October Horror Challenge Day 7

Day started out with a double feature of Sleepaway Camp 2: Unhappy Campers and Sleepaway Camp 3: Teenage Wasteland. These movies are incredibly stupid and fun body count flicks. Grab a beer, some popcorn and laugh it up. Part 2 was one of the first horror movies I ever saw. I wouldn't change that. Also some of the best kills in any slasher movie happen in part 2. I strongly prefer Unhappy Campers to Teenage Wasteland but they were both a big part of my young self falling in love with horror movies. I don't deny that nostalgia inflates the scores of these 2 a bit but they're worth it.



It came time to finally dig into some Hammer films and I did just that. I was really excited to dig into these first time viewings because I love Hammer and still get a little giddy when I see their name during the credits. First up was Brides Of Dracula which was directed by the great Terence Fisher and stars Peter Cushing. How could this go wrong? It can't and didn't. A very worthy follow up to 1958's Horror Of Dracula and it had one of the more creative endings I've seen in a vampire movie. All around good stuff here.



Next up is the studio's version of Phantom Of The Opera from 1962. Herbert Lom is the Phantom in this version and it is a pretty good one. Great sets and performances from top to bottom. The main problem I had is that the Phantom never came across as all that threatening.



The Kiss Of The Vampire closed out the first full week of the challenge right around the stroke of midnight. The Hammer-thon came to a satisfying close with another quality gothic horror despite the lack of any of Hammer's big name stalwarts. A very nice score and excellent set design along with a creepy (for a reason I can't quite put my finger on) masquerade scene make this a satisfying end to day 7.

Today's Rundown -
Sleepaway Camp 2 - 9/10
Sleepaway Camp 3 - 6/10
Brides Of Dracula - 8/10
Phantom Of The Opera - 7/10
Kiss Of The Vampire - 7.5/10

October Horror Challenge Day 6

I wanted to end my night and start off day 6 with something familiar and lighthearted. I decided to re-watch Redneck Zombies. This 1989 zombie schlock from Troma is something that has been in my life for 15 years. It is part of the reason I love horror, bad movies and just plain stupid shit. This movie is bad, really bad. But I love it. It is made right near where I grew up and live, it was one of the first crazy horror movies I remember renting and is a lot of fun if you turn your brain off. Redneck Zombies will always have a special place in my heart.



Next up was another movie I have seen before and seen a few times. It is the highly underrated Dead & Buried. This movie is fantastic in almost every way. This is a genuinely creepy movie with tons of atmosphere. from If you've never seen it you probably should do yourself a favor and do so.




I decided to end the night with a pair of first time viewings from producer Val Lewton - Cat People and Curse Of The Cat People. The first is a moody thriller rich with shadows and great lighting. Very slow suspense with a pay off at the end. Curse isn't a bad movie but is almost unbearably slow. It doesn't play like at all like a horror film until the very end and by that point it sort of became a "who cares?" type thing to me. But it is a pretty good movie it just seems a bit messy in what it wanted to be.


Today's Rundown:
Redneck Zombies - 7/10
Dead & Buried - 8.5/10
Cat People - 8/10
Curse Of The Cat People - 6/10

October Horror Challenge Day 5

Day 5 started right as day 4 ended and I decided to go with another film I had seen only bits and pieces of and that was Tourist Trap. This film was produced by Charles Band of Full Moon and is one of the better movies they have handled. It was creepy, disturbing and actually pretty good. Turning people in to mannequins while living as one yourself can apparently make for a good horror movie.



Apparently day 5 has a Full Moon theme because the next couple of movies I have lined up are both from the infamous low budget company. Decadent Evil is the story of a man in love with a vampire, a midget hunting her master and a weird shrunken man thing. It wasn't very good and I don't know what Charles Band's fetish for little doll sized people is all about but this movie sucked. No pun intended.




The last Full Moon movie of the day is my favorite of theirs and probably their best production. Castle Freak stars director Stuart Gordon's favorites Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton. A very gothic feeling movie that has great set pieces and atmosphere. This is in a different league than most other Full Moon movies.



Jean Rollin's The Grapes Of Death was next in line and while I think Rollin had a lot of talent he never quite put it together for me in a movie that I liked start to finish. This one did the trick, a nice infected crazies movie with some gross outs.




Sleepaway Camp was next on tap, a movie (and sequels) I enjoy watching each year. I think it's a pretty solid slasher even if it is predictable but that ending is unforgettable.

I finished the night off by watching the pilot to the new TV series American Horror Story. I can't really say much other than I'll need a few more episodes before I form a real opinion. It could easily go either way.

Today's Rundown:
Tourist Trap - 7/10
Decadent Evil - 3/10
Castle Freak - 8/10
The Grapes OF Death - 8/10
Sleepaway Camp - 8/10

October Horror Challenge Day 4

I finished last night with Mountaintop Motel Massacre and decided to start today with the other film on that DVD, The Initiation, another 80s slasher. This time the result were quite a bit better and I found the movie to be a pretty fun watch and actually have a half decent story as far as slashers are concerned. If you're a big fan of the genre and have never seen it you will probably be happy you did.




Then I wanted something a little different so I popped in my Halloween 2 Blu-Ray for the Terror In The Aisles documentary on it. A 1984 documentary that was released theatrically that stars Donald Pleasance in enacted sequences discussing horror films and why we see them while showing clips of the movies and enacted audience reactions. A lot of people were very happy it was getting released for the first time ever on disc on this Blu-Ray but I found it to be nothing more than a very mildly entertaining time waster. I just don't really see what the point of the whole thing was.




I couldn't wait any longer to check out the recently released Blue Underground Blu-Ray of Torso. The film is preceded by a nice intro from Eli Roth, love him or hate him he knows his stuff and is a true fan of the film. The movie is giallo greatness. The final 20-25 minutes of the movie are about as perfect as giallo film making gets. The rest of the movie is pretty damn good too. The Blu looks great in HD.




I had seen bits and pieces of The Deadly Spawn before but it ended up being far less than I thought, so this first time viewing was newer than I thought it would be. I pretty much knew I was getting into a campy, low budget monster movie and I got exactly what I hoped for. This movie is lots of fun and pays homage to many creature features that came before it. I'm so glad I finally stopped putting off buying it because it is a loaded dvd and an awesome movie.


Today's rundown:
The Initiation - 6.5/10
Terror In The Aisles 5.5/10
Torso - 8.5/10
The Deadly Spawn - 8.5/10

October Horror Challenge Day 3

I decided it was time to watch the original Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark for the first time, while the remake is still fresh enough in my mind to compare them. Ever since the remake came out I've been hearing it from everyone that I need to see the original and how it is one of the best made-for-TV horror movies ever. I found it creepy and a bit unsettling. It suffered from a much shorter run time than its remake though and there just wasn't enough time to really build the suspense and up the uneasy feeling. I don't think it quite lived up to the hype, but I did enjoy it.



I then moved on to the challenges theme of the day which was "Jawsploitation" which is pretty self explanatory- movies that rip off Jaws. I went with Sergio Martino's Big Alligator River which is a nice mix of killer animal and jungle horror/exploitation. It didn't do much to set it self apart from other movies of the sort but it was pretty much successful in being a fun, violent cash in on Jaws.





And to keep the cheese factor going I ended the night with 1986's Mountaintop Motel Massacre. A rather tame slasher film about an old woman who is deranged and kills a night's worth of guests at her motel after the death of her daughter. She uses everything from a sickle to snakes and roaches to get the job done. Nothing special here.


Today's rundown

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark - 7/10
Big Alligator River - 7/10
Mountaintop Motel Massacre - 4.5/10

October Horror Challenge Day 2

After a long night of celebrating a good friend's birthday day 2 started late, slow and feeling awful. All of the football games didn't help me watch any horror either. But I still managed to get 3 movies in, which is the daily average I try to maintain through the month.



First up was Moon Of The Wolf. This is a made for TV horror mystery from 1972. It was just plain boring. There was no werewolf until almost an hour in to the movie and none of the characters were interesting enough to carry the film. The climax was bland and pretty uneventful but it did have decent acting though.



I then decided to go for something short and I had been wanting to revisit Dario Argento's Pelts from the Masters Of Horror series. I think this is one of the better episodes the show had. It has some vintage Argento flare and style and Meatloaf is a madman. And you'll never hear me complain about Claudio Simonetti handling the music.

And to end the night I threw on I Am Omega, The Asylum's version of The Last Man On Earth and I Am Legend... I was expecting it to be really bad, and it was, but somehow not quite as bad as I was prepared for. It was a pretty uneventful day of viewing overall.

The rundown:
Moon Of The Wolf - 4/10
Pelts - 7/10
I Am Omega - 3/10

October Horror Challenge 10/1

October finally came around and I was prepared with some beers and good movies in hand I rang in my favorite month of the year. I decided to start out with a couple of movies that I've been wanting to see really badly for a while and see where it went from there. The countdown towards 100 movies is on!




[REC]2 - This follow up picking up just minutes after the first leaves us amps up the action and continues the story of the first. The cause of the infection is spelled out and I love it. The priest character is great. I would have preferred the 10 minutes or so with the kids not been so annoying and a bit more tension built up but I don't think I could honestly ask for a better way to start the month with a new viewing. 8.5/10




Sledgehammer - If you aren't a fan of "so bad they're good" movies then you can skip to the next movie. If you are still reading go buy this now. NOW! I've been aware of this movie since Intervision released the DVD but only from reviews of people I trust. They didn't let me down. 99% of the time I hate the word "epic" these days but this movie is fucking epic! Hands down one of the single best things ever put to film... or video tape.



We finished out the night with Ghouls which is a pile of shit SyFy movie that not even Trip from Detroit Rock City could save. And I love DRC. Oh well, it definitely helped put me to sleep. After catching a few hours of sleep I woke up and threw on 3 On A Meathook. I've wanted to see this 70s horror for a while but just now got around to it. It had a fast opening with plenty of blood and guts but soon after it came to a screeching halt until the last 10 minutes. A good 50 minutes where nothing exciting happens really hurts the score on this one even though it was pretty decent overall.



A couple of shorts were up next, PIN from 2009 and The Dummy from 1982. I found PIN by doing a generic search on Youtube and picking one. Both of the shorts were pretty well done. That filled the gap in time I had until Husk came on tv. I had heard good things about it but it was nothing more than typical DTV fare.




And to end the night on a high note - Alejandro Jodorowsky's SANTA SANGRE on blu ray. A beautiful film and a stunning presentation. This is a perfect mix of madness, beauty, murder, love and surrealism. I appreciate it more with each viewing.













The rundown for today:

[REC] 2 - 8.5/10
Sledgehammer - lol/10
Ghouls - 2/10
3 On A Meathook - 5.5/10
Husk - 4/10
Santa Sangre - 9/10