The Annual October Horror Movie Watching Thread - Part 2017!!!!

3rd - October Madness No.5 / SCV Psychotronic Challenge Day 3: THE BIG 3: Watch anything with Boris Karloff, Vincent Price or Christopher Lee. Or combo up, c’mon now.


Scars of Dracula (1970) Rewatch - Rating: 3/5
I find most Hammer films to be stiff and stuffy, but Scars of Dracula is a welcome change of pace from their formula as this entry into their vampire lore is briskly paced, quite violent, and features Christopher Lee in his most sinister incarnation of the infamous character of the Count.

3rd - October Madness No.5


Gerald's Game (2017) - Rating: 2/5
Gerald's Game wears out it's welcome with a premise that in my opinion would work better as a short film as I became quite bored as the film progressed and found a lot of its twists and turns felt forced rather than organic, and especially the third act/resolution which feels tacked on and corny despite it being faithful to the book (which I have not read). Sure the

Spoiler

degloving

had me cringe, but so did the overall execution of this mediocre thriller.

 

October 3rd
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5) The Bar: A fun and entertaining comedy/thriller from Spain. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a film that balances scares and tension with belly laughs so well. The narrative was engaging and energetic, the characters fun and well crafted, and the action handled properly. The story and tone does take a pretty drastic turn in its second half, to its benefit mostly, but overall there is more positive to enjoy here than negative. (7/10)


6) The Incident: A trippy and disturbing psychological, sci-fi-esque thriller that will defiantly stick with me for some time to come. The idea alone of being stuck on an infinite road or stairwell – the two locations presented in each story – in of itself just gives me the creeps, but the outcome as to why this is all happening is the true icing on the cake. I will admit the “reason” behind our characters damnation is a bit farfetched and overexplained, but the story is so well crafted and engaging that I am willing to let it slide. Fans of “The Twilight Zone” should check this out because it is more than worth your time. (7.5/10)

 

Oct 3rd-

Last night's film was the gut-muncher Cannibal Apocalypse. A solid Italian horror film with lots of John Saxon in flannel.

 

01 10/01 Vampira Presents, The Thirteenth Guest (1932)
If it weren't for my annual tradition of ushering in the season at Midnight with who else but Vampira, and only being able to do so with her one and only known existing performance, I would not come to know The 13th Guest as well as I do now. A low rent Monogram programmer forgotten even by the public domain (there's only two DVD releases I know if) but it's grown remarkably on me over the years. It's a pretty smart script, that for more years than I care to admit, continually surprised me with its little plot twists. The dialog is witty all around with an ensemble cast that knows how to sell it. Lyle Talbot and Ginger Rogers have great chemistry here too making the banter sizzle. Add in the better than average old dark house repeatedly showcased through the film and you've got a film I look very much forward to year after year.




This photo makes and rounds but I always thought this was Donald O'Connor being goofy; I didn't even click till I saw this in the DVD gallery!
02 10/01 Dead of Night (1945)
I've owned the AB DVD for a long while now, and have been penciling this in as an October selecting for nearly as long. I finally got to slip it in. A well done anthology with nice variety in its tales while sticking to its main themes. So with that said, my only qualm is,

Spoiler

Why kill the psychiatrist? There's no real call for it except that the architect's "crazy," but how can he be crazy if this is all foretold (accurately) in a dream? The spirits must be guiding him. Then why? To what purpose? Make the survivors, who already believe, believe more? Revenge for making others turn away from the spirits? But if he can't convince the crowd in the house then he's not much worth killing. It's basically a twisted ending for the sake of a twisted ending. With its build up to a purposed in the supernatural that's not a very good bookend.

It's a minor qualm because it's such a well executed ending that I'll go with it.


03 10/02 The Queen of Spades (1949)
As the second of the Anchor Bay DVD double feature I tackled this next. Takes a long while to build, and once it gets interesting it kinda rushes everything into a great finale. The conclusion is satisfying though, and what interesting to me is that in reading some of the historic writings on the original short story that the ending is debated

Spoiler

but makes sense to me. The Countess, wanting to both alleviate her damned soul AND get revenge on the Captain for her untimely death, makes a condition she knows he cannot meet: marry her ward. She knows her ward would refuse. And so when the Captain tries to use that last portion of the bargain, the 3rd and final card, she renigs. Perfectly logical in a deal with the dead/devil. In fact it's pretty standard as far as folklore goes.

Still very enjoyable.


"I'll give you all one more look at my cans."
04 10/03 Mystery Science Theater 3000 Presents, Devil Doll (1964/1997)
After watching Dead of Night, I decided to watch another British dummy named Hugo mind grapple its master for mortal dominance. I lovehate this movie pretty hard. It's both well done and poorly done, deadly dull and oddly compelling. The acting, especially by Bryant Haliday, is pretty good. And both underplayed while being as hammy as a sandwich refused a dummy. The production is rather good too, even spending that extra time to setup some dual focus shots! While at the same time refusing to give scenes that movie magic it direly needs. Even with its happy ending this film feels so dour and bereft of humanity. It's pure unadulterated nihilism as only the British can be. MST3k really takes the piss outta this one. This was when Mike/Kevin/Bill were really turning it on in the later half of the Sci-Fi years. It also has great skits all around with Pitch making a welcome return.


The original Pennywise vs. kids showdown.
05 10/03 Night of the Demon (1957) (95-minute Uncut U.K. Release)
Decided to keep my British horror marathon going with another first time viewing. Not too enamored with this one, and even though my expectations were rather low, I'm still somewhat confused why this is considered a genre classic. It was novel that the warlock is more like real modern warlocks you might meet on the street (usually at a cross roads for some reason or another...) but there is a lack of menace or really even cause for concern. Despite a few effective shots of smoke coming out of the air, the demon itself is too puppet like to terrorize, and there's no other real attempt at atmosphere in the rest of the movie. Something barely touched upon is the notion that the establishment might actively being to turn against Andrews. After the botched hypnosis session he should have been placed under arrest for example, and had to escape to try and catch the warlock. And then Scotland Yard could have tried to put the squeeze on him too. Also

Spoiler

as a "heartless" Satanist, wouldn't you, after knowingly being passed a curse, just say to the Scotland Yard guy next to you in that instance, "Oh, would you hold my coat while I adjust this." He'll invariably say yes, take the coat, and then you run like hell. Yeah, maybe Scotland Yard will be after you, but at least you're still alive! When actually the Yard will probably write off the cause of death and you're scott free.

There's a lot of wasted potential here in my mind. Worth noting thought that this takes place during October, leading up to Halloween.

So it's interesting, all three British films, pretty much take the stance of trying to convince someone to believe in the supernatural. Both Dead of Night and Night of the Demon deal with a lot people trying to convince on agnostic to believe in the supernatural "or else..." It may be a sign of the times for England during this era. A fear of people moving away from the superstitious.

 

No, someone uploaded the crappy DVD version on YouTube.

 

Just finished it! Very entertaining. Love the story how they got Vincent Price on board. Zero chance of that situation happening today.

 

Starting this year on a somewhat bland run, only one mild stand out in the mix. Ratings are out of ****.

10/1/17 - The Monster Club (1980) **
A low budget but high enthusiasm resurrection of the Hammer/Amicus anthology films, with John Carradine and Vincent Price providing the lead ins to each short from the backdrop of a night club for monsters.

The night club wrap around is clearly a different production than the anthology stories, the former just a bunch of horror fans in cheap masks dancing around in 80s video style, the later a definite throwback to Hammer film quality and cinematic styles. The musical acts in the night club bit aren't bad, and the participants were clearly strong fans of the genre. But it’s still amateur hour, and apart from the priceless treat of Carradine and Price tossing facial expressions at each other it wears out its welcome. An overdone rant at the end regarding the monstrousness of humanity detracts further, even in the 80s it was tired and needed to be brief to be effective here.

The shorts are solidly acted, with good cinematography and great location sets. Some mostly minor but familiar faces from British horror show up, and Donald Pleasence is superbly slimy-devious-creepy. But the writing is tedious and mediocre, failing to set solid ground for the previous strong points to work on. An absurd "monster genealogy" concept threads its way through a couple stories for little reason, comedic intent in one thuds, an intriguingly weird set up in another sputters out to a stock twist. I found myself liking certain scenes - such as the violin case packing Scotland Yard mooks - but disappointed the script did nothing but ape sub-par EC comic plot devices.

10/2/17 - Caltiki - The Immortal Monster (1959) **1/2
An archaeologist treats his hot wife to a second honeymoon at a malaria plagued Mayan dig site, witnesses a giant burlap sack from a radioactive underground lake consume his best friend's arm, then carts a soapy towel piece of the monster back to Spain and leaves it on his kitchen counter to wreak havoc.

A mix of low budget and sometimes laughable effects, well ahead of its time flinch-worthy gore, and a full plot bag of 50s sci-fi film tropes. Comparisons to X the Unknown, The Quatermass Experiment and The Blob have been made almost since the film's release, and rightly so. This film isn't on par with any of those, but it is still an entertaining and somewhat unnerving near classic monster movie.

10/3/17 - The Shrine (2010) **1/2
An ambitious journalist decides the best way to save her failing career is to haul her intern and boyfriend to a remote East European village where people keep vanishing and the locals are purveyors of fatal facial fashion.

A somewhat rote take on the sinister rural cult concept, with the en vogue East European hard-case slant and a "who is the real villain?" supernatural twist. No major flaws in the acting or story, with horror film standard stupid acts being called out for what they are, and the villains intriguingly humanized in their motivations. But similarly not much makes the movie exceptional, either. Worth a watch, but not much more.

10/4/17 - When Animals Dream (2014) ***
A confused young woman, caring for an invalid mother and subjected to cruelly escalating hazing at her workplace, contends with body changes no sex education class ever prepared her for.

A somewhat by the numbers but still strong film, held up by solid acting and grounded scripting. Excessive fixating with keeping the action "in the shadows" goes too far with several extended scenes unnecessarily too dark to see anything, but otherwise there is little to harp on regarding the cinematography.

This film isn't going to dethrone Ginger Snaps as the reigning queen of lycanthropy feminism empowerment. But it’s a thought provoking, sensitive, and somewhat chilling addition to the niche.

 

I love this one. An Italian cannibal flick that's not in a jungle, and no animal killings. Adds the crazed psycho from the Vietnam war genre that would be popular soon after.

And if ya wanna feel weird, the teenage temptress that seduces John Saxon is the little girl from Argento's Cat O'Nine Tails.

 

1. Planet of the Vampires (Mario Bava, 1965)



Nothing really happens in this movie. The action takes place entirely on 3 very minimal sets. And it's obvious that they were working on a tiny, tiny budget. But even still, Bava is able to create something interesting. The planet surface is the best of the three locations with crazy craggy rocks with suction cups on them, pools of bubbling goo, and wonderful technicolor lighting effects in the background of every shot. The crew wear goofy leather pyjamas with collars up to their ears. The enormous alien skeletons and their ship with the musical lock ("Why didn't I think of that before?!") are pretty great. Well worth a watch, but anybody who's not already a Bava fan should probably give it a pass.

2. Shock Treatment (Jim Sharman, 1981)



Weird. Weird, weird, weird. The story(?) makes no sense, and I enjoyed the movie a lot more this second viewing because I knew this, and didn't try to follow or make sense of the story. I just watched it for the bizarre characters and great songs. And make no mistake, the songs are great. They're easily the best thing about the movie. There are some interesting set pieces, but the fact that it's set in a tv studio (I think?) means many of the scenes are really static, which keeps it from feeling as dynamic as Rocky Horror. I really like Cliff de Young and Jessica Harper (obviously) as Brad and Janet. I can't imagine them as the characters in Rocky Horror, but then I can't imagine Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon in this either. And yeah...I know counting this as a horror movie is one hell of a stretch...but it's a sequel (sort of) to Rocky Horror...so...yeah.

 

OCTOBER 4TH: Clownhouse, It (2017), Killer Klowns From Outer Space, Clown

 

I loved how personal it was in comparison to most making-of docs. It really made me appreciate the movie more. I even got choked up watching Jeff Burr scatter his brother's ashes in the place where they filmed the movie.

 

Day 4

Well, today pretty much ended up being shitty. Maybe a better day tomorrow.

9. 976-Evil (1988) Blu-Grabbed this very recent blu. Honestly, as much as this one has been out there through the years, and I've seen it around plenty, I never took the time to watch before. Liked it as it was good 80's fare. Always dig the included home video version that pretty much looks like shit, but gives you that familiar feel from back in the good old days of the video stores. Definitely glad I grabbed this one.

Hopefully things go better tomorrow. Just got that new Arrow Children of the Corn today, so that will be on my agenda.

~Rocker10

 

Movie #4:
The Innocents (1961)
First time viewing (DVD)
**** (out of 5)
Scarecrow Video Psychotronic Challenge Guideline:
4. THERE’S A BAT IN MY NIGHTDRESS!: Gothic horror, not just for gargoyles on buildings anymore.

My favorite movie of the month so far. Outstanding cinematography and atmosphere. Definitely gonna have to pick up the Criterion Blu at the next sale.

 

10/4
976-EVIL

I actually enjoyed this way more than I should have, and much more than I have in the past. They rung a lot of production value out of a minuscule budget. Narratively it's a bit of a mess with main characters dropping out of the story for long periods. Geoffreys saves it with his vulnerable/monstrous/human/odd thing he does, though.

 

October 03:


11) The Wolf Man (1941): After all these years, still one of the best werewolf movies ever made...heck one of the best horror movies. Even if Mr. Chaney's character is a bit stalker-y spying on a woman in her bedroom.

12) Child's Play (1988): A movie that manages to make an extremely ugly, non-threatening doll...threatening. I like that he uses sneak attacks to take out his larger victims and I love the part of the movie when little Andy is trying to tell people about Chucky being alive but of course no one believes him. The kid even gives a decent performance for a kid in a horror movie, though to this day his whiny voice grates on my nerves. Wonder if the kid is at all traumatised from his involvement in this movie?

13) Navy Seals Vs Zombies (2015): Well...at least I got a good laugh when the Vice President's helicopter crashed. But damn the zombie actors in this were some of the worst I've ever seen! There's a couple of cool scenes of SEALS running through crowds, blasting away at zombies (ie. people with bad acne, running like regular people) but there's really not much to recommend this one.

 

Only five days in, and I wanted to say:

I think this is so far the best October thread in my years at Horrordigi. Please keep up the great write-ups, images, and miscellany. I really appreciate the effort you guys are putting into your posts.

 

10.03.17
Rosemary's Baby (1968) BD



After a long day at work I didn't feel like having a marathon night so decided on watching just one film. I wanted something quiet but not boring and Rosemary's Baby fit the bill just right. Definitely a classic. A griping, sinister slow burn that leads to a very chilling climax.

 

I was able to sneak one more in late last night.

While it does have its flaws, I find this remake to be very enjoyable and thoroughly entertaining. It's a slick little slasher that delivers all the goods a slasher should. I also really like the way in which they tie the original film into the story.

 

4th - October Madness No.7 / SCV Psychotronic Challenge Day 4 - THERE'S A BAT IN MY NIGHTDRESS!: Gothic horror, not just for gargoyles on buildings anymore.


Baron Blood (1972) Rewatch - Rating: 3/5
Mario Bava's Baron Blood provides all the atmospheric staples of his period pieces, but updates them for modern-of-the-times as this pop-Gothic tale juxtaposes Coca Cola machines against the backdrop of authentic Vienna castles with plenty of gruesome gore, chills, and Joseph Cotten doing his best Vincent Price impersonation.

 

October 4th
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7) Sunchoke: I’ve always had a thing for these psychological thrillers that feature a disturbed, loose cannon type lead. But, even with an interesting character and all three lead females – which features Barbra Crampton as the abusive psychologist – there still wasn’t a lot of meat on this bone. The story really loses its luster towards the final act when it randomly decides to be an art house horror film for no reason and fails hard at doing so. The outcome is grim and pessimistic, which took balls, but it still felt rushed and under thought. (6/10)


8) Veronica: A creepy, subtle, and effective psychological thriller. The story takes its time to build and the black and white aesthetic really added to the atmosphere. The two leads did a great job and their chemistry really shined through the screen. The film does start to cannibalize itself with the multiple twists in the finale, but overall the conclusion is disturbing. (7/10)