31 Days of Halloween Movies (2018) - Horror Fans Unite!!!!!!

[Rich65]

Jigsaw 1/2
Was not expecting much from this but I was surprised. It was a solid entry in The Saw series. The making of documentary in the special features is well done as well.

[cgpublic]

"Our mad dream is only half realized. Alone, you have created the man. Now, together, we will create - his mate."

The Bride of Frankenstein [1935; Re-Watch (2012 Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection Blu-ray; Remastered)]



Rating:

Analysis: Widely recognized as one of the greatest sequels in the history of cinema, many believe The Bride of Frankenstein to be the superior film, myself among them. While no single scene may match the cinematic power of The Monster’s entrance from the first film, the sequel is a better watch, with incredibly emotive performances from Karloff and Lancaster, ghoulish humor with a touch of camp from Ernest Thesiger in the role of Frankenstein's mentor, Dr. Pretorius, and the timeless image of a teenage Valerie Hobson in a flowing white nightgown as she attempts to save Colin Clive from his own worst impulses. Gods, Monsters & Mate, indeed.

[Punishment1o1]

(*) - Indicates First Time Viewing

9/11/18




The Boy*:


Oh, the horror so far this year:

[Show spoiler]Drag Me to Hell*:

[hagios]

9/11

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

[Monterey Jack]

First-time viewings marked with an *

[Show spoiler]9/06/18: The Little Stranger * (2018):
9/07/18: The Nun * (2018):
9/10/18: Predator (1987):

09/11/18:

"WaNt SoMe...CaNdY…?"

-Predator 2 (1990):



Weak sequel transplants the action to the "jungles" of a FUTURISTIC!!! 1997 L.A., as a police detective played by Danny Glover keeps finding the members of rival gangs found slashed to ribbons, until he's clued in by government stooge Gary Busey that it's not a form of violent one-upsmanship between them...they're all being stalked by another intergalactic big game hunter, one armed with a new arrangement of weaponry in in town with a few days...to kill. Director John McTiernan, who brought such an elegant, sinuous widescreen skill to the cat & mouse suspense of the original is here replaced by anonymous B-movie hack Stephen Hopkins (Judgement Night, Blown Away), and the resulting film is embarrassingly cloddish and blunt-witted in comparison, rife with 80's buddy-cop clichés (gee, what's going to happen to the lead detective's partner...?), ridiculous stereotypes (a scene with a pack of cartoonish Jamaican gangbangers rolling up in a limo with gigantic plumes of marijuana smoke billowing out the doors is a visual right out of a Naked Gun movie) and sub-par creature effects. The late, great Bill Paxton provides some stray yuks as Glover's new partner (he's one of two actors to have had the privilege of being killed by a Predator, and Alien and a Terminator. Name the other and win a Kewpie Doll...!), but otherwise this is weak sauce, and the blatant plagiarism of Aliens (where Busey's team of government Redshirts get taken apart in a literal slaughterhouse while Glover watches via closed-circuit cameras) is so brazen James Cameron should have sued. It's no wonder the franchise dried up after this installment and went into hibernation for two decades (the Alien vs. Predator movies barely count).

[prkchopexpress]

I feel like anytime is a good time to watch horror. but I have in the past done 31 new horror movies in 31 days. and let me tell you, that is really hard to do. might be a bit easier now with that giant universal monster collection having just come out.

also, when you see a real stinker, if definitely sours you. that blumhouse truth or dare had me so angry when it was over. I was like "is this what I'm missing in most modern horror? because of that's it, they can have it."

this is a weird month where I will wind up seeing a ton of genre or genre adjacent movies in theatres. so that's pretty awesome. but only of them will wind up being a first view.

[lilboyblu]

Kicking off the festivities a little earlier this year (tonight!) with a revisit to John Carpenter:


#1
The Fog (1980)
First watched this six years ago, but I must have been dozing off or something because I could hardly remember any of it. Won’t happen again this time though because it is now ingrained into my mind. This has creepy scares and atmosphere in spades. Worthy of the “classic title” honors it gets.

* - First Time Viewing
Complete 2017 List
Complete 2016 List
Complete 2015 List
Complete 2014 List
Complete 2013 List
Complete 2012 List
Complete 2011 List

[chad_1138]

Starting this year with some films off Netflix and Amazon Prime before we dive into our collection. Here we go... (*denotes first time viewing)

09/01 - *Demon House
09/02 - *The Babysitter
09/03 - *The Ritual
09/04 - *Death Note
09/05 - *American Fable
09/07 - *The Nun
09/07 - *The Bye Bye Man
09/08 - *Before I Wake
09/10 - *Mercy
09/11 - Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

[MassiveMovieBuff]

9/11
Shutter Island

[filmbuffTX]

Maximum Overdrive (1986)




I watched this on Amazon Prime. It's a really fun movie!

September
Fade to Black*
Slaughter High*
Truth or Dare*
The Howling*
Cult of Chucky*
Maximim Overdrive*

*first-time viewing

[assydingo]

9/11 Anna (2013)

I was drawn in quickly and the fantastic performances of Mark Strong and Taissa Farmiga, as well as the story and capable direction, had my mind completely absorbed for the entire movie.

[Lacit170]

Originally Posted by Punishment1o1

(*) - Indicates First Time Viewing




The Boy*:

ha, i liked The Boy a lot.... how come only 2 stars?

[jeddy3]

9/5 - Alien vs. Predator (2004)
9/7 - Annihilation (2018)
9/10 - Upgrade (2018)
9/11 - A Quiet Place (2018)
Cooties (2014)

[Monterey Jack]

First-time viewings marked with an *

[Show spoiler]9/06/18: The Little Stranger * (2018):
9/07/18: The Nun * (2018):
9/10/18: Predator (1987):
09/11/18: Predator 2 (1990):

9/12/18:

-Predators (2010):



A damn sight better than the anemic second installment, this belated entry in he franchise (produced a solid two decades after part two) finds a gaggle of Earth's nastiest mercenaries and killers (a motley, engaging crew including Walton Goggins as a hick death row inmate, plug-ugly Danny Trejo as a Mexican cartel enforcer, and a surprisingly commanding Adrien Brody, among others) dropped off via parachute onto an alien game preserve on another planet and find themselves hunted by a trio of freshly-designed, 'roided-up Predators (who have a "classic", Stan Winston Predator chained to a post for not very well-explained reasons). Produced by low-budget wunderkind Robert Rodriguez and slickly directed by the unfortunately-named Nimrod Antal, Predators has fun with it's very varied group of victims and playing off of iconic moments from the original (including a great showdown between a Predator and a Yakuza gangster armed with a vintage Samurai sword), and adds a few wrinkles to the usual proceedings, like a pack of "Predator Dogs" used to flush out the group and soften them for the kill (more could have been done with this, frankly). There are certainly flaws (a "surprise" revelation about one of the group late in the proceedings is telegraphed from a million miles away), but I've always found this to be a solid and underrated entry in the franchise.

[Punishment1o1]

Originally Posted by Lacit170

ha, i liked The Boy a lot.... how come only 2 stars?

It started off well enough, but I hated the reveal.

[charlieray1]

Originally Posted by Punishment1o1

(The Boy) It started off well enough, but I hated the reveal.

I agree completely! This film could have been something special, but the whole

[Show spoiler]"guy living in the walls of the house"

reveal was ridiculous and cheap. Imagine if they had stayed with the premise --

[Show spoiler]that the spirit of the boy actually was in the doll. What an odd and poetic ending it might have been to have the girl choose to stay and care for him.

Instead of a run of the mill typical illogical horror movie, it could have been something truly eerie that stayed under your skin. A real missed opportunity.

[charlieray1]

SEPTEMBER WARM-UP

Blue = blu-ray, * = first time viewing

Previous Films:

[Show spoiler]

The Orphanage (2007) A well-made, creepy, slow burn horror film. Very effective, and surprisingly moving at the end. This got our annual MonsterFest off to a great start!
Village Of The Damned (1960) Hadn't seen this in a few years. I forgot how very well-made and effective it is. Terrific movie, and a great looking new blu-ray from Warner Archive.
*The Devil's Daughter (1973) 1/2 (YouTube) My wife and I are old enough to have seen a lot of silly 70's TV movies as kids and we have a soft-spot for them. This is a completely predictable "Rosemary's Baby" rip-off -- campy, and a LOT of nostalgic fun. Decent cast too, with Shelly Winters, Joseph Cotton and a post "Dark Shadows" Jonathon Frid. We liked it ... but if you grew up after the '70's, you'll want to knock a couple of skulls off.
The Dead Zone (1983) Easily my favorite SK adaptation -- great story, great cast. Brooke Adams is beautiful! A favorite. Imported the Australian blu-ray. A little disappointing. Sound is definitely an upgrade, picture is too, but it's subtle.
Ghost Story (1981) 1/2 Another old favorite. I'm a sucker for slow-burn, well-crafted ghost stories ... and this one has those qualities in spades. Cool to see these old-time actors -- the cast is excellent -- along side Alice Krige, who is perfection as Eva/Anna. Loses half a star for over-reliance on shock cuts to gooey dead faces. They get a bit repetitive after a while, and they're not necessary in this movie -- it's strength is "eerie", not shock.
*The Little Stranger (2018) theatrical Gee, I wanted to love this. It looked like the kind of subtle ghost story that's right up my alley, but I guess even subtle can be overdone. EVERYTHING is laid between the lines, to the point that I really didn't understand what happened in the film. Had to read about it afterwards to figure out what I missed. Good premise, well made and well acted ... but it needs at least a LITTLE more overt storytelling. A big disappointment.
*Cronos (1993) :1/2 This didn't do much for me either. Some nice moments early on, but mostly gooey and pointless. *sigh*
*Cat Creature (1973) youtube 1/2 OK, I knew this wasn't going to be good, but I thought it would be entertaining. As I said (see: The Devil's Daughter) I have a fondness for campy 70's TV movie horror. I don't mind if they're silly, over-acted, unbelievable ... but this one was dull. How do you take a plot about a 2,000 year old cat creature stalking Los Angeles and make it boring? Simple: all "cop investigation" and very little cat. Interesting cast though -- Peter Lorre Jr? Who knew? (NOTE: OK, this is weird! Peter Lorre Jr wasn't related to Peter Lorre! Check this out: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0521137/bio)
The Grudge (2004) 1/2 The best of the weekend ... and the only one I had seen before. Not a great movie by any means, but fun and entertaining. (Are you listening, Cat Creature?)

The Fog (1980) A favorite, and IMO, one of JC's best films. However, I might skip this one for the next few years. No fault of the movie, but I've seen it many times and it's become so familiar that it didn't do as much for me this year. Still, it earns it's 4 skulls.



Asylum (1972) Boy, did I enjoy this! Never had the DVD, so I hadn't seen it since the VHS days. I love all the old Amicus anthologies, and although I had forgotten some of it, this is one of the best. The wrap around story is much better than most, and each tale worked quite well. Decent blu-ray too -- some nice extras.

[Monterey Jack]

Originally Posted by charlieray1

The Fog (1980) A favorite, and IMO opinion, one of JC's best films. However, I might skip this one for the next few years. No fault of the movie, but I've seen it many times and it's become so familiar that it didn't do as much for me this year.

This is why I always try to vary what I watch from year-to-year. There are a handful of films I watch every Halloween season, but others I'll often skip for a year or two before bring =ing them back into the rotation.

[Punishment1o1]

(*) - Indicates First Time Viewing

9/12/18



Last Shift*: 1/2

Found this one through Netflix. It was pretty entertaining and fairly creepy throughout, but the ending left a lot to be desired.


Oh, the horror so far this year:

[Show spoiler]Drag Me to Hell*:
The Boy*: :

[Lacit170]

Originally Posted by charlieray1

I agree completely! This film could have been something special, but the whole

[Show spoiler]"guy living in the walls of the house"

reveal was ridiculous and cheap. Imagine if they had stayed with the premise --

[Show spoiler]that the spirit of the boy actually was in the doll. What an odd and poetic ending it might have been to have the girl choose to stay and care for him.

Instead of a run of the mill typical illogical horror movie, it could have been something truly eerie that stayed under your skin. A real missed opportunity.

Originally Posted by Punishment1o1

It started off well enough, but I hated the reveal.

[Show spoiler]i wasnt expecting the guy in the wall, so that was a surprise. movie changed tones and then reminded me of Texas Chainsaw mixed with the People Under the Stairs, which i love too...