***Official 7th Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge*** (1 Viewer)

[TravisR]

About Tina's father, I always just figured he was a ghost or something.

As for Friday The 13th Part VIII, I believe that there's only a few shots(!) that were actually done in NYC. Even if took 70 minutes to get there, if the last 30 minutes were actually New York instead of Vancouver, I'd feel that the movie was less of a cheat.

10/31/06
I watched Cabin Fever. I love any movie where they use a song from Last House On The Left. I think this movie is pretty good and I'm surprised that this movie doesn't have more fans. It's nice to see Eli Roth wanting to stay in the horror genre (even if he's one of the most arrogant people in the world) because I think he's going to make a great one at some point.

My list so far...
(new titles in bold)
01. Dr. Giggles
02. Halloween II
03. A Nightmare On Elm Street
04. The Funhouse
05. The Woods
06. The Devil Bat
07. Doctor X
08. The Return Of Doctor X
09. Mad Love (1935)
10. Venom (2005)
11. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
12. Friday The 13th
13. Don't Answer The Phone
14. Friday The 13th Part 2
15. Friday The 13th Part 3
16. May
17. Friday The 13th- The Final Chapter
18. Friday The 13th Part V- A New Beginning
19. Friday The 13th Part VI- Jason Lives
20. April Fool's Day
21. Friday The 13th Part VII- The New Blood
22. Friday The 13th Part VIII- Jason Takes Manhattan
23. Masters Of Horror: Pick Me Up
24. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2
25. Hell Night
26. Christine
27. The Fog (1980)
28. Body Parts
29. Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III
30. A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge
31. A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
32. A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
33. A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
34. Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
35. Wes Craven's New Nightmare
36. Maniac (1980)
37. Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday
38. Jason X
39. Freddy Vs. Jason
40. The Prowler (1981)
41. Halloween III: Season Of The Witch
42. Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers
43. Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Myers
44. Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers
45. Halloween: H20
46. Halloween: Resurrection
47. Psycho (1960)
48. Psycho II
49. Psycho III
50. Scream
51. Scream 2
52. Scream 3
53. The Ghost Ship
54. Bedlam (1946)
55. Alien
56. Isle Of The Dead
57. The Leopard Man
58. The Body Snatcher
59. I Walked With A Zombie
60. The Seventh Victim
61. The Curse Of The Cat People
62. Psycho IV: The Beginning
63. The Thing
64. Cat People (1943)
65. Halloween
66. Jaws
67. Cabin Fever

 

[Tim Tucker]

We're getting into the final stretch...

22. White Zombie (1932). Another long-time favorite, and IMHO one of Lugosi’s best performances. The glee he showed in the part of Murder Legendre is almost infectious. None of the supporting cast approaches him, but their melodramatic style adds to the oneiric feel of the piece. The Halperin brothers wring every last ounce of atmosphere out of the leftover sets from Dracula and Frankenstein, and show just how much a musical score could add to a horror film.

23. The Most Dangerous Game (1932). For a film put into production to get some extra use out the jungle sets for King Kong, the result is something truly different: the horror action picture. Leslie Banks makes a decidedly different villain, and makes effective use of the partial paralysis of his face to increase the grotesqueness of Count Zaroff. The wonderful Max Steiner score heightens the suspense of Zaroff’s hunt of Joel McCrea and Fay Wray. And Zaroff’s trophy room contained some of the most gruesome images in early horror. The only flaw is Robert Armstrong’s unfunny "comical" drunk.

24. The Old Dark House (1932). Unique among the Universal horrors, this film has neither a supernatural monster nor mad science. Instead, we have a family slowly sinking into degeneracy and madness, which would make it a forebear of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and other films of its genre. We also get to meet the “real” James Whale in a film that values wit as much as terror. And wit there is aplenty, executed by a top notch cast. Could anyone other than Ernest Thesiger deliver lines like “Have a potato” and “I like gin” with such high camp? Also, take notice of the pre-title announcement assuring audiences that the Boris Karloff in this movie is the same one who played “the mechanical monster” in Frankenstein, and praises his ranges as an actor. Then the movie goes and puts him into another mute role. On the down side, the transfer and elements (16mm?) used for the Kino DVD are really showing their age.

25. The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932). Gleefully sadistic, and one of the most unrepentantly racist films this side of The Birth of a Nation, this movie didn’t do very much for me the first time I saw it. Then, I started reading Sax Rohmer and became a fan. While this movie may not be faithful to the book, it does capture that unique pulpy Rohmeresque feel. Karloff, in his first major speaking role since Frankenstein, attacks the melodramatic part with relish. Myrna Loy, still typecast in exotic roles, has almost as much fun as Fah Lo See. And you have to love a movie that puts to torture both Judge Hardy and Dr. Christian.

26. The Mummy (1932). I think this is my favorite Universal horror film, and the most original take on this monster. While you can see the obvious influence of Dracula on this movie, you can also feel the spirit of Sax Rohmer as well. (Just read his book Brood of the Witch Queen sometime.) Karloff as Im-ho-tep/Ardath Bay is a most atypical mummy, both articulate, charismatic and, in a odd way, romantic. You can feel his longing to reunite with his lost love, Princess Anck-es-en-Amon, which will not be denied. And I love the literal deus ex machina ending, where Isis comes to the rescue.

Will I make it to 31? Wait and see...

My tally.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

Rating system: 1-5 (Awful, Bad, Average, Good, Excellent)
1st time movies listed in bold
foriegn language films (personal challenge) in red

10/31 - And so on Halloween proper I wrap-up the 2006 Scary Movie Challenge with film #31 (assuring my place in coach-potato fame, and getting my honorary "Ultimate Splatter Head" award). 15 "first watches" and 15 subtitled imports (personal goal was 13). Since I've saved the best for last, I've watched what is not only my favorite horror movie, but in any genre is probably in my top 3.

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) - If you're going to tackle a film subject that has been done so many times, and involves not only cinema's most well know villain, but probably the most popular monster in all of pop culture, you had better bring something substantial to the table. And I think Ford-Coppola (Godfather, Patton, Apocalypse Now) succeeded, not by delivering a super slick, shiny modernization of the classic, but instead going in the opposite direction; the whole visual style of the film tries to look like the worlds most elaborate stage theater, circa 1890's. (Matte paintings, unusual close framing, just "doesn't look quite right" sets, windowframes within frames, blacking-out everything but the characters in certain scenes, etc etc etc).

The movie contains more details and interesting bits than any movie I'm aware of.....
*When Mina recalls her previous life as Elisabeta she says she remembers a land beyond a great forest. "Land beyond the forest" is the literal meaning of Transylvania.
*Dracula's castle so designed to resemble a skeleton sitting on a throne.
*Dracula's castle interior filled with rats on ceilings, torchiere's shaped like arms, alchemy liquids that drip up towards the ceiling, mysterious star-filled "'abyss" beloy the stairway, a mostly empty mausoleum of a building sparsely filled with elaborate baroque furniture.
*Dracula's "elaborate" hairstyle not only sticks in your head, makes his shadow apear bat-like.
*Oldman's Dracula for once does not try to copy Legosi's.
*To contrast the straight-up style of Oldman, Ryder, and Reeves the vernerable Anthony Hopkins completely hams it up as VanHellsing. A one-note character in most films, Hopkins plays it with a boundless manic energy. Blunt and straight-talking one minute, dancing and whopping it up with the Texan the next.
*Best staking ever in a vampire movie.
*The part near the end with the rats.... awesome awesome awesome.
*Wojciech Kilar (I won't even try to pronounce it) score my favorite original score.

DVD has a very nice DTS surround mix, although the LFE isn't nearly as tactile as a more modern movie would have. The picture shows its age, occassional grit appears, and the overall PQ is a bit soft with ample film grain. I'm hoping when it gets around to an HD disk (either format), the studio springs for a full restoration. The image can also appear "overly saturated", especially in some interior shots. Dracula's red cape/robe is especially prone to smearing and "bleeding" (no pun intended). I heard the Laserdisc transfer didn't have these associated image problems, so I'm in the belief that a restoration or new transfer from a better film print would be ideal.

Rating 5

Woo-Hoo! I don't know how some of you can watch 50+ movies every tear. I'm suffering from serious burn-out right now, and don't think I want to watch another horror movie till at least next October.

2006 Horror Challenge
01. Mask of the Demon (1960) :star::star::star:
02. Baron Blood (1972) :star::star::star:
03. Event Horizon (1997) :star::star::star::star:
04. An American Werewolf In London (1981) :star::star::star::star:
05. Jacob's Ladder (1990) :star::star::star::star::star:
06. The Ninth Gate (1999) :star::star::star:
07. Night Of The Blind Terrors (1971) :star::star::star:
08. Attack Of The Dead People Without Eyes (1973) :star::star:
09. The Damned Ship (1974) :star::star:
10. In The Mouth Of Madness (1995) :star::star::star:
11. The Ring (2002) :star:/:star::star::star::star::star:
12. The Night Of The Seagulls (1975) :star::star:
13. Masters Of Horror: Jenifer (2005) :star::star:
14: Wolf Man Vs. Vampire Woman (1971) :star:
15: Virgin Spring (1960) :star::star::star::star:
16. The Nameless (1999) :star::star:
17. Sleepy Hollow (1999) :star::star::star::star:
18. Viy (1967) :star::star::star:
19. Danse Macabre (1964) :star::star::star::star:
20. Jaws (1975) :star::star::star::star::star:
21. The Terminator (1984) :star::star::star::star::star:
22. Tales From The Darkside: The Movie (1990) :star::star::star::star::star:
23. Dellamorte Dellamore (1994) :star::star::star:
24. The Exorcist (1973) :star::star::star::star::star:
25. Interview With A Vampire (1994) :star::star::star::star::star:
26. Brotherhood Of The Wolf (2001) :star::star::star::star::star:
27. Funny Games :star:
28. Naina (2005) :star::star:
29. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) :star::star::star::star::star:
30. John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) :star::star::star::star::star:
31. Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) :star::star::star::star::star:

 

[JohnRice]

Considering which one is your favorite, that's understandable.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

What are ya', and audience or an oil painting?


tough crowd..... tough crowd.

 

[JohnRice]

54) Cemetery Man - Before Shaun of the Dead, there was Michele Soavi's twisted little tale of a Cemetery Caretaker, who's real job is to knock off all the corpses that come back to life, and they all come back to life. Shaun traded in the irresistably weird sense of humor here for more straightforward, British silliness. The ending is almost legendary. This also has two things Shaun lacks. Anna Falchi.
3.5/5

55) Alucarda - Steve is probably disappointed that my first Jadorowsky isn't Santa Sangre. Two girls from an orphanage wander into a church of some sort, become possessed by some unknown spirit and spend the rest of the movie screaming, convulsing, and screaming some more. There is a lot of screaming. Not much logic to the story, aside from the screaming.
2/5

 

[Jason Roer]

Hey Joe,

I'll post about Saw 3 and the "line" tomorrow. I've just been too busy these past few days. I also have lots to post right now about the films I've watched.

Murders in the Rue Morgue - 3.5/5 - Excellent film - the atmosphere is wonderful in this one. Bela looks crazier then ever. This is the second of the Poe films I've seen in the Bela Lugosi collection and I enjoyed this one more. I still have to see The Black Cat. But I won't get that one in for the challenge. Oh Well. Murders was delightfully funny with some incredibly playful dialogue. The more I think about this one, the more I realize how much I enjoyed it.

THEM! - 4/5 - One of the better 50's SciFi B-Movies. I usually hate re-makes, but this film would be a great choice for one. I loved the simplistic concept and it's execution. The ants look dated - but that's to be expected. There was some great character development particularly with James Whitmore's character. If you haven't seen it yet - I highly recommend it.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) - 3.5/5 - Lon Chaney gives a gleeful performance as Quasimoto and really takes center stage in this silent presentation of the classic story. As I've said earlier in the thread, I'm really falling in love with silent films and it's because of this challenge that I've discovered some new favorites. Hunchback is my least favorite of these so far, but it still is wonderful and should be seen by everyone if only for Lon performance and for the incredible amounts of extras that were running around the lavish sets.

Young Frankenstein - 5/5 - I watch this every year; it's one of my favorites as well as my wife's. On this viewing, I was taken aback at how simply marvelous Cloris Leachman is in this film. It stands out to me as one of the great comedic performances by a woman in the history of film.

Final Destination 2 - 3/5 - I watched the first Final Destination earlier in the month and found it to be an excellent concept with a pretty darn good execution. As I watched the sequel, I was struck by how well the concept worked a second time around. The most fascinating part of these films is how well the kill scenes are executed. What's amazing about them to me is the pacing. They have a rhythm all their own and I think it's so cool that they constantly throw red herrings in the mix and you never know how the person is going to die. And they hold until the last possible second - and then they hold some more - and then - BAM! The person bites the bullet. It really builds the tension in a way that most horror films these days simply can't pull off. If these films had better dialogue and acting, they would be a 4 or 4.5 in my book.

Final Destination 3 - 2/5 - I did a Final Destination double feature. But number 3 just didn't do it for me. What made the first 2 films so great was the tension built during the kill secnes. You really couldn't predict how the person was going to die because they gave so many possible ways for a person to go in the same scene. And then they would nail the person in a completely different way. That was all thrown out the door this time around in favor off a more traditional approach this time where they blew their wad way too quickly. It was just setup and kill. Sometimes it was just kill. Real boring. Hopefully if they make a fourth film, and based on the box office and dvd sales there will be one, hopefully they can find the magic of the first two installments again.

2006 HORROR MOVIE CHALLENGE
1. Desperation, 2/5 (new)
2. Sleepaway Camp, 2/5 (new)
3. Cannibal!: The Musical, 2/5 (new)
4. Bubba Ho-Tep, 4/5 (new)
5. 30 Days in Hell, 4/5 (new)
6. The Hills Have Eyes (2006), 1/5 (new)
7. Session 9, 3/5 (new)
8. Army of Darkness, 3/5 (new)
9. Final Destination, 3.5/5 (new)
10. Dawn of the Dead, (1978) 3.5/5
11. Dawn of the Dead, (2004) 2/5 (new)
12. The Gore Gore Girls, 3/5 (new)
13. From Dusk Till Dawn, 3.5/5 (new)
14. Halloween 4, 3/5 (new)
15. House of a Thousand Corpses, 3.5/5
16. May, 3/5 (new)
17. Lust for Dracula, 2/5 (new)
18. Halloween (commentary track), 4/5
19. Tunguska/Terma, 3.5/5
20. Haxan (1922), 3.5/5 (new)
21. Shawn of the Dead, 4.5/5
22. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919), 4/5 (new)
23. The Fall of the House of Usher, 3.5/5 (new)
24. Thing From Another World, 4/5 (new)
25. Mark of the Vampire, 3/5 (new)
26. Return of the Vampire, 2/5 (new)
27. Blair Witch Project, BOMB (new)
28. The Listening Dead, 4/5
29. Zombie Prom, 5/5
30. Devil's Rejects, 4/5
31. Deer Woman, 2.5/5 (new)
32. The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D, 5/5 (new)
33. Halloween: 25 Years of Terror, 4/5 (new)
34. Dead Alive, 4/5 (new)
35. Nightmare on Elm Street, 4/5
36. The Return of the Living Dead, 2/5 (new)
37. Slither, 3/5 (new)
38. A Tale of Two Sisters, 2.5/5 (new)
39. Wes Craven's New Nightmare, 4/5 (new)
40. The Raven, 3/5 (new)
41. The Directors: Wes Craven, 4/5 (new)
42. 100 Scariest Moments in Horror, 4/5 (new)
43. Saw 3, 3/5 (new)
44. Rosemary's Baby, 4/5 (new)
45. Nosferatu, 4/5 (new)
46. The Haunting (1963), 4/5 (new)
47. Murders in the Rue Morgue, 3.5/5 (new)
48. THEM!, 4/5 (new)
49. The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 3.5/5 (new)
50. Young Frankenstein, 5/5 (new)
51. Final Destination 2, 3/5 (new)
52. Final Destination 3, 2/5 (new)

 

[TravisR]

10/31/06
I watched The Evil Dead and Evil Dead II. I love these movies especially the first one when they tried to make a straight (well, there's some jokes) horror movie with a ridiculous level of violence and blood. The second is a great blend of The Three Stooges and demons so that's another winner. I would have watched Army Of Darkness but I don't consider that a horror movie so I skipped it.

I watched The Night Stalker (1972) and The Night Strangler, the Darren McGavin Kolchak 1970's telemovies. Both movies are loads of fun. The telemovies and the TV series was the prototype for The X-Files (and the premise of the second Kolchak movie was stolen for- err, used in a couple of episodes from the first season of XF too ).

I may have time for one more...

My list so far...
(new titles in bold)
01. Dr. Giggles
02. Halloween II
03. A Nightmare On Elm Street
04. The Funhouse
05. The Woods
06. The Devil Bat
07. Doctor X
08. The Return Of Doctor X
09. Mad Love (1935)
10. Venom (2005)
11. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
12. Friday The 13th
13. Don't Answer The Phone
14. Friday The 13th Part 2
15. Friday The 13th Part 3
16. May
17. Friday The 13th- The Final Chapter
18. Friday The 13th Part V- A New Beginning
19. Friday The 13th Part VI- Jason Lives
20. April Fool's Day
21. Friday The 13th Part VII- The New Blood
22. Friday The 13th Part VIII- Jason Takes Manhattan
23. Masters Of Horror: Pick Me Up
24. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2
25. Hell Night
26. Christine
27. The Fog (1980)
28. Body Parts
29. Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III
30. A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge
31. A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
32. A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
33. A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
34. Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
35. Wes Craven's New Nightmare
36. Maniac (1980)
37. Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday
38. Jason X
39. Freddy Vs. Jason
40. The Prowler (1981)
41. Halloween III: Season Of The Witch
42. Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers
43. Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Myers
44. Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers
45. Halloween: H20
46. Halloween: Resurrection
47. Psycho (1960)
48. Psycho II
49. Psycho III
50. Scream
51. Scream 2
52. Scream 3
53. The Ghost Ship
54. Bedlam (1946)
55. Alien
56. Isle Of The Dead
57. The Leopard Man
58. The Body Snatcher
59. I Walked With A Zombie
60. The Seventh Victim
61. The Curse Of The Cat People
62. Psycho IV: The Beginning
63. The Thing
64. Cat People (1943)
65. Halloween
66. Jaws
67. Cabin Fever
68. The Evil Dead
69. Evil Dead II
70. The Night Stalker (1972)
71. The Night Strangler

 

[Michael Elliott]

Chocolate (2005) :star::star::star:1/2

Mick Garris directed this entry in the Masters of Horror series. A recently divorced man (Henry Thomas) tries to get his life back on track with the help of a diet. However, after he gets off the diet and eats some chocolate, he begins to see a woman and feel everything she feels, physically and sexually. The man soon finds himself becoming in love so he sets out to find this mysterious woman. I haven't seen many of the director's other films but I really enjoyed this one. Thomas is very good and very believable in the role and the supporting players do nice work as well. What really works well is the mystery of how Thomas is being connected to this woman. Violence wise, this is a rather tame entry but that benefits this film very well.

Psycho (1960) :star::star::star::star:

I decided to end the Challenge with Hitchcock's masterpiece, which is also one of the greatest films ever made in my opinion. Even if you take away the shower scene, this thing would still be as great as it is. Everything from the editing to the performances are brilliant. I've seen this film countless times to the point where I know every line of dialogue yet I still bite all my nails down with each new viewing. Last year I was lucky enough to see this with over 2000 people and I think it's great watching this with someone who doesn't know all the twists and turns. My ex-girlfriend watched this with me tonight and seeing her reactions was just priceless.

2006 Horror Challenge

01. Crime of Dr. Crespi, The (1935) :star::star:
02. Missing Guest, The (1938) :star::star:
03. Torture Ship (1939) :star::star:
04. Hand of Death (1962) :star::star::star:
05. Last Shark, The (1981) :star::star:1/2
06. School Killer (2001) :star::star::star:1/2
07. Blackenstein (1973) :star:1/2
08. Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde (1976) :star::star:1/2
09. You'll Find Out (1940) :star::star:1/2
10. Weird Woman (1944) :star::star:1/2
11. Dead Man's Eyes (1944) :star::star::star:
12. Jess Franco's Perversions (2005) :star:1/2
13. Oomo-Oomo, The Shark God (1949) :star::star:
14. Terror From the Year 5000 (1958) :star::star:
15. Zombie '90 Extreme Pestilence (1991) :star:1/2
16. House of Terror (1959) :star::star:1/2
17. Chaos (2005) :star::star::star:
18. I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006) :star::star:
19. Imprint (2006) :star::star::star:
20. Lugosi: Hollywood's Dracula (1997) :star::star::star:
21. That's the Spirit (1933) :star::star:
22. Midnight Menace (1946) :star:
23. Monkey's Paw, The (1948) :star::star:
24. Host to a Ghost (1941) :star::star:1/2
25. Motor Home Massacre (2005) BOMB
26. Absurd (1981) :star::star:
27. Frankenstein (1931) :star::star::star::star:
28. Frankenstein (1910) :star::star::star:
29. Ninth Guest, The (1934) :star::star::star:
30. Undying Monster, The (1942) :star::star::star:
31. I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957) :star::star::star:
32. Never Too Late (1937) :star::star:1/2
33. Murder in the Red Barn, The (1935) :star::star:1/2
34. Crocodile (2000) :star::star:
35. Dance of the Dead (2005) :star::star:
36. Black Dahlia (2006) BOMB
37. Cemetery of Terror (1985) :star:
38. Revenge of the Living Dead Girls (1987) :star::star::star:
39. Frozen Ghost, The (1945) :star::star:1/2
40. Strange Confession (1945) :star::star::star:
41. Pillow of Death (1945) :star:1/2
42. Flying Serpent, The (1946) :star::star:1/2
43. Visitor Q (2001) :star::star:
44. Ringu (1998) :star::star::star:
45. Vampiri, I (1956) :star::star:
46. Laurel-Hardy Murder Case, The (1930) :star::star::star:1/2
47. Maniac (1934) BOMB
48. Raven, The (1935) :star::star::star::star:
49. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The (1974) :star::star::star:
50. Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, The (1987) :star::star:1/2
51. Man From Beyond, The (1922) :star::star:
52. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The: The Beginning (2006) :star::star:1/2
53. Frankenstein, El Vampiro Y Compania (1962) 1/2:star:
54. Hands of Orlac, The (1924) :star::star::star:
55. Beast of Borneo, The (1934) :star:
56. Omen, The (2006) :star::star:1/2
57. Devil's Possessed, The (1974) :star::star:
58. Edgar G. Ulmer: The Man Off Camera (2004) :star::star:
59. Dementia (1955) :star::star::star:
60. Daughter of Horror (1958) :star::star:
61. Deer Woman (2005) :star::star::star::star:
62. Cobra Woman (1944) :star::star:1/2
63. After Dark (1932) :star::star:
64. Night Fright (1967) :star:1/2
65. Dracula (1931) :star::star::star:
66. White Zombie (1932) :star::star:1/2
67. Island of Lost Souls (1933) :star::star::star:
68. Witch's Mirror, The (1962) :star::star::star:
69. Curse of the Crying Woman, The (1963) :star::star:
70. Zombie (2005) :star::star:
71. Aftermath (1994) :star::star::star:
72. Genesis (1998) :star::star:1/2
73. Sorority House Massacre 2 (1990) :star::star::star:
74. Lady Vengeance (2005) :star::star:1/2
75. War Game, The (1965) :star::star::star:1/2
76. Terror at Red Wolf Inn (1972) :star:1/2
77. Fall of the House of Usher, The (1928) :star::star::star:1/2 French version
78. This Is Not a Test (1961) :star::star:
79. Unknown, The (1927) :star::star::star::star:
80. Freaks (1932) :star::star::star::star:
81. Mark of the Vampire (1935) :star::star:
82. Secret of the Loch, The (1934) :star::star:
83. Night of the Ghouls (1959) :star:1/2
84. Brute Man, The (1946) :star::star:
85. Creature From Black Lake (1976) :star::star:1/2
86. Return of Dr. X, The (1939) :star::star:1/2
87. Monster From the Ocean Floor (1954) :star:1/2
88. Damned Thing, The (2006) :star::star::star:
89. What's Up, Hideous Sun Demon? (1983) 1/2:star:
90. Macumba Sexual (1981) :star::star:
91. Mansion of the Living Dead (1982) :star:
92. Chocolate (2005) :star::star::star:1/2
93. Psycho (1960) :star::star::star::star:

 

[Malcolm R]

Awesome choice , and for many of your same reasons. Disappointed I didn't get to spin it this challenge, but I may still watch it as I extend my personal challenge thru this weekend. There's still several horror films I want to watch, the calendar be damned!

 

[Bob Turnbull]

Well no, but your susceptibility to marketing obviously is...


55. Black Sabbath - Gloriously filmed in every colour you can possibly imagine, these 3 short stories are plunked together with a Bela Lugosi introduction. The middle story about vampire like zombies is kinda slow, but the others are quite good. Though the first doesn't close on the ironic twist as well as it could have, the last story about a woman stealing the ring off a dead woman's hand is just about perfect for its 20-25 minute length. Just beautiful to look at too.

56. Stagefright: Aquarius (aka Deliria) - The first 15 minutes are pretty terrible (acting, script, dubbing, etc.) and don't do much to help you care at all for any single one of the characters. Once the slasher portion of the film begins, some of the tension and editing during the suspense scenes is pretty effective. Unfortunately, between these few good scenes, there's more talking and "acting". It just kills the rest of the film.



1. 10/01/06 - Dark Tales Of Japan (2004 - Yoshihiro Nakamura, Norio Tsuruta, Koji Shiraishi, Takashi Shimizu and Masayuki Ochiai)
2. 10/01/06 - I, Madman (1989 - Tibor Takacs)
3. 10/01/06 - Wrong Turn (2003 - Rob Schmidt)
4. 10/02/06 - Terror Train (1980 - Roger Spottiswoode)
5. 10/03/06 - One Missed Call 2 (2005 - Renpei Tsukamoto)
6. 10/03/06 - Lady Vengeance (2005 - Chan-wook Park)
7. 10/04/06 - Nightmare On Elm Street (1984 - Wes Craven)
8. 10/05/06 - Sorum (2001 - Jong-Chan Yun)
9. 10/06/06 - Face (2004 - Sang-Gon Yoo)
10. 10/06/06 - Hangman's Curse (2003 - Rafal Zielinski)
11. 10/06/06 - The Last Horror Movie (2003 - Julian Richards)
12. 10/07/06 - Cursed (2005 - Wes Craven)
13. 10/07/06 - Bunshinsaba (2004 - Byeong-ki Ahn)
14. 10/07/06 - Dementia 13 (1963 - Francis Ford Coppola)
15. 10/08/06 - Wolf Creek (2005 - Greg McLean)
16. 10/08/06 - Cronos (1993 - Guillermo del Toro)
17. 10/09/06 - House On Haunted Hill (1959 - William Castle)
18. 10/09/06 - Night Of The Living Dead (1968 - George Romero)
19. 10/10/06 - Dawn Of The Dead (1978 - George Romero)
20. 10/10/06 - School Killer (2001 - Carlos Gil)
21. 10/11/06 - Near Dark (1987 - Kathryn Bigelow)
22. 10/11/06 - The Tingler (1959 - William Castle)
23. 10/12/06 - Village Of The Damned (1960 - Wolf Rilla)
24. 10/12/06 - Children Of The Damned (1963 - Anton Leader)
25. 10/13/06 - The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971 - Robert Fuest)
26. 10/14/06 - Haxan (1922 - Benjamin Christensen)
27. 10/14/06 - The Grudge 2 (2006 - Takashi Shimizu)
28. 10/15/06 - Inner Senses (2002 - Chi-Leung Law)
29. 10/15/06 - Tales From The Gimli Hospital (1988 - Guy Maddin)
30. 10/16/06 - Prince Of Darkness (1987 - John Carpenter)
31. 10/16/06 - Unborn But Forgotten (2002 - Chang-Jae Lim)
32. 10/17/06 - Gemini (1999 - Shinya Tsukamoto)
33. 10/17/06 - Gojira (1954 - Ishiro Honda)
34. 10/18/06 - The Cat And The Canary (1979 - Radley Metzger)
35. 10/18/06 - Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956 - Don Siegel)
36. 10/19/06 - Acacia (2003 - Ki-Hyung Park)
37. 10/20/06 - Ju-On: The Grudge 2 (2003 - Takashi Shimizu)
38. 10/20/06 - The Woods (2006 - Lucky McKee)
39. 10/20/06 - The Masque Of Red Death (1964 - Roger Corman)
40. 10/21/06 - Retribution (2006 - Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
41. 10/21/06 - The Premature Burial (1962 - Roger Corman)
42. 10/22/06 - Re-cycle (2006 - Oxide Pang Chun and Danny Pang)
43. 10/24/06 - Behind The Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernon (2006 - Scott Glosserman)
44. 10/24/06 - Infection (2004 - Masayuki Ochiai)
45. 10/25/06 - The Card Player (2004 - Dario Argento)
46. 10/25/06 - Omen (2003 - Thammarak Kamuttmanoch)
47. 10/26/06 - From Dusk Till Dawn (1996 - Robert Rodriguez)
48. 10/26/06 - The Exorcist (1973 - William Friedkin)
49. 10/27/06 - Shikoku (1999 - Shunichi Nagasaki)
50. 10/28/06 - J Horror Anthology: Underworld (2005 - Various)
51. 10/28/06 - The Ugly (1997 - Scott Reynolds)
52. 10/29/06 - Night Of The Demon (1957 - Jacques Tourneur)
53. 10/29/06 - Theater Of Blood (1973 - Douglas Hickox)
54. 10/29/06 - Creature From The Haunted Sea (1961 - Roger Corman)
55. 10/30/06 - Black Sabbath (1963 - Mario Bava)
56. 10/31/06 - Stagefright: Aquarius (aka Deliria) (1987 - Michele Soavi)




Running Tally of 2006 Scary Movie Challenge

 

[Malcolm R]

So, I decided to wrap up my official Challenge list with three of the biggest horror icons of the past 25 years...

HALLOWEEN :star: :star: :star: :star: +
[Dir: John Carpenter, 1978]

Probably the best horror thriller ever. Amazingly effective for a low budget film, largely due to the photography skills of Dean Cundy and the music by John Carpenter, not to mention a great performance by Nick Castle as Myers. Also, surprisingly bloodless for a horror film often referred to as the first "slasher" film, but that's probably a factor of its time when the MPAA was on the rampage against bloody gore, but was OK with sex (such as Porky's and The Last American Virgin). Today they seem to be a lot more vigilant about sex, while allowing "R" rated films to wallow in rivers of blood and gore.

It's just a shame Moustapha Akkad was allowed to run the character into the ground. Though I admit, I don't believe I've seen any of the Michael Myers flicks beyond Halloween 5 and I've heard that 6 and 7 aren't too bad.

FREDDY VS. JASON :star: :star: :star:
[Dir: Ronny Yu, 2003]

Ok, it may sound sort of ridiculous on paper, and I admit it plays sort of like a Bugs vs. Daffy Looney Tunes episode at times, but it's a heck of a lot of fun!

The adults of Springwood have seemingly banished Freddy for good from the dreams of their adolescents by erasing all traces of him from the history books and committing the few teens who keep dreaming to the psychiatric hospital, drugged with Hypnocil to suppress their dreams.

Freddy is beside himself at being ignored, so he decides to unleash Jason Voorhees upon Springwood. Jason's reign of terror will be blamed on Freddy and bring him back into the people's consciousness again, and once again increasing their fear of him. It all works according to plan in the beginning, but Freddy finds that once the mission is accomplished, Jason won't just roll over and return to his grave. This sets up a battle royale between the two since Springwood ain't big enough for both of them.

There are quite a few clunkers of dialogue, and I definitely would have cast someone else in Kelly Rowland's part (didn't like her performance at all), but the action is highly entertaining. I also thought the performances of the two titular icons by Robert Englund and Ken Kerzinger was very good, probably my favorite of both franchises. Englund seemed to have more screen time than in any of his Nightmare films and was really enjoying it (though the constantly changing Freddy make-up was a little odd). And Jason seemed to have an especially nasty attitude that was different from his prior films. I especially loved the rave scene in the cornfield (especially the stoner's head twist, followed by the little poke in the chest to knock him over).

Gotta say this was the bloodiest of any film in either franchise. It's amazing to me how in the 80's, neither franchise was really allowed to show much of anything during the kill scenes, while in this film we have literal geysers of blood spraying all over the place, as well as stabbings, decapitations, and dismemberments right there on the screen. My how times (and the MPAA) have changed over the past 15 years!

So ends this year's Scary Movie Challenge, my first. It was great fun and I'll probably watch a few more over the next few days, but it looks like my official total will stand at 37 films, about half new viewings and half old favorites. And the only major stinker was Fear of Clowns. Still not up to the heights of some of you, but more than I ever thought I'd watch. Plus my new projector certainly made it a lot more fun!

2006 Scary Movie Challenge Summary
Newly-experienced in bloody dark red, based on a 4-star rating:

THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES :star: :star: :star:
CEMETERY GATES :star: 1/2
COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE! :star: :star:
CREEP :star: :star: :star:
DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN! :star: :star:
THE EVIL DEAD :star: :star: 1/2
THE EXORCIST III :star: :star: 1/2
FEAR OF CLOWNS - ZERO STARS
FINAL DESTINATION 2 :star: :star:
FINAL DESTINATION 3 :star: :star: :star:
FRIDAY THE 13TH :star: 1/2
FRIDAY THE 13TH - PART 2 :star: :star: 1/2
FRIDAY THE 13TH - PART 3 :star: 1/2
FRIDAY THE 13TH - THE FINAL CHAPTER :star: :star: 1/2
FRIDAY THE 13TH - A NEW BEGINNING :star:
FRIDAY THE 13th PART VI - JASON LIVES! :star: :star: :star:
FRIDAY THE 13th Part VII - The New Blood :star: :star:
FRIDAY THE 13th Part VIII - Jason Takes Manhattan :star:
THE GHOUL :star: :star: 1/2
THE GRUDGE - Unrated Director's Cut :star: :star: 1/2
HOCUS POCUS :star: :star: 1/2
HOSTEL - Unrated :star:
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3: DREAM WARRIORS :star: :star: 1/2
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4: THE DREAM MASTER :star: :star: :star:
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 5: THE DREAM CHILD :star: :star: 1/2
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 6: FREDDY'S DEAD :star: :star:
SAW - Uncut Edition :star: :star: :star: :star:
THE SENTINEL :star: :star:
SEVEN :star: :star:
SLEEPY HOLLOW :star: :star: :star: :star:
SUSPIRIA :star:
TERROR TRAIN :star: :star:
TIM BURTON'S CORPSE BRIDE :star: :star: :star:
TOOLBOX MURDERS :star: :star: :star:
TWICE TOLD TALES :star: :star:

 

[Jason Roer]

Malcolm,

Funny, I forgot about the hardware store scene. But the drive thru was pretty predictable to me. They had just talked about the truck so that was a big tip off. And the rest of the kills were pretty quick. I guess that was what I was talking about. For me at least, I felt like they just got down to it in Final 3 instead of holding off. It's funny, I just finished Halloween, the first one, and what was so wonderful about the film was knowing someone was going to die, but having Carpentor hold off for so long. The tension was held throughout each scene until the point that it would have become ridiculous if it had gone any further. And then - BANG! Myers gets the person. He definately switched it up a bit - and that was needed. PJ Soles' boyfriend gets wacked pretty quickly, but for the most part they are drawn out kills. And that's what was so special to me about the first two Finals. I'll have to give the third one another chance sometime. Maybe it was becuase I had just seen Final 2. It could have just been enough by that point.

Hope you enjoy the last night of the official challenge. And hell yeah - keep watching the horror flicks. I watch them all year round, myself.

Cheers,

Jason

 

[Malcolm R]

It's kind of funny, since I've always considered myself quite a horror fan, but for the past year or two had really gotten out of the genre and hadn't watched hardly any horror. This challenge was just what I needed to get back into it. I may have to join Netflix just to track down some of these other titles everyone else is watching and enjoying.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

My prediction is that the Final Destination franchise will quickly turn into direct-to-video "porn for gore hounds". Complete with using the same actresses in multiple volumes (sometimes they'll even die more than once per film). Spoken lines will continue to get fewer and fewer......

"Gee, I sure hope Death doesn't kill us in this cutlery museum"
"Don't be silly, now put on this blindfold and these rollerskates."

Once the series starts using hilarious sub-titles, you know I'll have been proven right.

*Final Destination 22: Electrocution Boogaloo!
*Final Destination 16: Mother's I like to hit with a truck.
*Final Destination 7: Barely legal teens and Barely trained Bears.

 

[Jason Roer]

Malcolm,

That's just it. The build up. The tension. The dread. You know it's going to happen. You just don't know when. And that's what the great horror/suspence directors have worked out. They know the balance. They are patient and they know how long to keep you in that looming dread. It's truly a marvelous talent to walk that line.

Garrett,

TOO FUNNY! Thanks for the great laugh.

I'm off to bed now. I'll write my final reviews for the challenge in the morning. BOOHOO! I love this challenge and look forward to it all year. Sad to see it's over. I think it would be great if we could do another challenge sort of midway through the year - maybe early spring - one that focuses on SciFi. A SciFi Movie Challenge! April, maybe? I don't know. Anyone else interested? I'd love to catch up on some of the great SciFi that I've missed over the years. Thoughts?

Cheers,

Jason

 

[JohnRice]

56) Freaks - Tod Browning produces what is still the weirdest revenge flick ever made. Watching this is just unsettling.
4/5

57) Cube - Think of it as a less sadistic, more creative version of Saw, set in space, or at least in some very weird, huge...OK, I won't give it away, for those who haven't seen it.
3.5/5

 

[Jason Roer]

John,

Always loved Cube. I picked it up years ago because I liked the packaging and was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the story and set design. I've always wished this movie had better acting in it because I think it had the potential to be not only a great film, but something that would have a very long life. But the over-the-top choices by some of the actors just killed it every so often. I realize they had a limited budget and they probably had limited takes, but I wish the director had reigned them in - maybe held some more rehearsals to map it all out. I'm only hard on it, because I really enjoy the concept and wish for more.

Cheers,

Jason

 

[Tim Tucker]

Well, it took all evening but I made it to 31. And an exhausting month it has been, too. Turns out that I've watched over 39 hours worth of horror films.

27. Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933). Over the past few years, the films produced by Warner Bros. Studios in the 1930s have become some of my favorites, and this one is very typical of its output. But instead of gangsters on the spot, or Busby Berkeley chorines dancing, we have a misshapen, murdering, body-snatching monster on the loose in Warner’s New York. A pre-Code, Art Deco New York filled with wisecracking reporters, millionaires, cops, junkies and bootleggers. Glenda Farrell makes a great heroine, one you wouldn’t want to cross. And the film has one of the great reveals in the history of horror, when Fay Wray smashes Lionel Atwill’s wax mask. A great advance over Doctor X. Too bad Jack Warner didn’t care for horror films, because I would have like to have seen where they would have gone from here.

28. The Ghoul (1933). This movie is one of the great discoveries of the DVD era. Who would have thought that a film thought lost would turn up looking pristine? And even more, it turns out to be very good. This appears to be one of the first British attempts to make an American-style horror film. The end result is a good approximation of a Universal movie, specifically a combination of Karloff’s last two: The Old Dark House and The Mummy. The cast is just as fine as in the former (Ernest Thesiger, Cedric Hardwicke and Ralph Richardson) and the Egyptology is just as effective as in the latter (the scene where Karloff carves an ankh on his chest is still shocking.) And the comic relief masochistic Cockney is a hoot. The only disappointment is that the script tries to tied everything up with a rational explanation that’s not very convincing.

29. The Invisible Man (1933). This may be James Whale’s most English film, starting with what could almost be a paean to the pub, village and countryside. Claude Rains gives an incredible performance, given that he’s hampered by not being able to use his face. The SFX are still effective after all this time. This has to be one of the best screen adaptations of H. G Wells. And is it just me, or does everyone else find Una O’Connor annoying?

30. The Black Cat (1934). My favorite Lugosi film. When you learn more about the making of this movie, it becomes even more fascinating. The original version would have been one of the most perverse horror films of the 1930s, if not of all time. Even in its truncated form, it’s filled with Satanism, necrophilia, incest, possession, human sacrifice, threats of rape, and topped off with Boris Karloff being flayed alive. Lugosi is a sympathetic hero for a change, while Karloff is a completely irredeemable villain. Even David Manners has one of his best roles. Edgar G. Ulmer’s direction is terrific (just look at the chart room scene, for example). One of the first Universal horror films to use music extensively, it’s fun picking out which classical pieces the music department plundered for the score. Any resemblance to Edgar Allan Poe is completely coincidental.

31. The Raven (1935). Compared to The Black Cat, this one is just a pile of pulpy nonsense reminiscent of a chapter serial, but it’s fun. This time their roles are reversed, with Lugosi as a sadistic Poe collector, and Karloff as a gangster mutilated by him. With each line, Lugosi chomps down on increasingly larger amounts of the scenery. The overacting helps, because the script doesn’t hold up well at all, with it becoming more and more improbable as it goes on. And the so-called “comic relief” doesn’t help matters either.

It's been a lot of fun, especially reading everyone else's comments. The horror genre covers such a wide area, it's interesting to see where other people's interest lie. Now, if you will excuse me, I'm off to bed. And tomorrow I plan to watch a Western... or a musical... or a noir... anything other than a horror film.

My final tally.

 

[SteveGon]

Finished up with:

Creature from the Black Lagoon - My favorite Universal horror. The creature is cool and Julia Adams is to drool for.

*** out of ****


She-Wolf of London - Wanted to get in a little werewolf action so I opted for this minor Universal chiller that I hadn't seen in awhile. June Lockhart is a young woman traumatized by the fact that she may be the werewolf that's been terrorizing a nearby park.

**1/2 out of ****


The Thing - Finished up with John Carpenter's gooey sf/horror classic.

*** out of ****

Final tally: 70

I'm beat.