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

[John Stell]

1. Watch 13 Scary/Horror/Halloween-Themed films, etc. from midnight October 1, 2022 through October 31, 2022 (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. "The Walking Dead") 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. 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.

6. At the end of the challenge, the totals will be added up based on the point system outlined in number 2 above.

2021 Challenge Results (new discoveries in parentheses):

TravisS 143 (2)
BobO'Link 132 (53)
Michael Elliott 128 (76)
JasonRoer 127 (46)
John Stell 121 (10)
Ruz-El 92 (59)
BryanH 57 (21)
Dpippel 53 (9)
Sleroi 36 (16)
Neil Middlemiss 31 (18)
Malcolm R 29 (11)
Jeff Flugel 27 (20)
HawksFord 26 (7)
Tony Bensley 20 (4)

 

[sleroi]

Post-op meds messed with my sleeping schedule big time and didn’t let me watch as many as planned.

Hope you are doing well.

Fortunately I didn't have surgery until this morning, (went mostly well). So with the extra time off work I doubled my goal of 50. I was home by 11:30 this morning, slept til 4 and was able to get one last movie in before I had to go to the E.R. for a minor complication. My wife is inside Walgreens now getting some more post-op meds, so I doubt I'll watch anything else tonight, and if I do I don't think I'll remember it.

102. Halloween - 4k disc - The original. I know there were some slashers before this film, but because of how little it cost and how much it made, it kind of set the blueprint for low budget filmmaking and showed how lucrative horror could be, thus inspiring an entire decade's worth of copycats. Some good (F13), most not so good
It's been a year since I watched the lionsgate 4k, so I'm not sure if the new Shout 4k is necessarily better, but it sure looks as good as I've ever seen it.
Filmwise, what's left to say? Lots of scares and suspense, very little gore, and an Iconic score.

 

[EricSchulz]

Well, I hit 15!
My last one was a rewatching of The Brood. Frank takes care of his young daughter Candace because his wife, Nola, is being treated at Somafree, an unorthodox psychology institution. While staying with her grandmother, Candace is unaware that “something“ enters the house and beats her grandmother to death. The movie centers on what’s really going on at Somafree, what hold does Dr. Raglan have on his patients (especially Nola) and what’s behind the deaths of several people close to Frank.
I haven’t seen this in AGES and it held up well, but it begs for a good remake. Some of the acting and dialogue is cheesy but there’s some solid effects in the last twenty minutes. Glad I watched it! 3.5/5

The reason I chose this film to squeeze in at the end was because of a new horror themed coffee shop that opened recently called The Brewed! The owners are horror fans and love this movie. I stumbled across it last weekend while running errands and had to stop! Great place with some awesome decor! Pics below !!!

 

[EricSchulz]

Hope you are doing well.

Fortunately I didn't have surgery until this morning, (went mostly well). So with the extra time off work I doubled my goal of 50. I was home by 11:30 this morning, slept til 4 and was able to get one last movie in before I had to go to the E.R. for a minor complication. My wife is inside Walgreens now getting some more post-op meds, so I doubt I'll watch anything else tonight, and if I do I don't think I'll remember it.

102. Halloween - 4k disc - The original. I know there were some slashers before this film, but because of how little it cost and how much it made, it kind of set the blueprint for low budget filmmaking and showed how lucrative horror could be, thus inspiring an entire decade's worth of copycats. Some good (F13), most not so good
It's been a year since I watched the lionsgate 4k, so I'm not sure if the new Shout 4k is necessarily better, but it sure looks as good as I've ever seen it.
Filmwise, what's left to say? Lots of scares and suspense, very little gore, and an Iconic score.

Yes, I’m doing very well and looking forward to going back to work Wednesday!

 

[EricSchulz]

Correction: 16!

1. The Munsters
2. Feast
3. The Rental
4. Mystery of the Wax Museum
5. Texas Chain Saw Massacre
6. Halloween Ends
7. Brides of Dracula
8. The Lodge
9. The Man Who Laughs
10. X
11. We Need To Do Something
12. The Visit
13. The Black Phone
14. The Mummy
15. Barbarian
16. The Brood

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

October 31: The Thing (1982) – PERFECT (5 out of 5)

In the isolation of a remote Antarctic research station, a U.S. research team is unknowingly infiltrated by a thing that can perfectly imitate lifeforms, human or animal. With a storm setting in and cutting them off from the outside world, they are alone with a deadly threat. No-one is safe, no-one knows who to trust, and no-one knows who is still human and who might be the thing.

Quentin Tarantino recently said perfect movies were rare. He offered 6 movies, from his perspective (which he said was not absolute) that he considered perfect. I agree that perfect movies are indeed rare and agreed with his list (which included movies like Jaws, The Exorcist, and Back to the Future). A movie that I would add to that list is John Carpenter’s The Thing.

The level of craft, precision, tonal excellence, and mastery of bleakness, dread, and isolation is remarkable. Every shot in the film has a point and showcases movement and framing that supports the story and expression of the cinematic art form. Dean Cundey’s cinematography is exquisite, Ennio Morricone’s score understated and brilliantly unsettling, and the performances terrific.

Director Carpenter was on an extraordinary streak following his breakout hit with 1978’s Halloween. The decade that followed he would give us The Fog, Escape from New York, They Live, Big Trouble in Little China, and his most assured creation, The Thing. Upon its release, the film was rejected by critics and audiences didn’t warm to it either. Carpenter reeled from the failure, but, thankfully, has come to be appreciated for the stunning piece of cinema he created. There is simply no finer film from this man, and I’d say that it is a masterpiece of cinema, not just a horror masterpiece.

The cast is impressive cast, led by Kurt Russell’s MacReady delivering a reluctant hero. Wilford Brimley, Keith David, Richard Dysart, and a handful of other fine performers round out the small cast. While the direction, performances, score, and cinematography are all exemplars of the craft, and Bill Lancaster’s screenplay (based on John W. Campbell Jr.’s story) is adroit, the quintessential elements of this film’s legendary status is the work by legendary effects master, Rob Bottin. His grotesque creations, with dog faces splitting open, chests opening with teeth, heads stretching away from bodies and sprouting legs, is the wonderful stuff of nightmares. It’s an unparalleled achievement in practical effects.

I love watching this film every Halloween. Something I expect to do for the rest of my days.

I enjoyed another year of the challenge. I discovered some gems from the lists others shared and was once again in awe of how many films some of you were able to get through. My hat is off to you. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the movies you watched, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your write ups! I think I hit 35 36 this year which was pretty good given my work schedule. Looking forward to doing this again next year!

 

[TravisR]

Once I got home from work, I got in one more...

148. Gremlins

Little monsters attack a small town at Christmas time. A movie that manages the tough task of being an actual funny horror movie.


And the next two, I watched because I always watch them on Halloween night and since I already watched them for the challenge, I don't count them again.

(---) Halloween (1978)

A man escapes a mental hospital and kills teenagers babysitting on Halloween night. My favorite movie and an all time classic.


(---) Halloween II (1981)

Picking up right after the first movie, Michael Myers continues to try to kill Laurie in the hospital. Another one that I love. Great score and it's fun to see them try to make the two movies seamless.

 

[Malcolm R]

Dracula (1979)

Frank Langella plays a handsome and charming version of the Count in this adaptation from John Badham, also featuring Laurence Olivier and Donald Pleasence, and with music by John Williams.

Still lots of changes here as this is also largely based on the stage version rather than the original novel. The biggest is probably that the Lucy/Mina roles are reversed, with Lucy as Dr. Seward's daughter, Harker's fiancee, and the target of Dracula's attention, while Mina is Prof. Van Helsing's daughter visiting from abroad. But once I was able to "let it go" and get immersed in the film, it was actually a pretty successful adaptation, IMO.

We start off on the ship Demeter, as the entire first act in Transylvania is skipped. However, they incorporate several of the notable scenes from that sequence later in the film. Carfax Abbey (in the pic above) resembles Dracula's Transylvania castle from many other versions (beautiful art direction on the Carfax set). The Borgo Pass carriage ride is repurposed here when Dracula invites Lucy to Carfax for supper and sends his carriage to pick her up, and the "children of the night" line appears during this sequence. A butler cuts his finger while slicing meat at another meal and Dracula takes notice. Vampire Mina feeds on a baby, much like the vampire brides' similar scene usually during the Transylvania opening.

Performances are pretty good, though Olivier seemed like a rather frail Van Helsing (he was reportedly ill during filming). Pleasence is quoted as saying the film was "awful" and he and Olivier really only "did it for a laugh." To the contrary, I think it actually turned out pretty well even if the two veterans were just "phoning it in". Effects are very good despite the fact that Langella also chose to play the vampire role without fangs. Overall this is likely my runner-up for best adaptation after Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), though there are still more I haven't seen.

I was hoping to also view BSD as my final film, but I was starting to get pretty sleepy toward the end of this film so I doubt I'd be able to stay awake. So it looks like my challenge for this year will end here.

 

[Michael Elliott]

I stayed up until 4am and then forgot to turn my alarm off for work since I was off. Ended up getting up at 7 and I'm about to turn this football game off and watch one more. Haha. I really do love this day and how I always take a 4 day weekend with it. The kids had a blast trick or treating.


Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971) *** 1/2

A woman is released from a mental hospital after a breakdown. She moves to the country with her husband and a mutual friend but soon she starts seeing strange things. This 70s shocker really does live up to its reputation as a slow-burn classic. The film is very slow-paced but the director handles it perfectly and really delivers a weird and offbeat picture. The performances are wonderful, the score is chilling and there's just a terrific atmosphere that hangs over each scene.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) ****

There was a time when I didn't care too much about this film but it just keeps getting better with each new viewing. It's such an ugly and unpleasant film to sit through and it's rather amazing how much sexuality and violence is put into it. March's performance is simply fantastic and Hopkins is wonderful as well. The special effects were ground-breaking in 1931 and they still look wonderful.

The Werewolf vs. The Vampire Woman (1971) ***

Paul Naschy gets a couple babes to stay at his castle and soon they find the tomb of a witch. This Spanish horror film has a terrific title and it's basically a take-off on FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN. The opening and closing scenes here were clearly influenced by the Universal picture and for the most part this is one of the better films in the Naschy series. The atmosphere is terrific and there's some nice blood throughout. The final fight was a lot of fun as well.

Blood Delirium (1988) ***

Insane Italian horror film is basically a remake of Herschell Gordon Lewis' COLOR ME BLOOD RED. This is a very sleazy picture and on that level it works wonderfully well. The film has a vibe like that of BEYOND THE DARKNESS and there's just a lot of blood, a lot of nudity and a lot of sleaze. Case in point: the painter's assistant sexually abuses the corpse of the painter's dead wife! And that's about the nicest thing he does in the movie. Whenever the sleaze isn't happening the film is a bit boring but it's worth watching just for the naughty parts.

Boris Karloff: The Rest of the Story (2022) ****

Sequel to BORIS KARLOFF: THE MAN BEHIND THE MONSTER is just as wonderful and especially since this one takes a look at some of his lesser talked about films and television appearances. We get some terrific stories about the making of CURSE OF THE CRIMSON ALTER as well as a trip he took to Anchorage, Alaska for a 3-day play. There are plenty of wonderful interviews with those who worked with Karloff as well as some great stuff with his daughter.

The Naked Witch (1964) * 1/2
Passion in the Sun (1964) **
Ghosts of Hanley House (1968) * 1/2

These are three of the four titles from the latest AGFA release with Something Weird Video. All three are pretty damn horrid but PASSION IN THE SUN is at least so bad it's somewhat good. A stripper is kidnapped by two gangers and then she's attacked by a geek who has escaped from a circus. WTF. There's really nothing going on here except for excuses to show nudity. THE NAKED WITCH is only 59-minutes but it's pretty damn horrible. Larry Buchanan doesn't get enough credit for being one of the worst directors in history. GHOSTS OF HANLEY HOUSE is a rather interesting failure as it's a regional horror film that we don't know too much about. The regional setting is nice but it's just so poorly directed and acted that it just can't overcome that.

 

[compson]

A total of 47 for me, 41 of which were new to me (*). I watched 18 on 4K discs, 17 on BDs, three on the Criterion Channel, one on Peacock, and the Cabinet of Curiosities series on Netflix. My list:

Spoiler: List

1. The Invisible Man (1933)
2. The Invisible Man Returns (1940)*
3. The Invisible Woman (1940)*
4. Invisible Agent (1942)*
5. The Invisible Man’s Revenge (1944)*
6. Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)*
7. The Invisible Man Appears (Japan 1949)*
8. The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly (Japan 1957)*
9. The Invisible Man (2020)*
10. The Mummy (1932)
11. Mummy’s Hand (1940)*
12. The Mummy’s Tomb (1942)*
13. The Mummy’s Ghost (1944)*
14. The Mummy’s Curse (1944)*
15. Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)*
16. Mummy (1999)*
17. Mummy Returns (2001)*
18. Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)*
19. Mark of the Vampire (1935)*
20. Island of Lost Souls (1932)*
21. The Most Dangerous Game (1932)*
22. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)*
23. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)*
24. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse (1947) (animated short)*
25. Phantom of the Opera (1943)*
26. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
27. Dawn of the Dead (1978)*
28. The Howling (1981)*
29. Wolfen (1981)*
30. Poltergeist (1982)
31. The Fog (1980)*
32. The Thing from Another World (1951)
33. The Thing (1982)*
34. They Live (1988)*
35. The Witch (2015)*
36. Halloween (2018)*
37. Halloween Kills (2021)*
38. Halloween Ends (2022)*
39-46. Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities (2022), eps 1-8*
47. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)*

There’s no reason anyone should care what I think, but if you’re looking for some rando opinions, here are mine:

Spoiler: Opinions

I like James Whale’s INVISIBLE MAN very much but was disappointed by the rest of the Universal series. My stinker of the month was THE INVISIBLE WOMAN (three stars from both Leonard Maltin and Steven Scheuer books), which I hated and shouldn’t even count since it’s not at all scary. The Japanese films (THE INVISIBLE MAN APPEARS and THE INVISIBLE MAN VS. THE HUMAN FLY) are interesting for what they are, and Universal’s 2020 movie with Elisabeth Moss is a first-rate modern take on the concept.

I enjoyed THE MUMMY and all of its sequels and was glad to see Lon Chaney, Jr. In a role perfected suited to his talents: his character was expressionless and uttered barely a line. I liked the Brendan Fraser trilogy, too, even though the CGI occasionally betrays its age. The last of the three was hurt by the loss of Rachel Weisz, and its scenes of family dynamics and romance felt like half-hearted cliches.

I like the atmospheric horror of 1930s movies, and MARK OF THE VAMPIRE, made by Tod Browning with a good cast for MGM, starts out well enough but suffers from apparent elisions and a resolution that doesn’t really make sense. I marveled at Charles Laughton’s performance in ISLAND OF LOST SOULS. You won’t see many performances that good in movies from the early ‘30s, even from Laughton, whose earlier work in The Old Dark House I found less convincing. Bela Lugosi is also uncharacteristically good in the movie, suggesting that director Erle Kenton, who, as John Landis notes in a Criterion extra, went on to do hack work in other horror movies, knew something about managing actors. The host in THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME is refreshingly amoral, and seeing Fay Wray and a young Joel McCrea is fun. The movie was made at the same time, and by many of the same people, as King Kong. Robert Armstrong was perfect in Kong as Carl Denham, but here, to borrow a line, he steals every scene he’s in by stinking it up so badly no one else wants it.

I watched DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1931) on the jaw-dropping new BD from Warner Archives, and the movie’s intense scenes retain their power 90 years after they were made. The 1941 remake is more restrained but, unlike PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, doesn’t feel defanged. I thought Spencer Tracy was the more believable Jekyll (whereas Ingrid Bergman in that film was just a beautiful actress gamely playing a part) but Fredric March the more believable Hyde. DR. JEKYLL AND MR. MOUSE is an amusing Oscar-nominated “Tom and Jerry” short made for MGM by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera at the peak of their talents.

I tried to take in PHANTOM OF THE OPERA on its own terms, but I don’t think it works as a movie. I didn’t object to the amount of opera; the contrast of beautiful music and lurking evil could be effective (and apparently was for moviegoers of the day), but this phantom is not sufficiently monstrous or tragic.

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD demonstrates that mediocre acting and a tiny budget are not insurmountable obstacles to making a good horror movie. I audibly gasped at one jolt. Ten years later, director George Romero widened his reach with DAWN OF THE DEAD while remaining worthy of the original.

I expected to like THE HOWLING but didn’t. It plods along for the first two-thirds of the movie. Then all hell breaks loose, but the movie feels like the low-budget slasher film it is. It did certain special effects first, but An American Werewolf in London, released four months later, did them much better. WOLFEN, released three months after THE HOWLING, is a police procedural with Albert Finney, Gregory Hines, and others on the trail of . . . something, killing New Yorkers. It did a third of the business of THE HOWLING, despite having a much larger budget, but I think it’s the better movie.

I saw Escape from New York when it came out, didn’t like it, and didn’t see another John Carpenter movie until I watched Halloween a year ago. My loss. I enjoyed all three of his movies (THE FOG, THE THING, and THEY LIVE) and will look for others. I loved THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD the last time I watched it, roughly 20 years ago, but either it’s aged poorly or I have. I found it thin gruel this time around.

THE WITCH combines a portrait of the harsh existence of a separatist Puritan family with a supernatural element taken from nightmares of the people of the time. It’s a great looking movie with strong performances, and it’s the first movie I’ve seen from director Robert Eggers. I’ve since purchased The Northman and added The Lighthouse to my wish list.

I enjoyed the first two of the new HALLOWEEN movies, even though the first one takes a highly implausible turn late in the movie, and every character in HALLOWEEN KILLS acts very stupidly throughout the movie. The people of Haddonfield are slow learners. I would have believed HALLOWEEN ENDS had been slapped together for Peacock, like the Disney sequels that used to go direct to video (with different content, of course), but it had a theatrical release and did reasonably well. It fails on every level. Even Jamie Lee Curtis, who is good in the two previous films, disappoints here.

GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S CABINET OF CURIOSITIES is a fun, if uneven, new horror anthology series on Netflix. I want the cabinet del Toro stands beside in the introduction to each episode.

Finally, I consider IT’S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN the best of the Peanuts cartoons (it’s certainly better than the second of the series, CHARLIE BROWN’S ALL STARS, which flat out sucks), and it still holds up. In fact, it’s great.

I had fun responding to this challenge, but I’m sated with horror for the time being. Now I’m on to Noirvember. I have a lot of box sets to go through.

 

[JasonRoer]

In honor of the year that Star Wars came out, I managed to squeeze in 77 this year despite how nutty work was.

I can only say this, though I saw a fair few films as noted above, there are SO many on my list that I didn't get to. I'll just have to enjoy them throughout the year rather than hold off for these challenges.

Anyway, work was relentless from late morning on today so once I catch up with the paperwork tomorrow, I'll write up the final reviews between patients, and then post my final list once the reviews are done. Hope everyone enjoyed themselves this challenge! I know I sure did.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

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

51) 10/31/2022 The Woman in Black (2012)

In Edwardian England, a young widower is sent to a remote rural village to settle the affairs of an estate so that the house may be sold. The locals are eager to see him gone, and oddly resistant to him visiting the house -- on a rocky outcropping in the marshlands that becomes an island at high tide. But then he sees the woman in black, and the children of the village start dying...

After decades of dormancy, this was one of a half-dozen films to come out under the Hammer banner within a decade or so of one another. It fits the mold, in that it is very British and very traditional. The scares aren't especially scary, the deaths aren't especially gory, but it has a strong sense of mood and ambiance. Jane Goldman adapted Susan Hill's well-known gothic novel from the eighties.

On one hand, Daniel Radcliffe feels miscast: despite the sideburns and five o'clock shadow, he is very boyish and very small, closer in size to the children of the village than the adults. On the other hand, it kind of works: Arthur Kipps is a man in over his head, messing with forces he doesn't understand.

52) 10/31/2022 The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death (2014)

This one is an original story (though novel author Susan Hill gets a story credit). The haunted house is the same, but the timeline jumps ahead almost four decades to World War II. To escape the London Blitz, a group of schoolchildren, their teacher, and their headmistress are evacuated to the long-abandoned Eel Marsh House -- just about the worst possible place for a group of children to end up. They would have stood a better shot with Hitler's bombs.

The production design continues to be terrific in this second entry, but everything else feels like a step down. The backstory is more convoluted, the villain's goals are more opaque, there's a greater reliance on cheap jump scares.

Phoebe Fox does a good job as the kind of school teacher you'd like to have had as a kid, and Helen McCrory embodies the definition of stiff upper lip as the headmistress.

53) 10/31/2022 Reginald The Vampire 1x04 - "All the Time in the World"

Flashbacks to 1972 reveal the reason Maurice wants Angela dead. Angela commiserates with a fellow regional manager. Reginald is lost without his mentor. Mike tries to get ahead of a problem. The past comes back to haunt Maurice.

54) 10/31/2022 The Walking Dead 11x21 - "Outpost 22"

While the detainees discover how the Commonwealth's little slice of the old world is supplied, the escapees try to come up with a plan to get their kids back. The location of Outpost 22 is a surprise to both groups.

Given how much wheel spinning there's been the last few seasons, I don't see how they're going to satisfactorily wrap up this eleven-season series with only three episodes to go.

55) 10/31/2022 Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)

If you were born between the late seventies and early nineties, as I was, chances are good that at some point in your childhood you were traumatized by Stephen Gammell's illustrations for the three collections of short stories that went out under this name.

The live action versions here aren't quite as creepy as the ink drawings, but they're still far creepier than most horror movie monsters, much less horror movie monsters in a movie targeted toward kids. And the movie does a good job of tying some of the various unrelated short stories from the books together, in ways that speak to character and the time and place the movie is set.

The movie begins on Halloween night, 1968. The Vietnam War is raging, and Richard Nixon is days away from being elected president. And the streets of Mill Valley are full of young mischief. Stella Nicholls (Zoe Coletti, in her breakout role) is a huge horror enthusiast who's beginning to write some horror stories of her own. With her horn-rim glasses, she looks a bit like a young Shirley Jackson. She has to be coaxed out by her friends, but quickly gets into the spirit. When a plot to get revenge against their bullies spirals out of control, their paths cross with Ramón, a young man only a couple years older than they are, who has pulled into town under mysterious circumstances. An adventure in the local haunted mansion ends up having dire consequences when Stella leaves with something that doesn't belong to her.

I enjoyed the way the various stories were integrated, and I loved the specificity of the setting. As a period piece, the kids can't just Google what they need to find out. They have to do real research with books and microfiche, and wax cylinders. Discovering the truth takes work, and then deciding what to do with that truth takes character.

My only issue with the movie was the tacked on scene at the end, which promises to deal with the movie's dangling plot threads in a sequel that never happened.

56) 10/31/2022 The Innkeepers (2011)

This one has been sitting in my Vudu library for a while now, but after enjoy X last night, I wanted to squeeze it in before the Challenge ended.

Over its more than a century of operation, the Yankee Pedlar Inn has transformed from a bucolic country inn to venerable institution in the heart of downtown. Now in its final weekend of operation before closing its doors for good, directionless college dropouts Claire and Luke are the only employees left. They are staying at the hotel so they can swap off shifts at the front desk. In the meantime, they're trying to document the paranormal activity at the hotel; Luke out of cynical financial interest, Claire out of genuine curiosity. With only a couple of guests checked in, they have plenty of free time on their hands.

The movie takes its time introducing this place and their dynamic. Luke is world weary and pessimistic; whatever he had planned for his life, this wasn't it. Claire is upbeat and earnest; in high school, she was probably one of the popular girls, but now she doesn't know what she wants out of life.

Then, strange things start happening. And the suspense builds, and builds, and builds. The final act is genuinely terrifying, and yet the movie ends with me still not sure whether it was a supernatural thriller or a psychological thriller. There are strong arguments to be made for both.

Thanks for another fun challenge this year, everybody! I'll be digging through everybody's thoughts to put together my list for next year.

 

[Suzanne.S]

Well, I managed to fit in a few more today.

Sunday, October 30
26. Psycho (1960) The second time this month but this time it was at Powell Hall with the St. Louis Symphony playing the score live. It was amazing! I tried to focus on the music because I have seen the movie several times. In the opening scenes in the motel, the live music made the scene much more powerful and poignant. The audience really gets to see Marion and feel for her plight. However, by the shower scene, I was so caught up in the story that the music was integral to the experience and I barely noticed the orchestra just below the screen.

Monday, October 31

27. The Haunted Castle (1921) Kino Blu-ray. First time viewing. I had high hopes for this because we know that Murnau can do spooky. I was disappointed because outside of a dream sequence it is really a standard murder mystery.

28. The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) Universal Blu-ray. First time viewing. I felt like I had already seen it because so many movies reference it, especially Young Frankenstein. I loved it! Dr. Pretorius really makes this one.

I finished out with some spooky themed cartoons from this year's Thunderbean Halloween BD-R Disc. All are first time viewings.

29. Good Little Monkeys (1935) The illustrations of the books in a library come to life. A demon from Dante's Inferno tries to tempt the See No Evil, Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil monkeys into being bad.

30. Scrappy's Trip to Mars (1938) Scrappy dreams that he is traveling to Mars.

31. Mysterious Mose (1930) Very early Betty Boop before she was really Betty. Some cute pre-code naughtiness and the usual Fleischer surrealism.

32. The Great Experiment (1934) Scrappy is captured by a mad scientist looking for the key to eternal youth.

33. Masquerade Party (1934) Krazy Kat and his girlfriend hold a party.

34. The Haunted House (1929) Mickey Mouse is compelled to play organ for a party of spooks, spectres and skeletons. Quite similar to The Skeleton Dance from the same year, but the creatures have a bit more variety to their antics.

35. Spook No Evil (1953) Casper the Friendly Ghost is made to walk the plank of a ghost pirate ship for being friendly. He ends up on a desert isle where he befriends a tiny monkey.

So of the total, 26 are first time viewings. 11 were shorts or cartoons. The most fun this year was that I was able to see so many things at theaters. Most of those experiences were of films I had already seen, but you can't beat having an audience and with silents, live accompaniment. The icing on the cake was certainly Psycho at the Symphony. I agree that ideally it would be great to have time to explore the extras on all the discs. I know I have several to go back to soon.

I didn't count it in my total but my friend Christine Madrid French has just written a book on Hitchcock. She has made the best promo for it.
The Architecture of Suspense

 

[Bryan^H]

I shouldn't have even tried the challenge this year. I didn't even complete it, with a total of only 7 films watched.

Oh well, it was fun reading other reviews of obscure horror films.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

October 2022 "Scary Movie Challenge" Viewing list
(New titles in BOLD)

1) Nightwing (1979)
2) Zombies of Mora Tau (1967)
3) Warning Sign (1985)
4) Idle Roomers (1944 short) ½
5) Prophecy (1979) ½
6) The Werewolf (1956)
7) Shivering Sherlocks (1948 short) ½
8) A Ghost Story for Christmas: The Mezzotint (2021)
½
9) Hocus Pocus (1993) ½
10) Werewolf by Night (2022)
11) The X-Files – “Via Negativa” and “The Gift”
12) The X-Files – “Surekill” ½ and
“Salvage”
14) Kolchak: The Night Stalker – “Firefall”
and “Demon in Lace”
15) Earth vs. The Spider (1958) ½
16A) The Mod Squad – “A Taste of Hyacinths”
½ and
16B) The Saint “The Inconvenient Monster” ½
16. Blood Beach (1980) ½
17. The Twilight Zone “You Drive” ½
18. The Twilight Zone “Death’s-Head Revisited” ½
19. The Monster Squad (1987)
20. The Funhouse (1981)
21. Night Gallery 2.18 - “The Waiting Room/Last Rites for a Dead Druid”
22. One Step Beyond – 2.28 “The Clown”
23. The Thing from Another World (1951)
24. The Curse of Bridge Hollow (2022)
25. Sleepy Hollow (1999) ½
26. The Simpsons - 34.6 “Treehouse of Horror XXXIII”


I make that 19 ½ new-to-me viewings for the challenge, along with a handful of old favorites. Thirteen movies, two shorts, and 15 TV episodes. Was originally planning to hit at least 31 this year, but lost momentum a bit in the middle, due to the aforementioned back injury. Still, pretty much on par compared to previous years. I guess I'm just not wired to watch as many movies in a month as some of you other movie challenge beasts here (like Howie, Michael, Travis, John Stell, Jason, Robert Crawford, Gavin, Doug, etc)...you fellas are movie watching machines!! I doff my cap to you all.

Enjoyed reading everyone's reviews, thanks for sharing your thoughts and the Halloween horror flick love. See you all next year!

 

[BobO'Link]

Had a pretty good finish, though a few movies down from what I expected...

October 31st
☼ = First time viewing

129. The Thing that Couldn't Die (1958)☼

When Jessica Burns (Carolyn Kearney), a young woman who claims to have psychic powers, is called upon to dowse in search of a groundwater spring, she instead discovers a buried box dating from the 16th century. Against Jessica's warnings, her Aunt Flavia (Peggy Converse) takes the box back to her house, consumed with thoughts of buried treasure. Flavia’s greedy ranch foreman, Boyd, also anticipating treasure, secretly convinces slow-witted handyman Mike to break the cask open. Instead of gold or gemstones, the box contains the intact head of Gideon Drew (Robin Hughes), a man executed for sorcery 400 years earlier, which awakens and telepathically controls Mike.

I've wanted to see this one for years and resisted purchasing the "Universal Vault Series" DVD-R release so jumped on Shout!'s Universal Horror Collection Volume 6 as it included this and another new-to-R1 disc release I wanted to see. So far, I'd call that volume the best of the lot.

I really enjoyed this flick. It's nothing truly great but has tons of atmosphere, a headless sorcerer who controls people to do his bidding, and a few minor frights along the way to the head being rejoined to its body. It's better than the current 4.1 at IMDB would lead you to believe - that or I just have an affinity to these pre-70s "B" horror movies (more likely as I grew up watching them and like even the truly "bad" ones).

130. The Reptile (1966)

Harry and Valerie (Ray Barrett, Jennifer Daniel) inherit the Cornwall home of Harry's brother, who died under mysterious circumstances. The local villagers are tight-lipped and afraid, and the couple's neighbor, the hostile Dr. Franklin (Noel Willman), hides in a large mansion with his daughter Anna (Jacqueline Pearce). On his last trip to Borneo, Franklin had been investigating a secret tribe of snake-people and they had reacted to his intrusion by making Anna one of them, causing the girl to turn into a cobra-woman every winter.

Another Hammer production, and a fairly good though rather predictable one. It's somewhat a reworking of Universal's The Mummy and Dracula. The makeup effects are a bit on the cheesy side but effective enough. Yet another period piece with lots of atmosphere (yeah... lots of these type films share that) and the requisite tropes - villagers who refuse to talk to strangers, mysterious going on around a castle, a town drunk who may not be crazy, and a mysterious killer. They keep your interest by not showing the creature too early. Michael Ripper, a regular Hammer character actor, appears in one of his more substantial roles as Tom, the pub owner. Is it obvious yet that I tend to really like Hammer horror films?

131. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1976)

A newly-engaged couple have a breakdown in an isolated area and must seek shelter at the bizarre residence of Dr. Frank-n-Furter.

And I discovered that there are two versions of this film - the US and the UK with the only difference being a closing song which was removed/edited down from the UK version for the US. This one took me years to come to like - it was just odd and it is a musical. I don't particularly like musicals. No, I've never been to a "midnight showing" and have no desire to attend one. However, after a dozen or so viewings it's grown on me and I like to give it a viewing every couple of years or so. This year was because of purchasing a BR - and where I discovered the two versions. I watched the US as that's what I've always seen. I'll watch the UK another year. And Tim Curry looks like he's having a tremendous amount of fun in the role...

132. Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)

Mel Brooks ' parody of the classic vampire story and its various film adaptations.

The films of Mel Brooks are rather hit or miss - this one's mostly a miss in Brooks' attempt to capture lightning in a jar like he did with Young Frankenstein. It has a mostly good cast (though I'm not a fan of Steven Weber in this one and feel he pulls it down a notch) but suffers from a half-baked script with mostly predictable gags. It mirrors the original Dracula (1931) more than any other version of the film though pulls a couple of things from Bram Stoker's Dracula (a hair piece and an independently operating shadow form - which keeps tripping up). And the set pieces are quite good, also mirroring many of those from the 1931 Universal production. At least, IMHO, it's not the worst film from Brooks... and I like it a bit more than Love at First Bite, mostly due to it being a parody of the 1931 film.

133. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)

Wallace and his loyal dog, Gromit, set out to discover the mystery behind the garden sabotage that plagues their village and threatens the annual giant vegetable growing contest. In an effort to stop the ravage of rabbits, Wallace's creates the Mind-o-Matic, which is intended to brainwash rabbits and convince them they do not like vegetables. The device malfunctions with disastrous results.

This is a huge favorite - I absolutely love Wallace and Gromit (It's made of *cheese* Gromit!) and the wacky Rube Goldberg type inventions Wallace regularly employs to "simplify" his life. Will gun nut Lord Victor Quartermaine kill the rabbits in spite of Lady Tottington's objections? Will Wallace's Mind-o-Matic prove to be the humane solution everyone desires? Will Gromit come to Wallace's rescue, saving the day once again? It was a great way to end this year's challenge.

And that's a wrap. Lots of good films, lots of fun, and I really enjoy, like always, reading everyone else's comments on what *they* watched. I still have 8-10 or so unopened horror films on the shelf and a dozen or so more on the way (Thanks for the really slow shipping, Shout!) so will continue, thought not with as much intensity, over the next few weeks as I plan to have *no* unopened/unwatched horror next year so that I can make it a year of watching nothing but favorites.

Wound up with 42 "first time viewings" - more or less, depending on just how you count Ash vs. Evil Dead episodes (I counted 3 as a single entry for 10 first time viewings - could legitimately be a single first time for the series or 30 first time viewings when counting episodes)

**EDITED to fix first time viewing count - I was off by 3**

 

[Malcolm R]

Wound up with 39 "first time viewings" - more or less, depending on just how you count Ash vs. Evil Dead episodes (I counted 3 as a single entry for 10 first time viewings

That sounds right. The guidelines say:

For episodic TV series, 2 hour-long episodes (e.g. "The Walking Dead") count as 1 point and 3 episodes of 30 minute-long episodes (e.g. "The Munsters") count as 1 point.

My final points total:

27 Movies (14 New)
3.5 TV

30.5 total

Best new viewings were The Black Phone, little evil, Nightbooks, and Dracula (1979). Overall favorites were Fright Night (1985) and Malignant. Worst views were the 2022 remake of Terror Train and the non-Hammer Christopher Lee Count Dracula (1970).

 

[dpippel]

OCTOBER 31:

* next to film title = new to me

59) Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) (4K UHD Disc) 3.5/5 stars - Still entertaining and showcasing imagination to spare, The Golden Army doesn't quite live up to its predecessor IMO. All of the original cast are back with the exception of David Hyde Pierce, whose voice work for Abe Sapien in the first film is replaced by Doug Jones doing his own dialog here. The standout character in the sequel for me has to be Dr. Johann Kraus, voiced with verve by Seth MacFarlane, an ectoplasmic being who is sent to the B.P.R.D. to whip it into shape and get Hellboy, who is dying to reveal himself to the world and lead a normal life, under control. The effects work is top-notch once again, with a sequence involving Hellboy battling a Forest God in downtown Manhattan being a real standout. It's too bad that del Toro never got a chance to do a third film. The "reboot" starring David Harbour was absolutely horrid.

60) The Thing (1982) (4K UHD Disc) 5/5 stars - I decided to cap off the Challenge and end Halloween with John Carpenter's classic. Definitely a perfect film for me, it's an annual ritual to watch it during October. A suitable finish to a really fun month of watching horrible old movies!!!

 

[Ruz-El]

This is the first challenge where I had the 31st off so I was able to actually mostly program what I wanted to wrap up the challenge with, and ended up sneaking in a bonus fave right before the wire. Here's my last chunk of mini-reviews, I'll post a wrap up with my final tally later:

126 10/30 Barbarian (2022) 3.5/5 I went into this one cold and for the most part it paid off. It loses a bit of steam due to the opening sequence being so strong. I liked where it went and it’s delightfully strange with some interesting politics. I don’t think it quite lives up to the hype but it is a dead solid “one and done” horror, though I guess we’ll see if it ends up being franchised to oblivion.

127 10/31 X (2022) 3.5/5 Managed to mostly avoid spoilers so I was nicely surprised by this one. A bias of knowing roughie porn from this era had that aspect being played a little too goofy - especially with the music choices - but the point of this wasn’t porn accuracy and in the horror regard it more than delivered. I guess Jenna Ortega is our new scream queen between this, STUDIO 666 and SCREAM from this year and I’m here for it. Real star of the show is Mia Goth and she deserves all the kudos she gets. I’m a fan of Ti West, even his weakest picture THE SACRAMENT was decent, and I love that instead of going the lazy way of doing a Texas Chainsaw remix he took this one into sexual explorations that are nearly always avoided in the horror genre. It made for a tragic film that is probably closer to something like BLACK NARCISSUS than the horror movies it's been getting compared to. I’m here for the sequels.

128 10/31 Pearl (2022) 4/5 The prequel to “X” is not only better than the original but is the best film Ti West has put out. One of the most emotionally powerful horror films I’ve ever seen, Mia Goth not just carries the film but elevates the horror genre. One of the few horror genre films to have me in tears. The Douglas Sirk inspo paid off gloriously.

129 10/31 The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020) 3.5/5 Fun horror comedy about a local sheriff at his wits ends trying to live up to his fathers legacy while a werewolf seems to be attacking his town folk. They really nailed this one, it doesn’t really play like a comedy since at the end of the day, the sheriff's vices are pretty legit problems. That tone carries it. Director/star Jim Cummings does a good job handling both roles in front and behind the camera, and is certainly helped by having people like Robert Forster and Riki Lindholm cast to help carry the load. It made for a fast paced ride that delivered.

130 10/31 Let’s Scare Jessica To Death (1971) 3.5/5 I don’t know what I was expecting but with a title like that the last thing was the Turn of the Screw/Camilla mash-up as viewed through mental illness film that this is. It’s pretty stunning how floaty this one feels with Jessica’s inner monologue at times sounding like intrusive thoughts and it’s so hard to tell what is real or not that it was almost hard to follow. Part of that might have been caused by viewing interruptions in the first half from handing out candy to trick or treaters while I had it on. That said this was a film where watching it felt odd but once it was over it had quite an impact. I might have to revisit it,

131 10/31 Frankenstein (1931) 5/5 Decided to revisit this one to close out my scary movie challenge this year. I love it. No, I adore it. It’s perfect.

132 10/31 Bride of Frankenstein (1935) 5/5 Had time to sneak one final film in before midnight on my scary movie challenge. The first film is the perfect monster movie. This one is the perfect escalation, adding humour through brilliant character work that never makes fun of the premise, and emotional humanity that can break you and make you cry. I always tear up at the end. I adore this one too.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) * 1/2 (Producer's Cut)

Yes, this Producer's Cut is better than the Theatrical version but to claim it's actually a "good" movie is a bit of a stretch. The film certainly has a better opening, feels more like a HALLOWEEN picture and the cutting of the "over-the-top" murders was a very good thing. The ending is also better but it's still not what fans wanting in 1995 so I don't think the theatrical cut would have played better with it. Having said that, the Producer's Cut is still a pretty bad movie but I'd rank it slightly higher than HALLOWEEN 5.

 

[TravisR]

Since I basically use the challenge as an excuse to rewatch all my favorites, I only watched two new movies (Halloween Ends was disappointing and Terriffier 2 was just gross). Eh, maybe I can call it two and a half if you count the 3-D conversion of Dawn Of The Dead as new.

I can't believe I watched 148 movies considering the amount of work I did this month. Man, I'm sick.

My complete list is below and I spoilerized it to save space.

Spoiler

1. Dracula (1931)
2. Dracula (Spanish version)
3. Frankenstein (1931)
4. Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932)
5. The Old Dark House (1932)
6. The Mummy (1932)
7. The Invisible Man (1933)
8. The Black Cat (1934)
9. The Raven (1935)
10. Bride Of Frankenstein
11. Werewolf of London
12. The Invisible Ray
13. Dracula's Daughter
14. Night Key
15. Son of Frankenstein
16. Tower of London
17. The Invisible Man Returns
18. Black Friday
19. The Mummy’s Hand
20. The Invisible Woman
21. Horror Island
22. Man-Made Monster
23. The Black Cat (1941)
24. The Wolf Man (1941)
25. The Mad Doctor of Market Street
26. The Ghost Of Frankenstein
27. The Strange Case Of Doctor Rx
28. Invisible Agent
29. Night Monster
30. The Mummy's Tomb
31. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
32. Captive Wild Woman
33. Phantom of the Opera (1943)
34. Son of Dracula
35. The Mad Ghoul
36. Calling Dr. Death
37. Weird Woman
38. The Invisible Man’s Revenge
39. Jungle Woman
40. The Mummy’s Ghost
41. The Climax
42. Dead Man's Eyes
43. House of Frankenstein
44. The Mummy's Curse
45. The Frozen Ghost
46. Jungle Captive
47. Strange Confession
48. House of Dracula
49. Pillow of Death
50. Halloween (1978)
51. Halloween (2018)
52. Halloween Kills
53. House of Horrors
54. The Spider Woman Strikes Back
55. She-Wolf Of London
56. Scream (1996)
57. Scream 2
58. Scream 3
59. Scream 4
60. Scream (2022)
61. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
62. Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff
63. Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man
64. The Strange Door
65. The Black Castle
66. It Came From Outer Space
67. Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
68. Creature from the Black Lagoon
69. Revenge of the Creature
70. Cult of the Cobra
71. This Island Earth
72. Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy
73. Halloween Ends
74. Tarantula
75. The Creature Walks Among Us
76. The Mole People
77. The Incredible Shrinking Man
78. The Deadly Mantis
79. The Land Unknown
80. The Monolith Monsters
81. The Thing That Couldn't Die
82. Monster on the Campus
83. Curse Of The Undead
84. The Leech Woman
85. He Knows You’re Alone
86. A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
87. A Nightmare On Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge
88. A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
89. A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
90. A Nightmare On Elm Street: The Dream Child
91. Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare
92. Wes Craven’s New Nightmare
93. Eyes Of A Stranger
94. The Burning
95. Hell Night
96. Maniac (1980)
97. My Bloody Valentine (1981) (unrated cut)
98. Final Exam
99. Silver Bullet
100. I Know What You Did Last Summer
101. The Blob (1988)
102. Terrifier 2
103. Halloween II (1981)
104. Halloween III: Season Of The Witch
105. Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers
106. Halloween 5
107. Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers
108. Halloween: H20
109. Halloween: Resurrection
110. Friday The 13th (1980)
111. Friday The 13th Part 2
112. Friday The 13th Part III
113. Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter
114. Friday The 13th: A New Beginning
115. Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
116. Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Blood
117. Friday The 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan
118. Someone’s Watching Me!
119. The Fog (1980)
120. The Thing (1982)
121. Christine
122. Prince Of Darkness
123. Body Bags
124. In The Mouth Of Madness
125. Village Of The Damned (1995)
126. Vampires
127. The Ward
128. April Fool’s Day (1986)
129. Grizzly
130. Nope
131. Night Of The Living Dead (1968)
132. Dawn Of The Dead (1978) (3-D)
133. Fright Night (1985)
134. Psycho (1960)
135. Psycho II
136. Psycho III
137. Psycho IV: The Beginning
138. The Prowler (1981)
139. The Hand
140. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
141. Eaten Alive (1976)
142. The Funhouse
143. Ghosts Of Mars
144. Piranha (1978)
145. Cat People (1942)
146. The Leopard Man
147. Terror In The Aisles
148. Gremlins
(---) Halloween (1978)
(---) Halloween II (1981)