First-time viewings are indicated with an ^
[Show spoiler]09/04/24: Blink Twice ^ (2024): 
Shaun Of The Dead (2004): 
09/05/24: Beetlejuice (1988):
09/06/24: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice ^ (2024):
09/07/24: Jaws (1975): Jaws 2 (1978):
09/11/24: The Front Room ^ (2024): [ZERO SKULLS]
09/13/24: Speak No Evil ^ (2024):
09/18/24: Sweet Sixteen ^ (1983): Soul Survivors ^ (2001):
09/20/24: The Substance ^ (2024):
09/22/24: Fright ^ (1971):
09/25/24: Never Let Go ^ (2024):
9/27/24: Terrifier ^ (2016):
09/28/24: Terrifier 2 ^ (2022):
09/30/24: Tarot ^ (2024):
10/01/24: Fear In The Night ^ (1972): Fear No Evil ^ (1981): Werewolves On Wheels ^ (1971):
10/02/24: Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker ^ (1981): Screams Of A Winter Night ^ (1979): The Last Horror Film ^ (1982):
10/03/24: ParaNorman (2012): Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956):
10/04/24: The Bride Of Frankenstein (1935): Corpse Bride (2005): The Unseen (1980):
10/05/24: The Horror Of Frankenstein ^ (1970): Lust For A Vampire ^ (1971): M3gan (2023):
10/06/24: Freaky (2020): Terror Circus ^ (1973):
10/07/24: The Legend Of Hell House (1973): Oculus (2013):
10/08/24: Patrick (1978): Night Of The Demons (1988):
10/09/24
Pay to get in, pray to get out...!
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The Funhouse (1981):
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Hell Fest (2018):
CarnEVILs are the setting for today's pair of hellzapoppin' shriek shows.
The Funhouse regales us with the story of a quartet of horny teens (Elizabeth Berridge, Cooper Huckabee, Largo Woodruff and Miles Chapin) who, while visiting the travelling carnival visiting their small Florida town, decide on a whim to hide out in the funhouse overnight. When they witness a hulking carny disguised behind a Frankenstein monster mask murder the fortune teller (after a botched attempt at getting his rocks off), they find themselves stalked through the cavernous confines of the funhouse by the now-unmasked carny revealed to be a hideously deformed albino freak (Rick Baker designed the memorable monster makeup) as well as his loving carny barker father (Kevin Conway), who has been covering up for his offspring's string of murders stretching across the country for years.
One of director Tobe Hooper's better films,
The Funhouse takes a while to really get down to "the good parts" (and, even when it does, it lacks the baroque, bloodbath gore of a lot of its early-80s slasher-movie brethren), yet it's never boring, thanks to Hooper's elegant direction and buoyed by the able support of Andrew Laszlo's excellent, anamorphic widescreen cinematography (greatly enhanced by Scream Factory's top-notch 4K release, with gorgeously saturated colors and rich, inky blacks) and John Beal's fiendishly fun score, full of twisted calliope melodies and shrill horror effects that juice up the tension beautifully. And while the characterizations are never more than serviceable, the four leads are a likable enough bunch, especially compared to the hateful ciphers that populated the average
Friday The 13th or
Halloween sequel.
2018's
Hell Fest offers up a variation on a festival of fun that turns into a nightmare, as six friends (Amy Forsyth, Reign Edwards, Bex Taylor-Klaus, Christian James, Matt Mercurio & Roby Attal) attend Hell Fest, a wildly popular horror-themed attraction that springs up every Halloween season, as guests are presented with a bevy of seasonal spooks, as employees dresses as all manner of monsters & maniacs roams the elaborately-decorated streets and each attraction offers up an cornucopia of revolting delights. But one "employee" is the Real Deal, a serial killer (referred to as "The Other", played by Stephen Conroy), who sports a mask that suggests a distressed roman stature as designed by Salvador Dali and who stalks the group throughout the festivities, offing them one by one as they try to figure out whether he's just an overzealous employee, or something more sinister...and deadly.
Directed by veteran editor Gregory Plotkin (and sporting a screenplay that, despite the basic, meat & potatoes slasher premise and the thrifty, 89-minute running time, somehow required the services of six writers!)
Hell Fest has an irresistible premise, and the saturated, day-glo colors of the setting offer up a bath for the eyes. And while the no-name cast is nondescript (the Candyman himself, Tony Todd, puts in a welcome, robust cameo as the Fest's M.C.), the movie is very efficient in delivering the requisite roller-coaster jolts and some memorably juicy kills.
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Lucky Bastard ^ (2013):
A low-rent porn website sets up a contest to give a "lucky bastard" the chance to fornicate with an authentic porn star, with "Dave G." (Jay Paulson, who resembles a young Paul Bettany) as the winner flown out to Van Nuys to be filmed in sexual congress with Ashley Saint (Betsy Rue). But when he finds himself unable to hold his wad long enough to make for an adequate shoot (pun definitely intended), his humiliation boils over into thwarted rage as he determines to get access to and destroy the footage, going to violent extremes to procure it.
An exercise in found footage thriller/horror,
Lucky Bastard is directed by Robert Nathan, who co-wrote it with executive producer Lukas Kendall (the head honcho of Film Score Monthly magazine!), and while it's reasonably well-acted, it's extremely low-budget look and feel -- as well as being generally skeevy and unpleasant -- makes for a movie that takes too long to get to the horror aspects and is not compelling enough to make the slow-burn that leads up the violent climax especially edifying.
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