31 (or more) days of Quarantine Halloween

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May 3rd - Day 46 - The Haunting of Hill House: Steven Sees a Ghost(2018) Mike Flanagan


I'm going to do something a little different and move onto to some TV basically to catch up and I'm running out of movies. I'm going to start off with the premiere of The Haunting of Hill House a Netflix series that I found to be actually superior to Stranger Things. This adaptation of Hill House is the story of a family that has come along to restore the famous manor. The story is told with two lines, the incident that happened in the 1990's where the matriarch dies and in current time when something else happens.


The first episode is almost damn near perfect, we get a series of mysteries to start with. The Red Door, Steven's Ghost adventures, the brokenneck lady, and those long nights in the creepy house are all great. But for me the most unsettling part was the dancing scene...where if you see it you know what I'm talking about.







May 4th - Day 47 - Hammer House of Horror:The Carpethian Eagle(1981) - Francis Megathy


Yeah I couldn't get a smaller picture, Hammer released a series of horror TV episodes that play about an hour. The episodes are mixed bags as this is a tight story...almost to tight about a woman who seduces and murders men. Its a fairly sexy story as the lead female Suzanne Danielle is very good in this..she has Sigourney Weavers jawline but the body of Michelle Pfeiffer..and yes I murdered the spelling of both of those names.


My only real complaint with the film is that the male lead is given a confused chase scene that feels out of place with the story. When you have an hour I'd rather has suspense with the killer not with the maybe killer if you know what I mean.







May 5th - Day 48 - Black Mirror: Smithereens(2019) James Hawes


Ug...I like Black Mirror, I actually love Black Mirror but this season has been a letdown for me. Smithereens is the story of a guy from a rideshare app who kidnaps an Intern and tries to get the owner of a social networking site on the phone. I did not like this episode, the lead is good Andrew Scott is good but I never felt any sort of tension in the story and when that 90% of the story it just didn't work. I hope when Black Mirror returns they get their act together with better episodes.









May 6th - Day 49 - Bodyguard:Episode 6 (2018) - John Strickland


This was the final episode of Bodyguard so I won't get into too many plot points instead I'll just talk about horror and the genre. I heard good things but I didn't realize that this was a horror series but it really was. This is the story of a PTSD sergeant who has to take care of the woman who sent him to war. The show does a great job building tension with paranoia. You don't really know where the story is going who the good guys are but the last hour is a masterpiece. This series actually reminded me of Jacob's Ladder or Rosemary's Baby in that it's true psychological horror.








May 7th - Day 50 - The Outer Limits:The Inheritors (1964) - James Goldstone



A group of soldiers come back from Korean or Vietnam with bullets in their brains, a shadowy government official (Robert Duvall) is on the case to figure out how these men are now so brilliant. This was an Outer Limits two parter and it received some great reviews so I decided to pick this one for my 50th entry. Part I is very good, Part II is very talky and bored me a bit. Seeing Duvall in TV work is interesting and I enjoyed how the cast was "diverse" in 1964 though I don't think the other soldiers were given much in personality. But it was still a fine inoffensive hour and half.







May 8th - Day 51 - Tales of the Unexpected:The Landlady D. Herbert Wise, W. Roald Dahl


A young man decides to save a little money and go to a bed and breakfast in place of a hotel. This managed to get right everything that the Black Mirror episode I watched got wrong. This is a slow burn tense story of a kindly old woman who brings in a very young man. You find yourself bored and lulled into the story and then the third act gets so creepy and traumatic. This was like a classic Twilight Zone episode (which I'll likely do).





Interesting to see you dip into some TV and refreshing to see some old British classics there, as well as Bodyguard, which I can't say I've ever thought of as horror before. But I think I can see where you're coming from. I'm not sure horror is the right word, but psychological thriller would sit better for me. But that's neither here nor there.

I don't know if you've watched any other episodes of Tales Of The Unexpected or Hammer House Of Horror, but just as a point of interest, I'd note that Royal Jelly and The House That Bled To Death, respectively, are the two most famous/infamous episodes over here. Depending on your POV that's not necessarily a recomendation.
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It's horror in the way Hitchcock is horror, also the unreliable narrator reminded me quite a bit of Polanski and Tenant and Repulsion.


As for going back to Hammer...possibly though my next few installments are going to be from different shows.





May 9th - Day 52 - Doctor Who: State of Decay(1980) Peter Moffatt


The old Doctor Who are serials that are spread out over several parts to tell a larger story. Looking up scary old stories this one came up..it's not scary or particularly good. I thought I was getting a gothic story of vampires in feudal England but sadly the Vampires are former astronauts strandeded on this alien planet with the hopes of feeding something. And while the final act is pretty good the action scenes are ridiculously silly and slow it makes me wonder if it was shot live.







May 10th - Day 53 - Are You Afriad of the Dark? The Tale of the Shiny Red Bicycle - David Winning


Well this was a lot scarier to 10 year old Siddon than the older version but still I loved this Nickelodeon series. Are you Afraid of the Dark was like Twilight Zone for kids...this story actually involved an accidental death of a boys friend who fell into a creak when the Damn unloaded. Years later the surviving Boy keeps seeing the rusted out Bicycle and then his ghost friend obviously leading him to do something. These episodes were simple great and cheap I highly recommend if you have kids to let them watch this.








May 11th - Thriller:The Hungry Glass (1961) - Douglas Heyes


Frankenstein and Captain Kirk had a crossover...well not really Boris Karloff had a Twilight Zone ripoff called Thriller the episodes were hour length and based on this my first viewing pretty darn good. Shatner and his wife move into an old haunted house were they are tormented by mirrors. I was surprised by the violence, high level of production value and just general quality of the series.








May 12th -Day 55 - American Gothic:Strong Arm of the Law (1995)Mike Binder

Sam Raimi had a one season wonder in the mid90's a horror anthology sort of show called American Gothic. It's the story of a Sheriff who might be the devil, a little boy who has a protective ghost sister and well it's a weird show. This is a Lucas Buck episode and it's self contained the plot is a group of Italian mafia sorts come to town to shakedown the locals, somebody dies they beat up the deputy and Lucas decides to do away with them in the most horrific ways possible that network censors would allow.


It's cheesy at times but it does the trick...good show to binge.







May 13th - Day 56 - Twilight Zone:The Lonely(1959) Jack Smight


This is one of those episodes nobody ever talks about but it's likely good enough to get a remake film. Jack Warden plays a man stuck on an asteroid in the future this is where we send murderers. A group of astronauts show up every couple months to deliver supplies and I suppose check on him. Well the captain Allenby likes James enough to try and keep him sane he gives him a gift. It's a tense half hour episode that packs a wallop of an ending one of the reasons this is my favorite show of all-time. It's also very timely.










May 14th - Day 57 - The Invanders:Beachead(1967) - Joseph Sargent

A Man drives across a desert town when he comes across a UFO sighting in the 1967 series The Invanders. This was a christmas gift and blind buy of sorts for me that I finally decided to check out and I was pleasently surprised. Based on the first episode it seems like it has a 70's Doctor Who vibe to it. The Aliens are supposed to represent the Russians and they manage to be just creepy enough that I'll put this on minor horror.







May 15th - Day 58 - Tales from the Crypt:The New Arrival(1992) Peter Medak


A British radio psychiatrist who believes ignoring children is the best way to deal with them is confronted by a mother who has trouble with her own child in "The New Arrival". You can kind of call this a Monkey's Paw type episode for the areas that the film goes down but I really loved this one and was generally creeped out by the reveals. Also the more you think about the story the worse it gets for you.







May 16th - Day 59 - Penny Dreadful City of Angels:Santa Muerte(2020)


A pair of angels duel in a melodrama murder mystery that's a continuation of the Penny Dreadful series and it's.....awful. The racial stuff is extremely heavy handed and yet it's also guilty of white washing because you have a latin devil with woman played by a welsh-norwegian. I'll likely watch the entire series when it comes to an end to see if it gets better...Penny Dreadful had it's lulls but I was not impressed with the pilot.








May 17th - Day 60 - Murder Most Foul(1964) - George Pollock

This is an Agatha Christie Miss Marple series it tells the story of a barmaid who is killed and Marple who is on the jury decides to hang it and investigate it for herself. Marple decides the killer is within the theater troupe and when get the typical Christie shenanigans. I found this to be pleasant though somewhat forgettable...this is both lesser Christie and lesser Rutherford I'd recommend watching some other Marple movies than this one.





I don't think I've seen an episode of The Invaders since the 90's. I remember liking it but not thinking it was anything special.

Never really got on with Penny Dreadful. I don't think I even finished the first season.





May 18th - Day 61- House on Haunted Hill:Open Casket (2018) - Mike Flanagan


This is the episode about the eldest daughter Lulu, and it's a bit of a step down from the premiere which was almost perfect. Lulu is I suppose, supposed to take after her mother in her episode she finds a bunch of kittens. What happens to the animals is pretty horrifying and a reminder of the curse of the estate. Lulu is a bit headstrong as an adult she feels almost more paternal than either the father or the elder brother and she ends up doing something which isn't exactly mentally great. Reaser the lead actress gives a strong performance in this episode and subsequent episodes though I don't know if her character is really needed.









May 17th - Day 60 - Murder Most Foul(1964) - George Pollock

This is an Agatha Christie Miss Marple series it tells the story of a barmaid who is killed and Marple who is on the jury decides to hang it and investigate it for herself. Marple decides the killer is within the theater troupe and when get the typical Christie shenanigans. I found this to be pleasant though somewhat forgettable...this is both lesser Christie and lesser Rutherford I'd recommend watching some other Marple movies than this one.



I found this delightful. Yeah technically it's not much. But I absolutely love these types of movies.
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