mummy's Tomb
17. Cat People (1942)
18. Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man
19. I Walked With A Zombie
20. The Leopard Man
21. The 7th Victim
22. Son Of Dracula
23. The Ghost Ship
24. The Curse Of The Cat People
25. The Invisible Man's Revenge
26. The Mummy's Ghost
27. House Of Frankenstein
28. The Mummy's Curse
29. The Body Snatcher
30. House Of Dracula
31. Isle Of The Dead
32. Bedlam
33. She-Wolf Of London
34. Creature From The Black Lagoon
35. Revenge Of The Creature
36. The Creature Walks Among Us
37. Curse Of The Demon
38. Carnival Of Souls (1962)
39. Masters Of Horror: Sounds Like
40. Masters Of Horror: The Washingtonians
41. Poltergeist
42. Twilight Zone: The Movie
43. Dr. Giggles
44. From Beyond The Grave
45. Deadly Friend
46. Eyes Of A Stranger
47. The Hand

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

What the hell - I'll play along!

001) 10/11/2007 Plan 9 From Outer Space (1966) (out of 5)

Last night I swung by screcrow and to drop off something, and they had Ed Wood playing on the in-house TV. That made me go - "Damn, I've somehow NEVER seen Plan 9!" And since it was 2-for-1 night, the deal was sealed (And since it has zombies in it, I'll stand by it as Halloween viewing fare). So despite never actually seeing this flick before, I knew all about it up and down (call it the Casablanca Effect). Yeah it was inept - oh but so GLORIOUS! I loved it! Worst movie ever? Far from it - Batman and Robin was a way worse film. Highlander II was way worse. No, Plan 9 was just a charming "so bad it's good" flick.

TOTAL BODY COUNT: 4 (Vampira doesn’t count since she was dead before the opening credits rolled)
MOST MEMORABLE KILL: Bela Lugosi being hit by a car off screen - though we can still clearly see his unmoving shadow against the wall not get hit by anything.
GALLONS OF BLOOD USED: 0
SPRING LOADED CATS: 0
THE MORON OF THE MOVIE AWARD GOES TO: The Earthmen with their stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
BREASTS ON DISPLAY: 0 (Although its not for lack of trying on Vampira's part)
BEST LINE: "But one thing's sure. Inspector Clay is dead - murdered, and somebody's responsible." (but honestly, how can I pick just one line from all these gems!)

Tonight will be the 3D version of Night of the Living Dead from last year. My hopes arent nearly as high for this one.

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

Awesome, I'm finishing this film up tonight. If I hadn't watched Ed Wood last month I probably wouldn't care so much.

"This is it. this is the movie they'll remember me for!"

PS: I wonder just how much Bela stock footage existed in 1957?

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

Its a silent-movie, they could only hear the piano.

"It just went up-tempo... I think the condom broke!"

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Scale: 1=awful 2=bad 3=average 4=good 5=excellent. 1st viewings in red.

Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959) Yeah it really is pretty bad. Better than Manos anyway.

Primeval (2007) The reviews had me believe this was about an African serial killer. Turned-out to be a Monster-by-numbers, complete with Jurgen Prochnow (has he done anything good since the Das Boot miniseries?) and a beastie that appears to have been computer generated in 1996.

the butcher's bill...
1. Monster Squad
2. Call of the Cthulhu
3. Mimic
4. The Omen
5. The Descent
6. Manos: The Hands Of Fate
7. Isolation
8. Insatiable
9. The Changeling
10. Perfect Creature
11. The Ninth Gate
12. The Nightmare Before Christmas
13. Nekromantik
14. Nekromantik 2
15. Bride Of The Monster
16. Saw 3
17. Plan 9 From Outer Space
18. Primeval

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

Yeah, at least with Plan 9 you can sit back and laugh but Manos is just terrible on every level.

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

(10) Ravenous - /
Seriously warped story of a Civil War soldier who is granted Hero status by hiding among the dead and not getting killed himself, and is rewarded by being sent to an absurdly remote outpost in the Sierras. Of course, that's not really what it is about.

Weird, fun movie. Have a nice big dish of lasagna while you watch.


(11) Spider Baby - /
Campy 60s horror comedy about a family with a rare (as in they are the only ones who have it) disorder which causes them to become more immature as they grow older. Now I know what Sid Haig was doing 40 years before Rob Zombie started casting him. He looked weird back then, and still looks pretty much as weird now.

(12) Night of the Comet - /
Softball 80s camp horror comedy about two teenage girls dealing with the virtual elimination of the human race after a comet turns most people to dust and most of the rest into Omega Man style zombielike creatures. It's been at least 20 years since I saw this one, and it hasn't quite held up. Certainly not as well as Catherine Mary Stewart has.

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

First time viewings in orange--5 star scale

10) 10/11 Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007)
Is there any film that looms larger over modern horror than The Texas Chainsaw Massacre? There's certainly an assembly line feel to a lot of this backwoods stuff, from the c-list casts of young lovelies down to the directors all earnestly pronouncing their love for 70's horror in interviews. I rarely dip into the fetid swamp of straight-to-video, but I thought I'd check out a few of the higher-profile ones this month.

This in-name-only sequel to the not-bad original opens with a bang and then runs through the litany of cliches that we've seen in so many of the slick torture-fests of the past few years; the only thing missing is the Creepy Gas Station. And yet, after the horrendous Vivid-level acting of the first half's wan attempt at reality show parody (how prescient) dissolves into more standard slasher territory, things get a little more tolerable and a whole lot bloodier. The gore is copious and well-executed, going so far over the top that the film redeems itself as a slasher that is at the very least as good as much of its ilk that actually gets into theaters. If you're not a slasher fan, deduct a full star and don't bother. I will say Henry Rollins has a career as a reality show host if he wants it--he's pretty convincing and unfortunately underused here.

EDIT: I wavered back and forth on this between 2 and 2 1/2 stars....decided to bump it down to 2, simply because it is so pedestrian for so much of the time. A tough call, because it really does deliver on the gore. But Steve Braun's character in particular is just so awful on every conceivable level. My cat could have done a script polish and made his dialogue more believable and funny.

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

Rated on a scale w/ first time viewings in RED:

10/11 - The Mad Monster (1942) - 1/2
- There’s not much to recommend here. Zucco’s fun as the mad doctor, but beyond that you’d be hard pressed to find anything that resembles entertainment. About as dull and poorly made as you’ll find in a 40s Poverty Row thriller.

10/11 - The Undying Monster (1965) - 1/2
- What a disappointment! After the first ten minutes, I had high hopes. It was exciting, filled with atmosphere, and looked incredible. But the movie seems to lose its way shortly after the start and limps to its conclusion. It’s a shame really. What could have been one of the more memorable movies of the 40s ends up being merely average at best.



Official 8th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge Totals

1. Cult of the Cobra (1955)
2. Hillbillys in a Haunted House (1967)
3. The She-Creature (1956)
4. The Black Cat (1941)
5. Horror Island (1941)
6. The Slime People (1963)
7. Captive Wild Woman (1943)
8. Night Monster (1943)
9. Earth vs. the Spider (1958)
10. Bride of the Monster (1955)
11. Man Mad Monster (1941)
12. The Vampire (1957)
13. She Demons (1958)
14. I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957)
15. The Woman Who Came Back (1945)
16. Beginning of the End (1957)
17. Son of Dracula (1943)
18. One Body Too Many (1944)
19. Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)
20. The Earth Dies Screaming (1965)
21. The Mad Monster (1942)
22. The Undying Monster (1942)


Total - 22
Total 1st Time Viewings - 14

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

030) 10/11/07 Day of the Dead (1985)

In an underground bunker, disgruntled army troops are assigned to assist a group of scientists determine what can be done to deal with the hungry dead. But when a new captain takes over, things reach a boiling point. Lots of yelling, screaming, and speechifying in this, the least of Romero's dead films. Most of the military are played so over-the-top that the film loses its believability factor. The finale, however, is quite the show stopper.

031) 10/11/07 Land of the Dead (2005) 1/2

Enjoyable Dead entry about how the "haves" (who live in luxurious comfort in Fiddler's Green) and the "have-nots" (who live on the streets wallowing in vice) live in a world overrun by the Dead. The balance is upset when an employee of Fiddler's Green's director takes revenge after being denied a place to live in the complex. Writer/director Romero makes his zombies capable of learning and becoming even more of a threat as a result. Good cast and fast past make this go down easy. But it still feels like we've been down this road before.

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

Antibodies (2005)

Viewed 10/11/2007 (first viewing)

A serial killer of young boys is caught but will only talk to a small
town constable whose son is showing signs of psychotic behavior. But
the killer's mindgames may have the constable believing more than he
needs to! Slick German thriller is well done though it offers little
new.

out of


The Burning (1981)

Viewed 10/11/2007

Teens play prank on nasty summer camp handyman. Prank goes wrong and
handyman goes up in flames. Years later handyman (now looking like the
offspring of the Toxic Avenger) returns for revenge. Yadda yadda.

out of

About 11 or 12 movies behind. I don’t think I’ll be breaking any records this year.

Sorry in advance for the meandering length of the first write-up.


October 10th (continued)

38. Duel. (1971)



You can’t see it here, but the truck has a bumper sticker that says “I LOVE MY SUNDAY DRIVERS WITH CHOCOLATE SAUCE, WHIPPED CREAM, SPRINKLES AND A CHERRY ON TOP”.

Had a flat tire so had to watch the last part of this over lunch on Oct 11^th. Not that the flat was fixed by me even though I spend 90 minutes on it. Luckily it had a slow leak caused by a screw so I could pump up the thing with my bicycle pump when I had to go for a short trip to work or find other screws to run over. Yes, my arms hurt from all the pumping and lug wrench use. Why do automakers even include a lug wrench with the damn car? It’s only gonna make you psychotic enough to imagine many uses for that cheap thing that don’t even involve the tires or the car at all! One use I found is it was very efficient at striping itself out and evening out those annoying sharp edges on my lug nuts! Btw, that screw is the second I’ve had in the same place, same tire in a 2 weeks period. I was suspecting my good ole boy neighbor with the loud hunting equipment (bored dogs) because I had a “conference” with the guy about said dogs…you guessed it, two weeks ago!! But (useful FYI tip coming) often you can hit a screw laying down on it’s side in the road with your front tire and that makes the screw jump up and be caught by your rear tire. Yep, most flats caused by screws and nails are in the rear tires. So much for my paranoid delusion that my neighbor was creeping around my house at night with a various pieces of do-it-yourself hardware. Darn. I needed the extra fear. Turns out he’s just a redneck with loud dogs and probably friends on the police department. Luck would have it, actor Dennis Weaver is first rate as a regular guy driver on a business trip who is suddenly being chased by a loony tunes trucker and he doesn’t know why. It’s cat & mouse, and he’s a very small mouse who looks like he may get smooshed at any moment by a 2000 lb cat. His inner dialogue leads you to believe he’s a regular guy who rarely has a reason to cause confrontation and indeed avoids that form of approach with his fellow peeps whenever possible. But he’s been forced to act because the problem is getting worse and worse and it’s messin with his head. Spielberg directs his first mainstream film and it has earmarks of the greatness that will come. It’s at least as tense as most people’s real life experiences…well, except for mine!! It’s actually very good and I’ll underrate it now so as not to build it up too much. Grab a copy and complain about the low scroes it gets!! 8/10


October 11^th

39. Poltergeist. (1982) (old version DVD)


This little girl is so sweet. But if she got lost in my TV I’d take the thing to the TV repairman and have him remove her from it so I don’t have to hear her while watching LOST or something.


I’ve never seen a camera break in this sweep from the chairs on the floor to having them stacked up. Certianly the director Steven Hooper employed REAL Poltergeests for this scene. I hear they work cheep if you just act scared whenever they do anything, even if you’re not scared.

There are films you love so much that they transcend the normal way people grade them. Whether they are considered classics among all films is secondary. Poltergeist is nearly up there with my favorite film of all time (Wizard of Oz) in that the subject matter is highly appealing but even that lags behind the almost exhausting amount of nostalgia I have for it. For me it’s overwelming to fanboy proportions! This one is a sure thing and needed to be watched yesterday to help prop up a bad week during this year’s Horrorthon. Success! Now, the toughest thing to do is actually rate a film you love in this way and not include the insane level of nostalgic weird monkey love you have for it. It’s nearly impossible! And I’m not alone…I remember seeing this for about the 3^rd time in a packed to the gills dollar theater and I spent a lot of time watching the kids in front of me as they squirmed around in their seats and talked to each other and to the movie screen. I know it’s the favorite of those kids today and they probably never forgot their experience that day. That’s the special thing about horror films…they can scare you to death with chainsaws, monsters made up of dead people, masked entities chopping up 25 year old teenagers or giving you one last shock before their conclusions by sending a coffin complete with rotting body jutting out into the car windshield while your eyes are trained on a driver who is fumbling to find his keys. It’s special, it really is. I’m not going to be that guy who points out this film isn’t perfect. Nope! Only thing I would say is that I heard Tobe Hooper actually helped Spielberg direct this! It’s true! I know you don’t believe me…!! 10/10

40. Maximum Overdrive. (1986)


He’s a part of the Sheen family. He’s trying to find out if that truck has a sister who might want to have sex with him


I think this woman has the funniest piece of dialogue in the movie. “We made you!!!” You go girl!


After Poltergeist…mostly boring. There’s many parts I like but for the most part I struggled to stay awake this time. I had the same experience with Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 this year. I need to be more careful how I stack em. Still, this isn’t as bad a movie directed by a horror novelist as you might expect. There’s some nifty tunes on the soundtrack, some cool looking scenes involving various machinery moving on their own. I particularly love the lone ice cream truck playing a familiar tune as it cruises the nieghborhood in search another blood stain for it’s front bumper. By the way, the tune the ice cream truck is churning out is King of the Road. More trivia, the bulk of the movie takes place at a very boring truck stop. The price for a gallon of gas? $1.08. It’s a fun film in the right mood and even works as an unintentional comedy. I had a much better time with it the last few years. These kinds of films are losing me this year. It’s too hard to turn off my brain. I should really be drinking something besides rootbeer topped with vanilla ice cream this year. It’s just not strong enough! 6/10 Laugh-at-it upgrade 8/10

41. Night of the Living Dead. (remake) (1989)


If I ever turn into a zombie I want someone as cool as this actress/character to shoot me in the head! * gets boner just thinking about it *


He just wants Ben to take a pamphet from his Church of the Wandering Zombies.

I threw out a planned movie in favor of this which rates as a sure thing with me. The one I dropped is great but often it doesn’t work for me when the mood is off. This one broke my zombie cherry when I first saw it! It left me paranoid that night! Cool! I’d seen zombies in movies like Creepshow, but they were never more scary, numerous and creepy than the ones Savini and company provide here. The effects work is excellent. It’s maybe not quite as “drippy” as it could be, if you follow me. I’d imagine real zombies would produce more wetness than the ones shown here. These are too dried up! I guess the weather was hot, but zombies should still look as if they smell bad with various kinds of bodily fluids dripping from them. Fulci also had the right idea in his Zombie movies…insects! But as they are, these are among my favorite zombies in a movie, just behind Fulci’s in Zombie (Zombie 2, whatever). The places this one should fail lead to a huge success for me. The acting is often bad and that produces some laughs. I actually love all the main characters with Barbara, Ben and Cooper on top. The country kid with his girlfriend (“This is Judy Rose!!”) is up there as well. He’s hilarious! I always forget how effectively eery the scoring is. The changes in the story from the orignal don’t bother me all that much. I really love this remake. It’s always a highlight no matter where I place it in the Horrorthon. 8/10 Various upgrades 10/10

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

10/08/07: DARK WATERS [Director’s Cut] (Mariano Baino, 1994)

I first heard about this film relatively recently through the Internet and, then, became even more interested in it when the now sadly defunct No Shame label announced two separate DVD releases – a 1-Disc “Special Edition” and a Limited 2-Disc Set, with added supplements and even a replica of the powerful amulet depicted in the film! While a friend of mine who had watched DARK WATERS in the past told me he had been underwhelmed by it, I knew it’d be hard for me to resist blind-buying the not inexpensive set – especially after reading the generally positive reviews which began cropping up (often accompanied by awesome-looking stills from the main feature). Even so, it took me a long time to finally sit down and – as it eventually transpired – dedicate a whole evening to the work of Mariano Baino!

Anyway, I was glad to see for myself (please bear in mind that I’m not usually a fan of the modern style in horror) that the hype surrounding this particular flick was indeed justified – for this is surely one of the most audacious and impressive genre outings to emerge in the last two decades, even if the plot itself is derivative of several older ‘classics’. In fact, the cut-off and openly hostile community smacks of THE WICKER MAN (1973); the inquisitive female lead (often dressed in red) and the generally weird goings-on brought SUSPIRIA (1977) to mind; the creepy girl featured in the flashbacks could well have strayed in from KILL, BABY…KILL! (1966); and the members of a religious order with their blind leader (sinister-looking but eventually revealed to have benign intentions) stems from THE SENTINEL (1977). Besides, the film’s overall look – with full-size crosses fitted in candle-lit caverns, to where self-flagellating nuns habitually convene – clearly owes a strong debt to ALUCARDA (1975).

Still, it all makes for a highly intriguing mélange of visceral thrills (Lovecraftian monster, some instances of gore – including depictions of cannibalism) and mysticism (the afore-mentioned amulet, a mystery from the heroine’s past residing within a series of riddles); dialogue is minimal as well (which is just as well – in view of the fact that the film was shot in English in the Ukraine with a multi-national cast and crew), and there are definite moments of lyricism throughout (given its elemental and spiritual overtones). While rather drab-looking – as opposed to the traditionally garish “Euro-Cult” style (DARK WATERS came at the extreme tail-end of the trend) – and featuring a largely unobtrusive score, this austerity actually helps the essentially oppressive mood which permeates the film. The result, then, contains more than its share of haunting images: the line-up of nuns along the horizon carrying burning crosses, the grotesque figure of the crucified ‘monster nun’(!), Sister Sarah’s revolting ‘unclothed’ appearance as a half-human/half-beast at the climax, and the closing reveal of the heroine as the convent’s new blind sentinel.

With an elliptical narrative (typified by the scene where the lead suddenly finds herself on the shore eating raw fish) infused with symbolism and the deft juxtaposition throughout of image and sound (a death in a blazing cabin intercut with a murderous attempt on Sister Sarah, or the association between children crying and the growling creature) this is the kind of film which needs more than one viewing to fully appreciate! At the end of the day, however, the evident low-budget of the production couldn’t effectively cater to all the various themes conveyed in its over-ambitious script – so that some plot points remain obscure (such as where the mural painter apparently dwelling within the depths of the convent fits in the whole scheme of things), whereas the fact that the appearance of the creature is downplayed during the climax was probably forced on the film-makers rather than a deliberate decision on their part…but these don’t effect one’s evaluation of the finished product in any significant way.

Incidentally, the No Shame edition presents the film in a new director’s cut (running 92 minutes though, not 89 as listed) which removes 7 minutes from the theatrical release version; this footage is still included as deleted scenes (even if it’s perhaps the weirdest collection of outtakes that I’ve come across since, on several occasions, a mere number of frames were taken out of specific scenes!). As I said at the start, I followed this viewing with three short subjects by Baino, which proved equally stylized (and unpleasant) – making for a decidedly grim night! I wish I had the time to delve into the other extras as well – the two documentaries and the various commentaries – as Baino seems to be a talent to watch, and I’d certainly like to know more about the main feature (whose making was reportedly fraught with problems).

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

Night of the Comet (1984)
Thom Eberhardt

This one had been languishing in the old queue for quite awhile. Perhaps subconsciously, I knew to leave it there.

Well, there's a crazy comet running around the universe kicking the shit out of life where ever it goes. The last time Earth had a peek, dinosaurs where wiped out. So humans (having superior intellect and all) decide to throw a super party for the comet's reappearance. However, unlike those crappy dinosaurs, we have steel. Yeah for us.

The comet manages to turn 99% of humanity to orange dust. For those lucky few who were protected by steel from the comet, they are good to go. For those semi-lucky few who were protected by something other than steel from the comet, they become zombies. Well, until the effects of the comet can finish turning them into Tang.

Sounds like a good time, but our filmmakers don't stop there. No, it seems as if there is a big "think tank" of super smart types who realize the comet is bad news. So they build a big underground stronghold to protect them. But, these super geniuses forget to close the air vents, and are now looking down the Tang gun barrel. Stupid geniuses. All they had to do was spend the night in the utility shed (which surely is airtight). So now they must hunt down the non-zombies to try and figure a vaccine against Tangdom. Enter man's inhumanity to man, and more crap.


Return to Halloweentown (2006)
David Jackson

My daughter assured me that this was one damn fine film. I said, "But it a Disney kiddie type thing. It looks kinda crappy." She countered, "Dad, trust me, this movie is AWESOME!!!!"

Cut to about 1/3 way through the movie.

"So far, this isn't all that great." "Just wait, Dad. The good stuff is coming up. Then it really gets good."

Cut to 2/3 way through the movie.

"This is kinda crappy. All the goblin does is drool and sneeze on himself. Why isn't he eating someone?" "It's not that kind of goblin, dad. Just wait til what happens next."

Cut to the big finale.

"Well, I'm sorry honey, but this really isn't.....," (Me looking around and seeing the wife) "where did our daughter go?" "She's out in the living room watching the other TV."



Running Tally

1. Freeze Frame
2. The Lost Boys
3. Bubba Ho-Tep
4. The Messengers this film is a turd
5. Cannibal Holocaust
6. When a Stranger Calls (2006)
7. The Covenant
8. Bug **Best New Discovery**
9. Tokyo Zombie
10. Black Sheep
11. Vacancy
12. Hot Wax Zombies on Wheels
13. Night of the Comet
14. Return to Halloweentown

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

^^^

Halloweenietown. Hee hee! I think I saw the trailer to that. Your funny experience confirms it was a smart idea to avoid it like Disney remake of a 70s live action Disney.

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

Now - well, at least after Halloween is over - I have to go rent Ed Wood. The few moments I saw at Scarecrow Video looked like it was a fun flick. So I'll have to overcome my loathing of Tim Burton and check it out.

Ok - last night's viewing:
002) Night of the Living Dead 3D *BIG FAT BOMB*
Hear that? That scraping sound you hear is the sound of my teeth grinding as I fight the urge to fly to Hollywood and beat the ever loving shit out of whoever was responsible for this mind numbing travesty of a movie with a Laserdisc copy of the original Night.
TOTAL BODY COUNT: 10
MOST MEMORABLE KILL: The Fat Naked Zombie eating the preist
GALLONS OF BLOOD USED: 1
SPRING LOADED CATS: 0
THE MORON OF THE MOVIE AWARD GOES TO: Me, for renting this lame ass thing.
BREASTS ON DISPLAY: 2
BEST LINE: "Here comes Revenge of the Splif!"

003) Masters of Horror: Homecoming
A friend of mine brough along the Joe Dante episode of Masters of Horror with the solder zombies coming back from a war. It was a really good - if heavy handed with it's political message - story. Not what I was expecting at all, and probaly seemed better than it was since we had just watched Night of the Living Dead get raped, but I liked it.
TOTAL BODY COUNT: 3
MOST MEMORABLE KILL: Private Hofstadter playing desk basketball with Robert Picardo's head
GALLONS OF BLOOD USED: 0
SPRING LOADED CATS: 0
THE MORON OF THE MOVIE AWARD GOES TO:The current (in story) administration.
BREASTS ON DISPLAY: 0

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

Ed Wood is worth a rental just for Martin Landau's performance as Bela Lugosi (which got him a much deserved Academy Award). Watch it, Bride of the Monster and Plan 9 on the same weekend sometime.

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

As always, I'm not a critic- I just know what I like but I'm not very good at articulating it.

10/12/07
I watched Someone's Watching Me! which I saw part of years and years ago so I won't count it as a new viewing. I'm a huge fan of John Carpenter (especially his stuff from the late 1970's and early 1980's) so having a chance to see this again was fun. A woman gets phone calls from a man who makes threatening calls and builds from there. Overall, the movie is pretty decent if you're a fan of Carpenter.

There's plenty of in-jokes for Carpenter fans too- character names like Elizabeth Solly and Gary Hunt, actors like Adrienne Barbeau and Charles Cyphers, the TV station that Lauren Hutton works at is called KJHC (John Howard Carpenter) and the person sending notes uses the name of D.G. Hill (Debra Hill).

EDIT:
I watched Homicidal tonight. It's William Castle's Psycho with a lower budget. The twist ending doesn't work so well but there's some fun stuff in the movie (like the Castle gimmick of the Fright Break).

I also watched Strait Jacket too. If you're a fan of Joan Crawford's camp performances, this one is for you. The ending seems more appropriate to a Scooby Doo episode than a movie.

My list so far...
(new titles in bold)
01. Dracula (1931)
02. Dracula (Spanish language)
03. Frankenstein (1931)
04. The Mummy (1932)
05. The Invisible Man
06. Bride Of Frankenstein
07. Werewolf Of London
08. Dracula's Daughter
09. Son Of Frankenstein
10. The Invisible Man Returns
11. The Mummy's Hand
12. Invisible Woman
13. The Wolf Man (1941)
14. The Ghost Of Frankenstein
15. Invisible Agent
16. The Mummy's Tomb
17. Cat People (1942)
18. Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man
19. I Walked With A Zombie
20. The Leopard Man
21. The 7th Victim
22. Son Of Dracula
23. The Ghost Ship
24. The Curse Of The Cat People
25. The Invisible Man's Revenge
26. The Mummy's Ghost
27. House Of Frankenstein
28. The Mummy's Curse
29. The Body Snatcher
30. House Of Dracula
31. Isle Of The Dead
32. Bedlam
33. She-Wolf Of London
34. Creature From The Black Lagoon
35. Revenge Of The Creature
36. The Creature Walks Among Us
37. Curse Of The Demon
38. Carnival Of Souls (1962)
39. Masters Of Horror: Sounds Like
40. Masters Of Horror: The Washingtonians
41. Poltergeist
42. Twilight Zone: The Movie
43. Dr. Giggles
44. From Beyond The Grave
45. Deadly Friend
46. Eyes Of A Stranger
47. The Hand
48. Someone's Watching Me!
49. Homicidal
50. Strait Jacket

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

I think Brians review of Halloweentown is my current fave. XD priceless!

I got no movies in last night. I'm gonna try to watch Criterions Monsters and Madmen set tonight with Atomic Submarine and some others in it.

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

Eventhough I've got them on DVD, I'm gonna watch a couple of the movies on Turner Classic Movies tonight. They're playing William Castle movies (Homicidal, Strait Jacket, 13 Ghosts and The Tingler) starting at 8 PM.

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

Chaos (2005)
David DeFalco


Somewhere (I honestly can't remember where) I heard this movie referenced as extremely gory or brutal or something along those lines. I guess it is (one scene in particular involving a severed nipple, vomit, and pseudo necrophilia) brutal, but it eventually falls flat. This film suffers from what I like to call "Hostel-Syndrome." Just like in Hostel, the film does a good job of setting up a very realistic scenario in which unpleasant things happen to normal, everyday folks (even if the acting of those folks doesn't lend an air of realism). The problem is, after getting us to believable, Mr. DeFalco delves into happy-fun-land where anything can happen for any reason. This completely ruins all the realistic, brutality of the film.

Thanks to the special features, I learned of the "feud" the filmmakers had with Mr. Roger Ebert. I think the silly, ridiculous ending and the beginning "foreword" (a message is displayed stating that the filmmakers hoped that a movie this violent and brutal would help save the lives of people in the world.....via the lessons to be learned from the characters within) is where the key "offense" lies. As previously stated, the ending ruins any realism to the film, and also manages to make a joke of the foreword. So what are we left with? Folks doing extremely deplorable things to other folks. I think Mr. Ebert may have a point, but I what I don't understand is why the filmmakers care.




Mustang Sally's Horror House (2006)
Iren Koster

Six dudes get their money together and decide to head out to Mustang Sally's, a new "brothel" on the outskirts of town. They head in and pick (actually, the girls pick the guys) their "dates." They head off to their own rooms and then the evil begins. Turns out these hookers are actually homicidal maniacs. Not exactly bad, but not quite good either. There is reason behind the girl's madness, but not a very good one. Interesting note: Mustang Sally is played by E.G. Daily who does the voice for Tommy Pickles in the cartoon Rugrats.




Running Tally

1. Freeze Frame
2. The Lost Boys
3. Bubba Ho-Tep
4. The Messengers this film is a turd
5. Cannibal Holocaust
6. When a Stranger Calls (2006)
7. The Covenant
8. Bug **Best New Discovery**
9. Tokyo Zombie
10. Black Sheep
11. Vacancy
12. Hot Wax Zombies on Wheels
13. Night of the Comet
14. Return to Halloweentown
15. Chaos
16. Mustang Sally's Horror House

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

The Invisible Man Returns (1940)

Good "sequel" to THE INVISIBLE MAN. Vincent Price in his first true "horror" role as a wrongly imprisoned man framed for murder and freed via the invisibility drug in order to track down the real killer before he goes mad. Good music score adds, Cedric Hardwicke is enjoyable, Cecil Kellaway is a delight, and Nan Grey has never looked more adorable.

The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944)

Running out of ideas, Jon Hall plays an escaped psycophatic killer who wants to even a score upon a couple of his ex-partners who wronged him. He stumbles upon scientist John Carradine who just happens to have developed another invisibility serum, so Hall becomes the latest version of the transparent one. Evelyn Ankers is completely an afterthought here; Gale Sondergaard is underused; comedic actor Leo Errol clowns around alot but to good effect. The trademark surname of "Griffin" is completely unnecessary this time for the lead character, but it's used anyway to keep up tradition, as is the typical "bandaged head with glasses" appearance that's given lip service a couple of times, just to say they did it.

The Return of the Vampire (1943)

Bela Lugosi gets a chance to play another vampire named Armand Tesla, and this time he's given a Renfield-like assistant who wears a werewolf makeup. Good solid atmospheric horror from Columbia Studios, though Lugosi uncharacteristically seems like he's tired and doesn't seem to give the role his all. As such, it's easier to distinguish that this vampire is not just another Dracula.

SCARY MOVIE CHALLENGE 2007
01) The Phantom of the Opera (1925) ***
02) The Black Cat (1941) **1/2
03) Horror Island (1941) *1/2
04) Man Made Monster (1941) ***
05) Dracula (1931) ***
06) The Monster and the Girl (1941) *
07) The Lodger (1944) ***1/2
08) Hangover Square (1945) ***
09) The Undying Monster (1942) **1/2
10) Cat People (1942) ***
11) Cry of the Werewolf (1944) **
12) Night Monster (1942) **1/2
13) Captive Wild Woman (1943) **1/2
14) The Invisible Man Returns (1940) ***
15) The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944) **1/2
16) The Return of the Vampire (1943) ***

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

Blade of Death (2004)

Viewed 10/12/2007 (first viewing)

An ancient samurai returns from the dead and goes on a slice and dice
rampage in this cheap, underlit horror comedy.

out of


Lord of the Dead (2000)

Viewed 10/12/2007 (first viewing)

Goofy horror comedy about a fat nerd whose discovery of an evil old
book (ostensibly the Necronomicon) turns him into the titular demon, a
turkey-headed hellspawn whose very touch turns his victims into
zombies! Dumb, but ingratiating.

out of


Buttcrack (1998)

Viewed 10/12/2007 (first viewing)

Or I Might Not Be Watching the Best Films in This Challenge, But I've Got the Best Damn Titles. A college student accidentally kills his roommate, an annoying slob whose refusal to wear belts frequently exposes his buttcrack to the world. Unfortunately the roommate's sister is a voodoo practitioner who resurrects her dead brother as a vengeance-seeking zombie! About as good as could be expected given its title, though the rantings of the Preacher Bob character take up way too much of the film's already short running time.

out of