***Official 17th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge 2016*** (1 Viewer)

[Malcolm R]

If a historian watched the Jaws series in 100 years, they'd think that technology devolved from 1975 to 1987. Needless to say, the original features the shark the best because you rarely see it and when you do, it looks pretty great. Jaws 2 is probably the most successful in terms of showing the shark a fair amount of time without it looking fake. I'll even give Jaws III a pass since they were working with 3-D so that probably complicated what they could do in terms of hiding things that made the shark look fake and they had to shoot the sharks to utilize the 3-D. The Revenge had a fake looking shark and just seemed to do its best to show that fakeness off.

Spoilers ahead, in case anyone still hasn't seen this 29 year old film and cares:

Revenge is also a bit odd in that it has a very low body count. The shark kills only Sean Brody and, presumably, the woman on the banana boat (though this is ambiguous). Also, the shark mostly attacks people in boats or airplanes, rather than anyone actually in the water (though it does go after Michael in the wreck).

I've always wondered if it was just a bad script from the start, or if they made changes while filming that, pardon the pun, took all the teeth out of this sequel. For a shark thriller, there seems to be very little peril.

 

[John Stell]

Spoilers ahead, in case anyone still hasn't seen this 29 year old film and cares:

Revenge is also a bit odd in that it has a very low body count. The shark kills only Sean Brody and, presumably, the woman on the banana boat (though this is ambiguous). Also, the shark mostly attacks people in boats or airplanes, rather than anyone actually in the water (though it does go after Michael in the wreck).

I've always wondered if it was just a bad script from the start, or if they made changes while filming that, pardon the pun, took all the teeth out of this sequel. For a shark thriller, there seems to be very little peril.

More spoilers: in the original theatrical release, the Mario Van Peebles' character dies during the climax. That's the one I saw. Apparently people hated that so they changed the ending so that he survives, and that's the version most people have seen.

 

[TravisR]

Only one for last night, and it sucked.


029 10/12 The Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow (1959) DVR 2/5
Teenagers have a hot rod club (played by the "Hot Rod Gang", a crappy rip-off of the Bowery Boys, only privilaged pricks instead of street urchins) and like to dance to one song. There’s no ghost, there’s no dragstrip, there’s only one shown drag race. The only cool thing is the re-use of monster costumes from other AIP movies and the tall girl with glasses.

(I fell a little bit in love with the snooty tall girl in glasses... )

The picture of that girl makes her look like Mel Cooley from The Dick Van Dyke Show. I saw that movie over the summer when TCM had a bunch of AIP movies on and thought it was fun in a bad 50's movie kind of way.

 

[Malcolm R]

More spoilers: in the original theatrical release, the Mario Van Peebles' character dies during the climax. That's the one I saw. Apparently people hated that so they changed the ending so that he survives, and that's the version most people have seen.

Good point. But as you say, aside from the original theatrical release most have seen the home video version where he pulls a 'Hooper' and survives at the end so I didn't include him in the count. I think the change was a reaction to the tepid response at the American box office, so they shot a new ending for the international market.

A couple other tidbits from IMDB:

• Michael Caine was paid $1.5m for seven days work in the Bahamas.

• Michael Caine accepted his role after seeing only the first line of the script, which was, "Fade in: Hawaii". Caine had wanted to shoot a movie in Hawaii for a while. [Apparently it didn't shoot in or take place in Hawaii; I wonder if Caine was disappointed? Though the Bahamas is nice, too.]

• This cost between $23- $30m, one of the most expensive movies of 1987. [So why were the FX so bad?]

The film did gross over $50 million worldwide, not bad for 1987. So presumably after years of TV and home video rentals/sales, it has made a profit.

 

[Oliver Ravencrest]

As bad as it is, I still prefer Revenge over Jaws 3

48) The Hills Have Eyes (1977) New To Me

A vacationing multi-generational family is stranded in the desert and terrorized by a band of cannibalistic mountain people. I have always wanted to see this Wes Craven film. I liked it but thought it was going to be scarier than it was.

 

[Ruz-El]

The picture of that girl makes her look like Mel Cooley from The Dick Van Dyke Show. I saw that movie over the summer when TCM had a bunch of AIP movies on and thought it was fun in a bad 50's movie kind of way.

I had it on the DVR from that broadcast, that's how far behind I am with movie watching haha. It was fun, but kind of lousy fun. Especially in October when you want a ghost movie to have a f*cking ghost in it!

I got some more from the TCM AIP series to watch as well, hopefully better!

 

[Michael Elliott]

I'd be willing to guess that there were some changes made throughout the production. From what I've read, it seems the budget was originally quite high but it began to get taken away because the studio was facing some troubles. The original ending is available on the Blu-ray but it would be interesting to know if there was an earlier cut that had more changes done to it. I agree that we "see" the shark more than he is in action. The film gets off to such a violent start that it does seem strange that more attacks weren't done unless they really wanted it to be a character study.


The Vampire's Tomb (2013) *

This here was an unproduced screenplay by Ed Wood where a new producer/director adapted and turned into this mess of a film. I honestly thought the film was rather creative but at the same time it was just boring and couldn't hold my attention. Even worse is that there are various nods to Wood but I really couldn't tell if some of the performances were bad on purpose or if the actors just sucked. Either way, this here is for Ed Wood die hards only.

The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972) **

Charles B. Pierce at least deserves credit for taking the Bigfoot myth and putting it on drive-in screens across the country. It's rather amazing that this little film managed to become such a hit and bleed into the mainstream. The problem is that the film pretty much sucks. There are a couple good re-enactment sequences but this docu-drama has really bad non-actors playing parts and not doing a very good job with it. I respect this film more than I actually enjoy it but the director would fare much better with THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN.

Face of the Screaming Werewolf (1964) **

This Jerry Warren hackjob basically takes two different Mexican horror movies and edits them together for a 60-minute monster romp. What makes this worth viewing is that Lon Chaney plays both a mummy and a werewolf for the last time. There's also a rumor that Ed Wood directed one sequence here. For the most part it's hard to give Warren credit since he basiaclly just edited the films together but this is a fast and fun monster romp and it was great getting to see Chaney play two of his famous roles one more time.

Halloween with the New Addams Family (1977) **

If you're a fan of the original series then you'll want to check out this special, which at least has the majority of the cast members returning. John Astin is the main reason to watch this as he offers up a fun and entertaining performance as Gomez. Sadly the film really isn't all that funny as it is rather poorly made and just seems like a bunch of skits edited together. There's really no good flow to it and the lack of any real laughs keep it from being more than a curio.

The Most Dangerous Game (1932) ****

Leslie Banks plays a psycho who gets a "thrill" out of hunting the most dangerous game, which just happens to be humans. Joel McCrea, Fay Wray and Robert Armstrong are the latest people to play the game. For my money this here is one of the greatest "B" movies ever made. This here was basically just produced with the scraps of KING KONG but for my money this here is the better of the two films. This is an incredibly tense story and it packs a lot of power in its short running time. The ghoulish nature of the subject matter is perfectly brought to life in this Pre-Code.

 

[Oliver Ravencrest]

The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972) **

Charles B. Pierce at least deserves credit for taking the Bigfoot myth and putting it on drive-in screens across the country. It's rather amazing that this little film managed to become such a hit and bleed into the mainstream. The problem is that the film pretty much sucks. There are a couple good re-enactment sequences but this docu-drama has really bad non-actors playing parts and not doing a very good job with it. I respect this film more than I actually enjoy it but the director would fare much better with THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN.

Boggy Creek is awesome! The really bad non-actors, the use of the real people involved and the re-enactments add to the charm. I find it can be pretty creepy. I can understand people not liking it.

 

[Michael Elliott]

I found it creepy when I was a kid but it doesn't have much impact outside the ending and the scene in the cabin with the three gals. It's certainly an interesting mix of documentary and drama.

 

[Tony J Case]

Michael Caine was paid $1.5m for seven days work in the Bahamas.

A million and a half for a vacation in the Bahamas? Yeah, I'd give up accepting my Oscar for that too!

 

[TravisR]

As bad as it is, I still prefer Revenge over Jaws 3

It's a terrible movie but for some unknowable reason, I've grown fond of Jaws III over the last few years and I think it's better than The Revenge. There's a couple of things that actually work for me in Jaws III (Overman fixing the gate, the poachers in the rubber raft getting eaten, FitzRoyce getting eaten) and there's almost nothing I can think of that's good in The Revenge.

 

[TravisR]

51. Abbott And Costello Meet The Invisible Man

Detectives Bud and Lou help an innocent boxer- who is using the invisibility formula- figure out who killed his manager and clear his name. Fun movie with the invisible man boxing match being a highlight.


52. The Strange Door

Charles Laughton plots revenge against his brother who stole his girl years ago. Period pieces even with the great Charles Laughton and a smaller role for Boris Karloff usually fail to catch my interest and this one didn't change that trend.


53. The Black Castle

A man looks for his two friends that have gone missing at a castle. Much like The Strange Door, this movie has some nice production value with all the old time-y costumes and sets but it doesn't do a lot for me. Always glad to see Karloff and Lon Chaney in (I believe) his last movie for Universal-International.


54. It Came From Outer Space

An astronomer and his girlfriend have to stop and warn their town about an alien invasion. One of the best of the sci-fi monster movies of the era and a trendsetter for that genre.


BOLD = new viewing

 

[Oliver Ravencrest]

It's a terrible movie but for some unknowable reason, I've grown fond of Jaws III over the last few years and I think it's better than The Revenge. There's a couple of things that actually work for me in Jaws III (Overman fixing the gate, the poachers in the rubber raft getting eaten, FitzRoyce getting eaten) and there's almost nothing I can think of that's good in The Revenge.

I can't give a good reason why I like Revenge more beyond the cast and their characters. I don't know if it's the 3-D that puts me off Jaws 3 or the tone of the movie. It has a good cast too, it just doesn't work for me.

 

[Oliver Ravencrest]

49) Friday the 13th, Part 3 in 3-D (1982)

Vorhees at it again, Jason hacks and slashes his way through young adults spending the weekend at Crystal Lake. Another solid entry in the series. Filled with some likable characters ad a tension filled climax, this is the one where Jason gets his iconic Hockey Mask.

I watched the 3-D version on DVD with the red and blue lens glasses. The 3-D effect worked most of the time, especially in the daytime and outdoor scenes. sometimes though it wasn't very noticeable. The red and blue washed out most of the colour and there was some double vision type effects. This happened a lot when objects were thrust towards the camera. These was also some ghosting around the characters at times. I'd probably watch it in 3-D again but I prefer the regular version.

 

[whacky blacky]

October 13
48. Empty Rooms (2012) * New To Me 3/5
This was one of those real slow burner horrors that has a single mother moving into a new house with her autistic son. Things get bad for them when a chubby naked man and a toothless woman turn out to be the house ghosts. The ghosts are creepy as hell because they are physically there tossing people around and then just disappear. The family gets torn apart as people don't believe she's being haunted but instead abusing her son.

They did this one well with the gradual build up and then it just starts freaking you out. When you see those redneck ghosts the hair will stand up on the back of your neck. Not a huge budget film but I liked it better than those Paranormal Whacktivities. Check it out.

 

[dana martin]

the last three days


*****




*****





**** (new to me)

overall a great series that just sort of seemed rushed at the very end, one of the true better fusions of differing Gothic horror all co-intermingled, every role was OWNED by the cast and it was a pleasure in seeing quality put forth.

 

[dana martin]

Revenge of Frankenstein

Hammer and Terence Fishers 2nd walk down this road is a solid ****1/2
and on a side note Mill Creek's blu is a decent presentation definitely wort the price

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

Phase II - Fine Films with Feeble Follow Ups

October 13: Poltergeist (1982) – 4 out of 5

A cookie-cutter suburban home begins experiencing odd events. At first a curiosity, but the events become stranger, stronger, and when the youngest child, little Carol Anne - to whom the supernatural force behind the occurrences had been communicating - disappears (but can be heard through the television,) the distraught family turn to paranormal investigators for help.

Poltergeist is a superb film (1982 was such a good year for film,) and is absorbing as much for its warm familial moments as its frightening displays of ghostly attacks. Writer/Producer Stephen Spielberg (along with co-writers,) demonstrates a deft understanding of the audience, and a genuine gift for spectacle (even on this relatively small scale,) delivering iconic scenes with lasting imagery. Director Tobe Hooper (though rumors persist that it was actually Spielberg calling the shots throughout the shoot,) lulls the audience with the normality of suburban family life, then teases and tingles with a few safe displays of supernatural events, before lunging the film full-tilt into the realm of tempered horror. Scenes carry the same potency to raise the hairs on your arms as much in 2014 as they did watching this on VCRs back in the 80s. And that's no small feat. The sequels were largely forgettable (especially the silly Part III set in a high rise which I will now need to watch anyway), but this classic piece of popular cinema is simply a treat.

And I’ll add, that having watched this for the challenge a couple of years ago, my appreciation has grown. I don’t think I have ever enjoyed this film as much as I did watching it this year!

 

[whacky blacky]

October 13
49. The Bride (2016) * New To Me 2/5 Watched on DVD
A woman and her soon to be husband are kidnapped by a few guys and taken out to the woods where she is raped then both are killed. They make a mistake and bury them by a tree that is cursed by a bride who was raped and killed and has mysterious powers. Oops. The vengeful spirit jumps into her body springing her into taking revenge action.
The film doesn't really go anywhere we haven't been but does almost seem like Avenged (2013) and of course borrows heavily from I Spit On Your Grave. I found it boring and just regurgitated themes. You don't really care about any of the characters. Leave this bride at the altar.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Jungle Woman (1944) * 1/2

Sequel to CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN has a doctor on trial for murder and him having to explain why he killed Paula the Ape Woman. This is a really awful movie that is perhaps Universal's worst horror movie. IF it's not their worst it's certainly their laziest as we get way too much stock footage from the first film and there's certainly not enough scenes with the ape woman. It's almost like Universal knew they had a dud so they cut back on the cash.

The Purge: Election Year (2016) **

The hero from the previous film is now in the Secret Service where he must protect a Senator who is trying to become President so that she can stop the annual purge. I hated the first film. Thought the second was okay and this one here is on its same page. Way, way too long and there are far too many logical issues for this to work. Not to mention various annoying characters including the candy bar chicks. The performances were good and the violence/gore level was much higher than the previous films but the political stuff was kinda stupid.