***Official 23rd Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge 2022*** (1 Viewer)

[dpippel]

OCTOBER 24:

* next to film title = new to me

48) Ash vs Evil Dead - Season 2, Episode 1 (Home), Season 2, Episode 2 (The Morgue) (2016) (Blu-ray Disc) 4.5/5 stars - The Deadite craziness continues, with Ash, Kelly, Pablo, and Ruby all trying to locate the Necronomicon. The addition of Lee Majors as Ash's father Brock is hilarious.

 

[John Stell]

Rating - Out of a possible 4

074) 10/24/2022 Dracula's Daughter (1936)

Dracula's offspring thinks her father's death means she'll be free to live a normal life. When that idea falls through she seeks the help of renowned psychiatrist, who happens also to be helping Professor Von Helsing with a murder charge. Interesting sequel to Dracula lacks creepy vibe of the original. But it serves as a good showcase for its cast, especially Irving Pichel as morose servant Sandor, someone you'd never invite to a holiday party.

075) 10/24/2022 Son of Dracula (1943)

Lon Chaney doesn't quite cut it as Dracula. He's more a bully than a centuries-old vampire. But almost everything else is right with this noirish tale of murder, double-crosses, and fangs set against Louisiana backdrop. Handsomely filmed with some neat effects. You have to give credit to Universal for trying something different with its monster stories, But after this one, the monster mashes started and quality dipped.

076) 10/24/2022 The Wolf Man (1941)

There's no denying this the best of the 1940s Universals, the studio's only successfully realized new monster for a new decade. Lon Chaney, Jr. was born to play Larry Talbott, who's bitten by werewolf Bela Lugosi and then must come to terms with his curse. Claude Rains is also perfect as Larry's pop. Ending is really sad as well as scary.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Queer for Fear: The History of Queer Horror (2022) ** 1/2

This four-part documentary takes a look at homosexuality in horror. Episode one takes a look at writers like Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde. Episode two looks at James Whale and Alfred Hitchcock. Episode three takes a look at werewolves. Episode four then digs into the dangerous lesbian.

This was a real mixed bag for me. I thought the best moments are when they are actually talking about things that are on the screen to discuss. The stories of Shelley, Stoker and Wilde were all good. The look at James Whale was good. The four episode even brings up the likes of Jess Franco, Jean Rollin and Joe Sarno. That's all good. However, a lot of the documentary seems to be about "things not really there." I understand we all view something and can see something different but I do question some of the examples here.

Dracula and Renfield? No. Especially if you've read about Lugosi's view on the topic. Doctor Pretorius and Henry Frankenstein in BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN? No. Even stuff dealing with CAT PEOPLE and THE UNINVITED just seem to be a big stretch. The film eventually gets into stuff like BOUND, BASIC INSTINCT and MULHOLLAND DRIVE yet it completely ignores Friedkin's CRUISING, which is much closer to the subject.

There's some other good stuff scattered around including interviews with the sons of Anthony Perkins and Michael Landon. Overall it's worth watching but it's a rather mixed bag.

 

[Malcolm R]

Some part of my brain has always wondered about Victor Frankenstein. I guess it would depend on if he gave his creature "...an enormous schwanzschtücker" and wanted a secret sex companion (as played out in the Rocky Horror version).

 

[Kaskade1309]

Re-Watch

 

[Kaskade1309]

Re-Watch

 

[Kaskade1309]

 

[Michael Elliott]

Some part of my brain has always wondered about Victor Frankenstein. I guess it would depend on if he gave his creature "...an enormous schwanzschtücker" and wanted a secret sex companion (as played out in the Rocky Horror version).

One of the first "examples" of what I talked about in this documentary happened with SON OF FRANKENSTEIN. A certain horror magazine started to question Ygor's line of "He... does... things for me." To me it's him talking about the monster killing for him. Others took it as meaning something else. But that's the great thing about movies. We can all take something from a movie that others don't see.

 

[sleroi]

78. Village of the Damned - Blu-ray - Not one of John Carpenter's best, but it has grown on me.
The negatives: A bad acoustic guitar score in the beginning that doesn't match what is onscreen, an eye doctor who puts harsh chemicals in her eyes and acts like she is being violently murdered, a truck on a flat road heading towards a fuel tank suddenly flies into the tank from 10 feet in the air, Kirstie Alley phones in her part.
The positives: Carpenter really knows how to compose for 2.35, the shots of the town all passed out are really creepy, the children are really creepy (like when toddler Mara nods just before her mom commits suicide), the typically cool Carpenter synth score, Christopher Reeve's performance, the final mental battle.
Not great, not horrible, .5

79. Ash vs Evil Dead - S3 Episode 10 - S (Netflix) - I was afraid it was going to end on a cliffhanger, but I think it ended perfectly. No need for a season 4, Ash finally owned up to who he really is. And that car, damn!

80. Invasion of the Body Snatchers - 4k Disc - great eerie atmospheric remake. The film transitions nicely from paranoia to suspense. Looks amazing in 4k. The daytime scenes are highly detailed but a lot of this film takes place at night, and that where this disc really shines. The black levels and contrast are perfect. Overall the colors are slightly more saturated and really pop. I'd never noticed just how blue Donald Sutherland's eyes are.

 

[dana martin]

Day 25: 25 October 2022: Feature Presentations: Playing Catch-Up on the last 10 days or more, I lost count.

From beginning this in the Silent Era last year, through the rise of Universal’s Monsters, on to the B units of the different studios to 1946 ending with The Brute Man, the true original golden era of horror comes to an end. The week or so, that was; And maybe pulling the plug a little earlier this year.

Price has a gothic romance of sorts with Tierney, with no Andrews insight, Double the Lewton: Karloff deals out madness in Bedlam, “Flashback” to Dix being the Sea Captain that you don’t want to ship out with in Ghost Ship. She-Wolf of London proves that Horror at Universal was on life support. Republic can’t decide Vampire or Zombie, so you get both in Valley of the Zombies. And my personal musings about Rondo Hatten’s missing, The Brute Man. (1946) Part 2

34. Dragonwyck: Release Date 10 Apr 1946, Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.
Mynheer Van Ryn (Price) visits distant relatives in Connecticut, to see if he can bring home one of the daughters as a companion for his daughter. The eternal beauty Gene Tierney is the distant cousin that's brought home to the estate of dragon wig after a stern lecture from her father a very plain spoken Walter Huston. once Miranda arrives she realizes that things are not as they seem at Dragonwyck, as Nicholas has an air of arrogance about him that he's above the people that work his land and they are to pay a yearly tribute for the privilege of working his land, including a very boisterous Harry Morgan as one of the tenant farmers.

Because he feels that his wife has failed him, when she is sick he brings a very exotic plant to her room to cheer her up, she dies and they can't understand why. After a morning. He takes Miranda as his wife, but things are not as they seem as well. Gothic yes, romance to some extent, only if you consider uh domineering homicidal husband as romantic.

35. Bedlam: Release Date May 10, 1946, RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Val Lewton and company, create a story from impression paintings about the mental health in England before the Reformation, Boris Karloff this is the master of the asylum, and we'll do anything to keep his post, even including torture or murder. He's also willing to help out Lords or ladies to remove personages that may be troublesome for them. Car loft has a grand time in this film just seething with evil. Right up until the point where he's put on trial by those in the inside the asylum, and receives his comeuppance.

36. Ghost Ship: Release Date May 10, 1946, RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.

Richard Dix plays the ship's captain who won't have his orders questioned, he's always right he can't make a mistake he won't be judged. To the point that it causes his crew some very serious deaths, and the young third officer has questions. Dix’s captain could be a shadow a very deep shadow of a broken man who realizes that life has passed him by, and this is all he has.

37. She-Wolf of London: Release Date May 17, 1946, Universal Pictures Company, Inc.
Mama Space Family Robinson gets one of her first acting roles, in this one of Universals last B productions, and at this time you can tell that the whole horror genre at universal was on complete life support because this thing is sucking the respirator hard just to make it through an hour. not so much a horror film, as it is set up more like a murder mystery where the woman she thought was her aunt is trying to frame her so that she can get control of the estate sorry to let the wolf out of the bag. I honestly believe it was because of the poor performance of this that the last film from the B unit at Universal was sold to Producers Releasing Corp, which would be the last film that Rondo Hatton would make.

38. Valley of the Zombies: Release date 24, 1946, Republic Pictures Corp.
A man plans to live past his normal existence, through the use of a little zombie powder and blood transfusions. What ever was on the writers minds, they just couldn't quite nail this one down. Unfortunately for the people at the hospital that man also happens to be a homicidal maniac who's setting some of them up is fall guys while he's using others to get his much needed O positive fix.

Thoughts on The Brute Man, as I personally don't have a copy of this, but every year I try to add a little more that just trying to burn through the numbers anymore. Research the film out, find interesting things that I can share with the group. So this is what I found out, with the merger between Universal and International to become Universal-International, this film was sold off to PRC. After being filmed at Universal by Jean Yarborough, so that Universal wouldn't take a loss. And that the script was so threadbare, that they took aspects of Hatten's life and incorporated it for exploitation.

The Brute Man

You know, after reading that, sometimes you realize that the real monsters are all around, us everyday.

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

October 25: The Long Walk (2019) – 4.5 out of 5 – First Time Viewing

In the near future, an old Laotian man living a humble, solitary life, has been able to see the ghost of a young girl that died along the dirt road he’s traveled every day for years since he was just a boy. A quiet, unassuming life filled with repetition; the lonely hustle of a life whose purpose seems to just get through the day the same way as the day before. When he discovers that his ghost companion can take him back 50 years, to when he was just a little boy and before his mother died a slow and painful death, he makes choices that will ripple throughout his life.

The Long Walk is an exceptional, disquieting, eerie film that you take a long, patient walk to get to know and feel a measure of sadness and intrigue as you go. A magnificent stew of genres that effortlessly meanders between and around the science fiction elements, steeps itself in the somewhat feint horror overtones, and enjoys the character focus and building mystery.

Yannawoutthi Chanthalungsy roots the film as the old man with a matter-of-fact performance. It’s a commanding piece delivered with a mix of resignation and wavering certainty. As his younger self, Por Silatsa is equally commanding. The handful of other performances, from the mother, the ghost, and a woman hoping to connect with her recently deceased mother, are all natural, effortless.

The Long Walk, also known as Bor Mi Vanh Chark, fits in pieces into the horror genre. Horror is an element of this film, but it’s also a richly compelling meditation on life, on choices, on regret, and on the fragile balance of our souls in the mix of our life’s experiences. It’s such an understated, unassuming film that some may balk at the meandering nature of its tale and its genre dalliances. But if you soak in the patiently told film, you will find it will stay in your mind for quite a while.

This was a film I’d never heard of until it was shared by a fellow member of Home Theater Forum for this challenge (Thanks @Ruz-El) I picked it up on Vudu to give it a chance. Best $6.99 I’ve spent in a long time.

 

[Michael Elliott]

I have a hard time enjoying the Rondo Hatten films because they just come across as pure exploitation. Hatten's story should be turned into a movie or at least a really good documentary.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Tonight, I'm watching two more movies that I've previously watched beforehand. However, this afternoon I watched three "B" 1940s horror movies that I've never seen before today. I really liked one of them. Another one I was lukewarm towards while the third movie was just plain awful. See my summary for film grades!

56) The Monster and the Girl (1941) (Blu-ray) 4/5 Stars
This "B" movie from Paramount that Universal now owns is kind of two movies in one. It starts off as a crime movie involving forced prostitution and a framed murder suspect who is then executed. It then becomes a "horror" movie in which the executed man's brain is transplanted into an ape. From there, those involved in those prior crimes are being murdered for revenge. Such a fine cast with Ellen Drew, Paul Lukas, Joseph Calleia, George Zucco, Marc Lawrence and Onslow Stevens. I really enjoyed this movie and will watch it again for its audio commentary. Leonard Maltin gives this movie 2.5/4 grade which is pretty good for a low budget "B" movie. I liked it more so it gets a 4/5 stars from me. This Blu-ray is part of the "Universal Horror Collection Volume 5" box set.

57) The Mad Doctor of Market Street (1941) (Blu-ray) 1.5/5 Stars
This Universal "B" movie I really didn't like at all. Another movie involving a "mad" doctor performing experiments on humans in which he tries to bring them back to life after killing them. Just a silly movie that I couldn't get into much.

58) The Strange Case of Doctor Rx (1941) (Blu-ray) 2/5 Stars
I liked this Universal "B" movie slightly more than "The Mad Doctor of Market Street". Though it's part of "Universal Horror Collection Volume 2" Blu-ray box set, it's not really a "horror" movie. It's more of a murder mystery movie though there is a scene in the movie in which the hero of the film is being told by Doctor Rx he's being prepped to having his brain transplanted into an ape. There are comic moments involving Shemp Howard and Mantan Moreland. Not a good movie, but it does have its moments.

 

[dana martin]

I have a hard time enjoying the Rondo Hatten films because they just come across as pure exploitation. Hatten's story should be turned into a movie or at least a really good documentary.

Rondo and Bob may be that film, i think it's on Amazon

 

[Ruz-El]

October 25: The Long Walk (2019) – 4.5 out of 5 – First Time Viewing

Great review and relieved that you liked it!

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

(See my 2022 Summary for information on color coding and rating categories)

42) 10/25/2022 The Midnight Club 1x08 - "Road to Nowhere"

Ilonka finds herself armed with dangerous information that she is not equipped to handle. The woman in the woods makes Ilonka an enticing offer. Cheri shares something honest about herself. Spencer does a really brave thing. The library doors are locked. Something is wrong with Kevin.

Natsuki tells the story of "Road to Nowhere" to Amesh, adapted from Christopher Pike's 1993 novel of the same name.

43) 10/25/2022 The Midnight Club 1x09 - "The Eternal Enemy"

Ilonka and Kevin bond over shared experiences. Sandra gets some expected news, and shares the solution to one mystery. In a moment of crisis, Ilonka speaks too honestly and then flees the consequences. Spencer meets his people, which brings him closer to his other people. The woman in the woods reveals something important about herself, but perhaps not the most important thing. Ilonka has to decide who to trust, and she doesn't have much time.

Spencer tells the story of "The Eternal Enemy" to the Midnight Club, adapted from Christopher Pike's 1993 novel of the same name.

44) 10/25/2022 The Midnight Club 1x10 - "Midnight"

Ilonka accepts responsibility for her actions, and accepts the reality of her situation. Sandra says goodbye. Amesh knows what Anya was talking about. Spencer experiences a moment of grace. Kevin says what he needs to say, one word at a time. Anya keeps a promise. Dr. Stanton has a secret.

Kevin finally finishes telling his story to the Midnight Club, and the Midnight Club helps Ilonka finish telling hers.

I really loved this season, which -- while leaving the door open for further seasons -- tells a complete story. It was the most emotionally satisfying of Mike Flanagan's Netflix series since The Haunting of Hill House. The actors playing the dying kids were all asked to do some really difficult work, and they all rose to meet the challenge. And so many of Flanagan's regulars pop up as characters in the stories being told.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Buenas Noches Senor Monstruo (1982) ***

Four kids get caught up in a rainstorm and seek shelter inside a house not knowing that Dr. Frankenstein lives there with a hunchback, Count Dracula and El Hombre Lobo (Paul Naschy). It's downright shocking that this film has never gotten an official release here. I have the feeling that if Mondo or Severin ever release this then it'll become a cult classic. This film works well as a kid's movie, as a Spanish horror film and as a musical! This film really does offer everything and especially a love letter to the old Universal movies. Naschy gets to play the wolf man here and he's good as usual and the make-up is actually good too. He actually gets a couple funny scenes including being part of a musical number. The title track is a hoot and I'd love to have it on CD.

White of the Eye (1987) ***

Women are being brutally murdered and soon a sound installer (David Keith) is a suspect, although his wife (Cathy Moriarty) doesn't believe he could do such a thing. Director Donald Cammell only made four features in his career and like Kubrick there were big gaps in between them. This came a decade after DEMON SEED and apparently this didn't get much of a theatrical release, which is a shame because it's a good thriller mixed with horror and giallo elements. The cinematography is rather wild and the two lead performances are wonderful. It's rather shocking how little work Moriarty got after RAGING BULL. The death scenes aren't that gory but one involving a tub will stick with you.

La Senora Muerte (1969) **

A wife's husband is dying of cancer so she takes him to a doctor (John Carradine) who tries to save him. Well, he doesn't and the husband dies. The doctor talks the wife into an experiment, which will bring the husband back but instead it disfigures her. Now the doctor needs the blood of young women to try and restore both the wife and husband. This was one of a handful of films that Carradine made in Mexico and to my knowledge none of them ever got an American release, which is easy to see why because they range from awful to fair. This one here is basically THE RAVEN and EYES WITHOUT A FACE combined but there's actually very little story and way too many scenes that just drag on.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Rondo and Bob may be that film, i think it's on Amazon

Wow, thanks a lot! I had no idea that this was ever completed let alone out there to view. I'll definitely get this on later today.

 

[Robert Crawford]

See my summary for film grades! I'm too tired to write up anything about "The House of Frankenstein" and "House of Dracula" which I viewed again on Blu-ray. Both films are not as good as the Universal films made in the 1930s. With that said, both films are still entertaining to me just like they were many years ago.

59) House of Frankenstein (1944) (Blu-ray) 3/5 Stars

60) House of Dracula (1945) (Blu-ray) 3/5 Stars

 

[Robert Crawford]

I must say that J. Carrol Naish in "The House of Frankenstein" and Onslow Stevens in "House of Dracula" were excellent in those two movies. The Blu-ray video presentations from the 2017 "Dracula Complete Legacy Collection" box set are very good. I wish both had audio commentaries. I think having Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolfman in the same movie was perhaps overload in both movies. It worked much better in "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein". Also, John Carradine as Dracula didn't help in my opinion. He wasn't awful, but he wasn't Bela either which is another plus for "A&C Meet Frankenstein".