***Official 19th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge 2018*** (1 Viewer)

[John Stell]

1. Watch 13 Scary/Horror/Halloween-Themed films, etc. from midnight October 1, 2018 through on October 31, 2018 (use your own time zone to set the ending time).

2. Theatrically released films and short features count as 1 point each. Running times are irrelevant. TV specials (e.g. "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!") and individual episodes of anthology TV series (e.g. "The Twilight Zone") also count as 1 point each. For episodic TV series, 2 hour-long episodes (e.g. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") count as 1 point and 3 episodes of 30 minute-long episodes (e.g. "The Munsters") count as 1 point.

3. Two of the 13 films, et.al. must be new discoveries, movies you've never seen before. The point of this is to see those few movies you've always meant to see, but never got around to. Please specify new discoveries in your film list by making them bold, adding asterisks, different colors, etc.

4. Come here and talk about 'em.

5. There is an uber-category, the Ultimate Splatter Challenge for those who wish to put all of the rest of us to shame. This is the heavyweight division. These people, if they choose to accept the challenge, must view 31 horror/scary/Halloween themed movies before dawn on Nov. 1st. Ten new discoveries are recommended for this one. The rest of us will bow down in awed reverence to these truly "Splatterific" HTF members. The bragging rights will be awesome and long lived.6. What movies qualify? If you wanna include it, go for it. There will be no hairsplitting. If The Wizard of Oz sends you to the dresser for a fresh pair of boxer shorts, all the power.At the end of the challenge, the totals will be added up based on the point system outlined in number 2 above.

Reserve your spot below!

 

[whacky blacky]

2. Day Of The Reaper (1984). Some low budget fun from Tim Ritter. One of his earlier ones shot in Super-8. 3/5.

 

[dpippel]

OCTOBER 1: It was Stephen Sommers night!

1) Deep Rising (1998) - 3/5 stars - Sea monster flick with Treat Williams and Famke Janssen. Cheese galore, but surprisingly enjoyable despite the VERY dated CGI creature effects. The new Kino Lorber Blu-ray release looks and sounds terrific!

2) Van Helsing (2004) - 3.5/5 stars - Everyone knows Van Helsing, which is a guilty pleasure of mine. Watched the new 4K UHD release for the first time, and while the blacks seemed a bit crushed it is superb.

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

OCTOBER 1: It was Stephen Sommers night!

1) Deep Rising (1998) - Sea monster flick with Treat Williams and Famke Janssen. Cheese galore, but surprisingly enjoyable despite the VERY dated CGI creature effects. The new Kino Lorber Blu-ray release looks and sounds terrific!
2) Van Helsing (2004) - Everyone knows Van Helsing, which is a guilty pleasure of mine. Watched the new 4K UHD release for the first time, and while the blacks seemed a bit crushed it is superb.

I want to include Deep Rising in this year’s line up because it’s such a fun film!

 

[dpippel]

If you haven't picked up the new Blu, Neil, I can highly recommend it.

 

[whacky blacky]

3. 6:66 PM (2017). FTV. Watched on DVR. Really dumb humour in this one but it still entertains. Your eyes might hurt afterwards from rolling them so much.

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

If you haven't picked up the new Blu, Neil, I can highly recommend it.

I hadn't, but now I simply must. My wife and my wallet thank you

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

October 2: The Ritual (2017) - 3.5 out of 5 - First Time Viewing

Following the violent loss of one of their group, four University friends take a hiking trip through the hill-and-mountain wilderness of Sweden. When one of them is injured, they must take a short-cut through the eerie, still forest. Tired, and with a simmering sense of unease from the forest and inside the group of friends setting in, they realize something terrible is stalking them. Strange symbols carved in trees, odd noises, and apparent sightings of something quite large are just the beginning.

This is a beautiful looking film that carefully builds a sense of dread and foreboding. Very good performances from 4 actors, led by Rafe Spall, help slowly unravel of the unity of the team. The film, directed by David Bruckner, may not take us to too many new places (or take us there with too much of a new approach), the story itself is compelling - with effective dramatic callbacks to earlier scenes that create a deeper sense of tension. The film also holds back on revealing the mystery until late in the game, and that's a blessing since, while the reveal is interesting and well handled, it can't quite match the lead up to it.

In many ways this is reminiscent of 2005's The Descent, where a group of friends goes off exploring somewhere semi-desolate following a tragedy only to have their unity fray and their lives ended one by one. The Descent is more brutal, but The Ritual builds an isolating sense of space and will give you chills and creeps in equal measure. This one's on Netflix in the U.S. so I do recommend checking it out.

 

[TravisR]

I made a quick decision to start with some of the classic Universal monster movies today.

2. Dracula (1931)

The most famous vampire movie ever made. Parts of it don't work so great but it's still a classic. What's amazing about this movie is that it's so ingrained in pop culture that it's still widely recognized by almost any viewer today. How many movies from 1931 can you say that about?


3. Dracula (Spanish language)

The Spanish language version of Dracula (filmed on the same sets with a cast who could speak Spanish) that has elements that are better than its English counterpart. The one thing that it's definitely missing though is the performance of the great Bela Lugosi.

 

[Michael Elliott]

2. Day Of The Reaper (1984). Some low budget fun from Tim Ritter. One of his earlier ones shot in Super-8. 3/5.

I got six Ritter films lined up including the entire TRUTH OR DARE series. I wanted to include this one but it seems it's going for crazy dollars right now.

 

[John Stell]

Out of 4

007) 10/02/2018 The Face of Fu Manchu (1965)

First in the series of thrillers starring Christopher Lee as arch fiend Fu Manchu. In this outing, Fu has gotten hold of Tibetan poison so toxic that “a pint could kill every human and animal in London.” Lively, colorful thriller is well-directed by Don Sharp. Lee makes a great villain, and Nigel Green is intense as police commissioner Nayland Smith. Also, great to see the charismatic Joachim Fuchsberger in something other than a German krimi.

008) 10/02/2018 The Brides of Fu Manchu (1966)

1/2
Fu Manchu (Christopher Lee) has kidnapped the wives and daughters of leading industrialists and scientists to blackmail them into constructing death ray. Commissioner Nayland Smith vows to stop him. Lee is good as is German krimi star Heinz Drache, who plays a scientist. Not quite as strong as the first film. But still quite lively and entertaining.

009) 10/03/2018 The Vengeance of Fu Manchu (1967)

Third entry in the series. As a representative of the world’s crime kingpins journeys to request Fu Manchu (Christopher Lee) to be their leader, Fu Manchu plots his revenge against Nayland Smith by forcing a plastic surgeon to create a lookalike. The idea that all criminals would follow one boss is a silly one in this disappointing outing that recycles elements of previous films (e.g. kidnapping daughters to force cooperation). ​

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

October 3:

 

[Ruz-El]

Got one in last night, conked out asleep before finishing the second. I'm being forced to watch DANCING WITH THE STARS and it's revolting shit, I can count it, right?

383 10/02 The Vampire Doll (1970) 3/5 Effective little weird tale out of Japan about a man who goes missing after returning from America and going off to visit his girlfriend. The man’s sister goes off in search of him and odd things are discovered. It’s a bit of a slow burn, but it works with the atmosphere that builds. Just don’t be misled by the word “Vampire” in the title, there’s no traditional gothic romantic Dracula elements to be found despite this one being the first film in “The Bloodthirsty Trilogy” and the other two films (which I haven’t watched yet) having “Dracula” in their titles.

 

[Radioman970]

Peter Jackson should do a Dancing with the Stars like Meet the Feebles.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Nightmares in Red, White and Blue (2003) ***

This here's a pretty good documentary that tries to cover the entire history of the horror genre. That is a rather impossible thing to try considering this lasts less than two hours but for the most part it's certainly entertaining and features some interviews with the big boys like Carpenter and Romero.

Traces of Death (1993) **

Umm... yeah. I guess you could call this a real FACES OF DEATH. Obviously this thing isn't going to be for everyone and in all honesty I have to question why something like this was even made but I'm guessing it was meant to cash in on the FOD series as well as be something more shocking. The narration is so awful that it's just as bad as anything on the screen.

Nail Gun Massacre (1985) **

One of the greatest bad movies ever made. This thing is beyond awful on just about every level but it's so funny and campy that it's easy to have a good time with it. The killer's awful voice is pure madness as are the really insane one-liners. Even worse is the fact that everyone who is killed manages to still breathe, move or blink their eyes. The sleaze factor (nudity, violence, blood) is rather high so at least the director got that right.

Asylum (1972) ***

I last watched this anthology film when I was around ten or so. I didn't like it at the time so I never revisited it until last night. I can see why I didn't like it at the time but I was really impressed with it now. I thought the first three stories were extremely good and especially the first one, which managed to be rather creepy. Peter Cushing was terrific in the second story as well.

Universal Horror (1998) *** 1/2

This documentary takes a look at the studio and their legendary horror films. Considering some of the people interviewed here (Gloria Stuart, Fay Wray) are no longer with us makes it even more important. For the most part this was a wonderful documentary but they basically just cover the big films. I do wish a sequel would be made taking a closer look at the studio in the 1940s and 50s.

 

[Radioman970]

Tuesday, October 2nd
3. Texas Chainsaw Massacre The Beginning. (2007) Announcing to large groups of people: see it like a spin off for Ermey's phenomenal local sheriff festival of crazy! It's great y'all! The gore work is like watching a really good driver's ed video, with the real stuff you forget as soon as you hit the road. Please please love it! Nobody but me does. I try not to say "underrated" just because of that because I like being a special exception when it comes to movies like mom said, I'm special in some ways. She's right! I started with the absolute favorite (after the orginal of course) TCM 2 last month. Have watched all up to this reboot prequel. My least favorite is probably the 3rd. The scenes with the family, Viggo and etc, are terrible. Even 4 (Next Gen) has better scenes with McConaughey's silly air powered leg stealing scenes and Zelwegger's nerdy sassiness the movie's biggest hoot!! Chainsaw 3D is next in line! Only ever seen the 2D. Can't wait!

4. Paranormal Activity 4. (2012) Planned this first then TCM but dinner would be during the second movie of the day. I did have popcorn and coffee with TCM but damn the TCMs are not foodie movies! :p Worse, I'm a vegetarian now and one year I nerved it up for some BBQ with the reboot to be a smartass and be able to say I did. You know how that went! blah! Maybe helped me kick the flesh habit! Anyway, PA is a favorite series of mine too. This 4th film has a very good young couple that I find perfectly believable. Their interactions are like watching your own kids, something these movies need are people who know how to act like they aren't acting. I know the PAs can drag but for me it builds tensions and first viewings to all of these have me on the edge. I watched the first 3 last month but saved the final 3 for this month. I'll see the 6th in 3D for the first time. Can't wait!

5. Hotel Transylvania 3D. (2012) (NEW) Was DYYYYYYYING to see this! hahahaHAHAHAhaha! My joke is almost as funny as all the ones in this movie! But really I thought the jokes ranged from too lazy to laugh at to oh my belly is moving I'm alive laughs. Good overall and nice story too. The 3D ranged from subtle to pretty darn good. I was worried about those things and they ended up being better than I thought. The characters were excellent and had me wondering what a Addam's Family or Munsters animated movie would look like. Like this! Would love either of those. Sandler, I'm not fan, but he's perfectly great! Good voice and brings some heart to it. Some clever stuff with Frankenstein's monster, that gets called Frankenstein a few times and my nerdy self wanted to jump in the 3D world and scream Frankenstein was the doctor not the monster you FOOLS! lol The Invisible Man with his glasses bouncing around to me was just completely funny every time. Great idea. The movie's human visitor was decent as a fish out of water just trying to fit in. Have to say much better than expected! Couldn't imagine this not being yearly for now on. I have the next one too. Can't wait!

For today... can't wait! lol Thinking of going with Friday the 13th on blu ray for the first time. I have that set with III in 3D which I'll see for the first time because I was too scared to see it in the theater. I'm waiting for some plastic red/blue 3D glasses in the mail but they are taking a month to get it to me. The seller told me to be patient in broken English. They're comin! lol I hope they'll give III the modern treatment. It's comin, right? lol

 

[dpippel]

OCTOBER 2:

3) Get Out* (2017) - 4.5/5 stars - I had purposely avoided trailers and reviews of Jordan Peele's film, and was finally able to watch the 4K UHD last night. LOVED IT! Great movie that turns around any number of horror film tropes. Very original and the entire cast was superb.

 

[Radioman970]

The guy in Get Out is in the Brit show Psychoville. His character is "Teafleaf". lol I've watched all those but forgot about the Halloween special. Will watch it soon. then go back to League of Gentlemen.

 

[whacky blacky]

4. Kiss Of The Tarantula (1976). FTV. Watched on DVD. A woman uses spiders to take care of her people problems. Nothing too heavy here but watchable anyways. 2.5/5

 

[Malcolm R]

You think this is some kind of . . . Bigfoot?
Oh, no, this isn't Bigfoot. This is bigger. Meaner.

Abominable B+

Preston Rogers has survived a traumatic climbing accident in which his wife died and he was left paralyzed from the waist down. After therapy, he has returned with his nurse/caretaker to his cabin in the woods for further recouperation. After a couple of odd occurrences, he discovers a huge creature is stalking the group of young women staying next door.

Written and directed by Ryan Schifrin, with music by his father, Lalo Schifrin, Abominable is an above-average sasquatch movie. Some great practical effects and makeup, along with a fairly notable cast including Matt McCoy, Rex Linn, Lance Henriksen, Phil Morris, Dee Wallace Stone, and Jeffrey Combs, make for a fairly intense and bloody creature feature. If you can overlook some continuity issues and a few odd POV choices, it's a fun ride.

This was my first time viewing the recent blu-ray release. Though this was supposedly from a new 2K transfer and with improved CGI effects, I can't say I was really impressed with the video quality. Some shots are crystal clear, while others seem quite soft, and many scenes seem overly bright. I don't know the technical term, but some of the whites are so bright they go to purple. I'm also not really clear on what CGI was upgraded from the original film, other than maybe some of the creature's facial expressions.

I still enjoy the film, but am disappointed about the blu-ray presentation. At some point, I want to revisit the DVD and see if that actually looks better.

EDIT: I actually watched bits and pieces of the original version's SD transfer, which is included as a bonus feature on the blu-ray. It's not HD, but I think it actually looks better for the most part. Something went seriously wrong with the HD version. They pushed the color and contrast levels through the roof.

 

[TravisR]

4. The Mummy (1932)

A mummy is incognito as an Egyptian scholar and tries to get his reincarnated lost love. The opening of the movie is pretty great but I prefer the sequels despite that they get can a little goofy.


5. The Invisible Man

A mad scientist invents an invisibility formula that also makes him go crazy. The best of the Invisible Man series.


6. Bride Of Frankenstein

The monster demands a mate! A classic movie and arguably the best Universal monster movie.