2022 Halloween Challenge

What?
That doesn't track at all.
I even thought we'd talked about it several years back.
Well, it's a good movie, good director, and arguably Karloff's best performance.

Agreed the the ending is stellar. It's a fun little film.

I think that you and I discussed The Haunted Strangler.

October 15th

26. Horror-Comedy
Invasion of the Saucer Men(1957)

Originally this was going to be my Sci-Fi Horror pick but really this movie is just way to much fun. The basic setting is a bunch of teenagers (in suits) fight off an invasion of tiny little aliens. But you also have to watch out for Farmer Larkin who doesn't take to kindly to people messing with his cows. I don't know if this was cheap or satire but it was brilliant.

This is one of those films where you can't see the monsters because they are made of paper mache. So naturally the aliens weakness is light...brilliant. The effects are hands coming out the shadows, bushes rustling, and people dying off camera. This is one of those it's so bad it's good.

October 16th
House (1977)
A Film with a Haunted House

An old lady brings in a group of one dimensional friends to absorb their youth and power in House. This movie is like an acid trip some times it feels like you are watching an episode of Scooby Doo other times you've got nudity and violence. I think I watch it every other year to see if I will grow to like it and I just can't. I admire the skill and creativity in the way the film is shot but it gets corny at times. It's in interesting dichotomy with Invasion of the Saucer Men that hid it's technical failings this movie just puts it all out there.

21. Fiend Without a Face (1958/Criterion Channel)



A US Air Force Major is tasked with investigating a string of mysterious deaths occurring just outside a US-Canadian long-range radar facility. The victims' brains and spinal cords were seemingly sucked out of their bodies. As the Major digs, signs start pointing to an eccentric professor experimenting with the power of thought.

Fiend Without a Face takes a somewhat silly premise and manages to make it genuinely disturbing. The squishy sucking sounds of the creatures combined with their killing method paints an unsettling picture. The creatures are invisible for most of the film, but we get some nice stop-motion and puppet effects when they are finally revealed. The conclusion is bloody and gross, which is great.

Well, members of the group talked about TBS on several occasions, I guess I just figured you were one of them.

Gasp!

PSA:

The Body Snatcher is available on TCM this month

__________________
Captain's Log
My Collection

October 17th
The Legend of Hell House(1973)
7. A film that shares a word with 8 and 10

If you haven't noticed the theme this is a film that could have qualified for other categories. A husband and wife team with a group of psychics to investigate a large haunted house. This is one of those spooky house films that is either overlooked or frankly forgotten which is a shame because it combines a Hammer Horror style director with a Twilight Zone writer to give off a perfectly serviceable horror tale.

This film has incredible visuals that still look good today which is one of the more important things when I pick out a horror film. Roddy McDowel is solid in this...he always gives his best work in genre films which is what elevates the work. If I have one complaint is they kind of have pacing issues as it feels like it has chapters in it even after the people start dying. Still I throughly enjoy this horror film.

October 18th
The Fifth Cord (1971)
11. A Film with a Serial Killer

Giallo films are always 50/50 for me...this is a positive one for me. This tells the story of a reporter hunting a serial killer that only kills on Tuesdays and is picking off people in his inner circle. This is a really good one, it's incredibly shot and intricately detailed though the mystery leaves a bit to be desired. Really when you watch one of these films you want it to do the same things...you want gorgeous landscapes a killer in the shadows and great sexy women. This one has it all this feels like a film Hitchcock would have loved to have made becaise some of these set pieces are remarkable and just well blocked and set up.

The film loses a star at the end because it's pretty obvious why this movie doesn't have an audience in today's polite society. It has a very nonPC aspect to it which I don't have a problem with and I'm happy that this work has been released in blu-ray form.

October 19th
Halloween Ends (2022)
16. A film released in 2022

Halloween Ends is basically a movie that you can't talk about without talking about spoilers. The producers sell you on one idea which is Michael vs Laurie for one last time but 85% of the movie is something completely different. I admire the idea behind what they tried to do and had the story run for 3 hours and been it's own little epic like It was than this could have been a classic. Unfortunately the film takes place over a very short period of time so everything is rushed and the context of what the writers were going for is undercut.

It's another Hollywood film that has a pretty strong PC message which once again had the story taken place over the year the message would have worked...this one takes place over less than a week. The problem is your empathy for the characters switches around to the point you feel nothing for nobody in the film. It makes everyone seem terrible, stupid, and careless. I really hope that the film was butchered by the producers and like Halloween VI we're going to get an extended version where the kill set pieces have tension, the violence is on screen and we have deleted scenes to pick up on some of the problems the film had.

.I don't know if anyone else wants to post their progress...

1. A Two Word Horror Film
Near Dark(1987)
2. A film in a series
3. A Film in the same series
4. A film with the same Director/Actor
5. A film with the same Director/Actress
6. A film with the same Actor/Actress
7. A film that shares a word with 8 and 10
The Legend of Hell House (1973) (House/Hell)
8. A film that shares the same word with 7 and 9
Hollywood Horror House (1970) (House/Horror)
9. A film that shares the same word with 8 and 10
Return to Horror High (1987) (Horror/High)
10. A film that shares the same word with 7 and 9
Hell High (1989) (Hell/High)
11. A Film with a Serial Killer The Fifth Cord (1971)
12. A Film with a Haunted House House (1977)
13. A Film on a College Campus Deadly Friend (1986)
14. A Film in a Dystopian Future The Omega Man (1971)
15. A Film with a Final Girl Barbarian (2022)
16. A film released in 2022 Halloween Ends (2002)
17. A film released in 2020 (Minus 2 years) Vivarium (2020)
18. A film released in 2002 (Minus 20 years) Below (2002)
19. A film released in 1982 (Minus 40 years)
20. A film released in 1960 (Minus 62 years)
21. A film released in a double year (1922, 1933, 1944, etc.)
22. Anthology-Horror Dead of Night (1945)
23. Body Horror Terrifier 2(2022)
24.Creature Feature Hellraiser (2022)
25. Historical Horror
26. Horror-Comedy Invasion of the Saucer Men(1957)
27. Psychological Thriller The Machinist (2004)
28. Religious Horror
29. Science Fiction - Horror
30. Sex Horror - Pearl (2022)
31. Supernatural Horror

So I have to watch 12 films in 5 days which is no big deal because I was saving a franchise to finish this up. In a previous year I went through one franchise now I'm going to touch on it's sister one for Halloween.

Evil Dead Trap for a movie with a final girl.


The Church for a supernatural horror movie.
Brief thoughts on them here:


https://www.movieforums.com/communit...73#post2342673


For the duo-duo
Count Dracula - Jess Franco/Jack Taylor
A perfectly competent rendition of the novel, but it didn't grab me. The whole stuffed animal scene didn't work at all though, as compared to the mannequin scene in Succubus.


Night has a Thousand Desires - Jess Franco/Lina Romey

I should probably dig through and choose a better Jess Franco/Lina Romey pairing because I wasn't a big fan of this one. I think I kept thinking, "so, were going to get an exposition dump on this one at the end, right?" Though it has its vibes of moments.


Female Vampire - Lina Romey/Jack Taylor (yeah, Jess Franco directed).

I enjoyed this one a lot, but it's been nearly a week and wedged between other Jess Franco movies, so I've forgotten a lot outside of the opening shot and the general premise (mute vampire from the Karnstein line sucks the life essence of her victims through their genitalia). Probably the most explicit Franco I've seen, but still mostly in the softcore category. What was my sex-horror movie again?

Footprints on the Moon, 1975

Alice (Florinda Bolkan) works as a translator, but is shocked one day to find herself being chastised for missing work. Around the same time, she becomes fixated on memories she's having of a movie she watched a long time ago called Footprints on the Moon. When Alice realizes that she has "lost" three days, she begins to investigate. Her search leads her to a small seaside town where some of the residents seem to recognize her, though not with the name "Alice" . . .

I'm already looking forward to a rewatch of this one, a fun, gently weird mystery with a great central premise.

The whole progression of this film is a kind of slow and steady, muted exploration of Alice's missing week. I could see the film being too slow or too mild for some people, but I really enjoyed it. In particular, I liked the colorful and striking interior of the hotel where Alice stays on her visit and also the film within a film of the Footprints on the Moon.

Like a lot of thrillers, there's a whole slew of potentially suspect supporting characters. There's Paula (Nicoletta Elmi), a little girl who roams around with her dog and seems to know a bit about Alice's previous visit. Then there's Harry (Peter McEnery), the handsome man who seems to take a strong interest in Alice.

In a month where I've watched dozens of horror movies, this one was a nice departure in the sense that it's focus is not particularly on violence, and specifically violence against women. It's weird without being cruel. It's a film for an adult audience, but not a mean one or one that trades in exploitation.

The only downside for me (and it's a very personal one) was the unwelcome presence of Klaus Kinski in the Footprints on the Moon segments. Just . . . no thanks.

Overall I really enjoyed this film, and especially because I know someone else who I think will enjoy it.

A film in a dystopian future: The Quatermass Xperiment (Val Guest, 1955)



I'm too tired to write much now, but this was freaking great. A sci-fi horror produced by Hammer where a manned rocket ship leaves earth atmosphere and comes back landing in your backyard with somewhat unpredicted results. Great writing. Can't wait to watch Quatermass 2!

The Believers, 1987

Cal (Martin Sheen) has just lost his wife in a tragic home accident. Raising his son, Chris (Harley Cross) alone, Cal is disturbed when he is called in to help treat a police officer (Jimmy Smits) who made the grisly discovery of a sacrificed child. As Cal navigates a blossoming romance with neighbor Jessica (Helen Shaver), he is pulled deeper into a widespread conspiracy involving practitioners of Santeria.

This movie was, for better or for worse, kind of exactly what you'd expect a late 80s film about Santeria to be like. While some parts of it worked well, other aspects just came off as a bit silly.

On the positive side, Shaver is very good as Cal's love interest. Sheen's Cal is very shouty. Very shouty. It's the kind of performance that actually feels kind of real, but it's not always the most fun to actually watch. The same can be said for Cross as Chris. Chris acts, well, a lot like you'd expect a traumatized kid to act. But his outbursts can be a bit tiring even if you are highly empathetic to the situation. I'd also give a shout out to Carla Pinza, who plays Cal's housekeeper/babysitter, Carmen. Carmen knows a bit about rituals and does her best to look out for the family. Unfortunately, the main result of this is being berated by Cal.

As for the portrayal of Santeria, the film maybe lands just on the right side of not being totally prejudiced. Sequences of rituals and sacrifices are played for the horror of the film, but it does take the time to be clear that this is not the way that most practitioners would choose to practice the religion. Along with Carmen, Cal is able to find a few other allies who know about Santeria and are willing to help.

As for the horror itself, there are some effective moments. In one particularly gruesome sequence, an enchanted Jessica deals with a spot on her face that grows and grows and grows until, squelch!

On the downside, though, a few things come off kind of goofy. In the opening moments where Cal's wife is electrocuted, he stands by helpless because he just got out of the shower and is still wet. So, friend, grab a blanket! Get something made of wood like a broom! In a later moment, we see the results of an autopsy where snakes are entwined around the organs. This would have been creepy if it weren't for the fact that they are ring snakes. Does anyone see a ring snake and not go awwwww? They are so cute! (I mean, I suppose not if they are in your organs, but still.)

Passable.

Im glad to see Footprints being on Shudder is starting to get more people aware of it. When I saw it about ten years ago I was impressed with its strange qualities

It's been generally on my radar for ages, mainly because I found the title and plot description so striking. But for a long time it hasn't been on any services that I have.

Galaxy of Terror, 1981

In the distant future, a crew is sent to a far away planet to investigate the disappearance of a previous expedition. Led by Captain Trantor (Grace Zabriskie), the lone and traumatized survivor of a horrific incident, the crew is pulled down into the planet's surface where they encounter all manner of creepy creatures.

Check another movie off of the list of "movies whose covers I basically know by heart despite not knowing anything about them and also it'll probably be garbage, but what the heck?".

This one was actually not much better than I expected, though it did have a handful of highlights that at least kept me engaged for most of the short runtime.

One of the fun parts of this film is getting to see a pre-Elm Street Robert Englund as one of the crew members, along with "oh hey!" Sid Haig. Englund actually comes off as one of the better actors here, and he partakes in one of the more memorable set-pieces as he shows down an evil doppelganger. The rest of the acting is fine, but special shout out to Zabriskie as the Captain for following basically every line of dialogue with a haunted stare off into the distance.

The horror itself is okay. There's a decent amount of variation, which is mostly nice. An unfortunate stand-out is a sequence where a female crew member is, like, raped and crushed to death. You'll be shocked to hear that her clothes come right off and she does a bunch of porn-y moans during the sequence and it feels so tragi-horny that I could barely watch it. I did really like the confrontations between Haig's character and the planet, and the demise of the other characters are mostly enjoyably gory and gooey.

But despite only being 81 minutes long, I was kind of done with it about 15 minutes before it was over. Just a total lack of caring that only got worse as a fair chunk of exposition gets delivered at the last minute.

The actors are better than the material, but they can only take it so far.

Ah, the cruelties of Youtube:

Pristine, lovely print . . . is only in French with no subtitle or dubbing options.

English dubbed version is making the best of, like, 7 pixels.