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

[Radioman970]

Sunday, October 7th
16. Paranormal Activity 5 Marked Ones. (2014) Sunday started with the activity but all the priests are busy! Living dangerous! This Hispanic spinoff would have made a great trilogy, I absolutely love the main trio. Jesse, Hector and Marisol are my favorites in the whole series. Jesse and Hector seem like they've known each other since the 2nd grade. Marisol is sweet but naive and has victim written all over her face. Along with grandma and the dad, this a first rate cast. The young couple from the 4th PA are also fantastic and realistic at the same time. The humor, some real edge of of the seat, like in the cellar... I think one of best sequels in history.

17. Happy Death Day. (2017)(NEW) Avoid spoilers... very important to go in cold as possible and don't wanna ruin for folks. There's a place in many movies that you start thinking it's a gem you'll watch over and over. This is one. I stayed away from the hype and that helped. There's only one flaw.... (SPOILER====> events play out a certain way each time she wakes up and if she changes something the timing will be different when somebody passes her on the school campus or when she sees some event like the sprinkler coming on but they didn't bother with that but should have, missed opportunities all over the place <==== SPOILER ENDS) The young woman who plays Tree should go on to many great things she's fantastic. Excellent and instant highlight this year.

18. Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter 3D (2012) Finally the historic tall hat splatter fest in 3D! Oh yeah! 3D is flawed in places, like it was done in a hurry, but freaking great anyway! The horsey stampede, crazy runaway locomotive and realistic battlefield parts should be required viewing for 3D junkies like me. I hate to use the word but I'm going ahead with it, underrated!! This movie is awesome in 3D! Those scenes just separate with the depth and I was able to make out things that would get jumbled in my eyes and brain in 2D. The guy who plays the honest one looks like a young Liam Neeson. He's good. I wish more people liked this. I think it's better than the also fun and wacky Sense and Sensibility and Zombies! lol I'll desire this every year.

19. The Night Eats the World. (2018)(NEW) Zombies, but best when it's about the surviving and this guy's mental state. It's low key. But I thought of 28 Days Later, I am Legend, and Dying Light the game while watching. Not as good as any of that but worth a look.

20. Casper. (1995)(NEWish) I've seen bits of this but couldn't remember if I'd seen the whole thing. I would have watched it for Idle and maybe Ricci who was cute and I wouldn't have done research to find out she was jail bait when it came out. lol I didn't have the internet then okay?! lol this is pretty funny, looks great, same style as Who Framed Roger Rabbit? The ghosty voices are all good, and they didn't poop all over the memories of the old cartoon. I was a big little fan of Casper and even had a plastic Fisher Price film viewer that had these long cassettes you'd slide in and then turn the crank round and round! imagine a today kid having to do that! lol I watched the Casper one a million times. Stupidly I sold it in a yard sale years and years ago. I still need to pick up the cartoon dvds and the one included on the blu is heartwarming and likable. Got this as a amazon addon with the Friday the 13th blu collection. Can't be better!

(10-3) Dark Shadows. (657) (NEW) David and Blueberry girl pranking the Collins home. Wanted to watch a bunch more but time ran out.

Monday, October 8th
21. Devil's Due. (2014)(NEW) Thought this would be more like Lovely Molly, one of the most unnerving movies I've ever seen, but it's exactly like a Paranormal Activity. It's okay. The final third is best. But it won't be a yearly like the PAs are.

22. Murder Party. (2007) A favorite because the loser who finds an invitation to a weird party kinda reminds me of me. lol Maybe this guy's a little more pathetic. I mean, he buys a few used VHS tapes from a video store! (I bought this dvd used from a video store) His cat is named Sir Lancelot. (I have Professor Keebler, Sour Grapes & Frodo) yeah, it's bad. lol The music is alternately generic and clever. Just think subtle heavenly choir as if one of the knights of the round table is passing through the kindgom! lol It's touches like that that really stay with me. The music adds to his knight costume he makes out of cardboard, bakes a loaf of pumpkin bread and he's off to try to mix in with a bunch of loonies! Of course the party is sinister and he won't exactly mix in with that crowd. Highly recommended, and if you can get it from an old video story used it will add to it believe me!

23. Mum & Dad. (2009) I know but really don't wanna know if this is based on anything real. I know it has to be and that's creepier than anything in the movie. If you brave this then be ready for anything. Call your own mom after and tell you you lov her, or your dad or your sister or somebody not like anybody in this movie. In fact, call them before and after or during a pee break in the middle. You'll need all that trust me. Depraved, but don't be scared away. Really really good! Bought it with many others including the above Murder party at a going out of business at a video store here. I try to watch them together. Missed them last year.

Tuesday, October 9th

24. coming ...

 

[Malcolm R]

I also love Abe Lincoln Vamp Hunter. Have Happy Death Day and Devil's Due in my pile to watch.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

October 8:

I think they could have titled this picture "Helen Mirren in Black or a Series of Unfortunate Jump Scares"

 

[Radioman970]

You're gonna love Happy Death Day! Blind buys can be so fun sometimes!

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

October 9:

 

[EricSchulz]

#009: Train To Busan (FTV) Wow. An original and entertaining zombie movie! Unusual in that the story is the focus, not the kills. Some visually stunning scenes and great performances. Highly recommended. 4.5/5 stars

 

[EricSchulz]

#010 King of the Lost World (FTV) Don’t. Bother. 0/5 stars

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

October 10: Island Zero (2018) - 2 out of 5 - First Time Viewing

On a small, quiet fishing island, the townsfolk find themselves isolated from the outside world when the mainland ferry fails to show up for several days, communications go down, and even radio doesn't work. The few that attempt to take their boats to the mainland don't get far. And soon, the fear begins to set in that something terrible is happening.

I think my summary may make this film sound more interesting than it actually is. This is a cheaply made, TV-episode quality film with a good premise but poor execution (in part from the low budget, but in larger part from what seems like the use of non-actors in speaking part roles). There are a couple of very well performed scenes, quieter moments, but the film just stumbles along, coasting on a little bit of mystery and atmosphere, before tripping up entirely once the threat is revealed. The issue isn't really with the concept, but rather the terrible effects used to bring the poorly designed (and, frankly, boring) 'creature' threats to life. That and the awkward mix of good actors and people seemingly plucked off the street and handed a script.

There really was some promise in the concept, sadly though, it seems the filmmakers reach outstripped their grasp, or at least their budgetary needs, and the flaky ending doesn't really help matters. A shame. Still, if you're into cheap horror movies, this one's streaming free on Amazon Prime right now here in the U.S.

 

[whacky blacky]

24. Patient 79 (2013) aka Seventy-Nine. FTV. Watched on DVD. People are subjected to mind control and tortures. So was I while watching it. 2/5.

 

[Sandro]

23. Mum & Dad. (2009) I know but really don't wanna know if this is based on anything real. I know it has to be and that's creepier than anything in the movie. If you brave this then be ready for anything. Call your own mom after and tell you you lov her, or your dad or your sister or somebody not like anybody in this movie. In fact, call them before and after or during a pee break in the middle. You'll need all that trust me. Depraved, but don't be scared away. Really really good! Bought it with many others including the above Murder party at a going out of business at a video store here. I try to watch them together. Missed them last year.

Great call on this movie but it is really nasty. It never really got its due among all the torture porn that came out around that time.

On a related subject Nicholas Cage's recent movie Mom and Dad is also worth a watch.

 

[Sandro]

Some notable recent watched (rated * to ****)

Marrowbone ***
A historcal drama with some horrific overtones about a family of kids who need to stay together without their parents and the strange hauntings in their house. A lot of familiar ideas from other movies makes for an uneven movie that peaks dramatically towards the end and has a twist straight out of a 90s movie. Some may like it less but I enjoyed it.

Critters ** 1/2
Sequel is not quite as good but still enjoyable. The critters are just so cool.

Upgrade ***
Excellent action, sci-fi with a bit of horror that takes a lot of familiar elements and handles them confidently. Nice action scenes and a killer ending that brings the horror.

Santa Sangre *** 1/2
Another movie that is tangentially horror but absolutely fantastic. Just a bizarre story about a kid's weird relationship with his mother and father in a circus and a number of other strange characters. Brilliant fantasy from Jodorowsky.

Murder Party ***
Let me echo the earlier praise for this independent movie from Jeremy Saulnier who went on to make Blue Ruin, Green Room and the recent Hold the Dark. Sharp script, an unusual setting, satire and horror in equal doses. When it goes crazy at the end it takes off.

 

[TravisR]

29. Pillow Of Death

Lon Chaney is suspected of smothering his wife with a pillow (hence the rather crazy title) so he can be with his lover. The final Inner Sanctum movie is pretty decent (no head in the crystal ball at the beginning of the movie though).


30. She-Wolf Of London

A woman thinks she's the title character. Entertaining B-movie but it's not hard to see that the end of the Universal horror era was coming.


31. Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein

The title leaves out that A&C also meet Dracula and the Wolf Man. A classic movie.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Hell Fest (2018) **

I must say that the most memorable moment for me was when someone jumped out in your typical jump scare moment and my son went to cover his eyes so quickly that he accidentally smacked the shit out of himself. Haha.

As far as the film goes, the basic premise is that there's an amusement park where anything goes for the workers to get scares. A group of friends go but a real serial killer shows up and starts to pick them off. No one realizes that it's real.

For the most part this was a decent throwback to the 80's slasher as it certainly follows that "slice and dice" style. The film had some good performances and there were some nice murder set pieces throughout. The best moments in the picture was when something would be going on and people didn't realize that it was real. They were thinking that it was just a part of the park so they watched as people were really being killed. We needed more scenes like that. The film did suck when it comes to really using the setting and I'd argue there was too long of a stretch in the middle of the picture where nothing happened. The old slasher rule, you need nudity or violence every 8-minutes. Overall this was okay but it could have been much better.

The Lure (2015) ***

Extremely bizarre Polish film about sister mermaids who decide to live on land and get a job inside a club as singers. One sister ends up falling in love with a human while the other spends her "male time" eating them. This is a really, really bizarre film on many levels and it's easy to see why it has gotten a rather big following and reputation. In all honesty, I think the Musical aspect was the weakest part because it didn't really add anything except more weirdness to an already weird movie. The songs really weren't anything special and they just didn't do much for me. The rest of the film worked though and especially the director's vision. The cinematography was excellent and then there's that weird sexual tension. I really liked the bizarre sexuality as the two mermaids are obviously beautiful and that's what would attract a male to them but... you know... they're still mermaids. The performances were excellent as well.

Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) *

I honestly went into this film with an open mind and trying to view it from a different point of view. I've seen it two previous times and hated it with a passion but I really wanted to try and view it in a fresh way but sadly it didn't work. I went with the 103-minute "home video version" and it at least wasn't as long but that's about the only improvement it makes over the longer cut. The ending is still a downright mess and sadly the shorter running time didn't improve Richard Burton's performance. Yes we can give Boorman credit for trying something different but it's clear that no one wanted that and to me the film is just downright boring and it doesn't work. I still think the film could have been improved had the Linda Blair character remembered the events from the previous film. It probably would have helped had the pacing of the film been better. The dialogue is quite bad and to me the film just doesn't make too much sense. I think it's safe to say that this here will be my last viewing.

 

[Malcolm R]

lights out B
You were right to be afraid of the dark.

A supernatural entity that only appears in darkness kills a man then terrorizes his family. The daughter, Rebecca, begins to make connections between the current events and a number of unusual occurrences from her childhood. She eventually discovers a link between her family and the entity, and hopes the information can provide answers before they all become victims.

Very creepy film, with an interesting hook even if the premise is somewhat shaky and the film seems to violate its own rules on occasion. You're constantly watching all over the frame, expecting the creature to jump out of every shadow. Excellent surround sound and best watched in a completely dark room. If you're not afraid of the dark before you watch, you might be after.

Produced by James Wan (The Conjuring, Insidious, Saw), and directed by David Sandberg who also directed the upcoming Shazam! They announced a sequel since this film was so successful ($148 million worldwide vs. $4.9 million budget), but I'm not sure how they'd pull it off given how this one ends.

Animal C
Fear lives in the dark.

A group of friends out for a hike in the forest find themselves hunted by a fast, ravenous predator. After one of the group is killed, they find a cabin in the woods where another group of people has taken refuge after being pursued by the same creature. Soon the stress of the situation begins to boil over, and it's questionable whether it's safer inside the cabin, or outside with the creature.

Pretty good creature design, but the story is very thin and the creature attacks are very repetitive. The twist at the end is rather predictable if you're paying attention, and there's no explanation for what the creatures are, where they came from, or if any authorities are aware of them. It also seems like the producers ripped off the sound effects of the Raptors in Jurassic Park for their creature.

 

[John Stell]

Bold - Denotes first ever viewing
Rating - Out of a possible 4

037) 10/10/2018 Jennifer (1978)

1/2
Jennifer is a bright teenager who’s received a full scholarship to prestigious (e.g. expensive) high school where she’s tormented by psychotic rich girl. Jennifer also has a psychic link to snakes, which allows her to ultimately take her revenge. This blatant Carrie clone (with a helping of Stanley) lacks its source’s style, and it takes too long for Jennifer to start kicking butt. The first hour just piles on the tortures to the point of annoyance and frustration. One-note characterizations don’t help matters either.

038) 10/10/2018 Massacre at Central High (1976)

A high school transfer student runs afoul the school bullies so he proceeds to eliminate them, with unexpected consequences. A fine young cast impresses in this entertaining psycho killer movie that hasn’t dated a bit; more or less unofficially remade as Heathers in 1989.

039) 10/11/2018 The Devil Within Her (1975)

When Joan Collins rejected the affections of a little person, he cursed her so that her offspring would be a demon baby. Now a new mum, she thinks her kid is responsible for all sorts of terrible happenings. Absurd melding of Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist is too darn funny most of the time to build any aura of terror. Having a mildly annoyed-looking tyke dubbed with ear-piercing screams is just one the film’s many problems trying to make us afraid of this cutie. Biggest guffaw: seeing a little hand push a nurse into the lake.​

 

[TravisR]

I didn't want the Universal movies to stop so I kept watching the A&C and the 50's sci-fi/horror movies.


32. Abbott And Costello Meet The Invisible Man

The name says it all. Fun movie but nothing special.


33. It Came From Outer Space

An alien ship crashes and it takes control of the townspeople. A classic 50's monster movie.


34. Abbott And Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde

As before, the title says it all. My least favorite A&C monster outing.


35. Creature From The Black Lagoon

A group of scientists find a gill man in the Amazon. The best 50's monster movie and the last iconic monster that Universal created.


36. Revenge Of The Creature

The gill man is captured and put in an aquarium. Solid sequel that picks up once the gill man busts out of his fish jail.


37. Cult Of The Cobra

A group of soldiers are killed off one by one by a woman who can transform into a cobra. Fun spooky movie.

 

[John Stell]

Hey Travis - i thought you weren't going to be able to watch that many movies this year. You're kicking monster ass!

 

[whacky blacky]

25. Blood Child (2017). FTV. Streamed. A couple bring back a ghost child from Singapore that slowly screws them over. Nothing new here but it doesn't bore you either. 2.5/5.

 

[Malcolm R]

Critters ** 1/2
Sequel is not quite as good but still enjoyable. The critters are just so cool.

Love Critters. Glad it's finally coming out on blu-ray, though not until November, from Shout/Scream. Only as a collected set of all four films for now. Not sure if there will be single title releases in the future or not.

 

[John Stell]

Bold - Denotes first ever viewing
Rating - Out of possible 4

040) 10/11/2018 Dracula's Castle (1969)

Photographer brings his girlfriend to the castle he’s just inherited, unaware the current tenants are vampires. Their butler John Carradine keeps women in the cellar from whom he draws blood for his employers’ nightly cocktails. The tongue is definitely planted firmly in cheek in this rather dull camp fest. The vampires do little but gab, and director Al Adamson can’t stage an action scene for spit. For the television version, an extra seven minutes of footage was shot, which changed the houseguest character from a psycho killer to a werewolf.

041) 10/11/2018 Disciple of Death (1972)

1/2
Once upon a time there was a disciple of death! British period piece concerns devil’s lackey (Michael Raven) who’s resurrected when virgin plasma is spilled on his grave during a couple’s blood oath. The local parson suspects the truth as soon as the virgin sacrifices begin. Incredibly cheap and dreary, with too many close-ups and nary a thrill in sight. Raven’s kind of fun as the baddie though. The music score consists mostly of cues from Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D minor”. I pray thee, make it stop.

042) 10/12/2018 The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!? (1964)

Jerry visits a carnival where he gets mixed up with dancer Carmelita and her fortune teller sister. Soon he’s being hypnotized and turned into a knife-wielding killer. There are musical numbers, stand-up comedy, black cats, bad dancing, a creepy henchman, goofy nightmares, disfigured victims, an absurd final chase, and lots of gorgeous color photography. A glorious mess of a film, but one that is compulsively watchable.

043) 10/12/2018 Nightmare in Wax (1969)

1/2
Stars of Paragon Studios are disappearing, soon after which, they’re appearing as wax figures at Vincent Renard’s (Cameron Mitchell) wax museum. He wears an eyepatch and is disfigured, as well as being the studio’s former makeup artist. Coincidence? Uninspired House of Wax clone lacks that film’s style, fun, and Vincent Price. Mitchell is okay in the lead, and there is one pretty harrowing scene of someone catching fire. The ending will anger some viewers; most won’t care.​