***Official 20th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge 2019*** (1 Viewer)

[Radioman970]

I got the Fox Horror Classics Vol 2 with Chandu the Magician, Dragonwyck and Dr. Renalt's Secret at big lots for $5 today. I wonder if that's worth it or I should take it back?

Also, walmart has for $5 Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse blu ray. I remember that being real fun.

 

[John Stell]

I got the Fox Horror Classics Vol 2 with Chandu the Magician, Dragonwyck and Dr. Renalt's Secret at big lots for $5 today. I wonder if that's worth it or I should take it back?

Chandu and Dragonwyck are available on Blu Ray; But Renault isn't. I'd say $5 is good just for Renault alone; a steal if you're happy with the others on DVD.

 

[Suzanne.S]

Day 2 - I had other things that needed to be done today, so I only managed three more cartoons.

Midnight Frolics (1938) A Columbia Color Rhapsody. The color was not great and the plot was thin, but I did like the transparent effect used in the animation of the ghosts.

Studie No. 8 (1931) This is an abstract animation by Oskar Fischinger. It is set to The Sorcerer's Apprentice. I love abstract animation so this was great to see, but not really Halloween-y.

Swing You Sinners! (1930) A great surreal Fleischer outing. Bimbo is caught stealing chickens and various spooks, demons, witches and ghosts torment him in a very surreal fashion. I love the pre-code Fleischer jazz cartoons!

 

[dana martin]

Day 2 - I had other things that needed to be done today, so I only managed three more cartoons.

Midnight Frolics (1938) A Columbia Color Rhapsody. The color was not great and the plot was thin, but I did like the transparent effect used in the animation of the ghosts.

Studie No. 8 (1931) This is an abstract animation by Oskar Fischinger. It is set to The Sorcerer's Apprentice. I love abstract animation so this was great to see, but not really Halloween-y.

Swing You Sinners! (1930) A great surreal Fleischer outing. Bimbo is caught stealing chickens and various spooks, demons, witches and ghosts torment him in a very surreal fashion. I love the pre-code Fleischer jazz cartoons!

Suzanne, I love it that you include Classic Animation in your selections, have some myself that will be viewed.

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

October 2: Bone Tomahawk (2015) – 4 out of 5 - First Time Viewing

When a savage and mythic tribe abduct several members of a peaceful town in the old west, a rag-tag group of men, led by the town's sheriff, Franklin Hunt, head out to make rescue. The journey is rough, fraught with danger, and what they find, unimaginable.

Written and directed by S. Craig Zahler, who makes his directorial debut, Bone Tomahawk makes a brutal mark. Kurt Russell is exceptional as the grumpy SHerrif and he's supported by some terrific actors, including Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, and the great Richard Jenkins (who delivers a memorable performance). This Western/Horror hybrid succeeds on both counts. The California wilderness provides great vistas transporting us back to the old frontier, and Zahler's unapologetic showcase of cannibalistic rituals and savagery can be stomach churning, but it's never exploitative. Zahler also has a fine grasp of pacing and build up, and a gift for dialogue, especially as a means to dig deeper into the roots of the characters we're following. In fact, good portions of the film sit on the edge of tension as the main characters talk on their journey.

For all the film's strengths (performances, pacing, sense of time and place, and the compelling, unexplained mythology of the savage tribe), Bone Tomahawk can be a hard film to enjoy. The matter-of-fact brutality was tough, though that is more a personal taste than a complaint against the film. Redeeming the gruesome images for me was the terrific dialogue and terrific performances, the standout being Richard Jenkins who gave a rich performance as much with what his said as with the pauses and glances he gives.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Witchcraft '70 (1970) ** 1/2

This documentary was done in a Mondo style as it tells us about the various forms of witchcraft and how it is practiced throughout the world. As a documentary this thing is about as realistic as FACES OF DEATH but as an exploitation film I thought it worked quite well. The film got dragged out a bit but I thought some of the stories were rather entertaining and there were plenty of naked bodies on display.

Lord Shango (1975) ***

This blaxploitation film mixes voodoo and Christianity as a man is killed during a baptism but he comes back to life for revenge. If you're expecting something like BLACULA or BLACKENSTEIN then you're going to be really disappointed because this here is more arthouse than exploitation. I actually thought the film was well made and contained a great low-budget atmosphere. The two lead performances were quite good and I thought the film did a nice job considering its budget. It's a tad bit too slow at times but it was an interesting film.

The Prey (1983) **

Six people go hiking and camping where they are stalked and slaughtered by an unseen person. This was apparently made during the same time as FRIDAY THE 13TH but it was unreleased for four years. I don't know... It seems like this was familiar with F13 and contains a lot of the same elements. There are a couple bloody death scenes and for the most part I liked the six characters but at the same time there's really not too much that happens here. The film runs 80-minutes but it felt twice as long because the majority of the running time has nothing happening expect the characters walking around.

 

[JohnRice]

(3) The Addiction (1995): Abel Ferrara's rumination on human evil... or maybe Catholicism. I think he sees them as the same thing. Just look to Bad Lieutenant as evidence of his issues in that area. Anyway, it has vampires. It was just too minimal for my taste. I know it has something of a cult following, but practically every movie ever made has that. I heard philosophizing, but it just wasn't doing it for me. It probably didn't help that this was from a horrible non-anamorphic, windowboxed, PAL DVD I acquired from somewhere (anyone remember NicheFlicks? It was probably from there.) and I swear it was some type of kinescope type transfer, or something equally awful. Christopher Walken was freaking awesome in it, though.

(4) 31 (2016): Rob Zombie does The Most Dangerous Game / The Running Man / The Hunger Games / Saw / Battle Royale... and so on. Pretty standard issue Zombie stuff, but also just not up to his usual inventiveness. Nasty, sadistic characters doing nasty, sadistic things with squishy results. I recently saw another movie with this same general theme to it, Escape Room (2019) which I thought was significantly better, even though it wasn't very well received either.

(5) The Uninvited (2009): American remake of a J-Horror movie whose title I'm not going to mention, simply because it's best to go into this movie knowing as little as possible. You only get the first viewing once, and knowing what it is will spoil the first-time fun. Decent thriller about a young woman (Emily Browning) who is being released from a psychiatric hospital after some type of tragedy occurred a year prior. Like I said, it's decent, as in, not as good as What Lies Beneath, but a hell of a lot better than I Know Who Killed Me. I first saw this several years ago, and this second time I paid attention to if there was any cheating, and there wasn't any, that I saw.

 

[Malcolm R]

Head Count

Evan heads for the California desert for a weekend with his semi-estranged brother, Peyton. While hiking, the brothers meet up with a group of college students on vacation. Evan decides to spend some time with the group, and the attractive Zoey. That night, while telling ghost stories around the campfire, Evan unknowingly summons a shape-shifting entity seeking sacrifices to complete a mysterious ritual.

This seems like a film where someone said, "Hey, I have an idea for a movie" and created a cute little rhyme describing the curse/entity. Then the friends say, "Yeah, that sounds cool. You should make that!" Then once they start filming, find they have no idea how to extend the initial idea into a feature length story. The film has some creepy moments and pretty good sound design at times, but there's no real insight into the end game of the entity or why any of this is necessary. (Netflix)

 

[John Stell]

007) 10/02/2019 Child's Play (2019)

1/2 (Out of four)​

Single mother gives her shy kid a Buddi doll unaware its safety protocols were deactivated by disgruntled employee. Soon Chucky goes to extreme measures to protect his new best friend. Clever reinvention of the franchise for the 21st century lacks the maniacal touch Brad Dourif brought with his voice characterization. But there's still fun to be had in this fast-paced thriller.

008) 10/02/2019 The Curse of La Llorona (2019)

​

Widowed mother of two realizes her kids have been targeted by legendary ghost La Llorona. Competent but unexceptional ghost story is the cinematic equivalent of a haunted maze where things jump out accompanied by loud noises. The first hour is repetitive and routine, But the last half hour is pretty effective. Linda Cardellini is excellent as the worried mom.

009) 10/03/2019 Ma (2019)

1/2​

Octavia Spencer shines as seemingly friendly and concerned woman who lets kids hang out and party in her basement for their own safety. But she has a dark agenda tied to a past humiliation. Character-driven slow-burn thriller has some pretty horrific moments although it could have gone farther during the climax.​

 

[Jeff Flugel]

Starting slow, with a couple of classic TV episodes to get me in the seasonal mood. It's still very hot and humid here in Japan; I miss that crisp autumn feeling October brings back home in the Pacific NW.

1) Kolchak: The Night Stalker
1.18 "The Knightly Murders
I love me some Kolchak, but this one is one of the lesser entries in the series, IMO. The central idea is a good one (a vengeful spirit inhabiting an empty suit of armor, going around killing those who are trying to turn the museum it resides in into a disco), but the execution is fairly flat and lacks atmosphere. As always with this series, the guest cast is fun (John Dehner as a philosophical cop, Hans Conreid as the museum curator and Robert Emhardt as a specialist in coats of arms), and Darren McGavin always works overtime to liven things up as the irrepressible Carl Kolchak.

1.20 "The Sentry"
When a geologist discovers some strange, egg-like rocks deep in an unused section of a vast underground storage facility, he arouses the vengeful ire of some kind of walking lizard monster. This final episode of the series gets some flack for its lame monster design, but I think it's a pretty effective riff on Star Trek's "Devil in the Dark." It's got some great, creepy atmosphere, sharp direction (which cleverly tries to disguise the cheesy monster suit), a cool location, and the added bonus of the lovely Kathie Browne (McGavin's real-life wife) as the Kolchak-hating police lieutenant-of-the-week.

 

[sleroi]

OCT 2

6) AHS 1984 - episode 1

Havent seen any of the previous seasons, and judging by what I watched I havent missed anything. Bad writing, bad directing, bad acting. Just bad everything.

The opening flashback, which lacked any suspense whatsoever, had a serial killer kill 3 campers behind a sheet in a room full of other campers. But no one heard the killing because none of the victims screamed. Or maybe no one heard because in the 1 minute between when the campers peeked around the sheet and when they were killed, the killer managed to also murder every other girl in the cabin. And then in a later flashback there are actually more bodies lined up leading into the cabin. Yet no one heard anything.

Flash forward to an incredibly cliched 1984 aerobics center and 5 stock characters. The cokehead, the dumb jock, the preppy, the bad girl and the good girl. Near the beginning of the episode, so no spoiler: They have a conversation about the night stalker and good girl Brooke says that serial killers attack more in summer because people sleep with their windows open. The very next scene Brooke is sleeping under an open window and, you guessed it, is attacked by the night stalker.

The direction is so bad they cant even execute a proper jump scare late in the episode with Don Swayze and a cat.

And none of the characters are likable.

7) AHS 1984 - episode 2

Out of morbid curiosity I watched episode 2, and it just got weird. In a confusing way, not a good way. Unfortunately, for me, there is no compelling underlying mystery making me want to continue watching. So Ill probably wait until the series is over and read a recap.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

007) 10/02/2019 Child's Play (2019)

1/2 (Out of four)​

Single mother gives her shy kid a Buddi doll unaware its safety protocols were deactivated by disgruntled employee. Soon Chucky goes to extreme measurers to protect his new best friend. Clever reinvention of the franchise for the 21st century lacks the maniacal touch Brad Dourif brought with his voice characterization. But there's still fun to be had in this fast-paced thriller.

008) 10/02/2019 The Curse of La Llorona (2019)

​

Widowed mother of two realizes her kids have been targeted by legendary ghost La Llorona. Competent but unexceptional ghost story is the cinematic equivalent of a haunted maze where things jump out accompanied by loud noises. The first hour is repetitive and routine, But the last half hour is pretty effective. Linda Cardellini is excellent as the worried mom.

009) 10/03/2019 Ma (2019)

1/2​

Octavia Spencer shines as seemingly friendly and concerned woman who lets kids hang out and party in her basement for their own safety. But she has a dark agenda tied to a past humiliation. Character-driven slow-burn thriller has some pretty horrific moments although it could have gone farther during the climax.​

Man, John, you are CRUISING...Nine films already!?! Wow.

I should get to nine before Halloween, anyway.

 

[sleroi]

OCT 2

8) Mom and Dad (2017) hulu

The opposite of Cooties. This time Parents are going crazy and trying to kill their kids. But only their own children.

Good premise and a decent script, but poor direction and editing are its downfall.

The opening credits are done in a throwback style to early 70s independent horror, but the rest of the film is nothing like a 70s film. Nicholas Cage plays the Dad as already possibly unstable before he turns. The daughter is rude and obnoxious. And the son, who appears to be older than a kindergartner for some reason doesnt go to school. I guess to set up the plot point later on that his sister has to go home to rescue him.

The first hour is full of odd, frantic cuts, poor character development and poor pacing. There is what could have been a taut, suspenseful birthing scene in a hospital that was undone by a poorly acted dopey boyfriend, cliches and sloppy jump cuts. And once the finale is set up, and the action starts to get good it is interrupted three times by lengthy flashbacks that could have easily been explained in the first hour.

And then it ends. Not a happy ending, nor a dark ending. It just abruptly ends.

I explained it to my wife as a couple going through a mid life crisis are able to save their troubled marriage by uniting in the relentless pursuit to kill their children. That is a wonderfully dark premise that unfortunately the movie fails to live up to.

9) Cat People (1943) -

I had only ever seen the Paul Schrader version, which I just found okay. So I was pleasantly surprised how much I likes this.

Great use of lighting and especially sound to elevate a B picture. There is a great moment where the sound of a cat and a bus combine enough to make the audience as unsure as the character on screen as to what is really going on.

The initial romance is effortless and the ensuing jealousy unfolds naturally. Overall a wonderfully atmospheric and suspenseful film I really liked.

 

[dana martin]

Theatrical Viewing
Blu Ray Viewing
DVD Viewing
Streaming

October 2nd
Weird is "relative".... indeed, who the hell is normal anyway?



Scary thought, Paramount just released to catalog titles, could that mean anything..... still good Dark Comedies

 

[Ruz-El]

got in another one last night:

002 10/02 Pledge Night (1990) 2.5/5 Hell week gets crazy as an acid flashback reaps murderous havoc. I was shocked to see that this one came out in 1990 since everything about it smacks of 1984 (in a bad way...). It’s one of those that are not very good but I enjoyed it all the same. Main issue is the first half is all frat boy shenanigans that I have zero tolerance for so midway through all I wanted was for every character to be killed. Second half is where the actual horror stuff happens, and it’s fine despite them being a bit too in love with their Freddy knock-off makeup. So it’s one of those that delivers what you want from an 80’s slasher thing (tits and gore) but doesn’t quite rise up to be part of the pack. Anthrax-heads may get more of a kick out of it than the regular punter.

 

[John Stell]

Man, John, you are CRUISING...Nine films already!?! Wow.

I should get to nine before Halloween, anyway.

Yeah, I watch movies from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. give or take during October. I have the rest of the year to catch up on sleep!

 

[John Stell]

got in another one last night:

002 10/02 Pledge Night (1990) 2.5/5 Hell week gets crazy as an acid flashback reaps murderous havoc. I was shocked to see that this one came out in 1990 since everything about it smacks of 1984 (in a bad way...). It’s one of those that are not very good but I enjoyed it all the same. Main issue is the first half is all frat boy shenanigans that I have zero tolerance for so midway through all I wanted was for every character to be killed. Second half is where the actual horror stuff happens, and it’s fine despite them being a bit too in love with their Freddy knock-off makeup. So it’s one of those that delivers what you want from an 80’s slasher thing (tits and gore) but doesn’t quite rise up to be part of the pack. Anthrax-heads may get more of a kick out of it than the regular punter.

I just saw this for the first time last month and had the opposite reaction! I like how the first part set up the possibility that various people could end up being the killer (e.g. one of the humiliated pledges). Then the bad guy shows up with cool makeup but lame line readings/delivery and I lost all interest. I'd give it one out of four, although I really did like Arthur Lundquist's "Mad" Dan. I also watched the extras on the Vinegar Syndrome disc and this was actually made in 1988. It took them a couple of years to find a distributor.

 

[Ruz-El]

I just saw this for the first time last month and had the opposite reaction! I like how the first part set up the possibility that various people could end up being the killer (e.g. one of the humiliated pledges). Then the bad guy shows up with cool makeup but lame line readings/delivery and I lost all interest. I'd give it one out of four, although I really did like Arthur Lundquist's "Mad" Dan. I also watched the extras on the Vinegar Syndrome disc and this was actually made in 1988. It took them a couple of years to find a distributor.

I'm prejudiced against frats haha. They were trying too hard to give the bad guy some Freddy energy and it just doesn't work. Main problem with the 80's low budget horrors is they try to be funny. If they played them more straight they would probably be better. I save the disc extras for November, but this one may get a pass other than the Joyce interview.

 

[dana martin]

Theatrical Viewing
Blu Ray Viewing
DVD Viewing
Streaming

October 3rd
Craven a little excitement, and quality "Family Time"


Last House on The Left
The Hills Have Eyes
The Hills Have Eyes II * first time viewing, have owned this in various forms but never watched till now

 

[TravisR]

The Hills Have Eyes II * first time viewing, have owned this in various forms but never watched till now

I'm sorry you ended up finally seeing this one.