October Horror Challenge 2015 - Day 19

The Witch's Mirror is a chilly and creepy tale of black magic and revenge as a witch seeks vengeance after the murder of her daughter by her husband.  The story is simple and the film is beautifully shot and framed and is thick with atmosphere. Had it felt less familiar and given us a couple more moments that we maybe haven't seen before, or if the production felt just a bit bigger I think this one could be a classic. It's still quite good and one of my favorite Mexican horror films I've ever seen.

I wish the next two films of the day were as good as The Witch's Mirror but that's how these marathons go.

The Executioner Part 2 has a great poster, a great plot fit for exploitation gold. Hell even the opening 10 minutes are promising. And then it comes to a grinding halt where we have to watch a couple girls beg for cocaine with awful acting and horrible dubbing and just plain boring bullshit. This movie drags on and on and on and on. I wasn't expecting anything amazing and I definitely was expecting subpar filmmaking but I was at least hoping to be entertained. The only thing The Executioner killed was this movie. And for those wondering, no, there's no part 1.

And bad goes to worse. The Frozen Scream is awful in every single way. A weak story about slowing down life functions are bringing the person back at a lower body temperature to prevent the effects of aging is just barely touched upon while a series of gruesome murders is taking place and corpses are being turned into mind-controlled zombies. Or something. I was distracted through most of the movie wondering why everyone has a German or Eastern European accent. It didn't make any sense to me. And if I hear the name "Anne" one more fucking time I'm smashing something. Without exaggerating "Anne" has to be said close to 500 times. There's nothing at all worth checking out here. This is a Video Nasty but I'm not really sure why. I guess that the single shot of an axe to a head is what landed the movie on the banned films list but I'd like to think the censors actually cared about us for real this one time and just didn't want anyone to see this piece of shit.

Today's Rundown
The Witch's Mirror - 6.5/10
The Executioner Part 2 - 3/10
The Frozen Scream - 1/10

October Horror Challenge 2015 - Day 18

Just a couple of movies for this day, starting with the first time viewing of Stuart Gordon's Daughter Of Darkness. This 1990 made-for-tv movies stars Mia Sara of Ferris Bueller's Day Off fame and Anthony Perkins and follows her as she head's to Romania after the recent death of her mother to find out about the history of her father which leads her down a dark path into vampire lure. I held out hope for this one because it was directed by Stuart Gordon but I was afraid it was going to be entirely forgettable. Well it isn't a lost classic but it is a passable vampire film with good performances that is more graphic in terms of both violence and nudity than I thought it could ever be. Go ahead and track it down if you're a fan of Gordon's.

I've had Lovecraft on my mind quite a bit this passed week and I think I might be on a mini Lovecraft kick this week and to start it off there was no better way than with 2005's The Call Of Cthulhu. This is my 3rd viewing of the movie and it remains an immensely entertaining and great feat of indie filmmaking. The movie is filmed in the silent style of the 1920s that the story was written in and it works really well. There's a few really impressive set pieces and an amazing stop motion animation sequence with Cthulhu. If you're a Lovecraft fan you need to see this one.

Today's Rundown
Daughter Of Darkness - 5/10
The Call Of Cthulhu - 8/10

October Horror Challenge 2015 - Day 17

Morituris: Legion Of The Dead is an Italian horror film recently released on Blu-ray by Synapse Films with special effects work from perhaps the king of Italian special effects Sergio Stivaletti. I had high hopes that this would be a return to Italian horror greatness but then I saw that this film was made in 2011. All expectations were tossed out the window as I figured I'd have heard something about it in four years if it was worth a damn. Well, the movie isn't terrible but it also isn't going to make Italy relevant in the world of horror again either. While Stivaletti can still do great things with his practical effects makeup, Morituris felt like two different movies with the first part being an overdrawn rape/revenge type film without any of the revenge satisfaction. It is brutal and nasty but takes too long and doesn't give the audience the satisfaction of the antagonists getting their just due. That would be where the resurrected Roman gladiators come in but they don't really provide the revenge either as they attack everyone and for as long as is it takes to get to their part of the movie it is a bit of a let down. The movie isn't bad, but it takes too long to get where it should be and then offers too little of what we came to see.

Next up was a viewing of a childhood favorite, Return Of The Living Dead 2... with the French audio track. Why did I watch this with the French audio track, you ask? Well I've seen the movie plenty of times over the years but it has been a very long time since I've been able to see it with the original soundtrack which is only available on the DVD on the French track. I didn't miss anything in the movie as I know exactly what is going on but the French audio did give me drunken giggles. The original soundtrack is superior to the edited one in the film but not enough to make a big deal out of. The movie is a great cheeseball flick and very similar to the original but the soundtrack isn't even comparable to the original which has one of my favorite soundtracks of all time.

Fuck The Green Inferno. This movie is total and complete crap. That's it.

Lastly was a rather boring and uneventful film from Amicus - The Blood Beast Terror. Peter Cushing completists are really the only people that need to check it out. I can't say its really awful, and watching it after The Green Inferno certainly made it seem a bit more palatable. It is well acted but there's so little going on that it just doesn't matter. The end gets a bit more interesting but much too little, far too late.

Today's Rundown
Morituris - 5.5/10
Return Of The Living Dead 2 - 8/10
The Green Inferno - 2/10
The Blood Beast Terror - 4.5/10

October Horror Challenge 2015 - Day 16

A trio of first time viewings for the day and none of them were anything special unfortunately. Leading off was Demonoid, a movie that's best scene was the opening one as an old Satanic cult chops off the left hand of its victim and offers it up to Satan. Flash forward a few hundred years to present day and the hand is unearthed in a mine and begins to possess various people who flip between acting like assholes on a killing spree and trying to chop their left hand off to relieve them of the possession. It was passable as it is but had it run any longer (and it has a longer cut) it would have started to become a chore.

The best movie of the day was Frightmare aka The Horror Star, the story of a legendary horror actor who was full of himself and has recently passed away when a group of fans steal his corpse and party with it until he seeks and gets his revenge. This one was better but the main star desperately wants to be Christopher Lee and can't pull it off. He isn't bad in his own right and would have been better had he toned down the impression of Lee. An appearance from Jeffrey Combs never hurts and this one really isn't too bad at all.

Last up was my first giallo of the month, of which there will be several more. In The Folds Of The Flesh is a title I'd been curious about for several years and finally took the chance to watch my DVD. The mix of incest, murder, Nazi death camps, pet vultures, psychosis, more incest, psychadelic camera work and trippy editing along with a touch of shitty 1920s slapstick comedy sounding music from time to time only begin to sum up what you see on the screen. And what you see on the screen is the best part of the film because the story is a mishmash of bullshit and forced ideas that simply don't add up. This is a film that tries to force the idea that 1+1=3 on you. Not a good film but it's not a total waste of time as I said the visuals of it carry it to at least be engaging.

Today's Rundown
Demonoid - 5/10
Frightmare - 6/10
In The Folds Of The Flesh - 4/10

October Horror Challenge 2015 - Day 15

The Den caught me off guard, I was expecting annoying internet culture references and a rather boring plot line. Instead I got a pretty decent horror film based around the potential dark side of the internet and interacting with the wrong people on it. The movie moves fast as it clocks in at under 80 minutes and gets quite violent and bloody towards the end. It doesn't take the predictable path which probably would have worked had they gone that way but either way this is a solid low budget horror movie.

Brainiac is hailed as "the weirdest horror movie ever" on its DVD cover and while it is strange it is nowhere near the weirdest ever. It is a fun little monster movie about a man who was burned at the stake coming back to life 300 years later to take vengeance on the bloodline of those that put him to death. He has returned as a strange looking demon with a pulsating face, a forked tongue to suck his victims brains which he later dines on and rubbery hands that look like uncircumcised penises. It's straight forward in its delivery and outcome but is an entertaining Mexican horror film nonetheless.

Next up was a creature feature from the shores of Ireland that I've been putting off for a couple of years for no real reason, Grabbers. A small island town is threatened by a family of tentacle monsters with razor sharp teeth and a thirst for blood. Things only get worse as dozens of eggs hatch and the giant daddy monster prepares to attack during a heavy rainstorm. These sea creatures can only survive when they're skin is wet so the storm is a perfect catalyst for their attack on land. The best defense? Get drunk and poison your blood so they won't want it, and nobody can drink like the Irish, right?! This is a funny monster movie with genuinely likable characters that suffers from being too light on the monster action.

Demon Queen was next, a late 80s shot-on-video vampire movie with no real plot as Lucinda the vampire roams around shitty neighborhoods filled with dopey looking drug pushers and eats hearts and slashes throats. There's not much going on in this 58 minute shitfest that feels like it was 2 hours easily. The effects and nudity help this one a bit but there's no real reason to ever seek it out.

The best movie of the day was also the last - Madhouse starring Vincent Price with Peter Cushing and Robert Quarry in supporting roles. Price is on point (as he always is) as a horror movie icon who is damaged when he finds his lover murdered. A decade goes by before his writer (Cushing, who makes the most of his limited screen time) gets him back in the saddle to make a new movie but with sinister intentions. Excellent performances, interesting and bizarre characters and great writing make this one a real treat.

Today's Rundown
The Den - 6/10
Brainiac - 6/10
Grabbers - 6/10
Demon Queen - 3/10
Madhouse - 8/10

October Horror Challenge 2015 - Day 14

I started the day with an old favorite - Troll . The ultimate in so-bad-it's-good and a perfect movie to get drunk with and watch for the 100th time.

The next two films went back to first time viewings and first was the 1981 horror thriller Eyes Of A Stranger from director Ken Wiederhorn. Originally intended to be a bit more of a straight forward slasher the film makers realized the huge popularity of slashers and added more violence and bloodshed with effects from Tom Savini. The movie features a young Jennifer Jason Leigh in her first major film role as a deaf and vulnerable girl living with her older sister who is obsessed with proving that her neighbor is responsible for a series of chilling phone calls and rapes and murders. A bit slow going and predictable the film does have several tense and creepy moments and is on the seedier side of things.

Oddly enough the next movie also dealt with obscene phone calls and a murderous stalker in John Carpenter's Someone's Watching Me. Made just prior to Halloween, this is a made for TV movie that sadly feels like a made for TV movie. It is too slow and could have used a slight trimming but the need to fill out a block on TV forced some padding in the runtime. You can see a raw and less confident version of some of the style that Carpenter used in Halloween on display here. It felt almost like a warm up or test run at some things that he succeeded with in his breakout film. This one isn't bad as it is competently directed and acted but it's simply too boring at times to be anything essential.

Today's Rundown
Troll 2 - 10/10
Eyes Of A Stranger - 5/10
Someone's Watching Me - 5/10

October Horror Challenge 2015 - Day 13

What fabric do you prefer your vampires be made out of? Cashmere? Wool? A nice cotton-poly blend? Well The Velvet Vampire is none of those... no, this early 70s horror film features a centuries old vamp beauty who invites a young couple to her desert home for a getaway. She tries to seduce the man lustfully time and time again, nearly getting her way with him as she has no time for his girlfriend, until it's time for her to die. This one is okay... it has a dream like atmosphere and a rather trippy ending in how ridiculous it is. A sun hat can protect a vampire from the burning desert sun but a little trinket cross will hurt it? Sure, why not? An interesting flick either way. 

If there's one thing you can't argue it's that Guillermo Del Toro creates visually stunning films. He isn't a perfect filmmaker and doesn't always have the budget to create a perfect version of what he wants but he always makes it beautiful. Crimson Peak is another stunning film and it has three really damn good performances from our leads. The film is quite different from than the ad campaign would lead you to believe and I think it is for the best. A haunted house CGI fest didn't exactly look like it was going to be amazing but the tragic gothic romance wrapped inside of a horror film that was delivered was solid. I don't love it but I did like it.

Sometimes a movie only succeeds because of a great performance from its lead. Michael Caine really carries The Hand. He plays a comic book writer/artist who loses his hand in an accident and begins to lose his grasp on his life and relationships while the severed hand goes on a murderous rampage. Oliver Stone directs this movie that doesn't come off as campy at all and somehow pulls it all together for a decent little dramatic horror film.

Today's Rundown

The Velvet Vampire - 5/10

Crimson Peak - 6.5/10

The Hand - 6/10